Small Big things…!!!

This weekend I saw three movies in my Hotel room. My first 50 dates, Bride’s father and 13 going on 30 are among the most wonderful movies that I have seen in a long time. I would definitely suggest who ever is reading this to see these movies at least once. You will Love it.

“My first 50 dates” is by just better then the other two. It’s a movie about two people who fall in love with each other in the first sight. The boy is completely bowled over. He rushes to the same hotel that he met the girl the next day. He just finds out that the girl does not even remember him. Let alone love him. The boy then comes to know that the girl has met with an accident and she cannot remember anything for more then 24 hours. What follows next is really a treat to watch. The boy goes every day in the morning to the same place and tries to tell his feeling to her as if it were the first time. I just can’t image to be in that guy’s shoes. Just imagine - you have someone whom you love more then your life and the other person simply forgets you. It’s a touching story.

“Bride’s father” is the story about a father and his young daughter. It’s a story about a dad who is immensely found of his daughter. She is the life for him. Then one day prince charming comes by. The daughter finds the love of her life. She makes her choice and begins to move on in life. A wedding is arranged and what follows next is both touching and hilarious. The scene where the daughter is leaving for her husband’s place and father remembers the different phases of his daughter – from a new born kid to being wedded -is very touching indeed.

“13 going on 30” is the story about a girl who is thirteen years old. She thinks that being 30 is the best part of life. She wishes to become 30 to god. God answers her prayers and she becomes 30. She thinks that she can have the entire world. She thinks that she is on top of the world. She only finds out that she has become a worse person then she was when 13. She is too busy with her life. She has stopped respecting other peoples sentiments. She does not speak to her parents. She has time only for work and no time for people who really matter in life.

All three are great movies. All three movies in there own little way try to convey the importance of small things in life. It tells that that we slog our entire life to find a couple of big moments in our life, but on the way we forget thousands of small things that really matter. I remember I was very happy as a kid. I did not have status, money, brains or degrees when I was a kid. But I was still happy. Why? I think it’s because I cared more about that small things in life. I always had time to talk to my parents. I always had time to go cycling with my friends. I was awed at the beautiful butterfly. I always loved the bloom of brilliant flowers. I was carefree. Tomorrow did not exist in my life. All that existed was today and now. Today, most often then not, I am either thinking about my work or about future. That’s not right.

Some great movies remind you about yourself. They tell you where you are going wrong. It’s a pleasure to watch such kind of movies. I sometimes think I am screwing up big time. But as in “My first 50 dates” – I remember it takes just a moment to find the love of your life. After seeing “Bride’s father” – I realize how sad and isolated our near and dear once might be feeling by seeing us running like this. After seeing “13 going on 30” I realize how important it is to be a child no matter how old you are.

Nothing beats seeing great movies on a lazy day… :-)

Stop hate Traders!!!!

Before starting this blog, I want you narrate a story and an observation. You might have heard about the story and also have made the observation that I am about to write. But let me retell them in a new context.

First let me tell the story. Once upon a time there was a frog that lived in a well. It was so contented in its well that it did not ever think to see beyond it. It thought that the sum total of the entire world is the well. Then one day, an adventurous frog, which had traveled the entire word, came by and hopped into the well. The adventurous frog started to tell the story of the entire world. He told that there was a sea that was much larger then the well. The frog in the well did not believe the adventurous frog and called him a thug. He made the adventurous frog to go away from its well.

Now let me tell you about the observation that you too might have made. Have you ever seen street Dogs? Yes, of course you have. Have you seen what they do when some other dog or animal comes into its territory? Well, they bark. They bare their teeth’s. They show anger. They get into fight and not only do they hurt others but they hurt themselves too.

Do you know the reason for the frog’s and the dog’s behavior? It can be told in one word – Insecurity. It is in many ways a mental block. It’s a mental sickness. It is these things that separate a Human from an animal – right? We are after all rational. We are a social animal.

Now imagine – Just imagine – what would you call a human being who insists to continue being like a dog or the frog in the above story? Shameless? Uncivilized? Psycho? Or perhaps a person not fit to be called a Human? Worse still, what would you call the people who blindly followed such kind of shit heads? At least I don’t know what to call them.

