MystiqueSpeak: Mumbai

Showing posts with label Mumbai. Show all posts

Monday, 7 February 2011

Morning.

It is the most beautiful feeling in the world to walk, oblivious of time and space. Plugged into music (The Doors), with a camera, by your side, watching the city wake up. Capture, in monochrome. Drink some chai. Walk. Grin as the music curls and hits the sides of your mind.

Saturday, 10 July 2010

I like to be gone most of the time.

It feels like I've forgotten how to write. Or read seriously, for that matter. And since I am currently inarticulate, I can't express just how big a tragedy that is.

I was in Pune a couple of weeks ago. Fun was had. My cousin has not so recently acquired a ridiculously cute looking daschund pup, called Coffee. Look at her, the sweet little thing.

She hated me. At least, I think she did. After the first day of loving shyness, she attacked my knees every time I went to my cousin's place. *Sigh* I wonder what she smelled on me. Or my jeans.

In other, quite random, news, a friend wondered about Hippo. Why would anyone market a snack as healthy and baked, and then call it Hippo? (she said) Turns out Hippo cares about our hunger :|

I'm not too fond of monsoon. Mostly because of the rain. And the humidity. And those days when a cab ride that should take ten minutes, takes forty. So you're claustrophobic and nauseous and bored.

To conclude, not that I had much to say, on 2nd July 2010, for reasons best known to myself, I looked like this.

A very epic day that was.

SNam is in Bombay and I am initiating her. Well, somewhat. Today, I took her to the foodgasmic wonder that is Theobroma. Next week, we shall tackle the Western Railway. And the suburbs. More chocolatey goodness. And then I'll have stuff to write about.

Cheerio.

Wednesday, 9 December 2009

F.O.P.E.B.S!

That stands for Full On Post Exam Beach scene, as coined by Krish. The plan? Gather a bunch of people, rent a bungalow on Mandwa beach for the day, and CHILL. And that is exactly what we did.

We got to gateway at 9.45 am and took a ferry to Mandwa. Forty minutes sped by on the waves...and then we were on the beach. Mandwa...well, it's on the mainland. Serene, and deserted. The house Krish rented was perfect, no more than a tiny room, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a huge patio with chairs and beds, just right for a day trip.

It wasn't a party. It was an awesome day of relaxation, music, lazing, and frolicking in the water, and then more lazing. And posing, let's not forget. A wonderfully mellow day, the serene spot, the company and the music all added up to create something more awesome than each of them individually.

We caught the 5.15 ferry back...and it was unimaginably beautiful, with the sky glowing vermillion over the sea and seagulls escorting the boat halfway across the trip....

And I, listening to Floyd, blissed out.

Wallet cleaned out, I trudged home. Happy.

Thursday, 3 December 2009

Miss Independent

I packed a fast bag after my first paper on the 30th (so fast, in fact, that I forgot to pack in my underwear and had to return for it the next morning before my paper) and went to meet KayDee at Dadar.

Yes, Kay's in Bombay, on a 10 day stopover between Singapore and Muscat. I spent my birthday with her, actually...(The birthday itself was not as blurry as 18th birthdays should be, but what can one do three days before the exam? I DID however buy some awesome headphones and a Bob Dylan tantra shirt. And I did all this in an awesome dress and heels. Mehh.)

So. We cabbed and rick-ed it through to Thane, where Kay's parents have a flat. The flat is a little more spartan than I remembered it, in some ways, but it IS impressively well stocked. The fridge is loaded with spices and I even found a jar filled with chocos. I finished the Chocos.

As for the actual living...well, Kay's used to it, having lived alone for quite a while now, but for me, it was a little strange not having an adult in the house. Then again, it was an awesome kind of strange. Plus, I'm an adult now, I suppose. More than that, it just feels liberating and quite normal, really, to do exactly what we wanted (she lazes around, I come back from exams, laze, and try to study, and watch movies), go out and come back at our own will. We reached home from grocery shopping at 9.30 the other day, and it didn't feel too late, but that's really relative isn't it, late and early? Depending on which relative setting your curfews. Sigh.

This feels so right, living alone. I should really start looking for cheap studio flats with decently sized kitchen spaces. I might be learning a lot from Bombay, but living alone will be the big lessons : Independence and...how not to be a bitch.

It's tragic that rents are so high.

Saturday, 21 November 2009

Myst needs a modus operandum.

Situation: 'Tis my 18th birthday in a week. Unfortunately, my exams start 3 days after the aforementioned birthday. My best friend (okay, Rushi, ONE of them) is gonna be in town, so I need a plan.

