Adventure in the air

Blessed are those who can speak and understand different languages beyond their mother tongue!

Atleast the language spoken in places you visit more often. I've experienced this problem much earlier when I got married and joined the defence fraternity. But what we experienced recently with my sister's air travel was nothing less than a nightmare.

After a month long vacation with us, my sister was going back home to Coimbatore. It took a lot of convincing from us to make her agree to travel alone by air. She was insisting on train travel as she was not comfortable travelling alone by air for two reasons. One, she doesn't know the language and secondly the check in procedures.  She was very worried about how  she was going to communicate, in case required!

To cut short the long story... We thought we could circumvent the problem by booking a direct flight and wheelchair assistance , so that the assistant can do the check in things. So we did that.  Web check in and a wheel chair booking also done. All possible assistance given including meal and an empty water bottle (to fill water inside the airport - ensured she doesn't have ask anyone for anything).

The flight was supposed to go halt in Bengaluru for half an hour but onward passengers were not required to deboard the plane.

As the saying goes, Man proposes and God disposes.....

Her flight reaches Bengaluru and there was an announcement asking all onward passengers to get down and board another flight which was going to Coimbatore.  But... she didn't understand the announcements - which were in Hindi and English!! So, very sincerely, since we had told her not to get down, she refused to deboard when the flight staff asked her to!!  Finally, when they insisted, she called us and we spoke to the crew member and asked for a  wheelchair, which they didnt have. Then they had to be shown the ticket again which showed wheelchair assistance booking. Then  they ran and got a wheelchair. 

With a lot of high voltage drama, she finally made it to the coimbatore  flight! She couldn't have managed to go home but for the wheelchair!

PS: I've told her to watch some Hindi serials to learn Hindi.

Adventure....unexpected.

   

      Game for adventure? Board Indian Railways...

     Travelling by train in India is no less than an adventure. This has been proved many times in my almost four decade old travelling experience.Armed with so much experience, we planned our trip meticulously to aurangabad from jaipur. Since there is no direct train, we had to catch the connecting train at nizammudin station. Keeping the punctuality of the railways in mind we booked the ticket with almost five hours gap. (Weather was good as it was first week of November). 

     Everything went off as per plan. We boarded the train and it started on time. Well settled in our seats, within a few minutes we dozed off to sleep. Most people were sleeping as it was an early morning train. We expected to reach Delhi by 10 am so we did not bother about our breakfast (nor did we carry anything with us). After about two hours of sleep, we woke up to see the train had halted but not at any station. We decided go back to sleep as there was nothing to worry about and we had so much time on hand. Slowly restlessness started and nobody knew why was the train not moving. After what seemed like an eternity, a kind salesman passed by saying 'engine karab hogaya hai aur doosri lagegi toh gaadi chalegi'.

     It took another one and half an hour to start the train. That was only the beginning of the problems. As the train was running at unscheduled time, it was not in the priority to get the green signal at other stations and nothing was available to eat on this train. By the time we reached our destination, we were late by two and a half hours and starving! But the connecting train's station was an hour's drive. We had a little time to catch the train.

     So we didn't stop for a meal and immediately booked an Ola and waited for the cab to pick us up. Now the clock was ticking faster. He kept saying' just reaching', but not before half an hour! Meanwhile we realised the gravity of the situation. It was diwali time, narrow roads, traffic of delhi and not to forget our traffic sense. I was certain that we are going to miss the train and my heart started working overtime the whole way. My hubby dear kept his cool, saying that in the worst case scenario we'll go back home. Throughout the journey, I saw all our detailed planning and hopes of a wonderful holiday crumble before the great Indian railways and Delhi traffic..

     Five minutes to spare, we reached the station and ran to our train (DDLJ style!!!) and threw ourselves in our seats, thanking all the known and unknown gods! When we started our journey, we had planned how we were going to spend our spare time enjoying biryani at one of the eateries at nizamudin. Here we are without a morsel in sight but glad that we managed to even start our journey!!  ...And the Adventure has just begun!

                             

Abi off to the Aravalis...!

How long is the route?

Will there be any thorns?

Are there any wild animals?

Is it tar road or mud?

Will I get chips?

Can we have a picnic there?

Who will carry the mat?

Can you wake me up on time?

Should I set the alarm in my watch?

....... So on and so forth came the ceaseless questions from Abi when we asked him if he would like to join us for a trek!

   Last Saturday we decided to go for a short trek of about 4 km. Since it was not a very difficult route we thought of taking Abi with us. He was very excited when his mother broke this news to him. But then, true to his nature, he couldn't simply simply say yes to the offer. He wanted to be thoroughly sure before venturing into this new adventure. Hence all those questions! But once he made up his mind to join us,  he simply couldn't wait for the D-day to come.

   Day of the trek arrived after what seemed like an eternity (for Abi)! He was up even before I could wake him up. Unbelievably, he got ready in no time without making a fuss about anything (what dress, shoes and cap to be worn, snacks to be packed, which water bottle to be carried, who will carry what etc etc  phew.... hope I've not left out any questions!) since these extremely important issues were decided the previous night itself.

   

   Armed with everything he wanted, we embarked on Abi's first trek. His enthusiasm caught on others as well. It was a beautiful day.. It had rained the previous night. Nature was at its most beautiful. Abi saw the mighty Aravali range, learned the names of some wild flowers, saw purple mushrooms popping out early in the morning. We reached our destination without any difficulties and surprisingly, he wasn't tired at all! Though we did not have a proper picnic there, with a mat and a food basket, we did spend some time playing near a lake and munched some peanuts and biscuits.

I can't believe that my little baby whom we used to carry in our lap so protectively has grown up now and raring to go and explore the big wide world out there....

   Pray God to give you strong wings to fly high baby.

Miss you baby.....

