fuckT striyansaathi..!

Stampede Déjà Vu

to hang or not to hang

a question i ask my humble self

as a gorilla army of Mrs Godbole(s) push against me

i ripple amidst the drang

..determined not to lemme grab that fourth seat

all sakkubais shove in, in 5 seconds flat

with a silent, fleshly, "me aadhi jhaate!"

add babies screamin, chappals left behind..n all that

hey, i haven't lost courage,

i'll make it inside this one..i can bet!

so i push n i push! ..not really, i'm being pushed.

n sturdy myself on the entrance. n thats just yet.

suffering on the platform wasn't hell enough

perdition personified is the damn women's dabba

oil slicks , gajras, snot & lice n stinky armpits,

eunuchs cussing n auntyji spraying muck with her cough

..hai mere rabba!

murder, suicide, my bag...OUCH!

all these thoughts breeze in together

and while i'm holding on to these and my life

SLAMM! (..even the lady stuck to my butt heard this)

a rugrat jus bulldozed into my ascending colon

givin me a belly acher

trying to save my tears,

never thought, the toothless fairy in front

was about to redefine a foot smash

holy mother of gawwd..trying to say something mean

but a nasty stare is all with i could backlash

just a few minutes more, n i'll be outta misery,

i force the lord to gimme some strength

coz i can see blood in the eyes of sakku to kiss the platform
not today, i don't wanna die a chicken's death

---00000----

glossary:

• fuckt striyansaathi-> only for women
• me aadhi jhaate->i'll go first
• dabba->box (here, means compartment)

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It's gonna be 3 years now.. Local trains zindabaad :-/
Around 5 million people travel by central line every day and the western line hogs approximately half of that. As anonymous often quote, "No matter when u travel in locals, it seems these millions of people want to catch the same train U want to." By the way, the rhymey above is my ode to the western locals, I’d like to take a bow for them .. leaving barely an inch to stand, these striyansaathi dabba-walis manage to reach home with a handful cat fights.
I thank goodness that i'm a little less unfortunate as I travel by the harbour line, which hasn't become as unbearable as the western yet...but, it'll soon be the number one crappy local line if people don't stop spitting, disposing peanuts/fruits/polythene peels n scraps inside n outside the trains. About the crowded part, I say cushioning is welcome :-p

What really inspired me for this write up was the adventurous junta of bumbai, which displays acts of courage with their multifarious methods of travelling ON a local train. I witnessed one of such events a few days back, the guy was travelling on the window of women's dabba (pic above). Although the fungus on his dirty dry toes was right on my face...well, almost.. I thought it was worth a shot. I can only imagine the adrenaline rush he must be going through.

[I did something crazy too today. me n su. On our way back from the play at horniman circle garden, went to catch a glimpse of Indian Ocean..Alas, they had rescheduled n we missed em. But heard a bit of Rabbi instead. Got bored n came out of azad maidan n heard the keeda inside knocking. This keeda has been there for sometime now. Ever since i watched thelma and louise i guess :-p Wondering what did we do? ..nuthin much, just sat on the main road divider listening to music with heavy traffic passing us on both sides. Like i said nuthin much..good stuff is yet to come ;-)]

I digressed from what i was talking about. The local train fiesta. The adventure part innit.
My everyday need of adventure, book reading time, lost sleep, music..with my late mp3 (snifff!) and even food sometimes is fulfilled in the harbour line trains i travel in.
I enjoy standing on the foot stand when the trains are almost empty, for some fresh air of course. Also, I’ve started enjoying the rare cat fights. Talking about adventure, I would not recommend getting on or off a moving train, but often the need for such tactics arises when u'r in B amess. Doesn’t sound relevant? ..Heck, I just felt like crediting my misadventures on B amess (I love that name!)
Moreover, alighting a moving train is nothing when compared to the spine chilling tactics u see other people performing everyday for their appetite of adventure.
Also, I’ve read those books during my travel time which i would consider a waste of precious time. U guessed it right, i'm talking about kotler, rupali's notes n similar shit. (when u can accomplish so much otherwise in reading douglas adams). And often had the best naps ever.

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Eunuchs patting your head for a sec of blessings to get money in return. The amalgamated smell of gajra and some weird hair oil. Well dressed women reluctant sitting next to a fisherwoman. The sounds of harmonium and the child artists singing dil ne ye kaha hai humse..mohobbat ho gayi hai tumse. Woman sitting next to me digging into her purse (and the side of me with her elbow, which is still annoying) looking her loud cell phone. The lady TC who checks you only the day you’ve forgotten your pass at home. Women who notice you noticing them picking their nose and then smile.

I have learnt to enjoy myself in these years of train travel. It is not that bad as it seemed earlier.

they'r over already?

the vivas yaar..for some of us atleast.
Its like visiting a dentist..you're nervous fr that painful procedure you'll have to go through but surprisingly, he's given you local anaesthesia and you don't feel the pain.

