आज तो मनडे है !!!

" AAj to Monday hai".............the babu said. "Abhi to 12 baje hain, sahab aate hi honge, vaise bhi aaj to monday hai". yes that's what I got as reply in one of the government's beaureaucratic corridors, when asked for absence of a particular officer even at 12 noon today ie. Monday morning....and that too, in a state

which boasts of one of the most well oiled government machinery in the country. The statement came and hit me with the thought.............how far ahead this state would have moved, had these babus would have been working twice as sincerely. Other states should actually thank the babus in government offices of Gujarat, for wothout their help, the chasm between Gujarat and other states would have been much wider.

Gujarat......is a remarkable state, and it has got a great administrator in form of Narendra Modi. That man had single handedly taken the state machinery several notches up. You talk to a IAS officer in Ahmedabad, with a clear business proposal. That person would not just lend you ears, but would also, bring along his area specialists to understand the power in the powerpoint one is making before him. And once he is convinced, its difficult, he'll let you go to any other state. One level below, there is a competition among various district collectors to invite investments in their respective districts. Two levels below, Tehsil Development officers, pitch in with their offers of facilities as a competition of having the schemes run in their area. Three level below, Sarpanch of gram panchayats, offer their all possible support to a investor, to lure him to their particular gram panchayat. This is the kind of professionalism built in the system, by this one man.......Narendra Modi.

Today only, I was reading in the newspaper......an interview, where a muslim businessman settled in mumbai post gujarat riots of 2002, was commenting, " Leaving aside Gujarat riots as a single blotch, Gujarat is such a wonderful place to do business, that i want to forget the incident and go back to Gujarat." This statement might have been made by one man, but reflects the sentiments of many of such people.

Talking about infrastructure, Jyotigram yojna has transformed the rural electrification scenario in the state. Each household in the rural areas recieves more than 20 hours of electricity. This coupled with the excellent road network (including the likes of Ahmedabad - Vadodra Expressway) has today paved the way of industries moving to rural areas in gujarat. This has not just helped in decongestion of cities but also bringing all amenities of good life, to rural areas.

While making this transformation, he also worked on the IT front. In which other place in India , wuld you find, villages having their own websites. www.vasad.in is just one such example as I visited this particular village. In land record offices at district level, there is a CD version of all land records, villages maps etc. existing. People at various levels in the governemnt system, as below as Gram Panchayat have been armed with Computers and educated people are being elected as Sarpanchs. All this is the reason, why Gujarat is running on a horseback, while other states are walking on foot.

While coming back, on the way from Hotel to Airport, my driver commented about Modi, " He doesn't sleep, neither does he allow anybody to sleep...............he doesn't eat, and neither does let anybody eat" I took some time to understand the underlying message...........but got to the depth of it.

He with his administraitve skills has transformed the chain, but Mr. modi, if you are listening, you missed out on ........... the babus, the public face.............who still function in their own style.....and their PAs tell the common man...........on a monday morning at 12 noon........sahab aayenge, abhi to sirf 12 baje hain, aur waise bhi "aaj to monday hai"

A fresh beginning

How often we wish for another chance to make a fresh beginning.

A chance to blot out our mistakesAnd change failure into winning.

It does not take a new day to make a brand new start,

It only takes a deep desire to try with all our heart.

To live a little better and to always be forgiving

And to add a little sunshine to the world in which we're living.

So never give up in despair and think that you are through,

For there's always a tomorrow and the hope of starting new.

Wood, Mud and all that Natural

Standing over my workstation, the Chief Manager asked in disbelief, "Matheran? Now? Its rainy season dear........there might be landslides. You would not be able to enjoy anything if it rains, which it will. I won't advise." While we were just about digesting his comment, another colleague exclaimed......." The second phase of journey .......just go and see.......the taxi man drives at such a pace on narrow and turning, hill roads........at times, two tyres are in air. " I don't know, he was motivating us or trying to dissuade us from going to Matheran on this weekend - a plan which we made last week .........postponed..........and now finally, were all set to go. "Beware of the leaches..........take some salt with you. And ya, by the time you'll return..........I'm sure you'll be all Red and Wet (No.......he wasn't referring to Red and White bravery awards..........just referring to rainy season ........leaving our clothes.....red with the laterite soils of Matheran and wet with rain)" , chipped in another friend from behind.

But the combined power of all these, couldn't deter our plans of seeing Matheran .........Mumbai's nearest Hill station, we've heard so much about.........(except may be, for one of the five dropping from the gang, at last minute). The plan was all set.........journey charted out. Friday night, we went to the bed, knowing that tomorrow morning there is a long day ahead of us. Dreams of a beautiful weekend, soon took over.

