"On a Day like today, the whole world could change..."
However, unlike in this Bryan Adam song, there has been no sunshine over the past couple of days in Mumbai. The gloomy weather somehow depicts the mood in the city.
The turn of events over the past few days is unprecedented. Lives have been lost, peace shattered and Mumbai is terrified, angry and gloomy at the same time.
This is going to be the worst chapter in history ! Has changed the way we live....forever!
Light a Candle
Showing posts with label Experiences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Experiences. Show all posts
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai
I know that thousands of people do this daily and even more do it on Weekends.But everytime I make that trip between Mumbai-Pune on weekends, I cannot help but appreciate how much I love this stretch of travel and with all the things it helps me with.
As a kid,I always thought of Pune as that junction that used to arrive after the journey through the Lonavla-Khandala ghaats;the junction that used to arrive after the train went over the bridge across the Mula-Mutha river ( I now know that bridge as the 'Sangam' Bridge); the junction that I only used to look out to from behind the glass panes of the Air conditioned confines of the train compartment. I don't know why, but I always used to wonder what was beyond that railway station!!
For starters, there's the usual 2 modes of travel that can help you make this journey; road and rail (I'm totally discounting that 15 min flight from Mumbai which I have done too)
Take the train from Mumbai and you are sure to have that unique journey experience that this route offers. Although, there are close to 8 dedicated trains that ply between the 2 cities, the 'Deccan Queen' rules the roost even today. Once upon a time, it was a status symbol to take this train. Now though, it's just another train...although probably it would help to know that this one is amongst the quickest and would get you to your destination in flat 3 hrs. Personally, I view this journey as one that can be roughly divided into 4 parts. The first one that gets you out of Mumbai until you reach Kalyan on the outskirts is just a dull drab. The scenery ( if i
can call it that) is just a mixture of the usual Mumbai suburban rush, rubbish, apartments that seem to be kissing each other.. ( Hope you get the picture!) The next one from thereon, until you reach Karjat is a bit of a mixture, starting with views of the lower middle class localities hugging the Outskirts of Mumbai and ending with wide open spaces as you reach closer to karjat. (Of course, you also cross through Neral that houses the toy-trains that take you up to Matheran). Karjat is also where you 'have' to have that famous 'vada-pav' while the railways take their time to add those 2 additional engines onto the train that helps it make the climb that awaits across the next stretch. So, Karjat station for me is symbolic of that stopover you make in life, where you relax, refill your thoughts from time to time! (Hope this doesn't sound too dramatic).Also, most trains on this route have a Pantry car (Surprised? cause it's all done in 3 hrs) where you can savour cutlets, oily omelette's etc with some bread along with cups of 'tea-bag' chai and 'milk powder' coffee.Moving on, the next stretch of the journey is absolutely a treat. The train chugs along at an idyllic pace as it crosses through the renowned Khandala-Lonavla Ghats. Scenic views of the valley below are on offer. This stretch turns even more pristine during the monsoons with little gushing waterfalls forming up at regular intervals. It is absolutely a treat to push your head a bit and catch the ends of the train when it goes round the curve. (I do that even today!). Once you get across this section filled with tunnels (Large and small ones alike), you reach Lonavla, after which you get a feel of the semi-rural areas before you finally reach Pune.
The other option of course is taking the road. Here, though, you have 2 options. One of them is the very well built expressway (This, for many of us, was a marvel even until a few years ago).Although, it is still a pain to get through the city before you get to Wakad where you actually hit the Express lane, the ride after this is very much seamless. Right until the point when you reach Panvel on the outskirts of Mumbai. The road is indeed very well constructed. There are huge signboards all along the route, advising drivers on how to ride the expressway. There are also huge advertising boards, marketing everything from real-estate to Banking services. There're also food jaunts along the exits and although there's variety of food on offer, it's a bit of a rip-off. Of course, the expressway does not offer you the romance that the old Mumbai-Pune highway has in store. Although this road too is now very well maintained, it wasn't an easy ride when there was no expressway. I remember riding the old highway as a kid to Lonavala during the monsoons. Vehicles literally had to grind their way up the gradients, snaking along the curves.
I personally prefer taking the train since it's faster (and more economical too :D). More importantly, I enjoy this ride and have been a regular at it now every time I travel back home to Mumbai on weekends.And I have some good old Bollywood music for company. Rhythm and Rail. The perfect combination!
