An open letter to Mr. Modi


Dear Mr. Modi,
People worship you, praise you to the heavens and truly believe you are the only one that can uplift India from a developing nation status, closer to being a developed country. And when I say people I don’t just mean the Gujaratis but the people of India in general. My plea to you as a Mumbaikar is please don’t ignore our city like every other PM has. Mumbai provides the highest per capital income at Rs 1.67 lakh but still has the maximum number of homeless people in India.

Mumbai is bleeding, it is bursting at its seams and is a ticking time-bomb that only you can stop from an otherwise inevitable detonation. Our wonderful city that contributes to 33 percent of India’s tax, 60 percent of India’s customs duty and 20 percent of India’s foreign trade is in a state of wreckage. In spite of doing so much for the nation for years on end, Mumbai only got its metro 30 years after Kolkata got hers.

There are more than a hundred reasons as to why Mumbai needs a drastic overhaul. For instance, the vehicular traffic according to the 2009 Mumbai Development report was to touch 1.87 million by 2010. We do not have roads wide enough or strong enough to handle that. In the financial capital of the country 55 percent of its population lives in slums. And we still have more and more people pouring in everyday from every corner of India. Mumbai is still currently running on the Storm Water drainage system put in place by the British more than 100 years ago. Now that is just ridiculous! Don't you think? Travel by the local trains during one heavy shower Mr. PM, you will then know what a living a nightmare looks like. Noise levels all over Mumbai exceed prescribed standards of the Central Pollution Control Board. And if you want to talk about air pollution levels, things are so critical that breathing the city’s air for a day is equivalent to smoking a packet of cigarettes.   

At Rs 1.03 lakh, Maharashtra has the second highest per capita income as compared to other major states in the country, according to the latest Economic Survey. However, on the Human Development Index (HDI), it ranks way below states like Kerala and Punjab that have a much lower per capita income. Why so Mr. Modi? 

Mumbai is still however made out to be a city of dreams, but where is the quality of life? The Mumbaikar has to survive in spite of a serious lack of infrastructure, horrible and dangerous roads, overcrowded public transport, water problems, obscene rent rates, pollution and filth to name a few issues. In spite of these problems more than 1000 people migrate to Mumbai everyday in the hope of finding work to provide for their entire families back home, wherever that may be. Mumbai cannot handle its current population; imagine what will happen with the increasing migrating traffic!

There are about 75 lakh people who travel by the suburban railway system everyday; and around 360 thousand people per hour during the peak period, while the capacity of the services is close to about 160 thousand per hour only, that’s close to three times the capacity. Imagine the stress levels this city has to deal with every single day! And still we’re expected to make do, survive, and travel to and fro from work preparing for a battle with our lunch dabbas and laptops before boarding a Churchgate/CST local. Yes, traveling by local train is the same, if not worse, than a battlefield.

To make things worse, our city is also sinking! Yes, Mumbai is sinking and according to Marine Biologist, Vishnu Kanhere, there has been a 30 cm rise in sea level over the past three years. And no, we cannot blame Global Warming for such a rapid rise. Kanhere also says, “In Mumbai, the seashores have been reclaimed. Mumbai itself is a reclaimed area comprising seven islands. If the high tide level continues to rise at this rate it is time to seriously think of how to save Mumbai. Even the seashore has eroded and there are few beaches remaining.

Mr. Modi, we have survived bomb blasts, flooding every monsoon, the everyday Virar local and many other things in this beautifully abused city. But it is not ok anymore, we cannot adjust, we cannot make do, we NEED a change. And we need it ASAP. Millions of Mumbaikars, me included, are eagerly waiting, not for a reply, but for some ACTION on these critical problems.

Resources:



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ps: I know this is not a regular blog post but since you agreed to accompany me on my journeys, this is one of them.

Hampi

It has been eons since I wrote, also it always feels like eons since I have travelled. There has been a feeling of numbness when it came to writing. It happens every now and then and to best of writers. There are those days when life feels drab and grey. But on those dark, cloudy days there is nothing like indulging in a cup of steaming hot chocolate and curling up with a favourite book.

So what have I been upto?
I have been planning the trips to come, day-dreaming, obsessively reading travelogues for inspiration, over-enthusiastically mailing my husband link after link and sighing way too much.

