Post school run hot chocolate, we took to the open road to check out Afsha’s favourite Al Bayt stadium.

It was closed, but the tent shaped retractable dome was visible. The only pity was not being able to walk in that park. There was a McDonalds with a tented top as consolation. We got slightly lost in a parking lot and that was a giggle filled mini adventure.

We headed home for quick change and off again for breakfast. In a half hour, we’d gone from way in the outskirts to town centre. I’m so amazed that the connection between quality of life and good roads is a lost memory.

The roads here are actually functional, traffic rules actually followed and predictability is built in. Stress and traffic don’t intersect and you get to far off places on time, which sort of, is the point of automobiles. I suppose in a nation build on fossil fuel, they’d better showcase that life. Which makes me wonder, why, those of us held hostage in Bangalore traffic daily even leave our homes. 25kmph isn’t the norm, it’s Stockholm syndrome and that message was driven home to me this week.

Another realisation is the increasing futility of the 9-6 weekday. I entirely understand the need for it, especially in spaces with an accountability deficit (which will happen in places with young people… time stretching into the horizon, no need for urgency and not yet trained mental muscles on strategic efficiency over process). There’s a clear case to be made for keeping employees where you can see them, there being a clear difference in growth when in person, etc.

I can see the difference between my own productivity in life (on all markers: movement, meditation, nutrition, sleep, community, learning time, me-time and more) when working by myself versus working with others.

This week I’ve been able to see masterful time management, aided by good roads, good systems and clear expectations. One parent handles the emotional, nutritional and educational needs of the kids, plus her own health plus her work and exploring what future of work means while driving kilometers with a visiting friend. One parent manages work flexibly, being differently hands on with the kids, picking up nuances of their lives and course correcting them, getting workouts and managing all essential aspects of life, while having little time stress. There is no frantic rushing or muttering about spending time on the road. The addition to the quality of life is a massive game changer. In this environment, it is so much easier to put yourself into the equation!

Philosophical musing over, I’m bringing myself back from the windy desert vistas to breakfast at the Pearl

We had a gorgeous spread at the Turkish restaurant Afsha picked for breakfast. A dozen kinds of cheese, accompaniments, breads with names like simik and taste to blow the mind… sold! There was another cutie called borek which a roll of sorts with cheese inside mine and mince inside Afsha’s. With eyes bigger than stomachs, we ordered the Turkish breakfast for two, ate less than half and packed most of it home.

Then, we took in the very opulent surroundings at The Pearl with the many yachts swaying gently in the Marina. It was time for one more swift stop before heading home to intercept the kids for lunch.

Knot shore if this is to my Pacific taste

Galeries Lafayette with its perfumes probably gave me a small headache but it’s so opulent and gilded in the le roi soleil style but very un-snooty and smilingly sweet staff, it was an experience!

We saw the most (there’s that word again) opulent and generally extra gua sha I’ve set my eyes on and exited stage left. While Afsha whipped up a magic meal for the kids, I quickly caught up on work, and we ran out for my last adventure in this trip.

Place Vendome, the second French retail destination of the day is as removed from the original Place Vendome with its Napoleon and Austerlitz references as possible, but I’m sure as opulent (ha ha) as the present day one where Coco Chanel lived. So, off I went to pay homage to the maisons de Dior and Chanel and who not.

Afsha’a oldest came along with us. I am reminded of how much goodwill that one child’s birth generated in a country that she visits occasionally. It’s lovely to think that her parents personal brands generated this joyous global warming event to mark her birth. In true teenager fashion, she poohpoohed everything we were appreciating, made some snarky comments about grown ups and casually hand waved haute couture while appreciating the colour combinations on the girls her she passed by (while being in unrelieved black, or making some concessions to white, herself).

I love how teens do this everywhere. Growing up is so so hard and being a teenager is significantly more of a pain since I was one. When I see one of these absolutely self sure sounding teens with doubt in their eyes, my heart cracks in two in commiseration for the growth pangs their brains are going through. I want to tell her that if she stays the course and trusts the people in charge of her welfare, she will look back at this time in ten years and want to send hugs to her own younger self and say “Everything will be all right”. I also know that the message is not useful when going through that phase. So, for the Z babies, as I think of Afsha’s first and second kids, I reserve some good vibes and safe passage through the teens, and into adulthood.

It was all fun and games till Afsha said, the signs have been piling up, we need to make a stop at Cartier. And we did. And just like that, I cemented my relationship as my own steward, master of my fate and captain of my soul. Took me 30 years to get here emotionally. Emblematically too. I am so grateful to this little girl, as I always think of Afsha, whose philosophical clarity is quite spectacular. For seeing that connection between a massive shift in emotional thinking and the real, underlying seismic shift that this little retail jaunt represents. To be held in safety when splurging is an art. I am grateful to her. I am grateful for the women in my life who are constantly saying, “You’ve got this. Go, kill it, come back covered in gilt. Hey, I said gilt, not guilt!!” Apparently they see the Thangam inside with more ease than I do. I was now also Sheikha Monica al Pillai, a monicker I’ll carry with pride. Also, apparently, Tiffany is up next.

The influencer friend and partner went out into town for a seafood meal and I hoped to entertain the kids with food. It ended up being sushi, bulgogi, some sad tofu that reduced my standing with the kids even further and some small talk.

We ended the day with a break in their family tradition of popcorn, bubble tea and a movie being advanced from Friday night to Thursday night, so I could watch it with them. There was much heckling of the “tech services” of the child in charge of playing the movie, and we settled down to watch Black Panther Wakanda Forever. True to form within the first 30 mins I was asleep, woke up every few minutes, got all the key parts and continued to sleep. They put the movie on hold for tomorrow. Which means when I go home and watch the rest of it, I’m ordering bubble tea and making popcorn and toasting this calm and generous unit of love these two charmers have created.