Bangkok nights and CG days

found in translation

2009-05-05T20:26:00.008+05:30

Today was a public holiday and we decided to buy a little camera for easy quick shots. We want to document all the great food we eat and places we go on the spur of the moment, and the lovely big Canon is just too heavy to carry around most of the time. It's also currently under the weather with a broken lens. I don't know when we will get that fixed or how much it will end up costing, and we want to just be able to take quick shots every day. So... reviews indicated Sony Cybershot was the way to go and we headed to Pantip Plaza to negotiate our way through the madness of a million shops. As well as electronics it's full of DVD stores selling illegal copies of movies, tv shows, games and software and we decided to pick up something from one store in a long line of them. Just after we collected our dvd's we saw a bunch of people running around frantically, pushing store fronts around and moving their merchandise behind the counter.. it was crazy, within a minute or two everything was moved and gone - a raid. Some cops must have been coming through and they all worked together to make sure nothing was showing. Very amusing. Lucky we got our dvd's in time!

After getting the nifty new camera (and Sony is *not* cheap in Thailand), we went to Siam Paragon to go to a place we'd been drooling about all afternoon. The famous Oriental Hotel has little cafes in various places around the city, and the one at Paragon serves amazing food. The bread they serve is delicious.. Gagan was just waiting for it. He also ordered a Java Dream mocktail, while I had a green tea.

My sandwich was the mouth watering garlic ham and smoked mozzarella with a side salad (balsamic vinegrette - my fav!) and the most amazing baked garlic. The whole garlic bulb is sliced at the top and baked so that each clove becomes juicy and melty like mashed potatoes. Yum!

Gagan ordered a roasted chicken and hummus pita wrap. It came with little side dishes and fries. Everything perfectly presented and blends of flavours so nicely balanced.

I'll leave you with this. When we bought the camera, they talked us into getting a protective film on the LCD screen. As they were putting it on, I picked up the packaging and had a quick look at it. I think it takes the prize as the best ever translation. I really have no idea what they were *trying* to say. I leave it to you. This is what caught my eye straight away.

If you would like to enjoy the entire document in all its glory... read away!

feliciano's kitchen caper

2009-05-05T09:36:00.003+05:30

Last night as I went to wash some dishes and make a cup of tea after such a good meal... I had a close call in the kitchen. A small visitor dropped by and he almost didn't make it out alive! Feliciano the gecko scuttled out from under a dish in the sink and began to panic. He ran down the plug hole - came back out, tried to get up the side of the sink and failed and ran around and down the plug hole again. I was frantically turning off the tap, grabbing dishes and trying to make sure I didn't flush him down. He was positively minuscule! A wee little guy... very tiny and fragile. I finally got him out of the sink but he jumped onto the floor and ran around like a banshee. We got him onto some paper and through a hole in the wall to the safety of the outside. Phew... it was craziness! We did manage to get one picture of him in the middle. Very sweet little thing he was... I bet he's telling all the other lizards about his caper right now. He is *very lucky*!

two for one

2009-05-04T18:38:00.008+05:30

I got to fulfill two dreams today. Both entirely unrelated and both very satisfying. Firstly we got Gagan's Thai resident visa... he is now able to stay in Thailand as long as I am and no longer has to keep returning to India. To say we are relieved is like that old thing about bears and what they do in the woods. Yes... we are! He can now be here happily. He can travel in and out of the country. He can (and this is a biggie folks) apply for visas to other countries *from* Thailand... which means not having to deal with the bureaucracy of Indian visa applications *anymore*. The enormity of that one is bigger than I can describe here... but any Indian who has had to go through the inhumane humiliation of filing a visa application in their own country will know what I'm talking about. Thailand may have its own share of red tape but it is far more straightforward and we can really see the horizon ahead. We might even be able to plan some trips as tourists... what a concept!

Oh yes... the other dream? That has a little history behind it. Now I'm not going to pretend it has quite the weight of a visa to it... but my stomach will probably argue its importance in the Comestible History of Jude, placing it solidly in the top 5 or 6 top meals of the last 40 years. Nothing to be sneezed at certainly! So - the history behind the post. Years ago in Los Angeles I came across a book called Untangling My Chopsticks. It's a pretty incredible journey of a woman going to Kyoto to learn the ancient art of tea kaiseki... which at the time I had never even heard of. I am a *big* Japanese food lover and her detailed descriptions of these small delicate dishes of seasonal ingredients perfectly prepared and artfully presented sent me mad with desire. I searched Chowhound for kaiseki restaurants all over the greater LA area but there didn't seem to be anything. I just had to put it at the back of my mind and hope that one day I'd get to Japan.

So a couple of weeks ago we're leaving our favourite ramen noodle shop on Thong Lor, a major street in our area so densely packed with eateries you don't know where to start. Ramen is wonderful... those soothing japanese noodle soups just like in Tampopo (you know "poke the pork") which if you haven't seen and you like food, drop everything and rent it *right now*. We're full and satisfied, even though it is raining cats and dogs and we are getting drenched. We can't get a cab to save our lives so we just keep walking up the street... walking walking.. wetter and wetter. Suddenly, a little side lane shows up and the dark wooden entrance to a restaurant appears.
Covered by noren, the japanese curtains, it looks different to all the other places we've seen.. and it's out of the way and looks fancy and authentic. I think at the same time I see it I also see the sign... Maru Kaiseki!

Getting a visa seems more than enough reason to go out for a nice meal. I knew from poking about the net that Maru was not going to be cheap, but today was a good reason to go. We didn't know if we'd get a table but we got there early and had about 200 women in kimonos welcoming us.. okay okay... I am prone to exaggeration. There were maybe nine or ten. The recession has hit Bangkok and tourism is down, so high end restaurants are very glad to get business. They seemed very happy to see us - no reservations needed!

The menu was all pictures - which was lucky as we took ages to choose and it was hard enough with a very big choice. Everything arrived looking just like its photo and tasting quite sensational. We started with something traditional - some hamachi, or amberjack which was beautifully presented in a handmade bowl over ice and seaweed. The fish was fresh and firm and tasted... perfect.

Next was a delicate bowl of micro thin sliced radish, cucumber, onion and seaweed with lemon all soaked in a small pool of a soy vinegar liquid. The star of the dish was juicy fingers of snow crab which also soaked up the tangy vinegar, a flavour that brought out the sweetness of the crab and gave a burst of cool freshness in your mouth. The sauce was light and not too acidic to be overpowering - it all worked together so well that all we could do was look at each other and raise our eyebrows in surprise.

From the same menu group was an unusual dish that also had us nodding in agreement. Yam with sea urchin (uni) and vinegar. The yam was a white variety, it seemed raw and crunched like an apple. With very little flavour, it mostly provided a textural difference to the soft and slimy uni that was some of the best I've tasted. It was sweet and tasty, still with the hint of the beach. Gagan had never tried it before and this was a good way to start. Microslices of nori (dry seaweed) was piled on top and proved to be very hard to pull apart with small pieces of uni and slices of yam. Not an easy dish to share, but tasty none the less.

The next dish was unexpectedly good. We wanted some vegetables and ordered asparagus. They came looking like something you would want to decorate your house with. So perfectly made and smelling so tasty! Two rows of about 7 stalks each - lightly fried in some yummy batter not unlike tempura, but all over the bottom half were stuck little golden rice crackers - perfectly round balls - about 2mm wide. Being fried, the whole thing now held together like a little bamboo wall and they looked as well as smelled, wonderful. Dipped in the small dish of salt the effect was pretty spectacular.

Two more courses to come. The next to me seemed like the ultimate dish. Japanese comfort food meets Top Chef. It's hard to believe such tastes could come from such a simple dish. On the bottom, almost like a crab cake, a patty of mashed potato - a yellow potato like a Yukon Gold - mixed with tiny pieces of cucumber and minced shrimp. The potato cooked to be warm and golden on the outside. On top of that a perfectly cooked piece of salmon - to look like a giant piece of nigiri sushi - the salmon moist and melting in the mouth. On top of *that* a meringue of whipped egg white, cooked to perfection and atop that... nestled in to the foam of eggs... giant orange salmon roe. Every bite just exploded with flavour. The roe would burst a little bubble of salt water to top off all the other tastes and the mix was just amazing. It was warm and comforting and fancy and familiar even though I've never had anything like it. Genius!

Lastly, in a bowl of his own, one giant ball of happiness. Well, pumpkin actually. The size of a baseball. The pumpkin was mashed and had big pieces of scallop and giant shrimp hidden away inside, then lightly fried and placed in the bowl with slightly sweet gloopy sauce that had a little tang to it, drizzled and poured over it. A strong onion was cut into thin slivers and placed on top. Simple... and delicious.

It was a perfect meal. We were not too full and we enjoyed every single bite. An excellent way to celebrate a visa and a great introduction to kaiseki. The menu at Maru is large, and our appetites are endless, so I expect we'll be back to try more. Maybe next time we'll take some photos. For now though, I think it's time for some tea and putting my feet up. A good day :)

illusive muse

2009-05-03T10:24:00.000+05:30

So I’m watching Elizabeth Gilbert give a TED talk on inspiration and the illusive muse, and it makes me think about how often I am struck to write at a time I can *never* actually put pen to paper.. or fingers to keyboard in my case. It’s always the middle of the night when insomnia bites, or worse, sitting on the loo, when the most prosaic little bit of prose pops into my tiny noggin and starts wobbling about, taking form and adding adjective after adjective. Sometimes I’ll be talking to someone and a thought comes to mind… something I would love to capture. Too late… it’s come and gone. When I sit down later it turns into a flat and boring essay, stale bread and moldy cheese. I leave dejected and don’t come back to the writing table for a long time. What causes it? why is the timing always off? Why are my energies so out of balance?

My thoughts turn to my Mum. In the last few years she has started to write. She always did, but it’s become something serious and amazing. She started with amusing poems, somewhat in the style of Roald Dahl. I can see them as large books in a children’s library with wonderful illustrations and tongue twister rhymes. Since then she has gone on to tender and delicate haiku and all sorts of various short stories and essays. She’s not a mother, a wife, a manager… she’s a writer… a *good* one… a prolific one too.

Her discipline makes me think I should be more determined. Elizabeth Gilbert talked about how creative people are internally tortured and scared of the constant possibility of rejection. I don’t consider myself creative, but I do want to write for my own satisfaction. It doesn’t matter if what you write is good, bad or indifferent, as long as something has made it out from inside the vacuum. If I can grab one bit of these things as they come into focus and dance out again it will be worth it.

one night in bangkok and the world's your oyster

2009-05-01T19:59:00.006+05:30

We seem to spend so much time smiling now. Sometimes I think I am going to burst from smiling so much… big goofy silly smiles. It’s good and nice and I’ll admit I think we deserve it. There was a time when I never thought I would smile again. You partner up a bad situation with depression and you have a cocktail that is enough to knock out even the toughest prize fighter. It’s hard to describe what depression can do… how its icy tendrils latch onto your innards and just zap all your ability to cope, to fight back, to move forward through the mirk. I was painfully aware that it was brain chemistry gone awry, I knew it and recognised the symptoms, but couldn’t change it or fight it… just sank deeper and deeper. The best I could do was close my eyes and hold on to Gagan… I didn’t think I would get out of it.

Never say never, though. We’re in Bangkok living a very treasured and lucky life. With a lot of work and support my fibromyalgia is getting under control and I am starting to lead a reasonably normal life again - for the first time in .. well, lets not go there. The depression has disappeared as suddenly as it arrived - high tailing it on that express bus out of town to some unknown destination that I hope is far far away. I know it has my number though. I’m on the lookout. But I’m medicated and prepared - you wanna fight, then meet me at high noon at the OK Corral baby, I’m ready for anything! Well… I think so… ;)

Our days go something like this - we walk to the main road and catch the tiny little green bus to work. It’s a hurtling crazy whirlwind of a ride. For 6 1/2 baht each (about 18 US cents) we spend 5 minutes holding on to the ceiling hand rails as the driver swings the bus from lane to lane Formula1 style. Just getting on is a challenge as there is a reluctance to stop so you jump on and hold on for dear life as one foot may still be hanging out the door as the dinky wee bus takes off at speed and you’re away! It’s a hoot and a miracle we make it off alive each day. We joke about doing a ‘jump, tuck and roll’ to get off.. and are always a bit breathless as we get to the pavement.

After a fun day at work, we wander back to the main street, pass by lots of street food vendors and climb the overpass to cross the road. Resisting the mango and sticky rice stall is always hard. Has to be one of our most favourite things to eat here… mangoes that are sweet and juicy and plump, and sweet sticky rice with coconut milk and toasted lentils to sprinkle over the top.. the combination of tangy fruit, sweet rice, and crunchy salt all making for a delectable mouthful. The Thais are masters of these blends of flavours, and we are their willing guinea pigs.

We take a cab home. The traffic is always really heavy and the 5 minute morning ride takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more. The cabs are amazing. Mostly very new and comfortable (lemony fresh scents and sometimes all pink seats with Hello Kitty *everywhere*!) and they come in every colour of the rainbow. Predominantly pink (eecks, my nightmare), I have to say it really brightens up the streets of Bangkok to see all the colourful cars - purple, green, yellow, blue. An explosion of colour…. a fiesta. And the congestion is considerable. At peakhour it is like any major city at its worst, with hundreds of motorbikes and scooters whizzing through the stalled cars at high speed. But after 2 years of the chaos of India, where you sometimes feel your brain will explode from the constant assault of noise on the road, it is so quiet here it’s almost eerie. In LA there was always a honk or two, but here it’s deathly quiet. No one is impatient, everyone is polite and calm and just waits their turn. We have never seen anything like it. Refreshing is hardly the word for it. Mindblowing might be a little closer!

Having no cooking facilities in our kitchen, we have to eat out every night. This is pretty common in Thailand… and taking a look at the City of Food (as I have officially renamed Bangkok) it’s not a surprise. The entire place is just all about foooooood. My kinda town! So we come back to our little ‘settlement’ which is mostly known for really cool looking nightclubs and bars, and go to one of the restaurants. I am happy to say Thais love their Japanese food as much as I do, and there seem to be one Japanese restaurant per head of population. Perfect! There is Thai food we can bring home - freshly made to order and so tasty. Most of it costs just over a dollar. We basically eat Thai or Japanese every night and our minds and hearts are happy, our bellies full and our clothes not big enough anymore.

The weather is at its hottest right now. The high 30’s every day (that’s near 100 for those not ‘metricated’ yet) and very humid and heavy. Sometimes big clouds gather, erupting in brilliant and violent storms of thunder and lightning and heavy rain that flood, and then stop after half an hour. The view from our 8th storey apartment is wonderful. The heat keeps us inside a lot. But as I am getting healthier it makes us start to plan our weekends and getting out to see more of Bangkok again. The city comes alive at night, looking like an alternative Blade Runner, one where the apocalypse didn’t happen. We have so much we want to see and do. Every bit is precious and we feel alive and happy and lucky. You *can* go from the ridiculous to the sublime apparently… and that is why we smile!

last day

2009-02-22T09:51:00.002+05:30

[I wrote this on January 11th 2009 - but we had no internet at the hotel. Just realised it should really be posted!]

***

It seems only fitting that my last day in India should begin with stomach pains and a running arse. It’s a condition that was so common for such a long part of my journey here, and although, gratefully, I can say it hasn’t plagued me so much in the last few months, it’s almost like the last little farewell from a disliked friend who has been allowed to hang around too long. It seems fitting.

So the early hours of our last morning have been spent in considerable discomfort, sequestered in the loo with Tony Perrottet’s Pagan Holiday reminding me of all the long lost passions I have with the ancient world, and lying in bed with Gagan reading out loud Bill Bryson’s jaw dropping inspiring A Short History of Almost Everything. As I try to ignore the combination of unhappy enzymes and gases wreaking havoc in my lower intestines, he throws morsel after tasty morsel (oh perhaps I shouldn’t talk of food) of fascinating information about physics, astronomy, geology and all things scientific, and my little brain happily boggles away. If you have to be feeling pukey, this is probably the ideal way to do it! There is something very reassuring about rediscovering your utter insignificance in the universe, and also the sheer amazing coincidence that you are here at all. As we go about our day to day lives (and right now there has been very little ‘day to day’ about our particular lives at all) it’s nice to know the problems aren’t really that important, and our movements are simply part of the giant machine of the universe going through its motions. The infinite hugeness and infinite tininess that exists around us is very comforting. All those self important idiots that have made my life hell don’t matter at all! What a pleasant thought.

It’s not quite imaginable yet that today can really be the ‘it’ day. Certainly it’s going to take quite some time for that to sink in. I need to have a fair amount of distance, both space and time, to get India out of my clogged and polluted system. Not to mention rewashing all those clothes that have soaked up the horrible moldy smell in the cupboards just from being in Bombay for months after the monsoon. We all need a good long soak I think. A ritual cleansing.

Meanwhile, there are noises of the hallway being washed, distance voices talking in that cranky way that so many Indians have. Probably simply discussing breakfast or if they’ve put out the garbage, but the tone and delivery would be enough to cause any american business meeting to rapidly dissolve into a decidedly ugly shouting match with much finger pointing and vein bulging. No time spent on the niceties here.
Gagan is still asleep. My nausea is increasing. Perhaps it’s time for another trip to the loo with Tony’s book in tow. It’s alright.. I’m simply shuffling a few zillion atoms around. ;)

black day

2008-11-27T23:49:00.002+05:30

It's 26 hours since the terrorist attacks on Bombay started. They're still going. At least 125 people are still inside the Trident/Oberoi Hotels.. with several terrorists holding some hostage. There are fires in those hotels. The beautiful Taj is on fire in the dark and has been repeatedly blown up all day. 9 or 10 other places around the south of the city including the famous Leopolds have been attacked.

So far, 125 people are dead and 257 injured. Those numbers are sure to increase once this is over.

It has been a very ...

well...

a terrible day.

Surreal scenes.. watching and watching. Places we used to go all the time. Would have been in a day or two. Memories now.

lost and found

2008-11-25T00:03:00.002+05:30

Six months.

Six months since I wrote last. I considered starting a new blog, but that might have been disingenuous. Tonight I looked over this for the first time in more than 6 months, and it brought back so many emotions.

I'm a different person now. I feel a lot older, rougher around the edges, lucky for having had it all, but not the same. That was then, this is now.

The oh-so-sweet stuff? We got hitched. Although I'm less inclined than I used to be to say things happen for a reason, I know I got what I truly needed by coming to India. A person to share the rest of my life with. All I need eh? :)

I am sad that I didn't continue blogging way back when. I didn't write about it at the time because a lot more was involved. The managers at the company I worked for had problems with my blog. It rather astounded me - so much for freedom of speech! I wasn't told 'you can't blog' ... but many harsh and painful things were said that made it not a good time to continue. I regret that now... I should have just kept writing. But hey, you can't change the past, and more importantly, when surrounded by ignorance, jealousy and idiots, the most honourable thing to do is stand up for what you believe in, not bow down and let them dominate you. But I caved thinking my career was at stake. It's good to have that far behind me now and to not be faced with those people any more. I hope I have learned to see through lies a little more clearly in the future at least!

For now it's onwards and upwards. Though the dream of India is perhaps lost behind the cloud of its reality, I know that in time I will learn to love it in new ways. I was never so naive to not see all the negative as well as the good. But I was experiencing it in that lucky way that tourists and business travelers do... a bubble of colour and convenience and being taken care of. The real India is less careful with its inhabitants. Perhaps the good thing is it has made me realise what I do care about in my own culture so I can return and value that once again.

I can remember what I used to see - I still see that sense of wonder and joy in other travelers. But now I feel worn by the everyday things - poverty, corruption, the lack of care for the desperately poor, no hygiene, sexism, apathy, and vast cultural differences I struggle to understand. I'm about to turn 40 and I know I am less mellow with age instead of more. Hmph... that's not quite what I expected. Not how I was writing a year ago! But I think India can push you to extremes. She is not an easy landlord.

So... there is the India I have lost and the India I have found. The country that used to soothe me which is now gone, and the Indian who took my hand and walks beside me on this once lonely journey. I was lost, then found.

One little note: So many of my friends are Indians. I know they will be very disappointed at my feelings. It's not nice that many westerners come to India and only see the hardships here, so I know they really enjoyed my delight in all things Indian. But it is hard to be stuck between two cultures (just ask Gagan!). The longer I am here the more I find the natural instincts I grew up with are just too different and don't make sense here. Things I perhaps found quaint before, now seem stifling. I can only see things through my western interpretation, and I know I need a balance of my world as well. I will always love India.. just in a different, more realistic way. I hope you can forgive me for that.

the cat's meow

2008-04-07T11:35:00.010+05:30

I haven't blogged in a while.. which irks me a bit. I thought at least I'd post a few photos. If you ever wonder about how cats adapt to life on the other side of this spinning ball.. then check these out.

Pippin on a sleeping Kaustubh .... she'll climb on anyone!

Pippin and Kaustubh again... he barely had a chance to get comfy.

...and Tufty... who was NEVER a lap cat, blissfully on his idol Gagan.

Apart from a slightly unfortunate flea episode (the lil blighters are exterminated now!) life is pretty peachy for these pampered purries. Imported food, 18 hours a day of sleeping ... and many people adoring them. What more could you ask for!

theory of relativity ...

2008-03-25T09:58:00.003+05:30

So what would you do for $100? I mean in the work-for-a-living sense. I suspect it seriously depends on who you are and where you are reading this from. If you're one of the fortunate few sitting behind a computer in LA working on visual effects shots for the next blockbuster - you'll probably say you'd work for 2-3 hours. If you're working one of two jobs washing dishes and busing tables in Kentucky... it might take you 17 hours of hard labour. And chances are you're not reading this coz you can't afford a computer or the internet....

But let's get relative here. How about in India? Now the tables have turned a little... and my western mentality (and western pay packet) find it a little harder to wrap the synapses around these things. I mean, I know people have to scrimp and scrape over rupees on the mean streets... but there is an example where it pops into my living room and I know my pals and I see this very differently.

OK... lets cut to the chase. We have a maid. Firstly, this is NOT something normal for me coming from the west. It didn't sit right for quite a while... but I've gotten used to it - largely because she is an awesome, lovely, unique, wise, caring, funny woman who is easy to spend time with. She comes 6 days a week, for a couple of hours. She cleans the bathrooms, makes the bed, washes the dishes, hangs out and folds away clothes, cleans all the floors, tidies and cleans up everything.... and cooks! Can you imagine? she cooks! I remember my friends and I in LA dreaming about what it would be like to have someone cook for you ... big smoking pipe ain't-no-chance-in-hell-*that*'ll-ever-happen dreams! Not a chance unless we suddenly found ourselves in possession of a LOT of dough! But here I am suddenly, living a truly charmed life.. being cooked for, cleaned up after and fussed over. And for this... we pay her $100 a month (depending on the exchange rate, that's pretty much what it is give or take some change).

My friends here also have maids... maids that do all the same things, or various versions of them. They live in parts of the city close to our old office... not this fancy 'burb of Bandra - all hip and happening and exclusive. Their hard working women charge a lot less than those working in this area... one month of labour comes to significantly less than a 1/4 what we pay. So you can see my friends perspective... 'you're being totally ripped off' 'WE'LL come and clean for that much'... it goes on.

I'm always reminded of someone wonderful in LA. Not too many of my friends there had a cleaning lady... but I did. The same one as several others from work. She was remarkable... 61 years old, bringing up her *great* grandson single-handedly with no help from the State, cleaning houses and always hoping to find new clients to make ends meet. She would come to me once every two weeks... and after two hours my messy apartment would sparkle. And for these four hours... I paid $120 and felt I got every penny's worth.

