Postcards From J

I love discovering. A quaint store, an underrated food joint, local markets, a tree-lined lane (increasingly, a rarity in Bombay), second-hand books, quirky merchandise, a cool bargain, picture postcards (finding a nice one in Mumbai is an achievement) and just about anything. It's my curiosity that eggs me on to do these things. A local market in Goa While nothing beats an actual shopping trip and stumbling upon the unusual, of late I've been checking out a lot of e-commerce portals. A LOT. And it's interesting, too, to see how the Indian online shopping scene has exploded.  Flipkart made it fashionable, I guess. And then you had everyone from SnapDeal, Fashion&You, 99Labels and a host of others selling everything and anything. I used to wait eagerly for their newsletters to see what deal(s) I could score, especially watches from fancy brands. I wasn't completely on board though. For most of the time, I was happy being a win...

It's Thursday and you're longingly looking at that calendar waiting for the weekend to descend upon you. For me though, the weekends have been so hectic that I'm looking for a weekend to get away from my regular week AND weekend. Seriously. In the middle of that thought, I came across this video today and it brought such sunny happy thoughts to my mind that I had to share it. I've always admired Usha Uthup's versatility and her unique personality. Fabulous singer, woman of substance and funny as hell. A true legend. Enjoy maadi, ~j~ PS: Who doesn't love her sarees and bindis? Sigh.

One of my favourite food places in Pune, Janseva Bhojanalaya near Deccan Gymkhana, does a very delicious unlimited almost-Maharashtrian thaali . It's mindboggling, really. So instead of just posting multiple photos, I experimented with a little something . Hope you like it. When I ate there in May 2012, the thaali was priced at Rs. 130. This time around (November 2013), it was Rs. 250. WHOA!!! But still totally worth it. ~j~

Wow, I haven't posted in over two months and I'm wondering if there has been anything interesting to blog about since that last post. Well, I had a lovely Diwali weekend (three days!) in Pune visiting a close friend who's in the family way. And a mad cousin accompanied me, so it was just fun-fun-fun. Aside from lining up outside Kayani Bakery at 7.30 AM for mawa cakes/Shrewsbury biscuits (and some more goodies) and battling a Diwali crowd at Chitale Bandhu for their famed bakharwadi , I had the opportunity to visit Fort Jadhavgadh . An erstwhile Maratha fort now converted into a heritage hotel, this almost-impromptu trip turned out to be a super break from the urban landscape of Pune and of course, Mumbai. The steps leading up to the fort's main entrance The story in short Shahu, the grandson of Chhatrapati Shivaji (the great Maratha warrior king) was imprisoned for 21 years by the Mughals and later released. One of his prominent army commanders, Pila...

Birthdays, I tell you. They creep up on you. Just like that. But hey! I'm actually not feeling anything about getting older this year. :)  CPK's Red Velvet Cake. Delish. As for my day yesterday, it was the usual. But we (family) did go to California Pizza Kitchen in BKC for dinner. I've been there a few times before, and the menu's just about alright. The only reason we went there was we didn't want to travel all the way to Bandra West or Andheri West during the peak traffic hours. And of course, for the red velvet cake. It is delicious. For a pizza place to be excelling in something else... haha! But you have to try it out. I quite love it. So, another year goes by. Kris assured me, "you aren't getting older, you're just getting better".  And then when I was being silly, RB reminded me, " oye champ! sometimes i get inspired by you to live the "good life". age is just a number, remember? ;)" Phone...

Life - and the world wide web - have a funny way of throwing answers at you when certain questions plague your very existence. From one of the zillion newsletters I signed up for, here's a quote that spoke straight to me: "You may think that taking a detour in life is a waste of time and energy, but you can also see the detour as a means of learning more about who you are and where you are heading in your life. Being off the beaten path may be disorienting and confusing at times, yet it challenges your creative spirit to discover new and different ways to get back home, into your heart; for your heart is your real home." -- Andreas Moritz Maybe it's time. Time for that detour. 

The heavens opened up last Friday (and also earlier that week) and created the usual havoc that Mumbai gets to face. But hey, most of our city's problems are man-made. Nay, let me rephrase that. Most of the problems here are BMC-made.  The ensuing wet-wet-wet weekend didn't really dampen any of my plans thankfully (watched Man Of Steel and hogged away with friends) but this morning as we drove to St. Michael's Church, Mahim for Day 2 of the annual feast novena, I spotted the sun trying its darndest to break through the clouds. Such a wondrous sight! And as I type this in the afternoon and look at the brightness outside my work window, I say: I'm grateful for the rains but THANK YOU FOR THE SUNSHINE TODAY. ~j~

