Summer vacations

I am travelling to Mumbai and Pune in the next week and I am feeling just like a small kid, who goes on a summer vacation to his/her grand mom’s place. Both my grand mom’s are awaiting my arrival and I will be also meeting my in-laws after many days. So I am looking forward to a partially good summer vacation (am working, am not on leave).

Mumbai is a hot and humid and sultry city, but it is also true that it is the liveliest city, I have ever seen.  I spent 23 years of my life in Mumbai, to be precise, in a small central suburb, called Dombivli. But my grandmother stays in central Mumbai and so I have grown up watching the beaches and the queen’s necklace and the hanging gardens.

As soon as the exams were over, I rushed to my aaji’s place and spent the entire summer vacation over there. She stayed in a chawl, where the toilets were outside the house and some 10 families shared it. She had Gujrathi neighbors and I was very close to the Joshi family. There were 3 kids in that family. Rashmi, the eldest, Deepa and Roshan was the youngest and the most mischievous. I was closer to Deepa and Roshan as we were almost of the same age. In the afternoons, we all gathered in my or their kitchen, prepared barf gola (snow ball) with different flavors such as kalakhatta, khus and what not. The month of May was a season of mangoes. So, mango milkshake also came naturally. There was a regular vendor who came to the chawl where my aaji stayed and after spending 2 good hours on the discussion of rates and quality etc., Joshi family and aaji settled for some dozen mangoes from him.  Aaji prepared panha (aam panna), ambyachi daaL (mango dal) from the raw, green mangoes and it tasted awesome. It was good for the summer heat and we enjoyed loads of it and Alphonso mangoes! What taste, what smell, what color, what sweetness those Ratnagiri Alphonso had!!! It was just incomparable with any other variety of mangos anywhere in the world. So after spending afternoons with mangoes and barf golas and lots of talking and gossiping, we went to the beach or garden in the evenings. We also paid a regular visit to the other scenic places in Mumbai as the hanging gardens, museum, zoo etc. But beach was always a favorite destination of one and all.

Having chaat (bhelpuri, sev puri, pani puri) on the beach was mandatory or else one couldn’t enjoy being on the beach. Building castles in the sand with lots of focus and joy and then destroying the same with our own hands and legs was our favorite past time too! The waters were just good to look at. I never went deep inside and also it was very dirty, not clean like in Alibaug or Konkan. The garden was just opposite to the beach and had a library and swings and other stuff to play with. So, sometimes we visited the library and most of the times, the beach. After coming home from the beach, tired and salty and sand all over us, after a nice bath, we all recited Ramraksha and Maruti stotra (hymns in Sanskrit depicting Lord Rama and his Hanuman) together. It felt so nice in the evening reciting those prayers amidst the fragrance of the incense sticks. Dinner was again replete with mangoes with a few other dishes which were obviously considered as side dish! No lunch or dinner was complete without having mangoes in the summer vacations. We never wondered about the calories and the weight problem. All we did was enjoy to the core, eating and playing was the agenda of the day, making merry, pulling each other’s legs made us laugh and that is the reason, those days are forever etched on my mind. The doors of the houses were always open just as their hearts and minds, we were always with the neighbors, watching movies, playing cards, shouting and laughing all the time. Oh, how much I miss those days!!

When I look today’s kids and their summer vacations, I feel pity for them. So many activity classes, skating, painting, karate, dancing keep them busy throughout the day. But where is the warmth and joy of being with the grandparents and listening to the stories and going to the garden by catching their hands? All that is lost, in fact there is no aajoL (grand mom’s place) left now to which the kids look forward to and get love and affection and also learn to share and care in the process. Flats and individualism has crept in so much nowadays, that we hardly know our neighbors now, leave alone our old and withered grandparents (if at all), who stay in some remote, inaccessible remote villages. The same place where we stayed once upon a time looks dirty now and sub-standard. How humans change!!

Just as the chawl system broke down, so has the joint family system and the kids are spending more time playing computer games and watching television instead of going to play and enjoy with other kids of their age. I am fortunate that I spent my childhood days with other children and my grandparents, who have had such a great influence on me and my attitude towards grandparents that I will always bank on those memories and try to keep them as fresh as possible by revisiting them time and again!

