Those 6 days at Goa

[Drubyu]

Next day I woke up to the sound of the doorbell.I found dad was all ready for the work. He had worn his trouser and full-sleeved shirt. He was combing his hair, looking in the mirror. Hearing the doorbell, Dad opened the door of the room. It was a room service guy. Dad had ordered breakfast in the room. 


"Hey , Slept well?" Dad asked me,putting the tray on the table that was lying next to the bed when he saw me sitting up on the couch.


"Where's mom?" I asked dad as I could not find her in the room.


"She's in the washroom." He replied, pouring the tea in the cup. He sat on the edge of the bed.


"Hey , you're up. Go get freshened up. " I heard the voice of my mom. I looked at the direction of her voice and found she was walking towards us. Her hair was wet and she had changed into a kurti and leggings.


I stood up and went to be fresh. I joined my parents after I exited from the washroom. Mom was sitting on the chair opposite to the bed. I sat on the bed beside dad.Both of my parents had cups of tea in their hands. Mom also had a sandwich in her plate that was placed on her lap.


Seeing me ,mom put her cup on the table and poured tea in another cup for me. She also put a sandwich on my plate.


"Will you come early today also?" She straightened up and asked dad, sipping tea from her cup.


“Yes,sure. Will take you guys somewhere.” He replied.


“Where?” I asked him as I was curious.


“That’s a surprise.But you would love that place.” Dad said, eating his sandwich.


“Till then?” Mom asked dad, staring at him.


“You can go to…” Dad spoke but I interrupted him and said, rather in an annoying voice,


“Please , no Candolim.” 


“Hahah..We would rather like to stay in the resort only ,watch a movie or go to the swimming pool.” Mom giggled and replied.


I had started hating that Candolim word.I agreed with mom.I would like to spend the time watching a movie rather than going to Candolim.


“Ok...Ok..As you like.” Dad said and he stood up to go to the washbasin.


Dad left for work soon. Mom collected the leftover food and threw it in the dustbin.I switched the TV on and lay on the bed.Mom then went to the balcony.


After a few minutes, I heard the vibration sound of her phone.I searched for it.I found it under her pillow. I looked on the screen.It was showing - Pratap ji.


“Mom...Pratap uncle’s call..” I shouted.


She came into the room from the balcony and almost snatched the phone from my hand.


“Hello..” She answered while standing near the bed. 


“No..I’m in the room...Nothing...no..no...He left….ok….ok...fine…five minutes...ok..” That was all I could hear while she was speaking to Pratap.


She cut the call and threw the phone on the bed.She looked at me with a broad smile on her face.


“What happened?” I asked her, smiling back.


“We are going with him. Just change your clothes..hurry up..He told me to come down within five minutes. He will be waiting there.” She said and then started to take out our clothes from the bag.


She hurriedly took her clothes and went to the washroom to change.I changed my clothes in the room itself and then sat on the couch. After a few moments She appeared rushing out from the washroom .She was  wearing light blue skinny jeans and a gray plain T shirt. She then stood in front of the mirror and wore big round earrings in each of her ears.Then she hurriedly tied her jet black hair into a ponytail with the help of a black colored hair band.She then sprayed the perfume all over her front side and sprayed some on her underarms also. She then applied red colored lipstick to her lips.She stared in the mirror for some moments and then turned sideways to the mirror and again glanced in it, turning her head.


“Mom...Five minutes are over..aren’t we late?” I asked her while she was still observing herself in the mirror, standing sideways to the mirror.


“Yeah..Let’s go.” She hurriedly took her phone from the bed and put it in her pocket.
We went downstairs and found Pratap waiting near the gate of the resort. He was standing while leaning backwards on the seat of a parked Activa with his hands folding.I was surprised to see that he had rented Activa instead of hiring a car.


“Hey...you look great.” He unfolded his hands and stood straight and said while looking at mom when we approached him.


“Thanks.” mom replied shyly.


“Let’s go.” He sat on the steering and turned the vehicle on.


I sat behind him and my mom sat behind me.I put my hands on my thighs.Mom put her right hand on my right shoulder and she put her other hand on her thigh.It was pretty congested.I was almost smashed between them.Also uncle had a height of almost six feet so all I could see was his back.I had to turn my head sideways so that I could see on the road.Mom was also sitting very close to me.Her thighs were touching my thighs and I could feel warmth and softness of her body on my back.


“Where are we going?” She asked Pratapwhile on the way.


“Aguada.” He replied , concentrating on the road.


“Ohh..Ok.” Mom said.


