My mother-in-law has been here for the last couple of weeks (henceforth referred to as 'm-i-l' in true 'Woman's Era' ishtyle! "http://www.womansera.com"). My husband has a brother, so she is an m-i-l twice over. While my mom is my mom, “ she” treats us(certainly me) as a much loved niece at least (tough to use the word 'daughter'!)I wonder how clichéd the saas-bahu serials get in their depiction of the m-i-l, no better are the ones in the average Hindi and Tamil movies and Woman's Era type magazines and books. I am genuinely concerned about human adaptability to 'conditioning'. How easily is this cross section of society bad mouthed! I get pampered, sometimes rapped (but gently) and mostly loved and treated like an equal adult. Yes, there are times when am mad at her, or my husband (usually for taking her side unconditionally!) but usually the feelings are soothed by discussion, some adjustment (on my part) good food and presents for me :) While it is tough to replace the security and comfort of one's own mom, I believe it is necessary to work out at least a amicable relationship with one’s 'm-i-l'.... what is the point in strife, when we have just a few more years of life? (Did you notice the rhyme?!)
My sis is a madcap... she decided last Wednesday that she WANTED to see me... her poor husband doesn't have a choice, but to pander to her wishes (unfortunately that is how our family 'brought' her up!!)She also had an important meeting on Friday that she couldn't miss.. so she flew into Bombay from Chennai on Thursday morning and flew back on the same evening... by Jet Airways... on her own cost! But we had a blast! Lovefool :)
My mom is coming over next week to spend a few weeks with me..Summer holidays for her...yippeee! Good food and great company.
I dunno if any of you have this voyeuristic tendency to secretly watch a saas-bahu serial. I have one such secret... (one misdemeanour is maaf!) I watch this one soap called 'Banoo Mein Teri Dulhan' about 2 - 3 times a week. It used to be bad, it is now ROTTEN! What with the villain skipping a generation with nary a grey, or wrinkle! Should I bemoan the reincarnation or the hideous filmy song-n'-dance routines or the constant scenes centred around the dinner table?! Nahinnnnnnnn :)
Finally, I think poor Bhajji has had enough with his burst of temper... Amul said it best "Pow Bhajji.... Amul Butter: Slap it on"
Friday, May 09, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Womb with a View!
On a recent random surf, I came across this lovable character - Umbert. He is an 'unborn' baby talking to the world from his womb. He has tonnes of friends, each of them a stalwart personality. See some samples below, and google him.
Every mom-to-be that I know of who loves her cosmopolitan would feel reassured at this cartoon I guess!
Think of it, babies in the womb live in a space smaller than (and no, I don't want to hear 'ughs' for this) a prisoner in his cell. But it is probably the only no-stress period in their lives... and they get to eat all they want! No guilt :)
What say? Good fun, ain't it?!
Every mom-to-be that I know of who loves her cosmopolitan would feel reassured at this cartoon I guess! 
Think of it, babies in the womb live in a space smaller than (and no, I don't want to hear 'ughs' for this) a prisoner in his cell. But it is probably the only no-stress period in their lives... and they get to eat all they want! No guilt :)
What say? Good fun, ain't it?!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Khuda ke Liye
After many 'sold-out' shows, we finally managed to watch the much hyped about 'Khuda ke Liye' a couple of evening ago. The storyline was interesting, (although reactions post 9/11 have been done to death in books and articles and movies) The music was certainly memorable, sufiesque and haunting. I also feel in love with the way the 'azaan' was sung by one of the lead characters.
Overall, the movie felt like an on-screen theatre drama(point in ref: In a court scene, women cry 'shame shame'!). The movie is not slickly packaged like a 'Chak De India', but thank Khuda for that, we don't have heroines running around trees or shaved torsos!
The actresses gave mediocre performances, especially the character of Mariam, she did not play the role of a Brit or a saddened and angry daughter the way a Nandita Das or Ayesha Dharkar could have played it.
My take? : It is certainly one of the better movies I have watched in the recent past(others being 'Race','4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days' and 'Shaurya'). Not necessarity a theatre movie, it can be a DVD watch. Beware if you do not speak good Hindi, there are severely Urdu portions in the movie.
Doubt: One of the characters talks about the majority of Pakistanis being able to read Arabic, but not understand it. Can someone explain why or how?
