Ganpati Bappa Morya!

It is Ganesh Chaturthi, Ganeshotsav, Ganesh Festival, Ganpati Utsav, Ganapati Bappa Morya or whatever we prefer to call the almighty. Well, Haven’t I included all the keywords? Missed some..?

Well, I am a poor link baiter… I never blogged for links. But perhaps this blog post is meant to be for the purpose. Writing about the current festivity. Including all the keywords in the post and hoping that I rise higher in the searches for the relevant keywords. Oh, and yes more hits and more fuel feed for the eternal obsession.

Now hat you have gone through the crap, let me offer some value -

• Lalbaug, GD Ambedkar Road, in central Mumbai
  Laulbaug is home to the towering Lalbaugcha Raja. However, a great deal of patience is required to see this famous statue as it draws millions of devotees. Ganesh Gulli in Lalbaug also has one of the tallest statues in the city, with impressive decorations.
• Khetwadi, 12th Lane, in south Mumbai
  This year the Khetwadicha Raja is diamond studded and sits in an arcade of mirrors and ornaments. Spectacular!
• Opposite the G.P.O, Fort, south Mumbai
  This display is an exact replica of the famed religious spot Vitthal Mandir in Pandharpur. It’s been created by visiting Rajasthani artists.
• Andheri West, Asad Nagar, in the western suburbs
  Famous for lavish sets, this year it will have the Saras Baug garden of Pune.
• Andheri West, DN Nagar, in the western suburbs
  The Sarvajanik Ganeshotav Mandal is into its 41st year this year. The statue has been given the royal treatment, making Lord Ganesh the king. It looks like a scene out of the movie Jodhaa Akbar!

Well, hope this helps! Well Ganapati Bappa helped me a lot with this post of mine and every year this gets loads of hits! Yes, this one.

Cheers ~~~

A rainy day romance

The haze covered everything from the myopic vision right under my nose till the farthest extent that filled my sights. At a little distance the warm yellow of the sodium vapour lights hanging on the lamp post highlighted the rich density of the rain drops falling per square unit of the tarred road below it.

As always, umbrellas are redundant when rains lashes hard in Mumbai and suburbs. All that can be saved from getting wet are few strands of hair right under the umbrella skeleton; that too if the strong breeze doesn’t turn your umbrella upside down and dismantling the frame work. This time around I was lucky enough that the wind wasn’t merciless. However, it was strong enough to allow rain drops the slanting path wetting a good 80 percent of my pant, much of my shoulders and shirt-arms with a few droplets even landing on my cheeks and nose.

It was long that I had ventured out in such a heavy Mumbai rain. I must correct myself; “it was long since I had ventured out in such a heavy Mumbai rain and that too leisurely. No rush to catch the train or attend a meet, no obligation, no timeline, no committment to fulfil. It was an idyllic stroll. And it was this moment, this stroll that reignited a long dampened flame, a desire to drench in the rain that was always subdued with the urban chores and the illusionary comfort of staying clean and dry under the roof, either office or home.

This stroll brought out the old charm of feeling the droplets, small shining droplets on the end of the strands of my hair, on my arms, on the eyebrows and the wisp of cool air making me long for something warm, much warmer than the gelaming sodium vapour overhead.

The tip-tip of the rain on my umbrella grew louder as I realised that I was no more bothered about getting drenched, even though I held the umbrella firm and tried hard to save my shoulders from getting wet. A paradox, a pleasure. I was humming on some of the favourite tunes of Kishore Kumar, Sonu Nigam and few more and it was really a pleasant surprise that I could recollect most of the lyrics of those archived memories! The tunes seem to hit the perfect chords and suddenly sigin was never seemed so wonderful – an unchained melody. My voice, the lyrics, the tip-tip decibels of rains, the whizzing sound of fast rolling tyres on the wet tarmak and intermittent honking of horns all seemed perfect.

