A trip without Husband and Kiddo

I happened to go on a 2 day trip to Mcleodganj and this trip was without the kiddo accompanying me. He stayed back at his nani's place along with his Mausi and Mama. Initially we (Me and his dad) both were quite apprehensive about the idea but we managed to come over our fear. And here I was in Mcleodganj without my husband and the kiddo.

Trust me, it was one of the best trips I had in recent past only because I could be all myself and did whatever I wanted to. There was no one to take care of and I was as carefree as I could be. Initially I was skeptical about my feelings but gradually took control over my feelings when I went through this unforgettable trip with people I never expected to go along with.

Mausaji, Papa and me (L to R)

Though this was not a planned vacation but it was a trip to a beautiful hill station to visit a Tibetan Ayurvedic doctor. This was a short 2 day trip worth memorable for a life time. My group was the most unusual one - we 4 from the same family and everyone without their partner. And we were amazed and thrilled after realizing that. 

Papa, Sagar and ofcourse Me :)

The best part of the trip was I didn’t have to worry about the comfort of a kid. I didn’t have to worry about a glass of milk every morning and evening. There was no fuss of food in breakfast, lunch or dinner. I didn’t have to take care of kid's demand of their particular food (Yes, they can ask for chapatti and dal in the mountains which they never have at home). I could try every kind of bizarre or rather local food at an absurd corner cafe or street side food without having to worry about the quality of outside food. I could experiment with any kind of food being all alone.

Yummiest breakfast

The major attraction of all the cafe and hotels there was availability of a local mini library. You could just go to the cafe, order a ginger lemon honey tea, and sit back and relax reading your favorite book and a view of deodar covering the mountains. Being along with the kiddo, I could not have enjoyed this luxury and same with hubby who has opposite interests to mine when it comes to reading books. 

Love Books

I could roam around in the market being carefree without having to run after the kiddo who can be extra naughty in the market. I didn’t have to worry about listening to the demands of everything those small eyes see. It hardly matters why they want but main reason they want something is because they like to see it. 

I could just relax my mind without having to worry about my lil kiddo having a good and comfortable time. When I go to for vacations with him, all I have in my mind is whether kiddo is hungry, if he is tired or sleepy, or to make it worse when he wants to roam around when I am too tired.  And the hit point is when kiddo wants to go back home and it is still 2 days to go for vacations to end. 

I could go for a trek or walk over steep hills enjoying the walk. On the other hand, along with the kid, I and dear hubby would have been taking turns while carrying the kiddo on our shoulders to ease stress on their little feet. And who in this world enjoys this kind of trek over the mountains. If you happen to come across someone like this, do let me know. It will make me feel better and I might consider taking the kiddo on my next solo vacation. OOpS !!!

60 --- Really a number of retirement

As I grew, I knew that at the age of 60, people retire from their work or job. During morning assembly in school, we clapped for teachers who were retiring and saw them recieving bouquets of flowers and happily giving a speech. (Though we never cared for a word they said, it was always a pain in ass to stand under the scorching heat of sun).  As time passed by, I learnt that we do some savings to live our post retirement life without any tension.

As people retire, most of them already have their grandchildren and they dream of spending life playing those little kids. they try to match their energy levels but stop running after a shorter while holding their aching knees. This phase of life is truely relaxing in every sense. One gets to see the ripened fruit which they have sown during one's youth.

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I met a retired English teacher during a 10 day's long workshop.

She is a smart and elegant woman who was attending this workshop. When I talked to her, my outlook of retirement was totally changed. She never had expected the conventional pot retirement life. When I got a chance to chat with her, I got to know that she has enrolled herself for a counselling programme through a long distance course and along with that she was here to teach spoken English to the underpriviledged people. She just could not sit idle at home. Her idea of life was to continously learn and contribute towards the society.

I was forced to contemplate my thoughts after talking to her. After that, everyday when I saw her in the morning during that workshop, I could feel a positive mindset in her spirit. I went through a picture of retired people taking a walk in the park. Till now I had this kind of image of retired people in my mind ---- relaxng, eating and sleeping at home, going for a stroll in the park along with a bunch of retired men and laughing over silly matters or discussing and having heated debates over politics.
But their learning curve has just stopped.

