Greeted with a smile!

Today I was late to Siddhivinayak Temple. Around 1 Hour Late. I reached there at 9:20AM IST.
This meant the day was a buzz with people wanting to reach work places.
This also meant that the share a cab that I usually take from Dadar (w) Rly station to Siddhivinayak was going to be like a prized win !!! Indeed, with stream of people wanting to reach temple earlier than the others and no queue management, there were fights all over the place, among devotees, among the cab drivers, and among the hawkers trying to sell their wares.........

It took me around 15min of struggle and battling with other devotees before i managed to creep into a taxi.

Unfortunately for me today cabbie took me to the temple in a different way than the usual, that meant my walk to VSNL to keep the laptop and return back to temple was going to be long. As usual being lazy, I went over to the HDFC Bank ATM and requested the guard to hold on to my laptop for just 10mins.

But since it was already banking hours, and the staff and customers started to come in. He refused this time. Than I offered to talk to the staff that I am a account holder with the bank and that I do this all the time. Its just that I am late today.

So the confused staff consulted their Branch manager to seek permission. The Branch manager as usual refused. I than personally requested the Branch Manager and he said this will be the first and the last time that he will allow me this as a personal favour....

I gleefully accepted and kept the laptop with the guard and rushed off for the darshan and returned back in about 15mins. I thanked the staff and the guard, collected my laptop and as a small token of thanks, gave a chocolate to the staff person near the door.

She smiled and I felt a million dollars. HDFC Bank is the best bank to bank with.
The people there made me comfortable. Even if they would have refused, I am sure, I wouldn't have a different opinion about them..

Thanks HDFC Bank Prabhadevi.... i owe you one.

All in a days work !!

I feel powerless......today i was 30 min late into taking my regular train from kandivali to Bandra to reach work.

And boy does the rush hour kick in. I managed to get 4th seat even when I return from kandivali to Borivali.The rush from Borviali was also huge. I mean they filled in the standing space with 5 people in each row between the seats.There was hardly any air flow. The kind of feeling that you are locked in a Jar.

However the train departed at 8:35 AM from Borviali for Churchgate. It was a fast train. And as the stations arrived, more and more people squeezed in.......All routing you may say in the life of a mumbaikar.

Then at 9AM, Andheri station arrived and people boarded/Alighted. The rush eased a little and I could barely rest my ass on the 4th seat, so I got up and started moving towards the exit to alight at Bandra. Just when Vile Parle passed by a guy right behind me, fainted due to heat stroke...and all people around him in a periphery couldnt do anything to lift him up. The Train was jam packed, I could hardly move a step, I had a 5Kg Laptop in one hand and the other hand was latched on to the bars to support me from crowd pressure. All of us murmured a little to each other that someone should lift him and help him get out of the train when Bandra arrives. And all of us Helplessly, couldn't do anything. I was really SAD today. I could picture myself in that guys position and feel really worried, that there is absolutely no one who could help me when I might need it....

Alas in another 10mins time Bandra station arrived and we all except the fainted guy got down and moved on with our stinking lives. God help him !. All in a day's work you say ?

Then it was time to take on next hurdle towards reaching office. I have to board a 310 Best Double Deckker BUS opposite the Railway station. Its around 9:30 AM and the queue is 500 people long, long enough to stack 3 double decker buses and yet I wouldn't get my turn. Luckily the queue is well managed by BEST TCs and the buses ply every 2-5 mins during rush hour. So my turn to board the bus arrived at 9:45AM.

But again, all in a day's work.... Today someone must have complained to BEST , so there was a Special Officer, the one who wears the green uniform, also waiting at the BUS Stand. And there was a lady from the PRESS quibbing about lack of SPECIAL 390 route buses during the rush hour. The 390 Route buses are special buses which take the interior route once it passes Tata Colony, so people wanting to reach all those Banks, (SBI, BoB, Dena Bank, etc) typically 90% crowd in the bus can get off there.

The bus wasn't 390 route bus, but on constant nagging from the PRESS lady, the Special Officer instructed the Bus driver and Conductor to take the 390 route.All were happy I say...even if it saves those lame asses walk of some additional 10mins only. I honestly never realized any value with the 390 route.

The bus was so Jam packed that including me there were people standing on the stairway leading upto the upper deck....It was extremely uncomfortable, with bus turning and winding and also during bus stops where people wanting to alight and trying to nudge past you through the stairway to exit......

