My first smart phone..

It’s new and sleek

There is an element of mystique

It’s called the tipo

My new beau

 As I fiddle with the screen

I can’t help creating a scene

Someone gets a call from me

They feel I am on some spree

Typing while on a chat

Is still a balancing act

Trying to find what I need

My fingers impede

Downloading the apps

Adding new feathers to my cap

There is a long way to go

Before I become a maestro

 

 

 

 

 

Missing Dad...

I missed u when I was a bride
I missed u when I had to bid goodbye
I miss those endless chats we had
I miss the chaats u made for me.
I miss you as my fashion advisor
I miss u as my financial planner

I miss u when I make chicken to dine
I miss you for your opine
I miss you when I go shopping
I miss your rage at my shops hopping
I miss your glee at my report cards
And your proud smiles to show off me

But mom says there is nothing amiss
As your Dad is part of you, miss
You look like him and you talk like him
Am glad you are here after him.

School of Home Management

Milk gets spoilt if you forget to boil it twice.
Cleaning Spinach takes good odd 10 mins.
Proportions of water, salt are sometimes tricky.
When something tastes good, it’s always less and when something tastes awful, you always have a helping at hand...

At a grocer's store there are some ten varieties of rice and a few less of different colored lentils.

There are tens of brands of oil at hand, some items when bought by weight are too much to consume.

Phew! It’s tough running a house, or is it running around a house?

I have recently joined the league of women who have to juggle between managing work and house chores. Within a span of three days I have learnt the rates of milk, vegetables, rice, wheat and the most important talent for a woman-BARGAINING.I am amused that I have actually started saying "Dus mein nahin, paanch mein de do".

There are so many things needed to make a house, a HOME. It was so easy earlier, coming home to a dinner waiting for you. Not being bothered about what to cook for tomorrow or check the inventory in the refrigerator. Now I browse for Recipes more than anything else on the internet.

Thankfully I have got a maid for washing utensils. Or you don’t even realize when the sink is full of those mean, sticky, slimy pots and pans staring back at you.

The maid removed the ring of the pressure cooker for washing…Unmindful of it I put rice in it and went off for my bath...When I came back, the rice was all black and so was the whole pressure cooker.
I got so annoyed that some of my dresses are running color in spite of paying a thousand bucks.
So I have to wash them separately. The hunt for Doodhwala, Paperwala, and Istriwala was easy thanks to some helpful neighbors.

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy, you must have somebody to divide it with. - Mark Twain

It’s a bit tough, but its real fun.And when you have a wonderful partner along the journey, the stress is gone within no time. I have a south Indian for myself who made me a dosa when I had a tough time getting one on the pan. He added just the right amount of water for the right consistency of batter.

I am graduating everyday in this school of home management. My hats off to all those wonderful women who have easily managed to be the toppers in this school.When you come to office, with a packed lunch that you have cooked yourself, eating it is a satisfaction that cannot be explained. There’s so much to go wrong, so much to learn. I will keep trying till I get it right. Wish me luck...

Oops...I got to go now. The milk is spilling over...

Matheran..Time for a break..

Buzzzzzzzzz…went the alarm at 5.30AM.Sleepy eyed I got up startled and put it off. Its finally time I thought. Got ready to catch the Karjat Fast at 7.03AM.No, I wasn’t heading for office as millions of Mumbaikars do every day. I was heading to Matheran for a much needed break.

I reached Dadar station a little after 6.40AM and saw a long queue for tickets. I had to catch the 7.03AM fast train so as to catch the toy train from Neral on time. Mom gave me some tough looks about leaving earlier from home and I kept cursing the crowds and the slowly moving queue. This fast train comes right after the Mumbai-Pune intercity express. By the time I reached the ticket window, the announcement for Intercity had already been made. I told Mom and others to carry on forward and wait near the Ladies compartment.

