Putting things in perspective...
To the few people who've visited this cyber-space since I left, I apologize for the delay in posting. Not a regular blogger anyways.

What can I say? I'm back in my homeland and both its pros and cons are glaring back at me. However, by and large, the feeling of being home has some unfathomable, uncomparable joy in it. Life abroad may have a zillion comforts and conveniences, but home is home despite all its shortfalls.

We've been indulging in desi khana (food), desi (window) shopping and desi transport now and then (desi = indigenous, I think). Staying in an apartment at Intercontinental Mumbai..it's one of the best hotels in the city with a variety of facilities. Folks in Singapore - there's even a certain dish called Singapore noodles on the menu here...hahaa..nothing Singaporean about it except a good amount of chicken!

But going on to the more serious part of this entry - the perspective bit. Everytime you walk out on a street in India you are faced with abject poverty, a fact all Indians know and most are wilfully blind to. A stint overseas makes this even more pronounced and suddenly all your creature comforts create a sense of shame when you find that little kid on the street desperate with hunger and crying as loudly as his/her empty stomach will permit.

It almost reduced me to tears when we went to this posh restuarant, ordered a bit more than we could eat and as a result wasted some of it just to come out and see such a sight. I've since taken to packing leftovers and extra fruit and other stuff from the hotel room and giving it to these street kids. I've also been cutting down heavily in my own life...No need for fancy new clothes, shoes, jewellery etc. I have enough to last me a long time.

It's festive time in India with Deepavali in just a few days and people have been giving in to indulgence at a break neck speed. It's hard not to be tempted but I've made up my mind against unnecessary expenditure. Anyways, with grandma not feeling too well and the settling in phase in full swing, I doubt this year will be high on festivity for me.

I'm nearly done reading Gandhi's autobiography and something that stuck with me was his 'simple living, high thinking' philosophy and the fact that a healthy lifestyle replete with daily exercise and diet control can make this easier to achieve.

Clearly life can do without too many material comforts and searing ambition - especially when you see just how much you have vis-a-vis so many others around you.