Winds of the heavens dance Down Under-Sydney

Australia-The Mainland-We landed in Sydney bright eyed and bushy tailed,fingers interlocked, hearts warm with love even after a 13 hours long flight and a 20 years of marriage for 3 reasons. This is the first holiday that we have ever taken-just the 2 of us(People who know my unbridled nervous energy were skeptical and said a silent prayer for Amol and the Aussies). Second, this international holiday was after a "corona,send son to college" combo hiatus of 5 years.Also it was my birthday gift that I had bulldozed out of Amol. 29 Feb 2024-It was one of those perfect days.Mother Earth planned her spinning for those 24 hours just for me.The biosecurity at the airport is infamous.They confiscate all and sundry from "pardes ki matti" Many a warning and memes about it had me highstrung but the cute dog just let us through. We headed to a nice breakfast at a cafe.My first brush with the Aussie food.Fresh, organic with no pesticide residues were only words till we tasted it. And it can make such a difference is something I learned on this holiday. Also their attention to detail while drawing hearts on cappuchino or plating food makes the 60x rupee to A dollar math reasonable.

We headed to the Taronga zoo as per the Bday girl wishes. There is a Chandran family lore that my favourite animal in the Hyderabad zoo was Divyafee. With the gifted vocabulary of a 2 years old I explained to all who didnot get the reference that it was an animal with the long neck. Such is my love for animals, words and myself and the order of importance varies on the order of the day. Taronga zoo had all the animals my heart desired, the seals show had me clapping and cheering and I had my first sighting of a zebra, meerkat ever in my life. The zebra B&W markings are unique to each like our fingerprint and they are designed to create cool currents to beat the African heat. The koalas are cuddly and cute but I didnot get close to any. Apparently they are inflicted with chlamydiasis. Eww. We also had the first glimpse of the Sydney opera house and the harbour bridge from afar. Now I am person of "first" moments. Like the view of Taj when we enter through the archway is breathtaking. The unfolding of the Eiffel tower as we entered Paris had my body empty out all its oxytocin and I had an "romatic arrest". The leaning tower of Piza even up close left me wondering. Opera house and the harbour bridge had me thinking , " even if one woke up to this view every single day , one will never stop being amazed " We saw it from the waters approaching it from a ferry, saw it at a height of 3000mts from the bridge, admired it up close from a restaurant that provided the best views, through the greenery of the Botanic gardens , through daylight, sunset and sublime nightlights and it was always spectacular. The next day we headed to the Bondi beach - the worlds best beach and for a reason.Disclaimer - I am not a beach holiday person and also I think Goa has the best beaches and seafood in the world. I was proved wrong on all accounts. Bondi beach is so clean that if we baked its white samds with a little vanilla it will make a lovely cake. So clean that the seagulls must be wearing a diaper while flying over it. And the fried calamari and oysters served there are just another realm in gastronomy. We chose to explore the city over the coastal walk for 2 reasons. The beaches were too virtuous and FOMO one of the best cities in the world. The walk to the historic Rocks district took us through the city highrises, Stock exchange, opal museum. Adequate photos clicked, displeasure expressed at the insane numbers( also bday was over), we boarded the train to meet friends.

This is the first holiday where we met friends along with vacationing.Wining and dining and catching up, revealing some embarassimg deets, their kind spouses accomodating us and thier kids Aussie accent had all my heart. We lived a little slice of the Aussie life through them vicariously for the next few hours. I was having so much fun that I wanted this day to never end and in a weird way it didnt. After a mandatory brush with the night life and the pub culture of Sydney we reached just in time to pack and leave for Tasmania or Tassie as the Aussies call it. We skimmed through Sydney maybe even rushed through it but life doesnot have to be perfect to be wonderful.

My leap year birthday

Most people in a brief interaction with me know that my birthday is on the 29 of February. Always followed by jibes about how small I am because my birthday comes once in 4 years.Not complaining because I love the attention btw.Also with follow up questions of when do I actually celebrate it and how I must be getting a big gift once in 4 years. More about the gifts later. My Dad was so proud of my birthday, when his colleague casually remarked that it was no achievement but mere coincidence,this person was permanently cancelled in Dad's mind. 3 days into internship on a February 28, I walked into a busy medicine OPD with some tinkling embellishments on my dress. Amol, my then Resident likened me to a cow with bells.I launched into this awkward actual conversation, "actually it is my birthday today but actually it is on 29 February, so it is not my actual birthday but I actually celebrate it on the last day of February" Brevity was never my strong point clearly. Amol just got up and asked me to follow him out. 100 patients on either side of us, waiting for their turn to see the doctor peering at us, I was led into a canteen and asked to choose an icecream. I was too dumbfounded to react so Amol just chose a butterscotch Cornetto and told me very sincerely with those soulful eyes that he didnot know anyone born on this special date and hence this special treat.And even now my husband maintains that was the only reason he bought me that icecream and not for the vibrant, vivacious me.In his defence he has never indulged any other girl to an icecream. But definitely the start of our young romance.So my leap year birthday landed me the nicest man-husband. Lots of stuff happens between birthdays , personally and the kind that affect the human race in general. Like a pandemic, National education policy ,change in US prez Trump to Biden(Modiji has been a constant though, he could use it as his election campaign with due copyrights to me) Like Adi having answered 10th boards, 12th boards,JEE , entry into IIT.moved from home to hostel, going from a smooth faced chubby boy to fuzz and zit covered face, taller than dad, lost all my baby fat and now I am the kool kid look. All of this happened from one bday to the other. He still finishes all phone conversations with "I love Amma" and hugs me without hesitation or awkwardness, so I am blessed like that. Also I have the distinction of remembering my own first birthday. I was 4 years old and Dad carried me around the entire evening in a makeshift shamiana pandal erected on the terrace of our Hyderabad home, where lots of people had gathered to wish me.As a matter of fact I remember all my birthdays. My parents always made a big deal of it and I revelled in it all. So Amol had big shoes to fill. When people joke that Amol has to only buy a birthday gift once in 4 years , he says that atleast on the leap year the birthday celebrations are limited to 1 day because in the intervening 3 years it is over 3 days. 28 Feb -last day of the birthday month. Midnight wee hours between 28/02 -01/03. On 1 March because it follows 28/02. As corny as it sounds I am big on greetings and gifts. This leap year Amol has gifted me the leaping mammal Kangaroo land holiday. So this time , just the 2 of us, (discounting the plane load of people sharing this flight with us)for the first time ever, I ring in my birthday midair, somewhere over the Indian ocean.And in the "around the world" time zone hack, also the longest hours one can possibly fit into a day kind of birthday in another hemisphere, another continent having the perfect day with my Cornetto Resident-husband.The Universe loves me and gratitude is the name of the fragrance.