Exercising in the monsoons

I know of people who love to go on night runs in the rains during the monsoons. I tried this a few years ago, but somehow the combination of sweat, rain water and mosquito bites was not to my liking.

I usually either shift my workout to a purely indoor one or just not exercise at all during the monsoons. Walking outside with my heavy rubber fisherman's boots does help me burn more calories though.

This year, however, i have decided to be a bit smarter and adjust my workouts around the weather. We've had a beautiful July with ample rains and sunshine mixed with heavy and cool winds. When the conditions permit I go down and play wall tennis with intermittent rope jumping sessions. The latter sucks my energy, but is a great exercise.  When I do play wall tennis, there are occasional passing showers but I am OK with that.  It's the feel of the fresh and clean breeze that energises me to play longer.

Every workout is followed with yoga and meditation. I am not sure how long I can keep this up, but I don't pressure myself at all. This is the greatest advantage of living in the present moment. Take things a day at a time...

As long as this lockdown continues, we can keep breathing fresh air. There's no substitute for that at all. 

Frogs herald the arrival of the monsoons

I have witnessed twenty monsoons in Bombay and until this week I felt there wasn't thing about the season or its arrival that I would have missed. So when I woke up around 4 am a couple of days ago, along with the sound of crickets there was something that was unfamiliar at least for Bombay. It was the sound of croaking frogs! 

At 4 in the morning their melody had no competition with the birds, and so I heard this concert as male frogs sang away to attract mates! These amphibians were well aware that the monsoons and heavy showers were on their way. And how right they were! Within a few hours, the Hindmata junction in Dadar was flooded! 

So the blue skies and relatively mild sun of June has given way to grey and cloudy skies and the kind of showers that no major city on earth witnesses the way Bombay does. 

July is a wet, rainy and romantic month in this city  (in case you choose to stay indoors). I love turning on my yellow lighting in the apartment and lighting a couple of candles near the windows, which are sprayed by rain drops that slowly move downwards and take down the dust of the summer. Thanks to the lockdown, my florist shut shop. I hope he returns soon. Red and yellow roses look beautiful between my candle sticks by the window. 

Like a southern Russian summer

I can safely say that has been the most beautiful June in Bombay in living memory. The rains arrived in the city on the first of the month, thanks to Cyclone Nisarga and we've had a decent amount of rainfall, but the days have been gloriously sunny with the cloud and winds making sure it doesn't get too hot.

This month in Bombay has felt like a summer month in southern Russia. Instead of dacha duty, I have been trying to use the daylight as well as I can by playing wall tennis for any period between 30 minutes and an hour. It feels so good to move my body in such beautiful weather, supported by cool breeze and fresh and clean air.


When I look up, I see blue skies, warm sun and grey clouds, and of course a canopy of a banyan tree! My building compound is blessed with Ashoka trees, a Banyan canopy and a Gulmohur canopy. It's easy to look up and totally forget that I actually live in one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

This bliss, like all things in this physical realm, is passing. Soon the monsoon rains will lash Bombay and my wall tennis may be curtailed.

For as long as I can, I'll enjoy this Southern Russian summer, fuelled with some outdoor activity, Chekhov, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky and Malayalam literature, as well as mint tea, the last Alfonso mangoes of 2020. 

How to keep the streets of Andheri West as clean and empty as they are now

Under normal circumstances it would take me exactly a few seconds before bumping into someone in the densely packed streets of Andheri West. J.P. Road is a major thoroughfare connecting S.V. Road to Versova, Juhu and the link road that heads as far north as Bombay stretches. Andheri also has its fair share of educational institutions and industrial areas. People who come to these every single day are guilty of dumping plastic bottles, wrappers of chips and other junk food and a whole assorted set of items that belong in garbage or recycle bins. I am no social enforcer so besides a dirty look, I don't bother much with litter bugs anymore, as far as possible.

A wonderful part of this lockdown has been that these people are home and not coming from elsewhere and trashing my area.

It is no longer stressful to go outside. No more loud car horns, large crowds and auto rickshaws. Since schools and colleges are indefinitely closed, the noise that comes from the streets is equivalent to what used to be the case on Sundays. I frankly love it.

