The Impromptu Vacation

 (Alert : Longish post ahead )  

Trrrring.Trrrring. 

“Hello.”

 ”Hi.Busy?”

 ”Not really. What happened”??

 ”How about a short weekend trip”.

 ”Hunh?!…Out of the blue? What happened? You feeling okay?? Where do you plan to go? What about the kids?”

 ”Yes or No?”

 ”Umm..Yes, I guess”.

 Click.

 ”Hello…? Err…Thanks for asking. Nice talking to you too”.

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That was the BF calling me up at work on Friday evening. I called him up later to confirm the trip, but he cut my call since he was in a meeting. I came home and asked the MIL if she had any idea about the trip. MIL replied in the negative, said she had school the next day and if the trip was really going to happen, she might try coming back earlier than usual. The BF returned home late that night (around 11 PM, I guess). The only thing he said was ,”We have to leave home by 10 AM tomorrow. Good night”. 

 

The regular maid comes in by 12 noon. The kid’s nanny comes in by 10. How were we going to wrap up everything and then be ready by 10?? These men, I tell you. They only think about one thing at a time. I’m sure stuff like washing the twin’s huge pile of clothes, the sink full of utensils, cooking for FIL (who couldn’t make it for the trip), boiling milk and storing it, cleaning up the house, sweeping (since we couldn’t wait for the maid and then we couldn’t leave the house in its present state for the next 30 hours!!) , packing up for the twins (even an overnight trip requires a humungous amount of planning and packing) and all such things never appeared anywhere in the BF’s To-Do list!! 

But it came in our’s ! 

So the MIL took a day off from school, woke up at 6 AM and got busy. I woke up a little later, since RS woke up many times in the night and I really couldn’t drag my sorry ass off the bed .We got busy, running around with our tasks, the GMIL cooking curry for the FIL, me busy packing up the twin’s stuff, packing up for the BF and me as well, MIL busy washing the utensils and then the poor lady even washed the twin’s clothes. I called the nanny a zillion times, but the girl never picked my call!! Sheesh…these maids, I tell you!!! 

Anyhow, all packed and ready, we bundled ourselves into the car and headed towards this resort. Surprisingly, once I got back to office on Monday and mentioned the resort name, practically everyone said they’ve been there at least once. Its time like this when I wonder what planet I’m on!! Am I the ONLY ignoramus around?!! I wonder  

The drive was lovely, a slight drizzle all the way, partly sunny at times, the air cool and crisp and the twins in a damn good mood . If I wasn’t sandwiched between the MIL and GMIL, I would have taken a few shots of the beautiful road and the surrounding hills. Alas, I got a chance to click snaps only after reaching there. 

Entrance of the resort.

Our rooms overlooked the central courtyard. Very charming

The rooms were pretty comfortable with good amenities. We dumped our luggage and headed towards the restaurant for lunch (seriously, in all that rapid running around at home, I’d skipped breakfast, and was famished to the gills!!!). I wasn’t able to take any snaps of the food , because once it arrived, we dug in with such gusto that by the time it occurred to me that I had my camera along, the food was long gone  

And oh, the food was DELICIOUS!! Lip-smacking Delish!!  I wasn’t expecting such good stuff and was totally bowled over!! 

The twins were in a good mood throughout lunch. RS took it upon herself to introduce her momma to all the waiters around. SS was trying his best to filch off the spoons and forks from the other tables. The poor waiters had to place all the cutlery at the center of the tables so that the twins don’t reach for them. 

The BF wondered about the lack of crowd in the restaurant, which we later found out was because of the excellent room service provided. More on that later. Post lunch, we trooped back to our rooms, where the GMIL and MIL declared they’d like a nap (since they were up early that day). SS refused to sleep and was promptly handed over to the BIL. RS fought her sleep for quite some time but then eventually succumbed . She was handed over to the MIL and then, it was just me and the BF . Finally !! So we did what we’d been planning on doing for quite some time. We went and played a match of Table Tennis. (Hah!! I knew you were thinking something else !!) 

It was loads of fun. At least for me. The BF refused to play with me after 3 matches, saying I was one of the worst opponents ever!!! Apparently, I was giving away points, denying him the pleasure of a proper match! Oh well!! It was ages since I handled the paddle. Gimme a break!! 

Anyhow, before we could play TT (the table was occupied by a feisty Ajji who was beating her opponents hollow) , we were whiling away time at the carrom table. Now, I’m sure this table must have seen better days…but thankfully, its bad state didn’t affect our match much. I stink at carrom and the BF gave up on me after one match  

The Carrom table

 The Pool table was closed in the afternoon, so me and the BF took a walk along the perimeters of the resort, checking out the facilities. At the edge of the resort was the water park, or you can say a swimming pool with a few slides running down to it . We thought of bringing the twins to the swimming pool, but a closer look at the water made me change my mind . 

The swimming pool water

While we walked back to our rooms, I clicked furiously at every leaf and flower on the way. Not that any of them came out fine, but still…..one has to make an attempt to improve, no?! 

Flower. I have no idea about its name

The minute we reached back to our rooms, it started raining once again. Me and the BF sat outside the rooms, on the deck chairs provided and chatted on family and work. SS woke up shortly and so did the MIL. Both of them joined us outside. BF pulled out the laptop and checked up on his mail (that’s my new laptop you see there in the pic. It’s a beauty, I tell you )

 

  

SS wanting his share of the laptop

 Once the BIL and GMIL woke up from their slumber, we thought of going for tea. But then, the GMIL refused to walk all the way to the restaurant, so we called up room service for the tea and snacks. These guys were pretty prompt and shortly, we were served a basket of steaming hot pakoras and a plate of club sandwiches. Once again, yummy pakoras (they even had capsicum pakoras, my FAVOURITE *drool* !!) and sandwiches. I swear, these guys were totally winning me over!! 

Evening snacks and Tea

  

  It was pouring real hard by late evening and we stayed put in our rooms (or , outside it, on t he corridor) . The BF and BIL left for the Pool room. I had accompanied them earlier, with the twins, but they threw a tantrum because we wouldn’t let them play with the balls or climb over the pool table. I had no option, but to walk back to the rooms. The twins had a fun time running along the long corridor of the guest rooms and we had fun chasing them . Even the MIL was wonderfully relaxed and enjoying the fun. 

Once it got dark, we went back inside. There was some movie going on , but we weren’t paying attention. The twins were in a playful mood and we were too busy laughing at their antics . At dinner time, we once again called room service for dinner and placed our order. It took just half an hour for our dinner to arrive, served hot and steaming!! I called the BF and BIL to return to the rooms. We fed the kids first and then dug in ourselves  

The rest of the evening/night was spent chatting, with the MIL and GMIL reminiscing about monsoons in their villages, how life used to be before people trooped to the cities and so on. It was quite a relaxed evening and somewhere around 11PM, we wound up for the day. 

And then began my ordeal  

The twins just couldn’t sleep on the bouncy beds!! They are used to much firmer mattresses back home and the box-spring bed wasn’t upto their liking. So they kicked, turned, rolled around and still weren’t consoled. Rocking each to sleep in turns took the better part of our night. By morning, both the BF and me were ready to stay back for the day just to catch some more sleep. But better sense prevailed and we realized we had to go back home. One of the main reasons was that the painters were coming over to paint the house and we needed to be there to move things around. 

Just before we left, I took these two snaps. Just looking at it surprises me to see that my kids have come so far from the tiny fledglings they once were. All of a sudden, they look so grown up!! 

  

 

The Twins with their Abba

(Notice the shirt on RS?? Its SS’s. But my girl was adamant on wearing it. She kicked around until I gave in.  And now, she looks as much a guy as SS ) 

And then, when I change the perspective, I realize that they are still my tiny little babies 

 

RS with the BF

 

 

 Overall, it was a wonderful short trip, just what I needed to recharge my batteries . I do hope we cram in such short trips on a regular basis henceforth. Have forwarded the idea to the BF. His reply,”We’ll see”. 

Yup, I married Mr.Cryptic  




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Delhi Diary 7 : Dilli Metro wali

We woke up late on Friday morning (23rd April) to the sounds of warnings issued from the Police Station near the guest-house. A woman’s recorded voice kept warning people about being careful of pick-pockets and child-kidnappers. The voice was intermittently stopped to play a song on Delhi police. I swear to God, by the end of my trip there, I’d almost memorized the “dilli puleece, dilli puleeece” song!  

The agenda of the day was to take out at least and hour to do some shopping , now that I was here. BFS and BFG had already bought something the previous evening. I wanted to get some stuff too. At least the stuff I was asked to bring, like a shawl for GMIL and a nice warm sweater for MIL. I woke the kids up and had them run about a bit. The BF ordered tea for us (a delightful glass full!! I’d forgotten how I used to LOVE having tea in glasses and not cups .Something we get to see only in the North!! Except maybe the steel tumblers we get in the South, which again, have precedence over cups!!). BFS wanted to rest that day and agreed to babysit the twins while me and BFG went about our shopping. I gave the twins a quick  bath and some milk after that. The dark room was handy in making them feel drowsy. The BF took up the task of looking after the kids while me and BFG rushed out for the shopping.  

I swear to God I have never shopped as quick as this before!! In one hour’s time, I had bought  5 suit pieces, one shawl and 2 pairs of shoes! Any shopaholic would agree that its sinful to dedicate such less time for shopping .  BFG only bought one dress material and one pair of shoes. We did make enquiries for the sweater, but could not find any. Plus, I was also worrying about the twins. It was time for them to get up and I know they get rather cranky after their sleep. So we rushed back to our rooms : Where we found the BF lovingly cradling a bowl of curd in his hands. He had the most mischievous smile on his face and confessed that he had just finished one helping of it. The helping in question was close to a jar of mastani dahi that we get here!! He had bought some for us girls, but since he looked so happy having it, we asked him to finish the rest of it. The BF looked as if he’d just attained nirvana!! He was that pleased . The entire dahi was polished off in seconds!!  

