The YWCAs of Bangalore city

In mid July, me and Mira embarked on an Emirates flight to Bangalore to help her settle into a hostel in the city during her internship at an online magazine/platform. After scanning google search results and reviews, we chose the YWCA in Koramangla which according to its warden had double and triple sharing rooms for working women. The other YWCA on Infantry Road was nearer her workplace but looked pretty old and the rooms more crowded. Mira said she couldnt live with more than one person which was what her uni hostel rooms had prepared her.

We took an Uber to the place on a day the taxis went on a lightning strike at the airport. The warden was waiting for us, and we filled the formalities. She told us that the minimum stay was for six months and Mira would forfeit her deposit of 10k if she left before that. She could instead furnish a letter from her uni to prove that her internship didnt last that long. There was no lift, and we were offered a double sharing guest room on the second floor. The cleaning ladies lugged our heavy suitcases up the stairs  but I was told not to tip any one person in particular. The warden showed prospective rooms Mira could occupy. It was neat yet it gave us both a sick feeling. I guess it was a long time since I had lived in such places. The hostel only provided dinner but the other meals could be arranged through a lady caterer. There was no washing machine and the girls could wash their clothes on a stone on the terrace.

We decided we would check out the other YWCA before deciding where she would live. It was on old colonial building which had a school in its premises. The staff were very courteous and we were offered tea before they showed us a room for four - effectively three as one lady in the room came only once a week from Chennai. I decided the place was more suitable although the bathroom in the room had a long window that couldnt be fully closed. The food and kitchen seemed homely. 

However, after we had paid the fees - for my guest room and Mira's regular room - the warden told us that we shouldnt mind the cats as they helped to catch the rats in the building. That gave us a scare - residents were strictly asked to eat on the dining table and not in their rooms; keeping snacks in the room was also kinda forbidden.

I liked the food - soft idlis, tasty pulav and rotis with curry - that they served during the one week I was there. An old Tamil speaking lady guarded the hall and the girls in the night along with her cats (during the day she worked in the bungalow of the YWCA's Anglo Indian convenor). The mornings were made lively by the schoolchildren who sang hymns and the national anthem at the school assembly and piled their bags under the huge banyan tree in the compound. 

Mira left after 15 days as she didnt like the internship. She however made friends at the YWCA and enjoyed the company of her roommates and vouched that having more than one roomie wasnt a bad idea after all.

Father's Day

Celebrating our rock, rockstar and breadwinner !

Visiting family member

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Having the daughter at home, despite her penchant to annoy, has its advantages _ trying out different hairstyles, pulling out white hairs, the occasional selfie and the evening gossip walks. 

Our new CM

To my utter glee and happiness, VDSatheesan is taking over as the 13th CM of my home state after 10 days of wrangling between three contenders. As someone whose heart is always with the Congress, the UDF victory gives me hope. VD is educated, well read, principled and relatively young. He seems to have progressive ideas and a desire to take everyone along.

Dad would've been happy with the victory and CM choice.

Gymming

As a tribute to dad on his birthday on May 11, I have joined the gym again after six months of walking.

Winter is beating a retreat and the Peninsula is gearing for summer. Hence walking in the sweltering heat is not my kind of exercise.

Relief

As we say in Malayalam, what came like a mountain or landslide went away like a rat. Expecting a counteroffensive after Orange Man's latest deadline that smacked of a nuke, we told Ash he could sleep with us for the night and die together if the building came down 😱

Nothing happened and we woke up to news of a ceasefire. Hopefully the friction will fizzle out though Satan yahoo won't be the happiest person.

The other good news of the day is that Ash got his driver's license which is quite a feat here.

April is not the cruelest month after all.

Passion of the faithful

Good Friday is usually a day-long event for us Kerala Orthodox Christians; the mass runs from 7.30 am to about 3.30 pm. It is a bit longer in the main churches in the UAE since much of the burgeoning crowds of faithful have to do the kumbideel - or worshipping/kneeling before the cross covered in white cloth symbolic of Jesus' burial - and it takes about 2 hours in the second half of the day. To me, that looks like the most sacred part though the procession holding a small wooden cross -- thankfully not hefty like the one carried by Catholics on the same day -- seems just as holy. 

Much to Ash's relief, there was no mass braving crowds and the summer sun this year. Owing to the conflict, authorities directed the churches in the main emirates to hold the service online. Outdoor gathering was not permitted even on Palm Sunday, and we had to fit inside the church and auditorium. The two of us did a few token kumbideel while the father was away at work. I belted out the hymns for the day finding special meaning and satisfaction in the one that went "Jalathayezhum joothanmaraal..." (He was crucified by the arrogant/idiotic Jews - not sure if jalatha means idiocy or arrogance). It is more a feeling instituted by my granny whose narration of the crucifixion saga stressed on the Jewish insistence on having poor JC sentenced to death on the Cross.

The mass was over by 1.20 pm. We missed the kanji-payar-papadam combo at church after mass but I made the same for lunch. 

Like Dawkins, I like to call myself a cultural Christian. Happy Easter, folks!