MUMBAI

Mumbai....my city.

Im like any other mumbaiite who loves the city but will work his ass off to get out of the country at first opportunity possible, and then post '' I miss Mumbai'' on Facebook. I did the same, worked my ass off , fled the country at warpspeed, and here I am blogging about Mumbai ( and missing it ).

Whats it about Mumbai? Apart from the dirtiest pavements ( if there are any), water logging during rains, constantly being on tip toes to avoiding stepping on turd (animal/human), power cuts, water cuts, potholes, cramped stuffed local trains, corrupt havaldars on every corner, equally corrupt law breakers (us), political processions creating havoc of an already poor traffic system, religious processions doing no good either, illegal structures, crazy rickshaws, over flowing garbage, bomb scares ( and bombs), virus scares, pirated cds , illegal hawkers, and all things to put mumbai on the wrong side of the news.

But there is something, a certain magic associated with mumbai. A strange feeling...an indescribable ardor, a mystifying caress of the wind which entangles you in a perpetual state of attachment with this city, an umbilical link that can never be severed. An essence that is so deeply embedded in your psyche, that mere distance is just not enough to shake it off.

Hats off to you mumbai........

FANAAN

What a hectic week it has been, the to and fro trips to abu dhabi....the skipped meals....the sleeping in buses....all for art's sake. Nevertheless it was a rewarding experience. The art workshops in Abu dhabi organised by FANAAN was such a blast. Got the oppurtunity to meet so many established artists and also a glimpse into their works.

Also met someone who looked like a cross between two people ...one whom I once deeply loved and the other whom I intensely hated. Its strange how mixed feelings erupt in your brain at such times. Your are not sure whether to loathe the moment or revert to those glory days. But then they say this lifetime is too small to hate someone and too less to love. So I should put back my thrombosed past and move on. Perhaps the most difficult thing to do....move on.

METAMORPHOSIS

Its strange sometimes how a painting can turn out to be.
I had a vision of a painting i wanted to do since ages....it may sound a bit eccentric but it did appear to me in my dream (the things I can dream about!!). The actual concept was something like this......





Finally got a canvas and as is my usual practice of not using a rough sketch , I just put brush to paint and started ....a stroke here...a dab ther....one thing led to another...a little dauble at the corners , a frenzied brush play .....it was like the painting got done on its own.....and the end result.....

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

OK Friendship day today and have to write about it.
Like any other normal extrovert, I have plenty of friends ( im not bragging, just happy about the fact) and each one is special. Each one with special memories to cherish for life.
Im here all alone and listening to songs like ""yaaron..dosti "" from ROCKFORD and am looking back at the chronology of a friendship
We meet as absolutely strangers. A small countenance, a minuscule shift in the deeply woven intrigue of destiny....a casual acquaintance that leads to a life long friendship.

Nonpareil are the times we share together. Those unforgettable parties, those exciting picnics , perilous treks...those crushes...the love affairs...the broken hearts....the patching up and breaking off...the flirting....the bird watching.....the nicknames(lasts for a lifetime)....the leg pulling...
All that laughter , the fun, the backbiting, the crazy fights, the whole gang grouping up to bring the house down in movie theatres, the last benches in college...the bike rides....getting drunk.....and then suddenly reality dawns and everyone and everything is thrown into disarray.
People scramble out all over the world, some in search of greener pastures, some for education, and some just get married off to timbuktoo..
It really bums you out when you sit in your office cubicle thinking where all that magic went.

Wish life was one pretty dream......but it isnt and here I am writing about it.

No im not emotional about it and am surely crying about it ( that part I leave to those select few who cry over silly things like after watching ""PAA"")( yes neha that was a potshot at u)


Missing everyone......keep in touch people

TWITCHY TWITCH

This is probably the umpteenth time someone is blogging about a twitching eye, but nevertheless my eye is twitching like hell.
A little bit of research on the net tells me about the scores of superstitious beliefs surrounding myokymia ( the medical term for it)

The chinese believe that a twitching left eye is good for males and a twitching right eye is good luck for females

The Indian version is exactly the opposite.

The Lost islands of Mekamekari believe that the right eye twitch signifies an alien invasion while a left eye twitch is a sure sign that a flying cow will crap on your head ( I just made that up , including the ficitional nation)

But on a serious note, a twitch can be caused by lack of sleep, fatigue , anxiety or too much caffeine.....

