Owner: Mumbai.Buzz URL:http://mumbaibuzz.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:24:55 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Just my musings about life in Mumbai - the commercial capital of India. Expect occasional rants about the latest happenings in Bollywood, events, politics as well. I hope you enjoy what you find. Do drop in your comments and also, vote for me :) Cheers!! Site statistics:Click here
Ganesha - The Indian Idol !!! 2007-09-25 13:40:00 I am not too religious but I have much faith in Lord of Destruction - Shiva. He is Bholenath, Dinanath, Neelkanth, Bhairavnath, etc and even the Lord of Aghoris. ( The term actually means non-terrifying in Sanskrit but the name is a bit of pun intended on people because people are always afraid of something they do not understand LOL... I learnt about Aghoris and their sects through a friends father whom I met in the eleventh standard but I Chose to not discuss it with too many because many don't really understand the real significances of what the Aghora is all about and before I get too carried away anout Aghoris, let's continue) I also worship his beloved son Ganesha. Before starting anything I pray to the Shiva, Ganesha and ask for their blessings and they have helped me thus far in life! I would suggest that you do this as well!Anyway, coming to the topic of this post, I am a funclave member and while surfing I came across this interesting post by someone who calls himself XXX
Global Ambissions for Cricket & Dhoni 2007-09-25 02:16:00 Everyone enjoyed T20 WC including Shahrukh Khan. T20 cricket has changed the game for ever, everyone wants it to be the primary format instead of 50 over ODI's including Legendre Ex-Cricket
players. I think, it will be very hard for anyone including the players to enjoy the 50 over standard ODI game now that they have tasted the T20 format (they have to be on the field for a maximum of 3.5 or 4 hours instead of 8-9 hours previously!). With T20, Cricket finally has a chance to shed its image as a dull, unattractive and lengthy sport.Incidentally, these are the adjectives people use when trying to explain why Cricket is not truly a global game. If the ICC wants to break into new markets, particularly lucrative markets like USA, it has to get rid of the 50 over format and introduce T20 as the standard because ODI's & Test Matches don't really appeal to the American, Chinese & other Non-English European markets. Infact, if handled well, I am sure this format will bring new life Read more:Global
, Dhoni
Gods take to the roads 2007-09-24 13:15:00 Time flies they say and now that I realize that tomorrow is the 10th day of Ganesh Chaturthy, (a Maharashtrian only festival here in India) I realize how true the adage is. As many may know the idols are installed for 1.5 , 3, 7, 10 or 15 days in the Mandals and then immersed in the sea. The Mandal in our society is a 10 day mandal. The ten days since the festival began, I have been regularly attending the Aarti's (prayers) organized at our Society's Ganesh Mandal and have visited so many Ganpati Mandals. The creative ideas that people come up with for some of these mandals is simply fantastic! But anyway, tomorrow the Ganesha Idol will be taken in a musical procession to the nearest beach and there the idol will be immersed in the water amidst chants of "गणपति बाप्पा मोरया, अगले बरस तू जल्दी आ" (Lord Ganesha, you are great! please come back quickly next year) by men who have been dancing to the music throughout the way a
India & Pakistan really slug it out in the final... 2007-09-24 08:36:00 UPDATE:- But in the end, India
beat Pakistan
to become the first T20 World Champions Misbah almost got Pakistan home and 6 runs were required in the last 4 balls and he tried to play a paddle shot over the keeper but scooping the ball to Shreeshanth for an easy catch. Tough luck to him!! But God Bless Dhoni and the rest of the boys for bringing the cup to India! Initially, India wasn't the hot team that beat Pakistan, England, SA and Australia in the T20 world cup at least as far as their batting is concerned. At the end of the twentieth over, India were 157/5 which means that Pakistan will have to score 158 to win from the 20 overs bowled by India, an easy target for a team like Pakistan with fantastic players like Afridi, Hafeez Malik, Khan etc. If Afridi gets going today, It could all be over in a flash;) The problem in the Indian innings was that the Pakistani bowling was excellent. A lot of the balls bowled by Gul, Arafat, Afridi were in the block hole and the Indian batsman ju
It's a India Pakistan Final now...!! 2007-09-22 14:31:00 Well, India
beat Australia by 15 runs in the twenty20 semi and Pakistan
