Day 31 - Wardrobe Malfunction...and more!

Imagine that you are standing in front of a group of 40 people and addressing them, and someone informs you that your fly is open....!  Embarassing?  :-))  No.  Very embarassing!  :-(( This is exactly what happened to me on Friday at Chennai, when I was talking to my former team mates at Olympia.  Thankfully, the group pretended that they never took notice of this 'wardrobe malfunction' to avoid embarassment for me.  Thanks team for that!  And, yes, thanks Bonny for limiting the damage.  Janet Jackson, Carole Gracious, you have company now.

This week was very hectic at work, with a lot of visitors from across the globe.  One invariably tends to end up doing nothing other than 'meeting-hopping' throughout the day in such situations.  But at the end of it all, I thought the visits were very useful. 

After a long time I saw the entire Republic Day parade at New Delhi on television on 26th.  By the way, it was so foggy that one would find it difficult to distinguish between a battle tank and a cultural tableau.  Even this day was hectic as lunch was with the FMS gang and dinner at Hari Chitappa's place, celebrating his birthday.  It was good to meet up with Daddu, Dhiru, BG, Roopa and Danda after a long time.  A good session at Banana Leaf, with Dhiru assuming the role of a quasi-host!

Flew to Chennai on Friday morning and was there for a couple of days, to deal with the formalities of taking over possession of my apartment.  Thanks to Sukumar for playing the gracious host while I was in Chennai.  Dinner with my erstwhile team and Bonny on Friday and BN and some intense discussions late into the night on both days.  A lot of food for thought, I am sure, especially for me, Suku and Akhilesh!

Another busy week, or for that matter, busy month, awaits!

Take care.

Day 24 - Nostalgia Unlimited

Last week was a difficult week in terms of my health.  This week was not as bad as the last one, but I am not yet 100%.  The throat is very still very sore, though most of the congestion seems to have gone.  What's more, the children seem to be catching the symptoms as soon as they leave me or Priya.  I have to admit that Mumbai has taken a toll on our bodies.  Priyanksh was especially suffering a lot on Friday and Saturday.

A quiet week at work; nothing worth mentioning. 

On the personal front, this week could be called the week of nostalgia, apart from ill-health.  Actually, it has been a continuing theme since we arrived in Mumbai.  After meeting Gopal last week, this week it was Rohit Khanna who was in town from Ahmedabad.  And guess what, he was in town to attend the 'second' wedding of Shirali Patel, a class mate in school as well.  Told my wife that I had a crush on Shirali when in school, which I am sure many of us, boys had!  However, couldn;t meet up with Rohit due to our conflicting schedules.

Friday evening was the high point of the nostalgia week!  Practically the whole gang from SHCIL met at Pritam at Dadar, except Vijay Lavate, who is still in Chennai.  Had a great time meeting up with Alok, Sailesh, Pankaj, Ritesh, Prabhat, Parag, Sujay and Wali!  Wali looks very different these days, with all the grey hair. 

Saturday was doctor's day for the kids, as Priyanksh's condition was becoming worse.  Did some shopping in the evening.  Needless to say I was on the edge all the time as Priya goes berserk everytime she sees a mall.

Sunday was Push's birthday.  Four of us went to Amba Bhuvan to wish her.  Went to Sion to meet Aparna, Priya's cousin, and her parents on our way back.  Driving on a Sunday in Mumbai is bliss! 

Had invited Ritesh and Ruby for dinner.  I was feeling very bad as I forced them to come even though Ruby had a very bad cold and a sore throat.  She could hardly speak!  The dinner and the conversation was good.  We might do a group outing together with a few other families in the near future.  But in the meantime, hope she gets well soon.

Take care.

Day 17 - Or Maybe Not!

One of the things that I said I would focus this year was on my health. The week started with me hitting the gym. However, by Wednesday, I was down with flu-like symptoms. Now, would normally not be flustered by such an occurrence. But, given that there has been a positive H1N1 case in the neighbourhood a couple of weeks ago, we were a bit nervous. Medication was started. Have still not fully recovered, but it is not as bad as on Wednesday and Thursday. Blame it on the fickle weather, which has dogged Mumbai for the last few weeks. Chills, ills & pills.

But flu wasn't going to stop me from participating in my sons' first Sports Day meet! Had fun at the meet on Saturday. Suryanksh won a gold medal and I won a silver! I won it in the parents' race; if anybody is wondering if I have now started competing with kids! Priyanksh should have won a silver as well, but was disqualified on technical grounds (he dropped the banana!) :-)) Father and sons celebrated the rich haul of medals with a pizza party, of which the mother was also a beneficiary!

