Dear Love

5. This Room.

Myra:

Well for the rest of the night, I did my research on my soon-to-be school, Stephen's International High. My phone rang all of a sudden and after checking I saw it was Neha, and I picked up her call.

"Hello?" I said.
"What's up with you, are you back home?" she asked, and then we started catching up on each other's lives. Then i thought of dropping the news to her about me moving to Kolkata.

"You know what, I am moving to Kolkata for my schooling."

"It's Stephen's International High."
I said, while doing my bed.

"What!? Are you serious? That's my school!!!" She cried from behind the phone.

"I can't waittttt to meet you again. We will be the iconic besties, yayyyyy!" she said excitedly, to which I giggled and we chatted some more before she asked when was I moving.

"Next week" I mumbled. I had a lot of packing to do, a new chapter of my life was going to unfold , so I would do that with positivity. Then there was a shift of our topic, she started ranting about her daily life problems, her boyfriend, and everything in between.
I was so tired that before knowing when and how, I was almost halfway through sleep.

"Hello?.... hello?" maybe I heard her voice. Well I missed my room and the familiar sensation about it, also my comfy pillow, so I was already asleep before I could hang up the call.

the next morning ~

*Beep beep, beep beep*
The alarm rang at sharp 6 in the morning. Today I was moving to Kolkata, We have an evening flight. I brushed my teeth and my completed morning skincare and other necessities, then started putting my clothes and books in the suitcase.

"All done?" Maa asked from outside the room.

"Maybe, I will have to take another suitcase, all my books are not fitting in it." I said in a child's voice.

"No worries Mimi, we will send them to you." Papa laughed, coming to stand beside my mom.

My mom shook her head in a way that said i-can't-with-this-father-and-daughter.
She took few of my books from the suitcase and added more of the clothes.

I couldn't stop her because papa gave me that look and mouthed "don't worry about those books."

I sighed and went for shower. Finally when I came out of the washroom, all my luggage was packed and before I knew it was already 5:30 p.m. in the evening. Weird how time passes so smoothly and so fast. We boarded and then i decided on taking up the window seat. We were travelling in first class economy and I saw a guy quite clearly visible from my seat, reading novels.

So, guys like this exist. Damn.

We reached Kolkata and saw Dadu and Dadi waiting at the airport for us. It was adorable.
She hugged me tight,
"Ahha go, chehara ta koto kharap hoageche". She continued-
"The last time I saw you, you were quite healthy and now look at you."

"Now, she is in your hands" dadu replied while giving my mom and dad a hug.

"Oh please, maa, she doesn't eat properly, we are already fed up about her diet chart." My dietician mom started complaining about my behaviour to her mother, while me and papa helped the driver uncle put the luggages on the car trunk.

"Yeah we reached Kolkata. Sure, let's meet." she spoke on call with her bestfriend. We were already on our way to Dadi and Dadu's. The city looked absolutely beautiful, the city lights, the sense of home, and the washing away of chatters and laughs of the people in air, in my mother tongue.

"You guys wait here." Dadi stopped us from entering and went inside her house. She came back with a tray filled with chandan and other necessities for our welcome aarti.

"this reminded me of our wedding" dad said looking at mom's direction while she gave him a smile.

"Okay, Welcome!" both dadu and dadi said warmly after completing the aarti. I took that one laddu from dadi and entered the house.

She showed me my room for the next few years, where i unpacked my suitcases and started taking about a tour of this room, neat bed sheets beautifully folded, beside the window stood a study table and beside it a massive bookshelf which was half filled with books and the other half was for me. A picture caught my attention,
my mom with dadu and dadi. Also, a tanpura which my mom loved playing. It took me few seconds to realize that this was my mom's room.

"Take a little rest, I will show you around the neighborhood tomorrow, okay?" Dadi came with a glass of milk.

"Sure dadi, but where's mom and dad?" I asked.

"Your mom went to visit her bestfriend, you know, how close they have been since school days, and your dad is chatting with your dadu, they always bond over sports news."

"I know papa is such a sports lover."
I laughed.

She smiled and before leaving the room, she said,
"Oh by the way, i forgot to say, this was your mom's room."