Travel back in the past

This is exactly how i felt yesterday. I had a flat tyre on my way to the office. This occurred at the Sea Link. Unfortunately my spare tyre was also flat, so asked one of my factory workers who was with me in the car to take the spare for repairing and get it back.

This was not that easy, as the cars were speeding across the sea link. We managed to request one of the drivers to take my person along with him. This reminded me of the days at the highway when even a small breakdown of the car meant difficulties galore. In fact he had trouble convincing cab drivers also to come to the sealink after having the tyre repaired.

While waiting in my car, I removed my cell phone from my pocket to call at the office. An lo, the cell phone battery had decided to ditch me. So there I was without any mode of communication, in the middle of the sea , quite literally. It was like in the past, when there were no cell phones, and one is totally cut off form the world in case of breakdowns. No PCO’s, no cell phones, no contact with anybody. For more than one hour I was just sitting over there, unaware of the time (because of my bad habit of depending on the cellphone watch, i dont wear a wrist watch), watching the cars zip thru. This was how the Mumbai Highways used to be around 25 years back.

Though here I would like to appreciate the fact that the sea-link CCTV’s were watching on me, and the towing van did infact turn up, after an hour or so, but during that period, I felt that I have travelled back in time.

Accident waiting to happen

The curves on Worli Bandra Sea Link require good maneuverability by the car driver. Over speed often lead to crashing in the crash railings installed on the side of the sea route. However what has always scared me is that till the second carriageway of the sea link is commissioned, traffic is allowed from both sides on the current carriageway. What if some nerd is not able to control his vehicle and crashes into the approaching car from the other end. This is what I witnessed today. A  driver was not able to control his car at a curve….and crashed into a car coming from the opposite direction. The accident had fatal results, but what I really thought was a saving grace(?) for the family of the deceased was the fact that the car didn't topple over and land in the water, because there I am sure our Mumbai Coast Guard would have found it very difficult to get the car out. I am sure we are not equipped for such tragedies. This brings me to my fear, what if an alive person goes down in the water along with the car. A sure shot watery grave. Scary. But I feel this is one accident waiting to happen, and we Mumbaikars are going to find that we were not able to save that person because there was no proper equipment ready at hand to do so.

After marriage life and technology

Its marriage season and there is a marriage every other day. I was wondering whether like yesteryears, do the brides still cry during their marriages? Not as before I feel.

So what does that mean? Are they emotionally detached from their families unlike before?

Again I feel the real reason is not attachment or detachment. In the past the means of communications were very limited or hardly there. If the bride had to go to another town, then it was always difficult for her to be in touch with her family. An occasional letter(if the girl could read and write), a messenger in form of a visitor to the town, Long distance trunk calls, occasional snapping of photographs(if girls in-laws allowed that) etc etc. For meeting the family sometimes it would take as much as more than a year.

Nowadays, a must have item for the girl to take with her to her in-laws place is her private cell phone. Social networking will keep the family posted of everything from her first day in the new  bedroom to her honeymoon to her different stages of life.

Girls nowadays laugh at the thought of crying during marriage, their normal retort is ….we will be in constant touch with each other…..so why cry.

Like always, technology has succeeded in reducing one more emotional moment in everybody’s life….but at the same time added new emotions one has , while sharing life LIVE…….

Games for the empty mind….

Travelling daily for 60 km to my office and back, I have a lot of free time to empty my mind. And sometimes I find the I have emptied my mind totally. Yesterday while driving I was playing a game in my head. Simple but effective enough to spend the one and a half hour on the road.

I started off with my brother in law and his siblings names. My brother in law’s name is Vinod and his siblings are Harsha and Mayur. As per the hindi meaning of the name…all are related to each other by meaning also. I started racking my head over other such names. Didnt have to go far. My brother in laws cousins are named Jyoti, Deepak and Sandhya. Again all meanings related to light. Good way of relating the kids with names also. Then I remembered a family in my building, Deepak and his wife Deepali. Their two sons are aptly named Deep and Divesh. All of them indicate lamp.

I tried to rack my head over more such family names but was not able to , I am sure there might be more. So I shifted gears to families with name starting from the same alphabet. My immediate neigbour is Jeetu, his wife is Jagruti and their son is named Jash. So they have a common ‘J’ amongst them. I remember one more family I was acquainted with….Mac and Marie Machado, and their kids Manisha and Mihir!!! Again ‘M’ as a common link between them.

Frankly these many names took me the entire route of 30 kms with this mind game.:)

Might start more mind games while travelling now…..

Wedding Invitations….

The best issue about wedding is taken up in a recent Vodaphone advertisement, where the character is ruing the fact that even after posting of wedding cards one still has to call up the relatives etc etc etc.

As far as the relatives and friends are staying at a far away places, posting the cards to them and then calling them is ok. But if they are staying in your own city or even in the neighboring cities…then posting the card is considered a definite way of breaking your relation with them in India.

The guardians of the boy or girl to be married move out in the morning and end their day in the night, distributing the cards. Sometimes they look like zombies during the marriages if this procedure is not ended atleast 3-4 days before marriage.

What I dont understand is why are we Indians are so hell bent on receiving the marriage cards personally. Why can the poor family of the bride and groom be spared this torture. What is wrong in receiving the cards by post or courier? After all the family has other chores to complete before the marriage. Shouldnt that be considered OK to accept the cards by post or courier.

Second is that why cant we accept the fact that if we receive the card with an additional card asking about the number of members who will be attending the marriage, it is ok. This is considered a BIG INSULT. Nothing wrong in it frankly….if the family of bride and groom are aware beforehand as to how many people will be attending the function, at least they can be assured that the food wont be more or less during the marriage. This system is followed in certain castes but is considered under no-no in majority of the castes. Some castes also mention that only a certain number of people are invited per card. Again nothing wrong.

But such issues are sufficient for severing off the ties amongst families and friends. Having a marriage in the house is a big thing, but it also is a major reason amongst many for make or break of relations.Things need to be changed…wonder if they will???

Nursery Rhymes

How many times have repeated the Nursery Rhymes in our life. During our school time, out of fun in College and now teaching our kids the same thing. However once I was very much impressed by an article on nursery rhymes and also discussed the same with my family and friends.

The article proved how the nursery rhymes are full of pain and negativity.

Lets start with the most loved rhyme….

Jack and Jill…..jack fell down…broke his crown…and Jill came tumbling after. So by the end of the rhyme we know that both were injured!!!!

Lets take one more of the most recited rhyme….

Humpty Dumpty…..It had a great fall….all the kings horses and all the kings men…could not put him together again……Tragedy again.

The list continues…

Rock a by baby….when the bough breaks…the cradle will fall…down comes the baby …..cradle and all!!!!!!! Now if that isnt a tragedy with the baby falling down then what is?

One more…..London Bridge is falling down….

Why do all have to fall down in Ringa Ringa roses??

Itsy Bitsy spider washed down the drain….

Take the rhyme…Sing a song of six pence…..where four and twenty black birds are baked in the pie!!!!!!

