Aapun ka blog, aapun ke vichaar

Oh James, when will you ever learn

2010-02-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

I have grown up reading Amar Chitra Katha stories, Aesops fables, Hitopadesh etc. I even had most of those comics in my collection. All stories had a moral at the end which somehow stays with you even when you have outgrown the comics. One such story I remember is about 2 monkeys fighting over a peice of meat and a cunning fox who offers to divide the meat equally between the two. Let me give you a refresher...

Two monkeys were fighting amongst themselves to divide a peice of meat into two equal parts. Along came a fox. So, He offered the monkeys to divide the meat for them and they let him do it. But, the two pieces of meat were not equal so the wise fox nibbled and nibbled to try to make them the same for each monkey. Suddenly, the meat was gone and the monkeys were left whining while the fox ran away laughing. Those monkeys had learned a lesson - Dont let others take advantage of your internal quarrels.

This was just a story, but the moral still applies to real life. If we think of Pakistan as the wily fox, there should be no prizes for guessing who the monkeys were and what the meat is. Nevertheless, lets thank the deserving people of India for everything that we have achieved so far.

Dear Politicians,
Thank you for putting Pune on the International map. We couldn't have done this without you.

Regards,
Common man

Have we learnt the lesson yet?

Mohan Kumar Vs James Cameroon

2009-12-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

Around 1994 James Cameroon got the idea to make Avtaar, but the idea was put on hold because he had to wait until the technology necessary to create his project was advanced enough. Finally around 2007 they began filming Avtaar and after 2 long years it is now running to packed houses in theatres across the world. Sometimes I really feel these hollywood directors have no vision. How can they wait 15 yrs to make a movie and that too at a budget of over $400M. We Indians are far more futuristic when it comes to making movies. Almost 10 yrs before James Cameroon even thought of making Avtaar, an Indian director by the name of Mohan Kumar had already released his version of Avtaar.

The year was 1983 when a family social drama called Avtaar was released. The film starred Rajesh Khanna in an award winning role, Shabana Azmi and AK Hangal. Rajesh Khanna playes Avtaar Kishan who lives with his wife Radha, two sons Ramesh and Chander and servant Sevak. They lead a poor lifestyle and Rajesh Khanna toils hard in order to earn money so that their children can get good education. One day while working at the factory he meets with an accident and permanently hurts his hand which renders him helpless. They get more and more dependent on their children who are now aspiring to lead a good lifestyle and find their parents a burden on them. As fate would have it, Avtaar, his wife and servant Sevak are forced to leave the house since one of his son has transferred the house to his wife’s name without informing Avtaar. Now the homeless Avtaar Kissan and family are dependent on their servant Sevak for survival. What happens next is quite inspiring and tells us how Avtaar kishan works hard and becomes a rich man and teaches his children a lesson which they will never forget. Its a classic tale of good begets evil shown in full family drama style. Who can forget Rajesh Khanna going to his favourite pan shop and extending his hand for getting the pan. Rajesh Khanna was nominated for best actor that year which he failed to win, however the film remains a classic nevertheless. Hats off to Mohan Kumar the visionary. He didnt need technology to create the masterpeice called Avtaar.

Having seen our own original version of Avtaar, I am waiting to see what different James Cameroon has to offer. I have heard he has made some changes to the script and replaced Rajesh Khanna with some blue coloured aliens. The new movie is made in 3D so that you feel as if you are into the movie, but frankly the original Avtaar was so heart warming that you didnt need to be into the movie, the movie would get into you by the time you finished watching it. So next time you have Avtaar playing on TV, dont miss it.

On a lazy sunday...

2008-11-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

Woke up on a lazy sunday morning. The clock struck 10am. 1/4th of my day was over without even doing anything. After performing all the early morning rites, I finally settled down on my sofa only to find out that there was no electricity and my house was running on an inverter. What a way to start. Me and my wife had plans to watch a movie on saturday, but my lazy self refused to move out of the house and so today I had to make efforts to get out of the house and entertain the wife. So we had breakfast, got ready and were ready to go out by 1pm.

While in the car, I realised that I had forgotten to check the movie schedules and had no idea whether there would be a show running. Ofcourse I never thought about the tickets as I firmly believe that when you want to see a movie with all your heart, the whole universe stands behind you to ensure that you succeed in doing so. This is a line I have been using for quite some time, but later I learnt that it has been used in a contorted fashion in one of Shahrukh khan's movies. No issues, I have used his dialogues many times too. Anyway, we reached the multiplex and I told my wife to go check if tickets are available, I will be waiting outside and wont park the car if we dont get the tickets. So I parked in front of a mechanics workshop while she went to check. Poor mechanic kept hoping there was something wrong with my car and kept looking eagerly in my direction. I could sense that, but I kept looking straight. Then I got a call. No, it wasn't the call from GOD like it happens in the movie 'Hello', but it was from my wife. She told me that for the movie 'Fashion', only the first row tockets were available, so should she take them. I'm the sort of person who can watch a movie standing if the need arises, so I told her in a most reluctant tone, that if thats all thats available, lets take it, no point going back home after coming so far. Since she had managed to get the tickets, I decided to go and park the car in the multiplex parking lot. They charged me a whopping 40 bucks, thats daylight robbery. Anyway, after parking the car, I came out and my wife told me that she had managed to get front row tickets to 'Golmaal Returns'. I couldnt believe the horror. Why 'Golmaal Returns'?? and that too front row seats? She said she got confused at the ticket window as people all around her were murmuring 'Golmaal Returns' and 'Fashion' and when the person at the counter asked her, she blurted out "Two tickets for Golmaal Returns please". Damn, I was hoping to see 'Fashion' and here I was standing with 2 tickets of 'Golmaal Returns'. I was hoping none of my friends saw me watching that movie. But I consoled myself thinking that since they were front row tickets, the hall is full, so the movie must be good. At the back of my mind, I knew the movie is crap from all the reviews I had read last week. But what about 'Fashion'? I convinced my wife that we should watch that as well and so she got back into line and bought 2 tickets for the 6:15 show. Now I was happy, we were finally on the way to doing something useful today.

We had about 45 mins before the show started. We decided to do what most people do to kill time. We walked into the mall next to the multiplex. There is a big Odyssey book store inside. We walked around in the store for 15-20 mins and then came out after buying cello tape :) Thats right, cello tape, the thin strip of sticky plastic that is used when wrapping fancy paper on gifts. I would say it was a good buy. Next is what? Here I am not referring to the samsung ad by aamir khan, but it was a self answering question which meant, what do we do for lunch? The unanimous vote was that we have one vada pav at the roadside tapri on the other side of the mall. The food there is better than the one we get inside the mall, and cheaper too. After eating we headed straight for Hall No. 5, the biggest one among the 5 screens. There was a huge crowd waiting to get in. I was just hoping the movie was half as good as I didnt want a headache before the start of the next movie. Clock struck 2:30, the gates to heaven opened and we walked in. There was no problem in finding the seats as we had the best seats of all, front row seats.

