Blog 5, N&N–The Honeymoon 16th-20thJuly21

Their wedding was such a rush with everything managed by the couple, Nitin and Namrata had lesser time to even plan for a trip post the event.

They both discussed the possibilities starting from Maldives, Northeast India to Goa; which were all cancelled out due to travel restrictions for COVID.

Namrata had randomly applied for merely 7 days of official leave and till 3 days to the wedding, they had no clue where to travel or rather to travel or not.

At last, Namrata relied solely on Nitin to take a decision about this. Earlier in the same year, Nitin had visited a beautiful resort called “The Wild Planet” located in the town of Devala, in the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala states; as part of his annual official meetup. The isolated forest resort with no mobile phone reception was situated between Wayanad Hills & Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and it was a treat to drive through the dense forests and hills during the peak monsoon.

He took a quick decision to travel again with Namrata, that place was only at a distance of 300kms from Bangalore and had no such travel restrictions. With the honeymoon trip of 4 nights planned, they quickly decided to visit Nitin’s hometown in Ghaziabad district of UP. All the tickets were hurriedly booked, and suitcases were packed as they had to take the flight as soon as returning from the resort.

By the end of the wedding day, Nitin was quite tired and dozed off on the couch by late evening. The lady of the house checked everything for the trip meanwhile and cooked dinner and gently woke him up during dinner time to ensure he doesn’t sleep hungry. She was still getting used to her new bridal getup of red bangles, sindoor, mangalsutra.

They had planned to start the drive by 3 AM the next morning, to avoid the city traffic. The beautiful morning started for the couple driving through the picturesque landscape crossing Mysore city, enjoying every moment of togetherness. Meanwhile, Namrata took a few quick minutes to update their marital status over social media; which came as a huge surprise to many of her acquaintances. The last stretch to the resort was quite challenging for Nitin to drive the car, the road being muddy and narrow. However, the place was just magical and they both felt the coziness once landing at their designated suite. Everything was so neatly arranged, beautiful and old school; all meals cooked local style and drizzling made it all worth staring at the clouds passing by the tip of the hill. The resort was a strictly plastic-free zone, equipped with filtered water in glass bottles, and handmade organic soaps as part of the toiletries.

The place had many indoor games to keep the guests engaged, rainforest walks to appreciate the beauty of nature, and vast tea gardens covering the area all around the resort. Namrata was exactly at a place that she loves to be, with no phone reception and endless natural beauty to dive into. The couple enjoyed the long walks, scrumptious elaborated meals prepared using local ingredients, the view from the isolated balcony, and the unspoken words of silence. Namrata also experienced leech-bite, just a night before their departure; to which Nitin promptly attended.

The resort had turkeys and chickens as pets, fishing activities, etc. They also played table tennis during the afternoon hours. The water and air were supremely pure and crisp. Late evening to night hours was spent in the beautiful wooden suite tastefully decorated in dim yellow lighting; listening to instrumental music.

Four nights passed like a dream and they left the place bidding goodbye. The day was sunny and serene when they drove back to Bangalore and were ready for their next destination by flight.

Why do we call it honeymoon?

The word derives from the Old English hony moone. Hony refers to the new marriage's sweetness, as well as a reference to the European custom of giving newlyweds enough mead, “an alcoholic liquor made by fermenting honey and water,” to last a month.

The first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure, but comparing the mutual affection of newly married persons to the changing moon which is no sooner full than it begins to wane.