What a X-mas! with good news!

Well...today has been a surprisingly good day! Quite opposite to what one would have thought when u find yourself locked in ur home in the morning!!

Thats how the day started! Some child had locked us from outside! So had to knock to get it opened when someone comes there! but then onwards....everything went well! Reached off...and read the mail....with BIG BIG good news...saturdays are off now ...!! this much awaited long pending demand has been finally met by our HR! I reached office quite early and everyone was so so so so happy after this news, it was like festive environment!

Then I went to tata memorial hospital, and the doctor told me that my relative which have been operated for Cancer, is OK and can go back to home, without any need of radiotherapy or chemotherapy!!

then...work went on very smoothly in office! returned home....and what a match win for India!! he he...:-) so, the day is ending well too!!

Merry X-Mas to all!

Have fun...enjoy!

general updates!

Quick updates on why being so late for posting new blogs!

1 - non availability of comp at home.
2. Non- availability of time

have been busy even on week ends....first, my relative's marraige related thigns were going on..went with them to Virar (first time after hearing about the place so much!)...full day went in that only. Next week end, they came to our relatives place and so, again full day went in catering to them! However, all is well when it ends well. So, the maraige is finalized and everyone is happy :-)

however, I ensured that I didnt miss palying badi on week ends...so made sure I woke up early and finished my quota of games before I had to leave for these arrangements.

After that another of my relative, who is in mumbai to get operated for cancer, arrived. Spent some time with him, donated blood for him and finally he has been operateed and god willin, should be fine. I m hopeful.

last week end, finally got some time to take rest ..and I took that time forcibly. Put some work to rest and slept ...seems sleep is going away from me. after so long time, I tried, but could not sleep much. Anyways, it was much needed small but refreshing sleep I had on sunday!

Next week end - seems will go in shoping and meeting the builder to resolve issues before my flat registration.

U ppl have fun!

What a special evening!

Last evening, was special one!

I booked a ticket to Jagjeet singh live concert. and boy, it turned out to be such a great show! The show started late and so I cud join before starting as I arrived 30 min late. but once the show started, it was like everyone tapping his/her foot continuously some of them rhyming with Jaggu da and one after another, hits kept coming out of Jaggu da's group.

there were only 6 ppl in his team...1 on guitar, one on baansuri, one on table, one on dholak, sitar and electric guitar each. All of them one by one, played so well that one was wondering if only one instrument was being played, or can a human really play it so well!

HE started with Sarfarosh fame "Hoshwalon ko khabar kya"..and then came ...one by one, jhuki jhuki si najar, aapko - dekh kar dekhata rah gaya, chitthi na koi sandesh...and so on!! ppl were simply mesmerised to say the least..a lot of them tapping their feet naturally!

After 2 hours of continuous singing, when he was tired, he simply made the whole audience sing for him....two songs (tum itna jo muskura rahe ho and hothon se chhu lo tum ) and promptly used signs from his hand to remind ppl of line and everyone was following him like in a trance. Even me, who generally like to keep silnet, was singing..all ppl, more than 3000, were singing and singing seriously, in sync...without any practice...just because of his mastery on how to deal with audience...in fat ppl were so impressed by his hand signals that they clapped a lot on his signals !!!!

and what was most surprising was his sense of humour ....mind blowing to say the least...he hardly said more than 15-20 words..but that made us simle at least 15-20 times ...! just a word..or a movement...at the right time...unexpected! but having the same result....audience ending up in big roar of laughter!

Before closing..one more observation. In this age when ppl think gajal is dying, one needed to b thr to see...most of the audience was young, enjoying as well as appreciating!!

Jai ho jaggu da...keep gajal gayaki alive!

PS: I recorded the songs till my cell got discharged!

Wedding of North Indian Mulga and Marathi Mulgi!

Wedding of North Indian Mulga and Marathi Mulgi!

Last Sunday, I went to pune to attend wedding of VP and Gargi! And god what fun it was! I enjoyed the twists and turns things, which by the way started right when I left Mumbai!

