Mumbai Diary part-2

The second morning at Vaashi was pleasant. It was almost 8 am when I got up from the bed. I felt I should no longer linger around with my last night thoughts or else am gonna spoil the whole trip. Certain things happen and you cant do anything, so its better not to sob over it or roll your head over such thoughts, might be some sort of escapism, but that morning, somehow I was feeling clear and good within. We planned to move into the city that day, the vehicle had come by around 9.30am and we started our journey to Mumbai city.

All cities are notorious for traffic blocks, but I couldn't believe it was worse to this extend. Every 100 meters or so , we got stuck in the traffic blocks and finally at around 12, we managed to reach our first destination- The Gateway of India. It was a pleasure to see such a big imposing structure at touching distance.Since some maintenance work had been going on, we were not permitted inside, but we could certainly go around it. I could see the pigeons around the place and some kids were feeding them, some people were posing with the pigeons. On the other side of the road, I could see two famous hotels, Hotel Taj Mahal and Hotel Taj Intercontinental.
The architecture of Hotel Taj Mahal was really wonderful reminding me of some ancient palace. We spent some time there taking some snaps. There was a boat service from there to Elephenta caves, another tourist spot, but unfortunately we couldn't visit the place. I was told it required a whole day to visit Elephenta caves.

Next we moved to the Marine Drive. This place was an inevitable part of many Bollywood movies of 70s. The place was jam packed with tourists and no wonder we had so much trouble finding a parking space. We got out of the vehicle and walked around the drive.The scenic beauty was awesome and the view of Malabar Hills from the Marine Drive was breath taking. It appears the whole Mumbai city and its pride is reflected in that long curved strip of land starting from the Marine Drive. We took a number of snaps. I had heard of Mercedes Benz E class running as taxis in Bangalore, but I couldn't believe when I saw a BMW and a LEXUS running as taxi, unfortunately I couldn't trap them in my camera.Almost after half an hour, we left to our next destination- Malabar Hills.

Malabar Hills is one of the very posh areas of Mumbai city, its told even a millionaire would find it very costly to buy a strip of land in this place. We moved into a park the so called- Lover's Park ( I don't remember its actual name). Once, I entered the park, I knew how befitting the name was. Every corner there were atleast a pair of "love birds"( I guess you follow what I mean by that) creating their niche there even with many glaring eyes around them. It was a kind of embarrassment watching them with my parents around me, but again I loved their presence, it was nice to see atleast some people find time for dates in such a busy city, It reminded me of those old romantic movies where these scenes were an inseparable part. By then it was half past one and so we moved to a restaurant for lunch.

Once we finished it ,our next target was Juhu beach. We moved through Worli, Prabhadevi, and Mahalakshmi areas and finally landed at the Juhu beach. It was almost 3 in the evening and thes un was blazing hard and strong, still there were hell lot of people, they must have been celebrating the well awaited weekend. I preferred to take some time playing with the waves, my mom and dad remained as spectators. Soon we moved to our vehicle to Dadar for shopping.

The road to Dadar was chocked with vehicles and we got hung at every traffic junction. I had my digital camera on my hands. At one of the traffic blocks, my eyes came across a small boy, probably around 5 years old. He had a torn shorts and was half clad. It seemed he had worn a cloth of dirt, bathing seems to be an activity he never got engaged in. He was holding a toffee wrapper against his face and it seemed he was peeping though a small hole made on it. When he was just in front of our car, I took a snap of him . He noticed it and soon came close to my window and started thudding it softly. I knew, what he needed, but I didn't have coins at my hand and I wasn't generous enough to hand over the hundred rupee not lying at my pocket.I looked at my mom and she started searching her hand bag for a coin. Finally she got one and she gave it to me, it was a two rupee coin. I just pushed the button and the glass was getting lowered, the eyes of the small kid was glowing with happiness. Suddenly, the lights went green, our car jumped off from stand still,by the time the glass got lowered, our car had moved a considerable distance. Once our car had started moving, I could see the thudding from the kid was becoming harder, he began running, but his legs weren't a match for the vehicle's accelerator, I turned back, I could see him crying, I could see him weeping. The car moved on and my eyes lost him.
I can't recall how I felt,probably I was more a frozen soul out of shock, out of helplessness and out of pain. We moved on , mom and dad went for some shopping, i preferred to remain inert in the car.

