Kinaare ki Chai shop..

What is the most common site in all major Indian towns these days? Apart from the maddening traffic , it is the scene of small time tea shops, where hoards of youngsters crowd around, sipping tiny glasses of tea while they enjoy the “pleasure” of their cigarettes.

So what is it with tea and Cigarettes??

It is as though the nicotine or the caffeine was not potent enough individually, that people combine them. Going beyond the superficial, People apparently seem to take ages when they are enjoying the “combo”. I have sat through many such sessions but haven’t really understood the uniqueness of it all. One thing I can tell you is that conversations encompass a whole host of topics and such times are usually very retrospective, where people are deep in thought about some act that they committed or they are going to commit. It’s apparently all part of enjoying the Sutta! Strange…

Personally I don’t advocate the cigarette at all. Ironical it is that while all through the west Smoking has gained a taboo status, in India atleast, things are just the opposite, smoking is looked at the cool dude’s USP. It is just a shame that the majority 700 million Indians who are below the age of 35 advocate to this kind of a thought. Such wrong attitude towards smoking is having subtle impact on the young and healthy of this country. I think there should be intensive campaigns that should dissuade people from taking the drag. There is no point just typing out in font size 8 on the cigarette covers that smoking is injurious health. Celebrities are primarily responsible for this wrong image to be formed and it is their social responsibility to come forward and stop the carnage. There are many celebrities who themselves have given it up (SRK for instance) and it they who should come forward and send the message out to the public in no uncertain terms;

Something on the lines of:

“ I used to smoke. I was a big time loser. I quit now. I have saved my life and the life of many others. Quit smoking. Its not cool.”

Are you listening???

Yeh hai Mumbai Nagariya!

Well like with all my recent other entries, this one is after a while too. While that’s me.
I was in Bombay (Mumbai) for the past one month and half working for a company.No I am not going to say a word about the work I did. What I really enjoyed, (even more than my work) was exploring the variety and flavours of the city and I have to say … yeh Dil maange more!

The city is defined by its people, and the spirit with which they carry out their day to day activities. The city just hits you like a storm; whether it’s the auto guy or the big CEOs, you can always sense the buzz in their actions and words. And the most amazing part of it all is the nights, because the city never sleeps!
The disparity in the city is as clear as to be clearly demarcated by a road. The western express highway, the lifeline of the city, separates the east from the west. While the east is resided by the bourgeoisies, the west is where the high and mighty flaunt their wealth and health with lavish boutiques and entertainment hang out joint.The pinnacle of this might is the Hiranandani Complex, a region of tall superstructures, with magnificent architecture , taking us back to the roman ages. Go karting, bowling joints, coffee shops, you name it and this place has it. Young Indians (myself included!),with newfound wealth, come to here to splurge and take delight while others do the same.

The most amazing part of that place is the Go Karting which we guys did!It was an exhilarating experience, the closest I will ever I get to Formula 1 .The car is so easy to handle and its literally like a playing a video game, the only difference being that when you make a wrong turn , you go crashing into the tires and it hurts!

For the past one month I had the company of a couple of guys and gals from other IITs. And to be honest, I gotta say to it was really nice getting acquainted with their respective lingo’s and attitudes towards life. Of the few common threads that I found amongst all of us, the most evident was the fact that all of us work exactly one night prior to the deadline! Barring a couple of them, I am not sure if I will ever get to spend such quality time ever with all of them, and therefore I sign off this post raising a toast to all the good times we had:)

Cheers mate!