When I went to take my Volvo ticket, I got one immediately and bus also came on time. For the first time I was able to leave within 5 min and was happy to save time! But my happiness was short lived, as bus became very hot and suffocating! Ac stopped working and after 45 minutes of traveling like this, travelers created hue and cry, leading to call for a new bus!!

Anyways, I reached there, went to VPs home. Now he is from Lucknow and generally north Indian weddings are full of people. However, pune being so far, only close family members were there. So for “Janeu”, when the pandit called for five male members, there were only 4 J aunty got a bit emotional saying “hamare yahaan shaadi me 500 logon ko koi nahi poochhata, yahaan 5 ki kami hai!” finally I was asked to join and rasm was completed duly!

Then came “Kuan Pujai” where ppl go to a well to worship it. So, after discussions, a “well” was to be made outside home. VP’s jija ji did the hard work, using “kitchen knife” and “kalchhi” J he he…it was so much fun to watch him doing that using kitchen knife J (I have the snaps, but cant upload right now, shall do it later). Finally ek kuaan bana, jise dhoondhana padta tha gaur se taaki vo dikh jaye….and vo kuaan itna bada tha ki spoon se paani bhara ja sakta tha J he he !!

But god had different plans, and in Mid Nov, it started raining! And so it was all water everywhere !! har jagah kuaan hi kuaan dikh raha tha J so, we could use that for kuaan pujai. During this time, the driver of the car which to be used by VP, was slipping in the car, with AC on. Result – Battery went down, and in the rain, dhakka dene ki jarrorat aa gayi. By that time everyone was already ready, except me J so I volunteered and tried hard..but cud not do it alone. I was joined by another frnd of VP who arrived just then. We were enjoying the whole episode, but in the end, car didn’t start. So immediately another car was arranged. An “Audi” was sent by sayaji hotel and so VP enjoyed the luxary of Audi in his marriage J

However, marriage was planned in open area, and rain resulted in all the samaan being shifted to a small hall and a corridor was used in the hotel J it was so cute and funny. Sayaji being a five star hotel, many foreigners were there and when they saw the corridor being used for Indian wedding, a lot of curious eyes started surrounding us J

We enjoyed meeting a lot of people from my old Infosys days. Meeting them was so fun. Met Ketan also, my project manager in Infosys. Food was good. We all made a group and did some masti with the big greetings card I had bought for VP and Gargi! I hope, both of them would like it!

Anyways….a fully fun filled day!

Note: Would be interesting to know Raj Thakarey’s view on bhaiya log wedding marathi mulgi!! I guess, he would ask for preference of marathi boy for local girls J he he ..just kidding!

Namak Ishaq Ka

Today, yours truly went to Rekha Bhardwaj Show. To the uninformed, she is a sufi singer, wife of Vishal Bhardwaj (Omkara, Kamine Fame) and singer of hits like Namak Ishaq ka and Sasural Genda Phool. This was her first live show!! It was at Bandra Fort and the ambiance was truly amazing. The atmosphere was electric and I got to view the Bandra Worli sea link live for the first time! Amazing view it was!

The show started with Bhanvari Devi, the famous Rajasthani fol singer, singing folk song. Music truly has no language. She sings in Rajasthani with ghoonghat. So u neither understand the lyrics, nor can see the face, but still end up enjoying it and tapping ur feet. She ended up with Nimbooda Nimbooda song!!

