Switzerland - Day 3 - The touristy pitfall that we could have avoided!

The Glacier Express is much advertised as one of the most breathtaking train rides that you must absolutely take, if you ever went to Switzerland. We bent backwards, took two trains to reach a station that it passes through and again took a train back from the alighting point to get to our next stop in the trip. All of that trouble just to ride it.

It was our last evening at Interlaken. After an unbelievably beautiful cruise on Lake Brienz in the evening, we reached our Chalet at about 7:30 PM. Post cooking and eating dinner, the husband took little one to sleep and I spent the next two hours washing the vessels and our lunch boxes from the day, cleaning the kitchen, rearranging washed and unwashed clothes into separate suitcases and laid out clothes for all of us the next day. In the morning, we would have time only to cook for the whole day ahead, bathe, get ready, take our bags and leave.

The following day, we were up and about from 4 AM and left our dreamy little chalet in the fairytale village of Ringgenberg at about 6:30 AM. We crossed the road to reach the bus stop, only to realise after a 10 minute wait that the early morning bus did not ply on Sundays and we had a train to catch from Interlaken at 7:40! We hurriedly hauled our heavy suitcases and the kid on the pram to reach the Ringgenberg railway station since Google told us that a train that would reach Interlaken sooner than that would stop there. Huffing and puffing, we somehow made it to the little railway station and sat down for a 5 minute wait.

Our 5 minutes of peace at the Ringgenberg Railway Station

That was the first time we paused since the morning and we enjoyed the Ringgenberg scene and air for one last time. Train came, we got in, got down at Interlaken, took a mad rush to the next train, settled in, caught our breath and drank Hibiscus tea with the aid of the tea bag and hot water from the flask.    The biggest warrior in all of this was my husband who kept track of where to go, when, how and what to do if something went amiss like missing a bus or train! 

The train journey was as usual breathtaking as it wound through huge green mountains, lakes and typical picturesque Swiss villages. We finally reached the train station from where we were to board the Glacier Express. The train was all glass on the sides and top in order to give a panoramic view, boasted of an on board restaurant service and charged a bomb that was not covered by the Swiss pass. But the views were sadly the only ones that we did not enjoy much in our  entire Swiss trip!

While it took us through the highest ranges of the Alps, it was mostly rocky, brown and coarse mountain slopes. The glass made the sun beat down all day and the glare through the glass was unbearable. We just sat with sunglasses on, catching some nice views once in a while and ended up lamenting about a whole day and herculean efforts wasted in our precious 5 day Switzerland stay. 

It would be wrong to entirely denounce the Glacier Express but what with the sun glaring all day without respite and a rocky scenery that was not much to our taste, it felt like a trip in vain. Personally, we felt it was no match to the stunning lush greenery, mountains and lakes that abound all over Switzerland. The trains that we took to go from one place to another passed much more beautiful scenes than this.

Here are some of the nicer views from the Glacier Express ride :

Later on, we read between the lines of the brochure to realise that all they promised to offer was a kind of luxury train ride where you could enjoy fine dining while riding through the mountains. What a wrong choice for us! Back home, we Indians have always been eating on board trains as they chugged past all kinds of scenery :) Maybe a lot less 'luxurious' but hey, that is certainly not an 'experience' as such for us!

We then caught the connecting train to Lucerne, our last stop in Switzerland, and it was a tired, spent and disappointed lot that went into a kind of digital fortress that we had booked for our stay there. A huge tall glass building where everything from opening the main door, lifts and the apartment required codes. It all seemed so robotic to me and I took a while to get used to it! We had chosen this place more from a functionality point of view - proximity to the bus stop, a washing facility that had a 'cupboard dry' dryer. (Through our entire trip, we had planned our places of stay in such a way that one with a 'cupboard dry' dryer facility came once every week! Our clothes management deserves a separate post in itself which I think I shall write :))

Lucerne was a typical city. We alighted in a very crowded railway station, ate at a famous Vegan restaurant there and took a long long time to decipher the right bus stop and bus number. Though all of this was just by the shores of lake Lucerne, the crowded afternoon scene did not quite scale up to the fairytale Swiss villages that had played host to us until now and I started having apprehensions that our 'right out of a dream' Swiss holiday was over. How wrong I was ! Mount Rigi, Mount Stanserhorn and Lake Lucerne gave the perfect finish to the dream that came true :)

 

Siwtzerland - Snow Capped Mountains, Fairytale Villages and a Lake Cruise

 After thinking a lot about the summits that we wanted to visit, we settled on Mount Schilthorn instead of the much advertised Jungfrau. We wanted more of the magical green meadows, quaint wooden chalets and the silence of the valleys broken only by the clanging of cattle bells, rather than travelling through tunnels to simply reach a mountain summit.

