At the Chicago airport we had plenty of time after our bags were checked in, so I took the kids up to the eating lounge and tried to fill their bellies so they would settle down quickly on the plane and sleep. Then we headed off to our waiting lounge. My youngest wanted to use the restroom and I took him. Then he wanted to go again, so we headed back to the restroom, but this time I decided to use the facilities as well and asked him to stand right outside my door until I was done. When I got out, he was gone. I looked about for him but didn’t spot him. I asked one of the airline crews how to go about locating him. The man tried to reassure me that he was probably just lost and not, you know, kidnapped. Oh, I know. I know exactly what he thought. He thought he could find his way back to his brother and why wait around for Mom. So we walked around looking for him. In a few minutes, we found him. He was spotted by another airline crew crying. When we were reunited I asked him if he was scared and crying when the lady found him. He said, I don’t want to talk about it.
In India it is hot as can be in June, but I find it works best because my kids have summer vacation and their cousins in India also have summer vacation. This is also the first time I was going to travel around to visit my sisters and take my kids along with me as we travelled to five places – New Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, New Delhi again, Chandigarh, Chail and back to New Delhi.
A wonderful thing about having in-laws in New Delhi is that when we land in New Delhi, we are there – No more travel. We took a non-stop American Airlines flight from Chicago to New Delhi which takes about 15 hours. We only planned to be in New Delhi for a day and set off to Mumbai the very next day. I figured the kids were old enough and they would be able to deal with their jetlag on their own. In trips past, I had to stay up with them and so my jetlag lasted as long as theirs did. The younger they are the longer the jetlag.
Even though it was late night when we reached New Delhi, it was still hot. Coming from Wisconsin, where spring was still debating its arrival, feeling the heat in New Delhi was a shock. So by the time we reached home – my youngest likes to call it the White House as it is painted white on the outside – we were all sweaty. It was close to midnight but I needed a bath to refresh after the long journey, but mostly the hot trip from the airport to home. Before kids (BK) I used to be so organized and knew exactly where everything was packed. No more. So I unpacked all our suitcases and found a change of clothes for myself and the kids.
The next day, I was setting right off to Mumbai, so now I had to repack most of it again. My reasoning to get to Mumbai as soon as possible was to avoid the monsoons and be back in New Delhi safe and sound. The flight to Mumbai was uneventful. My brother-in-law (BIL) and my nephew came to pick us up at the airport. Part of my growing up happened in Mumbai. My father was in the Indian Navy and my BIL is also in the Indian Navy. My sister’s family lives on the same Base I grew up in. So in many ways this was a homecoming for me. The sights and sounds of Mumbai filled me with nostalgia. Like many other cities, Mumbai is also constantly changing, but when you reach South Mumbai where land is limited and was where the city was built by the British – and named Bombay – everything seems the same as when I left and it was still Bombay then, the name changed to Mumbai after I left India and so it will always be Bombay to me.
When we reached their home, we visited for a little while and then I had to have a bath to freshen up. When I unpacked our bags – guess what? – I had not repacked my underwear from New Delhi. So I just had to rewash and wring as hard as I could and rewear. In the heat, let me tell you, it was quite refreshing. So needless to say, my first task in Bombay was to buy underwear.
Two of my sister’s live in Bombay, well if you want to be picky, my youngest sister lives in Navi Mumbai (New Bombay as it was first called). She spent the day with us and we reminisced about our childhood. Not only were we all meeting after along time, but we were also in a place where the three of us grew up for part of our childhood.
In the mornings my sister and I would walk to a small shop, no more than a stall really, where they made fresh vada pao and brought some home for breakfast. You get the best vada pao in Bombay. Then we walked along the seashore everyday. One of the best parts of being on a Naval Base is that we had the most private, uncrowded seashore walkway. Of all the places we visited this summer, Bombay had the “coolest” temperatures.
My kids and their cousin got along famously and my youngest still asks us to head back to Bombay so he can play with him. One evening we sat by their seashore club and enjoyed the sea breeze, snacks and great company. I had forgotten the joys of enjoying a meal at a club. There is no hurry to eat and leave, you can spend a few hours visiting with friends, enjoy the outdoor, stroll or just take
the time to sip your drink and relax.In Bombay we spend an evening by the Gateway of India and got a close look at the Hotel Taj (the one under terrorist attack last year). (Pic Hotel Taj in Bomba) They have done great work repairing the outside; you could hardly see any damage. But there is obviously a lot to be done on the inside and the hotel is still closed. After a ride on a Victoria (a horse drawn carriage) we went to a revolving restaurant – The Pearl of the Orient. It was a Chinese restaurant and one of only two restaurants that I have eaten in India where the tables are not on top of each other. We had a nice enjoyable dinner to celebrate my sister’s wedding anniversary. (Pic. Marine Drive or Queens Necklace from Pearl of the Orient)
One evening, my siste
r and I set off to do some shopping. We went into Akbarally’s where they sell readymade clothes, household items and some electronics as well. The saleslady who helped us was very persuasive and got me to select about 5 or 6 different clothes, while I had only planned on getting one maybe two things. Buying readymade clothes in India is quite different from shopping in the US. Each piece is one of a kind. If it doesn’t fit, then you have to just try and finding something else you like.But the great part is if you like something but want small changes made – like changing the sleeve length, raising the hem etc, the store will do it for you in minutes while you wait. Anyhow, our sales lady was so persuasive, before I knew it I had about 5 things that were being altered, retried, and altered again. By now the store was closing and we were the only customers in the store. They closed the main doors and the staff were packing up and finishing their tasks before heading out.
I was ready to tell the saleslady that I only mean to buy a couple of the clothes selected. Just then one of her colleagues walked up and they started talking about the new sales target they had been given to meet this month. The colleague was concerned that the downturn in the economy would make it hard to meet this target. Our saleslady said, she was not afraid and she would just make it happen. Needless to say, I left the store with all five outfits. By now they had even turned the main lights off and only the security lights were on, the security man let us out from a side door.
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
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