But the first quarter of 2014 wasn't all that bad. I took a 5 day break and took off for Hampi with a few of my girlfriends. It was a very peaceful trip. I do want to go back again with Shayne and explore more sites and also stay at Shanthi. Shanthi is a beautiful resort, tucked away in Anegundi which is on the other side of the river facing stark green rice paddy fields. We went there for lunch one day and the place was just so tranquil that my friend dozed off waiting for our meal. The food is not so bad compared to other places. Food by the way is a trial and error kind of thing in Hampi. Definitely try Mango Tree restaurant.

All is calm and wonderful


Although we flew both ways from Mumbai to Hubbali, we spent way too much time travelling as there are no direct trains or flights to Hospet from Mumbai - which is the closest spot to Hampi, just a riksha ride away. However there are daily buses running from Mumbai to Hospet if you are not weary of long bus rides. Avoid taking the local buses unless you are feeling adventurous from Hubbali to Hospet. The buses take much longer and might not be direct buses which means a few changes. And with two other pretty girls by my side I had to fight off a lot of drunk lungi clad uncles poking their behind in our faces. Some of them were practically sitting on me and I had to elbow him as he didn't seem to understand any Hindi. The train journey from Hospet to Hubbali was so much more comfortable on the way back.

So you take a train/flight and get to Hampi, the melancholicly beautiful land of ruins, a UNESCO world heritage site. The former capital of the Vijaynagara Empire, is now captured by monkeys and you better be beware of them. While we all sat waiting for our riksha/bicylcle South Hampi tour and were admiring the beauty of the Virupaksha temple from a shady spot, guess what crime we became witnesses to? What we saw left us stupefied! A tiny langur sees a bunch of unattended bags lying. He sneakily opens the zip of the bag and removes a mobile phone and runs away! I wonder if that was for his girlfriend.

We got proof!
 The mobile phone was recovered after a bunch of people pestered the langur while he jumped from pillar to pillar and he realized that the phone was not a banana! I now have to run off and leave you to ponder over this grievous crime.

Happy Gudi Padwa/ Happy Ugadi/ Happy Cheti Chand for the people in a festive mood to celebrate.

What do you think about Crowd-funded Travel?

Wishing everyone the festivities of the season sans the pollution killing fish and the spirit of the people. At the same time, I would request everyone to give two minutes of their time to pray for the victims affected by the tropical phailin cyclone.

On a cheery note, I came across a crowd-funded travel site and signed up right away. I am not really sure how it works, but you can log on to Trevolta's Facebook page for regular updates and information about the concept. I am really hoping and looking forward with eyes full of dreams of exotic places hidden and far away that are out of reach (financially). What do you think, my dear reader about the concept?

Dreaming about exotic holidays. *sigh* 

Go Karna in a grid

Go Karna: A spiritual town with four beautiful but not so easily accessible beaches. Om Beach is what you see in the picture above and it acquires its name as it is shaped like the "Uu"in ॐ; and can be reached via Namaste Cafe, although it is a slight trek.

We found a really tranquil little cafe called Rasta Cafe perched at the furthest end of Om Beach. We ordered our 35 rupee local chilled beers and watched the tides washed the shore till the sky was lit by a full moon and an odd hundred stars. It was just so peaceful. If you trekked on the hill up ahead you would reach Paradise beach. Kudle Beach was another beach close by but again you had to either trek to the beach or take boats. Unfortunately, since the rains had already arrived in the Karnatak region and the waters were rough, we couldn’t take boats to the other beaches. 

But two days at the picturesque Om beach surrounded by hills were certainly well spent.  And we spent a lazy day in Palolem (South Goa) during this spontaneous road trip. The sudden showers were a pleasant bonus. And it seems we brought the rains with us on the trip back home to the mad, colourful and ever-bustling Mumbai city.

More locations on the Konkan coast have now been added to my list, besides Karwar and Tarkali.
To the sun, sand, sea and cheap beer and bursts of showers of happiness and yes, more travel. Cheers. 



Weekend trips


This happens to be the first post from my phone, for which I am using the blogger app. Working for a tech magazine has its advantages. But more importantly about today's post... weekend trips and one day get aways.

The whole point is to "get away" right? From the madness, the chaos, the mundane routine, the people in your face and space... if you live in Mumbai, or any such eclectic and crowded city you will understand why weekend trips are like the relief a passing cool breeze can give on a sizzling hot summer's day.

