Morning, folks. Lovely morning here in Mumbai, the city that never sleeps. And ever since my birthday, I haven’t slept at all till today!
My initial plan was to spend my b’day in Mizoram. But I had to cancel my trip in the last minute due to lots and lots of work and new products/campaigns/virals launched, so my sisters went home without me.
I thought my b’day would be a drag this time, with me being all alone and stuff. Hehe... I haven’t spent a single night alone since my b’day
Yeah friends are wonderful, especially when you need them the most. My housemaid is going crazy on the other hand. lolz.Of course, once my sisters are back, things will get back to the usual schedule – 9AM to 1AM office, go home, sleep, back to 9AM-1AM, with no time for any social activities. But it’s great to live like this for now. The change in schedule, though not so refreshing, is actually rejuvenating. I now realize I am not the old fart I used to think I was, and that I could still do a lot of stuff I used to do a couple of years ago. Wooohooo.
Thank you all for your lovely wishes everywhere from orkut to facebook to twitter to blog to personal mails. Hugz, you all!
A lot of action took place in the football scene too. Manure is still leading the EPL, and they are most likely to win it now. They are out of the FA Cup, but I can’t laugh at them because we are unfortunately out too, thanks to Fabianski’s screw ups (but the dude made up against Liverpool and that was an absofreakinglutely amazing game). But yeah, Manure going for a quintuplet? My Arse!
The Champions League clash between Arse and Manure is going to be one hell of a game. I can already picture my Arses celebrating a 5-0 win over Manure. w00t w00t!
Meanwhile IPL action is underway and I still can’t stop laughing at the “Super Over” between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders! LMFAO! How fictitious is that?
Reminds me of school days’ games time, when we would just make up some new rules here and there whenever something unordinary or strange happened. You couldn’t make it any more fabricated than that! Hehehe.Speaking of IPL, do check out the new website we made – IHL – Indian Hatke League. It’s a spoof of the IPL and a bloody good one too. You can even take part in the “stick cricket” matches after registering and try to break each other’s records. It’s fun and entertaining, though very addictive.
In other news, I think I already know who’s going to win the South Mumbai constituency, come this election
Yeah it’s tough not to stay hooked on news channels and talk shows 24/7 during this election time. Some of my friends hate me for that, but... my house, my remote control If only I knew I was going to cancel my Mizoram trip in the last minute, I would have definitely registered here in Mumbai instead of Mizoram because another main reason I wanted to go home was to vote. (I still don’t see the reason why we can’t register at two places at the same time, when we can vote just once anyway... Seriously, I think the Gov should allow this for those who are on the move constantly and hence do not know where they may be on election dates... unless it’s a big headache for the Gov regarding Form 6 paperwork etc. of course).
Mumbai is fun. High cost of living, but fun nevertheless.
The other night, my friends and I went to Juhu beach at 5 in the morning. And it was freaking awesome. I mean most of you Mumbaikars may know what goes on in Juhu once the clock strikes 10’ish in the night
Yeah, them hookers.Prostitutes in pairs or by themselves, sitting in autos, looking for customers. Miniskirts covering barely nothing, with lipsticks and make-ups grossly overdone, trying to make a living, looking out from their autos at other autos or cars that slowed down in front of them, either for a “quickie” charge of just 300 to 500 bucks or a “whole night” charge of 1G. I’ve seen them many times, especially near JW Mariotte Hotel. My auto drivers used to tell me all about them, from how much they charged to their nexus with popular hotels in Juhu locality to how they would rip off a customer by thrashing him (with the help of accomplices slash pimps) and taking his wallet. lolz.
And of course the horny victim couldn’t complain to the cops, unless he’s not afraid to admit to the cops and the newspapers that he got robbed after he tried to sleep with a prostitute. Yeh India hain!
But that night, at 5 in the morning, life was so different.
