Greetings from Beirut

Our second  Diwali in Bombay. More fun, more in tune with our surroundings and more capable of tuning out noise we don't want to hear. 

The thing we can't tune out though are the insane explosions of fireworks left, right and center. Poor Rustom is not a happy camper. 

Mira made a Rangoli (floor decoration), has to be the first Rangoli made with the assistance of an iPad; Kumud and Mira made a cheesecake (Kumud's b'day). 

The hiatus in writing indicates a slight sensory overload. How do you write about the fact that the neighborhood drunk falls asleep on the same stretch of road every Saturday? That garbage rises to new heights, social activism notwithstanding? 

Or is it a case of "the economy is subdued and so are we"?

Mira derives inspiration from iPad to create Indian floor painting for Diwali

The final product, with Lord Ganesh stage left

Made a day trip to Lonavala a few days ago. Once we got out of Bombay 1 1/2 hours later the scenery was beautiful, green and genuinely mountainous. After a nice lunch we drove back to Bombay. More beautiful scenery, "look, doesn't that look like the Table Mountain?"

One wrong turning later and we're smack in the middle of Chembur, part of where the other 90% lives. Bombay at it's congested best. 

Diwali at neighbour's house, also second time in a row. Card game going on, but we're too Protestant / Midwestern by now to play along and lose our meager earnings. 

Kumud's cheesecake is very well received and she subtly takes in the compliments. So here we are in Beirut / Bombay, enjoying good food and eating cheesecake. Bombay isn't home yet, but less alien, once you're out of Chembur that is. 

Kumud, Mira and Tarini just left for Delhi.  After dropping them off I visit the Sidhivinayak temple, Mumbai's premier Ganesh temple.  Less large on the inside than you’d think as you drive past, but serene. Noisy, but serene.

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