      Just a few minutes back, the train left and we said bye to our li'l angel with a heavy heart. Back home, I find the house totally empty and deserted without my li'l one around. It's all soooo quiet that one can hear one's own breathing.

     When my daughter planned to go out for three days, I thought I will complete my pending household work without any disturbance. My woollens are not yet packed as we had lots of guests back to back (the long weekends). Saturdays are working for me and of course, the li'l one always wanting to help me in all my work. But I was wrong. I just do not feel like doing anything without him. Kuch bhi achha nahi lag raha hai. I do not know how to spend time without him.

     But I'm also happy for him because he is going to meet his 'dadu and dadi'. He just loves to travel. The news of him going to meet his grandparents was told to him yesterday. Since then he is so excited to go. We could make him do all his routine work saying, 'do this quickly otherwise you will get late for your journey' and he was so prompt in doing everything.

    As soon as he reached school, he went on announcing this news to one and all. The train was in the evening. So the whole day he kept asking, 'has the train come?' (train vandachha?) Even though he was excited the whole day, just before leaving he started saying 'you both also come with me' (neenga rendu perum vanga). We assured him that we will  join him next time. He happily hugged us and waved his tiny li'l hands and went. I'm sure he will enjoy his stay with his dadu and dadi and spread immense happiness there also. Already missing you baby.... Love you.

Winter Break

  Happy new year! This was supposed to be my first post of this year but got delayed because we went on a holiday during which I could not publish any of my december posts! Anyhow, I'm just back from our winter vacation and I'm feeling happy that all of us (all the family members) got to spend time together. It was a welcome break from our mundane life. We had planned for a three-day outing to Punjab but ended up spending a week there. We made it to Dharamshala as well from there. The weather was also very kind, not being too cold, we could enjoy our stay thoroughly! 

  During this vacation Abi enjoyed the most. He met 'Baabi didi' for the first time and became her earnest fan. Whatever she did or wanted, Abi too did or wanted to do that. There came a time that the poor girl got so frustrated! Then her granny reminded her of how she wanted a younger brother or sister to which she replied - "if this is what younger siblings do then I do not want one"! So one can imagine how much Abi enjoyed himself!

  The best part of the whole stay was that Abi learnt so many things, like how to eat on his own, fight, play, adjust with children. At home he is always surrounded by adults. He has been introduced to new games on mobile, toys and gadgets by Baabi didi. Now he wants them all too! It was wonderful watching him follow didi all the time and trying to imitate her. It so amazing to see how children learn new things quickly.

   When we started packing for our return at the end of the three days, Abi simply refused to come back with us! So then we made an impromptu decision to extend our trip! All in all it was a wonderful trip. The credit for this trip goes to my daughter for planning it and our dear hostesses, especially Baabi for making it so enjoyable. 

Vaapas kaise Jaaye??

 It has been more than a week since we stepped out of our gate (not even to school ) as Abi has not been well. One day, he was feeling a bit better and the sun was very kind, so we ventured out. I told Abi that after he has his breakfast we will go out today (which he calls ghoomi-ghoomi). He was quite excited as we live in this small town and we hardly go out. If at all we do then it is to buy something which cannot be delayed. Otherwise we do our shopping only when we go to Jaipur or Delhi as we hardly get anything of our choice here.

We went to a temple which is about 30 km from our place and the road is bad. I was not aware of both these facts and I did not ask my daughter as I had an agenda in going to this temple and I knew she will not like it. Someone told me that praying to this 'mata' will cure any body of cough. I'm not superstitious, but seeing Abi suffer for such a long time, in spite of the medication, I decided to go to the temple.

After about 45 minutes drive from our place we reached there. It was a small temple. Nobody was there (thankfully). It took us 5 minutes to pray  and we were back in the vehicle. Abi asked me,'where are we going?' I said we are going back home. To my surprise, he started crying, saying 'abhi toh ghoomi ghoomi nahi gaye hai hum aur kuch kharida bhi nahi, vapas kaise jayenge?'! 

It totally slipped my mind that for Abi "ghoomne jaana" has become synonymous with buying toys or chocolates! We had a tough time in explaining to him that there are no shops here so how we can buy anything? We went around the village showing him that there are no shops where he can buy something for himself. Very reluctantly he sat in the car pressing his face on the window to keep a look out.. unfortunately he could not find any and he gave. By then he was tired and slept off. Vaapas aise hi aa gaye!

Tamil Nadu Travel Series -The Long Trip Home

Kanyakumari Sunrise

It has been a couple of months since I blogged.  When I opened my blog and the last published post's date stared at me did I realise how much time has gone by. Much has gone down the river in the meanwhile. Abi and I had gone home (south) for the summer vacation much against his mother's will (against the long duration only - 35 days). I too felt it was too long for the child to stay away from his mother and I remembered last when he was away from his mother and he saw her on the net while chatting he cried so much. But somehow the tickets worked out to be available only at a  35 days gap. So this time we decided that he will not see or hear his mother, only she will see and hear him. I promised his mother that the day he cries for his mother, I'll catch the next flight and bring him back to her.Thankfully he did not give me any problem and we enjoyed our full holiday without having to break it halfway. Such an angel!

Barring some eye problem towards the end, he thoroughly enjoyed his stay with his great grand parents and other relatives. We travelled to many cities down south like Tuticorin, Tiruchendur, Kanyakumari,Suseendram, Kutralam and Thirunelveli. Abi enjoyed the trip so much and not once let us feel that a small kid is travelling with us. In fact, Abi only added to our enjoyment. Its unbelievable to see how much energy these little kids have in them. During this trip I realised that children are power packed and we do not let them use that energy to their satisfaction. So in turn they trouble us by behaving crankily. The lesson learnt is travel more and that too with kids. HAPPY JOURNEY....!