Sadly, there are still such perverted people amongst us. There are people who say that a person of one state should not enter another state. There are so called “moral policemen” who say that Valentine should not be celebrated. There are people who say that youngsters should not wear certain kind of cloths. There are people who say that person of one religion is a sworn enemy of a person from another religion.

What the F***!!!??? For God’s sake why are you behaving like a street dog? Surely God have given you more brains. Why don’t you use them? Who are you to Judge who is allowed where? Who are you to decide who wears what dress? Who are you to tell which festival is to be celebrated and which is not to be? Unlike you guys, average people have brain enough to decide what should be done and what should not be. So stop giving this bullshit. It stinks and it pollutes people’s minds. Go out and do something useful. If you think your state is the best, roam the world and see where we stand. If you like certain cloths, then wear them. Don’t force me. If you don’t want to celebrate a festival, at least appreciate the spirit of the festival. If you really love your religion, listen to what your God has told. Respect your fellow humans. For God’s sake, grow up – Stop being a dog or a frog – be a human.
I generally do not write anything in this blog that is not connected to me. I try to look at the brighter part of things and be an optimist. But the recent politics of hate that was played in India has irked me a lot. Let everyone who reads these lines pray to god – Give some sense to these disillusioned people.

Susheel’s day out…!!!!

I hit the road on Sunday. I made it a point to visit as many beautiful places in Mumbai as possible. I can say I say that I was successful to a great extent. I did have a fun filled day which ended with a happy accomplished feeling.

I fulfilled a long standing wish of mine on Sunday. I traveled in Mumbai local. Yes, to some it might seem very normal. But for a person like me who has only seen the jam packed Mumbai local either in movie or photos – it was fun. It is true that a lot of public in Mumbai prefer to travel by Train. Even though there are trains plying every minute or so, it is hard to locate even a half filled bogie. What is more amusing is the business that goes on in the train. In my travel between Santa cruse to Church gate I counted at lest four different hawkers (a calendar seller, a Train pass cover seller, a person selling shaving kit and a book seller). I also listened to a girl barely in her teenage singing some great Bollywood songs in a very impressive voice (Though she started begging later). And all this happened in a span of about 15-20 minutes!!!! This is the speed at which Mumbai moves. It is business as usual. The most fun part was while getting down from the train. I was told that it’s a very tricky thing. When your stop approaches, all you do is stand near the door of the train. Leave the rest to the mad public. You will be pushed (or should I say carried?) out from the train to platform.

I got down at the church gate station. Most of the good places to visit in Mumbai are in and around this place. A little walk down the roads and you will start feeling the influence of British rule in India. You will feel as if you are walking in the English Victorian era. Beautiful (but old) buildings, name of the roads, foreign tourists roaming around and the rustle and bustle all make you feel as you are in some other country. I roamed around a bit and visited Bombay university building, Rajabai clock tower (magnificent), Prince of Wales museum, Kala Goda chowk, Hutatma Chowk, The Bombay stock exchange, shivaji Bus terminus and the Taj mahal Hotel.

There is a special story about the Taj mahal hotel that I read and I think it’s worth sharing here. The Taj mahal hotel was built by JRD Tata. The story goes that JRD went to a posh British hotel along with a few of his friends. Even though he had the money to pay for the services being offered, he was not allowed an entry into the hotel. Reason – he was an Indian and English people did not want to sit with an Indian. JRD resolved then and there that he will built a 5 star hotel besides that posh English hotel which will be bigger, better and more brilliant then any other British hotel in India. The result was Hotel Taj mahal. Most of its civil works were planned personally by JRD. This was more then 100 years ago. Even today the hotel is soo beautiful that all other structures pale in comparison to this beautiful hotel. I salute the sprit of JRD.

Just a stone throw distance away from Hotel Taj is the famed “Gateway of India”. It is another wonderful place to visit and see. To many people it has become a name synonymous to Mumbai. A plaque besides this monument reads that it was built in1911 to commemorate the landing of King Gorge on the India soil. Since it was through this gateway that King gorge entered India, this monument was named as the “Gateway of India”. Today to many sailors and sea travelers it serves as bacon to Indian soil. All around the Gateway of India you can see the sea. There is something about the sea that makes me feel happy. Its vastness, its silence, its waves and the fact that it hides within itself a whole different word brings me peace and tranquility. I love to be on the sea shore.

