It was 9:30am.
The family was having breakfast. Priti poured out coffee for herself and the husband; and milk for sonny boy.
The family was having breakfast. Priti poured out coffee for herself and the husband; and milk for sonny boy.
The husband sat at the head of the table, reading news on his
smartphone, absently sipping his coffee. Sonny talked animatedly about the game
he had played with his friends this morning. He’d taken two wickets, he informed
them; and then all the boys had chatted, he said, sitting around on the lawn, sipping from
their water bottles, cooling off.
“What did you guys chat about” Priti asked.
“Oh, this and that,” sonny said. “Sharav saw that latest
Avengers movie this weekend, and he was telling us all about that. Sandy went
to watch the IPL match at the stadium yesterday, only to have the game
abandoned due to rain! But then he got to see what the groundskeepers did to
clear the rainwater and shit…”
“Language,”
“Sorry…”
Priti smiled. “What else?”
“Oh, you know Pranav? He went to this tea estate with his
family, and he took his bike with him to ride it when they were there…”
“Oh, nice…”
“Can we also go on vacation?”
“Oh, sonny, err… Dad has just started work for this new
client… you have seen he’s been working late these last couple of weeks…” Priti
began, only to be interrupted by the husband.
“Where do you want to go?”
It took her a moment to realise that her husband had
actually put his phone away, and was paying attention to the conversation
around the table! But even before she could feel happy about that, she was
shocked to hear the next words coming out of his mouth.
“How about we drive down somewhere?”
She stared at him astonished, as he shrugged
self-consciously, “What? This weekend is a bit free for me. I don’t mind going
away for a couple of days, actually,” he smiled. “We’ll have a great time
travelling together!” he said, beaming at her from across the table.
Priti sipped from her water glass, hoping her grimace would
be taken for a smile. What was it with
men and driving? Anytime the mention of a trip came up, the husband was
always ready to drive down to the place and back. Priti loved driving too; in
fact, she preferred to drive at least halfway on most trips as a rule, sharing
the driving (and any and every discomfort that came with it)…. so it wasn’t the
driving that worried her. But it was the fact that, when she drove, the husband
got so bored sitting in the passenger seat, that he actually dozed off! And Priti
had heard enough stories about accidents that occurred when passengers slept
off, leaving only the driver awake on long drives, to be scared out of her
wits!
“Hhmm….how about taking a train journey somewhere?” she asked
now, trying a different tack “That way we’ll have a great time travelling
together, and we won’t even have to
tire ourselves out driving! What say?”
But even as the husband ruminated on that, sonny boy chirped
up, “You know, Sandy was telling us about this cruise he went on!” he said. “It’s
so cool! Dad, can we go on a cruise? Can we?”
“Now, that’s something I would love to try,” the husband said.
“It’s soooooo cool, Dad! They have this pool room, and this
deck, where we can chill out; and there’s also…”
Priti loved their enthusiasm, she really did; but she was
terrified of cruises!
For one, she had never learnt to swim, (neither had the
husband); and being surrounded by nothing but water for as far as the eye can
see, bobbing into nothingness, was not her idea of a relaxed vacation. She had
watched Titanic, and Cast Away; not to mention Life of Pi! And while her sane mind told
her, that she was very unlikely to find a live Bengal Tiger on a cruise, or hit
a glacier in the Arabian Sea; she was still terrified of ending up in the water
for all eternity, with just a wooden plank to save her, if that!
Honestly, Priti was petrified! She was an out-and-out
urbanite. A city-dweller through and through.
She was even scared to go out in the
dark in her own backyard. She was more a daytime person. And also, a land person. How some people could eat,
drink, sleep, and enjoy bobbing up
and down on waves, was, honestly, a mystery to her. Oh yes, a cruise was an experience of a lifetime;
she’d heard it many times – but it wasn’t her cup of tea, thank you very much!
“What do you say, Priti?” the husband interrupted her morbid
thoughts, “wanna go on the cruise? Bobbing up and down….” he asked, with
twinkling eyes.
“Mmm…. a cruise would be expensive, no?” she tried to appeal
to the husband’s fiscal side, the twinkle in his eyes be damned!
But nothing was going in her favour today. And the husband
actually surprised her (again) by saying,
“Let me check.” And to her utter
dismay, went on to consult his phone for more insight. “The way I see it,” he
reasoned, “it should work out something close to plane tickets anyway, seeing
as we are thinking of last minute bookings….”
Priti sighed. So much for trying to appeal to his fiscal
side.
Truth be told, Priti loved vacations as much as the next
person. Only, her ideas of a vacation didn’t involve driving, or sailing… they
mainly involved flying or taking a train to some exotic location (yeah, yeah, Goa
was fine too!), where she could check into some resort and book spa
appointments for the duration of their stay. Where she could be pampered. Where
she could sit on some beach maybe – not swim, mind you, just sit – or relax in
a hammock and read to her heart’s content. Or visit some museum, or a botanical
garden and have a little picnic with her family. Basically, just relax.
And weren’t vacations supposed to be all about relaxation
anyway? Relaxation – as opposed to stressing out, or worrying – but none of her
vacations so far had been like that. Most of them involved visiting family, or
attending weddings of enthusiastic friends and family… None had involved a spa.
Nor the relaxed reading. Sigh!
Her reverie was broken when an argument broke out between
the husband and sonny boy about something.
“You don’t have to lug your bags around if you drive, is all
I am saying.”
“Luggage is just a small part of the trip, Dad!”
“For you, sonny boy! Because we carry it all for you…”
“But…”
“You know what? You are old enough now. From now on, you
carry your own luggage!”
“Whoa! Dad! I didn’t… What are you…? Mum! Say something!”
“Yeah, Priti, say something, you want to drive somewhere, or
take a cruise? Honestly, I am okay with anything,” said the husband,
contradicting the very argument he had presented to sonny boy a moment before.
“Mmm…” Priti decided to go out on a limb. (What was the
worst that could happen? Another vacation without a spa? She’d live.) “Could we
go somewhere with a spa and indoor pool or play area? Just… relax?” she ventured.
“Indoor?”
“Yeah, I am okay with that,” to her surprise, sonny boy
agreed! Maybe he thought he would have to lug his luggage around less that way.
“Okay with that?” the husband was incredulous. “Indoor
vacation? Really? If that’s all you want, then you might as well go play in the
club house in the next block! Why go anywhere at all?!” he put up his hands.
Sigh!
“But Dad…!”
“What?”
“Listen, guys…”
And on and on it went. About a vacation that wasn’t really going
anywhere.
Last heard, Priti was still trying to convince the husband for
a spa holiday (dangling the ‘couple massage’ as a bait… trying to appeal to the
twinkle in his eye, this time); and sonny boy was trying to impress Priti with
the ‘uber coolness’ of taking a cruise.
Once the family finally decides on their vacation (if, the family decides…) Priti is
looking forward to a relaxed (?) vacation that they can all enjoy. Maybe.
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