Supa Saturday Dwitiya!

Et Yanother Yenjoyable Saturday! Mind it!

De Dana Dan - 11.00 am show at - Cinemax (Red Lounge) - Infinity Mall :-)

2 Beautiful!

Now V R 3!

Lunch at Yoko's Sizzlers!

Me Saucy U Menu!

Tea at Galaxy Classique

The New & the Old Couple!

More words later! Mind Et!

My special Tribute to the 26/11 Martyrs!

Had been thinking of What will I do to remember the 1st Anniversary of the Mumbai Terror Attack of 26/11?
On 23rd Nov'09 got a call from this guy from the locality where I reside informing of a Peace March on 26 Nov 09!!!

A co-incidence or what? Here I was thinking I would not land up going to Town (or Bombay as most of our bretheren refer to UpTown as the Chinese would call it) or organising something by myself. So what would I do and here was the answer

Yes! A few members/office bearers of the All India Human Rights & Citizen Option, about 50 NCC Cadets from Patkar College, 150 School Children of M.N. English School a few last moment joiners clad in whites! we marched, there was sloganering, there were a few Placcards and I walked alongside my friend Sanjay Jadhav with just an A4 size paper in hand which read.

26 /11 /2008
Will NOT Forgive!
Will NOT Forget!

Will NOT Forgive our complacency and Will NOT Forget the price We had to pay for it!

Next time Mr. Azmi go ahead and hurl the shoe!

First things first, Congratulations Mr. Abu Azmi for not cowering down like the others and holding your ground of taking the oath in Hindi our National Language! You were within you rights and also acting within the laid down rules of the constitution of this country.

The Khaaz (quiet literally) Thackeray and his goons especially that gold flashing Bail (Bull) whom our inherent decency forces us to address as a Legislator did what happens to be their raison de etre!

The four legislators : Shishir Shinde, Ram Kadam, who slapped and punched SP member Azmi, Vasant Gite and Ramesh Banjle thank you for showing those who voted for you what a choice they have made by sending crude, uncouth, animals to the Legislative Assembly.

Their manhandling of PWP's Meenakshi Patil should have definitely acted as an eye-opener to you the MNS supporters as to what treatment can your women expect from these$#%^%*%*(%.

Friendship Day! quiet legally!

2nd August 2009. Friendship Day!

Subha hogayi Maamu!!!!!!! and there I was thinking what to do! the previous day being my birthday hadn't had too much to drink in the afternoon (just 2 pints of beer ;-) and nothing to drink in the night so there was no nursing a hangover morning happening.

Around 11.00am received a call from my friend Mahesh (no not the one with Ramesh and me on the Supa Saturday) this one is another guy staying closer to home, he said that he and Satyan (Yeah! the Mallu from my Hara Bhara Wednesday Post) were waiting at the Main Gate of my residential colony along with the ever there Maruti :-) you see they were to go to Juhu for some work and be back by 11.am and after that we were to, that is, if Satyan agreed ( the car you see its the car) to go to Kalyan (yup you heard it right!) to meet our friend Shobha (who incidentally shares her Birthday with me! cool nah!). Presuming that the plan was on I rushed only to be told that they were now proceeding to Juhu and from there on we would go to Kalyan. @#$%#&*%(%)% and I also thought what the @#$%#&*% :-D (there! felt a little better) and then as a last thought also told myself 'Everything Happens for a Reason'!!! and as the day progressed it proved to be exactly that!!

As we moved towards Juhu I remembered another friend of mine Mr. Sunil Mane he had told me that he was at the Chandan Chowky! He is a PSI and working with the ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) and that is where I encountered him (he has his own list of Encounters and officially at that). Chandan Chowky! is anything but a Chowky. Firstly you wont find it, even if it is right in front of you, You just cannot know coz not a single person (of a handful that are there) is in uniform. You will see a bunch of handsome IPS officers moving around a cute and comfy cottage and garden environment. Pleasantries exchanged, chaddi buddy conversation happened over cups of tea and off I went to join Mahesh and Satyan to proceed to Kalyan!

