Here are the highlights:
- We fell sick. I probably overextended myself in Goa and paid with the flu. Recently Mimi had the flu which kept her from school for a whole week, and she still wasn’t well after that and had to go on a course of antibiotics. My love-hate relationship with antibiotics continues.
- Went for an IPL match. I am kind of jinxed when it comes to cricket matches (this probably deserves a separate post), but finally I seem to have broken the curse that has dogged me since I first met V and turned down his invite to a match. Getting tickets for these matches seems to happen through some mysterious process that escaped us, so we had to resort to influence. V was so paranoid about parking that we drove into the city centre at 4pm and killed time for a 7.30 match. The atmosphere in the stadium was so electric that even Mimi, who hadn’t wanted to come at all, was into it. And of course it helped that RCB won! I briefly felt like I should support Mumbai Indians but then that became a moot point, so I can be totally into RCB (though now, well). But not so into RCB that I would stay up for a late match like the people in my area who burst crackers when RCB beat CSK as if it were an India-Pak match.
- I decided to move on buying some art before V colonised the wall above the living room sofa with something I could not bear to look at. It was surprisingly difficult to discover art galleries in Bangalore (if you have reccos, do tell). I did find one and they have this exhibition by a great calligraphy artist and some other very cool work. Unfortunately, after I calmed down, I realised: a) that the other artists were not in my budget b) I did not know actually know what my budget was (see point 4) c) the calligraphy piece was super expensive but monochromatic so might not be ideal for our space. I then also began to look at tribal/folk art and decided on something, but then Dastkar came and I went and saw some of that art and I’m not sure I loved the texture of the painting in person. So now I’m totally confused and decided to wait and see some more art, while feeling guilty about not buying from the website I had first contacted. It is possible that I may never own “fine art”, just like I never owned designer clothing (fashion was my great love in my 20s).
- This led me to take stock of my finances (with the help of V) so that I figured out how much I can hope to save a year, and how much I need to be able to retire at 60. For the latter there is some formula, which I’m not entirely convinced of, but anyway we have to work with something. It turns out I’m in a decent place, as long as I can keep earning at this rate. Which well, who knows? But one has to assume. Taking control of my finances has been quite painful, and I can’t say I’m anywhere near fully there yet, but for the first time in my life I feel like I have … some sort of idea. I now do things like book fixed deposits and buy mutual funds aggressively. No money should be allowed to just lie there. It must all be fruitful and multiply. (
Or be spend on art?) - We ate a lot of mangoes. I have a new theory about taste in mangoes, that it regresses backwards to the stage immediately preceding. So when I was a child, I loved Benishan/Banganapalli because those were the mangoes of my birthplace. But when I was in Hong Kong, I started loving Alphonso which is from the part of India I grew up in. And I’m aware that this makes no sense, but I never thought that I’d prefer Alphonso over Benishan. So now what? Am I going to become like Mimi and love those mangoes from the Philippines that are everywhere in Hong Kong?
- Nene, who used to be obsessed with Fortnite and video games in general, has suddenly ditched them for watching films. Films with a lot of action. He watched the whole Star Wars series, the whole Mission Impossible series, Knives Out and the sequel, and Daniel Craig James Bond films. I’ve recommended Mad Max but he’s not convinced. Anything else you’d suggest in this genre? I’m fully aware that these are not the most intellectual or classic films; however, this is a generation that is so addicted to reels that they are fast losing the art of watching a full length film. So if my kid is actually watching moves that are 2 hours long, I’m happy. I’m a little concerned about what happened to provoke the abrupt end of the video game era. Nene used to play with friends (both in Hong Kong and India) and I’m suspicious that something went down there. He says it’s because the India kids play too late and the Hong Kong kids don’t come online anymore, and that you can’t play for such a short time. I’m not entirely buying it, but he doesn’t seem unhappy so I’m going to have to file it away as a question to be answered later.
- The heat has finally let up (fingers crossed) and this has helped my mood so much. The British were right. The weather is the only thing worth talking about.
- Speaking of which, Bangalore cannot handle rain at all. One downpour and there’ll be a traffic jam. Why? Because all the cars are avoiding driving through one big puddle. Or something. Now I understand if it’s been raining for hours and there is flooding. But no. One downpour. The other day V insisted on turning the car in a traffic jam (caused by rain) to drop us in of the supermarket because “how will you walk in all this?” (by which he meant the slush on the road). “Well, I’m from Bombay,” I replied. Because I’ve walked in far worse than a little slush.
What we did not do:
- Study enough
- Get Aadhaar card
Of the top of my head, I would recommend (I didn’t check for age appropriateness, though):
Fast & furious
Terminator
Cobra (Sylvester Stallone)
The Bourne series
Tiger Zinda hai and the movies in that series
Marvel movie series with Avengers etc.
Taken
Top gun
Dredd
Die hard
Lethal weapon
Athadu (Telugu and very John Woo Inspired direction)
Thanks for these. I think age appropriateness has gone out of the window. I suggested Die Hard but he waved me off saying Bruce Willis doesn’t fit his idea of what a hero should look like. But will suggest these.
We live in hope of the Aadhaar card….
Seriously man. It’s getting ridiculous, if it wasn’t already.
I grew with the Benishaan and I still am in love with it though the Himayat Pasand and maybe sometimes the Malgova also toy with my affection. The alphonso i’m afraid doesn’t charm me enough.
On the RCB end, I went to bed early, only to be woken up by my husband shouting “Yes, Yes, Yes!” And then of course this was followed by the immense silence during the next match.
The rains can be slushy and jams are inevitable. Though I must admit it has improved where I live. Still the infra is not what it should/can be.
Most of the art I have is Madhubani paintings (which I love), landscapes by some artists and prints. The latest are two landscapes my mother’s teacher made and I absolutely love them on my wall.
And my son is currently watching SRK movies 🙂 so well I’ll make the only suggestion I can – Don and Don2 – though I’m not sure they will appeal 🙂
I have vaguely heard of Himayat Pasand, but not Malgova. Must check out. Poor RCB. I also had a soft corner for Sunrisers 😦 Where do you source the Madhubani paintings?
Mostly in exhibitions. Chitrakala has one in Dec if i’m not wrong. The Malgova is a plump mango that tastes absolutely heavenly.
Ah, will keep an eye on. I’m into Gond paintings at the moment
Makes me feel better about no aadhar after 6 months …. 🙂
You also don’t have Aadhaar?
Not yet – we need to apply for it but I m hoping it is straightforward once we actually do it.
Ah good luck.
Is the Aadhar more complicated because you’ve moved back recently? It was pretty straightforward for us.
It was complicated for me because a) they are scrutinising new adult applications more now b) I applied in Bangalore but my address proof said Bombay (I have no acceptable Bangalore address proof). This triggered a verification process that is dragging on and on.
Ah 😦
Alright now I am worried about what happens when I am going to apply as an adult. With some blood and sweat – I do have Bangalore address proof finally
Honestly, I think I’m a very special case and as long as you apply in Bangalore and have Bangalore address proof should be ok. Now that elections are over might be more smooth too (though my driving teacher thought before elections would be good as they’d want to get more voters in).