For a friend

I just read a mail that said that if you really care for someone and you think that they are special you need to tell them that they are important before it's too late.

Here it is.....

You've always pepped me up whenever I felt low.

You are equipped with telepathy, that's why you call me at exactly five minutes to depression ;-) And believe me, it's true. Even today that's what happened.

You laugh at my stupid jokes.

You are the only person who thinks that Virgo is the best star sign, as both of us are Virgos.

You compliment me only once in a while and that's why your compliments are very precious to me.

You try to teach me things in spite of my failures in learning.

You try to help me when we play cards, but dumb that I am I just cannot follow your signals.

You always like my hairstyles.

Sometimes you give me a good dope on 'doing nothing with my life'.

I know these are not great things, but these are those small things that make a difference to me. Just wanted t let you know that you are a very good friend and I'm glad to have you in my life.

Stylkist.com

This is a new online store that I discovered. They have some pretty neat stuff on home decor. Do check it out!

P.S. Slightly on the expensive side (after all it's silk).

Fabrics

Dhandha pani

"Aa gaya sardhi khaansi ka dushman
Khaansi ko dega phaansi
Sardhi ko karega tadipaar
Adhrak aur shehad se bhari goli karega sardhi khaansi ka kam tamaam
Do rupye ki paanch goli le lo aur karo sardhi khaansi ko ram ram."

That's hardcore selling in the Mumbai locals.

Sunset at Lonavala

At the boarding school

My niece studies in a boarding school in Lonavala. Saturday being her birthday we reached her school to celebrate it along with her friends. This is her first year as a boarder. I must say that this school looks very shabby in comparison to the swanky schools that have sprung up recently in Lonavala and the adjoining areas. But there is so much of a 'I belong here' feeling. I kind of like it here as I find affection all around me. Beautiful innocent faces with smiling eyes come running to you the moment they see you and surround you till you decide to call it a day. There's music from Branco's guitar, coyness in Isha's eyes, motherly affection in the hearts of the matrons and genuine sincerity in the hearts of teachers. And the weather outside add to it. The picturesque locales, the monkey hills, the winding roads, the chikki shops, the jelly chocolates coated with little sugar cubes and the kokum sherbet are the bonuses that await you.

Of baby names

Yesterday at a friend's place we were having this discussion on baby names and it's religious connections in India. A friend suddenly burst out laughing, thinking about an incident. It so happened that she was visiting a friend, during her gestation period. The friend inquired if they had zeroed in on any names. To this my friend and her husband replied that would go in for a 'short and sweet' name. Suddenly, the host said, "What madness? Your child's name should do honours to your name too. I've decided that I'll name my child Padmabhushan, if it's a boy and Padmashri, if it's a girl."

My friend and her husband looked bewildered. The host soon answered their questioning eyes. He said," I know I'll never get the Padmabhushan or the Padmashri. But think about this. Whenever my kids will be addressed by their full names, my heart will swell with pride. My name is Delip Vaze. So my kids' names will sound like this - Padmabhushan Dilip Vaze or Padmashri Dilip Vaze. Who gets honoured? Isn't it a brilliant idea?"

Indeed Mr. Vaze, it is. What foresight!

I love this song

'What's Up' by 4 Non-Blondes

Twenty - five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
And I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say, hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?
Ooh, ooh ooh
And I try, oh my god do I try
I try all the time, in this institution
And I pray, oh my god do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say, hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?
Twenty - five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination

Namesake

Siddharth Nair...Na! Thats not his christened name. It's a result of creativity gone off course. Forget my name, its at least mythological if not interesting. But my brother's name was something that broke all barriers of religion. Every time we went to some place, for instance, the clinic, we would be asked for our names. I would say out mine and they would fill it in the form. The moment my brother would spell out his, the first question that popped out invariably would be "Cocktail marriage tha kya? Winson Nair!" Earlier we were only too happy to furnish them with a detailed explanation, but soon we were fed up. We would just nod pleasantly and let the other person imagine all kinds of things. Now, there was another problem - the confusion between similar sounding names like Vincent, Wilson and Winson. It was difficult for people to recollect his name. Moreover he was in love with a girl, who hailed from a very religious family. They were always against the relationship, citing cultural differences as the reason. They were unaware of his name as his lady love always referred to him as Kannan (his pet name). He realised that 'Winson' might only make matters worse for him. Kannan could be considered as an official name. In fact some of his business relations also addressed him by his pet name, but in a purely North Indian manner, Khanna. And to be honest my brother looks too hep to be called a Winson or a Kannan.

