Purse Snatching...

The other day, I was travelling back from the Metro station to my home in a cycle rickshaw. I was carrying a large ladies bag and had that in my lap with hands on it. Around 25 steps before the gate of my township, I could feel something moving around my purse. I turned to see a motorcyle with two riders on it. I thought, something has got entangled between the bike and the rickshaw. Before I could realise what was happening, the rider has snatched my purse and gone away quite a distance and I just kept shouting. I went to the police station which was hundred feet away from where the incident took place, and they just wrote down a complaint and did not write a FIR.

Incident happened, got shocked, scared went to police station and came home...After reaching home I could not stop the tears which were at the edge. The question arose why me? But work was yet to be done. ATM cards, credit cards, mobile phones etc were to blocked. That done, I then made a list of all things that were there in the purse. These included two mobiles with their chargers, one 320 GB hard disk, around Rs.600 in cash, Driving License, credit and ATM cards and lot of other sundry things which normally find a place in a ladies' purse.

Purse, chain snatching incidents have become very common place in NOIDA region, so ladies please be careful. I have removed even the small bits of jewellery pieces that I used to wear. I wanted to replace them with fake, but my husband said that there is no need to wear that as well, as the thieves may think those are real and be after me again. As usual his advice was sound and I accepted it. Earlier, my mother-in-law had also seen such an incident and had warned us, but the human nature is such, that unless it happens to self, one is not careful.

I have now started a campaign to warn others and try to make them learn from experience. This blog is also a part of the same, so kindly take heed to this. Here are the key learnings:

1. Never carry unnecessary stuff. Carry minimal cash. Avoid carrying a lot of cards, especially credit cards as these are just to be swiped and no one cares about the signatures
2. Be careful when you are on roads and in open vehicles. Always keep a look out on suspicious behaviour.
3. Carry a pepper-spray, laal mirch spray or something to blow in eyes. Keep these handy and not in the purse

Last but not the least, if there is a snatching, fight only if you think the goons are unarmed. There is no point in getting yourself shot or wounded. Materialistic things can be recovered, health can never be recoverd.
Be light on stuff! Be Alert! Be Careful!

Visit To Shimla

There was official work in Shimla, for which we (me and my colleague) had to go from Delhi. My colleague was keen on driving his own vehicle, so we decided that we would meet in the morning at a common point and move on from there. We had to reach Shimla by 3 pm, so we decided to start at 5.30 am from the Karnal Bypass. I had to start from my home at 4.30 am, however, the taxi driver came late and I finally left at 5.00 am. My husband accompanied me till the Karnal Bypass, which we reached at around 5.50 am. So, off we started to Shimla at around 6.00 am.

We got the car refueled from a very well hidden CNG station. I wonder, why the station was not on the main road, which would have been easier for the riders. And the approach road towards the station was also full of potholes and extremely narrow. After refueling, we headed back to the highway and had a good drive till breakfast beckoned.

My colleague suggested that there is a wonderful dhaba at a place called Murthul, where the paranthas are to die for!!! The time would be too early for breakfast, around 7.00 am, however, since I was up from 4.00 am, I was already hungry and looked forward to the paranthas. We stopped at Pehelwan Dhaba at Murthul. The paranthas were good and these were served with fresh home made white butter, curds and pickles. Frankly, I find the paranthas at "More Than Paranthas" (Spice Mall, Noida) and those at Chatore's (Shoprix Mall, Noida) better than those at Murthul. But, none the less, the ambience at a dhaba is hard to beat. We washed down half an aloo and half a paneer parantha with steaming cup of wonderful tea. My colleague wanted to have more, me too wanted to have more, but I was wary of my stomach going for a toss, so did not dare to have more.

From Murthul, we set off and drove non-stop for the next three and half hours. We crossed Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala and Chandigarh. We took a break at Pinjaur where we had some more food. From this place onwards, the hilly roads would begin.

