Kankar Pathar Jor Kar....

Ayodhya was all over the place today.

It was there on the street in the form of Police bandobast; it was there on the internet with Nirmohi Akhada becoming the most Googled term for the day; it was there on office desks with me and my desk neighbour discussing if a 'Ram Rahim Hospital' at the disputed site would be a plausible solution; it was there on the media with Barkha Datt conducting a debate and instigating the masses to create an issue out of a closed matter (i.e. after the verdict was out); it was there on the office emails with advisories to leave work early; it was there in my mind in the form of the lines from a famous song 'mazhab nahin sikhata, aapas mein bair rakhna'; it was there in the courts in the form of a verdict from the High Court of Allahabad.

After a day full of religious brouhaha, I am reminded of these couplets by Kabir

कांकर पाथर जोर के, मस्जिद लिया चुनाय।
ता चढ़ि मुल्ला बांग दे, क्या बहरा हुआ खुदाय?

माला फेरत जुग भया, फिरा न मन का फेर ।
कर का मन का डार दे, मन का मनका फेर ॥

मोको कहाँ ढूंढे रे बन्दे,
मैं तो तेरे पास में
ना तीरथ में
ना मूरत में
ना एकांत निवास में
ना मन्दिर में , ना मस्जिद में
ना काबे कैलास में
ना मैं जप में , ना मैं तप में
ना मैं बरत उपवास में
ना मैं किरिया करम में रहता
न ही जोग सन्यास में
न ही प्राण में न ही पिंड में
ना ब्रह्माण्ड अकास में
ना मैं प्रकुति प्रवर गुफा में
न ही स्वसन की स्वांस में
खोजी होए तुरत मिल जाऊं
इक पल की तलास में
कहत कबीर सुनो भाई साधो
मैं तो हूँ विस्वास में.

From Mumbaiya to Dilli-wallah

The clock is ticking for me. Come November, and I will cease to be a Mumbaikar, a Mumbaiya. I will become a Dilli wallah.Rather, a Faridabad wallah - Resident of a sleepy town in NCR.
The transformation will be drastic and no less than a culture shock.

From traffic jams on roads to no roads
From rains to winters
From Hiranandani Gardens to Sector markets
From local to cabs
From Marathi to Punjabi
From Vada Pao and Pao Bhaji to Pakoras and Kadhai Paneer
From Powai Lake to what-once-used-to-be Badkhal
From Lonavala to Mussourie
From International airport to no-good railway station
From friends to family
From Single to Married
From House to Home

Why do I write?

This ain't a famous blog. There hardly is any audience to my posts. Yet, I write. And I write quite regularly, except for those moments when I am very happy or very depressed (and don't have time or don't feel like writing).

I write because I just love to see how simple sentences take form of a big paragraph. How my thoughts translate to words. And to my amazement, many-a-times, when I read my own writitings, I feel good.

I developed interest in writing in my Tenth grade. I used to love 'Interact in English' course. The notices, advertisements and memos used to be tests of my creativity. And this love for words stayed on.

So I write. Mindlessly. Aimlessly. And for no audience.

I write for myself!

Headlines for Today

I woke up a little late today. It’s a holiday - Anant Chaturdashi – the day people bid farewell to their beloved lord Ganesha. It will be a big chaos on the roads outside my house.

I am looking at the newspaper. There is chaos all around, it seems.
The headlines are interesting.

Commonwealth Games National Shame: A Bridge has collapsed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The anchor of a news channel is reading out ‘Breaking News’. A portion of false ceiling has collapsed over the play area.

World heaps scorn on filthy village: TOI has ‘stunned’ the country with its lead story, it seems, on how filthy the games village is. Leading athletes are pulling out their names.

Aussie TV crew enters venue with ammo case: An Australian channel has done a sting operation (who says only Tehelka held the copyrights to ‘stinging’) and managed to sneak in an ammunition case, heightening security concerns.

I am ashamed. And so are millions of Indians watching the events unfold.

It is such an irony. Ganesha is the ‘Lord of Beginning’ and the ‘Remover of Obstacles’. Guess, he is not a ‘lord of anticorruption’. Guess, there is NO such lord.

