69 - MUMBAI CABBIE

I became aware of how LPG gets filled into a vehicle, only recently.  After sitting in a cab, if the cabbie requests that he has to get gas as the red light is blinking, indicating that the gas is depleted, then one does not have much of a choice. 

If  the passenger is a long distance traveller, then a conversation is mandatory.  Usually it begins with a rueful remark about the potholes that the cab traverses through.   Marol roads are bad,  Parla roads are full of potholes, but Kurla is the worst.    By the time we reached Santa Cruz east, my body was shaken and stirred.  How is it that the entire airport access roads are full of potholes but within the airport premises, the roads are perfect?

This cabbie had just left a passenger at the airport and having received a generous fare and tip, he was in a good mood.  The passenger had wanted to do the rounds of Shahrukh Khan and Salman's homes and then return to the airport, in a round trip.  The cabbie confided that Shahrukh Khan's Mannat bungalow is a very popular spot with selfie seekers and he often takes other state visitors to the spot, but it is such a  anticlimax moment for the visitors, according to the cabbie, because there is only a dirty, barren   wall to witness, with the word Mannat displayed, with which the visitors console themselves by taking a selfie.  Surely, both the famous Bollywood Khans can make visits of fans more worthwhile by offering some refreshments, autographed pics, or CDs etc to these ardent visitors from far off states.  The cabbie said that many of these fans take a detour to Mumbai, and fly in, just to visit star homes.  I wonder what the situation in Hollywood and Down under is, for visitors to star homes?

During the duration of my journey in the cab, the conversation veered towards the sweetmeat shop that I directed him towards, Gaurishankar at Parel.  I could not recall the name, but the cabbie helped me out, as it is a very popular outlet.  And then he went on to tell me that he had diabetes and so could not enjoy sweetmeats anyway.  Originally from Jharkhand, this cabbie went on to philosophise  that life in Mumbai city was very hectic and the main reason for his malady.  He listed all the details of his medical tests and all the various natural remedies available.   I endured a short lecture on the reasons for the high percentage of diseases in modern times.

I refute his claim, there are so many other reasons for any malady.  Especially emotional turmoil and anxiety, caused by 'others', besides environmental side-effects.                                         

57 - BABA RAM RAHEEM AND HONEYPREET

The latest scandal to be revealed is that of the 'godman' Ram-raheem,  from Sirsa, in north India.  According to the revelations, he has studied only upto the ninth standard and was an 'ordinary' citizen until he got married.  Through a span of thirty years approximately, this man has made an 'empire' for himself with an entire 'dera' or city of his own.  In this dera, he is the king, and the rulemaker, the most powerful person, with his own plastic currency, his numerous bungalows, with themes, an extravagant life style, with a pretty partner, Honey-preet.

Such innovation!  But alas!  Only for his own selfish comfort.  But then, we all want comfort and luxuries for ourselves, and that is what we work towards.  The only difficulty is that we cannot manage to earn too much. Ram-raheem earned so much wealth, by whatever means,  he managed to become a film hero too.  And among his friend's circle are the likes of the chief minister of Haryana and Shilpa Shetty and Mr. Kundra,  as disclosed on the news channels.

I envy this man's innovation and enterprise, but if only he would have been 'human' and not murdered others, and raped women, as is being disclosed.  Each one of us has skeletons in the closet, but this man has skeletons in his backyard, buried by his orders, of innocent detractors.  If only he would have used his energies to be genuinely good, as he wanted to be portrayed, and not behaved fiendishly to achieve wealth and fame and power.

Fairy tales about 'rags to riches' abound.  A Tale of Two Cities, the Prince and the Pauper,  Macbeth, Hansel and Gretel, and the real life examples of The Ambanis and The Bachchans.  But Baba Ram-raheem has outdone all of them to have achieved so much extravagance and luxury and opulence.
The investigation has revealed that all his fifteen bungalows, built around 'the wonders of the world' and underwater theme titled, the Amoeba, built around the planets and space, titled the Sun, the Eiffel Tower palace,  the Taj Mahal palace,  Disneyland themed bungalow, etc., all these have seven star luxuries.  Wow!

Whichever way this baba has erred,  it cannot be denied that he has genius, evil genius,  but genuine genius nevertheless.  And there are so many others who would cash in on their 'evil' genius, if they could, without being caught.  And then some of them are 'caught'.

