Category: That & This

Snowversary !

Posted on by sudhagee

The flight that got me to London for a year-long stay there in September 2008 from Mumbai was a historic flight. It was one of the first 10 flights to land in the (then) new Terminal 5 of London’s Heathrow International Airport. Once we had cleared immigration, we found a welcoming committee who were there to well, welcome the passengers, and answer any questions that we may have. So when one of the committee members beamed at me and asked if he could help me with any questions that I may have, I asked him very earnestly:

Do you think it will snow in London this season?

I don’t think the poor guy expected to be asked this question. He gaped at me and stammered out something about the fickle English weather, climate change and global warming in one confusing reply and sent me on my way.

I wasn’t about to give up so easily and in the first few weeks after my arrival, I badgered everyone with this question—from the cab driver who drove me to my hostel from the airport to the cleaning crew in my hostel to the canteen staff to the scholarships advisor to my teachers to the supermarket employees to my classmates to my flatmates to… You get the picture, na?

The reason I was so keen on getting an answer to my question was because I had never experienced snow before and my stay in London offered the best possible opportunity to experience it or so I thought. Since was I impatient to get a definite answer to fulfilling my experience, I didn’t spare anybody. What I didn’t know or understand then was the vagaries of the famous English weather, and that it was quite impossible to give an answer to my “simple” question.

Frost-covered grounds of the Regent's Park on Diwali Day in 2008

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The social movements calendar 2012

Posted on by sudhagee

The Social Movements Calendar (SMC) is back !

The 2012 edition of the SMC is dedicated to the “saga of labour struggles from colonisation to globalisation”, and is yet another effort to document peoples’ struggles in the last few decades in the country and provide a one stop source for references on social movements on this theme. Originally conceptualised by the late Smitu Kothari and published by Intercultural Resources India, the 2012 SMC Calendar is the fourth edition.

The cover page of the Social Movements Calendar 2012. Source: http://icrindia.wordpress.com

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Rocks, minerals, fossils, and a meteorite…

Posted on by sudhagee

“I’m taking the afternoon off,” I announced to my department colleagues.

“Ok,” they said.

“You are supposed to ask me why,” I growled at them.

“Er… you are the boss here,” they murmured. “You don’t really need to tell us. Maybe, you need to tell that to your boss.”

I glared at them.

“Ok, why are you taking the afternoon off?”‘, they asked resignedly. “You look very pleased with yourself,” they added for good measure.

“I’m going to see an exhibition on ‘Rocks, Minerals and Fossils’ at Mumbai University’s Convocation Hall today afternoon,” I announced grandly.

Silence. “An exhibition on rocks?” they asked with collective skepticism and disbelief. “What is so interesting about an exhibition on rocks and minerals?”

I looked down my nose at them (which was actually difficult as I was sitting and they were all standing) and announced haughtily, “I am not even going to bother to explain. When I show you the photographs, you will know.” And, indeed, when I showed them the photographs taken at the exhibition , they knew how interesting the exhibition was and what they had missed !

Presenting some of the highlights of the exhibition on “Rocks, Minerals and Fossils” organised by the Centre for Extramural Studies, University of Mumbai, in collaboration with Deccan College, Pune, Institute of Science, Mumbai, Mr. Muhammad Makki, Pune and INSTUCEN, and held at the gorgeous Convocation Hall in the Fort Campus of the University of Mumbai, from 4–7 January, 2012.  

The exhibition at the Convocation Hall, Fort Campus, University of Mumbai

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What do you want in 2012?

Posted on by sudhagee

“What do you want in 2012?” is a question that I keep getting asked these days, reminding me that it is that time of the year.

It’s that time of the year to reflect on the year gone by, and the time to re-imagine the new year to come. It’s the time to look back in order to look ahead, the time of the year, when old gives way to new. It’s that time of the year for hope and good wishes. It’s that time of the year when some people make resolutions, and some people do not. Now I’m not a resolutions or reflections type of person. Sure, I’m the type who learns from mistakes and errors and positive stuff as well, but I’m also the type who takes life as it comes. So every New Year / birthday would see me just shake my head to such questions and not answer them.

But somehow this year I feel different. I feel like answering the question. Perhaps, because I am one year older, but more, perhaps, because this year has been like no other—a year of personal loss, self-discovery through my first solo travel experiences, expanding my world through blogging and meeting fellow bloggers face to face, winning the first prize in a blogging contest, and so much more.

It’s New Year’s day today, and yes that time of the year. A short while back, when a friend called to wish me, she also asked: “What do you want in 2012?”

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The BEST jugaad

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Sometimes in the midst of trying to balance work, home, commuting, blogging, reading, indeed living, I am brought to a screeching halt by something very ordinary, something very simple. Something that always makes me pause and think about the details that I often miss, the little bits of creativity around us, and the gentler and hidden things we overlook.  Getting a bus pass made was one such incident 🙂

I commute to work by Mumbai’s BEST buses. For the last 2 years or so, I have found it convenient to get a monthly or quarterly bus pass made, which till about a year back, had been outsourced by the BEST to a third-party. But due to reported discrepancies in collections as well as non-functioning of the smart card bus pass, the contract with the third-party was abruptly terminated. A press release from the BEST stated that they would be issuing the bus passes themselves.

So once the announcement appeared in the newspapers regarding the issuing of smart card bus passes, off I went to the nearest bus depot, which happened to be BEST’s Deonar Bus Depot. The security guard at the gate helpfully pointed me towards the right direction or where the bus passes were being issued from. Soon I found myself looking at this:

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Being a “Banu” in Bombay

Posted on by sudhagee

Here’s introducing the Guest Post Series on “My Favourite Things”, which will have contributions by those sharing my interests, and writing about issues that I am passionate about. These guest posts will not necessarily be by fellow bloggers; they could be by anyone who has interesting experiences to share.

The first guest post on here is by Ashabanu, who writes about the prejudice and bias she has faced because of her name. Prejudice and bias in the supposedly liberal city of Bombay (or Mumbai, if you please).

“B…a…n…u”. This is the second part of my name, Ashabanu.

I never thought that part of my name will seek so much of attention in the city of Bombay (or Mumbai if you please), when I stepped into the city about 8 years back. This name of mine has never intrigued anyone in the small town I hail from, near Chennai, or in any of the places I have worked or studied in Tamil Nadu. However, it has puzzled almost everyone in Bombay. From the day I landed in Bombay, I have had to keep explaining the “Banu” part to people.

On my very first day at work in Bombay, a colleague asked me, “Oh…You are the Banu? Sorry I did not realise that, as we were expecting someone with a burkha.”

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