Friday, February 10, 2006

Are we there yet?

When we are going on trips this is one dreaded question.

In our childhood, during summer vacations we used to go visit our grandparents. Mom, Veena and I would spend all summer with them and Dad would join us during the last 1 week or so. We used to travel a lot with our mom, and we used to keep asking her "Are we there yet?" She used to get annoyed when we kept on asking so we girls used to split and ask. Veena would ask after 30 minutes she would signal me to ask. As we got older we got smarter and we rephrased our questions to "how many more hours?" and other different ones. After a while mom would cheerfully respond "We will get there, when we get there." Veena and I knew this was our que to shut up and look out of the window.

Years went by, I am in late teens and Veena in early 20s, and we go on road trips as a family. We used to take 1 road trip every year. So Veena and I would drive, dad would be in his own world and Mom would ask "Are we there yet?" Veena and I used to get so annoyed when she kept asking "How many more hours to go?" And finally Veena would just burst out with the response "We will get there when we get there." She would casually turn her face and look outside.

Veena and I would always say, see the tables have turned and we are in control. We were so happy to be the grown up now.

Years passed, I am married now. So when we go places Shekar drives and I sit in the passenger side changing CDs and I realize I am back to square one asking "Are we there yet?"

27 comments:

Eclectic Blogger said...

ha ha.. vicious circle uh..

educatedunemployed said...

HAHA, what goes around, comes around.

silverine said...

I come here for my regular dose of nostalgia and find this lovely piece about something we all go through. Been there done that. My mom did the wisest thing to shut us up. She would buy books and comics that would keep us quiet for the journey. But then I love travelling and looking out of the window for hours.Somethings never change :)

Sayesha said...

//Years passed, I am married now. So when we go places Shekar drives and I sit in the passenger side changing CDs and I realize I am back to square one asking "Are we there yet?"

Sounds like a plan! I think I'd like to do that too :)

Anonymous said...

you seem to be growing up in this blog of yours
~sushil

Anonymous said...

:)

Circle of Life My Dear..:)

Rays Of Sun said...

:)
ME TOO..In fact, when we used to go and I would not know the order of stations..I would say..."Kabhi aayega..ab tak nahi aaya":(

Anonymous said...

There`s just one thought that comes to my mind ..will ur kids (well, whenever the stork comes calling :P) carry the baton when they come of age to ask u, "Mom, there yet?" :D

Unknown said...

Don't they say... History repeats itself!

Surprising but true!!!

Rashmi

Anonymous said...

:)

Hmmmm..... got a tag waitin for u.. I think U have done it before ...hope u had a wonderful weekend!!

Kusum Rohra said...

Hi! I still do that all the time... whenever i travel i keep asking the one driving (since i can't drive its always someone else), i even keep harassing the auto rickshaw walas :)

Lovely post :) reminds me of my trips to my nanihaal (my maternal grandparents place )

Beautiful Mind said...

Yeah..It happens to everyone..

Thanu said...

$Eclectic Blogger
I know... life is a circle...

$educatedunemployed
true.

$silverine
I write stuff other than nostalgic things...
We had books too.. but only in trains. Traveling long routes in buses reading used to make us sick. Train we knew after Kottayam came Thiruvalla...so we rarely asked her.

$Sayesha
Yeah...it is fun now plus annoys Shekar like crazy..

$sushil
Thank you, by growing up do u mean my way of writing or the actual act of growing up?

$jaguu
Very true, will adhere tot he tag soon..

$Rays Of Sun
We all used to do it... poor parents..

$Nitin
I was this close puttind that up in the conclusion of this post, but decided against that.

$RandomThoughts
Very true. Just hope my kids are not a brat like me.

$Kusum Rohra
Welcome here and hope to see u around...

$Beautiful Mind
Strange but true.

Geo said...

Amazing, madam...
The way you reflect on your past is just amazing...it takes me along...

Arun R said...

Good post Thanu.....

I used to love travelling, so my question used to be "We've reached so soon?"

Beautiful Mind said...

Yeah Arun..I feel that while returning back from any trips or travel..Carrying loads of good memories..I dont like to get out of it.

Kusum Rohra said...

hey hi! hope u had a lovely valentine day.. i have tagged you check out my bloggy for details :)

Prakash said...

hi
wow...that is so true...never realised that...i get these lines all the time from my sisters kids........tell you wat its so annoying man...

nice one thanu...
Praksh

Archana said...

I used to be the annoying one in my family. I used to ask "are we there yet" approximately every 10 minutes. So, as soon as I learnt to tell time, my mom showed me where the small hand of the watch was and till which point it had to move before I would be eligible for asking that question again! Not that it stopped me from sneaking in the question anyways....

Vanditha said...

I have been a frequent visitor of your blog, though never left comments.

I like your style of writing. Nice post. Keep up the good work

Thanu said...

$Geo
Glad to hear that..

$Arun R
Hehehe.. I loved travelling too...but cudn't wait to get to destinations.

$Beautiful Mind
I hate to be back frm trips too.

$Kusum Rohra
Hade a wonderful V-day. I'll comply to the tag soon.

$Prakash
Thank u. It gets annoying after couple of times.

$Archana
Universal truth - Mom are very smart.

$Vanditha
Thank u for surfacing. DO drop comments once in a while.

Anonymous said...

U seem to be reliving your past(sometimes)through ur blogs...thats what I meant...
~Sushil

Bittu's Mamma said...

got a chance to read archives, loved the way you write!Nice!

Mind Curry said...

haha..i couldnt stop laughing when i read about veena and you drive and your folks asking "are we there yet"..what about shekar when you drive? :)or is he too busy having his heart in his mouth? ;) kidding..

Anonymous said...

Old wine in new bottles shall we say.

Thanu said...

$Anon ~ Sushil
The apst is just so wonderful that it needs to be relived.

$Bittu's Mamma
Thank you, nice to see u here.

$Mind Curry
I rarely drive when shekar is ard. Even if I do it is small 5 mile trip to the grocery store. And no he never asks me "Are we there yet."

$Hiren
Glad to see u here.

$Ann
I dont wanna grow up...
Hope to read abt ur childhood exp.

Srinivas said...

the whole fun of a road trip is the anxiety and excitement thats lasts all along. en route we get overwhelmed by whats in store.

how do you capture simple events in a classy angle? like ur style.