**Written after Zaveri blast**
The story repeats - 2-3 days of continuous nonsense on news channel, then mumbaikars will gather at Gateway of India to light candles and to observe silence, then few days of high alerts and police drills, then some minor break-throughs by police and possibly Kasab will get a partner in jail and India will spend another 10-20Cr to protect them......in the mean time mumbaikars will wait for another serial blast..and the story repeats..
It's not that mumbaikars are brave enough to face it again and again..its high time we expose ourselves to reality...we get back to normal life not because we have a 'cool' attitude..but because most of us dont have an option.
Mumbaikars are one ot the heaviest tax payers. If all the money, second best police and world renowned intelligence cant protect mumbaikars....then what can??
Friday, February 3, 2012
Friday, May 23, 2008
Can Public toilets be made free?
I would like to add a few points to this topic.
--Toilets should be made totally free
Firstly, I believe that payment is not the only constraint as there are several free public toilets in Mumbai but still some people prefer open-air. But yeh..cost may be one of the compounding factors.I would feel people prefer open-air for these reasons
- Waiting time in public toilets especially in the mornings
- unhygenic condition
- distance from home
- and ofcourse cost attached, if any
Few people would be spending handsomely on bidis and gutka but prefer not spending Re 1 in public toilets. But if the above 4 points are satisfied then the things will change drastically.
Generally public toilets are road-side standalone building. Its terraces can be used to host hoardings. On-road hoardings fetch better rentals.Why i am coming to on-road hoarding is because these public (community) toilets are generally used by chawl/hutment people where there are fewer earning members and many uneducated-dependent members. Hence inside advirtisement may not be very lucrative for advirtising companies.If such concepts can be combined and more public toilets are opened (to reduce the waiting time and proxmity) then I would say our country will definitely become cleaner.
--Ashish Kanak
--Toilets should be made totally free
Firstly, I believe that payment is not the only constraint as there are several free public toilets in Mumbai but still some people prefer open-air. But yeh..cost may be one of the compounding factors.I would feel people prefer open-air for these reasons
- Waiting time in public toilets especially in the mornings
- unhygenic condition
- distance from home
- and ofcourse cost attached, if any
Few people would be spending handsomely on bidis and gutka but prefer not spending Re 1 in public toilets. But if the above 4 points are satisfied then the things will change drastically.
Generally public toilets are road-side standalone building. Its terraces can be used to host hoardings. On-road hoardings fetch better rentals.Why i am coming to on-road hoarding is because these public (community) toilets are generally used by chawl/hutment people where there are fewer earning members and many uneducated-dependent members. Hence inside advirtisement may not be very lucrative for advirtising companies.If such concepts can be combined and more public toilets are opened (to reduce the waiting time and proxmity) then I would say our country will definitely become cleaner.
--Ashish Kanak
Thursday, May 15, 2008
My First Visit to France
(No part is exaggerated in this post)
One sunny morning my flight dropped me to an Alien land. Every damn thing was written in alien language. But what a relief – numbers still looked the same. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long, my luggage came on conveyer pretty fast (these aliens must have enslaved people from our planet). I picked up the luggage and walked to the Exit to catch a cab. Just before the exit I noticed a pretty lady sitting at an Information counter. She greeted me (or that’s what I feel) by saying some words that I didn’t understand. Now, what is the point in greeting somebody by saying something that they wouldn’t understand? Wouldn’t a simple smile do? I spoke just two words ‘Taxi please’ and she said ‘oui oui’, as if she is hurt or something. Then she showed me the way by swaying her hands in all possible directions. I followed the directions and started looking out for bunch of cars parked together, assuming it to be a common taxi stand view. And what I found was just one taxi there. Lucky me, I reached bang on time for the only taxi. It seems taxis are becoming extinct and government is only running behind tigers and lions to protect them. I showed the hotel address to the Taxi driver agreed to take me. You guys must be wondering what this place is. NO, wrong guesses. It’s not some remote place in South Africa or Amazon. It is Bordeaux, one of the key cities in south west of France.
