Not there but surely there!

We attended a housewarming dinner last night. It's a beautiful home, with young and lovely hosts, and some really awesome food. One set of parents were present, along with some family and lots of friends. The set of parents that could not make it skype'd in. It was just so heartwarming seeing the glow in this parents' eyes as they stared at the computer screen and watched their kids accomplish the housewarming milestone. Thanks to the internet and technology, it basically felt like both sets of parents were present right in that house for that housewarming party. 

So we were all out late last night and promptly snoozed past all of our usual alarms this morning until I got an alarm that I could not snooze- it was from work. It was urgent. And I had to deal with it right then. Ugh. But Raaga could not care less about it and she wanted to lay down in my lap for a little longer. So my morning started with my almost five year old sleeping on me while my now almost ten year old work kept me away from sleeping in. My job is not very conducive to working from home, there is not much we can do remotely. Most of the work I can do remotely involves staring at this laptop screen and virtually following what the machines and operators do in real time. This morning's work was one of those few issues that I actually could handle while staying at home. I just had to login and watch what was happening in the factory. I have to confess that I get a weird sense of satisfaction when I can successfully troubleshoot work issues while sitting in the comforts of my home. 

While I am at it, I have another confession to make. My aunt (mother's sister) lived with us for a few years when her job as a banker brought her to Hyderabad. My paternal grandfather (tatagaru) also lived with us till he breathed his last at age 84. When he was about 82 or so, my banker aunt got married and the wedding ceremony took place out of town. Tatagaru could not join us at the wedding due to health reasons and he stayed with my uncle's family next door. When we all returned home from festivities a week later, Tatagaru greeted everyone and said- "hope the wedding was fun. I dressed up and went upstairs at Muhurtam time (time of wedding), sat in a chair for an hour". The 10yr old insensitive self I was, thought my Tatagaru was so silly to dress up and go to an empty house with his support stick in hand and all and pretend as if he went to an actual wedding. How wrong I was in understanding my grandfather's sentiments! How beautiful was his heart in wanting to be a part of my aunt's big day! I surely hope that he knows I now get it! I hope that he understands that he has been the inspiration for all of his grandchildren and great grandchildren in one way or another. For I know he might not be here in person but he surely is watching us all, one way or another.