The phone rang .
“Yeah , Ma.”
“Hello!1 Bubu . You sound tired . where are you ?” Unnecessary questions . She knew already what was the matter .
“How many days ?”
“What ?”
“How many days’ worth medicines are still with you ?” A sharp inhalation . Then a resigned sigh .
“How did you know ?” She sighed .
“I just know Ma .” She was already mentally calculating how many days the courier guy will take to deliver city manufactured medicines to this remote hamlet.
” Ten days’ more .”
“Ok. Plenty of time .”
“Thank you bubu. I hope this will not be too much trouble .”
“Ma!!”
“Thank you my piece of moon . I cannot thank you enough .”
After Ma had hung up , she tried visualising . Ma must be sitting on her bed , with her knitting . Baba must be in the next room , roughly , five feet away , also on his bed , all his medical books and precious english literature scattered in a million words around him , trying to make sense of all the information gathered over a lifetime . Surgical procedures , names of glaciers in Himalayas , Battles from half a century ago , Fromme , Sonne , Bulge , Siege of Leningrad or was it Stalingrad ? She couldn’t confide in her spouse , could she ? Ma had to confide in an offspring sitting 3000 kms away , in a city that spoke a language Ma could never comprehend .
She looked out of the window . A brilliant orange orb was going down. Splashing the skies in waves of yellow , red and ochre .
“Yeah , Ma.”
“Hello!1 Bubu . You sound tired . where are you ?” Unnecessary questions . She knew already what was the matter .
“How many days ?”
“What ?”
“How many days’ worth medicines are still with you ?” A sharp inhalation . Then a resigned sigh .
“How did you know ?” She sighed .
“I just know Ma .” She was already mentally calculating how many days the courier guy will take to deliver city manufactured medicines to this remote hamlet.
” Ten days’ more .”
“Ok. Plenty of time .”
“Thank you bubu. I hope this will not be too much trouble .”
“Ma!!”
“Thank you my piece of moon . I cannot thank you enough .”
After Ma had hung up , she tried visualising . Ma must be sitting on her bed , with her knitting . Baba must be in the next room , roughly , five feet away , also on his bed , all his medical books and precious english literature scattered in a million words around him , trying to make sense of all the information gathered over a lifetime . Surgical procedures , names of glaciers in Himalayas , Battles from half a century ago , Fromme , Sonne , Bulge , Siege of Leningrad or was it Stalingrad ? She couldn’t confide in her spouse , could she ? Ma had to confide in an offspring sitting 3000 kms away , in a city that spoke a language Ma could never comprehend .
She looked out of the window . A brilliant orange orb was going down. Splashing the skies in waves of yellow , red and ochre .
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