Mumbai to Delhi A Transformation

I don't really know whether you can term shifting between two culturally different cities as Transformation but going from a life of a Male Bachelor living with friends to starting living with your Family can be definitely termed so.
It has been a complete month and yet again the time flew like a hundred meter race , the case has been same since the last eight years when i had left my small town home to study in the city of cities , Mumbai. The month i should admit hasn't been boring at all as i used to live a monotonous life of almost the same intensity at my previous place as well but yes , that place had a difference. The difference in the fact that you never faced any questions about anything , you were never bound to come until a certain time lest anyone would get worried and start calling you frantically , you could go and have a chilling night out sitting by the sea looking at the moon and contemplate about life, ( the sea and the walks in the dead of the night are something that are sorely missed) and yet not worry about being safe for that place had something in the air that made a human go carefree and live the moment in the best possible way.
But to view it as a larger picture all the rules and regulations , all the late night worries etc comes with a slightly advantageous feeling of being loved by the family , the feeling of being taken care off by everyone around , the feeling of sharing the responsibility of the house and to top it all the feeling of belonging to something abstract that goes by the name "Home".

So getting a feel of the Delhi heat instead of the Mumbai's famed humidity , a foothold in the Delhi metro instead of the long serving Mumbai local , writing about the streets and the people of the national capital instead of the intricacies of the financial capital , observing the so Famed Delhi People's attitude instead of the never interfering Mumbai people, arguing with the auto rickshaw wallas instead of sitting carefree in one of them even at the dead of the night and last but not the least doing a bit of "Bird Watching" for Mumbai , Navi Mumbai for that matter did not have even an iota of the fashionista image possessed here , all and a lot more has been a part of this so called change

Don't really know what more is gonna be a part of this process of undergoing a sea of change but as they say Hope is the bestest medicine the world has got , so lets keep up the good work and continue Hoping.

Delhi , as I see it --- Part1...  

Mumbai's Saturday Night High !!!

The way of life that we associate with the City that never sleeps , the city of dreams - Mumbai regards the last day of the week - Saturday in the highest order. For this is the day where in you get to set your priorities in order as per your own wishes. For on this day you don't have to face the bickering orders from a senior at your workplace , you don't have to answer the numerous calls / texts from your loved ones about the going on day at work , you don't have to sweat your brains out about reaching your destinations at time , you don't have to worry about sleeping and waking up the next morning at the stipulated hour lest you miss the Fixed Morning local and above all the city that we are talking about in this particular post offers something for every age group to enjoy the day.

Regardless of the above written lines the Saturday Night is something that's revered and sometimes even asked for in wishes in front of the Gods to arrive a bit early for it is something that gives our generation a high even  with its thought. The bustling market places , the never sleeping streets of the suburbs , the classiness of the Southern Island , the discos , the pubs , the lounges , the eateries ,   the road side vendors are a part of the folklore for who so ever has spent even a chunk of his life in this city.

The high that people get in a party in this city be it a club in South Mumbai or a cheap disc in the suburbs can never be tasted in any other city in this country. The free flowing alcohol , the  chilled out , non interfering people , the handsome hunks and the pretty eye candies all mixed together give rise to a cocktail of emotions going on pretty rapidly in the mind of an individual who cannot refrain himself from getting drowned and drowsy under its effects. I would not like to talk about the food tastes , the availability of the drinks , the pleasing crowd for there are many web sites to let the people get accustomed to the same rather its about the pleasure of dancing with your friends or loved ones to the ear bursting music , the anxiousness about going forward and speaking to that pretty stranger who has been smiling at you through the evening , the feel of the atmosphere soaking into your mentality , the energy that lets the individual to think about going to multiple parties through the night , the spirit of the moment , the emotional outbursts all combined into a single piece of non mellowed down life that enthralls the common masses up to a limitless point.

A wise man once said that whilst you are working your life will be shaped by what you do on the weekdays and how much hair you let down on the weekends , i don't  know if i am the only one but this city's Saturday Night fever does write in itself a melancholy that holds these above written lines pretty much in the true sense.
For here in this insomniac city it is not about the money that you earned through the hard working toiling hours you put through the week days rather it is about the money that you spent on the garnering the fun you had on the weekends and yet remain humbly grounded for life never really gets epitomized by the social status that you cherish or the coolness that you show off in front of the masses , rather it is about something abstract , something that makes a man or a woman in fact overwhelm themselves with its high.!