We took a train from Interlaken to Lautebrunnen. The little village caught our fancy as soon as we stepped out, with its huge landscapes of typical swiss meadows, towering mountains, small clean roads lined with chalets and crystal clear water bodies crisscrossing here and there.

We stopped by a cafe to have some pastry and hot chocolate and the little one found a cat to watch gleefully :)

A bus took us to the boarding point for the cable care hike up to the summit of Mount Schilthorn. Views from the cable car were breathtaking to say the least! I will never forget the childlike 'oooohhh' that everyone chorused, every time the cable car crossed a tethering pole (or whatever that is called!). It was a nice shared moment among all the unknown people snaking up the mountain, suspended on a rope :)

Panoramic view from the cable car

The summit of Mount Schilthorn was a pretty picture of snow capped mountains. It was a clear day and the views were spectacular. Kid looked out of a window and told me 'Amma, Inga yaro snow kottika' (Amma, someone has spilt snow here ) :)

After taking in the mountain views, we had some hot, tasty soup and the kid had his share of cake. He and I then settled for his cat nap while the husband went and explored all around for a second time. Post the nap and the picture clicking sessions, we began our cable car descent. 

Instead of going all the way down by cable car, we stepped out into a fairyland village called Murren which had views of all the mountain ranges around. We simply walked through Murren, enjoying both the spectacular mountain views and the small winding roads dotted with flower decorated chalets. 

The picturesque village of Murren 

We then took a toy train down the rest of the distance, thanks to the swiss pass which lets you freely hop off and on every mode of transport!

A train took us back to Interlaken and we ended the day with a dreamlike cruise on Lake Brienz.

Of Lush Green Mountains, Pristine Lakes and Wooden Chalets

Usually, when people and the media rave about something as being unbelievably beautiful, it turns out to be over hyped. Sometimes it becomes a fad to say so or it is a result of carefully designed and targeted communication. But if there is a place that is consistently described as 'out of the world' beautiful and totally lives up to its images, videos and reputation - Switzerland it is! And I officially joined the bandwagon of people who cannot stop wondering at it, as soon our train from Paris started rolling into this wonderland.

One of the many sights that welcomed us into Switzerland

And we stood transfixed ..

With the train journey to Interlaken began the experience of being awestruck and staring at unbelievable natural beauty all the time. Add to it a public transport network of buses and trains that struck like clockwork and heaven it was to be there all through!

Interlaken Railway Station :)

We had booked an AirBnB in a small village called 'Ringgenberg' which was a 20 minute bus ride from the Interlaken Railway station. The bus arrived bang on time and drove us through a view of towering green mountains and beautiful wooden chalets lining the roads. It completely felt like being a part a fairy tale :)

Our chalet stood opposite to the small bus station and near the banks of lake Brienz, its shimmering blue waters placidly rocking to the winds against a backdrop of huge green mountains.

Ringgenberg in a single frame :)

The quaint wooden chalet totally won our hearts with the little apple tree in the garden and the view that greeted us when we stood at the door. I also discovered the divine taste of Hibiscus tea - a flavour which intrigued me when I saw it and won me over, as I sat on the porch sipping it, watching the mountains.

The doorway framed this pretty picture :) 

After settling in, we took a bus back to the Interlaken railway station to buy our Swiss passes and finalise the places to visit over the next 2 days of our stay there. After getting our passes, a bit of inquiry,shopping for essentials  and strolling around, bus 102 took us back to Ringgenberg.

With a kid who had to be fed and put to bed, we took turns with the chores and an evening walk by the lake. Husband went first and came back transfixed by its beauty. It was then my turn. As the blue waters quietly rocking to the wind came into my view, I felt a sense of total calm descend upon my being. I sat down in one of the wooden platforms and just stared for over 20 minutes. 

The turquoise waters of Lake Brienz 

I just could not get enough of the scene in front of me, the quiet around me and the purity of the air that I was breathing in. I strangely found myself take a vow that I would go back and push myself much harder with my volunteering endevours. Simply because I felt I was super lucky for being in that place and having those moments and felt all the more obliged to the world for those magical moments given to me.

Paris - The Iconic Landmarks

This was a day we spent visiting all the iconic landmarks of Paris. Since all of them were located within quite a small radius, we had the pleasure of walking around in leisure and taking  in all the sights, colours and the overall feel of Paris. With cloudy, breezy weather and art displays all over the side walks, it turned out to be such an idyllic setting!

Our first stop was the 'Sainte-Chapelle', much famed for its stained glass paintings and it sure did not disappoint! It was such a beautiful sight and we were equally amazed by the amount of effort that had been put in to refurbish and preserve them!

