Mockery of 26/11

Amidst this tragic episode of terror, drama and shock to which Mr.Vilasrao Deshmukh seems completely oblivious; it's small wonder that his entourage at the Taj included a filmstar (read Riteish Deshmukh) and a film-maker (read Ram Gopal Varma). I reckon our CM is mentally sick...how else would you explain such a blatant act! The timing was outrageously ridiculous and appalling...I'm absolutely amazed by this demeanour what with state home minister on one hand and the chief minister on the other.

Evidently, our ministers have failed to fathom the gravity of the situation and have drawn public ire for their ghastly acts. Though the 26/11 carnage was by all means brutal, I'm beginning to wonder who's more inhuman...terrorists or these insensitive and cold-blooded politicians!

Please do us all a favour Mr CM by quitting your post as that's the only thing that you could do to save Mumbai.

Security at Gunpoint!

Gandhinagar, Sep 24, 2002: 34 people killed in the attack on the Akshardham temple
Mumbai, Aug 25, 2003: 46 people killed in two blasts including one near the Gateway of India
New Delhi, Oct 29, 2005: 61 people killed in three blasts on the eve of Diwali
Varanasi, March 7, 2006: 21 people killed in three blasts including one at a temple and another at a railway station
Mumbai, July 11, 2006: 209 people killed in seven blasts on suburban trains and stations
Malegaon, Maharashtra, Sep 8, 2006: 40 people killed in two blasts
Samjhauta Express, Feb 19, 2007: 66 people killed after two firebombs went off on the India-Pakistan friendship train
Hyderabad, Aug 25, 2007: 42 people killed in two blasts, at a popular eatery and a public park.
Jaipur, May 13, 2008: 68 people killed in serial bombings
Ahmedabad, July 26, 2008: 57 people killed after 20-odd synchronised bombs went off within less than two hours
New Delhi, Sep 13, 2008: 26 people killed in six blasts across the city
Malegaon, Maharashtra, Sep 29, 2008: Five people died after a bomb kept in a motorbike went off in a crowded market
Kanpur, Oct 14, 2008: Eight people injured after bomb planted on a rented bicycle went off Colonelganj market
Assam, Oct 30, 2008: At least 45 killed (figure can change) and over 100 injured in 18 terror bombings across Assam and the most recent of all.....
Mumbai, Nov 26, 2008:Over 100 killed and many more injured in seven terror attacks targetting posh hotels in the upmarket area of South Mumbai

One look at this list and you would know that the big bad boys have spread terror across the length and breadth of the country. Boy! what a gory track record...talks volumes about the level of security in India. Today, there's just one question on people's mind...how many terror attacks is it going to take for our Government to avert such crises on the aam junta? "The Spirit of Mumbai", "Mumbai's resilience" etc etc are mere cliches and nothing else! People come here to earn their bread and butter and let's face it this spirit of Mumbai that we keep glofirying all the time is more of a shield to conceal our helplessness. Getting back to business post terror attacks is nothing but a Hobson's choice, really.

The sheer magnitude of these heinous acts is constantly on the rise and unless some serious measures are taken, we would be in for even worse nightmares. Can we afford that?

The past four days have been so disturbing that I have woken up with a headache and then hit the bed at night again with a headache. This entire Taj/Oberoi/Nariman episode was downright infernal...it is surely going to leave indelible marks on many lives..(of course politicians excluded). So here's why I say it's about time you (read politicians) woke up from your innate slumber...it's time to act and bring the criminals to book, to fortify security across the country and to make people's votes count.

There's loads to write about when we are talking terrorism and this is going to reflect soon, in the posts to follow.
I end this post with "Kudos to Mumbaikars for their spirit" but it's a pity see that Bombay still bleeds!

What a pity!

I tuned in to CNBC TV18 this evening and what I saw was by far the most bizarre thing on TV. All news channels are having a gala time covering all the buzz related to markets. It being Diwali day and markets being open for just an hour and a half, one may think, "oh! so now how are these news channels gonna cater to their religious viewers"...I mean with nothing much happening in the markets, what are these folks gonna show their viewers after all! Tough question with an extremely simple answer...these jerks manage to get astrologers on their shows to actually tell us how "shani" n "mangal" are gonna affect our markets and when the good times would be back for all of us (investors and the ilk). Incredibly insane na!! Imagine a Bejan Daruwala telling you that April 2009 onwards markets would take a U-turn from their bearish behaviour at present...now give me one reason why I should believe him....he says that 2 of his predictions have come true; so does that give his predictions enough credibility? Yeah right!!

