Heartbreak

No, this is not about a failed romance. This is about adult life. It's about your best friend getting married and you being unable to attend her marriage because, work. It's about going from "can't-wait-for-the-big-day" to "so sorry Pappu, I cannot reschedule this 😢". It's about spending sleepless nights remembering every moment you have spent with your crazy pal, then replaying the entire conversation they had with you about them getting married and then rehearsing how you are going to tell them that this work thing has propped up which is killing you!

It is breaking my heart into small pieces and then breaking those pieces into smaller ones. Stealing a few minutes from work to watch the live-stream of her wedding, I notice how pretty Amma looks, laughing throughout the ceremony while holding a rice cake or something.

Can't help but think about how for a happy life one works and sometimes misses out on like the happiest moments ever because, work. Woke up this morning, looking for a Harry Potter portkey to touch and be transported to Hyderabad for the Reddy wedding. Tried to divert my mind saying career is important, so you gotta work work work work (Rihanna style). Got fed up with the fact that stars and muhurat decided her wedding date and it's not on a weekend. Remembered that my brother got engaged on a Monday and married on a Tuesday, but worked (from home) till the previous Friday.

While my brain plasters the broken pieces of heart with all this contemplation (=jhootha dilasa), the wedding live-stream and live commentary of my gang-mates on WhatsApp acts as the true medicine. God bless technology! And God bless Mr. Reddy- who now has a lifetime of Mounika's PJs to live with 😃.

Highlights

Last year was full of great experiences for me.

1. Got my first job in the first week of the first month of 2016.
2. Completed my education of 21 years. Out of the Student Zone :D
3. 45 days of summer in the USA. Alag hi duniya hai!
4. Worked in Sales in slums in Mumbai rains. Mentored by some really good people at work. 
5. Made my parents proud and re-lived the two greatest years with Gang at convocation at NITIE.
6. Was part of a Facebook Page and responsible for a few real hilarious (& viral) posts.
7. Met my sister-in-law-to-be. 
8. Attended my roomie/bestie/suar niece/kinda-like-my-big-sis Ipshi's wedding.
9. Developed an interest in cooking and explored(ing) food joints in Pune.
10. Continued to be inspired by dad, who now embarks on a new phase of life post retirement.

2016 certainly had many milestones. But one of the fondest memories remains when my mother spent 10 days with me in Pune ☺ 

When My Mother Came to Visit Me

Thursday
I asked her before falling asleep, "Mummy ap karogi kya kal pura din, I'll be in office and you'll be alone".
I live in Pune-a stint of 3 months. I live in this small place of one room, an unfurnished kitchen and all the neighbors are my age, working or studying. The rent is one-fifth of what there is in Mumbai and I spend half my day in the office and rest of it by sharing bed with my laptop. I have figured it all.
"Tu chinta na kar. I have my iPad :D", mom replied with a smile. Wow, she too has figured it all and better.

Friday:
"Hello mom, I'm having lunch. Apne kha liya?", I WhatsApped her from the office cafeteria. "No, I'm sleeping. Tere message ne neend tod di. Ab nahane jaungi".
This was a 180° U-turn in events. Usually mom would call me from her work and I would respond like this from my college hostel's bed, which was very uncomfortable during nights but heavenly during afternoon lectures.
After dinner, mom asked me to play her favorite movie Kabhie Kabhi on laptop. God, I love that movie too!

Saturday:
"Vinti, doodh ubaal diya hai. Mug de daal du". I handed her two beer mugs. Why do I have beer mugs? Let's just say they are Rs.29/- a piece and it wouldn't hurt to break or throw them away. Yes, let's just say that is the reason :D
In the evening, I took her to Rock-On Concert, sponsored by my company. "It is Farhan Akhtar's movie", said mother and I nodded. She loved Dil Chahta Hai, and she maintains Farhan Akhtar is a better director than he is as an actor. Anyway, it was an evening well spent.

