Our Teertha Yatra sequence was planned to perfection right from the purchase of gifts to the schedule as to where we are going to stay put so that we don't rub anyone the wrong way. After the usual customaries we sit on the plane and brace ourselves for a long journey to our "Motherland". That word usually evokes a range of emotions in us. Happiness in meeting our family after so many years and at the same time disillusionment at the tardy progress that is made back home to improve the quality of life of common people.

When the flight attendant starts the usual addressing teaching us to deal with emergencies our daughter Varsha gets excited. She yells "amma are they telling us that the plane will land in water, is that so? But I haven't learnt to swim and am in the first stage and do bubbling only". Now I give her a glare and a complimentary stare with a roll of my eyes signaling her to stop. Now this scares my Mother-In law itself and she usually pleads with me that she can take anything but that. That is how I made her accept me, for those who want to get their way with In-laws try rolling your eyes as big as you can, it may work, but don't blame me if it doesn't.

As we settle down on the plane I let Varsha watch the channels and play with the in-built games. Hubby as usual the minute that he can lay hands on any remote he shuts off himself from rest of the world. I don't know how most men can be like that. Give them the remote and they feel a strange sense of power flow through them as they keep changing channels more quickly than heroines changing costumes on our Hindi movies.

Flight travel is a nightmare for me. I still remember the journey that I was flying with my daughter alone when we got stuck in a turbulence and I started saying my final prayers. The man next to me totally unaware that I am petrified tells me "I am sure we are going to land in the ocean and starts muttering all sanskrit slokas". Imagine that, it could get pretty scary.

The minute that we land in Chennai I mentally prepare myself for the hassles of "Kashtams". I was totally surprised with the professional way in which everything was conducted right and I had to pinch myself to really believe that "change is possible". As we reach out we felt the welcoming warmth of our family or I don't know if was the temperature of Chennai. Though Varsha hasn't seen anyone for quite sometime hasn't forgotten her grandparents and she immediately becomes the center of attention of everyone leaving me and hubby free.

I love shopping (who doesn't?) and I never knew Math could come in so handy. Whenever I buy anything I start mentally dividing the cost by 45 and calculating the dollar equivalent to see which country was cost effective. Hubby gets quite mad on me as i start irritating him with the numbers. As we continue our shopping hubby starts bargaining with a road side shopper that he gives him more bananas for 15Rs. He looks at me in exasperation at how I was spending the money, sometimes they become like that in Chennai heat. I never knew that he could bargain but bargaining for Bananas??!! He was driving me bananas.

Chennai has changed in some ways with more malls ,a lot trendier, more people wearing western clothing as you see youngsters as usual having a great time. There is more acceptance now. I was very happy to see "Share autos"," Cool Taxis" and "Call taxi" and not being fleeced by the regular autowallah. I never knew that our birth place can evoke so many mixed emotions in us as I traced my favorite places. It became time for us to depart which is usually the hardest, we know we will not be seeing them again for a few years having emptied our wallets and at the airport I had to control tears in the typical Suhasini style. Varsha is happy to wave goodbye as she was waiting to see her friends, for us it was back to routine, back on our separate ways. As the plane took off I saw down once more biding a farewell and wishing in my heart to touch base soon.