“It’s not very far from here.So I decided to rent two wheeler.” Pratap said.


“Hmmm….Where is Sumit and company?” Mom asked him.


“They left for south Goa early in the morning. I didn’t go. Didn’t want to be Kabab mein Haddi.” He replied.


Within ten minutes we reached at aguada.Pratap parked the vehicle near the gate of the fort and then we entered it.It was a huge and spacious fort. There was a huge open space and  a pathway leading to the main building of the fort from the gate.There was wild grass on both sides of  the pathway.


We started walking on the sandy pathway.Mom walked on the left side of Pratap uncle and I was on the left of my mom.So she was in the middle of me and uncle.It was a majestic view.I looked here and there.


“The Portugese built it.” Pratap spoke.


“Hmmm...Look at that wild grass. Can’t we maintain it into a beautiful garden?” Mom said looking at the unkempt grass that was as big as my height.


“That’s the point,” Uncle replied.


Soon we reached the rocky stairs that lead to the lighthouse area and main area of the fort.There were a lot of tourists roaming around and taking pictures and selfies with their camera and their mobile phones. I started climbing the stairs with two steps in one go.Mom and uncle were following me.


“Hey..Watch out.Take a single step at a time. ” Mom shouted from behind me.


“It’s ok , Mom.” I stopped and answered her while looking back at them.


“Yeah, She’s right , boy. Stair’s steps are broken.You may get slipped.” Uncle warned me. I saw they were a few steps behind me and climbing the stairs while holding each other’s hands.


“Ok.” I said and started climbing calmy. My excitement almost evaporated when I saw them holding each other’s hands.That was a strange thing.Even I didn’t know its reason.


Soon we entered a huge vacant area with a great white-colored lighthouse in the middle of it.


“Majestic.Isn’t it?” Uncle said while looking at the scene. 


“Yes.Nice view.” Mom replied. 


I saw they were still holding hands.We roamed all over the place.The fort was built on a high place and there was a sea on it’s other side. There were some gaps in the railing of the fort.


“It was an important defensive port for the Portuguese.They used to control the sea traffic from here.” Uncle said while looking at the open sea. We were standing near the lighthouse.I stood beside mom.


“Hmm…” Mom replied.


“Why are there gaps in the railing?” I asked curiously.


“The Portuguese used to keep Cannons there.” Pratap clarified.


“Ohh..” Now I understood what its purpose was.


“Let’s sit there” Pratap pointed his finger to a rocky place and said.


We went there.We had to climb a few steps again.Then we sat on the edge of that place, facing at the lighthouse.Again mom sat on the left side beside uncle and I sat beside mom. Although there were many tourists, they seemed too few due to the fort’s vastness.There was a calmness in the atmosphere with cool winds touching our skin.


“I think it is as big as a ten storied building,” Pratap said while looking at the lighthouse.


“Hmmm...I think so. I wonder how they managed to build such a huge structure in the water in the old time?” Mom spoke calmly looking at him.


I was feeling bored.It was a boring place.Nothing was exciting about it.


“Hmmm.I heard many laborers died during its construction.” Uncle said.


“Accidents always happen in major construction sites. Last year there was an accident at the site where my husband worked.He was a chief engineer of that project and was supervising it.A crane crashed.So two laborers were seriously injured but thank God, they didn’t die.My husband was standing close to the crane so he also got hit by an iron rod on his hand.” Mom was speaking and uncle was silently listening.


“It hit exactly here.His bone was cracked.” Mom stretched her right hand and pointed to a place on it with the finger of her left hand.


Uncle caught her right hand in both of his hands and caressed her fingers with his thumbs and said,


“Did you get a manicure?” 


“Yes.A manicure and pedicure, just on the previous day of our flight.” She replied.Her hand was still in the hands of Pratap.


“Your nails are short. Don’t you like long nails? It looks beautiful on women.” Pratap asked.


“Yeah, I like it but it causes inconvenience while working on a computer.” Mom replied.


“Hmmm.It’s obvious.What else do you like? I mean what’re your hobbies?” Pratap asked her.He entwined fingers of his right hand on the backside of her right hand and put his left hand around her waist.


Mom didn’t give any response to it.She ignored his gesture.I felt a strange melancholy in my heart when I saw it.I didn’t know why I was not liking him touching my mom like that.


“Mumma, when will we go from here? I’m really bored.” I asked mom.I was really very bored and I wanted to go from there.


“After sometime.” Mom looked at me  and then put her hand on my back.


“So Shweta, What are your hobbies?” Pratap again asked her.


