BOMBAY TODAY

Consumer attention span on decline!!

2011-11-02T10:28:00.000+05:30

We are seeing a worldwide phenomenon which is the Friday syndrome!!Mumbai releases its movies on Fridays also called the Box office day...and in Mumbai parlance each Friday brings a new star...what happens to the earlier ones??Well they are easily forgotten...sounds familiar and rings a bell if you are in marketing function.
Catching the attention and retaining the mind share is the two basic premises of sales.

Recently i started to attend many Industry shows which showcase the existing and future range of product line. Today very rarely one finds a niche where one is the single player..so it brings in to equation the Catching attention and retaining mind share concept. So if you are a Brand manager or in marketing i suggest you think of tradeshow giveaways as a gentle but constant reminder for your clients.

Whats important is to be subtle and not go over the top. Something which the customer is to carry daily or touch and feel daily is a good way to start...Key rings which are customized to water bottles which add hip to gyming...the ideas could be many and innovation can be brought in.

Today's smart marketers are subtly targeting the kids as they influence the purchase decision a lot but how ethical is it for your product and industry is a call one needs to take thinking of own kids....Happy retaining and innovating...

Thanks Mumbai Police!!

2011-10-16T16:52:00.001+05:30

The section of society we remember only when things go wrong are definitely the Police....
Now that the Mumbai police has undertaken and delivered a trouble free Ganeshotsav and is looking forward to a peaceful Diwali,its time we recognised and congratulated them on a good job done.
Not undermining the one of cases of a policeman getting caught taking bribe almost daily.....

I do appreciate the good work done by Delhi police in the recovery of RDX from Ambala, which would have caused disaster at Delhi during Diwali crowds.These stories needs to be told and highlighted...
Like society our machinery is also diverse, some are honest, some are grey and some are black and happy about it with impunity.
So how do these dishonest individuals build around a shameless sense of impunity around them?? Once i confronted a shameless creature at Tata Hospital who was an attendant to a patient, he was denying seat to a cancer patient against the normal courtesy or the rule.
The best part is he was blatantly shameless about it and unwilling to budge....he was a Railways employee...
So is it the upbringing or the value system one inherits....what goes on in developing Character??
What impact the hurly burly and super competitive Mumbai life has on the values and ethos of an individual???

Auto strike Mumbai!!

2011-10-04T11:06:00.001+05:30

The auto strike is shameful and brazen!!

Dev Anand-Legend lost!!

2011-09-27T10:47:00.001+05:30

There are some greats who were great because they good things in heydays and there are greats who doa very shabby job at 87 yers age and get applauded.
The legend of Dev Anand lives on..Born in 1923 and an iconic youth model who gave Indian Cinema gems like, Guide Hum dono and many more...
Sadly his contribution to Indian Cinema in last 2 decades that i have seen has been crap!!The legendary actor lives in his own imaginary world and makes and acts in films which are beyond c class. Why this deterioration..who are the people who advise him...Why these once sensible actor starts believing in filthy trash of celluloid and calls it Cinema???
I fail to understand....
Remember similar incidence of Rajesh Khanna coming out of the oblivion and acting in a sleazy movie doing sex scenes which looked disgusting to say the least...
On the other hand one got Rishi Kapoor and Big B who still seems to know who they are and what they represent in life...sorted and grounded,,,,
Take a look at Charge sheet first look...

Strikes and Murders!!

2011-09-21T16:10:00.001+05:30

Mumbai is a city of chaos..and more you travel the more chaotic it becomes. Some days back the Andheri RTO walke up and decided to check the rampant tempering of the Autoricksaws meters by drivers.
Afraid of being caught of the wrong doing the rick walas decided to call it a strike and stopped to ferry passengers!!
Now was it anger on authority or public??But the common public pays as one can notice the crowd outside stations..One of my friend came up with the logic that this strike is to vent anger towards the traffic and RTO authority cause it was they who took bribes and allowed the tampering to happen. Now they are going back on their promise of saving the interest of the tamperer autowalas??
The strike by the civic body staff added to the cheos as garbage started piling on the streets...the Mumbai moisture and humidity is so conducive to the rafting stench..anyone crossing a fish market or the Khari can vouch for the stench carrying capacity of Mumbai air.
One of my most dreaded experiance of coming out of the sterile Airtel office at Interface Malad and hit by the hot and humid air of the sea..which smells like dead fish!!Don't know how the Vegan populace deals with the ever strong stench of Mumbai!!
Mean while the city of Mumbai continue to witness killing of elderly women by the people one trusted.The latest murder was by the Grandson and his juvenile friends??Why -they just wanted the bike dad said no to!!
As in most cases the murder was solved thanks to the mobile phone tracking!!
Many still lie about their whereabouts forgetting the most common corroborating device the Cell!!Just one print out and all your privacy of where have you been is in front of the cops!!
So those who get inspired by the dirty crime shows and plan a shabby murder..learn to dump your mobile first...
And as for my darling Mumbai..a couple of strikes and stench its all taken in its sultry stride!!

Ganpati Bappa and Security!

2011-09-10T17:14:00.000+05:30

The resident god of Mumbai "The Ganesha" is on his yearly visit. This means a slew of Pandals and Puja canopies across the city..the locals organize and operate the festival, whose budgets cross millions of ruppees.

Mumbai loves its Ganesha and thus huge lines can be seen outside the intricately and royally decorated tents.
However the challenge it brings to the establishment is enormous..the role of Mumbai Police and the local administration is commendable.

Upkeep of Security during festive season takes prime focus as the huge congregation of people makes them easy targets of terrorism.
According to me their lies a common understanding even in the terror camps to not disturb the festive season.
The logic is simple, an attack on any prominent Hindu festival could trigger an counter attack on the minorities hence threatening the support base of terror organisation.

I have no doubt that though an average Muslim is fed up of terror and wants to see kids growing in a safe and secure environment, many are hard core sympathizers and financiers of the act of propagation of terror.

As i write this post the Ganesha ceremony is inching towards a closer with peace..We in Mumbai chant Ganpati Bappa Morya Pudhcha varshi Luvkarya!!

Laughing on Bomb Blasts!!!??

2011-09-08T17:30:00.000+05:30

Last noon at the office, during lunch we happened to see thenews of bomb blast at Delhi…11 killed 75 injured outside Delhi High court!!

Three of us sharing food and thoughts started having a weirdtalk around who could have done it!!One of the colleague suggested going by thebig high it gives media post a blast..he wouldn’t be surprised that it was doneby a media guy..

Then the discussion veered to who else benefits from a blast…

Pat came the answer- Telecom companies….we all start callingeach other to find if all is well??

Who else: Doctors and Hospitals??

Who else: Security companies??

Who else: Security device manufactures??

Who else: Disgruntlled political party trying to ward of attention from systemic corruption andfailure??

Who else: God mens, cause in times like these our quantum ofprayers increase many folds??

Sadly we laughed at our weird and sick logic and discussion…

Cause as citizens of this Great country we have learned totake Blasts and terror attacks in our stride..till the time its our own turn!!

Indian media and politicians double standards!!

2011-09-06T14:17:00.001+05:30

Aha as always it takes some brilliant but disruptive agency like Wikileaks to tell us what we have suspected already....
Wiki-leaks founder Assagne should be sent to mental asylum: Mayawati
Its horrible and so undemocratic,what kind of mentality allows one to send a privet jet to Mumbai from Lucknow to fetch sandals when one rules the poorest of poor??
Asking the cabinet minister to do sit-ups for meeting a constitutional head is so tinpot!!
The irony of the situation is Ms Mayawati proclaims to represent the poorest of poor and Dalits!!What a farce..the dalits should come out and protest against there exploitation by their own representative. I am sure the Dalits want some one who could improve their worsening situation rather than living a life of gross opulence!!The people of UP must draw a comparison with Ms Mamta Baneerjee and see how a leader should use public money!!
These leaks show the worst side of democracy when the elected reps rape the people!!
Now one burning question which comes to my mind is that what our so called hawk media guys where doing all these years!! Didn't they knew what was going on at Lucknow...do we always need a foreign agency to pin point our fault lines!

Dear NDTV,CNNIBN,AAJTAK,INDIA TV,TOI,ET,HINDU would you all the so called 4th state care to describe why you guys are repeating wikileaks and claiming this is news to you...Introspect and and you will find that you bogged down or got bought over...Please clarify!!

Is Bombay the city of Sexual perverts??

2011-09-03T21:31:00.001+05:30

Just a look at the TOI Mumbai edition of today reveals some horrible read:
1. Couple arrested for abuse of minor girls
2.Cops on rapists' trail bust flesh trade racket
3. Citizen bodies help trace the sodomiser
4. 60 yr old held for molestation
5. Youth arrested for rape
These are just the glimpses of a common days news from the metro-police..One thing i have noticed common in most cases is the perpetrator of the crime is a migrant laborer and the suffers are from the illegal shanties!!
life is not fair and equal but the plight of kids from lower income class is bad..they are predisposed to sexual violence and torture. Frightening fact is the custodians of there well being are the violators mostly!!
What kind of social support we are offering to these kids.
Who monitors the many orphanages run by the society..??To be continued!!

Mood of Mumbai!

2011-08-22T15:58:00.000+05:30

The mood is somber..Mumbai saw a huge turnout yesterday from Juhu to Bandra. 100 thousand +people on the streets chanting...Long Live Anna..End corruption!!

Even in the small satellite towns and streets selfless group of individuals can be seen chanting slogans of corruption free movement..What India and Mumbai is witnessing is the History in making. The age group of fellow protesters is diverse from school kids to Sr citizens. The famous and fabled Dabbahwalas of Mumbai who pride themselves of 6 sigma honour, for the first time in their 120 yrs history went on a strike to support Anna!!

They say the writing on the wall is more clearly read by the people on the street rather than people ensconced in the AC rooms of the high-rise!!

The time is ripe the need is to be relentless in the demand for the Jan Lokpal bill...its now or Never!!Wake up the sleeping cynics!!!

Unprecedented!!

2011-08-18T19:08:00.002+05:30

What has been happening in India since last couple of months is nothing short of the Jasmine revolution.Never has the Government of the day felt threatened by a man of short height and timid stature..but what he lacks in physical appearance gets fully compensated by the strong resolve of his core!!

World has got a new youth role model meet Anna Hazare....

In a diverse country like India its surprising to see the overwhelming response garnered by Anna in just an year.

He and his group of supporters have made the Central Government look like a bunch of fools. But despite his increasing clout and acceptance the true Gandhian remains humble and delightful.

Anna is ably supported by people of high morale caliber and with the wishes and sincere support form the masses is writing a new history for a new India.Kudos,Salute..Jai Hind!!

Life moves on!!

2010-12-11T19:24:00.002+05:30

I was wise the other day wiser today and probably shall be more wiser tomorrow.Now a days grappling with the very subtle nuances the mid life throws out to you...like going full on in search of money or be loyal and trusted lieutenant!!!

I admire my senior for his clarity to run behind the money...

Being probably from the old school of followers didn't dared to be too risk taking thus played safe!!

Today it seems that playing safe is cowardice!!

My advise to most youngsters is to keep moving on to the next company which offers a 100% growth every 2-3 yrs...

Wish i had done the same...probably was too frightened to move out of the comfort zone!!

Hiatus..

2010-07-25T21:40:00.002+05:30

So sorry for being out of sight and out of mind hit a road block...a mental one...

But if a Big B can be regular despite his grueling schedule and age..guess its all about discipline!!

I did some thing good today held a silence vow for 9hrs.Not a single word spoken..the basic communication was through signs or scribbled words??

Best part was that the kids started responding to me in sign??I asked her by writing If you could speak why hush hush??

Guess thats what is conditioning all about..

So you had a silent husband and a pleading wife..who thought its because of her ranting that the silent marathon has begun??

But it was so good..felt as if a lot of energy is wasted in shouting yelling and telling???

So the learning is to do the silent period again and again as its one of the ways to master self restraint...the Gandhian way??

As for the post...shall post some thing daily from now on...Love and peace to all...

Mumbai celebrates death sentence to terrorist!

2010-05-07T19:17:00.000+05:30

Muslims were Friday at the forefront of the celebrations in the city since the death sentence pronounced on Ajmal Amir Kasab a day ago and one has even offered to be the hangman for the Pakistani terrorist.

The celebrations which went on till late Thursday night and continued in some areas even before the Friday namaaz, took many other citizens by surprise.

"We are not celebrating like Muslims - we are Indians and this is India's victory over a Pakistani 'shaitaan' - and he deserved nothing less than the death penalty," said Shabbir S., the trustee of a hospital in south Mumbai who lit firecrackers worth nearly Rs.10,000 soon after the sentence was pronounced Thursday.

Many Muslims in the city also happily distributed sweets, especially pedas - the symbolic sweetmeat distributed for all auspicious occasions or glad tidings - to friends, neighbours and even people on the streets.

Sayed Zafar, a businessman, said there were news reports suggesting a shortage of hangmen in India.

"No problems at all. I am ready to become a hangman and I shall hang Kasab - it will give me great satisfaction - if the government permits," Zafar told IANS.

A Muslim social worker and businessman, Afzal Sheikh, said the judgment should come as an eye-opener to the whole world about the majesty of the Indian democracy.

"Now that India has done what it promised, will the US break relations with Pakistan and stop supporting that country?" Sheikh demanded.

The Raza Academy in south Mumbai, a forum of prominent Muslim intellecturals, was also at the forefront of celebrations. Its office-bearers burst fire crackers and distributed sweets.

Some families - like the Kachwalas in Kandivli - offered a 'namaaz' of thanksgiving after the judgment was pronounced.

"This one human being is responsible for taking so many innocent lives that he cannot be a Muslim, and no terrorist has any religion - they are only terrorists and must go to hell," said Abdullah Kachwala.

Mohammed Taufiq Shaikh, a humble tea-vendor at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) where Kasab and his associate Abu Ismail killed many people, perhaps celebrated the most. He distributed tea free of cost to all commuters who cared to take it Thursday.

He had the maximum reason to be happy - he was after all a victim of one of the bullets fired by Kasab and survived. Reason enough to distribute free tea...!!

Mumbai local motorman on strike!!

2010-05-03T20:22:00.001+05:30

The state government has requested the offices to close early to prevent any incovenience to commuters during the rush hour in the wake of hunger strike called by motormen of both Central and Western railway.

The private companies have been asked to shut down by 3 pm, while banks and public sector offices have been asked to close down by 4 pm. The government offices are to close by 5 pm.The motormen have called for a hunger strike earlier in the day to press for their demands for better pay.

Railway officials said that trains in both the routes were running as per schedule.
Buses have been put on standby at all major stations by the government to help commuters reach home.
Hundreds of policemen have been positioned at train stations to avoid chaos and to guide commuters.

Maximum City maximum anger!!

2010-03-21T14:52:00.002+05:30

Whats your fault when you are killed by a so called high profile retired Government servant at a tender age of 14!!

Moraliya is one such example of high handed human being who thinks he has the right to abuse all including the system which created him!!d

I shudder in disbelief at what Moraliya would have done to his subordinates and innocent victims of him during his service with the Customs dept??

We all witness so called high profile individuals throwing their weight and stature at poor unsuspecting souls who out of awe and embarrassment do not complaint!

Recently during my annual trip to my in laws place i meet one such frustrated high school teacher!!

This old man was set to prove all wrong,like he wud ask questions to kids on difficult concepts never listen to their replies but declare them failures in life??

