Three cheers to the Mumbai local

Whatever it is, I stand by my previous thought - this city has a quintessential charm! So let me pick the first charming thing about the city that every newcomer always raises a toast to - Mumbai locals!

As I crossed the 3 suburban railway lines to reach office I couldn’t help but notice that there were thousands others who did the same. But it was only me who was worried, everyone else was busy doing something on the journey. Everytime I had a confused look while switching the railway lines, in would come a good samaritan and narrate the plethora of options that lay before me. It isn’t really exciting to listen to someone talking in the native tongue - "1017 ko andheri se fast local jaati hain, usase dadar chale jaana, phir central line mein switch maaro aur Kurla jaakar wahan se Panvel chale jana. Itna mushkil nahin hain". You thought that the native tongue was marathi...no its locals! Mumbaikars eat, sleep and breathe locals ;).

Any other city probably would just have 2 options with respect to a local train - time and destination. Mumbai's railway network has probably the largest set of reserve words I ever thought was possible - fast, slow, central/main line, western line, harbour line, 12 car, 9 car, ladies special. The introduction of metro is just gonna add to the list I guess.

The cities that allow you to switch between the railway networks, example - Kurla, Dadar; one should probably hold a contest here at peak hours to check who manages to actually walk down or up the foot over bridge. Because in the 2 weeks that i tried you cannot choose to walk, you glide with the wave of passengers along. And if you glide in the wrong direction, no choice, curse your stars and start again!

Inspite of all this, its probably the best network I have ever seen. Every single point on the map is connected by the rail network with the trains running on perfect time. A 0717 hrs means just that, its never 0720 hrs. There is a train every other minute although you get a feeling that the rush in each of them is much more than the previous one.

The sheer magnitude of people travelling by the Mumbai railways can overwhelm you. As a newcomer you would detest the close proximity with which people travel. You wish you could be in a place where the density of population was lesser and the crowds thinner. But just when you are about to miss a train and are running towards it, out come many hands to pull
you in and remind you that this proximity is what keeps people human here!

:(

I want to write so many things but somehow, I am not finding the time to sit down and actually write down anything. Uff! I really wish my hectic schedule slows down a bit so that I could write down about a wonderful city called Mumbai!

Free voucher

I won a Radio One voucher today. The question was simple - Which of the 2 songs 'Aanewala pal' and 'Rimjhim Gire Saawan' would be played as the 13th song on the radio station. I answered 'Rimjhim', another caller - Ekta answered 'Aanewala pal'. Luckily I won! I get a voucher for the Little Italy restaurant in Pune.

I have never ever done anything like this...When my brobs heard my sound on the radio, (we were busy doing shopping), he freaked out. Probably both the songs are my favourites; so I just subconsciously chose a song and sent the sms. An unplanned move that earned me a free voucher :D

Soccer fever

The soccer fever seems to have caught the young and the old like :) What got me into the groove, however, was the promotional song for the 2010 FIFA world cup. K'naan's waving flag seems to be just right for the event. The mood, the tempo all fit beautifully and creates a beautiful melody. Yeah, they have modified the original song to remove the dark portions of the lyrics and its rightly called the 'Celebration Mix'.

Give me freedom, give me fire,
give me reason, take me higher
See the champions, take the field now,
you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets our heads are lifting, as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration, it surround us, every nations, all around us

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag
When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag.......




p.s. Check the original song here.

Nadal wins French Open 2010

I wanted Soderling to capture the Roland Garros but the king of clay proved his mettle and beat Soderling to regain his favourite trophy. Yeah! he also too back the world no. 1 spot with that win.
The grass courts beckon my favourite! Eagerly waiting for the original lawn tennis tournament - Wimbledon

Foot in the mouth

Nikhil (exasperated): Who the hell has written this piece of junk? Unnecessarily complicated the simple workflow.
Mahesh(who happens to be Nikhil's boss): Me. What happened?
Nikhil: Nothing man!!! Watched a late night movie yesterday, so didn't sleep well. Even simple things seem to appear complicated today.

Moral:Thou shall be careful with those who earneth a higher basic pay ;)

Federer out :(

Soderling did it again! Federer's clay performance hasn't really been inspiring but let's see if Soderling manages to upset the king of clay - Nadal, as he did last year.

With my favourite out even before the quarters I am hoping Justin Henin does some magic. After all she is one of the most successful Roland Garros player.

Update: Henin is out too, I had missed the match :(