Long Awaited..But Finally Here!

This post should have been written a few days ago but life ko manzoor nahi hai ke woh dheere chale (life doesn’t agree to slowdown ).

So let’s recap on what has happened over the past 6+ weeks:

Surprise Trip to India
Neeraj and I surprised his family by showing up in Hindaun City two days before Holi. No one in his family, except for his middle brother in Jaipur who helped us coordinate everything, knew about us coming. Just about a week before we were going to leave, his elder brother had a slight clue that we would be coming on Holi but didn’t know which date. So we reached Delhi from Chicago on March 1, and we left by Janshatabdi to Hindaun City in the afternoon of March 2. We had borrowed a mobile (Motorola Razr) from my masi/jijaji in Delhi, so we had a phone and all. Once we reached Bharatpur, Neeraj called his elder brother to let him know where we reached, how many bags we had (4 big bags and 2 hand bags), and to please bring a van or so for help at the train station. We reached Hindaun City, and there was Neeraj’s brother with everything ready — coolie and all. Neeraj and I got in the van, and his brother was on his scooter, and we were off to my sasural. As the gate opened and our van reversed in, you can hear the “oohhs” and “aahs” and the “yeh log kahan se aa gaye” as Neeraj’s two sisters (who reached Hindaun that morning), his bhabhiji, the kids, and Neeraj’s mother were in total shock that we had shown up. Of course later in the evening when Neeraj’s father also came home, he also was in shock to see us already there.

The great surprise was a success – Neeraj and I have been planning for 4-5 months on our trusty whiteboard, trying to think about anything and everything that might happen to make sure that the surprise works out. Neeraj’s family tried everything to find out when we would be coming, but we stayed strong like a rock. But the surprises weren’t over yet…….

Holi
I would have to say that Holi was an amazing experience. Of course this was my first Holi ever in India, and wow! what a great time we had. Neeraj’s middle brother and bhabhiji came from Jaipur that morning, and so we had a full house (only one sister was missing, and she lives in Ahmedabad and couldn’t make it). We woke up early, after sleeping late the night before, and we started getting everything ready (pichkaaris, various colors, water, etc..) for our 4 special kids (Harshit, Monica, Shubham, and Himanshu). The kids had a great time standing at the front gate, asking uncles to please pick up the pichkaari that had fell to the ground, as the uncle came closer to pick it up, the other three would douse him with the colors (soaked in water).

Soon after watching the kids, Neeraj’s eldest sister decided that its time for the adults to get into it. So who was the first to get picked on — any guesses???? Yes the new member of the family – me! I wasn’t even ready, had still my glasses on, and she came up from behind with a handful of rang and got me good!!! I yelled for Neeraj, but as soon as he had reached it was too late — I was all pink. Neeraj’s youngest sister couldn’t hold back, and so she also got into the fun. Of course I wasn’t going to let anyone put color on me without a revolt, so I returned with fire by getting both sisters so good that their faces were all black. The best part about Holi this year was that Neeraj and I were together, enjoying with family, tons of masti – it was just as I had dreamt earlier. We played for five hours, we all were black in color….our clothes were a mess, but what great fun we had doing that to each other!

Another surprise was soon on its way in the evening of Holi for the family…….what was it? How did they react? Did they like it? Find out soon, in the next post.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.