Chapter 4
THE CONVERSATION
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THE CONVERSATION
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The day had turned out good and it was all smiles on Samaira's face
while she walked on the stairs back home. She was happy and was excited
to share her London plans with her dearest father. And she could see him
standing in the balcony waiting for her.
The door got opened without a need to ring the doorbell.
"Congratulations dear, and I am very happy that you finally decided to
go to London. I am all excited for you or should I say I am even more
excited than you"
"Thanks dad, but I am a bit nervous as well"
"Nervousness is natural as I know it's going to be your first
opportunity to showcase your leadership skills on a global platform. But
then you have been a winner always and I am confident that you will do
great even this time"
Samaira gave back a confident smile to her
father; but there was something else which was going on in her mind. Her
mind was still not at peace. So many thoughts and she was struggling to
find an answer.
"You settle down first and we will wait for you on the dinner table"
Samaira instead of going to her room, went straight to the kitchen and
hugged her mom from behind. She sat on the kitchen slab while her mom
was getting the dinner ready.
Kitchen is one of the places in the
house where not only the food is cooked but it's also a place where lot
of close mother-daughter conversations happen.
"Did dad tell you about my London plan?"
"Yes he did and he is very happy for you, I heard him talking about the
same to some of his friends as well over the phone. You know your dad,
he has this habit of boasting and he rarely misses a chance to do this,
specially to all those people in his life who carried a sympathy for him
that he never had a son. Time and again he proves to them that his
daughter is the best in this world"
Her mothers words brought a
smile on Samaira's face and she was happy that she had been successful
in making her dad feel proud. She somehow missed her mom's happiness and
she could understand that her mom wasn't that happy.
"Yes I know mom, he does this time and again but for me it's fine. And what about you? Are you not that happy?"
"Nothing like it Samaira. Even I am happy for you."
With a short break she again spoke "Samaira, you must be tired, you
join your dad on the dinner table and I will be there in few mins"
Samaira once again hugged her mom and was out on the dinner table.
"Dad, what happened to mom, she doesn't feels so happy or excited"
"She is happy but equally worried for you as you will be travelling all
alone on an international trip for the first time. May be just like all
those film star moms, she too wants to join you but she doesn't knows
that I will never let this happen. Don't tell her but it's always
difficult for me to manage my bits when she is not around" he laughed
loudly.
Samaira joined the laughs "Come on dad, I understand your
jokes, I know how much you love her and you never miss any opportunity
to make her feel special"
"Yes there lies her confusion. She
cannot leave me alone and she is worried for you as well. But don't
worry and I will make her understand. You should right now focus on the
preparations and should not take this lightly. It's going to be a big
platform for you and you have to give your best shot"
"Yes dad, I will definitely make you feel proud once again"
The dinner was a quick one for the family. Samaira's mom was most of
the time silent as she was busy in her thoughts and her dad was as
always trying to make the environment light by cracking his jokes.
Samaira came back to her room and started thinking about the drive back
home with Ronir. She found him to be a nice person but was still
confused. She wasn't ready to accept this change in her life so quickly.
She still had those memories from the last 5 years and it wasn't easy
for her to come out of that failed relationship. A relationship which
she felt was perfect at one point in time and she had always tried to
give her best. She was still struggling to find an answer on why it
ended this way. She was scared as well to think on starting a new
chapter. She was busy in her thoughts while she heard a knock on her
door. She opened the door and she saw her dad standing with two cups of
coffee.
"Can we have a cup of coffee if you are not too tired?"
"Sure dad, I always love these coffee talks with you. But where is mom"
"You know this is her TV serial time and I don't want to disturb her. I
don't know what she finds in these TV serials. At times I feel that
there is more politics which goes around in these family soaps in
comparison to our parliament" he laughed
"But dad I have seen you watching these TV serials as well with so much interest so you cannot blame only mom for this"
"You caught me so I surrender and I suggest that we should make these
TV serials as part of the course curriculum in schools as well" he again
laughed
"Now that is too much dad. Anyways, nice coffee as always. And I know I will miss this in London"
"So how are things otherwise in office. Hope all well?"
