Not being able to delete certain music from your player for reasons even you can't explain, even though you are sick of listening to some of those songs over and over again.

Does this happen to you too?!

Its also that time of the day (night) when my stomach is growling for something slightly better than sandwiches, pizzas, subs, egg bhurji..and I hope you get the drift. That's the time when I desperately wait for a miracle from some very enterprising women who have transformed the way a Kitchen functions.

Bombay and the people of Bombay (viz. the maid, my aunt, canteen walas, roadside vendors) have ensured that my palate of tastes expand to include some of the following delicacies, which I obviously would not have discovered in any other part of the world. 

Non Veggies of the world, its not really THAT sad that all of what you'll notice below will be vegetarian. Veggies - Rejoice

First up on my list is Dal Pakwaan: If you have a Sindhi friend, which most people in Bombay seem to have, you'd have probably tasted this dish. I first tasted this at the insistence of my cousin in Pune, more so because I had never tasted anything 'Sindhi'. Deep fried crispy savory 'Pakwaan' is served with regular 'chana ki dal' cooked with tomatoes, onions and spices. Some spicy green coriander chutney is served as a topping for the Dal and your're set for a lazy Sunday brunch at home. That's Dal Pakwan for you - and as my new found Sindhi friend puts it - its the yummiest Sunday meal.

So as much as a love hate relationship I share with her, I must say that maids, when they want and if encouraged enough, can rustle up yummy stuff. 

Jowari Roti and Besan Bakdi (stuff I didn't even know names of) are latest additions to my favourite meals. Jowar roti is self explanatory. Besan bakdi is a sort of gooey besan preparation tempered with veggies and spices, served hot with the roti. Sheer Yum.

Not a big fan of Maharashtran cuisine, I'd definitely make an exception for Puran Poli and Amti. The former is a form of sweet paratha, with a filling of jaggery and sugar if I'm not mistaken. The latter is like tangy dal. (If you people are looking for references/recipes/images, kindly utilise God's Own Google) 

Makes for superb hot dinner.

Last on my list would be, Dal Khichdi. Every small restaurant in Bombay will offer this basic hot meal. A combination of hot dal and khichdi, with some ghee, you can't fill yourself with something yummier and healthy if you're eating out on a daily basis. 

Ofcourse there's always wada pav, and my favourite thing in the world - Pani Puri. 

Though, has anyone ever wondered why women like chaat so much more than men?

 

Hope makes people see something fascinating, something which they would like to believe.

Its the best fake support you can ride upon.

No wonder, everybody likes a good hope story.

It doesn't matter if it is full of gas.

Plain to purple.

More mindlessness.

Silly things you do.

Silly things.

---

Bah. Ok. So do men really notice all that jazz women do? 

I mean they don't even know anything about makeup slash nail art slash smokey eyes slash new earings everyday slash whatever it is that women do to supposedly look nice slash appealing slash hot slash pretty. If a poll was conducted how many men would know all of this? Ofcourse since the whole metrosexual jazz has come in, maybe men know more. Or they've probably read Cosmo. But does it make any difference? Men! Stand up. Tell me if it makes any difference! 

Cause if it does, how many men are doing nice things to themselves to look hot slash appealing slash charming slash cute slash dashing?

Then why are all the women in the world prancing around all done up? Feel good factor? Fine, but with such a lot of effort wasted how can you feel good? (with no man doing nothing in return)

Oh one compliment and the day is made? Ok. Then how do men do without compliments?

Strange.

Sure I'll do my nails. And see if it makes any difference!

---

I should have kept that leaf I crushed while watching TV, before leaving Goa.

When I thought. So I did. What I did. Now I do.And I don't think. So I'm doing.

The problem with desserts in Bombay is that they're not YUM yum. Like they're edible, but not YUM. Maybe they don't make it with love.Or eggs. I don't know.

Its not easy to replace the phrase 'I don't know' with other silly phrases like those beginning with 'Ok Hang On'

Sometimes when I get to hear/get a glimpse of what I was, the loud (well different person), and how i've become the (yuck i don't know how that happened) sobered down person - I really don't know how to react. If someone showed me a video of me 5 years back I'd feel jealous maybe. Or hide my face and drop my jaw and say 'shucks that was me?'

Would you shop most for the person you fight most with? I do :P Sometimes I think its the noisemakers who get all the attention, and the rest of us are plain idiots.

