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!"

New look at Amar Akbar Anthony

One of my all time favorite movies has been Amar Akbar Anthony. I must have watched it for like a 100 times and whenever it is on air and I happen to bump into it, I make sure I watch it for as long as I can. Today, I could watch it from start to end. While watching it, very many thoughts have crossed my mind.

This is a very ideal film! Yes, it is as we see in so many of the scenes. Like, when Kishan Lal (Pran) returns home after serving a tenure in jail he realizes that his family has not been taken care of as promised by his boss Robert (Jeevan). He asks his wife played by Nirupa Roy, if she received any money to which she replies that even if she had she would not have accepted it as it would be unethical! Like, when a person offering prayers in a garden realizes a small child has been abandoned and he takes the child (Akbar - Rishi Kapoor) home and decides to take care of it as well. Like, when Anthony (Amitabh Bachchan) returns home after having a fight with Zibisko and talks to himself in the mirror saying, "I have always told you to avoid liquor because it's bad, but you never listen. If you had not been drunk today, you would have beaten the crap out of him!" Like, Anthony saying that he will never fight back with a Police officer out of respect. Like, Anthony asking Robert if he has not harmed any police officer as in that case he would have made sure Robert is caught by the Police. Like, the fact that Kishan Lal kidnaps Robert's daughter but takes care of her as his own child. Like, Akbar gets a candid snap of his would be father in law Tayyab Ali with his girlfriend out of fun but does not misuse it. Like, Akbar wants to make sure that his girlfriends' father approves of their marriage otherwise he would not marry her. As mentioned earlier, there are many such ideal scenes.

Apart from this aspect, there are a few details which have been caught in the film which truly suggests the work of a genius. Like, in the opening scenes when Kishan Lal approaches Robert to ask for money and Robert makes him polish his shoes and gives away just 1 dime. In anguish Kishan Lal gets hold of a revolver and shoots at Robert in the chest. He is saved by the bullet proof vest, however. Later, a similar situation arises when Robert is at the receiving end. The same scene takes place again only this time Robert shoots Kishan Lal in the back. He is saved by a similar bullet proof vest. Kishan Lal mocks at Robert saying he knew that Robert was a back stabber and would always attack from behind and was so prepared. Like, in one of the scenes when we see kids running behind cars. Do we see the same thing today? Back then, there were few cars and people were in awe of cars, more so the children and always loved following cars and jumping on them, something which has been captured smartly.

Let's talk about the exceptional music of the film composed by the great Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Those were the days when composing was much tougher. All the artists rehearsed and recorded together. Technology had not evolved back then, so a lot depended on human effort. Where you have human effort you have chances of human error. As my friend Pushkar always keeps saying, that it is because of this human error that the music was never perfect but that exactly made it melodious. Perhaps, that is the reason why many of our old songs still seem wonderful to hear. Today, with technology most of the music directors have been able to achieve perfection but the melody is surely missing more often than not.

I also feel that the underlying feature of this film is secularism and harmony. The title itself highlights this. The famous song Shirdi wale Sai Baba sung by the great Rafi sahab, which we hear in local trains of Mumbai has been a part of this film. It has been shot showing a muslim community offering a prayer in the form of Qawwali for a diety which has a majority of hindu devotees. The title song of this movie says goes like Anhoni ko honi kar de, honi ko anhoni. Ek jagah jab jama ho teeno, Amar..Akbar..Anthony which throws up a high level of thought that if all religions come together there could be nothing impossible to achieve. Just think over it!

Back then, we were not as corrupt as we are today. Back then, we had much more ideals and values than we have today. Back then, we were much better than we are today. Things had started changing back then and we have reached upto this point. Probably, Manmohan Desai made this movie the way it is to make sure he instills good values in people something which might have never crossed anyone's mind. A movie, for all of us, is pure entertainment. This movie is not at all short of entertainment but do try and relate my views the next time you watch this film. Final words - great work by a superb star cast, hat's off Salim-Javed for a great story and dialogues, grand salute Laxmikant-Pyarelal and take a bow Manmohan Desai!

