Wednesday 5 January 2011

Phir kab aaoge???





What will be the next seven days like? Ramaaa.....Krishnaa …help me pull it off well’’ prayed Devi as she waited at the arrivals lounge of the Bengaluru International airport to receive her mausi ke nanand ki devraani ke behan ke devar ki Saali - Sona and her family who were flying from the United States of America. Devi and Sona have been in conversation with each other for the last 7 years and they have developed a very close telephonic relationship. They made plans to visit each other on two prior occasions but it did not materialise until now. 

Devi had not slept well the previous night, partly due to the excitement of seeing Sona and  partly because of the nervousness of entertaining her NRI guests. In fact, Devi had been having sleepless nights for  weeks worrying how Sona would view her small  middle class 2BHK apartment in BTM Layout. Devi had made plans for each day of Sona’s visit - be it visiting relatives or shopping at Bangalore Central or a dinner at Leela Palace. She was going to show the best of Bangalore to Sona and her family so that they felt at home and did not miss the comforts of the USA. She had also made plans for the food that she was going to cook for the guests which should include breakfast lunch and dinner (with her latest Italian and Chinese recipes that she downloaded from Vah Chef and Show me the Curry on Youtube ). Devi had in particular requested Shantamma, the maid servant to come twice a day and had promised her Rupees 1000/ extra in addition to the American chocolates that Devi was sure that Sona would bring.

Devi got ready very early in the morning to get to airport to receive Sona and her family. Devi was at the airport an hour before Sona’s flight had landed up. She saw the arrivals timetable and learned that Sona’s flight was arriving an hour later.Yet she stood at the arrivals lounge and jumped with excitement every time the door opened and a passenger walked out. For Devi this was the longest wait ever.

Finally, the wait was over and Sona and her family arrived. Devi greeted them with a warm smile and a big bear hug. After loading the luggage, Devi’s husband drove all of them home in their Maruti Swift (It had taken Devi all of 3 years to change her husband’s mind to buy a new car and it had arrived just a month before Sona’s arrival).  

Next morning Devi was surprised to see Sona come into the kitchen just as she had woken up to help her with the cooking. Sona seemed to like the Indian cuisines more than anything else and hence dosas were prepared and Sona herself made a wonderful sambar to go along side it. Sona preferred to eat without knife and fork the simple south Indian food like rasam and rice with a pallya/upperi and a crispy karum kurum kerala papad. As a treat Sona would rather prefer the Mirch Masala on 7th Main Road or Woodies than the posh Leela Palace that Devi had planned to take Sona.

Sona helped Devi in her household chores. She spent more time chatting with Devi than going to movies or shopping around in Lifestyle and Bangalore Central. Sona had no airs about living in the USA and most importantly she did not criticise Bangalore’s traffic or pollution. The week long trip was one of the best that Devi had had when guests visited her. In fact, Sona was no longer a guest but she had become family to Devi.

Sona is now back on the Lufthansa 924 to Boston and all she can think of is Devi’s kind hospitality and the good time that Devi’s family showed her and her family during their stay in India. As for Devi, she is now back to doing her household chores and cooking Rasam and Pallya before her husband gets home for lunch but she cannot stop thinking about the last few days she spent with Sona and she is wondering ….PHIR KAB AAOGE??

22 comments:

  1. :-)

    You seemed to have had a great time :-)

    Wishing you a happy and healthy MMXI ..keep blogging,rocking and smiling !

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was a beautiful write-up. I was half expecting an anti-climax, disappointment but you made it even better.

    LOVED IT!

    ReplyDelete
  3. nicely narrated, initially i thot its a spoof of Athithi, tum kab jaogey..bt gud to see it was nt..happy dat dey finaly met n r content

    ReplyDelete
  4. So nice...we get involved in matching the so called standards we forget that its simple kind gesture thats needed...

    btw whats the exact relationship of devi and sona...am really poor in knowing that ;)
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not all NRI's are confused desi's :)

    A nice fun read..

    ReplyDelete
  6. hummmmmmmmmmmm its really superb...!! iyou remind me my gang...!!

    Happy New Year Dear

    Jai HO Mangalmay HO

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such guests are blessings.... :) How I wish some of our relatives were reading this... ;)

    Nice story... :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. i thought it was a true story.. until i saw the label "fiction" :) and let me tell u.. devi is no middle class if she was planning to take sona to leela palace :P how do u knw so much abt bangalore? :) i felt so good reading this.. was transported back to bangalore with all ur details.. verrrrrrrrrryyyy goooooood :)

    p.s: m at home with parents in a "north indian city" :P

    ReplyDelete
  9. ok you confused me this is fiction or real of what ...

    u trying to ask ur family when will they come back :)

    welll ...

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Nu: Thank you. Hope you have had a good start to the new year.

    @Purba: Thank you so much.

    @Vineet: Thank you. I had watched that movie Atithi kab jaoge?? it was funny.

    @Poonam: Thank you. Correct.Simple gestures do play a very significant role in making 'atithi's' stay pleasant. Btw...even I do not know how are devi and Sona related...surely they are dooooooooooor ke rishtedaars. Once, i wrote the line about their relationship, I did not revisit the line. It was complicated for me :)

    @Soumya: Absolutely! Thank you

    @Vish: Thank you. :)

    @Tanishka: Thank you. Ispe bhi ek research ho jaaye??? :) :)

    @S: :) it is a fictional post. Characters are purely fictitious but places are real. Sahi hai Leela Palace is a high end place and Devi had been saving some money for the past few months to take Sona and her family there. thankfully, Sona preferred only home made dishes.
    My home town is Bangalore.
    oh ok..so you enjoying your time at home getting pampered?

    @Bikram: haha. You got me there! Na, fiction hai (chota sa attempt)...''phir kab aaoge' is entirely personal...I am missing my sister and her family after such a lovely time we had together.

    ReplyDelete
  11. i knew that .. I know how it feels , last year my sis from australia had come with her kids for 3 weeks and we had such a good time visitng all over uk and then she had to leave :(

    ReplyDelete
  12. kya ye sach hai? :P

    it was short and sweet, but it has the touch of Indian hospitality.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey AH welcome back.Hope you had fun these holidays!Wishing you a happy new year.

    Well about the post I would rather say Devi is lucky to have a guest like Sona.Mostly people end up saying Atithi tum kab jaoge??hehe

    ReplyDelete
  14. @ Anshul: Thank you. It was an attempt at fiction.

    @Yasha: hey, how are you? Thank you,happy new year to you too. hahaha...yes you are right...a lot of time , it is atithi tu kab jaogey?

    ReplyDelete
  15. @ Bikram: Exactly, i have spent major time sightseeing and during the last few days that now I am sad that they have left. :(

    ReplyDelete
  16. Warm and affectionate and so nicely written. I like things simple and lucid. Write more fiction and longer ones. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello Ajay, Thank you sooooooo much. Will definitely think about writing more fiction.

    How have you been dost? Busy with studies??

    Cheers
    Always Happy

    ReplyDelete
  18. looking at the title ithought , it is something like " atithi kab jaaoge".... but found dfrnt... it had to be , aftr all we Indians r so good at Hospitality... Atithi Devo Bhavo....:)

    ReplyDelete
  19. BIAL is a long drive from the city...Engaging anecdote...And depends on the atithi, some are welcome while some a real pain in the ...

    ReplyDelete
  20. hehe..yes, in that case it will be 'atithi kab jaogey'' haha

    ReplyDelete
  21. wow realy so gud. mene to ye leliya hai. plz visit my blog www.dancerandpoet.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...