53 - MUMBAI SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS

Yesterday I travelled to Chembur from Girgaon, for some personal work.  The taxi journey was almost two hours long, with endless views of exhaust pipes of buses and other 4 wheelers.  But the return journey by bus,  let me appreciate a few interesting sights of Mumbai.


At the Nana Lal Mehta flyover, near Matunga,  the area beneath the flyover has been transformed into an aesthetic walking space, with a neat pathway and greenery and sitting space.  Public was enjoying the space in the shade.  Wow!  If only the same transformation could be emulated at all other 'below-the-flyover' spaces.  All other similar spaces are a horror, with overflowing garbage bins, haphazardly parked vehicles, beggars living and multiplying and carrying out their daily life  chores in the public eye.



The next beautiful sight was outside the Cosmos Bank at Gokhale Road, Dadar.  Two dead tree trunks have been painted colourfully and each has been mounted with some sculptures to enhance the trunks.  One has a lotus and the other has a peacock.  It looks very natural and calming.



Then the Atria Mall flyover before Haji Ali, had the next 'treat' for the senses.  Just as we pass Worli naka and approach Atria Mall,  the stench of the Worli sewage clearing plant, assaults our senses.  and then the lovely green and fresh climbers that adorn the walls of the flyover, calm the passersby.



At Mumbai Central, either side of the road has a narrow pavement that is converted into an open air mall, every evening.  One side has a display of colourful T-shirts, watches and headphones, bags and books, and fruits.  The other side is home to the nomadic Nepalese woollens sellers.  They have built their make shift stalls all along the sidewalk, almost fifty stalls on one side of the bridge, the other side is the space for the fish and pickle stalls.  It is a soothing sight to watch people earning an honest living, rather than to see a bridge pavement taken over by slums and beggars.



Then I travelled towards the Lower Parel railway bridge.  You can buy clothes and shoes, vegetables and fruit, mobile covers and headphones,  warm clothes and toys, fresh vadapav, chilled beverages.
But when the stalls disappear, you can see the slums with their innumerable naked babies defecating openly and men smoking happily.  The women cooking and conversing aloud.  I personally knew a well-to-do man, who envied these open air slum dwellers.   Hmmmmm.........My advice to such people is that they are free to join the choice of their dreams.











 

52 - WHAT MADE ME SMILE

When the heat is unbearable and it rains,  all heave a sigh of relief,  but it is short lived.  
How can I be happy when some thoughtless driver splashes the muddy puddle all over me, on my way to school?

But that is soon forgotten once I reach my school.    I am not a student.  

At school, today,  the time flew,  with interschool competition practices and reports to be completed.    

When it was time to go home,  as a rule,  I am usually tense..........waiting at the bus stop is a lesson in patience and perseverance...........

My bus is elusive and I am forced to wait at the stop,  today being no exception.      As I wait,  a middle aged man joins the previous commuters waiting at the stop.........but soon I am bugged with his behaviour.  He spits seven times,     until  I cannot just ignore his random spitting,  and I tell him to please stop the public nuisance he is creating by the dispersal of his sputum.  He retorts   'tumhare upaar giraa kya?'      I got upset and scolded him for the dirty habit.  

........and then he boarded the next  bus,  while I had to keep on waiting.

A car tried to park right across the bus stop,    my daily grouse,    and I had to request,  grumble, cajole,  threaten,   until he drove off.      After almost 40 minutes of my life had passed by at the bus stop,  my bus arrived.

 Today I had to stop on my way home,  to  buy vegetables and fruits.   Over laden with my shopping bags,   begging taxiwallahs to let me in...........I was at the end of my endurance.    'kahaa jaana hai?'     and then a shake of the head.....'gas bharraana hai'.......'shift ka time ho gaya'..........I was sooooo   angry  and sooooo  tired.      And then I saw this lady walk by me and she smiled.......I could not place her.........a student's parent???.........no,  she kept smiling and made sure that I too was looking at her and then I had to smile.........thanks to Biba.  She was not Sushmita Sen,  nor was I Aishwarya Bachchan,   because then the scenario would have not  been cordial.  But......................since that was not the case,  the outcome was different.   Her salwar outfit and mine,  were the same.......a bond was created between us........a fleeting moment that made us smile at each other...........without having met before......without any formal introduction...........I felt happy,   an unspoken bond between a stranger and me made me feel that all the problems were by-the-way........and so today my day ended with a smile from a stranger,    a smile that made me smile back and let me  forget the day's  trials. 