So there we were having tea from the famous chai-wallah on Juhu beach. Lots of people were there even at that time, and what I loved the most about that night – the totally classless society that seemed to exist, even if it was just for a few hours. We were sitting and chatting and laughing with Investment bankers in business suits who came in their Mercs to male-models to cheerful auto wallas who joked about some of the customers they experienced. Prostitutes came and sat with us with their tea cups, and nobody looked at them differently. Nobody tried to “hire” them nor did the prostitutes tried to “sell” themselves to us. It was complete bliss.
I love Mumbai. Mumbai meri jaan.
And finally, today being a cheerful Monday, I guess I will take part in Lady Java’s Music Monday for a change. Yeahhh. Just wanna show Marzie and the others that I have time to do stuff like this with my blog friends too.
My selection for Music Monday?
“Song for you” by one of my favourite symphonic gothic bands – Lunatica. You HAVE to listen to this. No it’s not a symphonic gothic song
Just consider it a love song. And if you don’t love it, I am ready to eat my words anytime. But do listen to it first.Lunatica - Song For You
And of course I would like to dedicate this amazing song to Marzie and B, LJ who lost her precious Mufasa (hugz), Janice and her two lovely Amos and Zac, Jean, Bobby, Jesse who seemed to disappear from the face of this earth, all my blog friends around the globe, and of course somebody else I hope is special to me, or will be special to be, or at least hopefully notice that I exist...
Cheers!
42 comments:
Prostitutes interesting. Every city has their own culture with them. Here you can find them right in the middle of the city after 11 pm. All kinds of them. The most interesting scene I have ever seen with prostitutes was in Kathmandu, Nepal where there are lines and lines of transvestites dressed up in their best just standing around the mouth of Thamel street looking for some attention. In smaller Indian cities they do try to "hush" it up a bit but I guess we should just admit that we are all pervs and legalize the whole thing. By the way I like Mondays, they are a good break from the small city "Sunday" when everything is closed.
i ziak thui thei lutuk, ka la chhiar hman lo na-a Happy Birthday phawt le. Nakinah i post hi chu ka la chhiar ang, hla thlan tur pawh ka nei ve na-a ka la hman lo tlat
@ odzer: Do check out this old post of mine if you are interested:
Chp 39. Sonargachi!Its about my trip to the infamous Sonargachi - the red light area of Kolkata. Of course I went there just to "see" what the hype is all about, that's all :-)
@ Varte: Thank you, Hotunu. Nia tiang ang post hi chu topic tam deuh ka ziak a, post tam deuh topic pakhat lek lek tih ai chuan hetia post hi ka ti zawk mai, achhanchu kan post reng hman lova, hna vang hian :(
Please do come back to read it when you're free :)
Morning Sandman! Wow u are my first visit today. Oh hang on, lemme take a listen first yeah? ;)
YAY, I listened to your song Sandman, never heard this one before but it rubs me the right way so yay! Thanks so much for the lovely dedication. I have not heard from Jesse in a while too. Group hug for the old gang! :):):)
YAY!!! Here's cheers to the old gang!!!! :D
Dude! how cheery can you get on a Monday morning!! Ugh... Disgusting really.
Those 2 cups of coffee have barely registered and I'm already cranky because I have to sit late... :P
at a time when the flesh trade in india involves stealing children and forcing them into lives of prostitution, i find the tone of parts of this post shocking, insensitive, and downright sick. same goes for the sonargachi post. for gods sake, man, some of the ladies you are leching at are children!
Who's leching at who? Where did I ever mention that I was leching at them?
I agree the Sonargachi post that was written 4 years ago may not have been in good taste because it is certainly not a tone I would use now. It was written 4 years ago.
But in this post, nowhere have I demeaned the prostitutes in any way, and I even talked about how we could just sit together like normal people with none of the guys around me leching at them or calling them names. Is talking about prostitutes in itself demeaning? And nowhere did I also mention that they were children, because they certainly weren't children.
Crucify me for the Sonargachi post, I was stupid then. But this post is way different.
