How We Randomly Met Mr. Udit Narayan?

We came back from our trip to South East Asia and were waiting at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for our JET Airways Flight to Patna.
I was not wearing my specs and so, I didn't noticed him. Dad came closer to me and told, "See Udit Narayan".
Now, I liked his songs a lot and hence was excited to meet him. But, I was reluctant to go as he was standing alone without any fan chasing him which is quite unlikely with singers like him.
As I was not having specs, I went to Dad to recheck, if he was sure that the man is Udit Narayan. Once, dad confirmed. I had butterflies in the stomach due to my admiration for the man whom I was going to meet.
I went to him with a smile and told that "Sir, I am a very big fan of your's". He greeted with a pleasing smile and asked whether I am from Patna or Delhi. I told that I'm from Patna and we were returning from our trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. He told that he was also returning from Singapore and was going to Patna for the wedding of a relative. I got an early mover advantage and so could interact with him for long before other birds started flocking.
He is extremely warm and down to earth person. Luckily, there was no business class on the flight, JET Airways-Lite. And, so we were sitting behind him in the second row of the aircraft and we clicked some more pics within the flight. Here are few pics.


The first picture is of Delhi Airport and the next one is of Patna Airport.
Next morning, our news anchor (Dad) with his morning newspaper reads out the following news for us.

The famous singer, Udit Narayan, came to Patna last night from Delhi to attend a Wedding. He obliged fans with their request for photos.

It was one moment when we did something and it became a news..Aahaa..(just kidding) :P
Read more about my travel experience Travel Diary: Once upon a time in Singapore

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Norway is beautiful, Isn't it?

Note- Click to view the pictures in full size. Enjoy!

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Travel Diary: A day well spent in Mumbai

Roaming in Mumbai like a Nomad

Disclaimer:- If you are expecting something extraordinary, Please don't read further as it is damn ordinary a way to build life time memories without going beyond the city limits.

Place- Mumbai

It was the eve before the EID holiday and I wondered what to do. Luckily, I asked a friend and she suggested that I can go to meditation centre or amusement park.  She encouraged me to treat myself with fun and eat heartily. It was her idea to try a new restaurant and have my favorite food. Her  ideas really inspired to make the holiday a memorable one.

So, I asked my friend cum roommate to go on a fun outing that night. He asked me to plan and I told that we are going to experience and build memories. The vision was clear but we had no missions, no targets. I wanted to roam like a nomad and really I did that. So, glad to share the experience with all of you.

We decided to keep our plans flexible and not to over plan so we decided that we would tentatively go to Haji Ali ( Dargah of a Saint) , Mahalaxmi Temple, Chor Bazar ( Good for buying antique items) , Dhobi Ghat, Dharavi (biggest slum of Asia- lots of cottage industries are there and it’s a place worth a visit). Also, we decided to try new restaurants and would not mind going to far off places just to experience tasty food at new restaurants and build memories.

We shortlisted Cafe Mysore and Madras Cafe for Breakfast in Matunga and we thought that we would have lunch at Stadium at Church Gate.

Now, when we left our flat at around 10 AM and went to a nearby temple which is just in front of our apartment’s gate. It was strange to know that my friend who worships twice a day has never been to that temple and he is staying in the same area for last 7 years.

I went to that temple for a few times on special occasions like when my parents came, on my birthday, on getting appraisal and things like that. Really, we take things which are around us for granted. We carve to go to far off places and realize that the locality where we live is unexplored. Same goes for people, there are times, we often tend to forget people who are with us always like our siblings, parents, etc and we keep chasing and pleasing everyone but them.

We went to Matunga by Local train and then we walked toward our shortlisted restaurant, Café Mysore. 

On the way we stopped at two Ganesh Mandap and enjoyed it. Also, I saw an artist who was making the idol of Lord Shiva, Maa Parvati and Ganesh ji. I wanted to talk to him but he didn’t knew Hindi or English and I didn’t knew Tamil. We spoke by sign language and I took the photos and thanked him. I appreciated his ongoing work by showing my thumb up and he responded with his smile.

Pic-An Artist making statue

The Café Mysore has a tiny entrance and it looked like “Khoda Pahad nikli Chuhiya” (Dig Mountain to find a mouse). But, trust me the experience was awesome. The Rawa Masala Dosa we ordered was awesome and the sambhar was a class. It was one of the best that I have ever eaten.  The restaurant claims it to be really old and it’s a delight.

And, Filter coffee was awesome. My Mangalorean Friend was showing me how to drink it like a Pro :P

Then we went to Haji Ali and Mahalaxmi temple. 

Pic: The road to Haji Ali which in in the sea. Wow!

The Mahalaxmi Temple had long queue and we were a bit tired so we skipped that and went to a Ganesh Mandap that was awesome. Its theme was “Beti Padhao Beti Bachao” (Save girl child and educate her). The decoration of the Mandap was done with the thermocol art work with beautiful quotes and art work. I was full of energy by seeing all that.

We were so thirsty that we drank lemon water, cold drinks in excess. When I am in office, I don’t realize what thirst is. Really travelling teaches and makes us experience many things. We took rest in a Temple which has benches to sit. It is a good feeling to stay inside a less crowded temple.
We went to Churchgate and there we first strolled to Aquarium. It was a tiring walk as the sun was on our head. But, we wanted to experience to walk rather than taking a taxi (you know Vitamin D :P). In the Aquarium, the long queue for ticket was moving at a snail’s pace. Finally, after a wait of half an hour, we got the tickets.

