My Bangkok sojourn - 1

This was the trip that we had been looking forward to for a long time. We had been wanting to go away for a while and were badly in need of a detour from our routine. Though when the day of travel finally arrived, I was not feeling as delighted as I should have been, rather was apprehensive, skeptical. Call it maternal instinct, call it fear of the unknown. Bottom line is I was scared. This was the first time we were travelling abroad with Achu and by any standards Achu was still a baby who had to be fed and looked after all through the day. And another thing that was nagging me was I knew this trip would be a mad race! That said, it was as if my worst fears were confirmed when Achu decided to throw up all the milk in his tummy an hour or so before takeoff. My face automatically assumed a quizzical expression and I looked at Ashwin, my hubby. I could see he was as tensed as I was. He knew that we had to make a call - whether to check out the luggage and go home or to get on the plane and fly away. He was the man and he decided- "Lets face the music, we are flying come what may". I kept humming - "aaall izzz well".


The airport staff were good; asked us not to bother and assured they would clean up the mess! We thanked them (from the bottom of our heart). I picked up Achu; Ashwin picked up the hand baggage and we marched forward! ( I say "marched" to reflect the state of our minds - we were prepared to overcome any hurdle to make this trip - even a possibly sick toddler!) . Miraculously, the further we walked towards the boarding gate, the situation seemed more and more light. We could see ourselves smiling at each other and every one else. And all of them were smiling back too, giving each other friendly nodes, uttering little hellos, thank-yous and the like ... Looked like the hand baggage buggy which Ashwin was pushing was acting like some magical tool capable of cutting through the fog of doubt and letting the sun shine through.

And so, with smiley faces and unburdened minds, we went over to greet and meet our fellow tourists. We were travelling as a group - a group of fortunate people upon whom lady luck had showered her blessings. Its not everyday that one wins a lottery and that too something as exciting as a foreign tour. Ashwin and me could not believe it at first. Yet it did happen - for the first time in our lives! We were ecstatic! and thats how all this came about. Going back to our group - they were all warm and friendly; and I was very much relieved to meet an older lady (from Kerala). I instantly poured out all my worries about taking Achu along to her. She turned out to be a keen listener and a dependable companion. My faith in humanity returned!

All our group mates were married couples - just married, been married for a while, married for long or married for too long! Only one of them , other than us had brought their child with them. The rest had kids who were either too grown up or had been put into temporary custody of grandparents! So our little bundle of joy (rather bundle of energy) was left to bond with the only other child- a 10 year old girl. It often amazes me -how uninhibited children are - never restrianed by the adulterations of adulthood! The girl and the boy got along from the moment they said hello. It was fun to see a 10 year old girl chasing a 1 and half year old boy all over Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. I had to step in a couple of times to avoid "Dennis the menace" situations. I feel that we all are born as fully bloomed flowers and close into buds as we age, not the other way around. Oh yes, there are people who remain as open flowers throughout their lives - its purely a matter of choice, whether you want to close out and pass away as a bud or be a flower. Oops! sorry for wandering away from my narration! Lets get back to the point. So we were a group of of about 14 adults laughing and sharing anecdotes, experiences and concerns; and two kids running around them. Pretty picture!

After chatting for about half an hour or so, we moved to the boarding gate - gate no 32 B, if I remember it right. Took photos of our little group, laughed more at few little jokes someone cracked while we waited for the announcement. Achu hates queues and waiting. So he decided to amuse himself by playing with straws from a coffee bar next to us. One senior person in the group was elected our informal leader. He was a nice and funny man- someone with lot of soft spots caused by dents and weathering due to age and experience. And then they announced - "All passengers flying to Bangkok please be ready to board flight no abcd (cant remember the no) of Thai Airways". I believe some people in our group were flying for the first time and the special twinkle in their eyes (that I had noticed) sparkled even more. I smiled.

At the end of the aerobridge, we had to give up Achu's pram ( i was happy that prams are allowed till the door of the aircraft) to check in as extra luggage. We were greeted by a Thai airhostess at the door. As expected, she was all smiles,tall, slim, pretty in the Thai way, wore traditional Thai costume (a long ankle length pencil skirt or sarong, a waist long blouse with three-fourth sleeves and a narrow strip of cloth pinned across the chest from left shoulder to right hip). Also, she wore a brooch made of the typical white and violet orchids of Thailand. And she greeted us with hands folded in the namaste manner and said "Sawaadika" or so in an extremely nasal voice. Ashwin reckons it sounds like a crow crying! We smiled, said hello and walked in.