Holidays moods

A lifetime has passed. Yes, that was another life. That’s what it feels like now.

I am back from one of the most refreshing holidays. Just 3 weeks. But so much packed in. Plenty of traveling covering the north to the north east. There was a list I posted before leaving for my holiday. And now when I look at it, it still remains a list. Not much of that was covered. But there is enough to make another ‘DONE’ list.

I did want to write everyday but sometimes it’s so much better to just experience, even at the risk of not being able to recall some of it later. At times I would just have a few minutes to check mails. And sometimes not even that.

One word that precedes the entire trip was COLD WEATHER, besides of course, FOOD. Not having moved out of Bombay during winter in years, this was indeed a bone chilling experience.

In Bombay, if our lives were speeding at 300 kph, we slowed down to 3 kph and enjoyed the cruise.

A few notes…

Delhi has good roads and bad drivers. And the most beautiful women. Hubby is almost cock-eyed now after continuous leching at the beauties.

Delhi dresses. For every occasion. And for no occasion.

In Assam, people live to eat. And to feed.

Have decided not to shop in Bombay anymore. Feel foolish after seeing the same things at half the prices everywhere else.

Shillong is another mecca for shopping. Just have to hold on to hubby’s purse as he forgets to haggle with the smart and pretty Khasi girls.

Waiting and wondering if I have lost the hubby, at 1 degree Celsius with only a sweater is not fun, as hubby disappears to answer nature’s call. He always has to go at the worst of times!

Hubby becomes a spoilt irritating brat at his parents and a gentleman again at my parents. I have learnt to do the same. Kudos!

At the park, the nephew, little Aryan bullied the foxes to wake up and growl. We had to hurry before they tore the fences down trying to get Aryan.

Little Aryan, realizing hubby was scared while boating, kept trying to push him into the water.

Aryan refused to give me his new born cousin and told me I am going to have one soon! He joined his little palms, closed his eyes tight and prayed to God. So adorable!

It was enchanting traveling 8 hours through the beautiful state of Assam. Except it was close to Republic Day and unsafe with ULFA threats. People were warned against traveling and asked to do so at their own risk.

It was infuriating to be stopped and bags etc checked at intervals. None from our bus was responsible for the bombs that exploded that day.

Have realized the tea gardens give me a feeling of peace and a sense of belonging. Serenity takes over and time stands still here.

Parents are getting older. Need to see them more and spend more time with them.

No one cooks my favourite dishes like Mom and she seems to know what I want and when.

She still buys me pots and pans to cook in and gave me little boxes for ‘only-mothers-can-think-of’ purposes. Yes, only mothers do all this for you!

In Delhi, nobody eats food, parathas to be precise, without dollops of butter. The more the better. To hell with your size and weight!

Delhi friends asked for extra butter in Shimla too… and I wondered how they ate my almost oil free food when they came to Bombay.

I took my first step in Shimla, and slipped, and went rolling down on my behind for a good 100 metres in the snow. Unfortunately it was in the public car park and all the drivers ran to look at me. Their day was made.

Was surprised to see people I had seen at the other end of the country, walking blissfully on Mall Road. The world is indeed small!

Was ecstatic to see Barista after hours of walking in the freezing air. Bladders were bursting. While A and J ordered impatiently, two of us raced to the restrooms. And lo, “CLOSED. INCONVENIENCE REGRETTED.� All four of us sat cross legged to have the coffees ordered. Thank god for central heating! Decided on a game of chess too. Finally the game and atmosphere got so heated, we almost came to blows! Abandoned chess and walked out into the subzero dark night, screaming at each other. Bloated bladders forgotten.

Bought a bottle of rum and vodka at exorbitant prices. At the hotel, turned on the heaters and got under the blankets. Switched on some movie too. I dozed off peacefully as usual. Can’t take too much of a good thing and still stay awake. The others never managed to get drunk. What a waste!

After the car couldn’t go further up in Kufri, I mounted a horse to reach the top. So did hubby and both our friends.

My horse, Hero, halfway up the steep climb, imagined himself to be a camel and I was rocked back and forth as he humped along! At times he would head for the edge and bring my heart to a halt, and holding on to the saddle, I could hear my voice screaming madly and the others laughing loudly.

Glad to be at the top all four of us raced to empty our bladders. We girls were halted and warned. There are no toilets. “What happened to them?� Looking at the direction pointed we saw snowed under walls in open view!

Cursing the boys (for their ability to unzip their fly and pee to their heart's content), tried to concentrate on buckling up the ski-ing shoes. Suddenly realized it’s not as easy as it looks. Turned to find my friend ski-ing down, in full force, legs getting wider and wider! She had no control! “Help!! I am going to split!� She collided into another skier.

Ski-ing down was lovely. Climbing up was a pain. I urged the instructor to push me up. He gladly complied. With a firm grip on my freezing bums, he pushed with all his might. I kept telling myself, "Am wearing too much to get him excited." Anyway hubby seemed to be glad it wasn't him labouring to get my bulk up the slope.

Hubby pretended to be a pro and kept asking to go to the higher slopes. The guys there didn’t know that if they allowed him to go, he would be shitting bricks!

Young pahari boys pelted snowballs and sang “Mere sapnon ki Rani� as we rode past. The hubbies were far ahead, thankfully. They would never have understood that we were enjoying it all.

Kufri bids one goodbye with a barrage of snowballs and plenty of cheering. The experienced driver has asked us to keep our windows rolled up as snow hit our windows hard and made it difficult to see. We looked at the fresh snow around. At that moment, Bombay seemed far far away.

And today suddenly, Bombay looks better. It feels good to get back to work. Good to be able to leap out of bed without feeling the chill. Good to be amongst familiar faces and familiar places.

Good to be able to recall an amazing holiday.