We started off again and now the road had quite a number of twists and turns. I really appreciate the driving skills of my colleague, how was driving at a good speed but very safely as well. Another colleague was to guide us from a particular place. However, there was some miscommunication, and we were about to take a very steep road going downwards. The road was so steep, that it was not visible at the horizontal level, when we were at the top. We took a step on it and my colleague thought, that we would not be able to get the car back if we go down this road. We again had conversation with our third colleague and he advised us to come back the same route. We finally met and later learnt that the steep road went straight into the jungles.

Our meeting proceeded well, and we were free by 6 pm. We did some more networking and came to the hotel where my colleague was going to stay. We had some tea and hot pakoras there. I had planned to go back the same night by bus to Delhi, so decided to do some shopping at the Mall Road. However, my colleagues informed me that all the stuff comes from Chandini Chowk and I may get things cheaper there. Also, the woolen stuff was priced as steep as the branded shops, so I did not buy anything. I tried hard to buy something, but could not buy anything.

Finally we had dinner at good restaurant, and it was time to bid adieu to Shimla. The bus started dot on time, it was quite comfortable and stopped at two places in between, which I dont recollect. I reached Delhi at around 6.30 am and reached home at around 8.00 am.

Although the trip was hectic, I loved every bit of it and look forward to going to Shimla/Himachal Pradesh more often !!!

Rain here and rain there

It has been a few months since I shifted to NOIDA/Delhi. The rains here have been very disappointing. I miss Mumbai rains, where the rainy season has sizeable amount of rains. Over here, if it rains for one day, the next few days it will be all hot and humid. Also there are more of flash rains rather than the incessant tipper-tapper of the Mumbai rains.
Also, Delhi does have the rainy holidays. In Mumbai, at least two or three times, there is a rainy holiday as the city comes to a standstill with the floods and traffic. The corn-on-the cob is here but without the rains!
Rain here and rain there are different!

From Cancer To Aspergers – Bollywood has it all!

Time and again Bollywood has turned to human diseases to churn out hits which ring the boxoffice cash counters. Schizophrenia (Karthik Calling Karthik, Aankhen, Woh Lamhe), Asperger’s Syndrome (My Name Is Khan), Progeria (Paa), Amnesia (Ghajini), Alzheimers (U Me Aur Hum), Dyslexia (Taare Zameen Par), Autism (Apna Asman), Mental Retardness (KoiMil Gaya) are some of the recent movies with a rare disease background. Although all of these are mind related, bodily related problems such as Deafness & Blindness is also combined with Alzheimers in Black. And then again Cancer (Anand, Dil Ek Mandir Hai, Mili), heart disease (Kal Ho Na Ho) have given heart-wrenching, cash rich movies.

There are some more movies like Krazzy 4 (Mental Illness), Shaadi Se Pehle (Cancer), Chup Chup Ke (Deaf & Mute), Pyare Mohan (Deaf & Blind), Naina (Blindness), Phir Milenge and My Brother Nikhil (HIV/AIDS), Sadma (Coma) etc. which may not have become runaway box-office hits but have some major illness as its backdrop. Some other films like Beti Kromi have used miscarriage as its backdrop. In Luck, dextrocardia – a situation in which the heart is situated at the right is used to save the hero!

And this is not the end; following the success of these kinds of movies there are more coming soon – Nana Patekar is making one on autism and there is one on bipolar disorder in the making. So what is there in medical conditions, which makes it very attractive to the audience?

Firstly, medical conditions cut across all the barriers and can be a part of any human life: be it the man in the limousine or the man on the street. Everybody can perfectly understand the situation and empathise with the sufferer.

Secondly, medical conditions, most of the times are caused by the nature. There is no logical reasoning as to why it happened to a particular person. Hence, if we take a relook at all the above films, the unknown disease films had a better hit rate. Cancer was little known in the seventies, while today it is very well known with a proper diagnosis/cure available. Mental disease cures are still at large and hence these hit with the films now-a-days. It is more of curiosity and the fear of unknown which drives the audience to the theatres.

