Crows

Crows, Worli Seaface, Mumbai

Aligned, Cacaphonus, Scavengers,Omnious, Survivors.

Broken Down Car

 

Near Mahim Station, Mumbai

Noted this broken down car near the Mahim Station Wall in Mumbai. Ready to be dismantled and discarded. Been lying here for quite sometime. This was a mobile shot taken from a taxi. What makes it interesting to me is the battered and tattered condition of the car along with the interesting wall art on the station wall. It sort of gives a character to the condition of the car. The car has been removed recently from the spot. Everytime I cross the road, I see the wall art cartoon but I miss the car!!!

Wall Art

Wall Art, Mahim Station Wall, Mumbai

I try to capture unique or random things or moments on cell phone. This is one of them. Painted on the wall of Mahim Station. Remains of a city activity which had once allowed its citizens to particpate by painting the walls... which most of the times are in its worst state of maintenance. Liked the geometry of this wall art and how it attracts your attention without giving any particular message...well thats how I look at it. Am sure thats not what the painter had in mind but nevertheless, putting it up here to share...

And the Award goes to....

This post comes very late...very very very late...and my apologies to Tanu that I have taken eternity to post this over here. Have never received any major awards for writing in school hence this comes as a special one. Tanu has honoured me with a blog award and I am very proud to accept it :-). So thank you dear Tanu very very much.

This award has some rules. I shall try to follow it at my very best and here is how it goes:

These are the rules of the Liebster Award:

• When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you.
• Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions.
• You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated you!
• Make sure the blogs you choose have 200 or less followers.

11 Random facts about me:

1. If you could be something/someone for a day, what/who would you be? No one in particular. Really blank at this one.
2. Your favourite dish. Not cuisine. Bhindi :-)
3. What is your biggest phobia? Mountain heights
4. Which season are you? Spring :-)
5. What is your favourite TV Show Moment? That moment on TV that inspired you/blew you away/made you sob/made it memorable? I love watching Big Bang Theory and feel just great for the geeky ones. These are the ones, who in school are not really cool but mates wanted to be friends just for their notes. 
6. One embarrassing thing you did as a kid/teenager? ate mud...yeah..even got shots for that one!!!
7. If you could choose a decade from the following to live in, which one would it be and why? – 20s, 40s, 60s, 2k? 2K  :-)
8. Tell us your most unusual, unique travel story? Munish, myself and another couple went to Kashid, Alibaug. Hop, skip and jumping literally. From Andheri to Ferry Wharf by a local train. Then a local ferry with goats and fish and villagers to Revas. Then a tempo (read tum tum) to Mandwa. Then a Lal dabba (ST bus) to Kashid finally :-). Best travel to destination ever. And all of this on a whim and no plans at all.
9. What is the worst gift you have ever received? (I once received a 3-pack deodorant set!!) a key chain :-P
10. Finish this sentence – “If I could pack my bags and go, I would travel to……….” Nubra Valley, Ladakh :-)
11. What are the 5 things in your handbag right now? Keys, datacard, Pen, some money and a pic of my parents.

And here are my list of questions..C'mon be a sport and don't be a lazy drone that I was...:-P

1. Describe yourself in one sentence.
2. Your favourite colour. 
3. What is your biggest phobia?
4. Which season are you?
5. What is your favourite song? The one which you could always go back to and makes you feel good?
6. One embarrassing thing you did as a kid/teenager?
7. Where would you rather be...if not here?
8. Tell us your most unusual, unique travel story?
9. What is your best gift you ever received?
10. Finish this sentence – “If I could pack my bags and go, I would travel to……….”
11. And what is your favourite word? (In English)..it has to be one word...