And oh, the BF had also bought us packed lunch. Rice and black Chana curry, which was D.I.V.I.N.E !! Each morsel transported us to another level….yummmm….it was the most delicious meal I’d had since coming to Delhi. We had so many plans of gorging on Delhi food….but sadly, this was the first and last good food we had .  

Post lunch, we decided to take a trip on the Metro (yippeee!!). But before that, I had the most pleasant surprise ever!! A room-mate and VERY good friend from the past lives in Delhi. I’d spoken to her the previous day and she was quite happy that I was in town. The girl came to Chandni chowk, from Janakpuri, just to meet me!! How sweet is that?? Shinu, sweetheart, you are a gem!! You made my trip truly worthwhile   

Shinu , me and SS

 

It was Shinu, who suggested that we take the Metro from Chandni chowk to someplace close by, like say, Connaught Place (or CP, as it is locally called). BFG added that since another good Gurudwara, Bangla Sahib was in the vicinity of CP, it would be a good idea to drop in there.  

So we quickly rushed into getting ready, packed the kid’s stuff in the bags, made sure there was ample warm water for their feed (which was silly,actually, since RS couldn’t be given much milk anyway!!) and then, off we were!  

A short walk from our guesthouse led us right into the depths of the earth, which was the starting point of the underground metro, called the Yellow Line (the only line underground in Delhi. All the other lines go overhead). We bought tickets (to a place called Rajiv Chowk), Shinu had her commuter card. Once we reached our Station, Shinu had to take another line for her destination. We promised to get together for dinner and the BF took a snap of the four of us . Just as we were bidding goodbye to Shinu, a lady security guard came up and asked us to delete the snap. Apparently, taking pictures inside the metro isn’t allowed! Surprisingly, shooting movies is. I don’t know which one is a bigger threat!! Could have given that lady a piece of my mind…but didn’t bother. She was just following orders!! The BF deleted the snap (Sigh) and we made our way out of the subway (by the way, the escalators going up were really FAST!!  Very very fast!! It took some tricky manoeuvering to hop on with one of the kids and the bag!! BFG and BFS had it a little easier).  

Once we reached Gurudwara Bangla Sahib,we had the same experience as we had in Gurudwara Sis Ganj. The ambience is the same, the kirtans are the same, even the halwa was the same!! Dripping with pure ghee, like no-one’s business . Once again, RS gobbled the halwa like her life depended on it!!SS had a bit, but wasn’t much keen on it later.  

The Gurudwara had a nice sarovar behind it and we spent a pleasant time sitting there, watching the kids run about chasing pigeons   

Balancing the twins!

 

The sarovar in the background

 

After the Gurudwara, we took a rickshaw to Janpath (which Shinu suggested was a market place). Alas, we saw nothing new there….a few goods looked promising, but not enough to buy . I mean, it was more like “Chor-bazaar” but only , more exorbitant prices!!  

By this time, the twins had once again become cranky and we decided to head back to the guesthouse. Shinu had called up earlier and apologised for not making it for dinner. Her inlaws had come visiting and she had to rush back to her place. I totally understood her plight and thanked her for making the time to meet me. That was her sweetest gesture ever!!  

We asked directions and somehow made it to the subway. But this time, the subway was awfully crowded and we had to miss the first metro that came along. After waiting in a queue for the next one, we all barreled into the next one. It was crowded to the seams!! We all held hands so that we didn’t get lost. The twins became whiney and irritable and it took all that much control to hold on to them and also prevent ourselves from getting jostled around!! The worst part was when we reached our destination. The crowd surging in prevented us from going out. Much shoving and pushing ensued, with the BF crying out to the incoming crowd to let us get down at least. He was a much harried man that day, my BF. Three women and two kids to account for!! Luckily, BFS managed to hop out just as the doors were closing and we took a while just to get our breath back. It was fun, on hindsight, but back then, it was a plain awful experience . 

Another walk till the guesthouse and since we were all exhausted, the BF suggested getting us a dinner parcel. BFS wanted to exchange some of the Kurtas she had bought that day and so she and BFG went back tot he shop. That gave me some time alone with the twins, who had suddenly become all perky and active after reaching back. These snaps were taken then 

Twins on the headboard

 

RS in a happy mood

 

The BF returned with the food and shortly after that BFS and BFG returned too. I fed the twins their cerelac (which was consumed easily by SS and not-so-easily by RS). Once they were done, I left them to play by themselves and we all four sat down to eat. It wasn’t much, just some dal, rice, egg-bhurji and  chapatis, but I swear, it was a wonderful meal. I think it has to do with the fact that you are with your friends, all chilled out, tired after a long day, yet raring to talk, discuss all those things we didn’t get to discuss since the last time we met!! We chatted till pretty late, I guess 2 AM. In between, we were also wrapping up our luggage, making sure everything was ready for check-out the next morning. At the last count, we had 13 luggage bags and 3 hand bags. Whew!! The BF just shook head in dismay ….he looked so dejected at the sight of the luggage would have to supervise, along with  the count of women and children, that it broke my heart!! I mean, who’d want to be in his shoes right then?? Not me, surely  

Anyhow, we just packed up good, set our alarms and finally chatted ourselves to sleep somewhere past 2AM. 

A day well spent, I guess .

(To be Contd…….)

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The previous posts on Delhi Diaries :- 

Delhi Diary 6 : Dilli 6 

Delhi Diary 5 : Dilli Ki Shaadi 

Delhi Diary 4 : Dilli Ki Garmi 

Delhi Diary 3 : Dilli Ka Anubhav 

Delhi Diary 2 : Ab Dilli Door nahin 

Delhi Diary 1 : Chalo Dilli

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Delhi Diary 6 : Dilli 6

Woke up early on 22nd morning. We were to check out by noon and I still had to pack up all the stuff lying about. Traveling with kids can be very messy. Practically everything you carry comes out from the bags. The BF, alas , is no help where packing is concerned. He can’t even pack his own bag.Once, before our marriage, I had to fly to Pune from B’lore, just so that I could pack his bags for his US trip!! 

The problem with kids is that, you just don’t know what you might require next. So all such ‘probable’ stuff was kept outside, to be dumped in at the last minute. The rest of the things were to be packed as soon as possible. At least before the guests came in for breakfast. It wouldn’t look good to have all our stuff lying about in their presence! BFS and BFG were lucky that they just had to pack for themselves. They had their bath, got dressed and were packed and ready even before breakfast was laid out. I was soooo jealous!! I still had to bathe the kids, dress them, feed them, and then repeat the same for myself AND pack up too. The kids cooperated with the bath (at home, we generally give the kids bath in turns. Here in Delhi, I just took the two to the bathroom together! So while one was busy splashing the water in the bucket, I could scrub the other. Multi-tasking, its called :D ) . I gave RS some milk, albeit diluted . She looked a little better than before, but her cheeks had definitely sunk in a little. SS was in a peppy mood and in no time, the kids were ready . The guests had started coming in for breakfast and I didn’t have the chance to go for a bath (I forgot to mention,the bathroom/toilet were not adjascent to the bedroom area. They were attached to the hall. So we could either take a bath/use-the-loo before people/caterers came in, or after they left. The “Doormatry” plan sucked BIG time!!) . At breakfast , we had a chance to chat up with BFC’s other friends who had turned up for the wedding. They were leaving for Manali that day and we could only envy them the cool climes they were headed to. SS took a liking to the guy T,who looked like a giant teddy bear . RS was reluctant to leave my side throughout, though she did venture out with the BF for some time. 

I guess post wedding, the guests were in a languid mood. So while most of BFC’s relatives left for their rooms, a bunch of them made themselves at home and started chatting up on the different vacation spots they’ve been to. We waited for them to leave, but when they showed no inclination to move even after half an hour, we just gave up and went about our work. I mean, it did seem more than awkward to come out of a bath right in front of other men, but we didn’t have an option, did we? They were BFC’s guests after all!! But the surprising part was that though there were 2-3 women in that gathering, they didn’t realize that they were infringing on our privacy. Oh well, it takes all kinds to make this world!! The guests stayed put for another hour. BFG and the BF placed bets on whether they were staying put till lunch hour or would they leave. BFG was sure that they would leave before lunch. The BF had the opposite opinion. Luckily, the BF lost the bet. The guests did leave, but just half an hour before the caterers started trooping in again. We had all our bags ready by then. Counted them all and then recounted again. BFS is majorly paranoid about missed luggage. I guess she kept herself busy throughout the trip just by keeping a count of our baggage  

The BF called for a taxi and me and the girls went to meet BFC’s mom to thank her for inviting us to the wedding. Aunty told us that BFC would be reaching the venue shortly and it would be nice if we could wait till then. Hmmmm….we were surely looking forward to it….but then, it depended on when our taxi would arrive. Then aunty said that in case BFC gets delayed, we should not keep the taxi waiting and should move on. So now it was a wait for the taxi , or BFC, whoever arrived first. 

The taxi did. It was a Tata Indica and the BF was mighty ticked off. He had asked for a larger vehicle because of the luggage and the taxi firm had assured him of the same. The BF once again called the firm and asked them to send another vehicle asap. While we were waiting for the taxi, BFC turned up. With SK of course . She looked so cute !! We were all obviously glad to meet her once again before we left, but she was quickly engulfed by her family and well…..we just waved goodbye and turned back to wait for our taxi to arrive. The new one came (an Esteem this time). The BF threw his hands in despair and said what the hell!! Might as well move from here. The taxi driver charged us 500/- for the ride till Chandni Chowk and after some haggling, brought it down to 450/-. We all piled in, with boxes of sweets in our hands which were handed to us by BFC’s mom as a parting gift . The twins were pretty thirsty and couldn’t be kept away from their water bottles. We started on our way and once again, we were quite impressed with the condition of the raods. Being a Capital surely works in a city’s favour!!

