My Mom has as far as memory serves me never wanted her birthday celebrated. But this year, she did. I guess it was the nostalgia of Dad having had his 75th birthday celebrated. And she wanted it to do it at home. A small private party. With the kids and grand-kids. And during the celebrations, I realized something I had missed all these years. She was an amazing woman. And had achieved so much. None of it visible.
Although she did not ever have the privilege of going to college, even though her Dad was a teacher. In her time, women didn’t go to college. They were married off. She was married at the tender age of 19. And I was born 1 year later. When she was just 20. And then had 4 kids. As was the norm those days. She managed to raise all of us and give us a good education. Although we never had too much money, she managed. And kept accounts. Her favorite accounting term for discrepancy was “Here and There”.
At school, we never felt we lacked anything. Although she did not know too much of our studies, she managed to learn and teach us. Subjects that were Greek to her. Hindi, Maths, Science, ... She even wrote the entrance exam paper for Don, during his school entrance when he was 4. And attended the school PTA’s. And between the 4 of us, she had enough teachers and complaints to deal with. And she managed it all, with a smile. I can’t ever remember Mom without her warm and radiant smile. I’m sure that she would have had her sad moments, but she managed not to show them.
One thing she was very clear from the beginning was to have a home of her own. It wasn’t easy because Mumbai was relatively expensive, even then. And builders wanted 50% black money. Black money is basically Cash and is unaccounted. My dad didn’t have white money, getting black money was an impossible thing. And then came the infamous Emergency in 1971. And it was for the first time in India that builders could no longer buy the law and were scared. Black money transactions suddenly reduced. It was possible to get a flat. With accounted money.
And my parents seized the opportunity. They quickly located a flat in Colaba, and it was to be the tallest residential building not only in Mumbai, but India. The cost, a princely Rs. 185,000. Dad who was with the Taj Group was sanctioned a loan of around Rs. 120,000. He had some savings and sold all the shares he held to raise the rest. In fact, we wanted a house on the 29th floor, but it cost Rs. 15,000 more and we just couldn’t stretch that far. So we settled for the 4th floor.
Now there was a 2nd problem. Dad’s company had kindly given him the loan, but the EMI deduction meant we had little money left. 4 kids still needed to be fed, sent to school and various other issues. My Mom had a solution for everything. Paying Guests. We kept 2 bachelors who also worked at the Taj and paid Rs. 1000. And this got us through. And after 2 years we were okay. But Mom and Dad refused to ask the paying guests to leave. Until they got transferred. Today the house is worth Rs. 30 million. But that is of no consequence, compared to the joy and happiness it gave us when we grew up. As a family.
And that is priceless.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Indian Dream. Capitalist Greed.
A letter is received. By fax, speedpost and hand delivery. To 2 people. Tim and Jim. A 3 page letter. From XYZ, one of the world’s largest media company. And the summary. Take Rs. 15 million, a 95% loss on your investment and get out or agree to pay us 2250 million for the exact same thing. Unbelievable but true. That’s why they say fact is stranger than fiction. And this story would easily make it to one of XYZ’s several networks as a hit soap.
But let us begin at the beginning. 2 young men had a dream. A dream to come up with India’s most popular music channel. And the beauty of the concept was that it did not compete with any channel. It was to be the launch pad for Bollywood, and revenue as well as content was to come from Bollywood. The idea was bounced off several bigwigs, all of who thought it was brilliant and agreed to support the concept when it became a reality.
These 2 young men were no ordinary joe’s. They had a track record of several successes behind them and had made a difference to Bollywood and Tellywood, each in their own unique way. And that makes for another fascinating story. They had a great rapport with Planet, a leading channel and approached Sam, who at that point was at Planet. As things panned out, Sam moved to head OETV, and convinced these 2 men to team up with OETV and thus was born Dreams, a 51:49 venture between OETV and TimJim (a company started as a 50:50 company by Tim and Jim).
Its not very often that businessmen put in their own money. But here, they believed in their dream and put in their personal funds into the company. Half of the projected investment required. And began the journey of Dreams. Initially Tim and Jim were given a free hand and everything was going according to plan. Actually it was too good to be true. And it looked like there was a real chance that this was to be a super-hit. And like all to be super-hits, there was credit to be grabbed. And so in steeped Big Daddy. OETV. And unceremoniously ousted the 2 whose dream it was to begin with. They were sidelined and asked to behave like ordinary shareholders. And they showed great maturity and accepted it with grace. Their dream was bigger than their personal aspirations.
