Do we really Love Mumbai ? then why so many posters ?

This Ganesh Utsav season there are too many posters with their leaders pictures (funny) are placed everywhere by various political parties  ,this  filth gifted to Aamchi Mumbai by very own residents. I had counted approx 300 posters between Marve junction to Infinity mall on Malad Link road within approx 1.5 Km distance, 1 or 2 posters on each & every Light pole & plenty near pandals  . Mumbai lovers have done exhaustive research to find open spaces where a poster can be hanged, well done Mumbaikars !! Also Thanks ! to Mahanagar Palika for charging 125 Rs for each poster & for initiating poster war among various political parties.

Mumbai has approx Total 1950 KM of road network , means Mumbai has been loaded with more than 4 Lakh such posters ,i.e. wooden frame , synthetic cloth/Paper/colour , where this garbage will go afterwards ? on shanties roofs , Nallahas , or will remain hanged here n there in bits & pieces  & wait for aerial degradation , a real environment disaster .

Apart from usual Chamcha posters for B’days, arrivals , promotions , now a day’s greetings on every festival is becoming norm here & all parties are in competition to grab as much space as possible .Why don’t we learn good things from other countries . Rest of the world don’t put posters on Christmas  & south east Asia on Buddha birthday or on Chinese new year or other local festivals, they put decorative lights , lanterns ,& other decorative items placed aesthetically  , but we prefer to put posters n posters & sponsor’s banners only .

Solution : As all political parties are involves , political/governmental solution may not come , until unless new age young party leaders/workers come forward to stop this nuisance. 

Barfi! :Rishtey

After watching Barfi! & Rockstar I am seriously thinking , Why I am watching other crap movies , RK movies are enough to quench my thirst for the good movies , which force me to think that there is something in every relation   ,hold them , don’t just let them go ,Listen to your heart , spent time with friends/family , Travel more (already) , Long Drives ,Parinde , Rain, Pani ,Train  Music , Drink …..Ahaaa… 

Barfi! is based on my fav subject i.e. Rishtey , therefore a must watch.

Ranbir rocks , what a performance , also PC & Ileana , PC never went overboard ( SRK to learn  ,MNK ?) & Ileana looks  fresh , charming ,honest who loves Barfi! But unable to ignore materialistic requirement , hence choose secure married life but later on regret  her wrong decision & left her home for Barfi! , but too late ..

Ranbir has once again proved that he is a  good actor first  than a Star. His comic timing , adaption . innocence ,child like lover boy act is remarkable .

Apart from brilliant performances , romance ,rejection ,Reminiscences there were too many elements in the movie for me ,to just fall in luv with Burfi! ,a child like boy who follows his instinct , not much bothered for livelihood & social limitations , his funny acts ,enjoys drinks occasionally, steam engine , , train general compartment ,loyalty tests ,cool choti ,bicycle ,picturistic hill station , brick tiled home ,green fields …..

Fav shot :A beautiful girl chasing train in cotton Sari holding a hand bag (PIC) to be with her luv against all odds.

Munna mute hi aannsoo bahaye…..

A must watch.

Indianisation of MTV India : Coke Studio : Madari !

I witnessed MTV India transformation from Only English , American like TV channel to a purely Indian Channel, I remember ,MTV India earlier used to showcase only American countdown songs like Billboard & some other programmes like Grind etc. , Anchors used to speak 100 % in English in Americana ascent , no Hindi words , Bollywood was untouchable . I used to watch it occasionally , now don't even remember programme names ?

When MTV India was launched in 1996 it was catered only for Urban , Xavier like viewers , they maintained same Hollywood copycat  version for almost a decade & only after 2010 Indianisation process begun & shows like MTV Roadies & Spitsvilla in pure desi versions got huge success.We may now call MTV India as purely Local channel , maybe it is something to do with the change of Guards , now MTV India is owned by Viacom Inc. and Network TV 18 .MTV Roadies is hugely popular with GenX & made RanVijay a heartthrob , reverse is also possible I mean ,may be new desi version is not liked by those , who were more connected with the Original MTV. Youths today don't have much choice as all prime time is reserved for Ekta K Saas Bahu dramas & remaining by Dance & Music reality shows , almost no Indian programmes for Today's urban & semiurban youths ?

MTV now : Sometime back I accidently watched MTV Coke Studio , showcasing North-Eastern unknown artist singing folk music , not at all understand by mainstream Indian viewers ( Ye hee sach hey , We treat them discriminatory like our neighbours  not fellow country wallas , Sad it is ..) . It was in contrast to my perception of MTV  , I mean MTV & Folk wow..It was season 3 when I really started liking the Format of the show ,their effort for unusual fusion of folk, sufi, ghazals & filmy popular music with western . Topmost musicians Like Shankar-Ehsan-Loy , Lewis , KK , Kher , Sunidhi , Vishal, Benny ,Wadali-Sabri bros , Gogoi, Shafqat Amanat Ali etc....nearly all are part of this show alongwith new wannnabes on same stage that too singing jointly gr8 .

