Tag Archives: passions

Doing my bit to spread awareness about Violence About Women (VAW)

Posted on by under All about me...

Gender studies is something which I hold very close to my soul – over the last eight years it has somewhere intrinsically made itself a part of my identity of who I stand for.

When I look back I see a confused girl walking on the grounds of the law school, wondering if she could ever know what she really wants to do in her life or would she ever get the “heart calling” which she had only read about in books.

Two years later, as I stood at the UNESCO forum, being the youngest ever delegate in its 60 years history, speaking about globalization and its effect on Indian women, I surprised myself by making sense and inviting praises. Since then, there has been no looking back and some where I am glad that my life did find its calling. My book stands witness to the fact about how passionately I feel about the cause. To me it is not taking to the streets, but I have chose to bridge the gap of inequality “one book/ article at a time” .

When Bell Bajao (an international initiative by Breakthrough under the Ministry of Women and Child Rights, India) approached me to pen down a piece that would spread awareness about VAW, I wanted to do complete justice to it.

I brainstormed over all topics already written by me and wondered if there was anything that I wanted to re visit? I recollected all the stories which I have collected during my various field trips to find a topic. Yes, I did and at that moment I could run and hug Muriel Rukeyser (poet and social activist) who had once told that – “The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms”

I have heard screams behind doors and being told to ignore. I have seen parents fight in front of kids and none minded the language or the decibels. I have seen men being termed “better” than the other because a loose tongue cannot be compared to the hand that is raised to hurt! It is ok for him to scream, he is the man and he has a temper – haven’t we all heard that. However, my personal experiences have shown me how bad the effects of “verbal abuse” can be. Yes, it is a form of violence and abuse and it is time we face it.

So, this October 2012, in the spirit of spreading awareness about Violence Against women, I have taken a stand against “verbal abuse” and demanded that it be treated as one of the most degrading form of violence that effects the body, soul and the very existence to the very core and leaves us empty and battered.

Here is my interview with Bell Bajao about my views on VAW - http://www.bellbajao.org/interview-violence-against-women-awareness-month-sagarika-chakraborty/

Here is my article on “verbal abuse” ( I would love to know your thoughts on it” - http://www.bellbajao.org/feature-words-should-be-empowering-but-sadly-often-sum-up-to-stand-for-verbal-abuse/

Do read and let me know if you agree to stand up and join hands with me?

Tuesdays with Tamanna!

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 The irony is Tamanna and I, never met on Tuesdays! Tuesdays and Thursdays used to be the most difficult days of the week for they were her counselling days. Tantrums, cajoling, temper shoots, love musings a mix of all was needed to see through these two days with A (her BMC counsellor) and today as I spend the last Tuesday here, I am suddenly gripped with a strange nostalgia, of whether I fared well in this test of mentorship, for remember I wasn’t a mother?

T’s mythophobia scared me beyond my wits. It wasn’t those sudden unearthing of  events that make me gape in wonder that unnerved me, it was the extent of damage they were causing to her psyche that was the major concern. While we struggled through our lives and the emotional baggage we both carried the most important thing that I sought to make her understand that there was a fine line of distinction between lies and imagination. And that while the latter was healthy the former was a strict NO!

To explain her the difference I introduced her to Calvin and Hobbes and tried to unearth before her the power of imagination and that how Calvin never really ‘lied’. I tried to tell her that lies meant her trying to show her own self as someone she’s not. I succeeded at times when she told me the truth about cheating in a ‘maths’ test one day to score the highest and then I failed when her teacher asked me if she really had a cousin in US who was seeking to sending a her Wii for her birthday?

When she once cooked up stories about her trip-in-dreams to Iggatpuri I asked her if she really did this to fit in to a group or whether she was really uncomfortable in being in the skin she was in? In her innocent defensive mechanism she said that she found it ‘fun’ to cook stories. And so as I indulged in pretend play of ‘Teacher Student’ with her somewhere I realised that her very back ground troubled her. She liked to remain in a dream world where everything was exactly opposite. Where people spoke differently, wore different kinds of clothes and had a different lifestyle. She wanted the world to see her as someone she was not. Only because she had this image in her head that that life was ‘fun’.

