Life is easy kya karein

It was my youngest niece's birthday. The celebratory lunch was at a restaurant in Powai. I have always had a problem going to this far flung suburb of Mumbai. I have traveled there when I was working and the first of the offices were moving to Powai. We, in hotel sales, full of our uppity attitude, were scandalised to the core of our crepe sarees and block heels. Powai was where IIT and Powai lake was. This was our knowledge of Powai. Hiranandani building flats there never mattered to someone living in a hostel. I never ever dreamt of buying my own house. A house, a foreign holiday or an SUV or a high end watch were never in my purview of things.  I do not think the word SUV was prevalent in those days. I only knew Jeep and Gypsy. Jeep was a police vehicle for me. Gypsy was made by Maruti, the coolest automobile car manufacturer, during my teens. A Gypsy ride was 'the' thing to happen in life. The foreign cars which people owned were bought from some crooked agents or sec

We are seeing the new generation being so tech savvy. They know everything to do with gadgets and are so good at adapting to newer versions of gadgets and apps. I have that kind of adaptability to kitchens. I can cook comfortably in any kitchen. It has to do with me visiting relatives as a child with my Dadi, Grandmother. When we visited people, it was natural to help them in the kitchen or in chopping vegetables or folding clothes or cleaning wheat and rice. Yes, we had unpolished grains which were not branded as 'organic' and we had to remove little mud and small stones from the grains. First the lady of the house used a tray called ' Soop' pronounced as 'soup', to clean the grains. Around half kilograms was taken in the 'soop' and the grain was thrown up in the air and collected back in the soop. This helped in removing the dirt from the grains. The dirt fell back from the air in the front portion of the 'soop' and the grains came back. Wome

In Jharia, all our rooms had ventilators. The way the houses had doors and windows, similarly it had small square openings high up in the walls, closer to the ceiling. The ventilators provided air in the room even if the doors and windows were closed. The ventilators were like a little box window with a pattern which was a part of the wall. The pattern were not checks or stripes but usually floral or paisley. Every house had a different pattern depending on the mason who made it. The ventilators on the outer walls of the house, had birds making nests there. During winters sometimes people covered the pattern by stuffing old newspapers in it, to prevent the cold draft from coming in the room. Our Jharia house had ventilators in the inside facing walls of the house too. Usually the ventilator was made above the window or the door but in some cases, it was on the opposite walls to allow cross circulation of air. The ceilings were much higher in the old bungalows and houses. Some of our

The Uber cab driver knew the road to my house. Whoah! These are the little joys of my life. Fed up of the Uber/Ola fleet drivers who do not know proper driving and have absolutely no sense of Mumbai roads. The other day, my cab had reached Khar, the driver got a call from his next customer. He told the customer that he is in Kharghar. The two places are 35 kilometres apart. It was hilarious watching him talk on the phone. The lost soul had no clue how Bombay hits a newcomer. Not to worry, Dear Cabbie, it is the most welcoming place on this planet. One becomes a Mumbaikar very easily. The city is like a fat Grand Ma with a big bosom, who includes all the kids in her bear hug.  Coming to my current driver Anil, he has been driving a cab since 1998. Anil was wearing a Rakhi with golden tassels like rays of a sun. When I was young, we only got those Rakhis shaped like a sun with bright gold, silver rays around the red or pink cotton like centre piece. In Mumbai, I keep looking for th

I don't know if I have mentioned this here before that I have an aversion towards long weekends. I do not mean the usual excuses which I have heard from others, about husband being at home or children being demanding or loads of cooking or maids taking leave. I do not like going to hotels and staying for long weekends in Mahableshwar, Matheran, Lonavla, Alibaug type of places. I do not have a bungalow in any of these places and may be that is why I am not inspired to go. I can't imagine the traffic, the hotel rooms having the rainy musty smell and the Bambaiyya tasting sweet food. Basically, I don't want to see the exodus of Mumbai people, when I go on a holiday. I also strongly believe Maharashtra hardly has any good hotels to stay or may be I do not have the exploring streak in me.  This long weekend I chose to go walking to Siddhi Vinayak temple on all three days. Siddhi Vinayak temple is a very auspicious place. Most tourists coming to Mumbai will want to go there f

