My Mini-Vacation is Over :(

Pizza slices and lamb stew at Pali Village Cafe...

Baked Philly cheesecake, chocolate "sin" cake and white chocolate latte at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf...

Bacon, ham, salami pizza and cheesy pasta with chicken & mushrooms at Pizzaria...

Baked Philly cheesecake and mango cheesecake from Moshe's...

Soba noodles with bacon & orange zest in a creamy sauce, pan seared chicken with porcini, caramelized onion sauce & roasted potatoes and Baked Philly cheesecake at Salt Water Cafe...

A box of yummilicious chocolate eclairs and brownie cheesecakes from Sante brought by a wonderful friend...

Two foodies, dessert lovers, shopaholics and BFF enjoying a weekend off together...

The Knife trying his best to make a disgusted face...

And my chubby face and chubby arms having made it to a celebrity food blogger's blog (isn't that just delightful!)

I had the most fun mini-vacation! More on it coming up soon...

What you did over the weekend?

Saffron is the New Color of Terror

There are disturbing articles in the papers. Articles about how multiplexes in Mumbai have refused to screen 'My Name Is Khan' despite assurances from Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan that they’ll be given full security. But more disturbing are articles about how in order to be successful in Mumbai, every industrialist/ Bollywood personality needs to pay obeisance to Bal Thackerey, the self-proclaimed protector of Mumbai. This had me enraged.

Earlier, I was angry at the fact that the Maharashtra government didn’t take any action against the Shiv Sena when their goons were beating up North Indians a couple of weeks ago! Mantralaya was silent as a lamb. But when it came to protecting the interests of the powerful, moneyed people of Bollywood, the State Government suddenly woke up & started arresting Shiv Sainiks! How pathetic is that?

The decision of multiplex owners not to screen MNIK for fear of Shiv Sena, despite assurances of safety from the State Government, is a damning commentary on the state of our government & our democracy. It goes to show how impotent the Maharashtra government is considered to be. And I am not surprised - Vilasrao Deshmukh was nowhere to be seen or heard during 26/11. The one man who should’ve been at the helm of affairs was conspicuously absent. There have been repeated episodes of the Shiv Sena & MNS terrorizing & beating up non-Maharashtrians in Mumbai, rioting and destroying public property while the government has watched silently. No wonder they brazenly continue with their hooliganism, with complete disregard for law & order.

I want to know why the Thackereys - all three of them - are not behind bars. Every individual has the right to protest in a democracy but aren’t rioting, spreading communal violence & destroying public property, criminal offences?

I am ashamed to be a citizen of a country where goons hold the society to ransom, abuse & beat people up while the government, rather than bringing them to book, issues meek statements such as “this is not in the interest of the state”. Or empty warnings about withdrawing Udhav Thackerey’s Z-plus security while Udhav gives them the finger saying he doesn’t need state cover in the first place!

The Shiv Sena won’t let Australians play in Mumbai because of the attacks on Indians in Australia. But they are attacking Indians in India! Someone needs to tell them that North Indians are Indians too. Just as much as Maharashtrians are. Maybe those uneducated law-breakers don't know that the borders of India extend well north of Maharashtra.

For me, anyone who spreads terror through violence of any kind is a terrorist. They need not have a beard, be waving a green flag, or reciting phrases from the Quran.

I am with Bombay

It’s 1 year since the carnage today, and the entire country is getting into a state about it though not in the way that we should be. We’re organizing & attending candle vigils, walks, memorial services, tributes etc. The media has been doing documentary dramas, special features & panel discussions. But strangely, no one seems to be asking the questions that matter the most and demanding answers to them, given that an entire year has passed since 26/11/2008.

What has our government done to bolster our security in the past 1 year? Can we rest assured that such attacks will not take place in India again in the future?

For all the America-bashing that we, and the world, loves to do, LOOK AT THEM. There hasn’t been a single attack on America since 9/11/2001. They too were caught unaware when planes rammed into the twin towers, but they immediately got their act together. I am by no means justifying Afghanistan or Iraq. Or the racial & ethnic profiling that may have happened as a by-product of enhanced security at airports & other strategic points. But the bottom line is that America sent out a clear message to the world that it can’t be messed with, and no one has dared to do so since then.

So what WE need is not to carpet bomb Pakistan. But we need not be “talking” to them either. The Pakistani government, as of now, is clearly incapable of preventing terrorist attacks on its own soil. How can it be expected to help prevent attacks on us? You can’t expect help from a government that washes off its hand from its citizens killing people in another country by saying they were “non-state actors”, in the first place!!

In such a situation, we need to secure our own borders. We need to seek out the terrorists who are already within our borders, operating from our soil, planning attacks on us. We need to find them and bring them to book, rather than waiting for America to chance upon a David Headley.