And hats off to these news channels for generating content in the absence of real content! They sure know how to keep the business going!

What's the world comin to???!!

One look at the newspaper nowadays and that's precisely what you would say...with each passing day, turmoil is being redefined! It all began with the famous (read infamous) sub-prime crisis in the US and almost all countries are feeling the heat now. Talk about disaster begetting disaster.

Every morning you get to read about layoffs/market crash/bailouts...basically all versions of what we call disaster. Take today's TOI for example:-

>Yahoo to fire 1500 employees
>More banks in Europe may fail: IMF
>Google to go slow on hiring: CEO

and the list could be endless...

Having said that, I feel that it's pretty interesting to see how all of these things are inter-related...I mean one thing leading to another...but that apart it's a terrible phase...now I do not wish to harp on the fact anymore but just realized that reading an otherwise boring Bombay Times today is more refreshing than grabbing a copy of the TOI! Watsay!! ;)

My Trip to the Moon!

The caption does seem hard to believe but tell you what I did manage to catch the lunar experience right here in Thane and how!! It's pretty clear by now I'm talking about the roads in Thane...(which by the way do not qualify to be called roads in the first place)

Ok we do understand when tar roads develop those awful craters but what about concrete roads inundated with patches/cracks/craters? I was stumped to see the "craterised" version of concrete roads, the other day!

Believe me, driving on such roads is nothing short of a nightmare...and just imagine if it's raining at the same time, only to add to your woes. When I saw the condition of roads in Pune during monsoon last year, I used to think that there can never be roads worse than these anywhere (anywhere=other cities..which means small towns excluded)! Well well well, Thane proved me wrong! I admit that the highways are sound enough (excellent quality roads) but what about the crucial junctions like the Majiwada chowk or the ever crowded Ghodbunder road? I mean this is where you have maximum movement of vehicles and given the present condition of roads, it's more like a accidents-waiting-to-happen zone. And what's really pathetic-the deadly combination of craters and loose gravel on the roads...I had a terrible time figuring out the potholes from the road or the road from the potholes...never mind!

It's indeed a sorry state of affairs...when you talk about a progressive India, these are the issues that do matter (n it's really painful at the same time)...problems which need to be addressed right away. If we blame the rains for the pathetic condition of roads then let's face it, we are heading nowhere. If we are to build our infrastructure, we need to find a way out soon and till that happens, we continue to be tagged as a 'developing' nation (almost sounds like an axiom now!!) but there's surely no problem in being optimistic about a 'developed' India! We hope to see that day sometime! :)

So far so good

Well I have been inactive on blogger for quite sometime now so I realized the need to get back. The last month was pretty good in terms of enjoyment, freaking out with friends etc. There was this trip to Lonavla which I particularly enjoyed a lot! I have had outings with family, friends but this was the first time with colleagues and believe me it was simply awesome! And Lonavla was at its stunning best what with the scenic beauty and all!! Everytime Lonavla gets even more gorgeous during the monsoon! All my pics on orkut are a testimony to this.

Since it's a weekend, I thought of catching a movie. One look at the new releases and you know Singh is Kinng would have been the only option so Singh is Kinng it was and what a mindless movie, if at all you want to call it a movie! Seriously I have no idea what Anees Bazmee had in mind while scripting it :( Anyway, I spent my valuable money for watching a movie like that...are the producers listening?? The thing is nowadays, movie reviews aren't that reliable so...sadly, you gotta check out a movie at your own risk...too bad I know!

So that's it from me....will be back soon!

The verdict is out: Imran scores over Harman!!

When two star kids debut on the very same day, comparisons are bound to happen and no prizes for guessing who the winner is this time around....yes Imran Khan shines and how!! The dude's got all one needs to become a successful actor/star.

He delivers in his very first movie and with time on his side, he's destined to carve a niche for himself as a seasoned actor. As for Harman, I would say tough luck that even a movie of such an enormous bugdet (read LoveStory 2050) didn't quite prove to be a decent launch pad for him. Now we've established that he's a Hrithik clone and let's face it nobody likes duds alright; so unless you come out with something original, something of your own Harman I'm sorry to say, your future looks rather bleak!

