Lesson learnt from a hectic trip | Mommy to a toddler | TicTalkToe
When my bestie from Delhi announced her wedding plans in November, I was beyond thrilled! My birthday was around the cards at the same time, and a lot of casual leaves had accumulated which would anyway expire in another two months. Naturally, we planned for an extended trip from Delhi. Also Delhi is the hub of all the sub-trips that one can indulge in. My husband quickly planned Haridwar (blame Qarib Qarib Single for this) and Mussorie in between, and I was all the more ecstatic! Little did I know what was awaiting me.
Just for your reference, I was then a mother to a 17-month old toddler. (She is 21 months old now)
We started off with Delhi on a Saturday via Rajdhani Express. We deliberately opted for travel via train since we wanted Tara to rest while travelling. We booked the 1st AC Coupe, but were alloted a Cabin while the charts were prepared. This was our first of the many set-backs. The person accompanying us was uncourteous and barely knew the etiquette of using his mobile phone in a public place. His phone would ring at the highest decibel while Tara was asleep, only to wake her up and disturb her. I literally cursed my stars for this horrible experience with a co-passenger.
Lesson learnt: Book well in advance so that you get a Coupe. We were the last ones to book the tickets, and hence were alloted a Cabin.
Once we reached Delhi, the next disaster awaited us. We reached our hotel by 10:30 am, only to discover that the check-in time was one o’clock in the noon. We pleaded the manager for a room but they let everyone else check-in and kept us waiting at the reception. The disciplined toddler that Tara is – she pooped right on time while we were still in the reception and I had a hard time changing her diaper. By the time we checked in, it was almost 01:30 pm, and it was hard entertaining a toddler for three hours. I was mentally exhausted by then, unsure what lay ahead of us for the trip.
Lesson learnt: Ensure that the check-in timings match with the train timings, or that the hotel allows an early check-in.
Next morning we were about to board the train to Haridwar, where my black laptop bag literally got exchanged with a stranger’s laptop bag in the luggage scanner area of New Delhi Railway Station. (Baggage tags will rescue you from such mishaps). I almost lost my phone while on the train (it had slipped between the hand-rails of my seat, and was on silent), so it was nearly impossible to track it. I found it after a thorough 30 minute search on the train. You can very well imagine my plight enroute Haridwar! Adding to my woes was a train in the wee early morning hours.
After we reached Haridwar, we navigated through the narrow gullies on a rickshaw that carried all three of us with the huge suitcase. I felt sorry for the rickshaw puller! Our hotel was right on the harr-ki-pauri ghaat and I could see Ganga Arati from my room. The hotel was good, the service was quick. We loved our stay here. But the weather was very hot and I dare did not venture out for any sight seeing. I even ordered all my meals in the room and spent some time on my own with Tara.
Next morning, we took a cab to Mussorie via Dehradoon. The roads were scary and at every turn, I almost felt this would be my last trip to the hills. Not sure if this is what mommy-hood does to you, but while my husband snored throughout the journey, I held Tara tight and prayed to God to help us reach Mussorie alive!
Mussorie welcomed us with its typical hill-station weather. Our hotel was right next to Library Chowk, and we strolled around as many times as we could due to its proximity to the marketplace. But, Tara refused to wear caps. I pleaded with her, but she had her way. Ultimately I gave up, and what followed was what any mother would dread! Tara was down with fever and cough. My birthday felt like any other day with me nursing an ailing Tara constantly. She refused to let me go. Still I braved the weather, put on a saree (with a cardigan), dabbed some lipstick and stepped outside for a short while with her.
We stayed in Mussorie for two days until it was time to bid Uttarakhand goodbye. The downhill journey to Dehradoon was another roller coaster ride, with me holding Tara right and this time praying that I make it to the foothills alive. The train departed on time and we reached Delhi at 11 in the night. We checked in to a hotel close to the railway station to avoid any unnecessary travel.
We were to attend the wedding the next day. By now, I had exhausted all my enthusiasm and energy. Tara was somehow battling her fever and cold. I still draped a saree and attended her wedding (with a sleep deprived face and I was mostly seated on the couch with Tara).
We then cut short our trip by one day and booked tatkal tickets to Kolkata. That was another disaster in itself. The confirmed tatkal tickets alloted us a Side Upper and Upper Berth in AC 2 Tier. This made me really anxious. We were just lucky that the coach was alloted for Kanpur, and our co-passengers boarded the train in the night and de-boarded at Assansol in the morning, so we practically had the entire space for ourself. One of them was also kind enough to swap their lower berth with my upper berth. By now, I had lost all my energy and practically needed 4766564 hours of uninterrupted sleep. But we got home, did laundry, looked after Tara (she did not leave my side even for a minute).
Cutting the long story short, our adventure of taking our toddler through different terrains and weather conditions was an utter disaster, and that is something I would totally recommend to avoid. Delhi’s smog just made things worse. Tara fought back in the best way that she could, but as her primary caregiver, this just made me feel even more guilty . All I prayed for was Tara’s quick recovery, so that she could get back to being her chirpy self.