Laughter and Joy

It is another beautiful Saturday afternoon in Mumbai.  The sounds of the birds, dogs and horns are dancing in the breeze.  The sun is be filtered through the clouds.  I am watching "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" on Romedy TV.  Someone rang my doorbell early in the morning.  I could not get up to answer the door.  I was so tired.  My apartment mate is moving out this weekend.  Archana has found an apartment.  I hope her next phase in life is exciting.

I am waiting for Khatija to come.  She just arrived by train.  We are going shopping today.  I am so excited to spend the day with her.

I went with a group of the Interface Techs to a restaurant named Qaboli.  It is a quick walk from the Boomerang. Moazzam and I had a walked to the restaurant.  To enter the restaurant there were a steep staircase to walk up.  I sit down with the group.  Restaurants in the US you cannot bring other food to the place.  Vishnu, Suheb and others had food from home and the group was eating it.  Then Shanawaz and the group began to order the food from the restaurant.  While we were talking and laughing, Anupam was sitting next to me.  All he did was text on his phone.  Manisha (I hope I spelled it correctly) and I were asking him to focus on the group.  I have never seen a person text so quickly with his thumbs.  The food - starters first - started coming Anupam continued texting.

My questions to Anupam is who is keeping your attention instead of being with the group of people you were with?  We would all LOVE to know this.

I had made a statement that I thought Manisha was one of the quietest techs.  This brought a lot of laughter.  Vishnu was actually talking.  All he does in the office when I make eye contact with him is flash the greatest smile.  He is a very funny person.  He made a great comment and at that I point to told Shanawaz he should be tagged to me to suffer the consequences.  His face lost the smile for a second.

Another person who is very quiet is Madhura.  She has the best smile.  At dinner she was talking and laughing.  We are tagged as partners starting 3 March.  We will have a great time.  A couple days ago Noor, Ashish, Sameer, and others were working on an issue and talking.  Something was said that made Madhura and I laugh so hard.  I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard.  The guys were laughing at us laughing.  They are a great group of people.  They have fun, but their work ethic is priority number one in the office.  They work so hard for all the Integration Project Managers.  Yet, they can take moments in the stressful day and make you laugh.

Now demystifying Shanawaz...I have always thought him to be a quiet man who is dedicated to his work.  Yes he is a great lead  He is available to assist everyone.  I mean everyone!  He has to deal with me all the time.  This takes a lot of patience.  My husband knows this.  He has a very funny side.  He makes people laugh.  He tells jokes and teases people.  He is at ease talking with the entire group.  I have enjoyed getting to know him better in the past month.

Now about some other people...Pradnya is a very hard working IPM.  She is very quiet and focused on her work.  I will look up and see the concentration on her face.  She has some of the toughest projects.  I have talked with her.  She is has a great smile.  I was intimidated by her before I met her. I have seen both sides of her and enjoy her company.

Vahid and I worked together on a project in the past.  Vahid has a great smile.  Every day I come in he turns around and says HI!  He has a great understanding of the interfaces.  I enjoy talking to him about interfaces and how they work.  He wants to train the other IPMs to give them the best opportunity.  We talk about other things as well.

I have realized all of the people I have met are great.  I will miss them all.  But nothing sad at this time.

Khatija has made come, so off I go.

The young then D-Mart

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 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.

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.

No utensils or napkins required

I am watching "21 Jump Street" and decided it was time to write down more thoughts.

It is Thursday afternoon in Mumbai.  There is sunshine, light breeze and the crows and pigeons are out.  The temperature is the same as it has been for the past 2 weeks.  My daily visit from the crow has happened.  It sits on the railing outside the living room window looks at me and caws.  Very loudly I must say.  It turns around and takes off for the sky.  A pigeon has been coming around lately and watching me typing.

An AMAZING FANTASTIC fact!!!!

