working late

meeting tomorrow = late night today.
for once the office allowed itself to be utilized past 6pm, and the view from the roof is even more fantastic than at mid afternoon.


i think i ask them every week why they dont show movies out here. theres a large white wall. a large tiled patio. i think theres a projector someplace too. they have at least 10 dvd's in the library. and the stall next door makes paneer rolls that are beyond delicious.
what else do you need?

eastern waterfront

fresh water

my second delivery of water came today, and it was quite fresh.
when i placed the order, i was feeling indulgent. 3 cans of water, 1 case of 1 litre bottles, and 1 case of fizzy soda. please. unlike last time, i got no confirmation, but after a couple of days, there was a knock at the door, at 8:30am.
same delivery guy, and he walked right in, brushing me as he went past, and then immediately apologizing. no matter, its a very narrow hallway for two people and two cans of water. so he lingered, i guess the rest of the order was downstairs. i said ok, where is the other can? i gave him my empty can and asked for the bill. he started to talk about my living situation, and asked questions about who i stayed with, who i slept with, and when were they coming back. 'thats none of your business'. at this point i felt uncomfortable and suggested he go get the rest. he left.
he came back, half an hour later. no bill, no fizzy soda. he had said that my deposit would cover the cost of the 1 litre case. so i attempted to make out a bill for my own record. he asked to use the bathroom by basically unbuttoning his pants as i was adding up the figures. he gestured and said that we was going to go. i let him, because i didnt want him relieve himself on my floor. i turned around. he came out, and i tried to get him out as fast as possible. i found my old bill. he sat on my bed. i asked him to get up. i showed him the bill i had made. 3 cans + 3 deposits + 1 case - 1 deposit. he agreed. then he touched my ass.
so i yelled, dont touch me, dont treat me that way, get out, never come back here again, i will never call bisleri again, i will tell my aunty and you will be in BIG trouble. you do not do that again. ever. !
i doubt he cared.
i gave him the agreed upon money, and he left.
he came back 10 minutes later demanding the deposit. i yelled again, that i had returned the bottle, therefore was entitled to the deposit. no luck. i gave up.
so my plans to enjoy the morning free from class, and get to the office earlier were slightly derailed, and i basically sat stunned replaying the situation in my head. and then spent a good two hours cleaning the room.
when i got in, i finally explained to the director why i sometimes dont feel like walking around on the streets, why i sometimes take a while to come in... its not because im scared, its because i am sick of dealing with it. the morning being an extreme example of the more common brush by, hand touch, or stare down. she advised to make a scene. slap if need be. and move out of their way. all things i can do, although i still feel quite strongly that i should never have to.
so now i dont know what to do. i need water. the water man is rude. based on my current consumption, i have approximately 2.5 weeks to sort this one out.

update: a friend filed a complaint, and i re-filed a week after. the man is supposedly being 'sacked' on june 15. once his paperwork goes through. and will never come to my building again. they seemed to take it seriously, although i doubt that if its taking weeks of paperwork, the man will actually be sacked. as long as i never see him again, im fine.
update 2: my tap is now leaking.

clear skies

perhaps the loveliest weather yet...

sweet hydration

it took a week... almost exactly. the bisleri truck finally found its way. after repeated phone calls, i learned that it was simply lost. too bad soccer is not more popular, no one seems to know where exactly cooperage ground is.
now i have 20 litres of what im hoping is pristine drinking water, on a pretty efficient stand, with a nice secure faucet 'to avoid contamination'. although the delivery man had to fiddle with the inside of it to get a tight seal, but ill pretend i didnt see that.
i can also overlook the valuable real estate im losing, as it now occupies half of my window seat/drying rack/food prep counter.... and that the order was slightly short of the two bottles i asked for. who cares when youve got 20 litres to practically bathe in?

so long, lariam

just because mumbai is a bustling metropolis, does not mean it comes without several, traditionally more 'rural' health risks, such as malaria. one should probably redefine their concept of metropolis upon arriving in mumbai anyway... in many ways, it is a rural village, on speed.
some say that the recent influx of rural workforce, building materials (yes, always blame the architects), poorly managed water storage and disposal on job sites has led to malaria hotspots in some of the developing areas of the city like malad, and goregaon... read more here.
the opinions on malaria prophylaxis vary. personally, ive heard yes, take it, the side effects are nothing compared to actually getting malaria... and also, dont take it, its pure poison in your body. after also hearing that i could just stop, if things got bad, i decided to try.
because there are several drug resistant strains of malaria these days, and this is not just a two week vacation, my doctor prescribed lariam.


