It's May!

Already.

Is it just me, or is time passing really fast? I mean it’s the fifth month of the year already which means we’re almost halfway through 2010. And before we know it, it will be Christmas again.

It’s funny how sometimes a day seems like a month and sometimes a few months may seem like days.

I guess it’s all about perspective. How perspective changes depending on where you are on the time-line, you know? Like when you’re in the thick of the moment it’s not very clear but then you move a couple of months down the time-line and suddenly you’re looking through the wide lens at your past and you see a lot more of the picture.

Anyway, so May is my last month in Bombay and leaving a place is never easy. This is the third time I’ll be leaving a place to start over anew. The first time was when I was 13 (well, technically it was when I was 3 months old and my family moved to Lusaka! :P) and I moved from Lusaka, Zambia to Ooty, India to start my life in boarding school. That lasted for 5 years and then I was in a sort of limbo for a year – sharing my time between Zambia and India. And then I moved here – The Big City.

Bombay. Bombay. Bombay.

You know, when I first moved here a lot of people told me that Bombay would grow on me. Everybody who lives in Bombay for a while doesn’t want to leave.

To be honest, till just a few months ago, I would always brush away those statements and think, “yeah right, I’m quite happy to be getting done with Bombay”. I mean, not that I didn’t like it. I’ve had the most unique experiences in this city; I’ve enjoyed the kind of independence that this city allows you (especially a girl) more than I’ve ever experienced in all my years divided between Zambia and India. But still, there were times during the holidays when I didn’t want to come back at all. There have been lonely days. Frustrated days. Angry days. Sad days.

(I think the worst days were when 26/11 happened. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so lonely, frustrated, angry and sad at the same time.)

But on the other hand there has also been a whole lot of happiness, laughter, fun… joy. The kind of joy that encompasses every other emotion and makes one great whole. The kind of joy that you will carry around in your heart for the rest of life.

So, this month is going to be one helluva roller coaster ride as I finish off this chapter of my life: Bombay. There is a lot of sadness in my heart because I don’t feel like I’ll ever be ready to leave, I’ll ever really be done with this city and it’s kind of scary to think of what’s next. But I’m going to try and concentrate on the joy. On what I’m taking from here, rather than what I’m leaving behind. 

And I LOVE knowing that in a sense, I know this city now. We share a kind of intimacy and I can always come back and I will!

Super excited about the summer! Just two more weeks and two more exams!! :D

Happy May!

Oh, and I finally bought batteries for my camera and took these two pics today. It's mango season in India. One of the best things about summer, if you ask me. The market is full of mangoes in all shapes and sizes and stages of ripeness :P 

So here are raw mangoes. My granny is making pickle out of them and they've been left in my room to dry. They taste delicious like that too, you know... Just add a little salt and chilli powder! Mmmm! I remember we used to love buying it off the streets in Ooty.

And ripe mangoes! With vanilla ice-cream. I had the genius idea of getting a box of vanilla ice-cream the other day so I could have it with the mangoes and it's the best thing ever!