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 :
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
No comments:
Post a Comment