The Country club!

There is a place called Golden Swan Country Club which has been built on the Yeour hills in Thane. It was originally called Safari Woods and I have to admit that I preferred that name because it somehow seemed more appropriate given the location, surroundings and the environment! That name gave a very jungle like feel to the place, which was very apt. Overtime the management changed and hence the change in name as well. Its about an hours' drive from where we stay. And once there, you never feel that you are still at the outskirts of Mumbai city. You always get the feel like you are far away, on some hill station.



You drive through  a hilly area and a winding road and as soon as you do that you can feel the change in climate when you are on your way up. Its just greenery all the way from there. The club is situated bang in the middle of the Yeour village. They have a clubhouse and cottages where you can stay. We have almost always done a stayover because its only then that you can experience the place in all its glory! Like you have four seasons in a year, when you stay there you can actually feel the transition from morning to night in a mere span of 24 hours, as the scenario changes and each time and phase of the day has its own unique splendour. Mornings are beautiful, sometimes misty as well and you wake up to the sounds of  birds chirping away, creating their own  melody of sorts. Its a truly wonderful experience and the best part is you can sip your morning tea just outside the cottage and enjoy all of nature's artwork alongside. I have always dreamt of having a place where I can sit out in the midst of nature, surrounded by greenery and have my morning and evening chai! For now, this dream gets realised everytime I visit the country club.

The weather dictates how the day unfolds. If its pleasant then you can  be outdoors but if its hot or rainy then the afternoon time is best inside the cottage which gives you a very cosy ( and romantic!) feel. A good book to go along with it is perfect. An afternoon nap is also a very tempting option or then just vegetating and doing nothing. As the evening draws close its best to step out and actually explore the place. They have long paths all around the club which are quite trekworthy! While you take a walk you truly feel like you are in the middle of a jungle. Flora with huge gigantic trees and all kinds of plants and flowers add to the beauty of the place. And ofcourse a bonus and that is the luxury of 'fresh' air which is totally unpolluted! How you crave for things like that when you are leading a crazy hectic city life!!!

There is a small lake which is the abode for thousands of fishes, big and small of different shapes and colours. Its a norm to feed the fishes and the change from still waters to a multitude of ripples happens right there when you are chucking in bits of bread or biscuit pieces. They just come out of nowhere and try to grab a share of whatever they get! There is a very pretty bridge across the river and the sight is 'picture perfect'! They have small boats as well and there is one relatively bigger one which is in the shape of a swan! This time around it looked freshly painted and fully white with some bindi like thing adorning its forehead. My first reaction was to call it Rekha as it looked very south indian to me!

Weekends always have a line up of programmes, either for kids or the whole family. Their musical nights are quite nice and create a perfect ambience when you are sipping your favourite drink! It creates a different kind of mood altogether. One of my favourite parts of the stay there are the nights , for many reasons. The quiet at night almost spells an eerie atmosphere, though not scary! Everything is so still and yet so pretty. When you take your night walks you encounter a beauty which is very difficult to describe in words as it has to be felt! I feel if there are angels and fairies for real, they most certainly reside in places like these. Strangely the birds seem awake through the night given the incessant supply of humming and chirping sounds. You also get the most sound and blissful sleep and the quality of your dreams is something else altogether. And I think that has more to do with the pure, refined vibes and energies in such places. You just feel so settled!

Since we all are so used to a city life with a maddening pace, it takes you awhile to get used to a place like this. And when you are just about settling in your first thought is "Ok what next!" and then you have to remind yourself that you are here just to chill and unwind. And its uncanny that when you have settled into the surrounding and sync yourself to the rythm of of it , is when its actually time to bid adieu! I have always left the place with a slightly heavy heart, one because its so lovely and two the thought of going back into a hectic crazy city life makes its even tougher.

