Day 1

I took the decision real quick as we both needed a desperate break from the tiresome Kolkata summer and from the drab monotony of Arpita’s  college administration , my stoic existence & perhaps our boring regular lives ! I had a short week  to decide ( the dominating third world male always decides ! ) and so very romantically thought of the languid expansive  mountains ( which my wife incidentally adores). I of course, kept the mountain paradise Bhutan our final destination  a close secret and casually mentioned to Arpita that we were planning the sea side ( for various non nondescript reasons, all of which i now forget ). She was really very excited like always ( anything to be away from the heat & Arpita is always buoyant & grateful with what ever that comes her way, unexpected or otherwise …her life’s deep grafted philosophy ! ). Arpita loves travel  & is a seasoned traveler too ( which took a back seat the last couple of years due to her academic pursuits & my selfish work commitments ), and even then we did manage to squeeze in a couple of quick holidays , first to Gods own country to celebrate our many years of peaceful co existence with my overseas twin and even earlier during Pujas last year a  surprise luxury sea cruise to celebrate over silver anniversary , all of a sudden now seems strangely faded  in the distant past ! It will be important to mention at this stage that often Arpita’s sole purpose of “any form of travel” is not just to discover new land & people  ( some say my paternal great great grandfather was a direct descendant of a famous Spanish discoverer ( for the records not a pirate ) , to give her  inquisitive mind and her ever whetting appetite and a robust gene to discover new people and culture , traditions and history ( which is now her new found passion thanks to the academic lures of Jadavpur University  ) and above all an insatiable desire and relentless passion to experiment with great food. Arpita is an unparalleled food connoisseur (and makes no bones about this innate gift) wisely curated over many years of robust cuisine at home & overseas  ! Arpita is also a very seasoned and well planned traveler and her first proactive buy for this trip was a therapeutic deep skin antitan lotion to protect  us both from the scorching unkind Puri sun!  The disappointment for this wasteful expenditure arose only later when we were boarding for Paro ( as till then she expected a domestic flight to Bhubaneshwar,  for onward travel to Puri  our proposed final destination ). Though she was pleasantly surprised with the change in destination, while spying upon the boarding pass ( during customs ) she hid her emotions remarkably well ( well trained with many years of firm domestic Policy for greater harmony  & much more )  & she also sadly hid her disappointment at not being able to conduct her regular detailed research on the proposed place of travel ie Bhutan, a prerequisite before any form of travel by her. More importantly she could not clinically plan her daily wear along with related essential costume jewelry in combinations rare, and the eternal delight of choosing her final pair of shoes from over a couple of two dozens readily available at her hand ( or rather her feet ) ! Curbing these deep deep disappointments,   ( she silently bore all of these  at the cost of my silly surprise prank ) Arpita  & i boarded our short flight to the land of the Dragon , full of  optimism & release . The sky was deep blue and the air full of freshness she deserves in a pre monsoon season of expectancy ! We were finally airborne and high up in the clouds it seemed as if these shapeless white cottons of mystical charm were deliberately luring us in an over drawing embrace of emotional release. We tried to leave behind everything we needed to bring with us for this trip , except two empty bags of our existence  only to be over  filled with kilos of happiness !