And here it goes (Well - 11 other blogs are not my favourite..but well these are :-))...the blogs I nominate are:

• Anita Menon Love her blog and the multiple things she blogs about. A story, a vacation, a recipe...enjoying reading it a lot.. 
• Aditya Sanyal a very techy blog... love his writing..but just feel he should write more...
• Sarika Chowdhery a budding artist. She puts of paints and pictures... and very good ones at that...
• Monu Reikhi lovely style of writing..majorly poems...sometimes I don't understand...but kudos to her...
• Beyond few words Love his writings...his photographs along with the one liners..too much depth...

And here's to all of you...Cheers!!!!

Through the glass pane

I miss the evenings. Largely to the kind of work I am occupied with. This view is from my office window, through a huge glass pane. You can see the reflection of the lights, some partial construction on the left, a lamp post raising its head and a road going amidst the construction and the trees. On looking closely, you may see orange in between the green. Those are the flowers on the tree. I think its a breed of the Gulmohar. Not sure. Need to find out.  It had been raining the day I took this picture. The picture is a bit hazy with the condensation on the glass. 

Yes - I miss the evenings but treasure the mornings I get in return. So the mornings are not rushed...well - relatively. 

Kala Ghoda 2012

The Kala Ghoda Art Festival has always been on my priority list whenever it happens...but somehow, this time, I was not able to spend as much time over there as I would have normally done :-(. Yeah - no excuses!!!! But have been keeping pretty occupied. No - its not about work, but somehow my weekends have been even busier then the weekdays. I found myself wanting for some 'me' time. Have not been able to do a lot of things since the last few weeks and that has left me a bit restless. But, but, but....don't want to start a cribbing session here. 

Went to the Kala Ghoda festival last sunday. Landed directly at Cross Maidan. That was a 'musical' evening. The performance by 'Band, Baaja, Bachhe' stole my heart :-). The kids belonged to the Salaam Bombay Foundation and gave an impressive performance. It was the first performance. There was not much of a crowd then. So lesser encouragement. Sometimes, I wonder, why such 'special' performances are slotted with the popular category of performance. Since its a 'not for profit' Art festival, these performances where it could actually make an impact to the lives of these children, should have been highlighted. But I guess - the organizers would have thought about that aspect.

The other "Star" performers of the evening were "The Other People", "Raaga Boys" and "Susheela Raman".  I quite like the music the "The Other People" play but somehow I felt, there was an audience mismatch. They were really good... but the audience was I guess more towards the hindi - bollywood music types!!! 

The Raaga Boys is a Pakistani Boy band and belonged to the 'Patiala' Gharana. Out of the 3 brothers who were the main lead, only one of them could sing properly. Felt there were too many people on the stage at the time of their performance. And well - they advertised their lineage a lot of famous uncles and cousins!!!!! And last but not the least, there was a performance by Susheela Raman. I think, I would have definitely liked it, provided I understood the language. She was singing in Tamil!!!! And she kept on singing in Tamil!!!....

Some Pictures I clicked....

The Other People

An exhibit

Raaga Boys

I would have loved to see more of Kala Ghoda, but paucity of time kept me away from it. It was by sheer coincidence that I met a fellow blogger Purvesh over there. 

Kala Ghoda Art Festival has played an important role in what makes Bombay "tick". I thoroughly enjoy what all it offers to the Mumbaikars as well as the artists. I hope it continues forever and does not have to deal with the string pulling as a lot of other festivals go through!!!!

Independence Rock 2011

I am not really a Rock Music Fan, so when my Guitar Teacher, Zack D'Souza asked hubby and me to come along with him and his lovely wife Merelyn, we really were in two minds. Actually more than two minds. Rock music is really not our scene but hey what the hell... the entry was free ;-) ...hehehe.... so we could always leave if we didn't like the scene. Plus, this would be the first time I would be driving 3 people along with me or else its just me and my hubby Munish.