Unfortunately this was the beginning of the end. Suddenly the office was moved from a modest building to a swank place with 10x rent. Highly paid managers drafted from OETV. And so on. The budgets and investments required were scaled up overnight and all the initial projections found their way into the nearest trash bin. TiMJim did not want to extend their resources and said “No, thank you, your scaled up plans, your scale up investments”. OETV agreed. And unilaterally got these in the form of OCD’s. The idea being they would be converted at a pre-determined rate.
In the meanwhile, RST (another global media player), bought over significant stake in OETV and in Dreams. And surprise surprise. No one was informed. But wait a minute. Doesn’t this require Board approval ? And CLB filings. And permissions. All of which were fraudulently created.
When the end was near, once again Dreams turned to TimJim for help. And help they did. Revived revenues, got in funding and more. Once again, once it was there, it was rejected and demanded for themselves. Without the no liability guarantees. And more money started going through the never ending black hole.
Finally RST sold to XYZ. And once again, TimJim was pushed to the wall. And told that if your don’t agree, the channel shuts down. They agreed, hoping that XYZ would be fair and revive the company. But some things don’t change. One is greed. XYZ ran the company for 6 months. And decided that they wanted TimJim out. So they had Board meetings without the Directors, claimed to pass resolutions with no authority and finally called for a meeting with the original promoters.
The promoters, by now having smartened up attended with one of the sharpest brains this side of the Pacific. At the meeting XYZ threatened to shut down the operations. The suggestion, “Sell it to us for Rs. 1”. That way at least you have a chance of recovering some of your investments. XYZ was stumped. Suddenly their script had gone haywire. And didn’t know what to say. They said they’ll make an offer. Wait a minute, “Didn’t you just want to shut it down ?”
And the resultant of that meeting was this 3 page letter. XYZ is willing to close down and get nothing. But wants 2220 million for what they claim is valued at nothing. I guess it must be the new American Math. To misquote the popular Dire Straits song,
“Money for nothin' and Indian money for FREE !”
p.s.: And the icing on the cake, the minutes of the meeting sent with over 5 witnesses, were not only completely inaccurate but contain lies and fraudulent statements. If this was the US, these gentlemen would be the state’s guests. Wait a minute, maybe they can still be.
p.p.s.: This post is fiction, inspired by fact.
But let us begin at the beginning. 2 young men had a dream. A dream to come up with India’s most popular music channel. And the beauty of the concept was that it did not compete with any channel. It was to be the launch pad for Bollywood, and revenue as well as content was to come from Bollywood. The idea was bounced off several bigwigs, all of who thought it was brilliant and agreed to support the concept when it became a reality.
These 2 young men were no ordinary joe’s. They had a track record of several successes behind them and had made a difference to Bollywood and Tellywood, each in their own unique way. And that makes for another fascinating story. They had a great rapport with Planet, a leading channel and approached Sam, who at that point was at Planet. As things panned out, Sam moved to head OETV, and convinced these 2 men to team up with OETV and thus was born Dreams, a 51:49 venture between OETV and TimJim (a company started as a 50:50 company by Tim and Jim).
Its not very often that businessmen put in their own money. But here, they believed in their dream and put in their personal funds into the company. Half of the projected investment required. And began the journey of Dreams. Initially Tim and Jim were given a free hand and everything was going according to plan. Actually it was too good to be true. And it looked like there was a real chance that this was to be a super-hit. And like all to be super-hits, there was credit to be grabbed. And so in steeped Big Daddy. OETV. And unceremoniously ousted the 2 whose dream it was to begin with. They were sidelined and asked to behave like ordinary shareholders. And they showed great maturity and accepted it with grace. Their dream was bigger than their personal aspirations.
Unfortunately this was the beginning of the end. Suddenly the office was moved from a modest building to a swank place with 10x rent. Highly paid managers drafted from OETV. And so on. The budgets and investments required were scaled up overnight and all the initial projections found their way into the nearest trash bin. TiMJim did not want to extend their resources and said “No, thank you, your scaled up plans, your scale up investments”. OETV agreed. And unilaterally got these in the form of OCD’s. The idea being they would be converted at a pre-determined rate.