In came Rekha Bhardwaj!! And came celebrities...Rakesh Omprakah Mehra, Naseeruddin Shah and of course Vishal Bhardwaj!
Vishal was called on stage, and his one liner was ..he is getting jealeous, as he never got so many ppl to come to his show!! till then, the lights was off in audience section. It was switched on to show huge audience (more than 4000 I guess), and in came Vishal's quick add-on statement - u ppl r making me more jealeous :-)
On this laughing note, the show started! With lyrics by Gulzar, Music by Vishal Bhardwaj ...and her so apt voice for sufi songs....one could just shut his/her eyes, and could FEEL the relaxing effect of the songs!! one after another, pure sufi songs came, with strong music! Roshani was accompined with actual roshani from crackers..while on the great ambiance, she specifically sang "raat ki jogan".
One break came, during which the instrument players on the stage entertained us to the hilt. Each one of them got so much of appluase from audience as if A R Rehman has sung Jai Ho on stage!
And after the small break came hit songs from Rekha. She sang genda fool first, and audience was like tapping their feet...then came namak ishq ka...and it was mind blowing...surprisingly, this was enjoyed more by girls and ladies with whistles!! and then, to close it, on audience demand, came the sufi hit song, dama dam mast kalandar!!

I enjoyed it max! Made my evening and the day!! Would recommend u to listen her Ishaqa Ishaqa, if u like Vishal's music!

Ghar ka Khana

Well, every good thing comes to an end very soon, and so did my stay at home! but god, this time I enjoyed it sooooo much I cant put it in words! With both uncles and their complete family and both Mausi and their complete family, home was like always full on fun, children playing around in every room, lot of sound, things breaking, lot of stuff to eat, someone always needing something, someone always going to shop.....so happening time it was!

Aur in sab ke beech, ghar ka yummy-yummy khana....just take a sample of what all I ate during a brunch ....mind you, this was only one time and I not giving list of items I ate in full week!!

Rice
Poori
Jhinga Machhali (Prawn)
Parval Ki sabji
Alu Gobi ki Sabji
Gobi ke Pakode
Aloo ke pakode
Parval Ke pakode
Pyaj Ke pakode
Chhath ka prasad
Dahi
Kadi
Chatani
Achar

And...itna kuchh khane ke baad, when u r continuously burping, u get to listen....kuchh nahi khata hai ye!!! Mothers are always like that :-) thank god!! This statement filled with love is like final sweet after the dish!

Going Home!!

Well, the long wait is going to be over soon. Tomorrow night I leave for my home, shall reach home no 24th (assuming everything goes well, these days, u never know when a train in india meets with an accident!), just in time for Chhath pooja (for those not knowing abt it, its the biggest festival in Bihar - we worship Sun, and people are on 3 day fast during this period.

I am being so nostalgic that I am not feeling like working! It has been long since I went home. Last time I went was in my sis wedding. But then I was so busy with wedding managemet that didnt spend time with anyone properly. This time, the plan is to fully relax and take rest.

However, on 30th, ghar pe badi pooja hai, and I know I need to work a lot to make it happen smoothly. Also, on 31st, I plan to get the packing done for mummy. She will be shifting to Gaya, due to papa's transfer. And then on 1st Nov, I will be on my way back! So last part of the holiday is anyways going to be busy!

Still, I am goign to enjoy Chhath pooja (for the first time we will have it in samstipur town, rather than in village), guria and both uncles and their family is going to be there...so will have a lot of fun :-) and then have already told mummy to get a lot of dishes made for me :) yummy.....ghar ka khana....I just wish i cud have flown there right now!

Sayonara...till I m back!

What a different Diwali it has been!

Happy Diwali to you all!

Well, for a change, due to demands of situation, I was alone at home in Mumbai this Diwali! And this led to such a different Diwali this time!

For a change, even on Diwali, I was sleeping very late, till someone pressed call-bell! Once awake, it took some time to realize how much work was to be done! So, it started with house cleaning, including pochha lagana J then, sicne cooking gas cylinder was empty, went to arrange for one and finally managed to get at 12:15pm.

By this time, I was hungry like anything, but at least on Diwali, thought of taking a bth, doing pooja and then only having food. Pooja reminded me that I was yet to take Lakshmi-Ganesh moorti J my god….so I ran again to the market and bought silver idols (my god – silver prices have almost doubled since last year!!!)! Along with it, bought Diya, batti, oil, flowers, laddooooooo, ….! Thanks to sugar prices, this year laddooo is selling at approx 200/KG !

