Come winter and the mosquito population starts rising. Though they breed in water our houses and plants are their dwellings. There are mosquitoes as tiny as small black ants. Some mosquitoes breed on the plants. They make a cocoon out of leaves. It will look like lumps on the leaves. Once as I broke it open mosquitoes came out. Night is day and day is night for them. Mosquitoes may be blind as bats. I haven’t seen them get through a gap wide enough for them to enter.
They barge in by sunset and starts attacking. Their weapons are tubular needles attach to their heads. The virus applied needles are powerful to kill humans. These blood thirsty creatures will not let you keep quiet. They prick with the needles constantly and threaten in the ears, hmm, hmm, give us blood, or else we will not let you sleep. I say I will not give you a drop of blood; I am ready to fight. Swat and kill; it is the only way to get rid of them. Big mosquitoes are easy to swat. Small ones sting too much and are not visible. They make me do hip-hop. I get a rash all over when they bite. the needles can pierce through even thick clothes. I swat all mosquitoes that come closer to me with a cloth to avoid my hands get dirty and will not miss the target. I don’t want to become PETA’s pet. They might say trap the mosquitoes gently in a mosquito-trap and leave them outside. Mosquitoes like tea. When I make tea in the evening they will be ready in the kitchen hovering around the utensils. I bribe them with tea but they don’t seem pleased; will not leave me without getting a drop of blood.
A few years ago a man came with a device at the door and tried to convince me how effective the device is at the best of his communication skill. He had brought it a bag full to sell like kanta batata. I asked him how it works; he told me just plug it in and turn on the switch; mosquitoes will run away. I was impressed and bought two pieces in stead of one at a bargain. I bought it because I was desperately seeking a repellent. I plugged the device in seeking an auspicious time in the evening and waited for the result. As he said mosquitoes run away from the device but came towards me with a vengeance to sting more than before. I stopped using the device after two days. My money went into the pocket and he made me a fool. But I didn’t worry about the money I lost, instead I felt pity because these sales girls and boys have to roam around the entire city whether it rain or shine and climb up and down the stairs to earn a livelihood. It is a tiresome job and all they get is frustration. Residents will slam the door at their face.
All companies that making mosquito-repellent boast of the efficiency of their products. No repellent seems effective. Mosquitoes get immune to them in two days. Good knight doesn’t say good night; All-out doesn’t get them all out. Coil smoke will fill in the room and go into our lungs and irritate the throat. These power and money wasting devices are not only useless but also could kill us slowly due to inhaling the fume. Fumigation can kill other harmless creatures also it is harmful to us. Burn coils; burn everything; burn down your house if you want. Nothing will happen to mosquitoes. If you want to sleep well use net, or toss and turn all the night.
PS: Obama angers Peta: US President Barack Obama has apparently left People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) unhappy by killing a fly during a television interview, for the animal rights organization is now sending him a device that allows users to trap a house-fly and then release it outside—it is a stale news from TOI.
Isn’t it ridiculous? If we can’t kill a fly how can we live on this earth? And what is use of protecting a fly? It will go straight into other creature’s mouth. What they think about the animals which become prey to other animals? Why don’t they protect them?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Heaven That Turned Into Hell
A year ago this day-26/11/08 was a dark day for Mumbai. It was actually the darkest day by lunar date—the day before Amaavasya. Mumbai had to go through an ordeal. Mumbaikars were daydreaming till then. Suddenly they woke up from deep slumber and sweet dreams to see the unexpected and untoward incidents.
26/11 terrorist attack was an external problem and ended in a day. What about the increasing crimes that can never bring under control? When I say this it doesn’t mean I am not sympathetic towards those were killed in the attack. I watched the horror on TV until it brought under control. I pray to god for innocent people who lost their lives—may their soul rest in peace. 26/11 is a bad day for me too. Every year either I take ill or something would happen to me on that day. Last year I was alone at home that night. This year I got up in the morning feeling unwell.
