"I am the King of the World!!!",I cried.....standing on top of Mount Everest with a sword in my hand.I was completely in shape and had an enviable body,to say the least.With a fully grown beard on my face,it would'nt have been easy to tell me apart from Leonidus,the King of Sparta in 300. And then....out of the blue.....I heard a shriek..."Wake up lazybones.....dont you remember,we have to go to Siddhivinayak today???" And that is how my dream ended."Thanks a lot Mom",I said. "Come on....hurry up....we'll be late",she yelled. And I was completely up,did my routine morning chores and got ready to go to Siddhivinayak. We left home at around 15 minutes past 6 in the morning,caught a fast train to Dadar from Andheri....and we reached Siddhivinayak at around 7 am. As expected,there was an incredibly enormous queue of people there,who had come to worship. I tell you....if you really want to see an example of India's ever-gowing population,you must pay a visit to Siddhivinayak on a Sunday.
Anyways,me and Mom finished our work at the temple in around 45 minutes. As we took our "prasad" and left the temple,I told her,"Mom please lets leave soon.....I'm feeling very sleepy!"She threw me a disgusted look then and there.....as if I had asked her to buy me a new car!!! When I asked her what made her throw that kind of expression at me....she simply replied,"We cant go now.I have to shop.Let me know if you see any saree shop closeby." Phew......here we go again.....Out of all the things I hate to do with my family.....shopping with Mom was certainly at the top of the list. "Oh come on.....have some mercy on me!!!",I begged her. But she didnt yield. It seemed as if the two of us were in a courtroom.....she was the judge and I was the convict. Finally,I had to give in (as if I had any other option left). So of we went...in our destination...a Paaneri saaris outlet,which was around 25 minutes away from the temple just in case we decided to walk.And the next thing I know.....yeah....we were gonna walk.It was an extremely hot day. I guessed the temperature to be aound 33-35 degrees Celcius. By the time we reached the outlet,I was completely drenched in sweat. I gave my Mom an angry look and asked her,"So going to Siddhivinayak was just a cover up.This is why you wanted to come here." She smiled and gave me a slight slap on my cheeks and replied,"See, Diwali is approaching....so I need to buy new saaris.""So why have you bought ME along??? I am not going to wear any saaris,am I??" i protested. She preferred walking into the outlet rather than answering me.But as soon as I entered the shop,I forgot all the arguments I had with Mom as soon as a wave of cool air hit my face.I felt so relieved,that there was a great possibility of me peeing there and then. After that(thankfully),Mom took a long time to go through the array of saaris the salesman had displayed before her,and I was just sitting in one corner,enjoying the cool waves flowing out of the air-conditioner.
After her shopping was over,we left the store,much against my wishes.On our way to Dadar station,Mom asked me if I wanted anything. "I have to buy underwear",I replied. So we bought that too. All the shopping and travelling had made me extremely tired and hungry. But as I had just recovered from Malaria,I resisted the temptation to eat any road-side food.
So even though I didnt quite like the idea of shopping with Mom,this was one occassion where I certainly didnt regret it.
