Thursday, November 27, 2008


I bow my head down
I salute it 'The spirit of mumbai'

Battered over the decades,
but still resilient,
Moving on,
Like the vast ocean beyond

You might crib and gripe,
but once you come to the city,
you love it,
a love which is unique
a kinship you feel cruising through your veins
Mumbai is its people and its the people that make mumbai

I salute the people,
my people,
Mumbaikars, them of the unbreakable spirit,
who have gone through hell,
watching near and dear ones suffer

I hold my head up high
regardless of the corner of the world 'm living in
and say 'Proud to be a mumbaikar' always and forever

Monday, November 10, 2008

She lifted the heavy pot of water and placed it above her head...and wiped the sweat from her brow.The summers were cruel...and carrying heavy pots of water to the big 'sethani's' house was just as much as she could take. She sighed..and picked it up...no way could she be weak...3 hungry children were waiting for her back home....

She stared out of the window,watching the raindrops gently fall on the greenery all around.It was the first day of the monsoons and the smell of mother earth was all around.She gently pushed back the small strand of hair that fell on her face and tucked it behind her ear and hugged herself. The rains always had this effect on her and made her sigh and contemplate about why things happened in life.....

She got out of the subway and rode the escalator up. She passed by shops,actually 'THE SHOP' which had the most beautiful black short minidress by Donna Karan. She sighed...and turned her head the other way and kept walking on...After all thats what we do many times ..sigh and move on ...

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She had been hired as a consultant in one of the biggest consulting firms in NYC. She just couldnt stop smiling to herself..It was a culmination of all her chilhood dreams.Sitting in that office on Times Square.Oh she knew she was getting that Donna Karan for sure now. She remembered what her mother had told her as a child 'When you get something good,its good to give back'. And well today was one of the biggest gifts in her life.She opened her web browser and went to a little known charity that had been struggling since quite sometime . It was recommended by a friend.She decided that she would donate $100 !!...

The donation mail message popped in her inbox.There was that loud pinging sound.She mometarily tore her eyes away from the raindrops outside and went to read the mail ..'Must be one of those hundred junkmails' she thought.Since the project had been stopped,she was in a dull mood and had questioned almost everything and cycisim was all she had left. SHe tucked the strand of hair back and read the mail.When she finished,her eyes glistened like two shining diamonds.A generous donation of $100 from someone in NYC had given her the much needed money to finish the long awaited project of building the well....

The next week was one of the happiest in her life.Her exhaustion was reduced to half 'coz all she needed to do now was draw water from the common well close to her backyard...and yes she had more energy to get more work done which meant more food on the table and less cries of hungry strved children...God Bless the generous owner..she thought...and satisfy all her wishes...

Meanwhile the Donna Karan dress was being delivered to her appartment ....