I learnt the true meaning of the phrase- "Learning is a continous process" only ecause of this lady. She taught me that age is never a matter of concern but the main point is how we go on in the life.

As they say - Life goes on, but its upto you where you take it.

First Day of volunteering

As I entered the narrow and busy lanes of Sangam Vihar, I was scared. I was disappointed. Those lanes were very scary. There were shabby people sitting on the pavement, Thela valas standing here and there and staring with their round and brown eyes. They had blank expression and were staring fearlessly straight into our eyes.

It was a dreadful walk towards our NGO and last stretch which we crossed was a small by lane covered with garbage and mosquitoes and flies showing a scene to your vision.

With a heavy breath and hands covering our mouth and nose, we finally reached our destination. it was a worn out building with patches of paint left on the walls describing a modern art. Our NGO was in the basement of this building and we came across a black wrought iron gate and as we tried to push it open, we realized that it was locked. Hands of my watch striked exactly at 9 and we were surprised not to find anyone there. The moment I was dialing supervisor's number, We saw a lady who is the coordinator of this NGO, walking towards us. She opened the lock with a guilty smile as if she has been caught stealing something.

Finally the moment arrived and we entered our classroom and were greeted by two girls in their shy voice. Though they were hesitant while talking to us but their face reflected a determination to learn to speak English and achieve something in life. As we were interacting with them, more students started to come into the classroom and finally we had a group of 8 learners ready to embark their journey of learning to speak English.

Shenaz, who is my buddy for this project, and I started the session with full enthusiasm and were able to break the silence. eventually learners started  to overcome their shyness and started to respond in English and started to interact as well. They were eager to form sentences in English and we helped them to convey their thoughts in English which actually boosted their confidence.

We spent around 2 hours with them and during those 2 hours, we forgot the struggle we faced in the morning to reach this place. At the end of the session, our sweetest reward was smile on th face of our learners and determination in their heart to be self dependent in their lives.

Is the life different or our outlook towards it ??

. Earlier I was the one was available to my kid 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. I use to get a lot of criticism saying that he will not be able to open up. He will remain an introvert throughout his life. He used to be called as mumma's chipku.

It was my fault as well. I raised him keeping him with me always. I never went out with my friends alone. Every time I went to meet my girlfriends, he accompanied me. With time, I started to feel wrapped in rope and not free. That was the first time, I enrolled myself in a 2 hour chocolate making workshop. It was sunday and I had convinced his dad to take care of him. Trust me, convincing dad was the tough thing. He was quite apprehensive staying at home alone with a 6 month old baby.

And then the trend continued. Once, when baby was more than an year old, a rafting trip was organized by hubby's office colleagues. I was super excited for this trip. The extent of my excitement was so much that I agreed to send the baby with his grandparents to their hometown. And off he went. That was the night when my husband returned from office and found me sobbing loudly inside my blanket. And he could not control me. Whole day I had spent on bed doing nothing. The day looked so long and empty to me. I had nothing to do when baby was not around. I felt a part of me missing from myself which actually made me go mad.

Now, the next day instead of going to Rishikesh, I was boarding a flight to my Inlaws hometown to go to my baby. Even today, when I think of that incident, I quietly laugh on my self and feel funny about it.

Now the kiddo is 4 years old and he has spent a part of his summer vacations at grandparent's house all alone. And this time, I was very much at peace and enjoyed the solace. I enjoyed the quiet time available to me and I literally went into dormant state rejuvenating myself.

I even went for a vacation without my kiddo and though I was a little apprehensive about the idea of going without him, I thoroughly enjoyed the time and at the same time, Kiddo was having funtime at Nani's place.

Inshort, I realized, its all about being secure and placing yourself in situations which seem difficult or impossible to you but at the end you will be surprised to see how content everyone and everything is.

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Cheers to Mom's....... ;-)