I bow my head down
I salute it 'The spirit of mumbai'

Battered over the decades,
but still resilient,
Moving on,
Like the vast ocean beyond

You might crib and gripe,
but once you come to the city,
you love it,
a love which is unique
a kinship you feel cruising through your veins
Mumbai is its people and its the people that make mumbai

I salute the people,
my people,
Mumbaikars, them of the unbreakable spirit,
who have gone through hell,
watching near and dear ones suffer

I hold my head up high
regardless of the corner of the world 'm living in
and say 'Proud to be a mumbaikar' always and forever

She lifted the heavy pot of water and placed it above her head...and wiped the sweat from her brow.The summers were cruel...and carrying heavy pots of water to the big 'sethani's' house was just as much as she could take. She sighed..and picked it up...no way could she be weak...3 hungry children were waiting for her back home....

She stared out of the window,watching the raindrops gently fall on the greenery all around.It was the first day of the monsoons and the smell of mother earth was all around.She gently pushed back the small strand of hair that fell on her face and tucked it behind her ear and hugged herself. The rains always had this effect on her and made her sigh and contemplate about why things happened in life.....

She got out of the subway and rode the escalator up. She passed by shops,actually 'THE SHOP' which had the most beautiful black short minidress by Donna Karan. She sighed...and turned her head the other way and kept walking on...After all thats what we do many times ..sigh and move on ...

**************************************************************************************

She had been hired as a consultant in one of the biggest consulting firms in NYC. She just couldnt stop smiling to herself..It was a culmination of all her chilhood dreams.Sitting in that office on Times Square.Oh she knew she was getting that Donna Karan for sure now. She remembered what her mother had told her as a child 'When you get something good,its good to give back'. And well today was one of the biggest gifts in her life.She opened her web browser and went to a little known charity that had been struggling since quite sometime . It was recommended by a friend.She decided that she would donate $100 !!...

The donation mail message popped in her inbox.There was that loud pinging sound.She mometarily tore her eyes away from the raindrops outside and went to read the mail ..'Must be one of those hundred junkmails' she thought.Since the project had been stopped,she was in a dull mood and had questioned almost everything and cycisim was all she had left. SHe tucked the strand of hair back and read the mail.When she finished,her eyes glistened like two shining diamonds.A generous donation of $100 from someone in NYC had given her the much needed money to finish the long awaited project of building the well....

The next week was one of the happiest in her life.Her exhaustion was reduced to half 'coz all she needed to do now was draw water from the common well close to her backyard...and yes she had more energy to get more work done which meant more food on the table and less cries of hungry strved children...God Bless the generous owner..she thought...and satisfy all her wishes...

Meanwhile the Donna Karan dress was being delivered to her appartment ....

Hmm what is freedom... I guess we each have our own perspective on this. To some people it might essentially mean the freedom to make their own choices, to others it might be to voice their opinions without any backlash of any sorts, to others still it might be not having to answer to anyone about their actions... To me freedom might just be a mix of all the above things that I just mentioned.
But u know what I found out...I guess my whole perception of freedom kinda changed after coming here...(and I still wonder why certain things tend to change with the places where we stay :D)...like when I was back home , I had a coupla restrictions that well were pretty diligently enforced by mom (like the dont stay out too late thing...and in a city like mumbai...can u beat that :D)...well when I came here , I had the choice to stay out as late as I wanted...but do u know what I found myself not doing that very often....hmmm so much for that concept of freedom(*psst: I also found out I kinda missed moms nagging...sheeeesh of all the things to miss * ...I guess a coupla months in mumbai should cure that right outta me :P)
On my trip to NYC recently (haha..see how I actually fit this in here..common I did have to show off to someone :P)..but no really...I felt exhilaratingly free...why..I dunno..don't ask...there were millions of people around me ('specially since my friends and me did the whole touristy NYC thingy).. I just felt free.... maybe I just kinda drew a parallel between mumbai and NYC (now now ppl don't snigger :D..I admit mumbai has its faults...but its one of my favoritest places in the whole wide world :) :) ) maybe that kinda set off the free spirit in me...to be in a place and devoid of rules and regulations...can be well really like a breath of fresh air....have u guys ever felt that way on going to a particular place...that feeling of freedom ? :)
(oh btw I had food at 'Saravana Bhavan,NY ' *drool drool* :D :D...and yup NYC is the fashion capital of the freakking world :) :) )

P.S: Dedicated to my friends who made that trip possible and fun: to V,AU,J,AD &G...thnks guys :) :)

R.I.P: My dear darling 'pod...shuffle which I lost there.....for the hours of music it provided and all the lonliness, long walks ,traffic jams and sadness it has gotten me through.

As a friend puts it a bittersweet journey :)

Cheers :)

I dunno why I feel like this...but I feel the colors I associate with America are very different from those I associate with India(What a random topic u think :P...yea its been a looong time since I wrote ppl so randomness is bound to be a part of the next few postings at least ;) )
Nyways getting back to my point...lemme tell u what I am about to ramble on about....to me America represents colors like grey, white ,black...orderly, determined, planned.









