The stupid pamphlets.

I get up on a cool cloudy Sunday morning and reach for the crisp newspapers . We get quite a few every day. Times of India (including the garbage called Mumbai Mirror), Hindustan Times, Economic Times and a Bengali daily. On Sundays, these Times' add loads of 'time pass' and what arrives at our doorstep seems no less than a manuscript. Some of these make a good breakfast read, some I leave for the break that I take between lunch and the afternoon siesta and the rest for the remainder of the day. The articles that I leave out completely are the atrocious ones, mainly the Mumbai Mirror types. The newspapers do contain plenty of good articles though.Overall, these papers serve as a good companion for a lazy Sunday ( or certainly the morning at least, if I am busy for the rest of the day).

But the most depressing thing about the Sunday papers are dozens of pamphlets that arrive with them. Hidden in between every folds, they just slip out when we open that page. It has come to become a very common practice in mumbai, stuffing the newspapers with stupid pamphlets that endorse some or the other thing. The most common ones are tuition classes, music classes, dance classes, travel agency and menu cards of some dumb restaurants. For example, I got this one today , " Amazing Kids classes, for Junior KG and senior KG. Please contact XYZ, also requires a dedicated faculty." This is insane, endorsement and recruitment at one go. Why on earth should parents send KG kids to tuitions? Also, I am against these so called playschool for toddlers. They should spend quality time with their parents. But this is a totally different issue.

Please device some new means of marketing. By this, I do not mean you guys appearing at every doorstep early morning and endorsing your sick business. Even if you get hold of my cell phone number and call me up, I will humiliate you to such an extent that you will contemplate suicide ( ask the airtel and vodafone folks). So what should be your new strategy? That's your headache. Please spare me my comfortable morning read.

Where are the labels?

They are gone. They were disturbing me since the last couple of months. Just those small thoughts that keep flying at the back of your mind and suddenly pop up out of nowhere, then they make you ponder over them for no reason, vanishing the next moment. At times I wanted to add some variety to the labels, sometimes I felt they are too diverse. I felt that I am concentrating largely on a particular type of writing. Then I realised that I am being stupid.There is not a thing in this world that can limit my imagination. These labels were probably doing just that. They had to go. Why should I categorize my posts? Why should I narrow down my writing to suit a particular label? I am free, my thoughts are free flowing. I realised that the labels are secondary. What is more important is that I can convey my thoughts as freely and as effectively as possible. I hope I am never disturbed by those stupids thoughts again. Feeling a bit more relaxed now. The readers (if there are any) can categorize the posts as and how they like. I do not mind. If the labels had made navigation easy, then probably I do not care for the reader's comfort ( yea I said that, anyways there are hardly any posts here, so you don't require 'navigation').

The seasons

More on the seasons again. I hope you will agree with me when I say that there are only three seasons in Mumbai. Summer, Rains and Winter. The most amusing part is the order in which they come.

Winter- (December, January, February)
Summer-( March, April, May)
Rains-(June, July, August, September) and again
Summer-(October, November)

The 'October Heat' justifies my selection as October being called a summer month. And yes, I do not remember November being even close to cool, forget about the chill. So November for me is summer in mumbai. The city has a really depressing weather pattern. 10 years ago, I would have agreed if someone said Mumbai has a pleasant weather. Also, November was cold then. But now it is sickening. May be it is a consequence of global warming, it gets sweltering hot during the months that I have mentioned as summer.

Can I miss out the rains? In third standard, it was somewhat compulsory for ones favourite season to be the rainy season. Why? That's because you can fill an extra page. Hot Pakodas, Greenery all around, Puddles, Paper Boats in the puddles. Come to think of it now, who would enjoy pakodas with one family member stuck in Bandra and other just outside the building unable to cross into the society main gate. Greenery? Branches are scattered all across the roads because of heavy winds. Some were brought down by the lightning. Puddles have turned into pools and rivers. Talking about paper boats, the municipal corporation wants the navy to help in the rescue operations. The situation is really bad. There is no point wearing raincoats and carrying umbrellas, we get soaked anyways. So my advice is to just carry minimum baggage during the rains, you will get wet anyhow.

It is so gloomy during the rains. No sunshine for weeks together. But then you cannot keep complaining, life goes on and things have to be accepted. I try to find out ways to keep myself busy during these months. Firstly, ensure that you have your computer in a good condition. Have an UPS connected as voltage fluctuations are common during these times .See to it that your Internet is connected, it helps to pass time constructively while at home. Remove the broadband wire when it is lightning outside, this prevents your LAN card from getting damaged.Secondly, keep track of the sporting events around the world. This is the time for major football competitions like the world cup and euro. If you are lucky, then there may also be a cricket world cup but it depends upon where it is being held. The French Open and the Wimbledon Open takes place while it rains in mumbai. So the busy sporting calender will prevent you from slipping into depression during these months.

The winters in mumbai are my personal favourites. They are never harsh here. Yes, it was bititng cold this February.The city witnessed some record low temperatures but I enjoyed it. It was sunshine at 12 noon,but I was not sweating. It was very pleasant as it has always been during the winter months here. So, winters are the right time for pakodas and dal khichdi for me. As far as paper boats are concerned, I never had a liking for them.

Winter

I remember when I was in school, I craved for holidays during the winter season. Not that nowadays I want a reason for a holiday, those days used to be different. After Christmas holidays, our school reopened on the 2nd of January. Usually it would be an unit test or a week away from the unit tests. So, it would be study time.Did I crave for holidays so that I can study? Never.

Winter has always been my favourite season. It feels so nice to sleep under the blankets till late in the morning.The lazy bum that I am, I was always annoyed when mom used to wake me up early for school. I used to pray that somehow she forgets to wake me up and I can a have good early morning siesta. That could not have happened. She was always on time. Strangely, when the alarm did not ring, I remember waking mom up so that she can get me ready. Such foolishness, I was apprehensive about missing school.

But things have been different in the last three years. We have holidays in the month of December and January after the odd semester exams. Have enough time to sleep in the morning. Somehow I feel, my prayers have been answered. I will not trade these months from the last three years for any price. Since I am staring at an important period in my career, I doubt how much time will I have for my lazy musings.I guess there will be harsh winters ahead, leaving behind my slothful attitude I hope to be hardworking and energetic. A new prayer.