Raining like never before

Here I sit with my sizzle drizzle brownie and hot cappuccino at my closest CCD overlooking the busy crossroads and watching it pour like crazy. Its a strange feeling of redemption and peace as if the clouds were crying at the human suffering or may be sharing the joy. The first instinct at the slightest hint of a heavy downpour in Mumbai is to rush home to safety and avoid getting stuck on the roads. Its somehow inbuilt in our pshyche. However, since I was almost home, I had this beautiful opportunity to just sit and enjoy the rain while watching others run for shelter.

Frankly I have never seen it pour so intensely. People are running to find autos which would take them home, I wonder when the auto drivers will themselves get home. My favourite bhuttawala stands there in a corner with his cart under an unbrella trying to save his coal and himself. Dogs are seeking dry shady corners though some seemed to have given up and walking in the rain. Some men seem to have given up too. I wonder how the delivery men manage... the pizza hut types might be having a raincoat but how about the local dabba guy or the dvd delivery guy who visit at my call. I feel guilty to call them but thats better than me drenching in the rain... quite selfish of me but thats how life is - unfair!

Lots of water is standing on the sides of the roads. I can hardly imagine the state of narrower lanes and lower lying areas of the city. I wonder how the veg hawkers of the Jogeshwari market must be packing it all up and hiding somewhere waiting for the rain to stop which shows no visible signs of doing so. As I dip my teeth in the brownie dipped in hot choclate sauce and ice-cream, many teeths would now be clattering in cold in thier only pair of clothes now wet since many many hours and would remain so for many more. Seeing me down with fever at home one weekday my maid remarks - atleast you have a dry floor, mine is flooded with gutter water.

Most friends colleagues around me are cribbing about the rain. It seems that people who have the means to avoid it are sadder than those who have no other way out. The poor seem happier, I am one of the priveleged lot but I am happy too. I love the rain in all its forms - drizzle, rain, downpour, thunderstorm, snowfall, pool, lakes, ocean its all so beautiful. The grass looks greener, clouds bluer and my world brighter after a hearty rainfall. Once you are gone, I shall miss you rain. Please stay for some more time. Rain rain dont go away, stay here for another day!

Waterfall Rappelling

Its the Mumbai monsoon season and I had been thinking of going on one of the adventure trips to the countryside from a long time but somehow nothing was working out. Last year during the same season, I had done river rafting and it had been a thrilling, refreshing experience.So now when a friend suggested a one day upcoming event on a sunday on junglelore site, I was excited to try it out. Though I had never heard of Waterfall Rappelling and not even rappelling, it hardly bothered me enough to do some research on the topic. I was eager to try it nevertheless.Though strangled there in the middle of the waterfall and looking down on the vertical cliff I wished I had mentally prepared myself for this.

The day started at 5:00 am on that sunday and the meru cab arrived at 6:00 am and I was there at the meeting point, Dadar station at around 6:30 am. There was big group of 30-40 people who had collected there and we swiftly marked attendance and left in another 15-20 min in a bus. The enire route seemed beautiful 'cos it was early morning till vashi and thereafter 'cos it was actually green and scenic.They gave us nicely packed breakfast - sandwitches and a separate snack-pack of mint, cakes, biscuits, juice and some namkeen. Though I had had bread omlette at home before starting, getting a picnic pack was some joy.

The bus wasn't filled to its capacity and so each one of us got enough leg and breathing space. I put on my ear plugs and enjoyed the FM till it would last and surprisingly it did last the whole time. Even vodafone had network coverage in that remote village of wageshwar in karjat. As we reached closer to karjat, the sight of the greenery, lake and hills filled up my senses. Even the FM was beginning to distract and so I immersed myself in the pristine beauty and stared at the wilderness with my head almost popping out of the bus window. As the bus followed all curves and turns and went up hill, I tried to soak in as much as I could as this much greenery would be a rarity in Mumbai once this trip was over.

The bus almost reached the peak of one of the hills on which was settled the small village of Wageshwar. The prime venue in the village seemed to be the primary school, situated right on the top and it seemed to be the center of all activity, atleast ours. The school was clean, cemented and pretty with lots of posters, sketches on the boards and books & uniforms neatly stacked in the cupboards. Lot of kids gathered to watch us. We walked towards the school and kept our bags in one of the only two classrooms and stood in a circle starting with our first activity which was introductions. It was a good mix of young people from all walks of life - bankers, media, fashion designors, air hostesses, business people, IT consultants etc.

We trekked a bit towards the point where the waterfall started. The organisers were still preparing by tying ropes around big stones. Meanwhile few of us decided to go downhill all the way to the river below. We trekked through the bushy trail, careful not to slip or hurt our feet in the stones. As we reached the pebbled river we started splashing water on each other and were drenched even before the rappelling could begin. After having some fun there, few moved towards rifle shooting. I totally sucked at it, to my own surprise, though I have been quite a good shooter in NCC and in kiddie mela balloon shooting stalls. Well nevertheless I used that time to enjoy the scenery around. Few guys went swimming in the river, thats one of the benefit of being a guy, you can just strip and dip whenever you want.

We climbed back to the hill to see how far the rappelling had progressed and seeing the long queue and the unbearable heat, we decided to head back to the school and take some rest. There we did some clay modelling and I loved the activity. I tried to pack my ganesha and other idols to bring it home in one piece but could not manage to do so. We decided to check the rappelling spot once again and there was a half an hr waiting time there. I felt quite confident about the whole thing and over smartly got hold of the rope started off the slippery slope. It was only after I came closer to the first vertical slope of the waterfall that I realised the seriousness of the situation.

