It has been a turbulent year for all of us, with the Coronavirus pandemic hitting us hard. But I think it’s all about the perspective with which you look at things. I count my blessings and I was extremely grateful every day... I was with my family, and everyone was healthy. You can always find faults with what’s not going your way, but there’s always a brighter side to it. For me, the lockdown was just a long break that I would have probably never taken otherwise and I enjoyed that recouping period. It put a lot of things in perspective and made me more grateful about life.

During the lockdown, I felt I wanted to be around my parents. So, post the initial lockdown, I went to Delhi and spent about a month with my parents. That’s when I realised we had not had a family vacation in 10 years. From the time I moved out of my home to Mumbai, all four of us — my parents, my brother and I — have never been together. We may have spent two or three days, but we never went on a vacation. As a kid, we used to travel a lot. Every year, we would talk about taking a vacation, but something or the other would come up and it wouldn’t happen.

This year, I resumed shoot in August, and I knew I had a five-day break after a few schedules, post which I would be busy till mid-2021. So, we decided to go to the Maldives. My dad was reluctant because I was shooting and he thought it could be risky. I felt that if not now, we’d never get to do this. It has been a rough year for everyone and even they needed a change. It was a much-needed family vacation.

Maldives offers bubble tourism. So, you get yourself tested before you get your visa, and that has to be 72 hours before you land there. After the trip, you again get tested and then get back into the country. So, it’s completely safe. On the island, since everyone is tested, you don’t have to wear a mask. It was such a relief to not worry about carrying a mask; it was like getting back to normal life... eating at restaurants and just chilling. That’s why everyone is choosing Maldives, because it’s mask-free and everyone is tested.

I had several firsts there, like scuba diving. It has been on my mind for a long time. In fact, I had planned a trip to the islands last year, but it didn’t happen because of my work schedule. Finally, when I did get a chance to do it this time, I grabbed the opportunity, and it was the most exhilarating experience. Even my dad and brother tried it with me.

Flyboarding was also a first for me. It looks easy, but it took me easily between 45 minutes and an hour to balance myself on it. Flyboarding is all about getting the core balance and a little movement. I want to try my hand at it another time and do a better job at it.

For me, this was a beautiful vacation. I’m a complete beach bum. In fact, we, as a family, are water babies. So, there was a lot of soaking up in the sun, scuba diving, snorkeling, flyboarding and eating a lot of great food, but the highlight was the amazing time we spent together, doing what we love.