Mission Mumbai

South Africa -A Travelogue Part II

2012-02-10T10:35:00.000-08:00

Johannesburg was the group’s first tryst with South African city life. Before we stepped out of my aunt’s residence we were warned by her that this being the criminal capital of the world, it would be wise to leave behind at home any gold or diamond jewellery, even if it meant they were costume jewellery. This to avoid inviting any attention of local thugs. Though we were aware of the notoriety of the city, it still made us jump out of our skin hearing her chilling words. My mom and MIL didn’t think twice before handing over what they had immediately to my aunt for safe keeping at home. This piece of information was not meant for scaring us but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Also she added that other than this piece of information about South Africa, all that there is to experience here is undeniably beautiful, exhilarating and unique. And that's the exact impression we all wished to carry back home at the end of our holiday.
Johannesburg or Joburg as it’s famously called may not have the best variety of entertainment and sightseeing options but I would still recommend couple of places. One of them being the Gold Reef city for its Underground Gold Mine Tour.The mine tour really is a one of a kind experience and would recommend it to all. Moreso because it throws light on the extreme perils all the miners went through in the olden days and how tough their life was. To think about it, we just went down approx. 50 meters of the mine and that took us 5 minutes in a upgraded lift but in those old days the miners went down as low 3200 meters and it took them 3-4 hours in some rickety lifts. Morover, it could get very hot and clammy down there in extremely difficult conditions. Phew, what a life! This image gives an insight on the depths they used to go to get the most sought after gold.

The other highlight of the Gold Reef city is the theme park with its thrilling rides one of which is the Anaconda which I truly loved. If you like the thrill of a joyride that zips at break neck speed and goes upside down and lateral, then you should go for it. Besides this we also got to watch 2 peacocks unfurl their manlihood in an attempt to woo a hard to please peahen. It was indeed a fun experience for all of us to watch this romcom drama. Here is one of them who tried hard to woo but alas to no avail.

For shopping of local handicrafts a visit to the flea market at Bruma Lake is a must. It has around 200 shops which sell local handicrafts and bargaining is welcome.
For those who want an up market feel a visit to Mandela Square and the Sandton City Mall for window shopping is also suggested.Monte Casino is another place to visit for its architecture and also to spend a evening and if interested in gambling, you have reached the right place but rather wait for a trip to Sun city for the same. All the above can be well covered within 2 days unless you don’t have a long shopping list.

A day of relaxation later after we landed in South Africa, we literally started looking for places to stay for the next day onwards. Our road trip was to begin and we had charted our journey to Cape Town via The Garden Route which was going to be just 1700 kms. This was the first leg of our South Africa sojourn.

Before we reached Cape Town we intended to have 2 stop over nights to provide a much needed break for the drivers and also the enthusiastic travellers. Consdering the distances between the 2 locations we zeroed in on Queenstown and Port Elizabeth for the breaks. We hunted down some interesting websites viz. http://www.booknowsa.com/ and http://www.wheretostay.co.za/ (and also classified ads in local news papers in Holiday Accommodation section) which came to very good use while finding our accomodations.
The adventure of hunting down the right accommodation or finalizing the sightseeing options and then actually living that thrilling experience can be fulfilling moreso if they turn out good.

Time would only tell whether our 'go with the flow' strategy was going to work or otherwise.

I am of the opinion that If you're not living on the edge, then you're taking up too much space. But what I didnt know that this holiday was indeed going to turn out to be an edge of the seat entertainment like one of the rollercoaster rides. Was this going to be a case of 'eat my own words' situation, would only be known at the end of 15 days.

All the moments still run fresh in my mind like a movie just released. The first stop over was in Queenstown. It was a muddy and splashy entry our cars made as we entered into the quaint Roydon Private Nature Reserve on a dark rainy night and then waking up the next day to a beautiful morning to the cry of the cantankerous adida bird and with a view of a scenic horse ranch right outside our lodge window. The serene sight washed away all the muddy misgivings we had of the lodge the previous night.

The next stop over was Port Elizabeth for which we searched high and low for a night's accomodation. It was a cloudy night when we entered the city limits of Port Elizabeth (PE) and then to add to our woes it started pouring. After scouring over the drenched city and crossing out all options like Formule 1, City lodges and Town lodges we just had 1 option left. It was my uncle’s old acquaintance who came to our rescue like a god send angel. With his help we finally found a self catering accomodation failing which we were all set to spend the night in the SUV and station wagon in which we were travelling.

The road journey there after from PE to Cape Town was one of the highlights of the trip. Its the much popular Garden Route known for its natural beauty. Its so breathtakingly stunning almost as if God had all the time in the world when creating this part of the countryside. Also, its extremely diverse in its landscape which is dotted with lush green mountains, lakes and ravines, lovely pine forests, vineyards as well as turquoise blue backwaters, bays and white pristine beaches.

The first stop on Garden route was at Stormriver ravine which is so deep that it makes you giddy when you look down. It also has the Tsitsikama National Park with its canopy tours which we could not visit for lack of time.

The next stop was the picturesque Knysna lagoon which is rightly called as the pearl of the Garden Route. Ride up a hill which has a look out cliff provided us a perfect view of The Heads - sandstone cliffs which trecherously guard the mouth of the lagoon. After spending some time here and passing through towns of Pletternberg Bay and George we headed for Outdshoorn for our date with the Ostriches. The Ostrich Farm was a stretch too far out of our way but thats where we wanted to go, come what may!

Taking a detour of almost 150 kms we veered towards Outdshoorn and almost made it in time to join the last group at 5 pm for the Cango Ostrich Farm tour. As soon as we reached the gates of the farm, we almost ran inside to register before the tour began. Phew, what a ride that was. Imagine our luck if we hadn't made it on time after driving almost for 2 hours.But lady luck had been kind to us so far and this time as well.

Here you get to know about the Ostrich, their eggs and hatching process, you get to stand on the strong ostrich eggs, feed the voracious lot and ride on their back too.
On this tour we made some great friends of the flightless feathered variety and whose antics we will cherish for a life time.

After this detour, we had to reach Cape Town (CT)before mid night and the evening that followed is strongly etched in my memory. It was a long drive and the anxiety and thrill we experienced in reaching CT and finally locating and reaching the B&B accomodation in the middle of the night was akin to discovering a diamond in the dark mines of Africa after much painstaking efforts.

On reaching the place we were also half relieved to know that the owner of the self catering accommodation was an NRI who also was known to my uncle through a common aquaintance. The next day he was kind enough to provide us good tips for local sightseeing during our stay there.
There so much to see in Cape Town and with only 3 days in hand in the city we had to ensure we didn't miss it all. The tips from Mr. Lalu helped us here to save some time and also focus on must see experiences.

Cape Town has it all truly. Heaven on earth and a city we all would love to settle down in. Its so magically attractive that only a fool would not fall for its beauty. The diverse experiences ranged right from our 3 hour wait in line to get on the cable ride up the world famous Table Mountains also called as 'Gift To The Earth'. But the wait was all worth it. The lookout from top provided a perfect view of the city of Cape Town, the vast azure blue ocean with Robben Island at a distance and also the new football stadium and the city port grabbing your attention. Besides this the ride upto the neighbouring windy Signal Hill is a must do activity.

On day 2, the must see attraction on the list was the ride to the iconic Cape of Good Hope and the scenic drive on the meandering Chapman’s peak. All these are truly once in a life time moments and recommend to one and all who wish to visit South Africa. More so since these were experiences with those who are near and dear to me and that it made it extra special.

We saw all that there was to see and experience in Cape Town and now it was time for us to head back to Joburg for the second leg of the tour which was the much anticipated Kruger Safari.
Kruger and the whole safari tour was another story by itself which I won’t forget ever. In spite of my uncle being unwell that day, he and my aunt trudged along sportingly with us on the 4 hour journey from Joburg so that we don’t miss out on the most exciting leg of the tour which we had been looking forward to since our first step on this land. However, due to his poor health that day, he and my maushi had to sacrifice the full day safari trip.
But only because of them our wish got fulfilled. Seeing the BIG 4 was always our dream for a long time and then almost accomplishing it was really close to salvation. Almost accomplishing, yes... because the elusive leopard spoilt the party and played hide and seek with us till the end of the day. However, watching the Honeymoon lion/lioness couple up close at couple of feet was truly the highlight of the Kruger safari and will remain as my lifelong memories of South Africa. The other sightings included the black rhino, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, iguana, elephants, turtles, hippos, gazelles, impalas, mountain goats, warthogs and a lovely variety of birds. It was worth every rand that we paid for the trip.

There were many many moments which are still buzzing in my head and for want of space and time cannot be covered. Whether it was watching the bling, casino and electric nightlife of Suncity, soaking in the heavenly beauty of Stellenbosch vineyards, the heartstopping beauty of Hartbeespoort Dam, hanging around at Victoria & Albert Waterfront, dribing through the vast Karoo (desert)of Northern Cape and many such moments made our South Africa a holiday of multitude experiences. And add to that the earthy moments of pleasure when we stayed in quaint self catering lodges across some small towns of South Africa, having meals in cozy cafes run by the local families and last but not least making new friends truly made our South African roadtrip a complete holiday experience.
Was it sheer luck or our good fortune, I don’t know! But the entire sojourn turned out to be an eventful and exhilarating joy ride for all of us. The wonderful vacation was possible thanks to my dearest aunty (Jyoti Maushi) and Ajit uncle who took time out from their very busy schedules and spent 16 days with us on this road trip. With such beautiful people in our lives, who needed a planned itinerary, for they made everything impossible, possible.

Indeed we had left ordinary behind for a extraordinary holiday and it was only possible here in South Africa.

Notes -
For those who would like to experience SA at their own pace and plan their own itinerary, I would recommend a fantastic website http://www.booknowsa.com/ where you could find all types of hotels, maps and distances, sightseeing details and all important information you would need to know about SA and its cities. I was completely floored by the user interface and also the information that this website had to offer. The other websites which you can refer to especially for booking your safari at Kruger is http://sanparks.org.za/parks/kruger/, other hotel bookings is http://www.sa-venues.com/hotels_south_africa.htm and http://www.mtbeds.co.za/

South Africa...Travelogue Part 1

2012-02-05T05:33:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, on my way back home from office, a series of giant hoardings caught my tired eyes. Apparently all were a part of a campaign, lined up one after the other urging Mumbaikars with a enticing message, ‘South Africa...Leave Ordinary Behind’. What was more attractive was that each had a breath taking and thrilling image breathing life into it.
Having just come back from a vacation to this beautiful Rainbow nation, I could not agree more on the brand promise. It took me back in the recent past and suddenly unfolded a myriad of beautiful experiences safely locked in my memory chest.
Truly, our South African family holiday had been unique, had a lot of firsts to its credit and in many ways, we had left ordinary behind for an extraordinary sojourn.
To begin with, it was a first international holiday for Ashish and me with our respective parents and parents in laws both together. It was the first time my mom was to visit her dear sister and my sweet maushi’s residence (aunt) since the time she had been inviting her over (for more than 15 odd years that too!).It was our first holiday overseas where we were to spend our New Year's Eve away from home.Leave ordinary behind ...was indeed the flavor of this holiday right from the time we embarked on the journey.Last but not the least it was our first holiday where we had no idea what our next day was going to look like...A holiday without an itinerary!
An international holiday without a planned itinerary! ‘Are you serious?’…is what I can hear you say out loud and see your raised eyebrows touching the top of your forehead.
Yes, I am serious. It’s unbelievable but true isn’t it?

We did travel without a fixed itinerary for the whole of 15 days. Notwithstanding that we had 2 sets of senior citizen couples in tow and that we were holidaying in the thick of a tourist season, the entire holiday panned out extremely well. Given the situation, it would have been hard to believe that it was going to be a plausible and a viable situation at the start of the holiday. But, as I mentioned, South Africa...It’s possible!

The only invaluable possessions we had with us were the air tickets, the South African visa, Maps, ‘What to do, what to see?’ kind of information on SA (all thanks to Google and http://www.southafrica.net/ ) and of course the unbridled child like enthusiasm and unquenchable thirst for new experiences within all 6 of us.
Disclaimer - The above situation is strictly recommended only if you have relatives/near and dear ones (who will bend over backwards for you in the tightest of situations) based at the holiday destination. Otherwise, holiday without an itinerary can be foolhardy and a situation completely avoidable.

Once the destination and dates were decided, the next step was to get the flights booked and also start with the visa process. The best place to check for flight tickets and availability is the myriad of online Indian travel websites viz. makemytrip.com or cleartrip.com. And for visa it is VFS India website or your local travel agent for the details of the formalities. If you want direct flights into Johannesburg, then nothing better than Jet airways (says my personal experience) and the next best option being South African Airways.
I would suggest you to go with a reliable travel agent if you don’t want to run around for the paper work and other stuff.
In my prologue I had mentioned that we had a complete 2 month window to plan our holiday, but alas it remained only on paper. Though flight bookings and visas for SA were done on time, our Botswana visas took immensely long, so much so that we never got them in hand before we left India. However with the warm reassurance from my uncle and aunt that everything will be alright and our unwavering faith in them, we decided to not be bothered by the situation.

The group had plans for an ambitiously long road trip of about 5000 kms as taking planes within the country was going to be a horrendous cost for the big group.
The road trip was to cover the length and breadth of SA, visiting the must see places and activities we wanted to experience in the 15 day period. The roads in SA being smooth with 100 kms /per hour speed limits and accompanied by scenic beauty in most places we were gung-ho with the idea of a road trip. Also, exploring SA by car is what most tourists would do and recommend.
Though we had plans to see a lot of places, we didn’t want to overwhelm ourselves with excess travelling too. Knowing that we were a group of 8 (6 of us plus my maushi and uncle) travelers with 2 ½ pairs in the senior citizen category; we thought it apt to take each day as it came along. A risky proposition but a gamble we were ready to take. And that was the reason why we didn’t do any hotel bookings or any bookings of the local sightseeing tours.
With relatives such as my maushi and uncle, we knew we were in safe hands (taking into account my previous SA experience) and we had no reason to be anxious about what lay in store ahead.
Moreover, we didn’t want to travel the typical tour operator style and do the usual drill of 6-7-8am. We wanted a holiday which had all the perks including fun sightseeing, unique experiences and flavors and yet was going to be at our own pace and requirements.
So, which all places did we eventually visit in SA and whether travelling on an unplanned itinerary was a wise decision, we would only know in Part II.

South Africa - Prologue to Travelogue

2012-01-09T02:53:00.000-08:00

Prologue -
Someone has rightly said that the best time to go on a vacation is when you come back from one. I am sure it must have been an avid Indian traveller who coined that one. Given the fact that we Indians over indulge in sightseeing to the extent that we exhaust ourselves to an extreme state of tiredness ...its really not hard to believe. However, this time I would like to refute this statement. Our South Africa & Botswana sojourn though an action packed and eventful road trip, my mind and body were as much fully energised and charged on my return as much as they were before going on the holiday. And one more thing was sure that this totally fascinating holiday experience was going to remain etched in my memory forever.

Background
It had been exactly 2 years in the month of July 2011, since Ashish and me had both gone on a long holiday. You can say we were truly holiday starved. Every time an opportunity for a holiday came walking to our doorstep, circumstances would slam the door on its face.
Most times it was quarter closing at work, few times it was an important event in pipeline, couple of times it was year end pressures, one time it was a new job and so 'no leave' situation or otherwise it was just something else which seemed always more important than going on a holiday. These undesirable situations always reared their ugly head and foiled our holiday plans right at its infancy stage.

One day we both decided enough is enough. We had reached a point of 'We have to go on a holiday, come what may!' situation.

Wanting to not let go of this precious moment, I immediately rushed to the corner of the room to pull out the 2011 calendar from top of the cupboard. Charged with excitement and with great gusto, I rolled out the unused calendar in front of us ...to a cloud of light dust.
Lo and behold! As if in a magical mist what emerged before us was a travel company's promotional calendar sprinkled with scenic pics of some really exotic destinations all over it.
Was it serendipity at work? We don't know. Looking at the those desirable images we got even more lascivious and our holiday hunger skyrocketed. Lustily, I grabbed a pen and paper readying for the task at hand, put the land line of the hook, put the cell phones on silent mode and we immediately got down to the task at hand.....'Project Holiday 2011'.
Just the thought of looking forward to a holiday was getting us excited and happy. As we were working on the dates, I realised that our fingers swiftly moved from the month of August to the next leaf September then forward to October and then November, knocking off all limited possibilities we had of a long break during those months. Dreadfully we reached the last month of 2011. We stared wistfully at December for a very long time as if praying to the calendar to take mercy on us poor souls and grant us our long deserved break soon. Both of us, after much mulling on our work obligations and expected commitments figured out that December it was going to be. Yippeee!..Here we come December. Now we just needed to take official approvals from our respective offices.

However the joy was short lived, just as suddenly it hit us that December is the most expensive month for a long break when the hotel tariffs go through the roof, all holiday spots get crowded and flights seats difficult to book. But what the hell, we were still in July and we had many months to go to do our planning, bookings, visas etc. We should be able to get some good deals with advanced planning and reservations.....Or so we thought!

South Africa & Botswana was always our unanimous choice! My aunt (maushi)and uncle who have settled there for the last 28 years had been inviting us for a very very long time and more so my mom and dad because they had not been there before unlike me.
My aunt was thrilled to hear about our plans and immediately asked us to start the visa processing and ticket bookings. We were also maha excited that finally our plans were shaping up.

So all set then..2 weeks to be spent in South Africa and Botswana during Christmas and New Year holidays. Awesome! Just the thought of going on a family holiday finally, had me excited like a little child waiting for her schools to close and vacation to begin . As they say, the excitement of holidays begins as soon as one plans to go on one.

But guess what July..August..September...came and went by. The calendar page leaves just flew by... just like they show in good ol' Hindi movies. Both of us got so busy neck deep in work commitments that we didnt even attempt to look into our holiday schedule. Then one fine weekend in October as I lay on my couch watching my favourite anchor Samantha Brown excitedly talking about her African safari, it suddenly pounced on me! What else, but my exalted holiday anxiety. There were only 2 months to go and we had not worked on our Visas, the flight bookings nor the itinerary.
What happened after that passed by like a big blur. Things moved so fast then onwards that when I finally caught myself breathing was when we had put the final nail in the coffin. What I mean of course that all bags were packed, locked and ready for the Chattrapati Shivaji International, Mumbai airport.

It was time for us to say Goodbye India...and Hello South Africa!

To the Yang of my life!

2011-12-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

Two sides of the same coin, so different yet so alike.
As different as chalk and cheese, what you prefer... I don't like.
You say 'white', I say 'grey', to my 'yes', you say 'nay'
Life is but a theater they say, if you are serious... i prefer to play.

Yet in spite of what may appear, one truth remains like night and day,
I am what I am today, thanks to the 'Yang' of my life, I say.

To my storm, you are the calm,
To my fluid, you are the form,
To my headaches, you are the balm,
To my actions, you are the psalm.

Yet in spite of what may appear, one truth remains like night and day,
I am what I am today, thanks to the 'Yang' of my life, I say.

In the last 6 years of my life on earth a lot has been experienced,
Knowing and being with a man such as you has made me richer by light years.

I am but an optimistic fool, you are the devil's advocate
To my flights of fantasy, you are the anchor and bait.
When I run out of patience soon, you stand there like a solid rock.
And to many many spoken words, you always walk the talk.

Yet in spite of what may appear, one truth remains like night and day,
I am what I am today, thanks to the 'Yang' of my life, I say.

To my some times endless chatter and questions, you lend your patient ear,
When you are around me, there is no room for fear.
Life is what happens when you are not around,
But life is what becomes when your sweet smell lingers around.

You are the method to my madness,
You are the 5 senses to my ESP,
The strong logic in my many arguments
But even when we don't say a word, it seems like a meaningful spiel.

Yet inspite of what may appear, one truth remains like night and day,
I am what I am today, thanks to the 'Yang' of my life, I say.

Thank You Ashish for being there :)

These are a few of my favourite pics...

2011-12-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

This is where the fairy tale starts.....

Childhood..the best days of our lives!

Sisterhood...pure, unconditional and sweet :)

Yin and Yang! :)

A child gives birth to a mother!

Innocence personified

Let there be light...always.

A different perspective

Best way to remain healthy..go green!

Sands of time.

Bridge across forever...(inspired from one of my fave books)

Stand the test of time...my many beautiful relationships!

Sun, sand and sea...my favorite combination

Let there be Passion and Creativity in our life...always ~

Lets celebrate the landmarks in our lives..

The only true religion in the world...humanity!

Nature's beauty!

The awakened one...in a reclined pose.

Gateway to heaven..at the doors of Mangeshi temple.

~Tree of life~

'Maid' of Honour

2011-11-13T03:45:00.000-08:00

Aaah...'Maid' in India, this is one subject which has a timeless appeal to a smorgasbord of Indian women out there and always remain on their lips. Women of all sizes, shapes, colours, whether working, home makers, retired or young students, rich and middle class, will sure vote 'Maids' as the unequivocally the most dear topic to all of us.
The one word which can bring out a gamut of emotions from within us and will always remain an integral part of our inane complaints, feminine woes and heart to heart discussions.
I look around my ilk and sometimes feel that this breed (Maids) has become so indispensable that we women may just be able to live without our family/spouses for few days but we just cant live without THEM for even a day.
If it does happen i.e a day without our maid, it truly takes a toll on our mind, body and 'soul'. Yes, soul too!
No one can really make the 'soul curry' like my maid whips up, its incredibly mouthwatering and addictive too!
Ok..ok, let me not exaggerate here but the truth is surely not far from it.