As I strolled further with my singing hitting the higher decibels I noticed a few passer-by’s glancing on their way. I noticed the road-side bhajji wala and the chai-wala at nukkad, these were inviting. Even more conspicuous was the steam emanating from the tea kettle. I ignored both of them, with some difficulty as I continued.

A 30 minutes stroll in the rain completely cleared the settled dust. The dust settled on my mind. The dust which forced me to close my eyes. I thought rains to essential for farmers and as a nuisance to the daily commuters. However, the rain was just too strong to allow misconceptions rule my mind. Rains are equally essential for a parched urban soul as it is for a parched cultivable land. Perhaps the soul needs it more than anything else.

Aaj jaane ki jidd na karo… another humming that filled my mind as I walked on through the puddles, wet trousers, drops on my arms, face … aaj jaane ki jidd na karo…

Mumbai – Post Terror Attacks ~ Stuffs to be done!

It has been nothing less than a nightmare, a standing testimony to devastation that callous governance can bring about and the rage of anger is spreading like an inferno across the minds of all – youth and old alike.

People are demonmstrating on streets, protesting in their own ways, wearing black arm band and this expression has found a new found vigour on the online media channels too with people changing their orkut / facebook profile photos, changing status messages, tweeting, email chains and so on.

There have been blogs written on it, communities formed, forum discussions and eery form of expressions that an online media can provide to vent out their frustration, anger, disgust, emotions that has been long impending since decades.

I just want to tell everyone – Each has his/her own way of aitating, online and offline – well even if you are not part of these things – basically online phenomenon, it does not matter – I believe anyways it is not going to make much of a difference changing our display photos and stuff like that. But if you can actually start from grass root – like cleaning up, stop spitting on roads and prohibit others from doing so and other small things too, each one will make a better contribution than joining communities and discussing online. Even if the things mentioned above are no way going to boost security protocols, it will definitely go a long way in making this place a better one to live.

Beside spitting, educating the under privileged, stop giving bribes even if it is a 10 rupee note and a chai pani tip, stop littering, stop wasting electricity and water, stop cutting trees, stop wasting resources, follow traffic rules, be more responsible and so on. There are lot of things under our control that can be done to make a better India.

Mumbai lifestyle – Doggy style!

Today I visited CST after the terror attacks for the first time. It was the same old CST – people moving around at a pace brisk enough to suggest immediacy, bustling crowd, busy schedules and the typical chaos that associates with a true Mumbaikars’ routine.

I was standing cooling off with the breeze that the fan threw across and stood looking across the vast hallway, the old architecture, the people, the trains, unbothered approach and then a sudden blank engulfed me followed my  bizzare maze of images from DNA and HIndustan Times and other dailies, the news channels and other sources – images of blood spilled on the floor, bodies lying in pool of blood, pierced with bullets, terror crept in the public minds, chaos, helplessness and all that made me feel sick.

The routine chore make us forget the not so old incident so very quickly. People were taking photos of the gun shots that left permanent indentations on the heritage structure, some people were joking about the firing, some about NSG. I was disgusted, how can one joke about such an incident and the NSG? How can one forget the gravity of the incident so soon? Lives lost? It left a deep hole in my mind and my heart and is still waiting to be healed. The psirit of Mumbai what we call is too shallow as far as regard and value for Human life is concerned. In pursuit of ‘do waqt ki roti’ a Mumbaikar has lot it all, even if the roti is smeared with the red of blood it doesn’t matter to the bread winners any more.

I am shell shocked, I am disappointed, disgusted for being on of them. Helplessly pondering upon one question – Hum kya kar sakte hain?

Well – Our minds have become comfortably numb to think and act. If any non Mumbaikar is reading this he/she may suggest some ideas. Mobilise groups, agitate, self security, defense. politics, vote and all these – how will it help? Where should it start? Will it sustain? Will I survive through these ordeals? It’s a dogs life here – people travel for 4 hours in utter inhuman conditions, sweat it out at office and then earn their family bread and one fine day some terror attacks strike them and the story is cut short for many. Any one aspiring for a better life and coming to Mumbai – please rethink – Its a dogs life here!

