India trip was great ... it wasn't the like any of my earlier visits. This was the first time I was travelling with 2 kids by myself. I dreaded the flight journey ... I had expected the worst... turned out so much better than I had imagined. Infact the journey from here to India was almost uneventful and quite comfortable. It helped that our flight got delayed here in SF. That meant hardly any transit time in Hong Kong. We reached Bengaluru on time. Since I was travelling with my MIL, we had requested wheelchair assistance. So the porters in the Airport took care of our luggage as well. We were also given priority in the "Flu Screening" and Immigration / Customs queue. All our luggage arrived in less than 10 mins ... considering we had checked in 7 suitcases, it was no short of a miracle. In all we were out of the airport in less than 20mins of our flight landing at the airport. Pretty Awesome I thought !
I was visiting India after 4 long years and it felt very surreal to drive from the International Airport to BIL's place. There was hardly any traffic ... the highway was in excellent condition ... the airport itself was amazing ... the gentle breeze at 2:30 am felt very relaxing after our long flight journey.
I chose to spend most of my time in my hometown since my MIL had stayed with us for the past 4 months ... my parents especially my dad who was seeing Junior for the first time since her birth were anxiously waiting for our arrival.
The highlights of my trip were:
* My parents meeting both my kids
* The girls bonding beautifully with grandparents. (Cantaloupe instantly bonded ... junior took some time). I let them have their time and was only too happy to stay in the background and observe their bonding.
* Meeting my grandma for the first time since my grandpa's death last september. I had tossed and turned about my how frail my grandma would be (both mentally and physically). I didn't know how I'd begin to console her of her loss ... in short I didn't know how I would face her ... but she made it very easy on me. Indeed she had become very weak ... she had gained atleast 5 years of age in the last 5 months ... but then her warm presence was still there. Her love and warmth could never be missed. Junior, who had so much stranger anxiety jumped and clapped when we visited my grandma's house. It was as well Junior knew the place all along ... I was almost shocked.
* Seeing all my relatives after a very long time ... most of them had changed / renovated their houses. The family dynamics has changed so much since my last visit ... sigh ! (I am so glad I don't have to deal with trivial family politics on a daily basis )
* Shopping spree took a new meaning in my world ... never in my life have I made so many shopping trips. (note: I made several trips ... not that I shopped a lot ... small things required multiple visits... like the visit to the tailor or the visit to the embroidery lady or the visit to the electrician ... )
* I hogged ... hogged and hogged some more as if I was food deprived. Amma's Thair Vada / Bisi Bele Bhath / Tengolu / Obbattu / Plum Cake GTR Masala Dosa, Raghavendra Bakery Plain Cake , Veggie Puffs and Ajji's Kobbari Mittai still rock ! The new delicacy I tried "Jolada Rotti" is plain yummy !
* We hosted the first ever kids party in India. (Cantaloupes 5th year birthday party was super hit with her ... she met all her cousins and hosted the games) It was a very nice way to meet up a lot of folks whom I would otherwise have never got to visit. (due to lack to time)
* Showed most tourist attractions to Cantaloupe ... only to be disappointed with her constant interest in the snack bag :(
* "Nutty Delight" and "Mango Delight" still are the best "Joy" flavours.
Some of things I never considered before my travel:
* Jet Lag
* Jet Lag
* Jet Lag
Man ... they hit the kids ... and hit me hard. The kids woke up at 2:00am every morning for more than a week of our landing in India and I had to entertain them. Just when they were almost used to IST timings we flew back and had to deal with the same again !!
New challenges await us from next week ... Cantaloupes' school and Junior's day care are the most important ones in the list.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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4 comments:
hey that sounds fantastic. so happy your flight went smooth. see? all that worrying and what did you get - 7 suitcases and out in 20 minutes! :)
happy to see your family reunion. send some pics over this way, pls. the pretty sisters in pretty pavadais..
Sounds like you had a great time!! :)
Family reunions are fun! And yes, its really nice that you don't have to deal with the politics on a daily basis!! :D
Pics pls?! :)
See I always said the worrying abt what ifs is always worse than the flight.
I knew you would sail through it.
I know the jet lag you are talking. We had it for more than a week when we went to Singapore.
Get settles here soon and good luck with the school/daycare situation
sounds like awesome time was had!! good for you girls! :)
cheers!
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