Thr Lord of the Masses

Ganpati Bappa, Moorya!!


Some other facts:

1)Public festival:
In the good old days Ganesh festival was a purely family affair. Ganesh Utsav in Mumbai, as envisioned by Tilak actually intended to use the famed "Ganpati" as a relegious icon as a cover for political activity.Tilak did this so as to cleverly broadcast his political message of freedom for India.

2)Gifting:
Thru time, "gifting" have undergone many changes in these years..

-from jewellery to " diamond studded jewellery"
-from books to "autographed /special edition" books
-from antiques to "antique holder"
-from show pieces to "feng-shui"items

However, Ganesha idols have remained to be a favourite gifting product with people, individuals as well as corporate and across communities. Itis said that the joy of gifting a Ganesha is immense because when you gift a Ganesha idol, you gift good wishes and good fortune along with it.

3) Immersion:

Ganesh Visarjan - the relegious ceremony of immersion of the idol in waterbodies on the concluding day (Anant charturdhashi) of the 10 day function is as popular and auspicious as the "chaturthi" itself. It is also one of the largest televised event in the commercial capital of India. It is believed that the wishes made on this occasion are happily granted by the satiated elephant god! As legend goes, "Ganesha" is considered to be the god of wisdom, prudence, prosperity, and most importantly "Vighna harta"(remover of obstacles). Hence, there are plenty of wishes the vast humanity can seek out for , specially, the traumatised and terror stricken Mumbaikars.

4) Darshan galore:

Mumbai will be buzzing throughout these 10 ddays of celebration, withh business picking up during day & night!. Already known as th ecity that never sleeps, on these days in particular, shops are known to remain open even till 5.30 am to capture the devotees travelling across the city for "darshan". It is widely believed that more the number of idols one takes darshan, more shall be resultant blessings/good luck. Lalbaug ka Raja has been the undesputed crowd puller for decades ow. Special city bus & local train services facilitate this local pilgrimage.

5)Ashtavinayak:

There are 8 idols of Lord Ganesh, which are famous by the name of Vinayak, and they are known as ‘Ashta Vinayak’. All the 8 idols of Lord Ganesha are Swayambhu(evolved by themselves):

1. Vakratunda ( Chintamani)
2. Mahodara (Varadvinayak)
3. Lambodara(Baleshwar)
4. Vignaraj(Vigneshwar)
5. Ekdanta(Siddhivinayak)
6. Gajanana(Mahaganapati)
7. VikataGanapati(Mayureshwar)
8. Dhoomravarna(Girijatmaja)

ICC or I Can't See??

I am not an avid cricket fan, but, watching the events develop the last few days, I cannot but write a few thoughts on the ball tampering issue currently plaguing Pakistan.

Why do Asian Cricket teams always get a raw deal from the ICC? , as if it is not enough that these teams have to cope up with internal problems with their Boards, Govt & Tax authoriries.

The entire cricketing fraternity is up in arms against the text book(read deaf & dumb) approach of the ICC over the ball tampering charge & penalty runs levied by the two culprit umpires - Mr Darryl Hair(the prime accused) and Mr BillyDoctrove(the confederate) on the fourth and almost decisive day of Test match between Pakistan& England at Oval. Pakistan's refusal to take the field after tea has got ICC slamming them for *bringing disrepute to the game*. Pakistan's dislike for the controversial Mr Darryl Hair is well known to the whole world and the ICC. Despite this, ICC has *specially* taken upon itself to appoint him as one of the umpires in all the matches involving Pakistan. Should we call it ill-conceived or well-contrived?

It is accepted that teams should not be allowed to influence the choice of umpires, but they must definitely be given a fair say in putting some *esteemed* ones on a negative list, going by thier*past credentials*. If such a list was permitted, Mr Hair would undoubtedly top Pakistan's list while Mr. Steve Bucknor would top team India's black listof umpires. If Mr Hair's past decade of hair-raising umpiring decisions is anything to go by, he should have long been delisted not only from Elite panel but permanently from Umpiring profession itself. How he was reinstated into the Elite group is still a mystery.Could it be Australia's arm twisting or Pakistani's misuse of arm..

