Friday evening walk

How nice to have ticked off all the designated evening-walking days: namely, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

Yay to start of the weekend. Or, with how things are going, suspension of headaches, problems and challenges until Monday. 

It was a warm day and, as we started the walk, I could see the evidences of a glorious sunset, the edges of pink-and-orange tinged clouds over the tops of the buildings. 

I wonder if we are getting into the dry season although it still rains heavily now and then. I think the rains will continue well into November. 

The first photograph from today shows folks drying themselves and their clothes standing next to the exhaust of the giant generator room of one of the major residential compounds close to Mamba Point Hotel. This compound is also owned by Mamba Point Hotel. The heat and air blowing from this generator is quite heavy and, I avoid passing it but folks here don't seem to mind it. 

Doesn't it make you feel a little depressed to see folks having to use the hot, heavy air from a generator to dry themselves?

We said hello to a lady as we walked past who admired Bijli. As usual, Haresh, said, take her, I'm fed up of her, and then I had to scold him. Haresh chatted to her and offered for her to join our walking route. She was from Nairobi, staying at the Mamba Point Hotel. She said she didn't want to go so far and, seemed to get wary when Haresh said we're going up to the Masonic Temple. She thought we were actually going to inside there. 

Anyway, onwards we trudged towards the Masonic Temple. 

We always pass by the owner of Atlas Building Materials who is also out on his walk. We greet each other. 

We notice three Lebanese ladies, one of them is the owner of Tiny Tots, the toy shop close to our apartment building. 

We also noticed 3 white guys and a woman who ran past us 2 times before we even reached the Temple.   They did our route twice before we even reached halfway. 

We reached the Hill and did a few laps together up and down the hill and, somehow, now Haresh is interested in really working out. For the past few months, he just stands in one corner holding Bijli's leash and, nagging Kavita and I: shall we go home now? Today, I helped him to do 70 crunches and he helped me to do 30 crunches. 

The same running guys met us and, it turned out Haresh knows them from the HASH. I said to one of the fellows: it's very impressive that you passed us so many times. He explained their route. Haresh, of course, snubbed him and said, "In your age, I could run this route 10 times!" 

We walked home at around 7 PM, down the Hill and then past the supermarkets and vegetable and fruit and fish market. 

A few ladies who were watching Kavita walking so boldly exclaimed "Liberian child!"

I waved hello to my market women friends who waved back. 

Haresh kept zig zigzagging ahead holding both Bijli and Kavita in the street, almost like he was trying to confuse an invisible elephant who might have been chasing him. I told him, stop! The traffic on Benson Street can be bad. 

I saw some old Muslim women crossing the street, right next to the Mosque. 

Monrovia is a city that really wants to talk to you. It's not happy enough with a nod or a smile but with greetings and banter and teasing. 

We reached home, quickly showered and got dressed to meet a friend for dinner at Mamba Point Hotel. The restaurant was packed as usual. 

Kavita has this habit of making friends with other diners in case she gets bored at our table. So, she befriended a UNDP consultant who is finalising a peace research. Apparently, they have an 'astro-physicist' at her institute who also analyses data. I get surprised at how much funds get used for this statistical or qualitative research. I keep meeting consultants now and then by chance. 

Film Review: Chekka Chivantha Vaanam 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Watched another Tamil film, a Mani Ratnam film with an AR Rahman soundtrack. I think I have found a new world of films to follow. We are on a Silverbird WhatsApp group and, the cinema managers post the daily film schedules. When I saw the big names, I immediately instructed Haresh and Kavita to get ready. "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam" was as good as it gets. The plot was as thick as a stew and, our heads reeled as we grappled with the mystery of whodunnit. This was a masterpiece of a thriller, a fast-paced desi Godfather, but the pace was grandly tuned and, revealed. Gangsters have never looked so good and ruthless. Every character was beautifully crafted and, given choice acid-laced dialogues. I've seen some of these actors in Hindi films and, I vaguely remember them in docile, meek roles but here they had powerful roles and I got to see them in a very different light. Arvind Swami, for example, I remember from Sapnay and Bombay and, here he is a beefed-up strong man, the eldest son of the ageging don, bitter, angry, vehement, and quick-tempered. Jyothika I remember from a very very lame romantic film with Akshay Khana, the only sister of a 7-8 brothers who boss her around. Here she is as beautiful as ever but a mature wife and mother, who puts up with her husband's deviations and stands by him. Speaking of the main women,"Chekka Chivantha Vaanam" 's women exist in relation to their men but still, they exert power and screen presence. Hearing Tamil spoken in this slick gangster film was a wholly new experience in terms of hearing another desi language and, made me realise how much of a Urdu-Hindu bubble I am in terms of my limited experience of South Asian films and music. If I remember correctly, mocking South Indian accents was part of Omar Sharif's comedic routine and, I think I remember him mimicking Tamil in one of his stage shows (which we used to watch on VHS). It's good to hear another language in an authoritative manner, with punch, with beauty and poise and, let it be transformed in your mind. At least one word I did recognise was 'dost' - a word that the suspended police officer Rasool (who lives with chemistry professors, uncle and aunt) uses for his gangster friend. Tamil is apparently a classical language, in continuous existence for a couple thousand years. Anyway, what a good film. It's a heady feeling to watch such a masterfully crafted film.

Work out on the hill

The photographs below don't appear in any special order and, the photographs have not been edited. These are all the photographs I clicked this evening, in this order.

It's an outdoor gym on top of Benson Street hill or "Snapper Hill." It's a stunning vantage point. There are dozens of men, women and children working out on this steep hill. There is some serious work out which can be observed here, inspiring you to try harder! On one side, you have the Embassy of the Big Bad Americans and the other the Masonic Temple, the Freemason house.