On the way, Zack educated us about "INDEPENDENCE ROCK" and its history. Initially it was held on independence day every year in Mumbai for all the rock fans. Soon the government started having security issues with alcohol and drug abuse. Now it is held much later and all the security. We were told that  "Rock" scene in India is not really encouraging. There are different types of Rock Music - metal, heavy metal, black metal, etc etc...and ideally each of them should have their own concert.But here, in India, they put all of it together, so if you are new to this scenario it really is a tricky situation. He warned us to stay away from the Mosh's Pit - a terminology popular in rock, where severe head jamming takes place and people are on a HIGH....Munish and me stayed on the sidelines....infact on the sidelines of the sidelines....The event was covered live by VH1, MTV and some other channels. 

Some of the bands that played and which we were and audience to were "The Other People", "Brahma" and "Bhayanak Maut". On a relativity basis, I liked the music played by "The Other People" but "Bhayanak Maut" gave me a splitting headache. I tried recording some bit of it in my cell phone but the clarity leaves a lot to be desired. But I found some clippings on You Tube. 

This link pertains to the Mosh's Pit. We stayed away from it. We could see some bits and pieces on the screen and were glad that we were not standing in the middle of it. Here, have a look :

Link of some of the performance by "Bhayanak Maut"

Post this performance, both of us decided, that Rock Music was really not our scene. Should leave. Must Leave. But yes - to give it credit, really appreciate the dedication of all the rock music fans that for 26 years, they have been loyal to the music inspite of it not being very popular here in India (which is ruled by Bollywood Music). Cheers to them. 

My city...BESTEST !!!!

Yeah, I know the title is not the best example of proper English. But heck - I just borrowed it from a popular  advertisement tag line of 'My Daddy Strongest'. 

Mumbai - one city that makes me feel at home. Its been a little above 5 years, since I moved here. It was on my priority list since I was in school when I had come here for the first time for my architecture exams. That was the time, when I decided that I want to come back here. Be here. 

This city is vibrant. Full of energy. Of a mad rush yet one can feel the calm in it. There is so much noise in the air...of the people, corporates, stock markets, festivals, Gods and Politicians and not to forget the bourgois....I guess with so much around, you just need to find your favourite corner. Mine is at Marine Lines. Sitting there....watching the waves crash with the stones. The city lights turning bright. Your back towards the noise, of the people, of the traffic, behind. Just watching the skyline...of the Queen's necklace...sipping the chai that a chai wala sold to you for like Rs. 5 which is definitely not the best tea in the world. Its extraaaaa sweet and the plastic cup is too small. Its down in just two gulps. Yet, the sugary cup of tea added to my calmness...that I feel when I just sit watching the sea....

As much as you can fall in love with the city, its also very easy to hate it. For the population, pollution,  crowds, commuters, the distances,  the noise, people stepping on each other's toes and lives...everything...However much, I crib about it, I think of  leaving this city and going anywhere else.  

I can go on endlessly about Mumbai. It has its own personality. You can either love Mumbai or hate Mumbai...you just cannot be indifferent to it. :-) I guess, its my favourite city in the world. 

Peeking Colleague

You know, it really really really bugs me.... when somebody sneakily stands over my shoulder and stares into my computer. Especially when that someone is one of your colleagues with whom you get along just fine!!! Who is not the most loved colleague, avoided and given a chance mocking and insufferably rude!!!! 

I so totally detest this. Well, this happened today while I was going through some entertainment articles on the internet. This particular colleague sneaked in and just stood behind my chair for good 2 minutes. And mind you, this 'colleague' is at a damn good designation, has good amount of work experience plus a professional qualification. So much for the 'experience' and 'education'. 

Gave him my piece of mind on etiquette. Don't think its going to make much of a difference but got it off my chest. 

Office etiquette is not something which everyone is educated in. Be it in terms of writing email, conversations, dressing, code of conduct or just general behaviour. It pains me to see qualified CAs / MBAs just lacking in general etiquette and inadvertently creating a negative atmosphere. But I guess, its not something which can be taught but imbibed via good observation.  

Honesty!!!

