Enough is enough!

Frustration. Anger. Helplessness. It had been a very emotional 3 days for me as I watched Mumbai attacked, yet again. And as the attack unfolded & counter attack started, I wondered what would be India’s view after all this gets over? Will the usual ‘famed Mumbai spirit’ & the usual clichés of the city’s resilience to get on with life start ringing again? But this time even Mumbaikars shouted back. Enough is enough. Damn the clichés. Life moves on but are our lives taken for granted by the guys whom we have elected? The home minister of Mumbai has the audacity to state that ‘such incidents happen in big cities’ and that too in a press conference. Felt like puking over the *****. Does the guy even know the magnitude of this attack? The guy then ranted about a committee being formed to investigate. Fucking Bullshit. I am sure a committee must’ve been formed even during 2006 train blasts. If that’s not all, I wonder what really drove Narendra Modi to even think of having a press conference on day 2 of the attack. How can someone even think of politicizing the whole issue!! Till the other day, BJP, MNS and the clan were pointing fingers on ATS chief Karkare and today they have put up boards across the city saluting him as martyrs and letting the commoner know that these boards have been put up by them – with the larger than life sized party logos of theirs. It came as a no surprise that Karkare’s family refused compensation from Narendra Modi. As the NSG mopped up the operation, in process losing out on 3 brave men – all from different parts of the country, I wonder what would Raj Thakrey say now? His ‘sons of the soil’ vaanar sena didn’t turn up to save Mumbai from the ‘outsiders’. The real men who lost their lives to save Mumbai were from North & South India. But when they entered in the hotel they were not fighting for Mumbai. They were fighting for India. The citizens who voiced their views yesterday on many channels echoed similar sentiments but sadly, vote politics is not driven by ‘elitist or English speaking rational people’ of the society.

I am a Maharashtrian born & brought up in Delhi. A core North Indian but still I am a Mumbaikar. It’s the city where I have spent the most wonderful 4 years of my professional life. It’s the city which is still close to my heart and will always remain so. And why only me; the city belongs to each and every Indian citizen. And as the city laid under siege, sitting in Pune I just cried in pain. Clearly the administration has not learnt the lessons and I am sure – they never will. But now the time has come for them to sit up listen to the growing voices of angry citizens who have lost hope with the system. Some day the scars on the Taj, Nariman house & the Oberoi would heal, the blood would be washed; all telltale signs of the burnt place would be erased but what about the voices of the innocent dead victims? Won’t they haunt us each time we pass from those iconic places? They say public memory is short. The people who man the system might live in that belief but this time it won’t be forgotten so soon. The country wants some hard answers. Mumbai wants some answers.

Samosa – 60bucks!

The management of Mumbai international airport have come up with a new strategy of letting the flyer get the feel of the ‘conversion’ prices that they normally do when they land abroad – at airport itself. Otherwise how to do you make sense that a stupid samosa for which I won’t have paid more than 5 bucks gets sold at 60 bucks at the airport!!! A 10 bucks black forest goes for 80 bucks. Yes, it’s a good way to make flyers feel the pinch even before they fly!

I hate night flights.

I hate to take the international night flights. They are a real pain in the ass. For starter, you need to leave Pune early so as to avoid the maddening evening traffic in Sion or Andheri and in between, skip dinner as you are caught in transit. As mostly flights depart at 2.am types, more than food, its sleep that’s on your mind. But after a quick snooze and a shot of Jack Daniels you realize – hey this is the late night flight, which means no dinner served! Only snacks and breakfast! Grrrrrrrr.

The other reason I don’t like taking the night flight is because at nights the airport bears a resemblance of a mela than an airport. You bump into all this kachra public traveling in kacchas & baniyaans to Gulf. Ok the Unddies & vest was exaggerated but seriously, the entire environment resembles a bus adda. All the gulf flights leave at night, so you would see all these mallus, tambis – with their loongis tied up to their waist, flaunting their assets, yapping away in a group waiting to leaving India to start a new life in Gulf.

But I am quite impressed with the crowd management at the new international airport. The privatization has really worked. Inspite of such a maddening rush, I was able to check in within 5 mins and clear immigration & security in 10 mins. Not bad…not bad at all!!

On 2nd thoughts...

Had I not quit advertising...

I wouldn't have met some wonderful people in my next company like Ekta, Tanuj, Shalini, Amit who would go on to become an integral part of my life.

Wouldn't have had a chance to scale the treacherous route to Leh with amit & that too on a bike.

Wouldn't have got the opportunity to leave Delhi forever and come to Mumbai (the city that I once hated the most to relocate) - where i spent the best 3.5 years of my life and made some new friends.

Wouldn't have had the chance of going on site to UK and gain good experience (and in the process also save a bit for my car's down payment!)

And lastly, wouldn't have been posting this blog from the newest city that i am residing in for the past 1 year - Pune.

So whatever happens, I guess happens for good. :)