Back to home…..cleaned some clothes….and then suddenly, slept without realizing….!! When I awoke, saw many Happy Diwali messages and missed calls! By the time I finished responding to each of them, it was already starting to be dark!

Hurriedly, I arranged the diyas, batti daali, then oil dala…phir took small paper pieces, on which I put the diya in every corner of the home! This part I quite like…..when u lit up all of them, it looks so divine and so attractive! Then did pooja, and uske baad, took some snaps!!

Since then, have been refilling oil in all diyas….!! 9pm and I felt hungry…so cooked Maggie (thank god I got the cylinder today!!)….and on Diwali, ended up having self-made Maggie!!!! He he he J phir, mithaiyaan, jo main laya tha,….had few of them….. My neighbor came, to say happy diwali and good bye! They are going to Goa. Hurriedly, I served them sweet in the sweet box only!! And now….sitting here, enjoying the lighting and hoping for the noise of crackers to go down after 10pm, I am writing my blog! Truly, this has been a different Diwali!

Nobel & Obama!

In one swift & unexpected move, the Nobel peace prize was announced for Obama and most of the intellectual class has been caught asking question in disbelief! Let me clarify on the very onset that I am also an Obama supporter and has nothing personal against him. However, he has just started his stint and is yet to prove his worth in the area of world peace! Not even 1 year of his presidency yet and mostly he has been working on the economic problems being faced in US. One needs to see his initiatives, their implementation and their results in the long run, to decide if he is actually deserving of this.

What’s more surprising that he was nominated even when he had hardly become president, not even completed his 1 month of presidency. So on what basis the nomination was done? Certainly, in the very first month of his presidency, he had not completed any long term peace initiative, forget anything else.

Also to note is:

1. His nomination was hardly 10 days into his presidency
2. His nomination was apparently opposed by 3 out of five jury members
3. He himself believes that he does not deserve it (as reported in newspapers about his email to his college friend in India)
4. He has increased US force strength in Afganistan – does it indicate peace related move?

One is forced to feel like two great brands – Obama and Nobel prize – Has lost something very basic – Credibility! Due to this un-justifiable (in my personal view) move, across the globe, people are still in disbelief, and blogosphere is full of such stories!

Some obvious Ramifications

This has some ramifications also.

• In future, what if US goes to some war under his presidency?
• If US for some reason need to take any offensive, will the nobel prize become a deterrent for such action sactioning in Obama’s mind to take the corrective action?
• It gives easy way out for the critics to find out loop-holes in arguably the most reputed prize on the earth! In future, other winners, may also be doubted unnecessarily due to this incident.

Is it possible?

Some thoughts have cropped in my mind. Why is it so that such unfair treatment favor always go to countries like US/UK and Australia? It never happens to India or China or SA? This also makes me think, that is it possible, that to draw the attention of the US public in general away from the difficulties of recession and failed economy and job losses, US govt somehow managed to get it done??? These are thought without any evidence, but practically it is possible. If the US govt wants, they have enough power to influence even the nobel committee.

Finally, I just wish that OBama says no to the prize before receiving it actually. This will save his grace at least and give a route for the nobel to announce some other deserving winner and get back its aura!!

Oddly Funny! - Indian Politics

With elections so near in Maharastra, everywhere the election fever is high and temp is moving up only! Today, I read some news items related to some odd happenings in and due to elections and that led me to think how complex the Indian politics is and no matter what, so many odd things keep happening. I have mention some of them that quickly comes to my mind, and these are intended to read from the view point of “odd-ity” and then laugh out at it :)

• Election symbols – I have seem everything that can come to your mind as a symbol of parties and/or independent ones. It varies so much that no brain in the world can define any category for them. Add to this, one more fact, that some of these are used by more than 1 parties!! So if u vote for a bicycle, in one state u may b voting SP but in another u may be voting TDP!

