Market place in Lagos

Markets in Lagos are no different from the markets in other parts of the world except that you need to be prepared to face the heat that is quite cruel. In reality, one should be happy to visit the air-conditioned malls which sell almost everything and shopping in style should be the norm of the day. But if we come all the way to Africa, we are likely to be curious of a local market. After much cajoling, my cousin finally agreed to take us to the local market. First things first, we had to remove all the jewellery, wear cotton clothes, carry minimum of cash and carry lots and lots of water. Surprisingly, markets are clean. There is lots of crowd in this particular market and branded goods are available at throw-a-way prices. There are rows and rows of shops selling the same items at competitive prices. There are many more hawkers seen on the road causing traffic jam ( called ‘goslow’ ) and the market there is called ‘goslow market’ The streets are colourful with women dressed in bold block prints and a head scarf. They greet me with a smile and wishing me a very good afternoon. I want to buy a fish and she quotes astronomical price. “Wat, are you mad? It is too much” I say “No mamma! Price very good. I tell you, you no get this price nowhere.” “No, price too high, I no buy. You my friend? You no like me? You no want to sell? No? “Mamma, price very small, I make it small for you, for you only, I make it small, how mush you pay hah?” After much discussion, I finally get a good bargain.

Learning Art of Nigeria

There is no limit to the art world. Every country has its own signature into the art world. I was fascinated with the art world on this side of the globe. In Africa, there is art in the motifs and bright color pictures. I went to the local market and there was a display of African art in most of the stores. My cousin, who is also interested in art, wanted to learn this art from a local native and I decided to accompany here and be a silent learner. Moses, the local painter and artist, agreed to share his talent with us. We drove to his studio to learn his art. While my cousin sat on the hot seat, painting, I learnt it from a distance. We went for two days. On day one, they drew lines with glue cone to create embossed effect and coated with the primer of glue and distemper. They worked on three canvases, Two canvases were on motifs, the third one was on knife paintings. At the end of two days, my cousin had created three beautiful painting. While my cousin was busy painting he was creating more designs He was quick, within one hour he created three more paintings.. We learnt the different motifs, his style of painting and blending of colors. He worked with much ease and style, with no drawing or planning, letting the brushes move freely on the canvas, each stroke plucked from his memory, just creating whatever came to his mind and all were amazing…….

April....in a strange land.....

The branches of the tree are just few inches away from my first floor balcony. I stare at it as I sip my tea. I marvel at the large, green and brown leaves that sway with the warm winds. I slowly shift my gaze towards the blue sheet at the pool that glistens with sunrays. Two small heads plop in and out of the pool, their happy squeals cutting the silence beneath the trees. In this month of April, I am far away from my home town, in a dark continent, in West Africa. Same blue sky of my home town is above me, but, here I am surrounded by healthy, green, clean, fresh air, and a sweet fragrance. The birds sing a happy song. So close to the nature, I should be swinging with joy. I am but only for few hours. I am spoilt by my electronic world and I miss the glossy patterns of bytes and words. I take two hours to complete my work which would normally take only ten minutes in my home town. Slow internet connection drains me out and I wait patiently, furiously pulling the strands of my hair. There is shortage of power at all times of the day; luckily for me, most of the houses have transformers that run on petrol or diesel. My mind drifts to the village home, just few miles away, and I see the discomfort of a native in this primitive land. The weather is too hot and my inspiration has no wings. Is April the cruelest month? I feel sad, but momentarily. Glow returns with the radiance of smiling faces around me. An idle chat of poetry and song, a game of cards, a fancy cuisine or drives through the green winding roads towards the beach shifts my moods and I am happy once more. But, driving through those lonely roads, I am reminded of the armed robbery through the streets that are more common now and I cup my ears to hide the reflections of the stones that dangle through my ear lobes. My heart stands still till I see the familiar secured gates of my holiday home. Safe, once more, I take a chance to enter my virtual world. I am home away from home This April is the cruelest month It is not, or is it?

On the busy streets of Lagos

The car has stopped in the middle of the road and needs immediate attention. Due to bad oil, there is dirt in the carburetor. While the car is being repaired, I am waiting in the car. My car is parked under the shade of the tree, just below the bridge. On my right are palm trees. Each tree is labeled, it has its scientific name, tree name ad its uses. There is a royal palm tree which says is uses for decorative purpose and other shorter tree called Palm tree has its uses listed as edible oil. There are several hawkers resting under the tree. These hawkers are the ones who were hawking in the traffic jam. Here the traffic jam is called ‘goslow’ and these hawkers sell all kinds of wares at ‘goslow’. On my left, there is a bridge and I can see more than 50 hawkers in that small strip of the bridge. They sell all kinds of stuff and run after every car. It is so sunny and hot, and they have their clothes soaked with perspiration, when they are tired, they come here, on my right and rest under these trees.