Movie started with a song. I would have sung it if there was some way to add voice to the blog, but for now please excuse me. There was one gag after another and thats all there was in the movie. I was just waiting to understand the plot or the basic premise of the movie, sadly I failed. But I must admit, there was some laughing moments and to tell the truth (I know its hard to digest), I didnt get bored. It was an average movie. I had not liked the first 'Golmaal' and I kept wondering why did this 'Golmaal Return'. Movie ended, we got out and had masala dosas for lunch. Still 40 mins to kill, so what do we do? We walk into the mall next door again. My wife is tempted to go inside the stores, but I hold her back and convince her to window shop instead. Those of you who are married, will agree with me that this is not an easy thing to do. After a short while we were back in the multiplex waiting for the gates of hall No. 3 to open. I was hoping someone wasnt keeping tabs on me. They would have found me suspicious, after all who in his sane mind watches 'Golmaal Return' and then actually returns to watch another movie. But I am a patient man. We took our seats, this time in the 7th row. This was a 3 hour movie, but I didnt mind as it was supposed to be good. The movie turned out to be good and it was paisa vasool as I would term it in my bambaiya hindi. It was 9:15pm when we came out of the multiplex.

The grand finale of the evening was still left. What about dinner? we looked at each other. We had to decide between chinese and pizza and so we decided to have a sizzler instead. Walked into Kobe Sizzlers and ordered the sizzling chicken with pepper sauce. Service was not that great and so after eating we left without tipping the sad looking waiter. Maybe he had seen 'Golmaal Returns' earlier in the day. After a 15 min drive we reached home, ready to crash into bed. It was going to be a monday morning the next day and I would actually have to go to office, and work too. I would much rather watch 'Karzzz'. Zzzzzzzzz

Put on your hiking shoes, lets go...

2007-04-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

We kept walking. It seemed like the trail ahead had no end. Turning back was not an option. We had to keep going in order to reach anywhere near civilization. Every now and then someone cracked a joke which created ripples of laughter amongst us. Our tired legs begged us to stop for a while, but we had to keep going. It would be sunset soon and we did not want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Our legs were getting heavier. Then three of us stopped and sat down. They were exhausted. The rest of us kept going. After some time two more gave up and stopped to catch their breath. The two of us kept waking. After some time we couldn’t take it any more. We lied down on our backs. The sun shone on our faces. Sweat trickled down my forehead. I closed my eyes and smiled. My mind was drifting into an empty abyss…

The alarm rang sharply at 6 in the morning. I woke up and rubbed my eyes. Didn’t really feel like waking up this early on a Sunday morning. We were supposed to go hiking; our destination was Gatineau Park, a large 360 sq km camping and hiking area located in Quebec. We planned to leave home by 8 am, but as usual we got late and left by 9 am. We reached Rideau center and then decided to have breakfast before leaving (One of the best decisions that day). After having a nice cup of French vanilla and a bagel with butter, my stomach felt relieved. We packed 7 bagels for lunch. We were ready to leave. There were seven of us. We took 2 taxis and reached our destination in about 20 minutes. We were at the edge of the park near the parking lot. We walked about a kilometer to look for a trail map, which could give us directions. We finally found one and decided to take the trail leading to pink lake. It was some 7 km long.

With backpacks on our shoulder and camera in hand we started out. It was a concrete trail with dry grass and weeds on both sides. A lot of cyclists and joggers could be seen on the trail. We kept walking, cracking jokes, taking pictures and generally having fun. The trail seemed to be very long. Every now and then a cyclist would cross us or a jogger would run past us. After walking for about 2-3 km’s we reached a sign which said pink lake was 4.5 km away by the concrete trail and about 3.5 km by the forest trail. We decided to play smart and took the forest trail. The trail led us through muddy roads and fallen trees. Occasionally we came across a pond with turtles or water snakes. There was pin drop silence apart from the sound of the wood peckers. The trail didn’t seem too end. We were going up an incline and it was getting difficult. It was 2 hrs since we were walking and pink lake was nowhere in sight. We were getting frustrated. After walking another half hr we saw a parking lot in the distance. We were shocked, had we taken a wrong turn somewhere? We were supposed to reach the lake by this time. As we neared the parking lot, we spotted a huge water body glistening in the sun. We had reached pink lake at last.

Pink lake was not pink really. It inherited its name from a family who settled in the region in 1826. The lake was surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides with lots of greenery surrounding it. A hiking trail ran all the way round the lake. We didn’t have the energy to explore that. It was almost noon and we were very hungry. We found a nice spot in the shade and started eating the bagels we had carried along. We were glad we had carried enough drinking water as there wasn’t a single water fountain along the trail. We spent almost an hour near the lake. It was very quite and serene. We took a lot of pictures too. After sometime we decided to leave but couldn’t figure out the way out of the park. We didn’t have a map with us. After asking a few people we concluded that the only way out of the park was going back to the place we had started from. This meant walking back 7-8 km’s. Our legs were too tired for another long walk. But we had no choice. We kept walking for another 2 hours, but the exit was nowhere in sight. We were really exhausted by that time.

…I opened my eyes and looked around me. The other people in our group had reached near us. We got up and started walking again. We kept walking for another half hr when we spotted a lot of buildings on the horizon. We were close to the exit now. We felt rejuvenated and started walking faster. Finally after some time we reached the place we had started from. Now the question was how we get a taxi to take us to the place where we could take a bus to go home. Since there was nothing around we had to walk another 1 km on the highway to reach a food mall from where we could call a taxi. But before doing that we decided to eat something. Everyone was feeling starved. I had a juicy chicken burger with fries and a large cola. It tasted like heaven. After sometime our taxi arrived and we left for home.

This is how our hiking expedition ended. We reached home extremely tired and barely able to move. After taking a hot shower and having some food and a tablet of crocin, I slept off. Sleep came easily that day and was very sweet. I had to wake up at 6 am next morning. It was going to be a tiring Monday morning. If you have managed to read this blog till here, your effort is by no means less than my hiking experience.

The Big Fat Bollywood Wedding

2007-04-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

*whew* It's finally over. The whole country was waiting for this wedding to happen since so many months. It must be a matter of national pride that Abhishek Bachchan decided to marry Aishwarya Rai, or maybe it was the other way round. Mark 20th April in your calenders. It's a pretty historic day. Who knows, our great Indian government might even declare a holiday on this date next year onwards. The media is celebrating, the people are celebrating and of course I am too. But not because it has happened, but because it is finally over. All websites and news channels worth their salt have been covering the wedding. All other national and international news has taken a backseat. So what if some people have been killed in Kashmir or some bus has collapsed in the river, it is more important to cover the wedding proceedings of the most eligible bachelor in town with the most beautiful woman in the world.

The actual circus was a 3 day affair which started on 18th April. They started with the traditional sangeet or music ceremony where the relatives of the couple sing and dance and make merry. I'm sure it must have been a bollywood style event. Then on the 19th they had the mehendi ceremony which I don't have much details about. Not that I care, but just for your information. and lastly on the 20th April happened the grand finale with all the circus performers gathering at Amitabh Bachchan's big bungalow where the wedding etc took place. And yes, the circus had a huge audience which consisted of the jobless Indian public and the spineless Indian media. Only some exclusive people were invited for the wedding. The wedding card was pretty fancy itself consisting of some white gold embossed stuff. I did not receive an invite so I cant give more details. Of course Amar singh was there along with a host of bollywood stars and directors. I wonder why Salman khan was not invited. He was such a good friend of Aishwariya rai. And Vivek Oberoi was nowhere to be seen too. Maybe they were busy with their shoots.

