humming along!

So much is happening... that I'm quite lost ... I'm just reacting to things not planning it out... but since its been a long time that I haven't spend any time here... I decided to do the honours today... there is an occasion... I got Internet connection for my laptop at home!!! yaaaaa!!! I'd been procrastinating for quite some time...besides there was genuinely no spare time to do all this... but all this happened thanks to a hummer... I met a guy who owns a hummer and a Cadillac and is getting a Maserati...now my knowledge about vehicles is as expansive as my knowledge about the financial condition of Peru...but I atleast know how an hummer looks... n boy I like the way it looks!!!...

To cut a long story short... met this chap (Sagar) at a shoot... got talking (producer in me is really active...I dont leave any prospective source) and went for a drive... planned some more shoots with him... he also helped me get the Internet connection... it all happened in the span of last 48 hrs... so boy am i humming along...u bet ur 18 inch modified tyres that I am...

Btw just packed up my shoot at Red Light for the channel id.. it was ok...cud have been better... but with limited resources ... this is what I cud do...like they say at channel V..."itne paise mein itna hi milega"...

Fun is never planned

Another week, another list of events ...some good some average, most not worth mentioning. Mumbai celebrated Diwali with much gusto, despite the fall in the sensex... I guess nothing affects the spirit of festivities here.
On Diwali eve, the office was all decked up and so were we... we had traditional wear day and there was a lot of giggling and festivities...as expected I was completely turned off with all the unnecessary giggling even though I had made an effort to dress up in what I hoped to pass off as traditional wear...nobody bothered or noticed anyways.
I was out shooting on Diwali night and was really glad for the opportunity as I had never ventured out on Diwali night in Mumbai and never really knew how amchi Mumbai celebrates it...well, it is the same way as in Delhi, Bangalore or any other place...people burst crackers and create a din, there is a lot of smoke and unnecessary happiness... the fireworks look nice ...but only if you can shake off the smoke that surrounds it and the niggling doubt that kids have been subjected to work in sub-human conditions in these factories.
We were in the middle of the shoot and in the middle of an almost choking attack (courtesy the smoke) when a stray bit of fire from some fire cracker hit my cameraperson bang on his left cheek and burnt his face. The crowd all eager to talk to the camera dispersed in an instant, the shoot was cancelled and we started hunting for a chemist shop... Sunil (cameraperson) meanwhile is hitched on to the compact mirror which Reema (intern) has kindly lent him...it’s a legitimate reason for him to preen in front of a mirror... and like a kid with a new toy, wouldn’t let go of the compact mirror, we had to finally trick him to get it back. For some reason, I came alive (with all my bad jokes) only when Sunil was injured... strange... I am a sadist after all. I kind of enjoyed describing in detail how the burn spread, how the colour and texture of the burn looked, etc disgusting Reema and hopefully scaring Sunil.
The day following Diwali was kind of slow as the hangover of the festivities was still in the air like the smell of fire crackers... there was not much accomplished work wise but we did play truth n dare (without the dare part) and some other game... in office... and managed to embarrass few colleagues and shock others with my wicked mind apparently.
Just realised that fun moments are never planned.

Stress, Riots and Jhankar Beats

When I had started this blog, it was meant to be a disciplined blogger not writing about stray incidents... but I hadn't reckoned on the fact that blogging is a full time occupation...I haven't found the time to pen down so many important events that have happened in the last couple of weeks.

However, since today is kinda a landmark day ....hence can't ignore it ...but like a true Mumbaikar (ahem ...can visualize the Thackerays getting permanent frown lines) I chose to club other issues with it and finish off the backlog!

Well these days is kinda hectic... with the impending launch of the channel, most of my waking hours are at the office, I just go home to crash and shower. I've had my moments of self doubt and the feeling of failure has become a permanent fixture in my mind... I don't seem to motivate my team enough to make them work to the best of their ability and achieve their deliverables. My boss keeps on reassuring me that they don't have the bandwidth to understand the word deliverables, leave alone execute the same...but the fact remains that I am not a good team leader.