In the meanwhile, RST (another global media player), bought over significant stake in OETV and in Dreams. And surprise surprise. No one was informed. But wait a minute. Doesn’t this require Board approval ? And CLB filings. And permissions. All of which were fraudulently created.
When the end was near, once again Dreams turned to TimJim for help. And help they did. Revived revenues, got in funding and more. Once again, once it was there, it was rejected and demanded for themselves. Without the no liability guarantees. And more money started going through the never ending black hole.
Finally RST sold to XYZ. And once again, TimJim was pushed to the wall. And told that if your don’t agree, the channel shuts down. They agreed, hoping that XYZ would be fair and revive the company. But some things don’t change. One is greed. XYZ ran the company for 6 months. And decided that they wanted TimJim out. So they had Board meetings without the Directors, claimed to pass resolutions with no authority and finally called for a meeting with the original promoters.
The promoters, by now having smartened up attended with one of the sharpest brains this side of the Pacific. At the meeting XYZ threatened to shut down the operations. The suggestion, “Sell it to us for Rs. 1”. That way at least you have a chance of recovering some of your investments. XYZ was stumped. Suddenly their script had gone haywire. And didn’t know what to say. They said they’ll make an offer. Wait a minute, “Didn’t you just want to shut it down ?”
And the resultant of that meeting was this 3 page letter. XYZ is willing to close down and get nothing. But wants 2220 million for what they claim is valued at nothing. I guess it must be the new American Math. To misquote the popular Dire Straits song,
“Money for nothin' and Indian money for FREE !”
p.s.: And the icing on the cake, the minutes of the meeting sent with over 5 witnesses, were not only completely inaccurate but contain lies and fraudulent statements. If this was the US, these gentlemen would be the state’s guests. Wait a minute, maybe they can still be.
p.p.s.: This post is fiction, inspired by fact.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Independence or In Dependence
Today is our Independence Day. And led to a thought. What is Independence ? And are we truly independent. India celebrates its independence with a lot of show. There is a grand parade in Delhi and an address by the Prime Minister from the Red Fort. Its traditional to highlight the successes of the previous year and project a bright and even more successful future.
63 years later, as a nation, have we succeeded or failed. And unfortunately, most urban Indians I think would believe we have failed. I believe the exact opposite. There’s no doubt that we could have achieved much more, but then isn’t that true of every individual, company or country ?
So why do I think we have succeeded. When what everyone is talking about is potholed roads, traffic jams, dirty cities, lack of basic facilities, slums, corruption ... Its an endless list. However, its a lot like the glass that has 50% of water. Is it half full. Or half empty. Whilst all of us think its cliched and obvious, we all are optimists and always think in terms of half full, we fail to do so when it comes to our country or society.
We keep asking, and criticizing. And saying that nothing happens. But we need to look at 2 aspects. The first, can we ignore the huge amounts of progress made. Huge by any measure. The second, what exactly have we done. Lets examine the facts.
Lets first examine progress. Most of us, including me, use the US as a benchmark. Comparing the US of today, to the India of today is a little like comparing a music student and a music teacher and commenting that the student is not comparable. But if you have to compare, compare with what the teacher’s performance was when he was at a similar phase of growth or age. Lets not forget, that the US of today has the majority of its visible development in the last 6o years. Based on a foundation of over 200 years. Does it mean we need to wait for another 140 years Of course not. As society evolves, the time to reach certain milestones decreases. As an example, my kids know much more at 15 and 13 as I knew when I was their age. Even what they learn at school is far more advanced. I’m neither a social scientist nor a economist, but if I had to guess, my guess is that we should be on par with the advanced nations in around 25 – 30 years.
The second aspect is what have we done. Let me give you a few specific example. How many people realize that in the US, there are 1000’s of death every year due to starvation and homelessness. How many realize that there have been more deaths of US soldiers in the last 10 years than Indian forces in Kashmir ? That the total number of terrorism related deaths in the last 10 years in the US exceeds that in India.
Yet, we are perceived as a country where millions die of hunger, extremely unsafe, and so on. I guess at the end of the day perception is greater than reality. I’m not defending India or the ills that plague us. All I’m saying is that we need to highlight the good, whilst we try and do our bit to reduce the negatives. As an example, lets take corruption. If we decide not to bribe, slowly but surely corruption will reduce. If we pay our taxes honestly, the system will have more resources to put into development projects. If each of us pays for the education of a child, we’ll soon have a literate population that can lead us to progress. Accelerated progress.