The magnificent stained glass paintings that walled the shrine

We then walked back to the Seine river bank and spent some time in one of the bridges above the river, watching cruise boats go by and taking in the beautiful scenery of the river lined by historic buildings.  The little one had a great time waving at the cruise boats and was thrilled when people waved back :)

Next in list was the Louvre museum. Standing in the long line and seeing exhibits in the museum was out of question with a five year old. So we chose not to go in and see the museum itself. Instead, we spent time around the famed pyramid and the Tuileries gardens right across the museum.

The pyramids and the ancient architecture around it was in itself a sight to wonder at!

The kiddo was pleased to be let out of his stroller and ran all around :)

A long shot of the Louvre museum exterior

By the side of a lovely pond in the lush green Tuileries Gardens

After a good rest and a relaxed walk across the Tuleries gardens, we headed to the iconic 'Arc De Triomphe'. Initially it appeared to be just at the end of the road and so we started to walk. But it turned out to be a long, long walk and we stopped once for a snack, bio break and even a nap for the kid at a small park.  Post that, we started walking again and after another 10 minutes, gave up the thought of going near it. We took a good look from where we stood and turned around to head towards the Eiffel tower - our last stop in Paris.

That place from where Arc the Triomphe looked nearby and reachable by foot!

We circled back to the Seine river again and started walking towards the Eiffel tower. We saw some very beautiful sights on the way and also stopped en route for a nice snack on a restaurant aboard a cruise boat and at a park for Kiddo's play break.

Here are some of the lovely sights we encountered along the way :

A little play place on the banks of the Seine River

Our last destination for the day totally served as a highlight to the trip. It was a wonderful experience to see a panorama of the city from so high up the Eiffel tower and a total treat to see it lit up in the night.

Panorama of the city from atop the Eiffel tower

The Eiffel tower lit up in the night

With that came the end of our Paris stay! We got a little lost on the way back to our place of stay and panicked that it was getting late, as we had an early train to catch to Switzerland the next morning. I got hungry and cranky and as we finally reached near our place of stay and had dinner at a pizzeria, I gave a good earful to the husband for insisting to stay to see the lights at Eiffel tower! (But the lights were sure worth seeing :))

We finally reached the apartment, put the kid to sleep and hurriedly packed everything. We slept late, got up early, cooked and packed food for the train journey, woke up and dressed the little one and got into the cab while it was still dark outside. (We were still 15 minutes late). After a nerve racking ride with eyes on the clock, we somehow reached the train station, found the right platform, lugged everything and settled in our seats! Whew! My heart races even as I recollect and type it all :)

But the amazingly picturesque train journey towards the dream land called Switzerland was worth it all!

Paris - The Palace of Versailles

For day 2, we had planned to visit the much famed Versailles palace in the morning and Mont Marte by evening. A long metro ride with multiple changes finally took us there. The sole of one of my shoes chose this time to come off and the husband went hunting for super glue. After multiple attempts at explaining verbally and with actions, he finally googled the french word and successfully bought 'Colle'.

In the meanwhile, kid and I were waiting at a bus stop with the chilly winds attacking us. Kid is a polar bear like his dad and was sitting like it was a nice sunny day but poor me was literally shivering inspite of the thermal wear and heavy jacket. Husband was back, shoe sole was attached and we walked past a beautiful boulevard to reach the Versailles.

The Boulevard en route

Kid and I had our before lunch dabba of Puliogare at the waiting area . After purchasing tickets, we joined the long line for the phased entry. Suddenly lady luck smiled and a tour group came and offered us priority passes to the palace and garden grounds for free since they had people who had not turned up. After a bit of hesitation, we took them, walked straight to the front of the snaking line and were instantly let in. Wow! So this was really happening :)

After handing in excess baggage at the security counter, we picked an audio guide each. The audio guide was the sole reason we survived through the crowded tour. Not for the details it rattled out about each area but because the kid used it as his personal phone and played with it all through. That kept him distracted from the huge mass of people moving from one ornate room to another.

The palace itself was charmingly old world and had very beautiful paintings covering the walls and ceilings too.

Post the palace tour, we stepped out into the garden.  Instead of listening to our common sense and kid who had pretty much had enough of the place, we ventured into the gardens since our pass included it anyway. The gardens of Versailles are HUGE and a small toy train took people from one stop to another. Again, the train was the saving grace as far as kid was concerned. He settled down only after we told him that we could ride it multiple times.

The Versailles palace gardens are probably one of the best maintained in the world. But their sheer size, the fact that they were manicured to milllimeter precision and the absence of people in most of the places gave it a very sad ghost town like air. The chilly dry weather added to this discomfort. Having somehow managed the kid through this, we finally stepped out of the palace and into the populated roads. Now, this looked much more beautiful, warm and welcoming! The royals might have pretty much felt the same way I guess. That one of the queens had a village replicated for her inside the humungous Versailles palace grounds stands testimony to this ! 'Poor' guys. Wealth isn't everything after all!