I have always been wanting to write about this noble but unsung profession amidst us and dedicate a post to the 'maid' of honour in my life but never got around to do it.
But finally the trigger for this post was nothing else but a silly SMS joke I received from a dear friend and it went something like this.
'Guess which is the latest virus to have seized the women in Indian cities off late...... If you don't have this virus, you are truly doomed! Its the 'MAIDS' virus!

It is indeed true! If we don't have them in our lives our life has the ability to spin into a state of disarray and complete confusion.

If my maid reports on time every day, my days run smoothly a la freshly whipped banana smoothie on a pound of fresh out-of-oven walnut cake!
When she does report to work but late, to her it appears that I am forever looking over her shoulder and at times breathing down her neck.

All that notwithstanding, they are truly god's boon to us womenkind and can really ease our lives and iron out all our silly worries. They are the best anti wrinkle solution available, better than all the Olays and Ponds of the world.

But alas, just like all good things come with strings attached, they do too.

This ilk needs to be treated with kids gloves and sometimes put on a pedestal too, but at the same time we must understand that they dont need to be worshipped.
They have to be treated as part of the extended family but at the same time not let them enter our personal space.
They have to be trusted and respected and at the same time ensure that the rope is not let too loose.
They have to be given holidays, increments and bonuses like we get but at the same time not allow them job jumps.
We know they are truly indespensible in our lives but cant really show them so.

They are the most hardworking and undervalued breed who get pittance for the work they do. For urban women especially those who go to work they are the biggest stress busters. I can relate to the maids just like any important organ in our body viz. hands or legs. Till the time its working we dont value them but when we get hurt or break a bone we suddenly become acutely aware of our handicap. Its the same with our Maids. When they are around, we really take them for granted but when they are not there our life comes to a grinding halt and take some time to get back on track.

Nothing can give me more stress than when I hear her announce her plans to go on her annual leave. Its more tumultouous than the most stressful situations at my work place. Also, the times when she occassionally falls sick which unfortunately happens to be the same day when we are hosting a party for a bevy of close friends, it sends the shivers down my spine. Its every urban woman's worst horror story.
All said and done, inspite of all her shortcomings and capacity to provide me a few rude shocks, I am happy with my situation because I at least have a maid. When I look around and my friends struggle to find one suitable maid, I think my self fortunate and thank god for blessing me with one. Touch wood!

All in all, MAIDS according to me are the ultimate 'Must-have Aids In our Daily Survival' kit and truly the Maids of Honour!

Feel good...

2011-10-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

Cut to 1 week back.

Its a normal Friday morning at office. I am sitting in my swivel chair with a pen pressed between my lips and wondering deeply about what lies in front of me. Seemingly, I am evaluating the marketing plan for the next 2 months. But covertly, I am staring blankly at the flickering laptop screen, throwing up deluge of numbers and multiple worksheets which are unfathomable.

As I am scratching my head, trying to fathom the excel sheet a strange thing happens. Just like a genie would appear and create magic...poof! in a matter of few seconds my marketing budget numbers suddenly unscramble and transform into, would you believe?..'Dates on the calendar'. Not just ordinary dates but they happen to be the very very appealing dates of our forthcoming Diwali holidays in the coming week - 26th to 30th October 2011. Oh what a coincidence, I say! Or was I just seeing things which I wanted to rather see.

In just a few minutes my feeling of helplessness with the complicating budget figures (Its obvious, I am mathematically challenged!) gave away to a euphoric feeling of joie de vivre.

Absolutely nothing had changed in those last few minutes. I was still sitting in the same chair, same office, breathing the same air (sprayed with lemon freshener)but my mind had done a complete volte face. Here I was, from a typical harried working woman who was antsy and at tethers end was now eagerly looking forward to the Diwali holidays like a kid would in school waiting for his long Diwali chhutti.
After all it was indeed going to be a really long weekend. After Monday & Tuesday it was going to be 5 holidays of "WTF weekend!".
A happy warm feeling overcame my whole being!

And the festivals in India are just that, aren't they?
A source of feel good factor.
Festivals to celebrate goodness, to celebrate the return of our heroes (from mythology), their triumph over evil, worshiping our gods and expressing our gratitude.

But the real feel good factor of festivals for me is because its such a wonderful package of old memories from childhood, happy experiences from the past, gifting and receiving gifts, meeting family and friends, shopping, cleaning home and decorating, making delicacies, devouring them and last but not the least the feeling of hope and positivity all around us.

Cut to now
Its a late Sunday evening and the Diwali holidays have almost come to an end. The feel good factor has suddenly disappeared into thin air and instead, a growing ennui of the fast approaching Monday has seized me completely. After a long weekend of R & R (rest and relaxation)which I wished would never end has now given way to the new R & R (rant and rush).

And then it hit (the stupid)me hard like Arnie's powerful bazooka... Bam!

Just like a week back nothing had changed around me to make me feel suddenly happy in my office chair, so also now, there was no change in reality but just change of my thinking which had brought back the feeling of normal, dreary, boring or whatever you could call of your daily grind.
The feel good that I felt before Diwali and I have been raving about ...was may be real or may be not. It was just Maya ...an illusion!
Just as much is the growing ennui in my head right now due to the soon to dawn Monday.

Thoughts which had changed my perspective of things around.

As they say...We are what we think! So I say, might as well have happy and positive thoughts always (at least try to) as they provide us hope for future and make 'feel good factor' a permanent resident in our heads.

Who am I ?

2011-10-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

Away from the urban landscape and in the lap of nature's beauty, 'Who am I ?' is a question I find asking myself suddenly.
Not many times have I put myself in this uneasy place nor have I had time to be there.
A road less travelled indeed!

As the morning sun shows up in the distant horizon, I am walking on a not so beaten path running into the woods and beyond, is what I can see.
A path which leaves behind the soft green grass beneath my feet and the melodious crowing of a rooster receding faintly into the greens.
A path which urges me to listen to my own inner voice and helps me answer a simple question 'Who am I?'...
A road less travelled indeed!

As I attempt to delve deep inside my thoughts for an answer, I realise that this seemingly innocuous question is not as simple as it seems.
But what I find beneath the loud thoughts in my head is that there is so much to discover and waiting to breathe.
In the daily grind of living a life, I somehow forget and fail to read.

A road less travelled indeed!

Within the boundaries created by self and leading a life or so I see, it somehow now occurs to me that there's so much more to achieve and also openly share with thee.

As I come closer to the answer of 'Who am I ?', I realise that I am someone who wants to live life to the fullest, give her best in all her deeds, make a difference to the ones she cares and bravely face life's dares and last but not the least, get over my fears and explore what's unforeseen.

A road less travelled is what I want to take indeed!

Grey Anatomy of an Indian - Part II

2011-08-15T01:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Part II of 'Grey Anatomy of an Indian'.

To begin where we left off in Part I, let me now introduce you to the other 5 reasons why we Indians are innately grey.

6. Indian Food

When we are talking about the anatomy, can food be left far behind? No, never and more so if its Indian food, we just cant. We are what we eat, they say... so blame it on the food for our grey anatomy, dearies!

You can go all around the world but nothing compares to Indian food. I say this not because I am an Indian but because you can seriously never have enough of it. So much of variety, flavors, aroma, taste, nutrition, creativity and not to forget so deeply steeped in rich tradition.
But what tickles my taste buds literally and figuratively are the cross variations Indian food has on its platter these days to offer to any kind of foodie.

So let me share with you 10 examples of Indian gastronomic delights which will not only leave you hungry and smacking your lips but also confirm the 'grey anatomy' logic.

1. Chinese Bhel puri (I can bet the last puri on my plate that our Chinese brethren wont be able to copy this one for sure)
2. Jain Pav Bhaaji (can you imagine, a Pav bhaaji without the quintessential kaanda/pyaaz...never!)
3. Chinese Dosa ( uh oh..I am imagining a chinese in a half lungi,now)
4. Mc Aloo Tikki (Looks like an American Born Confused Desi)
5. Jain Pizza - (Hmmm... its Mr.Jain posing against Leaning Tower of Pizza..oops Pisa)
6. Jain Chicken (Holy Cow!, you say. I say..Don't rub your eyes...yes it does exist and I have got this one confirmed from few Jain friends themselves. Its a preparation without onions and garlic but with chicken)
7. Chinese Jain cutlets (..looks like Jains and Chinese have some past life connection..how I wonder?)
8. Gobhi Manchurian (Chinese da puttar)
9. Spring Dosa (hmmm! no springing surprise)
10. Idli Manchurian (Aah..we Indian veggies can be so creative, nah!)

I am sure there are many more such hybrid and ingenious culinary delights which exist across India which will qualify the grey taste (or test).
Hope the above 10 menu items either got your tummy rumbling or at least you can now digest the logic of the grey anatomy of an Indian. If this is not enough food for thought then may be you should marinate...oops ruminate over it.

7.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness....but only at home -

I always wonder, how we are so adept as a nation in keeping our homes spic and span but fall so short on keeping our surroundings clean? And mind you, this trait is across all cultures and vultures. Once we step out of our home it ceases to be our responsibility towards being clean in our area and city.
I am sure you have seen many times, occupants of the most plush car throwing out of the windows the greasiest of wrappers, clinky cans and empty plastic bottles with such complete nonchalance. Or have you seen the red spitoons whizz past you with elan. These missiles fly around with so much ease and frequency that sometimes I feel if it ever becomes a competitive sport (like archery) we surely will have enough talent to choose from. They do also land on your kurta, shirt or trousers depending on the colours. Lighter the colour of your clothes, better chance they will have. Its like these red missiles are brand ambassadors of 'Daag acche hain' campaign.
Sartorial inclinations apart, these missiles sure do know what they are up to. They have their 'designs' exclusively for specific wall posters. Have you noticed how the remnants of these drippy missiles always provide a great topping for posters with messages 'Yeha thunkna mana hain' or 'Keep your city clean and green'. Or have you seen how these spittoons will be all over the place except where they are meant to be...in the dust bin that is. (Hmmm..looks like we wont have a chance in this 'competitive sport' as well, after all.)
But now look at the flip side...just look at us when we go abroad on our holidays or business visits. The same breed which throws, spits, litters and does many other disgusting acts in public domain thinks twice before doing the same when out of India. This behavior indeed is a great subject for study material and another example to prove the grey anatomy of an Indian.

8.
Cricket - The only true religion of us Indians

India maybe a country of
- 28 States
- 7 Union Territories
- 18 official languages
- 1000's of dialects
- 1.2 billion people

But its only with Cricket that India comes together...to discuss, debate, dissect, appreciate, criticize, venerate and celebrate with gusto, passion and enthusiasm India's place in the world of cricket.
When it comes to this religion it doesnt matter whether you belong to the haves or have nots, classes or masses, literate or illiterate, urban or rural, city or village, rich or poor...there is an unexplainable phenomena at play which unites the Indians in 1 big happy (when we win ofcourse!) family.
We are a country which looks upto these cricket players, turns them into heroes and sometimes zeroes. We look upto them for inspiration, cheer, team spirit and also as a means of escapism from the daily rigmarole of life.
It may not come as a surprise that we just might know by heart, statistics of India's past matches more accurately than our religious chants/prayers.
Also, I wont be surprised if Indians pray to GOD more religiously when cricket season is on than when it is not.
Prayer No. 1 - Oh God! let Sachin complete his century
Prayer No. 2 - God! Please let bhajji make his hattrick.
Prayer No. 3 - Please GOD, let Dravid stay on and win match for India!
so on and so forth...

When Indians come together to play, discuss or watch cricket you can be rest assured that atmosphere is going to be nothing less than electrifying, deafening and exuberant at the same time.
Little wonder then for all reasons mentioned above, to us Indians, Cricket is not just a game but a religion! And yes, we have 1 common GOD too! (and he goes by the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar).

9. 'Sab chalta hain bhai' attitude, yeh hai India!

I am sure you have heard this phrase a zillion times over and tossed it aside just like any other casual topic which we cant do much about. But think it over, friends. 'Chalta hain' is being reasonable with yourself and being reasonable with others and their actions. If we as an individual and as a nation has to move forward we need to ask questions, be unreasonable, demand, push the envelope and then only we can expect to get the best and be best. The current Anti corruption movement is a case in example. How many times have we in our own life been subject to corruption or also been responsible for corruption. No one I know has been free from a corrupt act whether its giving a bribe to traffic police, buying a film ticket in black, getting a driving license, getting ration card, downloading pirated films or making some home renovations without necessary permissions. Its easy to point finger at politicians (and yes rightfully so) but we need to remember there are 4 fingers pointing back at us as well.

I agree, here we have to pay for everything which is essentially free...right from a birth certificate to death certificate which pretty much sums up how deeply steeped is corruption in our country. With a proper anti corruption system in place it will surely help to stop the rot at the top level where it actually starts and then flows down the ladder. For which I am very glad this movement led by Anna Hazare has happened and opened the eyes of the lakhs of 'Chalta Hai' Indians. Its truly a historic moment and I am sure across the world people will be looking at India very hopefully. No where else have movements with such magnitude of people and apolitical in nature have passed so peacefully which is the really victory of India and Indians.

And I hope this momentum gained in the past many days (12 days)does not go waste and energises Indians to be unreasonable henceforth about anything which is corrupt and also at the same time we spread the positivity around through our own individual actions. Its time we shed this thick skin called 'Chalta Hain' and don a new avatar which 'Makes good things happen".

10. Past perfect but Future Tense...I hope not!

India and its 20 Amazing Historical facts which you may already know but its worth putting down again.

1. India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.
2. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
3. India is the world's largest democracy.
4. India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
5. The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
6. Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
7. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
8. India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.
9. The art of Navigation was bornin the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.
10. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
11. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
12. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century.
13. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
14. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
15. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery.
16. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).
17. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
18. India is one of the few countries in the World, which gained independence without violence.
19. India is the largest English speaking nation in the world.
20. India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indigenously.

Inspite of such brilliant achievements to our credit in the past its sad to see in today's times, Indians rank 87 out of 178 in the Transparency International's index of corruption in the world.
We have a great history and even greater achivements to our credit in Science, Engineering, IT, Literature, Space in recent times as well.

I hope that we as a nation realise the immense potential that lies within us and it becomes the super power to reckon with in the near future and not flounder on this great opportunity that lies ahead of us.

On this positive note, I end the Part II of 'Grey Anatomy of an Indian'. Hope it has helped to throw light on the grey areas and also helped you to see we Indians in a gre(y)at light.

Grey Anatomy of an Indian - Part I

2011-08-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, the topic name has been very much inspired by the hugely influential work on the subject of human anatomy and also a popular medical drama TV series by the same name. But that's about it, the similarities end very much there. So if you are looking to read about either of those two subjects and draw comparisons, you might as well stop reading further, as this may not interest you at all. And this particular disclaimer is just that - to avoid any reader dissonance you may experience if at all.

Hey...great...i see that you are still on the page and reading further on the blog post. Then there's good news for you...I must say! As you continue reading further on this piece which is in parts a reflection of our daily life and parts opinionated, you might just stumble on something you can identify with as a 'Grey Indian'.

Let me start by sharing what the dictionary says about the word 'grey'.

grey - 7 dictionary results
grey or gray (ɡreɪ)

— adj
1. of a neutral tone, intermediate between black and white, that has no hue and reflects and transmits only a little light
2. greyish in colour or having parts or marks that are greyish
3. dismal or dark, esp from lack of light; gloomy
4. neutral or dull, esp in character or opinion
5. having grey hair
6. of or relating to people of middle age or above: grey power
7. ancient; venerable
8. (of textiles) natural, unbleached, undyed, and untreated

The 'grey' anatomy of an Indian really is a mix of all the above and yet purports to none of the above at the same time. Its nothing but a typical characteristic streak we all Indians innately possess. It is something which reflects in all that we think, we do and experience as a slice of our life. I would like to call what we have is grey because of its very fluid nature, its unfixed and also its all encompassing.

I can sense that the quizzical and impatient look on your face still persists and now I can actually hear you demanding of me what does 'grey' anatomy of an India really means? Hmm....my answer is a simple "Look around and look within you!".
If that has puzzled you even more then let me list down the Top Ten Grey Indian Idiosyncrasies and then let me ask you the same question at the end. My guess is this 'grey' will become more defined. The below top ten list is not in any particular order but much the order of my train of thoughts as I am typing on the QWERTY.

Top 10 Grey Indian Idiosyncrasies

No. 1.
Indian Standard Time (IST) - We all know that it means more than what it really stands for. We Indians take pride in the deeper meaning of IST, sometimes even joke about it and most times even get away using this short abbreviation as a crutch for long excuses. For instance...'Hey.. you were supposed to be here an hour back. What happened to you?' you ask your friend when he/she arrives late...and your friend quickly retorts back...'Arre yaar, you know Indian Standard Time right..it happens!' The matter ends there, no more questions asked.
We are like this only! Sab chalta hain.

Meetings, schedules, appointments, projects...all delayed...why? Blame it on 'Indian Standard Time'. 9 'o' clock meeting starts at 9.30, 11 'o' clock appointment scheduled with client but hey, where's the client?, a team meeting supposed to get over in 2 hours spills over for over half a day and a flight scheduled to land at 5pm is still guzzling fuel mid air (thankfully this has reduced off late). And less said the better of all the projects being executed out there...roads, bridges, airports...list is endless. Its a joke that these projects, scheduled to complete in months run into years and sometimes years into decades. And when they finally get completed notwithstanding the time over runs and cost runs, there are even joyous celebrations. Oh, yes celebrations! Why?.. you ask. Arre...because they got finally completed nah..bas!

Its the Grey Indian anatomy in full force across different levels, cadres, religion, age, financial background, cities and across the country. Nothing is absolute and definitely not certain. Unpredictability is the name of the game, friends. Of course there are few exceptions but only to prove that this rule exists.

2. The Grey (or grated) Indian Roads and road sense (or lack of it)
Much has been already been said, written and re written about the Indian roads... time and again. Not much where I can add my two bits except that its indeed a national 'phenomenace'. Sometimes we are left wondering, if this is what we experience in our cities with so called best-in-class infrastructure amenities, just shudder to think what would be the state of the towns and villages.
With so much stress, frustration, me-first attitude, road rage, colorful language and back breaking bumps experienced on our roads...it wont be a surprise if it becomes the road to perdition for its riders one day.
And coming to the road sense of its denizens, well..what can one expect from the poor souls when the roads itself are the villains of this story. We the denizens are mere victims of fate who play our part of the frustrated, impatient, unruly heroes with full gusto. We don't care 2 horns for the rules or the game. Its my way or highway...hmmm true..but where is the highway by the way?
Coming to the so called rules...a red signal means STOP and a green means GO....right! Well, not really if you are a true blue (correction..grey)Indian. A red signal at most times means cars zipping past you. For we are a breed of 'colour blind' Indians unless ofcourse our Desi Spidey Pandu is lurking behind a pole waiting to spin his web on the naive, Speedy Gonsalves.
Also, what more can be said about the sensuous dance movements of the Indian cars on the roads. Yes, the same place where cars keep changing lanes as if they are going out of fashion. Its a 'u better not come hither' look, then a kiss and finally 'make up' drama at its hilt. The CITY slicker with its swanky gait zooms upto and lightly kisses an alluring DEZIRE on its bum-per and then makes up speed pronto with another sprightly SPARK at the same time. Sometimes he gets a SCORPIO sting in the bargain, other times a CIVIC response (very rare though) and at most times he is in ACCORD with his ilk as they are part of the same tamasha every day. Whether you are A STAR or INNOVA(TER) no one can resist this Indian car-nama.
Its 'Car'pe diem on the road almost always. Seize the day or at times even someone's collar...same difference! Either you attain a ZEN like state and pass through this calmly or you can be assured of a 'Car'diac attack just sitting in your car.
Expect the unexpected from the grey Indians, its in their 'kar'ma.

3. Indian Judiciary -
Everything seems to be grey here...right from the guys who don the woolly hats and hammer 'order, order!' like in hindi movies of yore, to the grey cells for which they are supposed to be revered or the scanty grey patch on their shiny scalp. Thats the grey indian judiciary for you. But hey, theres more...

I am sure you have heard this one before...'You need to be in it first to win it!'
But alas one cant say the same thing when one has to file a lawsuit in this democracy (sadly). One might as well give in before the climbing the steps of this 'Ivory Tower'.
For taking the bold steps up this ladder a la Jack in the Bean Stalk story...either your silk suits need to have deep pockets or if not then these pockets should atleast confine a business card of certain Mr. Mister. Someone who can help you jump the serpentine queue of long forgotten cases or connect you with those who really matter.

But if you are one of the children of lesser god who has never seen a silk suit forget owning one, then forget it... unless ofcourse you are ready to 'go grey' in this system where there is no black or white.

4. Politicians -
Nothing more can be said of the 'greyest' of the lot in the top 10 list where integrity is a question mark and principles completely non existing. Only if they show us their true colours would the denizens of this country know what they really stand for. The somersaults which this breed is given to, one will never know where their loyalties lay....probably where they get royalties from.

5.
The Great Indian Jugaad- One grey area we should be proud of as it originates from Indian sensibilities and has now become a global buzzword in these trying times.

