The Kokan trip Snapshots (much-delayed...but written nevertheless!)

Presently we are doing a play that is set in present-day Kokan. It is the story of a family of thirteen people and their inter-relationships. Those who have visited Kokan have always attributed to it adjectives such as beautiful, deep, mysterious, refreshing, quaint, charming and the like. No matter what anybody feels about it, there is nobody who escapes its magic. Yes, magic. I find it magical. Some of us had never been to Kokan. Those of us who had, were more than willing to go. Most importantly, we had, as a part of our process for the play, planned that we should visit Kokan as the family in the play, live in a manner as close as possible to the local way of life and perform the scenes on live locations. So we planned a trip to a small sleepy and quaint village. The uniqueness of this place is that on one side of the village is the sea, and on the other, a river.

Some of us were able to go a day in advance. So the next night the remaining 6 of us left by the 9:30 p.m. bus. I suffer greatly from motion-sickness. So I was dreading the journey. As expected, I had a splitting headache that continued till we reached our first bus change-over stop at about 3:30 a.m. The bus to our village was at 5:00 a.m. We reached at 6:00 a.m. This bus was almost empty. So I got a whole three-seater to myself and I could lie down a bit and sleep and thus get rid of my headache.

In the village, one our team-mate A's relatives have a house that is closed throughout the year except the rare occasion when some of them visit it. So we were to stay in this house. A local who usually takes care of the house was intimated in advance. S & S, two boys from our team, had come to the ST stand to receive us. We walked to the house, which instantly became our "home" for two days. The road is narrow, lined with trees that form the front for homes that are constructed in the typical Kokan style. When we reached home, we got a very very pleasant surprise. Those of us who had reached a day in advance were dressed up totally in their character's costumes (at 6:30 in the morning !) and welcomed us in traditional Kokan style. As we settled in our home, we were offered a typical Kokani breakfast. What a great way to begin our trip !

We spent the day exploring the home, the village, the beach etc. Our food arrangements were with a family that runs a home-restaurant where we got typical (and delicious) Kokani food.

As soon as we reached and settled in our home, two doggies appeared out of nowhere. Both really slim-n-trim. Actually one was too thin...the ribs were showing. So the slim one got named Bips (no prizes for guessing after whom) and the thin one got named Malaika :))) Bips was very friendly but Malaika (unlike her human counterpart) was so snooty and disinterested in us ! For the two days that we were there, Bips followed us around everywhere in the village....even to the bus-stand when we left !

Two of our team-mates crossed the river in a small boat and went over to the other side to buy some provisions for dinner and had funny experiences of their boat ride to share with us.

We visited a Dargah atop a hill in the next village that is 8 kms. away. The view from the Dargah is magnificient. In the previous post I have posted the photographs taken from the top of the hill, standing next to the Darga.

The night we reached, we cooked our dinner on the open-air "chool" ("chulha" in Hindi). We cut the firewood, we lit it, we kept the fire going, tended to it, and cooked on the chool. The flavour of the rice cooked on the chool is too good...and I'm not saying this out of excitement. It is really different and tasty. The next morning we heated our bath-water on the chool and I discovered what the difference was. Food gets a smoky flavour when cooked on the chool and the heated water had a beautiful smoky fragrance !

At night it was a typical big-family scenario, with somebody lying on the large wooden swing talking to each other (oh ! did I mention that EACH home in Kokan has a swing in the sitting room i.e. the room that one finds oneself in, as soon as one enters the home...actually it is called a "padawi"), some sitting around singing old songs, somebody oiling somebody's hair. It was a very warm scene :)

Usually, in Kokan, in the villages by the sea, there is one road that runs parallel to the beach. The houses lining the beach have a small front yard. Then sits the home with very small garden patches on both sides and at the back is a very long and large patch of land on which there are banana plants and coconut and betelnut trees. Its called a "waadi". A path through the waadi leads to the beach. The beach begins where the waadi ends and suddenly you find yourself on a clean and deserted beach with a strong breeze and the vast sea in front of you. The houses on the opposite side have a back view of the green mountains. All in all...any home is a home with a view :)

There was something very interesting that we did. We rehearsed each scene on live locations. So, if, in the play, a scene is set in the mandir, we rehearsed it in the mandir on the hill. Another is set on the beach and we rehearsed that one on the beach. The way the scene entrenches itself in your conscious, in each of your senses, when you do it on live location is something that I won't be able to describe. It is something to be experienced or observed in the least.

In our village there is a small hill that has a Ganapati Mandir on the top. We visited that Mandir as well. The view from the top is just fantastic ! You are standing on the top of this hill. You see the slope of the hill covered with a thousand shades of green. Then you see the dark green tops of the coconut and betelnut trees and tiny red-tiled homes in their midst. Where this green-top cover ends, you see the beige coloured sand. Beyond that, the water shining in the sun, the waves advancing and retreating. Then the horizon and there begins the blue sky that extends all the way up, then takes a curve and comes back to you :) Magic ! :)

I promise myself that I shall keep returning there to experience the magic...again and again.