At dinner on the Terrace I realize that I no longer have a problem eating without fork or spoon.  I am eating with my fingers.  When I first came to Mumbai I was so difficult to even think of using my fingers to eat food.  I needed napkins, spoon or fork.  Anything so my fingers would not get dirty.  Ashish always found napkins for me.  Yesterday I was realized my phobia of dirty fingers is gone. There is an room with sinks to wash your hands after you eat.
I have had amazing food.  I have tried almost everything.  I did not try the shark at BBQNation because of the smell and Shanawaz's reaction after tasting it.  I knew I made the correct choice.

The past 2 nights I have bought restaurant food.  I have had Chicken Tikka Marsla and Butter Chicken.  The funniest thing is I have asked a vegetarian to order non-vegetarian dishes for me.  Ritika is so wonderful.  She even ordered it boneless because I prefer boneless.  She told me after ordering that the person at the restaurant told her that Butter Chicken is always boneless.  Now we both know!  The food was delicious at 4am IST.  I still have my grilled cheese and frozen peas and coffee is amazing in the afternoon before work.

Yesterday I was telling some people (you know who) about a funny movie called "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".  The best part is the music.  I know it is a B rated movie.  I saw it in 1981 when 90% of the people I work with were not even on this Earth.  You have look beyond the outfits the actors are wearing and the acting.  It is a very funny movie. What I am telling you is you need to watch it with a group of people to really enjoy the movie.

I just finished watching "21 Jump Street".  It was a very funny movie.  I have been watching a lot of movies recommended by many people.  They have been great.  Now - You can watch the movie I recommended.  Another movie to be watched is "A Walk to Remember".  A beautiful movie.

Yesterday I had the best time training the first of 3 IPM groups.  What is an IPM in eClinicalWorks?  We are Integration Project Manager.  We deal with HL7 interfaces.  Instead of me standing and trying to tell all of them about troubleshooting with vendors and practices, I made it a game.  I have other 100 different scenarios and questions.  There were 4 teams named - WINNERS, SMARTIES, ACE and SPARTANS.  Points were earned answering questions.  Extra points were earned if I had not thought of the answers given.  I am always learning from others around me.  For 2 hours we had a great time.  The competition between the teams was so funny.  WINNERS would repeat the answer given by another team and thought they deserved points. Well one person - Upendra.   Ashish Z and Delna had shocked looks on their faces for some of the answers given by Upendra.  They had responded correctly for many of the scenarios.  SPARTANS were the quietest and most polite. Princely, Farooque, Celina and Bhavesh answered many questions, but there was less disagreements about who deserved points.  ACE (consisted of Vahid, Shweta, Swapnil K. and Yunus) and SMARTIES (teammates were Rohan B, Jennifer D and Nisar) were in the back of the room and were so funny.  You always have to watch the people sitting in the back.  Jennifer is a woman who gets her way.  The guys had to move to where she was sitting.  I appreciate that!  Can someone tell me why does Swapnil Karkare have to stand in the middle of the room?  Did anyone notice he stood in the back against the wall, but he was in the middle of the room? What is the deal with always being the in middle of the room?

The points were totaled and the WINNERS were the team with the least number of points. They were doomed with the name WINNERS.  ACE accrued the most points.  SMARTIES and SPARTANS were a close 2nd and 3rd place.  I had an amazing time laughing with everyone and learning.  They told me it was a great way to learn.  I have 2 more training sessions before I leave Mumbai.  Based on the recommendations from the first group, the next session will be better.

When we left Training Room #1, Shanawaz commented that he thought the room was sound proof.  You know if I am involved there are very few rooms which can be considered sound proof.  I love to laugh and have a fun time.  When I can laugh and teach and learn it is even better.

I feel the 3 best IPM teams should compete against their Team Leads.  Let's see who will WIN.

Ok - Zareen and Kajal - Vijeta has bought the most beautiful colored fabrics for my new outfit.  Ashish's mother will be making it.  It is not going to be plain.  You will have to wait for Diwali to see it.  23 October will be the reveal.  I cannot wait to see it myself.  Vijeta went shopping to pick the fabric.  She has a flare for fashion.  Ashish points this out every day.  He points out all the women in the group and their wonderful style. Remember the FANTA GIRL a couple of weeks ago.  Yes - we wait for his fashion critiques.