But hey the brighter side of the story is that you could certainly have a blast catching all the "rave" reviews of LoveStory 2050 on different websites coz it's sure to tickle your funny bone hahah!! I mean this movie succeeds big time, in beating the criticism that Tashan got :D What a pity!!

So take it from me people- if you wanna have fun watching a movie, go watch Jaane Tu... definitely worth a watch and if you're getting terribly bored staring at your same old computer screen, check out the hilarious reviews that poor Harman's received..."FlopStory 2008 (and even that seems like an understatement to me!!) Just goes to show how potentially hazardous the movie could be (of course I haven't seen it yet and after all the caustic reviews I came across, I would be out of my mind to spend my money on it...),gosh I gotta stop right here...stay tuned...more to come on Potpourri!!

New Kid on the block!!

Phew!! After all those unpleasant experiences I shared in my earlier posts, I get to write about something absolutely nice and charming!!!

Cute would not be enough to describe him coz he's much more than that...right attitude, great style, looks to die for...and I could go on and on...Imran Khan, Aamir's nephew could well prove to be the next big thing happening to Bollywood! The man's got everything to make it to the top and the fact that he happens to be a star kid guarantees that he's here to stay (I mean look at Tushar Kapoor haha!!!)

I'm dying to watch "Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na"....the songs are good, the theme-tried and tested formula of platonic friendship transforming into love-is interesting though overused...add to it young blood and there goes the recipe for a mushy romantic movie that would definitely be worth a watch to say the least!

Hoping for a good weekend courtesy "Jaane Tu..." !! Hope it's not a let down!

Battling it out....who knows what's neXt!

I was dreaming about God knows what when my alarm went off at 7 and as usual I put it off(know what I have gone past the snooze phase..just goes to show how shameless I've become but something that comes naturally to all late risers right!! :D)...anyway and suddenly at 8 I woke up thinking that I'm gonna be late for work...I looked out of the window and checked the time(8 am as I said)...I kept comparing the view outside and my watch just to make sure if
everything was fine...no, coz at 8 in the morning there was rather economical light and that had me wondering if I was dizzy or what! Believe it or not but it seemed like it was 6 something (I tell ya it was pretty dark) but honestly that's a guess coz I haven't really seen of late, what it is like at 6 in the morning! Needless to say, it was raining as well...and I could see the roads soon getting waterlogged...little did I know what was in store for me later...
By the time I got ready to leave for work, the water level had clearly risen but I never thought, getting to office would end up becoming a nightmare! I stepped out of my building only to find the place completely inundated...never mind I thought...n I waded through the pool of water and made it to the gate somehow...I was partially drenched by now..just when I reached the gate, I realized I had to cross a gushing stream of water flowing across from the gate thanks to the nullah nearby...didn't seem such a difficult task till I actually got there...just for the record, it was raining cats n dogs and here I was staring at the stream...caught in a dilemma whether to go ahead or step back..
Logic said, better go back home and forget about everything else but you can bunk college ya like that and not work [at least technically ;)]!! So I mustered all the courage I had and started moving forward and no matter how hard I tried just couldn't get past it :( I needed a rick to get to office n I didn't want to be stranded like that so I started looking for help....and miraculously, I spotted a rickshaw on the road and the only hitch that remained now was getting into it. The overflowing nullah problem was what I had to overcome...gosh...the current was so strong that had I fallen into it, I would have hurt myself badly and that tells you, this socalled adventure didn't go to the extent that I slumped to the ground or something like that..now people like my bro must be really disappointed after having discovered this haha..just kidding!!
Anyway so this woman got down from the rick and was really sane enough to lend me a helping hand and that's how I landed in the rick but honestly while I was crossing this stream it felt like I was in one of those water kingdom rides...only difference was the water which was anything but clean ew....
While I was on my way to office, I looked around and realized that life, elsewhere, was more or less normal...hardly any water logged areas...I was like wth....turned out that our colony (read New Harvard Garden Society) was one of the few "priviliged" ones to be staring at this whole flood like situation!! But then, such is life dearies :O :D

....in search of that "feel good" factor!

