Angel 2

Searching for him,
I came to the end of the mountain,
I shouted, I yelled
But no reply,
With the wound on my leg,
And a tear in my eye
I sat on a stone nearby.
Hoping that I could see him,

Then I heard a voice,
I looked around and found no one
This voice seemed familiar,
Finally he appeared.
His face was serene, his smile so soothing,
He wiped my tears,
“That’s life” he said,
“Full of problems and pain,
And with one smile and they all go in vain”,
He made me smile and laugh again,
Words of wisdom I heard again,
“A pure heart, a clear conscience & positive words,
Put them together and you’ll be the best,
And if ever put to test,
Give it with confidence and let God do the rest”,
I smiled and said “Can I keep you with me forever?”
And if I ever call out to him, will he be able to hear?
He replied “Ill always be there in your dreams,
To share your joys and sorrows,
To give you a smiley,
To make you look cute”

Suddenly I woke up with a start,
It was a dream, a cherished one,
Where finally I met my angel,
After so long,
Wish I see him again,
Wish its more longer,
Its dreams after all,
They'll be with me forever.

S[HE] BE[LIE]VE[D]

Wednesday afternoon – 4pm- office. Suddenly the phone rings, I hear Baggy on the other line. “Salim is having an extra marital affair since the last 2 years, Sara has already tried to commit suicide but failed, she is in depression. She needs us”
I was blank for a second. Couldn’t believe what I just heard. I listened to the entire story and was in a complete shock.
I went back in time when I had first met Salim and Sara at ICICI One source.
Sara alias Shalini, a typical Marwari girl, who had eloped and married Salim. She did not bother about anyone, just listened to her heart .Her blind trust in Salim gave her the courage to take a big decision. Not once did she think about her own parents, her brother who begged and pleaded her to come back.
And since then she became Sara for the world. She converted to a Muslim, started wearing full sleeves salwar kameez, read the Quran 5 times a day, started cooking non-veg for her in laws. Basically she changed herself completely for him.
Life was not easy for her, but she never complained.
And now after 6 years of marriage, she came to know that her husband is having an extra marital affair since the last two years and he plans to marry that girl very soon.
She was completely shattered. Not knowing what she should do, where she should go now?
She cannot go back to her parents as they declared her dead ever since she married Salim.
Her so called in laws are neutral, convincing her that she will always be the “daughter” of the house whatever happens.
As friends we can only give her the support and motivation that she needs. But it’s difficult to imagine how her world might have come crashing down.
I just wish God shows us a short advertisement of how our future is going to be so that we could take sensible decisions. But this is next to impossible, all we need to do is prepare ourselves for the good and the bad.

Moral of the story: Love with all your heart, but Commit to someone only when you are sure that the opposite person loves you more than you do.
MARRIAGE the biggest gamble of our life,
You become a millionaire if you play your cards well, but you become a beggar if the opposite person gets lucky with his cards and wants to win over you,

An Autobiography of a FAN

Part I
“Agla station Borivili, Next station Borivili”
Hey the station is arriving, hurry up ladies. Hey you women, forgot to switch me off. Why do you want to spoil me? I have grown old now. I also need rest.
I am just waiting to go to the yard and get some clean up and oiling. I have become really noisy since so many years.
Ah! I still remember the time when I joined the railways.10 years ago, when the new train was made. Wow, it was yellow and brown on the exterior and green in the interiors and I was place right in the middle of the compartment with my sister at my side. And guess what it was a 01st class ladies compartment….wowie..I was so happy. I got a view of almost the entire passage where all the pretty ladies could sit. My sister was not at all excited, but it was the happiest day of my life.
I was black in colour, with 3 hands and a netted cover on me.I was put into the Churchgate –Virar train.