Zoya

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After a long absence...and a short trip...Comet Zoya arrives :)

I had been to a 2-day trip to a quaint little village in Kokan. Here are some photographs...till I write about it.

Enjoy the Sun n Waves in this one :)

Here are some photos of the beach...

View from a hill:

On the wall of a well...a frog giving attitude :)

In the mist...the sleepy vilage road:

Our home:

Reflections:

Zoya

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Hairy Tale !

This is the story of how Zoya got herself a radical haircut.

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Zoya. She was really bored how she looked the same for many many months. So were all her friends and well wishers, but nobody actually told her. But, where her hair was concerned, she was not very adventurous. Neither would she trust new people to cut it, nor would she like to experiment with the cuts. But one day she saw a dear friend's haircut. Friend had really unmanageable hair and yet the cut sat well on her, stayed the same for over a month. So Zoya was really impressed. She didn't particularly want to get her hair cut, but she did want to give them some shape so that they wouldn't resemble a rag-doll's hair till they grew out. Friend managed to convince Zoya to try her hair stylist. For once, Zoya was feeling adventurous and decided to trust Friend and Friend's stylist blindly. Once Zoya (or Z for short) relented, then Friend (or F for short) said that her hair stylist was a man ! Z had nothing against men hair stylists, but since she had never had her hair cut by a man before, she became quite apprehensive.

So one fine evening, off Z went to the stylist's with F. Her heart was pumping too fast, her mind was full of doubt. The MAN asked Z how she wanted it done. Z said, don't reduce the length, but give it some shape so that she wouldn't have to use any hair accessories. And most importantly, she wanted it to be low (or even "no") maintenance :) All this while MAN kept pulling at her hair and when Z finished giving him the specifications, he threw them back to her neck and loudly exclaimed, "I'll give you a fantastic cut". Now that got Z worried, if she already wasn't ! One whole hour of snip snip, chop chop (and a million horrid thoughts) later, Z was ready to look into the mirror...and was she stunned !! Z was a new girl !! She was looking so different...and good...smart, trendy...young ! F too was absolutely thrilled with Z's new look. While she was leaving, the MAN said to Z, "Oh, and by the way, if anybody asks, the name of this cut is ...." (Z forgot the name almost as soon as she stepped out of his salon) Later, Z's better half was very happily surprised and Z's Aai just kept laughing and saying, "You look so different !", and then seeing Z's worried expression said, "But its great" (But? Anyhow.)

The next day in Z's office everyone loved it and kept saying things like makeover, smart, young etc., which kept bringing a smile to her face :) The next evening, however, was the real test. Z's whole theatre gang would be seeing it. Z was nervous as hell. But they all loved it ! Not only that, H said that it was the Rachel cut ! Then suddenly everybody agreed and launched into a very embarassing* discussion of how stunning Z was looking ! (*Z is thoroughly incapable of receiving compliments) Then suddenly somebody exclaimed that despite the Rachel cut, Z was looking a lot like Phoebe too ! And then D said something that Z will always love her for...she said, "but I have always felt that Z's personality is a lot like Phoebe's" :) Z was so thrilled to hear that. Z identifies with Phoebe in many ways ... and here was somebody who thought the same !

So now, Z is very happy that her adventure paid off. She also loves the way she looks now. Her boredom has vanished. Her friends are happy that Z is looking good now. They can't stop praising her.

Thus, all's well that ends well !

Zoya

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Down with irrationiotechnophobia !

Join me all of you who suffer from this affliction. Let us stand up to our disease and face it. Even if the world condemns us for it, let us come 'out' and declare that, yes, I am irrationiotechnophobic ! (There ! Doesn't it feel lighter once you admit it? Admitting is the first step to curing it !)

I am terribly scared of revolving doors. I know that I will get stuck in it and keep revolving with the door till eternity's end !

Multiplex visits invariably make me nervous. Yes, you guessed it right...the escalators ! Many many blue moons ago we went to this new multiplex. The escalator was working and the staircase was closed (!) and so we had to use the escalator. The moment I saw it, I just simply stopped in my tracks and told my friends that they could go and see the movie, I wasn't interested in watching it. My friends, being my friends, were smart enough to put their finger on the problem right away. They had to coax and cajole and even threaten me. But I absolutely didn't budge. Then 2 of them took me by the arms and literally dragged me on it. Getting off wasn't much of a problem...I didn't have a choice anyways...the escalator pretty much threw me off itself ! All techno things hate me ! :(

Another thing that really scares the hell out of me is the prison-elevator. Yes, yes, the very same thing through which you cannot see outside. Each time I enter one, I feel that, once the door shuts, it will just keep going up and up and never stop.

