A Tale of 2 cities

                        

I have lived in Mumbai for most of my life and in Delhi NCR for almost 5 years now. I sat down to think what it was that was different between life in the two cities. It was a Sunday afternoon at home and more than anything else this was a small leisure exercise and I have come up with some interesting tidbits which I am sharing below. 

          Delhi-ites please forgive the bias as the writer is a hard core Mumbaikar. So here                     goes...... 

          Wada Paav v/s Rajma Chawal, Wada Paav any day. 

          BEST Buses vs Blue Line, BEST is clearly better 

Shiv Sagar vs Sagar Ratna, Shiv Sagar boss!.... for sure

          Juhu Beach/Aksa Beach vs. No Beach...The Beach, surely.

Dahi Handi and Ganpati Bappa Moriya symbolise festivities in Mumbai and in Delhi you have the sweets doing the rounds during Raakhi.You also have

Raam Lilas at various places during Dussehra...Well each one to his own.

Heavy Rains and the city traffic uniterrupted...rain for two hours and city at a standstill...anybody's guess.

The friendly neighourhood baniya ready to deliver a bottle of coke on a phone call...Sadda arrogant shopkeeper frowning over deliveries less than a quid...what do I say.

Local train services for every destination you might want to visit v/s metro train services, currently only at places away from your home or workplace...In the present context Mumbai local trains are the useful ones..  

Booze for 30% Less in the Capital City with people lining up oh so patiently....Yes Delhi scores here... 

Except for the Peak hour crazy rush at the local trains and the state of cleanliness which is the same for both the cities, for me Mumbai is a hands down winner, I miss Aamchi Mumbai like hell I do...

Of Blackberries, 4G, iPhones and drool

I am at home on a Sunday afternoon. The Delhi weather continues to be pleasant quite miraculously considering that the month of May (which is  peak summer time), is hardly a week away. I am penning down some random thoughts with malice towards none. 

This time it was a conscious decision to either get my blackberry repaired or do away with it. Before long, I started to enjoy the happenings at the self styled mobile service center cum accessory shop cum Mobile/Laptop Lamination Center which I had visited towards attaining this objective. I preferred this center to an authorized Blackberry service center for the quiet efficiency of the man running the show.

The service center occupies all of 30 Sq feet space in one of South Delhi's busy commercial hubs. At any given time there are at least 4 to 5 people in this space, besides the patrons and clients.

The 4 to 5 people are youngsters and boys who are at the beck and call of the buyers responding to their requests for fancy mobile covers, mobile guards, Key pad guards and so on.
They also take on the mantle of directing  the consumers who are interested in getting their mobile serviced, whatever be the model, to the one man service resource, Shanubhai, as he is respectfully called.

Shanubhai is the king of all he surveys. Get a problematic cell phone to him and within seconds he is ready with the extent of repair required,  an elaborate quote and the time it will take for getting the cell phone "back to life".

Then you have the rare patron who's unable to explain what problem he is having with his cell phone, partly since he is from one of the southern states of the country. A literal translation of what he wants to say doesn't help Shanubhai in understanding him.
"Doosre ko sunta hai, Hum ko sunta nahin hai ." Meaning that I am able to hear what the other person is saying but the other person is unable to hear what I am saying .
After Shanu bhai has lent his cell phone the magical touch, his worries are finally put to rest though he takes some time to actually get convinced on this, for more reasons than one.

To add to the direct clients he recieves, Shanubhai's services are also utilized by the Mobile shop next door. This is a one stop shop for cell phones, accessories and repair consultation.
The smart cookie that this guy is, he is able to charge a premium for the repairs through the use of technical jargon like charging jack, scroller assembly and the likes.

I begin to wonder how  the cell phone has become an integral a part of our lives and the amount we are ready to spend on it.

What a booming industry this has become in a matter of one decade and I cant think of a better example of blatant consumerism there can be in today's context without undermining the utility of the instrument as a communication device.

Coming back to my Blackberry, after a wait of almost 3 hours, I finally got it back in a working condition, So hopefully all's well that ends well.

Till next time then and keep smiling. :)

Just some unanswered questions...who's worrying? not me...