Mumbai became a crime city. Murder, suicides, burglary, mugging, chain-snatching are on the rise. MNS attack is worse than those of terrorists. MNS Raj ko raj karne ko dil taras raha hai. Knowing that getting power is a pipe dream he throws tantrums and goes berserk. Vehicle accidents are a daily horrible sight. Mumbai’s roads take at least one life everyday. Does every citizen need a vehicle? Do they buy cars for their own convenience or is it just for luxury? When cars go empty with only one person it is only to block the roads and add more to pollution. People should use public transport instead. Bikers are prone to accidents. These adventurous youngsters not only put their life at risk but also of others. Accident prone people should avoid driving. The irony is that usually accident prone people take such risks. Others will not be adventurous. Two-three decades ago one or two accidents had occurred; even it was a shock to hear. And the jam-packed local trains—when some travel inside others travel outside. It is a Herculean task to get into it and get off.
And the clustering-slums are an ugly sight and their living condition is pathetic. People migrate to this city with the hope of finding a better job. But where is the job? They don’t get either a job or permanent accommodation. They are forced to live in slums. If they can’t find any work robbery becomes their profession. Those who cannot find a job better to go back to their native places rather than making the city more crowded. This problem can be solved if other states also provide job facilities. All these problems are not enough to diminish the enthusiasm of people living here. Their minds get seasoned seeing day to day problems. When something happens only to a few people others may don't feel the loss because there is still a large crowd. After all human beings are self-centered by nature. God forbid, anything didn’t happen to my near and dear ones till now. Touch wood!
When I migrate to Mumbai (then Bombay) in 70s it was really a heaven. I was surprised to see the freedom people enjoy in this crowded illuminated city, especially women who were travelling at midnight without fear. You cannot have the freedom in remote villages. No one will dare to go out after nightfall because villages are not illuminated or crowded. Extravagance of electricity in the city makes one travel 24 hours.
I narrate this story of a man who had come to Bombay from our village in 60s when the city was not so crowded. Seeing the crowd he developed a serious mental problem and had to send him back to his village—must be Xenophobia. I don’t know what happened to him later.
Since people were nice the crowd didn’t scare me. There was nothing to fear except some pickpockets. Now one’s own house is not safe. There was a time I would leave the front door open. Now I don’t even open the door for strangers. I get more and more paranoiac as the crimes increase in the city.
Yai, dil mushkil jeena yahaan, jara hatke, jara bachke yai hai Bombay meri jaan……This film song when composed it was not much meaningful then. Now I find it more meaningful. Heaven turned into a hell now. The name changed from Bombay to Mumbai must be the reason. Name starting with ‘M’ usually has a fate or criminal tendency. I wish that Bombay of 70s had come back. The serial ‘Tere Mere Sapne' that started recently is a story not only of one Sarju also of all slum-dwellers. Something should be done for the increasing population, traffic and clustering slums.
26/11 terrorist attack was an external problem and ended in a day. What about the increasing crimes that can never bring under control? When I say this it doesn’t mean I am not sympathetic towards those were killed in the attack. I watched the horror on TV until it brought under control. I pray to god for innocent people who lost their lives—may their soul rest in peace. 26/11 is a bad day for me too. Every year either I take ill or something would happen to me on that day. Last year I was alone at home that night. This year I got up in the morning feeling unwell.
Mumbai became a crime city. Murder, suicides, burglary, mugging, chain-snatching are on the rise. MNS attack is worse than those of terrorists. MNS Raj ko raj karne ko dil taras raha hai. Knowing that getting power is a pipe dream he throws tantrums and goes berserk. Vehicle accidents are a daily horrible sight. Mumbai’s roads take at least one life everyday. Does every citizen need a vehicle? Do they buy cars for their own convenience or is it just for luxury? When cars go empty with only one person it is only to block the roads and add more to pollution. People should use public transport instead. Bikers are prone to accidents. These adventurous youngsters not only put their life at risk but also of others. Accident prone people should avoid driving. The irony is that usually accident prone people take such risks. Others will not be adventurous. Two-three decades ago one or two accidents had occurred; even it was a shock to hear. And the jam-packed local trains—when some travel inside others travel outside. It is a Herculean task to get into it and get off.
