Cooking is an Art, Goa is heaven and there isn?t anything better that a chilled bottle of beer on a summer afternoon right after you have spent three hours in the blazing sun?

And how do you manage to do something that magically combines all these three and still remains real, affordable and lasts for more than a mere moment??… well go to Goa in off season of course !!

I admit that these memoirs are a bit stale now? I having visited Goa in late June. We had gone there for our ?Honeymoon?..( this is somehow one of the corniest words invented)?

The cost cutting had started fairly early? with us having booked tickets on the day Spice Jet debuted on the Indian skies. Everything was planned for, the hotel, the travel arrangements, the finances? but even then we barely made it from Lucknow to Goa?

One cancelled connecting flight-detour on an international liner from Jeddah-7 hour wait at Indira Gandhi International- stale sandwitches for breakfast-lunch-tea & dinner later? we finally found ourselves circling above the clouds at Goa?

And trust me, it was all so worth it?

The weather was moist, and the ground smelt of fresh rains when we landed. It was not our first trip to Goa.. but definitely the first one during the monsoons

An hour long ride in the hotel cab brought us to our hotel on Cangute Beach. The rooms were fine, but a bit further away from the sea than we would have liked. The next day? we moved to a Cottage, right at the beach, next to the lagoon created by the Baga creek

We could here the waves as they crashed on the shores a stones throw away from our doorstep? spraying salt into the air?.

There were hardly any other tourists at Baga? the only joint open was the trust Britto?s? serving us with steaming platters of seafood and thick bottomed glasses of whiskey? well a correction here? I ate the seafood? she is a vegetarian? Gastronomically, Goa means endless plates of Daal and Rice to her. As Obelix would have so aptly said? ?These Vegetarians are Crazy!!?

So we had our rented Activa, and 8 days of doing nothing ahead of us. I do not know what made me happier then? the thought of being in Goa again? or having made it through a two day ordeal called a Tamil wedding in one piece !

So we went to all those places where no one goes in June?empty beaches, an empty Inox at Panjim where we watched Parineeta ( loved the songs), bookstalls where we were the only buyers, roads so shaded with palm fronds that you could not see the sun even if you craned your neck.

We got drenched in the rains? on a regular basis, and promised ourselves that before we are through with this world? we will build a house in Goa?. Retire early and teach at some college in Goa

Maybe we will not? and just maybe? we will?.

I post here an email from a friend of mine in London, ah, with her permission of course…

It made me think about a lot of things… thought of sharing it with you folks…

******************************************************

Hi,

Thought was a long time since I heard from you guys…..

I am fine…..its rough n tough in London….and yes the Asians are looked down upon by the Goras here…..but thats nothing new…

Experience dated 17th July 2005:

With the kind of history we share this is part and parcel of the deal. Good we had history as a subject at least I can blame it for my current status.

My friend n me board a bus to a place called Oxford Street. We were carrying two school bags ( with no intentions of hurting people……physically and emotionally)…..but we get the vibes that we r not invited.

Reasons were obvious — We are Asians — We are carrying bags ( could be

explosives) — We were wearing jackets ( we cld be the suicide bombers) — and hence the resentment.

The whole 25 mins journey was an experience of a lifetime…. it made me realize education has not give me a physical identity …….even in developed countries where literacy rate is 85% nation wide people and races are distinguished by ‘the colour of the skin’.

I cant wear a tag which reads I am harmless and educated. If I smile at people trying to prove that yes I am on your side….I get a stare back which reads ‘mind your own business i don’t need that support’…….no one sat near me…….my friend was sitting behind as there was an agreement that both of us want window seats ……….there were English there were Blacks…..there were Asians too……neither the English nor the Blacks choose to sit …….sad but true.

The London bombings have not only taken lives but has surfaced a long dormant problem of………’who belongs to London?’……..The Asian community has a widespread hold on this soil and they belive they are Britishers more than being a Pakistani or an Indian. But the truth they have been hiding for so many years is now open to all……..did London accept them as Britishers?