beat New Zealand today convincingly which means that it is an India-Pakistan final for this world cup just what the sponsors, organizers, the television networks and cricket fans would have been hoping for. My friend is into betting on cricket matches a lot and he tells me that the bookies are favouring India because of the stunning performance they have given against Pakistan, England, South Africa and then the Current world champions, Australia. Whatever happens it's going to be a cracker of a match on Monday. Indians are smoking red hot currently under Dhoni's captaincy, so much so, that someone like Shreeshanth was mixing in with Matthew Hayden who stands at least 2 feet taller than Shreeshanth and Yuvraj Singh is in the best form of his life, hitting sixes in to the distance at will almost. At one point during the match Ian Bothom made an interesting observation which is that the Indians are kind of playing Read more:Final
Will Twenty20 replace One Day matches eventually? 2007-09-21 20:56:00 The answer at least as far as Wasim Akram - former captain of the Pakistan cricket team is yes and the reasons he gives make a helluva lot of sense:-“Twenty20 cricket already has the potential to replace the ODIs as the most populist version of the sport,” Akram told Reuters on Friday. “The Twenty20 World Cup has been a big success in terms of the interest it has evoked and people coming in to the grounds. You didn’t get such big crowds and excitement even in the World Cup in West Indies.”“For a cricket lover it is the ideal format. The match finishes in around three and half hours and there is plenty of excitement and tension for the spectators and viewers,”This is no wannabe expert of cricket or marketing but the great Wasim Akram himself. The man has played cricket for many many years with one of the most successful cricketing careers and if anyone understands the game, he definitely does.Sure, purists are going to say that this will only hurt cricket but then such pur Read more:matches
, eventually
Don't take her to that isolated place 2007-09-17 11:15:00 The woes of couples in love in Mumbai have always been great because of the lack of open isolated
spots where the lovebirds can enjoy each other's company in solitude. They are either harassed by the cops, eunuchs, beggars or by desperate onlookers who just won't leave them alone. Because even kissing each other in public is considered vulgar in India, the act can attract anything from lewd comments to a fine of at least Rs 100 to the lucky cop who gets hold of them. To combat this couples often go to isolated spots such as the rocks on the bandstand seashore, Reclamation, empty car parks or Sanjay Gandhi National park. But now goons have found a way to prey on the lovebirds. There have been increasing reports of couples being robbed at knife point or gun point in isolated spots.The latest case of a young college couple who were out to enjoy some intimate sex in an isolated spot in the Borivili National Park, the robbers robbed the couple of a mobile phone, gold chain and Rs 800 in c
Technology and India 2007-09-15 20:30:00 They say that it is never too late to learn something new & my grandfather is a case in point, he just called me up using the flashy new w810i cellphone he has bought and then said that he has sent me an e-mail from his new computer using the new broadband connection that he has... ;) it was a foreword about the Lord Ganesha but anyway, now everyone in our family including grandparents & kids have cell phones & many relatives of mine don't have a land line installed even the ones who live in far flung areas. Many experts have already predicted that mobile connections will overtake land line connections eventually and then there might not be a need for a land line at all.High-speed Internet connections aren't far behind as well. With companies such as Tata Indicom & Airtel aggressively targeting the wireless broadband service market, we can all look forward to mass and cheap availability of wireless fast Internet connections in our metros soon as well. This is exciting Read more:India
, Technology
What I have lost...! 2007-09-14 00:57:00 As I said, upon returning to Mumbai, day before yesterday, the first thing I did was to set up this blog on it's own domain. Although it feels good that now I have my own Domain name :- http://mumbaiya.net , I can't help but mourn on the losses I have incurred in the process of transferring this blog to it's own domain. First & foremost, I have lost all the Authority points I had slowly but surely built on Technorati.I had about 25 links coming in to my blog http://mumbaibuzz.blogspot.com resulting in a authority score of 18 on Technorati. But now the Authority has dropped to 1 for mumbaiya.net and the rank has dropped as well!! I will now have to build it all slowly again, DAMN! There is also the issue of large resolution pictures that I had on my blog disappearing, apparently, this is a known issue with blogger and they haven't fixed it.Though the good news is that visitors to the old feed or URL are now pointed to the new url, so the few readers that I have will still find me.P
