Those 6 days at Goa

[Drubyu]

“Let’s do a sea walk” Uncle said and started going towards the sea.


We started to walk on the beach very near to the sea. Our feet were under the sea water.


Uncle was walking on the side of the sea. I was between him and my mom. Mom walked on the shore side.


“It feels so nice na.” Uncle said while walking in the water.


“Hmmmm. Right. It feels serene” Mom replied calmly.


“So Shweta, Did you come here for the first time?” Uncle asked, looking at mom.


“Yes. You?” She asked him.


“No, I’m not a first timer. It’s my favorite place to vacation actually.I used to come here along with my wife.” He said rather in a sad voice.


Mom also sensed the sadness in his voice so she was silent for a few moments. Then she spoke,


“What happened to her?” 


“She had cancer.” He replied in a low voice.


“Ohhh.. So sad.” Mom sympathized with him.


We kept walking for some time silently. Then uncle spoke,


“You know a lot of movies have been shot in Goa?” 


“Haha, yes. Especially Rohit Shetty ones.” Mom replied.


“You remember that famous scene of Chennai Express movie, where a train is stopped by Deepika’s father near a waterfall when it reaches to his reign?” Uncle asked.  


I remembered the scene. 


“Yes, it was awesome.” I replied before mom could speak.


“Yeah, It is shot in Goa. It is Dudhsagar waterfalls. It’s in Goa.” Uncle said. Sadness in his voice was gone.He seemed quite excited.


“Ohh..really. I thought Goa is famous for beaches only.” Mom showed her ignorance.


“You are wrong Shweta. Goa is actually famous for K P and C.” uncle said.


“K P and C ? “ mom was confused.


“Yes, Khana , peena aur Chahalna.” uncle clarified.


Mom giggled on his weird acronym.What the hell was comic in that? I thought.


“Can I ask you a question?” Uncle looked at mom and said.


“What?” Mom said.


“Do you take drinks?” He asked.


No.She doesn't take drinks. I wanted to say because I had never seen her taking the drink.My dad took. We kept bottles in our fridge but she didn’t take them.


She hesitated for a moment and then said,


“Yes. I mean , not regularly but occasionally, mostly to give the company to my husband.” 


I was surprised. I looked at her.She avoided looking back at me.Instead she kept walking looking straight.It was a revelation. While we were walking, I saw a beautiful seashell lying on the shore at some distance from the sea. I started to go there.


“Where are you going?” I heard the voice of my mother. I turned my head and looked at them.They were standing and looking at me.


“There’s something on the beach.” I said while running towards it. I feared someone else might take it.I took it as a souvenir from Goa. 


When I returned I found mom and uncle had been walking. I caught up with them.They were walking side by side and there was no space in the middle. So I started to walk by mom’s side. She was now in the middle of uncle and me.


“So, you don’t like seeing Dolphins?” Mom calmly asked uncle.


“No, I like it.” Uncle replied in short.


“Then why didn’t you go there? My son was excited and he wanted to go there.” Mom asked uncle.


“I’m so sorry guys. I was being selfish. I wanted Sumit to spend some time with his family. I didn’t want you guys to go with them. I wanted him to enjoy some alone time. Actually Nidhi told me that Sumit was acting weird since his mother died. He was avoiding her for some unknown reasons. I wanted them to be together for sometime.” He replied.


“Ohh.Is he your only son?” Mom asked uncle.


“No, I have a daughter also.She’s married. My son is the younger one.He was emotionally the most attached to his mother. I was in the army and had to travel a lot so you can say their mother single-handedly raised them. She was very protective to him. It made him a coward.” uncle said.


“Well, he is not just adventurous.Coward is a strong word.” Mom said sympathetically.


“Whatever. He was very much affected by the death of his mother. He refused to recognize that she had died. He didn’t attend her funeral and He even didn’t cry for three days.I feared for his life and I had to make him cry by shouting loudly that his mother was dead.He was so sad, he started to remain aloof all the time.Even after six months of her death, he still was sad. I brought them here so he could relax” uncle said.His voice quivered.


I felt sympathy for him.I looked at him.His eyes were watery.He wiped his eyes by the back of his hand. 
 
“Are you ok?” Mom sympathetically put her hand on his back and asked.


“Yeah, I’m alright.” Uncle replied.


“So, you are here for three days.” Mom said.


“Yes, We will be leaving the day after tomorrow.” He replied.


Shit. I had enjoyed a lot with him. I didn’t like him telling us that he would leave a day after that day. I wanted him to stay till we were there. I thought I was going to miss him.


“Would you like to be in touch, even in Delhi?” He asked my mom.


“Yes, sure.” She replied.


“Tell me your number. You didn’t bring your mobile na. I will call on it and you save it when you go to your room.” He said.


Mom gave him her mobile number and he dialed it from his phone and then cut the call.


“Where do you work in Delhi?” He asked her.


“In ********”  Mom told him the name of her company.


“Ohh , ok” He said.


“You were in the army na?” Mom asked him.


“Yes “ He replied.


“Did you kill any terrorist?”  She asked him curiously.


“Many. I was posted in Kashmir for the majority of time in my service.There was much trouble there. Almost every day skirmishes happened with terrorists.” He replied.


While we were walking, something got stuck between my right foot and the sandal and it poked in the skin of my sole so it caused pain. I stopped walking. I leaned and removed the small stone with my finger. 


When I became straight to walk again I saw mom and uncle were walking very close to each other. Mom’s right hand was caught by uncle’s left hand. Their fingers were intertwining with one another. I ran up to them and started walking by my mom’s side again.


Uncle was talking about his experience in the army and about various combat operations where he took part. 


“But I liked one thing the most in Kashmir.” Uncle said.
“What?” Mom asked.


“It’s people. Especially the womenfolk. They are very beautiful. Just like you.” He said.


Mom didn’t  reply to him and continued walking.


“Is he your real son?” Uncle asked mom again.


It was a weird question. Why on the earth did he think like that? I was thinking.Mom looked briefly at me and then again looked at him and said,


“Why ?  He is my own biological son ” 


“Because you don't look like his mom. You look like his elder sister. .” He said.


Mom tried to stop her smile and said,


“Don’t lie.I’m ** year old mother of a ** year old son.” 


“I’m not lying. I swear on my son. When I first saw you I thought you were either his elder sister or step mother. But then concluded that you were his elder sister as your faces are similar to each other.” Uncle said.


I was not sure whether he indeed thought like that or just lying. 


“Haha , it’s a compliment.” Mom said. Her face glowed more.


“Can I say one thing, if you don't mind?” Uncle asked mom.


Mom didn’t answer immediately as if she was weighing whether to yes or no.


“You have maintained your body very well.Don’t take it otherwise but after a childbirth , a woman's body changes a lot. But look at you.You have the right amount of fat in the right places and no fat where it is not required, just like your belly.” Uncle was speaking without waiting for her to say yes.


I felt too much embarrassment. I was sure mom felt the same.She was walking silently.


“Mom, I’m tired.” I said to stop him from talking like that and to divert their attention and I indeed was very much tired.


She startled as if she woke up from the trance by hearing my voice and said,


“Ohhh...How far is it , Pratap ji? ” 


“Actually we have reached, haha” He replied.


Bastard. I thought in my mind and looked at my mom with a face of disgust.


“It’s ok.Let’s go there.” She said looking at some place on the beach.