Moving In To Our New Home!

What's life without milestones?

It is the quest for these milestones that makes life, for me.

Recently, or about 3 months back, Neeti and I crossed a milestone, an important one of our lives! We moved into our own house.

It wasn't easy as it sounds. We bought the place way back in 2007. We were promised completion by 2009 and were eagerly looking forward to moving in, into a place we could call our own!

But then plans get delayed. Here courtesy BMC, approvals for our building were getting delayed (probably palms weren't greased enough) and our anxiousness (on rising mortgage rates) was building by the day.

Finally we heaved a sigh of relief when got possession of our place in September 2011, two years late! The pleasure of getting the place was immense, perhaps as sweet as Mysore Pak (which had sweetened that significant moment).

But then another important thing had to be done. The bare shell had to be made habitable. We had done a lot of hardwork already. Neeti was very sure what she wanted. And thanks to her, we looked at various design options, suggested by the interiors team, of Anu and Prashant, and finalised the designs by the time we took possession.

In a few days after possession, the interiors team mobilised themselves at our new place starting work. The place was chaotic - lots of material, labour and dust all around - it hardly looked habitable.

By December, things looked in good shape.

We were scheduled to move in on an auspicious date in January. We wanted to have our family around with us on the momentous occasion. It was quite a pleasure organising tickets, accommodation and logistics for our families. I was too pleased that my sister, Neelima and her hubby, Maulik, were able to make it for the   gathering from the United States.

Neeti's extended family from Delhi also enthusiastically joined in. We are very greatful to everyone who joined in to bless us, coming from far and wide.

We had planned family dinners and a bit of sightseeing for everyone. Things worked pretty well.

For the D-Day, we had scheduled a family havan followed by lunch for which friends were invited. For the havan, we had called a Pandit from the Versova branch of Arya Samaj to preside over the ceremony. It was a simple havan, with family and close friends around to bless our home.

Next that followed was an authentic Punjabi lunch - makki ki roti, sarson ka saag, kadhai paneer, mixed vegetables and daal makhani, alongwith gulab jamuns for dessert. Thanks to care taken by Mr. Bhisht of Kailas Parbat and our precise specifications, the food turned out to be nice and absolutely authentic. And it was enjoyed by the Mumbai-ites, for whom the Gujju-ised version defined what Punjabi food is.

The instant relief we got was on parking woes. At the earlier place in Lokhandwala, a wily Gujju with a questionable reputation usurped our parking space and put us in a great deal of tension for over 6 months. Now we have no parking blues! Pray that God gives the Gujju some sense of ethics and culture. Surely, "Me, me and myself" is not a good attitude to live with.

Settling in took an awfully long time, since we could unpack only in the late evenings after work. On weekends, the slothful mass of mine would always come in for a lot of criticism from Neeti, as I was too lazy to unpack. But then it had to be done and it finally was, though with a delay!

Now we can sit on the window with a cup of tea and gaze into the endless greens of Aarey Milk Colony, hearing the sounds of silence, birds chirping, watching the mist lift as a new day dawns! Magical! Nice to be in a place we can call our own!

But we will miss the action of Lokhandwala. We are thankful to God for making our stay at Lokhandwala a memorable one. While at Lokhandwala, we grew a lot, life gave us a lot more than we thought we could achieve, we pray that whoever moves into our old abode also achieves a lot in life!

Crossing one milestone logically leads you to target the next one. And we are already on the job - targeting the next milestone!

Up In The Air .... Part 6

Up In The Air is back with its sixth part. This part covers the approach to Mumbai, CSI Airport's Runway 14/32. The approach begins over the Madh Island and Gorai, and passes over Versova, Seven Bungalows, Lokhandwala, Juhu Circle to touch down over the Western Express Highway on to 14/32.

The runway 14/32 is not preferred by pilots because its shorter - just 2,925 metres as against the main runway, 09/27, which has a length of 3,445 metres. 14/32 lacks a parallel taxiway, slowing operations. Further, the Trombay hill lies straight on the path, if one chooses to take off from 14/32. Little wonder that airlines like Singapore Airlines avoids this runway like crazy.

On this occasion, I was returning to Mumbai from Jaipur in a Jet Airways Boeing 737. Mumbai, though quite chaotic is disorderly on the ground, looks quite from up above - peaceful and orderly!

Overflying Gorai Creek!

