Recently I spent a day in Amritsar with two of my best friends, and it turned out to be one of the most emotional ones I have had in a long time. I never thought I could go through such a range of emotions in the span of one day, and I left the city with mixed feelings: joy, sorrow, peace, patriotism, faith and wonder.
We started the day by going to Jallianwala Baug. It was a short drive from our hotel, and we didn't know much about it except what we recalled vaguely from school textbooks. It was fairly crowded, and looked more like a public park than anything else. But as we walked around, a sense of soberness enveloped us. We read about the various people involved with the massacre: their stories, their actions and the consequences of their actions. We peered down the well where several women jumped to their death. We gazed at the hundreds of bullet holes in the walls. A feeling of disgust came over us, at how any human could inflict such pain on another. We were all quiet by the time we left the place, saddened by the first-hand account of what had happened there on Baisakhi Day, 1919.
At sundown, we went to Wagah to witness the daily lowering of the flags at the India-Pakistan border. The sheer realization that we were sitting only metres away from this country that you had been told was the enemy since you were born was overwhelming. It didn't look any different from India, except that the men and women were sitting separately. The five thousand-odd people screaming patriotic slogans got us charged up, and the raw aggression of the jawans got us charged up some more. We left feeling pumped up with adrenalin, our chests swelling with national pride.
As darkness descended, we arrived at the Golden Temple. Very few times in my life have I been to such a pure, serene and holy place. We were enveloped by a sense of calm as we sat by the water, unable to take our eyes off the majestic Temple in the moonlight. The soft prayers that were being sung inside the temple echoed throughout the complex, making us feel at peace at our very core. We took a walk around the complex, and then after praying inside the Temple, sat back down by the water. None of us wanted to leave. The simple beauty in submitting oneself to a higher being, enjoying His presence, feeling Him wean our troubles away, had become evident to us.
It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.
December 5, 2009
October 3, 2009
Sunday at the Willingdon
It was a Sunday like any other, except for one minor difference. I was up at eleven in the morning, quite early given my habit of sleeping in on the only holiday of the week. The reason for this exceptional event was that I had a luncheon to attend. My friend Richa had invited me out to lunch at The Willingdon Club. Now Willingdon isn't just any club. It is where Mumbai's elite go to relax, play a game of golf, swim or play cards. It is quite possibly the most elite gymkhana in the city, if not the country. I was partly curious, and partly excited to go check out this exclusive club. I had vague memories of having gone there as a child, but recalled nothing to write a blog about. As the clock struck one in the afternoon, I got into my car and drove to Richa's place, immersed in thoughts of what this oasis of glamour would be like.
I was shaken from my thoughts as Richa opened the door and got into my car. She was dressed well, and I wondered what the occaision was that warranted it. Maybe people dressed up to go have lunch at The Willingdon. At the Radio Club, where I was a member, shorts and an old t-shirt would have sufficed. Maybe they were strict about these things where we were going. We drove to the club, making small talk and discussing the happenings of our respective lives. There was much traffic along the way, and Thrillseekers' Nightmusic Volume 2 playing softly in the background kept me from getting annoyed at it.
We pulled into the driveway of the club, which looked every bit like something the British left behind. The green picket fence, the cobblestone dividers, the uniformed gatekeeper...all lent a touch of serenity to the place. The guest parking lot brought me back to reality. It was one big muddy ditch. It seemed more like a place where the horses from the Mahalakshmi Race Course across the street should've been kept. I grumbled to myself at having to risk getting my beloved Civic Hybrid stuck in the mud, and carefully backed into what could be called a parking slot.
When we stepped into the entrace foyer, one of Richa's friends was already waiting there. They hugged, and she said to Richa, “Happy Birthday!” Birthday? Birthday! It was Richa's birthday? How did I not know this? Had she mentioned a birthday party? Was I expected to know? I felt like a dunce. I admitted to Richa about not knowing the date she graced the planet on, and to my relief she didn't seem to mind. We walked from one restaurant to another, looking for a place to sit. One was full, and they hadn't held our reservation because we were a few minutes late. Another one had a dress code, and none of us were looking spiffy enough to be allowed inside. We finally settled on the verandah, and I soon realized that I was thankful the other places didn't let us in.
It was a breezy rectangular area overlooking the golf course. The ceiling was gorgeous, almost fifteen feet from the floor. Fans with really long stalks hung from it, dispering air at a height low enough to comfort the pampered cheeks of the guests. Some fans creaked under the weight of their own breeze, whimpering in an annoying squeaky tone. They were the same color as the cieling and the walls, a crisp glimmering white that looked like it had just been painted. Large black lanterns with bulbs inside them adorned the walls. The seemed to bask in the sunlight that flooded through the massive french windows that made up an entire side of the room. In one corner lay a massive thermometer, too heavy for one man to carry. The mercury was still accurate, and I wondered of the days, people and events this outdated antique must have witnessed during its lifetime. The sleek marble floor was covered with white cane chairs arranged neatly at spacious intervals. Privacy seemed to be the theme of the verandah, with tables too far apart to allow a conversation to be overheard by anyone. The chairs had lime green cushions, with little yellow flowers embroidered on them. People spoke to each other in a dignified, hushed sort of way, glancing and occasionally smiling at those who passed by. All in all, it was a quiet room with an aura of peace engulfing it.
We hailed the waiters, who all seemed to be smiling almost unnaturaly, with their hands folded neatly behind their backs. They joined a few tables to form one long table. By now, Richa's other friends had started arriving, and we all plopped down wherever we found a familiar face. As for me, I sunk into a chair from where I could see the ongoing cricket match without someone blocking my view. I had a feeling that I would need the cricket to keep me engrossed while everyone talked about unfamiliar people and situations. I had mentally prepared myself to hear a lot of lawyer talk, given that most of Richa's friends would be from the law fraternity.
People started arriving. By themselves, and in groups. Dressed for chilling, clubbing or showing off their bodies. I realized soon that watching everyone was a lot more fun than watching the cricket match. Heck, India wasn't even playing! There was a girl who looked like she was dressed for a tanning session on the beach. She chattered on and on about movies, her home town, and everything else in between. A couple of the guys seemed more interested in the contstant stream of chinese food bring brought to our table. Some looked at me and smiled politely. Some made small talk on where I worked, where I lived and what my thoughts on the stock markets were. Some complained to me about the losses they had made recently, as if I was responsible. But soon their talk switched to work and goings-on at their own offices. It turns out that I know a fair number of people that they know. It isn't uncommon for that to happen when you work or live in South Bombay. Everyone tends to know the same people, and plenty of shared acquaintances surface during first meetings.
I shifted my gaze to the golf course that this spectacular room overlooked. The neatly manicured lawns shimmered in the bright sunshine. There were large honeysuckle bushes lined along the edge of the building, and they stuck their buds out in the welcome breeze. There were a lot of people outside, glad to be able to play a round of golf after the monsoon. Most of the people playing were men, their visors lined with the sweat from their brows, and their fat tummies bulging against their polo t-shirts. The women stood by disinterested, gossiping among themselves. Occasionally, they lifted up their massive sunglasses to take a look at someone handsome walking by. The whole time, they were fanning themselves with large hand-fans. They were only too eager to get back onto the golf carts and move to the next hole when their husbands were done. Tall buildings made up the backdrop of this golf course, and it seemed unnatural to witness such a large open space in the middle of this chaotic city.
I heard my name being called out, and I focused my eyes back to the scene near me. Richa was asking me if I was getting bored. I smiled, nodded lazily to answer in the negative, and took another look at those in front of me. Smiling, laughing, eating, drinking, chattering, teasing...oblivious to the world and the problems that lay beyond the greens. The peacefulness of this place engulfed me. The world seemed a happy place.
*Names have been omitted to protect the author's right to forget them.
I was shaken from my thoughts as Richa opened the door and got into my car. She was dressed well, and I wondered what the occaision was that warranted it. Maybe people dressed up to go have lunch at The Willingdon. At the Radio Club, where I was a member, shorts and an old t-shirt would have sufficed. Maybe they were strict about these things where we were going. We drove to the club, making small talk and discussing the happenings of our respective lives. There was much traffic along the way, and Thrillseekers' Nightmusic Volume 2 playing softly in the background kept me from getting annoyed at it.
We pulled into the driveway of the club, which looked every bit like something the British left behind. The green picket fence, the cobblestone dividers, the uniformed gatekeeper...all lent a touch of serenity to the place. The guest parking lot brought me back to reality. It was one big muddy ditch. It seemed more like a place where the horses from the Mahalakshmi Race Course across the street should've been kept. I grumbled to myself at having to risk getting my beloved Civic Hybrid stuck in the mud, and carefully backed into what could be called a parking slot.
When we stepped into the entrace foyer, one of Richa's friends was already waiting there. They hugged, and she said to Richa, “Happy Birthday!” Birthday? Birthday! It was Richa's birthday? How did I not know this? Had she mentioned a birthday party? Was I expected to know? I felt like a dunce. I admitted to Richa about not knowing the date she graced the planet on, and to my relief she didn't seem to mind. We walked from one restaurant to another, looking for a place to sit. One was full, and they hadn't held our reservation because we were a few minutes late. Another one had a dress code, and none of us were looking spiffy enough to be allowed inside. We finally settled on the verandah, and I soon realized that I was thankful the other places didn't let us in.
It was a breezy rectangular area overlooking the golf course. The ceiling was gorgeous, almost fifteen feet from the floor. Fans with really long stalks hung from it, dispering air at a height low enough to comfort the pampered cheeks of the guests. Some fans creaked under the weight of their own breeze, whimpering in an annoying squeaky tone. They were the same color as the cieling and the walls, a crisp glimmering white that looked like it had just been painted. Large black lanterns with bulbs inside them adorned the walls. The seemed to bask in the sunlight that flooded through the massive french windows that made up an entire side of the room. In one corner lay a massive thermometer, too heavy for one man to carry. The mercury was still accurate, and I wondered of the days, people and events this outdated antique must have witnessed during its lifetime. The sleek marble floor was covered with white cane chairs arranged neatly at spacious intervals. Privacy seemed to be the theme of the verandah, with tables too far apart to allow a conversation to be overheard by anyone. The chairs had lime green cushions, with little yellow flowers embroidered on them. People spoke to each other in a dignified, hushed sort of way, glancing and occasionally smiling at those who passed by. All in all, it was a quiet room with an aura of peace engulfing it.
We hailed the waiters, who all seemed to be smiling almost unnaturaly, with their hands folded neatly behind their backs. They joined a few tables to form one long table. By now, Richa's other friends had started arriving, and we all plopped down wherever we found a familiar face. As for me, I sunk into a chair from where I could see the ongoing cricket match without someone blocking my view. I had a feeling that I would need the cricket to keep me engrossed while everyone talked about unfamiliar people and situations. I had mentally prepared myself to hear a lot of lawyer talk, given that most of Richa's friends would be from the law fraternity.
People started arriving. By themselves, and in groups. Dressed for chilling, clubbing or showing off their bodies. I realized soon that watching everyone was a lot more fun than watching the cricket match. Heck, India wasn't even playing! There was a girl who looked like she was dressed for a tanning session on the beach. She chattered on and on about movies, her home town, and everything else in between. A couple of the guys seemed more interested in the contstant stream of chinese food bring brought to our table. Some looked at me and smiled politely. Some made small talk on where I worked, where I lived and what my thoughts on the stock markets were. Some complained to me about the losses they had made recently, as if I was responsible. But soon their talk switched to work and goings-on at their own offices. It turns out that I know a fair number of people that they know. It isn't uncommon for that to happen when you work or live in South Bombay. Everyone tends to know the same people, and plenty of shared acquaintances surface during first meetings.
I shifted my gaze to the golf course that this spectacular room overlooked. The neatly manicured lawns shimmered in the bright sunshine. There were large honeysuckle bushes lined along the edge of the building, and they stuck their buds out in the welcome breeze. There were a lot of people outside, glad to be able to play a round of golf after the monsoon. Most of the people playing were men, their visors lined with the sweat from their brows, and their fat tummies bulging against their polo t-shirts. The women stood by disinterested, gossiping among themselves. Occasionally, they lifted up their massive sunglasses to take a look at someone handsome walking by. The whole time, they were fanning themselves with large hand-fans. They were only too eager to get back onto the golf carts and move to the next hole when their husbands were done. Tall buildings made up the backdrop of this golf course, and it seemed unnatural to witness such a large open space in the middle of this chaotic city.
I heard my name being called out, and I focused my eyes back to the scene near me. Richa was asking me if I was getting bored. I smiled, nodded lazily to answer in the negative, and took another look at those in front of me. Smiling, laughing, eating, drinking, chattering, teasing...oblivious to the world and the problems that lay beyond the greens. The peacefulness of this place engulfed me. The world seemed a happy place.
*Names have been omitted to protect the author's right to forget them.
September 4, 2009
The simple (and noisy) pleasures of life
It was 3.30 pm. I was grumbling to myself about having to leave work early. I was being dragged out of office by my mom, since it is Ganpati Visarjan today. I told myself, why must a whole city suffer because one section wants to celebrate this festival? I could have gotten so much work done if I had stayed a few hours more! I got home, seemingly at a loss as to what to do for the rest of the day. I hung out with my brother, wandered aimlessly on the internet, all the while complaining in my head about the non-stop cacophony of drums that was underway seventeen stories below.
The day passed nevertheless, and soon it was time to sleep. I shut all the windows tight, hoping that they would keep the noise out. The same noise which was like a hammer to my skull, which had gotten steadily louder as high tide approached and the larger idols were brought to be immersed. I live in a part of town which serves as a passage for a large number of idols as they make their way to Chowpatty Beach. The sound is amplified as it reaches me up here and comes loud and clear to my window. I wondered when I would be able to sleep, and how I would pull off a productive day at work tomorrow without proper rest.
As I pulled my curtains to a close, I took what I thought would be one last fleeting glance at the commotion below. What I saw left me mesmerized. It was raining, no, pouring down. The sky was lit up brilliantly by flashes of lightning. Water had started to collect near the drains, and the street has begun to flood up to one's ankles. There was a long line of cars, held back by a large procession slowly making its way towards Chowpatty. By slowly, I mean it was moving a metre a minute. There were people dancing in front and at the back of the procession, at the centre of which was a truck with a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesha on it. The idol seemed to be smiling down at the crowd, which looked even happier. There were children, adults, men, women, even a dog or two. They were completely engrossed in the dancing, there was not a trace of worry on their faces. They didn't seem to care about anything around them; neither the water fast filling the street, the cars honking behind them, nor the rain pouring down on their already drenched bodies. Their lives were probably full of problems, but for this one day and night everything was forgotten in the magical experience that was the Visarjan.
In that one moment, it struck me that this was the happiest Bombay could ever be. The combined joy that the people of this city get when they immerse their favorite idol in the mirky waters of the Arabian Sea is far more than the inconvenience caused to those who choose not to participate in this festival. No doubt, life will go back to normal tomorrow, except for the eerie body parts of the clay Ganesha idols that will wash up on shore all along the city's coastline. But it will be a happier life, one filled with memories of the last few days gone by. The dancing, the modaks, the drums, the idols...the beautiful, beautiful idols. This festival unites the masses. It weaves back together the social fabric of a city whose patience is tested every single day of the year, of a city, which seems to be at its wit's end at every traffic jam, power cut and late train.
Thank you Lord Ganesha, you unite this city in a way no political leader ever will.
The day passed nevertheless, and soon it was time to sleep. I shut all the windows tight, hoping that they would keep the noise out. The same noise which was like a hammer to my skull, which had gotten steadily louder as high tide approached and the larger idols were brought to be immersed. I live in a part of town which serves as a passage for a large number of idols as they make their way to Chowpatty Beach. The sound is amplified as it reaches me up here and comes loud and clear to my window. I wondered when I would be able to sleep, and how I would pull off a productive day at work tomorrow without proper rest.
As I pulled my curtains to a close, I took what I thought would be one last fleeting glance at the commotion below. What I saw left me mesmerized. It was raining, no, pouring down. The sky was lit up brilliantly by flashes of lightning. Water had started to collect near the drains, and the street has begun to flood up to one's ankles. There was a long line of cars, held back by a large procession slowly making its way towards Chowpatty. By slowly, I mean it was moving a metre a minute. There were people dancing in front and at the back of the procession, at the centre of which was a truck with a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesha on it. The idol seemed to be smiling down at the crowd, which looked even happier. There were children, adults, men, women, even a dog or two. They were completely engrossed in the dancing, there was not a trace of worry on their faces. They didn't seem to care about anything around them; neither the water fast filling the street, the cars honking behind them, nor the rain pouring down on their already drenched bodies. Their lives were probably full of problems, but for this one day and night everything was forgotten in the magical experience that was the Visarjan.
In that one moment, it struck me that this was the happiest Bombay could ever be. The combined joy that the people of this city get when they immerse their favorite idol in the mirky waters of the Arabian Sea is far more than the inconvenience caused to those who choose not to participate in this festival. No doubt, life will go back to normal tomorrow, except for the eerie body parts of the clay Ganesha idols that will wash up on shore all along the city's coastline. But it will be a happier life, one filled with memories of the last few days gone by. The dancing, the modaks, the drums, the idols...the beautiful, beautiful idols. This festival unites the masses. It weaves back together the social fabric of a city whose patience is tested every single day of the year, of a city, which seems to be at its wit's end at every traffic jam, power cut and late train.
Thank you Lord Ganesha, you unite this city in a way no political leader ever will.
August 31, 2009
Short stories on Bombay: Part 1
It was a day like any other. Arvind Singh sat on the parapet wall, watching the waves crash below. The waters swelled and receded in an unending cycle. He kept an eye out for the big wave, that would come rolling along every so often. It would break the mighty stone barrier and drench some unsuspecting soul. Arvind couldn't afford to get drenched, his camera was too precious. One mistake and his livelihood would be in jeopardy. Things were already bad enough for him to deal with the expense of buying a new camera. His last camera, the beautiful black Nikon had been stolen last December. He hadn't even finished paying off the loan for it. Oh, how shiny and pretty it was! Kids would squeal with excitement when they saw him approaching, tugging at their parents' sleeves, begging them to let him take a picture. He could ask for as much money as he wanted, the parents couldn't refuse for long. The fathers would try to bargain, while the mothers quickly fixed their hair. But he wouldn't budge. 100 rupees it was, take it or leave it. Of course they would take it, their children wouldn't have it any other way. He would sure that someone's evil eye had fallen upon it. A camera that was envied by all the photographers wouldn't last long until someone cursed him for owning it. Arvind's other eye kept a lookout for prospective customers. Even after all these years, he was quick enough on his toes to beat the other photographers to an awe-struck tourist staring with gaping eyes at the Gateway of India. But no matter how quick he was, none of the photographers were any match for these new digital cameras. These wretched inventions had ruined his business. So small yet so powerful, any idiot could take reasonable photographs. As if that wasn't bad enough, the rest of them had cameras in their cellphones! How was a man supposed to make a living when such dastardly inventions could be bought by anyone with a couple of thousand-rupee notes to spare? People didn't value the steady hand and keen eye of a professional photographer anymore. Nor did they care for the thrill of seeing the photo appear out of nowhere when he skillfully waved the polaroid paper in the salty breeze. People seemed to prefer the grainy, shaky image taken with an amateur camera to his masterpieces.
Arvind was shaken out of his loathing when he saw a jackpot: A large Muslim family emerged out of an Omni van. The yellow-and-black number plate suggested that it was a tourist vehicle, which meant that the family was probably out of town. His hunch was confirmed by the awe-struck expressions on their faces when they saw the Gateway. “First time in Bombay, sir?”, Arvind said loudly to the patriarch, while walking at a brisk pace towards him. The head of the family was a harrowed man of about fifty, with a flowing white beard. His kurta flapped about in the wind as he fumbled around his pocket for loose change to pay the taxi driver with. Meanwhile, the five children had already started running about the promenade, startling the pigeons out of their peaceful cooing-and-eating grains routine. There were two women in black burkhas lined with beautiful patterns in gold-embroidery. They seemed more concerned with covering their faces than with making sure that the children didn't get too close to the parapet wall. The father finished paying the taxi-wallah, and bellowed first at the children for running around like that, and then at his wives for letting them. He shoed Arvind away with a flick of his wrist, and lazily walked towards the sea wall. Arvind was no newcomer to this wave, he hadn't been working as a photographer for sixteen years for nothing. He shifted his attention to the children, shouting “Smile, beta! I'm going to take a picture of you! My, you look like a little Abhishek Bachchan in that outfit!” It didn't take long for the children to lose interest in the pigeons. They were screaming at the top of their shrill voices, “Abbajaan! Humey photo leni hai! We want to have a picture taken!” The old man looked grudgingly at Arvind, as if to admit that Arvind knew where to strike a blow. He asked with a gruff, “Kitna?” Arvind smiled, showcasing all his paan-stained teeth, and said, “One hundred rupees only, sir! Don't take if you don't like.” The old man raised his eyebrows and replied, “Pagal samjha hai kya? Dus rupiya doonga.” Arvind simply continued grinning, and said, “Oh sir, if I started taking pictures for ten rupees each, I'll have to take one of myself and print it in the obituary section of the newspaper. I'll starve at that price.” The old man didn't seem to care. He held two of his children firmly by the wrists and started walking away, ignoring their tantrums. Arvind quickly followed him. “Okay, special offer for you sir, specially for your special children. Praise Allah that they are so beautiful. My camera will be blessed to take pictures of these little angels. Give me fifty rupees and we'll call it a deal.” The old man let go of his children, who darted towards the pigeons, making them fly away in panic once again. He said, “For fifty rupees, you will take one of the whole family, and one of myself with my pretty wives. Chalega?” Arvind nodded in resignation, while thinking to himself, “Pretty wives my ass. Good thing they're not sightseeing in Ranibaug, people might think the baby elephants have escaped.” He lined up the old man and his wives, then got the childre to kneel in front. He hoped they would stay still, so that he wouldn't have to waste his precious polaroid paper on imprefect photographs. With the Gateway in the background, he pressed the button. With a whirring sound, the paper rolled out of the camera, to which the children yelped in delight. He shook the photo expertly, and then smiled as the children went “Oooh!” as the picture magically appeared. The whole family crowded around to see the photograph, and the old man smiled with a 'I can't believe I still look so handsome' look in his eyes. Arvind rolled his eyes and said, “Now just you and the pretty ladies, sir.” The old man replied, “It's okay, I like how you have made me seem so good-looking in this picture. Take the full fifty.” He thrust a crumpled note into Arvind's hand, grabbed the photograph and put it carefully in the pocket of his kurta. As he started walking towards the Gateway, more vendors approached him, selling everything from boiled peanuts to postcards of the Taj Mahal Hotel. Arvind looked up towards the towering hotel, smiled, touched the note to his forehead, and muttered to himself, “Boni.”
