That gnawing in your tummy, that feeling of loss, well its over now ladies and gentlemen. Kenny is back, she is in the house, shouting from the rooftops and such like. Been up to a lot, and at the same time, not much, if you know what I mean.
The past week I was in, gasp, hold your breaths, the sunny shores on the west-end of that godly country, USA. Yup, was in California. It was fucking freezing. Seriously. I wore my thick fat Boston winter coat (did not line it with a fleece like I would in Boston, but still..). I mean I guess my adipose is still not adequate compensation for the six years of Mumbai's sweltering heat. The body just cannot handle sub-20 (Celcius!) temperatures! But weather apart, it was a ton of fun. I mean, whats not to like? Geeks pouring out of the woodwork, a smooth room at the Hyatt, re-runs of Seinfeld, Foster's beer (I was aiming for a Guiness of course but lacked the company somewhat), and my brand new wardrobe of clothes.
For the first time in a million years, I just let myself go. I was all over the sessions, collaring gents in between sessions to blather about my work, and using my hands to full advantage to drive home a tricky point about how on earth the process works at the core, you know, on a molecular level. I made the ultimate joke to start off my presentation, the one about the tall order for a short person (which was perfectly right for my geek audience), and generally felt on top of the world despite wearing flats. Nice flats, mind you, not the dorky Nike Hawai Chappals that I normally sport.
Oh yeah, I met two dear friends at the end of the meeting and we abused each other hugely. Surely thats what good friends are for. We went to Venice Beach and I saw a segway. Also a whole bunch of Chihuahuas. Pardon me though cause I wanted to step on them. The dogs, not the vehicles. Nothing personal against the dogs, but really, they were kept warm and secure inside pink downy blankets, and, well, thats just not happening with me.
Motherhood-wise, I did great, up to a point. I did not pine away for the child or have unreasonable bouts of panic. I did not sit in a corner glancing at pictures of her on my mobile. Only had a small crying thing in the plane back when I realised that she had gotten herself sick again. She did real well the first few days, even winning her first medal in her creche, and chatting with me quite cutely on the phone, and generally spending quality time with her father and grandmom. But then she picked up an infection and then it was not so much fun for anyone. But I did not do anything crazy. Practised some more to let go. You know, what you cannot control, no point sweating over it. I was in a plane miles away. She was in good hands. Great hands. They both love her to pieces. In a way they probably looked after her better than I would have, you know, cause I tend to get impatient when she does not eat, and also scare her with my knitted brows when she throws up.
At the end of it, I am back, she is doing better now, I conquered jet lag (I think) thanks to setting a world sleeping record.. If I am doing the math right, I fell asleep in the airport in LA and, apart from a couple of hours in Frankfurt when I worked on slides for today, and the occasional aircraft meal, I slept for almost thirty hours. Did you say shopping? Ha ha. I bought knee braces for my husband and a couple of books for the kid. See, I have grown a lot now, none of that running off to discount stores or anything. The airline guys were zapped at how little luggage I had! As was the customs dude here in Mumbai. No regrets of course. Good to be back. Regular programming will now resume on this page....