Baa baa black sheep…..one third of the wool goes to the master…one third goes to the Dame(Dame again means an higher authority) thus two thirds have gone to the rich…while only one third is left for the little boy(Common Man?)….doesnt this compare with the taxes we pay from our hard work!!!!!

I can go on over here…but what i cant understand is that such dark rhymes are acceptable in schools all over the world !!

Were we being prepared mentally for the challenges of life and are we preparing our children also in the same way?

Monuments

In the past I have written about the waste of money planned on building the Shivaji Maharaj Statue in Mumbai. Now with the Government which had planned for the statue back in power, for the next 5 years, the work will be starting soon on it.  Recently I  read the novel The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Since I have not ever been to Washington, I saw the pictures of the monuments mentioned in the book on the net.

These monuments built ages ago are today a symbol for the city of Washington. That made me think of any monument present in Mumbai.

Well we do have some structures….under Heritage Structures….but I dont think they are taken good care of. We have age old gardens like Hanging Garden, Five Garden, National Park….but they are all in a very bad shape. We have structures like the Victoria Terminus, Central Library, Rajabai Tower(the less said about its condition the better). But are these monuments really looked upon as tourist attractions.

There are other places in India which are hardly taken care of …..Jalianwala Baug in Amritsar, one doesnt even come to know of the infamous well, which has now been covered up, and not a single signboard has been kept in its vicinity to indicate its history. The bullet marks on the wall are left to everybodies imagination.

So that again make me think, that if we dont want to take good care of such huge monuments why build them at all. Ofcourse a developing city like Mumbai needs tourist attractions, but first atleast take care of the existing ones. If we cant take care of our existing monuments, there is absolutely no need for additional ones.

Corruption

While chatting casually with one person, he was ruing the fact that his wife who works in a government department is unable to get a loan on her pension. He says that when he went personally to meet the concerned officer in-charge, he was asked for some bribe.

What shocks me is that corruption is so deep rooted now, that colleagues are asking for money from each other also to do some work or another. It only gets more disgusting.

Corruption is so deeply etched, that one has to pay money for obtaining a Birth certificate…because its a good news…one has to pay money for obtaining a Death Certificate…not because its good news…but because the person sitting there also has to feed his family!!!!!!!

Forget getting a Death certificate, the crematorium people are so outright rude, you dont give them something extra, they will make you wait for hours to start the last rites.

What “might” have started as a goodwill after having work done has today blown into full fledged corruption. Infact even today, there are people who pay in goodwill after seeing that their work has been done. This goodwill has now become the “right” for doing any work.

The best example in India was MTNL phones. Till they didnt have competition, even a normal diwali gift was a prestige issue for its employees. Any haggling with the customer, and the customer would find that the line has been disconnected all of a sudden!!!! Today with competition and realization dawning on them that they can have problems with their basic salaries also, the service has improved a lot.

So in similarity, should there be competition in Government also. An alternate governing system. Actually not a bad idea. Let there be more than one Governing system. Like subscribers of Reliance Energy, going in for Tata Power, having their services changed, people should have an alternate option for Government also. Then maybe things can improve.

Elections

Beggars cant be chosers……

Why should I care…..

My one vote does not count….

What benefit will I have…..

I have voted for the person who gave me money to build my slum…..

etc etc

The actual aim behind the elections is lost. We have forgotten that we are electing our representative. Without us the mandate is nothing. Yet we feel we have chosen the best amongst the worst…even though the person is not good enough. We have forgotten that we are the king makers. It is our vote that puts this particular person on a seat, which he later misuses against us only.

The basic funda behind choosing a representative has been lost. Initial purpose was for choosing a representative amongst us. Some who would represent us to sort our problems. Today if one goes to the representative with a problem, one has to go through a series of channels to be able to meet him. And even after that there is always a small give and take to sort out the issue. ODD. We are electing our representative and paying him to work for us.

I have seen people talk big after giving their vote…this is my first right as a citizen…i have done my duty, but unfortunately the thinking is limited to just electing. Nobody is aware of his right over the elected candidate and the elected candidate will express his submission to the people again during the next elections…..

Shiney Ahuja

These are a few responses on an status update on Shiney Ahuja on a popular social networking site, , which i thought of sharing :) I have removed the names of the people who have commented….

"My brain... my second best organ!" ... (Shiney Ahuja?)

Tats a MAIDen dude.
LOL.. clean bowled by d MAIDen
another one -- What will Shiney do in Noida , now that he has no movies... Write a Bai-o-graphy
shiney might feel u all are bAI-sed against him...btw all of the above statements are real gems......
His Orientation is BAI-Sexual... *lol* (R.I.P. Shiney - peace)
hehehe, another sick one from me... his favorite sportsman is Bai Chung Bhutia
RIP? Is that ur way of telling shiney BAI-BAI
if shiney takes offence....the Gangster might send his BAI-log after us....
BAI God I never thought of that!!!
attaa ga bayaa jaraa ooge ooge challa
aaa bailla mujhe maaaar after reading this shiney will achieve insanity that to of the highest order....
bai-the bai-the kya kare...karna hai kuch KAAM...Shiney's motto
BAI GOD so many comments

Just a few stray thoughts..

Its been quite a while since I have put up something. Not that life has been quite. Something or the other keeps on happening. So this time I trying to put down a few stray thoughts over here….

E-Book : I have downloaded for myself Dan Brown’s latest book, The Lost Symbol. Hardly I have been through 11 pages, and I am wondering what am I doing. I miss holding the book in my hands and reading it. I miss turning the pages. I miss lying down and reading the book. Dont know if I am old fashioned, but I am not able to adjust to this idea of Ebooks.

Water woes : Mumbai has been facing shortage of water since past 3 months due to the erratic rainfalls. Our building has one big support line in having a bore well, the water from which is used for flushing. Somehow I have noticed that since past 5 years, whenever the question comes of overhauling the bore pump, there are rumblings over the expenses. People tend to question the expenses involved in the process. Why they cant understand the only expenses they have to incur is the once in 2 years maintenance, while they have to pay for the Municipal water, is beyond my understanding. Whenever the pump fails, it has a tendency to do so every one to one and half years, our management people just start pumping in water from the Municipality for flushing purposes, thereby not having it repaired. Currently the pump is not working since 2 months, there is water shortage, and now after two months, it has been realized that the bore well is required. Its like digging for a well when the fire is out of control.

Diwali : It is odd that here I am typing a blog on a Saturday, and by next Saturday, Diwali will be over. Over the last few years, for me Diwali has been growing less and less glamorous or exciting as it used to be. Dont know why. Cant understand why. When we were small Diwali celebrations used to start 2 week before the actual D-Day. Now it has become more of a 4-5 days affair around the actual day. Dadar used to be full of hustle-bustle during diwali, and one would find it difficult to even find a place to put down ones foot. But now with malls and shopping complexes springing up in far flung areas, the crowd has got divided. There are no more Diwali shopping rushes to be actually seen. Not that people are not buying, but now there are so many places for them to go and shop, that there is less of overcrowding.

