Have you heard of Equator Lollipops? Ha, I bet you haven’t. To be fair, neither had I till the morning of the 24^th of this month. They are special lollipops one has to suck on while crossing the equator to prevent pressure (of whatever, I am not too clear about that) from rising to dangerous levels. Errr… You don’t believe me, do you? No worries; I did not believe the BIL who tried to sell the idea to me, either. I must say that on his part he was at his convincing best. But when you are saddled with a prankster brother-in-law for as long a time as I, and have been gullible enough to believe him on past occasions, you are apt in the present, to view whatever he says with the utmost skepticism.  That is exactly what I did, disbelieving him from the start. He, of course, claims (wrongly) that he managed to make me swallow his story for at least two seconds which counts as victory for himself.

Now the question naturally arises, ‘Why equator?’ I mean there is no dearth of topics, right? So why am I choosing to talk of the equator? The answer is rather simple. We were going on a vacation, and I was about to cross the equator for the first time. The ‘we’ here refers to the honeymooning couple, the sis and the BIL, who having just celebrated their 27^th wedding anniversary a day prior to my arrival, had planned to extend celebrations by going on a short vacation to Bali. That meant crossing the equator. That’s how the Equator Lollipops had made an entrance into the conversation. Now you must naturally be wondering what I was doing with the ‘honeymooning’ couple. That answer is even simpler. I was accompanying them in my official capacity as their Personal Shutterbug Lady. Someone had to take the pictures, right?

On hearing about this new job profile of mine, a few friends had contacted me all eager and quivering with excitement, wanting to know more on how and where to apply for such a coveted post, and asking whether it involved getting a stipend as well during the duration of the trip. Well, here is my answer to all the eager beavers: All that you need is find a sis and a BIL in a holiday mood, magnanimous enough to let you accompany them. Add to it some moolah to pay your own way. Of course having a good camera helps in appointing yourself to the post without any more hitch. A few candid shots of the couple while they roam around the holiday spots takes care of the rest of it. Easy peasy, huh?

Now that the background has been established, let me get on with the travel narration. I
had reached Kuala Lumpur from India, on 24th morning. By evening I was back at the airport with sis and BIL, and munching on sweet jack-fruit chips (NOT Equator Lollipops, please note) waiting for the flight to Bali to be announced. It started raining, setting the mood for the holiday to come. It was still raining when the flight took off. Four hours later when we landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport and having done with the usual formalities climbed into the resort pick up vehicle, it had started drizzling there as well.So it was that raindrops welcomed us to the Amadea resort in Semanyak, Bali. Smiling faces welcomed us. The time was already 11 p.m. So after fixing the program for the next couple of days, we decided to call it a day, checking into the poolside room.

The next morning I opened the door to gray skies and rain. Was rain going to wash off our very first day of vacation, I wondered. Anyways I am someone unfazed by rain and love it at all times except when Luci comes pitter-pattering inside making patterns on the white floor after her (inevitable) rain-run and jumps on the bed to dry herself. Of course I don’t like the rain if it means getting my camera wet too. The honeymooners had an early morning swim, undaunted by the grey skies.  We then got ready to go tuck into the sumptuous breakfast at Bistro Batu Kali. Sorry folks, no pictures of the great grub; we were too busy eating, you see. When we got out of the bistro, the sky was clearing. It was going to be a perfect day after all. But then that’s for another day to recount, isn’t it?