So, after a lot of meditation, my brother decided to change his name.

Samir, Aakash, Siddharth, Gautam - propositions for the new name poured in. He decided to go ahead with Siddharth, the name that was given to Gautam Buddha by his parents. So we did it the legal way by filing an affidavit and publishing it in the Gazette. Today Winson Nair is Siddharth Nair. Of course, my brother had to undergo lot of difficulties due to the name change. One incident I remember clearly is a visit by a marketing executive from a renowned bank. My brother had requested for a credit card. When the exec visited him he asked for a few details. So it goes like this...my brother's school and college certificates showed his name as Winson Nair. The Pan Card showed Kannan Nair (his pet name) and the new records, Siddharth Nair. The exec kept looking at the documents suspiciously and left saying that he'll get back, which he never did.

Finally, things seem to be falling in place. The new name has found a place in the ration card. It is undergoing change on the Pan Card. He got himself a credit card on the new name. But the memories of the old name still stays, when he meets his teachers or when my parents' friends drop in for a cup of tea. They pat him fondly and say, "Winson kitna bada ho gaya (Winson, you've become a big man )."

Chai ready....

Good Morning! Tea for me? Sure!

Yeah....pick up that yellow mug. That's mine. Now pour steaming hot water into it. Be careful! Don't spill it on yourself. Hmmm. Perfect. Pick up the Darjeeling Tea Twinings, yes, that one. Dip it into the water. Let it stay there for some time. Take two teaspoons of honey and add to the water. Lime? Yeah....no, forget it! Please pass it on to me. Slurrrpp!

Nice...very refreshing! Thank you so much. This is just perfect. Do you want me to make you some?

Joke of the Day!

Heeeheee!

This morning I read a report on proposed SEZs for Maharashtra. It stated that L&T's proposed project for it's IT SEZ has been held up, as it is falling short of 0.7 acres of land of the 25 acres that's required for any project to be declared as an SEZ. And this proposed project is in Powai. The joke is that, not very far from this project is Hiranandani Constructions' SEZ (that's what it reads), standing tall and high on barely seven acres of land.

Hey Government! Teri maya...yeh batade kaun kitna khaya...

Green Somethings

Staying in Mumbai? Looking for planters? No time to walk around lanes hunting for a planter that would evoke your aesthetic sense?

Hmm....here they are. Green Somethings. An online store that can take care of your small indoor and outdoor gardening fancies. They also do the planting for you. What more can you ask for? You just need to pick your favourite(s) from the catalogue, pay online and promise yourself to attend to the little green member in your house. By the way, Green Somethings will deliver your stuff at your doorstep. And did I mention that they have kitchen herbs ?

The Pallankuzhi

...does anyone remember?

On every annual visit to Kerala, this game was one of the things I looked forward to. The Pallankuzhi, a traditional board game. All you needed was a wooden board with fourteen pits and some cowrie shells or tamarind seeds or manjadi kuru (also known as the seeds of the red bead tree, the botanical name is Adenanthera pavonia) or beads.

Soon, other avenues of entertainment paved in and the Pallankuzhi found it's place in the attic.

Now, after years I saw this at an antique shop in Kochi and fell in love with it. It also struck me that I had a huge collection of those red seeds sealed tightly in a bottle, kept safely somewhere in my house. I've been hunting for it....without any luck. I used to be madly obsessed with these seeds and wanted to have all of them for myself. Selfish...isn't it?