@ Pixie: Back to the usual hustle and bustle of Monday work, but that's like any other day. I really loved this morning, when I was feeling all refreshed and eager to come to office. lolz.
"I mean most of you Mumbaikars may know what goes on in Juhu once the clock strikes 10’ish in the night :D Yeah, them hookers."
that grin, placed as it is, looks a lot like a lech, ey?
i admit my reaction is to a combination of this and the sonargachi post. but then, you hardly seem apologetic in your response to odzer, do you.
no, talking of prostitutes is not demeaning in itself-though considering the contexts we live in, i can only see a light hearted treatment of the subject as sick.
and no, you have *not mentioned that they are children-that's something i brought up...the flesh trade in india has, according to the PUCL, about 30% below 14 years. prostitution in india is very close to slavery.
while i do not necessarily doubt your intentions, i find little about prostitution something to ":D" (or the smiley equivalent) about.
Sorry about the ":D" then...
I know, Odzer hit the nail right on the head with his statement "but I guess we should just admit that we are all pervs" because, even though many of us pity prostitutes especially when we read reports about them in Tehelka etc or even if we are the type who will never go to a prostitute, most of us can't help letting off an (embarrassing) smile or two when approached by a prostitute, especially when we're with our guy-friends. That was the reason why I really wanted to talk about that night as none of the guys did any such thing. It was magical.
Coming back to this topic, I will try to be more sensitive with my smileys in the future as I can now understand how you interpreted that smiley. Thanx for pointing it out.
>>thumbs up across the room.
odzer's statement, though, is "I guess we should just admit that we are all pervs and legalize the whole thing". while i agree with the pervs bit, the 'legalise' is plain silly. what else would you legalise because a bunch of pervs enjoy it?
but enough arguments for a night. :)
:)
Yeah but it is currently very confusing in India as prostitution is actually not a crime. As far as I know, a prostitute cannot be booked for "prostitution" per se, and hence booked with other vague charges like "public indecency" or "public nuisance". Hence we're at a threshold where prostitution is legally neither right nor wrong.
SITA (Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1956) now known as PITA (Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act, 1986) doesn’t say prostitution is a crime but forbids prostitutes from practicing their trade within 200 yards of a "public place" or a "notified area".
Anyway, yeah, this is an interesting topic of discussion and I too shall call it a night. Thanks once again for pointing out some of my faux-pas.
yuck! how can u be "refreshed and eager" to come to work on a monday morning?!!
"Advertising" dear :) Where the fun never stops :D
A sei deuhva ka chhiar hrih lo mai boss, ka zin a.Nakinah hman deuhin lo chhiar ang.
Glad you had a nice, LONG birthday celebration!
I thought this post was lovely, I still think that one day we will all be able to live in peace, even if that sounds naive. I also think sometimes things happen that let us see, that yes, it really can happen. LIke having tea with businessmen and taxi drivers and prostitutes, we really are not all that different from one another some of us just got better opportunities.
@ Kima : I have read your post about Sonargachi and I enjoyed it. The only reason I hang around here is because I like the style of your writing. Anyway I would like to clarify something :
Legalisation of prostitution should not be a debate. I do not see a role for government in human sexuality. As for children, children do worse things in India than have sex with adults. Some of them die by the age of 20 working in hazardous environments. I am not saying that is the most ideal but what I am saying is 'idealism' does not cut ice when you are dying of hunger.
@ Baruk : You have dragged me in to a fine mishegoss. Yeah so what is wrong with being a prostitute? I think its your own value judgments that you want to impose? Some prostitutes may be under age, but so may be the chai wala boy who probably you might have used at your work and who has to sleep on the street and gets raped by the police every night. Just do not pontificate please.
