Mumbai Diaries - Week 16 - Of 'Vishwakarma' poojas, snake-skinshoes and Dandiyas!

1. I have 'Agony Aunt' written on my head. Or so some people think. Narayan, the driver, started off by asking if I was related to a particular colleague (lets call him X) by any chance? When I replied in the negative, I let loose a series of Mr. X-bashing, from him. Turns out Mr. X had been using the car for his domestic purposes which included dropping kids off to school, wife off to college and then entire family off for shopping, almost daily. As I ve

mentioned before, L&T as a policy does not allot one car - per person, atleast in most cases, for even high level officials. So here was a typical case of perk-misuse, where the poor driver suffered, since he needs to record his vehicles daily mileage. I certainly hope for Narayan's sake, that this issue gets resolved soon.

2. The team is counting down to 'Boss's Departure date' yet again.

Well, so is Boss :)

Not sure if Boss's Boss is doing the same though :)

3. It's getting closer to 'contract-winding up time' for most expats here. So there is talk in the air of possible contractual extensions. I am not sure I want that, but never say never right ?

4. Wednesday night was spent at the Dentist's and later with Mom and Dad for dinner at Stomach II in Seven Bungalows. Mid-Wednesday meet-ups with the folks, prove to be a lot of fun and very therapeutic, in a strange sort of way, in an otherwise crazy week.

4. Thursday was "Shri Vishwakarma Pooja" Day at Site. Vishwakarma, as most would know, is the Hindu deity of craftsmen. This is the day that all construction sites, are closed for work as machines/ equipment etc are decorated and venerated. The Airport T-2 Site pooja, that we went to attend, was at a massive scale, easily beating one of the sarvajanik Ganesh Pandals that the city had seen just a few weeks ago. Sadly this was another day I

didnt have a camera, so had to make do with the phone to take pictures.

5. Channel surfing on the T.V at home and I came across Channel 1, which telecasts the 24 hour security camera in the building lobby downstairs. I bet this is normal for most high-rises in the city, but I ve never seen this happen even in NY. What fun if one could, while switching channels, fall upon channel 1 on their T.V, see an unwanted guest coming home and then decide to play truant to such visitors ? Not a bad idea, eh, this camera telecast? I can think of multiple other uses for this sneak-preview, but I ll let them rest for now :)

6. Tamil co-worker walking past me, looks down at my snake-skin print Steve Maddens' and screams: "Aiyyoo, snake skinnn aaa?"

I looked down at my shoe first and then at him in disgust and retorted: "Illai, Plastic-aaa!"

He scarrums off with a relieved "Apdiyaa? Cherri cherri"

In my head I exclaim "Venkateshwara" and walk off! :)

7. Saturday was submission day again, after which the plan was to go watch 'Dil Boley Hadippa' with the office gang. 8 of us from work found ourselves en route to Cinemax to watch a rather fun-filled flick, with Rani Mukherjee and Shahid Kapur playing the lead roles. An otherwise regular movie, the experience of watching any such flick in India, is always pleasant. Having been centered around cricket and Punjabis', the movie drew hilarious impromptu 'bhangra' steps from Sardarji's sitting in front of us to standing ovations at consecutive 6's and 4's, behing hurled across in the cricket field on screen :) Not to mention the familiar sounds of kids talking and crying in the background, without which the soundtrack of any movie-watching experience in Mumbai is so incomplete.

8. The week, being one before Dusshera, has specific significance to it. The office girls sent out messages on the internal office messenger - 'Groove', saying each day stands for a certain colour. So this Friday onwards, almost compulsarily so to say, one will have to wear the colour of the day. This 9-day colour-dress code in the office, ends with the grand 'Traditional/ Sari Day', that I thought I had seen the last of, in my early college years. So while all the girls at work, plan to wear a sari on Friday of next week, I am not sure yet, of the same. The coming week will tell :)

9. Sunday morning started off with a 10 miler in the gym. Mum took us to Woodlands Cafe for lunch, to celebrate my Hindu-calendar birthday :). Woodlands was another oft-visited place in my childhood, but turned out that the interiors are not as great as they used to be then. Thankfully the same could not be said for the food, since it was still as yum. A paper dosa, two Royal Woodlands Thaalis and chhaas/ jaljeeras later we headed to Naturals for ice cream. My weekly massage that I look forward to all week long, was relaxing as was the 'evening chai and khaari biscuit' at Mom's a few hours later. The evening was spent at a 'Nuts' reunion (our famous 5-chica school group) at Snehi's place. I picked up Titu (our very first Nut friend, who got married at 20) and Boskey (her 9 year old son) en-route to Snehi's place. Ira was dressed in her li'll chaniya choli, all ready to go play dandiya-garba downstairs. Although the re-union lasted a short while, we had a fun time and it was good to see the second generation of the Nuts' trying to bond :) Looking forward to many more such, with the rest of the Nuts as well (The other two are in California and Phoenix).