Finally we reached the hotel by around 9 pm. I took my dinner. The second day was great except one incident and that spoilt the whole thing. I wasn't worried because I didn't give him any money. I had seen many beggars plead, some of them children and I have turned my face off them without any emotion as if they were some untouchables or crap creatures. What pained me was that I gave him some hope, you don't get anything with a two rupee coin, but may be that two rupee could add to the coins he would have had and get him something to eat. I made him happy and within moments I took him to tears. It was not my fault, but still I ask forgiveness, for I played the negative role in that small painful act of destiny.

Mumbai Diary part-1

Its been a long time now that I had been planning a visit to the commercial capital, but one reason or the other always came in as a stumbling block and I could never make it.But this time there was nothing that could foil our plan except the rains in Mumbai that did create a bit of dilemma. But once I knew it wasn't worth a concern, I packed my bags and set out to Mumbai along with my parents for a week long tour with lots of dreams and happiness.

I had heard a hell lot about Mumbai, had seen marine drive and Chowpathi beach in a number of movies. I had heard about the rush in suburban local trains, slums at Dharawi, and ofcourse the Bollywood. The adrenaline was running high once I landed at the Panvel station at 5 in the morning. The eagerness to explore the place was growing steadily within me. I was happy to see the suburban local waiting to shoot out from the platform, I had seen this train only in television, watching it in front of my eyes was an entirely different experience. My dad's friend came to pick us from the station and we moved to our hotel.

We refreshed ourselves, took our breakfasts and were prepared to start our endeavor. Since we were just in after an 18 hour long journey, we preferred to stick ourselves to the shopping areas in and around Vaashi. We moved out to one of the shopping malls that was near to our hotel. The big 4 storeyed structure had an imposing look and it reflected the suburban culture. I entered the mall and it seemed like a very big Colosseum. But I have to admit shopping malls have never fascinated me. Even this one, I felt as another "Forum" or "Spencer's", some pizza huts, posh shopping hubs and a multiplex at the top floor. You can't blame anyone for the high prices for things at the mall, it isn't easy to get a shop for rent in such malls at a cheap rate and also the branded materials are costly( "Costly" being a relative term, what appears costly to me might be cheap to you depending on the financial circumstances). We got into an electronics shop and bought a digital camera. Then we just strolled across the mall; Even though it was a working day, there were enough people in the mall, many beautiful faces, many jankos, wired and coloured hairs.

We had lunch from a neighboring restaurant and then moved to our rooms for an afternoon nap. In the evening, we got out to explore Vaashi and came across some more gigantic shopping malls. We got into "Palm beach Galleria" (I hope I spelled it right). The weekend was just beginning and a large crowd had already built up in the mall. There wasn't a corner at the place that wasn't illuminated, it was all lights and chandeliers. I wonder if the luxury I saw at the mall had been decremented atleast by a pinch and if all malls around do the same , then the city could have easily cut down the 5 hour powercut. But I know, everyone knows, a small number of people can never even think of cutting down their luxuries for the sake of a vast majority. People remain divided physically and mentally.

