• Yesterday evening while walking down Marine Drive I saw groups of young people with green and white balloons and a banner that said Happy Mothers Day. Since I feel Mothers Day is total hype I was curious as to what the balloons, banners and people were all about. I asked a young girl what it was all about and she was equally vague : she told me that it was a Lens Flare Project and that they were going to release balloons in different parts of Marine Drive to celebrate Mother’s Day. What was the logic in that? I wondered .

    It was way past the appointed time and the balloons were still not released so I wonder how the balloons looked in a light quite different from what was planned. Cool as it sounds, I wonder what was the connection between balloons and mothers day. A symbolic breaking of the umbilical cord? Flying high into the sky leaving your mother behind? Happy to be away from Mother Dear? Finally breaking free?

    I would love some one to elucidate.

    What trash is Mother’s Day? 

    As for mother’s day. I think it is all humbug. What is the point in remembering your mother on a generic day when you don’t really think about her the rest of the year? The papers yesterday were full of cheesy thoughts one of which really made me gag ” Because God can’t be everywhere he made mothers.” Come on get real. Are mothers everywhere? Besides even a neonate whose mother dies at birth can survive. So what Tommy rot is that! Children are strong and don’t need mothers to survive. In fact the moment they enter this world mothers are superfluous. Motherless children get  more sympathy and help from others than those with mothers. Mothers in fact become a hindrance and a nuisance.  Mothers of the world should unite and revolt against this ridiculous idea of being irreplaceable. This is just a subtle way of making sure we don’t abandon our children and remain tied to them the rest of our lives. We don’t need to be commemorated or celebrated on any day. We don’t need candies or flowers or mushy silly messages saying how great we are. Stop perpetuating this marketing drivel and wake up to the fact that mothers don’t need to be commemorated in this idiotic way.

    Having said that, I am grateful to my own mother and am happy that she is around. But I  never ever wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. I think of her every day and thank her for being there for me. And the best way I can thank her is to emulate her example and  try to live my life in a way that would make her proud and happy. I hope she is glad to have me in her life.

    Thanks mom for being you.

  • May Magic Mumbai

    People often feel that the best time to visit my city is in December when the weather is cooler. That may be for all the snowbirds who want to sun themselves in hotter climes but for everyone who couldn’t care less about the temperature, I’d say May is the best time to be here. While the rest of the country except for the hill stations , is sweltering in mind boggling temperatures , Mumbai is less hot. Although it is muggy and sultry, it is nothing a cold shower can’t fix. Because this is truly the best time to be here – the roads are almost empty, the shops are almost empty in fact the whole city is almost empty. It seems as though a cool breeze has blown everything out of its way, leaving the city clean and empty.

    With all the schools closed  most families have abandoned the daily drudge to enjoy tailormade holidays outside Mumbai. Those with country homes go to the country, those with relatives whom they are still talking  with go to visit them and others simply go out of town to broaden their horizons, chill out in  resorts, spas or simply just go”abroad” . Whatever it is, I’m not complaining. I love the empty streets without traffic snarls and school buses lumbering slowly up hilly roads. I love empty swimming pools and empty shops and even empty cinema halls without screaming kids.With hardly any customers coming their way, shop keepers are more than eager to help so even a humdrum experience like shopping is not a chore that leaves you frazzled and tearing your hair as you try to get a word in while the shop keeper is multi talking to different customers at the same time. So,

    I love Mumbai in the summer
    I love Mumbai in the rain
    I love Mumbai any time of the year
    Even when the kids come back again!

    But Mumbai in May
    Is the best any day
    With mangoes and ice creams
    And walks by the sea

    My May magic Mumbai
    Is hours by the pool
    Coconut water
    And days off from school

    It’s hot and it’s dusty
    It’s muggy and still
    But it’s illogically magical
    Delightfully whimsical
    My May magic Mumbai
    Calm , peaceful, tranquil.

  • It was really after a long time that I enjoyed a weekend. Partly it was because Anna Shetty was home for a two day break.  We spent the two days doing nothing much: just relaxing and catching up with all the odd jobs that needed to be done, eating mangoes, baking in my new oven and just being. The best part was a visit to the art galleries where we saw an exhibition of Badri Naryan’s paintings on show at the Viewing Room, Colaba.

    I love Badri Narayan’s style which is simplistically complicated. And I love the Viewing Room which is one large white room on the top of an old building on Colaba Causeway. The huge walls and sheer size make picture viewing a sheer treat .

    Badri is getting on in age and finds it difficult to produce the paintings as effortlessly as he did in the past – but the works on display still show his characteristic attention to detail and the sheer fancifulness of flying unicorns and crowned kings. I love his bit of whimsy rooted in ancient myths.

    I discovered a new art gallery yesterday – This gallery has been around for many years but I only got to know of it last year. Maninder Dawar who runs India Fine Art Gallery at Film Centre Tardeo is the only dealer of Vaikuntam in Mumbai. This gallery too is well appointed and easy to visit with ample car parking which is rare in this city of Mumbai.

    Vaikuntam’s strong images of Telangana people are unusual and striking. The bright, vibrant colours capture the essence of his people – traditional, strong  and earthy.

    These two shows currently in the city by two senior Indian artists are indeed a treat to the eyes as welcome as the rain clouds gathering  slowly in the sky .

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started