I don't blame the Indian public for taking so much interest in their wedding. After all an event like this does not happen everyday. Those people will be proud to tell their grand children that they had attended the Abhiash wedding. Well almost. So what if they were not allowed to see their favourite stars taking the saat pheras, so what if they were not allowed to be a part of the sangeet, so what if they were not invited for the reception. Some poor fellows came all the way from allahabad saying that they were going to attend the wedding of their own brother/son etc. We Indians are such emotional fools. The media did their job beautifully. They covered every aspect of the wedding, from the time aishwariya started buying her wedding clothes, their engagement, the preparation for the sangeet, the baaraat etc. They kept us up to date with who had arrived for the wedding, who was leaving and even what each guest was wearing. I came to know that everyone was in an orange turban but Anil ambani was in a red one. I wish they would cover their honeymoon with the same enthusiasm. I'm sure the whole of India will be glued to their TV sets and the TRP of the channels will hit roof top. Too bad I'm not in India. AajTak is sabse tez. who knows, the AajTak camera is already covering it live.

Now the whole country will be waiting for their child to be born. Will he look like Abhishek or Aishwariya or maybe Amitabh? Indian people just need something to keep their idle minds occupied. Now they will be looking to crown the next most eligible bachelor in town. Who can it be? Salman Khan? tushar kapoor? Anyway let then look around, I'm going to browse through the Internet for some more masala on the Abhiash wedding. I'm so excited !!!

...Aur irani chai

2007-04-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

I was in my 12th standard then. Me and my friend took off towards Bombay Central on a weekend. Our destination was lamington road, a mecca for computer accessories in Bombay. As we alighted from the bus (Number 66) near opera house, it was nearly lunch time. We decided to have lunch and then continue. My friend recommended that we eat at an Irani cafe. Now I was really hungry and in no mood to experiment. I had never been to an Irani cafe before. But he promised me a good meal at a throwaway price. That changed my mind as I never had enough money those days. Whatever money I had saved was going to be spent on buying some computer accessories. So I agreed and started searching for one.

We found one Irani cafe located in an old building complex. Looking at the place, I had second thoughts about eating there. It looked quite ancient. Perhaps the mughals had their breakfast there. But hunger made us walk inside. Inside the ambiance was quite and serene, with people eating and generally minding their own business (A quality of Bombay). We ordered Keema pav (Minced meat with bread) as it seemed to be the cheapest and most filling lunch item we could find on the menu. Our stomachs were rumbling as we waited. But the wait was worth it. It was probably the tastiest keema pav I had ever eaten. After that we had a cup of Irani tea. It was then that I fell in love with Irani cafe's. After that day, whenever I was in town side, I would make it a point to drop in to an Irani cafe if there was one in the vicinity.

Most of these cafes are concentrated in and around Mahim, Byculla, Colaba, Dadar and Bandra and are run by Parsis. All of them have similar interiors and furniture. There will be small tables with red checked tablecloths or marble tops. The waiters will not be smartly dressed, but the service will be fast and hassle free. The food will taste almost the same everywhere. There is nothing fancy about the place, but it makes you come back again. These cafes are mostly frequented by the working class people who drop in for some quick and cheap food. Some of the popular cafes are, Kyani and Co, Cafe Mondegar, Cafe Leopold, Brittania cafe etc. As you enter the cafe, the smell of fresh baked mawa cakes and other baked products will greet you. Another hot selling item is Bun-Maska (bread-butter) and Chai.

These cafes were frequented by film stars many years ago. Many of them are over a century old. These days they are losing their charm in front of the more westernized and modern eateries. The newer generation probably don't even know of their existance. If things continue this way, a part of Bombay's culture and heritage will slowly be lost in time. I however hold fond memories of the place.

A weekend with God

2007-04-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

This Saturday happened to be Vaisakhi which is the Punjabi new year and marks the beginning of the harvest season in Punjab. Vaisakhi falls on the 14th of April every year. Vaisakhi is the day on which the Khalsa (The Pure Ones) was born and Sikhs were given a clear identity and a code of conduct to live by. The event was led by the last living Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who baptised the first Sikhs using sweet nectar called Amrit. Around the world at Vaisakhi time, Sikhs and Punjabi's reflect on the values taught to them by their Gurus and celebrate the birth of the Khalsa.

This time around I happen to be in Canada and got the opportunity to visit the local Gurudwara here. It's around 6-7 Kms from my house. I went there with my aunt, uncle and cousin. We reached there at around 4:30 in the afternoon by car. It looked like not may people had turned up yet as the parking lot was almost empty. The Gurudwara building itself did not look like a conventional Gurudwara building as you can see in the picture. But it was the same calm and serene atmosphere as it is in almost all Gurudwaras. We entered the building and walked into a room to remove our footwear and jackets. Unlike India, there was no one to take the footwear and stack it in the shelves. We did that ourselves and put the jackets on the hangers provided. We then proceeded towards the main hall. It was largely empty with 1-2 people sitting. After offering prayers, we sat there for some time. I took the opportunity to thank God for everything he has given me in the past few months. I couldn't have asked for more. After a while we walked out towards the hall. This was the langar hall. It was a big carpeted hall with a neat row of washbasins on one side and a kitchen on the other. Lots of people were busy cooking food for the evening celebrations. We ate some pakoras and had nice tea. After a few hours the program was to start and a large number of people were expected. But unfortunately we had to leave. After my uncle showed me around a bit, we collected our jackets, put on our shoes and walked out. This is when I took the picture you are seeing above.

So this was one of my infrequent visits to the Gurudwara. I'm not an atheist, but somehow over the past few years I haven't visited the Gurudrawa much. Before this I had been to the Gurudwara in Bangalore. But then I had gone there for the first time in the 4-5 yrs that I spent in Bangalore. I believe that God is everywhere and as long as I am true to myself and good to people, God will not mind me not going to the Gurudwara. Maybe that's why he is making things work for me. But sometimes it does feel good to go there and sit in the calm environment. It gives lots of peace of mind. Anyway, I hope this was not the last time I visited the Gurudwara here. I definitely need to go back again to try the langar :-)

Backstreet dogs

2007-04-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

The auto stopped near my lane. I got off, paid him off and started walking towards my house. It was quite late. The movie was too long. I removed my watch and slipped it into my pocket. It's an unsafe world. Who knows when I might get mugged. My ears were alert and my eyes were roving around as I walked. Suddenly I felt as if someone was walking behind me. Its never a good feeling when you think someone is following you. I continued to walk without looking back. Then I felt some movement just behind me. A chill ran down my spine. My house was still a good 100 meters away. Should I run? Should I turn behind and face him? My mind was in confusion. Then I slowly turned around and stared into those bloodshot eyes. They stared back at me. For a few seconds we just stood there staring at each other. I knew I was no match for him. It would be wise to run, but that was futile. I was trapped. Money, cellphone, watch were not things he wanted. Perhaps he would be satisfied by my blood or a peice of my flesh. Maybe I was dinner for him. I bent down, picked up a stone and swung my arm as if throwing the stone. He immedietly backed off and started barking, his teeth glistening in the moonlight. Then from nowhere 5-10 dogs started barking with him in tandem and I heard all of them running towards us. So the entire gang was coming and I was alone. I swung my arm again, this time more menacingly and started running towards my house. As I ran I looked over my shoulder to see the entire gang of dogs chasing me. This was life. The hunter was the hunted today.