I wonder that 30 additional minutes that I spent home toady were worth all the pain....
Indeed in retrospect they weren't.
I am already sore near the shoulders and arms and my clothes are all wrinkled.
Shoes are all soiled with people stepping on my foot all the time.
All in a days work you say!

I now will always leave home by 7:10AM IST....else I need to formalize my plans on using my brand new Swift to work. Either ways those additional 30min spent back home were not worth it.....

I wish I was a Spaceman....to ride the fireball

Well today i want to go back to nostalgia.
Long long time ago around 1990, there was a TV series being aired on Doordashan at arou nd 7-8Pm IST.
I was so darn fascinated by the whole plot. It was so amazing then to see talking robots and flying spaceships....

In particular I loved their theme song. "I wish I was a Spaceman......."
I was such a nice song that whenever I am in mood, this song comes to my mind.
Infact I love to humm that song when I crack a difficult problem at work or in life.
Its just wonderful memories associated with this song.

To find out more on Fireball check here http://www.amazon.com/Fireball-XL5-Complete-Paul-Maxwell/dp/customer-reviews/B00007J6DN

and here
http://www.sfwriter.com/2007/03/i-wish-i-was-spaceman.html

Infact there is so much fan following for Robert the ROBOT, that some one has even built the same here http://www.hobbyshed.co.uk/model_kit_modelmaking_gallery_fireball_XL5_robert_robot.htm

Laptops not allowed in Siddhivinayak Temple: Prabhadevi !

Whilst I knew the security paranoia had caught onto Siddhivinayk Temple's Trustees, I didn't know that they would be fucking dumb in the name of security.

I mean whilst they hoisted a huge wall around the main entrance of Siddhivinayk Temple, tons of people protested..after all its still a nuisance to people walking by and to traffic passing by.....But all in the name of God and Security is allowed......

Also they installed Metal Detectors and X-Ray machine with plenty of police men around....all in the name of God and Security..........

Then suddenly due to whims and fancies of the trust of mumbai policie, Coconuts were not allowed inside the temple...until a huge political scene was created by ShivSena, Congress and Maharashtra Nav Nirman parties, all claiming to have spoken to the trust and Mumbai Police and having convinced them to allow the same.

While all this nonsense was going on, life kept trickling by until today.......

When I was refused to allow Laptop inside the temple. This is despite the fact that the have X-Ray machine and metal detectors to screen it...Why ???

Don't the fucking trustees or the mumbai police know that, If really someone wants to bomb the temple he can very well do so with a device implanted in his cellphone,wristwatch,garlands,shoes,blackberry,mp3 player,etc why carry a laptop ?

All in the name of God and Security I say.........

So the guard close by asked me to handover the laptop to closeby Flower Garlands Stall in liue of purchase of some garlands......So I asked, give me the cheapest one...and he said in lieu of laptop, you have to purchase a garland worth rs 51 (approx 2.5USD)....

The reason provided, We are holding onto your precious laptop, we ought to charge you for that !!!

Again, I didn't want to quarrel with either the guard at the gate or the garland store. I just wanted to get the darshan done and move on... Arguing with them is in vain as they are mere pawns in the game. They are just following the instructions...

So I decided to cross the road and request the Security sitting outside the HDFC bank ATM. I requested him that I'll be back in 10mins and he obliged.

I didn't even ask him name, I had to trust him over my Laptop, USB devices and Rayban Sunglasses....

I hastily sought siddihivinayak's darshan over the constant thought that I might have not done the wisest of things by trusting my laptop to the security......I must admit, I took a big risk, Undue Risk at that.......

So amidst all this churn in my mind, I got out of the temple and hastily walked over to the HDFC bank ATM...

And to my relief, Indeed the Security Officer was still there and handed over the laptop to me instantly. I sought to verify the contents of the Laptop bag before leaving. He didn't protest, infact he said I just kept it aside, so I havent opened it as well....Indeed, all the stuff was intact and I was so darn relieved.

Just before leaving, I profusely thanked him and gave him all the change and chocolates I had in my side pocket. Again the officer refused, but I insisted and thanked him again and left to reach office.

So the moral of the story is : 1) If you cant beat them F* them !
2) What goes around , comes around.. I had a bad experience at the Temple gate with the garland wala and very pleasant one at the HDFC Bank ATM....All in the days work I guess..........