On a more optimistic note the place is magical in the monsoons, and the winters come a close second. So there are always these times to look forward to and plan the next trip. During or even towards the fag end of monsoon is a good time to go as all you see is lush green around and the shades of green you get to witness are just mind boggling! Its a  place where you can never question universe's creations, as its all spread around for you to see and enjoy. Every nook and corner reminds you of how fabulously and meticulously nature has been orchestrated. Without any doubt, its got to be the master stroke of an artist par excellence!

A Lazy Day!

Today has been a day which has been super lazy and I had decided that its going to be like that! I have relaxed completely and just been in a chill out mode. There are some days where you just allow yourself  to BE! Woke up late and then post lunch, watched one of my favourite films 'Hum Tum' for the umpteenth time. Its amazing how you can never tire of watching the same movie or listening to the same song time and again if you have really liked it! I am a complete sucker for romance so all or rather most mushy films are often my fodder. I have days where I will laugh or cry along with the characters of these films. Today was one such day and I truly wanted to be in my own zone, much to the dismay of my family.

Another thing I did manage to achieve was to post some long overdue photographs. I had promised my friend that I would do it ages ago and kept procrastinating. It was of a trip we took together almost two months ago! I finally managed today and felt happy with myself. Small pleasures of llife I tell you!

Evening, did a bit of meditation and that was the only routine thing that I managed to actually fit into this otherwise lazy day. Towards the end of the day had some very interesting conversations with couple of friends which happens from time to time as my life is not complete if I dont update them about the happenings or the non happenings in my life!

All in all as the title of the post suggests, a day well spent in the laziest way that I could! There is a song which has been playing on my mind bigtime oflate and just today I have lost count of the number of times I heard it. There is something so lovely about it! Its so free spirited in a sense that I can totally relate to it in my own wild and crazy way! The visuals too go with it perfectly and so do the  vocals, so much so that the female playback voice sounds magical! I am going to end the post with a link to the song :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5r5d6AdYTk 

Life's Bamboos!

Bamboo is a term I learnt in one of the centres where I had worked at the start of my career. We would use it often and what it basically refers to is any jolt, shock that you get out of the blue or any scary episode that you go through! Though it sounds like it has a predominantly negative or unpleasant connotation, its often not like that and after the whole 'bamboo' episode gets over there is always something that it leaves you with, maybe a learning, or a perspective of sorts. And then there are times that for the life of you ,the reason or logic of it all evades you and you cant quite figure out what the hell just happened there! If there is an "alls well that ends well" scenario then you just thank God/ the universe for the grace and all you can have at your end is gratitude even if it left u shaken and was traumatic when you went through with it. This post is about one such bamboo that I recently encountered! Another thing about bamboos is the fact they come when you least expect them! You are almost always never forewarned or prepared. Its like life bowling you one of those googlies!

I am required to do my hormone tests once every year since I have a poly cystic ovarian condition. And this time around I was feeling some level of discomfort. Having a look at my earlier reports made me realise that one year has gone by, so I decided to get it done. All my hormones seemed to be behaving themselves except one called 'Prolactin'. The normal range being 5-28, mine was 165! And next to the reading in brackets was the word 'rechecked' which just meant that they had already checked it twice given the high count. Seeing this I did get a bit alarmed but nothing prepared me for what I was going to be told or in other words the significance of a high Prolactin! In the natural course of events this is a hormone which is high when you are in a lactating phase(breast-feeding your child). Needless to say it was not doing what its meant to in my case. My first action post this was calling my brother's friend who is a gynac. The weekend was around the corner so I thought that just incase I dont get to see my own gynac atleast I should know what this could mean! And to my utter horror my brothers' friend said you will need to get an MRI of the brain done to rule out a tumour in the pituitary area!!!!!! I thought I heard wrong, so I asked again and this time hearing the fear and concern in my voice he reassured me by sayin that 'dont worry even if its a tumour it can be shrunk with medication, as in most cases it is benign!' My heart sank and I had to sit down because I had to absorb what had just been told to me in the most calm and matter of fact way! I guess doctors are a different species altogether. They just seem to see things in ways we cannot even dream of. To give him some credit he also said that he did not think it will turn out to be anything in my case since I dint have classic symptoms like severe headaches, blurring of vision etc. But the mind is such that it usually feeds on the fodder that is not so pleasant. At that moment I think I was still in denial and a bit unconvinced or so I thought. I sent my own gynac an SOS sms asking to see her the next day as it was urgent. My gynac accomodated me and I saw her the next day which was a saturday ,just to have my fears confirmed. She said absolutely the same thing that gynac no 1 had said.

