When I was two, my parents took me to the South of India to a temple town called Tirupati where there is a tradition of offering your hair to God Vishnu. It is common practise within Hindus to offer hair from their child's first haircut to
God as a gesture of devotion and good luck for the child. In my case it was Tirupati. I feel there was some sort of a divine intervention that made my father choose Tirupati as I am forever devoted and indebted to Tirupati Balaji.
Coming back to the story, before my trip to the Tirupati, I suffered a lot from allergies. On that particular trip I was very unwell and had high fever. I did not leave my mother for one second and refused anyone else to take care of me even though my grandmother and other relatives were with us on that trip. I must have made my mom's life very difficult on that particular trip, nevertheless, she took care of me and as I demanded, never left my side for one moment.
Recently, my Mom came to Vancouver, Canada to visit me and my husband as we have been residing in the city since 2018. Being a true nature enthusiast, a brilliant photographer and a Gold medalist graduate in Geology, she loved everything Vancouver and British Columbia has to offer. I got to spend six months with her. This is the longest I have spent with her since I left home in 2007. It will undoubtedly remain one of the best six months of my life.
We went to the places I love in and around Vancouver. I took her to Vancouver Island, showed her my University. It was an emotional and proud moment for both of us. My husband Arijit was like pillar of strength for both me and my Mom. As she has issues with her knee, we had arranged for a wheelchair for her and Arijit very gallantly obliged to all our tantrums. I thank Balaji every moment for the innumerable memories that we all made for a lifetime.
As her plane was on the runway preparing for take off, a strange feeling came over me. My eyesight became blurry with the tears which I had bravely held & hid from her while saying goodbye. Life has taken me to so many places since I left home. I have lived, worked, studied, learnt, lost & adulted in multiple cities/countries. The experiences I have gathered are precious and has made me much stronger in and out. I had thought up until that moment that nothing would make me vulnerable or weak anymore. However, in those fleeting few seconds watching my mom's flight take off, I wanted to run to her and tell her that inside I am still that two year old Mommy's Girl from all those years ago, who never wants to leave her side...ever.
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