Life in Mumbai Locals

Dt:29 Oct 2013

         I was returning back home from Bandra on a Tuesday morning after completing a quick assignment .After starting early I wound up work  by 11 am.This gave me an opportunity to travel in a Virar local with relative ease and comfort.

           I was relieved to find a seat and enjoy the ride.But barely ten minutes into this comfortable journey I realized that this would not be as  comfortable as it first looked like.A youngster (must be in his early  20s ) sitting next to me was fast asleep and decided to convert my shoulder into a comfortable pillow.

           The first reaction & thought that came to my mind was to wake this lad up and let him know that he cant use the public as his private cushion while traveling.Usual response time of the intolerant crowd in these situations is not more than 30 seconds .

           But before I could push him out of his comfort zone I went into a flashback of days gone by.Days when we used to slog hard in  training  and return home in the last locals often half asleep.During those days we would often end up having a nap on some  other stranger's shoulder.And they would also ignore us as they could make out that the kids are indeed very tired after a hard day's work.

         
              So I let this guy continue in his comfortable position in gratitude for those people who lent their shoulders to us when we were in need.Onlookers felt a bit strange that I let this kid carry on .Some might even have felt that he is a family member.

            Such is the life in a Mumbai Local. Aggressive and intolerant at large but compassionate and caring in  small confinements.You have to be there to experience it.



                  

Reforms in Indian Poltics

Dt: 5 OCT 2013


      Its been a pleasant couple of years in Indian politics.There has been a definite change in the way people are approaching politics and politicians in the largest democracy of the world.Well this was bound to happen in a nation which is slowly but surely rising up for a very good fuure.

      People revolution has always been the tool which has brought upon change in the way of functioning of the administrators or in som eother parts of the world brought aboutr regime changes as well.In India all this began with silent protest being headed by a socail activist named Anna Hazare.Peaceful protests against corruption has made the people so aware that they are now beginning to rise and challenge the institutions whihc have been governing them for years.

     
        While the media has played a big role in bringing these people agitations right to our TV screens and sparking a debate amongst the general public.There is also an educated class which is independent,earning well and therefore now taking interest in the matters of governance.It is this class of young middle class students and young professionals who over the course of the next decade going to change the face of the nation internally as well as in the world.

        Aiding them will be a social media revolution called 'Twitter' .As internet becomes cheaper and affordable you will see more people airing their views on twitter and putting tremendous pressure on the government.We are moving towards a world where the administrators will be under tremendous pressure to perform and most of the old guard will not be able to handle this onslaught.   

     
       Rising on the back of all these is a political party which has quietly managed to create a flutter in Delhi politics and which it seems is going to win more percentage of  seats in the Delhi assembly elections  than what MNS could manage in Maharashtra.So much for constructive politics.

        Supreme court rulings on NOTA,baring convicted leaders from contesting elections and disqualifying convicted MPs is also creating a positive environment.Even as I am writing this there in a PIL to be heard in SC to bar charge-sheeted leaders from contesting.that would be one hell of a legislation but not sure if dats fair enuf. SC and EC have always been empowering the voters and I am sure more of the middle class will vote this time around.

         Overall I predict a very bright future with numerous possibilities for India & all developing nations as well ,as  long as they keep away from war and do not face major natural calamities.

Namo Namo ---The chant is getting louder

Dt:8 June 2013

Its around a year left now for the national elections (may be less) and the top leadership of the BJP have got together in Goa to discuss strategies and leadership.While its almost certain that the Congress would lose the national elections its important for BJP to make sure that it will be the primary beneficiary.

So it is very important to pick a face who will lead the election camapagn.In absence of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpaye ,it was Advaniji who was handed over this responsibility last election but that did not work out.
So it was obvious that a new leadership would be required for the coming polls..
The race seemed to be a close one between Sushmaji,Modi and Jaitley where the allies would also have called the shots or so it seemed .

But over the last few days the camps have become a bit clear . Jaitley being a part of the Pro Modi faction essentially giving up his candidature for the top post has left Advaniji and Sushma stranded.Ideally Sushmaji would be the most popular choice for the post but it seems that BJP cadre are strongly backing Modi.
                                           

Modi to be fair to him has risen in popularity in the recent past by projecting himself as a aleader for the future.Sometimes its this passion which is important to lead a nation and that is what Mr.Modi is bringing to the table.One would argue that if Vajpayee ji was able to cast his opinion, he would have most likely been on Advani's side.But time has passsed and the situations have changed .

When I travelled to Karnataka last year everyone was ridiculing the BJP government and the results were there for everyone to see.But every Gujrati I meet is just praises for Modi .The feedback is so positive that you just cant ignore it .The mood of the nation is in favour of  a  bold leader.
Modi might be the right person under the current circumstances to lead India to the next level.

What happens in the coming days is not yet certain but its almost sure that we have a very interesting election year coming up.And Yes be ready for Surprises this time :-)

Pepsi IPL 6 2013, Astrology predictions

Dt: 11 April 2013.

All over the world there has  been a lot of fan following for this year's IPL. Betting is illegal in India where the tournament is actually being played, but because of worldwide live coverage there is a lot of money being bet these days on the games.

Some popular betting websites allow users to place bets on the outcome of every ball being bowled.
So it was strange to know that we do not have too many resources out there helping people to bet right.

I went out to find the answers for the same and met some renowned astronomers .During my research though I met a certain individual who was vert famous among his clients for accurately predicting cricket matches and their results .Shri Mohiteshwar Dubey (name masked) agreed to talk to me after some convincing that I would not trouble him too much.Mohitji has been able to predict games with 99% accuracy based on the position of the stars.

When I asked him the same question as to who would win this year's IPL?He could have said either of MI, KKR, PWI, KXI, SRH, CSK, RR, DD have some chances.