Finally we returned back to the hotel. My first day was good, but not great. I felt some kind of gloominess growing within me. As I already told, shopping malls never fascinated me. I got out of my room and moved to the terrace.Even though it was night, the city lights shattered the tranquility of darkness.. The palm beach road with its lights appeared as a golden necklace. Not far away, I could see a small tent and a small light, probably a kerosene lamp or a similar crude source of light. I could see a lady with a small baby in her hand and I guess there wer many more people in the tent. I think they were workers who were staying near by. I wonder how they manage to live among these luxuries and posh life. Its not just about fighting to survive, but its about fighting the ego within them, curbing the dreams within them, its about convincing themselves that they would never know what a shopping mall is, what a digicam is, what a plantain fried cake is . They have no other way but to keep struggling for their lives and dream that they would have a better meal tomorrow, nothing more. I moved back to my bed, turned off my lights and closed my eyes, I was making a vague attempt to sleep. This was the day I saw the two extremes of life. At one place, I could see a child yelling at her mom as he was being forced to feed on a piece of some cake; at the other end, at one of the traffic blocks were we were trapped, I could see a small baby lying on the hands of a hardly thirteen year old girl crying for some water or food. I had seen such scenes in television, but this wasn't an emotional drama, thiswas real, witnessing it in front of my eyes is an entirely different experience, a painful one.

Last page from college

The epic of 3years, 9 months and 16 days was to end today and I was sure, it wouldn't be easy for any one of us to take it for granted. I was to enter my campus, probably for the last time, as a student and so I wanted to reach college in time , but it never happened and I entered when the clock ticked 11. Certain things never change. Most of my classmates were present at the corridor and were chitchatting. I think this is the only art we learnt during past four years and no much other technical skills. I had gained mastery over it and soon I too got into the groove.

We shared those olds thoughts, the pet names that we had for each other and in between , took some time to complete the procedure to procure the conduct certificate. The time was running out, it wasn't anything new, 4 years had run away and I never knew. Finally it was 5 in the evening, it was drizzling, most of my friends had gone by then, some of them to hostels, some of them straight back to their homes. I was sitting in the corridor, with none nearby, loneliness was slowly creeping in when one of my classmates called me. She was on her way back to hostel and she would be vacating the hostel tomorrow. She was the first person I met in the college four years back, we had a lot of memorable moments, probably there wasn't a single day in these four years when I hadn't teased her, she liked it too; we were very good friends. She looked at me and spoke in a trembling voice," da I am go..."; she burst into tears, I have never seen her cry like this, atleast I couldn't watch someone crying like this. I pulled out my handkerchief from my back pocket and gave it to her, I didn't look at her face. I put in rather an emotionless face, she wiped off her tears, but it didn't seem to stop; I shook hands with her, I preferred not to look at her face, she was gripping my hand tight, I pulled it off and waved my hands at her signaling her to go. I performed the whole act rather emotionless, she was still weeping. She knows, from tomorrow , there is none to mock her like I did and for me , there's none like her who would tolerate my severe, at times cruel teasing. She moved away and I could see she was still weeping while she was climbing the steps back to her hostel; probably she would be doing it for the last time.

It was raining, raining hard and strong within me and I felt my eyes were getting diluted, I was finding it hard to take in. By then one of my classmates was present near me, He knew I was starting to break off and he spoke, " centi adikellada patti"( dont be emotional). Soon he snatched my handkerchief and the rest is anyone's guess.I was talking to him as well as myself," The inevitable has just happened, it happens in everyone's life. My cousin always say, nowadays, once you are out of college it doesn't mean your friends are all parted off, you will all meet together probably at your work place, I am sure that will happen with us too". I was consoling me and my friend, but both knew it might be a mere consolation, but hoped it would turn into a reality. Soon I moved off from my campus, I didn't look back this time, I wanted too, but... It was a long journey back to home. it was drizzling through out while I was in the bus. Rain drops trickled from the window grill of the bus and I kept staring at them. Our moments have passed like trickling drops one by one, and we watched them go silently. Finally when the last drop trickled down into the memory lane today, I feel I am still not completely wet. I loved my college, I loved my friends, wanted to be there, but the rain has stopped. I have no other way, but get ready to feel the new season.