So the next time ur eye twitches, just relax and take a nap

THE BLAZING HEAT .... AND FACEBOOK ADDICTION

Its a blazing 42 degrees outside. Stepping out in the sun feels like pushing your head into a hot tandoor. It is suicide to step out without adequate sunscreen , cotton clothes, shades, a cap, and air conditioner in your car. On an imaginative perspective, one could fry an omlette on someones bald pate...kinda reminds me of the scene from the movie HOTSHOTS, where charlie sheen fries bacon on a hot lady's tummy....

With this punishing extreme outside, theres is no choice but to stay indoors, which virtually means being glued to the laptop......which further means logging onto facebook.....AND STAYING THERE.

Thanks to my friend Neha who sent me an invite, its been months of checking updates, changing status updates, profile images, posting pics and of course.....not to forget MAFIA WARS. My favourite virtual clickfest of a game, wher u are a virtual gangster forming mafias, holding property and pulling off heists.

and I will be posting this on facebook too.....

Moody tuesday

It’s raining in Al Ain, it ought to be cheering me up but it has caught me in a sombre mood. Maybe it’s the months and months of deprivation from partying and hanging out with friends. Nevertheless I’m a bit moody today and the rains are not helping me much.

I’m compelled to sit and brood about the past which is a mortal sin. Thinking about the past kills your present and spoils the future. But then if one could control ones thoughts, life would have been much easier

I sometimes wish we all had a rewind option at least once in a lifetime, just go back some years back in time, correct all the mistakes, avoid all the situations where I made a big fool of myself, prevent myself from hurting others (unintentionally) and thereby write a new present and future for myself.

But would I be the same again?

I am what my life experiences have made me. Each good or bad phase in life has taught me an unforgettable lesson. I’m but forced to admit that all the hurt, all the pain has only made me stronger.

This day I have memories, good ones that I can smile about, bad ones I would love to forget, and others that I could just sit and laugh about someday.
I like my past, coz that’s what I am

And I just look out the window and enjoy the fresh showers that bring divine hope to a forlorn soul.

new painting

The painter's block is gone and I made a new one recently. Got a unique hexagonal shaped pre stretched canvas. Didnt think about the form wanted to paint, just did the background and voila a shape emerged which i later highlighted.

UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON

For all the curious readers who are wondering why this post is named after a clothing line...read on....

On a good day, I see patients from at least 10 different nationalities. Iran, UAE, Indian, Germans, bangladesh, pakistan,,..u name it....Curiously enough the basic language is the same. Everyone laughs when they are happy , everyone smiles in the same way, everyone screams in pain the same way. A frown, a sigh, a giggle...all are the same. Each emotion bearing testimony to the fact that we human beings are in fact same creatures in basic genetic constitution. Ok most of the times you can differentiate a person by his accent. But just try this....walk into a paediatric ward or ICU, close your eyes and just listen to the crying of all babies....try to differentiate each one by its cry....hard isnt it?..................and still we have conflicts, borders and hate????

BURJ KHALIFA......MINDBLOWING

Finally something new in the dailies besides "THE YEAR THAT WAS, THE YEAR THAT WILL BE" It was getting too cliched anyway. Burj Khalifa, the new tower opened in Dubai yesterday amidst much fanfare. It was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed on the occasion of his ascension to the throne. Standing at a staggering 828 metres, it has beaten all structures in the world by a huge margin. Doesnt look like there will be any competition to this giant for quite sometime. Offices designed by Giorgio Armani, superfast elevators, tallest observation decks, this beauty has it all. And i saw it it too.....in person.....yeaaah



The new year dawns, time to make and break resolutions
My resolutions for this year
1. BLOG REGULARLY
2. GIVE MORE TIME FOR PAINTING AND LESS FOR TV
3. DONT FALL IN LOVE ( NOT WITHTHE WRONG KINDA FEMALES AT LEAST)
4. PLAY LESS MAFIA WARS ON FACEBOOK ( THIS ONES TO BE BROKEN)

TILL THEN..........

In AL AIN, UAE

A big sorry to all my friends to whom I couldnt bid farewell before leaving. To all those just enlightened, let me tell u that Im in the beautiful city of Al Ain in UAE, trying to make new beginnings.


Its a great place to be in especially this time of the year. Its cooler than the other emirates and a lot greener too. Theres not much traffic on the roads ( you can cross the roads blindfolded sometimes)
But what I like the most are the host of beautiful cars whizzing by. A GT Mustang, A Jaguar, Benz, Ferrari, and what not.

I just happened to glance at a black mercedes benz in the parking lot today. As it slowly drove by, it looked like a sexy lady dressed in black satin, walking into the sunset. An alluring fragrance wafting through the winter breeze, enticing you into a state of trance.................

