jus termed as "d rudest city in d world" sometime back, d mumbai blasts have surely turned d image upside down....all d time on d news d channel, u cud hear d news correspondents praisin d city's general public fr comin up wid all deir support - physical n financial as soon as 8 serial blasts rocked Mumbai, d financial capital of India ,leavin almost 190 ppl dead n around 650 injured..d 8 blasts occured in d local trains on 7 diff. stations on d western line of d city....
well...i guess its high time, we seriously took some action against terrorism..bt yeh, wat can u do, wen its dere mixed wid d whole system only !!! obvioulsy, each one of us feels proud to be a part of dis gr8 nation...bt wat to do, wen u gt d whole nation runnin in hands of some corrupt ppl...its jus pathetic...n things like dese jus make me feel like "y ???"...
ah...dis post wasn't supposed to be fr d "mumbai blasts" or abt "terrorism n politics"....jus wanted to share my experience abt d day we were comin back frm d conference in goa...d train, back to chandigarh was late at nite...n we reached mumbai at around 8 in d mornin...
now dis wasn't any other day...atleast nt fr me !!! it was rainin like hell in delhi...n yeh, d news channels had already exxagerated d whole thing n flashed across their screens "mumbai flooded again"......n dere i was wid a few other friends...standin outside d railway station...don knw where to take shelter fr d day ??? n yeh..fooood...damn..we were jus so hungry !!!
n d best part of dis story was !! i jus had 80 bucks in my pocket fr d whole day !!!
nw..bfore we cud decide whether we shud take a room in some guesthouse near d station or we go to khsitij's relatives place...d first option was better bcoz it was jus near d station..n if, as d news channels said, wud get flooded ..we wudn't have much risk of loosin on d train at midnite !!
bt den, d second option (khsiti's relatives) was free !!! included some yummy foood tooo...waah !!
bt den bfore we cud jus analyse n make a choice....hordes of taxi drivers surrounded us in a sec...askin us where we wanted to go..whether we wanted some room...food...or a taxi ?? waaat !!! n yeh, dese mumbai taxi drivers reallly gt up to our nerves....dey jus didnt understand dat we cud handle things on our own !! wateva we wanted to !!!...bt yeh thnx to dis "sikh" driver..who was a bit annoyin as others in d beginnin..bt den he gave us a nice option..coz we didnt have enough money, he suggested we cud go to d gurudwara nearby...d accomodation n food problem wud be solved !!! ahan !!
well d others weren't dat convinced bt i wanted to !!! coz yeh, i thought it wud be excitin !! gurudwara n excitin ?? yeh, atleast somethin different, i thought....
even though dey offered to lend me some money .,..i thought 80 bucks wud be enough to spend a day in d gurudwara....ha..wat wud i need money fr ???
so, without wastin anytime, i picked up my luggage my left fr d gurudwara !!! jus abt 15 mins walk frm d station, dere it was...after registering myself there, dey gave me a small cupboard where i cud keep my stuff...jus threw my suitcase n bag there...changed my clothes n den i was like "hmmmmm......still gt 14 hrs to go, wat do i do ??"....well surfed net at a nearby cybercafe...roamed around in d street enjoyin mumbai's drizllin rainfall, watchin it make d traffic go all random !!!
ah..finally it was lunch time..n i surely love d langar (food dey make in gurudwara..also called community kitchen)...i rushed back to d gurudwara to only find dat dey were still cookin !! huh....
bt wud dey let me jus have it !!! naaa ~!! everyone stayin dere had to help in makin d langar..kinda "earn ur bread" thing..haha..jus jokin...
d old man wid a big belly, was obvioulsy d main incharge of d gurudwara's kitchen as i'd guessed bfore only...bt man, he was jus so organised...makin sure eveyrthin's goin perfect rite frm cookin d food, cleanin up d place, settin up d utensils n all !! i chose to help in d cleanin..coz yeh, as most of u knw, i love cleanin...gives me so much satisfaction !! lolzz !