the potential side effects range from vivid dreams, to suicidal ideation. which is quite an impressive range.
for me, it was good for a while. the weekly pill is nice, you dont have to remember everyday, and i never got nauseous like i did with the typhoid vaccine. some funny things popped into my head, and sometimes i felt a little anxious, on edge, or down, but i dismissed it as just a reaction to the extreme change in environment, or just the heat.
then there was a night when dust bunnies came to life. and i was worried that the waiter at the taj had put roofies in my tea. and the panic attack the following day. and i started noticing that after taking the pill on monday, my sanity would totally deteriorate by thursday or friday. but the whole time, it would come in waves, short fits of anxiety, intense paranoia, physical hallucinations, shortness or complete lack of breath. lasting on average, 30 minutes. only after would i realize that it was not normal, it was drug induced mania. and there were no bugs crawling all over me, and my clothes were not choking me. and the dust bunnies were spots on my glasses, not fluffy invaders rushing my bed.
weeks were getting progressively worse, and last week there was a record high of three panic attacks, plus bugs that i couldnt see. or bugs that i could see, but were not really there. ordinary characters began to take on a supernatural evil, making me totally, irrationally paranoid. and that needed to stop.
so the next plan is to work on building up my immune system, investigate alternatives, and make sure that mosquito net is rigged up. thankfully there is some time before skeeter season, and i still have lots of eau de DEET left.

so when life turns into a waking nightmare, follow these words of wisdom:
dont quit life, quit lariam*

* the words of someone obviously more sane than i.

hello mineral water

since i arrived in india, ive been having a rather ironic struggle with hydration. i consume at least three litres of water daily, more if i have to cook, make tea, wash vegetables, etc. at some point, i plan on tracking my other usage (doing wash, showers, dishes) at some but right now im concentrating on consumable h2o, and the water out of the tap is definitely not.
my daily consumption falls short of the recommended 64 oz, and its difficult enough to deal with. the location of my flat, and my spending habits preclude me from delivery at two of the local groceries, and i dont trust the other, after seeing brownish interpretations of 'packaged drinking water' on the shelves. that leaves me with the nearly constant chore of stocking up on the way home. thankfully ive had over a month to practice.
i know know that i can count on himalayan to taste slightly nasty, but to come reliably sealed. bisleri is a good standby, aquafina and kinley both come with the risk of high chemical content and sometimes come less than properly sealed. scary. i know which stores have a reliable stock of two litre bottles, minimizing as much as possible the inevitable waste. id love to just pick up a 5 litre bottle, but they require deposits, and are delivery only with a minimum purchase of 1000rs.
so. the flat doesnt really have the infrastructure to install an aquaguard, and although im sure i could boil, treat and uv zap my water straight from the tap, id honestly rather not. next step, try to get a water cooler.
after looking at various options, bisleri, with their easy online ordering and 'safety faucet' seemed like the best option. i see the truck all over town. i sent my sms, and presto, someone called me back to confirm, yes, delivery of two 20 litre bottles, a stand, and faucet, either tonight or tomorrow morning. since i cant wait for it home, i left the money with the landlady, she let the security downstairs know. perfect. i am so excited.
that was thursday. its now almost the following wednesday. im not sure what sort of communication mistakes im making, but i call bisleri at least once a day, and they are ever so reassuring, that yes m'am... by 1230/430/630 this afternoon. and still no delivery. so in the meantime, ive gone though another 24 bottles.
thanks, i can set up a bowling alley in my room now.
such a tease.....

how to climb a pipeline

lost in a sea of acronyms

just a quick primer:
BMC Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
MCGM Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
MMRDA Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority
BPT Bombay Port Trust
UDRI Urban Design Research Institute
USEFI United States Educational Foundation in India
PUKAR
SPARC
CRIT
AF Alliance Française


navigating the BMC is my favorite. its exciting that nothing is written in english. i can at least recognize Marathi. i take the stairs so i can keep track of which floor im on. people have been either graciously helpful, or inanely frustrating. but what kills me is the titles. although things there are segregated into departments there, more or less ive learned that each gentlemans abbreviated title is the only ticket to a meeting. forget surnames. that will confuse the PA. especially with an american accent. she works with letters, so its worth it to try to speak the language.

PIO Public Information Officer
AddnlMC Additional Municipal Commissioner
PA to the DtyME-P Personal Assistant to the Deputy Municipal Engineer, Projects


and forget street names.
VN Road = Veer Nariman Road
MG Road = Mahatma Ghandi Road
DN Road = Dadabhai Naoroji Road


landmarks? although Bombay has been Mumbai for a while now, its still helpful to go though as many iterations of place and street designations as possible.

VT = Victoria Terminus = CST = Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
BOM = Bombay Airport Code = Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport = CSIA
Prince of Whales Museum = Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sangrahalaya
Flora Fountain = Hutama Chowk
Crawford Market = Mahatma Jyotirao Phule
Marine Drive = Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road = NSC Bose Road
Queens Road = Maharshi Karve Road
Pipeline Road = Senapathi Bapat Marg

and this is just a running list of what i encounter in my own little world.

i need flash cards.

maps ok please?

two things i could use right about now.
i have no idea what an 'iceling' is but it sounds refreshing. so does a 'knock-out' beer.
pbr me asap?
yes please thank you.