I think you can see where my conflict comes from. To me I am getting a bargain and still feeling like I am taking advantage of someone. So much work for so little money in this expensive city. But I am thinking like a firang and that internal conflict will always rage. I don't think my friends can ever make me change how I see it... it's all a matter of relativity. And being thankful at what I have and have come from. And meanwhile I'll keep on enjoying my cherished time with Augusta for however long this dream goes on....

millions of colours

2008-03-22T07:38:00.008+05:30

Today is Holi. One year ago I spent it on the 17th floor of my apartment looking down wistfully.. feeling very alone and left out while it seemed a whole country was having an enormous 3 Stooges slapstick doped-up fall-about mess in a watercolour paint box. 'Take *that* Grandma!' A free-for-all - a giant laying on of the hands - or slapping on of the hands.. on everything, no holds barred, bodies that were off limits have one happy day where the craving for touch is more than satisfied I would say!

OK.. a lot has changed.. but still I can't really play Holi. My new family is protective and keeping me away from the cancerous colours and rash causing powders and dirty water... so I still feel like I am locked in my ivory fish smelling tower wishing I could let down my hair and clamber free. We'll see what happens as the morning progresses.

We have had Gagan's father staying with us from Delhi. As my Mum puts it - my 'father out-of-law'. Now I have always had a confidence about parents... or rather my ability to 'charm' them shall we say. Perhaps our moving away from relatives and my missing being around people of other generations always made me rather enjoy those interactions. I speak that language! It comforts me and sends me back to childhood evenings where my parent's friends would come for dinner and I would sit and listen to their conversation for hours - much preferring that to hanging out with any other kids that were around. Fitting in was *not* my strong suit.

So it's something I'm not normally concerned about.... in Firangistan**. Here it's a little more intimidating. I must preface though by saying how truly out of character this has been. Now any normal Indian family would have a conniption fit if I showed up with their handsome eligible son. Who wants their eldest child in their mid-20's to arrive at the door hand in hand with a white girl 13 years older! It's a stretch - even where I come from. But this family has been atypically phenomenal. It started with the attitude of the patriarch of the family who has completely trusted Gagan's judgement - whatever misgivings he may have had himself - and then the other's have just fallen in to that same welcoming warm excited way of being.

I know how lucky I am. This could have been really difficult.. if not a deal breaker, though knowing Gagan I think not. But I feel very lucky and embraced. It's quite overwhelming at times. I'm not used to getting calls from relatives I don't know being so sweet and kind and interested on the phone. I can feel how genuine it all is. And gifts were brought to me, jewelry and clothes... special things.

As Gagan has been working we have been sharing quite a bit of time together - time to learn about each other and our families and backgrounds. It's been nice. We talk about movies and food and the past. Good things to think about... especially food. He makes an awesome cup of tea ... and with the homemade cake all the way from family in Delhi it feels like we could be anywhere - sharing nice tastes and conversation.

I'm always aware how strange and foreign I must seem. At times it's like I'm the kid on the special bus, the ancient decrepit geriatric with infinite special needs and different routines. My stomach issues mean I still can't eat spicy or fried food - something that didn't cause a problem back in my old life in LA - but here it causes, not amazement, but great pity. I want to remind everyone that spicy food was only a rare thing in my regular diet anyway. I would eat from a wide and varied palette - foods from around the globe. Continental, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Cuban, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, French and my favourite - Japanese.... a vast array of seasonings and flavours - that my friends would tease as I ooh and ahh over. To many Indians however, there are only two kinds of foods - indian and 'bland'.

I liken it to our computer monitors in a way. When you first get your new computer home and excitedly pull it out of its packing, pushing away the annoying polystyrene chips that stubbornly stick to the hairs on your arm.. and you place it on the desk, plug in the monitor and get the thing humming happily, it's not long before you want to make sure your picture is looking as good as it can. The options you can choose offer you anywhere from the old redundant 256 colours (um.. WHO uses that?) to the magical sounding 'millions of colours'... so you don't hesitate to click on that one. This is where I think we are alike with taste. Somewhere in those millions of colours... right at the very top end of the spectrum... in the brightest whites.. are all the hot spices. The curries and chillies from around the world that make your nose run, your mouth and throat burn, your eyes water and your skin break out into a sweat as you panic and notice that the water you just drank is making it worse as it laughingly cascades down your throat carrying all the spices with it to dance their merry Day of the Dead dance along your tender tissues.

Those who live up in the world of the whites.. for them the experience is different. All ingredients are enhanced by the holy Chili and they are atune to its subtleties.. perhaps seeing so many hues of white it is like a rainbow of shimmering crystals - a technicolor dreamplate. But the sacrifice they make is that it's harder for them to taste all those myriads of other colours bursting along the culinary rainbow. Tastebuds are tweaked to "superhot" and everything else just rolls onto the tongue, knocks hopefully at the door, sees the disapproving look and turns sadly to throw itself suicidaly into the sacrificial unsatisfied gullet. Or worse... just be left alone on the plate never to partake of the great game.

So I sit in my colourful world, enviably staring at the sun on occasion. Blinded and wishing I had strong sunglasses and a stronger stomach. And every so often I am forced to defend my rather culture-less culture (but it's mine no less) and suggest that perhaps the food isn't bland - but that maybe we all have different senses of taste.

Hmm... I rather digressed.. in a Ronnie Corbett sort of way! This post went all over the place. I had in mind some other things. Oh well.. they will have to wait. I'm overdue for some bland breakfast and it's Holi after all. I want to look down 6 floors and see what's happening!

**Firangistan is a term I love Gagan using to describe the west. Us outsiders are all firangs here - a term that means foreigners, but mostly used for those of us of the pale variety - its a bit like gaijin.

bombay kiss

2008-03-15T14:45:00.004+05:30

Love isn't easy in India. Hell... it isn't easy anywhere is it, but here the odds are firmly stacked against these incredibly beautiful young people. Trapped between their constrictive and conservative culture, and the explosion of western culture that is rapidly taking over... added with raging hormones. It's really difficult.

I see it everywhere... people desperately trying to be with each other. They have no way to just spend time together, as they all live with their families and a lot of the time their relationships are not necessarily approved of or even known about, so you see these couples huddled together on their motorbikes on the side of the freeway... arms embracing. Each moment is precious. You know how much those minutes mean. The place could be anywhere... they don't care. The looks are loving... their eyes twinkle. They look so so happy. I wish I could slow down time for them.

But they are the lucky ones it seems. Our way of life in the west.. frequently dating and having a boyfriend or girlfriend, is unheard of here. Most of my friends, stunningly handsome everyone of them, don't have girlfriends and I can't understand why the girls don't see how wonderful they are. I always hear the girls say that there are no decent guys around... a statement that makes me want to shake them. I feel I am surrounded by diamonds. These guys are incredibly kind, sensitive, caring, attentive, funny... able to have a laugh at anything and find the fun in everything. Just people you'd wanna be stuck in a lift with! They are handsome and charming to boot... so what's not to like? I guess they don't fit the difficult criteria that the parent's set perhaps. Like I said, love is hard. Many young guys are afraid to even approach girls.

With all of this it's not surprising that arranged marriage is still thriving. My social circle is in their mid-20's... when the expectations are that you will be getting married. And we usually ask was it a love marriage or an arranged? I'm secretly thrilled that more and more I see the love marriage creeping in. Not judging... there are a lot of arranged marriages that have worked out fine for my friends' parents.. but these are new times and I hope for new things for this generation.

Meanwhile... the couples huddle away on the freeway... longing for the time they can meet somewhere a little more comfy and romantic than the smog-filled air of the Bombay highways. Should I think about renting out our spare room?

pied piper of loveville

2008-03-15T13:31:00.011+05:30

Be glad you are not a common House Gecko in India. For any of you who are odd enough to have actually been reading this tome for a long time.. you might remember Pepe?.. the lil guy who visited my kitchen at the Royal Empire apartment. Well... we have been visited by his Bandra cousin Jose (hey don't ask me why they have Spanish names!!).. a lovely green friend that I really enjoy. He's a bit more lively than Pepe was.. doesn't like us to get so close. It makes him pitter patter round the ceiling and across the cupboard doors with his gloopy feet. I love him :) Gagan thinks I'm off my rocker, I'm sure of it... yelling at Jose 'no, no - not that way - THAT way' as I make wild gestures to ward him towards the open window and away from the far-too-interested cats!

So anyway... I digress from what I wanted to share with you. Be glad you're not Jose or any of his gloopy toed cousins. You see... in India and it turns out throughout a lot of Asia and the middle east.. it turns out there are some old folk lores and beliefs that these harmless and charming little creatures are deadly poisonous. I'm not talking just make-you-puke here.. I'm talking kick-the-bucket d-e-a-d! What I've heard is their skin has toxins on it, and if they fall in your cooking pot and you eat any of it... dead as a dodo, baby! Remember we're not talking Gila Monsters or Beaded Lizards here... those puppies are genuinely poisonous - the only two lizards who are.. but just your common ordinary home terrarium variety house gecko. The ones you all held in your hands as a kid.. marvelling at their wide toes and their translucent skin.

Now... perhaps this is my first encounter here, firsthand, with something that I know is wrong, but that the people who are telling me, believe is the truth. This brings all sorts of things to my mind. I remember my wonderful art history lecturer in Perth teaching us about the Australian aboriginals and their stories of the Dreamtime. How individuals and creatures created land structures with song and story and that this is just as real to them as scientific explanation is to us. Who am I to judge or discount those ideas? But faced with something like this... when old folktales that pass around through the ages and cause crazy notions.. it messes my head all around. It's where my 'New World' sensibilities trip and fall down the 'Old World' staircase... to land in a muddle at the bottom not knowing whether I like where I've landed. One thing I have learned with my advancing years.. is that you can't change people's minds though. It's what Darwin faced... and what scientists still face all the time. The world is still flat in some places... but it doesn't mean that the people who think it's flat aren't good people and mean well. We all think our truth is *the* truth, don't we ;)

Most of the time I so enjoy everything around me, but perhaps that's as an enchanted 'tourist' in this world... always passing through. Ultimately, I'm from the west and an animal lover, and I'm the one patting the street dogs and noticing the skinny cats and stray rats. Most of those around me are filled with a mixture of dislike, mistrust and disgust.. mostly from just a lack of knowledge. No wonder the dogs rush to me like I am the Pied Piper of Loveville... their tails wagging, their eyes entreating me desperately for a sign of anything... they rub their faces on my leg, they pull their lips back in wolf smiles, they jump up gently hoping I will pat them.. and upon invitation are so very very proud to walk alongside me. I'll have 3 or 4 at a time with me... happy as larry. They're such lovely moments I feel giddy and wish I had a video camera.

So Pepe, Jose .. and all your cousins... if you happen to read the internet... stay out of houses, it's best for your safety. Except a certain apartment in Bandra.. you're welcome there (just watch out for the cats!)

hissy spitty....

2008-03-08T12:08:00.004+05:30

It's Saturday morning and Gagan has just left for work... the first of many overtime weekends on Hulk. It reminds me of what I hate about this business. As I get older I feel less tolerant of the toll it takes on life and the various strange liberties it takes on the employees. I try to stand up for what I believe in... for what it's worth. Reminds me of the principal of my high school calling me a revolutionary.. he was so angry. At the time I was secretly honoured to be called that.. it's how I was brought up.. to always question and think for myself and never just accept what was happening . Eyes wide open and mind aware. But I don't want to be at the front of the pack.. on point... I'm much happier giving support and encouragement to the stronger ones. I think I get too emotionally caught up in it all... and end up not sleeping and worrying too much. I think I am like our cat Tufty and Gagan like Pippin. I hiss and spit and growl and mutter and grumble my way through the world... and he smiles and glides and watches with his eyes twinkling, never unhappy. Always ready to rub my head and say 'don't worry... everything is fine' .. the yin to my yang.

I am watching a tv show about a young guy in Mongolia learning the local throat singing and traveling around. He has one week to master this infinitly difficult skill and perform at a festival. The sounds are like something from a weird instrument and I never knew a human made them! It's the kind of fantastic tv we get here... makes me feel so connected to the world. Traveling from the living room couch. Nice big plasma tv helps!

Never enough hours in the non-working day to do all the things we'd like to. Watch all the movies, read all the books.. go all the places. Computer things to play with... unpacking the books... putting up pictures.... and just sitting around and generally contemplating your navel! Those moments when you're 10 years old and do nothing for hours... just sit and daydream :) Still - I am the one at home so I'm not complaining!

no masala... but an Oscar will do!

2008-03-01T08:25:00.005+05:30

It's been a wild week. Monday morning I turned on the TV to the live Oscar broadcast just in time to see my friend Bill Westenhofer win an Oscar! I think I was yelling loudly enough for him to hear me all the way from India. It was for R&H's visual effects on The Golden Compass. I felt so proud and excited and overwhelmed to have been part of it..in a small way. Through Gagan I heard all the celebrations at the Indian office... screaming and shouting... laughter. Such happy people. They worked really hard and deserved every bit of it. I was so happy for them... and sad to not be part of it. It's been an emotional week.

We have a really lovely maid Augusta who comes every day to clean and 'mother' us. If we are home she just loves to catch up and talk and talk (as Gagan would say 'she eats your head'!).... she has amazing tales of her life, living in Cyprus and her husband working in the UK. Her children are all studying hard and doing well.. and we talk a lot about the problems of the world, usually coming up with solutions in the hour or so we talk (just like a good tv show!). She is determined that I am going to eat well, and that I shouldn't eat 'outside' food so much. I dont have the energy, skill or interest to cook, so she has been so excited to do some for us. She'd been offering for so long, and I didn't want to trouble her. But as I've gotten to know her I realise she really *wants* to and feels better knowing I'm eating safely and that she's looking after me. My Indian mother :) How very lucky am I!

We buy fresh veges from a cart outside our building. I come home at night - peek in the fridge and - yippee - there are containers of tasty cooked sweet potato, carrots, string beans and artfully arranged slices of tomato and cucumber all awaiting my drooling taste buds! Nuke 'em and we're ready to eat! oh... well.. *I'm* ready to eat.. Gagan isn't a big fan of vegetables! ;)

Now we've added some simple Indian dishes to the list.. they're really breakfast things but I used to have them at R&H and loved them. Poha (pictured) and upma are made from rice and (to me) unidentifiable grains or pulses that I find in plastic bags on the kitchen counter and ogle over! Augusta is a great cook and she makes them without any spices so that it's safe for sickly old colitis-stomach me. All this healthy food has made my stomach so well... better than it's been in years! I miss Indian food very much... but I can see the pay off in how everything is 'working'... hehe. What I wouldn't give for a little chicken tikka masala though...

...and fly

2008-02-23T18:08:00.004+05:30

I feel like my eyes are the lens of a camera most of the time here in Bombay. Snippets of little precious moments that I wish I was recording.. but I need them in full sensurround 3D-imax smellovison to really let you know what I'm on about. Just snippets of beauty.

The ride to work on the bike in the mornings with Kaustubh. Along Carter Rd in Bandra by the sea - the median strip is raised with some vegetation and a group of loose and unclaimed donkeys chew away at the grass ignored by the cars and bikes going by.. ignored by everyone except me. 'Donkeys!'

Further along.... past the preschool and catholic girl's school... cars and auto rickshaws stream in to bring all the kids in their tidy uniforms to school. Parents dropping them off on scooters.. and autos with up to 8 tiny kids bundled into the back (where we would squeeze in 3 adults)... everyone with uniforms pressed and hair tied into pigtails or braids. Even though I never want to be a parent... I like all the smiling faces and the sweet way a father gently grabs the hand of a tiny kid to cross the street amidst the chaos. If we are a few minutes late to work... the road past the school is abandoned... the chaos is gone as if it never happened... and you know the kids are settling in to another boring day at school.

At night we wind through tiny streets in Bandra that I just love. Houses and store fronts open straight on to the street... the tiniest shops you've ever seen... some basically the size of a human, just enough for someone to stand or sit in, and sell a few little things. At dusk everything lights up... and people are walking and talking in amongst the cars and motorbikes and ricks driving on a road only as wide as one car.... everything squeeeeezes through. It's mad fun and I love it.

There is one place where an outdoor shaving stand is set up... there is no light. Just the light of passing cars in the darkness. A mirror hangs on the fence. A tall stool where the victim sits and faces the mirror he can't really see.. his face is liberally lathered up... and the straight razor comes out... lickety split :) Awesome... all in the dark!

We pass a wall that has a plaque on it... small, tiled... and every time I see it I smile so much. It says "Myrtle D'Souza and Fly". Now years ago I worked on Babe:Pig in the City... and my favourite shots to work on were with the lovely border collie Fly :) So... I saw this and .. well.. who is Fly? ..could it be a dog? I just really liked the images it put in my head :) That this woman loved her dog so much she put his name on the wall with hers ;) ok .. ok... so, the bubble was burst when it was pointed out to me that 'fly' means 'family'... but I'll carry on with my little fantasy thankyouverymuch.

two types of blue flame

2008-02-09T17:34:00.000+05:30

I always chuckle on the motorbike ride to work each morning. We pass a block pf apartments called Blue Flame. I wonder if that is what the inhabitants spend their late nights doing - sort've Jack Black style .... does the place stink but light up all evening? If you don't know what I'm talking about... check this link. It just makes me smile.

I just made myself some soft boiled eggs. We have a sweet little kitchen - a typical old-styled Italian kitchen as Pascal put it... a narrow room with cupboards reaching high to the ceiling, not a lot of counter space but enough for our simple needs. At the end under the window is the two-burner gas stove. This device is a bit of a challenge for me. I'm not too adept at lighting it and that makes Gagan chuckle as I turn it on and off and on and off so as not to gas myself into a high. I'm getting better :) Two clicks of the mechanical lighter thingamejig and I was blue-flaming away today!

paradise by the laptop lights

2008-02-01T18:05:00.000+05:30

It's quiet. All I hear are birds... peaceful. Crows, parrots, pigeons, kites... all flying by the ocean. Sometimes you can even hear donkeys. The occasional dog barking. But it's quiet - here in our little paradise by the sea.

Boy do I have a lot to fill in :)

I'm not just a business travelor anymore. Once upon a time I was sent by a company to India. It was an adventure. I made friends, had an incredible time at work and found myself feeling more at home than I felt in the country I'd been living for years. But the company didn't like me getting so comfy comfy with the employees - I think firangs are supposed to keep their distance and not develop the kind of friendships that I could not help but make. It was a growing process for all of us, me, my friends, and the company. Inevitably we all lost something... but I gained so much and I never looked back. I fell in love with India, and with an Indian, and I had to stay. So.. the company and I, after 10 long years, parted ways and I moved from one side of the planet to the other. My home :)

I'm sad I didnt get to cover all the amazing times I had in the blog. Some of the company's management on both sides of the world didnt like it and I stopped as I felt so winded by that judgement of my personal space. I actually wrote a whole piece about it at the time... but I didnt post it as I knew it would make things harder for me at work. There were lots of idealistic hopes it might start up conversations about freedom of speech in blogger circles etc... but when the fight gets personal like that it isnt as easy as it seems.

But now it's all past and I have moved on. Life is wonderful. I am with the man I love, my cats are here from the US... we have a great apartment, and life is settling into a pattern of simple pleasures and wide eyed wonder. It was all different coming back after shutting up shop in LA. I had to relearn India again. Relearn to love it in a way. I'm in a new part of the city I didnt know. I felt disoriented. Even though it was paradise - our apartment looks out over the Arabian Sea.. one block up - I was in unfamiliar territory and further from friends. And some friends have moved to Hyderabad too, so there was such a sense of change... nothing was as before. I had so much to get used to. Plus adjusting to leaving a job I was used to - software I loved etc. Even if the position just wasnt right anymore it is hard to leave something that had once been good and a pipeline that worked so well.

The first days and weeks I look back on like I was emerging from an egg... like Mork and his spaceship! Building up our apartment from scratch was a challenge. I hadnt done that for years... and I felt a little helpless as I was recovering from all the sickness I had in LA (the joys of fibromyalgia!) and Gagan had to do so much. But now we have furniture and my stuff has arrived from LA (all 60 boxes... mostly books!) and it feels like a lovely home. Right now the sun is setting.. it leaves a warm red glow in the living room and our bedroom. The cats sit on the back of the couch basking in the heat... their eyes closing contentedly. They have all their favourite toys and baskets here - life is good for an Adamson furry!

whizz bang!

2007-05-13T22:51:00.000+05:30

It's 11pm and the folks who live in the slum next to my building and work on the construction site of the new apartment blocks are letting off fireworks :) weeeeeeeeee!!!

a little somethin' somethin'

2007-05-13T19:50:00.000+05:30

...eeck... do I even qualify as a blogger at this rate? A month since my last post :( The guilt has been weighing me down... I must say. Not a huge number of 'quotable' things have happened ... but I have been busy and happy happy. It's all good. It's May now... the summer is HERE. People are telling me they feel the monsoons will come early this year...soon in fact. So I am proud of getting through the summer so far without any *freak* moments like I used to have in Perth... wanting to peel my skin off my body in heat panic. I am spoiled with a/c so how can I possibly complain anyway.

So the general schtuff that has been keeping me busy is all the interesting developments at work. Moving off my involvement with The Golden Compass, I have been immersed in the 2nd Lighting Apprenticeship programme. I missed my buddy in arms Arun... but I have gained a wonderful new friend in our educator at this office... my Guruji... Amit :) We had 2 great weeks of intense class teaching together.... and I watched him just flourish in his element. A natural teacher.... he made learning a pleasure. We had a blast together. I felt a clumsy git when I would chime in with my little blurbs here and there... none of the simplicity of explanation that he had! Ah well.... perhaps my talents lie in other places!

The class is now starting their mock production... a great bunch of folks, it's always freaky to put myself in that position of coming in to our studio and learning all this stuff cold. What a challenge! Jargon, tech issues and un-learning everything you have learned... haha.... how to push those brain cells to the limit babeeee! We've been working different hours... 11am to 7:30pm.... it's been different and a nice change. I have enjoyed sleeping in late! Been sleeping badly... but those late morning hours are good sleep. The morning auto ride is different. Hotter and much more traffic.... the roads are not waking up any more....everything is definitely alive and on the go by 10am!

Other than work... life has been a party! I had Jane from LA here for a while and we had a blast, though I had a sickness while she was here that stopped us from the real insanity I had promised her. Still it was amazing .... she is missed!! We both had birthdays while she was here. Now... it's been a while since I celebrated my birthday... just haven't felt 'in the mood' and been alone. Seemed a bit nuts to throw myself a party when I really didn't care and there wasn't family or anyone really close there anyway. But.... I have realised.... there is no such thing as a secret ignored birthday in India... hahaha! Talk about being made to feel special for a day! The office sends email out...and then a bazillion handshakes and emails later... I get called into the screening room for surprise cake, flowers and presents! ok... I admit... it was really lovely and once again I fell in love with everyone. How often can this happen? :) Jane got the same treatment.... we are spoilt... rotten!

Been getting some GREAT bike rides with friends...a selection of bikes. I have realised that even on the hottest day ... being on the back of a bike is rather cooling.... nice :) I am lousy at climbing on for some reason.... what's *that* about?... residual problems from those few horse riding lessons as a kid or something?? I mean...c'mon.. it's just a bike! I guess my midget status gives me trouble gettin' a leg over! hahaha :) At least I give prior warning - "this is gonna get wobbly for a moment as I clamber on!"