Ist song I fell in  luv with was ,Wadali  Bros " Tu Mane Ya Na Mane.." Then   Chitthiye & Jhakki Dil by Sunidhi & others , but finally it is Madari by Vishal & Sonu Kakkar which is my latest passion , it is also a chartbuster , amazing song with Indian Roots lyrics ( Gulzar type), experimental , unusual ,having  matti ki Khushboo like Lines 
 तेरी  रुखी -सुखी , सुखी -रुखी , खा  के  देखा ,हर  एक  निवाला  अमृत  लागे  ! 
& Sonu's Blast  इत्  खराक्के , दुख्हद  वज्जे ,तत्ता  होवे  चूल्हा . आन  फकीर  ते  खखार  जावन ,राज़ी  होवे  बुल्लाह ! 
Although I didn't understand all lyrics.  

Le voilà: Madari : Vishal Dadlani, Sonu Kakkar.
Courtesy : You Tube & MTV Coke Studio

Amazing ..such a passion & devotion , Incredible . Lyrics seems to be amalgamation of Khadi Hindi boli ( rookhi sookhii roti , Madari -Jamoora ), Punjabi , Frontier Pashtun reference Bullah Shah & Gurudwara  , Sufi Makka /Karbala etc. Slight Complicated with modern pop flavor , I was stunned , speechless Wowwww .Both Vishal & Sonu Kakkar are fantastic , Vishal has added another feather in his cap & showed that he is not only a music director , can sing such an Indipop with perfection .Sonu Kakakr energy at full throttle is remarkable .

After-all Coke name is attached with the show , Brand value bhi kuch hey na. True .

Declaimer : I am neither a great fan nor dislike MTV ,Post is about transformation of the channel ,reader's  opinion may differ , Comments are welcome !

Chocolate

It is often said that Chocolate  is a way of life ,It’s having a character , fun , life ,indulgence , a sort of joie de vivre ,sometime associated with Sex also , amazing !! , it has got stress relieving property  also. I always categories  people, those who like chocolate & other who don’t. I normally don’t have good tuning with those who don’t eat chocolate  unless they are too old & of previous gens. If u luv life & yrself , chocolate is must,

Some chocolate Quotes ;
“There are two kinds of people in the world:  those who love chocolate, and communists. “ Leslie Moak Murray
“My favorite thing in the world is a box of fine European chocolates which is, for sure, better than sex.”  Alicia Silverstone
“All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt! “ Charles Schulz

We may find thousands of poems on chocolate on the internet.

Buying chocolate & liquor at airports is always fun , especially when you are buying in $ or in other currencies  .I feel like  a child while filling my cart & more than that chocolate is fav gift for kids & they just luv it , feel happy to have lots of chocolates ,such feeling gave me immense pleasure  & I always utilised opportunities to buy chocolates.
After all chocolate brings happiness in all sizes and flavors ....& for all sizes.

Reason for writing this Chocolate post is not only due to my liking for the chocolate , but to express that some food varieties can also bring real happiness & one can really indulge in it ,In fact one can buy happiness , isn’t it ! .
During our recent visit to Bangalore , we visited "Corner House Ice parlour" serving Chocolate named “ Death By Chocolate “ or DBC as popularly called , Tukur liked it instantly & immensely , I too had it once & like the stuff. During our 3 days stauly at Bangalore we had visited same Corner house parlour for all 3 days that too after crossing half of the city .

In Mumbai CCD is OK , mainly for their locations e.g. Bandstand   ,  other one is   “Costa Coffee “ at Khar (w) , Café is in posh area of Khar & always occupied by niche gentry , great ambience , seating  both inside & outside(preferred)  beautiful road with huge tress lined on both sides , posh residential buildings , also few bungalows , nice place to drive thru on a weekend , they have some delicious chocolate muffins with chocolate sauce.
Search is still on for more . .

Forget Cutting Chai : Oh  NO  , read earlyer post

Dil Chahta Hai :Trendsetter

Preamble :Last weekend I went to Kolad along with three young boys i.e. Sid & his 2 friends , we clicked almost 350 pics , as during rainy season whole area looks so beautiful , green everywhere .There was a small old bridge over  a small water stream with reasonable good flow , I asked all of 3 to sit on the edge in DCH style with DCH expressions , such is the impact of DCH on me I always remunate this movie extraordinaire......... so here is the post ;

