City Boy » mumbai

Inappropriate Dinner Talk and Steaming Desserts

Amortya Ray — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:51:13 +0000

My wonderful parents, who have been blissfully married for 26 years, celebrated their anniversary today. And I, as the dutiful, financially independent, first-born, decided to take them to dinner. So we drive down to this really fancy Chinese restaurant in Bombay called Mainland China. And whilst waiting the appetizers to be served, Mommy decides to regale the crowd with some scintillating tales from their younger days. Now be warned, Momma Ray is a fabulous storyteller. Her educational background in literature and history, along with her innate talent for the gab, makes her one heck of a conversationalist. So as I wait for my pan fried dumplings, Ma tells the story of her’s and Baba’s wedding anniversary in Bangalore. Yes, the one where an overfed, 3-year old me decided to be a rather gracious guest at the restaurant and throw up all over the floor. In excruciatingly graphic detail. Now, as I have no recollection of the aforementioned incident ever taking place, it’s my word against her’s. Oh and yes, my parents were charged extra for the ‘cleaning up’ of the toddler’s puke. This story, however, pales in comparison to the next one where I pooped under the table at a restaurant. YES I DID! My childhood is full of such lovely anecdotes about shit and vomit. And about making a mess on the menu card when a daring stunt with chopsticks and oriental cabbage salad goes woefully wrong. YES I DID!

From stinky turds to the greatest dessert ever created, gentlemen, I give you, the sizzling brownie. And a shout out to Lil’ m, yes- it does sizzle!

Sizzling Brownie! from Amortya Ray on Vimeo.

Imminent nuptials and superstar lookalikes

Amortya Ray — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:13:52 +0000

Today my Mum was asked to be judge for a dance competition at the local Saraswati Pujo in Lokhandwala Complex, Bombay. And for some reason, she had been insisting all day that I accompany her to the event. And as much as I didn’t want to go, I decided to be a good son for once, and tag along. BIG MISTAKE!

Really? I don't think so!

It was only after I got to the ground that I realized the devious ways my Mum’s mind works in. Well, I shouldn’t have been surprised. She is after all MY mother! Mommy was totally pimping me out for all the eligible girls present there. Here’s how it worked. I was standing with my Dad on one side of the ground checking out the food stalls (obviously!). Ma goes about socializing and networking like she’s one of the girls from SATC. But truth be told, her hawk eyes were scouting for nubile, young women to pitch to me. And after she’s done with her recon mission, she calls me over and introduces me to her friends AND their daughters. She’s goes like, “Here is my son. Engineer. NRI. And doesn’t he look like Abhishek Bachchan?”. Obviously, she couldn’t tell me anything straight up, but one look in her eyes and I knew what her end game was. She’s cute na? She’s well educated, has a good job, comes from a good family and can cook! Why don’t you call her sometime? Of course, if she had it her way, she would have probably had me engaged then and there. Thankfully though, I managed to drag her by the hand away from all the madness. She was quiet, but her body language was yelling, “I AM NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER. I WANT GRANDCHILDREN! AND I WANT THEM NOW! THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, EVEN IF I HAVE TO KNOCK YOUR ASS UNCONSCIOUS AND MAKE YOU TAKE THE GODDAMN PHERAS”

As I step out of CSIA

Amortya Ray — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:13:06 +0000

And turn on my iPhone, I am welcomed to my motherland with this wonderful text message.

$20/MB- thanks, but I'll pass!

Boss, Andheri kaunse side pe aayega?

Amortya Ray — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:23:20 +0000

For the clueless, the title of this post refers to the ubiquitous line every train traveler in Bombay should have uttered at least once in their lifetime. Roughly translated it means, “Dude, on what side of the train is the platform gonna be?”.

Yes, I’m visiting my parents, sister and grandmum in Bombay, India after nearly 2 years. And the experience has been, well, mixed. As I exited the airport after haggling with the customs officer, a ferocious blast of heat hits me. Ah! The advantages of living in a tropical country. I went from subzero temperatures to absolute sweltering heat. On the bright side, I had some delicious butter chicken awaiting me as I got home! Yum!

A few thoughts on my first day in the motherland.

A massive infrastructure project in the city has pretty much resulted in all of the suburb roads being dug up. Yes, ALL OF IT! A direct consequence of it is that it quadruples the time taken to travel any distance. The ride from my parents’ home to the train station, which typically takes less than half an hour, yesterday, took over an hour.
Which brings me to my second observation. Whoever thought that it was a brilliant idea to put LCD screens in the mass transit buses, needs to be strung up upside down and flogged to death. I was holding my throbbing head to stop the unbearable pain. And the producer who came up with the ridiculous programs/commercials that are aired, needs to be buried. Alive.
The general population seems to have a complete disregard for any kind of nasal hygiene. People simply stuck their index fingers into their noses and shagged it with the joy akin to jerking off.
I also visited the home of my most favorite person in the whole world. My drama teacher from when I was a kid. Unfortunately, she was out. So I had to contend with leaving a hastily scribbled note with my Mum’s telephone number, because as ridiculous as it sounds, I couldn’t remember my own phone number.
I have also started immunizing my body with a variety of scrumptious delicacies from the streets of Bombay. Nimbu pani, chicken frankie, samosa, vada pav, dabeli, roadside chinese food, topped with maaza. Slurp!

This was just day 1. Stay tuned for more of my India shenanigans.

Summer Bummer

Amortya Ray — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:33:41 +0000

It’s nearing the end of June, and here in New York, it still doesn’t feel like its summer. Its been raining incessantly ever since the weather changed to non-winter-jacket-wearing levels. It’s bad enough that we had a rather prolonged winter this year, but this is ridiculous. I wonder what needs to be done to appease the summer Gods to show us some mercy.

On the other hand, the present weather conditions take me back to the time I used to live with my parents, back in Mumbai, India. Unlike here in the US, where it can potentially rain anytime of the year, India has three whole months dedicated to the monsoon. Four years ago, on the 26th of July, the coastal city of Mumbai was brought to its knees in a powerful deluge that swept through the city. Back then, I was was in my senior year, studying in suburban college. Although my parents lived a short 10 minute ride from my college, nevertheless it took me 2 hours to wade home in waist high water. And this year, the geniuses at the weather bureau, finally got their act together and issued a weather alert. So much so, that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt decided to cancel his 50th birthday party! Well, at least something seems to be working in the city’s favor. After last year’s horrific attacks, the people of Mumbai could use a break.

Having said that, I should add that June 21st, 1:45 am EST is considered to be the official start of the summer in the northern hemisphere. So here’s hoping that the onset of the summer solstice brings us New Yorkers some good luck and warm weather. There’s tons of things to look forward to this summer. Among them, we have the new Transformers movie, the GI Joe movie, Saif-Deepika’s new movie Love Aaj Kal, Shahid’s new movie Kaminay and Dan Brown’s new novel The Lost Symbol. Oh and yes, my move into my very own bachelor pad, my own studio! Rented, of course, but mine nonetheless.