The weekend muse… Aquarium idea

Friday was dull… Wanting to watch the Tim Burton movie ’9′ and the Peter Jackson’s ‘District 9′, I was left waiting for the want of company.

Saturday morning was wasted after being ditched by the IT consultant for whom the morning was kept free. Plans for the evening were already drawn out when a last minute meeting with a close relative sprang up! It had to be attended and suddenly after a spate of free time, I was double booked. Was suddenly glad that friends did not agree to movies as that would have made things even more complicated! The day ended after enjoying Kaminey for the third time and chit-chatting till 4 am.

Sunday was eventful too - A dash from Thane to Chowpatty had me battling unexpected traffic snarls in Dadar as many taxis started coughing up water from an unexpected spell of heavy rains that hit Bombay on Sunday. It was a welcome relief inspite of the ensuing traffic jam! The pav-bhaji and pizza at Sukh-sagar was worth the hassle especially as it was followed up by this Falooda! (pic clicked by me)

A walk at chowpatty beach reminded of college days spent in the company of friends and girlfriends… The sight of the Saifee hospital was something! (pic from internet) It definitely adds another jewel to the glittering Bombay Skyline! The good foo, the architecture and the moisture laden sea-breeze got me thinking as I lay my eyes on the shoddy state of the Taraporewala Aquarium! Instead of building a 300 crore (thats Rs 300,00,00,000 or US $ 60,000,000)  statue (no offence, but Shivaji has nothing to do with Bombay’s development or rise)…. Anyways, Instead of building a Rs 300 Cr Shivaji statue, the Govt should construct an aquarium on the Queen’s necklace promenade! Yep! The place next to the ocean which is a nice place for a walk should be turned into a giant aquarium UPON which the people would walk. It can be made from thick glass to sustain heavy weight and the brunt of nature and man. The aquarium would be the largest open air aquarium in the world and it should be free – a tribute to the people of Bombay and to tourists who come to visit the city! Instead of trying to mimic other countries by making tunnels inside aquariums, why not build an aquarium in a tunnel upon which people can walk???!!! Now that would be original and different and creative!

Instead of erecting statues as a tribute to heroes, this would be something creative that would be enjoyed by the young and the old alike irrespective of their caste, color or creed! Something that unifies us as a people and does not divide us into various groups and factions!

The drive back from Chowpatty saw me have a petty skirmish with another car driver who scrapes my vehicle and does not even bother to apologise. A gentle nudge at his car from the rear while he was waiting at a signal promptly resulted in an apology and an explanation for the incident! Sometimes the civic sense in people needs to be shaken up as it drifts into a slumber from the daily drudgery of the city life…

Sunday evening was Plum cake, followed by a 4th place victory by Force India at the Italian GP. The Brawn GP cars once again showed their might as they drove their way to a 1-2 victory after a brilliant pit strategy at the Italian GP at Monza that saw them taking just a single pitstop! Rubens Barrichello was a delight to watch as he goofed about in delight post race at the podium. “Dead-fish” Raikkonen was 3rd. He did not  bother to congratulate the other winners or take part in celebrations. Even drank more champagne than he showered upon his team. No smile on his face to show joy for the 3rd place finish after Hamilton crashed in the final stages of the race with 2 laps remaining. Q: Do they call Kimi the ‘iceman’ becaue he is as cold as a fish? Perhaps another Pav-bhaji, pizza and a falooda will help me ponder over that one…

PS: It was sweet to see Force India give Ferrari a run for their money on Ferrari’s home race @ Monza, Italy! For the uninitiated, the two teams have a bitter history. Kimi Raikkonen, while driving for Ferrari, has crashed twice into a Force India car driven by Adrian Sutil and prevented the Force India team from scoring points in Formula 1! Every point garnered by a F1 team helps the team earn revenue from the sport and other benefits like free transportation to races, revenue from television rights, etc.  The Force India team also switched from Ferrari Engines in 2008 to Mercedes engines in 2009 when Ferrari refused to give them their current and most latest engine. Now the team, owned by Vijay Mallya, in its 2nd year at Formula 1  has improved from being a back-runner to a front-runner and has been giving the top-runners tough competition since the past few races. Force India has a budget that is about 1/3rd to 1/4th of the big teams in Formula 1. While the big teams have been competing since decades Force India is 2 years old in the sport. Toyota, who is reported to have a budget thats even larger than Ferrari’s budget has failed to show performance in the sport that has seen manufacturers like Honda and BMW who have exited and are planning to exit the sport from next year! This makes Force India’s most recent success even more phenomenal. The team finished 2nd on the Podium in the previous race at the Belgian GP and now has 13 points in the 2009 Formula 1 season.

The great darshan – Lalbaug cha Raja

The talk

Me: Mom, lets go to Lalbaug for the darshan. Mom: When so and so went there, they had to stand in line for more than 12 hours ! From Morning 10′o clock till night 11!….  Me: We wont have to do that as we’ll go during odd hours… Mom: Not now. Your sis wants to go there too. we’ll all go together!

The darshan

So sis and I decide to go to Siddhivinayak on Tuesday. Our logic was – it being Ganesh festival and swine flu, the crowds will be diluted and less in numbers.And we were right! We did not have to wait for even 20 mins at Siddhivinayak temple to get the darshan.