Where is the Intelligence unit? Mumbai attacks ridicule our Intelligence!

The Fidayeen attacks in high profile areas of the city ensured maximum attention and chaos from the attackers. Many foreign nationals were injured, trapped inside the hotels, some dead and  some of them even from foreign embassies. A lot of reputation was put to stake and we can definitely say that the reputation has not come out unscathed. There are lot of brusies that the attack left that needs to be nursed for improving the global image – socially and politically. Even the sporting fraternity was affected severely. ECB cancelling its tour midway – not relevant to their 5-0 drubbing, but for their lives at stake. ICL cancelling its championship series and the Champions league being called off.

Be it sports, politics or a sense of security amongst the commoner, these attacks have left an indentation that will take time to be amended.  One question that can’t stop from coming to my mind is – if these attacks were like the preceeding ones – a bomb blast in some crowded place – lots of lives lost and property damaged – be it a best bus, local train or a vegetable market – not a high profile area and not lots of high profile personas at stake; then would the incident have had the same impact? In Mumbai yes definitely, but globally?

I don’t think so – because the previous modus operandis – planting bombs at crowded places and lives lost is a ‘common’ thing now. Well I am definitely disgusted by the use of the word ‘ common’ in this context. Hindustan Times referred to this in a slightly warped manner by using the term – ‘Bomb Fatigue’.

On the whole, the entire outlook towards these incidences have become apathetic and the scenario indicates just one think – utter disregards for life – Mumbai lives with it – lives with disregarded life!

I am also sure of one thing – many of us sitting in their offices, homes or other comfort zones who have been glued to news channel for past 37 hours, would just switch the channels if a live match is being telecasted – soccer – cricket or something else – or one of their favourite shows is being aired. Deviating from goriness is good, one cannot endure such devastation for long time, but the worse thing is that while we switch the channels, we completely forget the unfortunate attacks and tend to move on.

Moving on is fine, but moving on and leaving beind the scars is not fine – looking forward is the way to do it, but while we look forward, we must take care and try to learn lessons from the past. This is never being done.

India is not new to terror attacks – still no mobile calls intercepted, no information, no coastline security, no terrorism tracking – nothing from the Intelligence units. Henceforth, I would refrain from associating the adjective ‘Intelligence’ with our units.

Lapses that caused Mumbai ‘08 Wreckage!

Well, there is not even an iota of doubt that Mumbai’s sprit and defiance is not dwindling in the wake of these terrorist attacks and kudos to that as always. Kudos to the efforts of all involved – commandoes, Mumbai Polics, NSG, Fire fighters, commoners, Railway police and all involved. Prayers for the souls of Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte.

Vijay Salaskar, described as an “encounter specialist,” was killed during an “attack at Metro Cinema” in Mumbai. Commissioner Ashok Kamte reportedly died in the same attack. Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Chief Hemant Karkare was reportedly killed during an attack on Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

But why has this happened? Negligence? Casual approach? Lapse in security? Inadequacy? Underestimating terrorists? Whatever is the reason – the resultant effect is for all of us to see.

The terrorists came in from Karachi carrying heavy arms and ammunitions, according to reports, in open speed boats and cleanly escaped the prying yes of coast guards and naval security forces. The explosives and arms were distributed across the city as planned and coordinated attacks were carried out at different parts in the city. Well, I thoroughly agree that it is not possible to guard a long coastline that a peninsular country like India has, but I sincerely believe that our Intelligence – RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) is one of the best units in the world and is quite well equipped to handle and curb these situations. I am not the one who would blast out at the potency and capabilities of our system – because I believe that we are well equipped, but even then lapses and negligence (should I say) cause this chaotic situations, which are uncalled for.

I sympathize, I cry, I complain, I crib, I pray, I desire, I believe, I write, I am right, I am wrong, I criticize, I support – all because that ‘I’ within me loves my city, love India and breathe in and out for India!

