Mumbai where's your heart gone !!

As usual days goes by and all are busy with their daily routine of work and travel and home .. a balancing act which every mumbaiker has developed an expertise over period of time . People find their unique ways to best use their travel time for recreation which constitutes reading , listening music , bird watching or simply catching a snooze .. 

But on an off some or other brain numbing news of barbaric acts shatter this snooze or daily pendulum like movements  and make you realize how vulnerable you are . Mumbaiker and vulnerable you are kidding me .. no sorry folks I am not .. We need to realize that all jingoism about mumbaiker being strong and resilient is a myth and bull crap to be frank . Fact remains  that no one cares a f about anyone else in the mean and lean city . People have become way too immune to inhuman behavior of Mumbai .Its a money spinning machine which everyone wants to keep running no matter what the price. Spirit is dead long back and body is on ventilator . If you have a loving family , good colleagues and understanding partner consider yourself truly blessed ones. Cherish , nurture and treasure them as they are real treasures in your life which brings you happiness and joy , they are your strength and your true backup .. They shall help you rise and support you when  destiny and situation is adverse and have pushed you to a corner.  

The incident which I mentioned about, no one could imagine this can happen within  200 mts from where u r working .. but it did .. you never know when this distance can be zero . I believe strongly that girl which has gone through this trauma had great parents and friends which has given her this fighting spirit by virtue of which she aspires to resume her normal life back .  
I want all mumbaikers to care for all mumbaikers ..have a heart ..feel the pain help support each other and keep spirit of mumbai alive .

Wow what an achievement ....

What an achievement ...

As normal routine you get up in the morning  thinking about how you are going to reach office, overcoming n number of obstacles and hurdles  . And obstacles they sure are ... in absolute sense . Just to name a few,  finding an auto to the station a big challenge , mumbai is a place where rickshaw drivers are more choosy about passengers than a lady about her dress ...obstacle 2 reaching platform on time to catch that 8.47 local which you know from your homework and research that it starts from platform 8 or 9 at boivali in which you have a very good probability of entering ... yes entering and not sitting please note . 

Where if you get a chance to sit it like lady luck has started favoring you and you can start betting on horse race ... hehe... anyways let's move to next one ..on the way to your destination you are feverishly praying that train is not delayed and it makes you reach in time ...  after reaching your destination you start hunting for taxi .. you jump,  you run , request , threaten pull all tricks in book to get that taxi .. never mind old man or lady waiting in hot sun .. but then that's the way mumbai is sympathy less ... your goal needs to be achieved rest all can manage on their own ...

Finally you are at office to go through another day of slug fest , intellectual discussions with no outcomes, meetings and con calls  .. working as hard as you can ensuring all the pieces fit in place and tasks are delivered ... pheww what a day ... but it isn't over yet .. now the reverse journey starts

You mentally prepare yourself to traverse the same rout again as you have traced in the morning ... overcoming same obstacles and hindrances....

So starts the reverse journey with a simple prayer in the heart god please allow me to catch 6.42 local train to borivali and please help me find a seat.I cannot take another round of excersion..... pls pls pls ... 

To your surprise you manage to reach on time on station and are ready to  pounce with your last bit of energy ... as train arrives you immediately scan the compartments for vacant seats as bogeys go by ... your brain is in hyper active mode and working on probability of finding a seat in first class compartment .. first first class compartment goes with few vacant seat immediately you realign yourself to board 2 nd first class but in nick of movement this agile veteran out paces you and enters the compartment ... alas he gets one seat which was vacant ...  
You are not disappointed and immediately activate deep scan mode searching for seat behind partitions and last seats hoping there are only 7 people and you can squeeze in ... and then it happens there is a seat vacant just behind the partition in corner which other did not realize thanks to my sharp senses and presence of mind .. immediately you jump on opportunity crushing a couple of feet in process and duly apologizing to them ..Amount of satisfaction is much more than amount of comfort seat gives ...

Wow what an achievement it is .....

Do take second opinion from your better half .... ( no pun intended here :-) )

These are day to day experiences of aam mumbaiker like me

All stressed and tired by weekly grind of travelling and office I decided to do something relaxing on weekend ... ...considering various options I though spa would be a good idea . 😋... with out wasting a single minute I logged on to snap deal thru mobile and checked best deal available .... and guess what a amazing deal for 399 bucks is on the block .. foot Reflexology and head massage for an hour .
Without consulting my wife which is against my standard behavior .I immediately made a credit card payment  with out giving much regard to objection filled facial reactions of my wife .. 
Next day I am at this spa feeling all happy and excited about session , seeing girl staff added further  on to my excitement . 

However a guys gives me a warn smile and asks me to sit on a comfortable chair .. I am not very happy with situation considering there is only 1 male staff and he was allocated to me . 
However I over came this temporary disappointment and start enjoying the head massage part which truly was nice .... for good 20 mins this guy was working on my bony head and I was happy I was getting maximum bang for my buck and still foot massage pending .. yeppieee..... so now I was getting this feeling that I have really got a great deal here , and this added on to my pleasure ...... but this was short lived u will know why soon .
Then came turn of foot massage .. he started by washing my feet but in the interim supervisor came along asking me how is the experience till now and if I am enjoying or not . I was ecstatic and replied its wonderful ... to which she added why don't you do a before  pedicure before message.. I thought this deal is good I can still afford to spend addition 100 200 bucks ... and get this service too and instantly my brain told me your feet needs special attention which you were ignoring till now over years ... so there it goes special pedicure before foot massage coupled with a massage chair experience ... felt like surreal experience better than having S&^ I must say  .. so much care on my feet I think only mom would have given when I was a toddler ... 30 mins of bliss with good massage and wash on my feet relieved my feet  and body ..... ahhhhh ....." Hello Sir time is up " said this guy massaging my feet so I snapped out of my dazed feeling and decided to esquire about few massage packages . Having enjoyed experience I thought my wife too deserves to share it .

After getting all the info and marketing jazz from the supervisor I decided to leave .. then came the request Excuse me Sir you missed to pay for pedicure.. I apologized and asked for the amount ...
"tong tong tong tong " bang like resonating temple bells  amount resounded in my ears Rs 500 only only ... only ..... all the bliss and my pride about bagging this good deal went up in smoke in few seconds ... from 399 to 1000.. costliest leg cleaning activity done in my life ... not showing  my shock and awww on this figure I tried to maintain my sanity and asked her if she will take the card. She promptly replied yes and debited the said amount .
I came home quietly and casually asked my wife how much she pays for pedicure and reply was 250 ...  this added further to my disappointment ..no consolation here too I have paid more than her ... 
An important lesson learnt here .. your wife might be wrong most of the times but always take her second opinion especially  if you feel you have taken really good decision .