PS: It's OK if you just don't think about my views on this film. Enjoy the film :)

A nice gesture

Two days ago my friend Ameya gives me a call, after a long time. He tells me that his father would be turning 60 this year on 26th March and he has arranged a surprise party, and invited me for it. Fortunately, I did not have any prior commitments on that day so I agreed to visit. His entire family knows me, and it had been a long time I had met them. He needed some help with the preparations and asked me if I could come a bit early for the same. I agreed.

Today, I reached at the venue and Ameya was there busy with preparations along with a few more common friends. Not wasting any time, I joined Mangesh in inflating balloons. I think we had close to a 100 balloons. I could actually feel the unpleasant, greasy taste of those balloons on my tongue. I joined in with other decorations, setting up the desk and getting certain things which had been completely forgotten and were needed urgently.

We were all set with out preparations by 6 pm and the venue looked extremely cheerful. Ameya's father reached the venue by 6:30 pm. It was a pleasant surprise for him, was a bit overwhelmed by the occasion. The flow of events was something I was aware about but had never seen personally. Ameya and his siblings washed his father's feet with milk and water, which is known as abhishek. Mud diya's , 60 in number, were decorated in a thali which was used to bless uncle. Ameya's family is a big one, it's a joint family. Elderly people who were there blessed uncle, which was followed by the younger generation coming over the wish him. Cake cutting ceremony followed in some time and we all were singing "Happy Birthday to you.." not at all in sync. This was followed by a few games which we all played and enjoyed, and then uncle received gifts from all the guests. Dinner was served by 9 pm and we wrapped up everything by 10:30 pm.

Since the time I heard about this event, I had been thinking a lot. I can imagine how things would have been for my dad when he was doing what I did today, preparing for a birthday party. I am very happy for uncle because of the fact that he has such a wonderful and loving family. Making him feel special on his birthday just highlights the fact that Ameya and his family love him very much. In fact, the entire family loves each other. This is something which is rarely seen these days and I hope and pray that this love persists in Ameya's family as long as the stars shine.

On a general note, it is high time to realize that our parents have done such a thing for atleast 10 - 12 years just to make us feel special. Shouldn't we do the same in their old days atleast? Ameya did plan and execute this event for his personal satisfaction but it has helped to ring some bells in some minds. Jayesh, my friend who lost his father 2 years back, would have been wondering if he had done such a thing when his dad was alive. Prachi, Priti and Ashwini, whose dad's had also visited the event must be thinking that now even we would need to do such a thing for our mom's and dad's as they may make comparisons which would be difficult to handle. Mangesh and me are wondering if we can do a similar thing for our respective dad's as my dad would turn 50 this year and his dad would reach 75 next year. More than meeting my friends after a long time, more than spending a good time with Ameya's family, more than enjoying the party and more than savoring the delicious food, I have realized that this was a nice gesture which should be done with your parents and loved one's atleast sometimes. It should feel nice, you can imagine how peaceful would it be.

Relax and Start Fresh!

I just couldn't relax on Sunday. So many thoughts had been running across my mind the whole week. Weekdays were still better, as I had work to focus on and was too tired while coming back that this somehow did not bother much. Saturday was better again, thanks to the world cup match between India & South Africa. It finally boiled down to Sunday, as I was at home and had nothing much to do.

There are times when your past, present and future make sure they haunt you at the same time. The worst part, is that you cant think what to do about it. That's the exact reason why I don't like to do nothing on weekends, a case of empty mind being a devil's workshop emerges. I do not want to divulge any details but things about my career, personal life, financials and such other had been nagging me lately. It became intolerable to such an extent that I was about to do something stupid. Just then a thought flashed by - to work on a presentation.

During my MBA years, I never took keen interest in making presentations. Even so, I had learnt the approach of making presentations. This week I have a session to conduct on Digital Marketing. This particular presentation which I ended up with is what I had in mind for the same. However, this time I avoided to be spontaneous. It took me about an hour or so and it turned out to be good. The better part was the fact that I felt relaxed and nice after exhausting my mind for it.

