Its a nice warm day, I have finally secured a job in Air India after waiting and losing hope for more than a year and finally on July 26 I am to report to duty...and then all hell broke loose
....its 11:45 now and raining real bad, we are seated in a mock up plane but we cannot budge out of the location, as the water is pouring in...I have never seen such rains in Bombay...so we go up and sit in the business class lounge of the air craft
...Its 3:30 now, every office in Bombay is officially closed. We have been told to go home however! A few people venture out boldly in their cars ignorant of pleas from other employees to give them a lift...as fate would have it, in 5 minutes every car returns back...BOMBAY IS A WRECK!
...4:30 I and my friend trudge out leaving all our valuable documents behind, we are drenched, rain is now pouring in buckets and each drop of rain falls on us like a small pebble. Its very cold and when our shirts stick on to our body we are literally shivering. We wade through the water which is now waist deep, we fall down at times, reach his aunt's place, the entrance of which has me covered upto my chest and I'm 6'3!!!He is home and now I trudge along, I dont really know how long I walked, the only thing in my mind was WALK NO MATTER WHAT. Yea I did manage to see 2 Mercs, one floating in the water and the other left along in the roads at nature's mercy...I somehow managed to reach my relative's place after walking for 3 hrs and 15 minutes
...27th of July:All fine till now, I am in the confines of a very comfortable house, eating and sleeping but still without the luxury of electricity and no knowledge of what's going on around me...As news start pouring in, I realise I am in one of the worst affected areas, my area has virtually become an island with water way over 90 cms all over, and some areas a lot more than that
...3:00 pm - I feel restless here and want to go home, afterall there is nothing like home...so I tell them I am going, they relent after I am firm on my decision, 10 minutes into my decision, I regret it, I am covered with water upto my hip, The water isnt exactly Evian or mineral water quality, no one cared..As I waded through muck, brown water and a lot more water, on the way of which I found a few titled cars and vans, vehicles rammed by other vehicles, trees toppled over and every private and public transport vehicle deserted of its passengers and drivers, I realised my worst nightmare come true. I had 2 ways of reaching home, one was completely cordoned off by the water and the other which I was in, had me walk across a railway station, I used the divider to walk across, and found the tracks completely submerged in the water, and if all this wasnt hell itself, as i stepped down on the other side of the station, a few feet away were dead bodies, the water was chest high again, but this time it didnt matter, we were at the mercy of nature and had given in.Time had stopped, some time later I reached the high way: trucks, cars, vans, bikes, buses, everything on wheels was stranded from one corner to the other. There were people selling food items trying to make a quick buck, another corner there were people offering water and tea for free.Yes the spirit of mankind sometimes exceeds every expectation.I reached home at 6:45, too tired to speak or do anything, I wanted to wash myself, there was no water, no electricity as yet, so the water pump could'nt function. WATER WATER EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK. I managed to change my clothes, and plopped to my bed.11:30 I get up and my girlfriend who had been frantically trying to call me finally gets through, she doesnt wan't to keep the phone down
.....11:45 Finally the elctricity board wakes up and we get electricity back, good clean water finally comes in.28th of July:Our phones are still jammed but life is slowly coming back to normal, No Office today. This is my story, the millions of people in Bombay will have a different story to tell, some more sombre some more pitiful, but never has bombay's spirit and resilience been tested more in such a large scale.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
A view from outside - Guest - Amanda
From Tattoo’s till High heels
My good friend Madhu has asked me to write a small piece or literature for his blog. And how could I refuse a request from a sweet guy like him. So I took some paper and a pencil and wrote this small article about: Anno 2005, what is still common or vulgar? For your understanding, we are talking about common things on females, not males…. :p
Lets starts with tattoo’s. Do you think tattoo’s are a common or vulgar thing these days? Why do women have tattoo’s? Well I don’t have one myself, but my friends have always told me that they have one because it’s a jewel you carry on forever. My opinion is that some tattoo’s on women are vulgar but some are very pretty. I think it depends on the woman her looks if she fits a certain tattoo or not. For example, somebody we all know: Pamela Anderson. I think the tattoo on her arm fits her perfect. She has the body for it. Not everybody fits a tattoo like hers. Some females can have the same tattoo on their arm but look vulgar.
How about high heels? Why do women wear high heels? Well for me they are the top of elegancy. They can make short women like myself look taller, but also accentuate a woman’s legs and make them even prettier or more feminine. Sometimes high heels have a bad reputation but I think the bad reputation is caused by women who cant walk on high heels. Something you cant do, you reject quicker. My advice to women is: Stiletto’s give you pretty, long slim legs with a feminine elegant look. Save them for special occasions, and don’t wear them every day. Surely not when you go out on a day of shopping
What is next? Red lipstick perhaps? Why do some women choose red lipstick? Well a friend of mine always wear red lipstick because it gives her fuller lips. It flatters her and fits who she is: a fresh and spicy woman. Why do red lips have a bad reputation? Well, not everybody is made for red lipstick. Young girls are afraid to wear it because they are afraid to be called a slut or something like that. Red lips fit perfectly on a woman who has a pale white skin. It brings the attention to her lips and gives her a pretty face.