While this was her ‘imaginative’ mind, the problem lay in her incessant lying to her classmates about her social conditions, about her background and the type of lifestyle she indulged into. She once lied to her teacher that her Marathi marks were poor because everyone only spoke in English at home!

One year and T taught me patience, taught me how difficult it is to maintain a strict face when your child cries but you know you have to be strong to teach her right and wrong. And that though later you’ll crave to pick her in your arms and cajole her saying it’s ok, you will not, instead you’ll just wonder and wonder that how it is not ok!

I couldn’t cure her fully that I would ramble about it here, but suddenly I felt to note down these thoughts? Why today? Maybe because all of a sudden as I stand to leave T and go I am gripped with this sense of self analysis on whether I have been too strict at times? Whether I have lost out on the fun play aspect with her and taken her childish follies too seriously? Whether I have been a paranoid pseudo-mother who was too motivated to do things right?

It’s not that I never had fun, I remember spinning a ‘why butterflies don’t get wet’ tale for her in the most imaginative way while people around me either quit saying they have full faith in my power of imagination or Googled the scientific reason for me to spill out?

It’s just that I am indulging in a self critique today. As I sat in the bus I struggled with this analysis and spoke to the two people I always talk to in my head – GM and Y! But then something else comforted me too and that brought me to actually write this to be frank!

Packing and moving on you discover things which you think are long lost! I discovered my old tattered copy of kiddie Gita today, the one which is ear-marked with all of GM’s favourite teachings. As I smiled and ruffled the pages I stopped at where Krishna says that lies are ok if they are to save your skin, but the moment you lie and that hurts anyone emotionally or physically, even if it’s in your unknown being, know that you have sinned?

I just sought to save T from hurting others and in turn her own self in the long run, GM. So guess you wouldn’t be too disappointed with me, right? I just wanted to make her understand that it’s important that she turns out to be a person whom people accept and love for what she is and for not what she pretends to be, for then she would be lying about her own identity. What would be worse than a self identity crisis, right GM?

T, I hope when I am back from my ‘tour’ (yes she thinks I am off for another office tour, but yes a long one!), I find you as a person who’s happy and confident and loves her own reflection in the mirror!

Loads of Love and Wishes

Mumbai Mondays 12 – It's a Fishy Affair!!!

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There’s a silent mental preparation I do whenever I go out dining with new set of people. As I put final touches to my ‘maggi curls’ I stands in front of the mirror and promise to myself that I won’t react when during ordering for food I am exclaimed at for the 1875684th time – “What you are a Bengali and you don’t have fish!!!!”

 Well yes, I know you guys make it sound like its worse than being an unchaste Brahmin girl, but so be it! I hate fish. Period. Oops sorry “Dot” – my new fascination after watching Rajnikanth’s Robot!

Though my gustatory calyculi (yes, I am just showing off that I know the scientific term for taste buds!) repel fish, those various Sunday morning escapades with Baba, tagging along proudly holding the ‘jhola’ to the Fish market has somewhere made my olfactory glands immune to the smell of raw fish. And so when I decided to cover Sassoon Docks for Mumbai Mondays, M thought I would faint, but I knew better!

Built in 1875 on reclaimed land,by Albert Abdullah David Sassoon (1818–1896), son of David Sassoon, a Baghdadi Jew and the leader of the Jewish community in Bombay, belonging to the Sassoon family, the dock the biggest dock in Mumbai and one of the few docks in the city open to the public.

Just off Cuff Parade in South Mumbai, the dock is best visited at dawn. The first local at 4 am took us there and I had one of the most awesome train rides here in Mumbai with only a few fish vendors to give us company. (And albeit stare with their sleepy eyes at a hyper active me doing beyoncing in train – all excited because she was out covering for MM!!!!)

The stench of fish near the port shows you the way through darkness and the alley of boats forms a beautiful trail that encompasses the entire semi circular stretch.

This colourful waterfront is a favorite haunt of local gourmets and restaurateurs who throng here for quality seafood at dawn, when the trawlers unload their catch.

People can buy baskets of shrimp, lobster, bony mackerel and fleshy pomfret at wholesale rates.

