My traveling companion

So, Kahlil is gone back home. I miss him. I miss him. But when I tell you this trip to Rishikesh was a divine intervention... Not only for me but for him too! There isn't a meal that passes by that I don't thank God he isn't with me. You see, we weren't in Indore a week that Kahlil had discovered ALL the non-veg restaurants in town! He had a slew of rickshaw drivers at his beck and call to take him to this or that restaurant. For those of you wondering why would I be so glad he is not here with me, well, for the very simple fact that there is not ONE single place in the state of Uttarakhand, or the Abode of Gods as it is also called, can one find ANY non-veg place to eat! I don't even think they understand the concept! So Kahlil would have had a little problem! His request to Sole and Taro and Antoine was to have a bucket of chicken wings from "Sports Grill" upon his arrival at the airport!

OK, so in the gastronomy department Kahlil would have been rather unhappy. Otherwise, he would have loved it! I have to divert my eyes to all advertisements for white water rafting I pass by. Now that I am a pro at back motorbike riding (I am sure there is no such term, but you get the picture, right?!!) we would have rented a bike for the whole 10 days! (A 100 Rs. a day, folks! that's about $22 for the duration !-)
How was it with Kap for the 4 months here with me? He was the PERFECT companion! A couple of days before he left we were making a bilan of our time here and decided it had been a 97%! For the sake of decency I won't discuss the 3% that wasn't good and it was a trivial point. I feel myself blessed in this son of mine. Even our disagreements were good because they taught me faces of him that are not bad just different from mine. Kahlil had just enough independence that I didn't feel his weight at all. He did his things, I did mine. When we were to be together it was most of the times joyful (except some of the school activities that we had to attend, and even then he gave most of the times most gracefully, and shopping, that a little less gracefully!) Nothing was a problem for Kahlil. Going to the bank to get money for us, get dinner at Wady, dental floss at Treasure Island... no problem! Just jump in his pants, make a call to his auto buddies and off he goes. Eggs and chips across the street at night for dinner, no problem! A last minute trip to Daddy's Kitchen, no problem!

We had great talks. He never complained, nor wanted more than what he had. I loved the way he loved his volunteer job at the Barli Institute. He loved the workers. He spoke fondly of them. We had great laughs together. The second look that we got in the streets was a source of myrth for us! We loved trying to decide which one of us had provoked it, him or I. We kept each other sane when the realities of India were too overwhelming. We were HOME for each other. I have one hope, that he lost some of his shyness in this trip. And I think he did. And I have one regret! He came to India an occasional smoker and found cigarettes so cheap here he left a much heavier smoker! Ha! Ha! You knew I wouldn't miss this one, Kap!!

I love you and I am grateful for you!