Entertaining Diversions

6 October 2016 (Thursday) As part of the Whatsapp discussion for our Vegas trip in December, some of my friends who are travelling onward to San Francisco have been looking for accommodation there. There has been a very tempting deal they found on Air BnB from the property owner named Tinca. However, there have been a few red flags which have been raised about the listing (invalid mobile numbers, automated replies etc) and there was some chatter going about on the topic. I came up with a classic that got laughing smileys from everyone: [10/5, 22:15] KK: Man! She must be regretting listing her flat. We have called her on UK phone and US phone, we have emailed her. We have dug up alternative email id from God knows where and messaged her. We have whatsapped her. All this within less than a day!!! [10/5, 22:25] AK.: Well, if she does turn out to be fraudulent, we can always claim: [10/5, 22:25] AK.: Chor ki daadi mein tinca. [10/5, 22:27] SG: 😂😂😂😂 [10/5, 22:42] KR: 😬😬😬😬 [10/5, 2...

February 27, 2020 (Thursday) We reached Howrah station at 2 pm. It is the oldest, busiest and largest railway complex in India. Howrah is where life in all its different forms – from the radiant to the uncelebrated – manifests itself. There is madness for sure, and the method to it is less obvious. There are people busily going about their daily business regardless of its challenges. People chattering, people sipping tea, people laughing, people selling things, people begging and people sleeping. Often in such an out-of-context mode to their surroundings that it makes you dial back a few notches to simply get a frame of reference. Disabled, disfigured, disgruntled – you find them all here. Amidst thousands of others.  There is probably only one thing that keeps them alive – routine. Like the very trains that depart from here every hour, life chugs along in steady beats. They find their own ways of making do. They have some abi...

1 February, 2019 (Friday) Eight of us flew out of London to Zurich for our St Moritz ski trip. I worked from home today and took a cab to City airport for the 17.20 flight. Some of us took the flight out of City airport, while Shilpy flew from Heathrow and Monika from Luton. We all met at Zurich airport in the night. The eight of us in this trip are: BH (the only non-Indian), GK, SS, SG, MK, SS, AS and I.  SS and MK had told us on Whatsapp that their flights had been delayed by up to an hour due to snow conditions in UK. SS suggested that I alone should wait for them at the airport while the others can take the other car and leave. There was some amusement when I exclaimed “Powder me in sugar and call me a doughnut.” MK replied that that was one mental image she can never shake off now! When we landed at Zurich airport and were still on the plane, I was anticipating a text message from O2 stating that I can use my UK minutes and data freely in Switzerland i.e. there w...