Approaching Frowns

"A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles."-- Washington Irving In India, I have noticed that people, especially writers will never smile unless they want to interview you. They are compatible only in books, where they will take you through strange cities, make you experience the most exotic places, stir you with their romantic adventures and amuse you with their rib tickling tales but meet them face-to-face, and you will be lucky if you even get a smile. On social networks you will get smiles, hugs, gifts and even kisses from the friends whom you have never ever met, but offline? Meet them randomly and see them squirm. Smile is reserved only for those who are close friends. In a group of good writers, if you are shy then you will be a lone ranger. Unless, of course, if you are a successful writer or one with great looks! But, is smile an expensive commodity only in India? During my recent visit to China, my smile froze on Chinese plastered face, nobody was smiling, neither anyone at the customs nor at the immigration office - same reason- I was a stranger who had neither great looks nor any achievements to boast about, although, like Indians, Chinese too, smile for more reasons than Americans. A smile can mean the person is embarrassed, trying to be helpful, curious, happy or friendly. In the middle of an argument, it may mean that it is nothing personal. When all else fails, their smile shows you have no ill feelings and can work wonders in getting better service. The smile is the near universal gesture of friendliness, and in America, its meaning is usually clear. While in America, everywhere I went, be it supermarket, mall or public library, I found every American smiling and wishing me the hour of the day. But, there too, Asian reserved this smiling gesture for informal occasions, and smiling while being formally introduced was considered disrespectful. In Spain, where I lived for several years, smiling faces surrounded me everywhere. It comes natural to them, they don’t stare, but smile instead. They are so friendly, that many times they will come across the street to greet you with a peck on your cheek. In Spain, I learnt to smile at every stranger, whenever there was an eye contact. But now, I am back in Mumbai. When I see cold eyes, tight closed lips, I am confused. I am learning that I can only return a smile for a smile, in an elitist society, it will be misunderstood.

Reading - passion transformed.

If I had been able to store all my books that I have bought during many years (and not having lost any, during my migrations and uprooting, that has happened about five times in my life), I would have had a very huge library.. Before the internet occupied my comfort zone, I could never go to sleep without reading a book…and during the daytime too,(to avoid conversation with a stranger) reading was my savior, any and every reading material was important to me, be it a magazine, or a thick novel, a children’s story book or granny’ spiritual book, and sometimes even a wrapper of my bhelpuri or a peanut packet. (I would transfer the peanuts into my palm, open the conical packet, straighten it and read the contents while I munched on the peanuts) Even during traveling in a bus, whenever I shifted my gaze from my book, and peeped out of window, it would be to read the signs on the road, scripts on hoardings and even the shop names. If my co-passenger was reading and I would find myself peeping into their book (curious to know what they are reading) or pick up a sentence to mull about. But now…..Alas! My reading habits have found a new home and my computer is my library. Moreover, I need glasses to read and this has limited my reading habit. (Especially traveling a short distance, it is cumbersome, to remove the specs from my purse to read a book, and then remember to put it away carefully before you alight the transport.) Nowadays, I buy only one book at a time, and it follows a particular sequence, I buy a book, read it and pass it on. (I think I have reached Nirvana because I have no more attachment to anything, not even to my books.) I just have few collection of books left which I have managed to store them at different spots in the house (actually I don’t have enough space). And everybody is welcomed to pick up any book from my shelf and keep it. I don’t care if they forget to return it…..I can survive. I enjoy books that have a story stretching over several years; also I like to read biographies, success stories, humor, suspense, thriller, adventure and romance. I don’t like reading books such as ‘Self Help Books’ ‘Self development’, ‘How to…’ or ‘Self Improvement’ books because I want to learn from my own experience. If someone recommends me to read a particular book, and if I trust her choice, then I always read it…. I am always curious to know my friend’s selection of books.…….and luv to know what they are reading.....

Go Away! I am Busy!!!!!!

Darn! This doorbell…why must this ring? I hate answering doorbells, especially if it is vegetable seller, fruit seller, sweeper, Phone Company or some stupid courier service. I think I prefer snail mails (although they are extinct now-a-days), What I liked about sanil mail was that they would just drop the letters in my letterbox and I would pick it up whenever I feel like it, but with these couriers that are frequent, I have to get up forcibly, wean myself from this huge screen and attend to this courier fellow, take the post, sign a form and take my unimportant mail that is announcing some silly sale, somewhere in the town. (I must remember not to give my address to these boutiques henceforth) why do I need new clothes? I hardly ever go out. Most of my friends are there on the FB. And they don’t care what I wear, I could be wearing just underclothes for that matter…..…who cares!...arrgh… I get very angry when I am on computer playing word twirl or lexulous, trying so hard to think up of a seven letter word and this stupid door bell rings. Or sometimes I am chatting with my friend on Face book, the conversation that I have on face book (with the person whom I have never met) seems to be more important than the phone call that I receive from a family member. I so badly want to end the conversation on the phone to continue talking with my fingers with a friend on other other end of this cable contact. And today, when I was chatting with one of my FB friend, the doorbell rang again…now I am having very interesting conversation, my friend finds me very friendly and jovial and here the door bell is wacking my brain, and I run to my door to answer before her next chat continues, there is this fisherwoman at the door. She sells the best fish in my building and saves me the trip of going to that stinking fish market, but I am afraid that my FB friend will go offline if I take too long in answering her, so even though I so badly need the fish, I tell her bluntly that I don’t eat fish anymore…and run back to my computer. That conversation with the fisherwoman must have taken me only two minutes (just nodding and repeating “no, no, I really don’t want” just five times) but my friend is already offline! I go back to my door to see if I can buy the fish intead, and she has gone too….darn! I will have to go to fish market or skip the fish meal… This internet illness is really eating off my brains. My pots and pans are getting blacker by day, because I remember to keep tea/veggies on the gas for cooking but forget to take it off when it ready and am reminded only when I can feel the disaster through my nose (my maid suggests that I use pressure cooker, now how do I make tea in pressure cooker?) Everyday I promise myself that I will chop off my habit on the net, but hardly an hour goes by with that promise and I am itching to see the red blinker on FB, and like a zombie I am back on this compu chair, Suddenly this red dot (on the FB) has started haunting me, (some times even in my dreams) I so badly want to see those compliments on my FB walls which I secretly hope that my 200+ friends are also reading and forming a good impression about me… i have lately started feeling very proud of myself, posting notes, tagging people and sending virtual gifts with tight squeaky hugs. I m getting to be popular, but I think I am cut off from my real world. I have not seen nor met my neighbor for more that 15 days, I am thinking of inviting my next door neighbor to the face book, that way I will be able to communicate with her, specially when I m short of one onion or potato and I need to borrow in emergency. my virtual friends will not help me there… See what I mean?????

Slumdog..the last laugh....

