Mumbai Musings

I've known this city to an extent that I feel I belong here...ya the Aamchi Mumbai kinda spirit! Though a long-term resident of Bengaluru (thats wat they call it these days!), I have a special attachment to this place. I graduated, had my share of first love, discovered my passion for lifesciences ....all of this and more at this very city! So its not surprising the way I feel for it!

Not long ago I was exchanging emails with an acquaintance (I can refer to him as my friend now...) that I live in Mumbai and there came the response...
Mumbai?? Seriously, I have never liked Bombay!! I mean I have never been there, but then I see the humongous number of people there, and I go!! No way!! I can never survive in the place with SO many people!!

Actually thinking about it..the response isnt one bit exagerrated or for that matter a surprising one...I still remember the first day I boarded the local train to CST (then it was to collect college application forms!) man...It was nothing but Darwin's Theory in action...Only the fittest survive... Just that mumbai...or rather its people help u get to that mark..with their support and camaraderie (The fish vendors threatening to spill stinking fish extracts/juices on you if you dont create way for them in the teeming CST station arent included in this category!)

College days as always was fun here...From weekly visits to fashion street, linking road (these were monthly!), to the amul sandwich wala at Xaviers college, the Amraas at Haji Ali, the chinese dosawala at Ghatkopar...I've savoured it all. The cultural extravaganza at College festivals (Malhar/Hooner) still are still fresh in my memory. There used to be this diary farm my special friend and me used to visit for early morning chais...and samosas almost every other day.Recently (thats almost after 10 years) I had a peek look at that very place and boy...It now serves exotic flavours of icecreams and the delivery bhaiyas use paper gloves while handling the samosas.Its all done up and has the Works man! (as they call it!). I am sure to an extent that we are stake holders of this establishment...(having had hundreds of samosas and a thousand cups of chai...)

Now those were the fantastic fantasy days of college. Cutting back to reality...the Present.


I have had to cope with monsoon evenings wherein the entire system (nearly) collapses. People rushing from work to reach their homes safely; this 'rainophobia' mainly trigerred by the July 26, 2005 fury. People still are open to sharing their rickshaws and vehicles with other stranded co-passengers. Its a time when sex, creed or age matter the least!

I have been spared of getting on to the very train that had a bomb planted on it, thanks to a cancelled meeting. We've had to walk long distances to reach home in the midst of rain and anxiety over the serial bomb blasts.

We are not alien to the never-ending traffic woes; we have seen the rain fury, witnessed the deafening bomb blasts, still somewhere deep in our hearts we refuse to accept defeat. Thats a hard to find sensibility of the human spirit... the true legacy of Mumbai!

Saalam Mumbai!

Best part of the Day

The part of the day I love the most is undoubtedly the mornings. I have been an early bird to begin with by upbringing, then because of the early morning lectures at college and now by choice.

I nearly follow the same routine every morning. I wake up, brush my teeth still half asleep, walk across to the kitchen and put on a pot of water for tea. While I prefer the soothing therapeutic green tea, C loves the classic chai. I stand by the stove, relishing the morning calm and the rising sun from the across my kitchen window. There is something calming about this ritual of making a morning cup of chai. The dubbas for tea leaves and sugar are at hand and I can measure and pour with my eyes closed. As the aroma of the tea wafts from the boiling pot, I add a pinch of cardamom and slice of ginger. The satisfying wooshing sound of the tea boiling and rising up to touch the lip of the pot wakes me from my trance.

Now its time to rush for a quick workout at the gym. I enjoy gauging people's expressions in the wee hours of the day. Some gymmers let their feet talk on the tread mill, while a small set of still-sleepy friends have their gazes fixed on the overhead television set thats playing some weird music video. Then I also come across people...who appear beaming with energy ...all set to face the day in radiant spirit. Trainers are the busiest at this hour... waking up people from their slumber ..pushing you to do that one last set for the day...U need to be well-motivated urself to drive a dozen drowsy bodies to do the drill at dawn! I love the circuit workout as they call it...it lets u put most of your muscles to use...(a couple reserved for more pleasurable pursuits!)

Get back home to catch up on my Green tea and a couple of crisp Parle G biscuits (havent loved any other biscuit as much!) and the times of India. Not a time for an elaborate read though, a quick glance and am off to the kitchen again this time to put the breakfast basics in place. I could put another blog on planning the breakfast menu..(ya maybe some other time); I normally stick to a standardised weekly breakfast plan. While the plan is being executed (mondays - batting with upma, tuesdays - shapping up the idlis, wednesdays - smothening the dosas and the like!), its time for sweet nothings with C and my brat. I love the gleam in C's eyes when I demand the customary morning huggie! and the way my coochie-boo thinks hard (with slightly raised brows and enlarged eyes) when we talk about what he's going to do today at school. A nice bath, a recital of a standard set of slokams, binging on the breakfast...I am ready to take on the world (read that as emails, calls and meetings for the day!)