At one of the many 'polished to perfection' garden spots

Once out in the streets, we walked down a very quaint little road filled with restaurants, scouring menus. We finally settled into one and were soon eating steaming Pizza accompanied by hot chocolate. After that restful snack, we strolled through the neighbouring areas for a while, enjoying the boulevards and flower framed window sills.

After another long metro ride, we reached our apartment, dead tired after walking all around the Versailles, bracing the dry and chilly winds. We all took a much needed long nap. As much as I badly wanted to visit Mont Marte to walk around its lanes and watch the much famed french artists at work, I simply did not have any energy left and I convinced the husband that we call it a day. So kid sat down with his colours and we sat by the window with chai.

Our in house miniature Da Vinci :)

We then stepped out to buy a few supplies and I totally loved the relaxed walk, gazing at all the colourful shops and many bakeries wafting out enticing smells of the world famous French baked goodies. After getting back,  we cooked and ate a quick dinner. The next day was going to be our last day in Paris and we had all the important 'must see' places in our itinerary. After a little cleaning and repacking, we brought the curtains down on day 2.

Paris - A tryst with history

After a long 8 hour flight where sleep evaded us for the most part (you cannot cheat the body clock after all. We were all up at 6 am IST!), we landed in Paris. We looked up the electronic schedule board and took a metro to the station closest to our place of stay. The do it yourself started right there :)

After lugging the heavy baggage up two flights of staircases, we emerged on the streets of Paris. I was impressed by the first sight! Chilly and rainy weather, European style buildings, broad roads and a 'Cafe Metro' that beckoned our hungry souls. We had a sumptuous cheesy veg pizza and chocolate mousse for lunch. The kid instantly gave a thumbs up to this life :)

First look of Paris

Kid digging into the treat at Cafe Metro 

A misjudged distance and really long walk later, we tumbled into our apartment, set everything down and dived into bed for a much needed nap. Refreshed after sleep, shower and coffee, we set out to the Seine river. At the metro station, we had trouble figuring out what destination to give as input in the ticket machine. A sign language conversation between us and the lady at the counter ensued and ended with her throwing up her hands and storming out to print out our tickets. Nevertheless, we thanked her and a dark dingy metro ride later, we emerged into this beautiful rainy scene.

A short stroll took us to the Seine river and breathtaking would be an understatement to describe the long watery strip crisscrossed by bridges and surrounded by historic architecture.

After strolling up and down the riverside to our hearts content, we hunted down the starting point to the sunset cruise. Tickets bought, hot chocolate in hand, we sat on the deck of a cruise boat and a chirpy guide started her monologue to educate all of us on all the sites that we would pass by.
The weather was perfect and we took our first sight of Eiffel tower, Notre Dame and several other magnificent historic buildings, as we sailed past them. It was like a trailer to what all we were going to see later on and a perfectly picturesque one at that!

Cruising by history :)

When we passed the Eiffel tower

Kid and I look up to catch a view of Notre Dame

After an hour of floating by history, we jumped off at the dock and tried our hand at some local cuisine at this quaint little crepe stall. Tasted like a very eggy dosa :)

The crepe stall by the seine river bank

Our Cheesey crepe being prepared 

Night fell and Paris lit up to give a very surreal feel to all its inhabitants.

We took a bus ride back to the apartment and drank in all the sights that we passed by. This was totally new scenery after all. The day ended with hot upma that we made in the kitchenette and we settled down to escape into dreamland from dreamland :)

Europe Travel Diaries - A trip to remember!

A trip to Europe had been in the cards for years together for us. We kept thinking about it, looking it up and mulling it over, questions zooming in our heads - Should we plan it ourselves or safely go with a tour operator? Is our kid old enough for us to do such a big trip? What about food? Which all countries should we visit? How many days would we need? Will we face language problems? Is it safe? .... I could list 10 more but this clarifies our train of thoughts.

Finally, sometime in June 2019, we decided to take the plunge! The first choice to make was between the tour operator and self planning. While my husband was more for going with the former, I was adamant that I did not want to tick to a schedule drawn up by someone else - stay here, assemble here at so and so time, get into the charter bus, get down here now and you have half an hour to look around. Aaaaargh!

What if I wanted to just aimlessly walk by the Seine river in Paris and take in the sight of the imposing historic buildings, artists doing amazing water colour paintings amidst a display of their work and all the flower embedded french windows, instead of marching to the Eiffel tower and take must have photos?  What if I was not interested in standing in a killer line just to see a small frame of Mona Lisa but rather walk around the Louvre pyramid and marvel at the structures around it? 

