The Family Bonding!

It may be some nine years since I would have spent more than almost two whole months with my parents. Busy growing up, getting 'life lessons' (and degrees on the way) I had almost forgotten how awesome it is to be with parents. Everything got revived when a home away from home was painted by Mom and Dad right here in Boston, MA.

Mom arrived first followed by Dad a few weeks later. I was too excited to host both of them and wanted to give all my time to live those moments that I am missing all these years. I wanted them to experience various flavors of my lifestyle here in US, and having a car helped.

Every weekend was already tightly scheduled in visiting various places. We started off with attending Boston food festival the very next day my Mom arrived. The following weekend I drove her to Philly to visit one of our family friends she hadn't seen in years. That trip was followed by visits to local scenic places around Boston.. like Rockport, Walden pond, Mystic lake and Castle Island. Ben-n-Jerry's icecream factory and Smuggler's Notch state park in Vermont was a must see if you are so close to it. Driving all the way up there and stopping hundred times to click pictures of fall colors was an unforgettable experience. The Head Of the Charles regatta was right in that period and seeing so many physically fit sportsman was not only exciting but also motivating :P.

Sunrise @ Cadillac

Dad arrive just at the right time when New Hampshire and coastal Maine was peaking in fall colors and I had the Columbus day off. A trip to Acadia and White mountains was a no-brainer! We took a coastal route to Acadia National Park. The scenic beauty of the fall colors was just mesmerizing. Dad and Mom wanted to stop near every single tree and capture it in camera. After a few thousand stops, they decided to capture all the Reds, Oranges, Yellows, Greens, Maroons in their memory instead! Getting up early and seeing the sunrise on the Cadillac mountain (the very first place which gets sunlight in the US) was the high point in the trip. 

That followed by driving up Mt Washington (which includes coming down from half way to fill gas and again going up.. damn incorrect fuel level indicator!!). Mt. Washington, a hell of a mountain. Here the weather changes from full visibility to zero visibility any second. Wind speed has set a world record here. Well.. there is still a souvenir shop on the top though!! (American tourism!). We stayed in the middle of nowhere, we had seafood in small shacks along the coast, had burgers in a sports bar and pancakes at an local American breakfast place. Experiencing such varied cuisines and way of living was something new to my parents which they wouldn't have experienced in tourist locations and hotels or business trips.

Even though the Diwali smell was not in the Boston air, we had the same festive atmosphere at home. I did not miss physically being present in India during Diwali. Home cooked sweets (faral, chiwda, laddu etc), home made diyas, lanterns and decorations, Laxmipoojan (with $$ this time), inviting friends over for Diwali dinner.. I enjoyed my Diwali to the fullest.

Diwali Dinner

The selfless love that parents shower upon you is priceless. Now I am again spoilt in 'asking' for the morning coffee, coming home for lunch everyday to eat readymade food and home cooked rotis (and then resisting the temptation to take a nap!!), having my clothes washed and ironed twice a week, going on long drives every evening with someone with you in the car to talk with, sharing India stories (means Pune stories!), teasing mom when she starts watching Zee TV Marathi on laptop and dad when he keeps repeatedly listening to Barkha Dutt or Arnab Goswami in full volume on his tab... it's going to be a few tough days until I get back on track after they leave.

It was a quality time well spent. I am sure they enjoyed all the moments we shared together after so long. I did. Next time they visit me, who knows, I might have a significant other sharing these moments with me, doubling the joys of life.

Ek Selfie to banta hai!!