Little Tale on Local Train

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If you live in Mumbai you will be very well versed with the local train and adventures related to it. Local trains are called life line of Mumbai. You curse about it but you definitely can't live without it. Daily around 7.5 million people travel in trains with the approximation of 5000 people per train. It is not a small feat for both local train and the people traveling in it. It is the fastest mode to reach anywhere in Mumbai and no one will deny it despite the discomfort experienced in it on a daily basis. Mumbai is developing; the introduction of metro and monorail has diverted the crowd and made life a little bit easier. But for the ever growing Mumbai even that is not enough.

Despite all the complaints and rants against it, this 161 year old mode of transport also gives you some of the most memorable or AWWW moments which is not possible anywhere else. Something like that happened to me today.

I am a designer by profession and retro artist by choice. I like old structures, the mechanics and rustiness in them, it appeals to me. 

It feels like every one has a story to tell, they just need somebody to listen to. I love to do that. 

So traveling in local transport is just not about convenience but also choice for that matter.

It was a usual day and it was weekend (by the way there is not set holiday for me as most of my work is freelance), but that was a lazy day and I just wanted to get away from the  work and explore the city. I declared holiday for my self and loitering and exploring Mumbai was in the agenda.

After motivating myself to get cleaned up and pushing myself out of the house (mind you the hardest part of my day everyday) I was all set for Mumbai Darshan. I reached the station and boarded a semi full train. Sometime weekend makes the traveling in local train enjoyabkle and comfortable as most are relaxing in the weekend by being home or traveling outside Mumbai.

I was on the door enjoying the fresh breeze hitting my face, when I heard a little girls voice. I turned and there she was in her father’s comfortable seat of folded hands standing next to me. When you travel, you get to see a lot of people; different shape, size, behavior, attitude so they are easily noticeable. But this father daughter duo was nothing out of the ordinary. The farther was average looking middle class man wearing a tight shirt uncomfortably to get the weekend feel and in his hand was a cute little girls with 2 ponytail of her slightly wavy hair and big brown eyes trying to absorb the surrounding as much as she can. She was too adorable to be ignored.

The girl was having a conversation with her dad is Gujarati, now if you live in Mumbai being multi lingual is a necessity and not a choice or talent.

A few stations passed people got down and the situation in the train was little better. I took a seat and the dad daughter duo sat right opposite to me. They were having their own conversation, when I overheard something. The little girl asked her dad to tell her a story and she wanted the story right away. The dad felt awkward at start but then he started the story. I could see in the fathers eyes, he was excited to narrate the story too. He was hardly paying attention on how other commuters are reacting to the situation.

And he started... "There was a guy named Papu, he had a bicycle and he loved to ride it. He had a friend Rohan who was excited about travelling out-station  and he was waiting for rickshaw to take him to the station, but there was no rickshaw seen around and Rohan was sad about being late to the station and missing the train. Papu saw Rohan and went to greet him.

Papu: Hi Rohan, Good Morning, are you going on a holiday.

Rohan: Hi Papu, good morning to you too, yes I am going for a holiday but I am unable to get a rickshaw. If I don't reach in time I will miss my train and the holiday will get canceled.

Papu: Ohhh.... That is bad; can I be of some help to you? I can drop you to station on my bicycle?

Rohan: oh wow!! That will be great Papu. Thank you.

Rohan climbed on papu's bicycle and they left for station.

All this while the girl was very quite and attentive to the story narrated by her dad.

After the story ended the dad completed it with, moral of the story, "When someone is in need of help, always try to help them to your best possible way" and the girl was nodding with her pony tail jumping in the air and her big brown eyes on her father.

It was very surprising and refreshing for me to see such a conversation between father and daughter, important life advices passed to the kid with simple stories.

I wanted to hear more but my destination arrived and I had to leave the duo for their next adventure with Rohan & Papu. It is not every day you come across such people but I would have missed this beautiful 15 min if not for local trains.                                                    

Best dish in the world...

Yes I am talking food today. No recipe or ideas for simple cooking but just a journal entry of a hogger. Yes a hogger, I have very carefully analyzed the word to refer myself with it.

A hogger: A person or a being who will engulf anything that looks remotely edible. 

I don't know about Oxford dictionary, but that is the definitions and I live by it.

I have not traveled much just some national destinations so my food knowledge is very local and I am very proud of it, sometime even flaunt it.

Most of the people I came across, over heard or discussed with, was more about international food destination. It was all about food from different culture, demographic and continent. But for me food is home, the recipe that makes me feel homely is the ultimate dish and even Gordon Ramsay can't affect that belief of mine. There is so much to explore locally that I never felt to leave the city for experiments and new flavors.

