The Rambunctious Rambler

I  had a super duper birthday party this year (I know I know it has been a few months since then….. but since I’m in the mood to do some blogging … here is another post)

Although Ajay was a wee bit reluctant I decided to go ahead (steam roll him as usual) and plan a combined b’day party . Not sure how many of you know but we celebrate our birthdays on consecutive  days

The gang from SCMHRD came over – Sneha, Akshat , Neha, Arijit and Aditya (who flew in from half way across the country- Thank you so much for that), my friends and  family. We sure did have a ball.

Thank you guys for coming.  We love you.

Here are some pictures for you to have a look at

After plenty of planning and some more,  we finally decided to leave caution to the wind and head out to Nashik . The purpose of the trip – wish Joel for his birthday and see rural Maharashtra.

I asked the car to come pick me up, picked up KJD and then headed to Vasai to pick up Virgil, Joel’s Mum and Granny. We might have gottten lost in Vasai itself if it had not be for Fr. Wendell who gave us precise directions to get to Ambadi – sitting in Nashik!

Loaded the car and set out for Nashik only to get LOST in Bhiwandi ….. just when it seemed like we had to call our long distance navigator again we managed to get on the right track and sped to Nashik.

We got to Nashik and promptly lost our way to the Novitiate – AGAIN! (maybe its a sign that we need to go there more often what say Tony V? ) A few phone calls and a motorcycle escort later we reached Sadhnalaya and our darling Joel

We dropped both the aunties there and headed to Sula Vineyards which is about a 15 minute drive from the Noviatiate.

Lunch was at a local restaurant from where Wendell picked us up. I have never been to the Infant Jesus Shrine in Nashik and our trip there provided a perfect opportunity to pay a visit.

I fell in love with some pottery and had to stop and buy. I ended up buying a lot of stuff which I belatedly realized that I had to cart all over Nashik!!!!

We then drove to MPSM along long beautiful winding roads. After an exotic supper we tucked in for the night in anticipation of the long drive through rural Maharashtra the next day.

We had a short mass and headed out. We ended up driving hundreds of kilometers in the interiors of Maharashtra all the way to Ambatta and back. We visited two Jesuit mission stations, heard the stories, learned about the plant kingdom from the two Botanists we were traveling with, the shocking tale of some political lobby’s plan to submerge a whole valley to build a mammoth dam and the hope filled story of the idea of building hundreds of smaller dams that will be connected to each other thereby enabling pumping of water from dams that have filled up to those that have not at no risk  of displacing people.

Two trips to Khandala in the middle of the rains made me realise that Khandala CANNOT be captured in all its breath -taking- away beauty.

Here is some pleasure for the sore eyes the city gives you.

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I hope you had as much fun as I did planning it

Love you darling.

After a lot of hiccups, the 14 of us set out on a road trip to Kolad and the lovely waterfalls.

To sum up the trip -

Funtastic company
Super duper waterfalls
Yummy food
A near accident
Lost and found shoes
Fresh air
Botanical lessons
Long walks
A relaxing river

After I posted my birthday wish list last year, I was informed in no plainer words that I need to make wishes that can actually be granted! So here is this years “Can be granted in my opinion” wish list

PS: The list is in no order of importance

A silver strapped watch (Wish Granted)

Get excited about my birthday (Wish Granted)

Make me a birthday card (Wish Granted)

Bake me a birthday cake

Accompany me on a trip to Chor Bazaar

Throw me a surprise party

A trip to Khandala to catch the hill station in all its beauty (Wish Granted)

A subscription to the Harvard Business Review or HRM Review (Wish Granted)

Accompany me on a trip to the Andamans

A trip to Sanjay Gandhi National Park (I’m ashamed to say I’ve lived in the city for 25 years and not seen the inside of the park!) (Received a promissory note)

The girls went out for a fun night and boy did we have fun

The Cuzzies  headed yet again to PVR for yet another later night show. This time it was for Transformers This time we also made it on time for the movie! While we were waiting for the show to begin we bumped into a friend of Ruth’s who runs a chocolate boutique there called Maya. While we were drooling over the chocolates and deciding what to gorge on, Shishir heated 2 heavenly brownies for us – on the house We ended up buying chocolate spoons that were really yummy.

I’m not going to review this movie, I’ll just redirect you here or here

All in all I enjoyed the movie just as much as the IMAX experience of the Transformer movie last year.  Looking forward to the next one

My sister is a big advocate of off beat movies and so The Cuzzies headed for a late night show of “The Brothers Bloom (2008)” at PVR – Phoenix Mills. I was surprised my sister even caught sight of the movie listing which has had no publicity and does get lost in the sea of promos for “Happy Potter” and “Hangover” and “Transformers 2″!

After butting into the line at the booking counter (my sis denies that she smiled at that man and he let her in!) and tearing down the hall ways of the theater, we reached in time for the opening strains of the movie.

The movie follows the exploits of 2 cons of international repute and their sidekick in a plot where you are never so sure who exactly is conning who! Writer – Director Rian Johnson brings you a star studded cast of  Rachel Weisz (Penelope), whose commanding presence on screen and the explosive chemistry with Adrian Brody ( Bloom) steals the show, and Mark Ruffalo (Stephen).

I loved the movie. Definitely a must see in my books