My original plan was to gift myself something. I was going to get tattooed on my 18th, but i'd rather do it with mom's permission.

I currently have no plan. I know I want to be OUT the whole day, which involves me waking up in the morning and not the afternoon, yes. I know I'd like it to be memorable.

And I know I'm on a budget. Kinda.

It doesn't help that I'm relatively new to Bombay and don't always know were to take people out...

I have a beautiful new dress. I don't want to waste it.

So, to the universal forces, and to you people...I say HELP.

Offer your valuable advice. And I will tell you whether it has been followed.

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Trying, as always, to find the colour.

I have not much to write right now. So, the photos. I'm loving my new Nokia 6303 (low budget, to compensate for the loss of my MOTOK1.), more for the camera than anything else. It helps greatly when I'm bored.

I have a group project to submit by November 1st, the topic is Celebrities as social activists. Growr.

Okay, photos, from top to bottom, we have:

1. Mosaic at Candies, Bandra. I could take photos of every single tile in the place, it's done up SO well!

2. My daily commute. I need to reshoot this tomorrow.

3. Pretty blue tile, Candies. My phone camera didn't capture the colour as it actually was.... :(

4. What I did in today's English class. Inspired by thegirlinthebigbox, specifically her rainbow art, which I absolutely adore. Great examples of her work are here, here and here. She's so incredibly talented....I'm gonna stop now.

5. I shamelessly advertise. I made that. Got all the beads and stuff when I went to Muscat over Diwali. Green garnet and silver.

6. Teeny carrot-cupcake at Candies. It was delicious.

7. Colaba causeway. The silk bangles.

8. Conversely. I have magenta, she has purple.

So yeah. That is me, for now. Enjoy.

Now reading: Lesley Downer - Geisha

Now listening: 3oh3 - Starstrukk

Now watching: Pretty Woman

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Twinkly lights all over

Aah, back to the buzz that is Bombay. I didn't get my big fat noisy Indian Diwali after all. I didn't even light a single firecracker. But my TV-addict cousin got his first bhaiduj from me, and I got a bit rich.

On my way home from my grandmom's, the sun had set and every window glittered with twinkly lights of every size and colour, beautiful paper lanterns swaying in the breeze. Even the slummier areas had something, a huge lantern over the highway, a haphazard sprinkling of bulbs. The chawls overlooking the highway were uniform, the same bright paper lantern in every balcony. Three chawls in a row, each lit in a different colour.

The last day of Diwali was rather quiet. Occasionally you'd hear a bang, and then a shiny green pustule would streak into the sky and explode in a shower of sparks.

Not so much after I got back to Matunga. My head throbbed as I unpacked and ate. Outside my window, down the lane, the noise was continuous. And hellishly irritating.

Furious, I fell asleep. Today morning as I walked down that same lane, so silent now, a thousand little bits of paper were the only evidence of last night's pyrotechnical play.

Saturday, 12 September 2009

Bombay is huge. That's an understatement....Bombay might be a miniscule little reclaimed island clinging desperately to the west coast of India (like a leech onto a hiker's leg, like....a foetus to the womb), but by sheer volume of humanity, Bombay is colossal.

So when I randomly bump into someone I knew from my previous life, when I least expect it, it's a little more special than it should be.

Friday, 28 August 2009

Epiphanies

Those who know me will know that I'm not the biggest fan of organised religion, or even religion as a whole. I'm not atheist, but God, to me, is kinda formless. I don't even give it a name....

I've almost always shied away from poojas. When I've gone, I've always been in another room, playing with the other kids around. I haven't attended a pooja or a satsang in more than two years.

So I wasn't too pleased when my aunt, who I currently live with in Bombay, decided to drag me to a neighbour's place for a Ganpati pooja thingy. I sat awkwardly for a good half hour, right in the front, as others around me chanted, some mantras known, some alien.

Even the 7 year old kid next to me knew exactly what to do.

All I did was admire the decoreations and the pure white orchids used. Yeah, I checked, they were real.

And in the middle of all the noise and the chaos, my mind throwing up random bull, I looked into the compassionate eyes of the idol...and I had a conversation with Lord Ganesha.

Naah, it was probably the deluded mental diarhhea.

'Enjoying this, are you?', I asked the object of worship.

'YES!', he replied.

'But seriously dude,' I say, 'Why do people go through so much trouble for you anyway when you'd be just as happy even if they didn't?'

'Because,' and I could almost see a grin very familiar to me from somewhere else, 'I'm AWESOME.'

Tuesday, 11 August 2009

Koff koff .... Can it be...?

Slowly but quite surely, the paranoia is reaching Bombay.

