Yesterday was shopping day. We were looking for a mattress for Mika's bed. The present one has the springs popping out and a cavity in the centre.
The best place to find one is one of the flea markets. I drove up to one which is part of a row of shops. I found a parking place in front of the shop right next to the flea market. We both got out and I walked back to the flea market door. Annikki got out and walked directly into the next door shop, a baby and children's store!
That sent me into splits of laughter as I watched her looking at me in wonderment, not even realising what she had done.
She asked me what had caused my mirth.
I told her that at that moment she reminded me of my mother, who would tell her driver where she wanted to go. When he parked the car, she would walk into the first shop door she encountered. She trusted that her driver was a magician capable of parking directly adjacent to her destination. On Commercial Street, Bangalore, this is a near impossibility!
On Commercial Street it did not matter as she knew every shopkeeper and she was usually greeted with great enthusiasm wherever she walked in! 
The reason was she had been spoilt by my dad during our life in Bombay. He would always find a parking place exactly where she wanted to go. She would go into the shop and come out walking directly into the car, while my dad sat in the car doing the daily crossword puzzle in the newspaper or some other mundane thing, like working on some maths problem, to keep himself occupied. He did not enjoy going in to do the shopping!
Many fond memories of my mother flooded back. It gave me goose pimples to remember her in her lighter moods - and this was one I really enjoyed.
1 comment:
beautiful memory.
when i read this i remembered something else.i was going to go to a khadi store with my 11yr old son and husband.i was so busy talking instead of going to the store entrance i went inside an entrance which was ahead of the store.when i realised the mistake i looked and saw where we were.it was the place where people leaves babies whom they doesnt want to keep-ammathottil.
when we all came out, the people around that place were all looking at us,kind of surprised!may be they thought we were going to leave our kid there or what!!didnt know whether to laugh or feel sad.
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