RS sat on her father’s lap at the front , while I sat sandwiched between BFS and BFG, with SS on my lap. I’ve noticed one thing. I think SS suffers nausea at the smell of petrol/diesel. Because whenever we have traveled by car in congested areas, he turns irritable and invariably throws up. This time was no different. He threw up on me just before we reached Gurdwara  Sis Ganj in Chandni chowk,  or CC as I’d prefer calling it now, our destination for the next two days (courtesy, BFG, who is a Sikh. She had managed to book an AC room for us at the Gurdwara’s guesthouse  before we came to Delhi. She not only saved us the money, but also the hassle of looking for hotel rooms close to the market).  I had to quickly clean him up and myself too, since it was time to get down. The taxi driver was already dumping our luggage on the road and was keen to rush away. It didn’t help that the kids got cranky in the heat .I tried to cover their heads with their caps but they prompty ripped it off!! The Delhi heat was getting to me too and I was seriously reconsidering the wisdom of our decision to stay back here for another two days after BFC’s wedding.  But since we came all this way, it seemed a shame to not do some shopping. And thats the reason BFG suggested CC. She said all the local shops are close by, within walking distance.The idea was to shop till we drop. Something, which BFS and BFG followed to the word, but I barely got a chance to do .

Anyway,my first impression of  CC was that it was very very crowded. There were people everywhere, with not an inch to spare!! In the peak of noon, it was funny to see so many people milling about as though it were a moonlit night!! As we piled out of the taxi and unloaded, another thing which struck me was the Gurudwara’s entrance. A little towards its side, was the water counter, where a group of men were continuously filling out plastic glasses of water for thirsty visitors. In fact, not just visitors to the Gurudwara, but the common public at large. What a service!!! I can think no better deed on a hot day than to quench the thirst of the needy!!  BF and BFS were mighty impressed too. 

The BF and BFG went in to the office to check out our confirmation, only to return shortly because the office was closed for lunch. We had no option but to wait for some time till it opened at 2. The BF made a couple of trips to deposit our luggage from the road to the area where the offices were. The kids had started getting cranky again(blame the heat) and I tried to pacify them with some milk. SS didn’t have much, but he was back to being active and naughty . A new place must be investigated thoroughly and he took up this task with much gusto. His mother was left running after him, dodging people, stumbling over other people’s luggage and in all, being more of a menace than the brat himself. Finally, gasping for breath, I caught hold of the errant boy ,handed him to the BF and took over sleepy RS. I think there is something wrong with me. The minute RS was out of her father’s arms, her brat-alarms started ringing loudly and she was suddenly the problem child. Shouting and wriggling to be let down, running helter-skelter, climbing over the stairs to the office, dropping at people’s feet and trying to pull their shoes off!! My patience was running very thin and I was about to suggest to the BF that we should forget about the booking, just pick our bags, take a taxi to the airport and book the first flight back to Pune. Luckily, just then, the office window opened and BFG received the room keys. The BF was doubtful whether the room would be enough for all four of us. The person at the counter assured us that it was big enough, plus there were no other AC rooms on the same floor. The next available room was on another floor. So we all decided that since were together in this for so long, might as well stay together for the rest of the trip!! 

The guest house was across the road and the BF had to yet again make a few trips with the luggage and the kids to make sure all of us were deposited safely in our room. Room number 57 was quite large. A single room with an attached bathroom. It had a large old-fashioned double bed (you can see it in the header) and a single bed besides it. We requested the In-Charge to provide us with a mattress (for the BF) and he said we could get it in the evening. The first thing I did after entering, was to switch on the AC. The room, even without the AC , was pleasantly cool. But we had come from intense heat outside and needed to cool down. The twins pranced about on the bed, while me and the girls wearily pulled off our shoes and clambered on the bed ourselves. It was around 2:30 (or was it 3?!) in the afternoon, we hadn’t had anything to eat and yet, we just weren’t hungry. Blame it on the gallons of water we had all been drinking!! The BF left us to buy some more water and a few bananas and biscuits for the kids. The twins not-so-surprisingly, went off to sleep in a short while (must be the AC). We started feeling drowsy too and before we knew it, the three of us were out like lamps! Sometime later, the BF returned and looking at us all sleeping, made some space for himself besides the kids. Its funny, you know, the way four adults and 2 kids simply crashed out like that!! Somewhere around 5pm, BFG and BFS woke up. They asked me if I was keen on coming with them for some shopping. But the kids were to get up soon and I told them to go ahead. I was enjoying the time to myself. Just lying on the bed, gazing at the ceiling above, or the two babies, blissfully asleep for the first time after many days(until then, I didn’t realize that they too were so badly sleep deprived) or the BF, who suddenly looked so worn out in his sleep. When exactly did he develop those creases on his brow, when did his hair start turning white.I looked at him guiltily, realizing that after the babies came into my life, I’ve paid very little attention to him, the one person who is the crux of my life (Sorry about it babes. I know you’ll never complain, but I just want you to know, that even though it may seem that I don’t have time for you, believe me, you are the one person I think of all the time, even more than the kids). 

I let the three of them sleep and took this time to read up on “Sister of My Heart”. A chair by the window, a packet of chips on my lap and a book in my hands. Does this life rock or what ?!! Somewhere around 6:30 pm, the twins and the BF woke up . I made their Cerelac, which both were reluctant to eat!! At least SS had a few spoonfuls. RS just had her milk (I was giving her diluted milk ). BFG called the BF and asked him if we were coming down to the Gurdwara . He replied in the affirmative and after quickly dressing the kids,we went down and waited for the girls to come. But when these two reached us, we saw them loaded with shopping bags. Looks like BFS and BFG were indulging in a splurge-fest . The BF suggested that they deposit their stuff in the room and join us back at the Gurdwara . They agreed and once more, we waited for them to return. 

Once they came, BFG led us to the entrance . The ‘kirtans’ were going on and there is something infinitely peaceful about sitting inside a Gurdwara and listening to it. We simply followed BFG wherever she went and I guess, we were drawing attention to ourselves because of the kids, who went ballistic on seeing such a vast expanse of space and just wanted to be let free to run about. And I’m strictly against children causing noise at religious places, so me and the BF held on tight to the twins. Obviously, the two had to make their protests known as loudly as possible. Just when we thought we should make a graceful exit and not bother other people anymore, BFG said we could go out to the ‘Langar’ for dinner. While exiting the Gurdwara , we received the ‘prasad’, a sweet made out of wheat and oodles of pure ghee, so much so that while we had to hold it in our palms, the ghee dripped all the way till we finally finished eating it. RS liked the taste of the halwa and had sufficient amount of it. Thankfully, it took away my concerns for her dinner. SS, as usual, is not very keen on sweet stuff,which again, suits me just fine . 

The langar hall was wide open space with long mats spread across it. We had to pick up a plate and sit on the mats. I was really doubtful if we could sit and have a meal with the kids by our side. They are known to cause major disruptions during our meal-times at home!! But it was too late to get up and walk out. So we stayed put till the first round of chapati, sabji and dal. It was surprising, but we all, including the BF felt immensely stuffed after eating just ONE chapatti. I know the BF could have easily gobbled down 4-5 of those, but he confessed that he just didn’t have the space for more (he also confessed, much later in the night, that while he was out looking for bananas, he couldn’t resist the smell the Chhole-bature from a nearby eatery and had stuffed himself silly !!) . So we picked our plates and our kids and walked out to deposit them (the plates) at the sink. BFG had left her seat earlier and we went looking for her. Initially, we couldn’t find her, the BF even went up to the Gurudwara’s entrance to look for her, but she was nowhere to be found. and then, BFS located her. BFG was cleaning the plates, removing the leftovers from the plates so that they could be washed. This was another thing that amazed me here. The feeling of “Sewa“, so selfless, without shame or haughtiness. If I wasn’t holding on to the kids so hard, I swear I would’ve joined her. 

Anyway, she got up shortly and we made our way back to the rooms. BFS and BFG wanted to roam about the place some more, but the BF was getting queasy. Like he pointed out, by the time we left the Gurudwara, we were the only women on the street as far as the eyes could see. He’d heard of crimes against women in Delhi and didn’t want to risk anything. BFG and BFS tried to convince him that since he was with them, they would be fine, but once again, the BF backed out, saying, he’s responsible for them and would definitely not encourage them on their desire to go on a night spree . He also told them not to compare Pune with Delhi (FYI, Pune is an amazingly safe place to live in. Women can go around the city at late night , even as late as 1 or 2 am, without fear. Me and my room mates used to take a walk at 11 in the night!! And when my sister used to come visiting, we’d go for the night show, just the two of us and return around 1:30 am, in an auto!!). Reluctantly (at least in the case of BFG and BFS), we came back to our room. I dressed the twins for the night and then left them to play on their own (SS is in pink and RS is in Blue. See? I don’t believe in colour-coding my kids ). Thankfully, there was nothing in the room that they could damage. Even the plug points were out of their reach. In a way, I guess even the kids were glad to be left on their own for once. The two scampered around, while BFS and BFG showed me the goodies they had purchased. 

Posing on the chair [PS: Ignore the wall at the back. It was the only bad patch in the room

 

Bossy RS shoving SS off the chair!!

 

 The girls had bought some really lovely suit pieces at a very reasonable rate. BFG also bought some cool Mojris to go with them. BFS bought loads of Lucknowi kurtas, kurtis and dress materials . She also bought a set of 4 kurtas for SS and a set of 3 frocks for RS. BFG also bought a dress each for the twins!! I was so kicked at seeing all that stuff. I just HAD to get some myself. I told the BF that the next morning, when the kids sleep after their bath, I’d like to rush down for some shopping myself. The BF was ok with it , quite content to spend the day in the room with his blackberry . 

BFS and BFG packed up their goods in their bags and once done, we gathered around for another round of chatting. The kids eventually went off to sleep and my next concern was the availability of boiled water, for their milk. The guesthouse didn’t have a kitchen and I didn’t have sufficient supply to last till morning. The BF assured me that he would wake up early to get boiled water from a nearby restaurant. 

And somewhere around midnight, we all crashed out again. Only this time, we went to sleep totally relaxed, content with the thought that we could wake up when we wanted to. 

It was a blissful sleep……  

(To be Contd…….)