P.S -  This was writtenlong back on a rather dull Saturday Night in Navi Mumbai ( Separated from Mumbai in almost every aspect) :P

The Old Age Adversity !!

Seeing an old couple fending themselves off while travelling in local trains can be a heart wrenching affair even for the very strong hearted individuals.The tenderness in their caring touch , the heart warming smile of togetherness of so many years , the respect for each other in their eyes are some of the things that our generation might only witness and not experience. Looking at these amazing human beings , people of our generation in their 20's can only wonder how would their twilight years be spent.

It can only compel us to think more about our parents who lived their own life bringing us up and for the sake of our careers allowed us to stay in metros while they are still confined to their regular small city lives. Seeing the Old Age homes where in amazingly weird children leave their so called parents to let some strangers look after them often tend to show case a pathetic scene about the parent child relationship in this country. A mere westernization in the job scene has led to some strange cultural drift in the minds and hearts of certain individuals who some how forget their childhood as well as tend to overlook their future at the same time.

Instead of feeling lucky for having elders and parents around we tend to become a bit more self oriented than required , as a result loose the opportunity to enjoy the warmth of the loving relations which in every case come without any self centered packages or selfish motives like many other relations. We basically forget it too often that the next generation which has started growing up with all the technological advancements around them might never be able to come to terms with something called emotionally amicable relationships that are way different than the virtual social relations that rule the roost in today's world. All of us tend to forget that taking care of our parents isn't any forced upon duty rather its their moral right to be taken care of after what all they did and sacrificed for us.

This isn't an individual getting emotional for his loved ones , rather a human being who cannot watch the apathy being showered upon the totally calm and collected parents and elders who in these times of adversity still manage to mesmerize the hearts of a selected lucky few.

P.S - The ball has always been in your court. Its upon you what you do with it.!!!

The Breakaway Month - June for an Indian Student !!!

The Breakaway Month, a period of 30 days that can literally transform lives of millions of Indians from an ordinary hard working high school student to an Undergraduate at a prestigious college or an extremely talented awe inspiring human looking for average colleges all over.

It is the month that can some how make or break a child's career. With the ever so increasing pressure of cracking the much acclaimed entrance exams along with the expectation to score high in the High school exams can make the best go insane with desperation.
It is the same time when almost every school student goes into a bewildered sense of joy owing to the summer holidays and the pupils in the class 12th are given the so called magic mantra of study and excel now the future will be easy by their parents. The magic mantra that fails to exist even for an iota of time given the unprecedented tough nature of undergraduate courses all over the country. The IIT's , NIT's , AIIMS and all other prestigious colleges that the whole nation wants to have a pie off become a part of the folklore that are enhanced and spoken about like bedtime stories to these children.

The want to achieve more and dream less takes a hell lot of toll on an average child's brain and he is stacked up against all the odds the country's education system has to offer and at the end of it all some lucky and some amazingly intelligent hard working students get through into the awesome top notch colleges in the country and the rest are left to fend for their own selves.Its an obvious thing that there is another stream of people who do make up with admissions owing to their lack of talent but the topic has been untouched for now.

Regardless of the disturbing differences in the education being offered by the different graded colleges in the country , its an alarming fact that  10 years after passing out of colleges that are almost non comparable two people can have almost the same remuneration. This not only offers a stark difference in the attitude of the entire population towards a child's career at the end of his school education also it gives a far greater insight into the amazing opportunities the Whole Market gives to the people who dream of making it big irrespective of where they are coming from.

The whole theory of a child deciding to do what his/her aptitude is somehow stands negated at the tender age of 18 , as according to the general perspective life's greatest decisions are taken at this time. Instead the aptitude does keep on changing with the change in the practicality towards life and effects the decisions made earlier by a great deal.

At the end of it , it some how does not matter where and how the child does the studies from , instead what he/ she does with life and the people involved in it that makes the actual outcome of the Life worthy in our own eyes.

Delhi Metro- 2.Continued...

There's something weird and exciting in seeing a foreigner push his way through a thick crowd in a filled up to the brim metro. Moreover this weird excitement can form the basis of writing about "The System" on yet another night.

System where in you get to see and observe a hell lot more people than you can even imagine to think and write about in the capital city of India.