As a kid,I always thought of Pune as that junction that used to arrive after the journey through the Lonavla-Khandala ghaats;the junction that used to arrive after the train went over the bridge across the Mula-Mutha river ( I now know that bridge as the 'Sangam' Bridge); the junction that I only used to look out to from behind the glass panes of the Air conditioned confines of the train compartment. I don't know why, but I always used to wonder what was beyond that railway station!!
For starters, there's the usual 2 modes of travel that can help you make this journey; road and rail (I'm totally discounting that 15 min flight from Mumbai which I have done too)
Take the train from Mumbai and you are sure to have that unique journey experience that this route offers. Although, there are close to 8 dedicated trains that ply between the 2 cities, the 'Deccan Queen' rules the roost even today. Once upon a time, it was a status symbol to take this train. Now though, it's just another train...although probably it would help to know that this one is amongst the quickest and would get you to your destination in flat 3 hrs. Personally, I view this journey as one that can be roughly divided into 4 parts. The first one that gets you out of Mumbai until you reach Kalyan on the outskirts is just a dull drab. The scenery ( if i
can call it that) is just a mixture of the usual Mumbai suburban rush, rubbish, apartments that seem to be kissing each other.. ( Hope you get the picture!) The next one from thereon, until you reach Karjat is a bit of a mixture, starting with views of the lower middle class localities hugging the Outskirts of Mumbai and ending with wide open spaces as you reach closer to karjat. (Of course, you also cross through Neral that houses the toy-trains that take you up to Matheran). Karjat is also where you 'have' to have that famous 'vada-pav' while the railways take their time to add those 2 additional engines onto the train that helps it make the climb that awaits across the next stretch. So, Karjat station for me is symbolic of that stopover you make in life, where you relax, refill your thoughts from time to time! (Hope this doesn't sound too dramatic).Also, most trains on this route have a Pantry car (Surprised? cause it's all done in 3 hrs) where you can savour cutlets, oily omelette's etc with some bread along with cups of 'tea-bag' chai and 'milk powder' coffee.Moving on, the next stretch of the journey is absolutely a treat. The train chugs along at an idyllic pace as it crosses through the renowned Khandala-Lonavla Ghats. Scenic views of the valley below are on offer. This stretch turns even more pristine during the monsoons with little gushing waterfalls forming up at regular intervals. It is absolutely a treat to push your head a bit and catch the ends of the train when it goes round the curve. (I do that even today!). Once you get across this section filled with tunnels (Large and small ones alike), you reach Lonavla, after which you get a feel of the semi-rural areas before you finally reach Pune.
The other option of course is taking the road. Here, though, you have 2 options. One of them is the very well built expressway (This, for many of us, was a marvel even until a few years ago).Although, it is still a pain to get through the city before you get to Wakad where you actually hit the Express lane, the ride after this is very much seamless. Right until the point when you reach Panvel on the outskirts of Mumbai. The road is indeed very well constructed. There are huge signboards all along the route, advising drivers on how to ride the expressway. There are also huge advertising boards, marketing everything from real-estate to Banking services. There're also food jaunts along the exits and although there's variety of food on offer, it's a bit of a rip-off. Of course, the expressway does not offer you the romance that the old Mumbai-Pune highway has in store. Although this road too is now very well maintained, it wasn't an easy ride when there was no expressway. I remember riding the old highway as a kid to Lonavala during the monsoons. Vehicles literally had to grind their way up the gradients, snaking along the curves.
I personally prefer taking the train since it's faster (and more economical too :D). More importantly, I enjoy this ride and have been a regular at it now every time I travel back home to Mumbai on weekends.And I have some good old Bollywood music for company. Rhythm and Rail. The perfect combination!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, December 10, 2007
This is where I went to School
http://stfrancis100yrs.com/
This is my dear School completing a hundred years in 2008.
A great institution that it is, it was really refreshing to see the updates on the Website.
Check out the Photographs section. Simply awesome!
P.S. Too overwhelming to give any details...the photgraphs themselves are too exhaustive.
This is my dear School completing a hundred years in 2008.
A great institution that it is, it was really refreshing to see the updates on the Website.
Check out the Photographs section. Simply awesome!
P.S. Too overwhelming to give any details...the photgraphs themselves are too exhaustive.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Good goes around
Friday evening...the end of one more busy week...i was ready to pack my bags and head back to my room and unwind for the weekend. Just then, my team supervisor comes up and asks me if I'd like to volunteer for a Hurricane relief telethon. Well...I'm always up for such kinda stuff, but friday evening didnt seem a really good time to be doing that. It just happened that the office that we're doing our project at had volunteered with their customer service centre and their employees to take pledges from people on behalf of the American red cross for the Hurricane relief fund.
