दिल्ली ते पुणे via विमान!

आयुष्यात काही गोष्टी कायम आठवणीत राहतात. काही दिवस, काही आठवणी, काही प्रवास ... मनात घर घर करून जातात. माझ्याही आयुष्यात असे बरेच प्रवास आहेत आणि त्यातला एक - माझा दिल्ली ते पुणे प्रवास.

लहान भावाच लग्न आणि नाशिकला जाण, म्हणजे पुणे आलेच. आता तुम्ही म्हणाल, नाशिकला जायचं मग पुणे का? अहो दिल्ली वरून नाशिकला डायरेक्ट फ्लाईट नाही, दिल्ली ते नाशिक आणि पुढे, पुणे ते नाशिक बसन जाव लागत. बर असू द्या. माझ्या प्रवास बद्दल बोलतो थोड...

आम्ही दिल्ली विमान तळावर गेलो. नेहमी प्रमाणे विमान काही वेळेवर नव्हते. बसलो वाट बघत, कधी एकदाची फ्लाईट announcement होते. आजू बाजूला बरीच मंडळी होती. तेव्हा मला जाणीव झाली कि दिल्ली मध्ये बरेच मराठी लोक राहतात. का जाने, अस वाटल कि सर्व विमान तळ आपल्या मराठी माणसांनी भरलेलं आहे. जिकडे बघाव , मराठी संवाद! थोड्या वेळान announcement झाली - की विमान तैयार आहे. मी ही आपला एकदम खुश झालो. आपली family घेऊन निघालो, विमानात बसायला. बघतो तर काय, एकदम गोंधळ होता सर्वीकडे. बरीच मंडळी एकदम गडबडल्या सारखी वाटत होती. बहुधा हा ह्यांचा पहिलाच विमान प्रवास असावा अशी शंका माझ्या मनात आली. ही शंका नंतर खरी निघाली ही दुसरी गोष्ट!

आम्ही विमानात आलो. क्षणभर सगळा सावळा गोंधळ झाल्यागत वाटल. एकदम धुमाकूळ होता विमानात, एखाद्या  महाराष्ट्र महामंडळाची एस टी बस मध्ये असतो तसा. सामान ठेवण्याची घाई प्रत्येक प्रवाश्याच्या चेहर्यावर  दिसत होती. आता मी सामान ठेवलं नाही तर, मला ते मांडीवर घेऊन बसव लागता कि काय, असा प्रश्नं प्रत्येकाच्या मनात होता बहुधा!

थोड्याच वेळात एक काका तहानलेल वाटले. त्यांनी हवाई सुंदरीला पाणी आणायला सांगितलं. सुंदरी त्यांना म्हणाली "Please press the help button to call me next time." बस!!! ... आजू बाजूच्या प्रवाशांनी हे ऐकल! बघतो तर काय ... निव्वळ १ मिनिटात १५-२० ठिकाणी मी "Help Button" ON बघितलं. हवाई सुंदरीच्या चेहर्यावरचे हावभाव मी इथे व्यक्त करण्यास असमर्थ आहे. ती गोष्ट बघण्यासारखी होती! शेवटी मी तिला बोलताना ऐकल - " The flight is going to take off now, I can't serve you water."

वेळ झाली आणि सगळे प्रवासी जसे तसे सेटल झाले. मला हि थोड बर वाटल ... पण माझ्या मनात चुकूनही शंकेची पाल चूक-चुकली नाही, कि खरा प्रवास तर आता सुरु झाला होता! आमच्या पुढच्या रांगेत एक पुणेरी family बसली होती. आता मी कस ओळखल? Accent हो ! एकदम टिपिकल पुणेरी. एक छोटा मुलगा - १०-१२ वर्ष्यांचा आणि त्याचे आई वडील. कार्ट सारख गडबड करीत होत. काय त्रास होता त्याला, देव जाने. उजव्या बाजूला एक आजी - आजोबा होते. सीटचा बेल्ट कसा लावायचा, ह्यावर त्यांचा experiment सुरु होता. क्षणभर वाटल, त्यांची मदत करावी ... पण माझ्या आयुष्यात मी जेव्हा जेव्हा कोणाची मदत करायचा प्रयत्न केला, तेव्हा तेव्हा वाईट अनुभव आलेत, म्हणून मी गप्प बसलो. त्या आजीनी बिचार्या आजोबाला कमीत कमी ५ वेळा विचारलं. तुमचा मोबाईल कुठे आहे. आमच्याकडे बायकांना कुठलीही  गोष्ट १० वेळा विचारण्याची 'चांगली' सवय आहे. हि सवय पुरुषांना फारच त्रासदायक आहे, हे पण तेवढंच खर आहे.