Visit to Beauty salon in Lagos

One of my cousins was leaving for USA,so she decided to have a make over, to get a new look after her trip to Lagos. She wanted to do streaking and blow dry....we went to the salon, where the owner was a male hair style artist. The salon was full of beautiful paintings covering all the bare walls. There were Indian magazines on the magazine racks. Salon was quite expensive. For dyeing and blow drying my cousin paid about one hundred US dollars whole my couin who did streaking and cutting hair paid almost one hundred and sixty US dollars. It is quite expensive if we compare the rates with India, In Mumbai I normally pay Rs1000 (about 25 US dollars)for dyeing my hair, and that too in a good salon.

Visit to Tropicana Beach Resort, Lagos, Nigeria

Set out to Tropicana Beach Resort in five cars, one behind another, total of twenty people to enjoy the sand and sunshine at Eleco Beach at Victoria resort. It was a beautiful ride through the tree lined roads and we reached the beach after one hour drive. we had to park the car outide the resort and we took a three wheeler to go inside the resort. The white glassy sands were shaded by the patches of sunlight that filtered through the rows of coconut trees. Major part of the afternoon was spend at the sea shore, combatting the wild waves against our skin. It was a wonderful day spend eating, chatting and enjoying the cool sea winds.

Five days have passed since I have landed in Lagos...

it started on a wrong footing...and all due to my carelessness...imagine, I didn't take my purse when I went to a rest room in the airplane, and left my handbag on my seat. I got stripped off my green notes and was quite sad.....but like they say, everything has a purpose, maybe the person who had the courage to rob me needed the money more than I do, so I move on, probably borrow the money and start enjoying my self....coming so far from my home town and mourning over the lost money is not a good idea, I might spoil the fun of others who are with me... So here I am enjoying the nature of Lagos...there are so many trees in this city...Neem, Mango, Coconut, Papaya, Banana.. Everywhere, there is greenery and the air is so fresh.....but there is too much traffic on he road and what amuses me is the number of things that are available at the traffic signals Almost everything is sold on the streets; watches, telephone cards, fruits, vegetables, drinks, cigarettes, magazine, clothes and many more articles. This reminds me of Mumbai traffic signals where we too have vendors selling their wares at the signals. The weather is very warm (hot winds) and it is difficult to breathe without an AC. Most of our time is spend indoors (a wise thing to do) but today we went to market place to get the feel of the city. They roast corn on the roads and fry red bananas. The market was full of handcrafted items and lot of paintings. One particular painting that impressed me was a collage of butterfly wings.. It was very beautifully made, then there were jewelry, clothes, wood craft, paintings and also fresh fruit and vegetables in the market. My cousin who lives here in Lagos has good set of friends and these five days I have met most of them at the restaurants or they have been visiting us. Some of them I met at her kitty party. The Chinese food here is very much different from what we have in India.. It is just fantastic.. very yummy but living is quite expensive. They have Naira currency (125 Naira equals one dollar.) My cousin bought some fruits and vegetables and then she took us(five of us) out for sandwiches and soup and I saw her spent 20 thousand Naira. The local Nigerians are very friendly and they don't stare. (unlike India, where everybody stares) At the market place, they address you as Mama or Ma, and politely invite you to buy their wares...and they are easy to talk to. They speak English but it is difficult to follow because they a different accent, most of the word are rounded and merged with overlapping of sounds. My cousin has two maids, one for cooking and other for cleaning the house. They live in servant quarters, which is behind the building; They take three hours in the afternoon to rest. The day starts quite early; 630 am and the activity in the house starts. The markets are open from 7am to 5pm. Nigerian is the sixth largest oil producing country, but I am surprised that it is having fuel shortage. I saw long queue at the petrol station due to fuel shortage. It has crude oil but no refinenary (sad but true) Do Nigerians have a good love life? (According to the Nigerian youth, he says) "In Nigeria today many, many girls are driven by both poverty and greed. The disadvantaged position of women due to a male dominated society puts men in a position where a lot of them just look at women as objects that can be bought and paid for. There few jobs after leaving school and many parents cannot meet with their kid’s demands. It is a sad situation and unfortunately I don't see any hope as far as the economy remains the way it is. Its all about money for hair, money for handset, recharge cards. Romance and love tend to flee this sort of arrangements so it is getting rarer than before." However, A Nigerian man will marry only if his lover gets pregnant.

