Once upon a time in Mumbai !

me vidya ramya kartik @ matheran

Life in Mumbai has always been fun and the first year together was punctuated with many exciting moments. The 90s was a period where most of us did not have a telephone at home unless there was already one of the landlord. And one just needed an excuse to get together - festivals, birthdays any small reason to celebrate like someone buying a music system or shifted into a new place. Dropping in to surprise was a done thing. Every month had its fun spin. 

Gorai beach shallow for a mile!

Gorai beach near Mumbai

There were the annual attempts to have a cricket match which took place at one of the gymkhanas which when it happened was a great event. Else frequent talk of picnic would be there but rarely took off. The one that took off was a real surprise package when the group went to Gorai beach. It was pleasant surprise to find it to be clean, where you could take long walk into the sea, drive on the beach, play cricket or other games, there were shacks to hire for freshening up. I am sure it is no longer as free or pristine but yes once upon a  time in Mumbai you had such not so crowded options to have fun so close to Mumbai. 

at Jinja where Nile starts
from lake victoria

My trips abroad became frequent and it was to very different and interesting places. Mauritius which had all the three languages i knew (English, Hindi and Tamil) on its currency but was difficult to do anything if you did not know French or Creole. Madagascar. Kenya and Uganda (There goes an old saying that if you the Nile makes you come back - I touched it where the white Nile started at Jinja from Lake Victoria and I landed in Egypt a few years later). Lebanon - Paris of the Middle East. Very different people and cultures and each a very different experience. It requires a separate space and I will do justice to the international experiences separately. each of these trips brought in its flavour and window to the world in some way to work and life. Indian reforms were in full swing and the mobile phones and internet arrived. The Mobile phones were so expensive Rs 16 per minute for outgoing and 8 for incoming if I remember right. I remember telling the telemarketer I don't need it and will take it when it becomes essential for work and the company will provide me one - and that's exactly how it happened a few years later. Pagers helped messaging in the interim. 

all attention on Vidya !

Early 96 we discovered a new member is gonna be coming into the family. It just raised excitement and care to another level. for Vidya's parents it was gonna be their first grand child. It ensured a steady flow of visits from parents. A whole host of advisors took great care in pointing to things to look at. Vidya continued to work - chose to shift to Orient Longman and said no to joining TV18 unsure about coping with the hectic pace required for TV journalism at that stage. And the focus was clear shifts to the mother-to-be and rightly so getting pampered to the core. Almost every one around becomes extremely nice, supportive, accommodating etc. 

For Vidya and I there were the whole lot of things to start thinking about like all expecting parents - is it a boy or girl, what to name, preparing home, the room and also where. The last was easy given the wonderful Indian tradition of women going to their parents - a good one as mothers know best - so Vidya was to go to Chennai for the delivery !. The period made one discover more - from the guy who will deliver tender-coconut water home, to various food crushes, shops for baby stuff specialist docs and so on.. Fortunately, we did not yet get into the act of registering at a school. We had a wonderful maid Sulochana bhai who took onus of taking care of Vidya when our parents were not visitng. We discovered there is something called Methi laddoo thanks to her and that it is in the genre of Karela juice...

waiting with stuffed toys by vidya

EVK now has a Born@EVK  page

on facebook

Vidya's father was clear that she had to go to the EV Kalyani clinic which the family has experienced for long. Steeped in history, the place was a bit dated but Dr Geeta Arjun the main doc was impressive. She made it clear that she's the boss and we should dance to her tunes, keep up appointments and she alone will decide if there is to be cut ( she had a impressive record of normal delivery)and Vidya has to be in Chennai well ahead of the due date. Vidya got back to crafts this time learnign to make stuffed toys and a mini factory stsrted at home churning out bears, tigers and monkeys! The shuttle from Mumbai to Chennai started and the meaning of pregnant pause sunk in. I sported a beard for the first time then and planned for brief paternity leave. The due date arrived and went past but the doc was cool and everyone at home was tense and almost every move or sigh or Vidya got amplified with care. A week later amidst heavy rain we rushed her to the clinic and after a long span of about ~20 hours the doc utttered Congratulations Vidya you have a big boy !