Thank you Vijeta and Ashish.  I will not have to hear from the Westboro people about wearing the same outfit every year.

Time to begin the night or day depending on where you are in the world.

Does your Cisco move with you?

I am up early today because I will be training a group of IPMs.  I have designed a game called "What is the Answer?" to assist in troubleshooting with vendors and practices.  It should be a great time.  So, my eyes are a little blurry and head is a little fuzzy.

Sunshine and light wind are on the weather planner today.  The pigeons are sitting on the rail by my front window.  It is too early for the crow to come by.  I have called Admin for a cab at 315pm IST today.  I have "Rush Hour 3" on the TV.

I have been sitting with some of the IPMs and watching all of them.  They are a great group of people.  In April all of the IPMs will be sitting together again.  Now, there are different shifts.  So, Rohan sits at one pod for part of the day, then I watch him unplug the CISCO and moves to a different pod.  Yes - I wrote CISCO.  Cisco is the company that manufactures the telephones eCW uses.  For the computers and internet to work the Cisco has to be plugged in at the pod the person is working at.  I am asked about my mobile which is my cell phone.  In my case I have a BLUE phone.  Who makes the phones seems to be important.  If the company changes the phone manufacturers what will the people call it then?

Last night Ritika ordered for me Chicken Tikka Marsla (boneless), bread (I believe Naan) and rice for me to eat when I returned to the apartment at 430am IST.  I have eating grilled cheese sandwich (open-face) when I return from work.  It was a great change to have this delicious meal.  I have more for tomorrow morning.  Yum!

We are planning a shopping trip to the street markets.  I am so excited.  It will be a great time.  I am hoping to find more elephants to bring back.  No one can ever have enough elephants in the home or cube at work.

I have to get back to creating more scenarios for the game to be played today.  It should be a great time.

I forgot...I had thought there would be cows walking in the streets of Mumbai.  I was wrong.  Rushab (a very innocent looking tech, but do not be fooled) has sent me pictures of cows walking on a path.  Rushab has a charming smile, but he has a "devilish" side.  He always has a smile.  So the following pictures were sent to me by him.  Thank you Rushab!

Walking down Memory Lane -

I am sitting in the apartment eating grilled cheese, peas and drinking coffee.  I will have a second cup of coffee in a few minutes.  I love green peas.  The best pea is when you eat it from the pea pod.  As a little girl my grandma or mom would go to the garden and pick peas for dinner.  As we were shelling the peas more went inside me than in the bowl.  The smell and taste of fresh peas are so wonderful.  It is a great memory of my childhood.

Instead of coffee breaks people in Mumbai take Tea break.  I like tea when it does not taste like tea.  Yes - that is correct.  I like my tea with no milk or sugar.  This brings me back to one of my favorite childhood memories on my grandparent's farm outside of Columbus, Nebraska.  Around 4pm the grandchildren would be little hungry.  The adults were getting ready to do the evening chores of gathering eggs, milking cows and feeding the farm animals.  My grandmother would take time from preparing supper for the family and evening chores to prepared "Tea and Crumpets" for the grandchildren.  The Tea was Kool-Aid and the Crumpets were homemade cookies.  All of us would sit around the "kiddie" table and have a wonderful time.  We thought we were so important.  I realize now who busy my grandma was, but she took a few moments out of her schedule to make all the grandchildren to feel we were having English Tea with the Queen.

As my children were growing up I tried to have special moments like this with them.  I have always total them to "Make a Memory".  When the people in your life have gone, you will always have that memories you make to make you smile and laugh.  My grandma is 95 years old and still very active, but I have great memories of my time with her.