Ganesha - Hindu Lord of Obstacles; spirtual & material returns... 2007-09-13 15:34:00 I am glad that I have been able to make it back to Mumbai in time for the Ganesh Utsava this year which falls on 15th September. It's that time of the year when beautifully decorated Mandals (temporary temples typically made using bamboo, cloth, wood, plastic etc etc) spring up on every nook & corner of Mumbai. Although they are currently occupied by men who smoke, drink & gamble away the night in there right now! For those who do not know, on 15th, Lord Ganesha's statues will be installed inside them and for 9,7,5 or 3 days and then there will be regular prayers & ceremonies inside the Mandal. Even the statues are different for different mandals, they may chose to install any of the eight incarnations of Lord Ganesha.The worship of Lord Ganesha is necessary for any practising Hindu
before they begin prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies. Most scriptures describe Lord Ganesha as vignakarta (Obstacle-creator) & vignaharta (Obstacle-destroyer) at the same time. Read more:material
Mumbaiya.net is 2007-09-12 05:10:00 I am sorry for not posting in a long while! I had been out of town attending a cousin's wedding. Anyway, now that I am back, the first thing that I have done is that I have switched this blog to it's own unique web address. So, now the address for this blog is www.mumbaiya.net. I won't be posting here from now. You can now update your bookmarks to http://mumbaiya.net (Google says that even if you type the old address http://mumbaibuzz.blogspot.com you will be taken to www.mumbaiya.net ) Let's see how it turns out.
Help in getting up early 2007-09-02 17:41:00 "Early to bed, early to rise" that is the perfect way to live we have been thought right since early in our lives. The benefits of getting up early are far too many but living in Mumbai (or any big city I suppose), one of the biggest benefits of waking up early is that you get up when there is that relative peace & quite in the city-great time for that meditative walk in a nearby garden or a reflective cup of coffee out in the balcony. All the buzz which starts in Mumbai right from 7-8 in the morning right up until midnight maybe the reason we love Mumbai but it can get too much every once in a while and we all crave that solitude. I know I did but every time I got myself into routine, I messed it all up in a day or two and then I'd curse myself or feel guilty or whatever. Then I came upon this post on Liferemix.com on the 27th of August titled 24 tips to become an early riser. After applying those simple but easy to miss tips I am glad I have been able to get up early every single da
6 reasons why we lie 2007-09-02 04:42:00 They say :- "He who cannot lie does not know what the truth is”Everybody lies at one point or another in their lives. The reasons for doing it may be different at different times and yet,The fundamental reason why people lie is because it mostly works.We all lie, but why do we lie? Sure, lying is both useful and sometimes even fun, yet there are fundamental reasons why we lie.These main reasons are:Fear of harm: The easiest reason to understand why we lie is for self protection, including self deception, to prevent harm to ourselves. This harm can be either physical or mental.Fear of conflict: To some degree, we all fear having an argument.Fear of punishment: When growing up, how often did we lie about how well we did in school, or who started a fight? How often do we cover up our mistakes and transgressions?Fear of rejection: Sometimes, our insecurities are the foundation of why we lie to each other, because we want to be remain popular in our relationships. Typically, it is harmles
Google is shooting for the stars! 2007-08-28 11:40:00 Awesome news indeed! now anyone with a computer can space travel (virtually), using 6 different celestial sources so very cool. Google
will make it extra special. Need anything be said?!! Also, hope you like the new template design I created! I think it looks cool, agree? Anyway, I love Google, you guys keep not being evil!Source :- hazel8500 (Do check out this blog, it's 'not another blog')Related :-Gmail possed!Beat Spammers!Making New Connections!Watch high quality movies! Read more:shooting
, stars
Socialising with Sanjay Dutt gets one constable suspended and 6 others get verbal whiplash! 2007-08-26 21:23:00 I can't believe the news today: R.R. Patil and the rest of the government machinery are upset at the police constables who hugged and shook hands with Sanjay
Dutt upon his release. The constable who was seen hugging Sanju has been suspended