after havin d langar..i was still left wid abt 9 hrs..man..i'm jus so bad at killin time..i was hardly left wid around 60 bucks. now....
so i thought i wud see a few places around here !!! in 60 bucks ?? yeah.,..i was enjoyin it actually...living up a day as an INDIAN...coz here, money's not d factor to achieve wat u dream..u shud hav d will !!!
took d local train n left fr churchgate...thought wud be kool to spend an hour or two along d sea side....wow..
bt yeh, it's mumbai..so ur "perfect plans" jus never fall in place !!! i had jus walked half a kilometre to reach d marine drive..was jus startin to d enjoy d sea side..even though i hate to be alone....so dere it came again..bt dis time..it was more quick n a heavy one..."downpour"...
aaahhhh....man, i'd spent 7 bucks outta my lil' pocket to come here n d rain spoiled it all !! huh ....bt hey hey, d rain gods were in no mood to care fr dis lil' guy over here....rain..rain n more rain...wud it ever stop !! didnt seem so !!!
i was already drenched in water..bt still, i was lovin it !!! i jus love to experience new things..don't i ??? well, if i have an umbrella, i surely do love it !!!
bt here...i hardly any money to buy one ! !! man...i was regrettin so much, i didnt borrow some...bt den again, i was like "hey..dis is life"..i was like dis fr jus a day..wat abt dose u gt to spend 364 days more dan me, like dis in d whole year...!!!
bt den i gt a cheap bargain fr a raincoat-kinda-jacket..nw atleast, i cud save d upperhalf frm dis rain !!! n it was fr jus 30 bucks...in d rags!! hey hey..jus 30 bucks to go !!!! hahaha....
i was really laughin at myself, hw much i was carin abt money !!! wish i was dat careful all d time....
jus passin thru Cafe Coffee Day, i so much wished to go in n have some hot coffee...listen to some nice music...n jus relllaaaaax !!!!! i wish i cud !!! bt hey, don i wanna spend d day as an ordinary INDIAN !! who's gt to think 50 times bfore spendin a buck !! coz
it's all a matter of priorities..
so dere, i jus gt happy seeing d ppl inside Cafe Coffe Day njoi deir coffee...wat else cud i do !! bt hey, i cud still afford d famous "vada pao of mumbai" frm d roadside halwai !!! jus 5 bucks..ha..
bon appetite !!!
comin back to d gurudwara...i again went down to d kitchen...dey were preparin fr dinner...helped dem fr sometime until it was 7 pm....ahhh... nw it was time fr Kirtan (singin of hyms in d gurudwara by d baptised sikhs)
n guess wat !!! i gt to knw dat later though..dat dere was a special KIRTAN DARBAR dat day !! lucky me !!!
i thought sittin n listenin to d kirtan was d best option, i had...considerin d bad weather outside..n my pocket too :p ....
n hey, it was actually d first time dat i actually sat fr so long , listenin to d kirtan..actually 3 hours...wow !!! n i loved it so much dat day !!!! i really enjoyed it ...n as my mom says "ruu nu lag jaanda hai" (it really touches d soul)....dat day, i definitely realised d importance of listenin to gurbaani....its jus so soothing !!! man...nw i gt 1 thing less to argue wid my mom on !!
dis was jus d most perfect endin to d day, i ever had..n certainly, i never expected it to be like dis...
had langar(dinner) after dat...n left fr d station..was gud to c everyone again...bt den, i surely did enjoy d whole day..all alone...n yeh, u do need a break esp. wen u're comin frm a conference where u've been livin, eating n sleepin wid ppl..ppl.. n ppl everywhere...!!!
n yeh, a piece of advice fr all dose who forget to carry enough cash while travellin n who want dose "different kinda" experiences..jus enjoy wateva u do...to kill time...even if its jus moving frm one platform to another ..coz yeh, u cudn't think of anythin better !!!!! jus njoi !!
"surely, a day worth rememebrin..."