…… Lets rule out the corporate and the government side of acceptance…..thats what I call global economic politics……its more on a societal level is what bothers me………its a pre conceived notion that a ND generation in London with a British passport are Britishers…..yes legally they are but not on a cultural basis. The Asians here have adapted themselves to behave as Britishers should behave…the mannerism the etiquettes the accent the dressing……. but what abt the genes?? ……the DNA cant be changed can it? ……. The 3 bombers were Britishers by birth what happened to them when they went to Pakistan? ….What happened that changed their lives so much so that they forgot they were Britishers?…….Are we then saying that adapting a culture is not successful?…….May be!!……..In my view…….Its not the Asians or the Africans………its the community as a whole responsible for this behaviour………The British born Asians were never accepted on a society level and this feeling was kept under cover for a long time………….till one such person went to Pakistan and realised he can surface a lot of dirt that this society is hiding………..he wanted to name it Jihad…………he was successful in all respects……..!!……The government said its no a consequence of the Iraq bombing and yes I agree with them….its not…..this is a result of the current condition in which Asian are treated in Britain………with suspicion and remorse…….

The rule of divide n rule ……..devised by the Royalties of Britain……..is now being used by the jehadies……..twist of fate!!……..they wanted the divide to surface……..and it has……..bags would be searched but only Asian people carrying those bags……….Girls with Blonde hair would not be searched but others wld be………..Woman wearing Burkas would have to show thief identity………..can u imagine what this might lead to?….

The death toll on 07/07 was not as high as 09/11 ………. becoz this time the plan was different……its not killing people…….its dividing them!!…..so that the damage can never be repaired. Now what would the government do? What would the British community do?…I guess its wait n watch!!

take care,

Himani

Comments from the past:

s
29 Jul 2005, 9:33pm

sad but specific; not how it is generally. i know i’ve lived in the UK for long.

So begins another day? with a welcome absence of emails in my official inbox. And I can lose myself for a while in the Carnatic Strains of the Morning Raga? the movie. Fabulous music, beautiful scenes and the wonderful Shabana Aazmi. Must say, not a bad imagery to start the day.

Somehow, music always plays a defining role in my life. It was in the first year of engineering college that I discovered that I could escape a fair bit of ragging at the hands of my seniors if I sang. And realizing that I was a not-so-bad singer, I embarked on my first sessions of singing in public.

To be honest, I never was a grand success. I somehow could never keep track of beats. The percussion had a way of getting into my knees and shaking me up from my very foundations. Overwhelmed by the noise my voice would emerge as a high pitched squeak which in the words of my erstwhile room mate ? bore a strong resemblance to Bappi Leheri?
So this went on for two complete years? I being the guy who sang in the Hostel corridors through the year, was hoisted on the stage at any cultural function worth the name? where I proceeded to sing with the drums and Tablas and the dholaks? sounding more unlike myself with every passing beat. So I remained? one of the ?Also Sang?s? in every music competition, sometimes delighted by an occasional ?Third Prize? or a Consolation Prize while the winners pranced about with the real thing?

Then, one day, I walked into Vinay?s room to find him fiddling about with a broken down guitar?. One of the many hand-me-downs from the senior batch that dotted our rooms. Over the next couple of weeks, Vinay had the guitar mended and before the end of our semester was quite playing his C and D cords with 鬡n?

A week before our foundation day, I had a tiff with our drummer, a senior who deemed fit to play the beats with an intensity and decibel levels far removed from the real thing? but a nice chap at that ( one of those after-so-many-years afterthoughts).

So as I sat complaining to Vinay about the unfairness of it all, he cam up with the simple suggestion that if you cannot sing along with beats? then don?t sing along with beats?
Sing with me?

So that was it? the end of my ignominy as a singer and the beginning of a new phase of friendship with Vinay. We practiced songs that we liked? and never found reasons to regret it. I withdrew from the competition and me and Vinay continued to make music, in our hostel rooms, at the college community center? and for once I was happy with what I was singing.

We did perform in public ,eventually, and I did win competitions in the years to come? and Vinay continues to become a better guitarist by the day?.and I still find myself singing ?.. Yet, the music has ceased now.
Me and Vinay , different cities, different jobs ? we hardly meet now. But sometimes when I play that old cassette recording of our songs, he still seems to be there in the room next to mine, strumming away?