Becoming independent - By learning to drive

6th May was a birthday of my close friend, Sudhir. He and his wife invited me and Koustubh for dinner at a nice restaurant near my office.

Sudhir, Koustubh and I are friends from the time we all started first in HP. We have still kept in touch after we moved out from HP. We meet on birthdays, anniversaries or just like that for tea or dinner.

Sudhir and his wife picked me up in their I 20 car and Shubhangi, his wife was driving the car. She looked so cool and confident and very much in control. Sudhir was sitting next to her and giving her directions. He hasn't yet learned to drive. In fact all of us have not learnt driving till now because we travel regularly in office shuttles and do not want to take the risk and tension driving our ways in the Bangalore traffic. Shubhangi is from Pune and driving comes inherently to Punekars because driving is as important as breathing there :-) Koustubh and I are from Mumbai and hence always travelled by trains to colleges and never thought of learning driving when we were in Mumbai.

We are almost for 6 years in Bangalore and my husband, Atul drives a Wagon R since past 5 years that we are married. But, I never dared to learn it and regret it a lot now. Soon, I will be moving to a new house, where there is nothing in the vicinity unless you walk for a kilometer or so. I will be so helpless without being able to drive a car or a two wheeler. I have to walk or look for an auto and then convince the arrogant auto drivers that I need to reach a particular place and if my stars are bright, they might agree and if they don't? I am stranded.

Now that the car will be standing in the parking lot for almost 2 months, waiting for someone to drive it, I have made up my mind to utilize this time and make the most of it. I will be able to go wherever I like, to concerts, to meet friends, to see movies, do shopping, for language classes, practically anywhere I want to. I will not be dependent on the autos and thw buses and the weather. A new sense of independence will make me so happy, the very thought of it is so endearing. My friend, Teju encouraged me a lot on the way back home the other day and I have decided to let go of my fear and take charge of my life. Teju and I have so many things to do, we have just planned all these years and now I decide to put those plans into reality. The ability to drive will give me a new confidence and give me a lot of mobility. I will not become a pro in 2 months, but then there is a great scope of learning every day, isn't it? My dad will guide me in that.

So people, wish me luck and I will soon write about my first experience of driving indepently on this blog.

Showers of rain

Today it rained like crazy in many parts of Bangalore.

These were the pre-monsoon showers, I suppose. Bangalore gets rain for almost 8 months in a year and the weather is cool for most of the months. And today it seemed as if it the rain would never stop. We were in the canteen of our office and the canteen is on the last floor. It has an enormous hood, covering the entire floor to protect the people from rain and the sun. The rains were so heavy that we weren't able to hear each other's voices. We just sat there sipping tea and I became nostalgic.

Rains remind me of those days, when I was studying in college. Degree college got over by 12 pm and then I came home, studied, watched TV and did whatever I liked. Whenever it started raining, I sat on the sofa in my living room and watched the rains from the grills of the window. My aaji gave me hot tea and kanda bhaji (onion rings) and I talked to her about her childhood days and rainy seasons she saw and experienced. As a child, monsoon meant new monsoon footwear, new raincoat, new waterproof bag and waterproof watch. It had a typical smell which I still remember. Also when it rained heavily, school and college were off and a day was spent at home, eating and lazing and sleeping and watching TV. Mumbai used to become cool for those number of hours till it rained heavily. How I miss those days now!!!

I am a music lover and that mood of rains also tempted me to listen to Gulzar, Asha, R. D Burman and Kishore Kumar. The evergreen song "rimjhim gire saawan" is my favorite song depicting this mood. Kishore Kumar, the versatile singer, has given full justice to the rainy atmosphere and the entire song carries that mood well. Now in Bangalore, away from my aaji, I make tea for myself and sit in the balcony sit out watching the raindrops falling on the window panes. I love the smell of the mud, when the first showers of rain kiss the earth. Entire atmosphere suddenly changes and looks so fresh and lively. The green trees sway to the winds and talk to the rains as if two long lost friends are meeting. Especially in the woods, the smell of the leaves and mud makes me forget everything else.