Why is Kasab still in jail? He’s obviously thriving there, demanding biryanis!! And I read this morning in the papers that it’s taken the government Rs 31 crores to keep him alive till now!! 31 fucking crores of the tax payer’s money. The same tax payers who lost their family & friends at the hands of Kasab & his gang members are paying for Kasab’s security. Well, about time we stoped funding his security, don’t you think? And his biryanis too!!

My thoughts & prayers are with Bombay, the people who call it home (and those who have made it home), the people who demonstrated bravery in the face of terror, and those who lost their lives to a handful of deranged, misguided men. Today, and always, I am with Bombay.

Beloved Bandra

I think I am going to be sick. I was browsing this site for houses on rent in Bandra (W), my erstwhile home. The rent that landlords are asking for is ridiculously insane!

It started from Rs 20,000 & went up to Rs 60,000 (I’m not kidding!!) for a 1 Bedroom Hall Kitchen apartment of 300-600 sq ft!!!!!

I mean, is that even real?? Are there people out there who are willing to sign up for such insanity??

Apparently, there are, else landlords wouldn’t be making such insane demands in the first place. And I thought recession had driven real estate prices in Bombay down?

What price does a person really have to pay in Bombay to be able to live in a place of his/her choice?

Will I ever be able to go back & live in my beloved Bandra again? :(

Missing Bandra

I have been in love with Bandra since I moved to Bombay. For 4 of my 5 years in Bombay, I lived in Bandra. I lived in Dadar for a year in between and I hated every minute of it.

That was more out of compulsion as my Bandra apartment was being brought down by builders to make way for a spanking new apartment, and after months of uncertainty, we were finally given 15 days notice to move out. In such a short span of time, I couldn’t find a house I liked enough in Bandra and which was within my budget.

The only two things that I liked about Dadar were my house, which was on the 7th floor of the building with no tall buildings around and had gargantuan windows that would let plenty of air & sunlight in. I am a complete ventilation person. I can’t live in a house that is not well-ventilated or does not get plenty of sunlight. The other thing I liked about Dadar was it’s convenient location. It took much less time to get from Dadar to town – my favorite weekend hangout apart from Bandra – than it did from Bandra.

My Dadar house was very close to the Dadar train station but ironically, I never took the train to work! Not even once. God, I hated Dadar station!!

My first house in Bandra was near Almeida Park, in one of the lanes between Globus and Turner Road. That was a dream location! Not very congested, a hop away from Hill Road and Linking Road, walking distance to Bandstand, Globus, Suburbia, Gaiety-Galaxy & the Bandra Crossword!!

We loved that house, my roommate & I. The building looked like it would crumble anytime but we had a pretty little 2-bedroom house inside, complete with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. The living room had been extended to include the balcony, and we had a row of tiny lights right above the seating area that gave a mellow glow to our living room.

The only flip side of this house was that our landlord insisted on getting 3 months’ rent at one go. That is A LOT of money if you live in Bandra. Unlike good financial planners, my roommate & I never saved up the rent from our monthly salaries, so we would end up terribly broke the month we had to pay our rent! We would get depressed handing over a bundle of our hard-earned money to our greedy landlord (who had a plush sea view apartment near Mount Mary, owned six apartments in Bombay and therefore, didn’t have to work for a living), curse him to our hearts’ content and go eat brownies at Bandstand!

My second Bandra house was at Reclamation, behind Lilavati Hospital. It was above Barista and very close to Candies as well as Cottons, one of my favorite stores. It was a small, cute, cozy house, perfect for two people. We could hop down to the Barista anytime (as long as it was open, of course) and a trip to Candies was a must ever weekend.

I miss Bandra terribly – for the thriving cosmopolitan suburb that it is, for its people, for the things it has to offer its residents ranging from the sea (Bandstand, Carter Road) to great restaurants to theaters to plays to shopping to coffee shops by the sea!

I’ll go back to Bombay only if I can afford to live in Bandra once again – because honestly speaking, other place is worth it.

A Noble Initiative & On To Other Things...

Finally, India Inc. has come together to the aid of terror martyrs' families. One knows that any kind of financial compensation cannot make up for the loss of a loved one, but the harsh reality is that we need money to survive.

Some of Mumbai’s young industrialists have set up a fund of Rs 2 Crores for the families of the security personnel who died in combat. The families of 14 policemen, NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan & Marine Commando Gajendra Singh will get Rs 25,000 per month for the next 5 years. They are also evaluating the option of giving out Rs 10,000-15,000 per month for a longer duration, as opposed to Rs 25,000 per month for 5 years. This aid, in my opinion, is much better than the measly one-time compensation the government gives to the families of the deceased, as it is drawn out over a period of time, and the amount is substantial.