Obama wins the Nobel for Peace : My only question is for what? What has he done in that field? The fact is that he has just started his stint. Its tooooooo early I feel for Obama. The poor guy is already living under a shadow of expectations of “Change”. And now he will have to live under the heavy expectations of Peace Keeper. Can American policies make this person keep up with these expectations? I dont think so.

2012 – end of the world? : News channels are going overboard, saying that the current floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons are dress rehearsals for the predictions which state that 2012 will be the end of the world. I feel it is a clever publicity stunt for an upcoming movie by the title “2012”. No doubt, these disasters are taking place, but the publicity guys are having a field day promoting their movie.

Shivaji Statue and the waste of money

Maharashtra Government has gone ahead with a plan to build a statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the middle Arabian Sea, almost on lines of Statue of Liberty. What is bugging most is the expense of 350 crores being done on this.

Mumbai has got problems galore. Everytime we hear politicians say that the budget allocation by the Central Government leaves a lot of be desired. After every budget we read in the newspapers that Mumbai only gives but does not receive in terms of monetary gains.

Not surprising this decision makes one wonder from where the 350 crores will be used for the construction. And of course, the Bandra Worli Sea Link has proved that the mid-sea endeavors by our government have also escalated to more than the original cost. So we can safely assume that this cost will be over and above minimum 500 crores. We are not talking of Rs.150 difference over Rs. 350, but a difference of over 150 crore rupees.

This money can easily be utilized for improving the infrastructure, improving the water supply system, drainage system. No I wont argue, that in Mahahashtra farmers are committing suicide, I am arguing for my Mumbai, which is collapsing daily. We want better quality of life. Instead of building statues, why isn't the waterway being developed as a public transport system. We have a good chance to explore the sea as an alternate route of transport which is much needed.

Why cant the open drains(nallahs) be closed all over Mumbai. There has been a definite drop in Mosquitoes in areas where they have been closed.

There are many more options, but statue is surely a big waste of money. 350 crores for the statue, and other expenses per month to clean the bird shits which will be covering it daily……..

Ganpati Bappa

Having lived in Dadar for almost 30 years since my birth, I have had the privilege of viewing the Ganeshotsav year after year, each year fascinating me more and more. Attending Ganeshotsav at my friends residence, participating in the revelry accompanied with it, going for the visarjan at the Beach behind our residence, sitting on our building terrace and viewing the sea of humanity and the Idols popping the sea was my yearly ritual. During the last days of Visarjan, when most of the bigger idols were brought for visarjan was always spend sitting at the Shivaji Park Maidan “katta” and enjoying.

After shifting to Kandivali, since my residence is not on the main road, I miss the processions, the fun. I have tried and made it a point to accompany the Visarjan of my building people, but something was lacking. I was missing my friends, my Shivaji Park. This year, by Gods blessings, we managed to keep the Idol at our residence. The atmosphere for 2 days at our residence was rightly described by my grandmothers as “a wedding atmosphere”. The stream of guests, relatives, family and friends was something which kept us charged.

My heartfelt gratitude to all who made me get that one feeling which I was missing since last 6 years. I am eagerly waiting for the next year….with the words on my lips “Pudchya Varshi Lavkar Ya”(Come early next year)

Kaminey---Indian Pulp Fiction

Rarely one gets to see such a movie in Indian Cinema. There have been dark movies like Satya, or other low budget movies. But this movie takes the cake. Its a superb movie, makes you sit glued throughout, lest you miss out on something, slowly picking up on its sub-plots and finally entwining them together. Shahid Kapur has played a role of a lifetime after Jab We Met. There unfortunately he was overshadowed by the fiery Kareena Kapoor, but here he has a “double” chance to prove he can act. Dhan Tan Nan is a head banger song, and fits in the movie so nicely, its not the thrown in kind of a song we see normally in Bollywood movies. Many people would get confused with where the story is heading, but such was the case with Pulp Fiction. I would say this movie is the Indian Pulp Fiction. All in all I would say, got a see a good movie after a long time.

The unknown face

Being on the social networking for so long, I have set one rule for myself, never to add an unknown face. I dont care if my number of friends dont go up. I am quite happy with the limited people I have. This is how I am trying to protect my privacy and also my friends whom I have added.

Many a times, one receives request from people about whom you have never heard of, friends of friends, who are maybe trying to set a record of having the maximum number of friends in their account. I have always confirmed with the “mutual friends” about their identity and to my shock have discovered that even they have added only because they are sharing the same person with “mutual friends”. This trend is very dangerous and can lead to a lot of complications.

A number of times I have also mailed back these requesters asking them to indentify themselves more clearly. Some have sent back their identities, some have accepted the fact that its a case of mistaken identity. But one person whom I have lately corresponded has not only managed to raise my anger level, but has also gone to the extremes of accusing me of accepting friendship only on face value. I have refused the request, but the reply has certainly bugged me and on enquiring I have discovered that this particular person has an habit of criticizing people, coupled with the fact that that most of the persons friends have no inkling about the true identity.

Social networking is about socializing but while doing that we should not forget that we should behave in the same ways as if we are meeting in a civilized society. We do get oddballs over there also, but then we are facing a oddball with a face. Not someone who is creating trouble while keeping the face hidden. I am not ready to accept this unknown face, and will never ever do so.

Harry Potter and the Half hearted attempt….

Those who have not seen the movie, may please avoid reading this :)

I was very eagerly waiting for the movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, so much so, that I booked tickets for first day last show. But boy was I in for a rude shock. Infact for people who have not read the books and depend on the movie, there is lot left to be explained.

I found the movie too loveydovey. Ron’s character was very good, but then there was no need to go overboard with Von Von.

The book centers around Dumbledore showing Harry the life of Voldermort, to prepare him for the battle ahead. There are numerous memories of Dumbledore in the book. There is Voldy’s mom, father, uncle. None have been shown in the movie. The Horcruxes have hardly been discussed. Guess its the battle of Hallows over Horcruxes which has won in the movie.

I feel J R Tolkien was right in his lifetime by putting up a ban over converting his Triology – The Lord of the Rings, into a movie, because he felt that it will be injustice to the book. Had the book be made into a movie then, it would have been a disaster without its special effects. Though now with the modern day graphic wizardry the movie was upto the mark. Harry Potter series is a fresh, hardly a decade old, and has got the advantages of being made into a good movies series, but somewhere there is too much of deviation from the original books. And for me it is killing my interest.

The graphics are good, the beginning is good and so is the ending with Dumbledore in the cave. But then thats it. It was really stupid the way Harry is not immobilised. It is stupid that the very person he has been terming as an enemy….Snape…..asks him to keep quite, while Snape goes up the Astronomy Tower. What is the director thinking of? And what is J K Rowling thinking of?

A few stray thoughts…..

With the recent rains in Mumbai city, we are yet again facing hardships by way of flooding , traffic jams, slow or no trains etc. Year after year, we are facing the same problem with no solution. So much of water everywhere and still we are facing water shortage in Mumbai. Why cant this very water be diverted,purified and recycled!!!! Why crores of rupees are being spend on taking this water to the very sea….which we are afraid of at high tide!!!!!!

