Finding Lost Love

My father wanted to find the woman he loved 30 years ago. So we made a road trip out of it—and took my mom along.

- Vaishnavi Gupte

It was 1983. “I was standing outside college with my friends when they looked over my shoulder and started giggling. I turned around to see Priya walking towards us. She politely greeted my friends and shook my hand. Back then, we wouldn’t just hug a person of the opposite gender. Why did she shake my hand? Because she was my girlfriend. Yes, I had a girlfriend in college. There’s no need to make faces. Priya was a pretty girl. Her dressing was conservative, like her family.”

Mom and I stared at my dad in shock. “Wait, so in 1983, you were 17 and were allowed to have a girlfriend, and this is 2018, I’m almost 20, but I still can’t have a boyfriend?” I asked. My parents just laughed it off.

“After college,” Dad continued, “it was our routine to walk to Shyaam bhai’s tea stall, share a cutting chai and talk about our day. That day, we discussed something very important: our two-year anniversary on Friday. With the money I saved by sharing chai with her, I decided to do something special. Sitting in a 90 LTD bus back home, I thought of how Priya loved watching movies. I decided to buy balcony tickets for Masoom.