Miss you my Chota Bheem

We sat there, you and I. The platform was brimming with people, a tad more than usual. A huge group of girls were on a school trip to Hyderabad and their parents had come to see them off. Done with their sermons, the parents were absorbed in themselves waiting for the train's departure. The girls equally oblivious of their parents' presence were chirping away to glory. Suddenly one of them would remember something, and would animatedly wave at their mom. A series of hand signalling accompanied with lip movement would then follow trying to mouth something and get it across through the thick glass window of the AC compartment. And then there was the usual deluge of other passengers, hawkers, and porters rushing through the crowd. You could hear the trains chugging in and out, the announcements, and that occasional whistle of a distant train over and above the din that was all around.
On any other day this would have started a chain of other thoughts in my mind. Today felt different. I was seeing all this, hearing everything yet nothing registered. I was lost. Lost in the thoughts of last ten months or so that I had spent with you. Of course we have been together, all three of us, you, me and mumma ever since you were born. But this time was special. Swathi joined for her course at ISB and we moved in with her. The hectic school schedule took most of her time and you and I got a lot of time together. You were growing up and were no longer that feeding and pooping baby. You were talking, absorbing the world around and asking questions. A lot of them! God how many questions you asked! Am not much of a talker you know. But with you I have spent long hours talking. Answering your questions mostly. Added up, that's perhaps only next to the time I have spent talking to your mumma. Yeah beat that! :-). I won't lie. I used to get tired answering sometimes. But God knows how much I love talking to you and listening to your cooked up stories. You are good at that too! You have this amazing gift of mixing facts with fiction. You will become a story teller some day I feel. Most of the talking that we did was during the travel. Be it the commute in car to your school or the long train journeys to and from Mumbai. How much I will miss dropping and picking you up! Those stories about your friends and teachers! And those never-ending "why's"!
You would want to play. Well obviously who at your age doesn't want to. Back in Bangalore, Mumma would take you down to play with other kids. I did the best I could and took you to the play-area at ISB. "Playeaa" - you call it :). Everyday after school, almost. The slides, the swings, the merry-go-round. First I would keep running behind you. But you are quick learner, smart, sporty and adventurous. You loved going there and I would love taking you there. Seeing you happy would make me happy. And I wanted to try and do all that mumma would have done for you. I had my limitations though. On other times, we would play at home. The cars, planes, puzzles, ball, your cycle and so many other toys that I am just blanked out right now. You would never get bored of the toys and would always want me for company. Again I won't lie to you. I would get exhausted. Even ignore you at times. But God knows how much I used to enjoy playing with you. And used to hate myself for not being able to give you enough company. Even here at Mumbai you loved going down to the park. Just today evening we played a game of cricket - well sort of - if you could call hitting a ball with a table-tennis sized bat that. How much I will miss playing with you! And the playeaa!
This was also the period when we watched a lot of TV together! Now mumma didn't like that but I know you were growing up and understood and appreciated it much more than you did earlier. I introduced you to spiderman and Richie-Rich and you introduced me to Ben10 and Chota Bheem. Chota Bheem! How much we have watched that together. We have spent hours watching the Chota Bheem stories. But I have to admit I got hooked to that as much as you did :). Chota bheem, Chutki, Raju, Jaggu, Kalia and Dholu-Bolu, we have spent many a evenings with them. You are so inspired, you have even started having the laddoos that aaji made here. You also became a huge fan of the Spider-Man! You loved watching that movie. So much so that you started living his character. You would tell Swathi things like "Am spider-man. I will fly and safe you!". (Yeah you can't say "save"). You almost scared us! And then there were movies. We watched many together, just you and I. Cars, Rio, The Smurfs, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in the Boots, we watched them all. How you would jump at the plan of watching a movie! And movie-going would never be complete without pop-corn and juice. And the pop-corn addicts that we are, we would gobble up not munch on the large packet. There would almost be a fight between us for the pop-corn :). And then you would want to go pee in the middle of the movie! You just had to. It would always be "coming immediately"! How much I will miss all that! My Chota bheem!
Feeding you has always been a challenge. You are such a slow eater. You would detest the thought and protest the attempt of feeding. Again I will be honest. Nothing else you did ever made me lose my patience as much as making you eat did. And you have received not one but several spankings from me. It used to be a war initially. Slowly I learned the tricks. Sometimes by telling you stories, sometimes while watching TV, sometimes running behind you and sometimes by force. Traumatizing as it might be, it was the part of my routine all these months. So much so that I would end up feeding you even when we used to go out... just out of practice. Who will I feed now? Who will I shout at?
Here I am at a threshold. Pursuing my research calling that requires me to stay away from you and mumma. Well hopefully not for long if mumma gets a job in Mumbai. But why do I feel that that won't happen? Why do I feel that it won't be the same with you after today? Not until I get out of school that is. And that is a good three years! Perhaps it's because what Swathi has been telling me all this time. That getting a job here seems improbable. Perhaps it's the demanding research work that I have undertaken. I don't know. I just know that I will miss you baby. A lot. These last few months have been the best times I have had with you. You have been such a darling. And there you go again... Sitting besides me, ready to leave anytime, you are bombarding me with your never-ending ammunition of questions!