Coming to sea…..once I had the chance of listening to a lady ….she said….we throw so many things into the sea……garlands, coconuts,waste….we immerse idols every year. But has anybody noticed that the next day, the sea just rejects accepting this material and throws it right back onto the shores. It never accepts what is not rightfully its own. Mumbai was initially an island city of 7 islands. Constant reclamation of the sea led to unification of one major city called Mumbai. The way the sea does not accept what is its own…it has given away part of it. What if one day it claims its rightful place!!!! Currently we get to listen to, read that in the future sea levels will certainly be rising in and around Mumbai. Is this what the lady meant to say? With flooding in 26/7 we certainly saw a version of 7 islands. Will we wake up now and stop further reclamation?

The best example of reclamation is the current wonder of Mumbai the Worli Bandra Sea Link. Recently a political party created a hue and cry for allowing Motor cyclist sto use the link. Currently Motor cyclists are banned on the link. In Mumbai we have one more wonder, the JJ flyover. After it was constructed, it has cut travelling time from Byculla to VT, from 1 hour to just under 10 mins. But the length and the curve of the flyover has led to many accidents on this stretch and the maximum involving Motor bikes. There have been instances where the riders has even fallen off the bridge. At least there there is an assurance of getting the body of the rider in case the fall is fatal, but what about the sea link? We are all well aware of how efficient our naval police is!!!!! Who is going to ensure that speed limits will be maintained by such riders?? The politicians who led the rally? I dont think so…..

Experience counts….Respect it….

 

  A giant ship engine failed. The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.
Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!
A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer...... ........ ......... $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap......... ........ ........ $ 9,998.00

Moral Of The Story

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference!

Who is responsible?

Finally Mumbai has got its much need additional road for travelling from suburbs to the city. With the new road have come up new signboards. And with the new signboard has come one more renaming, that of Mt. Mary Church at Bandra. The spelling mistake seems to be overlooked by the department incharge of putting up the board. Howelse can such a goof up come up on public display.

Isnt it the responsibility of the person who gives the order for such boards to verify if all the spellings are correct or not? Or that person just sits on his chair and passes off the payments? Will any action over even this “trivial” thing be taken? Who knows…till then…let Mother Mary be “MERRY”:)

Lookalikes

My brother recently went on a trip to Mahabaleshwar. Today he showed us one of the snaps of his wife, and behind her, in the snap, is a person who looks like me!!!! I am finding it very funny actually. While discussing the same with my brother in law, he asserted that we all have lookalikes, in different parts of the world, not one or two , but many. He further explained to me that just because we are not famous we don't come to know about it.

We in India, clap our hands, and enjoy shows where lookalikes of Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachan, Shatrugan Sinha etc. We enjoy their mime. But we have never given it a thought, that there might be a few more, who have preferred to keep quite rather than benefit from the alikeness. Similarly, there might be people who might be looking like us. We sometimes, say hi to a person, and then realize, its not the same person, but looks like him or her.

So what is it that we have lookalikes? What factors come into picture? Our ancestors? Laying the seeds all over the world? Whatever it is I would surely like to meet atleast one of my lookalike in my lifetime.

Television present and future….

Today in the morning, at around 7.30 am, my mother came running to me and wifey and happily announced….some xyz was pregnant. Both me and my wife were not able to understand who, and asked her the name again. Then she told us one of the central characters in one of the television serials is pregnant…in the serial. The happiness on her face was amazing!!!!!!!

What struck me is the time at which she was seeing this serial. As if letting go of afternoon sleep for serials was not enough, compared to seeing the same episode the previous day, now serials are being seen early in the morning also.

On the other hand, I am amazed at the popularity of seeing the serials over the net. Practically I found this a better option. You can view the episodes, at your time, pause and restart at your whim, not having to worry about missing which saree the main protagonist is going to wear while facing another melodrama, and repeating a particular scene which one likes. With the advent of high speed internet and affordable rates, I feel, cable tv will surely be facing a slow death soon. Live TV is also available on the net. The only hindrance as of now is the reach of internet to the common housewife and the awareness of seeing the serial online. Once it is known to them…..I feel the future of television will be similar to what the Radio faced…..

Just a thought…

Khushi hurt herself when she fell down in the bathroom. We rushed her to the doctor, where she received stitches on her chin. The best part is the next day she was back to her mischief. We are more on tenterhooks because of her. Khushi don't do this, Khushi don't do that. Khushi don't touch this. But she is the least concerned.

We as parents are over concerned no doubt, but in their playfulness, children tend to forget things more faster than us. We elders tend to sit over our pain for more than 24 hours, while children tend to get back to their games immediately.

Similar is our nature when we interact with people. If we fight with them, we tend to stretch the matters endlessly, while children tend to forget their fights and start playing immediately. But then weren't we the same when we were kids. Didn't we used to forget about our fights with other kids and start playing immediately. So why do we extend our fights now. People tend not to talk to their blood relations till death.

As elders we will always say, children are not mature enough to understand life. But what is the use of our maturity if the relations are kept sour. I feel we were better off as children.

The poor mans holiday dilemma

Sometimes sitting at the barbers shop is an experience by itself. Yesterday while having an haircut, the barbers were talking amongst themselves about taking a holiday. The person who was intending to take a holiday was in a dilemma whether he should be taking a holiday or no. He had some relatives from his native place, who had come to Mumbai, and were asking him for a tour.

This fellow wanted to take them along, but his problem was a particular calculation. He was saying, he earns 100 rupees per day. Plus 100 rupees in tips. That's 200 rupees. So he will be losing out on 200 rupees. What followed further was more calculative. He said, even though the relatives will contribute during the tour, his minimum expenses will be 200 rupees. So a total outflow of 400 rupees.

Though I really don't know what was finally decided, but it has certainly made me think of the calculations. A poor mans holiday dilemma…..Sad but true……

Salaam Wifey!!!!!

Last week was Vatt Savitri. It is a day when Indian women, fast for their husbands wellbeing. My wife was among the many who did this fasting. She even went and did the rituals of tying the thread around a tree and everything.

Yesterday, while discussing about it, she said she was surprised that the tree around which the thread was tied is also supposed to be a home for spirits. The poor girl almost believed in what I told her later, ofcourse all of it fabricated, and thought at the spur of the moment. I told her spirits have direct contact with Yamraj. So you are tying the spirits to the tree in order to prevent them from coming to respective husbands. The look on her face at that time was of total belief. But then she caught on. And we both had a good laugh over it.

But all in all, what I really appreciate is even though modern, and we having so much of our differences, she still goes ahead and fasts for me for the entire day. And me….I didnt even fast on the day of our marriage!!!!!. Salaam wifey!!!!

13 June

This is one date which when I was small, used to dread, and now I miss. This was the date when schools usually used to start after summer vacation. Mine was a morning school, and usually, school opening was also accompanied with rains. With a new bag, new books, new raincoat, we used to go to school, find our new class, new class teacher, were alloted roll numbers, timetables, hhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaa, the memories.