As per Wikipedia, 'Jugaad (also sometimes jugard) literally means an improvised arrangement or work-around, which has to be used because of lack of resources.'
Jugaad also applies to any kind of creative and out of the box thinking which maximizes resources for a company and its stakeholders.
It does have negative connotations to the word - temporary, unstable and quick fix. But one cant take away the fact that its being inventive at low cost and is an Indian way which has now been globally recognised.
Many examples of Jugaad originate from India which include the water-pump engine based vehicle on roads, washing machine which is used to make lassi, Tier 2 and 3 sleeper compartments in Indian railways to make room for more people to enjoy comforts of A/C at lesser costs, making quilts out of old and used sarees and even TATA Nano to an extent is jugaad of engineering which has been much written about as a success story across the world. Who could have thought of a car at Rs. 1 lac in today's times anywhere in the world, but we did it. Also, India is the home of the satchet and micro finance revolution and the biggest user of 'Missed call' and saving air time costs. These are just few of the known examples of how Indians have been inventive and made best available of the resources.

On this note I end my Part I of the Grey Anatomy of an Indian chapter. The other 5 points in the top 10 list will be posted shortly. I am hoping that you are at least half convinced at this point about why we Indians are innately grey. If you have any doubts still about their grey anatomy, I am sure they will get cleared after you read Part II.

Rain, Rain...please don't go away...and come again yet another day!

2011-07-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at my office desk jamming hard on the keys of my laptop to complete a long and critical email and then as I moved my gaze away for a moment to think 'what next?', I got half distracted. Looking wistfully beyond the french glass windows of my office I was completely smitten by the beautiful sight which greeted me. The thick clouds had cast their grey blanket cover over the city and the faint pitter patter of rain drops had already started caressing the glass panes announcing the arrival of the city's first rains. The first rains always have the same effect on me, it mesmerizes my senses and then my mind takes a visual flight to a distant land in past and fond memories engulf my senses.

Rains... mean so many irrepressible emotions...gay abandonment, freedom, innocence, pure joy, romance, love, serenity, solitude, thrill, excitement and adventure....

The heavenly sweet fragrance of the first rains when it gets introduced to mother earth yet again ...is something which will linger forever in my memory. Even now it brings with it some long lost memories and the many wonderful experiences of beautiful rainy days of past which engulf me with its cool breeze.

Rains meant something very special as a small kid...a reason to hurriedly rush out from home and thrust into the soothing embrace of the first raindrops of the season just like we greet our much awaited best buddies on their arrival after a long wait.

Rains as a kid meant paper boats...boats set sail from the confines of our tiny hands into the muddy puddles and watching them go bobbing along the whirls of rain water pools. Sometimes surviving the tumult, sometimes going under and sometimes cruising along in synch with the emotions of the eagerly watching kids.
Rains meant gum boots, rains meant new school uniform and new text books being start of the new year at school. Rains meant splashing through puddles and drawing angry looks from adults. Rains meant innocence, mischief and peals of pure laughter. Rains meant raincoats and umbrellas..rains meant school grounds filled with water, rains also meant chutti from school on lucky days when it rained cats and dogs. Rains meant missing school bus and not reaching school on time.
For me, it also meant climbing on Fiat's bumpers and wiping with a pair of deft hands ..the raindrops hanging on the window panes in a single finishing stroke. Also, sometimes losing my balance in that act and falling off the car and breaking bones. Yes..and getting a fracture too!

Rains in college meant picnics, hikes and treks to nearby mountains....enveloped with a lush green carpet and beautiful waterfalls.
Rains meant bunking college and going for movies, having bhutta on the beach.
Rains meant walking along marine drive with someone special and braving the splashing waves of the Arabian sea and getting half wet and half embarrassed.

Rains meant going away on impulse drives with your gang to nearby Alibaug beach, Bushy Dam at Lonavala or Matheran and not to forget, coming back with hoarse voices from all the singing and shouting.
Rains meant bunking college (again!)for no reason and sitting in college canteen and playing antakshari with the whole zing bang, creating ruckus and bringing the college down.
Rains meant cutting chai and hot bhajjias. And if at home, then a cup of warm coffee, a romantic book snuggled with a warm blanket..with soft numbers on the cassette player or an old movie on the VCR.

Rains...Rains..rains...oh so many emotions..and memories of yore, cherished even today.
So today in spite of some days when it decides to go berserk and play havoc with our feelings, cause traffic jams and potholes in our lives...i must say rains....thank you for these wonderful memories..i love you all the same!

Rain, Rain...please don't go away...and come again yet another day!

A Landmark in my life - Part II

2011-06-12T01:48:00.000-07:00

Life is but a series of lessons that we learn at every step. Some lessons are like jumps over small puddles and some like high jumps while some are like steeple chase and some seem like pole vault jumps. While most of them, you prefer to forget or better still they just fade away into oblivion, very few of them tend to leave an impact on you which you carry forever.

Amongst the few lessons that tend to have the stickiness factor (Thank you Malcolm Gladwell for the term) and leave a deep impact on you are the ones which shape you into a new and evolved human being.
The Landmark Forum was exactly one of those few experiences which left an indelible impression on my mind - an eye opener, break through and transformational in nature.

If you have seen the 'Before & After' commercials then this is what Part II is exactly going to be all about.
You must have observed that in most of those cheap, gimmicky Before/After weight loss type of ads, it talks about how Ria, Rupa and Reema shed their excess weight and moved from a bulky 75 kgs built to a slender frame of 55 kgs in just 3 months.
But the central character of this 'Before/After' however is not part of the Ria, Rupa and Reema ilk and is none other than yours truly. Honestly, I did lose weight but not in the real sense of the word. More importantly, I shed a lot of baggage which I was carrying with me till I ‘got’ the Forum, after which I truly felt lighter and free.

Unlike the quick fix weight loss promotions we see on TV/newspapers, which leave us with very little positive and permanent effects, this one I truly believe will be forever.

Before the Landmark, if you had met me, I was a person whose thoughts would typically read like below.
"I am absolutely perfect and I don't need to change anything about me or better still transform".
"My life is just right and I know what I am doing. There can't be a better way to lead life other than this."
"I don't think there is anything amiss or any issue with the way my life is going. It’s just fantastic."
"My family, friends and colleagues are absolutely fine and happy with the way I am so why should I do Landmark or any other transformational course. That's just something for someone who has problems in life. I have no problems at all, in fact I have friends who look up to me for advice."
In short, I was this Ms Know-it-all!!!

And after Landmark, I don't have to tell you, right? But I still will!

My tone has changed dramatically. Not to say that I didn't lead a good, happy and content life before, but my perspective about my own self has undergone a complete U turn. What I am or perceived myself to be, my relationships, my fears and apprehensions, my feelings, emotions and most of all, my language, whether in thoughts or the spoken word, has gone through a sea change and I feel like Christopher Columbus who has just explored a new far away land. In my case of course the new me!

If you have already gone through the experience of stumbling upon the unknown side of you which always existed but not known to you...you would exactly know my situation.
A Eureka moment in your life!

I must say, each person 'gets' the forum differently depending on their past experiences, age, maturity and openness to new concepts. What I have written here is my perspective with my limited understanding from the years spent on the face of the earth.

A Few Lessons Learnt at Landmark Forum worth sharing:

A) Already always listening
Background - We think of ourselves as open and objective, but in fact our approach to ourselves, our circumstances and others is often filtered and even obscured by pre-existing notions/values, by our upbringing, values and past experiences.

For example:
You are in a conversation with a friend or spouse or colleague, exchanging thoughts and words and emotions very animatedly and discussing very openly. (or so you think)
You are having this great dialogue/conversation which is flowing very well between the two of you. But how many times during the conversation have you really, really been listening to what the opposite person is actually saying or trying to say.
Most of the times, aren't we just waiting for the opposite person to stop speaking so you can start giving your views, opinions and thoughts about the subject of conversation. We have already formed this view/opinion about the world based on our past experiences and we think that's the best view of things. And these thoughts cloud our mind so much so, that we are not even listening to the views of the opposite person. Moreover, we don't want to wait for other person to stop talking,we just want to hog the conversation thinking that what we have is the best and the other person has to accept it that way.
That's 'Already always listening' to the thoughts in our mind which is based on our past experiences and not to what the opposite person has to say.

B) Hidden Power of Context
Background -All behavior, all ways of being and acting are correlated to the context(s) from which we live our lives.

For example (The Good Samaritan experiment from the book 'The Tipping point'):
To establish the 'Power of Context' experiment, there were 2 groups formed of students studying theology (study of religion). Both groups were asked to prepare a short, extemporaneous talk on any biblical theme, then walk over to a nearby building and present it. Along the way to the presentation, each student ran into a man slumped in an alley, head down, eyes closed, coughing and groaning. The question was who would stop and help?

To make the experiment more interesting there were some variables introduced.
a) Before the experiment started the students were given a questionnaire as to why they had chosen theology. Did they see religion as a means of personal or spiritual fulfillment.
b) Others were given the parable of Good Samaritan (The popular story of how a traveler who was beaten and robbed and left for dead by the side of the road was overlooked by 2 priests while they were passing by but helped by a man- a Samaritan, member of a despised minority who not only helped him heal his wounds but provided shelter)
c)Some students while they were being sent to the other building were told ' Oh you are late, they were expecting you a few minutes ago." (Basically a hint to make them aware that they are already running late)
While some students were told, 'It will be a few minutes before they are ready for you, you have time but you might as well head now."(A hint to make them know that they have some time at hand)

The experiment was to understand which group of people would stop by and help the destitute lying on the road.
It was interesting to note that the group which was told that they had very little time, literally stepped over the victim as he hurried on his way in spite of the fact that he was told the parable of Good Samaritan, (a story about compassion) before he was sent to the other building.
The words 'Oh you are so late' had the effect of making someone who was ordinarily compassionate into someone who was indifferent to suffering- of turning someone, in that particular moment, into a different person.
That's the Power of Context. What this study is suggesting, in other words, is that the convictions of your heart and the actual contents of your thoughts are less important, in the end, in guiding your actions than the immediate context of your behavior.
In a nutshell, we can stop being judgmental if we understand the context of a person's behavior or background of an event.

C) The Vicious Circle

Background- There is a human tendency to collapse what happened, with the story we tell what happened. The collapsing happens so fast that it is hard to separate the two and we think of them as one and the same. And over time the story we tell ourselves becomes the way it is - the reality we know. It limits what is possible in our lives, robbing us of much our joy and effectiveness.

For example:
Imagine you walking on the road and someone you know from your locality who is also very friendly with you, is walking towards you from the opposite direction. However, as you come closer, that person suddenly decides to cross over to the other side without as much looking at you, forget acknowledging your presence. Leaving you feeling awkward with half a smile left on your face..and a little hurt with this sudden 'turn' of events.
The immediate interpretation we make out of the situation at that time is, he/she has ignored you purposely or he/she may be upset with you over something that may have happened and hence purposely overlooked you.
Now if you look at it objectively, the situation was simple, the person in his/her sheer absent-mindedness must have crossed the road and not even realized the presence of you, who was walking towards him/her. May be he/she was engrossed in his own thoughts/problems, you never know!
But the interpretation of this situation has already been created in your mind and that becomes the reality for you. So every time you both meet, there would be some situations where you will try to find ways to justify that your friend always ignores you and then that becomes a Vicious Circle.

D)Rackets - Pay off and cost

A Racket is an unproductive way of being or acting that includes a complaint that something shouldn't be the way it is. Often, we don't notice that while our complaints may seem justified or even legitimate, there is a certain payoff- some advantage or benefit we are receiving that reinforces the cycle of behavior. At the same time, this way of being has steep costs, whether in our vitality, affinity, self expression or sense of fulfillment.

For example:

In a relationship with your spouse or parents or even a close friend, do you always have a typical complaint which you use to win an argument or get better of a situation? You may be justified in that complaint or it may be legitimate as well, but have you seen that just because you want to win that argument or get some benefit in that short term you invariably use it as a trump card.
What we don't realize is that it very much stifles the relationship and does not help us to take it to the next level of happiness, fulfillment or satisfaction in that relationship. That's why its important to let go off the past, let go of these rackets because only thing that matters is what we choose to be now or choose to see now.

E) Access to being Extraordinary (In the language of Landmark Forum)
"Each of us would like to be extraordinary; to have our lives matter, to excel in the areas that are important to us - our families, our work, relationships, our financial futures. Every day we are presented with the opportunity either to live a 'business as usual' life, or to create something beyond who we've been and what we know. To explore the opportunity that we have to express ourselves individually and fully, to set aside current standards, to question firmly held assumptions, to be at ease no matter what the circumstance and to break and reinvent the mould."

Thank you Landmark!!!

A Landmark in my life - Part I

2011-03-27T02:37:00.000-07:00

Dictionary meaning Landmark : -a significant or historic event, juncture, achievement, etc.

This is it how it goes..a snippet of a conversation between me and my friend some time back....
"Oh...ok, so you are planning to do the Landmark Forum. But why?? Are you going through any problems in your life or at work or something. Isn't it the place where people eventually go to when things go topsy turvy in their life".
Now that was a question I had heard just recently many times over, as soon as I had announced to the world about my intention to do the Forum. As if attending Landmark forum was the most perceptible thing to do ONLY if you hit the most stumbling roadblocks of your life and not because you want to see yourself transformed into a better human being. Which is what it does largely and the real reason for my enrolling.
My reply for the nth time was an indignant "NO" but this time I just didn't care to explain the 'why?'. I was in no mood for any reasoning and also didnt want to temper the bubbles of curiosity which I knew were frothing in my friends' head about the so called imaginary (imagined by her)'problems' in my life.
So with a sadistic glee I just let the conversation die a premature death.

Flashback to 2 months before, where it all started.
'So what is this Landmark forum all about?" an innocent question to my hubby, Ashish when I first heard about it and also his interest in attending the forum. He had mentioned to me earlier that he had heard about it from an ex colleague who had been urging him to attend it and he had been brushing it off like any inconsequential event.

His answer to my question was even more quizzical and left me begging for more answers. All he said was if I needed to know more, I had to attend it personally and there were no easy answers.
Since it all sounded exciting and intriguing, I surmised there must be something in it. Also, its not everyday that my hubby gets interested in something new other than Football, Old cinema, History & Wikipedia(very much in that order). Very difficult indeed to get him hooked on..a complete snob for new interests!

His willingness to finally relent looked liked the proverbial case of the curious cat having bitten him.
So when he told me he was attending the Landmark forum, "So be it, go ahead and attend!" ...I muttered to myself half happy, not that he was asking my expert opinion but I wanted to think so.

Back after 3 days of the intense sessions of Landmark forum when I finally met him, I actually refused to recognise him! It wasn't like he did the SRK makeover act from "Rab ne bana di..." on me nor had he turned into a Mark Darcy from "Pride and Prejudice" and was wooing me on bended knee. But yes, I definitely saw a transformed Ashish..'new and improved' as folks from HLL and P&G claim for all their brands. Forgive the pun, but the reason why I am saying this is, I heard him saying something to me which truly left me drop jaw astounded. And it made me ask him, "Are you alright? Hope you are ok!!!"...when actually I wanted to ask him was "Have you lost it or are you on drugs?" But somethings are better not said especially when they (hubbys')are being nice to you. What he was telling me was what every spouse would love to hear but gets in short dosage typically. He had said those 3 magical words "I love you" and almost in the same breath, "I am sorry!" ...the next 3 magical words again any spouse would love to hear and also gets it in small doses. Well...all I did was soak in the moment and enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling as they say which accompanies these golden words..wishing that the minutes of this conversation turn to hours and more. It was too good to be true..like a typical ' I had to pinch myself' situation. After hearing those magical words, its anybody's guess that what followed was mere shaking of head and a stunned absent minded acknowledgment from my side to what he was saying... when inside I was still reeling under the wave of emotions which had welled up out of the blue.
As I was gathering my wits and absorbing every word that was leaving his jaw, the coup de grace that sealed the conversation was "I think you must also experience the Landmark forum. Its good you know."

With these words of his, I came back into the real world.
But I just left it at that, least bothered about his last statement. I accepted this to be one of my good days not to come again so soon and expecting to see the real Ashish again the next morning...sober, practical and not fuzzy like the previous night.

But surprise surprise! The facade had not slipped and what I thought was going to be a dream run ..was actually a full marathon. 1, 2 , 3, 4.....10 days...2 weeks passed but it was still going strong. And then I was eventually convinced that it was not just a facade he was wearing but a real transformation. And mind you, it wasn't just words but actions as well.

By then I had also heard a lot of new terms in those many days BE COMPLETE, RACKETS, STRONG SUITS etc which were new to me but equally mysterious. Even though they sounded like the simplest of words, I was sure they had a deeper meaning which I was looking to unravel and that too at the earliest.

Cut to present....
The day had arrived and I was going to attend my Landmark forum. I had been, in the past couple of months, looking forward to this day after having witnessed the positive after effects on someone dear who had attended it.

What was in store for me? I didnt know. But I was ofcourse ready for a myriad of experiences - high and low, revelations, discoveries and looking into the unknown dark places in my mind which I never knew existed.

End of Part I

Chor Police

2010-11-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

When we were young many(many many) years ago..well, I am talking on behalf of all 30 and 40 somethings here... about 20 years back...we used to play a thrilling game called 'Chor Police'. Oh! How we used to love being the Chor because then we could stay hidden without being caught and wait (or rather not wait)for the moment when someone would discover our new hiding place which only you or your team knew about, till then. The thrill we used to get, to know that we were undiscovered through the whole evening when your friends playing police used to frustratingly search high and low and even beyond the boundaries of the compound (yes, we did 'step over the line' sometimes) looking for the 'chors' that is us, but to no avail.
Staying put for hours together in that secret place half sweating and half wanting to pee badly...would still not deter us from leaving that 'comfort zone'...in spite of the fact that we were these bunch of hyperactive and adrenaline charged kids.
No one would love to 'don the cap' of the police as it was so uninteresting and a boring chore... searching, sniffing for trails, lurking, inquiring for clues and when discovered, chasing the nimble chors across the dusty playgrounds, hopping over small and big muddy water holes attempting to get their hands at catching the slippery chors...but alas no such luck. The sweaty palms of the police some how could never catch hold of the sweatier backs of the chors. Because being a chor always had the distinct advantage of 'one running as if to save his dear life' like how a prey does while the police were just running 'to earn that big badge'..not as desperate I would think. Playing the chor in a nutshell, was more exciting to me as a kid than being the respected but boring police.
Cut to 25 years later......the wordchor and also in the real sense has become such a ignominious word in our lexicon that it has completely lost the innocent sheen around it as in 'chor police' of yesteryears.
Now of course we are all grown up and grown out of 'chor police' days and have well realized that its not good to play the 'chor' anymore. So when we hear about these stories in newspapers and TV and sometimes from close acquaintances about they being at the receiving end of some good for nothing petty thieves or conniving home burglars or some such remaining ilk...it makes you livid, makes your blood curdle and make you wish you had at least one fighting chance with any of these rascals and you would knock the hell out of them. But knocking out was a good option only if you knew one of those Jackie Chan moves or Mithunda's dance kicks of Disco Dancer. Otherwise for the majority of us who did not grow on the staple diet of Bruce lee movies....only 1 option was available...that is using a can of pepper spray, blinding them out and kicking them in that 1 place which would make them remember their 'nani' for their next 7 births. But where do you get Pepper cans...somebody please tell me!

I always used to dream (or rather nightmare)about it.....this sequence of the Chor stealing something from me, on this cold, lonely and dark road and I helplessly trying to scream out 'Help' or 'Catch Thief' but somehow the words never seemed to come out...always! As if the throat had suddenly gone dry and parched just when I needed it most. And then I used to wake me up scared and sweating. After realizing that it was just a dream...with a huge relief would go back to my sleep. I am sure many of us have experienced this dream one time or another...in their life time so far.
Ok....even of this story and my filmy dream. Let me not play the chor police drama with you anymore. So what am I trying to say here is...what if.... what if this sequence from your dream (or nightmare in this case) actually becomes a reality and you are faced with a situation where you really are part of a chor police like situation. What do you actually do?
This is where the actual story begins.
One fine Saturday evening, hubby and me after our long walk in the greens of Aarey Milk colony area, headed towards the Hanuman temple like we always did. Me in my newly acquired pair of Adidas sports shoes was all gung-ho in spite of my tired feet. Sometimes, wearing something new for the first time gives you that extra energy and you get all pumped up...i feel. Its another thing that you end up with your feet in hot water tub when you reach home...but that's another point, let me not digress.
Coming back to the story...both of us, all tired and sweating from the walk reached the temple just in time before the evening Aarti started. I had recently come to know about my FIL's shoes getting stolen from outside another temple just a few days back, so I was in two minds about leaving my brand new shoes worth over 3k behind unattended. I thought maybe my hubby should go in first and then I would enter the temple after he came out. But then I said no, this is a safer area and no one had heard about shoes getting stolen, not from this temple at least.
So we decided to go in together. My hubby went inside and while I was removing my shoes slowly, I could sense a pair of eyes staring at me and my squeaky new shoes in a very obnoxious way. My sixth sense realized that all was not safe here. So I removed my shoes even more slowly and moved just a little bit towards the temple while still keeping a watch from the corner of my eye on those prying eyes. It must have been less than half a minute that I turned my back to face the god and after few moments when I suddenly turned behind, as if on instinct to take a look at my shoes they were not there. That's when I saw this man in his 30's, that is owner of the prying eyes, conveniently slipping on his feet into my shoes and making a quick dash towards the exit.
I swung and ran towards him and started screaming chor..chor all at the same time. (women are good at multi-tasking, you see)Thank you god, my throat also did not disappoint when I needed it most. All of a sudden, the entire temple sprang into an action movie mode from the devotional mode it was in, a few moments back. Me in my socks ran after him all the way down the road almost like I did when we used to play chor police. The scene was straight out of a movie..me running after him yelling chor chor and he running desperately like a prey who did not want to get caught. After about 400 meters, get caught he did as he ran straight into a bunch of teenagers walking towards our direction. With my top of the lung screaming, they realised that what was running towards them was a hare caught in a headlight scared for life.
And then...the usual scene followed where the mob decided to have a free hand at the rogue and hurled the choicest abuses at him. In the mean time I had noticed that this thief while he was denying he had done any wrong, was not wearing my shoes. I got suddenly petrified as the prized prey after whom I ran like never before...(at least not after I ran in the running race on school sports day in my 7th standard)...was not prized any more.
Where were my shoes????
That's when after much collaring, the drunken rogue confessed that he had left them by the temple after realizing that he could not run fast enough with someone like me behind his back. I quickly ran back to the temple and heaved a sigh of relief on seeing my gleaming pair all unattended but still lying safely by the road and calling out to their momma.