We may be independent, but are in dependence, In dependence of each of us. To do the right thing. Its not easy. But then doing the right thing never was.
63 years later, as a nation, have we succeeded or failed. And unfortunately, most urban Indians I think would believe we have failed. I believe the exact opposite. There’s no doubt that we could have achieved much more, but then isn’t that true of every individual, company or country ?
So why do I think we have succeeded. When what everyone is talking about is potholed roads, traffic jams, dirty cities, lack of basic facilities, slums, corruption ... Its an endless list. However, its a lot like the glass that has 50% of water. Is it half full. Or half empty. Whilst all of us think its cliched and obvious, we all are optimists and always think in terms of half full, we fail to do so when it comes to our country or society.
We keep asking, and criticizing. And saying that nothing happens. But we need to look at 2 aspects. The first, can we ignore the huge amounts of progress made. Huge by any measure. The second, what exactly have we done. Lets examine the facts.
Lets first examine progress. Most of us, including me, use the US as a benchmark. Comparing the US of today, to the India of today is a little like comparing a music student and a music teacher and commenting that the student is not comparable. But if you have to compare, compare with what the teacher’s performance was when he was at a similar phase of growth or age. Lets not forget, that the US of today has the majority of its visible development in the last 6o years. Based on a foundation of over 200 years. Does it mean we need to wait for another 140 years Of course not. As society evolves, the time to reach certain milestones decreases. As an example, my kids know much more at 15 and 13 as I knew when I was their age. Even what they learn at school is far more advanced. I’m neither a social scientist nor a economist, but if I had to guess, my guess is that we should be on par with the advanced nations in around 25 – 30 years.
The second aspect is what have we done. Let me give you a few specific example. How many people realize that in the US, there are 1000’s of death every year due to starvation and homelessness. How many realize that there have been more deaths of US soldiers in the last 10 years than Indian forces in Kashmir ? That the total number of terrorism related deaths in the last 10 years in the US exceeds that in India.
Yet, we are perceived as a country where millions die of hunger, extremely unsafe, and so on. I guess at the end of the day perception is greater than reality. I’m not defending India or the ills that plague us. All I’m saying is that we need to highlight the good, whilst we try and do our bit to reduce the negatives. As an example, lets take corruption. If we decide not to bribe, slowly but surely corruption will reduce. If we pay our taxes honestly, the system will have more resources to put into development projects. If each of us pays for the education of a child, we’ll soon have a literate population that can lead us to progress. Accelerated progress.
We may be independent, but are in dependence, In dependence of each of us. To do the right thing. Its not easy. But then doing the right thing never was.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Weight and Watch
Ivy’s been telling me that she’s getting much more than she bargained for when we were married. My kids are not so polite. They say “You’re FAT.” And the sad part, I don’t disagree. And know that I’ve got to loose weight and soon. In fact, starting tomorrow.
The problem, Tomorrow never comes. And this seems to be my story. But last week, I had a brand new incentive. My brother Frank, who is just slightly overweight wanted a bet. He wanted us each to loose 10 kg (24 lbs). And to make it interesting, there was a big sum involved. US$ 10,000. If either did not loose the specified weight, he’d have to give the other the wager amount. However, if neither achieved or, or if both achieved it, then there would be no exchange of money. Just 2 more healthy people.
In my case, the problem is simple. I have to lose the weight. I can’t afford to lose. And so have to figure out a plan. We have 6 months in which to do it. So I guess thats 2 kilos a month, with 1 month to spare. If only it was as easy as that. I know its going to be tough. But then when there’s no choice it has to be done.
A few things I plan to do. Will let you know after 6 months, if any of this plan worked, and if I managed to lose the weight.
a. Walk for 4 kms / day – 3 days a week.
b. Exercise for 10 mts in the morning – 5 days a week
c. Eat breakfast regularly.
d. Have an early and light dinner. 8 pm – Salads and Soups.
e. Have 3 small meals / snacks in between.
f. Walk up the stairs at home and at office.
g. Swim – Once a week
Its pretty easy to make the plan. I know its going to be very difficult to execute. But then if you don’t plan. you’ll never know what all you did not do.
Its possible that over a period of time, some or all of the above may be modified or even dropped. Its started on a good note. The last 3 days at Goa, I actually used the gym. And believe it or not, it was the first time.