Most of these industrialists have refused to divulge their identities, which is so refreshing to hear. I was touched by what one of them had to say on the issue: “This is only a gesture to try and give something back to those who laid down their lives for this city, this country. This is a salute to our security agencies and reassure them that if, God forbid, anything happens to them while they are performing their duty, the people of this country will look after their families."

In a separate initiative, Mr Ratan Tata is setting up a new trust solely to help the victims of the terror attack under the flagship of the Indian Hotels Company, the company that owns the Taj. This financial aid will not be restricted to the families of staff & guests who got injured or lost their lives inside the Taj but will be available to anyone affected by the attacks, be it at CST, Leopold, Cama Hospital or Trident Hotel. Such is the character of Mr Ratan Tata. The man makes us respect him all over again - again & again.

Rebuilding the Taj is being estimated to cost him Rs 500 Crore but he’s not being stingy about helping the victims of the attack. Would like to see a similar initiative coming out of the Oberoi-Trident, if not for everyone who got injured/lost their lives during the attack but at least for their staff & guests who were victims. Also waiting to see if the Ambani brothers come up with any such initiative. In my mind, they definitely should. But I haven’t heard any noise from that quarter.

I’ve decided that this is going to be my last post on the attack. Unless I have something very significant to say. I need to bury this issue now, with all my respect to those who lost their lives – guests & staff of the two hotels, residents of Nariman House, people who lost their lives at CST, Cama Hospital & Leopold – and prayers for their families. Just because I’m putting this issue to rest does not mean I’m going to forget it. Not anytime soon. Probably not ever. Even though the terror attack did not affect me directly, it did strike a city very close to my heart. But the gloom has lingered for quite a while now, and I just realized it’s only 15 days to Christmas – the time of the year I wait for all year (apart from my birthday, ofcourse :)

So I need some HAPPY & CHEER. It’s time for Christmas, everyone!!!

Arms & The Media

The media has been criticized for telecasting live the operations at the Taj, Oberoi & Nariman House. Barkha Dutt has responded by writing an extensive piece defending the role of media & applauding them on the way they gallantly covered the attack, the threat to their lives notwithstanding.

In addition, Rajdeep Sardesai has been quoted as saying, “I wouldn’t buy the logic that television coverage compromised security and the rescue operations. Everybody wanted to know how the events were unfolding. It was extremely tense. And, the security forces were dealing with fidayeens. They (fidayeens) wouldn’t time their actions by watching television. That’s a ridiculous thing to even suggest.”

While I do give credit to the media for reporting from the site of the siege with death staring them in the face, I think they should have acted more responsibly given what was going on. I agree terrorists would not have been watching television while inside the hotels, but anyone with even half a brain would know that people from their organization would have been following the news & would most probably be relaying it to the terrorists. As has now been proved, the terrorists were each carrying a cell phone & were in constant touch with both their Lashkar commanders in Pakistan & in India. And I am pretty sure they were constantly being updated on NSG’s moves!!

Had the media exercised some restraint, maybe - just maybe - the operation might have gotten over sooner & a few more lives would have been spared. After all, knowledge of the positions & plans of the NSG with the terrorists would definitely have put the NSG at a disadvantage, maybe even have cost them a few lives.

Rajdeep Sardesai’s reasoning above is demented at best. And Barkha Dutt’s piece is clearly an attempt to save her butt. Sample this : “In the 72 hours that we stood on reporting duty, not once were we asked to move further away. We often delayed live telecasting of images that we thought were sensitive so as to not compromise the ongoing operation. Not once, were we asked by anyone in authority, to switch our cameras off, or withhold images. When we did so, it was entirely our own assessment that perhaps it was safest to do so. Across the world, and as happened in the US after 9/11, there are daily, centralized briefings by officials to avoid any inadvertent confusion that media coverage may throw up. Not so in Mumbai. There was no central point of contact or information for journalists who were often left to their own devices to hunt down news that they felt had to be conveyed to their country. No do's and don'ts were provided by officials. While we understand that this situation was new for everyone involved, and so the government could not have been expected to have a full plan for media coverage, surely the same latitude should be shown to us?”

She further goes on to say, “Should there be an emergency code of dos and donts for the coverage of such crises? We in the media would welcome a framework for sensitive events and are happy to contribute to its construction. But it is important to understand that in the absence of any instructions on site and in the absence of any such framework we broke NO rules.”

I think her entire argument of “we broke NO rules because there were none” is simply an attempt to prevent any legal action against the media from any quarter. Our system isn’t even equipped to handle terror (after all, our police went to counter the terrorists who were armed with AK-47s & grenades with lathis!!) How can the government be expected to have a list of do’s & don’t’s for the media, and expected to brief the media on what they should & shouldn’t do on an everyday basis, given what was going on inside the hotels & Nariman House??