Mumbai – Still Burning!

Twelve hours later Mumbai is still struggling to douse the flames – fighitng hard against the nuisance, the insects, germs, dirt and all the filth that is being dispersed by .. we all know who!

Well, firemen fighting hard and managing to douse the flame at Taj, Leopold cafe, Nariman House, CST, Oberoi, Taj, Gateway of India and so on, so much at stake. More than 100 lives lost, NSG guards being tracked on TV by foolishness of media personnels (I hope that is some sort of a trick), Egyptian couple shot dead, lot of others injured.

One more thing, I feel that todays DNA carried some gory pictures of the incident, which shoul never have made it on the front page of a leading daily like it. The goriness depicted would be depressing for many. Bringing truth to masses is one thing – but absurdly blunt is not the way to do it. Media needs to be a bit more tactful and responsible – be it print or tele.

Terrorism – Corroding Mumbai!

A break in routine, a disruption in set pattern indicating harm to fellow individuals and threat to life, a picture of gory details, death knells and such things constitue a major part of terrorism. Add up a mix of these things in any populace region and chaos results – fear – disruption and their goal is achieved – the ultimate goal of terrorism – ruin normalcy and spread chaos.

Firing, blasts, ruckus, devastating public property and now targetting heritage structures like CST, the elite like Taj and Gateway of India; seems there is no end and whatsoever they try and do their goal seems to be pushing further away from them. The ultimate message being spread by this act is one – hatred against terrorists and a global war against them.

Lives lost, tears shed, tangible property losses, intangible deficits resultant can or cannot be mended, but the these terrorists and their cowardly acts need to be mended in a better way.  Such attacks on public places is expected and every now and then they will keep coming back to Mumbai. What do the people do? Expect that this is not the day when they strike back and continue doing about their routine pinning their hopes on optimism? Or live in fear? Flee the city for some better and more remote place where a terrorist attack is unlikely? Or trudge along in the city?

Intelligence units? RAW? Police patrols? Security checks? Aware citizens? Whats going on?

The quality of life in Mumbai is already detoriating with commuting woes, power cuts, increase in slum areas, increasing filth, poor hygience, lack of basic ameinties, scare essentials, communal disharmony and now terror attacks! Where is the good ol’ Mumbai? Forget Shanghai or any other global hotspot – just try and bring back the old Mumbai – tangibles and intangibles -  and that would do the trick!

Mumbai Blogger Meet

Mumbai blogger meet

20/04/2008 at 16:00

Scheduled for 20/04/2008 at 16:00
City: Mumbai

Description
Indi-Bloggers reunite again, this time in Mumbai, on (Sunday) April 20th, 2008. We’re going to try and make this a huge hit, and draw in bloggers from all over the country! Indiblogger’s had some excellent press recently, so we want to capitalize on that to see where we should collectively take this. So spread the good word, invite your friends, and let’s make a LOUD NOISE!

Venue
To be announced, once discovered.

Mumbaiyya Hindi: Samjha kya??

“Chal side mein hatt hawa aane de” is not a phrase you will hear uttered with an uncanny knack anywhere else, but in Mumbai. The lingo is harboured in the spirits of the city and is truly a reflective of a cosmopolitan status. The Mumbaiyya Hindi and Hinglish has become the city’s lexicon. Hinglish is an amalgamated version of Hindi and English manipulated together for effective communication, which has become one with the city’s identity.

Linguistic pidginization has given way from authentic English to a completely newer version, which is more than eagerly embraced by the city colleges and even young professionals. Wherein a call centre employee adapts to US English, the Mumbaiyya Hindi still retains the flavour it carries.

The city colleges have its own share in inventing new slangs. Each college has a distinct list of linguistic tweaks and the supply of new vocabulary it has contributed to the city’s wordlist. “Terms like maaf hai and abey kya baat kar raha hai has been doing rounds in RAIT College since ages,” says Mohit Piplani, an engineering student.

