June was a big month. It was a month of a big trip. Trip to India to visit grandparents. A first for Bobby boy. And a 5 year hiatus for little miss Haana.
It was 3 week trip split between Delhi and Chennai; with a side of a trip to Kanyakumari. The long flight to Delhi was punctuated with a 6 hr layover. Both little miss Haana and Bobby boy slept a little bit on the flight. But once we got to the airport lounge to spend time during our layover, Bobby boy was certainly in what I call - the energizer-bunny-mode! Running around and very animated, like someone fitted him with brand new batteries! The flights were relatively good, both Haana and Bobby did well, watched their videos, ate their meals, slept for a bit and mostly left me alone to catch a movie or two.. or three.
At Delhi, nani and nana (maternal grandparents) were delighted to see them. We had delicious food, prepared by nani. Little miss Haana had been looking forward to having aaloo parantha (potato stuffed tortilla cooked with oil) with butter. I had dutifully communicated this to nani before we even left for India. Little miss Haana had her aaloo parantha with a huge dollop of butter right away! And then every single day we were in Delhi (except our last day in delhi, which nani still feels really bad about).
We talked about politics with nana - both national politics (nana is a big Modi supporter) and local (at nana's morning club!!).
Later we went over to visit Tata, Pati (parental grandparents) in Chennai. While there, little miss Haana got her choicest dosa or ildi every day. While in Chennai we made a side trip to see the great grandmother at Nagercoil and to Kanyakumari beach. 800km distance. Kanyakumari is a town at the southern most tip of India, with beach waters that are a confluence of the Indian ocean, Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. We took a train from Chennai for this trip. 12 hrs, 5pm to 5am. Bobby boy and I were the ones most excited for this train trip. Bobby, because he loves trains, all trains, and platforms, stations, bridges, tunnels, tracks.. everything. Me, because I like the motion of being on a train, and looking out the window to see a glimpse of so many lives for a brief second, like a photograph. I like watching the tracks, how they come together and then go apart. It's mesmerising. Last time I travelled by train in India was Jan 2002 when Papa and i went to Allahabad for the maha-kumbh mela. I was remembering that trip, fragments in my memory, before my life changed so much later that year. I liked that trip. Kumbh mela came to be as the largest gathering of the curious and argumentative hindus, to exchange ideas, learn and share ideas. On my trip I took a dip in the ganges river. What an amazing event.
I did a bunch of shopping at Chennai, something I don't usually do much of or have a sustained interest in. But boy did i shop this time! Clothes. Almost all of it.
Back in Delhi, we moved to Softy mausi's for 3 days. It was a true vacation, with good food, great company, and TV in the bedroom to cozy up together and watch movies! It was a great time! Bobby boy was contemplating whether to trust Softy mausi around his cherished blanket. Softy mausi was not doing herself any favors by repeatedly trying to swipe it. Little miss Haana shadowed her Aby bhaiya, they both alternating between cushion fighting (Bobby boy insisting on being in the middle of it) card games and playing pool.
After this 3 day vacation at Softy mausi, we were back at Nana Nani's. And that's when Deepa nani (my mom's youngest sister) came over to visit us. She came bearing gifts, love and hugs!
Too soon it was time to head back for our flight out of India. Where had all that time gone! Too much time had passed between our last visit and this one.