It was 6.00 in the evening, the train entered Churchgate and huge group of ladies started entering from both the sides and ran in for a seat.It was so funny as if they never got to sit on the cushioned seats. One of them looked up at me, and realized that I was off. She put me on and gave a sigh of relief.
This was my 01st day at work.
There were hawkers selling bhel, Vadapav, mineral water etc. The train started moving. As we reached Dadar, it was packed. Everybody had claimed seats. As we reached Andheri and Borivili it was completely stuffed, there was no place for any new women to enter the train. Finally when the train left Mira Road, that’s when they got to breathe. Oh these poor Ladies.
So this was my route everyday, – to and fro from Virar to Churchgate.
The 01st class ladies compartment is no less entertaining than a television.
Mornings were just too much of fun,I got to study with the college students,So that’s how I know lil bit of Economics, French and Accounts.
The aunties and mummies were busy cribbing about their offices or their children who would never listen to them.
Young girls would make their picnic and shopping timetables. Infact they would also make Hens Party plans and discuss everything that they would do.From Start to end...It was fun to see them describing the cake and decide the dress code and the gifts, …Ghosh I dint know they could go to such an extent….At times I had to close my ears…
Festivals were fun. There would be distribution of sweets and Mithai’s. Girls would dress up in the train. It looked a like a 01st class beauty parlour. They would even change right in front of me. The aunties would help the girls to drape sarees. This time I had to close my eyes… hehehe I felt so shy.
We celebrated birthdays and played antakshari in the train.
Summers was bad. I had to keep running all the time. And if by mistake, I stopped running these women would prick me with pens and combs. “Oouch”.. I would scream, and wished they could hear me. Winters gave me good rest. Rains – I never worked due to the water dripping on me all the time.
I was very happy in the ladies compartment. But my sister was not. She wanted to move into the gents compartment and admire the handsome men.
She was so jealous of me as I got all the women attention.
One of the fans from the gents compartment had to go for repairing. Since we were 3 of us in a line,they wanted to shift one of us there. I was praying really hard.I dint want to leave this heaven and go to hell…
I mean what would I do in a gents compartment? Admire them ? Smell their clothes full of sweat..? Or see WWf everyday ? Coz unlike women, it was never a mouth to mouth fight. it was a hand to hand fight. These thoughts were driving me crazy. Suddenly I heard my sister scream with joy. They were taking her there. I was so relieved. Phew!
As time passed by I went on serving the railways, I was their loyal servant. They kept oiling me and taking good care of me.
And I kept giving them good service and enjoying among the ladies. They were my motivation you see.
And then one day something beautiful happened. There was a lady who was pregnant. She got in at Vasai, and wanted to get down at Charni Road.I guess she was nearing her due date as her stomach was really big. Suddenly at Borivili she started getting pains. I think it was time for her to get into labour. Luckily there was a doctor in the train who took control of the situation and advised everyone to calm down. She instructed all the women around, delegated the respective tasks to them. The mother wailed and cried in pain. I wanted to help, so I started moving really fast and gave her as much breeze as possible. Then when the train crossed Dadar, I saw a tiny head coming out and then the whole body alongwith tiny lil hands and legs. It was a Baby Boy! Yippppeee…. All ladies started clapping and screaming with joy. I couldn’t hold back my tears. Then at Charni Road, they helped her get out of the train and took her to the nearest hospital.
It was one of the most amazing things I have seen in my life.

Part 2
Days, months, years passed by. And I kept giving top class service to my company and my clients. My sister on the other hand was way too excited on her transfer to the gents compartment. We could communicate with each other as we had the same wire connecting us internally. She would go on and on about how handsome these young men looked in their formal attire. That the college guys would look so cute…Blah blah… my crazy sister would go on nonstop and give me day to day report on the various type of guys she would see.

Then one incident changed my life and shook me completely.
It was in the month of July. The rains had not started. It was very hot, so I had to use all my energy and generate as much breeze as possible. As usual the train left from Churchgate in the evening, and got packed at Dadar. We were on our way to Bandra,when at Mahim I heard a loud noise and stopped running.The power went off. I looked around there was panic everywhere. Nobody knew what was happening. Women were all jumping out of the train.
Then I looked at my sister’s compartment. It was ripped open, with body parts scattered all over the place.There was only blood all over. Then I heard someone screaming it was a bomb blast. “Oh my god…My heart was beating so fast”. I tried to search for my sister. But she was no where. All I could see was men who had lost their limbs, some were bleeding, some could not move. Since the compartment was ripped open the whole incident was right in front of my eyes. I started crying. I was so helpless. I looked around to find my sister. Then saw something on the tracks, one of my sisters hands was on the tracks…I lost my sister…She was no more…I cried out loudly…I wish someone could hear me.