And the clustering-slums are an ugly sight and their living condition is pathetic. People migrate to this city with the hope of finding a better job. But where is the job? They don’t get either a job or permanent accommodation. They are forced to live in slums. If they can’t find any work robbery becomes their profession. Those who cannot find a job better to go back to their native places rather than making the city more crowded. This problem can be solved if other states also provide job facilities. All these problems are not enough to diminish the enthusiasm of people living here. Their minds get seasoned seeing day to day problems. When something happens only to a few people others may don't feel the loss because there is still a large crowd. After all human beings are self-centered by nature. God forbid, anything didn’t happen to my near and dear ones till now. Touch wood!
When I migrate to Mumbai (then Bombay) in 70s it was really a heaven. I was surprised to see the freedom people enjoy in this crowded illuminated city, especially women who were travelling at midnight without fear. You cannot have the freedom in remote villages. No one will dare to go out after nightfall because villages are not illuminated or crowded. Extravagance of electricity in the city makes one travel 24 hours.
I narrate this story of a man who had come to Bombay from our village in 60s when the city was not so crowded. Seeing the crowd he developed a serious mental problem and had to send him back to his village—must be Xenophobia. I don’t know what happened to him later.
Since people were nice the crowd didn’t scare me. There was nothing to fear except some pickpockets. Now one’s own house is not safe. There was a time I would leave the front door open. Now I don’t even open the door for strangers. I get more and more paranoiac as the crimes increase in the city.
Yai, dil mushkil jeena yahaan, jara hatke, jara bachke yai hai Bombay meri jaan……This film song when composed it was not much meaningful then. Now I find it more meaningful. Heaven turned into a hell now. The name changed from Bombay to Mumbai must be the reason. Name starting with ‘M’ usually has a fate or criminal tendency. I wish that Bombay of 70s had come back. The serial ‘Tere Mere Sapne' that started recently is a story not only of one Sarju also of all slum-dwellers. Something should be done for the increasing population, traffic and clustering slums.
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Day for Loo
On World Toilet Day, show solidarity with those who don’t have sanitation facilities by squatting on Girgaum Chowpatty
Go to Girguam Chowpatty Thursday evening and you will be greeted with a sight you see on Mumbai’s railway tracks every day—several people squatting in a row! Relax, the event is not going to be about pooping in the open though, it is an awareness drive for World Toilet Day, November 19—a Mumbai mirror report.
We, human beings have made a day for everything and have been celebrating it every year. We celebrate birthday, Independence Day, teacher’s day, mother’s day, and father’s day, etc. There is a day for loo too—sounds funny. November 19 Thursday was the World Toilet Day. Thinking about it may be disgusting but it is a serious issue, especially in this crowded city. We have such problems because we happened to be not just human beings, being civilized modern ones. Animals don’t have loos in the forests. How they manage? Their excreta don’t pile up. It will mix with the soil and nourish the same and the colour of it camouflage with the soil. They have freedom to squat anywhere on the earth. And they don’t have to clean up loos and the choking drains.
Imagine the plight of labourers who clean up the drains for us. They are also human beings doing such dirty jobs. Don’t they feel it disgusting? I feel pity for them. Seeing slum-dwellers squatting near the railway tracks is not so disgusting what is more disgusting is overflowing drains. My stomach gets upset seeing the labourers cleaning up the choking drains. Then they have to clean up more.
