The Spicy Indian Blog

A branch from Ranade Road cuts in into Gokhale Road. And right in front of this T Section, is Krishna Kripa. Whether coming back from a brief spell of shopping at Ranade Road (which, along with the Shivaji Park is my favorite part of Central Mumbai), or coming back from the Dadar Railway Station, or station as we call it, 'Aajikade' was where we always had a stopover before heading to our 'extension' abodes. Seeing the silhoutte of Aaji standing by the balcony railing was always comforting sight. I used to wave from across the road. Aaji would strain to see who it was, from her first floor vantage point; and a smile crossed her face inevitably when she realised it was me. She used to respond with a calm, yet happy wave back, and moments later I would be scrambling my way up the stairs of Krishna Kripa. The stairs there make a rickety-rackety noise, thanks to one or two metal plates nailed to each step. Inside the house, there would be Aatya going about some work. You co...

After a series of periodic blogticles in July, there is suddenly a lull. Nearly half of August has come to pass, without a single blogticle posted on my blog. So, for the sake of the lull, i have commanded my pen, um, er... my keyboard to head somewhere ; where, I know not. A lull on this blog, nevertheless, there was quite some activity on elsewhere. Aai-Papa attended the interview, and got the US visa. They have started planning to come to the US. Here, I too have started ramping up a bit, in preparation for their arrival. Also, the East beckons in mid-September. Travelling for pleasure too brings forth its tensions. The packing, the journey, the need and urgency to see what all there is to see, the stay away from home. Talking of Home, 'Home' has become a thing of mystery now. I do not know whether to be happy or sad in this regard. I do not really know what to call my home now. Should I be calling Mayoor (Dadar) as my home. Or is Elite (Bangalore) my new home address. Or is...

I do not know how I intended this blogticle (that's the term I have coined for a blog article) to be... When I started to write this one, I might have wanted it to describe a weekend I would consider to be ideal. Now I do not know what has been churned out. Anyway's here it is... I leave office earlier on Friday. Thus starts the weekend celebration. (Not to say if I went early to office). I come back home. Then I have a cup of tea (with milk - the Indian way), and some snacks. Doritos would be ideal here. After freshening up then, I would head down to any cafe, or say Starbucks, to start the winding down. If it was Erlangen , one would probably head down to Bogarts, or one of the streetside cafes at the sqaure front of HauptPost, and savor a Wiesenbier or two, over the next hour and half, preferably with a juicy and tasty Vegetarische Baguette. Somehow, the sandwiches, and burgers I have had, were infinitely more tastier in Germany than anywhere in the US. I don't know wha...

At 9.45pm, I was standing in my balcony, watching the last light of the day fade by ever so slowly. And yet, at this time, when night has long past approached in other 'normal' parts of the world, a waft of heat instantly drove me back into the house. The concrete of the balcony incessantly radiated heat as if it was his moral responsibility. It was 44 degrees Celcius yesterday. The highest so far this summer. It is getting worse than even most parts of India, I seem to know. A trip to Walnut Creek and back at 6.15 i n the evening yesterday, left me not comfortable even till morning next day, i.e. today. Some people feel strange that I am not used to the heat, coming from the orient. However, that I am not used to is a fact. It is a veritable torture to venture out (whether walk or by car) any time of the day. And this thing continues till August-end I hear. Anyways, there would a letup in this heat wave after the weekend, as per the Weather channel. So let hope for the best fr...

How many times must have we said ''How Time Flies By" ... so much that it might need to be categorised lower than a platitude. But time does fly supersonic, and every time we pause to realise it, we are far ahead in time, from where we were, well, just a little while ago....! Yesterday, 17th July 2006, was my Grandpa's 99th Jayanti, or Birth Anniversary. Implies he would have been 99 yesterday, starting 100. He passed away when he was 81. Implies 19 years have passed since he left. 19 YEARS...! And it seems like not much time ago... But it is. I have vivid memories of Nana, as we all used to call him. He was absolutely a very meticulous and disciplined man. He looked after himself almost till he breathed his last. Making his bed. Going about his daily ablutions, that included neatly cleaning his set of dentures. His discipline and meticulousness helped him in tiding successfully, times, which were not at all that affluent. He, at times much earlier, performed two jobs,...

It is the wild fire season in US, and particularly California... There are more than a dozen wild fires going on the rampage right now. Wild fires spring from a variety of factores like the high temperatures combined with dry grass, and sparked off sometimes by lightening too. And if the fire is more fortunate than the affected area, it is fanned by high winds. In all the national park areas in the US, we have the fire danger probablities displayed for the day. Here is an interesting picture I took, when I was on my way to Los Angeles, on the I-5. I don't know how exactly this grass fires was triggered off, probably by a truck which seemed to have exploded to smithereens. But it sure had spread over a huge acreage. And the fire services had a hard time reaching it bypassing the long-weekend traffic. In this photo, the haze developed by the smoke from the fire, interacts with the exhaust trail of a gone-by airplane, and combined with the setting sun, proves to be a very interesting ...

Me and Mugdha completed 6 months in the USA on the 5th July. A significant part of these six months, included setting up new processes for yourself in another country, and taking up new initiatives. With these six months, I also overtook the maximum number of days I have stayed abroad earlier, which was precisely 180 earlier, including the days of travel. These six months also included our first Wedding Anniversary. Also Mugdha's first birthday after our Wedding, Birthday; this day we spent in touring San Francisco, and yes, a cruise on the Pacific by the Golden Gate Bridge was included :-) . But, believe me there is a huge difference in six months in Pennsylvania, and six months in central California. More about this in the next blog.