@odzer: the only value judgment i would impose is that which promotes freedom of individual choice. and that value i will fight for.
in india and in much of south east asia, prostitution is tied in with slavery-young girls are sold/kidnapped to be forced into the business. which is where i have a problem-their lack of choice.
i agree that the government has no real business in interfering with people's sexuality. but you must be *rather out of touch with what happens on the streets to equate prostitution with being a chai boy. not all chai boys are raped, all child prostitutes are.
i do not deny you or anyone your right to your sexual life. i deny you, and will fight against, your right to take away another's rights.
just in case this afterthought helps-i have no problems with prostitution in itself, my issue is with trafficking. there. maybe using the right term will help.
@ Baruk : So people are slaves? They get sold by their parents, end up on the road as prostitutes, so what? Basically it is none of your business. In any case such and such thing is good or such and such thing is bad. It bothers you personally. So it is your own thing. There is no need to rub it in.
LMAO, odzer. i have chosen my business. if you don't like it-tough! people have the right to not be exploited. you don't like that? well, tough!
Mumbai is fun. High cost of living, but fun nevertheless. I'll join you when I have enough money, to have fun:) I like the song.
@ Baruk : Rights are something that are just made up. You have them as charity from the state. I would not really count on them so much. However if you want the right to have the last word on it, sure go ahead.
@odzer: awww. that's nice of you, thanks!
if thats what you really believe about rights, though, there's not very much point in a discussion-we see things too differently. and definitely not here, all poor kima wanted to do was talk about a nice monday!
@kima: sorry for turning this into a rant fest. not another peep from me, scouts honour.
@ Just a Grail: Believe me, that night was something I really wanted to live through again. I don't know whether it will be the same if I go again, but for a moment, the feeling I felt was almost euphoric. The bonhomie that existed that night was indescribable. And another reason why that night rocked? It was 5 in the morning and there wasn’t a single cop around for miles, yet everything was sooooo peaceful!
@ Faka: Thanx, and please do join. Yeah the song is really really lovely too :)
@ Sekibuhchhuak: Boss i hman hun hunah a ni mai. A ropui e, mi rawn tlawh thuak tal a.
@ Baruk :@ Odzer:Guy guys, first of all, you know how much I love discussions. So believe me, you guys are not putting me off or anything like that with your “rants”. I’m loving it :-) Everybody’s entitled to their own views and opinion. Trouble starts only when we start imposing our views and opinions on others. Sometimes, it is something that comes naturally and even I plead guilty to this many times in the past.
Both of you have two very valid points IMHO, and believe me, I am not saying that just because I want to be diplomatical about this. Both of you may not agree, but I’m sure other viewers will agree when I say you’re arguing about two different sides of a coin, so this will be a never ending argument as you’re looking at this from different perspectives. Hence eventually, both sides build up their argument with more facts and information, which actually moves further and further away from the crux of this particular paragraph (err... which is actually about how different people from different rung of the societal ladder could sit together as one... :-) )
To be more precise, here’s what I meant to say. Baruk, the moment you read prostitution, the first thing in your head is “child trafficking and forced slavery with denial & exploitation of human rights”. You think like an NGO. I’m not saying that is wrong, and it is actually a very noble thought to be concerned about the welfare of the downtrodden. The anger you felt when you wrote about exploitation is prominent and that is highly admirable. You see perversion and only perversion when it comes to prostitution.
Odzer on the other hand, tries to bring in the fact that there are also other forms of perversions in this world like hunger, child exploitation, child abuse etc, and that prostitutes too have the rights to become prostitutes if they wish. He stresses on the point that it is wrong to try and impose that same sentiments and pity you share for prostitutes upon others. Both of you are arguing over why one is not thinking like the other, and believe me, this kind of argument will never end.
Bottomline – Yes Baruk, like you mentioned, the two of you see things differently. But at the same time, please do keep in mind that the two of you do not see things oppositely, hence this argument can go on and on and on, because your argument is not about black and white. You’re arguing about the different shades of gray.
