The Vacuum

I kind of envisaged it would feel like this but was still not prepared for the emptiness that faced us this Monday evening. Two days ago, when we returned from office to a vacant home, with the little one also having flown the nest, I suddenly realised that this was it. Back to square one and hoping fervently that one/two years down the line, the kids will get posted back to the national capital region.

Action replay and the mind goes back to that incredibly exciting day when the MICA results were out and Srishti's name featured bold and clear on the selected candidates' list. What euphoria was ours, what sheer, unadulterated joy!! I actually took time off, drove home from work, to impart the news in person rather than call her up, privy as I had become to the results which were declared two days ahead of time (and hence two days before students could begin their frantic net searching) Too impatient to stop by for sweets, I rushed home and walked into her room, beaming widely at her enquiring look and question on how/why I was home. Relishing every syllable I conveyed the terrific news to her and watched her break into a delighted squeal.

The ensuing weeks went by ordinarily enough. There was a bit of planning, lists meticulously drawn up, a teeny weeny bit of shopping. Try as I would, Srishti resisted all my attempts to get her to shop for clothes and finally we ended up doing just one round. Some activity, then lazy days, again some sporadic work-like getting the suitcase out, the bags rounded up-and back to more relaxed times. Till, on June 21, we felt enough was enough and actual packing was begun by the young lady. Well, that again was a study in perfection, as things went into the bags, in a highly organised manner.

The trip to Ahmedabad and Bopal, to the beautiful MICA campus need another, dedicated write-up, for now suffice it to say that everything was executed on oiled wheels. Great administrative planning (except the mobile connection and that made up for all earlier efficiency!) amazing hospitality, where all parents partook of the lavish spread at lunch and munched on well-made sandwiches at tea, very good, airy, well-lit rooms with all the required furnishing, a lush green campus, benches made all across the sprawling acres, cheerful youngsters moving around in groups...all in all, a great place.

We returned home, happy and satisfied. The kid had found her vocation and, temporarily, her home.

But what does one do with the haunting sense of loneliness that seems to dog one's footsteps?

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P.S-The answer to my query came barely two days later-in the form of my ever-thoughtful sonny boy who suddenly walked in on our first week-end alone, brightening our lives and suffusing it with sunshine and laughter in immeasurable quantities.