Sunday:
After talking about a 1000 different things, including the very irritating idea of "Tu boyfriend bana le, hum teri shaadi us se kara denge happily", we talked about the concept of "Urban Poor". I told her about how the world is now mostly about showing how 'happening' one's life is on Facebook. Although she's a tech-savvy mom, better at gadgets than I am, thankfully she's not on Facebook. It's a proud achievement, given most people her age are hooked to FB. We talked hours and hours, and I couldn't help but smile. For someone who goes to bed at 9.30 pm, mommy chatted with me animatedly till 1 am.

Monday:
The background story here is that Mom has a 20 day vacation post Diwali which she spends every year with her parents in Delhi. But this year she decided to spend some 10 days with me. Meanwhile, my father's company has sent him and a few others to the company headquarters in Dehra Dun. These are the employees who are nearing retirement and it's a week long program on "Happiness After Superannuation". Basically moh-maya se dur Himalaya pe gaye hain.

Dad called and talked about how lovely his day was. He spent the day with people like him, who have spent 30-35 years working, taking care of families, worrying about bills and taxes and children's education and career and marriage and what not. They all now have to 'chillax', be healthy and happy. Yep, that's Himalayan talk. And he is really looking forward to this.

Whereas, mom and I spent our evening e-window-shopping, something neither of us are interested in. I have never shown any interest in anything girl-like and she always buys sarees from unke jan-pehchan k logo se. But this exercise turned out to be fun, as we basically laughed at every customer review. I'm stating this: Customer Review sections and YouTube comments are the best sources of comedy :P

In between watching old movies, talking about US election, being horrified by pollution in Delhi and enjoying mom's cooking, I realized how both my parents are living a great life and that just makes me happy.

My modes of transportation

It's been 20 days since I moved to Pune. From my past experience in this city, auto-rickshaws should be avoided because auto-wallas scam you. But after 2 years and 3 months in Mumbai, autos had become the mode of transportation for me.

Of course Mumbai has the local trains too but I have ridden a local like 4 times in all. Each time- against my will. No, no one forced me in a bad way, but there were situations where only local made sense. And it was always with friends. Whereas autos in Mumbai, I ride with an ease. A similar ease that I have developed for cab rides in Pune. I can take a cab alone and I can share it with total strangers. For someone, who feels like a stranger with her own first cousins (except a few of them), many of her classmates (from all the schools and both the colleges) and all her neighbours, travelling everyday to and fro across the city with total strangers (2-3 new facesa day) feels like a big achievement. To her it does.

I used to be the person who didn't even have any cab apps in her phone until a few months ago. Yes! Well I did install Uber and Ola and Lyft so that my friend and a classmate and elder brother respectively could redeem a discount on referral. But after the free rides, I never used them; in-fact uninstalled them right away. Why? Because I had my family's car or the autos to go about anywhere. My friends used to call the cabs when too many of us had plans and too less autos were around. But, I hated riding cabs then. Since I was the fat one, obviously my seat was the passenger seat, cutting me off from rest of the gang who would sometimes crack jokes that never reached the front seat. Silly reason, I know. But necessity and new city have changed the way I look at cabs. They are my lifeline now-a comfortable and affordable commute. Just like when I thought I would never travel in a bus until I had to one fateful day.

My engineering college in Surat was some 4 hours train ride away from home, Ahmedabad. It was just before Diwali holidays, when some girls in the hostel mess were discussing how they couldn't get their train tickets confirmed and would have to take a bus. They lived in other states of the country, some 12- and some 24-hours away by train (Ok I admit, I don't know distances in kms and so I use number of hours via train to judge how far the cities are). They had no choice but to take a bus trip home and I very bluntly said: "I can't imagine sitting in bus for even 1 hour!" That same evening, I went to the railway station, to catch my train to home, which got cancelled. Engine Burst. True Story. Now, I had an option of boarding general coach of another train because hello, it was only four hours journey. But, I didn't. Right opposite the railway station was the bus stand. With 3 suitcases and 2 bags (girls travel with a lot of luggage), I didn't want to enter the crammed general coach of some train which would leave some 5 hours later. Instead, I ran towards the crammed state bus which was leaving in another 5 minutes. And after standing for 6 hours straight in that bus, I knew I can ride any bus.

