One of those days

When I was a student almost every year we would have to write an essay on the topic, “The day everything went wrong” ; you know, one of ‘those’ days. Well, yesterday was definitely one of “those” days, but with a difference. Yesterday I had a day when almost everything went right!

My day started early, really early when I woke up to the sounds of the mynas quarreling over something in the balcony. I lay in bed watching them indulgently as a couple of squirrels scampered across the railing. I felt so blessed that living in a city like Thane, I could still enjoy these beautiful bytes of nature.

The next highlight was my special student, Anmol, who was in a perfectly receptive mood. Working with him is always a challenge and though I love it, it can be pretty exhausting some days. Today however, he was in a fantastic learning mode and he completed all his work beautifully and way ahead of schedule!

The highlight of the day was that my daughter wanted to go shopping to Colaba and Bandra and whom does she choose to go with her? Mamma dearest of course! It’s been a long time since Mummy took precedence over friends, but who was I to complain?

We got window seats in the train that wasn’t too crowded and were amazed to see a hawker selling Kiwis in the train. As my daughter said, “Even the hawker’s wares are getting cosmopolitan.”

Then the young lady sitting next to me bought some oranges and she and her friend started eating them in the train itself. “Uh-oh”, I thought to myself, “Now I will have to get ready to give another of my famous speeches on not littering the compartment.” But, I was pleasantly surprised, no, actually delighted when the young ladies neatly put all the peel and pips into a carry bag and into one of their handbags to be disposed off later.

I was so surprised that I actually turned to them and told them, “Do you know, you are one of the very few people I have seen doing this. I have to give most people a lecture on littering.”

“The way I see it,” the girl said, “I will definitely not pick up somebody else’s litter. But I can at least ensure that I don’t add to it. That much I can do for my country and city.” I guess there is still some hope for us after all.

First stop, Crawford Market, where I actually found the mascarpone and golden syrup that I needed to try out the Chocolate marquise with mascarpone cream recipe from MasterChef Australia. I had searched high and low for these ingredients in Thane and had almost given up hope of finding them and of making that utterly yummy looking dish.

Finally at the end of the day, when we landed at Mulund check naka, what do I see? Instead of a chaos at the auto rickshaw stand, where the auto drivers habitually refused to take you to your destination, there was a queue. Yes a queue of people waiting for autos which were being forced to the stand by a group of traffic policemen. A few auto drivers tried to escape, but they were roundly scolded and forced to enter the stand and take the passengers where they wanted without any grumbling. Oh the sight was heaven!

When we reached the beginning of the queue, I beamed a grateful smile to the policeman standing there and said, “Thank you very much!” The look he gave me was both startled and sheepish. As we sat in the auto, my daughter told me, “Saying thank you to him was a nice gesture.”

I shrugged and said, “When they don’t do their job, we are the first to criticize and grumble, so when they actually do a good job, why not appreciate it?”

She looked at me with a look in her eye that I had not seen since she was in her teens and said, “I’m so glad you’re my mamma!”

What could be a more perfect end to a fantastic day!