Celebrating Fifth Wedding Anniversary at Paris (17-Apr-2008)

Hey! Madhu here. My dear husband has included my name in this blog of his, so I thought I'll contribute to it for a change. Here's an account of our recent trip to Paris to celebrate our fifth anniversary.

So here we are, standing outside our hotel in Paris, with a view of the Eiffel Tower. I still can't believe I am here, that I have been able to motivate my dear lazybones (read my husband) to get the whole thing organised and actioned. The Eurostar trip through the channel tunnel was nice. Much less hassle than a flight. Somehow, I had imagined travelling in a long dark tunnel for 2 hours, but most of the time, we were at ground level. Guess London and Paris are far enough from the sea-shores to make it a normal train journey. We do face a bit of inconvenience in carrying Hiranya (my 9-month old son) and his pram over the stairs as the Paris metro train stations seem to be blissfully unaware of the concept of lifts and escalators; but I am in a very good mood and I am ready to ignore these trifles. After all, visiting Paris has been a childhood dream. My excitement knows no bounds.

We begin our trip by visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral. Nice place, especially the wall carvings and the paintings on the high windows and the ceilings. We also try to visit the Sainte Chapelle but it closes minutes before we reach. We make do with the St. Michael fountain nearby :). Still a lot of daylight left, so we walk along Siene to absorb some Paris atmosphere. Paris is a really beautiful city and there is no better way to see it than walking along Siene (or perhaps cruising along Siene. Didn't experience that.) Every building seems to have a character of its own, like this one of the French Institute across the river. Instant love with the city, I tell you. The photographs posted here really don't do justice to the city, they have not captured the enchanting beauty that is Paris.

So we reach a building and I ask Himanshu, "What is this?" "This is Louvre, my love". Louvre Museum is on our list of places to visit, but not today, so we start walking along the building. And it keeps going on and on. My God! Is this a museum or a palace? Its huge! And with a building this beautiful, do people go there to see the building or the museum artefacts?

We eventually get over to the other side of the Louvre and reach the very beautiful Tuileries Garden. Duke is playing up a bit, not staying in his pram and wanting to be held up in our arms. That and all this walking is getting a bit tiring, so we rest here a bit. Lovely place!

We walk through the Tuileries garden to reach Concorde Place. Another of the landmarks of Paris, this place contains a 3200 years old Egyptian obelisk which impressively dominates the whole place. Enough for the day, I guess, so we head back to our hotel for a good night sleep.

We are supposed to get up really early in the morning to go to Versailles palace. Guess when do we finally get out of the hotel? 11 o' clock ;) Everyone who knows us knows we are early risers, don't they? ;) So on the train, I ask Himanshu, "So what's so special about the Versailles palace?" "It was the palace where the French royalty, including Marie Antoinette, used to live, so its supposed to be very rich and luxurious". Rich and luxurious it is, certainly, and very very beautiful. Any visit to Paris without a trip to Versailles is meaningless. Every room has a story of its own, everything seems to be gold, everywhere you see, the walls and ceilings are adorned with beautiful paintings, simply amazing. And while the palace is impressive, the garden is breathtaking. I don't think I have ever seen such a huge, beautiful, well-planned garden. Several fountains, each with a sculpture of one God or another. Great! I am bowled over.

Next day, we wake up to our fifth wedding anniversary. I am really loving it. It is quite cold outside, but I am risking wearing a dress. Its my wedding anniversary after all! How am I looking?

We go to Eiffel tower for a morning view and then head over to Louvre Museum. Amazing sculptures and paintings from great artists, like this famous statue of Venus. You can spend days and days in Louvre, we rush through but still manage to see most of it. I always used to think museums are for those intellectual-types and no fun, but there is nothing dry about Louvre. You are always surrounded by the most artistic, most beautiful creations of humanity. Mona Lisa is a bit of anti-climax, though. A small, insignificant looking painting. A good painting, surely, but doesn't look like it is worth all thus propaganda around it.

Over to Champs Elysees, the high-end shopping street in Paris. Too pricey for my liking though, so we proceed on to Eiffel Tower. A bit of logistics issue here, in that you have to fold the pram and carry it with you. So Himanshu ended up carrying the pram and the shoulder-bag and I took Hiranya. Quite a bother to negotiate through the crowd with all that. Anyway, we go up to the second floor of Eiffel Tower. It is great. Paris has a spirit of its own, a certain non-squarish symmetry which is amazing from this high-up. However, it is very windy here and Hiranya is howling non-stop because of the wind and cold and need for some sleep; and I am almost ready to cry myself. Standing on the second floor of Eiffel Tower, in the queue for the elevator to take us to the top floor of Eiffel tower, with Hiranya unmanageable and no escape from the queues and the wind, was the worst moment of the whole trip. Thankfully, the top floor was all covered, so we were able to sit down for some time and pat Hiranya down to sleep. Breathtaking views of Paris from the top. Back to being my happy self again. You have not seen Paris if you have not seen it from the top of Eiffel Tower. A word of warning, its crowded, and you are best off with nothing in your hand apart from a camera.

