Saturday, November 07, 2015

Musical evening

I went to a musical evening with Anshuman yesterday. Sonu Nigam sang and completely charmed the audience. He does have a lovely voice and I never knew how funny he could be. He kept the audience singing and laughing throughout. I met some people I hadn't seen in ages. The Indian food including paani poori and dosas was mouth watering. I wore a sari but very poorly I must say. I had got some clip on bling to put on my sandals but I lost one. I spilled water on myself twice and silently thanked myself for not drinking alcohol otherwise all my clothes would be wine stained I'm sure. The women were dressed in all their finery and I've never seen so many diamonds in one place. I mean it was a thief's wet dream!

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Winter

You know how it is... sometimes you want to write but you're not sure of what you want to say. Let me just share my pleasure at the arrival of winter once again. Those of us who live in the desert truly cherish these pleasant days and nights. There are smiles everywhere you go. When I go for a walk with the dogs every evening a soft, cool breeze blows. There is a basketball tournament going on next door and people cheer loudly as someone lands one in. The green grass is turning lush slowly and the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and nesting. A dove has made a nest on the branches of the Neem tree outside my window. She has laid her eggs and patiently warms them for hours. Children laugh and run about, playing as the mums look on fondly. I can relax by the bedroom window with a book as the dogs sunbathe and another soft and sunny day goes by.

Monday, November 02, 2015

November

The winter is slowly tip toeing in to the desert hand in hand with the beautiful month of November. We went to a lovely lake where they allow dogs and it was such a pleasure to see Ninna jump into the water. She's a bit of a neat freak I think as her paws got muddy she would go into the water again only to get the mud on her again. We met a few dog owners, some of whom had come with their picnic baskets to enjoy the lovely evening.

The days have become so pleasant that I can leave my window open in the afternoon and lie in the sun, read my book as the dogs laze around. I'm reading this book called Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith. More than half the book is over and there's been no mention of Agent 6. The story seems to be meandering from Russia to America to Afghanistan and Leo Demidov is nowhere near getting revenge. Honestly I don't like leaving books halfway but I'm so tempted to just toss this one aside. It's not that what he's writing is uninteresting but if I needed a lesson in history I would read a history book or historical fiction. Anyway here's to a pleasant sun filled November!

Sunday, November 01, 2015

Miss you already

A stroke of good fortune brought Ankita to Dubai almost three years ago. And it was as if we had never lost touch. And now she's in a designer's haven, Paris and I miss her already. All the Thursday nights we went dancing and got to know the band thanks to her. I miss her effervescence, her joie de vivre, the way she cut onions to precise little pieces and her funky jewellery collection. Arte will not be the same without her. I will miss her everytime I go through all the handicraft stalls. And I'll miss little Ahana running up to me and jumping into my arms with kisses and 'I love yous'. This is the life of expats in Dubai. It's a transitory place and you must adjust to the absence of loved ones.

This is just to say that I wish you all the very best in the city of love. I hope you will settle down well and soon and travel to all sorts of exotic places. Love you to bits and miss you already Onki!

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Connect

You know how it is, sometimes you meet someone and you instantly connect. It was exactly like that when I met Poornima almost a year ago. Our friendship has grown to be such a close and wonderful relationship that I feel grateful to have her in my life. Friends are so important and not the "Hello, how are you? How's work?" variety but the ones you can have long heart to heart chats with. The ones you can call anytime without worrying about whether they might be busy. You know they will make time for you. Here's to our almost one year friendersary (I cooked up a silly word)! May you all have such precious people in your life.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Inspector Mili

I've been away for a while, what can I say, life took over. That's my Jack Russell Terrier - Mili. She will be two years old this December and yet she remains to be a puppy. She follows me everywhere and that means everywhere. There are no private moments while Mili is around. She has sharp teeth conducive to chewing everything from my slippers to her own bed. The ladies at Ipanema slippers in Ibn Batuta have come to recognise me well as I replace Anshuman and my own slippers almost every month. I mean I try to remember to leave everything chewable in the bedroom but sometimes the slippers get left behind in full view and Mili breaks a single strap in two making it necessary to visit Ipanema yet again. She eats everything from Onions to Idlis and if some dal falls on the floor it disappears before I can get to the mop. She has decapitated and killed all Ninna's (My French Bulldog) toys including a teddy bear, a duck and a turtle. Nowadays she has her eye on a little tweety bird I got for Ninna from India. Ninna enjoys playing with her toys and even chewing on them gently but Mili destroys them. Even the slightest noise gets her to the source and inspect the area carefully for intruders and for that reason Anshuman calls her Inspector Mili.
But all that said she's a very loving little girl. She loves cuddling up next to me. If I talk to her in a soft tone she licks my nose. If I speak in a harsh tone she looks at me with that guilty dog look that makes me laugh. I just can't stay mad at her for too long. She's much too cute for words and such a joy.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

The Frog Mansion

So I went to this meeting of storytellers. It's a bunch of people who come together every month and based on a selected topic share a story from their life. It was interesting to say the least, a lot of fun and I got to meet some wonderful new people. The event was organised by Devyani who speaks with her hands just as much as her voice much like myself. I'd met her before but it just didn't click when I saw her there. My apologies yet again Devyani! But as always I digress.

We met on a Tuesday night at Shekhar's place and I was completely charmed by his colourful home. It's so accurate that every home reflects the personality of the people who inhabit it. A row of colourful bottles was the first to catch my eye, some of them with twisted necks, no it's not as gory as it sounds. Along with the riot of colours around the house Shekhar's chilled out, whimsical and overall sunny personality made the evening come alive.

That's Shekhar talking animatedly, possibly about all the frogs in his home. If you look carefully you'll see three of them in yoga poses. Even the loo is overrun by a gazillion frogs looking at you making sure you're comfortable in your special seat! I thought it was just so cute, so different from anything I'd ever seen that I was inspired to write about it. I mean I've never seen stoles hanging on picture frames! Just so quirky!



What can I say? This painting just stole my heart and made me wish I was a kleptomaniac. Shekhar has two of these beauties and I've dropped elephant sized hints about how much I would love one of them. I mean why does one need two of the same picture? Right Shekhar?! Wink! Wink!









And those are all the little frog friends which grace the loo. The thing is in Vietnam when you go to someone's home you take along a frog for prosperity and that was the beginning of Shekhar's collection as he spent a couple of years in the country.





A beautiful Warli painting is definitely one of my favourites.









And a bright orange stole sets off beautiful blue fish on China plates. The yummy dinner was a wonderful home cooked meal. I brought the chana back in a doggy bag. I loved it. Thanks again Shekhar for having us in your lovely home!















And that's me at the Vet's place holding Mili because she wouldn't stop barking. I had to yell and then pick her up and then sing to her. The receptionist was most amused.