Note to self, perhaps?   Picture courtesy: Random post on Facebook In under three weeks from now, half of 2013 will be over. I hate it when time flies so quickly and nothing of note has transpired in one's life. Travel plans are so scattered right now. :( And then... I found myself reading this piece on a young woman driving all across India in a Nano. Solo. Brave lady, fun trip. And it's left me depressed. Sigh. Then, of course, my own struggles with a few things at the moment. Clarity, where art thou?  Hope the rain earlier this week didn't dampen your spirits. Can't crib too much anyway considering we are dependent on rain water for survival in this country. But yes, you could blame all the disasters on good old BMC. May I have my tax money back? Thanks. ~j~

This is beginning to annoy me a great deal... The guys who collect toll money at the Aarey Check Naka (off Western Express Highway, Goregaon East) have started dispensing candy when they are short by one rupee in change. The toll for rickshaws entering the colony is Rs. 7. So if you give the chap a tenner, you will get back a receipt with a two-rupee coin and a Parle Melody (a childhood favourite, by the way). While this business of giving candy instead of chillar (change) is a common practice (at least) in Bombay's mom-and-pop stores, why do I feel cheated when the toll guys do it? ~j~

So @MissMalini ran a Twitter contest for Tigre Blanc Vodka sometime ago where she tweeted: Today is a day for #OpenLove ! Tell me what occasion you would crack open a bottle of Tigre Blanc to celebrate and win a whole case! — MissMalini (@MissMalini) March 22, 2013 As with most things on the internet, I tweeted my reply to her and forgot all about it. Imagine my surprise when she announced me as one of the winners. :) My 1st #OpenLove Tigre Blanc hamper goes to.. *drumroll please* obviously @ vodkaholic :) enjoy your parents 37th anniversary & bros 6 month! — MissMalini (@MissMalini) March 23, 2013 I received the hamper a few days ago and you know what? Hands down, this has got to be the most awesome-looking prize I have ever won. Thanks, Malini and Tigre Blanc! Pictures: Cheers! ~j~

This is what our trains should be. EMPTY! So, this morning, I left at 7.45 AM to drop my kid sister E to NM College for her tutorial classes farewell party which was supposed to start at  8.30 AM!!! (I've heard of after-parties that go on till the wee hours of the morning. But who the heck starts a party, even for kids, at that hour?) We took a rickshaw directly and I dropped her and her classmate there, and took the same rickshaw to Ville Parle station nearby to board a train to Goregaon towards my workplace. As I was climbing down the stairs to the platform, I noticed a small crowd forming in the middle of the stairs. An elderly man lay flat on the floor and apparently he had had a heart attack. There were quite a few people around him trying to revive him, and honestly I don't know how I could help. So I did the best thing I could: not crowd the stairs like everyone else. I think they called the station master and all that. But he was unconscious. While waiting for t...

Our writing mentor Dilip had suggested a couple of assignments way back in November when we met. The first one is the 'homework' piece and the second one is what we wrote during the session: * Write a story (or part of a story) about a relatively young person (let's say under 40 years old) who will die soon. Only, s/he has no idea about this. You, the all-seeing author, do know: so write with that knowledge affecting your writing in whatever way it can or will. My attempt:   He smiled. I looked around me, and then quickly, and sheepishly realised he was indeed smiling at me. I smiled back. Or at least that what I thought I did.  The chaos surrounding us hardly seemed to perturb him. I marvelled at his calm demeanour and then was transported back in time to that muggy summer day in the March of 1999. It was my usual bus route and I was already running late for college. Maybe Professor D'Cruz would excuse me. Maybe he would forget about the class t...

Hello, hello! I'm back on the blog after two months. In fact, I had almost forgotten about this space... Most of the time away was spent on a project that took me out of Bombay on New Year's Day - an all-confusing (at the start) and then an all-consuming assignment which involved a university cricket tournament. BUT all rants aside, I learnt a great deal during this time - operationally and from a business perspective - and made some new friends in the process. It was just a first step in a new direction for me on the work front. So let's see where it goes.  Physically, I can feel the exhaustion and stress of the long hours put in taking its toll on me. Add to it, an erratic sleep cycle and the weird moods of the Bombay summer. And what have you got? Me writing a blog post at close to 3:00 AM! Meanwhile, some notes from my last two months: - The boys from Jain University, Bengaluru won the inaugural University Cricket Championship. I had the pleasure of intera...

From "It's late. I insist on driving you home." to "Is it ok if I drop you halfway?" From "Call/text me as soon as you reach home." to "Do you want to take the train?" From "I've taken down the rickshaw number. Please get home safe." to "How are you going home?" and then not even checking if I boarded some public transport. Should've seen it coming. --- NOTE: Logged in to my Tumblr account after ages and found this post in my Drafts there. No clue when I wrote this. Must have been a really long time ago. And yes, it was titled 'Relationshit' originally.