058 Journey (1)

Mom and dad woke up around 4 in the morning. I also woke up and went to the kitchen.

Mom and dad were busy cooking. Doodu was sleeping on the bench in the kitchen. That's his favourite spot. He would lay there as mom cooks.

"Achutti! Why are you awake so early?" Mom was surprised to see me awake.

I just smiled.

Mom tried to send me back to sleep and failed.

By 6, all of us were awake and ready. Dad visited Arjun's house and gave them the keys. Then, we started our journey to meet our grandpa.

Since the number of members in our family was increasing, dad had bought a new car. An Ertiga.

Dad and mom sat in the front. Piya and Pichu were safely 'stored' in the right seat of the middle seats. I and Anuchi somehow managed to sit on the right seat of the back seat. The left seats of the back and middle were folded to make space for Doodu. Dad complained that we will have to buy a bus or truck soon.

The journey was slow. Partially because of us kids and partially because of mom's motion sickness.

After an hour of driving, we reached the bald hills. Those were small hills on Vagamon without any trees or shrubs.

"Why are you selling tickets so early?" Dad was not happy with the boy who was selling tickets at the entrance.

"Sir, it is the policy from the tourism department. You have to take a ticket to enter. It's only 5 rupees and it's free for the kids." The boy replied politely.

"This is ridiculous! When I used to come here with her during our college days, the government was not here."

"But sir, now the tourists have increased so we have to spend more money to maintain the place." He replied.

"There was no need for any maintenance when we were coming here." Dad wasn't ready to give up. I don't understand it at all. The ticket charge was just the price of a raw egg. But dad simply didn't like the idea of paying money for something that used to be free.

"We?" Mom interjected.

"Huh? Yea. Don't you remember? We came..." Dad stopped in between. His face turned pale in an instant.

Mom glared at him. He averted his eyes. I struggled to hold in my laughter.

I understood what had happened. Dad had indeed come here many times before. But it wasn't with mom. It was with Lakshi aunty! In fact, this was dad's first time here with mom.

Mom was furious. I felt pity for dad.

"Hihihi..." A suppressed giggle came from the ticket boy. He too had guessed the situation.

"What are you laughing for?" Mom shouted at him.

"No-nothing. Ten.. ten rupees."

"Here." Dad stuffed a ten-rupee note in the boy's hand.

"Sir, sorry we do not allow pets or food inside." The boy continued with a wide smile.

He didn't say that before we bought the tickets. This dude deserves some serious spanking.

"So?" Mom glared at him.

"..." He didn't know what to say.

We entered the area. The boy at the entrance was scared off by mom. He didn't dare to stop us. Facing someone like our angry mom was far beyond his paygrade.

Once inside, we found a vacant area and settled down. Since it was early morning, there weren't many tourists.

Mom served us breakfast. It was porotta and chicken curry. Mom made the curry with boneless chicken to reduce food waste. As for porotta, it is a local flaky flatbread made from maida. It's different from parotta. We all loved it.

"Doodu, eat slowly." Mom patted Doodu's head as he poured more and more into his plate. He alone eats more than what we four eat together.

"Umm..." Doodu slowed a bit and continued eating.

"This... Pichu's."

"No. Piya's."

As usual, Pichu and Piya were bickering as they eat. I don't even understand why they were fighting. For the four of us, mom served breakfast on one plate. So we were free to eat whatever was on the plate.

Anuchi tore the porottas into smaller pieces for us kids. She also split the chicken pieces into smaller pieces. Over the past few months, Anuchi had slowly become an elder sister.

"There is enough for both of you. So shut up and eat unless you want a kick." Anuchi threatened the kids. It wasn't just a threat. She wouldn't give up an opportunity to legally kick someone.

Instantly, the kids stopped bickering and went back to eating.

In reality, Anuchi's way was more efficient than mom's way. Just to be clear, I hate it.

After breakfast, we started playing. For some time, we sat there and played with stones. Mom won't allow us to run around immediately after a meal.

After that, the four of us chased Doodu for some time. Then we wrestled for some time. It was fun.

The truth is that what we were doing were the same things that we would do at home. We weren't eating anything special or playing any new game.

Yet it was more fun.

This is why every family should regularly go on family picnics.

I looked at mom and dad.

They were sitting near the top of a small hill and watching us. Mom was hugging dad's arm and talking to him non-stop. He was watching us with a small smile on his face while listening to mom. This was a rare scene. With us four kids, they rarely get any time for themselves. I kind of felt guilty.

They looked like two teenage lovers.

I wanted to take a photo. But I didn't have a phone or camera and taking a photo was not possible without them noticing it. If they notice it, it would ruin the moment.

"They are a line." Anuchi giggled.

"What?" I didn't understand.

"Appa and amma, they are a 'line'." Anuchi repeated while suppressing her giggle.

I understood this time.

'Line' is an innocent term used by pre-teens and teens to say that two people are in love.

"Are you sure?" I played along.

"Umm..." She nodded vigorously.

"Hihihi..." Piya giggled.

"What are you giggling for? Little kids shouldn't listen to the adults talk." Anuchi kicked her away.

Pichu looked at us all cluelessly.

I wonder what mom and dad were talking about.

Mom could be complaining about how she gets less time with us because of her bakery.  Dad might be talking about the future of us kids.

We are truly blessed to have parents like them.

* * *

A husband and wife sat near the summit of a tiny bald hill. Four kids and an insanely large dog played at the bottom of the hill.

"I am growing more and more worried about Piya. She's growing up exactly like Anu." The wife complained.

"That's a good thing." The husband didn't share the same view as his wife.

"How is that good?"

"Well... She will be... bold and... intelligent." The man didn't know what the right way to answer was.

"I don't want bold. I want normal kids."

"Pichu is running too fast. He is going to fall." The man predicted.

"He won't."

"He will."

"Let's bet."

"Ten rupees if he falls within thirty seconds."

"Agreed."

Within seconds, the boy fell planting his face on the ground.

"I won!" The man was happy.

"Whatever."

"... Are we... bad parents?" The man asked slightly worried.

"Not at all." The lady replied without any hesitation.

"Ok."

"Now Anu is scolding him for waiting for someone to pick him up." The lady watched her other kids surrounding the fallen one.

"And she is threatening him with a kick if he doesn't get up."

"I don't think so. She looks worried. If he is hurt, then she won't kick." The lady knew their kids better.

"Is she a better parent than us?"

"... Definitely not. How can a seven-year-old kid be better than we are?" The lady replied. But this time, she wasn't that confident.

"I bet ten rupees that she will kick."

The man lost.

The kids picked up their fallen brother. They massaged his chin and knees. They all gave a small kiss on his knee. The little boy's face which was about to cry slowly turned happy.

Then the kids started playing hospital. They operated the boy. First, they opened his head and took out the kidney. Then they replaced the boy's knee with the kidney.

The operations tickled the boy. He started laughing and protesting. This only made his siblings excited. Soon, he was being ticked by all of them. He somehow managed to free himself from the evil clutches of his siblings and ran towards his parents.

Unfortunately for him, he was caught by his siblings. As for the parents, they pretended that they didn't hear his cries for help.

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