Comments from the past:

hs
21 Jul 2005, 9:23pm

Morning Raaga was a great movie. I loved the way they completely changed the songs that i learnt when i was about 13 ..:) ..nice post !

san
25 Jul 2005, 9:20pm

Enjoyed reading your blogs. Like the way you describe Hyd & Pune. One I belong to; the other we are about to move to.

Ashish
27 Jul 2005, 10:17am

Hey folks.. thanks for reading my posts!
And San, welcome to Pune, its a great place to be.. though a bit wet at the moment

So here I am? music on the headphones? surfing the net on company time (and expense I might add)?. a month after my wedding?. Enveloped by a sense of well being that the onset of the weekend brings to all those who go to bed every night dreading that awful ringing of the morning alarm?

The weather at Pune has been fantastic this week?it seems so?. Breezy? drizzling some times? but not too much really? Yes the sky was blue the last time I peeked outside the Grey glass walls of my office.

I believe the days are sunny? I feel the sun when I walk to the food court for lunch.. before returning to the engineered sunshine of my cubicle?

And yes? the sunsets are damn beautiful?. the city is surrounded by hills you see. In fact we have a towering cliff bordering our Company campus itself? each evening, the blinds of our windows turn a different shade? amber? or maybe ? something else?

Its green all around?. I am sure that the grass is wet in the morning with dew? well the gravel on the road definitely is and so are the window panes of the bus I catch in the morning…

But then the day flies by and I find myself home? sharing the evening with her…. sharing the only meal of the day that our careers allow us to share… and enjoy.

She too thinks ? that the weather must have been really fine this week at Pune….

Comments from the past:

hs
15 Jul 2005, 7:33pm

awww..
the weathers horrible here.
horrible.rainy.dirty.cold.horrible

So it has happened…

Radhika & Ashish… man & wife… to hell with the north-south divide !

Seems like a dream to us even now…

God… just don’t wake me up now…

Comments from the past:

drp
13 Jun 2005, 11:43pm

😀

keep flying high mayte!!

congradulations! 😀

Payne

chotacyrus
14 Jun 2005, 7:50am

oops!how did I miss the last 2 posts..anyways congralutations!and have a great life ahead of you!

hs
14 Jun 2005, 9:27am

Its Naad’a’swaram :-p
…
congratulations ..:)

Ashish
15 Jun 2005, 6:57pm

Am at home in Lucknow…. for the second phase of the marriage… the north Indian way…
And yes guys.. thanks a zillion for the wishes.

ae
23 Jun 2005, 3:29pm

Congratulations!!!…wishing u ALL the happiness in life…. 🙂 keep blogging….

ae
23 Jun 2005, 3:42pm

Congratulations!!!…wishing u ALL the happiness in life…. 🙂 keep blogging….

sahil&vani
17 Jul 2005, 2:47pm

Congratulations!!! Ashish & Radhika….n ALL THE BEST for ur life……

Am getting married this Sunday?. How does that sound?

I am getting married this Sunday? three days away? 72 hours? Holy S**t !!!!

Am I supposed to react? or wait for this to sink in as I have been waiting for the last few months?.

Let me see where I stand today? well I have a house.. a fully furnished rented one? not for from Food World or Sunny Wine Shop?. I have an adequate stash in the bank? a phone? a job that pays reasonably well and lets me sleep late on weekends? and 25 + years of my life behind me?

And now?. I will have a wife.

Why is it that the thought gives me a feeling akin to my first experience in the swimming pool? when the coach had pushed all of us 10 year olds into the deepest part of the pool without as much as a by your leave !

So all that I have been planning for?. Working for the better part of last year is finally going to happen. Hey? there aren?t any cymbals clashing or trumpets blowing are they?? Pretty silent?. They way it is for everyone I suppose. Flashes of lightening the way it happens in the good old movies? well can?t see any?.

What I CAN see is that I had a tough time getting a 10 day leave sanctioned from my company? and that the woodwork in my new house needs a bit of polish? and that the Gas Connection is three days late in being set up ?. And that the new maid is saving water by forgetting to sweep the corners in my new home? and that I will probably end up with facial paralysis for having smiled non stop at a week long series of receptions !

Or is it? well the thought of having company for the early morning chai is not all together bad you know? or knowing that the next time I watch ?Gone With the Wind? I can have an argument about Scarlet again? and maybe now I will have some incentive to leave my office that little bit earlier?