We all met at Kurla Railway station at 7 am to catch the 7.11am fast local to Karzat. I had already booked the tickets. The train was on time and while i was contemplating of whether or not to get a sip of tea, the train was on the platform no. 5. As we boarded the not-so-empty, not-so-full train, we could see that there are few other groups who seemed to have taken the train for the same destination as we. Some stations & some jokes later, we were at Neral.....a small village on the Central line. Out and we took a shared taxi @Rs.50/head.....to Dasturi naka, the entry point of Matheran. We had planned to take the Matheran toy train, but we came to know that during rainy season, they have reduced the frequency to once a day and for going, the train had already left. While on the way from Neral to Dasturi Naka, some of the most amazing sights can be seen. At one particular point.....there were around 20 waterfalls at one place, bang next to the road.

The road had a pretty good width, considering a hilly terrain and it was well maintained. Dasturi naka, is the point where we need to pay Rs.25/head to enter the Matheran trek. At this point, as we moved inside........we were greeted by a beautiful MTDC guest house on one side and a fleet of horsewallas available to ferry those who would not prefer to take the 2.5Km trek ahead. As any city in India, the main road (the road to Matheran centre/ Bazaar Peth) here is called MG Road.

The first thing that I did, was to read the old government installed boards, talking about the place and its importence - a dilapidated yet a reliable source of correct information about any place. and the board said three things that anybody visiting this place must know

1. It is the world's tiniest hill station
2. It is Asia's only hill station where vehicles are not allowed inside the town
3. It is India's cleanest hill station.

The first thing that you notice, once inside the naka, is the laterite road.......there's no pucca raods in Matheran. We decided to take a trek on foot.........as all were fresh and ready for a walk. Cracking jokes and immersing the sudden shift from metalled roads to the kutcha road and to the greenery and clean surroundings, we soon reached to a point, where people walking few meters ahead of us............left the main road and took a narrow lane besides the railway track (made for the Matheran toy train). We checked with some local ladies passing by and got to know that the track along the tracks, was a shorter and cleaner way to main bazaar.......fewer horses , you see!!

Soon, we were in the main market.....called the Bazaar Peth. We were pretty hungry by then and were looking for the first possible place to eat. Some of the shops, just outside station were closed, and others which were just opening, were not yet ready to serve and asked for a half an hour time to serve. Half and hour............too much!!! and we moved ahead. Walking 50 meters more, we finally settled at a decent looking restaurent, ready to serve us Coffee and Omelatte - toast. The food was just ok types and costly (as against expectations). The place was just opposite, Nariman chikki point, the most famous chikki shop in the town.........a place , where you can get 10s of varietites of chikki, fudge and stuff like anardana, gulkand and gilori. We took enough to last us the day. While tasting, some 5-6 varieties before selection, we asked the person at counter about all the info we needed to walk through Matheran. He also presented us a map of the place.

Matheran sight seeing is about taking different circles / circuits. Each circuit have 5-9 points(places, from where sight seeing is best possible) and is typically a 2-3 km walk in total. We started on our first walk on the most popular circle - having 7 points including Echo Point, Cherlotte Lake point, One tree point, Khandala point etc. The trek all the way was on the clean surroundings, pebbles laden on red laterite soil. The foggy situation (it was actually the cloud mist) was making the whole trek much more enjoyable. A good part was that all along the trek, at some distance, cleanly maintained washrooms have been constructed. the morning's misty air was washing through our faces and reminding us of the nature's purity. All kind of fear about leaches, clothes getting coloured, rains, poor road from Neral to matheran - raised by our colleagues, were found to be just a fear. Not just we came through a nice braod road, in a safe taxi journey, the pebbles on the trek were ensuring that the mud don't catch our clothes. Even though it was intermittantly drizzling, the rain was never beating on us, due to the thick canopy of greenery providing a roof over the track. We meandered our way thorugh the jungle trail......guided by signboards maintained at each junction on the trek. Old world bunglows, some of which have now been converted into resorts, were present not just on the main road, near station........but also deep inside the jungles also.

Khandala point was the first one, we went to and it was nothing but a farce. The most beautiful point came up in form of Echo point - the view was mesmerising.....it

was a tip of a hill and on three sides, we could view the valley deep below. The rain has added to the beauty of the grounds - which were filled with flowers. Clouds from below were being blown upwards with the cool wind. The sudden cut on the ridge that we were standing on, was adding to the beauty of the place. The best thing about Matheran is that, there are no hawkers to disturb the peace or sound of nature. The only sound we were hearing at Echo point was us talking in the backdrop of wind blowing and water falling somewhere far.

