RESTARTING ALL OVER | 1. Life without a best friend

Restarts are always tough, is it? I don't know, to be honest I am trying to be out of my qualms and just take this change slowly. Its been 8 months since I am came back home clearly looking for a new beginning and their is a lot that has happened since then. During this time, I was away gathering myself, spending time with my family, dealing with an illness and most of all understanding my life. So to sum up how did these last months pass by? I thought I would look back while i write, today

1. Life without a best friend

When I had just arrived, I felt blurry and I was restless most of the time all I wanted to do was to get surrounded by people and when ever their was a silence, I would plunge into sadness. I had left my friends behind and these were some people whom I loved whole heartedly but thats how life is right? it pushes you to unimagined corners. One of the saddest moment was to let go few people as I was done dragging them along, my high school best friend had soaked up in his career and this time around their was no time for me, I felt like an outsider, I waited and in response I had his excuses and even a text sms "Dude! We are not soul mates.." that was last text and calling it all quits, it was hurting but I had to make a choice and all I had to do was to let it go. I have had few break ups but bond that we share with our best friends is beyond anybody's comprehension and thats clearly why they are called best friends. So now, I was without a best friend.

My Mumbai Diary : Sorrow of Mumbai

Mumbai Skyline

Mumbai is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, home to total population of approximately 20.5 million and one of the most populous urban regions in the world including the Greater Mumbai region of Navi Mumbai and Thane.

Apart from commercial capital of India it is also the wealthiest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West or Central Asia. Mumbai has been ranked 6th among top 10 global cities on billionaire count, ahead of Shanghai, Paris and Los Angeles.  

Maddening Traffic Jams

Mumbai alone contributes to large surplus of India’s GDP. With all the growing population, city suffers with poor infrastructure. On the other hand India's national capital Delhi has transformed itself with excellent roads, word class metro rail service, world’s largest cng bus service. Despite of being a commercial capital Mumbai  struggles big time not just with basic amenities such as transportation, sanitation, green spaces and pollution. Southern block of the city which is also termed as SoBo, where real estate rates are sky rocketing and is one of the most expensive spaces in the world. SoBo is where the money minting population resides unlike Suburban Mumbai which is dominated by the upper to middle class population is more densely populated with expensive property rates.

Mumbai has three major train routes, western, central and harbour. All these three routes look primitive, unsafe.  One of the world’s largest sub-urban rail systems is also defamed for many deaths as commuters fall from train or die while crossing the tracks or even while boarding as they slip from foot board. While public equally is careless about hazards, but keeping serfice and safety in mind Mumbai urban train which is known as “Local” needs massive makeover.

City of Holes

There is also an unending saga of pot holes.Its rare to see an area in Mumbai where men are not in progress. Once the BMC gets road cleared, in just about few days some other authorities like Electricity, Mobile operator,  Gas connection will be spotted digging in middle of the day ignoring complete mayhem caused. Mumbai rush hour stars 730 am and goes till 1030 am, during this hour passing through these patches can be a nightmare especially if you are late for interview or flights.

Mumbai beaches bleed their own sorrows, plastic and entire wastage appear floating and the smell may just give you sickness. Despite of all, the view that it offers is magnificent, wish it was clean, it would have been an urban heaven.

Famous Mumbai Monsoon saga brings life to stand still as commuters find hard travelling and due to poor transportation management, people suffer a lot. Even the major roads will have millions of pot holes, water logging due to poor drainage system.  Authorities do not realise what this city is going through, with other cities progressing Mumbai’s development has paced at the speed of tortoise.

SubUrban Rail System "Local"

Now, let me also talk about the auto-rickshaws, which is a life line for suburban commuters. There is no system or governance; everybody is a king of their own. Service is merely in existence and all looks a pure business. Drivers deny on your face about going to a destination and it can get fucking nerve wrecking at times. Similar stories with the taxiwalas but they are better off than the autowalas yet not a smooth sail.

Mumbai is yet strong, determined and beautiful but it certainly deserves so much more. This city is expensive, what people pay here to rent a studio apartment could even be half of their pay cheque, still this city is full of dreamers, dream-makers, dream-pavers and winners in their own league of life. But standard of life needs to improve.

 I and millions other love this city but It gives me pain to watch this city suffering in this manner, not sure for how long this city can bear the negligence and exploitation. It needs a change, change not to diminish the authenticity but to preserve its aura and charm. Mumbai is not less than New York or London but these western cities are much ahead, Mumbai needs to catch up before it dies its own slow death.

Review: Pacific Rim

Guillermo del Toro who had previously gifted us with highly acclaimed Helboy is a brilliant writer, director and a producer. Pacific Rim is a cinema packaged with $180m with visually stunning graphics which doesn't get boring in an entire run show.

Movie set in a context Alien occupying earth. Even though almost every year we have movies depicting alien war fare, Pacific Rim offers extraordinary story in simple and excellent visual narration. What is fresh with Pacific Rim is that Giant robots known as Jaegers appear tall and strong and there ultimate showdown against Kaiju comes alive.

Starring Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket, Diego Klattenhoff as Yancy Becket, Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost and Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori, Pacific Rim is quite an entertainer. The two hours of length is a spoiler and feels little dragged towards the end. 

With 3*** I suggest you watch on IMAX if you are into sci-fi movie, if not you can still wait until it’s released on tele.

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My Mumbai Diary - Divide-Undivide Class

  Mumbai lives on high spirit, here everyone  runs and  are always running. Like I mentioned before, you have to keep up your pace with city to survive through. If your meter is down and you miss your train, then sorry Mumbai will show you its doors.  Vivid class of people, from fish hawking Kohli womens, to SBI employee or an aspiring model, actor, students from all sorts of life, millionaire to penniless all are cramped inside the old primitive local train boogies.

In one of my journey, I observed the demarcation drawn between the first and second class coaches. First class within itself has variety of people, from security guards of Jewellery shop , government banker, student and mnc employee, all adjust dressed well, playing with there apple iPhone, blackberry, tablets blah blah. Second class, is coach for mass, most of them look crushed like stuffed achar, adjusted to every free space. Women, children's,men, boys, second class is always crowded. They look at each-other and still not care about. 

As train halts, moves, people come in and go, it is just a viscous cycle. Late evenings as rush subsides, when both the compartments look relatively empty, people sitting both the sides, look at each other. Some amount of superiority, some amount of denial. A second class passenger thinking, what is so great about first-class, its just a thick cushioned seats and its less crowded. They don’t really feel guilt about it and as a matter of fact passengers in first-class don’t care but when a shabby looking passenger boards first class, they will surely ask do you have first class pass? many times they board by mistake. Mumbai is only about you, your life, your thought, your career! Rest all becomes secondary. Mumbai teaches you to stand on your own feet because it doesn't let you think anything else, and you have no time. It is the worlds biggest reality show where nothing is scripted.

I have understood Mumbai more whenever I have travelled. There is so much to observe, so many stories to discover. Mumbai is home to a roofless man to man full of roofs, end of the day its your handwork and karma. You work hard and get into first-class. Mumbai is all about choice, good, bad its upto you. You want to bridge your past and step onto your dream, well roll up your sleeves and get going, nobody can divide you.