Overall, the movie felt like an on-screen theatre drama(point in ref: In a court scene, women cry 'shame shame'!). The movie is not slickly packaged like a 'Chak De India', but thank Khuda for that, we don't have heroines running around trees or shaved torsos!
The actresses gave mediocre performances, especially the character of Mariam, she did not play the role of a Brit or a saddened and angry daughter the way a Nandita Das or Ayesha Dharkar could have played it.
My take? : It is certainly one of the better movies I have watched in the recent past(others being 'Race','4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days' and 'Shaurya'). Not necessarity a theatre movie, it can be a DVD watch. Beware if you do not speak good Hindi, there are severely Urdu portions in the movie.
Doubt: One of the characters talks about the majority of Pakistanis being able to read Arabic, but not understand it. Can someone explain why or how?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
"Wonly in Mumbai I say"
Some vignettes from my life in Mumbai (amusing in retrospect of course, never at that moment!)
My maid-in-waiting: She is one helluva confident person (all public speakers and esteem building courses should use her as a role model!) She can browbeat anyone into submission (incl the sometimes aggressive me!)even if she knows she is in the wrong! One fine morning last week, she wanted a salary raise. Now, I was surprised and refused immediately because it had only been 4 months since she had started working for me... then I wanted to "dig deeper" (as my B school profs had taught us) to arrive at the root cause of the issue.. so I asked her why she wanted a raise so soon in her 'career with me'... she answers "Oh! I have given my maid a raise, so I figured I deserve one!!" Maid employing maid? First time I've heard!Howzzat??
South-Western: I was at a hospital(not one of the biggies, a gujju stronghold hospital at Charni Road) a few days back for a medical test. I had to register a file in my name. This bored looking clerk asked for my "Name" and I replied "ABC" (FYI, my name starts with 'Sri'), then he wanted to know my surname. Now I am a 'southern Indian' and I don't have a surname. I gave my dad's name, which I continue to use as my 'sir'name! He then asked me, "are you married"?(Given that I was wearing no 'traditional' marks of marriage)I replied in the affirmative. Next was husband's name. I replied in full. Obviously it is different from my dad's. This chap was perplexed and laboriously wrote out my name on the file which finally reads Srimati "second half of my name" "Sri" "husband's name" "father's name" "husband's father's name". And he grins and remarks "I thought you were a Marathi person, you don't look Gujarati, but you turned out to be a Madrasi, what a strange world". Geez, I know am strange(sometimes), but to the world?!
Drive away: The driver that we are 'testing' now asked me where I wanted to go. I replied that I wanted to go to a couple of shops near Breach Candy hospital on Bhulabai Desai road. He shot past the turning then remarks "Madam, you did not remind me that I have to turn right here!!" Wow, an assistant to the driver?!
Rubbished: The garbage disposal lady came to me one day and said "Madam, you throw away a lot of useful things. You should'nt waste so much money". Naturally, I was taken aback and for a day, stewed over thoughts of my hard earned money being squandered away, berated my lack of sense of planning or saving and killed myself for being financially unsound. Obviously my husband also faced my 'cribbing'. The next day, I met the 'kacchrawali' again and asked her "Why she thought I was irresponsible" (root causes again!). So she said "you throw away milk packets after you use them, also cereal boxes and sometimes soiled newspapers and/or disposable cups after use. You should store them and sell them to a ragpicker!" When I retorted that "it was my rubbish after all, and she was free to pick these up and sell them if she wanted", she replied "But bhabhi, I don't have time"! My new worry.. do I look that jobless?
Funny people... how do they all find ME? :)
My maid-in-waiting: She is one helluva confident person (all public speakers and esteem building courses should use her as a role model!) She can browbeat anyone into submission (incl the sometimes aggressive me!)even if she knows she is in the wrong! One fine morning last week, she wanted a salary raise. Now, I was surprised and refused immediately because it had only been 4 months since she had started working for me... then I wanted to "dig deeper" (as my B school profs had taught us) to arrive at the root cause of the issue.. so I asked her why she wanted a raise so soon in her 'career with me'... she answers "Oh! I have given my maid a raise, so I figured I deserve one!!" Maid employing maid? First time I've heard!Howzzat??
