We are in the heavy rainy season in Mumbai. So a few leaks here and there in different buildings is to be expected. In my office, the carpet at one corner of the office became soaking wet with the rains. This ofcourse was cleaned out by the housekeeping team. The dampness remained though.
Imagine my surprise a couple of days later, when I saw three mushrooms sprouting from the carpet in the corner. Clearly that was a damp, dark corner - ideal conditions for any fungus to sprout I suppose. But this must surely be a world first - mushrooms in the office. I showed it around to my colleagues and we all had a good laugh. The housekeeping boys came in once again and sprayed some anti fungal stuff to take out the mushrooms, but it was good fun nevertheless.
Moving on, one of the issues I have faced after coming back to India is getting a good pair of trousers which fit me. I have now got used to Marks & Spencer for a few years now. I spotted a Raymonds showroom in Inorbit where they were tailoring trousers. That was a godsend - did not realise that people still stitched trousers. I ordered two of them and gave my M&S trouser as a sample 3-4 days ago. I have just come back after a trial of the trousers - incomplete with all the basting stitch, but fitted perfectly well ! I cant wait till Sunday when I get the completed trousers. And if this experiment goes well, I need to stitch a good jacket.
Else the five days of holiday at home are at an end now - I go back to work tomorrow morning.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Missed Trains, Singh is Kinng et al !
In the middle of the long Independence day weekend. Should have been writing this blog from Delhi, where we were supposed to do a short holiday. But that was not to be !
It all began when we decided to travel to Delhi by Rajdhani Express - its been years since we have travelled by train - so seemed liked a good idea - also considering that the fares are far cheaper than travelling by plane these days - what with all the fuel hikes. My colleague in Admin, kindly agreed to help with the train bookings.
I should have known that this was going to be difficult. A waitlisted Tatkal ticket was the first step. And then my colleague with some effort got me a letter from the Prime Ministers Office for a special quota allocation of 4 berths on the August Kranti Rajdhani.
The day came and my family came to pick me up at 3.30 pm on the 14th of August and we started driving to Bombay Central - there was a tremendous traffic jam and at 4.40 pm, we were at Mahim and a long way to drive to Bombay Central. We decided to jump out of the car at Mahim and took the local suburban train - another first experience for us - with our bags et al and travelled First Class (if you can call this) to Bombay Central.
The reservations board at Bombay Central was completely packed and so used the services of a good porter who helped me to find a TTE. Who then sadly confirmed that there was no confirmation of any reservation for us. My little son, who was so excited at simply looking at the trains was hugely disappointed.
We then began the long drive back hom - it took us 3 1/2 hours to get back home. We contemplated going to the airport and booking our flight tickets to Delhi. But I guess our excitement balloon had been pricked and we decided to stay put at home. My wife insisted that she does the Varalaxmi Pooja the next day. Which is what we did.
Badri and Kumkum came home and we all went to Singh is Kinng - which was quite nice actually - there is no real story here and the movie is all fun. We just managed to get 5 tickets. My kids were in the first row at Fame Malad, Kumkum in the third row, Badri in the 4th and me in the 5th. But it was worth it. We quite liked it.
Today the 16th, saw us back at InOrbit, where we had lunch at Rajdhani, a lovely rajasthani food place, which we have grown to love. And then we shopped a bit for the kids and myself at Crossword. I have been struggling to get my fit on trousers - so as a first, we went to the Raymonds Showroom and gave an order to get my trousers stitched. Not taking any chances, gave my Marks & Spencers trousers as the sample to be matched exactly. If this works, will probably do so.
tomorrow is the last day of holiday for me now - I will give up the Monday and Tuesday holiday and get to work - sad.
I should have taken the family to Hongkong, which was the original plan anyway ! Will plan this out now.
It all began when we decided to travel to Delhi by Rajdhani Express - its been years since we have travelled by train - so seemed liked a good idea - also considering that the fares are far cheaper than travelling by plane these days - what with all the fuel hikes. My colleague in Admin, kindly agreed to help with the train bookings.