Secondly, guidelines or no guidelines, there is something called ‘morality’, ‘ethics’, ‘conscience’. Self-censorship is something which the media MUST exercise in situations like this, and especially when national security is at stake.

Barkha Dutt’s argument about delaying live telecasting of images is feeble as well. Very few will argue that a terrorist who has details of the offensive the forces are planning against him, the direction they are coming from etc., though delayed, is much better equipped to battle the forces than one who has no information whatsoever on the strategy of the forces or the direction of their approach!!

Halfway through the live telecast, the journalists also started saying things like "without giving away too much detail, we will tell you that…". But did they have to give away any detail at all to the terrorists?? Updates on the situation would have been enough. There was no need for the entire country to watch live what was going on at the Taj. I mean, we were in no way involved with the operations. There was no reason we needed to watch it live!

Talking of updates, the ticker at the bottom of the screen was often misleading. One instant, it would say ‘Operation over at the Taj. The other instant it would read, “2 terrorists still inside the Taj’. Or ‘No more hostages left inside the Taj’, followed by ’15 hostages still trapped inside Taj’. How ridiculous!!

The journalists, in the face of criticism, are going around saying “We showed live coverage because people wanted to know! The country wanted to know! The country has a right to know! You cannot deny them right to information!” etc. etc. To my mind, this is all crap. We are only too familiar with how journalists abuse the rights they enjoy in a democratic country. They use their ‘PRESS’ pass to gain access to anything & everything, where as the truth is they will go to any extent, break any barrier, just so they can grab more eyeballs & jack up their TRP ratings.

There is something called self-censorship which the media completely lacks today. Their favorite pastime is to invoke the ‘Freedom of the Press’ clause, which they are doing in this situation as well. But nothing – absolutely nothing – is more important than national security. I sincerely hope the courts in India understand & appreciate this, and issue a writ designating the IB Ministry to formulate a Code of Conduct for the media that they must abide by at all times.

Some more random (or not so random) thoughts

Simi Garewal needs to be yanked out of her Breach Candy illusion & plunged into reality. How can the woman make such blatantly ignorant & inflammable statements on national television, such as there being Pakistani flags everywhere in slums across Bombay & the idea of carpet-bombing Pakistan, at a time when the country is already on tenterhooks?

The Pakistani flags she referred to are religious flags of Muslims, and carpet-bombing an entire nation certainly isn’t the optimal solution a democracy should seek. I hope, on hindsight, she understands the gravity & enormity of what she callously uttered on ‘We the People’ on NDTV.

*****

I think politicians not only in India but even in Pakistan have lost it after the Mumbai attacks. Everyone’s running around making nonsensical statements. Take the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, for example. First he says that even if the terror attack was carried out by Pakistan-based terror organizations, they are non-state actors so the Government can't do much about it.

How can one make a statement like that?

Even if they are non-state actors, it is Pakistan’s responsibility to get rid of them for the simple reason that they are thriving on Pakistani soil. Other countries certainly can’t go rushing into Pakistan bombing them, can they? The crackdown has to come from the Pakistani government.

Then he insists he got a call from the Foreign Minister of India threatening military action again Pakistan. Jesus! Hasn’t he been in politics long enough to know that any call from a Government Official/Minister of one country to another follows a protocol, which includes activating the foreign affairs ministry & embassies of both countries? The Minister of a country does not randomly pick up his cell phone & dial the number of a Minister of another country! Definitely not to make calls to threaten military action against the other country for whatever reason! And this joker not only believes the call was genuine, he even mobilized his country’s militia to respond if an attack happens!! Isn’t that worrying?

Really…who makes such jokers the Prime Minister??!!!

*****

SRK was on NDTV saying that the scariest aspect of the terror strike was that the terrorists came through the sea & could simply disembark & enter Mumbai. Come to think of it, that is actually scary. Who would’ve thought they could come by boats into Bombay! SRK too lives by the sea, and the terrorists could very well have disembarked at Bandstand instead of Badhwar Park and bombed the daylights out of ‘Mannat’. That would’ve been a big enough story too! He’s lucky they had other plans!

*****

I can’t believe there was a debate going on between political parties in Maharashtra on whether a Dalit or a Maratha should become the next CM of the state. These @^%&*$# politicians can’t think beyond caste & ethnicity even in times of a national crisis!! Why don't terrorists annihilate them I wonder. Maybe because they too know no one will give a rat's ass in India if politicians die.

*****

Raj Thackerey finally emerged from his hideout to thank the security personnel who rescued Mumbai. I don’t even want to waste words on that man. But I read a funny poster held by one of the silent protestors at the Gateway of India which said “Missing : Raj Thackerey. Find him and win 5 Vada Paos!!” It’s befitting to him.