I'll be visiting Kochi again this October and this Pallankuzhi is going to come home with me. My dad has promised to get the 'lucky red seeds' for me.

I was wondering, how life changes. The little things that we did as kids are forgotten when the worries of the world start dominating our lives. Thanks to this beautiful shop, I was reminded of something that I was passionate about.

Ok...now let's get over it! How do we play the game?
Very simple. To be honest I had forgotten the rules of the game. I found it on this page:
http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/kerala/people-culture-and-festivals/pallaankuzhi.html

The game:
The houses are in two rows of 7 each. Each row belongs to a player and so is called the player's "side". The central house is called the "Kasi" and is like the players store/ treasure of cowrie shells. The game has many versions depending on the number of cowrie shells each player receives at the beginning.

This number may vary from 144 to 170. The game begins with each player receiving equal number of cowrie shells and with the players distributing them equally in all the houses except the Kasi.

Now as the game progresses each player in turn chooses one of his houses and removes all its cowries and then starts dropping them in all the houses in a clockwise direction. So the house you had initially chosen is left empty leaving the house next to it vulnerable to capture by the opponent.

The attempt is to collect all the seeds of the opponent. Hence, the system of capture of houses. If a player went bankrupt on all his cowries, he was given access to the shells accumulated in his Kasi. And thus the game goes on it one players shells are totally captured. A lot depends on strategic planning and calculation in this game.

I'm so glad I found this piece on information. The next step is to get the pallankuzhi and the manjadi seeds and then have a gala time playing the game.

Kara Ventures

A few enterprising women got together with a mission. A mission to revive the dying handloom industry in Kerala. The result - Kara, Weaves of Kerala.
I came across their website while I was in the process of doing my new house. As I was very keen to have handloom curtains that resembled the neriyathu sarees of Kerala, Kara ended my search at their online shopping store. But there was this inscrutable urge to prod a little further and to trek down to the place from where these weaves originated. I travelled from Mumbai to Kochi and from Kochi to Kanjiramattom. Waiting there was Indu Menon, Sreedevi, Suryakala Satish and Lakshmi Menon. I was bowled over by their sheer zealousness and childlike excitement while exhibiting their creations. Elegant off-white drapes with intricate weaves in gold adorned the windows of the little ancestral property from where these women were operating. They took pride in showcasing the works of the handloom weavers who were once part of the dying handloom industry. And the stuff what they have is what I was looking for. I must say...worth all the toil

They also have the traditional Kerala towels, torthu, alongwith cushion covers and hand towels.
I am imprressed. Aren't you?

Waiting for Godot

I love this picture. In fact it is one of my favourites.

When I was putting it up on flickr the title struck me - Waiting for Godot.

And Galdoish Galdo was the only person to comment on it. Every time I read the comment, it brings a smile.

Galdo said, "I know we'll never see Godot, but where are the ones who wait for him?

Wait, with you and at least me as a viewer, the count is right..."

Why Galdoish? Aah, that's a new term coined by me. I met Galdo on flickr. He has a wonderful collection of pictures. No, not mesmerising. Plain interesting stuff. Things which you wouldn't even notice. But he captures them and gives them apt titles. Pictures that hmmm...make you sense a kind of warmth and comfort. So I've decided that anything that makes me smile is purely Galdoish. How about that?

Lexicographers! Are you all listening?

My dream....

My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high 

My dream is to fly 
Over the rainbow so high

My dream is to fly 
Over the rainbow so high

My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high 

Am I crazy or what???

For a droplet on flickr

You stood there watching me,
As I slithered over her tender green neck
With beauty and elegance.
Down and down I marched,
Looking deep into the eyes of the earth.
There, as I stood,
Waiting for a free fall,
I heard a clicking sound.
The last thing I know,
You made me immortal....

Karo Zyada Ka Iraada

I must say the ad agency for Max New York Life has seriously done a great job. The new ad on air is really interesting and fun to watch. Goes well for the product too.

