Down Nostalgia Lane

So this has sort of become a new ritual of sorts - I stay awake all Saturday night and at the crack of dawn, or a little before that - pick up my bag and camera and set off. This time I went to Bandra. 

Now, Bandra is my 2nd favorite place in Mumbai (the first is Town). It has this old - school charm which is evident in everything; the houses, churches even the pavements. At the same time has this buzzing vibe thanks to the people, the sea and those amazing murals which just leaves you awestruck. But most importantly my love for Bandra can be entirely attributed to the fact that it reminds me so much of home - Goa.

Bandra in fact, was gifted to the ruling Portuguese in the early 1500's 'for meritorious service'. That explains all those familiar Portuguese surnames I keep seeing on the name plaques here, among other things. Also, the architecture - those houses with slopping roofs and verandah's along those tiny lanes. With roads named Mt. Carmel Rd among many others, I can't help but melt in a puddle thinking about those narrow, winding roads back home leading up to beaches in the south. 
And it is the one place in Mumbai where I will find the maximum no of cars/bikes with a Goa (GA) registration. Sigh.

As much as I would love to believe that Bandra is like Goa, it is also bursting with a flavor that one can never get enough of - Mumbai. I have seen graffiti and then I've seen what Bandra's streets have to offer. Do me a favor and just walk down Chapel Rd and see it for yourself. Until you decide to go, here's a sneak peak.

 

There are a few places in Mumbai which are quiet, well at least at some time of the day and there are fewer that become your personal sanctuaries; at Bandra Fort, I found mine. Over the years, it has been revamped and 'beautified' but what stands now are the ruins of a glorious past. The Fort also gives you an amazing view of the Bandra - Worli Sea Link which now gives you another reason to visit it. Also 2 of my favorite movies,  Jhankaar Beats and Jane Tu Ya Jane Na were shot here. (Relevant Bollywood reference: Check)

I headed home aching legs and munching on some insanely delicious Pav from A1 bakery. Again. SIGH! 

P.S. Photographs with a Canon 600D by yours truly :) 

By The Sea

Disclaimer: No this is NOT a Robert De Niro movie ,how I wish it was. (Ref: the title)

Coming from Goa, I figured I'd hate Mumbai beaches (which I do) but there's something about a city by the sea. The one thing that's a constant in this maddening city; the crashing waves or the stirring water. Maybe it's the salty breeze, though it's definitely got to do something with the calm it brings upon you every time you take a moment to experience it. 

I've always been in love with visuals and then I realized I could capture some myself. This was the result. 

(Marine Drive)

(Worli Sea Face)

 (Haji Ali Dargah)

One year and 10 days in this city has confirmed one fact, the sea is it's charm, after the
people of course, or before. A little confused.

P.S. Photographs with a Canon 600D by yours truly :) 

I am going to change my life today

I am going to change my life today, well atleast one aspect of it. I wish I was strong enough, brave enough or stupid enough to go after I want. I can comfortably say, I've said that one too many times. We all have I guess. I think a part of the reason why we hold on to something so tight is because we fear something so great won't happen twice. We remember the beginning, the good times, the great times and that's what we fear we'll never happen again.

We have a habit of resisting change, call it comfort or just habit. We aren't really excited about drastic differences in the way our lives go on. Even those of us who so proudly parade that we live on the edge, not necessarily adventurous but who's call of the day is spontaneity. Some sort of routine, something that we are so used to doing blindly without even blinking or a second thought. In a world that is change constantly changing, we need something to remain constant. Right?

No, because change is inevitable, change is how we progress, change is the only constant. When we say things like "people don't change" it drives scientist crazy because change is literally the only constant in all of science. Energy. Matter. It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural. The way we cling to what things were instead of letting things be what they are. The way we cling to old memories instead of forming new ones. The way we insist on believing despite every scientific indication that anything in this lifetime is permanent. Change is constant. 

How we accept change now that is upto us, if we refuse then that's it, we'll never move ahead, progress or be any different. think about it, if we never grew up, never changed like we asked every person in our school scrapbooks to do so; we'd be the same naive, clueless version of ourselves just older. But here's the good bit, if we do just give it a chance, open up our fingers, change can actually be quite exciting.   

So here it goes, my famed parting note and a quote by the man himself : If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got.

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. 
                                                                                                 - Steve Jobs 

                                                                                                              

The story so far

I love a good story.  I am in awe of the humans behind each and every great story told. Stories help people. Stories make us laugh and cry. Stories lift us up. And Storytelling is one of the few human traits that is truly universal from time immemorial. When the cavemen picked up that piece of charcoal and scraped on the walls of those caves, little did they know they were writing one of the first stories, ever! (Or maybe they did and were just acting cool about it)

In the early 20th century American writer Ernest Hemingway made a bet with a friend who told him he couldn’t write a story in under ten words. It’s impossible, they said. Not one to give in, Hemingway came back with this one-line tale:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn

It really did have it all — an introduction, multiple characters, an emotional turn. Spinning a yarn seems to be a universal human instinct.

Think about your favourite teacher at school or the stories your grandparents would tell you for hours.’Just one more story,’ you’d demand. Why did you want more? What makes a story so appealing?

