The elusive 'spirit of Mumbai'

It isn't often that Mumbai and Cherrapunji are spoken of in the same breath, but 94.4 cm of rainfall certainly is record-breaking. The point is, when it happens in the sleepy hills of the North-East, it is routine, but when it happens in the commercial capital of India, it paralyzes life.

So here is where the famed 'Spirit of Mumbai' shows itself, according to the media. But the number of times I've come across this term in the last couple of days and the context it has been used in makes me wonder......
Volunteer groups wade out into the water with hot tea and snacks, and this supposedly reflects the 'Spirit of Mumbai'........So when the Marina was flooded last Dec 26 and we saw volunteers on the beach just hours after the tsunami, was that the 'Spirit of Chennai' at work?
Workers of the NSE were forced to sleep over at the Exchange but still were gung-ho about getting their work underway the following morning.....So, what other option did they have?

The above examples, to my understanding, reflect the 'Spirit of Community' more than anything else, something you would expect to see in any democratic, high-on-population set-up. The true 'Spirit of Mumbai', on the other hand, is something that is inextricably linked to the city's economy, to the feeling of opportunity that assails any greenhorn trying to make his mark in the city, to the gut-feeling that every Mumbaikaar possesses that the show must go on, no matter what........Unfortunately, the term also happens to be one of the many cliched phrases that the media has in its repository and is always looking to use at the slightest opportunity. Make no mistake, the quintessential 'Spirit of Mumbai' will reveal itself when we see how quickly the Mubaikaars get back to life and business, but till then, let's leave the fancy phrases to the media.

All said and done, seeing folks gallantly struggle back to their feet after being knocked down by Mother Nature, be it in Mumbai or elsewhere, is always an awesome sight,....and my heartfelt condolences to each one affected by this tragedy, and a speedy recovery from it.

Amen to that.

Monday Morning Blues

Monday morning, 9:30 AM, Teynampet Signal.

I screech my bike to a halt as the light turns red and settle down for a 90 second wait till the traffic starts moving again. My mind wanders to what I might have left pending for the coming week at office on Friday last. With a sickening feeling, I realise my TGIF mood had been quite pronounced last time around, resulting in cramped deadlines and potential showdowns with my superiors today. And what's up with this blasted weather? The more it rains, the more sultry it gets, I think, feeling my shirt sticking to my back...And to top it all ,Iam running late for work. God! Why did there have to be Mondays?!

My eyes stray to the huge movie billboards on the roadside, hoping to find some visual relief there, but Iam arrested by a strange sight in the traffic island at the centre of the junction. It's only a typical 'mams' ('traffic policeman' in Chennai lingo) with a Veerappan mousetache and a Santa Claus tummy, directing traffic. Only, there is nothing else typical about him. With arms whirling and neat pirrouettes, he transforms the job of traffic-direction into an art form. An autodriver whizzes by, greeting our 'mams' on the way. He responds with a wave and a grin. The scooter ahead of me oversteps the stop line by a metre and our man is onto him in a flash, admonishing him with sarcastic wisecracks which make everyone around him smile. 'Mams' is the centre of attention and he knows it.

Is the same sun beating down on him? I wonder, noticing how cool he looks. And how can he be so excited about his monotonous, thankless job as if he was a scuba diver off the Great Barrier Reef? I guess it's because work is never fun or exciting because of what it is, but because of what we put into it. We might be aiming for that dream job of ours which would supposedly give us all that we are looking for (which is not a bad thing at all), but we have to be alive to the present where most of those elusive goals might be just waiting for us to find them. I guess the 'mams' knows this much better than most. And suddenly, I feel alive. How long will the feeling last, I don't know.....

3...2...1....The lights turn green and Iam off!

Gilly Speak........

"I wouldn't nick it."

-Adam Gilchrist, on being asked whether he would walk if he nicked a ball in the final Ashes test with the series tied at 2-2

Typical of the man!

In the Beginning........

*Disclaimer : Any resemblance to any character, either fictional or imaginary, is purely deliberate*

Coolvin : So Hoobes, what do you make of the blog?

Hoobes : Nothing much to make of right now, is there?

C : Well yeah, but what about the whole idea of me having a blog?

H : As far as irrational things go, I guess it ain't too bad...

C : Irrational??! This is me making my voice heard to the entire world and you call it
irrational??

H : Well, its not the kind of thing you would expect from a guy who never believed in
keeping a diary, who gives a damn about the world around him, who is closer to
being an introvert than an extrovert, who....

C: OK, OK, but this is where I change all that! Man, I can't wait to start expressing my
opinions on stuff without someone butting in! This is where I challenge popular perceptions,
speak my mind, take a stand, display my creativity,...oh, by the way, this is quite a
creative first post, eh?

H : Duh!.......

C : Anyway, I have to thank Anil here for getting me started on this blog and helping me out
with the skin and stuff....

H : Oh! You mean the cool dude who's a super-mod at Pagalguy.com?

C : yeah, that's him.....and you can cut out the sycophancy!

H : (claws spring open) Well, there are a few other things I'd like to cut better....

C : Aaw...chuck it!....C'mon, let's go exploring!