Touch Wood

‘Deadly earthquake hit Pakistan and part of India and Afghanistan,’ screamed the front page headline of many of the Sunday papers.

It was barely three weeks before I was supposed to leave for India.

The news was followed by phone calls and sms-es from family members and friends asking if my trip was affected, whether there would be change of plan etc.

It is also a well known fact that the Kashmir areas of both Pakistan and India are always at loggerhead. Few days before I left for the trip, I told a friend that I was going to India – Golden Triangle and Kashmir – for a holiday.

‘OH! KASHMIR?’ her eyes ‘popped out’ and her jaw, half dropped. She continued, ‘I hope you will come back in one piece.’

I don’t want to sound superstitious, but I actually secretly touched a wooden table and said, ‘Oh, I hope so...no, I am sure I will. Yes, I WILL come back in one piece.’

The following evening after we arrived in New Delhi, I received a sms from a relative back home asking where exactly I was and if everything was ok. It went on to say that there had been a few bomb blasts in the market areas of Delhi.

At that time, we were at a souvenir shop some 250km away in Jaipur, oblivious of what was happening.

Going back in one piece?

Continuing my holiday with peace of mind?