Just that reminded me of my S.S.C year. One fine day, I was not able to sleep till late night. I had no other thing to do than keep rolling in my bed. I had been doing that for some days then but this time I couldn't. I could see some books kept on my study table. I got up and fetched those. I spent an hour or more studying that night. I felt really nice back then. Sunday's feeling was just the same, sort of a déjà vu in some sense.

Perhaps, I should try to calm down my mind when it is not. One of the best ways is reading. It has worked on many occasions. Others like listening music and watching movies also prove good. Some uncommon ways are like what I did on Sunday. I can surely try to be more conscious about these. These haven't solved my problems or addressed any concerns, how can they? These are like pit stops in F1 racing events. They help me relax and start fresh!

That was Spooky

There are times when a strange incident occurs and you tend to ignore it. What if a similar incident occurs again? It happened with me a few days back, while I was learning to drive at Ballard Pier in Mumbai. Some of you might already be aware about this place being a commercial area in south Mumbai housing a lot of offices since a very long time. A very high count of people from town, suburbs and adjoining towns visit this place on weekdays. In the evening, however, this place is very lonely. Wide roads, zero crowd make it a perfect for rookies to learn bikes and cars. Well, that's what they say but I really doubt that now.

About 2 weeks back, Pushkar and I reached this place and I started practicing. Everything was smooth for some time. Later, Pushkar got out of the car and asked to try the reverse gear. The moment he got out some stray dogs looked at him and started barking intermittently, as if they have seen something abnormal. We ignored them, although Pushkar was a bit scared, and I continued. Things were fine for some time and then suddenly the car stopped! We tried hard to get the car running but were unsuccessful. Some cab drivers, who helped us, suspected it to be a battery issue. We had to drag the car down to Pratik's place, thankfully he stayed close by, and then left for home. The next morning, Pushkar returned with the mechanic to get the car. To his surprise, the car started in the 1st attempt itself! Apparently, there wasn't any issue with the battery. Just to be sure, the mechanic took the car to his garage. He double checked the battery, changed a few spare parts like the starter, battery belt and gave us the car next day. Again, it was working fine.

In the last week, again we had been to the same place for driving. I practiced reverse gear for about half an hour. Pushkar was tired by that time and wanted to leave. Just then he saw a cute puppy by the side of the road. He asked me to come play with it for some time. I love dogs, and couldn't resist playing with it. We hung around for some time. We set out to leave when I said, "One more. Then we'll leave." Just then, the puppy started making weird noises, as if he's crying or seeing something abysmal. The car, which was doing so fine till now, was not ready to start, again! We tried a lot but to no avail. Looking at each other, we knew we had to drag it back to Pratik's house, again. Both of us got out of the car, and started pushing it. It was when we realized that a stray dog, who had been sleeping till that time, was following us and barking intermittently. The puppy continued its weird noises, which we ignored at that moment. Pushkar decided to jump start the car, and asked me to push it. The 1st attempt was unsuccessful, which made us tense. The dog following us was still barking, and the weird noises of that puppy could still be heard. We tried again, and luckily the car started! I got in and Pushkar drove me back in no time.

The other day, we were discussing this during lunch break. Pushkar told me that once he reached his place, he tried starting the car and, to his surprise, it started instantly. I complained about his car being a spoilsport. Suddenly, he realized something about that incident. There was a significant similarity in both incidents. It was the same area, around the same time of 12 am, the car stopped working suddenly and was fine in sometime, dogs were barking in a weird manner and the car stopped when I was driving. Was any paranormal activity involved here?

It feels spooky to think about it. But, there may be logical reasons about those incident. The car being a very old model, it might have stopped. Maybe the dogs were barking as it was very late in the night and they suspected us to be troublemakers as we were dragging the car. But, why did the puppy started making weird noises and continued it when just minutes back he was playing gleefully with us. During the 2nd incident, the car started when we were almost out of that area. The same area and similar time cannot just be a coincidence, can it? I do believe in the concept of spirits and so It would be thrilling to visit that place again, probably on a new moon day or a full moon day. On second thought, do we really need to take that risk? What say?

What a (Mis)Adventure!!

