I dream of a .......................

OK that whole conversation and the very in depth talks about Mumbai screwed up my sub-conscious mind or my un-conscious mind very badly.

Talking away about such a lovely topic at insane hours in the night can give you very weird dreams. Even when you are not prone to the idea of having such weird dreams.

Thankfully I have now been introduced to the phenomenon of I-dream-about-what-I-think-about-deeply-before-going-to-sleep!!! (This kind of syndrome does exist. I say so. So it exists. Also coz I have experienced it very often lately.)

So here is what happened……………I happily dream about a day when I would get to meet Mr. Suketu Mehta the writer of my current fav book Maximum City. The meeting gets scheduled in his house.

So here I am all set to meet him; all armed with his address and everything I go to meet him. But there is a bit of a problem…

I am supposed to meet him in the day and when I am outside his house its pitch dark!!!!!! DAMN!!!! I couldn’t understand what was going on!

(All this thinking business about the prevalence of darkness in daytime, why would it happen in Mumbai, this phenomenon happens only in places like Scotland, Antarctica, etc. had already started in my head which was in a very deep state of a dream.)

Neways, I still enter this apartment which was unfortunately a very New York like place!! To be precise, try and remember the streets that Ally Mcbeal walked when she was alone and the houses that could be seen in the background?? That’s what I am talking about. Houses, which had a basement, a ground floor which was accessible only if you climb a series of steps and a first floor.

So after scrutinizing the house I climb the step to go to the ground floor of the house. Knock the door. Forgot who opened it and allowed me in. But I remember that I had ended up in the basement!!! (How did that happen, I cant figure out.)

The room was cramped. It had furniture of all wrong dimensions as compared to the room size. Hence navigating through the room was a problem. Your legs always ended up hitting something or the other! This room also had a beautifully carved teakwood bracket on either sides of a pseudo window. Unfortunately there was too much of dust lodged in the carving and cobwebs had a gala time making various patterns of web over it. I also spotted antique furniture (in excellent condition) in pure teakwood in the room.

But what I spotted later was even more fascinating. I was not alone in the room. Suketu Mehta’s mom had kindly descended (descended from where?? I still haven’t figured!! ) in the room to keep me company or maybe stop me from stealing the antiques!!! (Why would I want to steal such heavy pieces of furniture is still a mystery to me!!)

Now his mom was wearing distinctly Parsi clothes!!! And they were beautiful. I don’t remember the color of her clothes. (Maybe I had a black and white dream and in my dream I had happily converted the Mehta’s from being Gujaratis to now being Parsi!!! Heheheheh…….)
I sit on one of the antiques without uttering a word. Nor does she speak to me. No one tells me that the woman sitting across me is, his mom. I just know. No one ever speaks in my dreams.

And now I just knew. I knew that as I would now get up and turn towards the door from which she had descended, I would meet Mr. Suketu Mehta.

So happily I turn, eager to meet him and I end up hearing this…………..

“ Manasi, kinetic che kagad patra ani chavi kuthe ahhe??????? ”

DAMN………………..DAMN…………..PLEASE NOOOOOO…………..

This is what my father chooses to ask me at 5 in the morning!!!!!

Nothing can be more disappointing than this!!

This was my only chance of meeting the writer and now that too has vanished!!! Now if someone tells me that you go meet his in your dreams, I will shoot him / her!!!!

MAXIMUM CITY - MUMBAI LOST AND FOUND

I read this book ( written by SUKETU MEHTA) long ago. I was simply waiting for someone else to read to it so that I could have a discussion with that person about this book. And finally today the chance came.

Neha called up yesterday night and as usual I started yapping about how cool my little bro is and she stated agreeing with me wholeheartedly.

I also showed-off by saying that
“ Neha I think its high time that you all started listening to different kind of music!!!”
To which she very happily replied that
“ I agree that I may not understand the music that your talking about but I definitely understand I have now got the maturity to Try and appreciate different things. I am not at the age in which I would have ended up ridiculing music or even making fun of it.”

Point very correctly made and also well taken Neha!!!!!

So as our conversation continued, well actually we flew from one topic to another, she suddenly remembered her real purpose of calling. And the purpose was to discuss the book Maximum City!!!!! Yippee!!!!!

