Orderly Disorder

Within hours of touchdown at Austin,TX and a couple of Mexican Martini's down we headed straight to meet our sailing boat enthusiast and skipper - Kevin at the Lake Travis boating pier. Thank God there are no drinking and sailing laws - or at least we do not know about them or rather paid little heed. The weather was just right for sailing- gentle to strong breeze blowing and a benevolent sun casting it's radiant energy on this lovely Saturday afternoon. Kevin was the skipper for the evening with Poonam as his experienced and able sailing mate. Kim filled in with her half baked sailing expertise and Sarika and me being the rookie sailors for the evening.

I had just walked in and occupied the seat vacated by the celebrity’s wife. It was a usual table one would find at any airport lounge with four chairs around it. Its sole occupant was a well dressed lady, probably in her early thirties, or maybe late twenties, long haired and attractive. She sat on the chair with her back to the wall as she directly faced the entrance to the lounge. Having asked for a cup of tea, from the 'not so ready to serve' lounge attendant, I flipped open my phone to send off a few text messages on my impending arrival status to Bombay. My co-inhabitant in the meanwhile, as I noticed from the corner of my eye, was dialing on her phone and her eyes lit up in a mischievous twinkle when she poured in to the phone " Guess who was just sitting with me. ............I am sure even he must be here somewhere". I lost out on the rest of the conversation with my tea having arrived and realizing that I needed to concentrate more on the announcements f

I missed the crackle and the hiss of stylus meeting vinyl.  There was this certain amount of precision and dexterity required to place the needle on the right groove of the vinyl record and then wait for the music to waft out from the seductively rotating black disc of joy. There was a charm and care in gently babying the vinyl back to its jacket, brushing off any specks of dust it may have collected while playing. I grew up in the era of radio, when television had still not invaded family living rooms. Most homes in our locality the radio played softly in the background throughout the day. We avidly consumed music, predominantly from the movies, dished out by Vividh Bharati and the enormously popular and iconic Radio Ceylon. While Radio Ceylon was synonymous with Binaca Geetmala and its sugar syrup voiced Amin Sayani, Vividh Bharati was in pole position with its detailed information on the song, its movie title, singer/s, music director and the lyricist. Vividh Bharati b

A close friend was visiting Kanpur, my grandparents erstwhile hometown, last month. Childhood memories of the good times rushed past recalling glimpses of our summer and winter vacations in Kanpur. Memories of crowded streets, cycle rickshaws, Gun shops, pilgrims to Ganga ji , Naveen market ki chaat and so many more. I wanted a slice of Kanpur and what better than some Kanpur ki mithai . I asked her to get me a box of Banarsi's Motichoor Ladoo's . Promptly, a week later, a box of Motichoor Ladoos's arrived at my house all the way from Kanpur. I had kid's delight written all over my face and I wanted to share it with someone who would relate to Kanpur. I kept a few ladoo's at home and sent most of them in the famous yellow packaging of Banarsi Misthan Bhandar to my mom who was brought up in Kanpur. My mother was overjoyed to receive this special gift of sweetness all the way from Kanpur. Not only did she savour it, she shared her experience of the ladoo&#