All this while when the drama was unfolding outside the temple, which was a matter of just five minutes, my hubby had realized that I was no where inside the temple premises and got worried as to where I disappeared out of the blue. He also heard a flurry of commotion outside the temple so he stepped out hoping to find me. Not knowing that I was reason for the commotion my hubby after seeing me right in the middle of the collected crowd, walked up to me very innocently asked me where I was all this while. I could not help but smile and said to myself 'Living my chor police dream and enjoying it too!!! God had finally given me my fighting chance with a chor and how exhilarating it was.

Just for your information, what happened after this drama was that with the help of local people we sent the thief to the police station and got him locked up. I don't know if it would mean that he will change his ways but I surely did not want to let him off...after all we already had 1 pair of shoes (my FIl'S shoes) out there, up for sale for peanuts by one such drunkard thief.

So what's the Moral of the Story
'Sometimes you don't need a pair of Adidas or NIKE shoes to help you run faster, even a pair of socks would do'

Tale of two cities!

2010-10-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

With a name like that for a blog post, one would at once get an attack of a 'blast from the past'...fond memories from school of your favourite English teacher mouthing lines from the classic....but No!...this is not about Charles Dickens and his evergreen literary work and nor about the cities of London and Paris, like in the famous 'Tale of Two Cities'.
Its about my favorite city Mumbai where I live and a city I just visited recently, Philly (for the uninitiated - Philadelphia). Though I hate to show my favourite city in a bad light I cannot resist making a comparison between these 2 cities. Though they both have rich historical leanings to boast of, the similarities quite simply end there. They are proverbially speaking, as different as chalk and cheese.

Let me start with what I saw, heard and which conquered my heart in and about Philly during my brief stay of 2 weeks.
To begin with, I would like to introduce you to Philly as 'City of Murals'. Why? Because the guide, a young chap with tongue in cheek humour on the hop on-hop off bus of Philly tour said so. I completely bought it. It seems Philly has around 3000 murals spread across the city, that too more than any other city in USA and that is why it gets the name. You can see murals in all sizes, colours, themes, objects, types of people, scenery and painted across all kinds of buildings, facades, backs and sides..they really make a pretty picture and add a lot of character to the city, I must say. But do you know how these murals came about.
Its an interesting story how these Murals were initiated as part of a 6 week youth program meant for anti graffiti activity. Which means a lot of youth from socially backward areas in Philly used to indulge in defacing the city walls out of sheer frustration, disregard for the system and callousness of civic sense. A young muralist in 1984 saw an opportunity to use Murals as a soft (brush) weapon for steering these youth towards a more meaningful art rather than ugly graffiti. As is the rule with any graffiti artist, they respect each others art so when they had murals to be painted on city walls it was not difficult to have works of murals being left untouched without any defacing attempts by fellow painters. Also the murals helped them to bring out the best creativity, earn some pocket money and also helped to change the look of the city and create an enduring legacy through each of these unique murals. As is written about in a book, the process was as much an art of diplomacy and consensus building as paint and perspective. It also helped to remove stigma around addiction and homelessness, victims of which were largely and actively involved in the mural program. Such a program which eventually has turned Philly into 'City of Murals' on the tourist map. All in all a fantastic program which a city has successfully used for betterment of its less privileged citizens, create a vibrant city, provide it a unique character different from other cities and eventually making it a tourist attraction that leads to filling up the kitty of the city municipality. A brilliant idea, well executed!

And now coming to Mumbai where I stay, work and very much try to breathe. If the beautiful and vibrant Mural culture is characteristic of Philly then I am sorry to say...the ugly and gross hoarding culture is characteristic of Mumbai cityscape. And more despairing is the fact that all these illegal hoardings are largely of political parties who are meant to ensure the city's civic sense intact, keep surroundings clean and not disregarded. But hello...what is civic sense? they ask. No one has heard about it here, so there they go plastering any available inch of city wall and even most peed-on corner with horrendous hoardings with even more ugly looking faces of themselves looking leeringly at the poor souls like you and me. Either these hoardings are meant to announce the arrival of some senior politician in town or Chamcha wishing his/her Guru for birthday or simply wishing the citizens a happy diwali, christmas, dassera or eid......as if we really care. Well...we really DON'T CARE a shit about your wishes, but we surely care about the city and its surroundings. Even if there has been a law that has been passed to not allow political parties to push their ugly menacing faces into ours but they still do that and get away with it. How I wish that if looks could really kill, then I would stare hard with my 'killer' looks at all these illegal hoardings and they would drop down like nine pins and perish into thin air. Alas! the hoardings don't perish nor the faces that adorn them. That's the sad but true story of Mumbai so far.

Coming back to Philly...I had heard about this unique and must see touristy place called the 'Liberty Bell' and the history around it. With Philadelphia being the first national capital between 1790 to 1800 when Washington DC was being built, it adds more history to its existence than any other city in USA (mostly).Also Philly considered as the birthplace of American revolution and independence, the Liberty Bell became even more must see sightseeing attraction to me on paper...but alas was disappointed to see a Bell that size and nothing really much to crow about. I have seen much better bells than these keeping the (recent)history surrounding it aside. 18th century is not really old considering Mumbai has much older history to it. But I was truly amazed by the hoopla and the marketing surrounding the same. The Americans surely know how to package their products and market them well. Lessons learnt, right.

Now compare this with our Elephanta Caves which are considered as old as 5th to 8th century AD with such fantastic rock cut Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, unfortunately not so well maintained as they are supposed to be and also the access to the island caves being much to ask for. The ferries are as rickety as your 95 year old granny's creaking cupboard....and only operational during non monsoon period. The pier that is the landing strip is again strewn with plastic junk of all kinds which is not really a welcome sight. Only recently some efforts are being made for any restoration and maintainence of Elephanta caves. We surely lag far behind in knowing the rich heritage that we have amongst us and we just cannot appreciate the invaluable beauty and history which resides so close and worse still maintain it. Only if we can take a hard look at each of the unique historical structures remaining in Mumbai or any other city in India, maintain it, bring it to life and also package and market it well. The amount of pride each citizen will have for his/her city will be immense. Not to mention that it will serve as revenue generation tool from inbound tourists.
We can write reams and reams on what our authorities can do and must do to save our city. How about starting in our own backyard. Quoting Gandhiji, 'Be the change you want to see in the world'.
Let me start my preaching here with social messages like these ....please do take them seriously.
Let's stop littering our city with the remnants of our consumption (choclate/wafers/other junk food) and instead dump it in your hand bag.
Stop chucking out stuff from the backseat of your car and instead carry it home and dump it in your garbage can.
Stop spitting...yes, I have the most red coloured spittoon coming from the back seat of the most latest Merc. Can you best that!
When on holidays in mountains/beaches lets stop littering it with mineral water bottles, plastic wrappers and instead take it back to hotel in case you don't see the dust bin anywhere.
If each one of shows patience and stops complaining about the unavailable resources we can surely start making a difference although small.

If we the 'supposed to be educated' souls first understand the importance of civic sense, then only it can spread like a movement. Lets begin it soon before its too late. Or else....I see Bombay (which means 'Good bay' in Portuguese)soon becoming Slum bay.
Did I hear a ...'We are already one' from somewhere. (that was my inner voice)
Gosh....really hope not!

Monsoon Song

2010-08-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

To be sung in the tune of 'Tuzya Nanachi Taang'

Its that time of the year, when the same ol' fear reappears
Its time for us to scream out & bellow
BMC chya Nanachi Taang!

The rains come down dear, as if in 4th gear
And then play havoc with roads, far and near
BMC chya Nanachi Taang!

Potholes, craters and bumpers leer
as if lusting for your tyre tears
makes you feel like a mortal mere
BMC chya Nanachi Taang!

Car rage, stress and repair bills
Becomes a part of the monsoon drill
Makes you holler even more
BMC chya Nanachi Taang!

We have had enough and more
Cant take this anymore
The roads, dust and the back sore
BMC chya Nanachi Taang!

Can we not all do something
to stop the rot and the done thing
make ourselves heard loud and clear
BMC chya Nanachi Taang!

So, when the time comes for next year
Dont let the same fear reappear
We can sing happily and once more
BMC chya Nanachi Taang!

Mumbai Darshan - Thoda Hatke

2010-07-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

When you receive an email from your boss requesting you to escort a senior colleague visiting India, for Mumbai Darshan ...one doesn't have a choice, right! So, when me and my colleague received the email from our boss, we had the typical expression of 'Oh no, please spare me from this' on our face. Not just because it will mean escorting someone you have not met before but also because you are totally not sure about what their interests are. But third and most challenging task being finding places worth visiting in Mumbai from a phirang's point of view.
But escort we had to....whether we liked it or not.

With 2 weeks in hand we had a relatively good amount of time to do our homework and figure out which places that could be deemed as worth visiting. Also, had enough time to drop her a email to know her interests and we found out that she was interested in Indian culture, its temples, monuments and history. Hmmmm.... this was getting difficult than expected. The choice set was getting narrower by the day.Having stayed in Mumbai for all my life suddenly I found myself in a tight spot. My colleague had the comfort of being an outsider (she is from Belgaum)with limited knowledge of the city so obviously she magnaminously bowed out of the situation and so the onus was on me to provide all the expert knowledge on the city. As always Google Maharaj came to my rescue and whipped out a handful of delightful places which matched our guest's 'requirements'. The Google list threw up around 25 places in Mumbai which were culturally and historically oriented. Felt a little a comforted and surprised at the same time.
Comforted by the array of choices available to me now and surprised with my ignorance... ignorance about my city's 'historical' side.
The tripadvisor website actually came up with 34 places related to our city's historical inclinations.
(Visit for more info - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g304554-Activities-c1- Mumbai_Bombay_Maharashtra.html#TtD)

After spending some more time going through the list I realised that out of the entire list may be only 5-6 places would be relevant and worth visiting considering the monsoons and time available with us.

The tourist's and my favourite Elephanta Caves was struck off the list almost immediately considering the rains and choppy seas, though it seemed the most obvious choice of interest for that day. Also some others could not make it to the list because of their far flung locations and time considerations.
After much head scratching the list was ready and which read as follows
Gateway of India
Price of Wales Museum (aka Chattrapati Shivaji Vastu Sangrahalaya)
Jehangir Art Gallery
Colaba Causeway
Lunch at Leopold (an attraction post 26/11)
Fab India (for Indian shopping)
Rajabai Tower
VT Station
Asiatic Library
Flora Fountain
Banganga
Malabar Hill
Mahalaxmi Temple
Worli Bandra Sea link

With my borrowed knowledge of Mumbai city from my fave book 'Fort Walks' I knew I could answer any question about the city. Also,my experience of Mumbai with Odati's Mumbai cycle ride last year had equipped me with enough exciting dope about city's history and interesting trivia.
(For more info visit http://www.odati.com/viewactivity.php?id=s-14)

The day finally arrived and luckily for us the sun had decided to push aside the grey clouds beyond the horizon and make his warm and sunny presence felt. Good for us, as Mumbai rains are best experienced from the cosy confines of your home.

We finally met Bour firang guest ....yes, ....at the pre decided time at the hotel she was staying. After a brief exchange of greetings and introductions it was absolutely clear to us then onwards that our day was going to be enjoyable and pleasant. Our apprehensions were laid to rest and we knew that our anxiousness of so many weeks was completely uncalled for. She is one of the most pleasant and warm person I have met till now. She has the personality which makes you feel comfortable and at ease. Absolutely no hang ups and attitude issues. May be her job profile has shaped her personality or may be she is naturally like that....I dont know. But all I can say is the day was well spent and passed like a breeze.
We had our share of laughs and interesting moments which were amusing moreso for her. We were at Jehangir Art Gallery, walking down the hall appreciating the unique art and displays. Suddenly a family with their little son and daughters swooped on Brantlee and requested her to pose for a photograph with their little son. It seemed a little awkward but flattering at the same time for Brantlee, we felt at that moment. She felt like a celebrity that we could tell from her brimming smile. After couple of pictures, this time the entire family wanted to pose with her. She readily obliged, again. And after lots of thank yous and byes we moved away from them. She could not get over the situation very easily and then I explained to her the fascination we Indians have for white skin. That explained her brief celebrity moment. I must she had a very keen eye and great observation. She asked a lot of questions about things which seemed new to her and I must say we were also stumped for answers couple of times.
When we told her about reincarnations of Gods in various avatars, she wanted to know about re-birth and whether we believed in it. If yes, then did we know who we were in our previous births. A typical question of a logical and agnostic mind which did not have exact answers. Another time she asked us the relevance of the lemon and chillies weaved together and hung below the cars bumper. Then she saw a woman with a monkey and she wanted to know if we kept them as pets as well. I think after seeing the array of the animals with cows included on the road, she wanted to hear a 'Yes' on that probably but was clearly dissappointed on hearing the answer. At Prince of Wales museum she was mesmerized by the innumerous gods we worshipped across India, moreso with Krishna and why he was called the Blue God and how he died. She obviously had great fascination for Buddha, spiritualism and whether India had good relations with Tibet. We were not surprised to know that she practiced Yoga. But she definitely was shocked when she came to know that none of us in the India team practiced Yoga. May be she thought Yoga was way of life for us Indians, but she was mistaken. Thats when I understood that as Indians we easily imbibe lot of unnecessary/unhealthy fads, habits from the West but the West however tends to borrow the best from what we have to offer.
She knew about the 26/11 terrorist attacks and wanted to know who was the main target for the attacks considering a lot of foreigners also got killed, especially the Jews. Being American, I think she was seeking some pointed answers.

Travelling in the car passing by rows of trees she was intrigued by the white and brown stripes uniformly painted on some trees and wanted to know why it was like that. She thought it had some religious significance. I must say she was studying the Mumbai city landscape very studiously and almost expected logical answers for every unique characteristic. I guess since it was her first time in India, she was hungrily devouring all the sights that the city had to offer not to mention the people and their clothes and wares.
And lastly on our last leg of the tour when we were going towards Banganga Temple she was approached by 2 young boys who thrust her with a piece of paper and asked her for her autograph. I guess by then Brantlee had got used to her fan following and 'celebrity' status so with great panache she signed off on the paper the boys had presented her and walked off with a bounce in her gait. What she didnt see was the disappointed expression on the faces of those kids as if they had expected something more. Well, expect more they did. As that the paper was not part of a autograph book but meant for donations collected towards some institution.

Thus with numerous such vivid experiences packed in our minds, the day came to an end quickly. A wonderful day which started with lot of apprehensions unwarranted but later made eventful and an absolute delight,thanks to our lovely guest Brantlee who we wish will come back again soon.

Conversation with GOD!

2010-07-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

An interesting piece I came across which I would like to share with all...

Conversation with GOD!

God: Hello. Did you call me?

Me: Called you? No.. who is this?

God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.

Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something..

God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.

Me: Don't know. But I cant find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

Me: I understand. But I still can’t figure it out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?

God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?

God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.

Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty..
God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life becomes better not bitter.

Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?

God: Yes. In every terms, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test
first and the lessons afterwards.

Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why cant we be free from problems?

God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to)Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading.

God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?

God: Success is a measure as decided by others.. Satisfaction is a
measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than
knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the
clock.

Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?

God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have
to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.

Me: What surprises you about people?

God: when they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me". Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.

Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I cant get the answer.

God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

Me: How can I get the best out of life?

God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.

God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I am so happy to start the New
Day with a new sense of inspiration.

God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts
and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to
resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."

A dedication to my Aai and Pappa!

2010-04-11T03:20:00.000-07:00

Today is a lazy day...one of those rare Sundays when I have finished cooking and cleaning cupboards (my agenda for the morning)and now have enough time to go and sink myself on my couch, put up my feet on the center table and log on to FB. Happy with the feedback I have received from Ashish (my hubby) on the day's cooking I can peacefully retire for couple of hours.
Well, after 10 minutes of updating myself on who's doing what and where on FB, I experience the luxury of feeling bored with doing nothing. I don't really like afternoon siestas on Sundays as I wake up with a very dreary feeling ...called Monday blues. Its as if...I have come closer to Monday even faster. So sleep being knocked off as an option to fight my growing ennui, I go back to google. One things is for sure that google whether you like it or not does good to update your knowledge about self and others around you consciously and subconsciously. As I am surfing through this vast ocean of knowledge I stumble upon a website called 'Parents quotes'. Whether its serendipity or sheer accident I dont know. Just like a needle in a hay stack, I discover a lovely quote for parents. I am still not a parent nor would be in near future seemingly but surprisingly it stays with me for a longer moment than it should..long enough to set me thinking. Before you lose patience I will first share the quote and then continue with my blog blaah.

"If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging."
-Diane Loomans

The above is obviously someone who is a parent who wishes she could rewind to the time when she first became a parent and do all things differently.

Well, as for me I feel blessed that I am a child (count my sister in) of those parents who don't have to sit in a time machine and go back to the time and change the way they brought us up. Its simply been a wonderful journey...Our childhood...with both mom and dad (aai and papa as we call them)bringing up two daughters exactly as Diane Loomans (author of the quote) would have loved to bring up her children the first time.
I am sure all my friends will also agree to being lucky for being brought up the way they have been by their loving and doting parents. But how many times in our daily lives do we actually acknowledge this fact and give back at least half of what they have given till date.
Well....this post is exactly that..A dedication to our parents.

I am what I am today...thanks to my parents and their wonderful upbringing. Life has been very tough for them like any normal middle class family but never ever did they make us (me and my sis) realize what difficult times they were going through. Unfortunately, there were more troughs than peaks in their life but they surmounted the same with equal poise and a quiet strength. Whether it was about fighting with the courts of law for the flat which they had invested with hard earned money...or fighting for the Gratuity sum which was rightfully my fathers. So when my Aai and Papa recount those old days about what really happened back then...me and my sister are completely overwhelmed as they never made us realize the trauma of the trying times.
Also, whether it was illnesses and days when we were going through economically trying times, we still had our festival celebrations and shopping like any other normal family. We went to all the beautiful cities across India every summer vacation and if not a new place it was surely Goa (native place)which we all loved.

If commuting in taxis was a luxury back then (25 years back) my dad would not hesitate to call for one in spite of the given situations. But all this while he used to work...work like a dog at office, come back home and take his wife and kids to the beach and park at Dadar for a stroll every weekend.

Besides that they groomed us into good human beings who do not grow at the cost of others or stepping on others toes. They taught us the importance of hard work, integrity, sacrifice and above all sincerity. Thanks to the wonderful feelings and thoughts inculcated in me by my parents, I am able to pay it forward in my day to day life with people I know and dont know sometimes. Isnt that the most beautiful process when you can lead your daily life with a wonderful conscience and a warm heart.

Now when they are old, (not as old as they would like to think because 60 is the new 40)and have grown up children all they look forward to is a conversation with their loved ones. They seem to be so happy when you call them and share your daily experiences that it completely makes their day. So I have suddenly realised as I am writing this post that the daily routine (which I consider) of calling them every evening on my way back from office to home is their much required dose of adrenalin. Incidentally my sister calls them in the morning so I guess each of our call gives them 12 hours dose of adrenalin. But jokes aside, they really look forward to our calls and when it doesn't come through on a day they are worried sick about us whereas we are blissfully ignorant about their feelings.
Also, there are times when they have to call us during our office hours but due to pressing demands at work we either let it go as a missed call or hurriedly cut short the conversation. For us it is just another call which can be answered later but to them it means the most sometimes. Well, another realisation being...nothing is more important than your dear ones. Especially when they are trying to reach you when you are busy, the least we can do is patiently hear what they have to say and take necessary action or politely tell them that u will call them back. They just want us to be kind to them after all they have been patient with us for so many years as we were growing. This is the least we can do for them.
A visit to their place brings such good cheer to them. You just have to see their beaming faces and it says it all. Even at their age they pamper you so much and don't allow you to lift a single thing. It says so much about them and less of me.

Today when I was talking to my Aai (my mother), she mentioned about a couple of neighbours from the building who are now moving away to another city for personal reasons. She sounded very sad and gloomy as if the entire building was heading for a place called loneliness. But I guess in this age, that's what they fear the most...loneliness and which is where we (sons and daughters) come in. What we can provide to say the least is Companionship, whether on phone through meaningful conversations or meeting them in person whenever possible.

If you are happy for being who you are and look back on your childhood the same way I do, I m sure you will agree with me wholeheartedly.

So if its been some time since you spoke to your folks, pick that phone and say hello and surprise them. You would surely make their day.

Stay in touch...with your parents always! :)

Keep the faith!