South-Western: I was at a hospital(not one of the biggies, a gujju stronghold hospital at Charni Road) a few days back for a medical test. I had to register a file in my name. This bored looking clerk asked for my "Name" and I replied "ABC" (FYI, my name starts with 'Sri'), then he wanted to know my surname. Now I am a 'southern Indian' and I don't have a surname. I gave my dad's name, which I continue to use as my 'sir'name! He then asked me, "are you married"?(Given that I was wearing no 'traditional' marks of marriage)I replied in the affirmative. Next was husband's name. I replied in full. Obviously it is different from my dad's. This chap was perplexed and laboriously wrote out my name on the file which finally reads Srimati "second half of my name" "Sri" "husband's name" "father's name" "husband's father's name". And he grins and remarks "I thought you were a Marathi person, you don't look Gujarati, but you turned out to be a Madrasi, what a strange world". Geez, I know am strange(sometimes), but to the world?!
Drive away: The driver that we are 'testing' now asked me where I wanted to go. I replied that I wanted to go to a couple of shops near Breach Candy hospital on Bhulabai Desai road. He shot past the turning then remarks "Madam, you did not remind me that I have to turn right here!!" Wow, an assistant to the driver?!
Rubbished: The garbage disposal lady came to me one day and said "Madam, you throw away a lot of useful things. You should'nt waste so much money". Naturally, I was taken aback and for a day, stewed over thoughts of my hard earned money being squandered away, berated my lack of sense of planning or saving and killed myself for being financially unsound. Obviously my husband also faced my 'cribbing'. The next day, I met the 'kacchrawali' again and asked her "Why she thought I was irresponsible" (root causes again!). So she said "you throw away milk packets after you use them, also cereal boxes and sometimes soiled newspapers and/or disposable cups after use. You should store them and sell them to a ragpicker!" When I retorted that "it was my rubbish after all, and she was free to pick these up and sell them if she wanted", she replied "But bhabhi, I don't have time"! My new worry.. do I look that jobless?
Funny people... how do they all find ME? :)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Rely on Reliance?
I have tried really hard not to crib, but today’s customer service call with Reliance really made me hot-headed and ready to cry (due to extreme frustration).
Read my story and you’ll know what I mean –
I work out of home (yes, I am a lucky b@$t@rd, I sleep most afternoons for an hour!). It means setting up a home office – basically a computer, a broad band connection and a land line telephone with STD and ISD enabled service. With the ‘vast’ choice of MTNL, VSNL and Reliance, I chose to go with Reliance. Before you wonder, my rationale was that, well, Anil and Mukesh have made millions out of their companies, obviously they must have loyal customers (not to mention that VSNL and MTNL never called back when I asked for these facilities!) So Reliance it was – their installation was admirable, within a day they had installed a modem and a phone line (Telephone calls are an important part of my business). They assured that the Internet services would be activated within 12 hours... and there begins my story of woes.
First the activation took 3 days, next, my broad band was Apple incompatible (I bought another laptop to solve the issue as Reliance refused to make their broadband services Apple friendly!) Then I got a bill for that month for Rs.29.7 and for Rs563.2, and I paid both without understanding which one was the right one. Several other billing issues followed, but I digress.
To cut a long story short, last month, I had to shift my phone line from one corner of the room to the other (as part of my redoing my room!) The Reliance guys were most cooperative, and did it in a day and said I would be charged 500 bucks for it. When I offered to pay it immediately, they said it would be reflected in my next bill and I should pay then. However, I paid my regular monthly bill for February within a couple of days of receiving it. (That is another story, how they send the bill and constantly harangue you as to when you would pay the bill, as if one would run away without paying it off!)
So yesterday, at 5.00 p.m., I couldn’t dial any STD number or ISD number. I called Reliance customer care to complain. Some nincompoop called Sanjay put me on hold for 3 minutes at a stretch to answer each of my 3 questions and then finally told me that I hadn’t paid my bill. I was close to losing my temper then and gave him details of my cheque payment. Again after 3 minutes of waiting he goes, “I am sorry, the system doesn’t reflect it. I have made the requisite changes and within 24 hours you would get your services back, but we shall do it ‘for you’ in a few hours maximum”.
