Shh...its ok

Had been a couple of times Ma called. She was pestering me to come home. And I had the same answer yet again, “I am too busy with work”. I knew how she would have felt, but it was hard to explain how I couldn't rush home thousands of kilometers away. It had been a while since I had seen my parents. But life kept thrusting me forward and I could not really look back.

Another busy morning passed when I was checking my messages. “My dear daughter, I have a surprise for you. We are catching the very next flight to Bangalore. See you soon.” It made me furious. This means almost a week of leaves of absence, lots of sitting at home and eating fatty food and talking about the same old things. Did I have time for the chit chat sessions with obviously the same routine talk about life, marriage and career. I sighed.

Left a voice mail to my boss about the leave, sent him an email for records and set out to go to the airport. Had to clean up the house first, else Ma was going to be furious. Noted down the flight details on a post-it and rushed to catch a taxi. As I climbed into one and conveyed the destination to the driver, the sequence of talks started playing in my mind. “Look at you, you look so dull. You don’t take care of yourself at all. We have been so worried. You look so thin. Do you eat at all? I got almonds for you, have at-least 5 everyday.” Usually irritating, the thoughts brought a smile to my face.

The ringing phone alarmed me. “Where are you? The meeting just started. You have to make a presentation to the client today.” “Oh god, I completely forgot. Damn, I have taken a leave from today till a week. Can you please schedule a call for next week?” “Why couldn't you have told this earlier. This is atrocious. I will make sure I report this.” The phone clicked shut. Oh no, I had forgotten to charge my it. Damn, I was going to miss making my presentation today, which would have been the deciding factor for getting the deal signed and also my promotion. Why was I dooming my own career?

My phone beeped louder for battery and I could do nothin! How was I supposed to contact my parents? I looked for the charger in my bag, but could not find it. A lady will carry everything in her purse did not hold true with me. I was the absolution of necessity. What a fine day this was turning out to be. Everyone’s parents understood, why not mine? I had seen my friend’s parents encouraging them to work longer hours, to wear what they liked and also to let them follow their own lives. They were the so called “chilled out” ones. I for one, had to explain each outing, meeting, office environment, colleagues, roommates, late dinners and food habits. Was I ever going to be able to grow up?

The taxi jerked to a halt, and I saw three masked men standing in front of it.  I could see police cars on the road following them. Oh god, no, not this. I quickly closed the windows and locked the doors. But I guess it was too late. The driver was already being dragged out at gunpoint. One big punch and he collapsed. The bearded guy closed in on me. “Open the door”, he yelled. I sat there, frozen, not knowing what to do. Begging my mind to think. He had already slid his hand and unlocked my door. “Get out”, I was too shaken to react. He held my arm and hurled me out.

“Lets take the Princessa with us.” I could see policemen chasing them. He held me at gunpoint and squeezed it hard to my neck. “We kill her if you try to fire. Put down your guns.” The police had no other choice. I tried to break free, but the guy was too overpowering.

I slid my hand through my  bag. There has to be something. I sensed a bottle. What was in the bottle? My mind raced. Ma had given me a pepper spray to ‘tackle’ hooligans in case I encountered any. "Too many anti-social elements nowdays. This is a necessity for all girls. Keep it in your bag." "I dont have any space for it, and I always take a taxi! Dont be ridiculous Ma." But she had slipped it right in and I was noticing it today.

If I did it quickly, I could cover all of them. One man held my arm and neck and the other two behind us were guiding him. They had some full bags with them. I thought of my plan, and slowly took a deep breath.

I counted till three in my mind; I slid the spray from my bag and sprayed as hard as I could at the guy who held me. He yelled, and the other two turned to look at us. I did not waste even a second to spray at the other two. They both fell.

I leaped away from them to let the police take over, who wasted no time to nab them. Catching my breath, I just sat there on the road recollecting what had just happened to me. “Are you alright maam?” “Yes, fine, thanks.” “You need any medical help? We will take you to the hospital.” Take me? Oh, I have to go the airport. With shivering hands, I helped myself stand up. I shook my head with a no and turned around. My heel was broken. I limped to call a taxi and rushed to the airport.

As I saw them coming, my tears came too. All my emotions bundled up and flew out of me. “What happened dear, you are a mess. What happened?” But I could not say anything. I just held Ma and cried…for how long, I don’t remember. And she held me, for as long as I wished. “Lets go home.”

We reached home. She said nothing about the dirty house, or my health, my clothes or anything. She sat me down in my bed, removed my shoes, and gave me a blanket and a glass of warm milk. “Just go to sleep.” And I held her as long as I remembered, till I fell asleep. Thank god I had her. And I knew I was going to be safe with her!