Game-For-Life?

I am at least a regular at the Mumbai and Delhi airports by virtue of travelling between these 2 locations or travelling to other locations from these bases. The privatisation of both the Airports happened about the same time(till a few years ago, these busiest airports of India were run by the Airports Authority of India, a government body). And then i heaved a sigh of relief, that at least the long hours i spend at these 2 airports will now be well serviced.

Too bad then,some hopes have been dashed. i guess the mumbai airport developers have done a far better job of doing up the facilities and are working godspeed to turn around the airport. Most of their efforts are showing results. Lesser queues, smaler waiting times, better and cleaner airports, better counters, smoother checkins and the works. The lounges at the domestic as well as at the international airport have been made spacious and they don’t seem to be ever peaked out in my past 2 to 3 years of getting there.

However, delhi is not so great i tell you. the queues at the airport are never small, and the whole darn place has more “pillars ” coming up rather than checkin counters. They are taking too longdoing things and i am thoroughly dissatisfied with my past experiences with them. They have a gem of a property there looking down upon the tarmac. Alas then, it always looks as if i walked into a trashcan. The last time i wasthere, the indian premier league tournament was on, and the whole of a cricket team was seated there with some sitting in each others laps. Now someone go there and do something, of pls ask jet airways to give me access to their business class lunge even when i fly economy

P.S.: Posted from the clipper lounge at the mezzanine floor of terminal2 of mumbai airport, using my communicator e90.

Have a look at this TV Grab. TV Channels are falling all over each other to get soundbytes that they would show just about anything~~

ok, so for the first time in eight months i am back on the blogosphere. It is 1045 pm approx and I just landed up in the queue to meet Lalbaghcha Raja, the most famous of the Ganpati mandals in Mumbai.

on my way here, i realised a few humbling things in life. The most queer of them forms the caption of this blogpost… Ganpati season is when mumbai meets. I’ve been in this city of Mumbai about four years now, and i’ve seen this year on year and slowly becoming a part of it..in ganpati season, mumbai turns into one big harmonious community (it always was, but this part of the year…it shows). Everyone has a ganpati bappa at their home or at someone close to their’s home. People visit each other, perhaps more than they do in the diwali season, and they all make merry. Its a feast, with mumbai roaring to the auspiscious chants of “Ganpati bappa Morya”…

i walked about 1/2 an hour from the Lower Parel station to join at the end of the queue, and will spend most of the night here. And there are several ahead of me, waiting it out for the entire night just to worship the God. So the rich and poor all come together here….thats the second realisation over the years, that Ganpati bappa is a great equaliser. Everyone waits to meet him here and greet him, no exceptions

The third realisation is the economic aspect of the festivity. I am right now standing at perhaps one of the biggest and most famous pandals in mumbai. A newspaper trivia said that there were perhaps more than 1500 pandals in the city itself. All over maharashtra look around, and you’d perhaps see much more of them. So this is seasonal income for the artisans, the florists, the electricians, the security industry and so on and so forth. Let me try and figure out a number from somewhere and add that for your reference here later…but you do realise that by the grace of Ganesha, the resident god of Mumbai, there is a whole festive economy which feeds millions not just that, overnight, there turn up hundreds of roadside food and beverage stalls selling everything from the famour Vada pao to the filling Pav Bhaji to tonnes of other gastronomic delights. All that, to ensure while you are Queing up to meet the Gods, you are tanked up to see through the day.

Seeing the faith in Lord Ganesha, one thing i am convinced with is that India is a land of believers, where faith is not lost. If we could all combine our faith into one big melting pot and concentrate on making ‘India Shining’ well, is a different thought altogether.

Here is three cheers to the spirit of Mumbai…”Ganpati bappa morya, mangal murti morya…agley varshi jaldi aaaaaa”

PS: The ardous task of getting to see the God was fulfilled at about 9 in the morning when I finally got access to the main area right in front of the idol for a minute. It was gigantic, and smilin at you. The wait was worth it…… this post is not capitalised too much or may have spelling errors, but it was posted from my e90 … so excuse the same!