Mini skirts, liked by many, disliked by some. I love to wear mini skirts myself because they are feminine and sexy and because I am not shy to show some leg. Some people call it cheap, but on the other hand, at a swimming pool you see much more naked flesh. So why do they have a bad reputation by some? Well simply because its about how you wear them! An elegant way of wearing them is absolutely necessary. Sitting down with your legs wide open while wearing a mini skirt is really vulgar and simply not done!
Well I hope you all enjoyed my first little column and hopefully it will get many comments.
Amanda Marais
My good friend Madhu has asked me to write a small piece or literature for his blog. And how could I refuse a request from a sweet guy like him. So I took some paper and a pencil and wrote this small article about: Anno 2005, what is still common or vulgar? For your understanding, we are talking about common things on females, not males…. :p
Lets starts with tattoo’s. Do you think tattoo’s are a common or vulgar thing these days? Why do women have tattoo’s? Well I don’t have one myself, but my friends have always told me that they have one because it’s a jewel you carry on forever. My opinion is that some tattoo’s on women are vulgar but some are very pretty. I think it depends on the woman her looks if she fits a certain tattoo or not. For example, somebody we all know: Pamela Anderson. I think the tattoo on her arm fits her perfect. She has the body for it. Not everybody fits a tattoo like hers. Some females can have the same tattoo on their arm but look vulgar.
How about high heels? Why do women wear high heels? Well for me they are the top of elegancy. They can make short women like myself look taller, but also accentuate a woman’s legs and make them even prettier or more feminine. Sometimes high heels have a bad reputation but I think the bad reputation is caused by women who cant walk on high heels. Something you cant do, you reject quicker. My advice to women is: Stiletto’s give you pretty, long slim legs with a feminine elegant look. Save them for special occasions, and don’t wear them every day. Surely not when you go out on a day of shopping
What is next? Red lipstick perhaps? Why do some women choose red lipstick? Well a friend of mine always wear red lipstick because it gives her fuller lips. It flatters her and fits who she is: a fresh and spicy woman. Why do red lips have a bad reputation? Well, not everybody is made for red lipstick. Young girls are afraid to wear it because they are afraid to be called a slut or something like that. Red lips fit perfectly on a woman who has a pale white skin. It brings the attention to her lips and gives her a pretty face.
Mini skirts, liked by many, disliked by some. I love to wear mini skirts myself because they are feminine and sexy and because I am not shy to show some leg. Some people call it cheap, but on the other hand, at a swimming pool you see much more naked flesh. So why do they have a bad reputation by some? Well simply because its about how you wear them! An elegant way of wearing them is absolutely necessary. Sitting down with your legs wide open while wearing a mini skirt is really vulgar and simply not done!
Well I hope you all enjoyed my first little column and hopefully it will get many comments.
Amanda Marais
A view from outside!
From today, after quite a few requests for posting comments on the site, I have incorporated a new feature in the site where readers can comment on anything they want, put anythin they want in the site and it will be posted..and my first esteemed guest (though it was my idea to invite her) is Amanda from Belgium, a author herself, she has taken some time out to share a small anecdote she shares with others...
Do comment.
Do comment.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
In the name of religion!
This topic may not exactly go very well with a majority of people around the world...and yet I feel like voicing my thoughts on this.
Terrorism, I look upon it as an irony that the self made god's every religion has created has now become the major reason for killings, mass atrocities and war!
Isnt it shameful that the very god we have created, and that goes for every religion, the one who preaches us brotherhood and to be against hatred and disharmony is now the very cause of all the world's sufferings in terms of attacks on mankind!
We have deciphered god's sayings in our own ways and have come out with some bizarre conclusions to his sayings and I am not marginalising one single faith, every faith in its own little community has grown itself hard core fundamentalists who are out there destroying other communities they deem misfits.
I was never a believer in god, but i am not anti-god.
but I do believe in the end...the greatest terrorist of mankind wont be certain individuals but an out of the world being we call God!
Terrorism, I look upon it as an irony that the self made god's every religion has created has now become the major reason for killings, mass atrocities and war!
Isnt it shameful that the very god we have created, and that goes for every religion, the one who preaches us brotherhood and to be against hatred and disharmony is now the very cause of all the world's sufferings in terms of attacks on mankind!
We have deciphered god's sayings in our own ways and have come out with some bizarre conclusions to his sayings and I am not marginalising one single faith, every faith in its own little community has grown itself hard core fundamentalists who are out there destroying other communities they deem misfits.
I was never a believer in god, but i am not anti-god.
but I do believe in the end...the greatest terrorist of mankind wont be certain individuals but an out of the world being we call God!
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