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 ;)
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.
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/
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
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