More than all that, what if I wanted a break NOW and not see anything? What If my kid could do with a nap NOW? 

On the downside, we were going to have to do a crazy amount of research to decide on which all countries to visit, read a million reviews for places to stay, figure out commute between countries and within cities. Not to mention the paper work for Visas and reservations. It is indeed a Himalayan task and the husband was worried precisely about this. 

The tour operator, on the other hand had some advantages too - Negligible amount of paper work,a set of ready made itineraries to choose from, all bookings taken care of, Indian food provided.

After a lot of thinking and debates, we settled for doing it all by ourselves! Husband came around with some trepidation and thus started our two months of research - talking to friends who have done it before, scouring forums and travelogues in the internet, maps for best routes, Air BNB, Booking.com, a gazillion reviews. Whew!! Considering that this was all for a holiday, it was ironically super stressful!

Initially, when the trip was still a month away, we were enjoying the research. It was intriguing to read about each country and a treat to the eyes to see the lovely pictures of places we could go to. Finally, having chosen the list of countries, as we neared our Visa appointment date (the data and forms that husband put together for this had already left him pretty cranky :)), we ran a race to route out the trip and have all our bookings in place (by the end of which I became cranky too !)

That done, Visas arrived after sometime and stage 1 was all done! With about two weeks to go for D day, I spent a very enjoyable weekend shopping for the trip with my sister :) Post that, lists were drawn up and clothes packed including a lot of cold weather gear. We had booked apartment style accommodation with kitchenette in all the places we were to go to. So along came a suitcase of  provisions - Rice Cooker, Sambar and rasam powder, Bru Instant coffee, tea bags, Paruppu Podi, Puliogare mix, Pickles :) You see, Europe is no food haven for vegetarians and in our defense, what if we hated the trip just because we had to eat bread and pizzas all through?!

Departure day arrived and after playing tetris with two huge suitcases, two duffel bags and a back pack until 9 PM, we hurriedly bundled ourselves into a cab only to be welcomed into the roads with a downpour and the traffic snarl that accompanies it. With pranayama and namasmarana keeping us sane as we snailed through, we reached a nail biting finish after a special traffic jam just outside the airport (during which I told the husband with a halo around my head - 'Even if we do miss the flight, its only some money we lose, don't worry'. And received a gigantic scowl from him in return :))

Post the bang on time check in, as we waited for boarding the flight to Paris, coffee in hand at 1 AM, we both nervously smiled at each other for what lay ahead. It was a mixed feeling of thrill for an impending adventure, expectations for all the lovely places we were going to see and experience and a good deal of concern as we watched our excited 5 year old hopping around. We ought to come back in one piece and bring him back safely too, without any illness bouts and ensure he does not get travel fatigued at any point of time.

Boarding was called over the PA and with fingers crossed, back pack and stroller hurled across shoulder, kid in tow we boarded the Air France Flight, warrior style!

Spoiler Alert : We had a wonderful three week trip which will remain to be one of our best memories ever :)

Book Review : The Bookish Life of Nina Hill - By Abbi Waxman

Books about bookworms, book stores, books and reading is a favourite genre of mine. I really marvel at the skill that writers have, in spinning a story centered around this theme.The main character is usually a bookworm and the storyline is about how his/her world revolves around books and reading, how they tend to gravitate towards similar people or how they manage to get along with the other tribe.

The cover page and title itself half won me over, when I happened to read a review of 'The Boookish Life of Nina Hill' by Abbi Waxman. I immediately looked it up and downloaded a sample on my kindle. The language, light tone and most importantly, Nina herself won me over! Here was a girl who lived with a cat in a small apartment that had bookshelves dominating the walls, worked in a bookstore where she ran book clubs for kids, spent her spare time between reading, being part of a trivia team and movie nights. Her carefree stage of life had me wistfully looking back and slightly longing:).

Lets get to the story now. The protagonist Nina, the daughter of a single mother, is a complete introvert like every reader worth his/her salt is supposed to be. (Don't ask me who made that rule. I just know that it seems to be universal with very few exceptions.)
The first few chapters gives the reader a good look into Nina's everyday life, her past and how it has made her into what she is today. The story then goes on to unfold an unexpected event that leads her to discover the existence of a hitherto unknown huge family. While she is still grappling with that discovery, she is attracted to a man from another trivia team. The story from that point is about how she reconciles to the sudden presence of  so many relationships in her life which was until then very simple, uncluttered and populated only with people whom she really liked and connected to. Happenings at her workplace (a local bookstore) and the book readings and book club events that happen there weave in and out of the narrative, keeping up her 'bookish life',

There were many things that I could relate to in this book - Nina's reading evenings when she would curl up with her book and a cup of tea, her craze for books and reading and how she looks forward to and totally savours her 'alone time' . Best amongst it all was how she looked at relationships in life. That they literally translated into a bunch of other people's expectations to be met, completely resonated with me. Personally, this is a reason why I meticulously prune the number of people in my life and I was so glad to see someone else think the same way :)

What did not strike a chord was the fact that the author had slightly stereotyped voracious readers as people who had trouble connecting to others during childhood, a trait which according to the book, develops and continues well in adulthood too. There seemed to be a suggestion that books were an escape route to hide this disability. She had spun a kind of 'weirdo' halo around book lovers.