After the success of slumdog millionair I had ranted on my blog at at my earlier post However… Although too mediocre a film, it has made a difference to our Mumbai’s slum world and it will be remembered for a long time…. All heads turn towards our city. Children have earned all at such a tender age after the success of the film, homes, stipends, benefits for their families and a trip to the U.S. Children also got chance of making a trip to Disney world and posing with Mickey Mouse. The tinsel town cannot stop raving about Freida Pinto in magazines such as ‘Vogue’ and ‘Cosmopolitan and on many more mags as the cover girl. Freida portrays a different style and look with elegant attire and the Hollywood movie offers have started piling, we will even see her as new James Bond girl. Anil Kapoor ascended at Paramount Studios in Hollywood for the ‘Montblanc Signature for Good’ event. It was a high profile gala hosted by Montblanc in support of UNICEF’s education and literacy programs Rehman got the well deserved recognition. Beggars at street signal are not ignored any more, their amputee limb brings tears to one’s eye when we recall the torture behind that tragedy. PS:* My friend tell me that shit pit (shown in the film) was not actually a shit, but the melted chocolate.* So what are we cribbing about??

Holi Times!

Little cute terrorists came down in the building compound with their water guns that looked like colorful machine guns, splashing water with great gusto on each others faces. I approached the children in my compound, focusing on their moods through my lens and their playfulness is clearly visible. Holi is the festival of colors and it has not lost its charm in India, not as yet. I am not sure if Indian kids spend too much time on the net, but here, the children in my compound, come every evening, to spend the time with their friends. And they are seen to spend some wonderful time with their friends, inventing games and enjoying each other’s company like we used to (when we were young) and they still enjoy all the festivals of India. Holi is one festival that is enjoyed by all age groups But is Holi a naughty festival? Do guys get seduced watching girls in clinging wet clothes? In my building compound they had a weird way (well that’s what I might say now, with tinge of jealousy, although I am not sure whether it is weird) to celebrate Holi. The drummers were called and all the youngsters danced at the beat of the drums. A big water tanker was hired for the day and the youngster splashed gallons and gallons of water on each other from the thick hose and then jumped in a big tank of colored water, splashing the water at each other and laughing for no reason at all. The dark color on their faces refuse to fade but their clothes sank deeper and deeper into their body curves. My friend tells me that he gets chance to touch his crush. Well I am sure nobody minds touching. Like they say “Burra mat mano, Holi hai” During Holi, must they play with water balloons? They bring buckets of water balloons and hide themselves behind the walls. Like hand bomb granates, they fling the water balloons on unsuspecting lady passerby, aiming the water balloon on her breast, happy to see her chest soak with water, and droplets dripping down her clothes, bringing pleasure to these mischief makers. Many girls are afraid of being the target of this embarrassment and prefer to stay home for fifteen days prior to this festival, Holi is the festival of colors but do they really use only color powders? The substitutes (red powder is what they are suppose to use) are terrible. Eggs, tomatoes, shoe polish, oil paints, mud, jam, jelly juice. The more innovative people get the more disgusting (or entertaining) it gets. Sometimes the paints are so stubborn, that the stains refused to fade and it creates rash on the face. Its fun, no it’s so gooey, no its fun, I can’t really decide. They head on to swim at the beach and remove the excess of stains. It is the time to have more fun, snacking and swimming, for the rest of the day. Phew!! Some festival!!!

Random thoughts-A Struggler

However big we grow, we never cease to be a struggler. Life is the continuous stage of progress and we are learning new things everyday. A good student is one who realizes that he is ignorant and is willing to learn. The day, he thinks that he knows everything; that will be the last day of his creative mind. A good student is one who is able to use his intellect to discriminate the right from wrong. He is able to use his intellect to let go of things that are not important to him, he should be able to decide when to make contact between senses and intelligence and nurses a desire for liberation. If we are living in any urban state, we are likely to have many visitors. But what is our attitude towards our visitors? We are very hospitable. We go out of our way to be kind to them; we take them out for shopping, movies and try to accommodate them, sometimes beyond our limits. Do we really have to go to that extreme and inconvenience our self? Do we need to shelf our own duties for our guests? Or, on the other hand, sometimes we think they are invading our private space. We are afraid that if we are nice to them, they might stay for ever. We start being rude to them and spoil the relationship. This is situation when we need to discriminate where we can draw the line. We have intellect to make proper discrimination and make proper choice. It is no use going for instant pleasure. We must have courage to give up what is not important. We have to focus on waste disposal of unimportant things. We have intellect to discriminate right from wrong. If we clutter our life with too many unwanted things then we get restless. It is believed that Eisten had only four identical suits in his ward robe. He did not want to waste even one moment in deciding what to wear. But what do we do? We have so much greed that we want to buy everything that we see our friends buying. We have no room to store and we keep cluttering our house with unwanted things. How many shoes can we wear on our two feet? Do we really need hundred pairs of shoes? And for what? There are some, who will borrow jewelry from their friends to wear it for an occasion. Why? Do we really need to impress people? If we don’t have, it okay not to have, why can’t we be content with whatever we have? We sacrifice our own happiness by living the ways of the world. The true happiness lies in being contend with whatever we have. Aping others is sure to make us miserable. We have to learn the art of self control and mind control. We should be able to control our emotions, our desires, anger, and jealousy. These emotions are killers of our happiness. We have to seek the higher goal of liberation and we should be able to differentiate the freedom from bondage of unimportant desires.

Education is must…for complete progress

Today my maid comes to work with a perforated black plaster on her ankle and I am curious. When I ask her, she says that the black plaster will ease pain from her knees and her back. She is constantly in pain but she does not take any leave of absence. I feel very guilty of making her work for me, especially when she is so much in pain. I have never cut her salary if she skips a day of absence but still she is always very regular. I am sure that if she was to work only for me, then she would take holiday when she is unwell. But unfortunately, she works for three more families, doing the same work day after day, everyday. People in India are very lazy and they get agitated when their maid does not turn up for work. Whenever she is absent, she is loaded with extra work on her return. Such is the life of people who are uneducated and poor. She realizes this and hopes that her children will be educated so that they don’t suffer like her. But the environment that they live is not conducive for education. There are many distractions, where she lives and the children who live in the slums, spent most of their time playing on the streets or, trying to earn a living for their parents by begging on streets or working in some industry. So, where is the time to study? There are many NGOs who try to provide food, clothing and clean environment, some of them conduct free classes for them but the initiative should come from children themselves and from their parents. If they show no interest in studying, what can any NGO do? For that matter, what can anybody do?

Random thoughts on heart and mind

There a direct link between the state of heart and state of mind. Whenever we are disturbed and agitated, we cannot concentrate and we lose interest in everything. Our mind is all the time preoccupied with worry and we cannot find solutions. We have no interest in food, play or any sensual activities. What do we do? Will talking to people help? I think nobody can help us. People might be sympathetic to us, try to give us solutions and might even try to pacify us but they cannot help us overcome our agitation. Only we can help ourselves. First and foremost, it is important that we don’t expect help and learn to deal with it. There are many things that we cannot change, so it is better to accept it. We can try our bit to change it but that is all we can do. We cannot expect others to do what we think is right. For example, there is so much corruption around us. Everybody is out to cheat. They expect bribery and will make things difficult for us if we do not oblige. So what do we do? If bribery and corruption is against our principle, we stick to it and not encourage it and face the discomfort. We can do our bit by standing firm by our principles and face the consequences. But can we stop our friends to stand by our principles? No. We cannot. They have to make their choice. Every body has their own intellect and it depends how they train their intellect. If they make wrong choices, it is because their intellect is weak or it is sleeping. They have to awaken their intellect so that their mind decides what is right. We all have to do our own obligatory duties; we cannot expect fruits for every action that we make, but what needs to be done, should be done. If our concentration is shifted from our duty to do what is necessary, to expecting fruit for our action, the quality of our work will suffer. For maintaining a healthy balance between our mind and heart, it is important to do what is right and not agitate our intellect by compressing it against our senseless desires.