It's not that I hate dogs, I just dont adore them. And I cant be blamed, because of incidents like the one above, which have happened to me on several occasions. I have been chased all my life, not by girls (unfortunately), but by dogs. They used to chase me when I used to go to school on my cycle. Early in the morning I had to zip past them, but somehow they would know and they would take the trouble of waking up from their sweet sleep and chasing me for some distance. What did they get out of it? I never came to know. I used to go for tutions. As soon as I entered the house, their dog would come running, stick his tongue out and start wagging his tail. When I sat down on the chair, he would come and start licking me. And I couldnt even swear at him in the presence of my teacher. Once I got very fitness concious and joined a gym (I know ppl like me dont look good in the gym). I used to wake up at 5am, get ready and walk to the gym. It used to be pitch dark outside, the whole world would besleeping, except for my friends, the dogs. They used to start barking the moment I passed them. Then all the neighbothood dogs joined in the fun. There were times when I had to turn back and return home running. But I consoled myself saying that running was excercise too.

But when I go back in time, I know for a fact that I liked dogs. I have some childhood pictures to prove that. I never had a pet dog, but I was friendly with the dogs in the neighbourhood. One particular black one (whom we called kaalu) used to almost stay in our courtyard. I would feed it peices of bread, buiscuits or even milk sometimes. Then one day he disappeared. I never saw him again. Occasionally me and my friends used to pick puppies and bring them to our house. We would play around and feed them. Ofcourse I wasn't allowed to bring those dogs inside the house because they would dirty the house. Somewhere down the line, I lost interest in dogs (I suppose) but they gained interest in me, and thats probably why they chase me wherever I go. Today, I love dogs. I dont mind having a dog at home. Infact I wouldn't mind having 2 dogs at home. But they should be of the soft toy variety ;-)

Visiting canada.com

2007-04-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

I woke up with a start, my eyes barely opening. I cursed the hour when I had set the alarm to ring at 5:30 in the morning. I slammed the button on top and set it to snooze for another 5 mins and closed my eyes hoping to catch up with some more sleep. Sleep is the sweetest thing in this world. Very faithfully my alarm went off again in 5 mins and I had no choice but to wake up. I looked around me, darkness everywhere. A thin ray of light had entered the room through the overhead window. My room mates were sleeping peacefully while I had to rush and get ready and then take a conf call from home. I would have rather slept for half hour more. Life has become such a routine. Wake up in the morning, sleep for some more time, hit the snooze button several times before finally waking up. Then sit and think whether to take a bath or not. Take a bath if the inner voice says so or else just brush your teeth, answer natures call and get ready. Keep the eggs for boiling while preparing a hot cup of coffee. When the eggs are done, remove the shell, cut the eggs into two pieces, put some salt, some black pepper (drool) and eat it silently while watching the weather channel.

It has been one month since I have been following this routine. Life here moves according to the weather channel. This is what I was told when I reached here and I try to follow that advice seriously. The day starts with switching on the TV (I do have a TV in my house) and putting on the weather channel. A smart dude along with a beautiful (seriously) girl, gives the local weather report. If they say its going to snow, it does snow. If they say its going to be a clear day, it is indeed a clear day. So depending on what they say, I decide how many layers of clothes to wear that day. Ofcourse sometimes things go wrong and I come home freezing. Unfortunately there is no fireplace in my house and we have to rely on the heater to make things feel nice. I sometimes feel like a piece of meat lying in the freezer. But atleast I have layers and layers of clothes to protect me from the cold and I can still breathe. Coming from a country where even a temperature of 15 degrees is considered to be cold, I was greeted by -15 degrees the day I landed here. There was snow all around and I was hardly prepared for it. The locals people seemed happy because it was getting warmer for them. -15 degrees was by no means warm for me and to top it the wind chill made it feel like -25 degrees. There was a day when the temperature dropped to -40 degrees. Its too cold to even think about it now.

It does not matter what shirt im wearing. It does not matter if the shirt is clean or dirty. It does not matter if the shirt if ironed or not. And it definitely does not matter if I have taken a bath or not. Its just too cold for these things to matter. Whichever shirt I wear gets hidden beneath my full sleeves sweater. Only the collar is visible. So the collar is really the only thing I need to wash and iron. And since I have just one sweater here, it may seem like I wear the same clothes to office everyday. I wonder what the people there must think of me. Anyway waiting for it to get warmer so I can shed some clothes, the sweater and thermals I mean. I've heard spring is really beautiful here, trees grow leaves while people shed clothes :)

So what does one do in a forsaken place as this. Definitely can't sit at home on the weekends. Places like these have a lot of things to do, even in winters. Few of us went ice skating at the canal here. It happens to be the longest skating rink in the world. Our group was the center of attraction there, not because we were skating well, but because we could barely stand on our feet and were landing our bottoms on the ice quite frequently. Last week we had a snow fight outside our house which attracted our neighbor's attention because of the din we created. Apart from that we have been roaming around downtown, watching movies, visiting museums, window shopping (Too poor to buy anything), Eating pizza's, burgers and drinking Tim Hortons coffee. All in all things are not so bad here, this is Canada and I'm enjoying myself here. Spring is just around the corner and I have 5 months more to go. I'm hoping this trip will bring more excitement in the coming months. And ofcourse when I'm not sightseeing, I go to office and work for a while :)

V for Vendetta

2007-02-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

It was one of the darkest days of my life. I had lost my best friend recently. As I sat there thinking about him, there was only one thought on my mind, revenge. I swore to finish off the man who had taken away his life. After spending a week in remorse, I finally got things together and started planning the whole thing.

First thing I needed to do was to get in shape. Since I didnt want to make myself too conspicuous, I started excercising at night. I would work out when the whole world slept. After about 2 weeks I felt confident about myself. I didnt want to use any weapons as I was sure I could take care of HIM unarmed. I began keeping a watch on HIS movements to understand his daily routine and to find out a time when HE will be most vulnerable.

Finally I decided on the D day. 2 hours before action time, I entered into HIS room and hid behind the sofa. HE had not come yet and would be unaware of my presence and the plans that I had in store for HIM. I was sweating. I sat there waiting for HIM to come. Then at around 10 pm HE walked in and switched on the light. He was whistling. Little did he know what was in store for him. I closed my eyes, remembered my friend and promised him that today it will be HIM or me.

I slid out of my position and made HIM aware of my presence. I did not want to attack him from behind. I wanted to make him go through the same pain as my friend has been through. As he turned our eyes met for the first time. I knew this was now or never. My heart was thumping like crazy. Then I saw fear in HIS eyes. For about 30 seconds we stared at each other not knowing who will attack first.

