Travelling with The Hulk.

Travelling with a baby is one thing. Travelling with a baby and a bag that should be treated like a baby is another.

I am back from a rocking vacation to Singapore that drained even the last droplet of energy left in me. Going by general health levels I have hit rock bottom. My friend told me not to worry about rock bottom they have Hard Rock café over there :-/ My eyes have sunk into their sockets. I got a tan which says I had actually been on a vacation to the sun. I am not bragging or anything but I returned from Singapore looking like the Devil. 

The highlight of our Singapore trip was 'The Hulk', the star passenger with us. The Hulk is an over-sized camera bag, and it was nicknamed very appropriately for its striking similarity in color, dimensions and general outlook to the incredible superhero. The Hulk bag is bigger than a normal backpack, but smaller than a house. It is also heavier than a backpack, but lighter than a house. Throughout the journey, The Hulk got to sit on cushions and on people’s laps (not necessarily ours) when other bags were either dragged or dumped in the boot.  Well, my husband maintains that it contained his camera and its accessories. However the bag looked like it contained a camera, its accessories and an ogre.

Well if I look at it from a layman angle I should admit it was none of my business because the owner of the bag did not make anyone else carry it. Second thing is, if he asked any of us to carry it he would have carried that person all the way home. Thirdly it is difficult to watch a person walking around pretending to be very comfortable all the while carrying a cross on his shoulders.

At bus stops and metro stations, the bag was not placed on the floor or the very cleanly maintained waiting benches. That was when we realized the dark and glaring truth that was always there, right in front of our eyes . The reality that is always bitter and it was our turn to take a bite of it. It was the time to accept The Hulk into our family as an extension of hubby. It was now an unspoken yet painful fact that at any strange and crowded location, the chances of me and my son getting lost is high as compared to the bag.

We are also not allowed to badmouth this bag. For example remarks like ‘Please put that down we are going to be in this queue forever’, ‘Shift the bag out of the way this is a public place’, ‘Move the bag out of the seat for the physically challenged’ will be met with fuming grunts and scary frowns coupled with rolling of eyes that you can almost see angry birds flying out of his ears. Sometimes I think compared to us Roger Federer can go on completely peaceful vacations with his n pairs of twins. At least he has a hope that his babies are going to grow up some day and become people.

One fine sunny morning at Sentosa, Singapore, we hopped on to a cable car. There were seven of us, and the cable car capacity was eight. So the guy at the counter kept us waiting before he closed the cabin, waiting for any single weirdo who would have come to Sentosa all by himself. When he peeped into our cabin he found the seven of us, sitting slightly cramped and the bag on the seat royally placed. And he said ‘Okay this car is full’ and closed it. Because seven human beings + The Hulk = 8. I am just glad he dint charge a ticket for it.

And so this ogre laden bag followed us everywhere. I am sure during one of those tiresome walks in the hot sun, the hubby secretly wished the ogre to come out and hold the bag for once. On our way home from Sentosa we hired a taxi and hubby asked the driver to open the boot. The driver said he could keep the bag inside. But hubby insisted. The driver opened it and he kept the bag there. The trip to the hotel, hands free, was a liberating experience for all of us.

Finally at the hotel:

Driver: “Sir 19 Dollars”

He: "But your meter shows 16"

Driver: “And you used the trunk which is 3 dollars”

:-o

Once more, the bag showed its worth, that it can travel business class even in taxis.

Image courtesy: Google images.