It is a beautiful afternoon in Mumbai. The vehicle horns are honking. Ah! the sounds of Mumbai. I do not even notice the horns, pack of dogs barking or the crows any longer. When I opened the living room curtains today, a pigeon was on the metal bar next to the window. It scared me half to death. Back to the weather report...Of course the sun is shining and light breeze is making the trees blow slightly. Every day to take a moment to realize how lucky you are to view the beauty make me a very fortunate person.
Yesterday afternoon while I was waiting for my cab to work, I was watching a young boy about 5 on his red bicycle with training wheels. He stopped the head watchman working across the parking area and began telling him a story. The little boy was so loud and expressive. His hands were waving while telling the story and his smile was so big. This is the story I believe he was telling the watchman. The little boy was riding on his bicycle really, really fast. He was turning the corner and all of a sudden the bicycle tipped over on its side. The little boy fell with the bicycle. He got up off the ground and picked up his bicycle. He began laughing at this point, so I knew he did not get hurt. He was not a child who cried over small things like falling off his bicycle. He got back on the bicycle and rode off. He started to laugh at the end of the story. I believe he was laughing at himself. It is so wonderful the young realize that making a mistake and taking the time to laugh about it is okay. He wanted to tell the people around him this story. After he was done, his little brother, mother and the little boy were walking around the garden at the apartment. The little boys were running around the path laughing and enjoying live. Oh! the life of the innocent at that age.
I have called for a cab to bring me to D-Mart. I have been told it is equal to Wal-Mart. I am going alone. It is 15 minutes from the apartment and 10 minutes from work. I needed to go out for a little while.
At work yesterday, Vijeta gave me a beautiful gift from The Elephant Company. It is a table clock with a purple face and 3 elephants walking at the bottom. It is so unique. I am honored to accept this gift. She is always smiling. Amol is a lucky man to have Vijeta in his life.
This will be my last weekend in Mumbai. Next Saturday, my plane leaves at 1300 hours (1pm) IST. It will be a 10 hour flight to London Heathrow. There is a 1 hour layover and another 7 hour flight to Boston. I will be back in Boston on the same day - 1 March. Enough (BUS - KAR) about leaving. I have 1 more week in Mumbai and the people of Mumbai.
My cab will be here soon. I have to stop for a while. I will be back to continue with my thoughts.
I went downstairs to wait for my cab. I had called Admin and told them I did not need an Admin person to come with me to D-Mart. The cab comes through the gate with Swapnil from Admin waving and smiling. He is always smiling. He wanted to come with me to D-Mart. Admin does not want me to travel alone. I was very happy with the company. He is such a nice person.
Well I am back from D-Mart. It is truly the Wal-Mart of Mumbai. There are 4 floors of items.
Before going into D-Mart my bag was searched and placed in a olive green D-Mart zipper bag. The person placed a green plastic tie to lock the zipper of the D-Mart bag with my purse and money in it. When I checked out the cashier cut the green plastic tie, so I can get my money. Swapnil, the cab driver and I went through the metal detector took a cart and off we went.
I am so excited about Tang. Yes! Tang. If you did not know it was created at Natick Labs in Natick, MA. I was stationed in the US Army at Natick Labs. It was created for the Apollo astronauts when they went into space. I remember Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon in July 1969. Back to another memory of my grandparents' farm. My grandmother and some of the grandchildren including me were walking up the road/driveway to get the mail. I remember the grandchildren were skipping and running up the road. My grandmother commented how she never thought she would see a man walking on the Moon. We were so excited about seeing the Man on the Moon and the American Flag. This is where Tang comes into play. The astronauts were drinking Tang. So were many Americans. Now Tang is used for cleaning the build up in sinks and dishwashers. I am going to drink it though. I love this memory. The grandchildren playing and laughing together. My Grandmother taking time out of her busy day to be with us. A farmer's wife is a very hard life. There are very few moments of leisure. There is always work to be done. She always had time for all of us.
My Mom is an amazing woman. She worked full-time outside of the home and worked full-time in the home. There were 4 children running around the house and my Dad. There was 5 years difference between the oldest and youngest child. I am the second child and eldest daughter. My mom always had time to play with us. I remember she would make Play-Doh (molding clay) out of flour and water. We would make things and set it in the sun to dry. It was so much fun. The simple things in life are the greatest memories and times.
I have to comment on the other sight I see daily. The cars with the windshield wipers up. In the US cold weather areas this is done to clean the windshield of the snow and ice. It allows easier access to the person cleaning and the ice will not damage the wipers. In Mumbai it is done because the heat will cause the rubber to melt on the windshield. Cold and Hot places do the something for different reasons. I have never thought putting the wipers up in extreme heat. The wipers may last longer if it was done.
