V’s first road trip to meet his Great grand ma

In search of the shady tree…

The journey after the Coffee stop was refreshing as the kids woke up and had their refreshments too! It was a high energy throttle until the next stop. My dad had taken over the steering which meant we all shift places.

It was fun with M on my mom’s lap in the front and V on my sister’s lap at the back. With M singing away whatever she could muster up and V squealing in joy to give her company. Hearing V’s squeals M thinks he is having a Party of his own with us at the back and demands to jump over. We after a lot of tantrum she squeezes herself between the front seats and joins us. Brother and sister exchange such loving glances.

Only we know that it will not last long and they’d get into a quick tiff for toys if we didn’t distract them from each other. I encouraged her to continue singing something fun. We sang rhymes and clapped and cuddled. Soon she got bored and jumped back to the front seat.

After awhile the kids dozed off and the ride continued. Soon the scenery was whizzing past us, the humming of the vehicle on the road tearing through the air and an occasional sound of a truck or bus we overtake. Most of us drifted off to sleep as the music from the car’s player melted into our dreams…rather my dreams! Guess I dozed off too. After a series of fun adventures I wake up to voices of my mother talking about her grumbling stomach. Imaginary aroma of delicious lunch she had packed for us in the trunk started encircling me and soon I felt hungry too. Slowly one after the other every one but the children woke up much to the relief of my dad who had been awake driving.

We then decided to look for a shady tree to stop for lunch. However the face of the highway has changed over the years and throughout the route we didn’t spot a suitable place to safely park the vehicle and have lunch. After driving past some distance we decided to go off the highway into one of the tiny villages that dotted the stretch of the highway looking for a nice tree. We final spotted a small tree and drove into the narrow lane only to discover that the tree was inside a fence of a tiny little village house. It was after noon and we were sure that the inmates of the house ( may be enjoying their afternoon siesta) wouldn’t prefer to have some strangers’ vehicle parked in front of their house. We moved ahead closer to an open ground with a hand pump and a small construction in progress. there was no on around so we parked the car and spread out the fare. Dad walked a bit stretching his legs. My husband who was stuck in the back seat with the luggage was eager to jump out and get a sense of freedom. My mom and sister quickly served the food while the boys had a tough time keeping the “Whizzing Meg” under control. I quickly fed V and grabbed a plate for myself. It was a bit hard with V constantly reaching out to the plate to pull it thinking it to be some kind of fun activity every time i panicked taking it far beyond his reach. Finally my dad took charge of V so that I could eat in peace. After filling ourselves up with nice fluffy Idlis – tomato chutney and Tamarind rice with boiled egg it was diaper change time.

V didn’t prefer diaper change in the car seat but there wasn’t much we could do about that. After a lot of resistance and sheer persistence I successfully changed his diaper. We then cleaned up and packed and started from the not so cozy little spot in the village. The journey continues as the highway unfolded like a pathway to infinity…

V meets his Great grand parents!!

It was sure a great memory for us that Vernon got to meet his Great Grand Ma (Kollu Paati) – Dad’s Dad’s Mom and Great Grand Pa (Kollu thatha) Dad’s Mom’s Dad on his 8th month birthday! It was truly amazing as to how each of them received their little great grandson with joy.

First it was a road trip from V’s grandpa’s home to his grand aunt’s home where the Great grand ma lived. She almost immediately reached out to carry little V with here feeble arms. We were a little apprehensive about V’s weight and her age but she seemed oblivious to all that and overjoyed to see her great grand son. It was almost 3 hours of non stop fun. She made him laugh making funny faces, she sang for him, carried him about and asked many many questions about him. She kept forgetting who he was time to time due to her Alzheimer’s nevertheless she equaled him in being a child and entertained the 8 month old to bits. V had not laughed so much before. He loved every bit of the attention and enjoyed the company of his ever so chirpy Great grand ma.  His grand aunt was cautious watching over both of them while serving us a nice lunch. There was fun and frolic all along with four generations under one roof.

After all that it was time to go and the great grand ma wouldn’t let go of her little bundle. She kept asking to carry him long after we said our god byes. Finally we had to move on and we promised to bring V back soon.

The trip then continued and V slept through the journey. he was too tired after all the fun.

We then reached the very old house where V’s great grand pa lived. the gate was open, we walked in to the old house and yes Grand pa was there and he came with his arms outstretched to carry his great grand son. The joy in his eyes cannot be described in words. He was proud t hold the son of his most loved grandson. The one who he had raised from a wee baby to a lad.

He sat in the verandah of the big old house surrounded by trees holding V. The breeze was gentle and V dozed off in his hands. He kept saying how blessed (bhagyam) he was for the moment that he could hold his great grand child.  He was proud, happy, overwhelmed with emotions all at once. Similar emotions i have been witnessing when my father holds V and also my husbands dad but this was more powerful….maybe because it was  generation beyond. Vernon is lucky to have got the opportunity to meet his great grand parents. We are far more blessed to see such great emotions of true love. he admired the  sleeping baby in his hands as he spoke.

Though I don’t speak their language I could understand every bit of what they said to the baby and yes love does not have a language. And babies do speak…they speak volumes and awaken our innermost pure selves. Their captivating innocence as they seek out to people without any preconceptions is what makes them unique. They have the ability to bring out our inner child and it is truly a meditative experience.