Next he will humiliate the parents of the kid with same question!!I had enough of this in an hour i asked him to come with me to a corner,once there i asked him about How Geosynchronous satellites function and whats the diff between an weather satellite and GSLV??

This was just to stump him as expected he blurted how am i supposed to be knowing this!!

I told him he is careless and a failure in life not knowing all this and i am sure his long dead parents will be ashamed of him!!

The wisdom dawned on the so called intellectual who took delight in declaring others a fool.

leaving him speechless i walked away!!

Last heard his tantrums are less but not cured...he still rejoices in declaring others a failure...guess what he would have done to the students under him in his long tenure as a teacher??

WHAT HAS ARMY GIVEN YOU ?????

2010-01-25T15:25:00.001+05:30

A beautiful article by Col Abhay Gupta

I was all of 48 yrs when I was superseded in my present rank. At a
social-do, I was asked by this pretty girl, ‘Just 48, and the end of the
road for you! What has Army really given you? You’ve never been paid well
in the Army. And see what they have done to you now!’ I appraised her from
top to bottom. I must confess she was a pretty sight. What I told her was
this. Army, my dear, is a way of life. It is not about making a living. As
far as supercession is concerned, lady, that is way of army life. You can’t
complain just because your personal interest, as you perceive it, has not
been looked after.

Army has wonderful, time-tested evolved systems. You don’t fight personal
battles for the heck of it. And it is about selfishness, dear – Service
Before Self is our motto. Remember it is a Service (seva). There are no
expectations of rewards in Seva, for Seva is considered its own
reward. ‘What has Army given me?’, you asked. It has given me a glimpse and
understanding of dimensions you, in the civil sector, can only wonder and
feel over-awed about. Have you any idea of camaraderie? When you see a
soldier brave the shower of artillery shrapnel to rush to rescue his
bleeding colleague just wounded in the shelling you KNOW the meaning of the
word ‘camaraderie’. When you are lying in a hospital on a DI List, and
there are 20 blood donors of your blood-group spending the cold night in
the verandah of the hospital, just so that any emergency call for blood to
save your life may be attended to, that is camaraderie. Camaraderie implies
selfless help and support to someone who is not necessarily a friend. You
have to cross Banihal, my dear, to understand all this.

Do you know the holy significance of the word ‘command’? It is a sacred
word. And who can know the meaning of it other than a person in uniform?
Even the CEO of a Fortune 500 company can’t comprehend the significance of
this sacred word. When you are in ‘command’ you are God. Can you comprehend
what being God can be like? It is not about the authority, it is about
responsibility. The authority comes into play after you have rendered your
part of the deal of unflinching loyalty displayed towards your
subordinates. Now when you signal him - not ask him or tell him or order
him - to dash-down-crawl- observe- fire, and in the process subject himself
to imminent death, he does so without a second thought.. This is when you
REALIZE what is so sacred about command. Even before you can move your hand
to the door of the car/ gypsy, the driver jumps from his seat and beats you
to the door, your door, is what command gets you. Such are the rewards of
command.

Do you know the meaning of ‘being a gentleman’? In the last thirty years in
uniform one has witnessed a proliferation of designations in the civil
environment. There have been Executive Officers, and there have been
Managers - General Managers, Assistant Managers, and a whole spectrum of
them. There are CEOs and Vice Presidents. In the Army we have only
‘Officers’. Some are General Officers and some just Company Officers. Even
at the induction level we have Young Officers. What it means to be an
‘Officer’ is something you can’t comprehend. Hollywood tried to bring about
a differentiation, calling the phenomenon, ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’,
little knowing that being a gentleman is inherent when you are an OFFICER.
Being a gentleman is his primary nature, not second-nature. His behaviour
is bhadra – i.e. kalyan-kaarak swabhav, guna, aur karma.

Army imbibes this peculiar quality in us when we are as young as 17 to 20
years only. I’ll explain with an example. An officer once held the door
open for a particular lady. She, trying to be smartly polite said, ‘You
don’t have to hold the door open for me just because I’m a lady.’ He
replied, ‘Ma’am, I’m not holding it for you because you are a lady, but
because I’m a gentleman.’

We may appear to be ruthless egoists, but we are Enlightened Egoists. In
the corporate world have you ever come across the word ‘honour’? In uniform
we serve only for honour, not the ‘package’. Naam, Namak, Nishan – are
alien words in the corporate world. You know what it means to serve for
honour? When a subordinate, who already has a bad ankle, is told of a
mission which entails 12 hours of walk in the most rugged terrain; and when
he expresses reservation on account of his current physical condition, is
told that if we can’t do it, it will be a smudge on the regiment; AND THERE
IS NO ONE TO REPLACE HIM. He says he’ll do his bit. He climbs 10 ropes
ahead of everyone else only to find that there is no one behind him and the
mission is thus called off. He reports from the top, only 5840 m (nearly
20000 ft!), that he with two others of his team are on top and no one is in
sight, either behind him or ahead (enemy). He comes back to the base two
days later – and what an ankle he has! A swollen ankle with 10-inch
girth!!! That is working for the honour.

Army has commanders at every level – langar commander, section commander/
detachment commander, platoon commander/troop commander, and up the chain
to Brigade Commanders, and General Officers Commanding in Chief. The
General Officers in command of field forces are the best in their
league. What is implied by the term ‘commander’? Maybe something you in the
corporate world will never get to know. To be a commander implies
responsibility, complete responsibility. As a commander you are responsible
for every dimension of your command – right from his morning cup of tea,
his toilet facilities, his professional training, his mental makeup, his
family’ well being and his spiritual requirements. In the Army we first
train young boys, and now even young girls like you, to be an Officer and
then to be a Commander, in that order.

Can you get an idea, even an iota of it, Lady? Can you get a feel of why we
feel distinctly proud, and display it, when we say, ‘We in the Army
….’. Post Script ‘I am already 25 year old. I suppose I can’t get enrolled
to be an officer. What can I do now?, she asked me at a later
get-together. ‘The best option for you now is to become an Army Wife!’, I
suggested. Two years later this girl married a young Major. Now I only hope
and pray that the Army Officers of the future do not belittle this young
Army Wife’ perception of our Army as I experienced during ‘my
times’. ****** *******

Mumbai loves 3 idiots!!

2010-01-05T20:47:00.002+05:30

An average Mumbaikar's life is full of trouble and pain...crowded trains...long commute to work...water cut and scarcity of place even to take your girlfriend to.

So when the Hassled Mumbaikar's get to the weekend they hit the bar and malls with vengeance.

Most often the trains get packed by noon by relatives paying visit to each other or commuting for fun.

Such is the adventures spirit of Mumbaikar that when there was a threat of record braking and devastating storm and high tide,people actually came from suburbs to the marine drive to witness??

How would have they responded to a huge wave or cyclone??

Mumbai has its peculiar mannerism and lingo...here gesture and nod is more than the spoken word and yes people do smile to each other.

So when Rajkumar hirani and Aamir asked us to get admitted to 3 idiots on 26th Dec,we actually did!

And OMG what a film it was,so true and so real.

Its going to break all the previous Bollywood records and shall be a NEW CLASSIC!!

I know its an oxymoron but let it be...

Feel sorry for Chetan Bhagat.....

The guy got a rough deal from the Bollywood camp...

Though saving grace is that the writer and producer both were Punjabi!!

What if the producer was a south Indian-CB would have written 2 states II...

Bigg Boss and Big B.

2009-10-04T12:33:00.003+05:30

Do you remember the mass hysteria around the KBC season 1.How the roads wore the deserted look as the Big B quizzed the nation and contestants inched closer to a sum of 1 Crore!!

The season 2 was popular too but not as much as the first one.

Big B had played a big bet and won handsomely as he came out of the jinxed phase of his career and cleared all the debts accrued due to the failing ABCL..

That was the start of the reality TV genre in India.Post KBC we have been dished some good and some horrible shows in the name of reality TV.

I virtually lost track of reality TV after NDTV Imagine did an un imaginable show called Rakhi ka swayamvar?This eroded the respectability for NDTV India news channel by showing updates from the soap as the public refused to watch the garish cheap romance on imagine.I silently switched over to Times Now.

But now its the Big B who is coaxing me to give the reality genre some consideration again.Amit ji is playing the Pop psychologist who will elaborate and analyze the un predictable behavior of the contestants.

The set has been put up at Lonawala Mumbais own hill station.Endemol has taken all the precaution to ensure that all the possible activities are captured by the 40 cameras.

Who is going to be inside this season is a big debate and a lots of speculation..the list changes every few hours...

Shamita shetty,Sherlyn Chopra,Ismail Darbar,Kamal Khan,Rakhi the Sawants mother,Tanazz and Bakhtyar,Punit Issar,Poonam Dhillon..

The channel is said to have approached Baba Ramdev to be an inmate..

Awaiting for tonight to see who is inside and how Big B looks in this new role...

Tune in to Colors Chanel at 9 pm IST...

Mumbai Local Trains.

2009-09-04T13:22:00.003+05:30

Where else in world its OK to accept a casualty rate of 10 human being per day due to fall from trains??

Where else the trains get delayed because in a span of an hour 7 dead due to train related accidents?

Yes its common and a Way of life for a typical Mumbaikar,as and sex no bar?

Cause its out of fashion and un machismo to use the foot over bridge to cross track.They say in Mumbai every one i in a hurry?So when a fellow commuter falls due to push and shove from local train its normal.Some words of kindness about the victim being out of luck or fool or not strong enough to hold on!

Some one from the crowd will call the helpline or the next train driver will alert the station master who will get the victim picked up by next train or Hamal's(Body picker's employed by Railways) using metal sheet stretcher.

If the victim is alive an ambulance is called and the victim sent to the Gov hospital near by.

In most cases its head injury and the rate of survival is abysmal.

Even if the victim survives its with severe impairment like feet or hand amputated.

So Hundreds of thousands witness the bloody trail or are aware of the impending danger so why no precaution??

Personally according to me its the shere disregard to the value of Human life?A gift of God wasted in crossing the rail track to reach on time?

If all individuals practice no tress passing tracks policy it will half the rate of deaths per day.

In a recent drive by WR to check tress passing people caught and fined were from all layers of society.

From Young to old from rich to poor from educated to non educated?

I was surprised to note a school principal caught trespassing?

The lame duck excuse of the commuters caught are that the bridge is on either side and too far?

The reason people fall off from local trains is over crowding on which the janta has no control except fro some hooligan's who trap and occupy the door.

The herd behavior of reserving seat and place for group by inconveniencing others is common.If a new commuter takes on the hooligan group he is thrashed and some time shoved from running train.

How ever these cases are limited and not common.

The overcrowding of train is a demand and supply problem where the Railways has not matched the requirement of timely increase in capacity.

While thousands of crore are invested in the road infrastructure local trains are seldom considered.The way of transport of majority white collar taxpayer is local train but his money is spent on fly over and sea links.

Its for this reason that any tourist in Mumbai is advised not ot take local trains,compare this with Delhi and Kolkata where people take their guest with pride to show Metro?

The chalta hai attitude of normal Mumbaikar is one big problem,similarly its the disconnect of the political class from the real problems of the common man or else the government would have spent the 400 crore on rail infra rather than a statue in the sea??

Ganeshotsav 09 Vasant Nagri,Vasai,Mumbai

2009-08-30T13:57:00.001+05:30

Old world charm of Mumbai.

2009-08-22T15:54:00.005+05:30

My work recently took me in to the business hub of Mumbai,Nariman Point,Cuffe parade and Colaba.It was a trip after 2 years or more.

There was a time when i use to commute daily to the southern most part of the city daily for work.

The hiatus was a welcome change.

The area reminded me of my earlier visits and the work.I noticed the new more aware part of me mainly due to travel to different destination in last two years on work.I was more appreciative and less sceptical.The old world buildings of Opera house looked enticing and psychedelic.

I went to the HQ of SBI,Union bank of India and IDBI bank.

Most impressive security was at the State bank of India HQ where vehicles were screened and visitors image captured by web cam to release a visitor pass with photograph on it.

Before the entry to the building the bag was screened under Xray view similar to airport.

The entree inside was through a digital gate,since i was a visitor i could not enter inside without the guards help.

My ride to the 18th floor was unobstructed.I guess going to meet CMD of SBI gives a short of reverence to the visitor but the security should not be intimated cause of the visitors profile.

The grandness of the office of CMD's was a treat to the eye.

The IDBI tower at the WTC cuffe parade has the CMD office on the 24th floor.The view from the room was awesome the hight makes it a vantage point on top of the queen's necklace.

I couldn't help but compliment the CMD's assistant about the fabulous view,for him it was OK as he See's it daily!!

Posting some pics from the visit with tag's.

Mumbai shutdown!!

2009-08-14T10:56:00.003+05:30

The maximum city is facing a maximum slowdown?

The H1 N1 has taken its toll on the speed of the fast paced Mumbai.Result all schools and colleges closed for next seven days in Mumbai,Navi Mumbai and Thane district.

The average Mumbaikar is braving the threat daily by commuting in the packed local trains.

The response of the administration has been better in Mumbai as compared to Pune.

I recall how one of the officials had proclaimed a month back that there will be no swine flu in Mumbai as the climate is not favourable to the Virus??

In our office we had people who had travelled from Pune and came to office the next day without any screening done?

The closed and recirculated air of the centrally conditioned office is conducive to the growth of any infectious organism if cleaning is not timely and proper.

My personal bravado against the swine flu was foolish as i discovered a sore throat and running nose just going to office by local first class.

So i am at home trying to recover from the flu which hopefully is not swine?

The masks are in short supply and are selling fro Rs 25 /piece.The Nilgiri ka tel sms is circulating in the air and the stocks of the fragrant oil is down.

The severity of the grim situation dwells on you when you find your next door chemist and his all staff wearing a mask?

Its a good publicity for the product and a chilling reminder to you,follow the silent dictate or get the flu??

My own personal googling and wiking has reveled that its the basic personal hygiene and being well hydrated that's the key to be healthy in the virulent times.

A vit c chew tab can improve your chances of fighting the cold.

The city of Mumbai will forgo its chances of watching the release of Kaminey the maverick director Vishal Bhardwaj's flick due to closure of all theaters for next three days.

This shutdown is historic and unprecedented as we shall miss the famous Dahi handi festival.

I pray and hope that this shut down helps contain the spread of virus and Mumbai emerges victorious..

Raksha Bandhan(The thread of security)India. | Demotix.com

2009-08-05T19:48:00.001+05:30

Raksha Bandhan(The thread of security)India. | Demotix.com

Shared via AddThis

High tide and Ganesha in Mumbai.

2009-07-24T21:48:00.005+05:30

How many times the weather man's prediction been right?

Today was termed as a potential disaster day in Mumbai with tide hitting 100yrs high?

The anticipation of high tide with heavy rain seemed a disaster recipe and many tried hand at the half cooked attempt.

Yes we enjoyed the spectre of high tide but for rain it was a day off.

The erratic pattern of rain has become a cause of concern for the country as it has the potential to halt the GDP growth.

The city of Mumbai is getting ready to welcome the favorite deity Gan-

apati or Ganesh the elephant headed Hindu god.

The artisan working in the clay statue are a treat to watch.The concentration and the love for perfection seen in there hand work is amazing.

The traditional Marathi homes in and around Mumbai will bring the loved Ganesha to there home for 1,5 or 10 days.Apart from the private ceremony there are public celebration in most locality where the community donates and huge canopy is raised to mimic theme popular in recent times.

The participation in Ganapati celebration is not restricted to religion as all worship the deity for his remarkable power of granting ones wishes.