I miss the smell of damp table in my school, then we used to have bulbs instead of tubelights. The dark atmosphere outside, the rush to close the windows of the class to prevent the rain water from coming in, the slow moving fans…..

The exchange of vacation notes with friends, who had been where, whos relatives had come from where, meeting friends after more than a month. Ofcourse, now our kids have mobile numbers of their friends, who they can contact easily, but those times were different and fun.

Wish I could really go back in time, go back to school, relive those memories……

Love thy Neighbor……

Yesterday I was watching the T20 warm up match between India and Pakistan, and during the breaks, also seeing the news that India wanted to resume diplomatic talks with Pakistan. Frankly I am of the opinion that we should forfeit our matches against Pakistan. Havent they just released the mastermind in of 26/11 attacks citing lack of proof.

But instead of taking the matter head on, we want to play against them, we want to extend our hand of friendship. Numerous attacks in the past have always been preceded by the diplomatic handshakes of friendships. Our neighbor has always come back , hitting us more strongly then before.

Australia had forfeited their matches and also won the world cup, so what is BCCI thinking of. During the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan, was it plain coincidence that the bus of Pakistani Cricketers was delayed?

I am still of strong belief that we should now play against Pakistan in the matches…..even if it means letting go of the final trophy. If our team is capable, it can get the trophy without playing against Pakistan.

The changing face of terror…

Long back I had read that the even though the terrorist dies, terrorism doesn't….only its face changes.

World over countries are eliminating key terrorists, but every new day we keep on hearing of fresh attacks, fresh terrorist groups, fresh names. Osama bin laden became an household name after 9/11 attacks. Now people in India talk of Kasab as the ultimate villain. He is the current face of terror. Once the case is over and he is hung(if ever) or a new person creates more havoc than what Kasab did(God forbid), we will have a new face of terror as Kasab.

Terrorism will never end, it will keep on changing its face, its reasons, its destination. Pakistan is today swallowing its own bitter pill it had created. The reason and destination was India, but today, due to pressure, when it is trying to eliminate it , it is facing terrorism in its own backyard.

What we need to realize is that it should never be started, whether for religious reasons, fanatical reasons, whatever. Today the face created by one party for a particular reason will be eliminated, but it will leave behind many faces, with reasons far different from the original one. And so the cycle will continue……..

The Great Indian Circus 2009

It that time when we get to see the Great Indian Circus. Its Election time. This is the time when friends turn foes, foes turn friends, alliances are made or broken, U-turns are order of the day. But what is really funny this time is how some of our leaders have realized that this is their last chance to fulfill their dreams. Here I am talking about L K Advani and Sharad Pawar.

Both are on the wrong side of age, both know its now or never…..ever. L K Advani might be regretting the day he had proposed the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee for Prime Ministership. Then, he might have expected that his government will do wonders, and will be voted to power again. Unfortunately, that was not to happen. Now he knows , if this time his party does not come to power, age will make it difficult for him after 5 years.

Sharad Pawar is another such person. Age and health both are troubling him. But one thing I dont understand about this person is what is the strength of his party or his own stand , that he should be considered as a Prime Minister Candidate. Except for Maharashtra, what is this guys stand in the other states. Except for Cricket, would the general public had heard of this stalwart…..due apologies to him.

There is one more name in the fray…..Mayawati !!!!! God forbid!!!!!! Imagine her attending an international conference :). India a fast developing country, India an IT hub, and a Behenji at its prime seat. Unimaginable.

Though I am not supporting any of the above for the seat of Prime Ministership, I would personally love to see Rahul Gandhi on the seat soon. Like his father, I believe, he too will lead India ahead to great development. But he is not yet ready. There is still time for him. Till then we have to see the Great Indian Circus:(

How to Dance in the Rain

 

How to Dance in the Rain

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly
gentleman in his 80s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.
While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry.
The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health.
He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.
As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late.
He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.
I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?'
He smiled
as he patted my hand and said,
'She doesn't know me,
but I still know who she is.'
I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought,
'That is the kind of love
I want in my life.'
True love is neither
physical, nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.
With all the jokes and fun that are in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message. This one I thought
I could share with you.
The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best
of everything they have.
I hope you share this with someone you care about.
I just did.

'Life isn't about how to survive the storm,

but how to dance in the rain.

Women think they are really SMART - Good One!!!

 

women think they are really SMART

A woman was out golfing one day when she hit the ball into the woods.

She went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap. The frog told her, "If you release me from this trap, I will grant you three wishes."

The woman freed the frog, and the frog said, "Thank you, but I failed to mention that there was a condition to your wishes. Whatever you wish for, your husband will get it ten times!"

The woman said, "That's okay."

For her first wish, she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world. The frog warned her, "You do realize that this wish will also make your husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis whom women will flock to". The woman replied, "That's okay, because I will be the most beautiful woman and he will have eyes only for me."

So, KAZAM-she's the most beautiful Woman in the world!

For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world. The frog said, "That

will make your husband the richest man in the world. And he will be ten times richer than you. " The woman said, "That's okay, because what's mine is his and what's his is mine."

So, KAZAM-she's the richest woman in the world!

The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she answered, "I'd like a mild heart attack!"

Moral of the story: Women are clever. Don't mess with them!

Attention female readers: This is the end of the joke for you. Stop here and continue feeling good!

Male readers: Please scroll down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The man had a heart attack ten times milder than his wife!!!

Moral of the story: Women are really dumb but think they're really smart!

Let them continue to think that way and just enjoy the show!

PS: If you are a woman and are still reading this; it only goes to show that women never listen!!!

Forward this to all the guys for a good laugh, and to all the ladies who have a good sense of humour!

Joke .. The classic response!! :)

Just couldnt resist putting this one up on the blog :

A classic response!!!

I took my dad to the mall the other day to buy some new shoes (he is 92).

We decided to grab a bite at the food court.

I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager
had spiked hair in all different colors: green, red, orange, and blue.
My dad kept staring at him. The teenager would look and find him
staring every time.

When the teenager had had enough, he sarcastically asked, 'What's the
matter old man, never done anything wild in your life?'

Knowing my Dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I would not choke
on his response, knowing he would have a good one, and in classic style he did
not bat an eye in his response.

'Got drunk once, and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if
you were my son.'

Luxury and Recession

http://www.mid-day.com/opinion/2009/mar/060309-Ashish-Jagtiani-Radio-One-RJ-economic-slowdown-subjective-business-global-meltdown.htm

I found the above item very interesting. It has certainly made my mind more firm, as to why the rates of property havent fallen in the suburbs in recent times. Compared to South Bombay prices, which have fallen almost 50% , the rates in suburbs are hardly down by 10% yet. We are seeing a lot of South Bombay families moving to the suburbs. For them selling their property over there and moving over to the suburbs is akin to a status issue. So they are purchasing new properties in state of art building, with best amenities, amenities, which a few south Bombay buildings might also not be offering. In doing so, they dont mind paying the current market rates. This might have certainly led to stabilization of rates. 

