Yeh hai Mumbai meri Jaan......

Life in Mumbai(Bombay) is so full of fun, frolic & activity.....people call it the city which never sleeps. However, if you were to look at some of its popular destinations/ locations, & try to decipher the meaning, it becomes quite misleading & amusing :

1) Churchgate has neither a church nor a gate. It is just a railway station terminus.
2). Lalbaug (Red Garden) is neither red nor a garden. Its famous for its Ganpaty Mandap.
3). No King has ever stayed at Kings-Circle.
4). Queen Victoria did not stay at Victoria Terminus.
5). There is no princess or princess story at Princess street.
6)Lower Parel is at the same level as Parel.
7). There are no marines or sailors at Marine Lines.
8). The Mahalaxmi temple is actually at Haji Ali & not at Mahalaxmi.
9). There are no pigs traded at Dukar Bazaar.
10). Teen batti is a junction of 3 roads, not three lamps.
11). Trams used to terminate at Kings Circle not Dadar Tram Terminus.
12). Breach Candy is not a sweetmeat market. Its a famous hospital in South Mumbai.
13). Safed Pool has the dirtiest blackish water.
14). You cannot buy coal at Kolsa street.
15). There are no Iron smiths at Lohar chawl.
16). There are no pot makers at Kumbhar wada.
17). Lokhandwala complex is not an Iron and steel market. Its a very popular residential area.
18). Null bazaar does not sell taps.
19). Bheendi Bazaar does not sell lady fingers.
20). Kalachowki does not have a black Police station.
21). Hanging Gardens are not suspended.
22). Mirchi Gully does not sell chillies.
23). Figs do not grow in Anjir Wadi, Sitafals do not grow in Sitafal.

24). Wadi, Jackfruits do not grow at Fanaswadi.

25) Bombay, has no bombs, & is a not a bay...its a harbour.

Solar Eclipse... God's eye flashing !!!

This Solar eclipse had special significance for all of us. It is said that a Solar Eclipse of such proportions would not be witnessed for around another 100 years......that means, at least for our generation, this would be the last of such a spectacle.

However, at Mumbai, it was completely an overcast sky & attempts to view the eclipse was met with a lot of disapointments. I was up in the morning at 4.30 am & after a quick wash & freshening up, I sat for meditation & chantings. It was so calm & pure....as if the nature was joining me in the prayers for the good of mankind. Guruji had asked us to do chantings, & like thousands across the world, I too meditated. It felt very nice & peaceful.

After the eclipse was over, I took a shower, & performed a Puja & then started with my day.

Curious as I was, I later on surfed the net & news to gather details of the eclipse across India.

I believe, at Varanasi(Benaras), thousands had thronged the ghats of Ganges to catch a glimpse of the eclipse. For more than 3 minutes, the pilgrims & other enthusiasts watched the eclipse. It was a sight to behold. The Sun was blocked by the Lunar disc, forming the classical diamond ring in the sky. This sight is often termed as the God's eye, & it looked like God's eye flashing over the sky......as if saying, "I am always watching you".

Up in the sky, a soft white halo formed around the black ball of the lunar disc. This was the Sun’s atmosphere, called corona (meaning a crown), that’s visible from Earth only during a total eclipse. The sight is often called God’s eye, and in Varanasi (Benaras) on Wednesday, it appeared just that – a giant eye in the sky with a black ‘eyeball’ and a white ‘cornea’. Spots of light, called Baily’s beads, appeared around the edges of the Moon’s disc and in photographs clicked by lensmen, rarely-seen solar prominences were clearly visible. These are huge masses of fiery matter that get spewed from the Sun’s surface and are pulled back in by its gravity. At the same, planets like Venus and Jupiter came back on, shining brightly in the sky under totality. Birds around the ghats flew in random circles, confused and dazed by the sudden darkness hours after dawn. It must have been really a wonderful moment, an amazing view, an event that people would cherish through their entire lifetime.

Man on Moon......small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind!!!

Forty years ago, on this day, when Neil Armstrong had stepped on the moon, I was a toddling brat studying in my KG class at St Joseph's Convent, Faridabad. Those days, we did not have TV, & it was only All India Radio & Radio Ceylon on MW, & BBC and other radio stations on SW that narrated the incident. I remember my father speaking with his friends & office colleagues excitedly about the historic event, over unending cups of tea, snacks & cigarettes. I remember hearing Armstrong's voice later on radio " That's one small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind". I remember, my running around excitedly along with my friends & looking up at the sky in wonder, believing that I could catch a glimpse of the the two men on the moon surface, if I looked intently enough. Me & my friends would look up in the sky & wonder, if they fell from such a height, what would happen. How cold it would be up there? What would they eat up there? Is there anyone else up there to greet them? What happens if they get lost? Will the Gods get angry for disturbing the peace/ Have they taken permission from God to go up there? Can we go there as well? Can we go there & play hide & seek? Millions of questions travelled our minds & the answers we could gather would leave us in further wonder & queries........hehehehehe.....guess in childhood, we are so fresh with ideas & thoughts......

I remember, sometimes in Nov-Dec the same year, our school organised for a excursion to the Delhi Planetaruim, where, there were pictures from moon, along with moon rock & soil & other footage. I was so excited to go, & my father laid a condition for me. I have to come back & then write an essay on the whole episode & then narrate the whole episode in English (I was quite weak in English then). I was so very excited & also apprehensive of what I will see......how will I narrate. The pictures, the images, the film footage, the rock & soil, the whole auditorium looked huge, I kept gaping at every little substance with wonder, awe & admiration. This was one of my first realisation, that as humans we can do anything, if we want to.......one of my first experiences of believing that, I am not scared.....
Coming back, I narrated whatever I could recollect & Baba was quite impressed & Maa was high with pride. Later, Baba took me our Principal, Mother Marina & made me narrate again. She too was happy & nodded with appreciation & finally at the Annual Function of the school, I was asked to come on stage & narrate again, in front of the big gathering.......my first public speech. I guess, I was initially hesitant & slightly overawed by the situation, but Mother Marina was standing with me encouraging me & then I started. It was quite an experience. I guess, i was out of stage fright from then. I realised, so early in life that I can do whatever I want to..........I just need to want to do so......My love for English as a language started from then.

Niel Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin, the first men to walk on the moon surface & Mike Collins who managed the space craft in orbit, all remain historical figures to me over all these years. Over the years, we have heard of lots of controversies regarding this trip. Many claimed this to be fake & stage acted, many claimed it to be Richard Nixon, the then American President's attempt to win over USSR in space. Incidentally Yuri Gagarin for USSR had been the first man in space & there was a serious race between the two super powers to reach the Lunar soil first.
The truth would emerge some day, but I still look at the moon with the same wonder & awe as I did forty years back as a toddling brat.........Life just moves on....hehehehehe