Mumbai to Balewadi

I have come to national insurance academy, Pune on a number of occasions earlier. Off the cuff i can recall programmes on health insurance, IT appreciation, finance for non finance,counselling skills, corporate governance seminar that i had come here earlier for.Every one of those programmes were very unique and enjoyable. Yes, I enjoyed playing badminton those times, enjoyed the kitchen free evenings/mornings, enjoyed the company of other colleagues, enjoyed the morning/late night walks on the beautiful lawns.Enjoyed classes? Yes, to some extent, but then the classes were a necessary prop for the real enjoyment which took place outside of it.
But today was special. I was not attending a programme but came here as a guest faculty. I had made up my mind some years back that i have been a participant enough number of times and i want to be on the other side of the classroom in NIA. I have just finished my session and am resting before leaving for mumbai. I enjoyed being in the classroom this time!
The road from Mumbai to Balewadi was picturesque and had those unique shades of green that one can witness soon after monsoon on the western ghats. It was a feast for the eyes and i over indulged myself to the full.The bald rocks sported green topis, skewed at an angle reminding me of dev anand and his rakish angle hats that we used to fall for in those days.The tunnels were quite a few and as i have never done this stretch on road, I was looking forward to each one of them. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, is a phrase which kept popping up in my head everytime i entered a tunnel. The weather was perfect and we kept a steady pace. We did it in a little over 2 hours. It is bang on the national highway and the bold letters on the tall water tank in the NIA compound did help matters.
I enjoyed the trip, I enjoyed interacting with lady managers from all the insurance companies and i enjoyed chit chatting with madhumita, the course coordinator and a very good friend.

Today morning our maid arrived at 10 am advancing her visit by a full 5 hours. She said she has to attend parents teachers meet at her daughters schoool in the evening, and can we accomodate?I was pleasantly surprised.
My mind went on a rewind and browsed the various excuses servant maids have been giving me. I remember in the distant timeframe, they used to be the doormats and would have been bashed up by their drunken husbands the previous night. They will have innumerable ailments for which they dont go to the doctor but take time off from work.
The next evolution was of servants who are at their husband's beck and call. He will order that she need not go for work today because of some silly domestic reason. She has to fulfill all extended family obligations of birth, death, marriage, house warming and the ubiquitous 'coming of age function'. He will carry on his work nevertheless, which mostly will be puffing beedis at the roadside shop!
All of them have a pained and hangdog expression pasted on their faces. Not that i blame them.I never even thought much about it, as i was hardwired to think servants = long faces.
But then it is quite different here in Mumbai. She comes with a bright face; wears good clothes, well stitched blouses and brings a handbag along! No dirty plastic bags which my servant maid used to carry, having all odds and ends. This lady has a handbag, right and propah one; dont mind that it is made of rexine, and not leather. But it is a decent handbag and when she comes in, you would feel like asking her into your drawing room.She charges 800 rupees for washing clothes; only clothes!It is really four times pricey than it is in chennai, and why chennai, in Santa cruz, andheri, malad, you name the suburb.
But then i am told the steep price is due to ias officers dwellings in the neighbourhood and they have a retinue of servants and are entitled to huge overtime and also servants quarters. They are so pampered that it has pushed up the rates for servants in the locality! Does it have any logic; not much, but this is reality.
But, if she charged me 800 rupees and came with a dirty plastic bag and a hangdog expression, i am not entitled to cut her salary, can I?
So, i am saying, I am happy i see a happy face everyday in neat and tidy workclothes and professional demeanour. These are my freebies!

I was channel hopping yesterday afternoon, after a siesta and cup of tea courtesy muthu.Happened to stop when i saw some music wafting from podhigai tv. It was a programme titled, isaiyodu naan. It featured a mridangam artiste prapancham ravindran, interviewed by an anchor person, who was well tuned into music. It was a change. She was pleasant mannered and that is a second plus. She was actually calm and composed and was enjoying her role in a very sober manner and that is a third plus. She was not upstaging the artiste and was actually asking relevant and interesting questions. It was a phone in programme and the way she was deftly toggling between talking to prapancham, and tuning in to the callers. I rated her excellent as a vj and immediately when i saw sun music and the jarring vjs that they come up with, it is what yasas will say "in your face"style of anchoring a programme.
Give me podhigai tv anytime ; or is it perfect for a post tv soporific afternoon fare!