She turned her face again to him but her hand was still on my back.


“I like to read, to watch movies but where’s the time for hobbies…?” She sighed and replied.


“What are your hobbies?’ Mom again asked Pratap putting weight on ‘your’.


“I like to drink and gamble. I'm a foodie also” Pratap replied.


She put her hand that was on my back to her mouth and started giggling.


What the hell was so funny in it? I thought.


“No seriously..I mean it. I’m very fond of drinking and playing cards.” Pratap insisted.


“You're a bad guy…”Mom slapped his thigh with her left hand which was free.


“Ouch...you…” Pratap moved his left hand that was on her waist and tightened the grip.He then caught her left hand with his left hand.


That was it.I could not tolerate more of that nuisance. I stood up from my place and said in a rather loud voice,


“Mom, I want to go.”


They looked at me.Then mom said realizing I was really very bored there,


“Of course, Let’s go.” 


They also stood up.When we were about to move, a couple approached us. They seemed newlywed as the girl had henna prints on her hands.


“Excuse me, Can you take a pic of us?” The guy asked us to take their pic. 


“Sure.” Pratap took the camera from the guy’s hands and said.


The couple stood with the lighthouse behind their back. That guy put his hand around the waist of his wife.Pratap then took a few snaps of them. They asked Pratap to take a pic that includes the whole of the lighthouse in the background.So Pratap took a few steps backward and adjusted the camera and took the pic. He then handed the camera to the guy.


“Thanks.” That guy thanked Pratap.


“Wait.Take our pics also.” Pratap took his mobile out from his pocket.He turned the camera on and gave his mobile phone to him.


“Yes, why not.” That guy politely said and took the phone. 


We stood on the same spot with the background of that lighthouse as that couple was standing a few moments before. I stood in the middle of my mom and uncle. That guy took the snaps and then Pratap said,


“Wait.Let us change our positions.”


Then he took a few steps on his side so there was some space between me and him.Then he looked at mom and said,


“Shweta, Now you stand here.” 


Mom moved and stood in the middle of Pratap and me.


“Ready?” That guy asked.


“Yes.”Uncle replied. I  saw Pratap’s hand on the waist of mom.Mom put her hand around my shoulder.


He took a few pics of us and then gave the phone to Pratap. Pratap thanked him and that couple moved away. Pratap started seeing the pics in his mobile. Then he gave his phone to my mom and asked her to take pics of him and I. Mom moved some steps back with Pratap’s mobile in her hands. I was standing beside him.He put his hand on my shoulder while mom took our pics.I absolutely hated that. 


Then mom came near us. Pratap took the phone from her hands and said now it was our turn for a picture. He went on the same spot where my mom took our pics and instructed my mom to stand behind me.She moved behind me and put both of her hands on my shoulders. Pratap showed his thumb, indicating it was a perfect pose and took some pics of me and my mom.


He then came to us and said,


“Take it Aman.” He gave his mobile to me. I understood he wanted me to take pics of him and my mom.


I had no option but to take that mobile.I looked on the screen and took some steps back till all of their heights were covered by the lens of the camera.


Pratap simply stood beside my mom.I took the pic and I was about to move but he asked me to stay there. Pratap then moved closer to mom till his upper arm was touching the shoulder of my mom and then put his arm on her waist, exactly on the waistband of her jeans.He then gestured thumbs up and asked me to take the pic which I did.


“Let's do another style. Let’s do the Titanic style.” Pratap looked at mom and said.


“What? No.It’s really embarrassing. It’s cheeky.” She protested.


“Please..only one shot..” Pratap insisted and went behind my mom without waiting for her reply.


“Now stretch your hands wide..”Pratap told her. 


She chuckled and stretched her hands hesitatingly.Pratap moved closer to her and stretched his hands and put his hands on hers.He put his chin on her shoulder and asked me to take the pic.


I just took the pic without caring how it looked.


“Hey...not like that.Whole of the lighthouse should be covered in the background” Pratap said while still standing like that.


I adjusted the camera but could not cover its height.


“Take a few steps back and sit.” Pratap instructed.


I moved a few steps back and sat on my knees with his mobile in my hands. It was perfect.Whole of the lighthouse could be seen in the background. I looked on the screen to take the pic but I saw he was saying something in my mom’s ear and she was smiling.First time I realized that his feet were touching my mom’s feet and he was standing real close to her back.


“Ready?” I asked them.


They looked at me and I took the snaps.


Then we left the fort.We sat on the Activa as earlier.I was in the middle and mom sat behind me while Pratap drove it.