People who as a matter of fact redefine the landscape of someone's thoughts about Delhi , people who by their actions can lead to a change in the whole settled mindset of an outsider towards the National Capital , people who by their small acts can leave an imperishable print in the hearts and minds of the observers , fifteen days aren't much to fully have a broad perspective about the system but some examples like an arrogant looking young woman standing up from her seat to let a partially handicapped young adult have her seat or a hot blooded youngster letting a pretty girl sit around her without the girl having to worry about bearing the continuous stares at her bare neck and many others likewise that have made me stand up and take notice about the hidden specialties and the species this city has about which the People of this country have no clue about , species who are completely concealed by the enormous misconceptions and the general perceptions of this nation's population.

But to put all the amazing things about this system and the national capital in to a garbage can is the scene outside the AIIMS metro station. The station that houses the traffic from the areas around the best Hospital of the country is so filled up with people who are not able to find beds inside the Hospital or are not able to afford the so called Amazing hospitals that charge everyone a bomb. Seeing a poor man lying around the stairs with a glucose drip in one hand and something to eat in the other can be a sight one must never forget. The sight like this that doesn't allow we Indians to forget about the poverty all around while we are busy making what so ever money we make in our comfy jobs and offices and also leave an ever lasting imprint in our hearts for doing something about these poor people can not only bring joy to them and their family , it somehow also leaves us happy and content.

To Sum the day up - going outside of the metro i was taken aback when an auto rickshaw started his meter as soon as i took my seat inside it and asked to pay by the meter rate which in fact was fifteen bucks cheaper than what normally we need to shell out.

Peace Out.

Delhi Metro ... To Be Continued...!!

The Peak Hour Conundrum !! The Delhi Metro !!

It is without doubt the second most unsolvable conundrum in the Capital City of India after the amazingly obnoxious traffic snarls.
"The Peak Hour Rush" associated with , i would say what right now is the lifeline of this city , the Delhi Metro.
I prefer to call the Metro a " System " as it is pretty well planned and handled just to be called a medium of transport. Just like the Mumbai Local is the Lifeline of Mumbai , the "System" is the mode of peaking into the minds and souls of the people of Delhi and NCR

For every amazing thing in this universe has its cons and this piece of art that has made travelling like a cakewalk in the city has many that are unseen to the common man's eye. As a matter of fact the advantages are way beyond the few cons the DMRC has and that is surely the main reason for it resounding success. A success of a magnitude that the Model is being replicated to other parts of this Nation speaks a lot about the initiative and the time spent in the meticulous planning and execution of the whole damn system.

Yet it has taken just a fortnight for a fellow traveler from the Financial Capital of this Nation " Mumbai" to somehow have a perspective about the magnitude of the weird state of the minds and the confused souls of the people who commute through the system regularly.
It is a widely known fact in the country that the people of Delhi are the most amazingly non flexible when it comes to loosing their temper but some how in the "System" you tend to observe the flashes of brilliance among the people that just makes the above written so called known fact totally redundant. Seeing some one step on your shoes and hearing a low voiced sorry does give you a feel that you are not actually in Delhi , instead you are amazed at the peculiar calmness the system has bestowed on the minds of the people.
Nevertheless fights , arguments do happen , some might lead to fist fights as well ( never witnessed one till now ) but that has more to do with the confusion of the commuters with where to actually stand and how to give way to the fellow commuters when some highly influential station is about to be reached.
For the people in this city do like to stand in the space between the doors on the either side instead of going in the middle of the coach or utilizing the vast spaces that have been left by the manufacturers at the junction of two coaches. I don't know whether it has something to do with the prevalent impatience that the people in this city have or is it simply their unawareness about the fact that the Metro's Air Conditioning System is at its strongest at the junction of the Coaches.
Among st all this commotion and confusion and the hurry , the most important thing that a person (who likes observing ) never misses to observe in this city is the promiscuous eyes and the reaction of the prey to the continuous stares and the passing of comments , but in this context i can frankly state that the mindset of the people in this city has undergone some vast changes with time ,especially on the Peak Hour System when everyone is in a mind boggling hurry to reach their destinations. They still cast some curious glances over some pretty faces but that is something you can do once in a while and no one would hold any objections against it.
On a serious note the truth is , this city might be called the Rape Capital , but it has another facet of it that is somehow hidden from the outside world by a cloak, the facet that can only be experienced once you start being a part of this magnanimous city and are completely immersed in its benevolent "System".

New Delhi && Delhi Metro Part1 ... To be Continued !!!