The moment my phone call had gone to Shobha she with all her weight of 88 Kgs (she had just lost 2 kgs you see otherwise it would have been 90 Kgs) was running around in circles trying to get food ready for us ;-D (sweet of her ain't it?) We reached there at around 2.00pm she was more than happy to see us (you see after promising her for just about 2 years I had finally made it to her house in KALYAN!!!) Hot piping food and a small little gift for me to wish me on my birthday (Remember the small fibre figurine I mentioned in my Merawalla Birthday post, that was from Shobha ) and me quiet shamelessly had gone as they would say in Goan Konkani 'Haalat Dholot' or 'Lokot Mokot' ( pick the one you like) but then that was not all. Incidentally Shobha's husband is a Constable with the Mumbai Police (now you get the drift on the title of this post) He not only kept on calling her to check if she was taking good care of us but also reminded Shobha

to give me a piece of the Mogra Gajara

which he had bought for his beloved wife the previous day for her Birthday!

Yeah! Aamchi Police not just being Hospitable but also sharing of what more or little they have.

Jai Hind Saheb!

Merawalla Birthday!

Another of my Happywala Birthday's is already there and so are the wishes, blessings, love & affection of people who care and dare to show it! ;-) no Fear Factor here eh! :-P

The first one to wish me was my Niece (Second Cousin to the English & Yankees) Sheba who gave me her electronic wishes on gtalk on 30th July'09 itself.

Reaching home from work on the same day (30th July'09) in the evening there was one envelope waiting for me. Opened it to find A coupon from 'Pop Tates' for Rs.151/- and before I was through being happy about it lo and behold there was another envelope from Pop Tates yet again for Rs.151/- (So you see I can treat myself and some deserving soul to Pop Tates, Urban Tadka, Timbuctoo, Masala Mantar and/or Happy Singh! now isn't that reason to be happy!!!

Saturday 1st August 2009 was my Happy walla Birthday!

Made happy and more by the steady stream of phone calls, SMS's & Emails (which I only got to see on Monday in Office :-D)

What a wonderful day -

Breakfast - (Idea by my Mom - Made & served by my Sister-In-Law) - Appams - white fluffy centre and crisp golden borders. ummmmmmm just the way I like em!

Lunch - I cooked :-D - Pulao, Dal, 3 Seed Salad (Chana, Rajma & Kaccha Sheng Boiled together with added salt and a dressing of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice and finely chopped onions), Oil Free Pan Fried Assorted Chicken Salami -ummmmmmmm, shallow fried Prawns & Baby Potatoes in Soy & Chillies Sauce , Pomegranate seeds with a dash of lime and salt, Tawa Fried Picador Chillies De-seeded with Salt, Lime & Turmeric - and to down it all the youngsters had Thums Up and the Oldies had Pints of Tuborg Beer.



All 10 of us! in high spirits hic!!



Come evening it was time to go to the Lord's house to pay the almighty a visit and tell his son to continue to intercede for me as has been always done. Amen to that!



After Mass went visiting my dear Aunty Rita who incidentally shares the same birth date as mine. But then she had turned just 72 years that day ;-) there at her house, not just had the privilege of sharing in the cutting of the Birthday cake but also having a piece of the most delicious and yummy chocolate cake from Hang Out. Well! that kind of chocolate and the tongue is surely going to hang out wanting to have some more of the sinful sweet.



And then Aunty Rita insisted that I join her and her daughter for dinner at Nandos in the In-Orbit mall Malad (ahem! its actually in Goregaon, its just that they like to think they are in Malad)



Dinner - at Nandos - some chicken and rice downed with the most pathetic Iced Tea!



So that was the long and short of merawalla Birthday!



