Voting for TAJ is USELESS!!!
How easily we get taken in for gimmicks.. Here people are actually being taken for a ride and media's the one who's fully supporting and part of the HYPE! In this instance they are clear culprits in the game because the hype is created by them without due investigation or information to their viewers, if you were to see any of the 24/7 Indian news channels, you'd appreciate what I mean...
What am I ranting and raving about you may wonder.. how can this guy be against Voting to make our beloved Taj, our pride and pleasure, the dimple on the cheek of Indian tourism, the 'aakho ka tara' so to speak for us true blue Indians, you may protest! Well, well, let me have my say.. freedom of speech and all you know.. Lets start with facts... than we'll analyse them..
First of all when we talk about Voting for Seven Wonders.. the question is who's calculating the votes, who's gonna do the honors of crowning the winner, and most importantly 'BY WHAT AUTHORITY ?'
'New Seven Wonders of the world' is something like 'Miss World' of Wonders... means if there is 'Miss World' than there can be 'Miss Universe', 'Miss Galaxy' etc also, hence similarly there already exists more recent, USA TODAY's 'Seven Wonders' and more popular Wilman's Tourist Travel Seven Wonders which are as follows:
Great Pyramids of Giza
Great Wall of China
Taj Mahal
Serengeti Migration
Galápagos Islands
Grand Canyon
Machu Picchu
Which fortunately includes Taj Mahal.
So now along comes Mr. Bernard Weber who decides to make some money out of this wonders game. He sets up a corporation, New Open World Corporation (NOWC) which could as well have been named 'Donate some money for cheap piece of paper and some hype.com' for all I care. It's a FOR PROFIT corporation out to make some money by creating a hype about 'New Seven Wonders'... So far so good.. whats there to gripe about than... Lets see :
a. It is a competition that encourages rigging.. infact its in the rules.. you pay you give a vote.. more you pay , more votes you have!! Checkout the site if you don't believe me.
b. They take your validated details and email address and leave out the bit about not selling the database to spamming groups for commercial purpose. Not that bad too eh?
c. Make u sms the votes and make money out of that.
but all this really doesn't rankle.. after all given that its a commercial competition, lets all of us patriotic, Taj loving Indians, put money where our mouth is and pay up to be on top.. So what if it means donating to some rich Swiss guys! Anything for Amchi TAJ... but no.. that's not it at all..
The problem is as follows:
NOWC "reserves the right at its absolute discretion to exclude [any] votes" that are cast for the competition. This is part of their terms and conditions....
What does this mean.. it means regardless of how many people around the world vote for which wonder, in the end, NOWC will use these same commercial interests to make a list of their CHOOSING!!!
FOLKS WAKE UP!!
Your votes are of no USE.. Of no consequence.. If they want the Taj on their list of wonders, because lets face it, 'it really is a wonder after all!' than its gonna be there regardless.. And why would they want it ? because if they have it there, than their associated tourist tie ups, branding and souvenirs make money!!... Lets face it.. there are more Indians than most other people around the world.. So how can they not have TAJ there !
The flip side? Wanna see how right I am? Checkout the status of Pyramids of Giza.. Egyptians strongly protested the competition saying that Pyramids at Giza were no doubt a wonder and this guy was out to exploit wonders of world, and was looking to out Pyramids from the list. The result, Pyramids of Giza is permanent special listing for the competition. A default wonder.
So folks, we're not voting for Seven Wonders, as the competition says, we're infact voting for Six!!!!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Amnesty International
Guys.. Do checkout Amnesty International site. Along all my musings, worries, concerns and heartaches.. after various long and short, sensible and explosive arguments with friends and others, I've come to a conclusion that the real essense of my feeling is distilled and extolled by this Organisation. My rantings against nationalism, religious fanaticism, racism and utter rejection of any differentiantion in the way we humans ought to treat each other boils down to this very basic, much bandied but seldom paid heed to term ' Human Rights'.
Today I tried to join Amnesty but found that the only way people other than from select few countries (Residents of these few countries can become members online) can become members is by contacting them on a postal address based in UK! I sure do have a word or two to say about this gross injustice. They could alteast have provided an email link to send in an application!