Like they say, 'Honesty is the best policy' but I guess it comes with a pinch of salt and in this typical case a wee bit of rudeness (from my end)!!! Not very proud of what happened and I regret it a lot that it happened, but might I say, not one of the best examples. 

2 weeks back, a stranger called up on my mobile phone. He said, madam, I have your wallet with me, your PAN card, your driving license, bank cards and cash. I refused to believe since I already had my wallet and nothing was lost. He kept addressing me as Megha madam. Now, a lot of people do mess my name up and I find it very irritating. How hard can it be to pronounce MeghNA... Anyways, I said, No! thank you Sir, I've have all my belongings and have not lost anything. He called, close to 10 times. I went from being polite, patient and then rude. The guy persisted. He kept calling for 2 hours continuously and it really p******* me off. He started to sound sleazy on the phone and with a final police ka dhamki I slammed my mobile down!!! I mean - the nerve of the guy.

Hmmmmm... that was then!!!! 

Last thursday, I met one of my college friends for Pizza. It was her birthday and uncannily she was called Megha :-P. Yes - you are thinking right. It was her wallet!!! And somehow, in some mannar the guy, now the autowallah, discovered my visiting card there and started calling me up. No - he didn't see her visiting card, her PRESS Id or anything, but MY visiting card. 

Rest they say is history!!! I tried retrieving his number from my call log but it was long gone. My friend will now have to file an FIR and see if things can be recovered. Both of us were zapped. If only she had told me that she had lost her wallet I would have kept an ear open for her and in turn avoided a bad experience for the autowallah. No - she didn't chew my brains, because lot of people confused us with our names!!!! 

The entire episode does make me sad in the sense, the next time something like this happens, the autowallah is surely not going to call up anyone and try to do something honest. He might as well throw it in a nearby bin or use whatever he can !!!!

Source: www.deesecret.com

Happy Engineer's Day

Source: picturesof.net

Happy Engineer's Day to one and all - especially engineers. I especially congratulate myself for being one!!! I think all engineers are proud to be one even if they are jobless / mindless or plain dumb or for that matter successful / smart / building bridges or chips or bulbs or generating power. Well - engineers are a proud breed. Proud  not because of the education or the degree or the job, proud because they went through the process of completing their engineering studies and finally getting a degree.

Well, there are 2 types of engineers. Now you would think - only 2??? Now - its not what you are thinking. I am not talking about the computers / electronics / mechanical / civil / instrumentation or even the environmental engineer. To be clear, once again, there are 2 types of engineers - first - those who went to an engineering college and lived at their homes with their mummyji and papaji and siblings!!!! And second - there are those engineers who went to an engineering college and lived in a hostel!!!! Aahhhh!!!! Now thats the breed that I am talking about. And truely, those are the engineers we are really proud of being.

Source: www.geocnc.com

Well, the hostel life in an engineering college is starkly different. I for one, did not have 5 star hostels. I remember, in our first year, we had a tin roof. Scarcity of water. Horrible food. Slow moving fans. Queues outside the washroom. We addressed our seniors as mam / sir. Till this day, if I happen to meet one of my long lost seniors, the mam / sir part remains. Its become a part of their name. I remember the first semester especially when the freshers HAD to wear salwaar kameez ONLY with dupatta and oil their hair and make a braid or tie it up. I remember the engineering drawing sessions and how I had mastered the Glass Tracing technique and submitted sheets and sheets of submissions. I also remember burning my mattress in this process (GT was forbidden !!!). I remember compering the engineer's day in college and being the food coordinator and ahem!!! going for tasting too. At the end of it all, my feet had hurt like hell. We had watched 6 AM  movies in nondescript movie halls where tickets were cheap and to save money we would walk it up. The new year celebrations were fantastic. Oh, how we used to hog on food. We would have put anybody to shame. Maggie was a blessing in disguise. It was a saviour on many a night especially when you had discovered cockroaches in your mess ka khana. The freshers party and the farewell party - how all the year students would be busy in atleast one of them. And the exams!!!! We could finish books in one day. 37 was the magical figure for us ( 3 marks grace!!!). 

