Salaam bombay..

The events of the last week have...
1.Spoilt my mood...considerably..
2.Made me wonder..'It could so easily have been me...'
3.Made me question some very fundamental beliefs i have had..for years now...
4.And our callousness...and...our ability to continue living a normal life...while people die...everyday...around us...kashmir,lebanon,israel...and now bombay..again..
5.Confused me...ki...all it took for bombay to bounce back...was 4 hrs..4 hrs...after the blasts...the trains were back on WR..and they hadnt even stopped..on CR and harbour lines...
A heartless city...or a bull-headed one ??
Whatever...salaam bombay..
I thot i had lost the ability to be surprised by events...
And...Bombay and I have had a love-hate relationship..
But..mygod ! does it continue to amaze me,or wot !

A Silent tribute to all my dead comrades...
I have been the recepient of dhakkas...and affection..both at the same time..on those coaches...
From Fat gujjus that i used to elbow,cos that was the only way to counter their girth...
To...receiving Tirupati prasad from complete strangers..inspite of trying to confuse them by saying.."I'm a muslim !"

I am sure i have met atleast a few of those souls who passed away in that instant..And on behalf of them,i ask..
My question is the "Why ?"
And not the "Who ?"
Why ? What made you do this ? What pushed you to the edge ? Was it so horrible an experience for you...that you were willing to place a bomb in a packed train ? Revenge ?

chodo..yaar...doesnt matter...they are dead...
And their family cant be consoled...it's a loss that they will be burdened with,for life..
Simply cos,he was just trying to reach home...as soon as he possibly could..

Bombay will bounce back...bcos,it is bombay,after all...
And..it doesnt have the time for punishments,and courts,and revenge..
Time is money...money is time....and thats all that matters...
Character...and spirit...comes somewhere in between...
a generous sprinkling of it...

Salaam bombay....

Message sent..1 message received...

SMSing..Text msging..ultra-stupid-forwards-sending...is an addiction,i am hooked on to..
Yes...I am one more amongst the '159-characters generation'...
*That how long a single txt msg can be...So...*

(Am adept at it with my left hand,too..but...
I know a few people who can do it faster...with 2 hands !
And i am not talking about the dudes,who play 'Snake'...at full speed..in an overcrowded train !)

I have never been much of a long-phone-call person...
Hate the damn thing next to my ears...
Even the time,i used earphones...The blue-tooth devices looked super-stupid !
*My old phone,while in bombay...had FM radio and i was always plugged in...but,never comfortable...*

So..When i tap away..furiously at the keypad..dictionary on...
Some gems...appear..

'kini'...'king'..
*Destiny ? Dunno...Guess,Nokia knows...Fingers crossed...inshallah,inshallah...:D*

'First name'...'riverg'..
*Calm..serene...cool..changes path,rarely ? personality trait ? but then..it's a gujju name..Enuf said... :-/*

'Shubham'..'Pitchan'...
*Pitchan ? Somewhere close to 'Pichakaran' ? :D
Haan,bahut 'cheapu' ho gaya hai...sends the same msg to everybody..
'hi pal,i am fine...had a taste of the deluge in bombay...hope you are fine..'
Status msg ! :-/*

'Surd'..'Sure'...
*Ok..some gadgets are not error-free...Nokia ko dosh do ! Sure...Surd..is surd...:))
When he calls I am 'outside,call me/will call later..
When i call,he's busy driving/eating/sleeping/shitting/all of the above...*

'Deebs'...'Defar'...
*Haan...Real far...Deebs left permanently for New yaaark, last week...:(
and when she called,from New york no less,i was playing cricket and winning,for a change...So,asked her to call back or gimme a number..she did neither :-/*

'Abbe'....'Babe'...
*Abbe...is a word that i tend to use a lot...goes for my guypals...and my girlpals :)
And yeah..most of them are babes...yeah,yeah...guys,included...:D*

'F^*%'...Dual...Single baar star..'Duck'..
*We are old enuf to not use the word directly,anymore...but not that old that we not use it at all,so :)*

'I love you'...'I love you'...
Hmm..smart...Nokia Engineers know their stuff...
Guess,its easier to say it over a msg..than over a call/in person...
Cos..
1. It's so much tougher saying it in person/ over a call.
2. Electronic gadgets cost more in maintenance and follow-ups..Just like Love...
3. Kehna (ahem...Likhnaa)... Aasaan hai..
Karna...aur saath nibhaana...not quite...
:)

So tap/type away and see what turns up...