Stroll down the memory lane - Waking Up!

My alarm went off as always when it shouldn’t…I absolutely hate to get up early in the morning. As I struggle to open my eyes and find the cell phone to disable the alarm, my cell phone actually rings!!! Oh my god! Who in their right minds would ever call at 5am in the morning??? Well, for that matter why did I set an alarm for 5am??? Don’t ask…I don’t even want to go there… Anyway, who was this? I squint, peer and frown at the screen as closely as possible…but well oh whatever!

“Hullo???” my sleepy husky voice is full of annoyance. “Hi sweetie…Good Morning!!!” rings out my dad’s booming voice. “Gosh, Dad! Its 5am in the morning…are u crazy????” “Oh…I didn’t realize that! Sorry, I thought it must be about 6am…isn’t it?” “No. dad…its 5am…daylight savings remember??? “oh ho…that’s good! How are you?” Now this is classic dad! He doesn’t realize that its 5am…and is carrying on a conversation like its 10am!!!

“I am not fine daddy…I am sleeping…” “Oh baby…what’s wrong? You don’t eat right….that’s the problem…and u should get up and exercise. You know u have those extra 20 pounds” oh daddy…you break my heart and make me so mad!! I can’t believe this…He was calling me first thing in the morning and talking about my weight problem! At 5am????

“Anyway, what is it???” by now my voice has lost its sleepiness and the edge in my voice could cut through metal. “Nothing…I was just getting back from office and thought I will give u a ring and hear your voice!” His voice is just a tad less enthusiastic. I am mad now…and I don’t quite care! “Daddy…I will call u in the morning…ok???” I know my tone is quite rude...still its 5am!!!! “But it is morning…get up and go running ok??? Well, just thought I will say hello…you know how you get to talk to mom all the time…I was thinking about a walk and you know….” He continued for a while and I said, “Oh k pop! I will call u in a couple of hours ok?” I must admit by now I was sounding a lot better than before…and feeling like a heel to boot!

I hung up and lay there…..thinking about Daddy and what he said. It was more how he said it. For some reason, no matter how I reasoned with myself…I just couldn’t shake off the feeling that I have been quite unnecessarily rude. Well, that’s classic vintage me…no matter what I always wound up justifying the other person and making me the villain.

Anyway, the bottom-line now was that I was definitely up. Oh well, might as well get out of bed and do what I promised myself. Dad must have heard me in my sleep when I swore to myself last evening that I was going to get up at 5am and finish off the cleaning.

As I brushed my teeth, I thought more about how dad woke me up this morning. When I was in high school I would plan to wake up early and study for my upcoming exams. Whether or not I asked dad to wake me up, he would ask me at 5 or 6am if I wanted to wake up. I would always ask him why he asked me the question. He said he was offering me choices! Nice! Thanks dad…You wake me up to ask me if I want to wake up???? Interesting and very classic daddy!

As I went about the cleaning, I wondered whether he could really hear me in my sleep. It never occurred to me that it was possible that I was so much like him that he just “knew” the way I think! I finished everything really fast for I always work very well when I am mad! I only had to shut off the TV to get some “peace” before I left to run other errands. My hand slipped and I hit another channel. Tom and Jerry was on! Now that was a pleasant surprise.

As I watched the last ten minutes of the show, I thought how strange that I had stopped watching the one cartoon that was my all time favorite! My thoughts strayed to the time when I was around 7 years old. I used to wake up really early and raid the kitchen for food. It was probably a phase I went through for I could never sleep and had way too much energy for my parents to handle.

We were posted in the North Eastern state of Assam at that time and dad was the Branch manager of the main branch over there. He was a very busy man especially towards the end of the year what having to deal with all the year end closing stuff. We kids hardly got to see him during this time for he was invariably late coming in from office.

But for most part as I was raiding the kitchen around 5am in the morning…(yes I did say 5am…I told you I had way too much energy then) he would come in and help me get the milk powder can and the dry fruits. Hmm, yes…I loved that stuff…we would mix the milk powder, dry fruits and sugar in our very own special glass cups and make our way to the living room. Now there was the kitchen and dining room between the living room and the bedrooms. So naturally we could make noise and I could ask my usual round of 10,000 questions.

Many times we would switch on Tom and Jerry on the VCR and watch it until it was time for daddy to leave for his office. It was my special time with him and for a long time until we left Assam we continued this tradition. It wasn’t until much later I got to know that he used to get back home around 2am in the morning. Yet, he got up at 5am to eat kid junk food and watch Tom and Jerry with his 7 year old.

Oh…my god! What had I done? I had snapped at him when he had made a honest mistake. He didn’t remember the day light saving concept…of course he lived 15,000 miles away from me half way across the world didn’t he???? I am now positively horrified…I hunt for my cell phone and call dad right away. “Daddy???” Oh drat! He was asleep. “I am so sorry pop, I shouldn’t have disturbed you. I’ll call later” Now I am positively groveling. “Oh! Appu! No…that’s o.k. can always fall asleep later…” Oh dad don’t say that! You are making me feel so bad!!! “Tell me …what’s happening? Did u go running???? Seriously you have to get rid of those extra pounds”

Damn! Here I am feeling like a heel and there he is wondering if I went running???? . As my usual irritation set in, the last strains of the Tom and Jerry sound track reminded me why I called. Biting back my annoyance I said, “ Daddy…I am sorry for snapping at you. No I didn’t go running but I scrubbed the carpet…that helps to get rid of more calories….”

Several minutes and 2 arguments later as I hung up I realized no matter what I said daddy was always going to love me as I am. To him I am still the same kiddo who watched Tom and Jerry! And next time he calls at 5am (which by the way is a given certainty) I must remember that he is still the same guy who got up to watch cartoons with me.