With great courage and after lot of prodding I somehow managed to go down half the waterfall as the slope was around 100 degrees to the horizontal. However the next half which was to follow was almost 90 degrees i.e. almost like a vertical wall and that too a slippery one. There was no way that I was going to walk through the other half. I looked down and thought... Oh god I just cannot do this. Just then the rope attached to me got stuck and I could not move it anymore. Someone had to come down to my point to repair it. There was no way to escape, I had to finsh the fall. I hardly put 1-2 steps in the vertical cliff and slipped. With the help of the rope I was dropped all the way down. So basically it was half rappelling, half free fall.

It was a different experience but certainly not my idea of fun, especially after all those bruises in my elbows and cuts on my feet. I dont think i would like to do this again. Exhausted we trekked back to the top of the cliff to the school. The lunch was already served. We ate like savages and food was delicious. It had been freshly cooked and brought by some lady from the town. We then changed and dried ourselves. Some of us who did not change, decided to go down the cliff once again to swim in the river. However, for me the idea of going down and up the cliff all over again did not seem like a goodone. I decided to stay in the school. Some went for horse riding, some trekked around, some even slept. We played some vocab game, listened to music and relaxed.

We wound up by 5pm and boarded the bus. Everyone exchanged email ids and promised to exchange pics. Jungle lore people promised to upload it all on thier site. We were so dead by now that noone made noise in the bus. The day had been refreshing but nevertheless our bodies were aching from all joints, not to mention the bruises and cuts. We stopped to have vada pav and chai at Panvel and then came back to Mumbai. I reached home at a decent time of around 9pm, ordered for some pizza and was soon sound asleep, back to the greens in my dreams.

No meat, no seafood please!

Different people do it differently. Few decide and do it one fine day. Some do it and then fall back due to withdrawal symptoms but most do it in stages, one step at a time. I decided to quit eating meat and did it one fine day. I dont know if I have actually quit it for good because I just did it without giving much thought or reason. There was hardly an incubation period or dormancy. Besides other reasons I guess mostly the transfromation happened after watching the PETA videos on one Sunday. Following Monday and Tuesday there were dinners to attend at Marine Plaza and to my own surprise I unconsciously drifted towards the veg dishes and salads which I had never tried before.

After that day on several occasions when I was out in a restaurant or invited to official lunch/ dinner where the non veg section was separate and exotic, I did not really feel pulled towards them as I used to feel earlier. I am still not sure if I am going to be overcome by temptation someday but as of now I feel no droolings and rather disgust at the sight of dead cooked meat. I guess I have become a vegetarian now but will still give myself the benefit of doubt.

The other day as I rode in the auto through the congested Jogeshwari market watching the fish market on my right side, a sudden feeling of sadness swept through me as I saw the dead fishes piled one on top of the other. I have normaly felt excitement at the sight of the varied species of seafood and even been tempted to get down from the vehicle and buy some to cook for dinner earlier on several occasions. The feelings have somehow changed now.

I guess its all in the mind after all. If you choose to ignore your conscience, it stops talking to you after a while. Its all in your perception whether you see it as raw material for your delicious dinner or a result of pain and ruthless bloodbath of a life form. Decisions based on your mind are perhaps stabler and make you feel happier than those based on compulsion, order or religious followership. I am begining to feel lighter and healthier after every choice of veg meal against the meat.

It wasn't too difficult for me I would accept. Maybe I always wanted to take this step some day. It gives me another reason to make my present veg meal more nutritious with extra doses of proteins. I have replaced my normal milk with soy milk and cheese with peanut butter for breakfast. Once in a week pulses like choley, rajma, chana and once in a week paneer has also been incorporated. Being healthy is a lifestyle. You focus on food and automatically your daily schedule, your junk food intake, sleep pattern, exercise everything falls into place. Being healthy is a state of mind.

State Bank Day at NCPA

Just like an alchemist everything he touched turned into music. Be it an old suitcase, a bisleri can, spoon, bucket or his elaborate set of drums of all shapes and sizes from all over the world, he brought life into each with his sticks and made them sing to his tunes. Such was magic of the master percussionist Sivamani. It was an enchanting evening which left an auditorium full of audience spellbound.

It was 1st of July and State Bank Day, like every year, we had a gala celebration at NCPA for all the employees. Evening started with snacks and general mixing up with the colleagues followed by the stage performances which were in two parts. First part was by a dance troupe showcasing the folkdances of Kerala which were Mohiniattam, martial art forms and last but the most beautiful Kathakali.Second part was performance by Sivamani.

Mohiniattam which means 'dance of an enchantress' was a graceful and sensuos dance. Though beautifully clad in white and gold sari and side bun, the dancer set the stage on fire, I felt the item was too slow for an opening item. A Ganesha stuti or any other such invocation to God would have been more appropriate. I guess I am a little biased towards the crispness ,energy and agility of Bharatnatyam to fully appreciate the slower versions like this one.

The martial arts looked tricky. A man even got injured during the act. They showed fights with various instruments like swords, knives, arrows and just fists. Next was the Kathakali item based on the story of 'Keechakavadham'. Kathakali which is one of the oldest theatre forms in the world depicts a story of victory of good over evil. The elaborate makeup & dressing and over dramatised gestures & expressions make it a joy to watch.

