Dear Mr. Slate

Dear Mr. Slate.
Please open a quarry over here so you and I can spend some quality time. They are constructing buildings all over the place... hello...cement and crushed rock...granite, marble.
This building was not completed last March.
I love the architecture here, I love the people. The downtown Powai area is teaming with construction and many many skyscrapers. We could retire here.
Barney Rubble.

Mistress of the Park

Timmmayyyy!!!! "They are real and yes, they are spectacular." quote from a Seinfeld episode..

Below is a statue I have probably passed for two years now on each trip and have never noticed it until a colleague was intrigued so I thought it to be a good picture to share with loved ones and friends at home. There are many deities over here and I would be guessing at the name. I am sure I will find out tomorrow when the team takes a look and educates me.
I had a great day. I am at 75.8 KGs. just .8kgs away from my BMI weight. Started at 81 when I arrived footloose and fancy free, whatever that means. Ah, to be free of fancy. Something we all try to achieve but seldom do. I am not sure if your fancy falls off or if an operation is needed. As far as footloose, I recall the movie, but never understood the title unless it meant carefree, and both of Kevin Bacon's feet were loose most of the movie.
LOL. BMI, Thanks to IBS I reached my BMI. Didn't need the FBI or the CIA or the KGB or the ACC or the NFL or the AFL or the AFL-CIO or the WWF either.
I was invited to a free buffet by the hotel Beatle and force fed by men in red vests. Eat, eat, Mr. William. Would you like some pumpkin soup? It is very spicy. Dude, that soup kicked arse. Best I have ever had but as far as pumpkin, i tasted none.
I had some green stuff and some yellow stuff, some stuff with chicken, some stuff with lentils, and some naan. Yummy. Topped it off with hot galob jamin with 2 scoops of ice cream, so much for my BMI. By morning I'll have IBS and end up in the ICU and will need to WFH( not Wake Forest Hospital).
Who cares?
Bilu

Lean on Me..when you're not strong....

and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on.......

I pass this tree on my way to walks in a near by park. Last year it was just leaning, now it has some help. We all need a little help sometimes. We think we are growing up and reaching the sky as we journey through this ever demanding life, just like this tree.
At one point in time it was straight and stiff like a rock. It was a force to be reckoned with. It moved the bricks at its base as it grew. All the other trees were proud to call it friend. I assume a strong wind accompanied by a monsoon or possibly a wayward bus ladened with passengers helped it reach its current condition. But it's a testimony to others coming to the aid of someone or something in this huge circle of life. A need to help others. An act of kindness.
To be honest, when I first saw it, I thought of Viagra.
Cheers from sunny Mumbai.
Bilu

Not your Grandma's picnic

Dawn breaks on Dabhosa. We are told these falls are the largest in India. We were also told it would take 3 hours to get here. Like Gilligans Island, a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour. we arrive 7 hours later....After 7 hours of ORCHID singing Bollywood songs we all slept well.
This is my first sight of the falls in the morning. I envisioned going over them in a barrel or possibly a mango cart or rickshaw. We had been told it would be a picnic, but I have been on Indian picnics before.......

This is the magic bus. Nuff said.

These signs were proof there was civilization somewhere close by.

Sundar and Bhargav discussing how scared they were to make the descent into the canyon. Both openly confessed they wanted their mommies.

This guy obviously played poker too long the night before and was trying to remember how much money he had brought because he had nothing left in the morning.....

Tim bunked with Mike, I bunked with Bhargav. No we had separate beds, at least Bhargav and I did. Sometime in the night i awoke to something being killed outside the bungalow. No idea what but from the screams it was a grizzly death. A half hour later a freakin mouse ran up my leg. A squirrel would have made more sense..........Bhargav hysterically laughed
himself back to sleep. It could only happen to me. Obviously Bhargav is challenged by sleeping lengthwise in a bed. Maybe the mouse moved him, no idea , but this is how Tim and I found him after we enjoyed our coffee, which was brought to us precisely at 6:00am accompanied by constant ringing of our door bells. Cruel and unusual punishment of which I blame Satish and Sundar.

Me and Dabhosa. For some reason I thought of the Jolly Green Giant after several beers at a local pub..

I have no idea what the hell happened to this picture

Satish, Sundar and Suchit. They looked so excited to be the last ones to arrive to the bottom

Sandesh with the waterfall in the background. Sandesh and I were the first ones down to the base. I think they told him to keep an eye on the old man and possibly if I fell to step aside and let me roll to my death

Tim was cheerful the whole trip. I don't know what he was 'smokin' but he did have a big bag of goody pills claiming they were malaria pills and other "health" supplements. Anyone remember "ludes"???lol.

Thirupathi (not sure if I spelled this correct so forgive me) . I liked the t-shirt

I thought possibly Moses saw this as the burning bush some years ago and it had grown back.

I had a seizure. No big deal, brought some Vimpat with me.

Relaxing at the base of the waterfall.

Everyone loves to be photographed.

I mean everyone.

Bhargav seemed happy to make it to the top, right after I took the picture he slipped and rolled all the way back down.

Bhargav repelling across the valley

Dipti replelling across the valley

At first only the strong and only the men were willing to go across, but for some reason when this old dude went across all the women were shamed into following.

Mike performing. There was talk he had once been in a travelling circus.

Satish said this was just like escaping from his old apartment during the last floods in Mumbai.

Sundar had nothing to lose. I was surprised the rope could hold him as it was obvious he had gained all the weight back that he had lost last year.

Varsha said that after working with Brigitte on phase ones this was a piece of cake.

Again, Tim was just giddy and reckless all at the same time. Look Ma, no hands!!! He thought he saw a moose.

Yatin looks bewildered in this team building game where you had to avoid "bombs", predetermined squares that if you stepped on them you had to go back to the beginning and start again.

Sundar was just lost, he spun around like a top out of control. LA LALA RA RARA LALALALA RARARA. LOL.

The winners of the "memory" game. I was on Sunitas team, I think we came in second. The other teams cheated. We had them beat with clap clap clap. bow bowbow caw cawcaw meow QUACK!! LOL you had to be there.....

These 3 are trouble. Gargi, Tejal and Varsha.

The ladies.

The men.

ORCHID.

I had a great time. As did everyone. I missed taking pictures of the kayak races which were hilarious as some were in competition with the snakes.....

There was also a night walk where the people from the camp tried to scare the team. I think Sundar had to change his shorts after that. But all was well, we returned the next day to Mumbai. It was nice to spend a weekend without the honking of horns or the threat of being run over by an auto-rickshaw.

Hello RTP, I miss you all......yes Christy I said all...LOL.

Bilu