My Vacation So Far

I'm up in the mountains in Kasauli with my family, which used to be a really fun thing because it usually meant hanging out with my cousins for extended periods of time and not really having to give a rat's hairy ass about what the adults say/said. But so far, only Niamat, Fateh, Gurbani and Jagat (who is 1) are here. And we're staying in a house full of 12 people. Which means that I'm always getting told about what I should and shouldn't do, and I swear to God I am going to hit someone if they don't stop.

There are so many things I want to say (mostly hatin' but whatever), and I can only formulate the thoughts if I make a list. So here we go.

Things That Have Been Annoying Me Since My Return To India Two Weeks Ago

1. The lack of rain. On Wednesday, I got excited because it began to pour. Which (I thought) would mean that the Monsoon had arrived in Delhi. Unfortunately, it rained heavily for about 15 minutes and then stopped. Which means that Gurgaon witnessed a passing cloud. Which means that I wanted to scream and curse at the sky. On Thursday, it began to rain when we were at Harshyla's in Defence Colony. This time, it went for a whole 10 minutes before it stopped. Yesterday, after I came up to Kasauli, the clouds burst above this mountain. It rained for 20 minutes. Needless to say, I want Pooja to do her rain dance again, because I want some rain goddamit!


2. Trains (and my family when they talk about trains). Train bookings are a bitch here. I can't get a train reservation for the days that I want to be in South India. Which is just great because that means that I have to fly. Which means that I have to spend more money. Fucking hell. Ordinarily, I wouldn't get worked up about this, but of course, my family is looming over me and bombarding me with all sorts of advice, left, right and center. I know they think they're being helpful, but they're only giving me a headache.


3. This burn on the inside of my lip. We went to the market here yesterday. Inevitably, we came across a man selling bhutta. I paid my Rs. 12 (rip off) and waited for him to find a good cob of corn to put on his small coal fire, and ended up waiting for a full 10 minutes because everyone else was trying to be smart with him and tell him how to do his job. Anyway. He eventually took the roasted cob off the fire, put some salt and lemon on it and handed it to me. I was completely famished, so I took at bite at it. Unfortunately for me, there was a small, tiny piece of BURNING HOT COAL lodged in between two kernels. That hit my lip and burned the inside of my mouth. I now have an ulcer on the inside of my lower lip. It's swollen and I look like an idiot.


4. The lack of good options at Sarojini Nagar. Harshyla, Pooja and I went to Sarojini Nagar on Thursday. And I was looking forward to it because who doesn't like good, wholesale clothes for cheap? It was evening time (around 6ish) so I expected the bazaar to be crowded, but we walked into a never ending throng of human flesh, bones and mal-odour that pressed onto us like mould. Which was also fine, because hey, that's just the nature of thing. But as we cruised through the market, and looked through all our options, it turned out that there was nothing worth our time and Rs.150 in the market. We came away with one to two things each. And the one thing that I took away with me, well, Harshyla and Pooja bought that shirt for themselves too.


5. Pushiness. Why the fuck does everyone have to be so pushy. Why the hell can't we discuss our plans and come to a consensus about our proposed plan of action together? People here keep trying to make everything play out their way. Including my aunt, including my cousins, including some of my friends, including those stupid people who were waiting behind (but pushed in front of) me in the line for bhutta yesterday. Next time someone is being pushy, I am going to push their heads up their asses so that the only thing they can be pushy about is figuring out how to get their stupid noggins out.

Eh. I know I'm complaining a lot, but to be honest, there have been some good things too. The food and mangoes are amazing, I've already read 6 books for fun in these past two weeks, I've (re)watched most of House seasons 1 and 2, I've already found so many leads for stuff that I can use in my History thesis (thank you Di Drumond!) and I have pretty much been eating an orange bar a day. Which definitely brightens my day, even if it is only for a minute. At least for now, there's nothing that an orange bar (or two or three) cannot cure. Even if it is only for a few minutes.