RAIN RAIN........ DONT GO AWAY

Rain.....I am yet to understand why I have a strange affinity towards it, often including it in all my short stories as well. ( maybe my psychiatrist friend could tell me)
The navratri season is over and the weather seems to be acting funny.

As I look out my window, the skies seems to have paled out , ...then jaundiced.







Slowly and steadily, it seems to metamorphose into a smorgasbord of chromatic aberrations. My camera is all smiles as I click away at each confused look of the clouds.






Slowly it darkens and gathers courage, finally letting out a spray of wispy light rain. The accompanying petrichor is something to die for.




It is still raining and I am still wondering........

JOYRIDE

A Sudden twist of fate had me travel all the way to Kerala. I had hoped for a peaceful ride in the AC compartment of the train , but fate had something sinister in store for me.

The moment I entered the compartment, I found out that my fellow travellers included a loud voiced businessman and a very irritated baby accompanied by its equally harried mother. The kid was bawling away to kingdom come and I had to bid adieu to my afternoon siesta. I also realised that kids can scream beyond the maximum volume of your Ipod.

The train food lived upto its reputation and was bland and dry beyond the usual range of tastebud sensations. I had to contend with a bunch of bananas.
The Konkan railway route is usually very scenic and one can spend hours gazing through the windows. But this is not usually possible when your co-passenger includes an old ( very old) man with a flatulence problem. I had to run out of the compartment towards the main door every two hours gasping for breath.

The pot-bellied businessman was chattering away on his mobile phone so much that I am sure that there was a distinct imprint of the keys on his cheek (almost looking like a tattoo). He sounded like one of those TV Evangelists preaching the word of God. Who was the dimwit who thought of the idea of providing mobile charging points in train compartments?

The baby was relentlessly pursuing his vocal training and had finally quietened down by dinner time. My dinner done, I lay down my sheets and hoped for a good nap before the kid could start again. Kids have a unique bodyclock, as they tend to be more active during the nights. This I found out later when the kid had started research on the "affects of constantly switching lights on and off" which of course leads to the syndrome of sleep disturbance. Finally 'genius' slept and let other (me included) sleep too.

I did have my moment of revenge when my stop was due at around 5 am in the morning. My mobile phone has a popular bhajan as the alarm. And at precisely 5 am, the alarm rang and I let it ring for quite sometime. The bawling kid did the rest of the job as he let out a morning yelp and woke the the rest of the train right upto the engine driver.

I got down at my station a happy man.

...................
............needless to say, i took a flight back.

THE PARTY

The gang met up at Monica's place. We are more than grateful to monica and her hubby vinod for letting us trash their sweet home ( believe me we did trash it).
We had a gala time with the guys getting sozzled and the girls constantly looking at their watches much to our chagrin. Clicked a lot of pics (which I am yet to receive, hence have not put it up) The Biryani was mouthwatering, I doubt though that anyone was interested in its taste or texture (no one was sober enough). I dont drink but the euphoria of the party was enough to give me a high.

These parties are a peculiar lot. You get so lost in the fun that you tend to forget your problems. You hardly care about your future, you hardly care about work, you hardly care about where all these people will be after a couple of years. But then maybe thats what parties are for aint it so? Getting away from the usual tumultuous doldrums of life........cant wait for the next one

THE BENCH.....a short story

She had no umbrella, this beautiful lass. But the rain could hardly damage her sweet countenance. The freshly fallen rain had given the air a sweet lemony, earthy scent and she stood out like a fresh daisy. As she he sat on the bench and keenly awaited the arrival of every bus, she reminisced all his memories.
Her heart skipped a beat every now and then. She was looking eagerly towards the road and the myriad vehicles passing by. She scanned each passenger that got out of the various buses plying through that route.

She looked for that familiar fair face of her beloved with that dark forelock dangling across his broad forehead. How could she ever forget that face. She recalled the promises he made under the moonlight. Those loving eyes full of love , pure tenderness, the eyes that only spoke the truth and nothing else. That musky perfume that he wore, the feel of his heartbeat as she lay close to his chest, all came back to her like it was only yesterday
People told her that he wouldn’t come. Not many come back from war and battle. But deep down inside her sincere heart… she knew, he would.

