Ponto de Vista

Ok, so this is going to be a shameless shill. Hold on to your coffee. And your mouse. After 7 months of battling the baristas in Barista and Cafe Coffee Day for soy milk and/or decaf coffee, I feel like I’ve finally found Nirvana. No, silly, I mean like heaven!

First, some stories:
1) I’m in Bangalore. They have a vegan shake on the menu, ergo, –> they have soy milk on the premises. I ask them to make me a mocha with soy milk. No can do. It’s impossible.
2) In Bombay, I ask for a half decaf-half calf coffee. The man looks at me like I’m speaking Swahili. He can’t do that. I tell him to freaking brew me a cup of caffeinated coffee and a cup of decaf. Charge me for two. Throw out half of each. Pour remainders in a cup. Barista remains unconvinced.

3) Back in Delhi, I ask for a decaf frappé. It’s not on the menu. The frappé is on the menu, decaf coffee is on the menu but they cannot combine the two.Good thing I didn’t ask for something “exotic”, like a decaf, double espresso soy milk cappuccino …he’d have swooned!

Enter UK chain Costa Coffee. Manna from heaven at this juncture. They substitute soy milk in ANY beverage. And decaf coffee too. And you don’t even have to beg. I’ve even ordered and (this is key) received a half decaf-half caf soy milk mocha. With a smile! 😀 This time, I nearly swooned. Costa Coffee, welcome to India. I heart you!

The Nine “divine” days of Navaratri just finished. (I had no idea it comes twice a year, btw. Yeesh.) and there were a lot of poojas and such all across the country.
In Bombay and Kolkata, idols of the goddess Durga were eventually, erm, drowned, immersed in the sea with great pomp (holding up traffic madly). On the 10th day (Vijay Dashmi), in Bombay, at least the cars all wear a smile of marigolds. I have no idea why. And some shops and homes are wreathed in garlands, too.
This photo was taken in Delhi. Bhola Singh was up to his elbows in pretty flowers when we left. What fun!

So, early one Saturday, I went downstairs to get something and heard Meena, one of the maids, screaming from the garden to Anita the other maid upstairs on my floor to shut the balcony door immediately — there was a monkey on the parapet. Given that Anita is petrified of the dogs, Meena guessed right that having a monkey come in while she swept would not have amused her. So Anita shut the door. Meanwhile the monkey hung out and calmly watched all the chaos.
I can’t believe that such a huge wild animal is hanging out in suburban Delhi. Yes, we see them at tombs and in large parks but in congested, residential South Delhi? Anyway, I’m haunted by the thought of said visitor stealing my underwear which dries in the balcony he was just below. I’m not sure what I’d do if I found this chap in my bra and panties — let him keep them, I guess.

Sometimes a little intervention helps, I guess.
Especially when you’re getting certain fluids tested…?

At the cinema in Vasant Vihar, security pretends to be strict. They make you check your bags (even laptops) at the chaiwala near by. The alternative is to skip the movie and wait for your friends or go home … so grumbling and exasperated, I checked it in for the princely (and not really confidence-inspiring) sum of Rs. 10. And when I went to pick it up I found a whole fresh batch of chai being brewed, ready to be served into these tiny, tiny cups. Oh well. I guess such a small quantity is good for somebody! (I need a much larger fix.)

This is an old photo…maybe 3 months old now. I’ve had it saved in a draft post since I took it because it’s just heartbreaking to write about. This little imp of a puppy hangs out at the dual ATM’s near my house. When we first met him, he was fuzzy and frolicky, as puppies are. The next time I met him, he had a huge wound on his head, but despite the dried blood and flies, he was in great spirits, gamboling, playing, wolfing down food. The watchmen and workers there were engaging with him, looking after the little cutie. Now, three months later, he’s sick. He’s lost his fur. His eyes ooze, he’s got fleas, he’s pretty wretched. And it breaks my heart. In Bombay there’s the Welfare of Stray Dogs that sterilizes strays and attacks the problem at the root, so to speak. I’ve been dying of guilt over this puppy. I should have called one of the animal shelters and had him fixed early on at least. And vaccinated. But this is my dilemma: should one even bother? It will sound heartless but is that really the solution? Should one actually just let them die out — as they surely will (in fact, as another sick dog down my street just did?) Wouldn’t euthanasia be a kinder fate than dying slowly once your cuteness disappears?

Leaving the church across my house on a Sunday afternoon was this foursome. They were just so cute, I asked if I could take a picture. And they agreed. So here they are: four to a bike.

Ok, so I’m romanticizing wildly and anthromorphizing, as well. But when it rains and rains and rains in Bombay, everything looks like it’s smiling. Well, to me. Erm, probably because I don’t live there 😉 and don’t have to deal with crazy commutes. This past week in Bombay was super cool. After having lived in cold, cold rain for 12 years, I was happy to go out and stand Titanic-style on the balcony every time it rained because it was so wonderfully warm. I’d nearly forgotten how lovely and refreshing and welcome rain can be.

… you’re on a bus 😉
That would be the poster of Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag on the back of a BEST bus featuring my baby brother who’s all grown up and … arrived. There are other buses tooling along with the poster along the side as well, but this is all I could capture while in motion on the roads of Mumbai.
So, since Monday, we’ve had hoopla (and no time for blog) galore. We saw the preview screening on Monday, and on Thursday we went for the red-carpet premiere. I behaved myself and acted the star-sister rather than the glamor-struck fan or the journalist 😉 And I got out of the way of the paparazzi that was solely interested in the bro … and how 😀 First day first show screening is tonight for all our friends. Critics’ assessments come tomorrow…

Rakhi, this year, was on the 28th. In the last 12 years, I think I have been physically in the same city as a brother, cousin or otherwise, only once — Berlin in the fall of 1998. For the last four years, the Internet has made life very simple. I went to a desi portal, selected a design, typed in a ‘personalized’ note, and hit send (and also punched in my credit card number.) And invariably, the rakhis have reached the brothers in the US, Europe, Australia and Asia on time. For the first time in a long time, I purchased rakhis myself, wrote out notes longhand, bought and affixed stamps, and mailed them all out. Prashant should be so glad I didn’t buy him one of these pictured here. The choices included a real cell-phone sized metal ‘phone’, a dolphin, ninjas, and rotary phones. All to be worn on the wrist, yes.