Postcards From J

Ages ago, I had planned on a Mumbai Tadka series where I would post snatches of conversations heard (overheard really) in and around this city that I love and hate in equal measure. Of course, with laziness and age (getting old = poor memory :P) setting in, I just let that idea go. Until this morning... I was on my regular train commute to Goregaon in the peaceful first class ladies compartment. Annoyed by Vodafone's failed GPRS connectivity, I fished out the book I've been reading (Advaita Kala's Almost Single) when all of a sudden, I had to look up at this lady yelling into her phone. I don't know what she was angry about but she kept telling her caller in jhakaas Marathi that he/she can go take a hike. And that she didn't want to be part of some celebration. She went on to say that if it were her, she'd distribute chilli powder instead of cake. Ok, whatever! But boy, was she mad! All the other ladies couldn't help stealing glances at her but she ...

The Bombay summer is getting to me with every passing day. When will it rain? And this crazy weather makes you eat and drink all things chilled. So the other day, I tried making some iced tea with regular chai at home. Just brewed tea the usual Indian way in boiling water with sugar. Then, strained it and let it cool.. Add sugar, if needed. Let it cool in the fridge. To serve, fill a tall glass with lots of ice; pour the tea till it covers the ice cubes and drop in a few wedges/slices of lime. Give it a swirl and... ta-dah! The verdict: Not bad. It had a strong tea flavour (like d-uh!). But I guess I'll have to experiment with different kinds of tea to perfect my own iced tea version. Any suggestions? PS: Random surfing threw up this interesting site: Chai Time . Check it out!