There are also cold storage places from where one can buy cleaned and filleted varieties which is earmarked for export.

Fisherfolk bring in their catch from the deep seas and by 5:30 the auctioning and bargaining of the stuff is at full bloom.

The locals say that those fish that survive the dawn break, rarely get sold, for the choicest ones are always picked up in darkness!

If the smell and the stench irks you, the smiling faces of the people and the beautifully weaved baskets and the array of ships overlooking the Marine Mumbai stretch and the Oyster Dock makes you switch off and witness one of the loveliest sunrise any city can ever offer!

Photography is strictly prohibited and the area is more cordoned after the terror attacks of 2008, but the spirit of Mumbai still runs high. So when we requested for a few photographs we were smilingly indulged into what was ‘against the law’ of the land!

Surrounded by the Colaba fishing village, we had the time of our lives identifying surmai, pomfret, prawns and lobsters. And when the sigh of the fishes got a bit too gruesome I turned towards the boat and make shift dry ice counters to keep myself fascinated.

Round it off with a heavy breakfast at the Britannia café or Indigo at Colaba Market and you have one of the best Sundays ever. Only till the time your mother calls you at 11 am to find you mumble to her that you have just hit bed after come back from a fishing village!

“But why on earth will you go to a fishing village at almost midnight???” , she asks!

“Because Ma that is the only time nobody is bothered as to whether I am a fish addict or a photography addict”, I mumble.

“Can’t you visit places like other normal girls of your age, like discos , pubs and parlors??? What did I have when I was about to deliver you I wonder”, she thinks out aloud.

“Definitely Fish Ma! For else my affairs and trails wouldn’t be so fishy right??”, I crack up groggily.

Does anyone know of a good site that can deliver some fish to make my mother talk to me! :P

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Mumbai Mondays is all about seeing Mumbai and its surroundings through my eyes. It’s my take to introduce you to a city and its surroundings which I love, as I see it – alone and often with friends (we call ourselves the Mumbai Mad Caps). It’s a thread that goes live every Monday. I cover places randomly and welcome suggestions too. You can find more posts about Mumbai Mondays here.

Want to write about Mumbai and share your experience – do drop me a line. We are open to Guest Posts too – Come join us and spread the Mumbai Madness around!

Mumbai Mondays 11 – Mumbai Marching for India :)

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Ya ok fine, there were camera, there was natural light and we spoke in crisp English and hoarse voices, looking like perfectly exhausted martyrs trying to re-create the 1919 scene and make the Mahatma proud.

The only hitch was only the Mahatma and the Times Now guys knew when it was to be aired and so apparently as it was an important story it got aired while I was still Facebooking and promising Nu and DI that I shall msg them!!!!! Wow!!!!  Aaah well so much so … this is not my crib post and I am not hungry for media footage *koff koff*

Waise the question to me was – Why are you here? Judiciary is being mocked doesn’t that make you cringe?

My answer ??? – Simple – Am first a tax paying citizen (who refuses to save ANY money through deviations) and if I don’t care about it being on stake, I can’t blame anyone else. So just as who doesn’t vote cannot lecture on how corrupt politicians are, if I don’t demand accountability I can’t lecture on wastage.

You think I am self obsessed? *Smiles* If I started this with a heavy lecture on Anti Corruption by now you would have crossed me out! It’s Monday morning after all!

Anti Corruption. It’s been a long battle people and trust me though I keep all my serious free lance work out of this blog – this one I couldn’t resist. Yes I do lead parallel lives and my take on this started on Gandhi Jayanti and today on his Death Anniversary it gained momentum. Yet again jeena yahan, marna yahan iske bina jaana kahan?? – Mumbai. :razz:

In  1919  Gandhiji burnt the Rowlatt Act and for the first time refused to let a dumb legislation be enacted. I was proud to the same today – no not metamorphic ally, to the fullest extent possible. It’s time we stand up and we do. It’s time we end those chai discussions and actually take to the road. If you don’t want corruption, act to take up the broom – was the crux.

