If Mumbai were an animal - Local Trains would be its arteries which would carry blood to major junctions in the body (city). But the more critical function of the nerves (last mile connectivity!) would be of B.E.S.T. buses that run to and from all parts of Mumbai and into the smallest of boulevards. If there is one service that differentiates Mumbai from other metros - it is its public transport system, and with Calcutta and Delhi having 'metro-rails', Mumbai locals are definitely not the suburban transport facilities to rival them. What makes Mumbai comfortable is the Bus Transport services. However slow and unreliable they may in terms of time, they provide the simplest way to commute to any square or boulevard in the city. With a characteristic red-and-white color combination and unusual length, BEST buses are a part of Mumbai's identity. From Mulund to VT, Borivli to Churchgate and Mulund to Borivli - they ply in all directions and take detours to all edges of Mumbai li

Manish tagged me ... so here go the 20 of the most filthiest kinds I have seen (not in any order).... Drunkards who drink all night and then drowse in the middle of busy roads early morning. People who keep on whinening about their job but do little to either change themselves or atleast their jobs! People who tag along with little known acquaintances for parties etc, just to be a part of free lunches and don't even bother to say a decent 'Thank You' after everything. People who force you to accompany them to the bar or lounge just because they want you to share the expense irrespective of whether you want to drink or not. Acquaintances who keep on complaining - 'Beta aap to hamare ghar aate hi nahi ho!' even when they know that you don't anymore reside in their city and come home just for a week or so. Relatives who ask you the same question - 'Where do you work?' everytime you meet them. People for whom a ticket to the west is the only proof of intell

Quoting SRK from TOI - "No, I don’t get angry. That’s one aspect of my life that I have really worked on. It doesn’t matter whether you get angry, people will do what they have to do . I don’t even get angry at home. My children think I never get angry. They ask me, ‘papa, do you ever get angry like mamma?’ They don’t realise yet that I do get angry, but that I’ve stopped expressing it ." I myself have realised similar facts over the past 2 years and am myself working on my Anger Expression (rather non-expression). I guess I have mellowed down a lot over the past 2 years; of course its only onlookers who have the right to comment, never the actor himself! (Pun intended!)

Note : This is not a review of the movie but a related comment Blogosphere is full of comments and reviews on RDB - while most junta has liked the movie, there are some who haven't. Most of the anti-RDB posts point out major fact-flaws in the storyline/screenplay; 3 major ones pointed out are: 1. Criticism of an IAF pilot by the Defence Minister 2. Lathicharge on a peaceful procession by Police 3. Gunning down of 'College Students' by commandos Most people claim that a 'democratic' government will not indulge in such 'oppressionist' acts and the parallel drawn between the current government and British Raj is unjustified. After watching the movie I also had similar views, but a revisit to my own post , made about an year ago, made me realize that the comparison in the movie is not completely unjustified. A democratic government too can indulge in acts similar to the (said) oppressionist British Raj and if not RDB, at least these posts [ 1 ] [ 2 ] are to be b

My Uttaranchal snaps are here! Enjoy them on this Flick r Slideshow or here .

Great Bong has put up two very touching posts [ 1 ] [ 2 ]. Quoting from [1] (GreatBong .. sorry for not asking for reprod permissions in advance :P ) "But therein lay the beauty of it. The beauty of conviction. The beauty of dreams. The fact that this man believes that one day he will make it as a poet . And what's inspiring is that despite the odds he faces every day, he still manages to radiate enthusiasm for his craft---a luminant joi de vivre that comes from believing in what he does. That sales pitch of "a poem for 10 paisa" accompanied with the boisterous recitation---he must be doing this routine about hundreds of times every day, mostly to people who are irritated by his presence (I saw another group on the grass who basically told him to f*** off) and just want this nuisance to leave them alone. Looking at him going about his work, I realized that not once during his numerous sales pitches does his enthusiasm or self-belief waver, nor does he ever sell his

Government of India has set up the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) and National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL) to strengthen the regulation of healthcare industry in India but the major purpose behind the move is said to be the intent to encourage medical tourism. India is trying to break into the humungous (and growing) global market of Medical Tourism currently dominated by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. While India might be just a beginner but it has some inherent advantages of being recognized as the land of Yoga, Meditation and other parallel forms of medicine in addition to having doctors well qualified in modern medicine. While the increase of medical tourism and induction of accreditation services will improve the state of existing healthcare in India, it might not help in making up for the shortage of healthcare facilities. Accreditation will primarily be sought by large hospitals, or medium sized clinics in areas where the demand for premium

What is Ahinsa ? Simply Non-violence or something more symbolic? Quoting from HTOHL : "Gandhi’s words still amaze me with their simplicity and power. Here was a man who believed that anger controlled, not unleashed, could become “a power that can move the world”." Agreed that anger controlled becomes a power but why should controlling anger be equated to 'not unleashing' it? Anger controlled can be anger unleashed in a directed manner so as to use it contructively?? Similarly isn't Ahinsa the resolve to prevent all kinds of injustice? Why should it be simplified to 'Non violence' only? I wonder on Gandhiji's death anniversary whether we ever understood him correctly ..... Befitting Obituary to the mahatma: http://www.theotherindia.org/icons/remembering-gandhi.html On parallel thoughts: http://www.himalmag.com/2006/january/cover_story_7.html My own posts on Gandhiji: http://the-complete-man.blogspot.com/2005/12/national-education-by-mohandas.html ht

Me off to a 4 day trip to Uttaranchal today evening !!! Will be back to cyberspace with photos and narration of the trip starting Monday ... Btw: Check out the ProjectWhy Banner atop this Blog

Just back from the night show for Bluffmaster. Actually, I sulked and whined through the whole movie for the utterly bad screenplay and too-much-gyan; but the end of the movie was as surprising as refreshing it was. Agreed that most plots are picked up from a few Hollywood movies (I don't recollect the name, but one movie which is used most, starred Michael Douglas) - but its not a plain vanilla remake and hence the effort is quite commendable. Technically too, the movie is quite refreshing. There's one more distinction that I would give the movie - of showcasing outdoor locations of Mumbai. Bandra Flyover, Buildings in Walkeshwar and Mahalaxmi, streets of Colaba, distant views of Nariman Point and Marine Drive are quite discernible as are few indoor albeit public locations like CCD (Cafe Coffee Day) - Carter Road and the Renaissance - Powai. No movie in the recent times has used locations in Mumbai so effectively as this one. The trend of using foreign locations seems to be pa