विमान आकाश्यात स्थिर झालं. हवाई सुंदरी आपकी trolly घेऊन आली. आज काल 'स्वस्त' विमान सेवेचे दिवस आहेत. प्रत्येक वस्तू  घेण्या करता पैसे मोजावे लागतात. पण बिचार्या प्रवाश्यांना त्याची कलपना नसावी. ३-४ लोकांनी मजेत order दिल्यात. पण जेव्हा जेव्हा सुंदरीने त्यांना त्याची किंमत सांगितली, तेव्हा त्या orders cancel झाल्यात! पुढील सीटवरच कार्ट आता अस्वथ झाल होत. मी sandwich order केली आणि मी order केल्या पासून हे कार्ट माझ्या तोंडाकडे बघत होत. त्याला काही राहावल गेल नाही. ते त्याच्या बापाच्या मागे लागल "पप्पा, मला पण पाहिजे." त्याचा बाप बिचारा ... काही पर्याय नव्हता त्याला. ह्या अगोदर त्याने आपल्या कार्ट्याला १० वेळा सांगितलं होत, "हे जेवण चांगल नाही. आपली दशमी खा." पण पोरा समोर त्याला गुढगे टेकावे लागले.

सगळ्यात मजेदार गोष्ट - "गेट वेल सून" आणि "यूज मी"! आता तुम्ही म्हणाल काय हे? प्रवास आला म्हणजे आपल्याला इथे तीथे घान करण्याची चांगली सवय. कुठलाही प्रवास असो. माझ्या विमान प्रवासताही मी हे अनुभवल.

बरेच प्रवासी आप-आपल्या 'दशम्या', 'पोहे', 'पूरी आणि बटाट्याची भाजी' यांचा आस्वाद घेत होते. आता एवढ्या सर्व खाण्याच्या वस्तु आल्या म्हणजे बरोबरीला घान ही आलीच. एक कुटुंब आपली न्याहारी मजेत करीत होत. सर्व जेवणाचा पुरेपुर आस्वाद घेतले नंतर झालेली घान कुठे टाकायची हां प्रश्न त्यांच्या चेहर्यावर मी बघितला. दिसतो की हो ठोबाडावर, इलाज नाही, ठोबाड नेहमीच बोम्ब मारत. मी त्यांच्याकड़े कुतुहलाने बघत होतो. तेवढ्यात त्या कुटुंब प्रमुखाची नजर समोर ठेवलेल्या कागदी पिशवी कड़े गेली! अत्ता त्या पीशविवर "यूज मी" अस मोठ्या अक्षरात लिहिलेल होत. पण साहेबानी बहुधा ते वाचाल नाही, किव वाचून ही न वाचाल्यागत कल - जे ही खरो असो, पिशवी उचलली आणि फ्यामिलिने केलेली घान तय पिशवीत तकली. इथ पर्यंत "आल इज वेल." या पुढे ऐकाल तर .... जेव्हा हवाई सुंदरी दुसर्या राउंड ला आली, प्रवाश्यांचे उरले सुरले उरकायला, ह्या साहेबांनी ती पिशवी तीच्या पुढे केली! सुन्दरिचा चेहरा पहान्यसारखा होता. तीच्या उभ्या आयुष्यात तीने अस काही अनुभवले नसावे याची मला खात्री झाली! "गेट वेल सून" पीशवित कचरा टाकने हे आपलीच माणस करू शकतात याची मलाही खात्री झाली.