So, still irritated, I held off until this morn when I realized nothing had happed ‘for me’. I called up R Care again to be greeted by silly Vijay who had the audacity to say that my STD/ISD wouldn’t be activated until I had paid the 500 bucks for the transfer of phone line. I completely lost it then, I yelled and raved and ranted at him and asked him to transfer me to his manager, who came on line after the exasperating reliance tune playing for 10 whole minutes. The manager said that I had paid the bill amount, but that wasn’t enough and that I had to pay the extra 500 bucks. I yelled at him too and said it was unfair, I hadn’t received a bill for the same, I wasn’t informed of it yesterday, when I could’ve dropped off the cheque last evening, (Reliance refused to send a person to collect the amount from home, when I suggested that) and that I had an important con call this evening at 5.00 p.m. (it is at 6.00 actually, and is REALLY important!) He then said ‘as a special case’ he would ensure that my phone line is reactivated by 5.00 this evening... and still didn’t seem to get what was wrong with his logic and acted AS IF he were doing a service to me. I hung up after adding that ‘I trusted him’ and I should’ve gone with an alternative service provider.
My backup? Trustworthy MTNL!!
I am still fuming over this lack of logic, insensitivity in dealing with a customer, inability to empathise with the customer’s problems, absurd billing system, incorrect English spoken by the customer representatives and finally, the need to ask for my address 20 times in a call that lasted 40 minutes.
Bah! Relying on Reliance is OUT.
Ps: Feeing better after the rant session... have you had any similar experiences?
Read my story and you’ll know what I mean –
I work out of home (yes, I am a lucky b@$t@rd, I sleep most afternoons for an hour!). It means setting up a home office – basically a computer, a broad band connection and a land line telephone with STD and ISD enabled service. With the ‘vast’ choice of MTNL, VSNL and Reliance, I chose to go with Reliance. Before you wonder, my rationale was that, well, Anil and Mukesh have made millions out of their companies, obviously they must have loyal customers (not to mention that VSNL and MTNL never called back when I asked for these facilities!) So Reliance it was – their installation was admirable, within a day they had installed a modem and a phone line (Telephone calls are an important part of my business). They assured that the Internet services would be activated within 12 hours... and there begins my story of woes.
First the activation took 3 days, next, my broad band was Apple incompatible (I bought another laptop to solve the issue as Reliance refused to make their broadband services Apple friendly!) Then I got a bill for that month for Rs.29.7 and for Rs563.2, and I paid both without understanding which one was the right one. Several other billing issues followed, but I digress.
To cut a long story short, last month, I had to shift my phone line from one corner of the room to the other (as part of my redoing my room!) The Reliance guys were most cooperative, and did it in a day and said I would be charged 500 bucks for it. When I offered to pay it immediately, they said it would be reflected in my next bill and I should pay then. However, I paid my regular monthly bill for February within a couple of days of receiving it. (That is another story, how they send the bill and constantly harangue you as to when you would pay the bill, as if one would run away without paying it off!)
So yesterday, at 5.00 p.m., I couldn’t dial any STD number or ISD number. I called Reliance customer care to complain. Some nincompoop called Sanjay put me on hold for 3 minutes at a stretch to answer each of my 3 questions and then finally told me that I hadn’t paid my bill. I was close to losing my temper then and gave him details of my cheque payment. Again after 3 minutes of waiting he goes, “I am sorry, the system doesn’t reflect it. I have made the requisite changes and within 24 hours you would get your services back, but we shall do it ‘for you’ in a few hours maximum”.
So, still irritated, I held off until this morn when I realized nothing had happed ‘for me’. I called up R Care again to be greeted by silly Vijay who had the audacity to say that my STD/ISD wouldn’t be activated until I had paid the 500 bucks for the transfer of phone line. I completely lost it then, I yelled and raved and ranted at him and asked him to transfer me to his manager, who came on line after the exasperating reliance tune playing for 10 whole minutes. The manager said that I had paid the bill amount, but that wasn’t enough and that I had to pay the extra 500 bucks. I yelled at him too and said it was unfair, I hadn’t received a bill for the same, I wasn’t informed of it yesterday, when I could’ve dropped off the cheque last evening, (Reliance refused to send a person to collect the amount from home, when I suggested that) and that I had an important con call this evening at 5.00 p.m. (it is at 6.00 actually, and is REALLY important!) He then said ‘as a special case’ he would ensure that my phone line is reactivated by 5.00 this evening... and still didn’t seem to get what was wrong with his logic and acted AS IF he were doing a service to me. I hung up after adding that ‘I trusted him’ and I should’ve gone with an alternative service provider.
My backup? Trustworthy MTNL!!