Andheri has been abused for decades, as has the rest of Bombay. One of the best ways to decongest both is to throw out industrial estates, the headquarters of the Western and Central railways, Central Government offices and Bollywood. The city's population would fall by a substantial number and places like Andheri West would be more liveable under normal circumstances. 

Seeing Bombay from an entirely different perspective

I haven't left the city in six months. This is my longest continuous stretch in my hometown since 1998, when I was a teenager. Of course, three of these months have been under lockdown, but there is so much that I have been able to notice and observe thanks to this forced isolation.

For starters, the natural light outside. I can easily tell a month in Bombay apart by just looking outside. The 9 am blue-yellow light in December is different from the light at the same time in April when it's more of a lemony yellow. The breeze that blows in to my apartment in May is different from the one in April, although the difference is absolutely subtle.

What I have been able to notice in 2020 is the gradual change between these periods. The cloud formations, the birds (except parakeets) and butterflies were things I never paid too much attention to, but now I can tell the whistle of a black bird with a silver tail apart from the chirping of other birds.

When one is left with few choices, it's easier to notice the size, colour and shape of flowers on the trees. So no, copperheads and laburnums don't just have yellow flowers and the gulmohur flower is not just orange-red.

The late summer twilight is so different from that of January.

And oh the number of big birds that fly in the sky! How could I have never noticed them and their path before?

I have no idea what is going on even two kilometres from here, but I do know that we are surrounded by all kinds of beauty that often goes unnoticed. It's all there for us, to access when we do.

It's time to light candles and enjoy the grey and white rainy monsoon days now. I don't have to worry about being late for a meeting because the rains have wrecked havoc with the traffic or trains. 

Palakkad red rice and our heritage

India’s now-eased lockdown has forced even the strongest opponent of tech billionaires to try and source some groceries online. One of the boons of this reliance on e-commerce for Malayalis is the
nationwide availability of Matta rice from the fields of Palakkad. Those who live in localities (outside Kerala) that don’t have many Malayali residents would find it next to impossible to get this variety at the local grocery store. 

The change in diet from the polished white rice to this fine red variety has proven beneficial to this writer in many ways. Besides the obvious nutritional benefits that come with Matta rice, there is the compatibility of Kerala and particularly Palakkad cuisine with this variety. Erishery, sambar and any kind of upperi goes great with this variety...

Read my latest column for Manorama Online here.  

The summer of Covid-19 in Bombay

Old readers of this blog know that I absolutely love the months of April and May in Bombay. The humidity doesn't really bother me that much. There's always a nice cold glass of aam panna waiting for me when I get home. I love the flowering trees, the longer days. We don't exactly have White Nights here, but the sun does set after 7 pm in May and there are traces of daylight till around 8 pm.

The best part of a Bombay summer is the reduced traffic on account of schools being shut, and the fact that many families leave the city for long vacations.

Although I spent most of the Covid-19 summer indoors, I did have to step out for fruits, vegetables and some groceries. What I did notice is that it was much cooler this year than the years past. This obviously is because cabs, private cars and autos were off the roads for the most part. The burning of fossil fuels and the fumes that vehicles emit make it a lot hotter.

This summer was also a pleasant one for birds, which found a lot more freedom thanks to noisy people being indoors. They were always around but I started to notice them more in my building's common areas. The only unhappy birds seem to be the crows, who love feeding off garbage dumps. The very fact that the streets have fewer footfalls means there is less garbage on them,

There were days when I walked to the Andheri market and it felt just perfect. There was life, lots of vendors and a reasonable number of people, but it wasn't hot, dirty, smelly or crowded. Besides the metro line that bisects J.P. Road, the image of the market may been similar to that in the early 1970s.

I did miss having ice cream at Natural's in Juhu and having a sundowner at a bar overlooking the Arabian Sea and walks and jogs on the beach, but spending so much time at home helped me realise how much time I do waste outside, and how stressful the city's streets can be when life is normal.

Once life is normal, I'll make sure that local grocery stores deliver my monthly provisions and I do my vegetable and fruit runs at strategic times to avoid the horns, stress and people as much as possible.

