Just got a message from my best friend this morning – “I’m sitting in a cafe with free wifi in Bandra, drinking black coffee – actually it just occurred to me, it’s not free wifi, the coffee’s so expensive it probably pays for the whole street’s wifi!” And, that’s when it struck me that nothing [...]
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Three years ago, I spent New Year’s Eve amidst two million people at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach. As unbelievable fireworks lit up the sky, I watched the Cariocas all dressed in white, carrying candles and partaking in one of the age old traditions, or should I call it must-do superstitions of the night. They [...]
I don’t know if it’s written on my face or they just target every Indian around, as though we carry the woes of the world on our shoulders. The first piece of paper I received this year was a leaflet promoting Peofessor Sahib….. He has the answers to everything. The most entertaining ad I’ve ever [...]
One question I always get in any city I have lived in – What’s the cheapest thing to do? This wasn’t really difficult to answer when I lived in Mumbai. For starters, everything in India is pretty cheap. You can spend the day in 2 pounds or in 200 pounds when it comes to Mumbai. Think [...]
Till recently, I never believed the person who said ‘there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong jacket’. Having spent most of my life in a city where the weather band is 20 – 40 degrees, things like snow, sweaters, scarves and such is as alien to me as wearing a bikini [...]
There are a couple of things you cannot avoid in Italy – Good food, good wine and the regular proclamation of love. From my recent trip to Italy, apart from putting on an extra few kilos thanks to the pizza and pasta, I also fell victim to the regular ‘ti amo realmente’ proclamations in the [...]
Till 2010 – Life in India – All year one season – Summer. February – What’s the weather like Ninja? Ninja – Hot June – What’s the weather like Ninja? Ninja – Hot as hell October – What’s the weather like Ninja? Ninja – Sultry and hot 2011 – Life between London and Austria – [...]
Out of Office Message 1 I will be out of office from 29.08.2011 to 02.09.2011. Please get in touch with xyz incase of anything urgent. Kind Regards, Me (when I really care about keeping the job) Out of Office Message 2 I will be out of office because I’ve decided to take this late holiday [...]
Just got a message from my best friend this morning – “I’m sitting in a cafe with free wifi in Bandra, drinking black coffee – actually it just occurred to me, it’s not free wifi, the coffee’s so expensive it probably pays for the whole street’s wifi!”
And, that’s when it struck me that nothing really comes free. It’s just the way people package things and throw it your way that you get fooled so easily and sucked into spending a lot more than what you would.
Damn! I wish I’d heard this before running around half the world trying to search for free wi-fi spots, spending more money than I actually would have spent in an internet cafe.
Watch out for this sign. Free WiFi equals Expensive Espresso.
Three years ago, I spent New Year’s Eve amidst two million people at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach. As unbelievable fireworks lit up the sky, I watched the Cariocas all dressed in white, carrying candles and partaking in one of the age old traditions, or should I call it must-do superstitions of the night. They jumped over seven waves and made seven wishes, before thousands of flowers were then thrown into the sea in honour of Lemanjá, the Queen of the Ocean, as the first spiritual offering of the year.
That wasn’t the end of the festivities, rather the beginning of a long wild night, where I got sucked into the Brazilian spirit of Cachaca drinking and samba dancing. Lively and loud, hardly an atmosphere to conjure up meaningful wishes, I reserved my seven wishes for later. It looks like it took quite a while but I’ve finally decided on how I plan to redeem the wishes. Here they are and hope Lemanjá is listening -
1. Sometime in life, I want to teach Capoeira. I don’t know when. I don’t know whether I’ll be good enough. All I know is that I want to be able to share something I love so much with others and see the sparkle in their eyes as well.
2. I want to discover Africa. Not like a 2 week trip to some safari or the desert. I want to live in those small villages, wake up worried in borders, be lost in the wilderness for days, dance to the beats of drums and soak in the culture. Someday.
3. I want to delete all my social media accounts one day. Just disappear from the internet. (My blog is the only exception to this)
4. I will keep sending postcards in hope that someday, I’ll receive just as many. (I guess the problem is that no one knows my real address, but we can deal with that later. If they had the intention of sending me a postcard, they would’ve figured it out).
5. I will take my mom on a backpacking trip somewhere.
6. I will eventually work for myself or do something on my own.
7. This one wish – I want to keep reserved for a rainy day. Who knows when we go through that?
I don’t know if it’s written on my face or they just target every Indian around, as though we carry the woes of the world on our shoulders. The first piece of paper I received this year was a leaflet promoting Peofessor Sahib….. He has the answers to everything. The most entertaining ad I’ve ever read.. And strongly competes with the Indian matrimonial columns and advertising for impotency on local trains… Read on.
One question I always get in any city I have lived in – What’s the cheapest thing to do? This wasn’t really difficult to answer when I lived in Mumbai. For starters, everything in India is pretty cheap. You can spend the day in 2 pounds or in 200 pounds when it comes to Mumbai. Think about it – a local train ticket to Town and back + cups of tea & Vada pav for breakfast + free stroll and window shopping in Colaba minus the urge to stop at Mondes for a beer + Pav Bhaji or Bombay Sandwich for lunch, etc etc and you can manage it under 2 pounds.
When I moved to London, my biggest worry was finding ways to amuse myself at no cost. And, it wasn’t difficult. In no time, I figured out that a lot of cool things came for free – the museums, the parks, some exhibitions. Unlimited choice all for free. All we had to do was log onto Timeout London and get moving. And, we realised that the maximum money we spent was actually on the Tube getting from place to place.
Money well spent I would say. Getting from home to Natural History Museum to watch the Wildlife photography exbition and then to Sommerset house to catch the exhibition on the Amazon and then to do the free walking tour at Shoreditch all sounds exciting. However, the best entertainment was in the Tube. No kidding. Whether it was the musicians at the booked spots at Piccadilly or the advertisements in the tube stations, Tube photography or tilework of Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street, the random breakdancer on the Central line or the definitions of Londoner, the Tube is the place to discover London in a day. Possible to do this in 1.3£ I guess.
Well, look at the number of friends of ours who have happily tube surfed with us in London and you’ll know what I am talking about…
….. Finally, the ultimate tube dancer I was talking about…. Check it out here – Tube Dancer or on Backpacking Ninja TV!
