Bonding over Directions

The discussion between the two was animated and intense.

The tone went from incredulous to baffled to downright offended, within nanoseconds.

Each one was eager to make a point that mattered.

And I….simply couldn’t be less bothered! 😛

Assuming that I’ve succeeded in getting you interested, let me now paint a clearer picture for you. If you think handling a man behind the wheel who’s lost his direction is tough, try handling two! 😀 😉 Since asking for directions is unheard of by men, you’ll be up for a ride that takes you to unseen areas, faintly familiar names of shops or localities, but the same repetitive expressions like ‘We had to take the last left’, ‘When did this road become a one-way?’ or ‘This new flyover has made driving so confusing!’, etc.

The two people mentioned earlier are A and my Dad. Dad never lived in Mumbai but had to travel here almost twice a month for business in the beginning of his career. He loved, and still loves, driving but in Mumbai apart from the frequented Kalbadevi he didn’t explore much. He still prefers to rely on road signs and his own judgement.

Mumbai, or more aptly Navi Mumbai, has been A’s home for a long time now and he has been to many nooks and corners of Mumbai with his friends, and sometimes with me. He travels a lot for work too. Understandably, he knows his way out. However, taking any help from me or Google Maps in case of emergencies isn’t even an option for him. :-/

Now imagine what will happen when two such guys have to face the embarrassing situation of being lost! 😛 Yesterday was one such hilarious experience. We were going to Siddhivinayak Temple and somewhere in Chembur we took a wrong turn. Their male ego stopped them from acknowledging that they’d lost their way while the confused look on their faces was worth a million bucks! They desperately tried to guise their blunder by making incessant remarks about anything and everything they came across. 😀 😀

For some time both went unnaturally quiet, waiting for the other one to spill the beans first. Finally, A gave up and said almost inaudibly, ‘I think this is not the correct way’. Then began the attempt at saving face and damage control.

I, very calmly, was seated behind the driver’s seat completely uninterested in their dissection of issues like the inconvenient diversions due to new flyovers, the narrow roads that always get jammed, peoples’ bad traffic sense, etc. In an attempt to include me in the conversation A and Dad pretended to give MY point of view some importance too, really! 😀 I was smart enough not to get pulled into it though. 😉

Honestly, it was cute seeing the two most important men in my life bond over something as trivial as this (Yes, it was trivial!). For any woman her Dad is her hero and she tries to find him somewhere in her better half. In some ways A does have something in common with Dad, and in many ways he doesn’t.

Whichever way, it works for me! 🙂 🙂

Varsh

Blogger. Author. Editor. Content creator. Mom.