Such strong is the faith of the Mumbaikars on Ganapati that the Siddhivinayak temple is crowded on most days.But the best display of faith is on Tuesday the day of Ganesha.

Its the binding faith of people from all sects that moves this chaotic and disorganised city.

To one from outside its a filthy city to ones living here its addictive.Welcome to Mumbai...

Gold=Gold.

2009-07-16T12:46:00.003+05:30

All that glitters is not "GOLD".
As good as "GOLD".
"GOLD standard".
The yellow metal.
Some phrases which capture the essence and value of the most loved and precious metal.
What is it in Gold that makes one aspire to own more?
The mythical Lanka in Ramayan was made of Gold as per text?The yellow metal has retained its charm and allure in last 5000 years.
When markets are down and sentiments are low the avid investors buy GOLD.
With the refinement in production and manufacturing one gets GOLD as pure as 99.9999%.
Came across a legitimate and authentic source of GOLD coins online.
I liked the concept of buying the government certified Gold coins or Gold bullion from the comfort of your home or work.
The assurance is backed by the remarkable openness about what to expect and what not from Gold coins.
I was surprised to note that the biggest buyers of Gold are Indians.India imports 400Tonnes of Gold each year!!It makes strong business sense to buy gold bullion to protect ones portfolio from the economic turmoils.
If a nation promotes the consumption of Gold,its to safeguard the future of coming generations.
Gold has remained the favorite of conservative Hindu families in India and as a custom the girl is sent to the groom with Gold jewellery as per the socioeconomic status.
The same GOLD helps the girl tide over any crisis she faces in her life.Majority of women pass the same ancestral Gold to the next generation.
So in recessionary times it makes sense to buy GOLD coin.

Rains in Mumbai..

2009-07-14T19:22:00.001+05:30

Normal life was thrown out of gear in the city on Tuesday due to heavy overnight rains that led to severe water logging in many parts and badly disrupted road, rail and air traffic.
The heavy down pour accompanied by gusty winds since last evening led to traffic snarls at various places.
Suburban trains were also running late by 30-45 minutes due to waterlogging on the tracks. Central railways was running 30 to 45 minutes late while Harbour line and Western lines are running 10 to 15 minutes, the railways said.
Several low lying areas including King's circle, Sion, Andheri Milan subway, Hind Mata were inundated and traffic police said the movement on western and eastern highways were affected badly.
According to Mumbai International Airport Limited, visibility at the airport has been reduced to 800 ft. Incoming flights were delayed by 15 minutes while the departure of the flights was more or less on time.
The rainfall recorded till 5.30 am was 93.4 mm at Colaba in south Mumbai and 125.6 mm at Santa Cruz in western suburbs.
Water logging was also reported at Wadala truck terminus, Maratha Mandir, Khar-Andheri subways, Deonar colonies and some parts of Govandi. Several trees were also uprooted due to strong winds in the city.
The weather bureau said frequent spells of heavy to very heavy rains with strong winds will continue.

Bombaytoday.

2009-07-05T14:06:00.002+05:30

They say the scars of time is filled by time!!
On my visit to the Heart of Mumbai i found the life back to normal but with a change?
The question in the eyes of Police and security?Who in the crowd could be the next terrorist?
The Taj stood valiantly as if declaring that i may be hurt but my soul has survived.Cant forget the vivid images of the beloved monument of Mumbai being burnt by the attackers.

The damage done will be wiped in few more days.But they who lost there family in the mayhem shall never forget or forgive.

The Gateway pulls a lot of visitors daily and the elan is intact with which it exemplifies the open spirit of Mumbai.

In my personal opinion the Mumbai i have seen in last 10 yrs has changed slowly from being a warm and open civilization to a divided and polarized city.

Shiney had sex with Maid:DNA test confirm.

2009-06-29T21:58:00.002+05:30

Now that the DNA tests confirm to sexual intercourse between the maid and Shiney the prosecution will have to prove that it was forceful and not consensual.

The staunch supporter of Shiney, Anupam Ahuja his wife shall be feeling devastated!

Surprisingly the producers are ready to sign the ill fated star whose Carrier was not going great guns?

The insane moments of an individual discretion has the potential to ruin a happy family and Carrier.The stardom is known to make people feel all powerful and above the law.

Its the guts of the maid who broke the silence and came forward.

Shiney admits to rape!!

2009-06-15T19:56:00.004+05:30

Shiney has relented during the interrogation and accepted the charge of rape.

"It was forceful. Shiney threatened her that if she shouts, he will beat her up.

He has admitted his guilt."The actor, the police claim, confessed and broke down during interrogation.Ahuja was taken to court on Monday afternoon, his face covered with a black cloth.

According to the police version, Shiney's wife and infant daughter were not at home on Sunday afternoon. The actor was home alone with the maid, and that is when he allegedly raped her.

The police say the maid complained to her relatives in the evening, who lodged a complaint against Ahuja at the Oshiwara police station in northwest Mumbai."We have registered three cases, Section 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 376 (rape) against him," ACP Suryavanshi added.If convicted of the crimes he is accused of, the actor can face up to 10 years in prison.The victim is an 18-year old resident of Vasai, a township close to Mumbai.

She has been working at Ahuja's home for the last 45 days. She has now been moved to a government-run home in Chembur, northeast Mumbai.

Dale Bhagwagar, the actor's former publicist, said in a statement that Ahuja was 'innocent until proven guilty.''We just need to give this a little more time until there is clarity about what really happened,' Bhagwagar said.'I've known Shiney for almost four years now. He is a good human being and I will do all that is possible to help him.'

Bollywood actor arrested for Rape??

2009-06-15T13:33:00.000+05:30

Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja was on Sunday detained for questioning by the police on the charge of raping his domestic help and is likely to be put under arrest.

“The domestic help, who has been working at Ahuja’s residence in suburban Oshiwara, alleged that the actor had raped her today afternoon,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Niket Kaushik said.

“We have registered a FIR and called Ahuja to the police station for questioning in the matter to verify the facts,” he said.

The house maid in her complaint has alleged that Ahuja raped her at his residence when they were alone, Kaushik said.

Shiney Ahuja

Additional Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta said the maid will be subjected to medical test and police are yet to reach any conclusion with regard to the charge levied by her against Shiney.

However, the senior police official said, the actor, who is detained at the police station till well past midnight, is most likely to be arrested in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Ahuja is married and has a daughter. He is known for his roles in films like ‘Hazaroon Khwaishe Aishi’ and ‘Gangster’.

Ahuja’s mentor, Mahesh Bhatt, who produced Gangster for him, said, “This is a body blow to me. I spoke to a top police official who told me that he was informed by his juniors at Oshiwara that Shiny claimed that he had sex with the consent of the maid. However, she has claimed that she was forced into it. The police officer added that they had to accept the woman’s version. I had spoken to Shiny only yesterday. If he is found guilty of rape, we have to condemn him.”

Mumbai be warned of Floods on 24Th July 2009??

2009-06-14T13:22:00.003+05:30

Mumbaikar's cant forget two dates easily!

26Th July and 26 November!!

One when Mumbai was inundated with worst rain and subsequent flooding resulting in the loss of crores of Rs and irreparable loss of more than 1000 life's.

On 26Th November 2008 a flood terror hit Mumbai!

The Mahindra special services group which is a risk management company has issued warning about the worst high tide of the century on 24Th July 2009.?

The closeness of the date with 26Th July 2005 is eeary and frightful.

The local administration needs to educate the people about the impending disaster and prepare to take it head on.

The 26Th Nov terror attack trail is on in Mumbai at a slow pace.

The fallout for police has come too late?

The Police has been rapped by HC in Nimbalkar murder case for its sloppy handling.

This is a case when the murdered person was a influential politician,what the police must have done if he was a commoner?

The NCP MP Padam singh has been declared the main accused ,NCP has washed its hands from Padam?

The continuing trial and the investigation brings more filth by the day.I wonder at the timing of the case just before the assembly polls?

Are the big bosses at Delhi has had enough of the Pawar camp and decided to cut him and his party to size before elections?

The innocent and upright ex home minister has given the clean chit to the accused ?

Its like the recent statement by BMC that there is no need to worry about the H1N1 virus??According to them it will not survive in the heat and moisture of Mumbai?

Hard to believe from the BMC which has failed to contain the spread of Malaria and Gastroenteritis year after year!!

But yeh Mumbai hai meri jan!!

TV has changed!

2009-05-27T11:34:00.003+05:30

The Idiot box is idiot no more cause its now got a companion which is smart and digital?

The time of terrestrial and cable TV is gone now is the time of Direct TV.

The monotony and lack of control over what to get and what not in terms of channels is over as today its the consumer decides which channels should be the part of once bouquet?

In not so recent past the packages and channels available were decided by the local cable operator and often the choices were limited.Not so any more because the revolution called DirectTv gives the control in the users hand.

One major differentiators for satellite TV is the DirecTv service.The assurance of a 24*7 customer service is some thing which is wanting in most cable services?

The service which will excite the tech enthusiast is the availability of features like HD TV and the DVR .Today the best sporting action and entertainment is shifting to Direct TV Service.

So no matter even if the power is out if you have backup you can enjoy TV as its not dependent on the local power supply!!

Mumbai now!!

2009-05-27T10:56:00.002+05:30

Six months after 26/11 there is little that has changed in Mumbai as far as security is concerned.

The high security area like airport saw a heist of Gold coins and silver coins in broad day light.

The quantum of the robbery is conflicted as quoted as 35 Lacs to 55 Lacs from some gold coins to 145kg?

Its only time when some terrorist decides to drive with Car full of explosive and demolishes the airport?

The technological surveillance at prime spots need to be increased.One off duty policeman tried to stop the fleeting car but was run over by the robbers.

Last fortnight the daughter of Deepak Tijori was abducted and forced to unnatural sex by a youth who was caught after second rape in a week?

The corrupt and shoddy guest houses and Lodge in and around Malvani and Aksa beach are known as heaven for prostitution.

Think of it how can a hotel allow a 13 year kid to be sharing a room for an hour with an adult?

The locals of these area are used to the easy money so they don't object to such heinous crime done in there area.

There is lot of boozing done and its not considered safe to venture into these areas once the night falls.

Such is the Police work that it took the forced abduction of another kid and rape that the offender was caught in the same vicinity?

The bank robbery and jewellery shop heist are becoming a routine thing?

The citizens in these areas need to protest the wrong or else its becomes routine.

Real Slumdog story!!

2009-05-14T22:41:00.001+05:30

This happens only in Mumbai!!

Mumbai authorities tear down 'Slumdog' star's home

Jan Gan Man distorted by RGV?

2009-05-09T16:32:00.002+05:30

RGV the well known Ram Gopal Verma is known to hit headlines be it his movies,his heroins or controversy!!

The latest is his decision of distorting the national anthem for his upcoming film Rann?

RGV has put the ball in public court by putting the Jan gan man controversial song on YouTube?

The RGV blog has a sneek preview of Rann.

The rumor is that the film is based on Pranoy Roy of NDTV?

Lets see what stance the censor board takes..

Mumbai for polls.

2009-04-29T16:09:00.004+05:30

Mumbai goes to poll tomorrow.The outcome shall be interesting as there are no favorites and there is no so called Wave in favor of any one.

Surprisingly the local issues are taking precedence over the big security and terror Planck.

The city of Mumbai fights for its rightful place in the comity of big cities to get the basic amenities like potable drinking water and uninterrupted power supply!

The most basic of facility like travel is in pathetic state as more and more funds are pumped into airport modernization and making flyovers where as majority of Mumbaikars travel by a 100 years old technology of local trains.

I am sure no local leader will take a fast local from Virar of Dombivli!!

The common janta is bound to suffer as very few politicians have voiced concern about the train travel standards in Mumbai.

During peak times the Human density is 17/square meters!!

The story of the sabotage to the chopper of Mr Anil Ambani was scary but now its becoming murky!The main mechanic who found the pebbles and sand in the tank of chopper aws found dead on railway tracks at Vile parle with a note for crime branch?

Now was it a corporate rivalry like in films or a case of some vagabond trying cheap stunts.

Anil Ambani must be feeling the heat.

Mumbai Indians win..

2009-04-18T23:13:00.001+05:30

Hurry

The opening header was won by the Mumbai Indians...

The soap opera season is over for now..

The elction news will take the second seat...

Google maps street view??

2009-04-11T20:50:00.003+05:30

Technology is a fast running horse,one need to keep pace with it or you are outdated.

I was using Google Maps,Google Earth,Map my India and many such innovative products.Wikimapia and wikipedia has been a regular spot to visit.

The most appealing piece of technology i found recently is the street view in Google Maps!!

Its so amazing to check out the streets of London!

The images are updated by a moving van time to time.

The usage is cool for one and all,you can check your home from any where in the world!

I also loved the Latitude on Google maps for Mobile.

Do try....

Techie father kills 4day old daughter!!

2009-03-14T16:59:00.002+05:30

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Dad-drops-4-day-old-daughter-into-well/articleshow/4262705.cms

When you read something like this early in the morning the whole day mind keeps on reminding of it.

What will be state of the mother?

How could someone be so cruel to his child?

Why so many software professionals are involved in heinous crime?

Is this the effect of being in a phony world?

What happened to there upbringing?

The pros of silicon valley have hearts of silicon?...

Mumbai now..

2009-03-06T21:06:00.002+05:30

Its just the start of March and it feels like June?

Is the global warming phenomenon coming to reality sooner than we thought??

Visited Jodhpur last week,there is not much difference in heat.Yes humidity is the only variable.

Mumbai after the 26/11 is not the same.There is a cautious approach towards life.

The attack on Srilankan cricket team at Lahore was scary,just an hour drive from Amritsar?

The aftereffects will be seen in many years.

For once terrorist have ensured death of international cricket in Pakistan.

The after effects have pushed the IPL 2 dates forward.

Many IPL players from outside India are showing concerns and apprehension of coming to INDIA?

Lest see how it develops...

Slumdog Oscars Moments...

2009-02-23T11:59:00.001+05:30

Danny to hot to handle!!!

The all gracious Rahman!!

The Best Editor...

Kutty i did it....Yes...

Happy Slumdog Team..

2009-02-23T11:25:00.002+05:30

The Slumdog team accepting Oscar..

Never seen so manuy Indian faces on the Oscars stage.Thanks Danny...

Oscar nominees and winners...

2009-02-23T11:23:00.001+05:30

Best picture
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Director
WINNER: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

Actor
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
WINNER: Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

Actress
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
WINNER: Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
WINNER: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
WINNER: Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

Animated feature
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
WINNER: "WALL-E"

Adapted screenplay
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," screenplay by Eric Roth, screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt," written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon," screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader," screenplay by David Hare
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay
"Frozen River," written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky," written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges," written by Martin McDonagh
WINNER: "Milk," written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E," screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Art direction
"Changeling," James J. Murakami; set decoration: Gary Fettis
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Donald Graham Burt; set decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight," Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess," Michael Carlin; set decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road," Kristi Zea; set decoration: Debra Schutt

Cinematography
"Changeling," Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister
"The Reader," Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle

Costume design
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
WINNER: "The Duchess," Michael O'Connor
"Milk," Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

Documentary feature
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
WINNER: "Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

Documentary short
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
WINNER: "Smile Pinki"
"The Witness -- From the Balcony of Room 306"

Film editing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk," Elliot Graham
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

Foreign language film
"The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany
"The Class," France
WINNER: "Departures," Japan
"Revanche," Austria
"Waltz with Bashir," Israel

Makeup
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight," John Caglione Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Original score
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

Original song
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E," music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, lyrics by Peter Gabriel
WINNER: "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music and lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Animated short
WINNER: "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory -- Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

Live-action short
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
WINNER: "Spielzeugland"

Sound editing
WINNER: "The Dark Knight," Richard King
"Iron Man," Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire," Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
"WALL-E," Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted," Wylie Stateman

Sound mixing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight," Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E," Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Visual effects
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
"The Dark Knight," Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man," John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Get well soon SRK.

