T 20 fever

The IPL frenzy these days reminds me of the day that I think is largely responsible for T 20 being such a craze in India. It’s the day the Indian cricket team, against all expectations and with a bit of luck won the inaugural T 20 world cup. I was in Bombay that time and had the privilege of seeing a spectacle of a lifetime.

I went for my usual walk to Marine Drive after the match without knowing what was in store for me. There were people all over. The place was flooded with from people all walks and age groups. From uncle aunties to small kids all had come down to the streets to celebrate the Indian victory. Cars and bikes just kept pouring in. I hadn’t seen so many people with so many Indian flags ever, not even on Independence Day. Almost every car and bike had a flag. People were on top of car roofs, standing on bikes, standing on top of each other to wave the Indian flag. They were dancing, shouting, jeering Pakistan, cheering India, slogan shouting, you name it and they were doing it. Cars were parked with the boots open and “Chak De” India was blowing from every speaker. The National Anthem was sung so many times in those couple of hours. Diwali had just arrived a little early in Bombay, all thanks to some guys in South Africa. The fireworks added some light to the celebrations. The atmosphere was simply electric. There was so much energy around and the celebration just kept on going on and people kept on pouring in. Finally rain played the party pooper and people began to return to their houses though for some even that was not consideration enough.

A truly amazing experience.

Just a Thought: Five

The energy and dynamism of a city makes it harder to be lonely than the peace and inactivity of a countryside.

The boon and the bane of the “Local”

The train network of Mumbai (referred to as the “local”) that transports thousands everyday from one corner of the city to the other is often referred to as the Lifeline of the city and I couldn’t agree more. It’s undoubtedly the fastest, surest and cheapest way to travel in the city, which even the sea link failed to do. How on earth could one otherwise even think of living in Borivali and working in Churchgate. On Ganesh Chaturthi, when the entire city is in a jovial mood and is out on the roads, one couldn’t even imagine travelling form one part of the city to the other, had it not been for the local.

So there’s no doubt that the local is a boon for the city but then there’s no free meal after all. The train network has divided the city in east and west. What this has done is that going from east to west or vice versa in the same locality is more troublesome than going to a neighborhood in the same direction. For example going to Goregaon West is easier than going to Andheri East from Andheri West.

I’ll share my example here when the other day I was going for a movie to Andheri East from where I stay (Andheri West). My friends had left in an auto and by chance I could not find one for myself. All autos refused to go towards east but were ready to go anywhere in the west. After twenty minutes of looking for an auto I began to walk towards the theatre and after crossing over from the railway station reached the theatre in thirty minutes (walking), earlier than some who were in an auto. A small inconvenience and an even smaller problem. The boons far outweigh the banes and there is no doubt about that. Nevertheless, I thought I’ll show the other picture also.