The Bhopal Chapter

You'll know what this is, if you've read the previous post

• Taking the train to Bhopal at 6am, burying my head in a book and avoiding any conversation with the people around me till an overtly friendly auntie decided to enlighten me about her bride-searching mission aka attending a family wedding in Bhopal.
• My little cousins wanting to stay up till 12 and bring in Ben and my birthday with cake and chocolate
• Being with Ben on our birthday after many years
• Being out with my grandmom alone for the first time that I can remember. Standing in a line for 4 hours for our biometrics to be taken, only to be instructed to put Boroplus on my grandmom's hands and bring her back in a week's time for better prints.
• Visiting the little plot where my granddad planted coconuts, guavas and banana plants and remembering his excitement many years ago when a friend brought him a plant all the way from Kerala.
• Chatting with Ben for ages, getting to know my little brother- the adult, a little bit better. Watching him with admiration at moments, nagging him at others.
• Checking out my aunts' new house at midnight.
• Going through the contents of old boxes, deciding which memories and clothes I wanted to hold on to and which were worth giving up.
• Spending the last evening in Bhopal at my aunt's house and getting a picture taken with all my cousins. Eating out at the mall in Bhopal and then coming back home and eating soup at midnight.
• Taking countless pictures on other people's cameras and making a mental note of asking them to send the pictures to me
• Watching Ben lug heavy suitcases down the stairs for me
• Being annoyed at the amount that I paid as excess baggage.