...where the heart is :)

so the mandatory yearly trip to bombay happened (and how!)

the plan was me doing it all alone as the biker was extremely busy setting his company’s next five year business strategy, but i was dead sure he won’t survive four weeks all alone and this is what happened next

well, where do i begin...short takes will have to suffice

-  mere brother ki dulhan joined the family, chotu had a fabulous nikah and i now request all my muslim brothers and sisters to get married the way he did...such simplicity, no typical shenanigans, zero artificiality, brilliance personified with all the components of an ideal islamic marriage, he always wanted just two witnesses and that’s all it takes to seal the deal :)
-  they tell me marriages are made in heaven but it takes people like chotu and b3 (my cousins named her b3) to make it appear believable – issues, dramas, religion, controversies, tears, laughter, arguments, agreements, they had it all – i am glad chotu chose to stand by, he chose wisely
-  i have never met a talented girl like b3, who at this age is so clear about her priorities and principles, respect!
-  within 8hours moving from 4 degrees to 34 and you just fit in, you know you are home
-  finished reading rearview: my roadies journey, mc mary kom, i am abu salem, half girlfriend (the biker  got these books delivered to me, he decided that i need to read these, this boy!)
-  had two weeks of non-intrusive, 0% distraction, 100% blissful family time (with ammi), doing a whole lot of nothing until…
-  the biker came by at the end of two weeks and swept  me away on a flight to goa, next thing i know we checked-in a hotel right at the beach
-  waking up to the sound of waves
-  bombay-goa-panchgani-mahableshwar-panchgani-bombay happened
-  i am ten kgs heavier in four weeks and the biker 3 in 2!
paaya~seekh~masurpulav~koftacurry~palakpaneer~mutterpaneer~aaluparatha~chickenmanchurian~chickenchilli~jafferbhai’sbiryani~pudding~panipuri~50wadapav~
chai~paanikum~bhutta~strawberrycream~mackeral~lobster~surmai~fishcurry~crabs~schezwanfriedrice~eggcurry~kebab~phirni~
-  and i’m a phuppho yet once more - another niece joins the khan clan, good luck bhai
-  even the rickshaw waale bhai too tell me to have kids now :p
-  we met him again
-  chotu gave me ‘naeg’ (its gift from a bother to his sister on his wedding, traditionally cash or gold) - well, he gave me this, told you he is super cool :)
-  bade bhaiyya ensured that i had lots and lots of papaya, mooli, kacche amrud
-  meeting hums, alhumdulilah what a lovely gentleman he is turning into, may Allah bless him with everything his heart wishes for
-  met heavily loaded f1 and the first thing i said after seeing her “you look damn funny” and got disgusted looks from ammi and f1’s mom, what can i say, i could not resist
-  was home

nothing gives me more joy than being with my family, though i must admit that it has taken me some time to understand that these relationships are what matter most in the end…that ultimately, it's about people…people who matter, i don’t care a bit about relationships that didn’t work…i now hold no grudges for anyone...i just don’t give a damn, i smile i don’t care whether they smile back or not  - this very drop in an extremely inflated ego is a nice by-product of ageing i guess - dont get too excited, it is work in progress and i can be quite a fathead at times

so many memories, so many smiles, so much love…all spread across my home, home that grounds me, makes me me….i gather all of these up and become a whole, the best and the most of what i am and can ever be :)

everytime i come back, colleagues tell me “you guys should travel the world with the money and time you spent every year to visit family across the globe” how do i tell them that you are my world ammi, they don’t get it :)

sketch of mine listening to the waves, done by the biker:)

yeah...it was a good trip

no, a great trip, must do it again soon

2014 trip done, and its 2015 from tomorrow, just saying ;)