Why India?
Diwali is the happiest time to visit India. It is the season of hope, and joy. A time with family and friends. A time for new beginnings and a renewal of old relationships. Some of our happiest memories growing up are from this time of that year. That is why, even though we moved to Singapore in 2012, we try to make it to India for Diwali every year.
This year was slightly more complicated for the following reasons:
- We were in San Sebastian in the lead up to Diwali and getting from there to Bangalore (our home in India) was no easy feat
- Nadiya was less than 4 months old and there tends to be a sharp rise in pollution during the Diwali period
In the end, we decided that we would go to India around Diwali anyway because:
- It was important for Nadiya to understand and experience at least parts of what we did growing up in India; spending time with grandparents (and great-grand parents) was something we treasured and we wanted to make sure Nadiya had that opportunity as often as possible
- Bangalore over the years had become a much for environmentally conscious city and the rise in pollution due to fireworks during Diwali had come down dramatically
- It fit in well with our plan of avoiding excessively long flights (Europe to Singapore is 12 hours+) and also helped with easing the time zone changes on our way back
Getting to Bangalore
Getting from San Sebastian to Bangalore was no easy task. We first took a bus from San Sebastian to the town of Bilbao (1 hour 10 minutes away). The bus was nearly empty so it felt like it was a private transfer almost – very easy and super comfortable. From Bilbao we needed to take a flight to Frankfurt. This was our first flight in over 2 weeks (and some readers may recall that we did not have a very pleasant experience at the end of the last one from Athens to Bilbao). We flew Lufthansa coach (redemption flight) and maybe it was just that time of the year, but we got lucky with the flight being only a little more than half full. We got front row seats (does not count for much on these short haul flights as ‘business’ class is ahead of you separated by a curtain and there is no bassinet) with no one else sitting in our row. Maybe it was because it was an evening flight, Nadiya slept through most of it and we got to Frankfurt without much incident. We spent the night at one of the many airport hotels in Frankfurt – the Hilton Frankfurt Hotel. It was probably the biggest room that we stayed at during the trip (with a separate living area, powder room etc.) – wish we were as lucky in places in Athens or Seville! Our flight to Bangalore was also on Lufthansa. At over 8 hours, this was our longest ever flight with Nadiya. We were able to redeem miles for business class seats. The flight was really comfortable, the food was great (the Indian selection probably a bit better than SQ – only wish the quantities were a little bigger) and the cabin crew extremely friendly. If we were to pick a bone, it would be with the positioning of the bassinet. It was located on top of the bulkhead area and just below the luggage bins – which meant that Ajay needed to do some level of careful maneuvering to get Nadiya into the bassinet (it was too high for Nisha to reach comfortably). Immigration was not much of a hassle (India was the only country on our trip that had a separate immigration line for families with infants).
Spending time in India
This was Nadiya’s second trip to India. Her first was when she was a month old, but in far less pleasant circumstances coming as it did during a time of mourning for the family. This time was different – with the festive cheer bringing a smile to everyone’s face. Some of the highlights of our time in Bangalore:
- Eating home cooked food after 50 days of restaurant food. The joy of eating a hot, home cooked meal is second to none.
- Nadiya’s great-grand father (‘Pijja’) turned 87! To celebrate, the whole family (Nadiya included) dressed up in traditional Indian outfits and we organized a photoshoot at home. It was the most fun we had in a long time. Nadiya was all smiles throughout the event (she has developed quite a pleasant disposition of late) and that made it even more enjoyable.
- Ajay’s day out with his grandparents to the temple (where they religious go to offer thanks during their birthdays each year) and the bank (where grandad needs to go each year to certify that he is ‘alive’ in order to receive his pension). Ajay grew up spending his time at the grandparents’ place and there were many instances where they would walk him to the school bus in the mornings – so to be able to return the favor in some small way was immensely satisfying.
- Seeing the sunset from one of Kempegowda’s 4 towers in the hill in Lalbagh (legend has it that when the city of Bangalore was founded, Kempegowda built 4 towers on the outskirts of the city to demarcate its boundary. Today these towers are pretty much in the center of what has become a sprawling metropolis)
- Catching up with a number of our childhood friend and going to our old haunts (Corner House, Nagarjuna etc.)
Since both our parents live in Bangalore (‘3.3KM apart’), we divided our time somewhat equally between the 2 houses. We ordered a travel cot off Amazon (the Babybee Zeus) as well as a mosquito net. We struggled a little bit to set it up, but once we did it worked well for us. Our usual routine saw us spending the night at Ajay’s parents’ before heading over to Nisha’s after Nadiya’s first feed. Given that it was still the festive season, we managed to avoid some of Bangalore’s notorious traffic – making the commute between the 2 houses much easier. For the 1st time on this trip, Nisha made use of the breast pump and we were able to feed Nadiya with a bottle. We were a bit nervous as she had not drunk from a bottle in 2 months but after a little bit of crying, she took to it quite well.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the trip to Bangalore was extremely enjoyable – much more than one of the first trip there. It was the right mix of rest and socializing. With the grandparents eager to engage Nadiya, it marked the first time on the trip where one of us did not have to watch Nadiya! Meeting extended members of the family during the photoshoot that we organized was also really nice.
Getting home to Singapore
All good things though must come to an end and so too with not just our trip to Bangalore but for the We2ours1 Tour. With work starting in a couple of weeks for the both of us, we felt that needed some time back home in Singapore to get Nadiya into a proper routine as well as to ensure that Nisha had sufficient time to build up a stockpile of breast milk, we finally made the journey back to Singapore. We flew on SilkAir’s economy class service to Singapore. The 4 hour flight as event free. We had a bassinet and Nadiya slept easily during her sleep times. We returned on the day that Nadiya turned 4 months old for her to start her life in earnest and to begin the next chapter in ours – as first time working parents!
Visas
All 3 of us are Indian citizens so no visas were needed for the Bangalore leg. For the Frankfurt leg, we used our Schengen visas.
We2ours1 Tour Overall Stats
Total # of Countries: 10 (India, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, UAE, Oman)
Total air miles: 15,983 (9 flights)
Total distance driven: 2,403 KM (driving in Sri Lanka, UAE, Oman, Greece and Portugal)
Total train distance: 2,491 KM (8 trains)
Total ferry distance: 136 nautical miles (2 ferries)
Total bus distance: 278 KM (2 buses)
Total nights: 58
Nadiya’s age at the end of the trip: 17 weeks, 5 days (4 months)
Around the world with a baby 