Then all the people from the surrounding slums rushed towards the compartment with bed sheets and started picking up the injured people.
Some even collected body parts and the belongings of the wounded. The ambulance and police came to the spot followed by journalists and cameramen. And they started clicking snaps and interviewing the people around. It was a nightmare, as I heard that similar blasts had taken place at 6 other locations all in the western line. It was the worst day of my life. For the 01st time I had seen so much of blood around me, for the 01st time I saw so much of destruction, so much of pain , so many tears, for the 01st time I had lost a loved one. I cursed myself that day, if I had moved there instead of my sister, she would have been alive.

It was 9.00 p.m. the Press was still there. Many more people had gathered. People were searching for their family members. Some managed to find them, some found their body parts. I just couldn’t see all that. Then slowly the crowd started dispersing. And finally by midnight there was no one with me but silence. It was very scary. It was dark and quiet.I only cried and cried recalling everything I saw on that dreadful day. At 2.00 in the night, I heard the horn blow and slowly my train started moving and they took it to the yard.
The rest of the days were only maintenance and repairing of the train. It took almost 3 weeks for the train to comeback on track. I kept hearing more and more stories about the number people still missing and injured and so on.

After 4 weeks of complete make over the train was back running , and so was I along with it. But not like before. This time there was no noise in the ladies compartment, no fights, everyone looked at each other with suspicion. At Churchgate they would check the bag rack properly before getting down. The whole atmosphere was tensed. Sniffer dogs were brought in to check for any suspicious objects. It almost took 2-3 months for everyone to come back to normal.I took longer time. Now there was no one to give me updates on how the guys looked in the gents compartment, and who was the best dressed. No one to fight with, no one to listen to.

That indeed was a dreadful day, not only for the people but also for objects like us coz we experienced it too.

Now I m back, and things are normal again, I have grown a little old, but I still admire these women, my motivation. But now I need oiling frequently coz I stop more often and these women are fed up of poking me as there is a lot of dust on my net. These people hardly give me a cleanup.
But I’m still their loyal servant and will keep serving them for lifetime.
But I only pray that I never get to see such an incident again in my life.

Mumbai Yours or Mine???

Mumbai the city of dreams for thousands who migrate everyday from their respective villages and states. To them this is the place which will give them financial stability, growth and success. They come to this magical world with a lot of dreams, hopes and ambitions. They struggle really hard by staying on rent even in a room as small as a bathroom, eat just once a day, compromise by traveling in crowded buses and trains and sometimes by walking long distances.Some are fooled by politicians, some by rich people in the pretext of giving them a job, some end up becoming bar girls and for some lucky ones... their prayers are answered. Their dreams come true, their problems are solved. They are finally able to live their kind of life which they had imagined while they were living in the small town, before moving to Mumbai. With success and prosperity coming their way, they end up becoming a permanent resident of Mumbai and bring along their family members and close friends.

Now we come to the residents - We are born here, study in the best colleges of Mumbai, get a whole bunch of contacts, give interviews, manage to get a job and slog day in and day out. And in the bargain, end up paying heavy taxes; stand in ques everywhere, right from malls to bus stops.
We have a first class ticket, but hardly get the comfort of sitting on the cushioned seat, as most of the time we are hanging out of the compartment. There is crowd everywhere in this city. People from everywhere are coming and settling down here, except the residents.
Why does it happen that someone who is a total stranger to Mumbai get their work done easily and many of us who know every nook and corner of this city are still struggling our way out.
Is it because they leave their responsibilities and come here selfishly to fulfill their dreams, on the other hand we try to balance work and family by staying close to our loved ones ?

