My 'middle finger's' marked!

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My 'middle finger's' marked..! As an afterthought, what truly was more saddening to me than the scores of candlelight vigils for the victims of 26/11 was the lacklustre attendance of Mumbaikars at the voting booths. A long weekend coupled with government apathy? Think of it, it's truly after a long time that the kids and the parents have had a vacation together. Well, it made a lot of sense for the likes of Aamir, Shah Rukh and the Bachchan family to paint their fingers. For once, the Bachchans loved the camera lenses even as they whole-heartedly showed the media 'the finger' (notice that naughty jibe and comments Mr. Bachchan making to his kids before prodding them to pose for the lenses). For Aamir, with so many 'public service messages' to vote, it would have been 'messing-up' not to vote. And for dear 'ol super Khan, how could he....

My City is Burning, So Many Hearts Weeping

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My city is burning... so many bleeding;
Hearts weeping and I'm still flying...
A fly on the wall... just watching;
Flying from one wall to another.
Unable to cry along; unable to share a shoulder.
A hand lend out is scanned for a boom mic;
They think I'm a foe... they think I love to see them cry
And also think I lack a heart!
Always blamed for saying too much! But, I was there too...
Scared as much as you were; yet determined to fly on
Dodging the same bullets that you did;
Breathing-in the same smoke you did
The pain was there, the emptiness too
I lost as much as you did too
My faith in so many things...
My leaders my guardian angels my neighbors too
But I'm still flying on and forever will too
'coz from one wall to another I hit glass too
And there I lay motionless; looking for help
Unable to even call out... ....

Rain rain go away come again another day... Our BMC officials only want to play..!

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"We are prepared" said Mr. Jairaj Pathak, when questioned about the BMC's monsoon preparedness; just last week. Little did we know that it meant the preparedness to channelize flood water when it did not rain, or when it is low tide. Now, how can you blame the municipal corporation if the rain gods decided to pour without any formal warning? Ain't you supposed to know that first rains always block drains. In fact, shouldn't you be applauding the BMC on working 'smart' and saving on costs and waiting for the first rains to bring up all the garbage and muck to the surface and then deploying it's personnel to clear it? Open manholes? Didn't you know that it is the result of a deliberate and well thought-of disaster management 'programme' to ensure the flow of flood water is not restricted. Ok, pun apart, it's....

Introducing 'my friend' Mr Sharma

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Do you know Mr Sharma (not his real name)? Well, let me introduce him to you. He's roughly 52-55 years of age. He works in a public sector bank which serves a really bad lunch; where the AGM finance hardly knows his stuff and all that he really does is flirt around with his lady secretary. The bank did not pay up the promised mid-year bonus to its staff and fired three of its senior staff for siphoning of a formidable amount of money. Sharma lives in Dombivili and has booked for a new apartment (a 2-BHK) in Khargar, Navi Mumbai. He'll then stop travelling on the Central-Thane line and move onto the harbour suburban train line. The frequency of trains on that line's not as good but it wouldn't matter much since he'll be traveling during non-peak hours. He chose not to take a loan from....

Mumbai on Track

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"Pudheel station bhandup"......"Agla station bhandup"....."the next station is bhandup".....announced a pleasant female voice on the public address system....this went on for kanjurmarg, vikhroli, and all the stations on my early morning trudge to work from Mulund to Currey road. No, haven't been to Shangai yet. But have heard these announcements on the London Tube.....Even as Londoners continue to read their newspapers and magazines or stay glued to their cell phones...or to the music on their I-pods, these announcements combined with LED displays all-around the compartments subtly remind them of the next station. A change maybe for us Mumbaikars too...didn't have to crane my neck to the closest window to try and catch the place or the station that's just passed; or even have to ask the passenger next to the window, "bhaisaab, kaunsa station thha" ("Sir, what station did we pass just now..?....

Found Your PR Yet.......?

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My ambition in life's to be rich and famous...Well at least the becoming 'rich' part is shelved for the moment.....and for the other one.....let me check what my odds are... - Well, I have no one who'd write about me and my deeds (as if there are any to mention) - Nothing that I have invented or discovered and not even a 'Company' or a dot com that I have floated yet. - I don't attend too many parties.....well the truth..I don't attend any at all... Ok, but how do the others do it..? It's quite simple...Hire a PR guy to pick up u'r account' His fees will depend on the profile of coverage he promises you.. And then it's smooth sailing.....anything you do could make news.....well not really...but to a great extent...either the people you met could be tailor-planned to make news...things you do could be....

A Losing Battle.....Lost..??

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Dignified grit...Emotional strength and sheer determination....words that would seem few, to describe the conviction with which the 'Iron' lady Medha Pathkar continues with her stuggle for the good of scores of villagers in the Narmada valley. The area spans the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Years ago when she set out on the cause, it raised quite an uproar. A time when I still hadn't weaned off Tom & Jerry or the Laurel & Hardies of comic strips and 'NEWS' of any kind...still something forced upon me by my dad for the 'greater' knowledge sake. But as I grew, Medha Pathkar was a name that kept on cropping up more and more. Magazines, newspapers (still remember a picture published on the front page of the Times of India), and of course television that beamed visuals of a frail woman wrapped in a cotton saree struggling to be....