I try not to fall for too many brands (considering I know everything evil behind them) but there are some brands that have just crossed that evil barrier and made themselves utterly desirable. Argh.

Sometimes traditional food rocks. Or as long as I am unaware about the ingredients that went into whatever caused that delicious yumness.

When I go to cal, I'm going to visit the doctor. Or dentist. Maybe both.

(Why am i writing that here!)

Its 12.38 am. I sound like my mind is talking in real time.

Do other people also think in terms of status messages..

Okayy S.t.o.p. Now.

Tumi Kai Karat - What are you doing? (this sounds like bengali and gujarati mixed)

Kashas tu - How are you? (Courtesy, ex roomie, who used it to greet her dog)

Uh.

Thamba  - Forgot what it means.

So I definitely don't understand Marathi to save my life. I wouldn't even know how to say 'I don't know Marathi' in Marathi.

People say its a crude language. I agree, I guess. Not that I understand. Yikes. I have been called loud/shrill too. That's not crude is it?

Need to save my hindi from being tarnished though. Main karegi/ bolegi/ nachegi/ maregi.

I think my next post should be in hindi. Good pure hindi.

There are times you wish you had not written anything.

This is one of those times.

and maroon port wine. 

Better than whine.

Sadly, temporary.

More temporary than you or I thought.

d r i f t.

Sometimes I feel weekends just fly away. 

I am beginning to believe that Doctors are the world's most conveniently ignored people who are only remembered when something goes amiss, yet they are chuckling away happily in one corner over a hell lot of paranoid patients, charging them a bomb and when you finally realise you're one of those patients as well, they just shove pills, prescriptions and treatments in your face and you can't help but turn flabbergasted. And all this with only word of mouth advertising.

And I am yet to come across a man who will be able to endure as many medical problems I have seem women face. 

Ok so I am on a secret mission to destroy the world. Or myself. Uhoh. No secret no more.

* that is the name of the book I'm currently reading. Its about Gods. Applause.

How did that happen?

Really.

I don't even have an answer. 

Or maybe..its not true.

I'll walk past you without thinking, twice.

Smart customer service from Pani Puri wallah: Giving you a handful of chanachur to munch on while he makes you wait. 

(But bad pani puri sort of dampens the experience)

Bombay reduces patience in a person. It tends to give you this weird feeling that if you're slowing down or waiting, there's something urgent that you're missing out on. Its good and bad. But one may miss the 'doing nothing' phase. Or one may not. Depends.

The autowalahs are obviously the best face readers you will ever come across. Even before you utter a word, they can figure out where you want to go and refuse even before you ask them!

To be continued..sometime when I'm not droopy eyed!

More than watching Kaminey, the story of how I managed to watch Kaminey would make for an interesting piece of conversation, but then again..more than a conversation, visuals would have done better justice. Unfortunately or fortunately..somethings are best in the moment. 

As for Kaminey, it probably deserves another watch. More so for missing the first ten minutes. Montages, realistic cinematography, some kickass performances..if you enjoy Vishal Bhardhawaj's cinema..quick, slick, realish. 

Use of old hindi movie songs along with the background score is done, but still stands out, its how one does it, I guess. And it works..its timed very well, and seems to go with the scenes. Piggy Chops looks like a Maharashtrian to the T. If she walks on the roads in Mumbai like that, she'd never be recognised. 

Shahid Kapoor has overdone his body. But he is the cream of Kaminey. Especially with the 'main F ko F bolta hoon'.

Watch out for the shot of crows before a montage, in the second half of the film. I still can't get over that shot. Sheer awesomeness.

I hear you banter 'mein kar legi/mein bol dega'

I walk by you stores and paan wala dukaans sitting proudly adjacent

I observe as the bright mismatched bais and street kids cross my way

I concentrate as the road gets un-Bombay like

I feel the breeze on the Sea Link

I cry with your traffic, as the dahi handi celebrations block my way

Your journey with me.

You're an open secret. Some clutter. River like.

For as long as you are.

I've noticed that when you don't know certain people, its possible to separate certain layers they mask

I've noticed that blame is what people avoid, more than work

I've noticed that worry can be cancerous

I've noticed my droopy eyes, as I write this. 

A petal that shrivels 

A wing that flaps

A bubble that reflects

With a 

toe that curls

and a palm thats warm.