The Surprise - Part 1

Nikhil was depressed. It was 9 am, and he was already up...far before his routine wake up time. Rajukaka, the elderly manservant, had been sent to wake him up. He silently cursed him under his breath. Nineteen year old Nikhil was the only son of famous actress Rajani Advani. All his life, he had been raised by Rajukaka, the manservant who had been with his family for two decades. Actually, his "family" consisted of only his mother and him, his father had left for greener pastures in a country abroad two months before he was born. His mom too was almost never around,being busy with her shooting schedules and he was largely raised alone but amongst the best of luxuries. At that moment though, Nikhil loathed his mom Rajani. He hated the fact that he was financially dependent on her and also hated the fact that there wasnt much he could do if he set out on his own. He did not want to give up on his current lifestyle either : the clothes, the innumerable cars with drivers, holidays abroad, and entertaining his friends at the best clubs every night. "What is it Rajukaka..?? Why did you wake me up at this ungodly hour?", he asked the servant. "Because Membsahib wished me to do so..", came the polite reply. He reluctantly got up from his comfortable position, and dragged himself to the bathroom. By the time he freshened up though, he was feeling a bit cheerful. He let his mind wander..and thought about which girl he would give a call to today to give him company, whether they should go shopping or hang out at some expensive restaurants.. With this mood, he came out of his room, only to find his mother Rajani sitting on his bed. "Hello Nikhil", she said, "Hope you are feeling fresh today, because we are going on a trip." What??? A trip with her?? Nikhil did not particularly like her overbearing presence, as also the facts she still made decisions for him. "I am not coming anywhere with you..". Rajani sighed, and got up. Walking up to him, she put her arm on his, and said with a finality "Yes you are, Rajukaka has already packed for you. I will be waiting downstairs". As she walked away from his room, he dislike for her grew a bit, and he did not like the fact that he always buckled under her pressure and gaze, no matter what his opinion was. Reluctantly, he got dressed and went downstairs. His mom was waiting for him in the posh lobby of his house. "Good", she said,and gently touched his cheek with her palm. Nikhil sized her up. Now in her 40s, Rajani wasnt an unattractive woman at all, as her profession demanded.She was almost as tall as he was, perhaps half an inch less.She was wearing a white shirt and cream trousers today. He followed her out, where a gleaming black Tata Safari was waiting for them. He did not remember seeing that before, but then, they had many cars, and he hardly paid attention to the ones in which was being driven around by drivers all day in his quest for fun and frolic. He was surprised when his mom walked over to the drivers side, opened the door and got inside. "What??", He exclaimed, "No driver??". "No sweetie, its just you and me today." . Ohh, he groaned internally, this was going to be one hard trip. Rajani started the big vehicle, and slowly steered out of her lavish home. "Where are we going?", he asked. "You will know when we get there.",came the reply. Rajani handled the big vehicle to morning traffic in the city in the direction of the highway. Nikhil was surprised she could drive it without a problem, he had never seen her do it before. He himself had never bothered to learn how to drive, who needs it when you have drivers at your beck and call at every hour. Rajani deftly steered the vehicle on the crowded highway, and they were making good progress. After about an hour and a half of driving, they turned off the main road onto what seemed like a village road. About 20 minutes later, they came to the actual village itself. The roads were extremely narrow, and the vehicle barely fit onto it. Many a times, he thought they were almost going to hit something, but nothing happened. Rajani, as usual, and calmly steered around the obstacles. A while later, they came to a big compound, where the road was comparitively wider. "This", explained Rajani,"is our village estate". They came upon a gate and honked twice. Slowly, the big gate opened, and Rajani steered the vehicle inside. Nikhil could see a biggish house built in a retro style. The door had been opened by a lady who appeared to be a maidservant. "That is Kamala, she looks after the house along with the gardener.", came the unasked for explanation. She parked and they got out. "Why are we here?", he wanted to know. "You wait here, I will change and come", came the reply. Nikhil was irritated by the fact that as usual, she had this mom-knows-best attitude,and deflected his question with an instruction. He couldnt wait to get back to his friends and those shopping malls. Five minutes later, Rajani was back out in the courtyard, but now she was dressed in an orange and green salwar kameez. "You must be wondering na..why I changed into this?" . "Well...yeah...sort of..". "Well, its because we are heading to a temple.". Nikhil sighed...he was bored. He started walking back to the car... "Where are you going, we are not taking the car.." Rajani called back after him. "You mean....we are going to walk??!" he gasped. "No sweetie.. but didnt you see the roads back there? So narrow, a car isnt always practical". She clasped his hand into hers and began leading him to the back of the house. "We will be taking.....this!!", she said with a smile. In front of them, stood a black coloured motorcycle. The tank said 'Royal Enfield' , and the middle part said '500cc'. "What??",he exclaimed, "But I dont know how to ride a bike!!" "Who says YOU have to ride sweetie",his mother said with a mischievous smile and before he knew it walked over to the bike. The Enfield looked in to good be in good shape, and seemed as if it was recently polished. "Butt..can you...I mean...", he began, but stopped as he saw his mom put the bike down from its main stand in one single fluid motion. The bike looked heavy to him, but he didnt know much about them. She gently swung a leg over on the bike. Nikhil didnt know it was possible to get on a bike wearing a salwar kameez. He looked on with a mixture of amazement and doubt. Rajani bent down and engaged the choke, then she swiftly kicked the bike. It spluttered once but did not start. She gave another hard kick, and with a mighty noise which sounded like a thump and a roar, the big motorcycle came to life. Nikhil was more than impressed, he didnt know his mom could start bikes. Slowly, she engaged gears and called her son over. He slowly stepped over. "Common son, we are going for a ride!". He didnt know what to say...he was amazed. He gently sat behind her, unsure whether the lady could handle both his as well as the bike's weight at once. His mother had tied her dupatta at diagonally across so it wouldnt interefere with her riding. Slowly, they edged out of the compound and into the village. Nikhil could feel the people staring at him, but didnt know whether it was out of amazement of seeing an attractive salwar kameez clad woman riding, or was it because they hadnt seen her with HIM before. Nikhil had a gut feeling it was the latter. They left the village behind and came to a shady tree lined road, and Rajani started gathering speed. She rode deftly, without the slightest hesitation or sign of struggling or imbalance. He figured this was something she did regularly. "When did learn to ride a motorcycle??", he yelled into his mom's ear, struggling to make himself heard above the wind and the bikes noise. "Well....I had ridden bikes before in my movies too!". This was news for him, not that he watched too many of her movies. Just then, he realised that he was sitting in an awkward pose, with his hands behind him, holding the grab bar. "It would be better if you hold me instead.." Rajani said over the wind. He slowly let go, and put his arms around his mother's waist. He placed his head gently alongside hers, on her shoulders, feeling the wind in his face. It sort of felt good. As he was discovering, his mother was a skilled rider, taking the twists and turns of the road without upsetting the big bike the slightest. After what seemed like half an hour of riding, they came across a stone temple, at the side of the road. Rajani gently rolled to a stop alongside it, and Nikhil got off. The bike ride wasnt as bad as he had imagined it to be. His mother got down and smoothed out her dress. She parked the bike on the main stand and went inside.

(To be continued....).