India Trip - How it happened

It was the middle of February when I was informed that I had to take all my holidays by the end of March. There were still 14 days left and only 3 days could be carried forward to April. I had booked a week's leave in March. It started after a casual conversation at lunch time with a colleague, who said that flight tickets to India were really cheap at this time of the year. That night the thoughts of making a short trip to India took shape in my mind. We discussed and argued over it and finally Prashanth gave me the green signal. There is something special about an India trip and more if its an unexpected trip. Your mind is flooded with happy thoughts and the current worries and troubles take a backseat. I decided to take 12 days off. The next couple of days were spent in convincing my manger to grant me the holidays. Tickets were booked and it was the lowest price I have ever flown in the last five years. If I had planned a month in advance, I would have only paid 10 percent for Aditi's ticket as opposed to the 75 percent that I had to shell out as she was over two years. But when its a holiday to India, these things hardly matter. I spoke to my mother to take a week off from work and strangely although it was March and annual year end, Amma was granted a week's holiday(Amma is a bank manager, so the leave was a true bonus). Slowly things fell into place and I concentrated on the shopping and packing.
Shopping for gifts is something I love doing. A bit of retail therapy is always welcome. So I spent shopping for everyone in the immediate family and three babies whom I'll be meeting for the first time. I have been away from home for longer than 2 weeks, but this time, I was torn between wanting to visit India and having to leave Prashanth alone here. I tried as much as possible to make his cooking/cleaning less difficult. Packing was a simple affair, all I did was pack some cotton sleeveless dresses for Aditi and a couple of salwar suits for me.I was going home and I could wear the ones at home - that remain unused for most part of the year.
At work it was a different affair. The week before I left was very hectic as it always is. I promised to respond to mails when necessary and kept up at it. We were to board an early morning flight on Thursday morning from Manchester. The flight and how Aditi enjoyed her stay at Chennai and Bangalore to follow.
(To be continued...)