Born Again

Now there was a man speaking on the phone. He first spoke in Russian then switched over to English.

Mr Sharma, Mahesh's father was called Panditji by the people in this town. He knew English. In fact, most people from the upper and the middle strata of society knew English. It was only the lower classes who did not speak or understand English. But everyone in India knew 3-4 languages.

Panditji realized that the call was coming from a country of the former USSR. It was definitely not Russia as he was familiar with the International dialling code of Russia. After all his son had gone to study in Russia and would call up home at least once a week for a duration of 5 minutes or so, in order to inform his family that he was doing fine.

Panditji was remembering his son and was lost in his thoughts. He suddenly realized that there was someone at the other end who was trying to talk to him. He then started paying attention to what all was being conveyed over the phone.

The person said that he was calling from Ukraine and was Savtlana brother. Savtlana's mother wanted to give the orphaned girl a home.

Now, Panditji was annoyed about this development. He told Tania's uncle that his family were already contacting Tania through the Indian Embassy at Moscow. They wanted to bring Tania into the folds of their Indian family. They were already in the process of getting their passports renewed, getting Visas and booking a direct flight to Moscow. Due to health reasons, they would reach by 21st May 2020.

Tania's Uncle, Egor, tried to explain the same viewpoint that their family wanted to take Tania into the fold of their family. Soon there was a heated discussion between the two men. Svetlana's mother and Mahesh's mother intervened and got the two men to calm down. Svetlana's mother could not speak English fluently and the same was the case with Mahesh's mother. Both the grandmothers were trying to give their granddaughter a better family life. Finally, they decided to speak to each other and with their broken English, they managed to convince each other and the menfolks that they would decide what was good for their granddaughter. The final decision would be left to Tania to decide what she wanted to do.

The menfolks had been too stubborn and had never tried reconciliation between the children and themselves. As a result of their stupidity, their children and their granddaughter had to suffer all alone all these years. Now, Nikita (Svetlana's mother) and Mira (Mahesh's mother) would not let Tania suffer anymore.

The month of March, marched ahead and soon it was April and then May arrived. Tania's thesis had been accepted and as the college was giving out the degrees in May that year, her grandparents would be there to applaud her success when she went on stage to accept her Degree.

By now she was regularly talking to my maternal grandmother as well as my paternal grandfather and grandmother. Both her grandmothers had informed her that they had to fight with the menfolks to get them to agree to meet her and if possible to bring her to their folds. It was up to her to decide with which family she wanted to spend the rest of her life till she got married etc. Tania had to act in such a way that she did not hurt the sentiments of either party.

Hence, she informed them diplomatically that both sides were close to her heart and mind. She could not make a decision over the phone or on a personal meeting. However, she would need to spend time with both the families separately, amidst their local surroundings. Only then could she make up her mind. This would mean staying at Khayenky, the small village near Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine as well as going to Dharmshala, India to spend some time there.

Both sides were agreeable to this suggestion of her as obviously, there was no other option. Soon the day of their arrival started to draw near. Both sides of her relatives were trying to make bookings at the hotels near her home. Tania would have none of this, and she told them that the house was big enough to accommodate them all. They should stay with her as the families should get to know one another and not be as strangers. She added that she would love to eat whatever her grandmothers cooked. Saying this clinched the issue. The relatives decided to stay in her huge house.

Tania was sure that the souls of her parents would be at peace knowing that she had called their parents, from both sides, to come to their house and bridging the differences that they had not been able to overcome.

Her paternal grandparents had left their home as planned and were on their way to Delhi on the train. They would reach Delhi early morning and at night they would take the flight from Delhi to reach the airport at Moscow on the morning of the 21st May. My maternal grandmother and my uncle would also be leaving their village tomorrow night and stay at a hotel near the airport at Kyiv. They would catch the early morning flight on 21st morning to reach Moscow airport at about the same time as my paternal grandparents.

Tania was on cloud nine, the happiest person one could find on this side of the equator. It was as if God had given her the prized treasures of heaven.

After having a sumptuous dinner she went to sleep early as she had to rush to the airport early in the morning. She slept soundly without having any dreams, those recurring types which agitated her. Perhaps the excitement and the fact that she had to get up early to receive 4 people made her sleep without waking up in the night.

She had set an alarm for 4.30 am, for just before dawn. She got up went to the washroom to complete her ablution. She had a few Indian dresses as well as a few pinafore dresses that the Russian girls sometimes wore. Besides this, she had normal western clothes and jeans that she used to wear to college. She did not know if she should wear an Indian suit or the pinafore one. Since she did not want to annoy any of her grandparents, she decided to go in her normal jeans, warm sweatshirt and her jacket with matching bluish shoes.

It was still cold in the mornings. She made a sandwich and tea for herself. She sat down to eat the sandwich and washed it down with a cup of tea. It was a long drive to the airport, and she had no intention to reach late. Late meant when the passengers had disembarked from the flights. She knew that she had to do a bit of juggling to gather both sides to one point. But she would handle that at the airport.

She locked up the house and went to the garage to bring out the car and back it through the driveway. While she was reversing, she kept thinking what would the relatives prefer to eat? She had stocked the fridge with fruits and vegetables. The fridge had been stocked with curds and ice cream too. She was not an excellent cook but had managed to make the dough and cut a few vegetables to be cooked for lunch.