After spending the first day in Mumbai making beautiful memories and experiencing myriad colours of life, the second day was a home-stay. We had balanced out the itinerary by interspersing some rest time in between exploring the city. It is a different matter that stay-at-home days were not entirely within the four walls. Adjacent to sister’s home were two malls, Infinity and Inorbit, which became sort of my second home. Jump out of bed and hop into a world of flashy showrooms, big brands, window shopping and cafes. Ironically, evening walks lead dad and me straight to food courts to explore eating options, which proved to be disappointing though.
One such evening at the mall was something like this, with a cousin adding to the family bonding time.
Another day, another mall adventure. It was a typical girls’ day out (with sister) where shopping topped the chart and some gifting options to be picked for friends and family back home.
The remaining time was spent binge watching movies and shows on Netflix with no care of the world. Food was ordered at least once a day, tea times became more frequent, and conversations came in abundance. Such days are rare and cherished. More than anything, it was the pleasure of seeing mom and dad having long stretches of free time on their platter. For the first time, super busy parents were bereft of household responsibilities, leaving them with a mix of emotions. Sometimes relieved, sometimes unproductive.
No care of the house, and the maids, and the maalis; no feeding the cows, and the sparrows, and the dogs; no supervision of house security, or locking main gates at night, no more tension of ensuring if the lights are off, the water motor is off, the switches are in order, the plumber needs to be called, etc, etc.
So what did they do? Binge watched “Zindagi Gulzaar hai” and loved it too. Parents, uninterrupted free time and binge watching, all three are antonyms. Just like the two ends of the sea they never meet. But parents nevertheless got introduced to the concept, which needless to say, was more of a compulsion for them than a choice. All I have seen them do is making sure life flows smoothly for everyone in the family. In these 15 days, sis and I made sure the tables turned for once and they got to experience the pleasure of good hospitality.
Next on the cards was a visit to Khandala, which was not what I had expected. Why? In the next travel post. Sleepy now. Good night. May you all nurture beautiful dreams and get to live your dream-life!