Oh and did I tell you the gifts I got - 1 flower bouquet, 1 Saree, 1 SKD suit, 1 Figurine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus & 2 Munch Bars, 1 Hershey's Chocolate Bar, 1 Purse & 1 small fibre figurine.



Birthday ho toh aisa ho! Well Balanced like a Well Balanced Diet!

Mera Hara Bhara Wednesday! 22nd July 2009

22nd July 2009 - the day of the Longest Solar Eclipse of this century! ho hum! dark and glumm! Nah! it was a harra bhara Wednesday!

Here's how! woke up to the news of the Eclipse on TV and the jestful jibe of my sister-in-law that I most definitely could witness the eclipse what with my overly puffed up eyelids of the Left eye. Which incidentally had been in that state for just about 2 days as prior to that the eyelids of my right eye enjoyed that status. A game of Kho-kho being enjoyed by my eyelids for the past month.

Anyway Eclipse or no Eclipse swollen eyelids or otherwise the day had begun and it had to be FUN!

Cut Scene 2

Satyan (one of the 3 Mallus who had let me down with the BWSL ride remember!) and I left in his little wonder, yup you guessed it a Maruti (Zen this time!) to check for an Eye Specialist in and around the area and just as we got the information on one and reached the place there in front of us was a respectable size branch of a Drumstick tree (Sheugyachya Shenga) Fallen off from the tree in the neighbouring compound into this compound. Promptly both of us made a mental note of picking up a bunch of leaves for some yummy Bhaji on the way back from the Doctor's. And that's exactly what we did! Satyan was in his element plucking away the tender branches with not a care or worry in the world. Notes were being exchanged what were we to say if anybody objected to us helping ourselves to the leaves. Well! if there was one person who was going to be happy about our self-service it was the boy cleaning the premise, what with Satyan so deftly attacking the foliage leaving nicely cleaned branches thus reducing his burden of cleaning the area of the fallen leaves and branches. :-D So engrossed was Satyan in his task that I had to remind him that we still had to go to another place (Malvani) and then I had to go to office for 1/2 day work! Only then did Satyan leave the branches, albeit reluctantly!

Cut Scene 3

My work at Malvani completed and there we were headed back on the Marve Road towards the link road. Just gave Satyan a subtle instruction to keep the Car to the left of the road immediately after we crossed the bridge on the Marve Road on the way to the Uncle's Kitchen Junction! Satyan the dear that he is promptly stopped the car at the point I had told him of. Yours Truly then got out of the car in a jiffy climbed onto the 3 ft flowerbed wall and put my hand inside the barbed wire onto the stem of a 9 feet high Bimla Tree (I don't know what you call it - we Mangaloreans call it Bimla) jumped off the wall, ran back to the car and thrust my full hands in front of Satyan asking him to take it as it was for him. All the while Satyan was oblivious of the contents of my hands the moment he set eyes on them. He was quick to chirp 'arrey ye! aur laa na' He had to be reminded that that's all I could siphon. You see he thought I knew the people residing in the row bungalow near the tree he he! and that is why I had marked the location with such surety!

So with a Bag Full and bursting over of Drumstick leaves and more than a handful of Bimla we set out to Safed Pool! Feeling all Hara and Bhara!

Supa Saturday 18 July 09 - Esh!!! & BWSL

Okayyyyyyyyy! so now lets get down to writing a Blog the way it is meant to be, as an online diary!

18th July 2009 - 12.00noon was the beginning of a Supa Saturday

(I m gonna use that phrase N number of times)

There outside my B.E.S.T Nagar II, was waiting for me

a nice and sweet little Maruti 800 and in it the 2 Esh!

So off we went to Bandra as the BWSL was where we were headed. Well! much as we would have loved to hit the BWSL directly there had to be a stopover for a little sometin for the munchin.

Thus there we were at Hearsche's Bakery (ummmmmm! ) a veg roll, a chicken roll & a mutton Roll for us threesome and a Freshlime for the Muscular (BDH- Bald Dark & Handsome) Esh!