I should have known that this was going to be difficult. A waitlisted Tatkal ticket was the first step. And then my colleague with some effort got me a letter from the Prime Ministers Office for a special quota allocation of 4 berths on the August Kranti Rajdhani.
The day came and my family came to pick me up at 3.30 pm on the 14th of August and we started driving to Bombay Central - there was a tremendous traffic jam and at 4.40 pm, we were at Mahim and a long way to drive to Bombay Central. We decided to jump out of the car at Mahim and took the local suburban train - another first experience for us - with our bags et al and travelled First Class (if you can call this) to Bombay Central.
The reservations board at Bombay Central was completely packed and so used the services of a good porter who helped me to find a TTE. Who then sadly confirmed that there was no confirmation of any reservation for us. My little son, who was so excited at simply looking at the trains was hugely disappointed.
We then began the long drive back hom - it took us 3 1/2 hours to get back home. We contemplated going to the airport and booking our flight tickets to Delhi. But I guess our excitement balloon had been pricked and we decided to stay put at home. My wife insisted that she does the Varalaxmi Pooja the next day. Which is what we did.
Badri and Kumkum came home and we all went to Singh is Kinng - which was quite nice actually - there is no real story here and the movie is all fun. We just managed to get 5 tickets. My kids were in the first row at Fame Malad, Kumkum in the third row, Badri in the 4th and me in the 5th. But it was worth it. We quite liked it.
Today the 16th, saw us back at InOrbit, where we had lunch at Rajdhani, a lovely rajasthani food place, which we have grown to love. And then we shopped a bit for the kids and myself at Crossword. I have been struggling to get my fit on trousers - so as a first, we went to the Raymonds Showroom and gave an order to get my trousers stitched. Not taking any chances, gave my Marks & Spencers trousers as the sample to be matched exactly. If this works, will probably do so.
tomorrow is the last day of holiday for me now - I will give up the Monday and Tuesday holiday and get to work - sad.
I should have taken the family to Hongkong, which was the original plan anyway ! Will plan this out now.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Holidays, Surgery etc
Gosh, its been more than 3 months since Feb 23, when I wrote my last blog. Lots to write and we are becoming Mumbaikars once again - cannot really believe that we have been here for more than 7 months.
Let me begin with the latest - I had a surgery for hernia last week - a long pending matter for over 5 years, that I finally got rid off. Great surgeon Dr. Bhandarkar at the Hinduja Hospital who did it under a Laparascope, minimally invasive. On monday, the sutures go off and I should be back at work. But I must admit that one humbling moment was when I was wheeled into the 3rd floor where all the operating theatres are. At 8 am in the monring, there was lots of traffic - I saw at least 6 other patients like myself, all in hospital attire, waiting to be wheeled into the respective theatres. This was my first surgery, so you can imagine - lots of feelings. I was most unsure about anesthaesia. I went into Op Theatre 1 and walked to the operation table. I lay down on it - first feeling - it was warm, it was a heated table - probably to compensate the cold atmosphere in the room. the operation theatre was large and very much looked like ones you see in one of the hospital soaps like House. There was Gold FM playing and belting out some nice songs. The guys got to work pretty quickly - they put a needle on my left wrist and started drip feeding the anesthesia. I must have been awake after that for no more than a minute. I only woke up a couple of hours later in the recovery room. The hospital room was nice - with a TV an all. I had some drips on for a few hours and it was quite boring being strapped to the bed. But by late afternoon, I was able to get up and walk around. I discharged the next day.
The rains have just begun and Mumbai has started cooling - my kids, esp Hrishi loved the first rains and played in the rains with the other kids. He is looking forward to it, but we have told him how dreary it is likely the become. On the very first day of rain, a stretch of road near the domestic airport caved in with 3 hour traffic jams. A couple of days earlier, a high tide drenched Juhu. So, dont know what the monsoons this time have in store for us. Fingers crossed !!
