QUESTION: “Amma, when is our next vacation?”
ANSWER: “In October! To celebrate Ammamma’s birthday!’
It took some research in reels and reviews to arrive at a destination that met my criteria:
– no long layover / long duration flights
– no excess walking/ trekking
Except this small nature trail; sweaty but sweet. No crowd, no chaos!
– no man-made points of attraction
– no sight seeing
– only relaxation
For instance, like this:
When I revealed to the boys that the Andaman Islands was going to be the destination, Shloki’s first question to me was;
QUESTION: “Amma, why is it called Andaman?”
ANSWER: “DID YOU KNOW that as per Hindu mythology, Andaman is believed to be derived from the Malay version of Lord Hanuman which goes as ‘Handuman.'”
Of course, I had to Google it like the answer to many of my Young Sheldon’s questions. Since the boys love Hanuman, this piece of information generated a high level of excitement in them! Plus the fact that it was our annual trip with my parents had them all charged up!
QUESTION: “Amma, why does Ammamma not get into the water? Why can’t she swim? Why is Appa sleeping on the beach? Why can’t Appa run?”
ANSWER: While all his questions are valid, you’ll be amazed to see how the otherwise cautious and conservative couple undergoes a complete transformation when their son-in-law and grandchildren are around! The sudden adrenaline rush they experience makes for the most epic episodes on our annual trips!
A quick rewind:
2023 – Munnar
Mom dared to go on the zipline. While her son-in-law returned to base, she did NOT. Why? Because she couldn’t catch hold of the return loop on time. She stayed hanging there for what seemed an eternity until Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh proceeded to rescue Zaara, ‘Jaya’ in this case.
2025 – Singapore
Appa volunteered for the Skyline Luge ride on his grandson’s insistence. A skyride that takes you to the starting point of the luge has one big flaw in my opinion. Yes, they do instruct you to jump out of your seat and dash to the side as soon as your car gets slow but that’s easier said than done for more than one reason! One, the ride continues to be in motion, albeit slow. Two, the passenger may not be one that pays keen attention/ listens to instructions.
That passenger happened to be my father. He lost his balance and buckled down as soon as he stepped down from the car. With the floor under his feet sliding away, it was a complete fiasco to help him up and move aside! But that accident did not deter the man’s spirits. He went on to complete the luge ride like a pro!
2026 – Andaman
My mom was very keen on doing some water sports this time; a birthday treat to herself apparently! The lady can now boast about the snorkelling and the jet ski ride that she successfully completed and enjoyed with her son-in-law. While they were busy sticking their face down in the water searching for Nemo, my older one was happily making sand poop, my younger one, oblivious of all the crowd and chitter chatter on the island, was fast asleep on a beach towel, and the oldest child aka my father, was happy to have found a seat to relax and just watch. When I begged him to get up for a photo, he was so afraid he’d lose his spot that he hardly smiled and rushed back to sit down! Everyone’s a Sheldon in my family or what!
Having experienced snorkelling in Maldives, I didn’t mind giving it a miss in the Andaman. What I really wanted was for my mom to experience the activity and I only felt it safer that she do it with PP. Several minutes later when I saw the gleam on her face, it was proof that she had thoroughly enjoyed! In fact, they insisted that I do it too. Sure, why not!?
I said a quick bye to Shloki and Appa and followed the instructor toward the water. After a quick briefing, he requested me to wait stating that there was another person joining us. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined who that person would be. Out of curiosity, I turned back. Can you believe it???? IT WAS MY APPA!!!! The man who did not want to move from his spot (comfort zone!) was proceeding slowly toward me to join me at snorkelling. It may have been my mother’s birthday that very day, but I got the best present ever.
QUESTION: “Amma, how did Appa agree to do the snorkelling in Andaman?”
ANSWER: “Because YOU and I encourage him to be strong and try out new things Shloki!”
Also, there was another reason. Let me tell you why the snorkelling at Elephant Island was much better than Maldives, apart from the fact that I got to experience the activity with my daddy by my side!
At Maldives, a boat took us out into the ocean in groups – we were asked to step down into the water – get acclimatised – follow the instructor – carry out the activity – return to boat. Frightening enough for first-timers to back out of the activity!
On the other hand, at Elephant Beach, a blue stretch blessed with plenty of corals beginning close to the shore, you need no boat nor swimming skills! The locals lure you into the activity by offering a free trial wherein they take you into the water with a full face mask for the acclimatisation part, post which they encourage you to complete the full activity. You hold onto a rope tied to a float, lie flat and enjoy the view while the instructor does the talking and directing the float! Also another man does the camera work. It was that smooth and easy!!!
On our way back, I noticed that Appa’s mask was nearly filled with water, I quickly informed his instructor. He helped Appa out of the mask, catch his breath and get back to the shore so gently and patiently, that Appa felt indebted to him for life.
QUESTION: “Amma, why are you deleting photos?”