A little food in the tummy and yours truly as the navigator the next we landed at the Taj Lands End! with the Sea Rock bang opposite and there in the background could see the highest point of the BWSL as if beckoning and saying 'Where art thou' .

The Navigator playing the Nymph and there we were

at the Mount Mary Basilica seeking divine intervention.

Prayers murmured! and off we went trundling down the

mount in search of a way to reach the BWSL.

A little asking here a little guessing there and we were onto the trail. The Toll Plaza approaching and heart racing discussing and contemplating - Should pay the toll one way or for two (what else ;-P) Decided! it has to be 2 way as we simply had to see it lit up when we returned. Toll payed! and

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

finally

finally

finally

after a let down by 3 Mallus this exceptional Mallu (one of the 3 who let me down) had finally given me my Wish!

The experience WOW! I take it as one more reason to be proud of my city BOMBAY!

But for the 3some the Fun had just begun.

Getting off at the Worli side it was Photo shoot time.

Once on the other side now What to do? Lunch at Noorani or where ? Juice at Patil's or where? Movie at Sterling or where? Well! it was time for my second wish to watch a movie at the Metro (Adlabs) and even though there was Resistance from both the Esh saying it was a waste of money and the experience was really not that great, I put my foot down and so did the BDH-Esh but on the Accelerator! (you see on the BWSL the speed limit varies from 30 to 50 kms/per hr) but now that we were off it and the full realisation dawning. It was all the way Chalo Metro!!! Wish 2 granted!!! by The BDH - Esh! muuuwaaaaah!

(The photos -

(L) urs truly on the Bollywood star at the Metro Adlabs Box Office (C) The BDH - Esh and urs truly sharing a Parsi Lunch at the Sassanian (R) The BDH - Esh and urs truly posing at the Subway just outside the Metro Adlabs.

Hey! did I tell you the movie we watched was 'Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince'? that's what it turned out to be Half value for Full Money! Anyway the Caramel Pop-corn kept me in good spirits.

The Return Journey from Marine Lines to Goregaon saw a stopover at the Haji Ali Juice Centre where both the Esh! had their dose of liquid refill. Yours truly was better off holding on to an imminent threat from the bladder & guarding the car from being towed away ;-) . Moving on to the Next stopover at THE HUB (goregaon (East) another first time experience (for urs truly)of a drive thru Mcdonalds :-D So it was not just Ronald of Mcdonalds but Urs truly who was Happy Truly on this Supa Saturday(N Times ;-) . Made possible by two wonderful Esh! - RamEsh & MahEsh! Muuwaah! Muuwaah!

The Bandra Worli Sealink - The Name Blame Game!

What is there in a name? well a lot absolutely a lot! why else would people mind if their names are misspelled or mispronounced or used out of context.

So now once again the city of Bombay (Mumbai) is facing the Name Blame Game Problem!

What would you have it be, the cityzens of Bombay!

Go out there and say it to them!
- the Shiv Sena - who wants it to be named 'Veer Savarkar Setu' well they could call the 'Ram Setu' and it would be apt as it is the one leading out of India (Bharat) symbolic of Exile!
- the MNS - who wants it to be named after one of the activists who fought for Samyukta Maharashtra' well they first need to show up at the Samyukta Maharashtra Smarak at Flora Fountain to show their respect to these very activists.
- The BJP - who wants it to be named - well who cares what they want?

Cityzens of Bombay go ahead and decide and make it known what would you want to call 'BWSL' (Bandra Worli Sea Link) Now that we have something of an answer to the Queen's Necklace! (some thing of a 'Kings Girdle')

Got any Idea Sirjee?

So Mumbai (Bombay) All set for Spot the Pot Hole contest?

Yes!

The famed POT HOLES of the not just lanes, by-lanes, but of Flyovers and High Ways! of Mumbai (BOMBAY) which have been there all along but are just brought up like bringing out of raincoats/umbrellas in the monsoons or the woolens in the winter.

