….,” Dad Said

It is one of those days, when you completely take your family for granted and don’t think twice before beeping them on their cell phones. With all friends gone and party over, I felt utterly lonesome and without thinking twice I shamelessly called up dad.

Well, one odd occasion when instead of dad catching you partying late, you catch him having a couple of drinks. “Well, son, we are just out catching up on a couple o drinks after completion of this project. You tell me what is new on your front. Heard you’ve been partying in B’lore over the last weekend.”

Well, I had been. I was awfully silent and said, “Sorry, dad, I’ll catch you later. Continue.” Huhhh, to my utter surprise (or maybe not) he said, “Stop giving me these candyfloss wrapped lines. Tell me what happened?”

“Nothing, just a lil lonely. Bored perhaps, I don’t know. Friends left, friends leaving. You know how it is.”

He sipped on his drink and said, “Remember, we used to go rowing and canoeing. Half way through, we would drop our ores and just lay calm in our canoes. You sometime would even close your eyes and lay down. When you opened your eyes and found your canoe drifted meters away from mine, you would get terrified and scream at me. As to how I could let it drift. Sooner or later, you got good at canoeing, you had no fear of the water and you grew comfortable with a bit of loneliness, and you were just fine. I don’t remember, you waiting for me to drop ores. I remember, even on stormy days just in the middle of June, you would go all alone canoeing.”

“This is how it is, two planks, two canoes – let loose in the sea, come closer and rub against each other for a while. But for how long they’ll stick on no one knows. It is just like that, row while you can, lay low when you are tired, make those waves your companions, you won’t be alone. As far as brushing against other canoe is concerned, it is just a tide away. Hold on.”

“Ok, Ba. I get it. You carry on. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Nite son.”

Neo