And that's Versova!

All so familiar Seven Bungalows!

Just flew over Juhu Circle!
A few followers of blog wanted links to other editions of Up In The Air. Here they are:
Up In The Air .... Part 5
Up In The Air .... Part 4
Up In The Air .... Part 3
Up In The Air .... Part 2
Up In The Air .... Part 1

Up In The Air .... Part 5

It was good while it lasted!

This part of Up In The Air is a requiem dedicated to the Kingfisher experience!

In March 2011, I traveled on a Kingfisher Airlines A320 from Mumbai to Trivadrum, enroute to Thirunelveli. 

It was a Kingfisher Red flight, or a diluted Kingfisher experience sans frills. But the aircraft they used was a Kingfisher First one, implying that it had business class seats. I noticed that and smartly web-checked in myself in the forward section!!!

The seats were comfortable and reclinable.

The British couple ahead of us were tourists travelling to Kerala. Since they had a British Airways codeshare tickets, they were served breakfast. That pissed off the rest of the passengers. Apartheid, Kingfisher style!

The red Kingfisher nacelles looked impressive as we began our descent into Trivandrum!

There was a big of a haze that day, but normally the approach to Trivandrum is breathtaking!

"A window of hope!" - that would be an apt caption for this photograph!

That's what makes Kerala God's Own Country - the greenery here is breathtaking!

The next day when I departed from Trivandrum, it was a very bright day! The sky was brilliantly blue. But take-offs are usually not that great for photography.

And back over Versova, Mumbai lining up for approach on Runway 14-32!

Still, A Long Way to Go....

Another year has now passed by. 

As my birthday approached, I could not help but wonder how time flies. My mind raced at the speed of light (or faster, probably!) thinking of all that I wanted to achieve, what I had achieved and what I had failed to achieve!

It had been quite an eventful year for me and my loved ones. We had all gone through a lot together and had largely come out victorious and achieved a lot, with God's cherished Blessings. But to say that it had all been a cakewalk is a bit too much. There had been a few misses, which is again a part of the game of life!

I thought of my bucket list - the dreams that I have accumulated over the years and that thought made me real worried. I have still a lot, seriously, a lot more to do beyond the rigmarole of the daily 9-to-5, trying to make ends meet and keep up with time. 

I still have to learn French, a language that I find so sweet, a language that I seem to have an unknown bond with. 

I still need to go back to where I came from, my land of birth, Uganda, that I had left behind 31 years back. That made me a bit sad.  But then I thought - perhaps God is rightly delaying my visit to Uganda on purpose(?). I felt the same for Zambia, where I spent a good time during my formative years.

I still have to roam the world. There are places which are drawing me close like a magnet - the South Pacific islands - Fiji, Tonga and Tahiti, Israel, the Caucusus - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Brazil, Bhutan, Tibet, South Africa and many, many more. 

I sometimes wonder what draws me to places like the South Pacific and Israel so very much. I really go speechless when I read about or see visuals of the  South Pacific. I feel so strongly for the struggle of the Jewish people. Is there a past-life connection that is drawing me, more strongly with each passing day, to the  South Pacific and Israel?

The world has so many beautiful and enchanting places to see - so many sights to soak in, the sounds of Nature, which are always so peaceful. There are so many things to do, so much food and drink to savour. 

But I wonder if it would be possible to see it all in one lifetime. 

The irony of life usually is that during the working years one is healthy and capable to do all this but has little time and money. And then as years pass by, one earns the money and has the time, but Nature conspires against you - health and capability fails. 

This thought made me a bit scared. Will I be ever able to tick off on at least half of my bucket list items? I am being reasonable here in negotiating with God!

Perhaps, the only way is to pray for loads of health, will power and loads of good luck to weave all the ambitions into one tiny little lifetime. 

That was what I prayed for as everyone around me celebrated my birthday! 

You Are Special!

"A bird asked bee - 'You work so hard to make honey and people steal, don't you feel bad?'

The bee said 'I don't feel bad as they can never steal my art of making honey!'"

That was an interesting snippet that I came across recently.

It is true that making honey is unique to bee. The fact also is that each of us has some unique talent that is deeply ingrained and cannot be replicated by others.

That is the talent we need to search for within us and after we find it, we need to nurture it, without bothering about the obstacles in our way.

The ability to find one's talent and nurture it differentiates the gifted from the ordinary!