"Can we stop here somewhere just for some time ?" queried her dad from the rear seat of the car. Since the time they had come to US to visit her for 3 months , her dad would sit in the rear seat of the car , not out of choice but because of the simple reason that the mother-daughter pair had banished him there. "You drive me nuts when you sit next to me. No more back seat driving now!!!!" Neha had said with a smile and her mum had nodded her approval. "But then , I am sitting on the back seat already!!!!" was the only mild protest he could muster against their combined forces.

Though Neha could not fathom why he would want to stop the car , she swung into the narrow lane overlooking the house and stopped under a tree. They all came out of the car but suddenly something told Neha that her parents were now in the world of their own - somehow bridging the gaps of the years gone by. She did not say a word but stood silently behind them as they both went a little bit ahead to have a closer look at the house.

"Do you remember?" her dad did not need to complete the sentence because her mother did that for him. "Yes , I do. Funny that it should all be still so clear as if it happened just yesterday. That was a small place compared to this..a way too small."

"And do you remember the first day we shifted into our new place , Neha ?" asked her dad.
" Daddy , it was such a long time back. How will I remember ?". "Of course , you won't.You were so tiny and your brother was not even born. But we would always take you with us when we used to go to check on how much of the apartment complex was completed. And you know , what your mother would do ? She would move about in the area which was supposed to be our apartment thro' all those heaps of cement , concrete, iron bars and try to visualize where she would keep her coffee table !!!! ".

As expected by her dad, her mum retorted at the last remark. "Is it ? And why don't you tell her that all you were worried about was that there won't be enough room for keeping all the 4 chairs and the sofa ?". They all laughed and Neha felt as if she suddenly got a key to that special place in her parents' heart - the time when they were going to have a tiny apartment of their own. But then again ,there was no key because there were no locks. It was all open like a book to their daughter. She must have been blind not to have looked at it for so many years.

And what did she see ? Looking back thro' the curtains of the time ,moving thro' the then construction site which was now her dear home back in India, what did she see ?

She saw her mother thinking about not where to place the coffee table but about how nice it would be to serve people she loved in the kitchen with echoes of laughter and happiness ringing thro' every corner of the home, imagining tiny flower beds with roses and jasmines which would fill the cool evening air with their sweat fragrances ..in that heap of cement which was going to be the balcony some day, looking at the blue soft carpet in the still to be constructed living room and so happy , so proud of herself that she was with her husband thro' this important phase of his life..having a home of their own.

Neha saw her dad - silent and firm as usual , slightly sad for he could not afford one more room specially for his children but proud that he could finally see his dream come true and yes , proud to have a wife who understood what was important for him and who was there with him at every step with her total support. A Man never needed more strength.

"I bet it is going to be a beautiful home" Neha was jolted out of her thoughts and looked at her dad. "Yes , it is going to be beautiful and I hope a happy one too." Said her mum.

And as they both stood there looking at the house , Neha chose to stay one step behind - looking at them from a distance. 'It does not take cement , concrete and stones .....' she thought.

"It takes a family to make a home" said her dad and wondered why his daughter stared at him with her mouth wide open.