(This was was my first blog dated 2nd may 2011, got misplaced due to some glitch)

Twitter was only 140 characters so I moved in here, to express myself in a diffusive way.

I understand that blogging is a passe' these days and 'micro blogging' is the in-thing. Keeping that in mind, i'll keep you posted through links, in your respective networking sites. So you could read, comment and share your thoughts with me.

The day that just got over, 1st may is celebrated as international worker's day, and its a holiday in honour of all the labours and workers. but what an irony, it was a Sunday. 

anyway, working on my blog all night? No, i guess i'll call it a day, and get some sleep before i get woken up by a personal alarm at 10:30 am.

love..

Follow @PeePree

Safe by an hour

Mumbai blew up again. Three bomb blasts shook the city when the innocent people were returning home, to see their children, to see their wife, to breathe easy and lie down peacefully after a long and tiring day at work. Zaveri Bazar, Colaba, and Dadar were wrecked. More than 20 people killed, and more than 100 injured. They do it often, and they often do it at will. Is there no stopping them?

The blasts are only one day old and people are finding comfort in harping about the fact that how resolute Mumbaikars are. Jogging in Colaba, working in Dadar and shopping in Zaveri Bazar. Life is almost back to normalcy. They call it the spirit of Mumbai. Do they really know that the people are helpless? What other option do they have other than going to work and achieving their targets? They just can’t sit back and let the food feed themselves to their family. It’s fine to be proud of the resilience shown by the people but it’s time to show some wrath too, because if that is the case, the policy makers will be let off yet again. The government knows for a fact that they don’t have to do anything, and that Mumbai will heal itself as it always has been doing since years.  

The ministers from all parts flew up to the financial capital to show sympathy and condolence. Where were they when the serial blasts in Guwahati took up more lives?  Is it the limelight they just want to be in? The President of America and the Prime Minister of Pakistan have condemned the blasts, and so has the Prime Minister of India. How does that make him any different? Is that all he is supposed to do? He says “we are committed to fighting terror”. Didn’t he say the same thing last time around too? The state has been put at high alert and the country on alert. Big deal!  It’s like putting on the condom after the job is done. With time, this will be forgotten too. The sympathy doesn’t last unless we feel the pain ourselves. The masses will organize candle light marches and move on. That’s all what we are good at.

I was exactly at the Dadar blast site one hour prior to when it happened. Was returning back home from Worli and I had to get on a local from there on. The news struck me as soon as I came back home. Saw some gory pictures on TV. Felt uneasy. And the feeling remains because I was just..

safe by an hour..

"ऐ दिल है मुश्किल जीना यहाँ... ज़रा हटके ज़रा बचके ये है बॉम्बे मेरी जान..."

Follow @PeePree

To stop the train, pull the chain!

22 June 2011,  Rajdhani Express,  Mumbai-Delhi,  Around 6 PM.

“Start”

And after a few seconds “stop”  said the little girl.

“B” said another kid in the group.

“Ben, Bangkok, Bhalu, Bomb” I interrupted the kids.

“Cheating Cheating Cheating” they all shouted unanimously

“Bhalu won't do, it's a Hindi word” they said.

“Oops!” I was embarrassed

“Never mind, let’s make it Ben, Bangkok, Bull, Bomb” I compromised. Trying hard to name an animal with the letter B, eventually came up with ‘Bull’. Silly enough, I could have used ‘Bear’ at first place. It could have served the same animal and the same alphabet.

That’s me for you, or maybe I was pressurized by the kids so much.

If you haven’t still figured out what I am talking about, it’s the game we used to play as kids ‘Name, Place, Animal, Thing’. Well, that’s what was going on in my compartment.

Another pastime I learned was “ATLAS” which also If I remember correctly, we used to play. We can use the whole globe to our rescue here, it goes like AtlaS, ShimlA, AustraliA, AfghanistaN, NepaL, LondoN, NagpuR, RussiA, AmritsaR…and so on until one runs out of places in the atlas!

I am already planning to try these games with my grown up pals, after a few pegs down. I am sure we would come up with names never heard of and places never dreamt of! Assuming it would be amusing.

Coming back to the kids, they are lot smarter these days. A general perception. But atlas! Sorry, alas! The competition will be much more intense when they grow up. I wonder what that will be, keeping in mind the 100% cut off these days. I guess, there will be extra marks awarded for handwriting (officially). That would make 100% + 2% handwriting. Tough nut to crack. Poor kids! The new Bachchan generation coming up..better he/she takes up acting. You know why.

Train journeys used to be fun when we were unsophisticated, I still remember a journey as a kid when we started playing ‘Antakshari’ and we got almost the whole compartment to sing along. We would ask any random person to sing and continue the trend. All of them participated sportily, except a few shy types. Now, it’s more of catching up with some sleep. All we do is eat, read some crap, plug in the earphones, think and worry about the dying phone battery. All this from a lone travellers point of view like me, of course things are different when we are with some friends.

Looking out of the window, I saw a small mountain. On top of that I saw a temple. The adventurous me, now even more excited with the energy of the kids, wanted to get there right now for a journey of my own.

“Should I? How?” I questioned myself.

‘To stop the train, pull the chain’ I remembered.

I did not believe that I was really going to do this.

“Just go for it” I said to myself, and I went to search for the chain.

As I reached for the chain..

Good lord!

‘The chain’ had been replaced by ‘The alarm button'!

Thus, my train journey ended up in the train itself. I wasn’t adventurous enough to press the alarm button. It was time I pulled up the sheet and slept.

Bon Voyage..

Follow @PeePree