Khotachiwadi...

Yesterday we went for a "field trip" to this urban village called Khotachiwadi. I'll admit I was less than enthusiastic about this because in my head it meant walking (on a hot day) through a dusty village but it was actually really cool and it's definitely something worth seeing in Bombay.

It was actually pretty bizarre. It's like this little alley somewhere amongst the chaos of Girgaum with a bunch of adorable little houses and lots of cool graffiti.

Anyway, it turned out that a girl from our college actually lives in one of those adorable houses and so we called her and then she took us to this man's house to have a peek into an antique Khotachiwadi home and ohmyword! The man happened to be some really famous designer - James Ferreira and apparently he let's people randomly walk through his drop-dead-gorgeous little house. It was filled with all this beautiful old furniture and stuff and he was actually there sitting in his kitchen making pickle or something as we actually walked through. See? Bizarre but so cool.

(So I just googled "Designer who lives in Khotachiwadi" and apparently this house is more than 200 years old!)

KGF 2010! :)

February rocks.

Did I hear you ask why?

• The weather is pleasant. Well, in Bombay at least!

• It's the only month that can change it's number of days every four years! ;) And doesn't have the usual 30 or 31. You gotta admit, that is really unique! :P

• A lot of cool people are born in February. For example - Sonu, Grace (tomorrow!), Pipi, Doris, ME (:P) and so on…

• Valentine’s Day. Ummm, okay not really. But it’s just generally a happy day, right? And an excuse to be silly and watch cheesy romantic comedies!

• Sales! I’m not a shopaholic by any stretch of the word but my gran gave me some money to spend and I was thus delighted to find that there are a lot of places that have sales going on right now!

• KALA GHODA FESTIVAL! You know how the Standard Chartered Marathon in January is one of my favourite things? This is another one of my favourite things in Bombay and it’s always even more of a treat for me because it generally happens around my birthday!

Today was Day One (it goes on for 8 days) and so Antu, Sharan and I went and Sonu joined us later with her dad. Basically Kala Ghoda Festival (a.k.a KGF) is a platform to display your artistic gifts; be it photography, fine art, music, dance, theatre or film… It’s organized by the Times of India every February and basically one whole street in South Bombay where most of the art galleries are is blocked off for one week and there’s art on display throughout the day, stalls where you can buy stuff generally made by NGOs, and the evenings are packed with performing arts events at the outdoor amphitheatre. And get this… it’s all FREE.

This is my third KGF and I’m so going to miss it when I leave! In my first year, I had brought Niru with me when she'd come for a visit. She was only here for a few days and we managed to pack in a trip to Pune and Kedgaon so we were exhausted but we still managed to catch the last day of the festival and well, ask her and I'm sure she too will tell you that it really is something! In fact, if you ever come to Bombay you should try to schedule your visit around this time so you can catch KGF! It’s really worth it!

Secretly, I’m hoping that one day when I have a good camera and manage to polish up my amateurish photography skills; I’ll have a display of my own work at the KGF! I'm just waiting for that! Impossible is nothing, right?

A painting of a "Kala Ghoda" (black horse) on the ground...There were still putting together the entrance but isn't that cool? It's made of steel wardrobes welded together!!A random pair of eyes sticking out of a tree!Lots of Global Warming awareness art.

Me and Antu. Waiting for a table at Samovar - one of our favourite little restaurants in South Bombay!

Nothing like a good ol' cup of Chaii!A lamp made of x-rays!There was this huge bell-like thing hanging from a tree...More installment art.This guy was writing some kind of messages on white t-shirts.An amazing photography display...

More installment art.

January is over!

Can you believe that? And we have just 13 more days… Actually, less than that if you don’t count the Sundays… 11 days! Ohmyword! We have just 11 days more of classes and then we’re off for two excruciatingly looong study leave months – during which period, I am going to go mad btw. Be warned. I don’t deal so well with staying cooped up in the house with nothing to do. Yes, I know… I do in fact have to STUDY during the study leave but come on… two months!? And now there’s talk going around that our exams will be in the middle of April as opposed to 4^th of April (remember? This is why I don’t take the University’s word for it!) Ew. That’s all I have to say on this matter… for now.

Anyway, today we were at a friend, Monisha’s place working on a presentation that we have to do next Thursday and well, between all the hard work (:P) we were just sharing stories from our first days of college and how we became friends and it’s just so crazy! Where did the three years go? I mean, I think we’ve done a good job of milking our college life. We’ve done a lot of crazy things but it’s hard to believe that it’s all almost… over :(

I never quite understood why people used to say, “Oh college life is so great, you’ll never forget your college days…” I mean, yeah… but I think when I came here I had the arrogant presumption that nothing could beat my years of school. I went to an awesome school and those years were just so fantabulous. But now I GET IT!! School was great – no doubt about that (and I’m super excited about the prospect of maybe going back there one day!) - but you can’t really compare college life to that. It’s been the best on a completely different level and I’ve changed… Honestly. Sometimes, I don’t even recognize myself! It’s hard to describe but I have changed and I don’t mean to be cocky, but I’ve changed for the better and that’s not at all to my credit. I know… maybe this kind of sounds like an Oscar speech but I’ve just been thinking a lot about these things as college has started winding down… Bombay has changed me. My friends have changed me. And it's all because I didn’t get what I wanted… I got what my parents wanted and I got what God wanted!