Though the lengthy dance performance made many in the audience restless and hungry, I was quite enjoying the dance. The elaborate manner in which the Keechak was attempting to woo and seduce Panchali showing all seven rasas was interesting. At the end of the Kerala performances was a short tea break followed by the most awaited show of Sivamani. His flamboyant style, speed and passion made us keep wanting for more. The evening ended with dinner and a walk back to church gate on the dark empty roads.

Made for each other

My brother and me have an unexplanable deep connection, maybe all brothers and sisters have that but I would like to think that ours is special. So when he fell in love with C I fell in love with her too. Our choices have seldom differed. Though initially we resisted having a chinese bahu. The fact that now Kat was taking his own decisions in life was not easily digestible. Since he was the youngest, we including me have taken all decisions for him till now right from his clothes to his hobbies to what he should eat to everything else.

I myself had concerns whether Kat knew what he was going in for and the moment I stepped into our Lucknow house and caught a glimpse of C sitting comfortably and chatting with all others struck a chord in me. They both looked so cute together and were always together. C is intelligent and very smart. She learnt a few hindi words and knew exactly when to come out and wish the guests and when to go inside, when to take part in the conversation and when to listen. We tried to keep all conversations in english but it would gradually move to hindi at times and she wouldn't mind but quietly start playing games on her iphone or restaurant city on her laptop.

She became an intergral part of our everyday lives and our family had a new member now. Seeing them both together gave me hope that love does exist. After five years of knowing eachother, it couldn't be just infatuation. They understand eachother so well even without having to say the words. And to be able to come to a totally alien country to an alien family and do all that they are asking you to do is not easy and can be possible only if you have complete faith and confidence in your partner.The best thing about adding a new member was that our Kat was so much the same as always. I could still dominate him, have my way around not just him but now both of them. Marriage can indeed be beautiful.

The same thought crosses me again today when I am just back from a dinner date with S and her fiance'. I had prepared all kinds of excuses to say no to a dinner but surprisingly when H called there was no way I could find an excuse from saturday night dinner and that too in my locality. I was little tired and sleepy but took a quick shower and reached Urban Tadka and saw them both waiting in the line. H's friendly talks in Delhi accent broke many barriers right away. He had been shopping with S the whole day for engagement/marriage dress and rings. I think there are very few men who enjoy shopping like he does and a big plus.He said he wanted to be no.2 in my life.

We talked about Delhi and Pune and Mumbai ofcourse. They have decided to take up a 2BHK in Bandra and have many other exciting plans. Wedding does change a whole lot of things and priorities in life. As S puts it, in the last one week, her world has expanded exponentially and she is perpectually on phone receiving congratulation calls. It seems he has a huge circle of friends and that circle is now hers too. Its interesting to notice how two individual people start sharing just about everything in life and it looks quite exciting. Seeing them together again gives me hope that its just the matter of right time and right person and then everything just seems to fall into place.

And I lost my best friend... to a man

I had always dreaded this day and its finally here. So my best friend is now hooked to a guy, she was a catch no doubt and here I am with a mix of feelings and I have no qualms about accepting that most of these are sad. I am happy about her happiness but grieve for my loss. Selfish? yes I am. I know for sure that she is not going to be the same just like my all other friends who got married. Somehow after getting hooked, especially to a man of your dreams, all priorities in life undergo a sea change atleast temporarily in the honeymoon phase.

And thats exactly what is going to happen to my friend, my friday buddy. I knew it was coming. I have seen her switch off even in the middle of a conversation and go into her own dreamland or suddenly awaken to a sms or excuse herself to a phone call or just wind up hurriedly because its time for her night chat. And from now on its all going to be more evident and rightful. I will always want to have my girlie time with you no matter what, S says. But I am sorry I wouldn't be able to do so anymore. Like many of my other married girlfriends I know you will still want to go out with me to feel the freedom of singlehood and joy of womanhood once in a while and then go back to your real world while I will be left to my loneliness.

I know its my problem but for a lot of reasons, I must admit that I avoid making friends with people who are married or hooked. Because firstly people who have crossed the river and are now on that side seem to forget that once upon a time they were on my side. They suddenly gain expertise in relationships and in life in general and feel that they have now seen it all and are a treausurer of all secrets of how to live life. I know I am being a little critical in here and generalising a lot but as I said before,the problem lies with me and not with any of you. I just cannot relate to you because I have never been there.

T is another Lucknow friend of mine who always insists that I spend weekends once in a while at her place. Now she has a 3 year old son and invites me for all family occassions, b'days, parties etc., and we are almost family to eachother in this big lonely city of Mumbai, and yet I just cannot push myself to go there. Husbands, kids, families, home food all this makes me puke. I feel miserable not because I dont like kids or family get togethers, it just makes my own life seem so worthless in comparison. It gets suffocating in that environment.

I wish I could just somehow overcome my own inhibitions and be comfortable in my own life to be able to stop loosing friends, good friends who are now married. There are so many of them who I have erased from my friends list and avoid meeting and talking to. I just hope they understand that I am not doing it on purpose, I am just happier this way. I know you have your own priorities and obligations and I have mine too but somehow we cannot relate to eachother anymore. More than you I myself keep feeling conscious about that fact your spouse/kid might be waiting and that this conversation and meeting of ours has a time line. The timeline kills the emotion, it creates an obligation.

