Me and my family’s five-day summer holiday to visit my cousins in Mumbai was a much-needed trip of rest and relaxation, with lots of high-end fun to top it all.
The itinerary was prepared well in advance, but had it been followed to the T, things would have turned out in quite different fashion than in reality. Even in the early goings, the thought that something would go awry in the schedule remained adamantly rooted at the back of my mind, and in retrospect, such beliefs were not overly misguided.
Initially, I felt ever so slightly egoistic about the fact that I was a veteran when it came to travelling by rail, especially when compared to my mother and sister. But unlike my full-day venture to Chandigarh, this train, although far more convenient than a plane on various grounds, was a seater, something that I was not accustomed to.
By the time I finally arrived at my maternal grandmother’s place at midnight, I was a nervous wreck. Combine the exhausting seven-hour journey with the ensuing two-hour drive from the train station to the premises, nobody would have blamed me if I was out cold mere minutes upon reaching. But the sight of my cousins, whom I had not interacted with in the flesh for over a year, was enough to bring back enough gusto for me to muster up strength and stay awake for a few more hours.
My father announced the following morning that the planetarium, our supposed first-day destination, had been overbooked, which came as a cold shower to me. Unbeknownst to all of us at the time, this was to start a comic change of events that directed the remainder of our holiday in intriguing directions. With the exception of my father and grandmother, our full gang of six people in all went to a nearby cinema and watched a film I’d been longing to for weeks. Later, we had a ball at the food court, with my father too turning up as a surprise.
The second day was the only one in which our aforementioned timetable took effect, as the seven of us (my grandmother not included) went to Imagica, one of Mumbai’s largest theme parks overall. Describing the unbelievable ups-and-downs on a Wild West Coaster, not to mention a monstrous 50-foot drop plunging into ice-cold water is a Herculean feat, as I relished every moment.
The only downside was that we were all so overwhelmed by the experience, that a drowsy cloud seemed to float above all of us for the rest of the trip, as I consolidated with playing games with my cousins and watching gargantuan amounts of television daily. The third day was one in which my father was unavailable, so following lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in the city, we planned to pay a visit to The Rock Garden after a short detour.
We visited my great-uncle’s place, a luxurious and posh-like apartment, where the adults chatted, and the juniors let their hair down. Needless to say, time flew and our plans were dashed in the dirt, although we resolved to go the following day.
The loophole in this scenario was that it clashed with our trip to the beach, which was essentially eliminated, while the Rock Garden was a disappointment. Nevertheless, we enjoyed greatly and later had dinner with my great-uncle and extended family. The final day happened to be a Sunday, the stereotyped day of the week characterized by crowds in all areas.
In spite of this, we chose to end our holiday with a trip to see flamingos wafting by a lake, but it was a catastrophe. Not only was my cousin forced to endure ‘quicksand’, the stench was revolting, and even the entrance was a daring trek. But things always work out in the end, as we had a blast in an indoor play place and concluded this exciting chapter of my life on a high note.
The train journey back home was rather uneventful, but the same could not be said for the excitement and exhilaration this Bombay getaway presented, a masterpiece of pure enjoyment that I will always cherish at the bottom of my heart.