I hope some divine soul helps our ministers and babus.
May Suresh Kalmadi and Ms. Dixit be blessed!
Its the country's reputation which is at stake.
Someone please wake up!!

Being Quintessentially Indian

Many things come to my mind when I think of the quintessential Indian way of life. Things that could happen only on this homeland of ours. Things that are a matter of pride, and things that are a matter of shame. Things that are commonplace in the so-called 'middle class'.

Did you just ask Kaun Middle Class?? Arey, They are the ones who are neither poor enough to be called lower class and nor rich enough to be termed the Upper Class. So they hang precariously somewhere in the middle!

My list follows. Feel free to make your additions.
Drying clothes on a clothesline outside your balcony
Borrowing lemons and sugar from your neighbour (but never the salt!)
Bowing down to touch the feet of elderly, even your room-mates parents when you don't even know them or are meeting them for the first time
A grand wedding
Savings under the National Savings Certificate Scheme in the Post Offfice
Small car, high on mileage (remember the kitna deti hai advertisement of Maruti)
An entire family on a two wheeler - Miya Biwi Bachon Samet
Toddlers reciting nursery rhymes to guests
Living rooms with vases full of dusty arificial flowers and souviners
A doting mother who is a housewife (and has full potential to be a corporate manager)
A penny-wise father who never shops for himself
A BSNL landline
Garib Rath
The dream to buy a sedan and a real estate property
A maid who is unreliable
A liftman and a security guard
A dhobi, doodhwala & maali
Family unions on Diwali & Holi (and may be on Christmas, New Year and Eid)
Haggling with a vegetable vendor for the best price
Haggling with a retail shop vendor for the best price
An IRCTC website login
A lohe ki kadhai and tawa
A relative in the US of A
A job in MNC
A job with the Government
A dream to be an IAS officer (or an IPS or IFS or IES)
An eye on the stock market
An arranged marriage
A Shah Rukh Khan movie
A Zeenat Aman (and a Rakhi Sawant)
A joint family
A nuclear family
A loving sister
A caring brother
A caring wife
A loving husband
A nagging wife
A questioning husband
A mister and his misus

And..... ek packet ummeed!

Secrets of Mumbai

In my more than two years' stay in Mumbai I have discovered many treasures which I think are unique to this city. They are not necessarily places/monuments but are rather means to derive small joys in this otherwise fast life in a metro.

A non-exhaustive list, in no order of preference, follows.

Food
Sandwiches at Sukh Sagar across the VT subway
Green Chilly ice-cream at Bachelor's, Girgaum Chowpaty
Cafe Churchil's Spinach and Corn Lasagne
Pastries at Theobroma in Colaba
Authentic Punjabi cuisine at Papa Pancho da Dhaba, Bandra (Must tries: Chaat & Stuffed Parathas. Don;t forget to ask for their amazingly fresh white butter)
Coffee at Cafe Sea Side, Bandstand (The menu is rather short and food quality not up to the mark. The place offers an amazing view of the sun setting in the Arabian Sea.)
Thali at Rajdhani
Cafe Mondegar and Leopold in Colaba
Pao Bhaji at Amar Juice Centre, Irla
Kulfi, Pao Bhaji, Pani Puri, Gola at Juhu and Girgaum Chowpatty
South Indian cuisine at Mani's Lunch Home, Matunga
Dosa at Babulnath Dosa Centre
Gulabjamuns at Sweet Bengal, Maker Arcade, Cuffe Parade
Dal Makhni and Stuffed Parathas at Happy Singh, Sakinaka
Chinese food at 5 Spice, Sakinaka, Fort and Pali Naka (Bandra)
Misal Pao at any road-side stall/restaurant
USS Club in Navy Nagar (entry only to defense personnels)
Chhas in a beer bottle at Bhagat Tarachand in Kalbadevi
Flavoured teas at Aromas, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai

Monuments
Victoria Terminus
Deutche Bank building in Fort area
Mumbai High Court
Rajabai Clock Tower, Mumbai University
Brihanmumbai Mahanagarpalika Building
St. Xaviers College, VT
Flora Fountain
Horniman Circle
Library of the Asiatic Society
Bombay Stock Exchange (a modern age monument indeed. This is where the address reads Dalal Street, Mumbai - 400 001)
Gateway of India