Arvind was shaken out of his loathing when he saw a jackpot: A large Muslim family emerged out of an Omni van. The yellow-and-black number plate suggested that it was a tourist vehicle, which meant that the family was probably out of town. His hunch was confirmed by the awe-struck expressions on their faces when they saw the Gateway. “First time in Bombay, sir?”, Arvind said loudly to the patriarch, while walking at a brisk pace towards him. The head of the family was a harrowed man of about fifty, with a flowing white beard. His kurta flapped about in the wind as he fumbled around his pocket for loose change to pay the taxi driver with. Meanwhile, the five children had already started running about the promenade, startling the pigeons out of their peaceful cooing-and-eating grains routine. There were two women in black burkhas lined with beautiful patterns in gold-embroidery. They seemed more concerned with covering their faces than with making sure that the children didn't get too close to the parapet wall. The father finished paying the taxi-wallah, and bellowed first at the children for running around like that, and then at his wives for letting them. He shoed Arvind away with a flick of his wrist, and lazily walked towards the sea wall. Arvind was no newcomer to this wave, he hadn't been working as a photographer for sixteen years for nothing. He shifted his attention to the children, shouting “Smile, beta! I'm going to take a picture of you! My, you look like a little Abhishek Bachchan in that outfit!” It didn't take long for the children to lose interest in the pigeons. They were screaming at the top of their shrill voices, “Abbajaan! Humey photo leni hai! We want to have a picture taken!” The old man looked grudgingly at Arvind, as if to admit that Arvind knew where to strike a blow. He asked with a gruff, “Kitna?” Arvind smiled, showcasing all his paan-stained teeth, and said, “One hundred rupees only, sir! Don't take if you don't like.” The old man raised his eyebrows and replied, “Pagal samjha hai kya? Dus rupiya doonga.” Arvind simply continued grinning, and said, “Oh sir, if I started taking pictures for ten rupees each, I'll have to take one of myself and print it in the obituary section of the newspaper. I'll starve at that price.” The old man didn't seem to care. He held two of his children firmly by the wrists and started walking away, ignoring their tantrums. Arvind quickly followed him. “Okay, special offer for you sir, specially for your special children. Praise Allah that they are so beautiful. My camera will be blessed to take pictures of these little angels. Give me fifty rupees and we'll call it a deal.” The old man let go of his children, who darted towards the pigeons, making them fly away in panic once again. He said, “For fifty rupees, you will take one of the whole family, and one of myself with my pretty wives. Chalega?” Arvind nodded in resignation, while thinking to himself, “Pretty wives my ass. Good thing they're not sightseeing in Ranibaug, people might think the baby elephants have escaped.” He lined up the old man and his wives, then got the childre to kneel in front. He hoped they would stay still, so that he wouldn't have to waste his precious polaroid paper on imprefect photographs. With the Gateway in the background, he pressed the button. With a whirring sound, the paper rolled out of the camera, to which the children yelped in delight. He shook the photo expertly, and then smiled as the children went “Oooh!” as the picture magically appeared. The whole family crowded around to see the photograph, and the old man smiled with a 'I can't believe I still look so handsome' look in his eyes. Arvind rolled his eyes and said, “Now just you and the pretty ladies, sir.” The old man replied, “It's okay, I like how you have made me seem so good-looking in this picture. Take the full fifty.” He thrust a crumpled note into Arvind's hand, grabbed the photograph and put it carefully in the pocket of his kurta. As he started walking towards the Gateway, more vendors approached him, selling everything from boiled peanuts to postcards of the Taj Mahal Hotel. Arvind looked up towards the towering hotel, smiled, touched the note to his forehead, and muttered to himself, “Boni.”
August 16, 2009
Aditya Mehta: Dukhi Investor ki Atmakatha-2 (Adapted to current market scenario!)
Aban laga tha 2500 mein bahut achha,
Ab who bhaav aayega jab hoga mera bachcha.
Subscribe karunga, NHPC ka IPO hai sahi
Par debit in your account, sab brokers kehta hai yahi
Real estate tha markets ki new success story,
Par DLF lene so to achha hote mere paise chori.
Equities chodo, commodities mein hi paise hai boss!
Gold aur silver liya, ho gaya usme bhi loss.
Milne Gaya broker ko, answer mile market ki thand ka
Par broker tha gul, branch taley se band tha
Jisne daale paise jab market twenty one tha
who ab soche saala FD ka dus taka kya kam tha?
Meri mehnat ki kamai sirf ho gayi aadhi,
F&O vaalo ki to ho gayi barbaadi!
Ab to main piggy bank mein paise bharta hoon
Par swine flu ki wajar se usme bhi darta hoon!
Here's me reciting it at Blue Frog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjZzepLhRU
Ab who bhaav aayega jab hoga mera bachcha.
Subscribe karunga, NHPC ka IPO hai sahi
Par debit in your account, sab brokers kehta hai yahi
Real estate tha markets ki new success story,
Par DLF lene so to achha hote mere paise chori.
Equities chodo, commodities mein hi paise hai boss!
Gold aur silver liya, ho gaya usme bhi loss.
Milne Gaya broker ko, answer mile market ki thand ka
Par broker tha gul, branch taley se band tha
Jisne daale paise jab market twenty one tha
who ab soche saala FD ka dus taka kya kam tha?
Meri mehnat ki kamai sirf ho gayi aadhi,
F&O vaalo ki to ho gayi barbaadi!
Ab to main piggy bank mein paise bharta hoon
Par swine flu ki wajar se usme bhi darta hoon!
Here's me reciting it at Blue Frog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjZzepLhRU
May 14, 2009
The Umargam Diaries
The Verandah
It is a bright afternoon. I sit at the verandah, protected from the scorching heat by the shade of the balcony above, and the cool breeze flowing in from the coast. Every now and then, I glance up from my CFA notes and look around lazily. It is impossible to concentrate on something as drab as a textbook when the view is as beautiful as this one.
The coconut trees wave with the breeze not far away. All that stands in between me and that wonderful green canopy is the swimming pool. The water's shade of blue contrasts perfectly with the earthy tone of the tiles around the pool. The tiny ripples created by the breeze continuously deposit small quantities of water at the edges of the pool, which soon evaporate in the summer heat. Every so often, a bird skims the surface, scooping up just enough water in its tiny beak to quench its thirst.
I look to my left. The laborers toil away in this heat. I wonder how they do it. I find myself breaking into a sweat just sitting on my cozy swing, reading notes. There's an old man carrying soil in a large metal bowl. He looks over sixty, and is dressed in nothing but a loincloth and bright blue rubber sandals. Not for a moment does he falter while carrying all that soil, which I imagine must not be a light load. His upper body is naked and gleaming with sweat, rippling with muscles that only hard labor can develop. A girl, no older than eighteen, is waiting for him to bring the bowl full of soil. Once he passes the bowl to her, she carries it the rest of the way to the end of the field. Her facial features and her walk show off an untainted grace, especially when she walks while perfectly balancing the heavy bowl on her head. Every now and then, someone cracks a joke. They all laugh aloud, their toothy grins shining more than the sweat on their brows. They talk in a tribal language that sounds somewhat like Marathi, but one I don't understand a word of nonetheless. Sometimes, they break into a song. One that sounds so sweet and pure, I find myself wanting nothing more than to know what it says.
I am transfixed on watching them go about their routine jobs. Soon, my attention is diverted by the dog stretching lazily next to me. I don't know how he came to call our farm his own, but we just can't seem to get him to leave. I look into his droopy eyes, and he looks back.
I grin, at nothing in particular. Then I take another sip of my Sprite and go back to reading my notes.
The Moon
It's a full moon. I sit at the verandah, absorbing the soft glow that the moon radiates. Its reflection in the still pool makes it seem like there are two of them. A reflection still as a photograph, only moving when the calm surface is disturbed by a bat skimming it to lap up some water. The trees aren't waving about. It is almost as if they are sleeping. It is awkward to see so many stars, most people from a big city aren't used to seeing them at all.
A soothing calm descends over me. I can hear the sounds of a radio playing old Hindi songs. It belongs to the laborers who live on our farm. Their huts are a hundred yards away, but the quiet night allows the songs to pierce the night sky and reach my ears as if they are being played in front of me.
Though there is no breeze, it is unnaturally cool for a summer night. I feel at peace, and wonder whether I am really only sixty miles away from the outskirts of my bustling home town. I know I must get to sleep soon, I have to be up early to study tomorrow. But something about the moon has me hooked, maybe even addicted. I want to continue to just sit there and look at it. Not move an inch.
I finally muster the strength to get on to my feet. Almost as if the night knows I am leaving, it throws a cool breeze my way, weakening my knees. I am held powerless to resist the allure of this beautiful night. I drop back into the swing. I say to the moon, “You win.” It makes me wish I had someone there with me, at that very moment, to share it with.
But for the time being, I am content being moon-struck.
The Beach
It's a perfect evening. Instead of going to the part of the beach I usually visit, I decide to try something new today. I park about a mile before the parking lot, on the side of the secluded coastal road. I climb down the embankment onto a part of the beach that few visit. The sun is a few minutes away from calling it a day, and is celebrating its departure by painting the sky in violent shades of orange and pink.
I take off my slippers and carry them in my hand. The sand is still wet from the waves that have now started to recede. I can feel the sand sinking just a little bit under my weight as I take small lazy steps. The cool sand on my soles, combined with the warm sea water that occasionally laps up my ankles, make for an eclectic experience. It is so hard to let anything worry you when you are enveloped in such beauty.
I always imagined, that if God is indeed with me at all times, I would see His footsteps besides mine on a beach. Simply because it is the purest place for one to walk barefoot. As a kid, I would be disappointed when I'd look back, searching for two sets of footprints. I would only see my own. One day I told myself, that the single set of footprints is actually that of God's own feet. He is actually carrying me on his shoulders. Ever since, I always look back at my footprints and smile at that comforting thought.
I ponder whether the sea has any dangerous creatures inhabiting it. Just then, something brushes against my foot. I squeal like a little girl and run a good twenty feet before I realize that the dangerous creature attacking me is just a harmless piece of seaweed. I pretend to be cool and ignore the kids swimming in the sea who are laughing their little butts off at me.
I can taste the salt in the breeze. The sun is almost gone, and the pink and orange hues have turned purple. Much as I want to continue walking, I turn back. I've walked over a mile down the beach, and my tummy is craving a dabeli (bread stuffed with a spicy paste, a Gujarati specialty). I have been eating them every day, served hot and fresh at the Mewad Special Dabeli-walla's stall. I see a tiny crab scuttle across my path, and hurriedly put my slippers back on. Experiencing nature in its unadulterated form can wait until the crabs are done running around and the killer seaweed has receded back into the depths of the sea. I walk back a little faster, imagining the delicious dabeli. Dayabhai, the stall-owner, sees me coming from a distance and shouts in Gujarati, “Aaje ek ke be?” (One of two today?). I scream back, “Aaje ekaj!” (Just one today!). My dabeli awaits me when I reach the stall. I sit on a plastic chair next to the stall and enjoy every delicious bite.
I pay Dayabhai the princely sum of five rupees, and promise him that I will return the next evening as well. I switch on my iPhone and put on my headphones. As the heavenly lyrics of the song 'Arziyan' from the soundtrack of Delhi-6 fill my thoughts, I walk back to my car. My slippers are back in my hand. The feeling of cool, wet sand on my naked feet is worth the risk of a crab-bite.
If only I could do this every day, for the rest of my life.
It is a bright afternoon. I sit at the verandah, protected from the scorching heat by the shade of the balcony above, and the cool breeze flowing in from the coast. Every now and then, I glance up from my CFA notes and look around lazily. It is impossible to concentrate on something as drab as a textbook when the view is as beautiful as this one.
The coconut trees wave with the breeze not far away. All that stands in between me and that wonderful green canopy is the swimming pool. The water's shade of blue contrasts perfectly with the earthy tone of the tiles around the pool. The tiny ripples created by the breeze continuously deposit small quantities of water at the edges of the pool, which soon evaporate in the summer heat. Every so often, a bird skims the surface, scooping up just enough water in its tiny beak to quench its thirst.
I look to my left. The laborers toil away in this heat. I wonder how they do it. I find myself breaking into a sweat just sitting on my cozy swing, reading notes. There's an old man carrying soil in a large metal bowl. He looks over sixty, and is dressed in nothing but a loincloth and bright blue rubber sandals. Not for a moment does he falter while carrying all that soil, which I imagine must not be a light load. His upper body is naked and gleaming with sweat, rippling with muscles that only hard labor can develop. A girl, no older than eighteen, is waiting for him to bring the bowl full of soil. Once he passes the bowl to her, she carries it the rest of the way to the end of the field. Her facial features and her walk show off an untainted grace, especially when she walks while perfectly balancing the heavy bowl on her head. Every now and then, someone cracks a joke. They all laugh aloud, their toothy grins shining more than the sweat on their brows. They talk in a tribal language that sounds somewhat like Marathi, but one I don't understand a word of nonetheless. Sometimes, they break into a song. One that sounds so sweet and pure, I find myself wanting nothing more than to know what it says.
I am transfixed on watching them go about their routine jobs. Soon, my attention is diverted by the dog stretching lazily next to me. I don't know how he came to call our farm his own, but we just can't seem to get him to leave. I look into his droopy eyes, and he looks back.
I grin, at nothing in particular. Then I take another sip of my Sprite and go back to reading my notes.
The Moon
It's a full moon. I sit at the verandah, absorbing the soft glow that the moon radiates. Its reflection in the still pool makes it seem like there are two of them. A reflection still as a photograph, only moving when the calm surface is disturbed by a bat skimming it to lap up some water. The trees aren't waving about. It is almost as if they are sleeping. It is awkward to see so many stars, most people from a big city aren't used to seeing them at all.
A soothing calm descends over me. I can hear the sounds of a radio playing old Hindi songs. It belongs to the laborers who live on our farm. Their huts are a hundred yards away, but the quiet night allows the songs to pierce the night sky and reach my ears as if they are being played in front of me.
Though there is no breeze, it is unnaturally cool for a summer night. I feel at peace, and wonder whether I am really only sixty miles away from the outskirts of my bustling home town. I know I must get to sleep soon, I have to be up early to study tomorrow. But something about the moon has me hooked, maybe even addicted. I want to continue to just sit there and look at it. Not move an inch.
I finally muster the strength to get on to my feet. Almost as if the night knows I am leaving, it throws a cool breeze my way, weakening my knees. I am held powerless to resist the allure of this beautiful night. I drop back into the swing. I say to the moon, “You win.” It makes me wish I had someone there with me, at that very moment, to share it with.
But for the time being, I am content being moon-struck.
The Beach
It's a perfect evening. Instead of going to the part of the beach I usually visit, I decide to try something new today. I park about a mile before the parking lot, on the side of the secluded coastal road. I climb down the embankment onto a part of the beach that few visit. The sun is a few minutes away from calling it a day, and is celebrating its departure by painting the sky in violent shades of orange and pink.
I take off my slippers and carry them in my hand. The sand is still wet from the waves that have now started to recede. I can feel the sand sinking just a little bit under my weight as I take small lazy steps. The cool sand on my soles, combined with the warm sea water that occasionally laps up my ankles, make for an eclectic experience. It is so hard to let anything worry you when you are enveloped in such beauty.
I always imagined, that if God is indeed with me at all times, I would see His footsteps besides mine on a beach. Simply because it is the purest place for one to walk barefoot. As a kid, I would be disappointed when I'd look back, searching for two sets of footprints. I would only see my own. One day I told myself, that the single set of footprints is actually that of God's own feet. He is actually carrying me on his shoulders. Ever since, I always look back at my footprints and smile at that comforting thought.
I ponder whether the sea has any dangerous creatures inhabiting it. Just then, something brushes against my foot. I squeal like a little girl and run a good twenty feet before I realize that the dangerous creature attacking me is just a harmless piece of seaweed. I pretend to be cool and ignore the kids swimming in the sea who are laughing their little butts off at me.
I can taste the salt in the breeze. The sun is almost gone, and the pink and orange hues have turned purple. Much as I want to continue walking, I turn back. I've walked over a mile down the beach, and my tummy is craving a dabeli (bread stuffed with a spicy paste, a Gujarati specialty). I have been eating them every day, served hot and fresh at the Mewad Special Dabeli-walla's stall. I see a tiny crab scuttle across my path, and hurriedly put my slippers back on. Experiencing nature in its unadulterated form can wait until the crabs are done running around and the killer seaweed has receded back into the depths of the sea. I walk back a little faster, imagining the delicious dabeli. Dayabhai, the stall-owner, sees me coming from a distance and shouts in Gujarati, “Aaje ek ke be?” (One of two today?). I scream back, “Aaje ekaj!” (Just one today!). My dabeli awaits me when I reach the stall. I sit on a plastic chair next to the stall and enjoy every delicious bite.
I pay Dayabhai the princely sum of five rupees, and promise him that I will return the next evening as well. I switch on my iPhone and put on my headphones. As the heavenly lyrics of the song 'Arziyan' from the soundtrack of Delhi-6 fill my thoughts, I walk back to my car. My slippers are back in my hand. The feeling of cool, wet sand on my naked feet is worth the risk of a crab-bite.
If only I could do this every day, for the rest of my life.
May 6, 2009
Why South Mumbai didn't vote in the general elections
(The first seven are from a Rediff article. The rest are mine)
1. Clashed with Salsa class
2. Election whites not drycleaned
3. No candidate was a hottie
4. No valet parking at the booth
5. Spotted servant in queue ahead of me
6. The driver didn't show up at work
7. No party tackled real issues e.g Reducing Gold Gym's membership rates
8. The Meru cab showed up late
9. There was an international food festival on at the Taj President
10. I couldn't find my glares. You expect me to stand in the sun without glares?
11. Miss Man U vs. Chelsea so that I can vote? You gotta be kidding me!
12. My bungalow in Alibag was missing me
13. I partied so hard at Shiro the previous night that I woke up at 5pm. The booths were closed by then
14. Peddar Road is dug up. I would have to go all the way around Walkeshwar just to cast my vote
15. Hard Rock has IPL drink specials
16. I couldn't register myself as a voter because I was in Dubai for the shopping festival
17. I voted during Indian Idol. Does that count?
18. How can I be expected to enter the booth alone? Without my bodyguard?
19. There was no one representing the diamond merchants community
And lastly:
20. The cop at the election booth didn't let me skip the line. Even after I asked him, "Pata hai mera BAAP kaun hai?"
1. Clashed with Salsa class
2. Election whites not drycleaned
3. No candidate was a hottie
4. No valet parking at the booth
5. Spotted servant in queue ahead of me
6. The driver didn't show up at work
7. No party tackled real issues e.g Reducing Gold Gym's membership rates
8. The Meru cab showed up late
9. There was an international food festival on at the Taj President
10. I couldn't find my glares. You expect me to stand in the sun without glares?
11. Miss Man U vs. Chelsea so that I can vote? You gotta be kidding me!
12. My bungalow in Alibag was missing me
13. I partied so hard at Shiro the previous night that I woke up at 5pm. The booths were closed by then
14. Peddar Road is dug up. I would have to go all the way around Walkeshwar just to cast my vote
15. Hard Rock has IPL drink specials
16. I couldn't register myself as a voter because I was in Dubai for the shopping festival
17. I voted during Indian Idol. Does that count?
18. How can I be expected to enter the booth alone? Without my bodyguard?
19. There was no one representing the diamond merchants community
And lastly:
20. The cop at the election booth didn't let me skip the line. Even after I asked him, "Pata hai mera BAAP kaun hai?"
April 27, 2009
Ramblings of a confused soul
Ever had the feeling you were stuck in the wrong place? Don't get me wrong...I love Bombay. But I think there's a right time for everything...and every place. I miss Austin. I really do. The view of downtown from Mt. Bonnell. Sitting under the 360 bridge on a moonlit fall night, with the moon reflecting in the river. The sound of cars zipping past on the bridge above. Trudy's, Waffle House and Chipotle. Walking past West Mall on a bright spring morning, grinning back at the carefree smiles of the people manning the tables. Those drives to nowhere and back. Those Saturday afternoons spent doing nothing at all. Those smiles, those days, those memories. I miss all of that.
Of course, these memories mean nothing without the people who are part of them. Once they are all gone from Austin, it won't be so much fun going back. But there's a part of me that just wants to go back. What will I do if I ever get to move back? I don't know. Maybe I'll work, or study or do nothing at all. I just want to go to an exciting, vibrant and global place. I think I was too young when I went. I could have done so much more. I spent almost the first two years just missing Bombay. Now that I look back, I wish someone had told me on day one itself, to make the most of every moment. I don't regret anything I did or didn't do, but I always wonder how it would have been otherwise.
I'm a restless soul. I want to do everything at once. I want to continue studying, work, have fun, meet people, see the world, read, write and capture all of it with my camera lens. All at the same time. As much as I love Bombay, I get tired of the routine life. Commuting. Having to study after the commute. The pollution. Every time I do something I love, I feel guilty about not studying. Even if I am done studying for the day. Even if I am ahead of schedule. Why do I feel guilty? I just don't get it. I want my soul back from the CFA. I want to go on a photo-walk on a Sunday morning. I want to spend Saturday night painting the town red. I want to enjoy a quiet evening reading the Economist, over a big cup of Costa Coffee. Without feeling guilty about it. I think I'm growing up too fast, maybe a side-effect of always being the youngest among older peers. Most people in Bombay aged 22 aren't juggling a super-hectic work schedule with a post-MBA degree. Heck...even if they do, they don't have as many hobbies they want to pursue all at once as I do.
