I'll make this fast. Not quite twitter quality. But close enough. I am back to Monsoon Mumbai. The ominous high tide that was wreak havoc is upon us even as I key this .... the city is drowning, but so far I haven't heard anything too awful. At least there was a fair warning this year and people were better prepared. But, last night, as the Air India plane crossed the Indo- Pak border and the air controller in Karachi greeted our captain and co-pilot with a polite 'namastey', my thoughts raced to Qasab. Before we get to him, a word about the experienced and erudite pilot of the flight - Capt. Vijay Fernandes . We were at St. Xavier's College at about the same time and I was delighted to discover he possesses over 4 lakh books, some of them first editions. He was gracious enough to invite us to the cockpit and discuss - what else - books!! It was a rare pleasure, and he is a good, kind man. Anybody who knows so much about trees and life, has to be truly wise!
Back to Qasab and his 'confession'. The timing is significant. Did Hillaryben's sortie have anything to do with his sudden and dramatic change of heart?? Why should we oblige this evil man and hang him?? He deserves a worse fate.
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I came home to Shravan. It is an important month for me. And perfectly timed as it turns out. No meat, no wine and a strict fast on mondays. A great way to detox and deal with the excess of the past few weeks. I'm scheduled to leave for Orissa early next week, but am dreading the trek to the airport once again. The only way to 'enjoy' the rains is to stay home and watch from a dry\safe distance. Let me know if you want more Krakow stories... I have several to share!
34 comments:
All that which is happenning with Kasab can only happen in India.
High Tide! my gaad, these media boys and girls have made it sound like tsunami. One of my napeansea road ka SoBo chokra friends, refuses to come down from the 6th floor because he thinks that tsunami will come and will wash him away... I called several of our comman friends and informed them about his fright... deriving sadistic pleasure of his superstitions... He hhas had so many of his friends call him and laugh... and i too, cant stop laughing since morn. Sometime its nice to be scatterbrainishly naughty ... hahahahhah.
on a serious note, its nice that they are intimating us of such high tides. I hope this doesnt again become an obsessive compulsive disorder. Where to safeguard their rear they make a flood out of a predicted drizzle.
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Kasab! I dont know why the heck is teh case being dragged. He should be killed or treated. Since the popular decision would be to terminate him... we should do that soon. Why waste paisas like that.
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hilary ben has been living such a royal life in India... was she also frisked by indian puleees? she should be na...?
Why do indians give her such vaddda treatment... they had closed roads etc when she visited...
Poor Behen... She is... her tryst with bio & chemistry is always a disaster... be it protein stains or Carbon Monoxide...
It is such a delight to have you back home.I like the spirit of Shravan u expressed ...strict fasts n all that....off course we would like to hear out some more stories of your just concluded sojourn.
Was in bombay over the weekend. Romantic, rain-lashed walk along Versova beach with better half was rudely interrupted by cops combing the beach for 3 dead bodies.
MUCH ADO OVER KASAB
why this fuss over some one who killed hundreds,i think the indian system is going a bit over board in the name of fair trial, why not just come out with a decision and end the whole thing!!!!!!
indeed there was a same thought that crossed my mind over Hillaryben.
"Did Hillary get a truth pill for kasab?". i wrote and thought passed away.Because not many people could see it from that angle.
Oh! water water every where, its really getting too much importance, a pothole of water is also said to be mithi river.
Auspicious month of sharavan is here, nothing but a great feeling.
India does not have the balls (pardon my language but I am so angry!) to hang Kasab.
This guy has been a part of a mission which has killed so many people and we are still talking about a "trial". No wonder that our neighbors are happily sending people over to kill people in India.
orissa visit
wow
meet u soon den
m Bhubaneswar resident
Welcome back to India. Relax and enjoy the rain and Shravan maas. Then leisurely open your travelogue bag to here more about the episodes of Poland et al.
There is a flood situation in orissa.
And yes, Sawan. BTw today was the teej day, a day when girls gets loaded with interesting stuff!
I can see that you have arrived along the high tide.
KASAB be damned.
Let's hear your chatter. Hillary hogged all the lime light while you were away.
dont go to Orissa, mumbai is beautiful, and Poona is magical. Come to Pune.
cheers!
Kasab. Is he real?
Hillary made me see red.