*****

In all the rage that engulfs us, we also need to be calm & rational. I see a lot of dangerous sentiments flying around. People are criticizing an entire community for the act of a handful of fanatics, and that is just so dangerous for our country. Communal violence within India is what the terrorists want; we can’t give it to them. People need to be careful of what they say. Everyone’s calling it Islamic terrorism. That’s the same as calling the demolition of the Babri Masjid Hindu Terrorism. How true is that? How many Hindus sympathized with & supported the demolition of the Babri Masjid? That was the action of a handful of Hindu fanatics, just like terrorism is today.

I Want

• I want accountability. I want the Government to stand up and take responsibility for what happened, and stop playing the blame game.
• I want the Government to take concrete steps to prevent such attacks from happening again on Indian soil. I want to see tangible results – such as uprooting of all terrorist training camps from Pakistan & all terrorists wanted by India being brought to book – and I want timelines for these.
• I want the Z-Class security cover of politicians to be taken away immediately.
• I want the army to take over the country until the entire system is cleaned up. Like what happened in Punjab. Yes I know we’re a democracy but desperate times call for desperate measures.
• I want Raj, Uddhav & Bal Thackerey put behind bars for good on a non-bailable warrant for playing divisive politics among the people of India.
• I don’t want my countrymen to die cheaply, in bomb blasts or floods or terror attacks.
• I want the Indian Government to stop all peace talks with Pakistan with immediate effect, until the Pakistan Government cooperates fully with India on the fight against terrorism – with tangible results.
• I want more patrolling of our borders, land and sea.
• I want tighter security measures at airports, railway stations, malls & theaters, and I want Indians to stop cribbing about standing in queues, getting their bags checked & getting frisked. We will have to give up some liberties to be safe, and that’s a choice we have to make.
• I want apparatus like CCTV & metal detectors that actually work at these places.
• I want the defense forces, the NSG & the police to be better equipped & better paid. I want our money – the taxpayer’s money – to go into bolstering these organizations & not to provide Z-Class security to useless rubbish piece of s*** politicians. The defense forces deserve much more than they have, and India deserves much better.
• I want to hear no talk, absolutely none, of the “spirit of Mumbai”. The Spirit is dead, gone. It is now time for you loathsome politicians to swing into action, to payback the people of India for all the facilities they provide to you.
• Let us not think that a change in Government will bring about an end to this mayhem. It is just the bad luck of the Congress party that it happens to be at the Center right now. The other governments have equally tarnished records with communal riots etc. to their name, and things would have been no different had another party been in power. The only way things will be different is if there are concrete steps taken to end terrorism against India.
• Let us be united in this hour of tragedy. Let us not think about who is a Mumbaikar and who is not. Who is a North Indian, who is a South Indian & who is a Maratha. Who is Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Parsi. This is an attack on India and not on Mumbai. It is a coincidence that Mumbai happens to be the financial capital of India & a city visited by many foreign tourists. The same thing could very well have happened in Delhi or Bangalore or Kolkata. Let us understand that we have been done in as a nation, and let us stand together with Mumbai.
• I want us not to go back to our daily lives pretending as if nothing happened. I want us to remember those 3 days of terror for a long long time. I want us to grieve for the people, both victims and security personnel who lost their lives. I want us to remember that our politicians have let us down like never before. I want us to remember and even respect the grit & determination of the terrorists, who were so convinced of their mission & so completely focused on their goal, however heinous it was, that they held hundreds of security personnel at bay for 3 whole days. Let us respect that, because if we don’t we will not be able to sustain our rage against the Government that has failed us. We will stop pressing for accountability from the Government. We will stop asking questions. We will stop demanding better homeland security. This furore will subside just as fast as it rose, and we will go back to being the lax, vulnerable people that we are.

Letter To Prime Minister

I got this forwarded letter in my mailbox from a Mumbai resident whose name I have withheld as I don't know if such a person exists, and if they do, I don't want them to be inundated with unwanted letters/mails/calls. The letter certainly drives a couple of points home...

Dear Mr. Prime Minister

I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has a capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mice. Mice at least squeak but we don't even do that.
Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years have passed since the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on the unfortunate people of India.

Enough is enough. After seeing the terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if the same thing continues, the day is not away when terrorists will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima.

We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikars a Shanghai; what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.

Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to the Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it?

I have been born and bought up in Mumbai for the last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all the politicians..Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray , Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh are all rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief Ministers I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight the next election. Now the clown has found a new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete houses right on the sea shore. Next time terrorists can comfortably live in those houses, enjoy the beauty of the sea and then attack Mumbai at their will.

Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligence agencies & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it. Where does all the black money go? To the underworld isn't it? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was a victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything.