From my experience of being a reader and knowing several others who are, I feel this is not entirely true. I loved books since childhood but still had a lot of friends all through. Am now an adult who reads much more than I did as a child and I still have a friends circle. And the reading bug has rubbed off on some of my friends too!

Also, the book's ending was extremely predictable. All loose ends tied in the expected way and they lived happily ever after! :)

In spite of the above points, I still enjoyed the book and my love for the genre only grew with reading it. So if you are looking for your next read, do pick this up for the laid back life that it portrays, the central theme and most of all, the lucid writing (even though it was peppered with a lot of slang and informal English). Go, delve into your bookish life by picking this one up :)

Wanderlust and the mid path

As a family bitten by the travel bug, we have always needed a trip every now and then, to keep us going. Sometimes, all we need is a nature fix - lush green hills, pristine water bodies and total quiet with only the sounds of birds for company.Many other times,we feel like we want to see some part of this diverse country that is totally different from where we live, in terms of language, cuisine, sights, sounds and smells.

After all, every place has a very distinct atmosphere, don't you think? I love the clean roads and slow pace of Mysore, the red soil and lush green of any place in Kerala, the sizzling heat and home air in Tamil Nadu and the hazy, chilly air and colours of Bengaluru.

 In several trips, we do a combination of both kinds- like Dharamshala and Amritsar - a shot of greenery and a vibrant city. My husband has a modus operandi to planning these trips. Once we zero in on a city we want to see, he'd look up the nearest hill station or vice versa. He is the kind who usually wants a slice of everything. If they ever made a pizza with each of the slices being of different flavours, that would be his regular!

I, on the other hand, like to dive deep into everything, wallow in it for a good while and slowly retreat out of it. I want my holidays to have a slow pace. One full day just at the resort, savouring the fact that everything is being done for us and I can completely relax without a to do list in my mind. Another one or two days to look around a few places - water body, view point, temple, bazaar and a little local cuisine and I am totally satisfied. I do not require every minute of the day to be squeezed into an itinerary or see every one of the 'must see' spots.

When we had just gotten married, we both had travel as a common liking but how we wanted it done was poles apart. While I wanted to just take in and experience the all round flavour of any place we visited, the husband would look up a list of things to do and consider every moment spent indoors as a waste of time that could have otherwise been spent visiting somewhere.

Here is an anecdote that puts it all in a nutshell. At Munnar, we had just done an early morning scenic trek up a tea estate and come back spent and hungry. After a heavy and yummy breakfast, all I wanted to do was to go back and rest a bit, while gazing at the imposing mountain view from our cottage door with a cup of tea. While I was settling down with chai, he was buzzing over the phone talking to the people at the reception and a while later, came up to me and asked 'Are you not going to come for the jeep ride to top point'? All I could do was roll my eyes :) My take was, the view from this door is amazing and am happy right now to just take it in rather than rushing to the next place in the list.

Over the years, both of us toned down a bit from the two extremes. While I saw the merit in going out and doing stuff, he also began to appreciate the concept of leisure in a holiday and the idea of 'just being' somewhere. So having managed to almost reach the mid point even if not exactly, things have become lot more smoother now.

Back in those days, when we had not settled in for this win-win, I would always throw up my hands at some point and say that I was totally done for the day or he would sit and sulk because we weren't doing enough activities. This happens even now but very occasionally.  The perfect balance is and always will be elusive but what is life without a few outliers?! :)

A memorable short story from childhood

The reading bug had caught me quite early during my childhood. It started somewhere with seeing dad read voraciously and the bi-monthly trips to the library with him. Sis had started reading too, so I naturally followed suit.

While I still remember all the Enid Blytons that I devoured for the fanciful English world that it portrayed and Nancy Drews that I enjoyed for the thrilling mystery elements, the first short story that I appreciated for its literary value stands out in my mind. And I think of it as something like having watched a caterpillar metamorphosize into a butterfly - that my mind had suddenly began appreciating the art of story telling apart from enjoying the story itself

The story that brought about this landmark change is 'Games at Twilight' by Anitha Desai. It featured in our English Literature Reader in middle school and is the story of how a little boy (Ravi)takes a game of hide and seek a bit too seriously and hides in a very unlikely and hard to discover place, his heart racing with excitement with the surety of a win. However, once everyone else has been 'found' , the other kids move on to other games, completely forgetting about Ravi. After a good deal of time elapse, Ravi finally emerges from his hiding place, loudly demanding his victory, only to see that the other kids have moved on from the game and can barely comprehend his demands. The story ends with how Ravi and others around him react to this debacle.