It seems I landed here on a wrong day. It was nice and sunny Sunday. Now what could be wrong in that? I was about to reach my hotel and I still didn’t see a single guy on road. I discovered later that everything remains closed in Bordeaux on Sundays. And to make it worse, sunny day dragged all the people to beaches nearby. Are they distributing some freebies on the beach? Is Sun or Sunday so rare in France? Why they didn’t teach me “Once in a blue Sun” phrase in school? It wouldn’t have shocked me now.
Cab driver dropped me to the hotel. I didn’t understand what he said to me but by looking at the figures on the meter I could understand how much I had to pay. I reached the hotel entrance only to notice that there was no one there to receive me. It looked like I was trespassing in some strangers property. My manager had given some codes that helped me to open the door and then another code for a vault inside. I fetched my keys from the vault and tried to decode the letter enclosed within. Do only French guys come in that hotel? Then why the hell the letter is written in French. Anyways with simple logic I could make it to my hotel room.
I reached my room, dumped my luggage and then switched on the TV. I browsed entire channel list at least twice but not a single English channel. Only option left with me was my laptop for some English entertainment. Good they didn’t make me delete all English data from my or convert it to French. There was a hotel guide kept near the TV. Before picking up I assumed that everything would be in French and wasn’t shocked later.
Next day I had to go to office. So I got up early, donned my office suit and followed the directions I had got from my Indian office. At the tram station I had to purchase the ticket and a noble soul had told me before that the vending machine accepts only coins. So I had managed some coins before trying my luck at the ticket vending machine. Everything in French again, guess they don’t want international passengers to buy tickets.
By now my definition of ‘developed country’ had changed. I waited for some time and then got the Tram and later a bus to drop me to office. I got down from the bus and then I had the difficult task of finding my new office. There was no one to ask so I entered a shop at petrol pump. As expected the lady inside was not able to communicate, so she drew some maps for me and used hand gestures to direct me. My office is not a very popular office in that area. I can’t blame that lady for not knowing places around her. Alas I had to be picked up by my colleague and I managed to reach office the first day.
Only after reaching the office I realized that there was some sort of strike of bus and trains which would continue for another week or so. So I will have to manage with reduced frequency of public transport on week days and without any transport on week ends. Fetching taxi is very costly in Bordeaux and without public transport you are simply locked inside your room. Anyways I spent few days in Bordeaux (or should I say in hotel, inside my room). I have inquired for a French course. Hopefully I will learn some French soon that will help me to interact with people here or at least buy food from supermarket where there is nothing written in English.
Let us come to some positive points. People here, although cannot communicate except in French or Spanish, take pleasure in helping you. They would greet you with a smile, may it be in escalator or bus stop. In India or at least in Mumbai no one has time for even a smile. Country wise this place looks good and green (and pink because of girls) but only if they could do sometime for international visitors it would be very helpful. All those who are planning to come to France be sure to learn some basic French before arriving here.
--Ashish Kanak
ashishkanak@gmail.com
One sunny morning my flight dropped me to an Alien land. Every damn thing was written in alien language. But what a relief – numbers still looked the same. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long, my luggage came on conveyer pretty fast (these aliens must have enslaved people from our planet). I picked up the luggage and walked to the Exit to catch a cab. Just before the exit I noticed a pretty lady sitting at an Information counter. She greeted me (or that’s what I feel) by saying some words that I didn’t understand. Now, what is the point in greeting somebody by saying something that they wouldn’t understand? Wouldn’t a simple smile do? I spoke just two words ‘Taxi please’ and she said ‘oui oui’, as if she is hurt or something. Then she showed me the way by swaying her hands in all possible directions. I followed the directions and started looking out for bunch of cars parked together, assuming it to be a common taxi stand view. And what I found was just one taxi there. Lucky me, I reached bang on time for the only taxi. It seems taxis are becoming extinct and government is only running behind tigers and lions to protect them. I showed the hotel address to the Taxi driver agreed to take me. You guys must be wondering what this place is. NO, wrong guesses. It’s not some remote place in South Africa or Amazon. It is Bordeaux, one of the key cities in south west of France.
It seems I landed here on a wrong day. It was nice and sunny Sunday. Now what could be wrong in that? I was about to reach my hotel and I still didn’t see a single guy on road. I discovered later that everything remains closed in Bordeaux on Sundays. And to make it worse, sunny day dragged all the people to beaches nearby. Are they distributing some freebies on the beach? Is Sun or Sunday so rare in France? Why they didn’t teach me “Once in a blue Sun” phrase in school? It wouldn’t have shocked me now.