Our next major stop was cherlotte lake. The lake is basically the stopped water over a dam - a dam small enough that people were actually taking bath underneath it. We sat beside the lake, with legs in the cool waters....to balm them against the gravel walk that we did. While we were just thanking the weather of the day and the place, the rain came........and it came hard and fast....giving us just enough time to run to a tea hut nearby, just outside a small temple. The joy of having a hot cup of tea, beside a lake, in natural surroundings, and with rain pettering over the lake water...........is something one cannot explain in words. This can only be felt.Well, after a good half an hour rest there, we moved on and through a jungle trail, came back to the main bazaar area.

A beautiful park near the station, is a good place to sit and relax, after completing one circuit. We had our sumptuous lunch, followed by good amount of choclate fudge at Nariman Chikki Mart.

Second trek that we followed was Alexander Point, rambag point one. The trek till alexander point was a long and lonely one....it seemed as if we were the only ones taking that trek........but that only added to our motivation levels. Alexander point was a beautiful hill corner with an amazing view of the valley below. The place had some couples enjoying the nature in solitude, in each others arms. We thought it wise.......not to disturb them and left the place early.

The last phase of our trip belonged to shopping......the place we knew, was famous for leather footwear and chikki. We did some amount of bargaining, enjoyed the shopping, eat out more chikkis and packed even more for home. For return to Dasturi naka, we decided to have a slow walk - this time along the gravel road, meandering through the jungle , rather than following the tracks. However, soon after, one of the girls from the group decided to take a horse back ride, to the end point. All others walked along with her.

The journey back was pretty uneventful as all of us were still lost in the thoughts of the fairyland we were returning from. Fairyland, yes it was, for , what other place you can find, nature undisturbed........jungle trails amongst mist and cloud, sound of waterfalls, and birds singing - all that within an hour or so's distance from Mumbai.

We have returned from Matheran - but with the determination that we'll come back and back again, many times over. And yes, next time a colleague of yours comment - "Matheran? Now? Its rainy season dear........there might be landslides. You would not be able to enjoy anything if it rains, which it will. I won't advise." Tell him, Matheran is a place to go in all seasons..........and monsoon is the best of them."

मुंबई - मायानगरी की माया

Mumbai - City of dreams, a dream which many Indians have, giving it a name of Mumbai Mayangri. Somehow, I never felt so.

First time I came to Mumbai was three years back. I remember the day - It was Sunday - 5th June 2005. I had come to Mumbai with a friend, who has spent good years of his life in Mumbai , when it was Bombay(Wish, our politicians find a better work to do !!)

We both were in Mumbai to join our first job, at Tata Chemicals Limited. And his first day lesson to me was - " मुंबई में जीना है, तो लोकल में ट्रेवल चाहिए "। Fortunately for me, my first day was a Sunday, so I got a good lesson in local travel. Also, my organisation gave me accomodation near my office, so i didn't really felt the need of my first lesson's practical. I was happy, life was settled............but I was feeling uneasy. I was restless to know ....... where was the Mumbai.......which everyone talked of, which every second person wants to go to.......this mumbai which i was watching was like any other crowded indian city... same potholed roads, same bumper to bumper traffic, same endless number of heads seen everywhere, same dirty beaches and same hustle bustle........

Was there something I was not able to see, or was the whole hoopla about Mumbai - the city of dreams, a farce? I was trying to find my answers and before i could, i was posted in Delhi and it was the end of my quest. Although, I kept coming to mumbai after that, but it was always for a spell of 2-3 days......never left time for me to think. I was a visitor to the city.

But, as the fate decided, 3 years later, my second job brought me back to mumbai......and this time i was about to get the lesson, the harder way.......i was put up in Navi Mumbai and to reach office, I have to daily travel one way, 1 hour by train, plus, the time to reach station seperate. The destiny wanted me to learn that lesson, and reopen my quest.....and so I did.

And the experiences I had in that train journey over past two months........had been a reveletion of sorts.

