Family Trip to Pune and Mumbai

In the month of January during a national level training for the serving ones at Chennai, a leading brother fellowshipped with me about attending a family training to be held in Pune. In fellowship with my wife, we decided to attend this training. Meanwhile, we also planned a family trip by-the-way for the children's sake. All practical detail we carried out in fellowship and in one accord, though the expenses incurred was heavy the Lord faithfully supplied all the needs and we had a wonderful family training with a family trip, the first ever training and trip we undertook as a family, to Pune and then to Mumbai.

During our one whole day tour of Pune city, we visited places of interest much to the joy of our children. If left to my choice, I would rather stay back and rest, but as a father, my interests were inclined towards my children, and I did my best to make them happy. In fact, in their happiness was my happiness too. 

In Mumbai we spent two full days, the first day with a group of Taiwan working saints touring Mumbai city, and the next day our family alone visited a famous national park and a famous beach.

One significant thing that I learned was the goodness of my family and how cooperative they all were in times of emergency. We had a wonderful coordination on our last day of the trip. Due to Mumbai heavy traffic, our time calculation all went wrong. We were delayed for about two hours from the plan we scheduled to board our return flight back to Delhi. The entire episode of urgency and anxiety was breathtaking. But all that we could do was just pray and pray while caught up in the traffic, and things eventually worked out on time.

From Juhu beach we were caught up on the road on our way back to Kurla where we had to pick up our lugguages and leave for Airport. I had to request all my family to hurry, get cleaned up, dressed and head back to the taxi immediately on arrival at our lodge, meanwhile I also requested the driver to wait and drop us to the Airport. All went well, but that day being a state festival the road that led to the Airport was blocked by traffic jam clubbed with rally on a crowed road. The taxi driver sensed the urgency and asked us to deboard, walk past the rally, and catch another vehicle to the Airport. We did that too, in the middle of a crowed busy road teeming with multitude, with our luggages, we moved through the crowd as swift as we could managed. Once we crossed the rally stretch, we board another vehicle, an "auto - a three wheeler, Indian made economic passenger car." But the road even after the rally was also too crowded that the driver had to squeeze into every possible passage, driving the vehicle side way, left, right, forward, honking whenever necessary, and even jumping a red light to just drop us at the Airport as soon as he could. I complimented him for his effort. 

From the entrance of the Airport we had to find our way to the check-in counter, all the while inquiring for correct platform, dragging the luggages all along. My son was very cooperative and he handled a luggage all by himself running behind me, my wife with our youngest and eldest daughter beside, were following me too. We all rush our way through until we could finally checked-in just in time for the flight.

Thank God for the wonderful family that understands the situation in times of emergency and cooperated. I could see things I never saw before and appreciated my family a lot more; very cooperative. I seriously thought we would miss the flight and that would be a heavy blow to our budget, besides unnecessary troubles it would have incurred.

This trip has a special flavor. First, it being the first for our family, second, the discovery of the worth of family values, and third, the coordination, understanding and oneness in times of emergency. Family life is truly wonderful; God has beautifully designed it all for good. And the trip is worth all the experiences. 

Now, looking forward for the next trip. When will that be? Only God knows..