17 years later

17 years later 

I have lived in London ever since I can remember things. I have spent my life here. This is my home. My friends and family are here. This is my life. But I never thought I would go back there. I would connect to the places there and decide to live there for the rest of my life. Something unexpected happened and my life took a turn. Read on and find out. 

Hello. I am Avi; Avinash Agarwal; and this is my story. 

I live in Westminster, London. I live with my dad Ajit Agarwal and my mom Anju Agarwal. They are my world. Life is pretty awesome. I live in a beautiful house, have a cool bunch of friends ; Ben, Amy, Sanju and Rey and drive one of the most sexy cars. I have a girlfriend Sam and we are serious about our relationship. It is pretty much a dream life. My college acads are good and I would graduate this year as an architect. That's what I wanted to always be, as a kid. 

12 Dec 2017 

I was in a hurry to leave. Sam had called me 17 times already and was damn pissed about me being late. As I was leaving, my parents, both doctors wanted me to have breakfast. I explained to them but in vain. You just can't argue with a doctor and justify why you missed breakfast. It's just not possible, and if they are your parents; god bless you. 

I grabbed my toast and drank the whole glass of juice in a gulp and left with my keys. My parents were not too happy but they seemed okay. As I picked Sam, she soon started blasting me with her iconic tantrums and I like every other boyfriend was listening. We reached the college gate.  Sat in the canteen. I took out a tissue paper and wrote "I love you" and passed it on to her with the rose I just plucked while we crossed the garden. She smiled. Girls get happy at the simplest things. We had coffee and soon left for class, she to the psychology building and I to the design building. My gang waited outside the building and we walked upstairs and cracked jokes. 

It was just another day for all of us until 1:37 when my phone received a notification. It was from mom. She doesn't really text me. What is it? I thought. But the text flashing on my screen without unlocking my phone made me lose my breath for a second. I read the text again and again. I walked out of the class and called her. " Mom!! What is this?! Why?! Like why?! " I think I screamed. "Avi, it's your grandmother. Your grandfather has passed away and we are flying back to India. You know we haven't been there in the last 16 years. She called your dad herself today. He has booked the tickets and he wants you to come. And it's not as if we are shifting for life. So stop ranting and come back  home straight after class. Tell Sam as well. She might get pissed off if you tell her a second before you board the plane ". My mom is a sarcasm queen. She knows Sam since our childhood days, she's a family friend's daughter. My mom adores her but never fails to tease me with her name. " Fine. I will". I admit. I don't want to go. Before you judge me, let me tell you some flashback story. 

Flashback, Dec 1994

My parents are from Rajasthan. There they have this whole cast system which is to be followed religiously during marriage. My parents are from different castes. They studied at the same college. They fell in love. Both my parents families are influential but they wouldn't even think about marriage in other caste. Not even if it is for the sake of  happiness of their children. Not only that, their respective families have these rouges and all. They are into killing people and cover it up under the name of real estate. No points to guess, my parents were afraid to confess their love and ran away. They flew from Mumbai to London with all they had. Both being doctors, they provided me the best life. My parents used to receive calls from both sides asking to divorce and come back till a year. After that, there came just a letter. 

_________________________________________

15 Feb 1996 

Ajit & Anju, 

This is the last time you are hearing from us. If you take a divorce and come back, we will be happy to accept you. But if you don't, you better forget that you ever had a family. Never try to contact us again. You would be dead in our eyes. 

Balraj Agarwal 

_________________________________________

This letter shook my parents. They were stronger than ever. My mom was pregnant with me when my parents wrote this letter to them. That's the last time they ever had a communication. 

_________________________________________

24 Feb 1996 

Mom & Dad

We promised each other that we would be each other's rock and stay together for the rest of our lives. We do not intend to be separated at any point. We respect you and your decision. Wish your blessings. 

Anju & Ajit 

_________________________________________

Even as they wrote this, we visited India when I was 6. I have no idea how the trip went, but I know that we stayed in a hotel for a couple of days and my grandparents closed the door on my parents and didn't let us in. We flew back after trying a lot and honestly, my dad gave up hope of any reconciliation.  

So it's been since that day that my parents haven't spoken to their parents and now after 16 years, all out of the blue, they received a call from my grandmother who asked them to pay a visit and be present in the rituals of my late grandfather. My dad got emotional. He booked the tickets and we had to leave. I know nobody. Like literally nobody. And it doesn't mean to me as well. I was just going for a couple of weeks so I guess it will be a trip like the other trips that we have taken to Miami or Croatia. Just the difference : "This will be awkward." 

 We went. Not the warmest welcome but surely was better than we expected. To my surprise, our extended family was so big and every person who even seemed to have the slightest genetic relation with us was here. And they had a habit. INVOLVE. They would involve themselves in every possible thing they could irrespective of what relevance they had around it. I stood there naively smiling at my relatives, rather strangers. 

But yes, I had never seen my parents happier than before. After the rituals, we stayed about 17 days and that's the happiest I have seen them. They missed these people. I missed my girlfriend. I wondered what was Sam doing. After a long spent 22 days, we decided to leave. I took a breath of relief. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I hated so many people around me. 

We flew back to the UK and resumed in our lives. I saw a lot of changes in my parents' routine. They made a video call or Skyped in every few days to our relatives. I was happy for their new found happiness but watched it from a distance. 

25 July 2017 

A call. Again. Tickets booked again. A wedding it was this time. "Noooo!!!!" I said as I sat on the chair across my mom. " I am not coming. You guys go and have fun. I am happy here." " Avi, Don't be unreasonable. You don't understand how important it is to have family support. They-" " I live with my family in London. I don't really care who they are. This is our home." I cut her in between. "Avi, we are not asking you, we are informing you." said my dad, as calmly as ever. " You will understand the value of family when the 2 of us are not there". " Don't say that. Ever. " I gave the 2 of them a tight hug. " Let's go then". 

This time was better than the last time. I started small talks. The wedding was grand. The couple was beautiful. I imagined me and Sam in a church in London. How beautiful! I dreamt. The wedding was over and this time, I had fun. I liked it. But, not over London. Any day. 

A few more trips we made. Each trip got better. I made a few acquaintances. They were good to me. I started attending the video call sessions. 

In a few years, I married Sam. Some close family members flew to London to be on the day. My dad wanted to have the wedding in India, but we managed to persuade him to have the ceremony here. We were blessed with a baby girl. We named her Amyra. We took her to India when she was one. She seemed quite comfortable with the people and overall the whole trip. My parents were so happy. 

July 2046

Now we make trips around once a year. My dad passed away from a heart attack and my mom too was not keeping well. She passed away a few months later. I miss my parents every day of my life. I love them the most and I wish they were here with me physically, though they are always there in my heart being my guiding light. Amyra likes visiting our extended family in India. She enjoys the trip and cherishes memories. 

Now, I understand what my parents meant that day when they said I would understand the value of extended day when my parents were not around. I literally think of how my parents kept themselves same throughout my upbringing. It is difficult to take in the fact that you have no one. I still have a bit of complexity but I am happy that my daughter will never have one. She loves her whole "family".