Independence Day Weekend Trip

My father loves long weekends as it allows him to make a quick dash to Dehradun; and this Independence Day weekend was no exception. We left for Dehradun on Friday morning with Sandeep (Golu) chacha and Golee chachee after my papa prevailed upon my mom to accompany him.

As usual, my papa was sitting on the wheel cautiously negotiating his way through very heavy traffic on a rainy morning. The number of vehicles leaving Delhi outnumbered those entering in by a huge margin; but not enough to empty a city of 20 million residents.

We reached Dehradun at around 11.30 am to a traditional welcome by my dadee, dada and Renu bua. My Ridhima didi was visibly happy; you know she calls me “baby”.........

Dehradun weather was cooler as compared to Delhi. Apparently that sudden change in weather resulted in me contracting some throat infection; nothing serious though.....

While everyone else was enjoying their holidays in Dehradun, I was busy exploring new things- be it walking up the stairs or enjoying the swing or crawling inside a big house-almost 5,000 square feet of space. I love staying in Dehradun as it let me enjoy what I love most-“being a centre of attraction” with me enjoying the majority of attention of my dada, dadee, bua and Ridhima didi.........I love it!

As Sunday approached, creases were back on the faces of my papa and Sandeep chacha........ Seeing them that way reminds me of what my papa normally tells everyone- “You can take a man out of Dehradun but can’t take Dehradun out of a man”.

We left for Delhi on Sunday afternoon. Defying everyone’s advice, my papa took “Gang Nehar” route during night time. That route is considered unsafe for driving during night time as it passes through crime infested region and has seen many incidents of mugging and kidnappings in the past. We managed to cross that stretch in 90 minutes without any incident. Everyone thanked God and heaved a great sigh of relief after hitting back the highway again. In the hindsight, my papa realises that he had committed a blunder by taking that route........

We reached Delhi-Gurgaon at around 1.30 am in the night, tired and exhausted.....really tired!

Before I end this post, here is a picture of my Ridhima didi and myself wearing our Ghagra-Cholee on the occasion of Bhagwan SriKrishna Janmashtami.