2009-02-18T20:29:00.003+05:30

Mumbai matinee idol and Bollywood heart throb Shahrukh Khan got operated at the Breach Candy Hospital Mumbai for shoulder injury.SRK is going to be out of action for few months.

Addressing the media SRK promised to be back soon in his jovial style but couldn't hide the pain.

My best wishes for the speedy recovery..

Pepsi dumped SRK after a long association,King Khan was obviously hurt as he commented "They have thrown me out".

The cola giant Coca cola saw IT as an opportunity and the second biggest cola brand SPRITE promised to sponsor the Kolkota Knight Riders (KKR)?

Not to be left alone Pepsi has put an counteroffer!

So SRK will be minting money while recuperating!!

Not Bad..

Mumbai street food..Yummy.

2009-02-07T22:04:00.002+05:30

NYT comments on Mumbai street food...

Enjoy...

WHEN the bad-boy television chef Anthony Bourdain went on a culinary journey through India two years ago, he said the vada pav, a humble street snack usually sold for about 10 cents, was the best thing he ate.

Mr. Bourdain was right on the money. The vada pav is a glorious carb-on-carb overload — a spicy potato patty encased in a gram-flour coating, then sandwiched in a buttered bun and bathed in tangy garlic chutney.

Unpretentious street food like the vada pav — preferably bought from a surly vendor — is part of the great Indian travel experience. Still, it takes a brave tourist to sample the wares from a street vendor who is casually mashing potatoes with his bare and grubby hands, as flies buzz happily around. Luckily, a slew of restaurants are sanitizing street food, serving it in clean (if not always pristine) surroundings. At most places, you can eat like a king for less than $2.

At one of the numerous Jumbo King outlets across the city, you can eat vada pav in a range of flavors for just 7 rupees (about 14 cents at 50 rupees to the dollar). Jumbo King aims to be the McDonald’s of street snacks, and the uniformly wrapped vada pavs are served by plastic-gloved dispensers from gleaming steel fryers, with optional spicy chutney and garlic toppings.

At the sparkling clean but frantically busy Swati Snacks (248 Karai Estate, Tardeo Road; 91-22-6580-8406), opposite Bhatia Hospital, you can feast on chaat as delicious as that which you might get from chaatwalas at the famous Chowpatty Beach, only it won’t upset your stomach.

Chaat is the classic Mumbai street food, a catchall term for a savory medley of ingredients, which may include potatoes, gram-flour discs, onions, yogurt, chickpeas, mint, peanuts and various chutneys. Try the pani puri (crisp dough spheres filled with potatoes, sprouts and a tart date-tamarind sauce, which burst deliciously onto your palate), bhel puri (puffed rice mixed with onions, tomatoes, mint chutney, crunchy gram-flour threads, peanuts, lemon juice and coriander) and the milder pankhi (delicate rice pancakes steamed in banana leaves) — not exactly street food but too good to miss.

This is also one of the few safe places to sample golas (crushed ice balls bathed in rose or mint flavored syrup) and thirst-quenching sugar cane juice. Get there early though, as there are no reservations and the lines are long.

Kailash Parbat, another popular chain with outlets in many multiplexes, is a good place for other quintessential Mumbai snacks like pav bhaji (toasted buns heaped with a sinful, buttery vegetable hash) and ragda pattice (toasted potato cakes with chickpeas). In the Bandra suburb, Elco Pani Puri Center has hygienic chaat in air-conditioned comfort and is known for its pani puri. (Elco Arcade, Hill Road, Bandra; 91-22-2645-7677).

There will always be those Mumbaikars who tell you that street snacks eaten in restaurants just can’t compare with the authentic fare of “Raju the blind chaatwala at the second open drain behind the Churchgate Railway Station.” They are probably right. There’s something about the down-and-dirtiness of real street fare that makes it all the tastier. The best vendors are usually to be found outside colleges and railway stations.

If you do risk the genuine article, be sure to choose hot snacks straight from the griddle or deep fryer, avoid chutneys, juices and sauces, toss out the raw onion and tomatoes and stick with Vegetarian options if you have a delicate tummy. After all, what’s good enough for Anthony Bourdain ...

Dream city Mumbai...

2009-02-05T22:13:00.001+05:30

Mumbai is extreme India. In this booming metropolis all the wealth, inequalities, colors, flavors and passions of India are magnified to an almost unbearable degree.

Somewhere between 13 and 20 million people are squeezed into the city that is India's leading financial and industrial center and the home of the Bollywood movie.

For countless migrants from all over the country, be they business school graduates, aspiring actors or destitute laborers, Mumbai is the place where dreams can come true.

Those who like to think of India as a land of tradition and mystery would be shocked by the way modern Mumbai has embraced western consumerism. In Mumbai the rigidities of India's traditional caste system are being replaced by a kind of brutal meritocracy in which the winners become extraordinarily rich and the losers struggle for survival.

While Mumbai is fearlessly embracing modernity, minting millionaires and erecting skyscrapers, its infrastructure is hopelessly outdated and creaking under the weight of the city's ever-expanding population.

Mumbai's road traffic is legendary -- a chaotic melange of cars, mopeds, motorized rickshaws and red double-decker buses, seemingly fused together in a writhing, gridlocked mass.

All big cities have deprived areas, but in Mumbai the deprivation is impossible to avoid. Up to half of Mumbai's residents live in slums, about a million in the shacks of Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia. In these cities within a city children play next to the sewers that run through the streets, whole families often live in a single room and clean water is scarce.

Yet while the slums can be grindingly poor, they are also buzzing with activity. Many residents of Dharavi work in cottage industries and in the thriving recycling trade, and their biggest threats are the annual monsoon floods and the developers eager to clear the slum in order to exploit the prime real estate it occupies.

For outsiders, the contrast between rich and poor can be jarring, but Mumbaikars have learned to live with adversity.

While the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008 horrified the world, the killings were tragically familiar to those living in a city where hundreds have been killed by terrorists over the last 15 years and religious and social tensions simmer beneath the surface.

Yet, despite its very visible problems, Mumbai simply will not be denied. Constantly growing in population and wealth, Mumbai is a world-class city when it comes to culture, commerce and consumption. Mumbaikars are incredibly enterprising and their ability to bounce back from tragedy is testimony to their resourcefulness and resilience.

Danny Boyle, director of award-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," set and filmed in Mumbai, said of the city, "Despite all that has happened there recently it is a city moving towards happiness.

"You have these incredible extremes but it feels like there's a destiny that binds it all together."

Local trains stopped??

2009-02-04T20:42:00.000+05:30

Police in riot gear beat back angry protesters after they squatted on railway tracks and held up commuter trains for several hours on Wednesday, demanding better services.

Repairs on the city's western suburb line had delayed rush hour trains on Wednesday morning, a railways spokesman said, which led to protests as commuter crowds at the stations waiting to board trains swelled.

Protesters squatted on the tracks and shouted slogans against the railways, demanding more trains and better services.

Local trains, a lifeline in the city, ferry more than six million commuters every day, with passengers hanging out of crowded compartments and riding on the roof during rush hour.

"Everyday it is the same problem. There are not enough trains, and trains are so crowded, it is very difficult for us," one commuter told news channel CNN-IBN.

Services had been partially restored, albeit with delays, and would be back to normal by evening, the railways spokesman said.

Slum dwellers protest against Slumdog...

2009-02-03T20:00:00.000+05:30

Dozens of residents of a Mumbai slum where "Slumdog Millionaire" was partly shot protested against the Oscar-nominated film on Tuesday, hurling insults and hitting pictures of its cast and crew with slippers.

The movie's international success has been tempered by objections in India to the name, which some slum dwellers find offensive, its depiction of the lives of impoverished Indians and the treatment of the cast.

Its director, Danny Boyle, has faced accusations from some parts of the Indian media that his film was "poverty porn." Boyle has said he was trying to capture Mumbai's "lust for life."

The film, which has scooped several international awards and won 10 Oscar nominations, opened in India last month.

"They have made a mockery of us, they have hurt our sentiments," said N.R. Paul, a protest leader and resident in Dharavi, Asia's largest slum.

The protesters, who were forced by policemen to assemble a few hundred metres from Dharavi, shouted "Down, down Danny Boyle" and "Down, down Censor Board."

"Slum dwellers are human beings, not dogs," said one poster.

Protesters also slapped pictures of Boyle and the film's actors with slippers, saying their depiction of poverty was demeaning to millions.

"They should change at least the title. Why did our Censor Board allow such a title in India? It is very sad," said Kallubhai Qureshi, a resident in Dharavi.

Nicholas Almeida, a social activist and slum dweller who has filed a complaint in a local court against the title, said the filmmakers also had a responsibility towards the slums in which they shot the movie.

"It is making so many millions of dollars, why can't they spend some money here to improve our lives?" said Almeida.

Boyle and producer Christian Colson, responding to comments in the Daily Telegraph recently that slum kids in the film were paid poorly, have said they have paid for their education in a school and set up a fund to cover other expenses.

Priyan angry on Slumdog...

2009-02-01T21:21:00.002+05:30

Indian movie director Priyadarshan has joined the bandwagon in slamming Danny Boyle's underdog saga Slumdog Millionaire and has called the film a "cheap trashy mediocre version" of erstwhile Bollywood hits.

"Slumdog Millionaire is nothing but a cheap trashy mediocre version of those commercial films about estranged brothers and childhood sweethearts that Salim-Javed used to write so brilliantly in the 1970s. And please quote me clearly on this. If the Golden Globe and Oscars committees have chosen to honour this trashy film it just shows their ignorance of world cinema," Priyadarshan said.

Priyadarshan, whose much-acclaimed film on the silk weavers of Kanjeevaram was shown alongside Boyle's film at the Toronto Film Festival last year, feels Indians are exercising prideful property rights over a film that denigrates Mumbai.

"I saw the film with a mixed audience at the Toronto Film Festival. The Westerners loved it. All the Indian hated it. The West loves  to see us as a wasteland, filled with horror stories of exploitation and degradation. But is that all there's to our beautiful city of Mumbai?"

He is surprised that Mumbai is celebrating a film that shows only the city's underbelly.

"Why are we taking this treatment? Just because a white man has made 'Slumdog Millionaire', we're so happy with it? I've read Vikas Swarup's novel 'Q&A'. It should have been made by Mani Ratnam. Then you'd have seen what he would have done with Mumbai."

The angry director wonders why there isn't a single  shot in 'Slumdog...' that shows the more aesthetic side of Mumbai?

"Why has Danny Boyle not taken one shot of Marine Drive? Do his slumdwellers exist only within their slums? And look at the absurdities...A boy becomes a national hero on a game show. One cop takes him under arrest and interrogates him relentlessly. Where is everyone else? Is this kind of confinement possible in this day and age when television camera  enter your bedroom? If one of our filmmakers had made the same film we would have blasted him out of business."

"Let them give as many Oscars as they like. We don't need to be impressed," ends Priydarshan angrily.

All for money...

2009-01-31T21:18:00.001+05:30

More skeletons are stumbling out as the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad delves deeper into the past record of arrested IPS officer Saji Mohan who was picked up on 25 January near Classic Club at Oshiwara in north Mumbai while passing on 39 kilograms of heroin to a drug dealer.
In nearly two years with Narcotics Control Bureau the 1995 batch IPS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, Mohan virtually assumed a dubious status of a don, running the network of professional drug dealers and peddlers in at least nine states that sold heroin.
Today when he was produced in a magistrate’s court at Mazgaon the ATS revealed Mohan allegedly hired a contract killer to finish a dealer who defaulted on payment for a 10 kilo heroin consignment. His remand to police custody has been extended to 7 February.
As a zonal director of NCB at Chandigarh he had busted drug rings operating in the north. About six police officers were suspended by the IGP there when he exposed their connection with the drug mafia.
No one suspected that Mohan would in due course launch his own drug syndicate specifically fulfilling the "needs" of Mumbai.
His two contacts in Mumbai ~ a businessman Vicky Oberoi and old associate Rajesh Kumar of Haryana police ~ have also been arrested by the ATS.
Oberoi, according to police, is well connected and used to circulate in elitist groups which include some top cops of Mumbai.
When a police informant (khabri) approached an assistant inspector Mr Sunil Mane his reacted in disbelief. But, nevertheless, spoke to ATS chief Mr KP Raghuvanshi.
Mohan was kept under watch. After ascertaining the veracity of kahbri’s inputs ATS succeeded in arresting Mohan with heroin in his possession.
He has been changing his statements/versions often ATS said but as the investigation continues the emerging murky underworld of this highly qualified and intelligent drug-lord has startled the ATS. It reminded ATS detectives of another IPS officer Rahul Sur of 1981 batch who at the helm of Mumbai’s anti-narcotic cell manipulated the seized contraband and sold them to drug dealers. When Sur sensed his imminent arrest fled the country with family.
He is absconding for 12 years and is believed to be settled in America. Mohan had no such good fortune.

Slum tourism after Slumdog millionaire..

2009-01-31T14:19:00.000+05:30

With the success of Slumdog Millionaire, the curiosity about Mumbai's slums, particularly Dharavi - Asia's biggest slum has greatly increased.

Krishna Pujari, a tour operator from Reality Tours fields dozens of questions about the movie and life in Mumbai's slums, as he takes interested tourists on slum trips.

"People ask us was the film shot here in Dharavi. We show them the spots where some of the scenes were shot. Some of the people do come after watching the film," he said.

"I watched the film and was excited to come on this tour. It's nice to watch it again now after seeing the real life story," said American tourist, Emeris.

Many tourists visit the slum and are surprised at what they see.

"There's so much positive stuff happening, the industries. I don't think that's reflected in the film," said Dutch tourist, Emeris.

"The poverty was shown in the film. But there were so many other different aspects that we saw after we came here," he added.

Slum tourism, though targeted at foreign tourists, is fast catching on with ordinary Mumbaikars too.

"After watching the movie I would wish to visit Dharavi because the way it is potraid in the movie one feels visiting Dharavi," said a resident of Mumbai, Mitisha.

"We pass by but we really don't know how it would be to live there, so it would be interesting to actually go and have a look inside and spend some time there," sais another Mumbai resident, Hari.

Danny Boyle gave us a peek into Mumbai's slums with Slumdog Millionaire, but to get a real experience of what life in Dharavi is like one can take a slum tour.

And with the resounding success of the film abroad and the buzz in India, the slum tourism industry is expected to reap the benefits.

Official Gmail Blog: A holiday break to play with all the new stuff

2009-01-13T18:27:00.000+05:30

Official Gmail Blog: A holiday break to play with all the new stuff

Golden Globe award winners....

2009-01-12T19:25:00.002+05:30

Mumbai is going nuts over the unprecedented pouring of awards on Slumdog Millionaire...

Rejoice Mumbai Rejoice.......

Take a look....