I am still fuming over this lack of logic, insensitivity in dealing with a customer, inability to empathise with the customer’s problems, absurd billing system, incorrect English spoken by the customer representatives and finally, the need to ask for my address 20 times in a call that lasted 40 minutes.
Bah! Relying on Reliance is OUT.
Ps: Feeing better after the rant session... have you had any similar experiences?
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Saved!
Hola!
More than the other side of Rainbow, I have been trying to catch up on life, doc appointments, work, family, holidays and home renovations in the last few weeks. We are trying to create more storage space in the house and for those who know the pigeon holes that pass off as houses in Mumbai, know how tough it is to create that space. And of course managing the carpenters and the dust factor. Sigh!
Despite all this work, there is a lot of excitement in life....I had a miraculous escape from certain death or (even worse)some kind of head injury a few days ago.. I usually sit on the floor with my back to the wall and my laptop perched on a one-foot high 3-legged plastic stool on one side of a room. On Monday, we got a computer shelf made and I moved to sitting on a chair and working on this table in the opposite corner of the same room. On Wednesday evening, I was working furiously to finish some work when I heard a loud crashing noise... I turned back to see that a 5 feet long Italian marble slab(weighing about 8 kgs) that lines the top portion of our window sill had broken into two large and several small pieces and had rained down on the EXACT same spot where I usually sit. I was truly shaken for once in life.
Yesterday, I caught a cold... I went to the kitchen to boil some tea... Just a split second before I lit the gas, I decided against tea and turned away, only to smell something strange. So I opened the garbage cupboard under the sink, inspected the washing machine area, behind the fridge etc. to realize that the gas had been inadvertently left turned on by the maid when she was cleaning it. Gas must've poured into the room for at least 20 minutes. A split second away from another accident.
Call me superstitious or something, but for once I have this desire to go to a temple and thank the Big Man smoking his pipe UP there!
Moving on, given that I have been tagged (saved from thinking about content for another post!), I re-read several of my earlier posts to fill in the blanks. Hey, I do write well sometimes (note 'sometimes'..ain't I modest?!)
The tag reads "Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given (family, friends, yourself, your love, and anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do the same. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better. Don't forget to read the linked posts and leave comments!"
Family: One post with memories of childhood. Otherwise, several references.
Friends: CP's surprise b'day party and my Bangalore visit.
Yourself: In almost all posts! Most posts seem to be incidents, rather than emotions. My list of favourites.
Your Love: I don't seem to have written anything about my husband, except references here and there. Perhaps, his happy b'day wish?
Anything you Like: I have written extensively about one great love of mine - travel. The entire Leh series, Goa and my recent office tour. Also, about some movies(TZP, Cheeni Kum) and some books.
It was tough going through this listing, but am happy I did it! I tag these people to do it - Nutty, Y not, In Between, and ITW.
Have fun!
More than the other side of Rainbow, I have been trying to catch up on life, doc appointments, work, family, holidays and home renovations in the last few weeks. We are trying to create more storage space in the house and for those who know the pigeon holes that pass off as houses in Mumbai, know how tough it is to create that space. And of course managing the carpenters and the dust factor. Sigh!
Despite all this work, there is a lot of excitement in life....I had a miraculous escape from certain death or (even worse)some kind of head injury a few days ago.. I usually sit on the floor with my back to the wall and my laptop perched on a one-foot high 3-legged plastic stool on one side of a room. On Monday, we got a computer shelf made and I moved to sitting on a chair and working on this table in the opposite corner of the same room. On Wednesday evening, I was working furiously to finish some work when I heard a loud crashing noise... I turned back to see that a 5 feet long Italian marble slab(weighing about 8 kgs) that lines the top portion of our window sill had broken into two large and several small pieces and had rained down on the EXACT same spot where I usually sit. I was truly shaken for once in life.
Yesterday, I caught a cold... I went to the kitchen to boil some tea... Just a split second before I lit the gas, I decided against tea and turned away, only to smell something strange. So I opened the garbage cupboard under the sink, inspected the washing machine area, behind the fridge etc. to realize that the gas had been inadvertently left turned on by the maid when she was cleaning it. Gas must've poured into the room for at least 20 minutes. A split second away from another accident.
Call me superstitious or something, but for once I have this desire to go to a temple and thank the Big Man smoking his pipe UP there!
Moving on, given that I have been tagged (saved from thinking about content for another post!), I re-read several of my earlier posts to fill in the blanks. Hey, I do write well sometimes (note 'sometimes'..ain't I modest?!)