I took courage and charged towards him. Panic gripped HIM and he started running and dodging me. HE then tried to find a weapon to tackle me. The closest HE could find at that time was a steel rod. I didnt let that deter me. I wanted to handle him unarmed. HE gathered his wits together and started attacking me with the rod. Now at this point of time I should tell you that me being a small cockroach, found it a bit difficult to fight with this human, but I did not lose hope.

After a few rounds of running around, both of us were exhausted. Neither of us managed to inflict any injury on the other. Finally I decided to take my revenge some other day when I was better prepared. I quickly dodged under the closest wardrobe. As I was leaving, I turned back and saw my assailant breathing with relief. Until another day, I vow to return...

A lot can happen over coffee

2007-01-23T22:04:00.000-08:00

I have been a coffee drinker for as long as I can remember. After I moved to Bangalore over 4 years ago, the addiction became even stronger as coffee is the preferred drink in south India. Then I got introduced to Cafe Coffee day and coffee was never the same again. Since then I have downed countless cups of Cappuccino and still yearn for more. A lot can happen over coffee, is the tag line Coffee Day has. Well, to be honest, nothing has ever happened to me except maybe some clumsy guy spilling coffee on me. But I guess this tag line does work for some people. Sitting in a coffee shop, you sometimes get to see some interesting people walk in, you sometimes get to overhear their conversation, you can hear them talk about love, fight over silly things etc. Few weeks back when I was a regular to Cafe Coffee day, I happened to be a part of some interesting proceedings. Well arranged marriages can land you up in interesting situations anyway.

I was occupying the corner table of the coffee shop when a couple walked in. It looked to me as if they had come in together and yet there was a distance between them. They took the table right next to mine. I had really nothing to do, so thought might as well enjoy some of their conversation. There was an awkward silence on their table. I thought perhaps they had an argument and so were not talking to each other. But it was only later that I found out that they had come for one of those typical meetings where they are supposed to get to know each other so that an arranged marriage could be arranged. So anyway, a conversation did start and there were moments of silence in between. Both of them clearly looked uncomfortable in the situation they were in. The guy was definitely not a good conversationalist and the girl kept reminding him of that fact. Apparently I understood that the previous day their families had met at the girls’ house, where the initial meeting took place. Nothing spectacular happened that day and so they had decided to meet some place outside, the next day. And so, here they were, trying to talk to each other, and then there was me, trying to overhear their conversation. They kept talking with momentary lapses in between and after nearly 2 hrs, decided to split and go home. I don’t think they had reached any conclusion yet. I wanted to give the guy some tips, as conversation was clearly not his area of expertise. I finished my coffee and left too.

Next day at about the same time, I was sipping coffee at the same place when suddenly the events of the previous day came to my mind. I was wondering what happened to the couple. Did they decide to go ahead with it or was that the end of the episode. Arranged marriages are not an easy proposition to deal with. It’s almost like walking into a casino and hoping that it will be your lucky day. You might win heavily, but then bankruptcy is also a possibility. Well anyway, nothing much was happening over coffee that day, so I quickly finished mine and walked off.

The following day as I walked into the coffee shop at approximately the same time, I found them sitting there. I smiled in my mind and quietly occupied the table behind them. So obviously they were not done yet and the door was still open for them. I could hear them talking on all sorts of vague topics, but mostly to do with likes and dislikes. They appeared more relaxed today but still the conversation seemed to be getting nowhere. The clock was ticking and there was nothing which could tell me whether they wanted to go ahead with this proposal. It seemed to me that the girl had some expectations, which were not being fulfilled by the guy and so she was quite unsure of even giving some positive vibes. The guy on the other hand, didn’t seem to know what to expect and was just looking for some positive reaction in order to take the matter forward. All this was taking too long and finally one of the waiters had to request them to leave, as there were other people waiting outside. They left the Coffee shop while I finished my croissant. After about half an hour when I walked out of the shop, they were not to be seen. I guessed they had called it another inconclusive day and left. But then I saw them walking on the streets and it appeared they were walking all the while since they left the coffee shop. So they had more things to discuss. Too bad I could not find out more.

The next day was quite busy for me and I was unable to stop over at the coffee shop. But on my way home, I noticed that they were sitting in another coffee shop down the road. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check up on them once again. So as usual I took the table behind them. The atmosphere looked tense that day. From the little conversation that they were having, I could gather that there was some major discussion at the girls’ house regarding the proposal and willingly or unwillingly she had given in. She appeared quite confused and apprehensive of the way things were moving so fast. The guy kept asking her if there was undue pressure on her to say yes. He was clearly not comfortable in going ahead with the proposal if it had been forced on the girl. There was not much talking that day and they just sat there with random thoughts in their minds. I saw the guy pointing to the Coffee day tag line "A lot can happen over coffee" and telling the girl that as far as they were concerned, nothing much was happening as of yet. There was silence again. After some time 2 more people joined them at their table and all of them decided to go out for dinner. They looked to be related to the girl in some way. They paid the bill and left and I was on my way home.

The events of the past few days set me thinking and gave me a new perspective on arranged marriages. It didn't seem like a bad deal after all. Not everyone in this world is able to find a soul mate and if those unlucky ones are able to find their soul mate through the medium of arranged marriages, its still gr8. Of course the proceedings that go into arranging a match is quite frustrating at times. It may also seem scary to spend your life with someone whom you hardly know. You may enjoy talking to someone and spending some time with him, but it’s a different ball game altogether when you have to spend your life with him. But anyway I hope the couple were happy with their decision and would make the best of their lives. I didn't hope to see them again in the coffee shop, but I supposed they would be spending time with each other somewhere else, maybe taking a drive to some hill top, having a nice quite dinner somewhere or even watching a movie. I would never know. The New Year was already here and I just hoped that it will bring in a lot of happiness for both of them and their families.

As for me, my parents were also on the lookout for a girl for me as they thought its time I got married. And of course its going to be an arranged marriage for me as well because I have spent most of my life in the Coffee shop watching other people get on with their lives while I was sitting alone sipping coffee. But I have started believing in one thing, a lot can indeed happen over coffee!!!

Looking forward...

2007-01-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

It's been 7 days in the new year. This should be a good time to see where I find myself at the beginning of the new year. In order to do that I am going to go back one year and analyze the events which may influence the way the current year is going to treat me.

I celebrated the last new year in Japan. It wasn't an all night party, but a small group of friends having some good time in a Karaoke bar. Though I can't sing, my friends were very nice to hear me attempt it. We had some good singers amongst us and we thoroughly enjoyed the night. We didn't stay late as we had to work the next day. Our Japanese clients expected us to work even on the new year holidays. We were working on a project with very aggressive deadlines for which Long hours were put in and there were innumerable nightouts. At times we felt like just giving it all up and run away, but the thought of reaching the final goal kept us going. Around Feb-March we were mentally and physically tired. The project was drawing to an end and so was our patience. I had never worked so hard in my professional career. It was like hitting a high. I returned to India around mid march and resumed work in my Bangalore office.

Sitting offshore and providing technical support for the project which we were doing onsite was not a difficult task, but it was not very interesting either. As far as I was concerned, I had put in my bit and it was time for others to take over and carry it forward. I needed something more challeging, something which would invoke the urge to work, something that would make me eager to come to office everyday. Sadly such a thing was not happening and I spent two months on the same project. I had reached a peak in Japan and now I was on a steady decline. Around the same time, our project won an award for the best team effort and I got one for Individual excellence. It was good to see some appreciation come our way. Clearly the first half of 2006 had proved to be very good as far as my professional career was concerned.