However I hope that Amnesty will be the medium which will give me a platform to make my voice heard, and atleast put my heart at rest, at having done a bit more than paid mere lip service to Human cause. Hence my effort to join it will continue. If in the end I have worked towards making life a little better, a little safer for a single individual on this earth, if my experiance with Amnesty allows me a bit of a solace, that I have atleast realised an obligation towards not only fellow humans, but also my dear Naqiyah whom I've born to this less than perfect and oh so cruel world, I will feel satisfied ( I hope).
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
On and on it goes!
On and on it goes! Life I mean. It seems so curel at times. Pitting us against uncertainities daily. In seconds changing destinies, and smashing dreams. Depressing beyond all comprehension. Cruelty that men are capable of far suprasses stuff that can be imagined in books, films or even dreams. Am reading Robert Fisk, Conquest of Middle East. Insightful, informative yes... but also dark and depressing. Not because he writes in such a manner. But the catalogue of events he's collected over the years about Middle East are such.. Self interest, political expidency, greed for money, power or maybe just pure religious fanatic madness, all are displayed by powers that be, and powers that wanna be. Catalogue of events reads like a horror tale. Robert brilliantly highlights the bad, the ugly and the unnamable of all the major world powers whose deed indeed is darker than the dark despots because its done in broad daylight hoodwinking the world, like US, USSR, UK, Europe and of course all the despotic, desperate, deranged regimes with which middle eastern countries have been afflicted with over the ages, may it be Taliban, who were out to recreate whole of Afghanistan into slums of their refugee camps in Pakistan, Saddam, Osama, Various Iranian regimes, Saudi Royalty, et. al. The deaper vien of the book lies not in just cataloging the history but rather bringing out futility of it all. The tragedy of war, the hatred that does dwell within humans, the depravity that is so evident in behaviour of so called developed and democratic nations, and of course fate of the innocents.
Read it and you will never sleep sound again. The story of Saddam's secret police, shooting a 9 year old boy, than 7 year old girl, than bashing the head of a babby against the wall, before letting the mother go since she had no information to give about her husband, have become my memory. The fact that Britain very well chose to bomb Iraq villages with mustard gas in 1920s the kind of bombing ment to scare civilian population into submission .. similar to the kind of bombing that Americans find expeditious today is also no less nerve wrangling.
How strange it is, that when we have an account of deliberate murder of a baby, head bashed against the wall, blood curdles... How many of us pass over mention of civilian cassualties or even wonder about any that may have been there, when we read accounts of bombing or 'advance' on villages in remote places like Iraq. Don't we know that in this case thousands of babies are being killed, countless more deprived of food, clothing and shelther and maybe even parents a fate probably worse than death? Why do we have this ability to turn blind eye to crulty if its spun into glorious sounding aims and words like WAR, Fight against terrorism, Fight for freedom etc. Death is death, inflicting death is cruel.. conciously promising to bring death, preparing weapons to use for killing and murder, specially weapons which kill enmass like rockets and missels is the worst thing humans can do. They don't even have passion of a murder who atleast feels the pain and gravity of his deed when he kills with his own hand. How dispassionate a hand that pushes a button to launch a missle. Does that person realise the suffering he/she bestows... NO... nither do we.. We feel more for 1 murder than 1000s killed. Thats just the way things seem to me... And I wonder why?
All in all a worthwhile read. I went through Contemporary history of Africa before I picked Robert's book. It was dispassionate, narration like account of forming of nations throughout africa, and their contemporary situation. However it had non of the spunk that is present in Roberts book. I don't even remember the name, and will post it later. Read Maximum City by Suketu Metha before that one.. Now thats a book on Mumbai that deserves a whole post on its on... Its got fantastic style, and is thoroughly researched. Bringing mumbai alive in its pages, I thank Suketu, for bestowing upon us such a masterpiece, and my friend Bindi for making me buy and read it!
