A Family Trip to India and Dubai

18 hours by flight. 8,444 miles away. Yet Kerala is my home away from home. Often, I am asked the question, “Where are you from?” I respond with, “I was born in the United States, but my family is from India.” As a family, we have made sure to keep in touch even over the long distance, and my parents, sister, and I go to visit about every two years. Now, my relatives can be found all over the globe (literally!), but my grandparents still live in my parents’ childhood homes in Kerala. I look forward to these trips with great excitement and anticipation. First of all, the eighteen hours in a plane give me a chance to catch up on the latest movies, which I stay up watching, ignoring whether it’s night or day. Secondly, I cannot wait for that moment in the airport when I walk out at arrivals and find my grandparents standing there, waiting for us. I remember when I was little, my grandpa (dad’s father) would lift me into the air and plant a big kiss on my forehead. Nowadays, I’m too big to be lifted up, yet I get the same feeling when I step foot onto Kerala grounds. I love meeting my grandparents again and seeing their faces. Living that far from your family makes you miss them a lot.

This summer, when I visited India, I was there for three weeks with my mom and sister. Usually, we spend most of our time at my dad’s parents’ house right in the heart of the capital, Trivandrum, Kerala. However, we were going to spend the majority of our time at my mom’s parents’ house this trip, nestled in the countryside of Edayaranmula, Kerala. From the Trivandrum airport, we traveled back to the house in the dead of night. Jet lagged and exhausted, I savored my few hours of sleep before getting up in the morning and starting our busy schedule. During our time in Trivandrum, we made sure to visit family in the area and do lots of shopping, which is a must! Even though we were rushing around and doing things every day, I enjoyed every minute of the hustle and bustle, savoring moments like almost getting hit by multiple cars by attempting to cross a street, basically being drowned in saris, and playing with my cousin’s new puppy!

My experience completely changed as I took the three-hour car ride to Edayaranmula. Instead of a bustling city street, we drove along a quiet road surrounded by lush forests of rubber trees. Finally, we approached the house which was engulfed in plants; my grandma keeps up a large garden of an exotic array of plants, while my grandfather often picks the fruits off of the fruit trees. I hugged my grandparents happily, and I didn’t forget to give a special hello to Rani, my grandpa’s dog! Considering that I’ve wanted a dog for my whole life, I love spending time with Rani when we go to visit. Also, there was a new chicken roaming around the house who I named Chick-king! In fact, whenever the heavy rains weren’t pouring down on the town, my sister and I spent a lot of time exploring outside the house. We played with and petted Rani endlessly, chased Chick-king around, picked nutmeg and oranges off of trees, and went to see the chicks my grandpa had recently bought.

In Edayaranmula, we visited more relatives all around the town. Some days, we just relaxed at home, but other days, we were running from place to place. We even took a one-day trip to Ernakulam to visit my mom’s family. Amidst all these house visits and long car rides, I was able to fully take in the Kerala experience. It was fun to go to the market with my grandpa, whether it be to buy fruits, pastries, or eggs. Even though I didn’t do much talking (I can understand my mother tongue, Malayalam, but can’t speak it fluently), it was always fun to get out of the house and go into the city. Also, the long car rides provided me with scenic views of palm trees, rubber trees, and houseboats lining the river. I can confirm that I was rarely bored at any time on this trip.

The thing that made this trip stand out to me was the community service work I was able to do and the kids I met through it. Through my club Light-a-Mind (which works toward providing education to all children), I went to visit the Balika Bhavan center, which is a home to around 35 girls from poor and broken families. My family and I were able to meet all of them (they were all so sweet!) and donate some new churidars and notebooks to wish them happy Onam. Onam is a festival in Kerala where kids often receive new clothes as well as participate in dances and flower arrangements. We also went to the Navajyothi School, which houses 115 mentally challenged kids. We went, said hello to everyone, and donated coloring books and crayons for their everyday use. These two visits really opened my eyes to the poverty and struggles of some kids in my home state, and I definitely plan on visiting them again for a longer amount of time on my next visit.

Sadly we were forced to bid farewell to my mom’s parents and Rani and travel back to Trivandrum. We spent a couple more days with my cousin, uncles, aunts, and dad’s parents before sadly leaving them as well. The trip back is always worse than the trip there because we are leaving our family and our vacation. However, it wasn’t the end of our trip yet. On our short stopover in Dubai, we caught the metro and went to the Dubai Mall, on our way to the top of the Burj Khalifa. After waiting in line, we took an elevator that climbed 125 floors in one minute! The lights flashing and the floor number escalating had me on edge, and as I walked out to look through the window, I was left breathless. The view was spectacular! I could see from the heart of the city all the way to the sea from this height. After going to the outside observatory (and burning in the 112 degree heat), we took in the view from all angles possible. It was amazing to be up that high. I touched the sky that day.

Finally, after we took our last look, we took the elevator back down and took the metro back to the airport, where we caught our flight home. Truly, my experience in India is great every time I go, but this time, I was able to meet new animals, new experiences, and new faces. I can’t wait to go back!

By Megha Thomas

#India #Dubai #Vacation #Summer #Travel #Family #Home