Should I rejoice at ‘Slumdogs Millionaire’ Success?

World sings ‘Jai ho’ around this globe While the poor man sits outside a gate Wearing garb of poverty His tattered crown bringing fame and show From rags to riches, the world rejoice While we tread through those narrow lanes Seeing hollow eyes, bloated tummy Can we be proud of our helpless folks? I am not sure if I am proud of eight Oscar awards. But here, this is the truth that we try to hide under the carpet and pretend that it doesn’t exist. There are always resigned attitude of many Indians saying ‘What can we do?’ This movie “Slumdog…” hits us hard, real hard. Many of my friends (abroad) have pointed out this to me many times in the past saying that they are very much troubled by the poverty of India, especially when they are in their relaxed state in the luxury of their car, munching on a bar of chocolate and then see a dirty, stained face, peeping into their car window with helpless look, begging piteously. Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh quotes, “The film was a fairy tale and shouldn't be confused with what life is actually like for India's poor and that Boyle had to make "Slumdog Millionaire" upbeat because the true story of what it is like to live in a slum wouldn't have appealed to audiences.” And this is the truth, the reality that only Indian who lives in close proximity to those shanty slums finds it hard to ignore. It made me squirm, cringe, reject and reluctantly accept. It was so honest that I was benumbed by its content. There were times that I wished that he had not stripped my City of Mumbai like this. But the story worked! One year ago, when it was released, no distributor was willing to buy it and now, world rejoices at its success. Eight Oscar awards! It suddenly acknowledges India’s existence and indirectly, Bollywood importance in world cinema. Hopefully, world’s attention will clear the debris. I only hope that those child stars, Azharuddin and Rubina, who walked the red carpet at Oscars will not return back to their shanty lives. I hope their life will change forever……

Delli che...kem che.....

I came out from the theatre after watching Delhi 6 and met a friend just outside the theatre. She asked me whether I had enjoyed the film. I told her that the film bumped and went over my head. I am not sure if I understood the film. Till interval I was trying to figure out where the story (if any) was leading. The crowded and narrow streets of Delhi, the cow giving birth in the middle of the road, the temple with hundred bells, the blind faith of people in the city, all this was very confusing to me. Moreover the acoustics of the theatre were bad too and many of the Abhishek’s dialogues were just mumbling sounds (I think I am going deaf) In the film, there was news report of ‘Black Monkey’ causing havoc in the city and I keep wondering what is it trying to portray? Is black monkey the blind faith of the people, is it superstitions or is it the imagination of one person that is aped by others in agreement? And then this Sonam, who has conservative father, manages to dress in the weirdest costumes with belly button et al, ..pines to be Indian idol….is her father just unaware of his daughter’s activities or is he too dumb? Can’t decide. There must be reason for Mehra to show Ramleela throughout the movie, maybe there is the connection somewhere, I fail to understand. I think I don’t seem to understand movies any more!

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!

Just thinking...........

Is it right to criticize someone in their absence? I think we have no right to criticize anybody if we do not have guts to say the same thing on their face. By criticizing we are only conditioning the opinion of other person to look at the person from our angle. We are not giving people chance to make their own opinion. And what are we trying to prove? Are we trying to say that we are superior to them and that person is too week or selfish to meet our standard of expectations? And how does it help us? We are just wasting time in spreading negative vibrations and getting entangled in this web too. And what is the use? If we must criticize, then we must have the courage to do it on their face so that he can improve. There are people who can never change. We have to learn to accept them as they are. For example if the person is having hatred for everybody for no particular reason, then it is not possible for us to help her. How can we help her if she does not know that the problem exists? So, our criticizing her is not going to help her at all, on the contrary, it could make the matter worse. We can only help those who are ready to help themselves. The person has to first admit that the problem exists, she has to be aware that she is hating everybody for no reason at all. Once she recognizes that the problem exists then she can make an effort to change herself. We cannot help anybody who is not ready to accept that the problem exists. In that case, either we accept them as they are, or steer away from her horizon so that it does not bother us. But we are most concerned about people who we love. So what is love? Love is feeling in harmony with the other person, of being on the same wave length and accepting the person as they are, so that there is no conflict at all. Love is feeling oneness with the other person so that you begin to think like them. But many times we don’t understand the meaning of love and we start to suffocate the other person by getting too attached to them. By attaching our self to other, we are only causing pain to our self. We have to learn to live in this world in a detached manner. What is detachment? Detachment is unconditional love. It is unselfish love. A love without any expectation is detachment. To maintain a relationship with attachment is impossible. Too much attachment makes us encroach on their private space and then there is conflict. …….

Randomness

The recent and most popular post that I see on the FB is this randomness where you write 25 facts about you, and tag your 25 friends to share your post. It is quite interesting to read different posts by different friends..and I have read the posts of all my friends who post it, whether they tag me or not..... Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you. (To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page on the FB, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.) So Now about me: 25 random things about me... 1. I love children, their smiles, their movements, their innocent talks and I love watching them play 2. I enjoy the company of people who have good sense of humor 3. My motto for cooking is to enjoy my food the first time but don’t ask for repeats.. I can’t reproduce the same taste…. 4. I don’t like dogs but they love me, can’t understand why? Whatever happened to those mutual feelings? 5. I love listening to music on radio and also all that bakwas 6. I prefer watching films in the comfortable and nice theatre. 7. I used to love watching TV once upon a time but after internet, it is now, an excess furniture. 8. I love eating in fancy restaurants and attending wacky parties on OPM (Other People’s Money) 9. I compliment ‘Me’ in the mirror everyday and remind myself that I am the best. 10. I don’t like chocolates, cakes, sweets, fruits, ice creams and pastries, spicy food is tasty 11. I don’t crave for anything that is beyond my reach and I am most contented with whatever I have 12. Three questions I ask myself whenever I go for shopping, Do I need it? Is there enough storage available for new purchase? Is it worth it? I will buy only what I really, really need. 13. I am impatient with people who are untidy, disorganized, irritable and nags 14. I love to travel comfortably and like exploring new places. 15. I love my freedom and my life that I like to live on my own terms 16. I am offended when people mistreat or abuse their spouse in public and I am angry at people, who can’t stand up for their rights. 17. I don’t like to draw any attention to myself and prefer to do everything quietly. 18. I don’t care if some one else takes the credit for the work that I have done and feels happy wearing my crown. 19. I have great faith in my God and I believe that His Grace always protects me and makes everything easy for me. 20. I am very honest to myself and I don’t feel the need to lie because I am afraid of nobody 21. I had a very unhappy childhood. For first ten years of my life, I lived away from my family and was abused by my teachers because I was stupid. When my family came to live with me, my life changed for the better. 22. I am afraid of poor attendance at my funeral 23. I love playing cards and lexulous, online and offline. 24. I neither drink nor smoke but still I am always intoxicated by different moods. 25. Writing 25 things about me was a very difficult exercise for me but tagging 25 people is quite easy

How do I walk on these streets?

