father son duo on a boat ride
My father came for the first time to Hyderabad, in-fact this were so many first timers for his life as well which include, first time sitting in airplane, first time experiencing film set, first time in South India, first time a proper trip with his son. And this was a proud moment for me as well, the reason being the role and responsibilities of planning and management for the trip have changed, when I was kid it was my mother and father who used to manage all the trip related challenges like where to stay, what to eat, which transportation to take, how many days to take leave, how to optimize the cost. Now, this was the first time when I was managing these things for some body other than myself. During our childhood, there was no responsibility both of them took care of everything and only thing I had to do was enjoy and relax. If the reservation for train is not there, I don’t have to worry because dad will go to the reservation counter and book tatkal ticket (remember the less prevalence of internet in those days), my mother will take care of cooking when we were leaving for the trip because at least we can have hygienic-home made food for at least once because eating train’s food is nothing but a torture. Now all these things I had to manage and I will be honest although there was proud feeling at the end but there were moments of frustration and irritation as well when things don’t go according to your plan. For e.g. while in Srisailam we earlier plan that we will visit famous Akkamahadevi caves as well. We planned for our trip for just one day and booked our return tickets at night the same day we reached but when we arrived we got to know that for you to visit the caves one has to book it 6 AM in the morning by being physically present at the ticket counter and the venue will be open to visit from 9AM to 11AM the same day. Alas, our bus arrived in Srisailam at 11:30. The lesson I learned was to properly plan ahead keeping crucial details in mind like When the venue remains opened, how to book the ticket, what are the restrictions in booking for e.g. do we need to physically present in order to book the ticket or we can book online as well.
Both of us on a cycling ride
Apart from this event management learning lesson, one thing that is unforgettable is the time we spent together. Although we father son duo doesn’t talk much with each other and wherever I took him he generously agreed to go and never raised an objection that I don’t want to go here or there. I will never forget the smile on his face when he visited Srisailam dam, dam was overflowing and the bus was going through a zig zag route, the 8 out of 12 dam gates were open and it was having a snowy effect and what we were seeing that water instead of going down and merging into downward flow, it was coming upwards and on the route which was approximately 50 feet above the ground water level there was artificial rain. And while in the bus, he was moving from one window side to other window side for viewing overflowing dam as bus was taking turns on zig zag paths. The excitement was clearly visible in him and it felt like he is living through his childhood once again. He had never seen the overflowing dam in such a charming beauty, and he was definitely awestruck with the view.
Rainbow on a overflowing srisailam dam
Although, one thing I deeply regret is I didn’t talk much with him, this could have been a good opportunity where I could have got a step closer towards him but I couldn’t, either this is generation gap or the distance that we both have maintained for a long time. It is the way our relationship has developed and maybe it is difficult to change now. Also, it is not like we didn’t care for each other, in srisailam there was a paatal ganga ghat near river Krishna for which you have to climb down and up 500 stairs, also going down is comparatively easier then climbing upwards. Climbing upwards in the afternoon with heat at its full intensity, you get sweaty and tired easily. And being closed to 55 years of age, he was getting out of breath after every 20-30 steps, so we decided that we will go at a slower place taking enough breaks in between, drinking proper water and continuing the journey. Similarly, I got hit in my knee during journey and he became extremely worried and kept on checking me if I am alright or not. So despite being caring for one other we didn’t talk much why? That part I still haven’t figured out. One more incident that I feel really sorry about is how I rudely I behaved with him for him not taking proper photograph of mine. I wanted to take him the close up photo with dam in the background but he didn’t take it as expected. After that I got really pissed off for such a small issue. I behaved like a small kid and despite him saying again and again that he will take the correct photograph this time, I gave him silent treatment and went away from him on the other side, leaving him alone. I now feel really sorry for that behavior and want to say sorry to him but haven’t done so yet. Holding these grudges for small things do nothing but ruin the enjoyment for both the parties in trip. The life is full of incompleteness and we must accept it in whatever form it manifest, if the photograph is not good it is okay because the emotions behind those are real, the effort that he was making was real and must have been appreciated from my side.
photo for which I hold the grudge
sorry papa