Mumbai have someone to drive you home after late night parties

Party Hard Drivers is a service on call for those too inebriated to drive home after partying all night

There is reason to party harder this season for Mumbai just got a special chauffeur service for those who can’t be trusted at the wheel after a wild night out.

Just two weeks old, this service – Party Hard Drivers – involves calling for a driver anywhere in the city, who can pick revellers up from their doorstep, drive them around town and drop them safely back home anytime between 10 pm and 3 am.

The service costs Rs 500 per night and Rs 50 extra per hour after 3 am.

The brains behind this service, the trio of Ankur Vaid, Saurabh Shah and Mishal Raheja, each with an alternative profession, say they thought up the idea after a couple of their friends had near-death experiences while driving in an inebriated state.

They were further encouraged with the nakabandi in Mumbai from July when the city police cracked down on every night vehicle, checking for drunken driving. Post the crackdown, 10,000 people have been fined so far and 2,000 people have spent time behind bars.

The proprietors of www.partyharddrivers.com profess their driver pool of over 125 is reliable and have been registered with the city police.

They also come in uniforms and carry their own cell phones. The proprietors say they only hire seasoned drivers with a clean track record of five to 10 years. Each of them is apparently test driven before being taken on and are hired only through reference.

Besides, the service providers profess to taking special care and making available older men to drive women back home.

They can be contacted on 65256521/22/25.
Source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/

Do you enjoy the Magic World of Western Classical Music?

Then I am sure you will likeGiacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly" There is a new celebrity concert season of the SOI (symphony orchestra of India) from February 9 until March 2, 2008, with the sensational highlight of a full-stage production of Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly on February 27, 29 and March 2! At Tata Theatre from 7pm.

This is the first ever production of Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’ and it has a cast of singers from all over the world, a huge orchestra below the stage, and a wonderful set in a lovely garden.

It is a moving story of a young girl who is betrayed by her American lover. It’s a sad and passionate story with lush, beautiful music that tings the strings of your heart. Remember to take a hanky or a tissue..you might cry if you have a tender heart.


Also watch 'Gateways', A Musical Spectacle
presented by:
Jindal South West Foundation in association with Musica Productions.

Venue: Tata Theatre, NCPA. Mumbai
Date: 5th March 2008
Time: 7 p.m.
Duration: 90 mins. 'Gateways', A Musical Spectacle
presented by:
Jindal South West Foundation in association with Musica Productions.

Kitab Festival 2008

Liberatum aims to connect Britain’s finest cultural and media minds with the rest of the world through world-class festivals and significant cultural celebrations.

Liberatum’s global festival programming ranges from opera, theatre, poetry, literary events to heavyweight discussions, debates, musical performances and visual art.

Kitab 2008 that will be held from 22-24 February in Mumbai in partnership with The Times, UK.

A host of literay stalwarts along with promising writers will participate in the two days of book readings, discussions, film screenings, poetry sessions and interactive fora that have been carefully structured balancing elements of literature, culture, theatre and creative dialogue.

Programs:

21 February

8pm Poetry Party and Dinner at Indigo hosted by KITAB

22 February

Venue : Asiatic Library 11am Poetry Session - Sharanya Manivannan
11:40am The Art of Fiction: MJ Hyland (MJ Hyland's second book 'Carry Me Down' was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2006.) He will read a piece dedicated to the subject 'How To Write'. Hyland will also read a few short extracts from both her first and second novels, and talk about how they were written.

1pm The Author Hour (Namita Devidayal on her new book)

2pm The Director Speaks (Mahesh Bhatt on Sex in Indian Cinema )

3pm Young Mind Speaks (Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan talks about life as a young author in India )

4pm – Alliance Française Auditorium (Film Screening- EL Passado/ The Past; Brazil –2007 – 114 mins; Réalisateur : Hector Babenco; Acteurs : Mabi Abele, Mariana Anghileri, Mimi Ardu )

5pm Meher Pestonji's Play 'Feeding Crows' at Goethe Institute

6pm – Alliance Française Auditorium (Film Screening; The Voyeurs)

8pm GQ Party and Dinner at Good Earth hosted by Dylan Jones


23 February
Venue: Asiatic Library

11am Prince of Fiction (Niall Griffiths on darkness in contemporary fiction, interspersed with short readings from his own work.)

12pm Arab Visions (Robert Irwin presents a power-point presentation on Orientalist paintings including Vereshchagin's wonderful Indian canvases; Followed by a talk on 'The India of The Arabian Nights: The Arabian Nights of India'.)

