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.
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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.