Do I make any sense here – yes I do. I think. Just the way unlike a million of people my age who think such marches do not make any sense – well people we made it even to the Record Books today – this is the biggest citizen movement and the first citizen legislature to be mooted!!! That is big. And I am proud to be a part of the change which again many of you will just discuss and crib over cups of chai. Don’t. It’s our hard earned country money people, everyone deserves a fair deal right? Would you allow your child to steal from your purse? If NO WAY comes from you instantaneously – remember by keeping silent you are actually setting the wrong example. It’s the time to act now and this time with Mumbai the entire nation showed that with people like Kiran Bedi leading us.

I know this isn’t the perfect Monday post – boring and drab and trust me many of you must have already crossed the page out by now or read this in a super scroll speed – but trust me when you stand there amidst, dust grime and eat words, soak in the youth spirit- look around to see how many like you want a new India, this makes more than the perfect week start.

If this has sparked a little bit of interest in what I am talking about do visit this and also read this blog.

I protested by tearing up the proposed Bill mooted by the Government …

I took the pledge for my own clean up drive …

The only blogger I found sharing news about this was Mad Momma. I just hope that my research skills are weak.

What did you do? If you did, please share it …

And if you didn’t. NOW is the time … Take the Pledge and Act…

As they say .. Karke dekho accha lagta hai!

And yes in case you think you are too small to make a difference, remember it’s not the country’s wealth – it’s your sweat!!! :| My case rests and my work begins. :razz:

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Mumbai Mondays is all about seeing Mumbai and its surroundings through my eyes. It’s my take to introduce you to a city and its surroundings which I love, as I see it – alone and often with friends (we call ourselves the Mumbai Mad Caps). It’s a thread that goes live every Monday. I cover places randomly and welcome suggestions too. You can find more posts about Mumbai Mondays here.

Want to write about Mumbai and share your experience – do drop me a line. We are open to Guest Posts too – Come join us and spread the Mumbai Madness around!

Mumbai Mondays 10 – Mandwa and Kihim

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The beauty of a place lies in it lying afar yet near – the view of the Gateway of India from the Mandwa shore does just that. Located about 18 km north of Alibaug, Mandwa is a small and quaint village and is known for its calm waters, and beautiful and quiet beach.

The beach is accompanied by a quiet and quintessential village on one side dotted with coconut palm groves and the Kihim beach on the other end which is a nature lovers paradise (bird watching galore – no pun intended ;) ) The jungle of Kihim has varieties of rare flowers, butterflies and birds. One can also enjoy perfect tent stay and a wonderful surfing. On the other hand, Mandwa captures the visitor’s heart with its overwhelming serene atmosphere.

The place is of mixed heritage and every bit of the landscape around you speaks just that. While the Kolaba Fort nearby speaks stoically of the Maratha architecture, a visit to the nearby Chaul speaks about the heavy Portugese aura that lingers on still.

To say more the place is dotted with Buddhist caves, the Hamam Khana, a church, a temple and even a synagogue – need I explain diversity anymore?

The most in vogue and popular holiday along the beaches of Kihim are the tent holidays and prior booking is a must if one wants to avoid disappointment. Tents can be hired throughout the year except during the monsoons. To see the night sky dotted with stars lying on an un-spoilt beach – BLISS is often re-fined here!

The place is easily accessible by road and rail, but if one wants to indulge completely in the holiday mood – the ferry ride is ‘the’ thing to do! Rewas is the nearest sea port 6 kilometers away, from Kihim and regular ferry services are available from Mumbai to Rewas (except during monsoons).

A quiet getaway filled with serene beaches and just the sound of splashing waves. The Gateway 108 miles away speaks home is not far away and when back the heart standing at the Gateway reassures yet again that a get away is not too far! Soon again.

Trivia: Mandwa in Marathi means a marriage booth (pandal) – guess the romantic scenery inspired many a love birds to tie the knot – the sea witness to the love :P . Che Ma – it couldn’t inspire me enough it seems :lol: .. Sponsor me for Greece next time ;)

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Mumbai Mondays is all about seeing Mumbai and its surroundings through my eyes. It’s my take to introduce you to a city and its surroundings which I love, as I see it – alone and often with friends (we call ourselves the Mumbai Mad Caps). It’s a thread that goes live every Monday. I cover places randomly and welcome suggestions too. You can find more posts about Mumbai Mondays here.

