“I can’t believe we made it,” Mala wondered aloud.
“Yes, we are in Bangkok,” said an awed Manpreet.
“Three nights and four days of total fun and freedom,” piped in Mamta.
They giggled like girls and Mala entwined her fingers with Manpreet and she in turn with Mamta.
They stood together thus for a full minute in their suite.
Just as Mamta was about to lie down, Mala said, “No, don’t you dare lie down.”
“Yes, get up. We have things to do and places to go. We are done being tired,” asserted Manpreet.
The ladies were in Bangkok for a very special reason and they had a very specific destination in mind for their first outing.
“So, once we get there, we go our separate ways for a couple of hours and then meet near the entrance again. We then…”
“We know Mannu. We have gone over the plan a thousand times,” reminded Mamta gently.
Once they reached their destination, they disembarked, entered the store and waved bye to each other.
Manpreet returned first to the designated spot. Followed by Mamta and then Mala.
“Ok, so what did you guys buy?” asked Manpreet.
“Let’s all show at the same time.”
Manpreet and Mala nodded.
They were stunned when they saw what each had bought.
“Wow, we all bought wigs,” whispered Manpreet.
“We flew thousands of kilometers to a shopping paradise and ended up buying the same thing,” said a wide-eyed Mala.
“But atleast our wigs are different.”
“Actually, they are exactly like the hair we had earlier,” observed Manpreet.
They looked at the three wigs and agreed with Manpreet’s assessment.
“Let’s swap them,” Mala said excitedly.
“What?”
“Yeah, why not?” Mamta’s eyes sparked with glee. “Mala, do you want Mannu’s long straight ebony hair or my brunette bob-cut?”
“Hmm….I think I will try your short hair.”
“Mannu, why don’t try Mala’s curly hair and I will try yours.”
Each tried the other’s wig. Seeing them struggle with the wigs, one of the staff members came over and offered to help. A conversation ensued and at the end of it she said, “May I make a suggestion. Why don’t you swap these wigs for completely different ones? What’s stopping you from choosing different colors and styles.”
The idea resonated with them. Mala choose red bob-cut, Mamta blond blunt and Manpreet golden curls. The store helped them with make-up and cosmetics.
Out stepped three beautiful, laughing women with red, blond and golden tresses, who were celebrating their win over death. Everything was forgotten for those three nights and four days. They forgot the shock of finding out that they had cancer. Forgot the toll it took on them, mentally and physically; robbing Manpreet of her radiant skin, Mamta of her captivating smile and Mala of her contagious energy. But most of all robbing them of their gorgeous locks. The girls partied like never before cementing a friendship that was formed and forged in their battle against cancer.
* * *
For more of such content follow us on Social Media:
- Yama’s Downtime - 12 Apr 2023
- Sacrifice - 22 Dec 2022
- The Bridal Rat-Race - 12 Oct 2022