There's been dancing out late at clubs until we all collapsed, movies and food, and staying up all night talking to best friends. Life is truly peaking! :) I'll put the couple of things that require detail in separate posts.... but here ya go... something finally to chew on.

grace kelly and I

2007-04-08T10:25:00.000+05:30

Have I ever really talked about my morning ride to work? Such a special time of day... about 8am and the streets are just awakening. I step out onto the street in front of my building and wait for an auto to pull over. It's an interesting little dance... you can't even call it a conversation - that you have to determine that the driver will take you to your destination. Going to work I say "Malad - InOrbit mall' and then if he's willing (which he usually is in the morning) I will see an imperceptable twist of the head or roll of the eye indicating for me to get in... and that was my 'yes'. At night... the autos cluster around the entrance to our glass megastructure... waiting for all the call centre workers to pour out, and when I say 'Andheri West (Vest is more how I say it... in one quick string 'Andherivest') Lokhandwala Circle', usually quite a few are not interested in the shorter fare and shake their head once or grimace a little and look away. It took a little while to learn the language... but I have it now.

So... I climb in and grab my long scarf to make the necessary arrangements so that I arrive looking a little human. It's a fast ride and the good drivers really pick up some speed when they can.The autos are completely open to the wind on either side... so those of us with long hair can end up with quite an afro if we're not prepared. So, twisting my hair into a braid and hooking it under a bra strap, then tightly swathing my scarf around my head... I am able to hold down most of the flyaways and keep it under control. With sunglasses on I always feel like I'm doing a Grace Kelly impression though... and I can't help but feel incredibly 'white' ... sigh :( Oh for that olive skin that lies deep within my genes! ...perhaps I could have a reverse Michael Jackson incident ;)

On the days I wear a salwar kameez then I use the dupatta to wrap around my hair. They're really long though.. and it's almost like a turban has snaked its way off my head and tried to strangle me.... looks a little amusing I'm sure. Unwinding it at the end of the ride is like unwrapping a mummy!

The auto drivers are notorious for not having change. For a 30 rupee ride I can often get grief for only having a 50 rupee note. It's my fault for not knowing the language that I can't argue the point.... I can tell him to go left and right, and straight, and to stop.... and I can say some pretty nasty things about his mother and sister (not that I would!).... but I don't know how to tell him that he should bloody well have 20 rupees change at all times!! I think it must be one of the most valuable things in this city... the 10-rupee note! Don't leave home without it!!

The drive in the morning goes along some back streets that are tree-lined and have dogs awakening, people walking and amazingly... hardly any traffic. We pass businesses and shops that are closed ("Gym and Tonic" anyone?), chai stops, coconut stands and head onto the main Link Road where things are a little more busy... but still distinctly alive with the morning rhythms. One stretch of road is lined with autos getting washed. They glisten in the sun, and some lean to one side as their drivers make adjustments to the tiny engines underneath, the three wheels making it easy to tip over and get to the nuts and bolts of the machinery.

People are washing and shaving on the streets... every aspect of the morning ablutions is carried out in full view. Cars and people all getting cleaned. Water splashes everywhere.

We drive past the mutton and poultry stores.... small vans loaded with 'broilers' the fat and healthy white chickens destined for a short future I try not to think of, are ready to be unloaded. The mutton is of course, goat... and often I will see them milling about in front of the store. It's amazing that they are loose and don't escape. They are all nibbling away at stuff on the streets and appear calm, content and very healthy. Coming in all sorts of wonderful and varied colours, they are some of the loveliest goats I've seen.. and though their future is sad too.... I think they probably have a much nicer life than livestock destined for western tables. Sometimes they are curled up on the side of the street almost like a dog. I swear though... being a vegetarian is one thought away!!

As we see the mall appearing ahead, I tell the driver 'left laner' and he has to brake from the speed he was able to gain on that one little stretch of road. He turns before Hypercity and we drive past all the motorbikes parked along the roadside. 'Bus bus' I say and he pulls to a halt next to the security station at Mindspace and the 10-minute ride is over. Hopefully I have the right change... coins even .... and I thank him in hindi. I often get a shy smile as I say thankyou more than once and meet his eye, and for one more moment I have a little connection. These guys ride all day in the heat and monsoons.. for not a lot of money... and their world fascinates me. Gotta learn the language Jude.... so much you're missing out on!!

pujas and presidents

2007-04-07T20:39:00.000+05:30

S'been forever hasn't it. .... I feel a bit stressed at how much time has lapsed on the blog... but then not a lot has happened really, so I am just going to write some snippets and wing it.

Whatever that sickness was, it got a hold of me and gave me quite a bear hug. A course of the scary Cipro later and I still didn't seem to be getting rid of it.... and everyone at work was getting a bit worried I could tell. I'm not very good at being sick.... no... let me rephrase that. I'm actually *very* good at 'being' sick since I have been so much in my life.... but I'm not good at it around other people... and I tend to just want to hide away, hibernate it out, so to speak. This is a country where everyone helps everyone though... and I'm sure they wondered why I didn't want a lot of attention. Finally though I started to see the other side of it, which was lucky as I was missing a Rather Big Event in R&H history. John Hughes had come to India!

John is the wonderful and remarkable person who, along with his colleagues, founded Rhythm and Hues. He is the president and owner... and has inspired a lot of us in ways he'll never really know. Now that he has this Indian facility - which has existed for 5 years - everyone has been urging him to come and visit, but we never really thought he would. But... the planets aligned and a butterfly sneezed, and he was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FICCI Frames Conference.... so... it was really happening!

I was out sick for several of the 5 days John was here... so I missed out on some of the excitement. At work it was almost too 'exciting'... with the admin team being put into super-high gear to get things ready for his visit. He's a very easy going person and will have wanted nothing special, but it *was* the first ever trip... so things had to be perfect.

I felt very emotional when I first saw him.... gave him an enormous hug. Even though I knew we didn't have much time to talk right then... and may not get to, there was something about seeing him at this office that meant so much to me, it gave me quite a lump in my throat. I wasn't to know that that was really just the beginning.

So.... as I said ... I was out sick for quite a few days.... but 'dragged my sorry ass' in to work on the afternoon of the last day of the conference to go to the company meeting. Of course it was a super-special one with John in attendance and everyone in really high spirits. John made a great speech.... had us all laughing and on the edge of our chairs feeling very proud of the office here. I know I was holding back tears at the things he said... and I could see how heartfelt his emotions were. Many questions were asked and when he went over his amazing life story of how he found himself in this industry and the founding of R&H... I think we were all like little children around a campfire listening to a great storyteller. Of course when the introductions were made and people had to sing or dance - John was a great sport about it. His choice was to sing a chinese song that he sings for his children. It was fantastic... and the crowds went wild! Very good... I wonder if they will see this tradition starting up in LA ;)

I hadn't just come in for the meeting because Vani had said we were all going to a Bollywood 'extravaganza' that night. Serkan, Burcin, Jane and I headed off in a hire car to the lovely Renaissance Hotel at Powai Lake where the conference was held. Oh my....what a view! The hotel and its grounds look towards a cityscape across the lake, and at night it twinkles and sparkles as cars drive along the waterfront like little networks of fireflies. I was mesmerized.

We sat outside in the heat and watched a rather amusing and *very* unprepared presentation that signalled the end of the conference. The one thing I did enjoy was a dance academy that did number after number to the latest Bollywood hits. Man... talk about *stunning* women and men... and holy crap could they move! The costumes were a bonanza of colour and mirrored sparkles and it was truly a feast for the eyes and ears. Our problem was ... we needed a feast for the stomach too! By 9:30pm we were famished. It didn't help that they had a huge buffet all at the ready that wasn't going to be served until 10:30pm and the smells wafted over us as we sat and watched. It was too much to bear! So we headed in to the hotel to look for restaurants. We found several including one that served a buffet, and though we didn't really need something that large so late at night... we were ready! Serkan even had 5 desserts :) Though we hadn't seen any Bollywood stars, the food was bloody good and the magical view and dancing had been a lovely break from all my days of sickness.

The next day was John's last at work. He had been meeting with each department seperately to meet everyone and answer questions. We had the lighting meeting in the screening room, followed by group photos. I could tell how much he was enjoying it all. People are so responsive here.

At the end of the day Vani had organised a puja at work. The priest I had seen at the temple way back on Valentines Day, had come to perform the long and somwhat solemn ceremony. Anyone who wanted to participate was invited to sit at the back of the room. Jane and I were asked to come, and we sat cross-legged watching Vani and John going through the many ministrations of the quiet and trance-like ceremony. There were so many flowers and the room smelt wonderful... and as the priest tore them up and gave Vani and John the petals for the three of them to throw onto the images of the goddess, I felt myself floating away on the monotone chanting of the mantras and the sweet scents drifting through the room. Even a cold stark office building can be made into a little piece of heaven here in India! Only my stiff knees and slouching, aching back brought me back to reality... and as John was given an apple and flowers, and drank curd from his hand, I hoped that perhaps we were near the end of the ritual.

As the tika powder was applied and the formal ceremony was over, it was time for the rest of the company to join in. I looked behind me and realised the room was crowded. One by one we were handed the tray with the burning flame on it to wave slowly in front of the goddess.... it felt very calming and meaningful, though I don't know what or who I was thinking 'to'. India gives us extra things to strengthen us though... and having been so sick, it did feel nice to be part of this small ritual that was so colourful and full of flowers and fruits and foods.

Each person knelt down for their blessing or prasad... they prayed in their own individual way and received the tika and a small amount of water in the palm to drink. Then... the thing I knew they were all excited about... a bright orange ladoo. This is to me, a special Indian sweet... they are so saturated in colour and are moist and sweet and kindof fall apart as you bite into them. Hehehe... pretty mouthwatering. Worth finding and trying if you can! They always make me think of the old lady in the movie 'Water'.... all she wanted was a ladoo... that was all.

The priest recognised me from the visit to the temple. He was to prepare an astrology chart for me... which I still have to go and hear about. But he was chuckling and clucking away to the others in the room as he looked at me. I asked what he was saying... apparently I have gotten fat since he saw me last time (boo!) ... he also said I will get married in India. Well... that's easy for him to say.... if he can suggest where to find this likely lad who doesn't care about the hands of time or the colour of skin, then I might think he's onto something ;)

~ ~ ~ ~

On that last evening we all went out for dinner with John. It was a local restaurant we all like, not far from work. Aryans serves tasty food and is comfortable and has a good atmosphere.. though don't go if you're in a hurry... they take a l-o-n-g time with the food ;) It was all the managers and Jane and I... and though many of us were tired from a long week, I think everyone enjoyed it. It felt good to be sharing dinner with John again after so so long. There was one surreal and quite delicious moment where I listened to all the managers discussing very indepth concepts of astrology with John... I wish I hadn't been feeling so yukky, it was very nice to let the conversation wash over me. Several of them have read or are reading Shantaram, the book that is totally engulfing me at the moment. I can barely bring myself to finish it... but it's the most amazing book I think I've ever read. It was so good to talk about it and know others had similar thoughts. I'm nearing the end of the book now.... exhausted as if I'd been hiding behind rocks and watching everything right in front of me. I don't know how it's going to end... don't want to know. But it makes me love this city more and more and gaze in wonder every time I step outside the door.

you give me fever

2007-03-23T20:33:00.000+05:30

Um... so that sickness I mentioned last time.... it's been an odd one. It didn't really want to bugger off.... didn't want to pay attention to the antibiotics that were sent to beat it over the head. So... I spent the rest of that long weekend with a higher temperature and a painful throat, feeling quite ugly and pitiful. Rather a wasted opportunity to get out and see some of 'Indja' but ... there you go. I was running out of food in the apartment and it was all a bit pathetic .. hehehe. Of course I wasn't supposed to eat anything spicy either. I felt like a wimp!

My latest visitor from LA was arriving on Monday, which happened to be a company holiday for Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian New Year. Jane flew in just after 10am and arrived at the apartment near noon. I was a sorry mess and not in much shape to be a good host. She was pretty excited to have arrived though and that was good. We hung out for a while and then I rested. We ordered some food to be delivered in the evening.. but I ended up eating toast. She bought me FOUR jars of Vegemite which made me one happy little sandgroper!!

Tuesday morning and I knew I wasn't going in to work. Too sick. I stayed home but Ruchi came over to take me for a blood test. I was a little scared about where I was going... visions of some primitive place.... but man was I impressed!!! Right next door to my building, the clinic was sooo modern and clean and swanky!! Lovely lobby with a wide flatscreen tv showing cricket news (of course!). We paid up front for the test - 500 rupees which is around $11 US. Not bad eh? That was for a bunch of blood tests and a urine test. I waited only a couple of minutes and a guy came and took me to a back room where I sat in a special testing chair opposite a girl in a salwar suit with her arm out and a scared look of pain on her face. When the needle went in she really winced... it didn't help my nerves at all!

The man was so sweet. He did an amazing job and it barely hurt at all. He was interested in where I was from etc. I was so impressed at how little blood he took and how he prepared a slide right next to me. One tiny little fat glass vial was all they needed. In LA they take five vials and change them while the needle is in your arm.. leaves a bruise for sure.

I went back home to rest and continue doing the 'nothing' I'd been doing all weekend. Well... at least it included this incredible book I'm reading... Shantaram.. READ IT!! ;) Every word is infused with a love for Bombay and its people that leaves me breathless.... he writes my thoughts more clearly than I think them! Like I said... *read it* .... it's a giant tome but a true page turner!

I went back to work on Wednesday but my fever was even higher and I felt a little worse than Tuesday. The test results had become available online Tuesday night and didn't seem to show much. So Ruchi took me off to the doctor after the VC and she told me that it was probably a bladder infection this time. I'm not sure how that has caused all the throat and congestion problems.... but now I am taking the antibiotic of last resort.... Cipro. It's a scary little blighter... and not little either... it looks like a suppository! So that and another drug are now coursing through my veins and hopefully this will do the trick.

Thursday night after work, Jane, Vani and I went to the tailer near Orlem church again to get some more things stitched. I still had several fabric sets to have salwar kameez and skirts made. I just hadn't had a chance to get there til now. The lovely tailor Nikki recognised me. She's really great and does such good work. I enjoy going there. Apart from the great things Mum used to make me as a weener in NZ, I've never had clothes custom made and it's amazing how different they are when made to fit all the measurements of your body.

Now it is Friday night and I am watching cricket and enjoying the memories of yet another meeting with Vivek Oberoi at his office today. Of course I still can't put the details down. I took my friend Jesh along.. it was a great and successful meeting. Vivek called me 'Red'... which made me chuckle. He was in fine form and it was a meeting full of laughter and brainstorming.

Jane is asleep on the couch.... India needs a 5.2 runs per inning to win so it's a tough game. Send them good thoughts everyone!! Aim towards Trinidad and Tobago.....

mistress of no spices

2007-03-17T22:45:00.000+05:30

I had been feeling just a little 'off' for quite a while..... I can't really describe it. Just 'something in me blood' .... and it came and went. But over the last week it seemed to get worse. Several friends had colds and I thought that's what I had as I started to get a fever and a slightly sore throat. After a couple of days of it though, and not much sleep to speak of, I realised it was time to see the doctor. It's a slightly different process here in India.... no calling and hoping you can get an appointment in the next day or two. Ruchi, our wonderful R&H guest coordinator, just hopped in an auto with me and took me to the doctor's 'office' when it opened at 6:30pm. It was not far from work... near the Pop Tates in Malad. I wasn't sure what to expect... but it was a bit of a surprise! I had previously been to see an orthopaedic surgeon about a stretched nerve. He had a real office with several rooms and a doorway. This was simply a 3-sided hallway open onto the street, with chairs along the walls and a table at the end where the kindly and attractive female doctor waited for patients. I sat down, she asked what was wrong... and the consultation was conducted right there, for all the world to see as they walked by. It was certainly very different to any doctor visit I've had before. All for the bargain basement price of 50 rupees... you heard it folks... that's just over 1 US dollar.

She was very nice, looked at my throat and said it was very very red. Listened to my chest which was clear... and took my pulse. She said I had a throat infection.... which seemed to make a lot of sense and explain the fever and the 'bad blood' feeling. I was a bit alarmed when I told her of my fibromyalgia and she didn't know of the condition, plus she didn't seem too worried about the drugs I was taking and whether they would play nicely with the ones she was prescribing. I made sure I researched them later. I got her to explain what she was writing out for me - antibiotics, a decongestant and something else I didn't quite catch. She was very caring and reassuring though... a lot of the advice was that I needed to not eat fruit, not drink anything cold and not eat ANYTHING SPICY... hehehe. A bit of a challenge here in India.... not hard but requires a bit of effort when you're not feeling at the top of your game.

No worries.... at home it's easy (even though I can't cook)..... lots of toast and cereal and the delicious pate and crackers I have discovered. But my cupboards were pretty bare and I wasn't sure what to do for dinner tonight. So... what do you do when you just don't know what to eat, can't have anything Indian (which includes Chinese as that has its own indian masala added to it), and just need a little TLC when you're sick? You go to the J W Marriott for a buffett, of course! ;) It's a feast of kings, and the atmosphere and people-watching is worth the price of admission alone. Walking past the elegant bar from the fancy loos, I had a great celebrity sighting as well! At a table of four listening to what *must* have been an industry conversation, was Soha Ali Khan.... the beautiful sister of Saif Ali Khan and an actress in 2006's outstanding hit movie 'Rang De Basanti'. Wow.... she looked gorgeous... I was so excited!

It wasn't the only Bollywood moment.... at the table right behind me sat the director Madhur Bhandarkar. I've really liked his films 'Corporate' and 'Page 3' and can't wait to see the recently released 'Traffic Signal'. You could almost say we were rubbing shoulders ;)

So now... time to take #2 antibiotic. My throat is raging and the fever hasn't broken yet, but the night was fun and I am lucky enough to be having a long weekend. Lots of hindi dvd's to watch and a great book to read (Shantaram). All is well with the world.

trainspotting and no birdspotting

2007-03-17T11:09:00.000+05:30

Ever since I arrived I've heard notorious stories of the local trains. Some people just frown and tell me with great seriousness that I shouldn't attempt to ride a train, others laugh and then still frown a little and tell me I'm crazy to want to go take one. I had seen the people hanging out the doors so nonchalantly and heard of them even sitting on the roof! I read in the fantastic local magazine Time Out Mumbai (only 30 rupees every two weeks!) that at peak hours you get 16 people to every square metre in the compartments... first class or otherwise! They tell me the womens' compartments are even worse, with girls pulling hair and fighting to get in ;) Sounds a riot! Well.... I guess I didn't really want to go at peak hour but I definitely had to try this experience on for size.

The perfect opportunity arose last week when one of our pipeline guys, a brilliant photographer, Chingkhei, sent mail out to the company asking if anyone was interested in a trip to the east side of the city to try and shoot the flamingos before they left for the season. Chris and I both jumped at the chance.... though as it turns out Chris was a little worse for wear after an all-night drinking escapade with the newly-formed india-fulltight group. Let me briefly explain... I had suggested we form an email alias for folks who would like to go out and partake of a drink or three on a regular basis... and thus was born india-fulltight! I couldn't go for the inaugural night.... I'd been feeling kinda sick for days and my stomach was in no shape... but I heard the die-hards were out until nearly 6am. Hardcore babeee! I don't quite know how Chris made it out with us really!

We met Chingkhei at the Infinity Mall near my house, and got an auto to the Andheri train station. Even that was a ride in itself.... longer than I expected and on really rough roads, but through some especially colourful and exciting looking local markets that I would love to explore. We felt pretty rattled when we arrived... but three to an auto holds you in pretty tight! The story of Aditya's auto flipping over at the end of the "fulltight" night before was not reassuring however! Lucky he was a little drunk... and not hurt at all ;)

So.... we arrive at the train station and I instantly love it. It truly is the hub of life in Mumbai.... I think half the population at any one time is at a station! That's a joke of course... but it's such a bustling lively place with so many kinds of people coming and going. I could sit there for hours. We had to stay on our toes to keep up with Chingkhei as he pushed through the crowds towards the ticket lines. I was fascinated... my eyes darting every which way trying to take it all in. The signs and colours. It would take me a while to figure out which train I would need, certainly, but Chingkhei had printed train maps and he surprised both of us by barging straight up to the front of a very long line to the ticket window... even in front of the person who was there. He explained later that if you're buying first class tickets you don't have to wait in line! I think Chris and I both had the same 'pit-of-the-stomach' feeling though.... it felt more like 'the white folks pushing in to get tickets' to us.... but before you could blink Chingkhei was back with our return trip tickets to Sewri. 104 rupees was the cost per person for first class. It seemed like a bargain... but when compared to the weekly passes, let alone the regular fares we were definitely paying the top end.

We then found our way to the correct platform and sat waiting for the train. It was an excellent chance to people-watch... and of course - be watched. I feel pretty comfortable with being a spectacle most of the time here - I think it's healthy to be out of your element and I am fascinated by the interest people show. It ranges from mild curiosity, to shy glances that break into smiles after a response, shocked stares, and of course there's always the guys that think all western women are not much more than prostitutes. Don't enjoy that so much.... but you have to take the bad with the good. 90% of the time it's all good and you can get some really great moments out of it. The security guards at my building gave me serious and mistrustful looks as I walked by to get the auto every morning. But I raised my hand in the salute of greeting so often used here, and smiled a 'hello' or 'namaste'. Now I get big smiles and nods from them in the mornings... I knew I would break them ;)

It was pretty hot on the platform - we were catching the train at about 2pm - and with the summer coming fast the temperature was in the 30's and a bit sticky. The rush of cool air as the trains poured in to the platform was welcome. When our train arrived we quickly got up and headed to the first-class carriage. We knew not to be fooled by the moniker, it's only first class because of some padding on the seats and less people able to afford to go it in it... hence potentially less crowded. But it's simple and grimy and real and I loved it. We got seats and I took some photos... the other men on the train thinking I was a loony I'm sure. ;)

I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Firstly... it was SMOOTH.... a travelling sensation I realised I hadn't felt in so long. Even when we're in a fancy modern car we're still at the mercy of the bumpy Bombay roads ... and suddenly we were gliding along with not a ripple. It was wonderful. People came and went and we counted down our stations. I could have sat there for quite a long time though... just enjoying the ride. I'm sure it makes a big difference when you catch a train like that from the beginning of its route as well. Guaranteed a seat ;)

At Sewri Station it was quite different. There was a lot of loud noise, strong smells I won't describe to you (teehee), and people rushing everywhere. We weren't sure which way to go.... but it turned out we had to walk right along side the train tracks and out across some other tracks to head towards the mud flats. As I saw people just casually walking all over the tracks I could see how it was that so many are killed by trains each year. It seems so odd to see them walking along the tracks themselves... I kept waiting for the voice of a guard to call out and stop them... but it's just normal here.

Chingkhei asked several people for directions to the waterfront.. and we headed down streets bordered with small restaurants and tea stands. We were definitely firangs in a foreign land ;) ...everyone stared... this was right away from the main city and much more like some other parts of India in the feel of the street life. As we walked further and further on, it was as if we left Mumbai behind and entered a poor industrial village. It was very muddy and the people were of tiny wiry build - hard physical labourers you could tell. But lovely grimy kids with big smiles and "hello auntie how are you", laughing as we came by. Suddenly we hit a little mound of dirt and mud.. climbed over and onto a 'road' being used by big trucks - we were right in some industrial zone and away from everything now. There was mud everywhere and we appeared to be walled in from the sea by a giant concrete and barbed wire wall that looked impenetrable. We headed along... avoiding the puddles as best we could, past derelict worksites, trucks and workmen playing cards. They didn't look up, which I admired. There also seemed to be more cards on the muddy ground than on the table ... so I don't know what the state of the game was!

