Desi 'light'-packers Episode 7!

10:30 AM, Sunday

9, November 2008

Dublin

California, United States

The gas cooker was at its full blast trying to cope up with the speed of the cook , preparing a leisure Sunday meal. She was cooking at her maximum speed, but very cautiously as the exhaust vent, along with the microwave, had lost its life the previous day. She was taking extra care not to wake the fire alarm up while cooking without the exhaust vent.

"It's been ages since you had a haircut!", the lady raised her voice.

"I'm going mom! ", he said in a feeble pleading tone.

There was a knock at the door precisely at that time. He got up from the sofa and walked to the door to see who the visitor was. The lady who was cooking exclaimed "They have come!". I followed him to the door.

"Oh! I didn't know that people come home here to give a haircut!", I said with a mischievious laugh.

Both of them, caught off-guard for a moment, started laughing. He looked through the magic lens and opened the door, still a smile remained on his face.

"Hi! 'ow u doin'?", came a shout from the familiar short dark man.

"We are doing fine", he replied reciprocating the enthusiasm.

We were expecting them to come. One was a known face, the short dark man and the other was the familiar, tall , heavy-built lady from the apartment maintenance department.

The tall lady waved her one free hand towards me with a cheery and chirpy "Hi!" and I replied back.

They both were carrying a rather heavy black GE microwave, the exact replica of the one in the kitchen and heaved it towards the living room carpeted floor. When they stood up, I asked,

"How are you doing K?"

He replied, "I'm doin' fine! I'm doin' fine! Where are you these days? I don't see you down at all!"

"I've become a bit busy, K!", I , showing my hands in the direction of the lady, who by now had switched off the stove and had started removing the pans from it, said, "She is my mother-in-law! She is with us for sometime. So I don't get to come down often these days!"

"Hi ma'am!", waved K towards my mother-in-law and she replied with a shy "Hello!"

The tall lady by this time had noticed the numerous photographs on the fridge, held in place by fridge magnets.

" Where are these photos taken? They look lovely!", she asked.

"Are you a photographer?", asked K  looking at the photographs to him.

"No, not professionally! But I do have an interest in photography", he replied shy-hesitantly.

"These pictures were taken in Holland last year when we went there for the tulip flower festival!", he started explaining the lady, who was by now examining the photos one-by-one. Kearney joined them in looking at all these pictures.

"Are these tulips through-out?", the lady asked, pointing at one of the photos.

"Yes! " he continued, "It is a 34 kms stretch full of tulips, the name of the place is......"

They both were awestruck looking at the flower display outside the glass windows of the coach. They were looking at the flowers fondly, the way they held their beautifully blossomed face high with pride. Their face glowed with such chirpy, vibrant colours pink,yellow, red, orange, green, reflecting the sun's rays casually, warning the sun, that the farmer cared for them so much, showered them with his love and their shine is like a child's face who has got all the love and care in the world from its mother. Their petals forming a bulb, just only slightly distracted by the gentle breeze, teeny-weenily deformed the shape of the bulb, was the only flaw....Oh God! now every flower is like that with the breeze...even a fault finding machine would never be able to find anything and anyone can bet a million dollars on it! Such is the dutch precision!

"I am going to have a very quick round of the garden as I have to head back to the airport for my flight!", said the lady.

Only then they both realised that the bus had come to a stop already and the lady was half out of her seat. They got off the bus with the lady.

"How long will it take for us to see the garden and cover it fully?", she asked the lady.

"It will take one full day if you want to do it leisurely!" , the lady continued, "This is the first time for you, I presume , so I am on my way. Bye . Nice meeting you two", she said with a smile.

"Not so soon!", he said with a smile, "You will not leave us without taking a photograph of us, I know!"

The lady laughed at this, "Sure! Sure! I will" and took the camera to freeze another Kodak moment of their lives!

To be continued.....

Desi 'light'- packers Episode 6!

The airport shuttle came to life sharp at 08:30AM and they both were seated in a two seater, in the second row of the bus. There were only two other passengers, as it was the first shuttle that day from the airport. One was an old lady with a small frame, in her mid-fiftees and the other was a rather stout tourist from SE Asia with a state of the art Digital SLR, big telephoto lenses and tripod almost occupying his entire seat.

"Which part of India are you from?", made them startle and turn back towards the direction from which the voice originated. It was the lady with the small frame who was smiling back at them. On close observation they found out that the lady was an Indian origin, but long-term stay outside has changed the colour of her skin considerably along with her slang.

"South!", he annswered and smiled back at her throwing the inevitable question back at her.

"I was born in Delhi. Which place are you from?", the lady asked.

"You know Chennai?", she asked and he replied, "I am from Thiruchirapalli"

"Oh! Yes! I know Chennai and Thiruchirapalli.... is it not Trichy which has the famous Srirangam temple?", she asked with her eyebrows crossed, looking at him as if she is expecting the answer in the affirmative.