After sitting for some wonderful moments besides the sea and beneath the gateway of India, I moved on. My next visit was to the Mumbai festival in Kala goda. I found it very interesting and fun. The punch line of the Mumbai festival was – “Discover your artistic side”. The name itself tells you how the festival might have been. I saw potter making pots, weavers making cloths, painters painting, dancers dancing, singers singing and lot of kids performing cultural events. And the sentimental touch to all this was that all the performers/artists were the socially, physically and financially under privileged. To name some - there were kids from slum, Women who where victims of physical abuse and domestic violence, physically challenged artists etc. I salute their Never ever give up attitude. God bless you all!!!

My last stop of the day was Nariman point. Now this is what I call a cool place!!! There is Lot of crowd, lot of young couples, Lot of beautiful young faces, lot of walkers. Gosh!! I was left breathless by this place. Sea all around, cool breeze, heavenly climate, lot of beautiful faces around. It was a perfect mixture of beautiful natural surroundings and Romantic atmosphere. I will forgive all the couples being a tad too cozy in this place. The place it self is so damn good that anybody can become romantic and fall in love. I spend quite some time in this place. All the fatigue that I had due to traveling the entire day simply drained off. I was refreshed.

Most of my “Must see” list of Mumbai are checked. The only thing left is to catch up few of my old friends and make some more new friends. With still a minimum of seven days of stay left in Mumbai, I cant wait to see what the coming days has in store for me :-)

Amchi Mumbai....

My roaming days seems to be becoming more and more checkered with each passing day. I am now in Mumbai. It is one place that has so many different identities. Let me just try and recount a few of its identities – Commercial capital of India, home of the Bombay stock exchange, home of Bollywood, home of the biggest and the most ruthless underworld of India, Busiest place in India, costliest city of India, dream capital of India – so on and so forth.

Let me very frank, I have always grown up with the opinion that Mumbai is not a good city. Blame it on the way Mumbai is portrayed in serials/movies or the way ill informed people have spoken about it. I was always of the opinion that Mumbai is the meanest please to be in. A den of all illegal trades and a place where there is no value for human beings and their feelings.

Alas!!! How ill informed and bigoted my views were. I found the place to be pleasantly different from what people had told me and or I had seen in movies. It is a great cosmopolitan city to be in. The crowd here is simply superb. It is a city that never sleeps. There is place for everyone here. Be it a street hawker or a corporate honcho. You can see business as usual everywhere. Time is money. The energy of this city is simply infectious. I liked this city and my perception about this place has immensely changed.

Mumbai is also a very good place for a tourist willing to let his foot loose. For now I had the pleasure of visiting a few wonderful places. I visited Juhu beach. Gosh!!! You need to visit this place. It’s superb. In a single sentence I can say – it’s a bachelor’s paradise. I also had some chatapa in the famed Juhu choupati (I also say Rakesh roshan up and close in this place). I also visited a place called as Lohar chawl. It is not a tourist place as such, but it’s a market, very near to Mumbai Chor bazaar (meaning Thieves market). Though the place is very congested – it was a fun place to be there and do some shopping. I also had visited some cool Malls of Mumbai. Add the fact that I met a friend of mine whom I wanted to meet since a long time. We had a great time. I also went very near to Worli port. I had a site to visit there and when I climbed the roof of the building I could see the sea, the port and also the vastness of Mumbai city (the building was 15 floored and I was on top of it). It was a wonderful feeling to be in that place. With the see in front of me, the cool but gusty wind blowing across by face and being at a high place made me feel as in I am on top of Titanic :-)

There are still a lot of places that I have planned to visit in Mumbai. Let me through that list. I want to visit – Gateway of India (I have attached here a photo of the gateway of India), Marine drive, visit at least one harbor, climb on a boat and go on a short cruise, climb on the famed Mumbai local train at least once, pay a visit to the Mumbai festival, catch up with a few of my old friends. The list is partial. These are the bare minimum that I would definitely want to see. With the company deciding to allow me to stay in this place for maybe another one week, I guess my wish will be fulfilled. :-)

For now I can say that I will be going to DAKC (Derubhai Ambani Knowledge city) on Monday. Of course I will be on official visit. From what I have heard about this place, I am positive that I will be awed by it. I will keep you updated about my visits, experiences and views on “Amchi Mumbai” (Meaning “our Mumbai” in Marathi language) :-)