Chp 548. One year too soon

9th February, 2014. That was when dad passed away last year. And now it has already been a year. How time flies by so quickly!

In our Mizo culture, the first death anniversary is significant, though usually not as ritualistic as a Mizo funeral tradition. And so, in spite of extremely hectic work schedule (we’re kinda going through a very crucial transition phase with tight deadline), I had no other option by to apply for leave. Flew home at 6 in the morning last Saturday from Mumbai.

My sister and her husband too flew from Malaysia. We all met up at Kolkata airport. And to keep up with English family tradition, I had beer with my brother-in-law at 9 in the morning at the departure lounge.

I was so buzzed with that early morning drink, that by the time I reached Aizawl, I started reading words wrongly… :P

The Lengpui bridge was still down, so we had to take the longer detour via Sairang. Took a couple of really breathtaking videos on the way home too, but I won’t be able to upload those from this extremely slow Mizoram internet speed connection.

Finally yayyy, Home sweet home Chaltlang!

Was dark soon. My two nieces cozied up my cold room. This was the room dad used to sleep in before he went into permanent sleep.

The next morning just after sunrise, we all visited daddy’s grave…

Our locality had another funeral on the same day, and a lot of my friends and neighbors were at the graveyard digging up the new grave…

Had quick breakfast after we got back home because we had a long day ahead…

U Baby was one of the first to arrive, bringing in a lot of chicken snacks for guests to eat. She also helped us with the flower preparation.

As well-wishers and family members started arriving, it was soon time to watch the airing of daddy’s first memorial video, aired on Doordarshan DDK channel at 3:40 PM. I'll try uploading this video on my YouTube channel later.

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While everybody was watching the memorial video on TV, we forgot about the chicken snacks in the oven, and that caught fire!!!!!

Soon it was time to lay the final flower decorations. We once again made our way to the graveyard.

According to our custom, this is again known as “Makpa chanpual” where they help as much as they can…

We quickly rushed home, as more people arrived. We didn’t invite anybody personally, as there were too many to invite. So instead we made it an open house, and dinner was there for anybody who came to pay their condolences.

We ordered the food from Fey Fey catering, and they arrived with their food.

We had a short eulogy and prayer service inside the house…

Meanwhile, the caterers prepared the dishes outside…

Hungry peeps everywhere :)

I took a pic with Alex and his wife, both of them celebrity singers here in Mizoram. Alex sang the second music video for dad which aired on LPS Channel. I’ll try uploading or sharing those videos once I have better internet connection.

Soon it was late. Eunice and gang too came late in the night and gifted me lots of smoked pork to take back to Mumbai! Unfortunately, they already had dinner, so there was a lot of leftover. Here are some yummy juicy pork leftover.

It was cold once most of the people left. So we made our own fire.

One final selfie using the selfie-stick before calling it a night. Turning this occasion of sadness into happiness is something dad would have loved. He was always cheerful and humorous.

A memorable day indeed. Thanking everybody who came or remembered us.

Chp 547. Mumbai autowallas

I've been travelling almost every week to Pune for the past 2 months now. Although I haven't had time to explore the city yet, one thing I have definitely experienced were the autorickshaws. And trust me, it had not been a pleasant experience at all!

I've been getting ripped off left, right and center by the conniving shifty-eyed auto drivers. Just yesterday before coming back to Mumbai, I paid 100 bucks for a distance of less than 1 KM. I was late for a meeting and had no other option but to comply. Horrible people indeed.

And that is why I LOVE Mumbai so much. Being a Mumbaikar of more than 8 years who commute daily in an autorickshaw, it is beyond any doubt that Mumbai autowallas are the best in India. They (usually) don't try to cheat you, and will always run by the meter (unless you're foolish enough to hail a running auto at the airport arrival).

Eight years travelling in an auto in Mumbai have taught me one thing - Most of us Mumbaikars are spoilt and ungrateful. We complain when some autos refuse to go to our desired location (usually during rush-hour) and even abuse them sometimes. Eventually, we are so used to having our way with the autos that we tend to forget how fortunate we are compared to those who commute by autorickshaws in Delhi, B'lore, Pune etc.

Yes sometimes it sucks when autos refuse to ply to your destination, but being a veteran auto passenger of almost a decade here in Mumbai, here are five reasons why autos may sometimes refuse to ferry you -

1. The balance between rush hour and commuters.

Think of it this way. You hate traffic jams. I too hate traffic jams. Even the auto driver hates traffic jams. Nobody likes traffic jams. But while you and I will reach our destination thanking God that we no longer have to sit in that frustrating traffic jam, the poor driver will have to continue driving in that monstrosity of a traffic jam. At least if he's able to pick up new passengers from your destination, then it's not that bad, but if the likelihood of picking up any passenger from that place is bleak, then he'll most probably refuse to go there during rush hour.

That is why sometimes some autos will refuse to go to high economic areas (for example SEEPZ-SEZ, Jogeshwari East) during morning rush hour where there aren't that many people looking for an auto from there at that time of the day. However, if the area is a large commercial area like a shopping mall or residential complex, autos are more likely to ply there because chances of them picking up new passengers after dropping you is high.

Again there are various factors like distance in the equation. My sister used to work at SEEPZ and we stayed at JVLR. It was impossible for her to find an auto to SEEPZ during rush hour, but those coming from far places can find an auto willing to go to SEEPZ because even if they may not find passengers from there, at least they have travelled quite a lot already (which means more earnings).

