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:
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
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