From the weekend...

Mithun is my hero of the month! He narrated over the phone how he intervened and helped a foreign gentleman recover his stolen money from a gang of pickpockets in Mumbai. Calling in the police and personally negotiating an understanding with the thieves  that handing over the money would avoid more trauma to all concerned, he facilitated a memory to be carried back of our country that didn't have the typical ending of getting gypped or scammed as its conclusion. Knowing what to do and doing it right, is always commendable....so take a bow Mithun, we are so proud of you.

At the Collective Studio we hosted a prose and poetry reading by Anahite Contractor on Saturday the 25th of February. In the quiet of our living room with scented candles and the diffused light of our paper lamps, she held enthralled an intimate audience, some of whom had driven down from Ahmedabad especially for this event, as she brought our experiences to meet with hers.  Read from scribbled writings on ruled paper she holds the old word charm of writers and their problems with technology, as she recounted to me her troubles with a her printer misbehaving!

I went with my girlfriend and her mother and aunt to see Ek mein aur ek tu.... liked the light frothy humour of a film that was simple and with no heavy message as its agenda. Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor are really good actors who know what stepping into character is all about. This young girl however stole my heart many moons ago with her determination to excel in the industry. Don't necessarily go for the zero size figure obsession, but love the gumption to succeed on her own terms that makes her a winner all the way.

Am booking my ticket in a few days to go to Amsterdam in June to visit Karishma who is currently at the Rijkes Academy. The planning is always the greatest fun. Seven days together to wander about and drink in the sights and sounds of the city and its culture. We had a Skype chat that went on for a long time.....where we talked about many things related to travelling; most importantly about belonging within temporary spaces and the requirement to understand how to negotiate adaptation without relinquishing ones 

integral identity.

Am faithfully doing yoga these days.   Everyday till hopefully my stiff body yields to find a flexibility it needs. I like the way yoga stills my mind to concentrate on an expansive nothingness. And the breathing exercises heighten ones consciousness,  leaving one feeling alert and awake even more than one already is. Am off to swim today. Montybhai the life guard at the pool looks at me with pathetic sympathy as I flay about the pool, gasping and plying back and forth in the shallow end like a whale with an overdose of steroids! So tata-bye-bye....I am off to conquer the calm waters of the pool anon!