We made it halfway across the world in one piece, just about. By the end of the long flight I was ready to drill a hole in the plane and just jump out. 15 hours is too long to have a toddler on your lap in a closed space, on a small seat with strangers' elbows digging in from both sides. But its over and Anika did remarkably well under the circumstances. God bless Emirates for having Jungle Book as one of the movies, and also my travel agent for scoring the front row where I had enough room to put her down on a mat on the floor to stand or sit when I needed a break. She had only two meltdowns that were not that bad, mine were worse.
We arrived at Mumbai airport at about 2:45am after 21 hours of travel time. As we made the long walk to immigration/baggage Anika was dancing in the carrier in the front. I got our passports stamped and started towards baggage, I got help with my bags and sailed out. There they were in the darkness, Ma, Pa, Pri, Frooki and the kids! At 3 am..squealing with excitement at the first sighting of the princess. Anika was a little overwhelmed when they all surrounded us, but was happy to out in the open finally.
On the way home there was much excitement when Anika casually said her first word on Indian shores, 'bha-bhow' when she saw some stray dogs on the street. After the reaction she got she said it several more times=)
When we got home I was made to wait while Ma ran up. When we reached the door, Ma was standing there with a thali in her hand with a diya, tika and prasad to do aarti of the little Laxmi entering her home for the first time. It was beautiful, Anika was very intrigued. In the house she avoided everyone except for Raunaq, her 11 year old cousin and me. They were all dying to just grab her and squeeze her instead they watched lovingly from a distance hanging on her every word. We had tea and then all went to bed at 6am. I was happy and exhausted after the long journey. The journey has to be that long for your mind to accept the change, the whole new world. Its a crazy, surreal trip. EVERYTHING is different. Even though I grew up here, the transition is so huge everytime I can only imagine how stressful it must have been for sensitive little girl.
1 comment:
I'm speechless and can only say WOW!! What an experience to see the city you grew up in through the eyes of your baby. It's amazing how you've managed to notice all the little things through her eyes. Take care and please eat for me.
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