My interests are all out of sync for India. The artists I like don't perform here. The wine I like doesn't get sold here. The jokes I like aren't understood here. I want to go to a place where I can be myself. A place where young, single people work hard and party harder. New York City. Singapore. Tokyo. I don't want to commute three hours a day! It saps the enthusiasm out of you.
I know I should be happy with what I have, and not be sad about what I don't have. But I think I'm a pretty ambitious kid. I feel that this is the time to see the world. Live in different places. Once I finish studying and settle down in life, I won't be able to do all this.
Ah, the restlessness. I guess all I can do is wait. Maybe the way my life is planned out, this isn't the time. Maybe I'm meant to be here, yearning for that life in the Big Apple. Because if I crave it so much, I'll make the most of it when I do live it. Not spend the first half missing what I left behind. I'll cherish every moment. Learn every day.
It will all come when the time is right.
Of course, these memories mean nothing without the people who are part of them. Once they are all gone from Austin, it won't be so much fun going back. But there's a part of me that just wants to go back. What will I do if I ever get to move back? I don't know. Maybe I'll work, or study or do nothing at all. I just want to go to an exciting, vibrant and global place. I think I was too young when I went. I could have done so much more. I spent almost the first two years just missing Bombay. Now that I look back, I wish someone had told me on day one itself, to make the most of every moment. I don't regret anything I did or didn't do, but I always wonder how it would have been otherwise.
I'm a restless soul. I want to do everything at once. I want to continue studying, work, have fun, meet people, see the world, read, write and capture all of it with my camera lens. All at the same time. As much as I love Bombay, I get tired of the routine life. Commuting. Having to study after the commute. The pollution. Every time I do something I love, I feel guilty about not studying. Even if I am done studying for the day. Even if I am ahead of schedule. Why do I feel guilty? I just don't get it. I want my soul back from the CFA. I want to go on a photo-walk on a Sunday morning. I want to spend Saturday night painting the town red. I want to enjoy a quiet evening reading the Economist, over a big cup of Costa Coffee. Without feeling guilty about it. I think I'm growing up too fast, maybe a side-effect of always being the youngest among older peers. Most people in Bombay aged 22 aren't juggling a super-hectic work schedule with a post-MBA degree. Heck...even if they do, they don't have as many hobbies they want to pursue all at once as I do.
My interests are all out of sync for India. The artists I like don't perform here. The wine I like doesn't get sold here. The jokes I like aren't understood here. I want to go to a place where I can be myself. A place where young, single people work hard and party harder. New York City. Singapore. Tokyo. I don't want to commute three hours a day! It saps the enthusiasm out of you.
I know I should be happy with what I have, and not be sad about what I don't have. But I think I'm a pretty ambitious kid. I feel that this is the time to see the world. Live in different places. Once I finish studying and settle down in life, I won't be able to do all this.
Ah, the restlessness. I guess all I can do is wait. Maybe the way my life is planned out, this isn't the time. Maybe I'm meant to be here, yearning for that life in the Big Apple. Because if I crave it so much, I'll make the most of it when I do live it. Not spend the first half missing what I left behind. I'll cherish every moment. Learn every day.
It will all come when the time is right.
April 9, 2009
Corruption in the RTO
It was the 26th of May, 2004. I got out of the car, overwhelmed by the heat. I wiped my sweaty brow with one of the handkerchiefs I was carrying (yes, it is that hot), and looked around. The vast Road Transport Office (RTO) head office campus stood before me. I was finally old enough to get a driver's license! I walked around for about twenty minutes from one end of the campus to the other, trying to figure out where I could take my driving test. I kept being deflected like a hockey puck from one counter to the other.
I finally found the right counter, and waited another thirty minutes in line for my turn. I finally had the pleasure of standing before one Mr. Ghorpade from the RTO. He looked up at me, and grunted something that sounded like the word 'name'. I told him my name. He wrote it in Marathi on a slip of paper. He then asked me, “Standard or express?” I asked him to elaborate. He was clearly annoyed that I was not down with the RTO lingo, and he bellowed at a timid clerk sitting nearby. The clerk quickly hobbled over, and took me aside. He told me in a hushed tone, “Standard means you take the driving test, and the license will be mailed to you in a month. Express means you attach three hundred bucks with the application, and your driving license will be given to you right away, without a driving test.”
I was appalled at this suggestion, and I told him I would not pay a bribe. In fact, I said it so loud that everyone stopped momentarily to look at me. The meek clerk almost pulled me out of the office by my arm and asked me in Marathi with a bewildered face, “Are you trying to get us into trouble? This is the way things work here.” I gave him a disgusted look and walked back inside. I went up to Mr. Ghorpade, and told him I wanted to get my license the 'Standard' way. He looked up at me again, and smirked, “You are the first one to say that in weeks!” I said to him, “Deal with it. Can I take my test now?” He said he would send someone out right away.
Apparently, 'right away' means about an hour or so in RTO lingo. I sat in my car in the searing heat, listening to songs on the radio. I wished the world would end, and I would go to hell. I'm sure it would be cooler there. Anyways, the driving test supervisor ambled to my car eventually, picking his nose the whole way from the office building to my car. He got into the back seat of the car, as my friend was sitting in the front passenger's seat. He grunted, "Ration card". I said I had brought my passport. To which he replied, "Nahi chalega" (Won't do). I asked him why. He said that the RTO did not recognize the passport as a valid form of ID. I didn't know whether to feel pity at his ignorance, or angry at his incompetence. I told him, "This is the apex identification issued by the Government of India, and if you don't accept this, it means that you are a moron." He frowned at me, and took my passport in his hand. He asked me to start the car, and started flicking through the pages. He read out aloud the names of the countries whose visas were in my passport. "Amrika, Englund, Singapoor, Indo..Indo...nesia, Ostreliya...seems like you have traveled all over. I'm sure you know how to drive. You pass." That was it. He passed me based on the countries I had visited!
I began to protest his lack of seriousness towards confirming whether I can actually drive or not. He said, "Look. It's bad enough you want to make us go through all this paperwork to give you a license, when you could just pay us and get it done in a day's time. On top of all this, you actually want me to take your test? What is wrong with you!" He spat his paan outside my car, and simply walked off. I stood there exasperated, not knowing what to think of it. A full two months later, I got my license. It was my first encounter with RTO corruption. And thanks to the twenty-five year validity of my driver license, probably my last encounter for a long time to come.
I have thought on an off about that incident since. I have wondered, whether my encounter with RTO corruption really ended when I walked out of that campus. I have come to a conclusion that this encounter never stops. By requesting for a driving test, I was an exception. Even then, by not taking my test seriously, the RTO gave a license to one more person who it wasn't sure could drive or not. Thousands of people get driving licenses every day, and I'm pretty sure most of them have no idea how to drive. I don't mean how to operate a car, I'm talking about road etiquette, traffic rules and safety rules. The RTO is not considered to be one of the departments whose corruption affects daily life. But given that it unleashes bad drivers by the dozen every single day, the pathetic traffic situation is as much the fault of the RTO as it is the fault of bad planning. A lot of the traffic jams are caused by indiscipline on the part of motorists. Drivers don't follow lanes, they run stoplights, they park where they want, even if the car end up blocking other people's way. It gets scarier when these illiterate drivers take their cars out on the highway. I have seen people overtaking trucks from the wrong side, and even coming the wrong way on a freeway because they don't want to drive the extra mile to take the u-turn. It's no surprise that India has one of the highest numbers in the world of deaths by road accident. It took forever for the RTO to make the use of helmets and seatbelts compulsory. The law is unsatisfactorily enforced in the big cities, and ignored in other places.
The corruption in the RTO is not limited to the issuance of driving licenses. It also extends to giving vehicles a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate. Most truckers, taxi drivers and transport vehicle drivers bribe the RTO left, right and centre to get PUCs for their vehicles, even though the vehicles would not have passed the test. Look at the sky on a usual day, and compare it to how it looks on the day taxis are on strike. The difference will tell you how much pollution is released by cars driving on fake PUC certificates. The pollution levels in most Indian cities are very high, and I firmly believe that the corruption of the RTO is to blame for the vehicular pollution in the country. The pollution has a ripple effect on one's quality of life, and on the incidence of diseases like asthma and bronchitis.
The only way to solve the problems related to automobile pollution and road safety is to take a look at the decay in the RTO first. If efforts are made to ensure that only people with all requisite skills pass driving tests, Traffic discipline would improve manifold. I would even go so far as to say that every driver in the country should be re-tested. I'm not sure how many would pass. The systems and processes should be strengthened to make sure that polluting vehicles are not given PUC certificates. An improvement in air quality across urban areas in India can only do good to the quality of people's lives.
As for my next encounter with the corruption in the RTO, I hope there won't be one.
I finally found the right counter, and waited another thirty minutes in line for my turn. I finally had the pleasure of standing before one Mr. Ghorpade from the RTO. He looked up at me, and grunted something that sounded like the word 'name'. I told him my name. He wrote it in Marathi on a slip of paper. He then asked me, “Standard or express?” I asked him to elaborate. He was clearly annoyed that I was not down with the RTO lingo, and he bellowed at a timid clerk sitting nearby. The clerk quickly hobbled over, and took me aside. He told me in a hushed tone, “Standard means you take the driving test, and the license will be mailed to you in a month. Express means you attach three hundred bucks with the application, and your driving license will be given to you right away, without a driving test.”
I was appalled at this suggestion, and I told him I would not pay a bribe. In fact, I said it so loud that everyone stopped momentarily to look at me. The meek clerk almost pulled me out of the office by my arm and asked me in Marathi with a bewildered face, “Are you trying to get us into trouble? This is the way things work here.” I gave him a disgusted look and walked back inside. I went up to Mr. Ghorpade, and told him I wanted to get my license the 'Standard' way. He looked up at me again, and smirked, “You are the first one to say that in weeks!” I said to him, “Deal with it. Can I take my test now?” He said he would send someone out right away.
Apparently, 'right away' means about an hour or so in RTO lingo. I sat in my car in the searing heat, listening to songs on the radio. I wished the world would end, and I would go to hell. I'm sure it would be cooler there. Anyways, the driving test supervisor ambled to my car eventually, picking his nose the whole way from the office building to my car. He got into the back seat of the car, as my friend was sitting in the front passenger's seat. He grunted, "Ration card". I said I had brought my passport. To which he replied, "Nahi chalega" (Won't do). I asked him why. He said that the RTO did not recognize the passport as a valid form of ID. I didn't know whether to feel pity at his ignorance, or angry at his incompetence. I told him, "This is the apex identification issued by the Government of India, and if you don't accept this, it means that you are a moron." He frowned at me, and took my passport in his hand. He asked me to start the car, and started flicking through the pages. He read out aloud the names of the countries whose visas were in my passport. "Amrika, Englund, Singapoor, Indo..Indo...nesia, Ostreliya...seems like you have traveled all over. I'm sure you know how to drive. You pass." That was it. He passed me based on the countries I had visited!
I began to protest his lack of seriousness towards confirming whether I can actually drive or not. He said, "Look. It's bad enough you want to make us go through all this paperwork to give you a license, when you could just pay us and get it done in a day's time. On top of all this, you actually want me to take your test? What is wrong with you!" He spat his paan outside my car, and simply walked off. I stood there exasperated, not knowing what to think of it. A full two months later, I got my license. It was my first encounter with RTO corruption. And thanks to the twenty-five year validity of my driver license, probably my last encounter for a long time to come.
I have thought on an off about that incident since. I have wondered, whether my encounter with RTO corruption really ended when I walked out of that campus. I have come to a conclusion that this encounter never stops. By requesting for a driving test, I was an exception. Even then, by not taking my test seriously, the RTO gave a license to one more person who it wasn't sure could drive or not. Thousands of people get driving licenses every day, and I'm pretty sure most of them have no idea how to drive. I don't mean how to operate a car, I'm talking about road etiquette, traffic rules and safety rules. The RTO is not considered to be one of the departments whose corruption affects daily life. But given that it unleashes bad drivers by the dozen every single day, the pathetic traffic situation is as much the fault of the RTO as it is the fault of bad planning. A lot of the traffic jams are caused by indiscipline on the part of motorists. Drivers don't follow lanes, they run stoplights, they park where they want, even if the car end up blocking other people's way. It gets scarier when these illiterate drivers take their cars out on the highway. I have seen people overtaking trucks from the wrong side, and even coming the wrong way on a freeway because they don't want to drive the extra mile to take the u-turn. It's no surprise that India has one of the highest numbers in the world of deaths by road accident. It took forever for the RTO to make the use of helmets and seatbelts compulsory. The law is unsatisfactorily enforced in the big cities, and ignored in other places.
The corruption in the RTO is not limited to the issuance of driving licenses. It also extends to giving vehicles a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate. Most truckers, taxi drivers and transport vehicle drivers bribe the RTO left, right and centre to get PUCs for their vehicles, even though the vehicles would not have passed the test. Look at the sky on a usual day, and compare it to how it looks on the day taxis are on strike. The difference will tell you how much pollution is released by cars driving on fake PUC certificates. The pollution levels in most Indian cities are very high, and I firmly believe that the corruption of the RTO is to blame for the vehicular pollution in the country. The pollution has a ripple effect on one's quality of life, and on the incidence of diseases like asthma and bronchitis.
The only way to solve the problems related to automobile pollution and road safety is to take a look at the decay in the RTO first. If efforts are made to ensure that only people with all requisite skills pass driving tests, Traffic discipline would improve manifold. I would even go so far as to say that every driver in the country should be re-tested. I'm not sure how many would pass. The systems and processes should be strengthened to make sure that polluting vehicles are not given PUC certificates. An improvement in air quality across urban areas in India can only do good to the quality of people's lives.
As for my next encounter with the corruption in the RTO, I hope there won't be one.
April 3, 2009
The elusive internet connection
Oh Internet...you come and go
Why do you make it so?
I think I'm going insane
Why must i go thru this pain?
When will you come back to me
And i will be able to see
The wealth of information
I'm resigned to offline damnation
Please come back fast
So my love affair may last
With facebook and gmail
And occaisionally a female
lol
Why do you make it so?
I think I'm going insane
Why must i go thru this pain?
When will you come back to me
And i will be able to see
The wealth of information
I'm resigned to offline damnation
Please come back fast
So my love affair may last
With facebook and gmail
And occaisionally a female
lol
March 31, 2009
FY09 Highlights
I know, it's not December. But the stock broker that I am, my year ends on 31st March. I would like to reflect on the financial year gone by, and highlight some of the more memorable incidents and experiences:
Roaming around Surat and Goa with Deval and Rhuteyu in the April heat
A week in Tokyo
Two amazing weeks in Austin with my buddies
Learning sessions with my boss, Bharat bhai
JATC and Gelato with Urmi
Saturday lunches with the Institutional team
Learning how to work the trading screen
Umargam trips with Deval, Maulik, Harshil and other assorted characters
Lang Lang in concert
The great Lonavala adventure with Deval, Harshil and Maulik
Leo's nights
Russell Peters in Bombay
Studying my ass off for the CFA
Failing nevertheless
Awesome times in Bombay with Mohit and Sid
Movies at Sterling
Random nonsensical talks with Aakash
Hookah at Mocha with Namrata, with Chocolate Avalanche for company
Dublin and Wink
Worli sea face with Pooja
The Armin concert
Celebrating Aakash's independence at Hard Rock
Chirag's wedding in Kolkata
My house parties, with a laser and cathodes thrown in for good measure
Singing 'Mad World' out loud with Aakash backing me up on the piano
If you have any involving me, feel free to add them as a comment below!!
Roaming around Surat and Goa with Deval and Rhuteyu in the April heat
A week in Tokyo
Two amazing weeks in Austin with my buddies
Learning sessions with my boss, Bharat bhai
JATC and Gelato with Urmi
Saturday lunches with the Institutional team
Learning how to work the trading screen
Umargam trips with Deval, Maulik, Harshil and other assorted characters
Lang Lang in concert
The great Lonavala adventure with Deval, Harshil and Maulik
Leo's nights
Russell Peters in Bombay
Studying my ass off for the CFA
Failing nevertheless
Awesome times in Bombay with Mohit and Sid
Movies at Sterling
Random nonsensical talks with Aakash
Hookah at Mocha with Namrata, with Chocolate Avalanche for company
Dublin and Wink
Worli sea face with Pooja
The Armin concert
Celebrating Aakash's independence at Hard Rock
Chirag's wedding in Kolkata
My house parties, with a laser and cathodes thrown in for good measure
Singing 'Mad World' out loud with Aakash backing me up on the piano
If you have any involving me, feel free to add them as a comment below!!
March 24, 2009
Life's little moments
A loud bus horn woke me up with a start. I sleepily rubbed my eyes, wondering where I was. A quick look around was enough to tell me that I was stuck in the traffic at the infamous Haji Ali intersection.
I grumbled to myself about the traffic, thinking what the situation would be like once the Tata Nano floods the streets. I was in a mood to complain to someone on how my life sucks because I spend three hours a day stuck in traffic.
As I was scrolling through my phone book deciding whom to call and complain to, I glanced upwards out my window. An overcrowded bus was stuck in traffic next to me. A young child no older than six was sitting on his mother's lap, his tiny fingers tightly gripping the window grill. He looked thirstily into my car, staring at the bottle of Pepsi sitting cozily in the cupholder next to me. A young woman stood in the aisle of the bus, her one hand holding the strap hanging from the cieling of the bus. In her other arm was her crying baby, obviously unhappy at being jostled about a crowded bus.
What was a simple glance into the bus hit me like a train. I sheepishly turned to looking out the window on the other side of the car and switched on the cd player. The Haji Ali shrine gleamed in the evening sun, the peaceful ocean waves enhancing its grandeur.
I closed my eyes, and the sounds of the violin from Suite for Orchestra No.2 in D Major filled my subconscious mind. Feeling the warmth of the soft sunshine on my face; I realized how beautiful life is in all its little ways. A small smile escaped my lips. Sometimes it takes a traffic jam to remind you how lucky you are.
I grumbled to myself about the traffic, thinking what the situation would be like once the Tata Nano floods the streets. I was in a mood to complain to someone on how my life sucks because I spend three hours a day stuck in traffic.
As I was scrolling through my phone book deciding whom to call and complain to, I glanced upwards out my window. An overcrowded bus was stuck in traffic next to me. A young child no older than six was sitting on his mother's lap, his tiny fingers tightly gripping the window grill. He looked thirstily into my car, staring at the bottle of Pepsi sitting cozily in the cupholder next to me. A young woman stood in the aisle of the bus, her one hand holding the strap hanging from the cieling of the bus. In her other arm was her crying baby, obviously unhappy at being jostled about a crowded bus.
What was a simple glance into the bus hit me like a train. I sheepishly turned to looking out the window on the other side of the car and switched on the cd player. The Haji Ali shrine gleamed in the evening sun, the peaceful ocean waves enhancing its grandeur.
I closed my eyes, and the sounds of the violin from Suite for Orchestra No.2 in D Major filled my subconscious mind. Feeling the warmth of the soft sunshine on my face; I realized how beautiful life is in all its little ways. A small smile escaped my lips. Sometimes it takes a traffic jam to remind you how lucky you are.
March 23, 2009
Stock broker ka prem patra
Tu turnover Reliance ka priye
Main Satyam ka bhaav,
Tujhe dekhu main jab bhi,
Dil bole..maal lao!
Tu A-group ki blue chip
Main pita hua z-group share,
Tu 5 saal ka bull run
Main to bas hoon ek bear.
Main intezaar karu tere dividend ka
Jab aata hai year ending,
Tu jab kahey kar du
Mere saare share ka tujhe lending.
Agar tu meri ho jaye
To upper circuit lagegi aaj,
Zindagi saath bitayenge
Aur karenge arbitrage!
Main Satyam ka bhaav,
Tujhe dekhu main jab bhi,
Dil bole..maal lao!
Tu A-group ki blue chip
Main pita hua z-group share,
Tu 5 saal ka bull run
Main to bas hoon ek bear.
Main intezaar karu tere dividend ka
Jab aata hai year ending,
Tu jab kahey kar du
Mere saare share ka tujhe lending.
Agar tu meri ho jaye
To upper circuit lagegi aaj,
Zindagi saath bitayenge
Aur karenge arbitrage!
Of random musings and nice guys
I want to write. But I can't think of anything to write about. So I'm just rambling about nothing in particular. Sometimes I think I can't write on demand. It has to flow by itself. Like the last few lines have.
I also think you have to believe in what you write. When you have passion for the topic, it shows in the words that flow out of your pen.
I have already rambled on for a bit now. So I will go on what my dear friend Riya calls a random tangent. Do you think nice guys finish last? I think nice guys my age do. Maybe it's because girls don't want nice guys, at least until it is time for marriage. No doubt, there are exceptions. But in general, I find that most girls like bad guys. Either they just want to have some fun, or they want to mould the bad guy into their perfect guy. After a while, they realize that it is a futile effort, that the guy isn't likely to change. So in the end, they settle down with a nice guy.
That is why I said that at MY age, nice guys do finish last. When it's time to marry, they're prize catches. So does that mean they are to wait around until girls get tired of the bad guys?
I consider myself to possess more of the nice guy traits. I often think about the predicament faced by our kind. Sometimes I consider acting like a bad guy to improve my chances with girls my age. But I know inside that I'm not built to act like a bad guy. Besides, even if I pull it off and manage to interest a girl, eventually I will get tired of pretending to be someone I'm not and go back to being my usual self. This will most likely result in the girl thinking that I have changed, followed by her leaving me.
So the jist of it is that nice guys are doomed to wait until girls get tired of the bad guys, or realize that it is time to settle down with someone who is husband material. Unless, of course, they are open to putting in substantial effort and pretend to be a bad guy.
Why do girls like bad guys? I don't know. I'm not a girl. If I did know, I would not be here pondering about it to myself.
What defines a bad guy? He is more likely to treat the girl as less than equal. He may not take any effort in pampering the girl. He may ask the girl to change the things he doesn't like in her. He may not respect her, her choices or her tastes. The nice guy is more likely to do be the opposite. But he is also more likely to prefer diplomany over confrontation. He probably wouldn't pick a fight with a guy who felt up his girl in a club, like a bad guy might. The nice guy also prefers practicality over impulsiveness.