I am sure, other people, who are not so great fans of rainy season, think of the traffic jams it causes and Mumbaikars are fearful of rains because the life line of Mumbai, the train system goes for a toss and they become stranded. It is also true that due to the global warming, the seasons have chnaged drastically and it rains anytime anywhere. The charm of waiting eagerly for monsoons and getting wet unawares, enjoying the thunderstorm is somewhere lost, I feel..

What do the first showers of rain remind you?

Which is your favorite song for this lovely, romantic season?

P.S: The link on youtube for my favorite song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VzUxxa0c2I

Kabhi kabhi

I am feeling very sad and down since past 2 days.

I was in high spirits as I was travelling to Mumbai on coming Saturday for my dear brother-in-law’s wedding and all of a sudden those plans crashed and my mood went for a toss.

It happens many times in life that we look forward to something very eagerly and since long and in a moment, everything just seems to be white-washed. Something like this happened to me. I was happy at the thought that I would meet everybody at the wedding, meet my brother-in-law and his beautiful wife, but now that cannot happen.

I share a very special bond with this brother-in-law of mine, who is actually my husband’s cousin brother. I am not a very relative friendly person as I have very bad experiences with my immediate relatives and so I keep all relatives at safe distance and they also do not bother to interfere in my life. Being in Bangalore is the biggest advantage in this regards. But this boy was very different. He had come to Bangalore for job and when he arrived, he stayed with us till he got an accommodation. He was just like me as I used to be say 8 years ago. Very quiet, sensitive, attached to the family and fearful of the people who might be judging him. He is quite younger than me, but we somehow gelled very easily. We share the same moon sign and we both love movies, music and food. I talked to him a lot on all issues, he shared his professional and personal matters with me. We went to movies, Marathi plays together. He was always cheerful and smiling and I thought of him to be a great support in my life at that time. Even after moving to his own apartment, he visited us on weekends and sometimes stayed over. We went to the nearby park together and talked to each other about books or anything which bothered us or worried us. We enjoyed those walks. I inculcated the habit of reading in him and asked him regularly about the status of completion and asked him to narrate story once he finished reading so that I knew he really read it.

But then as all good things do not last for long, he shifted back to Mumbai after 8 months and got a good job. He was very attached to his family and I am happy that he went back to them. We mailed each other regularly and kept in touch and talked on mail just like we used to do in person.  I soon got to know that he has found a girl and is willing to get married soon. From that time onwards, I was looking forward to attend his wedding and bless the couple.

Nevertheless, I can still bless them and wish them a wonderful and blissful married life ahead! Isn’t it?

Some people leave a mark in your life forever and Shreyas is one of those few people in my life! I wish him all the joy and happiness and wish him and his wife a very happy and blissful married life!

God bless!

Dear Mommy

Today is Mother's day and I have been seeing so many messages on my cell and my Facebook about it's celebration. There are so many advertisements on Television and on Radio too. What is the fuss about?

Is Mother something to be thought of and celebrated only once a year?

No, I do not think so personally. Everyday which I live and celebrate is the celebration of my mother too because I am in this world because of her. So, instead of wishing her today exclusively, I see to it that I talk to her daily and celebrate our bond almost daily by sharing and talking.

She has been my constant source of energy, she gives me strength when I am down and cheers me up when I think, there is nowhere to go. She is a people person and always has her radiant smile ready to charm strangers too. She has friends in almost all age groups and in all the trains she travels to office. She is always smiling and happy and enthusiastic to take up anything in life. She loves trekking and goes to her favorite destination, "The Himalayas" once a year. I think the energy and the positive spirit she has, is derived from the connection with nature and God. She has a strong belief in Lord Shiva and often seeks his help and guidance in case of any problems and Lord Shiva answers all her prayers and shows her the way in hard times.