After that something within me just gave way! I am a normal human being and so the word 'tumour' just did it for me, though ofcourse I was trying to be positive and it took every iota of strength and courage out of me to keep consoling myself that it will all be ok! I just had to give myself a huge load of pep talk all day through. I was also told that there was no 'immediate urgency" as such and I could get the MRI done in the next ten to fifteen days! And I was like you gotta be kidding me or crazy thinking that I could live with the stress of a sword hanging over my head for so many days! I got into action mode with my dad's help and if left to me I would want to get the MRI done that very day however discomforting the very thought of undergoing one was! My dad managed to get us an appointment the very next day at Hinduja in the morning! ( only my dad can manage such things with a combination of his marketing, persuasive skills and charm!)

So now the inevitable was going to happen and I dint have a choice but to brace myself for it! My mother was rock solid and kept telling me that 'You gotta be silly to even think that something like this will happen to you! Nothings gonna happen to you as you are a good soul so just keep the faith that you always have!' My father was more a silent source of strength. God bless my parents! I wudnt trade them for anything or anyone in the world and its only such times that reiterate your belief. They have always been my pillars of strength and at times like these, they are something else altogether. I know for a fact that they too were very shaken from inside but chose to not show it because they couldnt let their darling daughter down during such a trying period. I was not in a mood for anything. I kept to myself and when my mom came and hugged me during all of this, is when I broke down for the first and last time in this whole episode. I just could not hold back the tears and they came pouring out as I sobbed in my mothers' arms. She kept reassuring me and asking me as to what my thoughts were! I kept crying and then while crying I finally said to her ' Remember that one astrologer had said that I am going to pop it early!' and I continued sobbing.( I frankly dont know why and where that came from! Trying times have an uncanny way to get you to go deep and dig out some silly memories of even sillier events which would rather be put in the trash bin! In hindsight it seems rather filmy but at that point it was anything but dramatic!) At another time my mom and me both would have been mighty amused at what I said, as not a single thing any astrolger has predicted about me has ever come true!!!(Thats another story altogether, perhaps for another time!) But again at such times I guess the mind just latches onto the weirdest of stuff! This time around my poor mom just said 'Dont be silly, you know that lady was a psycho!'

When I could cry no more I just resigned to what was going to be and decided that I need to garner all my faith and strength , however tough it was going to be! That evening on my mom's insistence we went to my favourite place, Mount Mary. It gives me great peace and inner strength. I have very strong faith in Mother Mary and believe very sincerely with all my heart that she takes care and protects us! Something like this is very subjective but in my case its just very inherent. I dont know if it has anything to do with my convent education or its just ME! Just praying and putting a candle there makes me feel like I have done the needful at my end and now its God's turn to not let me down and do the needful at his/ her end! I managed to have a decent amount of sleep that night and the next morning when I woke up something had changed. I cant say what exactly! I got up with some more strength , courage and confidence. I managed to pray and meditate a bit before we left for the hospital and my aunt who is a doctor also accompanied us and her being there was a great help along with being a tremendous moral support as well.