Also, when I went to Delhi last weekend for a family function, riding in a cycle-rickshaw was really a trip down the memory lane- memories from when I was a little girl, going to school in the open air cycle rickshaws, wondering how kids travel in suffocating matadors, vans or bus. And yes, of course when we moved to Ahmedabad, I went to school in a school bus, which turned out to be the hub for school gossips and pranks. Yep, whatever I eye-roll at today, I will end up doing it tomorrow.

So this is Me. Living in different cities and embracing their modes of travel. And since I'm an indoor person, so only when I travel or commute is when I really look at the city. I look at the roads, the graffiti on the walls along with resumes of local hakims and propaganda of local politicians, the electric polls and a hundred wires on them, the trees, the people. 

Movie Review: Happy Bhag Jayegi

I have to admit I never really thought I would watch this film. Of course I didn't know it had my favorites Abhay Deol and Jimmy Shergill in it. I had no idea about the plot either. Needless to say, I went in with minimal expectations, only because it had gotten good ratings and I was bored of sitting at home.

The Review:

• From Rohit in 'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai' to Raja in 'Tanu Weds Manu' to now Bagga in 'Happy Bhag Jayegi', Jimmy Shergill excels at being the man who chases the leading lady, who is supposed to marry him but who wants to be with her love. 
• [Spoiler]No matter what, Bad-man Bagga chases her in the entire course of movie only to end up being the good guy and smarty pants local politician, who lets the girl be with her love. Jimmy has mastered the craft of being this guy, in all these previous movies and in this one, with excellent dialogue delivery and powerful acting.
• Ali Fazal plays the sweet looking lost boy Guddu, who impressed the feisty kudi Happy by playing 'tuntuna' in college and being the ultimate hopeless romantic. 
• Abhay Deol, clad in kurta and jacket, looking every bit suave, plays the role of Lahore's political leader "Janab Senior" Javed Ahmed's son "Janab Junior" Bilal Ahmed, destined to "change the history of Pakistan". 
• 'Happy'ness has arrived in Bilal's house, in a tokra as a token of love from sarhad-paar India. To save his family's reputation, his engagement to Zoya- his childhood friend and to help the crazy gal Happy reunite with her lover Guddu, Bilal brings India and Pakistan closer through his very own little band of faithful servants, fiancee Zoya and a funny cop Usman Afridi.
• Momal Sheikh, who plays Zoya, has such a pretty face and acts with her eyes! One of the best roles of the film. From being the rich and confident girl of a big businessman to being a headstrong fiancee of dad's pet Bilal to helping out in making Happy's love story a success, while her own love story is headed for a failure, the character Zoya definitely makes a mark in this film. 
• Piyush Mishra is the helpful, funny and self-confident cop Usman Afridi. It's a very relate-able portrayal of a common man of India/Pakistan not wanting to be in Pakistan/India, not wanting to even eat the other nation's "namak" but ultimately knowing that the neighbour is just like us. 
• Afridi's dialogues are funny, giving us delightful doses of Urdu.
• The Punjabi tone and situational comedies make the film a fun watch.

Battle of Bambai ki Barish

Red Ikea Umbrella, Pink Guess Tote-Bag and Black Bata Chappals. All the weapons she needs in this Battle of Bambai ki Barish.

Umbrella, because obviously!

Guess' bag, as in this corporate world, impressions matter. Her chic firangi purse is a tool of psychological warfare. Atleast that's what she thinks. Female colleagues look at it. Some try to match it the next day with their Esbedas, while others enquire its origins: "Link Road se liya?" "Nahi, Los Angeles se", she replies with an air. Conversations about her trip to LA happen and someone narrates their holidays in Paris and Pataya. It's a continuous war humans have against each other in order to validate how happening their lives are.