and a show cause notice has been served to 8 others who shook hands with Sanju. A parallel inquiry is being carried out by inspector general of jails Satish Mathur against some Yerwada officials who allegedly tried to ensure special treatment for Sanjay. “The Maharashtra Civil Service Conduct rules as well as the police manual forbids policemen and government servants from extending friendly gestures towards convicts. It is seen as a violation of conduct expected of a government servant,” said information officer Vasant Titke.“Why is it that lowly police constables are penalised for such actions while a state cabinet minister like Baba Siddiqui openly flaunts his friendship with Sanjay, accompanies him to courts, receives him when he is out Read more:Sanjay Dutt
, gets one
For Salman Khan, it's always 'guilty unless proven innocent?' 2007-08-25 14:14:00 An interesting thought :-Actor Salman
Khan is one person who's always
guilty unless
proven innocent? agree? I completely do what about you?The man has to many strikes against him as some one said in a response the above post. It's another reminder that your past can catch up with you! so, try to think before you act!!Related :-Sanjay Dutt; to hell & backWhere to sight Bollywood stars in Mumbai
Now Salman Khan has to face the music! 2007-08-24 06:06:00 UPDATE :- So, Sallu bhai surrendered today by himself to the police! He took a flight to Jodhpur and there the police arrested him as soon as he set foot on Jodhpur's soil. The media has been going crazy since morning and reporting every bleeding moment of the whole saga. They even got in to the Jet Airways flight which Salman
took to Jodhpur. Although Salman got them to turn off their camera's after a while. He did give a couple of statements to a reporter on the flight which were :-I regret all the hassle that the Media has to go through because of me, rest assured that this is the last time you are going through this or words to that effect. (Implying that he plans to mend his ways forever, Chalo, some sense at least after 44 years)Mine and Sanju's life seem to be linked inexorably. He came out and I am going in to Jail or words to that effect. He is now in the Jodhpur central jail along with 1200 other prisoners. Think he will stay there for a week or so. Maybe we will see a le
And Baba's out!! 2007-08-23 01:37:00 Sanjay Dutt better known as Sanju Baba in the Indian Film Industry finally was released today at 7:15 in the morning, he reached home only at 8:30 however. But what was interesting to note is the way Baba appeared today, he had a very short haircut and was sporting a beard as well. He appeared very composed indeed and made it a point to hug and shake hands with all of the Police officers on the scene. It's funny to note that while the Law/System is bent on 'softening' him and teaching him a lesson for the supposed arrogance that he had all those years ago, it's officers love him just as much as all his fans, friends, family members and colleagues do! What comes out so openly is that he is no criminal, well, atleast for all his fans, family and even friends (The list of the kind of friends he has is mind-blowing : from Baba Siddique to all his colleagues in the industry, everybody loves and admires him!) I will always be his fan no matter what the courts say! One even saw the same i
Why Blame Orkut? 2007-08-22 20:50:00 First & Foremost, may peace be upon Adnan's soul & his family. They did not deserve this in anyway. I heard about the Case of this young un-fortunate lad on TV day before yesterday and I feel sick to know that kids his age can commit a crime so cold-bloodedly ruthless! what drove them to this? desire for money? or was it the desire for the things which money could get them? or was it the desire for things which they thought money could get them? whatever it was if we have youngsters in this country who are ready to go to such extremes as first time criminals then it's sad for all of us. What drove these kids should be investigated in a scientific (psychological manner) and action taken to rectify the cause at the earliest. Perhaps men like Dawood Ibrahim have proved to youngsters that "crime pays" and it's okay to go to any lengths. Whatever it is, it's sad to see such an utter lack of Human compassion and the use of deception that the boys did."Other media, it seems fails to a Read more:Blame
, Orkut
Mumbai for the Foodies...! 2007-08-22 19:40:00 One of the things that go into making a place unique or uniquely great is the food from that place and the food that one gets in Mumbai
(Bombay) is uniquely great indeed! This time, Arzan Sam Wadia from Metroblog Mumbai did a special on 7 Mumbai speciality foods and I just couldn't help but link to it. Here is the 7 Mumbai Eats post. He rightly mentions that "there are some things that are so uniquely Bombay-ish that they don't taste the same anywhere else...or come out as poor imitations in other cities."Anyway, if you are not a Mumbaikar and if you happen to visit Mumbai, do try all of mentioned on the post, you will love them, trust me! (I did not know however that Sheekh Kabab's were uniquely Mumbai items but yes they do taste best in Mumbai!) There is no shortage of great restaurants and other eateries in Mumbai as well. The best part is that you do not have to spend too much to Wine & Dine in style in here. Mumbai is one of the few cities in India where you should be able to s