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Delhi Diary 5 : Dilli Ki Shaadi

Woke up early on 21st morning. By now, the system was tuned to getting up before the caterers trooped in .      

Today was the Big Day. The D-Day. Not sure who was more excited….BFC or the rest of us!! She came to meet us shortly after we woke up and we had some fun time ribbing her on how she was feeling. And like all true brides, she replied that she felt…..nothing. Yup, that’s right.And also true. Even on my wedding day, I felt nothing. The excitement was there, for sure, but not much different from how I felt at my sister’s wedding. I think  the reality of the wedding sets in only AFTER the whole circus gets over and the clowns go home . Then, maybe,the apprehensions, doubts,fears,creep up…..to be gradually replaced by relief, happiness and fulfillment. Anyhow, I digress.      

Breakfast was a rushed affair. BFC still had mehendi on her hands and couldn’t eat herself. I was busy with the kids, so I’m not very sure if I saw her during breakfast time. Post breakfast was the important ceremony of “Chooda“, where her mama would fill her wrists with the lovely cream and maroon choodas (in this case, a lovely set of choodas with stone settings, an awesome full-hand set!). BFG and BFC went down earlier for the ceremony. I couldn’t leave the kids and go. Besides, RS had another motion that morning and wasn’t looking very good. Thankfully, she had half a banana for breakfast and I was consoled that at least my baby wasn’t going hungry. SS had his cerelac, though with a lot of fuss. He too had half a banana and I was mighty relieved. Gave them quick baths, handed them over to the BF and settled down to wash the clothes and bed-sheets (because RS had puked on them the previous night). Had a bath, played a little with the kids and since the caterers had left, closed the doors, pulled all the curtains and …wait a minute. Stop thinking whatever you’re thinking right now!! Nothing happened like that . We were just putting the kids to sleep . Seriously!!      

So while I took RS to one bedroom section, the BF patted SS in the other. The kids, for once obliged and went to sleep sweetly. I couldn’t believe my luck!! I mean, I could actually go down and attend the ceremony!! I gave the BF plenty of instructions on what to do in case the kids woke up and then picked the camera and scooted downstairs. It was my lucky day indeed !! The Panditji had come late and things were just being put into place. I arrived in time to secure a good seat, but realized that I could only get BFC’s back throughout. so I quickly changed position and settled on the sofa arm-rest, right next to BFC’s nani.      

The "Havan" before the "Choodas"

 The ‘havan’ ceremony began with a lot of chanting of prayers and believe me, it totally changed the atmosphere. It was kind of over-whelming to see the power of prayers, to see the fire burning, the wood burning, practically without any smoke, the smell of ghee (poured by BFC) at the chant of ”Swaha“, the powdered mixture (I have no idea what it’s called) which was thrown into the fire, again , at the chant of Swaha. As usual, the older generation, mostly BFC’s nani and a few other aunties could recite ALL the prayers that the panditji was reciting. The newer generation made do with just the “Gayatri Mantra” .      

You know, weddings are a happy occasion for any parent. But for parents of the girl, however happy the occasion, there hangs a slight pall of gloom over their countenance. Couldn’t help noticing that BFC’s parents were suffering the same fate. They looked so despondent throughout the ritual, I was sure aunty would burst into tears any moment. But she kept herself in check and didn’t break down. And when uncle came forward to place the “tika” on BFC’s forehead, I swear I saw his eyes glimmering with tears. It’s so unfair!!! This concept of a girl letting go of her family when she gets married!! (But it calls for a separate post by itself!!) .      

Anyhow, once the pooja was over, BFC’s uncle (a cutely named “Goldie Mama”, who was a darling and kept enquiring about our comfort throughout his stay. He had come down from Canada and was keen to share snaps of his two-year old daughter, who looked like an angel ) . The choodas were dipped in milk, oil applied on BFC’s hand and then Goldie mama had to push all the choodas on BFC’s hand. Such a lovely concept!!. Simply LOVED the sentiment behind it all       

The Choodas

Once the choodas were in place, it was time for the “Kalire” (pronounced as ka-lee-ray). I can best describe them as light golden danglers which hang from the choodas. BFC’s aunts tied the Kalires to her choodas .      

BFC with the choodas and kalires

Dont they look lovely?? The red kalires were a tad heavy, but the golden ones were light as a feather. Though it was tied for this ceremony, BFC could remove it after some time. It would be later tied at the time of the wedding. By this time, it was more than an hour since the kids had gone to sleep and I rushed back to the room to check on them. Sure enough, the kids woke up as soon as I entered and I fed them some more banana (since milk was still out of question). RS had another loose motion and I gave her some more medicine. Other than this, she was more or less her original self and I seriously applaud her stamina. I mean, if it were me in her place, an upset tummy would make sure that I was bed-ridden and not running about the room!!      

The caterers were busy with the tables when I came in. Lunch was laid out and shortly after, BFS and BFG returned to the room. We thought of having lunch while the kids were busy playing. I had food first while the BF was busy playing with the twins. Once I was done, he had his food. The guests trickled in shortly and since it was a little too crowded (since a lot more people had arrived that day), the BF took the kids out of the room. Bad choice, I thought, since it was a VERY hot outside and I wasn’t keen on the kids roaming around in the sun, at least, given their present condition. But there wasn’t any choice. We just had to wait till the guests left.      

Once the last of the guests had left, I changed the kids to some lighter clothes. They, of course , refused to sleep, since they’d woken up just before lunch. Which meant that even we couldn’t rest. BFG and BFS went to their room for a nap. Me and the BF kept our vigil with the kids. The BF was playing hide n seek with SS, when SS tried to hide behind the window curtain and there was a loud crash!!      

Apparently, some guest, unmindful to TWO babies living in those rooms,  had left a beer bottle on the window sill and it had fallen down. The BF rushed to pick up SS before he could take another step. In the bargain, he himself had a 2 mm glass splinter wedged in his heel. BFG came out at the sound and was equally worried for the kids. I immediately made the twins wear their shoes, warned BFG and BFS not to roam around without shoes/slippers and once again, went in search of housekeeping. By now, we were definitely NOT in those women’s good books . I mean, we were making their life difficult by making them clean up glass shards practically everyday!! With some not-so-silent grumbling, they came in and did the cleaning. At least we didn’t come into any harm that day. But the next morning, I found a few sharp pieces along the wall. Luckily, the kids hadn’t seen them and I removed them before they could .      

We had a small incident towards early evening. Some guest had decided to keep a drinks party in our room , before the wedding . Just when we were thinking of stretching our backs, the caterers trooped in again, this time, carrying cases of soda, wine glasses, beer mugs and another cooler full of drinks. At this, even BFG lost her cool. We had been staying without any privacy for the last 2-3 days, but this seemed like the pits. She and I went up to BFC’s mother (who was totally unaware of the party) and asked her if we could get another room to change in , if there was going to be a drinks party in ours. Luckily for us, aunty got the party itself cancelled!!! We had to once again call the caterers to remove the stuff from our room becasue frankly, we were tired of minding their stuff!! The twins can be held back to only a certain limit. We cant be carrying them in our arms ALL the time so that they dont pick up the glasses or smash the bottles. We weren’t worried about their stuff. We were worried about keeping our kids safe!!

Once the caterers left, we took turns ironing our outfits and taking a bath. I got the twins ready and the BF was assigned to look after them while we girls got dressed. He warned us not to delay like last time and we assured him that we would do our best. Which, of course, we didn’t :D !! Anyhow, after we were satisfied with our looks, we all (sans the BF) trooped in to check on BFC who was getting dressed. Believe me, when I took one look at her, I did the classic double take. She looked STUNNING!!! I don’t have words to describe how beautiful she looked. Her radiance itself would require an entire post . We gathered around her and took some snaps. Also complimented her aunt , who had done the job of making her up and dressing her.      

BFC , with a slightly grumpy RS

We hugged BFC once again before we left for the venue, which was barely walking distance from where we were put up.      

The opulence of a Punjabi wedding has to be seen to be believed. Seriously!! One look at the venue, and we were stunned. I mean, being part Maharashtrians, we were used to weddings at a much smaller scale, a lot less grandiose and a lot more boring . I don’t have any snap of the venue, but you can make out the setting from some of the snaps I’ve posted here. It was colourful, it was bright, it was breathtaking. There were separate sections for Chaat, Punjabh Dhaba, Rajasthani Dhaba, drinks, soups and the buffet. Just a few minutes after we entered, the dhol-tasha began in earnest and announced the arrival of the bridegroom.      

Now, I’m yet to see any other wedding where a groom enters the venue doing Bhangra!! It was SO DAMN CUTE!!! I mean, no stiff upper lips here, just plain chilling out and enjoying your own wedding. How adorable is that?? All the marriages I’ve attended till date, including mine, required the bride and groom to keep as solemn a countenance as possible. No relaxing, no smiling, just a severe, stern expression, as if praying for the priest to hurry up and get over with it!!! This was definitely like a breath of fresh air. I gave SK points just for breaking the mould!! Once he was seated, another song started, which announced the arrival of the bride.      

BFC walked towards the stage under a canopy of flowers, held up by her siblings and uncles. I swear I felt a stab of pain in my heart. She looked so fragile, so breathtakingly beautiful as she walked demurely towards her groom. Her cousins spiced up her arrival with a lot of dancing while they accompanied her to the stage. We, being the country bumpkins (once again) were the only ones staring at the whole sequence open-mouthed. Every one else was so used to this naach-gaana except us!!!      

Once on the stage, it was time for Jai-mala,a  lot of posing for snaps and a lot of shaking of hands. We bided our time till we could go and get a snap with BFC and her beau. When our turn came, I requested the cameraman’s assistant to click a snap from my camera. The bugger took a useless snap and when I asked him if it had come out proper, he replied in the affirmative. The LIAR!!! Anyhow, here are some pics from the wedding :-      

Enter the Bride

Jai-Mala

Group snap(if you can call it that!!)

