The Nightmare Before Christmas

On Dec 24 we took a flight from Delhi to arrive in Bangalore.  The flight went smoothly and soon we were picking up our luggage and getting into a Taxi.  Bangalore was a special stop on our adventure because our plans were to meet up with Roj’s cousins who he grew up with since childhood:  Anish and Anoop, and their wives Anusha and Junita.  These cousins hold a special place in Roj’s heart and I was so excited to finally meet them in person.

During our planning, we knew that with the cousins, we would be a group of 8 and would need seating to accommodate us.  I managed to find a beautiful penthouse suite for rent that had a large living room, dining area and outdoor terrace with seating and patio umbrellas… it was perfect!  We booked that accommodation 4 months ago and checked the morning of our departure to ensure we hadn’t received any notices or issues.  Our cab dropped us off at this accommodation and we went to the front desk to check into our Pent House.  This is where the trouble began…

Long story short, it looks as though they double booked the pent house and tried to cover it up by telling us it was under renovation (saying that the roof had collapsed).  They offered us two hotel rooms but upon seeing them, they were dingy and tiny, so it would not work. 

Here we were at 11pm on Christmas Eve, frustrated and tired, without a place to stay.  After discussions back and forth with the employees, they called around and found some serviced apartments for us to stay in.  Roj and I went to see if these accommodations were adequate and we gave the approval that this would do.  Unfortunately it was half the size we were expecting and didn’t have any chairs, soap, toilet paper or basic necessities… I was so frustrated!  The worst thing was that we were told that there was wi-fi in this apartment building and technically there was, there just wasn’t ANY reception.  I had planned to videocall with my family during their Christmas celebration, but due to the non-existent connection, this wasn’t possible. 

The night wasn’t a total drag though.  Soon after we arrived at the serviced apartment, Anish and Anusha, and Anoop and Junita arrived and it was so wonderful to see the happiness spread across the family at the reunion.  Since space was an issue, three of us sat on the couch and the others sat on the floor and reconnected over the past few years.  The chatting continued until after 3am (I excused myself around 2:30am because clearly, I don’t have the stamina for staying up like a Cherian) and then everyone had a restful sleep.  I was so pleased to be able to meet the men who had been like brothers to Roj as he was growing up.