So its the morning hour that allows me to ...Meditate at the tea ritual, Energise at the gym, get worldly-wise with the newspaper, creative at cooking breakfast, naughty with C, positive with prayer and pampered by kutti papa.

Whoever thought about power-breakfast sessions..I care less..I guess I belive more in Power-packed mornings!

Programming the mind!

It was a nice weekend...With a nice..dishum dishum..Dhoom 2 to watch...where motorbikes appeared out of nowhere...they could manage to pass through a helicopter which was apparently in flames! I was housed in between two men who seem to love them though..My Son...loved watching krrish in action (thats how he refers to Hritik Roshan these days) and hubby seemed to like the boyish acts on display! Though completely devoid of logic, the movie was pure fun..

We'd been to a matinee, so decided to get back home and eat. On reaching home..my son remarked..Mummy we didnt go to a hotel to eat! I was taken aback at his statement. Not that he was feely hungry...he was loaded well with a burger and a samosa...just that the movie experience wasnt complete for him..without a customary visit to the restuarant.

I guess...the mental perception of events is more to do with the experience one associates with it..and this programming begins really early in life.

World's Most Beautiful Woman

I have always found most air-hostesses really beautiful...not just because they appear well-groomed... more because of their temperament. It really isnt easy dealing with airborne apes otherwise, more so in international sectors. Its about standing up to the occasion (literally!), and delivering service still wearing a smile.

I think people in mumbai look so beautiful...not just because I live there...I see the way they go about their life ..amidst so much chaos....still with such determination...that u r left awestuck with admiration.

Beauty as a concept is very debatable, beauty as reality is even more contentious; Its more to do with one's expression i guess. Barring the chiseled-body exhibition, most beauty pageant organisers seem to be in agreement with this...or so it seems with a question and answer round designed to map one's expression.

Coming to the heart of the matter...Yes I have made up my mind for whom I would vote for as the World's Most Beautiful woman....and thats my paternal Grandmother..whom i fondly refer to as Chithi.

Chithi, undoubtedly must have been one of the early words in my vocabulary. Since childhood, my grandparents lived with us. So stories of Krishna, Indira Gandhi (I now realise was more of fiction than facts !), the sparrow stories were regular lunch-time tales. My sister and myself have always belonged to the group with a higher Body-Mass Index. Thanks to chithi's rasam chadam with applam and ghee fed with her own hands. She never used to refer to my grandfather by his name, and used all kind of pronouns to refer to him..and when we (Sis and I) asked her to refer to him with his name...I still remember her cheeks turning red and the lovely smile adorning her lips.

All said and done..she was a task master too. Attention to studies and music lessons were mandatory, failing which we would be victims of her wrath. The kitchen ladle being her favourite weapon.

In-laws never r easy to get along with is the common premonition...My amma's comfort zone existing wherever chithi was, to the extent that she refused to get back to her parental home to deliver her children... or so I gather!Yup..they did have their share of arguments and differences, but then it was all back to normal the very next day...with the discussion and consensus over whats to be made for breakfast and lunch.

Every examination I went to...right from school days to my mba papers...i used to do a namaskaram to her and ask her to pray for me...and came the same reply....Do well..U'll top the class!

She had this thing that her son (my father) takes up medicine as his profession. He chose to be an engineer instead. She now banked on my sister and me to do it for her...We too displayed little interest in it!

Chithi has been every maid's 'dream employer' for she used to flood them with goodies to eat and wear...perhaps because of the not-so well to do childhood she had had...She heart in hearts felt she was no different from them..but for her marriage to my grand father.

She's been at her resilient best in tending to my mother all through her ill-health (which lasted nearly over 2 decades).

There may be so many people who have renounced everything in life to serve humanity. My Chithi decided to take on life instead...by giving...She gave 100% of herself everytime...seeking nothing more than our happiness and well-being.

One of these days, while I was on my way out, I overheard her talking to my 3 year-old, while feeding him rasam chadam who seemed to be examining her chest (imitating his pediatrician), that she had only wish...that she passes away calmly after she recieves treatment from my son...while he becomes a doctor.

Now..thats one wish encompassing so many...now thats what I call...Expression of Beauty.

Just Arrived!

Its from a cousin of mine that i really got inspired to begin blogging.

I have always fancied having a little red book to pen down my experiences...about things i like..about people i love...places i miss!

Hopefully...this space in the cyberworld helps me do what i would have wanted to do with my little red book...

Connect...with Myself!