I walk down the street, I need to walk to keep myself fit, but Mumbai roads bother me…how do I walk in these broken streets of Bandra? This is the road that I pass everyday, This is the lane outside the National college, there is heavy traffic down this lane and I am pushed back towards the kerb of the street, the foot path is broken. .I am afraid of falling, even a small stone on the road can make me lose my balance. I am advised to carry a walking stick but it is quite cumbersome to carry it especially if I have one more bag to carry in my other hand. I wish BMC of Bandra would come to visit this lane and see the pitiful state of the road. They should see these open gutters where I am likely to fall if I am not looking The encroachment of street dwellers The exposed dangerous loose wires The broken foot paths Who says Bandra is happening place? I am surprised that this dirt does not bother even the young college students who pass these streets everyday !!!

My Warli painting

I sketched this on photoshop

Week-end to Heaven

The alarm clock makes noise at 4 30 am and I am awake. (Yes, you read it right, I CAN get up early if I want to) this is a special day. There is a long week end ahead. 26th January is the 40th Republic day of India and this call for celebration. A celebration of a country that can survive riots, terror attacks, floods and still stand strong, a celebration of a country that has 31 states, 1618 languages, 6400 castes, and 29 festivals and I am proud to be the part of it. In the wee hours of the morning, I get ready, finishing my morning formalities and I am at my gate at 6 am. My friends arrive and we drive through the empty streets of Mumbai, watching the sunset filtering through the hills, its rays glowing on the passing cars. The best time to enjoy the ride in Mumbai city is during those early hours or on holidays. (On other days it is real madness crawling through that traffic.) At 10 30 am, we reach the ‘Doctors Farm’ which is in the village of Airvahal in Raigad district, off the Mumbai-Pune road. The path leading towards this resort is narrow and broken, guided by the directions chalked out on random stones lying on the path. For the last fifteen minutes of four hours ride, it is a bumpy path, but once inside the gate, I am in heaven. So close to the nature, the air sings the tune of birds; the cool breeze has a sweet fragrance of blooming flowers. There is a great variety of plants and flowers. I ask the owner, Dr. Mirajkar, as to ‘what plant does he have’ and he replies, telling me to ask him as to what plants he does not have. In 16 acres of land, he has planted great variety of plants and trees which give opportunity to villagers to earn a steady income. We go for nature trail, walking on an uneven rough path, I am careful, reminding me to be careful, we are tired, the slope has left us breathless, we come to the dinning hall and while we wait for lunch, we play a game of Carromboard. After lunch we come to our room which is small but cozy with clean attached bathroom, we are in no mood to sleep so we play cards during the afternoon. In the evening, after tea, we walk down 80 steps (path carved from stones) and reach the river. We spend the time catching fishes (and then releasing them back into the river) I am sure that those fishes might have a good story to tell other fishes and can finally be unafraid of mankind. We go for a boat ride; the owner’s dog enjoys the swim and gives us company while we paddle boat. There is a group of other youngsters who are now fishing for pleasure. The sky is changing colors as sun sets. As it gets dark, we climb up those big, broad steps and come to the terrace of the dinning room, and watch the stars. The waiters serve us starters which are very, very delicious. After dinner, we go to the park, where there are swings and hammocks, and slides for children. Dr. Mirajkar tells us that best time to visit his resort is during rainy season, when there are natural waterfalls behind the hotel. He has artificial waterfall, landscape and swimming pools too but the other groups of people enjoy playing cricket and darts in the well-lit open playground. The entertainment went on till 1pm, when we finally called it a day. Next morning got up to the chirping of the birds, came out of my room to see the sun rays filtering through the trees. It was time to return to hell. Want to see more picutes? go to my album on face book

America will have a brand new tune....

 I refused an invitation for a dinner party at a country club because I wanted to watch the live telecast of inauguration of Barrack Obama. As I sit watching two hours prior to the event, my friend asks me as to what is interesting me so much.

She says “Do Americans watch any Indian events with so much interest?” I point out to 1.4 millions people gathered at Capitol Hill, all dressed in warm clothes braving the cold, who have come to watch the historical moment of America. I tell her that I want to experience the happiness of those people whose fore-fathers had not even dreamt of this day, those African-Americans who dared to dream, who sweated hard so that their children would see a better world.

The world is about to change and there is hope….hope for a new beginning…and I hear them all say “Yes. He can”.. And that is very inspiring for me.

 I am inspired by the poem “Praise Song for the day” by Elizabeth Alexander.

 In this poem, Elizabeth Alexander spoke in simple images about the noise and bramble, thorn and din, and about someone who stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair. Someone, who is trying to make music somewhere, with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum, with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice and of the farmer, who considers the changing sky/ A teacher says, 'Take out your pencils, begin.'

 And then she goes on to say what if mightiest word is love that is beyond marital, filial, national, love with no need to pre-empt grievance. “In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, Any thing can be made, any sentence begun. On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp Praise song for walking forward in that light.”

 Beautiful!

 And for three hours, I watch the event as it unfolds with the best musical performers such as Yo-Yo and singers such as Aretha Franklin, the poem, the oath and finally the ministerial eloquence of Barrack Obama.

 I am impressed, when he says, “I will give you my hand if you unclench your fist”

Wow!

That is the wonderful statement that I have ever heard. How many more people’s lives we could touch if there were no clenched fist?

It is the stubbornness and the ego of some of the people that keep us shying away from their friendship. If only they could iron out their frowns, we could then match our smiles. He promised to change the world. “Starting today” he said “America shall make a new beginning.”

 Will Barrack Obama change the world? The misty eyes of those people in long cloaks, braving the cold weather, spelled the word ‘Hope’

 Hope for a new world where all are free, all are equal and all deserve to equal measure of happiness. A stone has been etched with fine lines from an unused pencil and a new chapter has just begun. 

