The Hols are over...

I had been away on vacation...

The hols are over…and its back to Home sweet home…these hols were hectic filled with family functions and lots of travel- a bit of sickness thrown in…

First kids and me spent 10 days with my parents in Kerala, then we came back to Trichy becos we had planned a tour to Kolkotta, Darjeeling, Puri with 3 other families here. Two days before we were to start my husband came down with yet another spasm of kidney stone. While one doctor advised us to cancel our trip, another senior urologis gave us the go ahead- he asked to just carry painkiller tabs and injections- intra muscular with us. We almost decided to cancel our trip and the kids and our friends were totally disappointed- those 2 days were so filled with confusion and chaos- my husband was ready to go ahead. But I was apprehensive- anyways, we finally decided to go on- taking with us the painkillers- I decided to just go with the flow and surrender myself to the Almighty’s will…

The trip went fine- of course hubby did get pain attacks during the tour- and once he had to inject himself too- he was pretty brave thru the ordeal, our friends were very caring and attentive- and I found it very, very difficult to put on a brave, cheerful countenance whenever he was in pain…

Kolkotta and Puri was very warm, still we managed to do sight seeing- The serene and beautiful Birla Mandir, The Science City, Jain Temple, Dakshineswar, Belur Math, Kali Temple- just wished the streets were cleaner- and just as in other places in India , here too tourists were being fleeced even in the name of God.

Darjeeling was heavenly- but brrrr…it was sooooo cold- and I’m a person who finds trichy winters unbearable at times- so you can imagine my plight- our place of stay was divine- but it was just too, too cold- that one cannot think of anything beyond keeping warm- we did not take the famous toy train to save time- but the road was just as picturesque- the landscape, the monasteries, Padmaja Wild Life sanctuary- here, the environs were so beautiful- the animals so well kept and healthy- and the climate too was comfortable that day.

We went to the Tiger Hills to view the sunrise- at an unearthly hour 0f 3.30 a.m- the place was crowded- the trudge uphill was slippery- and we were breathless- there were local women- so fair and pretty cheerfully selling hot cups of coffee/tea- from huge flasks- As everyone waited for the sun break in the east- horizon- first , the clouds were lined with a brilliant auzure lining- and suddenly the sun erupted in a glorious burning globule- there rose an involuntary gasp from the people gathered- and everyone was cheering- all this in a second- before the sun disappeared behind the clouds again- but the whole place was bathed in sunlight- at such an early hour- tho there was no trace of the sun anymore- The magical moment had been so transient that looking back I wondered if I did see anything so specatacular-

We saw the Nepal India border, Gurkha War Memorial- The Batisia Loop,- indeed it was memorable trip.

At Puri, we stayed at a resort facing the beach- We visited the Jagannath temple, the beach, Konarak temple- Nandan Kanan Wild Life sanctuary- on our last day there, we were caught in a heavy cyclonic rain storm of unbelievable intensity - but thankfully it lasted for a very short time-

Thus we reached back safely- tired but happy- and I waas grateful that there was not too much of trouble – nothing more than we could manage…

and thank you all of you who have been wondering about my absence from the virtual world for their concern and enquiries abt my well being- I'm glad to be back in blogdom- and sooo many blogs to catch up with...

p.s: the tiny stone that was causing my husband so much agony came out soon after we reached trichy- he called up my parents and informed them: "your son –in- law delivered a healthy stone safely"