The MomOfRS family

     

 The couple were busy with meeting guests after this and while BFS and BFG were busy with the starters and drinks, me and the BF were busy running after the kids. SS took and immediate liking for the trash bins, making sure he lifted them and tried to move them some place else!! And when I spanked him for doing that, he diverted his attention towards the stand fans (once again), switching the buttons on and off. RS took a fancy for the hanging strings of light and managed to yank and put off two such strings. And now, I had the tough task of making sure she doesn’t pull at any other string. Since the venue was literally covered with such lights, you can imagine my plight, running around after her, making sure she doesn’t pull at them.      

The twin’s friend Ira turned up in time to rescue me. She played around with the kids to give me enough time to gulp down a couple of drinks and munch on a few fries. The darling!! By the way, this time I did the smart thing and discarded my heels in favour of my flats. Wise decision indeed, considering the amount of time I had to spend running after the twins. Looks be damned!!

RS was feeling hungry and I wasn’t really sure what to feed her. she was bored of the banana and refused to take another bite from it. So I headed to the buffet area to check on the rice or chapatti. Unfortunately, everything was spicy and I had to return with a bowl of curd from the dahi-wada dish. RS surprised me by having the entire thing!! Good Girl!! I handed her over to Ira and then prepared SS’s cerelac, which he had by making me run around the place like crazy, a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, totally looking the picture of a harried mother!!The dinner was underway and I suggested that the BF and BFG go ahead with their meal. Once they were done, me and BFS would partake ours. So while me and BFS struggled with the two kids, the BF and BFG had their dinner at leisure. Believe me , I cursed the BF so loud!!! I’m sure he tasted every damn thing on the menu. He denied the charge, of course .     

By this time, I was getting a little tired. And a little hungry too. BFC and SK were moving away to the pooja area where the actual pheras would take place. I wanted to see it too, but I was yet to have dinner. There was no sign of the BF or BFG. BFS called them and they reported that they’d be returning soon. Which, luckily , they did. We heaved a sigh of relief. But when they did come back, RS refused to let go of me. Her crankiness levels had increased and I couldn’t blame the girl since she was already a little down. BFG suggested that she would get me a plate. She and BFS moved away to the dinner area and I once back got to minding the kids. The BF, who looked awfully stuffed, could barely move from the sofa.I did reproach him on leaving me to do the running around. He said it was doing me some good to be on my toes!! The cheek of this guy!!! The girls were gone for 1o minutes, then 15, shortly, it was 20 minutes and then more than half an hour. Now I was having serious doubts as to whether BFG remembered that I was waiting for the food!! But poor girl. It wasn’t her fault. Unfortunately, one of the uncles from BFC’s side was quite keen on chatting up with BFG and being the polite girl that she is, she couldn’t let him off saying that she was bringing me food. So she ended up spending more than 30 minutes listening to that person. Meanwhile, I lost my appetite entirely. Blame it on being bone tired and sleep-deprived . When they finally returned with the food, I had just two bites of the rice and two small pieces of fish. Good thing that BFG hadn’t piled up the plate. I so HATE wasting food (which, I’m guilty to confess, I did that night ).     

Post dinner, we scooped up the kids and went to see the pheras, which , sadly had just got over. We just got to see the final rituals where everyone blesses the bride and groom. Since they were both crowded with relatives, we once again went to the nearby charpoys and waited till we could meet up the couple ourselves.     

 

The twins on a 'khaat'

BFS and BFG on another khaat

SS in his Sherwani

 

   

  

The kids played around the area some more, picking up litter, pushing trash bins, shoving at the stand fans, and in general , keeping me fit!!    

Finally, we got a chance to meet BFC. We congratulated her and SK on their wedding. We found BFC’s sister breaking into tears and seeing that, BFG promptly broke into tears herself and though I’d willed myself not to, I surprised myself and the BF by sobbing like crazy. Luckily, BFS pulled out some tissues for us in time. SK didn’t know how he was supposed to react to this onslaught of tears and if there were any witty/untimely comments on the tip of his tongue, he kept them safely to himself. Wise guy indeed . But he couldn’t really couldn’t hide the amused look in his eyes ….and I confess , it’s that look which made me finally stop and mentally kick myself for making an ass out of myself and turning a happy situation into a sad one!! RS gave me a very concerned look and SS looked mighty bored with the whole situation. He must be sleepy, I thought. And why not!! It was around 12 in the night!! Way past his bed time!    

We hugged BFC and finally bid good-bye and good night to every one and trooped back to our room( By the way, while hugging BFC, both BFG and BFS found pieces of the Kalire entangled in their clothes. Now this is supposed to be a good sign, the story being, if an unwed girl is favoured with the kalire by chance, then its her turn next . I seriously pray to God that this story turns out to be true. Because you see, though I hugged BFC too, I didn’t get anything!!! Might be that fate knows I’m already married. Tough luck indeed !!!) . The twins didn’t cooperate with changing their clothes and I had no choice but to let the two sleep as they were. We all quickly dressed for the night, when surprise of surprie, we found that we couldn’t sleep!!! All four of us were wide awake. BFG still couldn’t hold back her tears and let go once again. We consoled her and then our talk drifted to our friendship, our group, as we got together one after the other. All the years we spent together, all the secrets we shared, the ones we didn’t…….. We stayed up pretty late, I guess, till 2 AM, after which we all went off to sleep. After all, we had to get up early the next day.    

For what??    

The caterers, of course     

(To be Contd……..)   

  

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Delhi Diary 4 : Dilli Ki Garmi

Somewhere around 8:10 AM on 20th morning, BFG woke me up. The caterers had started coming in and it didn’t seem appropriate for me to lie there anymore. It was such a painful task to drag myself out of bed!! Luckily, the kids were still sleeping and the BF had gone out to the canteen to get the hot water for the kids. I had a chance to have a warm shower (no cold water yet!!) and get dressed.

BFC came to our room shortly after I’d taken my bath. It was nice to catch up on all the updates regarding the wedding. Post breakfast (of the yummiest chhole-bature I’ve had after eons!) , we got back to chatting again. The kids were up and about and practically coming in everyone’s way. In fact, they were the youngest guests in that crowd. The next one after them was BFC’s cousin and she too was in her early twenties . Anyway, it felt good to relive the old times and look forward to the new . That day was reserved for the Mehendi and BFC reminded us once again to come down for the event in time. Once she left, I went back to the mundane task of washing the kid’s clothes. In fact , ALL of us were washing our own clothes and even ironing them (BFG was kind enough to lug her iron box along ). We had NO idea that there was a laundry facility available, and being the country bumpkins that we are, we never even bothered to ask anyone!!

I had felt a sting on my hip the previous night and by this time, it was quite a big bump. I wasn’t really sure what had caused it. But while drying the kid’s clothes in front of the cooler, I found this :-

The Yellow Wasps......Tataiyya!!

There was a small hive of wasps over the cooler. BFS’s room had an even larger one with many more wasps in it!! These buggers were responsible for stinging me!! Grrr !! The only consolation being, that the poor unlucky one who stung me, would most probably be already dead!! But I wonder what made it attack me in the night !!

Sometime towards the afternoon, RS started behaving a little more cranky than usual. She was crying for no reason and it seemed that nothing I did could console her. After maybe half an hour of crying, she had a little watery motion. Must be because of the heat, I thought. Gave her plenty of water to drink, which she gladly grabbed out of my hands and gulped down! SS, as usual, was busy tugging at the lunch table covers and the BF was kept busy restraining him from doing any damage. At least, he looked ok. Unlike RS who wasn’t looking very good.

In fact, she didn’t even have lunch. Just simply took her bottle of milk and refused to let go of me. I could barely have lunch myself.  Luckily, around 2:30 PM, the kids went off to sleep (Thank God!!) and I could take a breath of relief! The BF had left in the morning to buy water bottles for all of us ( We consumed a record of 12-13 bottles of Bisleri in those 2-3 days! And I’m not even counting the bottles we bought for the kids). Somehow, ground water just didn’t suit any of us. It’s not as if we fell ill or anything. It’s just that , somehow, the local water wasn’t able to quench our thirst!! So bottled water came to our rescue .

The snooze fairy visited finally

Lunch was a breezy affair…..with caterers and people coming and going at their own pace. By the time the last of the caterers left , it was close to 3:30 PM. Another half hour and we had to go down for the Mehendi. Ooohhh!! How I loved the thought of it!! But reality check struck and I realized that with two babies to handle, there was no way I could relinquish the use of my arms . Anyway, at least I could watch and learn . BFS and BFG took a short nap. I couldn’t (the story of my life *rolling eyes*). The BF had gone out for some work and RS was still crying inconsolably. She had woken up a short while ago and her crying had woken up SS too. He, luckily was in a good mood and so I left him to play in one area and tried to relieve RS of whatever was ailing her. A short while later, I heard a soft crashing sound and after that a series of crunching, grounding sounds. Rushed to where SS was and found him smashing a water glass on the floor. There were glass shards everywhere and my baby was just about to spread the glass dust with his palm.

Believe me, I practically dumped RS and grabbed SS’ hand in time. Picked him up from the floor (where he was sitting barefoot!) and made sure that he hadn’t nicked himself anywhere. I know that he’s too short to reach for the glasses on the table, so I guess he just claimed a glass someone left under a sofa. Rather scary, really.

RS, meanwhile, threw a royal tantrum. She wasn’t pleased at being treated this way and was making sure that everyone and everything within hearing vicinity was aware of her plight !! The Drama Queen!! Thankfully, the BF returned just in time and so did the housekeeping staff. Though I was polite in my request for them to clean up the shards, they were quite vocal about the extra work I was making them do. Pune or Delhi, I guess maids have no regional bounds. They are the same EVERYWHERE!!! Pests! Irritable, lazy and doing us the biggest favour ever!!

After the maids left, I told the BF that I’d be taking the kids down for the mehendi. Obviously, he was quite pleased at that. It being an all-women’s event, he wasn’t required to come and could catch up on some IPL :D . I quickly dressed the kids, packed their bags and got dressed myself (in the very expensive ready-made suit I’d bought in Pune. Too lazy to search in the archives for it !) . BFS was also ready by then and so we proceeded to the room below where the mehendi was to take place. Found BFG already there with BFC, who looked so radiant, waiting there for the mehendi to start. What is it about weddings that gives a girl that added glow, a blush that no amount of make-up can ever match?? She looked lovelier each time I saw her, and I could only wish her and SK the best in life, forever!!!

