Mumbai - 2025

Mumbai - 2025
I am wandering through the lanes of my place of birth, Dadar, getting nostalgic about the days gone by. Hindu colony and my school, IES... Nearby are the iconic colleges, Ruia and Poddar. The main road in Hindu colony, running parallel to the now defunct railway line, was once lined with huge rain trees... Alas! These trees died off due to some life consuming meallybugs, some 15-20 years back...around 2005-2015. During my school days and upto 2005, these trees were the cause of envy of my friends, who were not lucky enough to stay in Hindu colony... So many birds species, from the common crow to the pretty parrots, had their home in these very trees. Lots of squirrels bounded along from one branch to another and from one tree to another, chirruping along with gay abondon. During my childhood, I remember a few monkeys too, in these very trees. Especially from 2010 onwards and by 2020, must of these gentle giants were reduced to stumps... Turned into canvasses for the artists... Grotesquely coloured...
Now there are no ground floor flats in Hindu colony... And this is the state of affairs everywhere in Mumbai, the change started happening since the great flood of July 2005, when most of such flats got flooded and residents had to bear losses worth crores of rupees... For some, the loss was irreplaceable, what with many of them losing their loved ones. Lot of redevelopment took place, and many such buildings were brought down to be replaced by high rises, having stilt parking. Even my sisters family , who lived in the ground floor flat had to shift to a higher floor.
But the final nail in the coffin for the old way of life of Mumbai, was the year 2018. The month was July... Day was Sunday... As is normal on any Sunday, the day had started lazily. People were reading their Sunday Times, their Sunday DNA... when suddenly a loud siren went off all across Mumbai. For a few moments the entire city went pin drop silent... From the airport, a few helicopters were flying off in all corners of the city... And huge loudspeakers on the choppers gave out the dreaded warning to the denizens of Mumbai...TSUNAMI!! yes, the fear of most Mumbaikars , was finally at their doorsteps... And the citizens living with a view of the Arabian sea were the first to witness the wave... First the waters of the ocean suddenly withdrew far back from even the Bandra-Worli sea link... The skies became dark... And in the distance these citizens could make out a huge wave coming at them... As it rushed in towards the land, it devoured the sea link, washing it away, as if it were made of Lego bricks... The buildings and koliwadas lining the sea, were the next target of this huge wave, the koliwadas just disappearing in the waters and the buildings, initially acting as a barrier, but then crumbling under the huge weight generated by the water wall. The waters then rushed into far inland, the cars, buses and other sundry vehicles becoming a party of the debris, causing a loud groaning sound reverberating all across the lovely city, interspersed with the shrieks of the people getting washed away. But by the time, the waters jumped over the lifeline of the city, the railways, it had lost its force, and did not cause much life damage beyond... Thus my friends and relatives and family , staying in Hindu colony, were spared, but had a huge economic loss. Mumbai lost many lives in this deluge... And the waters stayed back, it did not withdraw back to the previous boundary between land and sea. Thus the resilient citizens of Mumbai had to learn living in the water, which was touching almost the ceiling of some ground floor flats, still existing in 2018.
So here I am, in 2025, visiting my relatives and friends living in Hindu colony. I came from my current residence in Thane, which, to my good fortune, still on land , but I had to park my car, near the Bhandup creek, and then catch the Uber water taxi... Yes, now the only way to commute to Mumbai, is through the waters, either by a water taxi like Uber, Meru, etc... Or by the BEST motor boats, which are usually overflowing with people. The wandering, through the lanes of Dadar, is now done in these water taxis. The long defunct railways, have ceased to exist within Mumbai, and now operate beyond Thane. The bullet trains,  introduced in 2016, between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, now operate from Thane. But hats off to the people of Mumbai, who have converted their city, into Venice of the east. The previous big playgrounds like Shivaji Park, are now huge salt water bodies where people now go for joy rides on the small motor boats, introduced by some entrepreneurs. The city of Mumbai, which was known for its cricketers, is now equally well known for Olympic medal winning swimmers.
Folks did I scare you with my story? But we need to think and plan, otherwise our Mumbai will see such a day, not because of any tsunami, but it could be due to totally man made reasons.