Dinner was at Mums place again, the simple yet unbeatable 'bhindi' and daal, while laughing between snippets of 'Hera Pheri' and 'Dostana' on T.V :)

Week No. 16 in pictures is here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiDiariesWeek16?feat=directlink

The week ahead looks like it's going to be a really busy one, socially speaking! And on the weekend I fly back to NY, to celebrate my birthday with the hubby and friends :) Cant wait!!

Until then, while I go tackle some other senior management, anti-social elements at work, yet again :) you take care and I ll see you in a week!

Love,

Shweyta

Mumbai Diaries - Week 17 - Of 'desi fondues', being 'Jay chi bayko' and Volte!

1. Post-Ramzan celebrations galore at work on Monday. Ashraf was really sweet and brought a big 'dabba bharke', 'sheer korma' for the work group, as part of 'Ramzan' celebrations. Ajmal brought in 'mawa barfi', Athiq brought in 'boondi ke laddu' and Mahboob brought in 'kababs'. The week started off well :)

2. Counting down to Saturday night, when I fly out. Trip No. 2 to NY, in 4 months. Not bad! Standing here, looking into the next few months, there is a trip scheduled back every month, until December :) So looking forward to the mile-accumulation :)
Except for the probable jet-lag on the return trips, I dont really mind living out of a suitcase for the remainder of the year, as I have done for the most part of 2009. Shuttling from one home to another, isnt that bad after all ;)

3. Monday evening was a cousin-in-law's grand engagement party. The speciality of the event was that it was hosted at Blue Sea Banquets; the beautiful sea-facing banquet hall, where Amit and I had our wedding reception, exactly 18 months ago :)

Since one can barely eat/ enjoy at one's own wedding, amidst all the activity and attire, here was my chance to sample the tastes and thrills of my own wedding reception venue. The in-laws and their extended families were all there, most of whom had met me last, at my wedding. So catching up had a whole new meaning, when we literally had to re-start with introductions and "Ohhhh, Is that you??"'s ....My reference-tag for the evening was "Jay chi baayko" (Jay's wife) (Amit's name at home is Jay).

While professional dancers shook their hips to 'Koli dances', 'Laavni's' and 'Bollywood re-mixes', others hung out at the 'photo-shoot corner' to take pictures with their families/ spouses. Mumbai's wedding industry successfully comes up with newer and more innovative ideas to keep the guests entertained at wedding functions. Among other famous people who attended, was Sunil Gavaskar, who had autograph/ photo requests being plonked on him as soon as he walked in.

I wore the red saree the best friend gifted me at her wedding :)

Looking forward to many more such evenings, as wedding season nears, so I can get to use all that traditional/ wedding wear that would otherwise rust in the closet.

4. More skirmishes at work, with the same senior management guys; this time, yet again for lack of co-ordination/ professionalism issues. Some people are paid to warm their seats and not get up, come rain/ shine/ submissions. A single signature seems like a project for them. Without delving into any more details, lets just say that there are days I thank my stars for being a 'consultant' with a limited time span in this office. I also however know, these are the days I will look back on, with as much pleasure, as the pain.

5. Office colour-dress day that started last week, seems to be running successfully so far. I found out later that this was not just an office-colour code but apparently most people in the city, were complying to this.A leading regional newspaper had published the prescribed and 'suggested' colour code for the 9 days preceding Dusshera and most people had been following this. Another one of those things that seem to be a recent trend, since I dont remember being part of this when I lived here.

6. Wednesday evening was the busiest evening ever. After work, the plan was to pick up a dress that I had asked the hubby to send to me, through friends, so I can wear it to a black/ formal gallery opening event on Friday night. Dinner was with the sis-in-law and the to-be bro-in-law at 'Out of the Blue' in Bandra; one of the best places I ve been to on this visit. We loved the low seating, breezy ambience, multiple waterfalls and the live singing. To add to that, the fondue was a delight as was my glass of 'desi' syrah. The pasta, once again, as I ve written in my previous notes, nothing to write home about, because of the extra 'gravy' it came with. Seriously, as Indians we need to learn to adopt international food for what it's worth and not always try to customise it to suit our spice-craving palate.

The evening was a pleasure, as is always the case when the three of us get together. Wednesday night also sparked off the series of late-night parties that would go on until the end of the week.

7. Kate (my ex-colleague from NY, also working here in Mumbai since the last 6 months) had a farewell party on Thursday, at Le Meridien. The party was themed around the ongoing 'Dandiya' festival that the Americans wanted to be a part of. So in what turned out to be an amazing evening, we found ourselves talking and mingling at the Meridien poolside. We were a small group of 25 from MIAL, CH2M Hill, L&T and SOM. The evening started off with drinks and appetizers but soon led into 'dandiya' and 'garba' coaching classes, where yours' truly and another colleague, volunteered to teach the dance-forms to everyone. Riotous laughter and dancing followed as the drinks flowed into the night and some people were pushed into the pool complete with their cameras, wallets and cell phones. Kate was overwhelmed and gave a short speech as did the others present, thanking her for her hard work and efforts.

