Caught in a Jam

If you have done a bad deed in your life and wish to be punished, then you must travel in Mumbai on festival days. The torture that you go through is worse than getting stranded in a Sahara dessert under a hot sun without water to quench your thirst, actually even worse than that. But I don’t think I have done any bad deed lately, I lead a very moral life, tell no lies and hurt no soul, nor carry any tales not even gossip, acting so goodie-goodie that it irritates my naughty friends, in fact, I am presently participating in ‘No Complaining Pledge’ for 21 days!! I am all the time distributing happiness like they distribute sweets at the end of prayers in a temple, (Sometimes, I even distribute free smiles, virtual gifts and hugs on facebook too) still, why do I go through this torture I fail to understand. And all the time I believed that life was fair, it functions according to the laws of Karma I had a change of opinion today when I sat in the bus for four hours (while returning from my otherwise two hour trip from my school at Belapur) wasting my time by just watching the traffic crawl through the crowded streets. I am sure Ganpati must not be happy with the noise that is blaring on the streets that is lighted with million bulbs and people dancing their shaky-whaky dances with their limbs going loose and crazy and changing directions in hip hop way, challenging the laws of gravity. Come on.!!!! Gimme a break!! Whoever has taught them such dances? Do these people just pick up random dance steps from Bollywood flick and make a fusion dance of their own?? I was sitting there in that bus, helplessly, looking out of window (what else can one do?) when all of sudden a dirty stench entered my bus suffocating me and the other passengers in the bus. The lady in front of my seat took her dupatta and wrapped it around her face, covering her nose so tight that her life saving organ might say goodbye to its last breath. I started scrolling through all the emergency numbers on my mobile, she coughed a little, then loosened her duppatta and decided to inhale the bad smell instead. I investigated the source of this discomfort, and lo behold, just parallel to my bus was that garbage van, crawling at the same speed. My attention was now drifted from bad traffic to this stench that was following me. My bus halts, garbage van stops, my bus moves a little and garbage van moves too, disturbing the fresh air, polluting it and pushing it straight through my nostrils. I was now afraid. All this time I was dodging swine flu, I had even started those tiny white pills, twice a day, to prevent the tini-mini-germs from entering my system and here I was, dodging the garbage van…and wondering what disease I might finally die from and whether there would be zero attendance at my funeral or any of my friends would start a fan page for me for condolence on my facebook. I turned my head, away from stench, trying to find empty window seat on the other side, when, all of a sudden, my glance filtered out, through the window, on to the idol of Ganpati across the street. The beautiful face of idol momentarily distracted me and I was filled with affection and gratitude for all the blessing that I felt it sprinkling around me. I smiled at the idol, asking him if he feels good at all the attention that he was getting for eleven days, hijacking the busy city of Mumbai. And I actually saw the idol shrug. What could he do? If only idols could talk, they would put some sense in this human world. Alas! Nobody can!!!

Day out at 'Kala Ghoda Festival'

After lunch, my friends and I headed towards south Mumbai to experience ‘Kala Ghoda Festival’. Being last day of the 10-day-Festival, it was too crowded and we kept getting lost into the crowd. It was like every thirty minutes we would call on our mobile to find each other. We all had different interests and while I spend most of my time shooting the pictures, my friends were more interested in shopping knick knacks or eating. Somewhat, not only do the art in any form attracts me but even the artist at work. This man worked skillfully on sculpture of a man, I moved closer to see this artist shape a strip of plywood There were also some children learning Warli painting for Rs100, they had made cute greeting cards. There was a big crowd near the stage where there were different performers at different times, there was music playing all the time and everyone could be seen shaking their heads and tapping their feet. We stopped there to have a cup of coffee. And there was bigger crowd at food stalls, Imagine a Pani Puri for Rs35. I get better Pani Puri in my lane for just Rs12! How they loot public at the fairs! There were kiosks where they abused political trouble makers And others that abused their own government for bad sanitation in the country Children enjoyed the story telling session at BHNS auditorium And towards the evening, I enjoyed the performance poetry at Sassoon Library, which was the nodal point for literature and poetry. It was a very tiring day though fun, fun, fun!

Kala Godha Arts Festival starts with a Bang!

Today, South Mumbai was dressed with laughter. Everybody was busy, too busy, running from one end of the street to another, the organizers were busy arranging the events and programs, participants were busy shuttling from one room to another to attend workshops and salespersons were busy putting up their stall that will display different handicraft and food stuff for sale for next ten days.. The people who were really relaxed and decided to start enjoying from day one were the children and their grandparents. The easiest way to involve adults in any festival is to invite their children. Any activity that brings a smile to the child’s face will automatically bring a smile to their parents and grandparents. The colors and ambiences of the festival were child friendly. The parking island opposite Jahangir Art Gallery was converted into children’s theme park where they enjoyed various activities and learnt many things in the various workshops……..