Yatin

The ST bus

The ST bus
If you are living in Maharashtra, you must surely have travelled by a ST bus.  And if you have not, then you have missed an experience. For the uninitiated, ST bus is a State Transport bus. It is the lifeline of Maharashtra, especially of the large population residing in villages. The people lovingly refer to it as 'lal dabba' which translates into English as the 'Red Box'. It is so named because it is literally a travelling box on wheels. Many of you will remember the Tin boxes  which you carried to school, especially in the primary division. It used to hold the books, pencils, rulers, tiffin boxes and many other things which you used to carry to the school. And especially at the start and end of school timings and during the recesses, the boxes of all the students used to make a great racket. When the ST bus travels, it too makes a similar racket. This racket is caused by the assortment of metal trunks and other luggage of the passengers and by the passengers themselves who want to make themselves heard over the great racket. Above all , all the nuts and bolts which hold up the bus, make a big noise since the buses vibrate while travelling. It seems these buses are manufactured by an ancient bus manufacturer, who has been bypassed by all the advances made in the field of bus body assemblies. After all no other buses vibrate as much as the ST Buses. And these buses have their moods...they will be taking you to your destination, your are trying to grab a few winks in all the cacophony, when suddenly the bus coughs and splutters and with a few jerks, comes to a halt in the middle of the road. And no amount of cajoling by the bus driver and the conductor is enough to make it go again. As the bored passengers get down from the bus to stretch their legs or to answer nature's call, the bus driver goes below the bus, with assortment of tools, with the conductor at his constant beck and call. Finally the driver gives up and emerges from the bowels of the bus, quite dejectedly. In the meanwhile some of the passengers have managed to get lifts from private vehicles and goods trucks while some have decided not to give up on the resting bus. This attitude of the passengers, is what the bus likes and its mood changes for the better. As soon as the driver decides to give it a one final try, the bus starts after a few false starts. With a great victory cry from the remaining passengers of 'har har mahadev' and 'Ganpati bappa Mourya ' as they board , the bus is  motivated  to take them to their destination.
Now you will appreciate that today I was very surprised to read in the papers that the ST Mahahmandal have decided to provide free wi-fi in these very buses. And the following images flashed before my eyes...
People have lined up in the ST stand for boarding the bus along with their assorted luggage, awaiting the bus to come inside the stand. Like always, their luggage consists of metal trunks, some carry pickle jars very delicately, some are holding long bamboo brooms made in their village, some holding their infants who have the propensity to emit ear piercing cries, while some are students who are going back to their colleges in the city after completing their vacations in their villages. But most of them have one thing in common, they are all carrying their precious smart phones. After all they are very eager to use the newly provided wi-fi inside the bus. Finally the bus arrives, the passengers rush to their seats inside . As they settle down in their seats they await for the bus to start. But more than that they await the passwords for wi-fi usage. Already some are fiddling with their phones , they can see the wi-fi available but wait for the password is killing. You will never see a more silent ST bus, since no one, no longer wants to make small talk with their neighbours neither do they want to shout out to their friends sitting a few seats away. They are not interested looking out of the window, neither are they bent on grabbing a few winks. Then the moment arrives, the conductor distributes the scratch cards having the passwords to all those who ask for it. And that's it! Those who take the scratch cards, they stop living in the present. Someone starts communicating with his office on office mail,  trying to do his pending work so that he is not overly burdened when he finally rejoins office. A boy in the corner seat is trying to download the latest songs on his smartphone whereas another one is watching his favourite movie. A girl on the first seat is engrossed in chatting with her friends on social media all the while ignoring her best friend sitting beside her in the bus. While the wi-fi users are happy, it has certainly mellowed down the environment inside the ST bus, which has always been known for its boisterous passengers.
But are we being over optimistic here. Maybe the wi-fi will not work. After all, a few years back, there was great talk of CCTV cameras being installed in public spaces. Now we know that most of them are mere non-working dabbas. And the ST buses will continue to carry their boisterous denizens to their destinations across the state.
Yatin

Village on the moon

Village on the Moon
Year - 2080...Like every morning, the digital newspaper is delivered to the pod of Mr. Lal. The robot butler, Hargreaves, brings the newspaper to Mr. Lal who is just getting up from bed. He puts on his Google glasses, connects the digital paper to the glasses by Li-fi which is 100 times speedier than that of wifi. For the uninitiated, LiFi is the use of the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit information at very high speeds (thanks to Google). Its been 10 years since lifi has replaced wifi across the globe. An advertisement catches the eye of Mr. Lal. It says, "A second home for your loved ones in the lap of nature, where man first set foot on the Moon. Exquisite property covered by a solar panelled dome, providing life-giving solar power to the residential cum farming plot inside. 25% discount for the first 100 applications" followed by the contact details. Mr. Lal is very excited and he calls his wife through his telepathic skull implant. The advertisement images and videos are telepathically transferred to the mind of his wife and she too is excited.  This advancement in science (telepathic transfer) has been both, a boon and a bane. It has boosted faster communication but at the same time, humans have lost their speaking ability. Just a week back there had been a research published, which said that the vocal cords are slowly getting weaker and in a few generations, may be totally unusable.
