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Showing posts from February, 2014

Green and Gone

Someone has discovered that trees are dying in Mumbai, due to the concrete pavements where the cement is poured on the base of the trees too. This was something so basic that anyone would know, is what I thought. Apparently, No. The people here are so disconnected from nature. This tree cutting drive of the BMC and the construction giants is so cruel. To construct tall buildings, the ground is dug so deep that no tree has any chance of survival. The BMC cuts the branches of the trees which come towards the road. This misbalances the trees. The trees always grow with branches on both sides. The buildings block the sunlight and cut away the branches as they fall on the cars parked in the compound. The branches try to grow towards the road where it gets at least 12 feet of open space. The BMC does not believe in letting the trees from opposite sides of the road meet. They have their task of keeping the roads free of any canopy of trees. In addition to this, the trees are not supposed to

Posters, Hoardings and Write ups

I have been travelling by trains, very frequently. The trains have a lot of illegal posters inside. The law prohibits any kind of advertising inside the train compartments. In spite of removing them regularly , these posters keep coming up. One of them is invariably about some 'Baba' who is a self proclaimed healer. It is with a photo of Sai Baba of Shirdi. This man can has cure for health problems, mistress, for solving business problems, for couples not having children, for your stolen goods, for parents whose child is straying etc. This is some black magic mumbo jumbo along with a phone number given. Second poster talks about how the company sells a yantra/ tabeej which will help a woman increase the size of her breasts. Years back, the compartments used to have some numbers to call for a massage. Some even went to specify that they have healthy men and women to give massage from different nationalities. In most five star hotels, there is a city guide in all rooms with p

Hasee toh Phasee

Saw an elderly couple walking hand in hand in the evening. The roads were dug up. They were on the pavement walking with a smile. I could not figure out who was protecting whom from falling. Just the sense of togetherness brought tears to my eyes. In Hindi, I would have said ' aankhon mein nami chhaa gayi". Hindi is such a beautiful artistic language and has words for all our emotions and relations. I have become an 'angrez', as in we speak English all the time but I hate the fact that I do not express myself, the way I can in Hindi. By the way, Hindi is not my mother tongue. Hindi is our National Language. Born out of Sanskrit, like most Indian languages. Hindi has a musical tonality. The expressions are beautiful. In India, like the food , our language also changes every 100 kilometres. Its varied and rich in texture from the local language the people speak. People living in Maharshtra understand the difference in Marathi of a Mumbaikar, a Puneri and someone from th

Delhi, you disappoint!

Delhi disappoints and how! What is wrong with people in Delhi? What are these barbaric acts for? Who are they showing their machoism and what are they proving? By killing an innocent person from North East, what did you get? What kind of cops are there in Delhi? Why are there no rules in Delhi? Agree that Delhi was the land of Kurukshetra and lot of killing has always taken place there over the years. Apparently the energy of the city is so bad that all become corrupt and angry. By astrological inference, Delhi and Punjab's planetary position is such that it makes them aggressive people. That is why there are more people from Punjab in the Armed Forces than say from Gujarat. Courage and valour are good qualities. Killing your own countrymen with brute force is definitely not. I know so many people in the corporate world, who will take a transfer anywhere in India but not to Delhi. I remember the aggression and sweet talking of my Delhi colleagues vis a vis colleagues from any othe