She is a great fan of alternate therapies, Ayurveda, Reiki, Acupressure, Naturopathy. She does everything possible to keep herself fit with the help of these therapies. She keeps herself fit and sees to it that she never misses her treks. She loves jewellery and saris and has a rich collection of them. She travels everyday 100 kms by train, but the way she dresses and matches it with accessories leaves me awestruck. I am not even 1 % close to her when it comes to the dressing sense and being updated about the latest fashion. But she is very lazy when it comes to computer, internet and cell phones. When I bought her a cell phone and when I called her from Bangalore on cell, she could never pick the call and I used to get angry with her and jokingly told her that she should hand it in her neck just like small kids hang their handkerchiefs. But now in 3 years, she has become quite good in handling cell phone and messages, I must say!

The direction which I got in my life and the person I am today is all because of my mom and dad and my grandparents and their dedication and love towards me. They never had anything else in their sight, than to give me the best in this world. I think it is the inherent quality of parents as God resides in them and the only thing they know is just giving all the possible things to their children. I wonder if I can be so good and kind to my offspring. My dad is waiting for a write-up on him and wants to know what I feel about him and I have been promising to write about him since a few days now. Baba, I will definitely take it up when I visit you all in the next week in Dombivli.

So, dear mommy, here's wishing you a very happy mother's day and thank you for whatever you have given me. I can't thank you enough and can never repay you.

I love you and wish you have a healthy, wealthy and prosperous life!!

Fiasco

My brother-in-law moved to the UK a few weeks back and it was his birthday on 19th April.

Birthdays for me are celebration times, if they are of my close friends or family and no matter how far I am from them physically, I make it a point to make their day more special on that particular day by sending them greeting cards or book marks or hand made candles or by just sending them mails with personal message.

But as my bil was away in the UK, I couldn't send anything of my trademark gifts and I sought the help of my school friend, Deven, who is settled in UK since past 6 years now. I wanted to gift my bil flowers, but when I had a look at some sites, I found the prices to be unnecessarily exorbitant and so dropped the idea. Deven suggested I gift him chocolates or any other gift which could reach him easily without any hassles. So, I zeroed upon a nice chocolate box from the link, Deven had suggested me and he very promptly took it ahead. He placed the order, wrote the message given by me, made the payment and we both were happy that the chocolates would reach my bil and it would be a nice surprise to him and he would be happy that his family at least thought of him on that day, though we all were away from him.

But to my and Deven's dismay, the chocolate box reached my bil's office, but didn't reach him. Deven called a few times to check the status and he got to know that the box is delivered to the address mentioned in the order. We then found out from my bil, that due to certain regulations in the office no personal things were accepted there. Neither me, nor Deven had the slightest clue that something like this would happen. I had expected it to be smooth like in India, where any package reaches to the recepient without fail. And for God's sake, I hadn't sent anything unconventional or dangerous. It was just a box of chocolates, which had a lot of good wishes and blessings. But then rules are rules, aren't they?

Deven and I were very sad on knowing this, but nothing much could be done about that too. My bil had said that he will try to talk to his managers when Deven had called him up to check the status. But then my bil neither got back to me or Deven to let us know what happened to that box.

Sometimes, good things done with a good heart do not reach the other person. Reasons? Unknown. But then I am at least happy that I tried and I thank Deven for helping me out with it even though we got in touch after so many years, after school.

My mom always says good deeds done with good heart return to you from some other people and in some other form and I believe that too. I will do what is possible for me to do easily and I am sure all the help and love which I get in some form or the other is a return gift to me :-)

What do you think?

Atul mahatmya

स्नेहल आणि मी एकाच प्रोजेक्ट मध्ये काम करत होतो, पण वेगवेगळ्या ठिकाणी बसून.

मी बंगलोर ला  होते  आणि  ती  हैदराबाद  ला. पण  ती  आणि  मी,  डोंबिवली  ह्या  मुंबई  च्या  जवळ  असलेल्या  एका  छोट्या  शहरातून  असल्यामुळे, आमची पटकन मैत्री झाली आणि आम्ही भरपूर बोलायला लागलो, कामाबद्दल आणि कामा व्यतरिक्त सुद्धा!