My family re-union in Dubai

The ten days trip to Dubai was an eventful episode. It was to celebrate my cousin's 50th birthday. I love to spend time with my family and since all my family is scattered all over the world, I get to meet them whenever they come to India, or when here is some family wedding then we get time to meet. But during weddings, we are too busy attending occasions and we hardly get time to chill, not really…all our time is spend in visiting saloon or dressing or attending some or the other parties. During the wedding, there is loud music that silences our conversations, and the notes are normally exchanged in groups of three or four. We wanted to spend quality time together, to meet some place, out of India, where we could just be together. The opportunity finally arrived. My cousin decided to celebrate her birthday in Dubai. My nephew lives in Dubai, so it was perfect place for a venue away from home. He has three BHK apartments. The family that was to arrive were Rajni from Chicago, Suresh from Texas, Chandru and Meena from Hongkong, Laju from Lome, Reza from Bahrain, Gitu, Asgar and Neha from Lagos, Rani, Raju, Devkadidi from Pune and me from Mumbai. Then there were the family residents of Dubai that included Nikki, Dina, Karina, Sanjoo, Danisha, and Vinesh, thus we formed a group of twenty and the fun had begun. Except for Sanjoo’s family of four, all the rest of us wanted to live under one roof. Gitoo and Rajni, (who were first to arrive,) headed for shopping and purchased the air mattresses that promised a comfortable dreamy nights. As the family arrived, one by one, the rooms filled with laughter and joy. Mornings were spent chatting and joking that were laced with other odd jobs like preparing breakfast, making beds and washing dishes. Nobody told anybody to help, but there was a special pleasure in working together. Although we were so many of us in one house, we didn’t feel crowded. Nikki’s hall is huge and airy with a large open balcony. He has two easy chairs, two rocking chairs and el-shaped couch, then there is a huge square shaped dining table with twelve chairs. Under the glassy top of the dinning table there is a beautifully carved slab of wood that had mosaic of gold colored, square metal chips The centre of the table is laden with a huge globular vase that contained fresh flowers. A fish aquarium, side table and a bar complete the room. Most of our hours were spend in this room. After idle mornings, we would get ready to go for lunch and to visit malls. Dubai has beautiful malls with clean, large alleys. The shops gleam with merchandise. It is possible to visit only one mall a day, there is too much to walk and too much to see. We did go for desert safari, which was fun, roller-coasting through those sand dunes at break neck speed and late evening enjoying the Arabic dinner under the spells of the magic shows and belly dancing. We also enjoyed a boat ride on another evening and watched the sun set from the upper deck of the boat. But most of our days were spent visiting malls and trying the food at fancy restaurants. We enjoyed the long drives through the city. We had rented a 17 seated vehicle, which was perfect for our group; we shared our stories and comments as we drove through the city. My cousins related how the city has grown in last five years. There were constructions everywhere, a new shiny glass buildings were mushrooming on all sides. We saw Burj Dubai, the super-tall structure, the final height of which is being held as a closely held secret that will feature residences, commercial space and retail space and hospitality elements including the world's first Armani Hotel and Armani Residences. With over 160 storey now, the most number of livable floors in any building in the world, Burj Dubai is already pushing the frontiers in architecture, construction and engineering excellence. The ten days passed quickly and the quality time we spend together is the time etched in our memory for many years to come….

I don’t play Holi anymore.

Not that I don’t like this festival, (Actually I do) but the mess that follows later (cleaning the house and the bathrooms) is unnecessary waste of time. Early morning I heard the laughter of kids who were playing with color in the building compound. There were sounds of children running, shouting, and giggling. After saying a short morning prayers, I went to my bedroom balcony to watch the children play. Happily they sprinkled colors on faces of their friends, red, blue, green and the festival had arrived with vibrant hues and the celebration of life was here again. Hoil, the festival of colors, mischief, pranks, a day when you get away with any practical jokes and yet dance to a loud music. Holi is a festival of universal brotherhood and happiness. The bonfires that are lit on the eve of Holi are in reminder of the value of true faith in God. Many years ago, we would lit the fire in the lane and all the neighbors would come with coconut, sweets and water, and we would walk three times around the bonfire, break the coconut, sprinkle water and red color powder and then we would play games like antakshri or dumbsheras till late nights. This year I went with my sister to the corner of the street and watched while my sister went closer to the fire to pray. Didn’t want to risk walking around the bonfires, was afraid that I might slip on the wet ground and harm myself. Many years ago, we looked forward to these festivals and took part in all the festivities. We were young then, our vocal chord had higher decibels. We knew all the bollywood numbers and a great stamina to keep awake all night with friends and sing and laugh. Now, Holi is a day to celebrate with family, enjoying lunch, chat and play a game of cards with family and friends. I like to watch children play Hoil, like to watch youngster dance to the loud music and do rain dance, I enjoy this festival, but now I watch it from a distance. Not that I have become old, it is just that now my priorities have changed.

