A hilarious moment from this trip.
Remember, how I won my bet with Sharmila that I will drink in front of my mom? What is even better, we got mom to drink with us. Admittedly, it was a non-alcoholic mint mojito but you have to understand that for my mom to sit down with us around a bottle of wine and then order anything other than tea or coffee is as good as she drinking some stiff scotch in front of her inlaws!

Here is the funny part. Every single day, she would join us when the five of us – the siblings and their spouses would gather in the evening for a pre-dinner drink. While the whole trip was for my dad, I am convinced that it was my mom who got the most out of it. She never gets a chance to leave home – because of her condition and of course, because of dad. But unlike dad, she actually wants to come out with us. However, she can’t because she won’t leave my dad’s side.

Even on the last day in Kalyani, when we all got together in my sister’s house for the wine, she came down from upstairs and sat with us. She made it a point to join us every time but would not speak up. She would quietly follow our discussions and ask a quick question here or there. Reflecting back, I think I need to structure some of my trips around her more.

In any case, on the third day at Ibiza, my brother and myself ordered some wine. My brother in law, sister, and sister in law said they wanted coffee. So, my brother told the guy – 2 glasses of wine and 4 cups of coffee. My mom immediately started protesting – “Na, Ami oi sobuj-ta khabo”. (No, I am going to have that green thingy!!).

We were decent enough to hold back our laughter in front of her.

About fifteen minutes later, while we were discussing the recent demonetization in India, we heard suddenly my mom saying loudly – “Ei – amaarta niye choley gelo. Ekhono sesh hoyni.” She was complaining that somebody took something away from her and she had not finished it. We were all a little startled. (As a background, my mom suffers from complications of psychiatric issues – and without medications, is prone to “seeing” and “hearing” things).

My brother was the first one to cut thru the mystery. He saw the same waiter walking past us with the same green color mint mojito in his tray – purportedly for some other customer. He quietly took another sip of his wine and told mom – “Relax. Your drink is right in front of you!”. My mom, turned around and thoroughly satisfied that her drink was still there in front of her, quietly put the straw in her mouth.

This time we threw all decency to the air and laughed out heartily. And my mom joined in too!!