Want to write about Mumbai and share your experience – do drop me a line. We are open to Guest Posts too – Come join us and spread the Mumbai Madness around!

Filmy Friday – For I learnt here that English is indeed a "phunny" language!

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“Haan ji .. so will you revert back on my mail? ” :?: :?: :?: - she looks at me expectantly and a pregnant pause follows. :roll: :roll: :roll:

:shock: :shock: :shock: *imagine Ekta Kapoor style one old man who hears his unmarried daughter saying that she is to become the mother of her lover’s child*

“Nahiiiiinnnnnn” I go – to save the baap trouble *he’s old you see and Adam’s apple not all well courtesy the “ciggys he blows”* :cool: :lol: :cool:

“Anyways let’s chuck that”, she continues and I write what follows in my mind *yes I think I have become akin to Rushdie (apparantly he conceived a few of his masterpieces in his sleep – ahem when Lakshmi made him sleep on the couch that is ;) ;) )*

*Black and White* *Sepia* *Black and White* – *Imagine watching any reality show and you’ll know what I mean* :shock: :shock: :shock:

M would say “Bhavnao ko samjho – shabdon pe mat jao” :roll: (appreciate the emotions and don’t cling on to words) but how can I? Me who has been the stickler for “original” Shakespeare in school and one of the three students who insisted on reading Plato in the purest form in college (my professor was first estatic on finding me and then he used to run away the moment he spotted me for he says my forehead came with the inscription – “Sir extra classes please” – tghis is what geniuses have to face people!!!! :roll: ) – wishes today she too was in grave. But then is this damage new – wonder? :? :?

My lingo is already gone to the dogs, I shamefully admit and the blog posts often stand witness of the sad punctuation. But what about Anarkali’s? International school in the national habitat means ‘fake accent’, Tamanna’s usage of ‘cool’ makes me flush and concocted verb-noun phrases in conversation makes me wish I really don’t communicate in English – as a courtesy to the Wren *I somehow had this image in school that he was hotter than Martin and had picked up that ravishing red color for the cover* :oops: :idea: :oops:

What inspired this today – aah well I thought “I Hate Luv Storys” was where Bollywood would stop going Filmy with the language – but guess no they are really Baccha (including Shruti Hassan some Bratty creature – I stared at her for over an hour n yet failed to understand what’s the hype all about – u better pay my ophthalmologist fee this season!!!) else why wouldn’t they understand that the caption “Love Grows … Men don’t” makes little sense when it is based on 3 men all above the height of 5’8”?? Or am I over reacting here??? :roll:

Guess it’s all about nipping at the bud stage – why blame when we still sing “Rain is falling chama cham cham” once during every Anatakshari game???? :cry:

Guess English toh Baccha hai ji aur mera thoda kaccha hai ji!!!! (Guess English is still a kid and mine still a little raw) :roll: :cry: :roll:

Mumbai Mondays 9 – Mumbai Marathon 2011

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“I do that because I am Mad!!!” :lol:

“Oh say something new!!!” he says :roll:

“Paaah!”, I run off :mad:

Guess have been running for a long time now. Running in my mind on the treadmill at the gym, running with life to see where it would lead me. So why wouldn’t Mumbai Marathon interest me?

Mumbai Marathon 2011 – the eight leg of the run which has always enthralled the country. There’s not a single soul here who doesn’t wish to run for Mumbai and there’s not a single cause for which you don’t run for here – so had I heard.

Today I walked and ran to discover the same.

While my friends slept in various parts of the country (and probably even all across Mumbai) I woke up (err didn’t sleep) to a spirit possessed Mumbai where the entire South Mumbai seemed like this huge fair.

We were no less possessed for we walked the tracks during the warm up and then again embraced it as the run broke out.

If I am to say the spirit enthralled me, you would ask me to say something new! But then again am still grasping for words to suit the frenzy mood I saw today.

It wasn’t us 20 some things who impressed me, it were those who were already winner of life’s toughest challenges  who left me speechless and grateful of the little pleasures life bestowed on me.

