The 5 Star Blasts

Stopped at the Lawrence & Mayo stop on the D.N.Road CST I was told to leave my bus and turn away from the CST station from where I wanted to return home after my visit to Colaba Causeway, Leopold & Marine Drive. It was a confusing situation but I reached Churchgate station and finally reached home (long story short). All the while I was told by my family and friends about what was happening around the parts of Mumbai where I had just been and admired, out of awe for its grandeur, its hustle bustle & its beauty at night, and couldn’t really guage how far reaching effect it would have on me for a long long time.
My home had become a bastion for the entire news channels to telecast to me every detail of the on going process, analysis, stories of survivors, of slain protectors & limelight seeking politicians. It was an orgy of death that made me cringe every time I saw it happen. Three days it felt like the world around has stopped rotating, no jumping VJs, no motor mouth RJs, no kids on the street, no crowds in the trains, no hawkers shouting outside only TV which gave us some sort of a solace that something is been done to whoop the asses of those mfb terrorists. The TV viewing or more like News channels viewing had become synonyms for these 3 days. Times when my father left for work at RBI which unfortunately was very close to Taj Mahal Hotel family members called when some stupid rumors were afloat. This somehow became a drill for all of us at home and didn’t feel extra ordinary and I don’t know why.
The news anchors spoke for hours in length about the operations and it felt like I was personally standing a t the door of those 5 stars and was watching the events unfold. All the news channels showed us different views, different commentaries but a single message that ‘We are under siege’. I cant begin to explain how it feels when there is a element of doubt about safety of the people around me. It is a feeling of helplessness that engulfs me and want to run away from it. I can watch the news but I cant imagine to go through the same, I can voice my anger but cant really do much to make a difference, I can feel sad for the loss but couldn’t have saved them… I really want to break out of feeling of being helpless & useless.
‘I let governing & protecting of my country & its men to these politicians, but they seem to think their own protection is what is my concern of top priority’. Why is it that power corrupts these people beyond repair? I feel that the its to some extent that you are corrupt, its even ok that you sometime put yourself before the people but not always, don’t forget why you sit there in the first place.

- Ketan Kasabe

Pulsation

Pulsation
(A periodically recurring phenomenon that alternately increases and decreases some quantity)

Live like a stranger in this known street,
We all walk n we all dream,
Yet next guy with big dreams is a brag fest.
Leaving each day with a small mark to remember,
But too many marks there to remember.
See the troubles come through all our fortified walls I wonder,
What it takes and is it real to build them.
Learn lesson n forget them is one of our great virtues,
Not that I want to forget every single one,
Yet when the sunsets mind lights with plans for the sunrise.
Seeking a divine intervention from the so called earthly know-all’s
While letting the grey feed to a box with conditional access.
Reaching to the old n young with a same tool but different tones,
For they both refuse to grow up.
Leading conceding & back stabbing is the call for the day,
Yet no one claims to shout this on roof tops.
Concern for own is on top n others flushed down everyday with shit.
Travel n be wise but not most o time it is otherwise.
Darkness gives new lights to crevices in ones brain.
Standing alone on a path u later claim to have gotten support for
Hypocrisy & lies in all our veins like pulsation

- Ketan Kasabe

Hard Rock Cafe

Went to Hard Rock Cafe on a 23^rd May night to celebrate a college friend’s B’day with a buch of friends but it turned out to be celebration for our senses. To start of with, HRC has a live ambience with people visibly enjoying themselves. I think it probably the only place where u get to see so many memorablias, accessories & apparels worn or used by likes of Elvis Presley, Prince (I have foto with princes ensemble), Pearl Jam etc. It was not the first time at HRC but it felt really nice to be there. To well with this young place they have a bunch of really helpful waiters who make you feel very comfortable there, unlike some good restaurants where the waiters are really out of your reach even for a glass of water. The waiters at HRC as I had heard dance on the YMCA song every night which I finally got to see. The energy in the restaurant was upbeat once they started to dance and 2 girls from a booth near ours couldn’t stop themselves and joined the suit.

Back to the party that I was there for all of us had a great time being there talking about each others summers, pulling some legs and ofcourse gorging on the delicious food. One must try the Jumbo veg / non-veg platter which an impressive spread of many starters & dips to go along. Nearing the end of our stay there a waiter comes and asks us if this the same table where he is suppose to bring the cake infront of the b’day girl..blooper!!. But the waiters at HRC made us happy after it by making my friend stand on top of the stool she sat on after which we sang her a b’day song and then, the fun part, smeared her face completely with the cream due to which she looked nothing less than a ghost..ha ha. It was fun.

The night ended with the taste of a nice chocolate cake and a beautiful memory of HRC lingering on our taste buds. Hope to go back there SOON!!!

Mumbai City

You should live here atleast once in your life. This city keeps moving..sometimes not knowing where it is headed - but moving, moving ahead. This city welcomes you in its embrace and expects you to make your living here – by hook or crook. Coz if you don’t oblige to its ways then you will surely face the music. This city doesn’t like anyone waiting and pausing but appreciates even the most menial jobs performed by you. To think that Mumbai is a cruel city is a point of view very many cultivate but the city just does what ought to be done to you. Everyday hordes of migrants or lets say Indians & non- Indians walk into the city looking for something and at that same breath hordes are running out of the city for finding peace, calm, solace, escape etc.

What ever one might have heard of my Mumbai City I think you should visit it once just for an experience that could leave you awestruck, appalled, happy, angry, rich, poor, blissful, thugged. But this city will leave you with an after taste that will linger on you for a lifetime.

Exam End - Unofficial

After 2 week long Drudgery of sittin thru 2 to 3 hrs o paper it feels like heaven to knw that i dnt hv any 'serious' paper left. But this pseudo feeling o joy due to some completion is insane as 2mrw i hv to start studyin fr day aftrs exam. I will not do it wit full heart but i will...

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Phones in recent time have gone from just your Living Rooms and Bedrooms right up to your walks, to parties, to drives, to lectures, to meetings to your toilets. Yes, I am not kidding. Has it intruded in your lives? Well, ask a person who wants to avoid speaking to somebody. “He’s not home” is not the excuse bought these days. Has it ruined some lives? Well, ask a man whose wife accidentally answered his phone ringing and got “Hello Sweetheart!!”. Has it pestered you out of your wits? Well, ask a person who gets 50 call a day about credit cards, debit cards, jobs etc “Hello sir do you want a Free…”.Has it distanced people? Well, ask person who prefers to talk to you whenever he wishes to rather than fix up a meet.

All this, yet Mobiles are one the dearest possessions these days. Happy mobiling Iam hanging up now bye. Take care.