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There was
nothing new to the last day of the month. It had always been the same for the
last eight years for Kazuki Tanaka. Sharp at six in the evening, Kazuki stepped
out of his office. His month end pay check had already been credited in his bank
account some one hour ago. He hurriedly walked towards the Tokyo Station from
where he would take the JR Chuo Rapid line train to his home situated at
Kichijoji. As he stepped into the train and got a window seat, his thoughts
travelled back into time.
Kazuki Tanaka was born to a middle- class Japanese family. Both his parents worked in the electronic goods industry so they had to go out for work while Kazuki was kept with his aunt. After their working hours, Kazuki spent the entire evening with his parents. When he joined school, he would spend enormous amount time with his friends after school and reach home around the time his parents would be scheduled to arrive.
A bright student in his school, Kazuki’s father wanted him to study engineering and hence would make sure that he got good marks in his school so that he could get into a good college for his higher education. As was planned, Kazuki ultimately ended up joining an engineering college. Like his school, he made great friends at his college too. In their free time, they would walk out to explore the developing city of Tokyo at that time.
As time
went by and as Kazuki kept passing level after level in his college, he got
busy with his studies and internship. Kazuki had managed to secure a good
internship in the Toyota Engineering Company. He was exposed to a new world and
in between his studies and managing work, Kazuki hardly could find time for his
friends and family.
Time passed by, years also flew by as Kazuki finally passed his engineering and got a fabulous placement in one of Tokyo’s most promising futuristic companies. As the Company was a developing one, there was tremendous work pressure as Kazuki managed the core product engineering section.
In between everything, Kazuki got married to
girl who was the daughter of one of his father’s friends. As years passed by
and Kazuki got promoted and led a very happy family life, he realized he missed
something very much and that was the reason that he waited for the month end so
eagerly.
That
evening, as he recollected all his memories sitting in the train to Kichijoji,
he was excited because it was the last day of the month and on the last day of
every month, he followed a ritual since the last eight years.
As he
reached home, he told his wife and two daughters to get ready with their favourite
dresses. “Not again, father,” one of the daughters who was busy with some
school home- work commented.
By late
evening, Kazuki along with his family were back in the train to Tokyo. At
around eight thirty in the evening, they reached the spot where they would
visit each month end. It was a small eating outlet named, “Tokyo Corner”. It was
a forty- year- old outlet with no other branches in the entire country. It was
known for its authentic and traditional Japanese food. It also served some
authentic continental and Thai food.
Kazuki got
his favourite seat in the outlet that he had already reserved by calling the owner
in the afternoon. As the waiter got all the regular items which Kazuki had
ordered, he got excited like a small little boy. After all it were those same
dishes that he had cherished along with his parents when he was small and young
at this same outlet. His parents would take him to this outlet every month end
after they would get their pay check. All the dishes that they would eat in
those years were chosen by his mother.
That evening, as the dishes were laid down on the table, Kazuki looked at each of them like a small little boy. They all looked the same as they did then. He closed his eyes, and he could see his parents. It was some eight years ago when they had passed away due to some age -related issues. As he finished praying and they started to eat, the first taste of the food took him back to nostalgia. It tasted the same as then when he had eaten those dishes for the first time sitting along with his parents.
As he slowly cherished each of the
food items, chewing slowly and enjoying the taste, his wife looked at him and
smiled. She would wait for the month end to see her husband revisit his
childhood memories. She knew that it was never about the food but about the
memory. It was about the nostalgia of going back into time to meet his parents
through those same dishes which he had cherished along with them during his
growing up years. The taste and the feeling transported him back to time as if
he had time travelled to relive his growing up years. It was about meeting them
in the memories through the food. His wife very well knew that the food outlet
was the most memorable part of his childhood and hence Kazuki would take his
family there every month end in the same way his parents had taken him there.
