Life in Mumbai City - Hell or Heaven

During past three years of my stay in Mumbai I always ask this question to myself everyday. Probably I am not the only one who do so but I am sure most of us so called Mumbaiakars do. There are more issues in this city than the population because every living being is having some issues of their own (now even birds got one). Big people talk of transforming Mumbai into Shanghai but the fact is that they had not even spared Mumbai to be in its original form. Let me try to put some candle light (power cut today in Mumbai also) on some major issues from my experience.

Everyday morning I start from my house in Santacruz to go to my office in Prabhadevi with only one question in my mind, how much late I will be today (from the late coming limit of ten min. in our office). Traffic jam starts from my street itself then Bandra then Mahim and so on. Three years back I used to take twenty minutes less for the same journey. Thank God I am no Bill Gates or the losses will run in Millions of Dollars per day. While coming back from the office in the evening......please dont even ask because I generally loose track of time after one hour. And the credit goes to lot of entities (which I will write later) but majorly to our roads embedded with countless potholes. Moreover when MMRDA decides to do the overhauling of roads, they start with those which are in good condition keeping aside those roads where there is no road but only potholes.
Once I was in a hurry to reach my home for my marriage anniversary and got stuck at Mahim in a horrible traffic jam. It took me not less then two hours to crawl to Bandra from Mahim. Suddenly my fellow car driver asked me, "Boss is this road going to Borivali", already in a bad mood I answered him, "Boss I dont know whether this road leads to hell or heaven but atleast not to Borivali today". This is the situation of roads in Mumbai.

Now comes our over-smart Traffic Police or so called Mama's. I can bet that if they are present at some non-working signal, they will make sure that traffic is also non-moving, afterall there should be some synchronization between signal and traffic, its there theory or style of working. Towing vans are so quick and they will take your vehicle so fast that you always wonder, I can make a movie with them "Gone in 10 Seconds only". They can charge fine from you for hundred of reasons and you cannot do anything except paste a big grin on your face and try to push a 50 or 100 rupee note in their already heavy pockets and solve the matter (which still you are not sure what it is) with minimum amount possible. I sometime used to compare them with Yamraj and thakfully our Mumbai City got hundreds of them.

After all this here comes BMC. I remember a quote given by some worried soul to DNA newspaper which they put on several hoardings in the city saying "What BMC is digging for: Oil, Gold or Fun". Very true, what BMC is digging for cannot be explained by me atleast. In last three months they had digged the street in front of my house three times at the same place. Anyway lets not mention my street's name or they will come and dig it again. Garbage removal system is so slow and smell coming out of it is so terrible that sometimes you feel that you are living in a dustbin. Unauthorized Slums, roadside hawkers, excess no. of autorickshaws and taxis..........the list of issues is so big that I am not able to mention and BMC is happily sleeping over them.

Now comes another issue. Taxes. For each and every thing which comes to Mumbai City (except human beings) there is an additional tax called Octroi which is roughly 4.5% and after Value Added Tax and other charges it comes to approx 5.5%. That means we have to shell out this money from our pocket for each and everything. You will not believe one thing that Mumbai City is having two refineries, still cost of Petrol and Diesel is highest here in India. If oil companies dont have to even spend too much on transportation of refined fuel then why the hell cost of it is highest here. In one thing we had even left Shanghai behind, that is property rates. God only knows what will happen in future.

And now comes the latest issue, power cuts. BEST had suggested all the multiplexes to stop screening shows after 6pm. What a suggestion, that means if somebody plans to go to a movie on some weekday, one thing is sure, either you take leave from the office or bunk school or college whatever is applicable to you. Dont put AC's below 26 degrees was another suggestion. Why dont we remove them, atleast you can say I am feeling hot because AC is not there, you will not feel that with AC also you are sweating. Why cant anybody here can think something creative to save electricity. You can promote CFL's instead of normal bulbs, advice consumers to change old heavy fans with new light ones, stop theft of electricity, educate consumers not to use lights during day time and many more but stop giving these foolish suggestions.