So the last weekend, we took off to Atgaon, next to Shahpur, which is on the way to Nasik from Mumbai. We stayed at this rustic, quaint place called The Hidden Village (site link). It's barely a two and a half hour drive if you leave early enough and is located inside the Atgaon Village.

Surrounded by nature and the wilderness, you can go trekking to the near by lake and take a dip. I believe there should be a waterfall if you happen to go there during the monsoons. There is a play side area for children and activities like pool, carrom, a foosball table for older children. All your meals, veg and non-veg are provided by the resort, they're like home-cooked meals, hence really yummy.

What I really liked was the swimming pond, which was in reality a humongous tank pumping in fresh water from a near by well. A super and refreshing concept, if you ask me. There was also an actual pond in the resort with gigantic toads, ducks, millions of tiny fish and snakes. I decided to spend some time sitting by the pond to catch up on my reading and I saw a turtle and the fish ripping a snake apart - definitely a scene out of national geographic. Another first. It was amazingly fascinating.

Other day trips to Gorai happen as often as we can help it. By we, I mean my husband and me. Only recently we discovered Aksa beach and I was surprised by how clean the beach was, compared to other beaches in the city. Other day trips this year have been to Delhi this year due to work, during which I manage to steel a few hours to enjoy yet another facet of the capital city.
@Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon
@Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon
@Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon
The quaint scene from our room @The Hidden Village, Atgaon
@my husband at peace taking in the lake side view near the Hidden Village

Around the World on a Hot Air Balloon




The travel itch doesn’t just go away. There is no cure. So we sigh and browse several websites to check packages and tours. At the same time there is a certain thrill in not booking your stay and just taking off.

I was wondering how it would be to travel across the world on a hot air balloon and did a quick search. Look at what I found here, according to this site:

The first recorded around the world hot air balloon flight was achieved in 1999 when Swiss Betrand Piccard and British Brian Jones teamed up and broke the record. They launched on Monday, March 1st from Chateau d'Oex in the Swiss Alps and after 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes, successfully landed over Mauritania in North Africa. They became the first balloonists to circumnavigate the globe with a non-stop, non-refueled flight, having travelled a ground breaking distance of 42,810 KM.

Wow! Right? Would you like to take a hot air balloon trip? If yes, you could book here for Britain and here for Australia and the rest of the world.

Also you abso-freaking-lutely must read this beautiful article on ‘Why you should travel young’: http://convergemagazine.com/travel-young-5278/

It has been my status message on Gmail for months. I am awe-inspired by the writer and also extremely jealous that he has travelled more than me. 

Scream you must'nt



Hello there to my readers, after a really long break. Lots of pending posts I know. I was going through a period of total withdrawal, wherein I shut myself up and just couldn’t get myself to write. I hope to post more often than I have in the last one year.
A picture from our trek to Sagargad

The last year was a good year for me in terms of travel. S and me took trips to the Andamans, we did a fifteen day honeymoon in Thailand, took off to Singapore, and attended the Sunburn festival for the first time in Bombay and Goa. Other shorter scattered weekend trips to Chennai, Gorai, Pune, Alibagh and Lonavala could be thrown to that mix and I’m still not satiated. Obviously I never will be, unless I am travelling on a one-year budget world-tour. We heard about a couple who saved for five years and took one year off to travel. How amazing is that? Sigh, they were also earning in dollars.


My post today is about a lollapalooza (my new favourite word) - a really funny incident that took place today in the local train on my way to work. The pictures should give you a good idea of how rush hour in Bombay looks like. Yes, it’s not so pleasant. And it probably gives me another reason to get away from this maddening city ever so often. I don’t like people in my face, it makes me claustrophobic. After falling on the platform twice and getting punched, kicked and losing my toe nails to an angry bunch of heels on several occasions I try and be a little safe and take the ladies special usually, which is a little less crazy.

This morning, while I was standing facing the door with the Rock of Ages album blasting in my ears and struggling to play Temple Run 2 inspite of the usual shoving and pushing, I heard several screams emitting from the door and saw women squirming in front of me. What could it have been? A cockroach or a rat? I gingerly step ahead out of curiosity and I see a handsome stray dog that has waltzed in. Women continue to scream and move away as the beautiful animal looks on innocently, unable to understand, only wanting to be petted. A young girl and her mother shush everyone, telling the ladies to stay calm and stop shouting as they were only scaring the dog. The dog wags his tail, looks around nonchalantly and continues to walk unruffled, manoeuvring his way amongst more screaming women. Not once did it bark.