Hey there!
Welcome to Unfazed - the story of people who deal with life every day and still look at adversity in the eye and give it a wink and a smile. Sometimes, when no one is looking, they cry too.
Join Deeksha Bhalla - AKA Dee - a girl with si...
Deeksha was terrible at being den in Blind Man Buffs. I wouldn't have been paying attention to an incoming car from the road towards our picnic spot outside the city, otherwise. Recognizing Vish's Land Rover, I smiled as I looked at my family playing around. I called pause immediately and said, "Dee – Don't remove your blindfold okay?"
When she nodded and said okay, I informed my folks, "Everyone, Vishwas and his family are here – so please, let us continue the game while they make their way over. We'll let Vish and his brother join for this round and then finish okay?" On hearing this, Rohini Bua laughed and so did Diana, but no one objected and we continued running around teasing a blindfolded Deeksha.
As Vish, Dev and Raj Uncle (trust me – he insisted that I call him by first name) got closer, I ran out of our playing area and met them. "Hello Uncle, Hi Deven!" I greeted, still a little out of breath. "Hi Beta!" said Uncle with a smile, while Deven came forward to give me a half hug, with "Hi Snakes". I laughed at him and poked his ribs saying, "I told you not to call me that no?"
This earned laughs from all of them and I couldn't help smile at Deven. Though technically elder to me by age, he had a little boy charm and in the week following my first dinner with them, I had run into Deven a couple of times in Vish's flat and gotten along with him better than I expected. Over a cup of coffee two days ago while Vish was busy on a conference call from Japan, we had watched a few episodes of stand-up comedy together. In the process of imitating the comedian, he had come up with the nick-name "Snake" for me. Of course, I pretended to hate it, but it got a snicker out of me, each time.
"What? Nothing for me?" asked a slightly annoyed voice behind Deven, as my ever-so-buff boyfriend sulked at us. "Please – dating me is enough privilege for you!" I retorted, stepping into his arms and giving him a hug. We stood there for a second and there came Deven's voice saying "Ugghhh!! There are innocent eyes here. Can you please not make babies in public like this?"
A whack on the head from Uncle and glares from Vish as we broke apart didn't help the roars of laughter that flowed from Deven. Looking at Uncle, I said, "Uncle, as much as I'd like to stay here and talk to you, we were in the middle of a game. Will you join us? I'll introduce everyone once we finish." Not wanting to sound rude or self-absorbed, I immediately added, "It's a family tradition at picnics that as many people as can play, will play, atleast for a little while."
With a smile that spoke volumes, Raj Uncle replied, "Oh absolutely! But as much as I'd like to play, my knees aren't in the best of shape. I think I'll join your dad on the blanket this time. Moreover, these two are enough to do the running around for me."
Guiding him to the blanket and saying, "We'll be back" to the two fathers, I ran back to the rest of the fam and said, "Guys!! Pause. We have two more players joining and Dee, that means if you don't catch someone now, you are a sore loser!"
"Okay Go!" screamed Diana from behind Dee and there began the most intense but fun game of Blind Man's Buff we had played in a long time. But that was until Diya's shoe came undone and she fell, right in the path of a blindfolded Dee, who was a foot away from falling on my little sister.