I thankfully got to the window on time and ran up the stairs to catch the train. I settled in and took out my headphones to listen in to my favorite music. The air was chilly and the mood just right.Who says you need to be on the best of holiday destinations to enjoy a sunrise, it can be enjoyed from a Mumbai local train too if you have the time. The nice round orange ball peeping from between the many buildings is certainly a treat to the eyes. And for someone like me, who hardly ever wakes up before sunrise, it was simply special. It was a nice and somewhat guilty feeling to see people rushing for work and me heading for a small vacation. After some time I got the much coveted window seat in the direction of the train. Blissfully I enjoyed the journey, even checking my watch to see if the tunnel after Thane really lasts for a minute.

Reaching Neral, I took the much publicized toy train to Matheran. It has just four coaches and the seats are so close together, there’s hardly any leg space. But when you have such nice sights to enjoy, who’s bothered about leg space. The train winds its way around the many mountains. It turns almost 180 degrees at some points. You transcend from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai to the serene peace of nature in minutes. There are monkeys along the way to amuse you with their gimmicks. There’s also a tall Ganesh idol, which locals call Kadawarcha ganpati. As you keep going higher up the trail the views get more splendid. The train nears Matheran and you see red soil all around. There are no concrete roads as vehicles are not allowed. The all so prominent hoof marks of horses tell you the story. I checked in the hotel and went straight for lunch. It was really good. I had a good nap, before heading out for some sightseeing.

As soon as we stepped out, there were people vying to get us on their horses. After a bit of bargaining I settled for an older looking local. The most amusing thing was to see my mom mounting a horse. At 60 years she showed some grit. She was really scared at first and wanted to get off it that very minute. I egged her on and she finally agreed. I had got a horse named Sachin.It was an adorable creature with a white body and brown hair. I thought I had the best in the business as Sachin Tendulkar also happens to be my favorite cricketer. We were instructed to sit upright and put our feet firmly in the saddle. And so began our journey with the horsemen bridling our horses. It was a wonderful walk in the woods on horsebacks. We shouted each other’s names at Echo point and clicked mindless photos at Sunset point. But the most interesting was to click photos on a horse. I reined in the horse like a trained jockey to pose for the photograph.

We had made a deal with the horsemen to return the next morning to take us for some more sightseeing along with a wonderful view of the sunrise. I got up at 5.30AM (Wow! that’s twice in a week) again and stepped out in the chilly weather. It was dark all around and my mom was apprehensive of the people and their horses. Being a weekday there was not much crowd. The horseman managed to engage mom in his talks and she enjoyed the ride once more. The sunrise was amazing along with a hot cup of tea. It was amazing to see he sun show up from behind the mountains and turn from orange to yellow brightening up the skies all along. I and my cousin were now allowed to ride the horses on our own, seeing our skills. We were thrilled at the prospect. But it was a different story. I was bouncing up and down as the horse galloped and was scared. I was screaming at the horseman to put some brakes on it. The horse would bend down in between to eat something on the way and I was supposed to rein it in. It was tough as the animal tried restraining with all its might. My cousin managed to do it well as a born warrior on horses and got some glares from me for making fun of me.

It’s one thing to mount a horse and another to get off one. I had an almost nasty fall when my sandals got stuck in the straddle. I managed a hearty laugh about it but my horseman got anxious that I would not give him enough tips now and Mom was worried too. I managed to reach back the hotel after a thorough joyous ride. This was followed by a game of table tennis with my cousin. I managed to beat him and it was wonderful to sweat it out and enjoy and have some sweet revenge.

We relaxed for the day, chatting and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. In the evening it was time for some shopping. Matheran is famous for its Chikki and some leather goods. I bought those and enjoyed the bargaining experience and the window shopping. Alas, the vacation was over and I had to take the train back to Neral the next morning. The toy train ride was even more enjoyable this time as there were no tourists and we had the whole coach for ourselves. We kept hopping from one side to the other taking in the views and clicking photos. I also managed to get a video of the engine being attached to the coaches. Shifting from Neral to the Mumbai suburban rail network was boring. But then, I was refreshed and recharged to take Mumbai head on….