The tag reads "Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given (family, friends, yourself, your love, and anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do the same. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better. Don't forget to read the linked posts and leave comments!"
Family: One post with memories of childhood. Otherwise, several references.
Friends: CP's surprise b'day party and my Bangalore visit.
Yourself: In almost all posts! Most posts seem to be incidents, rather than emotions. My list of favourites.
Your Love: I don't seem to have written anything about my husband, except references here and there. Perhaps, his happy b'day wish?
Anything you Like: I have written extensively about one great love of mine - travel. The entire Leh series, Goa and my recent office tour. Also, about some movies(TZP, Cheeni Kum) and some books.
It was tough going through this listing, but am happy I did it! I tag these people to do it - Nutty, Y not, In Between, and ITW.
Have fun!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Vignettes from my long trip
Phew! am back to some semblance of normalcy again. From end of Jan to the 3rd week of Feb, I was on a roller-coaster whistle-stop tour across 5 cities in 20 days with my boss and her boss. Some memorable experiences from the trip include meeting a flower seller in Hubli, a jewellery shop in Chennai and an opulent farm house in Gurgaon.
It was a wonderful experience travelling to North Karnataka. Hubli as a city is probably not the best of touristy destinations, but the work some NGOs do there is touching and deeply impactful. We met this old lady at a microfinance organization who had lost her husband, her two sons and her son-in-law in a freak accident and had 3 daughters, 2 daughters-in-law and 7 grandchildren to support.... at the young age of 65! Amazingly she decided that there was nothing to be done by crying her heart out every day; she just rolled up her sari and got to work. She borrowed money from this microfinance institution (supported by HSBC incidentally... yippee!) and started a flower vendor shop. She did so well that she now has 5 flower shops, 2 vegetable and fruit shops and a tea stall. A business empire in her community! All in 3 years. And she has repaid her loan. She now takes lessons in the microfinance classes for women on 'how to spot a business opportunity, to have a business plan ready, to have well negotiated contracts with suppliers, how to treat colleagues and employees and how to invest to make enough money for personal and business expansion purposes'. I was tempted to learn Kannada just to attend these classes!
My boss's boss freaked out in Thangamaligai in Chennai(a large format gold shop.) It claims to stock gold for every pocket. The shop is a large 3 storied building just for gold accessories. He spent several thousand dollars in 4 hours flat marvelling at the make, the gold designs and the pure numbers that thronged the shop. His wife is one lucky lady I must say! He couldn't believe the number of gold shops in Chennai, not to mention silk sari shops and the perineal crowds that he found there. He refused to accept that there was any need in the city for an NGO! I had a tough task convincing him.
In Kolkata, we met several local community leaders. Cal as you know is famous for Indian Chinese. It is also famous for its laid back attitude, hospitality and the love of its people for good food. Each person that we met (usually over a brief meeting that naturally extended into a lunch or a dinner) took us to an Indian Chinese restaurant, 4 days continuously, for every meal. We ODed on Indian Chinese man. The best way to offend me now is to offer Indian Chinese for any meal! Never thought that the greasy Jet Airways parathas would be manna after so much hakka noodles and three treasure vegetable!
In cal we also had the opportunity to meet with Kiran Bedi. She IS a lady of courage, passion and conviction and an inspiring speaker. She sort of impressed upon me that it is 'best to be prepared' for anything one does. Sigh! If only I could implement that.
And finally in Delhi, we had dinner at this magnificient farm house at Gurgaon. Never knew of a person who owned a stretch limo in India, let alone with a house that had a dog kennel (with its own kitchen and dining area) the size of my house! A lawn the size of a football field, a marble floored house with a dining table that could seat 26 people and a Japanese loo that had a control panel that one could use to direct warm water or air sprays, lift or lower the seat or even flush! I must say that such opulence left me speechless (for those who know me, it IS a tough feat!)
Just settling into the normalcy of life in Mumbai, fighting my cook and maid and the istri-wala and catching up on news from friends. I have always wanted to travel constantly, be a jet-setting corporate executive type and none of the earlier roles I was in afforded much travel. I realise now, after this trip that no matter what, the joys of a five star hotel is never enough to compensate for fighting over an extra helping of dessert with my husband. In fact, I did not feel like dessert most days during the trip. (wiping my eyes! I missed home)
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