A true story ... of hope and determination

This is a true story of a woman, Shalini, who would help me cope with my housework When I lived in Spain, what I hated most was doing the odd jobs at home like sweeping, swabbing, dusting or washing clothes. Therefore,when I returned back to India, I started to enjoy the comfort of a helper which is easily available in India' I appointed Shalini to help me clean my house. Shalini worked in my house with a salary of just Rs500. Having her help in the house was a blessing I enjoyed and I was kind of living in luxury. She worked in four different houses in my building, doing the same job, over and over again, and seven days a week. I would ask her to take a day off and she would refuse telling me that she would be bored at home. Every evening, she would come to my house and make me a cup of tea, and while she and I sipped the tea together, she would relate to me the stories of her life and her family. Shalini had no husband and her family had cheated her out of the family property and she had been forced to work as a housemaid, because she was not educated nor qualified to do any other work. She had one daughter, Rupa, whom she would take with her everywhere because she did not trust the neighbor for her daughter's safety. While she worked, Rupa would sit and watch her mother do cleaning and swabbing at other people's houses. One day, Shalini's employer suggested that she educate her daughter, because she felt that her daughter was very pretty and education would do her good. On the insistence of her employer, she enrolled Rupa in the municipal school. Rupa would be seen following Shalini with a book in her hand. Rupa would get help in her studies from the children in the building, all the used books, and clothes were passed on to her from Shalini's employers. Rupa started to enjoy the attention she was getting from all people in the neighborhood and she took more interest in her studies and was getting good result. Years passed, Rupa grew up, educated and graduated. Shalini would tell me the stories of how people had helped her financially to get her daughter educated and how proud she was of her pretty, educated daughter. One day, she told me that Rupa had got a good job, she didn't know where her daughter was working but she said that she had started working in some office which was open all night and she had comapany transport at her service. I guessed it must be some call centre. While her daughter lived in style, she was still travelling by bus and doing menial work. For next six months, she would tell me about her daughter earning good salary, and improving her standard of living. First came, radio with stereo, then telephone, 24 inch TV, sewing machine, furniture and then washing machine....and she told me that her daughter wanted her to stop working as house maid, as she was making enough money to support her. But Shalini was a proud woman and she didn't want to live on her daughter's expense, so she continued to work in four houses, doing the same drab work that she had been doing for 25 years. Her own clothes were washed in the washing machine at home, while she washed people's clothes at work. I would wonder if her daughter was proud of her mother for getting her educated or was she ashamed of her mother, doing the menial work and earning only ten percent of her daughter's salary. She was a very good maid; she worked hard and was very honest. Many other employers did not want her to leave them. They were afraid they would not be able to replace her and therefore they discouraged her for their own selfish comforts. They were happy that she was a self respecting woman who did not want to live on her aughter's expenses. I ask her to leave the job and rest at home and tried to explain to her that she deserved to live comfortably because she had made an effort to educate her daughter but she would not listen, telling me that she would be bored at home. Her daughter got married and forced her to stay with her and it was her son-in-law who finally cajoled her into leaving the job and start enjoying the comfort in her old age. I lost a good maid but I was happy that her efforts had paid off. She visits me sometimes, and I feel happy to see her proud smile and glow on her face when she lovingly talks about her daughter's success. Cross posted on another blog on 'Unchaai – Crying for Love’ at http://unwantedgirlchild.blogspot.com/2008/03/true-story-of-hope-and-determination.html

Woman of leisure

Dark eyes and long eyelashes She might even have a sparkle that will reflect on her mood When her lover to her beckons. She will have a colorful make-up If for a feast, there is an invite But on warm and lazy summers She stretches till late nights She is a woman of leisure Who has no rules nor any plans Each day for her is different Dependent on her beloved friends Today I finally finished my painting ‘Women of leisure’ it is done in acrylics. What I like about acrylics is that it dries faster and therefore, it is easier to finish it faster. The jewelry and the curved border is done with em-seal and painted with gold. It took me 2 months to complete it. It is added to my collection. Hope I will be able to sell one day. Till then, it sits perched on the top of my cabinet…

This Saturday I attended a seminar on ‘Woman and Legal/property Right’.

