Distant memories

Its so cool to have mum visiting you after your marriage. Felt like I was seeing her after an eon. The entire weekend, spent with her, was bliss.

I led an independent existence for nearly 4 years. Answerable to none but myself. I enjoyed my freedom. Time was never a priority. I slept late, woke up late, worked late, partied late. (Oh well, I am not particularly the disc-hopping kinds but do enjoy going out with close friends for a movie, dinner, drink etc). Cooking, cleaning, washing and such sundry activities were low priority. I cooked when I felt like it, ordered pizza at other occasions or just survived on Maggie, the staple food of the alone-and-single. And when urge for mummy-ke-haath-ka-khana got too unbearable, it was time to say hello to the few relatives to kinda lessen their cribs that I never visited them. That's when I use all my earned-with-experience charm and say coyly "I'll get there by lunch and be there the whole day and will leave well after dinner". Inviting some other homefood-starved friends is an added bonus. In effect, they are happy and my stomach is happier.:-)

Cleaning, washing etc was a mandatory activity for the weekend. Me and my best-friend-and-room-mate M took every effort to make the small, little, matchbox-like apartment look like a home. Needless to say, we were quite popular hosts. We had a TV, a computer, a huge SONY music system, a bean bag, a keyboard, a violin, a nice straw carpet, a painting, embroidered cushions and bedsheets and nice complimenting curtains. Not to mention a fridge and a spacious kitchen. I liked our home. Almost a setting for a mehfil when some melodious friends dropped in. Had enough space to shelter 7-8 people at a time. And when mum came visiting, all meals were strictly at home.

Also, M was a wonderful driver and drove a Bajaj Super with exceptional ease. (Though I was the official kick-starter if the vehicle stopped abruptly at a signal or something). So maneuvering through the busy roads of Bombay was never a problem. We did trips to Churchgate, Esselworld, Manori Islands, Thane and other far flung areas on the two wheeler with relative ease though it used to be taxing on our backs. We knew every decent, hidden, unknown, expensive, cheap, pretentious and obnoxious eateries around the suburbs, small or big. Right from a small kabab restaurant in Andheri which served excellent okra manchurian to an unassuming south Indian joint in Matunga which served lunch on banana leaves complete with avial and rasam (Yumm!) to a small bakery in Malad which served delectable pasta for as low as 60 bucks to this Thai restaurant in Bandra which conned people by charging 70 bucks for a bottle of Aquafina mineral water.

We also were abreast with all the latest movies and plays. Have managed to gatecrash into numerous housefull plays at Prithvi by hoping for last minute cancellations. In fact, most of the plays, watched, were thanks to these 'bikau' tickets. Managed to bump into the likes of Gulzar and Naseeruddin Shah. Also, managed vain attempts to get a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan at his bungalow in Bandra.

Have done enough footloose weekend trips to places like Munnar, Goa, Daman, Khandala, Matheran, Dandeli, Mahableshwar and many other exotic locations near Mumbai. Got conned, traveled in rickety buses, stayed in cheap hotels, got thrown out of hotels (in trivandrum), gotten high on wine (in Daman), did adventure sports like paragliding and white-water rafting (in Goa and Dandeli), watched Malayalam movies without understanding a word just to spend 3 hours in an AC theater (in sultry Trivandrum), wore the most expensive sarees for dinner at Dosa Diner and such, rode the victoria horse-carriage at Nariman point at 3 am, called in ill at work and watched morning shows at Fame ad-labs on week-days. I could go on like this... :-)

After marriage, things have changed, rather mellowed-down would be a safe word. Movies and plays do continue but not at the same frequency (attributed to the spate of depressing movies like MDBaby hitting the theaters), fancyfree trips have almost reduced to null (people say I agitate the delicate equilibrium of nature when I go on trips now. For some reason I think they mean the tsunami..;-) ), no mehfils, no two-wheeler trips. Of course thats replaced by a four-wheeler which is equally fun provided I get a little more experienced. Life is more about what to cook for the next meal, what household shopping needs to be done his week, what bills are pending and so on. Life is also about home food (thankfully..!!). Mummy-ke-haath-ka-khana is replaced by MIL-ke-haath-ka-khana which my stomach doesn't see a need to complain. Life is also about a lot of social visits, meeting new people and friends. I guess married life is a different adventure. :-)

Mum came visiting and one cant help but wonder nothing has changed on that front. The family stories, the funny incidents, the gossips, movies, experiences and much more are all in abundance and evoke the same excitement, fun, sorrow, happiness as it did before. I guess some things in life will never change and I am glad this is one of them.