Well we have been waiting for this vacation since 3 months prior to our journey date i.e. 30th Otober...We had leaves squeezed out and planned, gifts bought(after lots of discussions and roaming around malls), tickets booked...the wait was full of anxiety and was worth it....
The total journey time was 24 hrs! i.e. starting from my House in Sydney till I entered my elder Sisters House in Gurgaon. The flight was tiring ( 14 hrs is tiring isn't it?) but the joy of coming back and meeting your own people had taken a lot out of it....
Anyways I met my elder sister , my Nephew ('Bhanja') after almost 2 long years...and was amazed to fine he has grown taller than me! Alas! I had been so proud of my Average Indian hieght...
Had a hectic 2 days running from one relative to another...though we were able to have some good time eating 'Rosogullas and Samosas' where ever we went and had a relaxed dinner together. Me and my Bhanja did squeeze out some time to play table - tennis in the morning. During these time-cramped holidays you feel bad when you are not able to meet some of your closed relatives...well this is how life is, we need to move on and I made it sure that the next time we come in, we got to meet them first.
We took a train ride on one of India's most respected trains the 'Rajdhani'. This train runs between most of the State capital cities in India to the Capital City of India i.e. New delhi...and now I had my Mom accompanying us in the long train journey from New Delhi to Kolkata, which made the journey a bit more enjoyable as she had her own way of keeping us engrossed in her gossip and jokes...and some of the time was spent guessing what food would be served next by the Indian railways catering team (Not sure how much we liked it, but the railway food however bad it may be had its own charm).....
We reached Kolkata on the eigth day of the durga Pujo i.e. the Ashtami. I was hit by the Durga Pujo mood immediately. We had to travel down to my ancestral home in Bhadreswar which is suburb around 40 minutes and the next 4 days passed by in one of the most memorable ways...starting with the opening of the Mandap in the morning, then rushing off to the market to buy few things needed urgently, to running off to have family lunch in the last batch, to meeting relatives after long time, to listening to artists who performed in our Mandap...it was an incredible 4 days!! On the day of dashami, once we returned from the Bisarjan (Immersion of the Idol), it felt so empty...but we looked forward for assembling next year again to celebrate Ma Durga's victory over the mahishaasur in a bigger and better way....
While travelling back to Hyderabad, I had opened up my 'Tasks to Do' list which had been prepared since last 2 months...I was bit anxious whether we will be able to tick off all of them. Because we had just 20 days in our hands and Hyderbad was boiling over the Telangana seperation issue due to which most of the Govt. Offices where closed....
We got down at Hyderabad (Secunderabad Rlwy station to be precise) in the evening of 9th of Nov; the hyderabad bandh was called off that day and had been postponed to next week...due to the Telengana agitation I expected the city to be a bit calm with Police check posts and agitations ; but to my surprise the city was as usual.... autorickshaws jostling for space, people on bikes (without helmets) overtaking from the wrong side, the huge APSRTC (Andhra Transport) buses; the decorations on the shops wooing customers for the up-coming Diwali and the Id celebrations...it was alive!
We had planned that my during our stay in Hyderabad my inlaws would come in and stay with us; so that we both spend a good time together.....in our humble abode. I was coming back to my house after more than 2 years and it immediately felt so good...not sure if its the EMI that we pay; but somehow we feel our house is in the best location, has the best sunlight and has the fresh air circulation... (I believe most of us feel so....)
For the next 20 days I gradually ticked off tasks one by one, and everynight we discussed what task we would need to do the next day? Where should we go for my bro-in-law engagement dress and ring?( ...did I forget to tell? yes My Bro-in-Law is getting married next year and the shopping has started, so that adds more excitement to this holiday...) or who are the relatives we should meet on priority? When should we take the doctors appointment for my mom's eye? where should we go for the Hyderabadi Biryani - Paradise or Bawarchi ..... slowly we drifted away from the other world we had in Sydney and we were totally drenched and soaked in the holiday mood....
The total journey time was 24 hrs! i.e. starting from my House in Sydney till I entered my elder Sisters House in Gurgaon. The flight was tiring ( 14 hrs is tiring isn't it?) but the joy of coming back and meeting your own people had taken a lot out of it....
Anyways I met my elder sister , my Nephew ('Bhanja') after almost 2 long years...and was amazed to fine he has grown taller than me! Alas! I had been so proud of my Average Indian hieght...
Had a hectic 2 days running from one relative to another...though we were able to have some good time eating 'Rosogullas and Samosas' where ever we went and had a relaxed dinner together. Me and my Bhanja did squeeze out some time to play table - tennis in the morning. During these time-cramped holidays you feel bad when you are not able to meet some of your closed relatives...well this is how life is, we need to move on and I made it sure that the next time we come in, we got to meet them first.
