My nostalgic return home

Martians have always held me in their thrall, as the thought of little green or red people existing in the universe is the stuff of tales of yore. That interest peaked when India achieved its most economic, first-time successful mission to the red planet Mars.

I love the colour red. It has the power to evoke the strongest of emotions in me. Blood, the life-force as it ebbed out of my late husband Raajan Pillai will always be the most poignant. I have always loved red roses,especially buds,the promise of life,love and passion.The vermillion red bindi on my mother's forehead,till my father passed.Red balloons at my sons birthdays marked a landmark, and I would reminisce the year gone by with nostalgia,every year had its share of love,laughter, sadness,melancholy, but it wove it's magic indelibly into my psyche.

In the decade I have been away from Mumbai, my return to this great city was a celestial conspiracy which I will unravel as I write week by week bits of the pieces, that form the puzzle I call life..

My son Shiva and I moved to our home overlooking the sea on Carter Road barely three weeks ago, but I have been embraced by my friends and well-wishers through the festival of Ganesh Chaturti to Dussehra..The city has, as if in one big welcome, drawn me to its heart with wonderful celebration and love.

Chhaya Momaya had a cracking lunch at The Oberoi with 19 prominent ladies -- most friends from the years gone by, but some new -- which excited me as one sort of thinks as one gets mature that new friends are difficult to make, the effervescent hostess seamlessly glided the afternoon along to evening.

Sashi and Sandhya Mukundam are my friends from Delhi, who like me, have resettled in Mumbai. Their dinner to bring in Sashi's birthday at their penthouse duplex was so much fun. With a theme - dress South Indian - fifty of Mumbai's finest, laughed, drank and danced the night away. The intervening years melted into the the bubbles of pink champagne, the stars winking in approval...

A quiet family get together at Ayesha and Jackie Shroff's home for Ganesh Chaturthi took an artistic turn when Aslam Shaikh came to paint a fabulous Shiva Ganesh amalgamation for their new home this week, proof enough for me that a wish on an auspicious day has the power to become reality -- old friends Ayesha and Jackie, my neighbours now.... it's so comforting.

Aslam Shaikh is my hottest art stock market tip for art lovers, the reason will become clear in the weeks ahead. And as I promised, it's the bits that make the puzzle whole, one revelation will follow the next. As I gaze into the azure blue of the sea, I am content to be back in aamchi Mumbai....