A holiday to remember

A holiday planned on a sudden impulse turned out to be a blast. It had ups and downs; exhilarations and frustrations, but on the whole very rich in experience and discoveries.

When R said on phone, she needs a companion for a short holiday - my answer was ‘go with friends’. But R said she does not want to spoil her holiday with friends lacking in the spirit of adventure. Then my suggestion was, ‘take Baba’. Baba was consulted. He could not be blamed for not buying R’s idea. After all he is a retired person, not in the prime of his youth and having responsibilities of house management such as payments of bills and of course, Budiboo. He could not be dancing on R’s impulsive tunes. He wisely said, ‘No’. Therefore, I remained her only choice of a companion.

When R suggested Chennai, that too by air, I was floored. A meeting with B and her canine wards, a survey of her P.G. accommodation and the Blue cross animal shelter, some shopping would be quite exciting. Moreover if B moves out of Chennai, going there on a holiday will have no attraction. And from Chennai, a trip to Kanya Kumari could be planned, thus a long cherished desire would materialize. So, forgetting R’s impulsive planning I said ‘yes’. But disappointment was in store for us - air tickets were not available at such short notice.

R was desperate to get out of Delhi and its sweltering heat and muggy weather of June. So, she started looking frantically for other options. It was the peak season, all hill resorts and hotels were booked in advance. But R was not to give up. After some searching on the internet she chanced upon one ‘Deep Hotel’ in Mussoorie which was offering a double room with a front balcony that had an exciting view of the ‘Queen Of The Hills’. After booking return tickets in Shatabdi Express which went up to Dehradun, she triumphantly informed me on phone to get ready for a holiday in Mussoorie.

Instead of being happy, the news unnerved me. My mind was crammed with negative thoughts. Reports were coming about the rainy weather on the hills - landslides may happen or rash driving on the slippery roads may land us in a deep gorge (such incidents are common, even today’s newspaper carried reports of two such accidents in Nainital and Dehradun, which are just foothills). Besides as Baba was not coming, would it be wise to go with R, who does not have an imposing wrestler’s physique to fight if any untoward thing happened? Then I thought of Benaras. How R had conducted the tour like a consummate tourist and had passed Baba Vishwanath’s test by surmounting all the hurdles placed by him. R must have had sensed my lukewarm response, so she kept gauging my enthusiasm level on the phone. And I had to force myself to say that – ‘I am happy…excited…eager…just cant wait…’

Positive thinking brought positive results and I stopped worrying…


To be continued…