The manager of the hotel was kind enough to provide not only 'dandiya-garba' music at the pool side but also got us some dandiya sticks to play with. Thursday night, was the second late night in a row.

8. The best-est Friday ever, followed. Traditional day at work entailed that most girls came to work dressed in saris, while some men wore kurtas.
Obviously, very little work would actually get done. But no one was complaining. Albeit the idea of traditional day at work may sound cheesy to some, I had forgotten the 'fun factor' associated with days such as these. The whole day was spent outdoors, posing for pictures in various 'groups' ; sometimes an 'office girls' picture or an 'office girls+boys group' picture etc. L&T even roped ina professional photographer to take group pictures of the sari-clad staff, to print in the next issue of the company magazine 'Concord'.
There was a Dusshera 'pooja' in the clients office where we were invited for an informal 'idli prasadam'. The rest of the day was spent collecting money for Kate's farewell party snacks - cake, wafers and cold drinks and arranging the party at the cafetaria.

Another short speech and some gift exchanges later, it was time to leave work to head to my next event for the day - Tush's swanky new gallery - Volte's launch party.

Volte, which is located in the Colaba Art District, right behind the Taj, opened to a full house on Friday evening. At Tushar's insistence, I had changed my air ticket to fly out the next day, so I wouldnt miss the opening night. And seemed like, it was totally worth it.

The gallery has turned out well. Having been one of the few who has seen this gallery, from it's 'idea' stage, there was a sense of fulfillment and joy on opening night, when Tush and I stood and stared at the space saying "It's come a long way, hasnt it?".
The gallery had opened with the works of four artist's - and their rather creative and whacky pieces of experimental art. (Check out www.volte.in) The experiences provoked in the audience, ranged from 'time travel' to arousing one's 'sexy superconsciousness' to 'breaking a cadillac with a jack-hammer' to 'watching rudaali's cry'. Definitely a first, in terms of gallery spaces in the city. Aptly enough the night was called 'The Gallery is dead. Long live the Gallery' since Volte changes the face of what a traditional gallery means and does. We all wore black in our condolences. Kudos to Tush on this great idea and looking forward to many more Volte-faces in Mumbai !

9. Saturday, was day no. 2 at work, in succession, of doing nothing else but TP ('time pass as Mumbaikars put it). Most offices in the city, it seems, were taking it easy this weekend, it being the long festive weekend.
All around the office, pictures taken at work, on Friday, were uploaded on Saturday. Dandiya plans were being made, in anticipation of the long weekend ahead. Most people flying out that night, were busy with checking-in to their flights and bidding good-bye's to their colleagues. I left work after lunch to pack and unwind a little bit after what has been my busiest week, socially speaking, in Mumbai, so far.
Dinner was with the folks and then we headed to the airport. The flight was on time, which is always good news. The airport looks better, each time I go, which is even better news. That, the duty-free doesnt still sell Sula or Old Monk, sucks though. My anti-jet lag strategy was to watch a movie for the first three hours of the flight and then sleep off, until we land. Seems like it worked, since I landed into Newark, all fresh and ready for the 20 miler ahead, to be run with the hubby at Central Park.
Seems like I brought the Monsoons with me and the outdoor run had to be scrapped, much to my dismay. Turned out that we ended up doing the +4 hour run on the treadmill in our local gym. Atleast we ran together, which was a plus and a highly motivating factor, so to say. Post-run, time was spent icing the legs and catching up with my recorded 'The Office' shows. Evening dinner was with the Newport gang at 'More' at Grove Street, in Jersey City.
A perfect weekend, spent in both homes, Mumbai and NY.

Week No. 17, in pictures is here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiDiariesWeek17?feat=directlink

Interactions with the immigration officers at the two airports (BOM and EWR) result in long casual conversations and puzzled looks, as I respond to their "Where do you live and work?" with a "I live in the US but work in India".
In Jersey, as we went up the elevator, my finger pointed towards 'floor 13' versus 'floor 25'. For an instance, I forgot which electrical switch, switches on the kitchen lights. As I walked into the bathroom and subconsciously groped for the switch, where the Mumbai bathroom's switch is fixed, I realised the duality of my life, at the moment. It probably takes me a few minutes, to adapt and re-adjust to each home; to the idea that while I once lived in NY and vacationed in Mumbai, I now do the exact reverse. But somehow, seems like I now miss Mumbai more, when I leave her for NYC, versus the other way around. Having said that, I dont think I can be OK with living in only one home, in one city, any more. Maybe it's the inherent desire (read: greed) to have a base in both cities; but two homes in two cities is nice. Just some aloud introspection!

