Living expands from 180 sq. ft to 840 sq. ft

After spending as long as 20 years in a small 1 room house in South Mumbai we have now moved into our big 2 bhk self owned residential flat in Navi Mumbai. I would call it a flat as I still cannot forget my home back in town. It's never easy to let go a place where you grow up, have so many memories attached. It will take me some time to call this new flat 'home'. It aint bad, just that I have not yet accepted it.

So, now we have a big place to stay which is fully furnished. We have decorated this place nicely, bought in new furniture, bean bag, swing chair, big screen led tv and many such things. Some of these are my recommendations, stuff which I always fancied. Its spacious and nice. This building is away from the main road so we have a quiet surrounding. We have just about 12 flats in my building, often with closed doors. So, do not really have good neighbours. Friends, acquaintances and relatives are not close by so we are here all by ourselves - mom, dad, sis and me. My current office is near so I leave without any hurry and reach back home quicker than before. This leaves a lot of time with me, so have to spend time watching tv or reading books or passing time on laptop; internet connection is pending still so it makes passing time a bit difficult. Still not aware about good hang out places nearby.

Back then, life was very different. We all lived in a single room in a chawl. Being a chawl, most of the times our door was open. Noise was very common and I was used to it. A friend gives me a call and asks to join him and I could rush for it without even thinking about it. Many great hang out and eat out places back there taking away all your time. Oh good lord, I miss all of this!

I aint complaining here, this new big flat is something I would have wanted in a couple of years when I needed to settle down in life. My parents have put in their best effort to buy this place, had they been wealtheir this flat would have been somewhere in town. This achievement of theirs is no small in any way; my grandpa has seen prosperous days in his life but he never thought of buying a house in town for his family. My parents had no choice but to stay in the house provided by their employer, where we spent 20 years. My parents have managed to buy a property on their own which is so close to Mumbai. It's upto me now to go a step further and buy a property in mumbai in time to come, something which is definitely not easy but really worth trying!

It will take me time to get accustomed to this place, make new friends and improve social life here. Life shall keep changing, as it always does. The sooner we accept this, the easier it becomes. But, my love for my older home shall remain unparallel to anything on this earth. Living has certainly expanded, house is yet to become home!

Courtroom experience

My father, being an employee of Mumbai Police department always keeps saying, "A wise man should never climb steps of a court!". Let me not disclose the reason, but I had been to a court today. So when I entered my father's word crossed my mind again. But, I took the elevator to the floor on which I was supposed to go - yes, this court has an elevator!

Jokes apart, my experience in the court today makes me agree with my dad completely on this point. The working is somewhat like this - Court opens up at 11 am. From 11 am to 2 pm only paper work has to be done with. So, if you have a hearing you have to make sure all your paperwork is done properly. You cannot even do all paperwork on the same floor, why should they make your life simple? You already are in trouble by getting involved in a court case, might as well some more jitters. So, your paperwork is done on atleast 2 floors. From 2 pm to 3 pm, they enjoy their lunch break. 3 pm to 5 pm is the time when you are supposed to be in the actual court for your hearing. Today, there must have been atleast 60 cases which were heard by our Majesty, the honourable Judge.

Imagine, 60 cases in 2 hours with going through all paperwork as well! Impossible it may seem but not for our efficient Judges. In roughly 2 minutes, this lady Judge today heard, read and gave away her decision for the moment and also the next date of hearing. It reminded me of the famous monologue in the film Damini by actor Sunny Deol which goes, "Taarikh pe Taarikh, Taarikh pe Taarikh..". Why cant a case, atleast straight forward ones like the one I was involved with today, be solved in as less time as possible? Instead of giving 2 minutes to every case and going just an inch ahead, give 60 minutes and get done with a particular case completely. I could clearly see that the lady Judge was doing her work just for the sake of it. No big deal if you spot zero motivation and cent percent boredom.

If you miss corruption or it's been a long time you have seen one please do visit the court, its a wonderful place for it. You have to shell out your hard earned bucks for the chief person who arranges for your paperwork, the peon who takes your papers safely and quickly from 1 floor to the other and also tries to keep it them at the top of the stack during hearing so that it is picked up and addressed soon, the clerks who just fill just about 1 to 2 pages of your particulars and verify your documents. Rs. 100/- is minimum and it increases in multiples of 50. By the way, this rate is for police employees, or government employees and not for regular people. Why the f*%$ do these crooks expect money for doing their own work? They are definitely not giving us any secret code in return. I do agree that its important to make these officials happy with some monetary gifts but shouldn't it be something which they pulled off for you beyond their actual job profile?

I was in the courtroom waiting for our turn and was observing the whole thing. Court staff was unmotivated and disinterested to the core. Police guards were sleepy. Convicts were indifferent. How the f*%$ can one expect an outcome out of this? Indian Judiciary system is slow as a snail and it is in firm grip of corruption. These are the only macro factors I could point out. Just consider Ajmal Kasab's case which has been going on for close to 2 and a half years now with no firm conclusion. If such a prime level convict's case goes for such a long time you can comfortably assume eternity to be the time frame for a common man's case. For me, its utter shame and disgrace for my country which otherwise has many highlights I am certainly proud of. It is high time today's young generation of lawyers understand this concern and do something about it. Hope keeps us going in life and that is what I shall hold on to see some positive improvements on this front, possibly in near future. Yet, my suggestion - Avoid involvement in court cases; as the cliche goes "Prevention is better than cure!"