We go down just in time to catch the light show on Eiffel tower where the whole tower lights up with sparkling lights. A spectacular end to a beautiful trip. Thanks, my dear love, for this lovely gift.

Hiranya's first India Trip (23Feb08-25Mar08)

Hello! My name is Hiranya, son of Madhu and Himanshu Das. I was born in UK around 9 months ago and recently made my first trip to India. Normally, it is my Dad who writes these travelogues; this time, he says he is too tired to write one, so I am doing it on his behalf. He is getting old now, anyway. In this travelogue, the focus is on people and events rather than the beauty of the places we visited.

This trip had a lot of firsts for me, and you must give me credit for managing it all so well. The trip began with a rather rude shock. At 3 a.m. on 23rd Feb, just 2 hours before we are scheduled to leave for the airport, Mom wakes up Dad and tells him, "I am not feeling well". Dad gets scared, rushes to Emergency Medical Care, where the Doctor tells Mom that she has got an infection and needs to take antibiotics. And while she is on antibiotics, she has to stop breastfeeding. Shocking, given that I have never bottle-fed and first-time air-travel is not really a time to change basic feeding methods for an infant. Can't be helped though! We hurry to catch our 5 o'clock taxi to the airport.

Immediately after check-in, we rush to the Boots shop at the airport. Thankfully, they have all the stuff - disposable bottles, tetra-packs of formula milk etc. A friendly lady in the shop gives Mom and Dad a crash course in bottle feeding. Then we try it out in the baby changing area. After a lot of milk spills and bottle cracking etc., we finally get the hang of it. I can tell you, I am good. I do not really fancy taking to the bottle ;-), but I somehow manage. We hog the baby changing area for at least an hour.

At 9:30 a.m. on 23rd Feb 2008, I board an aeroplane for the first time. Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and from there onto Mumbai. They say most babies cry during take-off and landing, but I am good. In fact, I am very good. I cry only a little bit and that too after we are at cruising altitude, so Dad could walk me about. I do not really liked that part though, there is just too much light in the aeroplane and too less space. The steward is very good and makes me a nice bed in the bassinet, but do you think an active baby like me can remain in a confined space like a bassinet for long?

Our first destination is Mumbai, India. I must say, my first impression of India is of ultra-efficiency. We pass through immigration, baggage collection, customs all in a total of half an hour. Amazing! I am still working as per UK time though, so my sleeping time is about to begin, but I behave like a nice boy and give a nice smile and hug to Raja mama, Mily mami, Timmi mama and Prince bhaiyya who have come to receive us at the airport and same to Nanaji (granddad/ mom’s dad) and Naniji (grandmom/ mom’s mom) who are waiting for us at home. Then I go off to sleep. Nice boy, I told you!

Later in the day, all my other mamas (Mom’s brothers), mamis (Mom’s brothers’ wives), bhaiyyas (cousin brothers) and didis (cousin sisters) come home. My Nanaji calls me Harsh. It means happiness in Sanskrit. So I keep to my name and give everyone a big welcome smile. I meet Raju mama, Ranjana mami, Ayush bhaiyya, Pooja didi, Lala mama, Anima mami, Chotu mama, Sonam mami and Chikki didi. In case you are thinking, “That’s a lot of names in there”, welcome to India, the place of large families where people believe in sharing all their joys and sorrows together.

We visit a gynaecologist the next day to get Mom checked up and he confirms that Mom’s infection is now over and that we can get back to breastfeeding. Big sigh of relief! I must admit this whole formula milk thing has not been working very well and I have not really been my smiley self for past two days. Now, I am happy.

In Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha is the god of all auspicious beginnings. So I begin my travel in India with a tour to the famous Siddhi Vinayak temple in Mumbai. Its very crowded, as is everything in India, I believe. After that, we visit Mahalaxmi, the temple of the goddess of success and wealth. By this time, it has become too hot, and I am not used to heat at all, having lived in a cool place like Ipswich, UK. So we rush back home in a taxi, but the taxi almost feels like a furnace. We somehow reach home and cool ourselves with fans.