We took a brief holiday at the end of April - we drove to Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. Two great things - I drove myself - without the driver. Long distance driving in India for the first time for me. The expressway is great to drive and the NH4 thereafter is also great. We stayed at a lovely Birla bungalow which was fantastic - reminded me of some of the ITC bungalows that I had stayed in years ago.
On the way to Mahabaleshwar, we drove across to the Japalouppe Equestrian Centre, where my daughter was camping. It was her birthday as well - so it was good to give her a surprise. We had bought a cake the previous day, but had forgotten to carrry it the next morning. We bought some chocolates instead. The horse riding centre was quite nice - quite a few horses, large grounds. The kids certainly appeared to have fun.
Mahabaleshwar was fun - our best was the visit to Tapola whihc is about 30 kms from Mahabaleshwar - lots of lakes converging - great views, great drive as well - reminded me of Lake District in the UK. It was very beautiful. It was good to take this holiday.
The kids schools have just begun after the hols.
Overall, things are beginning to fall into a pattern. Cant complain.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Furious February
Feb has been a very furiously busy month so far. A leap year with an extra day of hard work !
At work we have just been in the middle of some key stuff with meetings every single day and coordinating across the countrywide network. Days have just flown by and I am pretty tired at the end of each day. Its fun though !
Our wedding anniversary (16th) was on Feb 7. It just passed - it was a working day though I did manage to come home in a decent time to go out for dinner with the family and buy a gift. After some years, I remembered the greeting card for my wife, but she did not buy one for me. She has preserved every single card that we exchanged over the years ! Reading them now evokes a bit of nostalgia, but also some of those sound a little silly as well !! What we do in our romantic youth !
For sometime now, we have been contemplating to start some charity in a small way - and we thought that we will use our anniversary and birthdays to do some donations. www.giveindia.com was a pleasant surprise in terms of the ease of donating - I particularly like the theme of children and gave a small amount to some children charities. In the UK, I was contributing a small monthly sum to SPCC - Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. I have also discovered through a friend that it is possible to spend a day at an orphanage, give them whatever food they want and play with them for a while. We are proposing to do this.
I was on the plane the other day with Alyque Padamsee on my neighbouring seat and he asked me if I wanted to become a member of the 2% club - where we can give away 2% of our salary each year to charity. I have not responded to him - not sure if I want the badge of the 2%. We want to do what we want to charity and we want to enjoy this process. Let us see where this process takes.
We are now making it a habit to go driving on Sundays - with me working all six days, Sunday is becoming precious. Two weekends ago, drove across to the Chinmaya mission in Powai and spent sometime. It was nice.
My brother has relocated from London to India this week - a couple of days ago, we spent time together - went to Inorbit Mall and had dinner at Rajdhani, the Rajasthani restaurant. It was our second time - great food, though heavy.
Its been a busy saturday at work as I write this. Looking forward to a quiet tomorrow, though might work from home, might of course do a short drive with the family.
Next week promises to be busy at work - but also when we will see our first opera in Mumbai - at the Tata Theatre - Madame Butterfly. But more about that after we have seen it.....
At work we have just been in the middle of some key stuff with meetings every single day and coordinating across the countrywide network. Days have just flown by and I am pretty tired at the end of each day. Its fun though !
Our wedding anniversary (16th) was on Feb 7. It just passed - it was a working day though I did manage to come home in a decent time to go out for dinner with the family and buy a gift. After some years, I remembered the greeting card for my wife, but she did not buy one for me. She has preserved every single card that we exchanged over the years ! Reading them now evokes a bit of nostalgia, but also some of those sound a little silly as well !! What we do in our romantic youth !
For sometime now, we have been contemplating to start some charity in a small way - and we thought that we will use our anniversary and birthdays to do some donations. www.giveindia.com was a pleasant surprise in terms of the ease of donating - I particularly like the theme of children and gave a small amount to some children charities. In the UK, I was contributing a small monthly sum to SPCC - Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. I have also discovered through a friend that it is possible to spend a day at an orphanage, give them whatever food they want and play with them for a while. We are proposing to do this.