First of all, let's talk about the local train itself - the so called life line of Mumbai. Simply inhuman.....people travel in local trains in conditions worse than anybody in Europe, would even dream of putting even their stray animals. (...and we hope of India becoming a developed nation!! Or politicians speak of making Mumbai as good as Shanghai.....I am sure, the person who spoke that have either not travelled in Mumbai or have not travelled in Shanghai.) At peak office hours, a person who enters and fixes himself in a particular position, can not even bend or twist, till atleast two to three next stations. So what, if the person standing (...oops..stuck) next to you is smelling of fish / rotten vegetable. Some local cheepo politicians call this as equaliser in society. Mr. Leader..........its easy saying so, without ever travelling to office that way. What happens to your polished (your life old lesson of .........gentlemen wear polished shoes to workplace) Bata shoes, can only be termed as rape (or rather gangrape). No doubt, that these local trains have been the cheapest and fastest mode of transport in Mumbai and have served the society for long but they certainly can't be called the lifeline............as lifeline must have oxygen to breath properly, which they don't offer.

Coming next to Mumbai's cosmopolitan nature. Let's begin with understanding the definition of Cospmopolitan. It is a name given to a place where people of many ethnicities, religions and cultures meet and live in close proximity . Bombay was such a place, as we hear from elders, read in books or watch in old movies. Mumbai is not - here there are ghettos of Muslim areas, Sikh areas, Parsee areas and so on.....residential colonies are divided based on what state you belong to / language you speak. Recently, novice street politicians with no agenda have made regionalism their new matra.........and the kind of support they are deriving from bottom of society.........is a reflective of Mumbai's non cosmopolitan heart.

The kind of attack on North Indian taxi drivers........was more of a reflective of frustration breeding amongst local populce from nearby towns and villages, who have not been able to put in enough labour themselves and neither can they tolerate anyone else, earning their labour. The way local political parties create havoc about a person wishing to speak in national language is sick. Worse are the responsible national political parties who rather than bringing a close to such regionalism are mum about the subject - thinking about next year's elections more than the long term interest of the country. Commercial properties are being forced to rampage by local goondas on the pretext of not writing names in the local language - so much for a city which dreams of being called a global city. I can clearly see that a day is not far when Mumbai will be Singur..........and all sane businessman would prefer staying away from Mumbai. Definitely, Mumbai is not cosmopolitan.

Third reason, why I thought people treated Bombay as the city of dreams was the film industry. Films were more of a reflective of dreams - all things good and beautiful. People see themselves in the protagonists. they dreamt of coming to this city and seeing their heroes in real and that was why this city was called city of dreams. Since then, has anything changed. Yes, people now understand that cinema is nothing but a mass media for entertainment. People don't come to Mumbai for seeing their heroes / heroines. TV sets and print media have taken all things about them in every household's drawing rooms and made everbody realise that they are ordinary humans only and no dreams.

All this apart, Mumbai is a beautiful city - Be it the architectural pleasure of british era buildings in Fort, or the new age flyovers, bridges, sea links or high rises like Hiranandani. Its true, that Mumbai is the financial capital of India with BSE, RBI and HQs of all major companies in Mumbai. The Taj at gateway still reminds us of the rich legacy. A walk at Nariman point is still a pleasure.

But, one thing for sure, Mumbai may be anything - But it is not the city of dreams , that Bombay was.

People say, what's in a name change ?

I say, everything. See, Bombay - a city of Dreams have become Mumbai - the intolerant collection of ghettos which mingle not becuase they want to , but because the space crunch forces them to.

The mysterious women.

I once met a lady...... beautiful smiles, traditional, homely and bold (not the flashy types.........but the gutsy types). I just kept looking at her for days together, as we used to go the same place daily for our professional life. I was not sure how should I approach her. But determined, as I was......tracked down her friends, and entered her friends circle, through a mututal friend.

This gave me a opportunity, to be able to talk to her....as and when I wanted.......but most of the times, it was related to professional life or some common friends. I wanted to know about her...... to understand the story about the aura she carried behind her head, over a frail body. A passer by could have very easily walked past her, without even noticing her...... no great looks, not even fair (the skin tone, which Indian men and women have fascination about.......the slave mentality, still associate it with the ruling community...........fairer is your skin tone, the Indian society considers you to be learned, upper class, sophisticated, rich ......and all those good adjectives)

Well coming back to the mysterious lady (well, mysterious because I was trying to understand the aura........which was keeping me puzzled). .....her roommate told me one day, that for last few days, she has been missing in the evening.....7-8pm roughly,before dinner time. Now this was the time, when most of the people are busy in themselves..........after a hard day's work.........reaching your home and unwinding........this is the time, normaly nobody goes looking out for someone else............but this was exactly the time, I went looking for her. I searched every possible place......she was not in her room...........and she has not left the building as the guard confirmed....then where did she went. Terrace........no can't be........too dark for her.....she feared cockroaches / lizards a lot....Somebody's room............well, might be...........but whose.......i thought of a few possible names.............but found them either alone / with other friends /out of building.