Besides my friend S who will soon be out of my life, there are many others who have moved out and some more are in the process. H and N have moved to Bangalore and R moved to Pune in last 1 month. My neighbour A is moving out to some other department. Another A has moved to a different job and has gotten hooked too. I have fought with S and lost him too. My tea/lunch partner S is the only one still giving me company but she too will be getting hooked soon. In short my Mumbai portfolio of friends has collapsed and I need to make a new one now. Nothing seems to be permanent except for this loneliness.

The story of my new split AC

The first big thing I bought from my salary when i started working in 2002 was an air conditioner set in the window of my bed room in Lucknow. Prior to that our house had only one AC and that in parents' room. So to have one of my own was a great luxury. I have been debating with myself about to buy or not to buy an AC from a long time. Though my 17th floor apt is quite windy but it does get heated up during the daytime which makes weekends little uncomfortable for a couple a months a year. I could tolerate it, it wasn't much as compared to the loo of North India but still I decided to go easy on my wallet. After all AC is a life long investment and I would need it no matter where I live in India.

Now that I had made up my mind to buy and AC, the next question was which one? Window or Split. I went through numerous reviews, asked friends digged from own experience back home and zeroed onto split AC of either Samsung or LG. Then there were researches on what capacity for which room size and which room to fix it in. I also read about the significance of stars and finally after spending hours staring and reading at various ACs at Vijay Sales in Infinity Mall on the occassion of Gudi Padwa, I finally booked my Samsung 1.5 ton 4 star split AC! The installation guys called and appeared exactly two days after.

So the installation guy arrived and just when I thought that it was all finally fixed, little did I realise what a daunting task I had in hand. First they had a good look at where we wanted to fix the AC took measurements etc. Since there was no balcony, those guys suggested that I should get a grill made and it would take Rs 5500/-. I did not have an option but still I decided to take some time to say yes. Few more calls and googles later, I went for a normal stand rather than a whole grill. So whats to be done was set and I decided to get it done from own building management.

On the day of fitting, a process which was going to take one full day, two men arrived with instruments, stool, rope and shifted all my stuff to one corner of the living room. First they broke off the curtain holder and then strated drilling a hole in the wall. It pained me to see a hole being made in a thick brick wall. It wasn't my house but still it was an irrepairable damage. The drilling went on for 2 hrs and I almost felt as if the whole wall will come down. I kept peeping in between. Next step was to take out the window grill. They could take out only one and rest were badly jammed for last 25 yrs, being painted in several coats.

So the option was to either to cut the grill by weldor else break the glass covered window. We decided on breaking the glass and doing that from the 17th floor was again a risky proposition. Glass was broken bit by bit carefully and taken care that it all fell inside the room. Once it was all done, the man tied a rope around him and crawled out of the window holding the grill by one hand and trying to nail in the stand. Then his 2 associates brought the outdoor unit of AC, pushed it through the open window hole and carefully placed in on the stand all on the 17th floor.

My misery did not end there. The AC ran ok for a couple of hrs in the night and then woke me up with some girdling noise. I switched it off and from next day the cooling did not work. It was a friday evening, I was unwell and weak from so called Malaria and on top of it my hopefully life long companion my 1.5 ton 4 star samsung AC seems dead. After going through all the hassle, this was now getting too much to handle. I cursed the moment I had decided to buy an AC. Wept and slept and woke up next day with baggy eyes but a refreshed spirit. After several phone calls someone came to rpair and found a small thermocol piece inside the machine. Its been an experience for a life time.

Food for thought

Celeste's parents arrived yesterday. I dont know thier names or for that matter cannot pronounce even Celeste's real name and though she quite wisely controlled her instinct and hasn't called us by our names as she would have normally done in Singapore; I know for sure that even they would not be able to pronounce ours especially my dad's southie name. But whats in a name they say when there are so many other important issues to worry about. e.g. food

So my Lucknow though is not a small town, you cannot get authentic chinese food anywhere. Its the same with all parts of India as our Indian taste buds prefer the spicy indianised chinese and that is all that you get. So our post lunch discussion yesterday was what to serve for dinner for C's parents. We dont cook meat at home and for them any meal is incomplete without meat. When asked C what constituted a special dish in her place, prawn, crab, duck came the answer. It seems that since seafood is more expensive, thats cooked on special occasions. And the cooking procedure takes 4 hours in slow steaming. They eat bland and for us to serve bland food to guests is difficult to accept.

C's mom doesn't eat beans, peas which meant that daal was out. She did not even eat eggs which was the only non veg my mom was prepared to cook at home. Curd was out too which meant that the painstakingly prepared dahi bada and chutney were not going to be used. Aloo paratha was one dish which C liked and so we assumed that her parents would like it too. We made some more plain veggies like alu gobi and indo-chinese manchurian. Somehow the dinner was done and wound up with some nice herbal black tea which was the only item they liked a lot. The yummy gajar ka halwa was also left untouched for being too sweet.

Yesterday evening I went to JJ to get some rolls and bread items which they may like for breakfast and I just could not find any item which they might like. And in Lucknow paneer bhurji all spiced up filled inside bread is offered when you ask for plain cheese roll. Anyways I picked some puffs, cream rolls and some more patties, there were no sweet bread items no muffin, donut just fruit cakes. These items went in for the breakfast today. I would think that an english breakfast would have been liked by the guests but according to my mom bread, cereal are the worst kind of breakfast served by lazy people and definitey not done on special occasions. So something had to be cooked fresh and we cooked idli with two type of coconut chutney besides other items.

