Beautiful sunrises

One of the best things about leaving the house by 7:00 am 3 days a week is the opportunity to catch some beautiful sunrises. I see gigantic crimson sunrises over the domestic airport when the train is between Vile Parle and Santa Cruz. When I see these lovely sunrises, I realise how this planet was before human beings decided to build ugly buildings, pollute and throw garbage all over the place.

Then there's the fresh air in the green university campus in Kalina. The gigantic bats are asleep on the trees and there's an unbelievable serenity as I walk from the main gate to the lecture complex. These are the kind of things that put me in the absolute best of moods early in the morning. 

Typical foreigner frustration at doing business in India

If you look around these days in any part of Bombay, you will see foreigners. It's not just the Europeans and North Americans anymore. You see East Asians, Africans and Latin Americans who can blend in easier than others.

There are many opportunities in this city and places like Bangalore and it's nice to see diversity but it's quite amusing reading rants about what some of these people think of life here. I point you out to a blog written by my friend using an analogy about the Mumbai Marathon and doing business in India.

http://indische-wirtschaft.de/?p=823

You'd read views here, which wouldn't be said in English given that they would offend Indians. But alas, there are those in India who can understand the languages of foreigners in a way that they would never understand ours.

My friend, the author talking about doing business and running a marathon in India says, "Beides ist in Indien härter als in Europa, weil die externen Verhältnisse viel extremer sind: Hitze, Luftverschmutzung, mangelnde Verpflegung beim Marathon beziehungsweise Wettbewerb, Bürokratie, Ressourcen-Zugang und Korruption im Geschäft)"  


That would translate as both are more difficult in India because of more extreme external conditions like heat, air pollution, bureaucracy, lack of food during the marathon, corruption in business.


These factors that don't stop these pioneers from coming to India to make money. The torch-bearers of civilization become more local than the Indians when it comes to getting things done.

This one riles me the most.

"Trotz professionellen Top-Managements, hat man doch immer wieder mit inkompetenten Hilfskräften zu tun, die keine Ahnung haben"

The author says despite  professional top management, you have to keep repeating things to get things done from incompetent support staff whom he calls clueless. 


A few weeks ago, I met a photographer from Vienna who is heavily in debt in Austria and works for a magazine on its last legs. She's here to live the life equivalent of a British Raj officer and has the same usual racist complaints about local men. 


She says they all look at her as a white chick, a commodity. She even has issues with her assistant. who she claims hits on her. Funny enough she shares a flat with her assistant as a paying guest. And the assistant is proud of hanging out with drug addicts and assorted spoilt brats. Maybe the Austrians haven't heard the proverb that "birds of a feather flock together."

The point is that you can't pay peanuts and get decent talent. Not in Europe and not in India.

It's amazing how so many European economies are on the verge of collapse and are floating because of IMF bailouts. Unemployment is rampant in the continent and so is racism often institutionalized. I think many European countries realise that they have major issues sans their colonies. How can you stay rich, when you can't exploit people in Africa and Asia? 


Going back to my friend who wrote this piece, he's an adorable young man with some nice ideas and I wouldn't like to say anything bad about him. But I am sure that he enjoys the security of the German language to express his true views on India, a country to which he has tied his financial fortunes to. 


All I can tell my foreign friends is, if you can't take the heat, leave the kitchen

Dhobi Ghat

I am not much into film reviews per say but I was moved enough by Dhobi Ghat to write down my thoughts. Without question, I can say that this was a very-well made film and most things that bear the stamp of Aamir Khan are of high quality.

Dhobi Ghat tracks the lives of four people in this maddening megapolis, a rich Indian girl from America on a sabbatical, a dhobi (washerman), an artist and a young women from UP, who is married to a man working in the city. This movie shows Bombay the way it is. The monsoon rains, Ganesh Chathurthi, Ramzan at Mohammed Ali Road, the trains, the slums, the rich parties, the spoilt brats, the headache that comes with changing flats.

If ever there was a mirror of life in this city,  it is this film. It made me realise how much I love and hate my hometown at the very same time. Prateik who played the Dhobi was by far the star of the show and I wish that young and talented actor a great career.

On another note, I would like to clear a misconception in many parts of the world that slum-dwellers in the city are lazy, dirty, thieving criminals. Nothing could be farther from the truth. While I don't deny that these kind of elements do live in the slums, a large number of people who live there work several jobs just to make ends meet. They send their children to school and have a dignity and attitude to life that should shame the lot of us "privileged" folks.

