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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...
The events of the day had been baffling, to say the least. Looking at my calendar, I was wondering if I should go and spend a day at the spa before my scheduled appointment – which at two weeks away, seemed too long a wait. However, when I heard the shuffling of feet behind me, I was surprised that despite being past midnight, one of the kids were up. Turning around, I saw Harsh standing at the door of the kitchen – his hair dishevelled and the dark circles under his eyes beginning to form.
"Oh – you're up, Ma!" he said, groggily. "Yes – what's wrong, beta?" I had to ask, though I did have an inkling that this had to do with the whole Deven scene tonight. After the three kids had spoken, Deven had left with a quick bye to Ganesh and myself – promising to be back another time.
Sitting across from me at the small table we had in the kitchen – ideally intended for purely functional utility and not midnight snacking, at all; Harsh was struggling to frame whatever he had to tell me. "Want me to get you something to eat?" I asked, and he nodded in a negative response.
"So... you want to tell me what happened today?" I asked him, trying to be as gentle as I could sound. One would think that after two decades of being a parent, it came naturally – but reality of course, is a worse ally than your enemy.
"Ma.. see.." Harsh began – and I let him talk, without any interruptions, for as long as he needed. I zoned out a little, from time to time, but I did understand the gist of it. And mistakes had been made, between Harsh and Deven – each from his own end. Of course, after all these years, it was coming back to bite them.
For about a minute, after Harsh had finished explaining everything, I stayed quiet. In my head, I could visualize how everything had played out – now that all perspectives were in place. Most importantly, though – Deven had saved my daughter's life and there was no way that any of us could ever repay him for it.
"Yeah.. so now, I don't know what to do. I've hated Dev for so many years – all because of these stupid misunderstandings – and then I find out so much – in ONE day, Ma! One day! I had a peaceful life and suddenly, there's the Dev thing, the Alana thing, my restaurant thing – EVERY thing, all at once!" He snapped. A second later, he threw his head into the crook of his elbow on the table and let out a muffled groan which sounded like "IISSS ISS NOO FAAAIII".
I assumed he meant "this is not fair", but I had to let it pass.
"I know! Being an adult is hard. I didn't want you – or Dee for that matter – to grow up. But, yeah – it is not up to me", I said, running my hand through his hair, now sticking out in different directions from all the tossing and turning I'm sure he had done before making his way to the kitchen. "Hmmmpphhffff" came a grunt as I watched my child get further distressed.
"Okay – Harsh – get up", I said. "NOOO", he groaned. "Get up!!" I said and pushed his head away from the table. "Maaa... No na.. please?" he said, squinting his eyes because of the brightness.
"Harsh – let's figure this out and then you can go back to bed.. I promise", I told him. Rubbing his eyes, he said, "Kay – what shall I do to make this better?"
"First thing, did you apologize to Deven?" I asked.
"Yeah – I did. Not in front of Dee, of course, but after we stepped out of the house and before he left", Harsh admitted. "Okay – very good. What did he say?" I probed further.
"Ma .. Why the interrogation?" he complained, but both of us knew that he was saying that only because he was getting sleepy. I simply raised my eyebrows and he threw his face into his palm, rubbing it, before answering, "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I asked you for help.
Deven said, and I quote – It's okay man.. you are and have always been like a brother to me. Then he said that we'd messed up (not necessarily in such sophisticated language) and said he was sorry about the whole thing too. Then, he told me that we'll meet up in a few days to try and track down who the person who sent the message to Alana was... and.. OH no!! I forgot to tell Dee something!! He told me to tell her to meet him at their office at two tomorrow – for the whole "Smile Café" thing!!" rambled Harsh.
"Then.. the problem looks like it is sorting itself out", I said with a smile, "but Harsh – I want to tell you one thing. You're not a child anymore – so try to understand and probe into the perspectives of others also when you're dealing with a situation. Sometimes, that alone could have the solution to the problem."
"Hmm.. I know, Ma. And – I agree – I was being unreasonable and immature in a lot of ways until now. I'll try not to be that way," he said.
"Yes – but when you try, know that you WILL fail. And that's okay. Okay? Try not to hurt another and keep trying. If you mess up, just like you are doing now – we'll try and fix it", I explain.
Harsh smiled, but said nothing – but his silence spoke for his gratitude.
"And what kind of parent would I be, if I didn't make an attempt to be cool with my kids right? What do you people say these days? Umm...." I joked, before adding, "Mama's gotcho back, honey!"
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(Inserting a gif here for all the mother feels Roh Bhalla is giving off r n. If you don't know which movie it is, google "Brave" by Disney. You is welcome.)