As I write this, I think I realize why girls don't like nice guys...they're not crazy enough!
I also think you have to believe in what you write. When you have passion for the topic, it shows in the words that flow out of your pen.
I have already rambled on for a bit now. So I will go on what my dear friend Riya calls a random tangent. Do you think nice guys finish last? I think nice guys my age do. Maybe it's because girls don't want nice guys, at least until it is time for marriage. No doubt, there are exceptions. But in general, I find that most girls like bad guys. Either they just want to have some fun, or they want to mould the bad guy into their perfect guy. After a while, they realize that it is a futile effort, that the guy isn't likely to change. So in the end, they settle down with a nice guy.
That is why I said that at MY age, nice guys do finish last. When it's time to marry, they're prize catches. So does that mean they are to wait around until girls get tired of the bad guys?
I consider myself to possess more of the nice guy traits. I often think about the predicament faced by our kind. Sometimes I consider acting like a bad guy to improve my chances with girls my age. But I know inside that I'm not built to act like a bad guy. Besides, even if I pull it off and manage to interest a girl, eventually I will get tired of pretending to be someone I'm not and go back to being my usual self. This will most likely result in the girl thinking that I have changed, followed by her leaving me.
So the jist of it is that nice guys are doomed to wait until girls get tired of the bad guys, or realize that it is time to settle down with someone who is husband material. Unless, of course, they are open to putting in substantial effort and pretend to be a bad guy.
Why do girls like bad guys? I don't know. I'm not a girl. If I did know, I would not be here pondering about it to myself.
What defines a bad guy? He is more likely to treat the girl as less than equal. He may not take any effort in pampering the girl. He may ask the girl to change the things he doesn't like in her. He may not respect her, her choices or her tastes. The nice guy is more likely to do be the opposite. But he is also more likely to prefer diplomany over confrontation. He probably wouldn't pick a fight with a guy who felt up his girl in a club, like a bad guy might. The nice guy also prefers practicality over impulsiveness.
As I write this, I think I realize why girls don't like nice guys...they're not crazy enough!
March 17, 2009
A Walk to Remember
A few weeks ago I took part in the company cricket tournament. To suit our staff, most of whom stay in the western suburbs, the matches were held in the Poisar Gymkhana which is in Northwest Bombay. Since it is very far from where I stay and is very close to where my maternal grandparents stay, I decided to go stay with them the night before so that I would be spared of an early morning commute to the cricket ground.
My grandparents live in Borivali West. I lived in Borivali East until I was six, and spent a substantial amount of time at their home when I was a kid, mostly during the hours between when school got over and my parents came home from work. I haven't gone back to Borivali too often since we moved town-side in 1992, but I still have vivid memories of the place.
I pulled up my car into the tiny building compound. The watchman woke up with a startled look on his face. He asked me who I was and where I wanted to go, and also said that outside cars were not allowed. He was adamant even after I explained why I should be allowed to park my car inside Apparently growing up somewhere does not mean one can park one's car there fifteen years later. Too tired to argue with him, I parked on the street outside and dragged my suitcase up one floor to my grandparents' flat. I was coming to their place after more than six months and pretty much nothing had changed. I thought for a moment whether to tell my fiery grandmother that the watchman had not let me park my car inside the building compound. But I took pity on the poor soul's life and chose not to mention it.
After the customary cup of tea, I looked around for something to do for the rest of the evening. Borivali isn't exactly the most happening place in Bombay. Besides, my grandparents live smack on SV Road, which is undergoing a radical transformation from a quiet suburban street to the retail hub of a suburb of half a million people. The noise and dust overwhelmed me pretty quickly. I figured, maybe I should go visit one of my relatives in Borivali East. I decided to go to my dad's aunt's place. She was, and continues to be, one of my favorite people. I vaguely recall how she would tell me stories from the Ramayana while putting me to sleep on Saturday afternoons.
I began the walk to her place. I tried my best to soak up the surroundings, and notice the changes they had gone through in the last fifteen years or so. I couldn't recognize any of the buildings on SV Road. The old three story apartment buildings with names like 'Kamal Chhaya' (Lotus Shade) had given way to glitzy malls with massive signboards advertising some sale or some brand of perfume. I thought of taking a short-cut I knew from the back side of the building through a back-alley that went straight to the railroad crossing. When I reached the back side of the building, the alley no longer existed. What I saw instead was a construction site. I grumbled to myself on how the only thing constant is change, and walked back the long way to the railroad crossing. The railroad crossing didn't exist either. It had been walled up, and a pedestrian subway stood glumly.
I remember the excitement I would experience while waiting for the faatak (railroad crossing) to open. I would watch all the vegetable sellers shouting away, trying to sell their wares to the people waiting for the train to pass. In the meantime, hawkers selling everything from stationery to trinkets to handkerchiefs would walk among the crowd. There would always be some smart-alecs who jumped over the faatak and crossed the tracks right before the train would come through.
But they were all gone, and all I could see was the entrance to the subway. It seemed dark inside. It had paan stains all over the walls. It looked like the entrance to hell, with the red stains looking like little flames. I made a face describing disgust and went inside. Crossing from west to east through a subway was no fun compared to running across a railroad crossing pretending the train was about to come.
I reached the east side and heaved a sigh of relief. Nothing seemed to have changed. Maybe it was just me, but even the air seemed cleaner. There was a peacefulness about the place which seemed a distant world away from the hustle and bustle of SV Road. I walked towards Carter Road #1, which is where my grand-aunt lives. She actually lives in the same building where I used to live. I recognized a lot of places along the way. Crystal Classes, where Joan miss would smack me with a ruler when I spelled a word wrong in English tuitions. Bharat Gas Service, where I would come with my nanny to order a new cylinder of gas. Chimanlal and Sons, where to this day I don't know what they actually do. The tiny grocer's store into which a BEST bus had rammed into. The whole neighborhood couldn't stoop talking about it for days. They had a clipping of the news article about the accident stuck on the storefront window. The buildings were the same, the streets were the same. It seemed a lot of them hadn't been painted since I had left. I recalled a well at the intersection near my building. One summer, I had engraved my nickname 'Ada' on one of the cornerstones of the well. I remember throwing stones in the well along with my friends before being chased down the street by the building watchman. My eyes hungrily searched for the spot where the well stood.
A big grin appeared on my face as I found the well. It was no longer an open well; it had been sealed off and on top of it was a pigeon-feeding enclosure. However, the cornerstones of the well that once existed were still in place. I crouched down near the spot where I had engraved my name over seventeen years ago. I found the very stone, and I started rubbing the dust away with my handkerchief. A couple of people stopped and looked, wondering what the hell I was doing. A few seconds of dusting later, I saw it.
The letters engraved into the stone had endured seventeen years of dust, pollution and construction activity to be found once again by the very kid who wrote them. I smiled from ear to ear. Unfortunately, it was too dark to take a picture. I took a moment to absorb the memory, to etch it in my head for ever.
I entered the building compound. I saw the watchman's cabin, inside which five of us kids would hide while playing cops and robbers. I saw the boundary wall with the license plate numbers of the residents' cars painted above each parking spot. I saw the cricket stumps drawn with chalk on the building wall, which kids used as the batting end. They all looked much smaller. The watchman's cabin was barely big enough to fit me now. The building looked tired and in need of renovation. The tiny printing press which operated out of a small office on the ground floor was now a tailor's store. As I climbed up the stairs, thoughts filled my mind about how some things had changed beyond recognition, some had fallen into decay, and some bore remnants of the time that was my childhood. As my grand-aunt opened the door, I gave her a big hug.
Everything was the same once again.
My grandparents live in Borivali West. I lived in Borivali East until I was six, and spent a substantial amount of time at their home when I was a kid, mostly during the hours between when school got over and my parents came home from work. I haven't gone back to Borivali too often since we moved town-side in 1992, but I still have vivid memories of the place.
I pulled up my car into the tiny building compound. The watchman woke up with a startled look on his face. He asked me who I was and where I wanted to go, and also said that outside cars were not allowed. He was adamant even after I explained why I should be allowed to park my car inside Apparently growing up somewhere does not mean one can park one's car there fifteen years later. Too tired to argue with him, I parked on the street outside and dragged my suitcase up one floor to my grandparents' flat. I was coming to their place after more than six months and pretty much nothing had changed. I thought for a moment whether to tell my fiery grandmother that the watchman had not let me park my car inside the building compound. But I took pity on the poor soul's life and chose not to mention it.
After the customary cup of tea, I looked around for something to do for the rest of the evening. Borivali isn't exactly the most happening place in Bombay. Besides, my grandparents live smack on SV Road, which is undergoing a radical transformation from a quiet suburban street to the retail hub of a suburb of half a million people. The noise and dust overwhelmed me pretty quickly. I figured, maybe I should go visit one of my relatives in Borivali East. I decided to go to my dad's aunt's place. She was, and continues to be, one of my favorite people. I vaguely recall how she would tell me stories from the Ramayana while putting me to sleep on Saturday afternoons.
I began the walk to her place. I tried my best to soak up the surroundings, and notice the changes they had gone through in the last fifteen years or so. I couldn't recognize any of the buildings on SV Road. The old three story apartment buildings with names like 'Kamal Chhaya' (Lotus Shade) had given way to glitzy malls with massive signboards advertising some sale or some brand of perfume. I thought of taking a short-cut I knew from the back side of the building through a back-alley that went straight to the railroad crossing. When I reached the back side of the building, the alley no longer existed. What I saw instead was a construction site. I grumbled to myself on how the only thing constant is change, and walked back the long way to the railroad crossing. The railroad crossing didn't exist either. It had been walled up, and a pedestrian subway stood glumly.
I remember the excitement I would experience while waiting for the faatak (railroad crossing) to open. I would watch all the vegetable sellers shouting away, trying to sell their wares to the people waiting for the train to pass. In the meantime, hawkers selling everything from stationery to trinkets to handkerchiefs would walk among the crowd. There would always be some smart-alecs who jumped over the faatak and crossed the tracks right before the train would come through.
But they were all gone, and all I could see was the entrance to the subway. It seemed dark inside. It had paan stains all over the walls. It looked like the entrance to hell, with the red stains looking like little flames. I made a face describing disgust and went inside. Crossing from west to east through a subway was no fun compared to running across a railroad crossing pretending the train was about to come.
I reached the east side and heaved a sigh of relief. Nothing seemed to have changed. Maybe it was just me, but even the air seemed cleaner. There was a peacefulness about the place which seemed a distant world away from the hustle and bustle of SV Road. I walked towards Carter Road #1, which is where my grand-aunt lives. She actually lives in the same building where I used to live. I recognized a lot of places along the way. Crystal Classes, where Joan miss would smack me with a ruler when I spelled a word wrong in English tuitions. Bharat Gas Service, where I would come with my nanny to order a new cylinder of gas. Chimanlal and Sons, where to this day I don't know what they actually do. The tiny grocer's store into which a BEST bus had rammed into. The whole neighborhood couldn't stoop talking about it for days. They had a clipping of the news article about the accident stuck on the storefront window. The buildings were the same, the streets were the same. It seemed a lot of them hadn't been painted since I had left. I recalled a well at the intersection near my building. One summer, I had engraved my nickname 'Ada' on one of the cornerstones of the well. I remember throwing stones in the well along with my friends before being chased down the street by the building watchman. My eyes hungrily searched for the spot where the well stood.
A big grin appeared on my face as I found the well. It was no longer an open well; it had been sealed off and on top of it was a pigeon-feeding enclosure. However, the cornerstones of the well that once existed were still in place. I crouched down near the spot where I had engraved my name over seventeen years ago. I found the very stone, and I started rubbing the dust away with my handkerchief. A couple of people stopped and looked, wondering what the hell I was doing. A few seconds of dusting later, I saw it.
The letters engraved into the stone had endured seventeen years of dust, pollution and construction activity to be found once again by the very kid who wrote them. I smiled from ear to ear. Unfortunately, it was too dark to take a picture. I took a moment to absorb the memory, to etch it in my head for ever.
I entered the building compound. I saw the watchman's cabin, inside which five of us kids would hide while playing cops and robbers. I saw the boundary wall with the license plate numbers of the residents' cars painted above each parking spot. I saw the cricket stumps drawn with chalk on the building wall, which kids used as the batting end. They all looked much smaller. The watchman's cabin was barely big enough to fit me now. The building looked tired and in need of renovation. The tiny printing press which operated out of a small office on the ground floor was now a tailor's store. As I climbed up the stairs, thoughts filled my mind about how some things had changed beyond recognition, some had fallen into decay, and some bore remnants of the time that was my childhood. As my grand-aunt opened the door, I gave her a big hug.
Everything was the same once again.
Today
Today
What's today? It's just another day. Or is it? It's the first day to the rest of your life! Today can be whatever you want it to be. It can be a complete waste, or it can be very productive. Choose the best part of the day gone by, and make it the reason you got up today.
A day is a long time. Ask a cancer patient. There's so much to accomplish. So much to be happy and thankful about. So much to learn. Sure, some days are bad. Either one can spend another day thinking about how bad the previous day was, or one can learn from it and move on.
Each day brings fresh possibilities, fresh hopes, fresh opportunities and fresh experiences. Make sure they are not missed, for a day that is lost will not come again. Take the effort to absorb everything that the day brings, and cherish the memories it leaves behind. You'll be glad you did.
What's today? It's just another day. Or is it? It's the first day to the rest of your life! Today can be whatever you want it to be. It can be a complete waste, or it can be very productive. Choose the best part of the day gone by, and make it the reason you got up today.
A day is a long time. Ask a cancer patient. There's so much to accomplish. So much to be happy and thankful about. So much to learn. Sure, some days are bad. Either one can spend another day thinking about how bad the previous day was, or one can learn from it and move on.
Each day brings fresh possibilities, fresh hopes, fresh opportunities and fresh experiences. Make sure they are not missed, for a day that is lost will not come again. Take the effort to absorb everything that the day brings, and cherish the memories it leaves behind. You'll be glad you did.
February 27, 2009
My big book of limericks
I'll keep adding to this list.
When I joined twitter:
There once was a guy on twitter
He felt like being very bitter
But he found twitter sweet
So all he did was tweet
And in the end he felt a lot fitter
When I played my first competitive cricket match since graduation:
There once was a guy who went to UT
He played cricket like it was his duty
He laid off it for a year
And now he's back in gear
He's gonna win the cup and the booty
When I was sleepy at work:
There once was a guy who was tired
He slept at his job and got fired
But he did not get sore
He went to a bed store
To test beds he got hired
when I was feeling very happy
There once was a guy who was on cloud nine
Nothing could bug him, he felt very fine
No matter what happened
His spirit wasn't dampened
Whose story is this? It's mine!
When I joined twitter:
There once was a guy on twitter
He felt like being very bitter
But he found twitter sweet
So all he did was tweet
And in the end he felt a lot fitter
When I played my first competitive cricket match since graduation:
There once was a guy who went to UT
He played cricket like it was his duty
He laid off it for a year
And now he's back in gear
He's gonna win the cup and the booty
When I was sleepy at work:
There once was a guy who was tired
He slept at his job and got fired
But he did not get sore
He went to a bed store
To test beds he got hired
when I was feeling very happy
There once was a guy who was on cloud nine
Nothing could bug him, he felt very fine
No matter what happened
His spirit wasn't dampened
Whose story is this? It's mine!
February 23, 2009
Attitudes towards dating and marriages in Indian society
This article is part three of my series on how one's birth year plays a part in shaping one's attitudes towards various things. So far, I have talked about consumerism and government. In this article, I elaborate on dating and marriage. To recap, the four groups according to birth year are: pre-independence, between 1947 and 1965, between 1965 and 1988, and post-1988. Each groups thinks of dating and marriage differently.
The first group has never understood the concept of dating. The members of this group often think of dating as something that 'good children don't do'. According to them, a guy and a girl meeting alone before marriage in not exactly acceptable. Let alone dating and then eventually choosing their spouse, they didn't even get to see their faces before they married them. The parents made the decision, and they simply accepted it. The marriage was not of two people, it was of two families. Once married, they couldn't even think of the possibility of a divorce. The fear of what family and society will think is just too great. Just like dating, the engagement and the honeymoon were non-existent too. Showing affection for the spouse in front of anyone, in public or at home, is not common either.
The members of the second group had considerably more freedom than their parents in choosing spouses. It was not considered inappropriate for them to 'have their eyes on' a prospective match. When the appropriate time to get married came along, the families would be brought into the picture, and the parents would do the talking on behalf of their children. A commonly used term for such a marriage is 'love-cum-arranged' marriage. The approval of the family was an important, but not the only factor in deciding who to marry. Though inter-caste marriages were not common, they weren't frowned upon either. Dating while in college was becoming normal, but it usually meant going out in a big group of guys and girls, with every member having someone special in the group.
The third group embraced the concept of dating and being in a relationship before marriage. Inter-case marriages are common, and so are the so-called 'love marriages'. The members of this group find nothing wrong in finding their own spouse, but also appreciate the benefits of arranged marriages. The last of this group will be married in the next three to five years, and a lot of them are marrying someone they've dated for a few years. With the obvious exceptions, it is uncommon to see members of this group having had multiple girlfriends before marriage. They figure that it is okay to date and see if things work out, otherwise there is always the option of having parents find someone nice for them. They look at the arranged marriage as a backup option.
The last group probably thinks life should be like the way it is in the sitcom 'Friends'. Members of this group will get married much later, and have their first boyfriend/girlfriend much earlier in their lives than those in the third group. They are comfortable with the concept of a live-in relationship and with dating in high school. They look at marriage as a tool to get society's approval for two people living together, something which they do not care much about in the first place. They are also much more accepting of homosexuals then the members of the previous groups. Just like their attitudes with consumerism, they find themselves to be closer to the western world. A lot of energy is spent by the other groups discussing the loosening morals of and lack of a value system in this group.
As of now it seems as if each generation marries later, is more liberal and more accepting of alternative lifestyle choices than the one preceding it. Each generation takes some amount of pleasure in the fact that its value systems are better than the 'kids of today', but worries that its own children would grow up just like those kids of today. Though inter-cast marriages have become very common, so have divorces and broken engagements. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is that very few people marry outside their own religion. Indian society has traditionally been highly segregated and no amount of liberalism has changed that in a substantial manner.
The first group has never understood the concept of dating. The members of this group often think of dating as something that 'good children don't do'. According to them, a guy and a girl meeting alone before marriage in not exactly acceptable. Let alone dating and then eventually choosing their spouse, they didn't even get to see their faces before they married them. The parents made the decision, and they simply accepted it. The marriage was not of two people, it was of two families. Once married, they couldn't even think of the possibility of a divorce. The fear of what family and society will think is just too great. Just like dating, the engagement and the honeymoon were non-existent too. Showing affection for the spouse in front of anyone, in public or at home, is not common either.
The members of the second group had considerably more freedom than their parents in choosing spouses. It was not considered inappropriate for them to 'have their eyes on' a prospective match. When the appropriate time to get married came along, the families would be brought into the picture, and the parents would do the talking on behalf of their children. A commonly used term for such a marriage is 'love-cum-arranged' marriage. The approval of the family was an important, but not the only factor in deciding who to marry. Though inter-caste marriages were not common, they weren't frowned upon either. Dating while in college was becoming normal, but it usually meant going out in a big group of guys and girls, with every member having someone special in the group.
The third group embraced the concept of dating and being in a relationship before marriage. Inter-case marriages are common, and so are the so-called 'love marriages'. The members of this group find nothing wrong in finding their own spouse, but also appreciate the benefits of arranged marriages. The last of this group will be married in the next three to five years, and a lot of them are marrying someone they've dated for a few years. With the obvious exceptions, it is uncommon to see members of this group having had multiple girlfriends before marriage. They figure that it is okay to date and see if things work out, otherwise there is always the option of having parents find someone nice for them. They look at the arranged marriage as a backup option.
The last group probably thinks life should be like the way it is in the sitcom 'Friends'. Members of this group will get married much later, and have their first boyfriend/girlfriend much earlier in their lives than those in the third group. They are comfortable with the concept of a live-in relationship and with dating in high school. They look at marriage as a tool to get society's approval for two people living together, something which they do not care much about in the first place. They are also much more accepting of homosexuals then the members of the previous groups. Just like their attitudes with consumerism, they find themselves to be closer to the western world. A lot of energy is spent by the other groups discussing the loosening morals of and lack of a value system in this group.
As of now it seems as if each generation marries later, is more liberal and more accepting of alternative lifestyle choices than the one preceding it. Each generation takes some amount of pleasure in the fact that its value systems are better than the 'kids of today', but worries that its own children would grow up just like those kids of today. Though inter-cast marriages have become very common, so have divorces and broken engagements. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is that very few people marry outside their own religion. Indian society has traditionally been highly segregated and no amount of liberalism has changed that in a substantial manner.
February 21, 2009
The one for me
She's always on my mind
I've left all thoughts behind
I think of her all day
I don't know what to say
Will she ever be all mine?
Whatever happens is fine
I think I'm falling in love
With the girl from up above
Yup, she 's an angel from heaven
One life? I want her for all seven!
Until she feels like I do
I'll look for something new
But much as hard as I try
To forget, I'd rather die
So I can do nothing but wait
In her hands lies my fate...
I've left all thoughts behind
I think of her all day
I don't know what to say
Will she ever be all mine?
Whatever happens is fine
I think I'm falling in love
With the girl from up above
Yup, she 's an angel from heaven
One life? I want her for all seven!
Until she feels like I do
I'll look for something new
But much as hard as I try
To forget, I'd rather die
So I can do nothing but wait
In her hands lies my fate...