God bless my friend Shweta who listened to her instinct and warned me about an MRI! Having gone through one herself and that too totally unprepared, she thought it her prime duty as my dearest pal and well wisher to have me prepared for quite a scary experience! And though that helped me equip myself to some extent, when I actually underwent the MRI, I can now safely say that nothing prepares you for that! God bless you if you are claustrophobic and have to undergo such an experience! Thankfully Im not claustrophobic perse but post the experience I feel even the strongest being can freak out after going into a small tunnel like structure, with a steel armour like sheath covering your face in the form of a shield! The procedure was to take 20 mins, which I thought was too long before I got into it, but later realised 20 mins would have certainly been better than being in there for almost an hour, if not more! After awhile, I lost track of time! I dont know how I survived that but from what I can recall, I meditated and chanted while in there and took deep breaths. When I had done enough of that I actually started counting till 60 and did 20 rounds of that and still remember that the time just was not passing! The last fifteen mins or so were the most difficult because by then I lost patience and my mind was willing to scream out loud saying, " Stop! I can take it no more". And this was the time they had injected some chemical/dye through the IV. My head was very heavy and my eyes were hurting. I really cannot fathom what kept me going. What was to be 20 mins took an hour as they had to do repeat scans since they expect no movement at all so that they get accurate images! And by no movement what they mean( which they dont bother telling you at all) is no swallowing, no batting your eyelids etc etc! How on earth can anyone who is undergoing such an unnerving procedure be expected to behave thus, unless you are a statue or a zombie or a corpse! Might as well make you unconscious or sedate you( which apparently is a norm abroad), as it serves two purposes! One is that by default you wont move and the whole process might actually get over in the stipulated time period and two,the person undergoing it will be more at ease as s/he will be totally unaware and saved of the whole trauma.

When it ended I was very thankful as it had left me both physically and mentally drained. My aunt and my mom came and hugged me and my aunt exclaimed that I had been brave and that she had walked out of the room twice as she cudnt even bear to see me go through it all, apart from the horrid, ferocious variety of sounds being made by the scanning machine( which was why they had given me head phones so that it could block off or atleast dilute the sounds and me in all my optimism thought that there might me some nice soothing music to calm me down!!)By now all that I wanted for myself was to go home and sleep.

Now there was another herculian task which was 24 hours away and that was the waiting period for the report, which was another ordeal in itself. By now I was more in a robotic mode and was almost on auto pilot! I was going about doing everything but my brain was numb. I had stopped thinking. It was like a self protective mechanism. The next day we all went to collect the report. When I got it in my hand, the only thing that should have stood out was the last line which said, " No singnificant abnormality in the brain or the pituitary!" My mother had tears of relief and joy but I wasnt able to feel anything. I guess the stress of it all had numbed my ability to feel, express or emote! I read that and then read the rest of the report whereby the first paragraph stated that the images had picked up something which were not further corroborated by the later saggital images( God knows what that meant!). But it was enough to have me a bit concerned till I had it checked by someone of expertise and got a totally clear chit! My gynac fueled my concern by saying that she wanted me to show my report to a neurologist or an endocrinologist while I kept asking why she cudnt just treat me. She reiterated that we need to get an opinion. The saga just dint seem to end!

It was a drill to get a specialist's appointment. We were getting dates that were almost a month away! And once again there was no way I was going to be able to wait that long! My dad gave his best shot once more and managed yet again to get us an appointment two days later.

I was seeing an endocrinologist in Hinduja hospital. I have still to understand why they have appointments and time slots allocated when they dont even remotely follow them. After a 2.5 hours wait I was finally summoned upon and my case history was taken by an intern/assistant. I was asked the most embarassing questions while my dad was with me. The intern was a male as well but I have to add that he was quite thorough with his job and skills. Finally the main doctor who had gone on rounds came back and saw me. He went through my reports in the most disinterested fashion and did the same with the intern's notes! I guess I cant blame him given the nature of his work. I wudnt really care for his level of interest as long as his treatment was good and thats the only thing I was bothered about. The first question he asked was , "How is a high Prolactin bothering you?" I was quite stumped and this was the last straw in the camel's back. Now I was literally at the point of getting hysterical! After all that I underwent I was now being asked how was this reading/ count bothering me!!! How am I supposed to know or even answer that. I was told that this count is high and I need to get a tumour ruled out and once that is done see a speacilist for the next plausible line of treatment! So though I wanted to actually say "You're the specialist, U tell me!!!!", all I could manage to tell him were the couple of discomforting symptoms that I was having and he felt that they were not necessarily related to the high Prolactin. According to him that could just be part of the overall PCOD! He did not feel that there was any need to medicate for the Prolactin and apart from saying 'Forget about it!', all he did was put me on a couple of supplements which he said should help alleviate or atleast reduce the symptoms. And ofcourse he cleared my doubt on the first paragraph of the MRI report and said that all it meant was that what was picked up was like an artefact as it was more to do with the imaging of the machine rather than what was in my brain! Phew!!!!!!!!! What a relief!!