Everyone wants luxuries and for that, everyone wants cash,  whether it is a Shahrukh Khan or a Rabdi Devi.  I can give you one recent example of avarice,  wherein the very 'famous' Mr. Arjun Rampal was contacted to grace a certain school level function,  and promote his movie Daddy too.  His PR team conveyed to us that for 45 minutes of his precious time,  we would have to shell out a whopping eight lakhs.  So then, when we judge Ram-raheem, it should be noted that he too used his initiative to earn a luxurious lifestyle by managing to dupe the vulnerables.  And all of them went into his 'dera' of their own free will.

Why should the spider be denied his bait of the fly?

38 - THE QUEEN OF THE SUBURBS

Today, I had to travel by the local train upto Virar for some official work.  I only travel by the local train if I have to go very far, very fast, as compared to slow bus travel.  Since I seldom travel by the local train,  the experiences and scenes flash into my senses and get analyzed into statistics.

Although it was a Saturday, being a half day for most office goers and an off day for many academic institutes,  the train was very crowded.  But today, in the crowded ladies' compartment, a good samaritan actually offered me a seat for some time and stood all that while, and then even advised me as to the best place to stand, in order to avoid the onslaught of the incoming crowds that kept boarding the train upto Nallasopara.  It made me so happy to have this empathetic lady share her seating time for a while.

The bad memory was when the train approached Bandra,  the litter along the boundaries of the tracks was disgusting and demoralising and smelly.  An assault on the senses.   How can human beings live in that filth?  The entire length of the track, almost one kilometer before Bandra station, is lined with slums and beyond their ramshackle abodes are piles and piles of plastic, paper, thermocole, rags, and rotting vegetable waste.  Rats, flies and God knows what other pests are breeding in that area.   Please please, Bandra residents,  make the approach to your suburb clean and green.  I beseech to all its famous and rich residents, the Bollywood big shots etc, all visitors need to feel a sense of the 'Queen of the suburbs',  and you should make an effort to live upto its name.  Mr Shahrukh Khan, you have recorded a TV ad about 'swachch bharat',  but you only care for your bungalow and your home in Dubai,  you must GIVE towards improving the suburb that has brought you fame,  but it only has the shame of being a filthy public space mostly.

And then when Vasai was announced on the intercom system in the train,  the nose and eyes had another stinky onslaught from a sewage oulet or a large 'nalla'.   The only saving grace was that, the monsoons have turned the open areas into lush green growth.  So wherever we can view the greenery through the moving train, it is so beautiful and clean.

The local trains are the 'lifeline' of Mumbai but all along the tracks are 'deathlines' of filth, poverty, garbage and open air toilets.  Dear Salman Khan, you sent tankers of water to the drought-affected districts of Marathwada, yet you fail to notice the poverty and squallor of the poor in your very own neighbourhood?  I feel that 'Being Human' does not mean that Mumbai only gets the expensive stores with that logo, but that you do the humanitarian work for Mumbaikars too, please.  Do not forget that it is this city that has brought you your name, fame and where you have grown up.  You could give back by maybe, building good homes for the railway line squatters.   It will also be a more lasting contribution towards society, than the water donation that you had undertaken in 2013 to the drought hit Beed district.

October the second has been declared as THE cleanliness drive day for all Bharat,  and there will be lots of photo ops by politicians and richie riches like MsNeeta Ambani and her ilk.  But nothing really really effective at all.  Nothing that would deplete their pockets,  only silly whitewashed news stories, with brooms and buckets and expensive gloves, for maybe 5 to 10 minutes, just as long as it takes the cameras to flash.  If only each celebrity or large company, would adopt the wards, then it would lead to concrete progress towards cleanliness.  Mr.Amitabh Bachchan, you could easily adopt B ward, and it could be the 'Big B' B ward and compete with the Salman Khan A ward etc.  And the great Neeta Ambani C ward, and the Katrina Kaif D ward.  Not forgetting a E ward takeover by the great Kapil Sharma,  he will of course then be forgiven all the 'gapla' he did at his Versova flat.  And the likes of Anil Kapoor, who only want to rake in the moolah and the name and fame without any give back to society.  You have launched your daughter and now your son,  pray please do spend on beautifying the city that adores your every action and relative.  Come on people, Gandhiji is still revered all over the world, you could be revered at least in your 'karmbhoomi'.

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