Read it and you will never sleep sound again. The story of Saddam's secret police, shooting a 9 year old boy, than 7 year old girl, than bashing the head of a babby against the wall, before letting the mother go since she had no information to give about her husband, have become my memory. The fact that Britain very well chose to bomb Iraq villages with mustard gas in 1920s the kind of bombing ment to scare civilian population into submission .. similar to the kind of bombing that Americans find expeditious today is also no less nerve wrangling.
How strange it is, that when we have an account of deliberate murder of a baby, head bashed against the wall, blood curdles... How many of us pass over mention of civilian cassualties or even wonder about any that may have been there, when we read accounts of bombing or 'advance' on villages in remote places like Iraq. Don't we know that in this case thousands of babies are being killed, countless more deprived of food, clothing and shelther and maybe even parents a fate probably worse than death? Why do we have this ability to turn blind eye to crulty if its spun into glorious sounding aims and words like WAR, Fight against terrorism, Fight for freedom etc. Death is death, inflicting death is cruel.. conciously promising to bring death, preparing weapons to use for killing and murder, specially weapons which kill enmass like rockets and missels is the worst thing humans can do. They don't even have passion of a murder who atleast feels the pain and gravity of his deed when he kills with his own hand. How dispassionate a hand that pushes a button to launch a missle. Does that person realise the suffering he/she bestows... NO... nither do we.. We feel more for 1 murder than 1000s killed. Thats just the way things seem to me... And I wonder why?
All in all a worthwhile read. I went through Contemporary history of Africa before I picked Robert's book. It was dispassionate, narration like account of forming of nations throughout africa, and their contemporary situation. However it had non of the spunk that is present in Roberts book. I don't even remember the name, and will post it later. Read Maximum City by Suketu Metha before that one.. Now thats a book on Mumbai that deserves a whole post on its on... Its got fantastic style, and is thoroughly researched. Bringing mumbai alive in its pages, I thank Suketu, for bestowing upon us such a masterpiece, and my friend Bindi for making me buy and read it!
Friday, June 15, 2007
The 5 Restraunt
Had to take some friends dinner, I had spied a restruant called '5 the restraunt' near Yoko's at Santacruz (W), SV road. I decided to take them there. The ambience was laid back but stylish. Not overtly ornate, but oozing with class. A small place with seating for maybe 15~20 at the max, it was like a boutique restraunt with signature dishes. The dishes didn't disappoint either. The menu listing was very factual, with straight forward names of the dishes like Chicken clear soup - which we had 2 by 4, Appetizers : Stuffed mushrooms, ???? Prawns ( don't remember exact which ones) , main dish: Pasta, Assorted vegetables with couchou ( some sort of rava or samolina kinda stuff) and Pot Chicken Roasted. However style of preparation, service, serving style all was par excellence. And the food was something different altogather. Each dish was uniquely created, nothing like what we are accustomed to eating. Chicken soup seemed home made, Stuffed mushrooms had been backed just so that the mushroom juice has seeped into the cheese stuffing, suffusing it with mushroom flavor (I remembered my experiance in Korean restraunt in Beijing, where I had mushroom on hot plate and i tried to use it as a cup, and would drink liquid inside once the cup filled up due to heat), Prawns were delightful luckily adnan doesn't eat prawns so i grabbed extra helping, they were roasted, with peppery black masala and there was absolutely no fishy taste to it. Pasta was great and garnishing of sweet corn was delicious even though i'd had heavy butter chicken / tandoori chicken lunch in persian darbar near Bandra and was really full. Assorted vegetables had some peach in it, and a nice touch of couchou instead of rice to have it with. They offered freshly baked bread basket at start of dinner with assorted buns, wheat bread, etc, along with self made garlic butter to have it with. We all fell completely in love with the place and I got to tell Adnan how he was wrong to insist on going to Dynasty (chinese restraunt opp. Irshad's place, which I did not want to go to since i'd beent here 2 times already). I had dragged all three of them down near Yoko's to find out if this place was good and if it was open ( it was 11:30 p.m. already). Nyways things turned out beautifully and our friends was very happy, impressed and really pressed me and adnan to visit soon to Chennai so he can take us to show us around Chennai as well as Pondicherry. Specially Pondicherry there is this Auraville habitate an autonomous village where anyone can live and no need for visa's for even foreigners to visit.