After that great hullabaloo..months of work on our university projects, the university fellows finally showed up. It wasn't as bad as they claim it to be (well, the grades will tell), thats what i think. I wasn't nervous at all..was there anything to be nervous about in the first place?

The prof (logistics) was great. I was expecting a paan chewing maharashtrian dude (like some in sydenham..) who wouldn't care anything less than to make us students feel we know nuthin. This prof broke this cloud of premonition as soon as i entered the room. He knew the subject...its current affairs afterall. A very relaxed and interesting conversation for around 10 mins..excluding the time wasted by the coordinator n her landline.

Anyway..
I was second in the kataar fr THE viva..n it got over by 1000hrs..now what. I cudn't go all the way back home so early. So hung around the foyer fr some time. Hunting for a newspaper to see what time's rang de basanti..thanks chabees junvari, no np today. By the time we found out abt it, it was past movie start time..so went to ccd instead. Parked our bums on the cosy sofas n ate n drank..yea, thats what we do when bored or when waiting for some lazy creatures who refuse to have some fun in life :-p

I hope its a holiday tomoro!!

n ppl..remember..i like WHITE wine [lovely gift huh.. ;-) ]

20 something blues...

another year older.
hicc..
woohoo!!

what lies ahead??

As i look back into the history pages of my life, last year was actually quite happening. The most in all 21 yrs of my life perhaps. Except for one thing..i lost my mp3 player..sniff (its my birthday tomo..anyone hear me??)
I'll elaborate on the 'happenning' stuff some other time..

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.
Genesis 3

What i wanted to write about.. was this year. As the year is still fresh, i'd say its a terrible start. Coincidence chased me yet again, just with the face of horror this time. I don't want to elaborate more on the coincidence as it makes me sad. All i can say is that i lost a person i knew..my school friend. We weren't close pals, but still, i cannot accept the fact that he's gone. May god give his parents the strength to cope with this..
Why so early..?
Strange things are happenning around..i think i'm going crazy.
I need some positivity around me.

calvin!

Think Pink, Drink Pink

Rosé Wine

Let me start with this. I’m not a wine aficionado in particular. My area of expertise lies in cocktails.
I don’t drink red wine…I’ve tried so many, but simply I detest its taste. But I do enjoy a glass of white wine with good food sometimes.

My latest craze i.e, Rosé happened this summer, during my visit to Stockholm.
…It was love at ..the 3rd sip for me. Coz the first 2 sips I wasn’t ready to believe I was having a type of wine. (My knowledge about wines is circumscribed).


I didn’t believe it firstly, because… it was pink.
now, which wine is pink??
It had an attractive pink colour...with a slight sparkle. Was really good. It was really enjoyable with our dinner.. I was having something called…well, it was roast duck mostly.

As we were discussing wine over dinner, I got to know more about rosé..

'Mateus' is considered one of the best rosé wines in the world. It originates from Portugal. Taste wise, rosé wines come in all grades of sweetness and dryness – generally it tends to be crisp, dry, light, aromatic and lack tannins and heaviness of red wines.
Mateus till sometime back had been the only rosé in the market. Now many more countries have been making great quality rosé wine.

People usually have Rosé when they want to have something which is in the in between tastes of red an d white wine.

I researched a bit onnit…
§ Rosé actually means “pinkish” in French and that aptly sums up the colour of the wine.

§ Rosé can be produced one of two ways. Usually it’s made by crushing red wine grapes, then leaving the dark skins in contact with the juice for a much shorter time than they would be for a red wine, so that the wine takes on only a pink coloring. It’s made like a white wine, though it’s not usually oaked.

The second method, used most commonly in France’s Champagne region, involves adding a small amount of red wine to white wine in order to stain it pink – that’s the only time blending red and white wines is legal in France!


§ Rosé wine has food-friendly acidity and light berry fruitiness and these wines. Rosé wines are less acid and have a lighter structure and a lower astringency.

§ They are great with a wide variety of foods. Especially asian cuisine and seafood (which wud contain each other..n hey, feel free to try it with pizza too!)

§ Dictator saddam Hussein loved to drink wine and would usually wash down barbequed meats and kebabs with a rosé wine – the brand “Mateus” was his favourite!

§ Used to come in a bulbous flask shaped bottles (I thought it to be pretty).. n in many restaurants is used as lampshades!

§ Indian producers have also got onto the rosé bandwagon – Grover Vineyards have a dry salmon pink coloured Rose whilst Sula Wines sell a fruity California style blush Zinfandel. Both wines taste perfect with tandoori fish or spicy Indian dishes.

...n soooo many more!

I sincerely recommend Mateus Rosé. u can have it during the day..at lunch as well as at dinner. As I’ve read, Rosé drinking is really in..try it the next time you’re going for a nice dinner…or lunch. And even at special occasions!...like anniversaries..any other special dates.

I haven’t really tried looking for it in Indian restaurants..so I don’t know if its available. Is available at duty free liquour shops at Rs. 350 approx (if i remember correctly).