Glorious May days in Bombay

Some people hate this month complaining about the humidity and the heat, but I love Bombay in May. How wonderful is it to have roads free of school buses and cars and rickshaws ferrying kids to and from school. It is so much easier to get from one place to another in May that I almost wish that more parents sent their children to boarding school.

This May has been particularly beautiful with the sea breeze regulating temperatures throughout the day. I love the freshness of the evenings. Ice creams at Naturals, aam pannas, delcious mangoes from Ratnagiri, late sunsets, beautiful evenings. Yes, the rains are just a couple of weeks away and then this city and Andheri in particular will turn into a gigantic mess.


Thankfully, there is still some more time to enjoy this wonderful month.

Could this be the Russian answer to Kolaveri Di?

An anonymous Live Journal send me the link to this video. I initially thought the email was spam but when I clicked on the link, I realised that this is really a cute Russian rap song that pokes fun at Siberians the way Kolaveri Di does at Tamilians.

I can't stop laughing each time I watch this video.

Sibirskaya Zima

The writing is on the wall for Kingfisher

In December when the media was on a frenzy over the imminent collapse of Kingfisher Airlines, I still flew on the 'King of Good Times' a few times and noticed that their service and food was excellent. I appreciated the professionalism of the crew and how the flights were on time.

A few months later, using a free flight to Chandigarh, I was on an erstwhile Deccan aircraft and all they served on a 2 hour 15 minute flight was a stale sandwich and a bottle of water. The crew looked demorialised and there was an air of bankruptcy on board.

Again on a Delhi-Bombay flight as my companion was flying free, the signs were visible. Sure, there were monitors with GPS on the seats, but the food served was indeed the same stale sandwich and they had no inflight entertainment. No headphone set that they would later collect.

It looks like Vijay Mallya's airline is on its deathbed and will close down anytime. What a tragedy for what was a 5-star airline and the best in India!!

Images from Naggar

You can see all the images from Himachal here

Bad Apples in the Kullu Valley

No place on earth would be complete without its own set of idiots and good-for-nothings. Naggar is no exception to this rule. The village, which is one of the safest in India, was witness to a mugging! That's right, a western-style mugging.

A Russian artist was walking to her guesthouse around 10 pm, when three people attempted to snatch her bag with a laptop. She tried to resist but they pulled it away and made a dash. The fear of getting beaten up, stopped her from chasing them. Since it was already late, there were no people on the streets to help her.

The artist went to the police station to file a complaint and the "efficient" cops managed to find one of the trio. She told them that all she wanted was her laptop back, since it had several of her designs. The cops then said, they wouldn't file an FIR but could arrest the guy.. Funny logic, isn't it?

She gave the criminal 2 days to return the laptop, but the man denied being part of the mugging. So smug is this criminal that he went and told others in the village that he is just a petty thief. He only steals shoes and jackets and small things. Not laptops and expensive products! The man in his early-20s is known to befriend foreigners to get a drink or smoke. This was the first ever incident of its kind in this Himalayan Hamlet.

When I spoke to the owner of the guesthouse, where the artist stayed, he told me that the police would act in a way that they filed a FIR and follow up the case. When I said that such "comedy" was unacceptable, he insisted that the cops would find the laptop as soon as it was put on sale!! When I told him that the criminals may have sent it down to Chandigarh, the man told me to go ahead with the FIR.

The artist, who didn't want the criminal to be tortured in lock-up, then proceeded to file the FIR since this young man was being extremely smug. I think the villagers of Naggar should teach their "petty thieves" a lesson. Socially boycott the family (who rushed to defend the criminal) and stigmatise the thieves in other ways. Naggar will lose its only source of livelihood if tourists stop visiting.