Nyway guys, now when ur looking for a good place in western suburbs to have a chow you know just the right place.
Nyway guys, now when ur looking for a good place in western suburbs to have a chow you know just the right place.
Gujjars did us all a favor !!!
I have been thinking about this, and coming accross a network on orkut, against reservation gave me a chance to formulate my thoughts:
Has anyone really been happy with Gujjar's uprising. I feel they did us all a huge big favor. All people who believe in equality should be applauding their action. Consider this, they've shown us the major chink in the armour of reservation policy. Why did they make reservation policy ? For upliftment of backward classes? not really, by providing country with undeserving, doctors, engineers and beuraucrates they are not really uplifting anyone. Moreover, underserving candidates getting through, means deserving ones are being left behind. Again a creation of a chaotic society which will regress into a downward sprial. In fact we are all being dragged down to lowest minimum level, the majorities, the minorities, the backward classes, et. al.. So what was it for. To create vote banks ofcourse. To pander to populist, emotions and insecurities of poor, backward, forgotten masses and try and loot them even, of one thing that politicians can still loot from the poorest of poor, their vote! Now imagine their horror when the pandora's box that they opened has finally started fulfilling its promise. Forget anti reservationists, the repressed voices of deserving achievers, being denied their rightful places! How about various majorities who needfully have to be left unreserved, so that cake of reservation still has some sweetness to it? What happens when while catering to vote banks with promise of reservations, other votebanks start going against politicians, due to absence of it. We see panic and knee jerk reactions that was shown by Rajasthan politicians. So what am I going on all about. Why am I so happy. Simple, every community having any clout will start demanding reservations. After all it is easier to motivate people by greed, than by righteousness. So easy to give statistics of any one community and show they are left behind. What happens when all communities want piece of same pie. Lets have equality my friends! If there needs to be reservation, lets all get reserved!!!!!
Has anyone really been happy with Gujjar's uprising. I feel they did us all a huge big favor. All people who believe in equality should be applauding their action. Consider this, they've shown us the major chink in the armour of reservation policy. Why did they make reservation policy ? For upliftment of backward classes? not really, by providing country with undeserving, doctors, engineers and beuraucrates they are not really uplifting anyone. Moreover, underserving candidates getting through, means deserving ones are being left behind. Again a creation of a chaotic society which will regress into a downward sprial. In fact we are all being dragged down to lowest minimum level, the majorities, the minorities, the backward classes, et. al.. So what was it for. To create vote banks ofcourse. To pander to populist, emotions and insecurities of poor, backward, forgotten masses and try and loot them even, of one thing that politicians can still loot from the poorest of poor, their vote! Now imagine their horror when the pandora's box that they opened has finally started fulfilling its promise. Forget anti reservationists, the repressed voices of deserving achievers, being denied their rightful places! How about various majorities who needfully have to be left unreserved, so that cake of reservation still has some sweetness to it? What happens when while catering to vote banks with promise of reservations, other votebanks start going against politicians, due to absence of it. We see panic and knee jerk reactions that was shown by Rajasthan politicians. So what am I going on all about. Why am I so happy. Simple, every community having any clout will start demanding reservations. After all it is easier to motivate people by greed, than by righteousness. So easy to give statistics of any one community and show they are left behind. What happens when all communities want piece of same pie. Lets have equality my friends! If there needs to be reservation, lets all get reserved!!!!!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
New things on the block
'You live you learn'. So the saying goes. Couldn't be better said. I have come across a few new activities in recently. New and wonderous and addictive. Stuff that becomes part of ones life.
