Modernization Of Mumbai Airport

The winning bid was proposed by GVK-South African Airports Consortium matching a 38.70% Revenue Share.

- Praful Patel on behalf of the Empowered Ministers Consortium.

Sundamam Says..

Ithle saan assa teh, nathuk she...

Mum says..

Tashi Nantha udhta vochhe...

Is that true?

I dunno why, but I somehow see a stark resemblance between our desi movie baddie Prem Chopra and Paulie Walnuts from the Sopranos. Maybe I'm just plain loco!

Happy Republic Day!

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Geetanjali
Sri Rabindranath Tagore

First Things F**kin' Last...

We'll miss you Chris.
10 Oct 1965 ~ 24 Jan 2006

I used to see him almost every week sitting at Locanda del Lago, an upscale restaurant on the promenade below my workplace. He was always smoking a cigar or enjoying a glass of wine. He'd just smiled at me once when I thanked him for showing me how to cut the end of a cigar when I bought a Romeo & Juliet from Lago's. I never told him I was a fan. So long Chris. May your soul rest in peace.

Is Daya Nayak Guilty?

Is this once proclaimed supercop guilty of being corrupt? I think it may be a very well planned attempt to frame him and tarnish his image. But then again, the rabbit hole goes deeper. If journalist Ketan Tirodkar's word is accepted as valid proof, Mr.Nayak may be guilty of heinous crimes that are almost beyond punishment.

We know Mr.Nayak as the super cop who's been responsible for taking out more than eighty-three underworld linked criminals in encounters. Encounters were devised as the final solution to end the streaks of hardened criminals impervious to our Justice system that has levied innumnerable, yet unsuccessful sentences on them. But this method adopted by the Maharashtra police in recent times has been under a lot of flak from Human rights activists and civilians. And we must understand that the very proclamation of encounters being a solution may be questionable. Most of the times, these have been goverened by circumstances where in crime is hard to fight and lethal force was used by criminals. The response was obvious.

The court's proceedings will continue on the day after tomorrow, the 27th. Until then, Mr.Nayak will not be detained. Which may be a good sign. We will have to wait and see.

Vile Parle Market..

Maternal Duo Caught Catnapping!

Mum and aunt catnapping while waiting at the airport.... A Nokia 6600 moment, I reckon. Thank you dad.

The Accessibility of Technology

Fresh Fruit, to go, or hand delivered!

This is simply awesome! We've been buying fresh fruit from this lady for over 7 years now. I visited this stall after a good three years and I was amazed to see her mobile / cell phone number posted on the cart. All you have to do is call and fresh fruit is delivered to your doorstep! Now how about that?

Colors of Mumbai!

A way side snack stall serving vegetarian effects

The Journey Home...

This is it. Three years and one month of longing, tears and woe have finally paid off. I'm in Mumbai, India. My hometown, with my loved ones. The journey home was a long interesting one with a lot of ups downs and some funny incidents. I'm going to try and squeeze those twenty five hours of anticipation, travel through three time zones, miso soup, intermittent back aches, smoked atlantic salmon, desi dhakkans into a tiny excerpt within this blog. I've always had a reputation for being verbost, excessively elaborate and circumventing before making a point. But it's been more than worth it. The very moment the airplane touched down at Chatrapati Shivaji Airport was something of a 'my life passed before my eyes'moment. The smell of the airport, the familiar clamour of cops, passengers, porters and customs officials.

I had a eight hour lay over stop over at Changi Airport which was eventually cut short by two hours since the departure was delayed. Ostensibly, there was some major volcanic activity in Anchorage, AK coupled with ash-laden winds and hence, procuring a flight plan was delayed. We took off from LAX at about 1:35 am PST and after a gruelling fifteen hour flight ( a good one hour fifty minutes more than the usual route) the plane landed in Taipei at 8:03 local time. I watched the Transporter 2 and The Constant Gardener on the flight. Apart from really enjoying the braised tofu and atlantic salmon! That was my first realization of sorts that I was headed home. After the sixty minute stop for refuelling, we departed for lovely city of Singapore and its magnificent airport, The Changi at 12:26 pm local time. I was pretty tired when I reached Singapore so I decided to get a room in their Transit Hotel and cool my heels. For lunch I had some really good fishball and miso soup.

From Singapore to Mumbai, the flight lasted a good five hours and twenty minutes, aided with some real desi garb resonating throughout the aircraft. Once we landed at CST Mumbai, the paper work took as little as 35 minutes. My father had walked in all the way past the baggage claim and immigration counters! Boy was I happy to see him!

For the last time!

Bravo! We seek justice...

(source: http://www.mumbaipolice.org)
Followed a link to this announcement this morning on the Times of India website. I'm so proud of Mumbai police! Finally, we're hoping to see justice served. The statement is a slap in the face of all the people who believe that he didnt have anything to do with the Mumbai blasts. Especially the part where they claim he's a compulsive liar. Couldn't have said it better.... The Indian government needs to get as proactive as the FBI did, during the mafia crackdown days in the 90s and launch a full scale war on these animals. Jai Hind!

Beat the Longhorns!!

FIGHT ON!!!!

Music in My Life. A best of....

Just decided to list the albums that I consider absolute musical classics. I will keep adding to this list. The list is set in no particular order.

• Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality
• Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
• U2 - Achtung Baby!
• Alice in Chains - Dirt
• Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
• Led Zeppelin - Presence
• Nirvana - Nevermind
• Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
  
• Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction
• Joe Satriani - The Extremist
• Metallica - Master Of Puppets
• Megadeth - Rust in Peace
• Fear Factory - Obsolete
• Massive Attack - Protection
• dZihan & Kamien - Refreaked
• Rammstein - Herzeleid
  
• Judas Priest - British Steel
• Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
• Queensryche - Empire
• Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
• Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
• Pearl Jam - Ten
• Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire
• Queen - A Night At The Opera
• Seal - Seal
• Sepultura - Roots Bloody Roots
• Slayer - Reign In Blood
  
• Tool - Lateralus
• Type O Negative - October Rust
• Danzig - Lucifuge
• Hammerfall - Crimson Thunder
• Dream Theater - Images & Words
• Depeche Mode - Violator
• Steve Vai - The Ultra Zone
• Rainbow - Richie Blackmore's Rainbow
• Dio - Master Of the Moon
  
• Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
• Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation
• The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
  

Corrado says.

"Federal marshals are so far up my ass, I can taste Brylcreem..."

Corrado 'Junior' Soprano