Random Musings

I am writing after a long time. Some thing or the other came up for a while, and I could not write. And then the inertia factor struck. I just kept putting off writing one day after another, and let too long a time to go by. So this is a big thing.. just getting back to the writing habit. And here I am!

Life has been busy and interesting these last few weeks.

Summer was up on us. Very very hot. Still is. And in Mumbai, its just so sultry and humid. By the time one is out of the shower, one is wet all over again, but with perspiration. And thus goes the whole day.

We did not travel this summer. Expect for a short break to Panchagani. We went and stayed at a ‘sanitorium’. It was quite nice, in fact. A decent 3-bedroom apartment, with a fully equipped kitchen, television, and a great location, with good breeze, all day long. Was a nice break from Mumbai and work. While we chilled out mostly, playing cards and carrom and watching TV, we also went around a bit, to Mahabaleshwar and Panchagani places. The usual Table Land, Mahabaleshwar Lake, Mapro Gardens, etc. were on the list. But in addition, we went to an interesting theme park in Panchagani, called “Sherbaug”. Made well, it is full of natural habitat, trees, flowers, waterfalls, etc. Quite an interesting place, and nice to discover something new in a place where one has been a few dozen times. In addition, tried out a few food places in Mahabaleshwar and Panchagani. Amongst them, Hotel Nataraj for snacks on the way from Mumbai, Hotel Shakunt for a Maharashtrian prepared Gujarati thali at Wai, and the usual suspects, Hotel Rajesh (so-so) and Hotel Dreamland (Mahabaleshwar) for good Gujju meals.

Other interesting things done recently, include a visit to small town like location in Mumbai, called Khotachiwadi. Unbelievable to find this in Mumbai, if one just saw the photographs of the place, one would think, it’s a small town in Maharashtra or something like that. And yet its actually in the heart of Mumbai, in Girgaum, a great mix of cultures, small houses, balconies where you can jump from one to the next house, and then there was their food festival. A mix of variety of foods, including Bengali, Chinese, Catholic, Maharashtrian, etc. I just had the Soul Kadi, as we could not stay for dinner there. The Soul Kadi was great!

We saw a funny Gujarati drama last week, “Bas Kar Bakula”. I had a lot of fun. Was almost falling out of my seat there. So much fun it was. Not that everyone was enjoying as much – I was enjoying a little more than others, I suspect!

Then there have been a few movies seen in recent times – Waqt, Bunty aur Babli, Parineeta. More about these later, in other postings.

So long – glad to break the jink, and restart on the writing. Hope to be regular once again.