When some problem crops up, the most common phrase uttered in Mumbai would be like, ‘arey yaar waanda ho gaya hai’ or ‘arey yaar zhol ho gaya hain’ or still another word to convey the same feeling would use the word ‘raada’.

Words like kalti maar hawa aane de, which means get out of the place, Alibaug se aayela hain kya, which connotes are you a fool?, kharcha paani, meaning daily expenses or other connotation of the same is bashing up some one and other such seemingly jargonistic utterances have their full and comprehensible meaning rooted deep in the city’s culture.

The Mumbaiyya Hindi, which began as a dialect spoken in the lower income neighbourhood and slums of Mumbai, as depicted and heard in most of the Bollywood films, has managed to capture the imagination and appealed to the linguistic essences of the youth of the poor and economically privileged strata as well. The populace Mumbai have incorporated this slanging in their routing conversation as well.

Films like ‘Vaastav’ have contributed a lot with inclusions like ‘Ghoda, meaning a gun, thok dal connoting shoot him, tapka dal conveying kill him, mandavli meaning compromise and other such phrases. Stars like Sunjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff have become iconic as far as Mumbaiyya Hindi is concerned. Not to forget the much talked about ‘Mamu’ and ‘Jadoo ki jhappi’ from Munnabhai MBBS.

Abe saale dhakkan, kyon time khoti kar rahela hai? Cut to cut baat karne ka, apun ko faltu bakbak karne ka aadat nahin hai. Jo kuch kehna hai, jaldi kar aur phoot le which seems utter nonsensical, is yet another city’s way to convey, ‘you fool, don’t waste my time. Come to the point and spurt out what you want to’.

A beautiful lady is often referred to as a ‘raapchick maal’, to relieve the tension one utters ‘load mat le’, and ‘Hata saawan ki ghatta’ conveys who cares attitude.

Even though the usage of such a vernacular pidgin seems unacceptable to the purists and conservationists, there is no denying that the Mumbaiyya language is tersely cogent and precisely meaningful. Considering that time is of such a value in the city, these aphoristic utterances in routine conversations seems aptly suitable for the city’s fast paced lifestyle.

A form of Mumbaiyya Hindi usually sprinkled with an ample amount of double-entendres and expletives is associated with the marginal and underprivileged strata.

“I am really perturbed by the way my son speaks with his bunch of college colleagues and friends. Though he doesn’t contaminate the home ambience with his so called language, sometimes involuntary utterances do leave us stunned. These collegians have corrupted our language beyond core and the state is now that this Hinglish is demanding a place in the dictionary too” says Mr. J. Parihar, father of Kunal, a Somaiya student.

Point to point conversation or as spoken in Mumbai, cut to cut, conveys the street smartness of the Mumbaikars and their dislike for unwarranted courtesies. The pithiness conveyed by the Mumbaikars is adorable. While the hep population and the college youth resorted to Hinglish usage, Mumbaiyya Hindi still rules the roost.

Zagmag, dhinchak, sumbdi, ragpatti, khunnas, khopcha, full to are some other vocabulary from the city’s version of Hindi language. While few call centre employees preferring Hinglish will utter ‘Arey litsen kal movie gaya tha na, it was awesome yaar’, the same feeling would be aptly conveyed by ‘arey kal ka movie ekdum dhasu tha’ in our very own Mumbaiyya Hindi.

While colleges in south Mumbai prefer to stick to so called sophisticated versions of Hinglish the down town colleges has a list of expletives and some real funny vocabulary to feed the linguistic demands.

The city colleges, south Mumbai and the suburban, the IT professionals and the call centre employees, the iconic film stars and the common man, all have embraced the altered language, and even if it doesn’t sound appealing to the intellects, give it some time and it surely will capture and leave its impact on the grey matter of the intellects as well. All in all, the city’s Hindi version, even though a had it roots as a pidgin, now has managed to undergo creolization and managed to attain the status of Mumbai’s native language and reflect the true spirits.