Though construction started on the moon 40 years back, it is just 15-16 years since residential complexes started to be built since lot of preparatory work needed to be done, before opening up the moon for ordinary people. Like in the 20th century, when America became the first nation to set foot on the moon, in the 21st century, it was the Americans who first started the construction work on the lunar surface. A huge hue and cry was raised by the other nations on Mother Earth, but Americans were bent upon exploiting the lunar landscape. They did a lot of preparatory work, in terms of providing the right amount of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide along with Nitrogen, by building closed domes under which trial farming was first tried. There were a few failures during the initial period but the Americans are a stubborn people who stuck to the task at hand. Finally, within 10 years, they were able to make a breakthrough, by converting the miniscule amount of hydrogen under the lunar surface, into water by combining with the supplied Oxygen. Though this water was miniscule, the genetically modified seedlings which were developed in the space laboratories, started thriving in the miniscule water and...crops were successfully harvested on the surface of the moon for the first time! This news excited the world scientific community so much, that they started putting pressure on their respective governments to join the American initiative. Soon India became the 2nd nation to land on the moon. And that's when the fun started!
The Indian government started telecasting the excerpts from the scientists day to day activities. A fall out of this, was the growing interest of the Builder community. Recently the building construction activity in the major cities of India had almost come to a standstill due to a paucity of profitable land in the cities. They had ventured to the tier 2 & 3 towns but had exhausted the potential by exploiting whatever land was available. And there were the usual roadblocks faced, due to inadequate infrastructure in the tier 2 cities. The builder community was hugely loaded, but while some of them had invested their monies in other ventures, there were a few who were itching for new projects, wherever available. And the moon surface presented a new challenge to a few of them. It got the best among them, Mr. Kriplani, thinking on ways to overcome the final hurdle.
So the next time, the Indian shuttle lifted off for the moon, Mr. Kriplani joined the astronauts, after all he had contacts in the highest echelons of the Indian government. Upon landing, he had a tough time adjusting to the reduced gravity of he moon, inspite of the advances made in the space suits. While the professional astronauts were walking comfortably, he was finding it difficult to keep his feet grounded. For Mr. Kriplani, these were but , momentary hurdles, which could easily be overcome by his inexhaustible will power. After all, he had reached a position of immense power, only due to his will power and a never say die attitude.
Mr. Kriplani liked what he saw. Where others saw a desolate landscape, he saw unexplored potential. Where others saw a dull, dark space, he saw a bustling night life. His mind was made up and he had immense persuasive capability to turn, even the most stubborn nay sayers, to his line of thinking. And thus was born, his pet project, "The Moon Arcade".
This was the very advertisement the Lal's had seen in the newspaper, which got them excited. They decided to contact the holograph , which was accessible to them through the QR Code on the advertisement. They didn't waste any time, as soon as they scanned the code, a 3 D hologram of Mr. Kriplani himself, was projected in their room. In his gentle but firm voice, Mr. Kriplani started explaining the salient features of his dream project.
"The Moon Arcade is exactly that. Arcade is a long arched building. And the site of The Moon Arcade is covered by a huge dome. But this dome is not visible, since the inside surface of the dome is covered by a Nano crystal sheet on which high fidelity lighting gives an illusion of the sky. And this lighting is timed to the earth hours, thus the light changes from early morning sunshine to the evening dusk and culminates with the night time starlit sky, which is dominated by the beautiful globe of the earth. This feature itself is worth the money you will pay since you won't feel that you have left the earth.
Magnetic flooring for maintaining the gravitational equilibrium. You just have to wear the magnetic slippers which are synchronized with the floor.
The Moon Arcade is a huge complex, consisting of 100 twin bungalows, with each bungalow having its own 1/2 acre garden. And the garden is real, made up of real flowering as well as vegetable plants. The plants themselves are genetically modified versions of those available on earth, developed by the scientists in space. Whereas the water for these plants is made locally on the moon.
We have not provided any swimming pool here due to the exorbitant price that this luxury demands on the moon and would have made the entire project unviable for us as well as for discerning customers like you. Instead we provide many unique amenities, which we would be happy to let you experience before you actually buy the Moon property.
How to reach there - daily shuttle service to the moon from the Sriharikota space station. Starts early morning and reaches the moon in 24 hours. The high speed being made possible by the new revolutionary hydrogen based fuel, making space travel economical for commercial flights.