Nevertheless, the investigation on the ball tampering issue should concentrate on visual evidence more than anything else to nail the real culprit. The entire career of key players and the pride of the nation are at stake here. In the absence of substantial evidence, Mr Hair & Doctrove shold be given the pink slips for bringing *bringing disrepute to the game*, with appropriate penalty, and prison term!

You may want to Read this.

Sweet Child 'O Mine

October 10, 2006 shall be a Landmark day for the Indian child. Although there are no official estimates on child labor employed in India, it is believed that over 10 Cr of our little citizens are employed as labour almost everywhere..From hazardous industries, kirana shops to domestic servants, in appalling, exploitive and even inhuman conditions.

Atlast, our government seems to have finally woken up from its deep slumber for last 20 years, since the enactment of the toothless piece of law: Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986. In a fresh and determined bid to stamp down the growing exploitation of children, the government has now prohibited their employment as servants at home or in businesses.

"Business" shall include factories, shops, dhabas, restaurants, hotels, teashops,resorts and spas. According to a notification issued by the labour ministry last tuesday, the ban comes into effect from October 10, 2006.The Union labour ministry has warned that anyone employing children below 14 years of age would be liable for prosecution and penal action under the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986. Labour inspectors have been empowered to check on violation of this ban. While this is just the beginning, the crackdown could soon extend to several other sectors employing child labor.

May be Iam brutally candid but I am deeply pained that many of my friends and colleagues have employed children in domestic service, sometimes to babysit their own little ones. They've got good reasons though:

1) They actually plead they are improving the standard of living of the the poor boy/girl (by sending their parents the money, who might blow it off on having more children ?)
2) They claim they treat the child well ( right!, but will send the right back to thier village the moment he/she falls sick)
3) They claim they try & educate the child at home ( if only they had so much time, then why employ a domestic servant!)

Its high time they cleared up these misconceptions from thier inncocent minds.

It is not uncommon to see paper*boys*, chai*boys*, kirana delivery*boys* at your doorstep. The plight of girls is still worse..construction sites, domestic work, hazardous factories. We educated people fail to realise that by employing child labour, we are not economically uplifting them or their families, but we are actually denying their right to childhood, education and opportunities, that we were fortunate enough to enjoy.

It is the sole duty of the State and NGOs to rescue and rehabilitate these deprived children. We should not take advantage of their economic / social background to enrich our materisliatic goals, with the excuse of "helping a poor child". A socially concerned person would rather adopt the same child , instead of seeking a quid pro quo in the form of exploitive labour. In fact the movie "Baagbaan" showcased this noble act when the iconic AB adopts Salman Khan as a child, despite having 4 kids of his own.

So lets take this pledge the August occasion of our Independence day, to liberate our society from this evil:

1. I shall not employ and support any form of exploitation of children including child labour.

2. I shall report immediately any form of violation of child rights to the authorities/NGOs.

3. I shall do my best to educate others on the imporatance of child rights and ills of child labour.

P.s:

Child Employers beware: Big brother may be watching you!!

Don't cha

No, I'm not referring to that provocative hit single by the Pussycat Dolls. I'm talking about addiction to Cha (Marathi for Tea or Chai).It is quite common to see tired/weary employees gulping down several ounces of this beverage every hour, almost unwittingly and as much unavoidably! As the the canteenboy nonchalantly places his overboiled concoction of sugar & milk on the table, the same vanishes into the alimentary canal in no time! Some of them would'nt even mind drinking the very concotion hours after its served. And then there are tea-conservatives like me who are always at the receiving end .

How?.. You cannot even politely refuse the "tea" offered by your boss b'coz :

a) it might tantamount to gross insubordination, or

b) you might end up getting a big lesson of goodness of tea(and specially black tea) or

c) worse, you might be perceived as a high-maintenance natural juice drinker or a latte drinker!

