Hi All,
I am posting my new story here. Some of the characters here are from the old stories, so if you haven’t read them, you may be a bit confused :) I hope you enjoy this one.
Thanks,
Shalu
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Trip to Agra
The evening was getting cold when I reached home from office that day. There was a nip in the air of the approaching winter.
“Oh Guddi!”, said Mummy as she opened the door, “You reached just in time today. Just made tea.”
“Sounds good!” I said, saying ‘hi’ to Dadi and Dad who were sitting on the sofa with steaming cups in their hands, “Brr…its getting cold now”
“That’s right” said Dadi happily.
I always wonder why Dadi loves the winters so much, this is the time when her joint pains bother her the most. Mummy handed me a cup as I settled myself next to her, and tucked my feet under me. This is my favourite part of the day – back from office, sitting with my family and complaining about the traffic, bitchy colleagues, and unreasonable bosses. Yogi had not reached home yet but the rest of us talked about our day while enjoying the hot tea. I could feel a kind of suppressed excitement in the room, specially in Dadi.
“What’s up guys?” I asked finally.
Mummy grinned and looked at Dadi. Dadi grinned back. Dad spoke up.
“We have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
“Umm…bad.”
“Okay. Brace yourself. Maya, Arun and Tutu are coming.”
“NO!”
“Yes. Sad but true”, said Dadi.
“Damn!” I said and then saw Mummy’s frown and said, “Sorry! So what’s the good news?”
“Sunita, Jai and Sanjay are also coming for a week from London.”
That did cheer me up. I am as fond of Jai Chacha and Sunita Chachi as I am of Maya Masi and Arun Masa (I can just bear their company for a reasonable period of time). But Sanjay is my favourite cousin and also a very dear friend. We were quite close as kids, but a few years ago the whole family moved to London and our interactions became limited to occasional e.mails and phone calls. They still make yearly trips to India, and I guess this was another one.
“Oh good!” I said, “When are they coming?”
“Next Friday. So are Arun and Maya. So it will be a nice little reunion.” said Dadi happily.
I doubted it but nodded my head seeing Dadi’s enthusiasm. Any reunion where Maya Masi and Sunita Chachi come together was very unlikely to be ‘nice’. You all have already met Maya Masi. Just take her nastiness and add a dash of snobbishness and fake accent – and you get Sunita Chachi. Thankfully Jai Chacha is not as spineless as Arun Masa.
“Have you guys told Yogi about it yet?” I asked.
“No, not yet”, said Mummy, “Let him come home. Must be on the way now.”
“I will call him and check” I said and called up Yogi on his cellphone.
“Yes Guddi?” was Yogi’s answer.
“Are you in office?”
“No. Bumping away to glory in the office cab. Tell me.”
“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
“Umm…bad.”
“Okay. Brace yourself. Masi, Masa and Tutu are coming.”
“NO!”
This was like action replay.
“Yes. Sad but true” I said.
I heard a deep sigh. Then he said, “The good news better be good.”
“The London guys are also coming at the same time”
“Oh! Sanju is coming?”
“Yup!”
“That’s great! When?”
“Next Friday”
“Hmmm…..good….okay I will be reaching in another half an hour. We’ll talk then”, he rang off.
Continued......
