Sam-Ple

The never-ending fight between Apple and Samsung has been going on since a long time. Many have already taken sides, making it look more like a household war. Although, the court earlier ruled in the favor of Apple, I have still not managed to make up my mind on which one’s better. I fall under that category of punks who have a strong liking for technology rather than brand. I use my MacBook with a pair of Samsung earphones. And yes, they’re highly compatible! 

This evening, I woke up to see a lovely sunset. Next to the window stood a pile of dirty clothes that badly needed to be washed. Being it a Sunday, I knew I wouldn’t get time the coming week to clear up the mess. So off I went and dumped all of my stuff into the washing machine and turn on the regulator. I always forgot to check my pockets, and the same thing happened this time. After the clothes were all washed up, I went in to drain out the water. As the level of water went down, I noticed a white wire-like thing on the top. It took me no time to realise that the wire thing I could see was nothing but my pair of earphones! I began to freak out and rushed to my room blowing water out of the earphones as if giving CPR. I dried it completely and attached to my mobile to check if they were still working. The moment I hit the play button, music blew into my ears and filled my heart with joy. After spending more than 20 mins in the water, these Samsung earphones were totally working!

My MacBook has never encountered any major problem (other than crashing a couple of times or having trouble with mini disks), and hence I've managed to fall in love with it too. No matter for how long the fight between the two super powers goes on, I'll still be supporting the team which deserves to win: technology. Long live science!

Too famous for his shoes

 Spotting tv celebs is just like another game for people living in a city like Mumbai. While some people might also consider it as one of their past-times, for the rest few, it's just like coming across another soul on the street. The following is a modified version of a real-life incident. Read on...

 It's another weekday afternoon. A group of teens, bored with the regular canteen food, decide to eat out.

A: "Let's go to that park next to that famous restaurant! I've haven't been there yet. Umm..What's it called?"

B: "No way! That place is not meant for a group of teenagers to hang out."

A: "Is it? Then why's it even there?"

C: "Oh, shut up you two! We have more than an hour on our clocks. Lets just wander about till the time we come up with a better idea"

A: "Lets walk to the garden. If we don't think of anything on the way, we'll go there."

A young boy from the cleaning staff approches them. "Sahab, kuch khana nahi hai toh jagah banao. Dusro ke liye jagah nahi hai"

D: "Too much of insult already done. Come on. Lets get moving."

 After about 10 minutes of walking,

A: "How much time more? My knees are starting to ache"

B: "Oh, look who's talking! You're the one who wanted to go to the park in the first place"

A : "Yeah but now I don't. Isn't there a good restaurant or something around here?"

D: "There's a drinks hotspot round the corner. They have great slushes. Ever tried the strawberry one?"

A: "I hope it's nothing like the beer-vodka-spoof thing we ordered the last time. Yuck!"

B: "No trials for now. I'm falling short of cash.... Look! Here's the hotspot."

C: "Looks different than the last time. What happened to the white walls and the huge menu card?"

A: "Oh that! They went to watch Wasseypur. For now, just get me a drink. Any flavor would do. Apple would be great though."

B: "That makes it 2 apple slush and a strawberry ice splash. C, you don't want anything?"

C: "Nah! I'm good. Just get your drinks and move out."

A: "You always do it, don't you? What do you do with all your savings? Buy a gift for your invisible-and-never-gonna-happen girlfriend?"

C: "Like I said, I'm good. I don't need fizzed up junkies to freshen up."

B: "Here's the slush and the ice splash. Careful with the slush. It's filled to the top."

C: "Get me a straw na. This splash thing looks really appealing."

A: "Someone now wants to have a sip of junk. Look what the world has forced humans to turn into!"

C: "Stop your drama. People are watching. I'll get my own straw. Hmph!"

C walks up to a man in an old, washed-up grey t-shirt and faded jeans, near the counter.

C: "Excuse me! Do you..." 

Man(smiles wickedly): "Not another one. I'm so done with fans."

C: "Not fans. I need a straw. Do you have straw?"

Man: "Huh? What?"

C: "Oh there it is! Thanks anyway."

C walks to the table. 

C: "Ice ice baby! Here I come."

B: "Who was the guy you were talking to? I think I've seen him. Is he your uncle?"

C: "Oh please! He was some lazy waiter who was saying something about the fans. Couldn't even pass me a straw."

D: "OMG! Do you even know who he is? He's that guy who come on Mony tv. That 8 pm show!! Look at the tattoo. I can recognise it anywhere."

A(chokes up): "What are you saying? You mean you just asked him a straw. Are you out of your mind? I read he's having a tough time with his show. They're planning to throw him out."

C: "That's sad. Are you finishing this drink? Or should I do it for you?"

D: "Lets get out of here, guys. That actor is giving us those looks."

B: "Oh really? Who's plan was it to come here?"

A: "Hey, don't blame me. I wanted to go to the park."

D: "Then lets go to the park. It's better to stare at people doing weird stuff than being stared by someone for doing weird stuff."

A: "That didn't make sense. Or did it?"

B: "Come what may, we're not going to the park."

C: "That drink was really great. Let me compliment the owner while you guys wait here for me."

B(grabs C's hand): "Alright! We're going to the park. Lets go!"

Enter'train'ment!