Had mastered the art of scanning. The Xerox wala being a revered and reliable friend for notes and books. No - many times we did not buy books, we just got them photocopied. It was easy to distribute chapters among 2-3 people and study them. Its difficult to tear up books - chapter wise!!!!! Engineers per say, study only during the prep leave and the best of them study only during the exams. And once the exams are over, a movie it is - to unwind and prepare for the next exam day after tomorrow :-). Engineers are an odd lot. There are thousands and thousands of things which are coming to my mind right now. In this case, seriously, the journey is the destination.

Source: http://www.wittysparks.com

And so, I believe Chetan Bhagat did not write something sacred when he wrote 5 POINT SOMEONE!!! Apart from the story line - student falling for the prof's daughter - everything is known and accepted - amongst the engineers. And that is also why, I don't think, that 3 IDIOTS is great movie. Its an okay movie with almost no novelty thrown in. And then again, I don't quite get the 'shor' surrounding the Chetan Bhagat - 3 IDIOTS movie saga. Sure the book and the movie must be a great read and watch for a lot of people, but again, there is no point fighting over the copywrite infridgements because that is common to almost all the engineering colleges which have a hostel facility.

Anyways, I had been in a fix since quite sometime about the topics to blog about. Checked in on twitter and found my topic there :-). Did not waste time and got down to blogging!!!!

Guitar Trouble

Its been quite a while since I posted about my time struggling with the GUITAR.

Guitar, it is said, is not one of the simpler instruments to play. Yes - it looks jazzy and stylish and all that, but it is definitely not easy to master it. I have been told that it will take good 5 to 6 years of practice before you actually to begin play songs the moment you hear them. I have been trying to some basic level of plucking and strumming with the instrument but somehow, I lose interest in between when I realise that I am not really progressing. Yes - I have not been very consistent in practising but I would like partly blame my inexperience in the kind of teachers I chose to begin with. I just hope and pray that I do not become an Air Guitarist :-P like the shown here in the cartoon below!!!



Source:www.google.com

I started off last year around June. A personal tutor, part time music teacher and full time struggler in Bollywood, came to teach me. He was pretty quick with the basics and taught me 12 scales, covering 3 octaves, in 2 months flat. We had even started off with the chords. I was good with the scales or atleast he seemed to think so. So we went at abnormally high speed with the instrument however, I felt we were going too fast. So decided to take a break and practice more so as to get more comfortable. Unfortunately for me the break lasted for 2-3 months mainly due to my procrastination. The teacher by then had left for greener pastures!!! (He got a good break it seems).

I then joined a music class which was closer to my home. We were a bunch of students of all ages and size in the class with one teacher. This new teacher had himself learnt to play the guitar 5 years back, so in a way, he was yet learning. He discarded all my learnings from the previous teacher. Taught me the "new" and the "correct" notations - Sa, Re, Ga, Ma...(which to my understanding then, were the same thing but had a different alphabet, which was right). He insisted I had learnt wrong and began from scratch. So again, I started with the scales from Sa scale instead of C. He taught the scales only one Octave and taught us some Bollywood songs as well. That was good as long as it lasted but that again left me feeling dissatisfied. So...... hmmmm.... I left that too!!!! By now, I am sure you must be thinking, that may be she has a "focus" problem!!! Maybe, I am not too sure. So- its been 3 months now, since I have stopped going to the classes or even touching my guitar for that matter. The hunt is on for another tutor........!!!! Hopefully I shall discover him soon enough!!! The one who will take over this lull and combine all my learnings (good or bad) together and make some kind of musical sense out of it  (Filmy touch!!! )

