15th August 2008: Wake up, attend mass & flag hoisting ceremony, watch prize distribution kaaryakram for the little Marathi paathshaala affiliated with our church, go home, laze around, eat chicken curry, sleep, wake up, go beaching, come home, eat, sleep.
15th August 2009: Wake up at the crack of dawn, chow down a genormous breakfast with Aditya while hustling him for graphic novels, catch up on conversations with Rehab, head to The Wall Project at Mahim, spend an entire day painting crazy-whacked graffiti on the walls running parallel to the station, have a smash time painting them with crazy-whacked people, experience culinary nirvana with fun company, come home bone-tired, eat, crash out senseless on the bed.
But oh my sainted aunts and uncles, I had fun. On Independence Day too!

Such a happy bunch they were to pose with our motley crew!
I have never ever participated in anything quite like The Wall Project. Not on Independence Day, not ever. Come to think of it, I had never heard of the BMC participating in something like The Wall Project either, EVER.
During those two paint-streaked, madly exciting days I saw and viciously thanked my stars for things like:

The little tots were our ready helpers and willing fellow artists
1. India and Bombay in particular, is cool enough to think about community efforts like these and actively encourage them.
2. I experienced the BMC, children from the neighboring shanties, social workers, activists, hard core artists, vandals and hit-and-run drivers up close, most of them in their element. Some of these folks turned out to be realities that really bite. The things I saw and the people I experienced meeting and observed that day boggled me.

In Front of my Wall. Top L-R: Jai, me, Aditya, Shirley. Bottom L-R: Idea Smith, Shawn
3. I can haz fun too. Sometimes trudging all the way to that end of town from this end is more than worth it.
4. I am finally getting myself to experience whatever Bombay is throwing my way by way of culture. My last few months in this Burning City are months I am going to experience to their utmost and so far, they are turning out to be utterly fantastic!
5. Best part? I got to go berserk with people like Idea Smith, Rehab, Aditya, Jai, Wanderblah, Shawn, Jhayu, Aniceto, Moksh, Alpana and some more fun people whose names I can’t remember but really loved meeting!
Note: These photos have been clicked by Shirley, Shawn, Jhayu and me (in no particular order).

Our Wall on Day 1 was splattered with the whimsy talents of Alpana, Aditya, Rehab, Vishal and me, with inputs from our neighbor Jai and french fries from Moksh. We made for quite a colorful crew!
Awareness about various issues was a major highlight at The Wall
Artefacts to admire, silences that rush to sooth your mind, words that spill from generous bookshelves, trinkets that hold the soul of a place in them, the nothingness you find in a warm shower or soak, instruments that marvellously make life more efficient… bliss can be found in the most unexpected of places.