So here is our conversation. I have tried to recollect each and every word that we both said. And here it is:

Neha : I really didn’t like the book when I had earlier read it . Right now I have finished reading it till underworld. I think kaphi sara padhliya maine. And u know what, I simply love the book!!!!! Earlier I thought that it was such cynically written. Everything about Mumbai was negative. I was completely in a state of denial about this city, I mean the way its described in the book. But now, I simply love the book!!!!!

Manasi: Yup I no exactly what you are saying. Have gone through that stage completely. So I can totally relate with what you’re saying. And you see, I relate to Suketu Mehta’s point of view about the way be has to adapt back in Mumbai. And you know what, the part of the book in which he writes about the riots, I was soo shocked!!! It maybe because I was not witness to them and did not even remember this event affecting my life.

Neha : Arre pan malahikahi aathavat nahi. I simply remember not going to school during that time. That’s all!!! And also whatever the newspapers reported.

Manasi: Ya true, but I didn’t even experience that until like recently when I really came to know what all gruesome things took place and how bad things were. Maximum City was an eye opener !!!!

And then here is the best part!!!!

Neha : That’s what, I never can really say when I started coming out of the state of denial………

Manasi : WAIT…..WAIT…………….lemme say what you want to say………
This book in the beginning makes you feel sick. You feel offended coz the author has obviously written all possible negative things about this city. You then started thinking that this is the most cynical way of writing. You hate him for painting such a sorry picture of the city that we all love. You also think that this bloody author spent his youth living a well cushioned life in the States and he would now happily paint a sorry picture of this city.
Why is it that people like him always wanted to show “poor India and hungry India”???
All this while we are completely in a state of denial.
THIS IS JUST NOT THE CITY THAT WE LOVE!!!!!
But as the book progresses, this state of denial slowly and steadily turns into a state of acceptance!!!! You are like; Yeah my city is like that. So what!!!!! These maybe THE very reasons why we love the city. Actually these maybe truly the only reasons why we love the city so much.
And you know Neha, at the end of the book, you simply can’t say when and were the transition of your thoughts happened, but your glad it did. Bottom-line, you end up loving the book and this city even more!!!!!!!



For the next half hour we both discussed endlessly about the things that we love about the city and how this city has helped us find our own identity. You may enter this city as a person with the most unpleasant feeling of anticipation for it, you will, I promise, curse this city for all the time that you would spend here. But you will realize its importance in your life only when you’re away from it. This city has indeed lived upto its name of City of Dreams.

And the only way for one to find out the wonderful and also not so pleasant things about this city is to live in it for as long as you can, to simply curse it for its traffic, its ques, its endless need and thirst to run behind things irrespective of the day and time and so on and so forth. It surely would be the only possible way of discovering the true Mumbai and what’s it like to live in such a vibrant city.

So this post is dedicated to Mumbai and all those people who would never want to move out of this city. And also to those whose future is embedded in the very foundations of the city. May we all live in harmony and peace.

Here’s to the City of Dreams – Mumbai.

CROMA..........aaahhhhhhh......

Croma was supposed to be opened today in great style and with loads of advertisement. Granted that being the first of its kind in India it would need to be an OTT store with even an OTT opening. And so, it did get what it deserved!!

But what the heck, just because you open a new store, the owners or the event management guys did not need to gift wrap the WHOLE DAMN building in a red- ribbon. Bit of a Valentine’s Day hangover shall we say?

Now if that was the silliest part of the event, here is the most stupid and the ridiculously funny part of it. In the process of gift-wrapping the whole building they went over board in using the ribbon. The ends of the red ribbon (which went from the front to the back and even the sides of the building) needed to end in a perfect bow. And man, they had a hell of time trying to even straighten the ribbon, forgetting even tying it because of the winds!!!!!

It was total time pass to watch 6-7 people struggle with the ribbons. Next time I am sure this interesting job would be passed on to some unsuspecting junior who would have fun navigating the ribbon.

I seriously wish they had used that piece of cloth as a tapestry. It would have looked cool and someone even could have used it to make a grand entry for the opening of the event! Reminds me terribly of Rush Hour……………heheehehhe…maybe the honors of this grand entry could be reserved for the chief guest. Am sure that would have made a huge statement rather than using the boring ribbons as, well…ribbons………if only they had used it…

MY BROTHER NACHI

Since the day my little brother was born I have always been very protective about him. To the point that I always ended up asking people to get lost even if they joked about talking him away from me and my house. I still hate them for joking about the topic which is soo dear to me.

