Eye-do!

A long long hiatus later, Yours Truly is well and truly back. It has been a long break, with just 2 posts in this month...I know I know...Shame on me! But I did have my reasons...Lot has been happening on the work front since I got back to Ban-galore. Work galore! And add to that family stuff, social stuff, travel stuff, health stuff, and some more work stuff- and you have a healthy amount of excuses for not posting in such a long time.
Anyway, today I had an appointment with an opthalmologist. Those eye-people. Now I know many who have this morbid fear of the teeth-people (yeah, dentists! go ahead, get all technical on me!). I do too...but its one degree worse if its the eye. And one degree worse than that if its MY eye. But, I digress...
So I had this (dis)appointment. Long overdue. I had to get my eyes checked and glasses changed since like...*months* back. But I shamelessly avoided it. Till yesterday, when I had some dust particle in my eye and I could no longer turn a blind eye (no puns, seriously!) to the situation. So armed with a cellphone to quell my anxieties, off I marched for my appointment. I was duly received at the reception (I don't believe I can ever associate that word with weddings anymore!) and told to wait until the 'junior doctor' was free. Which took about 35 minutes. I whiled away time talking to people I have been out of touch with since ages. India-Srilanka was on, and India was winning. Cheers!
Eventually I was called in. The regular reading test was an embarrassment in itself, by the time it was done, the doc was regarding me with a look that clearly said "Are you even educated?" Then they wanted to dilate my pupils. Now, I am extremely phobic about getting things put in my eyes, specially when people tell me "Madam your vision will be blurred from now" (I guess what she meant was for two-three hours, but language was a major barrier in our communication). Having no go, I got that done as well. And freaked out like never before when I couldn't see clearly. And was relieved like never before when I heard the doctor say "Your retina is normal."
The three-hour ordeal was over. And witha heart lighter than the sunlight rushing towards my retina through my dilated pupils, I concluded that eye-people aren't such monsters, really.
And all is well. There is a god up there, afterall.

Maximum City Indeed!!!

I caught the first glimpse of the city I love so much yesterday after 2 months. Or a little more. I was in a flight. And even before I landed, I was already home!

My association with Bombay goes back many many years. My grandpa moved here when my mum and her siblings were really little. Mum studied here, and though she claims to be a Chennai person, I know that she belongs all here. My dad moved in here in about 1977, when post-marriage he got transferred to Bombay. My brother was born here, and so was I. And in the next few years, though we did travel quite a bit (thanks to dad's transferable work), here's where we chose to settle down.

They say home is where heart is. And I certainly know where my heart is. And it saddens me infinitely when certain people want to purge Mumbai of Non-Maharastrians. (Is anyone else reminded of Salazar Slytherin? Or is it just me??!)

Some of my closest friends are Maharashtrians. I can absolutely swear they have never seen me as an outsider in their home. Or in their hearts. And I am proud of this association. Now, dont get me wrong, I am an Indian first. Its just that I have learnt more from this city, than from any schools, colleges or universities that I may have ever attended- put together! Like during those ghastly rains, 3 years back...I was stranded and almost drowned, and the unknown hands that rescued me went unacknowledged in the fiasco. Strangers offered me and several others tea and biscuits, while I sat shivering in the only bus in sight. Anonymous shoulders escorted children back from school safely in the midst of all the chaos. Noone was looking to make profit. It was human life and misery that counted at that point, not money. Some people may say its humanity, and not just a Mumbai thing. But for me, I have seen it in this city. And I treasure the feeling. The Bombay Spirit! Amen to that!

Mumbai...Bombay...Bambai...who cares!!!

HaPPy PosT

Its been long since I posted ...the last two weeks have been very very hectic. The weekend before last we (family) had been down south (ok, further down south, then) to visit a few temples. Last weekend, ditto. And the days in between weekends seemed to fly, as appointments, work commitments, new opportunities and family stuff appeared to come all at once! This weekend was a relatively relaxed one after a long long time (I should say Sunday rather than weekend, as I work most Saturdays). But life at this moment is quite rewarding really, with all its ups and not-so-ups. Getting to enjoy being in this place, actually. I know things will change, eventually, but don't want to think about that now. I am good, life's good.
Will be back with some thing longer soon, but this is all I have to say at the moment. :)