Week No. 18 will be offset by one week which will be spent in NY. So until two weeks from now, when you hear from me next, take care and be good.
And if you re in NY, please come to the Friday night, Oct 2nd party, so we can catch up before I leave. I would love to see you, while I am here.

Take care,
Shweyta

Mumbai Diaries - Week 15 - Of 'carrom dreams', family dentists and Shivaji statues!

1. The common cold decided to wane off and Monday evening found me running my 10 miler, that I had skipped on the weekend.

2. Apparently I have been promising the team "We ll chill and play carrom" since the day I got here, after our first submission. (We have a games room with a Table Tennis Table, Carrom board etc at the site office). Somehow, work takes up so much of our time, that I have yet to fulfill this promise. Not a day goes by when I am not reprimanded about this. So far I have been reminded, in innovative ways, of this "promise" that I probably once made. Meeting Minutes and Drawing Sheets that come across my way for scrutiny before they are submitted, now carry a note reading "Chill and play carrom" :)

Yes, you better believe it. Thats how silly my team members can get. A carrom evening is to be planned soon, so that this madness discontinues.

3. Gym members are often curious to see one girl running endlessly on the treadmill, everytime they walk in or out of the gym. Often, they cannot resist and have to ask. So I have been amused at being addressed with a "Wow, you have lost a lot of weight" from a total stranger or "Why do you keep running so much, all the time?" from people I know by face, but have never spoken to.

In one such valuable encounter, a gentleman came up to me to have a conversation. He seemed like a dream come true, when he mentioned Mumbai Striders; a Mumbai running group that trains together. (www.mumbaistriders.com)

For the longest time now, I have been on the lookout for a runner group in this city, whom I can join for my long runs. The only problem is their long runs start at NCPA, Nariman Point and none of them have yet reached the mileage that I am training at, since their races are relatively far out in the future. (Most of them are training for the Mumbai Marathon, which is in January 2010.)

Still, I look forward to joining them one Sunday morning for my weekly long run. Their website reveals pictures of the group running across the Sea Link, which is reason enough :)

4. Wednesday's non-gym night was spent taking care of Dental issues. The family dentist (I am the third generation of the family going to him) looked a little older than the last time I had been to him, but he still remembered me :)

This was another place where being the client, made me feel special, a feeling that's kind of amiss at times in NY. Turns out that the dental procedure needs me to come back atleast 3-4 more times, so will be seeing a lot of the Dentist and hence of the parents too (since the clinic is next door to their place).

Post-Dentist, dinner with the folks, was at an oft-visited restaurant, when we were growing up. It is still called 'Appointment' and they still use the tag line, which I had thought 20 years ago, was a witty one (Appointment - A point meant for you). The place is famous for it's pav-bhaji, chaat, paani-puri, milkshake, dosas etc etc and we had all of it. Was sort of like wrapping a childhood memory into a nutshell!

5. Saturday was an unusual day at work. I guess when you have a 6-day work week, there are Saturdays when you come to work, not wanting to work :) Seemed like this Saturday, that was the general mood in the office.

At Saturday lunch (pav-bhaji, almost unmistakenly, each time), empty desks and empty cafetaria tables spoke louder than the regular office humdrum. Since we sit in a cabin off, of the main office area, we almost thought people went home due to some early-leave announcement and no one bothered to tell us :)

But it was just people taking it really easy, thats all. Everyone was back at work an hour later. Only a few minutes later, an admin guy walked in and announced that the office will be closing right away (at 4:00 pm), due to some 'Shiv Sena activity' at the Shivaji statue, next door, at the airport.

Two years ago, when we started the airport design in NY, I remember distinctly telling my colleagues, that we need to be careful about 're-locating' a Shivaji statue in Mumbai, due to unsocial regional elements. The designers still went ahead, disregarding the idea, since they thought re-location would not provoke the insanity, that demolition would.

All I can say is, New Yorkers - sometimes it pays to listen to Mumbaikars.

Turns out there was quite a brawl on site, as the existing Shivaji statue, at the International Airport, needs to be relocated, based on our architectural plan. Obviously not ones to take this lying down, or to even understand what "relocate" means, the MNS (Maharasthra Navnirman Sena) headed by Raj Thakeray, decided to display their buffonery here. So that the matter would'nt get out of control, L&T declared our site office shut and people were evacuated. A welcome break, for everyone!

I spent almost two hours waiting in my car to leave work, for two Tamil-Tathas, who were assigned to share my car. They had "chumma" wandered off towards Ground Zero, to see what was going on there.

Obviously they were either unacquainted with Shiv Sena/ MNS 's previous track records or were utterly foolish. I am inclined to think it was the latter.