After reading all these things you will be thinking that life is hell out here in Mumbai but sorry its not the truth. What makes Mumbai a heaven is the spirit of Mumbai which never dies. I am sure there will be lot more issues in future but nothing can dampen this spirit. If you dont remember what happened on 26th July 2005, I will polish your memory. During the floods the spirit shown by people of Mumbai cannot be matched by anyone in this whole world. When everyone was running for life, when everybody was scared, people sitting comfortably in their homes came out and helped each other. There was not a single complaint regarding any theft or robbery or riots during the whole course of event. Nobody came for their rescue but they themselves became heroes. Because I was myself a part of that calamity I can tell you the feeling what I had that day is above any such short term frustrations. That day if you ask me you cannot compare Mumbai City with even heaven, it was something beyond that. I am dead sure that nothing can derail Mumbai or Spirit of Mumbai from its tracks and obviously I am included in it because I a part of Mumbai. Anyway I had lived and absorbed that day in my life which very few can and now I am ready to live my whole life in Mumbai whether it is hell or heaven it doesnt matter because even today about those few memorable moments, my heart whispers to me............

My Teenage Love - A Shattered Dream

From the very first day when I was able to understand something about this world, I saw her. She came with her mother and father to our house and my mom was busy changing my soiled underwear. Dont get shocked because I was only three years old at that time. She sat beside me and I started playing with her tiny hands. We became good friends very soon and used to play through-out the evenings everyday. Construction of my new house was going on and both of us used to visit the site quite frequently. We used to walk with hands in hands for hours.

Years passed by and we entered into teenage and our friendship grew along with us. We even decided to go to same Teacher for Mathematics and Chemistry tutions. I remember those walks and those talks we used to have while coming back from the tutions in the night, specially on the straight road leading to her house. But at that time I was not aware that a feeling called love existed in my tiny heart. This continued for 14 years and my heart never whispered to me.

And the separation day came. her father got transfered from our town to some other place. One day before leaving she came to my house with her parents and we talked a lot about our childhood below the shining stars and .......... she left. My heart didnt whisper a single feeling and I lost the time and her also.

My life changed from the next day. I started missing her. My heart which was not able to whisper started crying loudly. I felt an emotional void growing into my life. During our tution classes I keep on staring the place where she used to sit and after them I used to sit and stare the straight road leading to the place which was her home a few days back. I was not able to concentrate on my studies and lost the career path which I and her dreamed of. I didnt even try to get her address or telephone no. from my mother afraid of being caught.

Three painful years passed by and I got the tag of hopeless case from the whole family and they lost every bit of hope that I will be able to do something in my life or I will become somebody. Every year I used to sit in engineering entrance examinations with the same result - NOT QUALIFIED.

One fine day with just luck I got some information about her. She was studying in some engineering college, which one no idea. Whole world shrinked for me in couple of minutes. What am I doing, I thought. she is going to become an engineer very soon and here I am one useless fellow. Last entrance examination for that year was just after eight days and I was completely out of touch with the subjects. I bolted down myself in my room and started studying so that in future if I get a chance to express my feelings to her I also stand on the same platform, I also wanted to become an engineer now desperately.

Thanks to GOD, may be for once he thought to grant my wish and I got selected. I joined the farthest engineering college from my place so that I can become more independent and think about her without any disturbence from my family. Here I met one guy who became one of my best friends and changed my life forever, good or bad it was not his fault, he sincerely tried his best.

Actually he was from the same college where she was studying engineering. Both of us planned to go to her college secretly without telling the truth to our parents. We told our parents that we are going to attend our friend's sister's marriage and arrived in her town. My friend somehow got her address and we arrived at her hostel. We called her outside and believe me she was genuinely very-very happy after seeing me there. When my friend left us in complete togetherness we started talking about the life about everything in this damned world. But I was nervous that I was not able to hide my expressions. She caught me and to be on the safer side mentioned one thing which shattered the dream of my love.