Getting to Matheran:-

Form Dadar to Neral:-

Take the 7.03AM fast train to Karjat from platform no.4. Reaches Neral at around 8.40M. From Neral to Matheran:-

Toy train online booking at https://www.irctc.co.in/ Train No: 52103 leaves Neral at 9AM. From Matheran to Neral:-

Toy train leaves Matheran at 9.50AM and reaches Neral around 11.50AM.

From Neral to Dadar:-

CST Fast at 12.23PM.

Hotel Review:- Regal Hotel

http://www.regalmatheran.com/home.htm http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g503701-d677986-Reviews-Regal_Hotel-Matheran_Maharashtra.html

First thing to mention is the food which was really good. The service was also good with friendly staff around. I had been there on weekdays and it was really nice and peaceful. Good recreational facilities like table tennis, carom, and badminton (outdoor) court. They had a pool table too but no cues. Playing areas for kids were also nice.

26/7

After the usual “Ctrl F”for books, journals, umbrella etc in the morning, I started off for college on a perfectly sunny day. I did not know then that I would not return home till the day after. College went on usual, till about 2pm. An interesting topic on Image processing was on. Then it started raining and everyone instinctively started looking outside the windows. The lecturer casually commented, “Haven’t you seen rain before?”But yes, we did not see anything like this before...We joked among ourselves that we might have to spend the night in college.
26/7, the date itself spells disaster. The remaining lectures and practicals were cancelled for the day and everyone was suddenly on the college ground, chattering incoherently. We ventured out that day from college, hoping to make it home. Being Mumbaikars, we knew the wrath of the rains and how to tackle it, so it seemed……
But we didn’t know how to react to a record breaking performance, the highest rainfall in a day in the world, beating Cherapunji, which we knew from history books. As the trains, especially Central railway was down; we decided to take a BEST bus. Me and my friend spotted a bus headed home and happily hopped on.
The Bus went on ahead for some time and then stopped. I thought it was just another traffic snarl due to the rains. It was pouring cats and dogs still. The gravity of the situation suddenly got to us. People started getting off the bus only to step into a raging river outside. It was getting difficult to walk against the tide by the minute. We decided to wait in the bus itself till the water recedes and the bus gets on its way. That never happened though. The noise of the rain was getting annoying and we kept praying for the rains to stop as time passed. The bus had become like an island by then, full of passersby who hopped in. Without food and water and the electricity being down, I was astonished. Could not believe this was happening to me. Some locals arranged for Glucose biscuits to be distributed, but as we were at the rear end, the biscuits never reached us. The night was spent trying to catch forty winks and forget hunger and thirst. To keep the battery going, the driver would start the engine in between and we would be happily awakened thinking we were moving ahead.
After sunrise finally, we decided to head back to college. The water outside had receded a bit ,but a by lane leading to college was still flooded. I was scared looking at the water but tried to remain brave. We waded through chest high water and finally made it to college. Many friends of mine were relieved to see us. They knew we had started the day before, but did not have any idea about our whereabouts. I did not have a cell phone back then. Having it would not have made any difference anyways, as all the networks were down.
One of my friends realizing we might be hungry rushed to the canteen and got us some chikki. The Chikki was nothing less than any other cuisines around the world then. We happily gobbled it up and had some water. Some 100 students had stayed back at college that night. The canteen served plain old Dal rice as dinner. Classrooms were transformed into dormitories.
There is a boy’s hostel on the upper floors belonging to another sister institute, where no one is allowed to go. But that day, one room was opened for us girls to stay and rest for some time. I am really thankful to my college for doing that, I got some much needed rest for some time, before starting off again to reach home.
After taking a call on the status of trains and roads, we decided to walk it up to Andheri station from Kurla and hoped to get a train from there. The walk from Kurla to Andheri was a new journey for me. I didn’t know where that road led to and just followed my classmates. We were walking together in groups of two threes, holding hands at times. It was as if it was some march for Freedom.
Confusion prevailed at Andheri and no one knew till where the trains were plying. We got into a train, hoping it was Churchgate and not Virar bound. Patiently waiting for the announcement, which is otherwise so irritating. “Platform no.ek ki gaadi Bandra jayegi”.We gave high fives to each other and happily sat inside. The trains were only going till Bandra, as it was rumored that the water was over the tracks at Bandra creek. I shuddered at the thought. Next time you pass over Bandra creek, take a look below and you might realize what it would have been like.
Tired, hungry and confused, we were finally inching closer to home. Everywhere there was filth as if a tornado had just ripped through. Trains, electricity and mobile networks were down but patience and hope was high. It was an amazing and heart wrenching sight to see people lined up along the tracks offering food and water to anyone and everyone. After getting down at Bandra, I managed to get a cab ride home. So, finally the war was won and I reached home.Thankfully, we did not have any water woes or electricity problems. I switched on the TV and watched the endless news coverage, thanking God for keeping me safe.
The day broke all divides between the rich and the poor. Whether you drove a luxury car or travelled by train or bus, you were stranded. Mumbai’s famous spirit was at display and it once again made me proud to be a Mumbaikar.

