2:09 AM
What do you do when you set out on a cross country, round trip drive spanning more than 2000 kms extending from Arabian Sea to Bay of Bengal and back? I don’t know what you do, but this is what I did. After I was done arguing, debating, justifying and negotiating with my family (co-passengers) I drove, I thought, I listened to music and I had some very ground breaking realizations. Sharing some of these soul stirring emotions on my blog:
- It is not just the beauty of the landscape or the smoothness of the road which make the journey memorable. More so, it is the unexpected bumps, speed breakers, missed turns, punctured tires and eccentric fellow motorists that add spice and emotion to the journey and leave you with stories that you will remember for generations to come. I thank God that my life’s journey is not a smooth, scenic drive but full of bumps, curves and senseless drivers who have helped me make my journey memorable. Absolutely Humbling!
- Weddings are fun! Great food, great company, great conversations! All packed in few short days! It is fun to meet the latest, youngest additions to the family and heart of hearts feel grateful that your own kids are way older. I no longer need to carry around dirty diapers in baby bags or feed curd rice to a body which is in constant motion. Phew! Eternal Gratitude!
- Children tend to get tired during long drives. I have 3 of this specie in my family – my son, my daughter and my husband. I have found a trick to manage them so I can drive in peace. When I get behind the driving wheel, I immediately put my favorite podcast of Vedanta or Yoga. As the wise, timeless knowledge echoes in the confines of our car, all children are fast asleep in flat 2 minutes. I can now soak in these precious words in peace with my husbands loud snoring giving the background music to the golden words of Adi Shankaracharya. Soul stirring Bliss!
- Like any old Indian Aunty, I have to do a postmortem of the wedding after the wedding is over. Long car drives are ideal place to look back, appreciate the meticulous planning, effort and love with which the wedding was conducted. It is also an ideal time to document best practices and start planning your own daughters wedding. Pavan and I shortlisted the venue, the decorations and the gifts for the guests during this car drive. A couple of more weddings and long drives and I am sure we would have also shortlisted the groom, the grooms family and the other paraphernalia to go along with the wedding. We just have another 10 years or so before our daughter is ready for marriage. Note to self – Got to keep attending more weddings from now on. Irresistibly Enticing!
- We stared our return journey at around 9:30AM in the morning. ETA to Pune was 2:09AM. We sped, made up on some time. ETA dropped. We stopped, fueled the car. ETA jumped back to 2:09AM. We sped some more, honked a little harder, made up on some more time. ETA dropped again. We stop for emptying our bowels so we can fill our tummy once again. We got back in the car. ETA was back to 2:09AM.I cant believe you have nothing better to do and you are still reading this blog. Amazing! Please stop spending so much time on social media. Go take a long drive instead. You might discover some better insights than what you will find on this blog! This is perhaps the best piece of advice you have ever received on this blog! Priceless isn’t it!?!