Thaks, Andy and I went sailing today. The last time I sailed in the Arabian Sea was in 1993 - in the 'Optimist' class. This time it was the much larger 'Lightning' class, and a Tindal was to accompany us and help us with rigging the boat.

The winds hadn't picked up when we arrived at 1030hrs, so we headed to the massive Aarey booth at the Gateway of India. Their strawberry milkshake has been my all-time favourite. While still at School, a stroll to the Gateway was invariably accompanied by a halt at Aarey to enjoy that delicious shake. More than a decade later, the stuff couldn't taste better - good to the last drop.

We headed back to Jetty#5, boarded a dinghy which was rowed to the Lightning class - one among the many boats anchored opposite the Gateway. The Tindal demonstrated the how-to bit, helped us rig the sails and fix the tiller. Some effort with putting the really heavy keel in place, and soon enough, we were smoothly sailing out.

I had never got a glimpse of the Gateway of India from the water. It looked splendid. But there was way too much other stuff to check out - some of the better looking luxury yachts, the magnificent Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, an imposing SeaKing helicopter taking-off from the nearby base, plus over a hundred pairs of eyes watching us enjoy our ride. The wind was pleasant, and although we weren't exactly clocking high speeds, alternating between being Crew, being Helmsman, or just plain standing on the bow, was much too enjoyable.

The Nurse at Hinduja Hospital had sent me back as I was 'unfit' to donate blood - my blood drop took longer than the ideal 15seconds to sink to the bottom of the Copper Sulphate solution. I'd gone to donate blood for a friend's aunt, but they would have none of it. Plus I got some sound advice on improving my diet. The Complete Blood Count (CBC) confirmed the figures - I had a not-so-impressive count of 11g/dL. That was 8 months ago.

So, today, when I was feeling exceedingly healthy, and had, in the process, also regained my nerve to approach Nurses at Blood Donor Rooms - a visit to the Tata Memorial Centre followed. It was so satisfying - my blood drop sank swiftly, the Doctors on duty smiled, I took to the couch, the friendly Nurses did their bit, the TV screened some jhatka-matka song, got treated to a coffee and leisurely stepped out. Keeping track, there's 142 still left.