Some examples are: Coconut, Needle, Cycle (For SP as well as TDP, same symbol!!), Charkha, Hand, Lotus, Elephant, Flag, Arrow, Lantern, Shankh, Lady Farmer Carrying paddy on her head, Seedhi (Ladder), Lion, Murga (cock), Hand-pump, Rising Sun, Pen, Star, Whistle, Spectacles, Plough, Telephone, Bow and Arrow, two leaves, scales, umbrella, flowers and grass…the "diverse" list goes on.

• Madhu Koda became the CM of Jharkhand. He was an independent candidate, without any support or party! Only in India you can have a single independent become a CM while parties with 25-30 MLAs not able to get CM post!

• Uddhav Thakre – in his rally yesterday, ended up appealing to his voters to vote for NCP-Congress!!! Can you believe this!!! In Maharastra, the fight is between BJP-Shiv Sena and NCP-Congress!! But Uddhav said to supporters, you are not happy with Shivsena-BJP then you vote for NCP-Congress, but don’t vote for MNS!

• Coming to MNS – The party is fighting on issues like Marathi people should get reservation in jobs and marathi should be spoken as main language in maharastra etc. But newspapers report that he has outsourced his election tele-calling to AP !! And then, he got his advertising pamphlets ets printed in Hindi, Gujrati, Telgu and what not!!

• Congress and Trinmool (TMC) are together in central govt. They recently fought municipal elections against Left in WB, but after election, congress, which fought with TMC against Left, has formed Municipal corporation board with Left, against TMC  ha ha ha…..it’s so funny!! Now Mamta is taking this “breach of trust” issue to public to vote against congress, but still she is supporting congress at center!

• Lalu, Mayavati, Mulayam, Nayaran Rane, Jayalalita, Chand Mohammad (Haryana Dy-CM who changed religion, remarried, divorced, again changed religion…and the saga is still going on!), Mamta, Karat, V. S. Achuthanandan (Kerala CM, who himself officially works against party official line on his adversary, and still is CM!!), Modi, Jagdish Tytler, Padam Sinh Patil (currently under arrest by CBI),..the list is already so long, and we have just started! - Only India politics can have such diverse characters and only Indian Politics can tolerate and accommodate all of them simultaneously!!!


Seriously, I just kept thinking about these oddly funny things and laughed out loud on these!!

Would love to have your comments on this topic!!

Have a good day!

Happy Dushehra to you all!!

Its just a coincidence that after my first blog on Ganesh Pooja, 2nd is coming on the eve of Durga Pooja! much delayed....!

Today, suddenly has been a good day and I thought why not share it wish u all. So....a sunday, plus a holiday of durga pooja (making it extended week end)...one would think that saturday I would have enjoyed India-Pak match. Well I did not. I slept early....and woke up early...to go and play badminton (after my long search for a badminton partner in mumbai - finally I found one colegue of mine who is willing and interested!!)...got ready, got instructions on phone from my friend how to reach the venue.....and finally, I got to play Badi which I love so very much! 3 sets (after a gap of 3 years I guess)...2 wins and a close loss! Well not a bad beginning, considering that we lost to one of the best players in the colony, who perhaps coaches other players. All the drop-shots, smashes and the hits and misses made it so very interesting that one wanted to continue for long. But then the court was wooden flooring and only non-marking soles shoes were allowed, which I did not know. So I had to play bare foot, ending up with blisters in both toes! So had to stop after 3 sets.

But then, both me and my collegue headed to swimming pool. I spent time just relaxing in the pool and learnign to swim! Completed half lap!

Today is the b'day of my my friend Amar! Had sent him some surprise (could not visit him personlly)...and boy, he was delighted!! It's such a pleasure to c so much of true happiness on the faces of ur near and dear ones!