51 - PRIME MINISTER MODI AND DEMONETIZATION HUNGAMA

What a stupid and unwarranted decision it is of the Indian prime minister Mr.Modi, to scrap the currency notes of one thousand and five hundred.  Supposedly to bring out the hidden black money of hoarders.  Please note Mr.Prime minister, what these dishonest persons did once, they will do again, and they will be prepared for future such decisions.

And if it is a step to curb the counterfeit currency that Pakistan has infiltrated into our economy, then they will do it to the new currency too.  In fact, if I were a counterfeiter, it would be a very good opportunity to infiltrate the new currency, at a time when Indian citizens are so vulnerable.  Gullible persons will take the new currency at face value and not be able to differentiate between the  real and the fake at this moment.  At least the present currency was something that we had become aware about.  As a layperson in the field of finance, even I had become aware of how to feel and check out the rupees five hundred and one thousand currency notes.  With the brand new notes of 500 and 2000 being thrust onto us, so suddenly,  it will be unknown territory.  I have just viewed the pictures of the new currency on television news.  So when I get currency that looks like that, I will have no means to check its veracity.  At least, the new currency should have been formatted like the plastic currency of Australia, which is so wow and so futuristic too.

Today,  my experiences have made me very infuriated, thanks to the government's rash decision.  I travel by taxi and bus, on my way to and from work, so change of almost eighty rupees gets used.  I had to buy bread (rs.35), two tetrapacks of milk (rs.150),  oil (rs.180),  Muesli (rs.85), 6 eggs (rs.35), a total of rs.485,  and the shopkeeper, from whom I have been shopping the above goods every week, refused to accept my 500 rupee note.  And then I decided to buy paneer, rs.260 for half a kilo, and that shopkeeper too refused to accept my 500 rupee note.  So when I visited the fruit seller, and he too refused.  I needed some medicines and a mosquito spray, but the three pharmacys that I passed were so crowded, that I dared not to wait for my turn in the melee of pushy and impatient men.  And so I returned home with an empty bag, feeling very resentful, that I had to be insulted in spite of wanting to use my hard earned money.

Today I do not appreciate Mr. Arnab Goswami, our very voluble Times Now, TV anchor,  at all.  He is arguing just to appease the Modi government higher ups, it is clear.  The opposition Congress view point is more practical and realistic.  The roads across Mumbai have been bereft of goods vehicles and transport vans, because they are off the road, as their bosses do not want to be paid in 500 and 1000 currency notes, which is the only feasible mode of payment for wholesale service.  The vegetable market was also almost deserted, as no vendors wanted to take these notes. 

If this drastic step by the government is aimed at black money hoarders, then it is not the only prey.  Honest, hardworking persons are suffering emotional trauma caused because of the discontinuance of the currency.  Today, a colleague of mine was continuously in tears.  She is a very middle class housewife and a teacher.  Christians have holy communion scheduled for this month and she is heart broken, having withdrawn almost one lakh to pay for preparations, which would not have been possible with a cheque.  Flower decorators, small time event managers, food suppliers, tailors, even priests, do not take cheque or card payments.  Another colleague had just money-ordered cash to his family in the village, which is needed for a relative's  ongoing medical treatment and is worried how they will manage with the discontinued currency. 

The ruling party in India, who live in lavish bungalows, enjoy travelling by plane, helicopters and expensive suvs, who invest in flats that are priced at one crore or more,  will keep enjoying these perks, as they will keep up with their 'kickbacks' anyway.