image source:http://img.tfd.com/

Mumbai Marathon 2009

Today there was a biggest street party in Mumbai in which more than 35000 people took part and many more came to watch. John Abhraham was the brand ambassador of this party and he had Indian flag slung across his shoulders. The race started at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and ended at the same venue after the athletes touched another site of the terror strike - the Trident Hotel - on their way. While the 21-km Half Marathon began at 7.15 a.m., huge crowds joined the full 42-km main marathon of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, which started half an hour later. I watched the race on TV and was cheering them from my couch. The interesting part of the marathon was the dream run. Thousand of people in fancy dress were seen participating in this dream run. The spirit was that of a party with people whistling, shouting and waving at the camera as they jaywalked in groups. They were all running for a cause and 127 charities would benefit from this race. This year’s theme was peace and unity and this was the first major event after 26/11. Members of one group were dressed in mythological costume and they said that they have come from heaven to save the world and fight terrorism. There was another group of half naked people who were running for under privileged people. They said that they had worked hard, exercising and building their body for this event and proudly showed off their muscles to bring home their point. Another youth of 18 years old had painted his body and said that he was inspired by film Ghajini. There were many well know personalities who were seen giving interviews from their podium and cheering the participants. such as the Bollywood stars, the socialites, the businessmen, sport stars, politicians — yes, the citizens of all ages who put aside all their problems, the policemen, para-medic staff, the volunteers who come out to make this event a success. There was prize money of Rs30000 for best dressed group in the fancy dress competition. The Chief Minister described this enthusiasm as Mumbai’s dynamism. “Mumbai has what it takes to be like any great city of the world, not just Shanghai, the culture of this city is different, the people love life, they work hard, they wish to see the city grow globally and be among the best... and why not, we have what it takes, we have a vibrancy, an energy, so who wants Mumbai to grow just into a concrete jungle, why should we not bring in change through events like this that bring us together?” The marathon race was not about stamina, nor about the spirit. It was about the spirit of Mumbai that I saw it alive on these streets from my little bright TV window

It takes all kinds to make this world…

Last night I received a call from my cousin across the seas, asking me to help his friend who has recently moved to Mumbai and is completely lost and confused. He was worried that she might go into depression if she did not find something worthwhile to do. I called her this morning and asked her what would she like to do? “Social work” she said “I just need to kill time.” “What kind of social work would you like to do? What are your interests? I asked her. She was not sure what she wanted “I want to do something like what you do. I like children, find me something where I can help children” she said. I asked her if she would be interested in teaching to slum children in Byculla, I thought she could help my friend in Byculla who runs activities classes for slum children during late afternoons. She said she didn’t want to go too far “No, I don’t want to go too far, can you find me something close by, in Bandra or Khar” she said. So I asked her to go to Carter road, early mornings, and there are free classes conducted for street children there. She said she cannot get up so early in the mornings because she has late nights and cannot sleep before 5a.m She wanted to do social work at her own timings and at her own conveniences.” Fine” I said “so what do you want to do?” “I am very lonely and I need somebody to stay with me, a paying guest will also do. Can you find for me a paying guest?” she said. Now she was asking me to get a paying guest for her. “How many rooms do you have?” I asked “I have only one room but I can share it with them. I don’t mind sharing my room with them. That way I will have company” she said Hello! Paying guest need space, they rent a room to keep their luggage and rest their feet. They are not there to keep company. I wanted to tell her about the pains of sharing your space with strangers. In one room it will be even more difficult, what if they want fan at a higher uncomfortable speed? What if they snore? What if they want to put off the light when you prefer to read? Too many sacrifices are needed if you accommodate people and charge them rent. They want full value for money. They are not there to fade away your loneliness. “I will see if I can find a paying guest for you” I said and wanted to end the conversation “No but I need something to do,” she continued “I need to talk to you, can I come over and spend some time with you? She said Now, since last fifteen days I am having guest, where is the time to listen to her? I told her that I was busy with my guests and she could come when I am free. She wanted to know when I will be free….My own work is pending, there was too much back log already and how do I answer her. I told her to come next week. “Is there some club or social gathering where I can find some friends?” She asked I told her about laughter club where people meet early in the morning at 630 am. I was not sure if she would be interested because it would mean getting up early in the morning at 6am. “Oh! There is a laughter club in Bandra?” She said “Yes, but it is in the morning so I m not sure you will be able to attend it since you sleep late.” I said “I think, I can try to get up early in the morning if you can take me there.” She said I told her that I cannot go but I gave her my friend’s name and contact and asked her to meet her (since she was a regular and friendly) at the laughter club and that she would introduce her to the group. I informed her the benefits of the laughter club that she would meet many people, who are jolly and maybe find some solutions for her loneliness, and they go for regular picnics, do social work and meet everyday to laugh and to exercise. The prospects of joining this club are good enough for her and she was quite pleased. I am feeling good to be able to find some solution for her and prevent her from going into depression…I hope she finds some comfort and joy and my overseas cousin might be happy too.

Phone call to God?

Are they really serious? A report published in Delhi newspaper says that Rahul Gandhi is working on an idea of setting up a call centre so that anyone can reach him by a call or by sms. It further goes on to say that you can send all your complaints and grievances to the General Secretary of Congress and he is there to solve your problems. And that he is just few calls away. Jr Gandhi is working on the idea of solving the Aam Janta problem and breaking the myth that leaders are inaccessible. This idea will never work in India. People, who have no guts to talk face to face, become quite abusive on line. Most of the calls and sms will be crank calls sent by idle people. Seriously distressed people in India prefer if their problems are solved by some one whom they trust. And people in India have no faith in government. Nothing in India works without a bribe. Everybody is corrupt and selfish. If Rahul Gandhi sits on the other end of line listening to people’s problems, he will last for only an hour. There are too many problems, and most of them have no solutions.

Blogging Mania

Obsessive internet use is a public health problem which is so serious it should be officially recognized as a clinical disorder, according to a leading psychiatrist. They suffer four symptoms: They forget to eat and sleep; they need more advanced technology or more hours on-line as they develop ‘resistance’ to the pleasure given by their current system; if they are deprived of their computer, they experience genuine withdrawal symptoms; And in common with other addictions, the victims also begin to have more arguments, to suffer fatigue, to get lower marks in tests and to feel isolated from society. I am not sure if I have this clinical disorder, I just spent all my free time on the net in quite a harmless activity called blogging. I love visiting other bloggers, reading their views and mainly to learn from them the new tricks of the trade. The new trend has started of winning the best blogger award. These blogger awards are not official but just expression of showing their love to the blogger. I stumbled upon one blogger who had collected so many awards that she could make one complete post on it. So what should I think about them? Must I feel envy for those intellect bloggers or feel sorry for myself that I do not qualify for such awards? It is easy to win these awards. You give one and you get one. The more friends you have, the more awards you get. The law of karma applies here. .’What you give is what you get’. But the craving for awards loses our creative ability. I mainly blog on things that interests me, well, initially it was like that. Then as I became aware of my readership, I started to get responsible and felt I was talking to that particular group of people who would read my work. The more traffic I would get, the more encouraged I was to write some more and before I realized I was blogging too much. Reading, researching for facts and blogging takes up so much of my time that I have to actually wean away from my computer to watch some TV program. Presently, I am following just one TV program regularly and that is during my dinner time. On those days when I have guests at home, I squeeze few moments to just check a blog or two, but writing or researching on topics during those days is difficult, unless the guests decide to stay for a week or more (then it is easy, how much can one talk to the guest who will stay more than twenty four hours?). Few days ago, I had some guests who came to spend a week with me. During their visits, I found time to sit on the net only when they were resting in the afternoons. My guest asks what I would do if there were no computers. Good question? I would be more useful then. When there were no computers, life was more fun. I found time to read novels, watch TV, go for walks, play scrabble, draw and paint and make lots of handicraft stuff like cross stitch, crochets, knitting..etc.. With computers my life has come to a standstill. This is the only window that I seem to be looking at. I have this disease called ‘Computeria’ and I wish there some rehab where I could be detoxified off this computer. I hope to be normal some day.

