It’s all over the idiot box and newspapers... people have forgotten their daily schedule and are glued to the television sets as the great Indian rescue drama unfolds.... in the era of no original soaps, thanks to a just concluded strike by television technicians... news channels have offered some gruelling action drama.
It all started around 21:00 hrs at Cafe Leopold when a group of young twenty something’s stormed in and started firing at the public... then Oberoi was stormed into and grenades lobed and rounds from AK-47 fired... by then pandemonium had spread and the news channels had dispatched their teams to catch the action ... by then Taj was entered and rounds fired there and some hotel guests taken hostage...few terrorists entered CST and opened fire, another group of terrorists went to the Cama Hospital and opened fire...The ATS team arrived under the able guidance of its chief Hemant Karkare. He went in to fight the terrorists without knowing who or why they had taken so many people hostage, thinking it was action film and unlike the movie, the hero was shot dead within minutes of entering ground zero... encounter specialist Salaskar and ACP Kamte were also shot dead... the death of these senior officers is a huge blow to the Mumbai police ... and to us Mumbaikars ...if these seniors were not prepared to handle this kind of situation then how can we depend on the friendly neighbourhood ‘pandu’ to protect us from such terror attacks... coz attacks like this is here to stay... it is upto us to be prepared..It is upto us to be not only swift in our action but efficient as well...
Well anyways... after gunning down these valiant officers, they made their getaway in a police car firing indiscriminately at random people.....the car passed through Metro and fired there as well....then there was a blast at Ville Parle which is around 25 km away... hence the attacks were well planned...
But why the hell am I giving you these details... you can find them at any newspaper or news channel... unfortunately, we were shooting at these very locations (Oberoi, CST and Metro) and had left these locations 30 min before the shootout started... I say unfortunate coz, had we been there we would have got live footages ... although we did manage to get live footage albeit a bit late since the drama is still on... it’s been more than 38 hours and rescue operation is still on...Black cat commandoes have taken over and many hostages freed and few terrorists killed....
One thing that bothers me is ...if these people had taken innocent people as hostage ...was it to buy their escape route out of Mumbai... did they contact anybody about it.... was it a suicide mission ...are we going to talk about this incident for the next couple of weeks and also talk about the undying spirit of Mumbai (read Helpless) and then forget the whole incident as another terror attack under reams of newsprint and spools of videotape...Is it finally time to be on the offensive for us? Will we ever get the upper hand... do we need to scale up our anti terror tactics, laws, personnel, morale???
I’ve been in office... trying to help the news team in whatever little way I can... coz my shoots have been cancelled... all units are covering the shootout, all video editors are busy editing all the various angles that this drama has unfolded... I did offer to my boss to be sent on to the field if there was a shortage of reporters (without knowing how to go about it)... My parents have been calling me up and asking me to go home and stay put there (poor guys don’t understand the importance of news ... I guess they don’t realize that I work for a News Channel)...and to top it up...my crazy aunty went on a fun 3 day trip to Lonavla!!!
In the midst of this I realized, I haven’t had time to go meet my Sis-in- Law who just had had an operation for cancer and is still hospitalized... I’m just not able to find time to go meet them.
What is that which I can do?? Are they any other who want to help but don’t know how?? Can we do something together??
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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"...
Friday, October 31, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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!
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!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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 ;)
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