North East Vacation!

After a two year hiatus, we decided go on an annual vacation this March. Thanks to Venky's friend who was on a bike trip to the North East. He had shared his itinerary with Venky who seemed to have liked it, and wanted to give it a shot of his own. Thus, our bookings for travel and stay were made exactly a month prior. The main highlight of the trip was, we were to talk the little boy along with us. It definitely is an exciting as well as an anxious feeling. 

Ours was a booking with a lay over at Kolkatta and a connecting flight to the Destination from there. We reached the airport atleast 3 hours early, and let Athiboy run around. The boy got so excited seeing all the aircrafts, buses and other ground force vehicles. He spent close to 2 hours roaming about the airport pointing out to the various aircrafts and was bouncing with joy when he saw a flight take off up close. And by the time we boarded our flight, the boy was exhausted beyond measure that he dozed off even before the take off! So much for my worry about how he'd react during take off. After close to an hour of sleep, he woke up, had some food and spent some time with V staring out of the window at some clouds and the sea beneath. He took me off by surprise by not creating a slightest fuss throughout the journey. 

We landed in Kolkatta at about 5:30PM and had our connecting flight from there in an hour's time. We rushed through the exit, onto the food court, grabbed some quick bite and went onto the boarding gate only to realise that the boarding wouldn't happen until 15 minutes prior to the take off time. We boarded onto the flight, and took our seats. This time around the boy wasn't sleepy and enjoyed the take off. So glad he didn't panic or have any other troubles. We kept chatting about random things, and he asked me the question of "where are we going" atleast 30 times in the one hour journey and both V and me kept repeating the same answer patiently over and over again and again till he got distracted with other stuff.

A relatively quicker flight than the previous one, we landed at Guhawati airport at 8pm. Since this was our first time we were travelling with a stop over, both V & I were anxious to have our baggage reach us safely without any mess. We both heaved a sigh of relief as soon as we saw our bags come around in the baggage belt. We picked it up and walked over to the exit and took an auto to our place of stay.

Our accommodation for the night was at a hotel called Hotel Aashiyana just 900 metres off the airport. After a quick refreshing, we ordered in some dal chawal for dinner. The boy gulped in a good amount of the rice and some curd, and called it a night. It took about 30-40 mins of random story telling and playing music to finally make him sleep. But once asleep, he didn't budge much.

Thus ended our Day1 which was pretty much just the travel. Thankfully Athi enjoyed it and didn't have / give much of a trouble. Hoping the upcoming days are better too!

Happy Birthday Naveena!

Dearest Navi, 

I still remember the first time I saw you. It was in Class XI. We generally have our morning prayers in the class, but during the week prior to the Independence day, the morning prayers happen in the ground. On one such day, while standing in line for the prayer, your earrings and hair caught my attention. A hoop earring I guess, a little bigger than what is usually worn in schools. And two pigtails on a silky smooth hair. I was in awe of both of these and kept staring at them all through the prayer for the next couple of days. I was new to the school and you were in a different section, so I had no clue about you. On the Independence Day you were part of some girls dance performance - that was the last time I caught a glimpse you. 

Fast forward to two months' later, I joined a Math Tuition. And guess who I saw sitting before me - you! I was so done with stalking you anonymously, and decided I need to talk to you. We had a common friend Shruthi, who introduced you to me, and we started exchanging pleasantries. Slowly our friendship blossomed as we got to know each other better and started talking a lot in the tuition. 

I clearly remember the one time when you invited me and Shruthi for lunch at your home. Your mom cooked one amazing meal. That was one of the finest home cooked meals I have ever had. 

By the time school got over, your dad got transferred out of Chennai, and moved to into a college hostel that didn't allow the usage of mobile phones for students. Neither did I have one of my own. We were at the mercy of home visits (for you) and parents visit (for me) to have a conversation. This continued for a year, and by second year (or probably third) you moved back home from hostel, and as we both had our phones, our conversations did pick up a little. And that's when you did the sweetest thing that I have ever had happen in my life. You invited me to your college annual day. I was ecstatic. For someone who has never stepped into a college ever before, this was the closest to having a glimpse of how college looked like. And that day, was probably one of the bestest for me. The food, the people, the place, the energy everything felt so good. Navi, a sincere heartfelt thanks to you for inviting me over back then. You never knew how much that meant to me! 

As years went by, and you further moved cities, we managed to stay in touch albeit occasionally, and met up atleast once a year when either of us travelled to the other's city. I think it was during the years after college just after you landed up your first job that our friendship blossomed to a stage where we no longer the hi-bye types, but something more, and that's when we became each other's confidants. 

Our first night out together was when I came over to your house in Bangalore for a day's stay and we went about exploring the Mallya Road and UB City, and the dozens of pictures we took out there. And out we went on our first ever trip to Gokarna with a bunch of others, and had a fun time. It then almost became an unsaid rule between us that each year, we go out on a trip somewhere or do a night out at either of our house. I genuinely enjoyed (and still enjoy) the times we spent together - speaking out our mind without having the worry of judgement. 

Our unforgettable Mumbai Trip. You definitely know how it was for both of us. The evenings in Marine Drive with Ilayaraja songs, the Andheri staff quarters stay, Zostel, shop-till-we-drop at Colaba, the Lassi at Dadar, the Worli Sea Link view, Bandra Fort, Gateway of India, Churros, the innumerable train rides, so many varieties of food, Bandra Skywalk, the Trampoline Jumps, trying to bargain with our broken Hindi. Oh, how much we fun we had. Time and again I keep reminiscing of this trip and feel thankful to have you in my life. 

And last but not the least, your Wedding! Girl, I am totally in awe of you for having pulled it all by yourself. The amount of time and energy you put in for it totally showed up in how good the actual events turned out be. And I thoroughly enjoyed all the bridesmaids duties, and felt immensely happy just being there for you.

To more years of fun, travel, banters, rants, planning to set up healthy habits, gratitude journals, random philosophies - I love you girl!

Happiest birthday to you!! May all that you wish for be granted, and have a fantabulous year ahead!

P.S.: Thanks to my ever lazy and forever procrastinating mind, I'm three days late. But better late than never - and that's why this post now!

Loads of love,

G