Be Creative to win an Award......

We Must Be Responsible Citizens Too

Nowadays there are endless talks and discussions on TV about what went wrong during the terrorist attack and all the fingers point towards the irresponsible coverage of the media. They argue that nobody stopped the media from reporting at Trident or at Taj, there was no cordoning off the media and no control on broadcasting. Millions of people in India were watching the TV during that time, why didn’t they object? I was watching the live coverage too, I was getting offended with some of the useless talks that reporters were grilling at the public, but all I did was to change the channel and see what other channels were reporting. Not once did the thought come to my mind that I could call up the TV channels and ask them to stop reporting and telling them the dangers of exposing the details to their big bosses who were in constant touch with those terrorist, doing mass destruction. If the police and the government are in wrong for not stopping the media from reporting, then we are partly to be blamed too.

A new beginning, into a brand New Year…….2009

We have stepped into a brand new year 2009 and I have been so busy since the day one. They say that what you do on the first day of the year, you are likely to do it the whole year. Well then, 2009 seems a promising year and looks like I am to have the best of time throughout the year. Amen! I have been having family get together almost everyday. With Babaji in town, there was a large family in Mumbai visiting me. Anyway, on last day of the year 2008, my cousin (who has come to India without her spouse and kids) tells me that she did not want to go out for the New Year because her husband her asked her to stay safe. So she asked me to invite my friends and we could celebrate New Year just chilling at home. That sounded like a good idea. I invited few of my friends home for chilling in my house for 2-3 hours. On 31st night, my friends and their kids arrived at 10pm and the party started. I had made Samosas and Ragda, and my cousin made lasaniya (a baked dish), My friend brought Pineapple cake and I ordered Natural Ice cream. I had organized the games which had first and second prize as incentives and that became the best part of the evening. After having some snacks we started the first game, that was of acting out a situation. For example, a situation where your maid wins a lottery ticket and has become richer than you are and you react showing jealousy and regret or in another situation where you go to the market and you are getting cheated by vegetable hawker and you are protesting….. There were many different situations and the best actor won the prize. At 12 midnight we cut the cake and served it with ice cream, wishing everyone a ‘Happy new Year’, watching crackers from my balcony and then we returned back to resume our games. We then started to play ‘Snakes and Ladder’ which also had prize for the winner. This game was fun when playing in the group of adults and children. I had never had so much fun before on this board game. Climbing the steps, being bitten by snake or killing the pawn when he lands in the same slot added fun to the game. This game was never ending and it went on for more than an hour. Next game was throwing the dice and excluding the player who has minimum number on the dice. After most of them went back by 2am, my friend and I decided to do some networking, surfing and playing 'Spider Solitaire' on Computer and didn’t realize that it was 6am and it was time to sleep. We all were kids during this night, screaming and shouting like younger children, pinning for the prize and during that moment, we forgot that we are living in the competitive and dangerous world where security is lax. Just one month ago, we were glued to the TV, watching the terror, that had capsized my city of Mumbai.

Babaji’s Message in Mumbai on 4th January 2009

Babaji came to my town this week-end and I am reminded of those days when the satsang used to take place in Bandra and my whole lane, of 36th road, used to be filled with satsangis who would come from different parts of the world to attend the satsang and there would be so much cheer in my town. I was too young to understand the significance of Hazur Maharaji’s visit to my town but there used to be lot of excitement in my house. For me it was like Hazur Maharaji has come to Bombay and there will be Langar in my lane and I will enjoy the meals and drinks that can be purchased with coupons. The meals had special flavor and were enjoyed by non-satsangis as well. There would be many families in my lane who would not cook during the whole week. There were many guests in my house too, who would talk about the satsangs and about Hazur Maharaji’s life styles, which was normally after attending the discourse. They would meet with family and friends in my house and discuss the teachings and I would listen to them, not understanding a word. My family and my guests talked about meditating on Naam, about abstaining from meat and about adopting a simple and pure life style. Over the years, the venue for Satsang has changed. It now takes more than an hour (depending on traffic) to reach Bayander and listen to the satsang and get a glimpse of Babaji. Although the sangat has multiplied ten fold, the message has not changed over the years Babaji had same message to convey that Hazur Maharaji had repeated for forty years. Babaji preached the significance of Naam and our ignorance on understanding the true path of reaching God, and that path resides within us. And Babaji conveyed the same message, once more, this week-end. He began his satsang by saying: “Which spiritual route can be taken so that we are able to accomplish our goal of reaching God?” He stressed the importance of meditating on ‘Naam’ which is the true path and not to get discouraged easily. Every deed is recorded and according to the law of karma, we come back to this world again and again and built up more Karma and getting entangled in this vicious circle of birth and death. To be released from this cycle, we have to find the right path of truth. Our thoughts are scattered in the external world. By collecting all our scattered thoughts from nine apertures of our body and converging it to the eye centre, concentrating on ‘Naam’ we are able to connect the ‘Word’ with the ‘Sound’ which is within us and get the strength in liberating our self from this cycle of birth and death. ‘Naam’ is strength which is inside us and without which we cannot be alive, without ‘Naam’ there is no life. Shabd is the strength which has made the creation and without shabd everything is scattered. If we look outside in the world, we will never find it, the strength is inside. Although externally, it is known by many words, we cannot understand its strength unless we experience it our self. It is not connected to any one particular religion because it ihas stretched over centuries; it is this strength which is the basis of creation. Gurus and spiritual guides are just physical human being who show us the path and help us to recognize and connect the ‘Word’ with the ‘Light’ and ‘Sound’ which is within us. They are not Gods. We cannot get salvation by touching their feet or their clothes. To get salvation, we have to understand their message, absorb it and work hard on meditation to find its’ strength inside us. He cited the example of a child who is admitted in school. The child cannot pass his exam merely by touching his teachers’ feet and bowing down, he has to listen to what his teachers has taught him, understand it well and absorb it. He cited another example of a chef, who cannot fill his stomach by merely reading the cook books. Understanding and absorbing the method and then actually cooking it and eating the food will fill his stomach eventually. Similarly, we have to concentrate on the message of God. If there is no improvement in your behavior; if you cannot absorb the message and make your own life meaningful then, it is of no use of attending endless satsangs. The true value of satsang is maintained only when you understand the real purpose of attending it. Therefore it is important to understand the true meaning of ‘Naam’ which is the strength within us, a life supporting system, without which, our life is useless. We are so engrossed in ‘me’ and ‘Myself’ that we lose contact with the real thing and forget to concentrate on ‘Naam’ to reach the supreme goal. If you have true love for your Guru, then you should understand and follow his true message. He ended with a shabd that said, “Naam ki ghat Niyari….Gur prasadi karm karo….Bin satguru, Naam nahi jagge…. Radha Soami

Can College Students Work Without A Crown?