Cheers, you two. Here's a peace-pipe to you both. :-)
College kal lai a thiante South Delhi riak tur 'Toothbrush' nena kal thlip thlep chi kha ka ngaihtuah chhuak :D 'Weekend' Nilaini thleng an hmanga, ni hnih hnuah 'Weekend' hmang tur bawkin an chhuak leh thin.
Liverpool tla kha ka tuar hle. Mahse pahnihna an la ni pha tho e - Automatic Qualification for Champio's League next year :)
Test Cricket lo hi chu ka en peih meuh lo - Baaki sab Bakwash !!
Juhu Beach chu a bâl ema, i sawi ate tlatna mual ni mai ang hmiang :)) Aizawlah pawh 'Zuai Rate' chu cheng 600 Taxi pu in a ti antia lawm :))
Mmmm, ka chhiar chhuak tep, hla thlan lai vel hi chu ka kalkan mai.. ka zai tui lo tlat, tun lai chu.
Election chungchang kha - in Veng-ah Postal Ballot-a thlak chungchang vel sawirik a awm na nge?? Postal Ballot dil theih Hriattirna an chhuah lo em ni? Hmun hla atang pawhin, India ram pawn atang pawhin vote chu, khawi hmunah pawh in register ila, thlak theih tura duan chu a ni ngei si..
@ chhangte_II: hehe kei chu T20 bak hi cricket ka en peih lo. 50 overs pawh ning tawh mah nak a laiin, test leh phei phei chuuuu :D
Juhu te chu a fai tawh lutuk, an en kawl uluk ve viau. Mahse Goa tih vel chu la tluk lo tak a ni. Sap ram leh phei phei chu sawi lo mai ang. Mahse, hei kan dawng tawk ve lek hi a nia, zing dar 5 a va vah nan chuan a tha phian. lolz.
@ Zaia: Hotupa, kei chu ka chhungten (proxy nilovin) Mizoram ah ka AC (Assembly Constituency) min lo register sak tawh a, election lai a Mizoram a awm tur ka nih avangin, chuan voter's list ah pawh khilamah ka chuang tawh.
Mahse last minute ah ka haw leh ta si lova, chuan Mizoram phase a zo va, helamah in register leh ka tum khan a lo theihloh a ni awm e. A kal dan kha a buaithlak lutuk, eng forms emawni neuh neuh fill up a ngai a, ka ti ta lo mai. Hmun hnih ah in register an lo phal lo a ni awm e! A mak lutuk. Tiang lam ka hrethiam ve vak lova, nangman min hrilh fiah theih chuan a lawmawm viau ang.
jaagore.com ah pawh tih ve ka tum ngei a lawm... buaithlak reuh lutuk last minute ah hi chuan. Naktuk tuk leh mai hi a ni tawh helam election chu :-(
I will see you here again once the big hell match is over. When is the match by the way? :P
I am thrilled by your long working hours. I used to work like a machine back in 2007 to 2008 session and never have an intention to work like that anymore. No life, no fun and nothing! I spent my life between my house and my office. So do you!
Juhu beach chu sawi sawi loh tur! Ka en zuai ang ka tia, music kha ka hmu, rilruah Gothic tih kha a rawn lang leh a. Mahse, comment a ngaihnawm e.
Coming to the election part, I'll definitely go for casting my vote. I'm registered here in South Mumbai. I'll go for Milind Deora, though I'm not a great fan of Congress. Meera Sanyal is also a good second choice.
I'm not the PM to say Independents are *spoilers*, but IMHO, I imagined her sitting quietly in one corner of the HOUSE or participating in a debate or discussion or, may be raising a question only to be booed down by the forever young patriots and their faithful back bench followers.
man...this post is longgggg... i hope there is at least a sentence for Arsenal.. :-)
K.S i sawi lai tak hi ka han comment lawks.:) 2003 khan karkhat vel mumbai ah ka rawn kal a. Zan ka leng rei ve thin fu mai. K.S in min lo dawr deuh chawt chawt fo mai nia.:) Kan hmel hian K.S lawm deuh em maw ni le...lolz..Hrahsel hmel hi maw...:)
Tin, kan thlenna hotel-ah French tlangval zurui ninawm lutuk in ka mu hil lai min lo rap lui pek a, a chhip samah tham pahin lukhamah thawchham vek khawpin ka nawr bet a. A foreigner dang a thian ten an chhan...A thiante ka ka challege leh...kan buai ve khawp mai.