A day in Chicago...

We found out that a train leaves from the nearest station Downer’s Groove Main Street to Chicago at 8.45am.Many people told us different station names as nearest. There was Villa Park, Forest park and Downer’s Groove. Catching a train on time is an art we Mumbaikars are perfect in. So we set out on one fine Saturday morning, dressed up complete with a coat, gloves, boots and cap and a map of Chicago in hand. Like in a bus at Mumbai, you could buy the tickets on the train. The train was a double Decker. It had one column of seats on both sides on upper deck and two each on either side on lower. We asked the conductor for a weekend pass and asked him which station to get down at for downtown. That’s what they call Chicago. Like our town side for Fort area. He mumbled something and like excited kids we waited for our station name to be announced...”Now approaching Quarter 2…..”We waited and waited, taking in the nice view outside. The train was slow and halting every 5 mins.Finally the last station arrived and we could see the superb Chicago skyline approaching, with the Sears tower as a jewel in the crown. Baffled and irritated at the conductor we got out and walked in the direction everyone was going.
The next question was which exit to take. There was a Jackson street exit, a Madison street exit (which was discovered later and would become a savior), an Adam street exit and a Canal street exit.
We stepped out of Jackson Street and craned our necks to look at the towering skyscrapers. It was a vertical city. Being used to getting around Mumbai without knowing an area too well, I thought it would be the same here. But that was not to be…
We were looking for a free trolley service that comes with the Go Chicago card and also a place to buy the card first. We asked 2-3 people on the road about the free trolley and they were bewildered. One person asked us to spell out TROLLEY. We spent about half an hour walking up and down and finally saw a CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) bus going to Navy Pier. It sounded familiar, so we hopped on.
You have to pay the fare right after getting in, there’s a machine to put your money into. We asked the lady driver about how much to the last stop. She said 4.5$ for two. I took out a 5$ bill (not note...) and handed it to her. She said no change and pointed us to a board saying in bold letters,” Driver has no change”. She said you either give a 5 or get off. Left with no choice, we sacrificed the 50 cents and sat inside. The bus is similar to our Star bus in Mumbai, except that you can pull the string to stop it anywhere and also get it to stop anywhere by waving a hand from the road.
Navy Pier is the hottest tourist attraction in Chicago. The mystic blue Michigan Lake in full view on one side and the amazing Chicago skyline on the other…it enthralls you. There is a famous ferris wheel there, a big giant wheel sort of. After much hunting we got the Go Chicago card and our first free ride on that was the ferris wheel. We were asked to sit in one of its buckets coming down. I hoped in and was looking at the guide book that came along with the Go Chicago card, busy planning where can we go next. My colleague warned me that I am missing out on a great view and I should put down that book. I laughed at him and said I will check out the view when the wheel is faster, right now they are just loading people onto it. So we completed a full circle and our bucket reached the ground again. The person there opened the door and told me to get off. I looked at my colleague baffled and stepped out. My idea of a giant wheel had horribly gone wrong. My colleague could not help laughing at me and I too had a good laugh at my stupidity. So much so for a giant wheel…
There were also some architectural cruises around Lake Michigan. We did not go for it due to lack of time. Next stop was the Children’s museum at Navy Pier. We went in and flashed our card with a smile. But you need a photo id Ma’m if you are not with kids, said the security officer. I was annoyed by the idea as my colleague was not carrying his passport. We asked her if it’s ok to keep my passport, but she denied that too. So we Bid Adieu and moved on….
We went to a nearby bus stop and I was still busy deciding from the guide book, where do we head next. A map on the stop showed the bus went to Michigan Avenue, the John Hancock observatory was near it.
We got onto the bus and asked the driver if this went to Michigan Avenue just to be sure. He mumbled something and we were on our way. We got off at Michigan Avenue thankfully as few other people also wanted to go there. Relying on the driver would have been bad. Walking there for a few blocks we finally located the John Hancock observation desk. There were no signs on the road indicating it hidden behind all those skyscrapers. The view from top was amazing; also saw what I missed on the wheel.
We came out of that building and finally located our much hunted trolley. It was a double Decker bus with an open top. It had red seats and was cool and spacious. We started on our tour of the city of Chicago. Our next stop was Sears tower.

