A family vacation was long overdue. It had been a while since we visited a new place. In fact it was exactly four years back when we went to Andaman and Nicobar islands. Since then, we hadn't really visited any picturesque place apart from the usual yearly trip to our ancestral home in Bengal. Time flies by so fast. Sonu, my son is already in the seventh standard before I could realise. I have lost count of the number of times when I felt like it was only yesterday that he was crawling around the house in a diaper! It's sad but probably inevitable that there will come a time when he would have a life of his own. In a few years from now, he would be in college and will get really busy in his studies and career. He may also even wish to leave for a different city or country to pursue his higher studies. Thus we mayn't have enough opportunities to be together as we do now. A family vacation is the best way to bond with your children. I want my kid to grow up to be independent but at the same time, also want to gift him with fond memories, our time of togetherness those that he can cherish for his entire life. Years later I'm sure he will be happy to go through the photos and videos of the times we spent together during vacations and will want to relive them. Also travelling can be a great learning experience for kids. It is way more fun to get to learn about things first hand than only reading about them in books or on television. When we take our family to a new country or state, the kids get an opportunity to learn about different cultures, history, environment, food habits and lots more. 

Apart from that, I am myself a travel-loving person. I love to explore new places. Ever since I was a teenager, I had always had a deep desire to visit at least ten exotic destinations in this lifetime. Maldives had been on the top of the list. While browsing through books and magazines, I had seen numerous postcard photographs of Maldives, they were so  picturesque and mesmerizing in pictures that I wanted to visit and explore Maldives for real. Last year in March, finally my wish got fulfilled when my hubby dear took us on a family vacation and I can't thank him enough. He knew that Maldives has been on my wishlist for long and last year he proposed for a family vacation to Maldives during Sonu's summer vacation. Keeping our budget in mind, we decided to go for a 4 day 3 nights stay in Maldives. We had already made elaborate plans for the vacation, about which flight to take, where to stay and what all islands to visit because there are over a thousand islands there. If chosen wisely, each island will give you a wholesome experience to remember.

Thanks to Yatra.com (through which we could select the most appropriate flight route to Male from Delhi as per our convenience) and Etihad Airways, it took only about ten hours to reach Male with a stopover at Abu Dhabi. The flight tickets from Delhi to Maldives were relatively affordable too. As per me, the best time to visit Maldives would be during the months of December to April. 

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Maldives has to be one of the best romantic places on earth. I couldn't contain my grin when my husband gave me the surprise of my life, the best gift that I could have ever wished for. The white sand beach, the pristine water, the blue sky... everything looked like so much like a movie wallpaper. At first we couldn't believe our eyes. I had never seen so much of vivid colours all around in real life before. Maldives vacation shall always remain an unforgettable experience. And as the cherry on the cake, the expression on Sonu's face, his amazement the moment we landed at Maldives was absolutely priceless, I had never seen him so happy and so excited before.

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Sonu and my husband remained busy in snorkelling most of the time, going after the fishes. I loved to see the father-son duo swimming and playing together while I relaxed on the swing at the same time watching over them. At other times, I was just strolling around the beach and capturing beautiful shots on my camera as mementos to take back. The sea view both during dawn as well as during sunset was absolutely spectacular. 

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There was so much of calm and peace in Maldives. I can't actually dream about that kind of quietness in any of our metro cities. I so wished I could live there forever. It was a wonderful experience, away from the din and bustle of everyday life. And an absolutely unforgettable vacation. The trip did cost us quite a lot of money but we also thoroughly enjoyed our time there and made wonderful memories. Everyone should plan for such vacations and trips. 


Like a typical Bengali, my husband too is very fond of fish curry and today being a Wednesday, he had a special demand to include fish curry in the lunch menu. He even clarified that he won't be taking a lunch box and instead would come home for lunch, so that he would be able to relish his favourite fish curry in peace. Whereas I was thinking about preparing chicken curry because it had been months since I prepared chicken. But seeing his eagerness for fish curry, I thought to keep chicken for some other day. But luck had something else in store for us. To make sure that I do not fail him by giving some excuse for not making fish curry, he himself went to the market early morning and got a kilo of Ilishi maach and kept it in the refrigerator. I was unknown to that fact, nor did he tell me that he had already brought Ilishi. By the time I went to the market, it was well past ten in the morning and so I couldn't find any variety of fish, all stocks had already been sold, I couldn't even find prawns. I couldn't have returned home empty-handed, so I bought a kilo of chicken. Thus I ended up cooking both fish curry as well chicken curry for lunch. However that was not all, in fact today's lunch was quite a lavish spread.  We had plain rice, dal, Ilishi jhol, chicken curry, kobi alu chor chori and doi cucumber salad. My husband was more than happy and ate the dishes to his heart's fill.


Life has become so hectic these days, there is such a mad rush everywhere right from the time people wake up. Kids and the youngsters are seen to be in a hurry to reach their schools and colleges in time while the adults to reach their work places. However their health gets affected in the bargain because most of them due to time constraints often skip the most essential meal of the day - breakfast! When you skip your breakfast, your body will be short on energy. Without its fuel (energy), how will it function properly throughout the day? Also those who skip their breakfast end up binging on food during lunch and thus get over-weight and develop health issues. But contrary to what most people think, preparing a healthy breakfast is not that difficult actually. For instance, today I prepared vegetable upma for my husband and my son. Not only were they happy with the taste, even I was satisfied that they won't feel tired during the day due to lack of nutrients or energy. Preparing vegetable upma is quite easy.


Ingredients :

Rawa or Suji - about 250 gms
Onions, 2 nos medium sized, thinly sliced
Tomatoes, finely chopped - 1 cup
Carrots, finely chopped - 1/2 cup
Potatoes, skinned and cut into small cubes - 1/2 cup
French Beans, cut into small pieces - 3 tbsp
Green Matar - 1/2 cup
Cauliflower, finely chopped into small florets - 3 tbsp
Green chillies, slit along the length - 3-4 nos
Curry leaves - 5-6 nos
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Red Chillies, 3 nos, broken into fairly long pieces
Vegetable refined oil - 3 tbsp
Salt - to taste


Method :

First we will have to dry roast the rawa or suji over low-medium flame for about 3-4 minutes till a faint smell starts coming. Transfer it to a plate and keep aside.
Now taking a kadhai, heat the refined oil and add the sliced onions and fry till they become translucent. Then add the slit green chillies and fry for a minute or so. Follow that with addition of mustard seeds, broken red chillies, urad dal and curry leaves and saute for a minute or two. Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry for some time till they become really soft.
Now add the chopped vegetables, salt and fry for a minute or two. Then add about 3-4 cups of water and covering the kadhai with a lid or plate, allow the vegetables to get cooked properly. That should take about 4-5 minutes.
When the water starts boiling, add the roasted suji or rawa and mix nicely. The roasted rawa will soak up all water. Keep on the flame for another 2 minutes before turning off the flame. Our suji vegetable upma is ready to be served.
Didn't I say that vegetable upma is quite easy to prepare and doesn't really take that much time to prepare. So next time when you feel that you are running short on time, instead of altogether skipping your breakfast, make vegetable upma and eat to your fill. Not only does it taste wonderful but is also healthy.

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