Mumbai diaries Week 3 - Of Chai, The Metro and Bollywood Music Launches!

1. The highlight of the week was the personal training package. 6 days a
week, for over an hour each time; this is one hell of a trainer. Unbeatable
price apart, the humble trainer easily fits the bill, to be carried back in
'Shweta's suitcase' when she leaves.

2. The new apartment rocks. Only I barely ever enter the other rooms at all.
Parents visited to stay over one night and fell in love with the place. It's
their kind of Mumbai residence. Not exactly my type, but as a perk
accomodation, works fabulously.

3. Breakfast is served at another apartment in the complex, that doubles up
as a cafetaria/ lounge by young Hindi/ Marathi speaking boys who insist on
serving you. They also dont let you pick up your plate after you are done. I
am not sure I really like that a lot, but have to give in to it somehow.

4. Breakfast at 8:30 am, lunch at 1 pm, Evening snack at 6 pm, Dinner dabba
brought home at 8 pm. Chai in the office, every three hours starting at 9 am
and ending at 6 pm. With this daily food routine, being spoilt then, is just
a matter of time.

5. Chai without sugar or with less sugar, is not an option. Lunch/ chai/
evening snacks come cooked to the site office, ready to be served, piping
hot, so no customisation is possible.

6. *"In India, people work so hard, that there is no life outside of
work"*applies to this office as well. I am quite sure, I am the only
one, or a
part of a very small breed, that try to have a life outside of work on a
daily basis.

7. The Metro project being constructed by L&T is moving along rapidly.
Outside the ITC Maratha, one by one, the precast concrete elements
interlock. India ranks very high in its concrete construction technique and
the Metro columns are nothing short of examples of superior workmanship. To
the last ridge on the column stem, they stand tall, in various forms; from
naked reinforcement, to casing, to poured concrete covered in jute, to the
final product, cast on site. Its funny how we are building Mumbai's first
elevated railway at a time when, New York City's first has been transformed
into it's newest park (The Highline). A must-visit on my NYC list, when I
visit in August.

7. A 6-day work week, can start taking its toll on you eventually. Maybe so,
because the 1 day weekend ends up being packed with 2 days worth of fun.

8. The best friend and her hubby landed in town, only to fly off to
Bangalore for a week. Plans are already in place for when they return next
week, to paint the town red :) Raga and I will be in Mumbai together, after
one and a half years. Hell shall break lose in Sahayog Society.

9. Frustration meter reads very high this week. From unpunctual drivers, to
unprofessional facility managers, to having to repeatedly ask for what I
need; I am not sure where the tipping point lies. While things can easily
put you off, there are others that you learn to appreciate, so it really is
a win some - lose some situation at times. The key is "adjustment".

10. Too much home-cooked food, finally gave way to a random pav-bhaji dinner
at Shiv Sagar, Juhu. Mental note to self: *Come back here more often*.

11. Mithibai Vada Pav, a must-have on every trip, is yet to be tested. Can't
wait!

12. Woke up Saturday morning to a water cut. The Monsoons are late and
Mumbai has a 20% water cut. Almost considered not coming in to work and
watching TV at home instead, while waiting for the water supply. But then
decided against it, as I thought most of Mumbai, still manages with this.
Proudly went to work, unbathed and smelling nice :)

13. Attended my first Bollywood movie's music launch ever :) Mazhar Kamran,
cinematographer of Ram Gopal Varma's *'Satya', 'Kaun'* and other Bollywood
flicks like *'Masti'* etc messages me on gtalk, seeing that I am in Mumbai.
He graciously invites me to the music launch of his directorial debut
'Mohandas'. I take the Sis-in-law along and we end up having a rather fun
evening at the Red Lounge, watching the 'filmy' types, in all their splendor
and some in their fake glamour. An IIT'ian, Mazhar may have worked in the
film industry for a few years now, but seemed more uncomfortable in the
filmy crowd, than either of us :) Humbly, he socialised with us for a bit
and then went around, completing his 'filmy' formalities.

14. Its finally raining. Cats and Dogs. Thank the Gods. I had forgotten how
much fun Monsoon could get. This is my first monsoon since I moved out of
Mumbai, 7 years ago.