Here's a salute to the people, without whom, this city would collapse. Yes, it's the government that has failed you by not being to create a decent and affordable living environment. 

My Theme Song

Go the Distance by Michael Bolton

I have often dreamed, of a far off place
Where a hero's welcome, would be waiting for me
Where the crowds will cheer, when they see my face
And a voice keeps saying, this is where I'm meant to be

I'll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way, if I can be strong
I know ev'ry mile, will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong

Down an unknown road, to embrace my fate
Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you
And a thousand years, would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime, but somehow I'll see it through


And I won't look back, I can go the distance
And I'll stay on track, no, I won't accept defeat
It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope
Till I go the distance, and my journey is complete


But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero's strength is measured by his heart


Like a shooting star, I will go the distance
I will search the world, I will face its harms
I don't care how far, i can go the distance
Till I find my hero's welcome, waiting in your arms


I will search the world, I will face its harms
Till I find my hero's welcome, waiting in your arms

Back to my first love

When I rid my body of this viral fever, cold, assorted pains and weakness, I am going back to my first love: basketball. I love hoops. I can play basketball for hours without feeling even slightly tired and I am lucky enough to have a decent court at the Andheri YMCA.

Growing up in Queens, New York, in the late 1980s, I used to spend my entire Saturday at a basketball court pretending to be John Starks or Patrick Ewing. I definitely had more of a John Starks kind of game and loved playing tenacious defense.

The Andheri YMCA is a wonderful place to play and I love looking up at the trees after posting a lay-up. The 3 on 3 games that go on there are as brutal and warlike as my games with the homies in Flushing. I can get in a good  two hours of hoops everyday as soon as I am fit. That might keep the weight off my body over the next few months.

Here's a wonderful tribute to John Starks, my childhood idol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRVr10i28Kw

More from the Secret Scrolls

"So often when things change in our lives, we have such a resistance to the change. This is because when people see a big change appearing they are often fearful that it is something bad. But it is important to remember that when something big changes in our lives, it means something better is coming. There cannot be a vacuum in the Universe, and so as something moves out, something must come in and replace it. When change comes, relax, have total faith, and know that the change is ALL GOOD.

Something more magnificent is coming to you!" 

Rhonda Byrne 

Mumbai Marathon 2011- A Great Moral Victory

Suffering from bronchitis and a fever, I was unsure until this morning whether I should run the marathon. I decided to turn up and at least feel the excitement of the start, even if that meant running for just a few kilometres. But when I saw the beautiful Victoria Terminus illuminated early morning, the adrenaline rush was strong enough for me to give this a real go.

The organizers got almost everything right and they did a magnificent job. It was amazing seeing lights of Marine Drive switch off in the morning as I ran past the best stretch of the city. Bombayites turned up in large numbers to cheer the runners and I am soo grateful to those folks that encouraged me as I struggled. Special mention to the audience on Marine Drive, Pedder Road, Worli Sea Face and ESPECIALLY Caddell Road. On the Worli Sea Face, which I crossed twice, angels disguised as children were volunteers, who handed us water.

Despite being in the unbelievable discomfort I managed to be on track until I reached the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. It takes 7 minutes by car and an eternity to run. By the time I was on the bridge, the sun was at its worst and many runners were cramping. The organisers should have had more people on the bridge or better yet, next year avoid that as a place to run on.

I had completed 32 kilometres in 4 hours and crossed over into Worli when the sun was just too strong and I would not have been able to survive the climb after Haji Ali. So, after giving it my all for those 4 hours, I just could not go on longer. But for the first time in my life, I realised what a moral victory is. Against all odds, I gave it my all and was within 10 kilometres of finishing. If this run was in a cooler place, I would have able to
follow through but the Bombay Sun was 1 obstacle too many given what I was battling.

The media will carry stories about some celebrities doing the 6 km dream run and some models doing longer versions but the real heroes of the city were the ones I ran with. The 60-year old Aunty who was encouraging young men on the bridge to run. Scores of others who were cramped on the sea link but decided that nothing would stop them from crossing the finish line even if they had to walk on sidewalks after traffic was thrown open. YOU ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

I've been living on and off in my hometown for sometime now and very few times did I feel gratitude to the wonderful inhabitants of this city than I did today. Thank You Bombay. It's because of you that I gave it my all today.

Oh and this post would not be complete unless I thanked my best friend Suyash. He was the one who talked me out of running on after the 32 K mark. If Haji Ali didn't kill me, Pedder Road would have. Instead I recuperated in his flat off Worli Sea Face.