Well it's a known fact that we all need to keep up with our busy schedules just so that we survive in the so-called rat race. We try our level best to juggle between various activities which happen to feature on our to-do lists...so what happens? Chances are that we end up doing barely half of these[in my case it's not even half :(( ] leaving us, if not totally but to some extent, dejected. What everyone looks for is a "feel good" factor in all the activities that they take up and here, we don't even feel satisfied in the first place, let alone the "feel good" factor!!

So, what do we do? Stop doing what we had been doing? Naah! As they say, it's all in the mind...seriously...now this is definitely not a time management blog entry please...getting back to the topic, if you really want something in life and want it bad then you end up getting it in the end by fair means or foul! And not just that, the feel good factor comes as a by product then! Parkinson's law (made it a hyperlink just in case you wanna read more about it..DISCLAIMER:might put you off though...!!!) states that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion". Bingo that's the answer to all our ever increasing problems (read lack of time, fatigue etc etc)

If that's not all then one should definitely read 'Eat that frog' by Brian Tracy...it's too early for me to talk about the book given that I have just started reading it but take it from me it's worth reading!

So after all that gyaan(for self of course!), I'm off to chase my to-do list items...wishing you all the luck with your to-do lists (if at all you got one haha!!)

Putting the "IF" statement to good use!

It's time to do some reality check and find out what mood you are in right now and then see what's in store for you...3..2...1...0

Close your eyes(hey not immediately else how on earth are you gonna read...just kidding!) and ask yourself...'am I content with what I have?', 'am I frustrated?', 'do I feel like slapping the people around me?', 'do I feel like dancing right now?', 'is this what I want from life or is there more to it?', 'how about bunking school/college/work? sounds great na!', 'do I feel completely lost???'...the questions are endless...and that's simply because we as human beings have a lot of emotions which ought to be expressed...there are times when you feel like doing things which may be rather weird but you think better of it for sanity's sake! Anyway, my blog is definitely not gonna help you do all those crazy things you have on mind but it sure as hell would make you feel better...the only input I need from you is your state of mind right now...that's why I made you close your eyes and think(which is quite rare nowadays considering our busy lifestyles)

For all practical purposes, I capture your mood in a variable called "your_mood" ok? I guess I heard a 'yes'..well then time now to match your mood with the available list below and voila! you are bound to stumble upon something! Click on the links inside the "IF" statements...

if your_mood=="happy"
{
"Since I said I'm happy, I don't care where this link takes me"***

}
else if your_mood=="I'm feelin sleepy"
{
"then you better check this out...everything you wanted to know about sleep"
}
else if your_mood=="bored"
{
"get rid of boredom right away..see for yourself"
}
else if your_mood=="I can't figure out my mood..."
{
"don't worry here's the solution to your problem..just type whatever you feel like after hitting this URL..pretty simple"
}

***I'm sure had it not been for this link you would not have even bothered checking it out hahah


Hope you feel better now....


Disclaimer-I cannot be held responsible if reading the blog wasted your valuable time/didn't make an ounce of difference to your mood...I was just doin tp that's all hahah!!

Every footpath in India has a different story to tell :O

So after a hiatus(not a deliberate one though), I'm back on blogger. Before I begin my assault on Indian footpaths(which are getting extinct with each passing day), let me tell you where this entire thing came from.

We decided to switch from the good ol' Times of India to Hindustan Times for the simple reason that HT is easy on the pocket! (and more importantly coz the crisp TOI used to find its way directly into the trash for some reason(=lack of time); so we thought, it doesn't make sense to pay through your nose and then leave the paper untouched :D) Please excuse me for such a long explanation for the switch. I have this habit of elaborating on trivial matters. Anyway, the point is HT is not that bad after all. As a matter of fact, HT came as a complete revelation to me! If you can ignore the spelling mistakes here and there and you want content that stimulates you, then let's just say you are quite ready for HT. It's just that TOI enjoys such a huge popularity that people don't even bother about the smaller players(read HT, Indian Express etc.). Having said that, I would like to add that TOI is by far the best newspaper in India.

