March happenings

Tomorrow we’ll be saying good bye to March. Where did it go by so fast?

Most of the month went by in Eye drops thanks to the two cataract surgeries I had this month. I’m not complaining – as a matter of fact, I’m thrilled with my new vision.

Friends

Apart from the surgeries, I did manage to catch up with friends from the past: a friend who had come down from the UK and the other from Austria.

As always, overseas friends means that you can catch up with friends whom you mean to meet in Mumbai but fail to do so . That’s because you can always catch up with them any time.

Meeting M is always delightful because she has a contented, calm demeanour which always makes me ashamed of my own hyperactive mode of operating.

This time round I met her twice – once at a lunch which was exquisite – right from the company, the menu and the table setting. It was an old- fashioned lunch (now called home parties) where we experienced find-dining at its best. The tableware was classic, the service par excellence and the whole experience totally relaxing.

The next day I met M again at the club. This time round, it was purely a school gang which brought back memories of school days. Meeting school friends is another cup of tea. When you are transported back to your school days and go back to honest banter.

I keep telling myself that I should find time to be more particular about meeting people because a time will come when it will be impossible to meet anyone.

With Mr. Trump and his cronies waging what seems a senseless war, all of us are impacted by his actions even though we didn’t vote for him. As matter of fact, I am so put off by him and his country that I refused to renew my visa as I have no intention of seeing the parts of the US that remain to be seen.

Actually, how many of us can really see each and every site that is meant to be seen? Thanks to Instagram, everyone feels compelled to see parts of the world. Holidays have become more of what you have seen and what you have eaten rather than what you have experienced.

Perhaps, I shall re-visit my travel posts and write about what I have experienced instead.

But I’m afraid, the posts may not be very flattering always.

Book Reviews

Looking for a book to read?

Look no further.

This month despite my eye surgeries I managed to read three books.

Even though I admire Arundhati’s writing, I have never approved of her activism so I was a bit reluctant to read her book. Luckily, I borrowed it from the library and since it was in great demand, had to read it really quickly.

Even without this, I would have finished it in a day because quite frankly, it is a story that pulls you in. A young family struggling to keep their head above water, a completely dysfunctional extended family and its fight for survival does make a compelling tale. But still, I find some bits hard to digest – I’m sure there must have been a lot of exaggeration. Arundhati’s fractious relationship with her mother seems to me a typical mother-daughter conflict and not as horrendous as she makes it out to be.

Sophie Kinsella used to be one of my favourite authors when I first discovered her several years ago. But recently I re-visited her books and was quite disappointed to find that I didn’t enjoy them any more. I mean when I re-read “Remember Me” , I could hardly remember having read it at all! Similarly when I re-read “Surprise Me”, I had to actually give it up within two chapters as I didn’t find it one bit funny.

Perhaps there’s nothing funny after all

It may be the general global atmosphere that is responsible for not being able to find anything funny and I’m glad this month is over.

As per the political pundits and astrologers, April promises to be another gloomy month, with each day bringing more and more news of doom. So perhaps I should continue with walking, listening to my podcasts, reading books that will more likely than not disappoint and generally hope that things do begin looking up.