February 16, 2009
25 Random things about me
1. I smell glasses before pouring water into them.
2. I always believe that everything happens for the best.
3. Intelligent women turn me on.
4. I'm always satisfied with what I have in my personal life, never satisfied with what I have in my professional life.
5. I love my friends.
6. I think the Indian political system should be cleansed by brutal methods.
7. You don't respect women, I don't respect you.
8. I have no regrets in life.
9. MY favorite colours are burnt orange and black.
10. My brother is like my best friend even though he is seven years younger.
11. I can shop till girls drop. But I can't window-shop.
12. My favorite things to eat: Chipotle burrito, pav bhaji. Drink: Mexican martinis, coke, starbucks frappuchinos.
13. I think too much.
14. I love my personal space.
15. Electronic music keeps me alive.
16. I love travel. I am always planning my next trip. So far: 13 countries, 29 states in the USA seen and cherished.
17. I give a terrible first impression.
18. I'm pretty nascissistic. That's because I love myself. If you don't love yourself, who will?
19. I love my job. I'm so meant to be a stock broker.
20. I can do pretty much anything to be there for my friends.
21. I love hookah, cricket and urban landscape photography.
22. I love to read, write and have intelligent conversations.
23. Gossip, hypocracy and people who aren't frank with me piss me off.
24. I like to think I'm a good dresser.
25. I believe in living like I'll die today, and dreaming like I'll live forever.
2. I always believe that everything happens for the best.
3. Intelligent women turn me on.
4. I'm always satisfied with what I have in my personal life, never satisfied with what I have in my professional life.
5. I love my friends.
6. I think the Indian political system should be cleansed by brutal methods.
7. You don't respect women, I don't respect you.
8. I have no regrets in life.
9. MY favorite colours are burnt orange and black.
10. My brother is like my best friend even though he is seven years younger.
11. I can shop till girls drop. But I can't window-shop.
12. My favorite things to eat: Chipotle burrito, pav bhaji. Drink: Mexican martinis, coke, starbucks frappuchinos.
13. I think too much.
14. I love my personal space.
15. Electronic music keeps me alive.
16. I love travel. I am always planning my next trip. So far: 13 countries, 29 states in the USA seen and cherished.
17. I give a terrible first impression.
18. I'm pretty nascissistic. That's because I love myself. If you don't love yourself, who will?
19. I love my job. I'm so meant to be a stock broker.
20. I can do pretty much anything to be there for my friends.
21. I love hookah, cricket and urban landscape photography.
22. I love to read, write and have intelligent conversations.
23. Gossip, hypocracy and people who aren't frank with me piss me off.
24. I like to think I'm a good dresser.
25. I believe in living like I'll die today, and dreaming like I'll live forever.
February 11, 2009
Political sentiments and the Indian populace
Continuing from my article ‘Consumerism in India’ in the last issue, on how one’s birth year affects one’s consumer habits, I feel the same also affects one’s perceptions towards the government and the political system of India. To recap, the four groups, according to birth year, are: pre-independence, between 1947 and 1965, between 1965 and 1988, and post-1988. Each group has a different attitude towards the duties and rights of the government, and what they think of the political class, both of which I refer to as the system henceforth.
The first group has witnessed politicians who were closer in nature to freedom fighters. They have seen a political class that genuinely cared about the progress of the nation, and made use of the government machinery to achieve it. They remember a government that worked tirelessly in the years after independence to create a foundation from which the nation could progress. They still believe in the system, and are willing to wait for it to work, even if it means suffering in the process. They are too scared to try to demand change. They accept the system the way it is, almost as if the prevailing scenario is a part of their fate. The word for the government, ‘Sarkar’ is used extensively by this generation. Just the fact that it actually means ‘master’ tells us that this group looks at the government not as a public servant, but as an entity that is above the common man.
The second group remembers an era of Indira Gandhi’s abuse of the system. They recall a license Raj, corruption, the Emergency, artificial shortages, and abuse of power. Nothing positive comes to mind when they talk about politicians and the government. They are skeptical of the system and always try to work their way around it. They firmly believe that following the law is equal to being left behind. If one has to succeed in India, one must have the government and the various components of the system, such as the bureaucracy, the police, the judiciary, etc. in one’s pocket. Bribing is considered the first step, not the last option. They think of politicians as scum which has to be tolerated. They do not believe in suffering while waiting for the system to work, or in trying to change the system. They simply bribe their way around it.
The third group does not have the patience to deal with an incompetent and ineffective system. As mentioned in the previous article, it is the first group to have had first-hand experience of the developed world in a major way. The members of this group have seen how governments function in other countries. They realize that a country must have an effective and accountable system in order to keep up with the rest of the world. They don’t accept the system as it, nor do they believe in simply working around it. I’m sure there are many who do, but there are a sizeable number of people who are willing to take a stand, ask questions, make some noise and hold the government accountable. They are starting to believe that to clean the gutter; one must climb down into it. They believe that the system is constantly improving and the time will come when efficient governance will be the rule, not an exception. Their efforts have brought about changes the previous two groups never thought possible: a transparent passport issuance system, efficient railway bookings…the list goes on.
The last group is apathetic when it comes to the system. The members of this group are pretty young and have not had to deal with systemic inefficiencies so far. They are used to someone older taking care of everything. They probably don’t consider it important to vote, read a political party’s election manifesto, or even know who the Governor of their state is. Life is fine without having to worry about political issues of the country, and they would like to keep it that way. They feel closer to the developed world than they do to India, and often turn a blind eye to the problems of their motherland. They will bear the gutter’s stench for a few seconds as they pass by, and then forget about it. They will not even consider the fact that cleaning it up is as much their problem as it is someone else’s. What remains to be seen is whether the attitudes of this group will change as it grows up and becomes part of the workforce and mainstream society. Will it become more apathetic towards the system, or will it further the demand for accountability of the third group?
The first group has witnessed politicians who were closer in nature to freedom fighters. They have seen a political class that genuinely cared about the progress of the nation, and made use of the government machinery to achieve it. They remember a government that worked tirelessly in the years after independence to create a foundation from which the nation could progress. They still believe in the system, and are willing to wait for it to work, even if it means suffering in the process. They are too scared to try to demand change. They accept the system the way it is, almost as if the prevailing scenario is a part of their fate. The word for the government, ‘Sarkar’ is used extensively by this generation. Just the fact that it actually means ‘master’ tells us that this group looks at the government not as a public servant, but as an entity that is above the common man.
The second group remembers an era of Indira Gandhi’s abuse of the system. They recall a license Raj, corruption, the Emergency, artificial shortages, and abuse of power. Nothing positive comes to mind when they talk about politicians and the government. They are skeptical of the system and always try to work their way around it. They firmly believe that following the law is equal to being left behind. If one has to succeed in India, one must have the government and the various components of the system, such as the bureaucracy, the police, the judiciary, etc. in one’s pocket. Bribing is considered the first step, not the last option. They think of politicians as scum which has to be tolerated. They do not believe in suffering while waiting for the system to work, or in trying to change the system. They simply bribe their way around it.
The third group does not have the patience to deal with an incompetent and ineffective system. As mentioned in the previous article, it is the first group to have had first-hand experience of the developed world in a major way. The members of this group have seen how governments function in other countries. They realize that a country must have an effective and accountable system in order to keep up with the rest of the world. They don’t accept the system as it, nor do they believe in simply working around it. I’m sure there are many who do, but there are a sizeable number of people who are willing to take a stand, ask questions, make some noise and hold the government accountable. They are starting to believe that to clean the gutter; one must climb down into it. They believe that the system is constantly improving and the time will come when efficient governance will be the rule, not an exception. Their efforts have brought about changes the previous two groups never thought possible: a transparent passport issuance system, efficient railway bookings…the list goes on.
The last group is apathetic when it comes to the system. The members of this group are pretty young and have not had to deal with systemic inefficiencies so far. They are used to someone older taking care of everything. They probably don’t consider it important to vote, read a political party’s election manifesto, or even know who the Governor of their state is. Life is fine without having to worry about political issues of the country, and they would like to keep it that way. They feel closer to the developed world than they do to India, and often turn a blind eye to the problems of their motherland. They will bear the gutter’s stench for a few seconds as they pass by, and then forget about it. They will not even consider the fact that cleaning it up is as much their problem as it is someone else’s. What remains to be seen is whether the attitudes of this group will change as it grows up and becomes part of the workforce and mainstream society. Will it become more apathetic towards the system, or will it further the demand for accountability of the third group?
January 26, 2009
Consumerism in India
There is a lot being said and written on the consumerism boom that has been witnessed in India since the economy was opened up in 1991. I would like to add my two cents (or paise, in this case) to the Indian consumerism debate.
I have classified the Indian consumer into four broad categories, based on age. The people of each category have been shaped by the time they grew up in. Their experiences in life up to the point they become young adults explain a lot about their behavior, their attitude to society and even their spending habits. It goes without saying that the attitudes overlap to some extent over the group, and that there will be exceptions depending on the exact environment one is raised in. This is also my opinionated subjective classification based on my observation and I can only offer personal experience as a validation to my arguments. Here goes:
The first group is those born before independence. The members of this group have seen a lot of pain, struggle and scarcity. In their childhood, they remember India going through the pains of partition, and struggling to find its feet as a young nation. They struggle to accept consumerism as being something that is ‘okay’ to do. For example, my grandfather always tries to appear as if he never ‘wants’ anything. He loves ice cream, but he will never accept the fact. He would be more likely to say, “If there is any ice cream left over, give me some. Don’t go downstairs to buy some just for me.” Sometimes I think he probably feels guilty in regularly consuming something that was considered a luxury when he was growing up.
The second group is those born between 1947 and 1965. The members of this group would have seen India coming to terms with its independence. The days of the green revolution, the corruption of Indira’s term, the artificial scarcities and hoarding mentality brought in by the license Raj are all part of the memories of this group’s young days. One will never see them wasting anything. Everything is saved or recycled. These habits are reflected in almost every Indian home. People my age (early twenties) who have parents in this demographic are used to seeing jam jars being used to store pickles, newspapers being used to line bottoms of desk drawers. This group has seen times when it took ten years to get a telephone line, so when they get something; they take it even though they may not have immediate need for it, thinking they will use it later. On numerous occasions I have seen people on flights who take a soda even if they don’t want one and put it right into their bag or purse for later consumption.
The third group is people born from 1965 to 1988. They form the bulk of India’s working population. When India opened up its economy in 1991, they were old enough to see the rapid change in the social and economic environment of the country. However, they also remember the days of scarcity and are ideally placed to appreciate the striking contrasts of pre- and post-1991 India. This group was the first to start migrating to other countries on a large scale for work and education. Unlike the two groups preceding them, they have had significant first-hand experience of the way the developed world lives. They generally believe in working hard and spending hard, and are responsible for the current boom in consumerism. They have no qualms about borrowing and spending money, showing it off or bring materialistic. For instance, people from the first or second group would not be as comfortable driving an expensive car. They might feel guilty about showing off their wealth, feel scared that the government might come after them, or simply believe that one should save and not spend. But someone from the third group will have no problems buying one, showing it off and working harder to buy another one. You can stand on a sidewalk at Malabar Hill (one of Mumbai’s most exclusive neighborhoods) for five minutes on any given evening, and the number of BMWs, Audis, Bentleys, Range Rovers and Porsches you will see will prove my point.
The last group is those born after 1988. This group has always lived in a time of relative prosperity and consumerism. They can’t imagine waiting for than a day for a phone connection, or when an entire nation had nothing to do but listen to Binaca Geetmala on the radio for entertainment. They are confident of themselves and their capacity to earn money, and they spend a lot of it. They will soon outpace the third group in spending power, and take to credit on a much larger scale as well. On the contrary, the first two groups are still not comfortable using taking loans from people other than family and friends or having outstanding credit balances on their credit card accounts. They consider themselves culturally closer to the developed world and unfortunately will spend like them too once they start earning money in the next three to five years. For instance, most urban kids play less cricket and more video games then the third group. They have tremendous choice in what they want to eat, wear, play with and study. They have add-on credit cards that their parents give them. One regularly sees high-school kids spend a thousand rupees on “a night out” in expensive nightclubs in Mumbai.
This broad classification provides clarity on why people spend money they way to do and what one can expect in the next few years as far as consumer spending in India is concerned. I see a boom in organized retail, consumer lending and luxury goods sales. These groups also tell a lot about people’s attitudes towards society, relationships and the government. But that is another article for another day.
I have classified the Indian consumer into four broad categories, based on age. The people of each category have been shaped by the time they grew up in. Their experiences in life up to the point they become young adults explain a lot about their behavior, their attitude to society and even their spending habits. It goes without saying that the attitudes overlap to some extent over the group, and that there will be exceptions depending on the exact environment one is raised in. This is also my opinionated subjective classification based on my observation and I can only offer personal experience as a validation to my arguments. Here goes:
The first group is those born before independence. The members of this group have seen a lot of pain, struggle and scarcity. In their childhood, they remember India going through the pains of partition, and struggling to find its feet as a young nation. They struggle to accept consumerism as being something that is ‘okay’ to do. For example, my grandfather always tries to appear as if he never ‘wants’ anything. He loves ice cream, but he will never accept the fact. He would be more likely to say, “If there is any ice cream left over, give me some. Don’t go downstairs to buy some just for me.” Sometimes I think he probably feels guilty in regularly consuming something that was considered a luxury when he was growing up.
The second group is those born between 1947 and 1965. The members of this group would have seen India coming to terms with its independence. The days of the green revolution, the corruption of Indira’s term, the artificial scarcities and hoarding mentality brought in by the license Raj are all part of the memories of this group’s young days. One will never see them wasting anything. Everything is saved or recycled. These habits are reflected in almost every Indian home. People my age (early twenties) who have parents in this demographic are used to seeing jam jars being used to store pickles, newspapers being used to line bottoms of desk drawers. This group has seen times when it took ten years to get a telephone line, so when they get something; they take it even though they may not have immediate need for it, thinking they will use it later. On numerous occasions I have seen people on flights who take a soda even if they don’t want one and put it right into their bag or purse for later consumption.
The third group is people born from 1965 to 1988. They form the bulk of India’s working population. When India opened up its economy in 1991, they were old enough to see the rapid change in the social and economic environment of the country. However, they also remember the days of scarcity and are ideally placed to appreciate the striking contrasts of pre- and post-1991 India. This group was the first to start migrating to other countries on a large scale for work and education. Unlike the two groups preceding them, they have had significant first-hand experience of the way the developed world lives. They generally believe in working hard and spending hard, and are responsible for the current boom in consumerism. They have no qualms about borrowing and spending money, showing it off or bring materialistic. For instance, people from the first or second group would not be as comfortable driving an expensive car. They might feel guilty about showing off their wealth, feel scared that the government might come after them, or simply believe that one should save and not spend. But someone from the third group will have no problems buying one, showing it off and working harder to buy another one. You can stand on a sidewalk at Malabar Hill (one of Mumbai’s most exclusive neighborhoods) for five minutes on any given evening, and the number of BMWs, Audis, Bentleys, Range Rovers and Porsches you will see will prove my point.
The last group is those born after 1988. This group has always lived in a time of relative prosperity and consumerism. They can’t imagine waiting for than a day for a phone connection, or when an entire nation had nothing to do but listen to Binaca Geetmala on the radio for entertainment. They are confident of themselves and their capacity to earn money, and they spend a lot of it. They will soon outpace the third group in spending power, and take to credit on a much larger scale as well. On the contrary, the first two groups are still not comfortable using taking loans from people other than family and friends or having outstanding credit balances on their credit card accounts. They consider themselves culturally closer to the developed world and unfortunately will spend like them too once they start earning money in the next three to five years. For instance, most urban kids play less cricket and more video games then the third group. They have tremendous choice in what they want to eat, wear, play with and study. They have add-on credit cards that their parents give them. One regularly sees high-school kids spend a thousand rupees on “a night out” in expensive nightclubs in Mumbai.
This broad classification provides clarity on why people spend money they way to do and what one can expect in the next few years as far as consumer spending in India is concerned. I see a boom in organized retail, consumer lending and luxury goods sales. These groups also tell a lot about people’s attitudes towards society, relationships and the government. But that is another article for another day.
December 1, 2008
Candles in the wind
I went to the Taj today.
I sat on the sea wall and cried.
I lit seven candles. One for each of the six friends I lost. One for the government.
May God bless the souls of those who perished.
November 28, 2008
Bombay on its knees
On November 26th, at approximately 9.40pm IST, an event unfolded that has left Bombay reeling in shock. This may not be the attack with the highest death toll, but it is certainly the best-planned and most gruesome attempt to bring Bombay to its knees. This is the most recent in a series of terrorist attacks that have taken place in India this year. The series of events so far is as follows:
A person armed with an automatic weapon started firing indiscriminately at people on the street near Café Leopold in the popular Colaba area. A few minutes later, shots and explosions were heard at the nearby Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus, which is one of the city’s busiest train stations. As the police scrambled to reach the sites where the attacks took place, taxis were blown up at Mazgaon, a crowded Muslim-dominated area in South Bombay, and Vile Parle, a predominantly Gujarati suburb.
More gunshots were heard at the Taj Mahal Hotel at Apollo Bunder, and at the Trident at Nariman Point These are two of the biggest and most famous landmarks of the city. As the media tried to make sense out of all these events, gunshots were heard at the Cama Hospital as well. In the early hours of the morning, Nariman House was also understood to be under siege.
The first reaction was that a gang-war had erupted on the streets. Indiscriminate firing in public was an event usually associated with an encounter or a gang-war, events that were common in Bombay during the 1990s, when the police force went on a mission to reduce organized crime. But it quickly became evident that the firings and the taxi explosions were nothing but a distraction created by the terrorists to reach their ultimate goal: The Taj and the Trident were under siege.
The Army, the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the National Security Guard (NSG) were called in. Schools and colleges remained closed on Thursday. However, businesses in other parts of the city were open. Most of South Bombay’s commercial district, which is enclosed by Nariman Point on one side an Apollo Bunder on the other, has been locked down. There is a curfew in place in those parts as well.
On any given day during this time of the year, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people inside each of these hotels. They are where the celebrities, the businesspeople and the wealthy tourists go to or live in while in Bombay. The terrorists quickly took over the hotels, and a gun battle ensued. As of now, over fifteen policemen have been killed, and the total death toll stands at 101. The policemen who have lost their lives include three of the top officers from the anti-terrorism squad of Bombay.
As of this moment, more than 26 hours have passed since the first firing at Colaba. So far, the terrorists have hijacked police cars, thrown grenades at innocent people, set fire to parts of the Trident and the Historic Wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel, and killed over a hundred people. However, there has been some positive news. Two terrorists who tried to escape were gunned down near Girgaum Chowpatty in the wee hours of the morning. Seven of the hostages at the Nariman House have been released. Most recently, thirty-nine hostages were released from the Trident. It has not been confirmed as of now whether the situation is completely out of control or not, as the buildings in questions are very large and combing operations take time. One terrorist has been caught alive. A satellite phone has been retrieved from a terrorist who was killed in the gun battle. Five calls were made to Karachi through that phone right after the hotels were taken over.
These terrorists have been the cause of a lot of panic, for various reasons. First, they snuck in by boat and walked in right through the Gateway of India without being noticed. What was the Coast Guard doing? Second, they created a successful distraction, which made it easy for them to gain control of the hotels. This signals meticulous planning on their part. Third, they systematically killed the top cops of the anti-terrorist squad who were leading the retaliatory campaign. These cops were also part of the investigation team for the Mumbai train blasts and the recent Malegaon blasts. Fourth, they specifically targeted foreigners. Colaba, and the two hotels are very popular with tourists coming from abroad. Reports given by hostages who were freed state that the terrorists specifically rounded up people with American, British and Israeli passports.
These factors signify the arrival of international terrorist organizations in India. These attacks were far more sophisticated in the way they were planned, the tactics used, the weapons used and the groups involved. A little-known organization called the Deccan Mujahedeen has claimed responsibility, but experts believe that this name is another tool used to distract everyone from the real people involved. A consensus among the media is that this event could possibly be traced to the Al Qaeda.
The blame game
I stand behind the government at a difficult time like this. But once this horrendous situation has subsided, a lot of tough questions need to be asked. What has the Government been doing? It is distressing that neither the Coast Guard nor the Navy detected a boat laden with several pounds of RDX sailed to the Gateway of India unchecked. The plethora of Indian Intelligence agencies didn’t have a clue. The police and the RAF seem ill-trained and ill-equipped to deal with the hostage situation. The NSG unit had to be flown in from Delhi. Why isn’t there a unit in Bombay?
As usual, politicians have come out with statements praising the spirit of Bombay. Floods. Bombs. Terrorists. It’s the same thing over and over again. The spirit of Bombay. It’s not the spirit; it’s the possibility of losing a day’s salary that makes the average man go to work the next day, even if it means risking his life for it. Time and again, the administration has failed to provide a safe environment for its citizens. Think of what this incident means for India’s business climate, its tourism industry, and its self-confidence.
I understand that such an event is unprecedented. But what really scares me is that I don’t think the administration is going to learn anything from all this. They didn’t learn anything the last time around. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is too soft on terror. This is reflected by the alarming rise in terrorist attacks in the years the Congress has been in power. It is also shown from the fact that the Congress was only too eager to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Activities (POTA) Act, which, when enacted by the BJP, gave sweeping powers to the Government to swiftly try cases related to terrorism and levy heavy penalties on those proven guilty. Now that POTA has been repealed, it takes ages for terrorism cases to go through the regular courts.
India needs to be more proactive in the war on terror immediately. It means flexing its muscles to warn Pakistan and Bangladesh to stop aiding terrorist activities. It means punishing those found guilty in a swift and consistent manner. It means having an administration which does not shy away from aggressive behavior. When the security of a nation is at stake, proactiveness is the order of the day. The Congress needs to man up to the challenge, or resign from power.
What does this mean for the average citizen of Bombay? He can’t really do anything about it. As I watched the plume of smoke rise from the Trident, a feeling of helplessness took over me. My first reaction was to call people I know and make sure that they were okay. A friend of mine was caught in the gunfire at Colaba. Another one was fifty feet away when the taxi blew up at Vile Parle. Luckily, both escaped unhurt. As the news unfolded, the whole city was glued to its television sets into the wee hours of the morning. A combination of angst, fear, confusion, distress, helplessness, sorrow and rage engulfed me. The beautiful view of Nariman Point in the distance, affectionately called the Queen’s Necklace, had been tainted. As the sound of gunfire and explosions pierced the air into the night, I cried my heart out. I’m sure Bombay was crying too.
