“Where were you so many days? I did not see you
in the morning with your newspaper and did not see you with your glass of beer
in the evening. Your long absence worried me.” The tone of annoyance in Lulu’s
[my parrot] voice was unmistakable.
“I had been to Australia and New Zealand. For
twenty days. What a tour! It took me back in times when I was a child and had
great admiration for a New Zealander friend of my father. I always had fascination
for NZ.”
“Your mind travelled back in times and you
travelled down under. Lot of memories, eh?”
“Yes. The dead sit at your table long after
they are gone.”
“If you quote Mitch Albom you must mention it.
Etiquette, man, etiquette.” Lulu is not the one to get impressed easily. “This
was perhaps the right time to visit NZ.”
“Oh, yes! The autumn makes it very
colourful. The landscape
appears as if it is painted in watercolour. Bright colours. Many hues. And a very pleasant weather. All
you need is a camera and a beverage of your choice in hand.”
“A beverage of your wife’s choice to be
accurate. You obviously can’t have one of your choices when she is with you.”
Lulu winked as he spoke. There are some realities you accept, when you marry a
person of strong will, right?
“The journey is long and Qantas added ten more hours
with their delays. I deeply suspect that the Qantas guys were trained by Indian
Airlines in managing time! Our tour guide reeled off several rules saying you
can’t carry this and that… they levy heavy penalty…. he frightened us. But it
was a pleasant experience with NZ customs. The officer, obviously a man of
Indian origin asked if we were carrying any food. I said yes, some snacks. He asked
‘Indian snacks? Those fried and salty things?’ I nodded when he smiled and said
‘go.’ Oh, what a relief.”
“Complying with any rule or law makes an Indian
nervous. You guys are just not accustomed to it, right? And did you see the
statue at the airport?”
“Yes. A huge one. We proceeded to Rotorua. Beautiful
and picturesque road. Rotorua means ‘the second lake.’”
“What did you do there? What’s that pic about? Announcing
their marathon? Did you run marathon there?”
“Nah! We watched something which you do not see
in India.”
“What is it, man? Tell me.”
“Wait for two days to hear that story. Let the
suspense build up.”
“Eeeeeeeh!” Lulu protested, “Don’t do the
Arabian Nights trick on me.”