Eventually we reached a street again... and I saw a sign pointing to the Sewri MudFlats. A concrete jetty with seemingly abandoned but actually very much alive boats, marked the spot. We could see the tide was going out as we saw mangroves poke their heads above the water. We walked around one side along the rocky beach, littered with items of clothing that looked like they had once belonged on a Bollywood film set.... glittering purples, yellows and reds, all covered in dirt and torn and battered. No more life left in them. It was sad to see so much litter along the coastline, but inevitable that the dirt from the streets would find itself into the environment like this.

It was pretty clear that we weren't going to find any flamingos. We kinda realised as we looked though, that there would be many hiding places for them along the spreading coastline towards the distant power plant.. and if I was a flamingo I probably wouldn't have hung out right next to the jetty where the people were! There was a pleasant breeze though, and after all the walking and hot sun it was very welcome. A man near us invited us to come aboard one of the boats to take photos of the flats from a closer view, so we braved the 'plank'... a precarious gangway, and stood there for a long time taking it all in.

We began to notice the different kinds of terns and gulls that were flying around... all fishing from the air. They would hover and dive from a great height into the water to come out with a fish. Quite dramatic. Chingkhei was taking lots of photos with his big lens... I didn't take mine out as I just didn't feel I was good enough to take that kind of shot. Manual focusing in mid-air on a flying bird?... I need a little more practise before I do that ;)

The train ride home was even better. More crowded this time, we had to stand, and after a while I took the position by the open doorway with Chingkhei. There is something very freeing about standing there, holding onto the centre pole, head out into the rushing wind, your body feeling the power of the train move through space. You could fall out without anyone even noticing, and it's a heady rush. Nothing to these seasoned Mumbaikers I know.... but for lil' ole kiwi me it's most fun and I look forward to my next journey on the local trains.

a late morning meeting

2007-03-17T09:58:00.000+05:30

Certainly is late! It's over a week since I went to Vivek's and I haven't posted... my my! Well... it's been just so busy and I also have been trying to figure out what to write. I realised since it was both a 'work' type of meeting and also at the office attached to his residence... all things that I can't really talk about with this being somewhat public.... I couldn't really put a lot - or much - detail at all. So..... if you know me and want to know what happened I can probably tell you a little... but unfortunately for the one man and his dog who actually check out this blog.... I can't really say anything. Needless to say though... it was awesome and another thrilling chapter in my Bollywood experience. We left him with a Rhythm and Hues demo reel on DVD and he sms'd me that night after having watched it with raving reviews.

Way to go R&H!

One thing that was very meaningful and lovely (and Jenny.... if you read this I know you'll be a little envious but I was thinking of you the whole time!) was my encounter with a particularly sacred cow. Prasad and I had to wait next to my favourite temple in Juhu to be guided to Vivek's house. It is the temple that Vani had taken me to and I had such a profound experience in on Valentine's Day. People generally seem to refer to it as the Hare Krishna Hare Ram temple but I've heard it called other names. Anyway... when we had gone the last time we had not seen the famous cow that stands outside. People go up to it and ... forgive me if this is not quite correct - take blessings by touching and feeding it. It's a lovely sight.... an older woman sits with many baskets of food in front of her and you can donate some rupees and give some to the cow. I was excited!! Prasad took several photos of me and I gave her four big balls of lumpy moist grains. She gobbled them up... I could cup her big wet snout in my hand and feel how strongly she urged forward to get the food from me. She knew what I was there for! I patted her face and neck and just wanted to give her a hug... though she might have wondered what that was all about! It was good to be close to a furry again.

i feel reality impacting here

2007-03-08T23:23:00.000+05:30

just a quick note... I am getting pretty excited. It's 11:30pm.... and tomorrow morning at 9am R&H's production manager Prasad and I are going to Vivek Oberoi's house! how freaking amazing is that! I'll fill you in later... but I had to share.....

oooh... BIG fireworks going off right by my apartment... sounds like bombs... very pretty... very loud... very late... hehehe

And I'll be amazed if anyone knows what movie the title of this post is a quote from ;)

enlightenment

2007-03-03T20:56:00.000+05:30

I've only just begun to realise the changes that I've gone through since I've been here. I don't mean true enlightenment.. I couldn't be that arrogant. I am a long way from that. But I have been infinitely 'lightened' .... many weights have lifted. And without me even noticing them leaving. My life in LA was good... don't get me wrong... but I was always worried about something... and had an inner sadness that I couldn't shake. Now, I just seem to feel peaceful. I don't 'want' for things like I used to. I wasn't materialistic, for sure... but I usually had a few things I would think about and wish I could buy. Now I don't think of that at all.... no wants at all. I see so many things in the stores and am not interested. All the kinds of things I used to buy. No need... just pretty to look at ...but they can stay where they are thankyouverymuch. How curious... how interesting.

And as far as worries go... I was 'always' worried... secretly weighed down by the things that I just had no control over but controlled my life. What would happen at work.. my visa.. my green card... my disastrous lovelife... worry worry worry. Now? I just have an innate sense that all will work out fine.... I'm where I am supposed to be.. and hence things are going to happen as they should. Now *that's* a tune I haven't played in my life before. Not sure who this new being is... but I welcome it... peace and calm. That's it, isn't it.

Yesterday was Holi... the festival of colours. I didn't get to celebrate it myself sadly.... my friends were all saying it was too dangerous as the colours are really bad for the skin.... and I kept seeing that on tv too. I really wanted to be out there throwing powder and getting covered in it though. But I watched from my apartment window and enjoyed from afar. Later as I walked along the street by my building in search of my favourite tiny bananas, I passed many people all covered in mostly pink and some silver and wet from head to foot. There was a pretty crazed and out-of-it look in their eyes... and my guess is it was bhang... which is basically a pure form of marijuana mostly put in milk or lassi or something like that. The government turns a blind eye to it on Holi and it's given to everyone... even kids and the elderly... everyone! Hehehe... only in India eh? My friends say they will give me some.... but not on a weekday! ;)

sightings

2007-02-27T23:30:00.000+05:30

I visited my wonderful friends Anil and Gayatri and their cute-as-a-button son Nikhil on Sunday. They live in a building right beside Shivaji Park ... a famous piece of land that has created many a cricket star (ok... yeah, it has a big historical and political past too... and is significant in the whole Shiv Sena arena I mentioned earlier but let's not dwell on them too much again - we're strictly left-wing live-and-let-live here at BNACGD Blog!) ... and each day you will find every inch of grass is covered with young people living the dream of one day playing cricket for team India. It's quite a magical place and the agreeable noise of bat against ball and the shouts of boys and men playing their favourite sport has something very comforting about it, especially later in the day as the sun gets low and kisses the dust in the air. It's a nice place to be.

After a fantastic lunch cooked by Gayatri and a lot of great conversation and music (some Pink Floyd to reminisce about the concert since we'd all gone) I visited Anil's CG business. It's a lovely office with mosaic tiles on the floors and brightly painted coloured walls. Nikhil was proud to show me every little detail... each bathroom included! Anil drove me part of the way home and I grabbed a snap of a crazy sight.... the photo really didn't come out but it sums up one of the truly unique things you'll see here in India.... an entire family on a motorbike! This was Dad, Mum and the kids..... *three* kids...... ... two in front of Dad on the petrol tank.... and one behind squished in between him and Mum. Amazing. I wish my photo wasn't blurry... but here you go.

Another snippet.... tonight I had the most wonderful visitor. In my kitchen... on the 17th floor.... a *beautiful* glassy green gecko! :) Very handsome... and BIG.... I tried to catch him to rescue him....but he was not having it. So gorgeous... I can't imagine how he got in... or will get out. I am a bit worried... I hope I can see him again though. I shall call him Pepe.

happy everything

2007-02-26T08:22:00.000+05:30

Whahoo..... Happy Feet just won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature a couple of minutes ago! :) watching it live :) Congratulations George Miller.... I could see how touched and happy you were! Pretty fantastic to have worked on the winning movie :)

yes.....a contrast to the last post I know.... conflicts, conflicts.....

have mercy

2007-02-25T21:10:00.000+05:30

my heart is crying

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ ...the Rape of Sabrine.....

my tax dollars are paying for this.....

I want to throw up

trippy

2007-02-25T09:05:00.000+05:30

I forgot to mention.... something totally trippy the other night. Prashant and Vani had taken us out after work (by *us* I mean myself and the new LA visitors who arrived last weekend - Wilmer and Chris). We had gone to a great joint right overhanging Juhu beach called the Vie Lounge.... very beautiful, and I had lobster to die for! Anyhoo.... we're driving home in Prash's car and suddenly .... next to us on the left hand side... the nose of a monster..... nope... I'm not talking about an elephant.... it was ... a Rolls Royce! And not just any Roller... it was enormous... like something out of Batman.... a big grey ghost..... mygod.... we were in shock!

When Jenny and I had stayed in the Marine Plaza hotel a few weekends ago, during breakfast overlooking Marine Drive we had seen a yellow Ferrari drive past. That was pretty mindblowing at the time.... especially as it shared the road with a cart being pulled by two giant elegant white brahmin bulls. Then on Friday night a Porsche was parked by the ATM machine. A Porsche with a big splat from a bird on its windscreen mind you ;) hey... if I was a bird I'd be aiming for the best car too.... have *you* seen Jhankaar Beats? either quantity.. or quality I say!

I'm used to seeing Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Lotus and that sort of car in LA.... but I still got excited with a Rolls or a Bentley.... I had driven by the Rolls Royce show room at the Millenium Mall and always said 'who on earth would actually drive that on the streets of Mumbai??' ... well... now I've seen it! Vani said it was a politician.... hmmmph.....

honeymoons and rockstar red

2007-02-24T22:07:00.000+05:30

Last night I went to see a new movie... opening night - a new Hindi movie. It's called Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd and it's a comedy. Obviously, it was in hindi.. but lots of english and it was completely easy to understand. The story is of 6 couples who take a package tour in a bus to Goa for their honeymoon. Though a comedy.... there were lots of quite serious issues that come up.... and lots of melodrama as well. Funnily enough.... Dia Mirza who I had met last Saturday on set with Vivek was in it, as was Arjun Rampal who was standing in front of us at the Roger Waters concert! So there you are then!... small world :)

This morning.... I went off to my Bollywood salon in the gorgeous Union Park area of Bandra for a haircut and colour. This time I wanted to mix things up a little... so I asked Raychel to go for a more vibrant colour. We picked one out of the book... and boy have I gone RED... I'm a rockstar now! It's vibrant and wild.... they took a photo of me when I left. They were pretty excited about it. I like it a lot.... a rich deep, purpley maroony red. If I stood out before.... now I have a big arrow flashing on my head... haha! ;)

Raychel told me a lot of stories about Bollywood stars I can't put on the blog... pretty gross stuff. It's kinda like all those rap stars lives and videos - times 10.... it can be an ugly world. Not unexpected... and not unlike aspects of Hollywood at all either. She is the stylist to Sunil Shetty... who is thankfully a sweetheart she said... and she goes on set and on location with him. Everything she sees and hears from her stylist friends... and shared with me - just very sad and unnecessary. Oh well.... it's a dog eat dog world .. and there's not enough dog to go around....

floyd and floating pigs over mumbai

2007-02-24T20:29:00.000+05:30

Returning from a morning on the set after a couple of nights of not sleeping... I was so wiped out and I just slept a lot of the weekend. The Sunday night was another great night... a Roger Waters concert - the closest you can get to a Pink Floyd concert nowadays - something you only get to do once in a lifetime I think... especially since I missed out because of geographic location earlier in life. The amazing thing is that if it was LA I would have had to have bought tickets months in advance and they would have been major coinage... but I got these on Friday for me and 3 friends.... and they were for the best 'seats' (it's all standing room only) at 3000 rupees each (roughly $69 which seemed pretty amazing for what Roger Waters).

So.... my Indian brother Pavan came to pick me up... and he brought along Mandeep, my trusty friend, confidante and coordinator from work, who had been at his house for lunch and was travelling with us part of the way. We piled into an auto... quite a pinch all three of us, as those boys take up a bit of room. :) It was fun... we were in high spirits and there were lots of laughs. It was warm but a really nice day - the streets were alive as always and we saw the cats roaming around the fish market waiting for tasty morsels to fall.

Mandeep jumped out at an intersection, and we continued through neighbourhoods I haven't seen before, including the one where the leader of the Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray lives. He was a cartoonist once... but is decidedly un-funny now. He started the ultra-conservative Shiv Sena political party in 1966 based on the beliefs that Maharashtrians deserve more rights in Maharashtra than those who are not from Maharashtra. There has been a lot of violence because of it.... and lots of the principles of hinduism seem to have been thrown by the wayside..... but then fundamentalist groups always do that, don't they. He sure lives on a pretty street ;)

Pavan and I reached the Bandra-Kurla complex... a huge area/street with big corporations on it...opposite the world's biggest slum. India is world of contrasts.... but you get used to it quickly in a strange way. It's a massive street... about 4 lanes on either side, which is something I hadn't seen for a long time, other than the highway. Of course... noone is actually following those lanes when they drive... so it's much more lively :)

We meet Uma, another coordinator, who is very excited to be coming to the concert. We've decided to meet at the ICICI Bank building and then catch an auto to the concert grounds... so we head there (after some confusion as to the direction... but following the mass of people seemed the way to go) and then find ourselves overwhelmed by the number of people! we thought since they hadn't sold anywhere near the full compliment of tickets at the top end, that the line would be short to get into the 3000 rupee area..... but we were way to hell and gone when we finally got to the end of the line!! I was trying to meet my friend Anil and his wife and friends... but there was little chance of that!

Finally... close to the time the concert was due to start, the 4th member of our group, Prem arrived. He had ridden his bike and had his bag with him... something the ticket said was forbidden... so I figured I'd play the 'girl' and 'firang' card and carry it myself. We were herded through the seperate sex screening - a regular thing here. The ploy seemed to work... there was some questioning but they let me in and I handed the bag back to Prem - no worries!

We only just got in and walked over to the stage as the concert began. We were so close... 20 feet if not closer! Incredible. Of course... being standing room.... and me being a midget... it wasn't the best view I could have had. But then... Indians are shorter than, say, Americans... so I was better off than I might have been. We looked up and a few people in front of us was a Bollywood star - Arjun Rampal. Hehe.... he didn't stay that close for too long but it was fun to see him up close and personal-like.

The concert itself is hard to describe. Roger Waters was amazing.. he sounded just like the albums. His band was phenominal. And he played hit after Pink Floyd hit. It was very moving. The whole stadium was singing each song... and I found myself choked up many times just overwhelmed at hearing the songs live and not really believing that I was doing so. The only thing that was a little disappointing was the light show... or lack of it. There was some nice pyrotechnics.... but not the giant computerized moving lights you think of with Floyd. But still.... it was wild. At one point a HUGE inflated pink pig balloon floated over the crowd. It had things written all over it.... very political statements... even some in hindi. [NOTE: follow that link and you will find a reference to the pig on Feb 18th 2007 in Mumbai ] A lot of general things, and some relevant to India about getting rid of the caste system and saying all religions are one. But right across the arse... 'Impeach Bush Now' :) sweet! The coolest thing... and none of us knew if it was scripted or not... it got loose from its ropes and just flew away.... into to the night air over Mumbai.... quite a sight to see.

The encore was unreal..... the whole stadium thundering and screaming 'we don't need no education'... and I couldn't help but remember the last day of primary school when we played that on a cassette and totally upset our teacher..... haha.... it was a great moment... and it must be an anthem for a generation I think. Then my favourite song of all... 'Uncomfortably Numb' .... big lump in the throat. I had my cell phone held up to record on its crappy video camera.... and so did everyone else. In the old days at a concert.... you would see everyone holding up cigarette lighters. Now it's the slightly blue glow of the cell phone screen. Modern technology.... it looks cool though.

I was a sweaty, numb-footed mess when the concert finished. We stood outside for a while hoping to meet friends but getting cell service was impossible and the sea of people made meeting pretty hopeless..so we headed on to find autos for Uma and Pavan, and I would catch a ride on Prem's bike. The weird thing was the way all the autos were acting.... they just did not want to give *anyone* a ride! It was quite odd.. still don't really know what the story was. Perhaps the masse of young people was a bit scary and they didn't want to risk it..... but they weren't stopping for anyone. We decided that Prem would give Uma a ride to her train and Pavan and I would start walking to a meeting spot.

It was a really fun walk.... VERY LONG but totally enjoyable with many people and a warm infectious evening. At one point, a long way from the stadium, we went past where a muslim wedding was ending.... and many women in long black burkhas were walking in front of me. The first one really caught my eye. She was so slim and so obviously had such a gorgeous figure underneath the black garment. I got a glimpse of her beautiful eyes. She walked with such a sexy attitude and was just so eye-catching and marvelous. Then coming up behind her, were three more women.. and their black burkhas were all covered in little black sparkling twinkling sequins and decorations...all stitched into the fabric. It was great to see how they were expressing themselves and all the lovely little touches coming through when at first you can't tell anything about them. It made me really smile.

We walked and walked.... all the way to the end of the Bandra-Kurla Complex Road... over bridges and past water.... to the edge of Bandra. Finally met Prem waiting on the bike, and Pavan was going to get an auto while we headed off on the bike. It was a great night!

stars in my eyes

2007-02-17T19:40:00.000+05:30

Ha.... my life :) Pinch me... or rather ... don't :)

I was talking to my Mum on the phone at 8:30am... still lying in bed, when my phone buzzed with an sms message. It was an sms from Vivek with details on how to get to the shoot at Film City. He said he was only shooting until lunch so to come early. He gave me the number of his assistant in case I had any trouble.

I didn't even have to contact him... I was floored! Needless to say I was out of bed and ready pretty damn quick.... went down to the street and crossed to the line of cabs. Before I knew it I had all the cabbies around me trying to determine 'which' Filmcity I wanted to go to. Um.... I'm pretty sure there is only one! So... since my Hindi consists of a few words that don't help in cases like this..... I called Vivek's assistant and got him to talk to them. I was on my way! The cab driver said 200 rupees for the fare and I just agreed.. which was a bit silly, should have been a metered fare, but oh well, who cares ;) The drive took me near work and to Goregaon East ... it was a beautiful drive, through some neighbourhoods I had been to, and some new ones. Such activity and life everywhere. I just can't ever get enough of it... drinking it up every day. Even last night, I got a bike ride home from a friend, and just round the corner from my house... an elephant! Just walking on the street... I am so lucky :)

So... the signs appeared for Filmcity and the landscape changed to more rural... we approached the gate and the guard said 'no' to my 'I'm a guest of Vivek Oberoi' ... so I called his trusty assistant again and the golden road was paved. It wasn't far to the shoot. There were lots of people milling about... like a set anywhere. I was led through and suddenly... could see Vivek sitting on the hood of a jeep being interviewed. I stood nearby and watched a little and looked around at the surroundings. One woman questioned my presence but immediately it was fine when I said who I was with. Many faces were staring at me... but that was fine, I understood I wasn't really part of the scene and was a firang to boot.

There was a brief pause in the interview and Vivek got his assistant to usher me into his trailer. I was offered chai or water or anything I needed... but I felt way too high on adrenaline to need anything. I sat for a while.... then looked at my Roger Waters tickets (concert tomorrow) and gave my friend Anil a call to talk about the plans for meeting up. We were talking as Vivek entered the trailer. Man...did I hang up quick! He blew in with a whirlwind of noise and presence.... all in black in his character's costume ( you can see it in the movie posters - he wore the shirt that is in the close up picture and everything else including all the wristband stuff and necklace you see in the walking shot - quite overwhelming). He apologized for the wait as he was being interviewed by the BBC. He sat in a leather chair and started to tell me the story of the movie. "Shootout at Lohkandwala"... which happens to be where I live, in fact. It's based on events that happened in 1991 when over 280 policemen surrounded a building near mine and spent over 6 hours in a shootout.

Vivek is playing the upcoming mafia gangster Maya Dolas from the underworld of Mumbai who was disobeying his boss, the big don of the underworld. Maya gets killed in the shootout. It sounds like a great dramatic movie.... I can't wait! He was really into it... very serious about the story as he described it. It was interesting just to watch an actor talking about his role and the movie - almost obsessive - all encompassing. Just the way you would hope an actor would take the seriousness of the role to be.

About this time I started to realise how freaking odd it all was that I was sitting there having this conversation with Vivek Oberoi... haha.... I felt very comfortable, and it was just so surreal! There was a knock at the trailer and in comes a gorgeous Bollywood star... Dia Mirza.. who was Miss Asia Pacific 2000. I had seen her in Dum with Vivek and he introduced her to me very sweetly and was so gracious. She was very nice to me too and she had just returned from Barcelona so we talked about Gaudi and her impressions. She is playing the only reporter who was actually on the scene during the shootout... and Vivek told her about a compliment she was paid by another actor who wished that he was killed by her instead. He wanted to fall off the top of the building as he was firing when looking down at her.... and the way he acted it out to us was quite funny. I had to pinch myself... here was Vivek acting out in the trailer to me and a Bollywood actress... what tha'?!

She left and we chatted some more and then headed over to the set. It was time for some filming! He introduced me to the director Apoorva Lakhia, who had very cool tattoos, and I sat next to him at the video assist, and watched as dozens of people organised the shot. It was within the Lokhandwala complex... with burning cars, cops shooting and *General Meyhem*. Very cool! Dia came and sat behind me and started to go through her dialogue sheet with someone.... it was fascinating to listen to and watch. One thing I have always loved about the Bollywood movies I watch is the type of language they use... a blend of Hindi and English - and I turned around and watched as she made pencil edits on her script and saw how it was written in the beautiful Hindi script with all these English words dotted amongst it. She had some lines missing and was synching it up with her coach... and I loved to watch her write the hindi next to the english... her handwriting, as all Indians seem to have, was immaculate. Puts me to shame.

The director was hopping up and down from his chair taking care of final details. He finally sat and alternated between a microphone and a walkie talkie, the call for fire was given... and the cars were lit and began to burn pretty hard, 'roll cameras' ... and finally 'ACTION'.... all hell breaks loose! Guns firing everywhere... but it's mostly around the corner from where we are sitting and we see it all in the video assist... it is a great shot... panning camera past crouching policemen firing like crazy. It must have been such a war zone back in 1991, I can't imagine.

At the end, things return and we wait as everything is readied for a repeat with a different camera move. We roll again and the director is in love with this take. Got it! After a little while, Vivek returns laughing with the crew, finds me and asks if I would like to see the set. Of course! He leads me though and we walk into one of the buildings. It is so authentic.. I truly feel I am in a street.... it's not like a set in Hollywood where if you look a little closely it feels fake... this just looked real. It was Lokhandwala! I was impressed. We got inside and he showed the wooden structure that holds the facades together and what they climb up to get to the upper levels of each building. I just couldn't get over how authentic the place was. The look was great. He said it was all constructed in 15 days... and it looked like it had been there for years.