On hearing her, his face glowed with pride and became soooo big as a child's face in trying to explain something in excitement. "Yes! Its the same place you are mentioning! It has river Cauvery running through it and many other temples", he said with eyes wide and a smile on his face with kiddish enthusiasm.

"Now! Who says me?", she murmured to him in a teasing manner that his face turned red and continued his conversation with the lady as if he has heard nothing at all!

" You must have heard about Akhilandeswari temple too", he continued.

"Yeah! I've been there when I was young. My parents took me. They are such beautiful temples ! I still remember", the lady elaborated.

"Where do you live at present?", she asked the lady.

"I have lived in Toronto Canada for 26 years now", the lady replied with a smile.

"Oh!", she exclaimed, "Thats a long time"

"Yes", the lady continued., "Before that we lived in Brussels, Belgium for 12 years, and every year we used to visit Keukenhof during this very season for the Tulip festival. We haven't missed a single year! It used to be very nice to drive down from Brussels to here, spend a day or two and return back! I am hopping over in Amsterdam this time on my way to India and thought that I had 7 hours time, I can visit Keukenhof and here I am! After 26 years!", the lady said.

"Wooooooooow! ", she said.

"Yes!", the lady continued, "It is a nice memory. See, from here and from now onwards it is just Tulip farms non-stop for 34kms", pointing outside the window and only then the two's gaze went outside window to see the ever stretching, never ending fields of flower mat, interwoven with such brilliant array of colours, spread like an ocean on both sides. For the first few minutes they found it too difficult to decide what to see and what to miss! After a few moments they have come to a conclusion that they are going to miss a lot for sure, even if they record whatever they see!

The heavenly mat stretched far beyond ones eyesight could reach, laced and fringed with such precision, that it was hard to believe, how all the plants could flower at the same height and time. They just wondered about God's creation for the nth time during the past two days.

"How are they maintaining such large farms with such dedication? Can we have entry access to get inside?", she asked the lady.

"Sure, their dedication and hard work has to be appreciated, othrewise the country wouldn't have had the world famous Tulip festival during this season. The farm owners usually give permissions to enter inside when we go and ask them personally. For that driving helps a lot!", the lady explained.

"Yes! That is true!", he said disappointment clearly etched on his face on missing a chance to get inside the farm just for the reason of not driving.

Desi 'light'-packers Episode 4

" I had been to Utrecht last time, to meet my client, do you remember?", he asked.

"Yeah", she answered.

"You take a train from Amsterdam to Utrecht. Its a 20 mins ride and you will get a life's worth to watch", he said, "Thats how it is", he added.

"I have heard about it. When I was with IBM, some of my friends travelled to the office here in Utrecht and they have said that the place is pulchritudinous! Didn't realise it then!", she said.
"Yes, I have seen your office. Utrecht a small industrial town. ", he replied.

By this time they were reaching Amsterdam Centraal . They wanted to travel to Schipol Airport, where they have planned to stay in an accomodation nearby. He stood up from his seat and started moving towards the driver's.

"How do I go to Schipol from Amsterdam Centraal?", he asked the driver.

"To Schipol? From Centraal? You have to take a metro train. Its quiet a distance from here. Around 30 mins by train", the driver replied back, he seemed to have lost in thought about something which the hero of our story couldn't comprehend.

"Oh! Is it that far?", he asked.

"Yeah!", the driver replied, totally lost.

When he wanted to resume his way back to the seat with a polite "Thank You!", the driver told him, "I can drop you at the airport! Would you mind waiting for 15 minutes, until I unload all the passengers and their lugguage?"

Startled by the driver's unexpected question and the offer, he was in search for words "Er.... yeah! But how could you do that?"

"The airport is on the way to the garage. So I can drop you if you want", the driver replied.

"Thank you!", he said unable to generate any other word from his totally baffled brain.

" Its not a problem at all", said the cheerful driver.

Awed by the generosity of the coach driver, he told her about the offer . She was surprised on hearing it and reacted in her usual dramatic manner.

Friday

Apr 6, 2007
Schipol, Amsterdam, Holland


It was 5:30PM when the coach driver dropped them in Schipol. They both enquired about the shuttle buses to the hotel and reached the shuttle stand. On their way, they met a cheerful set of people who wished them which theyresponded with equal enthusiasm. When the shuttle arrived, they took their seats and the vehicle started. At the same time there were claps from the people outside and passengers in the shuttle turned to see what caused the applause, to find out a person running to catch the very shuttle which has started to move. The driver applied brakes to stop the bus for the running pasenger!

The two were astonished to see the unfolding scene, with wide-open mouths wondering whether they were dreaming. Their previous trip to this place has made them familiar about the good-natured people, but this was hard to believe. It was 15 minutes by the Accord hotels shuttle to reach Dorint Novotel. They saw the wonderful poster behind the receptionist and smiled secretly of the enquiries that they made, just a few minutes ago, in the airport about their plans for tomorrow.