2. Auto drivers are humans too. They need to eat.

When we're hungry, we usually cook food, order food or go to a restaurant. Autowallas don't have the luxury of time to cook food or order food. Instead, many of them have these designated areas where they collect their lunch/dinner parcels from. And as some of the auto drivers have told me, some of these places have their own timing, so if they're late, they won't get their dabbas. You see those empty autos where the auto driver doesn't even look at you as you try to hail it? Chances are, he's probably on his way to eat. If you listen very carefully as he whizzes past you, you can even hear his stomach growl :P

3. 2 guys 1 auto.

Spend enough time conversing with the autowallas and you will learn that in many cases, different drivers share the same autorickshaw. They drive in shifts. So yes, sometimes an empty auto may not stop because it is time for the current driver to return the auto to the next driver. And sometimes they will not go to ABC location simply because it is very far from XYZ location where he is supposed to hand over the auto to the next driver. Keep all the in mind before calling him an asshole for refusing to go to your destination.

4. Limited gas tank.

Have you ever shouted at an autowalla for taking you to a gas station while travelling to your destination? It makes you feel cheated, naw? Why can't he do that on his own time and not on your time while the meter's running? But then again, he can't control his gas consumption naw? While there are autowallas who will ask if he can fill gas while you're in the auto, many prefer to go directly to the gas station. So the next autorickshaw who refused to even acknowledge you may be on his way to the gas station too.

5. The vastness that is Mumbai.

Many autowallas ply within their own locality. You don't usually find an autorickshaw from, say Mira Road or Borivali, operating at Bandra. That is because most people who travel this route rather do it by the local train as it is not only cheaper but faster. But on occasions where people do make such journeys, such autowallas look for ways to get back to their locality (their comfort zone), looking for passengers going from Bandra towards, say Andheri or Goregaun. Such autowallas will most likely refuse to go towards Chembur and Mankhurd side as that only puts them farther and farther away from their home.

So there you go. Five reasons why autowallas may refuse to go to where you want to. And of course there are many other reasons as well, like it will be difficult to find an auto during Ganesh Chaturthi, or during the notorious Mumbai rain where you will find many brave autowallas driving till they can no longer drive as their engine conks. All in all, let us appreciate the goodness of our Mumbai autowallas. As the saying goes, "You don't know what you got, till it's gone", this is something I'll really miss in Pune :'(

Chp 546. Once in a Blue Moon

Continued from my previous update - After a relaxing and much deserved weekend vacation at the scenic Villa Almitra last weekend, I left the place early and headed back to Mumbai.

Why? Because it was time to partaaaay :D

The thing is, I haven't invited my Mizo friends over at our apartment in a really long time because (a) I’ve been really busy at work with such hectic schedules and deadlines, (b) My flatmate is not a Mizo, so sometimes I feel bad inviting a large number of Mizos to our place. 4-5 Mizo friends coming over is fine. But 20+ Mizos chatting in Mizo and getting drunk and singing Mizo songs in 10 different pitches can be quite irritating for those who don't speak our language :) And as we say in Mizo, "Ka inthlahrung". That night, he wasn't at home.

Even though a couple of friends couldn't make it, we had a great time...

The only problem with a Mizo dinner party is that people don't wanna arrive too early or be one of the firsts to arrive because that means they have to cook for the others :D A Mizo dinner party means cooking Mizo cuisines and delicacies ourselves, and ordering food from outside is unheard of.

And since most Mizos, male or female, can cook, the early bird catches the pressure cooker I guess. Here we have our first two arrivals who immediately got to work...

As more and more people started arriving, the salon and the kitchen started filling up...

Five kgs of beef was prepared! In Mizo ishtyle of course, which means more of boiling than frying.

I bought two bottles of red wine to marinate the meat, but my friends drank them all up... :D aahhhh Mizos... :D  :P

Abby gifted me this really awesome Polo tee shirt, which fitted perfectly. Thank you so much thenawmnu.

She even bought her Karaoke machine over, and she was on it the entire night...

Others sang romantic duet together...

And then Mumbai's very own "My name is Bond, Bee Bond" B. Ramhluna arrived. Here Bee is trying his best to look all serious and sombre as if he didn't just hop over to my place from Gokuls.

Bee came late (because he had to drop off so many chicas) and left quickly again (because he had to pick up so many chicas). But in between that, he bought me this awesome cake wishing me all the best in my ongoing project involving a new game concept.

Some more random group photos...

Those in charge of the food took a long time preparing it, leaving many of us hungry because they were more busy taking selfies...

Soon the guitar came out, which is a compulsory element at any Mizo social gathering. And as usual, most of the songs sung that night were 80's and 90's glam rock :D

Others started eating while the rest were too busy screaming out, "You're all I need beside me girllll, you're all I need to turn my worldddd"

Chow time... Check out the girl in green below. Even though she was busy eating, she managed to be there at every location where a pic was being taken... :)

Comon, eat, eat, eat... :D

And then of course there was this guy, the HERO of the night!

Maybe the less said about him, the better... for now :D I still have a lot of awesome pics and videos of him that night, which I may or may not upload, depending on my mood :D

Finally everybody had their fill and it was time to go home. I didn't want my building society president banging on my door at 3 in the morning :D

A closing pic... somehow, this came out quite well, maybe because of the lights in the elevator.

Over all, it was a happy and memorable night indeed. A successful "once in a blue moon" party. Now back to the work grind...