Back to the trailer and we continued to talk. He asked exactly what I do and it was so nice that he really seemed to be interested. We discussed the company and our facility in LA and now Mumbai, and all about my coming here and how I love it. It was such a comfortable time... lots of talking of India... and what makes this wonderful country what it is. We talked of his life and living in New York and London.. then his schooling in different places including the exclusive Mayo College near Pushkar in Rajasthan. He was telling me of the beautiful inspiring buildings... the house he lived in was built by the Maharajar of Jaipur for his son. 30 foot ceilings... incredible details everywhere.. he loved it.

At this point 3 women arrived... they were representatives of the Cancer Patients Aid Association, a group Vivek has been a spokesperson for for 5 years. He is so passionate about the topic... and has facts and figures about the affects of smoking pouring out of him. It was a really great discussion... and could lead to some collaborations with Rhythm and Hues if the planets continue to align themselves in the way they have been for me! ;)

We chatted of many things - much talk of Mumbai and how you get sucked into its spell. Riding on bikes and how wonderful that is, the bond between young guys here... and how that is different in the US. He told us how when he lived in New York studying, he worked in modeling and did quite well for himself, then managed to save 70% (because he's Indian) ... haha .... He was able to look like all sorts of ethnic groups... hispanic, native american, indian, south american... it sounded pretty cool. He loved New York. But India was always calling and he couldn't stay away from this magical place. And it was struggling from nothing to prove his talent and make a name for himself.

The Cancer reps had to leave for another meeting, and we continued to talk. He wanted to know where I was from... so I shortened the story and made it New Zealand mostly. He LOVES New Zealand... says it's his favourite country. One day he wants to travel from top to bottom and east to west. He shot Naksha there in Rotorua and was telling me how he stopped at a homestyle cafe one day in his costume and realised that he had no money to pay but the lady was fine about it. He went back later with flowers and to pay them... he was impressed and said he's never experienced that anywhere else but India. This led us back to talk more about India and how amazing it is. As he said about Mumbai... once you are caught in it, you can't leave.... and he said there is a saying that anything you create here, like a business or any such success, you can't transplant that anywhere else... you can only keep it here.

We talked about Australia a lot too ... the differences between NZ and Oz.... he was fascinated to hear of the rascism as he had never experienced it. I pointed out... 'hey, you are a movie star... it's going to be a little different for you there' and he was very interested to talk about it all. Then onto Los Angeles and what that was like. I described my LA and how it's probably very different from the one he experiences, less fake and more down to earth. But then here the people are just so true when they talk.... and instantly onto another level, they say what they mean, no falseness and no pretense. just people. The whole morning was such a good conversation :)

But finally.. he did have to get back to the set. But he said he'll be filming again and I should definitely come out. He'll sms me. He took me out and then got his assistant to help me to an auto. Before I knew it I was in the auto and on the ride home. Surreal and lovely and comfortable. I really don't know what to think or feel.... I know that if I had met a star in Hollywood and had that experience it would not have been the long and meaningful conversation where you actually talk of things you love and what matters in life. It was another uniquely Indian experience.... and leaves me breathless.

no chutti ;)

2007-02-15T23:05:00.000+05:30

SMS - 15th Feb 20:16 Hi Vivek, we met at the Marriott last night and you said to sms you about coming to your shoot. The 16th was it? Just say the word and I will take a chhutti and come! -jude

SMS - 15th Feb 21:15 Chutti! That is so sweet! Well im not shooting tomorrow, 17th is when im shooting at filmcity. Pls sms me 17th morning n i'll organise it. See you then. Lv ~VO

!!

[chutti or chhutti or chhootti or chhooti (as 4 people at work spelled it differently for me today)... is a day off]

this is for lil kim

2007-02-15T07:03:00.000+05:30

So... I got a request from Kim in LA... 'more Bollywood' .... so I thought I better oblige ;)

Yesterday was pukey Valentine's Day... a sad day for me... but Vani got me and Jenny out and did some wonderful things. We went to her temple and had a very moving blessing from her priest, and we moved about the beautiful building placing the most saturated orange marigolds and other flowers and leaves on the feet of Shiva and Ganesha and Nandi and Krishna and I found tears streaming. It was very wonderful.... very moving... and I now have a golden orange and red string wrapped around my wrist that will stay there until it bleaches white and falls off.

Eh?.... what's that?..... where's the Bollywood?... :) oh... you were listening! ok... so we head to the Marriott for dinner... sit amongst the pink teddy bears and copious red roses... delight in the buffett of champions, then spend a little while at the Bombay Baking Company's bookstore and then begin to head towards the door to leave.... but.... *suddenly*.... I feel Vani grab my sleeve and DRAG me in the other direction while saying 'Jude... Vivek Oberoi'.

Now.... you gotta understand. I am a Bollywood movie nut... from quite a while back now. And in LA... my favourite star became the aforementioned Vivek Oberoi. He acted his pants off in 'Company' (no... not literally 'off'.... you know what I mean people!!) and that was his debut which caused a stir here in India.... and he's had an up and down career since then. People look at me very strangely when I say he's my favourite... and I follow up with 'also Ajay Devgan and Abhishek Bachchan'... which calms them down somewhat... but Vivek is the one I wait to see. In dramas.... that's his best.
My first instinct was... 'ugh.... no .. I look a fright... I don't want him to see me like this... and it'll be like a little fan-girl!' But Vani was like an adrenaline-junkie and could have dragged a double decker bus over there at that point... so suddenly we were right up to his entourage and I heard her say "excuse me, my friend would just like to meet you' and I was thrust forward.

Ba-dumm... ba-dumm... heart in throat... ok... just don't be dorky... try and be charming.. don't fall over...

And then we are chatting and he is lovely and we are having our photos taken and he's all interesting! I ask him what he's been filming.... he says something called 'Shootout in Lokhandwala'.... and I knew of it, it's based where I live... which we chatted about. Then I asked if he had been filming in Dubai.. he was surprised I knew (I read the web!) and then he rocked my world and said, 'well, we're filming in a couple of days. Why don't you come? Take my number and sms me?'

Um..... knock me over with a feather people....

hehe... I have Vivek Oberoi's number in my cell....

Of course... who knows if he will actually reply to the sms... but I sure as hell hope I get to go to the shoot. What a blast that would be. I will have my ears and ears open that day! Can't imagine it :) I will keep you posted for sure!!

that enough Bollywood for ya Kim? ;)

bad timing

2007-02-13T20:45:00.000+05:30

why didn't I come to India 10 years ago.... when I wasn't too old?

a little masala

2007-02-11T20:18:00.000+05:30

Whahoo..... it's been a big weekend. Lots of activity and lots of photos taken.... at last!

Busy busy week starting work on Golden Compass, and then the company meeting on Friday night. Jenny sang and was really charming and funny and won the crowd over in seconds. Audie did his crazy white boy dance and had us screaming for more... his last day... he has left India now! sad :( Lots of people sang and danced and a great time was had by all, followed by the big elaborate wedding-style cakes and food and music. Friday night I was out drinking at a bar in Bandra - just a good regular bar with a jukebox, good music and lots of people. Keeping an eye on the cricket on the big screen - South Africa vs. Pakistan. I'm getting used to the smoking inside... my eyes don't water or get bothered by it at all anymore. It was a late night.... only about 3 1/2 hours of sleep before Jenny and I had to rise and prepare for an 'adventure'!

Our excellent guest coordinator Ruchi had organised an Autorider car for us... it picked up Serkan and Burcin just after 6am and headed over to get us. We then had to drive east to the highway - which is the one big highway running north-south down the peninsula. It feels odd to be on it... like being transported back to LA for a moment. We stopped to pick up Prabhav, one of the coordinators who is moving from matchmove to join us in lighting (yay), and then headed south to Sachin's house. The plan was to try and catch the Saturday morning training of the race horses at the Mahalakshmi Race Course right next to where Sachin lives... but we had to get there early. We thought we may miss them... but our timing was perfect. The morning was just magical (that word again)... with dew on the grass and mist in the air. There were lots of people out walking and jogging amongst the footpaths through the horses training areas. It is quite a beautiful and peaceful place. Voices are lowered to not startle the horses...and the atmosphere is very calm. There is something about the smell of horses and the sounds of their footfalls that always takes me back to being a 10 year old horse mad little girl just so desperate to have anything to do with those giant majestic animals. It wasn't to be.... but I can still feel the magic when I'm near them. Perhaps in another life. Not racing though....

We walked through the warm up area through to the track and across to the lovely landscaped gardens in the middle. People were stretching, doing yoga and jogging everywhere. What an amazing thing to be allowed to come in the race course for free and do this! I took lots of photos and drank in the atmosphere. The sky was so dramatic as the sun rose... and when it peaked through the clouds and over the building we suddenly felt its heat touch us and knew the day was going to get hot.

We went back to Sachin's apartment... our mouth's were shaped for breakfast! We were treated to the phenomenal hospitality that guests receive when visiting an Indian house.... and before we knew it Sachin's mother had plates of delicious sweet and savory tasties appearing before us. The cooked breakfast dish itself was soooo tasty.. I need to check with Burcin for the name and description... but it was so tasty and I had a second helping. Just really appetizing food for the morning. We ended with hot drinks... I had a great traditional Indian tea... aaah..... to die for :)

Sachin uncovered his electric keyboard and Jenny played... very well! Some Scott Joplin and then Chopin.... and then Sachin played. He had us in stiches when he turned it on to auto play but mimed along with great drama.... the fact he is a dead-ringer for Jude Law made it even funnier. He then pulled his guitar out and played a bunch of wonderful songs.. some Hindi and many western. We had a great sing-along to Hotel California, more Eagles and Eric Clapton. His sister also entertained us with some beautiful singing.... what a family!! We felt so lucky to be welcomed into the house and so looked after... it was really lovely to just be in someone's home and feel that 'family' feeling.... it's been a long time.

It was time to move on to the next part of the day.... Sachin drove with us the short distance to Dhobi Ghat... which is the giant outdoor laundry area where clothes from all over the city are brought and washed in open concrete wash pans. The clothes are thrashed to within an inch of their lives.... phew. It's dramatic! The guys are standing deep in the water and get very wet... they must be the cleanest people in the city for sure! It's a sight worth seeing.... such hard hard work.

We said goodbye to Sachin and drove downtown to the Prince of Wales Museum. It's a gorgeous old building and although some of the galleries are very hot inside it's full of great stuff to see. We only saw a fraction of the exhibits... the most fascinating being the history of Bombay. Amazing to see how the 7 islands were joined with landfill to make the peninsula... hard to imagine! Some beautiful old Indian coins too. I want to go back and see more... the silk paintings were wonderful.

After the museum Uma, another coordinator from work came and met us. We were tired and hungry at this point, so headed to Khyber for lunch..... the same place that Arun and I had eaten what seems like soooo long ago. We had a table upstairs again. Such a cool restaurant design. The food was delicious... I got these tasty little sweet potato slices with different sweet chutneys on - mango, pineapple and tomato... soooo good! Kheema and cheese naans to round it out.... yeehaa!

OK.... I need to go have a shower.... I have a pinched nerve down one side of my back and through my arm, and it's driving me nuts! Very painful and hard to move. I've uploaded a bunch of photos to the flickr site... and I'll continue this blog and the photos tomorrow night after work. Dial up is slow ;) News is I might be on a new DSL ISP soon.... but not holding my breath... :)

saturday snippets

2007-02-03T12:03:00.000+05:30

The office boy has just come by and spooned the most delicious little cubes of fresh coconut sprinkled with large-grain sugar into my outstretched palm. This sort of thing happens most days at work... someone will come by with a chocolate, an Indian sweet or this sort of fruit treat... delicious, comforting and luxurious all in one go. :) I am so lucky!

As I rode the auto in this morning.. I watched two small girls at the intersection selling little hanging decorations to the auto drivers and motocyclists, which they hook onto their vehicles. These attractive little danglies are a cluster of thin green chillies stacked one on top of another, with a small lime at the bottom. I have to ask the significance of it... I imagine it is some nice thing bringing luck and good fortune. Haha... perhaps it wishes for a break in the traffic! But it is very pretty and cheerful, and I like it. At night, in silhouette they can almost look like big creepy spiders as the chillies stick out at all angles!

[NOTE] I found out they are to ward off the evil eye.... I think I should get one and hang it off my computer at work ...might have better luck with rendering ;)

I came in to work today to meet my friends and visit my office mate who had had a really unfortunate accident. He was walking back to work by the InOrbit mall the night before last, jumped on a bit of the road he hadn't normally walked on and fell in a 5-foot deep hole :( He broke his ankle in the most terrible way and luckily there was someone with him to pull him out and get help. It sounds just awful though. He was taken by auto to hospital (there's a picture in itself folks, imagine what that was like!) and had to endure some painful stuff to get his foot back in place. I have a photo of his foot .. it is mighty freaky! I'll post it when I get it from Imran. Satish my man... I am in awe of you! We are all waiting for you to return :)

getting hotter

2007-01-31T19:31:00.000+05:30

Summer is coming.... we can feel the humidity and the heat rising quickly. I have to say I feel a bit intimidated by it... more by how everyone has these knowing looks to each other as they tell us it's going to get hot, than anything else! I know it's going to kick my arse around the block.

Lots of small things been happening. Well... big and small... and I have missed writing about them. Still on dial up - and that seems to drain me of the energy to write for some reason.

We had a great dinner for the animation and bgPrep apprentices one night at PopTates... and I was lucky enough to be invited. It was also a send-off for Shish as he was finishing his time at the India office and heading back to LA. Everyone loved his presence and he was given gifts and a loving celebration. I'll post the photos on Flickr. For those interested I have posted a few more pics there...all people ones. I haven't been getting out with my camera much yet. It seems this trip has been all about people and my becoming a part of this India through the friendships I make... rather than in the past when I have done the tourist thing of taking photos and writing in my journal. I know I will take more pictures.... but I'm not in a rush yet. I can feel this time extending and the urgency is not there right now.

I saw Blood Diamond one weekend.... it felt odd to be seeing a movie where I could actually understand the dialogue! Man... what a serious and important film. Just see it... and then ladies?...reconsider when you ask your struggling boyfriend for a bloody huge diamond that is only expensive because someone decided it should be, not because it's rare. Is anything you strut around on your finger worth what those people are paying?... 'prolly not eh! :)

To lighten the mood a whole lot.... I had a fun experience getting my hair coloured! I needed a touch up... the ole' roots were showing in a big way and I needed some red back in my life! Vani had introduced me to a happening place in Bandra where lots of 'fancy people' go... so I headed down there to an appointment with 'Raychel' (it's universal folks... hair stylists worldwide always have trendy ways to spell their names!) at 11am on Saturday morning. I had allowed way too much time for the traffic, of which there was none. The drive through the suburban areas of Bandra through Parli Hill and along Carter Road by the water was just beautiful. Old large stately homes ... people out walking and a slower pace of life (a richer one of course). It was quite lovely with the giant trees bending out over the road and the cool air... I felt like I was in another time. I had half an hour to kill so I wandered along the streets and watched the people. It was lovely. I felt so relaxed by the time I walked into Hakim's Salon... the atmosphere with the fountain and the "om" recitation music playing just kept it all going. The big flat screen with Bollywood movie songs going was a fun contrast... you can't forget where you are! ;)

Colouring my hair red was quite a challenge... now, the way I describe my natural hair colour is 'desaturated rat brown'.... but you should have heard these gorgeous stunning Indian women... ' oh my god... you're so lucky, this is a real tobacco, it's amazing, look at it' and they were peering in at the roots and calling others over to see. Hehe - "one man's trash .." ... as my cousin Peter would say 'well there you are then'. But, it *was* difficult to change that 'tobacco' and get it to blend in to the rest of the red. They are used to dealing with rich jet black silky hair... not this woosey pale western stuff! So it took two tries but they nailed it!

During the second washing and rinsing phase, as I lay with my head backwards in the sink, enjoying the head massage and watching the Bollywood movies muted on the widescreen TV in front of me while I hummed along to the Bollywood soundtracks playing on the sound system, Little Miss Rich Mumbai comes along ... "Raychel... pleeeze...." I hear a whiney voice ... oh so familiar. Suddenly I could have been in Beverly Hills... it was a young spoilt brat of a girl, having what seemed to be a true crisis of a bad hair day... with somewhere special to be tomorrow and only our wonderful Raychel could save the day. She had a sense of entitlement that is reserved for the rich and annoying and she just hounded away in this pathetic baby voice that I wished I could have recorded for this blog ;) "Raychel, pleeze yaar, my godh, what will I do, you *have* to fix this.. you have to fit me in. I can't go out like this. Pleeeeeze yaar...... come on Raychel" I had to force down the gag reflex. ;)

anniversaries

2007-01-22T16:05:00.000+05:30

As the second week of the next two apprenticeships (animation and bgPrep) chugged along, the lighting apprentices were really getting stuck into their mock production. They certainly got a taste of real production, with everything crawling to a halt when they went to render their shot on every frame and found it ground the queue to a standstill. They got their second shot to work on so it's been a careful process of balancing work between the two... and they have shown great character and good naturedness just going with the flow, but I'm sure it's been frustrating.

Something that is a nice touch at this office is acknowledging the passage of time a TD has been with the company. Colourful kindergarten style emails with lots of smileys are sent out by HR sending congratulations on the yearly anniversaries of the td's time at the company....and lately a whole bunch have been reaching their dates. Within the last month a whole slew of them reached both their 2 and 3 year celebrations.... and congrat's have been flying around the office. It feels special and happy and seems a nice way to make people feel good about both their own achievement and the fact that it means something to work for the company. It made me realise I wouldn't even know my exact anniversary date!

So, several weeks back a bunch of us had gone bowling and had a night out for Kunal's 3 year achievement, and on Wednesday it was Imran's 2 year anniversary. Imran has been my right-hand man for the mock-production...and saw Arun and I through the classroom training too. He's been great, so of course we had to go out and celebrate! A lot of people are working long hours on other projects.... so the group was just Imran, Kunal, Gagan and I. We headed out to the place we had gone before for bowling, but this time (to my relief... man did I suck at bowling!) we played pool. I haven't played since I lived in Toronto (ugh... how can that be so long ago... the 90's!) but it really is fun. Once again the spirit was purely one of fun... no competition at all. I was paired up with Imran against the other two and we all had a blast. We played about 3 games in the hour we had paid for (350 rupees I think) and there were a lot of tricky and fun shots. I really got a kick out of my behind the back into the corner pocket shot... what a fluke!

After that... back onto the bikes (wheeeee!) and on to Pop Tates - the one near my house - and I got to try one of their famous sizzlers! This is a hot plate filled with a huge amount of food. I got the chicken tikka.... but they come in a huge range... from fajitas to veg platters and lamb dishes. There are lots of vegetables and rice sizzling away on the side and it is definitely more than one person can really eat.... an American size meal! By the end of the night I had eaten waaay too much and felt that uncomfortable feeling ;) But we had had a blast as usual. Can't wait for the next one.

roadside attractions

2007-01-21T00:07:00.000+05:30

One morning as we were coming in to work Shish suddenly yelled with excitment and called to the auto driver to stop early by R&H so we could go back and see an amazing motorbike. Luckily we both had our cameras that day ... and what a sight it was. Check this out..... a beauty!

It's got the Indian swastika... but they have turned it round the wrong way and it's now the nazi symbol... oops! You see swastikas everywhere here.... they are meaningful as a lucky symbol promoting well being. Ganesha often has one on his hand :)

We had brought our cameras to work for a special reason though. Right before the auto turns down the street to Rhythm and Hues... right by Hypercity - the supermarket to beat all supermarkets - there is some scrubland with rubbish in it. Invariably we see one or two guys taking a leak there.... and Shish had laughed and laughed when he caught a glimpse of a sign basically saying... 'no peeing here' right where they were. OK... I said.... we need a photo of you showing what you *really* did in your time in India... so here you go folks.... it's all Shish... all the time!

Shish tells me that the direct translation of the sign is "Here urine to do is prohibited"

hallway girls

2007-01-20T21:19:00.000+05:30

I get regular visits at the apartment from mysterious and beautiful women. The lights in the hall outside the door are often off (presumably dead for some reason)... so when I look through the peephole after the doorbell goes off, I see just small shapes of tiny female forms but I know what is coming. Often I'm not ready and have to run and get my robe on, running to the door to find these petite, brightly sareed girls with dark skin, shining fierce eyes and stern expressions all looking at me waiting to see what my reaction will be. I feel like a giant among them... all five-foot-two of me.

The first one who came puzzled me a lot but finally got the point across with lots of mimes and actions that she wanted to do my laundry or some cleaning. Sadly we have the super wonderful and efficient office boys from R&H come by for apartment cleaning, and I had taken my laundry across the road that day. A few nights later a whole contingent showed up for the same thing.... but they weren't in luck from me. This morning.... the girl was hoping for cleaning and this time offered cooking too. If she could have seen the Mother Hubbard bare cupboards in my kitchen she would not have bothered. It was very sweet though.

Part of me wishes I could try them out.... I would need some solid Hindi though. And I have heard so many stories of people being ripped off by their maids...and there are a lot of valuables here that I couldn't take a chance with. But it is such a lovely thing and they are so sweet and proud and ... the only word that seems to fit again is fierce .. in the most wonderful way. I admire them.

moroccan rooftops and airport goodbyes

2007-01-20T15:00:00.000+05:30

The night after Guru, I met up with a friend I haven't seen in a while and headed to Bandra. For those of you not from these parts Bandra is where everything exciting seems to happen. It is the place where the restaurants, clubs and excitement of Mumbai all come together along with fabulous shopping, and streets that are alive with people and traffic, and wealth and the star's fancy houses to blow your mind. It's party central.... basically! About 45 minutes from my apartment on a busy night .... but less when things aren't crazy.... it's where we go for good food and fun. I'm happy to say I am really starting to get used to the late eating hours (10pm or so.... still need an early snack... but it's getting easier).

Anyhoo... we headed to a place I hadn't been too.... a very cool Moroccan style restaurant that was on top of the Shoppers Stop building in Bandra. Shoppers Stop is a fancy department store along the lines of Macys ... and this one is 6 storeys high. The lift was one of those bubble window ones you can look out onto the street chaos... much more fun with lots to see in India! I had no idea the restaurant (called Sheesha which means glass in Hindi) was going to be as gorgeous and exotic as it was. It was the whole rooftop... outdoors with dark and low tables/couches.... hookahs, and dim lighting to make it feel very exclusive and wonderful. We were led to a skinny metal spiral staircase up to a 2nd level of roof that had an even more spectacular view over the city... and were given such a show over dinner. Fireworks! Now I will see or hear them from my bedroom almost every night... but to have them like this from a rooftop restaurant felt like a personal display. I saw trains running by in the darkness and the little autos speeding around and all the activity far below felt like such a magical thing to watch. Definitely have to go back there! The food was not quite authentic Moroccan... more Indian kebab style.... but very tasty and enjoyable for sure.

Afterwards we headed down one floor to the nighclub - Seven. It was nearly empty at that point - still only about 10pm. But it had a great view with one wall of smoky glass looking across the cityscape. Ah.... does it get better than this? We had a tall table and drinks.... and waited for the place to fill up and get crazy. Amazingly we could leave our stuff on the table safely while we danced to the great eclectic mix of modern and bollywood music. I can't imagine ever feeling safe about leaving my bag alone at a club in LA... perhaps there are places but it seems unlikely. Here it is just fine.

