Mental Excursions

The Umbrella Story Top Left: Shree 420 (1955) Top Right: Mary Poppins Bottom Left: Lamhe Middle: Kingsman Right: Singing in the Rain After intense cold for nearly a month, the weather was slowly warming up and people trapped indoors/under layers of woollens were looking forward to sun-kissed days before the weather turned to the other extreme, when nature brought a shock; - rains, hailstorms at some places, and strong winds. Most of the men in jackets, waterproof or otherwise, and women hunched in shawls, scurried for shelter or tried to protect himself/herself from the rain. I hardly saw an umbrella covering any head. After some time, I wondered- have umbrellas gone out of fashion? This brought me to the question of umbrella itself, and its importance. And will you believe it, USA observes today, the 10 th of February, as National Umbrella Day?   Remember the times when you could get only black fabric umbrellas? In Dehradun where it would rain any time during the day, people ...

My road journeys…and paneer paratha! Turn a blind eye to everything if you have to eat here! We undertook two road journeys in this first month of the year, with both falling in the category of short trips. After all, going from Mumbai to Lonavala and Lucknow to Varanasi do not merit a spot for distance in the Guiness book in any way. And I am left wondering - am I blind to the beauty that other people can observe and enjoy in nature? Am I merely a nit-picker? Does the moving car put me into a deep slumber without me being aware of it, so I miss what the others see? Mumbai - Lonavala   It took nearly two hours to get out of Mumbai in the afternoon traffic, such a vast city it is. The roads with no pavements led to shanties, makeshift small shops punctuated with sad-looking bent trees gone dry and dusty with the fumes of the traffic, or huge swanky buildings around which green trees stood proudly. Tour operators extoll the scenic beauty on the nearly 83 km Mumbai - Lonavala ...

Food for smiles! Am I reading too much in this proof of creativity? Is it merely  an innocent, straightforward description? I understand that s i gnboards are meant to guide, provide information about the wares being sold and attract customers. Yet sometimes, signboards in restaurants catch one’s attention for other reasons. The place may or may not promise to tickle your taste buds or satiate your hunger, but it does offer you a reason to smile. My sincere thanks to my friends and readers for sending me these pearls, proudly 'made in India'. Do not frown. Bless this mess for extinguishing the heat of the fiery spices used in Andhra food with so much  buttar and Punjabi food, if you please! These seem like wise suggestions! Has anyone ever tried either? I could take names of overweight filthy rich people but with their treasures they would drag me to court, so I leave it to your imagination and general knowledge. Somebody please advertise for this shop. The place sel...

Time to wash away your sins! Jallikattu or bull-taming, part of Pongal in Tamilnadu Photo: Economic Times Looking back, it appears as something of an annual ritual. Every year the night of 13th January when we left for our respective homes after the Lohri (perhaps I shall write about that next year!) bonfire and celebration, the neighbourhood bebe (a term of address to an older woman often mother/grandmother) would remind me, “ Kude, kal sangraand hai, satte savere nha dho ke sohne kapde pa ke mattha tek layin (Girl, tomorrow is Sangraand. Bow before God after taking a bath and dressing up in good clothes early tomorrow morning).” By the time I heard bebe ’s call nha layi (Have you had your bath?) from across the wall in the early dark, foggy next morning, I would already have washed my hair, had my bath, and dressed in a fresh set of clothes. Salaries were low those days and a veterinary doctor got lesser than the doctor for humans, so with my father’s limited means, we tried t...

Log off 2023, restart, log in 2024! For a few of us imperfect humans, it is time to make the promise of turning a new leaf, to plan, and to intend eventually to look at improved versions of ourselves when we look at the mirror 366 days later. Whether it has been a long time wish which we have forever wanted to make true or an ambition that we strive to turn into reality, the new year resolution-implementation works in two ways- jump right in on the 1st day of the new year or progress in a phased, planned manner each day for 365 days. My experience says the first generally applies to giving up or beginning something e.g., resign from your job to prevent sacking or foolishly resolve to give up nicotine/caffeine/alcohol/ impulsive buying/stress eating/saying yes under social or emotional pressure/watching You tube videos endlessly/sleeping in till late. In a phased manner one could choose to eat/live healthy, work harder, follow passions/hobbies, learn a new skill/language over th...

Their hearts beat for Shoh Rukh Khon Uzbek Diary V Last The high-speed train from Bukhara which I had talked about in my post last Saturday, brought us to Samarkand in less than two hours, around 5.00 p.m.   We went straight to the hotel which promised us a luxurious stay. My understanding is that with increased focus on tourism everywhere, new hotels are coming up, but the staff are not exactly prepared or trained for that. Checking us in took a very long time although we were the only guests in the huge hotel. Then, getting the wi-fi password ended in us being exhausted and the staff frazzled because they simply could not do it. We had heard about the lighting of the Registan Square at night, so to make the most of whatever was left of the evening, we decided to go there. Before you complain of Uzbekistan fatigue, let me assure you that this is the last of the series and then I go back to my usual random topics. Believed to be one of the oldest inhabited cities of Central A...