Many of my friends/colleagues who I presume are tea addicts, can hardly keep count of their comsumption at work. They might pass it off us "2-3 cups a day", while it might actually be 7-8 (including, with chitchat friends, boss, lunchhour etc).

Well, I ve got some news for the habituated tea addict:

Tea connoisseurs say that-

1) Drinking tea should be a soothing and pleasurable experience and not a hurried one (which is very unlike what you notice in the office, where people drink it to get rid of headaches)

2) Tea should be savoured and not gulped down

3) Vital Statistics:3gms of tea for 150ml of water,brew for 3-4 mins normally, while you can brew herbal tea for 7-8 mins.

4) Never add milk to green tea

Food addiction is perhaps one of the commonest reasons why so many people are overweight and yet, don't seem to realise it. That's because they never stop to think before gobbling up everything in sight - whether they are really hungry/thirsty or not. It's more greed than hunger.

So, to all ye concerned, instead of giving me lectures of "revitalising my cells", why not take some therapy for your good self????????????

Floods of Alert

US has warned *code red* for all its nationals in Mumbai & Delhi, suspecting possible AQ plots in the run-up to the I_day.

The US Embassy said the attacks could possibly occur from Friday till August 16 and the likely targets are airports, vital government installations and crowded places. ( Which part of Mumbai is not crowded? colleges?)

As if the never-ending rains are not enough, we have another threat to keep us indoors. Every alternate day Mr Johnny Joseph's flood alerts clog our sms memory. That does'nt stop the riff raff from going on with their chores.

While the Govt. has officially shrugged off these “very innocuous” advisory issued by the US embassyto its people ,the Centre has actually gone ahead and directed the states to issue advisories/instructions to the general public to verify the antecedents of tenants and buyers of vehicles, an official spokesperson of the Union home ministry said. Meanwhile, a contingent of 38 NSG personnel has been deployed at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam, near Chennai, following reports that major installations could be targeted by terrorists. Union home secretary has directed various states to sensitise the public and take all necessary precautions.

Desperate measures or innocuous advisory?

You be the judge, while I try to find an open space to hide myself(irony intended)

Killing Time

As Mumbai has been reeling under heavy rains for the pastweek, Movie buffs like me could not venture out to the bigscreens. So I rented some stuff from my freindly neighbourly DVD rental just to kill time..and guess what!, I actually KILLED it!

Take a look:

1. Last Days ( 2005,Kurt Cobain biopic)..Hawrible..I should have been dead instead of KC
2.Yours Mine & Ours(2005).......................I Threw up..Whatever happened to Mr Bowen (Dennis Quaid) from Dragonheart(1996)
3.Monster in law(2005)..............................J Lo can never make it into mainstream Hollywood with her nasal voice. Michael vartan had better stuck on to "Alias"
4.The Man (2005).......................... was So So, but Sammy Jackson- Cussing = Boring
5. Date movie(2006)..................The regular spoof movie taking digs at all the big un's..Meet the parents , Meet the Fockers, LOTR, When Harry met Sally, Shallow Hal, King Kong, Wedding Planner.. It was like watching "Scary Movie 4" sans the grossness, but still was one of the worst parodies Ive come across..

So there goes my horrible week that was. After watching a fiasco of a movie in POTC-2 on big screen, I am afraid to hitthe theaters. So I returned my good old DVD collection, some of which I watched for the n+1th time:

Golden Eye
National Treasure
LOTR-FOTR
Don't Say a Word
Flight plan

P.S. Little one's would know the connection between these..but don't say a word.

HOME A- LOAN.

Despite the recent hikes in home loan interest rates announced by the major banks, there seems to be no letdown in the rate of *interest* in the property market.

India's largest housing finance company HDFC, Punjab National Bank and the Oriental Bank of Commerce have hiked interest rates on home loans by at least half a percentage point (0.5%) on August 1, while others like the SBI and Bank of Baroda are soon expected to follow suit. As it stands, the floating rate for home loans from HDFC will be 9.5% as againstm, up from the previous 9%. The fixed rate loan borrowers will now have to shell out as high as 11%p.a. Despite FinMin's friendly advice (read dictum) to PSU Banks to rollback the hikes, there is no looking back, it seems.