Meanwhile, Dadar Station (central side) has a new aquisition!

Wednesday, 29 July 2009

One week later, the situation is the same. The strike situation, that is. The theatre workshops in college? Those are over too. So now I'm praying even harder for college to start, and FAST.

I've been a bit lethargic and melancholy...I guess a fever-cum-cold-cum infected month-old peircing does that to you....

Mom dragged me to a doctor last week, who sternly told me I was 15 kgs underweight. Pumped me up with all kinda of supplement pills I'm supposed to be taking. This blows. Plus I LOST 4 kgs after I got to Bombay.

So now, I'm quite literally fed up.

C'est la vie, mais ce n'est pas bonne.

Sunday, 12 July 2009

Urgh.

I woke up yesterday morning on a blue mattress in the bedroom of Ani's flat. Turned to see Ani fast asleep next to me. How'd I get there? Last I remembered was the living room.....

Ani's surprise 21st birthday party was something we'd been planning for a while. It didn't end up exactly as we'd hoped it would...mainly because she had no idea and had invited everyone for a sleepover the next day. Silly girl.

But yeah, when she showed up, there were 7 of us there, and 21 gifts arranged in the middle of the room. And yeah, she was pretty surprised. And happy. And a wee bit sentimental.

More people showed up later....After she'd inspected all her gifts, and hugged everyone, and been sentimental. We had music, we had people, and we had champagne. And later, rum. And a LOT of biriyani.

It was a good party, yeah. We played 'I never'. And laughed a lot.

And I woke up yesterday morning with the worst headache ever. Staggered out into the living room to see the others who'd slept over....And I was told the stories of the night before.

Conclusion: Myst will stick to two drinks. No more. I don't think anyone who was there is ever gonna let me have ANY anyway.

Many hours later, most of which I slept through, I was relatively better. I will hopefully never be in that state again, because it does NOT feel nice. At all.
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Annie Sharma, I love you very very much indeed. Also, Jai, Nikhil, Aaku, thanks.

Saturday, 27 June 2009

The stress of moving to a new city had been getting to her.

She needed an outlet.

"Maybe it would help if I started smoking," she mused aloud, "But I shouldn't."

"Really?", asked her best friend. He moved his half-smoked cigarette towards her mouth temptingly.

"Screw devil's advocate, call me...Satan"

She looked doubtfully at the stub in his fingers

As the smoke blew out of her mouth, she could have sworn she saw his eyes glint red...

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ReLAX. I haven't started smoking. Not happening anytime soon. But the devil's advocate line was pulled on me. By Satan, hah.

Monday, 22 June 2009

It RAINED. And even though I live on the main road in urban jungle, I could smell that smell, the smell of freshly rained-on mud. Bliss.

Of course, it wasn't so blissy when I had to go out and the rain got at my feet and it was all icky and muddy, no, that part I'm not used to. Yet. It will change, I guess.

I'm loving this wonderful breeze though.

Things are looking up, I'm super-psyched about the BA at Jai Hind, because I have THE best subjects. English, french, psych, Literature, Philosophy. There is nothing there that I don't want. Nothing at all.

My best friend is back in Bombay, which means that I once again have to carefully watch my words for latent innuendo. Sigh. Can never drop my guard with him around.

The pissing off part is his Vodafone numbers been deactivated and I'm supposed to meet him today. Sigh.

So yes, life is definitely in an upward direction now....

Mom says I'm much calmer than I was when she first got here. Maybe I am, I suppose. I've been through a lot in that month I was alone here, learnt a lot. And come out a little wiser. And, well, happy, I guess. I'm 17 and right now it fels like I'm on a cliff with the whole world in front of me. I have no stories to tell...yet.

But I will soon have them.

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We were invited to dinner by dad's IIT friends yesterday night, and from yesterdays conversations I conclude thus : All IITians have the same sense of humor. Sigh. And it IS hereditary.

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

Frankie says RELAX

Lessons learnt over the past three days fron life, Zaiu, mom and Jai Hind college:

Yours truly cannot survive this city if she doesn't learn how to RELAX.

And no, relax doesn't mean sleep 16 hours a day.

Currently I'm like a coiled spring, waiting, planning, what to do next, where to go next. I FEEL tense. So yes. I need to relax.

I need to run, too.

Today, I suppose, was the final straw. But it's normal Bombay too. I had to wait 3 hours at Jai Hind for the BMM merit list.

In those three hours, I drank a red bull, I paced irritatedly up and down A-road. I sat at marine drive for 10 minutes. I paced some more. I read. I listened to music. I paced.

I grumbled to myself.

Yeah, that's gotta stop.