The twins were hungry and I gave them their milk bottles. The mehendi guy for the guests had finished doing the palms of BFS and BFG (Boy, was he fast or what??!!) and was already busy with the rest of the ladies. The bride’s mehendi hadn’t started yet. Another guy was coming in to do it for her.I whipped out my camera and took a few shots (you know, how I LOVE mehendi ) :-

BFS and BFG with their design

BFC's sister's hand

The back of their palms

It was fun taking snaps of all the hands. Some of the designs were really simple, yet elegant. And I must say, these guys were truly talented!! Their speed was amazing!! Their hands practically flew over the palms!!

After winding up with the shoot, I went to sit next to RS, who eagerly crawled on my lap and promptly threw up her milk on me. All of it. The poor baby was spouting it from her mouth as well as her nose. Needless to say, she was awfully upset. And I realized, a little too late, that my baby was indeed , very very ill. She threw up twice after that and had motions 4-5 times. BFC’s uncle is a doctor and he prescribed some medicine for RS. He also said that she was having symptoms of a heat stroke and was to be fed only banana or curd , but definitely NO milk. And I was in a quandary. We hadn’t initiated the kids to curd and the banana was also a dicey choice. We didn’t have favourable results when trying to feed them banana in the past. My most reliable food source for these two picky eaters, was their milk. And now, I couldn’t give her any!! How do I feed her then??

I went back to my room to change, and also change RS. Gave her plenty of water to drink, told the BF that we need to get some more water for the twins, as well as get some bananas for them. Leaving them behind wasn’t an option (since they were too cranky with other people), we decided to take them along. Maybe it would help distract them for a bit. BFC’s mother met us downstairs and requested us to get some lemons on our way back (lemon juice in sugar , when applied on mehendi, guarantees a good colour). So we left with the twins and walked till the market area (which was a considerable distance, more so because we were carrying the kids!). We quickly made our purchases when the BF suggested that we take a quick ride on the cycle rickshaws. I don’t remember the last time I sat on one, maybe once when I was in Tambram, Chennai, a long time back. The BF had never sat in one before and was quite keen . But before we could execute our plan, we got a call from BFG that people were waiting for the lemons!! Oh well, maybe another time, we said, and made our way back (this time , in an auto). I handed the lemons to BFC’s aunt and made my way back to the room. On the way, we stopped by the water fountain, where the kids had a nice time getting sprayed. In that heat, the sprays were a welcome relief . I daresay, me and the BF enjoyed the sprays as much as the kids !!  I put my hand out and directed the sprays on the kids. SS yelled with shock, and for the first time that day, RS squealed with delight .What a wonderful sound…..it was like music to my ears!!

Once back, I tried to feed RS a little banana and miracle of miracles, she actually had half a banana without any fuss or without throwing up (which was her favourite pastime back home!!). And to top it all, even SS took a liking to the fruit. There is a God up there after all!!!  (When I later called the MIL to narrate that the kids were actually devouring bananas, she was as stunned as I was!!) .  While I was trying to administer her the medicines, the caterers came back to lay the dinner table. Earlier that day, after the glass incident, I had requested BFC’s mother to ask the caterers to clear up as soon as possible after the guests left. She spoke to those guys, but for some reason, those men didn’t bother complying to this request. Alas, in such cases, there is no option but to simply grin and bear it . The kids, usually naughty, were sullen and listless that evening. SS simply had his milk and went off to sleep. RS, though sleepy , couldn’t sleep. I guess one of the reasons was that she needs complete darkness and no sound when she tries to sleep. We couldn’t provide that, because dinner was in progress and it would be another hour till the last of the guests left and the caterers cleared up the tables. We could neither switch off the lights , nor cut down on the sound. So I took her outside and strolled on the terrace for a while. Somehow, it’s never a good feeling to find your child lying like a limp rag in your arms…..and I couldn’t help but blame myself for RS’s state . I’ve known all along that she has low tolerance for heat, and yet, I didn’t back up BF’s decision to move to another place, at least for the twin’s sake.I caved in because I thought BFC’s parents would feel insulted. But on hindsight, I can’t help but think that if they were in my place, they would have done what was best for their kids! So in my attempt to appease them, I compromised on the health of my children. The BF, though awfully worried about RS, was kind enough not to say “I told you so”. Though, I could make out that even he regretted not sticking to his decision himself!!

We didn’t sleep that night either. RS had loose motions and though we tried to feed her ORS (as the kind doctor uncle had advised us), she refused to take even one sip, throwing the bottle away with all her limited strength. We then just had to make sure she drank plenty of normal water. She would appear to doze off for a few minutes, and then suddenly get up wailing loudly. I guess her tummy was hurting too. I just prayed that since the next day was the wedding, RS should be fine enough for me to attend. Else, this entire trip to Delhi would be one big failure : ( . I’d already missed out on most of the ceremonies and I didn’t get the chance to sit and chat with BFC as I’d planned to do before coming. The only thing we ended up doing was trying to prevent the kids from smashing plates and glasses, preventing them from putting their fingers into power sockets, preventing them from pouring water all over the floor,preventing them from invading the bathroom and splashing about, in a nutshell, just being parents and minding them

Oh well, we just had another day to spend here before we could bid adieu and move on to the next place where we had our bookings. Consoling each other thus, with each holding a baby in their arms, me and the BF strolled the hall through most of the night.

This was my fourth night without sleep………….

Edited to add :

Somewhere around 1AM or maybe 2, when RS was in deep sleep, I sneaked out to apply some mehendi on my hands. BFC’s mom had saved a cone specially for me (bless her!!) . The design was nowhere close to being as good as the others, though I did try and concentrate on the flow. But I guess lack of sleep was a major reason why the final outcome looked like a mesh of wiggles, totally unworthy of a snap!!

And oh, I managed to dab a little circle of mehendi on RS’s palm too . There’s something awfully cute about a tiny, chubby palm coloured with henna, isn’t it??

(To be Contd…..).

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Delhi Diary 3 : Dilli Ka Anubhav

The train reached Nizamuddin Station at its destined time of 06:15 AM. Luckily, we all got up in time to get dressed and pack up before the kids woke up. Had to drag the twins out of their sleep to get off the train , and boy, were they ticked off or what??!! Placated them with water, since making their feed on the stinky platform and waiting for them to finish didn’t bode well with me !  

BFC had initially informed us that someone would come to pick us up, but I think they didn’t have a cab at their disposal that day, so she asked us to come half-way through to Gopinath bazaar where her father would receive us. The meeting point was a petrol pump in Gopinath Bazaar. So we took a taxi (the driver, who after a  LOT of haggling agreed on 350/- for the trip) , loaded our luggage and were off. One thing that we instantly noticed about Delhi, were the GOOD roads. They were smoooooth!!!! Didn’t suffer a single bump the entire way!! How I wish I could say the same about the other cities/towns I’ve visited . And yeah, the old, old monuments on the way ( single gateways which went God-knows-where, enclosed by a fence) were so, what do you call it, frail?! I could practically see some of them crumbling right in front of my eyes. Its a testimony to their strength that they survived this long!! 

After a drive of around 20 minutes, the driver informed us that we were at Gopinath Bazaar. We saw a Petrol pump there and asked him if this was the only pump in the vicinity. He grunted his reply in the affirmative and so we unloaded and waited at the pump. Some 10 minutes of waiting made us realize that maybe we weren’t at the right place after all. BFG and BFS were getting the jitters because the birds up there decided to favour these two with their blessings . A quick call to BFC and we found out that her father had been waiting for us at another petrol pump for the last 20 minutes!! That jerk of a driver!! Poor uncle!! We called him up immediately and he came to meet us in an auto. We loaded our luggage into it and Uncle got in, we crossed the road to hail another auto.  

It turned out, that the venue was barely 2 minutes drive from where we  were standing!! If only BFC had told us this before, we’d have asked the taxi driver to directly take us there!! Anyway, we lost track of uncle’s auto and took a wrong turn . Another call to him and we changed our route again. A small incident happened here……While our driver was busy trying to make a right turn, a lady on a bike came up to him and said , “Indicator naam ki koi cheez hoti hai ya nahin? Saare ke saare yahin baitth jaate the abhi!!” Apparently, unaware that the auto was going to make a turn, the lady was about to bang right into us. But seriously, we four were grinning away, not because of what she said, but how she said it!! The typical North Indian twang in place!! Simply LOVED the sound of it   

Anyhow, we reached the right place finally to find that Uncle had already unloaded our luggage and put it in our rooms. Or rather, room. It was a dormitory with two sections where there were beds and a common hall area. I don’t have a snap of the whole thing , but there are some other snaps which will give you a better idea. And oh, Delhi-ites spell as they pronounce, which means, we actually stayed here :-  

  

Yup, thats right!! Brought a smile to my face every time I stepped in   

By the way, this was the building where we were put up :-  

  

The fountain played in the evening, and once or twice I took the kids down to feel the spray . Too bad, I never took the camera along and have no snaps to show for it .  

BFC came to meet us and we had a round of hugs and kisses , all glad to see each other! She sat with us for some time and then it was time to move for breakfast (the breakfast counter would close at 9 and we had to rush there before it closed down). We requested the canteen people to provide us with hot water for the kids and they were kind enough to oblige. Me and BFG quickly wrapped up breakfast and headed back to our room because the twins were getting naughty and playing with plug points in the breakfast hall!! 

I gave the two a good hot bath, which actually couldn’t be avoided, since the hot water came from the cold water tap (yup, it was that hot!). Dressed them up, fed them some milk and waited for the BF to return so that I could go for my bath. 

The twins on the sofa…after their bath!!