Well now coming straight to the point, I read this article [which featured in HT that's why the whole HT story :)] on the condition of footpaths in India and for some reason I thought I could relate to it given the sorry state of footpaths here in Thane. But guess what, the article had a host of other problems that footpaths in other Indian cities continue to face.
To begin with, cities are now being planned exclusively for vehicles making it very difficult for pedestrians to move about on roads. If you think cities with footpaths are any better, haha think again! Cities which happen to have footpaths, ironically everyone but the pedestrians get to use them. Let me tell you how...In Bangalore, people park their vehicles on footpaths(which is obviously a violation of traffic rules),thus adding to pedestrians' woes. Hawkers encroaching footpaths is a common phenomenon almost everywhere. Well it doesn't stop here...given that people here are downright innovative, they put the footpaths to good use in more ways than one. The other day when I was travelling in a rick, what I saw was absolutely appalling and at the same time disgusting(with a capital D)! People use footpaths as an alternative lavatory as the ladies residing in slums get their little ones to help them answer nature's call. Ew :O

What's more our very own Municipal Corporation adds to our ever increasing problems. Just look around(strictly meant for Thaneites) and you would know....garbage finds place on footpaths which believe it or not, is not surprising anymore...I mean this is something so common that now I almost gape at the sight!

The bottomline is cities with/without footpaths are equally pathetic!
Need I say more??

Yawnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!

Yep that's coz I have been feeling sleepy since I got up this morning...this is just not done...
Imagine hitting the gym, going to work and doing your mundane activities when you so don't wanna do it(aarghhh)!!! But fortunately gymming made me feel better..rest of the activites are such a put off yaar:(
Now as I get ready for another headache(as a consequence of the above mentioned things), I thought why not blog and give some vent to my frustration....this may have happened to some of us in the past(not really sure about you folks) that you feel nothing really matters...I feel as though whatever I have been doing is completely meaningless(did I just hear a cackle?? it's alright not your fault)..I have been thinking about this and just realized that this is certainly not one of those days when you get into something like 'thinking'...sometimes you should just let things happen and sit back and watch...this trick works when you so want it to work! Everyday is different, it's a surprise package everytime...you have some really wow-this-is-so-great kinda days and then there are some really dull days...I believe this is just one of those boring sort of days and you end up writing a blog like this one...:D
I guess my post has stopped making sense(am actually thinking at which point it did make sense:O)...so I guess it's time to sign off on that note!!
I don't know about you folks but I certainly feel a lot better now muhahaha:D

A torture Called TASHAN

Here's the review of Tashan which I came across on the net...actually it's another blog I was reading and loved it so much I thought I should share it with all you people so here goes:-
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Even the inmates in the asylum or a tramp on the Mumbai streets would have made a better movie than this Friday’s Bollywood release Tashan.

What in the heck were the bozos at Yash Raj thinking when they unleashed a trashy movie like Tashan!

Utterly bereft of anything worthwhile and an ugly amalgam of bad logic, rotten story, pitiful acting, ordinary photography and ear-damaging music, Tashan is a complete horror show, the likes of which have not been seen in Bollywood in a long, long time.

And the architect of this monumental disaster is Vijay Krishna Acharya, who takes credit (it should really be discredit) for Tashan’s story, screenplay, dialogs and direction.

Even after making movies for over eight decades, the cavalcade of Bollywood idiots has yet to realize that story, screenplay, dialogs and direction are separate departments requiring the full-time attention of separate people.

This clown Vijay Krishna Acharya has penned a story so bizarrely bad that it’ll surely be showcased in film schools as a lesson in how not to make a movie.

The dramatis personae are the ridiculously dressed baddie Bhayyaji (Anil Kapoor), his assistant Pooja Singh (Kareena Kapoor), a call center employee Jimmy Clifff (Saif Ali Khan) and Bhayyaji’s henchman Bachchan Pande (Akshay Kumar).

While none of the four cover themselves with any glory for their performance, Anil Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor are egregiously bad.

With her skimpy attire and scanty acting skills, the tiny-titted Kareena Kapoor, granddaughter of the late Bollywood director Raj Kapoor, is sheer agony to behold.

One interesting trend in Bollywood movies is that the role of the ubiquitous vamp of yesteryear films has now been taken over by the heroine.

Following close behind in tormenting the audience in Tashan is that overacting buffoon Anil Kapoor, a veteran of a gazillion Bollywood movies. Just goes to prove that wisdom or talent does not always improve with age.

No, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan are not palliatives either. Hey, there are just no palliatives or redeeming elements in this piece of trash.

