Merry Christmas!

Christmas has never been the same ever since the good old school days! There have been some standout days in the recent past, but otherwise, its the regular Santa and Rudolf stories and carrols all day long. "Silent night" and "Away in a manger" happen to be 2 that I really like!
And there was another one that sung about the 3 kings - not sure which one that was. I'd sure like to get my hands on it to hear it again! I remember G used to sing it in school!

But never you mind - my thoughts currently go back to much more recent times than the school days - to 4 years ago... I was on a flight to Delhi on the evening of 24th, along with S1 and S2 - lets keep it simple without names :)

The fog in Delhi is known to disrupt flights... and ours happened to be the first of the evening to not be able to land (boo hoo was my first thought... ). The captain announced we'll head to Mumbai to stay overnight. S1, who was awake and chatting with me, burst into a river of tears! My gawd! Why and how could she!! But nevertheless... some consolations later, there was this school girl who was traveling alone on the seat in front of me. And having nobody sitting with her, she was constantly turning to look at S1 and S2 for some support, and having none forthcoming, she had to bank on me. And as soon as I said a few words of comfort, Strike 2! There goes another girl, barrage broken beyond repair. Amidst all of this commotion, while I was running out of kerchiefs and words to handle 2 ladies, S2 wakes up (yes! she was fast asleep during all this!!). Until that day I had perceived of her as a very capable and mature person, but I guess God willed me to see the true colors :P
She asked around as it was just about 5 minutes from the scheduled arrival at Delhi. And as soon as I said we're heading to Mumbai instead, there you go! Strike 3!
Anyway, eternal moments after I was sitting in the middle of three sobbing ladies, the captain's voice crackles again through the PA system of the aircraft. Lo and behold, the night's just getting interesting! No hotel bookings available in Mumbai! (Can you imagine that!!!!!). What now? Off you go - back to Pune! Finally landed at the same strip at 11 after having taken off barely some 4 odd hours earlier. Nevertheless - we headed to a nice hotel, gate crashed - well almost, into a party, had fun in the foyer and welcomed Christmas with great enthusiasm.
The morning after - some incidents, better left unmentioned at least on my blog! Yeah yeah! the dreaded wardrobe malfunction. Phew! It was an "enlihtening" experience to say the least!
But nevertheless, I did end up getting home by about 2 the next day (not without its own share of interesting incidents - that I'll probably never write here!!) to be welcomed to a sumptuous feast! Ah! heaven :)

Oh and by the way - the third strike on that flight still happens to be my magic mantra whenever S2 tries getting nasty with me :P
Oh and yes, fate has it and we're still working together!

And Christmas last year! Ah now that was a nice one! The weekend getaway to the country side in Wales. D and M, along with U and S (all engg school friends) and O and G (friends from work) - we'd all hired a cottage (I think it was the Plas-y-Nant) over the Christmas weekend. It was a nice break from the humdrum of London. A fireplace to keep you warm - the ladies cooking dinner while the men did what they do best! ;)
It was good fun, yes no doubt about it! Though M had stocked up groceries at Sainsbury's before we left London as if the world was ending the next day! Oh did I forget to mention we had to bring back a carload of this all the way back? :P
Women! Can't live with them, can't live without them!

I guess that's a good enough trip down memory lane, and I'll let my fingers rest awhile after the clickety clickety clack on the laptop. Food for thought. Or merely food for an empty tummy!

Oh and yes! I do visit my blog occasionally even when I'm not writing! :)
and for all the people who put in comments and do not have their profiles public - your comments are read and appreciated, and responded to on my blog here itself!

Merry christmas and a Happy New Year!