The Sunday was a lazy day at home.. a very nice one. At 5pm I headed out to the airport to meet Arun as he flew back to LA. He was inbetween his flight from Coimbatore and the US.... so I met him at the International Terminal and we found a way for him to store his bags at the Left Luggage (quite a hike) and then we got an auto to the JW Marriott for one last fancy bash to send him off. It was so good to see him. My partner in crime :) We had a lot of catching up to do. Talked and talked and laughed. We got an Indian meal at the Marriott's Indian restaurant... very fancy. I had a mango lassi unlike any I've had before... made freshly and pretty freaking good! The meal was great... Arun had his favourite biryani and we got jumbo prawns that were the size of small lobsters! hehehe. Decadent.... we are so spoilt in this life. Dhanya-waadh (and I keep copying the hinglish spelling from websites that tell me things incorrectly... so to any of my Indian buddies... correct me if this is wrong... it looks wrong to me!)

Saying goodbye *again* to the guy was just as painful.... this time I knew he wasn't even going to be in the same continent dammit (does that mean he's now 'incontinent'?? hahaha) so.... I gulped back the lump in my throat and wandered away into the warm night air. It was after 10pm and I thought I could flag down an auto that had dropped someone off but no luck. It's a long and roundabout way to the lineup of autos near the Left Luggage and they certainly were different to me without Arun around. I realise now my mistake was, after telling the large group of them where I wanted to go and following one... that I climbed into the auto without knowing I had to negotiate a fare first. Suddenly the auto is surrounded by men all finding this pretty funny and saying 120 rupees for a journey that I paid 55 for earlier in busier traffic. Hmm.... I was a little blank at this point on how to proceed. I was very relaxed and joking around, but repeatedly demanding he turn the meter on which he wouldn't do - something about being in the line at the airport and a charge they pay.... Something clicked and I realised I better have my wits about me.... so I got serious and a little aggressive and also thought 'screw it, the money is very little for me and who cares if I get ripped off by a $1... it's better to just get going and leave the situation'..... so I got him to 100 rupees and we left. Just afterwards he turned the meter on in case a cop saw, as it's illegal for them to set a fee up front and not use the meter ... hmmph.... and sure enough.... the fare would have only been about 50 rupees. I wonder what kind of extra fee they pay for starting from the airport? Damn, I gotta learn more Hindi! ;)

gurus and peking toms

2007-01-20T13:33:00.000+05:30

The previous week and more has brought about more change for R&H India. We have had a new arrival from Los Angeles and just this morning a departure. Going back to over a week ago, however, we got Audie, who is here to help with the Animation apprenticeship that my new roommate Shish had been running. Audie had never been to India but he has jumped in with both feet and a cast iron stomach :) His initial arrival must have felt pretty weird though... it was a Thursday night, and the very next evening a big group of us headed to a nearby theatre for the opening night of Guru. The event was organised by my Indian brother Pavan... who I must explain seems to be the social lifeblood of the office - I hate to think how many numbers are stored in his cell phone ;) Guru is a big new Bollywood movie with the stars of the moment (or of the decade!).. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan. The news of their real-life engagement just days ago has swept the land or rather the world. I actually read it on the BBC news website.. this is B-I-G people ... the most beautiful woman in the world is taken ...and the timing is perfect for selling a movie.

We pack into the theatre to take up our allocated seats (Indian cinemas have set seating which can be good or bad depending on the size of your party and if you wanted to sit next to someone!) I have to say I really enjoyed the movie... even though of course it was in another language (or, as I found out later, several languages... Hindi, Gujurati and to Serkan and Burcin's delight some Turkish for the early part filmed in Istanbul). It's interesting the rhythms and flows you fall into when you watch a movie not understanding the dialogue. You look at the body language, you listen to all the musical cues (which Bollywood does really well) and you find you are reading the 'language' of cinema which speaks clearly in and of itself.

So.... I may have missed a lot of subtle dialogue, but I came out feeling I'd seen something powerful and dramatic... now I just need to see it again to get the smaller details. It was beautifully filmed and the soundtrack by my idol A.R. Rahman was so great I had to buy it right afterwards. I still think about that magical concert of his at the Hollywood Bowl last year.

I could understand that it was a bit much to expect Audie to last through the whole thing.... the combo of jetlag, hunger and the shock of sitting though his first Indian movie (and without subtitles!) all within a few hours of landing was enough to send him on the search for dinner and a bed at the intermission. Oh yes peeps! these movies are long and there is always an intermission... just watch yourself... as there is no warning to get back to your seat before the 2nd half starts! ;)

A bunch of us headed round the corner afterwards to the standard place for LA R&H crowd - Pop Tates (Danny.. JP? memories for you I'm sure!).... but they were full, so we went next door to a chinese place called The Peking Tom (dontcha love these names!) A lot of food and many cocktails later and we were a bouncy happy crowd. It was an interesting night. I had a little too much to drink, but I ended up with a ride home on a motorbike and that is always my favourite favourite thing to do in India... so I couldn't ask for more!

namaste

2007-01-20T13:10:00.000+05:30

Hello... did you think I'd forgotten you? :) I'm still here... and my mother India is wrapping her arms around me tightly and sinking her roots into my skin more and more deeply every day. I may never leave ;) Instead of a giant long diatribe... I'm going to break this into little snippets to cover my mind's ramblings.... nothing is very well constructed anyway... so you're getting it as it pours out of my brain, take it or leave it...hahaha!

Whahooo.. we finally got water back in the apartment! It did take about 10 days or something... might have been more. It's all about perspective though. I mean... how can I really complain as I watch the men constructing the high rise apartment next door... I look out from my luxurious 17th floor 'crib' onto a dirtball that is their 24-hour a day existance. They have makeshift tin shacks on site where they live with their children... who play right on the work site. In the mornings I see the men meticulously bathing at the building that has running water (only cold)... while cooking fires are going beside their shacks. Already... at 7am there is a man in the giant crane moving building materials around... he has climbed all the way up and will stay in there, baking in the heat, all day. They will work on these structures all day, with no safety harness and no fear of the heights that they clamber around on with a marvelous ease that takes my breath away. It is all hand labour with no machines that we are used to seeing for building construction in the west...and the high rises will take many many months to go up. All the while they live in the dirt on site a few feet away. So.... I had no shower or toilet for a few days. BIG DEAL! I am the luckiest person in the world and may I remember this every minute of every day. The feel of pouring a jug of water over your shoulders is pleasant and refreshing and we should all try it. :)

moments of thought

2007-01-09T13:42:00.000+05:30

I wake at 6am with soft sounds of beauty... in the distance I can hear an imam calling the muslim people to prayers. It is low and constant and exotic... and my mind wanders in and out of sleep as I hear these wonderful sounds. This morning I was already awake and not able to sleep, so I called my parents in Canada to tell them about what I was hearing and how special it was. My lovely surprise in return was two haiku poems my Mum had written. The first one was particularly touching... it was one for me.

In one brief moment
life can spin out of orbit
from joy or sorrow

Nothing need more be said, I think. :)

The second... I leave for you to ponder on...

Waves upon the shore
sing sad songs from distant lands -
listen carefully

Thankyou Mum..... xxx

water, water everywhere and not a drop to shower with

2007-01-07T13:22:00.000+05:30

So, a few days ago I received an SMS message on my cell phone from the city commissioner warning of a 20% reduction in water availability that was supposed to last from the 3rd to the 7th of January. I didn’t think much of it… we had had a day not long ago where water was completely turned off for around 48 hours city-wide (it made world-wide news) and we coped just fine. There was one tap in a bathroom we could use to fill up buckets and my bathroom had some water flowing so it wasn’t that enormous a deal. Ok… so… things never quite go as you think here in India ;) 20% is … well, in this case…. let’s say…about 100%… and now it’s been for 3 days … a little trying. We do have the kitchen sink tap working so we can fill up a bucket to pour down the loo for flushing purposes… but taking a shower is not easy from cold buckets of water, and I just feel a bit tired of it all at this point.

The word is today between 12-1pm we might have water. Yeah…. I’ll believe it when I see it. Meanwhile… I’m ready to heat up some water on the stove and add it to the bucket to cut the chill. It’s going to feel nice to have the shower again soon. Small things mean a lot. I still know I live in luxury having these things compared to the building workers families living in tin shacks at the base of my building though. It is all relative.

NOTE: there was no water between 12-1pm..... but the Indian method of a bucket and pail is pretty efficient and pleasant so I made do. Anyway, it'll make that moment of the water coming out of the shower head even more special when it happens.

daze and nights

2007-01-07T13:15:00.000+05:30

[pics to come when I'm not on dial-up]

So much time has passed.... and life has passed and I can't capture it all. Last time I was without the Net I was diligent and had it all written as separate posts ready to put online when I could. But things have been so busy and I am sorry to say it’s one giant rant this time. It's 2007... how did that happen?! Last post was on Christmas day and that already seems eons ago. At that point Arun had some time left here and the apprenticeship was still in its formal training. So.... I better backtrack to that point.

I spent a very mellow Christmas day, which was good after the craziness of the day before. The last few years in LA I have ignored the holidays, but still felt a little low at Christmas, and it was good to be here in such a different place and able to ignore it easily. It was a pretty hot day and the plan was for Serkan, Burcin and I to go for a sushi run! We had recommendations for a fancy place at the Taj Hotel downtown... a restaurant called Wasabi with a chef who had trained with the famous Nobu in Malibu. Good pedigree if nothing else! I had made reservations several days in advance.... so I met them at the Infinity Mall and we hopped in an auto and headed for Bandra to change over to a taxi. The point to note here is that autos can not go further into the city than Bandra, so you have to change to a cab there. Man.... it really was a stinker... reminiscent of summer Aussie Christmas days with no a/c. The traffic was really heavy... I guess we imagined it might be better, but it was *bad* - and when we changed to a cab we were in a heat trap inside that Ambassador. By the time we reached Churchgate we were all very bedraggled little rats feeling not that great.... 2 hours later! Yup.... the quest for sushi is a serious one!

We wandered around the incredible Taj ... with plans of a drink and then sightseeing. But I think our exhaustion with the drive and heat just made us really hungry and we decided to see if we could push our 8pm reservation forward to when they opened at 7pm. We had a drink in the very old fashioned and lovely ‘gentlemans bar’ below Wasabi (oldest bar in Mumbai) and headed up the spiral staircase to the classy and gorgeous Japanese restaurant. Really amazing place with views straight onto the Gateway and harbour…. world class in everyway. We drooled over the menu – chose appetizers of carparccio and miso, followed by chef’s plates of nigiri and rolls. The sake we ordered, recommended by the waiter as very smooth was delicious… smooth like the one I have in my fridge back home :)

OK…. so sushi at Wasabi is not something you could do often here. I have all sorts of conflicting feelings about it. The food was great… but it came out to about $120 a person. Now I really know I am truly one of the lucky few in the world and can do that sometimes…. as I do in LA with friends occasionally. My favourite sushi place that I go to every few weeks is a $70 meal right there. But once you come to India… and see how little you need to spend to get a wonderful meal… and more importantly – *much more importantly*, how little most people around you have – if you are any kind of reasonable human being, you have to feel a certain sense of sickness in your insides at spending that on yourself for a meal and stepping outside with little children coming up and begging for money. I’m not sure where exactly to put it all in my head and heart… but it’s something you have to come to grips with. We all have to figure our way through this world… and how we can make it better from being in it. Conflict is everywhere internally and externally and that will always be my challenge to move peacefully through it and try to not add more conflict to the world. Best I can do I think.

Oops.. enough of my philosophizing there! Anyway…. the week after Christmas, Arun was back from visiting his family in Coimbatore in the south, and we had our last week of classes for the apprentices. It wasn’t very structured… overviews and some pipeline tools. We tried to cover things they might not have understood.

Friday was a special day in several ways. It was officially the last day of formal teaching… also Arun’s last day, and the release day of Night at the Musuem in India . R&H had worked on the movie as the principal VFX house, with the India office doing a great amount of work. The office had bought tickets for everyone to go late in the day so the excitement was high.

We planned to take the apprentices out for lunch to celebrate the end of their training, and as a surprise for Arun. We went in Prashant’s car the few minutes drive from work to a place called Pop Tates… infamous from Danny Speck and others who had been here from LA. They had a long table set up for us. Arun and I made the mistake of offering to buy everyone a cocktail but were quickly told that there is no drinking during office hours, and that that is not just an R&H India policy….but an LA one too. Hehehehe… ok…. now I don’t know if that is in the employee handbook in LA but I can assure you it is SO not adhered to…. hahaha. The barfridges at people’s desks alone make a mockery of it ;) Anyway…. they provided us with a tasty lunch and lots of nibbles. And at the end two big pink cakes were brought out for Arun. Fun for all.

I have to say my favourite moment was the ride back to work though. As we left, I saw Imran getting onto his motorbike and I called out asking if I could ride back with him. What a thrill. Now probably 40% or more of the traffic in Bombay are bikes and they are just so cool. I have been dying to get on the back of one. Some are scooters but most are various kinds of motorbikes (including the gorgeous Royal Enfields… still made here) that can hold the entire family bundled onto the back seemingly without effort! Impressive :)

It was such an adrenalin rush… zipping in and out of the traffic. You never get to go fast, but you get to really move around – which you don’t in a car, or much in an auto. The air is flowing through your hair (ok, so you’re left with the windblown look) and you feel sooo free! I know the passenger has the advantage since the driver is having to deal with all the stress of the life and death traffic.. while I just sit back and laugh and hoot and enjoy it all… but it is truly the way to travel! Sigh… I am a-d-d-i-c-t-e-d!!

It felt like a transitional day for some reason… a moment where I was cementing new friendships that will be with me for a long time. As we headed out for the movie and mingled in the lobby waiting for everyone to assemble, and I was exchanging mobile numbers and organizing to ride on the bike again… I could suddenly see a picture of my future life here. I have been so accepted … welcomed and blended into worlds. It took years for that to happen in LA… but here it was the blink of an eye.

Of course a great bike ride to the cinema … a new one I haven’t been to near Infinity Mall by my apartment. We all milled about outside talking for a long time… then moved inside where it was HOT… no a/c in the lobby. The movie started very late but the amazing thing was the seating! There are all levels of seat types… as you move back in the theatre they get fancier… I was in a big fake-leather thing like an armchair.. incredible… you can actually curl up in this thing. So comfortable. No more expensive either. At the back they have ones that fully recline and you can sleep in them… hehehe… the make-out chairs. ;)

So… the very very different thing is that Museum was the first English movie released in India only in hindi! ("Museum Ke Andar Phas Gaya Sikandar") Haha… I was pretty excited about this. I can’t say it had looked to me like a great contribution to cinema… in English anyway… but perhaps in Hindi it might be a little more interesting! Seeing it with the group that worked on it though…. now THAT is an experience not to be missed. They screamed and hooted all the way through… for every shot they worked on. Just great! A real sense of pride and enjoyment. I could pick up the story mostly… lots of English words always creep into Hindi, plus this wasn’t rocket science! It was a thrill when I caught a Hindi word here and there I knew. By coincidence the day before I had learnt that when kids need to pee the word is ‘su su’ and there is a scene with the monkey peeing with Ben Stiller clearly saying su su which made me laugh because I knew it! I’m learning all the important stuff here, people!

Afterwards, lots of chatting outside…. everyone was buzzing from seeing their names in the credits! A big moment as I think this may have been the first time folks from the India office got credits… though don’t quote me on that. I felt really happy for them :) Their work looked wonderful. I met up with 3 of the senior lighters – Imran, Kunal and Kiran and we headed off for dinner. Still weren’t sure where to go so we rode around and finally settled on a place in the Lokhandwala market called the Food Inn. I had a tasty biryani and a sweet lime soda and tasted everyone else’s food.

A little note… the sharing of food here! … it is INCREDIBLE…. In the pantry (the lunchroom at work) everyone is eating from each other’s plates. Those who have brought in home cooking are sharing… calling people in to share their breakfasts… it is much more than just having the taste of food from each other’s plates that we do in the west. So giving and blindly generous without a thought. One friend always brings me packages of his mother’s incredible halwa dessert… made from carrots. I had liked it when I tasted it at Indian restaurants in LA but the homemade version will blow your mind. And now I get these foil packages of it to carry home and nuke for my late night pleasures! Very spoilt!

Ugh… the Saturday morning after the movie fun did not start nicely. I knew how it would begin and hadn’t been looking forward to it. Arun was leaving… my new little brother, partner in crime, advisor in all things Indian and male and romantic, and general buddy for all seasons… not to mention the best roommate I could have ever had! Who would have known that we would become the closest of friends.. sharing everything with each other? As I said to him, though I was losing him I had gained him in my life and that was a bigger thing than this physical loss… and we shall be buddies for a mighty long time I know it. Once again… India provides…. But that bastard…. he made me cry ;) Noone makes me cry dammit! And I have been missing him a lot. What a good time we had… laughing just so much.

I spent the afternoon in at work as I felt a little lost without Arun. Plus I needed to make a plan of action for the mock production we were going to run for the apprentices. Two shots in 3 weeks… as if they were in real production having dailies and making changes presenting to their supervisor. It needed to be as real as possible. It turned out a couple of friends were in at work as well… and we all sat in the training room with the a/c on and hindi pop radio on listening to a bunch of my favourite songs. Very good! :) It did turn into a nice day. You are never alone for friends in India.

Next day I went to the InOrbit mall by work to try and find some things to wear for our New Years eve party that night. It’s a slightly different experience shopping here. The shop assistants are very attentive..almost to the point of being pushy. But they are all sweet and gorgeous to look at…. which helps. I went to lots of places. Got everything except actual clothes. I guess I wasn’t really sure what I wanted… hard to shop without an Indian advisor! I did get a couple of pairs of the neat leather shoes Vani had. They are so unusual… hard to describe too. They don’t have a left and right (!), and are stitched together quite roughly, with a leather sole as well. I was pretty hesitant about them, but they have been so surprising – wearing in quickly, shaping to your feet… no blisters, comfy and fun. I will have to find more.

A CoolCab (the rental vehicles you can get for a day – driver and car that will wait diligently for you everywhere) arrived to pick me up and get Serkan and Burcin… to then head out to Prash and Vani’s place. I hadn’t driven right up to the other apartment before… it is certainly fancy at the entrance level! We piled in and took the drive out to Mudh Island where the Buyyala’s live. Although not really far from the office as the crow flies it is a long circular drive around marshland and into real country roads. It felt like we were so far away. Very pretty and lush and through village areas. I couldn’t believe they travel that far to work every day. But, it’s all relative. If you were going past urban areas it wouldn’t feel so far… it’s 45 minutes really… an average LA commute! But the countryside made it feel sooo far. Very pretty though. And once we arrived at their palacial buildings which look like a giant resort of Oberoi standards we were just blown away. Burcin fell in love with it and is determined that they will find a flat there to rent for their year in India. My fingers are crossed for them. Prash took us for a details tour of the grounds. I can’t really put it into words except that it would look at home in Dubai or Saudi Arabia or any of the exotic MTV videos you see shot in locales like that. Quite stunning and gorgeous. And the view from their balcony is straight across to work… over the marshlands to the city skyline. Dramatic and beautiful and peaceful. You’d never need to leave it!

We went for a drive to the local village. The fish market was underway. There was no mistaking that for sure…. my nose was tickled in every little pocket. It was a little .. shall we say .. rich.. at times! Though the fish is all fresh, it’s just sitting in the open on slabs of plywood and being cut on treestumps… so it can’t be that clean when those are washed at the end of the day for the next catch to come in – I can’t help thinking. The variety of fish was phenomenal! So many…. in all shapes and sizes. Right down to tiny little bonsai sharks, flat flounder-like fish, the local pomfret, catfish, big tuna, tiny shrimp, and so many many more. It was dark so worth visiting another time with a camera when the light is up. Really fascinating. Vani bought fish and shrimp for our dinner and we headed back. She effortlessly put together a meal of many courses… what a talent – one I am in awe of since I can boil an egg and that’s about it ;)

After Vani had dressed us gals up in her cool clothes, we headed out at around 11pm for the New Year’s Eve Goan Grind not too far from them near The Resort. We got their to find a lot of people, food, alcohol, the usual party stuff. It wasn’t really anything Goan but a nice atmosphere. Full of really young people… I guess because it was one of the cheaper New Year’s events… plus all the booze you could drink for free! We got something wet and headed towards to throng of people dancing. It wasn’t a huge crush of people and we found a spot and started to have fun. At one point my arse got grabbed which was a little disconcerting, but I was lucky as both Burcin and Vani had one aggressive guy grab a breast and they had to really hit him to get him off. Not nice!

We danced and danced and there was a lot of fun Hindi music, including my current favourite ‘Beedi’ from the movie Omkara. When midnight struck people went crazy with their drinks and sprayed them all over the crowd and we were totally drenched in beer, Bacardi, scotch and god knows what else. Sticky and oogy! My hair felt matted and awful! It got more packed and we were getting pushed around so we decided to move on. Found a nice patch of grass with speakers near the port-a-loos so we set up there and danced away for the rest of the night. Much nicer!

The party was advertised to go from sunset to sunrise… but in the middle of a loud song the music suddenly died as we saw a line of Mumbai’s finest march in to put a stop to things. The organizers had obviously not ‘done the needful’ and paid the necessary bribes to the cops to make sure the party could go on past 1:30am. Noone was surprised.. it’s a very normal occurrence with nightclubs getting the treatment all the time… so we all sat around waiting to see if bribes would be paid and the music would start up. We eventually saw them leave with bottles of alcohol (hey, I guess they wanted to live it up on New Year’s too!) but obviously no money changed paws and the party was pretty much over. We gradually made our way to the car and met up with the CoolCab driver who had patiently waited all that time (ji, they are truly an amazing group these drivers!) and Serkan, Burcin and I were driven all the way back to our apartments. There was barely any traffic on the roads…. a sight to see in Bombay. By the time I got it in was actually 3:30am and I was still awake. I made some calls to LA and crawled into bed around 5am.

The week flew by. The mock production started with some pipeline issues but the apprentices were all patient and are now working away on their shots and dealing well with the marathon daily sessions! It takes a long time to go through each shot as we have to get them used to presenting their shot as if they were having a video conference with the LA office…. quite a discipline in itself and very different to dailies I’m used to. I am impressed at how well they are adapting and trying to do it as well as they can…. especially with the challenge of another language.

Yesterday was a wild and funny day. It was the end of a busy week and my energy levels were very low…. I was yawning all day, but somehow I got my second wind and ended up having a lot of fun by the end of it. We managed to get dailies finished just in time for the notorious monthly company meeting which I had heard about and been dreading! It initially echoes the LA version with Prashant going over all the company news…. what we are bidding on, job news etc. We don’t look at financials though.. which is kinda nice since they are always so depressing… haha… and then the various coordinators give reports of each department – how many shots there are on each show, and how many are finalled etc. I think they would normally show shots as entertainment, but LA had a blackout and there was no access to the system there so we couldn’t show anything. Good thing too… the meeting was over 2 hours as it was! It's very lively too - people are very vocal through the whole thing… lots of laughter and cat calls.