The mystery was deepening.............I could not find her.....that day.........and she didn't told anything when we asked her about where she was..........skipping the question with her tactical skills, as she alwys used to. I was now getting impatient and I decided to keep an eye on her room, from the time she comes back in the evening and decided to follow her..........

Next evening, I reached home earlier.......sat on the stairs leading to her room........once she was inside her room and waited there, with abaited breath. It was 7 pm already and almost 1 hour since she walked in.........she walked out at 7.10pm and i hid myself behind the pillar, lest she sees me and changes her plan. I was successful...........she was at the second floor and our three story building was not having any lift........she moved towards, the third floor stairs and I followed behind.....after reaching the third floor...........she turned towards..........

Rest story in the next blog.

Perfectionist ....... or .......Immature

When an individual imagines of a world........which should be working as per his ideas......we call him idealist. And for such idealists, the world would then (if it was as per their wish) be a perfect place.

Is being perfectionist good or bad........
Is dreaming about a perfect world order an optimism or daydreaming..........

Well, as per me......for anything to be decided right or wrong, the simple funda is..........till the time, the matter is in your court, in your limits.....it is right. But as soon as your nose start entering somebody else's turf, it is not right. Till the time, your actions / words are not irritating / hurting someone, its right. But as soon as, someone either gets hurt or even irritated from your words / actions, you must know that it is time to exit the scene.

Coming back to "Being perfectionist - right or wrong"

eg. If a perfectionist who believes, you should have dinner at 8 and sleep by 10.........if he forces his thoughts on his family........and doesn't allow anybody else to be awake after 10..........he is being eccentric and immature (in his thinking that waking beyond 10 is bad).

Same funda applies - If an idealist, in search of a perfect world..........hurts someone........with words /actions............then that is his immaturity. Till then, its perfectionism !!

Movies Galore

Talking about pirated CDs ....... and ethics.......on one hand and cheap entertainment on the other hand. While returning from office today, I along with some other colleagues had a glimpse on a roadside vendor, selling CDs...........she must have been sitting there everyday, but we never noticed her, but for this day.

Nothing about special this day, except this was a long day........and next day is a holiday......ganesh chaturthi..........and since mumbai is planning for a festival tomorrow........on streets, so that also meant not going out anywhere. All that boiled down to the fact that we were to be inside our new home.........for next 24 + hours and with no TV (as mentioned in the last post, thanks to the great admin facilities), so without actually saying , we all were looking for some entertainment options..........that's why.........the tird eye saw this vendor........

Well, we took two DVDs........containing 9 new Bollywood movies..........at a dirt cheap rate........and while taking them, we were happy to have found an answer to the boredom.......and this was the only thought that crossed our minds.

As the human nature is, rather than thinking about the good deal we got.........we were getting apprehensive, whether the cheap products would turn out to be a money wasted............while sitting in the train. Such are the intracacies of the complex structure called mind.

However, nothing bad that we thought, actually happened and we got a good pack of 9 new bollywood flicks..........at price less than that of a cup of coffee at Barista.

In all this, never did it crossed our mind.........that we were promoting an illegal trade..........of pirated CD / DVDs..........but on second thought, why is it illegal ? Before dwelling into that.......i had a few points, which i felt strongly about.............

1) The Developmental Side of me : What is the result of this so called piracy business..........the rich producers and distributers, would be making a few lakhs less............and that few lakhs would actually become the income of tens of thousands of poor who make there living on selling such stuff and woudl feed lakhs of mouths at the bottom of the pyramid.

2) The Marketer side of me : What is the value chain of these pirated CD business........if i as a end consumer is getting the product at dirt cheap prices.......margins, production and distribution costs and delivery chain.......must be really efficient to keep the prices low. Now between these and the "original" CD prices, there is a difference of a ton. So, that means, richer is your end customer, higher are the margins for everybody in the value chain.

3) The social side of me : One day back, i saw a police constable slapping a small boy at the same station for putting up his vending space, apparantly without paying him his share of the money to let him sit there. So, when the same police person was allowing the sale of these pirated CDs bang there under his nose........he must be after taking his dues / dakshina.........who should i blame for this "illegal" business...........
Myself ........ for purchasing a cheap source of entertainment
Vendor.......for making a living out of it
Policeman......for allowing vendors on station premises

or

the system...........for creating wealth for the wealthy, rules to help them grow it further nad keeping the poor out of reach from being a part of so called "development."

I am confused..........have I done something unethical.........purchasing a pirated CD or have I helped a poor get his earning...........while entertaining myself.

Does anyone have the answer???