If this had been a land of fools, idiots, then I would not have ever cared to write this letter. Just see the tragedy..on one hand we are reaching the moon, people are so intelligent. And on the other side you politicians have converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything.. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste. Only what I am not is INDIAN. You politicians have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule.

Take the example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such an intelligent person, such a fine human being. You politicians didn't even spare him. Your party, along with opposition, joined hands, because politicians feels they are supreme and there is no place for good people.

Dear Mr Prime Minister you are one of the most intelligent people, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost expose all selfish politicians. Ask Swiss banks to give names of all Indian account holders. Give reins of the CBI to an independent agency. Let them find the wolves among us. There will be political upheaval but that will be better than the dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us an ambience where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of.

Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be led by one person or do you want to lead a nation of 100 Crore people?

The Abyss

I can't f****** believe these f****** politicians we have!

R R Patil is at it again with another insensitive, almost barbaric remark : "Woh 5000 maarne aaye the, humne 200 mein nipta liya".

Another one, Mukhtar Naqvi, BJP Vice President saying, "Lipstick powder lagane wali mahilaayen terrorism ke baare mein kya janengi jo woh politicians ko gaali de rahi hain", about women who turned up at Marine Drive for the candle-light vigil & were protesting against the politicians.

Vilasrao Deshmukh is defending his decision to take RGV along on an official tour of the Taj by saying that RGV is no terrorist or militant, and lots of people went to see the site of tragedy, and so did he. But Mr Deshmukh, "lots of people" did not go inside the Taj on a guided tour. Why should RGV?? Who the hell is he?? Is he a concerned official? No! A security personnel? No! An intelligence official? Definitely not. The media?? Or was there some circus or belly-dancing show happening inside the Taj??

Why the f*** should we not curse the good-for-nothing politicians? What are they doing for us? Their Z-Class security, which I learnt today consists of 100 NSG Commandoes per politician (can you believe that??) is paid for by us, the tax payers of this country. It is your f****** job to ensure our security, and if you can't do that, why should we pay for yours?

To say that my blood is boiling is an understatement.

The only shame is to have none

Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, went on an official tour of the Taj along with Ram Gopal Varma & Ritesh Deshmukh. Deputy Chief Minister said on national television that “In a big city, small incidents like this keep happening. One should not call it a failure of intelligence.” Obviously he thinks his job description is limited to moral policing of dance bars in Mumbai. Shivraj Patil was quoted as saying, “Thankfully, the terrorists did not kill too many foreigners.” Obviously, the death of 160 Indians (apart from the 22 tourists) was not enough to make his blood curdle. His insensitivity was evident even after the Delhi blasts in September, when he needed to go home & change his outfit before he could mobilize the armed forces because he is used to changing his outfits 4 times a day!!! Thank God he’s gone! L K Advani couldn’t attend the all-party meet called by Manmohan Singh on Saturday because he was busy campaigning for the elections in Rajasthan & it wouldn’t have been possible for him to leave midway, national security be damned!!

Let’s face it…we are being governed by a bunch of selfish idiots who are concerned only about their vote banks. They do not care for the lives of Indians as long as they have power.

On the other hand, IB & RAW claim to have issued repeated advisories to the Navy, warning them of the Indian seas being infiltrated by terrorists, the latest coming on Nov 18th stating that “a ship full of dangerous cargo has left Karachi & may be headed towards Gujarat”. Check this out as per NDTV’s reports :

“In March 2008, intelligence agencies had warned the Maharashtra government that the Gateway of India and Oberoi Trident hotel were potential targets. Sources said that it was revealed by Fahim Ansari who was arrested in Lucknow.

Later in August, intelligence agencies warned the crime branch that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was training 500 to 600 terrorists for attacks through sea. Agencies said that the terrorists would be disguised as fishermen. They also mentioned that two West Asians recced Goa and Mumbai for two whole months.

On August 21, the Fishermen Union complained to police that illegal permissions were issued to 800 Gujarati trawlers. Majority of the crewmen were Bangladeshis. The Union feared that RDX was being trafficked through those trawlers.

Then in September, the Maharashtra state police was again warned of potential attacks on the Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels. Agencies also mentioned that terrorists were doing recces of the targets. Following that, a month later, intelligence agencies warned of a sea-borne attack and said an Indian, unmarked vessel might be used.

Finally, on November 18, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) again issued a warning to the Coast Guard, Navy and Maharashtra Police that the Taj and Oberoi were potential targets.Naval intercepts revealed "chatter" on the sea and RAW said that the attack was being planned by the Lashkar-e-Toiba's naval wing”

Why were these warnings repeatedly ignored by the Government of Maharashtra & by India’s usually efficient and well-regarded Navy? The attacks cannot be called “unfortunate” or an intelligence failure. There was sufficient intelligence about it, alright. These attacks were a direct result of the Government’s negligence, callousness & apathy towards the plight of citizens in the face of terror. This Government should be charged for large-scale manslaughter & those accountable should be penalized as per the Constitution of India. Nothing less should suffice.