Chicago calling....

Dinner was at P.F Chang’s a Chinese restaurant nearby. Me being a vegetarian had to hunt for options, rather take whatever veggie is available. Settled for lettuce wraps. It was a mix of veggies stir fried, to be wrapped in lettuce and eaten. Hardly ate any of it though as was not feeling hungry due to the jet lag. Just wanted to go home...Oops the hotel and hit the bed. At the end of dinner we were presented with fortune cookies. It’s a sweet cookie like a shell, inside which is a small chit of paper telling your fortune. I read mine and it was good. So happily went back to the hotel…..
The alarm went off at 7.15am; I woke up startled in bed wondering where I was. I walked to the window and pushed the curtains aside to witness the amazing morning sky, with the sun just rising above the horizon. The sun must have just travelled from Shivaji Park to here I thought. There were some ducks quacking in the lake, unmindful of the surroundings. Cars were pulling up in the parking lot. One car per person. I freshened up and put on my best dress to start work at my Client’s office.
I was greeted by my old colleague at the office. I talked to him over the phone for some months now and it was great to meet him in person. The office was nice with the client color of Violet everywhere. It was spacious and airy. The cubicles were so big; you could sleep on the table. Attached drawers and some overhead like inside an airplane. A VOIP was available on each desk. I opened the venetian blinds of the window to look at the view outside. Cars neatly parked in rows at one side and houses with slanting red roofs everywhere, a skyscraper amidst them in the distance getting lost in the fog.
We went for lunch with our colleague at Flat Top grill reastaurant.Once seated, we had to write our names on a stick and take the bowl with us. The idea was like our Tawa masala bhaji in India. You pick the veggies or meat and noodles or rice in a bowl, select the sauces and give them the bowl. They would put in different color sticks in it for any allergies you have, the one with your name on it and stir fry for you on a big rectangular tawa and present it at your table. You had an option of a paratha with it. A blue color stick for that. Content and satisfied with our meal, we went back to office.
Taking out my laptop I realized the voltage converter we had brought from India was useless. We were driven to a nearby electronics store by a colleague. The store was huge, and you could get any electronic component under the sun there. Aisles marked with the component names. But finding the right adapter was a herculean task. The salesman did not understand what we needed and the things he showed us were too expensive. We gave the task of getting one for us to our colleague and stepped out. That meant an off day at office, without the laptop, so it was a great idea….
Weekdays just flew past. Every day was a new realization that cooking is a tough job and how different vegetables take different time to cook in a microwave. My anger at mom asking me every day,” What do you want to eat?” seemed so insensitive. That was the toughest question in life for me now. But I somehow managed with my limited culinary skills.
Before long, my first weekend in America arrived. After much deliberation and research, going through many pamphlets available at the hotel front desk, me and my colleague decided to buy a Go Chicago card. It had a onetime fee and access to all the major attractions. Seemed wonderful....The plan was to reach the Chicago Union station and take it from there.