The agenda was clear – Mumbai and life here. Everything that touches us here was attempted to be bottled in 3 hours of a run. But somewhere ran parallel lives – Mumbai through the 3 hour run also showed that life and work doesn’t stop here for anything – it’s as if there’s a life to be led every moment and multi tasking is the key not pausing.

So while the BMC rag pickers ran to educate us against littering, the newspaper vendors continued their morning frenzy for to them a run wouldn’t feed their family!

The Navy stood guard, the high and the mighty ran braving sprains, a young fella offered water to his newly acquired grandfathers.

A young wandered suddenly saw himself being lifted up to the pedestal of a winner – he was indeed – the new trend-setter of the Half Marathon.

A record was broken to be re-set yet again. I was awaken yet again to fall out of love with my life and fall in love with the life this city bestows to me.

The end was indeed dreamy .. but a tinge of nightmare followed when you realise that to win you would tread the path against ethics. When did the urge for fame and money surpass passion you wonder.

 

 

But still in the end somewhere we all stood to say just one thing….

 

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Mumbai Mondays is all about seeing Mumbai and its surroundings through my eyes. It’s my take to introduce you to a city and its surroundings which I love, as I see it – alone and often with friends (we call ourselves the Mumbai Mad Caps). It’s a thread that goes live every Monday. I cover places randomly and welcome suggestions too. You can find more posts about Mumbai Mondays here.

Want to write about Mumbai and share your experience – do drop me a line. We are open to Guest Posts too – Come join us and spread the Mumbai Madness around!

Sumptuous Saturday…

Posted on by under All about me...

I am a stickler for traditions … that’s a part of the me where GM resides :) . As she has taken to bed and Ma is away I decided to keep the family tradition going of making sweets on Sankrant and so started the morning at 6 …. :D (yes that’s the gharelu mee my dear never-to-be-MIL :oops: )

The sleepy eyed me started off by goofing up the gulab jamun batter and M came into rescue. Damage control has never been so stressful :P . As the stuff boiled and seasoned we waited with fingers crossed. :?

 

In the end the Gulab Jamnuns smiled happily as they sauna’d and jacuzzi’d in the sugar syrup …. though Baba looked at them over Skype and nodded that they should have been more drowned in sugar :roll:   …. How do u know everything My Hero I wonder at times ;) ;)

The kheer was more than perfect – something GM would have been proud of. I loved the smell as it boiled and was quite pleased with my efforts overall. It was like school days art n craft project completed to perfection! Lolz!!! :lol:

Happy Sankrant/ Pongal/ Lohri/ Bihu Guys …. How were the festivities at your end?

N what’s your prayer – mine is for the bread basket of the world to over flow for each one of us!

Mumbai Mondays 6 – The World is a Stage and me the Drama Queen :P

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I think I was about 4 when I took the stage for the first time. I don’t even know how I memorised those long lines – but Ma says I took to the stage like a fish taking to water. When I tell people that public speaking and the stage has never scared me and that even if I sweat in the green-room, when the lights came on I am all fine – they say it’s in my blood. True that! For my parents have taught me the love for stage, like no one else has. Being avid theatre lover and performers themselves (they still perform every year during Durga Puja for our apartment programs and various clubs back at home) they made me learn the rush of adrenalin on stage with the spot-light on early on. No wonder the tag Drama Queen fits me so well guys!

Mumbai – my first love at the age of 12. Amongst other reasons there lay this too that this city loves performing arts like no other in the country. If Broadway sounds big to you, perhaps you should do what I love doing here the most – watching a play at the NCPA (The Tata Centre – National Centre of Performing Arts) and then perhaps you would know the passion that speaks every time the curtain rises.

I compare it with my Bangalore escapades but nothing matches. My then BF was this budding rockstar (don’t ask me where is he now – I was 20 then people!!!! And now it seems as old as the History of India!!!) and so I was the fancy young butterfly who if in town would go to attend all his concerts at the Palace Grounds (more than the music I think it was the tag of being the ‘girl of the performer’ which gave me the reason to cut lines, be saluted by the security and rush into the Green-room as others looked on and mouthed ‘bitch’ was what lured me), but trust me no banging of head to pseudo Pink Floyds can take me on a high the way Shabana Azmi, Shefali Shah or today Vir Das did.