15. L&T, in another one of their employee-pleasing programmes, handed out
rain-packs to all the employees. Rain pack includes, an umbrella, a rain
coat, rain shoes, construction hard hat, site-jacket and some other goodies.
Women get the same, except the raincoats and shoes are more feminine in
design. As a result, everyone in office (especially the men), literally wear
the same pairs of shoes, to work each day :) Big Boss to peon, all alike!

16. In an astounding (to me) revelation, I find out that regular L&T
employees are given internet access on their work stations for only two
hours a day. 9 am to 10 am and 1 pm to 2 pm. You need to be a certain cadre
and above, to be given full time internet access. Some kind of
control-mechanism this.

Here's Week 3 in pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiDiariesWeek3?feat=directlink

Week 4 got done last night. Lots to write about it as well. Expect Week 4
diaries soon too.
Until then, its time for me to go dance in the rain :)

Much love,
Shweyts

Mumbai diaries Week 2 - Of middle-aged men, papads and Heritage Walks!

Mumbai Week 2 – Settling in:

1. Madumm's bacchas = Macchas.
Madumm and her macchas (casual term meaning friend in tamil) sit in their own fun space.
As always my Man-Fridays at work are men. Turns out, ironically that is the case in this office; most men are mentored or led by women. Smart, multi-cultural and funny women. From Chennai, Kolhapur, Nanded etc. With regional accents and broken-english, but impeccable technical profess. Language never held barriers to education or experience, I had heard and now witnessing first-hand, every day.

2. What is with middle-aged Indian men? The inquisition doesn’t merely stop at “Which department are you working in?” or “Madumm, Aap India ke hain?”. It extends to “How much are you getting as a package in this project?” to “How old are you, if I may ask?” to “Why you are not living with your parents?” to the best one I’ve got so far “Tellllll something about your family, Madumm”.

3. Picked up parents from the airport, for the second time, in 5 weeks; much to their delight. The first time being, at Newark, NJ, when they visited us for the summer and the second time here in Mumbai, when they come back home from their vacation. It was nice to be standing in the spacious arrivals zone, waiting for them to appear and then scream "Mummyyyy" at their sight :)

4. Re-discovered how much paperwork Indians rely on, to get the smallest of jobs done. Paperwork for stationery, paperwork for lunch coupons, paperwork for email access, paperwork for potty……(Actually, that’s the one place where you need paper and it’s barely there, ever!:)

5. Office hierarchies prevail more visibly in India, than in the US, of course. The funny thing is everyone my age or in the +/- 3 years range, call me ‘Shweta’, while everyone 35+ calls me 'Madam'. In return, I find it hard to re-embrace the prefix ‘Sir’ or ‘Saarrr’ as they say here. Instead, I make do with adding a prefix “Mr.” instead.

6. It’s brilliant when the bank comes to you, to open your account, instead of you going to them. That, the banker comes late, wants to leave ASAP as “It’s my branch managers birthday Ma’m and I need to buy the cake” and assumes conveniently that you must tick in the “Single” and “Living with parents” boxes on the form, is of course another story.

7. The driver, Satish’s brother, passes the HSC exam with 48%. Satish wants Madumm to tell him what is LLB as that is what the brother will pursue henceforth. “Usme bahut paisa hai na Madumm”.

8. Finally gave in to Cho’s demand to eat outside the cafeteria. Cho, my Korean ex-co worker and good friend, hates Indian food, with a vengeance. He eats it everyday at the cafeteria, with half an heart and tops it up with 3 granola bars so that his stomach feels full. I finally relented and figured let’s take him to Mainland China. I wasn’t really ready to see the unleashed Cho, gobble away at 3/4th the food ordered on the table, at the end of which he held my hand and bowed in Asian style, saying “Thank You Shweta. You have saved my life today”. Shweta had a nice feeling that day, but is not sure she wants to go there every day, as Cho now irritatingly insists.

