Theatre

I had the good fortune of attending two very good theatre shows in the city - The Vagina Monologues (18 May) and History of India (20 May).

The Vagina Monologues is a world famous play, written by Eva Ensler, enacted in India beginning 10 years back. As Indians, we must make it a point to see and experience theatre of this kind. Indians, because of our mindset and our strong, most of the times misconstrued beliefs of male heirarchy and dominance. For those who attended expecting something base and 'stimulating' it was stimulating, but differently. The enactment had me smiling, laughing, intrigued and thinking when I emerged. Powerhouse performances by all the ladies, topics that now discussed freely - rape, child abuse, discovery and yes, the free use of words like vagina, cunt, orgasms, clitoris, a breaking out of a feudal bondage of thoughts. Watching it at Prithvi was like actually being a part of the conversation.     

The History of India - Virritten - A stand-up comedy by Vir Das was hilarious, to say the least. He has a funny take on everything we hold sacred - the Rigvedas, the Mahabharata, the Taj Mahal, the trio of Lal-Bal-Pal, Gnadhiji, Nehru, Ambedkar. He takes a dig at Indira Gandhi, the emergency, Morarji Desai, Indian films, Baba Sehgal (India's first Rap song Thanda Thanda Pani, wearing yellow shorts so tight, one could actually 'count the sperms'!!!). He leaves no one  - Bengali's Sardars, Gujaratis, Parsis. Surprisingly, he has no funny takes on Tamilians, keralites or anyone south of the Vindhyas. Vir Das is constantly improvising, interacting with the audience, making us look at the funny side to History as was always there - the usual Indian reticence smothering it. A refreshing look at History. Again, a must watch.

Theatre leaves you with the feeling of having experienced something stupendous, an effort that has no re-takes, a right there-or never situation and the wonderful sense of involvement.  

            

Mumbai Musings

Nearly a year since I last wrote. Am I losing it? The touch I mean, not my senses! But I guess this mad city does this to you. Mumbai leaves you gasping for breath. But first things first. In August 2011, Sona surprised me in the morning one day when he told me I had been posted to Mumbai. What??? The initial sense of wonderment gave way to dismay and then anger. Protest was not going to help. As it is, there had been this niggling feeling that people were manipulating my entry into Mumbai. I have this propensity to look at the Sunny side of things. I saw this as a professional upgrade. But Archana saw it as a mega-ton disaster. She had her views - of being picked up from a merry carousel and left on the sidelines. To Aadya, it made no difference. Anyway, here we are, in Mumbai, since Nov 2011. Professionally, I couldn't have for anything more satisfying. But personally, everyday, or rather, evening, is a constant search for recreation for the family. But then, this is giving us the opportunity to explore the city. Where else would you see a roller coaster that covers an entire floor, including an 'O' twist? Anyway, this city has been a part of our lives from my childhood. This time I get to actually stay in it an experience its myriad moods and colours, the fervour of the Ganesh festival, the hustle-bustle, the 'couldn't-care-less' attitude and the angst, ours included.   

Parliament Visit

20^th May 2011 – Aadya’s first visit to the seat of Indian Democracy, the hallowed portals of power – the Parliament. It was a hot and sultry afternoon. This time, Abhay and Daksh accompanied us. We traveled in comfort to the Vijay Chowk QRT in our car. From there to the Parliament in the bus. To make matters worse, the AC was not functioning in both the houses. The trip had been planned for families and children. The House was not in session, but we got to observe both the houses from the Visitors Gallery and the central hall from within. Aadya had a great time in the central hall, running around between the benches, fiddling with the switches and knobs meant for MPs. Little did she have an idea that she was in a place from where Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had given his famous Independence speech, a place from where the greats of Indian Polity have run our nation. (Of course, we must discount the fact that Kalmadi, Raja et al are also part of this lot). But of course, for Aadya, it was but a lot of benches she could hide behind, a big hall where she could scream and hear her own voice being echoed and generally create a ruckus.

