Showing posts with label Mumbai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mumbai. Show all posts

An open letter to Mr. Modi

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels: , ,
,


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:



--------------------------
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.

0 comments

Weekend trips

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels: , , , , , ,
,


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

0 comments

Scream you must'nt

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels: , , ,
,



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.

0 comments

Lalbaugh Cha Raja (Ganpati Utsav)

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels: , , ,
,

I was born on Ganpati Chaturthi twenty-five years ago. So you see, I have a special connection with the dear one. I am sort of partial to Ganpati, the Lord of prosperity and good fortune. Every year I thought, I should go see the Lalbaugh Ganpati this year but I never got around to doing it. People come from far off lands to just get a glimpse of this mighty statue at Lalbaugh, waiting for hours on end. My friend told me that people who wish for a mannat stand in a seperate special queue for atleast 15 hours.

Almost there: people trying to take pictures from their mobile phones as they are pushed ahead.
So this year when a family friend said she had special passes to see Lalbaughcha Raja, I jumped at the opportunity. The whole place to the surrounding road was under heavy supervision of military men dressed in blue, cops and traffic police trying to manage the thousands and thousands of people standing in the queues.We left at 10a.m., we stood in the VIP line for barely fifteen minutes and there we were, in front of the famous Lalbaughcha Ganpati. I had goosebumps when I finally saw the majestic statue, part of me also wanted to cry.


I felt dizzy when I was finally pushed out of the queue, you had to keep moving. After all the line behind me only kept increasing. As I walked out with the several others, some sobbing, some trying to get back in, some   grinning broadly, I felt a little dizzy. Either it was the effect of the holy experience or the overcrowded space or both.  But I have ticked yet another thing off my bucket list. Ganpati Bappa Morya!


Note: The birth of the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati is an interesting story for people who don't already know. It's something I remember from an old episode I saw on TV and the Amar Chitra Katha books I read as a child. Parvati collected the sandalwood paste she used prior to bathing on her body and breathed life into it, Ganpati, also known as Ganesha was born. She asked him to keep guard while she took her bath, so when Shiva arrived a little later, Ganpati didn't let him in. That's when Shiva unknowingly severed Ganesha's head and hence he has the head of an elephant.

http://www.lalbaugcharaja.in/

0 comments

Lunar Eclipse from Nehru Planetarium, Worli

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels: ,
,

                                                                                                On a regular day, post a swim at Mafatlal Bath Club, my friend and me would have headed back to our respective homes. But this was the day of the Lunar Eclipse, which last happened 40 years ago! Who knows how long you're going to live and why wait for another 40 years right? So we decided to head out to Nehru Planetarium at half past eleven.                                                 
The next thing we are at the staircase opposite Nehru Planetarium, where telescopes were set up for the public. We had a very kind and patient gentleman, who gave us gyaan about what an umbra and penumbra shadows are, bringing back flashes of scientific diagrams from school. Wiki link for umbra and penumbra here.
About the experience of it all? There was a telescope alright, but there were also a fairly decent number of excited people. We tried to weasel our way to where the scholars had setup their equipment and we did get partially lucky with the binoculars and viewfinder of a camera, attached to a telescope, capturing images. Unfortunately, I forgot my own camera, so all you get is a picture taken from my phone.  
Taken on June 16th, 2011 at 12:06 (IST)
Just a blob of light in an otherwise extremely cloudy sky, taken at earlier stages of the eclipse.

My dad asked me not to go, "why don't you just watch it on TV beta?". And I'm so glad, that I didn't listen to him. Sorry Dad. But it was worth the trip. We were standing under the heavily clouded sky for two hours patiently (11:30- 1:30 a.m.), gaping as the eclipse moved in from the left over the moon, while the clouds moved in from the right. Everytime the sky would clear out even partially, there were shouts and random hands pointing, "See! Do you see that? There!".  
There were sudden bursts of showers during which we were offered refuge under strangers umbrellas twice, which stopped in minutes. The anticipation of the cloud cover clearing and the atmosphere buzzing with people of all ages plus TV crews from various News Channels, while people sang rain songs, cracked jokes and shared umbrellas made it all worth it.
There were quite a few children, and they just kept amusing me. I overheard one telling the bunch of kids encircling him in Gujarati, while peering through a telescope, "What no moon? What eclipse? If we are not going to be able to see it, why don't they tell us. What timepass!"

0 comments

Indian family Khatri: Journey to catch the Mumbai-Hyderabad Express

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels: , ,
,

This one has a tired nevertheless happy ending. And for some reason it got me thinking of the adventures of Swiss Family Robinson; hence the blog post title So, this is how it goes.

I need to board the 9.50p.m. Hussain Sagar train from C.S.T./V.T. station in South Bombay and its already 9.05 and our Domino's Pizza just arrives. I like to chew my food, so all I get is one piece of pizza and we rush out 15 minutes later to catch the train.


