Goa honeymoon: Will Skyscanner make my dream come true?

I always craved for a Goa trip and those who have read my bucket list are already cognizant of my honeymoon plans. Given that I am at the twilight of my 20s, perhaps the day is not far when I shall allow my nagging parents to get me hitched. Though I may be as recalcitrant as my pet rabbits if I want to (stubbornness is my forte, some say), if I give in to my parent’s wishes, it would be purely because it would be a precursor to a honeymoon I have always held a strong fascination for.

Assuming I will be taking a trip to Goa on 15^th May 2015, I just made a rough calculation of my cost via Skyscanner

Kolkata-Goa (return trip): Rs 11,967 per adult. It will be Rs 23,934 for the two of us.

Hotel stay at The Hawaii Comforts; Rs 15,345 for 7 nights

Car booking: Rs 25,336 (Intermediate class)

Total: Rs 52,648

I am in love with nature and it would be a sin to miss out on Goa’s lakes, wildlife sanctuaries and those age-old churches. I am sure my future wife too will cherish sightseeing with me. Since, I will be choosing an economy class for the two-way flight, I felt it only right to book an intermediate car for the sightseeing purpose. After all, my wife should not feel uncomfortable during May’s heat.

Yes, May may not be a great time to go for a honeymoon. But it is a crowd-free month and one which can help save a lot of money.

As shown above, Skyscanner has planned out a 7-day itinerary for me such that my travel, hotel stay and sightseeing plans will boil down to Rs 52,648.

Given that my budget will be only Rs 1 lakh, this rough estimate enables me to plan better and keep aside a substantial sum for shopping, binging, partying and boozing *winks*

Had it not been for Skyscanner, it would have been difficult for me to predict an estimate and I may have holed out more money than I would wish for. 

This post is a part of Skyscanner travel wizard activity at BlogAdda.com

Mardaani sisters: The unsung Heroes

This is no piece of fiction. So if you came looking for a spicy story, you arrived at the wrong place. However, the story I am about to narrate is no less inspiring, even interesting and perhaps even as enthralling as a bestselling novel.

I have my mother who at one point of time stayed submerged in chronic depression. With a child on one hand and no means to support on the other, she found herself at a crossroad where all roads led to death. But she fought back every strand of depression, she battled the financial crisis simply by seeking pleasure out of her baby’s smiling face, she weathered the black storm which an unhappy marital life brought, she stayed hungry to feed her child and stayed awake to see him sleep.

At a time when her most convenient option was to surrender to a rope or a bottle of poison, she withstood the vagaries of time and fate hanging on to life with the mere hope that her child would one day grow up and lead a happy life.

She is not a hero because she chose to live; she is a hero because she chose not to die.

And there is her sister (my Masi) who raised her two daughters at a house where she was deprived of running water and electric connection after being deserted by her husband. Her heart must have broken into thousand pieces for all I know but she never let the smile fade out of her face. She raised her daughters and made them proud CAs. She treated me like her son and bought me my first bicycle and my first video game. She perhaps led the most miserable life a wife could lead but it is astonishing how that radiant smile on her face never dissipated.

She is not a hero because she chose to smile; she is a hero because she chose not to cry.

And these two sisters (now pushing towards the twilight of their lives) are the unsung heroes (Mardaanis) of my family, of my life, of my saga. I owe my everything to them.

This is written as a part of I am Mardaani activity exclusively at BlogAdda.com for Indian Bloggers.