Daivik knew the route to India : first take a taxi to the train station, then take a train to the airport and finally take the plane to India. The day before we were supposed to fly he had told all his friends in kindergarten how he will go to India (taxi-train-plane). The evening before the travel, there was still some packing to be done. We were hoping to complete it after he sleeps. But Daivik refused to go to bed on time ("otherwise we will miss the taxi"), on top of which he insisted that he will "help" us.
Early the next morning he was deep in sleep but it was time to leave. How to wake him up ? He had not slept enough and there was a long journey ahead...I went close to his ears and whispered very, very gently "t...a...x...i". Perhaps it was a magic word I had tapped into inadvertently. One moment he was in deep sleep, next moment he sat bolt upright and the next he jumped out of the bed and was urging me ("appa, let's go let's go"). It was an incredible thing for him to watch the taxi arrive. A long awaited event was actually happening, right in front of his eyes !
I thought he might sleep on the plane, but he wanted to play, he wanted to watch tv, he wanted to take a walk, he wanted to drink juice (again), he wanted to not eat (when they got him the food), he wanted to eat (when they took away the trays). We changed planes midway and he lost himself in the glitter of the middle east, in the shine of the airport floors, in the dazzling brightness all around...the final plane to India was very much to his liking. There were 4-5 kids his age (!) in the plane all of whom got over their unfamiliarity with an amazing rapidity, synchronized right away and started running the aisles and tugging and pulling and hiding and laughing and crying...It was THE most amazing crew I have flown with. They were ever smiling and seemingly not bothered at the kindergarten like atmosphere.
Incredibly, after almost 16 hours of non-sleep, one taxi, one train and two planes, Daivik was a still a bundle of energy (from where does it come??) when they announced landing and the smiling air hostess cajoled the kids to their seats and put on their belts. Perhaps it was the gentleness of the descent, perhaps it was the dimming of the lights, perhaps it was the magic of the air hostess, Daivik fell into sleep right away. But there was one comical moment. As the plane started descending, he literally flowed under his seat belt, like in the Tom and Jerry cartoons, and hit the floor below, immediately finding an alternate position to continue his sleep. I put him back on the seat and he continued to sleep. He continued his sleep as the plane touched down, as we collected our bags, as we walked out of the plane, as we waited in the immigration lines, as we collected our luggage, as we went out of the airport into the crowd and bustle, into the pouring rain, as we arranged the luggage in the car, as we drove home, as we removed back all the luggage....
It was 4 AM and the end of a long trip. We were all looking forward to hit the bed. Daivik was in deep sleep now, so I laid him gently on the bed and was about the get into it myself when he asked in half-sleep, "Appa, have we reached India". "Yes, Daivik", I said. He sat upright again, rubbed his eyes, said, "Yahooooo" and jumped out of the bed. "Appa, come with me" he said, dragging me by hand as he right away started exploring "India".
Early the next morning he was deep in sleep but it was time to leave. How to wake him up ? He had not slept enough and there was a long journey ahead...I went close to his ears and whispered very, very gently "t...a...x...i". Perhaps it was a magic word I had tapped into inadvertently. One moment he was in deep sleep, next moment he sat bolt upright and the next he jumped out of the bed and was urging me ("appa, let's go let's go"). It was an incredible thing for him to watch the taxi arrive. A long awaited event was actually happening, right in front of his eyes !
I thought he might sleep on the plane, but he wanted to play, he wanted to watch tv, he wanted to take a walk, he wanted to drink juice (again), he wanted to not eat (when they got him the food), he wanted to eat (when they took away the trays). We changed planes midway and he lost himself in the glitter of the middle east, in the shine of the airport floors, in the dazzling brightness all around...the final plane to India was very much to his liking. There were 4-5 kids his age (!) in the plane all of whom got over their unfamiliarity with an amazing rapidity, synchronized right away and started running the aisles and tugging and pulling and hiding and laughing and crying...It was THE most amazing crew I have flown with. They were ever smiling and seemingly not bothered at the kindergarten like atmosphere.
Incredibly, after almost 16 hours of non-sleep, one taxi, one train and two planes, Daivik was a still a bundle of energy (from where does it come??) when they announced landing and the smiling air hostess cajoled the kids to their seats and put on their belts. Perhaps it was the gentleness of the descent, perhaps it was the dimming of the lights, perhaps it was the magic of the air hostess, Daivik fell into sleep right away. But there was one comical moment. As the plane started descending, he literally flowed under his seat belt, like in the Tom and Jerry cartoons, and hit the floor below, immediately finding an alternate position to continue his sleep. I put him back on the seat and he continued to sleep. He continued his sleep as the plane touched down, as we collected our bags, as we walked out of the plane, as we waited in the immigration lines, as we collected our luggage, as we went out of the airport into the crowd and bustle, into the pouring rain, as we arranged the luggage in the car, as we drove home, as we removed back all the luggage....
It was 4 AM and the end of a long trip. We were all looking forward to hit the bed. Daivik was in deep sleep now, so I laid him gently on the bed and was about the get into it myself when he asked in half-sleep, "Appa, have we reached India". "Yes, Daivik", I said. He sat upright again, rubbed his eyes, said, "Yahooooo" and jumped out of the bed. "Appa, come with me" he said, dragging me by hand as he right away started exploring "India".