Source:www.google.com

The reason I am writing my rant over here, that I really really want to play the guitar. I have always wanted to learn it and have discovered the time and the intention only recently. This post, hopefully, will keep reminding me about me procrastinating forever and ever....so much so that I might lose interest....:-)

Birthday Blues

Am not a much of a "Happy Birthday" person. Hmmmm..... yeah... I always find it embarrassing to celebrate birthdays. Its not a recent phenomena but right since school / college. I am embarrassed especially when I have to blow the candles, cut the cake, smile politely and take in all the hullabaloo over turning a year older. Ah, well, this aspect of my life has not changed over the years (about which you can read HERE)

I had my birthday just last friday. Munish prepared a special midnight spread along with the cake et al. Had loads of wishes over phone, facebook, twitter from family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, fellow bloggers - Phew!!! I felt special and good. Loved all the gifts which kept pouring in. Birthday gift from hubby is yet to be received (booked already), but I received little tids bits from special friends too. Like the latest header of my blog...thanks to my dearest friend Namit Bhatia...and Oh, he even wrote a poem for me (in return for THE ONE I wrote for him ;-) it was a deal) hehehe.... c'mon, don't you all giggle or laugh...this is his first attempt, and I must say, a pretty good one. Here it goes..........

The Maggitoes Rhapsody

I know a fine girl named Maggitoes,

Who has a penchant for writing prose.

She loves to travel far and wide,

A valiant voyager bona fide.

Photography is her leisure pursuit,

Be it nature or a random shoot.

A self proclaimed Bollywood movie buff,

One lousy flick and she goes, “I’ve had enough”.

Always at odds with the firewall at work,

Once granted access, tweet frenzy ensues as she goes berserk.

Recently bitten by the cooking bug,

Her hubby knows best and he dare not say “Ugh!” :P

Chirpy, bubbly and immensely adorable,

“Oh look! That’s the poem for you, now am I out of trouble?”

~ Namitoes (circa 2011 AD)

yay!!!! *clap clap*....his twitter handle is www.twitter.com/namit93 for all you interested in following his perky, quirky, funny tweets and yes - especially writing tailor made poems on oneself!!!!   

Mahape to Andheri

During the past two months, my work place has shifted twice. Once from Bandra Kurla Complex to Mahape and then from Mahape to Andheri. Don't know which one is more painful. One is in a beautiful location, surrounded by hills and trees and absolutely no traffic while the other is an island of traffic. You can read more about that on Purvesh's blog dedicated to Sakinaka, a particular painful area in Andheri.

While one took 2.5 hours to reach office, the route scenic and beautiful and the other takes painful 1.5 hours to reach amidst the honking and the slow moving bumper to bumper traffic. The evenings - well, they are worse from both the places. If you don't leave office on time, you are stuck for another 3 hours unless and untill one has some productive work to do.

All the shifting to Mahape, going there and working there took its toll on my life. My day would begin at 5:45 a.m. and end at 11:00 p.m. I would just go through the entire week not really being a part of it. I remember only the time at office where the better part of the day was spent. No cooking, no cleaning, no entertainment, not even during the weekends...and to top it all, Munish was also spending busy time at work, so even he wouldn't come home before midnight. My hobbies went for a toss and well for that matter blogging.

There was a constant nagging at the back of my mind, that I am missing out on something, not blogging, no thinking, no writing. I missed blogging. Even now, the reason I am writing this post is to reconnect with my blog. I have not been doing a lot of things lately with my time on the world wide web  and I am missing that. So let  me just hope, that I get  back to my blog with a new zest and even more interesting things to post about.

Memory Revisited

The article has been published as my first attempt on http://www.theviewspaper.net/ over HERE!!!. This entirely is a work of fiction and should not be understood in any other mannar.