It was quite an interesting event with the attendance of over one hundred ladies and it also included few men. Most of the women came loaded with their own pockets of grievance, hoping to find solutions to their problems that related to their property rights We had different speaker that included Adv. Y.P.singh, ADV. Arvind Jain, Dr Mahendre Mehta, Adv Rajesh Mudholkar. Dr Indu Shahani, the women ‘Sheriff of Mumbai City’ was the chief guest. She is the driving force behind women’s empowerment and she has coordinated with various NGO’s in addressing the various problems of women. She has started a helpline (call 1298) for women who are facing sexual or violence harassments. She pointed out to the powers of the youth and how they can be encouraged in redefining leadership. Dr Shashi Sharma, WGG Chairperson, expressed the need for the mind set of the society to change, citing different examples about how a girl is programmed to work and help in the housework while boys are encouraged to study or to play. The division of the responsibility and difference in sex privileges are marked out at early age. She stressed the need to change this mind set and believed that everybody could be encouraged to perform to their best of their ability, irrespective of their sex preferences Advocate, Ms Flavia Agnes, chairperson of MAJLIS, spoke about the different sexual and violence problems that women are facing and leading them to commit suicide. The issues of dowry death, sexual harassment and violence have not increased over the years, but it seems so, because initially many of these crimes would go unreported. There is a vulnerability of the women that subjects them to crime and violence. They are afraid to report because they are blamed for the crime. She argued that women would not commit suicide if she is educated and independent and has her own bank account. She believes that woman should not marry under the pressure of family and society; she should first be educated and independent and marry only when she is ready to marry some one of her choice. It should not be mandatory but it should be a decision of one’s free will. She stressed the fact that if woman is educated and has a position of power, nobody can touch her. General scenario of property laws for women was discussed by advocate Arvind Jain. After 56 years of independence, woman is still discriminated in becoming an heir to the estate on par with her counterpart man. In fact, discrimination, though unconstitutional in the face of sacred Article 14 of the constitution is not uniform and does not guarantee that no citizen shall be discriminated on the basis of sex. Needless to say, thus, the laws which aim at empowering the vulnerable section of the society must not be read down. After the delicious, vegetarian lunch of assorted vegetables, snacks, ice cream and sweets, second segment of the seminar continued. Adv Y.P. Singh focused on women's denied rights and how we could deal formally/ informally/legally with them. He stressed the need for ‘Right to Information’ he said that it is very important to be well informed of all the assets and the liability of the family wealth and weigh the options with a open mind. Woman of the house should know her financial and the property status of the family. Dr Mahendra Mehta discussed the need for woman to know her rights. She should know about all the assets that are owned by the family such as shares, mutual funds, art and paintings, silver/gold/diamond ornaments, cash, real estate, etc. She should be aware of her property status, investments and retirement plans and she should have a proper understanding of taxation and various legal issues. He enlightened us on the financial issues, its understanding and methods of savings/long term plans. Adv Rajesh Mudholkar discussed the importance of 'Will Making', reading the finer prints and understanding the details which could help in facing the pressures of relatives. There were question/answer sessions which were discussed in great details and that added color and hue to the meeting. The seminar that lasted for over eight hours was not enough to satiate the curiosity of the empowered women. It was an interesting debate to drum the men’s minds and chew their brains for many more days, thereafter….

March Read Meet under Open Skies.

One more lovely evening, I attended with my Caferati folks, this time in South Mumbai, Kemps Corner, to be exact. The theme this month was on sharing notes on the workshops that we had attended during Kala Ghoda Festival in February 2008. I was surprised by the number of people who were anxious to attend. The members at the read-meets were dwindling lately, sometimes as low as five members, but this read-meet was choc-a-bloc. Writers were waiting for some other members to drop out, so that, they could be accommodated. Was it because there were notes to be shared or was it because it was at a convenient location? Whatever, I think people always need a reason to attend, especially if they are not a regular. And, members who attended were not disappointed. Who would? A read meet on a terrace, facing the sea, a generous crowd, who is willing to share their knowledge with people, some of those, whom they are meeting for the first time, a perfect hostess, Kareena Merchant, who made everybody comfortable with her warm chats and tasty chaats and a meticulous organizer, Suniti Joshi, who did lot of leg work alone and yet, so precisely perfect. Hats off to Suniti, who always takes extra effort and time and responds to every member patiently! I was lucky this time to find two friends, who were willing to share a taxi with me and we reached at the venue on the dot of 5pm. After warm up and the introduction of 27 members in Kareena’s house, we went upstairs to the terrace to bathe in the sunshine amidst the cool winds of the open seas. The meeting continued with poem read by Jaya Bhandari, a fiction by Soma Sarkar and a descriptive poem by John. So engrossed was I in their readings, that I forgot to watch the sun-set. (Actually I was sitting in a wrong direction, facing the tall buildings and a cliff of the ‘Hanging Gardens’), But I saw a black bird, resting up there, on a TV antenna, who wanted an audience too, but his verses swayed in the breeze. A short break after the readings was not very short because the snacks were too tasty. It takes time to eat Sev Puri, sandwiches, batatwadas and walnut cake and drown it with a cup of tea/coffee. Second session started with Suniti sharing her ‘Performance Poetry’, Ramesh on ‘Writing for Children’, Samarth on ‘Screen Writing’ Archana on ‘Pastoral Poetry and Kareena on “Freelancing’. I was aware of the time limit of the read meet, and I wanted to hear about other’s experience (and not waste my time, hearing myself speak,) therefore I had prepared notes (Xeroxed it 15 times) on the points that were discussed during the workshop on ‘Getting Published’ and I was happy to distribute it to those, who were interested. I am glad I did that, because the meeting had extended for too long, (9:30pm) and it was getting very late to reach back home. Some of the busy members had to rush off half way to attend to their other commitments, and I was glad that I was able to share my notes with them too.

