Bad Roads: Aftermath of a crater attack!!

To my humble mind, I have very few, but unusual thoughts coming when I’m moving and shaking uncontrollably in my car; not because of any such tendency that I have, but because of the pot holes that ‘we’ have.

Why is it so difficult rather impossible to solve the ‘hole’ problem.

Roads in and out of Mumbai are pathetic, awful, unbearable, unsafe and yet expensive.
I fail to understand what are the Road tax and the Toll we pay, all about. Maybe it’s never sufficient for the corrupt lot as they must have had to cut down on their family foreign trips because of a lesser collection.

After the unsuccessful effort of solving the unsolvable question of whether the egg came first or the hen, a second such unsolvable question that comes to my mind is, what causes such bad roads that we have.

Some of the probabilities could be, curse of some Gods or Goddesses? Our past Karmas? Or maybe it rains acid? Oh yet again, maybe there is no better substance available to mankind that can fill these holes or just because, now it’s part of our annual budget which we have to spend anyway.

At times my mind has doubts of some kind of a nexus between our friendly car manufacturers and not so friendly road making bodies. As obvious as it is, what I know is that the life of a car in our cities could be three times what it is, thanks to the bad roads.

My last ride on the Mumbai- Ahmedabad Highway was quite a horror. Not because of some security threat but because of what looked like an aftermath of a crater attack, a desolated battlefield at the end of a war.

In actuality, the end of the war is far away. We still have to fight and get not what we want but what we rightly deserve. After sincerely paying all the tolls and road taxes and other such heavy taxes that come to us as a duty, the least we can expect is the right usage of such funds which are originally meant for the purpose of making our lives easier, safer and better. Maybe we should have a Right to good roads added in our Constitution. It might just give us one more reason to be proud to belong to our cities, States and the Country.

Spectacular Lamborghini Gallardo

If you wonna learn to to keep a Lamborghini clean u have to watch the link...

Excruciating stuff and profound meticulousness is what it takes to keep a car of that caliber clean.. Seeing the efforts I think its better that I don't own one :)

CORPORATE CRAP in PANGEA3

Lawyers talking about platforms and system downs!!!

As the CTRL key controls us... (CTRL C + CTRL V)

TARGETS to be met, TIGERS of the week, (Weak??)

COMMANDOS without the guns....

UNACCEPTABILITY...

E S C A L A T E---even though your still in the same level for sooo many months

ISSUES-- the latest one --- use-less ISSUES

People reviewing contracts that is going to be reviewed again by the QCs and again by the people and again by the QC's and again by the people and again by the QC's and the Client changes his mind

Working Saturday-----Chilled out Mondays

STATUS pronounced as “STAAYTUS”....

LOCKED TIMESHEETS.....futures in jeopardy.... appraisals at stake…

HELPDESK… Emails for the printers and the lights and the AC temperature and the TISSUE BOX and the what not!!

SHHH---GUYS PLZ keep it LOW---Coz somebody wants to share a JOKE in their private 'BAY'

Working INDEPENDENCE DAYS -----for the people who celebrate their INDEPENDENCE DAYS....

HR is called Talent Management… wonder what talent are they managing…

Here BIO-METRICS is much more important than the fact of you possessing a “Lawyers Degree”

Finally, as trifle as it can get…. entering Office at 10:15 a.m. and 10:16 a.m. really matters...

WOW Get a Life "LOSERS"!!!!!

Dad and World Wars...

My dad is a collector of World War collectibles and a Article to that effect got published in Times of India supplement Downtown plus. I rarely appreciated his work and always thought that life would be so much better if he’d stop collecting the junk but today I realize the worth of his efforts.

Keeping History Alive

Posted On Saturday, August 09, 2008

From written work to military attire, Viraf Bilpodiwala continues to gather world war collectibles spanning across the globe, finds out Irene Fernandes

Viraf Bilpodiwala displaying Second World War treasures

The world war may have ended 63 years ago as a chapter in our history textbooks but for Viraf Bilpodiwala it has been a life long passion to gather collectibles associated with the Second World War (WWII) from all over the world. The 54-year-old businessman, a resident of Dadar Parsi Colony, is the proud owner of several original world war artifacts. Since 1969 he has been collecting literature to army fatigues. “As a school kid, I was taken by awe watching war movies like The Bridge Over The River Kwai, and Battle of Britain. From that point my interest in the subject began and over the years I have managed to lay my hands on everything related to WWII,” says Bilpodiwala.