So now to the real guts of the meeting…. where it gets interesting and freaky! The introductions of new people! each person has to get up…say a little about themselves, answer questions… and then… sing or dance! If they don’t…. someone.. usually Vani… will invent something more embarrassing for them to do! It is a hoot and gets everyone going. They call it ragging, and it's a tradition from college that really breaks down barriers and gets people into the group…. It works because the group is not intimidating and is very sweet and teases kindly. Not the kind of meanness that you’d get in Australia, for example. I got up as the 3rd person and it was initially a lot of fun just talking. Everyone was really into it… my comments on hating the Aussie cricket team got cheers, and when I said a line in Hindi the place erupted in thunderous applause. I will never experience that in my life again…. so for that one moment in time… I lapped it up, dude!! Haha! But…. it all fell apart when I had to sing. I had decided to sing Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly” but I was soooo nervous … never sang cold in front of 150 people … and no music or anything… and I started in a much higher key than I should have. My voice was wavering, my face went red…. and I had to muddle through as quickly as I could. That moment when you realize you’re singing it too high and there’s nothing you can do... is - an - ugly - one!! Blegh. Oh well…. what can you do! Haha. Afterwards I realized I should have sung a Maori song from New Zealand… that would have been so much more interesting for them! So we had to go through a lot of peoples' ragging…. all the apprentices and some new animators and coordinators as well as us from LA. It took a LONG time. We finished about 7:15 and there was cake and food for all the anniversaries and birthdays.

The night’s fun and hilarity really began when I headed out with Imran, Kunal and 5 others :) Of course it also indulged my favourite new addiction…. riding on the back of bikes. And the fact that there were 8 of us on 4 bikes made it like a great little gang… zipping in and out of traffic together, calling out… playing games of catch… it was really fun. We headed over past the apartment to a fun parlour.. and I did something I have avoided doing since I was 15… bowling! There were about 4 lanes… we took up two with two teams of 4 and proceeded to laugh our arses off. I can truly say that this is not my calling in life… I will not be a bowling hustler any time soon …hehehe. I could win the prize for coming last however! It was fun though :)

After the bowling, we rode over to one guy’s house for table tennis. It was set up in the garage-type area of the apartment building… and we wiped the dust off, tied up the broken old net and then played very loose versions of table tennis. Really fun… also something I have not played in a long time. I am so impressed at how well these guys are able to enjoy themselves and let people of any level take part. It’s all very encouraging, uncompetitive and in-the-spirit-of-fun. Not the do-or-die kind of thing I see in the US all the time. We had ordered Chinese food and while we waited we played the most fun and silly game using a table tennis table I've ever seen! Imagine this if you can…. all 8 of us in a circle around the table. The two people at either end have the two bats and start to hit the ball to one another. As soon as the ball is in play, the one who hit it hands the bat to the next person who has to hit the next returned ball and hand the bat on again. Everyone is running around the table in a big circle and if anyone doesn’t hit the ball in time, or hits it out, doesn’t grab the bat or something, they’re out! This means the group gets reduced fairly quickly and people have to run faster and faster to get from one end of the table to the other in time to hit the returned ball. It is really fun and just has the whole group laughing and yelling.

Food arrived to our famished group and we went upstairs and sat on the floor and devoured the tasty noodles and chicken and rice. I was so impressed at the communal clean-up effort… guys sweeping the floor and everything! Afterwards… it seemed the night was over …but no! We got on the bikes (midnight now) and although it was really chilly we decided to go to the beach. I hadn’t yet been so it was a great idea to me. They rode past my nemesis – Rice Boat – the restaurant that made me so sick in my first week… hehehe.

We turned down a side alley… with the roads empty and this cool gang of Easy Rider’s yelling out to each other from the backs of their metal steeds, I couldn’t help but feel like I was actually in the Wild West for a moment. It was quite magical. We parked at the end of a cul-de-sac and walked down some sandy steps to the water. It was the beach alright! The tide was high and the waves were angry. Big surf rolling in and crashing on the sand right in front of us… as if in a challenge. I dared them to a skinny dip…. no takers! On each side of us were giant jagged rocks so we couldn’t walk anywhere, but standing there and just watching the waves was really mesmerizing. Every 4th or 5th one would actually crash from one end of the beach to the other - chopping in a violent way, and with your eyes closed you could hear the sound move from one ear to the other most dramatically. It was really something. Everyone enjoyed it. We stood for quite a while… especially as it was much warmer at the beach than inland.

Got home around 1am or later I think. It was a great evening. Such fun people… able to make really enjoyment from simple things. It’s hard to put it into words.

So…. another monster post… but I think we’re up to date now. For the most part. I just need access to the Net to be able to actually post this… hehehe.

apologies

2007-01-05T09:33:00.000+05:30

Please excuse the long silence... the internet at the company apartment is not working (Mac's are not the standard in India and it has been very difficult for the ISP to figure out how to get my laptop to work) ... so until that is up and running my blog is sitting idle. I will be back as soon as possible. Sigh......

flying close to the stars

2006-12-25T23:24:00.000+05:30

[Note: pics to come soon]

Sometimes my tiny life seems to move into spaces that are so large and so filled with wonder that I might burst. It has seemed that way since I got here…. but Christmas Eve definitely pushed the envelope.

A mellow and sumptuous start to the day was a brunch at the Mediterranean-styled Olive restaurant in Bandra. Prashant and Vani picked me up, after collecting Serkan and Burcin…. and took a scenic route through the Sunday traffic via Juhu to the playground of the stars in Bandra. Olive has such a relaxed feel to it…. as Serkan said, it could be anywhere in the world and succeed. Expensive by Indian standards, we felt most grateful that we are paid in our yankee dollars (and for this meal were treated by our dear John Hughes…. oh if he could have joined us!) and could enjoy such a treat for $29. It is a buffet to blow your mind - including endless alcohol – with incredible seafood, salads, little nibbles of pates, mezes, hot meats and dishes, pizzas, salads, and pastas made to order, amazing cheeses and breads and a grill that had skewers of huge shrimps, lobster, calamari and marinated fish. And I’m not even mentioning the dessert table that made my knees weak. They had a band for this special occasion (well, two guys – one on keyboard and an electric guitar) playing great music – Pink Floyd, Beatles, all sorts of nice stuff and they had great voices! I have to say the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills has a rival now. According to Prash the Bollywood Stars normally show up here (this was a Christmas brunch so too crowded for them)…. so what more could you ask for! I can see this being my new hang out. Mellow… calm, great food…. atmosphere up the whazoo… sigh. Spending 3 hours over tranquil food….. nirvana. :)

I didn’t realize the day had more events planned. We dropped by a hair salon across the road where Vani is close pals with the owner (they do all the stars there apparently) for me to meet him and have a quick consult....schmooze basically (not my strong point!). Cool joint… great music playing and beautiful people everywhere.

Then…. things start to move into the surreal world, and I’m not talking some trashy MTV 20-something reality show here. We drive a little way into Bandra as Vani is taking us to one of her close friends’ houses. She wants me to meet him, she says. The building is where the goddess Aishwarya Rai and cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar live (!!!) ….. and, this man we are meeting is a major dude in India. His name is Prahlad Kakkar and he is *the* commercial director in India. He knows everyone, is always wanted by the media for interviews and quotes and is a true personality in every sense of the word. Vani says to me… “You have to know this man…. he’s how you’ll get to meet the stars. You must leave here with him having your number and you having his” Whoa! So…. we go into his lovely flat and get comfy in the many couches around him and proceed to have the most hilarious conversations. Vani tells him that I have to find a man in India and what should I do. He is full of the most delicious and side-splitting advice I have ever heard. It is refreshing and contagious stuff (hardly any of which I would do!) and we are wishing we had a tape recorder to keep it for posterity. What a guy. He tells me that I should be aiming for 18-20 year old wanna-be stars and basically ‘potty-training’ them (his term…definitely not mine!) in the ways of all things womanly (and I mean *all* things) and then when I get bored with them…send them off into the world. He believes I should start up a school…a service as it were…to help the women of India and to please myself! He also said I should aim for married men… those married 5 years…. as they are rather desperate and all potty trained already…. and then I won’t be tied down. When I mentioned I really didn’t want to do that anymore… and was actually hoping to get a little settled down…Prahlad just brushed it aside and said that was crazy and that I totally just need the young ones and the married ones… just use them as I see fit. It just had us all howling with laughter…. I told him he was now my guru. Vani made him promise to introduce me to the stars I like. ‘That’s not a problem in the least’ … says this cheerful, cheeky, larger-than-life man. And then he told us all the stories of their crazy lives and what they are really like while we drank tea…. what an afternoon. Like I said….. my little life can seem awfully huge sometimes.

And now I have Prahlad’s number in my cell. And he has mine.

We couldn’t really end it there, could we? ;) Vani had a friend in town…. Se we came back to my apartment and had a quick bite to eat, then got dressed up and headed back to Juhu to a club called Rock Bottom. We arrived after 11pm but the place was nearly empty still. Some nice white booths all around with couches, and the cover charge includes drinks. Cool looking place. Not a soul on the dance floor though. Vani does something to me … gives me dutch courage or something. I would never do this in LA…. hell, I never really dance in LA anyway…. but the two of us went out there and went crazy all by ourselves. It was great fun. Noone was watching anyway and we just enjoyed the music and let it all hang out. Finally some people gradually started to join…. but it never got too crowded like at Poison so it was a great place to dance and enjoy yourself. We finally left just around 1:30…. happily exhausted. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it all in, let alone top that day for a while. Hmm…. perhaps I shouldn’t say that. This is India after all. You never know what is around the corner. ;)

no more rain.....

2006-12-22T23:05:00.000+05:30

The end of a great week. After a fun afternoon with work paying for the office to see Happy Feet at a local cinema (lots of hooting and hollering at our shots... yay - Rhythm and Hues!) .... Arun, Serkan and his wife Burcin and I headed by cab (no rip off this time) into Juhu to have dinner at Rain. I'd been looking forward to going back here since 2002. I've always read up on the reviews of the place to see that it was still good... it's always been a cool hangout popular with Bollywood stars and one of *the* places to go in Bombay. We thought we might be lucky and get in without a reservation since we'd be there early at 8:30 or so. I had tried to call them all day but couldn't get through to the listed number. The taxi driver asked for directions, and got us there.... but..... it really didn't look like we'd find a 'happening' restaurant there... it was very residential. Couldn't find any sign of it! I asked a young guy in the laneway and he said.... it closed about 3 months ago!! Tragedy.... no more Rain. RIP.

We ended up at a South East Asian place around the corner and had a decent meal there instead. Cheap drinks and nice outdoor tables. But still.... I'm mourning for the loss of Rain......

Lovely Rita Meter Maid ..... where were you?

2006-12-20T20:11:00.000+05:30

Sunday afternoon.... after a soporific biryani lunch (we had joined my dear college friends Anil, Gayatri and their son Nikhil for lunch - we had studied CG together in Toronto way back in 1996) - we headed from Shivaji Park to downtown Bombay. We told the driver "Gateway of India".... only the most well known landmark of British domination in the city... a big archway commemorating the landing of some fancy-pants Monarch or other coming ashore and saying "I declare this land continues to be a part of thy snobby empire - let them eat cake!" .... it's very famous.

Anyway.... the driver indicates that of course he knows it. We head off... and before very long it appears that things are not all that they seem ;) He starts to pull over quite frequently and ask other taxi drivers how to get to the Gate of India. That's ok at first... it's happened a bunch before and they all work like a big database of information together that I think is very cool. But after about the fifth time I'm beginning to think either he suffers from major amnesia or he doesn't trust anyone as far as he can spit. At one point he asks one guy then drives *literally* 50 meters ahead and asks another dude! Arun and I are starting to get a little .... wary, shall we say. Not long after this.... 9 questionings into the ride..... he stops at a red light and drifts over the line (I am surprised that it mattered ... most traffic lights don't seem to have lines that mean anything)... and at the other side a cop on foot pulls him over. The driver throws us a look and gets out. They stand behind us and I see him get 20 rupees and try to bribe the cop. C'mon dude... 20 rupees??!!! That's not going to do it! The cop doesn't even glance at it... he keeps writing the ticket. Arun and I are out and out chuckling at this point.... and when the guy asks the cop for directions to the Gate of India I think we start rolling in the back seat. I would have taken a photo if I didn't think the cop might have objected. ;)

He drives on.... but only to stop 100 meters later to ask for more directions! Unbelievable! Then he turns off the main road and starts a windy, roundabout meander through downtown Bombay and the Churchgate area. I find where we are on my street map and see we have only a couple of streets to get there. Meanwhile ... the driver is asking away.... making kissing noises out his window to attract the attention of passer's by to ask them for directions. It was just comedy at its purest. I was waiting for him to turn around and see the face of Mr Bean.

When we finally arrived after an *interminable* amount of time... we looked out to the meter...which on a cab is outside the windscreen. The guy had this old weathered plastic cover over it and from the back seat there was no way we could read it. I presumed *he* could...perhaps.... and he went to his meter card to translate the numbers into a rupee amount. I watched what he did.... found a number on one side - thought for a moment, then turned the card over to the higher amount side.... found a new amount and handed it to us and said that we owed 300 rupees! Wow... um.... we were a little shocked but not having taken a taxi before we didn't really know, plus he had gone all over the place and maybe that was right. Arun asked to see the meter card..... the guy handed it over and reset his meter at the same time (cheeky bugger!) We really couldn't do much... so we paid. Then afterwards it dawned on us that he had added his fine onto the original fare when he turned the card over! Man.... and to think for one small moment I was thinking of tipping him extra to help pay for it!!! ;) [btw: the following picture is not taken by me... I found it on the web]

Yup..... we wuz well and truly ripped off.... ;) Arun was pissed!

Anyway.... we wandered around through the throngs of Indian tourists around the Gateway.... looked at all the vendors selling the most amazingly useless stuff. :) The best was the enormous balloons that I defy anyone to come up with a use for. No kid could even hold it..... and you couldn't fit it in the car home.... let alone on the motorbike! hahaha.. I'd love to see that though :)

We took a carriage ride in the tinsel-silver carriages around the Taj hotel... then went into the grand and gorgeous Taj for a little break and a drink (fruit salad with fruits I couldn't even name but just loved!) Arun had a falooda..... a rose flavoured drink with ice cream (kulfi) and noodles (vermicelli)!! :)

After that... a walk along the ocean front...then deciding where to eat dinner. We were getting tired so decided to stay local. Gayatri had advised us to go to Khyber (if in that area)... a place near the Taj a few corners away. It was beautiful inside... marble open stairs up to low ceilings and stone walls.... very atmospheric. The food was tasty... but I was already stuffed from the wonderful chicken biryani at lunch so didn't make the most of the Khyber raan (thick thick red spicy sauce and giant pieces of mutton). Yummy cheese naan.... my favourite. ;)

It's took 1 3/4 hours to get home. A taxi to the Marriott in Juhu (only 140 rupees ALL that way) and then an auto from there to Lokhandwala and home ... a looong day.

A Lamb by any other Name...... is not a Lamb

2006-12-19T20:41:00.000+05:30

A little side note here. Arun taught me something about Indian cuisine..... when you order lamb in India you're most likely getting (what we in the West call) mutton - adult sheep ..... and when you order mutton you're probably getting goat. So now you know!

Nahee to dessert at Zenzi

2006-12-17T10:35:00.000+05:30

A lazy day of nerding out with Arun... and when I say nerding out I really mean it. We were truly a part of the attention deficit disorder generation - tv on with the sound down for the cricket, ipod on with music blasting, and both of us with our laptops on our laps using our newly installed wireless dsl. Could we possibly have had any more media stimulation?? ;) Anyway... I digress.... after a day of that - we headed out for a night in Bandra - the centre of Bombay nightlife.

There is a backstory to the place we chose. An animation supervisor at R&H in LA, Erik De Boer, spent quite a while at our India office. He befriended a puppy outside the office building, which became orphaned. He would feed it and the guards knew about his growing relationship with the little street 'urchin'. One day... (I think the dog was 3 weeks old or so) the puppy was hit by a car and badly hurt. As Erik put it to me 'I had a choice - do I kill the dog now and put it out of its misery - or am I now a dog owner?' Well... you can guess the ending to the tale, right? So then.... the puppy is rushed to the vet and nursed back to health (with the help of a loving R&H office) and Erik takes her back to the US with him. Turns out it's extremely easy to bring a dog back from India... no real concerns for the rampant rabies or anything. who knew?! His favourite hangout while he was here was a bar/restaurant run by Dutch people (he is Dutch) called Zenzi... so that's what the dog was named. Hence we had to go see the place.

http://www.zenzi-india.com

It's a block or two up the road from the club Poison we went to last Saturday night. We got there really early in Mumbai terms - most people eat out around 10pm here, so places don't start jumping until much later. We arrived around 8:15pm. It was very stylish but quiet. We had heard the music was good but nothing was playing while we were there. Had some good fish (pomfret) and tasty appetisers. The pork was so delicious. Only big downside for me was the other patrons were mostly white...and I have to say I am really enjoying being around only Indian people all the time. I don't want to go where the white people are ;) Especially since we had two bloody Aussie guys talking loudly next to us... spare me, pleeeze ..haha!

The desserts were not too interesting so we thought we could go somewhere else. I suggested the JW Marriott. It is a phenominal hotel..... quite the fanciest I've been in anywhere in the world... just so grand and full of people dressed in theie finest. Many restaurants - we went to an Italian one and sat at the bar and shareed a decadent chocolate sinful creation. Veeery good.

lunch out for our gang

2006-12-16T16:20:00.000+05:30

It's hard to believe that all the planning in LA and here we are at the end of week one of the apprenticeship programme already! Vani took all of us, including all the regular staff people involved, out for lunch at the InOrbit mall. It was great fun... we couldn't all fit at one table since there were 20 of us. So we split onto five tables and were served tasty thalis... this place was Gujurat style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thali

The waiters come by constantly retopping all the little bowls. And the head waiter guys have all this cool sign language (think baseball's sign language for what to pitch to throw!) to indicate what table needs what food. There must be about 20 different foods you are given - your taste buds are certainly teased in ever way - delicious...and then a choice of about 4 desserts (I had gulab jamuns to die for.... better than any I've tasted before. Juicy inside... oh man. My mouth is watering even now....

I took a bunch of photos... today was the first real day I have taken some. I had showed my camera to Ravi... who I know will become my mentor in all things photographic here in India. He is full of good tips. I look forward to going out to take photos with him. I've put all the photos on my Flickr site.. so you can check them out there.....

How old am I

2006-12-14T21:47:00.000+05:30

Oh yeah... one cool thing. I had test results back from the Dr... and I guess they didn't really know my age. So they put down 24.

:)

When You're Slidin' into First and You're Feelin' Somethin' Burst...

2006-12-14T20:55:00.000+05:30

I don't want to really dwell on the last few days. Today was a much better one. But I guess I should touch on it just to 'add to the colour' so to speak.... not to be too visual about the whole thing. It turned out that the trip to the Rice Boat restaurant on Friday night that Arun and I made had pretty dire consequences and by Sunday I was heading towards something I would have rather avoided...ahem. I thought it was just the results of the night at Poison with the girls.... but I spent the night in the loo and then Monday morning my body was aching and I was doubled over and emitting liquid in ways I never really wanted to be familiar with. How to go to work?! The ride in the auto that I usually love was one painful bump after another... white-knuckled all the way.

It was day one of the much anticipated lighting apprenticeship programme. The first one at our India office of Rhythm and Hues! We met with all the apprentices in the screening room and went through the introductions and the exhaustive instructions (employee handbook in a giant nutshell) all morning. Nice bunch and it seemed like a good ice breaker. By the end I was in agony though. I lay all afternoon on a couch in Vani's office... stomach cramps like a knife.

That night.... yeah.... saw too much of Percy the Porcelain. We know each other well now. I couldn't come to work the next day.... and headed into my second day of not eating. By about 3pm I realised I might be passing blood and felt the level of panic rise ... sharply, shall we say! ;) Oh bugger.... I really didn't want this. I felt like such a loser. Anyway... Vani jumped into action and before I knew it Aparna from HR at work was here and the Dr was coming. She gave me the prescritions he ordered over the phone, he came and did the once over, and I settled in for a night of nausea and vomiting to end the saga. I stayed up all night... started reading The Golden Compass which was fantastic and went well with the hallucinations :)

The next day.... starting to improve.... pumping the Gatorade and by the end of the day... a teeeny teeny bit of rice. First food in 3 days! Whahoo.... tummy flips of shock and horror and thankfulness!

Today I was back at work.... sheepish and embarrassed that I lasted not a week in India without falling sick. Yeah Jude... way to go. That's a way to show you're tuff! :( Oh well... it felt so good to be back ... and amongst family! Straight into class and helping Arun teach the apprentices. Very fun and challenging. They are a great group. All seem to be interested, motivated and wanting to move faster than the pace we planned! I was pumped with questions... a really good test for me. I loved being pushed like that. It was exhausting in a most satisfying way. My energy was very low but I had a really good day. Of course... it's only 9pm and I want to crawl into bed now ... g'night ;)

30,000 I Do's in a Day!

2006-12-13T22:16:00.000+05:30

So.... today is an auspicious day.... I saw on tv that in Delhi alone 30,000 couple have gotten married! I don't know how many in the rest of the country... that's just one city. Apparently traffic is blocked and being redirected and wedding venues are overbooked all over the city. What a thought! :)

Truth or Dare and a little Poison

2006-12-13T10:35:00.000+05:30

(Once again posting a little late due to not getting internet connection in time)

The first week is over! FAST! Arun and I are tenderly spending Sunday recovering from a crazy night of partying Bombay style. I didn’t quite do what Arun did but I still feel totally wiped out. I don’t have the energy those girls have ;) Let me start at the beginning. At 3pm the apartment was descended upon by about 17 of the R&H girls..they brought all kinds of snacks and drinks and their excitement, giggles and colour. It was more female company than I had experienced since probably…. um… primary school? hehehe…. The guys from work had come earlier to set up a projector for the dvd player and were connecting our internet. They got Arun’s working but as they started on mine the girls started arrived and they were banished...boohoo… will I ever be connected to the world again? (Monday they say… fingers crossed)

We watched ‘Rang de Basanti’ that I had bought a few days earlier (watched with Arun who hadn’t seen in before). As it got to the most serious part Vani said ‘ok, too depressing, everyone has to strip’! Squeals of dismay! But she didn’t quite mean it… more 'pretending you were stripping'… so I put ‘Lady Marmalade’ on as loud as my little speakers could bare and Vani started to show us how to do it! We had the movie projected on us and the atmosphere was hilarious…everyone was shy but got into it and the performances were pretty funny and everyone clapped and hooted. I could see how these Indian girls can really let their hair down…couldn’t really see this happening at an LA party in the same way ;)

Next came Truth or Dare… everyone had at least one turn and most people actually took the dare! Vani came up with outrageous dares… we had people showing their underwear, pretending to make out with cushions, licking biscuits to turn us on,Vani
farting on command (!), and one girl mounting a chair like a motorbike and hugging the guy in front of her... amongst other things ;) It was really funny. The questions were hilarious too. I took Truth and was asked which guy at work I liked…… of course I answered (even though I have little knowledge of everyone yet) and got a lot of ‘Oooooohs’ when I replied..... hahahaha! It was all a hoot!

After that we had a treasure hunt organized for us…. A lot of fun. It had 3 teams of us running around the apartment looking for things frantically. One pair of socks, 3 stones, a red rose, 1000 rupee note (who has one of those!!), 2 hair bands... lots of things. Mayhem ensued! I suspect I am getting things out of order here. We continued
our Truth or Dare… and ended up in a ‘give Jude advise on how to get an Indian man’ session! Everyone had something to say! We played Dum Charades… which is Charades to us in the West…and my job was to give someone on either of the two teams an Indian film name for them to act out for the other team. It was really fun. (Oh shoot... I forgot 'Omkara', and 'Yuva' and 'Sarkar'! and .... and...!!) At the end they gave me five western film names for me to do. Challenging but fun! I’ve hardly ever played but they were really good so I didn’t have to act much before they got it! Phew ;)

We ordered pizzas (let me just mention that Dominos in India is so good! I would never eat it in the US but here it is pretty tasty!) at some point in all of this. People began to leave and we called poor banished Arun home. He had been asked to hang out at the other R&H apartment by Vani but by now it was nearly 9pm so he came home and there was only about 10 girls left. I convinced him to hang out with us… Vani tried her hardest to get him to strip…hehehe … the panic in his eyes was like an animal about to be caught by hunters ;) after much cajoling we finally let him be…though he did have 3 of us dragging him at one point. I can only think of 3 people who perhaps would done it.. probably Greg Yepes, Salar Saleh and Danny Speck could have been convinced…. haha..we’ll never know!