Now to the reason all of us are gathered here in Mumbai - Its Timmi mama’s marriage to Sfurti mami on 28th Feb. The rituals go on for three days. One day before the marriage, all the mamis applied turmeric paste to Timmi mama. Then there is the ritual of "lava bhujna" where the groom's sister (my mom in this case) roasts some paddy grains and it is said that the more they pop out as puffed rice, the stronger will be the marriage bond. The good news for Timmi mama is - almost all the paddy pops out. :-) On the actual day of the marriage, we all go to the temple where the marriage ceremony is to happen. I am feeling absolutely fresh, because I slept through the night for the first time yesterday; and I am dressed to kill – a traditional blue kurta with a white dhoti – after all, I have to leave a nice impression on Sfurti mami. The marriage rituals of exchanging garlands, priests reciting mantras, rounds around the fire and so on are interesting, but I am more interested in all the people around than in all this, I have a loooooooong time to get married, after all ;-) By the time we all get back, its midnight, so we all sleep immediately, because we need to be ready for the final ritual of marriage, receiving the newlyweds into the home. For the record, Sfurti mami is very nice and beautiful, as are all my other mamis as well. God! It does take a lot of time to get married in India, and Dad tells me this is the most abbreviated version.

Before leaving Mumbai, we visit Anshu-Anni didi/ Bachchi bua’s (Dad's cousin sister). Dad is especially close to all of them and they all have a nice time together. They are all fun people. I spend most of my time sleeping/ playing with my cousins. I cannot understand relationships in India, both Anshu didi and Annu didi are much older than me, just a few years younger than my Mom, and they are my sisters, not aunts. Amazing!

Then in the evening, my first experience of the infamous Indian auto-rickshaw - A unique mode of transport, very open and airy, but very bumpy! We take the auto-rickshaw to go to Kalva local train station. Auto-rickshaw drivers have an impression of driving very rashly, but this one is nice, so no problems. Then to the next extreme sports of India - riding a Mumbai local train. Dad spoils the effect by taking a first class ticket, that too on a Sunday late night train. I mean, we actually get a seat!

My first long distance train journey in India is from Mumbai to Patna, almost 30 hours long. Patna is the home of my Nanaji. We had all come to Mumbai for the marriage, now we are all going to to Patna to stay there for a few days. So how did I like the train journey? Not one single bit. Being restricted on one small berth is not my idea of fun. My cousins could at least run around the train compartment, I am not old enough to do even that :(.

Patna is quite a nice place. Contrary to popular belief, the roads and general infrastructure in Patna is very good. Who calls Bihar a backward state? Dad tells me that the whole impression he is getting in India is that of a country breaking its shackles of lack of facilities and infrastructure and moving ahead with a positive attitude. Anyone you speak to talks of growth. Amazing! We all spent some nice time in Patna together, going to a few temples and in general spending time with each other. I am spoilt a lot by all my mamis. Good on them!

Then on to my native village, Sakhwar in Darbhanga, Bihar. We have an ancestral house and land there. It takes us around 6 hours by road from Patna. Dad and Mom had warned me that the roads in Bihar are real bad, but they sure had outdated information. The roads are wonderful and I sleep peacefully most of the way . We reach in the afternoon and I meet Daadu (granddad) and Dadi (grandmom) after a long time. I love it and they are delighted to see me! I meet so many grandfathers and grandmothers and uncles and aunts and cousins. They are all very happy to see me and I behave very nicely. Daadu has renovated our ancestral home and it is quite nice and big now.

Now to the next occasion, my mundan. This is the ceremony where a baby’s hair is cut for the first time. It is a big occasion for me, as it is the first ceremony happening for me in an Indian social setting. We specifically wanted to have this ceremony in our village because that is the abode of our kuldevi (Family Goddess). Daadu has invited a lot of people and is hosting a big luncheon party, followed by providing dinner to hundreds of poor people in the evening. I like this concept of charity inbuilt in the social fabric of India. Anyway, back to me. I am such a good boy, I don’t cry when the barber is cutting my hair. OK, a little bit at the end, but that was because the cut hair had started falling in my eyes. Everyone is very impressed. So now I am all bald :(. Where is all my beautiful hair gone?

We travel back from my village to Patna by car. We have very little time available to us at Nanaji’s place because we have to go on to New Delhi, but Dad does not lose this opportunity to play Holi (the festival of colours, more about that later) with all uncles and aunties. Actually, it is still 10 days to Holi, but they all are playing today because they will not be able to meet later. Great spirit! I end up being mom's saviour and she is spared from being drenched as she is holding me. :-)

We reach New Delhi after travelling overnight from Patna in Rajdhani Express. This train journey is better, train journeys should be restricted to a maximum of "overnight". We have got some time to relax today after a long while, so I spend time by rolling around on the bed. This makes my parents and grandparents very happy, because till now, I have just turned over once or twice and now I am turning over on my own comfortably.