How is it that ordinary citizens, suddenly become crorepaties when they become politicians?  They will continue to squeeze their profits through the same routes that they have managed to, for so many years. 

Why sir, did you not announce this step before Divali?  You have not bothered to empathize with the numerous families that have a wedding in the offing.  You are brash and dictatorial.  My cash is 'paseeneh kee kamai' which you have announced is 'trash'.  I wholeheartedly abhorr you for that.

My parting shot to our honourable PM is that, you should walk, and use public transport and live frugally, as a 'chaiwalla' should.  Otherwise please give the exact graph of your fortunes rising so astronomically.  How is it that you were 'honest' and did you not ever accept 'black money' and yet now you have been able to grab the top post and travel in your own 'plane' to countries around the world.

Of course you are representing the country, but along the way, you paved your destiny very favourably and very cleverly, to achieve your present post.  You must admit that  you too have taken advantage of kickbacks and black money to fulfill your ambitions.  The political rallies and public posters, if you take into account the minimum that a rising politician has to spend on, you sir, have not spared any paisa, ever.

Long term???  The people who hoard and earn money illicitly, will continue to do so, and the politicians are the main culprits who demand bribes, and they will do so in the future too.  I do not have an ATM card because I do not want to waste the extra service charges.  I withdraw money according to my needs, and that is in the 500 rupees denomination, for my monthly use.  You, and your political cronies are the biggest black money hoarders, as is proof of the income shown on the names of all your family members galore.



 

50 - THE DEADLIEST TERRORIST IN THE WORLD

In my school there is a very old Anglo Indian church, from the 1850s and it has wall plaques dedicated to Brirish soldiers and their family members who had died in those years, before India's freedom.  Most of the eulogies show that young soldiers and their young family members, wives, children had died due to Malaria.  Malaria caused by the bite of the female anopheles mosquito.

 Recently the Zika virus scourge in Mexico and  south America and Brazil, was spread by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, also known as the tiger mosquito because of its black and white colouring.Its bite affected the foetus in pregnant women, causing them to be born   with microcephaly or serious brain abnormalities. 

These episodes one hears in news and then they are forgotten.  But recently there is an increase in dengue, chickunguniya cases in Mumbai and many of my students were also affected.  So they remained absent, rested, in the absence of any medical recourse for these diseases, certain home remedies are resorted to, eating dragon fruit, papaya leaves etc to increase the haemoglobin count, etc.   But the one disease that does not allow any type of recourse or reprieve is the encephalitis infection caused by mosquito bite and the filariasis disease.

Mosquitoes are vectors or carriers for many deadly diseases, like malaria, dengue, chickungunya, yellow fever, filariasis, encephalitis and the zika fever.   These tiny creatures, weighing a mere 2.5 milligrams, are responsible for the maximum number of deaths, all over the world.  There are 2700 species of mosquitoes and most of them have originated in the African continent. 

The word 'mosquito' is a spanish word, meaning 'little fly'.  The life cycle of a mosquito lasts for about 4 to 10 days, depending on the heat and humidity of the area.  The eggs thrive in wet spots, then they change to larvae, pupae and then the adult flying scourge is born.  Females live for upto 2 months and the males only for about 10 days.  Both male and female mosquitoes feed on fruit and plant nectar, but a female needs blood protein to develop eggs.  Mosquitoes do not posses teeth, so they do not 'bite'.  The females have 2 long proboscis, which is a long serrated mouth part, with which they pierce the skin and locate a capillary, to suck blood.  The other proboscis tube injects saliva with a painkiller and an anticoagulant into the victim.  This process is when infection is transmitted into animals and humans from an infected mosquito. 

The Aedes species is active during the day, so mosquito nets are not so effective to prevent its bite.  Nowadays many repellents are available in the market.  Some are to burn, some are electronic, some are to apply to the skin and a most recent one is a body patch repellent and fabric rub on.  But the best deterrent is to not let the mosquito lay eggs, or to let natural predators thrive.  Snails, ants, spiders, frogs, dragonflies, goldfish, eat the eggs and thus curb the menace.  One toad can eat upto 100 mosquitoes  a night.  But a female mosquito lays upto 300 eggs, 3 times, every 3 days......whew.

