Take a Break!

Article for Bethlehem Matrimonial - Jan 2017

A year after we got married, my wife and I went on a trip along with a newly married couple who was none other than her brother and wife. The trip was to the location known as Queen of Hill Stations, Ooty. Six years after this trip we still remember most of the detail of that trip and keep referring back to one or other incident during that trip. We’ve been doing that quite often and that’s when it hit us! One reason why we keep recollecting those good times is the fact that it was an awesome trip. But there was another reason for remembering Ooty days. It was none other than the truth that we didn’t have a ‘proper’ vacation after that wonderful trip!

We became parents, twice in 5 years, shifted to a different country and had to deal with a bunch of other responsibilities. All of these and more forced us to keep in the backburner, our plans to travel to a new destination. Every time, there was something or other stopping us from planning a trip to a location other than our home country. Going back home was never a ‘vacation’. Many a times, those home trips turned out to be more hectic that, by the time you are back, you needed another break! Life went on like that...

Looking back at the last six years, we can definitely highlight various achievements and happenings in our life worth mentioning. Having said that, with the passage of every year, my wife and I could sense something seriously missing. With God’s grace we were having a decent job and a good life with two loving kids. But there seems to be some gap somewhere. A sense of loss started looming over our life with every December reminding us that we’re bidding goodbye to another year.

The feeling kept on growing and finally a couple of months back, we took a decision that we can’t just take this anymore. Yes! We needed a break badly! Incidentally it just so happened that a colleague of mine posted a couple of pictures of his vacation at one of the most beautiful island nations in Indian Ocean. It was a destination that I’ve seen only as framed pictures in travel agencies or similar such places. We got excited at the prospect of spending a relaxed time in the emerald green waters of that beautiful island country! The travel bug has bitten us.

Preparations started at a crazy pace. Trip Advisor helped us find a good deal and hotel bookings were done. The flight tickets were booked online. Shopping for the trip followed and before even we knew we were at the airport terminal counter, handing over our bags to the Check-in staff. A few hours of journey and our aircraft touched down on this wonder piece of land on the face of Earth.

Next five days were perhaps some of the most beautiful ones in the last six years in our life’s calendar. There is no parallel to the happiness that we experienced. The concept of taking a break was truly becoming a reality that we were forced to relax and remain disconnected from everyday pressure of work and life. One of the best things at the resort where we stayed was that they didn’t have Wi-Fi in the rooms. That made us even more disconnected from the world and enjoy some quality time for ourselves.

You cannot really imagine the different perspectives that the trip kept in store for us. We learned about a new culture. Experienced the kind of things that we’ve only watched in channels such as National Geographic and Discovery. Learned a lesson or two in managing finances better. It was a sheer bliss to watch the little ones, though aged only five and one, thrilled to be in a different part of the world. I was very happy as a father that I could provide them with this experience though they may hardly remember any of this when they grow up. What mattered most was that they lived and loved every moment of the trip.

Five days just zipped past like five seconds. We just didn’t want to leave that wonderful land and get back to normal life. How much did we wish for time to be frozen! The beautiful memories will be etched in our minds forever. There is only one question that remains in our mind now, “Where are we going next?”!

May this New Year help you all experience this delight by taking a break and regain the vigour of life. God bless you with a wonderful year ahead!