Be-friending Ms Padmini Mohite...

Usually I don’t take too long to make friends with little kids but Ms. Padmini Mohite is a big blot on that track record of mine. Let me introduce her. Ms. Padmini Mohite is a big lady of 4 and half years and is the daughter of the taxi driver who stays in the helper’s quarters in the adjoining building. She also happens to be the “best friend” of Dinesh, son of our society's watchman, Maan Singh. Dare not call him “Thapa” or “Bahadur” coz’ of his looks. He would promptly correct you with a polite yet firm, “Shaab ji…mera naam Maan Singh hai” (Sir, my name is Maan Singh)…and would wait for an acknowledgement.

So as I mentioned, I and Padmini aren’t exactly on nodding & smiling terms. She always gives me a “not-impressed” frown and I also play along and return the same frown back. I wonder what it might be? Is it that she doesn’t find my sense of dressing good enough for a smile or is it the fact that her best friend’s father calls me “Shaab ji” (Sir) is something that doesn’t appeal to her? I don’t quite know what it is but the bottom line is that I and little Ms Padmini are always on frowning terms!

Like every other day, I left for work and like every other day I and the dear leading lady of this blog post exchanged our customary frowns. I walked briskly to the spot where the office shuttle picks me up and surprisingly in about 2-3mts Padmini joined me and stood right next to me but still maintaining her poise (what a word for a 4 and a half yr old!) and that frown. I guess she was going back home as the school had declared a holiday or something. Now this was a sticky situation for our dear little Padmini as I was the least-stranger amongst all the strangers around her. Occasionally, I did catch her stealing a quick glance but she quickly looked away and then pretended to be busy looking at the traffic ahead. There still was tension between us, clearly.

I was getting slightly impatient as my bus was taking an unusually long time to come but all the while I was trying to figure what the little lady is trying to do. She would take 2 steps forward and then 2 steps backwards. Sheepishly look up to me and then back at the seemingly un-ending flow of cars / auto rickshaws / buses etc. This pattern kept repeating itself for the next 5mts or so. Then it struck me…the poor kid was trying to cross the road but was too proud to ask me! I moved towards her and smilingly asked her, “…apko road cross karna hai?...” (you want to cross the road, rite?) Little Padmini shyly nodded her head. So I held out my hand and she promptly transferred her lunch-box to the other hand and held out her tiny fingers towards me. I held her hand firmly and together we snaked throught the busy Mumbai road.

Little Padmini smiled at me with gratitude and then shyly half-waved a bye to me as her big innocent eyes followed me warmly as I crossed the road back to my waiting spot. There was no frown this time around.

I think I and little Ms Padmini Mohite are friends now…

Mumbai 7/11: Second Thought...

The last 6-7 hrs since I posted the last article (below)...I can't help but notice and then compare the before - after scenarios. There is not one thing I can think of that people did out of the usual today other than enquire if the other one reached home on time or collectively express disgust and anger over the incident (me included) etc. etc. Everything was just the same. The dosa guy infront of TCS still served his customers with the same speed, my colleagues still took their regular smoking breaks, I chatted up on Yahoo! with a few close friends..and so on. Everything was just the same. The only so-called difference was the change in topic. Instead of the FIFA World Cup...its now the 7/11 blasts. 7/11...almost as if its in - vogue to name terror attacks by sexing up the dates a bit!

Rajdeep Sardesai, however, took the cake when it came to being out of line with the nature and gravity of the tragedy. The chap actually had the nerve to sit and smile one of his impish ones and pass comments about irrelevant and funny-to-only-him kind of jokes. Quite a shame considering the seniority of the media man if nothing else. The field reporters were not far behind. Often being requested...ordered and eventually pushed aside because their cameras were hindering relief work. But how can we complain? We only have made "Breaking News" our favorite show...no matter what the news channel. Mr. Rajdeep kept following his "team" all over Mumbai...covering the story. And that's what he made yesterday evening's events...just another STORY! Great job sir!

When I hit Google News a few mts back...there were two news items side by side, one was how Mumbai was showing its classic fight-back spirit and getting back in the groove and the article right next to it said about how Israel was contemplating a massive operation to rescue two of its soldiers. I repeat... to rescue TWO of its soldiers. We call meetings, talk about human rights, talk about negotiations, we exchange hostages for terrorists, let murderers go free because we mess up the investigations. Above all we take pride in calling ourselves TOLERANT. A great way to curtain the fact that a country that is home to one sixth of the humanity has no balls! How in the heaven's name can someone even dare to execute to perfection such an act and then we go on to claim that Mumbai has "limped back to normalcy"? Is it because as Shobha De once said that we forget too easily? Or is it because any pain isn't really ours till there isn't any blood on us? Or without playing with words anymore…we simply don’t care till its our leg that got blown away...

I called it resilience a few hours back. Now I can't think of any other word but...

...Indifference !!!

Mumbai 7/11: A Reaction

.......the one thing about wracking your brains infront of a PC...aka...working in the IT Industry is that there's seldom a day that you can catch the local in Mumbai before 7-8 PM...However, the fact that was distinct in everyone's eyes was...utter and absolute disgust coupled with anger. Who the hell targets the guy already struggling to get a mere foothold on the Mumbai local? What a SHAME!

If the same thing happened in any other country...there would have been reports of trauma induced syndromes...psychologists trying to tell people how to cope with lack of sleep or low morale and faith in the system...poor grades etc etc. But in India...and more specifically Mumbai...the people say, "...agar likha hoga toh kuch nahi kar sakte..."(if its meant to be, it is bound to happen)...and they go on another day of jostling and pushing. Call it our resilience or call it "majboori"(helplesness)... We cannot afford to sit and mourn for days. Being afraid and being scared to go for work is a luxury this country doesn't have.

Smiles 'n' Spirit...FOREVER...for its just another day in paradise...