'Tara Rum Pum' go see it with children....timepass....

Went to see ‘Tara Rum Pum’ staring Saif Ali, Rani Mukerjee and two kids Priya and Ranveer. It is a cute story (more like a fairy tale) about a car racer who meets with an accident and his happy-go-lucky-live-for-a-present life goes up-side-down bringing hardships to his family. There are moral lessons to be learnt. We must save for the rainy day. (Saif buys expensive gifts like diamond ring, finishing all his money without a thought to paying of the house rent, buys big house, car and all luxury items in installments which he loses it all in his bad times when he has no money to pay for installments nor does he have enough money for his son’s treatment, who is seriously hurt when he swallows a piece of glass) Live with self-respect. (father offering 50,000 dollars to his daughter in hard times but the daughter refusing to take, prefers to live in penury), Don’t ever lie (Saif lies about his daughter being sick with pneumonia and get sympathy and cash from friends that he, then spends on celebrating the birthday of his child) and don’t worry, be happy. (The children are made to believe that they are participating in an reality show called ‘don’t worry be happy’ where they can pretend to be poor but still keep a smile. (That is why I say fairy tale, because children are no more stupid these day but still play along with their parent’s make-believe tale).

Chilled veggies at my doorstep?

I have this vegetable and fruit seller who rings my doorbell at all odd hours. Sometimes if I am too lazy to go out and buy those heavy vegetable, I welcome him and even buy from him. But there are times when I am doing my thinking exercise (for example : writing) or cleaning exercises (for example: bath) or breathing exercises (for example: meditation) Now, will I like somebody ringing my doorbell in such odd hours? So either I don’t answer the doorbell at all or answer the doorbell and show him one of my devilish moods. But I guess they are used to that and they keep coming back unperturbed by our bad moods. But, all that is likely to change. No I don’t mean that we will permanently start patronizing the food stores and supermarket but better still, in future we will not be able to refuse those sophisticated — a simple, out-of-the-box thela, that has been conceived by Acme Cold Chain Solutions, a New Delhi-based firm. Acme is investing Rs1 crore for a three-month pilot project in which 25 chilled hawking trolleys will be used to vend fresh food and fruits, improvising on the traditional sabjiwala’s facility. They are planning to have direct-to-home service providers to launch the mobile fresh foods venture called ‘All Fresh’. We will be able to book through a toll-free number, collected at a call centre facility in Gurgaon, and will be transmitted to the nearest ‘All Fresh hawking trolley operator’, who will then deliver fruit/vegetable at the our doorstep. Will I scowl at these veggie-vendor? Time will tell!

Pampering our taste buds

Though my nutritionist has prohibited me from eating road side ‘Kachra’ as she calls it, but this is the temptations I just cannot resist. We have so many road side vendors at every street that it is sometimes impossible to control the drooling. Agree, that road-side is the most unhygienic way of pampering ourselves, what with the traffic moving about, throwing the dust up in the air which finally comes to rest on the open food, and also the lack of clean water (they keep washing the used vessels from the mininmum of half cup of water) but still we drool. And before we wet the streets with our overflowing drool it is best to shuff mouths with the tasty flavors of the road side stuff. I love the Pani-Puri and Batatapuri the best. There is a batatapuri wallah who stands outside my gate and he makes the most delicious stuff. One day I had a kitty party at my place and I asked him to bring his whole stall up on the second floor. The ladies were so impressed and some of them, till today, remind me of that luxury. And what did I have to lose? I didn’t have to slog into my kitchen like our cousins in foreign country do! We, in India, just ask him to come up and handle the culinary part. (boo-boo) I also love to eat Samosas and Batawadas. I like them best with those fried soft chillies and stuffed into bread. (yummy!) Then we also have the most delicious sandwiches. Sssluurrrrp! The vegetable sandwiches and the cheese toast. Then there is Pavbhaji, Ragda-Pattis, Bhajias……The list is endless. Although, many of these stalls have been put up hygienically (wearing those plastic gloves et el) in the malls, but we still patronize the roadside, in the open air.. Who cares anyway? Dhekha jayega! We were brought up that way!

Sentiments are for foriegners in an artic zone..

Are you visiting India? It will do you good if you keep warm your sentiments behind. In India you have to be careful even while holding hands, because if you lose control, you could end up making a fool of yourself. In India, we show our affections only behind the closed doors or we can face the same fate as our Shipa Shetty, a famous Indian film star of ‘Big Brother’ fame. She stands amidst the angry conservative society as guilty. Guilty? Of what? For not resisting Richard Gere for his passionate kiss, which he couldn’t stop for three full minutes? And that too in front of truck drivers who were attending HIV health awareness program in Delhi. In a country where public display of affection are largely a taboo and the police arrest young folks who are a bit, too intimate at the sea shores, this kiss was too much to tolerate. As soon as it was flashed across TV channels, the crowds in India went berserk and starting burning effigies of Richard Gere. People viewed the event as ‘highly sexually erotic’ saying that the pair violated India’s strict public obscenity laws. And now the local citizens have filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection has offended local sensibilities. If convicted of Public obscenity, they could face up to three months in prison and fine or both. And so I repeat. Please leave your affectionate sensibilities back home, where ever you are. In India, it is not cashable.

life on Mumbai streets!

on Mumbai streets you can find many scenes, some happy some sad.... It pains me to see small children brought into this world by the parents who have no roof over themselves. what future can a child expect from those parents who have none.... Yes! they too love their children and you see them hugging their little ones amidst the traffic and dust as the empty vessels lie in front of them waiting to be filled.... what can one do about this child who is all alone on the street at this tender age? while the kids of rich parents have thousand eyes to watch over them a child of poor parents has none but One...... for year the poor live on squatted on the streets under the temporary shade of a wall that will soon fade away exposing them to the harsh cruel world.... while the elders will go on finishing their hard earned chores.....