"And then of course there were those men who would pile their woes only onto prostitutes assuming, quite correctly, that they shared with them the secret of knowing what it truly felt to be wanton and would find an understanding ear."

Written in October 2005

A quick one to let you know what I have been upto this past week…

I flew off to Jamnagar, which is home, in India such as it is, on the 30th of Sept. On Sunday 2nd Oct, I left with three friends for Bhuj which is in Kutchh, an 8hr drive away…..

That evening, we started walking to Mata no Madh, a distance of 100km, which is where the main shrine in India to Ashapura, the clan goddess of the Jadeja Rajputs is. Some of you know that my mother is a Jadeja, so there is a connection, even though somewhat tenuous….
Find out more here…

Written in September 2007

And so here we are a few months down the road and quite literally, a few worlds away from where I was last time I wrote…

Sometime in April, I had a mother daughter duo from the UK , ex Kenya , and in fact ex tenants of my family, who were in the country to shop for the daughter’s trousseau. I helped them in this and thereby familiarised myself with the world of Indian haute couture such as it is… something I had not done in quite a long time. This in turn helped me prepare for my sister Sapna’s visit in May. We met after three years and set about making up for it. We shopped till we dropped, quite really. Nights were spent sitting up late catching up on all those years. Well something had to give…. Sapna got soaked in the first rains as the monsoon broke and was in and out of fever for the last couple of days. A worrying responsibility for someone who shies away from it, as you all know. Anyhow, she left at the end of the month with a 102 degree fever and washed up in Alderney in time to see the Doctor before he packed up on that day…. Upma and Dipesh visited soon after and are in fact back for a couple of weeks, as I write.

Find out more here…

Written in March 2007

Hello everyone,

Thought it was about time that I did another one of these… I hope it finds you all in good health and happiness.

I have been flat hunting for the past three to four weeks as some of you may know. Its coming up to two years since I moved to Bombay. The flat I had has been a good place, but I fear the vagaries of the market has pushed it way beyond being affordable. The rents have shot up through the roof and one wonders when, if ever, there will be a correction? I have never pretended to understand economics as I’m sure you’ll all agree with me, but seriously, is this upward trend sustainable? The bad news for people in my position is that it probably is for some time. Wipro, the IT wallah from Bangalore, has just announced a 70% return to shareholders, I am told, whatever that means…..
Find out more here…

Written in February 2007

Hello People…

Apologies for being incommunicado for yonks.

Finally have the landline working and am back in Bombay.

As most of you know, I got back to India mid January. I
then proceeded to bounce back and forth between Gujarat
and Bombay with all the enthusiasm and resignation of a tired yoyo.

Attended 4 weddings, and wait for this, a funeral too…
Traumatic to say the least.. Ah well at least I wasn’t asked
to read out Auden’s Funeral Blues. That would have been
a bit much, what? Find out more here…