Bomgay

Went to voodoos last night with K, CT & Emily. It is a strange place - its so seedy. But its the only place. I had decent fun. I was a little high and the music was not bad so danced, flirted with a few guys. There is no place like that in Mumbai. Wonder given the money they charge why cant they spruce it up a little and maybe more ppl would start coming. On the other hand thats just one night in the week - for the rest his clientele is very different.

Today evening K and I were sitting in JATC we could see people at the gb meet. Not been to one for sometime now. K was wondering if it serves any purpose now. I clearly think so - the conversation made me go to the gb mailing list. A newbie had written a meet report and it pretty much sums up why it all makes sense -

"I stepped out of the rick. This is the moment when my heart started pumping blood faster as I saw a group of men chatting in front of CCD. I had seen a man wearing a GB TShirt. However, I was puzzled as they looked completely like common people to me. So I stood there with a question mark over my head, not knowing how to go forward ...

... We often ask ourselves. Why Me? But when we come to the GB meet and interact with people, we find, IT IS NOT JUST ME "

This feeling of ordinariness, of familiarity, of comfort, of friendliness, of oneness really helps. People move on but I am glad it survives - despite the increased information/ communication options available online. Thanks to all those who make it possible.

Back to Mumbai

I am back from my trip. Italy was just awesome. It is amazing to see more than 2000 years of history, beautiful coastlines, lovely people ...

Back home - the weather is horribly hot and muggy - hope it starts raining soon.

Cant think of a title

Finished reading a book of short stories by Yiyun Li. It gives a very nice perspective on china. I have read Amy Tan earlier - both these book though very different in styles makes me realise how similar the family structure/ values are in china & india. Its uncanny - its almost as if you could replace characters from chinese to indian and keep the story the same. It also leaves you with a feeling how lucky we are to be in India.

On another note got this insight from someone- The one child policy has created quite a rupture in chinese society. It has led to amongst other things lack of mobility of the workforce as the married couple has four people holding them back (dont think i need to elaborate how !).

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Spend the last three days in a fairyland - an amazing resort in Chiang Mai - a 52 acre property with villas, temples, lakes, paddy fields, colonial houses ...

La dolce vita

Going on a longish break - off to italy for 18 days. Yipeeeeeeee !! Been some time since I took this long a break last few have been more for 5-7 days. Choices to travel are so mind boggling that its almost paralyzing - I was contemplating 5 diff options - Scotland (already have visa !), Turkey / Jordan (never been to that part of the world), Prague, Vienna etc (heard only superlatives about them), Morocco/ south of Spain (exotic + part of spain i have still not been to) and finally italy (it has as i put to a friend a good mix of urban spaces, culture & natural beauty)

Scarcely had I frozen on that when I realised choices don't end there - How do u drop places when almost everything is a must do ? Nat geo top 50 list has 4 mentions from Italy !!! 1000 places to see before you die devotes in excess of 50 pages on this country - You get the picture I suppose. I also do not want to do a whirlwind tour which just touches various places. Hence it became a big project of reading, surfing, and talking to decide how to cut out options.

1st to get chopped were the Italian Alps, the Lakes, Dolomites, Milan, Sardinia, Bologna, south east Italy (heel of the shoe) amongst others. Still find 17 days not to be enough (why can't we teleport and not waste one day travelling !!)
Rome (3 days), Venice (2 days), Florence/ Siena (3 days),Sicily/Etna (3 days), Naples / Amalfi/ Pompeii /Capri(4 days)- that leaves a measly 2 days. There is Cinque Terre which beckons, Tuscany demands more days, Italian riviera and the beaches which sound wonderful, and the already identified places - the time I am spending in them doesn't seem to do justice to them.

Hence have decided to take one day at a time, have a broad itinerary in mind but will add/ drop places as the trip progresses. Surprisingly the clubbing scene is not that hot in italy - or maybe it just needs more exploring !

p.s. nobody is allowed to comment on my weight till one month after I return - how can I go to Italy and not eat & have wine

Resolutions

1) Reach out to people more
2) Not lose temper too often
3) Make an effort to date someone
4) Get the house in a little order

Need to grow up !

Met four batchmates after a long long time. I was wondering after I agreed to go if it would be awkward and if the conversation would be very stilted. I was not close to two of them on campus, infact in my circle of friends they were perceived as shallow (how ridiculous it seems now !).

We met at zenzi - what amazed was the genuine warmth with which couple of them met me. The conversation flowed as did the red wine. Food got ordered, legs got pulled, reminisced about common friends ... The evening was very enjoyable and left me wondering. I need to change.

Some common issues which plague both my personal & professional life need to be addressed and I need to live life to the fullest. I neeed to get out of the timewrap.

Am back !!

When I saw the date of my last post today, it was quite a shock. More than six months have elapsed since I last wrote a post. It wasn't as if I had nothing to write ... Anyways have decided to be back online