Sources:
Eyewitness accounts by the author
www.ibnlive.com
www.timesofindia.com
Live news on CNN-IBN and NDTV 24x7
A person armed with an automatic weapon started firing indiscriminately at people on the street near Café Leopold in the popular Colaba area. A few minutes later, shots and explosions were heard at the nearby Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus, which is one of the city’s busiest train stations. As the police scrambled to reach the sites where the attacks took place, taxis were blown up at Mazgaon, a crowded Muslim-dominated area in South Bombay, and Vile Parle, a predominantly Gujarati suburb.
More gunshots were heard at the Taj Mahal Hotel at Apollo Bunder, and at the Trident at Nariman Point These are two of the biggest and most famous landmarks of the city. As the media tried to make sense out of all these events, gunshots were heard at the Cama Hospital as well. In the early hours of the morning, Nariman House was also understood to be under siege.
The first reaction was that a gang-war had erupted on the streets. Indiscriminate firing in public was an event usually associated with an encounter or a gang-war, events that were common in Bombay during the 1990s, when the police force went on a mission to reduce organized crime. But it quickly became evident that the firings and the taxi explosions were nothing but a distraction created by the terrorists to reach their ultimate goal: The Taj and the Trident were under siege.
The Army, the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the National Security Guard (NSG) were called in. Schools and colleges remained closed on Thursday. However, businesses in other parts of the city were open. Most of South Bombay’s commercial district, which is enclosed by Nariman Point on one side an Apollo Bunder on the other, has been locked down. There is a curfew in place in those parts as well.
On any given day during this time of the year, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people inside each of these hotels. They are where the celebrities, the businesspeople and the wealthy tourists go to or live in while in Bombay. The terrorists quickly took over the hotels, and a gun battle ensued. As of now, over fifteen policemen have been killed, and the total death toll stands at 101. The policemen who have lost their lives include three of the top officers from the anti-terrorism squad of Bombay.
As of this moment, more than 26 hours have passed since the first firing at Colaba. So far, the terrorists have hijacked police cars, thrown grenades at innocent people, set fire to parts of the Trident and the Historic Wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel, and killed over a hundred people. However, there has been some positive news. Two terrorists who tried to escape were gunned down near Girgaum Chowpatty in the wee hours of the morning. Seven of the hostages at the Nariman House have been released. Most recently, thirty-nine hostages were released from the Trident. It has not been confirmed as of now whether the situation is completely out of control or not, as the buildings in questions are very large and combing operations take time. One terrorist has been caught alive. A satellite phone has been retrieved from a terrorist who was killed in the gun battle. Five calls were made to Karachi through that phone right after the hotels were taken over.
These terrorists have been the cause of a lot of panic, for various reasons. First, they snuck in by boat and walked in right through the Gateway of India without being noticed. What was the Coast Guard doing? Second, they created a successful distraction, which made it easy for them to gain control of the hotels. This signals meticulous planning on their part. Third, they systematically killed the top cops of the anti-terrorist squad who were leading the retaliatory campaign. These cops were also part of the investigation team for the Mumbai train blasts and the recent Malegaon blasts. Fourth, they specifically targeted foreigners. Colaba, and the two hotels are very popular with tourists coming from abroad. Reports given by hostages who were freed state that the terrorists specifically rounded up people with American, British and Israeli passports.
These factors signify the arrival of international terrorist organizations in India. These attacks were far more sophisticated in the way they were planned, the tactics used, the weapons used and the groups involved. A little-known organization called the Deccan Mujahedeen has claimed responsibility, but experts believe that this name is another tool used to distract everyone from the real people involved. A consensus among the media is that this event could possibly be traced to the Al Qaeda.
The blame game
I stand behind the government at a difficult time like this. But once this horrendous situation has subsided, a lot of tough questions need to be asked. What has the Government been doing? It is distressing that neither the Coast Guard nor the Navy detected a boat laden with several pounds of RDX sailed to the Gateway of India unchecked. The plethora of Indian Intelligence agencies didn’t have a clue. The police and the RAF seem ill-trained and ill-equipped to deal with the hostage situation. The NSG unit had to be flown in from Delhi. Why isn’t there a unit in Bombay?
As usual, politicians have come out with statements praising the spirit of Bombay. Floods. Bombs. Terrorists. It’s the same thing over and over again. The spirit of Bombay. It’s not the spirit; it’s the possibility of losing a day’s salary that makes the average man go to work the next day, even if it means risking his life for it. Time and again, the administration has failed to provide a safe environment for its citizens. Think of what this incident means for India’s business climate, its tourism industry, and its self-confidence.
I understand that such an event is unprecedented. But what really scares me is that I don’t think the administration is going to learn anything from all this. They didn’t learn anything the last time around. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is too soft on terror. This is reflected by the alarming rise in terrorist attacks in the years the Congress has been in power. It is also shown from the fact that the Congress was only too eager to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Activities (POTA) Act, which, when enacted by the BJP, gave sweeping powers to the Government to swiftly try cases related to terrorism and levy heavy penalties on those proven guilty. Now that POTA has been repealed, it takes ages for terrorism cases to go through the regular courts.
India needs to be more proactive in the war on terror immediately. It means flexing its muscles to warn Pakistan and Bangladesh to stop aiding terrorist activities. It means punishing those found guilty in a swift and consistent manner. It means having an administration which does not shy away from aggressive behavior. When the security of a nation is at stake, proactiveness is the order of the day. The Congress needs to man up to the challenge, or resign from power.
What does this mean for the average citizen of Bombay? He can’t really do anything about it. As I watched the plume of smoke rise from the Trident, a feeling of helplessness took over me. My first reaction was to call people I know and make sure that they were okay. A friend of mine was caught in the gunfire at Colaba. Another one was fifty feet away when the taxi blew up at Vile Parle. Luckily, both escaped unhurt. As the news unfolded, the whole city was glued to its television sets into the wee hours of the morning. A combination of angst, fear, confusion, distress, helplessness, sorrow and rage engulfed me. The beautiful view of Nariman Point in the distance, affectionately called the Queen’s Necklace, had been tainted. As the sound of gunfire and explosions pierced the air into the night, I cried my heart out. I’m sure Bombay was crying too.
Sources:
Eyewitness accounts by the author
www.ibnlive.com
www.timesofindia.com
Live news on CNN-IBN and NDTV 24x7
November 26, 2008
Of weddings and thinking sprees
So it’s wedding season again. I hate wedding seasons. The traffic on Marine Drive is terrible. You go to the wedding of a person who you barely know, just because your family was invited by the groom’s or the bride’s family. You eat oily wedding food. You come back. You repeat the cycle a few more times before the New Year comes.
But I went to a wedding last weekend which I will cherish for many reasons. For one, it was my best bud Chirag’s wedding. Two, it was the first time I went to the wedding of a person I really care about. Three, I got to go to Kolkata for the big day, which meant some time away from my CFA studying.
As I got out the car at Mumbai’s swank new airport, I felt queasy. Mostly due to the generous quantity of beer I had consumed the previous night. But the beautiful airport never fails to light up my spirit. As I looked up at the vast expanse of the check-in area like a big-eyed child looking at the entrance to Disneyland, I couldn’t help but think of how different this place was from India’s ‘other side’. The terminal building was relatively empty, quiet, air-conditioned and sparkling clean. The architecture was modern and it looked world-class. I nodded to myself as I thought of the crowded slums outside the airport. It was another one of those examples where the two Indias co-exist side-by-side. I was prevented from slipping into another lengthy thinking spree by the sight of a Costa Coffee store. The excitement of succumbing to a cup of gourmet coffee to rid me of my early morning blues was overwhelming. I looked at the menu, and noticed that they had a paneer sandwich in ‘mint mayonnaise’. Is that what they’re calling chutney these days, I asked myself. It wasn’t chutney, and the sandwich was surprisingly delicious.
The surprises continued as I began my journey to Kolkata. Check-in took less than a minute, security was smooth and the flight left on time. I flew Indigo and the professionalism of the airline was very obvious. I am a sucker for a sleek product and Indigo was one such product.
I arrived in Kolkata, not knowing what to expect. I had not heard anything positive about the city from people in Bombay, but then Bombayites are prone to do that about any place outside the toll naka. Words I heard repeatedly included smelly, filthy, communist, strikes, and the like. I feared the criticism would come true as the plane pulled into its parking bay. Sure enough, the airport was ugly and reeked of a 1980s communist ideology. It was in the sort of disrepair that could be associated with the old airport of Bombay. I found the car that had been sent for me by the benevolent groom-to-be, and we set off towards my hotel.
Out of nowhere, the bad roads and pedal-rickshaws suddenly gave way to a sleek six-lane road that went straight through the fields on either side. Occasionally, one would have the opportunity to admire a sleek glass-faced office building with a huge logo of some IT company on it. I was glad that what I had heard was being proven wrong. It seems that Kolkata had jumped on to the development bandwagon after all. But sadly, as the trip wore on, that was all I saw of the new face of Kolkata. This city seemed like Bombay in many ways; bustling, crowded, albeit a lot dirtier and a lot poorer. Bombay gives you a showcase of the staggering difference in the lives of the haves and the have-nots, whereas Kolkata seemed to have a lot more of the have-nots and very few haves. It seemed like the city was trapped in time, 1980s I’d say. The effects of liberalization and the IT boom were not very obvious.
After a short stop at my hotel, I went to the groom’s house. It was good to see Chirag after about six months. He was beaming, as any groom would. He seemed to be more interested in the ongoing India-England cricket match than in getting ready for the wedding! Once he did get ready, we left for the wedding hall. About two hundred meters away from the hall, the groom’s guests assembled, and Chirag climbed onto a white mare and the band started playing. I couldn’t help smiling non-stop as I video-taped the procession on my phone. Our ceremony caused a traffic jam, as cars squeezed by. People, both in the cars and on the road, were taking great interest in the procession. The women passing by took time to see what the groom looked like. I’m sure they weren’t disappointed.
The wedding area was beautifully lit up. There was no loud music playing, and the service was prompt to the point of the waiters badgering the guests. Chirag looked smashing, and Richa looked very pretty in her red sari.
The wedding lasted forever. When I left at 1030 pm, the bride and the groom had just gotten started on dinner. I guess it’s just one of those things that have to be done. All through the various ceremonies, Chirag had this particular look on his face. I have seen that look before, in the ending overs of the game when we are fielding first, and it’s almost time for our turn to bat. You know what I mean in this context. I met some interesting people, as well as some old friends. My mind kept wandering to thoughts of how it would be when my other friends would start getting married. Weddings are a lot more fun when the one getting married is close to you. Amid the depressing last few days that I had left behind in Bombay, these few hours gave me an immense sense of happiness. It felt wonderful to see someone so happy, and see everyone around so happy for them. The whole place seemed completely devoid of any negative vibes.
I found myself slipping into many different thought, of marriage, of friendship, of love, of happiness and of life itself. Needless to say, this marriage was a lot of fun to attend.
I wish Chirag and Richa the happiest of married lives, and I thank him for giving me a chance to be present at one of the most important events of his life.
November 16, 2008
I wish...
When I hear of the cricket matches
On those Sunday mornings
I wish I could be there.
When I hear of the martini sessions
On those top-shelf Tuesdays
I wish I could be there.
When I hear of cramming for finals
On those nights in the FAC
I wish I could be there.
When my friends are angry at me
On those issues of yesteryear
I wish I could be there.
When my brothers miss me so much
And I miss them so much more
I wish I could be there.
When my heart aches to think
Of those memories good and bad
I wish I could be there.
When I call and hear the voices
Of those who helped me find myself
I wish I could be there.
When I don't miss my second home
When I'd rather be all alone
I...still wish I could be there.
On those Sunday mornings
I wish I could be there.
When I hear of the martini sessions
On those top-shelf Tuesdays
I wish I could be there.
When I hear of cramming for finals
On those nights in the FAC
I wish I could be there.
When my friends are angry at me
On those issues of yesteryear
I wish I could be there.
When my brothers miss me so much
And I miss them so much more
I wish I could be there.
When my heart aches to think
Of those memories good and bad
I wish I could be there.
When I call and hear the voices
Of those who helped me find myself
I wish I could be there.
When I don't miss my second home
When I'd rather be all alone
I...still wish I could be there.
November 7, 2008
Raj turns Mumbai into a playground for his goons
At the risk of repeating myself, Raj is at it again. This is part three in a series of articles that tracks the antics of Raj Thackeray and his ‘party members’ of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
The MNS has acquired a reputation for hooliganism. MNS party members went on a rampage and beat up railway entrance examination candidates at 13 exam centers in suburban Mumbai. They justified their actions by stating that the candidates were from North India and that they should have given the exam from their own states. Furthermore, they insisted that only Maharashtrians should be allowed to take the exams held in Mumbai and Maharashtra.
This latest act of violence has drawn fresh criticism from almost every political party of the Maharashtra Government’s inability to rein in Thackeray and his goons.
With the Maharashtra Government finally waking up from its slumber and making known its decision to arrest Raj Thackeray for the second time in eight months, MNS activists unleashed a fresh wave of violence in the wee hours of the morning on October 21. Taxis, buses and rickshaws were damaged and burned across the city. As morning came, MNS activists forced shops and businesses to remain closed in Marathi-dominated areas like Dadar, Parel, Kalyan and Dombivali. As a precautionary measure, most schools and colleges also remained shut.
The police seemed to be fully prepared to handle violence by making almost 2,000 preventive arrest of MNS activists, but in the end they could do little to prevent the city from coming to a standstill. Thackeray was to be presented in the Bandra court before a magistrate who would decide whether to grant him bail for his offences or not. Even before Thackeray was presented in court, a mob of almost 2,000 MNS activists gathered outside the courthouse, damaged public property, pelted stones at passing vehicles and set fire to public vehicles like buses and police vans.
Thackeray has been booked under a variety of sections under the Indian penal code for offenses such as rioting and inciting people to damage public property. While the Bandra court granted him bail, Thackeray still had to get bail for other offenses filed against him in the Kalyan court. This meant that Raj would spend the night of October 21st in jail.
Since then, Raj has been released from jail and is following the gag order issued against him by the Mumbai high court. Though it has been quiet in Mumbai for two weeks, people are still wary of any new trouble that MNS activists might cause. There is a troubled calm across the city as people get back to their daily lives.
This latest act of hooliganism by Thackeray’s goons, masquerading as a political party, provides another sorry example of how India is turning into a mobocracy. A fringe political leader is being allowed to hold the country’s financial capital to ransom and cause millions of dollars of direct and indirect damage to private and public property, and to the economy.
At a time like this, the Government must give priority to the swift execution of the law towards the guilty. Instead, it is wasting precious days and weeks in trying to analyze the event and how it will impact its own chances of getting re-elected in the upcoming elections.
At the end of it all, it is the common man who suffers. It is the man on the street who is beaten up by unruly ‘political workers’ for no fault of his own. It is the man on the street who loses a day’s pay because he is not able to get to work due to a rampaging mob. And it is the man on the street who has to shut down his business because the Congress Government does not have the guts to stand up to a maverick politician with mindless violence on his agenda.
With the state machinery having failed at maintaining law and order, only when this man on the street rises up and ensures that goons like Raj Thackeray do not win elections with such damaging agendas, and that spineless politicians like Vilasrao Deskhmukh (the Chief Minister of Maharashtra) do not get re-elected after such pathetic attempts at protecting common citizens, will the system have worked.
Lastly, what seems to have slipped everyone’s mind is how damaging this violence is for Mumbai and India’s image as a safe investment destination. It won’t be surprising if companies from the rest of the country and the rest of the world think twice before investing in a place where frivolous issues like the size and location of the Marathi font on signboards bring a city of almost 20 million people to a standstill.
If selfish politicians like Deshmukh and Thackeray have their way, Mumbai will go from being a proud, tolerant and cosmopolitan city where people of varied communities live and work, to an intolerant, unsafe and hostile place which will be resigned to basking in its past glory as the has-been apex city of India.
This latest incident was Raj Thackeray’s Diwali gift to the city. This article is mine. I wish everyone a Happy Diwali.
The MNS has acquired a reputation for hooliganism. MNS party members went on a rampage and beat up railway entrance examination candidates at 13 exam centers in suburban Mumbai. They justified their actions by stating that the candidates were from North India and that they should have given the exam from their own states. Furthermore, they insisted that only Maharashtrians should be allowed to take the exams held in Mumbai and Maharashtra.
This latest act of violence has drawn fresh criticism from almost every political party of the Maharashtra Government’s inability to rein in Thackeray and his goons.
With the Maharashtra Government finally waking up from its slumber and making known its decision to arrest Raj Thackeray for the second time in eight months, MNS activists unleashed a fresh wave of violence in the wee hours of the morning on October 21. Taxis, buses and rickshaws were damaged and burned across the city. As morning came, MNS activists forced shops and businesses to remain closed in Marathi-dominated areas like Dadar, Parel, Kalyan and Dombivali. As a precautionary measure, most schools and colleges also remained shut.
The police seemed to be fully prepared to handle violence by making almost 2,000 preventive arrest of MNS activists, but in the end they could do little to prevent the city from coming to a standstill. Thackeray was to be presented in the Bandra court before a magistrate who would decide whether to grant him bail for his offences or not. Even before Thackeray was presented in court, a mob of almost 2,000 MNS activists gathered outside the courthouse, damaged public property, pelted stones at passing vehicles and set fire to public vehicles like buses and police vans.
Thackeray has been booked under a variety of sections under the Indian penal code for offenses such as rioting and inciting people to damage public property. While the Bandra court granted him bail, Thackeray still had to get bail for other offenses filed against him in the Kalyan court. This meant that Raj would spend the night of October 21st in jail.
Since then, Raj has been released from jail and is following the gag order issued against him by the Mumbai high court. Though it has been quiet in Mumbai for two weeks, people are still wary of any new trouble that MNS activists might cause. There is a troubled calm across the city as people get back to their daily lives.
This latest act of hooliganism by Thackeray’s goons, masquerading as a political party, provides another sorry example of how India is turning into a mobocracy. A fringe political leader is being allowed to hold the country’s financial capital to ransom and cause millions of dollars of direct and indirect damage to private and public property, and to the economy.
At a time like this, the Government must give priority to the swift execution of the law towards the guilty. Instead, it is wasting precious days and weeks in trying to analyze the event and how it will impact its own chances of getting re-elected in the upcoming elections.
At the end of it all, it is the common man who suffers. It is the man on the street who is beaten up by unruly ‘political workers’ for no fault of his own. It is the man on the street who loses a day’s pay because he is not able to get to work due to a rampaging mob. And it is the man on the street who has to shut down his business because the Congress Government does not have the guts to stand up to a maverick politician with mindless violence on his agenda.
With the state machinery having failed at maintaining law and order, only when this man on the street rises up and ensures that goons like Raj Thackeray do not win elections with such damaging agendas, and that spineless politicians like Vilasrao Deskhmukh (the Chief Minister of Maharashtra) do not get re-elected after such pathetic attempts at protecting common citizens, will the system have worked.
Lastly, what seems to have slipped everyone’s mind is how damaging this violence is for Mumbai and India’s image as a safe investment destination. It won’t be surprising if companies from the rest of the country and the rest of the world think twice before investing in a place where frivolous issues like the size and location of the Marathi font on signboards bring a city of almost 20 million people to a standstill.
If selfish politicians like Deshmukh and Thackeray have their way, Mumbai will go from being a proud, tolerant and cosmopolitan city where people of varied communities live and work, to an intolerant, unsafe and hostile place which will be resigned to basking in its past glory as the has-been apex city of India.
This latest incident was Raj Thackeray’s Diwali gift to the city. This article is mine. I wish everyone a Happy Diwali.
October 17, 2008
Dukhi investor ki aatmakatha
Aban laga tha 2500 mein bahut achha,
Ab who bhaav aayega jab hoga mera bachcha.
Socha tha rights mein daloonga main Hindalco,
Par usne sirf badhaya mere sar pe aayi taal ko
Rpower bola 'Power on India on',
Par what about my IPO money that's gone?
DLF tha big daddy of Indian realty story,
Par ise lene so to achha hote mere paise chori.
JP Associates ko dala tha Sensex mein boss!
Tees mein se hua sabse jyada isi scrip mein loss.
Moti ka share do hazaar ek sau pe very nice,
Do nikaal do, sau hai uski current price.
Jisne daale paise jab market twenty one tha
who ab soche saala FD ka dus taka kya kam tha?
Meri mehnat ki kamai sirf ho gayi aadhi,
F&O vaalo ki to ho gayi barbaadi!
Ab who bhaav aayega jab hoga mera bachcha.
Socha tha rights mein daloonga main Hindalco,
Par usne sirf badhaya mere sar pe aayi taal ko
Rpower bola 'Power on India on',
Par what about my IPO money that's gone?
DLF tha big daddy of Indian realty story,
Par ise lene so to achha hote mere paise chori.
JP Associates ko dala tha Sensex mein boss!
Tees mein se hua sabse jyada isi scrip mein loss.
Moti ka share do hazaar ek sau pe very nice,
Do nikaal do, sau hai uski current price.
Jisne daale paise jab market twenty one tha
who ab soche saala FD ka dus taka kya kam tha?
Meri mehnat ki kamai sirf ho gayi aadhi,
F&O vaalo ki to ho gayi barbaadi!
October 8, 2008
The Team
The Team
Baat karte hai humare team ki,
Institutional equities hamara naam hai,
We talk to the biggest clients,
But LIC lagana hamara asli kaam hai,
Bharat bhai ka kya kehna hai?
Sabka dhyaan rakhte hai poora,
Jab client order na de,
To use kahe jhamura!
Kirti miss aggressive,
Makes me Earl Grey tea,
Comes with me for meetings,
To State Bank and GIC,
Apna Himanshu Bhai,
Mere CFA ka guru,
Choti si baat pe,
Jor se bolna shuru!
Mukund from Keral,
Sutta marne neeche jaata hai,
Bhaag ke aata hai jab,
Catholic Syrian se phone aata hai!
Sab ki maa Uma,
New India phone lagaye,
Bohot acha lage,
Jab pav bhaji lekar aaye!
