When I finished Post Graduation and returned back to Kuwait, I had the most exciting 2 years of my life staying with Ammi and Baba ( My parents). Till I got a job, I used to have lazy mornings sleeping from 5 am -12 pm. Then I would get up, pray and get in the kitchen to cook up for my parents who would return by 2.30. Back then there was nothing called google nor you tube to help the poor me to dish out anything new. And since I was a newbie, I just experimented with a few things and made some wholesome meals as well as some jhatpat ( quick ones) like fried masala potatoes, spinach soup, chicken tikka masala etc.

Evening time after praying, Ammi liked going for a walk and yes I accompanied her where we used to have a whole hour and 15 minutes talking about various things. She used to worry that I wont get a suitable match. She used to talk about who is getting a baby to who is getting engaged. She would talk about so many people and tell me about relatives and name those I have not seen or heard of! She was a genealogy tree! Sometimes we would miss an evening walk either due to a serial we both wanted to watch or were busy in the kitchen. So we would go for early morning after fajr (morning prayer) walks. I used to hate being woken up at that time but I would not let her go alone. It used to be so refreshing and lovely so I woul be tempted to go. Then the frequency got less after I got married but Ammi would diligently go. Sometimes I would find time and accompany her. Our houses were on 2 parallel streets and 2 minute walk away.

After my kids were born , life took a U-turn when I could not find time to go for walks but Ammi used to…. carrying a small walkman in which she used to load a cassette and hear the whole way using ear phones. She had this cute habit of walking with her head down. She hated the sound of traffic honking and to avoid eve-teasers she would never look up. One day I along with my family were in a car stuck up in traffic and we saw Ammi walk by. We kept honking. My husband called out to her. I called her name but she did not look up. Later when we told her, She said she thought bad men were teasing her. We were in roars with her answer.

One day as she was walking, she misjudged the path and did not see a huge trunk of a tree and hit her head and shoulder so hard on it, that she fell on the ground. Luckily for her there were no more injuries and she returned home. She hardly carried her cell phone and did not have one that day either. That pain was an excruciating one and when Iodex, Moov and other home tips and ointments did not lessen it, she went for an X-ray. She had a whole ligament torn and needed a surgery. Yes it was a painful one and a long one. The healing itself was for a year. The only thing she was worrying about was how to take care of Baba who was bed-ridden due to his various injuries. But Ammi proved to be brave again, so much so that she fought the pain, did her physiotherapy courses and took extra care of herself.

As I shifted 15 minutes by car away from her house, I started my walks along the Beach front. My walks had my music with me but on several occasions when Ammi was free, either she would return my calls back or just simply call me. She was my walking companion. We spoke for that whole hour and she had stories to tell and things to discuss. She would tell me how her day went by. I used to go for my walks pre-quarantine, and always miss ammi so much. I am always guided by a shining star which I know is Ammi looking back at me, protecting me and being my walking companion again….