After very many short holidays, I spent a straight five weeks in India - more specifically Kandivali and Ghatkopar with a brief visit to Kolkata. Much of that time was taken up by my grandmother who was briefly in hospital and then required care. So much happened that its been a bit difficult to unwind and record my thoughts and I hope to do so over the coming weeks. And whilst much has changed since I first lived in Kandivali, the rains had resulted in a profusion of greenery which made me remember our lane as I first saw it*. The rain trees and gulmohur remain, but the mango grove has made way for a building complex rather ironically called Kalpavriksha.
*When we first lived in Kandivali circa 1990, this lane was not much more than a dirt track with a few temporary structures. At its end lay a swayambhu Ganesh Mandir which was little else than a hole from which a shy looking idol peeked out. No rickshaw driver knew our buildings, no one knew that this lane existed. Based on the cover of her copy, my mother dubbed the lane "One Hundred Years of Solitude". Inspite of the new buildings and the changes over the years, the title often seems oddly prescient.
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