In order to save oneself from the mosquito borne diseases, it is important to know what attracts them.  They find hosts by sight, by detecting infra red radiation emitted by warm bodies. Mosquitoes are also attracted by chemical signals, carbon dioxide and lactic acid, from upto 25 to 30metres.  Smelly feet, active fidgety people who sweat a lot, and dark clothing attract them. 

In Pune, a restauranteur got the deadly filariasis disease, and his leg swelled with the worms and had to be amputated, and his son who cared for him also got the infection and both his legs were amputated but after living a painful bedridden life for a few years, he too could not be saved.  Another tragic memory is connected with an uncle who was a chemist in Ghatkopar.  He too contracted the deadly disease from some visiting patient, and died a painful death after suffering with the swollen extremities.  Just recently, I have observed a cycle repairer who used to have a stall near the Babulnath temple, afflicted with the disease.  It is a sad state of affairs, but he must have caught the infection from someone with the disease visiting the temple for heavenly reprieve.  Now he is a source of infection for any unlucky person who gets bitten with a mosquito that bites him.

Sometimes it makes me wonder why God created  this tiny animal which only spreads disease and despair.

49 - WHY FAST?

Nineteenth  of October, or nine days before divali is being celebrated as 'Karva Chauth', a festival that is celebrated by 'suhagans' .  This term, as all Indians know, refers to women whose husbands are alive.  Legend has it that a queen named Savitri, started this custom.

Savitri's husband died and the God of Death, Yumdoot came to collect his soul, she pleaded with him to let her husband remain alive.  Since Savitri had been a devout wife, Yumdoot granted her any wish except her husband's life.  So, Savitri said that she wanted 100 children.  And then her wish was granted and her husband got a new lease of life.  So all devout wives observe this auspicious day as Kavra Chauth and pray for their husband's long life.

So a festival for married women who are not widows.  But what about widows?  Are they dead too that they should not celebrate any thing at all, since they have no husband to pray for?  It is as if religion was made only for married women and all men only.

But every religion has some sort of custom of fasting.  Christians fast during Lent.  Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and it starts 46 days before Easter Sunday.  The month is in mourning for the death of Christ on Good Friday, and then his resurrection is celebrated on Easter Sunday.  So during the 46 days, Christians may give up something that they enjoy, as a sign of penance, meat or cigarettes or alcohol etc.  Zorastrians give up meat during a few days every month and during the ten days before navroze, when prayers are specially dedicated to the dead. These ten days are known as gathas.  Jains fast during Chaumasa in August and September, known as Santhana.  But that is mainly for older people.  Younger Jains and even children fast for a week eating only fruits, and boiled water, known as Paryushan.  Muslims and bohris fast during moharram for a whole month, but eat and drink before sunrise.  Hindus fast all the time, by mainly giving up whatever is white, like milk, flour products, salt, sugar, rice, etc.  Hindus fast on Mondays if they worship Shiva,  Thursdays are for sant Dattatreya, Fridays are for Santoshima, Saturdays are for Lord Hanuman,   and they also fast during Ganesh Chaturthi, Ekadashi, Mahashivratri,Gokulashtmi.  It is a custom  for Hindus to fast and the women walk barefeet during their fasts.  Fasting is a way to bargain with the gods for favours of a happy family life, a long life for the husband, or to fulfill some endeavour of a new business or job.

These details I have gleaned from my colleagues and my students.  Especially my students, who show so much self control to maintain their fast, although their classmates are eating and drinking during break time.  If only their self control would flourish and grow with age, so that they would refrain from any vices as adults.

So fasting is a way that religion has intervened to help humans to gain health and self control.  And to make a wish come true, because dreams help one to survive and thrive.