माझ्या नवऱ्याचं नाव अतुल, माझा प्रेम विवाह झालेला, नुकतच लग्न झाल्यामुळे, अतुल नावाच्या कोड्याला ओळखायला खूप वेळ लागला मला. प्रेम करणं वेगळं आणि त्या प्रेमाबरोबर २४ तास राहणं वेगळं. मी रोज काही न काहीतरी कुरबुर करायचे स्नेहलकडे आणि ती अगदी तल्लीन होऊन ऐकायची आणि मला समजवायचा प्रयत्न करायची.  मी जेव्हा कधी तिच्याकडे तिच्या लग्नाचा विषय काढायचे, ती टाळायची आणि नंतर एक दिवस तिने एक गौप्यास्पोट केला !!

स्नेहल: लिनी, मला तुला काहीतरी सांगायचा आहे.

मी: हो बोल की.

स्नेहल:  अगं तू जेव्हा जेव्हा अतुलचं नाव घ्यायचीस तेव्हा तेव्हा तुला मला सांगावसं वाटत होते, पण राहून जायचं. माझ्या होणारया नवऱ्याचं नाव सुद्धा अतुल आहे गं, आम्ही कॉलेज पासून ओळखतो एकमेकांना आणि तू तुझ्या अतुल बद्दल जे जे काही सांगतेस अगदी ते ते माझ्या अतुल बद्दल ही खर असतं गं! असं कसं शक्य आहे?

मी (एकदम उल्हासित होऊन): We are sailing in the same boat! समदुख्खी आहोत गं मग आपण!
स्नेहल (जोरात खी खी करून हसली) : हो गं लिनी, खरं आहे तुझ. मला तर हे दोघे  “बिछाडे हुये जुडवा भाई” वाटतात.

ह्या संवादामुळे आम्ही अधिकच जवळ आलो. आणि अश्या बऱ्याच संवादानंतर आम्ही आमच्या अतुल ची एक  "Similarity  List" काढली आणि आमचंच आम्हाला हसू आलं.काही  “strikingly similar” गोष्टी:

1)  दोघांनाही माणसांशी बोलायला प्रचंड कंटाळा येतो.

2)  कॉम्पुटर, TV ह्या निर्जीव वस्तू जास्ती जवळच्या वाटतात.

3)   देवावर, पत्रिकेवर अजिबात विश्वास नाही. स्वतःवरच काय तो विश्वास.

4)   झोपे पेक्षा दुसरी कुठलीही गोष्ठ त्यांना ह्या पृथ्वीवर प्रिय नाही.

5)   झोपे नंतरची दुसरी प्रिय गोष्ट म्हणजे खाणे. मग काहीही आणि रुचकर चालतं. मासाहारी तर धावतं! खाण्यासाठी जगायचे कसे हे ह्या दोघांकडून शिकण्यासारखे आहे!

6)  बाथरूम मध्ये गेले की हे  बाकीचं सगळं विसरतात आणि मग त्यांना आठवण करून द्यावी लागते की बाथरूमच्या बाहेर ही एक छानस जग आहे.

7)  क्रिकेट अतिशय आवडतं, मग एक चेंडू ही मिस झालेला चालत  नाही आणि आपण जणू फिल्ड वरच आहोत अस त्यांना वाटतं. जोरजोरात कमेंट्स चालू  असतात, जसं काही ह्यांचा ऐकून अम्पायर तिकडे निर्णय बदलणार आहे.

8)  प्रत्येक गोष्ट नीट नेटकी पाहिजे, सारखे हात धुवायचे, पाणी प्यायच भांडं नीट बघून घ्यायच किंवा त्याला थोडासा जरी डाग असेल तर ते खराब आहे असं जाहीर करून टाकायचं. मोलकरणी कसं नीट काम करतच नाहीत आणि सगळं ह्यांनाच कसं कराव लागता हा अविर्भाव.

9)  कामालाच देव मानतात आणि स्वतःला स्वतःचाच प्रतिस्पर्धी करतात. नम्रपणे बोलून, हसत हसत कधी विकेट घेतात ते समोरच्याला कळत ही नाही!

10) आई, वडिलांवर भरपूर प्रेम करतात, आदर करतात, पण छे हे सगळं बोलून कुठे दाखवायचा असतं? ते तर आई, बाबांनीच समजून घ्यायचा असतं.