It shows a cool, hep, young, urban dude with long curly hair crossing the road. His eyes are fixed on a sleek bike yearning to own one. The guy on the sleek bike has his eyes fixed on a couple on another bike, wishing for a beautiful partner. The girl on that bike has her eyes fixed on a young mother who's having fun with her kids, wishing that she becomes a mother soon. The mother has her eyes fixed on a necklace at display on the windows of a shop wishing to possess it while it's been bought by a rich bald guy. The rich bald guy is in his car, his eyes fixed on the cool, hep, young, urban dude with long curly hair crossing the road.

Karo Zyada Ka Iraada - Wish for more! What say?

There's always a first time

So here it is! My first visit to the Sakinaka Police Station (sounds like an essay topic). I remember I' had been to this place once but then I was waiting outside while my father was getting the attestation work done. But this time it was different. Hee Hee Haa Haa! I was inside filing a complaint for my lost handbag. And guess what? It was smooth. It was not the Hindi film situation at all. No beggings and pleadings. Things moved quickly and the police were really helpful :-)

Do I need to say anything more?

A list of things

1. Driving licence
2. Credit cards
3. Debit cards
4. Clubhouse cards (Rishi's and mine)
5. A small box with Amu's gold earrings (3 - 4 pairs)
6. Some cash
7. Visiting cards
8. A bottle of moisturiser
9. French manicure set

These are the things that went away with the bag that I lost.

Sunday morning

Yesterday I stood by my window, sipping a cup of tea. Mornings are a treat with the chirping birds, the lawn-mower's song and the whistling winds. I often meet the regulars outside my house in Thane. A squirrel who hunts for something to munch, a few pigeons pecking at grains thrown at them and a myena couple playing hide-and-seek with each other. Not to forget the yellow leaves on the parking lot.

"The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools."
- Henry Beston

Fine...I'm leaving,

....for the gym!

The night of Ganesh Visarjan

It was the night of Ganesh Visarjan. We had been to the Borivali Biriyani House for a sumptous feast of Paya soup, Kheema Pav, Reshmi Tikka and Mutton Biriyani. It was fun. On our way back our car slowed down to let a crowd of devotees pass, when suddenly we saw two men getting into a brawl. One of them was driving a white car and the other was a drunk devotee. Both young men. The drunk devotee kept attacking the other guy only to be joined by a few more men who were not even aware of what was happening. My friends got off the car and somehow managed to push the guy into the car asking him to leave the place. By then that young man was drained out. He was badly shaken. His spectacles were also lost in the brawl. We sat back into our cars and left too. Our car was ahead and we could see the other car leaving too. I turned back and saw that once our car gathered a little motion they stopped the white car again. We stopped too and rushed back to them. Made them leave the place again but this time waited to let them go a little distance. It was bad. It's true, times have changed. Today to bring out devotion some devotees have to resort to means like alcohol.

Early worm today

It's been a week since I hit the gym. But today, no matter what I'm going . That's why I'm up so early. Though I confess I really don't feel like it.

Cafe no more in the City

Finally the shutters have come down for Cafe City. One more Irani restaurant wiped off from the good food guide of Mumbai. A place known for it's Kheema Pav, Bread Pudding and Caramel Custard. Also the popular 'paani kam chai'.

Rain rain go away....

Hmmm...soon the rains will bid farewell to the city paving way for the cold weather. In goes the umbrellas and raincoats, out comes the shawls, cardigans and monkey caps. Ha Ha!

Amu Talk...

Ku for 'Kulikyan'
Ca for 'car'
Pa for 'pal'
Habatu for 'Happy Birthday to you'
Au for 'office'
Kalla for 'Kanna'
Ishi for 'Rishi'
Ca for 'colours'
Pe for 'paper'
Ella for 'Vellam'
Ka for 'Kabhi kabhi Aditi'
Bis for 'Biscuits'

Recycle

This is an appachatti that my mum had been using for more than two decades.

Now she got herself a new one and so I get to keep this, for floral decoration.