People in societies of all types weave narratives, from oral storytellers in hunter-gatherer tribes to the millions of writers churning out books, television shows and movies. But the best stories—those retold through generations and translated into other languages—do more than simply present a believable picture. Call it a script, plot, book, gossip or anything else; stories make everything interesting. How and Why do we remember great books or movies? It is for their brilliant characters, the one's that lived that story, it is for the emotions that we felt while watching/reading them. You can tell a story is great when you can put yourself in it, immerse in it whole and feel it as it progresses. Stories in a way are like 'flight-simulators' for life, a means of putting you in different situations. Cause when it happens for real, you know what to do.

In 1979, before the movie 'Alien' was released, a brilliant man Steve Frankfurt wrote a line to promote the movie- "In space no one can hear you scream". The sheer brilliance of this one line never ceases to amaze me! It allowed the audience to put themselves in the story and co create its own sense of claustrophobia thus capturing the idea of the movie and aligning every experience with it. A story in its own right!

For all the years that we've lived, each of us have been introduced to new characters. From the pesky elder brother who dragged you off your mothers lap to your best friend, without whom you wonder what would you be, not to forget your doodhwalaa and of course Batman. All of them have once central character and that is you. So now that you feel all special and important, the least you could do is make you story a little more interesting, isn't it? Imagine watching a movie or reading a book that rambles on without making a point. You'd be like just another Tushaar Kapoor movie or one of the books from the Twilight series. Nobody wants that, nobody.

And no Tushar Kapoor is not the note I'm not ending this post on but on this one.

"We all want to meet someone who will tell us more about ourselves".

Of Threads & Bonds

So now I get some of it, not all. There were times, when they made me run till I wouldn't run out of breath. Watch that terribly scary movie, while I screamed and clawed their hands so that I wouldn't fear the other demons I'd meet in real lives, or was that just for kicks? Make fun of me and tease till I would get angry (which wasn't too difficult) and beat them up, and they still wouldn't stop, so all the teasing by random losers didn't even make a mark. 

They are shamelessly possessive, terribly kind , incredibly crazy and hilarious to the point of being ridiculous, wait a minute, they are!

Brothers. The best characters in my life.

There hasn't been a moment in my life that hasn't been influenced by one of them and at times all. We grew up together, we watched each other rise and fall, make it big in our lives, celebrate each others accomplishments; whether it was climbing the first mango tree together or graduating with honors. They nursed me when I was unwell, bore all my tantrums, taught me a million lessons. The immense pride and regard that I have for them and everything that they do is inexplicable. Role models, Superheroes, Knight in shining armor; they fit the bill for all of them, and more.

I have a million reasons to thank them but majorly for introducing to all the cool apparently "boys will be boys" talk. Ask me anything and not everything about computer configurations, football clubs, action movies and I will yap your ears off for hours together.

Not because it's Raksha Bandhan, or maybe it is because it makes me miss these guys more than ever. And despite distances, arguments or time, we are going to be this crazy bunch of old timers, listening to 90's bollywood tracks, chasing dogs on the road, driving a beaten up old car and laughing till we couldn't breath.

This is Mumbai

Runs day in and out

A maze of towers and shanties stand tall

Tracks and trails weaving in and out

Dusty highways and forlorn by-lanes

This is Mumbai.

A rush everywhere, but nowhere to go

Seeing people everyday, never meeting any

Begging for some time but none to give

A flurry of hurried footsteps everywhere

This is Mumbai



Rains that fail to cease

Enchanted by rivers and creeks

Waits for none but pleases some

Makes it murkier, but hey

This is Mumbai


Fall in love with it

Embrace it for what it is

Fast. 

Enchanting.

Crazed.

This is Mumbai.

Lights.Camera.Drama.

The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. They are symbols of the ancient Greek Muses,Thalia and Melpomene. 

Yes, stop rolling your eyes and wondering,"When the hell is she going to get to the point? and give us that life altering piece of wisdom, WHEN GOD WHEN??". You see now, why i picked to write about drama. I'm full of it. More on that later. 

So in our lives too we see a little of Thalia and a little of Melpomene; the comedy in how we tragically try to deal with the blows/lemons life gives us and the tragedy that we fail to see the comedy when its glaring right there in our faces. We end up way too much time trying to take ourselves too seriously and also making ourselves look like we mean business. I mean seriously, think about it, what purpose has that served. Remember when, the kid with bat always ran the show, "Merko batting nahi milega, toh main bat leke ghar jaa raha hoon". See, you owned the place!

Ok, not the best example, but you get my point right. People who say they hate drama, are just plain bored, boring or belong to Sweden. 

And me, well ask my friends and they will exaggerate a whole lot and it still won't do justice. Some may even go to the extent of calling me obnoxious, then again I flap my arms in their face and ask them to change their minds, whilst singing a song. Face it, we all need a little bit of fun,excitement, crazy emotional confrontations, lots of gasping and 3 times slapping of the poor souls around you (I am Divya Galagali and I have watched one too many Ekta Kapoor shows) 

We all have a flair for the dramatics, Indians I mean, and if you're a descendant from some other country, GO BACK <insert foreign name here> GO BACK!!! I'm just kidding, no seriously, Go!

Nautanki zindabad! This will be my party ka slogan/war cry/celebratory words,you have to vote for me. Voting Lines are open from 21:00 hours, The individual who votes the most, gets a evening with me , complete with bhel puri, nimbu marke and mosambi juice ( Please get your own plate and glass,thank you). Hurry up!!

Those who were looking for some sort of gyaan or have an epiphany on reading this post, I do not make apologies, but since you'll cry and make a big fuss about it, here you go.

“All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed” 
                                                                                      
                                                                                                                      - Sean O'Casey