The spirit of Mumbai

Much has been said and discussed about the flagging spirit of Mumbai.
What in effect is the spirit of Mumbai? After any calamity, natural or forced, the headlines next day talk about the spirit of Mumbai and Mumbaikars. Over a period of time, the aam junta or the common man has realised that this is just a ruse used by the bureaucracy and police to hide their inefficiencies. The feel good factor no longer works now. "Enough is enough". " We are resilient by force, not by choice".

The average Mumbaikar has now gotten used to these ups and downs. He has taken these in his stride and moved on. So much so that he has now developed a  I couldn't care less attitude where he generally turns a blind eye towards petty disturbances in his vicinity and carries on forward.

My last night's incident has given me back my pride in calling my city AAMCHI MUMBAI. Riding my 2 wheeler late yesterday night for a medical emergency, I received a sudden jolt when the chain of my bike gave way. I was stranded in the middle of the road with my bike refusing to budge a centimeter. Somehow I managed to get it near the pavement and was frantically trying to get in touch with some mechanics who could bail me out of this situation. When nothing seemed to work, I decided to get the vehicle towed to my place.
Nearby, a cabbie was patiently watching the drama unfold. He then came up to me with some suggestions. He got some instruments and tried to free the jammed chain. A few other bystanders offered to help. Suddenly there were 5-6 amateurs working on my bike with an aim to get the vehicle mobilized. Lo and behold! They managed to do the needful and my bike got moving. The unimaginable had just happened. Few Mumbaikars had selflessly helped an unknown Mumbaikar in times of distress. I thanked them from the bottom of my heart. While returning back, my mind was in a dilemma. Should I have offered them some money as a token of appreciation or were their efforts so magnanimous that my offering would be too menial and demeaning to their efforts?

Truly, I salute the spirit of Mumbai.

A Healthy Postal Zip

Why is a healthy postal zip code so important?

People staying in overcrowded areas in cities are exposed to air and noise pollutions.


Air Pollution:

Soot and nitrogen oxide from car and truck exhaust are most concentrated few meters off a major road.
Respiratory ailments like asthma and bronchitis commonly afflict inhabitants of these localities.

Noise Pollution:

Horns, booming stereos, dog barks act as stressors and elicit the bodys fight- or- flight response thereby leading to increase heart rate and blood pressure.

And now, recent research has revealed the ill effects on the cardiac system as well.

Living near a busy road causes long-term exposure to air particles from traffic pollution leading to clogging of the arteries, known as atherosclerosis. This predisposes to heart disease.

Thus, the emphasis on a clean and green environment while selecting our dream homes is truly warranted.


"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children."

Nautanki Saala - A superb Nautanki

Nautanki Saala reminds us of that very famous Big B dialogue from Sholay - "Nautanki Saala. Ghadi Ghadi drama karta hain". Directed by Rohan Sippy, son of Ramesh Sippy of Sholay fame.
AB junior does have a cameo here too. That's about it as regards the similarity between the two movies.
This film is all about real life dramatization of the stage characters of the legendary Ram Leela plays.
Ayushmann Khurana, a Drama artist and director, acts a Good Samaritan and saves the life of a good for nothing, Kunal Roy Kapur. Both their lives get entwined hereafter.
The humor is not crass and forced unlike the slapstick comedies these days. The plot and dialogues leave you in splits. The music is terrific with an excellent background score. What else would you expect from a Bhushan Kumar production!
The female leads are new faces. Passable. Performances from the male stars as well as the script are the scene stealers. Khurana seems a very versatile talent and should be hot property very soon.

Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.
- John D. Rockefeller


Also read: http://www.docbaldimeds.blogspot.com/

Jolly LLB - Could have been jolly better

One would expect a comic caper when you see a cast comprising of Boman Irani, Arshad Warsi, Saurabh Shukla et al. Not to be. It's a satire on the judiciary with non filmy court room scenes. The triumph of the downtrodden over the elite - Justice prevails.
The plot doesn't boast of a 'different' story line. It's the run of the mill stuff. The music is practically non existent. The film, however, scores due to its lead performances. Boman and Warsi are first rate. The show stopper is undoubtedly Saurabh Shukla. The finale desperately lacks a punch.
A decent watch if you are in need of a feel good factor.

Ford: Lies, lies and more lies.

Possessing a Ford vehicle is a luxury. I always knew it and have experienced it many times before, but this recent incident has jolted me to the extent that I have to forewarn all prospective buyers of Ford.
The after sales service of Ford has nosedived. The service centre in town, Shaman has stopped servicing Ford probably because Volkswagen is more lucrative. The next best option seemed Wasan Ford. Though it is quite far for town residents, I had no option but to bank on it. Thus starts my journey passing me through lies, lies and more lies.
On phonic enquiry, I was told that I would be provided a pick up and drop of my car. However, since I had to get some check ups done, it would be preferable if I visit the centre, I was told.

