It was the summer of 1987, I think. My cousins had come visiting us in Madras (now Chennai) from Coimbatore. My dad decided to take an impromptu day off from work and take us to the beachtown of Mahabalipuram. The town is famous for its UNESCO world heritage site of stone monuments built in the 7th and 8th century and also a beautiful lighthouse and beach. My mom had to go to work and was disappointed that she could not join us. So she left to work and we four kids and my dad left to the city's main bus stand to take the bus to the Mahabalipuram.
We had a blast that day, climbing the stone monuments, up the lighthouse, visiting the beautiful shore temple and then finally the beach. We were all a couple of shades 'browner' than our usual selves and then the uncomfortable bus ride back in wet clothes. Perfect day!
As soon as we came home, we could smell something delicious being fried in oil! My mom was home and she was making murukku, a tasty rice and lentil deep fried snack. And she had tall cold glasses of mango milkshakes waiting for us as well! What a fitting end to a great day... But wait, why was mom home at 3:30 in the afternoon... She was supposed to be at work.
So when mom went to work that morning and her on-duty manager found out that she was missing out on the family outing, he gave her the day off. Mom's office was close to the main bus stand and so she rushed over to find us but in vain. So instead, she went home, relaxed a bit and started making our snacks and milkshakes.
That's what my mom told us... but in my mind I picture the whole scene like it is out of a movie... my mom, in her saree, with her long braided hair and her handbag propped on one shoulder... walking, running around in that sprawling bus stand that was a maze of diesel smoke spewing, horn blaring, idling busses, her eyes scanning for her family near the ticket counters, shops... looking up to the bus windows to see if we were seated inside. How happy she must have been when she got the day off and how disappointed she must have been when she could not find us. We compared times and figured out that my mom came to the bus stand minutes after our bus left.
I have mixed feelings about that day... very sad about my mom not being able to join us in spite of her having the day off. But we were famished after the hot day out. If I close my eyes even now and think about that day, I find myself in that G-40 kitchen and I can still taste the crunchy murukku and the cold mango milkshake in the red and yellow 'Yera' glasses. If my mom had found us in the bus stand that morning, we all would have come back to a home sans murukku and milkshake.... So....