I still remember being fascinated by how the author had captured the typical summer afternoon games of a boisterous group of little children, followed by the evening setting and activities of the community. The best part was the author's poignant description of what goes through Ravi's mind, how he behaves and feels at the end. Rage, disappointment, the unfairness meted out to him - the reader can completely feel and empathize with it all!

I remember coming back home from school and discussing it with my sister and how she totally agreed that the story was indeed a masterpiece.

Post the unfolding of this eventful story in my life, there was no looking back. Everything I read took on a new and much more enjoyable flavor. I had learnt to appreciate the written word and get lost in the writings of various authors, not just for the story that they had to tell but for their fine craft of writing itself. It became another art form that I began to enjoy. I dabbled in it much later, in the form of this blog which led to the discovery of yet another therapeutic exercise :)

Among all the dreams and hopes that I have for my child, my fondest one is to see him curl up with a book and forget the world. He cannot read by himself as yet and we are still in the 'amma reads aloud' Pepper and Bruno series. But the day he settles down to immerse himself into a book would be a red letter day for his crazy mommy who will remember it for ever, just like she remembered the metomorphic short story from years and years ago :)

Pursuing a passion in your 30's

While we are kids or young adults, we have the luxury of time and choice. The 'must do' chores in a day are way lesser. Of course there would be school, college or work that we must devote about 6-9 hours to. But chunks of 'free time' that is totally in our control is much more in that stage of life.

I still remember my Undergrad days. College would get over at 1:00 PM and I would be home by 1:45 PM! And the rest of the day was totally mine. Parents were there to provide for and manage the household. Barring my college work and keeping my things in order, I did not have to do much around the house. I used to read a lot, listen to music and attend concerts. How easy it was all back then!

Now, with a young child to care for, a house to keep and meals to cook, the predictable free time is near zero or pitifully small. My kid is away at school for about 5 hours a day. That usually leaves an effective 2 hours for myself. And to spend that in a productive manner, I need all the determination that I can summon! Stephen Covey's concept of  how urgent matters always take over the important ones is so so true at this stage!

In his book 'First things First', he talks about how most humans are addicted to urgency since it gives them a sense of accomplishment very easily. One can say that it is like a drug that makes you hallucinate productive use of time. My everyday chores are far easier to do than pursing my long term goals. Moreover, the daily chores pile up and threaten my peaceful existence if not done. A house not kept in order or lunch not being ready when my kid gets home will punish me then and there. Not keeping to my music practice schedule would do none of that as of now. Maybe when am old and my voice does not listen to my command, the regret would sweep all over me. But for now I can still get on.

I just digressed to a subtopic. But I have to come to the passion in question - Music.

I have had a lot of drilling in carnatic music since childhood. My grandfather was a performing violinist who used to accompany great doyens like Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer in concerts. And he gave his all to train his granddaughters - my sister and I, into this divine art form. Blessed with good voices that sounded like one in unison, we have given over 50 concerts right from the age of 8 and 12. Added to that was our school which gave a lot of importance to the performing arts. Having been a part of the school music team right from class 4, it was years of profound learning, stage performances, encouragement, prizes and all round enrichment.

All this has gone a long way to make me the reasonably seasoned singer and erudite listener that I am today. But I still regret not having put more work into my music in my school and college days.

I am fortunately married to someone who is far more devoted to music and whose sincerity in pursuing it far exceeds mine. We regularly attend concerts with kid in tow and learn from the same teacher. My husband is the main reason for my continuing to toil with music, for toil is what the art demands from anyone who wants to pursue it seriously. He inspires me with his devoted efforts and regularity in practice.

Hmm .. I actually started writing this post as one of regret, where I was going to say how difficult it is to pursue a passion at this stage of life. But what poured forth through my fingers have totally changed my perspective. Yes, I should have put in a lot more effort in my childhood and single status days. But I have indeed put in quite a bit which is why I am where I am now. And with music continuing to occupy a prime place in my life, the road is pretty much still traversable!

There are deterrents of course. There is my own tardiness but that is totally in my hands to win over. There is the hugely complex nature of the art form itself but years of training has made it tangible for me. There is the humdrum of everyday life but who does not have that? People who achieve in life are not recluses who live by themselves tending to just basic needs. Majority emerge from the humdrum and still pursue what they love and achieve too!