Thirdly, medical conditions unleash a host of emotions – like love, grief, fear, anger, anxiety, compassion, frustration etc. Most of the audience must have experienced these situations and felt the emotions. Emotions help the audience to relate with the story increasing the films’ ratings.

Finally, medical conditions provide an opportunity for the human will to succeed against the destiny and science. The stories tend to give out strong message on human willpower, which can be applied to any living condition!

Medical conditions will remain as a part of films and novels as many times it is a case of “Life inspires Art” and portrays the inherent strengths of human beings. Bollywood has evolved and will continue making movies using medical conditions in an innovative manner!

The New Nest

A few days back, when I was hanging out clothes to dry in the balcony, I saw that one of the gunny bags there was splattered with sticks and knew that pigeons were trying to build a nest in our home. Being very repulsive to pigeon droppings and all that shit, I took all the sticks to throw them away. However, I thought that pigeons must have spent so much time collecting these, so in order to help them I kept all those on the edge of parapet.

Two days later, at night, when I came to hang out another set of clothes, I watched to my surprise, that on another box, a beautiful small white egg was lying on bunch of sticks. And, now I could not do anything about it...I have to live with them :)

Every alternate day, I check their progress. Today, the mother-pigeon was sitting on the egg, and was not even concerned about me coming so close to her nest. She was determined and not frightened at all!!!

This is the first time, that I am seeing a nest, an egg and the incubation process. Am eagerly waiting for the baby pigeon...if it had a birth certificate, it would have said:
Place of birth: On the box,Balcony,B47,NTPC Township,Sec-33,NOIDA.

Well, the above address is where we currently are. We, meaning me and Alok. I quit my job in Dec 2009 and shifted to NOIDA with Alok to build our first nest :)
I needed to have all the experiences, so I thought, why not quit the race for a while, do what I want to do, and then a year later, I may or may not join back the race.

We were alloted the Quarter No. B47, and on the first day we tried to wash it clean. It was like a clean canvas and I could paint it the way I like it. There was a medium sized drawingroom, two bedrooms, a very tiny kitchen, a small passage and a balcony. It was more than sufficient for the two of us and I was glad, we did not have the C-type, which are still larger.

We first bought the very basic necessities - two mattresses, pillows,a hot plate, 3 glasses, 4 spoons, a sauce pan, a bucket&tumbler and al electric rod heater. On these we lived for one week and next we had to go to Mumbai for my cousin's wedding. There we bought a lot of things from my favorite Dadar market. We packed all those things and asked a Mover & Packer to transport these along with my things.

Once we were back, we went on a market research and a shopping spree. Internet, fully automatic washing machine, TV, 4 chairs, double bed, single bed. Then again a lull in shopping. A few days before my brother's arrival - we bought a lot of utensils, booked a gas connection, got a cable connection and then Dada(big bro) arrived. Mom had packed in a lot of things, including a pressure cooker, some pearl-pet bottles and many such useful things. The things from Mumbai also arrived and one of the bedrooms got converted to a store-room.

Slowly and surely, the house was getting transformed into a home. In February, my inlaws were coming over, so we cleaned up the store-room, added two single beds to it and the mattresses and lo and behold ..the guest room was ready! For the 3-4 days, my inlaws were here, the home really felt like a home. With so many people filling up, having wonderful conversations, 3 women in the kitchen (which I initially had thought gets over in 5 steps) and drawing room filled with conversations, I was really happy! And the day Yash (our nephew) was here, it was mind-blowing! A child really can do wonders to the atmosphere.

On a Saturday, all of them went away, one-by-one, and we were left alone in our new nest. We hope, this nest sees a lot of people, friends and relatives, who add colors to life and make life a thouroughly enjoyable experience!

P.S. - With the mention of colors, wish you all a very Happy Holi!
Also, hope that I write more often, rather than a blog-a-year!