Life is easy kya karein

My thoughts on Republic Day. Mumbai had a beautiful flavour on the crisp cool Monday morning of 26th January 2015, our Republic Day.  The parade and the floats in Shivaji Park were worth the time. People travelled from far and near to see the parade. We saw the Republic Day Parade in the National Capital in the afternoon repeat telecast on television. Akshay Kumar was good in the film "Baby". He is one actor who has not got his due or enough roles which make him work well. Made me think of all the people living for our Nation and giving up their lives for our safety. I could not believe the media and the so called 'seculars' were criticising even our Republic Day parade. What are we doing to the morale of our Armed forces if we cannot appreciate and respect them for their supreme sacrifice? Where is our National Pride? Since they could not find faults with the NaMobama meetings, they took on about Modi's clothes. The 'Seculars" never criticise th...

During my growing up days in Jharia, there were no extra curricular activities for children. For that matter, who needed those things?  We girls were all natural dancers, thanks to our Gujarati blood. Mother thought of channelising our talent in Garba to classical dance. With great difficulty, she found a teacher who would teach Kathak. This gentleman was from North Bengal or Nepal. He asked us to buy Ghungroo. We were so excited wearing them and walking all around the house. Eight feet playing the musical with the Ghungroo. 'Sir' as we addressed him taught us the first basic step. We were not particularly committed students. Our issue was that 'Sir' came to teach us on Sunday evenings at 4pm. Our Sunday evenings were sacrosanct. They involved a trip to Dhanbad, visiting our father's Nani Ghar ( Maternal Grandparents' house), our Granduncle's house, a temple in Dhansar and snack buying at Rajendra Market. This was followed by dinner at Skylark Hotel. We wer...

Just when my trees have grown back, they have dug open the roads. In this year, the trees in my lane were chopped off seven times. I mean the branches were brutally cut short. All the people with road facing houses on lower floors, want the trees to be cut away from the balconies. The people who park their cars in the bye lanes as Mumbai does not have enough of parking space , want the branches which grow towards the road, to be chopped off. The cars are more precious than the trees. The Municipal corporation has reasons to cut the trees for road widening projects and the fear that the branches may fall on pedestrians. Mumbai rarely has the wind velocity to cause too much damage but  it hardly takes a phone call to the authorities, to have a tree massacred. Not to forget the Builder mafia, which kills old trees from the roads, if it is anywhere blocking the building facade. A new building called Vidhaata just did that in Khar. The builders also kill the trees in their compound to ...

She came to my house to work. Her neighbour cum relative got her for the job. Neat in a well pinned saree, slim and a sweet genuine smile. We discussed work and pay. She said she is in need of money as the 2000 Rupees she earns is not enough. Her name was Lakshmi. She did not turn up for work the next day at the assigned time. She came later and said to give the job to her mother-in-law, so that the money will come within the family. The mother-in-law, Urmila ben, worked very well and gave me suggestions to do work more efficiently. I was really happy. In the afternoon, she told me to give all my house work to her daughter-in-law Lakshmi. I was more than happy as I liked her smile. I never knew that could be a criteria to keep a maid. Lakshmi came to work, was keen to learn and eager to please. She asked me if I had had a love marriage. Oh Boy! She sure had done her ground work on the company she was joining. She told me that she is a twelfth standard pass which means she has studi...

I had taken a taxi to go to fetch the child from a class. This was just before schools shut for  Diwali vacation. The cabbie said he will drop me but won't come back. In Bambaiyya language , he refused the 'return bhaada'.  In the narrow by lanes of Matunga, where cars are parked on both sides, a biker abused him. The cabbie tried to go ahead as he had to return the taxi for the next shift. The biker parked his vehicle ahead of the moving cab. He braked hard and stopped. The biker came to the driver and started slapping the driver. This was not someone holding the shirt collar and threatening. The biker was a huge man in his forties, grey eyes, fat in the belly and specs. We did not know what hit us. The cabbie tried opening his door so he could push the biker away and drive off. This angered the biker and he was now banging the taxi driver's head on the car window. I got off the taxi as I gathered my wits. I ran the other side to pull the man away from hitting my cab ...

Hindi is such a deep and vast language. I speak very little Hindi in Mumbai. A maid came for a job and was talking fluent English and I was shocked. Mumbai's English speaking maids want to work for the expat community where the work is less and salary is more. The English speaking can get jobs in offices as receptionists and some of them want to work as maids or nannies abroad .  There is a Hindi word called 'Bas' pronounced as the word 'bus' of the English language. This word has loads of connotations . Bas means 'enough'. It also means ' stop'. So 'Bas Karo ab'  is 'Stop it now'. But people in India understand and use 'Bas ' in different contexts. The Hindi belt is using it in interesting ways. When someone asks them "How are you?" "Aap kaise hain?" , the reply is " Bas". It does not mean 'stop' asking me this question or 'enough' of your questions. It means all is well. It al...

Speak truth and be damned. Indra Nooyi spoke about how she feels guilty and as a woman you cant have it all, and a debate erupts. The feminists are saying how demoralising it is and blah blah. Every woman journalist, even if she covered the society pages, had her view on how Indra Nooyi's life is. The Pope talked about paedophiles in the Church and the PR machine at Vatican went on an over drive denying what was said by him. They accused the publication which printed it. Which organised religion is without crime? Rani Mukherjee after hiding her relationship with Adi Chopra suddenly wants to go all out and talk about her love, marriage, maids and all the publications want to cover it. All are aware her film is up for release and her non existent career as an actress needs all the Boost/ Bournvita/ Horlicks it can get. Truth sounds like lies to us when certain people speak. Truth hurts  because we have a certain view of how things are or how they should be. Anything contrary and...