Even the Press and the Media does not think it their job to see to have the problem pursued to its logical conclusion.

No wonder one year we have a Municipal Commissioner, denying the very presence of Pot-holes and in the another year we have another Municipal Commissioner offering prize money for spotting one.

So all you anniversary celebrators why don't you make a contest out of this too! so much for your reader / viewer / listener figures! after all you too thrive on flaunting your SUPPORT don't you? Unless all you people out there never set out on the Roads of Bombay at all.

Can the Mumbai Traffic Police pls ensure that all political processions for show of support / seeking votes are directed compulsorily on the most potholed roads. This way the aspiring /vote seeking politician will know what he/she should work for to avoid slip discs and in general the ire and indifference of the vote bank during the next elections.

-- Winnie Saldanha

A sure way to get people to VOTE

Hello people,

This year especially the past month or so we have been observing a deluge of message bomardment by whatever media possible exhorting people to vote.
Well! here is one offer which all of you can make to your readers/viewers and the Corporates to their Consumers and the Hospitality Industry to their Customers.

Special Offer for those with the voter's ink on their index finger.
Hindi mein ' Ungli Batao Offer Pao (well sounds more like the Bindaas , MTV, VTV gimmick doesn't it)
Marathit ' Bot dakhwa Vijayi Wha!
In English - Finger with voter ink, gets you discounts extra quick'

-- Winnie Saldanha

Vanishing Footpaths! Pedestrians to reclaim them!

Come Monsoon and the rain waters take up huge expanses of roads leaving little place for vehicles to move without splashing each other, not to mention the fear of a lurking pothole which could lead to the dislocation of Wheels/Tyres like dislocation of bones in humans.

And there is no place on the newly made footpaths because those who are in-charge of the upkeep of footpaths do not bother to see that once they are built/remade (i.e., if they are as certain sections are still fully lost due to illegal expansions of shops and structures) they remain free of hawkers and the shop wares of the shops that line them (Indian culture u see - dukaan andar sey zyada bahar)

This is the time where citizen mumbai need to reclaim the footpaths! (after all the city itself is made of RECLAIMED land)

Why not have some day in the coming month (8th March - Woman's Day would be ideal) or if not some time in the Monsoon Season (it can be any day) as Reclaim the Footpath Day! (better still if it is a monthly occurrence) it will surely go a long way. Get the message to be collectively sent across by each of you (reading this) in collaboration with Citizen groups who are vying for this right of the pedestrian.

In fact the BMC could conduct their Hawker removing drives on the day before and after this day and the Traffic cops to intensify the towing away of wrongly parked vehicles on these days. As a result at least 3 days a month even the motorist will be happy driving on wider roads. And slowly and surely we will have motorcars on the roads and pedestrians on the footpaths. What say!

I propose the city celebrate Valentine's day by coming together like it did on 3rd Dec'08!

Hi,

With the recent spurt of social policing and hooliganism in the name of protecting the rights of the sons of the soil (specifically in Bombay) and moral policing in Bangalore, it is time for those who had gathered at the Gateway of India and other locations in Bombay and other cities of India to show their own mite with LOVE!

Day: Saturday
Date: 14th Feb, 2009
Place:
(For South Bombay) : Victoria Terminus - The Taj - The Gateway of India - The Trident - Nariman House.
(For other parts of Bombay) : The entire stretch of Road right from behind Hypercity (Goregaon) to right upto where it ends (Malad)
Others - please suggest!

For other Metros : near their Assembly houses - that way they can be assured of maximum security. :-)

Event: Celebration of Valentine's Day ( it could be a rally or it could be a PARADE begining from two directions ie Victoria Terminus and Nariman house and meeting/culminating at the Gateway)

Your take?
-- Winnie Saldanha

PS: the ever present pegions at the Gateway will also complete the symbolic release of pegions.