Ok… i am in my room in mumbai right now.. and the time is 1951 hrs… and today is 22nd dec..i think i will be able to post this only tmrw after training.. which means on the 23rd sometime in the day… lemme start from where i left the last post… i am not sure but i guess i wrote it in indore from the office..

ok…

flashback…

office indore… TSD training done and implementation initiation… the first leg of the training over… and i am ill… fever.. and some infection on the face… which means that i should not be going to Ujjain in the night as planned earlier.. i should be seeing a doc and sleeping … and leave for ujjain as soon as possible in the morning… so i meet a doc after office on 20th evening… he says that the infection is because of cold and that i have a cold bite… which led to all the red marks on the face.. some tabs for cold and some anti-biotics meant that i should be fine in two days… looks like i am… so just ate some idhar udhar ka stuff around instead of a proper meal.. and went to bed.. and what do i see.. AXN is airing Fast and the Furious.. one of the movies i always wanted to watch.. and i sit down to see the movie.. which means that i cannot sleep before 0015 hrs… and what makes anyone in the world think that i will get up by 0300 hrs as i wanted… anyway.. i sleep around 0030 hrs and inspite of the alarms ringing at least 5 times.. and i snoozing it off every single time i did not get up early… i finally woke up at 0700 and rushed out of the hotel… i checked out.. and went to the bus stand in indore… there are regular buses to Ujjain from Indore.. the fare is Rs. 30.. pretty comfortable private buses which have under MPRTC, the Madhya Pradesh Road Transport Corp… the bus would not move at a snail’s pace till its full… which means about 45 minutes inside the city itself.. a distance which can be covered in 1 hrs takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete… i had to visit the Mahakal Temple in ujjain which meant that I get down on the flyover just before the bus stand… i did… walked down to the mahakal temple… bought some prasadam… and went inside… lovely temple.. and one of the 12 jyotislingas in india… this one is also a Swayambhu Shivling, which means that it appeared on its own.. this jyotirling is also called Dakshineshwar, which means that its facing the South… was fortunate enough to reach when there was a Shringar going on followed by a Mahaarti… if you really want to visit the Mahakal Temple, then the right time is about 0400 hrs when there is Bhasm Aarti being performed… a ritual when the shivling is decorated with human ashes…

i moved out of the temple in about an hours time.. and then took a local tempo to the bus stand… and then had a light heavy breakfast.. and then took the bus to Indore… was in Indore by 1430 hrs.. which meant that i could leave for Bhopal very much on time.. and i did… took a bus at 1500 hours and reached Bhopal at 2000 hrs… the bus was late by about 30 minutes… took an auto.. reached the same hotel in the new market… kept my bag in the room and rushed out to eat my last bit in bhopal… had pan, had shrikhand, had some kalakand, and some indli wada sambhar… came back to the hotel…. and slept peacefully…

reached the airport in the morning and as expected the Indian Airlines flight was late… hey but i realised that i was again not travelling by IA.. it was Alliance Air.. what has netconnect done? have they given me all the tickets for the worst airline or what… anyway.. not bad to start with i guess…

i reached mumbai early afternoon….

welcome to the financial capital of India mr. Prashant Bhardwaj… and if you were thinking that the auto-wallas in mumbai are the most honest guys in india.. then wake up.. you are about to be cheated big time… well yes.. this guy wanted to charge 250 bucks for the distance between Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Dadar Central… which looked more to me but then i was not sure.. and then he tells me that he cannot go that side of mumbai and that he would drop me at the taxi stand and i could take the taxi.. no need to pay anything to the taxi wala guy as he would pay him the fare.. well obviously he was lying.. i ended up paying 100 more bucks to the taxi wala guy after some argument… i hate it.. i should have talked to both the drivers when i switched vehicles… and this would not have happened… anyway.. i will be careful next time.. coz no one is going to leave any opportunity to overcharge and cheat around here… thanks Mumbai for this warm welcome !!!

anyway i managed to see a completely other side of mumbai as well and that too not in a long time… i will come back to it..

i reach the hotel i was to check in.. and what do i find out.. there is no room available.. i am zapped… i had a confirmed booking.. what the fcuk.. called up my friend who had helped me get the room.. she said she will check and call me back.. poor soul.. she must be feeling bad about this… sorry baby… anyway the hotel wala guys gave me a room for a night.. and i rushed out as soon as i kept my bags inside to find a hotel.. after i check out where my office is…

the office is in Lower Parel.. i am in Dadar.. i have to take a western railway and go south… one station after dadar is lower parel… ticket fare – 4 bucks.. long line… loads of people… and no dearth of change with the ticket lady… good… i find out the platform.. its number 2.. the good thing about dadar is that i can take the locals which run on the central line as well as the ones on the western lines… good…

i check out where my office is in Lower Parel.. this is Peninsula Towers, Wing A.. not too far away from the station.. about 5 minutes of walk… chalega.. i can stay put in dadar itself… i come back to Dadar… and this time in a bus.. bright red BEST bus… it drops me at the dadar bus stand.. and i reach my hotel after walking through one of the biggest and busiest flower markets i have seen.. what a pretty smell… ummmmm… lovely… and then the overbridge.. ppl… rush… sun… traffic.. and me… looking around for a place to stay in… after 22nd… phew.. its tough i could not find anything…