हे सगळ होत असताना, आजू बाजूला एकदम गोंधळ झाल्याची मला चाहूल लागली. बघतो तर काय, ४-५ गृहस्थ विमानाच्या मागच्या बाजूला गप्पा हाणीत होते. आणि नंतर ही मंडळी यत्र-तत्र-सर्वत्र फिरताना मला  दिसली. मला वाटले - जणू ह्या विमानात बसलेले सर्व प्रवाशी एकमेकास ओळखतात आणि आम्हीच आपले अनोळखी! मस्त गप्पा टप्पा आणि मजा चालू होती. एस टी महामंडळाची मला फार फार आठवण येत होती.

पण हे सर्व सुरु असताना दिल्ली ते पुणे प्रवासाचे २ तास कधी संपले याची जाणीव मला झालीच नाही!

Not a bag of Golf Clubs ...

ADIL IS A NORMAL TEENAGER, except that he’ll never walk. His legs are withered, so weak that he has to crawl on hands and knees. He is one of hundreds of children born malformed or brain-damaged in families living near the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. The factory has been a place of horror ever since that cold night in December 1984 when it poured a huge cloud of poison over the sleeping city, killing thousands in the most hideous and disgusting ways.

On that night, as it is still known in Bhopal, Adil was not yet born, but his family lived 200 yards from Union Carbide. His mother thought it miraculous that she had survived. I am so lucky, she’d say, little knowing that a new terror was already on the way. Unbeknownst to the local people, their drinking wells were being poisoned by chemicals leaking from the factory. First the water began to smell foul. Held up to the light it appeared full of oily globules which, if left to settle, formed a tawny layer at the bottom. It tasted horrible, for the goo was actually a cocktail of lethal poisons, but at the time, no one knew this.

A private Union Carbide memo [right] never meant for your eyes, records that in 1989 Carbide discovered that soil and water in its factory were badly poisoned by naphthol and other chemicals whose effects included skin and eye damage, cataracts, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, liver & kidney damage, convulsions, brain damage, anaemia, birth defects and cancers.

Despite the clear danger to people living near the factory, Union Carbide issued no warning. Many were already seriously ill from its poison gas leak. Carbide watched in silence as they were poisoned a second time. In 1994, Adil’s mother was twenty. Lucky girl, she was married. Many women exposed to the gases had serious menstrual problems and couldn’t have children. Soon she was pregnant with Adil. By now Carbide’s silence had lasted five years. When environmentalists expressed fear about the soaring rates of cancer, birthdefects and early deaths in communities near the plant, the company denounced them as mischief-makers.

During Carbide’s years of silence, hundreds of children were born with terrible injuries. If you are willing to risk being seriously upset, you can search for some of the pics on internet.

In 1999 Greenpeace tested soil and water in 14 neighborhoods near the factory. In places they found mercury levels 6,000,000 times higher than normal and more than 30 chemicals in the water, many known to cause birth defects and cancers. A 2001 study found lead, mercury and the factory’s poisonous signature in the breast milk of new mothers. Other studies found that 95% of women in some communities were anemic.

For Adil this knowledge came many years too late. Union Carbide’s final gift to the Bhopalis was to leave the city without bothering to clean its factory. Twenty-four years after the gas disaster, chemicals spill from rotting sacks and drums. Each monsoon washes them deeper into the subsoil. People still have to drink poisoned water. Damaged children are still being born. Union Carbide disclaims all responsibility for the state of the factory and its legal owner Dow Chemical says it is not its responsibility.

If this makes you angry, reserve some of your ire for India’s politicians, from whom comes no help. They have done nothing to clean the factory or provide clean water.

The families of Adil and other children have had not a penny in compensation or aid to help them.