31st Jan 2011 - It was Day 4 of my driving lessons. Pushkar had been a good tutor (so far) and I had been an even better student. Today's agenda was to learn reverse and half clutch. As usual, we finished our dinner by 10:30 pm and left for Ballard Pier. I rehearshed whatever I had learnt in the last 3 days for some time, feeling more confident than before. Then, it was time to learn the new tricks. Pushkar told me about reverse and asked me to try it. 1st attempt was ok, 2nd one was slightly better. Confidence was seeping in and then it all began - the engine stopped and refused to start!

This had happened before as well, on my Day 2. That time, fortunately, we were close to Pushkar's place. When the car broke down we dragged it to his house, took us around 15-20 minutes. We got the car repaired again, replaced the battery as well. In spite of this, it happened again. It looked to be a battery problem. For those who know less about Ballard Pier, it's a commercial area and has a lot of offices. At that time in the night, the place is empty - ideal for activities like driving. In fact, Pushkar learnt driving there itself, so I had to follow him. So, the battery was down and the engine was unconscious. We looked at each other wondering what to do. Pushkar called up Hari bhai, the mechanic, and told him about the problem. He was available only in the morning, which left us the option of leaving the car there itself.

There were a few cab drivers there and we thought they could help us. Pushkar approached them and they oblidged. They inspected the problem and confirmed it to be a battery breakdown. We tried a few techniques to get the car going but it was not going to be. The cabbies told us to leave the car there as it is safe and we can come down tomorrow morning to pick it up. We agreed, and we parked the car. We asked one of the cabbies to leave us to our house - at Mumbai Central. Just when we were about to leave, a teenage boy approached us. He asked us, "What happened? Did your car breakdown? Should I have a look?" We were looking at him, thinking what to do. He asked the same thing again. We said, "Yes. No. Actually, we have.." The boy replied, "That's OK. If you don't wish any help from me, that's fine!" He left, leaving a deceptive smile on his face. We left, and all the way Pushkar could not stop wondering about the safety of his car. Our cabbie was telling us things like which battery to use, what he did before driving cabs, why were the earlier batteries better, and so on. We were not listening to him at all. I was disheartened, as I had decided so many things to try that night. Pushkar was tense, quite obviously. We reached our house, and then suddenly we decided to go back. Back then, we did not realize that Pratik's house was close by and we could park the car there, where it would be certainly safer than the current location. In tense situations, we tend to overlook sensible things. We paid the cabbie, and I went to my house to get my bike keys and helmet while Pushkar was waiting, impatiently, below my building.

My family stays in 2 separate rooms, my parents sleep in one and my sis and me sleep in other. I knocked on my door and my mom opened it. She felt I had came back from driving. I took the keys, as the lights were off and went to my room. There, Sayali was busy watching her favorite tv program. I seized the opportunity of quietly getting hold of my helmet without her realizing anything. I had to do all this to avoid my parents from knowing what had happened, as they would have nagged me for it which I did not want.

We left from my place and reached Pratik's house in 15 minutes where we parked my bike. We left to get the car. At that time, it was confusing to find the car as the roads and buildings seemed to be similar. Just when we were about to panic, I saw a glimpse of Maruti 800 from a long distance. We approached, feeling better and better when we came closer to it. Yes, it was the car we were looking for! I tried opening the door and it opened. By that time, Pushkar had not even keyed the car. I had forgotten to lock that particular door! Thank god, we came back. Again, we dragged the car for about 15-20 minutes and parked it below Pratik's building.

We were sweating and felt hungry as well. While going back home, we stopped at Say Cheese and Fruit Juice corner at Churni Road. It was already 12:30 am by then. We ordered chilly cheese sandwich, cocktail juice and water melon juice. All the while savouring these, we were thinking about the incident. Pushkar claimed that whenever I would drive it happened. I argued that his car is old, and had been lying uselessly for months so it happened. Our snacks were over soon and it was time to leave for home. I dropped him, came back and quietly entered my room. Sayali was sleeping by then, and my parents were already asleep. I changed, and was in bed real soon. I am glad nothing bad happened that night. All this did leave some good memories of a wonderful misadventure!