Doctors have advised me to take walks to stay healthy. The best place to have long walks is by the sea shore. I often go to Bandstand or Carter road for my evening walks. But there are times when I am too lazy to go to a sea shore, and the next best option is to go to a park on the linking road. That means walking on our Mumbai road. And it is a night mare walking on those Bandra streets. The uneven roads and open gutters are eye-sore. The road outside National College is in pitiful state. There is no proper footpath. Broken tiles and uneven roads make it too dangerous for walking. One false step and I could land in hospital with broken bones. Is our Bandra ward so poor that they cannot mend the roads? They use cheap materials that last only a week. Small pebbles and dust is scattered on the streets. This road is just outside National College but it does not affect even the young college students who use these roads everyday. Many years ago, during my short visit to Holland, I had seen young college students helping with the civil work of repairing and restoring the government buildings. It is the part of the curriculum in college to contribute to the community with their services and care. But would our college students in Mumbai do that? They would consider this too lowly a job to undertake. The college students in Mumbai take more active part in organizing noisy parties and having social entertainments. Are they capable to giving anything back to society? Everybody plays a blame game and pointer is always outward. After the Mumbai 26/11 terror attack, we saw many college students start a temporary uprising, shouting slogans, lighting candles and organizing loud street plays to divert the TV camera on their ego, but how many of them are really disturbed by the poor state of our Mumbai streets? Will somebody work without a proper crown to show off their credentials? Light off. Action Shoot.

I don't go to any beach in Mumbai......

I cannot..... because they are so dirty..... Mumbai civic authorities want to spend Rupees six crore for cleaning the Versova, Madh, Marve, Manori and Gorai beaches Will our Mumbai beaches be as clean as this? No? Then why do they want to waste the tax payer’s money. Don’t they know that people in Mumbai are not used to cleanliness and it takes them only half a minute to mess things up. Don’t they learn from their earlier mistakes? Their earlier contract to clean the Girguam, Dadar and Juhu Chowpatty is in operation since 2005, but are they are clean?. During early morning, when we go for walk, we still see bare buttock doing their morning work, during evening hours there are people eating bhel puri and ground nuts and throwing the garbage on the beach. There are many plastic bags floating near the shores. There are no garbage cans on the beach. Before we can even think of cleaning the beaches, it is important to spread the message of cleanliness.(not that any attempts have not been made to educate the public, but some people don't register) And that is the difficult task. Nobody has succeeded in teaching civic sense to Mumbaites. I am guilty too. I, too, have no courage to confront a person who is messing up the streets. I see auto rickshaw drivers spitting on the road, children shitting on foot paths and commuters throwing bus ticket as soon as they alight from bus. But do I say anything? I can’t. Like the other day, I was traveling by bus and I saw a woman, sitting next to me, eating batatawada in the bus, after she finishes, she stretches her hand and throws the paper through the window, (her hand brushed against my nose, but still I did not say anything) I am afraid to stop her. I just plug my ears, close my eyes and listen to music. I am not ready to risk the embarrassment of a squabble. I am told that they will hire contractors and hold them responsible, Nah! it will still not work. They may have best of machinery and manpower, but they can not instill civic sense where there is nil. Will our beaches be ever clean? Forget it. We will enjoy clean beaches on our holidays in some distant land.

Sorry Ma'am, I am 'On Time'

It was on the dot of 3pm that I reached the venue at Nerul for a convention and nobody was there. I looked around and saw one girl working on her computer. “Excuse me? Is there some meeting here today or am I in the wrong place?” I asked the receptionist. “Yes, there is a meeting, please be seated.” And I waited for next twenty minutes before I saw the familiar face. Coming late for any gathering is the norm in India. Actually, punctuality is the art of guessing how late the other person is going to be. I am learning to be unpunctual, because coming on time gets very embarrassing for me. Few months ago, I was invited for wedding anniversary of the friend. I was given the invitation card which specified the time of the occasion as 7pm. When I arrived at 7pm I had to apologize for being on time, the venue was still getting its finishing touches, the host and the family members were busy giving orders to the volunteers, I wanted to move forward to congratulate my friend but I was asked to wait for their magnificent entry. I looked around to find some comfortable seat for me, but my movement was the distraction for the organizers. I hid behind the pillar, on a low seat and waited patiently for party to begin, maybe I needed to change my this bad habit of being ‘on time’ Late comers don’t care nor respect other people’s time. One of the parents of the autistic child was mentioning to me about the plight of her child outside the doctor’s clinic. The doctors give the appointment at certain hour, but they are still made to wait for more than two hours. During those two hours, the child gets restless and starts throwing temper tantrums which is quite frustrating for the parents. Over the years, our society seems to have lost its sense of urgency when it comes to being on time for anything. The most punctual people I have ever seen are in government offices. Sharp at one o’clock, during the lunch hour and at five o’clock, the closing hour, the office window will close, although at other hours of the day they might be punctuality challenged. I know it is going to be hard to change my habits. Poor time-keeping might make me sloppy, lazy, selfish and unorganized. But don’t blame me. I am forced to change to keep my nerves cool at all times of the day.

Are our airports safe?

After26/11, there is security concerns everywhere in Mumbai. They check your purse at the theatres and shopping malls. The lifts in the 5-star hotels cannot operate without your room key. The schools are installing cameras in their school premises. The building societies have hired two extra securities guards after the terror. Even the senior citizens are hiring a personal security guard. Every node of Mumbai may be safe now, except, our Airports, where we see thousands of people waiting and whiling away their time, out on the streets,

It is Important To Instill Honesty in Kids

Two weeks since, I have been glued to TV, watching the big range of news channels and my fingers punching the remote control during the promos. While surfing, I came across a new channel called ‘Colors’ this channels seems to have some nice, sentimental stories and I particularly liked the one called ‘Utaran’, I have not watched it regularly, but the gist that I get from the few episodes that I have seen is that it is the story of a little girl who dreams big and her mother consoling her by telling her stories and lot of lies. The mother seems to be a compulsive liar. She gets a job as a maid but is not truthful to her employer; she lies to her daughter telling her that they are in a game of hide-n-seek and that the winner(is the one who is not revealed from their hiding place) will be rewarded of living into a big house. The deceit make her very uncomfortable and she is stressed all the time. Considering that, I feel it is better to tell the truth and face the challenge. It is not right to misguide the young children. Eventually, when the child learns the truth, what respect will she have for her mom? If the child is told the truth from the very beginning that she is the daughter of a maid and that she is not fortunate enough to enjoy all the luxuries of life, she will learn to live with it. The under-privileged child, who dreams big, can be encouraged to work hard to achieve that goal. It is possible for maid’s child to overcome the barriers of poverty by studying hard and growing up to be a proffessional career of a higher position. In India, education is encouraged by everybody. I have seen many women encourage their maid’s child to study. The books are provided free to them and it is easy to find a sponsor for the child who is sincere. But, infusing dishonesty into her daughter’s childhood is certainly not acceptable.

In India, It is like that only….