Best Motion Picture, Drama: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Vicky Christina Barcelona

Foreign Language Picture: Waltz With Bashir

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Dramatic Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Dramatic Actress: Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Colin Farrel, In Bruges

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Original Score: A.R. Rahman Slumdog Millionaire

Animated Film: WALL-E

Song: Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler

Cecil B. Demille Lifetime Achievement Award: Steven Spielberg

Great news for corporate India.

2009-01-12T15:22:00.002+05:30

When Raju brothers slept in the jail at Chanchalguda at Hyderabad, Government of India appointed a high power independent board to ensure the revival and salvage of Satyam.

This move will give some respite to Satyam investors.

The Satyam story needs to be looked in Totality,

just a month before all was fine with the company according to the auditors,Banks and statuary authorities.

How all this suddenly changed?

Aint all mentioned above equally to blame?

What about the corporate excellence award given to Satyam some time back?

When Indian corporate fights to answer this Enron like scandal there goes a stalwart of India in to troubled land of Sri Lanka and starts its Telecoms services?

Yes,Its Airtel which has launched 2.5 G and 3 G services in Sri Lanka from today.

I have all ways advocated the cross functioning and sharing of wealth and knowledge in SAARC countries to be the best peace plan.

Now instead of the government its India's number one Mobile company doing the good work.

All the best Airtel and kudos to Corporate India for being Brave..

Satyam not at all Sundaram!!

2009-01-07T18:32:00.003+05:30

What do you call a company which causes a loss of 10,000 crores for its investors in a day?

A CEO who accepts that he messed up the accounts and tried to divert the legitimate money of investors in to his privately owned company?

A company which gets banned by world bank for theft of information and bribing.

A company started by a farmer but ruined by sons?

A company which had ADR and listed on NYSE?

India's fourth largest software exporter?

Answer is Satyam but not sundaram!!

So much for corporate governance?

So much for audits?

So much for integrity?

The average man on Dalal street who believes in the dreams of small entrepreneur will think twice before investing In any new start up.

Very bad day for corporate India.I am afraid are there many more such Satyams hiding under the disguise of people friendly companies??

A month after Terror hit Mumbai..

2008-12-26T10:07:00.003+05:30

After 30 days of the carnage at Taj,CST,Oberoi and CAMA Mumbai is getting back to being its own self,but somethings will never be the same again.

Like...

The famous open New year gathering outside the Taj at the Gateway will have fewer people.

The will and conscience of Mumbaikars will force them to have a subdued new year bash.

Many will skip the entire ritual for good.

180 affected families will never forget the date 26/11 as it changed and scarred there life forever.

The Mumbai janta will miss the heroism of Salaskar the upstanding Karkare and the youthful Kamte.

Back at Kerala Uniikrishnans parents will be alone and a gloomy future ahead devoid of there son.

As of now..

Poor kid Moshe from Nariman house is back in Mumbai with his grand parents to pay tributes to his slain parents without comprehending the fuss around it.

The dance and singing at the Gateway last night by the Jews was a slap on the face of terrorism and a wonderful memo of the resilient and steadfast Jew community who knows terror more than any other community.

The decision of resurrecting the Nariman House or buying another property in Mumbai by the Jews is a wonderful gesture of humanity.

At the same time..

The brave staff of Taj and Oberoi will work hard to please the guests but the loss of there colleagues and guest in those dreaded days will be on top of there minds.

What never changes is the rush hour crowds at Churchgate, Dadar,Andheri,Dombivli,CST et el.

Mumbai is looking like a city on guard as one can see a lot of police and armed security at most public places...

We are learning to getting back to what we are "The famed Mumbaikar" with a paramount work ethic and enjoying the life at its fullest..

May god bless Mumbai and India in its fight against terrorism and organised crime...Amen

Muslims in Mumbai.

2008-12-18T19:44:00.004+05:30

Post the attacks on Mumbai Bakri id passed where the Muslim brethren were subdued and the fair was less than ostentatious.

The prominence of jihad and muslim terror plays havoc with law abiding Muslims.The propensity of Muslims involved in terror acts worldwide add salt to injury.

Some of my Muslim friends feel obliged to prove there credentials as an Indian every time there is a terror act.

The collective wisdom of the Maulavi and ulema needs to emphasize the importance of education and healthy living to all.

If i take the example of Muslim ghettos in Mumbai like Meera road ,Nagpada,Mumbra and Kalwa,

These areas are synonymous with bad drainage ,ill planned buildings and illegal construction.

Majority of terrorist find there safe heaven in these areas.

Most banks don't issue credit cards and home loans in these areas??

In my personal experience the well educated Muslims are better off and think like the majority.But where the education is less its a dark world..

I ask myself often why all tailors,bandwala,garage mechanic and people doing menial job are mostly Muslims??

Why doesn't the Muslims of India produce a leader of national calibre?

Why the chancellor of the Aligarh university has to defend the so called terrorist?

The politicians will not give any answers for these as the answer will imbalance the vote bank politics.

But the Muslim community must think and ask themselves how long they will blame all and the sundry for there wows?

Taj..Great customer service..

2008-12-13T21:15:00.006+05:30

The Mumbai terror act has been condemned and the dastardly act abhored by the media and the masses.

The Internet has given the platform for people like me to voice our anger, concerns and grief to fellow citizens around the globe.

The service industry saw one of the most dedicated service by the employee of Taj nad Oberoi in dire times.

Many laid there lifes to save the guest..

here is a true account...

Heroes At The Taj

Michael Pollack , 12.01.08, 07:40 PM EST

After survival words of thank's..

My story begins innocuously, with a dinner reservation in a world-class hotel. It ends 12 hours later after the Indian army freed us.

My point is not to sensationalize events. It is to express my gratitude and pay tribute to the staff of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, who sacrificed their lives so that we could survive. They, along with the Indian army, are the true heroes that emerged from this tragedy.

My wife, Anjali, and I were married in the Taj's Crystal Ballroom. Her parents were married there, too, and so were Shiv and Reshma, the couple with whom we had dinner plans. In fact, my wife and Reshma, both Bombay girls, grew up hanging out and partying the night away there and at the Oberoi Hotel, another terrorist target.

The four of us arrived at the Taj around 9:30 p.m. for dinner at the Golden Dragon, one of the better Chinese restaurants in Mumbai. We were a little early, and our table wasn't ready. So we walked next door to the Harbor Bar and had barely begun to enjoy our beers when the host told us our table was ready. We decided to stay and finish our drinks.

Thirty seconds later, we heard what sounded like a heavy tray smashing to the ground. This was followed by 20 or 30 similar sounds and then absolute silence. We crouched behind a table just feet away from what we now knew were gunmen. Terrorists had stormed the lobby and were firing indiscriminately.

We tried to break the glass window in front of us with a chair, but it wouldn't budge. The Harbour Bar's hostess, who had remained at her post, motioned to us that it was safe to make a run for the stairwell. She mentioned, in passing, that there was a dead body right outside in the corridor. We believe this courageous woman was murdered after we ran away.

(We later learned that minutes after we climbed the stairs, terrorists came into the Harbour Bar, shot everyone who was there and executed those next door at the Golden Dragon. The staff there was equally brave, locking their patrons into a basement wine cellar to protect them. But the terrorists managed to break through and lob in grenades that killed everyone in the basement.)

We took refuge in the small office of the kitchen of another restaurant, Wasabi, on the second floor.. Its chef and staff served the four of us food and drink and even apologized for the inconvenience we were suffering.

Through text messaging, e-mail on BlackBerrys and a small TV in the office, we realized the full extent of the terrorist attack on Mumbai. We figured we were in a secure place for the moment. There was also no way out.

At around 11:30 p.m., the kitchen went silent. We took a massive wooden table and pushed it up against the door, turned off all the lights and hid. All of the kitchen workers remained outside; not one staff member had run.

The terrorists repeatedly slammed against our door. We heard them ask the chef in Hindi if anyone was inside the office. He responded calmly: "No one is in there. It's empty." That is the second time the Taj staff saved our lives.

After about 20 minutes, other staff members escorted us down a corridor to an area called The Chambers, a members-only area of the hotel. There were about 250 people in six rooms. Inside, the staff was serving sandwiches and alcohol. People were nervous, but cautiously optimistic. We were told The Chambers was the safest place we could be because the army was now guarding its two entrances and the streets were still dangerous. There had been attacks at a major railway station and a hospital.

But then, a member of parliament phoned into a live newscast and let the world know that hundreds of people--including CEOs, foreigners and members of parliament-- were "secure and safe in The Chambers together." Adding to the escalating tension and chaos was the fact that, via text and cellphone, we knew that the dome of the Taj was on fire and that it could move downward.

At around 2 a.m., the staff attempted an evacuation. We all lined up to head down a dark fire escape exit. But after five minutes, grenade blasts and automatic weapon fire pierced the air. A mad stampede ensued to get out of the stairwell and take cover back inside The Chambers.

After that near-miss, my wife and I decided we should hide in different rooms. While we hoped to be together at the end, our primary obligation was to our children. We wanted to keep one parent alive. Because I am American and my wife is Indian, and news reports said the terrorists were targeting U.S. and U.K. nationals, I believed I would further endanger her life if we were together in a hostage situation.

So when we ran back to The Chambers I hid in a toilet stall with a floor-to-ceiling door and my wife stayed with our friends, who fled to a large room across the hall.

For the next seven hours, I lay in the fetal position, keeping in touch with Anjali via BlackBerry. I was joined in the stall by Joe, a Nigerian national with a U.S. green card. I managed to get in touch with the FBI, and several agents gave me status updates throughout the night.

I cannot even begin to explain the level of adrenaline running through my system at this point. It was this hyper-aware state where every sound, every smell, every piece of information was ultra-acute, analyzed and processed so that we could make the best decisions and maximize the odds of survival.

Was the fire above us life-threatening? What floor was it on? Were the commandos near us, or were they terrorists? Why is it so quiet? Did the commandos survive? If the terrorists come into the bathroom and to the door, when they fire in, how can I make my body as small as possible? If Joe gets killed before me in this situation, how can I throw his body on mine to barricade the door? If the Indian commandos liberate the rest in the other room, how will they know where I am? Do the terrorists have suicide vests? Will the roof stand? How can I make sure the FBI knows where Anjali and I are? When is it safe to stand up and attempt to urinate?

Meanwhile, Anjali and the others were across the corridor in a mass of people lying on the floor and clinging to each other. People barely moved for seven hours, and for the last three hours they felt it was too unsafe to even text.. While I was tucked behind a couple walls of marble and granite in my toilet stall, she was feet from bullets flying back and forth. After our failed evacuation, most of the people in the fire escape stairwell and many staff members who attempted to protect the guests were shot and killed.

The 10 minutes around 2:30 a.m. were the most frightening. Rather than the back-and-forth of gunfire, we just heard single, punctuated shots. We later learned that the terrorists went along a different corridor of The Chambers, room by room, and systematically executed everyone: women, elderly, Muslims, Hindus, foreigners. A group huddled next to Anjali was devout Bori Muslims who would have been slaughtered just like everyone else, had the terrorists gone into their room.. Everyone was in deep prayer and most, Anjali included, had accepted that their lives were likely over. It was terrorism in its purest form. No one was spared.

The next five hours were filled with the sounds of an intense grenade/gun battle between the Indian commandos and the terrorists. It was fought in darkness; each side was trying to outflank the other.

By the time dawn broke, the commandos had successfully secured our corridor. A young commando led out the people packed into Anjali's room. When one woman asked whether it was safe to leave, the commando replied: "Don't worry, you have nothing to fear. The first bullets have to go through me."

The corridor was laced with broken glass and bullet casings. Every table was turned over or destroyed. The ceilings and walls were littered with hundreds of bullet holes. Blood stains were everywhere, though, fortunately, there were no dead bodies to be seen.

A few minutes after Anjali had vacated, Joe and I peeked out of our stall. We saw multiple commandos and smiled widely. I had lost my right shoe while sprinting to the toilet so I grabbed a sheet from the floor, wrapped it around my foot and proceeded to walk over the debris to the hotel lobby.

Anjali and I embraced for the first time in seven hours in the Taj's ground floor entrance. I didn't know whether she was dead or injured because we hadn't been able to text for the past three hours.

I wanted to take a picture of us on my BlackBerry, but Anjali wanted us to get out of there before doing anything.

She was right--our ordeal wasn't completely over. A large bus pulled up in front of the Taj to collect us and, just about as it was fully loaded, gunfire erupted again. The terrorists were still alive and firing automatic weapons at the bus. Anjali was the last to get on the bus, and she eventually escaped in our friend's car. I ducked under some concrete barriers for cover and wound up the subject of photos that were later splashed across the media. Shortly thereafter, an ambulance came and drove a few of us to safety. An hour later, Anjali and I were again reunited at her parents' home. Our Thanksgiving had just gained a lot more meaning.

Some may say our survival was due to random luck, others might credit divine intervention. But 72 hours removed from these events, I can assure you only one thing: Far fewer people would have survived if it weren't for the extreme selflessness shown by the Taj staff, who organized us, catered to us and then, in the end, literally died for us.

They complemented the extreme bravery and courage of the Indian commandos, who, in a pitch-black setting and unfamiliar, tightly packed terrain, valiantly held the terrorists at bay.

It is also amazing that, out of our entire group, not one person screamed or panicked. There was an eerie but quiet calm that pervaded--one more thing that got us all out alive. Even people in adjacent rooms, who were being executed, kept silent.

It is much easier to destroy than to build, yet somehow humanity has managed to build far more than it has ever destroyed. Likewise, in a period of crisis, it is much easier to find faults and failings rather than to celebrate the good deeds. It is now time to commemorate our heroes.

Michael Pollack is a general partner of Glenhill Capital, a firm he co-founded in 2001.

Mumbai now..

2008-12-01T21:37:00.002+05:30

Returned to work after a forced leave of 4 days.There is a desperation around the people look shaken and jolted.Every street corner has put a notice or poster of the three Martyrs from Mumbai police.
The Mumbai local train talk veered around terror and how ineffective our Government and security apparatus is.
M J Akbar wrote an article in TOI Sunday about the smuggling of drugs and contra band goods from Pak to India via Karachi to Mumbai.How this network is managed by the mafia and underworld in conjunction with coast guard and local politicians!!
He questioned the elite who snuff the precious heroin and LSD knowing very well that its originated from Pak and reached by illegal root?
Some points to ponder!!

Patil gone Finally!!Huh!!

2008-11-30T12:49:00.002+05:30

Oh what a relief.The people of India were sick and tired of seeing the plastic smile and hollow sorrow of Shivraj Patil.
His resignation cost India many a lives.
Its a shame that he continued so long even after terrible non performance.
I always thought he is good for handling some trivial committee where you don't have life at threat.
In the current congress regime there is lack of leadership.So the post should remain with PM or be given to Sharad Pawar??

Mumbai calm but thinking!!