Spam’s made a fool of me……

Some days ago I got a mail in my inbox with a subject line of ‘Yahoo warning me to verify my password or else I would have to face suspension.’ I hold a Yahoo email account since five years and I have never received a mail like that., although, I am aware of the amount of spam that are doing rounds. So when this mail warned me that due to congestion of Yahoo users, yahoo would be shutting down all unused account and that I should verify my email and my password to in order to avoid de-activation of my yahoo account, I got trapped into their bait and foolishly gave my email and the password. Then started another string of spam’s, that started floating from my account and they were very embarrassing for me. There were spam’s sent to all the people in my mailing list asking for money or sending porn’s from my email account. I ignored them all after reporting these spam mail to the Yahoo help line. One email really gave me the jitters. It thanked me for my support and was transferring huge sum money in certain bank under my name! Was the crime of transferring money really happening, I was not sure, but I did not want my name to be associated with such transaction at all. I panicked and called few friends asking them for their advice. I even lodged a complaint at the cyber crime police on the net informing them about my non-involvement. Later, when I spoke to my cousin, she asked me to just chill and relax. These crimes are very common in Africa and anybody who is foolish enough to do transactions without confirming it on phone has only himself to blame. Since I had not signed any papers or documents, I had nothing to worry about. However, after complaining to cyber police, and reporting that I am not responsible for any transaction of any money, I started to feel relaxed. I have changed my passwords (stronger this time, with the combination of Caps and numbers) and I am no more sending or reading any emails from my yahoo or hotmail accounts.

Three years from now, Mumbaikars might travel in style....

This Saturday, when I visited my friend at Versova, I saw the construction right in the middle of the street. There was a huge crane digging out stones and tar. The centre of the two way road was cordoned off with the metal sheets displaying advertisement of ‘Reliance Metro’. On investigation, I discovered that the construction for metro rail had begun and the initial activity comprising trial pits and pile load tests had started. The eleven kilometer Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor will be completed within three years by a special purpose vehicle formed by Mumbai Metro-I consortium. (That’s what they say, although Mumbaikars had witnessed many uncompleted or delayed projects in the past.) The other corridors in the first phase include 38 km Colaba-Mahim_Charkop and 14 km Bandra-Kurla-Mankhurd route. Eleven of the 36 fully air-conditioned stations will be underground. Initially, four-car, air-conditioned trains that can accommodate 1500 passengers will run on the line-one train every four minutes. The cost will be shares by the Central and state government. This 19 months delay, caused by several problems which remain unresolved even now ((such as felling of the trees and allotments of the shops in the Malls for affected shop owners) has escalated the project cost from Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,356 crore. Img source of metro: http://images.google.co.in/

Yesterday, I went to watch a film (at Fame ad lab in InOrbit Mall) called ‘The Lives of Others’.

One word I heard myself after a long silence, during watching the film was ‘Beautiful’ I just loved the film and it really moved me. The emotions of the characters in the film are very real. It was really worth watching it in the theatre and I took my friends along who knew nothing about what they were to see. They didn’t even know that it was German film with English subtitles, but they came along, because I said so, and they too loved it. It haunted us long after we left our seat. Winner of the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, ‘The Lives of Others’ is on one level a political thriller no doubt, but it’s also a remarkable study of human emotion. It is the story of a celebrated playwright Dreyman, whose house is bugged by Stasi officer, Wiesler (backed by a top governmental bigwig who’s looking for dirt on Dreyman whose girlfriend he wants to sleep with.) in the hope of collecting evidence against him. The story is set in East Germany in 1984, five years before the Berlin Wall came down, and at a time when the Stasi, the country’s relentless secret police was closely watching everyone in the Communist German Democratic Republic. Immersing himself in the case, Wiesler listens in on Dreyman’s private moments and chances upon enough evidence that can easily implicate Dreyman, but finds himself convinced of Dreyman’s innocence and makes significant effort to protect him. The scene where Wiesler walks into a bookstore to buy a book, authored by Dreyman, and dedicated to Wiesler, really moved me. The star of the film however, is its first time writer-director Florian von Donnersmarck who creates such a genius work. Image Source : http://www.history.ucsb.edu/projects/ccws/images/livesothers.jpg

Children on Mumbai streets

I get very disturbed when I see kids on the streets. They should be studying in some school. Education in India is not very expensive, and there are many NGO’s who are willing to help, but still, how these kids land up on the road and beg at every street signals, is a mystery to me. I don’t like to give them money or patronize them in any ways because I am worried about their future, if they get the taste of money at this young age, and learn that they can earn money by begging or selling on the streets, they will never understand that education is more important. While rich children lead a sheltered and comfortable life, we have poor children who are doing all kids of odd jobs like selling their wares, or begging in the local trains or cooking on the street. Rich parents would never allow their kids to even light a match and here we have street kids as young as five years old, lighting the fire and sitting so close to it. We have six year old child selling her wares in the local train. Seven year old child will do streets shows like tight rope walking Eight year old might be the street musicians Ten year old might be seen begging and crying of pain. Some of the kids are tortured and forced to beg. And some of them are learning to steal at this tender age. I remember of a day, when I was traveling in an auto and I had a food packet in my hand. At one signal, one child came and snatched the food packet from my hand. The signal changed to green and my auto drove on, but I was sorry that the child had to forcibly snatch the food packet from my hand, had he asked me politely I might have given it to him. What these children will grow up to be? I dread about its outcome

