A long time between updates indeed. I wasn’t kidding when I remarked it would be hard to update my Flickr, Gallery or my Blog from India, and that it was. Crippled without my Mac and my fast Internet speeds, it was hard to keep updating. Thanks to my Rissa (whose message was read 309 times), one knew where and how I was. But here I am back on Qumana and back in the cold country.

It is hard to sum up in one post how amazing it was to be back home with my family after a gap of two years, so I won’t even attempt. Meeting my father and brother after such a long time, in a new home, in a new setting, with my brother all grown up and my dad as adorable as ever, it was quite a homecoming. The month we spent together, traveling around North and West India, exploring our city Delhi once again, sitting around like old times and discussing topics close to our hearts, oh I could go on, and yet none other than the person who has stayed away from home so long, can understand.

Things seemed so different in the beginning, but the more time that elapsed, it became apparent, the more things change, the more they remain the same. My brother and I share the same dynamic we did when we were kids – laughing, teasing, grossing each other out, to touch upon a few. Dad all about exercise and dietary regimens while eating ice cream and chocolate. I miss my family a lot.

But this trip was special for another reason. My darling love came to visit my family for the first time. It was a trip blessed by the stars, for the minute she put her foot on Indian soil, she was the darling of whoever she met – from my mom’s aunt and uncle to my grandma and uncles. But the ones whose opinion matters most – my dad and my brother were just so fond of her that they doted on her more than they did me! It pleased me no end to see my dad come around to being himself around Rissa – singing, extolling the virtues of our family, and exercising, showering Rissa with gifts (for which I don’t quite know how much he spent), blessing her, tearing up after she left India… And my brother, just gelled so easily with my fiancee, finding her sense of humor and demeanor so similar to what my brother and I share. She was an instant hit wherever she went and whoever she met. A guy could only be so lucky. Everyone congratulating us on the upcoming date.

And here it is folks, a secret I have tried and keep a long time now, but due to reasons personal, I could not reveal on here. Rissa and I are engaged to be married. Not only that, we have set our date and location, and everything is quite far advanced in the tracks! Fantastic news isn’t it? We could not be more enthused and more excited! It is something we both foresaw back last year when we met, but never thought would happen so soon back then. I just get heady with happiness looking forward to our date.

So people I am back in the NL, back in the cold climes from the warm reaches of India, and indeed raring to set the machinery in action. Watch out for my Mac and Flickr galleries, a HUGE update coming there soon.