Transforming LIfe Style

Hi everyone..!
My quick fire vacation with my family, as I reached the airport my son and wife picked me up and the whole day was spent moving around to sort out some of my official work that warranted my immediate attention. The we grabbed the available clothings in the suitcases for all of us and rushed to the railway station and reached there just in time to board the train...just we and our suitcases with clothings , we didn't even bother anything about the food or the beverage , as we were to abode the train my Son demanded some drinks as he was feeling thirsty , I grabbed few bottles of water, some small eats ....!

Getting into the compartment taking my seat and little later I was gazing through the dark shadows that were racing past us by the glassed window...and my thoughts dragged me just 2-3 decades back... I still remember quite starkly, it was our summer vacation after my first year in the school from Kinder Garden..! After finishing our quarterly exams ( We all brothers and sisters studied in the same Anglo Indian School)It was like preparing for a big camping .. , the train jouney to our native town from the place where we lived is about 15 hours journey.

A week in advance my Mum would begin the preparation of the journey that had various factors, -Our clothings, my two elder sisters were given the whip to get it organised and packed.. not to miss any thing..!Not to miss my elder brother's artistic claim in pressing the shirts and pants, lungies and since he was leading us in these chores, he had his inner garments too!! pressed ( Previlage being the leader...which I used to envy ..)but if you ask me to press... sorry I don't know ( an easy answer for not doing and getting done by others and also being the youngest of the lot!!!?!!)All these by getting organized right from the maids and servants of our neighbors and also our neighbors know for sure we are out for a while where by they could breathe little relaxedly not to have problems with the broken roof tiles, crack open the fence to claim the football, cut the trees for the cricket stumps and hockey sticks ( Our Handy Craft for to play in the summer)... does it sound little aweful... but that was how it used to be ... but really every second chewed and cherished...The day we start our vacation the itenary will so calculated that don't miss a day waiting,,,!we depart beginning the journey to our native place..!The catering aspect taken care by my Mom... she was never short of any imaginations or innovations in preparing and packing the eatables for the whole journey..right from water to dessert..We had maids and servants who would assist my Mom. At the final moment or rather you can say the curtain raising moment .. I had never observed any last minute glitches... all carried out quite meticulously..
All luggages tagged and each is entrusted to each one of us...quite laborious and adventurous. While we get abode the train.. ( Obviously my Dad being in Railways... we had the previlage in traveling in First Class coupes)The journey begins and we use to while the time away by talking the funny incidents in the school and mimicking any of favorite teachers..and sometimes it will be a bigger coupe with 1 or 2 people joining us and obviously they would eventually be from the colony where we live and things roll out smoothly.. We as kids when ever we fell thirsty or hungry all our needs were packed and tagged and at our disposal...no fuss.
The journey was all well planned and with definite communication( letters posted to my Grand Parents a month ahead about our date of arrival and departure). The most trusted communication were the Post and for the fewer most previlaged crowd who were into business had the telephones and as one can imagine the olden days instrument... an antique piece..black coloured Bakelite instrument that the receiver itself would weigh as if it is made of lead...We never had any opportunity to make that an essential part in out life..rather i assume we all had a definite set course in life and never even attempted to think anything different or aspire for something not in the per view....

As our absence in our colony used to be a blessing for the other residents... it used to be a gift for all our cousins ( Don't be surprised we were around 60 - Cousin Sisters / Brothers..)The reason being that our Grand Parents would keep slating any events for this gathering as we were the only ones live away from the nucleus of the family..You can say right from having the harvest of the Bananas from the plantation or the groundnuts, or the Mangoes from the groove or the gauvas ..the cow laboring a baby calf.. the timings used to be coinciding to our arrival to our Grand Parents farm house...
I was shook up with the ringing of the mobile getting a text stating that we are approaching a new network area...I just turn around to see my daughter sleeping and my son curved to foetal position and my wife still asleep... the time difference and my jet lag were laughing at me as the lonely person awake in the compartment.. I tried to wake up my wife.. she asked me what is the time when I said it was 2.30 A.M. she literally cried stating that I was punishing her by waking her from the sleep... complainingly she again drifted into her sleep... The changing phase of the life style... I think it is getting too ,, too fast .. and encapsulated..