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After Sunset

 It was a night without a plan, a night when the Italian restaurant was fully reserved, when the walk had to be called off because my meeting went on for too long, when we could not decide between Indian or Thai food. Eventually we would decide to order in and between placing the order and its delivery was a lengthy gap that had to be filled.

"Acho, do you have wine?", I inquired, knowing full well he may not like the idea of my sisters partaking in the drinking.

"There is some in the fridge", he acquiesced.

I took out the wine glasses, the very first time the crystalline objects were taken out in the house in the absence of any guests. Then the 5 glasses were filled while the whole family sat around the rectangular teapoy in the living room, every one distracted in their own device, expecting yet another uneventful evening of forgettable conversations and arguments.

"How about truth or dare?", she suggested. There was not enough alcohol for the game but still that would be a good way to break everyone out of their devices. The TV remote was placed at the centre of the table and one person turned it. Whomever it pointed to had to answer a question from any of the rest. There was no dare, but just the truth.

A family is a remarkable social unit, where a collection of individuals with varying personalities have to co-habitate with on another despite the differences. We cannot pick who is in our family. It is assigned to us from birth and as a friend of mine said, "However imperfect, they are still family." The generation gap, the education, the upbringings and the social circles all created differences in thought, speech and action in my family like every other family and with differences always lay some hidden resentments and anger that was often communicated within family circles. Often it was the negative more than the positive that was discussed.

But this time it was different.

What was the most romantic thing he did for you? What do you most appreciate about her? What do you most like about him? What is your biggest regret?....

Topics that were rarely discussed were brought to the fore. As the alcohol loosened the tongue, so did the expression of gratefulness , the recollection of events that meant a lot, the realisation that this was family, that beyond the lingering resentments, annoyances and disagreements, there were people out there who acknowldged the good things we did that even we ourselves forgot.

This evening, it felt like family.

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