They started with eating cream rolls with spoon fork and then had to switch to hands as they peices started flying off. C's dad was quite adventurous and tried one idli. He loved the tomato chutney and kept pouring more. That was good news atleast they liked something. Seeing C's dad, her mom too mustered courage to take an idli. I think our steamed rice cake is similar to some of thier breads. And then for each food item we had to explain in detail what it was. One saving grace was that since Singapore has lot of Indian population, they were little familiar with the food. Still salad was the only item which needed no explanation and was an instant hit.

Sulafest 2010

Dancing to the beats of a live band in an open amphitheatre in the middle of hills with a view of the lake , sunset and vineyard on a chilly evening is something that many Mumbaikars would crave for. A visit to Sulafest 2010 was precisely that.Visitng a winery was one of the long standing items in my to do list since the last few years. Though I have been to Martha's vineyard and California but the season was not right in the first trip and missed out on going to Napa valley in the second. So when I got introduced to Sula Wines in Mumbai and discovered that thier vineyard was near Nashik and they even had conducted tours, I was all excited to go there. I had been planning for the last 3-4 months and then found that the grape plucking and crushing season was from Jan to March and then this once in a year Sulafest came up and it was the chance for me kill many birds in one shot.

We were six people, bought tickets for the fest before hand on bookmyshow, booked a tavera and started off at 8 am in the morning. After picking the Andheri people, we now had to pick few more at Bandra and after reaching there got tempted to have a hearty Saturday breakfast at Crepestation. So we finally left Mumbai at 10 am and reached Nashik around 1pm. Once we reached the city, we looked around for Sula direction boards and I even had a print out from the website giving all landmarks and detailed directions, so we were able to reach smoothly with no wrong turns. Nashik I think is at a height and we climbed up for a while. As we approched the vineyard, there were several more smaller ones on the way and the slopes were full of vine creepers and bunches of grapes hanging from them.

Inside the Sula resort, right at the entrance were these huge barrels filled with stinking (aromatic) crushed fermenting grapes and the entire area was covered with wine plants with full ripe grapes. After freshening up we went to the tasting room which housed a bar and some eateries on the open balcony with an amazing view of the entire area, the hills and the lake. We sat there for some time admiring the view and then went for the tour. The tour and tasting for about an hour in which we went around the plants and the factory with machines imported from Italy. The guide explained to us the genesis of Sula and its wines and the wine making process. After the tour was thr wine tasting in which we tasted six wines. The wine bottles and other accessories were up for sale at a very reasonable price.

The first wine we tasted was Sula Rose Brut which is a sparkling refreshing wine then Sula Chenin Blanc, one of thier oldest and was little peppery and spicy. Third was again a rose wine but not sparkling followed by a drier but refreshing white zinfandel. Next was a red shiraz and last was last harvest, a sweet wine. Most of thier wines and fresh and ready to use as they are bottled after fermentation. Red wine goes through 2 fermentation cycles and hence its drier and stronger. Rose is made from red grapes but processed as white wine. Dessert wines are made from over ripened grapes and so the sugar content is higher. Red wines though have the same sugar content as white but tastes not so sweet because its sugar has been converted to alcohol on fermentation. By the time we had these wines on an empty stomach, we were almost tipsy and hungry for food.

Since all the food shops inside the tasting room were closed, we now headed towards the fest grounds and quickly ordered and gulped down the chicken biryani sitting on the grass against a wall. It was only after the food settled and we sat and chatted for a while that I was able to look around and notice the stalls and crowd as the effect of alcohol had died a bit and I was in a nice pleasant high. The heat was a bit too much to bear and stalls too few. We were wondering what had we paid 700 bucks for. The crowd however was really cool. All men and women nicely dressed almost like a bright sunny summer concert day at Central Park or even better. The music bands had started playing now and people started moving towards the amphithetre. We too moved in the heat but could find some shaded spot. By now I was sleepy and took a litle nap.

When I woke up, the sun was slowly going down and crowd had suddenly increased. It seems that people were now beginning to pour in around 6 ish and were all fresh to party till midnight. So I too got up freshened again and brought some glasses of rose wine and food and went to a better seating to enjoy the live band and the comedy fillers. I did not even realise when the sun had gone down and the stars had appeared. Bands kept playing one after the other and after swaying for a while on our seats we decided to go down near the stage and dance. So there ws more food and wine and more champagne and we dance to trance to the beats of Jalebi cartel till 10 pm. In the next half an hour I pulled and collected all six and we got nicely packed back into our cars. By about 2 am we reached Mumbai and by 2:30 I was on my bed ready to catch a good sleep before I catch my flight for Lucknow the next afternoon.

KGAF

The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival has been on for the last one week and I managed to visit the fest twice just to look around the stalls. I could not manage to watch any shows which were extremely packed and claustrophobic and for which I have lost the interest anyways. The first thing I noticed when as my taxi stopped at Kalaghoda was a huge kala ghoda surrounded by a few other animals elephant, giraffe and some more. After that were a host of street hawkers selling posters and some tit bits on the right side and a photo exhibition on the left side. There was also a vast fenced area with stage probably for holding competitions etc.

