Srini flew in to Frankfurt.
He was met by his cousin and a childhood friend. He spent a couple of days with
them and their families. They had a good time and Srini told them why his time
was running out. He asked them to keep the news to themselves. It was
emotional, but they agreed and went along.
They drove to Munich where
he met an old flame of his, Gisela, who was working in a pub and attached
restaurant. Srini and his friends showed up at the restaurant to surprise her
and ordered a large round of drinks and meals. Srini had heard she was widowed
now. He wore a fake moustache to try and disguise himself minimally, to see if
she would still recognise him. They purposely chose a table that Gisela would
wait on. As they ordered the meal Srini
did not say much, but kept looking at her. He was also polite and thanked her.
He asked her to help him choose from the menu, pretending he did not understand
the local food. His friends were grinning slyly. Gisela noticed it, but kept
quiet. She looked deeply at Srini for a few seconds and thought that he did
remind her of someone she had known.
Finally, when Srini was
about to drink his beer from the big mug, his moustache fell into it. Gisela
had just turned her back towards them and was headed towards the kitchen when
she heard a burst of laughter behind her. Instinctively she turned around to
see all eyes on Srini as he fished the moustache out from his mug. She was
taken aback as she looked more deeply at him. She saw him look up at her
directly into her eyes. She recognised him and realised he already knew who she
was. Srini dropped the beer soaked moustache on the table next to him and stood
up, still looking at her.
“Gisela!” he said softly as
he came around his friend’s chair towards her.
She walked up to him. She
gave him a bear hug as he returned her embrace. It was a passionate kiss that
followed. The restaurant manager, an old kind man understood that Gisela
perhaps needed some time with Srini and his group. He nodded to her as she looked
at him pleadingly. He helped pull up a chair for her and asked her to sit with
them. He summoned another waitress to take Gisela’s place.
Srini introduced Gisela and
his friends to each other. They had one of the longest meals. Srini’s friends
had plans to go and attend to something and go to a hotel they had booked. They
left Srini and Gisela alone for an evening to themselves.
Gisela drove Srini home to
her place. She changed and they went out for a pleasant evening out together.
Srini went with her, danced at a club and listened to music. They walked the
streets holding hands. It was a most pleasant evening. They went back to her
place and he said goodbye the next morning after breakfast. He returned to his
friends at the hotel. They all drove back to Frankfurt.
Srini went on from there to
a cruise in France and then on to the USA. There too he met his friends and
family. Then he did scuba-diving and sky diving, ate the hottest Texan chilli,
went to Mexico for a day. He went on all the rides in a circus next to a state
fair just because a cheeky circus staff dared him to. He drove across the
country in a car for a week. He visited some famous universities – ‘ temples of
learning’ as he called them, where some of his idols had learned or taught. He
wrote back to his family – “Now I can honestly say, I have been to Harvard, MIT,
Princeton, Cornell, Stanford and Berkeley. Never mind if I just wandered the
halls for a few hours.”
Just before he left them,
he told his family and friends in the USA why he might never see them again. It
was heartfelt farewells that he received with love. He felt good to see and
experience everything.
He then went on to South
America, saw Machu Picchu, the Inca trail and penguins in Argentina.
Finally, Srini returned
back to his home. He had crossed out most of the items on his bucket list of
places to visit. He realised he had done a bit more than he expected even as he
had decided to give some a miss. He had no regrets about them. He was feeling
fairly good and fit. He reckoned that in a few months, he would start to go
downhill. He wanted to make the best of the time with his own kids and
grandkids. Anita and Rohan, with his family, were there to welcome him back at
the airport.
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2015
All rights reserved
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2015
All rights reserved
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