Time had no meaning to me when I was a child. There was a time to eat and sleep. Food was always given before we actually asked for it. I don't know how my Mom and Aunt managed cooking meals so fast for six children and four meals a day plus some knick knacks. There were all the projects to be made, needlework, knitting, home work, house work, people coming home and social visits. We always had a string of visitors at home. Actually 'visitors' is such an 'English' term. We had people coming home and each person was connected to us in some way.  Apart from friends and relatives, there were Saints, Swamiji, Gurus, Pandits, Vaidhs coming home. Fresh meals were prepared for them as they had no place to cook or they were travellers. They ate huge quantities of food. Mom and Aunt would have to start the meal from scratch like right from lighting the chulha/ fire. My grandmother Gauri Bai used to talk to them and make them comfortable as the meal was being prepared.

I have been thinking that this year the monsoons have lost their magic.  Since the first rains touched us, nothing was exciting enough. The clouds, the heavy downpour, the freshness of the newly washed leaves, the glass of the new high rises getting foggy and the lights twinkling inside beautiful homes, all have left me unmoved. What has changed in the last one year? The only season which I have been gung ho about all my life, has left me feeling limp. All is going reasonably well in all areas of my life. By the grace of God, I cant even say there is a problem and so I am feeling bad or sad. I do want to put a reason to my listlessness. I am happy when I can justify my moods and feelings. It kind of makes my rudeness, bad behaviour or irritation as a fair response to the things around me. This rainy season, try as I might, I am drawing a blank. Blank should be a good place to be but not for me. I like to be solving the problems of the world in my head, all the time. In Mumbai, th

What happens when you do not belong to the world of Fashion and are invited to a fashion soiree? You are looking forward to see the high frat strutting their stuff and loads of air kissing. Well, this one was something with a difference. The designer called every individual on her guest list, personally. No event management company handling the invites from a list of potential customers. This was the place with a difference. Just like the designer’s clothes, this invite to have a cuppa and have a dekho at her new line of summer wear. I never had any thoughts about which dress to wear to the event because from the call I knew, this is like going to a friend’s house and spending time in her drawing room just catching up, as the day passed by with its different hues. I wanted to be at the store early to be able to go through the clothes and leave soon before the clients start walking in and trying clothes. I did not want to hang around after I had bought something. The idea of t

Looking for inspiration every morning to get out of bed? Do you wake up early morning saying "let me go for a run"? I do not do any of these things knowing I should. I know that I have so much to be grateful for and we all do. But I am never content. Always looking at what I don't have and how I can acquire. It could be a skill, a habit, a trait, an art, a thing or more. If nothing , then I am looking at which new holiday destination I can go to. Don't know if this makes me restless or gives me a purpose in life. When one thing is accomplished, I seem to move on without even acknowledging myself for a job well done. What I have realised is all this is okay for myself but my fear is that I am expecting this from others too, in an unconscious manner. I don't want to have too many expectations from people but even there I am upping it. Am I getting more disappointed? Not at all. Though I am a little concerned if people are feeling the pressure with me. Gosh, I am s

A friend from the Yog class introduced me to a dry cleaner without a name. I give only my expensive garments or sarees in the laundry for dry cleaning. The idea is that the colour should not run or fade as it happens in home wash and colours of lace or embroidery should not bleed. I find dry cleaning clothes an expensive proposition and I land up spending so much more for an already expensive garment, just to maintain it. I may not even want to repeat that garment after seven wears. Here the term expensive is relative. I have given sarees for dry cleaning for Rs. 150 to 599 per saree. This dry cleaners is a hole in the wall kind of a place. It has no sign board. The shop is unlike a shop and more like a wall of a godown. The friend is a  thorough Gujarati and I made her swear a couple of times that the Dry cleaner is reliable. We do not use the word laundry or laundromat often. It is almost always called the Dry Cleaner without the mandatory 's' at the end.  In our Colleg