Met Mr Imtiyaz Ali, the advisor. Still haven't figured out whether the advice given to me by him was true or not. He very politely declined the possibility of drop of my car after servicing. 1st lie. Reason cited was that I was first time customer. But the actual reason seemed that the cost incurred to me including the service and repairs was not good enough to merit a drop. After much requesting, the drop was agreed upon.

I was taken for a test drive and after a close inspection of my vehicle, given an estimate which I agreed upon. Next day I get a call and am told about further problems and the urgency to get them corrected as well. I had no option but to agree to the repairs. The initial estimate of 6711 straight jumped to 25641.
2 nd lie. My question is: why weren't the other problems pointed out earlier? Also, if I had to be told about them on phone, what was the big advantage of my going there personally to the centre?
Very soon, I got another setback. The part I was told had to be got from Chennai and would take 4 days to procure. I had again no choice. After 2 days when I called to confirm the delivery date, I was told that the car was already ready. In just 2 days. 3 rd lie.
I was promised delivery immediately since the car was ready. But suddenly it seemed the driver was occupied and busy. So it was scheduled for the next day. 4th lie.
Finally the car was delivered. And now comes the icing on the cake. Inspite of my specific instructions, I was not issued a cash receipt. 5th lie.
And last but not the least. When I asked for the receipt, I was promised that it would be scanned to me the same day. It's 11 pm now and the day almost over. I'm still waiting for it. I guess I would have to accept it as the 6 th lie.
Thanks Imtiyaz for all your cooperation.

I haven't said anywhere that I have been cheated but after so many lies and broken promises, have I left anything to the imagination???

Medical Camps - a futile exercise?

A medical camp generally is organized by a charitable institute. Yours truly, was very recently a part of one such camp. 250 patients were registered. A blood sugar, pressure, bone densitometry and body fat analysis examination was done by reputed doctors of the respective faculties. Patients were examined and counselled as regards their complaints.

Rural camp

Broadly, a medical camp may be either rural or urban.

A rural free camp makes plenty of sense since the locals have to travel far and wide to get their ailments diagnosed. So, if we could go to their place, it would be a tremendous boon for them. Poverty adds on to their woes and thus medical care is a luxury for them.
An urban camp on the other hand, seems a little irrational.

Why then is a free camp in the downtown of a city organized at all? Our answer lies in the participants. There are 3 sets of people who form the backbone of any camp.
First, the organizers which could either be the Pharma company or any Charitable institute.
Second. The Doctors attending the camp.
Third and most important. The Patients who are enrolled for the camp.
Everyone has their own vested interests in the camp. The organizers of charitable institute want to show the society that they have done some philanthropic exercise.
The pharma wants to push their products in the markets. Samples of medicines are given free to the patients. However, these drugs are sufficient enough for a week or two most of the time. The patient has to purchase the product after these samples are over especially since most of these are to be continued for prolonged periods.
The doctors don't mind the publicity.
And, the patients are hungry for the free samples and free medical advice that they get.

At the face of it, a medical camp basically consists of the patients and for the patients. But they forget one important fact. NOTHING IS FREE IN THIS WORLD. During the camp, their regular prescription is changed which is ethically incorrect unless there is strong indication for the same. The sugars checked generally are random values which makes it all the more difficult to titrate their drug doses.
Examination of their Blood Pressure, Biochemistry reports and XRays is done hurriedly since there are many patients to cater to. The margin of error thus increases.
Most of these patients fail to follow up predisposing them to side effects of the new drugs.
So, who is the loser in this whole enterprise? The patient obviously and to a certain extent the doctors as well since majority of these patients at the camp won't consult these doctors again.
The pharma is the only one to benefit.

The only way a free medical camp would be successful is if there are new cases of high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoarthritis, cancer or cataract detected. These however would need a regular follow up for their management.

To say the truth, this last one did change my opinion a little as regards medical camps. We detected at least 5-6 new diabetic patients and a few more than that were newly hypertensive. Probably the incidence of these silent killer diseases is way on the rise in the metro cities. But what I haven't yet figured out is how could people be ignorant about their ailments and not recognize its symptoms. I guess that's the reason why they are called SILENT in the first place.

Kai Po Che - A CUT Above The Rest

Kai Po Che: A Gujarati term meaning "I have cut", the movie is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel 'The 3 mistakes of my  life'.


It revolves around 3 friends and their complex relationships with each other. Each of us has a specific goal in life and we keep moving towards it. But we never realize when circumstances get us entwined amongst the complexities that we forget what our goals were. The Bhuj earthquake followed by the Godhra carnage wreak havoc in their lives.
The entire depiction of their bonding and their differences makes it worth going miles for. The climax will surely get you to shed a tear.
The movie does tend to lose grip intermittently but it covers lost ground in the finale. The background score is decent. The lesser known lead actors however steal the show. Sushant Singh is a notch above the rest.
The entire movie experience was enhanced by the truly majestic seating comfort at the Ebony lounge at Metro Big Cinemas. You would want to watch every film in this 180• zone henceforth.

If you have missed Kai Po Che in its first week, make sure you catch up with it this weekend.
Kudos, Abhishek Kapoor.

“Together we shared a bond not even death would violate".