On the personal side, things were not looking so good. My parents were eager to get me married and I resisted saying that I was not ready for it. They were busy looking for prospective brides and every now and then I would receive an email asking me to give an opinion about some girl so that things can be carried forward. I was beginning to hate this whole business of match making. Sometimes I would reject a profile just for the sake of it, at other times I wouldn't even see it and then get a lecture from my parents. Somewhere this started affecting my work and I was unable to work aggressively as I used to. Luckily my next project was not very challenging and I was able to put in the required amount of time and effort.

Five months went by, our project was crawling through. We were working with a confused customer who didn't know what he wanted. There was tens of change requests and we seldom got appreciation for any good work. The team morale was low. I was juggling between my personal and professional goals. Nothing was going in the right direction. The project got over and I was moved to another project which probably did not even require my presence. But I was there anyway just for billing purposes. December was almost coming to an end and I did not have much to look forward to in the coming year. I decided to take a break and go to Bombay for a week long vacation. Suddenly things started clicking on the personal front and the year ended on a happy note with a promise of bigger things in the coming year.

On the work front, the hard work put in, in the previous year will reap fruits in the current year. I am getting ready to take up more responsibilities and certain opportunities will enable me to do that. I may take a transfer to Pune and then seriously start thinking of settling down. For four years I've been living on a suitcase literally. I have found the girl of my choice and we may get married towards the end of 2007 (i.e. if she is still interested in me by then). Married life itself will open a new book with a lot of chapters which I will read one page at a time. So right now things look good on the professional as well as personal front. This is going to be a happy new year for me and I wish you a very happy new year as well.

My filmy world

2006-12-19T06:40:00.000-08:00

As far back as I can remember, I've always loved watching movies. Perhaps I picked up this trait from my father who watches just about any movie that is playing on TV, doesn't matter if the movie is about to end or is being shown for the nth time. Every movie is watched with equal amount of enthusiasm as if it is being watched for the first time.

In the late 80's and mid 90's and which were my growing years, if you wanted to watch a movie, you could - go to the cinema, wait for the weekly movie on doordarshan or watch it on the VCR. Watching a movie in a cinema used to be an occasion for the family. We would all get dressed up, pack wafers, biscuits, chocolates, water etc in a carry bag and ride away to the cinema on my dad's scooter. In the interval I would pester my parents for popcorn and cold drinks or in the middle of the movie I would ask my dad to take me to the toilet. I used to enjoy watching the Vicco advertisement at the beginning of the movie. All in all it was a fun experience. Sadly, today I never get the same kind of feeling when I go out to watch a movie. As years went by our trips to the Cinema reduced due to various reasons. But the charm of movies did not die. I used to eagerly wait for the weekly Hindi movie which was shown on Doordarshan. I remember the streets used to be deserted on days when a movie was telecasted on Doordarshan. Hard to imagine something like this today.

Around the same time a phenomenon called VCR had hit the Indian markets. Only a privileged few had one in their homes. I wasn’t among those few. Somehow I realized that the reason we did not have a VCR was probably because it was something which my parents could not afford at that time. I had no complaints about it. One of my friends in the neighborhood had a VCR in his house. So naturally he was our best friend and we used to pay him a visit often. It was important to be in good terms with him so that we would be invited over to his house every time he brought a movie. On any given Sunday if you saw a huge pile of slippers outside his door, you could be sure that the entire neighborhood is watching a movie inside. And you could also be sure that I was among them. Its difficult to remember the number of movies I might have watched in his house, since there are so many.

But everything was not rosy about going to someone’s house to watch a movie. You had to be sensitive to their privacy. At lunch time we used to disperse leaving the movie half finished and with a promise that we will continue it after lunch. I used to rush home and grab a bite so that I would not miss any of the remaining movie. I would then linger outside his house, waiting for his call to come in or sometimes even peeping from his window to confirm that they have not yet started the movie. At times I would feel apprehensive about knocking on his door to be let in.

Somewhere this was noticed by my parents and they decided to get a second hand VCR. That day was one of the happiest days for me. The VCR came, a stand was purchased to keep it, a cover was prepared to protect it from dust and a whole load of instructions were given to me on how to use it. Within no time I got membership at the local video library and rented my first movie which I still remember. Frequently My dad used to take me to the cassette shop to buy movies. In a few years I had a collection of some 25-30 movies which I had watched repeatedly. It used to be a proud day for me when all the other kids in the neighborhood used to come to my house to watch a movie. Obviously the remote control would be in my hand and it was up to me when I did a rewind, fast forward or pause. BTW the remote control was attached to the VCR by a wire in those days unlike the wireless remote controls we have today.

With the advent of Cable TV, the charm of VCR's began to die down and towards the end of 90's Cable TV had completely taken over. My VCR was lying there gathering dust and my entire video cassette collection was giving it company. Finally two yrs back I decided to sell off my prized possession and could get a mere Rs 500 for it. But I'm sure wherever it is, it is resting in peace. The fascination for movies has not died down though. I am as interested in watching movies as I was in my childhood. Im sure my old age will be spent sitting on a rocking chair and going through my movie collection. So the future doesn't look too bad.

Street cuisine

2006-11-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

She sits on the footpath everyday along with her mother. They have with them a small table, stove, frying pan, green chillies, boiled potatoes, pav and garlic chutley. Sitting in the background, the mother makes small balls of mashed potato and drops them into the hot oil to fry them. The potato balls sizzle in the hot oil and turn light brown. They are then removed from the oil and put in a tray ready to be sold. The girl puts some garlic chutney in the pav and serves it with the vada. Not five minutes pass by and the tray is empty. Vada pav has gained such iconic status in Bombay that even the rich and famous can be seen eating vada pav at road side stalls.

There are thousands of road side stalls in Bombay dishing out things like bhel puri, pav bhaji, vada pav, pani puri, sandwich etc. A typical scene in Bombay will be people crowding around some popular road side stall in order to eat something. The idea of eating at a road side stall might seem shocking to an outsider, but it is in fact the way of life in Bombay. Lunch time will see hordes of people swarming these stalls and busy stall owners feeding these hungry people. Bombay cannot be experienced fully without eating at a road side stall. The taste will remain with you forever.

Who said street food is bad for health? During good old school and college days I used to thrive on my daily dose of Vada pavs, sandwiches, bhel puri etc. The taste they used to offer was unmatched. Not even the most expensive restaurants could provide such mouth watering snacks. My favourite dinner destination used to be the road side stalls serving chinese food. Me and my friends used to go there in a group and have a feast. The food there would probably put china to shame, but the taste is unforgettable and ofcourse economic on the pocket too. The good thing about such eating joints was that they used to be open even past midnight. So it was quite convenient to go and eat something in case you are hungry after studying late nights.

However I am not yet accustomed to eating at road side stalls in Bangalore. I am afraid of the consequences it might have on my stomach. So I am trying to lead a healthy life here. Sometimes I do get tempted when I see big green chillies being fried in some stall, but I let the feeling pass. But even today when I go to Bombay, there is no chance that I will return without having some street cuisine.