Hmmm? that doesn?t sound so bad does it? and maybe I did not mention that I just like being with her?.

Just a thought though? if I am queasy getting married to a decent person like her? I just wonder what she would be going through?.

Hmmmm

Comments from the past:

Stand-Alone Dreamer
9 Jun 2005, 2:11pm

So your random ramblings found a pair of ears to listen to..

Dance, Drink & Celebrate, for everything else is just a mirage!

Dude of wellington
9 Jun 2005, 3:01pm

Dude what r u talkin abt the deep end of the pool, ur in over ur head in the middle of no where with sharks circling, and let me just conclude the final feeding frenzy will begin in 72hrs. Good luck with that…..

Dude of wellington
9 Jun 2005, 3:24pm

Dude what r u talkin abt the deep end of the pool, ur in over ur head in the middle of no where with sharks circling, and let me just conclude the final feeding frenzy will begin in 72hrs. Good luck with that…..

Ashish
9 Jun 2005, 3:39pm

Thanks for the comforting words dude.. really needed them ! 😉

hs
10 Jun 2005, 12:16am

🙂 …
Congratulations.
All the best !!
Its almost like the rest of us here have been through the last 6 months with you ..:)
Awesome !! ..
happy happy times ..:-d ..
ok ..this is when i run away before nonsense takes over !!
*flees*.

Ashish
10 Jun 2005, 12:09pm

Folks… this post has had more than a 100 hits since yesterday. A record of sorts for this particular blog !
Am leaving for Bombay now… Thanks for nice words everyone….

drp
10 Jun 2005, 8:56pm

congratulations maytey!!

may the good times get better…or some such. 😀 :-”

Payne

Born in Allahabad, educated in Lucknow, graduation in Uttaranchal, Post graduation in Maharashtra, first job in Andhra Pradesh, working for a company headquartered in Karanataka, serving a client based in the US, part of a project being executed across 38 countries around the globe, getting married to a tamilian in Bombay…

Geography !….. whats that ??

Comments from the past:

chotacyrus
15 May 2005, 7:30pm

man..arn’t u lucky?
btw,I thot ‘musafir hoon yaaro’ would have been more apt for the ‘current music’column.newayzhave fun and keep blogging!

Ashish
16 May 2005, 10:06am

Well the ‘Music’ is the rate we bill our client 😉
After all someone has to pay for you to go around the world !

chotacyrus
16 May 2005, 4:17pm

ok..thats the music your client is facing!LOL!:D:D

So here I am? Resting in peace in Pune for the last twenty days. In a hotel at a place called Deccan? surrounded by the commercial triangle of the city.

The best thing about Pune is that you take a few steps away from a main road to a side lane and suddenly? life seems to slow down. Old Parsi homes? two storeyed bungalows with the Patriarch in white clothes sitting on the porch fanning himself? Lack of time? Hmmmm

The day goes by the way it usually does, it?s the night that makes you feel all unstuck. She will be in Pune by the end of this month, till then its all a bit of a bore.

In a way I feel kind of proud ?. Having joined the tribe of the traveling professional, of flickering images on late night TV, starched room service and pints of beer for company? sort makes you feel all so ?. Mature??

Amidst all its lonely gloom, the room has a redeeming feature? the view.

My room, being on the fifth floor and the hotel being on a bit of a higher ground; commands a fairly expansive view of Pune. But more than what lies in the distance it is what lies right in front of my window that interests me.

There is a huge Gulmohar tree in front of my window? taller than the hotel building itself and probably older so. A Gulmohar tree is beautiful in any case.. now add the fact that this one is in full bloom at the moment.

Every morning the first sight I see is the undulating swaying of branches covered with fiery blooms right outside my window? sort of makes me feel at home.

Back home? somewhere in dusty old Lucknow, there are Gulmohar trees that I planted, not alone, but along with the girl next door.

Guess they too must be blooming now?.

Comments from the past:

hs
13 May 2005, 3:54pm

Pune does have an old world charm about it.I was amazed to see Pantaloons in a building that had prolly been built in the 1920s. Parking seems to be a perennial problem there ..but it is a neat little city ..:)

Ashish
13 May 2005, 4:44pm

Yes Sir, Pune is charming. You should walk around the area behind MG road… some really old and pretty buildings there !

