Under 10 Days

Arriving SFO for our 30 hour journey

A few months ago my mom really got after me that she wanted to go to India. I know she’d been planning to go, but she had been saying it for the past four years, and nothing had really happened, so I figured this was one of those times. But....

And so, here I am in the amazing Singapore transit hotel, burning my vacation time in order to "drop my mom off" in India. Neel's got the kids. It's the longest I've ever gone away from them. There are three pages of detailed instructions and promises of presents when I get back. But they were still crying at the airport. I had to hold my sh*t together for that. I was truly torn in duty, but there are some things you just have to do. No weddings this time around. But I'll take pictures. 

Nowadays, this sort of "drop off" is more common given the exponential increase in Indian immigrants abroad. However, this trip is waaaay more complex for not only my mother but me as well. This is my mom's first trip to India as a widow. It's my first trip since I was married without my husband and/or kids along for the ride. This is a mom-daughter trip. The last time we did this was when I was 25 years old and unmarried. Side note: In retrospect, I am pretty sure that trip was something my grandmother instigated because no girls should continue to be unmarried after age 25 per Hindu rules. Note: I got married much later, at 32. Everything is going fine so far with that. I am sure my grandmother occasionally peeks in on me (spiritually, perhaps) to make sure. 

Takeoff from Hong Kong (14/30 hours done)

To be completely honest, I'm not sure what to expect of India on this trip. I don't even see this one as a trip to India like the others, where we see amazing things (like a guy getting struck by lightning at the Taj Mahal, or some crazy wedding). This trip is almost entirely about my mom. Like a biopic (incidentally, on the plane, I watched a French film about Buddhist Chinese families assimilating in France and it had me in tears by the end, so this trip might be a doozy for me or I might just be so set in my ways that I have nothing to say anymore). In addition, I've never done a trip to India and back in under 10 days. That's another key feature of this one. It's a little crazy. I'm compressing a visit to my ancestral homeland, my in-laws on the other side of India, and my best friend from college into under 10 days. On the other hand, maybe this is no big deal. 

On a lighter note, this airport is so fun. There's too much shopping, and there is a pool on the roof of the airport itself. Those who know me well know I'm a little bit of an aviation nerd (the takeoff from San Francisco in the 777-300ER was magnificently graceful so shout out to the pilot, the plane, and the air conditions that night), and that I enjoy a good pool, so one can imagine how excited I was about the airport rooftop pool here. I almost fell asleep in the "jacuzzi", which really isn't that hot, since it's 90 F outside. The breeze made it downright dreamy to be in that pool. 

This is the airport rooftop pool. I loved it.