His answer though was clear.He said that it was RCB ,Royal Challengers Bangalore.The only 1% chance that he mentioned for RCB not winning would be if one player who was 'Dead & Buried'(in cricketing skills) would rise from his ashes & regain both his skill & respect.He however mentioned that the chances of this event happening is very high only after 1 May,2013.

So if Mohiteshwarji is to be believed for his spectacular track record in predicting cricket ,then it has to be RCB which wins the trophy this year.Go bet a lot of money & enjoy a lot !!!




[Note:The article a work of fiction.]

First International Flight - Part two

Dt: 09 March 2013.

continued from part one..

Dubai has a huge airport the biggest I had seen so far.There are hundreds of terminals at the airport and within minutes I was exposed to the architectural brilliance of this place. Dubai is a shopping hub and Emirates had made sure that to reach your connecting flight you go through all the shops in the airport.
Conceptually this is a great business idea as people spend significant time at airports .

So here I was going through all the shops as well as directions for my terminal.I walked almost 20 mins looking for terminals marked A before reaching a circle where there was a small arrow saying Terminals A downwards.(It read like thank you for walking so long and going through all our shops.Now your actual destination is downstairs ).I felt,OK marketing strategy you have  to live with it in today's world.

The shops were no less than treasures.It felt like Alibaba had found the password.'Khul Ja Sim Sim'.
If you had enough money in your pockets  then  you  would  have  bought  them   all. Watches,perfumes,dates,cars,silverware..you name it and they had it.

Somehow I said to myself.Next time bro .Lets find the terminal for now.So here I was going downstairs hoping to find a terminal somewhere.Alas I was led to a lift .What no terminals yet.The lifts took us to another floor.In the backdrop was a foutain lit by colored lights.Beautiful.




By this time I had no clue whatsoever about where I had actually started .Anyways out of the lifts.Did I reach my terminal .NO.


Surprise.You got to take a train .Wtf.Anyways after confirming twice dat I am indeed on the right way .I take the train.Felt like it took me back to where I first started .Why dont they give maps to all :-).

So once I reached the paltform I got down and was happy to see my terminal there.Could see my flight wiating there for me.

I soon boarded the flight .Same seat in this flight .Co passenger was a Pakistani.He was watching Comedy Circus.The show seemed to be quite popular.I decided to put on some music .Food was served.Just to prove a point to my friend had a beer on flight :-).Eight hour flight .Slept for the first 4 hours and then watched Jannat 2 followed by another Indonesian movie.

Landed in London on schedule.My college friend was waiting there to receive me.Good thing about travelling now is that you know that you have friends working all around the world :-).

So the trip documentation ends here ...

What happened in London will follow in the up coming blogs...:-)

First International Flight - Part one

Dt: 10 Feb 2013

Eventually  after so many years of existence, I finally got a chance to fly international. At times I would wonder whether this would be a business trip or a a personal vacation(the latter would have taken quite some years to come).But fate works in different ways and luckily  I got to come here to UK on a short business trip.

I was booked on an Emirates flight on 29 Jan.It was a connecting flight via Dubai. With all travel you have to plan well so that there are no hiccups on the day of travel.But the anxieties of leaving the country were so high that I concentrated more on the packing and less on the technicalities of reaching the airport on time.

So when I eventually called up Meru to book a cab on the eve of the travel they politely refused saying that all cabs were booked for the day.I called up TabCab and booked a cab.The next morning at 5 though I got a real shock when Tabcab also refused to have booked a cab.Fortunately I called up Easycab and got a ride at the last moment.

I reached the airport along with Dad about 7 am ,3 hours before departure.We enquired for the visitor's gallery and were informed that it was closed for some reason.After spending some time outside the airport watching families bid adieu to their loved ones ,I decided to start my journey.

For first timers, you got to weigh your luggage at the airline counter ,get your boarding pass (u will get  a baggage claim card for check in luggage),attach tags to your cabin luggage(mandatory for security checks).I got my boarding pass met my Dad one more time before proceeding for Immigration.You got to fill a form for immigration and quickly join the queue. Once immigration is done you will be asked to proceed for security checks .Once you clear security you have to wait for your flight announcements.

The flight was delayed but once the announcements were made I quickly boarded the flight.While boarding make sure that you have your ticket n passport handy.Once I entered the flight I realised that I had been allocated the aisle seat on the first row of a new compartment(or whatever you call it).This is a good seat as you have the flexibility to move out, as well as have more leg space, along with the air hostess in close proximity.Air hostess in our section was beautiful and looked as if she was European.

Emirates was good at hospitality with newspapers & refreshments for all.Soon the flight took off .It was a smooth take off.Missed the windows but there were cameras attached to the flight giving a pilots view of the takeoff on the monitors.All hopes of having a good co passenger were dashed when an old Englishman took the seat next to me .We exchanged pleasantries during breakfast and then didnt talk for much of the flight.

Emirates' in flight entertainment is one of the best (they claim and call it AIR ).It had a wide variety of movies ,television shows from across the world and music as well.It took me around half an hour to choose from the variety which  was on offer.Since it was only 3-4 hour flight I eventually decided to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. There were 3 or 4 episodes ,probably season 3.It took me some time to figure out how to get the screen attached to your side to work despite there being graphical instructions for the same .But finally managed to get that working.

Once the take off and refreshments are done the flight is nothing different  to a private bus & you have to just wait for the plane to land to have anything worthy to do.And so it landed after few hours at Dubai.I got another shock when the air hostess with European looks made a landing announcement in Hindi so pure that you would have to say that she was an Indian.

So here I was in Dubai .The UAE ,effectively became the first foreign country where I set foot ;-) It was just the beginning of a very long day .Lets look at the Dubai leg in Part two.