As we are about to get into a taxi, my parents convince me to board the train from Dadar station, which is where I usually get off, when I take the train from Hyderabad to Bombay. We reach Dadar station at 9.40 only to find out that the train doesn't stop there. 

So, all of us decide we are going to chase this train to the next stop-Kalyan. So what if we had to go out of Mumbai to catch the train. Half staggering half running with my luggage, my family and me take the next train that goes closest to Kalyan, at a time when people are returning home from work, women selling everything from fish, to vegetables and accessories. 

My mother and me stood besides the door with some luggage while people shoved, pushed, kicked and punched us to maintain their balance. I was just glad my mother didn't faint out of claustrophobia. We get off at the last stop-Dombivali and got on the luggage compartment of the train immediately leaving for Kalyan, still optimistic about making it in time for the train.

As it turned out, we missed the train by minutes and took a train back to the city and were lucky enough to get a friendly rickshaw driver (wish he had relatives in Hyderabad *sigh*) who took four of us with our luggage to the airport. Another night spent at the airport with the help of an espresso shot and it was sweet dreams all of next day.

ps: I had no intention of scaring people off, from the Bombay trains. They are awesome, really. And, besides you get used to it, eventually.
Moral of the story: always fight for free pizza and enjoy it.

1 comments

Happy Maharashtra Day: A drive to Marine Drive & Back

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels: ,
,




ps: Mum at Marine Drive


My parents and me left for a drive around 11p.m. to Marine Drive. Its a ritual, every time I come down to Bombay, we as a family have to drive up to the sea face, or else my trip back home feels somehow incomplete. Today for some reason, Marine Drive was more lighted than usual. Blobs of light that run across the stretch of water known as the Queens necklace seemed to be using so much voltage it was almost blinding. Everything was lighted up and pretty. There were fireworks even. It felt like Diwali.



That's Jazz By the Bay



Happy Maharashtra day to Mumbai.


Somehow it reminded me of the sleepless nights and unbearable afternoons in Hyderabad, when we had to bear the wrath of the heat with power cuts. I kept wondering that if Bombay was celebrating Maharashtra day tonight, how many cities were paying for it.

In spite of all these thoughts I couldn't help but feel awe at the arrangement of the light beamers or whatever they are called that were strategically placed at every 20 meters or so, facing the sky and sending out beams that met each other and lighted up a portion of the sky. It was just so beautiful. I couldn't stop myself from pointing out each beam to my Mum like a small child marveling at the beauty of an airplane in the sky. I couldn't get a very clear picture, but thats the best I could manage. (above text)

Laser designs with designs of Maharashtra and different images were being torched on a building and everything was so bright yet so beautiful. In all this glory my Mum pointed out the moon to me, I felt bad, all this fake illumination had overshadowed the beauty of the moon, it was a full moon covered by a film of mist. I immediately yearned to by the banks of the river in Rishikesh where the moon would be the only source of light. Sigh. For some strange reason my mind went back to the lessons Johnson provides in the Vanity of Human Wishes-which pointed out how we mistake something to give us happiness, which is only momentarily and miss out on the real joys of life by running after the material.









3 comments

Haji Ali Mosque

Posted by tumblingwords , Labels:
,


(image 2 courtesy: photos.ibibo.com/photo/2577574/haji-ali)
I finally made the much delayed trip to the Haji Ali mosque today with Narangee. Somehow I felt it came at the right time. This semester I had taken a course titled Islam offered by Prof Syed Sayeed from the culture department.

I carried a stole as my father insisted that I carry a duppata, and for some reason I chose to wear a kurta and a churidar. Not like it mattered.

As soon as I stepped out of my building, there was a light drizzle which barely lasted five minutes. The weather for the short trip was perfect, cloudy skies shinning down on us, a sweet breeze accompanying us and the sea was as beautiful as always as we walked down the path to the mosque which is situated off Worli.

Narangee spoke about how she didn't like the stalls that lead up to mosques and temples and how they spoil the whole experience for people. I told her about my paper on the veil, why modern women adopt it as they think it saves them from being objectified as sexual objects. Just conversation, we saved catching up on each others lives for breakfast.We were greeted with strange smells, goats, stalls, people and lots of green.
 We started off at 7.45a.m. and it was a pleasant visit, no crowds, no shoving, no haggling. We had to tread very carefully as they were cleaning the marble floors of the mosque. (check picture ) We deposited our shoes and entered in the ladies only

section which was 1/4th the space of the men's section. We said quick prayers, and ducked our heads to be blessed by the mullah.




We walked around the mosque, there were rooms for the clergies in one section of the mosque, toilets, people cooking, clothes drying. The view of the sea was marvelous, we went to different sections to take in the view.


Post that we decided to head to MacDonald's for breakfast at Sobo Central, which felt too posh to be a MacDee. Their breakfast variety was as good as non existant, their hot chocolate sucks but their egg and cheese muffins passes. Theobroma would have been just ideal, next time perhaps.






1 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)