The Holiday Conundrum

It all began on 20th October. Being done with our submissions and with Diwali round the corner, feeling of excitement and joy albeit with occasional pang of panic about the upcoming exams was in the air. These PLs suck. Its like holding out a candy to a toddler and wolfing it down before it can reach it.You can't study, because,well, its Diwali time and you're not supposed to study in Diwali.You can't 'not study' because, hell, you've got these goddamn exams breathing down your neck all the time! University coves love this. Its like their own strategy of keeping scores in check.Anyway, as I was saying, it all started on 20th October morning........

"Where do you want to go after your exams?", asked my father over his newspaper.I love this discussion! Every semester one month before the exams get over, our family enjoys discussing 'where to go!' ( or rather, 'where not to go' ) We take days to reach an apt conclusion. I like everything grand! 5 star hotels, air travel, that's what travel is all about,baby! But my parents believe in educating me about 2nd class trains with singing beggars and open windows. I staunchly hold on to my ideals though..(whenever I can). Also there's always some kind of twist in the end. Who doesn't like some good suspense? And whats travel without any last minute glitches, anyway ?

I remember once we had a long discussion about the same and we all agreed to visit Japan (Russia, Hong Kong etc were gallant fighters till the end). I excitedly learnt some basic Japanese, we decided what gizmos should we buy, got the visa as well! We ended up going to Ratnagiri. On the similar lines we were all set to honor South Africa with our presence during IPL II but our travel agent loved Ethiopia. He booked us to Jo'berg via Addis Ababa (google it.. :P) which required vaccination against a battery of illnesses. Put off, we (read: my Parents) thought Haridwar was a better choice.We once reached railway station en route to Nagpur but train was delayed by 14 odd hours.To avoid future cancellations and modifications in the itinerary, we traveled overnight in a rickety, smelly bus and shared our seats with some cuddly rats.Thrilling tale, goto http://chinusden.blogspot.com/2011/01/orange-melange.html to read more about it!

So, this time, then the winter session of our family's parliament opened up again, I was determined to make it big. The anticipated question thoroughly woke me up with a jerk faster than the cup of adrak-wali chai I was warming up to. "Iceland!",I exclaimed. I'd been re-reading The Journey to the Center of the Earth the night before and by Jove, how would I have loved to visit Sneffels!

" How about UK? ", my mum joined the party.

"UK ? You sure? It's freezing there this time of the year", said dad.

"So what? We can visit Scottish Highlands.I always wanted to go there."

"Hey wait a minute! Iceland isn't far fr-"

"Okay, let's see. My friend lives in Malaysia. Maybe we could....."

"But, Ice-"

"Malaysia? We can combine Singapore with that!"

and the two conveniently forgot to hear whenever I mentioned anything that stated with 'I'.After several millenia , I realized that my part in the discussion was equivalent to that of Mongolia in the United Nations non proliferation of nuclear weapons debate.Sensing defeat, I retreated back to my computer and forgot all about it.

Evening brought a conclusion. Malaysia it was! Year end in Singapore! It sounded too good to be true. I asked Chinmay, my 'friend in the family' about it. He seemed to like the idea as well. Finally feeling pretty enthusiastic, I ventured off happily to arrange a tour.I called several travel agents, they all seemed pretty helpful at first.They were all talk about the wonders of their tours , their food and even their taxis. But when it came to convey their estimate, they obstinately held on to their 'Puneri' principles. I realized that I should meet them face to face and strike a deal. So after spending an entire afternoon on watching videos like 'how to be a boss' , 'how to strike a good deal' and 'how to intimidate people' on Youtube, I set off.

First few were typical. They refused to budge. 'Take it or leave it',they said. I left it. We Kulkarnis are pretty firm when it comes to pride. The last one was a woman. 'Ha!' ,I thought. 'Here comes my deal.. I knew from watching loads of Hindi movies that women , often , give in easily. How wrong I was. This one , as it turned out, was a true salesperson who seemed hell-bent on selling it to me. When I first received her Quote, I balked at it.'75,000 per person?? No way! We are 6 people. 40,000! Group Discount banta hai! ' Still, after several e mails and 2 pages of my MMC textbook, she finally agreed upon a middle price, 50,000. Feeling smug, I accepted it. Sadly my parents didn't.

'50,000? You want to blow away 150,000 in 7 days? We'll stay at my friend's place in Malaysia. Cut the hotel costs.'

'But the good lady at the agency says she can't do that. We have to avail all their services!',I protested.

'Then you can go with that 'good lady' when you start earning. We can go on our own.'

Gee, I felt bad when I told her our decision. She had worked hard to settle on 50,000. Dejected, I left all the stuff on my parents. I couldn't afford to spend more time on that in any case. DSP still gives me nightmares..

After few days, I casually asked mum,

'So, whats the prograaam? Malaysia, right? When're we going?'

'What Malaysia? oh..that..we dropped the idea.Your Passport has expired this month. We need to renew it. It'll take a month or so. Maybe we could go in Summer. We can even go to Spain! You saw ZNMD na?..'

My heart dropped like a catch from Kamran Akmal's glove. All that planning, all that discussion, all that 'cajoling'..All in vain! With just 2 days left for the exam, I had to let it be. But then I realized, the major attraction of the holiday is in planning it and not executing it. As Oscar Wilde (blame uncyclopedia for that!)pointed out, the point is in journey, not the destination.

PS: As of 12th December, my holidays have started and I'm still in Pune.We plan to visit Savantwadi next week.