 

Suddenly, a couple of men barged into the room with a large table .Me and BFG looked at each other in surprise. Shortly, two more came in with another table. When we asked the guys what they were up to, they simply mumbled something and left. Now BFG and me were quite amused and wondered what was happening. And then we knew. Apparently, the canteen refused to cater to the large marriage crowd and hence, BFC’s parents had to arrange for an alternate caterer to look into the the regular meals for the guests. And since ours was the largest room, they decided to lay the tables there.  

The common hall with a separate area for the BF, me and kids

The Common hall with a separate area for BFS and BFG

The twins were excited to see so many new people and refused to sleep. It didn’t help that the bedroom area did not have a door or even a curtain to block it from the hall view. Try as I might, the kids refused to sleep. They preferred jumping between the legs of the workers, getting in the way as they laid the tables, reaching out for glasses, plates and what not. Just holding the kids back was a tough task, something , which the BF and I ended up doing for our entire stay. Believe me, it was stressful, just making sure that they didn’t damage anything or hurt themself in any way.  

The BF, seeing that there was very limited, or no privacy for any of us (not to mention, no air conditioning in the sweltering heat), suggested that we move out and make our own arrangements. In a way, I agreed with him. But BFS and BFG refused to come with us. They said , it would be insulting our hosts hospitality to move out of the arrangements they made for us. So we stayed put ( A decision, I very much regretted later   ).  

Anyhow, at lunch time, we met up with BFC’s relatives and other family members, the twins had their first taste of Dal-Makhani and boondi-raita and luckily, they didn’t trouble much. SS took an instant fancy to one of BFC’s aunts and refused to get off from her arms. Poor aunty was carrying him around the whole afternoon!!  

Post lunch, the caterers took their own sweet time to clear the tables. By now, we were all very tired and looking forward to catching up on some sleep. Now if only these people cleared up from here!! The coolers, though filled with water, were only spewing hot air into the room and we were getting a pretty good idea about how hot Delhi could really be!! I guess it was the heat that made the kids cranky and they simply refused to sleep!! And when they didn’t, we didn’t. The BF and I stayed up minding the twins while BFG and BFS caught up on some sleep. We had to leave for the Sagan ceremony in the evening and had to be ready by 7 PM.  

Did I mention that RS learnt how to open the tap of the water dispenser? No? Well, she did. And made sure that the entire hall was covered with water!! I was busy trying to put SS to sleep and RS was with the BF, who was guilty of snoozing on the sofa and missed out on his daughter’s antics. The twins were obviously delighted to see so much water in this heat and immediately started splashing around. SS even skidded badly and hurt his head. I was furious with RS was spilling the water, but seriously, who could blame her?? I just tried to mop up as much water as possible and then called in the housekeeping guys to clear up the rest. Believe me, I’d have given my right arm just to be able to catch a few minutes nap by this time. I was so so tired!!  

By 5 PM, woke up BFS and started another round of baths. Delhi can be miserably hot and you either bathe with water , or with sweat.  And when we were not bathing, we were busy running after the kids while groping our way through the curtain of sweat cascading down the eye-brows!!  

It took some time to get the twins ready (RS in a pink and white shalwar kameez and SS in a white and blue Kurta Pajama), who were getting crankier by the minute. I didn’t realize it then, but frankly,the heat was getting to them and there was nothing they could do about it. The BF got dressed in a jiffy and then took his turn to mind the kids while we got dressed. And we took a real long time. Seriously. So while the kids and the BF were ready by 6:30 PM, me and the other two girls moved out not before 8 PM!! We went down to find that all the other guests had left for the venue and the only people left were us and BFC’s father and nani(who by the way, is a gracious, darling granny ) who were waiting for us to come down. We all were suitably abashed, except maybe the BF, who was shooting off dagger looks at us for taking so long to get dressed.  

We reached the venue after a short drive and had to walk a considerable distance from the parking to the event area, a journey, which made me realize that after more than two years of wearing flat shoes, I shouldn’t have selected this particular event to try out my heels. Sigh. Some people never learn. Count me as one of them!! To top it, The twins were now drowsy and irritable and begged to be carried. Tough indeed!!  

The event area was an open terrace, with nice round tables spread across it. Stand-fans did their best to dispel some of the heavy hot air hanging around like a curtain, but not making much progress in the bargain! BFC hadn’t returned from the parlour yet and we spent the time gulping down soft drinks (which, under any other circumstance, I wouldn’t touch with a barge-pole!) and running after the twins, who were once again captivated by the plug points and bulbs, even managing to switch off a few lights in the bargain. Aah….those killer gazes from the guests would have stung anyone with a thinner hide, but I guess by now, the BF and me were quite immune to it . We are made of much sterner stuff    

As usual, in our hurry to leave, I forgot the camera and now I have to wait for BFS to send across her snaps. Somewhere after 40 minutes, the groom arrived. Mr.SK is a smart, suave guy at the first appearance and a cheerful, talkative , friendly guy at the second . It was nice talking to him, which we did for quite some time until he was finally called away to meet some relatives. I had a warm feeling after meeting him. He seemed just the right person for BFC. And I’m seriously glad that this alliance came through. Almost made me think favourably about arranged marriages .  

SK’s mother, and BFC’s MIL is a smart lady, holding her own presence with grace and effervesence. That she liked BFC was apparent in the way she greeted her when BFC arrived. Oh, btw, BFC looked GORGEOUS!! I simply couldn’t recognise her, and when I hugged her, I’m sure the onlookers worried that I might just squeeze the breath out of her . She looked that good!! SK took one look at his fiancée and I’m sure I saw him puffing up with pride, or maybe his breath just got lodged in his throat! Whatever. Point is, he was as spell-bound as us and when he asked BFC how she was , my friend blushed in a manner that truly mirrored her name. Absolutely charming . And when SK playfully squeezed her chin, she turned such a fiery red, the BF was sure she was going to faint . BFS took a few snaps of us all where I look as haggard as possible (blame it on the lack of sleep!) and the BF looked totally lost (blame it on running after the kids in a setting where he was the ONLY man running around. He didn’t find it funny in the least ) .  

I’d heard of well-off mommies in Delhi employing young girls as help for their kids and I was quite flummoxed to see a lady arrive with TWO maids for her two kids. One was around 4-5 years old and the other was as old as the twins. The lady relaxed with her drinks and snacks while the maids did the running around with the kids. I was envious for maybe a second. What the hell, who am I kidding?! At that particular time, I was envious for more than 10 minutes. OR maybe 15. No harm in being honest, is there? The BF agreed with my sentiments and said that we should have brought some maids along with us too. I hushed him into silence saying that this was his punishment for working long hours in office and not spending enough time with the kids. And I was seriously surprised to see the BF reasonably chastised!! He actually believed what I said. And me, being the clever girl that I am, didn’t bother to say that I was just kidding. Never disturb a man when he’s guilty. Even when he’s really not!! I’ll add this to my list of mottoes   

The sagan ceremony by itself was a muted affair. BFC’s nani called to us to come and watch. I think the ritual mainly consisted of tilak to the groom and exchanging gifts between the families. I didn’t get to see much because RS was throwing a fit to be let down and when I did put her down, she was keen to grab at the jumbo ants crawling near a flower pot. I was busy just trying to make sure she didn’t get bitten!! SS, meanwhile, was besotted with the stand fans, and being the types who loves moving heavy stuff around, tried his best to push the stands , almost managing to topple one on a nearby table. The BF lunged at the fan and rescued it just in time. Whew!!  

Dinner was a delayed affair, what with the kids refusing to eat, rushing towards the stairs, running around like crazy, rolling on the floor and keeping me on my toes. Literally. I’d discarded the heels a long time back and was barefoot for the whole evening! While playing , one of the guest kids pushed SS a little too hard, who then fell back and bumped his head real hard. Obviously, he howled for all he was worth. The other kid was severely admonished by his grandfather and I had to assure the old man that things are not so bad and that SS would be fine. I then asked the BF and BFS and BFG to go ahead with their meal. Once they’re done, I thought I’ll grab a bite for myself. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. My friends and the BF took and awful long time to finish and by then, I was too dead to care about dinner. The BF persuaded me to at least gulp down one Gulab Jamun. Which I did with great difficulty . You can imagine how very tired I was!! Gulab Jamun being my MOST FAVOURITE sweet ever!! And I was actually forced to eat it!! There’s a stupid PJ which I thought of here (How do you send a rose to the moon in a second?? You just say, “Gulab, Ja Moon” . Don’t hit me please. A tired mind does some really wierd things!!).  

The catering service was good, the waiters didn’t even give us the opportunity to gulp down one snack before they presented us with the next. Highly efficient (Unlike the waiters in Pune, who have to be bribed to come and serve anything!! And even then, they might drop a miniscule amount on your plate or glare at you if you bother to ask for more!!). Yet, we did hear a few disgruntled people complaining about the “poor service”. I really should have invited them over to Pune   

I want to make a special mention about a young girl I met here. A precocious little darling who went by the name Ira. She was around 6 years old, but chatty enough like an old dame . I guess she was born and brought up in UK, and had this adorable accent. She was instant friends with the twins and the twins, on their behalf , were quite smitten by her. SS, on the first look, rushed up to hug her and though she was nearly a foot taller than him, he tried to crane his neck as high as possible for a kiss. Aahh…my poor boy. He was disappointed by his first crush . While I was minding the twins, Ira kept me company and spoke about so many things about her home back in UK. For a 6-year-old,she had an amazing vocabulary and I was quite amazed at her range of knowledge. I met her once again on the wedding day and alas, never got a chance to say a proper good-bye to her before I left. 

BFC,SK,Ira and SS. Unfortunately, this is the ONLY snap of SS in the Sagan

RS in her salwar-kameez. That's me holding her!

 

Anyhow, we were one of the first ones to leave the venue and were back at our room by around 11 or 11:30 PM. Luckily, the kids crashed out pretty soon, though not without a fight, and by the time I could set my head on a pillow, it was 12.  