His expansive collection includes literature pertaining to the WWII that spans over 1000-odd books, posters that were printed then, magazines and several old newspaper cuttings. Most of them are illustrated and some were got hold of when they were discarded from school libraries. That is not it! He also owns a used uniform that belonged to Rommel’s army in North Africa plus a few silver badges and his favourite - the Nazi helmet and the Nazi cross, which he purchased from local store in London. “The American and the British helmets are easily available, the Nazi war items are no longer available anywhere, not even in Germany,” explains Bilpodiwala

Bilpodiwala has travelled the world over to touch the heights of his passion. While some were a treasure hunt, the others were easily available in the local markets. “In 1975, when on a tour to Europe, I visited the Imperial War Museum in London, and the Army Museum in Paris. The war had ended 30 years ago then, but in Europe, there were several antique shops that were still selling original world war artifacts,” expresses Bilpodiwala, who exclaims that most of his collection has been gathered from the chor bazaars from all across the country and world over.

As easy as he makes it sound, he promptly adds the fact that across the globe, the world war is an incident looked down upon by many. “The world war has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many and people are not willing to speak about it openly. I had to hunt meticulously and with great difficulty I managed to procure these collectibles,” he adds.

An unusual passion and a dedicated one like this also entails unmatched commitment to maintain it. And this credit he attributes to his family, especially his wife Nergish. “There were times, especially, when we were touring the war museums, I would simply wait till he finished his extensive research. The war can be quite a boring topic for many, but for my husband it was a natural outcome of a genuine interest in reading. It was a widely-covered topic then and television, too, was not so popular,” Nergish says.

The Nazi helmets, dagger and silver badges that were used in WWII

The Bilpodiwalas take a lot of care to maintain their invaluable artifacts. “Most of our collectibles are kept in cupboards that are well-aired. Since the number of items is a lot, once a year I clean all of them. To keep away white ants, tobacco is spread between the pages of books, once or twice a year,” adds Nergish.

So what does one do when history has completed its phase? Bilpodiwala adamantly mentions that he will continue as long as he lives to keep this passion alive. “Whenever I get the chance I collect. Nowadays, it is difficult to get the latest editions of war material since that era of history is done with. When time calls for it, I shall most happily gift this priceless treasure either to my children or donate it to a library or a museum.”

Fight over Scrabble

Fighting over Scrabble... Come on grow up... let people play a smart game in peace. F#*k the copyright laws man... The ideology behind a game is fun and why bring these meaning less Copyright laws.

Discovering True India on a Bullet

This guys perseverance to see the real India at its best and courage to take on the risks of driving on Indian Highways... its just commendable.

"I fell off just the once but I feel I looked eternity in the eye several times," says Martin Buckley.

Pangea3 and Teli Gali

I work in Pangea 3 located in the posh Leela Business Park in Andheri East. But the way to my office completely sucks.... I have to ferry my way to the company pick up spot through a tiny lane called "TELI GALI."

If you have heard of the famous Teli Gali just outside Andheri (E) Station in Mumbai than thats what I am talking about... children pooping near your feet, women washing clothes and utensils, open wires that can electrocute you, mice and roaches might just run around the feet, sewer lids are almost not there, etc.. etc.

The best way to reach office is to "fly" as the road traffic is excruciating, foot board at the stations are so packed that getting from one end to the other would take at least half an hour, irregular buses drive me crazy and above all THE TELI GALI...

Imagine the way to the Big multi-nationals in Andheri E, MIDC, SEEPZ is through Teli Gali... You have to see the video to know the plight of people who travel from this gali...

Floods under my house, Mumbai.

Hoax Calls and Abuse and Abuse and Abuse

How willing is a person to obey an authority figure who instructs him/her to perform acts that conflict with his/her personal conscience? Imagine a phone call from the police asking you to inflict injury (mental of physical) on someone under the cover of police investigation… Question is… Would you buy it? Would you abide?

In America some freak made such hoax calls to people asking them to physically investigate someone who has been a suspect. People actually bought it and in turn happened a series of abusive crimes.

What is most chilling about these stories is that it happened repeatedly, across America, to people just like you and me. The inflicter and the inflicted were victims…. This story just dumbfounds me.