2010-03-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

Its 5 o clock on a Saturday morning and my eyes are already wide open. I can’t bear to see myself awake so early and hurting with pain on a weekend morning. From one side to another, tossing and turning, I am trying to make myself comfortable but as much as I try hard, the agonizing pain in my right shoulder seems relentless. Its not allowing me to sleep and I am wondering how someone who could wake up only with the sound of hundred trumpets and bugles is now up and awake even before the dawn sets in.
Devoid of sleep and tired of looking at the ceiling which has peeled off in the corner, I shift my gaze to the whirring fan on the ceiling. The sun’s gentle rays which are streaming in through the crack in the window are caressing the blades of the fan and are getting cut in a predictable manner with the motion of the fan. I am engrossed in this visual display for a brief time in which it allows me to escape from the unendurable pain of the moment. And lo, as if in flashback my thoughts take me back to the day almost 3 months ago.
It was a Sunday on 15th November and it was darker than it should be for a 5 am morning. It had rained the previous night which was quite unusual in the year for Mumbai. The sky was overcast from the night before with a few grey clouds still looming as if ominously. Today was the day when my parents were leaving for a 15 day holiday to Australia and I was only there since the previous night to help them do the last minute packing and to drop them off at the airport. It was unusual but I was a little anxious and nervous since the previous night and not just because of the unpredictable rain but as if something was going to happen, something not so good. I do surprise my self with my intuitive powers sometimes and when I look back now to that date of 15th November I was completely right about that anxious feeling.
I didn’t want my parent’s holiday to go kaput especially when they were looking forward to it since so many days. With all my heart, I wanted their holiday to go as planned and be an enjoyable one at that. But then this apprehensive feeling was completely overwhelming me. And then I knew exactly what I had to do. I had just mastered the basics of Reiki healing and it had taught me to use these prayers for healing of self or others or problem solving or for assuaging the fears of uncertain situations. And so I did. I fervently prayed using my Reiki mantras the previous night and went to bed. I prayed that my parent’s holiday be safe and enjoyable. The prayers helped me to reduce the uneasy feeling in my heart and I went to sleep with positive thoughts for company.
However what lay ahead does not surprise me especially when I look back. The flight was at nine in the morning on the day of November 15th and we had to reach the airport at least 2 hours early. So we had accordingly hired a private cab to pick us up at 6.30 am with the airport just half hour drive from my parent’s home. We were running 15 minutes late already and as expected my dad was seething with anger and excited at the same time but rightly so. The women had taken a little longer to get dressed than required. Stepping in the cab his temper continued. After a small argument with me and my mom he agreed to wear his seat belt. The driver was driving slowly as the roads had become slippery from the unseasonable rains and also the fact that the first rains are typically ominous for cars. We were cruising at 60 km per hour and were almost half way through the drive and when the car ahead of us came to a screeching halt out of the blue. Our cab driver luckily managed to stop the car within a hair’s breadth distance. But our sigh of relief was unfortunately short lived and within split seconds we all were violently shaken out of our seats and left shocked from a mighty blow from behind. A giant SUV was unfortunately trailing our cab at a faster speed and as luck would have it the driver could not get the giant machine to come to a grinding stop without banging into our cab from behind. After recovering from this shock the first thought that came to my mind was to check whether my parents were unhurt. Both were reeling under the shock but visibly unhurt. I was relieved to see my mom was not showing any visible signs of impact but was left with a bump on her forehead. My dad thanks to the seat belt was also fine and was now worried about reaching the airport on time rather than the accident and rightfully so. He saw the warring men outside pointing fingers at each other for the mayhem, so he stepped out of the car and did his best to calm the drivers. However when I look back, I wish I could have taken the SUV’s number down so I could sue him for the damage done to my right shoulder. Yes, in all this I had fractured my right shoulder and for the last 3 months have been nursing this slowly healing injury. It didn’t seem that fatal at that time and in fact I didn’t realize the pain till I dropped off my parents at the airport. Once home I suddenly started noticing the excruciating pain emanating from my right arm. So immediately was advised to go to orthopedic to rule out any internal injuries. So with my hubby in tow, I went to the doctor to realize it was a fracture of the right shoulder. This incident has completely changed my life and has forced me to become ambidextrous amongst many things. I have got the best support from my dear hubby and near and dear ones but most importantly made me realize that health is wealth and each of our organs if not in best shape can throw your life out of gear completely. We should be happy with what we have and make the most of what has GOD has given us. The only positive and most important aspect I could take away from this incident was that my parents escaped unhurt and could go on their holiday as planned. Was it because of the Reiki mantras I prayed that fateful night that my parents could enjoy their holidays, I don’t know, may be yes, may be no. But I surely would like to believe so and it as strongly reaffirmed my faith in this alternate healing process. After all faith does move mountains. But for now as I try to move my right hand it surely feels like a big mountain. May be not now but I know I will be able to move it like 3 months back very soon. Keep the faith!

face bhook!

2010-01-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up to a news article in The Times of India on my favourite social networking site
(nowadays) take a guess which one!.....yeah you are right, Facebook. It says that India Inc. is facing a productivity loss of 12.5% per day thanks to the social networking sites. If translated into number of hours it means on an average, an employee works only for 7 hours out of the 8 hours at work. Rest of the time is spent on social networking sites. Chk the link for the article -http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Social-networking-plagues-India-Inc/articleshow/5429382.cms ms
Ofcourse there are those unlucky few (but thankfully not part of statistics) like me where the employers have banned/blocked usage of such sites in office. Did these statistics shock me...or anyone else for that matter. I doubt it very much. Isnt it that what everyone is addicted to for the last so many months. In fact if you are not yet part of the Face Book bandwagon you could be considered a social outcast and a not 'with it' person. Either you are sent a friend invite to join FB or you just join it to check what everyone's talking so passionately about. It would be difficult to meet one of your friends who is not yet been bitten by this worm. They say nowadays the social profile of a person is recognised as ' Either you are a Face Booker' or not. Its like either you have or you dont.
Well, one person will disagree and thats ur truly's husband, because he has not only NOT created a profile yet on FB but I doubt he will be doing so in near future, especially seeing me affected by this new addiction surely he thinks he can do without it. Also that when I am on FB, its as if he is not there...well, thats what he says. Since FB has become one of my top 10 activities in the day, it is almost one of the top 10 reasons why we fight. And I am sure he is waiting for the day when he can say,'I told you so....' and win the battle for him. I would not only like to prove him wrong but also get him 'FaceBooked'
So you FB is creating tremors not only at office but also at home. And taking a cue of this social phenomenon, rightly so in its usual 'Amul' brand of humour we saw this FB hoarding towering over us from various city buildings. When 'Amul's' ad propogates any brand, its a clear measure of its cult status and establishes its popularity.

And as my blog post title reads, I can safely say that we have indeed been possessed by this all 'consuming' brand so much so that we 'Eat FB, Live FB and sleep FB'.
And I am sure the increasing numbers of FB users which at last count was 350 million users worldwide will all agree with the above statement.
Whats more?
That I could meet my school friends after 20 years....was one of the biggest event of my life of 2009. 125 batch mates who would have never have dreamt of meeting up on one common ground after two decades and reliving the grand ol' memories of quarter century back. It was truly pure, magical, ethereal and almost unbelievable feeling when we had the Reunion bees saal baad . A special evening, moments of which I have been reliving almost every minute since that day. And all this thanks to FB.
Yes, truly its helped me and millions others across the world reconnect with long lost friends from school, colleges, office and how! Its just not a social networking site but a brand which everyone wakes up to and goes to sleep with. Can their be any other brand as popular and addictive as this...i guess may be Colgate toothpaste comes closest (just joking) but there again...one is by habit and the other is pleasure. You dont get excited looking at your toothbrush in themorning/night as much as you do by checking ur FB profile with the latest updates from your pals.
Also, there was another article which I happened to read today which does not directly relate to FB but it has the potential to be. It says the power of how a tighly knit group of enlightened people can bring about a positive change not just at a micro level but at a national level by having a common agenda. And I think FB has the power for that to happen. If all on FB from India believe that we need a stronger governance, no corruption, no land grabbing by builders, timely and appropriate justice delivered by the judiciary, no illegal encroachments,proper planning of projects, open grounds, no cutting trees and importance of education/infrastructure in eradicating poverty then our time has come to use FB in the right direction and make it a lethal tool to wipe out the thugs who are ruling the country in the name of politicians.
Why dont we use FB to pursue common goals such as these. As the cliche goes, its an idea whose time has come!

Read below article for the context -
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzAxLzEwI0FyMDI0MDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
So you see its not just a social networking site to meet your old pals and get together for reunions but it could be used as a tool for Unions of a different kind, Unions of Intellectuals who crave for doing something constructive for their nation and community. As I am sure that there are hundreds and thousands of Indians who have always wanted to do something for the city and country but did not know what to do and where to go.
Thinking aloud....May be a National newspaper can tie up with Facebook and create a community online for such Indians which could be BIG force to reckon with. And why not, there are already many groups formed based on social issues but we need a consolidated group which will cover all the problems which we as Indians face day in and day out and members can then nominate themselves for sub groups within this group for issues which are close to their heart. And icing on the cake would be to have a social (genuine)celebrity to campaign for this National cause.
To conclude, all I can say is that Facebook has the power to become a 'socially' relevant brand!

A Reunion after 20 years! - A small tribute

2009-12-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

As I am writing this post, the one song that keeps humming in my head and playing on my lips constantly is 'Summer of 69', the feelings are exactly the same. And undoubtedly what I am going to write is about 'The Best days of my (our)Life' with emotions running high just like Bryan Adams must have, when penning the cult song of our generation.

Its been exactly 6 days since I have met them, my ol' friends but the sweet taste of the hangover is still there and will savour it forever!

It was a reunion after 20 years for IES batch 89 and what a memorable evening it was. It still gives me goosebumps and my mind goes in overdrive as if its fed on endorphins, when I think about that special evening.

Days before Reunion

I had been eagerly waiting for the D-day to arrive almost akin to a kid's excitement waiting to unwrap his birthday gifts. Well, it couldnt have been any other way, as I was to meet my long lost friends after 20 years (phew!)and catch up with them on all those wonderful 12 years that had been spent at our dear school IES, Hindu Colony....in classrooms, in its corridors, labs, on the school ground, recesses, picnics, canteens, PTA's,school programs and the list is endless.

IES our school... an epitome of a school factory. A factory because it used to be (still does)always teeming with us...school kids. Whether in classroom, school buses, at school gates or just about everywhere...and it was like a real melting pot, a reflection of our city Mumbai, in a sense. We were from all cross sections of life, truly all kinds there... and importantly we loved it for its bigness and diversity....which had in its fold so many children who eventually were to become friends for life.

Such strong is our feeling and attachment for the school that one cannot leave without feeling fervently or impassioned for it. We love it, adore it, complain about it, we are passionate about it also sometimes (yeah, sometimes) talk disparagingly about it but at the end of it we are happy we are part of it and are truly proud of it!

So it was but obvious that the days spent before the grand day were spent in pure anticipation as to what will unfold on the D day. I was actually running in my head the sequence of events which were to take place .. A huge eagerness with a little nervousness and lot of excitement. Will they or wont they recognise me (classmates)...do I look old/young for my age.....have I put on weight...have I done well enough for myself in the last 20 years and what if my friends have done better (or worse). It was like all of a sudden, I was going through a self assessment at the 20 year milestone. But I am sure I was not alone.

But what the hell...there was even more stronger thought that plagued my mind...I was meeting my bunch after 2 whole decades and I was all gung ho for a Deja vu... memories 20 years old which I wanted to revive so badly...that I wanted to walk down that lane all over again...again and again!

I was to meet about hundred batch mates...some close friends...some few friends who I had lost touch, some I knew barely and still some I may not have spoken in school at all. But the common link being we were all a bunch of 35 years old who had for the last 20 years been strewn all over the city, country or world and were to meet again and renew the memories which we had saved in that special place (heart) and could only be revived by us...the batch of 89 by being there all together!

D-Day arrives

Date - 19th December 2009

Place - Worli Police Swimming Pool

Time - 6 pm

Setting - Reunion of IES 1989 batch after 20 years

Firstly, as I stepped on that turf and just being there made me feel 20 years younger almost instantly...it was like I had sat in a time machine and flown back to a place in time which I can describe as 'shiny and happy'..it was 80's remember.

It was the time of homeworks (not done), sitting on the last bench (and chatting during class), black shoes/white socks (uff!), red hairbands(never worn), crushes (and thereafter, feeling crushed), PT exercises (and the art of slacking off), short recess (biscuits) and long recess (chapati/bhaaji), the art of sharing dabba with your gang, being in classroom (but not really being there), being an outstanding student (for truly standing outside class), ranks and report cards (such a pain ) and many such wicked memories.

Coming back to the reunion...I was happy to meet all and mind you all...whether I had known them in school or didnt. It didnt matter. The whole atmosphere was so magical and pure that its difficult to describe in words.

It started with...'oh you havent changed a bit'...or 'you look just the same' and for the others who we knew by face, ' I know u, but cant remember your name'...and sometimes it was...'Oh my god,Is that really you...' . 'where have u been's and 'what are you upto's. The ice breaking continued a good amount of time till we had gone out and met every single (almost) school mate.

Some had changed fairly and most of us squarely (pun of course intended) but we still remembered the face as it was. Somehow it surprised me that I could still rememb most of my 60-70 odd classmates and more names by heart but now if you ask me names of my past office colleagues...well, I could do a lot good with a 8 GB memory drive for my brain. I guess the computers and cell phones have spoilt us rotten.

And to top it all, the event was made even more precious by the presence of a few teachers who we revered and adored (still do). Seeing them again opened the floodgates of memories of a different kind...it was indeed special moment for us to have them in our midst and we will appreciate that truly. Thank you, mams!

The party continued with gusto for 6 hours thriving on great conversation, good food, lively music, flowing booze and more importantly company of some amazing friends. The air was absolutely thick with choked emotions, familiar laughs and old sentiments of long lost friends. The evening just flew by ...and how....we wished it would never end. The buzz, the excitement, energy, nostalgia and vibes of friends thrown together again has renewed my vigour and made me feel young(er) all over again. Those 6 hours of that special evening truly encapsulated (almost)the fantastic 12 years of my school years, beautifully. And but naturally we have decided to meet again....cos' its obvious we dont want to lose this momentum again....we cant wait for another milestone (20 years) to bring this evening into our life again. In a small way or big way...lets decide that this evening shall not pass as just another special day in our life never to come back again. Lets aim for many more to come.

To all my dear friends who could not make it on this evening and for those who were not aware...we dearly missed your presence and hence we would like to do this again to make it even bigger and cherishable as the evening of 19th Dec 2009. Lets set the ball rolling!

Last but not least, for those who made it happen...Hats off to you all!....Jaydeep Palep, Anand Mhapralkar, Abhijeet Avarsekar, Mangesh Choubal, Vasudev Rane, Geetanjali Subhedar, Shilpa Tawte and I am sure I must have missed a few more names....Please forgive my ignorance. Guys, you made it happen!

Lastly all I would like to say to my dear school, teachers and schoolmates...a song which is a dedication to all those who shaped me into becoming what I am today.

You are the wind beneath my wings!!

Life is a slinging match!

2009-11-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

Imagine a right handed person suddenly has to stop using his/her right hand for doing the daily chores and make do with just a left hand....how must it feel....restricted, cramped, uncomfortable, slow, handicapped. Yes! All these and more feelings...well thats how i exactly feel right now....because thats my situation-literally & figuratively for the last few days. Which i must add that few days already seems like a zillion years.
And above all that you can add a dash of pain and slice of extra discomfort to make it a complete story of my life in a SLING!
Yes...its a fracture! confirmed the doc looking at the x ray and then at me woefully....fracture of my right hand, i said to myself and then I realised that its not just my bone which had broken (thankfully in one place only)but also my confidence in a surreal way. I now understand the importance of the 'feeling of independance' in literal sense because life has become a real slinging match, with me fighting for every single inch of flexibility every single moment and my broken bone denying it by gnawing at my inner muscles tearingly.

We in our daily grind of life take so many things for granted that we fail to appreciate what we already have and then BOOM! It hits you from behind so suddenly and severely... just like the car that banged into our car, that you are forced to look at the rear view mirror of life to assess what happened.

Well, this fracture has brought into being whole lot of factors which I never knew existed or even if existed never surfaced before.
-For starters, life can change in seconds...and i m not promoting DOCOMO here
-I got to see Ashish's (my hubby of course) sensitive and caring side. I had no iota of doubt in my mind about his capabilities as being loving and attentive but this incident gave him a chance to display that in full glory.
-I realised with this forced break, how much I mean to my friends, relatives & colleagues...with their concerned phone calls
-Also, how much ever you think you are important at the place of work....life goes on...sadly!
-Importance of a good night's rest as the broken bone has somehow got the knack of giving me broken sleep every single night.
- To look at positive side inspite of the situation as it helps you to deal with the situation easily
- Last but not least, the importance of being ambi-dextrous. Isnt that obvious given the condition this thought should be foremost in my mind!

So on this note, I hope to recover soon from my discomfort and at the same time gain more insights to help me sail through life's ups and downs more bravely.
Cheers!

Weight Challenge or Wait Challenge

2009-09-15T04:13:00.001-07:00

I am so full of shame when I write this post about the much blogged about weight challenge which me and my dear friends Anu and Shilpa took up in June. Not only did I falter within few weeks because a holiday popped up but after I came back in 10 days I completely forgot about it conveniently. Likewise my friends who I am sure have also given up. Moreso Anu, as she is enjoying a holiday for the last month and a half - so you can safely count her out. Because I cant imagine her on a diet in the most consumerist countries of the world- USA/Canada....where all the food portions are meant for people who are neither vertically or horizontally challenged. Moreover you can get the most variety and yummiest of peanut butter and also potato chips and also ice creams...yummm....the list goes on. And as regards Shilpa I dont want to call her up lest she says...which weight challenge? As there is a strong likelihood that she also must have got a amnesia attack like me did and prefers to forget that 'it' ever happened. So here I am, after more than 3 months (it was to be a 3 month weight challenge) that I am writing a post mortem of the challenge which never was...hence Wait Challenge....looks it will have to wait some more time till I become more determined and focussed about following it.
But I am not alone, I take comfort in the fact that there are many and more out there who have had this attack of taking up the weight loss challenge and have not seen it till its end, faltering mid way or losing interest. Well, thats what statistics say! I wish the activity of thinking about losing weight itself could translate into actual weight loss. Isn't what they say, Its the thought that counts. So it should be here as well!
Anyway, jokes apart. This is serious!
A small piece of good news though is....since June when I was around 62.4 ks I have become 60 kgs in 3 months...dont ask me how.
May be the new weighing machine is being nice to me or my vision is blurring and I am 'seeing' things or may be my walking up to 5th floor office has really helped (btw I didnt stop walking up during this period). If I assume the last part is true, but that alone cant help me lose weight.
So I am still wondering...how did this happen.

Since I cant expect another miracle for sure, here I am back again looking forward to brighter tomorrow with a fighting spirit in tow. Raring to go after the next 3 kgs like a cheetah after a equally faster deer...because thats how tough its going to be.
All detemined so that I achieve my objective of 57 kgs....at least in 6 months if not in 3 months.
Amen!

Few of my favourite things

2009-09-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favourite things...

- Waking up to the smell of just rained wet soil and then realising there is still one more hour for wake up time and getting back in bed with the cozy blankets for company

- Eating the delicious and warm, hand prepared meal by my Aai which makes me even more hungrier with its delectable aroma

- When my dear hubby runs his hand through my hair and kisses me on my forehead

-Watching my favourite films on tv with a hot batata vadas and poha all cuddled up on sofa while its rainin outside

- Going shopping for me and my family and returning with bargains which they all love.

- Surfing on ikea.com and also doing up the house

- Making a lovely meal for my hubby on sunday morning and he relishing it by devouring it and then showing his appreciation by giving his warm smile which says it all

- Being with my aai, papa, hubby, sis, niece and catching up on all the antics of my niece and listening to her non stop affable jabber

- Going to Goa, Mangeshi temple which brings back all fantastic childhood memories

- Meeting cousins/friends and chatting up with them nineteen to the dozen and catching up on all the news and gossip.

- Reading up on inspiring stories, fiction -mystery, thriler, romance and humourous and mgmt books

- Writing.. ..i wish someday i get to write for some popular magazines /publications

- Travelling to unheard of places india/ abroad....treks, cycling, walks, back packing...

- Watching Movies... with a good message whether animation, serious, thriller, romantic, romcom, tear jerker etc

- Sleeping till late on Sat/Sun

- Driving on roads with no traffic

- contribute towards society esp. for causes related to environment and education

- And other things such as green mountains, beaches in winters, light drizzle, walking barefeet on dewy grass

- Walking alone in the greens and listening to the natures sounds

- Listening to lilting old melodies when tired to soothe frayed nerves

Points to ponder!

2009-09-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Some Things I have learnt....
- Sometimes being by yourself helps introspection...and also take a long hard look at yourself.
- Be kind to yourself...its better late than never.
- Slow and steady wins the race...i learnt in school but understood only as an adult
- Life is 50% hard work and 50% destiny. Hard work is in your hands...if you realise that half the battle is won. Thats why its said..harder you work...luckier you get
- Positive thinking...2 most powerful words that can change your life and perspective.
- If you want something really badly and you have worked towards it...you get it when you least expect it.
- Its not enough to get recognised with just hard work...you need to write your own ad as well.
- In the race of life..some reach their milestones early some get there late. But whats more important is how you reached there and whether you enjoyed the journey.
- In this age of excess...its even more important to strike a balance.
- Be good...believe me you look good as well.
- Learn to give more than you receive (whole heartedly). Believe me, you get more than you give!
- Dont be judgemental...you never know when u may have to pass the same path
- Just like 'Things to do' list we make in office, its important for a personal 'Things to do' list.
- Health is wealth, another one I learnt in school but understood only as an adult
- Every crisis should be looked as GOD's way of testing us, the positive side is - It makes us wiser.

Ganpati -King of good times!

