Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Chp 273. Vacation in your city!


Ever had a relaxing weekend vacation… in the same city that you live in?


No?

Oh my god… you are definitely not adventurous then.

Last Diwali weekend, I packed my belongings excitedly, went to office, and then moved my copywriter ass to South Mumbai after office hours!

Yeah… I’m sure you must be thinking, what’s so great about spending the weekend in South Mumbai if you live in the Mumbai suburbs anyway? People travel from one place to the other all the time.

You’re right. People do. But when we move around the city, we go for client meetings or meet friends at a restaurant or even to party or shop or for a sleepover. How many of us actually go to such places as if we are going on a vacation to Ooty, Shimla, Ladhakh, Munnar etc? Zilch would be my nearest guess.

I did. And boy it was fun. I went to South Mumbai not as a Mumbaikar, but as a tourist. I packed three bags. I even looked stupid when the taxi driver asked me if he should drive by Peddar road or Marine drive. The role playing was fun. And it was the first time I didn’t abuse the taxi driver when he actually took a longer route to get to my destination. I clicked photographs. I smiled and waved at bystanders.

Friday was cultural day in office due to Diwali. Last year, I dressed up in lungi and kurta for this very same occasion (and kick-started a very heated argument in the comment section of the above mentioned link, with one pro-Khalistan Sikh saying us “chinkies” from North East India should never wear “Indian attire” or try to assimilate with the rest of India as it is a disgrace since we don’t belong to mainstream India. Ah. Sweet memories.)

Anyhoo, my closest friend from office V said she’ll bring her husband’s long kurta for me to wear. Roy's long kurta was a little too big for me, but people said I look good in it



With my facial feature, friends said I looked more like an oriental Syrian catholic priest… or even the priest who carries that smoke emitting ritual pot in an Eastern Orthodox Church. Lolz.



After office hours, I went to my friend ST’s place at Worli. The vacation began.

Had a great time that night playing Dumb charades, among other things that cannot be mentioned in public

On Saturday we had a football match - Mizos (of Mumbai) versus Zomis (of Mumbai). When my two Mizo friends and I reached the venue, there were like 50+ Zomis at the football ground already – Azad maidan. We were the first Mizos to reach the place and it was already late. Pretty embarrassing if you ask me. But eventually, Mizos all over Mumbai arrived one by one, and by half time, there were as many Mizos as Zomis.

We were down 3-1 with just 10 minutes to go, and then my friend James was substituted - We eventually won 4-3.

This is James


After the football match, we had a volleyball match against the Zomis. I played V-ball again after more than 10 years! Fortunately for us, the Zomis weren’t pro, so we won that match too. I ended up with ache all over my body the next day.

We ended the day in a large huddle, Mizos and Zomis together, hand in hand, and said the Lord’s prayer in English.

----------------------------

Saturday night was at S’s place. She had this really cool place at Mahalaxmi and we played dumb charades again that night, among other things that cannot be mentioned in public. Great fun we all had overall. S was indeed a great host (which she proved again the next day too).

The next day, Sunday, was Church day, which was followed by the second service at G.

Monday was a holiday, and I went over to my ahermzzzz place.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. I didn’t check my mail or even went online. I didn’t look at my twitter updates, FB or orkut updates, blog updates, news feed and google alert updates, etc etc. My phone was switched off too. That was the most relaxing weekend I ever had. No clients calling me up to spoil this one vacation I really need.

The last time I ever switched my mobile phone off was during our Udvada trip to Gujarat. Maybe I’ll blog about that someday. But for now, this is to let you all know that sometimes we do need this kinda vacation – the destination doesn’t matter. Just switch off your freaking phone and abstain from going online. Believe me, you have no idea how relaxing that is.


27 comments:

  1. he..he.. u looks great.

    Syrian Catholic Priest pawh chu i ang ve tho alom ma le...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Syrian Catholic Priest...Lolzzz...'Syrian Orthodox Church' leh Roman Catholic' hi thuhmun anni emawni le !! Keanu Reeves ala Matrix i ang ti dawn ila, a ni thei bawk silo..ha ha ha ha...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I refuse to believe the final football score until it is confirmed by the Zomi players!! If true you must have bribed the ref!
    Here in Aizawl, all the monied people go off to their garden on weekends and pretend to be farmers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ dr_feelgood: Hahahaha... its true, I swear. It was indeed a thriller, trailing by 2 goals in the last 10 minutes and then winning by 1. We played really well towards the end.

    lolz at rich people pretending to be farmers on weekends. That is so true. lolz. I like the way you put it.

