West Delhi Plus

West Delhi Plus is a weekly supplement that we get along with Times of India. In honour of Mother's Day today, it invited readers to send in tributes to their mothers and tell the world what makes their relationship so special.

I quickly typed in a few sentences..

If I ever had to make a list of those who know me inside out, my mother's name would feature first. No thought, emotion or expression of mine if hidden from her. I do it not because its a compulsion, but because its truly such a joy.

Perhaps the best part about my mother would be her calm mind. I thank my stars for blessing me with someone who does not scream at the drop of a hat. She has given me the liberty to lead life by my own terms and does not question my decisions.

It would be such a cliche to say "my mother faced many hardships in life" - because who doesn't? What matters is whether you are able to emerge victorious. Today, my mother stands tall. I have learnt to live life through her successes as well as her mistakes.

Mummy, you're a treat.

I was sleeping soundly today morning when my brother ran in, "You're in the newspaper! You're in the newspaper!"

It was published!

(of course it was edited a bit)

Daddy

I used to call my grandfather "Daddy", because I had always heard my mother calling him that. He was an agile man in his youth, but as time went by his body gave way to Parkinsons. His movements became slower by the day, and his thoughts more disoriented. Part of his problems were also because of old age.

He would be extremely clumsy at times, and this would not only be a great source of amusement to others, but to himself as well. He would chuckle generously after making mistakes, and trouble his wife with absolute relish. He was a naughty old man.

The year was 2006. School was closed for the summer holidays. I planned to spend them with my grandparents. I was going to be alone with them for the first time, since Mummy could not accompany me. Little did I realise that this vacation was going to alter my life forever.

The initial few days were boring. To pass some time, I got down to some house cleaning. I raided a bed-ful of photographs, and found them in a pathetic condition. The albums were tearing at the seams, and most of the photographs were spilling out. I am a sucker for preserving old stuff, so I decided to rearrange all of them neatly and put them in a new album.

The next day, Badimummy took me to the market. We spent some time roaming around and eating. On our way back, we stopped at a photo studio and purchased a HUGE album. Oh, how my arms ached carrying it around till we reached home.

The next few days were spent in an absolute frenzy. There were thousands and thousands of black-and-white photographs to sort. Badimummy would sit down besides me and tell me the story behind every one. How Daddy would hang bedsheets in the background before clicking family portraits, how he would spend so much money on film reels, how he pursued photography as a side hobby.. I learnt so much about him from the photographs, even though he was himself present in none of them.

A week or so later, the album was finally made. Daddy knew nothing about the whole project because I had kept the whole affair a secret. I wanted to give him a surprise, and I knew he would love it. I brought him outside, seated him at the dining table, slid the album in front of him, and waited. At first, he merely glanced here and there absent-mindedly. But after a few minutes, he fixed his sight on the album and raised his frail hand towards it. He slowly opened the cover, and came face to face with a majestic black-and-white portrait of his father. His gentle eyes clouded with tears, and I saw an entire life flash before me in that one hour..

Robbed On Christmas Eve!

From the actual 'crime scene'

The doorbell rang through the silence and woke me up rather rudely. I grabbed my mobile to look at the time. Around 7.30 am. Who would disturb us at such an unearthly hour on a winter morning? My mother was awake and doing her usual household chores, so she answered the door. I heard a male voice. "The lock of your other house is broken. You better come and see." The next thing I heard was mummy walking out of the house. The robbers struck at the right time I guess. We dont stay there any longer, and my Dadi (Father's mother) is out for a vacation.

I didnt bother to get up because I knew the thieves wouldnt have found much to steal. All our stuff is now here, save a few pieces of furniture. And whatever my Dadi has would not really amount to anything. But then lightening struck me and I remembered my father's brand new speakers and music system that were still in their cartons. They were stored there because this house of ours is smaller and doesnt have any free space. I got up in a hurry, grabbed my jacket and left.

My brother and I reached the other home in a matter of a few minutes. After all, its only across the road. Mummy was already there talking on the mobile with someone. I hurriedly went inside was greeted by the chaos. Every cupboard, bed and showcase was thrown open. The wooden doors were splintered near the knobs. It looked like a tornado had come visiting. I quickly grabbed my cellphone and thanked my stars for its good quality camera. I moved from room to room and clicked away.

The floor above barely has any furniture in it. So there wasnt really much for the thieves to break. But as I went to my parents' room, I saw that the locker had been broken into. But so far nothing was missing. Then I thought about my father's precious stuff and rushed to the other room to check if it was still there. Everything in that room was untouched.

The bumbling thieves wasted their whole night breaking through nearly 10 locks, but did not take anything away. They wanted cash and gold, and obviously did not find any.

Mummy then called out to me and asked me to go back home and wait for the maid. I agreed because there wasnt much for me to do anyway. I came back and quickly loaded all the photos to my laptop. I observed them all carefully since I didnt really have time to do that in the real 'crime scene'. I zoomed in to one picture of my parents' room and saw something missing. Then the dam broke and I couldnt stop laughing.

The thieves will have a very merry Christmas tonight with my father's collection of priceless scotch bottles.

(click on the pics to enlarge them)