The rest of the evening was spent, unwinding at home, doing nothing, to store up all my energy for the first longest pre-race run, the next day. Sadly, left with not many options to order pasta from, for the carbo-load, I had to resort to the Papa Johns nearby and call it a night. One of the rare moments when I miss NY - when I am in search of really good pasta.

6. A random landslide, off the hill near home, injured a few people. Since then, two-three gigantic earth-collectors have been wreaking havoc day in and out, on the hill. Suddenly seems like the monsoon greens have vanished and given way to red soil underneath.

7. Sunday started at 6 am with the long run. This being the first longest run of the training, I was a little nervous, since I was doing it indoors. The run lasted a little over 4 hours, but when it ended, the feeling was uncomparable :)

Cant wait for the next long run, that will be run in Central Park with the running bud - hubby :)

Post-run the plan was to meet Mom and Pops at Laxmi Thali; a Gujju thaali place that Mom kept raving about. Sort of on the lines of Vatan, back in NY, this place served the same spread, more or less. Except of course the food was much sweeter. Filled to our hearts content, we left the restaurant, after 'paan'.

I took Mom shoe-shopping after lunch and we spent the afternoon bonding over shoes, artefacts and random childhood memories of Linking Road in Bandra. Evening chai with samosa, was at home with the folks, after which Snehi and Ira decided to drop in. Ira's non-stop jabber kept us in splits, as always :)

Dinner was Pani-Puri at Chandru's, after which I left for home. Del Potro's excellent combat with Nadal, added the last touch of excitement in a weekend well spent. "This guy is going to win the Open this year" I said to myself. Obviously I was floored, as I cheered loudly, in the apartment, each time he appeared to effortlessly hit the ball. Seemed like half my facebook friend list had landed up at this game - was well worth their money, for sure!

Week No. 15 in pictures is here :

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiDiariesWeek15?feat=directlink

I ll be back in NYC in two weeks for my birthday :) so hope to see you then. I hear NY has jumped to Winter directly, has it? Eitherways, October heat will soon be upon us in Mumbai. So I will be looking forward to the chill, somehow :)

Stay happy and thrilled! Will see you all soon!

Love,

Shweyta

Mumbai Diaries - Week 14 - Of Architectural 'Bliss', 'circular' lives and unusually free weekends!

1. Week 14 started with a bang -

On Monday, Preetam and Ilya, (whom you may know from the previous week's diary), came over to the office, for a scheduled site-visit. The three of us, along with Sushanta, the L&T Structural engineer on the project, got a personalised, special tour of the construction site. We walked all along the periphery of the SW Pier, which is the first phase of the airport, noticing intricate construction details and stepping on and off reinforcement bars and cement sacks.

To be on site, to see constructed, what one has been working on, from the inception, is how most Architects define "Bliss".

This was one such afternoon for us.

We tanned ourselves dark, through our safety helmets and site jackets, as we walked around, relating in actuality, what we had been conceiving so long, in 2 and 3-D. To Preetam, the Structural Engineer, the visit also entailed work, as he kept pointing out things to Sushanta, that he was not in agreement with, but to Ilya and I, this was an exciting couple of hours, touring what I ve called my 'baby' since over two years now.

2. September is here and so is the first of the family birthdays - Sept 2nd was Pa-in-laws birthday. In his honour, I hosted a birthday dinner at one of his favourite sea-food speciality restaurants - Gajalee in Vile Parle. The event was attended by both the Moms', Dads' and sis-in-law and to-be bro-in-law. The night started off with some yummy pink-looking Sol Kadhi, went on to Hariyali Paneer Tikkas, Tandoori Pomfrets, Bombay-Duck fry and Seekh kababs. The main course included Shark gravy (Mori Masala), Shrimp Masala and three types of Biryanis - Fish, Chicken and Vegetarian. Dessert was birthday cake - Dutch trufle brought by the sis-in-law, cut by Pa-in-law, amidst a loud birthday song and clapping spectators :)

The conversation ranged from weddings, careers, travel plans to future plans. An evening that did not want to end or so it seemed, when even after having left the restaurant, people didnt really leave each other. Finally, at midnight or so, we called it a night and went home. Most definitely looking forward to many such mega family events, in the near future.

3. While there is much festive mirth and revelry everywhere, when all the 'dhols' are done beating and the 'aartis' stop chanting, it may be time to reflect within ourselves and wonder what happens to the environment, when our celebration ends? Most Ganesh idols are immersed in the sea, in most parts of Mumbai or in the lake, as in Powai. As kids, while growing up in Mumbai, we were not taken to the beach a few weeks after 'Ganpati Bappa went home' since the waters would have washed ashore an arm or a leg of an idol.

