Facts n Fiction

It was not long ago when I was sitting (yes! ;-]) with two friends of mine, and one of their friend (we will call him Mr. A, A for angry young man…hahahaha). The introductory session went on good and we all kicked off the session with lot of fun and laughter – until this time nobody had bothered to ask the new acquaintances about each other’s whereabouts or what they did or where they came from; it was as if they were meeting just after yesterday. As we continued getting into high spirits, a fellow member initiated a discussion about what I did, what is my name (once again!), where am I studying (this happens most of the time, I just smile at this), what would I like to do in future (am sure when he comes to know about my age, he will ask me what should he do in his future…hahahaha), and so on. He also asked me where I came from. I proudly replied “MUMBAI”, and I always do it that way. He probably was little hurt with my regionalist ego and shrugged his shoulders. Yes, I am a Mumbaikar...

“Righteous Kill” released last week, I haven’t watched it yet. However, what has excited me is that two legendary actors in the history of movies share the screen. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, after their ephemeral charisma in “Heat” (1995), are together in 2008’s "Righteous Kill" sharing equal space on screen. You need not be just a movie buff to understand what I am trying to say or why am I showing such a moronic enthusiasm. You have to be a movie maniac; movies should flow through your bloodstream, especially those of the epic era, which have laid a strong foundation to the story telling of modern times. You may just look at these Hollywood heavyweights as actors, but go and ask the ardent movie-goers of the 70s (and early 80s), and they all will recite a similar rhyme – both, Al Pacino as well as Robert De Niro are indeed the titans. Teens may not understand what the shouting is all about. It has been quite long, almost 13 years after “Godfather II” (1974), that thes...

Today, it was that time of the year when millions of Mumbaikars flock on the streets to be a part of the immersion procession of their beloved elephant God – Ganesha . People enjoy the dhol-tasha-lezhim rhythms, the carefree dancing, the colours of gulal , and are lost in the spiritual extravaganza seeking blessings from their Lord. The elderly watch the processions with their folded hands, and the little ones smile-giggle-clap looking at the huge idols. The mood overall all is ecstatic and emotional with the devotees bellowing requests for their Lord to come back soon next year. I have been watching such scenes year after year, and I still enjoy it, especially the dhol music. I was traveling today from Pune to Mumbai, on the last day of Ganesh festival. I was worried most of the time that I might get stuck up somewhere in traffic and things would get frustrating. However, fortunately the journey was safe, quick, and pleasing. Though there were a few traffic jam bottlenecks, I managed...

The other day, my mom was muttering something about Jaya Bacchan; she appeared little furious too. “Why did she have to say so? What was the need? Then blame Raj for saying something in return” , she was talking all this in Marathi to herself while doing some kitchen work. I asked her what happened, what is wrong? And she went on again why unnecessarily Jaya Bacchan had to comment. It seems Jaya Bacchan had said something about the Marathi speaking people – the Maharastrians. She (my mom) then reached out for the television remote control and started gliding over various news channels. While I am adept at surfing the net, my mom is equally skilled browsing the TV channels… :-). She somewhere managed to locate that incident on a news channel, it was easy actually, the news kept flashing continuously in loops – that is what news channels do these days, any news is a breaking news, and it will hog you until you have completely forgotten about your existence. Aishwarya Rai falls from a bic...

Oops did I say unclear there in the title, apologies, but I meant “The Nuclear Deal” , one and the same though, nuclear or unclear. Yes, the nuclear deal is still very much unclear in the minds of many people. The word ‘nuclear’ would straightaway mean something related to wars and nuclear warfare. However, there are other aspects too to the ongoing nuclear deal fiasco. What interested (and worried of course) me more was the political pandemonium that is happening in the country. While the UPA might have been apprehensive about sharing the nuke deal text, it is no reason in any way to pull down the government. The Left is left with nothing in hand for the extremist view that they upheld against the centrist Congress party. The leftist who so very much swear by their ideologies of communist manifesto have finally joined hands with BJP who are on the other extreme of Left’s principles – communists join communalists. Had the same deal come from China, the Lefts would have given their com...

Last week had been hectic working in Chennai, the shift timings and the enormous tasks that I had ahead in front of me. However, I did enjoy the comfort of a cosy guest house, a private cab, and some wonderful people over there. I was a little apprehensive when I left for Chennai, thinking about how things would be there, the people, the travel, the food, the weather, and the language ofcourse. “Yeh flight aagey Madurai jayegi kya” (will this flight go ahead to Madurai?) asked me a fellow passenger in the flight, to which I had replied “haan shayad” (yes, I guess), and that was the last time I used Hindi on that day and for rest of the week. As soon as I landed on the airport there, a gentle-heated-breeze flew across my face and indeed it was a warm welcome. Out on the streets, after taking a pre-paid taxi, it was fun finding out the way to the guest house, the driver couldn’t understand me and vice versa. This repeated for the whole week with all the drivers that I traveled with, us...

To summarize the title and simply put it, just come to Pune, and deal with some shopkeepers in “the peth area” and rickshaw drivers in “out-of-the-city-limit areas” . With over 1 year already spent here in Pune, I have encountered such people every single day and I am yet to find an exception. Public transport in the city is still at its worst. While on one side it gives pride to see the IT growth and consumerism flourishing in the city, basic infrastructure necessities still stand in debatable position. The day I am not lucky enough to find a friend to go to office, I start feeling very low, depressed thinking about what vehicle will I get to go and how will I deal with the rickshaw drivers – the most shameless fellows that I have ever experienced in my life (I am talking of the ones plying between Hinjewadi and Wakad upto Pimple Saudagar etc). 100, 150, 70, 80, they quote anything for a distance of 3kms to 7 kms and you should look at the pride on their face. The rickshaw stands sho...