2009-08-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Its not unusual to write about Lord Ganesh or Ganpati with the season so thick in the air. Its so hard to get him out of the head. And hence a special blog for one and only Vakratunda, Ekdunta, Lambodara,Bhalchandra, Vinayaka, Ganjanan....

What is it that everybody whether young and old, rich and poor, irrespective of any religion fondly pray, love and adore this GOD. Ofcourse, we know he is Vighna harta (remover of obstacles) and Lord of Beginnings, so praying to him is something which we cant do without in this age of stress and life changing times.

But more than that why is it that Ganpati holds such unparalled love and fondness that it goes beyond the typical reverance associated with any other idol worship. He is looked upon as a good friend, guide and confidante.

I have my thru my personal experience in my last so many years of adult life realised what it is to have someone like HIM in your life. And believe me, its not just when u r in low spirits and or facing a crisis. It could be just a normal day and a little prayer to HIM every day in the morning and before gong to bed, puts me completely at ease and feel at home.

He is omni present, he knows and most of all he loves back. He is forgiving, non judgemental and solves all your problems.
Undoubtedly he is brought home with much pomp and gaiety and with a heavy heart is bid farewell. And so with the same heavy heart I write this blog as today was the day when we had to say Ganpati Bappa Morya...Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar ya.
We look forward to the year 2010 when we get him home again to bring good cheer and good times which till then continue to be in our heart with his thoughts.

Bombay Meri Jaan - A 'historical' cycle ride (Courtesy Odati)

2009-06-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

The name of the post is not a misnomer, its true and I mean it. I agree the city has gone to the dogs and beyond but thats now with intense urbanisation. If you read further you will realise that there is rich and interesting history behind our very own murky, slummy, concretised, flooded and crowded Bombay which it has now become. I keep asking why, why dont we Mumbaiites hold on to the few traces of heritage and greens which have become rarer than the white tiger.Why dont we all who care for this city either join an existing force which aims to save this city or create a new force to stop it from crumbling. The politicians here have used and abused this city like whore, milking money from any project that needs/does not need to be there. The hard working, salary earning huge middle class watches like a mute spectator and carries on his daily grind since he/she has got mouths to feed at home. First the delayed projects then the green cover which is vanishing into thin air and now they want to increase the dateline to 2000 for the slums for rehabilitation...all this for vote bank. No wonder then that 60% of Mumbai's population lives in the slums. It wont be far when all the intelligent, hard working, sincere and talented pool will leave this city for lack of quality of life..and not justfor another city in India but of out of India. Not that it has'nt happened already. Since the Government, whichever party it belongs to, does not believe in creating employment opportunities in multiple cities across India. So obviously everyone will jump on the bandwagon to come to Mumbai, Delhi, Blore or Hyderabad. Such a large country and only handful of cities for employment. Absolutely unfair and unjust distribution. Given the scenario there will always be pressure on water, electricity, land resource shortages in these cities because every city has its limit of taking within its folds a threshold population. And if that is violated there is disturbance and then chaos.

However I will come to the common man's problems later on.

But for now I would like to give some reason to feel proud for all those who have stayed in Mumbai for long as to consider its 'their own city'. It has such interesting facets to it which are not known to many which I would like to bring out in this post.

I would like to make this post in the form of a Did You Know Trivia about Mumbai which I feel will unveil its history in a dramatic manner.

1. What is Mumbai's original name?

Puri.

Apparently in old days, GharaPuri Caves which is known now as Elephanta Caves was very popular in those days and since Mumbai was closest land mass, it became a reference point for the same and hence named Puri.

2. Why is South Mumbai called as Fort?

You wont believe it but there was a Fort wall which actually ran from Lions Gate to Crawford Market with a gate in between called Church Gate. The Church Gate was situated where the Flora Fountain is currently. The wall was built by Portuguese to guard/protect them against any invasions from the Arabian sea. Also the Portuguese had a clear view from these fort walls on to the sea since the 3 popular maidans were on the outside of these walls. And guess which maidans were these...yes you are right. They were the Azad, Oval and Cross Maidans.

3. Where does Church Gate get its name?

There is a St. Thomas Cathedral which is still located close to Horniman Circle and since the Gate was located closer to it, it got its name from this very Church. You can still have a look at the actual gate picture which is being framed and kept inside the St. Thomas Cathedral as soon as you enter it. Do see it if you get a chance. And thus the station gets its name from this 'Churchgate'

4. Where does the BSE has its beginnings?

The Bombay Stock Exchange started its roots within Horniman Circle under a tree.

5. How did the Britishers get the islands of Bombay?

The islands were given to the English King Charles II in dowry on his marriage to Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza in 1662.

6. What does Bombay stand for?

Bom Baia means Good Bay in Portuguese, later the English anglesized it to Bombay

7. Which was the famous hotel where Jamshedji Tata was refused entry as 'Indians and Dogs were not allowed'

Its the Watson Hotel located at the corner opp. Kala Ghoda. And ironically its the oldest and most dangerous building in the city today. The entire building was in those days one of the rare buildings which was imported from UK and planted here as acast iron structure.
Its rumoured that from the terrace of this buildng one could see Matheran, which is believable considering there was no pollution and also no structures beyond it. The fact that there is a Bombay Point in Matheran also proves that if one can see Bombay from Matheran then vice versa could be a strong likelihood.
And thanks to this Watson Hotel where Jamshetji Tata was refused entry today we have the world famous Taj Mahal Hotel at Gateway of India, which was built to spite the Britishers.

8. The Gateway of India was rumoured to be built to welcome King George V & Queen Mary in 1921 for his grand arrival into the country but the Gateway could not be built in time and was completed only in 1924. Again ironically it was Gateway of India where the Britishers left the country in 1948 after India's independance.

9. Whats the story behind Rajabai Towers?

The Rajabai tower was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, an English architect. It was modelled on Big Ben, the clock tower of the UK houses of Parliament in London.

The foundation stone was laid on March 1, 1869 and construction was completed in November 1878. The total cost of construction came to Rs. 2 lakhs (Rs. 200,000), a princely sum in those days. This entire cost was defrayed by Premchand Roychand, a prosperous broker who founded the Bombay Stock Exchange on the condition that the tower be named after his mother Rajabai.

Premchand Roychand's mother was blind and as a staunch follower of Jain religion she was supposed to consume her dinner before evening. The evening bell of the tower helped her to know the time without anyone's help.

10. VT Station

Its the only UNESCO World Heritage Site which has utlity even now.
The building was inspired by a set of drawings for Berlin Parliament buildings (never built), St. Pancras Station and Victoria Terminus London.
Fredrick William Stevens, a very reputed architect designed and constructed the building based on a water colour masterpiece sketched by draughts-man Axel Herman. The construction of the building commenced in the month of May 1878, and was completed by the month of May 1888.

While still under construction, the terminus was opened to public on Jan 1, 1882.
During the Golden Jubilee of the Queen in year 1887, the terminus was named as Victoria Terminus.

In 1850, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway built its railway terminus in this area and named it Bori Bunder, because the area near the terminus was locally referred to as ‘Bori Bunder’ or a place where bories (sacks) are stocked. On November 18, 1852, a locomotive hauled some coaches on a trial run from Bori Bunder to Thana. On April 16th, 1853, an inaugural train with 14 railway carriages and 400 guests left Bombay's Bori Bunder Station at 15:45, for Thane, with a 21-gun salute.

11. Asiatic Library

The Asiatic Society of Mumbai was founded by Sir James Mackintosh, a distinguished lawyer, jurist and public figure in England who became the Recorder or the King's Judge for Bombay. Known then as the Literary Society of
Bombay, it met for the first time on Nov 26, 1804 and aimed at promoting useful knowledge, particularly such as its now immediately connected with India.The Town Hall which houses the Asiatic Society of Mumbai is heritage building, located deep in the city's historic
Fort area, shaped by colonial geography, architecture and sculpture. Built on the Bombay Green, it has an axial orientation and west facing view. As one stands on the top step of the main entrance stairway, the magnificent city vista spread out in front offers, if one looks carefully enough, a slice of history. It is rumoured one could actually see the sea from the topmost step of the Asiatic Library. The circular Elphinstone Garden ( now Horniman Cirlce) in front, St. Thomas Cathedral and Flora Fountain ( now Hutatma Chowk) beyond, Mumbai Samachar
building, the area's oldest Agiary and other beautiful residential and office buildings make a walk in the neighbourhood an experience full of interwoven textures of past and present. The dramatic flight of 30 steps up the Town Hall, the pedimented portico with its eight Doric columns, the wrought iron divided Regency banister leading up to the vestibule, the easy chairs in the Periodicals Room with the matching footstools that facilitate browsing and the majestic
Durbar Hall all combine to create and impression of the Society as organically connected through colonial history to its immediate environs, while yet remaining its crest jewel.

Weight Challenge Week - Week 3

2009-06-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

Its been 3 weeks since I (we actually) started the weight challenge and 9 weeks to go. And i am wee bit lighter. I have been consciously trying to eat right food and also having light dinner with more salads included. The only thing I need to put in order is my exercise regime. The swimming sessions seem to be getting affected with the onset of rains and also the atmosphere not permitting me to get out of bed....its so, not a weather for swimming...u would rather go some place out of town and enjoy warm cup of coffee sitting in a open balcony overlooking a picturesque setting with ofcourse with your special next to you. But ofcourse i am digressing here...i guess the side effects of fresh rains has taken a toll on me.
Coming back to where I started, I am confident now that if I resume my swimming or brisk walking sessions will definitely have desired effect combined with my healthy diet.
The goal of losing 6 kgs does not seem unlikely as I thought earlier but may be possible in 4 months instead of 3 months due to a delayed serious start.
The weight check will happen tomorrow morning...watch this space. I hope I have lost some weight. Fingers crossed!

3 Month Weight Challenge- Continued

2009-06-13T03:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the first week completion of my weight challenge which started on June 5.
Bad news first......as per feedback received from both my friends Anu and Shilpa, they have cheated on their diets...including yours truly. We could not control our respective nerves to resist the temptation of sweets that were dangled before us. And all of 3 of us gave in to the sweet temptation and committed the forgiving sin. Forgiving because we have the right to forgive ourselves in such moments of weakness.

But the good news is all 3 of us are still raring to go and have decided to let bygones be bygones and treat it like a warm up week where we were allowed to cheat and eat, which was forgiven if confessed. And all 3 readily confessed to each other, which means we go scotfree and can now look forward to the next 3 months witha fresh perspective.
On a personal note..I am confessing here that last week was not just the first week of my so called 3 month weight challenge but also the most excruciating. Because when I had that basundi and the ragda pattice not only did i cheat eat but I bunked my swimming sessions for 4 days of the week. I so totally failed the warm up round....that it felt like a cold shoulder given to weight challenge right at its infancy stage.
So here I am raring to go in my second week...where I am planning not to miss my single swiiming session, walk up the 5 floors to my office and also change my (and hubby's) dinner diets.
We realised we end up having dinner at 10 which is not good considering its beeen written somewhere that there should be atleast a gap of 3 hours before one hits the bed. Well, we dont hitting the bed at 1 pm nor can we have dinner at 8, so we are planning to alter the dinner itself.
It will be sprouts in the misal style and fruits (apples/oranges or seasonal fruit) and if still hungry then a glass of milk withut any additions. No chapatis and no rice. I am hoping this will work and looking forward to losing 1 kg every week with this diet.

Also, both of us have to take care of our Triglyceride levels which have gone thru the roof. Will come back and keep posted on whether there was indeed a weight loss observed.
My weight today was 62.4 kgs. I am hoping to touch 61.4 kgs by next saturday and so with my hubby who is 90 kgs today.

Watch this space. :-)

The 3 months Weight Loss Challenge

2009-06-05T02:46:00.000-07:00

Today the date is 5th June and the first day of our diet. Yes, you read it right - Our diet.
Why? Because me and 2 of my friends Anu and Shilpa, we all three are going on a healthy diet combined with regular exercise to help reduce our respective weight.

Shilpa - Current weight 63 kgs and in 3 months wants to be 57 kgs - To lose 6 kgs
Anu - Wants to lose 7 kgs in 3 months
Myself - Current weight 62 kgs and wants to be 55 kgs - To lose 7 kgs in 3 months
We are not looking at joining any Talwalkar's, VLCC's or Kaya's of the world but tweaking our current diet by just eating what is right, nutritious and less oily/sweet. And ofcourse in moderation.
And our mantra henceforth will be
"Fitness is a journey not a destination, it should be continued throughout your life"
We will be analysing our weights every week/fortnight to check where we have reached in our endeavour and since we 3 have more or less the same kgs to lose it will be a good way to compare notes and also prove to be a interesting game where we can compete with each other. At the end of which we all will benefit.

We are hoping it works.
As for me, I am planning to eat less for dinner and eat only sprouts (make it interesting like harbara chana bhel)and fruits.
And either swimming or brisk walks and surya namaskar to supplement the healthy diet.
Keeping fingers crossed since I have this huge sweet tooth and have a habit of straying from such routines very easily. I am one of those who can resist anything but temptation. ;-)
So there you are...
I will be writing on the status as much as I can so its easy to follow on the path.
Keep watching this space for more ...

Things I want to do before 40

2009-04-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

I really dont want to call it my BUCKET LIST, because I intend to live longer than 40 but I was thinking to myself about the various exciting and interesting activities which I would like to do before I reach the 40 mark - an important milestone in my life.

This turns out to be my 5 year plan which I wish to implement and follow to T. Its been said by wise people that if you think positive, the thoughts then become words which are positive and then actually materialise into good/positive deeds. So this process is where the thoughts will become words (written) and in the next 5 years I hope to put them in action obviously positive... but in no particular order.

1. Donate my eyes - Register asap at Eye Bank Association of India
2. Organ Donation - Not yet found out an association for the same to contact
3. a)Maintain weight between 50 and 54 Kgs - current weight 60 kgs. Tough but achievable with sheer determination and mostly resistance to sweets.
3. b) Also make my hubby lose weight from current 90 kgs to at least 80 kgs. Basically both of us will strive to become healthier.
4. Swimming or Walks every day...Must do to achieve point 3
5. Go for a self drive holiday to New Zealand and visit my dream city Queensland - Adventure capital of the world and do bungee jumping and sky diving
6. Learn a new language
7. A trek to Ladakh
8. River rafting at Rishikesh
9. Become a confident car driver ...very essential for point 5 (self drive..you see)
10. Become a proud mother of a bonny and cute baby
11. Send my parents on a wonderful holiday and get more closer to my sister
12. Become an entreprenuer withe like minded friends in a field which is close to my heart and also fruitful to society at large for eg. Handicrafts or related to Environment
13. Continue to be a sincere and hard worker (add smart) at office and bring new and constructive ideas every day
14. Update my blog more regularly
15. Be in touch with long lost friends and renew old friendships
16.Make my home more environment conscious. for eg. convert all bulbs to CFL, have more plants and nurture them and become more careful with water usage.
17 Do a lot of recycling with clothes so that old seems new in the different combination
18. Read an enlightening book every month
19. Make a 5 year investment plan so that it becomes Rs. 25 lacs at the end of 5 years, which means invest Rs. 20k every month from the current Rs. 10K.
20. Buy a second home in a serene place like Goa for an annual familygetaway.

I am hoping all the above becomes a reality and I hope to discipline myself so that I achieve it. I will then refer this list every month/6 months/every year to check the status and also see if any of the above 20 points gets accomplished so i can delete it and probably add more to this list as my aspirations will change with passing years.
All the best! Priya

My first Bite

2009-04-22T02:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my first bite of the King Alphonso.. mango ofcourse! It was reddish orange in colour with a sweet, warm and intoxicating aroma. I was tantalised with its sheer presence in my palms. And as I brought it closer to my nose & lips to smell the aroma, my olfactory senses went berserk. Its the same effect every year, on me and everyone else....and no doubt its called the King of the fruits. No other fruit has that impact on your senses like the Mango. No other fruit gets so much news space in the papers and coverage on TV channels. Imagine a banana (Aam aadmi ka phal) or even an Apple (which has a saying to its credit) does not get more or even equivalent share of voice. Come summer and the only thing which Indians look forward to besides the school vacations is the Mango. Also, earlier you have the Mango during the season you are looked upon as GOD! Most of us, will wait for the prices to come down...but still a vast majority cant wait. When you gotta go, you gotta go!
This fruit truly brings out the child in you....you are least bothered how you look when devouring this delight. The mouth changes its colour, the lips go slurping the juice right till the edges of your elbow (really..not exaggerating!..chk kids when they have it) and ofcourse licking off the last remnants of this fruit from the plate. Nothing gives more bliss than that.
Who cares abt your P's and Q's when King M is around?
Its been reported that the Mango is going to be expensive this season. So whats new I ask. Isnt it the same story every year. So who cares (again)..
So I say, Go Mango and indulge! Eat, drink and make merry (read:eat mango) because tomorrow you may diet. If you ain't eaten it this summer, it aint summer!

Elections... Lets make a difference.

2009-04-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

The elections are around the corner and I am sure with so much campaigning this year by NGO's and also organisations such as TATA's, The Times of India which are urging all (eligible) to vote, this year is going to be different. We esp. the middle class which is big and burgeoning as years have gone by have been always been sidelined by the parties that come to power. Its either the poor or the very rich who have benefited while the hard working,sincere and tax paying middle class left to fend for itselves. (No offence meant to non midle class)

People like us who just ask for basic issues to be tackled such better roads, cleanliness, civic sense, water, electricity, foot paths for pedestrians, green spaces, proper drainage to avoid water logging, illegal constructions to be removed. Isnt this all something which we should get anyway but unfortunately much is left for asking . Hence very naturally we have never been excited about the voting process and many amongst us may have given it a miss in the past because it means choosing between the lesser evil candidate.

And less said the better about the candidates which stand for the elections because already much has been debated and discussed on TV channels, written about in newspapers and what have you.

But here I come across a website http://www.ppi.net.in which in its 'About us' section mentions that its sole objective is to improve the quality of life of every Indian. Check the Core group under tab 'Organsation' to know what kind of people are involved in this party.

The Professionals Party of India (PPI) is a new age political party that encourages the middle class to fearlessly participate in the political process to bring competent professionals into leadership positions in governance. Party believes that the change is possible only if the middle class comes out in large number to exercise their franchise.

They have put forth many issues which we all identify with and would like to put an end to or change it for better. They have mentioned their manifestoes on the site.

Since I stumbled on this website today, I immediately registered myself on it and saw that they have a a Open House on April 9th at Kora kendra Hall, Borivli West between 6 pm to 8.30 pm. So whoever can make it should go there to know the agenda, strategy and action plan of PPI.

Also more importantly the introduction of their party's candidates contesting from Mumbai constituency.

Since we always were lost in terms of whom to vote for, I think this would be an ideal platform to know that. Even if you cant attend for whatever reasons, during elections please keep in mind that you vote for such parties who are backed by educated professionals, non corrupt, neither religion/caste based nor believe in 'familial based' politics. Someone who would like to make our country a better place.

So in a nutshell, I would urge all to keep an eye open for such parties when you vote. Happy and fruitful voting! Also spread the message to all people who you know care to make our city/country a better place.

Jai Hind!

Friday the 13th

2009-03-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

Unlike the name of the post, its not going to be about any horror stories nor is my life story turning to be one, at least right now. But, its about the fears each one of us carries in the back seat of our mind. Which when we confront its not such a nice place to be in, obviously. And since today is Friday the 13th I thought it would be an apt day to address this topic. Like todays Bombay Times cover story which talks about Preity Zinta and how she over came her fear of heights and did Bungee Jumping. Ofcourse the article was not about overcoming fear or something which I am going to write about, it was more a subtle promotion for increasing tourism to New Zealand and self promotion for an actress who's not been in news for some time. Buts thats another story...

Anyway, coming back to where we started, at my company we had an interesting outbound session where we were made to do challenging activities which we would not do otherwise in our daily lives. Like rappelling from the 3rd floor or walking on a tight rope over a swimming pool and other activities such as these. Many who had vertigo problems and some who had hydro phobia overcame their fears to actually finishing these tasks successfully while others who had similar fears didnt.
And the joy I saw on the faces of those who had challenged their fears was nothing short of an expression which one would see on a child who has won his first race. It was a great achievement for them and gave them a great sense of accomplishment.
I for one, had this fear of driving a car which I over came by learning to drive - though I need to practice it regularly. Another fear is slightly funny and weird, when in the beauty parlour when your face is masked with the scrub and my eyes are closed I get claustrophobic. So I can never really enjoy my visits to the parlour especially when I need a facial. Or rather I have stoped having them. I used to have stage fear but which I over came by doing many presentations to a small group in college and in my organisation and now i have learnt the trick. There is no better trick than be prepared about your subject competely, reharse, deep breathing and drinking water to keep the throat from drying. Another fear I had though I love swimming and snorkelling was of white water rafting. But again, I did it not once but twice and I am hooked on to it.
One fear is of course which I am sure is quite common amongst all - fear of losing their near and dear ones. So I am not quite prepared to hear any news of about their ill health or something like that. I may put up a brave front if I hear it but in my hearts it will be difficult to bear it.
After writing all this I also wonder about lil kids for eg. My neice who is all of 4 years old and has such devil may care and fearless attitude that I am amazed. Its when we adults drill into their heads - 'Dont do this and that, or else the boogeyman will take you away or things like that.' - when they are introduced to fear when none exists.

Ofcourse a little fear is needed to help us take cautious decisions without being foolhardy and foolishly brave. But fear needs to be limited since it obstructs us from going the whole hog and we miss many a opportunity in life. Fear is when we face it that we can actually overcome it which I realised in that Outbound session- Tapovan.
So lets abandon our fears and celebrate life with gay abandon. After all, one cant life to the fullest if we have these self created boogeymans lurking in the shadows.
Some interesting proverbs on why FEAR should be treated like plague.