Cooking on the road is not allowed in Mumbai

Hawkers in India are discouraged from cooking on the streets in Mumbai and there are regular inspections by police to ward them off. But they are back, after a day of rest, to do their business in an illegal way. And it is for us that they are willing to take the risk of being whisked off again and again. But then we are always looking for an easy way out. Today, for example, during my morning errands to the market and the bank, I thought of making radish-brinjal vegetable as soon as I would reach home. As I crossed the street to enter my lane, I saw this hawker selling Vada Samber, and I was tempted to patronize him. The fragrance of the fried Vada is very tempting. My cooking plans got postponed. I turned a blind eye to the unhygenic envirnoments surrounding this hawker, so strong was the fragrance of the fried Vadas. The pocket that was made for planting flowers, on the side of the road, was used by this hawker as a mini kitchen, where he had this huge frying pan. He had prepared the batter at home and he served the hot, freshly fried Vadas to his clients. While I waited for him to fry the Vadas, I decided to click few pictures. The hawker got panicky and hesitantly asked me the motives behind my clicking the pictures. He requested me not to make trouble for him by exposing his illegal business and even refused to charge me for the Vada Sambar that I had bought from his stall. I refused to take the free meal and asked him to relax, I was in no mood to report him. How much easier it must be for the policeman to turn a blind eye to such illegal food stalls, if the hawkers are in the habit of providing free meals to every person, who they fear, can put them out of business?

Staying Alive...and healthy....

Staying healthy is the choice that I make. If I show irresponsibility towards my eating habits, it inconveniences me in the long run. I have decided to take charge of my life. For when I am sick, it is only me who suffers…..in pain and in paying for doctors and medicines…… ..Just little care, and I am able to save that money for a luxurious holiday to some fancy resort. I can lay back on the easy chair and ask somebody to press the point on my foot..and all that I do is to drink my cool drink and enjoy a book near a seaside enjoying the gentle breeze…. But when I am at home, burried within the four walls of my room, I press the points on my hand and I feel quite well. My friend has given me a plastic messager which has narrow point on one end and flat rounded surface on other end (it looks like a hammer) and this is a good instrument for pressing the points in the hand. When I press a point and if it pains, it means that there is some problem there...when I had kidney stones, the centre of my palm would pain, whenever I would press that point. I spend lot of time on a computer, But still, I can keep myself healthy by just self-message.....the windows sometimes take too long to open the page, during these spell a few minutes of these exercises really help.....to improve my concentration, creativity and the clarity of my mind...so while I am munching on some dry fruit by my side, it is a good idea to do self message..... After all it's my life so why give the chance to others to rule my life?

RIP

The memory of Kalagoda fiesta lingers The show comes to an end. The Panel discussion and Coffee meetings With workshops at different stands I loved the gallery and pavement shows Concerts, film, theatre, and performing dance The lively festival with heritage walks. Oh! There were too many events, And so little, limited time It was all over in a passing glance But Me I want to sit on a Black Horse To gallop with a silence band…….. Puff! Puff! Puff! Me Quite tired! All good things, like always Have come to an end…

The last day of the KGAF

was the day, when there were too many interesting events happening everywhere, and if I had some magic powers, I would have loved to attend them all. But unfortunately, I had to tick off many events to be able to attend a few of them. I attended only those which I could fit into my limited capacity of endurance. Sigh! There were many films showing at different venues. I was most interested in watching the film that was specially made for KGAF by celebrities like Anu Tandon, Brinda Miller, Soni Razdan, Sangita Jindal, Bandana Tiwari, Ayaz menon and Tony Singh. These were the set of short film with a common theme of the state of affairs in India after sixty years. It was amusing to watch the ‘Never Ending Story’ where people continued to watch the serial “Saas Bhi Kabbi Bahu Thi” even after sixty years. Also, I liked the one in which the world is ruled by Bollywood. There will be Hollywood stars dancing and acting in Indian film and all the Hollywood film plagiarize Bollywood stories. Later I headed towards David Sassoon Library Garden to spend the rest of the evening watching some interesting events that included discussion on ‘Graphic Story Telling’ and ‘Poetry Slam’. The theme at ‘Poetry Slam’ was ‘Name, Place, Animal, Thing’ All the participants were very talented and it must have been very difficult for the judges to score them. Towards the end of the show, I got my (own) two-minutes-fame, when I got to read my children’s story about cloud and wind called ‘Badli and Windy’. I had created this story during work-shop on ‘Writing for Children’ and it had some how reached the finals.

Workshop at Muse Boutique....

Muse Boutique was the venue for the workshop on ‘Getting Published’. Tucked away in the narrow by-lane behind Rhythm House, I reached there after inquiring about its location from several paanwallahs. In the interior, surrounded by books, artifacts and a pleasant ambience, I learnt the secrets of ‘The Ten Commandments of Publishing World, the role of a literary agents and the fine prints of a book contract’. While Anita Roy spoke about publishing in a real world, we had Vikram Chauhan enlightening us on publishing a book in a virtual world. Vikram Chauhan hosts a site called ‘If I Were A Book.com’ where everybody has the right to express themselves by publishing their book. Currently, book publishing is a long and difficult process. So 'If I Were A Book.com' has made book publishing instant, easy and free! It is a site where you can post content of your blog which you feel is book worthy or your manuscript on 'If I Were A Book.com' and watch it instantly take the shape of a book! It is a good medium to get noticed by different publishers and knock off those long walks to different publishers for release of your work. This is the place where the only thing that matters is that you can express yourself by publishing your own book! Late evening at David Sassoon Garden, surrounded by cool breeze of winter winds, I enjoyed an evening of multi-lingual poetry about Mumbai, that were recited by some well-known and published poets.

