tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58141912024-03-07T14:33:34.865+05:30Bombay LifeAnubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-85534175664395943912008-08-18T19:24:00.004+05:302008-08-18T19:38:26.041+05:30Losing faith in friendshipSometimes its really, really difficult maintaining your faith in friendship. Why do we need friends? To laugh and joke and have fun, but also to get through the bad days right? For a shoulder at crisis time? And if there are friends who laugh and joke and have fun, then run a mile when the crisis erupts? Have you ever fought with a friend? Ever snapped at one when you are having a humongously badAnubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com341tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-40696212164967726752008-08-07T10:42:00.002+05:302008-08-07T10:47:33.895+05:30Slow DanceThis describes my mood perfectly at the moment...btw, does anyone know wrote it??Have you ever watched kids On a merry-go-round? Or listened to the rain Slapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight? Or gazed at the sun into the fading night? You better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last. Do you run through each day On the fly? When you ask Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-17897585581029179982008-08-02T20:48:00.002+05:302008-08-02T20:51:50.909+05:30I am back (this time forever)!!!!!Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry...and thanks a triple million tonnes for everyone who has been mailing in this last year, despite the fact that I vanished most unceremoniously!! That's because I was doing a full time job that didn't allow me to run a parallel blog, but now am happily back to freelancing so this blog goes live again!!!!!!!Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-74351359436415590532007-07-10T18:13:00.000+05:302007-07-10T18:14:13.596+05:30Thane - Shifting closer to townDid you know that Thane is now just a 50-minute drive from Nariman Point???? I was resigned to spending half the day in the car, but we left at 9.20 am and were already seated for our meeting there at 10.15 am. And its a beautiful drive - you feel like you are going to a hill station. I love all the new flyovers and Expressways!!!!Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-14217950784608975842007-07-09T13:54:00.000+05:302007-07-09T14:14:21.477+05:30The SecretHave you heard about The Secret? I just started reading it yesterday and am completely hooked after something that happened today. I must confess that I am one of life's great disbelievers - everything is to be questioned, every piece of philosophy attracts "healthy cynicism" and every word, act or instuction must be logically explained to me before I will believe in it. However there is Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-68204767005897486922007-06-25T12:13:00.000+05:302007-06-25T12:54:04.567+05:30Monsoon!!!!A lot of people ask me why I wait so anxiously for the rains, when all that they seem to do is turn Mumbai into one large (and in places, extremely dirty) river thats impossible to navigate. But I still love this city in the monsoons - waterlogging, total breakdown of transport systems and general mayhem notwithstanding. Over the last few weeks friends and family were constantly amused at my Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-47082618056133936452007-05-09T12:03:00.000+05:302007-05-09T12:12:05.855+05:30I want to go somewhere, anywhere - as long as its out of Bombay, and its not work related!! Desperately, desperately need a break and the city's humid, sweltering heat does not help one bit. And it turns my hair into a ball of pure frizz. Someone, someone pls offer me a vacation!!!!!Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-18678869989612243042007-05-01T23:15:00.000+05:302007-05-01T23:42:52.560+05:30Revisiting RegalToday I went to see a movie at Regal Cinema after more than a year. Multiplexes have redefined the movie experience so much, that one tends to completely bypass the smaller theaters now. After all who is going to stand for tickets in a slow, longwinding que days in advance when you can book tickets with a few clicks of the keyboard? And what about the range of snacks, beverages, plush washrooms Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-42723690053389776842007-04-30T18:08:00.000+05:302007-04-30T18:09:20.431+05:30Sometimes all you need is a good book, an empty room, a couch to rest your head and silence.Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-41282477427962370632007-04-30T16:06:00.000+05:302007-04-30T16:11:41.532+05:30Watching Ta Ra Rum PumAfter ages, a lighthearted hindi film thats actually watchable!! I mean, I am all for meaningful cinema like Provoked and Namesake (I loved both), but after a while you do start craving something that's pure, unaldurated fun - and this movie does just that. Even though its a rather simplistic story, with an even more simplistic, fairy tale ending, but you leave the hall with a smile on your lips Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-15123211178115148192007-04-27T11:46:00.000+05:302007-04-27T11:47:55.268+05:30I am back!!!!Apologies, apologies, apologies for vanishing.....was slightly busy getting married!! But am now back, so check back frequently for updates!!Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-77182083559313921102006-11-27T02:28:00.000+05:302006-11-27T03:03:26.097+05:30Indian????Vivaah and Dhoom 2. Two films...both hits, both based on their maker's translation of contemporary India. Yet they seem to be miles apart, not only in storylines and fashion styles, but also in terms of the India they attempt to capture on celluloid. Which one is more "India", which one should we believe in and which should be discarded as a sweet fantasy - wonderful, exciting, gripping, but Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1156692565638969322006-08-27T20:46:00.000+05:302006-08-27T21:00:19.870+05:30Kabhi Alvidaa...Finally, finally, finally managed to see Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna. Have been wanting to see this film forever, and thankfully, did not come away disappointed. Despite what various people told me, its a beautiful film. Yes, it may not be as powerful as Kal Ho Naa Ho, but its a far more real movie. In how many houses across the world people are living together in limbo, the frustrations of one or Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1156228153995025652006-08-22T11:42:00.000+05:302006-08-22T15:26:36.393+05:30The end of vacations :(I seriously dont know what's worse - not going on vacation, or coming back from one to tackle a work desk that inevitable piled to tottering heights :(Right now I am trying to prolong the escapist feeling just a bit more by immersing every non-working minute in my latest Bill Bryson find - I'm a Stranger Here Myself. One of the great pleasures of travelling to foreign shores is the chance of Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1155749101190308962006-08-16T22:46:00.000+05:302006-08-16T22:55:01.216+05:30Vacation Time :)Why is it that time away from home, work and the city that you know like the back of your hand always gives you a fresh perspective on your life???? Three days away from Mumbai, and I had managed to pinpoint exactly what was wrong with my life (or at least, most of it) and how to set it right. Or, more to the point, it helped me refocus on what I want out of life right now, and chart a path alongAnubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1154153970286587502006-07-29T11:48:00.000+05:302006-07-29T11:49:30.296+05:30Finally back home :) :)Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1154017258168760012006-07-27T21:47:00.000+05:302006-07-27T21:50:58.180+05:30Hospital woes :(Been stuck in hospital for a while now (its my stupid foot again - had to get it operated), and trust me, its no fun :( Even the sympathies and flowers (and chocolates) dont help...I just want to go home now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1153027002362119792006-07-16T10:26:00.000+05:302006-07-16T11:41:37.606+05:30We've had enough!!Yesterday, for the first time in a decade, I turned back from a movie hall in Bombay, scared to go in because who knows where the next round of terror would strike? Its a strange feeling, one that hangs over most of the city - one knows that life must go on, and you cant continue living in fear; yet, 11/7 has brought home the vulnerabilities of simply going about your daily living. And this is a Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1152738515927933392006-07-13T02:29:00.000+05:302006-07-13T02:38:36.016+05:30Media Musings on the BlastsDespite being a part of this industry myself, I am being perpetually amazed about how banal and nonsensical the media can get at times. Case in point - the Bombay bomb blasts. The biggest headlines? Various versions of 'terrorist involvement definite in the bombings'. Wonderful! I am glad to know that it was terrorists and not our own defense services, or non-terrorist civillians taking it up as Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1152630885907031332006-07-11T20:38:00.000+05:302006-07-11T20:44:45.956+05:30Serial blasts rock Bombay once againThis is flashback week for Bombay - flashback to last year's floods, flashback to the serial bomb blasts...but I have great faith in this city's spirit, in its resilience. There is no other city that can bounce back so quickly from disaster. Its an understanding that life goes on, and you just learn to cope with the bends along the way.Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1151995499851334882006-07-04T12:13:00.000+05:302006-07-04T12:14:59.863+05:30Bombay Emergency NumbersFlood Infoline -22040800,22040804Secretary R&R (BMC) - 1070Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) - 1077MCGM (BMC) Control Room - 108Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1151988255396136582006-07-04T10:02:00.000+05:302006-07-04T10:14:15.453+05:30The only thing that halts the unstoppable city...In recent years, Bombay has faced two ghastly acts of terrorism - the serial bombings on March 12, 1993 and August 26, 2003. In both cases the city was back on its feet within hours, offices remained open and life went on as normal. However, come the rain and the city has started shutting down. Schools (and even some colleegs) have given students the day off and offices reported a 30-50% drop in Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1151867009054724732006-07-03T00:30:00.000+05:302006-07-03T00:33:29.066+05:30Rude vs. Least PoliteAs usual, some of the best words on the debate around the world's rudest cities come from Rahul Bose.Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1151862576787782502006-07-02T23:11:00.000+05:302006-07-02T23:19:36.800+05:30Bring back the books!!When BMC chased away the footpath bookshops from Fountain and Churchgate, they had set up shop near Kala Ghoda. Now they have been forced to vacate that spot as well. And there is no sign of a relocation. Which is sad not only because my literary indulgence now puts a huge dent in my wallet, but also because these tiny shops are an essential part of Bombay's culture and ambience. Its a little Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814191.post-1151846816714984782006-07-02T18:50:00.000+05:302006-07-02T18:56:56.726+05:30Mumbai starts to flood once againYup, its happening again. Despite the fact that it pours in Bombay every monsoon (d..uh, its a coastal city, its been raining here for centuries now!!) and people are still not over last year's floods, there continues to be little preparation to avoid disaster. Just a couple of day's heavy rain and the city is sliding underwater once again. Flights are delayed, trains are slowing down and the Anubha Charanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245646909669380016noreply@blogger.com0