I was recently informed about a certain gentleman, who had his 50 lacs forfeited which he had invested as a token in a property deal worth 5 cr in Dubai. The fact being that the same property had now fallen to 2.5crs. No he didnt sit tight on his losses, he purchased the property for 2.5crs, added the 50 lacs to the purchase price, and is not stating, ok my property costed me 3 crs, which he feels is still recoverable over a period of 5-10 years, compared to recovery against 5 crs. His statement is that from here even if the prices fall further, it will still be ok compared to original purchase price of 5 crs. Smart person.

IPL Vs Indian Elections-the losers.....our Indian Security personal

Our Home minister has expressed concerns over the management of security after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan. He feels that the postponement of IPL matches will be a better idea since it will be difficult to provide security for both the events. IPL ofcourse has put its foot down, since it has already committed itself financially to the advertisers and the team owners. Financial losses will run into crores. It wont be surprising if there is change of heart by our Home Minister before the final decision has been taken. After all crores of rupees are at stake.

The Government is concerned with its elections. The IPL is concerned with its matches. What the politicians earn after being elected is anyones guess. What IPL earns is an open secret. What the security forces will earn is nothing!!!!!!!!!!!

They will be on guard during the elections, during the IPL matches. If unfortunately there is any incidence during eighter it will be blamed on their lack of preparedness. If unfortunately anything happens, it will be our security people who will be losing their lives. If nothing happens, they will be back to their barracks, earning the same amount which they usually earn, while our politicians and Cricketers will be raking in moolah.

Mr. Home Minister, give some thought to this point also.

5 years down in a drain?

I have got this habit of being ahead in a crowd. Of trying to be the spokesperson. In school I have been a monitor for so many years. In my college, I have been active in the elections for a few years. Now in my building, I have been the Secretary for almost 5 years. It is out of interest if nothing else. But with responsibility comes certain rules. With responsibility comes times, when you have to be outspoken, when you have to inform somebody that certain things cannot be run in certain ways. And in doing so, somewhere maybe I have hurt some feelings. I hold nothing against anybody ever. I always end the matter there and then and forget about it. But it seems some people don't. And now they have got a point against me. A point, which even they know,when confronted with against 40 members, wont be supported, but when taken as per law is wrong. The point is that I am not a owner of the flat and law does not permit a non-owner to contest elections or hold post in the managing committee. A law which if followed properly thru document again allows the person to contest the elections and hold a post. But then its for fresh elections. And as per the said law it does not allow me to remain in the post. I am not post hungry. No. What is bugging me is the 5 years I have given to my building have gone down in a drain for a few people. The time I could have spent with my family, I have wasted for such stupid people. Others are in support, but then when the word LAW comes ahead, I would not like them to fall in trouble. I love working for my building. I would love to continue for the people who have placed their trust in me. Who like me were ignorant of such a law. But they are also helpless now when confronted with such technicalities. It is said that you speak a truth , chances are few will listen to you. Your shout a lie on the rooftop, and people will listen. This is what is happening. Voices are being raised and practicality is being lost. Constructive work is being ignored and we are wasting our time on foolish fights and points. I have no other option, but to put in my papers. But after resigning, frankly I doubt, I would ever like to work again in the society infested by such leaches. I do regret that the leaches are far too less, and good people are many. But the bite of these leaches is always painful.

Frankly the fighter in me still wants to stand up and fight. But.......

Freedom of speech

Blogs, community site status updates are currently a rage amongst everybody to express their thoughts. Our Indian Constitution has given us freedom of speech.

In a recent case against an Orkut Blogger and Shiv Sena, the supreme court has ruled against the blogger, stating that it is insulting the Shiv Sena, or is provocative. I would love to meet the honorable judge and ask him, didnt the same Shiv Sena print provocative articles during the infamous Mumbai riots. Was there any ruling against the newspaper. I am not against Shiv Sena, being born and bought up in the city and area, which is the main belly of it, I am myself a staunch supporter. But my question is why should a Shiv Sainik go to court over such writings. And why should the learned judge just give out a judgement over such a blog or community.

When anybody is writing on the blog, the statements are those of an individual, and the individual is able to write because of his or her freedom of expression. The right which make the individual vent out feelings. What the Supreme court has done is go against the constitution of India. It is trying to clamp down the rights of Indians. Ofcourse there is always a debate over drawing of line where comments are in black and white, but shouldnt the same be applicable to newspapers also. Venting out feelings or thoughts on the blog should be free from a BIG BROTHER watching over your shoulder.

What a week!!!!!!!!!!

Really this is one week which I will never forget in my life. I have seen people whom I have trusted, backstab me. People whom I have gone out of the way to help, raising their hands up instead of supporting me, people normally who are neutral and calm, coming out in the open to support me. Trouble being raked up by people who I had confided in, help coming out from people from whom I had never expected , on just a single word of request. I really dont understand what is going on.And here I am talking of atleast more than 25 different people. I have learned one thing, even the slightest responsibility taken has to be in proper black and white and not just on trust and an attitude of will do, everyone is my well-wisher.

The week has started going down from last Sunday, and another Sunday is staring at me tomorrow. And in this entire week I have lost control of my temper to such an extent that I am afraid of my own self now. I have lost my temper on people far senior to me. I have uttered words which I know will never leave a room for normal reconciliation of relations with those people. And to make matters worse, they are the people I have to face daily atleast, if not less, minimum 25 years. Because they are all my neighbors!!!!! Unfortunate but true!!!!!!!!!!!

I desperately want this week to get over, I desperately want a fresh week, and with the end of this week, I want the matter to end. Unfortunately, I know it wont.

How much is sufficient enough...

First it was the case of Adnan Patrawala and now Mukim Khan. Both have fallen prey to their friends. In both cases the friends came from a lower income group compared to the victims. Even though the income status difference of both is huge, both in their own capacities used to spend money on themselves as well as friends. In case of Mukim, his parents have also supported the culprits family financially. In both cases the friends hatched up plan of extracting more money from the family, but leading to loss of life.

This is leading me to one question. How much money should one give to ones child as pocket money? What should be the level of restraint on the money being spent on the friends. Should parents also keep a tab on the friends financial status. In doing so, inadvertently the parents most of the times end up supporting the family also, if they try to interfere too much.

This prospect is really scary, since even I have a school going child, who has started demanding pocket money daily. He is sharing things bought in the school with his friends. Be it a chocolate, a jelly or any eatable. I am afraid of this generosity or friendliness being wrongly directed as in the above two cases. In Mukims case I would have ignored it being that all three were from low income groups, but Adnans case of very high profile high income group family affair. So such cases are just not limited to any income group.