Everything is in a name

2006-10-31T04:44:00.000-08:00

Remember remember, the 1st of November. Come November 1st, 2006 and Bangalore will be rechristened to Bengalooru. Is this good? Is this bad? Over the past few years there is a growing concern among the native people of Bangalore that the Kannada culture is fast dying and the city is being taken over by "outsiders". Well I am one of the "outsiders", but I'm here not because I love this city, but more because I work here to earn a living. Statistics reveal that only around 35% of the population in Bangalore is Kannada speaking. A large majority of the immigrants are due to the IT boom this city has seen in the past few years. In order to go back to its Kannada roots, the state government has proposed the best possible solution, which is to rename Bangalore to Bengalooru.

Lets analyze how this strategic move by the state government is going to change our lives. To begin with, the Kannada speaking population is going to increase. Outsiders like me are going to become more interested in learning Kannada and contribute towards preserving the culture. Maybe in a few years, statistics will take a U-turn and 35% of the population of Bangalore will be Non-Kannada speaking. This should be a good measure of progress for the government.

The next immediate effect of changing the name to Bengalooru will be that all roads in the city are going to get overhauled overnight. After so many years of getting complaints regarding pathetic roads in the city, the government finally realized that the only solution to this problem is renaming the city to Bengalooru. Smart move indeed. Starting 2nd November, 2006 get ready to cruise on hosur road and reach office in 15 mins flat. Too bad we wont be able to sleep in the bus for 1 hour.

The name change is also going to solve all traffic related problems this city is facing. No more will people drive like illiterate maniacs. No more will they honk horns as if they are in a rush to answer natures call. There will not be any lane changing in the middle of the highway and ofcourse people on 2 wheelers will stop using the footpath as an additional lane to zip past congested traffic. No more on Bomanahalli, will you see people crossing the road as if they are walking in a garden and the city will not come to a stop whenever it rains for ten minutes.

People in Bangalore are going to become a lot more nicer. Of course they are very nice even now, but after the name change they are going to become good samaritans. There will be no more incidents of thefts or muggings at late night. Ladies can move around at night without any fear of getting kidnapped and call center people needn't worry about their safety. No auto rickshaw driver is going to tell you, '10 Rs more saar'. In fact the auto wallah may even start giving you a discount and also carry your luggage till your doorstep. Real estate brokers will not charge you a single penny for showing you a house or getting you the best possible housing deal. Too bad we wont have all the fun we used to have in arguing and fighting with these people.

The name change will also take Bangalore close to becoming a fully functional metro after all don't all metro cities require a name change at some point of time in order to establish themselves. The state governments dream to convert Bangalore into another Singapore will also be realized shortly. The city's destiny is going to change with the name. So lets rejoice that the tax we pay every month to the government is finally being put to good use and the government is working as hard as possible to make every persons life (including outsiders) more enriching. Hail Bengalooru.

The Departed

2006-10-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Just saw that Martin Scorsese's The Departed has been released. Most reviews that I have read about the movie, have described the movie to be highly intoxicating and a thoroughly engrossing gangster drama. The reviews say that this may be Scorsese's best work since Goodfellas which in my opinion is one of the best gangster movies ever made along with The Godfather

The movie boasts of a phenomenal starcast as well with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. The story is based on the 2002 crime thriller from Hong Kong called "Internal Affairs" which was a huge success in Asia.

Cops or Criminals...
When you're facing a loaded gun
What's the difference?

don't know when this movie is going to be released in India, but it's going to be a must see.

Down memory lane

2006-10-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

In todays India, Doordarshan is almost history. But I distinctly remember the popularity it once had in the 80's. Ofcourse there was no competition then. One of the things I remember is watching the numerous short cartoon clips that used to be telecasted. Some of them I can remember are, Ek anek, The tree of unity, etc. Browsing the internet I chanced upon the following lyrics and instantly it took me back in memory lane. I could almost hear a voice singing as I read it.

Didi ye anek kya hota hai ?
Anek.... anek yani bahut saare....
jaise...

suraj ek...
chanda ek.....
taare anek....

achcha to taroN ko anek bhi kehte hain ?????
nahi nahi !!

dekho phir se batati hooN
suraj ek...
chanda ek.....
taare anek....

ek gilhari, ....
ek aur gilhari......
ek ek ek karke ho gayee ab anek gilhariyaaN...
ek titali, anek titaliyaaN....
ek chidiya.. ek ek anek chidiyaaN......
anek chidiyoN ki kahani sunoge ....
haan sunao...

ek chidiya anek chidiya....
dana chugne baith gayee thi .....
chorus : didi humen bhi sunao.......
phir se suno...
ek chidiya, anek chidiyaN
dana chugne baith gayee thi .....

WahiN ek Syaadh ne jaal bichhaya tha...
Syaadh, Syaadh kya hota hai didi
Syaadh ... chidiya pakadne wala

to phir kya hua, usne chidiyoN ko pakad liya,...
unhe maar diya ......
un..huh...

Himmat se jo jute rahe to bada kaam bhi hove
bhaiya.. bada kaam bhi
hove bhaiya ...
1..2..3.. furrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Chaturrr cidiyaaN sayaani chidiyaaN,
miljul kar, jaal le kar...
Bhaagi chidiyaaN....
furrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

door ek gaaon mein chidiyon ke dost chuhe rahte the....
unhone unka jaal kaat diya.........

dekha ekta mein kitni shakti hai......
didi agar hum ek ho jaayen to kya koi bhi kaam kar
sakte hain
haan haan kyon nahi ...

to kya is ped ke aam bhi tod sakte hain ???
haan magar jugat lagani hogi ...
JUGAT ???

*
* *
* * * *

achchha ye jugat .... wah bada mazaa aayega....
HO GAYE EK ...
BAN GAYEE TAKAT..
BAN GAYEE HIMMAT...
hind desh ke niwasi sabhi jana ek hain, -2
rang-roop vesh-bhaasha chahe anek hain -2

--- repeat...
bela gulab juhi champa chameli..... -2
phool hain anek kintu mala phir ek hai ...-2
ek-anek-ek anek

suraj ek, chanda ek, taare anek,
ek gilhari , anek gilhariyaaN,
ek titli, anek titaliyaaN,
ek chidiyaa , anek chidiyaaN......
are bela gulab juhi champa chameli.. -2
phool hain anek kintu mala phir ek hain.....2

Well, now how about actually seeing the video and reviving some memories. Get the video from the following link,
http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu/~bhattiprolu/personal/nostalgia/ek_anek.asf

Here's more,
Title song of malgudi days
http://www.geocities.com/krishnakanth1978/MalgudiDays.mp3

Title song of Jungle book
http://rapidshare.de/files/11590776/junglebook_title.rar

National integration song which used to come on Doordarshan
http://wwwoa.ees.hokudai.ac.jp/~rocksea/upload/india/MileSurMeraTumhara.mp3

Enjoy !!!

Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan

2006-10-18T00:32:00.000-07:00

After spending around 25 yrs in Bombay (I don't prefer to call it Mumbai), I would think I know all about the local trains here. However each time I travel by it, there is some new experience in store for me.