High tide! How romantic to watch it on a deserted beach?
You seem to be a rolling stone gathering a lot of stories especially Krakow stories. Please share.
please share your krakow stories. Air India? I thought you were on Lufthansa? If you are travelling on Air India, then they must have improved their service...
Welcome back to Mumbai! I take this occasion to compose a bilingual poem in your honor.
Mumbai without Shobha?
Nakoba!
Cheers and if you visit Bhubaneshwar zoo, look out for this sign, which alone is worth the trip
http://tinyurl.com/nemtpk
Kasab is far more witty than we can even imagine...this can be observed by his confession, a full plan once again to lead then mislead then manipulate thought process of the best of brains available in India.....
As I see the pics of Mumbai drowning it wholly resembles the flood situation of Assam, maybe even worse here....
Apart and above all the OUR APJ is perfect example 'of' the people, the decorum... hats off to him as he truly represents Aam Aadmi, so does Hillary knows about this and its time our 'Netas' learn and earn a degree.
Welcome back Home!
Let me know if you want more Krakow stories...
Daadi Maa ???
WELCOME back dear! Nice to know all about your travels..Keep writing..
Topic of Kasab, sends shivers in me even till date and my blood boils...we will all always be emotional FOOLS..for whats the TRIAL all about? why r we and for what r we waiting for here? What about all the officer's and inncoent ppl killed ? I really feel bad for those families who lost their loved ones...Hope they get their so called JUSTICE
Yes plz, do share as much stories you cab about the whole Euro tour of yours. Enjoy the way you write. Can i make a request of you writing a post every day.
Namsakar!
Interesting to know that u believe is shravan mass and various things attached to it...
have a nice trip...
Mam.........
Great to have you back here........
Would absolutely love to hear more Krakow stories from you..........
Take care and enjoy the rains......
We always want more stories from you shobha! The trial has been revealing so many discrepancies and contradictions. along with the mysterious confidential report and the totally unconvincing stand of the government, the confession of kasab obfuscates further. a quick execution would be likely be very desireable to some people. what is really going on? god knows! by the way, thanks for the blog shobha. i love it. james
Greetings Ms. De
Been trying to reach you at shobhaa@shobhaade.in with regards to an article but the mail bounced back.
Request you to kindly provide an alternate e-mail id.
Thanks and Regards
Team Mentor
Shobhaa, thanks for taking us around on your trips. More stories, yes.
We should hang Kasab as soon as possible and get rid of all the controversies that wiil keep arising by keeping him in our jail. Our politicians look for such issues to raise controversies and then start washing their dirty linen in public. Or else some madman will again highjack a plane to demand freedom for Kasab , or Afzal Guru or both.
hy thr
Welcome back babe......went thru all yr blogs on europe .....quite informative for sumone whoz not been to europe..... ( sorry for not giving any feed bk on thm )yes i did mak a trip to one of yr fav places..... singapore ( my first and yes it was awesum)......... and yes more krakow stories are most welcome.........
kasab shud b punished ......hanging him wud b to quick and to less......for a person like him fear of death wud not exist......he deserves a worst fate...... njoy the weekend.
luv
kris
so, a punishment for kasab that is worse than death? tell him he is hindu by birth and his whole life has been a lie!
honestly, what next? tv channels were showing us what he has for lunch, dinner and "chai". whether he shaved or bathed or spoke to his family. such channels should be taken off air. to indians it does not matter if the person is a murderer or a terrorist, he is a celebrity. not once have they shown the families of the other victims. but, lo behold! they went to kasab's village and spoke to every family member! i am so proud of our media!
@ Shobhaa De
Apart from the book, could you provide more info on Oscar Schindler & the museum?
Did the Deutsche government honour him while he was alive? From what I know, it's only Israel that's been glorifying his sacrifices.
I would have visited Auschwitz than go to some trendy place, out of sheer curiosity & a love for political history.
