I had a truly brilliant day , I spent a few blissfull hours at a park, I otherwise  only saw while being seated in a crowded tube , getting squashed between a bunch of strangers and trying NOT to die of the various body odours floating around mixed with even more toxic deodorants failing miserably at their jobs.

My gal pal S and her super cute and smart 4-year-old boy had a blast of day starting by gobbling strawberry flavoured icicles, followed by grocery shopping , hungrily eating many Indian street style snacks under the garb of being ”devislishly hungry”  and then rushing to this awesome park.

Oh yes, but the HIGHLIGHT of my grocery shopping was that I purchased a dozen HAPOOS AMBE (Alphonso = Hapoos, AMBA= Mango in Marathi, my mother tongue), I cannot describe the happiness I felt as I sunk my teeth into a ripe, plum slice of the King of Fruits. I will probably dream of drinking chilled mango milkshake early in the morning and ending the day by eating chilled slices of the hapoos mango with dollops of fresh cream, which I totally enjoy squirting out from it’s can and telling myself that since it’s ”low fat”, It can be that BAD after all !;)Just the thought of an alphonso mango brings back a string of memories, my most recent one being that of being transported straight to heaven as I had my first ever ”MASTAANI” that too a MANGO Mastani in Pune at one of the most favourite college haunts of Punekars- ”Sujata Mastani” in Old Pune, Peth area. (I shall stop here as I will sink hopelessly into a whole journey down memory lane and totally loose my way …hmmm I do see another blog write up coming up, all about Mangoes and memories, aha the good LIFE !) Oh yes and S and I took great delight in haggling over our purchase and managed to bring down the price by £1.47, my mom will be so happy to hear this (Jeevan safal moment for her, LOL !). I say this because I am terrible at bargaining and after years of seeing mom successfully doing it while buying veggies I hated myself for being such a failure 😉 , now that is exactly WHY I love Modern retail, imagine trying to ask the cashier at one of the Supermarket chains ”Surely, since I am buying 3 instead of 1, you HAVE to drop the price by at least 50p !, or else I DO have the option of WALKING OUT and buying from so-and-so competitor” – all this with a raised brow and a really fake serious expression on my face! ( AHO KAKA, asa kai Karta, 3 dabbe ghetoi na hapoos che, tar kahi Tari bhaav neet vichaar karoon sanga !!!) (Btw, Mastani is basically a thick ice cream milkshake with dollops of ice cream loaded on top and real fruit slices stuffed inside and on top of it is way way better than a falooda and is a dessert which has originated from Pune city and is a local must-have !)

Never have I seen a larger gathering of tiny tots all dressed in summery bright clothes and happy parents in one place !

I had my moment of calm amongst the chaos, as I sat on a wooden bench and gazed up at the bright sky , the trees gently swaying in the summer breeze ,thanking the gods for bestowing us with such a lovely day, I watched a few bold squirrels scamper around for food .

I left my mobile and my camera behind though , I wanted nothing to come in the way of me living in the moment .

I am turning into a person that dislikes mobile phones , rather a dangerous place to be in, in todays ”connected world” I say …hummm

But who can take away from me the memories I have clicked, framed, and stored away in the crevices of my mind, to be pulled out on a cold rainy day, am sure I will smile as  I think of this perfect day, a 4-year-old innocent banter, my friend’s happy smile as she sat on a swing after many, many years and the feeling of the warm sun on my face ….sighhh…