11)  स्वतःची गाडी आणि laptop  जिवापलीकडे जपतात. म्हणून मग गाडी आणि laptop कोणाच्या ही हातात द्यायचे नाही. “Single hand use and driving” का असच तत्सम काहीतरी अगदी नित्यनियमे अमलात आणतात.

12)  भेटवस्तू देण हे मुळात सुचतच नाही, घरी मुलगी (बहीण) नसल्यामुळे मुलींना काय काय आवडतं हे माहीतच नाही. बर सांगून, hints देऊनही ते समजेलच ह्याची काही guarantee नाही. पण आता हल्ली बरीच सुधारणा झाली आहे असंच म्हणावं लागेल.

13)  बायको जे काही बोलते किंवा जे काही उपदेश करते, ते तिचा वेळ जात नाही म्हणून बडबडत असते. त्याच्याकडे नेहमीच लक्ष द्यायचं असतंच असं नाही. एका कानाने ऐकून दुसऱ्या कानाने सोडून देणे हे बरोबर जमते आणि मग नंतर तू मला हे सांगितलंच नाहीस हे म्हणायलाही मागे पुढे बघत नाहीत.

१४) कपडे खरेदी अतिशय आवडते पण बायको साठी करायची असेल तेव्हा लवकरच उरकवतात. काहीही विचारलं त्यांना की ते छानच असतं. स्वतःसाठी मात्रा एक पॅंट आणि एक शर्ट घ्यायला ३ तास सुद्धा कमीच पडतात त्यांना.

एकाच नावच्या व्यक्ती इतक्या सारख्या असू शकतात??

मी आणि स्नेहल ह्या दोघांवर बोलायला लागलो ना की “ए हो हो, बरोबर, अगदी असच करतो किंवा असच नाही करत” हीच वाक्यं असतात आमची.

पण वर नमूद केल्यप्रमणे जरी असले तरी मानाने अतिशय चांगले आहेत दोघं आणि ह्यांच्या सारखा बेस्ट आम्हाला दुसरा कोणी मिळूच शकलं नसतं.

What say Snehal?

A tryst with nature

Atul and I love nature and going to Jungle Lodges Resort is one of our favorite things to do.

But as JLR as become too costly and we have almost covered the best of them, we haven't visited it from past 2 years. But then the yearning to be with nature continues and this time, we got a chance to go to the Queen of hill stations, Ooty.

Ooty is 310 kms by drive from Bangalore and we reached there by afternoon. The hotel was Holiday Inn, one of the best known in India. It was located on a hill top and the small town of Ooty was visible from there. We could see green hills all over, which were I suppose tea gardens. It was so calm and serene there that we sat for hours looking at those beautiful hills. We saw a variety of birds and flowers in the gardens of the hotel itself. Silence ruled there and it was indeed like some silence therapy taking place on me and healing me from the mental and physical stress which I was experiencing in a mega city like Bangalore. While at work, we hardly have time to think about ourself and sitting quietly like this, just with a blank mind is impossible at other times.

We enjoyed the food there, I had a lot of variety in veg food and Atul had his share of non veg food. It was rainy and very chilled and I was happy about the fact that in April, I had to roam outside with a shawl and a sweater which is again a rare sight in Bangalore.

The drive back to Bangalore was enjoyable too. The roads are nicely built and have massive trees on both sides of the road. It feels as if you are passing through some jungle, while you are on the highway. We stopped by, on various spots, clicked pictures, spent some time seeing the trees and the fountains and the birds and the woods. I didn't feel like getting back into the rut of city life.

We also had to pass through the jungles of Madumalai in Tamil Nadu and Bandipur in Karnataka on our way back. I must say here that the Madumalai jungle impressed me a lot more than the Bandipur. Madumalai is thick, dense and it was very cool as we were passing by it. The elephants were a sight to see and I was so thrilled to see 6-7 of them, happily grazing throught the grass and leaves. At least 50 cars stopped to see them and click pictures. So finally, they got so bored of us, that they moved back into the dense forest.

Spending time in nature, with nature gives a lot of energy to sustain in the hustle bustle of city life. A freshness and calmness prevails after being in association with the greenery and woods. We make it a point that at least once a year, we touch that inner chord in us and have a date with nature without fail.

Do you like nature and jungle and wild life too?