Seasonal Whinging

When the monsoons arrive, I run outside and splash around in the puddles.

Yes, don't ask how old I am, I continue to do this every single year without exception. Everything looks green, an average cup of coffee starts to taste better (damn Nescafe ads and the power of suggestion), and even the mud starts to smell divine!

But then I have to travel to work and there's never a rickshaw to be found when it's pouring down. Just before I get into one, a car will speed past and plaster me with water and filth. A couple of years ago it got to a point where I kept a change of clothes at work just so I wouldn't have to spend the day in dirty, wet clothes that would chill me to the bone after encountering the office's Arctic temperatures.

Then the roads will flood and I won't be able to get to work, but will have to make a pretence of it anyway just so I can say I tried, before turning around and crawling back through the immovable traffic.

All of this, and I haven't even started on the state of the trains yet.

So about two weeks into it, I'm ready for the monsoons to be over and done with and wait longingly for the winter (such as it is in India) to come around.

You know, so that I can crib about how cold it is.

But for now, it's *$%#ing hot, people smell a lot, and I'm even more cranky than usual because of the mere 45 minutes I spend commuting from one air-conditioned environment to the other. So even though I'm probably spoiled as hell and going to regret saying this in about a month or so...

I can't wait for the monsoons!

2 by 2.5

It's incredible that after all the shopping, gifts, exchanges and accumulation of things whose origins you have forgotten; your whole life can fit into a suitcase.

I am a hoarder. The postcard my Grandad wrote to me on a flight from Bombay to London. The T-shirt my sister gave me that may or may not have several holes in it but feels like a warm hug. The little pin of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh that has survived four wallets and my penchant for losing small things.

I have all these and I've refused to let go.

But other possessions that I felt emotionally invested in have not been so fortunate. As I've once again upped and moved, I had to be ruthless with the packing. Just the bare essentials, weighed with the practicality of what a girl 5 feet and 3.5 inches tall can lug around.

Not much made the cut into the big black bag.

Which leads me to think, new resolutions are in order. Less hoarding, more recycling and just a little bit more common sense (did I honestly think that the laundry basket was going to move with me?!).

In the meanwhile, there's are still a few summer sales on.

You know, presents for other people of course!

Just Block

You'd think that with the multicultural population of London, it would've occurred to the major chemist outlets in the city to stock what in the rest of the world is known as simply 'Sunblock'.

But no. In spite of the vast number of brown people that live in this city, it seems that none of them want to protect their skin from UV rays during the summertime. That's the only explanation I can fathom for the fact that there is no pure sunblock to be bought in this city.

Geared at the pale folks, there is suntan lotion with protection from UV rays, tanning sprays with 'mild protection', mild tanning with 'strong protection' and even (this is my favourite) 'bronzing sunblock'.

Now, seeing as I am quite happy with the shade of bronze I already am, I just want to find something that will leave my skin the colour it is, while still protecting me from skin cancer. Is that really so hard to do?

In London, apparently so.

Children in Churches

There is no good reason served by taking children to church.

The children are bored, the parents frustrated and the entire congregation distracted. I'm secretly convinced that even the priest sometimes wants the kids to just shut the hell up or leave! So much for the holy environment and all that...

I know some parents have the idea that if children go to church from a young age, they develop a reverence for the place and become accustomed to the traditions of their religion.

Perhaps they're right.

Then again, my sister and I went to church when we were young and all I remember from those times was that my mum's lap was very comfortable to take a nap on until the whole singing, praying, bowing heads bit was over. I don't think that quite equates a reverence for Catholicism. Then again, that's just me.

In a perfect world, and by that I mean the world where I ran things the way I wanted to, anyone that did not understand volume control could not enter a church.

We can all agree that children have no concept of appropriate voice modulation (some adults don't either, but lets not deviate from this present subject). Therefore, until such time that they do, church is a no go.

Unfortunately, the church I frequent does not subscribe to this theory.

I believe it is time to look for another parish.

Home

I'm almost convinced of it - I was born to be a city girl.

Any place that has people walking with some sense of urgency, lots of lights and bustling activity, reassuring traffic noises, a shop around every corner and I feel instantly at home.

So while I may love the eye-candy, the fact that I live with people from over 10 different countries, the convenience of the Tube and the acres of beautiful parks, the reason I really love living in London is because it feels like I never left Bombay.

Let me introduce to you to...

The concept of the pavement.

Everyone in Bombay is well aware of the fact that if we're walking anywhere, it has to be on the road. Primarily because there is nowhere else to walk. Middle, Side, Edge of the road, or gutter - the choice is yours. While it is annoying to drivers that they have to look out for random pedestrians aside from dealing with crazy truckers and road rage addicts, they accept this as part of life in the city.

However, the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) has spent a substantial amount of money over the last three months to construct pavements in Bombay so that automobiles and pedestrians will no longer have to share the same space.

Since the pavements are built over the gutters, this presents a drainage issue during the monsoons. And since they've used paver-blocks instead of good old concrete, the pavements are about a foot and a half (if not more) higher than the road, making it extremely inconvenient to hop on and off every time the pavement ends. Now, while I admit that most of what the BMC does defies all logic, there are certain areas where the pavements are more than usable. There are no sunken areas, no gaping holes, no major height difference from the road level and no large branches obstructing the path. I know this because I walk on the pavements in these areas, and I am still alive and well.

So now, when I am driving my car and there are people in the middle of the road, I am going to slow down and look around to check if there is a pavement in walkable-on condition. If there isn't, I will slow down and make impatient noises while waiting for them to manoeuvre themselves out of the way of oncoming traffic.
But if there is, I'm going to accelerate and may God be with them.