The story, if you can call it that, is laughably bad. A murderous thug Bhayyaji (Anil Kapoor) wants to learn English quickly so that he can impress a visiting foreign delegation. His assistant Pooja (Kareena Kapoor) hires a call center employee and part-time English teacher Jeetender Kumar Makhwana a.k.a. Jimmy Cliff to teach her evil boss English.

Soon, Jimmy is head over heels in love with Pooja, who seems to reciprocate but actually has other plans up her sleeve. Pooja and Rs 25 crore belonging to Bhayyaji vanish one day. After giving Jimmy a few whacks, he sends a small-town thug called Bachchan Pande and Jimmy to locate the girl and the money.

The main culprit with Tashan is with its asinine script and hackneyed story that crumbles into dust just minutes after the start. Add bad music and mediocre acting to this stinking concoction and you have the recipe for a stinging migraine at the end.

Although the movie was filmed in “God’s Own Country” Kerala, Hardwar, Ladakh, Rajasthan and Greece(?), the photography in Tashan is worse than banal. Talk of throwing pearls before a swine.

The fight scene where a big team of heavily armed commandos attack the ill-equipped group of Bhayyaji, Bachchan Pande, Jimmy and Pooja but yet suffer a crushing defeat sets a new low mark in the annals of crude Bollywood fights. It seems Peter Hein bears responsibility for this most crudely executed action scene.

Tiresome dances involving foreign women (mostly White but occasionally Black as well) in skimpy attire is becoming de rigeur - and most irritating - in Hindi movies.

Once a powerful force in Bollywood, Yash Raj Films is now a spent force, lurching from one disaster to another. Take a dekko at some of the miserable offerings they’ve churned out lately Aaja Nachle, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Ta Ra Rum Pum. Makes you want to puke.

Perhaps, it’s time for the grand old man of Indian cinema Yash Chopra (the force behind Yash Raj Films) to quit Bollywood and settle into a profession where he can inflict his misery on a retail level rather than on a wholesale scale - say as a roadside Jalebi seller or village Barber. After all, Saif Ali Khan is served Jalebis in Bhayyaji’s lair early in this movie.

Watch this garbage of a movie called Tashan at the peril of losing your sanity.

Suppperrrb Sunday!!

Sundays are always fun no matter what but when you get to watch a LIVE match on a Sunday, then things surely become a lot more exciting!! Yep I'm talking about the Mumbai Indians VS The Deccan Chargers match that was played in Mumbai yesterday..all action was happening right before us! Though the match did not turn out to be that great what was really amazing to watch was the people, the energy, the excitement etc.

It was simply mind blowing!!

The match was scheduled to begin at 8:00pm and given that we were damn excited about the whole thing, we reached the DY Patil Sports Complex a good 3 hrs in advance! The atmosphere was charged(I know this is a pretty cliched line but couldn't do without it), big time!
There was groovy music for the audience to tap their feet to; crazy fans with their wacky banners/placards and loads & loads of energy to go with it! It was a truly amazing feeling to be a part of this euphoria!

At the end of the day, what really matters is not just getting your money's worth but something more than that...something that makes you forget about who you are and something that lets you go insane and enjoy :D!!

The changing face of Bollywood Music :)

I realized that not all posts should be in the negative tone so here's one (a feel good post) on the kind of music that Bollywood is churning out nowadays! By default, the most common stress buster for almost everybody is listening to some good music! You could be in the worst of moods and that favourite song of yours could bring in a complete turnaround and speaking of good music, Bollywood needs a mention here.

Music composers like Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy et al have played a significant role in giving that much needed facelift to Bollywood music! Take for example, 'Tum Se Hi' from Jab We Met or 'Pehli Nazar Mein' from Race...such soulful tracks :)

When you get back home after a long and rather tiring day, what really puts you back on track is nice music!
Alright then it's that time of the day when I listen to music....so ciao till I blog back!

Incredible India, LITERALLY!!

It's 1.30 am and you're wide awake. Reason? Simple...the "traditional" power outage of Incredible India! The part of Thane city where I live experiences a good 3 hours load shedding every single day(I tell you the TMC read Thane Municipal Corporation is pretty consistent here...$%@#%@). But looks like that's not enough so here we were sitting in the dark and wondering how to pass time in the middle of the night..For starters, there were loads of mosquitoes competing with each other presenting their concert into our ears..Shikha, my roomie came up with someting like this..."arre Thane mein kya kam gandagi (refer to one of my earlier blogs for that and you will surely get the picture!) hai jo itni saari delicacies chhod ke hamara khoon choosne aaye ho!!" Add to that the sweltering heat, making our lives completely miserable...

