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Happy Holi + St Paddy’s Day
When away from ‘home’ it is easy to forget the rhythms of ‘home’ festivals and celebrations.
Like missing Chinese New Year celebrations in India… and catching the tale end in Malaysia.
St Patrick’s day wasn’t even on the radar until I went to Bluegrass in Kuningan, Jakarta for dinner with a fab gal pal and saw the St Paddy’s themed F&B specials appealing to the ex-pat crowd. (more…)
Confessions of a reluctant entrepreneur
While working in Malaysia, another contract for Jakarta came through – yippee!
I’ve mentioned – more than once – that I’m a highly reluctant entrepreneur! However by some brilliant stroke of luck (or two!) am somehow surviving with independent work.
Knowing there is nothing certain in life, I’ve been preoccupied with – don’t laugh – opening 3 companies! Yeah, like the paperwork and hassles for one isn’t enough, hmm?
Sounds fancy but isn’t really. Just have 3 very different types of work on the go… (more…)
What is your most memorable multi-lingual story?
This is a “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” type posts… as I really do want to hear your best multi-lingual story…
Wanna go to school in Ireland? (Photo: Carissa Hickling)
My most memorable multilingual experience was in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the early 1990s. I was there for an academic conference, staying with relatives and catching a bus to the campus each day…
On one bus trip, the driver had a wide smile, jovial manner and a comment or two or three for just about everyone getting on and off the bus… in different languages! By the time it he was on to the 5th language… I simply had to ask his story. (more…)
Burning the ‘old man’ in Bandra + a Canadian connect to ‘Auld Lang Syne’ – Happy New Year!
I wish you all the best for the coming year sharing two traditions:
- From Bombay, the burning of the ‘old man’
- And from Scotland via Canada to the US, the popular ‘Auld Lang Syne‘
Burning the old man
All around Bandra you can see straw stuffed old folks hanging around at street corners. You might just be accosted by youngsters demanding money for the old man. To do what? Well burn him, of course! And the money? Why to have some fun, what else?!
“Aunty! Uncle! Gimoneyferolman!!” (more…)
I’m NOT dreaming of a white Christmas
While I miss family and friends back in Canada, I don’t miss freezing my nether regions! I come from a place where winter can mean -40’c without windchill… factor that in and we’re talking -60’c or worse… Brrrr!!!
Yet there is a perverse pride in surviving and thriving in such conditions and I know one of these years I’ll be back and enjoy it with immense gusto! (Confident a couple of planes later I’ll be home with palm trees and sandals). (more…)
Tis the season to get “marry”ed… again
While tis the season to be merry, winter is also marriage or “shadi” season in India! The temperatures cool and ‘phorun’ (foreign) relatives descend. Peacock bright wedding finery is donned, jewellery polished and coloured envelops stuffed with cash plus one rupee for good luck.
Wedding puja (Photo: Carissa Hickling)
In a true sign of the times, the family wedding we attended on the weekend was 2nd time around for two siblings. All four experienced wedding, divorce and were taking a leap of faith to wed again. The brother and sister decided to tie the knot with their respective loves on the same day, keeping the ceremonies short, sweet and restricted to family. (more…)
“Drive here? Are you nuts!” Cars and re-learning to drive in India
I’m often asked about driving in India… and my response for the longest time was “Drive in India? Are you nuts!?”
My ‘new’ car in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1997
Like a typical Canadian teenager, I got my driver’s license in high school. However less typically, it was a decade later before I owned a car – a 2nd hand Toyota Corolla which survived more than one blizzard in Winnipeg. I did a great job accumulating Manitoba Driver’s License merit points not because I was a particularly good driver but simply that I drove so rarely it was nearly impossible to be caught speeding or get into an accident! So when I moved back to Delhi in 2003, bought a cheap 2nd hand Maruti 800, I also splurged on a wonderful bonus – HIRED A DRIVER.
A Canadian friend visited us in India and remarked that driving around the world is a bit like a video game – Canada is the super easy, reasonably polite entry-level and India is one of the most challenging. Here you dodge everything from cyclists to beggars, camels to cows (less so now), and during particularly hot summers, high tempers combined with arrogant driving can lead to deadly disasters. (more…)
Sidewalk adventures… stumbling to work?
Warning! This post has an utterly ordinary topic – the humble sidewalk. What could be simpler than walking on a sidewalk? After all, that is its purpose – correct? A foot path on the side of the main road… meant for walking… Right?
Growing up in Canada, sidewalks were a place to stroll, skip, walk the dog or jog in the summer. In winters, not only are the road plowed but the sidewalks are also. A good thing too! You try walking in -40’c completely bundled up with fogged-up frozen glasses tramping through unplowed sidewalks. You’d walk on the road and likely get accidentally shmucked by a car unable to stop, tire wheels screaming while sliding into the hapless road walker! Sidewalks are clearly the smart way to go. (more…)
Gay for a day (or more!!)
Sex is personal yet becomes political when a nation decides to interfere in acts between consenting adults.
Today’s decision in India by the Supreme Court is such a step backwards… reinforcing a retrograde law from 1860.
Gay Parade (Photo: India Today)
A bit of background – in 2009 the Delhi High Court made a landmark ruling that took a step towards decriminalising sex between two consenting same gendered adults. However noted that this is ultimately a matter for the government decide through legislation. In the interim, the matter made it to the Supreme Court with the ruling out today… re-confirming that homosexuality is criminal in India?!
Wanna learn more? Just read Gay sex, homosexuality is an offence: Supreme Court upholds Section 377. Black day for LGBT community (more…)
The Friday Night Phenomenon – TGIF in Jakarta!
What are you doing this Friday night? Is it time to cut loose? Shake a leg? Knock back a martini (or two!)?
In Mumbai, I find the more interesting activities seem to happen during the week so by Friday, a quiet evening at home with my partner is perfection!
In Jakarta, after slogging all week – morning, noon and night! – on client work, by the time Friday comes around, I’m desperate for a little non-work socializing. And have discovered nothing is better than a little “Frivolous Friday Fun” after a busy week.
And because I’m in Mumbai this Friday but missing Jakarta, have decided to revisit a few favourite Friday’s in Jakarta with you…. (more…)
Everyday Asia 