Bombay has 3 train lines, Central, Western and Harbour. Statistics say that around 2-3 million people travel on each line daily. Central and Western bearing the maximum load. I sometimes wonder where do all these people come from and where do they go.

The life of people in Bombay runs by the train time table. During office hours there will be a mad rush to catch the train. People will be standing in thousands on the platform, and when the train comes, all of them will try to get into the same train. Only the experienced ones manage to get in. Newbies end up getting pushed/slapped etc and might lose a shoe or chappal.

Another mystery is how all these people fit into the train. There will hardly be any place to stand. Make the mistake of lifting your leg and you can be sure that the place where your leg had been will be occupied by some other leg. Then you have no choice but to stand on one leg throughout the journey. It is just like praying to god by standing on one leg, the difference is, your prayers wont be answered and neither will you get any boon.

don't consider yourself lucky if you manage to somehow get a seat. First of all there will be 4 people sitting on a seat meant for 3. Moreover, 3-4 people will be standing between the little space between seats. And yeah, forget about the fans working. Try to give a slight hint that you are about the get off at the next station and you will notice every person standing around you becoming alert and ready to grab the seat which you vacate. I sometimes do this for fun :)

If you thought getting into the local train is difficult, try getting off from it. I once managed to get off 2 stations after my desired destination. Not that I had a choice. I realized that if you want to get off at some station, be sure to come near the exit door atleast 2 stations before it. That is however easier said than done.

There is entertainment too. You will most definitely find a street urchin trying to earn money by displaying his singing talent. Then there are the enterprising salesmen who will try to sell anything from a pen to a ear bud at ridiculous rates.

I want to go on and on writing about this topic, but a very long blog is seldom read by anyone. As it is my writing doesn't attract a lot of comments. I hope people will share their interesting experiences regarding the Bombay local trains.

No rest till we're the best

2006-10-17T05:33:00.000-07:00

No, this is not the slogan of my project team, nor is it the new slogan of my company. This is Air Deccan's latest mantra for operating its low cost airline. The slogan seems to be fuelled by the statistics that Air Deccan has become India's second largest airline and enjoys a 21.2% market share, only second to Jet. They claim they are on the way to become Number 1.

First encounter
I first flew with Air Deccan in July last year. I was warned by a lot of people regarding their late service, old airplanes, tired looking air hostesses, no-free-stuff (A non-Indian concept since we always look for freebies and discounts even when buying 10 rupees worth of vegetables) etc. But since I did not have a choice then, I decided to take a chance. And somehow it met my expectations. The flight was delayed by over 6 hours. I finished a whole novel sitting at Bangalore airport. Then, when we finally boarded the plane, it did not take off until another half an hour due to some "technical" problem. I cannot comment on the quality of the airplanes as I'm not an expert, but the air hostesses were not as bad as people said. Offcourse they cannot be compared with their counterparts at Kingfisher airlines, but thinking of the motherly treatment Indian Airlines provides, I was satisfied. So after an eventful day the plane took off and almost brought me to Bombay. They did not get landing permission and kept circling the airport till about 20 mins. Finally I made it to Bombay. But I did not write Air Deccan off after this journey as I was willing to give it a second chance on account of the fact that the reason for the delay were the floods in Bombay, last year in July.

Second chance
The second chance came last week when I again decided to fly by Air Deccan. Why? because they offered the lowest fares :) So there I was once again at Bangalore airport. The plane was scheduled to take off at 9:40PM. After the checkin, I waited patiently watching the hands of the clock. I noticed that the boarding pass did not have any seat number. I saw a man argue at the Air Deccan checkin counter. He had some ticket problems I guess. In a short while the argument turned into a brawl and the man would have exchanged some fists with the Air Deccan employee if the airport security hadn't intervened. I was engrossed in this battle when they finally announced the departure of the flight at around 9PM and I proceeded towards the bus which was to take us till the plane. Instead of occupying the seats, I saw a crowd of people standing near the door, clinging on to the overhead handles. I realized that there is going to be a stampede as soon as the bus stops near the plane. As the bus neared the plane people started crowding the door. I was experienced in this sort of shuffle as I had used the Bombay local trains for years. I was ready. The bus stopped, the door opened, half of the people ran towards the front door and the other half ran towards the rear door of the plane. The rest of the confused lot, who were probably traveling for the first time by Air Deccan, watched the stampede in bewilderment.

On the plane
I decided to take the rear entry to the plane as I find rear entries to be more convenient. I ran up the steps more easily as I did not have any hand baggage with me. As I entered the plane, I was greeted by a dude who smiled and welcomed me. I wondered whether these guys have cut costs and sacked all the air hostesses. Anyway my first aim was to find myself a seat. I saw that most of the window seats were already taken (We have a fetish for window seats even though we may not look outside. Somehow its not paisa vasool until you get a window seat). I found one window seat and hurriedly paced towards it. There was a gentleman sitting in the aisle seat and I asked him to let me in. He gave me a stare as if asking me, "Why do you want to get in here when the entire plane is empty. Cant you go anywhere else?" Anyway, I stared back and finally he let me pass. The first ordeal was over. Shortly it was announced that the plane was ready for takeoff. I looked at my watch. It was only 9:20PM. Surely my watch couldn't be showing the wrong time. In the meantime, the dudes on the plane gave us the security drill. No one bothered to check whether everyone had buckled their seat belts etc. Just a short announcement was made regarding this in a bored voice. The plane took off at 9:30PM, 10 mins before the scheduled departure time. I wondered about those people who believed in Air Deccans track record and who would have turned up a bit late. We were all air borne. I could see a long golden line of lights which I concluded to be hosur road and I even managed to spot forum.

In the skies
Once we were flying, I started to read the Air Deccan inflight magazine to kill time. It was a pretty interesting read. After a short while I decided to take a short nap. I was woken by the loud conversation that my neighbor was having with the people around him. This was a typical middle class crowd, where people enjoy talking to one another on the journey. I have noticed this on all my train journeys. My neighbor asserted himself to be a wise guy of sorts. I found out that he had some contract work with the Siddhi Vinayaka temple in Bombay. He was saying, "Kingfisher chi air hostess masst astaat. Eka vedi mee Indian Airlines madhe zaat hota, tyanchi airhostess baghun maajhi jevan karaaychi iccha samplee" meaning "Kingfisher airlines has good air hostesses. Once when I was travelling by Indian airlines, I lost my appetite after seeing their air hostesses". Everyone around rolled into laughter and nodded their heads in agreement. I closed my eyes and kept my ears open to this wonderful conversation. It was going in an interesting direction. I was glad I learnt marathi in school. After 1.5 hours the plane started descending. I watched the Queens necklace (marine drive) gleaming in the night. We reached Bombay just 10 mins late. This was great by Air Deccan standards. Either they are taking their slogan seriously or I was just plain lucky.

On my way
After waiting in the baggage collection point for about 15 mins, I picked up my small bag and rushed to get home. It was already 12:30AM and I had to cover around 40 kms. Its strange but your baggage always takes time to come while other people get their baggage faster. The journey home was also gr8. But that can be covered in another post I guess. now I am willing to give Air Deccan a third chance as well.