From another life:
Pesticides in coke ;train bombs ,dengue ,traffic,bad roads and curroupt authorities.
All these are reasons for the NRI’s to wonder "But why do I come back to India?" ..
I could note a few reasons why-
- because I want signposts in marathi, I want temple bells at dusk, I want to eat bhel puri on the streets, I want the smelly streets that tell me I am nearing home, I want my ‘chiwda’, I want the beaches with coconut vendors, I want to go the talkies to see a fillum.
Heck, I even want the daily ‘train peak hour rush’…, the slow ass internet, the mosquitoes, the cows on the road, the long bus ride...anything if only it were home.
I was born in tropical heat, I was reared with red tape and bureaucratic bullshit, I am equipped to fight for every 'equal' opportunity because I had the misfortune of being born female or of a certain caste.
I am convinced….
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Adaptive Systems....
Adjusting to life...being flexible...and adhering to your beloveds wishes...these are all considered to be good traits, or so the world makes us believe
We have always been taught to think rationally...to be reasonable...
But the real question is who defined reasonable?
I firmly beleve in what the vedas say "we are all belessed with a boon"....few of us have been lucky to find it....most of us develop what I call....
adaptive systems.
Your profound ignorance of your ablilty to give into situations and people you would want to reject under complete awarness...
Thereby, it is okai sometimes to reject the best of the options, it is good to have missed the last opportunity.
Because what you belive is good for you is a pure result of these adaptive systems.
It is said...
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himslef.Therefore progress always depends on the unreasonable man.
Take a minitue and think.....and next time....dont be so adaptive.....find out what you really want.... and go for it.
Adjusting to life...being flexible...and adhering to your beloveds wishes...these are all considered to be good traits, or so the world makes us believe
We have always been taught to think rationally...to be reasonable...
But the real question is who defined reasonable?
I firmly beleve in what the vedas say "we are all belessed with a boon"....few of us have been lucky to find it....most of us develop what I call....
adaptive systems.
Your profound ignorance of your ablilty to give into situations and people you would want to reject under complete awarness...
Thereby, it is okai sometimes to reject the best of the options, it is good to have missed the last opportunity.
Because what you belive is good for you is a pure result of these adaptive systems.
It is said...
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himslef.Therefore progress always depends on the unreasonable man.
Take a minitue and think.....and next time....dont be so adaptive.....find out what you really want.... and go for it.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Bun Maska and chai….
Any one who has lived in mumbai long enough (and this has nothing to do with time) when describing the city would talk about crowded trains, pitiful roads, bollywood, Vada pav etc.
I add one more to that list…. The Iranian Restaurants.
Most of these restaurants are really old, running back to 20 years. Their menus seem to have caught up with time but their service is nothing close to the speedy century we live in.
Run by old irani uncles who look really lazy, but are far from it, they are mostly managed by the shabbily dressed men, who are probably not the kind of people you want to be served by and I have come to believe that the ambiance of any irani restaurant is enough to kill the appetite of someone who thinks Mc Donald’s needs a customer feedback.
Yet, in their own indifferent way these restaurants can very much be associated with and like any acquaintance you want to cherish, you need to give it more than one chance.
By fate, I have been able to do so; every university I have studied at, has had an irani restaurant by the side. First Stadium and now Gulshan…
Bedsides... all the biryanis and mutton patties that they are known for my favorite remains Bun Maska and chai…
For a mere 12 bucks: this little combo is perfect! Especially at 7:30 am when the city is wide-awake and the irani uncle plays his favorite mohomad rafi track.
You really feel like you have you have traveled back in time.
In my busy schedule where I am living on a clock this 15 mins of my early morning chai makes me feel there is no hurry, no timelines, no worries….
If we are what we eat…I would be this refreshing chai and bun maska……available amidst all the superficial concerns, which would kill your desire to know what it is really all about.
All it takes, is a second chance.
Any one who has lived in mumbai long enough (and this has nothing to do with time) when describing the city would talk about crowded trains, pitiful roads, bollywood, Vada pav etc.
I add one more to that list…. The Iranian Restaurants.
Most of these restaurants are really old, running back to 20 years. Their menus seem to have caught up with time but their service is nothing close to the speedy century we live in.
Run by old irani uncles who look really lazy, but are far from it, they are mostly managed by the shabbily dressed men, who are probably not the kind of people you want to be served by and I have come to believe that the ambiance of any irani restaurant is enough to kill the appetite of someone who thinks Mc Donald’s needs a customer feedback.
Yet, in their own indifferent way these restaurants can very much be associated with and like any acquaintance you want to cherish, you need to give it more than one chance.
By fate, I have been able to do so; every university I have studied at, has had an irani restaurant by the side. First Stadium and now Gulshan…
Bedsides... all the biryanis and mutton patties that they are known for my favorite remains Bun Maska and chai…
For a mere 12 bucks: this little combo is perfect! Especially at 7:30 am when the city is wide-awake and the irani uncle plays his favorite mohomad rafi track.
You really feel like you have you have traveled back in time.
In my busy schedule where I am living on a clock this 15 mins of my early morning chai makes me feel there is no hurry, no timelines, no worries….
If we are what we eat…I would be this refreshing chai and bun maska……available amidst all the superficial concerns, which would kill your desire to know what it is really all about.
All it takes, is a second chance.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Multitasking…
At 22, I am institutionalized.
I have rules, an agenda, a meeting and a team of people to work with.
The older I become the lesser my autonomy.
But most of it is self-inflicted.