An elderly gentleman sat next to her. For a few minutes he looked caringly at this oblivious soul staring out at the road with the eagerness of a teenager. Then slowly whispered into her ear “Did he come?”
Without turning back she replied “Not yet”.
“But he’ll be here soon, you’ll see”
The old man only smiled. He had no reply for hope. No one could break the strong faith this girl had in her loved one.
“Its getting dark. How about coming again tomorrow?” He asked.
She looked troubled “but….”
“Don’t worry, you can come back again here tomorrow”, he asserted.
Hesitatingly she stood up and took one final glance at the road.
“Come now dear, we don’t want to be late for dinner do we?” the old guy asked
Slowly he placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the nearby van.
Even as they sat inside, she couldn’t stop looking out.

The old man beckoned to the driver, who quickly dropped his cigarette and got in the van. He looked furtively at the puny lady. Then he started the engine and drove away.
“Has she been coming here everyday doctor?” he asked.
“Yes, every day….everyday since the last 14 years”, the old man in the white coat replied.
The driver was unperturbed. He had seen far many of them, all different types. But he couldn’t help but be amazed at this lady and her lost love as he drove to the mental institution.

THE SWINE FLU SCARE

“ACCHOOO”…. I sneezed and apologized to my fellow passengers in the 12: 40 kasara local. They looked at me with utter disdain and in a flash covered their faces with masks, handkerchief and the nearest lady’s duppatta. Feeling like an ostracized whore, I quickly exit at my station and curse that speck of dust that dare enter my nostrils.

What is it with people? The media hits a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ and suddenly people are conscious of the air they breathe. Not minding the fact that we have been breathing Tuberculosis bacilli, chicken pox viruses, second hand cigarette smoke, sulphur dioxide, methane from the neighbourhood tabela, ammonia from the urinals ( or roadside) and God alone knows what for the past decade.

Everywhere people are frantically covering up their noses and mouth with masks which the chemists are gleefully selling. This is the same generation that thinks twice before wearing a condom to prevent AIDS and other STDS.
‘Roche’ the company that markets TAMIFLU must be laughing all the way to the bank already.

The only thing we need to fear is media hype (the very ones that run after tantrik babas and the neighbourhood cat that fell into a drain and calls it BREAKING NEWS)
The media generated mass hysteria is creating fools out of the already fear stricken lot and we are surely to blame.

All you have to do is keep your resistance hig by eating good food , sleeping well and living a carefree life. dont just run to the nearest testing centre because you sneezed and overload the already burdened medical centres.

Ps: There is a 1.8 % chance of dying in a road accident, so please stop crossing the road.
There are high chances of getting complicated malaria and dengue fever, so please sleep in an armored truck.
Also there are high chances of lung cancer due to pollution, so stop breathing.

REMEMBER: THE ONLY THING WE NEED TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF

HAPPY B'DAY MOM

Many many happy returns of the day to mom.

Got her a nice jade buddha statue.







We saw this little guy sitting in a shop a few months ago and she liked it a lot. I happened to have a wierd feeling that day that i should get it for her birthday. Suprisingly that was the last piece inthe store and the owner told me that it was there since a long time. Maybe it was destined to come home to mom.

Sad news

My aunt passed away last week. Too young really ( all of 52 years). I had the misfortune of witnessing her terminal stages. I remembering being in shock for the first fifteen minutes and the rest of the day thereafter.

Not that I was particularly fond of her, but her death made me realize one thing for sure. Life is too short to really hate someone. As the embalmer handed me the rings she was wearing, it felt quite symbolic. When you die, you don’t take anything with you. All that remains is faint memories good and bad.

???

There comes a time in everyone's life when he or she would like to just disappear , go AWOL, search for peace ..or whatever.
I just happen to be in that phase

where am i ? I'm in paradise, increasing my serum creatinine, away from friends, family, mobile phones, emails adn all wordly distracions. No , i havent renounced the world and gone to the himalayas to meditate, I have too many hedonistic tendencies to hold me back. Not yet at least

Where am I? ........
...........
..........
I'm not tellin you

A tribute to the king of pop

I am still trying to hold back my tears for I am a fan , if not a big one of Michael Jackson. It was shocking and saddening to hear this piece of news especially when millions of his fans( me included ) were eagerly waiting for his last concert.

We have danced to his tunes since childhood right from OFF THE WALL to BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR, twisted our ankles and hips tying to perfect the MOONWALK, ridiculed his nosejobs and freaky hairstyles, went crazy over his concert in India and splattered our walls with posters of BAD.

His has been a tumultuous life riddled with allegations ( we do not know the truth) and plastic surgeries ( those are true). BUT all said and done, I am sure that all his fans will echo this simple feeling .....there can be no one like him.