"Daddy, phone pannu"

That's what Atri, our 2 year old son woke me up with at 4 AM this morning. 

He wants me to call 'daddy' so he can talk to him. How do I explain to him that for the first time ever, aside from the times Sumanth has been on flights, daddy is not contactable for the next few days.

I scan through the photo album in my phone and show him this pic of S that I love the most. Taken with a backdrop of the Arabian Sea on the evening of Navroz's marriage vows in January this year. 

Atri is happy to see his daddy's smiling face and is satisfied for the moment. 

This is just one of the instances. He remembers his daddy in deep sleep by uttering "Daddy Atacama"once in a while. The one night that was utterly heart-breaking as well as funny was him rattling off all things he does with daddy, in his deep sleep.

"Paakan, aavil, cif and Sippon" - For those of you not familiar with Atri-speak, that means "Popcorn, olive, chips and Simpsons" which is what father and son do when I am out for my run in the evening.

Waiting for the 16th so that we can resume our lives as one small family, once again.