Traditionally interest rates tend to take the cue from RBI's repo & reverse repo rate, which incidentally, were raised twice consecutively to over 50 basis points. Home loan rates have gradually risen over the past year or so from 8% to 11% and guess what, no one seems to really bother. Mumbai's bustling property market is currently on a sky-high, thriving on stock market boom fuelled by economic uptrend in general and IT /BPO boom in specific. Everybody seems to carry around enough cash to crash-purchase houses. Even the once abandoned properties such as " jinxed houses" or " haunted buildings" are up for the grabs.

It is only the fixed income/salary earners like me whose dream of buying a dream home might still only remain a dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I can only console myself .." Home is where the heart is"...

Trivia about Muh

Blame HET for this!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Uma!

1. Uma has little need for water and is capable of going for months without drinking at all!
2. Uma can sleep with one eye open!
3. Uma became extinct in England in 1486.
4. Uma is the largest of Saturn's moons!
5. South Australia was the first place to allow uma to stand for parliament.
6. California is the biggest exporter of uma in the world!
7. Uma is the world's smallest mammal.
8. Twenty-eight percent of Microsoft's employees are uma!
9. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find uma.
10. Only one person in two billion will live to be uma.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Mole in the cheek!!, scar in the face!!

One has heard of Witchhunt and Manhunt..but now we have this intense "Mole- hunt". The fact that people,out of limelight (read power), facing severe identity crisis can write just about anything in a "memoir" , "autobiography" or "reflections" to grab eyeballs is proved by the Jaswant Singh's latest tactic.

In his book 'A Call to Honour: In Service of an Emergent India', Jaswant Singh has alleged that a mole in the PMO during the time of late prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao had leaked nuclear secrets to the US. This might definitely do some pre-release publicity for his book, but the same cannot be said for BJP!

His colleague Mr Das Munshi was at his wit's best: "We could have helped him find buyers and even honked to secure buyers for his book," he said, adding "it is a book-selling campaign unparalleled in history."

While Jassu still claims: "I have never used the word 'mole,' even in the book. However, it generated so much excitement and the prime minister charged me with lacking in decency..."

While BJP's already squirming over turmole caused by the deepening embarrasment, Jaswant Singh's claim that he was still waiting, apparently with little success, for a "call" from the PM to discuss the matter did not cut much ice either.

BJP is busy digging a hole to bury the mole,while Congress's is on a roll taking a dig at BJP's role.

Is is what they call making a mountain out of a mole? Are'nt there enough issues of national interest to focus on?

PS. Taking a cue from Jassu, looks like our Ex-India Cricket Coach John Wright is trying to bring lots of " dressing room" scenes out of the closet in his memoir. Censor Board probably might give an A certificate ?

and

Why do all the memoirs have to always be so bitter?

Face the Musick

Audioslave's Chris Cornell, former frontman of Soundgarden, will record the theme song for the new James Bond film, "Casino Royale," which opens November...

Why??Coudn't the Brocollis find the usual ,mediocre, skin-exhibiting divas from the non-grunge world? Or is Chris Cornell finding alternative avenues for his quivering voice?

Lance Bass, member of the hit boy band N'sync has finally"come out".. He said "I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said [I was gay], it would overpower everything.

Yeah, as such,the non existent N'sync has nothing to lose now that he has comeout with his sexual orientation, as all the females are following Justin Timberlake and his on-off & much older girlfriend Cameron Diaz.

Rolling stones have annouced plans for an extensive FALL tour throughout Canada & US.

Is this is what they call death defying tactics?, 'coz I dont see any of them fall, even after zillion years. BTW, I hear discounts for senior citizens..and special "wheel chair" personally autographed by Keith Richards.

