Ponto de Vista

I've never done tarot in my life. Although I was curious about it when I read about (and watched) Childermas's deck in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, I've never been drawn to it. Today, someone presented me cards from a Goddess Deck – and so, I decided to go with the flow. The person proffering them suggested formulating a question before reaching for one. I sifted through many options and finally settled on "What am I doing with on life? Am I on the right track?" I zoned in on a card, drew it out, and sat back on my haunches. What you see in the picture is what I picked. It's the card of Oonagh, an ancient Irish Queen of the Fairies, who is also a potent Goddess of magic. And the text just made me laugh. It wasn't the answer I was looking for — and maybe it would have fit any question anyone in the group had asked — but it worked for me. Keep calm, let life happen. I need to remember that more. #blog #tarot #destiny #cards #keepcalm #goddess #runes #magic #answers #questions #fortune #fortuneteller

A post shared by chhavi sachdev (@chhavi_sachdev) on Nov 30, 2015 at 8:42am PST

Can we blame Mamta? For our not so CILEAN trains that are rubbish when they’re running or when they’re stoppeR. This was the legend on EVERY loo door up and down our train, I kid you not.

Ok, sorry, another old post. I captured this on Carter Road’s Khau Gali.
We were then trying to figure out what the flavors could be.
I came up with “sickly sweet.” (And “passion in a cup”)
Kit, what was the one you came up with? Any other ideas for romantic flavors?

Ah, finally a club where you AND your hazmat can party together.Well, as long as your patrong is not toxicated and you’re not on Megal 😉 This is “27” in Ho Chi Minh City, or actually Nua Hang 27. But most clubs, I was told, are just referred to by their address number so voila! 27. Click on the photo for a larger, clearer image of the sign.

Fish massage (or “FiMassaa” in the patois spoken by the guys trying to tempt you into getting one) is quite a popular thing for tourists to try in South East Asia. In Cambodia, at the night market, we were accosted by a FiMassa guy. Sure enough, there was a white dude sitting on the lip of this inflatable swimming pool with tiny fish nibbling away at his feet. He merely smiled, albeit wryly, in response to my inquiring look. This poster almost made me sign up for a 5 minute session 😉 But then I guess I still ‘felt confused matter of me’ even after dinner so I didn’t.

Think I could have gotten the daily tour (good use of space, no?) for less if I’d gotten Dr. Fish at my heels? 😉
Click the image for a larger, clearer picture.

In March, I visited Rani Baug, which houses both Mumbai’s zoo and the Victoria & Albert Museum, now the Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Byculla. We had such perfect timing, we chanced upon the albino peacock just as he unfurled his beautiful tail and tried to get the attention of the very coy peahen (visible on a perch on the left.) It was gorgeous! Very soap opera-esque. Yeah! Someone told me it’s all happening at the zoo 😉 We saw sleeping rhinos, a python, gazelle, neelgay, sambar, beautiful birds, including one of paradise – all with bad or no signage. The bird of paradise, an unusual red and green specimen was identified as a “mynah” – a terrible travesty.
The only decent sign we saw, however, was … audacious in its sheer stupidity. Click on the peacock picture to see the only sign of explanation 😉

Sometimes, honestly, that’s all you need, yeah? (That and a red pen to circle the errors. Sorry, once an editor, always an editor. Old habits die hard!)
This was taken outside a friend’s house in Andheri one night last month right after returning to Mumbai from a work trip to Pune. (which means this was the old camera phone).
In the last three days, it’s become so sultry in Mumbai, rather than drinking some chilled beer, which I normally do not like the taste of, I think it wouldn’t be enough to *bathe* in it…
Cheers 😉

Go on, look at that image carefully. Remind you of anything? No, this isn’t an old photo. It was taken at the Plaza cinema near Opera House in Mumbai just a few weeks ago. I was waiting in line with a friend for tickets to see “Singh is Kinng” when I noticed the sign and I was overcome with nostalgia for an age before computers, spell check (“Good lock!”) and printers, when all our signs for school and on our bedroom doors were painstakingly stencilled so they looked uniform, clean, and official. I still can’t believe someone at the cinema still does this! It’s so, so cool! I guess there are at least some arenas in life where a little effort is ok – and less expensive than an upgrade.

(Speaking of upgrades, my trusty Nokia 6233 died last week. I’m upgrading to a phone that has a slightly better camera. An expensive upgrade, but then I’ve never pretended to be anything less than lazy :D)

It’s a different thing to have “don’t walk on the grass” signs on lawns, but this one – Please do not spit on plants – is posted in the lobby of one of the poshest, best known office buildings in Nariman Point, Mumbai’s financial district. The sheer necessity of having to post such a sign is what’s boggling my mind. How many people actually spat on the plants before the management put this up!??

Mumbai’s local trains are awesome. Not just because of their celerity, but also because they’re a microcosm unto themselves. The people, the smells, the sounds, and definitely the literature – I love it all.
Anyway, I quite liked this offering. Unfortunately, the phone number was missing, but 600 Rupees (~$15) for 40 types of chocolate, including “Ferrero Racher” (sic) – now, that’s a steal!