2008-11-29T20:49:00.004+05:30

Mood is sombre and of gloom.The worst is over its time to revisit the dreaded plot to figure out what happened and how it could have been averted.
The eyes were damp and heart heavy to see the cremation ceremony of the martyrs.
I must commend the Indian TV journolist who risked there own life to bring to us the live action.The known faces like Arnab,Sriniwasan,Barkha,Sachin Chaudhry,Deepak and many more did a splendid and tiresome job.
The commitment was exemplary.The ultimate sacrifice of our Armed forces has been witnessed by the entire country and it will not go unnoticed.
The cheap political mileage drawn by politicians is so evident an so nauseating.
The divisive politicians who talked about driving the North Indians away from Mumbai were in there safe home when our commandos were fighting the NSG martyr Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was from Bihar regiment and from Bangalore so was Gajendra Singh from Uttranchal Dehrahun.
India is united today against terror and will remember this for long time.
The current polls must have witnessed a strong polarisation against the central government and Congress.
The nicely dressed and well maintained Home minister was not to be seen.
He didn't had the guts or credential to visit any targeted site.
The Navy comments and says it did great work by sending the Marcos but what they did when the Speed boats came to Mumbai without check.??
Its time that security agencies did a solid introspection rather than blaming each other??
we pay our taxes and provide the best amenities to our armed forces to safeguard our borders and country.
So in my opinion if a police man dies in call of duty or a armed forces man dies in call of duty its his or her job.Isn't it?
Its good to praise extraordinary bravery but at the same time Indian public pays for all of them so its there duty too...
I may sound harsh but if i work in armed forces i know i owe my life to my country.
The real Armed forces man is ready for the supreme sacrifice any time if not, the terrorist will always win!!

Mumbai terror update.

2008-11-28T20:53:00.003+05:30

In the ongoing operation at Mumbai against the terrorist at TAJ the fight is still on.The media is giving conflicting reports some time one terrorist some times six?

The sad end to Nariman house operation was confirmed with the death of all 5 hostages all Jews.

This is a terrible happening for terror struck Israeli people.Terror struck at them even in foreign location.

The Oberoi saw evacuation of 93 people mostly foreign guest.But the sad killing of 30 hostages was also confirmed who's identity is yet to be ascertained.

Politicians visit and lip service has begun, the terror link, the Pak connection, the Underworld connection as prophesied by me in my anger venting first post.

Mumbai Update..

2008-11-28T08:25:00.002+05:30

The ongoing hostage crisis is still on with the media and the security personnel keeping the vigil on.

The spirit of Mumbai is scarred,yesterday most offices and institutions remained shut.

Too many Breaking News adds to the confusion and chaos.

The heart cries for the bereaved families of Taj and Oberoi staff as well as the guest of our city who were on their trip to Mumbai.

The world wide phenomenon called terrorism is here to stay?

The so called Jehadis who spoke to India TV were ready to die for there cause?

But what cause?

This terror act will do what make the majority think of Muslims more sympathetically or will cause more divide?

The killed and wounded are of all religion not Hindus or Jews only?

Its time that a corrective and decisive action be taken by India keeping its allies in confidence and take strong action.

Its high time,How long our adjoining countries will continue to foster the organisation and people who has one point agenda of causing damage to the democratic fabric of India.

The people of Mumbai has maintains patients and peace in this highly polarised time.

Why it's Mumbai, always??

2008-11-27T09:34:00.004+05:30

As a common man i was forced to sleep at 2 AM in Morning while the police fought the terrorist!!
But couldn't sleep..Got up at 5 AM to catch up on the update.
I cried after knowing that ATS chief Hemant Karkare,Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Add DIG Amte faced the bullets while i slept!!
Got lot of calls from friends and family about my own well being.
The biggest farce for me is the news that 200 NSG commandos being called from Delhi?Don't we have them in MUmbai?Why do we pay our taxes Why all NSG is busy saving the politicians when we die each day.Its the softest target the Great Mumbai!!
I was told as a kid that our Navy and Coast guard are the saviours who protect our waters!!
Is this protection?
What is done during the half hourly helicopter surveillance under taken by Coast guards?
I have no questions from the Intelligence community?They are great as they must be busy working overtime on vote shares in the ensuing and forthcoming elections.
I know what fate as a Mumbaikar i have?
1.The NEWS channels will report the terror attack for few days.
2.High profile visits will be undertaken of the site and hospitals?
3.Compensation will be announced for the dead?
4.The home minister will get another great opportunity to show his class and style in dressing?
5.The Pakistani angle will be explored?
6.Underworld links will be established?
7.The investigation will continue?
8.Those who are directly not involves will forget the attack slowly?
9.The spirit of Mumbai will be praised and commended?
All this till the next terror attack???
Then what ??
All this will be repeated again!!
We will continue to get the third grade policing and security.
Yes VIP security will be increased many fold??
Welcome to my India and my home Mumbai.Don't worry till its your turn..

Mumbai terror strike...

2008-11-27T06:43:00.000+05:30

Mumbai: In one of the most violent terror attacks on Indian soil, Mumbai came under an unprecedented night attack as terrorists used heavy

Dome of Taj hotel in flames in Mumbai after the terror attack (AFP Photo)

machine guns, including AK-47s, and grenades to strike at the city's most high-profile targets -- the hyper-busy CST (formerly VT) rail terminus; the landmark Taj Hotel at the Gateway and the luxury Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; the domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Cama and GT hospitals near CST; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and Mazgaon Dockyard -- killing at least 80 and sending more than 900 to hospital, according to latest reports.

The attacks have taken a tragic toll on the city's top police brass: The high-profile chief of the anti-terror squad Hemant Karkare was killed; Mumbai's additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte was gunned down outside the Metro; and celebrated encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar was also killed.

The attacks appeared to be aimed at getting international attention as the terrorists took upto 40 British nationals and other foreigners hostage. The chairman of Hindustan Unilever Harish Manwani and CEO of the company Nitin Paranjpe were among the guests trapped at the Oberoi. All the internal board members of the multinational giant were reported to be holed up in the Oberoi hotel.

Two terrorists were reported holed up inside the Oberoi Hotel. Fresh firing has been reported at Oberoi and Army has entered the hotel to flush out the terrorists.

An unknown outfit, Deccan Mujahideen, has sent an email to news organizations claiming that it carried out the Mumbai attacks.

The Army and Navy in Mumbai were put on alert. 65 Army commandos and 200 NSG commandos were being rushed to Mumbai, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.

The Navy commandos too have been asked to assist the police. Special secretary M L Kumawat is in constant touch with the state police.

Some media reports attributed the attack to Lashkar-e-Taiba. There were also unconfirmed reports that some of the terrorists came in by sea. A boat laden with explosives was recovered later at night off the Gateway of India.

Well after midnight, sources said two of the terrorists were shot and wounded at Girgaum in south Mumbai. The two were driving in a commandeered silver-coloured Skoda car. Earlier, these men had sprayed bullets from a police Bolero, outside the Metro Adlabs multiplex.

The attacks occurred at the busiest places. Besides hotels and hospitals, terrorists struck at railway stations, Crawford Market, Wadi Bunder and on the Western Express Highway near the airport. Several of these places are within a one-km radius of the commissioner of police's office.

"This is definitely a terrorist strike. Seven places have been attacked with automatic weapons and grenades. Terrorists are still holed up in three locations Taj and Oberoi hotels and GT Hospital. Encounters are on at all three places," said Maharashtra DGP A N Roy.

St George's Hospital and G T Hospital were said to have received 75 bodies and more than 250 injured people, additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev said. Bombay Hospital got two bodies and 30 injured people were admitted there; Cooper Hospital, Vile Parle, got three dismembered bodies.

Three of the deaths occurred inside the Taj and one G T Hospital attendant died in a shootout inside the hospital. There were reports of people cowering under tables and chairs at both the Taj as well as G T Hospital.

Metro Junction resident Manoj Goel said: "My brother, Manish, died in the firing at Colaba's Hamaal Galli." Cops fired back at the men -- probably from one of the Lashkar groups, dressed in black and with backpacks and SRPF, Crime Branch, ATS and teams of military commandos were summoned to the spot. Train services at CST were suspended and all roads leading to and from south Mumbai were blockaded.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh cut short his Kerala visit and was returning to Mumbai. He described the situation in Mumbai as "very serious".

Deshmukh promised "stringent action" against the assailants but the mood across Mumbai was not so optimistic.

Too little too late....

2008-11-21T13:03:00.002+05:30

The Western railways started 23 new services in Mumbai.If it would have been any other city it would have meant considerable improvement in the prevailing situation but Mumbai Meri Jan is different??

What you do of a travel system where 16-17 person /square meter travel during peak hours.

The bone crushing pressure is to be experienced to be believed!!

During those inhuman and painful moments my heart cries out loud,This is the status of the transport system of the financial capital of India??

I also let a silent prayer go for the fellow commuters who die each day in pursuit of going to office and Home!!

Mumbai loses 3500 lives per year due to train accidents,majority due to fall caused during peak hours.

Think of it you are so helpless and fending for your own life that you let the person next to fall from a running train to be killed instantly or maimed for life..Mumbai Ishtyle!!(Hadso ka Seher

Each year the rail minister pases the Rail budget and ignore the plight of commoners dying in pitiful condition.

Government spends and make more flyovers??What about more trains??

When Maneka Gandhi cries against animal brutality i feel envious of the animal!Cause they have a spokesperson we have non.

The rich and influential travel in cars and air its the common man who is forced to travel in a train or crowded bus.

The situation is more so dangerous if one travels from Virar to Borivli.

The politicians who are fighting for trivial issues can take the trains cause in hand and gain a ready made irate customer who will vote for party which brings more trains.

As of now its too little too late...

Mumbai's Local talk on economy!!!

2008-11-19T19:37:00.002+05:30

They say the great Mumbai local is the kaleidoscope of livid and vivid Mumbai..

During my daily commute on the western track(Chuchgate to Virar) i observe a lot of things,best is the banter and free talk and camaraderie which the fellow hassled commuters share.

Its not surprising to find the reflection of current global meltdown in daily banter.

It all started when Lehman got bust..The joke doing rounds was Lehman has turned into Lemon and sells the same instead of shares and debentures!!!

The job cut initiated by the Citi group has been a cause of concern as its going to affect 52000 families.The hushed tones of share traders and business people is out and loud now.The stories of traders going berserk due to the downturn and suicides by Sensex affected families are abound.

The job cuts are evident as told by a fellow commuter a trading house has reduced its western staff strenght from 62 to 16!!

IDBI home finance western track has 9 sales man as compared to 19 just 3 months back.

The effect is evident in market and more so in malls,,

I wonder where has all the money went in last three months and why its getting worse by the day.

Hiring in most companies is on hold,the flashy biz schools are worried about the placements and job scenario.The real state market is still holding tight..

There is caution in the approach people used to do business earlier its a lack of trust and faith in the system...

Chatth on despite tension in Mumbai.

2008-11-04T21:09:00.000+05:30

Police, paramilitary forces and CCTVs kept a close watch over scores of Chhath Puja venues in Mumbai on Tuesday despite Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's assurance about not disrupting celebrations.

There are 19 main locations around various beach fronts in the city, including the oldest and most popular venue, Juhu beach, where nearly half a million devotees are expected in the evening. The festival is primarily celebrated by people from Bihar.

Chhath Puja will also be held at the historic Banganga Tank, Navy Nagar, Gorai Creek, Bhayander Creek, Thane Creek, Marve Beach, Manori Beach, Madh Island, the beach front in Navi Mumbai and Thane, and the Ulhas river in Thane district.

In an unprecedented step by the state government, Mumbai Police will be aided by the Rapid Action Force and State Reserve Police Force to monitor the law and order situation during celebrations.

Security has been beefed up in view of recent attacks on non-Maharashtrians, particularly those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, by the MNS. Under fire for the violence, Thackerary has said, he is not opposed to Chhath Puja as long as it is not politicised.

But police are taking no chances.

Additional Police Commissioner (West Region) Archana Tyagi said apart from the 19 main venues in the city and suburbs, police will also be present in strength at all the approach roads.

When asked about possible disruptions, Tyagi said: "We are fully geared for any kind of eventuality and will take appropriate action as warranted by the situation."

Similarly, in Ulhasnagar in neighbouring Thane district, the town’s legislator Suresh Pappu Kalani has deployed 1,000 activists of his Republican Party of India (RPI) to keep a watch on celebrations at the main venue on the banks of Ulhas river, and in the nearby Kalyan-Dombivli towns.

He said his party activists would ensure that north Indians get an opportunity to perform their traditional festival peacefully.

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who initiated public Chhath Puja celebrations in Mumbai in 1998, said the response among people was “tremendous and enthusiastic”.

“We do not foresee any disturbances for a purely religious gathering and we are sure that with police out in large numbers, the celebrations will pass off as usual,” Nirupam said, while supervising the last minute arrangements at Juhu beach.

Incidentally, he started Chhat Puja celebrations in Mumbai in a big way when he was a two-term Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member, and it was seen as an attempt to woo the north Indian community.

The city administration has advised organisers to play devotional songs instead of blaring out Bollywood numbers during celebrations. They have restricted political parties’ logos or slogans on banners and hoardings at prayer venues.

Mumbai Tensed!!!

2008-10-22T21:35:00.003+05:30

MUmbai is tense and volatile now.There is clear demarcation of Bhhayas and non Bhhayas.

While the Bihari and UPites feel insecure moving around the multitude of migrants feel secure.

Raj thakre has got bail and is resting at his residence.

But he has got an unfinished task of cleaning Mumbai of its migrants.Great work sir!!

Once you are done with cleaning Mumbai of All Bhayiyas think of Gujarati,Parsi,Muslims,Catholics and oh the omnipresent Malyalis the Sheety's and the backbone of your multimillion dollar film industry Punjabies.

How wonderful Mumbai will look if only Marathis are left!!

One step further keep only Kolis in Mumbai after all it was there village??

Terror and our response!!

2008-09-17T22:01:00.003+05:30

We have become used to the blood and gore on our streets,courtesy the extremist who are hell bent on killing Innocent humans for god knows which dogma.

In my opinion we are the most soft state when it comes to terror and tackling it.

The union home minister believes in looking prim and proper for the photo op rather than providing the courage and direction to the crippled state machinery.

terror is a swift blow by anti nationals the response too needs to be swift?

Our government is not responsible!

Because if i define responsibility: its your ability to respond?

Our home ministry officials say they are getting experience courtesy blasts?

Wonderful?

We common men have been subjected to all sort of weird experiments all ready please spare our lives.

The unsolved terror cases of past are the certificates our security agencies take pride in wearing on their sleeves.

Today when i travel in local trains of Mumbai the common refrain from people is why don't the politicians are killed why the common man?

A Wednesday depicted the common mans anger and what could happen if even a common man decides to fight back.

Our politicians lack the guts to take terror head on cause they will antagonise Muslims.

Its a wrong notion the common god fearing Muslim is not the terrorist its the minority extremist.But Islam has to look into its conscience why majority of terrorist world over are Muslims.This is such a stigma which makes common Muslims feel ashamed.

Frankly when in public places i have stopped to look around and be suspicious of threat,cause its my destiny when ever terror strikes.

Its a surreal feeling which every office goer faces in Mumbai today.

We are counting days,one more day has passed and god willing i am back with my family.Lets see tmrw>>

Cancer its impact.

2008-08-04T16:34:00.000+05:30

I wrote once life is relative.

Pain, sorrow happiness and ecstasy all relative.

Like the weather, it’s a perpetual cycle which keeps the wheels of life running.

One of the best places to see this motion of life is a general hospital, where there is happiness in the maternity ward cause some one is getting born!

But sorrow in the trauma and casualty ,some body died young cause of a deadly road accident!!

My trips to Tata hospital has been a source of introspection and thinking about life. The sorrow the pain the anguish, the irritation and helplessness of the family members!!

The whole atmosphere is so frightening that a toughie like my father started to realize the gravity of having Cancer.

The innocent and hollow faces of the children’s of Cancer are haunting. My Heart cries for the loss of health and childhood of these gifts of God.

The sufferers are the parents off course who move from one department to the other carrying their child like zombies!!

