Mumbai means everything for me. I have spent almost 98% of my lifespan in this city. And as it does with everyone, it has never disappointed me in any respect. Mumbai is the place where I born and brought up, so I have a special attachment with this city.
I am a proud Mumbaikar and with no fear I can say this is my city. This city has given something to everyone who had come here with the dreams. Very Lively and joyful city indeed! In this city different types of people lived in harmony and peace until a month back when there was a heavy protest against the people who came UP and Bihar. I have many friends and collogues from that part of country and they all are very nice to me and to everyone. I have learnt a lot from people from different part of India and that is what it makes this city special as it has representatives from almost all parts of India. There were several similar attacks against the South Indians too in the past. And everyone was voicing their opinion on the issue raised during this protest. But somehow I feel points made by both the sides were not elaborated and discussed extensively to find the root of whole problem
We should all be agreeing to the fact that India is a free nation and everyone has the right to stay and earn his living wherever he wants to earn. It’s written in our constitution and we should respect it. But that does not mean people keep on flooding the Mumbai till its all resources are utilized and the city’s condition become out of control.
There is absolutely no problem with people coming from different parts of country coming to Mumbai and search for their living. After all that is the thing which makes Mumbai the cosmopolitan city of 21st century. But we should all realize that there are only limited resources available in the city and it can’t take burden of thousands of people flooding the city everyday. The most of the people which come from UP and Bihar or for that matter other part of India are poor farmers turned workers who come to city in search of living. There is a strong landlord mafia lobby in city which provides the place for them to stay and there are some political leaders who are behind increasing their vote bank who support such kind of illegal slum development activity for their own benefit. Such people in turn become burden on city resources as they don’t pay taxes and utilize the resources as well. Due to which there is serious problem of electricity and water cuts people have to face in the city who pretty regularly pay their taxes. Such kind of people are very poor and mostly have their living hand to mouth so they cannot be blamed for that as everyone is looking for own survival in this giant city. The corrupt people who help them to migrate are to be held responsible for and targeted too rather than targeting the poor people who are helpless in any case.
Other issue raised was local people not getting enough opportunities in all the fields. I personally feel that opportunity should be given on merit and not on any other criteria. If you have it in you come and take it or else you don’t have right to complain about it. Local people should make themselves more compatible and eligible for the jobs. But our constitution has a clause in it which gives some percent reservation to locals of that state. And some states have already implemented it, so why it can’t be done in Maharashtra? Though I strongly feel that Jobs should be given on merit only if it is a law in other states what’s wrong in having it in Maharashtra.
The Major issue was of the use of Marathi everywhere as it is our first language. If you go to any southern state you will scarcely find any board written in English for that matter Hindi is almost nowhere there. So why cant locals here press for the use of Marathi? I have stayed in Kerala and Karnataka and there is strong local lobby there. Even in college matters they do not want outsiders to overpower the local rest aside other affairs. So why the Marathi people are accused if they want to do the same? After all we are the local people and if we try to protect our heritage why should we be charged with factionalism? If you go and say something objectionable against Tamils in Chennai or about kannadigas in Karnataka or Jaats in Haryana, the locals there will make your life miserable and will certainly show you to whom the land belongs too. Then why can’t the Marathi demand the same respect for his mother tongue. For many years we are living in harmony with people of different states and for that matter different country in Mumbai city. And No one has complained any time about anything. But this does not mean that locals are cowards and don’t have any self esteem. As you people love your native Marathis also love their native and be proud about that. I know there are very few Marathis who have risen to good positions today and that’s why we can’t dictate the terms as in any other states locals do. But thing you should understand is to get respect it should be given in the same manner too. No wonder local feel their moral is going down when we just say that we want sign boards in Marathi all other non Marathi people make an issue out of it. It’s Maharashtra and there is nothing wrong if we say we want all sign boards in Marathi. If you go to Japan or Russia you find everything written in language that locals can understand and even in southern part of India you will find all the directions and milestones are written in local language. And there is nothing wrong in that. Local language should be given first preference in all government and judicial matters.
Other thing which I want to divert the attention about is why anyone is not finding the cause of people migrating from UP and Bihar. They don’t have any major factory or for that matter IT hubs in there. So educated as well as labor class have to migrate in search of living. The well know fact is no one is happy to leave his homeland and family and go for the job elsewhere but due to lack of opportunity there people come here in search of jobs. So why cant our government and corrupt Politicians do some thing to develop those states rather than giving crowd pulling speeches in Mumbai.
In my entire life I have never seen a common man handling a gun in Mumbai, it was only available to cops, gangsters etc. But now we have seen that also in a BEST bus. How someone can is innocent if carries the gun in public and damages the harmony of this great city? We never had such a culture in the city before and it has certainly migrated with people who have it at their natives. Mumbai is still considered safe city for ladies, even in capital Delhi you are not safe after dark. Along with Migration Crime rate has also gone up and so as poverty. It’s the local people who have maintained this dignity along with other people who have stayed here for long time. When we say Mumbaikar it includes all the people who have adopted Mumbai as their homeland, people who care for the city. All are welcome to Mumbai as I everyday say in pledge that all Indians are my brothers and sisters but we should realize that this city also has limitations. And everyone should respect it.
Let us Plan to make this city beautiful and joyful place to live in. The city is so great that it was never owned by someone nor anyone can own in future. And we all have made this city with our contributions in different areas. So just keep the spirit of Mumbai alive. And we need to unite and fight to make our city safe and beautiful. I Love Mumbai!!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Weight Loss: My story...