So how exactly do we kill time was the biggest problem we were grappling with. The only possible solution to this problem was to call up the authorities and find out what had gone wrong. But we didn't have MSEB's (Maharashtra State Electricity Board which is now Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited or MSEDCL but it's too long so I prefer MSEB) phone number..."what do we do?", thought Shikha and me...that's when Shikha decided to use the Ask Me phone service and bingo!...within a couple of minutes we had all the necessary phone numbers! What a fabulous service! Something good that came in the middle of this energy crisis...we dialled the number and were almost sure that our call wouldn't be answered thinking that the jerks would be sleeping but guess what some guy actually answered the call and then we told him about the power cut in our locality. He said that our locality did not fall in their domain and so gave us another number which apparently was meant for our locality(kapurbavdi...ew what a name na!) Now, it's 2.15am and all of this was definitely getting on our nerves...neither did the heat decide to give in nor did the mosquitoes...life as it was hellish..

With another phone number with us, we decided to dial the MSEB number, yet again. A rather indifferent voice answered the call and after we told him about the power problem in our locality, he wanted to know where exactly in our locality the problem had occured. So we gave him the details but the jerk was absolutely clueless about the place as in he didn't know anything that was even remotely associated with Kapurbavdi. Here's what Shikha told him on the phone.."Agar Kapurbavdi mein Tulsidham (is a well known place in Kapurbavdi) nahin pata toh job chhod de" :D After sometime we dialled the same number and this time the guy at the other end knew what place we were talking about but just like the earlier fellow he told us that our locality did not fall in their domain. We were like alright then at least give us the relevant phone number. And you would not believe what this lunatic said...he did not have the number and was pretty indifferent about it; since we knew these people would be of least help, we hung up!

We so thought that informing the authorities would probably solve our problem but we had forgotten about the incredible services that you get in Incredible India! So, we gave up (like we had a choice!) and thought of doing something that would help us stop hurling abuses at the authorities.

3:00am and we were hungry after battling it out with the jerks...and the mosquitoes, needless to say continued their assault on us...one heck of a night seriously!!

We decided to call up McDonald's first...so we heard a recorded voice after dialling the McD number...but obviously at 3am who's gonna actually answer your call?! The recorded voice kept saying that our call would be transferred but this kept happening in a loop...we got the point...our next option was Pizza Hut...again didn't work...we were determined on not giving up; so then we dialled Domino's...what on earth were we thinking when we dialled all these numbers! I mean obviously we knew that it was hopeless but we just thought of giving it a try..we did not have any work anyway!!

Now it was too much!! All limits had been crossed...it was 4:45 am and no signs of power getting restored...we had not slept a wink as it is and it was dawn already....wth...
Finally at 5:00am the fan started whirring..PHEW!!! That's when I fell asleep...

You know what I seriously do not care if the country's GDP increases/decreases...if I do not get a continuous supply of power or even water for that matter which apparently is a bare necessity at least in urban areas then what's the point! A country which is not even capable of providing the basic amenties to its citizens could well forget about becoming a developed nation even in the next 20(or 40, 50$#$@%) years. That's Incredible India for us Indians!!

Somebody please give me 30 hrs or even more!

It's 10 pm and you realize you haven't even seen the newspaper...and you know that there's a hectic day ahead...so you are left with 2 difficult choices...either go ahead with reading the newspaper at the expense of your sleep or go to sleep at the expense of not knowing what's happening around you! I could say that somebody please give me bonus hours but hey this is where the cliched "time management" comes into picture. Yeah we all have heard loads about how to manage our time and blah blah blah....but it's easier said than done.

Come to think of it, it's not that difficult after all....all you need to do is cut down on your 'tp' time and bingo! you have saved yourself valuable hours!

Basically, I have nothing to do right now so thought of giving myself some gyaan about time management! I have a movie to catch in sometime so it's gonna be another newspaperless day!
And ironically, only yesterday I subscribed to Economic Times hahah!! Poor ET is not privileged enough maybe!!! On that note, it's bye from me!