Galleries
Prince of Wales Museum (now called, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya)
National Gallery of Modern Art
Jehangir Art Gallery (and the roadside art gallery)

Festivals
Kalaghoda Art Festival

Markets
Electronics bazaar at Lamington Road
Perfume shopping at Alfa Market, Irla
Fort Market with shops selling everything from mobile chargers and cheap electronics to accesories.
Saree shopping at Dadar (though have never done this, but have suggested it to many friends)
Handbags, antiques, belts and accesories from Colaba Causeway
Fleas market in Kalbadevi and Oshiwara
Narrow lanes of Crawford Market full of household stuff
Flower and Vegetable market of Dadar
Kolhapuri slipper shops at Bandra

Leisure
Plays at Prithvi Theatre, followed by coffee and dinner at Prithvi Cafe
Walk on the Marine Drive (or a late night chat session with cvlose friends). All the way from Nariman Point to Chowpaty.
An evening at Jogger's Park, Bandra

Spiritual
Temple trail of Sidhivinayak, Mumba Devi and Mahalakshmi
Ganesh Visarjan at Powai Lake
Iscon Temple, Juhu

Well, this is my list. Am sure you have yours too!

The 10 Rupee fix

My 7 year old rampyaari, My TVS Victor, has been a subject of my neglect very often.
The poor thing also falls victim to Mumbai Police's strategy of ever-changing no-parking areas.

Some months back, me and my colleague decided to go to the near-by Naturals Icecream Shop taking a small break from office. I parked my bike at the place where I have been parking it over the past 2 years. We had a lovely double scoop each and came out only to find the bike missing. Seeing policewallahs and a towing van on the road outside gave me the idea as to what would have happened. Needless to say, I had parked my bike at a newly identified no parking zone and it was happily towed away by the sincere Mumbai Police.

It was with much mehnat mashakkat that I could retrieve my bike. What an ordeal that was!

With this episode over, I realised my pyaari raampyaari was making a kind of gumpy sound when I raised the acceleration. First, I ignored it but then had to figire out as to which bolt was loose. To my dismay, I found that the front mud-guard (the semi cricular covering over the front wheel) had developed a big crack and was about to split into two pieces. Must have been due to the manhandling by the towing van gues, I rationalised.

While I had no intentions of buying a new mud-guard, I decided on taking it to the nearby road-side mechanic to fix it. He looked at it and happily announced that it needed a replacement. Nothing else will help. Determined to not to buy a new peice, I decided to return. As I kicked the bike to a start, this intelligent chap came up with a very ingenious idea. The chutki mein chipyae, FeviQuick! What a quick fix (the pun is indeed intended). And I must say a pretty durable one also. And the price..... Rs. 10 ONLY! That is damn damn cheap by any standards, given that a new one would have coosted me atleast Rs. 600.

I have been happily driving my bike eversince and had almost forgotten this incident.... Now that I have to transport my bike to Faridabad, I am again worried that it might lead the crack to resurface.

But then as they say, in India we have a jugaad for everything. Am pretty convinced that there will be somebody in Faridabad, ready to offer me his quick fix!

To be or not to be

We often face dilemma. At times its forced upon us. And, we feel we would have been better off if we never had choices in the first place.
Choices empower you. It is such an overwhelming experience.
They also make life miserable. While on one hand we are excited to take a stand, on the other we also dread making a wrong choice. It is like a sword hanging on you head all the time.

In the past two weeks, I have felt miserable, joyous, thrilled, depressed, confused, sorted and puzzled. All at the same time.

A while back I had made a simple choice, and I was pretty satisfied with what I had on hand. And suddenly over the last two weeks, I saw myself embroiled in this big mess which made me just go ZAP! It felt I would just throw up any moment. There seemed to be no metric which could help me make the right decision. But, there WAS NO right or left, let aside wrong. I just needed to decide.

It was one of the most important and most thought after decision I would have ever made in my life.

All thanks to certain external agents whose ethics I question, and who had put me in a position to question my ethos.

Thank God! am all sorted now.
I am at peace.