The summer of Covid-19 has given way to the monsoon season of Covid-19. I am not sure how long this will go on, but there are indicators that school will only restart by August 15. I'll use this time indoors the best way I can by reading, learning, indoor and balcony gardening and meditating. Whenever I do get access to the great outdoors in the future, I'll appreciate all the more.

Dealing with uncouth and degenerate neighbours in Andheri

I am quite fortunate to live in a fairly nice locality in Andheri West. A metro station is just outside my gate, but far enough from my flat to not disturb the peace and quiet. The Bhavan's College campus is 300 metres away by foot and a lot closer as the crow flies. A building just in front of me was torn down in the last weeks of 2017 and nature has managed to take over with wild grass and a Gulmohur tree that is blessing the plot with orange-red flowers this summer.

How does the yin and yang factor play out with all this? With my neighbours of course! For years these people have resisted carrying out structural repairs on this 50-year old building, so cracks have begun to appear on everyone's bedroom and kitchen walls. There is also the issue of monsoon leaks, for which the degenerates have found a solution in tarpaulin sheets! Essentially the black sheets that hang over the top floor of the building look like garbage bags!

Not happy with the pure and clear air that the lockdown has managed to create in Bombay by default, the uncouth top-floor dwellers want hot tar to be applied to their outer walls. When they have garbage bags to protect themselves, why pollute the air and make the walls look ugly I wonder?

The answer to this lies in the fact that these people get some sort of trivial pressure when they get under someone else's skin. They have a problem with my window sill and balcony plants and also with the saplings I have planted in common areas. I told them they'd regret touching my plants and trees if they did make an attempt, so my minor contribution to the environment is safe for now.  These people of course have no problem for using the terrace and common areas for putting their junk!

I so realise that it's a drastic difference in mindset that puts me at odds with some of these degenerates, but guess what, I am not going anywhere! (They are a bunch of racists as well, and can't stand to see my foreign guests).

Out of 16 members in this housing society, there are a few good members. I so do value them.
The trouble makers want every member of this society to sell their flats, so that a builder can buy the land and give everyone a large sum of black money. My simple advice to these people is to sell and go. Maybe a more decent set of people will buy their flats?

After years of disagreements and hate-filled society meetings, it has been decided to do the necessary renovations for the building. Hopefully people will get really serious once the monsoons are over. I don't fancy painting and renovating my interiors only for everything to be spoiled later by structural repairs outside. 

This blog is back

It's been almost three years since I wrote anything here. I am not sure how regular I will be, but I am planning to give this blog another shot.

I like the relative anonymity of this space.

I am going to try and use it for book reviews, gardening tips, health and lifestyle suggestions and random musings.

Do comment if you're reading this, and say Hi! 

My new fan page on Facebook

Now that I am a published author, I need a fan page on Facebook.

Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/AjaySakhalin

Alexander Pushkin's 217th birth anniversary

I paid tribute to the great poet and playwright in this article

Here is a little excerpt from the article, where I quote three of Pushkin's poems.

“If this life deceives you sometimes,


Don't be sad or mad at it!


On a gloomy day, submit:


Trust - fair day will come, why grieve you? 


Heart lives in the future, so

What if gloom pervade the present?


All is fleeting, all will go;


What is gone will then be pleasant.”

Book Review: Once Upon A Hill by Kalpish Ratna

I live in Andheri, a much-maligned suburb of Bombay that makes me cringe at times. It's also a place that I have grown to love over time. A maddening concrete jungle, Andheri has some hidden patches of greenery like the tranquil campuses of Bhavan's college and the Hansraj Moraji school, both of which have been recently nailed shut to the members of the public.

These green patches are a bird sanctuary and since my building is close enough to the campuses, a lot of beautiful and exotic birds come to my balcony garden. A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to find out that a large and visible rock in my neighbourhood, Gilbert Hill was once a much larger hill that stretched all the way to S.V. Road.  The co-author of 'Once Upon A Hill' even pointed out that my building is actually on the hill.

This wonderful book traces the origins of Andheri and goes back a long way before the advent of human beings.  The authors went through a painstaking process of getting old maps from lazy bureaucrats and accessing old books from nasty librarians.