I also never told you this before but its not my fault because I myself was not aware of any such incident in our life till she nailed it into my soul, my heart. Actually when I was three years old she tied me Rakhee once. For those who dont know what is Rakhee I will explain. Rakhee is a thread which in our country sisters tie on the hand of their brothers. But tell me one thing a three year old child dont know what is Rakhee and this incident was never repeated again in our life. It is not my fault that I was only three years old and was not aware at that time that this thing will rob me off my love. Just imagine my situation at that moment. The reason was such that I was not even able to defend myself.Two tears flowed down from my cheeks but I hided them from her. I clinched my heart so that he will not cry further, atleast not in front of her. I lost my first love in two minutes with which I had lived for last 17 years. I came back with empty hands and an empty heart.

She got married afterwards and I found love of my life in the form of another girl who is now my wife and whom I love very much.

I still dont know whose mistake it was but the result is that my teenage love became a shattered dream and one three year old kid was found guilty and responsible for this. But even today sometimes I feel the touch of her tiny hands in my hands and sometimes about her my heart whispers to me................

Emerging Business Corporate - Indian Railways

Finally yesterday Mr Laloo prasad Yadav presented Railway Budget and my goodness to everyone's surprise he had shown a profit of almost 9800 crore rupees. What our old dear Laloo had done to poor Indian Railways? He had changed the whole face of it and turned it into an emerging business corporate or business powerhouse.

For the first time some Railway Minister had thought like a businessman. Now people spend their time in making strategies, as how to fight competition or how to improve services provided to the customers. He even dared to challenge aviation industry in his own style "everything is fair in fare war". Good job sir, till in this fight I have to spend less from my pocket I am happy.

He had proved himself earlier also by eating straw as the only human being on earth (who can do it other than the animals) and now another rabbit is out from his hat, he had eaten straw in Bihar and shi* out golden eggs in Railways. His body mechanism is out of understanding for a tiny mind like mine and I dont care also because I dont own any cattles. Some people at his lower level also tried to eat straw so that they can become successful like Laloo but (how this will happen because if it works, then cows and buffalos will be most successful in their lives and will never get full day lashings from human beings) finally they had to succumb.

Now lets become somewhat serious on this discussion, the point is if Laloo is so capable then why the hell he didnt change Bihar. If what he had done in one year as Railway Minister, he could have done in Bihar, Mr. Bush would have planned a visit to Patna or Ranchi or Jabalpur instead of Delhi and Hyderabad. I feel laloo is much more capable as a politician than in any other role. Till there was no develoopment in Bihar, he was the king because illiteracy was his biggest weapon. Poor biharis thought that he is eating cattles food not their's and thank god cow and buffalos cant vote or he could have lost his security deposit also as he had sneezed food from their mouths. So he had win-win situation. But after JD(U) and BJP pulled his chair (which he tried to save even by putting lovely Rabri on it for sometime)he had nothing to do so he thought let me show them that I can do something better then them. And this is the only way by which he can once again establish his credibility and get back his vote-bank. You will see in another two years each and every village in Bihar will have a railway station and a Rajdhani or Shatabadi or Jan Shatabadi or Garib Rath (or .....god knows how many more super deluxe trains will get launched) express train passing by with a 5 min. stop (atleast). Best of luck to everybody as wherever they will board a train in India it will pass through Bihar before reaching to its final destination.

Anyway now the joke what we used to share in childhoood that Laloo got the power to change countries like US and Japan into Bihar doesnt make sense anymore because he had shown that he can really change Bihar into US or Japan also, but only if his heart whispers to him to do so..........

Start of a whole new world..........

My eyes are becoming heavy with each passing moment but still cant wait to write my first blog. Thanks to my wife shilpa for introducing this concept to me and my dear friend casto for inspiring my heart to open. Cheers.......everybody and I will be back whenever my heart will whisper to me.