Came back to home...and ..oh, sorry, forgot to tell u the context here.....I have been on "falahar (fruit diet only)" for last 8 days in Navratri....so I came back...and ate like I was hungry for years....god, the same food tasted so very delicious!! I ate so much that suddenly I realised that I was feeling very uncomfortable and I didnt have space in my stomach for even water!! SO, rested on bed for a long time. Well, I was invited for dinner by one of my best friends Akshita and so I had to leave, while I was thinking that I will sleep after having so much of food. To get over the lazy feeling and avoid sleeping, I started my Onkyo on high volume, enjoyed and even in that high volume, I slept!!! ha ha...Suddenly light went, silence came..and the end of sound ended up waking me!!! sounds so crazy..but true!

I woke up, hurried to bus stand to get the AC bus...and I was lucky, as this time, the bus was just about to start (before today, everytime I ended up waiting for more than 20 min at least). No taffic led to me reaching from Mulund to Kandivali in less than 1 hr! Boss - in mumbai, thats a blessing! Plus, the bus was playing FM, and the channel was like playing one after other of my all time favorites..so much so that I was wondering this can not be a coincidence that at least 9-10 songs of my choices were played continuously!

Finally - Reached Akshu's home - and we all (Akshu, her bro Monu, Her Husband Maharnav and me) went to have "Gol-gappe"..or say pani puri in mumbai ka language!! We had so much of fun..this was like north indian tasting, not the gujju tasting gol-gappe. So we thought we will have more once our stomach allows that. Then went to Cafe coffee day! had fun there...then went to park...and enjoyed the "luxury" of park in mumbai! watched stars and we discussed how long it has been since we watched stars in mumbai! crazy lifestyle it has been! We came back, and had one more round of gol-gappe!! yummyyyyy!!

Vapas, Akshu ke ghar..and we ended up watching outlander...more than the movie...the bakar was fun! at dinner, not knowingly, Akshita made Kadi...my favorite!! even when I didnt want to eat...I ended up eating so much!!

And Now, just now I got a mail from my friend....his marraige is fixed....so ended the day with one more good news...!!

So - today has been great! meeting up with friends....sports, swimming, friends b'day, food, very good music, good commutation experience in mumbai (thats so rare!!), gol-gappe, CCD, phir se gol-gappe....and then, in the end, great food and good news of frnds marraige!!
It could not have been a better ending of dusehra! Thanks to Akshita and Dhyanesh (my collegue) for making it great!

Enjoy! Have fun!

Om Ganeshay Namah: Ganesh versus Ganesha!

Pichhale kuchh dino se main soch raha tha ki apna blog likhana start karoon…..koi specific reason nahi tha, lekin phir bhi, ye thought mind me aa raha tha. Aaj, iski shuruaat ho gayi …matlab mere blog ka “Om Ganeshay Namah” ho gaya :-)

We all know, what it means to start something and how it is done in India – you always begin by worshipping Lord Ganesh! In Indian villages, to start is to do “Om Ganeshay Namah”…….. something like “thandha matlab coca-cola”

Vaise, is blog ka Ganesh ji ke saath kafi gahra talluk hai….sabse pahle to ye, ki mere jaisa aalsi aadmi ne, jo itne samay se blog likhane ki soch raha tha, aaj achanak se kaise actually start kar diya? Credit goes to FM Radio!!! Now, how these are connected – My blog, Ganesh ji and radio FM!!! Sounds crazy na!

This year, somehow I have listened to songs on FM Radio a lot, especially due to “Dhan-te-Nan” from Kaminey. As a side effect, I have been constantly listening to what is happening in Mumbai during Ganesh-Utsav. What appeared very “odd” (to say) to me was constant referring to Him as “Ganesha” and not “Ganesh”. No matter what, weather the RJ was talking in english, hindi (most of the time!) or Marathi, but they always pronounced “Ganesha”…….and listening it so many times, even in hindi (at least in English, we have been referring “Ram” as “Rama” and so now it does not sound so “odd”), made me thinking. Over the fast few years, I have noticed a change even within the friend circle ..they now use “Rama”, “Hanumana”, “Krishnaa” (not Krishn), “Ganesha”, whereas they know it very well that this last “a” is neither required nor correct! Not at least as per Hindi literature or grammer! We have been listening to all these lords' names since childhood and these have been so ingrained in our minds that now listening to their deformed names/pronunciations feels like someone is calling name of your family members wrongly! Its like, you wont even notice change in name for not so close person, but say the name of your brother is “Ratish” and then you suddenly feel like everyone else is calling him “Ratisha”!!!