POSTSCRIPT


A day after writing about how well the marathon was organised, I was shocked and saddened to get a message from my friend Wolfgang. He absolutely set the roads of Bombay on fire with his running and was leading among the amateurs by a long way but the organisers at Worli Sea Face diverted him back towards Poddar Hospital instead of letting him go all the way ahead towards Haji Ali and he dropped out.

Wolfgang Bergthaler from Facebook

I gave up (leading the amateur's race) at km 32, after I was sent on a de-tour by the organisers. Thnx guys, but I was not interested to run 45km and lose 10 minutes!

Is it possible that the two girls who were accused of cheating were actually diverted the wrong way by the incompetent staff at the sea face?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/athletics/Top-two-Indian-female-finishers-in-Mumbai-Marathon-disqualified/articleshow/7298746.cms

Invictus

This is a wonderful poem by Victorian-era English poet William Ernest Henley. Nelson Mandela was inspired by this poem.

"Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."

Kudos to the Indian football team

I have to admit. Yesterday was the first time I saw an Indian football team play an international match. The inexperienced team, which is ranked 144th in the world, put up a good fight against Australia, the number 26 team in the world. The Aussies, who played in the 2010 World Cup, overpowered India and could have won by a bigger margin, if it weren't for Subrata Paul, the wonderful goalkeeper who plays for Pune FC.

Paul can showcase his skills to an international audience by playing well against Bahrain and South Korea. India (in my opinion) have a decent shot at beating Bahrain on Jan 14. The very fact that India qualified for this tournament was an achievement. There has long been talk about major reforms in Indian football. This is the same country that was 20 minutes away from reaching the final in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the same nation that reached an Asia Cup Final in Tel Aviv in the 1960s losing to the hosts (who at that time played under the Asian Federation). India also won a gold at the Jakarta Asian Games.

But over the last 40 years, corrupt politicians ruined the state of Indian football. One Priyaranjan Das Munshi controlled the federation for years and was in many responsible for the decline of the sport in India. This is 2011 and I see more kids playing football on the beach than cricket. There is a craze for European football leagues across India. This is the perfect time to reform Indian football and aim for a World Cup qualification in 2022.

If the best talent can be honed from now, India may just appear on the grand stage in Qatar in 11 years.

The Australian team was gracious in victory yesterday and here is a link to some of their comments.
http://www.rediff.com/sports/report/qatar-asian-cup-2011-despite-loss-indians-earn-respect-from-aussies/20110111.htm

Home gardens

Very few cities in the world have as much of a shortage of space as Bombay does. Most of us are cramped into our tiny apartments and have way too many things to fit in to the living space but there's one area that is under-utilised in this city: Balconies and window-sills. 

For whatever reason, people haven't realised the value of having mini-gardens at home. I was the beautiful botanical nursery at Bhavan's College, when I decided that I needed to have some all-season flowering plants on my window-sill and balcony to go along with medicinal plants and certain vegetables. Somewhere I read that Mexico City's residents have turned into farmers and grow a large quantity of food in their windows, terraces and balconies. 

So I take the plunge this week. I have to admit, I love turning to my right ever so often, when I am sitting here, to look at the beautiful violet and pink flowers on my window-sill. A stark reminder that the city was once a tropical paradise. 

My travel article on Ahmedabad on the Free Press Journal

Ajay Kamalakaran discovers that there is more to Ahmedabad than Textiles, Gujarathi Thalis and the Sabarmati Ashram

http://epaper.fpj.co.in/Details.aspx?id=5113&boxid=115724203

My Article on Social Activism on the Free Press Journal

This is the link to an article I wrote about how social marketing is a great tool for activists in India. I cited a few personal examples like the 'No Medals for Delhi Half-Marathon runner' on Facebook

Details

Another city, another world

There's a time of year when Bombay just ceases being Bombay or Mumbai. It's just the 3rd day of the year and most people are still on vacation. Schools are still shut. There's very little traffic on the roads, the air is clean and it's rather chilly (13 degrees at night is not the norm).

Spending a glorious Sunday afternoon in Bandra, which is by far the best suburb in the city, I couldn't help wonder what Bombay was like 30 or even 50 years ago. Bandra has traces of its laid back past. There are still many beautiful bungalows and cottages in leafy lanes. Most of the beautiful churches were built in the 19th century and the walls of convents and Catholic schools have witnessed a lot over time.

Bandra's Hill Road is nothing short of chaotic on a regular day. Add traffic, horns, heat, pollution and the likes and you've got the essence of Bombay but I think for just another few days, the tranquility may remain across Bandra and the rest of the city.