In a similar discussion with a friend the other day, we talked about how plaster-of-paris Ganpati's should be banned and eco-friendly ones should be promoted. However, obivously it is easier said than done, considering a huge industry is supported by this festival and the idols. But somehow a happy medium needs to be struck. We can no longer sacrifice our beaches and waters, exposing them to poisonous non-degradable idols. Obviously, no political party will pick up the onus of declaring this ban. So maybe it's time the common man thought about it and generated a PIL for the same.

4. Its funny how, at certain sights, that suddenly appear in front of me, I get all "awwww", inspite of being back in Mumbai for over 3 months now.

Inanimate objects that have held relevance in the past, especially in the growing years. One such "awww" moment happened the other day, when I was walking home from gym and I saw a beaten-up shuttlecock, lying on the road, next to me :) That makes me add 'playing baddy' as we called it, to my to-do list, while I am still here.

When I got home, the neighbours 'double door' had a 'phool-pudi' (green leaf wrapped around flowers, usually delivered in the evenings, for pooja, in apartment buildings in Mumbai), stuck in it's grill, as several doors did in our building, while growing up.

At Mom's place in Four bungalows, this retrospection enhances itself, when I see the bhel-puri walla bhaiyya, still standing where he did, for the last 30 years, selling exactly what he did, and still looking the same. It's like living in parallel Mumbai's simultaneously.

5. The last day of Ganpati was Thursday, this week. Office was 'supposed' to shut early, since immersion traffic takes over the city, beyond 3 pm. However, inspite of no formal intimation from work to leave early, people decided to take off as they pleased anyway.

Narayan, my latest driver and I, took off. He was going home to Ghatkopar, for his local Ganpati visarjan, so he dropped me off en route, at a rickshaw stop, since I was going to Four Bungalows, to see Ganpati's. Turns out, no rickshaw-wallahs were interested in going anywhere, so after 45 unsuccessful minutes, finally a generous gentleman stopped and decided to give a few of us a ride, upto Juhu galli. From there, a stranger and I (this girl who had hooked up with me at the bus-stop in Mumbai's popular "When in trouble unite with another woman" scenario) found a rickshaw, that took us home.

At home, after evening-chai with the folks, Mom and I, walked towards an appropriate street corner, to view the caravan of huge Ganesha's trailing their way into the beach. A few pictures later, we started following the caravan and found ourselves walking onto the beach and almost into the water. We walked from one Ganesha to another, on the sand, some where the last 'aarti's' were being said and some were just entering the ocean.

People willingly posed for my camera, (Mom thought they assumed I was part of the 'press'). Circulation was smooth, no pushing, no shoving, no groping. For the first time in my life, I was not worried about being in a crowded place, in this city, having to be wary of 'intrusions'.

My clicking-frenzy got the better of me. I got emotional and a little foggy-eyed on seeing my favourite little 'God-Buddy' leave, as I yelled out in sync with the rest of the city "Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudhchya varshi lavkar ya". I even added my own little prayer to it, in my head and said "Aani aamhala parat Mumbai-it houu dya" (Ganpati Bappa Morya, Come early next year and please let us be in Mumbai, again, at the time.)

As I stood with Mom, at the pedestrian side of the rope, which forbid us from entering into the 'visarjan' zone beyond, we stared far out, at the horizon. Post-visarjan, people were emerging from the sea, with empty 'paat's' (pedestals on which Ganpati is kept) in their hand.

Neither Mom nor I, said a word. Neither of us had ever been to the sea, for a Ganesh visarjan before; I, in my 30 years of existence and Mom in her 33 years of having lived in Mumbai. When I was growing up, she would hold my hand and take me to the Bonbon junction at 7 Bungalows, every year, to show me the passing big Ganpati's, going for immersion. That was the making of my first Mumbai moments.

That Thursday evening, while gazing at the Ganpatis' being immersed into the ocean, as I inched closer to hold Mom's hand, I realised, I had given her, her most incredible Mumbai moment.

Momentarily albeit, Life came a full circle !

Post-visarjan, we met up with Snehi and little Ira and walked through the celebrations, to go to Snehi's place. My evening was spent playing with li'll Ira ( For some silly reason we both call each other 'Cuckoo' now), taking pictures and working on jigsaw puzzles that gave shape to two Dora's.

Dinner was at Mom's place, while watching our common T.V soap together, after which I left for home. The rickshaw ride back, was smooth, winding its way through more processions and celebrations. Saying one last good-bye to Ganpati Bappa, I found myself back home, as soon as the clouds gave way to incessant rainfall, that did not stop all night long. A lot of prayers seemed to have been answered that night.

6. While walking in Ratan Nagar (the street I grew up on), I came across a "chamcha poster" that celebrated the organisers of the local Ganpati. I had expected to find some familiar faces on the poster, but the face of this one 'Uncle' made me roar with laughter, as it will to my friends who know him too :) So although this is not a joke that everyone can understand, it is extremely hilarious and hence putting down as a highlight of the week. Mom, Pops and I shared a soulful laugh, as we passed by the poster.

