Life is easy kya karein

I am resisting to switch on the television to know the election results in Mumbai. The reason being I can completely feel the victory and the loss of parties in Dadar. This area is the most politically active part of Maharashtra. Its like the Marathi heartland. The Shiv Sena and MNS are both headquartered here. I can hear the drum beats and see the flags swirling. When I went to drop the children, all by lanes were blocked to celebrate victory. Cops in full attendance. People from my building and some of them are senior office bearers in the party were all out there at the chowk. The festivities are on in full swing. The party loosing seats had a silence at their offices, no music. People standing as if for a funeral. The guys winning around are all new goons into politics. The music and the Band Baja and the crackers have increased. Which means more good news for this party. I managed to cast my vote at around 5.25pm. I have all my friends from different parts of the country to than...

A friend asked me when did I come to know of a certain St. Valentine ? I remembered when I came to Mumbai in eleventh standard. He came to know in his twelfth year of school when he got anonymous valentine cards. He was traveling in interiors of Gujarat on work and mentioned that even boys and girls in villages were celebrating it. I wasn't surprised as amongst a lot of Indian communities , the Gujaratis are very broadminded. The whole concept of group dance called Garba and Dandiya Raas where men and women dance together in sync and to the dhol beats and garba songs is a vision one must experience. garba is a dance of celebration and is done not only during the Navratri but also during weddings, Bhagwad Geeta parayan , mehndi, anniversaries or any other festival. This state though bordering Pakistan, has had the celebration of men and women dancing together from the night to dawn for nine consecutive nights. So interaction between men and women is not a taboo. People still live ...

I must try to write about current topics. There is no point in keeping on talking about events in my life and my views on things. So I have decided to write about Valentine s day. Sorry, but that is as close as I could get to a current topic. Well it has gone completely viral on bbms, whats app and sms. All of us are bombarded with it for the last few weeks. Guess what, Husband and me had forgotten it is on tuesday. So that last minute gift had not happened from both sides. It was forgiven as both of us got the day wrong. He went a step further and got a card and flowers for our daughters. I was all mushy. In 2004 , we had a wedding in our house on Valentine. The wedding venue was our flat. I remember a friend coming to help us with genda phool decorations, the food from our favourite restaurant Khanekhaas. It was a big wedding day by the Hindu calendar. Me and my sister rushed to get a Pandit as all priests were booked that day. Hubby and me did the kanyadaan for my college friend. T...

The nightwatchman is ready to go and has changed from his uniform. He is waiting for the replacement to come. Three car cleaners are washing the cars. One watchman is reading shlokas from his prayer book. The remains of a bonfire lit near the pavement are there but the ash has cooled down. The men with a tooth brush in their mouth are walking to buy milk at the Milk Depot. Some have carried half naked children with them. The child is without bottom but with a woolen cap. Some old men are wearing the cap that covers their ears only. The Milk depot owner 's silver Mercedes is shining with the rising sun. His two sons are not seen these days. Maybe they have exams. The garbage dump is overflowing. The truck comes to collect garbage only by eight o clock. There must be a party in the area with loud music till midnight. The plates are strewn and one can actually make out the dinner menu from the leftovers which even the stary dogs are wary of eating. The Udupi across is doing brisk ...

The main questions of life which bother me every day What to cook? What to eat? What to wear? Should I work out today? What extra work to give the maids ? What to pay the maids? What gift to buy for the child s birthday party? What gift to buy for Valentine? What to wear for the family wedding? What time to wake up on the weekends? What to write in my blog? Whom to call and invite first? Whom to meet for lunch? Where to buy the swim googles from? What else to shop in that area so that the trip is worthwhile? Where to plan the vacation? When to wash the terrace? When to go to the bank? When to submit my documents for the UID card? When to get the house cleaned? How t train the new maid? How to teach my child to study with me? When to read them stories if they don't want to listen? Which day to take them for Kala Ghoda arts fest? Which day to make the social calls? When to have that powerful meanigful conversation with my husband? When to tell Mom what i ...

