One thought which always came up when your father and I discussed about your future was your Indian passport. Unlike a lot of parents of our generation we didn’t plan your birth around your place of birth and as (your) luck would have it, you ended up with an Indian passport, which I am not sure how happy you would be about when you grow up and decide to travel the world. Nonetheless, now that you had one, we decided to make sure that you be a bit more than a mere Indian passport holder, for in my opinion ( and a strong one at that), there is nothing worse than living without an identity and like it or not, one’s country of origin still matters a lot in today’s world. I do hope you grow up to find yourself in a world where geographical boundaries and colour of skin do not matter anymore, but in case it still does you wouldn’t find yourself grappling with the tough question- So, I am an Indian. But what is being an Indian all about?
You might have other people answering that question for you, telling you things which are true and sometimes not so true, making you form an opinion based on others’ positive or negative experiences. And obviously we did not want that to happen.
So, we decided to introduce you to our India the country we-your parents called home.Wether or not it would be home for you in the days to come, we leave that up to you to decide.
This trip was going to be a first in many respects- first flight, first cruise across time zones, first taste of business class travel(and bed) and above all, first taste of India!
The preparations began a month in advance listing down things to buy and pack lest we miss anything important. I would sit down with my phone and visualise a whole day with you and carefully list down each article required through the day and then do it twice, thrice, four times until I was convinced everything was covered. It was a six hours red eye to Delhi followed by an overnight halt and another two hours to Bhubaneswar ( Daadu and Daadi’s) the next afternoon. By no means it was an easy haul even for someone travelling without kids, let alone first time parents with a spirited five month old! Add to that the 2.5 hours time difference with Hong Kong. We were definitely not in for a cake walk and saying that we were nervous would be an understatement. So, we were all packed up and set on the evening of 31st of January for your maiden voyage to India. You were showered, fed and strapped on to Mom and by the time we reached the airport you were fast asleep and we, a bit relaxed. But you seemed to have other plans. Your eyes pop opened the moment we boarded and sleep seemed far far away from your eyes. You seemed pretty excited to see so many people around and all the clatter got you all stimulated. You continued to be like that till we took off and slowly drifted to sleep and continued to sleep until landing when again you fussed a little and slept off. Though pretty exhausted ourselves it seemed like a battle half won.But the worst was yet to come. That first night in India was a nightmare and you cried hysterically all night. We started to wonder if we had done the right thing bringing you here. But seems like you were setting your biological clock and come morning, lo and behold you were back to your spirited self. Especially on the flight to Bhubaneswar you seemed visibly excited to be going home and kept the entire flight and the crew entertained with your never ending gurgles and chuckles. Seems like you set your biological clock in that one night all eager to enjoy India. When finally home, you were welcomed warmly by Daadu and Daadi. A big poster with your pictures adorned with “Welcome Samarth” right at the entrance followed by “Aarti and Tikka” (by Daadi ushered you in.Balloons adorned the entire house. Rejoicing your arrival the grandparents were over the moon and why wouldn’t they be, you had grown so much since the last they left you back in Hong Kong and now you were a five month old gurgling and smiling at them eager to take it all in and basking in their love and attention. The atmosphere was truly joyous and euphoric. If you could sense, how lucky and loved would you have felt.
mammameea 