Youtube for one. It all started when I wanted to show dinosaures to Naqiyah. The picture book had a picture or two, but I decided to try and show her some more pictures online. So we sat at laptop and I fired up google searching for dinosaures. Ofcourse found a lot many pictures, but non were very satisfactory. If you've sat with a 2 year old and tried to browse the net, than you realise how painfully slow the process is. She kept fidgiting and it was difficult for me to find sites which would actually have names of the dinausers so that it would be learning experiance for both of us. In a while though, clicked on a link for dinosaures video, hosted on youtube. The immersive experiance for Naqiyah of watching Dinosaures, Monkeys, Lions and any and every animal we could think of visually with sound was priceless. Now on we can spend hours with a computer just looking at cats, or other various animals or even listing to nursery rhymes by other kids captured by dotting parents on Youtube. There have been times that Umaima gets annoyed at me and insists that its past Naqiyah's sleeping time, and we have to stop surfing :)
Naqiyah showing me 'Cat' and 'Dolphin'
Another nifty thing I started using was PGP. Although I'd known about public and private key encryption a long time hence. However I'd never used it before. Requirement was posed by Irdeto to send them my public keys to enable them to send me the lib files. I started looking and found a nifty program GNU PGP, sponsored by German Goverment, on Zimmerman's PGP code. PGP public/private key encryption really puts a whole new twist to sharing confidential data. Should become a life long habit now.
Second Life is something I came accross just today. An online virtual reality world where you can make aavtar, buy/sell things, make dwellings etc etc. Its even a place where now a days people haev online confrences, radio programs, product launches etc etc.
More on these later!
Youtube for one. It all started when I wanted to show dinosaures to Naqiyah. The picture book had a picture or two, but I decided to try and show her some more pictures online. So we sat at laptop and I fired up google searching for dinosaures. Ofcourse found a lot many pictures, but non were very satisfactory. If you've sat with a 2 year old and tried to browse the net, than you realise how painfully slow the process is. She kept fidgiting and it was difficult for me to find sites which would actually have names of the dinausers so that it would be learning experiance for both of us. In a while though, clicked on a link for dinosaures video, hosted on youtube. The immersive experiance for Naqiyah of watching Dinosaures, Monkeys, Lions and any and every animal we could think of visually with sound was priceless. Now on we can spend hours with a computer just looking at cats, or other various animals or even listing to nursery rhymes by other kids captured by dotting parents on Youtube. There have been times that Umaima gets annoyed at me and insists that its past Naqiyah's sleeping time, and we have to stop surfing :)
Naqiyah showing me 'Cat' and 'Dolphin'
Another nifty thing I started using was PGP. Although I'd known about public and private key encryption a long time hence. However I'd never used it before. Requirement was posed by Irdeto to send them my public keys to enable them to send me the lib files. I started looking and found a nifty program GNU PGP, sponsored by German Goverment, on Zimmerman's PGP code. PGP public/private key encryption really puts a whole new twist to sharing confidential data. Should become a life long habit now.
Second Life is something I came accross just today. An online virtual reality world where you can make aavtar, buy/sell things, make dwellings etc etc. Its even a place where now a days people haev online confrences, radio programs, product launches etc etc.
More on these later!
Mumbai trains, Mumbai rains
In India since a week or more. So much I look forward to coming here. So much more I feel like going back !
First comes the whirlwind phone calls, and meetings with various friends. Getting upto speed on what they're doing. Happy to just be around, amazed at the fact, that distance, and time seem to have changed nothing, but nothing is the same either. Same familiar face, similar talks, but different issues, and different lives.
Heat got me this time. Although Dubai temperature is higher, I don't really have to bear it. The whole place is one big A/c. In Bombay though, when its hot, its hot. You live with it. Man it does get oh so hot and humid. . Wonder how I've stayed 25 years of my life without being aware of the acute summers here. I don't ever remember being overtly concerned about temperatures before. Not even of oppressive sweaty, meat packed state of local train where people are on the edge of their patience and ready to burst into violence on moments notice.