    @ Chhangte_II: South India lamah chuan Syrian catholics ho an awm a lawm :) Ka hrethiam ve lo, mahse ka mallu catholic thiante chu syrian catholic leh roman catholic an awm. In koh style nan, SC leh RC an in ti :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. "S was indeed a great host (which she proved again the next day too)."


    --- to me it's more likely, force her to prove... :-D

    --- Guys, you won't believe me, Mr. illusionaire can interpret "There's Something About Marry" within 5 seconds while playing 'Dumb Charades' (Not kiddin')

    ReplyDelete
  6. A popular movie like "There's something about Mary" is quite easy if you act out one famous scene from the movie instead of doing the whole movie word by word. Thats the trick to winning Dumb C. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. no wonder i tried to call u several times during the weekend, u weren't available :D
    and oh.. how i hate to say this, but anyway here i go... u really look good in that kurta :P

    ReplyDelete
  8. Greattt! You really know how to have fun. But the pic is blocked in my comp, guess i need a new machine!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I should've capture while you act..... I won't forget to capture next time. :-D And I love that 'The Full Monty' :-D

    ReplyDelete
  10. @ Nancy: hahahaha. lolz. Yeah riteee :D And thanx reg the compliment. lolz.

    @ Mesjay: I guess its probably your network at office thats blocking the pics, not your machine. Great fun indeed :-)

    @ Alej: Seeeeee.... you enjoyed watching me do the Full Monty. I must be careful when you're around.

    ReplyDelete
  11. OMG!! James actually played football?? I gotta see it to believe it..lolzz

    I've silently read/followed all your posts. It's just too complicated to even leave simple comments from the land of the 'great-firewall' :)
    Pawng lo tur lai lai i pawng tan ava ang ve :P

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Like I always said, I had a lotta women on my bed, still I ain’t got no satisfaction. That’s when I realized I got more pleasure doing it with the same sex of mine.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @ Jinx: hehehe... yeah its really really funny... the moment he was substituted, we scored 3 goals. lolzzzz. And hey, thanx for following regularly. I know how hard it must be with all the proxy and all over there. Engmah ka pawng lo :D

    @ Alej: See... this is what happens when you drink too early during the day. You start saying your thoughts out aloud. Juicy stuff to put in this week's "Bombay Tlangau" edition :D

    ReplyDelete
  15. sounds like fun, but why do you need three bags only for a weekend "vacation"?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. It was a long Diwali weekend.

    That also includes, apart from the normal attire and shoe, the entire football kit with jersey, shorts, boots, pads etc, and then there's the sunday dress set with the entire formal pants, shirts, bog formal shoes, etc... And then there's the board games, the laptop etc etc... and finally, there's the huge Diwali sweet complimentary gifts we all received in office, the rosgullas, other mithais etc. Believe me, 3 bags were not enough! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ahem! The kurta is long!!

    And ok, if you say your friends said you looks good, then I believe you!! :P

    The scarf thingy is very becoming though!! ;)

    I love vacationing in Bangalore! :D

    ReplyDelete
  18. hehehe... I know :P

    And the scarf is actually an Arsenal FC scarf. I think it goes really well with the kurta. lolz.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ahem! Anything Arsenal, you think is becoming!!! ;) ;) ;)

    ReplyDelete
  20. How right you are! If you just switch off, you can take a holiday right at home. Though I'd love to do South Bombay as a tourist. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ka titau ti tuai hahah.. Aizawl i lo chhoh hian voi khat pawh min hrilh lo

    ReplyDelete
  22. He heee nice...the role playing as a tourist..

    And definitely agree on the Vacation "unplugged/offlined" if one may say so....

    ReplyDelete
  23. OT dude: the Mizo Blog form is not functional... wanted to add www.Punemizo.com to the list.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Pixie: haha. Yes of course! :D

    Banno: Unfortunately we are slave to technology. Switching off from phones and the online world emancipates us from our slavery.

    Vana: lolz bro. Ka buai over tawp ka rawn haw kha. Ka tih duh engmah pawh ka ti hman hlei nem. Ka la damlo zuiiiii :(

    Blind: You should try it out too. Its fun. Once me and my fren O went around Aizawl talking in English and acting as if we are from Nagaland. We eventually fooled the taxi drivers and shop keepers. Great fun.

    Blackest: Yeah I know. I plan to look into it this weekend. No time to fix it now as I am loaded with work. Thanx for informing.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I switched off my phone when I dont feel like going to work.. hahaha. and it was nice.. lol..

    ReplyDelete
  26. These articles are fantastic; the information you show us is interesting for everybody and is really good written. It’s just great!! Do you want to know something more? Read it...: Great investment opportunity in Costa Rica

    ReplyDelete