As I watched the ‘History of India’ I wanted to message dad that why ain’t any of the friend’s sons you seek to introduce me to as a ‘good catch match’ like him? I mean Dude get me someone like this and then perhaps I can re-think of my celibacy vows! But no, as the History says like all good men this one too is taken!!!!

History of India, is best described in the Bong man’s (yes I say it with a LOT of pride here) words when he describes it as,

“A little bit of fact, a whole lot of fiction, some satire, and a lot of pride make “History of India ‘Vir’itten” a truly historical experience that shows how much humour there is in heritage.”

True it’s our journey from the Pangea stage to the present Obama visit through nothing but satire about Bengali laziness and mad Delhi farm house parties, or the flashy Gujju’s and the Marathis Manus. But it’s us in the end and that is what the best part is all about. No where through the play or through satire do you feel degraded or disconnected. It’s a play I want my Anarkali to watch so that tomorrow she knows the difference between satire and mocking when she talks about her country. Its the perfect way to make people realise that ‘he who can laugh at himself the world dare not laugh at him.’ You’ll clap at the satire, somewhere you will feel like slipping under your chair, but at the end of the historical journey you’ll stand tall as an Indian.

It was all worth a mad Sunday evening . Life is so much worth living in a city which makes you stand tall as a proud citizen and human being each day – Mumbai does that to me every time. No wonder it’s called the city of dreams, awe and realisation – it’s truly Mumbai Meri Jaan! (Just wish if you could introduce me to Vir Das when he was single!)

Happy Mumbai Monday guys! So how went your weekend?

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Mumbai Mondays is all about seeing Mumbai and its surroundings through my eyes. It’s my take to introduce you to a city and its surroundings which I love, as I see it – alone and often with friends (we call ourselves the Mumbai Mad Caps). It’s a thread that goes live every Monday. I cover places randomly and welcome suggestions too. You can find more posts about Mumbai Mondays here.

Want to write about Mumbai and share your experience – do drop me a line. We are open to Guest Posts too – Come join us and spread the Mumbai Madness around!

For all that and more… THANK YOU!

Posted on by under All about me...

Okay so I am about 24 hours late. Well technically Thanksgiving is long over. Even my Mexican cousin is on the way of wrapping up her party. I spoke to her kids – tried to explain to them in a mix of Bengali and Nepali about Charulata’s entry into our lives and they rattle away in Spanish about their just over party. I listen quietly as I hear as to how they thanked God for everything good and try to appear all grown up and profound.

 As I sit here with my Krishna smiling at me today, I wonder whether I too should add a Thanks giving prayer to him. Then I look outside at the sky from my cubicle here – the dark cloudy skies with the sunshine pouring out at places where the cloud cover are a bit busted. It’s then that I find my Thanks giving prayer – the one that befits me. So here it is…

 Thank you for the palmful of sun peeping through the covers – it’s almost as if you say “strive for the light even in your darkest days”

 Thank you for the dark cover of the clouds – it’s like a mother giving her cover to cry for the children who just lost their loved ones today.

 Thank you for the preceding Thanksgiving and the Friday today – it’s heartening to walk down Haji Ali like each day watching the old chacha pray – looking around and wishing well, despite his fellow mate vandalizing you two years back. Thank you for teaching me objectivity today.

 Thank you for the little nip in the early morning air – it’s your way of running a shiver down, so that we never forget, what it feels to be cold and face death!

 Thank you for the special invite the people here have sent me – the spirits teach me that life is to be celebrated and not events.

 Thank you for the policeman who still guards the same place where his brother was shot – it teaches me how to face the worst fears eye to eye and learn and grow.

 Thank you Mumbai – for if God is a nothing but spiritual guess it takes his inspiration from the ‘spirit’ you spread around!

 My Thanksgiving goes to you …. I shall always be indebted to you for making me a wise human being and a proud citizen! What else can thanking be all about? And who else can be a greater God than the spirit that inspires you to live and love?

 

Top) 25 November 2010 ( Sanskrut Kuma/Mint), (below) 26 November 2010 (AFP)