Let's see. I still have time, a very learned teacher and an encouraging environment on my side. Say, 10 years from now, while am reading my old posts and chance upon this one, I want to smile and think 'yes, I did it'! :)

Our travels and travails with a kid in tow

When a child comes into one's life, it hugely changes everything about holiday trips. Just like it hugely changes almost every possible aspect of life :)

When our little one was born, we waited for about 6 months to start our first holiday with the bundle of joy. Or rather the little mixed bag who brings along a do or die routine gift wrapped with a whole lot of sleepless nights. (I slept for a first full night two years after he was born and I still remember the euphoria I felt the next morning!) Anyways, I digress.

So that first holiday was to Bandipur Forest Reserve. And guess what we did? Spent a huge amount of time packing his food, medicines, clothes and more clothes, his little personal rocking bed(my self invented translation for what we call 'thooli' in Tamil). Not to mention being terrified all the time that we might have forgotten something. Then we chose a train to a place that is much more easily reachable by car because I could not see myself managing him in a car for 8 hours. 

And when we finally got there, even before we looked around and appreciated the cottage, we frantically searched for a suitable place to hang his personal bed and urgently rocked him to sleep. And then tiptoed around the cottage in semi darkness, trying to get a glimpse of everything in it and about it, shushing each other whenever one of us inadvertently made a slight noise or if the wood creaked under our feet. You see, our kid had this uncanny knack of waking up for the slightest of noises or even if the lighting around him changed. And need I tell anyone as to what happens when a under 1 year old does not get enough sleep?!

That holiday finally ended up as one where we did the same home routine in a different place, made a little tougher since we had to carry everything from a cooker to baby food supplies, wash his clothes and put the them in plastic bag until we could get home to dry it in the sun .
We also watched everyone else  have a real vacation while we took turns to watch him as the other went to get a whiff of what an actual holiday usually is. (The husband went for a swim and I later went to the Spa). But still, we just had to do it because we went crazy from staying home for so long with an unbelievably constant schedule.

Over the years, things eased out a little with his slowly growing up and his routines becoming more forgiving and less regimental. Also, with us maturing a little more as parents, learning the nuances of handling a child and more importantly, managing our expectations!

Fast forward over many such attempts at vacationing, we recently did what can be termed as a crowning glory to our adventures with our little kid. We did a 3 week trip to Europe with the five year old kiddo! And he totally won the 'hero of the trip' title with beautifully adjusting to crazy schedules, being more interested in what went on around him and completely getting into adventure mode. To paraphrase this whole point is one lovely moment that has become such a fond memory for me.

Having spent about two weeks hopping between cities and countries, the little one looked up to me as we were standing in a bus that ferried us away from the flight to the airport terminal at Venice and asked ' Amma, where are we? How many days are we going to stay here?' :) :)
I guess with parents like us, he finally decided to jump into the bandwagon labelled ' Adventure is out there!!!'

Here is to many more explorations with a little human who gives such an interesting perspective to the world, as we see it through his lens :)

That inextinguishable love for the written word

I have now lost count of the number of 'breaking hiatus' and comeback posts that I have written.
But that also indicates an important thing to me. That my love for writing is an inextinguishable flame within. It sometimes flickers, sometimes rages and at other times just quietly burns. It never dies.

In fact, I wouldn't say I have not been writing at all. As a much loved hobby and therapeutic exercise that it is, it comes out in everything from whats app messages that I write, communication write ups that I write for some interest groups that I am part of and sometimes just in the chats with my sister :)

The same goes for reading too. While I had plenty of time to dedicate to reading as a child, teenager and a carefree single woman, with a household to run by myself and a kid who is a handful to manage, reading time has taken a hit too. But it is yet another constant flame within.

It visits me like a long lost friend when I see a shelf full of books unexpectedly at a holiday resort and I end up choosing a bunch of them and getting them to the room to read. In our recent family holiday to a small lakeside resort near Dindugul in Tamil Nadu, a treasure chest of books was kept in the dining area. After every meal, I would bring back a couple of them :) I got to  finish a very interesting and short translated work. And RK Narayan's American diaries got me hooked. I marked it as 'to read', got back home and never thought about it until now, as I write this.

Nevertheless, I consider that inextinguishable love for reading and writing as a blessing. It is something that saves me ever so often form the trials of life and even the dreary feelings of mundane existence. It shows up magically to sprinkle pixie dust on times that are hard or just not that exciting. A good read reaches my hand and am suddenly drowned in a journey of someone, someplace far away.

I have several unwritten posts by now - ruminations, travel stories, book reviews. I probably cannot even recollect enough to be able to write about them now. But its never too late or too little.

Just like the sudden urge to write that translated into this post, I hope to be able to do my reading and writing in various forms all through my life. And in the meanwhile, may I get that discipline to come to this space and write regularly , more for myself than anything else.

So long!