100th!

PrePost Note- Formatting has gone crazy, AGAIN! Someone HELP! 

This is the 100th post on this blog! I'm not sure of blogger counts the drafts which haven't been published, but well, I had 99 posts until this one. So. 

What's been up?

There are about 30 things on my to-do list (I am a compulsive list maker) and my schedule for the last week (when I was supposed to have struck off at least 8 of those) went completely OFF  because, well, I chose to be lazy and not do anything. So I have now officially hit the panic button. Must regain calm and composure. Ok. 

On the shopping front, the most important bits of shopping are yet to happen. I must get myself an LBD and shoes, which I am happily procrastinating in the hopes of magically becoming super hot in like a week and therefore get a dress which fits better. I ALSO have to, have to, have to, have to buy 2 pairs of jeans which I have procrastinated since ONE YEAR for the same reason. My mom yelled at me today for NOT buying something. Can you believe that? Someone being cross with me for NOT shopping for a particular thing? 

Oh talking about shopping, I have shopped a bit. Bought myself two cloth material thingies from Dilli Haat (out of which I intend to make kurtas). Whee! They're absolutely gorgeous. I LOVE. 

I NEED to get a haircut. Before that, however, I need to ask reliable Delhi friends where I should get my haircut from. Reliable Smimp has suggested a couple of places. Will refresh memory. I like the fact that I'm getting to know this place. As in, I like knowing about places- what's good where, having favourite places etc. Apart from the coolness factor (think of me in a conversation where I go, "Oooh, yea I know, that place is amazing. But you should also try this one." and "Yep I've been there! But I liked [   ] more.") it's in someway... me. Moving around and exploring different places is how I've grown up. I've moved around a LOT and have been in 7 schools (that I can remember) and one junior college. While variety could be the spice of life, at times I regret not having known people for a long time, or not having "childhood friends" with whom I'm still in touch with, or for that matter a place I can call "home" with all my heart. I really don't have a "home". They're all houses, all over the country. And the fact that the four of us (Mom, Dad, S and I) live in four different cities/towns, doesn't make it any better. I can't meet my "family" when I go "home". So when I go back to college, I won't be saying "Home was good. Yea, had an awesome time with family", but "Yea, Delhi was fun and it was good spending time with Mom." Not that I'm complaining, but this is how it just is. It's one of those things that I guess most people take for granted- having a place to call "home". I think the closest that any place comes to being home to me (consistent with the saying "Home is where the heart is"), it would be Bombay. I love Bombay. I love everything about it. It's the place I've spent the maximum number of years of my life (6 years). Those were my formative years. I can't say I made "many good friends for life" during my years there, but at least one, may be a couple. Whenever I go to Bombay, I feel elated. And somehow, it feels like I'm wanted there. It's that warm, fuzzy feeling of familiarity. Yes, that's right, Bombay seems to be the place I'm most familiar with. Bombay has MKG, the awesomest colony in the world; where Latika and I would go skating ALL OVER THE PLACE, would play badminton,  go cycling early in the morning during holidays, play hide and seek with the rest of the kids and I was always a "kachha nimbu", where we'd have SBI v. IDBI cricket and football matches, where Latika and I spent numerous afternoons playing house-house in the park, on the slides (the steeper, longer slide was my 'house' and the shorter one was hers), where we used to act like models on this rock fountain between G bldg and H bldg and pretend we're being photographed by papparazi, where all of us went for fun art-and-craft classes conducted by Kalyani Aunty. Bombay has Elite, the place where I bought all my clothes from, even my famous "paper pants" :)  It has Bombay Blues, the place where I went often with friends; where my standard order was nachos and lemon/peach iced tea. It has Bandstand where Dad, S and I would go on drives at night with Saathiya playing on full volume in my green Santro (which is now gone). It has Society, where I bought Lindt chocolate from. It has Archies right in front of MKG where I bought all my letter paper sets from. It has Amardeep where the whole of MKG bought every-damn-thing from. It has Juhu Beach which I could see from our terrace, from where (the terrace) I'd often watch the most beautiful sunsets ever with Latika. It has BEST, which I used a couple of times even as a 10 year old, all on my own (without having anybody to show me how to and take a zillion precautionary measures like I have to here in this, no offence meant, unfriendly city). It has autos which use the meter- ALWAYS. And autowallahs who're nice. And people who're friendly. It has monsoons. It has ICSE schools all over the place. It has Fort, where you can get books for like Rs. 20. It has LINKING ROAD! It has Juhu Road and Carter Road and BANDRA and Santa Cruz and all the places I was so used to and loved.  So yes, that way, those few places in Bombay seem like home to me and deeeeeep inside,  I am a Bombay Girl. At least, I want to be a Bombay Girl. 

On the other hand, probably Bhubaneswar (Bbsr, henceforth) should be home since I ethnically belong to that place, was born in Bbsr, both my houses are there and my Mom lives there now, though I've spent only 4 years of my life-when-i-can-sense-things there. Most things about those four years, I don't want to recount. What I do want to remember and celebrate are the two friends-for-life that I have taken back :) One is supremely protective of me and the other, well, I share a lot in common with the other (wink, wink). I love them both soooooooo much. Thank you, girls. They are the ones responsible for making 11th and 12th enjoyable for me. The funny thing is, most of the people I know in my Bbsr school, called me "Mumbai Matinee" in jest. I was the new girl who'd come from Bombay. The snobbish what-does-she-think-of-herself big city girl who spoke English all the time. Some of them still call me "Matinee" when we meet :) Somehow, I really like it :) Makes me feel like I'm from somewhere, that I belong somewhere. 

Well, anyhow, now Bangalore is "home" to me because I spend 9 months a year there. Delhi has become my "vacation home" because it's convenient for me to intern here. Bombay is still home in my heart and I do all that I can to keep it that way :) The only entity(thing/human/place) I have wept so much for is Bombay. Hence the fondness. 

AND S is now in Bombay. There. That just DOES it. How can Bombay not be my favourite place? 

P.S.- Turns out blogger does count unpublished drafts. But well, I don't care. This is 100th! Hmph.