Or is it because they are ready to do the odd jobs which probably we would not do,as we don’t have answers to the questions like “What will the society say?”.

In both the scenarios ... we have people struggling and giving their best. If they are lucky they get the best...if not they get the worst...

Inspite of knowing all this...we still fight... saying Mumbai is not yours..its mine...

Time @ Times Of India

Hi All, I’m finally getting back to writing almost after 6 long months. So many things happened in the past 6 months.

I remember when 01^st began to write, ‘My Angel’ sitting in the Toi office. Thanks to the environment which was full of creative people, automatically made my pen move on the paper. Then one by one I went on penning down my thoughts which turned out be beautiful articles… I was so shocked…. And now after a break of 6 months it’s high time I start writing again.

So let me share with you the most beautiful experience of my life…

My Time @TOI….

I joined TOI in the recruitment team at the V.T. office. I was supposed to handle RMD—replacement for Praisy who was going to get married then.

It was a dream come true.. I always wanted to be associated with a brand name like TOI. Now let me introduce you to my team.

Ashish – The captain of the ship – our boss and a most fun loving person to be with. A total foodie and party animal. Our support and strength all the time.

Meeta – The Perfect HR- Simple and elegant. Knows exactly what suits her.There was not a single day which would pass without her "Royce ya...."It was fun listening to her wen she would talk to consultants.

Harshal- The best mentor you can ever get. She is mischievous and at the same time professional. Knows when to draw the line. Can gel with anybody.

Aditi –The Cute one – She is indeed a very cute looking mummy. She too is naughty and noisy at times. I must say it’s very boring without her around.

Jigna – A best friend- a typical gujju behen who loves watching all types of movies—Even a Himesh Reshammiya movie.

Devika – The baby of our team. The quietest yet the sweetest and the most innocent among all of us.

Bishakha – The Actress – you will not see her without her makeup and eyeliner, very sensitive and hyper active. A girl with a sweet smile and cute dimples.

Shubha – The invisible one – Someone who is never there when you want her.

So this was our team at TOI. Each one so different from the other. It was work cum fun.

With Aditi harassing Ashish for a chutti for her son Hriday’s fancy dress competition, and Meeta fighting with the consultants for sending the wrong candidates for Response.

On the other hand you’ll find Harshu singing nursery rhymes to Netra “Teddy Teddy bear turn around…”

Suddenly Bishakha would call out “ Aaaaaasssshhhhiiiissshhh $$$$$.My candidate got selected for PT .Ohhh dearrrr I can’t believe it.”

Jigna who was all this while busy checking out which movie is releasing this Friday, would start talking about recruitment of secretaries and aayas for Cost.

While Devika would be busy tallying her MIS report with Anil koshy’s , I would be running up and down to RMD, trying to cool down-- the short tempered Mr Wallia who would want everything to be done perfectly.

Aditi and Harshu would be exchaging baby clothes and baby tips, Devika n me would be showing off our creative skills where I would write the blog and she would edit it for me.

In the midst of all this noise and masti a question would pop up “Where is Shubha?” And we would all have a hearty laugh…. Hehehehe…

We miss every moment spent there, wish we all could come back again and have more fun together.

-Written by Kavita
-Edited by Devika

A Movie Par Excellence

A classique example of intercaste marriage, very beautifully portrayed in the movie ‘Jodha Akbar’.

Jodha a typical Hindu girl, who only knows Lord Krishna, does all the customs a Hindu girl is supposed to do and dreams of marrying a Rajput and carrying on the traditions of their family.

Akbar, a true Muslim Emperor who prays to Allah to guide him before taking any decision, a fighter in every aspect.

Jodha is a pure vegetarian where as Akbar ate only flesh and meat most of the time.

This was their story. They were opposites in all aspects.

In this movie Akbar made the compromise. Being a Muslim he allowed his wife to follow her own religion, He decided to eat vegetarian food once a week and most importantly gave place for Lord Krishna in his house, which I think no one even in today’s generation would do.

