The Rebelle blog

So, I finally braved all the odd forces and my own time and updated the Raahgeer blog. Here's the link where you may read it. https://raahgeer2015.wordpress.com/ Oh, how proud Am I and beaming with joy to see my baby published. To all who don't know what RAAHGEER is all about, it's a City Walk venture founded by me and my architect friend, Deepa. We conduct City Walks through heritage precincts, and quaint old places in Bombay/Mumbai that are unexplored. Come join us on Sundays. Follow us on the facebook page: www.facebook.com/RaahGeer2015 Email us for queries and registrations on raahgeer2015@gmail.com Come, Walk with us and see this city breathing history! :) :) 

Sometimes it becomes a tad too difficult to write about things we love. When it happens its either because we are mesmerized or because we are thoroughly confused. I only wish such times occur more often because it truly signifies how we live our lives spiritedly. Our choices define the course of our lives. How many times we think and re-think about decisions taken in a haste or after great thought and still mull over how things could have been different! I have been too happy at times and drowned in sorrow too. Yet there never has been a complete lack of these two states. Today I hope to finish something I've been postponing since two weeks now. Just not the right time, is what I tell myself. But then, these time concepts are also a human invention. How different is the life we envisage in our thoughts! So, be happy. Feel sorrow. Be Kind always and don't forget to laugh now and then on yourself and the intricacies life presents because Life is like this. 

One night, Me and Shree got talking on books we have read and want to read over whatsapp. This is the most preferred communication medium these days and I remember not long ago, shree and me would end up texting each other at least 20 times before we would abandon it and eventually place a call. Our conversation steered towards books by Rohinton Mistry, Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri when she suddenly sent me an image of her copy of A Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. The Ibis Trilogy came up as usual. My first Amitav Ghosh read was, 'A Calcutta Chromosome'. And, I was frightened to my bones after finishing it. Somehow the mystery haunted me in my dreams and I vowed then never again to recommend this book. Later, of course I saw 'River of Smoke' and bought it because it was in part about the opium trade between India and China. That is one fascinating subject to write a book on. Sea of Poppies captivated my attention with its beautiful cover art. Yet to read this Trilogy. ...

काल संध्याकाळी 'अक्षरसंध्या' नामक एका वाचक-लेखक यांच्यामधील संवादासाठी बदलापूरमध्ये सुरु झालेल्या नवीन उपक्रमास उपस्थित राहण्याची संधी मिळाली. रमेश अढांगळे ह्या ऐंशी वर्षीय उर्दू अभ्यासकाचे दहा खंडात लिहिलेल्या उर्दू गझलांचे लिप्यंकरण असलेल्या पुस्तकांचे प्रकाशन करण्यात आले. श्री. अढांगळे यांनी सुमारे सहा हजार गझलांचा संग्रह गेली चाळीस वर्ष अव्याहतपणे केला आहे. ग्रंथसखा वाचनालयाचे श्री. श्याम जोशी सर यांची मुलाखत ऐकण्याचा योग देखील आला. वाचन आणि पुस्तकप्रेम याला लागलेली घरघर हा सर्वसाधारणपणे संवादाचा भाग जरी असला तरी यानिमित्ताने तरुण आणि ज्येष्ठ वाचक यांची नाळ जोडण्याचा एक स्तुत्य उपक्रम याठिकाणी बघण्यास मिळाला. दर महिन्याच्या तिसऱ्या रविवारी एक वाचक-लेखक कट्टा 'काका गोळे फाउंडेशन' यांच्याकडे असलेल्या 'खुल्या मंचावर' घेण्यात येईल. येत्या १९ जुलै रोजी, 'नरहर अंबादास कुरुंदकर यांचे साहित्य आणि अभिव्यक्ती स्वातंत्र्य म्हणजे काय?' या विषयावर संध्याकाळी सहा वाजता हि चर्चा होणार आहे. बदलापूर मध्ये राहणाऱ्या सर्व वाचकांनी एकदा नक्की ह्या उपक्रमास हजेरी ल...

My earliest memory of a Bazaar is the one I witnessed with my Dad. As I can remember, all my first memories have been with Daddy. This Bazaar is located in a small hamlet of about 300 homes. This anecdote is from 1996. Now of course, this hamlet has grown and has a Gram Panchayat and an English Medium school- a known requirement of a fully grown village hub these days. The Bazaar would only open on sundays. It was located on a vast tract of plateau land. Children and adults alike would sit with their wares, and buyers would move through the entire area chatting with everyone. Since everyone knew each other well, barter system was quite common. Years later, the concept of Bazaars has got a new dimension. Now there are mega malls and shopping complexes instead of the humble street side sellers. Central Bazaar Districts established by the British in then Bombay, have still retained their charm and usefulness for residents. And, one such sunday morning walk through some Bazaars in...

Monsoons have arrived in Mumbai and so has my mother's irritable mood. Something happens to her during the rain months. She bursts at me for no specific reasons. Of course, being her daughter, I make sure I do everything perfectly to please her like not walking with shoes on the living room floor, cleaning the shoes everytime I come home, not forgetting my books spread over the floor, watering the plants as and when necessary and the likes. Mothers are great creatures! They possess such huge amounts of patience over their children and husbands' antics. I know how irritable my newly married girl pals are. Voice of caution to their best-halves: Listen to them. It's the rains. People often carry romantic notions about seasons. Monsoons no doubt occupy the first spot as the favourite season for many Indians. For those who live in Mumbai, yes, we have mixed feelings about all the flooded roads, drains, the cold, the constant wet weather to endure for four months. Monsoons ...