mumbai in terror - save my city

As I watch flames engulf whole wings of the magnificent old Taj hotel and hear surprisingly level headed media reports talk about more casualties, encounters and in a way the entire city being held hostage by kids with guns & grenades I feel only thing. What the hell am I doing?

As someone who has always proudly claimed Mumbai as the best city in the world ever since I was a kid, as someone who claims to be ‘raised by the city’, what have I ever done for Mumbai? If I claim to be some kind of writer, if I claim that ‘great lines can change the world’ what have I ever written to influence or make people think about mobilizing themselves to push for better security , better governance , and a safer way of life?

It seems like no civilian can really do much right now, but could this in some way have been prevented by civilian and community initiatives? Could this not have been a better, well equipped, secure city if all of us so called Mumbai loving citizens had raised our voices, demanded it and helped our government achieve it? Instead what we do is complain, crib, or serenade the ‘spirit of the city’ as we sip coffee and get our cheap thrills from all the events unfolding on TV.

Yes of course i am outraged, and saddened. But what happens tomorrow when the nightmare is over? Business as usual? Who has the time right? Just living in Mumbai is tough enough right?

I feel shame. And anger at myself. There will always be some kind of terrorists, whether religious or otherwise, but surely I could be more alert, more proactive, more concerned, more sensitive. more involved in my city's progress and less cynical of its problems

It’s time for me to ask myself how I can save my city. I am inspired and captivated once again by Ratan Tata who says every inch of the Taj will be rebuilt. I would like to offer my services free of cost to anyone who has a good plan to rebuild the morale, the spirit and the glory of this city. This is hopefully just the beginning for me

GOGOLA

from the youth curry blog, here are some brilliant examples of great mumbai ingenuity

bangkok, 5 things to love

1. the airport is lovely. ive been to dubai and people will probably say that dubai airport is better/ richer looking but i love bangkok airport. the view is awesome and you instantly get a flavour of the city with the strange food places lining up for you when you're exiting.


2. fried chicken bones. i ate a lot fo weird things there but to make even chicken bones an incredible meal by itself takes imagination and a real love for the bizarre. im a sucker for the bizarre :)


3. everyone's smiling. they have a few rules. like you dont touch a thai person on the back of his head, it pisses them off majorly and anyway why would u do that? but most of the time they're all in a good mood. dosent mean they are always being nice. they could give you the broadest smile and cheat you happily out of everything youve got. hehe but its endearing.


4. theme park malls. this is a universal faviriote. five floors of street fashion shops, no fancy showrooms just hundreds of tiny shops selling the best and cheapest clothes you can find anywhere.
intersperse that with bag shops, cheap dvd fellows, bra sellers who have piled up their tiny wares somehwere in the middle, a t shirt guy with some brilliant manga/ anime prints, a huge food court with the MOST BIZARRE looking food, a giant blue chirstmas tree up front , and you have a theme park to explore instead of a mall.


5. Siam niramit - Bangkok's very own variety entertainment show (not like but as big as the moulin rouge- 150 performers, 500 costumes) takes place every evening in a theatre so stunning that its an experience just being there and seeing the awesomeness of it. And i had the pleasure of doing an event inside it! unfortunatley i never saw the show myself which is an absolute shame but the theatre with the crazy ceiling heigh, the stage thats big enough to accomodate elephants , and the built in water bodies was just magnificent


Next trip: see the siam niramit show, go boating in the floating bazaar, explore chinatown more and take an off bangkok trip to kosamui!! anyone wanna come along?