Pool ol green souls

I was waiting for the train n across the tracks I see this tree that was butchered just so that our trains can pass by without causing any harm to us humans. I agree, that the trees need to be cut so that they don't come in the way of trains, cause any harm to the commuters n more importantly, there is no reason for fire due to the tree extension to come in contact with the electric wires any any sparks. But we should be considerate to at least cut these greenies nicely so they look in good shape! Is this fair that we butcher them so roughly that they look as if bleeding?....

My encounter wid an uloo

I suddenly heard our watchman say “Ulloo hai… Ulloo hai”. I was shocked to hear him call someone an idiot out loud early on a Sunday morning. I looked out of the window to checkout wat was going on… The watchman & an aunty from upstairs were looking at the guava tree in the society compound. On changing the angle of my nazar, I could see the “idiot” on the tree. I had mistakenly taken the reference of ulloo translated to English as an idiot. The watchman had been referring to the OWL on a branch of the tree telling the scared looking aunty that the alien on the tree was only an owl. Apparently, aunty had spotted the bird and not having recognized it, raised an alarm for the watchman to check.

I shifted my eyes back to serene bird perched quietly on the V of the branches of the tree. It had shades of brown-gray on its wings. The face outlined by a thin white lining made by its feathers with 2 small eyes on either side of the beak. The face not as conical as in the case of most other birds looked like ours, the beak takin the place of r nose.

After I had looked my fill, I couldn’t hold myself back. I went in to fetch my camera to click a few pics of the bird. After I got my shots, though not completely satisfied, I went on with my tasks of the day, wishing I had my friend’s pseudo-SLR to take a close up…

Every time I walked into the room, I went to the window to check whether it was still der. N every single time, it was! It even rained after a while, not just drizzled, but the bird just sat there not moving at all. Gradually it looked as if it fell asleep sitting right there dripping in the rain, unmoved.

The day went by… and the bird just stayed der. Even the thought of calling the emergency service for injured birds crossed my minds. But I decided to wait on until nightfall as owls are known to be disoriented during daytime.

I even came across a couple of lil kids from r society calling it an “ulloo-owla”… guess they didn’t know ulloo in Hindi meant owl in English … just heard the elder kids talk abt the bird in the two languages and picked up the words… It was pretty cute really :-)

Lookin at the bird even got me thinking where the phrase “ulloo ka patha” originated from; also if the other meaning of ulloo (idiot) had anything to do with the bird. I gotta google on that next…

Finally post sun down, I didn’t see it in the place where it stayed all day. It must have taken to its route finally. After a couple of hours though, I saw it on the same tree a lil to the right of its original position. This got me thinking about its well-being. At just that moment, it spread its wings wide open and flew away towards East. Now I’m not sure if it went away its healthy way or just a few meters away to the next tree. But I wish the winged wonder a happy n healthy future.

It was amazing how we awaited the elephant-headed god on Ganesh Chauthi n came across an owl!!

KAMINEY friday night

The media had rated this movie so highly, we were all amazed and thot we should go for it. So Friday evening, we 8 colleagues booked on-line tickets for Kaminey @ Hub, Goregaon 9.45 PM show. After dinner from an eatery near by, we reached the screen in time for the movie. But our high expectations were slowly and surely let down. The movie turned out to be quiet a disappointment.

After bidding adieu to the 2 who live further North in the suburbs, the 6 of us hopped into the car to head back home. I along wid the chauffer took the front seats n the 4 guys crammed into the back seat. Well it was gonna b short crammed drive – just had to drop off 3 of them @ Andheri. So v started n suddenly, one of the guys shouted out Sea-link… he had not been there yet n almost pleaded we go for a quick ride. He even agreed to pay for the toll charges of the return trip. We finally gave in to his request n turned right to go over the freshest architectural marvel in amchi Mumbai. It was a clear night with no spec of clouds in the mid-monsoon season. The suspension bridge was lit up against the dark sky. It was a beautiful drive, we thoroughly enjoyed.

By the time we reached the Worli end, the plans to go further ahead to Marine drive & the Gateway were already laid. Wow! I couldn’t have imagined the evening to take this turn – literally! Empty roads all along were really inviting. It took us hardly any time to reach the far end of the Marine Drive.

Having spotted a buggy, we parked the car and took off on the majestic tonga decorated with huge multi-color balloons. 3 of us, me included took the main seat. 2 sat facing us n r Money-Man took the well-deserved seat next to the pilot. After all, had it not been for him, we would have gone to bed feeling sour over the waste of time n money on the damn movie. We opted for the ‘bada’ round and enjoyed the ride though we thought was really short. But well – abhi to sham jawan hai... We still had lots to explore in the night. So we got off only to be in for a shock. We were charged a whopping 550 bucks for that miniscule round! He was kind enough to give a discount of 50 just for us. Even considering the late night charges, this was ridiculous. After some exchange of words, we made mandavli at 300 n r money-man was more than happy to oblige.

We set r foot on the pavement of marine drive along the beautiful sea face n the brightly lit Queen’s necklace was beaming to welcome us. We started our walk crossing each gem slowly takin in the cool night air. It was fun walking over the katta. Of course r pro photographer took ample shots that u can c scattered around. We reached the other end of the Marine drive with all sorts of crazy ideas for pics. On the way we tried in vain to search for any eateries open at that hour.

Then, we needed r car to proceed n none wanted to walk back. I took this opportunity to jog! Well half of us have registered for the Half Marathon n its high time we start r practice. R photographer still treks a lot n has gud stamina but r chauffer & me better gear up. So the 2 of us jogged all the way back to the car parked over a kilometer away. When we reached the car, I had the satisfaction of jogging a km without a break – thts not at all bad for starters. With extra vigor of the jog, we drove ahead to pick up the gang n headed for the Gateway.

I gave complete justice to occupying the front seat by adorning the role of the navigator at this leg of our drive giving perfect directions for our current destination. Yet again we parked at the far end of the road n strolled back to the Gateway with one eye on the epic Taj. Again r money-man was prompt when I wanted a cuppa coffee, though I spared him by taking it by the roadside n not in the TAJ. The small glass of warm coffee was perfect by the cool night.

R chauffer was soon behind the wheel of his red wagon zooming on the wide free roads, to take us back home. The drive was so smooth that we reached Bangnaga exploring the straight road. Taking a U-turn to get back on the way to the sea link, we were stalled by a Pandu n asked for the car papers. After showing him all that he asked for, he requested to c the PUC cert. Now this we didn’t have n he didn’t leave us till we warmed his hands wid a 100 ki patti!

After that short pause, r drive was fullon until we reached back to Bandra. It hardly felt like a drive from town to Bandra for it took just around 20 mins. Wow! Can u imagine that on the streets of Mumbai! This is where we dispersed to head home.