Ok here I introduce some of my friends who are hoggers same as me. We have our different specialty like super heroes have their special powers. Let me start with my friend who is known for eating anything, I mean anything; from frog, snakes to bugs. He has tried and tested everything. The second one comes with elegant pallet, the person with whole seven course attitude with a dash of wine in it (red preferred) and then comes me, a crossover of Hulk and Flash, you know like the super hero with super speed and the other with gigantic appearance, so I am know for my speed and size of the portion of whatever I am eating. Sometimes my friends have to tell me to eat slow and in small portions as they don’t feel like they are eating alone, even when we are together because till they prepare themselves to eat or are 20% there; I am done. Waiting and watching them to finish it. After they finish we have a look at each other and we have a hearty laugh on how weird are we and how we don’t care about it. The bond of our friendship is strong because of food.

The food we are discussing today is favorite to most... sorry all Mumbaikars, and if you hate this you are not a Mumbaikar.

Have you ever experienced nirvana? The amalgamation of tastes: sweet, sour, spicy, tangy and when this is not enough for your pallet it also plays with temperature, the hot and cold sensation simultaneously. You guys must have already guessed it till now and would be smiling with the numerous memories you have with this dish. To all who are still guessing it is PANI PURI.

Thin wafer container holding the world of flavors, just the thought makes me crave for it. The tanginess of Imli (Tamarind), the sweetness of Khajoor (Dates), the freshness of Pudina (Mint) and the spiciness of Mirchi (Fresh Green Chili)... SALT ADDED ACCORDING TO TASTE & PREFERENCE. I can go on and on and it will never be enough words to describe the experience of having a panipuri.

I have no idea where Panipuri was invented but available all over India, just renamed and re branded. Some are known as Gol Guppa in Delhi, Puchka in Kolkata and so on. I may sound rude or just plain inexperienced foodie but the best Panipuri you will find is in Mumbai at a roadside stall. It is a different adventure all together to have pani puri at a roadside stall. It is not just the food but also the whole experience which comes with it. I have many such wonderful experiences when having a plate of panipuri. The only time I remember about my math teacher is while having panipuri as I have use probability of the time required to get the panipuri back to my plate when Panipuri wale bhaiyaji serving panipuri to numerous people at once, it is like a fun game I play while waiting for my turn to have one. The fun part of this dish is it is custom made for every person. Some have it spicy, some sweet, some both. I have never seen people judging and making decision on such a fast pace as the first puri hits their pallet that what the rest of the puris will be.

We all must have done this but will never admit it under free will, whenever the Panipuri guy serves a Panipuri u automatically start the race with him. The race of gulping down the Panipuri before another one hits your plate and achieving that is no less feat in our mind and heart. The excitement you receive is beyond words while having the world’s best dish.

Now for some, it would be a direct ticket to doctor’s clinic. Yes the road side stalls are far from being hygienic and clean, but that is the best part of it. You know the risk involved yet you take a plunge and always end up happy and mouthful of flavors, occasional food poisoning is part of the risk deal, at least you get to eliminate the bad stalls from a good one... Lesson learnt.

This is why it is the dangerous but the best dish in the world.

You can hate it but you can never stop having it.

Any one for a panipuri contest... I am always game for one... Bring it on

P.S: All the road side stall are not clean and hygienic to food standards, hence eat at your own risk.

-KURLYKACTUS

The happiest day, I lost my cell phone ;)

It was a sudden wake for me that morning. I am not a morning person. I take my time and give my body enough time to laze around. Looking for a cozy place to rest for a while till I am aware enough to play music on my television on loop, it will be Mtv for Hindi songs and VH1 for English tracks in loop. But that day it was different. I just jumped up sitting as I woke up and the first thing I am looking for was my phone. I was unable to locate it. It was a weird day from a get go. My mom is an early riser she is up and running as the sun hits the ground on our part of the planet. But that day she was still asleep. I am looking for my phone but something happened, I was not panicking at all. It was like "mehhhhh..."

I went to wake up my mom to ask, if she placed my mobile phone somewhere. I am very popular for my cleanings and tidiness. I never place any item where it is originally meant to be, living room television remote will be under my bed, my laptop somewhere in living room still connected to charge point; in short I was not very precise person when it comes to stuff that belongs to anyone including my own. So I default expect mom to place it to its rightful place. MOMS ARE THE BEST!!

When my mom came to realize my phone is missing, and then the panic attack started... To her, not me. I was still in ‘mehhhh’ mode. It didn't take much time for me to conclude that the mobile phone was stolen from our house from right under my nose.

Now you will be thinking how I came to this conclusion: long time ago a fine gentleman (I have no idea who circulated this thing, but I am assuming it to be a guy as we all are to some level mamma’s boy) shared some wisdom with the world; If you are looking for something and your mother is unable to find it then it is lost forever... Forget that thing and move on. Same situation was in my house that morning. Mom declared somebody must have stolen it and I agree to it as I was in no mood to be Sherlock and question her skills, as she would literally make search the house for the phone just for doubting her. 