Bamboo's mission accomplished! What was in it for me?! I still cant be certain or say for sure but yes I am certainly counting my blessings, be it my family who have been my angels without wings, my brother who got up at an unearthly hour in his corner of the world just because he wanted to wish me luck and cheer me up before my MRI and followed up diligently till I came out of this whole period, my friends, cousins and well wishers who stood by me rock solid and how all of these people had ONE thing in common, which was the unshakable faith that I would come out of this smooth and there would be no cause for concern, and they kept me going by encouraging me with their optimistic and positive outlook throughout. Last but not the least God or that higher force or reality that saw me through it all and let me come out of it fit and fine with a stronger faith and belief that someone up there did indeed do the needful at their end too! Like the famous words which kinda sum it up for me, "The will of God does not take you where the Grace of God cannot protect you!".

And yes also that I wasnt in the shoes of someone else like the jovial lovely gentleman who did his MRI just before mine and told my parents not to worry as I would be fine and that my scan would come clear, even though he himself had a pituitary tumour for the last 20 years, and everytime he had it removed surgically, it kept coming back! God bless him and many others like him who have every reason to break down or give up but dont and fight it with such great positivity and zest for life! On seeing people and instances like this I can honestly only have GRATITUDE!!!

Bombay Cafes!

In a way this continues from where I left in my last post! Here, I want to share a list of places in Bombay that I love! I don't think I can really rank them in order of preference or any such thing but I will just list them out as they come to me.

I begin with the 'Prithvi theatre and cafe'! One of my absolute favourites in this city and most definitely one of a kind. In Bombay we do not have many open air cafes and therefore Prithvi stands out. Both the theatre and the cafe have a great feel and aura to them. Watching a play in Prithvi is an absolute delight. For one, watching a play in itself is a wonderful experience especially if you enjoy theatre, and moreover watching it in Prithvi takes it to another level altogether. The ambience of the theatre and the very fact that you can watch a performance at such close quarters makes the whole experience truly amazing. The cafe has a lovely rustic feel to it. They serve the best Irish coffee and the tea comes a close second! I have beautiful memories of cherished moments with friends at the cafe and still continue to keep building on them.

Given my love for tea, the next category revolves around this! The old 'Irani joints' where they serve the best bun maska and chai. Its a lethally awesome combination. Even though I dont like milky tea there is just something about the tea thats nice! And the bun maska chai combo works bigtime! And the fact that these Irani joints have maintained the same taste and standard over the years is wonderful! Not many left in the city but the ones that are there are indeed the saving grace. Sadly I dont know of many around where I stay, but there are some classic ones in South Bombay which are lovely especially the one near New Excelsior and if I am not mistaken its called the 'Excelsior cafe'. Thank God they still have them and for whatever it takes these places are still running, given their ridiculously low charges. It amazes me how at these places you pay a measley Rs 15/20 for a 'good' cuppa tea whereas on the other hand you end up paying some atrociously exorbitant rate for a 'pathetic' cuppa tea at a five star!

There was another cafe that comes to mind which was right next door to Rythm house and was called 'Wayside Inn'! A warm and cosy place with open doors overlooking a part of the beautiful Kala Ghoda. They always had white and red checkered table cloths that adorned all the tables and that look never changed. Their tea was something else! I still have to come across a place that serves a concoction like they did. A perfect blend! If you are a tea lover there is no way you could stop at one cup. It was addictive and gave you some kind of high. I even remember calling the waiter and asking in one of our mad moods where they get their tea from! He just smiled and said that the owner gets it from Bora bazaar but he did not know which one it was! And My friend Shweta and me visited that place often when we worked that side of town and at the end of two cups of tea and our conversation we would be high and feel light headed. Before leaving we always got the feeling that we wanted to stand up on the table and dance! As Bombay has transformed we have lost a lot of these lovely old world charm places which have given way to silly posh restaurants which do not exude that kind of charm even remotely!