Ain’t I lucky ? Am going home tomorrow… for a complete week. Its been more than a year since I visited my hometown.. Lucknow. And now, as I contemplate the visit, I realise how much I have missed it.

Guess everyone feels the same way about their hometowns… the streets more familiar than the one you live at today, the food tasting somewhat a bit better than what you usually have, and yeah, the slumber that little bit extra deep late into the morning.

Its a surreal feeling to sleep in the room that used to be mine. The vestiges of my childhood still adorn the walls… framed posters of some European footballers, my badminton racquet, the study table where I laboured for ages over the Unitary method. Its almost like stepping back in time… as the cliche’ goes.

Its been six years since I left my home.. first for studies and now the job, but every trip back home drenches you with memories. The last time I left my home.. I had still been the typical student. A backpack on my back and little cash in my pocket…and yes, all the bloody time in the world. Now, it will be a bit different. Cannot wait to take my old friends out on a treat.. for the first time on MY money… or make an offering at that dear old temple beside the river Gomti…

Guess nostalgia is a pleasure best enjoyed with someone who shares those memories… else it becomes a ramble…

Comments from the past:
mls
23 Mar 2005, 11:52am

Home is where many restless hearts find peace! Funnily its the beginning and also the end of a journey.

— A dialogue in some movie …just remembered it.

Nice post and nicer blog 🙂

Ashish
23 Mar 2005, 1:43pm

Hmm; so does it mean that quest for peace ends where it actually began?
Anyway, thanks for the compliment ! Really means a lot…

syko_ceramic
23 Mar 2005, 10:35pm

interesting!

a symbi guy too, out here on the blogs.
lemme say wat evry1 else is sayin…wonder how i missed this one :p

duly bookmarked.

peace.
syko.

I am leaving Hyderabad.

Before we get married, both my fianc饠and me are taking transfers to Pune? the only place where our respective companies intersect. To be honest, it hurts. For the last eleven months I had been, well almost, a Hyderabadi.

Hyderabad? is like an old shoe? it is comfortable, familiar, fits you just right and you really do not want to ever get rid of it?.

What a place, what a darn good city?. The food, the people, the huge Chiranjeevi posters, the Irani Chai, the Osmani Biscuits, The chicken biryani, the haleem at Ramadan, The Golkonda sound and light show, the recitals at Taramati Baradari, the dosa seller on a bicycle at the tank bund, the Birla temple?.. the Hussain Sagar and an evening just sitting at Eat-Street.. overlooking the water?.

The hours of browsing at Walden?s, the Book Market at Abids on Sunny Sunday Afternoons?. The Lion King on Imax?. The Guitar Shops on SD Road? the rocky terrain at Kondapur, the Marble figurines at the Birla Temple? that crowd of people, talking into cell phones?. Marveling at a clock made centuries ago at the Salarjung.

The Jooti shops at Charminar? displaying rows and rows of colorful shoes? the air permeated with the small of shoe-wax?

The pink chunks of watermelon, sitting on translucent white slabs of ice? the Golden borders of Silk Sarees? housed in the showrooms the size of aircraft hangars,?..chrome yellow autos with green seats and blue ribbons?.

The evening when me and her were caught unawares by a shower of rain beside the Hussain Sagar? or the day when we had that fabulous party at Alankrita Resort.

The night when a very drunk me sang ?When you say nothing at all? at the TDS Karaoke? my last landlord who offered me a plate of kebabs on Eid?

My first job and hell?. My first salary?. …

The day I discovered the Price of a diamond ring? and still convinced myself to buy it !

The day my father and me discovered that dingy little kebab shop at Charminar? and proceeded to make the most of it.

Memories, memories and yet, some more…

My connecting with Hyderabad is not yet over? the division I work for in my company is headquartered in this city? however, come next week, I will no longer have a correspondence address here.

?Random Ramblings? will continue, just that the rambler is moving on?.

Comments from the past:

drp
20 Apr 2005, 7:30pm

all ze very best in this leg of your life’s journey..:) hope you have just as much of everything nice as you’ve had so far…:)

have fun mayte..keep rambling..:D

once a hydi, always a hydi..:D

Payne