The first weekend

So, we sink right in to each other, literally. No major issues apart from the fact that I’m rather overwhelmed by the kindness and affection, which I have longed for so long. I had taken an off on Friday to make this a three-day weekend.

So, we do South Mumbai Friday, visiting all the usual destinations and settling for a late lunch at Léopold's. I was amazed to know that Joe wasn’t aware of the terror attacks on the city three years back. I tried to give him some background as to why the Indian public might not really dig the idea of a white person photographing their city (thanks to David Headley and Slumdog Millionaire). Then, we met my best friend Craigie and had a fun night out at a bar, where as usual, Craigie made the waiters blush with his antics. We also learned how Chicken Lollipops are made.

On Saturday, we do the essential American grocery shopping at Hypercity in the morning, again with the ever resourceful Craigie, settle to stay in for the rest of the afternoon, and go out for a romantic candle-lit dinner in the evening, where Joe tastes authentic Indian cuisine for the first time. Not bad, I thought. I realize that he’s not the kind to like extremely spicy/hot food.

On Sunday, it was newspapers + coffee + breakfast in the morning, followed by Joe’s first experience of watching a cricket match – the India v WI ODI. It went rather well, I thought. Joe showed some interest in understanding cricket, but like a typical American, was clueless about it in the first place. The most memorable part of the day was smoked cheese over crackers along with beer.

By the way, Joe is a fantastic cook and he loves cooking for me. He’s not as much of a drinker as I am but joins in. He also doesn’t hate cricket and loves hanging out. Things look good so far.

Evening in

The other evening with my friend and colleague convinced me that it is time for me to break my shackles and try and reenter socializing actively. Usually, I would sit on such a thought. This time, I didn’t. I invited my friend and fellow blogger Craig, over for an evening in.

The last time we did it, Craigie had brought some CDs over and we had gotten drunk over some good music that he liked. That was two years back. I don’t know what we’ll do, but I was sort of more confident than I was last time. I had six pints of beer and I didn’t know if we would be eating.

I met Craigie near the supermarket near my apartment. We spent some time going over the beer section at the wine shop attached to the supermarket. We didn’t pick up anything from there. Instead, we went over to the food section, I picked up some roast chicken for dinner.

Later, at my apartment, we had a fantastic time with conversations, laughter, and stories over beer. We had to order three more large bottles of beer to last the night. Some six hours of conversation! Excellent.! I’m back on the social map again.

I have already put out an ad on FaceBook for auditioning friends for conversation over drinks. I have already received some replies. Maybe, I’ll find more friends. :)

Obesity pledge

Yesterday night, after a delightful evening (home - whiskey/dinner) with a wonderful guy that I met recently, I reached home very late. I had to stay up a couple of hours longer to make a presentation for work -- I was working on the effect that music had on work.

Things were okay until I got up today morning, showered, and tried to get into my formal trousers. I barely managed to! I was aghast -- it must have been all the careless overeating coupled with my love for whiskey nights. My waist is around 34 now -- 4 inches more than when I arrived in Mumbai.

This is unacceptable. I can already picture myself pot-bellied and balding in a couple of years if I did not step in to stem the rot. And so I decided -- a pledge -- to avoid alcohol, fatty foods, sweets, sugars, rice (I was already off of fatty stuff and sweet). This should save me from capitulation into the abyss of truncal obesity! Of course, along with this, I plan to increase my cardio routine at gym as well.

Everyone, please support me. Hoping for the best...