The list of things for me to do on a daily basis include:
- Read eco times
- Read TOI
- Work on the paper
- Meet professors for discussion
- Read a book (currently reading Blue Ocean)
- College work (placement, alumni etc)
- Presentations (Variable)
- CSR projects
- the inevitable studying. (Highly variable)
- and a list of things I do for other people purely out of guilt.
Such kind of Multitasking is actually considered to be a good thing in management.
I could be viewed as someone with high energy levels, very active etc. (flaws of HR?)
To me I am just doing stuff…
I have the time and I have the resources, I mite as well make full use..
Don’t misunderstand. I do have a life…my occasional visits to Leo’s never stop, I still walk around fort and I still go shopping.
Now the real thing to wonder is…
Does doing so many things, which you believe is worthwhile always good?
I dunoo…
But I remember reading somewhere:
“Doing stuff is overrated. Like Hitler. Wouldn’t we all wish he would have just stayed at home and gotten stoned.”
Point is: Its okay to be lazy, its okay to sleep extra one day and reach a little late for work.
And if you get a brilliant Idea at 3 in morning...please go back to sleep... nothing is as important as it first seems.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Need to be Opinionated.
After, giving nine consecutive papers, having three arguments, meeting four really good friends and some several bad jokes later …I headed back home.
On my way I encountered the usual mumbai traffic, bad roads, broken signals with no traffic police. I was a victim to this wretchedness for a good 2 hours.
During that journey I wondered,
Why are the roads always bad?
Why aren’t the signals working?
Where are the traffic police?
…poor sanitation, drainage problems, poor healthcare
Who is responsible for all this?
…I have the ‘Right’ to know this information. It is one of my Fundamental rights!!
The problem is we don’t exercise it enough. Because we are not opinionated!!
When we leave the house we assume we get traffic, we know the roads will be awful, we know littering is bad and no one to hold us responsible, we know there will be floods and so we prepare our selves for it
Why do we always work backwards??…or are we really this complacent?
Throughout history there have been many examples where people have reacted against injustice, rigid mindsets and unfair ideologies ,however its not just their emotions that have made them change the course of actions but it’s the number.
Mass revolutions.
The British who were sent back home from India, the U.S troops who withdrew from Vietnam, The women who won their right to vote, are all examples for what public opnions can do.
Recently the protests across the country led the government to withdraw the amendment to Right to Information.
A victory to those who were opinionated.
As for those who still aren’t:
be intolerant, be insensitive, lack patience... because we need to reach that point in time where we say ‘enough is enough’
As for me…. I shall file my first Right to Information!
After, giving nine consecutive papers, having three arguments, meeting four really good friends and some several bad jokes later …I headed back home.
On my way I encountered the usual mumbai traffic, bad roads, broken signals with no traffic police. I was a victim to this wretchedness for a good 2 hours.
During that journey I wondered,
Why are the roads always bad?
Why aren’t the signals working?
Where are the traffic police?
…poor sanitation, drainage problems, poor healthcare
Who is responsible for all this?
…I have the ‘Right’ to know this information. It is one of my Fundamental rights!!
The problem is we don’t exercise it enough. Because we are not opinionated!!
When we leave the house we assume we get traffic, we know the roads will be awful, we know littering is bad and no one to hold us responsible, we know there will be floods and so we prepare our selves for it
Why do we always work backwards??…or are we really this complacent?
Throughout history there have been many examples where people have reacted against injustice, rigid mindsets and unfair ideologies ,however its not just their emotions that have made them change the course of actions but it’s the number.
Mass revolutions.
The British who were sent back home from India, the U.S troops who withdrew from Vietnam, The women who won their right to vote, are all examples for what public opnions can do.
Recently the protests across the country led the government to withdraw the amendment to Right to Information.
A victory to those who were opinionated.
As for those who still aren’t:
be intolerant, be insensitive, lack patience... because we need to reach that point in time where we say ‘enough is enough’
As for me…. I shall file my first Right to Information!
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Walking down Causeway
....Churchill…Picadelly….Leopold’s and the familiar smokes from Henry road….
Since college has gotten over I haven’t been to causeway… and I really miss it.
Far away from home, it takes me a good hour to get there…but it seems all worth it
My liking of that place has to do with many reasons…. friends…dates…drinks …movies good food…but most importantly the familiarity I share…I could walk blindfolded and yet navigate myself perfectly from mondeys to golden yolk. (Conditions apply)
I have met some interesting people on that street...a bunch of friendly Delhiites overwhelmed with mumbai’s fast life …a few ‘firangs’ who almost always fell prey to the our desi beggar tactics,a split personality cabbie who called him self “Joe something ”.
Causeway to me is not just a street…it seems to convey a lot more than that… …it still has that old Bombay feel to it… The Gateway of India, the art deco style Regal theatre, the cafes (Mondegar, Royal and Leopold) all add to it.
Don’t get me wrong…this is not a guide to the best places in mumbai…
I just believe that everyone has a favorite place in their much loved city…a place that u customarily find reasons to go to ….a place where you’d always want to buy your things from, everything else from anywhere else seems inferior…a place which you would unquestionably miss when u leave the city.
Causeway to me is not just a street…it seems to convey a lot more than that… …it still has that old Bombay feel to it… The Gateway of India, the art deco style Regal theatre, the cafes (Mondegar, Royal and Leopold) all add to it.
Don’t get me wrong…this is not a guide to the best places in mumbai…
I just believe that everyone has a favorite place in their much loved city…a place that u customarily find reasons to go to ….a place where you’d always want to buy your things from, everything else from anywhere else seems inferior…a place which you would unquestionably miss when u leave the city.
Now think….If you were in your favorite city where would you go?
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