7. Mr. Mad Oldie from Senior Management at work here, went around putting himself to shame once again. He asked a girl in the office, "If you dont mind, can you please tie your hair?". The girl did give it back to him, in her own way, but the man does not fail to apall me with his ridiculousness.

8. AA (My team member, also named Amit) who keeps "Boss" ing me all the time, was the centre of all jokes, when even the buttons on his pant buttons, read the same as his office mantra - "Yes Boss", as seen in the first picture of the weekly album.

9. The work week ended just as it started; with another site visit, this time to the existing International Terminal, to study certain joinery details. It was nice to enter the airport and go all the way upto the Continental gate, without a ticket in hand. "From here, all I need is a Boarding Pass, to go make a quick trip to go see the Hubby and come back :)" I said to myself.

10. The common cold took over me starting Friday; and gave the boys another reason to joke about. The Swine Flu poster stuck on the notice board outside, was now relocated to my desk, as they decided to check my symptoms against those on the poster.

11. Saturday evening, after work, was spent running domestic errands in Powai, after which I called it an early night, in anticipation of the long run the next day.

12. Sunday morning, the rains and exhaustion woke me up, to the morning alarm. The target run being only a 10 miler, I decided to give it a skip and went back to bed again, only to rise at 11:30 am. This must have been my latest Sunday morning, in Mumbai, so far.

Lunch was at Mom and Pop's, where Pav Bhaji awaited me. The afternoon was spent pampering myself with massages before I came home for evening-chai with the folks. Dinner was Bhuna Chicken and Veg. Biryani ordered from 'Urban Tadka', while watching a T.V Award show with the parents. I was finally back home in Powai, at 11 pm to call it a night, on a weekend spent, doing absolutely nothing. My first such weekend here; and one that I do not intend on repeating :)

Week 14 in pictures is here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiDiariesWeek14?feat=directlink

Take care and do write back. Would love to hear from you.

Be happy and stay well, while I go to the cafetaria and grab some 'tayeer-chaadam' and pickle for lunch.

Hope you all had a great long weekend.

Love,
Shweyta

Mumbai Diaries - Week 13 - Of The Boys', new gym friends and 'pink' gulaal....

1. The boys in the cabin, are on a different trip these days. Apparently, when 'Boss' was away, there were a few inquiries from certain 'guys' in the office, regarding her return. Since then, the 'cabin-boys', as I call them now, (to differentiate between those who can take certain liberties vs those who try to take them) have new reasons to take the Boss's case all day long. A 'list' has been pinned up in the cabin, which keeps getting new and totally random additions to it, every day. It's called 'Boss Fan Club' and makes me ridiculously red in the face, everytime someone asks what it is. Feels very FYJC (First year Junior College)!

2. At the end of more than half my stint here at work, we finally get lockers/ our

own cabinets and some more office furniture. Much excitement followed, as desks were re-arranged and individual work-areas re-defined.

I now have a corner-office; albeit of a new kind, it's an L-desk in a corner of the office :(

3. Wednesday night was dinner with the Jha-Mehta's. I was meeting little Ira after ages, who wanted to eat pizza, so we went to Mangiferra in Juhu. Neither the food, or the place, were anything much to write about, but of course an evening spent with the Jha-Mehta's is always very entertaining. Ira and I had our own little kiddie conversation when both her parents, Snehi and Atit, got out of the car, to talk to random friends they had bumped into, ironically at the same time.

Ira and I being in the car all by ourselves, played a make-believe 'chor-police' game, which ended with Ira handing me over to the police :( My only relief came when she promised to bring me 'dabba' to my jail :)

Another highlight of the evening, was the three of us trying to teach Ira to 'beat back' any one who punches/ pushes/ hits her in school. Not sure how great that piece of advice is, especially as she did'nt seem too convinced about it :)

4. The view from the bedroom balcony of the new apartment, is breath-taking. Finally managed to take some pictures. Makes a night-bird like me, look forward to mornings.

5. A lot of flight purser's live in my apartment complex. The Kingfisher one's, look the funniest. I think Kingfisher needs to revamp their air-hostess's uniforms or have them wear it just before they board the flight. A woman wearing red, head to toe, looks outrageous, when not in the context of an airplane. Red pumps have never looked so ridiculous before.

6. Made a new friend at the gym on Friday night. Madhavi, is an American-Indian, married to Jim, an American. Both have been living in my apartment complex, for over a year now. Jim works with Deutsche Bank and has been moved here through his company, to work in their Sakinaka branch. Madhavi and I got along instantly, while group training with our instructor. Jim and her, feel the constant lack of sporting activities to indulge in, in Mumbai and are tired of clubbing/ eating out as the only recreational activities in the city. Seems like I may have new company to hang out with in Mumbai.