From Parliament, we visited Chandu, enjoying the cool comfort of his AC and having photos clicked from his new NIKON Coolpix L120. He’s promised to procure one for me. Keep watching this space for photos from my new NIKON!! (That was for Chandu and Mark). Bhawani dropped in on our way out. Another photo session in the car park.

First Metro Ride, BMW

On the 17^th of May, Nagender rang up in the morning, informing me of the exhibition of BMW’s concept car in a showroom at Connaught Place. We would be going there by Metro. I agreed and decided to take Aadya along. This would be her first outing alone with me and in the Metro. I was apprehensive initially. I had no idea whether she would enjoy herself or not, whether she would throw a tantrum or remain calm. Anyway, Nagender also took along Abhay and Sankriti. Boarding the Metro, Aadya enjoyed looking out of the window, enjoying the cool interior, her good friends along and of course, the company of her dad! We had to search around a bit for the BMW showroom, stopping enroute at BOSE. The car was a marvel, sleek and stylish, gleaming exteriors and well made up interiors. For Aadya, the main attraction was the mehndi on the hands of one of the salesgirls. She kept running around, with no attention towards the car! We returned in the afternoon and a short siesta, it up and running again, to Ambience. I must admit, the stamina that God imbibes toddlers with is amazing. Their enthusiasm, their curiosity and their alertness towards the wonderful experience of life is worth emulating.

Vacation April 2011

Going home has no longer got the attraction of days gone by. Friends are busy, days now seem longer. But this was aadya's first vacation and the only redeeming factor. She enjoyed herself on the flight to Pune. Cabin pressure and ear popping seemed so much fun. She smiled and laughed at everyone behind our seats. Our house in Pune is now much larger after the reconstruction. Aadya had a great time roaming around and playing in the garden outside. On our trip to Nagpur by train, she insisted on meeting everyone in our coach and then, tiring of it, wanted to go to the next coach too. She had a couple of spills, resulting in a bloody mouth and nose, but this didn't seem to deter her.

This was also the first time she travelled by local bus - Arshad's place, Poona House and Shyam's place. She enjoyed the breeze, the crowds and the general hustle-bustle. In Nagpur, we saw her get into her first fight. Divyansh pushed her to the ground over a fight for toys, to which she quickly retaliated by scratching and then biting him. They continued fighting till we intervened.

Aadya has now started given up crawling. When we left for Pune on the 5th, she was doing both, crawling and walking. Now it is purely walking, although she seems to enjoy the occasional crawl. I could go on and on. Her antics never seem to tire me. How innocent and pure childhood is, bereft of worries and anxieties.

Yeh Cup hamara hain

Team aise hi nahi jeet tee... What a win. What a memorable afternoon - evening. This World cup shall be all the more memorable because we watched it together with our families - Nagender, Tyagi, Sunil, Ajay and of course Anam. We watched the India-Pak semi final also. The only difference between both was the drinks being downed. In the semi-final, the pakistani wickets came with the pegs being downed. Anam nearly reached the hospital, trying to get all the pakistani batsmen out. Yesterday, we began as usual. But as with Pakistan, our wickets started coming down with each peg. We stopped drinking till Dhoni finished the game with a six! It was a heady feeling. I don't remember the 1983 World Cup. I don't even remember having watched it on a TV. This time it was different. We watched it on a multi-media projection, courtesy Ajay. Lets hope India and supporters like us can put together the same act next time, in 2015, when we beat the Aussies in Australia to lift the Cup once more.

It was also the first world cup for our Aadya. Here's looking forward to her celebrating many more such Indian triumphs!

First Baby Steps

I returned home as usual at around 1830h on 14 March 2011 after my workout. Mom and dad had gone to the park for a walk. I was changing when I heard Archana exclaim, 'Chal rahi hain!' I rushed out towards the living room to see Aadya take her first few tentative steps towards the kitchen. She was equally surprised with the attention and sat down to resume crawling. We have been trying to make her repeat this feat today. She is taking a few steps unassisted. I am sure she should start walking by the end of next week. It has been long overdue now. The walker from Mrs Patil has also helped.