Last couple of days here before heading back. Which means more shopping! I swear I haven’t sent foot in malls in an entire year as much as I have here (well what else is there to do?). While they are fun you can only do so many malls. It’s like the entire city is bereft of anything else except malls.
stupendousblog
Summer is advancing very fast it feels like. It feels noticeably warmer than just last week. On the plus side mangoes are already showing up so can’t wait to dig into few! Indian mangoes are the best but they are so expensive in USA we make do with Mexican ones which are also very good but not quite at the same level.
lol in all the dancing commotion someone has forgotten to turn off the music so this entire crowd is now angry that they are watching the presentation ceremony with desi and English music in background and no one seems to know who to turn to turn it off – how the mood changes so quick 😂. Desis have no patience.
Second time in 4 days I have had to tell separate cousins that the bars and breweries in Bangalore are outright bigger and better than anywhere I have been in USA and they genuinely have a shocked face. They are like well we thought USA must have at least 10x better. The new gen has absolutely no idea what India they have grown up in haha.
My dad excitedly shared some conspiracy yesterday that instead of golden green card Trump admin was going to give 5 million dollars to anyone who renounces their USA citizenship. I was like dad if that’s true I will be first in line along with millions of others – between three of us in family we would be sitting on top of 135 crore rupees. I would be out of there in NO time and back. And I told dad if that happened more than half the country will apply for it. As a banker he should know that economics doesn’t work.
My foi is here this weekend from Ahmedabad to visit me. She is like my second mom so it’s extra special. She makes the best goddamn gujrati food in the world and I am going to be treated to some in next couple of days. And she came with some 100 or so theplas that she made. Her theplas are legendary in our family and I kid you not less than 30 or so remain, and then only reason we left them was because dad’s brother and his son are coming home today and they too are going to gorge over them! And yes she is making more so I can take a parcel back to USA 😍
This guitar is 35 years old. I bought it when I was learning in 7th grade in Pune. Though I never really followed through with music I kept this guitar with me. It traveled with me to my college and hostel days, and eventually upon graduation when I was thinking of just throwing it out, my bestie asked to keep it. For the next 25 years he has carried it with him everywhere he has moved to, across multiple cities and multiple apartments. In his latest home, he has hung this guitar up right by the entryway with a small seating to wear shoes. He got this guitar tuned and polished as well before hanging this up at the entryway. His wife said this is the conversation starter in their home because everyone wants to know how this guitar came to be and my friend takes great joy in the story. I am just so glad I parted with my guitar 25 years ago and I am just amazed that my friend has ensured it has lived and continues to live! 
Last evening i got some good 1:1 time with my youngest cousin finally. He’s always been a bit of a aloof character and because of significant age difference between us, we don’t connect as cousins as much as I do with other older ones. He usually never comes out of his room, and if he does stays for a bit and hides away again. Yesterday I forced him out with me to the mall while visiting their family, and asked if he wanted to share a drink with me at the bar. We ended up spending a good chunk of time at the bar, and he finally seemed to open up about all the things in his life and his insecurities and things he wants to do. It was a such a refreshing change and I really felt we bonded for first time as actual adult cousins! I guess all I had to do was bring alcohol into the equation?
Chase: You don’t need to tell us when you travel; you can use your card anywhere and our advanced chip technologies ensures you will always have a secure transaction no matter wherever you are in the world.
Also Chase: We declined a 100$ transaction for your card at Amazon India. Did you authorize it?
The scale and size of these new restaurants / breweries / bars in Bangalore are quite something, and makes me feel like I am living in 1990s in America. The sad part is there is no way America can even pull these kind of places off coz they would be so goddamn expensive that they would not work. These places cater primarily to the tech crowd, and a couple of years in, techies make enough money that they can spend multiple nights a week at these places – it’s not wonder they are always full. For my part I am enjoying exploring these places! Great ambience, food, drinks – what’s not to love?