I finally sat down with someone, I was greeted with the words "Are you all right? You look like you're gonna throw up."

Sigh.

Tomorrow. I start running.

PS. I got BA at Jai Hind, not BMM though. St Xavier's list is out tomorrow.

Monday, 1 June 2009

Framed

Sunday, 31 May 2009

Contrast

I have had the best day ever.
I love this city.
You can have a hellish crowd behind you and still be happy with the brilliant sunset in front of you, with the waves crashing on the rocks an inch away from your feet.
You can get into a crappy rickshaw with a broken seat or into a dhinchack Taxi with disco lights on the ceiling.
You can eat great sandwiches at fashionable eateries where the beautiful people go, or you can eat great sandwiches at a roadside cart, and both are different degrees of brilliant.
And even through the humidity and the sweat and the heat and the crowd.... you can manage to feel more alive than you have in ages and ages.

Eh dil, hai mushkil, jeena yahaan
Zara hatke, zara bachke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan.

Thursday, 21 May 2009

A buch of Bombay updates

I'm learning....
To shorten the strap on my jhola so that it hangs at my waist and not my butt.
Which side to get off the train at Andheri and which side at Dadar.
To cross roads like a mad mosquito.
To wake up late.
That listening to music on the road will one day kill me.
To always, always keep change on me. Always.

It drizzled yesterday. You can't even call it rain. First drizzle. Hit me in the face as I hung out of the train on my way home. That's my nightly pick-me-up...I hang out of the train, as far as I can go, and I sing to myself. The tunes meandering around my head find their way out.

I've found waves and rocks. In Bombay. Bandra bandstand, sitting on the rocks with a friend, gazing over the panorama and the sun shining onto the waves. Crash. Couple haven, how many? Kids. Cat. Crowd. Nowhere close to my bliss-point wall at Shatti. But for Bombay, it's great. And it's close to home. I will be back there. Soon.

I've finally got books. I purr in contentment.

My results are out tomorrow morning. I am trying very hard not to think about this. See, ideally, I wanted to be sloshed the night before the results...but it doesn't seem like that's gonna happen. Tomorrow, Facebook statuses (statii?) all over are going to be either triumphant or defeated, shouting out numbers to the multiverse. My boards passed in a numbness, the moth after that was the most alive I've been. I'm Very Happy now, and I badly want to stay that way.

Sunday, 17 May 2009

She befriended him the way she befriended most new people, a Facebook message saying "I love your work, Hi."
They became close thanks to a mutual friend.
A week before she first met him, she realised that he'd entered her life at exactly the right time.
Two days before she met him, she realised he was a godsend. A blessing.
The first time she met, he hugged her like no one had, she closed her eyes and realised they had a bond.
The next day, when she asked him out and he kissed her, she knew the nature of that bond.
And the day after, as they sat reading in a bookstore, ignoring killer looks from all around, she knew they were in love.

And today, when she was oh-so-late but still didn't want to leave him, she knew she'd probably always be.

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A bit of fiction. Inspired by something a dear friend wrote.
I'm loving Bombay. It kills me by the end of the day, but I get by... with a little help from my friends.

Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Bombay calling

And after a year and a half of anticipation and whatnot, I'm finally in Bombay.
It's humid. grrr. I can handle dry heat, I've lived in a country that gets to 45 degrees Celsius in summer. But dry. This is humid. Fans on full blast, sweat running down my back in a most irritating way.
Alphonso mangoes. Lots of them at my place. So it's not just sweat running down me.
I'm loving life. Mom seemed rather amazed that I actually dragged myself to Andheri to meet Rushi just an hour after I got home. Home is Sion, by the way.
"How didja GO??" she asks. "Umm, walk to Sion Circle and then rickshaw." I reply.
"Wow."
What's wow, I ask. No, just didn't expect you to go all the way to Andheri your first day there.
Weird.
But yes, I did do that, I met Rushi, I met Ani, I met Jai, and there was CCD and bad stories and so much laughter that our stomachs hurt. So much.
Home, however, I must get used to. I'm so used to Mom knowing me. Like, knowing not to pay ANY attention when I mutter to myself or grumble in frustration at everything from over-affectionate cats to defunct internet connections.
But Mom's not here, I've got my grandmom and my aunt who constantly ask what I want, and tell me to lower the volume or no, that mango's a little spoilt, take another. I've told them that it is essential that they: 1. Do not worry about me, just leave me to my own devices. 2. Pay no attention to my mutterings. Because I am indeed muttering a lot these days. Lol.
But yeah, it's good out here despite everything. And it can only get better. So cheers to me and all.