Hopefully, its not the last, and I’ll have some secrets to share, in January 2010.
Until then Weight and Watch.
The problem, Tomorrow never comes. And this seems to be my story. But last week, I had a brand new incentive. My brother Frank, who is just slightly overweight wanted a bet. He wanted us each to loose 10 kg (24 lbs). And to make it interesting, there was a big sum involved. US$ 10,000. If either did not loose the specified weight, he’d have to give the other the wager amount. However, if neither achieved or, or if both achieved it, then there would be no exchange of money. Just 2 more healthy people.
In my case, the problem is simple. I have to lose the weight. I can’t afford to lose. And so have to figure out a plan. We have 6 months in which to do it. So I guess thats 2 kilos a month, with 1 month to spare. If only it was as easy as that. I know its going to be tough. But then when there’s no choice it has to be done.
A few things I plan to do. Will let you know after 6 months, if any of this plan worked, and if I managed to lose the weight.
a. Walk for 4 kms / day – 3 days a week.
b. Exercise for 10 mts in the morning – 5 days a week
c. Eat breakfast regularly.
d. Have an early and light dinner. 8 pm – Salads and Soups.
e. Have 3 small meals / snacks in between.
f. Walk up the stairs at home and at office.
g. Swim – Once a week
Its pretty easy to make the plan. I know its going to be very difficult to execute. But then if you don’t plan. you’ll never know what all you did not do.
Its possible that over a period of time, some or all of the above may be modified or even dropped. Its started on a good note. The last 3 days at Goa, I actually used the gym. And believe it or not, it was the first time.
Hopefully, its not the last, and I’ll have some secrets to share, in January 2010.
Until then Weight and Watch.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Happy 75th Birthday Dad
My dad celebrated his 75th birthday on July 31st. All of us, especially the grand-kids wanted to have a huge celebration in the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai a place my dad was associated with all of his working life, for more than 60 years from the time he as 18 until he finally retired at 70.
But Dad for some strange reasons did not want a public celebration. We finally convinced him to a private family celebration at Goa. It was going to be the first time that the entire family would be together. Frank. Don with his wife Mari, and kids Pranjali and Maya. Mabel with husband Premnath and kids Simran and Siddhant. And me, with my wife Ivy and kids Reia and Freia. Unfortunately a couple of weeks before the event, Freia had a scheduled project to Madhya Pradesh, which was part of her boards exams and so had to drop off.
The venue selected was the Taj Fort Aguada, Goa, a place where Dad was the GM in the late 70’s. And Mom and the 4 of us had spent a memorable month during our summer holidays. Dad, Mom, Don & his family and Frank along with a friend arrived in Goa on the 28th from Mangalore. Mabel and her family arrived on the same day, from Mumbai. Reia and I flew down on the 29th and Ivy arrived on the 30th.
The hotel brought back great memories. And we had a wonderful time, visiting the holiday village, mostly eating buffet breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It was also the first time I visited a gym, and actually used some of the equipment, mainly the treadmill. Don was my coach and guide and his fitness is admirable and whilst I can try and emulate, 1 of those things that are probably beyond my reach. Thanks Don.
At midnight all of us went to Dad’s room and guess what. He was asleep. We woke him up, sang Happy Birthday and he cut his first cake of the day. This was sweet and short and the beginning of a momentous day.
Breakfast was at the Aguada’s coffee shop. After a sumptuous and with most of us preferring the not so healthy food, we got down to cutting the days 2nd cake. One more song, more good wishes and on this happy note, we all dispersed.
The main event was at 12.30. This was in the Italian restaurant. Chairs had been set in 2 rows and a projector set up. At 1230 Dad was called and he was pleasantly surprised, as he was not expecting anything. First, a video of memories which had been created using animoto, an interesting software was played. You can view this video at:
http://animoto.com/play/i8fPlrWRC3ZluQr3DDWicw
http://animoto.com/play/buRRV8sQD7R5xJq1AG000w
It brought back a lot of fond memories not only to Dad, but to all of us. The film ended with a poem written by Freia for the occasion.