9. Two papads on my plate, every day, among other desi home-cooked delicacies at cafeteria lunch. Until the day, the “kitchen boy” standing behind the buffet says “Madumm, one papad only” while extending his hand on to Madumm's plate. One papad swiftly jumps out of Madumm's plate and back into the buffet :). A miffed Madumm, couldn’t really do anything, but smirk.

10. T.V Serials are such fun, especially when they are daily soaps. Something to look forward to, after work and gym, everyday. Got mom hooked onto a serial I watch every day on Sony, called 'Ladies Special'. Silly, corny, completely women-oriented and often sad, but not the saas-bahu crap atleast, I convince myself :). In India, watching Indian!

11. Colleague at work, mutters something in Marathi, under his breath at Cho, during a meeting. Yes, they can be that unprofessional at times! He said “Kay vedaa aahey ha!” (meaning “He’s so mad). I couldn’t help but give in saying, “Ho! Khupach” (meaning “Ya he is, quite mad.”) Of course, I told Cho and embarassed the desi colleague eventually.

12. The weekend began Saturday 5 pm, when a few of us sneaked out of work, about an hour early, for our own heritage-walk. We drove all the way to Ballard Estates to see what used to be Mumbai’s first CBD (Central Business District) and then drove all along the Eastern Waterfronts, not sensing the ocean which lay within 15 feet from us, as is the case with Mumbai’s eastern coast line. We then reached The Asiatic Society and sat on the steps for a while. My mind couldn’t help but make a comparison with the Federal Hall on Wall Street, where we often ate lunch, on some days. Horniman Circle was next, (also called as the “Horny man’s circle”) and then we walked all the way to Flora Fountain, Watsons Hotel (of the ‘Dogs and Indian’s not allowed’ fame), Kala Ghoda and the Naval docks and then turned around. Dinner followed at Moshe’s (opened by a Jewish restaurateur, hence the name) that serves every Non-Indian dish you could crave for. Sticking by my strict ‘When in India, drink Indian’ motto, I ordered Grover’s Reserve (No, they didn’t have Sula) which was not so bad, actually. After fondue and Ravas cooked Italian style, we ended on a sweet note with the best ‘mango cheese cake’ any of us had ever had. The night flowed into ‘Wink’ at the President Hotel, where random zig-zagged brick walls caught my fancy, more than the loud music. Obviously, Mumbai still likes places that blast music loud enough, so that you have to compete with it, to have an audible conversation. A walk along Marine Drive was supposed to be the natural end to the night, but everyone was tired and so we just drove past it, to get home by 2 am instead.

13. Sunday was spent running 6 miles (or shall I say 9.6 km) on the treadmill, in the gym, as part of the half-marathon training. A fantastic aamras-poori and chicken biryani lunch cooked by Mum-in-law followed with some more catching up with family. The night ended in a new apartment, another 3 bedroom, slightly smaller than the previous one. This is now my permanent home for this temporary period in Mumbai.

Here's the link for Week 2 in pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiDiariesWeek2?feat=directlink

Until Mumbai Diaries - Week 3, take care and keep in touch :)

In anticipation of rains,

Shweyta

Mumbai diaries Week 1 - Of macchaas, madumms and tayeer chaadam!

Starting a weekly series called Mumbai Diaries, to record my 22 1/2 weeks to be spent in Mumbai, starting June 1st, 2009.

Mumbai Week 1 - First Impressions:

1. Airport beaming, gets better each time I visit; on its way to becoming world-class :)

2. Driver "madam's" me for the first time. Didnt figure the name would stick, wherever I go.

3. Spacious apartment; 3 bedrooms, in-apartment gymnasium. Seems like I could live here.

4. I live in Powai, where concrete towers abound within green jungles, where concrete mixers roar in sync with sparrows, mynahs and koels' and where I come home to atleast 100 children playing in the building garden downstairs.

5. Home-made breakfast everyday with anna's (read "burly men" in tamil. Not a girl's name.), all inquiring, "Where is it, that you are frumm Madumm?"