We took a train ride on one of India's most respected trains the 'Rajdhani'. This train runs between most of the State capital cities in India to the Capital City of India i.e. New delhi...and now I had my Mom accompanying us in the long train journey from New Delhi to Kolkata, which made the journey a bit more enjoyable as she had her own way of keeping us engrossed in her gossip and jokes...and some of the time was spent guessing what food would be served next by the Indian railways catering team (Not sure how much we liked it, but the railway food however bad it may be had its own charm).....
We reached Kolkata on the eigth day of the durga Pujo i.e. the Ashtami. I was hit by the Durga Pujo mood immediately. We had to travel down to my ancestral home in Bhadreswar which is suburb around 40 minutes and the next 4 days passed by in one of the most memorable ways...starting with the opening of the Mandap in the morning, then rushing off to the market to buy few things needed urgently, to running off to have family lunch in the last batch, to meeting relatives after long time, to listening to artists who performed in our Mandap...it was an incredible 4 days!! On the day of dashami, once we returned from the Bisarjan (Immersion of the Idol), it felt so empty...but we looked forward for assembling next year again to celebrate Ma Durga's victory over the mahishaasur in a bigger and better way....
While travelling back to Hyderabad, I had opened up my 'Tasks to Do' list which had been prepared since last 2 months...I was bit anxious whether we will be able to tick off all of them. Because we had just 20 days in our hands and Hyderbad was boiling over the Telangana seperation issue due to which most of the Govt. Offices where closed....
We got down at Hyderabad (Secunderabad Rlwy station to be precise) in the evening of 9th of Nov; the hyderabad bandh was called off that day and had been postponed to next week...due to the Telengana agitation I expected the city to be a bit calm with Police check posts and agitations ; but to my surprise the city was as usual.... autorickshaws jostling for space, people on bikes (without helmets) overtaking from the wrong side, the huge APSRTC (Andhra Transport) buses; the decorations on the shops wooing customers for the up-coming Diwali and the Id celebrations...it was alive!
We had planned that my during our stay in Hyderabad my inlaws would come in and stay with us; so that we both spend a good time together.....in our humble abode. I was coming back to my house after more than 2 years and it immediately felt so good...not sure if its the EMI that we pay; but somehow we feel our house is in the best location, has the best sunlight and has the fresh air circulation... (I believe most of us feel so....)
For the next 20 days I gradually ticked off tasks one by one, and everynight we discussed what task we would need to do the next day? Where should we go for my bro-in-law engagement dress and ring?( ...did I forget to tell? yes My Bro-in-Law is getting married next year and the shopping has started, so that adds more excitement to this holiday...) or who are the relatives we should meet on priority? When should we take the doctors appointment for my mom's eye? where should we go for the Hyderabadi Biryani - Paradise or Bawarchi ..... slowly we drifted away from the other world we had in Sydney and we were totally drenched and soaked in the holiday mood....
The starting few days were spent running after the doctors for my Mom's and my other (better) half's health check up- sometimes I feel that today Doctors have become the most respected and rarely found beings of our society and Hospitals have become nothing less than 5****** hotels...but at the same time I was amazed to see some hospitals giving back to the society. Some days were spent, carrying the shopping bags (read it as driving - offcourse me and my Bro-in-law being the driver) from one mall to another. After entering the mall, my other half used to forget that money is a scarse resource , the only thing she remembered was the INR-dollar exchange rate :)
In the meantime something was breweing up , I had applied for my Mom's Tourist VISA and had requested the embassy for an early stamping so that my mom could come with us. We had very little hope, since the diwali holidays were knowcking on the door and we had very few days left...
I had one evening spent with my XL batchmates, where we became a bit nostalgic about the good old days spent in XL, the professors, some of our elite batchmates . Yes, we did discuss how our present job was the most boring yet the best because allowed us to come to a restaurant where one bottle of beer costed us 700 bucks!
Unlike Delhi, The 'meeting' list was almost complete in Hyderabad where I was able to meet one of my close friends ( meeting him after 4.5 years ), Visited my uncles new home and infact I met one of my engineering college friends after 8 long years!! ( See sometimes things just happen.)
We spent the Diwali evening on the terrace of our apartment with our neighbours, firing up crackers and enjoying every rocket that went up , closing our ears for every cracker that exploded and appreciating all the beautiful colours that illuminated the night sky. We had an amazing Diwali celebration together, the fun did not come from the excessive eating of sweets, or the loudest crackers or the gifts - but it came from being & celebrating together.
Alas, the saddest part of our vacation had come...the journey back. But sometimes certain things happen which make you feel good, My mom got her VISA on the last day just few hours before our flight - So the last item in the to-do list was ticked off!
We were coming back with the beautiful memories and the feeling that there's no place as good as good as 'Home' and that we would return back soon to spend more time together....!!