Nicollette Sheridan, actress from Desperate Housewives is working with VH1 to help improve music education in American public schools.

Sheridan, who is currently engaged to singer Michael Bolton, has apaarently realised that this is the only way to save the sad state of american music, after hearing it straight from horse's mouth..

Thats enough food for the dying music fans to digest..

Typical language usages in Bureaucrazy!!!

You dont need to analyse the finer nuances to understand bureaucratic language usages like these:

When they say ..................................They mean:
Hand overing / take overing of charge...........Handing / taking Over of charge
First all of.....................................................First of all
Defination.....................................................Definition
Many peoples including childrens.................Many people including children
N.A...............................................................Not Available
On Tour.........................................................On Leave
Kindly request your presence........................Request your kind presence
Respected Sir.................................................Hi !
Second only to................................................Bad/Poor
List is not exhaustive......................................Cant name more, Use your imagination
All are invited to come with their families........Don't bring neighbor or their family/ies
Snakes will follow.............................................Snacks will be served
Respond at your earliest.................................We don't care
Inconvenience caused is regretted...................You don't care
Information is correct to our Best of knowledge........Don't know
Customer service......................................................Dream goal
Merit certificate.................................................Every dog had its day
15 Minure recess................................................1 hour break
Meeting...............................................................Chit chat
Committee meeting.............................................Work
Presentation...........................................................Time out
We are fully Computerised.....................................We use wordstar and lotus
Inspection.....................................................................Getaway/Road Trip


Please feel free to add as many as you might've come across!!

Say No To Pirates..Review of POTC-II

Horrible, Boring and a Total Waste of 150 minutes of your Life..

Gore Verbinsky should know that not every sequel can meet up to the expectations and standards set by the predecessor. Take Lord of the Rings Trilogy for e.g, or even the banal Terminator series.

Totally counting on digital effects and effaced images of *creatures* from the depths of the ocean, the sequel does not stir anything that could even distantly qualify as amazement. The special attratcion this time around was supposed to be Bill Nighy( Love Actually) playing the damned & tentacled "Captain Davy Jones" . But one felt quite shocked and almost cheated to see some Computer generated Octopus stuck on his face.

Millions of dollars wasted on a missed opportunity.

This movie could get labelled a success only on account of lack of competition or loyal followers of Mr Sparrow's antics.

Say No To PIRATES! Save your Life!

Printer's Devil

I have always criticised "jounalistic activism" by the media. To secure oneupmanship in the burgeoning and cutthroat media market, (struggling) reporters/journalists breach all limits of ethics and conscience to report/publish some *exclusive* piece of news which is often obnoxious or even immaterial to he common man.

Sample this:

The cover page of Mumbai Mirror dated 20th July 2006 carried a huge and crisp photograph of a seemingly happy bridal couple. Aptly titled photofinish, the label below claimed that this was one the rare wedding pictures of "Junaid & Maharukh", children of famous personalities from across the border. This, being published first hand and exclusive after one whole year of secret and high profile event.

Readers could feast their eyes on the lively and smiling couple, but more on the bride bedecked with garlands of the yellow metal. So far so good.

Only today, on the cover page of the same daily the editor issues a "clarification" (in lieu of public apology) stating that the wedding picture was not that of the famous starchildren. Indeed, it belonged to one Mr E*-? from Chennai. While the editor profusely regretted the *embarassment* caused to Mr E*-? for inadvertantly showcasing his bridal wealth, the fact that this picture was blindly lifted by their reliable source( no more!) from some pakistani source was also accepted( sotto voce..)

So much for Oneupmanship, this is cheap and pitiable journalism, by the starchild of India's top newspaper..

Bloggers on the spot?

Why am I not able to see any blogs at *.blogspot.com??
For the past two days, I can log on to blogger, edit and post blogs but cannot view my baby. I hear the same story from fellow bloggers across India. The Help group is flooded with crisis messages from all over India cutting across various ISPs but the problem is still under "trouble shooting" I presume even as I post this blog.