Hello shobhaji, I hope u will love reading following wrriten by m:
kuch rang hai itne saare ki bikhare bikhare se lagte hai..
jo saath hai wo nahi ; jo door hai wo apne se lagte hai...
kuch sapne aankho mein itne saare..
ki dekhe dekhe se lagtey hai..
ab poore hue jo khawab mere, to iraade toote toote se lagtey hai..
kuch rang hai itne saare ki bikhare bikhare se lagte hai..
pal ho jab khud Do pal ka ; tab har pal apne se lagte hai...
kuch baatein yaadoan mein itni saari..
ki khwabon mein batiyaane lagte hai..
wo baatein nahi par saasein thi meri..
jo yaad aane par tootne lagti hai..
kuch muskurahat teri itni pyaari..
ki mere aansu bhi palko se aisa kehtey hai..
tu door kahin khwabon mein mere
aur yaad karun to tu roothne lagti hai...
kuch rang hai itne saare ki bikhare bikhare se lagte hai..
jo saath hai wo nahi ; jo door hai wo apne se lagte hai..
rains havent been that kool for everyone....mebbe u shud ask the working class bout the odreal we face when we paddle thru water saving our laptops and phones to reach our workplac...late...almost daily...without any excuse to give the boss who think we doze and we are lazy to reach in time..all the more..the nice beautiful formal suit doesnt reamin that formal especially when u have an imprtant client meeting..
but..whatever it is...rains are lovely when ur indoors with a hot cuppa tea or hot choclate n onion bhaijas (im so keepin ma mind off the calorie factor)..
Haan haan ofcourse we want more Krakow stories. Illustrate with pictures! Please do. Show us what charms you about the cities you travel to.
Shobhaa
How much have you gone against your grain in becoming a family woman instead of being a career woman as you were in a former life?
They should keep Qasab. Use him to get every one involved. Dont close the case. Let every one involved know that as long as Qasab is alive, they cant escape !!! Qasab is just a PAWN. Go and get the real guys who used Qasab, they will still use people like Qasab, bring them to justice!! He could be a valuable witness, dont lose him so fast !!! Put pressure on Pak to handover the whole network, do the right thing using Qasab!!!
comment on : "DON'T DARE TOUCH ME. I AM A VIP" which I just read in TOI.
I could'nt wait till this appeared on your personal blog, which is probably read far more often. You could'nt be more right about VIP syndrome by which every second person one meets is infected except probably the real VIPs like APJ. If frisking EVERY ONE is the law of US, I guess we cannot object; but it's not so much about feeling belittled about our VIPs, as much as us it's about our psyche which is suffering from this age old vip syndrome. I would agree that a law should be passed that no staff in beaurocracy should salute/bow/lend to any government offical. There will be resistance from the very VIPs we are talking about; but eventually the dust will settle down. Remember the princely privy purse matters?
Hillary tai's popularity was a classic case of our Psyche. At the risk of openly offending you and your peers, I think it has more to do with media idiocyncracy and their cheap gimmicks than public psyche. though public psyche is equally nuts, I agree. I am tempted to mention here a real life incident that happened to me. We had some close American friends (whites) visiting us in Pune. We took them out sight seeing; as they did to us in the US. As we reached Ajanta caves and they were busy shooting pictures with all of us, a group of fellow Indians requested to be photographed with us. As we smilingly got ready to pose they asked us (Indians) to remain out of their frame. That's what I call inbred racism.
Air India and it's staff are classic 'works in progress' as far as racism is concerned. I gave up showing my flying patriotism after I was subjected to 3/4 instances of racism and open fraud. On one accasion they made my 2 minor and unaccompanied children sit in the last economy row of a packed aircraft and failed to serve them even economy meals on board, inspite of my kids holding First Class boarding passes (not just tickets). Apparently, some VIPs/PNIs (People of NO Importance) were to be upgraded (free) on this journey. You my dear, either travel First Class, AND being a CELEBRITY - a journo at that; have no clue how your fellow passengers get treated. you just experienced classism/racism at its worst! Coz you got treated like a VIP.
Your article is great on all other counts as usual.
Cheers!
Welcome back.
4 Lakh books!! WOW? Is that really true 4 lakhs??
introspection, you spoke for me and others. You are bang on. Kalam travelled without active support from the Indian government which would have avoided the embarassment. He chose to fly as an ordinary citizen and was treated like one. Kalam should have informed the government about his itinerary and the government in turn should have acted promptly.
We cant help it about our preferences for white skinned foreigners. It is a hopeless situation.
Air India is notorious for its treatment towards ordinary folks. Would they have shown the same generosity towards any of us?
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