Aur Santosh Gaikar,
Din bhar confirmation bhejta hai,
Ganpati ke agle din,
Par daandi marta hai!
Last mein bacha main,
Taurus ko phone lagata hoon,
Baki time to sirf,
Fun @ Work mein jaata hoon!
I've had a lot of fun here,
But now it's time to go,
I just feel like saying,
Mujhe yaha pade rehne do!
But I need to move on
Learn every corner and nook
And keep on adding names,
To my little black book!
Baat karte hai humare team ki,
Institutional equities hamara naam hai,
We talk to the biggest clients,
But LIC lagana hamara asli kaam hai,
Bharat bhai ka kya kehna hai?
Sabka dhyaan rakhte hai poora,
Jab client order na de,
To use kahe jhamura!
Kirti miss aggressive,
Makes me Earl Grey tea,
Comes with me for meetings,
To State Bank and GIC,
Apna Himanshu Bhai,
Mere CFA ka guru,
Choti si baat pe,
Jor se bolna shuru!
Mukund from Keral,
Sutta marne neeche jaata hai,
Bhaag ke aata hai jab,
Catholic Syrian se phone aata hai!
Sab ki maa Uma,
New India phone lagaye,
Bohot acha lage,
Jab pav bhaji lekar aaye!
Aur Santosh Gaikar,
Din bhar confirmation bhejta hai,
Ganpati ke agle din,
Par daandi marta hai!
Last mein bacha main,
Taurus ko phone lagata hoon,
Baki time to sirf,
Fun @ Work mein jaata hoon!
I've had a lot of fun here,
But now it's time to go,
I just feel like saying,
Mujhe yaha pade rehne do!
But I need to move on
Learn every corner and nook
And keep on adding names,
To my little black book!
Raj is at it again
So Raj’s at it again. After attacking North Indian taxi drivers and shop owners a few months ago in Mumbai, he has revived his agitations. Raj Thackeray and his party supporters (read: goons) have launched a campaign against shop sign boards that don’t feature Marathi, threatened to boycott movies starring members of the Bachchan family, and challenged the joint police commissioner of Mumbai to a street fight. But it seems that Mr. Thackeray has played his cards wrong this time around.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) went on a threatening spree to shops around the city of Mumbai demanding shop owners to display their signs in Marathi as well. They claimed that the Marathi font had tobe larger than the English or Hindi fonts and displayed more prominently. The Bombay Shop & Establishment Act only states that Marathi has to be displayed along with Hindi or English on the signboard 1. Now, I do not have an issue with Raj Thackeray wanting this law to be enforced. What I find worrisome is the way he has gone about it. He chose to threaten people when he could have simply appealed to the concerned government department to enforce the law. Last time his men beat up helpless taxi drivers who couldn’t do much to retaliate. This time around, he has picked a fight with shop owners from various backgrounds; rich and poor, Marathi and non-Marathi. Small businesses traditionally fund a sizeable percentage of the election budgets of political parties. His campaign might have a negative effect on how much money and support he will be able to garner from this section. He only backed off from his self-enforced deadline later, when the high court came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for sitting idle and letting the MNS take the law into its own hands, and issued a strong statement saying that “nobody could hold the people to ransom” 2
I also think that issues like signs in Marathi must be left to economic needs. If a shop’s customer base includes enough Marathis, the owner will automatically find it necessary to have his shop name displayed in Marathi as well. For example, sign boards in Marathi-dominated areas like Parel and Dadar have always been primarily in Marathi, sometimes English is not even featured on the sign.
This done with, Raj Thackeray picked a fight with the Bachchan family. Over-reacting to a joke in a public function by Jaya Bachchan wherein she said that she would speak only in Hindi as she was from Uttar Pradesh. Thackeray threatened to ensure that all of the Bachchan family’s upcoming releases, including The Last Lear and Drona, would be boycotted. Glass panes were smashed at the theatr where the premiere of the Last Lear was supposed to take place, forcing the cancellation of the event. 3 After Amitabh Bachchan apologized publicly for his wife’s comments, Thackeray withdrew his agitation. What stands out from this incident is that Amitabh Bachchan proved to be the bigger man by apologizing when he didn’t need to, and Thackeray comes out as the politician with frivolous items on his political agenda.
With this out of the way, Raj Thackeray found something else to raise a storm about. His party challenged KL Prasad, the Joint Police Commissioner (Law & Order), Mumbai, to what can pretty much be termed as a street fight. He took offense to a statement made by the Commissioner “Mumbai konacha baapachi nahi” (Mumbai is not anyone’s father’s property), while reacting to Thackeray’s anti-Bachchan agitations. As a response, Thackeray publicly announced that KL Prasad should “come out without his badge and uniform and he will know who Maharashtra and Mumbai belong to,” 4
This list of recent incidents involving the MNS has clearly thrown into the limelight that Raj Thackeray’s agenda is to ignite the anti-outsider hatred in the minds of the average lower-middle class Marathi people of Mumbai. I feel that none of his activities, even if successful, will improve the life of the common Marathi man in any way. Just because a sign is in Marathi or a movie isn’t released doesn’t mean that the standard of living is better for anyone. He may be doing these activities with the vote bank in mind, but it is important to note that some of the very activities he has undertaken, like the Marathi signboard agitations, can actually be counterproductive when it comes to increasing his electoral popularity.
What is left to be seen is how the common voter will react in the upcoming elections to these antics. Hopefully, the resilience of the Indian voter in giving justice to politicians (as seen in the removal of Indira Gandhi after the Emergency) will come out on top, and Raj Thackeray will be resigned to the role of the insignificant angry young man of Maharashtra politics.
Footnotes:
1 http://www.maharashtra.gov.in
2 http://www.deccanherald.com/CONTENT/Aug292008/national2008082887197.asp
3 http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=35&contentid=2008091220080912032239430f3093acb&pageno=1
4 http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080064984
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) went on a threatening spree to shops around the city of Mumbai demanding shop owners to display their signs in Marathi as well. They claimed that the Marathi font had tobe larger than the English or Hindi fonts and displayed more prominently. The Bombay Shop & Establishment Act only states that Marathi has to be displayed along with Hindi or English on the signboard 1. Now, I do not have an issue with Raj Thackeray wanting this law to be enforced. What I find worrisome is the way he has gone about it. He chose to threaten people when he could have simply appealed to the concerned government department to enforce the law. Last time his men beat up helpless taxi drivers who couldn’t do much to retaliate. This time around, he has picked a fight with shop owners from various backgrounds; rich and poor, Marathi and non-Marathi. Small businesses traditionally fund a sizeable percentage of the election budgets of political parties. His campaign might have a negative effect on how much money and support he will be able to garner from this section. He only backed off from his self-enforced deadline later, when the high court came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for sitting idle and letting the MNS take the law into its own hands, and issued a strong statement saying that “nobody could hold the people to ransom” 2
I also think that issues like signs in Marathi must be left to economic needs. If a shop’s customer base includes enough Marathis, the owner will automatically find it necessary to have his shop name displayed in Marathi as well. For example, sign boards in Marathi-dominated areas like Parel and Dadar have always been primarily in Marathi, sometimes English is not even featured on the sign.
This done with, Raj Thackeray picked a fight with the Bachchan family. Over-reacting to a joke in a public function by Jaya Bachchan wherein she said that she would speak only in Hindi as she was from Uttar Pradesh. Thackeray threatened to ensure that all of the Bachchan family’s upcoming releases, including The Last Lear and Drona, would be boycotted. Glass panes were smashed at the theatr where the premiere of the Last Lear was supposed to take place, forcing the cancellation of the event. 3 After Amitabh Bachchan apologized publicly for his wife’s comments, Thackeray withdrew his agitation. What stands out from this incident is that Amitabh Bachchan proved to be the bigger man by apologizing when he didn’t need to, and Thackeray comes out as the politician with frivolous items on his political agenda.
With this out of the way, Raj Thackeray found something else to raise a storm about. His party challenged KL Prasad, the Joint Police Commissioner (Law & Order), Mumbai, to what can pretty much be termed as a street fight. He took offense to a statement made by the Commissioner “Mumbai konacha baapachi nahi” (Mumbai is not anyone’s father’s property), while reacting to Thackeray’s anti-Bachchan agitations. As a response, Thackeray publicly announced that KL Prasad should “come out without his badge and uniform and he will know who Maharashtra and Mumbai belong to,” 4
This list of recent incidents involving the MNS has clearly thrown into the limelight that Raj Thackeray’s agenda is to ignite the anti-outsider hatred in the minds of the average lower-middle class Marathi people of Mumbai. I feel that none of his activities, even if successful, will improve the life of the common Marathi man in any way. Just because a sign is in Marathi or a movie isn’t released doesn’t mean that the standard of living is better for anyone. He may be doing these activities with the vote bank in mind, but it is important to note that some of the very activities he has undertaken, like the Marathi signboard agitations, can actually be counterproductive when it comes to increasing his electoral popularity.
What is left to be seen is how the common voter will react in the upcoming elections to these antics. Hopefully, the resilience of the Indian voter in giving justice to politicians (as seen in the removal of Indira Gandhi after the Emergency) will come out on top, and Raj Thackeray will be resigned to the role of the insignificant angry young man of Maharashtra politics.
Footnotes:
1 http://www.maharashtra.gov.in
2 http://www.deccanherald.com/CONTENT/Aug292008/national2008082887197.asp
3 http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=35&contentid=2008091220080912032239430f3093acb&pageno=1
4 http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080064984
A Week in Bombay
After writing about a week on Tokyo, I figured…why wait for another +1 trip to write another travel article? I’ll write one about my favorite city in the world, Bombay!
First off, you must be a gutsy traveler who is willing to go off the beaten path and do things that are unique to Bombay. I know that the name is now Mumbai, as some politically correct reader might point out; I would advise the reader to deal with it.
Bombay is the largest city in India, with a metropolitan population exceeding 17 million. Although the city appears to stretch endlessly, it is safe to say that most of what I recommend is in or around South Bombay. Hence, upon arrival, one should look for a hotel in South Bombay. It is advisable that one book in advance during the peak months of September-March, when hotel rooms can be very hard to find.
Recommended hotel choices are the Taj Mahal Hotel at Apollo Bunder (~$500/night) for the financially well-endowed to the YMCA hostel at Mumbai Central (~$20/night) for the shoestring globetrotter.
Bombay is the country’s premier air hub and it is well connected to Europe, South-East Asia and the US of A. If you are flying in from the East Coast or Europe, I recommend flying Emirates. There might be an extra stop in Dubai, but it is worth it. For those coming in from the West Coast, Jet Airways flies San Francisco-Shanghai-Bombay. It is accessible by all forms of transport from the rest of India as well.
If you fly in, you will probably arrive in Bombay late in the night. So day one begins when you wake up the next morning. A few tips to keep in mind:
Always insist that the taxi drivers go by the meter. Do not bargain for a fare.
Carry a bottle of water. Bombay can get very humid.
Avoid traveling by the local trains. They are very crowded and the trip can be very stressful for the unaccustomed.
Day One:
Any trip to Bombay must start with the Gateway of India. Arrive at around ten in the morning. The Gateway is a Bombay landmark and taxis are the best way to reach there. It was built in 1924 to welcome King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay. The last British troops to leave India left through the Gateway of India. I recommend taking a short ferry ride that gives you a panoramic view of South Bombay. The rides last under an hour and cost less than $3 per person.
Once done with Gateway, one can walk to nearby Prince of Wales museum, which is now called Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastusangrahalaya (A result of an indiscretionary renaming spree which swept through Bombay in the late 90s. There are some interesting artifacts dating from the last three millenia. Right across the intersection is Regal movie theater, one of Bombay’s most famous theaters. It is noted for its art deco style of architecture and is worth a look. The Kala Ghoda Art District is also nearby, with many art galleries showcasing the best in Indian art. Lunch at Kala Ghoda in Chetana restaurant is a good way to experience a tradional Indian Thali. The food is good, and the prices are cheap. Think of it as an Indian buffet with service.
The evening can be spent shopping around Colaba, which is Bombay’s watering hole for foreigners. Most legal (and some illegal) pleasures can be experienced here. Colaba boasts some of Bombay’s most celebrated pubs. A lot of cheap hotels are also located in this area. One can buy shoes, clothes, antiques and music at throwaway prices (post-bargaining, of course). Beware of touts who will claim to hook you up with the best drugs and girls. If ignored, these touts are mostly harmless except for their nuisance value.
A perfect way to end the day is by having a drink or two at Cafe Leopold. This iconic eatery is the centerpiece of the novel ‘Shantaram’ by Gregory David Roberts.The food and ambiance are similar to any busy eatery in Bombay, but foreigners outnumber Indians three to one on most nights. Buy a Leo’s t-shirt or a copy of Shantaram with the official Cafe Leopold seal on it as a souvenir. If you still have any energy left at the end of it all, walk over to Koyla for a hookah. This rooftop restaurant creates a beautiful ambiance with pebble-stones on the ground, individual tents for tables and a view of downtown. Although the food is good here, the hookahs are the main attraction.
Day Two:
Start off the day with a visit to the Haji Ali shrine. The area is known by the shrine and almost everyone knows the way there. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that it is a 500-year old shrine in a city that is 400 years old. It is in the middle of a small bay and is connected to the mainland by a causeway. Note that you must wear appropriate clothing for a Muslim shrine. The view of the mosque from the promenade is great, but the view of the city from the shrine is better.
From Haji Ali, you can take a short taxi ride to Phoenix Mills, central Bombay’s hotbed of shopping activity. This neighborhood has been characteristic of central Bombay for a long time. Abandoned textile mills, which were remnants of Bombay’s past as the premier cotton trading city in the world are now being converted to swank shopping, residential and office complexes. Phoenix Mills is the first and largest of such redevelopments. You can spend half a day strolling through about 500,000 square feet of shopping space. There are lots of choices if you are looking to buy clothes, electronics or eat. I recommend having lunch at Spaghetti Kitchen. This upscale restaurant is located in the main courtyard and has some of the best Italian cuisine in town. If you get bored of the place, there isalso a brand new PVR* multiplex to catch the latest flicks (It should be open by the time this article is published).
A day spent here is sure to get you hungry by dinner time. For dinner, I suggest going back to Haji Ali to eat at Copper Chimney. Although the restaurant has a branch at Phoenix Mills, I recommend going to the original one. You can watch your tandoori dishes being prepared in front of you. This restaurant has been a Bombay favorite for many years and serves some of the most delicious North Indian food south of Delhi.
Post dinner, head over to the Bombay Dyeing mills for a couple of drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe. The first branch of this world-famous chain in India, the Cafe opened in 2006 and covers an area of 8,000 square feet. It has two live music areas and hosts local bands every Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is world-class in terms of memorabilia, food and music. A tough competitor to Hard Rock Cafe is Shiro, which is right next door. Shiro is famous for its Asian theme (the centerpiece of which is an imposing 25 feet tall Buddha statue in front of the entrance) and South East Asian/House music list. If rock is not your genre, an evening in Shiro is just as fun.
Day Three:
You might be in the mood for something more sober after Hard Rock Cafe and Shiro. You can start off in the morning with a visit to Mani Bhavan, which was Mahatma Gandhi’s residence while he was in Bombay. It is now a museum on his life and the Indian freedom struggle. It is in a locality called Gowalia Tank, which is the birthplace of the 1942 Quit India movement. Less importantly, it is also the neighborhood in which I live. Mani Bhavan is pretty compact and shouldn’t take you more than an hour to tour. A short walk away is Girgaum Chowpatty, the most popular beach in the city. Chowpatty means ‘beach’ in Marathi. There are many chowpattys in Bombay, including Juhu and Dadar Chowpattys. Don’t expect a Copa Cabana-esqe atmosphere, given Bombay’s heat it will most likely be empty. What you can expect is a brilliant view of Nariman Point, the downtown of Bombay. Since there’s not much to do in the mornings at the beach, I suggest taking a short taxi ride to Hanging Gardens. The gardens are perched on top of Malabar Hill, which is one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the country. An apartment in an old building can cost you as much as $2,500 a square foot! The Hanging Gardens are on top of a 10 million gallon water tank that supplies water to South Bombay. If you go all the way to the end of the park, you will see a viewing point. In my mind, this point gives you the single best view of downtown that one can get. The gardens are usually crowded in the evenings, where kids come to play around the famous two story shoe-house.
After having admired Nariman Point from multiple locations, it is time to actually visit it. Lunch can be enjoyed at New Yorker’s, which is right across Chowpatty. This vegetarian restaurant is very popular with the Gujarati community and serves delicious Italian and Mexican food specially suited for Indian tastes. I recommend the Cheese Nachos and the Bombay Masala Pizza. Alternatively, one can eat lunch at the Pizzeria, a breezy eatery at the other end of Marine Drive (The promenade that connects Chowpatty to Nariman Point). They also have a pizza named the Bombay Masala, which is equally good. The evening can be spent sitting on the promenade at Nariman Point and admiring the view of Malabar Hill to the North and Cuffe Parade to the South.
Head back to Chowpatty in the evening to enjoy some Bombay street food by walking down Marine Drive. This promenade embodies the identity of Bombay and was built as part of a reclamation project in the 60s. It has the second largest collection of seafront art deco buildings in the world after Miami, FL. On reaching Chowpatty, sample the Bhelpuris, Pani Puris, Dahi Wadas and Sevpuris at the Bhel plaza at the North end of Chowpatty. If you are going during monsoon, I would avoid this trip. Even at other times, insist that the stall vendors used packaged water to make the dishes. Note that you might have to insist on it, as using packaged water is an exception and not the rule. You can fill yourself up with four or five plates of the various snacks and cross the road to Cafe Ideal for a couple of beers. This eatery has been in business since the 1980s and serves beer and vegetarian food with friendly service. You will get to hear an extensive collection of old Hindi songs, and with the beach breeze blowing you are sure to get nostalgic. Make sure you try the Chili cheese toast and select a couple of songs on their famous jukebox.
Day Four:
It’s time to go to the suburbs! For this trip, I will only include Bandra, the southernmost suburb on the Western line. It is commonly known as the Queen of the Suburbs and has a strong Catholic flavor to it. There are many pretty churches and prettier girls to be seen in Bandra. It is also the hotspot for numerous restaurants, pubs and nightclubs. You can head out to Bandra in the morning. I suggest a trip down Linking Road for lots of cheap shopping opportunities in the morning, followed by lunch at any of the numerous restaurants in the area. The evening can be spent eating Pani Puris at Elco, or shopping for electronics at Alfa. One can also take a walk down Bandstand or Carter Road. The iconic Bandra Worli Sea Link is visible from Bandstand. To get a closer view of the Sea Link, one can also go to Reclamation. The photo opportunity is completed by the numerous skyscrapers under construction in the Lower Parel-Worli belt, which can be seen from Reclamation as well. If time permits, and if you enjoy looking at cool buildings, take a rickshaw ride to Bandra Kurla Complex, which the the second downtown of Bombay. Being a planned area, many large Indian companies have chosen to locate their head quarters in this neighborhood. Swanky glass-faced buildings of companies like ICICI Bank, the National Stock Exchange, the Bharat Diamond bourses (The largest office building in India with 10,000 offices) can all be seen here.
Having seen the glitz of the Bandra Kurla Complex, head over to India’s biggest slum, Dharavi. With a population of over 2 million people, has an annual GDP of $550 million. Many tour companies give tours of Dharavi. I recommend Mumbai Magic, whose tours last a couple of hours.
The late evening can be spent having dinner at the two-storeyed China House at the Hyatt in Kalina, followed by a couple of drinks at the lower level. Note that this restaurant is uber expensive, with drinks that cost as much as $20 each. A meal for two can easily set you back over $200.
Day Five:
The last day should be the most fun. Walk around Bombay’s historic old downtown called Fort. The name comes from an old Fort built here by the Birtish to protect the Bombay harbour. No traces can be found of this fort, but the name has stuck. One can see many buildings from the colonial era which have been beautifully restored. This neighborhood along with Kala Ghoda is one of the few tourist-friendly parts of town. You can find maps at most intersections. Make sure you don’t miss the HSBC building, the Standard Chartered building, the Asiatic Society, Horniman Circle garden and Flora Fountain. You can’t miss the towering Bombay Stock Exchange building, the faceplate of the Indian financial markets. Also make sure to visit the RBI Monetary museum, which provides for an interesting account of notes and other financial papers, as well as coins dating back several hundred years.
Lunch can be enjoyed at any of the numerous street stalls or tiny office eating joints. They serve delicious foods at extremely cheap prices. A meal for two can be easily managed in under $5. Stroll around Oval Maidan, which resembles Central Park but is much smaller, and watch kids play cricket in the afternoon sun. The Churchgate neighborhood is full of art deco buildings as well. Fashion street is a short walk away, and one can buy “original” branded clothes that are strikingly close to the real thing. Don’t forget to bargain, it is possible to strike down the price by as much at 80%, although one can’t expect the clothes to last beyond a couple of months.
Around 6.30 pm, go visit VT Station. This is the southern hub of the Central and Harbour lines, and serves approximately two million passengers a day. Originally called Victoria Terminus, it has now been renamed Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. At this time in the evening, it will seem as if all two million people are in the station at the same time. The sheer volume of people catching the trains (called ‘locals’ by commuters) that leave every minute and a half on average is a sight to see. It is funny and awe-inspiring at the same time when one watches a train get filled up before it even comes to a complete stop at the station.
To end the Bombay trip, I can’t think of anything better than a dinner at Bhagat Tarachand. Tucked away in the narrow bylanes of Kalbadevi, the only way to get here without getting lost is to take a taxi to Cotton Exchange and then walk the remaining short distance. The crowd will overwhelm you and sometimes one doesn’t need to try to move; the crowd pushes you around anyways. This restaurant is a famous brand name with branches all around the Bombay Metropolitan Region, but this particular outlet is the original one. They serve staple Punjabi and Sindhi fare. Don’t forget to sample the Papad churi and the buttermilk that is served in recycled beer bottles. A meal for two shouldn’t cost you more than $5.
If you haven’t fallen sick after eating my recommended street food and loitering about in the heat, stay on a couple of days and give me a call…I’ll be happy to take you to some more hidden places that bring out the real Bombay!