Marie Curie - Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

Elenor Roosevelt, You Learn By Living. 1960 - You gain strength, courage and confidence by every expierence in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself. "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along."

Eric Hoffer - You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

Bertrand Russell - To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Michael PritchardFear - is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.

Anon -You don't face your fears, you stand up to them.

Ambrose Redmoon - Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, First inaugural address - The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Work Life Balance

2009-03-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Its been quite some time since I wanted to full comprehend the implications of work life balance. I can safely call myself a sincere and hardworking worker in office who finds it difficult to tear away from work if it demands it. Hence for the past 3 years of my married life I have been always at my tethers end to explain my dear hubby why I spent so much time at work (almost 11 hours) every day. And thats not good when you spend min 1.5 hours in traffic. So that would make it 13 to 14 hours away from home and family. That would leave me with 10 hours out of which 7 hours are meant for sleeping and just 3 hours for my loving hubby/family.
Is'nt that the irony of our lives nowadays when we are earning to have a better life but the most important years of our lives are spent not with them. And when we realise this and look back its too late to turn back the clock and remains completely non negotiable.

So I ask myself especially in these troubled times, when we are working hard to keep our seat relevant at the place of work and when working for pleasure is now become working for living, how do we try to get work life balance.
When bending over backwards to get work done at office was seen as a valiant effort by the stray workoholic in office now its what is expected of each one of us to remain relevant in the scheme of things. So that reminds me of an old adage Tough times dont last tough people do.
After much thinking and analysing the current scenario I have come to this conclusion thati ts God's way of telling us you have had the excesses now get ready for the scarcity. At the end of the day the universe always maintains a balance whether in nature or outcomes.
The cyclical nature of recession and boom period or what goes up must come down tells us that BALANCE in all respects is a must. Sometimes its within us and sometimes we are forced to earn it the hard way.
Those who move away from the balance and towards extremes have to face the outcomes.
So we need to prioritise and need to draw a line when work starts eating into family time and vice versa.
I have consciously decided to work 9 hours and if required work from home. Lets hope I am able to implement in successfully.
At the end of the day I cant let my prime years of my life go away toiling without my family next to me.

Life is calling..where are you!

2009-03-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

I saw this line in one the liquor brand commercials and its so apt. I wonder why we ....(me & my peers who I may say have all the privileges such as a job, home, good health and good family) always crib about life and complain about what life has to offer.
We have it all on platter - the essentials its just we need to be more diligent and persistent in following our dreams.
We tend to digress or lose focus on what our goal is and hence dont always get what we set out to achieve
A simple case is my blog...which I started in 2006 but have not been able to devote much time to it. Not because there were more pressing things to attend to(thats just an excuse) but I could have very well juggled my timelines and managed to write a para a day but no! I lost interest in the novelty..the newness of blog concept and then it just fizzled out. I no longer updated my blog...now its been almost 2 years and here I am wondering why I could not do it.
Now thats this is just abt a simple blog.
But in real life when we see some outstanding acheivers what seperates them from all the majority commoners like me is they have steely resolve, single minded focus and dedication towards achieving what they want to achieve. Well, it could be cricket, writing a book, becoming a succesful entreprenuer or a professional or simply a great home maker.
The point of this post is we all have it in each of us but what seperates the chaff from the wheat is how much YOU want to use the potential within you to be what you want to be.
Its simple and its straight. No magic formulas, no secret recipes and no inspirational talk.
And the ones who become legends practice it every moment of their lives.
So its not luck or fate which we keep bringing up as an excuse. The harder you work the luckier you get is not just another phrase but we need to remind ourselves that its the way of life.

So as my subject line says, Life is always knocking on our door with opportunities, its up to us to realise, wake up, open the door and embrace it.
So lets not complain...cos we may not see the opportunity that is about to pass by.
Cheers!

p.s: My '40 list' is in W-I-P stage. Probably in my next post it should see the light of the day.

Back after a long time!

2009-02-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

Hi,
I feel so good to be typing these words on my lil blog which I started with child like enthusiasm and stopped mid way because life was busy sorting itself out with mundane things.

Here I am....not in the way Air Supply says but just that I am looking at blogging at least every Sat or Sunday when work life is on Pause or at least it should be.

Well, my next blog will be about my Bucket List or rather I would like to call it 'Things I want to do before I turn 40'....They say if you write down things positive or what your life would like to offer you then one should internalise it or think/work towards it so passionately that it eventually fructifies. How much time it takes to realise depends on each individual.

And if I put it at 40 then....like a milestone I give myself a deadline to work towards it.

I must say the movie Bucket List was definitely instrumental in pushing me towards thinking abt this list. One gets so tied up in the daily routine of life that we keep pushing back our dreams on the back burner till we realise its too late.
Well, I for 1 have realised that its never too late and the best time to start something is NOW.

Till then I shall refine my list and make it more realistic rather than make it look like 1000 places to see before I die.

Cheers!

"Grass looks greener across the road" phenomena

2006-09-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

A very interesting article forwarded by my friend. This is written by Dr. Gopalakrishnan, executive director of Tata Sons Ltd.,the holding company for many of the Tata blue chips like Tata Steel, TataMotors, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Voltas etc.

"DESERVE BEFORE YOU DESIRE"The grass isn't always greener on the other side!! Move from one job to another, but only for the right reasons. It's yet another day at office. As I logged on to the marketing and advertising sites for the latest updates,as usual, I found the headlines dominated by "who's" moving from one company to another after a short stint, and I wondered, why are so many people leaving one job for another? Is it passé now to work with just one company for a sufficiently long period? Whenever I ask this question to people who leave a company, the answers I get are: "Oh, I am getting a 200% hike in salary"; "Well I am jumping three levels in my designation"; "Well they are going to send me abroad in six months".Then, I look around at all the people who are considered successful today and who have reached the top - be it a media agency, an advertising agency or a company. I find that most of these people are the ones who stuck to the company, ground their heels and worked their way to the top. And, as I look around for people who change their jobs constantly, I find they have stagnated at some level, in obscurity. In this absolute ruthless, dynamic and competitive environment, there are still no - short cuts to success or to making money. The only thing that continues to pay, as earlier is loyalty and hard work. Yes, it pays! Sometimes, immediately, sometimes after a lot of time. But, it does pay. Does this mean that one should stick to anorganization and wait for the golden moment? Of course not. After, a long stint, there always comes a time for moving in most organisations, but it is important to move for the right reasons, rather than the superficial ones, like money, designation or oversees trip. Remember, no company recruits for charity. More often than not, when you are offered an unseemly hike in salary or designation that is disproportionate to what the company offers it current employees, there is always an unseemly bait attached. The result? You will, in the long term have reached the same level or may be lower levels than what you would have in your current company.A lot of people leave their organisations because they are "unhappy". What is this so called unhappiness? I have been working for donkey years and there has never been a day when I am not unhappy about something in my work environment - boss, rude colleagues, fussy clients etc. Unhappiness in a work place, to a large extent, is transient. If you look hard enough, there is always something to be unhappy about. But, more importantly, do I come to work to be "happy" in the truest sense? If I think hard, the answer is "No". Happiness is something you find with family, friends, may be a close circle of colleagues who have become friends.What you come to work for is to earn, build a reputation, satisfy your ambitions, be appreciated for your work ethics, face challenges and get the job done. So, the next time you are tempered to move on, ask yourself why are you moving and what are you moving into?Some questions are:
Am I ready and capable of handling the new responsibility? If yes, what could be the possible reasons my current company has not offered me the same responsibility?
Who are the people who currently handle this responsibility in the current and new company? Am I good as the best among them?
As the new job offer has a different profile, why have I not given the current company the option to offer me this profile?
Why is the new company offering the new job? Do they want me for my skills, or is that ulterior motive? An honest answer to these will eventually decide where you go in your career to the top of the pile in the long term (at the cost of short - term blips) or to become another average employee who gets lost with the time in wilderness?

- Dr. Gopalakrishnan

9 easy ways to a smarter you!

2006-07-22T03:12:00.000-07:00

Such a cliched subject...but what to do, I am still a sucker for such topics.

I am always drawn towards DIY's and quick fix solutions, norman vincent philosophy, how to do this and that and 10 easy steps to being a better personality... kind of writings. It may be becos I always feel that there is so much to each one of us and how much we can constantly learn new things and absorb from our surroundings.
I know the day u stop updating yourself, reading and imbibing aspects around you one can become a relic, redundant and hence useless.
So when I stumbled on my friends blog with the heading "9 easy ways to a smarter you".....
i jumped at it, read thru it slowly, soaking each word and decided to put it up on my blog for my dear friends to know.
Ironically its a no brainer.... we all know it, its not so difficult and its exactly what most of us keep doing one way or another in our normal routine...but just to show how it helps us to be smart anyway. So here goes an interesting piece for you to know....

Your brain is like a muscle that needs exercise. You can make yourself smarter by increasing neural connections through novelty and stimulation.
They are :

1) Read a daily newspaper, literary classics and the Web.You grow smarter by reflecting on issues, events and people and forming strong opinions.

2) Associate with smart people .Engaging in conversation with a smart person is like playing tennis with a superior opponent.

3) Keep a journal.Your insights—the connections you make about your past, present and future—help to make neural connections.

4) Travel.On the road, you're forced to solve ordinary problems (food, lodging, language), all of which have become automatic at home.

5) Memorize things.Lawrence Katz, author of Keep Your Brain Alive, says memorizing people's names or other important bits of information is a great way to keep your brain fit.

6) Take up a musical instrument.Learning to play the violin, for example, involves physical coordination (working the strings and bow), intellectual challenge (reading music), sensory experience (hearing pitch and harmony), and intuitive work (mastering tempo and rhythm).

7) Play games and pursue hobbies.The philosopher Alan Watts used to praise the kind of learning that is effortless, such as the play we experienced as kids.

8) Create new routines constantly.Katz notes that unchanging routines make us intellectually flabby.

9) Change jobs and positions periodically.Remember when you were in school, learning something new every semester? Some jobs are like a 15-unit class that never ends.

Well, the last one I must do something about it...being with the same company for almost 9 years. Not a smart choice, is it ;-)

Hope you liked it and keep in mind that to be smarter, just keep learning new, interesting and stimulating things. It wont go waste!

Tribute To Mumbai!!!

2006-07-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

A Tribute to Mumbai...here are some interesting views and anecdotes written by various writers and very aptly sums up what Mumbai stands for.

We've had our GOODS BADS in BOMBAY!!! BUT WE STILL LOVE HER!!!

Rude city? You bet, says Mumbaikar Jerry Pinto in defence of a metropolis too busy to mind its manners but always ready to help when trouble comes.
Reader's Digest, which interests itself in these things, tells us that Mumbai is the rudest city in the world. This is also themagazine that carried a story saying that global warming might be good for us. I swear, they did this in May, when my cousins in Nagpur were reporting that the city was burning up at 52 degrees centigrade. I come not to praise Mumbai, however. I come to ask whether the Reader's Digest editors really mean it when they say that New York is the politest city in the world? What is it to be polite? In London, a terribly polite city by my experience, a young woman refused to lend her scarf to be used as a tourniquet when a man was stabbed on the bus. He bled to death. I am sure, the young woman said, "I'm sorry but it's an expensive scarf." The person who asked for the scarf probably said, "Right. Cheers." Meanwhile, the blood pulsed on from the dying man's neck. In Mumbai, my mother once was forced to go to a public hospital with a torn-up leg. In front of her, the poor waited in the way that the poor wait, endlessly, patiently, quietly. When she joined the line, they all assessed their need, assessed hers and stepped out of the way wordlessly. She went to the top of the line, protesting quietly all the way. She did not bleed to death. Perhaps, she even forgot to thank all those people. Perhaps, they did not expect to be thanked. But since no one seems to have bothered about definitions, let's dump them too. Perhaps it is polite to be a city like New York where all the shop assistants say thank you and please and the doormen are ready to open the door for you but there are 55,000 violent crimes a year. And that represents a 10-year low. Perhaps Mumbai with its 122 murders in six months must be significantly ruder but less lethal. But are we rude?

Sudhir Mishra -Filmmaker
" My dominant image for Mumbai. I'm standing outside Mahalaxmi railway station, it starts to rain. A man comes out with an umbrella and starts to walk away. He notices another man getting wet, he pauses, and in an unspoken way invites him under the umbrella. Then they see me, and I get under as well. That's Bombay. Three men sharing an umbrella, all getting wet. There's less space under the umbrella now - too many people, too little infrastructure, but people are still sharing it. " Yes, we are rude. We are almost always rude. Cities are always rude. We are the only city in the country. Delhi is a bunch of villages held together by the politics of power and some nice roads. Chennai is a self-satisfied town which wants to be known for its culture. Bangalore looked like it might well grow up to be a city but now that it's got the opportunity to do it, it's choking itself to death. Calcutta had its moment of glory in the 19th century when they built lots of mansions and factories and set up the kind of intellectual atmosphere of a Cambridge debating society. Then they lost it, the Bangla babus and settled into making funny kurtas for their men to wear and selling Bankuda horses to the rest of the country. Yes, we are rude. We don't have time for that. We're too busy dragging the rest of you into some semblance of wealth. We're too busy earning the money that runs the country. We're too busy paying for the Delhi and Kolkata Metros. We're too busy earning the money to pay the 75 percent of the income tax paid by the country. In Kolkata, they don't earn money. In Bangalore, they know how to hide it cyberwise. In Delhi, everyone's a farmer with agricultural income that's tax free.

Sarayu Srivastava - Writer
" I think of Mumbai as a very cold but sensuous woman - it all depends >>on how you warm her up. In this city every kindness begets more kindness. Delhi's eyes literally undress you. Mumbai sees you first as a person then a woman. People do tend to keep their distance here, but if you try and do something nice, a sudden sensitive humanness peeps out.It's hardship city - it gets by on humour. " Land-starved Mumbai? The 14 million of us, we dream of the kind of space that young couples have in Delhi. We'd like a barsati too. We won't get it. But we'll work hard at it. The shop assistant who doesn't thank you probably goes home to his 'side business' and puts in another two or three hours. This could be anything from making papads to selling insurance to giving private tuition. It leaves him with very little time or inclination to say thank you. But when trouble comes, he will do what he can. In the cataclysmic floods of last year, the average person did what the government could not. They threw open their homes. They left the security of dry land and waded into the water to rescue children. They formed human chains to take people off the buses. They made tea and snacks and gave it to people. Contrast that to the way Americans behaved when Hurricane Katrina struck. People went on the rampage. They shot at each other, even at their rescuers. They assaulted each other. They looted abandoned homes. In Mumbai, no violence was reported. No violence happened. Ask me, I walked home. Ask my sister, she walked home too.Together, we covered a distance of 30 kilometers that day and we only saw people helping each other, people offering support and solidarity.

Milind Deora-Politician
" My idea of Bombay? A waiter serving in the Taj - during the day he might be serving Bill Gates and he'll carry himself with aplomb, be as cosmopolitan as anyone. At night he'll be taking the train to Dharavi,return to his slum, put on his lungi and baniyan, help his old parents,help wash dishes, and watch TV. You can be everything at the same time in Bombay. It's like that old Sinatra song - if you can make it here,you can make it anywhere. " One of the most compelling images in Suketu Mehta's essay which Naresh Fernandes and I included in our anthology, Bombay Meri Jaan:Writings on Mumbai (Penguin India, 2003) ... but read on: If you are late for work in Bombay, and reach the station just as the train is leaving the platform, you can run up to the packed compartments and you will find many hands stretching out to grab you on board, unfolding outward from the train like petals. As you run alongside you will be picked up, and some tiny space will be made for your feet on the edge of the open doorway. The rest is up to you; you will probably have to hang on the door frame with your fingertips, being careful not to lean out too far lest you get decapitated by a pole placed too close to the tracks. But consider what has happened. Your fellow passengers, already packed tighter than cattle are legally allowed to be, their shirts already drenched in sweat in the badly ventilated compartment, having stood like this for hours, retain an empathy for you, know that you boss might yell at you or cut your pay if you miss this train, and will make space where none exists, to take one more person with them. And at the moment of contact, they do not know if the hand that is reaching theirs belongs to a Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Brahmin or untouchable or whether you were born in the city or arrived only this morning or whether you live in Malabar Hill or Jogeshwari; whether you are from Bombay or Mumbai or New York. All they know is that you're trying to get to the city of gold, and that's enough. Come on board,they say. We'll adjust.

Stitch in time, saves a lifetime!

2006-07-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

"Stitch in time, saves nine"....."Look before you leap"......well! as kids we grow up learning so many meaningful phrases which are meant to be internalised and used in our daily life but we give it a shallow treatment and as life goes on we unlearn them very conveniently. One such commonly used and often mentioned lightly(undeservedly) is "Health is Wealth". And to truly understand the depth of the statement is a) to personally experience ill health or b) to see a near and dear one expereince ill health.
Its a sad situation, but don't we all take our our health for granted all the times...and carry with the notion fearlessly that "I am insurmountable.Nothing will happen to me". And this very belief crushes when one not so fine morning you get up and bruise yourself over some silly mishap or slip trying to catch the 9.05 local or worse still catch the flu. Suddenly your life comes to a grinding halt, you get grounded and become dependant for your smallest needs on your dear ones. Besides the feeling of dependancy what hurts more is to see your mom or sis or hubby or dad running around, pampering you and nursing you. Its only thanks to their TLC you get back to your feet in a jiffy in what seems like a life time. And then ofcourse one forgets about such small incidents and life moves on again at breakneck speed. These are just but typical periods which keep happening thru out our lives.
But then there are times when one is faced with life altering and life threatning situations which God forbid may not happen to any one of us.
So just as a reminder to all of us what life may hopefully not hold for us...but like a Life Insurance policy a mandatory fixture in our life's many plans. I am writing this narration albiet boring and serious and at the cost of losing eyeballs.

Health checks a must for all who are in 30's and beyond!
It had been many a days that my hubby and me had been thinking about getting a health check up done. It was a priority issue and something we knew had to be done but always got relegated by another issue....becos we either wanted to see a just released really good movie that day or becos we had long time friends meeting us or some other work priorities.. So you see how extremely important we thought our health check up was in our life's scheme of things.
Never theless after the plan was pushed to its limit of endurance, we decided enough is enough.

"When we gotta go, we gotta go! And so we went. It went like this....The day finally arrived, called up the hospital and requested to book the 2 of us for a complete health check up. What I didnt expect that there were plethora of schemes to choose from depending on the budget and each individual's health requirements. Platinum, Gold, Executive, Senior Citizens but ofcourse the last was ruled out...though our body felt like we were in our 60's.
Also, checked the mullah attached to each of the checks and my eyes rolled in disbelief. Its too expensive.
Thats when another thought crossed my mind when it came to health checks..."Oh my god! its such an expensive affair...do we really want to spend so much on something when we know we are hale and hearty."

Why is it that we cringe and find it difficult to spend on our precious health when we don't think twice before readily spending or rather splurging on clothes, eating out on junk food, electronic items, DVD's and other luxuries. This exact sentiment and also many other feelings are commonly shared by all of us when it comes to our dear health.
Life nowadays has become too fast...thats when George Carlin's theory crossed my mind yet again..(excerpts)
______________________________________________
The paradox of our time in history is that,
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a lif e.
We've added years tolife not life to years.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion
More medicine, but less wellness.
______________________________________________

So coming back to our health check, we fixed the date for health checks and very soon the day arrived. Getting up very early and leaving home armed with our "proof of health" in lil bottles for a hospital visit wasnt exactly our idea of spending the week end. And not to forget we had our last meal more than 12 hours back.
When we reached the hospital at 7.30 we thought we would be the first but then we were told we were 5th in line... well, we werent the only fools around looked like. Fools or otherwise was to be proved sooner.
We both went thru the entire battery of tests from morning till afternoon ofcourse interspersed with breakfast and lunch. From one room to another, one doc to another, one floor to another and then finally we were told its done. All we needed to do was to wait for our results.
Apocalypse Now!!! This term wouldnt have been more apt than now. And what a trying wait it was. "Ignorance is bliss" state was soon to come to a bitter end.

We were handed with this huge bag which carried reams and reams of papers neatly filed together what were to be our reports. We were asked to see the physician for what was supposed to be the final stop for the day at the hospital. We were happy that soon it will be out of the way and for good!
We marched with a spring in our step into the doc's room and confidently sat across the lady doc. She greeted us with a warm smile and after the usual round of PC she came down to brass tacks.

She told us she was surprised and happy to see younger people getting health checks done...and we patted our back for that. Then moving to my dear hubby's file she briskly opened it and started perusing the results...she looked like anything but the mouse who belled the cat.

And what followed that remains a blur.....

Of course with the lifestyles we lead and eating habits we follow what the results said was not something surprising but we didnt really expect us to be tagged as "Potential victim of lifestyle diseases".
Its been 2 weeks since then and life has done a complete U turn in terms of what we eat, how much we eat and how much we exercise.
This routine health check which we thought a pain in the neck has in fact proved to be a blessing in disguise. Having got the checks done we now know where we stand, what we need to do and where we need to go from here. And thats definitely not going to be the hospital as a patient for a long time, we promise ourselves.

Fitness is a journey not a destination, it should be continued throughout your life!

