Thursday, February 16, 2006

BOMBAY

Read this... This will give you a snapshot of Bombay.. Some points are funny, some are ironical and some are those which only a Bombayitte can understand :-)

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Bombay has no bombs and is a harbour not a bay.

Churchgate has neither a church nor a gate. It is a railway station.

There is no darkness in Andheri.

Lalbaag is neither red nor a garden.

No king ever stayed at Kings Circle.

Nor did Queen Victoria stay at Victoria Terminus.

Nor is there any princess at Princess Street.

Lower Parel is at the same level as Parel.

There are no marines or sailors at Marine Lines.

The Mahalaxmi temple is at Haji Ali not at Mahalaxmi.

There are no pigs traded at Dukar bazaar.

Teen bati is a junction of 3 roads, not three lamps.

Trams used to terminate at Kings circle not Dadar*Tram Terminus (Dadar T.T.).

Breach Candy is not a sweetmeat market.

Safed Pool has the dirtiest and blackest water.

You cannot buy coal at Kolsa street.

There are no Iron smiths at Lohar chawl.

There are no pot makers at Kumbhar wada.

Lokhandwala complex is not an Iron and steel market.

Null bazaar does not sell taps.

You will not find ladyfingers at Bheendi Bazaar.

Kalachowki does not have a black Police station.

Hanging Gardens are not suspended.

Mirchi Gully does not sell chillies.

Figs do not grow in Anjir Wadi,

Sitafals do not grow in Sitafal Wadi,

Jackfruits do not grow at Fanaswadi.

But it is true that you may get fleeced at Chor Bazaar!!!

AMCHI MUMBAI

A City where everything is possible, especially the impossible.

Where lovers first love and then marry,

Where there is place for every Tom, Dick and Harry

Where telephone bills make a person ill,

Where a person cannot sleep without a pill.

Where carbon-dioxide is more than oxygen,

Where the road is considered to be a dustbin,

Where college canteens are full and classes empty,

Where Adam teasing is also making an entry,

Where a cycle reaches faster than a car,

Where everyone thinks himself to be a star,

Where sky scrapers overlook the slum,

Where houses collapse as the monsoon comes,

Where people first act and then think,

Where there is more water in the pen than ink,

Where the roads see-saw in monsoon,

Where the beggars become rich soon,

Where the roads are levelled when the minister arrives,

Where college admission means hard cash,

Where cement is frequently mixed with ash.

This is Mumbai my dear, But don't fear, just cheer, come to Mumbai every year!

THINGS TO PROVE YOU'RE A BOMBAYITE.

1. You say "town " and expect everyone to know that*this means south of Churchgate.

2 You speak in a dialect of Hindi called 'Bambaiya Hindi', which only Bombayites can understand.*

3. Your door has more than three locks.

4. Rs 500 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.

5. Train timings (9.27, 10.49 etc) are really important events of life.

6. You spend more time each month traveling than you spend at home.

7. You call an 8' x 10' clustered room a Hall.

8. You're paying Rs 10,000 for a 1 room flat, the size of walk-in closet and you think it's a "steal."

9. You have the following sets of friend: school friends, college friends, neighborhood friends, office friends and yes, train friends, a species unique only in Bombay.

10. Cabbies and bus conductors think you are from Mars if you call the roads by their Indian name, they are more familiar with Warden Road, Peddar Road, Altamount Road.

11. Stock market quotes are the only other thing*besides cricket which you follow passionately.

12. The first thing that you read in the Times of India is the "Bombay Times" supplement.

13. You take fashion seriously. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

14. Hookers, beggars and the homeless are invisible.

15. You compare Bombay to New York's Manhattan instead of any other cities of India.

16. The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.

17. You insist on calling CST as VT, and Sahar and Santacruz airports instead of Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

18. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

19. Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.