The diversion

I had done it before – When people had to wait for 10-12 hours in the queue, I went on my whim and was able to get the darshan in 1-2 hours! And today I felt like doing that… So instead of turning the 2 wheeled menace left, I turned it right! Sis was immediately excited – “Are we going to Lalbaug? Why are we turning right? Did you forget the road?”. Lest she protests, I pretended to not hear her under the helmet We found a nice parking spot for the 2 wheeler and started walking towards the Ganpati pandal. We were looking for something that said “Lalbaug cha Raja”!

The Instinct

Sis had been to the same pandal more recently than me. She even had a good sense of direction (at least, that’s what I thought!). I asked her if we were at the right place, and she said yes. The decorations were grandiose and there was also a queue and crowd. I believed her. The queue was less and I attributed this fact to my keen instinct for such things! It was not till we were in the queue and waiting for the darshan when we realised we are in the wrong pandal! This was Ganesh Galli and Lanbaug cha raja was 2 lanes away The man who shared ths deep insight with us also told us that the queue there was only 20 mins long. He had just had the darshan there! WOW! 20 mins @ Lalbaug is like winning the Ganpati lottery! People have to wait 10 hours and more to get a glimpse of the elephant head god! My instinct proved to be correct!

The other pandal

The other pandal was not what we were looking for, but it was still the same God and the decorations were good here. So we decided to stay. It was here that we decided to call home and ask mom to come to where we were. “Mom, the queue is only 20 mins long, please come soon” She refused! We both were livid! I suggested we skip the darshan and go to pick her. But only after taking the darshan here.

The idol and the decor were both nice @ Ganesh galli.

About turn

We decided to take a cab on our way back as there would be parking issues. But I had a good parking spot in mind and we ended up taking the car as it would be faster. We would park the car at a distance and then take a cab from the parking place to the pandal. We had not reached too far from our house when it happened!

The accident

As the car was descending a bridge, the car in front suddenly slammed on its brakes. I followed suit, but it was a moment where anything can happen as our car, with all 4 wheels locked up, was skidding and the distance between our car and the one in front was gradually diminishing. I had to do something else the result would not turn out to be good. Who knew what had happened ahead and a series of “what ifs” ran thru my head!

As soon as I found an opening I swerved the car to the left and took my foot off the brakes and stepped on the gas. I avoided the car in front and managed to avert disaster – I also managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of the cause – unfortunately, I also saw a cab go over a man lying face down on the road towards the end of the bridge! The idiot cabbie was driving with his lights switched off – a standard but deadly practice amongst the cabbies of Bombay! I presume the man had either been stuck by some other vehicle or he had had the misfortune of falling in front of the vehicle. The man could have been drunk too…

Because of the traffic, I could not wait to find out what happened of the man but a few cars, including the one that was ahead of me, had stopped to help the man. Mom was shaken, sister was stirred! I drove on. The cab responsible for the accident had jumped the signal ahead and fled. A few people on bikes took off after the cab in an attempt to catch him.

The next couple of miles were passed in silence. It was only when some driver cut me off at a circle, and I returned the favour, that mom spoke “Spike!, How are you driving?” she yelled at me…. Normalcy

I told mom, there is an unwritten rule on the streets of Bombay – If someone cuts you off and you do not return the favour, you will get cut-off by motorists for a whole entire year. “Did you not know that  mom?” I asked. Sis started laughing… Of course, no such thing exists, but Mom didn’t know that and she bought it

The Queue

We proceeded as planned, parked the car and took a cab – the queue was long, it also started raining when we got out of the cab. We were told the wait was a good 2 hours from where we were standing! I was disappointed as my instinct did not work and I had to make Mom wait in queue under the rain (we forgot our umbrellas in the car). But I hid my disappointment as I wanted mom n sis to be in a good mood. “The rain will pass in no time, look the queue is moving already.” I said with a smile. Our spirits lifted as the rains slowed and stopped. The queue moved with surprising agility!

But soon the wait proved to be illusionary – the queue started moving fast and we were close to the idol in no time. Mom, sis and I finally got a glimpse of the lord! The wait in the queue lasted a mere 30 minutes in lieu of 2 hours!

The darshan!

Bliss… Mom had a darshan of this famous idol called “lalbaug cha raja” after more than 35 years of living in Bombay! That in itself was deeply satisfying for me!

Note: lalbaug cha raja =King of Lalbaug. Lalbaug is an area in Bombay famous for hosting large Ganesh Idols with lavish decorations during the Ganesh festival. The idol is believed to have divine powers to grant your prayers if you pray with utmost faith and conviction.

No – Its not!

I took a skeptical peek at the markets expecting the Sensex to open lower (again) today! I was glad that the so called “experts” who were claiming that the recent terror strike in Bombay will be disastrous for the markets (read it here, here and here) have been proved wrong.

The Sensex opened strong – markets are up 2% and unless there is bad news from some other area, they should continue to hold the gains. The terror strike is not going to change the way business is being conducted in Bombay or in rest of India. People will continue to work with the same gusto as they did prior to the attacks – even those who narrowly missed dying!

Being the optimist that I am – I’m glad to see that Its business as usual at Dalal Street!

Now, things WOULD be different for the Sensex if we had a plan to go after the terrorists and their bases! And in the interest of long term peace and safety – that would not be such a bad thing to do.

On a different note, people are protesting to stand against terrorism by wearing black today! I am not that kinda person – I’d rather wear white to stand FOR the NSG commandos who were ready to take a bullet to end the siege.

Has anyone come up with an action plan to give them a raise and medals for their bravado? Or will we continue to honor our Men in Uniform only posthumously?