PS: By the way, I want to know where Raj Thackrey is now? Probably cowering inside his house somewhere. Whatever happened to his zeal to protect the interests of his "marathi manoos"? I am sure he has no answers...because he can only wreak havoc when he's dealing with a powerless enemy, like the North Indians in Mumbai...because most of the men from NSG who stepped up bravely to rescue the hostages in "his" Mumbai were non-Marathis. Imagine if they had refused to do so. I shudder to think of what would have happened in Bombay.

A Wednesday

Trust Bollywood to take an original, innovative script and ruin it (well, almost) with over-dramatization & overacting. ‘A Wednesday’ is a case in point.

It’s a story of a common man, a Mumbaikar in this case, who has had enough of being the victim of bomb blasts in different parts of the country and wants retribution….because he thinks it’s unfair that it’s the common man who becomes the sacrificial lamb in the war between religions. He is sick of living his life in fear & uncertainty. He thinks there is no reason why he should be worried about the safety of his family members when they step out of home. He should not feel afraid to travel by bus or train in his own country. He is appalled that the government we elect to take care of us is powerless in front of terrorists & only reacts to gruesome acts of terrorism such as bomb blasts by condemning the blasts, sending out condolence messages & praising the famed “spirit” of the people. He bemoans the fact that the pulverized police force gets down on bended knees when it comes to implementing an effective counter-terror policy. He is saddened even more by the fact that the common man has become “used to” terrorist attacks & the loss of lives they entail, and “adjusts” to them & to the apathy of the government. And he thinks it’s about time that the common man shakes himself out of his slumber & gives it back to the terrorists as good as he got. How he goes about doing this is the material of this story.

The story is unique because we haven’t seen anything like this in Indian cinema before, and it is only befitting that the director got Naseeruddin Shah to play the protagonist. Needless to say, Naseeruddin Shah has done a marvelous job of playing a man who packs sandwiches & a flask of tea, buys vegetables for his home, tells his wife he will be home soon & that even if he gets irritated with her for calling him every couple of hours to check whether he has had his lunch & to ask him to run errands, he has the entire city of nameless, faceless people to vent his frustration on, and gets down to the business of sending the police force of Mumbai on a wild bomb chase, with precision. His monologue in the climax is spine-chilling! Absolute knock-out!!

The other pivotal actors including Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill & Aamir Bashir too have done a good job.

The things I liked about the movie were:

• It's less than 2 hours including the intermission
• It does not lose it's edginess or pace at any point, thanks to the short length
• The performances, especially the face-off between Naseeruddin Shah & Anupam Kher
• The fact that there were no songs in the movie, not even an "item" song!!
• The story was completely original & had no similarities to any movie we've seen before, except a couple of take-offs from Die Hard 4.0 here & there
• That it was shot completely in Mumbai
• It highlights the role that the media CAN play when there is a terror threat in the city, rather than creating unnecessary panic among people
• The fact that the protagonists's name is never revealed to prevent any allusions to religion, and to emphasize the fact that he is an Indian first & a Hindu or a Muslim later

The movie makes jibes at every organization right from the media to the police to the government. It does not even spare the common people for having become accepting of terror attacks as a way of life.

What I didn't like about the movie were the lame title (A Wednesday?) - though there was some justification for it, it wasn't convincing enough, the background score which was too loud & jarring at places, and the overdramatization which made it look like a typical Bollywood movie.

Overall, the movie is a slick, racy thriller with a reasonably high IQ. The script was so strong that it had the potential of becoming an understatedly impactful thriller along the lines of Hollywood thrillers. The Bollywoodization not withstanding, 'A Wednesday' is definitely worth a watch.

This is it!

The movers & packers came home this morning to take my stuff to Calcutta. All I have with me now is just enough clothes to see me through two weeks at home.

Never thought that after having lived in Bombay for so long, it would just be a matter of three days before I leave. It’s heart-wrenching. I love this city so much I don’t know how I’ll manage to stay away. I’ll go through major withdrawal for sure. I’ll always be a Bombay girl.

Life is very funny indeed. I never thought I would be moving to Calcutta. I liked the city on my various visits there – I always felt that Calcutta had the heart of a small town in spite of being a metro. I loved the laidback lifestyle, loved the fact that Calcuttans value things in life other than money. But I never thought I’d end up living there!

Well, life has its ways of getting you around to doing things you never thought you would so, and therefore the saying “Never say never”.

So yeah…this is it! Three more days in Bombay and then it won’t be home anymore. Even though I know my way around, I’ll still be a visitor to the city. But then again, I took a conscious informed decision to move out, so can’t really complain. I’d like to end this post with the opening lyrics of Vince Gill's 'The strings that tie you down'...