Richie Rich, Poorly Poor!

On a more serious note, while the kids at KGAF are having a wonderful time, painting, drawing and attending all the workshops on Clay modeling, Calligraphy and other art activities, there are other kids that I see in a local train, on my way towards the venue, which are not so fortunate. I see this child, barely seven year old, making a living out of selling the crumbled roses to the passengers in the train. I ask him, ‘Don’t you want to study? Do you wish to go to school?’ and he growls at me as though I am speaking some gibberish words. At another station, I see this 10 year old, who has been brutally abused (there are deep knife-cuts on his face and neck and his one finger is missing), I see him crying with pain as he walk slowly down the aisle, begging for alms. Are they aware that they, too, could enjoy those activities and that, those art and craft activities are free for all, rich and poor. On the streets of Kala Ghoda, I see group of kids performing those street shows of walking on a tight rope accompanied by the group of musician kids, and yet another pair of street kids, who ask for water from a street-side-stall but they are being chased away. ‘Surf Excel’ sponsors of the children's activities, promise to remove the stain off the clothes, but the children with real stain of poverty and dirty clothes are not inside the ring.

Recitals at NGMA are superb!

Today, 7th February, my friend tells me not to come to KGAF because there is a taxi strike and the fear of riots haunts me once more. The taxis are protesting against the damage that was done to their taxis during the riots and they are demanding a police protection. However, it ended quickly, and I decide to meet my friends at NGMA Auditorium for 5pm performance. We reach there at 5pm, only to be told that the show has been cancelled. But fortunately, there is a next show, ‘Alyque Padamsee, Gary Richardson and The Mad Horses’, to begin at 6pm and we decide to attend that one. This is the best show that I have ever watched in years! It is a bouquet of five recitals, and five different Shakespearean plays performed by talented stage artists like Alyque Padamsee, Shazehn Padamsee, Gaurav Chopra, Aparna Tilak, Madhuri Bathia, Cyndy Khozol and Gary Richardson. The show starts with a ‘Tantric’ music, and we, in the audience, are asked to close our eyes and experience the rhythm of the 'Shloks recitals' at the beat of tabla and sitar. This is followed by interactive play, whereby the audience has to decide the ending of a play. The one and half hours tick by quickly, as we are engrossed in their powerful expressions, from one recital to another, and we are immersed into their make-believe world, smiling with them, and mouthing their lines. Later in the evening, after a brief stop at the Sassoon Library Garden, (my favorite venue to chill out), we head toward Khyber, a cozy restaurant across the street. Over the spoonful of meals, my writer-friends and I, exchange notes on theatre, drama and speech for the younger kids.

Photography workshop was good.......

After being assured that it was safe to go to South Mumbai, I went to KGAF at 4pm, just in time to attend the second session of photography workshop by David D’Souza at BNHS. I had not attended the first session, because it was clashing with my other workshop. But on a recap, I was able to catch up with what I had missed. It was quite an interesting workshop with David’s animated postures that kept us in splits. He spoke about the creativity that was important in the photography and our lack of it, was mainly due to our fear. A creative person reflects the environment. We don’t ‘take’ photographs, we ‘make’ them and we can develop the spontaneity by training our eye-muscle to coordinate with our finger and instinct and produce a good photograph. Initially, during the first session, he had given the assignment to the participants, of going around the city and taking some shots. At this second session, we saw the pictures that some of them had clicked and we discussed the flaws and plus points of each photograph. All the pictures were discussed in great details and it was quite informative. I edited this picture that I had clicked the previous day. and Later, during the evening, I headed towards the David Sassoon Library Garden, where the discussion on ‘Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender writing in India’ was in its last segment. I missed this discussion, but I was able to attend the next two sessions, ‘The War of the Words: Science Fiction and Fantasy’ which was moderated by Devanshu Datta and ‘Getting Published: All sides of the Story’ which the moderated by Sriram, who was sitting for Urvashi. Urvasi Butalia, who was to moderate this discussion, was not able to reach Mumbai because of bad weather, but she took part in this discussion on a phone call (that’s the technology for us) We had Kavita Banot, a literary agent, discussing about her role in the writer’s world and how it will help writers in the publishing world, but Urvasi, in her phone conversation said, that she did not like to deal with literary agents because of their pushy nature. There were more discussions on payments, pricing of the book and the rights of the author. Since the literary program was running late, the last two programs ‘Open Mike’ and ‘Open Screen’ had to be chopped off. Unfortunately! Sigh!