'Shot of the day' on Mumbai Streets

Animals in a concrete jungle……Is this the means of transport????



What do they care, leaning out of train, traveling so dangerously, unafraid……



And this is not even during peak hours……Thousand of commuters squeezed on a rail platform, waiting for train….

Evening of ‘saaaa..reeee..gaaaa..maaaa..paaaa…’

For music lover there is good news. Hop on to 'Ravindra Natya Mandir' to spend a perfect evening listening to a soothing music.


image

Satish Vyas who needs no introduction to the music lovers is all set to enthrall the PRATAHSWAR audience with his soul stirring performance.

Watch him perform at PRATAHSWAR’s 25th concert on 11th October’09 at 6.30 am accompanied by young tabla player Mukundraj Deo

at Ravindra Natya Mandir,
Open Foyer,
Behind Siddhivinayak Temple,
Prabhadevi,
Mumbai.

If you do, will you write the review in this comment box????

35 minutes at Bandra Station

Ooops! Just missed my AC bus from Bandra to Belapur and now I have to wait for 35 minutes on this hot day. I look around for a seat but can see no bench to sit..



There is too much crowd on the street outside Bandra station but there is enough room for hawkers to do their business, and why not? When people will patronize these hawkers and encourage them, then who am I to complain???



The entire footpath outside Bandra station is occupied by dhabba wallah and by animals. Hundreds of people are waiting in queue, but, in the middle of the road, dodging the busy traffic. There is no rickshaw stand and auto rickshaw guy may or may not give them a ride. I am thinking whether auto/taxi is a private transport where people have to ask a favor of a driver to drop them to their destination on his way towards a particular direction?




I really like this architecture, the fine wood work pillars and high arched walls of Bandra station but discomfort is the order of the day. I am tired and perspiring; finally I see the bus…….




Should I go for voting next week?????

Red Bull Speed Link…..in Bandra

In July, when Bandra-Worli sea-link was opened, my friends and I were very excited as we drove down this bridge during its first week of inauguration. We knew it then, that every big event that would take place in Mumbai, would surely showcase this bridge.

What we didn’t know was that it would be that soon……



Img source:
racing car

This Sunday on 11th October, at 2pm, Bandra-Worli sea-link will be shut for a couple of hours to allow a Formula One racing car to zoom through the bridge

Coulthard will 'zoom' across the sea link followed by a special treat in Bandra Reclamation.

I have seen in the movies many times, but this event is to take place, closer to my home in Bandra.. That’s a big treat….The only problem is that there will be too much crowd on the streets, and I hate going to crowded places. Wait-a-minute, I have an idea, I am planning to watch it live from my friend’s terrace with a help of my binoculars……I am sure I will be able to see Formula 1 showcar run with energy, maybe see the excitement on the streets …and gonna to buy ‘Red Bull’ too…..wink* wink*

PS: If you are in Mumbai, you can see this model made by JJ school of Arts student at Inorbit Mall, Malad from 3rd October to 7th October and at Mocha, Bandra from 8th to 10th October.



img source:
Red Bull F1 Art of Can

Wake Up!!!!

Jayashree Kapahi is a resident of 'Bombay'- oooops!! - 'Mumbai'. She has written a very touching poem on 'Bombay', which I would like to share with my friends on my blog.

She writes:

Wake-Up

I say Bombay. The goons will thrash me?
Wake up people. Smell the coffee.
Bombay’s traffic and its snarls.
Do you care? No, not all
Slums are thriving, infants beg.
What does it matter if they lack a leg?
Pollution chokes, diseases kill.
Let them die, the dead don’t vote.

Oh drop these sanctimonious sermons. It is silly.
Farmers commit suicide-not juicy news.
Children die, women raped, abused, beaten.
Who cares? Not the media. Not us. Do you ?

Reality doesn’t touch us. It’s all about publicity.
Holy, unholy cows-do we care?
Chant about the hallowed Mata.
Forget the mother who bore you. Unreality.

Shall I be the small soft voice of reason.
In an unreasonable world.
Fight for freedom from frustrated fiends.
Maybe I’ll lose the fight. Flag unfurled.

Reality.
It stinks.

My sincere thanks to Jayashree for sharing her poem with us.

Pan Wallahs In Mumbai

Panwallah is the common sight on the streets of Mumbai. They sit perched in a small cabin surrounded by betel leaves, betel nuts, tobacco and caustic white paste. Every panwallah will know his regular customers, who drop by to buy cigarettes, pan masala or betel leaves stuffed with sweetened rose petals. Panwallah takes betel leaves, sprinkles tobacco, add few crushed betel nuts and add white caustic paste, and rolls it up into a triangular shape, which his customer may pop into their cheeks to get that dizzy feeling. Many people are addicted to pan and have a habit of frequenting these stalls after their meals.

You see the strawberry colored swabs on the streets or on the walls at the staircase? After masticating the pan for sometime, people have a habit of spitting out the residual juice randomly without any civic sense. Nobody has a habit of using a tissue.

However, if you are lost in Mumbai and you don’t have Google map on your mobile, look for a Panwallah, he is the right person to ask for directions.

Watchmen Don't Wear Watch In Mumbai....

Mumbai is a safe city to live in and you got to believe that. There are security guards everywhere, in every building, in every mall, outside a store, and sometimes on road.



They just stand there and stare, and get full month’s salary for doing nothing but watching and watching……...



They don’t even look scary and sometime they may not even wear their uniform, but they sit at the gate, in the company of their friends, sometimes for a chat. When we pass by them we see them watching, watching….



Even in a mall, where everybody is busy, he stands there staring with his hands clasped behind his back. Everybody is shopping, walking, talking but you see him standing there, just watching, and watching.



You see them at a gate of every building and even outside a store, but all they do is watching, watching…



On days when they are not watching, they may take a short nap



Or go into deep slumber, but we in Mumbai have got to believe that even though he may be asleep, he might be watching, watching…