 

48 - CHINESE ALL THE WAY

 Today, on 28th October, Mumbai celebrated the first day of Divali celebrations with Dhanteras,  and most Hindu residents had lighted up their balconies with Chinese fairy lights.  Also the shops were all lighted up across their name boards with twinkling lights.  Multistorey buildings look pretty with different coloured lights blinking away, and the walls and trees enclosing their premises are also lighted with pretty lights, mostly made in China.  Chinese fairy lights are not only cheaper than the Indian ones, but also in so many different options to choose from.

So, as I looked out from the BEST bus window, the Kemps corner high rises, were all lit up as though to celebrate a wedding.    I alighted from the bus at Jaslok Hospital, but I dared not admire the pretty colourful lights now, because I had to watch my footsteps.  The footpath at Peddar Road is like the surface of the moon, as are most of the footpaths of Mumbai.

Anyway, today the footpaths have been taken over by the flower vendors, who are so creative in their toran making, with entire families involved.  You can see the obvious husband wife couples, with an old family member, and kids of all age groups, from ten to five to infants.  All are busy doing their bit to complete the finished product.  Yellow, orange, white marigold flowers, interspersed with bunched leaves and golden balls, woven into a lovely display of garlands to decorate the entrances of shops and homes.  These real flower torans are more aesthetic and more in demand than the artificial chinese ones.

The shopping at the Reliance Store at Mahalaxmi, left me riled.  One cannot find the healthy options here, except the uber expensive fruits.  There is nothing special for a 'sugar free' person to buy.  Sugar free biscuits, sugar free chocolates,  slow release cooking livo oil, slow release diabetic atta, sugar free vegetable and fruit juices, jamun sugar free juice, etc will not be found here.   Better than this shop, I got what I wanted across the road, at the other shops.  Mr. Mukesh Ambani, with you being one of the richest persons in the world, I assumed that you would also be the most aware and informed shopkeeper.  But there was a  crowd around the free JIO mobile recharge card table.  So many suckers for 'free' tags.

And then I returned home and observed the various advertisements along the outer fences and gates of the residences and shops I walked by.  Right from the Tata garden, along the majestic St.Stephen's Church, upto the Parsee Sanatorium and the famous Banoo Mansion at Kemps Corner, where   Zubin Mehta grew up to be a world famous conductor especially of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.  His father's home, is still used as the Mehli Mehta Musical Foundation, where music classes are conducted.  Whenever I walk past the Parsee sanatorium and the Mehli Mehta building, it gives me pride to belong to the zorastrian faith.  And then, across the road, just before the flyover is the boarded up unlucky shop, outside the Om Builders office.  I recall visiting this once lively shop, which is under litigation, as family members quarrel over the spoils.  It has been boarded up for so many years now, what a waste.  Four watchmen sit outside the premises, and once I had asked them why the place was shut and they had informed me about the family dispute.  What a waste of prime land.

Then, just at the turn of Kemps corner, is the stately entrance to the Parsee Towers of Silence,  the place where Zorastrians lay their dead to be consumed by birds and in the absence of vultures,  to be incinerated by natural solar energy.  The towering gate posts, display the nameplate,  'The Towers of Silence' were made in memory of the First Baronet of Mumbai, Sir Jamshetjee Jeejeebhoy, on 19th December. 1868.  When I used to visit Mumbai as a child, about 50 years ago,  this entire area was forested and there were no highrises at all,  but now it is a different landscape.

On the other side of the flyover, is Hobby Ideas and Crossword, the book store, a road which is always congested with double parked cars and the stink of the public toilet as one walks along.  Then is the very aesthetic window display of Anita Dongre and then my favourite shop, Biba.  But the eyecatcher of the entire street here, is Meena Bazaar, with the most exquisite sarees and ghagras on display. 

Walking further is quite a torture, as AC drips have to be dodged and footpaths blocked with parked two wheelers and four wheelers have to be traversed like an obstacle race.  The Sah and Sanghi showroom of new cars is the most tortuous, because in spite of a decent footpath, it is mostly blocked by the showroom's customers' vehicles.  The next sore is the now defunct Porsche showroom, whose manager committed a financial fraud and caused the company to be bankrupt at this centre.  That is the gossip that is doing the rounds.  Walking past buildings that have sad pasts, produces bad vibes.

