Making out is in the air... literally!

Woke up this morning to a persistent, rustling noise. Upon investigation, it turned out to be two amorous pigeons doing the nasty outside my kitchen window. Coming upstairs from the cafeteria after lunch, I spotted multiple couples (pigeons, of course) dancing their almost human courtship rituals. Which makes me wonder, how come I've never seen a baby pigeon in my 3 years in Mumbai?

A bitter sweet story

A piece of chocolate so sweetly given. Little kids on the street pulled at my arm till there was no way I could've eaten it without feeling like scum-of-the-earth. I hope I get another.

Waiting for the rains

A few more days of this heat and I'll be just a puddle on the floor. When will the skies get gray and shower us with some love?

Vada Pav Mornings

I keep forgetting that the ubiquitous vada pav is the staple food of a rather large segment of the population in Maharashtra. And I keep getting reminded of that fact by the old couple sitting at the Churchgate station every morning, eating their meager breakfast from an old newspaper parcel. The old woman can't see, so its usually the old man who looks at me as if I am an intruder into their peaceful, if humble breakfast. I remember thinking once that if I were poor, I'd at least hold on to my dignity. I usually turn away from his eyes, embarrassed and ashamed as if I am trying to bruise his dignity.

Everybody starts out young, with a rather socialistic approach to life. And then we grow up into hardened capitalists out to get the bigger, better deal. I am no different. I am the typical hypocrite who thinks I've absolved myself with annual donations to CRY and that's that. I console myself with pseudo intellectual thoughts such as the fact that perhaps all forms of life are inherently capitalistic (seriously!). I'm usually pretty effective at turning a blind eye, but at times I am unable to escape that feeling of shame. And the old man with his vada pav reminds me of just that.

Isnt this true?

Another forward, the ones in italics are the ones I specifically find true :)

Things that prove you're a Bombayite

1. You say "town " and expect everyone to know that this means south of Churchgate.

2 You speak in a dialect of Hindi called 'Bambaiya Hindi', which only Bombayites can understand.

3. Your door has more than three locks.

4. Rs 500 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.

5. Train timings (9.27, 10.49 etc) are really important events of life.

6. You spend more time each month traveling than you spend at home.

7. You call an 8' x 10' clustered room a Hall.

8. You're paying Rs 10,000 for a 1 room flat, the size of walk-in closet and you think it's a "steal."

9. You have the following sets of friend: school friends, college friends, neighborhood friends, office friends and yes, train friends, a species unique only in Bombay.

10. Cabbies and bus conductors think you are from Mars if you call the roads by their Indian name,
they are more familiar with Warden Road, Peddar  Road, Altamount Road .

11. Stock market quotes are the only other thing* besides cricket which you follow passionately.

12. The first thing that you read in the Times of India is the " Bombay Times" supplement.

13. You take fashion seriously.

14. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

15. Hookers, beggars and the homeless are invisible.

16. You compare Bombay to New York 's Manhattan instead of any other cities of India.

17. The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.

18. You insist on calling CST as VT, and Sahar and Santacruz airports instead of Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

19. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

20. Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.

21. Being truly alone makes you nervous.

22. You love wading through knee deep mucky water in the monsoons, and actually call it ''romantic'.

23. Only in Bombay , you would get Chinese Dosa and Jain Chicken.