jelly shoes are out

rain rain go away. and now its gone. thank you for the fantastic storms we had all september. please come back soon!

ready set go

some months back, a few very nice billboards advertising 'running for a cause' stood up over marine drive. the advertised cause was clean water, and the advertised run was the mumbai marathon. a couple of weeks later it was the topic of discussion over dinner, and a day after that, i signed up.
so i am running, or will be running in january.
id like to find a good charity to raise money for.
in the meantime, there is a training schedule that i like to play drag and drop with on my calender all week long.

and then there were none

the aftermath.
and again the scene in the north. more hauntingly, beautifully captured here.

paper elephants

it was surreal.
this was the scene downtown. safe and ive heard relatively calm. my pictures don't do it much justice.
(i came across these pictures from the beach in juhu, which are much much better).

calm before the storm

this weekend will be a different story.

obsessed with flying fauna

birds.
bats.
and now fireflies.

hit or miss?

back to when we were on holiday.

some random place near the taj. the train to agra got in early, we were still half asleep. what we really needed was a place to wash up, but decided to order food to cover our bathroom usage.
the menu said 'break fast'.
and also 'peanutbutter toast'.
the chai was fine. so were the eggs. but what better than creamy nut-based proteins spread over warm bread to jumpstart your day?
a pb sandwich deconstructed, of course!
the toast was literally peanut+butter+toast.
maybe it was a joke? this went well beyond comprehension, so far, that i hesitate to call it a miss.
surreal. sticking with the chai... but thanks.

little trouble

a few cats stay in the lobby of my building. some are cute, one is not, and none of them are friendly.
some weeks back, sometime after 2am, the small one came to my door, scratching and mewing.


the large one, (i call her puss) was making noise in the stairwell, and after noticing the small one having a snack, started up a fight. they were screaming for a good 30 minutes before i assume they came to some compromise.
earlier this week, my landlady called while i was at work. there were strange noises coming from the room. there was no one at home. they entered, and discovered a cat.
did i bring home a cat? no. but the smart suckers probably know by now i have a whole cupboard of goodies, and snuck in while i was re-arranging umbrellas, rubbish bags, or any number of things i do with the door open.

sweet indulgence

in search of modak.
it is ganesha's favorite thing to eat.
this delicious sounding snack has eluded me so far, but is supposed to be a staple around this festival time in mumbai.


there is a recipe here, that id love to try to make, maybe next year if i have a kitchen. but until then, the plan is to visit every mithai shop in town.

update: maharashtrian thali ended with this the other day. it was every bit delicious as it sounds.

a quick vacation

very quick.
and very amazing.

udaipur, jodhpur, agra, and delhi. less than 24 hours in each place.

mouldy passports
rainy courtyards
lake palaces
movie-star priests
temples of columns
neon green hills
elephant traffic
roadside chai
rooftop beers
indigo stained everything
punctuated by color
traveling pilgrims
beautiful shoes
overnight trains
naps on marble
red on white
puri thali
the other taj
capitol heat
expressive cappuccinos
new airplane windows
















it was wonderful. and i want to go back.
(but im so glad to be home)

power points

(16 august)
ive been powerpointing for the last zillion and a half hours.

this is the third consecutive weekend in the office.
just a friendly reminder from the greasy sandwich stall down the street as to why:


our lunchtime snack came wrapped in an import berthing chart for the port trust. so much for lunch. after staring at charts and figures and maps of the place ive sort of lost my appetite.

hit or miss?

working dinner.

ayubs. one of the perks of working late is that just downstairs are the best paneer rolls in the city. ayubs starts cooking at 6:30, and the whole street starts to smell like delicious, wonderful, grilled nourishment. and if its a late night at the office we can expense it. all 50rs. and, as ridiculous as it is, they will deliver (three floors up), but i much prefer eating out on the street. either way, its always a treat.
i know that most places recycle paper. thats nice. the rolls always come with some insight into an area business. this maybe was a little too much information though:

im sorry ayubs. you are forever a hit. but this one was off the charts.