Seeing Akbar’s love even Jodha learnt to adjust and learned Urdu. She stood by her husband throughout her life. And thus their marriage was successful.

This was Jodha-Akbar, one of the best movies that I have seen till date. This movie teaches us to accept all religions and people the way they are.

Jodha-Akbar belongs those olden days. But in thinking they are far better than us. Today if you decide to marry someone from the other caste, they force you to convert even if you don’t know the head and tail of that religion. You are forced to change your name, your entire identity.

I have many of my friends who have converted and are now known by the name their inlaws have chosen for them. They are born Hindus, but completely behave like Muslims. It was very difficult for them to adjust, but in the end the husband had an upper hand. They are still living this new life only for their love. Whether they are happy or not, No one cares. They doing what they are expected to do and keeping everyone around them happy.

Unfortunately there is no Akbar in today’s world who will stand up for his Jodha.

That is why this movie gained a lot of respect from all the castes and communities because we all know that we will never get to see another Jodha-Akbar in our lifetime.

Religion cannot be forced upon anyone. If you change only for the sake of it, you are not only insulting yourself but also you’re God.

Is there anyway that these old customs can be changed?

Is converting more important than protection of a human identity?

Vote For...

I, a citizen of this country and a resident of Mumbai would like to exercise my right to vote. But the difficulty is who will be the right person or the right party?

This year I would like to stay away from those ministers who are on their deathbed or who are in the operation theatre most of the time. I would also not want to vote for the political parties who are ready to do everything to make sure their community members get the jobs in Railways.

There has not been a single party who has become successful in making India a better place to live in. There is absolutely no law and order in our country. The crime rate is increasing every year.

To add to our misery each year a new set of actors and actresses enter the world of politics. After getting the Life Achievement Award they head straight to politics with absolutely no knowledge and understanding of the field.

As a result they only end up earning their share of money without doing justice to their role.

Hence my dear friends this year I would like to caste my vote to a very strong personality who has been in the news since 26/11 terror attacks. He is in the papers almost every day. He is Aamir Ajmal Kasab – the only terrorist who survived and is now in jail.

Before you all think that I have gone mad let me explain why.

I won’t be surprised if whatever I have written comes true and may be after some years even Kasab sitting in jail stands for elections, just like Abu Salem.

Firstly Kasab has done so much harm to us. He killed innocent people, he killed our policemen, our ATS officials, he and his colleagues had all the arms and ammunitions with them and they paralyzed us completely. It was 3 days of hell for everyone including the NSG commandos because of whom all the others were put to death.

Kasab did so much, but he is still alive, resting peacefully in our Arthur Road jail, infact demanding for a T.V. and the newspaper. Also our government has already spent 50 lakh only for the security of a terrorist! You imagine the importance of this person.

He gave us the entire plan of 26/11, the whole story was revealed to the police and even the masterminds have been exposed. But our Govt who has all the facts and figures in place is doing nothing but talking to Pakistan ever since that dreadful incident happened.

Plus point of voting for Kasab is that he can give us a crash course on how to become a terrorist. He can brainwash us, he can teach us how to use the guns, the grenade bombs. Basically he can train us very well so that next time if any other Kasab comes to India we can handle him ourselves. We would not disturb the police.

Our courts take their own sweet time in declaring a punishment for a criminal. May be another decade would go in deciding what should be the punishment for Kasab. In the meanwhile all his expenses would be borne by us.

If Kasab comes to power, this problem will be solved automatically.

His story has inspired many young children of our schools and colleges. Today our children are not scared of killing their friends. All thanks to Kasab who has removed the fear of punishment from their minds. In our country a punishment for a serious offense like murder is only a life imprisonment.

Friends I really hope that nothing mentioned above comes true. However if the Government does not do anything for the common man, it wont take much time for a him to loose his temper and do something which he is not supposed to do. This post is not to provoke anybody, neither is it to defend anyone, its just a common man’s frustration.

Everyone affected by the 26/11 attacks and everyone who are not affected are waiting for justice to happen …..This time it has to be done quickly.