This was also a week where I met two long lost friends. Amol Parte (a colleague at a previous organisations whom I had helped in the early days of his career) and Gopal Rohra (classmate at school). Was happy to see Amol making good progress in this life. Has paid off all his debts, got his sister and brother educated and is now focused on completing his graduation. Gopal has done well in the last four years as well. However, his challenges due to not having full vision in his eyes continue. But he now looks like a veteran in dealing with these challenges.

Looking forward to a more healthier next week...

Take care.

My Baby!

Day 10 - All is well!

I am sure the title of this post would tell one and all that I am in a great frame of mind while I write this and the reason is not very difficult to find out as well. Again the clue being in the title. But I will come back to it later in the post.

This week was interesting. A week of 'firsts'!

Dad and Manish were in town. Manish was in Mumbai for two days for business. Dad, a little longer, again for work. The only difference being, Manish stayed with us and Dad did not, as usual. Blame it on the many visitors whom he has to meet throughout the day. We did manage a dinner together though and it was good. My Mom would have felt a bit lonely, with the whole gang here! This was Dad & Manish's first visit to my place after I shifted to Mumbai.

Went to drop Manish to Mumbai Central on Thursday. Got my first look at the new Duranto Express. Not sure why they have wrapped it all up in a pathetic looking wall paper from outside! Will take this train the next time we go to Ahmedabad. Took the local train while coming back home and that brought back a lot of memories. The place hasn't changed a bit.

Memories was what I was probably chasing when on Saturday, I went to Fort to get my new address and other details changed in all my securities accounts. Saw CST in person for the first time after the 26/11 attacks! Walked from CST to Fort and memories came flooding back to me. Walked from Fort to Churchgate while coming back and that was fun too. Again, got a feeling that nothing much has changed apart from a kiosk here and there! In the evening, Priya had a sudden urge to go and see a movie. What guts! We were planning to see a movie in the theatre with both the kids for the first time! But, no gain without pain, and hence, booked tickets for the movie - 3 Idiots!

Sameer (Dave) had invited us for lunch at his place today as well. He stays close to R City Mall, which is where we were going for the movie. So had a sumptuous Gujarati lunch at Sameer's, courtesy Tina and Sameer's mother. We all loved the lunch! Went for the movie after lunch. A stone's throw away from Sameer's place.

3 Idiots - This is a movie, which richly deserves the high praise that it is getting in the media and the hot bucks that it is earning at the box office! I have read the book as well, but this was something else! I havn't laughed such a lot while watching a movie for a long long time! In fact, the scene where Chatur gives the annual day speech was so hilarious, that I couldn't stop laughing, choking myself and almost starting off an Asthma attack! Thankfully the kids slept through most of the movie, after the sumptuous lunch!;-)) And hence, all is well!

Take care. Cheers!

Day 3 - Ahmedabad Calling

The last couple of days, the first two of the new year, 2010, (somehow 2010 looks so much more aesthetic than 2009!) have been spent in my hometown, the place where I was born and brought up; Ahmedabad, with family and friends. The agenda: chill and relax! So, I stuck to the agenda and caught up on a lot of sleep. Taking a nap in the afternoons doesn't come easily to me, but I did exactly that for the last 2 days, which is in line with one of my resolutions for this year. Get at least 7 - 8 hours of sleep everyday, and more if possible!

One of the highlights was the dinner with Naren, Simran and their cute little daughter, Hridiya yesterday night. Had Gujarati thali at Mangalya at R3 Mall on Drive-In Road. The food was good; the drive even better. It has always been a pleasure to catch up with Naren and his family whenever I am in Ahmedabad. We missed Dhawal, Sumedha and their little son, Aditya. Naren, Dhawal and I were class-mates at school. Normally, all the three families get together at least once whenever I am in town. By the way, on our way back, we lost our way on S G Road...what else can you expect with Naren driving..:-))

One of the things that I have not failed to notice during my last few visits to Ahmedabad has been the tremendous work done by the local authorities and the state government in terms of infrastructure development. The recently launched BRTS is a great example. The pilot for the transport system failed in Delhi, but the Amdavadis are determined to make it a success. Also, the roads are great and getting even wider; at least in the new city area. Haven't been to the old city side for sometime, but I hear that the focus on infrastructure is all round.

Flew back to Mumbai today. Not the greatest of starts to the year.

1) A 3 hour delay for the flight; blame it on the fog! Have decided to take the train the next time when we go to Ahmedabad.

2) Once back home in Mumbai, Priyanksh met with a minor accident in the evening, falling down and cutting his forehead. Rushed to the hospital and was informed it wasn't too serious and will heal quickly. As far as he is concerned, he has already forgotten it as I see him jumping all around the house! Hyperactivity is the order of the day!

The new year begins at work tomorrow. Take care.

Cheers!