Yesterday afternoon while I was waiting for my cab to work, I was watching a young boy about 5 on his red bicycle with training wheels. He stopped the head watchman working across the parking area and began telling him a story. The little boy was so loud and expressive. His hands were waving while telling the story and his smile was so big. This is the story I believe he was telling the watchman. The little boy was riding on his bicycle really, really fast. He was turning the corner and all of a sudden the bicycle tipped over on its side. The little boy fell with the bicycle. He got up off the ground and picked up his bicycle. He began laughing at this point, so I knew he did not get hurt. He was not a child who cried over small things like falling off his bicycle. He got back on the bicycle and rode off. He started to laugh at the end of the story. I believe he was laughing at himself. It is so wonderful the young realize that making a mistake and taking the time to laugh about it is okay. He wanted to tell the people around him this story. After he was done, his little brother, mother and the little boy were walking around the garden at the apartment. The little boys were running around the path laughing and enjoying live. Oh! the life of the innocent at that age.
I have called for a cab to bring me to D-Mart. I have been told it is equal to Wal-Mart. I am going alone. It is 15 minutes from the apartment and 10 minutes from work. I needed to go out for a little while.
At work yesterday, Vijeta gave me a beautiful gift from The Elephant Company. It is a table clock with a purple face and 3 elephants walking at the bottom. It is so unique. I am honored to accept this gift. She is always smiling. Amol is a lucky man to have Vijeta in his life.
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| This was a gift. See the ELEPHANTS! Wonderful! |
This will be my last weekend in Mumbai. Next Saturday, my plane leaves at 1300 hours (1pm) IST. It will be a 10 hour flight to London Heathrow. There is a 1 hour layover and another 7 hour flight to Boston. I will be back in Boston on the same day - 1 March. Enough (BUS - KAR) about leaving. I have 1 more week in Mumbai and the people of Mumbai.
My cab will be here soon. I have to stop for a while. I will be back to continue with my thoughts.
I went downstairs to wait for my cab. I had called Admin and told them I did not need an Admin person to come with me to D-Mart. The cab comes through the gate with Swapnil from Admin waving and smiling. He is always smiling. He wanted to come with me to D-Mart. Admin does not want me to travel alone. I was very happy with the company. He is such a nice person.
Well I am back from D-Mart. It is truly the Wal-Mart of Mumbai. There are 4 floors of items.
Before going into D-Mart my bag was searched and placed in a olive green D-Mart zipper bag. The person placed a green plastic tie to lock the zipper of the D-Mart bag with my purse and money in it. When I checked out the cashier cut the green plastic tie, so I can get my money. Swapnil, the cab driver and I went through the metal detector took a cart and off we went.
I am so excited about Tang. Yes! Tang. If you did not know it was created at Natick Labs in Natick, MA. I was stationed in the US Army at Natick Labs. It was created for the Apollo astronauts when they went into space. I remember Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon in July 1969. Back to another memory of my grandparents' farm. My grandmother and some of the grandchildren including me were walking up the road/driveway to get the mail. I remember the grandchildren were skipping and running up the road. My grandmother commented how she never thought she would see a man walking on the Moon. We were so excited about seeing the Man on the Moon and the American Flag. This is where Tang comes into play. The astronauts were drinking Tang. So were many Americans. Now Tang is used for cleaning the build up in sinks and dishwashers. I am going to drink it though. I love this memory. The grandchildren playing and laughing together. My Grandmother taking time out of her busy day to be with us. A farmer's wife is a very hard life. There are very few moments of leisure. There is always work to be done. She always had time for all of us.
My Mom is an amazing woman. She worked full-time outside of the home and worked full-time in the home. There were 4 children running around the house and my Dad. There was 5 years difference between the oldest and youngest child. I am the second child and eldest daughter. My mom always had time to play with us. I remember she would make Play-Doh (molding clay) out of flour and water. We would make things and set it in the sun to dry. It was so much fun. The simple things in life are the greatest memories and times.
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| My Mom and the 4 of us. My Dad was taking the picture. This is 1968. |
I have to comment on the other sight I see daily. The cars with the windshield wipers up. In the US cold weather areas this is done to clean the windshield of the snow and ice. It allows easier access to the person cleaning and the ice will not damage the wipers. In Mumbai it is done because the heat will cause the rubber to melt on the windshield. Cold and Hot places do the something for different reasons. I have never thought putting the wipers up in extreme heat. The wipers may last longer if it was done.
That's a lovely family pic :-)
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