What an eventful month

I’m back, writing my first post after what have been an eventful 4 weeks, and possibly the last for the next 4 weeks.

Before I regale everyone with the last month’s tales, I wish everyone a blessed Ramadan. Ramzan Mubarak.

And so, just I, me, myself today...

I had decided that I would devote an hour every Sunday to this blog. But the awesome August! Ufff!

The first weekend went by in a blur. Saturday was a working day. On Sunday, the women (my mother, wife and sister-in-law) decided to do some shopping, and of course, yours truly was the driver and nanny for 4 kids. And what a shopping day it was!

We started at about 12:30 (getting up late, of course! It was a Sunday, c’mon!). A leisurely lunch was followed by more than an hour in the first shop, which culminated in the purchase of one dress (wow!!! They bought one). Then the drive to another shop in Vashi, and another couple of hours, where the growth of purchase improved by 100%.

By this time, it was already close to 5 pm, and the kids were getting restless, so yours truly – in a fit of inspiration – decided to be the good ayah and take them to the garden so that the women could shop in peace.

And there we go off to Vashi sea shore, where the children indulged – till the shower struck!

And we were far away from the car.

And we all got drenched to the core.

And if there’s one thing I dislike, it is getting into the car when wet!

But what do we do?

A quick run to the car when the shower reduced its intensity (may have been after about 15-20 minutes, but felt like an hour or so), and a call to the women if they were through, and the drive back to the market, where they were still shopping...

And we waited in the car for another good 30 minutes – sopping wet!!!

Women, I tell you! :-)

But jokes apart, that was the first time in my life that I saw my mother and my wife indulging in shopping like this. Not their usual get in the shop, pick up somethings, pay and rush, like an episode of a TV serial.

The day was not over yet.

We rushed home, changed, picked up father and then went for dinner. By the time we returned, it was past midnight, and I couldn’t wait to hit the sack!

Bye bye blog!

The next weekend (Saturday, Aug 8) was my cousin’s wedding, in Pune. And much like the film of the same name, that was another series of episodes. While the folks went earlier, I reached on Saturday for the marriage, only to find the groom’s mother crying.

Hey, mothers of brides cry, not mothers of grooms! What happened?

Turned out that my cousin’s (the groom’s) friends had an accident in the morning, around dawn. The car turned over on its side, with three guys inside. Amidst their pain, one of them had a brainwave and called the last dialled number – which happened to be my cousin’s.

Our hero decided to go to their rescue. And those who know Zahir can guess what he would have tried to do.

Yes, before the ambulance or other help arrived, he tried to get the car upright by himself. The car did turn upright, but in the process, he slipped and hurt his entire back and shoulders!

Shaadi to shaam ko thi, subah mein hi baraat nikaal di.

Thankfully, it was not very serious for him, so the wedding proceeded with the groom wincing in pain and the greetings thereafter – you can imagine everyone trying to hug him, someone standing behind stopping them, and a couple (including me) managing backslaps....

Saturday was not over yet! By the time the wedding was being celebrated, my five year old nephew, Emaad, had extremely high fever. We rushed him to the doctor, who – being ultra-cautious – directed us to Naidu Hospital.

What?

Suspected swine flu?

And who tells my parents and others that?

We being smart decided to keep our traps shut till the results. Everyone at home was getting worried that my sister-in-law and cousin are not back yet, and my uncle and I kept reassuring everyone that there are lots of patients at the good doctor’s.

Till finally, two hours later, they call. It was a false alarm. Thank God for that!

And we had decided to go rapelling to a waterfall on Sunday.

Aren’t we brave, folks! I mean, the city is hit by swine flu, and we go not only for the wedding, but also for a picnic the next day.

So, the Don Quixotes leave the next morning for the waterfall, with a few children in tow, so that they could enjoy in the rain.

And enjoy we did! For those who have seen the photographs, eat your heart out!

But how could the day pass off without an incident?

One cousin’s kid – the naught monkey – decided that he had to be the hero for the day, and promptly went and fell on the rocks near the water. Had to get stitches on the back of his head.

It was evening by the time we returned to Pune from the picnic, and past 1 am when we reached home in Navi Mumbai.

There goes week two without my blog!

The rest of the week went by in a blur, with a lot of work at office. By Thursday, I was feeling pretty weak and restless, and by the time I reached office on Friday, I had the cough and high fever.

Sure enough, I was given the marching orders, and by the afternoon, I was back home and at the doctor’s, who gave me the best medicines he could prescribe for my cold, which put me to sleep from Friday afternoon till Sunday evening.

I could not look straight, leave alone writing a blog!

Bye bye, week 3.

Monday and Tuesday were spent coughing in office, and then the fever returned. By Tuesday evening, I was feeling so weak that I kept praying to God to let me drive home safely.

This time, my friendly neighbourhood doctor got my blood test done. And the result – malaria!

What? After going to its capital, spending two days there, meeting people, getting drenched – and I do not even catch the flavour of the season? All I get is this measly kiss from a female Anopheles! How boring!!!

And what a boring week it turned out to be. Sleep, eat, have medicines, and sleep –Wednesday to Saturday.

Feeling better today, so decided to post all the happenings of the past month for your enjoyment.

Hope you liked it folks – all those who know my family and those who do not.

With that, signing off for possibly another four weeks, till the end of Ramadaan, with a request to remember me in your prayers. I’m still not fully fit yet, but hope to resume office tomorrow.