Children like Adil have been ignored and betrayed by every authority who had a duty of care. They have no one left but us and we must not let them down. Spread the word, this is the simplest way of letting people know the true story of Bhopal. A story which has not been told for 26 years.

I am not a warrior on a war path but being a human and a citizen of India, it's my duty to let people know the truth around us. 

P.S. : The above story of Adil is a true one & I came across it while reading an article on the tragedy.

कोई भी देश perfect नहीं होता ... पर कोई भी देश इतना भी imperfect नहीं होता!

Its been 26 years since that night of December 3, 1984, when thousands lost their lives. Its so wonderful that we have woken up so soon. Just 26 years late! Hold on ... have we really woken up or we are just trying to show? Question remains unanswered to me.


Instead of showing their support to the victims and standing for their cause, all political parties are heavily into mudslinging (nothing new really) these days. After all, who doesn't want to wash thier hands in 'बहती गंगा '? Indian political leaders are quite good at that for sure. So these days, everytime I turn on the news channel, I see some breaking news related to the tragedy. Sad that these breaking news are 'happening' after 26 years. All these years we were sleeping.


On the other hand, why blame a particular country in being biased with the compensation? Were we sleeping when the same was annouced then? What was the Government (whatever it is) doing with the claims stated? Where were THEY?




Justice for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Victims



I just hope and I mean it ... hope that ordinary Indians do not forget this, do not forget that they have been always exploited by these a** politicians, who can sell their motherland for personal gains.


Its time Indians come forward and not just with mediums like social networking ... but by being part of the political system. I know its not simple but I know that it's not impossible as well. I would be happy to see some of you reading this article (I know only 5 odd people read my blog regulary - I am not ashamed, am happy that there are 5!) standing up and someday filing their nominations for that ward election of the Muncipal Corporation in your city or the assembly election. Who knows, India has its feature leader reading this article - YOU!

The Maicon Goal @ FIFA 2010

मैंने कोई देश को सुधारने का ठेका नहीं ले रखा है ...

I am facing it again! This time its for my son.


Well, I am talking about the Great Indian Passport Tamasha! Its been there and people of this country have contributed a lot in building this Tamasha. I am not blaming anyone here cause I am literally BLAMING everyone who paid bribe to get his/her passport. You have ruined this country so badly that now a 18 months old child can't get a passport but a terrorist can easily get one!


I had applied for my son's passport 2 months back @ the Delhi Regional Passport office. And to be frank, I never expected it to be a smooth ride. I had a prior experience with this #$%&ing thing. I don't believe any Government agency/department. They are all the same - CORRUPT!


It becomes quite interesting when the Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) website says. "In the cases where the minor children who are less than 18 years of age, the details of valid passports held by BOTH OR EITHER parents should be furnished. In such cases, passport to their minor child will be issued without any police verification basis."


Oh yes, you can read the above statement at this MEA site link -> http://passport.gov.in/cpv/checklist.htm


So as per the rules of the Government or this particular ministry, a minor SHOULD be issued an Indian Passport, WITHOUT Police Verification, if his parents (either or both) have valid Indian passport. But people of India, don't be surprised if your child's passport application gets rejected saying. "Incomplete Police Verification!"

Now what does this "Incomplete Police Verification" means? I guess all of Indians who have applied for passport till date know this. This means, You need to pay for the "Mithai" to the police hawaldar who visits your home for so called verification. Simple isn't it? So the rates are fixed, it's Ruppes 500 per passport.


When this a** police hawaldar visited my home for my child's verification, I was not surprised at - him now knowing or trying to TELL me - that "A MINOR doesn't need any verificaiton if his parents have valid Indian Passport." So I furnished all the documents, in original and in duplicate to him. Oh Yes, he also saw my son in the house! When I asked if anymore documents are required, I was told NO. He did his so called job and then left. While leaving my home, I did see his eyes looking for that "Mithai" from me. He did really look like a true B******! The roots I have and the way I was brought up by my parents, I would be the last one who will give "Mithai" to any person for doing HIS job.