Our journey begins in Andheri East from a Christian village, where there were actually paddy fields till the mid-1970s! We read about local heroes and the earliest converts to Catholicism, as well as the communities that trace their origins to the sun.

Coming back to the western part of Andheri where I stay, I get a proper sense of the length of the hill that once included the part behind the Navrang Cinema, which has been taken over by slums. The writers explain how and when the quarrying was done. The Bhavan's campus is on flat land but now lies where a big part of the hill did.

The writers are rightfully very sympathetic to the poor who settled down by the hill and formed slum clusters.

I don't want to spoil the surprises in the book, so I'll leave that to the readers. But the book is a great guide to those who want to know more about the history of Andheri and Jogeshwari and places that seem to just be names like the Mahakali Caves.

As I stand on my terrace on this pre-monsoon Sunday evening, I remember a time in the 1990s when I could see hills towards my north. Now the metro station and the line is the first sight, followed by high-rises. In the 1990s, I could see Gilbert Hill when I turned towards the south from my terrace. Now I see a monstrous high-rise that came where a beautiful bungalow called Chaman stood.  Change is the only constant in life. As the book mentions, the building of the temple on top of the hill is likely to cause untold damage to the basalt columns, but then again, if there was no temple, the land mafia would be more than happy to tear down what's left of the hill!

Like with all books written by Kalpish Ratna, there are welcome lessons in history and science. I learnt a lot about the plague in 'Room 000' and 'The Quarantine Papers' and in this book I got an introduction of the science of geology.

'Once Upon a Hill' is a good read that's incredibly hard to put down, although I think it would have better off without the chapter on the 60 million year journey of a turtle and a frog, or if the chapter stayed with the wider script of the book.

Also, it would only be fair to note that this book is yet another tribute by Kalpish Ratna to Bombay's unsung heroes.

   

Join me and plant ten trees

On the occasion of World Environment Day, Project GreenHands a grassroots ecological initiative of Isha Foundation, has come up with a novel way to help you plant a tree.

For Rs 100 (or $1 if you're not in India) you can get a farmer in India to plant a tree. You will get a certificate with a tree code that gives you the GPS coordinates of your tree and the name of the farmer who is looking after your tree.

Project GreenHands' tree planting movement has involved 2 million people of all ages and from all walks of life. Since its inception in 2004, the project has enabled planting of 28 million saplings till date.

To plant a tree, go to this link.

I planted ten trees today. Join me and help make India's air cleaner! 

Hong Kong's fading English feel

I could never praise this wonderful city enough. It is modern, bustling, clean, energetic and has a great mix of urban prowess, nature and culture. 

Like every other place on earth, Hong Kong is rapidly changing and reinventing itself. The biggest change I notice in the city now, compared to 2004 when I first visited is that the English feel and heritage are fading. Back then, a lot more of the English accents sounded like the Queen's English. 

Sure, high tea is popular, the streets bear the names of the colonisers and English is widely in use and more or less enough to get around most of the neighbourhoods, but Hong Kong is slowly evolving into what it calls itself - Asia's World City. An international city that is at the forefront of financial services. 

There is a craze for international brands and a growing awareness of environmental issues, a springing up of vegan and vegetarian restaurants, rising intolerance of mainland Chinese and a host of things both good and bad. I have always found the city and its inhabitants friendly and helpful. 

Russia's role in Burma's independence struggle

It became increasingly apparent by the 1930s that the sun would eventually set on the British Empire. This was the decade that began with the Great Depression and ended with the outbreak of the Second World War. While Britain was in the process of gradually granting autonomy to its most prized colonies such as India, impatience and revolutionary fervor reached its peak in the country now known as Myanmar.

Read more here

Glimpses of Moscow in the last days of winter

The winter was extended in Moscow. Here are some images.

Serebryany Bor in the late winter

Here are some images from one of Moscow's most beautiful forests in the winter 

Abramtsevo Estate in late winter

Here are some pictures from the historic Abramtsevo Estate near Moscow. 

Calcutta Collage

Here are some images from my trip to Calcutta earlier this month.

Hindu and Buddhist art at the Indian National Museum in Kolkata

Here are images of the museum's great collection.