Yesterday night I went out with a girl friend of mine to one of my favourite hangout pub in Bandra. Even on a Thursday night the place was filled with a decent number of people, mostly office crowd. Now you would be thinking whats so darn great about this, I mean this is a scenario in most metro cities. However I noticed one peculiar thing when I glanced around the small room. Though the present crowd mostly comprised of men, there were also quite a few women around, just by themselves or in small groups.

It reminded of the times when I use to come down to Mumbai for holidays and crib in front of my best friend about the attitude of Mumbaikars or Indians in general, where women could not go down to the pub or a nightclub without being assisted by their male friends or relatives. It was seen more of taboo and would put a question mark on the girl’s character if she ever dared to venture out alone to such places. Afterall decent Indian women, don’t indulge themselves in such activities, it was perceived.

Click here to continue reading ‘Women and Mumbai’

Well we all know the reasons why we can’t always trust the media, especially what we read in the papers. Here is just another reason, read the story bellow…

A pastor wanted to raise money for his church and on being told that there was a fortune in horse racing, decided to purchase one and enter it in the races. However at the local auction, the going price for a horse was so high that he ended up buying a donkey instead. He figured that since he had it, he might as well go ahead and enter it in the races.

To his surprise, the donkey came in third. The next day the local paper carried this headline: PASTOR’S ASS SHOWS.

The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and this time it won. The local paper read: PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day, the local paper headline read: BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR’S ASS.

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey. The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent. The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day: NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for ten dollars. The next day the paper read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

At the end of his rope, the bishop ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild. The next day the headlines read: NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The bishop was buried the next day.

Every once in a while, the debate around euthanasia or mercy killing gets revived. The debate gets particularly intense in the light of developments in the medical field or when you hear about critical cases where death seems to be the only logical option.

Doctors at Wadia Hospital in Parel (Mumbai) are faced with an unusual request from a one-year-old’s parents — they want the boy’s life terminated medically.

Mahesh Pujari’s father Sangappa and mother Anusuya have moved a petition with the collector seeking permission to let doctors terminate their child’s life. Modern life science calls it euthanasia. For Sangappa and Anusuya it’s a nightmare they must live.

Mahesh suffers from hydrocephalus — excessive accumulation of water in the head that has retarded the growth of his brain to such an extent that it is impossible for him to comprehend anything. He does not recognise voices, nor does he react to touch. There is a big bulge at the back of his head.

And that is not all, the boy suffers from another congenital defect — Thoracolumbar. In layman’s language, his spinal cord is useless. Which means he cannot even sit up without support, let alone stand or walk. The boy does not have any control over his bladder and this is not going to change as he grows up.

“I cannot see my child in such pain. It kills me when I think he will have to live with this pain all his life. I want an end to his pain…I want his life terminated,” says Anusuya, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Sangappa, who lives with his wife and child in a small room in Juhu, is employed in the construction industry. “I am a small contractor. I have exhausted all my savings in treating Mahesh. I know what a horrific demand we are making…who would want his one-year-old put to death. But I do not have any option. I am told euthanasia is illegal in our country. But isn’t my son’s life more painful than death?” he said.

Continue reading “When life is more painful than death”

Being of marriageable age, I am bombarded with numerous questions and suggestions from family and friends. When will you marry?? Are you seeing someone?? You won’t find good family boys, if you delay it any further !! So what you don’t like the guy…the family status and money is important !! and the pathetic list goes on and on….

It’s amazing and at times very amusing to see that more than my immediate family, it’s others as in my neighbours and door ke rishteydaars who are fuckin more eager to dance and fart at my wedding ceremonies. It’s not that I am against the whole ‘arranged marriage’ concept…I sincerely believe that it is great and over the recent years..the whole idea of an arranged marriage has changed for good. The issue that pinches the most in the butt is that I never thought that I would ever ever ever need the help of others to find my other half. Always firmly believed that I would find my soulmate on my own and that the minute we meet…thousands of alarm clocks would go on in heart…indicating that our time has come. But today, here I am questioning my search and wait for someone who may not exist in reality, maybe the whole soulmate thingy is just load of crap.

Throughout centuries, story tellers, and people from different background and cultures always refer to their fascination in meeting one day their soul mates. But I wonder, Is Soul Mate a myth? Do they really exist? Or is Soul Mate a figment of our own imagination that can help keep our hope for a perfect relationship and keep our hope alive. Or is it an escape way for not handling or not looking at ourselves in such a way that we keep delaying our responsibilities and things can be fixed when we meet that perfect relationship with those Soul Mates.

Click here to continue reading ‘Soul Mates….a load of ‘bullshit’ ??’

This Fruit cake is apt for all types of occassions, all year round..be it happy or sad ones.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 quarts Whiskey
1 cup butter                   
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt                    
4 large eggs                 
1 cup dried fruit            
1 tsp. baking powder    
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup of nuts
1 oz of lemon juice

Mixing Instructions:

Before you start, sample the whiskey to check for quality (two/three shots recommened). Good, isn’t it? Now go ahead. Select a large mising bowl, measuring cup, etc. Check the whiskey again as it must be just right. To be sure whiskey is of the highest quality, pour one level cup into a glass and drink it as fast as you can. Repeat.

With an electric mixer, beat 1 cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 tsp. of thugar and beat again. Meanwhile, make sure that the siskey is of the finest quality. Cry another cup.

Open the second quart is necessary. Add the 2 arge eggs, 2 cups dried fruit and beat till high. If druit gest stuck in the beaters, juse pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the whiskey again, checking for toxscisticity.

Next sift 3 cups of the salt or anything: it really doesn’t matter. Sample the whiskey. Sift 1/2 pint lemon juice.

Fold in chopped butter and strained nuts. Add one babblespoon of the brown thugar, or whatever color you can find and wix mel.

Grease oven and turn cake to 350 degrees. Now pour the whole mess into the coven and bake. Check whiskey again, and go to bed.

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I never thought this would ever happen with me…but it did and I guess this is what they call “LIFE”.