Is this my feeling only and all others are comfortable? Or is it so that there are many others who feel like me? So, what should I do? Should I just keep my uncomfortable feeling with me, or discuss with few friends? I thought, this is the best way to put my thoughts out. Not only blogs are meant for that, but also, being Ganesh Puja time, this is also the right time to do “Om Ganeshay Namah” of my blog J as well as perhaps this is the right time to discuss about Ganesh ji :-) So here it is – my first blog!

There are some other points too, which I would like my friends and readers to give a thought to……

Point no 1

Everyone in Mumbai says “Ganpati Bappa Morya”…but I sincerely don’t know what Morya means!! And I decided to find out….when I asked some others…no one was able to answer! They just thought its like a slogan! Do you know the meaning? Take a guess what it means and let me know! Though by now I have come to know what it means!

Point no 2

Aaj kal, Mumbai me kahin bhi dekho, Ganpati jaroor dikhate hain. Lekin, broadly ek type of difference notice kiya ja sakta hai. Kuchh cases me log Ganpati ko apni car me le kar ja rahe hote hain (mostly in high profile areas), following traffic rules, without any gana-bajana. Doosre type me – log rickshaw se le kar truck tak pe le kar ja rahe hote hain, poori toil (ya family and society) saath me naachate gaate dhoom machete, traffic jam lagate ja rahe hote hain :-) to me, both shows 2 sides of Mumbai! First shows the intellect and respect for others convenience, while the second shows the true enjoying spirit of comoon mumbaikar! In fact, the 2^nd type also shows that constantly diminishing society values of living and enjoying life together …….that strong community bonding that is vanishing in modern life style slowly.

Point no 3

Is baar Ganapati me main eek aur cheej notice ki hai. Kuchh clubs/societies ke liye ye complete commercialization and status symbol ho gaya hai ……lakhs are spent which could have been much better utilized for the betterment of many needy ppl…..stars are paid and invited….kahin vidya balan to kahin sunil shetty aate hain….and it is rumoured that all those are paid heavily because once a star visits a mandal, then it’s a hit as it gets visibility! So mych so that some of the mandals have given exclusive rights to some particular radio channels! Think of it, you can not know more about or listen the aarti from any other channel except one! Why? Listeners of other channels are not true devotees? Some of the pandals are reportedly using more than 50 kg of Gold and more than 200 Kg of silver ornaments! And then police is forced to provide security to the mandal rather than focussing on common man who is bearing the brunt of ever increasing crime in Mumbai (recently Maharastra ranked no 1 in crime)

Point No 4

Ganesh puja is truely celebrated with so much enthusiasm in Mumbai that it is unmatchable by any standard. So much so that the all prevailing "panic-demic" swine - flu fear and precautions have also been put to back burner completely.

With all the thoughts roaming in my mind, it was bound to come out and so finally on Ganesh Puja day, my blog is out, with point of discussion being the almightily elephant god “Ganesh” ! All said and done, no other god is worshipped in Mumbai as much as Ganesh is. Today, on the roads, everywhere you would find children, girls, women, men, everyone, dancing and pouring their hearts out in passion, devotion, joy…! I found Muslims, Sikhs, Christens, Jains, Marathi, Bihari, UPites, South Indians …..everyone in the Ganesh Puja being equally active and enjoying! If you want to see Mumbai spirit, this is it – to enjoy, against all odds, with all religions. Let people like Raj Thakare and Parties like Shiv Sena learn from common public of Mumbai!! Jai Ganesh!