And then was the time for the presentation. When we all presented Dad with a present. The first was a small packet, we asked Dad to guess. He guessed a cell phone, a watch, a camera, a ... He opened it to find a Lifebuoy soap. We reminded Dad how he used to give us a Lifebuoy soap as a Christmas present. His next gift was a Parker pen. Yet another of Dad’s favorite gifts. The 3rd was a note. A note that said “Anything for you”. And the final gift was a picture of a car and a key. This confused Dad a whole lot. Was it a prank. Or was this for real. And he finally figured, it was yet another joke. We cut the 3rd cake of the day, sang, took pictures including replicating poses and locations we had captured decades ago. And we then went had another sumptuous buffet meal.
After a relaxed evening, and a final breakfast we bid adieu to the Fort Aguada. On the way to the airport, Dad wanted to know how he was going to go home. And all of us said, take the bus. We’ll let you do what you always wanted. Dad was confused. Mom was upset. A great holiday and then a bus. Not even a cab. At the airport, Dad wanted to take a cab. We said No. And walked out of the airport. And there was my friend Salil. With the car. Dad’s new car. The photograph was real. The key was real. And Dad and Mum lit up like kids. I guess, sometimes parents can be kids. The sight of both of them beaming, made this one of our best moments ever.
But Dad for some strange reasons did not want a public celebration. We finally convinced him to a private family celebration at Goa. It was going to be the first time that the entire family would be together. Frank. Don with his wife Mari, and kids Pranjali and Maya. Mabel with husband Premnath and kids Simran and Siddhant. And me, with my wife Ivy and kids Reia and Freia. Unfortunately a couple of weeks before the event, Freia had a scheduled project to Madhya Pradesh, which was part of her boards exams and so had to drop off.
The venue selected was the Taj Fort Aguada, Goa, a place where Dad was the GM in the late 70’s. And Mom and the 4 of us had spent a memorable month during our summer holidays. Dad, Mom, Don & his family and Frank along with a friend arrived in Goa on the 28th from Mangalore. Mabel and her family arrived on the same day, from Mumbai. Reia and I flew down on the 29th and Ivy arrived on the 30th.
The hotel brought back great memories. And we had a wonderful time, visiting the holiday village, mostly eating buffet breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It was also the first time I visited a gym, and actually used some of the equipment, mainly the treadmill. Don was my coach and guide and his fitness is admirable and whilst I can try and emulate, 1 of those things that are probably beyond my reach. Thanks Don.
At midnight all of us went to Dad’s room and guess what. He was asleep. We woke him up, sang Happy Birthday and he cut his first cake of the day. This was sweet and short and the beginning of a momentous day.
Breakfast was at the Aguada’s coffee shop. After a sumptuous and with most of us preferring the not so healthy food, we got down to cutting the days 2nd cake. One more song, more good wishes and on this happy note, we all dispersed.
The main event was at 12.30. This was in the Italian restaurant. Chairs had been set in 2 rows and a projector set up. At 1230 Dad was called and he was pleasantly surprised, as he was not expecting anything. First, a video of memories which had been created using animoto, an interesting software was played. You can view this video at:
http://animoto.com/play/i8fPlrWRC3ZluQr3DDWicw
http://animoto.com/play/buRRV8sQD7R5xJq1AG000w
It brought back a lot of fond memories not only to Dad, but to all of us. The film ended with a poem written by Freia for the occasion.
And then was the time for the presentation. When we all presented Dad with a present. The first was a small packet, we asked Dad to guess. He guessed a cell phone, a watch, a camera, a ... He opened it to find a Lifebuoy soap. We reminded Dad how he used to give us a Lifebuoy soap as a Christmas present. His next gift was a Parker pen. Yet another of Dad’s favorite gifts. The 3rd was a note. A note that said “Anything for you”. And the final gift was a picture of a car and a key. This confused Dad a whole lot. Was it a prank. Or was this for real. And he finally figured, it was yet another joke. We cut the 3rd cake of the day, sang, took pictures including replicating poses and locations we had captured decades ago. And we then went had another sumptuous buffet meal.
After a relaxed evening, and a final breakfast we bid adieu to the Fort Aguada. On the way to the airport, Dad wanted to know how he was going to go home. And all of us said, take the bus. We’ll let you do what you always wanted. Dad was confused. Mom was upset. A great holiday and then a bus. Not even a cab. At the airport, Dad wanted to take a cab. We said No. And walked out of the airport. And there was my friend Salil. With the car. Dad’s new car. The photograph was real. The key was real. And Dad and Mum lit up like kids. I guess, sometimes parents can be kids. The sight of both of them beaming, made this one of our best moments ever.
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