There were no permanent toilets in the villages. Now villages also are developing. So they started building toilets with septic tanks. But the septic tank will overflow if too much water is used to flush out. Loo in our village was a pit in our own plot laid with two logs on top to sit and screened with palm leaves and that too will be made only for large houses. Poor peasants had open air loos in their plots. The condition of the loo was unbearable, especially in the rainy season. That’s why I have been thinking for years to build a hygienic loo but without flowing drain. I am not succeded in making one yet. It still remains a pipe dream. Does anybody have idea to make a loo in that way? People will like to become architects and interior decorators but how many people will want to become toilet designers? It will be a chee, chee thing for most of them. But it is a matter of health and hygiene.
Public loos are a better place for graffiti writers. Such filthy inspiration may come to the mind while sitting quiet in a filthy room. They know people will read them more than the blogs. Long queues for loos can be seen in this city. I have read somewhere about the mobile loos that run in this city. Will they wait to finish? We don’t give much importance to the smallest 3x3 room in our flats. But we cannot live without it. Even repair work of that room is a nightmare because we cannot stop answering the call of Nature. There is no better solution for sanitary problems.
Go to Girguam Chowpatty Thursday evening and you will be greeted with a sight you see on Mumbai’s railway tracks every day—several people squatting in a row! Relax, the event is not going to be about pooping in the open though, it is an awareness drive for World Toilet Day, November 19—a Mumbai mirror report.
We, human beings have made a day for everything and have been celebrating it every year. We celebrate birthday, Independence Day, teacher’s day, mother’s day, and father’s day, etc. There is a day for loo too—sounds funny. November 19 Thursday was the World Toilet Day. Thinking about it may be disgusting but it is a serious issue, especially in this crowded city. We have such problems because we happened to be not just human beings, being civilized modern ones. Animals don’t have loos in the forests. How they manage? Their excreta don’t pile up. It will mix with the soil and nourish the same and the colour of it camouflage with the soil. They have freedom to squat anywhere on the earth. And they don’t have to clean up loos and the choking drains.
Imagine the plight of labourers who clean up the drains for us. They are also human beings doing such dirty jobs. Don’t they feel it disgusting? I feel pity for them. Seeing slum-dwellers squatting near the railway tracks is not so disgusting what is more disgusting is overflowing drains. My stomach gets upset seeing the labourers cleaning up the choking drains. Then they have to clean up more.
There were no permanent toilets in the villages. Now villages also are developing. So they started building toilets with septic tanks. But the septic tank will overflow if too much water is used to flush out. Loo in our village was a pit in our own plot laid with two logs on top to sit and screened with palm leaves and that too will be made only for large houses. Poor peasants had open air loos in their plots. The condition of the loo was unbearable, especially in the rainy season. That’s why I have been thinking for years to build a hygienic loo but without flowing drain. I am not succeded in making one yet. It still remains a pipe dream. Does anybody have idea to make a loo in that way? People will like to become architects and interior decorators but how many people will want to become toilet designers? It will be a chee, chee thing for most of them. But it is a matter of health and hygiene.
Public loos are a better place for graffiti writers. Such filthy inspiration may come to the mind while sitting quiet in a filthy room. They know people will read them more than the blogs. Long queues for loos can be seen in this city. I have read somewhere about the mobile loos that run in this city. Will they wait to finish? We don’t give much importance to the smallest 3x3 room in our flats. But we cannot live without it. Even repair work of that room is a nightmare because we cannot stop answering the call of Nature. There is no better solution for sanitary problems.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Staring Menace
People stare at me too much, not to speak of the villagers. I don’t know the reason. When I walk through the lanes in my village, some people would stand aside and stare at me till I reach out of their sight. They behave as if I am an alien. I often think whether there is any peculiarity for staring. There is nothing abnormal in my dressing up. I don’t use cosmetics, even talcum powder. Some women I meet there have nothing to talk just sit back and stare at me. They don’t think I have emotions of a human being. Some women would check me by every pore on my body as if I am a show-piece and say, I am weak there is little blood in my body. Doctors also say I am anemic even if I have 100% haemoglobin. They think I am on a fast forever. I might be born underweight. I am fed up of all these interpretations on my body and complexion. My complexion is like that, “tere angon pe champa ka rang chada,” at least a poet was there to understand. OK, I am thin and I don’t look healthy. Then why these stares, stares at me? I don’t understand. Is it because of my clear fair skin or is it envy or hatred? These questions remain unanswered. When I observe other good-looking women I understand not all are a target of staring.
