Goodbye Mumbai. Hello Chennai!!!

Familiarity. Certainty. Security. This is what my home is to me. Venturing out and living in another city was an adventure I wanted to embark. The first time I left Mumbai for a prolonged period of time was 2 years ago. TCS trains all its new joiners in Trivandrum for six weeks. I looked forward to that trip. I enjoyed the six weeks thoroughly. I was sad to return to the normal life in Mumbai again. At that point I did not know what was in store after 2 years.

I applied for a transfer. The process was taking its own sweet time so the D-day looked far away. Suddenly everything fell into place and I was moving out. This time, permanently. I wasn't thrilled. Fear and uncertainty dominated my mind. My heart was aching. I couldn't look directly into my mother's sad eyes. Travel to the airport was mechanical. The check-in and boarding was no different. The realization came when the flight took off and I saw my beloved Mumbai from the sky. I knew that this was my final tear-eyed good bye to the city that has been my home for more than 23 years.

Chennai has always been my second home. Actually its my birth place. It’s been a week since I have been living here and I am already complaining about people and traffic the way I used to in Mumbai. My friends insist that my accent has already changed, which I know is not true. The familiarity is beginning, certainty is returning and security is strengthening. With passage of time I am sure this will become my home.

Shantaram contd...

There are two ways to live. One either follows all the norms and does the right thing or one can fight and live life the way one wants to. Majority do the former. Exceptional few fall in the latter category. Gregory David Roberts is an exception. He has penned down a part of his life in a book which goes by the name Shantaram. I finished the book a week ago.

When he landed in Mumbai, he was a wanted criminal on run. The book describes his 8 years of life in Mumbai. In the first year here he lived in a village for 6 months and was given the name Shataram by the mother of his tourist guide, Prabhakar, who later on became one of his closest friends. He is not known by this name in the city. Yet Roberts decided to call his book Shantaram. Probably because it’s more Indian than Lin, the name by which he is actually known. Incidentally he is names Lin by Prabhakar.

Initially, he lived in slums, made his living by commission in the drug and black money market. Then he joined Bombay mafia, fought in Afghanistan, spent some time in Indian jail and also fell in love with a German.

The book is very huge but fast moving. In all it’s is an interesting book. If you love reading, go for it.

A pierced nose

I was always fascinated by the diamond stud my mom wore on her nose. From past many years I also wanted one. I expressed my wish to my mother. She discouraged saying it’s not worth it & it’s very difficult to manage. In our customs, just before marriage a girl’s nose is pierced. My mother had to go through it against her wishes so she is biased about it. I mentioned it to my aunt. She shared agreed with my mother. I left it there.

A few months ago, I brought back the topic. She didn’t react to it. Yesterday, we happened to visit a jewellery store. I asked her again. She started to persuade me against it again. But a long argument & a mild tantrum later, she agreed. I got my nose pierced. It was painful for a few minutes.

Now I am getting used to a foreign object in the otherwise plain nose. I love it. Hope my opinion will not change with time.

Lonavala

My parents decided to celebrate their 25 years of togetherness in Lonavala, which is a small hill station near Mumbai, with the entire family. So around 12 of us left for lonavala on the 10th of July. Lonavala is around a 1 ½ hour drive on the Mumbai - Pune expressway from our place. The road is very laid, so the car can be driven at more than 100 Kmph. Its monsoon season in Mumbai. It was pouring during most of the drive. The hills were covered with clouds and the weather was incredible.

The resort we had booked for our stay was on a hill. The road leading to it was damaged badly due to bad maintenance and heavy rains. The view from the room I decided to stay was that of the hills far away. We went to the bushy dam after lunch and a little rest. It was very crowded for a weekday. Mom, I & my cousin S went in to enjoy the cold water hitting our back. Later my aunts joined us. We spent the night playing cards and pulling each other’s legs.

The sunrise marked the 25th year of marital bliss for my parents. Also this day last year bomb blasts killed hundreds in the local trains of Mumbai.

A swim and meal later we went on a drive to the Amby valley city, which is around 12KM for lonavala. We drove through clouds all our way. We stopped at few places to enjoy the wind and rain. Only elite customers are allowed through the gates of the Amby valley city, so we drove back.

Two great days later we were back home to start the boring daily routine again from Thursday. I hope my parents celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in a similar way.

Shantaram

Shantaram is the book that is keeping me busy right now. It’s the auto biography of Gregory David Roberts. I heard many friends of mine discuss the book & praise it. I wrote it on the back of my mind that I have to read it. When I saw the book at my uncle’s place in Chennai, I borrowed it. The book is 936 pages long. I started to read it to just see how it begins.

The first page hooked me to the book and finished few chapters at a stretch. I read it whenever I could in the bus, in the office, and at home. I have finished 1/3rd of the book and I liked it so far. Usually books with very detailed description bore me, but this is very different probably because it is real. The descriptions of early Bombay, the slums, etc are engrossing. I hope to finish this book soon & post a review here.