It hence would go without saying that I have always very tactfully being a mother hen for my little brother. Be it reserving a seat for him in the school bus or just keeping an eye on him during his early days of schooling. I have done it all!!!!

But in all these years that went by, I never can really pin-point when and how suddenly this equation changed.

I can no more protect him and don’t even feel the need to do so!!! Its he who does it for me. He has now become my very trusted bouncer, financer, a very loyal friend, punching bag, pillow to cry on and also a tissue who would wipe away my tears and make me laugh again. Hey, how can I forget, for all these 5 years of architecture he has also been my model maker and a source of inspiration to push myself to the limit to work.

Beyond doubt he has helped me clear up my confused mind and also been at my side when he saw the slightest chance of me losing my grip over things.

So today, was a very proud day for me. I was actually being given a crash course in the various taals that have made Indian classical music the way it is. Each and every nuance of the taals and their beauty in structuring the whole yatra was being very patiently explained to me by him. [We had been to a concert dedicated in the memory of Abbaji. Hence it all had to do with percussion, which is indeed very hard to follow if you have not learned it.]

Just sitting there and getting tutored by him gave a very surreal experience that I still cannot find words to describe it. I certainly can’t say that it’s a sense of achievement coz he still has a very long way to go.

But I knew one thing for sure though. My kiddo bro is no more a kiddo. He has definitely grown up. And grown up splendidly.

There is now really no need to reserve a seat for him. He will do it himself. If he gets the window seat, I know for sure that he would give it up for me. Nowadays, he is the one who actually keeps a watchful eye for me, you know just in case.

The only appropriate words for these feeling are that I hero-worship my younger brother.
Yup, that’s pretty much it.


P.S. The real reason why I was suddenly able to write down these things was due to a telephonic conversation with Neha. Just a few minutes ago, I again went ga-ga about my bro while speaking with her. Neha then reminded me how every time that I speak about my little bro I always speak with this passion and a sense of hero- worship. Neha your soo correct!!! Indeed I do that! Don’t u too………hehehehhehheheh

P.S.S. This post was meant to be posted 3 days ago. But in the meantime, something new happened!!! And it took me all these days to let the fact sink in. Nachi is, I can proudly say that, the youngest graduate in our house!!!!!! Damn da guy, he even beat me to this!!!!! He now is a tabla visharad. And I so love him!!!!

ON BEING TWENTY - SOMETHING

I guess most of us will be able to relate to what’s written here !!
This is actually an email forward. Njoy!!

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."

It is when you stop going along with the crowd andstart realizing that there are many things aboutyourself that you didn't know and may not like.


You start feeling insecure and wonder where you willbe in a year or two, but then get scared because youbarely know where you are now.


You start realizing that people are selfish and that,maybe, those friends that you thought you were soclose to aren't exactly the greatest people you have evermet, and the people you have lost touch with are someof the lost important ones.


What you don't recognize is that they are realizingthat too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere,but that they are as confused as you.


You look at your job... and it is not even close towhat you thought you would be doing, or maybe you arelooking for a job and realizing that you are going tohave to start at the bottom and that scares you.


Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see whatothers are doing and find yourself judging more than usualbecause suddenly you realize that you have certainboundaries in your life and are constantly addingthings to your list of what is acceptable and whatisn't.


One minute, you are insecure and then the next,secure.You laugh and cry with the greatest force of yourlife.You feel alone and scared and confused.

Suddenly,change is the enemy and you try and cling on to thepast with dear life, but soon realize that the past isdrifting further and further away, and there is nothing to dobut stay where you are or move forward.


You get your heart broken and wonder how someone youloved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bedand wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that
you want to get to know better.


Or maybe you love someone but love someone else tooand cannot figure out why you are doing this because youknow that you aren't a bad person.


One night stands and random hook ups start to lookcheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot startsto look pathetic. You go through the same emotions andquestions over and over, and talk with your friends about the sametopics because you cannot seem to make a decision.


You worry about loans, money, the future and making alife for yourself... and while winning the race wouldbe great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!


What you may not realize is that everyone reading thisrelates to it. We are in our best of times and ourworst of times, trying as hard as we can to figurethis whole thing out.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,enough trials to make you strong,enough sorrow to keep you human,enough hope to make you happy.