Sid , Jabby & Varun somewhere @Kolad

Chapora fort

Tanhai

JNMD

Even after >10 yrs DCH is still most remembered movie for the youths , directed brilliantly by debutante Farhan , a fresh Start with a different  approach , which is reflected in every frame of this incredible movie , truly a youthful movie although based on proven male bonding Yaar Dost theme .DCH has turned out to be a milestone movie for Farhan, Amir , Saif & also recognised Adhuna Akhtar who did risky hair styling for the trio , after all with great risk comes great reward.
Apart from the theme (Dosti) , great direction & acting by Amir, Saif & Preeti ,  my fav is STILLS in the movie , a new dimension for the Hindi cinema ,a different angle of cinematography , never done before , I still remember most of the stills (Pics ) which were shot beautifully . In fact Chapora fort (pic) in Goa now is called DCH fort ,Everyone wants to imitate the scene in some form at different places , amazing isn't it !
Infact Zoya again tried to repeat certain things in JNMD .

Malshej Ghat : Travelogue ( Safarnama)

Ascending clouds

It was the extended weekend of Friday-Sunday(10-12 Aug.) due to Janmashtami , I had therefore already booked room at  MTDC, Malshej Ghat in advance for Friday overnight stay  , as it is impossible to get booking for Saturdays , blame it on Gujjus who are always ahead in planning their vacations , also manage to bring big families together without conflict , I like this quality & family togetherness & always adore them for their travel enthu. I am having tendency to analyze people , there geographical location  , roots & behavior , this time also I have observed  that whole place was occupied by them only , as usual .
KM in parenthesis is distance from Thane Maziwada Jn.
We loaded essentials like Latest songs , water ,some munching stuff  & lots of enthu .We started at 9:30 AM from Thane ,through Bhiwandi - Kalyan –Nashik NH3- route , we took right turn exit from highway at Kalyan(20 KM)  to Murbad route .

Crossing Kalyan was a bad experience ,  bad road , full of pot holes , even down  side road was closed , as it was in extremely bad condition , even munciple authorities have lost hope to revive it , oh yes I also paid 25 bucks toll for this Kalyan road , phew... At (25 KM)we saw  1st sign board  Malshej Ghat , NH222 .We took right side flyover road forming  “ Y” shape bifurcation . Next was Ulhasnagar at approx (26 KM) , my daughter who was tracking route told me that  now we will drive thru highway ( mean NH222) , she was expecting Mumbai-Pune expressway sort of  highway , I told her , single pot holes road what we are driving thru right now  in fact is national highway NH222 , she somehow did not like this new info , anyways after crossing river (picx)at (34 KM) road quality suddenly improved , almost no pot holes , with green surroundings  , road side sign board reads Malshej Ghat 67 KM. Road after  Murbad ( 55 KM) was much better , smoothened  , weather was cloudy but almost no rain so far.

Only after crossing Murbad  real pleasure trip starts Lush mint green surroundings , beautiful , smooth dark black Asphalt road , as if painted just now (pica), Car outside Temp. reading was 26 Degrees wow !We reached Salgaon village ( 66.7 KM) ,  road side board reads Malshej Ghat 46 KM .
 Mountain range with cliffs covered with clouds  now visible , adding excitement & fuelling our expectations for what lies ahead .We had our tea at Pranjali restaurant (73.6 KM) as I was delighted to see a restaurant facing small river ( rain water nallah), flow was in full swing , making it a perfect place to have Chai , fantastic.

We then reached village Tokawadi ( 81 KM) What a beautiful scenic view truly majestic , misty  hill tops , few waterfalls also visible , trees lined up on both side of roads , I also snapped few huge wisdom trees pics , I am always fond of huge trees specially Wisdom ( Bargad)& remember most of the places in Mumbai , where we have huge tress like south Mumbai  , Matunga , Khar ,  Bnadra etc.

Road before waterfall

We started ascending hill at (86 KM), with every passing KM scenic beauty also getting better & better , Mile Stone at 91.8 KM reading NH222 Malshej (pic) .After few KM ( 103 KM) there was a water falls on right side , we got down & took some snaps .Now we can feel clouds .,fog at road level like we are passing thru deep fog & many water falls were there .

Although I was expecting that there will be dense fog & few water falls , but did not expect that a water fall (pic) with tons of water just at the center of road from cave like mountain hammering your vehicle ( Nano may not take that load )  , this water fall  ( 112 KM) was just amazing .

Main Waterfal

It was heavy fog with visibility of only 10 mtrs , temperature was a bit chilly ,we drove thru few more  minor waterfalls , so far after Murbad road condition was extremely good , but due to waterfalls & landslide road condition was slightly bad & also at one place half of the road was closed due to landslide , although heavy machines were already deployed to clear the landslide .

After crossing water fall we had bhuttas as some  parking space was available , overall environment & panoramic scene was beyond imagination , it was raining , clouds , fog , also seen clouds ascending picxx , the whole view was panoramic , ahhhha ,feel like just sit there forever  & watch nature .