 A simple one-hour journey on a local train can be more entertaining than any of your television soap operas. Besides connecting various parts of the city, trains also bring people from different backgrounds and sources of income together.
 It was a lazy winter evening when I was on my way back home, travelling in the ladies compartment of second-class coach of a local WR train. Rushing back home was all I wanted to do after having given an exam in a centre far away. Not having found a spot to cling on, I managed to stand somehow in the jam-packed coach of the slow local. Vendors selling random 'China-made' stuff still managed to have their business going.
 "Next station, Dadar" could be heard being announced in 3 different languages while everyone else prepared themselves to face more crowd. The train slowly came to a halt next to the platform. In rushed the crowd while the one's trying to alight struggled their way out. As the train began to leave the station, a limp beggar entered the coach. Wheatish in complexion, his hair was slightly gray with tiny wrinkles over the face. With his legs folded, he used his upper-body strength to drag his remaining body. His arrival was enough to bring in commotion in the compartment. I could hear another female traveller telling her friend how cruel the world has become and how people with disabilities are forced to beg because of being ignored by their family members.
 He approached the ladies sitting right next to the entry, asking them to have pity on him and give some money, however little the amount. A lady gave him a ten-rupee note while some handed him loose change. In this horribly crowded train, it was next to impossible to make way for the beggar to come in further. A lady sitting on the 'fourth seat' denied him to go any further. As he tried convincing her, she told him it's his mistake that he entered during peak hours and also that a man shouldn't be allowed to enter the ladies compartment.
 The train halted in the next station. Few alighted, fewer got in. The train began to leave the platform at a slower pace. Knowing that his side of conversation was at a loss, the beggar rose up on his feet, tightened his grip on the earned money and ran out of the compartment in a fraction of a second. Totally shocked and surprised by this act, the crowd grew silent for a second. As confused thoughts started floating amongst the one's who got cheated and the one's who didn't, the crowd grew louder, getting a new topic to gossip about.

Where them rains at

 It's been cloudy in Mumbai since the past few days. It's quite unusual for the clouds to gather up in mid-May in the city so it could possibly be an early monsoon.
 However the rains might be, the roads still seem to be unprepared to face the monsoon action. It won't be surprising at all if this year too provides a bumpy ride while we travel.
 For now, all I care about is to see the dip in mercury level when the rains come. I took this snap on Western Express Highway which clearly tells us that the rains aren't too far. So excited to feel the Mumbai monsoon.

             "The wet soil, the cool breeze,
               the humid days of summer when cease,
               is what I want, what I gain,
               Here comes the rain, here comes the rain..." ©

The Hidden 'One'

 Stepping out on a sunny summer afternoon could look like quite a challenge when you stay in Mumbai or in a city with a climate anywhere nearer to it.
 Although the streets and trains are barely crowded in the noon-time, surviving after an afternoon journey could feel like an achievement to many.
 It was another lazy Saturday of my vacation. Out of the blue, I came up with an idea of wandering aimlessly on the streets and somehow managed to pull one of my friend into my plan.
Jobless as ever, we ended up travelling our way to Andheri which is quite a hotspot for Mumbaikars.  Afters hours of roaming and careless window-shopping, we decided to head back home. Checking out for our return tickets, we walked our way to the station area.
 Not quite familiar with the station, we looked up to the boards in the main bridge which connected the platforms which could help us catch a Borivali-slow train. We could spot several trains leading to Churchgate and Virar but the one meant for our journey was on platform number 1.
 Judging the presence of the platform by the direction of crowd, we ran to the end of the bridge. As my friend began to walk down the stairs, I held her hand and pointed my finger to a board on the platform which read the number '6'.
 Confused and disappointed, we walked to the other end of the bridge to find the platform. As I walked, I couldn't help but notice the error in the arrangement of platforms. I wasn't much surprised when we found that the first platform wasn't numbered '1' but '2'. The presence of 8 platforms in the station was enough to make things our search a hell of a ride.
 Confused as ever, we asked some people around where the platform could be. Cluelessly, they misguided us and we ran to and fro on the bridge but couldn't find any signs of the missing '1'.
 We lost all of our hope and decided to wait for another train which wouldn't arrive on platform number 1. With only a couple of minutes left for the train to depart, we could sense more of people rushing to the last stairway. Following them to platform number 6, my friend randomly asked a lady where platform number 1 could be. That's when the lady pointed out to a place where we could've never seen standing on the bridge. It looked more of a hidden platform, squashed uncomfortably between platforms 6 and, maybe, 5. The train was already epically crowded and we had to eventually wait for another train to arrive. But this part of experience has managed to find its place in my memory and maybe in a few years from now it would be something for me to laugh about.

Tan, Thirst and Torture

It wasn't quite a normal day for Mumbai. The roads were empty but the bus stops were crowded. The air felt fresh yet so full of hope and frustration. Some people waited in long queues at the bus stop while the others chose to walk all the way to their work places and destinations. Yes, it was another day of rickshaw strike in Mumbai and the fast-paced lives of the people had almost come to a halt.
As I walked down the street, I could notice the rising tension between the souls. Men literally bulged out of the heavily loaded busy in order to reach their destination on time.
The sudden strike wasn't an unusual thing for me as many a times it's impossible to get a rickshaw to my way home from college; and me, along with my bunch of friends, walk down all the way.
Since it was afternoon time, and the summer heat came crashing on us, we almost looked like dead corpses walking from the grave, totally burned down by the sun and stopping by a million times to get something to drink. The unbearable sun seemed hard to be defeated as the journey seemed never-ending.
Walking miles in the scorching 38°C(which was also the hottest day in April in 2 years), it wasn't difficult to realise the importance of the staple mode of transport for the middle-class.
We live in an era where our life takes a turn on an encounter with such minute hurdles. The torturous rejection by every 'rickshawallah' to take us to our destination would never be felt by the one's travelling in private cars. It's the kind of punishment that we have to bear without committing a crime. Why should we suffer during such circumstances? What wrong have we done by travelling in rickshaws paying the ever-increasing fares? Why has owning a car become this important?
The demands of the people standing for the strike may or may not be fulfilled, but at the end of the day, it's the common masses who have to suffer. And sadly, there's nothing that anyone does to hear our demands and try solving them.

Happy New Year, Punksters! :D