A Wednesday in Mumbai

Isn’t it wierd? It happened on a Wednesday….to borrow a line from Neeraj Pandey. A battle, a war in Mumbai….something I never thought will happen in my lifetime. Its terrifying to say the least. And this is from a person who is up in north of Mumbai with no relatives / friends caught in the scene of terror. I can only imagine the terror, pain and heart wrenching feelings of all those unfortunate souls in Taj and other places. Are they unfortunate? Or are they victims of poor precautionary measures and organisational skills of the administration? How many chances do you want Mr. CM? What is happening to Mumbai and when will all of this stop? How long do we need to live in fear? Any noise puts panic in our hearts which are now permenantly located in our throat!

Why are we so inept in taking care of our country? This post may seem random but I am shocked, confused, scared, nervous to say the least. This venting is all I can do as I sit in my office waiting for news, any news, hopefully good news! The ‘thud’ of a file on the floor sets my heart racing. It may sound inconsequential now but I am unable to work. I sit in dread….expecting to hear a gun shot and hoping I don’t. I can feel the uncertainities of life. I feel it’s futile planning for tomorrow’s presentation or the next week’s deadline. Who knows? It could be my deadline! Are we doomed to live like this - awaiting a terrible ordeal and be a statistic in a massacare?

Praying is all the helps now or turthfully speaking, its all I can do now. I pray for me, my family, my friends, my acquaintances, innocent souls caught in the ordeal of the war, the people of Mumbai, of India and the world who are affected and harmed by terrorism! God bless us. Please do.

Give me courage to bravely board a train again. Give me courage to step into VT station again. Giev courage to the Taj to be restored to its full glory. Give the Mumbaikar the spirit so that he can chill with a beer at Leopolds. Aah! The spirit of Mumbai!!! Let us give the due credit to the spirit of Mumbai and be done with it. What does the ’spirit of Mumbai’ mean? Does it mean we will take everything lying down and go on worrying about the daily chores? Does it mean that it can be used by the administration to ignore the needs of the city? Its like -’they have the spirit; they don’t need any protection, any infrastructure, any security, any basic neccessities. They have the spirit – they will live and die like they never existed; running for the 8.49 local is all they are bothered about. And then? BLAST!

Mask

My Klash entry for the week with the word Mask

 

His beard itched while the suit was tight but Rohit drove faster towards the orphanage.

Santa Claus seemed such a stupid idea then, he reminisced. It was to promote his first big movie which ended up a blockbuster.

Three years and five flops later, on a frustrated impulse he visited the orphanage. he won three consecutive awards. Thus began his Santa visits before every release. In every child’s smile he saw fame, cash and awards. But Rohit remembered coming back feeling shallow, guilty and a strange emptiness.

Rohit reached to see Lakshman eagerly awaiting him. “Thank you Dada. I am going to USA. I will be the best doctor ever. Promise.”

A warm glow engulfed him. Santa’s mask had stuck on.

                                 X———-X———X

Guys Guys! I have another couple of writings on the same word. Do tell me which is better

Entry 1

Swathi was happily surrounded by her boisterous clan. This is good enough to shift base to India, she thought

“Losing weight suits you”, Geeta aunty declared. Swathi smiled as her thoughts travelled some thousand miles…..

How much will you eat fatty?

“Wearing sarees even in the US! Thats amazing Swathi.”

You think I earn for you to splurge on fashionable clothes

“Hmmm. Even your mom can’t make such delicious parathas.” Swathi looked fondly at her doting father

Why else did I marry you, if not to cook?

“Swathi looks just as before, with a spring in her step and mischief in her eyes”, her grandmother remarked

Swathi beamed. She had a mask well worn

 

 Entry 2

Loud ladies upbeat, ringing mobiles next seat

Masking my irritation was a feat

Blasts in trains, stalked on a lonely lane

Was tough to mask all the fear and pain

Fussy clients, delayed promotions

Masked anger for good public relations

Rice, roti, sweet and cake

Masking ignorance, I tried to make

A plastic smile, a winning grin

Stuck to my face though I am pieces within

One life, so many tasks

True emotions wrapped in so many masks

 

Still alive and kicking?? Do drop a line……………..

Ooh la la!

It was a long term wish to have my caricature done. Sri thinks I lend myself beautifully to it. This was done at Sri’s office Annual Day function. Your opinions on the same are most welcome.

Flip Flop Dish Dash

I had a fun Diwali week in Mumbai! Detailed post sometime soon. As part of my Diwali week celebrations, I caught up with one of my ‘couple friends’ over lunch.  H ( guy buddy) & P (gal pal) have been with me in and since college where they met and fell in love. Subsequently they married and are proud of their little bundle P2.

We met after ages (read months) and the following conversation happened -

H -So how is married life? Adjusting well, I hope.

Me - Yeah sure!

H -I know your ’fondness’ for cooking and all things domestic. *snigger snigger*. So how do you manage?

Me -Well, Sri usually wakes me up with the morning tea

P -(rushes into the room from the kitchen with the raita dripping ladle) SEE

Me -Then I make breakfast, lunch and dinner

H - SEE

Me -Simple stuff really! Nothing fancy during the week

P - SEE

Me -All supposedly fancy stuff happens over the weekend

H - SEE

Me - Sri does give me a hand most of the time

P - SEE

H - So, what exactly do you make?

Me -Well, idli or dosa for breakfast

P - SEE

Me - Rice, sambhar / rasam

P - SEE

Me -and 2 vegetables

H - SEE

By now I was thoroughly enjoying this

Me -All before leaving for work

H - (falls from the chair) SEE! I have to eat lunch at the office canteen

Me -Well, Sri does that too. He finds carrying lunch from home too cumbersome

H - Still! At least it’s all ready in the morning. He has an option of taking lunch from home. Unike me.

P -You eat too much veggies. What I made for my entire family previously, I have to make it for you alone. It takes ages to cut all those vegetables

Me -Oh! The maid cuts the veggies for me

P - SEE! So how much does the maid take?

Me - Rs. XYZ

H & P - What????

Me -Yeah! She brooms, swabs, hangs out clothes to dry, washes dishes and cuts those above mentioned veggies

H & P – (not convinced)

Me -She comes twice a day

H & P -SEE

Don’t know towards whom that one was intended! All in all an enjoyable conversation!

Disclaimer alert!

Hey H & P, I am sure you guys don’t mind me blogging about this. Actually, there is not much to worry considering you guys don’t know I blog. Nevertheless

Sri, you know my typing exaggerates my cooking and all things domestic..

Just realized this is my 50th post. Never thought I would last this long. Yipeeeee