Charges for site visit - only 1/4th of any space tourist flight expenses.
The Lal's lapped up this offer. The day arrived, the Lal's reached the Sriharikota space centre from their house in Mumbai, travelling by their Hondafly, a very fuel efficient flying car developed recently by Honda. Immediately on arrival they were ushered into a plush lobby, where their Iris scan and genetic profiling was done. A quick medical scan later, they were both passed for the journey to the moon. They were then taken into a capsule, in which they had to get into special suits, which were very much different and quite light as compared to the very heavy suits, which the very first astronauts wore in the 20th century. As their helmets were bolted in, both of them felt a surge of excitement. They were then strapped into their respective pods, so that the initial force of the space shuttle gets dissipated to some extent. The pods were then closed, and a soothing gas was pumped into it, which kept them conscious but paralyzed all their other movements. In no time, the space shuttle was in stratosphere, and the final thrust of its engines freed it from the earth pull. The Engineers on the flight then released the Lal's from their pod. As they stepped out, their suit enabled them to stand instead of float. While they saw some minor objects like pens floating due to the zero gravity, most of the other things inside, were firmly attached. Nearing the window, they saw the beautiful arc of the earth, rapidly going farther and farther away as the spacecraft rushed towards the moon. After some time they got bored and sauntered back to their pod to rest. In the meanwhile, the shuttle settled into the moon orbit. On approaching the landing site, the engines gave a final thrust and thus started the descent.
Upon landing, the Lal's were taken into a Relief Chamber whose sole purpose was to make them used to the changed environment. Though man had tried to modify everything on the moon, to make it more earth-like, he couldn't have matched the perfection achieved by God. After spending close to 1hour in the Relief Chamber, to acclimatize themselves with the surroundings, the Lal's were led into a underground passageway, which took them to the "The Moon Arcade".
As they emerged out of the passageway, the bright light took their breath away. Like it had been explained to them by Mr. Kriplani's hologram, it did not appear that a dome covered the whole complex. Man had succeeded in creating an illusion of the blue skies and the story book type of cottages on the moon land below, added to the fairy tale setting. And the gardens in front of each bungalow cottage, added to the splendour.
But what the Lal's were interested in, was the added attractions, of which Mr. Kriplani had given only a brief idea. On probing their accompanying guide about the same, they were enthusiastically led to another underground passageway. All this while they had been in their normal clothing, since all along, they were in a controlled atmosphere, whether in the Relief Chamber or inside the dome. Now, once inside the passageway, they were taken to the "Moon Age" where they were given a spacesuit to wear, which was quite light weight. Once they were securely inside their spacesuit, they were led to the door, which opened to the magical world of the moon.
Once they were outside, the desolate and dark landscape of the moon was a dampener. But what immediately caught their attention, was the Moon mobile, a 20th century era vehicle which the Americans had brought during one of their Apollo missions. To their surprise, they were made to sit in it, and taken on a ride through the pot holed landscape. After enjoying this ride for half an hour, they were taken to the landing site of the Apollo mission, which had first landed on the moon. They could see a prototype of the landing craft, the US flag planted there, as well as the first footprint of man.
After this they were taken to a huge structure, inside which the entire flooring with covered with soft mattresses. This was known as the "Floating Pool". Once inside, their weight enhanced leggings were removed and they were asked to roam around the structure. As they took their first step, due to the reduced gravitational pull of the moon, they themselves experienced the slow motion walk, which they had always witnessed being taken by the 20th century astronauts. They enjoyed this freedom so much, they were trying to jump and run, their jumps easily touching 25-30 feet in height. For the first time in their life, they could manage to do slow motion cartwheels and they enjoyed all this with child like enthusiasm. By the time, they were tired, they had spent almost 2 hours doing all these antics.
Once they reached the site office of "The Moon Arcade", they had made up their mind to sign on the dotted line. They were now the proud owners of a Bungalow cottage in "The Moon Arcade"!!
Friends, this scenario may be a reality, if not in 60 years, but surely in the next 100 years.
Yatin

Konkan - The jewel of India

Konkan - The jewel of India
Konkan... When you utter this word, it conjures up images of long stretches of clean and sandy beaches, huge varieties of fish and fish delicacies, small beautiful villages, quaint cottages, narrow winding roads lined with stretches of rice fields, simple yet clever people...et al. Best way to go to the konkan from Mumbai is to go by the Mumbai Goa highway. Of course, Konkan can be reached by going by the Pune route too, those who like to drive on wide expanses of excellent motorable roads will prefer this route but those who prefer driving through scenic surroundings, will always prefer going by the narrower Mumbai Goa national Highway . This national highway is anything but a highway. There are no dividers between the two traffic directions, and test the skills of the most experienced drivers. Especially the night driving is a pain and calls for high levels of concentration and alertness. Of course, the authorities have now woken up to widen the roads and the road widening process is in full swing. The unfortunate result of the widening process is the cutting down of ancient trees lining the roads, but this is an inevitable sacrifice of progress and safety on the roads.