With so much stress going on... Raj Thackeray has gone and gotten arrested... His MNS had beaten up non-maharastrains who were applying for railway jobs and since this vigilante behaviour has been going on for some time, the authorities decided to show their power and arrested Raj, thus enabling him to become a bigger hero in the eyes of the public. But amchi Mumbai has a strange way of showing support ...here people start rioting, burning taxis and autos with the rapid action force out with their lathis.

Hapless office-goers think ten times before venturing out...the client presentation is important so is their own safety... what if the rioters chose them to express their anger...do they also display their smattering of Marathi to safeguard themselves or do they beg and plead to get some semblance of sympathy.

That’s an individual choice and I wish all of them good luck to endure one more day like this... as for me, when I left my house I was lucky to find a taxi and auto. However, the auto wallah insisted on playing "Aisi Dewangi, Dekhi Nahin Kabhi, Maine-Tumne" with jhankar beats... I couldn't help laughing at God's sense of humour...the lyrics were appropriate to the situation and the jhankar beats (tudum-tudum....dhinchak...dhinchak...tudum dhish) adding the right tone.

Here's to another day in Mumbai and cudgels to the guy who invented Jhankar Beats!

Puppy Love

As much as I detest kids (I find them to be pesky creatures who are always needy...they either need food, somebody to change their diapers, play with them, talk to them...or simply give them tons of attention), I can’t help being amused by few kiddie things that they do.
I have guests in the house right now; they are my landlady’s daughter and grandson who have stopped over in Mumbai, on their way from a vacation in the US to Australia where they reside. The grandson (Shaan) is like any other kid of his age (3-4 years) who wants to watch Cartoon Network all day and not eat anything and wants everybody to buy him toys.
Couple of days ago, I came back from work all exhausted around midnight, had my dinner, watched the customary idiot box for some time and passed out on my bed. I was woken up by my landlady screaming “what the hell are you doing here”...I woke up all confused and hazy ... “what am I doing in my bed in my room, at this hour??”.... “Playing football”... what did you expect....of course I am sleeping... these words were about to find my voice box but for the simple fact that at that point of time my nerves were not responding to my tired brain... and thank god for that... coz the next second I realized that the little bundle of mischief was sleeping next to me!!!
I didn’t even know he was sleeping next to me... I didn’t hear him open my door, enter my room, close the door and climb into my bed...either he was a pro in climbing into other peoples bed without making any noise or I really am a sound sleeper.
Well, I was apologetic to my landlady who picked up the kid and went out of my room giving me the looks... the next day when the kid was questioned on why had he walked in the middle of the night to my room he said “I wanted to sleep on her body”...mind you...it’s not sleep with her, next to her, with her...its sleep “on” her body. His mom explained that he likes me a lot since we share a similar passion for Cartoon Network...Needless to say I was quite freaked out... maybe the kid knows this is the way to freak me out... as a punishment for not buying him toys... I shall buy him toys today...definitely... I don’t want any kids climbing into my bed... now if that was John Abraham or Brad Pitt ...well ;)

Eid Mubarak

The other day I went to Md. Ali Road with Eliaz, an ex-colleague of mine from Turner... we have been planning to go every year during Ramzan, but were finally successful this year.
The food was delicious... there was chicken (roasted, fried, curried), liver, trotters, tongue, bater(game bird), naan, rotis, mutton, beef chops, seviyaan, malpua, aflatoons, paan, etc... The trick was to eat at the roadside stalls inside of the restaurants.
The frenzy, the fervour that one can witness at Md Ali Road can only be surpassed by the Ganpati Visarjan in Mumbai.
This is a very unique thing about Mumbai and Mumbaikars... every festival takes on a passion that is hard to ignore. Everyone irrespective of religion, caste, creed, race, sex has active participation in all the happenings.
This is truly a cosmopolitan city. However, I was not able to keep all my Roza’s due to a trip to Sindhudurg to shoot a travel show... but no worries, I shall be even more particular next year and will make it up then. But as for now, I shall quickly order some biryani and Haleem...yum!

Btw EID MUBARAK to all!!!