My wife and my daughter joined me in Southampton in December last year – a month of festivities here in the UK, but a time when the cold was really fierce and unwelcoming. I had travelled to India during the Christmas break to bring them back with me. My wife and I had quite a few discussions about the time of their arrival in the UK. She had always been sceptical about the cold here and I was adamant that they come back with me during Christmas. Firstly, if they did not come during Christmas, then we would have to wait till Easter Break before they could join me as I had no holidays in between to make a trip to India. Secondly and more importantly, I was missing seeing my child grow every day and it was a huge and irreparable loss. So, I always would tell my wife that the UK was undergoing one of the mildest winters this year and it would be all fine with our daughter.
Well, we did arrive at Heathrow after a long flight from Mumbai via Istanbul on the evening of Boxing Day, already drained out by the long flight, with a three month old infant in arms. To add to our exasperation, we found on arrival that our luggage had got stuck at Istanbul Airport. A number of distress calls were made to Turkish Airlines – which has a motto of 'globally yours' – but still the luggage was delivered at our Southampton residence only after 48 hours. I am grateful to my wife’s foresight that she had packed the stuff required for our baby in our hand luggage.
The first few days were spent shedding the jet lag and getting acclimatised to the weather here. I was particularly worried about my daughter’s health and was scared about her catching a cold. Despite my claim that it was one of the mildest winters the UK had ever seen, it was still much colder than in India. A week later I realised that the Christmas Break would soon be over. I still had a couple of assignments to finish and to top it all there was hardly any time left for the first semester exams – scheduled to begin from 18 January 2012. I had hardly touched my books the whole Christmas break and it was time that I got back to business.
I studied till late at night to cover up the lost time, not sleeping before 3 am, only to be jolted up from my sleep by the cries of my daughter. My wife, really tired from looking after the baby the whole day, would be catching up on her sleep. Therefore, I would get up and to play my part as a Daddy and attend to the baby. I will not be modest here and say that it was all easy. A backlog of assignments, exams round the corner and looking after the baby at times – the pressure was mounting!
The days progressed and I found myself glued to my study table for hours as the exams approached. My study breaks comprised of taking turns with my wife looking after the baby. Sleep was a rare commodity then. The exams went well and so were the results. With the advent of the second semester, life was much more relaxed. My family seemed to have settled well in Southampton. I was getting time to study and I was really enjoying my daughter’s company.
Life had taken a complete turn. It was very different from the first three months of my stay here, when I was a forced bachelor. Now, I found myself more and more homebound. My Friday and Saturday evenings were no longer spent in the company of friends in the Stag’s Head – the pub in the University - but in the company of my family at home. It was a pleasure to see my daughter grow. I could find joys in the simplest of things in life. A smile on her face would make my day. Her giggles would take me to another world altogether. I realise now that I keep murmuring nursery rhymes at times. My favourite colours – beige and black - have been replaced by baby pink and fairy white. My daughter will soon turn a year old. She now cries when I leave for the University and longs to see me back home when she can sit in my lap and watch her favourite nursery rhymes. This love and warmth cannot be traded with anything in the world.
The last eight months spent in the company of my family here in Southampton have been truly very memorable. And as they say, “All is well that ends well”.
Rohit
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