Then we start the going around Delhi part. First, we we go to meet Meenu bua (aunt, dad’s sister) and Nalin pisaji (uncle, dad’s bro-in-law). We go to her house by taking the Delhi Metro train. I must say I am impressed. Fast, sleek trains, well maintained stations; much better than London underground anyway. Then the other end of transport spectrum - from the metro station to Meenu Bua's house, we take a manual pedal rickshaw. Interesting experience! I have talked to Meenu Bua a lot over internet and phone, so its interesting to see her and hear her first hand. I have a lot of fun playing with her. Next is Indirapuram, New Delhi to see the house that Daadu has bought. Quite a spacious house in a good apartment complex. I like it! I am also impressed with the Delhi roads and flyover network. There is no feeling of being in a "developing" country. Then we go over to meet Micky uncle and my cousin Airiana. What a relief to finally meet a cousin who is younger to me! I was almost starting to feel small.

My Daadu is a man of infinite energy and he does not like sitting around in the house. So he plans for a day trip by car to Agra and Mathura. It turns out to be a very hectic and tiring day. Left for Agra early morning and went directly to the Taj Mahal. This marble monument, one of the 7 wonders of the world, is really amazing to look at. The overall symmetry and structure cannot fail to impress you. I also got to experience a tonga (horse driven cart vehicle), because of the pollution control regulations no fuel driven vehicles are allowerd near the Taj. Its quite hot today, however, and I am not too happy. In the evening, we visit Mathura Janmbhoomi temple, the temple where Lord Krishna was born. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna was a very active, healthy and powerful baby, if slightly naughty. Worshipping his child form is considered very auspicious for the children at home. Back to Delhi the same night. Once again, the Delhi-Agra road is as good as any highway in UK. India in on an upward swing for sure.

Another first for me, I get my first two teeth. Lower front teeth. Now I can bite ;-). Teething is a very painful thing, but the homoeopathic medicine I am taking is helping a lot.

Our next pilgrimage is to the Vaishno Devi shrine. Vaishno Devi is a temple of Goddess Vaishno/ Durga situated on the top of a montain at 5200 ft. above see level. The way to go is a 13 km trek from Katra (1700 ft. above sea level). It’s faith and the devotion that enables people not accustomed to such exercise to cover this climb on foot. Mom and Dad carry me in their arms throughout the journey. Even Daadu, whose knees are aching, and Daadi, who has bronchitis and hence breathing troubles, do the trek on foot. It is said that not everyone can visit the goddess, only those whom she calls. Dad, for example, having stayed in Delhi for 20 years, had never gone before. And here I am, a mere 9 month old baby! Truly blessed! :) We do our trek in the evening, so that we are protected from sun and heat. We attend the early morning Aarti and visit the cave shrine where we pray to the goddess. On our way down, my parents and grandparents take horses. I ride horseback for a short distance and I am carried by a Pitthoo (carrier boy). With this, I complete all forms of transport in India - autorickshaw, Mumbai local train, long distance train, car, taxi, Delhi Metro, pedal rickshaw, Tonga, horseback. Great achievement, I say! I sleep all the way down. Midway down, there is a cave called Adhkunwari GarbhJoon cave. The cave is all narrow and curved, supposedly resembling the birth canal and it is said passing through the cave is like being reborn, you feel all refreshed and rejuvenated. I don't know who makes these stories, ask me, there is nothing rejuvenating about coming out of the womb, it is a lot of hard work for both the baby and the mother. It is also said that sinners cannot pass through this cave, they will get stuck. My parents are able to pass through, so they are not that bad after all, I guess :-). By the time we reach Katra, everyone’s back is killing them because of horse-riding. We get back to Jammu by taxi and then take a train to Delhi.

For the festival of Holi, we all go to Meenu bua’s place. Holi, the festival of colours, the festival of being mad, the festival of fun. Holi is a day where people do all sort of crazy things - playing with dry and wet colours and body paints and water, colouring each other, having lots of good food and generally having a boisterous time, basically behaving like hooligans. Tinku uncle and Maneesh uncle (Dad’s cousins) are also here, and they all have a lot of fun. Try to see if they are even recognisable in the photographs. Papa, Nalin uncle, Tinku uncle and Maneesh uncle go to a few relatives' places to play Holi there as well.

The next day, we are back at our home at Pandara Road hosting parties. I told you my Daadu has infinite energy. We have a lot of relatives in Delhi and we have called all of them over for lunch today so that they can meet me. I get a lot of cuddles and hugs. On my part, I am also behaving very nicely today and am smiling all day. In the evening, we call over a few neighbours for dinner. I am sleepy from meeting so many people in one day, and Dad has sprained his ankle, so both of us go to sleep while others entertain the guests.

After spending a couple of days with my grandparents generally having fun and being spoilt, we take our flight back to UK from Delhi airport. My grandparents have got a bit sentimental as they are very attached to me. The flight back is good. While changing flights at Frankfurt, it is snowing and I get my first experience of snowfall while walking from one aeroplane to another. Nice touch to a beautiful but very hectic trip. We are all very tired at the end of it, Dad keeps saying that he needs holidays to just recover from this vacation. :-) It really was a wonderful trip, met so many people, visited so many places. India is a swell place!