Had one such incident yesterday. Mumbai train's general compartment has benches for 3 persons to sit on. However it is regular and expected for fourth guy to fit it. Usually the first three guys will scrunch in, to allow fourth one to park his butt on the seat. However yesterday I boarded the train from Nerul to go to VT. As expected compartment was full but not packed. I went to the first seat where I found only three guys seated. However the third guy instead of shifting in, moved a bit out to allow me to sit between him and the second one. I was on the phone, and had book in other hand. Distracted I simply sat down between the two expecting them to make place. However they didn't and i had to lean forward and sit in a very awkward position. After I finished phone call, I tried to sit upright, and leaned back. Obviously the guys on my either side were pressed too. Suddenly the second guy on my left started hitting out at me. Sort of like how a girl hits you know, hitting on my shoulder like a petulant child.. Shouting why you pushed me!... Now he was a puny sort of a middle aged guy, maybe around 45~50 and immediately as he started doing this, his wife sitting across him tried to calm him down. He even managed to startle me and my mobile flew out of my hand, luckily just onto the third guys lap. However I had already noticed that he had a girl and a boy both teenaged sitting on either side of his wife. I retrieved my mobile and asked him in Hindi why he's so upset. I didn't mean to push him. That stopped him hitting me. But his shouting continued. I was really amused. He simply had started and wasn't sure how to stop ....! Luckily for me, I somehow felt too confident, and unaffected, all the while being acutely aware that that guy's kids were with him. So I simply patted him on his shoulder and said.. "sorry man, didn't mean to push you". The best part is in 5 mins the third guy got up and we had more than enough place for all three of us. Strange why we'd have fought for few mins of convenience. However the amount of satisfaction I derived from not having fought back, was much much greater than any I could have by fighting. And the big smile on my face, at his outburst, would teach him a lesson too. Finally I was happy, that I had wits enough to realise that his kids were with him. It would never do to insult some kids father. Would hurt them more than would have hurt him.
Oh yes, monsoons started bang on 31st. Was out with college friends Khozema, Sharad, Murtaza and bhai Taher as well as Adnan too for dinner at Bagdadi. Bagdadi by the way, near colaba, is one of the best restraunts for fried chicken in mumbai that I know of. It has been an integral part of my college days in Mumbai. All the guys were same as I'd known them in College days.. Murtaza however was smart, and his bearing, intelligence, all made me realise why he was my best buddy all through the college years. Hardly had we finished dinner that it started pouring. I suggested I keep my laptop bag in Murtaza's car, but everyone suggested it simply wasn't safe. A locked car is not really inaccessible in Mumbai it seems. We went to Gateway of India for a walk. The sight of thunderstorm was as awe inspiring as ever. A small boat had even turned upside down, moored off the gateway wall. Crazy trashing waves, lashing rains, thunderstorm, and soon some guys started jumping into the water. The height of the walls around gateway to the sea is quite a lot. Still one after another some guys started jumping into water to try and turn the overturned boat. It was a sight to see.. Unfortunately I couldn't record it due to constant rains. Learnt of a new place, next to radio club, which serves excellent masala milk. A worth visit, for all mumbaikars.
The rains have been coming on and going in spurts. It offers some solace from the oppressive heat while it lasts. Than the heat wave resumes with evermore vigour. Its crazy. But the romance of the cloudy sky, thunder, sudden gloom and gusts of wind, foretelling an oncoming downpour is absolutely a must experience event. Nothing in world comes close to the feeling of joy, when the heavens are about to pour. Some of my best memories of life are associated with rain. The sound of rain on the Cement roof of my 5th floor roof top abode, where I grew up, is still the most soothing music to my ears.
Mumbai experience is indeed magical. No matter how much I curse the heat, or the littering and unhygenic gutters, lining the road. It still evokes passion that cannot leave one unaffected. I have noticed I was very very reluctant to come to mumbai this time. However although anxious to leave, i know i will leave with strings, attached, gently tugging my heart, counting time, till i'm back again.
First comes the whirlwind phone calls, and meetings with various friends. Getting upto speed on what they're doing. Happy to just be around, amazed at the fact, that distance, and time seem to have changed nothing, but nothing is the same either. Same familiar face, similar talks, but different issues, and different lives.
Heat got me this time. Although Dubai temperature is higher, I don't really have to bear it. The whole place is one big A/c. In Bombay though, when its hot, its hot. You live with it. Man it does get oh so hot and humid. . Wonder how I've stayed 25 years of my life without being aware of the acute summers here. I don't ever remember being overtly concerned about temperatures before. Not even of oppressive sweaty, meat packed state of local train where people are on the edge of their patience and ready to burst into violence on moments notice.