I met him at Sea Lounge. He came in a bit late. He had driven straight from Pune. No expressway in those days, so it was a long arduous drive. There was a plaster on one hand which means he drove his fiat car with just one hand. I was already impressed. He looked well traveled. He had not bothered to comb or clean up. His hair was wind ruffled and his eyes were enigmatic. He spoke good English. He knew where my hostel was. He did not ask my hostel timings or if I could sneak out at nights or some dumb questions. He just spoke normal. Was tired but wanted to make it for this meeting. He was older to me and looked it. Most guys I had seen before that looked wet behind their ears and I just could not connect with them. This one had seen the world and knew his way around. In my mind he was dashing. I liked his no nonsense and no pretense spirit. I was quite thrilled with him. He was from South Mumbai and we could talk common things. He asked me if I had a boyfriend and I remember saying ...

When we were going through the arranged marriage bit, we as in me and my folks, we used to see a lot of guys. Sometimes two or three in a day and every single day. Once we had to go to some address in Bandra. It was monsoons and we knew all main roads but the bylanes of Bandra were unexplored. We hardly ever reached a meeting on time. And those were days of no mobiles and we d just have an address to go by. So after a lot of hunting, we find the house and building. It was a beautifully done up apartment with soft yellow lights, plants in the windows and the pitter patter of the rains. the mother was there..beautiful and peaceful unlike all those aggressive boys mothers. She said her husband was in Bangalore due to business. The boy talked well. His younger brother was quite a cool teenager. He did not talk to me alone as in another room. That is a big hint for the girls parents. It means the boy did not like the girl or to put it politely, the boy is not interested in your girl. We c...

We had four houses in our school Jyothi, Preethi, Shanti and Neethi. This started in senior school which was when you moved to third standard. Jyothi was light with a yellow lamp, Shanti was peace with a forest green bird, Neethi was purple with a weighing scale and stood for justice. Preethi was love with the symbol of a red rose. By tenth standard we really understood the value of these priciples. One actually moved to a new building away from the junior school separated by two ponds and a boys school.Now the playgrounds were bigger more teachers and many more students. Senior school was huge and scary. We went out in groups. There was a toilets near the forest and a pond where vultures used to be seen. Never much cared for that greenery which I crave for now. The assembly was a polished affair with Bach and Beethoven playing when we walked to the grounds. The songbooks were a must and we sang too. I could never understand what was being said in terms of current affairs. I did no...

I met him in Delhi. I was there on work and so was he. He was happy to see me. He came to the airport, I think with flowers. The memory is a bit hazy. We were at our respective hotels. We had dinner with his business people. He was very warm and introduced me to all. We went shopping the next day after work. I remember going to this typical Delhi shop which was a must with all foreign tourists and buying a cotton nightie. He shopped for his Mom, Aunt and sister. Then it was time for my flight. He took out a huge bunch of notes and gave me. I refused as I could not understand for what this money was being given for. I left for my flight and we lost touch. We met on a flight. He was a friend and the other was a colleague and friend. I sat between them. Both were actually good friends but one was a show off. The conversation was a bit stilted as each one wanted to talk about what the other did not know. When the car came at the airport, all three of us jumped in the back seat. Not...

They say one fourths of the food which comes to any house is wasted. I am actually monitoring it closely. Now I try to give away fruits before they are spoilt and have to be binned. The cooked food goes to the maid who comes after every meal to clean up. I have different ones coming. So leftover breakfast idli is eaten by the dusting maid. The lunch extras goes to the vessel maid in the afternoon and the children s tiffin extras go to the evening maid and dinner leftovers go to the maid who comes to do night vessels. Sure sounds like a luxury having so many people walk in to the house. Its amazing how even little food is taken by them and eaten. I have told them that if one of you is not going to eat it. Leave it in the fridge so that the next one can take it. Since I cook the meals, the leftovers are not very high. Size of a small or a big bowl of dal, rice and veggie. Like one more person can eat a meal if sitting with us. I have this thing about cooking fresh food every meal. My f...