Then further is the New Era School, now a drab and rundown exterior, which once boasted a very artistic mural of the Mahatma.  And on and on, I walked along a very narrow footpath, encroached by electrical pillars put up for road lights, that made it impossible to traverse in most places.

All along the paths that I have described, were NO PARKING signboards, squares of  eighteen inches, made of tin and wired onto gates and fences, where ever possible, with an advertisement painted on them. Some displayed as proper squares and others displayed in the diamond position.  Very innovative and of course free of any rentals.  So now I shall list the various ads that were displayed on these numerous square ad boards.

* Barbeque Nation at Atria Mall.
* My Glamm-Book your at home, spa and saloon service,  download the app.
* 100% gold load from HDFC.
* idp - free counselling to study in Australia, UK, Canada, US, New Zealand.
*Dock to door-Hamvi- no more fish market, you name it, we have it, prawns, pomfret, surmai, rawas,
   rahu, bombil.
* TITAN eyeplus, Wardem road.
* Office chair repairs, just call.
* Pestcontrol, call the experts.
* SENSO hearing aid experts, Kemps corner.
* HRC hard disk repairing, laptop repair, data recovery.
* SAN-hearing and speech clinic, total care.
* Beyond Fitness-cardio, strength training, spinning, zumba, power yoga, kick boxing.
* Career after HSc-NIIT-Grant road (W)

But the most popular one, or rather the most numerous ad was this:
* Free kaali peeli rides everyday, Just download the Ola app and 100% money back on kaali peeli rides.

I found it quite interesting to  read the ads.  They are displayed at eyelevel and of course the latest ones must be replacing the older ones.  My only wish is that if only I could put as many of these ads with the legend "NO PARKING" , no matter what they advertise after that,  at the wall of the buildings that park their BMWs and humangous SUVs and Skodas on public footpaths.  Chronic areas are the August Kranti Maidan entrances on both sides, a certain Dar ul Mulk building with lots of rich and care-a-damn car owners, at Pandita Ramabai Road,  and all the buildings along the Walkeshwar road, beginning from chowpatty and across Sital Baug and White House.   How I wish I had a magic wand, to make the cars parked on walking spaces disappear or get minimised.  Walking is so enjoyable, but in Mumbai, you have to only walk while you are supposed to walk aimlessly, just for the exercise, at maybe Marine Drive or inside Hanging Garden, Phirojshah Mehta garden or the Worli Seaface, or the Mahalaxmi race course, or the Bandra seaface,etc.  You cannot walk your way to work or to shop,  because those paths are not walkable, or blocked with garbage, like the Nagpada area, or parked across with vehicles, as most other places, or full of uneven tiling, which can cause you to trip and get seriously injured. 

Walking to any specific destination is not easy, nor fun at all, in Mumbai.  So that is one reason why the Mumbaikars are so potbellied and obese. 




 

47 - LOCAL SURGICAL STRIKE

Surgical stirkes were resorted to by the Indian army, to avenge the repeated seize fire violations and terrorist insursions by Pakistan into Indian territory.  That is a national issue, but at the local level, often one has to resort to such action in daily life, when faced with a chronic problem that has no other feasible solution.  Here is my take on a local 'surgical strike'.

It would seem that any person who is travelling by a taxi, is so comfortable and happy to be availing of this service.  But it is not such a 'happy' situation for the traveller at most times.

