ORCHID Lunch

थे टीम गेट्स लार्गेर एवेरी इयर। इ ठनक याच एंड एवेर्योने ऑफ़ यू फॉर अल ठाट यू दो फॉर में थ्रौघ आउट थे इयर। अस अल्वाय्स आईटी इस अ प्लेअसुरे। बिलु

Brigitte

The Phase 1 team took Brigitte and myself out for the "last supper". Me, Brigitte, Mithun, Varsha and Tejas.Food was great and so was the beer. I wasn't drinking, it was Tejas....



When I uploaded this segment I found this picture of Bhargav,Tim and Mike somewhere in Mumbai, I don't recall where.

After the Phase 1 supper, I decide to take a rickshaw out for a spin. I am confident this could supplement my next trip to Mumbai, the hours are good and driving in Mumbai is "fun".

I picked this lady up one night. She was stumbling out of a pub swearing in German...
something about her boss.....Once I loaded her in the rickshaw and spun her around the neighborhood she calmed down and slept like a baby....

Hookah

Hookah at a place called Mochas. There is a hookah den close to the Motel. Brigitte if I had only known........Sunita one of the leads for some of our studies and Yatin her co-lead and my body guard took me here to "spend some time with you Bill, you looked a little 'down' this time....." Evidently reaching 30 again took the starch out of my shorts, another saying from the woman who raised me....to some of you this explains much...too much.

If you are not familiar with hookah you might google it, I may not have spelled it correctly, this is what showed up when I did a spell check. No, I don't ALWAYS use spell check. Anyway I had a cappuccino and a couple "bowls" as we used to call them in the 60's before flavoured steam became the rage. I had a nice chat and learned much about this ever evolving ORCHID team and its roots. We enjoyed a lunch afterwards and ICE CREAM, a staple of mine when in Mumbai. They make it in a rice cooker. I return to RTP this Friday. I was hoping to bust into the EXCOM meeting with my green chiffon wedding dress but looks like I may only make the lunch afterwards. I look forward to seeing y'all.

This give meaning to second hand smoke....

I would not take Sunita's picture because she passed out after the first hit. But she was so sweet just sleeping there..and quiet...very quiet....a scene which has not been witnessed by anyone who knows her since birth.....Yatin and I had a great time nevertheless.

Another one bites the dust

As luck would have it there was something in the local water. Marriages were in bloom in February. Below is a picture of Pankti who leads the GRM team in Mumbai and her husband Tushar. I had thought we would make the wedding on time but Mumbai traffic is worse, much worse, than the big Apple. By the time we reached the wedding it was intermission. Evidently her first outfit was beautiful, I don't know how it could have been more beautiful than below, but she was adorned with flowers. I had a pleasant chat with her dad who was very nice and accommodating and her sister was just as sweet as Pankti. We all had a great time. Pankti was radiant.....I can here some comments already from Mr. Moser in RTP, lol, I told you Tony and I had something in common......
Tejal's wedding is next Tuesday. I have a nice green Chiffon number I went out and purchased especially for the occasion. I think I can expense clothing if I have nothing to wear, I had nothing to wear to weddings. ...
Cindy Stroupe, I heard Deb say she will capture this on film...LOL...OMG, I will most likely break into song "I am pretty, oh so pretty......"
I expect they are all marrying so that their husbands can stay home and cook for them when they arrive at 11pm at night after working.......

Mike I tried to find out where the honeymoon was incase you needed to call her for a SSD report but closest I could get was somewhere in Malaysia....



Below is most likely the resason the traffic was so bad on the way to Pankti's wedding. I just learned that evening that some of the ORCHID team actually drives in Mumbai. Below is Manali , one of the leads from GSP. I have not slept since and every red car that passes my taxi in the morning or evening causes stomach problems.....

This me and my "muse", Sundar. Last year he immitated me by losing weight. This year he keeps a wardrobe in his office of some of my outfits, he wanted to be impressive at Pankti's wedding so her wore the exact shirt,slacks and shoes. I should have brought the hot dog or pairate or Vimpat man outfits, I am pretty sure he does not have those.

Deb Rubin is here from RTP GRM. The GRM team took her out this weekend, I will see if I can get some snaps from the GRM ladies for the blog. Brigitte.........I want that photo of when you were hear on your last night!!!! Stay tuned , its a classic.

Three idiots and a lady

Last weekend I had the pleasure accompanying Satish and his wife Preeti and close friend Jigoo to a restaurant in the city. It is always good to go out with this group. I still do not understand what Preeti sees in Satish, she should have married a man like myself or Jigoo, we are much more settled and mature than Satish.

This is at a beach earlier that evening in Mumbai. We had several conversations that lead to an eventual good time and two first time events for me. Thanks Jigoo................payback is hell, just remember that......

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