This sums up my two-week vacation more or less. Diwali is the time of the year when a lot of people are looking forward to our visit to Delhi. Mira and I are looking forward to visiting Delhi and Nangal and people in our homes there are waiting for us eagerly too.

This year was no exception. We started quite early preparing for our visit to Delhi. We booked the tickets more than two months in advance, we spend countless hours and numerous visits to shops to pick up gifts for people back home and we also started putting aside a little bit of money every month for the vacation.

On the morning to 14th, Manu woke up crying as we woke him up at 5.30, about three hours earlier than his usual time. In a minute he realised that he is wearing new clothes and both of us are ready as well with our bags packed and he figured out that we are going somewhere and that calmed him down.

Mira's mother has not been keeping well for the past few days and everyday Mira used to call home to check on her and then discuss it with her elder sister. The original plan was that we will stay in Delhi till Diwali and will go to Nangal the next day. I will come back to Delhi and then eventually to Bombay and Mira will stay back in Nangal for a couple of weeks.

The plan had to be changed, as my mother-in-law got serious. We hired a car and went to Nangal to see her admitted to the hospital. Every day we kept hoping that things would improve and we saw every little change in her as an improvement and prayed for her recovery but that didn't happen. On the night to of 24th she passed away.

As if one bad news was not enough, I heard two more. I learned that a dog bit my nephew Bharat. He was opening the gate for my brother to take out the car when a dog guarding her pups attacked him leaving three teeth marks on his leg. In Sunder Vihar my grandfather feel outside his home and dislocated his left hand. The doctor put it back in place and put a cast for 5 weeks.

What started out as a festival vacation ended with a tragedy. I now sincerely hope that we have left behind our share of the misfortunes for a long time to come and the future will be brighter.