I can’t forget the incidence when a small boy was brushed lightly by my hand while crossing the crowded ally of Tata memorial hospital Mumbai; the deep cry of pain made me stop and sooth him by saying sorry profusely.

In response to my touch on his head the crying child turned towards me, what an innocent face but minus one eye?

The darkness in the hollows of the eye socket hit me hard!!

Why god why the children??

They never smoked? They never committed the sins of current lifestyle to attract Cancer?

I have to take Papa to Tata tomorrow; my heart is dreading the place for the pain and anguishes the despair and the emptiness. It’s a tough call!!

Cancer!!!

2008-07-07T11:11:00.000+05:30

Cancer!! The word itself spells doom. This is the worst that could happen to the human mind. It takes just the knowledge of the fact that you have got a cancer that the whole outlook towards life changes. It was during the routine checkup of my father that a small lesion in the left kidney was found. Thanks to the brilliance of the physician Dr Santosh Pillai from Vasai. My father who is a toughie suddenly became pale and looked weak. Once the Dr declared after the CT scan that we need to see a specialist he grew suspicious and scarred. He started to tell me what he owes and what others owe him? I told hang on papa you are going no where and this is just the start and since we know it so early it can very well be resolved. All these words had very little effect on his mindset. But when I took him to Tata memorial hospital at Parel he saw the vast multitude of people suffering with different cancer and of different degree. What pained him maximum was the suffering of the kids as young as 3-4 years old. The cancer kids are conspicuous by there bald head due to chemo and medication. What doesn’t change is the child in them! I saw a 5 yr old kid who got a report from one of the labs. As soon as he got the paper he went in to a rush to file it in his fat medical file treating it as a mark of achievement!! My heart cried for the suffering the poor kid is going thru, but was happy to see the child in him so energetic and full of life. In evening when my Papa returned home he was a different man. I could see him holding my 5 months old child tightly and longer than usual as to thank god for the gift of good health to our kids! Life is relative all bliss and all sorrow is relative

Mumbai voted the best for Business.

2008-06-15T14:49:00.003+05:30

It’s India Inc’s Love Story 2050. And the theme remains the same. Top corporate bosses in India are still going with Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi as the cities of the future. The new-age wannabes such as Pune, Surat and Indore may have got their act together, but so far India Inc is not ready to buy into their script. At least not just yet.

Bangalore — India’s very own Silicon Valley — may be plagued by bad roads and terrible traffic but that hasn’t stopped the city from getting ahead of the capital Delhi to emerge as the second most futuristic city in the country. Delhi is, however, ahead of Bangalore on the list of India’s investment-friendly cities.

For corporate India, Mumbai still tops the chart of investment-friendly cities, and is positioned as India’s most futuristic city. ‘Cities of the future’ is a ranking on the basis infrastructure preparedness and getting policy in place.

According to the SundayET CEO perception poll, conducted by global market research agency Synovate, the list of top five futuristic cities also include Ahmedabad and Chennai.

The corporate honchos ranked Hyderabad and Kolkata as sixth and seventh, whereas Patna and Guwahati are perceived to be the most investor-unfriendly cities.

The perception survey, conducted between May 12 and 21, 2008, had a sample size of 150 CEOs who were chosen from ET 500 companies. The CEOs based out of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, belonged to diverse industry sectors such as FMCG, manufacturing, IT, telecom, financial services and auto among others.

Though experts feel that new kids on the block — Pune, Surat and Indore — have rolled out the right strategies to position themselves as cities of the future, the captains of India Inc are yet to perceive them as leading urban hubs in the decades to come. Whereas Pune is ranked as the eighth most futuristic city, Surat stands at 10th in the list of 20 cities.

Why to Blog?

2008-06-08T14:59:00.003+05:30

It was in October 2006 getting inspired by the super girl Abby Lee A la "One track mind"that i started this blog called "Bombay Today".

The experience has been interesting and fulfilling,i have got praise as well as brickbats also.My blog "Indian Thinking" gave me exposure and i was contacted by an Italian magazine called 'JACK".
They asked me to write a short piece on Mumbai as an insider sees it.I did the piece and was informed of its getting published,but the real thing was so good to see when i received my personal copy of JACK via courier.They also paid an honorary amount of Eur 200//.

More than the money part it was the recognition which mattered.

I have written some casual,some serious some boring some hilarious post's,the best is yet to come.
I do take pride inspiring some talented people who crossed my life to share their valuable insights and they obliged.
My other blog Lalu Leela has its own share of fans,the blog got a mention in "THE TIMES OF INDIA".Bombay today got acclaimed in Mid Day,Mumbai.
The love and cooperation of fellow bloggers and readers has always given a high.
For me the biggest kick is when i search my name in Google and see this.
I have not been posting recently due to my professional commitments and lack of connectivity,but i love to write and shall do so routinely,If Aamir and Amitabh Ji can find time to share their view i too can.He he....
And to Aamir and Amitabh ji i can always say i am senior to you as for as Blogging goes!!

Current happenings!

2008-05-27T12:43:00.003+05:30

The recent surge in crime and criminal activity has racked the media and the society.Special mention of the Grover murder in Mumbai and Arushi-Hemraj double murder in Delhi.
The trauma on children has been reported by many publications.Parents are turning to psychiatrist for help as even slight anger by parents causes mental trauma to child.
Children requesting parents not to kill em !
The insensitive way news is handled by the TV media is gross but profitable for them as it gives more eyeball's.
The Gujjar riot going on in Rajasthan has cost 42 lives already!The political parties can never condemn the hooligans for causing loss to nation cause its Vote bank.If this demand is meet whats the guarantee other communities will not demand the same??

How can they do this??

2008-05-23T19:04:00.000+05:30

Kannada film actress and her naval officer boyfriend, arrested for allegedly murdering the creative head of a TV production house and disposing of his body after chopping it to pieces, have been remanded to police custody.

Marrayya Monica Susayraj (27), the actress and her boyfriend of over 18 months, Lt M L Jerome Mathew (25) were produced before the Borovili court on Thursday.

The court remanded the duo to police custody upto May 29. Matthew was brought here from Kochi by the police.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria had on Wednesday said that the murder of 25-year-old Neeraj Grover was fallout of a love triangle.

Grover, creative head of Synergy Adlabs, was missing since May seven.

Marrayya, who has acted in four Kannada films, came to Mumbai in March trying to get into Hindi serials and had also auditioned for the newer version of Mahabharata. She came in contact with Grover while applying for work and both started "going around", to which Matthew had objected, police said.

On May seven, Mathew took a flight out of Kochi where he is based and reached Marrayya's place at 0730 hours the next morning, where Grover was already present. An altercation ensued between Mathew and Grover which ended with the latter being allegedly stabbed to death by the naval officer.

Marrayya went to a nearby mall and made a host of purchases which included a few knives, curtain cloth, bed linen and sports bag. "The couple chopped off the body into pieces, replaced the blood-stained pieces of cloth and packed the body into the bags," Maria had said.

Bravo Mumbai Indians.

2008-05-21T16:27:00.000+05:30

The Royal Challengers of Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers are pretty much out of this year's DLF Indian Premier League, but they are perfectly capable of spoiling someone else's party.

There are five teams vying for three places in the semi-finals and they will be hoping that the Chargers and the Challengers will continue to play as badly and not cause an upset. The Rajasthan Royals are already in the semis, but they will want to maintain the winning rhythm. What they can do is to try some of the players who haven't played so far or give a bit of a break to some of their bowlers since it is hot and there is every likelihood of them picking an injury in these conditions. So it may make sense for them to be careful with the bowlers and keep them fresh for the semis and beyond.

Gambhir first batsman to amass 500 runs | Top performers

As for the Mumbai Indians, they might have won six consecutive games, but it only becomes tougher for them as they are set to play two of their competitors for a place in the semi-finals after which they have to play the Rajasthan Royals. So they have a hard grind ahead of them, but the manner in which they have responded has been brilliant.

They will no doubt miss the services of Dwayne Bravo, who made such a massive contribution as soon as he joined the team. He lifted the team with his fielding and his energetic batting and bowling, giving the Mumbai Indians options and flexibility. It won’t be easy to fill his shoes, for all-rounders of his class are not easily available in international cricket.

The big plus for them is the return to destructive form of Sanath Jayasuriya. He has batted quite superbly in the last few games and if he gets the team off to a flying start again then the Mumbai Indians can put up a challenging total on board. The bowling of Pollock also has been a big factor as he has not allowed the opposition to get a good start. And don't forget Tendulkar hasn't fired as yet with either bat or ball. So they have a big chance of getting into the semis.

The other teams fighting for a place in the semis are the Chennai Super Kings, the Kings XI Punjab, the Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knightriders. They are going to be up against good teams and so will have to be at their best to move ahead. It is their inconsistency that will worry their supporters, for they have some fine players, but not all of them have clicked and they cannot afford to have that going into the final leg of the tournament. Yuvraj needs to replicate his form from the ICC World Twenty20 and while Gambhir has been aggressive and consistency personified, the same cannot be said of his skipper Sehwag, who can demolish any attack but is getting out even before the main course is served. He batted splendidly against the Challengers and could well be getting back to his destructive best.

No Bombay call it Mumbai.

2008-05-14T18:01:00.002+05:30

Many would say what's in a name? But ask anyone who has grown up in Mumbai and they will possibly say Mumbai doesn't sit well on the tongue.Bombay is the city they know. But now it seems that Sena is not having any debate over Mumbai or Bombay. It says Mumbai it is.After a long lull, the Sena is back to what according to many it does best - change names.And its present target is its oldest.The Sena has demanded that all remnants of old Bombay be wiped off from schools, institutions and companies.Even the Bombay Scottish school, where Udhav Thackeray's younger son Tejas still studies, was not spared.The school sign was wiped off and the Sena version was stamped over it. Next stop, the barometer of the markets the Bombay Stock Exchange.''These people are sycophants of the British and the East India Company,'' says Abhijeet Phanse of Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena.And then, arguably one of the city's best known brand recall Bombay Dyeing, whose mills gave thousands of jobs, mostly to Marathi mill workers, was attacked.And the government, as usual, is walking the middle path.''We will take a legal opinion whether or not brand names and names of institutions need to be changed,'' says R R Patil, Deputy CM, Maharashtra.Mumbai is the name of this city. But some of its ageless signposts had so far retained their names and their glory.But if the Sena has its way, the city's symbols will have to be painfully rechristened

WOW..

2008-05-03T13:37:00.000+05:30

The 27-storey residence of Reliance chief, Mukesh Ambani costing $2 billion will be the most expensive home in the world.Also the Supreme Court on Friday decided not to intervene in the construction of the building on Waqf board land in Mumbai and has directed the matter back to the Bombay high court.The property in question at the court is worth Rs 400 crores and is located on Altamount Road in south Mumbai.The Waqf Board has told the Supreme Court that it sold the property thinking it was to be used for an orphanage and that commercial buildings are not allowed on Waqf land.Earlier, the Bombay High Court had stayed the Waqf Board proceedings.The house will feature a silver stairway, magnificent crystal chandeliers, six floors just for parking, a panoramic view of the city from 550ft above sea level.A separate gym for each family member, four floors of open-air gardens, a 65-seat theater, complete with a wine and snack bar, a spa, a swimming pool, jacuzi and even a personal helipad.If this wasn't enough, there are also plans to make an ice room, where the Ambanis could beat the heat on a hot summers day.This house named Antilia is expected be ready by next year so that the Ambanis can move in from their current 'modest' 22-storey home.

Congestion at Mumbai Airport..

2008-04-16T23:53:00.003+05:30

Last Night i took a same day return flight to Bom from Delhi with Kingfisher Airlines Flight IT 316 which leaves from Delhi at 21.00.

The scheduled arrival time was 23.00 at Mumbai.Guess what time the flight reached Mumbai??

No its not the handiwork of Kingfisher its the Cramped and medieval services and facility in Indian Aviation,
we circled over Mumbai for almost an hour though the flight has reached spot on time!!!!
Why cant we deserve a fully functional second airport in Mumbai to handle the rush,
What a shameful waste of time Aviation fuel and environment by making a flight revert and do merry go rounds for an hour.
Its a shame and must be corrected ASAP.

Jaipur..

2008-04-16T23:27:00.000+05:30

On my recent official trip to Jaipur i noticed the warmth of the Rajshthani Culture and how to make ones heritage sell.Through out my trip i was not fleeced or felt cheated people ewre true to there words and appered genuine and warm.

My trip to Chokhi Dhani was amazing in just three hours i soaked in the culture and traditions of Rajasthan.the food was distinct and very rich.I stayed in a heritage hotel which was once a Palace for a king?The high of staying as a Raja can be felt by the historically feudal people.

Jaipur's life style is laid back and royal,people are indebted to the visitors in the city and regard them as priceless assets.When you leave Jaipur you go with a firm resolve I'll come back again!!
Padharo Mahare Desh!!!

Whts going on??

2008-03-30T15:04:00.001+05:30

Four people were arrested for allegedly damaging five taxis, owned by North Indians, in the wee hours on Saturday in Central Mumbai, police said.

Efforts were on to ascertain whether the arrested belonged to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which had run an anti-north Indian campaign last month, they said.

"At around 0200 hours, a group of four motorcycle-borne men stopped three taxis in Worli area and asked the drivers where do they hail from. On being told that they belonged to North Indian states, they broke the window panes of the taxis," police said.

Later, they went towards nearby Lower Parel area and damaged two more taxis, police said, adding police patrol parties across the city were alerted and the four were arrested immediately.

The arrested have been identified as Ashish Parab, Pravin Pawaskar, Sameer More and Milesh Shelar.

Early morning flights!

2008-03-25T00:25:00.000+05:30

Huh. There was a time when i use to fancy the idea of being a high flying exe.Who rushes for the early morning flight!Now when i am doing the same its a pain in the @**.One has to let in of sweet early morning sleep go to the airport and line up.

Morality for middle class only!!

2008-03-23T21:25:00.002+05:30

Read a news piece in TOI today about the legendary writer V S Naipauls way of life and how he admits taunting his wife to death.
This old man kept mistresses and was a regular at brothels!!
He was known the world over as a prolific writer and an astute thinker.Why does he do what he do?why a Salman Rushdi ahs many wives and girls?Why does a Sanjay dutt marry thrice? Why does a settled AAmir khan deserts his wife and kids and marries another.
My question is why are these so called icons of today have this tendency to disobey the normal way of life and being monogamous?
Is it that good manners and the rules and laws apply only to the middle class??
Why creative people lead such a double standard life? Some comments?

Scarlett murder in Goa.

2008-03-14T21:18:00.003+05:30

The news was a shock,going by the Goan way of living,where people live and let live. Scarlett should have lived her fair share of life,god bless her soul.

What angers me is the utter nonsense her mother is creating,Why in the first place she let the girl on her own.Poor girl had to sleep with hugs to get food and shelter.She had a troubled childhood thanks to her Mom,who ave had as many as 5 boy friends and several kids.The lady made a mockery of her lie as well as the kids.

I condemn the brutal attack on poor Scarlett at the same time hate her mother to leave her child in such peril.

Mumbai and Delhi congestion to ease.