Bata Chappals, because in her Sales stint, in Mumbai slums, in the rains, no other footwear can survive.

(1)
It is a bright sunny day. The MBA graduate, Ms. Vendetta Kumar, in her new kurti and with an enthusiasm that only resurfaces at the beginning of new things- first day in college, first day at gym, first day of internship and now first day of job-finally catches an autorickshaw that would take her to the marketplace in shanty locales of Malad.

"Good Morning Vandita! I'm Sudhir. Welcome to Team Force. Suno ye Vandita Madam hain, yahan training ke liye ayi hain".

 "Hello madam". "Apse mil kar bahut khushi hui". "Kitne din ke liye ayi ho yahan?"

This is the only time Vendetta heard Sudhir utter a sentence, without a cuss word or a fake compliment. Sales is all about gaaliyan and taaliyan.
But this is not the last time the salesmen tried to treat her like an uninvited watchdog from the Corporate office.
As for the rest of the sales-force, Vendy is just like all the good looking trainees who come every year, struggle initially and then after some time act as pretentious pros.

(2)
5.5 km, 45 minutes. "This is the fastest route", the Google lady says. A mental calculation tells Vendy that the average speed of her auto would be 7.33 km/h. "Wow!", she sulks but makes peace with it. #mumbaitraffic

12 km, 2 hours. "There's unusual traffic on your route". "Awesome!", broods Vendy as she's about to have a bout of headache.

Leaves office at 8 pm. Reaches home by 9.30 pm (it's a miracle!). Has a family dinner in a classy Bandra restaurant, where she reaches by 11.15 pm. There's great food and fun cousins, so she ignores the nausea she's feeling. Back home by 1.30 am. "Oh, can I bunk office, like we bunked college ?" is her last thought before falling asleep.

Leaving for home at 7 pm. It's raining and no autowala wants to even look at this drenched lady who is obviously desperate to catch a ride. Uber-Ola have this insane 3.7x surge pricing. Travelling in locals is not Vendy's thing. Maybe a BEST bus. It's 7.42 now and finally an auto agrees to oblige the woman with lal chatri, whose tears are mixed with the raindrops, a saving grace for her. 9 pm, she's home and heads to the toilet. Is it nausea or just hypochondria?

(3)
Day 1: Vendetta posts a photo on Instagram: "Besties, at Palladium Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel"- with Ira and Malvika.

Day 7: Vendetta updates her Facebook status: " Tapur Tupur...pitter patter... tip tip barsa paani <3"

Day 24: Vendetta WhatsApps Ira: "Babe, I really wanna see you, but it's raining heavily :( Let's catch-up some other time".

Day 46: Vendetta tweets: "How can people find rains romantic? Rains bring mud puddles, mosquitoes and the walls stink. #fedup #mumbairains".

Day 52: Rashi calls Vendy: "Vandita babe! I'm in Mumbai, let's meet ya! Sherry ko bhi bulate hain.. girls gang reunion!! :D"

Day 53: Vendetta concalls Rashi and Sherry: "Girlies, count me out. It's flooded outside my place. Kab tak ho Mumbai mein?"

Day 61: Shashank surprise visits Vendy. Saturday Night. Date Night. Marine Drive, bhutta and barish. Rains are romantic again :) So this is how you win the Battle of Bambai ki Barish :D

Day 70: "Acchoo!" Vendetta bunks office takes a sick leave. The Rains rise again...

Trip Diaries: 45 days in USA

My first international vacation

For someone who didn't have a passport less than an year ago, my first visa is of the USA. And before this spring, I had travelled in an air plane like 2 times. As a baby!

In a sentence, the 45-days holiday at my brother's place was pure fun.