I stand in front of the dressing table, which has a wall mounting mirror, and ask, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, am I the fairest of them all?” Mirror says, “No, there are several who are fairest; you are only a fraction of them.” I ask again, “Then why do they stare at me?” Mirror says, “I don’t know, ask them.” I feel like asking them. If I ask it will go against manners. Starers don’t have to keep any manners. How long can I go with my ‘grin and bear it’ nature? Curiosity doesn’t kill the cat. Their curiosity does kill me. I can’t stand staring. I feel uncomfortable. I twist like a worm that got hurt, in front of these starers. Even animals feel uncomfortable with constant gaze. If you stare at a dog or a cat constantly it will close and open its eyes every now and again. The irony is that the very starers can’t stand staring of others. Constant gaze is a real menace, if it is with envy or hatred it is worse.
Eyes are meant to see the light of this universe and needed to live on this earth. Eyes are related to the element, fire. So some people use them as agnibaann to burn others. If only they used their eyes to observe and understand things properly! A few are gifted with a third eye. Imagine the plight of a blind person. Eyes show your emotions. You cannot hide it.
I stand in front of the dressing table, which has a wall mounting mirror, and ask, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, am I the fairest of them all?” Mirror says, “No, there are several who are fairest; you are only a fraction of them.” I ask again, “Then why do they stare at me?” Mirror says, “I don’t know, ask them.” I feel like asking them. If I ask it will go against manners. Starers don’t have to keep any manners. How long can I go with my ‘grin and bear it’ nature? Curiosity doesn’t kill the cat. Their curiosity does kill me. I can’t stand staring. I feel uncomfortable. I twist like a worm that got hurt, in front of these starers. Even animals feel uncomfortable with constant gaze. If you stare at a dog or a cat constantly it will close and open its eyes every now and again. The irony is that the very starers can’t stand staring of others. Constant gaze is a real menace, if it is with envy or hatred it is worse.
Eyes are meant to see the light of this universe and needed to live on this earth. Eyes are related to the element, fire. So some people use them as agnibaann to burn others. If only they used their eyes to observe and understand things properly! A few are gifted with a third eye. Imagine the plight of a blind person. Eyes show your emotions. You cannot hide it.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Remedy for Insomnia
Insomnia! Don’t take it as an ailment. If you have this problem try out this natural remedy. Take one cup of kheer, made from sugar, milk and rice, or instead of rice any other ingredients, at night with meals. Add sugar only to make it palatable. Butter is optional. But without enough sugar and butter kheer will not be delicious. Remember, you take it as a remedy. And make sure don’t get addicted to it or don’t take it alone as a whole meal. One cup is enough to induce sleep. If you exceed the quota and excess sugar will cause harm, don’t blame me.
You can take sweets according the season. Pudding and fruit salads in summer, warm kheer in rainy season, sweet meats like ladoos, jalebis and milk shake in autumn and warm kheer in winter. Avoid adulterated ghee and mawa. Dairy products should be used fresh and hygienically. Old and and stale dairy products are equal to poison.
Five flavors (spicy, sweet, sour, salty, and bitter) are like five elements. Understand the benefit of sugar. Sugar is not harmful as you think unless you are a diabetic. Sugar has sedative effect but it is not like sedative medicines. Sugar will calm your brain and revive your nerves. So there is no need of sleeping pills or anti-depressants. Sleeping pills and alcohol will induce sleep but you will get up weak and lethargic in the morning. Sugar will not make you lethargic or weak; instead you will get up refreshed. I don’t think taking one cup kheer will harm or make anybody fat. If sugar is a fattening ingredient why don’t I become fat despite having a sweet tooth? If I eat an elephant daily I am not going to put on weight. Jaggery is more effective but if it is adulterated it is of no use.
