Setu's Blog

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about my desire to do my bit for this country, and this world, to make it a better place. Considering how huge and important the impending elections in the world's largest democracy, and my dear nation, India, are, it is befitting that I express my views about the state of it. I'm not a member of any political party (not that I know of, at least). And I have strong reasons to admire and hate every party. Seriously. I have enough reasons on both side that it comes down to a very illogical, but personal choice for who I'll end up voting for, during the " biggest festival of democracy ". Festivals, from what I understand about the meaning of the word, are about celebration and for spreading joy and happiness. And since the day the longest elections in the history of India were announced (and much before) I doubt anyone has seen anything but. Not a single cheerful, hopeful emotion has been demonstrated by any candidate from any...

It was 6:17 p.m. on the 11th of November, and I had just woken up. The tickets for Sachin Tendulkar's last test match in Wankhede had gone on sale at 11a.m. that morning. I had been trying to get to the tickets page and buy them on the KyaZoonga website until 3:30 that afternoon, but the website kept crashing and the page failed to open. I was diagnosed with dengue 4 days ago. I was recuperating well until the morning of the 11th. That's when the high fever returned. Regardless of my condition, I sat in front of my desk during all my wake hours. And thus, at 3:30 I had to stop my efforts to get the tickets and sleep. I needed rest. But I wanted those tickets. When I woke up, I had lost all hope to be able to get those tickets. I figured they'd have all been sold out, I was late. I made my way to my desk where the browser window had the KyaZoonga Twitter tab opened. I read their reply to someone saying the tickets were still available. And so, the mad frenzy, the sc...

Disclaimer: This post doesn't have much to do with the Bollywood movie Bombay Talkies (except the few references cited), and is neither a review. It's a much broader take at the lack of acceptance of Bollywood movies and their preachings in the lifestyle of India. I don't watch many Bollywood movies, and that's for a simple reason. They are simply not good enough for me to want to waste my time on them. They are boring, pointless, excruciatingly painful to sit through (I was forced to watch Ready, twice , during my Mumbai-Pune bus journeys, so I know). Most of them are the same lovey-dovey romantic flicks, or action movies inspired from Rajnikanth, or just some dumb story with a big banner actor. In the last couple of years, I've come to enjoy movies that have a good story, or that teach me something or the other. And as I kept exploring more Hollywood classics, I realized, no Indian movie comes even close to how the movie is made, what it portrays, or how it ...

As those who regularly read my blogposts would know, I don't hesitate to express my displeasure over my experiences with corporate firms. It's simple, they sucked, and they have to face my written wrath. In the recent past, I've been subjected to more frequent and more disgusted forms of torture from such companies, which made me ask myself, am I not the customer? And, isn't the customer the king? It's with utmost sadness that I inform you that through my experiences, I have been enlightened enough to inform you that a customer, a consumer, was the king. He isn't anymore. (And no, the customer isn't the queen anymore. Stop trolling.) It's one of the saddest realizations for someone who has always believed that companies actually care about their customers. I am also the one who pretended to smug when everytime I was told, 'Make a company so big, that you have call centers answer for you.' For good or bad, now, that's a thing of the pas...

(Author's note: You may skip to the conclusion if you don't want to read the torture I went through while submitting my passport renewal application at the PSK. Seriously. I wouldn't mind. I needed to vent it out, and thus this. Although, if you read it, you'd know my plight and know what to expect if you happen to go sometime soon.) Day: Friday, 12th October, 2012. Task: Go to the Passport Seva Kendra (henceforth, PSK) Malad, and complete the submission of the application and documents for the renewal of passport. And this, was an experience of a lifetime. An experience I will tell my grand-children about how things were in the India I lived in. Yes, I surely will. Before them, it's time for you to read about it. Let's rollback a little... When dad realized that my passport was going to expire soon, he asked me to get done with the renewal of the same as soon as possible. I realized that it should be a pretty easy job, since all I remembered of the ...

I know that's too many 'M's in the title, but, all of them stand out very beautifully and separately from the others. Each, a marvel in its own way. And what amuses me is how the 3 of these combine together to create a wonderful aura! Mumbai. The financial capital of India, among others, and the city I have been born and brought up in. The city that I love so much and the city which never fails to amuse me. It's one of the world's biggest metropolitans. And reasons it's famous are many. Though, from all of these, one of which stands apart from the rest is its Monsoon and rains... Mumbai's monsoon! Often suggested, the best time to be in Mumbai is during its monsoon. The whole demographic and life of Mumbai is in a different place then... Leaves most speechless. Even me. The first monsoon showers for Mumbai happened the evening before last. And I had the chance to witness the marvel in itself. The first rains of Mumbai!! Here's to that amazing one...

Well... This isn't your usual look-back to the year that you usually read in the newspaper columns... This one's different, pretty different, because here, I want to emphasize on those 12 events of the year, which left an effect on me. Drastic one too, probably. Those events from which I learned, from which I changed, from which, the world learned, from which, the world changed. On to it then... January, 2010 Haiti, 2010 It was a usual evening in Haiti, and one of the worst earthquakes of human history hit this small nation of the Caribbean Islands. Most of us out here in India, don't even know where it is (confession: even I didn't till it began making the headlines)... Probably not a big thing. Probably just your usual earthquake which Indonesia and Japan face every once in a while. But for me, this has one specific importance. The whole of America came together to support this neighbour of theirs. In a world where people of neighbouring coun...

Power. That's a big word when you say it to anyone in India. When you say that, you simply mean, you've got enough connections, enough known people, enough people who would be there to save you, if you fell in any sort of trouble. And the people who can say they are 'powerful' are barely few in India. Courtesy: The ineffective and delayed results from Indian Judicial system, the corrupt Bureaucrats and the extra-irresponsible politicians elected by us to the legislature. And everyone who isn't either of these, sure has a lust for power. To secure himself, to stay away from any sort of problems, issues, hassles. Frankly, I am of those very few in this country called India who would still not give up their values while fighting for what is right against someone who is powerful. I wouldn't. And I did prove my point, my stand, sometime back when I got into a tiff with someone who had the power to not only spoil my entire academic year but which would also mean m...