I cannot tell my child dont share with your friend or dont spend on him, because he needs to learn sharing, and is too small to understand the world outside is not a simple one. Today if I limit his pocket money to a simple bar of chocolate, the query is what if my friend comes along to buy and what if his parents have not given him pocket money for the day. Its a practical problem I am facing, and most parents will agree to it. If I dont give him pocket money, the peer pressure is always there. Schools have officially kept such commercial canteens in their premises.  They should also avoid commercialization of their spaces, which will always lead to kids asking for pocket money. On one hand schools write in their year books, asking parents not to give pocket money, and on the other end, they have canteens and shops in their premises, selling wares, which require money, and that money has to be in the pocket of the students.

Can anybody take the load of my head?

Its a parents cry for help......

Will you be my Valentine....

This is an article from Times of India on Valentines
Once upon a time there was a tall, dark and handsome boy. And there was a girl, slim, fair and beautiful. They exchanged glances in the morning, which led to an anxious wait in the evenings. And then it led to ferrying her from college to her home. This was followed by frequent dashes to the movies and quick shopping trips at her insistence. Then came Valentine’s Day and she asked, “Will you be my Valentine?” and he said, “Yes.” Time went by, and he was dropping her to the office, going for long drives. Like every year on the same day, she asked, “Will you be my Valentine?” and he said, “Yes, always your Valentine.” Then they got married and had two children. It was Valentine’s again. He dropped her to the office in their car with a promise to meet early and celebrate. Picked her up in the evening and took her to the market as she wanted to buy some clothes. He dropped her to the shop and, with ‘No Parking’ signboards all over the place, he went some distance to park the car. Then, he came to the shop to applaud her purchases and when she was done, went all the way back to get the car. The next halt was a men’s shop and as per the norm, he dropped her at the shop and drove around to park the car. By the time he walked back, the decision had been made. A pink T-shirt it was.
   It was dinner time, then, and it had to be something special. He wanted to get back home but she wanted to get out of the city. One glance from her and her favourite restaurant on the outskirts it was, the long, tiring drive notwithstanding. Almost by protocol now, he dropped her at the entrance and parked the car. They both ate and he smiled. She walked out to the car with him. He opened the door for her. He drove. She slept. They reached home and he stopped in front of the house. Woke her up, got down, opened the door for her and requested her to proceed. He came back after parking the car in the designated parking lot allotted to them by their Resident Welfare Association. She was waiting. He knew it was coming. Like always, she asked “Will you be my...” and before she could finish, he said, “Yes, always your valet.”

Why do we shout in Anger?

Sometimes it is odd, when you are going thru something, and out of the blue, you receive an email which is very effective or somewhat linked to what you are going thru. I am reproducing the email I received from a friend

A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people
shout at each other when they are upset?'
Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our
calm, we shout for that.'
'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the
saint. 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do
you shout at a person when you're angry?'
Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.
Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their
hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able
to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to
shout to hear each other through that great distance.'
Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They
don't shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are
very close. The distance between them is very small...'
The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens?
They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in
their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each
other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each
other.'
MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words
that distance each other more, else there will come a day when the
distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.

Self analysis and Self restraint

Many a times, I have found myself on the wrong side of many people. I believe what I have said is right, but then circumstances and the people around project it in a different way to the people whom I am rubbing the wrong way. This is leading me to self analysis where I am going wrong.

Being short tempered is my biggest mistake, which is being used by many. Listening to the same complaints day in day out, and then not speaking to the person against whom the complaints are being made, not clarifying with the person, and then losing out the steam on that person is something I have never been able to control.

Being aware of double standards of certain people, being aware I am being used and still falling for the trap is again one of my problems.

Seeing certain people act sweetly in front of their counterparts,, projecting that they are the most gullible people in the world, the biggest sufferers in the world, and actually two timing their counterparts. by creating trouble, angers me a lot. I used to wonder how the cast of certain serials can be so wicked. But seeing it in practical world is really shocking. Such people change their words so quickly in presence and absence of other people, is something I have never been able to digest.

But then where does all this put me in? I open my mouth, and everybody thinks, I am overreacting. I open my mouth and everybody thinks I am fighting, whereas I open my mouth to make certain things come out in the open.

I have till date always reacted eye for an eye, word for a word, but then there are certain people with whom I have not reacted that way and who are taking my silence as my weakness or my being wrong. I am afraid that one day I will lose my patience badly. I am afraid that one day, when I react, again those people who have otherwise agreed with me, will step back, because of the way I react.

So what do I do?

Control my anger? I can do that to certain extent. I can also try to avoid listening other peoples complaints. After all I am not a complaint box. They can wash their own dirty linen if they want to.

Avoid such people? Not always easy. They are people whom I meet, see, interact on day to day basis. 

Waiting for ideas.....

Facebook...Pub Bharo...Consortium....etc etc

Techonology and net have revolunized even revolutions now. How successful will this revolution be will be out on the Valentines. But its nice to see people standing up against what is now a new word in the dictionary...Talibanisation.

My hope is that this revolution should also make all these people come out and vote, vote for a better India. But unfortunately, I know that after 14th this is going to die its own natural death. What happened after 26/11?NOTHING.

What will happen after Valentines? NOTHING. We are a country full of emotionally charged people who will start jumping when India starts winning after a movie called Lagaan. We are people who take out candle light vigils after a movie called Rang de Basanti. We are people who start giving roses to people who are troubling us after a movie called Lage raho Munnabhai. And then.....after some time, all this gets subdued.

We are all charged as of now......but what will happen later???????

Moral Police

Valentine is approaching, and the self proclaimed Moral Police will be out again, spoiling the party for the couples, breaking cards and gift shops, slapping couples etc etc.

After gaining undue mileage in Karnataka pub incidence, the culprits over there have become more bold and have openly announced that they will not tolerate Valentine day celebrations.

Mumbai has its own share with MNS and Shiv Sena workers objecting to such celebrations.

Agreed public display of affection(PDA) is getting out of hand, but who has given the right to these parties for stopping it. Are these people void of affection towards their spouses. When they buy a "gajra" or "veni" for their wives, is it not a display of affection. Todays generation doesnt like these items, and goes in for roses. Flower is a flower, held in hand or decorated on the headbun.

One party has said, that we will get the couple married on the spot, if they are caught celebrating Valentines, so if I celebrate Valentine with my wife, what will the punishment?:)

What are these parties against, PDA or Valentine(because its a western culture). PDA is there daily. Why arent there any protests daily?  Why only Valentine?  What is more embarrasing---PDA or Valentine? Why pick up one day only for such protests? Where is their morality sleeping on other days?

 

Rail Roko at Borivali Station

Railways are a major lifeline of Mumbai. Any seasoned traveller knows how difficult it is to alight or get on a train which is going towards or coming from Virar. People who unintentionally are on such trains are not able to get down on their destination stations. Platforms being build in an unplanned manner is another trouble commuters have to bear.

This issue has been simmering since years, and patience been tested. Finally the patience broke yesterday. Delays in trains schedules, due to a cable theft, change in the platforms nos, where the trains were scheduled to stop, are very normal. But when the platforms are so far apart, that one has to walk 500 meters, it become impractical. The 500 meters distance is covered in more than double the time, due to the crowd. In such situations, the scheduled trains are missed again. Yesterday, some ladies finally decided that they have had enough. They sat down on the tracks. When the railway police started hitting them, gents also finally joined in the fray to protect the ladies. One thing led to another, and finally the trains were halted for more than 5 hours.