This was the second phone I was robbed off in just six months, but this time it was not my fault as it happened in your house.

There were some other items also missing like mom's purse and stuff but that was not so important. 

Now the phone is lost/ stolen yet to be proven, need to be reported and the data need to be wiped off the device. Luckily this time the phone was synced with my computer so it took hardly some minute to clear the data and send my phone to factory settings via my computer. 

Reporting time: I have always been a guy who likes to chill and not get involved with authority or paperwork, both takes a lot of patience and energy out of you and also destroys the whole day. The same was expected that day too. As soon as the data was wiped I left to file a report to, our local police station. As I needed to keep the same number I need to submit a certificate from local police station stating that the SIM card is lost and please a new SIM with same number should be issued.

It was 7:00 am in the morning; I didn't expect anyone to be there, better entertain me. I reached the police station, there were 3 constables and 7 crooks or drunken teenagers; I had no idea. The only thing I was sure about those guys sitting on the floor with hands cuffed was, they need a bath. 

I approached a constable and asked him where I can register a complaint. He took a look at me top to bottom and then replied "regarding?” I replied "I lost my phone... I mean got stolen from my house, hence I need to register a complaint about the same"

I hoped he will have a good laugh and then crack some situational joke or story on that spot but instead he asked me to have a seat for a while as the lady officer who takes complaint will be coming in sometime. I sat out on the bench scanning the station. I was here earlier too. To file a complaint and get certificate for my lost mark sheets and certificates. As I said I am not great is maintaining or keeping stuff safe. That time too my complaint was taken and certificate was issued with the bribe of Rs.250/-. The same scenario flashed in my head as I saw the poster highlighting a number for complaints on bribery and I checked my wallet for cash if needed inside.

The officer arrived in next 30 minutes and before I approach her she came to me to ask what the situation is about and what complaint I need register. I explained her incident as I did to the constable earlier. She took out the FIR register and took all the details.

Where I expected on wasting my entire day behind this incident and it's after math. I was home having breakfast in an hour. We say our system doesn't work, but if your complaint is genuine and you follow the rules and law accordingly, things get done fast.

Now this was pretty new for me, to not to have a mobile phone to constantly checking mails and social network sites. My mom was upset about the incident, but somewhere deep down I was relieved that it will be a quiet and peaceful day. Just to inform some important people I needed to message them about the incident, so when they call they are not confused. 

It was 11.00 am only and I had a long day ahead. What next? , was on my mind and I saw a book in front of me. It was left on the shelf from the day it was given to me by my friend to read. I never even bothered to open it until now, I knew I had to pass time some way and what great way to do it but with a book. It was a light romantic novel, with some predictable character, but my agenda of the day was getting fulfilled. As the day passed by, I am already done with the first book and I am looking for another novel. This time it was a better one, about a chicken and duck; it sounds funny and cheesy but it is beautiful book about relationship, struggle and love.

The day ended and I was 1.5 books down.

This is how I started reading again. It was the most fun and relaxing experience I had in a long time. Now I am regular reader, just light fun stories mixed with some heavy literature once in a while. This is how my happy day of loosing phone came to an end.

I am still looking to buy phone. It is romantic to be away from these gadgets and virtual world and enjoy the nature and real one to one interaction, but to be in touch with the world is important too. Globalization is shrinking the world but the demographics remain the same. As much we hate technology we are use to it and we need it to move in our life. 
KURLY KACTUS

Exposed Wire

The girl reading a book while walking on a busy railways station is a miracle in its self. But you don't get to witness positive things happening in this city until you are lucky enough to look out of your mobile phone and looking at the surrounding and people without judgment. Something beautiful just happened today you hope to do and witness every day. This girl with reading skills I mentioned above was walking right in front of me towards the metal wire point out from the Pillar, on the bridge. The girl had no idea and was too involved in the book; I guess it was chetan bhagat ;). The girl was walking into serious physical injury or surprise wardrobe malfunction. 

A man started walking towards her, he must be in his late 60's or early 70's and you can see his clear attempt to pace up as fast as possible to reach that girl. The lady was lost in her book and was least aware of the surrounding and people involved in it. Then there was a loud scream, "Abe andha hai kya...dekh ke chalna nahi ata."  And the girl walked by. 

These words came from the girl who was well groomed and the word etiquette and social behavior would be her moto.

The man apologetically bowed to the girl till she crossed him and then went to the exposed wire and pushed it back to the metal frame so no one gets hurt by it.

All this happened in matter of seconds and I witnessed a basic nature of human which was not the result of the surrounding but the upbringing and thought process.

We say “never judge the book by its cover" but we never put it in action.

KURLY KACTUS