And here I am today, writing this post ... Now what next? Well I will have to reach out for RTI (Right to Information) and then will have to write to the Ministry of External Affairs. I am not kind of person who will stop at getting justice. I can spend more money in taxi bills for going to the passport office again and again but when it comes to offering 500 Rupees as "Mithai", don't count me in. Many of us think that its a better deal to get it done 'cheaper' by just paying for "Mithai" and thats where the problem lies.


People have made this country like this. I just wonder, who the #@#$ was the FIRST MAN/WOMAN in India who offered "Mithai" to get his/her work done from any of the Government office.


So while you enjoy reading this, I am preparing for my battle and next moves. I will not go down without a fight. For those who believe in "Fighting for Justice", some of the links associated with MEA are given below.


http://passport.gov.in/
http://passport.gov.in/cpv/checklist.htm
http://passport.gov.in/delhi.html#complaints


Wish me all the best! I will get back to you on further updates as my fight continues ... मैंने कोई देश को सुधारने का ठेका नहीं ले रखा है ... पर मैं अन्याय के खिलाफ हमेशा लडूंगा!  I will not try to wake up anyone - You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep!


"You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else, in fact you have to be there all the time and see that they do not snow you under, if you are really going to get your reform realized." -- Emmeline Pankhurst

FIFA 2010 Live Streaming

Here’s AnandDholi.com's ultimate guide to how you can keep track of all things World Cup 2010 on the Web and/or through mobile applications. 

FOOTBALL VIDEOS SITES

FootyTube.com

Videosoccer.net

Mysoccerplace.net

Oleole.com

Givemefootball.com

Soccerclips.net

video.football.co.uk

Goalsarena.com

Footy-boots.com

Goalvideoz.com

Mightyfootball.com

Footballclips.net

101greatgoals.com

Football-spot.com

Footballtube.com

Timesoccer.com

Footballwired.com

Goaljunky.com

Thefootballtube.com

Footballvids.org.

I hear some of those, as well as Roja Directa and Iraq Goals, will be live-broadcasting some of the games, but Baba didn’t tell you that ;)

Enjoy the game!!!

Official song of FIFA 2010

FIFA 2010 Calendar

If you are looking for the FIFA World Cup 2010 calendar, you're at the right place. 

Check out an awesome calendar at Marca.com. Click here to see this cool calendar. You can see the match schedule by National Team, by Stadium, by Day and by Groups and Stages! Now this is what I call a real cool calendar!

Click here to see the calendar!

If you want to print the FIFA 2010 calendar, you should click here!

Enjoy the best game in the world and hope the team you're supporting wins it on 11th July!

World Environment Day 2010!

My message to all human beings on World Environment Day - "Don't Screw!"

This is my creation and a small effort which will surely go unnoticed!

Anu's new advertisement

Sharing Anurita's new advertisement video with you all. Its quite cool!

Break

Its been a while I have been away from my blog. I have my excuse for it though ;) Its funny how we humans find an excuse to almost everything. We can say that every excuse that has to be invented, has already been
invented.

I have been busy with some personal as well as professional stuff lately and its been keeping me away from nonsense writing here :) The weather in Gurgaon is not good for writing as well (what an excuse!).
You all must be tired of the word 'Global warming' but mind it, its @*#&ing hot in this part of the world. As per science, our body can stand a temprature upto 52 degree celcius, so it means we are about
3-4 degrees away from extinction!

Monsoon is soon going to hit India and it will also help me concentrate on my blog ;) May be this time around I will be publishing soom pics of Monsoon in India. By the way I am using my mobile to post @ my blog and I guess its quite cool. I dont have to get out of bed, go to my desk, open my superfast laptop - which takes @*#!ing 15-20 minutes just to start working! So I might use my mobile more often for posting. This way my
mobile will also be happy as I can see that it is tired of posting @ Facebook already!

Be good, Do well and Keep coming back here. There are a very few idiots left on planet earth who keep on Speaking Their Minds!