As I went inside the gate saw some colorful masks, kayaks, a straw horse and some food stalls on either side. Was tempted to buy strawberry bathed in choclate and it was thirty bucks each!!! So I got a good glimpse of what the items in rest of the stalls would be worth. So I had almost made up my mind for window shopping and I must say that a lot of stuff there was really a feast for the eyes. There were some clock stalls with lot of interesting ideas. Then there was one big bell probably made of paper mache with lots of small colourful bells hanging from its rim and the whole thing hanging from a tree.

There was another tree with some huge cloth bundles hanging from its branches. It looked interesting. Had they hung some white skeletons, it would have been even more interesting. On the ground was one 3D painting of a gallpoing horse in shades of grey. Amazing work in just one colour and the 3D effects were bewildering. There was one stall of hand made purses... cloth bags of Rs 2000+ almost the same range as the pure leather Hidesigns. The kalamkari work sarees really caught my eye and looked like a real piece of art, the bright colour combinations and hand prints made them a treasure I wanted to possess but could not afford.

On the left side stalls were mostly food stalls and extensions of already existing food shops, chaats, gelato and others. At the end was an amphitheatre jam-packed on both the days when I went there. All I could see and hear was lots of heads and loud applauses. On the second day I even spotted an old college-hostel mate who had just finished her performance. I remember her winning the first prize in hostel dance competition and me getting the second. And here she was still doing what she loved - dancing and here I was so out of touch with my dance for last many years. There were atleast two action points for me after this visit. Practise dance and decorate my living room wall with some intersting artifacts.

A day in Bandra

Today was one the most relaxing holidays I had. I spent the day at SB's place in Bandra and I love that locality.... Carter Road, Pali Hill and the rest. It was NS's idea to start the day early with a breakfast at the Bagel shop. He calls me at 7 in the morning and even in my deep sleep and I can't resist the temptataion of having a nice bagel and coffee and so I take a quick shower and rush with newspapers, few books, my laptop, music and a fresh spirit. We are one of the first ones to reach the cafe and in between bites of the yummy cheesy crisp bagel and sips of honey ginger lemon tea, we start off with an interesting conversation on meditation techniques, role of destiny, existence of God. SB joins us and the topic changes to losing weight, butts, health food, a july trip to london, lets join salsa and some more.

We order another bagel and SB seems to like my new silk shirt from Globus sale. We order some more tea and conversation turns to love and what to look for in a partner. It was a beautiful lazy morning, comfortable cane sofas and great conversation with some awesome food. Could we ask for a better start? It was just perfect. We gathered newspapers, bought some creme cheese and started walking on the carter road. Found some fresh celery on the way made some delicious salad at SB's place and some more conversations. We watched the republic day parade lazily lying around on the gaddas and discussed some more butts, boobs, legs, kisses and the rest that follow.

It was afternoon by now and we began to feel little hungry. I volunteered to make aloo parathas and quickly set out to boil the potatoes. NS cut the onions and SB went out to buy some dahi. Meanwhile I prepared the dough and the filling and started frying the 7 parathas. They came out delicious. SB says whoever marries me will be so lucky because I cook so well and that I deserve someone really special because I am so perfect. I like to believe that what she says may happen though NS feels that in order for that to happen, I need to go out there and seek guys. I wonder how one does that. We take a big plate and share each paratha taking one at a time. Its lip smacking and by the time we are done with them, the chai has brewed and is ready.

We talk some more about love, our first love and current love and then start browsing through all our old pics in my laptop. I begin reading my book while SB uploads some pics on her fb and soon its evening. We decide to take a walk on the Carter Road watching the sunset. SB is wearing her 6 grand reebok shoes which claim to tone your butts and thighs if you walk in them for 45 minutes each day. We walk and watch the gorgeous crimson sun going down the sea. We walked so fast that we reached the other end in 10 minutes. Grab some fresh vegetable juice from a van and walk back. I am now seriosly thinking of moving to Bandra and me and SB are going to begin house hunting. Good company makes life feel like so much fun. Though I love my Lokhandwala 2BHK but even a shabby one room in Bandra could improve my social life greatly. I am thinking.

... and my fish died

I was all ready, packed my lunch, grabbed the breakfast and went near my fish bowl to see how Kelly & Jelly were doing before rushing out for work. To my shock and sudden intense grief I saw one of them floating on the water. I am not even sure whether it was Kelly or Jelly. Kelly had a black mark on her lower body but I did not have the heart to see and analyse. I wanted to look away and think that nothing had happened and that it was just sleeping. The other one looks dull too. I think it is not going to live much either. I brought a drainer from the kitchen and picked up the lifeless body from the bowl. Its eyes were wide open and it was totally motionless as in the water so in the dustbin.

I dont want to think so but I guess its quite clear that I killed it. Though I had carried all instructions as given by the shop keeper, changing water, giving food, putting the oxygen motor, I did everything. Still it died. It looked quite inactive from yesterday and the other one looks inactive today so I am getting mentally prepared to see the other floating when I reach home today evening. I sound cruel but its heartbreaking. I had just chritened them and they had not even completed a week in my house. Whoever I am telling this to, assume that I must have been irresponsible and hence I am the criminal. So I am not telling many people about it and not updating the fb status.

Maid in India

Like many other things in life, getting a good maid too is a matter of destiny. I dont know her name, we all call her mausi. When I was moved into my current apartment, I got mausi's reference from my office colleague who stays just one level below me. The maid of my previous guesthouse played the cupid. She brought mausi to meet me one day and translated, negotiated the job role and salary. Once everything was settled, mausi started her job in my apartment even before I moved into it completely. She helped me to set up the kitchen and arrange all containers. Helped me to open the boxes and clean the mess. I was impressed by her willingness to do work beyond her defined role.