Another excellent means of reaching Konkan is by the various trains running on the Konkan Railways. Best time to travel is morning time. As soon as you cross Diva station, the fun starts as you see wide expanses of rice fields on both sides of the tracks. But don't sit inside the compartment, especially of the air conditioned bogies...stand near the door to really enjoy the morning air and the scenic beauty which changes from green fields to winding rivers and rivulets...of course, stand well inside from the door, don't do anything risky although I have seen many boys sitting at the door and staring into the horizon. For foodies, these trains are a blessing with good quality of assorted foods ranging from idlis, wadas, chicken lollipops, soups of all types, sheera, poha...you name it...they have it. I sense many mouths are watering by just reading this. And the stations which line this route are out of this world and have an old worldly charm about them...just see the Khed, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Sawantwadi and many other stations. After all seeing is believing.
But I will take  you on Konkan Darshan through a road journey on the Mumbai Goa highway. Till you cross Panvel, it's the same old city. But once you cross the Panvel city you are on the highway and the fun starts. Within no time you are passing through the karnala bird sanctuary, and the first thing you notice are the monkeys sitting on both sides of the road, either waiting to be served by their car driving cousins or frolicking within themselves, the little ones clinging to their mothers tummies. This is the monkeys drive-in restaurant, where the cars bring the goodies. Recently the forest authorities have banned this due to accidental deaths of the monkeys, who sometimes come too near to the cars, the ban is not actually followed by, the homo sapiens as well as simians. Anyway, the Karnala bird sanctuary is the first attraction on this highway, with the eye-catching Karnala fort in the background, showing its thumbs up, to the people embarking on this highway. The road is lined with small and large eateries as well as a few resorts. As you drive further, you will come across a few nurseries and one should visit these nurseries, if not to buy  , then to just experience the assortment of trees, shrubs and showpiece flowering plants available. As you then move ahead, you cross the creek, and are on your way, tackling the traffic at Pen town, you reach the first landmark which is Wadkhal Naka. This can be your stopping point to freshen up and fill up, at one of the eateries, gorging on Wada pav, misal pav and a steaming cup of tea. Here you are at a junction, with one road proceeding straight ahead to Alibag beach while the second on the left proceeding to Goa. So all beach enthusiasts, will of course be very enticed to reach Alibag, the road to the playground of the Who's Who of Mumbai, being lined with potholes of various sizes. Those who just want to enjoy the comforts , they are spoiled for choice with many small and five star hotels in the vicinity. But those who want to experience the village life, should branch off to Nagaon and stay with the local people.
To continue on the onward journey to Goa, you take a left turn from Wadkhal Naka. Then for a long stretch you have the railway line on one side and lush green fields on the other. In a few hours you reach the next landmark which is the village of Pali which is famous for the Ganpati temple. For this you have to take a detour to the left, and the Ganpati temple welcomes you with open arms.  Once you have the blessings of the lord, no one can stop you and you continue on your onward journey to Goa. As you proceed, you cross the first real ghat section, immediately after Pali and on the other side of the ghat you then travel through the towns of Roha, Indapur, Mangaon. After crossing Mangaon, on reaching another town, Goregaon, if you take right turn, you are on the way to the beach of Harihareshwar, a very idyllic beach. This route will also take you to the Mahabaleshwar of Konkan, Dapoli. Near to Dapoli are the beaches of Murud, Anjarle , Burundi and Karde. Murud is having many stay options, Anjarle is famous for its Ganpati mandir on a cliff, Burundi is famous for its Brahmins whereas Karde beach is for those who love the water sports. It has a wide variety of water sports. If you reach here in the morning, you will only leave well past lunch time. And the way to Anjarle Ganpati mandir, known locally as "kadyavarcha Ganpati" is the most mesmerizing experience since you are driving on a cliff, with the wide expanse of the Arabian sea stretching to the horizon. The mandir itself is so silent and peaceful, you feel like not stepping out. From Dapoli another road goes to a sea side town, Dabhol. Near Dabhol, there is a Mahalaxmi Devi Mandir, which is one of its kind, since it is underground. As you go down, first you cannot see anything, but as your eyes get used to the darkness, you really appreciate the Devi Murti. You will really feel blessed with this experience.