You know what I wanted? I wanted to go the US. Or Canada. Or Australia. I basically wanted to be anywhere in the world except for India. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to live in a clean, cool and organized city… I had dreams of traveling to all these exotic places… being closer to all my friends from school… ad infinitum…

BUT I got Bombay. And if you’ve been here you’ll know that Bombay is FAR from clean, cool and organized. It’s exactly the opposite. But I am actually grateful for it beyond what words can express... now! And I am so glad that I have finally reached the point where I understand this. This is why I can get on a train-full of vicious and grumpy “first-class ladies” every morning and still be smiling away to glory... for no apparent reason! Trust me it’s taken me a looong time to get here. I was pretty grumpy myself when all this began!

The point is, that even though it's been a long journey and it's not what I initially wanted for myself, I think it's been the best possible thing. I like where I am now but I'm not so presumptuous to think that I've gotten where I need to get. I'm still a work in progress! ;)

So there are some random “deep” thoughts from the recesses of my brain for you!

Now here’s a random picture… or two!

Firstly, this is my "Mama-Dadu" and me!
He's my grand-uncle and the closest thing I've ever had to a grandfather. Sweetest old man ever!

This is Gauri! She and Jo performed in a dance-drama last weekend and I was planning not to take any photos because when I'm taking photos I get so involved in that that I miss the whole performance itself but I just couldn't resist! These are just a few of the colour pics. I took most of them in B/W but I'll upload those another day...

Joyee!
She did a role that she hasn't quite done before and pulled it off with absolute grace! So proud of you girlie!

Antu, Sonu and yours truly at the performance!
We're all into sarees now! And we actually draped them ourselves for the first time! :)

Happy Weekend All! :D

One of my favourite things...

One of my favourite things in Mumbai is the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and as you probably know, I got to take part in the "Dream Run" this time! It's a 6km race and thousands of people come out and take part. It's a place where you can just be a part of that great "Mumbai Spirit" that they keep talking about (it's true!). All these NGOs and other organisations come out and take part - spreading awareness about a certain cause or simply just to get some publicity.

Jo, Antu and I took part as individuals. It was a totally last-minute thing. I was planning to be there anyhow because I've been there for the last two years as a spectator and absolutely LOVE it but then Sharan and her parents couldn't take part this year so they kindly let us go in their place!!

There are basically three races... The full marathon (42kms), the half marathon (21kms) and the Dream Run. People from around the world (especially Africa) come to take part every year and the numbers just keep increasing! This year the total number of people taking part in all three races was around 40, 000 and you could really see it! It was actually pretty impossible to run in the Dream Run course because there were so many people and it was kind of difficult to dodge them! Anyway, we passed the start line around 9:40am and finished it about an hour later. I had the most awesome time! I took lots of pictures, got the Indian flag painted on my face, got a free t-shirt, free food, my friends were there with me... You get the picture!

Okay, the order is kind of messed up... Blogger really needs to pull up their socks on making it easier to deal with photos but for now, here are some shots from yesterday... in random order!

Antu and I, all flushed after the marathon... Practising our running poses :P Some people at the costume round.. You could get whatever you wanted painted on you for free! The crowd at the costume round before the race started... These guys won the first prize in the costume round! :) Girl power! All set! On our train to VT at around 7:30am Desi girls! :) There were LOADS of people trying to raise awareness for a greener planet. I like!! :) Hee hee! Jo and I on the train... I was trying to get a picture of the crowd. I'm not sure what's with my expression. Lol. Just excited I guess! :) My freebie t-shirt... So as we started walking, this lady came up to me and asked me if I would wear their organisation's t-shirt and I'm a sucker for freebies and well, it was a good cause so I slipped this one on on top of my t-shirt and so yeah, I actually walked the 6kms in TWO t-shirts. Lol. I tried to maneuver out of mine but didn't manage... But they weather was actually not so bad so it was okay! Gauri! She was running with an organisation called 'Laadli' which works to fight against female infanticide and foeticide. Unfortunately, it is a rampant practice in parts of India so you're actually not allowed to find out the sex of your child before birth. Laadli took part in the costume round so that's why Gauri is playing pregnant here! Isn't she just glowing? :) More friends from college! Marine drive... :) Look! I have a number!! :) Antu, Jo and I at Azad Maidan which is the "holding area" for the runners and where the race starts... Wearing our Marathon bands!