Well...So...I told her that I'd try to make it at 7...and went back to my hotel, put on some music and kicked back with a cool drink. Just when I thought that I'd managed to give the whole thing a slip...behold...the phone rings and yup....it's my Team manager asking me what time would I be walking in cause she was waiting for me at the designated building. Now...me being someone who's never learned all my life, how to say NO to people, dragged myself al the way back to office for the event.
Surprise...surprise! There was a whole lot of people who were in there that friday evening. The atmosphere looked really lively. After our quick briefing session with some really nice Volunteers, our group walked in and we took our designated seats. We put our headsets On and they were playing the live Concert on TV. And then..people started calling in...with their pledges...all for a good cause. First, it brought back memories of 3 years ago when I worked as a tech support associate back in India. But after I while it all evened out. The whole thing really turned out to be a realy fulfilling experience. And the whole group of enthusiastic people really lifted my spirits up that evening. And it got better when the volunteers told us that in the first hour of the concert, volunteers like us , all over the US had managed to get pledges worth 2million $, all going in to the victims of the hurricane. Kudos!
Of course, something that I wasn't really enthusiastic about initially, turned out to be a great experience eventually. On a lighter but sad note, I even had a guy who hung up on me just cause he though he could speak to Sir Paul McCartney just cause he wanted to pledge 5000$. Loser!
And that's what I call....an evening spent well !
Well...So...I told her that I'd try to make it at 7...and went back to my hotel, put on some music and kicked back with a cool drink. Just when I thought that I'd managed to give the whole thing a slip...behold...the phone rings and yup....it's my Team manager asking me what time would I be walking in cause she was waiting for me at the designated building. Now...me being someone who's never learned all my life, how to say NO to people, dragged myself al the way back to office for the event.
Surprise...surprise! There was a whole lot of people who were in there that friday evening. The atmosphere looked really lively. After our quick briefing session with some really nice Volunteers, our group walked in and we took our designated seats. We put our headsets On and they were playing the live Concert on TV. And then..people started calling in...with their pledges...all for a good cause. First, it brought back memories of 3 years ago when I worked as a tech support associate back in India. But after I while it all evened out. The whole thing really turned out to be a realy fulfilling experience. And the whole group of enthusiastic people really lifted my spirits up that evening. And it got better when the volunteers told us that in the first hour of the concert, volunteers like us , all over the US had managed to get pledges worth 2million $, all going in to the victims of the hurricane. Kudos!
Of course, something that I wasn't really enthusiastic about initially, turned out to be a great experience eventually. On a lighter but sad note, I even had a guy who hung up on me just cause he though he could speak to Sir Paul McCartney just cause he wanted to pledge 5000$. Loser!
And that's what I call....an evening spent well !
Friday, July 08, 2005
Smelly Story I wish hadn't happened to me
Late Wednesday evening. I was getting back home after a busy day. Got into a train at Andheri at around 10.45 pm and was pleasently surprised when I managed to get a third seat (Indeed a luxury even at that time of the evening). I thanked my stars....yeah things seemed to be going unusually well at the end of a tiring day. I didn't pay much notice to the others sitting around. The guy next to the window was fast asleep. I decided to catch a few winks too before I got off.
And then.....the seat beneath my hind shook.....or rather vibrated. Every bone in my body rattled.And before I could organize myself, a gaseous stench overtook me (and i'm sure everyone else around). For a moment I felt like I was in the initial stages of a long drawn chemical warfare conspiracy against mumbaikars in their trains. Yes, the (poisonous) stench hung around for that long!
Finally, disgusted at what had just happened around me, I promptly gave up my seat and rushed towards the door for a whiff of some fresh, polluted Mumbai air. Fortunately, soon after, Hardy called and the conversation with him helped me get over that sickening, gross feeling I had just experienced!;)
And then.....the seat beneath my hind shook.....or rather vibrated. Every bone in my body rattled.And before I could organize myself, a gaseous stench overtook me (and i'm sure everyone else around). For a moment I felt like I was in the initial stages of a long drawn chemical warfare conspiracy against mumbaikars in their trains. Yes, the (poisonous) stench hung around for that long!
Finally, disgusted at what had just happened around me, I promptly gave up my seat and rushed towards the door for a whiff of some fresh, polluted Mumbai air. Fortunately, soon after, Hardy called and the conversation with him helped me get over that sickening, gross feeling I had just experienced!;)
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