So…. we then had a conversation carrying on the earlier topic of Indian men and what they like etc… but this time from Arun’s perspective. He has told me a lot already, but the girls were fascinated to hear his point of view and really grilled him. He got some pretty tricky questions! Finally they decided it was time to go out. I was tired and my stomach was ..well…. how shall we put this delicately…hmm… ok…. Arun and I had gone to this great Kerala restaurant called Rice Boat on Friday night and the food was delicious but S-P-I-C-Y…. and I had started suffering from it about midday…. But,I wasn’t given a choice about going out. ;)

I convinced Arun to come along. The girls took a long time to get ready and we didn’t head out until around 11pm I guess. We had a driver in a Scorpio, and all 6 of us fit in with baggage. Traffic was heavy for a while but got better as we got closer
to Bandra. We drove through Juhu past lots of cool looking bars and into Bandra past the amazing looking JW Marriot (must go there one night!) until we found Poison…

reputedly the most happening club in Bandra. We pay and head in….. lots of people, pounding music, free drinks (more on that later..haha) and loads of young Mumbaikers (hey, I read this word somewhere ok? I don't *really* know if they call themselves that!) out for fun. We grab a piece of floor and dance ourselves crazy. The music was great… dance music that was a combo of western and Indian…. Perfect mix. Good DJ and lots of people to watch. It got more and more packed and started to get a little uncomfortable at times as people pushed into us…but we had fun. My stomach played up at one point… standing all that time was the problem.. I felt a bit dizzy after dancing like a maniac. But drinking water and visiting the loo seemed to help. Yeah yeah…TMI ;) It was actually quite a small club. Didn’t see that many good looking guys though… and the ones there were all had girls with them… bummer! ;) Arun was in luck though…. Many gorgeous women. He did not want to dance and began to drown himself in beer (Fosters no less!!! Blegh!) but Vani got him going eventually and he was having fun. He did forget his limit though and before he knew it he was on his 7th…8th…9th!!!!! I knew he was in for trouble. We left as the club was about to close after 2pm. Arun was not in a good way… I was so tired… but the young girls were ready to keep going! Hehehe…. I ain’t as young as I used to be. Plus the remains of jetlag and an upset stomach don’t really help… whahoo!

We were driving home when Arun had an emergency stop…. I need not say more. ;) we got in just before 3am. I gave Mum and Dad a call and crashed. A restless night and today
we have felt like trucks hit us…. though Arun worse than I for sure ;)

It has been a great week though. The apprenticeship programme is pretty much ready to go and we are settling in to the office very well. I think people are still a little shy to talk to us… but hopefully that will change. I just want to make some good friends very soon. We have been enjoying the food court at the InOrbit mall every day sooooo much! Man…. delicious. We’ve eaten out a couple of times and ordered in as well. Still tired but I know it will all change soon. Tomorrow week 2 begins… now for the real work!!

The Yin and Yang of it

2006-12-13T09:33:00.000+05:30

(Also posting from many days back)

So… I have finished two days of work at R&H India :) I have found the yin to my yang. It feels like the piece that was missing really. What a place. Vani has decorated it so beautifully… the pictures didn’t do it justice… and the atmosphere is wonderful. I will take some photos myself and post them (sometime!). It’s not just the look of the place but the people that really make it. Everyone is so happy and friendly. Many smiling faces…. pretty girls and cute boys ;) I have been made to feel so welcome. The first day was a big tour around with introductions. It is going to take a long time to get to know names…. which I feel guilty about. I will study the intranet people pages as often as I can. Catching up with the admin guys who looked after me on my day of arrival was lovely, and then meeting people I had only seen on the small tv screens of the video conferences was such a nice change. I sat in on the orientation of 3 new animators… very thorough going through the employee handbook item by item. It reminded me of the old Rhythm and Hues and the values we used to hold so dear but seem to have lost. I feel this is the place we used to aspire to be…. actually working and existing. Sigh…. very inspiring. It’s a great workplace and you can see how much people seem to enjoy it - at least from my initial viewing.

At lunchtime Vani and I went around the corner to the InOrbit mall… one of two monster malls next to the building Rhythm is in. OMFG! Now.... This place makes the malls I see in the US look pretty pathetic… Fox Hills was always a dump but looks like a hovel next to this beautiful sparkling diamond of a place. Wow…. And I’ve never seen a foodcourt like that :) I intend to try every single place in it… except for the boring Ruby Tuesday’s ;) puh-leeze!! We ‘um and ah’ about what to have and decide on dosa’s …. A masala dosa for me.. delicious! Too full for a falooda for dessert. Some other time. Am I going to balloon up to the size of a buffalo while I’m in India???!! Gulp! Hehehe

The afternoon I hit a wall of the tireds…. ( jetlag catching up again) but I last out until it’s time to go home and see Arun who has arrived from the LA office via his hometown Coimbatore. His flight was cancelled and he got in late..so it was great to see him when I got home. We ordered Chinese food to be delivered and then both crashed kinda early. I was nodding off as we waited for the food to arrive (you gotta love all the delivery in Bombay!). Did the dishes a little ineffectively in cold water… no hot water in the kitchen. :P have to get used to not having a dishwasher for a while. Good practise for me to actually do some labour eh? Haha

Today the car was on time and we headed off to work.. Arun’s first day. We went to some dailies for the Museum gag shots and he was introduced. We had quite a few meetings about apprenticeship stuff, and the plans for our time etc. All sounds good and productive. It’s very odd having office boys running after us bringing glasses of water if we need it, or coffee, or cutting up fruit or anything. I just don’t need to be waited on hand and foot… I want to do it back to them! It’s lovely but I just don’t know how to receive it without returning the favour! They are so kind!

We had lunch at the mall with Vani. This was super special! A Rajasthani thali…. A big metal tray with lots of little metal bowls that were constantly replenished with tasty delicious spicy veg curries and lots of rotis and things for dipping etc. So damn yummy…. I stuffed myself! Dessert I had rasgulla - a round ball, bread-like consistancy in sweet syrup. YUM ….. most excellent. Arun seemed very happy to be having that food :) Only thing is it knocked us out and we were yawning ourselves silly all afternoon! Teehee.

We got the apprenticeship training shot rendering with the help of the genius pipeline guys Sam Nair and Satish - who was constantly at our side … both so helpful and lovely. I am really impressed… I haven’t had help like this before. Instant and completely dedicated! Yay India office… you rock!

I had an email from my friend Jesh who went to the same CG school as I did in Toronto. He and his wife live here (he has an animation business) and he was in the area so he dropped by. We hadn’t seen each other since about 1999 or so… but it was like yesterday! Just great…and the amazing coincidence was that they live in the same apartment building as Arun and I!! Freaky...a city of 17 million people?!

5:30pm couldn’t come quickly enough…. jetlag again…. for both of us I think. Arun is now lying down and sleeping. I’m listening to my ipod and planning on an early night. I hope I can sleep better… still only getting about 4 hours a night. Joy of joys. They say we may get internet hooked up at the apartment tomorrow. I sure hope so…. I’m in withdrawal without it. Especially since all these sites are blocked at work… including YouTube! Eeeks ;)

Jazz, Krull, Wonton Soup and being there.

2006-12-13T08:43:00.000+05:30

(This is posted for my first day in India)

Feels like about 4 days have passed… but in fact I only arrived yesterday. So…. Let’s have a wavy movie moment of going back in time ~b’llooop b’llooop b’lloooop~ Heathrow, with hours to spare I decided to go through into the departure lounge. Innocently stroll up with my hand luggage that I’d come from LA with and the security guys freak out as apparently I’m only allowed ‘one’ bag. I have my stuffed wheely bag, my laptop bag, and a tiny shoulder handbag. But nope… one only. Shite! Doesn’t matter that you’re in transit or anything either. So… I have to either check them or stuff them all in one. No way I can check my expensive camera or laptop… and my main bag is stuffed with 6 months of prescriptions that if I lost …well, I would be in big trouble. So…. I go to the luggage shop right next to the entrance to the gates (I wonder why, they're on a good deal..snigger) and there is already another girl having to do the same thing. I find a simple cloth duffle bag that fits everything (45 English Pounds.. expensive!) and try again. Nope… the bag is too big to fit the dimensions. No luck. They tell me to try and shift things around… take the camera out and carry it by hand. I do it right there in front of them… then one guys sees me pull the camera bag out and he says ‘oh, you can carry the camera bag separately’ … phew… what a life saver. I am so relieved. I can fit everything inside my one bag now and carry the camera bag. I return the 45 Pound duffle bag… get a refund and go back through thinking I’m a-ok. Turn the corner and this big ‘Minder’ type security guy… older Pommy mean dude says.. “you have two bags…. You can’t bring 'em in”. I explain what just happened for the last 3/4 hour … he couldn’t care less. I go up to the counter… the woman says I have to take in one bag… I say I’ll try and squeeze one into the other. I end up on the floor again knowing I’m fighting a losing battle. Take the camera out… squeeze everything from its bag into my main one… but I’m out of luck. I have an empty camera bag I’m going to have to check (which I guess isn’t such a big deal)! I go back up to her and explain, and she looks down and suddenly I see her change. She was Indian I think…. and she totally took pity on me and let me through! Next thing I know my bags are going through x-ray and the guy is joking with me about my Canon lens having a Nikon lens cap. He was a Nikon guy and ‘we could never be compatible, could we!’ with a wink. I didn’t know if I was coming or going! All that and I was through. :)

The departure lounge was great. Lots of shops and places to people watch. Amazing looking people… saw a flight attendant from a Saudi airline and she was so gorgeous. Such exotic places and people. The coolest thing was the list of flights leaving while I was there… some cities that make the imagination just go wild - Copenhagen, Dubai, Seoul, Newark, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Doha, Cape Town, Delhi, Stockholm, Addis Ababa, Karachi, Mumbai, Toronto, Auckland, Hong Kong, Ahmedabad, Sydney, Amritsar, Bangkok, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Singapore, Bahrain, Oslo, Istanbul, Chicago, Miami, Stravangar. Phew! A snapshot of 7 hours at Heathrow’s Terminal 3.

Virgin-Atlantic used a clunky old plane for its Mumbai flight… not like the new one from LA. But I didn’t mind… I was surrounded by handsome young Indian guys and it suited me fine. I sat on the inside aisle… the guy next to me was from Bombay and worked for BP in shipping. He had been on a business trip to England. We chatted a lot. He watched Superman Returns and was amazed when I pointed out the shots R&H had done. The guy across the aisle from me was an IT programmer in finance and was on his way to Bombay for his marriage. He was fascinated by R&H and what software we used. He lives in London.... I wonder if he's moving for good or if his wife will go back to London with him?

I couldn’t stop smiling as I saw Bombay rising up to meet our wheels (by the feel of the landing I thought it was going to come right through the plane and touch my feet!). At 1pm it was a balmy 31 degrees Celsius ... hot! Took a while to get my suitcase but everything else was a breeze… not even a question from Immigration about what I was doing here! The plane was nearly an hour late… poor R&H guys waiting in the heat :( I came out to the familiar sea of faces, but this time I was looking at all the signs for my name… and there it was! I found my driver…and then this lovely young guy from admin – Swapnil. He was so nice and made me feel instantly like I had a friend and was at home. I was led to a fancy new car like a Land Rover – an Indian Scorpio. They gave me a bunch of roses from Vani… and we were off. I gave some rupees to the begging children which brought on more.. Swapnil said not to… so hard not to though… mere cents to me!

The drive to the apartment was great. It all felt so familiar and ‘normal’. The roads weren’t that busy… I didn’t even seem to notice the crazy driving this time! It got more bogged down nearer to Andheri where the apartment is so it took longer than expected but I didn’t mind at all…. So much to enjoy and take in. That strange feeling of being ‘home’. Everywhere such handsome faces and so many people.

We got to the apartment and as we waited for the lift there was that unmistakable rancid smell that makes your nostrils want to turn inside out. It’s a brand new building...so I can’t imagine what exactly causes that smell… but I’ve never smelt it anywhere else but India. Hehe… unique to India! 17th floor… workmen in the hallway doing tiling and things. Only 2 apartments on each floor it seems. We arrive and another R&H admin guy is there waiting – Yogesh. He is very kind and proceeds to show me everything about the apartment. I try to take it all in but I’m reaching overload at this point. The cell phone instructions go over my head a little (but I’ve got it under control now… a little wacky, but man, are calls cheap!). The apartment is amazing… brand new, sparkling marble floors… shiny kitchen and nice bathrooms off each bedroom. I take my time choosing a bedroom based on sun position and all the construction outside (thanks for the heads up Danny Speck!). Plus the one I’ve chosen has a cool shower with jets and all sorts of stuff. I think I could fit two of my bathrooms back in LA inside it!

We head out to a couple of malls near the apartment to buy some breakfast food to stock up the apartment. I just can’t believe the changes in Bombay since 2002. I didn't see malls here then… or the fancy big stores everywhere. Disappointed to read in the news a couple of days ago that Walmart is coming here… damn! :( Anyway… very cool little mall and great supermarket with everything I need. I drool over some of the things I haven’t seen in ages… lots of English things too. Stuff I wish I could get easily in the US. I buy cereal, juice, fat free milk, soy milk, biscuits, bread and fruit. 600 rupees… and Yogesh INSISTS on paying. Very embarrassing… way expensive in Indian terms…. I am not used to people paying for things… especially when I was just given my 5000 rupee stipend for exactly this purpose!

Anyway… back to the apartment where I bid them all adieu, and I immediately call my close close friend Anil that I studied CG with in Toronto. We have been dying to get together…. It’s been 4 years and that’s too long. I organize to get the driver and car back and I head towards his house in Shivaji Park. Although it’s not far away the traffic is horrendous as it’s Saturday night and everyone’s going out. Over an hour later we arrive and I see him, his gorgeous wife Gayatri and their friend Azim… all of whom I spent a dreamy Christmas and New Year with in Goa in 1998. It’s like yesterday. :) We head downtown along Marine Drive… the beautiful lights of the Queen’s Necklace sparkle and it’s like magic. I feel so like I’m home. We get to the Tata Theatre downtown just in time for the jazz rock concert by Bunny Brunel and the jazz all stars. Amazing bass player with his group of brilliant musicians. In the break as we mingle for coffee.. Anil and Azim meet people they know and point out some of the biggest musical stars in India .. people who’ve played with Miles Davis and others.. and I’m standing next to them .. very surreal! We leave at 10pm to head to the Royal China restaurant (the finest Chinese cuisine in Bombay) for a fantastic meal. Best Chinese I’ve had in years!... oh the wonton soup!!! They do a great dim sum apparently so I’m looking forward to that. It was such a great night and hard to take in that I had arrived that day. Back at Anil’s the driver was patiently waiting to take me home…. such a different way of life here. I got home around 1am and called Mum and Dad in Canada. I was beyond exhausted..but so excited to just be here. You would have thought I would have slept well…. But after a couple of hours I was awake…. bargaining with my brain to sleep again. Maybe got two more hours by 7:30am. Needless to say I felt like a giant dung beetle had rolled me over a thousand hills this morning.

I was supposed to go out with Vani but I ended up sitting in front of the tv. Now… let me tell you about the tv here in India! I have over 80 channels… a lot in hindi but a lot of great English stuff too. I watched a great episode of The Amazing Race Asia where everyone is nice to each other and it’s just the same without the ugly bickering and drama. After that I saw a bit of one of those crazy Japanese game shows with hindi commentary… particularly entertaining that way! Then..switching channels I heard title music that I haven’t heard in years! “I know that!” It was Krull!! I don’t know how many conversations with my fellow nerdy friends I’ve had lately about this movie… but I’ve been wanting to see it again for ages. So I was glued to it… and it held up pretty well! So between seeing things like that and all the Bollywood I can get my hands on… I am stoked! :)

I’ve spent the rest of the day sleeping … aaah. Sweet! Now of course… it’s time for bed again… I need to think like a cat and go for those long hours! At least I’ve caught up with this…and this will be the longest blog entry I’ll ever do…that’s for sure!

I remember this smell!

2006-12-01T20:05:00.000+05:30

Well.... here I am in an Internet Cafe in Heathrow.... feeling much better. A little topsy turvy since I landed at 3am my time... but hey, I'm not complaining :) As the clouds parted and I saw little english row houses I suddenly felt a rush of excitement. It hadn't felt real before... certainly does now though. And then as I was walking through the concourse I got a whiff of the English air... crisp, clear..slighty scented... I don't even know what it is really. But I hadn't smelt it since 1979 when I was 10 and it came right back with a jolt. Happy making. :) Love those sense memory thingies. Smell does it more than anything for me.

Walked through to Passport control. Ok.... ahem.... we're not in Kansas anymore... this is nothing like American immigration, let me tell you! Nice young Indian girl asks me all about what I'm doing, where I'm going... I tell her India for 6 months. She asks me what I'll do there. Her eyes light up. She asks all about it. I tell her and joke that my dream is to meet Bollywood stars. She says "which one?" "Vivek Oberoi" - me. "Well, when you find 'im, bring back 'is bruvva for me" she says in her broad London brogue... (which you never expect coming from that gorgeous Indian face!) Yup.... this ain't LAX! (or maybe it is, if you get my drift).

And now... wandering around Heathrow. The faces here... unbelievable! I thought New York was a melting pot.... but it is NOTHING like this! Every race imaginable ... wonderful. I'm in Shangri La watching all this :) Such beautiful and exotic people... no wonder the English are unhappy about immigration... they are so plain and bland next to all these incredibly handsome and stunning people ;)

So... £6 for an hour of internet time, $2 american for a bottle of water and I have another 7 hours to kill before I take off for Mother India.

Delayed

2006-12-01T19:54:00.000+05:30

[Entering these from London at an Internet Cafe]

Sitting at the Gate at LAX... it's 5:12 and I would have been leaving 3 minutes ago but we're delayed until 6:30pm. Works out ok really... less time in London now. Time is what I have on my hands - so I can spare a bit! It's been a an interesting day. Stressful start with this damn migraine making everything way more painful than I could really handle. But I'm taking shallow breaths and trying not to think about it. As I was standing in line waiting to take my shoes off and have everything scanned and looked at up and down and every which way, I started chatting to an Indian gentleman in front of me. He was born in Uganda, his wife born in Kenya. I ended up having a drink with them and such great conversation. Really nice people... they live in London. Nice beginning.

I'm now having my last chai latte for a while. Had a chat to Mum and Dad and met a sweet old Scottish lady at Starbucks on her way to New Zealand for 7 weeks. It feels like such a small world now.

I feel excited through this haze of hurt. I would prefer to send the pain to a different part of my body though. I vote for my big toe... or perhaps the back of my knee? Perhaps a small spot next to a fingernail. Right now it's where I live... and I can't concentrate.

Hugs and sniffles

2006-12-01T03:06:00.000+05:30

Well.... "my bags are packed and I'm ready to go" .... nearly time to head to the airport. Can't quite believe it. Got a cracking migraine to bring me down to earth though ... yeehaa. Dropped my car at work and did the last goodbyes. So many hugs and sniffles with people that it's hard to say goodbye to. I know the time will go by quickly... but many people to miss. What good friends I have made here.... contrary to what people say about LA. It has become a great home for me. The city of displaced peoples. We're all a big family now. I hope things don't change too much while I'm gone.

OK.... time to pack this puppy up and get moving. I've got a bird to catch. Jai Hind!

....

2006-11-30T22:42:00.000+05:30

oh god...... packing .... :(

For your consideration

2006-11-30T12:11:00.000+05:30

What do you do when you live in Hollywood and you're leaving for the other side of the world the next day for half a year? You go to an industry screening of course! c'mon people... get with the programme ;) So... tonight I went to the Writer's Guild to see a screening of Bobby... the new film written and directed by Emilio Estevez about the day that Bobby Kennedy died. Now .... you need to understand a little backstory. Way back in the mid to late 80's when I was at university, I had a big crush on Emilio.... Young Guns... Repo Man, The Outsiders.... his Billy the Kid cracked me up with the crazy laugh as he blew people away - "best dollar an' eighty I ever spent" ... plus he was short... suited me just fine! He wrote and directed a few things.... mostly non-memorable.... the fun Robin Hood with a 'doh' at the end - 'Wisdom', then 'Men at Work' (stick to the band and don't bother watching the movie!), the Vietnam vet returning home drama 'The War at Home', and one I didn't see - 'Rated X' a biopic about two brothers who had a porn business that led to their downfall into greed (sounds like a winner). But now..... after quite a hiatus..... there is 'Bobby
..... and this one is quite something. Firstly... *everyone* is in it! Harry Belafonte, Anthony Hopkins, William H Macy, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, Heather Graham, Helen Hunt, Christian Slater, Elijah Wood ... plus a bunch of people whose faces you know and names you don't. It's an amazing bunch and they all outdo themselves...even the ones that are normally mediocre! They obviously were impassioned by the material....and it is inspiring. The actors working the kitchen are something to look out for. Plus it documents the landmark of the Ambassador Hotel which was recently demolished.... a travesty, in my humble opinion. Very moving film... I won't say much more... other than go and see it. It gives food for thought in this day when we surely need some politicians like Bobby to rise up and lead the country out of the mess it's in. Sobering and sad and worth remembering.

rain and snow

2006-11-28T11:27:00.000+05:30

It poured here last night... and snowed in British Columbia today. It seems like winter has suddenly hit. I feel like I need to run away quickly... before the cold enters my bones. It's cold...and the cold makes me even more tired. I'm waking at 4am every day and don't have much to fight against the chill - outside or in my head. The anticipation is so great and I'm just ready now. I think I've got things in hand, only dread is saying goodbye to the cats..... that's not going to be easy at all. But I am so looking forward to just climbing into my seat on the plane, getting comfortable, watching some movies, write on my laptop and maybe do a little of that addictive sudoku. Just shut everything down and let the planet spin underneath me until I set down on a different continent.

I hope they show some Bollywood films on the plane :)

sushizosushimasukirikoechigosushitenn

2006-11-27T08:52:00.000+05:30

About to head out for my last sushi in quite a while. I have been searching online looking for sushi places in Bombay (will I ever call it Mumbai I wonder?.... old habits die hard)... and I have actually found a couple. Who knows what they'll really be like of course. But worth trying .... us Angelinos will die without the raw fish experience at least once a week ;) http://www.jossrestaurant.com/joss_restaurant/photo_gallery.htm

T minus....

2006-11-27T03:36:00.000+05:30

Sunday arvo, Los Angeles..... doing laundry and feeling like I am forgetting important things ;) How did it go from 3 weeks to a few days? I think I was a little over-confidant.... just thought I had all the planning under control. But "life is what happens while you're busy making other plans" as John Lennon said.... and a lotta life has been happening! And a lot of planning! And now I find myself with 3 1/2 days left... almost there.... almost there.....