I was on the plane the other day with Alyque Padamsee on my neighbouring seat and he asked me if I wanted to become a member of the 2% club - where we can give away 2% of our salary each year to charity. I have not responded to him - not sure if I want the badge of the 2%. We want to do what we want to charity and we want to enjoy this process. Let us see where this process takes.
We are now making it a habit to go driving on Sundays - with me working all six days, Sunday is becoming precious. Two weekends ago, drove across to the Chinmaya mission in Powai and spent sometime. It was nice.
My brother has relocated from London to India this week - a couple of days ago, we spent time together - went to Inorbit Mall and had dinner at Rajdhani, the Rajasthani restaurant. It was our second time - great food, though heavy.
Its been a busy saturday at work as I write this. Looking forward to a quiet tomorrow, though might work from home, might of course do a short drive with the family.
Next week promises to be busy at work - but also when we will see our first opera in Mumbai - at the Tata Theatre - Madame Butterfly. But more about that after we have seen it.....
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Kalaghoda Fair 2008
Currently, the Kalaghoda fair is on in Mumbai. Last Sunday, we decided to drive out from Malad to Kalaghoda. This is a really long drive and I was driving such a distance for the first time. i really cannot drive on the other days with the traffic, especially in a Toyota Innova. We got there in an hour - not a bad first time driving.
It was a perfect day - we reached there around 2.30 pm - parked the car at Fort, opposite the HSBC bank and walked to Kalaghoda - brought back old memories - the Bombay House on our left, the pavement sellers of books, imported digital equipment, the Khyber restaurant, Rhythm house...
The carpark at Kalaghoda was gaily decorated - lots of children there in a Surf Excel sponsored painting and claymaking - my children are older and hence were not too interested. But interesting displays including some papier mache Kalaghoda, a wired horse, some environmentally friendly cars all set the tone. We merrily clicked away.
We went into the main street, which had been shut for traffic and had become a walking street. Stalls on either side were selling handicrafts, books, and a number of stalls put up by the NGOs. I must admit that the pricing was atrocious. We bought a mat for our devghar (the altar at home). There were lots of foreigners there - this is like a typical street festival that you see in other parts of the world.
We had some icecream at Gelatos, ate some chaat - while we wandered around. There was a stage and at 5.30 pm there was a spirited Tibetian performance. Several performances till 10 pm was in the schedule, though sadly, we did not choose to stay beyond 6.30 pm.
We went into Rhythm House as we were leaving and picked up a few CDs. It was a wonderful experience.
The drive back was somewhat eventful - we did not realise that there was some rioting going on in Shivaji park and the traffic was diverted - there were a few tense moments, but we got back home alright.
Overall a great day out for the family !!!
It was a perfect day - we reached there around 2.30 pm - parked the car at Fort, opposite the HSBC bank and walked to Kalaghoda - brought back old memories - the Bombay House on our left, the pavement sellers of books, imported digital equipment, the Khyber restaurant, Rhythm house...
The carpark at Kalaghoda was gaily decorated - lots of children there in a Surf Excel sponsored painting and claymaking - my children are older and hence were not too interested. But interesting displays including some papier mache Kalaghoda, a wired horse, some environmentally friendly cars all set the tone. We merrily clicked away.
We went into the main street, which had been shut for traffic and had become a walking street. Stalls on either side were selling handicrafts, books, and a number of stalls put up by the NGOs. I must admit that the pricing was atrocious. We bought a mat for our devghar (the altar at home). There were lots of foreigners there - this is like a typical street festival that you see in other parts of the world.
We had some icecream at Gelatos, ate some chaat - while we wandered around. There was a stage and at 5.30 pm there was a spirited Tibetian performance. Several performances till 10 pm was in the schedule, though sadly, we did not choose to stay beyond 6.30 pm.
We went into Rhythm House as we were leaving and picked up a few CDs. It was a wonderful experience.