While Im still on tea, the other beautiful place, again in south Bombay is 'Tea Centre' at Resham bhavan, Churchgate. It has been there for the longest time. My dad visited it in his college days! The place looks like its from a different era altogether. What I really like about the place is that its predominantly a tea place with a huge variety in the kind of teas they offer. Their walls are adorned by some lovely sayings on tea by various personalities/celebrities and even their menu has these tiny paragraphs on every page about what tea can really do to your body and soul. Uplifting in every way!

'Cafe Samovar', adjoining Jehangir art gallery, once again at Kala Ghoda is another place which has been there for many many years. And has sustained the quality of food along with the lovely feel it exudes.

The 'Bagel shop' at Pali hill is another place which is extremely serene and quiet and often lends itself to some heart to heart chats or some quiet contemplative work. Some places are such that the whole vibe is so quiet and calm that your own energies completely settle and you will almost find no one talking loudly or making a noise of any sort. It seems perfectly in sync with the already existing decorum of the place.

'Cha bar' at Oxford book store near churchgate station is nice too though its mighty small and I have lost count of the number of times it has been shut down and reopened! Havent been there in awhile but they serve yummy fresh and hot croissants with their chai!

The 'Baristas and CCD's' are anything but cafes in the true sense of the word! The teas are quite sad and the coffees quite boring, though Im not the best person to comment on the same as am not really a coffee drinker apart from enjoying my filter coffee once in awhile . The whole environment is somehow very commercial and businesslike and the only outlets from these that one can feel ok about are the ones by the seaside at carter road and bandstand. But that credit honestly goes to the seaside!

The recently opened chain of 'Bru world cafes' is quite nice especially for the authentic filter coffee they serve! 'Hometown cafe' at juhu is lovely mainly because of its ambience! Such a lovely decor. Have yet to come across something like that with some amazing woodwork and lovely paintings. Their washrooms are so nice! For once someone has made an effort to make washrooms look and feel so lovely! You have to see and experience it to believe it :) Wooden flooring with beautiful paintings and dim lighting!

I am sure there probably exist places that I still do not know about. Some quaint little tiny cafes or joints in the middle of nowhere! I wish I do chance upon them at some point.

This was meant to be a list of places in general to begin with but has somehow become a list of cafes! I guess the former will be another post perhaps. Till then I hope to come across some more lovely cafes and continue enjoying the ones I love!

Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan!

When I think of Bombay ( I relate to it as Bombay and not Mumbai so for me thats what it is always going to be!), there is a lot that comes to mind. But predominantly what comes is the fact that this is my city, where I was born and brought up and the most important and dominant feeling is the sense of belonging that I feel towards it! Overtime it has transformed, some of it for good and some not so good unfortunately. But here today I want to focus on what this city means to me, what I love and absolutely adore about the nature and fabric of it!

The vibe and buzz of Bombay is just something else altogether. Its such a vibrant and vivacious place, always buzzing and pulsating to the core. A city thats constantly on the move and in the truest sense, a city that never sleeps. You have to be out there at any unearthly hour of the night and you can see that this phenomenon actually exists. If you really did not have access to time you would be very tempted to believe that its just about the advent of night!

