Fourteen Days

"My only son. 24 years old. He is working in the USA", I proudly say to anyone who would listen to my brag.
 That is the only part I share with others. There are other parts to it - to him staying a few thousand miles away.

He is our only son. He is our joy and love personified. He said state board to CBSE - we said OK. He said engineering. We said OK. He got recruited through campus placement but he pointed towards America. We said OK. If we had known then how lonely we would feel without him, we would have told a different two letter word.

 Every morning, my wife and I take bath, get dressed and we will be ready by sharp 6 A.M. to sit in front of our laptop. To see our son. That is when he gets back home from work. We chat with him for an hour.
 Our laptop screen is full of my wife's fingerprints. That is because while we are chatting with our son, my wife keeps touching the screen. I get annoyed and ask her to stop. "That it is the closest I can get to touching my son." she retorts and I shut up. This is a daily scene at home!

He loves the non-vegetarian food my wife cooks. After he left, my wife stopped cooking non-veg.
My daily chores include:

·         Cleaning his bike which hasn't been used in the last three years.

·         Cleaning his computer that hasn't been switched on in the last three years.

·         Cleaning his book racks.

He asked me to sell it off or give it away. But I never get the heart to do it. It’s a piece of him, the only piece of him that is left with us.

When any of his friends come to India, he will send stuff for us. We have preserved everything he has sent us. We look at them every now and then. To some, we seem like a couple-obsessed-with-their-son.

Every night I ask myself why we have to go through this. If we miss him so much, why can't we ask him to come back home. Why does he have to have to stay thousands of miles away from family, friends and home... I go to sleep without finding the answers to my questions

He planned on coming here many times. Something kept coming up and delaying his plan. Finally he is coming in another two days. He has booked the tickets and packed his bags. Ever since his trip got confirmed, my wife has been smiling, making sweets, telling everyone who would listen and also those who wouldn’t listen. And I forgot to add… he is going to be staying for two weeks. Three years of longing… and we get fourteen days with our son!