References:
* http://www.pvrcinemas.com/site/PVRStory.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_metropolitan_area
http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/cafe.aspx?LocationID=455&MIBenumID=3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharavi
http://www.mumbaimagic.com/dharavi.htm
First off, you must be a gutsy traveler who is willing to go off the beaten path and do things that are unique to Bombay. I know that the name is now Mumbai, as some politically correct reader might point out; I would advise the reader to deal with it.
Bombay is the largest city in India, with a metropolitan population exceeding 17 million. Although the city appears to stretch endlessly, it is safe to say that most of what I recommend is in or around South Bombay. Hence, upon arrival, one should look for a hotel in South Bombay. It is advisable that one book in advance during the peak months of September-March, when hotel rooms can be very hard to find.
Recommended hotel choices are the Taj Mahal Hotel at Apollo Bunder (~$500/night) for the financially well-endowed to the YMCA hostel at Mumbai Central (~$20/night) for the shoestring globetrotter.
Bombay is the country’s premier air hub and it is well connected to Europe, South-East Asia and the US of A. If you are flying in from the East Coast or Europe, I recommend flying Emirates. There might be an extra stop in Dubai, but it is worth it. For those coming in from the West Coast, Jet Airways flies San Francisco-Shanghai-Bombay. It is accessible by all forms of transport from the rest of India as well.
If you fly in, you will probably arrive in Bombay late in the night. So day one begins when you wake up the next morning. A few tips to keep in mind:
Always insist that the taxi drivers go by the meter. Do not bargain for a fare.
Carry a bottle of water. Bombay can get very humid.
Avoid traveling by the local trains. They are very crowded and the trip can be very stressful for the unaccustomed.
Day One:
Any trip to Bombay must start with the Gateway of India. Arrive at around ten in the morning. The Gateway is a Bombay landmark and taxis are the best way to reach there. It was built in 1924 to welcome King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay. The last British troops to leave India left through the Gateway of India. I recommend taking a short ferry ride that gives you a panoramic view of South Bombay. The rides last under an hour and cost less than $3 per person.
Once done with Gateway, one can walk to nearby Prince of Wales museum, which is now called Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastusangrahalaya (A result of an indiscretionary renaming spree which swept through Bombay in the late 90s. There are some interesting artifacts dating from the last three millenia. Right across the intersection is Regal movie theater, one of Bombay’s most famous theaters. It is noted for its art deco style of architecture and is worth a look. The Kala Ghoda Art District is also nearby, with many art galleries showcasing the best in Indian art. Lunch at Kala Ghoda in Chetana restaurant is a good way to experience a tradional Indian Thali. The food is good, and the prices are cheap. Think of it as an Indian buffet with service.
The evening can be spent shopping around Colaba, which is Bombay’s watering hole for foreigners. Most legal (and some illegal) pleasures can be experienced here. Colaba boasts some of Bombay’s most celebrated pubs. A lot of cheap hotels are also located in this area. One can buy shoes, clothes, antiques and music at throwaway prices (post-bargaining, of course). Beware of touts who will claim to hook you up with the best drugs and girls. If ignored, these touts are mostly harmless except for their nuisance value.
A perfect way to end the day is by having a drink or two at Cafe Leopold. This iconic eatery is the centerpiece of the novel ‘Shantaram’ by Gregory David Roberts.The food and ambiance are similar to any busy eatery in Bombay, but foreigners outnumber Indians three to one on most nights. Buy a Leo’s t-shirt or a copy of Shantaram with the official Cafe Leopold seal on it as a souvenir. If you still have any energy left at the end of it all, walk over to Koyla for a hookah. This rooftop restaurant creates a beautiful ambiance with pebble-stones on the ground, individual tents for tables and a view of downtown. Although the food is good here, the hookahs are the main attraction.
Day Two:
Start off the day with a visit to the Haji Ali shrine. The area is known by the shrine and almost everyone knows the way there. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that it is a 500-year old shrine in a city that is 400 years old. It is in the middle of a small bay and is connected to the mainland by a causeway. Note that you must wear appropriate clothing for a Muslim shrine. The view of the mosque from the promenade is great, but the view of the city from the shrine is better.
From Haji Ali, you can take a short taxi ride to Phoenix Mills, central Bombay’s hotbed of shopping activity. This neighborhood has been characteristic of central Bombay for a long time. Abandoned textile mills, which were remnants of Bombay’s past as the premier cotton trading city in the world are now being converted to swank shopping, residential and office complexes. Phoenix Mills is the first and largest of such redevelopments. You can spend half a day strolling through about 500,000 square feet of shopping space. There are lots of choices if you are looking to buy clothes, electronics or eat. I recommend having lunch at Spaghetti Kitchen. This upscale restaurant is located in the main courtyard and has some of the best Italian cuisine in town. If you get bored of the place, there isalso a brand new PVR* multiplex to catch the latest flicks (It should be open by the time this article is published).
A day spent here is sure to get you hungry by dinner time. For dinner, I suggest going back to Haji Ali to eat at Copper Chimney. Although the restaurant has a branch at Phoenix Mills, I recommend going to the original one. You can watch your tandoori dishes being prepared in front of you. This restaurant has been a Bombay favorite for many years and serves some of the most delicious North Indian food south of Delhi.
Post dinner, head over to the Bombay Dyeing mills for a couple of drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe. The first branch of this world-famous chain in India, the Cafe opened in 2006 and covers an area of 8,000 square feet. It has two live music areas and hosts local bands every Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is world-class in terms of memorabilia, food and music. A tough competitor to Hard Rock Cafe is Shiro, which is right next door. Shiro is famous for its Asian theme (the centerpiece of which is an imposing 25 feet tall Buddha statue in front of the entrance) and South East Asian/House music list. If rock is not your genre, an evening in Shiro is just as fun.
Day Three:
You might be in the mood for something more sober after Hard Rock Cafe and Shiro. You can start off in the morning with a visit to Mani Bhavan, which was Mahatma Gandhi’s residence while he was in Bombay. It is now a museum on his life and the Indian freedom struggle. It is in a locality called Gowalia Tank, which is the birthplace of the 1942 Quit India movement. Less importantly, it is also the neighborhood in which I live. Mani Bhavan is pretty compact and shouldn’t take you more than an hour to tour. A short walk away is Girgaum Chowpatty, the most popular beach in the city. Chowpatty means ‘beach’ in Marathi. There are many chowpattys in Bombay, including Juhu and Dadar Chowpattys. Don’t expect a Copa Cabana-esqe atmosphere, given Bombay’s heat it will most likely be empty. What you can expect is a brilliant view of Nariman Point, the downtown of Bombay. Since there’s not much to do in the mornings at the beach, I suggest taking a short taxi ride to Hanging Gardens. The gardens are perched on top of Malabar Hill, which is one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the country. An apartment in an old building can cost you as much as $2,500 a square foot! The Hanging Gardens are on top of a 10 million gallon water tank that supplies water to South Bombay. If you go all the way to the end of the park, you will see a viewing point. In my mind, this point gives you the single best view of downtown that one can get. The gardens are usually crowded in the evenings, where kids come to play around the famous two story shoe-house.
After having admired Nariman Point from multiple locations, it is time to actually visit it. Lunch can be enjoyed at New Yorker’s, which is right across Chowpatty. This vegetarian restaurant is very popular with the Gujarati community and serves delicious Italian and Mexican food specially suited for Indian tastes. I recommend the Cheese Nachos and the Bombay Masala Pizza. Alternatively, one can eat lunch at the Pizzeria, a breezy eatery at the other end of Marine Drive (The promenade that connects Chowpatty to Nariman Point). They also have a pizza named the Bombay Masala, which is equally good. The evening can be spent sitting on the promenade at Nariman Point and admiring the view of Malabar Hill to the North and Cuffe Parade to the South.
Head back to Chowpatty in the evening to enjoy some Bombay street food by walking down Marine Drive. This promenade embodies the identity of Bombay and was built as part of a reclamation project in the 60s. It has the second largest collection of seafront art deco buildings in the world after Miami, FL. On reaching Chowpatty, sample the Bhelpuris, Pani Puris, Dahi Wadas and Sevpuris at the Bhel plaza at the North end of Chowpatty. If you are going during monsoon, I would avoid this trip. Even at other times, insist that the stall vendors used packaged water to make the dishes. Note that you might have to insist on it, as using packaged water is an exception and not the rule. You can fill yourself up with four or five plates of the various snacks and cross the road to Cafe Ideal for a couple of beers. This eatery has been in business since the 1980s and serves beer and vegetarian food with friendly service. You will get to hear an extensive collection of old Hindi songs, and with the beach breeze blowing you are sure to get nostalgic. Make sure you try the Chili cheese toast and select a couple of songs on their famous jukebox.
Day Four:
It’s time to go to the suburbs! For this trip, I will only include Bandra, the southernmost suburb on the Western line. It is commonly known as the Queen of the Suburbs and has a strong Catholic flavor to it. There are many pretty churches and prettier girls to be seen in Bandra. It is also the hotspot for numerous restaurants, pubs and nightclubs. You can head out to Bandra in the morning. I suggest a trip down Linking Road for lots of cheap shopping opportunities in the morning, followed by lunch at any of the numerous restaurants in the area. The evening can be spent eating Pani Puris at Elco, or shopping for electronics at Alfa. One can also take a walk down Bandstand or Carter Road. The iconic Bandra Worli Sea Link is visible from Bandstand. To get a closer view of the Sea Link, one can also go to Reclamation. The photo opportunity is completed by the numerous skyscrapers under construction in the Lower Parel-Worli belt, which can be seen from Reclamation as well. If time permits, and if you enjoy looking at cool buildings, take a rickshaw ride to Bandra Kurla Complex, which the the second downtown of Bombay. Being a planned area, many large Indian companies have chosen to locate their head quarters in this neighborhood. Swanky glass-faced buildings of companies like ICICI Bank, the National Stock Exchange, the Bharat Diamond bourses (The largest office building in India with 10,000 offices) can all be seen here.
Having seen the glitz of the Bandra Kurla Complex, head over to India’s biggest slum, Dharavi. With a population of over 2 million people, has an annual GDP of $550 million. Many tour companies give tours of Dharavi. I recommend Mumbai Magic, whose tours last a couple of hours.
The late evening can be spent having dinner at the two-storeyed China House at the Hyatt in Kalina, followed by a couple of drinks at the lower level. Note that this restaurant is uber expensive, with drinks that cost as much as $20 each. A meal for two can easily set you back over $200.
Day Five:
The last day should be the most fun. Walk around Bombay’s historic old downtown called Fort. The name comes from an old Fort built here by the Birtish to protect the Bombay harbour. No traces can be found of this fort, but the name has stuck. One can see many buildings from the colonial era which have been beautifully restored. This neighborhood along with Kala Ghoda is one of the few tourist-friendly parts of town. You can find maps at most intersections. Make sure you don’t miss the HSBC building, the Standard Chartered building, the Asiatic Society, Horniman Circle garden and Flora Fountain. You can’t miss the towering Bombay Stock Exchange building, the faceplate of the Indian financial markets. Also make sure to visit the RBI Monetary museum, which provides for an interesting account of notes and other financial papers, as well as coins dating back several hundred years.
Lunch can be enjoyed at any of the numerous street stalls or tiny office eating joints. They serve delicious foods at extremely cheap prices. A meal for two can be easily managed in under $5. Stroll around Oval Maidan, which resembles Central Park but is much smaller, and watch kids play cricket in the afternoon sun. The Churchgate neighborhood is full of art deco buildings as well. Fashion street is a short walk away, and one can buy “original” branded clothes that are strikingly close to the real thing. Don’t forget to bargain, it is possible to strike down the price by as much at 80%, although one can’t expect the clothes to last beyond a couple of months.
Around 6.30 pm, go visit VT Station. This is the southern hub of the Central and Harbour lines, and serves approximately two million passengers a day. Originally called Victoria Terminus, it has now been renamed Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. At this time in the evening, it will seem as if all two million people are in the station at the same time. The sheer volume of people catching the trains (called ‘locals’ by commuters) that leave every minute and a half on average is a sight to see. It is funny and awe-inspiring at the same time when one watches a train get filled up before it even comes to a complete stop at the station.
To end the Bombay trip, I can’t think of anything better than a dinner at Bhagat Tarachand. Tucked away in the narrow bylanes of Kalbadevi, the only way to get here without getting lost is to take a taxi to Cotton Exchange and then walk the remaining short distance. The crowd will overwhelm you and sometimes one doesn’t need to try to move; the crowd pushes you around anyways. This restaurant is a famous brand name with branches all around the Bombay Metropolitan Region, but this particular outlet is the original one. They serve staple Punjabi and Sindhi fare. Don’t forget to sample the Papad churi and the buttermilk that is served in recycled beer bottles. A meal for two shouldn’t cost you more than $5.
If you haven’t fallen sick after eating my recommended street food and loitering about in the heat, stay on a couple of days and give me a call…I’ll be happy to take you to some more hidden places that bring out the real Bombay!
References:
* http://www.pvrcinemas.com/site/PVRStory.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_metropolitan_area
http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/cafe.aspx?LocationID=455&MIBenumID=3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharavi
http://www.mumbaimagic.com/dharavi.htm
September 16, 2008
An eye for an eye
Woke up Sunday morning
In the paper I read,
Bomb blasts in New Delhi
Thirty are dead.
I got all depressed
And thought...why again?
All this bloodshed..
It's going insane!!
Sometimes it's the Sena,
Sometimes it's SIMI,
Soon everyone will be dead,
Even you and me.
Read Gandhi's writings,
And you'll be sure to find,
That an eye for an eye,
Makes the world blind.
In the paper I read,
Bomb blasts in New Delhi
Thirty are dead.
I got all depressed
And thought...why again?
All this bloodshed..
It's going insane!!
Sometimes it's the Sena,
Sometimes it's SIMI,
Soon everyone will be dead,
Even you and me.
Read Gandhi's writings,
And you'll be sure to find,
That an eye for an eye,
Makes the world blind.
September 10, 2008
Austin
Sorority ki pyari pyari ladkiyan
Graduation pe Tower ki khidkiyan
Match ke baad cricket ki baatein
6th street pe action bhari raatein
Jester me ghante ke aanth dollar kamana
Phir Chipotle jaake burrito bol dabana
Mt. Bonnell pe bitana shanivaar ki shaam
Sunday ko rona...yaar kitna hai kaam!
Khelna har friday cricket at Spanish Oaks
Bahut achi lage unlimited refills vaali cokes!
Friday poori raat peena grape vaala hookah
Saturday lage martini ke beena gala sookha
Har class mein baithkar so jaana
Phir exam mein pakka fail ho jaana
Kaisi hai zindagi in sab ke bin
aana padega phir agle saal Austin!!!
Graduation pe Tower ki khidkiyan
Match ke baad cricket ki baatein
6th street pe action bhari raatein
Jester me ghante ke aanth dollar kamana
Phir Chipotle jaake burrito bol dabana
Mt. Bonnell pe bitana shanivaar ki shaam
Sunday ko rona...yaar kitna hai kaam!
Khelna har friday cricket at Spanish Oaks
Bahut achi lage unlimited refills vaali cokes!
Friday poori raat peena grape vaala hookah
Saturday lage martini ke beena gala sookha
Har class mein baithkar so jaana
Phir exam mein pakka fail ho jaana
Kaisi hai zindagi in sab ke bin
aana padega phir agle saal Austin!!!
September 6, 2008
A week in Tokyo
Tokyo streches as far as the eye can see
I love visiting places that are off the map as far as desi tourists go. Until this summer, I had been to twelve countries on five continents, the last being Canada in 2005. I decided that it was time to add one more to the list.
I was in the process of planning my yearly pilgrimage to Austin when my Dad mentioned that he was going to Tokyo for a week as part of an IT companies’ delegation. He could take one person with him as a +1. My slow mind churned into action and I hatched the idea of going as part of the delegation. Since I was the +1 person with my Dad, I wouldn’t be required to attend the conferences, nor would I have to pay full price on hotel and accommodation. So with my princely sum of 35,000 Yen (~US$ 350), I set off to the largest city in the world, Tokyo!
The thing with Tokyo is that if you’re the average Indian tourist who goes to Bangkok and Malaysia and Singapore, this trip comes as a huge culture shock. Most countries on the Indian tourist path these days have some trace of India…restaurants, movies, Indian people even. But Tokyo had none of those.
For one, very few people speak English. Most of the signs are in Japanese (except, and thankfully so, transportation signs, which are n English as well). Two, the food is nothing like what one is used to back home. Three, you’re going to have a tough time if you are vegetarian. And four, everything is quite expensive, from shopping to travel to food.
But Tokyo more than makes up for these small travel-related hardships. I have been to a lot of great cities worldwide, and I have never seen anything like this place. It is as dense as New York City, as spread out as Los Angeles, as clean and safe as Singapore and as crowded as Mumbai at the same time. Tokyo is more like a collection of many urban centers. There are many downtowns and many suburbs, and they are all linked by an enormous system of over- and under-ground trains, buses and highways. It seems like Tokyo is simply the largest of these many urban centers and so they just decided to call the whole thing Tokyo.
I spent five days there, and here’s an ideal itinerary on what to do:
You will probably reach Tokyo in the late afternoon/evening when flying from South Asia. I recommend living near the Tokyo train station, or near one of its neighboring stations like Shimbashi, which are close yet relatively cheap to stay in. The evening can be spent relaxing and taking a walk to the nearby Tokyo Tower. It’s Tokyo’s answer to the Eiffel Tower. Though it doesn’t come close in the grandeur of the latter, the view from the top is simply breathtaking. Skyscrapers shoot up into the sky as far as the eye can see. It is more fun to go at night, as everything is lit up all the way to the horizon.
Day two can be spent walking around downtown Tokyo. There are two main attractions to see here. One is the Imperial Palace, which has beautiful palace grounds and an imposing view of downtown Tokyo. The other is the Ginza district, which is one of the most expensive office locations in the world. Huge showrooms of every conceivable luxury brand like Cartier, Gucci, Prada and YSL can be seen here. There is also a four storied Apple store with a training auditorium and a floor devoted to iPod accessories. The world headquarters of Sony are next to the Apple store, and a museum on Sony’s past, present and future products is accessible from street level.
If your feet still have some energy left after walking around Ginza all day, a visit to Roppongi is the best way to cool off. Roppongi is where the foreigners, or gaijins, find themselves most at ease. Roppongi can be accessed by metro. The Roppongi hills shopping center is an added incentive to visit this neighborhood. There are numerous local and international chains of watering holes. One of Tokyo’s Hard Rock Cafes is located here. Gas Panic and Propaganda are popular nightspots. Watch out for touts standing al along the street who may try to convince you to enter a ‘hostess club’, a Japanese version of a strip club. You might end up unwillingly spending ridiculous amounts of money (read:$150+) as their rules for entry; drinks prices and acceptable behavior with the women inside are often unclear. I suggest going to Roppongi every evening and visiting a different pub every time. Each of the tiny watering holes in this area has its own identity and each new one I went to had a new surprise in store.
Day three can be spent in western Tokyo. One can take a morning trip to Shinjuku, which is the Tokyo metropolitan area’s largest downtown. All the city government buildings are located here. One can take the JR East line to Shinjuku station and walk down to the Tokyo City Government Building, which is the tallest in Tokyo. It is a vast complex with the twin towers at its center. Each tower has an observatory at the top which is free for visitors. One gets an astonishing view of the city, which stretches in every direction as far as the eye can see. Once done with Shinjuku, Shibuya is a short train ride away. Shibuya is the youth culture center of Tokyo. The incredible variety of hairstyles and clothing styles are worth noting. A lot of anime influence is also visible. Shibuya is home to the largest concentration of LED screens in the world, almost every building seems to have one that is constantly blaring a J-pop video or an advertisement for some cosmetic product. It is also the location of the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing, called the Hachiko crossing. Some places to visit in Shibuya include the seven-storey Tower Records store, the Disney store and one of the numerous pigeonhole eating joints.
Bright lights at the Hachiko junction in Shibuya
Day four is shopping time! Visit the electronics superstores in Akhihabra, which is a short train ride away from Tokyo station. The largest store here is the eleven-storey Yodobashi Camera store, right outside Akhihabra station. It sells every product you can imagine and some products you can’t imagine! If you’re the tech-savvy type, it is easy to spend three hours in this store. A short taxi ride away is the shopping district of Ueno, where one can find cheap everything: clothes, shoes, accessories and more. A day of shopping followed by a few drinks at Roppongi can make for a very satisfying day.
The last day can be spent visiting the Japanese temples in Tokyo. I suggest taking a train to Asakusa, which is home to the largest temple, the Sensoji shrine. A street full of stalls leads up to the temple, where one can buy souvenirs, clothes and cupcakes which are made in archaic-looking machines in front of the customer. As you near the temple, you will see an ice-cream store that sells ice-cream of some of the weirdest flavors you may have seen: unpolished rice, sweet potato, green tea and peanut! Asakusa also houses the world headquarters of Asahi beer, which are in a building that looks like a giant beer mug! You can come back via a river taxi which leaves you in the skyscraper district of Shiodome close to the Tokyo downtown. Some of the buildings are very imposing and provide the urban traveler with a great photo opportunity. If time permits, a visit to the artificial island of Odaiba is advised. Odaiba contains some weird buildings, like the Fuji TV headquarters some very large shopping malls. An unanticipated tourist attraction in Odaiba is a scaled-down replica of the Statue of Liberty. The train ride to Odaiba on the Yurikamome private railway is an attraction by itself. The driverless train leaves from its own station adjacent to the Shimbashi station and crosses over to Odaiba via a massive suspension bridge, providing some great views throughout.
If your schedule permits an extra day or two, I recommend a visit to the neighbouring city of Yokohama or to Tokyo Disneyland. Both provide for a full day’s worth of entertainment. I am sure that a trip to Tokyo will be unlike anything you have ever experienced. The best part about this great metropolis is that if you don’t like what you see, hop onto a train. The next station is sure to bring you something different to experience.
Some useful links:
Tokyo tourism information:
www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english
WikiTravel:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokyo
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