Now coming back to the Mumbai Goa highway...once you cross Goregaon and Veer, you near the town of Mahad, which has 2 main attractions...one is the Kolad river rafting which is nearby and another is the access to the Riagad fort , by means of a ropeway. Raigad fort, the pride and capital of Hindavi Swaraj , established by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj...
As you drive further from Mahad, you reach Poladpur. If you take a left from Poladpur, you are on the way to the actual Mahabaleshwar...oh, what a road! So many turns on this Ambenali ghat section , such lush green scenery....its as if you are driving through the heavens.
Next major town on the highway is Khed but for reaching Khed you have to travel through the long and winding Kashedi ghat. 10-15 years back this ghat section was the most treacherous since it was narrower with steep cliffs one one side and took the lives of many travellers. But now it is much wider and can be crossed safely. But it remains awe inspiring due to its great height. Once you reach Khed the next town on the route is Chiplun and there are many small and large industries on the way. If you love non-veg food, please stop in Chiplun and have your fill, there are some very good restaurants (though not of 5-star variety but very tasty food). Lest I forget, before entering Chiplun, you pass through the Parshuram ghat and the Parshuram mandir here is a must visit. Said to have been renovated by the Peshwas, the stone architecture is awesome. As you must be knowing, Parshuram is the great Brahmin who is said to have shot an arrow and reclaimed the land called konkan from the sea. Another attraction in Chiplun are the Chiplun backwaters. Yes! There are backwaters in Maharashtra too. You can do boating here through the crocodile infested waters...yes, crocodiles too...
The Chiplun to Ratnagiri stretch is very beautiful...nature at its best and the best time to travel is just after the rainy season. For a long stretch, a river meanders along the road side at a lower elevation and there is greenery everywhere. There are 2 hot water springs situated between Chiplun and Ratnagiri. The water is so hot, you can boil eggs and rice, just by lowering them in the water.
If you want to visit Ratnagiri, then you have to leave the highway at Hathkhamba and take a right turn and then drive for almost 4-5 kms. The main attractions in and around Ratnagiri are many...Ratnagiri is famous as the birthplace of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the great freedom fighter and we can see his house here. Nearby, about 45-50 kms from Ratnagiri,is the wonderful beach of Ganpatipule with the Peshwa built temple of Lord Ganpati. Here again you should taste the locally made fish dishes...yummy. On another side of Ratnagiri are the Pawas mandir of the great saint, Swami Swaroopanand. Still further is the Mahalaxmi temple situated in Adiwre. Ratnagiri is also famous for the wooden palace of the Burmese king, who was incarcerated by the British in Ratnagiri. Another well known landmark is the Ratnagiri fort.
Coming back to the Mumbai Goa highway, the next towns after Ratnagiri, are Lanja and Rajapur. Rajapur is famous for Rajapurchi Ganga. This is a spring which waters in every 3 years. This area is at an elevation of 25 metres above the city level and the ponds are bone dry. But when the time arrives, suddenly water starts flowing and lasts for almost 3 months. This event is marked with a great festival to celebrate the occasion.
As you drive down further, for almost 1.5 hours, you reach the town of Kankavli. After crossing Kankavli, you have the option of going to Malvan and Sindhudurg, which are towns situated near to the sea. Sindhudurg town is famous for its Sindhudurg fort, built in the middle of the sea by Chatrapati Shivaji. The main attraction in the fort is the sweet water well when the whole fort is surrounded by the salty sea. If you want to enjoy the village life while driving, leave the highway and drive along the inside roads which meander through the quiet villages , which have small cottages lining the road.
The next major and final town before entering Goa, is Sawantwadi. This town is very beautiful with a centrally located artificial lake and the Sawantwadi palace. Sawantwadi is famous for its wooden toys even today. Buy some as a keepsake.
Then you cross the final ghat section between Maharashtra and Goa and then...finally you have reached Goa.
Hope you all enjoyed the journey. Please do visit this jewel of a place since I have missed out on many other goodies like the Tarkarli beach and  Amboli hill station and many more.
Yatin

The Smart House

The Smart House
Nowadays all builders compete with each other to offer smart houses to their customers. Each new smart facility offered, the customer gets burdened by one more crore. No house is now available below a crore or two.
One day a DINK couple, who were in need of a abode to call their own, went to a reputed builder's office. Now don't ask me what is a DINK couple; it's DOUBLE INCOME NO KIDS, sillies! They were ushered into a plush office. Like a goat who is offered the choicest grasses to eat, before it is butchered, similarly the couple was offered the choicest wine 🍷. The DINK were impressed!
