La Vie est Bien

The Ladakh Memoir | Part 1 Last July, Raj and I vacationed on our own for the very first time in 12.5 years since R and D entered our lives. It wasn’t the best feeling leaving  behind the babies with the parents and Tuku, yet this was a much-needed break we both needed from the mundane – a break from work, yelling instructions, household chores, raising children and the 100s of to-dos we pack in everyday!  What better place than the Land of Gorgeous mountains, beautiful rivers and impeccable hospitality, and what better reason than a milestone birthday as a get-away! We landed in Leh on a beautiful sunny Sunday! Armed with tips and tricks from Tuku and a few of our friends, and ably assisted by our guide and driver for the trip – Tenzing, we started ticking off from a longgg bucket list within 15-20 minutes of breathing the freshhhhh mountainous pure air!  Our first pit-stop was the  ‘Hall of Fame’ Museum (War Memorial)  where we heard war stories from pre-independence right until the

As a hands-on mommy of two, I can now relate to  a phrase that  my dad used   – “You will NOT understand  what a father goes through  until you have a child of your own”. He ’s  used this  on me on very few occasions .  yet  this sentence  left a profound impact  on me ! I’d “get it from him”  if  •  I miss a call from him as I drove on the highway  as a 20-25-year old (even now, frankly!)  •  I did not turn up at the time I’d said I would ,  from work  and / or from  social outing beyond 9 p.m. •  I was late to our planned time for MSN chat when I went to college in the US as an 18-year-old* *Those were the days  when 10-year olds weren’t gifted an iPhone for their birthdays !  Circa 2001, a  bestie (across the hall) and  I  shared a landline, and if the phone rang twice and she didn’t pick up, I’d  rushhhh  from my room to  pick up  the call before the last ring  cos it could mommy   / daddy calling to speak to me (God forbid, it was some  “news” about any of my grandparents / family