"Oh yes, it was a busy and hectic day with so much of pending work but I
am happy I was able to finish most of it" Samaira answered and she knew
that her dad saw her from the balcony getting out of Ronir's car. Same
side, she also knew that her dad had always respected her privacy and
never pushed her to share things in a hurry. This fantastic quality of
him has always made her feel comfortable in discussing her bits with him
as he always treated her as his friend.
"Can I ask you something dad? I am a bit confused"
"You don't need a permission, feel free and go ahead"
"I am confused that is it only me who is not able to understand the
male mind. I mean, the world calls the females as mysterious
personalities but for me females are the most simple to understand. To
me on the contrary, males are difficult to understand as they rarely
express themselves openly. Infact, we females always express ourself in
different ways. We never try to hide and our exact state of mind always
comes out in our expressions or moods or tears. I feel it's so easy to
understand us but it's not a bit easy to understand what's going on in a
boy's mind, they are unpredictable. It's difficult to develop a trust
in a confused state of mind and I am totally confused right now"
Her father was an intelligent person to understand her daughter's worries and was ready to do his best to clear her confusion.
"Look dear, I understand where you are coming from. I cannot deny your
point completely as you are right in some way. While I agree that males
rarely express themselves openly but has anyone tried to understand the
reason behind that. In my opinion, it all goes back to the way we bring
up our kids. Unfortunately we have put different set of standards for
boys and girls. We never tend to question a boy even if he does anything
wrong whereas the girls are questioned for the simplest of the things.
Our over pampering of boys is a reason of they developing an ego and
they start thinking that they are right in all their thoughts. Why in
the same family, only a sister is questioned on coming late while it's
acceptable for her brother to have a night out. In a way, it's our
upbringing which makes males develop a superiority complex and they
never feel like they should ever be questioned for anything. And since a
boy is never questioned by his own family, when he turns into a man and
moves out he expects the same special treatment from the females
outside. I know this thought needs a change and I can see it changing
though it's a slow change. Our society is changing and I am positive and
let me tell you that not all boys are the same."
"Dad, I wish
this happens soon but as of now it seems to be far from reality and
don't know when we will have this ideal world."
"I know what you
are wishing for and I am confident that you will have someone good
coming in your life soon. And remember I am always there with you and
for now simply focus on your preparations for London"
"Love you dad and I know you and mom are always there with me"
Next few days were even more hectic for Samaira as there was so much to
prepare for London. The only thing which was sad was that she wasn't
able to find Ronir in office. Her eyes looked for him daily but she was
hesitant to enquire about him; she was thinking if all was well at his
end.
Finally the day came when she boarded the cab to the
International Airport. Her mom was much better placed and she happily
joined her dad to drop her at the airport. Samaira was happy that her
dad had taken away all her mom's worries.
She hugged both of them at the airport.
"Do take care of yourself Samaira and keep informing us about your bits"
"I will mom"
Samaira's dad once again hugged her and whispered in her ears "Don't
worry too much about the calls, I will handle your mom. You concentrate
on your work, do your best and best wishes"
"Love you dad, you are the best"
After clearing the security, she stood in the queue to board the aircraft. Suddenly she heard some known voice from the back"
"Hi Samaira"
It was none other than Ronir standing behind him with the boarding pass for the same flight to London.
"Hey Ronir, where have you been all these days, hope all well and I
wasn't aware that you too are going to London" her flurry of questions
had again started and the happy smile was back on her face.
"Yes all well, will tell you in detail, what's your seat number" Ronir looked at her boarding pass.
Was it just a coincidence that they both had adjacent seats. The flight
to London was an 8 hour long and since she never used to sleep during
the flights, she was earlier a bit worried on how she would pass her
time.
But after looking at Ronir's boarding pass she knew that
this flight is going to be an interesting one for her. Deep down inside
she was waiting to hear the humorous talks from Ronir and she was really
looking forward to the trip.......to be continued
