Last night I bid goodbye to our daughter at the airport. Both of us hid our tearful eyes from each other as her much-cherished, two-week vacation came to an end, and she went back to the United Kingdom. Her life there involved juggling the responsibilities of her marriage, household and job, including all the office politics that accompanied it.
For the short span that she visited us, she only wanted to eat home-cooked meals and go for long walks. Every suggestion of dinner at fancy restaurants was turned down in favour of spending quiet evenings in our company.
She came prepared with a lot of questions and I was surprised to notice how carefully she listened to my guidance.
“Mum, how would you deal with this scenario or what would you do in that situation” were her recurrent queries. Some answers came easily but, for others, I had to delve deep into the recesses of my memory and recall what my own father or mother would have advised. And then I had to mould it to fit the present predicament and convey to her as gently as possible. Directing anyone, even your own children, towards fulfilling their obligations, is not easy.
My inner struggle must be visible to her because she kept trailing after me with a multi vitamin pill, urging me to swallow it each morning. Too polite to tell me that I was ageing, this was her way of showing concern towards my wrinkles.
“I worry about you Ma, you must look after your health,” she admonished me on a regular basis.
On the evening of her departure, as soon as we reached the check-in counter, we were told that her flight to London – by the country’s national carrier – was initially delayed, and then cancelled.
With the usual callousness that the ground staff displays towards all passengers, nobody came forward to offer any explanation. There was an option of flying immediately in a partner airline, but there was no availability in the class of travel that she had paid for.
The refund was to be requested at the customer care centre after the culmination of the journey, which was another way of saying that there would be no immediate reimbursement.
Our daughter had an important meeting that she was chairing in her professional capacity, and it was imperative that she reached her office the next day. However, she had purchased this club class ticket with her own salary, and she was not keen to travel in a downgraded seat for the length of her journey.
Her father, who was always looking for ways to extend her stay, was delighted with this new turn of events. Clutching her hand baggage, he wanted to head straight back to the car and drive us home. But this meant that she would definitely miss her official function, and I could visualize the mental battle that she was going through.
Always modest about her work, she was not vocal enough about the loss she would suffer, jobwise.
“Mom, what would you do?” she asked me suddenly.
“We have just 15 minutes to decide”, my spouse added unnecessarily.
“What would you do, Mom?” our daughter repeated, looking at me for guidance.
“If I were chairing such a prestigious event”, I paused for effect.
“I would take any available seat, even go standing in the aisle”, I told her.
“Right! Thank you! I’m going”, our daughter decided, hugging me goodbye.