When they reached their room he said, "Lets call it a day! We have a great day ahead for tomorrow. We need rest!"

Desi 'light'-packers - Episode 2!

... And Windmills....The journey through the country of Holland is a delight. Rotterdam and its picture-perfect settings, as a small town, with sourrounding villages, smaller houses, greens as far and wide one's eyes can stretch, long winding lanes, people with cheerful smiles and windmills wafting their monstrous arms to the brisk and gentle breeze.... A walk along the winding lanes ....


" I think we are seeing an example of how a man can preserve what God has given!", she said standing beneath a windmill staring at it!


"Yeah we are indeed.. he has done it by not overproducing himself, firstly", he said.


She laughed at his light-hearted humour, "Oh..its a serious fact, I've always admired how thinly populated these places are! And that is the reason , they have sooo much more of beautiful landscapes left, with no occupation, adding to the beauty , thus very less polluted" and started walking towards the winding lanes.


"People here give so much importance to nature and have declared vast amount of area as green-zones!". she continued.


"Yes thats a wonderful plan by the government to stop people spoiling the place by construction and has strictly allocated for sight-seeing purposes only!"


She spots a canal from no-where, with water as clear as a crystal and a small un-occupied boat. "Oh! I just want to build a small hut here to live my retirement life!", totally lost at the beauty of the picture spread ahead.




"It may not be possible! This might still be a green zone then!", he said laughing at his own joke.

Then came a rude jolt " The bus will stop here for half-hour. This is a legal stop required before getting into the border of Holland! People can have refreshments here, if need be", announced the driver through his mike.


They both turned their heads around to see the board of Mc Donalds smiling back at them with an inscription "Welcome to the border of Holland!"


"Oh! I almost forgot this! We are still not in Holland!", she said and looked back at him, to find him give a startled look and realised he too was lost in memories. They both smiled and climbed out of the bus.

" I want to have the biscuit, the Mc D guy gave us last time", she said. "It was delicious".


He shook his head disbelievingly, his hair fell on his forehead, he combed again with his fingers "I am not able to believe, you are this childish when you come out!".


"Yeah! Only then you can enjoy without a worry!" she replied with infectious enthusiasm, hopping for every step she took.


They both entered Mc D he asked, "What are you going to have?"


She said, "We haven't packed anything! So a full Mc D veggie meal"



So let them have their meal and we will resume later! :)

Desi 'light'-packers - Episode 1!

Friday 04:15AM
Apr 6, 2007
Paris, France


The two walked out of Hotel Elysees Mermoz, Off Champs Elysees, hand-in-hand with not a worry in the world, feeling as independent as a bird on its flight, with a very exciting plan on their heads, as light as their bags. They boarded a metro train to Haussmann Saint-Lazare from St. Philippe Du Roule, from where they took another train to reach Gallieni. The two reached the ticket counter and bought tickets to board a 07:30 AM Eurolines Coach Service to Amsterdam, Holland.

"I am still not able to believe we are doing this" said one to another

" Yes, we are!" he said.

"Why did I ever buy myself into this plan? " she asked.

He laughed at her admiringly, combing his hair, ruffled by the brisk early morning breeze, with his fingers, which has become habitual.

"If we are going to pull this off, it is going to be a memorable one!", he said.

"Yes ", she replied excitedly and both exchanged excited looks.

"Tickets please", shouted the coach driver. He verified the tickets, helped passengers one by one, to board the coach.

"Here we go! I think we are crazy!", she said.

"I think so too!", he said and took her hand to sit beside her.

And the coach took off sharp at 07:30 towards the early morning sunrise, which showed, what a fine typical spring day it is bound to be! Spring in Europe is nothing but pure bliss! The sprintness in the breeze, brings a fresh inner feeling for walkers, striding by the innocent looking flowers exhibiting their bewitching smile as a bloom! She was looking outside the window watching all these sights trying to take-in and register every pixel of beauty spread in-front of her eye.

"Our eyes are a thousand Digital SLR's put together! I always wonder God's creations... our eyes, the beauty that lies in front of us! ", she said, eyes still outside the window busy capturing whatever it can.

"Why do you say that?", he asked, puzzled.

"When you hold a camera to take a picture of the frame which lies ahead, you will notice how panoramic our eye-view is and how little can these digital state-of-the-art man made machines , pack to a single shot!", she answered.

"Phew! I've realised this many times... but Kudos! beautifully worded!", he said appreciatively.

She turned away from the window still wide-eyed to smile at him. "Thank you!"

Brussels city center

The 10 hour journey continued through the picturesque town of Lille in France , then through Brussels and the industrial town Antwerpen in Belgium with light conversations between the two and a lot of sight-seeing. When the coach wsa nearing the border of Holland, excitement had started mounting again already! The two had travelled to Amsterdam before, the previous year and were so fond of this country for the spellbinding scenic beauty, the helpful people and the careless lifestyle.... And oh! Who can forget the windmills? ......

Ho! Ho!..... Holland!

To be continued...