The cat has landed. So has all my worldly possessions! Trying to get connected now. Called Touchtel and got an answering machine where I left my name and number. Emailed Hathway and they mailed me saying they would get in touch (hopefully, they mean soon!). Called the Reliance Webworld outlet and it was closed (on Saturday!). Shucks. Looks like it will be another week trying to figure out how to get online 🙂 There’s a land line connection at home too. Problem is, it ain’t working. The phone guy says I need an electrician to fix it. The electrician I have been trying to get keeps telling me, “I’ll come tomorrow, Madam.” As we all know, tomorrow never comes! I finally tracked down another one today and he says he can’t fix the phone line. I think me and the cat will have to figure out a way to fix the connection. More later. When I manage to figure out how to get a broadband Net connection in Bangalore.

Blogging from a Sify iway, somewhere near the new flat I moved into yesterday. Being eaten alive by BIG mosquitoes. Bangalore, I have realised is a haven for these pests. They’re everywhere! So though I was very tempted to sleep with all the windows and doors open yesterday since the flat is quite well-grilled, I decided that I didn’t want this method of blood donation. Jil and Rocky made sure I settled into the place. After enjoying a really satisfying lunch (Jil being a really awesome cook 🙂 they took me shopping for essentials like buckets, mops, cleaning detergent and stuff that life in India is incomplete without! By the end of the day, I was loading with all forms of cleaning agents. But thankfully, the flat is in quite a good condition. I decided to leave the few spider webs in the verandah till the next weekend and take it easy instead. As I had mentioned in my last post, I was rather apprehensive about the move. But finding a place to stay has …

I meant to write this post before I left Mumbai, but life got in the way! Anyway, here is a long overdue update. I moved from Mumbai to Bangalore on the 8th of April. It was pretty crazy trying to get everything organized just before I left. And between feeling excited, depressed, low, high, bad, good, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to actually express what I was feeling the last few days in the city. I landed in Mumbai with mixed feelings; I also left with mixed feelings! It’s funny how just when I am settling down into a place, I find it is time to move again. But then, I have moved places so often now, that after a few years, I usually ask myself, “Where next?” This time, its Bangalore. Ever since I reached Bangalore, I have been hunting around for a place to stay. Bangalore I have realized is a maze of phases, sectors, layouts, blocks, crosses and mains that is supposed to make life easier for you. Excuse me, …

Ah, well. It’s that time of the year again. I remember being younger and so excited everytime my ‘special day’ would come around. It was a time when all my friends came over, mom made yummy khana, boyfriend gave me ‘cho-shweet’ gifts, sister was extra nice that day, dad would smile a little more. And being a sucker for gifts, I would get excited over every little thing I got as a present. Now, I think, ‘Oh, my God. Is it that time of the year already?’ I mean, didn’t I just turn a year older a few days ago? Oh noooo! Ah, well. There it is. Do leave yours in the comments box. At my age, they’re the only kind that I’ll be getting 🙂

Don’t you just hate it when you travel a long distance, arrive and then realise you forgot the most important thing you had to bring? It happened to me today. The Kodak Advantix roll that I use for my camera can only be developed at a few photo labs in the city. One of them is in Bandra. Obviously impatient to look at my trip photographs, I made a 45-minute journey there from home today, only to arrive at the shop and realise that I had forgotten to bring the film rolls. Arrrrghhh.

We were talking last evening about how your mother tongue influences how you speak English, when we came upon another interesting question: What is your mother tongue and how would you determine it? Is it: 1) The language your mother speaks 2) The language you speak with your mother (and what if you speak two languages?) 3) The language you speak most with your family 4) The language you think in (Which might not be your technical mother tongue. For example, Assamese is technically my mother tongue, but I don’t think in the language) 5) The language you’re most comfortable speaking (and this may or may not be the same as the one you use to communicate with your family). Also, what happens if you have parents who speak different languages and use Hindi or English as a common language? Does Hindi/English become your mother tongue, or it is still your mother’s language that is your mother tongue? Hmm… A little complicated I think. I’d be interested in hearing your views especially if you come …