The drive back was somewhat eventful - we did not realise that there was some rioting going on in Shivaji park and the traffic was diverted - there were a few tense moments, but we got back home alright.
Overall a great day out for the family !!!
Cold Mumbai
Cold and Mumbai !! An oxymoron one would have thought.
But we appear to have brought our London weather to Mumbai. Mumbai has hit one of the coldest patches. Two days ago, on Feb 7, the temperature was 8.6 deg C. That is almost unbelievable. I had to wear my jumper to work with the cold weather.
Frankly, for us it is better this way than coming into some hot and sultry weather. three years ago, when we moved to London from Singapore, we had moved in december and had to weather the cold. But it was fun in a different sort of way - the shopping for coldwear in Singapore and London, the first experience with the snow, the kids making the snowman.
The big difference between London and Mumbai is in the commuting - it would have been a cold walk to the railway station in Beckenham in the UK. In Mumbai, the chauffer driven car is an affordable luxury.
In Mumbai, the cold weather continues !!
But we appear to have brought our London weather to Mumbai. Mumbai has hit one of the coldest patches. Two days ago, on Feb 7, the temperature was 8.6 deg C. That is almost unbelievable. I had to wear my jumper to work with the cold weather.
Frankly, for us it is better this way than coming into some hot and sultry weather. three years ago, when we moved to London from Singapore, we had moved in december and had to weather the cold. But it was fun in a different sort of way - the shopping for coldwear in Singapore and London, the first experience with the snow, the kids making the snowman.
The big difference between London and Mumbai is in the commuting - it would have been a cold walk to the railway station in Beckenham in the UK. In Mumbai, the chauffer driven car is an affordable luxury.
In Mumbai, the cold weather continues !!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
From Versailles to Versova
We are now in India - I have begun my new job at Aditya Birla Retail. The kids are in school. We have moved into our home - this is the same apartment that we purchased just before leaving India a few years ago.
Just before we left London, we had taken a fantastic holiday in France. We stayed at the Marriott Holiday Village near Disney village outside Paris. Hiring a car, we drove around. One of the best things that we did was the visit to the Palace of Versailles. There, we hired bicycles and cycled around the magnificent grounds . I was remarking to my wife - it is going to be Versailles to Versova (for those who know Mumbai, Versova is a suburb of Mumbai - quite near where we currently stay).
As we settle down, certain things have become obvious - we all work too hard, the traffic is crazy, DIY does not work, but getting help is neither easy. Its all a bit of a struggle, but we get along. Mumbai ofcourse is a very vibrant city.
We live in Mindspace - very close to two of the best shopping destinations of Mumbai - the InOrbit Mall and Hypercity. Frankly, between these two places, we get everything that we want. Unbelievable that we dont need to go anywhere else !
In some ways, I have realised that we dont really miss London - maybe the pace has been so hectic that we dont have time to think about what we miss ! The weather in Mumbai has been great - yesterday was near 11 deg Celcius - that was delicious to us.
Just before we left London, we had taken a fantastic holiday in France. We stayed at the Marriott Holiday Village near Disney village outside Paris. Hiring a car, we drove around. One of the best things that we did was the visit to the Palace of Versailles. There, we hired bicycles and cycled around the magnificent grounds . I was remarking to my wife - it is going to be Versailles to Versova (for those who know Mumbai, Versova is a suburb of Mumbai - quite near where we currently stay).
As we settle down, certain things have become obvious - we all work too hard, the traffic is crazy, DIY does not work, but getting help is neither easy. Its all a bit of a struggle, but we get along. Mumbai ofcourse is a very vibrant city.
We live in Mindspace - very close to two of the best shopping destinations of Mumbai - the InOrbit Mall and Hypercity. Frankly, between these two places, we get everything that we want. Unbelievable that we dont need to go anywhere else !
In some ways, I have realised that we dont really miss London - maybe the pace has been so hectic that we dont have time to think about what we miss ! The weather in Mumbai has been great - yesterday was near 11 deg Celcius - that was delicious to us.
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