"

Totally love the music of Indian Ocean. Famous for “Kandisa” and “Arre ruk ja re Bande” from the movie Black Friday being one of my personal favourites. Took some out and left early to attend their show at Bandra Times Festival. Komal and I got a place to stand just towards the end of the ground...we moved and swayed along happily...and were mightily euphoric listening to the group...

The strains of music beat down my ear drums... the strumming of the guitar and the synchronised drum beats and the tabla....the throbbing speakers... the loud, melodious voice....the cheer of the crowds... I was thoroughly enjoying the music....the presentation...my foot tapping incessantly...

I was transported....some 8 years back.... to the hostel days in my Engineering College. I had just discovered “Kandisa”. I had listened to it day and night. Didn't understand an alphabet of the song but I guess that was not required... Mayna and me were crazy about this music. We were in her room...listening to the cassette on her tape recorder....the local electrician made speakers thumping loudly....both of us lost in the strains...sort of in a trance....staring at the ceiling....at the slow revolutions of the ceiling fan...when she says, I hope we remain friends forever. And I say, Of course! Where else would I find a friend like you!!!

A loud cheer broke out...hands were applauding wildly....the bodies swaying in rhythm...the crowd was singing along ....I fail to remember the name of the lead singer...My friend Komal looks at me happily...unaware of the time I had just visited...the friend I had just met....She turned towards the stage again...cheering with the crowd....and where all in a sudden moment, I feel the void, an emptiness, a blank moment...of just missing my friend...of us choosing not to be together to enjoy the Ocean...together ..Or partly perhaps...

A loud cheer broke out again! The show concluded. The crowd cheered. There was a huge applause for the performers. The crowd starts to dissipate. I turn my back and start walking towards the parking lot...the feeling of the memory stays!!!

"

Rain rain go away...

Image: http://www.google.com/

Not being the adventurous sorts to venture out in the rain, I was mostly under self imposed "house arrest" this weekend. Having ample time to think over things I started to wonder that how perspectives change. As children, monsoons were welcomed with dance in the rain, a paper boat in the puddle near by and juicy mangoes. I remember spending hours near the window,... brooding....at the view outside...notice small things...about how the street dog is getting wet, how the cows are huddled up and sitting under the tree...about how motorists in all their rain gear would drive carefully on the road splashing puddle water ...about how the cars would just do the same without bothering much. I remember watching other children too...in their umbrella and raincoats, floating the paper boats in the puddle...

After the initial euphoria, that is getting drenched in the first monsoon showers, most of the time was spent indoors. Had to make do with my younger brother as a 'play' companion. As children, we particularly didn't get along and almost most of the times, either one of us would go complaining to our parents about how the other one was cheating or disturbing or just being. I don't particularly like this season. For one, my birthday falls in this season and well, my name reflects the same too. As a kid, my birthday was always a damp affair...thanks to the rains which decide to arrive at precisely the same time, my friends were to come over. My mom would be very skeptical of the number of kids which would turn up. My friends from school almost never turned up if they didn't live near by. It was probably too much of a hassle for the parents. Well-my friends from the colony did turn up but they were few in number. We would play a lot of 'child'ish games but with an eye on the weather outside. All the delicious food which my mother would have prepared was not entirely consumed simply because of the lesser number of arrivals.

Today, when I look out of the window or stand in my balcony, I recall my childhood and the various memories associated with it. I think of all those non happening birthdays :-(. Even in college, it was the same. It was a bit of pain to celebrate my birthday because everyone would be loaded with their raincoats, umbrellas and definitely not their best dressed (you dont want to splash rain water on your good clothes - do you?). Both of our birthdays, Munish's and mine, fall in this wet season...and really, I am not too happy about that. Although, Munish is all very excited and happy with the onset of rains. Somehow, I cannot bring myself to share his enthusiasm as I forsee the wet, dark and cloudy months of water pouring all over forcing us to stay inside.

Monsoon ke side effects!!!!

