Autorickshaws of Mumbai

I am a three-wheeled wonder

Made for carrying only three passengers around.

My small and sweet stature

Converts every nook and crany to a highway for me.

I take pride in being windy, open and airy.

But during monsoons, you are surely in for a drench everytime.

Style and comfort have never been my priority.

Your convenience and money are all that matter to me.

I am yellow and black from the outside.

But my owners never fail to embellish me with unique designs.

My ability to speed through crowded streets

And my unique taut nature

Makes me the most preferred Indian public transport.

Bring me home to myself

The gentle breeze at Marine drive.

The spectacle of the setting sun.

The quiet of the Tea Centre with it’s soft ring of a bell.

Bring me home to myself.

But time has flown.

Things have changed.

My city works on new means of transport:

Bridges, metros and the monorail.

Distance between things has gotten smaller,

But the traffic, honking and pollution have taken a hike.

The lifeline of Mumbai, trains, are longer,

But the pouring crowds out of it haven’t.

The new purple or deep red air-conditioned buses promise a seat.

But honestly, it is all up to your luck.

Things change and time flies.

But the things that brought me home to myself still do.

The breeze, the sunset and the chai of the Tea Centre.

P.S.: To know more about the chai at Tea Centre click – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tea-Centre-Churchgate/182273921803829

Kenya Safari

Cleaning has always been my least favourite activity, this includes Diwali cleaning as well. However, this year, the cleaning process came bearing gifts. As I cleaned one of my dad’s rarely touched binocular case, I found the first ever travel article I have written. It is an essay which is almost 10 years old based on my very first international trip with my family to Kenya. The encounter is incomplete and was scribbled on a hotel notepad. However, the article is funny, simple and most importantly young at heart. Previously, I was going to rephrase it and share it with you like any other blog post I share. But upon further thought, I have changed my mind and am going to post it exactly the way it was originally written to safeguard the innocence in it. Please excuse the grammatical and punctuation errors in it.

“Our trip started on 11/11/2014 when we left early in the morning for our flight. It was a 7:00 am* flight. We reached there** about 2 hrs early to check in. It’s a long process. We had to fill lots and lots of forms & wherever we went our passports were asked for. By 6:45 am* we were seated in the plane. At 7:00 am* our plane left Mumbai airport. It was a 7 hrs flight. We were served breakfast and juices on the flight. We got down at Nairobi airport**** at about 11:00 am*#. Again we had to fill some more forms. Then we went to pick our luggage. For some time we couldn’t find our luggage, then there was a native who assisted us. Then we checked out and met a jolly fellow. I don’t recall his name. But I remember our driver’s name. He is named Mr. James. He was not at all that social with us. Then after a brief explanation of our tour we had lunch and started off to Masai Mara. We learnt a few things i.e the national language of the people here is ‘Swahili’ and here ‘Jambo’ means ‘hello’ and ‘Haribu’ means welcome. We had a long bumpy ride to Masai Mara. On the way we saw animals like Imphals and wild beasts. We even saw herds of Zebras, Cows, Sheep and Goats. We had dinner there at the hotel Fig Tree Camp*#* and soon went off to sleep.

The next day early morning we had breakfast and tea- coffee and we left for a game drive**#*. We saw the animals we saw the day before and we saw Lionesses. We also saw Hyenas. Later we got stuck in a ditch for about 2 hrs and were saved by some westerners who passed by. Soon after the westerners passed the ditch their car broke down. Then we went to help them. Soon two more cars came after the westerners left. Then we decided to go ahead and we did. But later we didn’t see any animals. We returned back our way to go to the hotel and we saw 4 or 3 Lionesses resting under a tree at about 50 mtrs away our car broke down again. By now we were tired of our car breaking down. But soon there was a car which came and we reached our hotel by lunch time. A new car was sent for. In the afternoon we slept in our tent**# with leaving the zip open for air. My dad says there had been a monkey in our tent who stole our mixed fruit juice and left the tent where he burst open our juice and split it all over the place. Many other monkeys also came to lick the juice. This was when my mother saw the monkeys and woke my dad who shooed them away.

Then went for a game drive**#*. This time we saw Giraffes we also saw a Lion and a Lioness mating. We saw Leopards, Crowned Storks and Ostriches. We were there at the hotel by dinner. We had a bath, packed our bags and went to sleep. The next morning we left for Lake Nakuru with a new car a driver named Mr. John. Mr. John was very slow at driving. First he took us to see the Masai village.