MTDC Resort

Finally we reached MTDC resort ( 115 KM ) visibility was hardly 10-12 mtrs , only gate was visible , also inside MTDC (pic) resort it was water everywhere , clouds at your room level , parked cars also not fully visible. Awesome….
After check in we had our lunch , it was OK , Flamingo dining hall was nearly full , everybody seems to enjoying wetness as whole resort including corridors were wet & literally Pani  everywhere .

Lake

After having our lunch ,me & Sid wanted to walk up to nearby waterfall , we went out but come back again as outside MTDC resort main entrance, on main road ( NH222),visibility was so poor that it was impossible to walk on road side , as passing by vehicles only head lights  were visible & driver may not be able to see you ,  it was rather unsafe ,therefore we came back. It was better to  drive then walk , we then took our car and we all went for a drive back to waterfalls to enjoy surroundings , also further down side after  MTDC there is a Dam & Lake , also not much fog , area was lush green ,  there is a resort named Sushant . We had our evening Chai at road side Thela , having dam/lake(pic) in the background .
Dinner at MTDC was OK .

I went out for a  walk after dinner , the place reminds me of starting scene of the BR Chopra movie “ Dhund” watched long back starring my fav,Danny & Zeenat , that place also seems to look like Malshej  only  ,Dhund everywhere & only vehicles  head lights are visible. I must say that Danny has played the  role of a handicapped jealous husband of  a beautiful young wife ( Zeenat , who else ) with ease & perfection.

It was raining intermittently almost whole night  , I was wondering there is almost no continuous rain this season in Mumbai , no water logging , no disruption & this place , oh ! water & water everywhere !!
Next day we checked out at 9 :00 AM it was raining heavily  & very cold , we did not find anybody at any waterfall, maybe it was too early also water may be very cold , I wanted to take few snaps of the valley , but unable to take as it was raining , also fog was too dense & almost no visibility to take snaps , but it was heavenly experience to walk or drive thru such a lovely place . It took almost 2 ½ hrs to reach Thane ( 115 KM) .
Whole trip was such a wonderful experience & we overjoyed it.

Rajesh Khanna : The SuperStar

Rajesh Khanna was at his peak when I was in school , his songs tops the charts of only countdown show of that era ( audio only) Binaca Geetmala compeered by Amin Sayani in his trade mark style. Kishore /Rajesh /SD/RD lethal combination was the guarantee for the success. It is Amitabh/Vinod Khann/Mehra /Rishi  who were my gen’s Heros’s , still I was die hard fan of Dev Anand , In fact I was not so excited for his movies during his peak ,although I have seen all (100%) movies , my friend Veena was great fan of RK , she once told me that  he has the style , she wants her would be to be  like him only  , with white/cream shawl draped the way he used to do . Post 90’s only Somehow I started liking his few classic movies by Bangali directors & Khamoshi’s “ Wo Sham “ became my all time Fav song defeating all Dev songs , was it song or the sadness or reminiscences of the forgiven love , or Kishore or Waheeda or Gulzar magic or  intelligent picturisation of Dharmendra glimpses , shadow ( 15 secs max) ,or soft music by Hemant Kumar or B&W majestic Hawrah Bridge in the background , Naav , Naav chalak & flashbacks ……………..all these flavors & soft lover boy act by Rajesh Khanna made this song Immortal , even Lata had sang this song as a Shradahanjali to Legendary Kishore Kumar. For me Khamoshi is in the same league of “ Guide” , my ultimate’s.

Other movie was Safar & the song   “ Jeevan Se Bhari” , although I feel sad for Firoz Khan’s role ,which was totally in contrast  with his real life image of a lady killer .Then Classic “ Amar Prem “  better known for his famous “ Pushpa ….” Dialogue   , my fav scene in the movie used to be , when grown up Doctor Vinod Mehra re visits Sharmila ‘s home & Sparsh flowers of the same tree planted long back ,when he was a child ,he remembers affection rendered by Sharmila  during his childhood , so touching , I always ruminate this particular scene, close to my heart .

I observed that all Bangla directors are too good in portraying complexity of Rishtey’s of any kind in any combination ( Humans, Nature, places , animals so on..)  , other movies which I liked were Avishkar , Thodi si Befaai , Anand ,Iteefaaq, The Train , Aap Ki Kasam etc.

His bonding with Kishore Kumar was friendly , they share good rapo with each other ,their songs are still popular & he will be always remembered for his Super Stardom , immortal Songs & his contribution to make 70’s as The Golden Era of Hindi cinema.

I do remember the tribute  he paid to Dev Anand recently , it was the best , artistic & well versed speech to describe Dev Anand & his control & affection surprised me , Lovely.

I like Shobha De article in Mumbai Mirror , must read , you may check her blog.

My earlier post on “ Wo Sham ..” is re linked below.

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