Hurray for the vacation!

The kids almost jumped up as soon as we called them in the morning. What contrast from the going-to-school mornings! Just a mere whisper and they were up. Finally, it was the day they were counting down to. The day I would start my vacation and our family would start the journey to Kerala to meet their grandparents. 

They had started the countdown at least ten days back with the ritual question "How many days more to go?". So I remember distinctly the 10,9,8... The question would be repeated both in the morning and in the evening although not necessarily restricted to two times a day. My eldest even prepared an elaborate check-list, complete with all the items that were needed to reach the destination. The check-list started with a "wake up" and went on for two pages. She had even illustrated it! (I was allowed to put it on the blog with a little blur effects.) 

So today as soon as they woke up, they grabbed the check-list and ticked of the first item. Then without any prompting , they took their bath, put on their cloths and were ready with the least fuss. All the while ticking off one item after another. They had absolutely no intention of missing their travel! 

It is amazing how time flies when you have things to be done! I had woken up at 3:30 am and in no time at all it was already 11 am. The cab had arrived and we piled in within 10 mins. Ah! a well paced plan I thought to myself. No sooner than we hit the main road, the first shocker of the day came in. There was a huge traffic ahead of us, crawling at snail's pace. The cab driver, on his part, was really leaning on the horn. I wondered why, since his vehicle was struggling to pull ahead even when the vehicles cleared up ahead. Just my luck! A worn out cab and the traffic jam! I was jolted when the driver asked me casually if the train was at 12:30 pm. I had assumed the we would be in the railway station 20 minutes ahead of the train departure and that would give us ample time to settle ourselves and the luggage. Now it looked as if we would mostly be missing the train all together. It was a neck to neck call but with the traffic crawling, the odds seems against us! 

This was a long awaited break for me. The prospects of getting off to a bad start was playing up on me. My brain was getting short circuited trying to think up the alternatives. There were no other trains on this route since the train we had tickets for was the only train. Should I look for flight options? Oh man how exorbitant the prices would be on short notice. Should I take this same cab back home if the train had departed? Should I go back home, take my car and drive the 1200 odd kilo meters? I had done that before, multiple times, but then I usually would take a break in between at my sister's place in B'lore. But now, even she had gone off to Kerala. Which other friends were there in B'lore. Wait a min, would I be able to drive this far while fasting? Would I, should I, what ifs, all were going round in circles in my head. Then, just before my brain exploded, my wife broke into my thoughts and calmly commented that we should just be patient and we would surely get the train. That saved me. Or else, there would have been bheja fry on the menu today for iftar!

Ok, so crawling, crawling, crawling, we went and as I glanced at my watch at intervals, it felt to me that the minute hand was moving at the pace of the second hand! Wait a min, my watch didn't even have a seconds hand! Oh snap out! Focus focus relax reeellaax. So I put on my PM hat and turned on the zen expression! All is well (Heart whispering all the time, "God! Save this trip please", on repeat mode!)

So after what felt like an eternity, the cab swung into the entrance of the railway station and we jumped out. I told my wife to take the kids and go while I ran to the trunk to take out the luggage. I pushed open the trunk lid and bent over to take the luggage out. Did you know that the trunk lid is quite heavy? Oh boy, did I find out! In retrospect, I even realized that this was a classic example of Newton's law. As I nurse the bump on my head, I miss to pinpoint exactly which number that law was. But Sir Newton, was absolutely right! The trunk lid that I push open came right back crashing down and it was stopped promptly by me thick head which I had so graciously place inside. Black! For a few seconds everything was black. But no sir, I did not cry out or blank out. Yes, some wind went out in the "Omphh!" sound that I involuntarily made! 

I paid the driver, grabbed all the luggage and followed my wife and kids into the station. Hallelujah! The train was waiting for us! Oh everything was all right again. Oh the bliss! I swear the train also looked really beautiful. Not sure if getting hit on the head has anything to do with a revision of my perception of beauty. As we took our seats, the train moved. Yes! we had made it just in time! 

Let the holidays begin...