7. The very stingy Amit Anand (team member) was finally forced to "treat" everyone, since he never really offers to do so. So once again, the trademark Dominos pizza was ordered and the cubicle was converted into a mid-week party-spot.

8. A coincidental brush with another senior from my undergrad days, Marzban, at the office. Turns out his company is designing the signage system for the airport. My world continues to grow smaller.

9. Saturday was Ganpati Visarjan Day No. 7. It also happened to be the evening, Preetam, Ilya and I decided to do dinner at Aurus at Juhu. Preetam and Ilya are ex-co workers from NYC and are in town, on work. Somehow, I didnt have the presence of mind to avoid 'Juhu' that evening, so while both the guys landed there on time, I was a good hour and half late. Mumbai traffic cops routed us efficiently from Mithibai to S.V Road, to Amitabh's bungalow to Juhu Garden, more than twice, on the same route, until we finally made it to Aurus. Inspite of the delay, I must admit I kind of enjoyed the various processions, leading Ganesha towards immersion and even managed to get some pink 'gulaal' on my jeans and scarf.

On reaching, I found the poor jet-lagged guys, almost dozing off on the plush couch, at our table. A few drinks, appetizers, oysters and pasta later, we called it a night. I missed out on being there earlier to take pictures of the 'ocean view' from the restaurant, as it's outdoor space completely opens up to the sea. Sort of the modern day 'Sea View Hotel' that we used to hang out at, in our architectural undergrad days.

It took us another hour's worth of walking post-dinner, all the way back to S.V Road, among more Ganpati processions, to find rickshaws that would take us to our respective destinations. I came home to some drunk Koreans' rushing into my rickshaw, pleading to me, to talk to the driver in Hindi and help them out with some directions.

What a fun night! And more so, since it rained on and off, almost as if Ganpati Bappa blessed Mumbai, as they bid him a devotional and ultra-rocking good-bye, what with their strobe-lit caravans and mad music blasting publicly throughout the city. Another definite Mumbai Moment; one that I hope to repeat on the 11th day of the festival too, next week.

10. Sunday found me trotting all over the city, from Powai to Colaba to Mahalakshmi to Four Bungalows and back to Powai.

Sunday morning started off with an 18 miler. Obviously the runs get tougher, as they get longer, especially when they are done on a treadmill, indoors. But somehow I ve come to terms with the fact that this may be my first marathon, trained indoors completely. I may as well run the 26.2 on the treadmill too and get a medal at the end of it :)

Sunday afternoon was spent design-consulting with Tush at his gallery space, that opens to all, on Sept 25th, Friday. "The" reason for which I pushed my flight ticket out to NY, by one day, so I dont miss out on, what he insists will be 'Mumbai's most historic art-space opening party'.

The lovely afternoon was spent brainstorming, over art/ business/ venues/ party invites/ tag lines/ signage and future business initiatives. There's a lot going on; opening-related, that I am not allowed to talk about yet, so I ll keep mum, until the opening day, when I can reveal it all. For now, it's just exciting and strangely fulfilling, to see a spark of an idea, take shape this beautifully :)

Sunday evening was spent with Kalpesh (another really old friend, from undergrad days) and his parents, at his swanky 31st floor, Race Course apartment. Every time I go to their places, (Tush's and Kalpesh's), I cant help but think of 'home' back in the States, overlooking the Hudson, with it's spectacular view. What was literally supposed to be a 'touch-and-go' stop, turned out to be a 2-hour fun catching-up session with him and his parents, who were meeting me after 7 years. This was a meet-up long overdue, since we had been planning to meet, since the day I had first landed here, in June.

Sunday night was spent at Mom and Pops, where we had more catching up to do, since they had just landed into town, from visiting Grandma. Mom made 'vada-paav' and obviously I over-ate, convincing myself, I ll run it all off soon :)

Week 13 in pictures is here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shweyta/MumbaiDiariesWeek13?feat=directlink

The upcoming weeks/ months look terribly exciting from here. Not only is it back-to-back festival time in Mumbai - Raakhi, Janmashtami, Independence Day just passed, Ganpati and Ramzan are going on and will end soon, soon to be followed by Navratris, Dusshera, Diwali, Christmas and New Years. And the marathon (in NY) in November. And four weddings, not including Sis-in-law's wedding, that already await attendance confirmation, all in the end of Nov - beginning December. Amidst all of the above, are our family birthdays/ anniversaries that roll off in September and go all the way until February.

My kind of country this, that celebrates everything, big or small :) The only missing element, to complete this experience - Hubby - who's missing a lot here and being missed a lot here too!

So while I go chart out my busy weeks ahead, and book tickets, you take care and have fun. Do keep in touch, write back and call me if you're in this magical madness of a megalopolis. I promise, I' ll still have time to meet up :)

Love,

Shweyta