My grandpa would be in the fields all morning.  He would come back for lunch and take a short nap on the floor between the kitchen and living room.  I asked him why and he told me his clothes were too dirty to lay on furniture.  There were times when I would be playing in the living room of the farmhouse and my grandpa would ask me to come with him to get the mail.  The mailbox was a long way for a little girl.  We would take the tractor or his truck.  He would let me drive (steer) the vehicle.  For a little girl it was a great moment.  There were times when my grandpa would be sitting in his chair in the living room and I would climb on his lap.  He always wear overalls (he was a farmer).  I would search all of the pockets and ask questions about the different items in the pockets.  He had a pocket watch which I loved.  I would ask him the same questions about the pocket watch and what time it was.  He always answered my questions.  There was always a piece of candy in his one of the pockets.  I would give him a big hug.  I remember laughing with him.  I do miss my grandfather. He was a wonderful person.

I will always remember my trip to Mumbai.  The people, my coworkers and friends, have allowed me to make get memories.  They have taken time out of the busy schedules to make my time here great.

I have started down Memory Lane without my daily weather check.  It is beautiful, sunny with a light breeze.  The mosquitoes are out, but I am using repellent.  Lesson learned about not using it.  The bites from last week are finally disappearing.

Update on the construction on the street in front of the Boomerang...it is completed.  The ditch or trench has been filled in with the dirt.  Vehicles are parked on the uneven dirt road.  The construction has moved around the corner to the street my apartment main road.  It is not as bad as on the main road.

Mondays seem to be the day all the vehicles stop at the Gas or Petrol Station on the corner.  The lines were long from both sides to fill up.  I have seen prices of 91 Rupees per Liter.  The conversion rate is 60 Rupee to 1 US dollar.  Petrol is a $1.50 per Liter.  US is paying upwards to $4.50 per gallon.  If Americans would begin using their own resources and the oil companies stop the greed, the prices would go down to a reasonable price.  I do not know if cars or vehicles get good Petrol mileages (or Kilometers). The vehicles rarely go very fast. It is always stop and go.

There are so many things I am forgetting to write about.  I am going to start writing them down so everyone will know what I am feeling and seeing in Mumbai.

My crow came to visit me again today.   Yea!

Now off to develop my game for the my next class with the IPMs.  Games are a great method of learning.  I want to have the people to "Make a Memory" and hopefully a happy one.

Random Thoughts - Very random thoughts

It is another gorgeous Monday afternoon in Mumbai. The sun is out and there is a light wind blowing.  Yesterday I did see blue skies.  I have just noticed there is always clouds in the sky. The sky is grayish white but the sunshine comes through it.  There are horns honking all the time.  I rarely notice it now.  It is the roosters crowing in the afternoon  that throws me off.  I always thought rooster crow at dawn.  Well, it is early morning in Eastern Time Zone.  The pack of dogs fighting in the early morning does not bother me as much any more.

I have noticed on TV there are commercial to "Stop Smoking".  There are so many people who smoke here.  They are not real commercials.  For 30 seconds or less a sign and words appear on the TV.  It is asking people to stop smoking.  I don't notice people smoking on the public streets.  I notice people throwing the cigarette butts out of vehicle windows.  I don't see billboards ads for smoking either.  At work on the Terrace there is an area for the smokers.  If the wind is wrong, the smoke comes to the area were the non-smokers sit and walk.  The Westboro office offered Quit Smoking Support Group.  I wonder if Waikiki has done the same thing.

I have finished my laundry.  This week I did hang up most of it on the rack on the balcony.  The clothes were completely dry by this afternoon.  The washing machine does take a long time to complete.  The clothes are a little more than damp, but it smells like home.  I love doing laundry.  The satisfaction of having everything clean and fresh.  To begin the week with fresh clothing is the best thing.

While I was waiting for the cab yesterday, there is a garden and walking path at the apartment building.  There are trees, bushes and flowering plants.  It is very nice and quiet place to walk and think.  The playground is next to it.  When I was walking there were no children playing.

This is picture of the outside of my apartment and lobby.

I am on the 5th floor.

This is the lobby.  There is another elevator to the left.

I thought there would be more palm trees in Mumbai.  I pictured Mumbai to have the cattle walking in the streets, palm trees everywhere.  There are trees and bushes but very few palm trees.