The Sales Representative of the builder, in impeccable English, floored them with the list of amenities, on offer. In addition to the usual amenities like a enviable club house, table tennis tables, badminton court, a tennis court, pool table, a fully furnished gymnasium, and a Olympic size swimming pool, what clinched the deal for the DINK, was the offer of the SMART HOUSE. They requested the sales representative to show them their dream house. That's when the fun started!
When they, along with the sales representative reached the door of the smart flat, an energetic wave 🙋 by the sales representative, with a big smile on his face, opened the door of the flat. The couple was looking at him quizically, when he replied, "A scanner is installed on the door, which scans your smiling face and detects the wave movement. When you move into the house, all the existing master data in the scanner will be deleted, and your smiling face will be saved in the scanner. And we will teach you the proper wave movements". Still reeling from this information, the couple followed the salesman inside. Once inside, the salesman clapped once and the lights came on. He gave them the information that, clapping once puts the lights on & clapping twice shuts off the lights. And when you want to just enjoy, like on weekends, you perform a jig, which starts the disco lights. We will teach you the jig, when you make the down payment.
The DINK couple was feeling flustered and a little hot under the collar. They requested the salesman to put on the AC. The salesman promptly went to a corner and winked! Immediately the AC came on. Then he showed them how to increase or decrease the room temperature... You twist your fingers in clockwise direction and the temperature will increase and anti clockwise to decrease.
Feeling a little weak in their knees, they looked around for a place to sit... there was non. The salesman sensed this, he extended his hand towards a wall and did a pulling gesture...a sofa started pushing out of the wall!! Seeing this, the couple just plonked themselves on the sofa. The man was thinking, "how I wish I get a cup of tea 🍵". Immediately, from the direction of the kitchen, a shadow emerged! This was a robot, which was a cross between R2D2 and Chewbacca (Star wars fans will know). This contraption was carrying a steaming cup of tea! "This is the clincher in this smart house. Your own butler, who never sleeps and always at the mind call... You think of any requirement, and he appears like a genie". The DINK couple is zapped... Both of them were thinking, what will happen if I have some romantic thoughts. They shuddered to even think about it.
Suddenly the man got up, and asked for the way to the loo. As he entered inside, the lights came on. OK, this was normal... But, then the pot cover went up and "Welcome! Please use water sparingly. After 'download', please delete your history. No one else should have access to your history. Thank you for using me". On hearing this, all thoughts of  'downloading' vanished from the man's mind and he rushed out. He asked the salesman, "can we mute the toilet?". Unfortunately, this facility was not available.
After looking at the entire house, as they were exiting out of the house, the door ejected a very pungent odour. Confused by this, the lady asked, "now what is the meaning of this". The salesman behaved as if he had not heard. So the man asked the same question again.
This time the salesman cleared his throat and answered, "The SMART HOUSE has identified you as very dumb, and rejected you as its owners"
So folks, say good riddance to SMART HOUSES and save your sanity.
Yatin

App for diaper swap

An app for diaper swap
Nachiket and Nikita are new parents. They had their son hardly one month back. Their house is a pleasant mess, which is normal in any house where a child has been born recently. Nikita is on maternity leave whereas Nachiket too spends maximum time at home, whenever his job and his boss permits. Nikita's mother too stays with them, looking after the little bundle of joy. Though all of them enjoy being with the new addition to the family, they seem to have no clues when faced with the crying episodes of the child. A totally peaceful afternoon suddenly turns into a chaotic situation once the child starts throwing tantrums. Thinking the child is hungry, Nikita tries to feed it, but the decibel level increases. Taking pity on her, her mother takes the child in her custody and started singing a lullaby. As the grandmother touches the high notes in her song, so does the child. Exasperated the mother and grandmother look at each other clueless. Suddenly the grandmother espies that the diaper is cold. She places the child on the sofa and takes off the child's diaper. Lo and behold! As soon as this is done, the child is quiet. So this was the problem. The solution was so simple but since the problem was not easily identifiable, the family had to put up with the cacophony.
It is night time, everyone is fast asleep. Suddenly a shriek goes up in the air and all are wide awake. But now Nikita is experienced. She goes and picks up the child and tries to change its diaper... But no, this time the diaper is dry. So she packs up the child again and tries to breastfeed the child. This is what the child wanted and in no time, it is peacefully contented and off to sleep it goes. The night is quiet again!