Kan room chhunga India mi zawng zawng (south india tlangval 3 leh norht India 2) kan tang khawm a, foreigner ho an tang khawm a. Kan in phek sual lo chauh mai mawle. A tawpah ngaihdam kan indil tlang thei ta hram a ni...!
Mizo inkhawmnaah kan inkhawm a, hmelhriat reng ka nei mumal lo. Kil khatah ka ding ngawi ve ngawih ngawih mai. Ka vui deuh a, An association hotute ka mail a, rin aia nasa in BMA committe-na hialah an lo sawi a, pawi ka ti hnuhnawh khawp mai. Mahse, an hotute nen kan inhmelhriat that phah ta hlauh mai.
ka chhiar laklawh a ka chhiar zo thak! ngaihnawm phian mai.. 9AM-1AM chu rei duh awm mange..
Arsenal leh 'thriani te lane' hi chu i ziak ning theilo chu nih hi lolz
tin,Champions Lik First Leg ah chuan Man U 1 - Arsenal 0 ni ta sak e..hehe
@sandman:So you really love Mumbai? Me, I tend to agree with Russel Peters about the smell of 'excreta' greeting you soon as one opens the plane door. Anyway, my fond memory of Bombay was when me and a friend went to a Boomtown Rats concert at Rang Bhavan way back then, on a college study tour. They weren't too big then but later Bob Geldof made quite a splash with the Live Aid Concerts and his acting in the Pink Floyd's Wall, and me proudly says 'I've seen that guy live in concert'.
Arsenal getting rusty eh? .... Arse-ache :-)
Indian Hatke League...[Kolkata] Tram Riders..lol :D good one....
And i read your Sonargachi post..i went there for the first time [..after i got married :-)].... Tuna ka thohna ka zawm tirh hian Bill/Melinda Gates foundation project an lo ti mek a..for Durbar Mahila....sex worker's union[Kolkata]
just in case anyone's interested..the site is durbar.org
@ Naupang^Fel: Yeah I do, but the one difference is, I love my work :-) So the long hours actually doesn't matter much. Thats why people say you have to have passion for advertising otherwise you're just wasting your time. Because 80% of our life revolves around work.
@ Vaiva: See you in Kolkata airport. hehehe. Ka rawn reply tlai sia, kan sawi hnem thova, rawn reply vaklo mai ang... :-)
@ Rinoma: hehehe... yeah it is a very long post :D
@ Epistemology: hehe Hotupa chu i va lo bawn ve :-) Nia keipawh Hyderabad ka rawn zin chuan KS leh sap insualpui tur ka rawn zawng ve ngei ang. hehehe.
A va pawi ve, chu tianga BMA lam atanga tuman an lo welcome loh che a. Mahse ti hi chuan tunah chuan a ni tawh lo a sin. An fel lutuk kan welcoming committee te chu, u Maruata te, u James a te etc. They will make you feel right at home.
@ Thinchhia: Zanin second leg. Mahse hei chu sawi lawk lo phawts mai ang. lolz.
@ Dr. Feelgood: Yeah it sure feels nice to say, "I've seen that person perform live" or I used to know that person etc when they become famous. It makes us feel special, in a weird way :-) Mumbai, I love it because of the busy hustle and bustle and the fast pace of life. I hate it because of the high cost of living though :-)
@ Blind Dayze: Thanks, and wow at your work. Bill and Melinda truly rocks, unlike so many other philanthropists who do it purely for the publicity. They, along with U2 Bono are high on my list of most admirable people.
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