Oh - Here is my daily visit from my friendly crow.  It begins on the bottom rail and faces me cawing.  It climbs to the top rail caws at me again.  Then,  it flies away.  I wait for the crow to come.  It has flown away again.  Usually a pigeon sits on the railing as well.

McDonald's minus Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers

It has been a wonderful Sunday in Mumbai.  The weather, of course, was perfect.  The sunshine and light wind made the temperature perfect.  It is nighttime.  I can hear the horns in the background.  Archana and I are watching "Ghost Rider" in English with English subtitles.

Last night Royson and I went to Prerna and Ananth's home in Navi (New) Mumbai.  I had a wonderful time.  Prerna had worked for 9 hours, but she cooked Chicken Biryani and other dishes.  It was the fantastic food and company.  Ananth had bought a bottle of white wine.  It was produced in India.  It was great wine.  Their friends, Krishna and Amit, came over.  Amit and I are so much alike.  They were great company.  I felt at home.  Royson and I were waiting for the cab to pick us up, so Ananth brought the electric bug killer.  He was attempting to kill the mosquitoes flying around us.  What a "gentleman"!  Prerna - Ananth is lucky to have you!

I returned to the flat/apartment around 12 midnight.  Of course I could not sleep.  I am usually working at this time.  I watched 2 movies instead.  First was "Life is Beautiful".  It is an Italian movie dubbed in English.  It was about Italian Jews in 1939 and the extermination of the Jewish race.  The young Jewish father and his son were taken to a concentration camp.  His wife was not Jewish but went on the train as well.  The story was beautiful.  The father protecting his son from the horrors of time.

The second movie was "Now You See Me".  What a movie!  Manny, Max and Noor told me it was a great movie.  It was!  I hope there is another movie.

Wait!  There is music and drumming in the streets.

I am hearing drums and music outside.  Archana has told me that there is a marriage.  It is very loud.  I saw this last night.  The traffic is completely stopped.  This happens on the busy roads of Mumbai.  There are beautifully decorated platforms driven throughout Mumbai.  People are dancing on the motorized platform as well as all around them.  This is in the street.  The busy streets of Mumbai.  The celebration last for miles/kilometers.  The wedding party is passing near me.  Amazing lights and music.

This afternoon Sharmeen and I went shopping on the store fronts on the streets of Mumbai.  For the people who worry about me, I want to tell you that I did take the cab alone to meet with Sharmeen.  I know, I know - "You are in India!".  The cab driver was very nice.  We had to wait a bit for Sharmeen to meet us.  He turned off the cab and did not roll down the windows.  It got a little stuffy in the cab.  Sharmeen came and off we went.  She is always smiling and happy.

We went to Tagline but found nothing there.  So off we went to the next store, but found nothing.  The people told Sharmeen of a store that sold larger men's shirts.  We found the store and bought some presents for family.  I also bought other items from another store.  We stopped at a restaurant to buy Bisleri (bottle water and Slice up your Slice Mango.  The Mango drink was delicious.  Thank you Sharmeen for introducing me to it.

We went to McDonald's.  The biggest difference with McDonald's in India is there are no - I mean - no Hamburgers or Cheeseburgers.  There is no beef served in McDonald's in Mumbai.  They have chicken and fish.  There is regular fried chicken and spicy chicken. There are chicken nuggets and french fries.  Sharmeen and I had the chicken.  Ha! Ha!  The french fries are the same here and in the US.   Thank you Sharmeen.  After lunch at McDonald's the cab dropped Sharmeen at the station and off we went.  Yes - I am the only passenger in the cab.  He dropped me off at the flat (A504).  Ritika was supposed to come, but the trains were not running.  Next time - Ritika!

We are going to plan to go the street market to purchase more stuff.  This will be done before work.

The end of week 2 and the beginning of week 3.  I have not tired of Mumbai and the people.  I have become accustomed to the traffic and the crazy driving.  I am enjoying the company of all the people.  There is more to do with only 2 weeks left.