1pm France at Kitab (Christine Jordis)

2pm Book and poetry readings - 10 poets and authors - in several languages

5pm Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke - Acclaimed German Artist Jonathan
Meese Exhibition; A Talk on Western Visual Arts in India Today

8pm Party at Bungalow 8 hosted by Pernord Ricard

24 February
Venue : Crossword Bookstore

12pm Going Against The Grain (To what extent is the woman writer going against the grain of her gender? Does she? Must she? Come find out through the words and voices of five contemporary women poets. Jane Bhandari, Sampurna Chattarji, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Menka Shivdasani, Marilyn Noronha )

1pm Observer of Life Booker 2007 shortlisted author Indra Sinha discusses his latest book with Shobhaa De and Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi

2pm Gordon's Britain (Matthew d'Ancona gives a talk on what the future holds for the UK under Gordon Brown's leadership)

3pm English Muslim (Sarfraz Manzoor reads from his book followed by a talk)

4pm War and Sex (Julian West gives a fascinating talk)

8pm Vogue Party and Dinner at Olive

There is a day-long celebration of poetry at Prithvi Theatre on Sunday 17th February from 11 am to 11 pm

If you are in Mumbai this week-end and are very fond of poetry, Prithvi Theatre is a good place to hang around.

11am – 12:30pm
A Just Us Repertory Production WATER LILIES :

A TRILOGY
In each play, two strangers, a Man and a Woman, claiming different racial origins, meet by accident in a public space in the U.S. A poem is central to each story

2pm - 3:30pm
Gained in Translation:

Poets and translators read from Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindi

4pm - 4:30pm
Confronting Love: A reading of love poems

Tune in to the many moods and approaches, tones and textures, of love - Indian style.

4:45-5pm
Aaranya's Shabd Sangeet: Poetry and music

5:00 – 6:00pm
Poetry reading in English:

CP Surendran, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Sampurna
Chattarji, Menka Shivdasani, Anand Thakore, Jane Bhandari, Manisha Lakhe, Marilyn Noronha, Anju Makhija, Jerry Pinto, Peter Griffin.

6:30-7:45
Poetry in Wartime:

A film on poets' responses to war through the ages

7:30pm - 8:30pm
Open Mike: Calling all poets!

This is interesting event because participants can recite, declaim, shout, or sing their words. They can sit, stand or lie down. They can dance, turn cartwheels, play a musical instrument, or scratch their backs, as long as they perform the words.


9:00pm - 10:20pm
Aaranya's play: Peele Scooter Wala Aadmi

Simple questions may have simple answers, but some questions have no answers at all. These are questions that begin to stay with you… A young man is trying to write, but unanswered questions keep haunting him. The play explores his inner struggle as a writer and a person, as he tries repeatedly to tell the story he wishes to tell.

Khala Ghoda Festival in Mumbai 2nd February to 10th February 2008

I have lived most part of my life in Mumbai, but I have never ever attended ‘Kala Ghoda’ festival. Can you imagine that!

Psss! Pssss! I better talk softly or else I might get extradited from Mumbai community.

I have always wondered what this festival is all about, but everybody tells me it is lots of fun, and nobody has actually told me anything in details..

So here I am , going to experience this festival as much as my frail body will allow…..

This year I have decided to attend as many events as possible. This is the ‘Tenth Year’ of the ‘Kala Ghoda Festival’ and it will be held in Fort area from 2nd to 10th February 2008.

Anybody willingly to accompany me for this festival can search for me there. I will surely be HERE attendeing some of the events or workshops.

So see you there!

Whenever I am not too tired, I will blog about my experiencs on my other blog at Ranting and Raving. Visit me THERE if you wish to know what is happening in Mumbai and experience this festival from my angle.....

The Mumbai roads were too busy today cheering the Mumbaikars

and I was watching all of it on TV, because I have no courage to go out there in the midst of the crowd and see just a segment of the race in this warm weather. TV gave me a great view and I watched it over a cup of coffee in the comfort of my home.

And I saw Mumbai Marathon today celebrating its fifth successful year. Mumbai spirit was dynamic and the streets were full of participant and the cheering spectators.

Over 33000 people participated in the marathon and the winners were Kelai of Kenya, who finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 22 seconds, followed by Tariku Jufar of Ethiopia in 2:12:28 and Philemon Boit of Kenya in 2:12:35.

Seboka set the record in the women's event in 2:30:03, ahead of Kenyans Irene Kemunto (2:32:51) and Margaret Karie Toroitich (2:33:56).

But the most interesting part of the marathon was the 'Dream Run', a six kilometer run, in which 21000 people participated, everybody for a particular cause. This included NGO’s, social workers, the physically and the mentally challenged. Common people were dressed in fancy clothes that included Gladiators, Sai Satya Baba, Ghandhiji, etc. There were scores of runners who had come ‘dressed’ as Symonds, with white paint liberally daubed on their lips, fake dreadlocks, and even a cricket bat.

Many of them carried banners with loud social message of public awareness toward global warming, care for the aged, care for the under privileged and many other organizations. There were band players, performers, dancers and cheer leaders.

“Who need to be normal as long as they all can contribute to the society” said one of the participants as she talked to the TV anchor

The crowd was dynamic and the spirit of participation was truly great…and the messages on TV during the break were clear and loud.

“It is not about stamina, it is not about speed, it is only about the spirit. Everybody is the winner and that is certainty"

Faded Visa

“Don’t you ever invite any tourists in your country, you understand?” said my NRI cousin, Vinod, over the telephone conversation during his long distance call “I am never coming back to your country. You want our money, you want foreign company investments and you want to see your country flourish, but your country does not even have any proper system of working.”