Cab driver dropped me to the hotel. I didn’t understand what he said to me but by looking at the figures on the meter I could understand how much I had to pay. I reached the hotel entrance only to notice that there was no one there to receive me. It looked like I was trespassing in some strangers property. My manager had given some codes that helped me to open the door and then another code for a vault inside. I fetched my keys from the vault and tried to decode the letter enclosed within. Do only French guys come in that hotel? Then why the hell the letter is written in French. Anyways with simple logic I could make it to my hotel room.
I reached my room, dumped my luggage and then switched on the TV. I browsed entire channel list at least twice but not a single English channel. Only option left with me was my laptop for some English entertainment. Good they didn’t make me delete all English data from my or convert it to French. There was a hotel guide kept near the TV. Before picking up I assumed that everything would be in French and wasn’t shocked later.
Next day I had to go to office. So I got up early, donned my office suit and followed the directions I had got from my Indian office. At the tram station I had to purchase the ticket and a noble soul had told me before that the vending machine accepts only coins. So I had managed some coins before trying my luck at the ticket vending machine. Everything in French again, guess they don’t want international passengers to buy tickets.
By now my definition of ‘developed country’ had changed. I waited for some time and then got the Tram and later a bus to drop me to office. I got down from the bus and then I had the difficult task of finding my new office. There was no one to ask so I entered a shop at petrol pump. As expected the lady inside was not able to communicate, so she drew some maps for me and used hand gestures to direct me. My office is not a very popular office in that area. I can’t blame that lady for not knowing places around her. Alas I had to be picked up by my colleague and I managed to reach office the first day.
Only after reaching the office I realized that there was some sort of strike of bus and trains which would continue for another week or so. So I will have to manage with reduced frequency of public transport on week days and without any transport on week ends. Fetching taxi is very costly in Bordeaux and without public transport you are simply locked inside your room. Anyways I spent few days in Bordeaux (or should I say in hotel, inside my room). I have inquired for a French course. Hopefully I will learn some French soon that will help me to interact with people here or at least buy food from supermarket where there is nothing written in English.
Let us come to some positive points. People here, although cannot communicate except in French or Spanish, take pleasure in helping you. They would greet you with a smile, may it be in escalator or bus stop. In India or at least in Mumbai no one has time for even a smile. Country wise this place looks good and green (and pink because of girls) but only if they could do sometime for international visitors it would be very helpful. All those who are planning to come to France be sure to learn some basic French before arriving here.
--Ashish Kanak
ashishkanak@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
New Juice concept in Mumbai
There is a new trend around jogging/morning walk parks in mumbai. Just outside the gate you would notice some Juice vendors. They would invariable have a small table packed with several bottles or lookalike container.
For few days (I dont go for jogging that frequently, so few days indeed mean longer time) I was wondering what these vendors are selling. It no where resembles any fruit juice stall as fruit juice vendors feel pride in displaying their fresh fruits although they might not be using the same to extract the juices.
Okay lets come back to the point. The place didnt look very hygenic but still I gathered courage to approach one of the stall. The vendor explained that the containers contain juices of various vegetables and herbs like gaud, bitter gaud, neem, tulsi, beet, ginger, etc (wanted to name a few more but then I dont know the english words for those forbidden vegetables). In Rs 10 he offered me a big moctail glass of bitter gaud, tulsi and neem.
I had never in my craziest thought imagined if I could ever ingest these bitter, inpalatable juices. But I bet it was good and refreshing. It kept me fresh for the whole day. After that I made it a regular habbit to have these juices as I didn't see any side effect.
Only if these juices could be presented in a little hygenic way I guess it will become a big-time hit.I wonder why we dont promote these kind of healthy juices. My sincere advice - try these juices if you get a chance. I take it regularly and strongly recommend it.
--Ashish Kanak
Quetion - Why are we Sad?
It is dark and cloudy today
clouds so thick, they are here to stay.
Some waiting for rain, some for sunlight
some care a damn,its just another day.