There we paid $40 to the Cheifs son and we saw the Masais dance. We saw them jump and heard their ladies sing. Then we were showed how they make fires and we were showed their homes”

This short recount is only of the first leg of our journey in Kenya. If my memory serves me right, my family and me visited the magnificent Lake Nakuru, the unique Mount Kenya Safari Lodge and the bustling city of Nairobi. The experience was unique in itself, perfect for a 14-year-old. It was my first step at an adventure (that I enjoyed). It opened me to the simplicity and beauty of nature. The trip introduced me to the variety of animals and most importantly helped me develop an eye for nature.

* – refers to Indian Standard Time.

** – refers to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, India.

*** – refers to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya.

*# – refers to East African Time.

*#* – is the name of the Hotel I stayed at with my family at Masai Mara.

**# – When at Masai Mara, we had rented two tents which were fully furnished and equipped with

all the necessary amenities. However, these tents had zips instead of doors.

**#* – refers to the activity of heading out to watch animals, birds, etc. in their natural habitat as a

part of the Kenyan Safari.

10 things you must follow if you are travelling to India

I am an Indian and I have a lot of friends who love to travel all over the world. Recently, some of my friends decided to visit India for the very first time and helping them plan their trip made me realize that I need to share some things that foreigners must be wary of when they visit India. This post is necessary to consider when travelling to India. It is basically focused on male travelers and in the wake of the recent cases of female rapes, harassment and so forth I would advise women to not travel to India without a male companion or should travel in a group. Now having said that, let me give you some tips;

1) India has great deal of poverty and thus many beggars  of all ages (literally infants to old people) can be seen on the streets. Please NEVER ENTERTAIN BEGGARS. As shown in “Slumdog Millionaire” begging is a big racket in the sidelines of major cities of India.

2) NEVER TRUST any body you are not previously acquainted with any of your belongings. They are easy traps for thefts. Actually NEVER LEAVE ANY OF YOUR BELONGINGS alone. Either keep the locked or with you within view.

3) Always carry enough CASH where ever you go as rural India may not always have ATMs or cashpoints. Also most of the payments are done through cash and using a CREDIT CARD or DEBIT CARD can incur exchange rate charges.

4) Always use SEALED BOTTLES OF MINERAL WATER. Locals in India also boil tap water twice before consuming it.

5) Public toilets are always filthy. So always carry TOILET PAPER ROLL, TISSUES, SOAP and other things that will ensure hygiene in the bathroom.

6) Try to learn basic HINDI words and sentences as this will make communication with the locals easier. Also speaking slowly and clearly can help improve communications and avoid confusion.

7) As being culturally bound, we Indians maintain a level of decorum in terms of dressing. Women are always covered in clothes and their scandalizing body parts are hidden. CLOTHES like transparent tops, bikinis, hot pants, short skirts and similar clothing can cause a major scandal if worn. It is advisable to wear clothes like ankle length or knee length jeans, skirts or trousers with long tops or Kurtas.

8) Despite taking a bunch of vaccines before coming to India, it is advisable that tourists always carry BUG SPRAY that suits them or they can always buy a tube of “Odomos” from a pharmacist in India.

9) Always check for EXPIRATION DATES of items before buying them, especially for any food items.

10) Finally, plan your trip well in advance and always reach stations, airports way ahead of time as TRAFFIC can delay tourists for hours at end.

Having followed these basic steps, any tourist can enjoy India to the fullest. Travelling in big groups instead of alone can be more fun as well as safer. My next post will focus on what women should keep in mind when travelling alone or in an all girl group to India. Till then Travel Safe!

Q

Recently, the alphabet Q has gained very high significance in my life. I am not changing my name nor am I in love with anything or anyone related to a Q. Nonetheless, the alphabet has gained a major spot in my life.

I am talking about the long queues every Mumbaikar, actually every Indian faces. The vast population that is either lazy, moody, or is an extreme rush to reach somewhere. These queues can be entertaining at times but normally they impart boredom with patience in a person.

Mumbai (or may be I am highly jinxed and have to face queues everywhere) has long queues for the smallest of things. There are queues for rickshaws, buses, trains, train tickets, vegetable vendors, ATMs and even for the loos. So if you need to pee you need to make sure its not urgent as it will always take a while. If you need to take a dump; then you need to make it quicker than 30 seconds as there’s a serpentine queue ahead.

However, unfortunate and time consuming these queues are they teach us patience. I, being the impatient person I am, have developed 10 % of patience in the last 6 months, which is very good progress. Another thing I observed these queues to teach us is discipline. Thanks to queues, we wait for our turn and you don’t have to jump onto something to get it. I believe, they represent civility and a sense of unsaid understanding that implies responsibility amongst citizens of a city. ( Something we do lack)

In the coming years, let’s hope these queues move faster towards elimination and help us save time so we reach our homes early. Till then stay queued!