Gold and Beautiful

She seriously is.... These days whenever I visit someone, everyone asks me the same question.... लाडू कधी देणार ? This morning before leaving when I touched aunty's feet she said तुमच्या मनासारखा होऊ देत. Really love her for that.....

Ever since I have arrived all that dad can think about is throwing my unwanted stuff out and making space in one of the wardrobes..... So out came all those photocopied, sorry... xeroxed notes which saved the day while in engineering school :-) Then a whole bunch of greeting cards.... I don't even remember the faces of all the names on those cards.... and mom doesn't want old huge V-Day cards lying around in the house any more :-) They take too much space... I was always crazy about big cards and Anu about stuffed animals... Wonder when her huge stuffed toys are going out of the door??? And the best things.... my books!!!!! Found "The Diary of Anne Frank".... the first English non-fiction that I owned!!!!! Then "God of Small Things"..... And finally P.G. Woddehouse's "Jill the Reckless".... Actually that is not even my book... It belongs to my only IITian friend.... I am surprised that it's still lying in my house... I used to always return...

आज आजीने दृष्ट काढली. For as long as I was in India every time Anu and I dressed up and went somewhere or won some prize or on our birthday she would do this. Even if someone visited us at home and praised us she would do the same. And every time she burns the thing afterwards, she says it smells really bad because someone's bad thoughts were affecting us :-)... I always thought that it smelled bad because of the ingredients that she used, someone's नज़र or दृष्ट had nothing to do with it.... but whatever.... who else loves me enough to think so much about me???

I visited one of my cousins this weekend and caught a glimpse of "Iqbal"... First of all I don't know why people do this??? Why do you leave the TV ON when you have guests at home???? Don't you want to talk to them??? Anyways, as long as I was in India I was a huge Bollywood movie buff. Since 2001 that has changed to quite some extent... But when I saw this movie, I realized that even the crappiest of Hindi movies (don't mean Iqbal, this is a decent one) gives me an adrenaline rush... I have no clue what it is about Hindi movies, but they do bring out all the emotions in me.... I cry at the drop of a hat, laugh at the most stupid jokes and get inspired by the melodramatic, rabble-rousing monologues of Sunny paaji, Nana Patekar, Big B, or anyone else...

That was the play that I saw yesterday with my parents..... This is the best part of visiting mom n dad.... Never waste time watching a Hindi movie, but spend a lot of time chit-chatting, relaxing, watching Marathi plays, etc... And Marathi plays are really good. Every time I visited India I have seen one... सुन्दरा मना मध्ये भरली, another one that I saw last time (can't remember the name, but it was amazing with गोंधळ, लावणी, नाट्य संगीत, etc.) And this one, it was a really cool संगीत नाटक. I especially loved the really handsome peshwa types looking lead actor :-) The best part was visiting गडकरी रंगायतन.... THe place is still the same... The beautiful hand woven curtain with mirrorwork and peacocks... still exactly the same. A few mirrors shining here and there.... Those few shining mirrors in different corners used to always fascinate me as a kid, they resembled twinkling stars.... How many times have I visited that place... ever since I was a kid I have been a frequent visitor ...

Although the heat and the dust will drive you crazy, everybody still loves to visit home... More so if your parents are Shri and Snehal Dekhane..... Man, I can't remember why I left this life in the first place... You get up in the morning, somebody gives you a glass of chickoo milkshake, then you laze around, surfing on the Web and what not until lunch time, when you get a lovely home cooked meal and you don't even have to get up from your place if you don't wish to.... Every time you get out of the house, the rickshaw is right outside waiting for you and you don't have to think about the cost when buying something... Dad never says no :-) Fruits peeled, sliced, diced, served in a bowl with spoons and forks and everyone worried about how you are doing, and if you are tired because you had to go out in the heat (in a rickshaw) and wait in the AC waiting room at the dentist's office..... Ah!!! the simple pleasures of a Dekhane life.....

A really good old friend of mine sent me belated birthday wishes today... And some people are so smooth.... His email said: "Happy Belated Birthday! How do you expect me to remember your birthday, when you never look any older?" Talk about "ulta chor kotwal ko daante" but in a good way!!!! Thanks man.