ROFL !!

Check out Kaka at IIFA awards...hehehe....lmao!!!

Now that's a style statement!!

Jai ho!!



Image Courtesy: DNA

House to home in 140 minutes

Note: The sole intention of this post is to record my drive from Pune to Mumbai. So, if you are looking for anything interesting to read, proceed at your own risk!!

Last week I decided to drive down to Mumbai on my bike. For people who don’t know, I own a Yamaha Gladiator RS. This drive came as a relief to my bike, which was waiting for an opportunity to prove itself for some while. I didn’t want to risk driving on our famous highways after dark (which is when the devils have their headlights aimed at your eyes to blind you (Indian drivers are pathetic and are blessed with zero traffic ethics)). So, morning it was!! One of my office colleagues decided to be the pillion (this guy is relatively new in office and he isn’t aware of my driving skills (fyi, none of my friends want to be around me when I drive. As per them I drive too fast and too rash, which I feel is an exaggeration sparked by jealousy)). I tanked up the bike, got the air pressures right and also got the brakes tightened.

Next morning, I hit the road with my 125 cc machine at exactly 6:55 a.m. It was chilly and I cursed myself for not donning my jacket. Nonetheless it is such a pleasure to drive early in the morning. The empty streets, cool breeze and sparse traffic give you a much-needed kick, which plays an important role in lengthy drives. At exactly 7:05, I picked up my pillion. Since both of us had our own bags, we were a little cramped up. But this was soon forgotten as we hit NH4.
Very soon we reached the Pune Expressway diversion. I cursed the Babus for not allowing bikes on the expressway. Driving a bike on the expressway from Pune to Mumbai is something I have always dreamt of, but I guess it will never happen. We crossed the diversion and were still on NH4. The old highway as it is called seemed very well maintained too. The traffic was sparse and the road was good. This was all I needed to break free. A slight move of the fingers on the throttle and we were cruising at 80-90 kmph. The winding roads gave me a feeling of playing Roadrash and I enjoyed it immensely.

Exactly at 7:50 we stopped at Ramkrishna restaurant in Lonavala. A light breakfast accompanied by tea was all I needed to refresh myself. The usual smoke did its job too. We were back on the road at 8:10. My colleague guided me to the stretch of road where the Old Highway is the expressway. As soon as I hit this patch, it was like driving in a football field. The expressway is hugeee, and when you are on a bike, it seems bigger. I enjoyed the stretch, which was full of steep curves and turns. Soon the expressway was history and we were back on NH4.

At exactly 9:10, we reached Panvel. Since my colleague stays in Panvel, we decided to take a short break. The crowd at this stop was awesome and my colleague boasted of his knowledge about it.“I made you stop here to check out the crowd.” he beamed. We were back on the road at 9:20 and I dropped him at his house at 9:25. I was in Panvel and my bike was now a good 80-85 kgs lighter. It felt as if my bike was on fire. We lit up the streets, zoomed and zapped and I was at home in Vashi by 9:45.
I raced up the stairs, when fatigue hit me and I realized that my body was a numb of all the driving. But this lasted only for thirty minutes after which I was back to normal.


All I have to say is that everyone needs to try out this drive atleast once. Its awesome!!

My review of Maximum City

Maximum city: Suketu Mehta

Since long I had being hearing a lot of good about this book and being a Mumbaiite, I wanted to read this one. I was finally able to lay my hands on this book last month (Courtesy QA Library). Now that I am through with it, I am glad that I didn’t buy this book (thanks to Vijay who always discouraged me from buying this book). I didn’t like it.

The author is an NRI, who had moved out of Mumbai in his school days. He came back to Mumbai with his family after fifteen years. This is when he did his research and wrote this book. The book is actually a peep into Mumbai (Mumbai, he says is one of kind.), from different angles. Mehta has written about the Mumbai weather, the 1993 riots, politicians, Bollywood (films and people), Mumbai police, schools, real estate, gangsters, bar dancers, slum dwellers, visitors to the city, the spirit of the city, etc, etc.. The only good part about the book is that it is honest and transparent and I would give full credit to the author for his meticulous research (since it would be difficult for an outsider to actually unearth information regarding some of the sensitive issues he has written about). Mehta is also very observant. There are many things which he writes about, which only people who have stayed in Mumbai for long can visualise.

Now the bad part! Since most of the book is based on interviews, most of the data is scattered and lacking continuity. You could read about a topic for five pages, then suddenly there would be something completely new on the sixth page, then again the old topic would resume on the eighth page and so on. There is a clear lack of continuity. Most of the people Mehta has written about are the ones whom he had befriended (some names in the books have been changed… but surprisingly only the names of people who are not famous have been changed.. The popular names are all in there adding to the selling value of the book.. Smart move on the part of the author!). Infact Vidhu Vinod Chopra was quite upset when Mehta included some private information about him in the book, which he shouldn’t have (http://soniafaleiro.blogspot.com/2005/09/twas-me.html).

There are also some topics on the book, which have been stretched. There is also a lot of repeat of material. Some of the topics are just tales of his interaction with the people, which have no connection whatsoever with the ongoing topic. The worst part is the last seventy pages of the book, which are better to be skipped. All in all, only a select few topics in the book.. which is approx 1/3 rd of the book (riots, Mumbai police, bollywood) are worth reading and the rest can be ignored. The good part of the book gets over in the first half, the second half is boring..no other word for it.

Mehta comes across as fearless, if you take into consideration the things he has written about some of the big men here…but its easy to do that when you stay in another continent. I don’t think he will ever return to Mumbai.

Mumbai…where people don’t forgive easy.

Yet again!!

Yet again!

Mumbai is burning yet again. No, it’s not the politicians this time, it is the terrorists. I wonder how much more this city can withstand. Due to this continuous raping which has been going on and on, the financial capital of India now comes across as a scarred and mutilated body which is still breathing. Breathing, trying to survive, paying the price of being the richest city of the nation, paying the price of being “Bomb”ay. The name change didn’t help.
As I write, the city still burns and so does my heart.
May the people behind this rot in hell and may the soul of the innocent who lost their lives rest in peace.