Borivali is a major station, but the planning been done over there is wrong, and even after yesterdays incident, I have serious doubts, that things are going to change.

5-year-old raped by school watchman

 

5-year-old raped by school watchman

We seriously need some strict laws in India against rape. The cases should be on fast track courts and the victims should not be troubled much by the police. Off with their dicks is my verdict. It is surprising that the school authorities also did not take action on the culprit. When the protectors themselves turn destructors it makes one feel very uneasy. We can only pray for strength to the victim.

Do these people deserve to criticize Slumdog?

I am bugged at the way, all of a sudden, Amitabh Bachchan, Arindam Chaudari(who made some flop movie) are commenting on it. Arindam has in his blog stated that the movie is receiving undue mileage because it has been directed by a foreign director. How much of his MBA degree helped in salvaging his movie Rok Sako to Rok Lo, is there for the general public to judge. First he should look at what kind of movie he had made, before commenting on the movie.

Regarding the child actors not being paid, it has been clarified by the director that a fund has been set up 1 year back to the tune of 25 lacs for each child actor. Anil Kapoor has given his entire earnings from this film to an NGO for these children. Just by crying foul, have Amitabh Bachchan and Arindam Chaudari fulfilled their commitments towards India? Has Amitabh Bachchan while negotiating crores of rupees for the next film with Karan Johar even thought of giving it to the betterment of slums? Infact, he claimed exemptions from the income he gained while hosting for KBC, on the grounds that this particular income was because he had become a quiz master, thereby not paying a single penny by way of Income tax. A great actor he may be, but I would say, Sunil Dutt, Nargis Dutt and the likes are more greater than him, even if they were not termed as super stars

Aamirs loss , Slumdogs Gain, Indias Gain

I had put a blog long time back, stating that Taare Zameen Par, might win the Oscar for India this time round. I had also backed it up using Bejan Daruwala's prediction. A good movie, no doubt, unfortunately, it didnt make it to the nominations.

It made me dig out the prediction again. Bejan Daruwala has predicted a win for an Indian movie. Period. Next he has gone on to say that because of Aamir Khans stars, he might be the reason for the win. So putting two and two together, and Taare Zameen Pe, being the Indian representation, hopes were high. But the hopes came crashing down.

And then, all of a sudden, Slumdog Millionaire came into picture. And now with 10 nominations, it seems, there is a an element of certainty, that India shall be getting something this time. A R Rahman's "Jai HO" has got very catchy beats and is my personal favourite for the award. 22 Feb, hope India wins.......

Now its Slumdog and Slumdwellers, Slumdog and Hindus

The movie is to release today. Certain sections of slumdwellers have taken objection to the word dog. Just how much they will understand the context is understandable. Even before the movie has been released, they have started pelting stones on Anil Kapoor's house in Mumbai. One Hindu organization has filed a Public Interest Litigation in the court, demanding a stay on the release, because according to him, Lord Rama has been depicted wrongly in the movie. Had it not been "Jamal", and the rioters shown in the movie not been Hindus, this public interest litigation would never have come up.

We are certainly living in an odd world.

Amitabh and Slumdog

I saw Slumdog Millionaire, was quite impressed by it. It had its moments when I really wanted to puke(like when the character Salim pukes, while a boys eye is being gouged out), but the movie was really amazing.

I fail to understand why an Actor like Amitabh Bachchan should criticize the movie. He has been given due acknowledgement in the movie. After thinking a lot, and these are my thoughts, and I stand by them, for some reason, I was being reminded of a contestant in KBC when Amitabh was the host. I don't remember his name, a frail guy, with a huge "tikka" on his forehead. A guy, who like our character in  Slumdog, didn't fit in. He had managed to surprise everybody by giving the right answers which finally took him to the final question. Just like the movie, before the final question was put to him, the "time up" gong went out. The next day, this person blew up the entire money by answering wrong. That he had come up to the final question was a huge surprise, because some felt that he didn't deserve it. Some felt he is was plain lucky at guessing and choosing the right lifeline at the right time. Are we seeing a sense of guilt somewhere, and thereby the criticism. Was some "help" from certain quarters given out? Why should Amitabh criticize the movie. Isn't he aware of the pathetic conditions slum people live in? Is life just a huge palatial house of Karan Johar movie for him?

Did the author of the book know something, which of course without substantial proof he cannot say is true? We are never going to know about it.....

A "HOPE" called Obama

America has voted for "HOPE". "HOPE" for change, "HOPE" for coming out of current recession. I am "hoping" that Obama is just not a hype. Just because he is the first African-American to be elected, there is lot of curiosity surrounding him. He is no doubt a great orator. No doubt he seems to be more intellectual compared to his predecessor Bush, who was known more for his "Bushisms" then his administrative powers. But can he deliver in these difficult times is to be seen. Being positive, is good. Pinning on "HOPE" is good. But delivering the goods is not easy. If he fails, it will be termed as a failure of African-American. And I am "hoping" he is not just talks, but action.

Modern greetings

Yesterday while discussing organization of our building function, we were discussing prizes to be given away. Gift articles, etc were being discussed. The topic diverted to greeting cards, love cards etc. At this age I was found wanting when it came to discussing the rates, though 10 years back I would have easily known how much they cost. But what surprised me more was the younger generation is also not aware of it.

The reason they gave was they are more into E-greetings nowadays. Print greetings are out of fashion now. Come to think of it, my expressions via print greetings were a long time back. Nowadays, I use emoticons on messengers, and E-greetings for even expressing love for my wife. Times are changing, and so are we.

A-Satyam(Lies)

Lots might already be written about Satyam. But what bothers me is that how does one manage to show so much of cash in the balance sheets. What were the auditors seeing while the cash balance was increasing. Satyam was not selling vegetables or running a restaurant for it to accumulate such cash. Anybody aware of the financial's will know that the cash balance is normally tallied with the bank withdrawals.

So now we come to the point of if the cash was infact shown against withdrawals then the fact is that the funds were there. And if they were there where are they now. Maytas Infra has been awarded major contracts including the prestigious Metro and Airport development. Such contracts in India are not without their normal kickbacks. With big leaps in financial's, come bigger kickbacks, and bigger kickbacks, means bigger outflow of cash. I am not saying that the entire cash has gone in kickbacks, maybe some has been siphoned off by the promoters. But then to handle such outflow of cash, is always not easy, when the markets are going through a recession. In a running market, its very easy.In 2002 , Modi Xerox had put up its hands, when its bribes against the rate contract it had received had inflated its cash balance.

So what is the fact now with Satyam. I am not ready to believe its in loss. I am not ready to believe its has worked on nominal margins. Raju has said was like riding a tiger, I am saying, Raju himself is the tiger who has eaten up a major chunk along with certain officials. The question is who is going to put his arm in the tigers throat to know the true Satya(m).