Food Crisis in Ethiopia

When we eat, and waste, do we think of the millions of people in this world who are on the brick of starvation, do we think of a 3 year old child who weighs less than 5kgs, do we think of the deaths caused by food crisis, do we think of their grief and do we and can we do something about it.

Ethiopia is stricken by the worse food crisis of the century. There are ways to help and donate… all of us can make a difference…

Click on the following link to help http://www.praxisethiopia.org/?gclid=CKX-5oys7pMCFQpEegod5m4zVw

Moral Policing in Bangkok....

Call it hypocrisy or pretentiousness on the part of Bangkok government… they have put a love curfew on Bangkok teens. The officials are concerned that those under the age of 18 might do more than just gaze into each other's eyes on Valentines Day. Hence, the Bangkok Police have imposed a curfew. The teens have to be home by 10 pm or risk spending the night behind bars.

Wow!!! Shiv Sena alikes in Bangkok…. But in a city like Bangkok which is renowned for sin, where sex is for sale in hundreds of strip joints and brothels, Valentine's Day curfew is laughable.

India and our Woes

If you are an Indian you'd know what the following post is all about:

Why is the media here so negative?

Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?

We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

1. We are the first in milk production.

2. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.

3. We are the second largest producer of wheat.

4. We are the second largest producer of rice.

Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place in Tel Aviv. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?

Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things?

We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.

Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?

I once asked a 11 year old girl what her goal in life is.

She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.

YOU say that our laws are too old.

YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.

YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke,

YOU say the airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.

YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS.

YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best.

In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU?

YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai .

YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah .

YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'

YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.'

YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .

Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ?

Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ???

We are still talking of the same YOU.

YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own.

You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground.

If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ?

Once the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay , Mr. Tinaikar , had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right.

We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage allover the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin.

We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.

We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.

When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home.

Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my
sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?

What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU.

When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians,

The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy 's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....

'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA
WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'

Lets do what India needs from us.

Diary Mania

I always wanted to write a diary.. just to capture some important events, thoughts and plans. But I was too scared as an actual diary would mean the risk of someone reading it. Now with all the virtual diaries, this is a minuscule problem exists but its quite small. For instance I am sure my parents wont get to it ever.

Also another problem with these virtual diaries was that it was difficult to alter the date of publishing/saving the diary. Whereas now this is also solved, free online diary providers give you the leverage to add a diary to the date you wish. This is incredibly helpful as often I write my diary once over the weekend and often I am writing about something that happened 10 days back. So now I can save the event on the date that it happened. Plus I save pictures and videos which support my description of events.

Stocks

I started investing in shares sometime back and always would wonder what site would help me get all the past scores and relevant data on the stocks that I was interested in. I finally found a winner after good amount of researching.
Rediff Monies is what it is called!
It is truly fantastic, helps you add favorite stocks to a watch list where you can track all of them together. Also, you can check the highs and lows of last 1 year. You can place alerts for the stocks. Imagine all this free. Thanks Rediff.

No Swearing Words!!!

Can you beat it, South Pasadena has passed a proclamation that the people should not use the curse words.

"City Swears Off Swearing For One Week

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. -- We swear this story is true: it's No Cussing Week in South Pasadena.

The City Council passed a proclamation Wednesday, putting curse words off limits during the first week of every March.

The mayor said it provides a reminder for people "to be more civil, to elevate the level of discourse."

No Cussing Week was the inspiration of 14-year-old McKay Hatch, the founder of South Pasadena High School's No Cussing Club.

Hatch admits he himself engaged in colorful language in the past, but said he tries not to anymore.

Hatch hopes his No Cussing Club will lead to cuss-free zones in other cities.

He said he thinks it could be a quality-of-life issue and said there could be less violence if people behave better."

Name Change

If you think Indian Courts ponder over ridiculous issues and waste precious court time, think again... An Italian couple lovingly named their son "Friday," however one not so busy city hall clerk didn't like the name and brought a suit against the family in an Italian tribunal. In India, we don't have written norms for so many critical issues but in the progressed countries its different, they have an administrative norm which bars parents from giving “ridiculous or shameful” first names to children!!!