Gimme a Break!!! (Travelogue)

2006-07-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

How many times, have you heard this voice in your head..."God, I need a break!". And, how many times have you ignored it for lack of time and attention. Well, this familiar thought resurfaced and reverberated in my overtly preoccupied mind once again like a thousand gongs in a Buddhist Monastery. Notwithstanding the fact that my mind was already whirring with myriad of thoughts about meeting deadlines, reaching targets and some presentations to client next day.... boring list is endless.
And can u imagine...just the thought felt like a whiff of fresh air invigorating my tired soul totally.
When a page out of your daily life starts looking a tad boring with the routine of work and wanting for some excitement, you have to know these are the warning signals. Its time to sweep aside the files from your office desk, look beyond the Calving&Hobbes screen saver on work station and pick up the phone and call Odati (www.odati.com)
After my dear hubby also willingly gave in...a break was unanimously decided (with both of us voting cant get easier).
With a long leave ruled out, the only break possible was on a week end. Away from the maddening crowd, 9 to 9 routines, traffic snarls, aphyxiating pollution and everything the city has become synonymous with nowadays....we decided to reach out to the greens.

Odati is run by a friend Jayesh who gave up a plum career in the field of advertising and media and started this adventure outfit around 6-7 years back. He organises treks, hikes, water rappeling, cycling and hertitage walks over week ends for "people who need break"/ Adventure enthusiasts. Also, he does 2-3 long hikes spanning 15-20 days each in the Himalayas, Arunachal, Uttaranchal etc annually.
He has been written about in various newspapers and also named in articles on "People who have followed their passion" and done their own thing successfully. He has a steadily increasing number of members who have travelled with him for all kinds of adventure trips.
I had been with his group for a hiking trip quite some time back... again introduced thru a office collegaue and had been wanting to do the same for a long time. Well, I knew the time had come.

The week end was scheduled for a hiking trip to Patta Fort near Igatpuri a perfect soultion for our frayed nerves and jagged mind.
Both of us were delighted with the destination and got all excited like kids in anticipation of the forthcoming week end.
Finally the day arrived....
Pattafort is 4 to 5 hours drive from Mumbai depending on traffic. So, after leaving Mumbai at 7.30 in the morning on a Saturday from Bandra and picking up co-hikers on the way, we managed to reach base camp of Patta village at around 12.30 noon. Apparently Patta fort is this flat plateau on top of a mountain which has wind blowing wildly and almost knocking u off your feet...information courtesy Odati.
After freshening up from the 5 hour car ride, we collected our camping gear and started lugging it on our backs... all the tents, packed food, clothing,water bottles, sleeping bags etc to carry all the way up the mountain where we were to pitch our tents for the night.
The upward climb was to be not more than 2 hours and just perfect for both of us (husband/wife team) who were just getting into the hiking mould unlike co hikers who were mostly seasoned. So, with brimful of enthusiasm we began our journey which was interspersed with singing, joking, interesting anecdotes etc.It was an eclectic group of 13 odd people from various professional streams such as IT, Stock trading, Journalism, Film making, Finance, Media etc all meeting for the first time.
On the way to the top we came across huge wind mills being set up by Suzlon Group to make the most of the windy place. We were really dissapointed that technology had not left even virgin places like these untouched.
We reached the top of the hill, huffing and panting and fighting for breath thinking hey man, what have we got into... but one look down the mountain.....and we realised what a breath taking sight we had all around...a vista view wherever our eyes could see. Lush green meadows with tiny streams surrounded by a pack of mountains laced with a green carpet all across... the over cast sky provided the most ideal setting for us hikers to make the most of the pleasant climate. Being in the throes of Monsoon, we were all geared up for the thrashing of rain...but it was not to be. Though it was fairly windy...it didnt rain. Sigh!

After reaching the top we found a nice green flat patch to settle for our lunch. While the lunch was being cooked we played Dumb charades...and what a hilarious time we had...my tummy still aches from all the laughin we did that day. The noodles and chai was lunch for us not forgetting the biscuits...with a voracious appetite built after the climb we resembled hungry demons out to devour anything in sight. The utensils/spoons were washed under a small stream and waste collected in a bag to be kept with us thru the hike ( eco friendly advice).
Resumed the walk to the end of the plateau where we came across a temple built many years before Shivaji ruled. Also a granary where the fort stored all its food grains to protect the inhabitants in dire situations. We were enthralled by the discoveries especially since the structure was dated many centuries old. We also came across various ponds/water bodies on the fort to be used for drinking, bathing and washing. All the way up, the orange coloured crabs provided constant company. And we ensured we didnt step on any of the tiny creatures.

The walk to the end of the plateau culminated by late evening and by then we started pitching the tents. Once the tents were pitched we all ganged up and sat around in a circle. And then one after the other each one came up with ghost stories experienced by self and otherwise.

It was frigntening and at the same time funny...someone from the group suddenly saw something dark lurking in the back ground and it turned out to be a shrub dancing in the wind. Once again some thought she heard a roar of a panther far away and everybody just froze that moment. But we comforted each oterh it cant be...since there are no panthers this side of Maharshtra. And well it turned out to be the planes making a roar while flying thru the grey clouds...well, it was really funny when our doubts were laid to rest.
And then after a dinner which meant dal khichdi and ras gullas we decided to call it a day and hit the sleeping bags in the pitched tents.
At night one of the guys kept getting up and out of the tent waking up all in the process thinking there was some animal around lurking...well, what happened to him next day is any one's guess. All literally ragged him for that and cursed him for spoiling their beauty sleep.
Getting up amongst the greens is just some experience and answering nature's call is something else altogether. Let me not get to the details....but another tip being drink lots of water ;-)

It was a windy morning with mist all around and rains starting to pour in. Our climb down was thru slippery red soil, green mosses and trechourous narrow paths...but exhilarating.
Another tip being..trust your feet and never sit when u can stand and climb down. That worked for me and my hubby and we felt like pros who have reached the summit once we reached the village.
Oh what a experince....and can u believe we have decided to do this once every month.
And lets hope we do it!

Synchronicity

2006-06-12T01:46:00.000-07:00

syn·chro·nic·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sngkr-ns-t, sn-)n. pl. syn·chro·nic·i·ties
The state or fact of being synchronous or simultaneous; synchronism.
Coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related, conceived in Jungian theory as an explanatory principle on the same order as causality.

Has it happened to you anytime...this thing called synchronicity...well, i tumbled on this word quite accidently (serendipity...more on that later) some days back. Was in a contemplative mood that night, could not catch a wink even at 1 o'clock at night. I saw my dear hubby sleeping like a baby and could not get myself to wake him up (like a normally do...i know, very mean of me). So i decided to get a good read instead of counting sheep. Walked into the living room, and there was this book lying on the center table waiting to be picked up. Frankly, I had bought this book from Crosswords many moons back but never had a better opportunity crossed my way like this. So grabbed it with both hands and started turning the pages. The books name 'Even Eagles need a push" by David Mcnally was quite a pick up line even when the book was lying tucked away in a corner in the book store. So was wondering why had i even waited for so long to go beyond the cover page. I have always believed that in life, there is a time and place for everything....and a reason too. So, I guess this was the time, place and a reason all coinciding together as in falling in place or should I say....Synchronising.

So coming back to the book, I saw this lovely sounding word "Synchronicity" typeset somewhere in the first few pages of the book and I fell in love with it at first sight. And what a beautiful meaning, it almost took my breath away.
The extremely busy lives we lead nowadays, we fail to even realise the wonderful coincidences happening around us. They could have been small, big, trivial or important events that take place connected with our lives and we dont even know it happens

Its like some one said "Life is what happens when you are busy planning other things".Well, SOMEONE was indeed a wise person.

Next time, keep your eyes wide open, ears to the ground and senses tuned in to the right frequency. And then like a rare sight of a shooting star you might just witness a miracle at work.
Life is Magic...you can never know what to expect.
Experience it!

Postcards from Maldives by Mumbaikar

2006-06-07T02:05:00.000-07:00

QUICK FACTS ABOUT MALDIVES

If your idea of a holiday is fun in the sun, strolling on silver beaches, snorkelling in the corals, soaking in the tropical sun, fishing and adventure sports then Maldives is THE place to be.
Maldives is an cluster of around 1200 islands and archipelago of 26 atolls. It lies to the south west of Sri Lanka and it takes an hour by flight from Colombo to reach there. From Mumbai to Colombo is around 5 hours.
It has fairly warm temperatures through out the year ranging from 25 to 29 degrees celcius and dipping in winters to 20 to 25 degrees.
Maldives has been rated as the top most honey mooners destination consistently and an exclusive tourist destination for many years till date by top tours and travels such as conde naste
Dhivehi is the local language but English is widely spoken and understood because of tourists from Europe and US who flock this exotic destination
Rufiyaa is the local currency but US$ are accepted at any commercial establishments including hotels other than travellers cheques and credit cards
Male is the capital of Maldives
Stay - There are innumerable hotels from 3 star to 5 star which have all the amenities to boot. Unfortunately, budget hotels are very rare to find unlike in Thailand. Each island is a resort in Maldives hence each resort has its own uniqueness which can be attributed to the natural surroundings of that island. One can google or yahoo search and get enough information on tariffs, room availability, activities available and pictorial view of the hotel. Most hotels have their own web site and from personal experience can vouch for the authenticity of the info on the net.
Points to remember when deciding resort - a)Proximity to Male/Airport, b)Stay should include Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner because any other option is island away, c)Activities available on Island such as snorkelling, Trawler fishing, Whale/Dolphin Watching, Island hopping is a must. For us Indians surfing and scuba diving may not be a must have, I assume. d)Facilities like swimming pool, tennis courts, TT rooms, badminton courts are anyway part of mostly all resorts but one can check just in case. e)Also, there are standard and superior rooms, find which one is suitable to your wallet. Ofcourse there are house reefs but they are trifle expensive.f)Airport drop is a must have, g)If a vegetarian need not worry since you would not go hungry like me, but Non vegetarians can have a gala time bingeing on seafood and local delicasies. If the resort has many restaurants all the better since one gets myriad options and not get bored with the same kind of food. h) Booking the rooms before landing is a must unlike other destinations like Thailand since most resorts are over booked esp. in peak periods and its cheaper that way as well.i) Visa is on arrival and carry enough dollars with you.j) Check for the comments/ratings of travellers who have stayed at the resorts for feedback. Its unbiased and mostly true.
One need not spend on shopping except for the souvenirs and ofcourse pack bagful of wonderful memories of this beautiful island
A digital camera or a handycam is a must have on this trip. If one has a disposable camera for underwater shooting its awesome. One can buy it from the local tourist shops as well.
Maldives is for honeymooners, adventure sports lovers, family and travellers who love solitude and action alike.Mostly for travellers who love the beaches, sands and water sports.
One week is good enough for a holiday here and any more you might never want to come back home.Its an addiction!
Cottons, sun screen lotion, swimming costume and a great holiday spirit is a must have to carry on this vacation
Maldives is a eco friendly destination so should be treated that way
The most fascinating part of Maldives is the psychedelic colours found under water and the myriad and abundance of undersea life. Its truly breathtaking!!!

For more details http://www.visitmaldives.com and check more details of Lohifushi Resort on www.vermillionmaldives.com/resorts/Lohifushi.htm. There are many such links to various resorts.

Generation Y (or Generation Z)

2006-05-31T22:29:00.000-07:00

Generation Y (or Generation Z)in our city

These urban kids nowadays I tell you. Oh so much attitude briiming over like a froth on a choclate milkshake.
Less said the better but cant help writing this one. It does display my incapacity in dealing with Dennis The Menaces of the world, but so be it!

That succulent, impudent and spoilt rotten devil incarnate is by God's disgrace none other than your truly's neighbour. And God only knows how many times have I questioned the Almighty and oh so many times has he left me to my wits end. Never have I been able to extricate myself from this long winding tunnel of exasperation and self defeat. This diminutive frame always seems to hover around the periphery of my discomfort. The immense pleasure that surfaces his cherubic and dimpled face at the sight of my state of disarray, I am sure then that hedonism must be working over time in that tiny cranium.I have invariably been left drop jaw astounded and helpless in the company of this pint sized gremlin. The barrage of questions that effortlessly leave the comforts of his blooming gob and dart towards my fragile sensibilities and shatters to smithereens my superego. The seasoned alacrity with which this life in its nascent stage retaliates and overpowers my frame reminds me of David and Goliath story foretold a million times and more.Though I evade this knee high jerk like a plague and loathe his sight, he seems to just the same, sparkle with excitement and froth with sadistic pleasure in my presence.How I always wish that I can with an effortless coup-de-grace terminate his very existence. But that jolly good conscience fairy resurges and scolds me for this decadent thought process. Such is the story of my life off late with this new kid on the block. My otherwise peaceful existence and well endowed social circle seem to have run aground with his ominous ubiquity.This precocious entity could be the evil lurking figure in just about anybody' backyard. The honey sweet, angelic face and saccharine sweet innocent eyes that strike you at first sould be paid scant disregard.The volte face that happens in course of time seems to attack your vulnerable guise.This exposition of my life in no way does interpret the poverty of my intellectual or rational faculties but does pin point the overt opulence of "Attitude" brimming in the Generation Next.In the end a forewarning, to stay away from 2 feet nothings even remotely displaying characteristics of the above described and if in its inevitable presence, wear the protective coat of non chalance and a cap of indifference.Because if you cant beat them, ignore them!
All the same, I do admire their know it all attitude and worldy wise behaviour. Thanks to the satellite invasion in every home and exposure to the world news at the click of a button on their IBM's, the word "naive" will definitely get wiped out from Oxford Dictionary soon. And true more will get added, "pester power" being one for sure. Reams and reams of information is available on how kids influence buying decisions and how marketers are now looking at targetting kids for communciating their brand benefits more than the "Lalitaji's" of the world, your proverbial savvy housewife.
Well, welcome the new Gen X..no Gen Y...or is it Gen Z now. What with Generations leaping as frequently as NOKIA's mobile technology, soon Gen Z will get overtaken by Gen Z sequels.

Disclaimer : The above is just a narration of fictional nature. Any of my neighbours reading the above article should treat it as one and not take it personally. Becos their kids are sweet and adorable.(How more politically correct can i get!)

Amchi Mumbai (humour)

2006-05-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

Aamchi Mumbai

Escorting your dad’s best friend’s daughter around the city of Mumbai gives a whole new meaning to the word “Mumbai DARSHAN” especially if the visitor in question is ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) and landing in Mumbai after eons. And eons would mean "her" lifetime, since she was here technically when she was in her mother’s womb...which would be 2 decades back. Now that does not count for much does it…because Mumbai is about sight, smell, sound and all other senses that cannot be experienced thru a belly button hole.So here I was being an escort to a namesake desi and who was more the quintessential American “Born in the USA” types, than a die-hard “Mera Bharat Mahaan” patriot. Jingoism apart…she didn’t have the same trappings as Indians her age…Bollywood and cricket were not religions for her, just something what crazy people watch… Ash and Sushmita were just “roll” models…Kalpana Chawla being the true role model…Music was not hindi, bhangra or indi pop remix, it was bhajans, ghazals interspersed with country music….and career was not plain MBA in a fancy University but chasing a dream which was “out of this world”…AI or AE or in common parlance Artificial Intelligence or Aeronautical Engineering.But at the same time she knew a few shlokas like Atharva shirsha by rote than any of my counterparts including me. She knew Mahabharat and Ramayan more in depth than yours truly, so in that sense she was more Indian than you and me.But what goes into making this essay a worth reading experience is seeing Mumbai thru the eyes of a complete stranger to the city (or country for that matter) and picking up nuances which as a true Mumbaiite we all may have missed. Picking up smells, "art"in buildings, energy flowing through multitudes of people, spirit of secularism, rich and poor co-existing in close environs and many other quirks of the city.Observations of a “phirang” desi on city called Mumbai.

Where are the footpaths? If hawkers sit on footpaths meant for pedestrians and pedestrians walk on roads where do cars ply or do they fly. That explains the traffic sense, which means every one co-exists at the same place but not same time, that would mean ‘car’diac arrest.
Motchi (cobbler) at every corner, where he mends broken shoes, chappals and sandals. A unique profession for those who believe in, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it and if broken and can be fixed don’t throw it away.”
A temple in every area where there is a woman with a cow at temple entrance. People walking in, touch the cow, and give some money to the woman owning the cow and who in turn feeds the cow with grass. Does it mean any thing?
A barber giving a nice shave to his client not in his saloon but right there at a street corner with just an umbrella to protect his client from scorching sun and a radio blaring in the back ground. Now that’s cool isn’t it!
A woman selling her wares walking from one housing colony to another and screaming out her lungs with words, which communicate what she is selling. But everyone seems so nonchalant despite her high decibel (selling) “pitch”.
Reaching the railway station provides a wide array of experiences unique in its own way.The boot polish guy who is sitting right there observing foot wear of all those walking around him. His shop is this small box on which he polishes shoes, sits and keeps his money earned. Now that’s a truly an “out of the box” profession.
This colourful looking upright object which turns out to be a weighing machine with lights, designs and fancy objects coming alive once you stand on it to weigh your self. It costs only 1 rupee and tells you your weight, a weight that you may never have in your entire lifetime.
Trains that hurtle down into the station after every 3 minutes adding more mass to its velocity until it reaches its final destination where everyone alights.During the train journey, witnessing umpteen hawkers selling everything from pin to pajamas (literally). And the same hawkers who sell their wares so well, it would give any sales-head, job insecurity.
Did I mention about the beggars at every signal, at every corner, outside every restaurant? Its like they have chosen these vantage points with well thought out precision. These strategic points give these mendicants there 2 minutes to display their sad faces (justified) with their captive audience. Some melt while others turn a blind eye. Now that’s Mumbai’s rags to riches.
Traffic rules are but just in textbooks. But there is one rule that is in full display and which is rule of the Jungle…Might is Right! Hence, we have the BEST (misnomer) buses over powering the ‘Tax’is and the Taxis teasing the Rick(ety)shaws, who in turn boss over the cyclists and hand carts. And, the “cycle” continues and turns over to a new wheel…
What can I say about the cleanliness habits of Mumbai denizens or rather the lack of it? It can shame any body to see well-read and well-educated civilians spraying pan remnants at corners, footpaths or sometimes even showing sartorial inclinations.
Roads are infested with potholes as if it’s an infectious disease. They seem to spread from one road to another and some of them are large enough to engulf an entire car in its confines. One needs to be warned if there is any road without any potholes since each one has them. Not having a pothole on a road would mean a shock to the driver causing serious mental anguish.
Everyone is in a state of hurry. From one place to another, from one window to another, from one meeting to another and not to forget from one pillar to another “post”. Its as if, living in Bombay is running on a treadmill, If u stop you fall down and get hurt and if you keep running u still get no where.
Last but not the least in the list of Bombay (still like the ring to the ol’ name) lows, one cant not mention the slums, which have usurped the lives of citizens. From Bombay or Mumbai to Slumbay or slumbai ..its not too far when the city will finally burst at its seams and the very infrastructure that’s its proud of today will eventually relent to its ever increasing immigrating population. Also, whether its cream of Bollywood, Fashion or Corporate circle, it will finally say good bye to the very land which has provided hope and realized dreams of millions of Indians who found it only in the heart of this city.

Salaam Mumbai!

Mumbai Voices - Logo and Background

2006-05-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Netizens,
Just a little back ground on the logo of Mumbai Voices which has been specially designed by my creative sister, the logo has been aptly named as Kaliedoscope, true to the nature of Mumbai spirit...dynamic, evolving and a melting pot that it is.

If you look at it closely the logo represents a human chain in a circle which reflects the unity in diversity that our city can proudly speak of. Also, the logo symbolises a design seen thru a kaliedoscope.

Mumbai's undying energy is what keeps it alive. Its the people that make the city is very true in Mumbai's case.
Hence, to make a better Mumbai we have to use the resources of Mumbaiites who if given an opportunity will definitely contribute to the society.
Such efforts normally start with collective voices which then snow ball into a bigger and more louder groups and then movements.
Hence Mumbai Voices.

The idea of Mumbai voices is to get people who care for the city to come forward and contribute in their own lil way towards the city who has given us means of livelihood and a better future.

We have always wanted to do something for the society. But for lack of time, energy, initiative, money etc we have always found some excuse or other. We as individuals if given a platform can do wonderful contributions to the city but wondered how?, where?, when? and what?

Hence Mumbai Voices.

This is just a small beginning
Welcome to Mumbai voices with your suggestions, opinions, facts about the city, ideas, stories and anecdotes.
Lets make it happen!

Watch this space for the first essay. Coming soon...

Mission Mumbai

2006-05-26T02:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome Netizens to the world of Mumbai Voices...
A hang out where citizens (or not) of Mumbai voice their opinions on anything related to spirit of Mumbai....
People, Land grabbing, Pollution, Night life, BEST, Bollywood, Mithi river, Lonavla, Crowded trains, Zhopadpattis, Fort walks, Siddhi Vinayak temple, Chowpatty, CRZ, Dalal Street, Multiplexes, Amitabh Bacchan, Traffic snarls, Pot holes, BMC, 26/7, Private Airlines, First Day First Show, Ganpati Bappa, Open spaces, Page 3, Corruption, Politicians, Sachin Tendulkar, Reservations, Gateway of India, Chor Bazaar, Under world, Nariman Point, Pubs, The Times of India, Vada Pav, Real Estate, NGO's and much much more.

Its going to be a mixed bag I assure you, true to the melting pot nature of Mumbai. Mumbai Voices will be anecdotes, heroic stories, opinions, strong opinions, statistics, current affairs, scoops, suggestions, humour, anger, sadness and sheer attitude.

Mumbai voices invites you to do just that...be a part of this world and make a difference to the place where you live.
Salaam Mumbai. Salaam Mumbaiite!