Had one such incident yesterday. Mumbai train's general compartment has benches for 3 persons to sit on. However it is regular and expected for fourth guy to fit it. Usually the first three guys will scrunch in, to allow fourth one to park his butt on the seat. However yesterday I boarded the train from Nerul to go to VT. As expected compartment was full but not packed. I went to the first seat where I found only three guys seated. However the third guy instead of shifting in, moved a bit out to allow me to sit between him and the second one. I was on the phone, and had book in other hand. Distracted I simply sat down between the two expecting them to make place. However they didn't and i had to lean forward and sit in a very awkward position. After I finished phone call, I tried to sit upright, and leaned back. Obviously the guys on my either side were pressed too. Suddenly the second guy on my left started hitting out at me. Sort of like how a girl hits you know, hitting on my shoulder like a petulant child.. Shouting why you pushed me!... Now he was a puny sort of a middle aged guy, maybe around 45~50 and immediately as he started doing this, his wife sitting across him tried to calm him down. He even managed to startle me and my mobile flew out of my hand, luckily just onto the third guys lap. However I had already noticed that he had a girl and a boy both teenaged sitting on either side of his wife. I retrieved my mobile and asked him in Hindi why he's so upset. I didn't mean to push him. That stopped him hitting me. But his shouting continued. I was really amused. He simply had started and wasn't sure how to stop ....! Luckily for me, I somehow felt too confident, and unaffected, all the while being acutely aware that that guy's kids were with him. So I simply patted him on his shoulder and said.. "sorry man, didn't mean to push you". The best part is in 5 mins the third guy got up and we had more than enough place for all three of us. Strange why we'd have fought for few mins of convenience. However the amount of satisfaction I derived from not having fought back, was much much greater than any I could have by fighting. And the big smile on my face, at his outburst, would teach him a lesson too. Finally I was happy, that I had wits enough to realise that his kids were with him. It would never do to insult some kids father. Would hurt them more than would have hurt him.
Oh yes, monsoons started bang on 31st. Was out with college friends Khozema, Sharad, Murtaza and bhai Taher as well as Adnan too for dinner at Bagdadi. Bagdadi by the way, near colaba, is one of the best restraunts for fried chicken in mumbai that I know of. It has been an integral part of my college days in Mumbai. All the guys were same as I'd known them in College days.. Murtaza however was smart, and his bearing, intelligence, all made me realise why he was my best buddy all through the college years. Hardly had we finished dinner that it started pouring. I suggested I keep my laptop bag in Murtaza's car, but everyone suggested it simply wasn't safe. A locked car is not really inaccessible in Mumbai it seems. We went to Gateway of India for a walk. The sight of thunderstorm was as awe inspiring as ever. A small boat had even turned upside down, moored off the gateway wall. Crazy trashing waves, lashing rains, thunderstorm, and soon some guys started jumping into the water. The height of the walls around gateway to the sea is quite a lot. Still one after another some guys started jumping into water to try and turn the overturned boat. It was a sight to see.. Unfortunately I couldn't record it due to constant rains. Learnt of a new place, next to radio club, which serves excellent masala milk. A worth visit, for all mumbaikars.
The rains have been coming on and going in spurts. It offers some solace from the oppressive heat while it lasts. Than the heat wave resumes with evermore vigour. Its crazy. But the romance of the cloudy sky, thunder, sudden gloom and gusts of wind, foretelling an oncoming downpour is absolutely a must experience event. Nothing in world comes close to the feeling of joy, when the heavens are about to pour. Some of my best memories of life are associated with rain. The sound of rain on the Cement roof of my 5th floor roof top abode, where I grew up, is still the most soothing music to my ears.
Mumbai experience is indeed magical. No matter how much I curse the heat, or the littering and unhygenic gutters, lining the road. It still evokes passion that cannot leave one unaffected. I have noticed I was very very reluctant to come to mumbai this time. However although anxious to leave, i know i will leave with strings, attached, gently tugging my heart, counting time, till i'm back again.
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