And the Universe Conspires…!

According to Paulo Coelho, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it!”

So what was it that I wanted? And how did the universe conspire to help me achieve it? Well, read on to find out.

I have been MIA for a while from the writing scene and I am pretty sure that some of you have wondered why MLM posted nothing but the weekly features all this time. To answer your question, I was in a writing hiatus, actually scratch that, I was in a hiatus from everything, not just writing!

For almost a year, I have been attempting and doing a variety of activities, which by the way have been keeping me busy. While I enjoyed every minute of all that I did, I also started to feel like there was too much on my plate, I started to get that nagging sensation at the back of mind that said “you need to slow down, buddy!” That was my mind telling me that I needed a break!

What I really needed was a distraction – a change from the routine of my life. So what’s the best form of distraction for a wanderlust? Do I really need to spell it out? No? Looks like you guessed that part right.

All I needed was an opportunity to travel, I knew that would be the best form of distraction for me. I say opportunity to travel because, initially I had no plans for traveling this early in the year, plus I had just started on a new project at work, so there was no way I would’ve asked for time off to travel. Just when I was starting to sulk thinking I am never going to get that opportunity for a break, I got a call from my parents in India. Apparently, I was needed to sign off on some paperwork aka legal documents and my physical presence was needed in the country!

There you go, that’s my opportunity. I get to travel to the very exotic India, it’d been a while since I was there last. Ahhh, the smile on my face when I saw the approval on my vacation form, was one that you had to see to believe. With my vacation approved, all I needed to do was book our tickets and get on that plane!

Paulo Coelho – you are a genius! My universe did indeed conspire to help me achieve what I wanted! And there I was with my boy taking a 20-hour flight from Washington DC to Mumbai.

View from my flight of the snow capped mountains somewhere in Europe!

Our first stop was Mumbai, India which is where my parents are currently based. My son had only a week of Spring Break so, a week is all we had. A journey of 20 – 24 hours each side meant we only had a couple of days to do some sightseeing as well as get the job done for which my presence was required.

Mumbai is a beautiful city with a lot on offer, however due to our time constraint, we could only hit the ‘must-visit’ destinations like Nariman Point, Juhu Beach and the Gateway of India.

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I was also able to do a bit of the much recommended street shopping. Boy, was that a fun experience!

After 2 days in Mumbai, we took off to the very beautiful state of Kerala which is where my ancestral home that is a 150 years old is located. My Grand-mom still lives in that house and we make it a point to visit her every time we travel to India.

These pictures will tell you why I love my ancestral place so much, it is so green and so very beautiful! I will never tire of this view!

Adi had tons of fun playing in the rain!

We also got to dress up in the traditional attire. The top Adi is wearing is called a kurta and the bottom called mundu is a garment that is wrapped around the waist and is generally worn by men in the south of India. He was so proud to be wearing that without it falling off that he wanted to bring one of them to show his friends! 😀

After spending a couple of days in the beautiful Kerala, we were back to Mumbai to catch our flight back home the very next day.

Waiting at Mumbai Airport Gate!

So did I get the job done? Of course, I did! Did the short trip help me get that much needed break? Of course it did. Not only did that trip invigorate my body and soul, it also helped enliven my mind.

Now that I am back all refreshed and cheerful, I hope to get back to my writing habit and blog about everything that matters to our mind and our life!  🙂