The daily temperature ranged from 7 to 28 degrees Celsius. In winters, it's negative.This image sums up the weekly weather. So pack your clothes wisely. A mix of every season wear. Or you know, pack lightly and shop stuff, make the retailers happy :D

One point: Chicago is called the Windy City, and it is the windiest. My friends on Instagram and Facebook have seen the chance good pictures, but most of the unpublished photos have my hair defying gravity. So many kodak moments :P

On the way from airport to home, I noticed a few things.

1. Left-hand drive, as expected.
2. The houses are horizontal, unlike Indian 'kothis' that are vertical. With lawns. There's so much land and so few humans. Lesser people, no litter. And American hobby of lawn-mowing and gardening really shows. 
3. There's a McDonalds, a Dunkin Donuts with Baskin Robbins and a Starbucks at every nukkad. 

Shopped at many retail chains. Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Sears, Macy's, JC Penny, Best Buy and of course Walmart.

Note: Everything in USA is a big SKU (jargon alert). And has many SKUs . Saw giant onions (so big, you buy only one onion). And three-four different kinds of onions. From 5-6 different nationalities. Same with other vegetables and fruits. And other stuff.

The people hold the door. No GoT reference. Basic courtesy in their everyday lives include holding the door for the next person, be it at the building you stay in or the mall. It takes like 3-5 seconds but it's polite.
The people love their pets and love their sports. Every weekend, a train form suburbs to Chicago is packed with Chicago Cubs supporters: gangs of teenagers cheering loudly or dads with their sons and daughters wearing the team jersey or ladies guessing the odds in favour of their home baseball team.

Speaking of weekends, people can take unlimited train rides to and fro Chicago for $8 each weekend. Made great use of that in the long Memorial Day weekend :D

Went on road-trips to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and Holland, Michigan. Took a flight to Atlantic City- city of resorts and casinos, across the Atlantic Ocean. From there, took a bus to New York City, which by the way, is another world. Took a road trip across New York state, to the Niagara to Philadelphia to Washington DC to back to NYC.

Lake Geneva was the classic TV/movie scene with people picnicking at the beach, sunbathing lying on the grass and ships and food and breeze.
While Holland had its Tulip Festival, with heavenly blooms in all colours.
Niagara took my breath-away. But they say, the view from Canada side is THE view. So fingers crossed, one day I'll see the better of the best falls :)
Philadelphia was a touch-and-go for me as we spent only so much time to see the historic Liberty Bell.
Washington DC is different from all these. It tells you that it's the nation's capital, it means business. All buildings grand, and government's. Saw the White House. And black helicopters. Took a cruise to see all the notable, historic buildings of DC. Visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean Memorial. Went to the National Science and Aerospace Museum.


And then NYC. The people, they are running. The roads, they have traffic. The walls, filled with graffiti. The skyscrapers, kissing the clouds.
Times Square-One World Trade Center-Empire State Building-Manhattan-Brooklyn-Statue of Liberty-Wall Street-Broadway.

Foods/Eating Places I explored
Buffalo Wild Wings:Sports Bar- chicken, beer, sports
Chipotle: Mexican- great rice bowls for vegetarians and non-vegetarians, affordable (my fav)
Garrett's Popcorns: a Chicago favourite
Giordano's: Chicago's famous stuffed deep dish pizza (you can't eat it all alone)
Quizzno's: Subs- good veg option
Tostada: Mexican, another veg option
Panda Express: Chinese (love the tangerine chicken)
Chai-Tea Latte: Starbucks' Indian tea offering
Oberweiss: Ice-cream
Rocky Mountain: Ice-cream
Steaks N Shakes: I tried shakes :)

And then there's Chicago: my summer home, Windy City, Navy Pier, Skydeck on 103rd floor, John Hancock Observatory on the 94th, Lake Michigan, Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Chicago Bean, Magnificent Mile, areas where Gotham City is based on.

So many memories. Mid-West and the East Coast, check. Next time (hope): LA and Vegas baby :D