From one home to another...

And am back !!!! Back from the big fat Indian holiday and guilty of not saying hello sooner, partially on account of "unpacking obligations" and honestly because there was so much to share with you about the past two months spent in my home country that I wasn't quite sure how to piece this post together :-)
Well, let me start by saying that it has been an overwhelming concoction of time spent with my family and pets, wining and dining with friends, catching up with former colleagues, eating out at my favourite joints and last but not the least, shopping at my favourite haunts :-)

It has also been two months of not stepping into the kitchen, whilst both the mothers ensured they practically camped there to spoil me silly with their signature dishes...can still taste my mother in law's spinach au gratin and aloo tikkis, my sister-in-law's classic 'rui-maacher' jhaal and my mother's rawa idlis, mutton biryani, shaami kebabs and cranberry cake. All of them ensured I was pampered with my favourite food being served from breakfast to dinner and must jointly take the blame for the extra pounds on the weighing scales...how can anyone resist their delicious cooking...have a look ! :-)

After time spent well in the northern part of the country with my in-laws,  I headed home to my parents' home in Central India. Every corner appeared to have puckered up to smile at me, welcoming me, telling me how much I have been missed... :-)

My dogs greeted me with unadulterated love and unconditional joy that nearly bordered on disbelief...'Is it really her ? Is she truly back ? '...so on and so forth :-) No welcome quite compares to one with wet noses and wagging tails and we had a whale of time playing together and enjoying each others company...

...I enjoyed leisurely mornings in the verandah with my chai watching the birds chatter away as my mother's 'bhusawal' bananas ripened and enjoyed fresh vegetables at lunch time plucked from her kitchen garden...the little luxuries of home ! :-)

What does one wish for during a visit back home other than lots of family time, and I was blessed with a special 'Rakshabandhan' this year with my brother joining us at home for the occasion, a rare occurrence since we now live in different parts of the world. I was also in time for my sister-in-law's birthday and we had a wonderful time celebrating it together... :-)

Trinkets and I have had a love affair from college and this time I got down to sorting out my collection and was glad to bequeath some of the treasures from those wonder years to my nieces...it is amazing how many beautiful things one can dig out of old cupboards and trunks, things forgotten, buried in corners, collected over the years, each with a memory associated with it, a tale or an anecdote...I have to thank my mother for preserving them even when am not around to look after them.

And how could I ignore my decor dreams while being in India. While I did the customary rounds of shopping for things for my home in Korea, I had a far more productive time rummaging through the attic at home and I must say, my parents and in-laws have been more than generous :-) I have come back with a few treasures that am absolutely thrilled about and I promise to share them with you as soon as I find places befitting for them in our home in Seoul...

Is it possible to have your fill of a trip back to India, I don't know...for someone like me no amount of time back home is 'enough time' :-) So it was with a heavy heart and of course very heavy bags (like always) that I got onto that plane back to Seoul. But it was a happy heart too for it had a treasure trove of memories created over the past two months, of fond moments spent with parents and siblings, uncles, aunts and friends, a lot of pampering, love and laughter.

And home-coming in Korea has been wonderful, to a home that has been looked after and cared for by my better half...but that's another story that shall reveal itself soon on the blog... :-) For now am just glad that I could share this little snippet of my trip with all of you here...it has given me another chance to reminisce and smile as I recollect the lovely holiday. Thanks for joining me here...see you again soon...take care :-)