Oh! Bollywood!

It’s amazing how everything in India has to have a Bollywood connection…almost as if being connected to Bollywood gives the event an air of legitimacy that no historian can possibly counter. A case in point – while taking a tour of the Janjira fort, our guide gossiped about how the heir of the king of Zanzibar is now married to Saif Ali Khan’s cousin. And then of course, the rolling of the eyes – he’s after all the chote nawab of Pataudi.

The weird part was that my mom knew the exact relation – she quickly prompted – “Oh yeah, his atye baheen (dad’s sister’s daughter) got married to Siddi’s son recently.” Now I know where I get the uncanny knack of archiving and recollecting useless gossip from!

Memories of days gone by...

A long expanse of land,
an even wider expanse of the sea,
rows of tall palm trees,
coupled with wonderful company,
mouth-watering food and divine wine,
what you've just got is the best of times!

Lots of laughter, full of crackles and giggles,
cosy night conversations,
and journeys full of singing songs,
watching ancient fort walls and wooden panes,
wondering about the way it started for them all,

A surmai fry and spicy crab curry,
wasn't all that we all ate!
oh how can I forget the sol kadhi and fish plate!

In the end, you realise that these sort of days,
are indeed very few,
and that is why we cherish them too,
what remains from all these times,
are a few photos and a couple of jokes,
but what really counts are the memories of those days gone by...

(Posted by clickable on behalf of Ayesha)