This is Platform, I live here, I eat, sleep drink sometime even smoke, and may be I will die on the same bench, where the man is sitting right now and whose boots I am polishing. I charge mere 5 five rupees that comes out to be about 0.02 dollar. Nothing has changed since I was borne, I didn't make any asset other than a brush, a can of polish and a gunny bag. I put my best efforts to at least have three customers, to meet my need of three VADA PAVS, five rupees each three times a day. Breakfast, lunch and diner. I live a lavish life style. Isn’t it???


Every morning I try to get up early in the morning, to find some one in dire need to get his boot polished, as the sun raises the chances get slim as the other competitors get up and steal away the chances. Though they are my friends and I share the same platform, for me "business is business". I work very hard till 1.00 am I mostly enter the empty bogies and check for lost valuables/mobiles, purse, even the water bottles. Statistically chance is 1/1000 though I try, may be the chance I take is one I need.

Money is some thing I like. It smells good, feel good, looks good, and taste good (once in blue moon I go for half chicken rice rupees 15 a plate). People say my eyes sparkle as diamonds when I see money. I fast once a week. I don’t do it because I believe in god, or any ritual. I fast when the booth polish runs out and I am suppose to buy a new can. It scared a hell out of me. It costs me Rs 20 for the cheapest one. (More than the cost of 3 Veda pavs.).

I do dream big, VERY BIG, to have a lavish lunch, A full chicken a rice plate. I never had in my life, It costs Rs. 60)(cost of 12 vada pavs, my three days meal). May be i will have some time.

Problem is, as I am growing in arithmetic progression my hunger is increasing in geometric progression. Every other variable of my life remain constant. The cost of Vada Pav, Amount I get for shoe polishing, The train, and its schedule.

As I feel after many years, and millions of Pavs I will match the size of the bench on which I sleep, Then I will start to shrink with old age, crippled, and some day I will die waiting of a vada, I don’t know how much it would cost then. Who will buy for me.? The bench would have been taken over by some one else. I want some one to inherit my assets The brush , polish and the Bag, some one my own.

It won’t happen because I didn’t.

mumbai meri jan

It was a lovely Monday morning precisely 5:00 am. I was at a Mumbai suburban station called Goregaon. I don’t know exactly why it is named so. Any way, I just didn’t happen to be there, because I was suppose to be there or because I wanted to be there at that morning hour, I was there because I was on my way to Pune for my language test.

A little while later about 5.10, I was in Mumbai local, bound to CST. I was suppose to get down at Dadar. “Dadar”!!! what a name every time I hear unique names a bell rings!! once again a fascinating name, I still got to figure it out why they are named so. Well all the stations are named the same way following the principle of “it’s different” “nothing official about it” I guess. Down the line stations are Andheri, Lower Parel, Bandra etc and the list goes on. Real issue is not the names that fascinates me or the Mumbai local bound to CST as I might have given an impression rather it is about the Article 377 of our divine book about which I might have studied in school days but don’t remember a bit now or to be specific I am least bothered.

Any way, I was lucky to get a seat in usually over crowed Mumbai Local, though It was much more crowed than I expected it to be at that hour. I could see the motley of co-passengers, tall, small, young, old, men women, boys, girls destined for their different fascinating stations/locations for their fascinating jobs irrespective of whether the liked, disliked or abhorred.

I could see a lot, Bleary eyed, tensed, some curious like me and remaining phlegmatic to a celebration which I was witnessing. There were two guys, a gay couple I guess, definitely males, to best of my knowledge and observation, I am ready to take an undertaking for that. Amazingly one dressed as a female and other a male. Though there was hardly any distinction. It was difficult to distinguish who was “he” and who was “she”. Was she “he” or was he “she”. But definitely “He” was she, for whom a man would really love to die for, if she really were a she. I admit that I was one of few odd men out who were staring at them, may be with different reasons and perspective, and occasionally looking at each other for support, that made us individually feel that “I am not the only idiot”. I was amazed by the reaction of the people around them and me. Very few people even bothered to look at them. It wasn’t interesting, funny or serious for them. They behaved as if it was something very natural for them. It was even so when the couple engaged in kisses and hugs. It wasn’t natural for me; It wasn’t history in making, by Supreme court judgement on 377, celebrating LGBT rights, it was a Mumbai local, Mumbai, India. I don’t know whether it was a post celebration event for them or a celebration going on since Mumbai become the capital of Maharashtra after later being separated from Gujarat or it has been happening here since eon.
Truly speaking, I was feeling happier, who the hell there cared for Article 377, nether did I, I don’t think many people there even bothered what article 377 meant and dealt with, what it offered, what it denied. None bothered, I guess. This city is different really very different, very different from smallest or the largest.
I have been to East West North and South of India, indeed “Mumbai is different”
That’s the spirit, of MUMBAI meri jan
That’s the spirit of MUMBAI, meri jan

Mumbai Local

"A mile journey is worth reading 100 books" chinese saying... &nbsp
kowledge on board , ye hai hindustan &nbsp
story continue..

Mumbai Rain

Mumbai rains, infact rains heavily, rather rains too heavily, U got to experience before commenting.. but i got the experience first hand. Still remember the 26/7 .
Expecting action again sooner or later... it is just the beginning.
keeping my fingers crossed...



rain rain
where have you been...
Bandra burnt...
with lots of pain...
rain rain... now please rain

Bandra Fire

June 18, 2009 Banda (E) ,Mumbai (Bombay)

Today is June 18, 2009, early in the morning there was news all over the TV about the fire

that broke out some where in the slums of Bandra.
In the breakfast news i saw a familiar structure "yellow coloured sky walk" i was terrified oh!! my god it is the Banda (E), as usual i am suppose to pass by. I did not feel sorry for the people who lost lives or their property in the fire, but was excited about the opportunity to get in to action.

The area is located in East side of the Bandra suburban station. The road leading to the station is narrow single lane. Slowly but steadily the slums have grown. The have grown laterally as well has vertically. from single one room to multistoried. Existing strucutres are 3-4 storied mostly supported by steel and wood.

Todays fire has exposed the problem of handling the situation and the fire when things go wrong. Thought the fire fighters were fighting against the odds, the narrow lanes, and conjusted streets made their task even difficult. There was no other alternative than to reach the fire from top.

The first hand words, i heard passing thorugh was, about a dozen cooking cylinders went off during the fire.
It is really amazing to, "how we gonna fight the devil lurking behind the slum" some how i am gonna reach the other side. Oh Boom help me.. extend your self a bit longer.. thank you

i could see the red coloured Fire Fighting vehicles, but no ambulance on the road. The road is the only road connecting the Bandra Station to the rest of Banda (E) and the Kher Wadi , Bandra-Kurla-Complex where my office is situated.

well i was luck enough, i walked all over the sky walk, that pal.. your construcuted the sky walk in record time 6 months before schedule. thanks indeed.

mighty smoke reaching out to the sky.

you won.. again....

evey thing smokey....only living thing is the tree...

still there is no sign of the monsoon, we have been waiting since the first week of June, it is said that the monsoon would break the decade long record of being late. we indians really hold the record of being late.... so why wud the monsoon lag behind.

jay ho..