Since I leave my apartment early morning at 7:15 am, mausi takes the key from MM, my lives-one-storey-below-colleague. For that matter even MM leaves at the same time as me so mausi takes MM's keys from MM's friend who is a housewife and babysitter to MM's kids. Its a web of interdependency and works perfectly fine. Mausi's friend works in my neighbour's place. Since me and mausi see eachother only on sundays, all messages between us pass through these chains. e.g. when one day I left the gas stove on with a pan, mausi told her friend who told my neighbour who told me that I should be careful else the whole building will blow. And this news must have definitely been passed onto several other ladies who are in my neighour's walking club or bhajan club or neighbour's husband's collegaues to my parents when they visit or to my own colleagues.

Yes! thats how it works. Another time MM came and told me at work that mausi had told her babysitter to tell me that I should keep the windows closed as mausi has a tough time scaring the pigeons off and they might break my delicate collectibles and I may think that mausi did it. So that is how mausi communicates with me. And even on sundays when we do see each other, I can hardly understand her more-marathi-less-hindi words. I try to gather more by her animations than by the words. And how do I communicate to her? I hardly do, mostly I am very happy with her work and whatever she does. One time when I wanted to give her the monthly salary exactly after 30 days on a weekday so I passed it on thru MM's son to MM to her friend to mausi and it never reached her but got washed in MM's son's pants in the machine. From next time I started leaving cash in the kitchen itself.

But despite the communication gaps, things have been working very well. I love the feeling of reaching back home in the evening and finding it clean and tidy. Every corner looks touched by her presence and I can actually see how caringly she tries to keep my apartment nice and shining every single day. My pillows, sheets, cushions everything is always in place even for any surprise weekday guests. The kitchen looks absolutely chic when I enter it in the evening and its definitely the most relaxing sight after a hectic day. But besides all that, what I like the most about her is the way she disposes off the stuff, plastics, bottles, after my every house party and all this without a word. Not that I can understand it anyways but her intentions are noble. To sum it up, she is actually one of the most important sources of joy in my life.

Mommy arrives in Mumbai

Its been nearly 4 months since I moved into the 2BHK flat on 17th floor on Andheri Lokhandwala overlooking the new link road, two swimming pools, lots of high raised brightly lit complexes few rooftop mochas among other things. My mommy arrives to Mumbai and my apt for the first time to see how I am living and set up. Its a strange high mix up of emotions, anxiety, pride, fear. All electronic stuff and furniture in my apt has been gifted to me by my dad and all the rest has been bought and beautifully packed by my mom and couriered in from Lucknow.

So now is the test of how well I have set up everything especially the kitchen. How much of which daals and masalas I have used / cooked in the last few months. Thankfully I have thrown away a box of par boiled rice and a box of green chana which had fungus and hopefully she doesn't discover any more of similar decays in the fridge or any where else in kitchen and otherwise. I have nicely packed all alcohol, all wine and shot glasses even wine openers and hidden them away in suitcase in the attic, which will be quite unreachable.

So thats all set but my one fear is about my hair. She hated my streaks when I did them last time and I have done them again and this time they are too obvious. I am almost dreading what her first reaction would be to my hair and skin and clothes and everything else. But one thing I know for sure is the BIG smile she will welcome me with. She will love the weather here in Mumbai and she will love my apt, I am hoping. And she is carrying our tonight's dinner from lucknow and gajar ka halwa and my fav pickles. Looking forward to an evening of chai and chat.

An inch here an inch there

Ever since I started cooking my own food, I can feel myself bloating from all places. Friends tell me that my cheeks have become chubbier and look cuter, a rather nice way of saying that I have rounded up. My formal trousers have become uncomfortably tighter wrinkling around my thighs and sticking on my butt. Ya its disgusting I know. And my belly which used to be flat has become swollen into a small pot (just the stomach I mean). I cant move my arms around in many shirts which seem to be stuck around my upper arm. So basically I have gained weight.

Why is this happening to me? Why why??? I thought my life was pretty hectic with lot of running around the whole day and I was eating home cooked healthy food, so then what is it? Alcohol? maybe.. ya most probably but even wine? But thats only on weekends, OK sometimes mid-week but still wine alone cant do this to me.

And now about food, yes I accept I have cheese on my bread and ghee on my rotis but thats the lite version and only a thin film. Body needs that much fat for a balanced diet. And I drink lot of milk which is not skimmed but fresh from the dairy and it produces a lot of cream with which I make ghee. And I do indulge on ice-cream after dinner but just two v. small scoops of two different flavours preferably dark choc and honey nut crunch.

All that doesn't really add up to too many calories I assume, I am scared to actuallytotal it because I cannot skip any of the things I eat. Besides, my each day starts and ends with one piece of Britannia pure magic choclate flavour. I cant live without them. They make my day and my night. This plus three chais at work with full sugar and nice boiled in desi style. Green tea just doesn't have that taste. Now that isn't too much is it? Then why the hell am I going plump? Any clues anyone?

Big fat Indian Wedding - 26th Feb

26th February is the big day of the big fat Indian wedding. No not mine, my bro's. And its not actually a wedding, because they have already got married officially being registered in the land of Scotland. I dont remember the date , it was sometime in December and none of us attended it. Its sad! But registration is not actually marriage in the Indian sense. The actual marriage will be now, next month and I have extreme but mixed feeling about it. Most of it is excitement.

