1. Week 19 started off somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, confused in a jumble of varying time zones.
An Uncle from the building, has been equating my Mumbai-Newark flight and it's frequency to that of a Mumbai-Pune journey. "Shweyta tho Mumbai-Newark aise jaati hai, jaise hum log Mumbai-Poona jaatey hain."
Thanks Uncle. Though that might seem like a privilege, it entails some amount of strategy; anti-jet lag will-power and contextual re-settling. My globe-trotting friends can vouch for this, I am sure.
2. Mom and Pops stood smiling and waving, under the spacious sprawl of white tents that one arrives under, at Mumbai International Airport. Narayan, the driver came in a little late, just after the Mumbai showers welcomed me home. Honestly and sadly, this was probably one of my first "deliberately getting wet in the rain" episodes in this city. That too in the fading monsoon. Feel like that was something on my list, that I did not check off, in the prime of the rains.
3. Woke up at 4 am on Tuesday morning, more due to the loud thunder and crazy flash of lightning outside, than the jet lag. Seems like Mumbai has been receiving a lot of rainfall over the last couple of days, but the lakes are still not overflowing. There is hope, however, that another day of rain may change that.
4. Tuesday was a warm welcome in the office. Not just for the chocolates I brought back with me from the US, but also because some people genuinely missed me, which was a nicer feeling, unlike last time :)
Took some clarification, to erase the confusion that some people had who thought, I had finished the marathon on this trip.
5. In the gym, the instructor did my monthly 'body measurements' to find a relatively lesser reduction in inches, over this last month than the previous ones. He goes, almost disapprovingly "Bahut khaaya na?" (Translation: You ate a lot, didnt you?)
I replied with a sheepish "Haan aur piya bhi" ;)
6. Wednesday's non-gym night was spent eating Pav Bhaji, Uttapams and Dosas at Shiv Sagar at Juhu Beach with the Jha-Mehtas. L'ill Ira and I played a 'chocolate' game at the end of which she had 6 chocolates and I had 6 photographs of her various moods :) Conversation wandered around Snehi's upcoming birthday and vacation plan, until Ira bit Snehi. Yes, you read that right, b-i-t! :) The little monster never ceases to amaze me with her treasure trove of tricks.
Of course all hell broke loose then.
- Ira bit Snehi.
- Snehi yelled at Ira.
- Ira sulked and cried.
- Then she sulked some more.
None of us talked to her until she came around a little bit and then things were back to normal again :)
The evening ended with 'magai paans' as usual.
7. As annoying as it used to be earlier, I think I am now coming around this another exclusively 'desi' habit; of making sure, that people whom you have just met, have reached home safely.
Snehi never ever forgets to text me each time, we disperse to go home, after having hung out, to check if I am home safe. Wedneday night she did the same, and I responded, but she did not get my text message. This resulted in her frantic text/ call/ email to me next morning. Luckily I called her back this time instead of relying on a text message again, so she knew I was ok, or she was planning to call my 'Mom' as she put it.
:)
Makes me think of the last time someone in NY asked me to call/ text them back after I got home, late at night ? :) Is it just something we do in India ? Or is Mumbai the more unsafe city of the two?
Eitherways, it's kind of nice, in a caring, family sort of way.
8. The time for closure nears. I always knew my contract here, ends Oct 31st, but there had been talk of working until mid-November, to make up for some lost time. However, turns out that my contract will now end as originally drawn up. That means my last day at work here is Oct 27th, since I fly out that night to NY for the Hubby's Bday and our marathon soon after.
Having said that, I have less than three weeks left at work and a lot to do. And of course another bunch of tickets to book, which will make sure that I have flown to and fro between both countries, every month this year, from June - December.
9. The team sulks when they hear I leave on Oct 27th for good. Farewell and post-Boss talks are in the air. I feel somewhat strange too. Not really sure what it feels like, but surely there's going to be a void in the near future.
10. Pizza for lunch, in honour of Saturday :) The rest of the cabin decided to chip in and get pizza and garlic bread for the gang.
Saturday night was to be carbo-loading night again. The Jha-Mehta's and I, met at Powai for pasta and pizza. Turns out Papa Johns' (Yes, that and Pizza Hut are considered family destinations in India) was not serving pasta that night, because of "gas not working" problems. So pizza it was, yet again for dinner. Post-Dinner we went to the local grocery store to do some Diwali shopping after which the plan was to visit my place.
Back home, in my building, not just Ira, but both Snehi and Atit too seemed to be having a great time, in the building garden. Later we came home, making false promises to Ira, that we ll be back in the play area soon. Ira was excited to see "Shetta Maasi's" place as was Shetta Maasi, at having her dear friends over, finally. A photo-session at home followed, with Ira running all over the house and making us run behind her as well.
I gifted her the jacket I bought for her in NY, which sadly, didnt seem to catch her fancy much. Li'll Ira loved the place so much, she wanted to stay back. She even bid her parents good-bye, in the hope that she and I would stay at my place, playing all night. We had to weave some more stories, to make the l'ill one believe that she should go home with her parents and I would join them soon after.
The night ended well past midnight. While we thought Ira would have forgotten about our lie, it turns out she woke up the next morning and inquired where I was :)
As you can already tell from my albums, she is also my favourite subject for photography presently.
This is one baby I will miss a lot when I wind up here :( I hope she misses me as much.
11. Sunday morning started with an 18 miler, that surprisingly was better than I had expected. Post-run, a snack at the club and I was back home, channel surfing, watching the Big B, being interviewed all over, on his birthday.
The plan for the day was to head out for multiple massages, that I so miss in NY. En-route, election mania sweeped the streets, with most of the rallies being from the MNS (Maharasthra NavNirman Sena).
People on the streets often mistake me to be from the 'Press', armed with my D-80, which automatically works in my favour to shield me from any 'unfavourable' activities, even in crowds.
I instructed my rickshaw-wallah, to drive me through 'Jalsa' and 'Pratiksha' (Most Mumbaikar's know what I am talking about :) but for the uninformed, these are the names of Amitabh Bachchan's Mumbai homes).
While both homes were decorated with 'genda phools' from the outside, it seemed like AB was in 'Jalsa' that day, as all the press vans stood around there. Surprisingly, people stood in the sun, patiently, in neatly arranged queues outside 'Jalsa', that made me think they were being allowed inside. The mind battled between wanting to queue up in the hope of meeting AB to personally wish him, or moving on to the rest of my Sunday. If I had some company, I might have done the former, but the relaxation ahead, beckoned me.
The afternoon was spent self-pampering and de-stressing. Evening chai was with the folks, over a lot of planning-talk for the upcoming exciting weeks. I also spent some time discussing the MLA candidates from our area, with the folks, to be able to make an informed decision on Tuesday, next week.
Dinner was at Urban Tadka, where Dad threw me my fifth birthday party, this year :)
The menu varied from Amritsari to Shaami Kababs, Makke di Roti - Sarson da saag to Jalandhari Murgh, until we were super-stuffed. 'Meetha Paan' was the natural culmination to the meal.
Week No. 19 in pictures is here:
Big transitions coming up ahead. The end of a routine nears. And once again, it's time for a change.
Yet, there are so many more people on the list, that I still havent met up with, so many restaurants I have yet to try out, so many stores I have yet to shop at, so many elections I still want to vote in, so many weddings I have yet to decide about, so many festivals I have still to celebrate, so many birthday's I have yet to be part of, so much I still have to do, here. And such little time.
So while I go plan my next week, which thankfully is a short 4-day work week, due to the elections and Diwali; you go have fun and take care.
Love,
Shweyta
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