(Was just wondering how people relate weather and their present life)
Some would say 'weather is gloomy'.
Is it reallly or its just their feeling?
Do we hear 'these' words often from kids,
who seek pleasure in whatever they are doing?
We pray for a healthy life, we pray for happiness.
But do we ever repay His greatness?
Will we enjoy only if we have everything we need?
Do you think there is any end to this greed?
As a child we only hated to study.
Now the hate-list has grown to infinity.
We think we are human and we can be sad.
But it it limited to just one day thats gone bad?
Every minute we compare and see,
what we dont have or what we should be.
We have friends and family, we are dressed.
Do we compare ouselves with not so blessed?
Why do we change as we ripe?
Why do superficial things create negative vibe?
Why dont we analyze whats giving us sadness
instead of giving up and drowning with tide?
--Ashish Kanak (14th May 2008)
clouds so thick, they are here to stay.
Some waiting for rain, some for sunlight
some care a damn,its just another day.
(Was just wondering how people relate weather and their present life)
Some would say 'weather is gloomy'.
Is it reallly or its just their feeling?
Do we hear 'these' words often from kids,
who seek pleasure in whatever they are doing?
We pray for a healthy life, we pray for happiness.
But do we ever repay His greatness?
Will we enjoy only if we have everything we need?
Do you think there is any end to this greed?
As a child we only hated to study.
Now the hate-list has grown to infinity.
We think we are human and we can be sad.
But it it limited to just one day thats gone bad?
Every minute we compare and see,
what we dont have or what we should be.
We have friends and family, we are dressed.
Do we compare ouselves with not so blessed?
Why do we change as we ripe?
Why do superficial things create negative vibe?
Why dont we analyze whats giving us sadness
instead of giving up and drowning with tide?
--Ashish Kanak (14th May 2008)
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Assumptions - A Part of Life
Hi All,
A weird thought crossed my mind and I decided to open it for discussion.
I am a part of software industry. From first day the continuous teachings that I am getting are - 'No Assumptions', 'Dont Assume things', 'no guesses'. It has become a generic rule that Assumption would lead to failure.
But dont you think that we all assume at each and every step of life. Imagine that I am driving a car and I see someone crossing the road in front. My immediate reflex would prompt me to honk. Am I not 'assuming' that the person crossing the road is not deaf and will hear my horn?
I take up engineering course of 4 years. Am I not 'assuming' that I am going to live for those 4 years to complete the course? And several more years to encash the course?
I propose to my best friend. Am I not 'assuming', with fingers crossed, that she would reciprocate.
I am writing this blog 'assuming' that nothing will happen to my internet or no meteor will collide with earth and I will be able to complete this blog successfully. (I know its exaggeration)
I drive over a bridge 'assuming' that bridge will not collapse and I will not get a chance to test my swimming skills.
I seriously 'assume' that Assumptions are a part of life and everyone should have the right to assume. But ofcourse these assumptions can be little calculated to contain risks, especially when you are not the only one impacted.
Give your thoughts guys...
Cheers,
Ashish Kanak
A weird thought crossed my mind and I decided to open it for discussion.
I am a part of software industry. From first day the continuous teachings that I am getting are - 'No Assumptions', 'Dont Assume things', 'no guesses'. It has become a generic rule that Assumption would lead to failure.
But dont you think that we all assume at each and every step of life. Imagine that I am driving a car and I see someone crossing the road in front. My immediate reflex would prompt me to honk. Am I not 'assuming' that the person crossing the road is not deaf and will hear my horn?
I take up engineering course of 4 years. Am I not 'assuming' that I am going to live for those 4 years to complete the course? And several more years to encash the course?
I propose to my best friend. Am I not 'assuming', with fingers crossed, that she would reciprocate.
I am writing this blog 'assuming' that nothing will happen to my internet or no meteor will collide with earth and I will be able to complete this blog successfully. (I know its exaggeration)
I drive over a bridge 'assuming' that bridge will not collapse and I will not get a chance to test my swimming skills.
I seriously 'assume' that Assumptions are a part of life and everyone should have the right to assume. But ofcourse these assumptions can be little calculated to contain risks, especially when you are not the only one impacted.
Give your thoughts guys...
Cheers,
Ashish Kanak
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