Welcome to Bollywood

This week has been a Bollywood bonanza for me. When I go out at night to popular restaurants, pubs, clubs, or hotels, most of the time I have no idea who the individual members of the gliterrati are. They all just feel like part of the scenery. However, this week I knew who I was standing next to. In the encounter pictured below we had been dancing at a fun club located in a high end hotel. While standing around trying to figure out where to go next, we noticed this guy walk past us. i didn't realise who he was until the swarm of people pictured here pushed me to the outer edge of the crowd. This is Sanjay Dutt. The last movie I saw him in was Parineeta, which also featured Saif Ali Khan.



attempt #1




























attempt #2

helps to be tall :)



















The other person i ran into was Hrithik Roshan. I was eating ice cream at an outdoor mall and i noticed the NDTV camera crew waiting around. So, I sat near them and ate my ice cream very slowly. a crowd was gathering from the door of the restaurant where he had dinner, down two flights of stairs, along the sidewalk which divided around his car and the all the way out of the compound gate. where i sat was bit apart from the crowd. i wanted to see how his mad dash would happen. when he walked out i realised that it was a publicity stunt. he was wearing a black tanktee and a black trench coat type almost-cape and aviator sunglasses at 1o o'clock at night. he has a new movie coming out called Krrrish in which his supernatural character wears a Matrix-style black outfit. unfortunately, i didnt have a camera on hand to show you guys a pic of the crowd.

In nyc celebrities were not noticed in this way often. in mumbai more people are star struck. i wish you could have seen the crowd's anticipation. people had their camera phones poised to take pics for at least half an hour.

minibreak

Recently i went on a weekend getaway trip with some new friends. I had food poisoning or something for most of the trip, but actually loved my time there. i didnt realise how much i need some time away from the city. Now that we're back I'm feeling like i have regained perspective with regard to why i am here. My thoughts about career have been dominating my thinking lately, which is why things like my writing have fallen to the wayside in the past six weeks. Getting away even for a bit has helped me move closer to letting go of the niggling details and keep pushing on with the big picture.

So, here are some pics from the trip.



'Princess and Crazy Frog': Any time with these two is a trip.

Heave ho: While waiting at the jetty for the ferry to arrive, i watched the indian miitary run practice drills nearby.

The beach at Manori: This place is just across the water from a suburb of Mumbai. Less than an hour's drive away and it's a different reality- no cacophony of honking horns, too many vehicles and people.


Travellers' Paradise: The bungalow we stayed in.

mid-year letter

Lately, i've been "cocooning" and i have actively started to think about wedding arrangements. This is mostly because people have started booking their flights. Turns out the way Kodavas wear their saris (see engagement photos) is now in fashion for brides from various communities. wedding consultants and stylists ask women if they plan to wear their saris the coorg way or their traditional way. that seemed more interesting before i wrote that down.

i was googling today and i found out that an indian television network formally bans its new anchors and correspondents from wearing "indian" clothes on air. that kind of baffled me. 'india' as brand seems to be a theme these months. i think this has to do with working in media. every paper has an image and a demographic they try to reach. it really feels like a business. i never thought i would work in a corporate environment. this is probably the closest i will get to working in one.

the weather is actually lovely. knock on wood. i did buy my plastic shoes thanks to a friend who called and said, "it's going to raaaaain! we have to buy shoes TOday!" thanks to her, my feet are gross-free. while it did rain, it has stopped. i think they were some pre-monsoon showers. the streets did clog, people did wade through water in some areas- the city isn't yet ready for some heavy duty rains that are supposed to hit us later this month.

As for cocooning, i think all the noise around me is fraying my nerves so i seek refuge in books. i started reading The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. I really like his way with words. his words are well chosen, but grammatically off key sometimes. Still, he elucidates images and draws histories well in all of his work. it's a stark contrast to that other book i just finished.

my sister is back home, which makes me think my "trip" is over and i am now aware that i live in mumbai. i realise this as i miss wedding after wedding, two friend s are having babies, some are going through very hard times, and i can't be there for impromptu road trips, marathon phone conversations or surprise visits. thankfully my transition to life here has been relatively smooth and i am getting to know people i have always liked and i am meeting new people that teach me interesting things, make me laugh, and help me out in every way.

yike, almost 4am! see ya when i see ya. ;)

pull out the plastic shoes

So, I wrote the previous post one morning.

That night-

the clouds burst,

thunder and lightening did a litte dance.


Hello, Monsoon.