One more stop in Durgapur to check on the in laws and the return journey will commence. This time was different. There was none of those spur of the moment – “let’s take dad to his birthplace or mom to see her sister that she has not seen in years”. None of those hunting in the Internet for some small Bengali village name or searching up and down a Google map for all possible variations of English spelling for Bengali village names.

The part that I missed most this time is the early morning time. Like every other trip, everyday I got up at 4:30 am came out to the balcony and watched the early morning come of being. Which is what I am, in fact, doing right now. But my dad missed joining me every single day this trip in our usual ritual of sitting quietly next to each other.

The birds chirped every single early morning like they always have done. And as with every time, there was the occasional barking of a dog, a noisy auto piercing the quiet at times and the factory siren going off in the distance at 5 am sharp.

The only noise that was not there – and the most sweet noise every early morning – was the noise of sipping tea from two cups.

I might have to come back for that one more time!!

On the positive side, while he is having ups and downs, it would appear he is gaining some strength back. Yesterday he complained of not being able to stay awake and slept thru the whole day. But the general observation by everybody watching him daily is that he is getting his strength back.