But recently, three days ago, to be precise, I did the unthinkable ! I actually went through a revolving door !! Yes, I did. I'd been to a five-star hotel with my colleague to confirm room booking for our foreign guests. They had this revolving door. While walking in I walked in through the regular door as usual. While walking out however, my colleague walked straight into the revolving door. I was walking close behind her. So I too quickly joined her in there, thinking that if I did have to revolve with the door till eternity's end, at least I'll have good company. But, a miracle occured ! Very smoothly, she walked out of it on the other side, and, with her, so did I !!! I feel like a new person ! I can do it !

My confidence has soared since this incident ! My next adventure is going to be at the multiplex this Sunday and I am going to try the escalator ! So, wish me luck ye all ! And all those who suffer from these and such afflictions, my only advice to you is, 'just do it' ! :)

Zoya

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So, what's the point ?

The financial year-end. A mountain of investment proofs. A horde of colleagues desperately calculating take-home salary for March. My birthday almost lost in a flurry of activity. The relief after the storm subsided.

THE wedding. My brother's. My brother issuing instructions from abroad. Innumerable shoppping trips. Making rounds of relatives' homes for invitations. Lists - thousands of them. Super-organised me. D-Day. Everything goes as per schedule and plan. Zoya the superwoman. The honeymooners' suite, 4 friends, 4 cousins, ragging, sporting brother and sister-in-law, fun :)

Mumbai airport. Teary eyes. Brother and sister-in-law packed off. Painful silence on the way back home.

Crates of Bisleri bottles. Bananas, mangoes ! French guests at office. Pune-darshan. Sudden spate of meetings...in French. Visit to a beautiful church. Shopping trips for ethnic Indian articles. Sad-faced bye-byes. Promises to return.

Recruitment. CVs. Interviews. Reaching office at 9:30, leaving too at 9:30.

So, what's the point ?

The point is, this is sum-up of what I have been upto since my disappearance in March ! :)

Hello me, Welcome back :)

Zoya
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These are a few of my favourite things...

Last night while driving back home, I started thinking about the things that I love to do the most. I started feeling good thinking about it. I thought I might share it with you and invite you to share some of your favourite things with me.

So here are a few of my favourite things... :)

The thing that I love to do the most is performing...acting. I am the happiest when I am on stage. After each performance my face literally glows.

Being with animals, playing with them, caring for them, observing them, is the thing that comes a close second.

I love to observe people...sometimes I withdraw in a corner or go totally silent in a group and observe them. (I would, in fact, love to become invisible :) )

I love to make omelettes (I make the best cheese omelettes in the world !), dosas and pasta for my friends.

I love to sing loudly while driving my bike.

Making sand castles is also one of the things I can spend hours doing. Being on the beach gives me an immense sense of calm.

I can forget the world when I am painting on clay pots.

I love to sit in a crowded place alone, zone out the world and immerse myself in a book.

I love to learn about new places...new people...their way of living.

I love to dance to loud music when I am alone at home.

Sleeping is one my favoured activities :)

I am great at imitating accents and I like to do it.

I love to swim...I am good at it...I can lie on my back on the water, close my eyes and really go to sleep. It is the best way to sleep...you lose all orientation of time and space. There is total relaxation :)

So, these were some of mine...do tell me your favourite things.

"When the bee stings,
When the dog bites,
When I am feeling sad,
I simply remember my favourite things,
And then I don't feel so bad !" :)

Zoya
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Meeting old classmates...

He was such a quiet fellow in school...mousy in fact. I hardly ever noticed him. All that I ever registered, although subconsciously, was that he had very peaceful eyes.

This morning there was a lecture in office about investments. Boss gave me the consultant's name and telephone number to call and explain the office address. The name did ring a bell...but, I ignored, thinking its a fairly common name. A little while later when he landed up in office, it turned out to be the same mousy chap from school !

He hasn't changed a bit...but what I used to think as mousy and diminutive is in fact calmness. And a reserved nature perhaps. He did recognise and acknowledge me, though. There's a quiet confidence about him. Today, his eyes struck me the most...the peace in his eyes. I wondered why I never noticed them before. He gave a wonderful talk...no selling...plain informative and very practical and down to earth.

It was a revelation. How people turn out. Its so amazing to watch. And also so intersting to compare how you reacted to a person previously and how you react now. How some things change and some things don't change at all...and how your perception changes. I am having a rush of thoughts and I'm finding it really dificult to sort them and also difficult to write. So, I'll be back when these sheep have finally crossed the road :) *

* Whenever I have a rush of thoughts...which is quite often by the way...I am reminded of an image from the film Roja. Arvind Swamy is driving to the village on a picturesque, winding road and all of a sudden a couple of hundred sheep descend on the road from the mountain...and they keep coming...and coming...

Zoya
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