My sis-in-law is Chinese. Sounds exotic no? Initially we did not approve of her. We thought my bro was too naive, thought this would be a passing fancy but after three years of courtship when bro declared that he wanted to get married, it came as a sudden rude truth we had been trying to avoid. We had met C in London when we had gone there on a short trip and she was staying over for 2 days at bro's place. Bro says there was nothing then. But they looked cute together.

Now it has become a part of my intro. "Oh meet Kalpana. She was in NY for 3 years. Her sis in law is a Chinese... " "woooow!!! " comes the reaction. I have decided to treat my friends with a special chinese dinner to celebrate the occasion. I have chatted with her a few times. I told that I would visit London sometime; she formally says that I am most welcome and that they would love to have me around. Lets hope so. Thier 1BHK apartment near Canary Wharf looks real cool in pics. So do her chinese dishes.

I think I am going to double up as the bride's maid and groom's sis. I need to shop for some real classy dress and accessories and want to look my best. After all I have just one brother and haven't been in touch with my cousins. So its supposed to be the most exciting wedding of my life. I have to give C company, teach her our ways in a way that she is comfortable and happy about it all. I gather from her FB statuses that she too is looking forward to whole event. Her parents would be arriving too and my mom has kept Indian dresses ready for them.

Besides all the excitement, my only fear is the curious looks and comments of the invitees. I am sure that almost all will be talking amongst each other about how the groom's sis who is 5 years elder is still single. And there will be discussions about where she works and that she lives in Mumbai all by her self. Hopefully discussions about a Chinese bride will be more and will shield me. But nevertheless its going to be one exciting wedding for all, with lots of juicy gossip, colourful pictures, smiley videos :)

Happy (??) New Year !

Here comes another year and this jump from the bottom to the top of the new calender gives me a chance to party (ofcourse) but also, to revisit the year that has gone by and make resolutions for the one that is here. I hadn't planned anything for the new year's eve, mostly because I had been away in a training in Pune and returned only two days before the party. Not that I could not have planned it while I was in Pune but I guess I was just not in the mood to do anything BIG. Goa was one of the options we explored a month back but it was too expensive, over-rated, cliched and plus everyone-goes-to-goa-on-new-yr comments did not sound too exciting. This being my first New Yr in Mumbai, I prefered to remain local for the first year.

It was last year in January when I had first visited Mumbai from Lucknow to meet a few shaadi.com guys and explore the possibility for moving here in my job. Having studied, kind of grown up in Delhi, to me Mumbai had never sounded very exciting. But here I was with an open mind to embrace and make the best of what life was offering me. It had been just two months since I moved back after spending a fabulous 3 yrs in New York. After a spell of typhoid, terrible north Indian chill and plight of living with parents and acquaitances who constantly pestered and commented about how it was high time for me to be wedded; I was desperate to look for some livable options in my life.

I remember the evening when sitting on a bench on Carter Road I looked around at the swaying Palm trees, thier leaves shining in the street light, cool breeze brushing against my cheeks and decided that yes this is where I want to live. That was the day and its been an year since that day. I am here settled in this city which feels like my home. Made some great friends, value added myself at work, explored most of the popular restaurants/ clubs, set up my new home all in a span of one year. So that was last year January. Another highlight was Shelley's wedding in Delhi. My first outing after recovering from typhoid. Also there was this written test for joining treasury, for which I spent some time studying.

February was my brother's visit from Singapore. Two weeks of activities, shopping, bunking work, eating out, chatting, arguements, discussions. Immediately after that I took the GMAT, another visit to Delhi. After the tension of a delayed flight, delay for the test I managed 710/800 ... nice! March was my birthday. Last few years I have been celebrating my 16th b'day and shall continue to do so from now on. Invited friends over and mom lovingly churned out delicacies from the kitchen. April was spent in waiting for the Mumbai posting, lazying around, watching Discovery T&L.

Come May and my selection letter for Mumbai treausry posting arrived. Started packing for the training in SBI Gurgaon Academy which was in last one third of the month. June 1st I finally arrived. June and July were spent in the Mumbai rains looking desperately for an independent accomodation, exploring the city, studying for my promotion test; made few friends and somehow managed to share my room with one boring woman with curly hair. August I got my independent 2BHK apt on 17th floor!!! in Lokhanwala. Went for a river rafting trip. August passed in planning and buying stuff for the house. Dad visited in September and gifted me with LCD tv, home theatre and whatever all I needed for a comfortable life. He got the whole home set-up for me.

September end I had a housewarming and 2 friends arrived from NY. October I was off to Lucknow for a Diwali break and forced my parents to plan a trip to Kashmir. Thats the first place I wanted to visit in India. It was a beautiful, serene trip with golden memories. November was full party, lot of eating out, house parties, theatre and a lot of other things. December also started off in the same fashion and then I went for 2 week training to Pune. Had a great time there too exploring my old city, meeting old friends, making some new. Returned and the new yr was just around the corner. Quite an exciting year. I plan to make this new year too as exciting if not more.

Welcome to my new blog!

To me writing is thereupatic, a means to share my thoughts, express myself and possibly entertain others or atleast attempt to offer them an insight into my mind and soul. Though I have been writing quite randomly till now on a varied number of politically correct topics, this blog is dedicated to the life of a single woman. The joys and tears of living independently, by ownself and braving it all successfully most of times and with few shoulders to rest on sometimes.