You're so close to telling me your leaving
Packing up your things and leaving town
If you can walk away the rest is easy
Once you cut the strings that tie you down

The quintessential Bandra girl

I'm often made fun of by my colleagues because I live in Bandra, the "hep & happening" suburb of Mumbai, as they call it. If you live in Mumbai, you'll know that conversations with strangers begin with "So where do you live?" The part of Mumbai you live in becomes your identity. So whenever someone I'm meeting for the first time asks me this question & I say "Bandra", I invariably get the "Oh, you live in BANDRA" reaction, and I am automatically a brat with no sense of value for money!

Honestly, I don't understand what's the fuss about living in Bandra or what's so extraordinary about it. It's a place I like & therefore, I live here. It's thriving, it's lively even in the middle of the night (and I don't mean only clubs/pubs, which I don't visit that frequently anymore), people who live here are chilled out, and it's self-sufficient...it's got great restraurants serving a diverse range of cuisines, theaters (posh ones such as Globus & Suburbia as well as more mass theaters such as Gaiety-Galaxy or G-7, as Bandraites lovingly call it), both branded as well as street shopping, coffee shops, the sea (Bandstand). There's no reason not to live here if you can afford it.

Ofcourse, had I not been able to afford it, I wouldn't be living here. And ofcourse, I pay a price for living here! Rent is much steeper in Bandra than in other suburbs. I can get a similar house for three-fourths or even half the rent I pay in Bandra (depending on how far North I'm willing to go), in another suburb. But I choose to live in Bandra because I think it's a great suburb with a great spirit.

So for all the people who think I'm a brat because I live in Bandra...no, I'm not. Daddy's not paying the rent, I am :) And I think it's a fair deal we all get...you live in a cheaper place, so you have money to do alot of other things. I live in a more posh area, so I sacrifice some other things in life. But I'm happy because ultimately it's all about priorities.

Bombay Summers

Summer has finally arrived in Bombay! It's hot & humid. I went to Kolkata in March. It was already muggy there, and coming back to Bombay was a pleasant change. I was wondering how come Bombay was still breezy & dry-ish. I guess April just had to come around! Kolkata is supposed to be much worse during the summer. I am so going to die!!

Survival of the fittest

On my way to work today, I saw a sight that almost tore my heart.

Anyone who has been to or even passed by Dadar train station knows how crazy the place is! It is swarming with people. Infact, swarming is an understatement. There is no word that aptly & sufficiently defines Dadar station - it is simply a phenomenon to be experienced.

I usually take the Mahim-Dadar TT route to work (so I don't pass Dadar station) but today I took Tulsi Pipe Road as I had to drop my roommate along the way. Both are just as bad but Tulsi Pipe Road takes about 15-20 minutes longer because of the bottleneck infront of Kamla Mills & the excruciatingly long traffic light right before Phoenix Mills!

Outside Dadar station I saw about ten people, men & women, fighting with each other to get inside a cab. And I mean a physical fight. They all ran behind the cab, and when it slowed down, they started pushing & shoving each other to get inside. It was a painful sight & it made me question whether living in Bombay is worth all the hardships people have endure.

People are packed like sardines in local trains, commuting by road is a nightmare thanks to the constantly deteriorating traffic situation in the city, most people can't travel by cab as it is fairly expensive. We pay astronomical amounts as rent that make non-Mumbaikar's eyes fall out of their sockets when they hear of it, yet live in flats the size of shoeboxes. The air we breathe in is saturated with all the pollutants one can possibly think of. We frequently read of leakages from sewage pipes into pipes carrying potable water, in the newspaper. The infrastructure is crumbling as the city is bursting at its seems with people. Everyday is a fight for survival. Is this the life that we want for ourselves? Is this the life we want to give to our kids?

Irrespective of how great a city Bombay is, this is a question all of us living in this "great ruined metropolis" (in Salman Rushdie's words) must ask ourselves - is it all really worth it at the end of the day?

Mumbai...You rock!!

Sometimes, the things we love the most are the things that tie us down. And no matter how much we love them, or how much they are a part of our lives, we must break away...if we want to explore what else the world has to offer, to test what all we're capable of!

Same goes for my relationship with the city of Bombay. Bombay...Mumbai...whatever you call it, the headiness remains the same. I absolutely LOVE the city. It's a city unparalleled in the world. Sure, there are many great cities in the world but Mumbai has a character that's it's own.

This city has given me a lot, just as it's taken a lot from me. But now I've come to the point where I must break the strings that tie me to it & move away. Much as I love Mumbai, it's weighing me down.

It's a beautiful love affair I have with Mumbai, and to preserve its beauty I must say goodbye to it....until I'm ready to embrace it again.