So far, no official statement from blogger or ISPs have been released. Till then, keep your fingers crossed or go for a *proxy*spot.

Hot n Yahoo ...Beta be good

In a landmark deal of its kind, arch rivals Yahoo & Windows(MSN) Messenger have joined hands... The move is aimed to stymie Google's (G-Talk) rapid inroads into IM space.Is that what they call Mail Merge?

For the layperson, this BETA version allows Yahoo and MSN Internet Messenger(IM) users to chat with each other across both networks. This means the users need not have 2 IDs and 2 softwares to chat with users of respective IMs anymore. Together both these IMs would dominate in Indian Web by getting lions share of more than 70%.

"Interoperability between these two IMs will give users the ability to exchange instant messages, see contacts online, file sharing upto 1MB (on Yahoo Messenger), share select emoticons and connect with a global community of friends through one safe and secure IM experience," says George Zacharias, MD of Yahoo India.

Bless you, Competition.
Whats on your mind G?

Sounds of Thunder : Mumbai Blasts 11/7: Eyewitness Account

I've not seen anything "burst" in front of my eyes except for "laxmi bombs" during Diwali . I have'nt heard anything louder than the pre-monsoon thunders. But I was unfortunate to witness both 0f these from a distance of hardly 50 Metres.

I and my colleague could not board the 6.15 pm Borivli fast from Bandra station, as ,due to the delay in the arrival of the train, the crowd had exceeded the capacity of the compartment. We could have chosen to hang by the footboard like we do on several other days, but I can only say that it was "divine intervention" which forbade usfrom doing that this time.

Seconds after the train left Bandra Platform No.4, we heard a deafening noise from the same direction, accompanied by smoke. This was followed by utter chaos with all the passengers running helter-skelter. Bandra is one of the "commercial areas" of mumbai and houses a lot of corporates, software companies , banks and call centers and this being the peak hour for homebound office goers, the timing of this heinous act could not be any more perfect. Many passengers started scrambling towards the train, which now stood halted at a distance, and started to save the injured passengers. Soon people from buildings adjoining the tracks joined in the efforts. It took a good 20 minutes till a strectcher was taken to the spot but all the while it was the fellow citizens who came with open arms for helping the injured. While all the Western railway services were halted, we had no options but to hit the roads. With all the buses overcrowded beyond question, many a rickshawallas/private vehicle owners were reaching out to stranded passengers to drop them at convenient locations. I reached home safely only because of one such kind Mumbaikar.

Mumbai is one of the safest cities for Ladies, ironically, living inMumbai has always meant living on the edge. But I'm sure that like always, resilient spirit of the Mumbai would sail us through troubles times, especially, acts of terrorism. This apart, the investigators should leave no stones unturned in nailing the culprits, thier aides and the abettors to this crime .

MUMBAI MERI JAAN!

Zidane is done

My! Oh! My

The soccer world was aghast to see the repeated replays of the "head butt" incident involving Zizou and Materazzi. Why on earth would a man of Zizou's calibre and composure lose his head over something so incomprehensible and cause a nasty fowl, on such a momentous occasion as this - A WORLD CUP FINAL -His last world cup and international football appearance.

Such an ignominious exit from a glorious and glittering career !

He has still been awarded the "golden ball", but this won't console the hearts of millions of his fans.

Somebody STOP Them !

Rafa Vs Fedex..Redux

It seems like these two are simply unstoppable, their rivalry spanning from court to court! One never bows down and the other never quits!! I was totally wrong in underestimating the power of Spanish matador. Seems like he took my challenge seriously. The leader and the challenger meet face to face for another battle at the Lawns of Wimbledon 2006.

The Swiss plays with watchful(pun intended) precision on all surfaces but the Spaniard's relentless fighting spirit had unnerved every opponent. Rafa has taken it upon himself to shed his cliched image of "King of Clay" by expanding his prowess over the green grass of Wimbledon. He has done it and How?

-By Reaching two Grandslam finals back to back, on two conflicting surfaces, facing The Numero Uno in both, beating him in one and aiming to beat in the other.