Disecting Gandhi & Gandhigiri 2007-10-01 12:57:00 First of all, I am happy that 2nd October-the birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
, is going to be International Non-Violence day. Gandhiji who is also the father of the nation of India, was a remarkeble but often lawyer, philopher, visionory, liberal, politician, leader, freedom fighter, sage all in one from the pious land of India in case you live under a rock and don't know about him. It is naturally a public holiday through out India, and sadly, to most Indians, this is all Gandhi Jayanti means, a public holiday. There are many who even criticize his philosophy supplying adjectives like fanciful, idealistic, naive, and immature and yet these people in a de-facto or auto-pilot kind of way or for lack of a better word, cowardice also are living his philosophy, these are the people who put up with a lot of crap that they are meted out by fellow men & women but can not oppose the opression because they don't have the guts to fight, they wish they were braver and this makes them gi
Do try this at home 2007-09-30 16:23:00 I have not been too much of a tube addict in my life but for some reason I am really enjoying sitting in front of the tele munching on whatever I can find in the kitchen. The recent T20 World Championship series started it all. But all this sitting around and doing nothing has taken it's toll, I looked 6-7 months pregnant when I got a look at myself in the mirror today in the morning, I don't feel too well as well. They say that when you suddenly quit exercising and/or watching what you eat after loosing some weight, you put on more weight than you previously had. This is what is happening to me I guess. I got myself twisted in some awful yoga poses immediately in the morning and which now has given me quite sever cramps which means that I'll skip exercise tomorrow as well, damn!!Anyway, I am determined to start exercising scientifically as soon as the cramps go away and no excuses are going to get in my way! I like the yoga variation of exercise better than aerobics & weight-tr
Jhalak Dikhla Jaa!! 2007-09-29 11:08:00 Just caught the first episode of the new season of Jhalak Dikla Jaa on Televison today and I was surprised to see Negi Sahab participating as well (not following gleam news lately so just found out today. Mr. Mir Ranjan Negi was an ex - Indian Hockey player for those who don't know) and from there on I saw the complete episode and to my eyes all the contesting teams were fabulous! and Negi Sahab with his partner was spectacular. I am not a fan of these TV reality shows except Great Indian Laughter challenge and this is the first time I saw an entire episode and it was because I wanted to see Negi Sahab. I am a great fan of Jitendar as well who was judging today, in my view he was one of the most smart looking bollywood protagonists ever! unfortunately, the same can not be said about his son ;)Anyway, when I googled the subject, I found out a page which had quoted Negi Sahab as saying " I am 50 now and it's tough to compete in dancing with all these young guys. But I will continue ne
Bhool Bhulaiyaa may face legal hassles 2007-10-04 15:41:00 I love the title song from the upcoming film Bhool Bhulaiyaa, cos it's got such a cool, catchy, hippie sound to it and it seems everybody likes it. But it has now run into a bit of controversy, because some religious nut-head has issues with it!Some NGO filed a petition against the Censor Board of Film Certification chairperson and four others in a Mumbai court seeking removal of the song. The NGO feels that the video for the song is derogatory to Gautama Buddha. The hearing of petition has been posted to October 6, reported UNI. One does not need to be Einstein to understand that it won't make a difference ;)Eight semi-nude girls are shown dancing to the tunes of the title song with Hare Rama Hare Krishna inscribed on their sparse clothing, says the petition. This is what irritated the group.I hardly agree with the people who filed the petition. I mean, thanks to the actions of people like Rajneesh Osho and many before and after him, eastern religions like Buddhism & Hinduism ha Read more:legal
Yahoo India Maps beta is Awesome!!! 2007-10-03 08:36:00 I don't know when they launched the service because it did not create a lot of buzz on the internet. I just found out via an ad-space on the Yahoo