BTW, I didn’t get to sleep the night either. There were quite a few mosquitoes about and the twins were bitten real bad. RS kept screaming intermittently and would sleep only in my arms with me walking to and fro in the hall. SS woke up a couple of times too, but went back to sleep when the BF put him on his lap.  

Day one in Delhi was exceedingly tiring. More than I’d ever imagined. I don’t remember the last time I was so bone-weary and craving some rest. RS finally slept around 5:30 AM and that’s when I finally crashed out.  

(To be Contd……)

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Delhi Diary 2 : Ab Dilli Door nahin

Woke up around 9 AM on 18th morning, brushed and freshened up. RS was still sleeping, so I took the liberty of having a cup of tea in leisure (yeah yeah, I know all about how tea is prepared in trains, but I consoled myself with the thought that since this particular train had a pantry car, maybe, just maybe, the water was boiled in a different manner!!).

We all had bread-omelette for breakfast and placed the order for lunch. The twins surprised me by showing interest in the omelette and having quite a few bites from it. I think they liked the bland, no-salt, no spice kind of eggs. Mentally made a reminder to feed them eggs made like this once the monsoons set in. The BF wanted  to play cards, but the kids made sure that we dis’card’ed the thought of even opening the pack in their presence . Moreover, since we were right next to the door, and SS was quite keen on exploring the other side, the BF had his hands full just making sure that people didn’t just bang the door on SS’s face. Once or twice they came close, and we got a few admonishing glares, but I guess people are generally sympathetic towards parents travelling with kids. In our case, we had two master brats and the only reason they were forgiven was because the twins turned on their sweetest, brightest smiles for those strangers!

A wierd thing happens on trains, you know, specially on long distance trains…..people get up early, have tea, have breakfast and somewhere around 10 AM, they hop back on their berths and take a snooze. They get up again around 12 or 1 PM, have lunch, chat a little, wrap up with a cup of tea or coffee and somewhere around 3 or 4 PM, they hop back to sleep, only to get up around 7 PM for another cup of tea/coffee or snacks, wait till 8 PM for dinner and then hit the sack again.

The reason I mentioned the schedule above, is that , though I’ve been guilty of the same behavior in the past, this particular time, I didn’t sleep a wink . The kids kept me awake ALL the time!! If RS was asleep, then SS would howl for my attention. When he went off to sleep, RS would wake up and scream for me. The BF took turns handling the kids, at least allowing me time to have tea or my meals. BFG and BFS, though tried their best, could do very little other than sympathise with us and make sure we didn’t have to look into other issues like managing the luggage, handling trash, making the berths, etc. God bless these two. Without them, I’d have left the kids with the BF and jumped out of the moving train

Anyhow, time went by at a snail’s pace and I must have pestered everyone loads by asking for the time every 10 minutes. As evening drew closer, I was seriously  looking forward to finally reaching Delhi, taking a bath and taking a nap . In fact, ALL of us were planning the same thing ! Obviously. Except the kids, of course. They couldn’t care less!!

By the way, the lunch sucked BIG time!! It was awful!! A watery dal, potato sabji which made me swear off potatoes forever and half-cooked rice. And tell me, who really likes to have a chapatti that is barely 3 inches in diameter but an inch thick?? The very first bite almost made me Moo my discontent!! Dinner, we decided , would have to be anything other than the regular ‘meals’ being served. We had some Veg-pulao or Veg-biryani kind of dish which was surprisingly good. Even the twins had a few bites of it and were clamouring for more. Of course I didn’t feed them much of it, since it was steeped in loads of garam masala!

Post dinner, within minutes, all the lights in our bogie were out, except ours. We switched off, believing that the kids would sleep if it got sufficiently dark all around.

Ha Ha…..how naive we were!!

The kids, for some unknown reason, were super-charged. Their yelling got louder, their antics got wilder and my chances at sanity got leaner. The BF, unused to all this noise, almost gave up and moved out of the bogie. He preferred the noise and stench of the vestibule to the loud racket of the kids. I personally think he was embarrassed with all the angry glares and comments passed by people who were trying their best to sleep. Anyhow, somewhere around late night, maybe 11 or 12, the kids dropped off to sleep. We let out a sigh of relief and lowered our tired self carefully on the berth.

Around 2AM, SS howled out for his milk. I practically fell off the edge of my berth and rushed to the BF’s berth. Poor guy…..he was so tired, he didn’t even notice SS trying to climb over him!! I picked up my baby, made his feed , made one for RS too and put both of them on my berth. I stood there for nearly 10 minutes before I realized that I needed to sleep too, and uncomfortable though it may be, there was no other space than on the berth. So I climbed in again, ever so gingerly so as not to disturb the kids, turned on my side and tried to sleep in that uncomfortable position.

Needless to say, by the next morning,  one hip was completely paralysed and the other suffered a severe muscle pull

Ahhh…the joys of parenting!!

The BF didn’t leave an opportunity to mention throughout that he should have booked flight tickets as he had initially planned. But we, me and BFG and BFS had scrapped his plan, reasons being many. By night-time, I could have kicked myself real hard for not listening to him and taking sides with my friends.Anyhow, that all is past. The BF has sworn not to ever go anywhere where he might be required to drag the kids along, at least till they are 10 years old!!

The journey, till now , was one big nightmare…and the only consolation was that the next day would be better.

Or would it??

(To be contd……)

Edited to add :

Updating the post with the snap taken on the train :-

Abba minding the twins while their mom has her dinner

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Delhi Diary 1 : Chalo Dilli

Our tickets were booked for the Goa-Nizamuddin Express from Pune on the 18th of April at an ungodly hour of *gasp* 04:15. 

Needless to say, I didn’t sleep a wink! 

Somehow, travelling with kids always keeps me on tenterhooks, dreading all the while that I’ve surely missed out some important thing to take along. And I wasn’t wrong. SS developed a cold and cough and RS got the loosies. And I had every other medicine except for these two. Beat that! 

Anyhow, let me start from the beginning. 

The week before, was a whirlwind of activities at work and at home. I needed to wrap up work so that there were no issues in my absence. And I needed to pack everything at home, shop for a few things, put them all together as per the need to pull them out , and overall, just struggling to make sure that I didn’t hop on the train and leave the kids behind (which , since I’m back, seemed like the BEST thing to do!). 

The BF hates packing. Period. So no help on that front. But he needs his roller brush, his hair oil, his shaving kit, in other words , ALL his stuff right at the top of the bag, so that the minute he opens it, he can find what he wants. Following this condition, I had to pack all my stuff at the base of the suitcase, along with the pack of diapers and sterilizer. All his stuff went on top. A smaller strolley was packed with the kid’s clothings and other knick-knacks. And then, I had not one, but TWO baby bags filled to the brim with a change of clothes, diapers, napkins, wet-tissues, three thermos flasks, tin of powdered milk, tin of Cerelac, and most important, 6 feeding bottles. Whew!! I definitely wasn’t travelling light! 

On 17th night, I checked up the stuff once more and finally locked everything. We fed the babies and put them to sleep. I cleaned up the room , stacked stuff into place and then mulled over the week to come. Remembered to grab the camera at the last-minute (though I really shouldn’t have bothered!! It was more of a hindrance, and rarely used ) . Anyway, I couldn’t sleep, so I read up on the Pale Horse by Agatha Christie. It was quite gripping and I didn’t realize when it was 2 AM. Time to get up and change the kids, call up BFG and BFS to confirm that they were ready too. The gets readily allowed me to change them in their sleep, which was good. But they definitely threw a tantrum when we picked them off the bed and disturbed their sleep. Protest, they did. And as wildly and loudly as possible . 

GMIL was in tears at the thought of being parted from the kids. She was genuinely moved. The MIL and FIL were still doubtful about us taking the kids along. But it was too late to change our decision. The kids cannot stay without me yet (not to mention that I’d cry myself to sleep if I was parted from them!) and there was no possibility of canceling our trip. So there, in spite of their stern disapproval, we lugged the bags downstairs and loaded the car. The kids were pretty up by this time and luckily, didn’t bother us as much. 

At the station, found BFS and BFG waiting at the entrance along with BFG’s father. We all counted our baggage (which were THREE each , making me direct killer looks at the BF who had warned me not to exceed 4 bags for all the four of us) and trooped inside . Had a cup of tea while waiting for the train to arrive and arrive it did, right when I was busy gulping down the BF’s cup (since he wasn’t keen on it, but uncle had bought it anyway!).  The bogie was a little way further than where the indicator was and we all cursed the driver unanimously was making us run till our compartment with luggage and two kids! Once we all piled in, counted the luggage and bid goodbye to uncle, the train started once more and we were off!! 

BFS was excited enough to pull out her camera and start clicking snaps immediately. I couldn’t really be bothered because the kids were acting up, not keen on being confined to the limited space and were also hungry. Fed them their milk and tried to put them to sleep. But no luck . They were up and bright and in no mood to be put back to sleep. 

On an aside, here’s a brief layout of our seats :- 

AC-2 Tier Berth layout

 

Our seats were in a wierd L-shape and the kids didn’t like the limited space for movement. But in a way, it was good, because at least we were all together in a separate area. The only major disturbance factor was the door which was practically open the whole time since people kept coming in and out, specially the guys from the pantry serving tea/coffee. SS tried his best to sneak out when the doors opened and the BF had a tough time keeping him in check. 

Somewhere around early morning, I think, maybe 6 AM, RS went off to sleep, SS went to sleep with his Abba a little before that. I plunked down myself, only to get up to the wails of RS who did not approve of me infringing on her space. This girls needs a LOT of space to roll about in her sleep and she certainly wasn’t pleased with the narrow berth. I had no option, but to wait till she went deeper into her sleep before thankfully slinking in beside her, half of me dangling precariously off the edge. Only I know how I managed to sleep that night!! I won’t put up BF’s side of the story about how he managed to squeeze his nearly six feet muscular frame in that side berth, because frankly, this is my blog and I expect you all to sympathise with me!! 

Anyhow, I crashed out shortly after my head hit the pillow and woke up a few hours later…..to the combined wail of the you-know-who!! 

Ahh…another day to go………. (to be continued)

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