6. Introduce Satish, my faithful driver and punching bag-to-be for the next few weeks/ months. Short, lanky and "madumm-ing" Satish. Never been around Mumbai, as much as he did in the first few days of driving me around. Together, the two of us lose and find our way in the city :)

7. At work, tamilians galore. Tamilakaran, Mahadevan, Elangovan, Muralitharan, Ananthraman, Muthuraman, even Veerappan. I now consult with L&T; known to me as Larsennan & Toubronnan. L&T is also known to other non-tamil speaking employees as Learn Tamil!

8. No work email, no phone, no desk, no computer, nothing but chai and snacks for the Madumm!! Madumm calms her self thinking, it will take time and reminds herself, to not lose it over 'trivial unprofessional issues". "Chalta hai" she tells herself.

9. "I didnt recognise you maaa. Marriage has made you fattt, Swethaa" (note the emphasis on the bold, underlined part of the name) says D.K, Project Director for the Airport. Swethaa swears to go looking for a gym that evening.

10. Swetha makes sure her spelling is corrected everywhere, to be Shweta or Shweyta. Thankfully the pronounciation is OK.

11. Cafetaria lunch, home cooked. Standing in line with steel plate in hand. Two types of sabji's, daal, rassam, rotis, rice, pickles, papad, salad, dahi, dessert and my favourite tayeer-chadam (south indian style dahi-rice). Life nalla irkaa (Life is good) I said to myself.

12. Gym search ended that evening, with the Club Bloomingdale next door. Amazingly affordable pay-as-you-go membership with personal training sessions at rates that would put my Newport trainer to shame.

13. Slim, slender Sanober hanging on a trapeze from the apartment buildings terrace, 15 floors high. Being hauled up and thrown down; this must be a suicide scene. The whole building watched and 'sssshhhed" each other when the director yelled "Action". Sanober went up, 15 floors high, flying sort of, trapeze unseen and came rushing down, falling flat, on thick cushioned mattresses below. Director yelled "Cut" and we all clapped. "Mast tha na!!!" ran the chorus around. My Mumbai moment of the week :)

14. First night's dinner at Snehi, Atit and Ira's new apartment, in 7 bungalows. Ira darling posing away to multiple pictures "Shetta Maasi" wanted to take of hers. Snehi's awesome cooking, that I ve already feasted on twice and many more such feasts to come, I am told by her.

15. Working Saturdays, took some time to digest, but once done, they breeze by now. Its also fun to see 'casual Saturday' wear, ranging from jeans to "collar-ed t-shirts" for men and literally anything casual for women.

16. Dinner with the ex-co workers at Chakra on Kurla road, on Cho's request. Seafood fried rice, Kingfisher, Chicken malai kababs..good price, good conversation, good company.

17. Saturday night dinner with Kunal at Salt Water Cafe at Bandra, over pictures, talks and how it feels to be an expat in Mumbai.

18. Hot Oil head massage, pure bliss, on Sunday afternoon.

19. Sunday evening, spent at The Expressions Dance Company's Annual Show and watching Gayu (Amit's sister) dance, with exceptional fervour, grace and enthusiasm. She even got a trophy for her performance and is now selected to be part of the dance troupe's formal group. A wonderful evening, spent with family and Cho whom I dragged along to the performance, watching Ballet, Argentinian Tango, Salsa, Bollywood all possible styles.

20. Soon the once-exclusive Madumm's office, is filled with staff working with the Madumm. "Space constraint no, Madumm. Please adjusssttt-ma!! ". It so happens, that most of Madumm's staff is also foreign-return, so the office space swears to become a breeding ground for anti-tamil jokes.

21. Thirty years of being best-friends with a Tamilian may have had a lot of benefits, but none supercede this one - of being able to understand the language. Very conveniently people in office, break into Tamil, literally sentence two onwards; at meetings, work discussions, everywhere. To be able to understand them, and even mutter a line or two in return, while grinning at their stunned face, is pretty priceless :)

On that note, Mumbai Diary - Week 1, ends :)

Enjoy Week 1 in pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiManiaJune2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCKuGzYTJn4LFiwE&feat=directlink

Mumbai diaries Week 2 will reach you as soon as I pen it down :) Until then, stay safe and keep in touch. I ll go back to my vada-pav and chai for now :)

Love,

Shweyts