On the other hand I really do associate India with a riot of colours. Yellow, brown, reds, purples, greens, goldens, silver, white too (but very different from the whites of America).... huh !! u say...how the heck can white be a different color in 2 places u say...has this gal lost her senses(or what is left of it anyways :D)

Lemme tell u how :) ...(alright alright down yawn already :P...If nothing else I promise to at least put in pretty pictures along with the words... :))) )

Lets start with yellow...yellow to me represents manjal or haldi (turmeric)...I always used to see ammai cook with it.... used to be an essential ingredient of most of the sabzis....conjures up images of me running into the kitchen, while she used to cook and pestering her ki whats for lunch,dinner etc.

Then there is brown....hmmm now brown reminds me of multiple things...it reminds me of mother earth back in India (not like there isint brown earth here :P ...but I'm sure u understand what I mean :D... I kinda associate a maternal feeling to India ) .... its the brown of an earthen clay water cooler thingi (though that might not be strictly brown)...brown as the chepanganzhu that my mom uses in sambhars (I dunno why...but somehow u see lotsa memories of mine are associated with food :P...hmmmmm) .
















And then there is purple....how purple...its the border of one of my moms Kanjeevaram sarees. Now believe me ppl 'm against the whole silk thing as much as the next person...But I dunno why...thts the first and very strong vivid image that comes to mind...











Now that brings us to red.....red is the color of "maang ka sindoor" (I went Bollywood-ish here I knw :D.... U knw tht dialouge the hero asks in surprise... "maaaaa...yeh tumhari maang main sindoor " ;) ) .... Red is the colour of Chrysanthemums that used to grow in our garden..... its the color of mirchi powder which we used to put in sabzis (There I go with the food thingi again :P...seriouslyy I miss moms cooking :) )....


Then there is silver...how silver...the oxidized bangles which are in...thats how :D (yea 'm a lover of 'em too :D)







Hmmmm golden...now this may sound silly...but it is for those warm
Indian mornings... (and for me the sights and the sounds thingi is closely related :) ).... for the smell of pipping hot idliis, for the sound of 'Vishnu sahasranamam' , and my my personal fav..... the sound of the cans of milk against the doodhwalas cycle.



White...hows white different....hmmm white is for the maligaipoov (jasmine flowers)


in moms hair during festivals (again I like the fragrance)...white is for thair sadham (curd rice) with oorgais(pickles)....

psst: ermmm the tam bram in me reared its head quite a bit in this post
and ...*ouch*...thats nostalgia hitting me...and it sure does knock a punch ;)

SU

Hmmm now tht 'm in the US (did I see a halo...and ahhhh angel mujic in the bckground u say ;)...)....gettin back....well lets look at this place objectively(how can u do tht u say...u stay there...*sigh*....well its pretty much my blog ppl....I can do nythin I want :P)....well I dont really stay in NY(although I stay in NY state...funny how those two are like light years apart :D)...I stay in snowy, cold Syracuse...which when compared to mumbai is welll...hmmmm...mumbaikars stayin here can emphathize ;)...and the amount of freedom u get here is def loadsss more (apart from my classes and the on campus jobs I pretty much wonder wht to do...I guess 'm not makin productive use of time here.....must get to it*digging 'round for books*...ermm no wait 'm writin this blog now :D)...thts how it is with me here...'m like sooooo confused by the multitude of tasks I gotta do....prioritizing kinda becomes diff....but guess i'll learn...kinda lonely...definitely for a person who hasnt been away from home...miss my family and friends :)...luv u all :)).....nyways commin back to all the wunnerful ppl @ SU who've helped me out like a trillion times and been sweethearts :)... *bows* thnks guys :)))..... (yeah I knw I use a lohtttt of smileys :D.....)...I hv to cook....once a week....thnks to my roomies who actually eat it (hmmmm wait on second thoughts I dont thnk 'm all tht bad ;) ).....luvvv th shopping in this place (biiiggg irony...am working to pay my bills here...so hahahah wht shoppin do u say :P).....luv the way they hv like open discussns in class...thnk tht its a good educatn system....dont realllyy like wearin multiple layered clothing...but hv to(in case like a friend says...u see a 5ft 5inch snowman....no snowoman sumwhere on the streets of SYr while goin to the Univ....u knw who forgot to wear her 2 jackets and gloves tht day ;))
nyways cheers to all ya lvly ppl out there :)

Writing.......writing....writing....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......wazzat 'bout higher studies and writing again :P ?

What is this Quarter life crisis that seems to be hitting all of us with a vengence(alrht alrght 20 to 29 sumthings but u see here ppl most of the friends I hv belong to tht particular age group :P...ermm on 2nd thought make tht all the friends I hv ;) )...nyways gettin back to the point : The Big QLC...well lets take my example:

Up2 last yr I was totally unsure 'bout what I wanted to do nxt like do an MBA or an MS and now tht I made my decision 'm not completely sure wether its the right choice or not :D

Then there is that question of settling down u knw .... I still feel I need a coupla years more....dunno what I want from life exactly(Did I see an eye roll again there ppl ;)??)



....sumtimes I just feel like I should pick up a backpack and be off....touring India(would hv said the world here but seems a wee bit too ambitious then :D)



And well I've seen quite a few of my friends and cousins going through all the same questions and issues that I seem to be facing.....Not satisfied in terms of their jobs, not understanding where they wanna go in life....just drifting along.....I feel our parents gen had a less complicated lifestyle.... Maybe their freedom was not as much in terms of choices that they could make..but the complications were definitely lessened to a gr8 extent... Whaddya feel ppl :) ??



(P.S: I'm proud to be a parta this confused but cool gen of ours ;) ..... Rock on peeps :))) )