Thursday 28 May 2015

Eggs galore

Photo: A. Peter 

Saw this yesterday, on my way back from my walk. 

Yesterday was another light day where I was able to dash home a tad early and present myself at the walker's park. The eggs on a bicycle is not a common sight in Mumbai, but I have seen these fellows ride their bicycles, swaying dangerously, with larger stacks of eggs. 

I think this is going to be one of those sights that will disappear soon. I'm trying to catch, among other things, the tempos carrying milk cans and cows strolling the streets. I remember trips to Mumbai where they'd be sleeping in the middle of busy roads. It has not been a common sight for many years, but I think the beef ban in Maharashtra may make them think differently. 

#milk #milkcans #beef #beefban #mumbai #jogger'spark #eggs #APeter

Friday 22 May 2015

Saturday, Piku, Bombay Velvet, a surprise birthday party

After  a drought of good movies, some good ones came to Mumbai in a rush. I was lucky to catch one.
The first was Piku. Nicely
done. The anxieties of an ageing parent and the frustrations of a carer. I could empathise. I think the movie's a hit.

And on Saturday I tried to catch 'Playing it cool'. The show was cancelled. So I sadly bought a ticket for Bombay Velvet. I yawned and toyed with the idea of leaving, but had paid Rs300 for the ticket. Stiff. So I dreamt a little, saw popcorn jumping hoops and cold drinks running toward me with arms outstretched.

The guy on my right thought it was boring and rued the waste of Rs300 to a friend on the phone at the interval.

The two kooks on the left couldn't stop commenting.  I think they were hoping for racy, but the movie fell short.

After which I was late for a friend's 50th birthday party, which was smashing. Lots of noisy kids, alleviated by a wicked game that involved blowing balloons and bursting them by sitting on them. Harder than one can imagine.


Thursday 21 May 2015

Biker babe

Saw my rickshaw driver staring at this lady getting on to her bike.... and I was hooked too. It's an Enfield Bullet. It is a big, heavy, manly bike and guys generally riding this are making a loud statement. Sort of like the roar the Harley makes. Not many women ride these big birds. I was so impressed. (18 May 2015)
 I stared at her too.... till I lost sight of her. Go gurl.
Sigh. Meri number kabhi ayege  

Pictures that speak

In the last few days I have been tidying my cupboard, looking through old photos, trying to take pictures of old ones of my mom and her friends to post on Facebook.

Some years ago my sister left her photographs with me. She was moving countries and her home had been sold.

And while I always see the torn plastic packet I've stored them in, I rarely look at them. I do look, and then stop. It hurts too much to look at pictures of my parents. Not that I don't want to remember them, it's too hard. I still don't look at pictures of my dad's funeral and I haven't looked at the CD of my mum's.

Last week I opened the steel cupboard to look for something and decided to have a look at the photos.

There were pictures of my parents and of my brothers when they were in their 20s. My nephews as young babies and a lot of blurred ones. Hard to look at but difficult to throw away. You see, I've lost all the negatives -- a series of house moves, thefts at my parents' home. Yes, sometimes thieves like to steal photographs. Especially when they are related to you.

Now more than ever I look at the few pictures I have of my parents as young people and wonder why I can't see them that way -- with dreams, more interesting than those of any of their children, especially while remembering my dad's stories of his youth and the pranks he played.  Each time I look at pictures dating to the 1950s and 1960s I wonder why they got lost and why we haven't got around to 'finding' them. If that makes any sense.

My mum (extreme left). I don't know who the others are. This is probably before she married and when she worked as a nurse in Bahrain. c.1950s. I am in awe of her when I look at this picture. She was intrepid, for sure.
My parents on their wedding day in 1959 in front of my mother's parents' home in Kerala. The old house was recently demolished to make way for a new one.