The aquarium was worth the visit. There were different kinds of fishes in different glass aquariums. The best thing was that the fishes were kept in an environment that resembled their natural habitat. It was a treat to the eyes. It made me realizes that there are many things to learn and experience in this world. The aquatic life is so amazing. All look so different from each other, Horse Fish, Snake Fish, Ribbon Fish, were just some new name added to my dictionary.

After that, rather than dining at any of the good restaurants in South Mumbai, we went to Sion to relish our favorite Tandoori chicken at a Punjabi Restaurant. But, I was duped by the taxi driver and I was poorer by 800 bucks by the dirty trick used by him (Read here How a taxi Driver duped me and made my day memorable?).

We feasted on our favorite items and enjoyed the meal. We came back to our place by 10:30 PM. It was a 12 hour slot full of fun, thrill, adventure, betrayal, happiness, randomness, craziness, etc.

You don't need lots of money to be happy. All this costed 1000 bucks for two people. It was another thing that I lost 800 bucks to white collared robbers.  It was thought provoking, inspiring and real. I wanted to make this a memorable day and I was successful in doing so. It feels great!
 
You don't have to do different things but you can do things differently to make them memorable and interesting. 

Yes, it was outside the comfort zone ( Travelling in Local Trains, walking for 2-3 kms in sun, talking to strangers, finding beauty in small things are all out of my comfort zone) Thanks for your time!

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Innovative Ideas that Indians can learn from other nations

1.Never Back Down- One of my Uncle is in Indian Navy, he was once narrating his travel experiences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He told that they don't look like a victim of Nuclear attack but a visionary for the future. If you happen to go there, visit the museum which has the glimpse of it's tragic past. My Uncle admitted that he broke down in the Museum on seeing the hardship that Japan went through and their comeback is phenomenal. Japanese are truly hardworking.

2. We need to improve our system- Once my Uncle went to a bank in  North Korea. They gave a token to him and asked him to take a seat. Later, he was given a royal treatment. He has struggled to get works done in Banks or  government offices in India. The royal treatment, systematic procedures were alien to him.
Before you curse bankers, let me tell you that my Dad is a banker. I have been to few of his offices, I found that their job is really tough as they often don't have the resources to manage or provide a better service to it's customers. The customer in me also face difficulties at Banks but as I know their side of the story so I am compassionate about them.

3. Cleanliness  is an attitude- While my Uncle was in Japan, once he noticed that someone stopped his car, got down, picked the garbage on the road and put it in a dustbin. He was surprised to see all this. His colleague, a Japanese, explained that they do this kind of thing often as it's our country and we have to keep it clean.

4. Always walk the extra mile to make someone else's experience amazing- I went to Singapore in 2011 before joining the construction industry. It was heart-warming to see that the procedures followed in Singapore is such that construction activities causes minimum nuisance to the public. Construction was going on outside our Hotel but the site looked so beautiful that I can't explain. We need to learn this.

5. Safety First- My former Safety Incharge was an awesome man who has worked in many countries. He told that once he saw that a minor repair was going on outside his hotel in Europe but they have made proper barrication, have used proper sign boards prior to starting repair. They had proper protection equipments. In India, we care about potholes when someone falls in it. We are reactive rather than being proactive. I wish people get this attitude of safety first.

6. Strong Rules and proper implementation - When we landed in Singapore. We were greeted by attractive placards with a message for visitors. There is a fine of 570 dollars on spitting or throwing garbage outside dustbin. My brother asked me, "Are they serious". I told that the fine is huge and we cannot  afford to try.

7. No work is small- The condition of cleaning workers who clean our garbage and our streets is pathetic in India. They are illiterate, uninspired and neglected. They can never feel that they are a part of us. In Singapore, I was glued to stand and watch how a cleaning staff was dealing with garbage. He was neat and clean.He looked like any other singaporean. He was wearing a uniform that was amazing. His long gloves, high quality mask and a different kind of shoe were the highlights of his attire. He worked with a professional attitude with a smile on his face. Hats off to Singapore and other countries which have better mechanism to deal with  garbage.

8. Follow your heart- I was once informed that a famous leader and member of US Congress told in an interview that after retiring he is going to drive a Cab as he loves driving. In India, it is rare for a well off person to chose the profession of a Driver. After all we are often more concerned about others opinion rather that living the life that makes us happy.

9. Learn to be on time- When we went to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. We had our itinerary planned in advance. We were amazed that everyone was on or before time.

We were occasionally late by few minutes.  So, one day, a Chinese cab driver told that he found that Indians are always late. Why don't you people learn to be on time? We all were offended by his remark. Our nationalism was hurt but as there was some truth so neither I nor my Dad argued but my little brother gave some befitting replies. We didn't stopped my brother from countering the arguments of the Chinese driver  as he was defending a national cause :)

Had he been a bit diplomatic in his criticism then we must have appreciated it.

10. Do you have got nature's call, find a washroom- My brother got the nature's call as soon as we ride a Ultra modern Luxury bus (without toilets) from Malaysia to Singapore. He went to the driver and he was informed that the bus will stop after an hour for refreshment. He can relieve himself then. He was unable to hold further and told them that if he didn't stop the bus then it can happen anytime in the bus itself.

The Bus staff took notice this time and told that the washroom is 10 kilometer away and it took 5 minutes to reach there. We were delighted to see such a massive washroom on a Highway. It was a plus as it was not in our itinerary but it was no less that a tourist spot for us.

I get upset when people go to other countries, come back and then criticize everything that is Indian. Please don't do that. Thanks for reading!

Read more at   Travel Diary: Once upon a time in Singapore

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