I once heard our VP say that if you do not drive the business will drive you. The business world is moving at a very fast pace and the only place where Dinosaurs are appreciated is in a block buster movie directed by  Steven Spielberg..

Delhi's been my Karmbhoomi for more than half a decade and has its own way of throwing challenges at me, so much so that I wonder if something's wrong if a day doesn't seem challenging enough. So having returned from a week long official trip to Dehradun, I am left as of now with some unanswered questions. Worried? Who? Me? Naah.! :)

Passport police verification does it require the individual's presence at his place of residence? The ill fated day when the Policeman arrived for the verification, I was on  tour. For two days consecutively the policeman has said that he will come home for the verification but hasn't bothered to do so. Today is the third day when he would be here supposedly. What will be his reaction when I tell him that I follow this Guru and we AOLites do not pay any bribe?

When will my blackberry be finally up and going. Got the charging jack replaced, replaced the charger as well but now the scroll ball mechanism has gone awry. This means another visit to the repair shop. And after all the iterations when will I finally be able to utilize the Blackberry for the actual purpose of sending and recieving mails?

How much time will it take for me to get set for the month of April and Q2. When will I be able to get a grip on and resolve pending problems to move ahead from them.

In the midst of all this will I be able to actually sneak away for a couple of days combining it with the Good Friday holiday to spend time with my family.

As I juggle with these thoughts it is time to start off with the tasks for the day. Thank God Its Ram Navami today and a Holiday in the Northern parts of India, another of the festivals celebrated only in certain parts of the country. Am I proud to experience the diversity of the country. The learning keeps happening all the time! 

T3 Experience

For most of us who were born more than a quarter of a century ago, in fact closer to half a century ago, the T3 terminal at IGI airport is a welcome sight and is really a welcome change from the old terminal.

Agreed one has to walk more, But walkators in an Indian Airport and the sheer enormity of the Airport are a sight to behold. Every Good thing has a flip side, however it is upto us to look at the positive side of it and revel in the advancement made, particularly considering the sea change that it represents from other Indian Airports.

We do live in a country where space is at a premium, at least to the outside world we need to project ourselves in the most positive manner possible. 

 I had a similar experience while travelling on Delhi's Metro trains. Its a pleasure to avail of the facilities within these two state of the art infrastructures adorning the nation's capital

Jeetu Aur Mithu

Delhi has the best weather at this time of the year. I am sitting at home on a Sunday afternoon and taking a break from what i have been doing since morning, I am penning down some random thoughts with malice towards none, just offering some points to ponder....

I think a role or a job function can be played in different ways by two individuals, be it high flying executives or people around us doing the most menial jobs. 

In my Society there are two watchmen, one of whom is usually in the night shift and goes by the name Jeetendra or Jeetu, whereas the day shift watchman's name is Mithanlal and is called Mithu.

Jeetu serves as my Man Friday occasionally. He has taken up the job of washing my car every morning. On some occasions Jeetu helps me by lugging the 20 litre can of mineral water to my apartment on the 3rd floor, a duty which the grocery store owner has never considered his own.

He also takes up on himself to pass on my laundry clothes to the Dhobi. 

Jeetu also makes that extra effort to ensure that I get to park the car properly. Besides this Jeetu is often seen chatting with the people staying in the colony and answering to shouts from residents for help on some chore or the other.

Mithu on the other hand is this  fellow you would see besides the colony gate, rooted to his seat with a face depicting disdain.

The disdain however, is readily replaced with a greedy grin when he wants something out of you like Baksheesh on festive occasions. If at all he does the work of giving the clothes for ironing there isnt an iota of humility in doing the service.

The contrast doesn't end here between the two people manning the gates of our society.

The one with a neat looking uniform and a military like appearance is Mithu while Jeetu is the unkempt fellow often wearing a dirty looking cloth around his head.

Mithu rooted to his seat as ever!

Jeetu in his WInter Attire

Appearances are indeed deceptive.

One comes across all  kinds of characters in the Corporate world, but the likes of Mithu are fast becoming extinct and rightly so,  with service and engagement levels ruling the roost in the ways in which companies function.

To me the difference between Jeetu and Mithu can be summarised as the difference between existing as a watchman and playing the role of a watchman while living a life.

Till next time then and have a great Sunday Evening.