Friday Double Post-2 : The Sunday Haul etc

Getting the Mont Blanc Fixed
Only a week ago I had seen its picture and had not expected to see the real thing so soon. The other Sunday I had found a Mont Blanc catalogue which was a feast to the eyes. One of the pens featured in it was the Meisterstück Solitaire Doue Geometric Dimension that was quite beautiful and in fact I had wondered how much it cost. The other day I decided to drop in at the Mont Blanc boutique at the Taj Deccan to get my Meisterstück fixed and not only got to look at this beautiful pen (the Solitaire Doue) I also learnt how much it costs. Needless to say, it isn’t something government guys like me can afford hence I did not think much about it (and also other stuff in the store) afterwards and focused on the task at hand.

Two months after I got a Mont Blanc Meisterstück as a birthday gift, and even before I had begun to write with it regularly, a mysterious hole appeared bang in the middle of the white star on the cap. For one reason or the other (mainly because of the cost of the repair) I kept putting off getting it fixed. Because of the hole I did not feel like writing with the pen all the time. Last week I took the decision to get it fixed no matter what the cost. I had been to the Mont Blanc outlet at Inorbit mall last week with Uma but had to return because they did not follow up on servicing. The store at the Taj Deccan was closed too but last Saturday when I went there alone it was open.

The person at the counter in the Mont Blanc boutique at the Taj Deccan sported a black Mont Blanc and a nice smile. I told him I did not know when he looked at the hole on the cap of my Meisterstück and asked me how the hole came about. He said the pen had to be sent to Rajkot if I wanted the hole to be fixed and also added that it would cost me around sixteen hundred rupees. When you own and write with a pen that costs more than thirty thousand rupees you don’t balk at spending sixteen hundred rupees for repairs so I agreed. So, off it goes to distant Rajkot and hopefully will return in about three weeks time. Curiously enough, though I wasn’t writing with the Meisterstück regularly because of the hole, I am now missing it very much. I am counting the days when it will be back in my hands.

The Sunday Haul

Sometimes I cannot understand some of my decisions most of which leave me full of regrets afterwards. Last Sunday at Abids I came across a beautiful, brand new copy of Mohammed Hanif’s ‘A Case of the Exploding Mangoes.’ I did not buy it even though the guy offered it for fifty rupees only. I simply walked away feeling that I have far too many books at home and unwilling to add one more. I had also seen Ian McEwan’s ‘Atonement’ and Umberto Eco’s ‘Focault’s Pendulum’ the price of which I did not even ask. These two books (‘A Case of…’ and ‘Focault’s P…) are haunting my dreams since then. I cannot sleep properly until next Sunday when I plan to rush to Abids and pick up these two books before anyone does.

However, I picked up a magazine- The Sunday Times Travel magazine of July, 2007. It was in quite good condition and not having read any travel magazines of late I bought it. It cost me only twenty rupees though. Of the many articles in it one that I found slightly humorous was Josephine Davies’ account of her trip to Damascus accompanied by her mum during the month of Ramadan. Not that this magazine wasn’t very interesting but the fact is that I am used to the Conde Nast Traveller style of writing. Until I find another issue of Conde Nast I have to keep reading these.


Off on a Short Trip

I am on a short trip with the family to Tirupati. I visit the place quite regularly and love visiting the temple. I am going on a package tour with IRCTC which is quite comfortable. Everything from the train reservation, accommodation, food and even the darshan is taken care of so it doesn't tax your mind very much.