20. Being truly alone makes you nervous.

21. You love wading through knee deep mucky water in the monsoons, and actually call it ''romantic'.

22. Only in Bombay, you would get Chinese Dosa and Jain Chicken.

Whatever People say and think about Mumbai but the conclusion is Mumbai is the best city in the World. It has got its own recognition where you can experience everything you want. It has got its own charm. You name it and you get it. It is the fastest city in India and one of the fastest cities in the World.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

My Source of Inpiration!

She is beautiful, caring and graceful.. I find peace when engrossed in her beauty.. Its endless when you try to explore her... its my source of meditation, contemplating her beauty in perfection, my source of inspiration... my mother Nature!

May be its a human instinct but there is some kind of attachment that makes me feel that it is related to you and without which there would be sort of emptiness in your life..

Its beyond your imagination power to get the answer of the questions that raises in your mind - how these things come to its existence? Is there some sort of spirit working behind to produce this marvel around the globe? Or this beauty just comes to existence by itself, knowing that they have to be beautiful? Some questions that make you go hmmm...

Nevertheless, nature is indeed something that makes me think about spirituality.

It makes me feel lost and taken to a different world.












The sounds of water and birds chirping somewhere in the woods, makes me think nature speaks and this are the sounds of nature..












The greenery wrapping the ground makes me feel it has conquered it and beauty & grace shall prevail there too..















When I see the sun rising yet again in the morning bringing light to conquer the darkness..












Besides beauty and grace, nature has always brought to our consciousness from time to time - an indication of the things that could happen when we try to ruin it...

Industrialization has always been a menace and is constantly posing a threat to imbalance the ecosystem.. Global warming is a form reaction to us.. telling us 'As you sow, so you reap'... when pollution enter the ecosystem then it disturbs the whole balance that nature had provided to us... I hope people would realise this truth and stop polluting this beautiful earth!

Nature has always given us something good, without asking anything back but now its time for us to repay it to her... or else it will be too late when nature starts showing her power of destruction!

Monday, January 02, 2006

Mumbai....















...the city where people come with their dreams and make fortune.. the city that teaches you not to look back and keep moving ahead.. the city where people celebrate all festivals together and live every second of their life.. the commercial, multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-ethnic capital of India.

Mumbai the city that never sleeps!


I have lived in many cities but when it comes to Mumbai I feel its a very different place altogether. The life style is so unique when we compare it with the rest of the world. No doubt there are other cities that have the fast life but in Mumbai its fast life with a difference.

One of a belief about Mumbai is that one who has lived there for atleast 1 year and got used to those conditions then he can survive anywhere in the world. Its not that its a very bad place to live in but its the everyday challenge that you face while you do your routine job. Packed local trains, buses, footpaths, etc. definitely make your life difficult but once you are used to it, you blend with the evolved culture of Mumbai and become a real 'Mumbaikar'.

By real 'Mumbaikar' I mean a person who despite of so much of toil and trouble in daily life, never complain about it... It becomes a part of daily routine and you can see the smiling faces, people cracking jokes and people keeping themselves busy all the time..

A typical Mumbaikar's daily life goes like this - Get up at a particular time (and they mean it when they say a particular time.. not early not too late..), get ready and run for the local train or bus at a particular time (that they dont wanna miss it), reach they work place, do the work, when done run for the local train or bus at a particular time (that they dont wanna miss it), reach home and spend time with friends and family. It sound a typical life style of people living in other cities but in Mumbai there is a challenge at each stage of your daily life.

'Time' for a Mumbaikar is a very important element in their life. Everything that they do, goes with a definite time. And that makes them punctual always. And precise. They learn how not to lose every second of their lives as it is so essential for them. Thats the reason you will not find any Mumbaikar always running for something.

Although I have left Mumbai more than a year back and have changed a lot adapting the life style of a new city, I think will never forget the life style of Mumbai. Its the very interesting life style that anybody can have it if you look at the positive side of it.

I really miss Mumbai!