If you don’t want to take sweets or you don’t like sweets there is an alternative. Keep some fragrant flowers that you like at the bedside table. Be calm and concentrate on taking the smell. The sedative smell will induce sleep. But it is not a remedy for asthmatics. Night flowers are white and rich in fragrance. The fragrance has a sedative effect and it spreads up to a long distance. It must be Mother Nature's way to put the earthlings to sleep and to keep the earth odour-free. Mumbai needs more such flowering trees. If you have the habit of too much thinking or daydreaming you will not get sleep. When you keep thinking the goddess of sleep will withdraw. It is like updating computer. When you keep working the updates will withdraw. Then it comes back as it is shutting down. In that case practice shavasana (yoga) when you going to sleep. A few minutes of shavasana will take you to world of sleep.
Though birds and animals get less sleep comparatively they are healthy and stronger than human beings. They don’t toil 24x7 like humans. They are active only in the day time; night is for sleep for them except some night creatures. They don’t disturb each other at night. When married couples sleep together they may disturb each other throughout the night. Human beings have to do something even at night. Hadn’t we have to do any work sleep wouldn’t be needed at all. We sleep when we get tired. After all, sleep is a best natural remedy for almost all the ailments. So sleep as much as you can. Have a sweet dream.
You can take sweets according the season. Pudding and fruit salads in summer, warm kheer in rainy season, sweet meats like ladoos, jalebis and milk shake in autumn and warm kheer in winter. Avoid adulterated ghee and mawa. Dairy products should be used fresh and hygienically. Old and and stale dairy products are equal to poison.
Five flavors (spicy, sweet, sour, salty, and bitter) are like five elements. Understand the benefit of sugar. Sugar is not harmful as you think unless you are a diabetic. Sugar has sedative effect but it is not like sedative medicines. Sugar will calm your brain and revive your nerves. So there is no need of sleeping pills or anti-depressants. Sleeping pills and alcohol will induce sleep but you will get up weak and lethargic in the morning. Sugar will not make you lethargic or weak; instead you will get up refreshed. I don’t think taking one cup kheer will harm or make anybody fat. If sugar is a fattening ingredient why don’t I become fat despite having a sweet tooth? If I eat an elephant daily I am not going to put on weight. Jaggery is more effective but if it is adulterated it is of no use.
If you don’t want to take sweets or you don’t like sweets there is an alternative. Keep some fragrant flowers that you like at the bedside table. Be calm and concentrate on taking the smell. The sedative smell will induce sleep. But it is not a remedy for asthmatics. Night flowers are white and rich in fragrance. The fragrance has a sedative effect and it spreads up to a long distance. It must be Mother Nature's way to put the earthlings to sleep and to keep the earth odour-free. Mumbai needs more such flowering trees. If you have the habit of too much thinking or daydreaming you will not get sleep. When you keep thinking the goddess of sleep will withdraw. It is like updating computer. When you keep working the updates will withdraw. Then it comes back as it is shutting down. In that case practice shavasana (yoga) when you going to sleep. A few minutes of shavasana will take you to world of sleep.
Though birds and animals get less sleep comparatively they are healthy and stronger than human beings. They don’t toil 24x7 like humans. They are active only in the day time; night is for sleep for them except some night creatures. They don’t disturb each other at night. When married couples sleep together they may disturb each other throughout the night. Human beings have to do something even at night. Hadn’t we have to do any work sleep wouldn’t be needed at all. We sleep when we get tired. After all, sleep is a best natural remedy for almost all the ailments. So sleep as much as you can. Have a sweet dream.
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