It's like after driving through almost a 100 km of rough, narrow, dark roads full of pot holes, blind turns, irritating traffic and over zealous authorities and you suddenly hit the expressway. Swati and I are going through the same feeling the difference being the km = days, drive =work and similarities being roads = challenge and the same over zealous authorities. And off course expressway = VACATION! As I wait at Mumbai international airport for our early mor...

After the sumptuous birthday lunch before the siesta we decided to present gifts to the birthday boy as later in the evening their would be too many guests. That afternoon Sudhir Bhai must have received enough shirts to last him the entire year. Also presented to him by one of his friends was a unique bouquet comprising of flowers and miniature bottles of liquor, I wonder why! As the photos of the mini event got shared instantly on the family group in WhatsApp, t...

It was around 2300 hrs as we all returned from a sumptuous dinner followed by ice cream. There was still an hour to go before the great old grandfather clock would announce the arrival of Sudhir bhais 60th birthday. Just when everyone was running low on enthusiasm came the news of early arrival of the next set of family members. My sister Aditi, her husband Manish, both doctors and their two kids, Malhar and Maitrayi were expected to arrive past midnight from Pu...

Not that we or any person of the family requires a reason to visit Dahanu, but taking time out of our busy schedules is always a hurdle. However this was an occasion where schedules had to be adjusted to accommodate for the celebration of my flamboyant uncle Sudhir Karandikar's (Sudhir bhai for the world) 60th birthday. Dahanu is a small jewel of a town located by the Arabian sea at the north western tip of Maharashtra, bordering Gujarat. Dahanu and the surround...

So finally the 'not so anticipated' day dawned; the last day of our European tour, but that didn't dampen our spirits of exploring as we decided to check out 2 countries on the same day. Swati and I are in the capital of Italy, Rome and within the city lies another city and country in itself, the Vatican city. Vatican city is a sovereign country completely surrounded by the city of Rome and the Pope as it's head of state. After having a frugal but satisfactory b...