India

India traveling was done in Nov! In 3 weeks I covered Bombay, Calcutta & Chennai! Of course the bulk of my time was spent in Bombay! Did I mention how much i looove bombay! Well i do - i honestly think there is no city better (except maybe Hong Kong! :P)

i loove the buzz in the air and rush in the city. how everyone has somewhere to go and someone to meet. how the rain & sun both stop no one from their paths. how the city changes as you drive from andheri to colaba. how every building whether its name is 'vikram mahal' or 'aasta vihar'; they all have a character. grumbling, sneezing, sometimes even turning up their noses at you, these buildings have seen all and yet stand. some majestically, some with a stoop, but all testament to the fast changing city that is bbay. how the ostentatious ambani house sits amidst the jhopad patti that is bbay and yet it fits in a fashion that only someone living in bbay would understand. i love the fresh smell of the wet earth as the bin-mausam barsaat hits. and the cool sea breeze on juhu that brings with it not only the smell of the sea and sand, but that of people and their aspirations as hundreds flock to the beach on a sunday evening looking for some entertainment. i love the khala khatta gola that u cant enjoy fully without messing at least a portion of your clothes and the spicy paani puri that tastes like no other ive ever had in the world. i love how even though my mom claims, 'its too un-cool for women to stand in front of a paan-wala at night!", the same paan-wala i walked up to every night would recognize me and make the exact same meetha paan with all the sweetness of life and none of the hard bits! i love how the grander pubs & hotels have a banner that says, 'you drink, we drive' and how simple it is to just call someone at 9pm on a saturday night and book a driver who will come pick u up from the place you're at, in your car and drive you home safely! i love how the taj hotel (which i am seeing for the first time in my life) looks like nothing ever happened to it before as it continues to be full of glitz and glamour. and i could go on! but u get the point don't you? i love bombay! :D

some of the more interesting moments this trip around were:

Choki-Dhani: Choki Dhani is a themed village which takes you back to the real Rajasthan. Having only heard of Rajasthan from my parents & grandparents...the evening spent here was an absolute delight! The small hut buildings, folk dances, fire-breathing acts, trapeze artists, puppet shows, wall paintings, camel rides, fortune tellers, shops selling bangles/ trinkets, mehendi designers, and even the marwari that everyone speaks just transports you to another era and another world!

i had the most awesome meal of rajasthani food like dal-bati, bajraa ki roti & lehsun chutney, churmaa, malpua, kheechda & chaas! probably one of the best meals i have had to date!


i also got my hand read by a jyotish for the first time in my life, made a tiny pot with my own hands on the potter's wheel, danced with my mom & grandmom to rajasthani folk music, watched a magic show where the guy made my hands smell of roses simply because i told him roses are my favourite flowers! sat on a tiny ferris wheel that moves by one person hanging one one end and forcing the momentum, and swung to my hearts content on swings that were made of wood and iron as opposed to the modern weak plastic!

the whole evening has brought me a lot closer to the roots i have been discovering slowly in the past few months as this whole marriage thing plays out. i am now determined at some point to visit Rajastan and actually experience all this first-hand!


M's Reception: my first visit to Chennai and that too post M's marriage! this was guaranteed to be an experience if nothing else. One of the first of my close friends to get married, M's reception was a mixture of emotions. one one hand despite being firmly entrenched in the whole marriage thing for soo long, i cannot believe that we are grown up enough for us to get married?! like what is the world thinking? are we really capable of handling houses and spouses now?!? well apart from the nostalgia that wouldn't let go of me, the reception was lovely. i wish K would have been there, if only to realize in a very in-you-face kind of way that 'dood we have grown up!' moving on, A is a loooovely person and im sure both of them are going to be very happy as the years go by! :)


Calcutta: my father's hometown, this was the first time i entered this city without him. it felt a lot weird honestly to be in that house, in that city without papa. as much as papa has moved on from calcutta and probably cant see himself settling back there - i see a younger version of him in calcutta. the streets, the house, my grandmother and just the air is defined by my dad. this trip was super short and not much apart from a whirlwind of meeting people. i did however manage to see the Taj Bengal which btw is super gorgeous. Also had an amazing lunch at ITC in a restaurant called Peshwar which has amazing food! the most amazing part was the huuuge peshwar naan that 5 of us managed to almost finish! probably the best dal makhani, naan & paneer meal ive had in a looong time! :)


of course how could i forget the brilliant Shopping that i did in India! 3 indian outfits (unfortunately the only condition under which im getting a saree is if i get married! *sigh*), one formal suit from allen solly, one gorgeous red clutch purse from the streets of colaba, countless earrings from the streets of linking road & colaba! 2 sexy bags from linking road and lots & lots of books (alas i actually had a leave a few coz they wouldnt fit in my luggage!!) oh and i also picked up these pretty stone elephants as gifts for all my colleagues!


And considering that I can still gush about India 2 weeks after coming back....It was a pretty amazing trip! :D