home page. But what matters is that it's very cool, it lacks the ability to add user marked businesses just yet and the directions feature isn't available for any location at all. But these features are barely available for Mumbai in Google Maps. They say that they will add these bells & whistles. But you can only be flattered about the accuracy it shows at least for Mumbai. You can find businesses like ATMs, Banks, Restaurants, Hospitals, Hotels, on shopping, movie halls etc with ease. But finding bars wasn't possible because they don't have many listed. I couldn't find any of the hundreds of bars I know in my vicinity!! But Yahoo! promises that it will accurately tell you even about information on cobblers, wada-pav & tea stalls in the future ;) Here is the link :- Yahoo India
Maps Read more:Yahoo India
Boon For Mumbai Local Train Commuters but Doom for the Motormen 2007-10-02 20:57:00 According to a story in today's Mumbai
Mirror daily, Central Railway, has announced 33 new services on the harbor line 8 of which will between the districts of Thane and Vashi while 25 will on the existing route between CST (formerly Victoria Terminus) & Panvel. This is fantastic news for commuters who travel on this line, they can now look forward to compartments which have lesser people and some air to breathe. The convenience of being able to go to & from Thane to Vashi is also greatly appreciated. Previously one had to go all the way to Kurla which can easily compete with a stadium hosting a Cricket World-Cup final in terms of number of the people and the chaos they crate. This can be said of Kurla Railway station at most times during the day. From Kurla, you get trains for Thane & Vashi both so you can continue your journey to either of these destinations after a change of trains. Thankfully, this problem's solved hurray ;)But 'Once Man's fun is Another's Hell' a Read more:Local
, Train
, Commuters
Outsourcing makes everyone involved happy 2007-10-02 15:05:00 Now, government agencies are also discovering the benefits of Outsourcing
, in 2004, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation signed comprehensive agreements with 17 contractors for the 17 geographical regions of Navi Mumbai (A kind of a suburb of Mumbai) for operating and maintaining the water supply. Which meant that there was a single contractor for each region. Evaluation after three years later shows that costs have come down and, what’s more, consumer complaints have reduced drastically. So, all three parties viz the Government employees from the Navi Mumbai Corporation, the citizenry which is getting better water supply and the contractors which are making a decent profit doing this are all happy!NMMC executive engineer in the water supply department Sanjay Desai explained the benefits :-First, electricity consumption reduced by 7.78 per cent which meant costs came down by Rs 10 lakh (1 Million) per month. Secondly, consumer complaints regarding water pressure have actually reduce Read more:makes
, everyone
Ponting's & Symonds's plea to the Australian Public regarding racial abuse 2007-10-22 03:55:00 (If you still don't know what happened with Symond, watch the youtube Video at the end of the post)After returning to Australia, both the Ausie captain Ricky Ponting
and Right Hand Batsmen Andrew Symonds who is the only black player in the Australian
team issued a warning to the Aussie fans not to mis-treat the Indian players when they toured Australia later this year.“Am I against crowd participation? Definitely not, but there is a message I would like to give the Australian public and supporters of our team.” “I don’t want to see ugly chanting at the Indian players when they come to Australia later in the year,” Symonds wrote in his column yesterday that is Sunday for the Daily Telegraph. While Ponting said this: "I'd like to see the Australian fans and public treat the Indian team the same way they would any other team," "I don't think they should be treated any differently because of what's happened over there," he said which means that the fans should go ahead Read more:Public
, abuse
Our boys like it quick and easy 2007-10-22 03:27:00 Though Team India lost the One Day series to Australia in a very very miserable fashion, they did beat them again in the T20 match played yesterday. The match ended with Dhoni swinging Brett Lee over the fine-leg ropes for the maximum. It was a 7 wicket victory which means that Indians truly outclassed the Aussies. The team then lapped the ground on the car won by Player of the Match Gambhir. If there's one thing this team knows well, it's celebrating in style. One thing which was sad to see was the crowd's reaction to Andrew Symonds. Andrew Symonds was booed when he walked in to bat, when he departed, when he came in to bowl, whenever he threw the ball. Australians think that this is because of his race because they in their minds discriminate this way but Indian crowds seemed irritated by his arrogance and attitude. (frustration and irritation was written all over Symond's face and the crowd's were enjoying this) Anyway, Australia may have proved who rules in the the ODI format
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