-Varun Krishna

Filicide

Fil´i`cide
n.1. The act of murdering a son or a daughter; also, parent who commits such a murder.

Definition of Filicide as given in the Webster dictionary.

This is a new term that I learned today. I am happy that I could enhance my word power atleast by a bit by knowing there exists such a word in English language, but I am unhappy by the way I came to know about this word.

I had a much event less morning and noon session today,the usual sleepy session, encounter with books and the usual surfing and chatting..But again by evening,as similar to yesterday, I had a not so good news in store for me when I turned on CNN-IBN news channel.
Before getting into that ,let me narrate a very short story

The main characters are a 14 year old girl,her father and a servant of their house.The girl was said to be having a close relation with the servant (mind you,she is 14 year old).The girl's father is told to be having an extra marital affair which the daughter couldnt digest, even the servant knew it.So when the girl and the servant were discussing the issue, the father came in. He didnt like what was going on there and he took the servant to the terrace ,finished him off and later killed the girl. Finally after so many issues and controversies,the police finally arrests the culprit.

It would make a wonderful story and infact a wonderful movie in Bollywood or Hollywood whereever it is made because one would feel it could miss a bit of reality and there is lot suspense and thrill.But truth at times is stranger than fiction.I would be happy if this was just a story. But what I just narrated is a cruel reality that happened in Noida, New Delhi where a 14 year old girl was brutally murdered by her dad for reasons that itself remains as a black mark to humanity and society. I was initially happy to know that police caught the culprit of the murder case that had created much hip hop and sensation across the nation. But now it might create much more havoc as the culprit is none other than the girl's father, a filicide committed with multiple motives.

I had heard about sacrificing son or daughter to Gods as a present or gift to Gods.Even though the logic was nothing better than nonsense, even this evil practice had a justification.But what happened in Noida is something that doesnt even deserve the word justification.It was nothing new to know that culprit had an extra-marital affair,but its ridiculous that he killed his daughter because she was alleged to be having an affair with the servant.How could he ever expect her to be right when he himself was on the wrong path.I wonder how a father could kill a daughter inorder to satisfy his ego or save his status in the society.It might have a taken him a moment or two to finish her off,but its sad that he never thought of the fourteen years that he had seen of his daughter's. Now I remember the scene from the movie "Armageddon" where Bruce Willis recalls the moments ,that he shared with his daughter ,from the moment she was born to the moment when he left her.Then he presses on the nuclear trigger and the movie just proceeds.

I dont and would never understand the culprit's mentality while he was busy taking the life of her daughter. Why did he raise her up for these many years,to finish her off this way.Well this question might never be answered. But as far I know, humanity is far moving out off humans. We are more machines now and feelings mere words. I hope it would never be too late before we realise that we are far far away from what we are meant to be.

-Varun Krishna

Another 24 hours (check out the video)

Its been a gloomy day to start with. I expected a bright sunshine to hit over me in the morning,but it was all cloudy and that really did hamper my rising up.A bit too late to get up and sluggish to start with the things, but soon I picked up the pace and this time dashed to the television,switched it on and jumped into a News channel to look out for the results of Champions league final, it was a sad news,Chelsea lose in the penalty shoot out.I think yesterday was not a good day for me in sporty terms. But again I had a serious hope that they would thrash off ManU a revenge for their lose of English premier league title,but now I can only have that revenge in dreams. I was a bit disturbed to see that the fans of both teams clashed at various places, I wonder how it served the purpose of the game.I still dont understand people still show worthless emotional melodrama that doesnt even benefit them.