Another aspect of this city that is truly endearing is its people. A great melange and a good blend of different cultures. And there is something that is very typical about any and every Bombayite. A very warm and chilled out population, friendly and welcoming. By and large also very helpful. I have to still come across people here who will actually turn around and say they do not know a place when you ask for directions. In all their enthusiasm they will guide you for sure even if its incorrect! One hilarious incident comes to mind when I talk about the helping nature of people here. My friend actually witnessed this when she was travelling to work by the local train. One man got off the train and ran in the opposite direction( was probably in hurry to get wherever he had to!), where the train going towards the other end of town had just started to leave the station. So the people in that train actually thought that this man had missed his train and was running to get into it and they all collectively pulled him up, much to his horror and shock! What a funny sight that must have been! A man getting off the train and getting pulled into the other one going in the exact opposite direction of his destination. And the poor man for the life of him would have not been able to understand what the hell was going on but for all you know, all concerned must have had a good laugh! But thats precisely what I intend to highlight here. The people did not read the situation correctly and so in all their enthusiasm and eagerness to help, thought that they were actually doing the person concerned a good turn!

For women this city surely is the best place to be, especially when it comes to moving around on your own and even by and large being out late at night or getting back home late. These factors have been compromised upon in the recent past and we do hear some horrifying incidents which is really sad. But in comparison to many other cities, its still safe enough which is a very comforting factor at the end of the day.

Amongst seasons, the winters are beautiful though brief in comparison to the other seasons. 'Bombay in the rains' is just sublime. The monsoon does something magical to this city. It looks and feels awesome. Whether you are at home or outside you can enjoy the rains to the hilt. You could be indoors, all tucked in watching your favourite film or reading a lovely book along with a refreshing cup of adrak chai. Nothing can beat that! Alternately you could be outside for a drive or with friends at a coffee place by the sea, and its equally if not more enjoyable. The whole experience has to be "felt". It creates a different sense of well being in you and just lifts your spirits to another level altogether.

The places to hangout in Bombay are so many and so varied that you almost always have such a wide choice at any point in time. And what always amazes me is be it a weekday or the weekend, any and every place, new and old alike, are all packed!! You have new joints mushrooming all over and they all do well! It could be a roadside vadapavwala, dosa/sandwich joint, midlevel restaurants or high end places, they always have enough in terms of customers visiting them to savour the varied cuisines they offer! The small roadside tapri joints are something else altogether, especially the cutting chai that they serve! Awesome!

Last but not the least, is something about Bombay that is one of my favourites and that is the 'sea'! Having lived here all my life and going to places by the sea, be it Carter road or the Bandstand promenade, Joggers park or Juhu beach, you just kinda take this aspect for granted. If I ever have to relocate to a place that does not have the sea, I would be very very disappointed. The sea has a tremendous calming and soothing effect. Some of my most sad, upset and reflective moments have been at these places, especially when I want to be alone, sort my head out, or allow my emotions to settle. Something about being by the sea is deeply healing as well, something very therapeutic! Im sure that my affinity to the sea has something to do with me being a Cancerian too. I still have to come across a fellow cancerian for whom the sea does not spell some magic! The sunsets by the sea are divine! The twilight and the hues are mesmerising! The vastness of a water body like that is so intriguing and spell binding at the same time that it often leaves you with a sense of tremendous awe!

There are some specific places which comprise my 'Bombay list', but thats the next blog. Cant do justice to them in this one. Im just going to end this by summarising what I feel about Bombay! It is a city which gives you hopes and dreams and the drive and the opportunties to live them out, a city which spells home, a city which makes you feel a part of it and welcomes you with open arms, irrespective of where you hail from, a city that will always have favourite spots which you identify with or relate to, especially in your most soulful moments, a city that has no derth be it people, relationships, opportunities, places and a city that actually makes you belong to it. If you have lived here a good deal, you will understand what is meant by the phrase, "Once a Bombayite, always a Bombayite!"

There is a paragraph in Suketu Mehta's book which has captured the essence and character of this city ........."Bombay is a city in which everything is on broad, public display. Nothing is hidden. A city like Bombay, like New York, that is a recent creation on the planet and does not have a substantial indigenous population, is full of restless people. Those who have come here have not been at ease somewhere else. And unlike others who may have been equally uncomfortable wherever they came from, these people got up and moved. As I have discovered, having once moved, it is difficult to stop moving.”
― Suketu Mehta, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found.