2008-02-19T20:47:00.001+05:30

Air traffic congestion over Delhi and Mumbai is expected to ease by June when Airports Authority of India (AAI) puts in place a satellite-based navigation system which will enable it to guide aircraft flying over the high seas. The GPS Aided Geo-Augmentation Navigation (GAGAN), developed jointly by AAI and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), would be made fully operational by 2010, AAI Chairman K Ramalingam said today at a seminar on "Emerging Trends in Space and Aviation Meteorology". "The final phase results (of GAGAN) are very encouraging and we are confident of making the system operational by 2010," he said. Unlike traditional ground-based navigation aids, GAGAN will cover the entire Indian airspace and also provide navigational information to aircraft flying over high seas. India would be only the fourth such country, after the US, Europe and Japan, to have such a sophisticated system, Ramalingam said. The performance-based navigation system will come into place by June this year in Delhi and Mumbai airports which is likely to reduce air traffic congestion there, he said. Ramalingam said modernisation methods being carried out by the AAI should match those of the Indian Meterological Department for which the two entities have entered into an agreement to ensure safe and efficient management in aviation meteorology.

What a farce????

2008-02-14T21:01:00.000+05:30

Police arrested Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday for inciting violence after his party's workers attacked north Indians who migrated to the city.
Extra police officers and paramilitary forces were posted around the city before Thackeray was arrested. He was later released on bail.
Police also arrested Abu Azmi, a local leader of the Samajwadi Party, which is based in Uttar Pradesh. He is accused of encouraging north Indians in Mumbai to retaliate and has also been released on bail.
Shops closed in parts of the city, either as a precaution against trouble or because they were forced to by party workers.
Media reports said a 55-year-old was killed after workers threw stones and damaged buses in Nasik.
There were also reports of protesters throwing stones and attacking vehicles in other parts of Maharashtra, as well as on the outskirts of Mumbai.
Police had been under pressure to arrest Thackeray since Sunday, when party workers attacked cinemas screening films in Bhojpuri and beat up dozens of north Indians, including some of the many north Indian taxi drivers.
Television pictures showed Thackeray wearing a blue sleeveless jumper over a white shirt, walking calmly towards a Mumbai court, surrounded by policemen.
For generations, poor Indians have left behind rural poverty to try and make a living in Mumbai and other big cities. Millions hail from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two of India's poorest states.

Cold wave in Mumbai!!!

2008-02-08T22:09:00.000+05:30

The western disturbance hitting north India had an influence over Mumbai too where minimum temperatures dipped to 8.5 degrees Celsius with weathermen saying on Friday, it might be the coldest day in the metropolis since 1962.

Not used to such cold weather, Mumbaiikars relied on heavy woolens and most of them chose to stay indoors, leading to suburban trains running with less commuters than usual.

"The current drop in the temperature in the city can be attributed to the western disturbances which are hitting north India," said K Sathidevi, director of the Regional Meteorological Department.

Met officials said this could be the lowest temperature recorded in the city since January 27, 1962 when mercury levels dipped to 7.4 degrees.

They said a respite from the cold wave is unlikely soon with the minimum temperature on Saturday likely to be around 9 degrees.

"With north India experiencing such cold weather we are also likely to get our share of it," Sathidevi said, adding it was unusual for the city to have such a prolonged spell of cold weather.

Back to Bombay!!!

2008-02-02T18:59:00.000+05:30

Blessed with Challenge...

"Every one must be challenged. A day dawns, quite likeother days; in it a single hour comes, quite like aother hours; but in that day and in that hour thechance of a lifetime faces us."

- Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858-1901)

I have taken the gauntlet the lure of the metropolice has done the unthinkable to me and my life.

My great beloved city of Dreams here comes your dreamer back in to your arms.
My stint at Ahmedabad is over and i have joined a new company with a new industry,cause i was missing the city and the culture.I am hope ful and confident tat this new stint will be enjoyable and challenging.

Bombay lover is back in Bombay now!!!

Let Me Smoke: Shah Rukh Khan.

2008-01-29T12:08:00.000+05:30

Actors should not be asked to curb their “creative liberties,” Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan said. He was responding to Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who said he and Amitabh Bachchan should stop setting a bad example by smoking in public and in films as “children have their first puff of cigarette due to celebrities.” “As filmmakers we should have creative liberties because cinema is all about make-believe,” Mr. Khan said. He, however, said he agreed with Dr. Ramadoss on his concern over an increase in young people taking to smoking.

Dr. Ramadoss had said Mr. Khan should not have smoked in the stands while watching a cricket match in Mumbai and that he and Mr. Bachchan could learn a thing or two from Tamil film actor Rajnikant, who accepted the Minister’s suggestion to quit smoking on screen.

Defending himself, Mr. Khan said the stadium where he was photographed smoking was a private club coming under the Cricket Club of India; moreover, there wasn’t a ‘no smoking zone’ specified in the area.

Chill pill in Mumbai!!!

2008-01-28T13:35:00.000+05:30

This year, Mumbai’s winter seems to be doing a Sachin Tendulkar — beating its own record with crisp regularity. While January 25 became the coldest day in the decade with 11.4 degree Celsius, on Republic Day it dived further to 11 degrees.

But windy Sunday had saved one: the weatherman recorded 10.2 degrees. The government-run Doordarshan channel, and usually reliable with such data, said it was the coldest day in 45 years. Since offices were closed, this could not be confirmed.

“It is probably the lowest in two decades,” said regional head of the Indian Metrological Department, C.V.V. Bhadram. The lowest recorded temperature in Mumbai is 7.4 degrees on January 22, 1962.

“There is a cold wave in the state because of the Northerly winds. It does not last more than a week,” said M. Rajeevan, director, National Climate Centre, Pune. The cold and dry Northerlies travel across Kashmir’s peaks and Gujarat’s plains to reach Mumbai.

In the state, Nasik was the coldest at four degrees. Pune is slightly warmer at six degrees.

The weather has become conversation over drinks, with brandy seeing a sudden and rare period of popularity. “Clubbing just got dressier. Everyone has got their New York boots and trendy jackets out,” said 28-year-old Juhu resident Shalini Kalra.

Doctors sound less peppy. “Mumbai is not used to such cold. Respiratory problems have doubled. We have had to increase dosages of asthma patients, and some had to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit," said Hemant Thacker, consultant physician at Breach Candy Hospital. “People have to keep their chests warm and avoid early morning walks because of smog.”

Laptop for Corporators.

2008-01-28T13:31:00.000+05:30

Municipal Corporators in the city will soon be provided laptops to make them easily accessible to people in their wards.

The scheme to provide laptops to 227 corporators of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) will be included in the next year's budget, Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak said.

As per the scheme, which is under consideration, the corporators will use the laptops while in office and may be allowed to buy it at a depreciated price at the end of their tenure, he said.

This scheme had been implemented in some state government offices and can be thought of here as well, Phatak said.

The MCGM, with an annual budget of over Rs 10,000 crore, is one of the richest civic bodies in the country.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Manu Kumar Srivastava said the laptops would be acquired through a tender process and the contract would include a maintenance contract for the machines.

"We had recently started our website and our intention is that all corporators should be able to use it and have greater interaction with citizens," Srivastava said.

Screen Awards 2008 winners!!

2008-01-28T01:44:00.000+05:30

Best Pair: Shah Rukh KHan & Deepika Pudokone
Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan for Chak de India
Best Actress: Kareena Kapoor for Jab We Met
Best Film: Chak De India
Best Director: Shimit Amin for Chak De and Amir Khan for Tare Zameen Par

Here is the Winner List Summary

Tare Zameen Par : 5 awards
Chak De India: 4 Awards
LIfe in Metro: 3 Awards
Guru: 2 Awards
Jab we Met: 1 Awards
The blue Umbrella: 1 Award

IPL bid Changing face of cricket INDIA!!

2008-01-26T18:44:00.000+05:30

The IPL issue was as good as an IPO!!The kind of media attention it got on print and television was tantamount to the importance the game is given to in India.The non decrepit league cricket in India has transformed overnight with big money hitting the lowest level.It bodes well for cricket as it will give the impetus to finding new talent and nurturing them.The super rich and famous have got there designer cricket team to show off and of course make money and enjoy limelight.
The very banal urge of rich and famous to hold more acquire more and get more turned the biddding into a happy tantrik trance for the BCCI.Niranjan bhai,Pawar saheb and company including Rajeev shukla must be grinning brim to brim!!
What they have done in a single stroke is to re affirm to the masses that the thret from Zee TV's ICL is a no starter.
It will be interesting to see how does the Zee group can keep the focus and attention in this onslaught of money and collective power of Mukesh ambani,Vijay Mallya,Shah Rukh Khan,Nes Wadia & Priety Zinta?
The Cricketing world is going to be on par with Bollywood vis a vis glitter and glamour the thin line will get thinner now.Shah Rukh had his last laugh about enjoying a cricket match!!No body can stopp him as he owns a Team now!!
The page three parties in AAmchi Mumbai will have new discussion!!Who has got the biggest??Come on silly,i mean team!!
I hope the glitter and money reaches the lowest level and cricket be the beneficiary in all the glitter.
As for Shah Rukh its continuation of a dream life and charisma.I salute the guts and the bussiness accumen of the bidders..

Shah Rukh Khan,Mukesh Ambani,Preity Zinta,Vijay Mallya win IPL bids.

2008-01-24T17:57:00.000+05:30

Mukesh Ambani has won the bid to sponsor the Mumbai team of the Indian Professional League (IPL) tournament promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Mukesh Ambani won the bid for the Mumbai team for $111.9 million.

Following are the bid amounts and winners for various teams in the Indian Premier League:

Vijay Mallya won the bid for the Bangalore team for $111.6 million.

Shah Rukh Khan won the bid for the Kolkata team for $75.09 million.

GMR Holdings won the bid for the Delhi team for $84 million.

India Cements won the bid for the Chennai team for $91 million.

Deccan Chronicle won the bid for the Hyderabad team for $107.01 million.

Emerging Media won the bid for the Jaipur team for $67 million.

Preity Zinta won the bid for the Mohali team for $76 million.

Bala saheb speakes.

2008-01-23T09:59:00.000+05:30

In an interview to his party mouthpiece, Saamna, Shiv Sena supreme Bal Thackeray has advocated that a certain quota of homes in new construction should be reserved for Maharashtrians in Mumbai. It is a reaction to the Maharashtra Government's doing away with the Land Ceiling Act, opening up more space in Mumbai for real estate development.

Sena supreme’s concern is that Marathi Manoos or the average Maharashtrians may end up being marginalised in Mumbai after the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA) as a result of soaring real estate prices.

Thackeray's comments come on the back of his scathing attack on non-Maharashtrians, asking for permits to be issued to those working in Mumbai.

Thackeray said, "In the towers that are going to come up in Mumbai, allocation for Maharashtrians should not be ten or twenty percent but about fifty percent.
Otherwise, we won’t even allow a brick to be put in place. Builders should give a written undertaking to this effect, with a clear mention about the space allocation to Maharashtrians. We are not specifying how much area should be allocated but it should be enough to allow for comfortable living."

Saif Rocks Mumbai!!!

2008-01-21T19:02:00.000+05:30

Saif Ali Khan showed off his hitherto less known rock-star side to thousands of screaming Mumbaikars, as he performed along with rock band Parikrama at the Seagram's Royal Stag Mega Music concert in Andheri last evening (Jan 20). The actor sporting a dark blue dotted bandana with a black tee and jeans looked at ease as he strummed the guitar to popular rock numbers like 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple, AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' and Pink Floyd's 'Run like Hell'. The actor also showed that he can definitely sing much more than a line or two as he crooned Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B Goode' and even dedicated the song to his daughter who was in the audience. The concert also featured Pakistani band, Strings, who rendered some of their popular hits like 'Aakhri Alvida' from Shootout At Lokhandwala. However, those wanting to see Saif's lady love, Kareena Kapoor, at the concert were disappointed as she was busy shooting out of the country. Nevertheless, her name was seen tattooed prominently on Saif's forearm. So, what if Kareena couldn't be Saif's arm candy for his special night, she sure ended up being his fore-arm candy.

Mumbai Marathon!

2008-01-21T18:27:00.000+05:30

John Kelai of Kenya broke off from a pack of three a couple of kilometres from the finish to win the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon title on Sunday. Ethiopia's Tariku Jufar was second. Kelai finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 22 seconds, with Jufar coming in at 2:12:28 and Kenya's Philemon Boit at 2:12:35. Ethiopia's Mulu Seboka won the women's marathon setting a new course record with a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes and 3 seconds ahead of Kenya's Irene Kemunto (2:32:51) and Kenya's Margaret Karie Toroitich (2:33:56). It was Seboka's third victory in five years of Mumbai Marathon. Over 1,300 athletes competed in the event. Ian Ladbrooke, Elite athletes co-ordinator, said it was a tactical race. "After the pace-maker Daniel Rono a former winner of the event went off after 40 km, the top three stayed with each other with neither wanting to break off fearing they might serve as pacemakers to the others." Kelai's experience of the course stood him in good stead. But for being hotly chased by the other two Kelai may have bettered the course record, for the conditions were best that athletes have had for five years

Indian maverick in Nuclear fuel.

2008-01-17T20:59:00.000+05:30

When Holtec International Inc. chief executive officer Krishna "Kris" Singh founded his company in 1986 to develop technology to increase the amount of spent fuel rods that could be stored in nuclear power plants, he figured customers would flock to him. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"I am not a natural salesman," Singh, 60, told PhillyInc. "In the early years of Holtec's business, I struggled with it."

Eventually, he overcame his weaknesses as a salesman and convinced the nation's nuclear power industry that Holtec could help it address the problem of storing radioactive spent fuel rods. Sales at the closely held Marlton-based company then took off, as did the profits, which Singh declined to disclose.

The company, which Singh says has an order backlog of $3 billion, has about 300 employees. Holtec says its technology is used in reactors in the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan.

Last month, Holtec grabbed headlines when it won a $269 million contract to design, license, establish and commission a fuel-storage facility at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, the 1986 site of the worst accident in the history of nuclear power. The company plans to employ 60 to 80 people in Ukraine, and is looking to buy an office building in the country's capital of Kiev.

Notably, Singh said he has kept $1 from his salary each year, and has his company donate the rest to his charitable foundation. Singh's foundation has donated $20 million to his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania's School of Applied Sciences and Engineering, to create the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology. It was the largest gift in the history of the engineering school, where he got his doctorate.

Question: How did Holtec get started?

Answer: I wanted to take the necessary risk and develop new things. Nuclear power plants were sitting on the cusp. They didn't have enough storage to keep storing fuel inside the plant. There was no alternative technology to deal with the fuel.

Q: Nuclear power is in vogue again. Have people on Wall Street asked you about going public?

A: We get approached more frequently than I can remember. . . . It's a constant process. We have not seriously entertained going public. Wall Street is a short-term-focused enterprise. The stockholders, they want their returns. They want their returns yesterday.

Q: Did you have any mentors who helped you along?

A: His name is Dr. Burton Paul. [He was Singh's doctoral adviser.] He gave me encouragement every step of the way. . . . I always went back to him. He's always been a source of inspiration. He's a first-rate intellectual.

Q: When you first arrived in America, there weren't nearly as many people from India here as there are today. What was it like for you?

A: I used to get a newspaper once a week from the Indian Embassy. It had a circulation of 10,000. That lasted for about two or three years. As the population grew, they got out of the business of keeping us informed. . . . If I wanted to have an Indian meal, I had to go to New York City.

Q: What prompted you to make the donation to Penn?

A: Today, it's a new century, and I firmly believe that America's future lies in staying ahead in the technology race. The university will play a leading role in that.

Q: How big of a challenge is the Chernobyl contract?

A: It's going to take us altogether five years to finish. . . . It's a substantial undertaking for us. As one of my engineers described here, "It's the mother of all projects." It's going to consume an enormous amount of our resources. Our reputation rides on it.