Full House

So after a week of doing nothing in Goa, we moved on to week two, a week that was to be a complete contrast to the idle days of sun and sea.

It started with an overnight train journey to my hometown. Once upon a time I used to love train journeys, especially when we moved from the economical wooden plank sleeper class to the comfy confines of an AC coach. I don’t remember exactly when this subtle upgrade in bookings started but it’s difficult to reverse it now. There’s always some convenient excuse – too hot, too noisy, maybe it will rain and we’ll get leaky windows! But off-late, AC coaches have been my nemesis. Am surely allergic to the blankets or the sheets or just the air! I invariably leave the train with a stuffy nose and mild fever. Anyway, it’s for the kids, I told myself and hoped for an uneventful journey (last time K developed an ear infection and howled the whole night!). Luckily the girls slept peacefully and I could hear the hubby snoring on the upper berth. I spent an uncomfortably cold night shuttling between K’s berth and V’s berth. It was way too cold in there.

The morning brought in my 35th birthday which eventually the clan remembered 🙂

The next few days were a cacophony of aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins’ kids. And the brilliance of the concept of ‘joint family’ dawned on me again. The kids took care of each other. They ate together, played together, slept together. They didn’t miss TV and most definitely didnt get bored. Ofcourse for kids these days, games dont always involve significant movement of hands and legs… they sometimes involve some very Angry Birds!

The old wooden swing was installed. In its hey-dey and even today, the ten feet by four feet beast could host at minimum a dozen of us – sitting, standing, screaming. K and V (on my lap) loved it!

There’s something wonderful about sitting up late into the night with family, chatting about the good ‘ol days. An aunt or uncle or sometimes both simultaneously, is always willing to dig out old stories, anecdotes of small incidents made huge (with an generous sprinkle of masala!).

So after week one where the four of us were confined to each other, week two was all about going our own ways and enjoying the comforts of a full house. Ying and Yang.