After the breakfast, I took my books on management and started reading,this time I made sure that I would do serious reading and so didnt get much into surfing even though I was online throughout. But again soon I fell asleep and it was around 1pm that I woke up and knew I wasnt actually reading. I was agitated, but none to be blamed other than me. It was time for lunch and this time,against the conventions that I follow, I thought of studying instead of sleeping.I went through the strategic and tactical management acrobatics , I never liked this subject, but I happen to be choiceless. Once it was evening, I just lied in the bed for half an hour,got up had a bath and then my tea.Thats when I listened to the news and heard about the recent raids in houses of various "Godmans" in my state.I wonder how long this commitment in the issue would be carried out by authorities.Then there was a news where a naval officer and his lover killed a person from film industry,sliced him into 300 pieces and burnt the pieces down.I think may be they are the best butchers you would see around at present.I wonder about their emotional balance while they were doing this clinical act,might be an inspiration from the movie "Equilibrium" where people very well stay emotionless.

Now its almost 7pm and I am writing this note now cause I dont feel there is much more incidents to strike my way today.There is a cricket match left for the night that I would be tracking through net, then the usual stuff of surfing and reading a bit.AH!! I forgot to tell you ,today I heard a very brand new song,infact a video of a song from the album" coffee at mg road".Its a funny hiphop song but I am sure you will enjoy ,it check it out.Meanwhile let me take leave.Another eventless day passing by,but this time no complaints,no issues. Hope you had a nice day and wish you a brighter day ahead.

-Varun Krishna

My day

Its been so long now that I have been thinking of transforming my blog more into a diary where I can put on my each moment of life and share with you,may be I feel this thing being one of my best friends.So I start off, my mission to put each and every instance of my every single day onto my blog.

I dont think I need to put in that I get up at some time brush my teeth and bla bla,I think I should put in more of the novelty that I bring into or possibly I face in my day.So starting off ,got up as usual around 6 am, straight away moved into the system switched on and started my mission of downloading the movies and songs and ofcourse not to forget Linkreferral stuff.Morning was much eventless,the usual south Indian breakfast,a bit brushing through newspaper starting with last page( which ofcourse is the sports page). Then back to my room,took my books as my final sem exams are right near the door.And you would guess that I started reading.I wanted to ,so I logged in back to internet and to the world of my blog, orkut and chatting with my friends.Probably this happens to be the way I study.I dont think I am addicted to internet,but moreover it happens to be something that I breathe every moment,so I am happy to study along with surfing as long as it doesnt end up in a disaster.

It was noon and after having lunch I was back to bed after a "busy working session" in the morning.Around 4pm, I got up and got to the ground near my home where some of us hang around for playing cricket.Its more a get together that we aim in the evenings and this has been a real wonderful time.

I have been a true believer of God, I dont mean to say I am religious or I believe in idols,but I have always believed that there is a super power that controls us,that always save us in troubles even though we might be tested a bit before he finally stretch out his hands.Probably today I got a solution to one of the issues,infact a dilemma that has been howering around me for months now,something for which I never had an answer and whenever I tried to find one,I always ended up putting myself in more of a trap.Now finally he has shown me the way and I am happy with the solution God has given me even though it hurts a bit.But i feel it is better to be hurt now rather than having a hell out later.And finally in the evening it was time for the IPL cricket match. I was happy to see my team perform well,my star and the little master playing a classic innings but all ending in vain with my team losing just by 1 run.

I really cant understand the human thought,infact I dont know if its only me who feels this.Everything in the day went alright except the match result,but I felt so depressed at the end of the match that I happened to be speechless. I felt my whole day went wrong because my team lost the match.I think its high time for me to realise that all neednt be terrible that do not end well. Some days defeat happen to be the order of the day and our victory is to take the positives out of it and move on.But many a time my words never get into action.I hope my team performs well in the next match,they went down fighting and thats the spirit that I take in my life,not that I would wait for a failure and then get into thick of things,but act when am required to.Now am feeling a lot better.Once again, my blogging has helped me to recover out of a quite untimely and wasteful depression.Its about taking things the way it deserves,but the lessons from each moment needs to pump you in for a brighter tomorrow.I look forward for a better tomorrow even though today was never worse.Hope and aspiration being the key and the rest follows.Hope even you had a brighter day.


-Varun Krishna