I have been taking a lot of Uber taxis these days. I was on the phone with a friend of mine talking to her about Chaitra Navratra, cough, meals to be eaten and prayers to be said during this auspicious period. With the onset of the New Year of the Hindus, a whole lot of festivities set in. Our conversation flitted between lot of these topics. After my call was completed, the driver told me to have an Ayurvedic medicine  Jivdaya Cough Tone for cough. He went on to explain how his son was diagnosed with Asthma at the age of two and the Doctor asked him to take the pump. His friend recommended the Jivdaya Cough Tone along with taking steam of water with cabbage leaves and little Vicks cream. The child is cured of Asthma and is now 12 years old. He said Allopathic medicines can harm the liver and should be taken as the last resort when the home made remedies don't work. His wife has Gall Bladder stones and she is taking homeopathic treatment. He was so good with numbers and the names

Make in India is an initiative of the Government of India to encourage foreign companies to manufacture their goods in India. It could be automobiles, chemicals, electronics, construction equipment, Defence, food products or just about anything. The idea is to increase the economic growth and to generate employment. This initiative was launched in Mumbai.I went for the exhibition and was awestruck. Really huge and rust coloured like all our Rajasthan forts. The high walls, 27 huge halls with all industries representation, clean pavements to walk, lot of plants and dustbins. The staff was efficient from the security guards to the young adults helping you fill the entry forms, to the boys issuing your entry Pass after checking your ID proof to the baggage screening. Every process and interaction with people was flawless and polite. Each one was equipped to guide you and answer all your queries. I did not know that India had the second largest network of roads and highways in the world.

I am unable to write when I do not have a burning issue in my life. I was wondering, does it have be angst, to do any work? I mean, I know of the movies, where some lovelorn man is ditched by his girl and starts writing or singing, extremely well. I am not  in that great talent artistic category and I do not want to be sad to do good writing. In fact, every time I am struggling to write and the mind draws a blank, I keep telling myself it is okay. I am happy and that is what matters. Then someone said happiness is within and is not related to people or places. I have come to the conclusion that all it needs is practice.Happiness needs practice too. Practice of staring at the blank screen till the hands start working on the keyboard and words start appearing on the screen and thoughts flow. Does a waterfall or a stream feel like this when it has to start flowing? When I started working, I heard a term : "Go with the flow". It was very "in"  to say this in those day

If you are in Ooty, any hotel is a good hotel to stay. Last summer when we were in Bandipur, we went for a drive to Masinagudi. Bandipur is a Wildlife sanctuary, a part of Nagarhole forest, in Karnataka. Masinagudi is a hill station in Tamil Nadu and it is below Ooty. Masinagudi is a fascinating place like its name. Ooty is just seventeen kilometres from there but at a much higher altitude. People in Bandipur said Ooty is a concrete jungle and did not recommend that we go up. We too were happy with our forest safari and drive to Masinagudi. Every popular place in the world gets concretised to provide modern facilities to the travellers in the name of development. So if you have been to Ooty ten years ago, am sure you will find it more congested. I noticed that every hotel managed to have a good view of the mountains. Dodabetta is a viewing point. I thought, like all tourist viewing points, this will be one more place with a view. The driver was discouraging us from going there say

A two and half hour drive from Coimbatore gets you to the beautiful little town in the tea gardens called Coonoor. Why do we say Tea Gardens but Coffee estates?  When I came to Mumbai to college, most hostelites were from different school hostels in Ooty, Mussorie, Shimla, Kodaikanal etc. These places were hill stations for me and I only knew Darjeeling and Dehradoon had good schools where people sent their sons to study at St. Paul's and Doon school. I never knew what alumni meets were and why certain schools alumni nexus was considered powerful. Small learnings which when I am writing, I realise where I learnt it from. In my little cocoon of Jharia, I read my syllabus, Femina magazine, Hindi novels, Readers Digest subscription, Gujarati weekly Chitralekha and newspapers like The Telegraph and our local one Awaaz.  This did not cover places like Wellington, Lovedale, Sanawar. For me all these English sounding names were ' phoren' places. I had never realised that Coonoor