Coming to Bombay after an extended period of time, and you have a direct assault on your senses. And the biggest one, according to me is the noise pollution. Or specifically, the honking of vehicles.

It is incessant. More like a national pastime, or as if its some involuntary action necessary, like breathing on the beating of your heart. Its as if your life depends on it.

You dont honk once every 30 seconds, and you will have a seizure. If the period extends to a full 60 seconds, then its a full fledged heart attack. Anything beyond that and you shall die. !! At least thats my take on it.

Yesterday I am riding on Cadell road, an besides me there is a cab. No other car on that stretch of road. And the cab keeps on honking.

I had half a mind to pull up and give him a piece of my mind, but then i had to turn and so the cabbie went scot free.

They should now make it mandatory to manufacture cars in India without horns, and all existing ones, removed, and destroyed !!!

A morning meeting of mine at Churchgate finished around 1. Wondering where to eat lunch, I decided to saunter to Marine Drive and build up an appetite. I�d never walked here in the middle of the day. It was warm and the footpath next to the sea had only a few stragglers.

The low tide exposed the rocks and sandbanks in the shallow bay. A group of college kids were chatting animatedly. Further on, a middle aged man came and sat on the parapet. He crossed his legs and proceeded to remove his shoes and socks, making himself comfortable. As I passed him, I heard him humming an old Hindi song. Bliss it is to have free time in the middle of the day.A mother was feeding her two toddlers. A nice lunch with a great view.

Marine Drive is one of the loveliest places to be in Bombay. But I rarely stop and appreciate its beauty. I pass by it many times a week, generally rushing from one meeting to another. This little interlude, walking alone in the winter sun lifted my spirits. As I walked further, I spied a row of taxis with the cabbies catching a quick nap. I woke one up and asked him to take me to office.

Came across an interesting write-up in today’s Mumbai Mirror, here the writer basically talks about the never-ending commuting problems that majority of Mubaikars face every day of their lives. The endless struggle and pain. Though I feel that some stuff seems a bit exaggerated for more emotional effect, however the writer seems to be very much on the right track. Anyways, read ahead and decide for yourself.

For many Mumbaikars, that leg of the daily commute, between station and home is as murderous as the one spent on train. A softer killing maybe, but no less bloody.

That moment of relief, when you jump off, as the coach glides into the platform, is a short-lived one. It usually lasts for about four minutes, as you wipe your sweat, get pushed through the crowd and finally reach the bus or rickshaw stand.

Bus or auto

If you plan to celebrate New Years Eve in Mumbai city this year, then you better make a choice between Drinking and Driving.

If you’re caught driving drunk on new year’s eve, you will straightaway have your driving licence cancelled. While cops earlier only pressed charges under the Motor Vehicles Act, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil has asked them to ensure this time that a drunk driver loses his licence. The licences will be confiscated on December 31 and cancelled soon as the amendment is through.

The official said that of all cases of drunk driving registered in a year, about 45 per cent are in December and a majority of these in the week starting Christmas.

Chief Minister has also asked Mumbai police to station special vigilance squads at 25 ‘danger spots’ in the city for new year’s eve. The spots, identified by the police during a high-level meeting chaired by police commissioner A N Roy recently, include the Marine Drive promenade, the JJ flyover, Worli sea-face and Carter Road and Hill Road in Bandra

However I doubt whether this rule will be very much effective, knowing the fact that majority of Mumbai Traffic Control cops don’t hesistate in taking bribes. Anyways I guess, something is always better than nothing.

Read more on Traffic Horrors in Mumbai City till the 31st.

Couple of days ago i had posted this, stating my reason for not being able to join my nukkad ka gym. On the weekend, i was discussing the same with my very close friend who is a self-confessed fitness freak. Now this women has been slogging her butt at gym for more then two years

EyesCoffee, a Black and White Photography Magazine ezine has compiled an excellent online guide for vintage camera hunters. He hails Mumbai’s Chor Bazaar [theives market] as a “Shopping Paradise for Vintage Camera in Mumbai”

Following the map on the guide book, we walked along Mutton Street. The first glimpse was stalls after stalls, filled with machinery and tools, somehow looked like ‘Ap Liu Street’ in Sham Shui Po of Hong Kong. Walking further along the street, after the first block, I found some shops selling antiques, second-handed, or junks. I prefer to calling them junks, rather than antiques, while the latter sometimes make people think of luxurious jewelery, ceramic, etc in the museum showcase. At the first time I bought a gramophone, which is a manually operated turntable (no power required), playing 78 RPM LP records.

Duncan C S Wong proprietor of EyeCoffee also adds a bargainers

Bombay experienced some of the worst flooding due to a cloudburst on 26th July 2005. There were heroiic stories of citizens helping each other in these difficult times. But there were a lot of unsung heroes who went out of their way on their job to help people.

A few of them are the 53 BEST bus conductors and drivers seen in the photograph.

As the waters rose inside a bus, driver Ramdas Kakade and conductor Laxman Mokashi opened the rear window (the emergency exit) of the bus.

Using seats and ropes, they made a small bridge with a truck parked behind the bus and helped the 40 passengers, including 13 children, reach the roof, where they spent the next 10 hours [ link ]

The Cloudburst of 2005 and the events in its aftermath would linger in memory for a long time.

Thus for these public transport employees to do what they did is really commendable.

An exhibition of Anjolie Ela Menon’s paintings opened in Mumbai on December 19. This is her first exhibition in six years. On the eve of the exhibition Anjolie gave an interview.

Mumbai’s a vibrant city unlike Delhi’

Your last exhibition was held around five years ago in Mumbai. How does it feel to be displaying once again in the city?

Mumbai remains my favourite city in the world. My last exhibition here was held in 1999. Since then, barring a retrospective of my works held in 2003, I hadn’t really displayed my work here.

When I was driving back from the airport I could just feel the buzz. It’s such a vibrant city unlike Delhi which is so manicured in approach.

Read the interview here.

This is a good link for all you would want to know about Anjolie Ela Menon.

Next time you step into someone’s office or home and start admiring a new painting, sculpture, or any other piece of art, be it tapestry, carpet or whatnot, stop for a second.

The person displaying it may not own it. According to the TOI, renting priceless pieces of art has become the new fad in Bombay.

Hiring out priceless works of art to impress friends and business associates is the latest fad among some ‘prestige conscious’ Mumbaiites!

In a city where one-up-manship is the name of the game, this is a new fad.

So next time you visit my home, dont be surprised if you see an empty wall. The Husain we had has been loaned to the Batliwalas at House No. 43 ;)

When I pass by Bombay promenades overlooking the sea, I see a line of cars parked with two people inside them. Usually every car contains a man and a woman, and they’re there because there’s nowhere else to go. Why not? Space for lovers is scarce in this city.
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