ANSWER: Sitting in the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Andaman, one can’t sleep all the time. Definitely not the mother of a toddler sleeping peacefully on her lap. Because ‘sleep when the baby sleeps‘ meme is funny but real and relatable! Google loves to blackmail me every now and then that I will stop receiving emails if I didn’t clean up my storage, so I succumbed to that threat and got on a mission to declutter my gallery. Despite that, I did not click too many photos on this trip because it seemed wiser to spend time with my family than do random selfies. I shall not call this a very big sacrifice on my part, for the main reason behind not indulging in any photoshoot was that I am yet to recover from the worst haircut of my life, a WIFE-altering accident evidently. Sometimes I catch my husband staring at me, like I can feel his eyes on me. If only it was romantic. The truth is far from that. It’s so bad, it hurts because he’s actually trying to figure out whom I look like. On most days he believes I look like this person.
FYI: Shloki says Amma looks like a lamp. Ouch.
SEE IT. CAN’T UNSEE IT? SAY IT.
Just how many photos can one click of oneself or the beach or the sky? Apparently a hell lot! Who cares about relaxing on a vacation when you can spend all your time posing and flaunting? Maybe this living is the REEL deal today and the minority of us has it all wrong.
QUESTION: “Amma, why is it soooo HOT?”
ANSWER: Andaman was hot. Terribly hot. Can you believe that? Inspite of all that greenery, Andaman felt hotter than Mumbai. My heart wept for Mother Earth. Then my heart wept even more for myself because on the day that I wanted to dress up all pretty for lunch, the AC in our room conked! PP suggested that I use mom’s room to get ready but I gave him a Sheldon reply “If I could, I would..but I can’t, so I shan’t!” – This resulted in two things.
1) PP didn’t give a damn
2) I was sweaty, grumpy and unhappy, and did not want any photos of mine clicked. After a lot of coaxing, when Amma did click some, I screamed and stomped because of the way my hair looked in those photos. Yes, I have tantrums too. Also YES, It was my impulsive decision to get the damn haircut.
QUESTION: “Amma, When will we go in the ferry?? Why is this line not ending?”
ANSWER: “It will baby. The day people cease to exist.”
Queues in the Andaman for the ferry were so long that it seemed the entire Indian population had landed there on that very weekend. If the first week of October is such, I dread the peak season. Don’t believe me? See this post that I came across.
While the private ferry provider Nautika was top notch in terms of service and comfort, the management at the jetty was poor because… PEOPLE. TOO MANY PEOPLE. I think it would be unfair if I blamed their team alone because they operate on strict timelines but it ain’t smooth, that much I’ll tell you. To top it, our people? They ain’t the most cooperative and accommodating kind. The whole process of people disembarking, waiting to collect their luggage on one side and people waiting to drop off their luggage and go on board. You can’t help but feel a lot of sympathy for the babies in arms and senior citizens.
SEE IT. CAN’T UNSEE IT? SAY IT.
NAUTIKA decided to get all naughty with their choice of videos to play on the screen – a gyrating Jacqueline Fernandez is NOT appropriate and acceptable when you have kids and oldies onboard. Period.
I politely asked one of the attendants to change it and she took my opinion very seriously to heart. She replied “YES BOSS” and played ‘MAIN KOI AISA GEET’ 😬😋
QUESTION: “Amma, why do we have to go to JAIL??”
ANSWER: “To put naughty children like you. You trouble Amma so much that I’m going to keep you there.”
I shall never say these words to my child again. A visit to the Jail actually took us to some disturbing times in India’s past. I was impressed with Shlok’s interest and curiosity in our history but I refrained from delving into gore details lest he get nightmares. (He did ask me several sensitive questions that I had to answer with a lot of care!) Moksh on the other hand, particularly did not enjoy the light and sound show on the premises and expressed his dislike so wildly that he was taken away by the police. Hehe, just kidding. His father.
SEE IT. CAN’T UNSEE IT? SAY IT.
1. A wall mounted electric box read ‘Mind your head’ but my dad doesn’t read. His wife warns him. But does he pay heed? Not necessarily. In order to not interrupt the photoshoot of a group of college-goers in the narrow prison corridor, my dad decided to walk right into that metallic frame. Ouch.
My mom gave the group such a look and comment that they would have felt safer inside the prison cell but at least it resulted in their asking my dad “Uncle are you okay?”
2. Civic sense in some Indians cannot be awakened until one takes the courage to knock it into them. When I saw a few men with their feet up on the seats with their shoes on, my blood began to boil. I walked up and got them to take it down. They stared at me like I had STUPID written on my face. Why is it so difficult to be nice humans?
QUESTION: “Amma, can I stay in the room with Appa and Mokshi please?”
ANSWER: “Yeah okay! If you’re not interested in coming out with us, go ahead. HAVE FUN!”
My kids love being in the room. No screen time, nope. They can do the most random stuff and be happy.
So live and let live is our policy. We don’t follow a strict itinerary, we listen to our boys and bodies only.
QUESTION: “Amma, we kept saying Andaman Vacation, Andaman Vacation, but it’s already over!! 😞”
ANSWER: “I know baby! Time flies when we’re having fun, right?”
Truth be told, the vacation was lovely. Andaman did not disappoint at all. The corals and the greenery are in abundance and the beaches? The beaches on both, Havelock and Neil island, are the perfect dreamy blue. The beautiful and breathtaking kind you see at Maldives. Let me tell you thing – you can never do a Goa after Andaman. BUT, the rate at which tourists are flocking to the islands, I can only pray Andaman doesn’t turn into a Goa.
Cheers 🙂
