thoughts and reflections

monsoon wedding

The trip that we have been planning for months had finally come and I was anxious about it until the very last minute. It was our trip to India only for 4 days and 4 nights to attend a close friend's wedding. But since we were leaving Rania for the first time and only at 6+ months, it was rather tough emotionally. However, I knew they were in good hands of the grandparents and since we left both of them with clear instructions on their routine, frozen foods and breastmilk for Rania - all went pretty smoothly.

We left for the airport just after putting Rania down for her sleep, but seeing Imran waving goodbye in his pyjamas probably falsely thinking that we would be back in a few hours was not at all easy. I cried the first 10 minutes in the car while Dino held my hands, which then made me realise that this holiday was really essential and a good refresher for our relationship.

We flew to Chennai first for one night before flying to Hyderabad from there. Meeting up again with our INSEAD friends after almost 2 years was certainly the highlight of the trip. We stayed together at the prestigious Sekunderabad Club (thanks to our generous hosts), so we spent plenty of time catching up on each other's progress since leaving INSEAD and also on all the gossips!

The wedding stretched for 3 consecutive nights, so we just had a blast partying just like the good old days. For some of our 'Western' friends, it was such an interesting experience to be part of a typical Indian wedding, but for us it is not very foreign. With all the beautiful Indian music in the background, vibrant colours, the smell of fragrant flowers and the rain which poured down from time to time - it really reminded me of the famous Mira Nair's movie 'The Monsoon Wedding'.

It was a shame that we didn't manage to see many historical sites as our priority was to catch up with friends, have some time to relax (since we didn't have the kids!) and of course a little bit of shopping. I only went to 3 shops, but did enough shopping in all 3! We also managed to squeeze in an ayurvedic spa treatment on our last day, so that was a bonus. Food of course was awesome, although I did find the Hyderabadi food a little too spicy for my tongue.

Upon coming back home, I just couldn't wait to hug Imran and to have Rania in my arms again. Imran was smiling from ear to ear pretty much the whole day that day and said "Mama, Next time please don't let me go" which broke my heart at the time! But, I certainly think that it was a great break for us and that it is important for the children to be apart from us sometimes to learn to be independant and to bond with the rest of the family.

Rania held me so tight while enjoying her breastfeed after 4 days of expressed milk from the bottle. She was fine though and apparently adjusted much better than Imran (who kept saying he missed us and who was irritable most of the time!). Rania however did get her first ever flu (from Imran who was just recovering when we left) and I am so glad that my parents decided not to tell us, so that we did not worry and continued enjoying the holiday which we certainly deserved!

posted by miss-cream @ 10:17 AM