Italian Court Orders Name Change

December 23rd, 2007

An Italian court has ruled that a couple could not name their son “Friday” and ordered that he instead be called Gregory after the saint whose feast day he was born on. “I think it is ridiculous they even opened a case about it,” the family’s lawyer, Paola Rossi, told Reuters by telephone from the northern city of Genoa on Tuesday.

Friday/Gregory Germano was born in Genoa 15 months ago. The parents registered him as Friday in the city hall and a priest even baptised him as Friday — unusual in Italy since many priests insist that first names be of Christian origin. “We named him Friday because we like the sound of the name. Even if it would have been a girl, we would have named her Friday,” the boy’s mother, Mara Germano, told Reuters.

When the boy was about five months old, a city hall clerk brought the odd name to the attention of a tribunal, which informed the couple of an administrative norm which bars parents from giving “ridiculous or shameful” first names to children. The tribunal said it was protecting the child from being the butt of jokes and added that it believed the name would hinder him from developing “serene interpersonal relationships”.

The Germano family appealed but lost their case this month and the story was carried on the front page of a national newspaper on Tuesday. When ordered to change the name, the parents refused and the court ruled the boy would be legally registered as Gregory because he was born on that saint’s feast day.

“I really doubt this would have happened to the child of parents who are rich and famous,” the boy’s mother told Reuters, recalling that some famous Italians had given their children unorthodox names such as “Ocean” or “Chanel”. The appeals court ruled against Friday because it recalled the servile savage in Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe and because superstitious Italians consider Friday an unlucky day.

“I am livid about this,” the boy’s mother said. “A court should not waste its time with things like this when there is so much more to worry about.” “My son was born Friday, baptised Friday, will call himself Friday, we will call him Friday but when he gets older he will have to sign his name Gregory,” she said. I hope he has not siblings named after the other days of the week.

How can they do this to me???

Have you heard of a bad dream coming alive... this is what has happened in my life. And all I ask myself is "How can they do this to me?"

I live in Mumbai and I work for a LPO "Pangea 3." I worked in Colaba (South Mumbai), but last week I got transferred to the Andheri East branch. This has truly been a reality check for me!!! The whole traveling part is unpleasant and disturbing. In the literal sense "Mere raton ki neend ood gayi hai" (I have lost sleep).

Insensitive Management: Decision making people in my company are Non-Indians "Whites." They haven't lived in Mumbai for long enough and obviously are not aware of the sad conditions of local trains and buses and general transport problems of Mumbai. Somehow its OK according to my company to spend 2 - 3 hours everyday commuting. Most other employees like me seem to be overlooking this part... some my company presumes that its okay to put employees through a few traveling problems for the bigger good of "the Company." I say BULLSHIT.

Is this Christmas??

No leave on Christmas :(

Pangea3's Leave policy sucks man... they don't give any public holidays (No independence day, no new year, no nothing.) They merely give a bulk of leaves and we can chose which leave we wonna take and when.. and they are subject to approval.. And there is no guarantee that your leave's would get approved. Something similar has happened I applied for Christmas but it got rejected :(

There is a benefit of this policy that may be I would prefer to take a leave on my B'day instead of say Labor day but there are many drawbacks too... I land up not using any leaves and accumulating them hoping that some day I'd need them more than today... Also approval is a very big problem.. Although I may be a Parsi, I do celebrate lot other religions and hence I'd prefer a set calendar of leaves. Atleast that would make life more interesting where I would feel happier knowing that there is a public holiday this weekend.

But unfortunately this doen't happen. And I spend most of festivities in Office.

My Boys....

My Boys

What Traffic Jams Do To Me...

Living in Mumbia and Imagine owning a Car... Imagine having just 1 lovely angel and how much you love it. I love mine too … but off late I have started hating the whole traveling by road experience.

Just imagine your new new car’s bumper being pressed against the hind of the car in font. Imagine a Bus which pins you to the left, almost into the abusive owner’s Scoda (Me fearing all along that my car might damage that car). The bus eventually, in the race to overtake, scratches my cars bumper and the side view mirror and the conductor saying something, but his voice getting lost in the loud honks.

And to add to all the misery a few beggars and Eunuch’s, who get my heart racing each time they appear in front of my car with their hands raised and ordering to stop. They are only asking for alms or wanting to cross the roads or allow a few bikes through but they sure do scare me…

*Sigh* I don’t know, but for me it is a nightmare come true, the tension, noise, and the pollution almost kills me every time I am on the road.