I am wearing white today to mourn for the people who lost their lives during terrorist attack. I lit a candle in my room to show my solidarity and then went to Carter road and lighted one more candle. All morning I am getting SMSes, telling me how angry everybody is. The TV and the Radio are continuously getting people to express their anger and everybody has suggestions to make. There are events lined up for next two weeks at different venues in Mumbai, On Wednesday, there is meeting at Gateway of India, and all are asked to come together and show their solidarity without the use of guns. They have one spirit, one Mumbai. The slogan is ‘Enough is Enough’.. Right now I get a message on my mobile. It says ‘What a shame and disgrace to every citizen of India that elite NSG Force was transported into ordinary BEST buses whereas our cricketers are transported into state of the art luxury buses. These jawans lay down their lives to protect every Indian and these cricketers get paid even if they lose a match. We worship these cricketers and forget the martyrdom of these brave jawans.’ Can we really fight the system?. A common man faces much more hardship in getting any work done. There are long queues, with lethargy shown by every government employees. For every task, we need influence. If you don’t show a five hundred rupee note, then you will have to visit the officer several times. Depending on the nature of task, the value of bribe increases and they have no shame in asking for a bribe. Their stomach is never full. They openly say that they are underpaid. Such is the system we have learnt to live with it. Whom do we complain to? We just accept this system and find the easy way out by parting with our hard earned money. It has always been ‘money talks, bullshit walks’ Talking about security, can we really trust anybody? Have you tried calling police station in the middle of the night? Don’t be surprised if they are caught napping. Why will they not nap? If they were paid well, they would show more responsibility. But our corrupt ministers only fill their own pockets and use the security guards to shop for vegetables and fruits from the corner store. This is India, and it is like that only……

Mission unaccomplished….Mumbaikar spirit is still alive……

Now that this madness is almost over, I am thinking about how safe is my city of Mumbai? I have known such firing and violence in Hollywood and Bollywood movies and also on TV news channels when they show war torn countries like Iraq and Israel, Afghanistan and even Kashmir, but Mumbai? No, it can’t be Mumbai! This is unthinkable. This is the place where I have lived most part of my life. Many times, I have returned home alone late nights. I have always boasted about Mumbai being the safest city to live. But now, I am not sure. I get calls and sms from my friends and relative from distant countries asking me if I am safe. Yes, I am safe; I live in a suburb which is far from South Mumbai. There is silence here. The roads are deserted on the first day, because, everybody is glued to TV and afraid to go out, but knowing the Mumbai spirit, it is not possible for any Mumbaikar to be trapped into their house for too long, so by evening, when I am tired of watching TV, I go to Carter road, the nearest sea-side promenade and I meet many people there, basking in the sea breeze and sharing notes, discussing security and cursing politicians Most part of the day, I stayed glued to the TV, watching the commotion as the action unfolds. This is happening just few miles away from my home. There are many people out there. Policemen, fire fighters and commandos, who are trying save the people, trapped in those hotels. There are reporters and cameramen reporting the latest updates. The terrorist had arrived in Mumbai by boat, they made no demands. They just went berserk, throwing bombs, killing people randomly, asking British and Americans for their passports. Their plan was to destroy the symbol of economy strength of Mumbai. They came with the intention of reducing Taj Hotel to rubble, they had enough ammunition (we are told) and they were asked to destroy as much as could they could, till their last breath but they were not expecting early resistance. I am thankful to our Police, army and fire fighters who risked their lives and tried to end it sooner than they had expected. Nevertheless, the resistance went on for more than 60 hours. They had so much ammunition stored in the hotel and nobody knew anything about it? How they were able to smuggle dangerous bombs of this much magnitude into Mumbai? Was nobody watching? We are not even sure about the number of terrorist that have entered the country or how many of them are still hiding in Mumbai? Is it really over? How will I protect myself if one of them knocks on my door? I am really confused. To get some solace, I go on net to read what my other bloggers friends have to say. I keep watching TV periodically (can’t watch it for too long) and then go on net to read more on Ryze and Facebook and have been seeing/reading the anger on every face. But one thing I am sure is that Mumbaikar spirit is unbroken. When asked if they would visit Taj Hotel any time in future, everybody answers are in affirmative that they will always go and will never be afraid. People have come out on the street with candles in their hand to show their solidarity. People in Mumbai have made a pledge. They will take time to be a Mumbaikar rather than parasites that live off its resources. They will no more look the other way when unscrupulous politicians and crass media barons offend their sense of civility. They will turn up to vote. They will really, really care about the people whom they share this city with. No more fighting over Marathi Manoos or Bihari autowallah, or a Muslim neighbors. Mumbaite will stick to each other through thick and thin. They will watch their city border as responsible citizens and will not allow their Mumbai to burn, not for any reason at all. Mumbaikars have pledged to live in harmony and make this a secure place like it always was, before that bomb blast of 1993. Peace and security will return. Mumbaikars are sure of that.

Can cold and cough really kill….

And now that I am Mumbai, in my home town, after such a long gap, I thought I would start enjoying myself…but nature has some other plans for me.. The change in weather has played tricks on me.. It was too cold out there in Spain and it is too hot here back home…and my body first shrinks and shivers in Spain in cold then expands and bleeds with sweat in the heat of Mumbai and then is confused and then attacks me with flu, cough and cold, my great nightly companions, keeping me awake all night. But I am lucky. In Mumbai, we have doctor in every lane, every alternate building will allow a doctor to open their clinic in a garage. We can try one doctor for a day or two, and if you are not feeling better, you can change the doctor with no questions asked. In Spain, it was different. For ordinary sickness such as cold and flu, you can either visit a pharmacy, who will examine you and prescribe a medicine or you visit an expensive private clinic. There are hospitals too, but there are long queues there and doctors may or may not report to work. Private clinic are so expensive that you will not visit him more than once. So, coming back to my illness, it has extended over ten days now and I have tried all the remedies, changed two doctors and popped N number of pills. I have tried salt water gargle, honey brewed with ginger, sanitized my bedroom with sun and Dettol. Tried every remedy to cure myself, but this stubborn illness will not leave my domain. Will it really kill me? I hope not.

Back in Mumbai

And I was feeling good. Well. At least that’s what I felt when I heard the wheel of the plane rumbling down the runway. But the moment the door opened, I was greeted by the warm, polluted, smoky air. The airport smelt of phenol (ugh!) and the arrival lounge…..well…there is no arrival lounge to talk about. There were thousands of people standing behind the iron dividers, out on the street, all craning their necks to look for a familiar face, wiping their brow and kicking the sand under their feet. The Mumbai airport is under renovation for quite sometime now and there are unfinished constructions everywhere with small hills of sands and stones. The car was parked way too far and my nephew who came to the airport to receive me was quite frustrated and in a very bad humour. On my walk towards to the car park, I saw woman fall down on the debris of sand and stones, that were carelessly scattered every where on the road. Then there were some religious group people welcoming an Indian child star, who had returned with merit and made his family proud. they doted on him, welcoming him with the garlands of fresh flowers and an aarti. Further up, towards the car park, there were group of beggars requesting charity in foreign currency. That’s Mumbai for me. Are we cursed to be born in Mumbai? Why cannot we have cleanliness and comfort on Mumbai streets? Is it too much to ask for?