and then a message from that darling friend..she wanted me to call her friend in mumbai who had arranged for the room.. i called her up.. she is priya by the way.. sweet voice… she told me the the issue had been sorted out.. and i could stay put at the anand lodge itself…. good.. this is a good place to be in…

so my next smallie trip starts after i know where I am staying.. i have a few hours… and i can see something in mumbai.. what to see? umm… camera is calling me.. do something dude… so i check out the map that i bought a while ago.. checked the train routes.. and decided i would go to Chatrapati Shivali Terminus and from there to the Gateway of India… second exp with the local trains in Mumbai… reach CST in about 20 minutes.. fare again 4 bucks… and then i go out.. and try to find a way to go to the Gateway… i asked his man on the bike about the way.. and he said he will drop me there.. very good.. this is what i was talking about.. the other side of mumbai.. hostipatility.. thank you again.. this guy was a part of the police here.. CID to be precise… and dropped me at the Mumbai Police Headquarters.. and from there I walkdown to the GOI… hmm… ok… nice… looks better in fotos.. nothing great… too crowded… too much too much.. i hate this… and this is where i see the ocean for the first time… the earth really is round… hey.. that reminds me.. today i was able to see how the horizon from my plane window.. white and blue.. B E A U T I F U L…

stayed there for a while… and then just walked around.. saw the TAJ Hotel… phew.. huge.. beautiful.. royale… mast ekdum… a walk around the place and then back to the station… this time i thought i will take a bus… and on my way i saw the National Gallery for Modern Art.. thought why not just go in.. and i made one of the best decisions ever by doing this.. the place had on exhibition works of some German Artists.. WOW is the word !!! WOW…

and then out to the bus stand… lots of BEST buses.. and me not sure which one to take.. so this is what i do.. i take out my handbook again.. and see where can i go.. i cannot find the list of buses that will go to CST so i look for an alternative.. and Churchgate is the alternative… so i take the bus number 122 to Churchgate.. and the fare again 4 bucks.. is that a lucky number with mumbai or what? anyway.. saw the Mumbai Vidhyapeeth and the High court on the way to Churchgate… i am not sure what architecture that is.. but its too beautiful !!! i wish i had a college with such a building.. i want to go there again.. lets see when…

Churchgate Station… 6 bucks this time for Dadar…. fast train… and i reach dadar in about 30 minutes.. eat some light food.. and enter the hotel… just take care of my baggage and all.. and then sit down to write this post down.. long eh… somethoughts that i have about mumbai…

mumbai…
fast… too fast…
delhi is slower.. bhopal was the slowest of them all so far.. and the most relaxing !!!
ok back to mumbai…
everyone is in a rush to reach somewhere…
thousands of people moving around..
crowded…
the gurls are hott.. and lots of them too…
dedicated compartments for ladies in the local trains.. very good !!! helps avoid situations which are not very happy to be in…
i will take time to adjust to the hustle bustle of the city…
i read somewhere that in the peak hours the crowd of the local trains will take you inside the train and take out out of it as well.. and i really experienced that when i was coming back to Dadar from Churchgate…

all these names.. dadar, borivalli, churchgate, VT, etc etc used to reach my ears through movies so far… and i was there today.. felt good about that.. felt i have come a long way… and that made me walk slow for some reason.. i do not want to rush ahead in my life.. i want it to move at its own pace.. and i promise to speed up if need be..

thank you life.. thank you God.. i have a lot to be happy about… some to be sad about too.. but more reasons to smile then frown !!!

hey.. just wanted to write down the states and some cities i have been to… feel good factor you see

Delhi
UP
Uttranchal ( Kausani, Bageshwar, Binsar, Patal Bhuvneshwar, Almora, Ram Nagar, Jim Corbett National Park, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Nainital, Chamba, Dhanaulti, Mossourie etc etc)
Himachal Pradesh ( Shimla, Badog, Solan etc etc)
Punjab ( Chandigarh, Amritsar )
Haryana ( Kurukshetra)
Jammu & Kashmir ( Vaishno Devi)
Assam ( Guwahati and Jagi Road)
Shillong
Rajasthan ( Jaipur)
Madhya Pradesh ( Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain)
Maharashtra ( Mumbai)

not too bad a track record eh !!!

and hey can i count the cities i flew over 😛 😀 when i was in the flight !!!

i like this song from Bluff Master… Right Here Right Now… makes me feel like dancing !!! jusst whatt i likke !!!

and the post finally comes to an end at 2057 hrs on the 22nd of Dec.

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new day 23-Dec-05 …. starts at 0700 hrs… with a standard alarm.. and one snooze !!!

was thinking of going to the cafe coffee day yesterday evening… but chose not to.. just rested in my room… saw a movie i had recently bought… The Gods must be Crazy Part I ; ekdum masta movie hai….

was in the office by 0900 hrs… and the training started around 1015 hrs… now a break…

phew mumbai traffic in the morning… Delhi i feel is better.. i don’t think anyone can drive for pleasure here… its just to reach from here to there.. and back… everyone is moving.. going somewhere… I hope they find what they are looking for…