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My current obsession is tiffin. Having almost secured a flat with a balcony, more on that in another post, the next thing I need to move closer to being a real Indian is a tiffin. Tiffin is the most peculiar of things: something so rooted in the Indian DNA but such a juxtaposition in the work place where discussions on the use of Generative AI are held over a couple of stainless steel tins of vegetables and curry that some poor woman started cooking in the early hours of the

Let me introduce you to my new identity in the workplace, "mam". I know that this is the spelling of my new name because my driver uses it when sending me a text. And yes, you read that right, my driver. Every morning at 9:00 Ajit is waiting outside the hotel in a white Toyota "High Cross". Every evening he is outside the office at 18:30 ready to drive me back to the hotel. Some might be thinking this is the height of luxury but it's beginning to feel more like a prisoner tr

Happy Republic Day! Today is one of the 14 public holidays in the state of Maharashtra that I will experience during my secondment. I will miss the last 2 of the year; Diwali and Xmas. But 14 is still a whole lot more than the 8 of the UK. I asked a few people at work what happens during Republic Day and how is it celebrated and where and how could we get involved. It seemed to be a community based coming together of people to sing the national anthem and raise the flag of

To balcony or Not to balcony, that is the next question. In my head I have pictured Malgudi Days meets Tales of the City for those readers of a certain age. Fairy lights adorning a little balcony, with wrought iron railings, packed with mismatched plant pots with all sorts of plants and flowers, a cacophony of colours and fragrances. There's a mosquito candle thing on a bistro table with chairs and the table has a couple of random plant pots on as well. Simon's description wo

Contents Warning: This is a humourless post because I have currently lost my sense of humour. Temporarily I hope. I have been hunting for more permanent accommodation for a number of days now and it is mentally exhausting. Where to live is consuming the most brain juice. I work in Navi Mumbai and the best analogy I have come up with to help you all understand my challenges is that Navi Mumbai is like the Purley Way in Croyden. You probably wouldn't want to live on the Purley

And here we are! 8 hours and 30 minutes after leaving London we reached Mumbai, and with a relatively easy time at immigration we were here in our temporary hotel accommodation. All was very smooth. We spent the weekend exploring and there is so much to share with you I’ll spread it over a number of blog posts. But for now let me share that I have started my new role and had my first day in my new office. I was given such a wondrous reception, with a garland and flowers and a

I love my coats. The one I am sporting in this photo of my last day commuting in to London this winter is my waterproof coat for cold temperatures. It’s fantastically warm, keeps me dry, and I’ve pretty much been living in it since mid-December. And in any other year I probably wouldn’t emerge from it until the end of February. Then I might need to wear my waterproof coat for mid-temps, or my waterproof coat for warmer weather or if I’m lucky I might move straight away to my

With just one week until D-Day the Packing Boxes arrived today and I had high hopes. I'd taken a day off work to focus on the task of packaging my belongings strewn over three bedroom floors into tidy, labelled boxes ready to depart to Mumbai. The thing is, how much exercise is one really going to do in 10 months - realistically, and therefore how much "gym kit" is needed? Can it really be that I will do as much in Mumbai in 10 months as I did in London in 20 years? Will I s

We have had building work being carried out on the house for 2 years and the one thing that I have been most looking forward to is the conservatory / orangery we have been building at the back. It was due to be completed in October but as October rolled into November, and then December, it has became very evident that I won’t see it finished before I leave for Navi Mumbai. Everyone keeps telling me that it will be there when I get back and it’ll be something to look forward

I am flitting between excitement and trepidation, "excipidation" but it's starting to feel in a little bit more control; flip-flopping between the two is now twice-daily as opposed to hourly. It is less than a month until my first working day in India, and I have Xmas, New Year and packing to complete. I have started to make lists. Lists of things to pack for immediate use. Things to pack to be shipped for future use. Lists of things to be maintained in London whilst I am