Mumbai has a love - hate relationship with Monsoons!!!! Mumbaikars... - well most of the them....wait for this season..... the sea has a different colour, a different feel.... the breeze is oh so wonderful... the hot makai and tapri ka chai...an umbrella which threatens to fly away with the wind.... and the noise of the pitter - patter....:-) makes you want to cuddle up with a good book, sitting near the window... as you watch the world go by....hmmmm.....

View from my balcony

On the other hand, for lesser mortals, who struggle during the week, there is the other side... there is the crazy monsoon traffic....we hope that "today" we are not late for work...due to the crazy traffic, non complying auto wallahs, the snobbish taxi wallahs and well - the local trains which are forever running later.... we just hope, that we reach to our workplaces....DRY....we just hope, that a car passing by, hopefully, will not splash the mucky roadside puddle water on your clothes.... we just pray that the leather that we carry (shoes / laptop bags / purses / wallets) survives...... hmmmmm.....

Well - monsoons has it side effects.....to begin just listing them would be sooooo unfair..... but then being put under house arrest due to the unpredictable rains is not fair...to the extent that we visited one of our friends uninvited :-P for tea and conversation...:-) We played a lot of games...sudoku, scrabble, pictionary ....had a lovely afternoon nap.... but all this was a bit too much.... even the play station was not spared....I did my n number of household chores....but I just could not concentrate.... I WANTED TO GO OUT.... I needed my SUNSHINE...... :-P and I was feeling awful because I was not getting out..... all this ranting induced me to crib on this space....hmmmm.... and dearies, this is just June....*eyes rolling*... the best is yet to come :-P

Miss my sunshine!!!!

Mumbai - Delhi

Had been planning for a trip to Delhi since quite some time. My In-laws stay there. Had got the tickets booked in December itself for the festival of Holi which was on the 19 / 20 of March. Being in investment banking, it becomes almost impossible for him to pre-plan a tour or a holiday. Not untill the last minute it is decided if the planned trip will happen or not.

Seems the trip was not going to happen (because of his work schedule). Got the tickets cancelled on thursday. Started calling up my In-laws... about the cancelled plan...regretted...they were dissappointed...hmmm...well...can't help it....

Just 2 hours after my regret call...Munish called and confirmed the plans....Now, we wanted to go but well - there were no tickets...no reservations....no bookings....sigh!!!!

We got the tickets booked...at a high festival premium....Hmmmm....Well - his trip was sponsored by the company :-) so that was a silver lining....I hastily started packing - AGAIN....rushed down the building...hailed an auto - got one quickly - and left for the airport...On reaching the airport...I realised I forgot my contact lenses...I was wearing my spectacles...

[well - about my contacts...I am virtually blind if I am not using them. Was using an old pair of specks...hence they were a number less :-(...]

There were long queues at the airport....was informed there was a system failure ....SpiceJet, Go Air and Indigo were affected....Munish came in half an hour later...directly from office.....Check-in was done manually....stood in the queue for nearly an hour...Well- we finally boarded the flight...45 minutes late....:-).

As soon as the flight took off, I dozed off...Was rudely awakened during landing....It was not a very smooth one...the breaks were screeching...I remember saying my prayers during the landing process.....we landed :-). It was almost 11:00 PM....Thanks to the flight authorities, the suitcase lost a wheel...so we literally had to drag it after a point of time...mercifully, there was no other hiccup....reached home by 1:30 AM...

And Holi celebrations began the next day!!!!

P.S. Ain't got no pictures to post :-(

Pic got clicked!!!! Yay!!!

A quick update :-). One of the two pictures (The blue morning) which I submitted in the previous post has been selected for the contest. I don't expect to win anything, but I am just plain happy :-).

Thank you sooooooo much folks!!!!

Link: http://adayinlife.timesofindia.com/photoDisplay.php?photoId=161955

Foot and the Shoe

 Are my feet too small or my shoe too large?!!

Source: Pic by Meghna Garg, Kala Ghoda Festival, 2011