In Mumbai, the first problem is to be able to get into a taxi when one needs to.  And so I have to resort to a 'surgical strike' type of operation, to capture one.  First, I have to keep waving out, hoping that the cab is unoccupied and will stop.  Then the driver slows down and asks where I want to go, and if it does not suit him, he will just zoom off.  But if there is a red traffic signal nearby, then I can 'capture' the cab and forcefully make him take me to my destination.  Often I have to resort to more drastic means to catch a cab.  After patiently waving out to 5 or 6 cabs, in vain, I then just step out in front of one and request any passer-by to help me to enter the cab by blocking it, while I 'capture' the cab and settle in.  Of course, this is a bit difficult, since all passers-by are not too eager to help and until that happens, the traffic behind my 'captured' cab comes to a stand still, with a lot of cursing and honking, until the deed is accomplished.  But that is not the end to my woe.  The taxi driver then threatens to take me for a ride of my life that I will forever regret.  And then is the next step of my strategy.  I insist that he can do so and then answer to the cops who I shall dial on my mobile, and for extra effect, I take out my whistle, blow loudly and challenge the cabbie to take me safely or face dire consequences impromptu.  After two minutes, the cabbie opts to grumble aloud and carry on driving to my destination.  These cabbies grumble about their thankless job, about the sultry weather, or the incessant rains, or the countless potholes, and the corrupt policemen who fine them randomly, the new Ola cabs that have eroded their customer base etc etc.

My desperation to catch a cab is only when I am overloaded with my weekly marketing trip, or when I am desperate to reach my school on time.  Entering a cab, it is sometimes a torture to touch the handle, when one can observe red paan spit all over the exterior of the taxi door.  But it has to be handled carefully and I gingerly avoid touching more than necessary to get the door open.

In the mornings, when I am not tired and on my way to work, I settle into a cab and then follow a fixed action plan.  I turn the window handle clockwise to lower the window on my left, and turn the window handle anti clockwise, on the window on my right.  Until this process is completed, I try to hold my breath.  Once the fresh air has entered the cab, I breathe easily,  because 55 percent of our cabbies have TB or some sort of throat infection, or a persistant cough.  This statistic is only based on my personal experiences.  Some taxi drivers sleep in the back seat during the night and it is their 'bedroom',  which is a very depressing thought for me when I observe that the cab I enter has fabric seat covers.  At least plastic or rubber seat covers tend to be more hygienic and bug free, I suppose.

Then I make sure that the meter has been turned on, because there have been instances when the driver forgets to do so.  The next observation is the car dangler that occupies the centre spot of the wind screen.  If the driver is a Hindu, there is usually a plastic Hanuman in the reclining position, with  a curly wurly tail facing upwards.  Down on the centre of the dashboard,  a colourful ganpati figurine, with a beaded canopy, garlanded with fresh flowers, is displayed.  If the cab driver is Muslim, then a decorated CD, with urdu writings hangs happily, as a lucky taavees, dancing away with the taxi bouncing in and out of the numerous potholes.  Some taxis have a Saibaba statue installed on the dashboard, decorated with vermillion and turmeric, remnants of an early morning pooja.  A very popular centrepiece is also a plastic map of India, with two Indian flags across it.

On a few occasions, the cab driver bad mouths overtakers, or honks randomly,  but as a passenger it is prudent to stay quiet until the journey has ended and then express an opinion.  On one such trip, it was very difficult for me to compromise and be silent, while the driver kept popping his head out of his window and spitting at every opportunity, and at every signal stopover.  This is usually a stopover or slow down at eight key traffic crossroads, and I was very  uncomfortable.  When I was alighting, I gave the fare and also a Happy Dent pack of six to the driver and told him that chewing the happydent would help him to control his spitting which was not a very hygienic habit. 

I always keep an extra packet of Happy Dent with me and gift it to chronic spitters and tobacco chewing taxi drivers.  I wish Mr.Quadros, the taximens' union leader would address this problem.

And if my blog does get through to him, I have another suggestion too.  An unoccupied cab should display a green headlight or toplight, so that when we wave it down, we know that we are waving down an available cab.  Otherwise it is so difficult to surmise whether the approaching cab is free or not, especially in the night.

So, let there be Ola and Meru and TABcab services, but the easiest ones accessible to the common laymen, will always will be the Kaali Peeli cabs of Mumbai.