Aie Mimi with her wards stood by the road-side waving my parents goodbye even as we boarded the car homeward bound.The same expression of sadness in their faces each time they have to do so.
What is it that makes parents so special.
Agya is away in the hills with the local villagers scouting for good tourist places they can build up proposals for.He is in the woods for four days at a stretch.The last place he went to was on the top of the gigantic hill I can see from my homestead.He had taken excursion tents which he used for himself but the locals decided to rough it out in the open jungle.The climb and the descent was a sheer drop,and there were places I believe where they actually had to keep looking at the wall while they swung down the cliff on creepers.The locals were disturbed at night by the sound of the wild and were kept awake.There are bears,boars ,wolves,.. plenty one has to be wary of.
.I just received a message from my brother that he is climbing at eight thousand feet today..God bless him and protect him.
In the meantime we reached home at eight at night tired to the bones Saili had kindly cooked dinner for us but we decided to picnic in the bedroom for mom was on a cold diet .Loden and his wife in Gangtok had kindly cooked khuris for my mother.As simple as it was ,it was delicious..Khuri is a traditional lepcha meal{ johar wrap with mustard leaves and fried onions).We relished it with ras malai which Dawa had bought and orange juice.I was partners in crime with my parents because under the normal circumstances mom is very striict about not allowing meals in the bedroom.
It was a novelty of sorts to be a responsible person at home with my brother away but parents are such a rock.My eighty eight year old father never fails to get me my morning cup of tea.
Aie Mimi has got into the world of oil painting.She is doing her bit of research even while she puts it all on a canvas.She seems to have done some beautiful flower paintings which I promptly asked her for and now it is in my room.This was her maiden venture and even as she left it in the sun to dry there were people walking by in Gangtok who actually asked if it was for sale ,I believe,She was pretty amused about it.It is a good break from her academic world.She was just telling me yesterday how she enjoys preparing and delivering her lectures on Calvinism ,Martin Luther King,to her college kids.
I also got my hands on a whole host of lovely books from my sister which my brother will enjoy as well.I am reading Jeff Koehler's 'Darjeeling'-A history of the World's Greatest tea..
The holidays are short ,sometimes too short.
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