Nachiket, the software engineer is intrigued. And he decides to do something about this. After all, as a software engineer, he knows that every problem has a solution. So the next time the child cries, Nachiket goes very near the child and puts his ears to the baby's mouth. He tries to decipher whether there is any difference between each cry, whether it is for food, or for a sound sleep. But he deciphers none. All cries are the same....wahhhhh....
The next day in office, he mentions his dilemma during the lunch hour, to his office mate, Riddhima. And lo! Riddhima has a ready made solution. After all she is his senior and she to has faced this in her life before. And Nachiket does as instructed by Riddhima...
Next day he stays at home... eagerly waiting for the child... to cry. And then the moment arrives...a cry goes out, disturbing the noon peace... And before the mother and grandmother react, Nachiket is near the child... He whips out his smartphone from his pocket, starts an app and keeps it on record mode, near the baby's mouth... Mother and grandmother are watching this, worried about the mental imbalance shown by Nachiket... But Nachiket himself is very enthusiastic about the task at hand, he keeps his smartphone near the baby's mouth for about 10 seconds, then his fingers do the tango on the phone ... He gives  a triumphant cry and shows the screen to the 2 ladies... Screen shows "HUNGRY" in bold letters. The ladies are apprehensive, but then the mother starts feeding the child... And the house is peaceful again.
The app is passed on to the mother who is the happiest. She feels as if, suddenly there is a translator for translating all her baby's cries into human speech. Next time the baby throws a tantrum, the app shows that the baby needs a diaper swap. These are the happiest days for the mother and the entire family. The grandmother is the most impressed since she had always felt that technology has gone too far ...but now she too is impressed.
Friends, you may feel this is far fetched but this technology is upon us and the app is 90-95% accurate in giving its solutions. The new parents in the West are the most happy, since this app is not yet introduced in India. But by the time you read this, it might be available. But just to try out the new app, don't try to be a new parent, especially my friends who are now in their late 40's...
P.S. - this app is said to work only for babies upto 8-10 months old, since the innocent babies cry with honesty, only till that age... After that they get smarter for the smartphone app. And mothers, don't try to use it for your grown up babies... Your respective husbands 😊
Yatin

A rat on board

A rat on board
The Indian rat is the most widely travelled animal. It has been known to travel on buses, especially the state transport buses, which touch the remotest parts of any state. Thus a rat in a village, which has till now lived on the grains produced in villages, suddenly finds itself in a city, and goes mad with the other options of food, which are available in the city. In fact, it thrives in a city, what with the many slums, garbage dumps, food godowns, hotels, etc. where food is available for it in plenty. It is especially prevalent in the restaurants kitchens, which vary from the road side to the 5-star ones. I have noticed that the road side rats are rowdies, which will not think twice about scampering over your chappal clad foot, and elicit strong reactions of the screaming type, from the female human species. Whereas I have noticed that the rats residing in the 5-star localities are the most obese and the most lethargic, since food is available for them in abundance, and they don't have to do any extraordinary activity for their daily bread. The rowdy rats always look upon the 5-star rats, especially in areas like SOBO and Bandra, with a certain degree of envy. Yes I have seen the high degree of envy in their eyes. And please don't think that the rats are only near the slums, since they have been known to put the fear of god, into the most manicured and pedicured damsels living in their gilded towers.
Then there are the rats which are privileged to travel across the length and breath of India, on the lifelines, which are the railways. You will find them living along the tracks, and are especially prolific, near the station areas. They are so brave that they will be scampering about during the day time also, looking for assorted goodies, which the human race is not careful in  disposing off. Once I was travelling in a train, and believe me, whenever any hawker came across to sell his goodies like vada pav, idli, bhaji, et al, the rat living below the bench, was the first one to poke its face out, with its small nose twitching. Thus, wherever the extensive network of passenger and good trains, reached the 4 corners of India, the rats also proliferated.
But the rat of the year award goes to the pioneer which managed to ground the airline of India, which was on the flight path to England. After flying for almost 3 hours, a passenger spotted the rat in the aisle instead of an air-hostess and complained to the pilot. This sighting was enough for the pilot to decide to return back to India. Maybe the rat was not carrying  passport and  visa. Thus the great vision of the rat to capture new frontiers by the air route was not fructified. Though its ancestors had been successful in the past to reach all corners of the earth, by the sea route, sometimes through merchanting ships and sometimes through pirate dhows.
 But this has not stopped the rat from dreaming big. It is now planning for a trip to Mars thus becoming the second species on earth to dream this big. And it has made all arrangements to remain incognito on the spacecraft, otherwise who knows, the craft will be brought back to earth, while flying past the moon.
Yatin