Being a resident of India and my sincere love for my India was completely crushed under the weight of his wrath. It was very embarrassing for me. My NRI cousin was happy to break off his ties with his motherland. Bad experiences have bad results.

One month ago, I was in Poona, spending quality time with my family and friends. My cousin, Vinod, had come down with his family to spend some time with us in India. His tourist visa was valid for three months but he was able to make the trip to India only just few days before it expired and he didn’t realize that the validity of the visa of three month was from the date of its issue in his country and not from the day you enter India. Every country have their own rules.

He stayed for two months. He enjoyed watching the Bollywood films, the Indian food, the culture and traditions of India. He loved colorful festivals, the warmth of the family and friends, the joy and happiness that was in the air. But like all the good things must end, his day of departure from this magic land had finally arrived.

We had a farewell lunch party in the house. Vinod zipped the last bag as he heard the beep of the car.

“Lets hurry up, we must not be late.” He said as he helped his wife, Sunita, with some more last- minute packing.

He looked at his watch, it was 5pm. He must hurry if he could reach in time for his mid-night flight. He hated late nights and the long journey from Pune to Mumbai airport was always exhausting. Sometimes it took more than four hours to reach the International airport. Vinod believed in discipline. It is always better to be early than to be late.


* *

The speakers at the international airports announced (non-stop) the flight schedules as people dragged their trolley bags towards the check-in counters. Vinod looked up at the board that showed the flight schedule. Thank God, the flight is on time. He smiled as he arranged his tickets and passports for verification. He asked Sunita to sit and relax while he would finish all the formalities. He stood in a long queue and waited for nearly thirty minutes to reach the counter. He handed his tickets and passports to the ground hostess.

“Excuse me sir, I am afraid you have overstayed your visit” said the ground hostess as she dialed a number into her walkie-talkie, “Please step aside, you will have to talk to the officer.”

Sunita stared blankly and wondered what was wrong as she watched her husband following an officer and disappearing round the bend.

“Sir, I see you have no permit to stay in this country. Your visa had expired thirty days ago.” said the officer.

Vinod was confused. This trip to the airport from Poona had been very stressful. Too much traffic even on the Express Highway! He wished he could finish the formalities as soon as he could and board the plane and relax. He knew that he had three months visa on his Thai passport but he has stayed in India for only two months.

“Is not the visa valid from the time you enter the country?” he asked

“No sir, the visa is valid from the date it is issued in your country.” Said the officer

“I am sorry, there is some mistake. In that case, I am willing to pay the fine. In my country, people who overstay normally pay 1000 Baht per day, how much fine should I pay in Indian Rupees?” he said as he plunged his fingers into his breast pocket.

“No sir, you cannot pay the fine for over-staying here, at the airport. You have to apply for the extended tourist visa from the Office of External Affairs, in Mumbai and then you can leave the country. I am afraid there is no other solution.” said the officer as he shrugged off his shoulders.

• * *

It was 5am when he returned back home in Pune. His back hurt as he dragged the bags back into the house, He needed to stretch on the bed. He would have to go back to Mumbai, the next day to get his visa extended.

• * *

Vinod waited for more than two hours before he could meet the officer. During the span of twenty-five days, there were six trips to Mumbai. There was no proper coordination between Mumbai and Pune offices of External affairs. He preferred to make the trip personally to save the time. He realized that the documents take time to change desks. Every person had his own job to do and only one person is responsible for doing one particular type of job and if that person is not at his desk, you have to wait. They told him that it was a serious crime to over-stay in India without a valid visa and he had to pay a price, a price of harassment by law makers who knew their job well, who didn’t value people’s time, who, themselves, never reported to work on time.

How he wished he knew immigration laws of different countries. He was not aware that in India, if the visa has expired, it is important to renew it within fifteen days.

A new Visa application form had to be filled again, in Mumbai, explaining the reasons for over-staying, a police inquiry to be done to verify his presence in the city of Pune and then the registration and the verifications of documents in Mumbai and in Pune. The trips and the meetings with different persons for different documents were very time consuming. It seemed like nobody ever came to their desk on time. Everyday, he waited for several hours before he could meet the right person, and then there were always invitations to come back the next day. If he had good reading habits, he could have easily finished reading several book sellers in the corridors, or in the waiting rooms. Even plugging his ears with FM radio could have helped. But sitting there, in anticipation, facing the dirty walls and waiting for an officer to report to his desk was very frustrating.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), he finally learnt that there were agents who were ready to help you to speed the process and they knew the secret routes to reach the desk of the officers. After coordinating with this agent, the work put on the boots. With a settlement of fine of thirty dollars and Rupees ten thousand (service charges, extra for speeding the process), he finally got the visa extended, and he was asked to leave the country within two days.

• * *

Will my NRI cousin ever visit me in future? I am not sure. He is very happy in his adopted land and boasts about the warmth of his corporate world. Why is everything so difficult here? Why do we need to grease the palms of important pillars for stretching our needs in their cushioned world?

I wish to be proud of my country too. I really wish I could!