Missed by a whisker! Hairline

athai has been a bit under the weather last few days. She said she slid and fell on the ground while she was getting into bed a few days back. I did not take much notice as she was moving around and to top it all, came gamefully to the movie programme with us last sunday morning show. Yes, you have guessed right, it was for 'sivaji'.It is a longish movie of well over 3 hours and she relished the movie and the pop corn, so I indulged her but ignored her protestations of pain. There was obviously no swelling in her back where she was complaining of pain. So pain balms were applied(!) and one patiently listened to her as she hooed and hawed!

Things came to a head on Monday when she declared that she needs to see a doctor as the pain is unbearable.So off we trooped to the doctors, and the racket she created there was scary!The doctor dutifully asked for an xray.We went to lady ratan tata institute in colaba.I was surprised that we need to go to a hospital for an xray,whereas in adyar, you have a diagnostic centre in almost every street corner. That aside, she scaled even greater heights in drawing attention to herself in the radiology dept.There were actually 3 attendants in row for her and all commisserating with a senior citizen.They took xrays from different angles, and told us that there is no fracture, or even a hairline one (thank god!) , but were foxed why she was complaining of such excruciating pain. The attendant asked me to use pain killer in the spray form that is available nowadays. But they were still nodding their head in disbelief when we left the hospital.

When i read out the radiology report to binni in the evening, she said nothing to worry, ask her to take crocin one in the night if there is pain. Otherwise not much movement, take it easy. Took the report to the doctor and he was surprised that while she is complaining of pain in her left back, there was some small possibly a hairline on her right!It must be a much older one he said!And was smiling when i left him. The only prescription he gave was that she should stay indoors and no gallavanting around town!

With this, her protestations have died down and she says there is not much pain and she is able to sleep well!Prescriptions seem to be working.

Dating in Mumbai

Dont get me wrong. It is this thing about proclaiming how old and dated they are. It seems to be the big thing in mumbai. The other day, prashant went for a hair cut and that shop bang next to churchgate station, says they are serving the populace for the last 100 years! and there was this electronics repair shop and they proclaim to be there for over 50 years!
while i was still wondering about the credibility of this advertisement, I was in for a bit of amusement. Yes, Mumbaikars take things quite far. I saw a small 'potti kadai' where, when the owner sits, the shop is full, and he has to reach out quite comfortably while sitting in a stool, all the wares that are on display and for sale.Farzan pan shop, since 1945!Since this is bang opposite to the net centre we frequent, I see it everyday and it does not fail to bring a smile.

Temple hopping in mumbai

Fanaswadi balaji temple:the latest in our temple hopping in
Mumbai. Bhooma had come calling a few days back and the dyed in the wool bombayite that she is, was recommending a visit to the temple. She said it is a very old temple, a la south indian style and quite nearby, a stones throw from charni road station. Yes. I did know charni road is quite closeby.
So the three of us went marching (by taxi) on a saturday evening. The place was relatively free and we were given prasad of 'pongal' and also laddus!The sannidhis of Venkateswara and Padmavathi thayar were well maintained and also very tastefully decorated. The surprise element was a sannidhi of ranganathar, a miniature version of ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple( yes, i have not been to srirangam, so only this comparison to the temple in adyar can be truthfully drawn, okay?).It was very satisfying to be given the traditional teertham, shadari, tiruthulai, and on a saturday evening, gave us a very good sense of well being. The temple is very clean with verses from the gita adorning the walls of the prakaram and also dasavatharam stories depicted as portraits above these slokas. That the place was swarming with ayyangar vaadhyars in tengalai nammam who gave us very good welcome, added to a sense of fulfilment to athaipatti.It gave her a chance to proclaim, how she hails from patrachariar family!
Two weeks back, we had been to mumbai devi mandir near crawford market. The city is named after this deity and amma highly recommended a visit to this temple. It is in a very crowded area and not only that, the route to the place is also through dense traffic what with muhammad ali road having its quota of handcarts crisscrossing the road. The temple as such is not very large and had gold all over the place!
Mahalakshmi temple is a must visit of course; the location facing the sea is a delight and the way down below the main temple to visit hanumar and vinayaka temples takes one right on to the sea.Have been there on more than one occasion; no car parking available in any of these temple areas, so it is either taxi, or kumar dropping us there and vamoosing, or the driver who keeps making rounds of the street till we finish the darshan. Pedas are offered as prasad here, much to the amusement of prashant, who keeps mentioning it quite often.
We were planning to go to iskon temple today, but kumar is playing hard to get, so it will have to wait. It is quite a distance from where we are staying, so taxi is not a preferred alternative(as such).
Will keep you posted of other visits to temples , including shiva temple at walkeshwar(it is actually malabar hills, but called walkeshwar temple!)