In the ATP Men's Rankings, there has always been this huge gap in terms of points and proficiency between the World No.1 and the No.2. But Fedex's "cruises" have met with rough and tough weather from "El Nino" more than once. Hence the gap between the two has narrowed greatly showcasing Tennis at its best. Way to go champions!

Struck a chord!!

Literally!

Today, we folks were confined to the four walls of our humble homes as the rains decided take us one on one. I watched through the window as each drop of rain gathered into a confluence , converting the open stretch of playground adjacent to my home to a makeshift swimmimg pool!

Soon, came the ominous power cut and most parts of the island city got cut off from the civilized world. It seems that the BMC wanted to take no chance on "Short circuits" this time around and promptly ordered the power suppliers to cut the cords! Amidst landslides, open manholes and potholes, they've got thier priorities clear!

We were in the dark for a good 8 hours and 200mms of rain, with nothing to do indoors and hostile outdoors! So I picked up my Accoustic Guitar which was the only thing I could "play" without any power (pun intended). Grunge was the first choice,followed by some punk.

1. Territorial Pissings-Nirvana (Start with A and then with D)
2. Lounge Act-Nirvana( B)
3. On a plain-Nirvana (start with D and tried with E)
4. Heart Shaped Box-Nirvana ( Tried to start with all posible chords,but B sounded the best)
5. Plush-Stone Temple Pilots( E)
6. Here She comes now- Nirvana(A)
7. Sappy- Nirvana(D)
8. Basket Case- Greenday(D and G)
9. I'll stick around- Foo fighters(D and G)
10. Where did you sleep last night- Nirvana (E)

As it always happens,I struck the right chords when I don't have the recording set up . I played these songs over and over again in all sorting orders, as if there was no tomorrow.Probably that is when I struck the wrong chord, and my 1st string gave in. Or probably it was the rains.

Kurt Cobain always signed off his concerts by smashing his guitar(TM) onto the amps/drums. I just broke one string. Luckily, I had an extra set of strings ( rain check?), but didn't have a clue as to fixing it. I called up the Guitar technician to set the chord straight and pat came the reply..." Laws of physics".

I sure can't go back to eighth grade but with some common knowledge on tensity, supported by will and patience, I fixed the new string. By 7.30pm the the power supply resumed and I gave my guitar its well-deserved rest.

I turn on the TV and for once Blitzkrieg vs Azurris was in the prime spot ahead of the banal "Mumbai Rains".

The man who cried Wolf!!

I am talking about all those hyper(active) news anchors and correspondents across the News channels who have gone overboard while reporting on Mumbai Rains since last three days. I've been in this city all my life and we folks are habituated to turn on the news at day break, specially in this season, to know about the latest news on weather, rain and traffic in the city.

I was in for a shrill shock to see these *latest updates* and *breaking news* flasing across the screen:
- all the subways are closed,
- all the trains have been cancelled or running late,
- all the main roads are waterlogged,
- all the highways are congested with traffic,
- very heavy rains forecast for next n no. of days.

These facts are also supported with LIVE *visuals* and *actual interviews* taken from urchins, pavement dwellers and pensioners (who have never had anything good to say about the civic authorities or the Govt). My parents, credulous folks they are, intensely dissuaded me from going to work. But I decided to go ahead and learn it the hard way!

Now Reality Check:
-There was no waterlogging,
-The trains were running and only slightly behind schedule
-I reached my office safely and on time.
-All my colleagues were also on time

While the fact remains that despite the lessons learned from the aftermath of 26/7, our Municipal corporation(BMC) has done nothing that could even remotely qualify as disaster management, these unscruplous TV channels have fully capitalised on the the people's fear psychology and BMC's inefficiency, to broadcast news whose authenticity cannot be verified.

On the way to my office, I was not really suprised to see derelict roads and relatively empty train compartments as many Mumbaikars might have stayed away from venturing outdoors, thanks to *latest news* on TV!!!!!!!!