In today’s world, appearance and external beauty matters to all the people but only few are open to except it while others tend to hide it under the moral grounds saying what matters most for them is internal beauty. Every youngster when comes to his youth first priority for him is to look good and not to be embarrassed in front of his peers. And now a days people do splurge hell lot of money just to look good and sophisticated. No wonder beauty parlors and gym are overcrowded everywhere. This is applicable to men and women to the same extent.
There was a time when I used to be about 100Kgs or almost there and there about. And with huge belly to show for the comforts I enjoyed all my childhood. My friends used to call me “Jadya” (which means a Fatso in my native language) when I was in school. And that time even I used to be proud of my healthy lifestyle. There were many reasons to enjoy such a nice health along with my obsession towards almost any kind of food. (Oh and that obsession still exists!!!) . But the main reason was lack of exercise. And you will wonder that I used to sit and watch other guys playing rather than going out myself and join them. I did this for the major part of my childhood.
There is a very thin line between being healthy and what we call as obesity. And gradually I started to become really fat and before I could know anything my weight was touching almost 100Kgs. I weighed exactly 104Kgs, the next day after my 12th board exam had finished. Now everyone was telling me to join gym and reduce the weight. Dad even went out to take pamphlets of some nearby gym and health clubs. But I was not ready to join gym that time. It was like I have become used to it.
One fine day, one of my friends told me to just go with him to see a nearby gym and now I am so glad that I went with him. He was already a member there and even I liked the atmosphere there as majority of people there was from our locality and I somehow felt very nice and comfortable (Thanks Monu for that initial motivation!!)
So I started my long journey to become fit and fine. Gym was totally a new concept for me. I joined gym with a sole purpose to lose extra pounds that I have accumulated all my childhood. The first month was a painful experience for me. I was not allowed to touch any weights and used to do only free hand stretching exercises for a month.
I used to see fit and slim people doing weights around me. Rather than getting motivated by watching them I used to feel bad about myself. I used to feel that I have done injustice with my body and now it would be very hard to fix it. But my instructor told me that I will surely lose weight if I will be regular to gym and I trusted him. Anyways I didn’t have any other option rather than trusting him and just dreaming about great physic. So I started the long struggle that went far more ahead than what I expected at the beginning.
As it was my holidays after board exams, I used to work out sincerely and put in lots of efforts day in and day out. Controlled my diet to the extent I could and used to put in long hours in gym.
Every young man wants to look strong, fit and sexy and I was no exception. Because these days only come once in your life and to be on front foot you need to have something noticeable. Guys certainly know what I mean!! Almost all guys start doing exercise either to impress their girl or to get a girl by becoming lean and fit. (Though girls always deny the fact and say we always look for nice human being rather than just height and body. And matter of the fact is No one will notice you if you are ugly and fat in the crowd. Yes I agree that if you have special qualities you will get an attention later but certainly you cant make first impression that matters the most. And even I wanted to have nice body like Arnold, whose poster I used to see in Gym everyday.
I reduced a considerable amount of weight in six moths till my college started. Again I met good instructors whose experience was always a always a plus point for me. Now I was in quite good shape and size as compared to earlier. And I was damn regular in gym for this period and followed my work out schedule very strictly.
You should be regular in gym and should follow the work out schedule given to you by instructor to be successful no matter you are losing weight or doing weights. You should actually feel from the heart and develop interest in work out. If you are not interested in reducing the weight yourself, no matter how sophisticated instruments you are using or how good instructor you have, you will never get the desired result. You should motivate yourself and dedication should come from within. And this applies to everything in life not only losing weight.
After a year or so, I was in quite good shape (Lost almost 20 Kgs) and I could feel the positive energy that comes with a great body and personality. I used to feel very nice when people used to tell me that I am looking fitter than earlier. I could feel the sharpness in my movements and freshness about everything. I had discovered new confident myself within me.
Then I took body building seriously and I used to do about 2-3 hours exercise with my partner and instructor Vinay. And with him I learned how to deal with heavy weights and we used to follow a really intensive schedule.
Now my condition is that I start feeling something wrong if I miss my work out at gym even for a day. From the day I was reluctant to enter the gym to the day I can’t live without it, I have made a really wonderful journey. Initially I have to fight myself and to convince myself and after a lot of sweat and pain I just feel great today.
If you try something with dedication, passion and put in all your efforts you can achieve anything and everything. Just believe in your own abilities and you can do wonders.
There was a time when I used to be about 100Kgs or almost there and there about. And with huge belly to show for the comforts I enjoyed all my childhood. My friends used to call me “Jadya” (which means a Fatso in my native language) when I was in school. And that time even I used to be proud of my healthy lifestyle. There were many reasons to enjoy such a nice health along with my obsession towards almost any kind of food. (Oh and that obsession still exists!!!) . But the main reason was lack of exercise. And you will wonder that I used to sit and watch other guys playing rather than going out myself and join them. I did this for the major part of my childhood.
There is a very thin line between being healthy and what we call as obesity. And gradually I started to become really fat and before I could know anything my weight was touching almost 100Kgs. I weighed exactly 104Kgs, the next day after my 12th board exam had finished. Now everyone was telling me to join gym and reduce the weight. Dad even went out to take pamphlets of some nearby gym and health clubs. But I was not ready to join gym that time. It was like I have become used to it.
One fine day, one of my friends told me to just go with him to see a nearby gym and now I am so glad that I went with him. He was already a member there and even I liked the atmosphere there as majority of people there was from our locality and I somehow felt very nice and comfortable (Thanks Monu for that initial motivation!!)
So I started my long journey to become fit and fine. Gym was totally a new concept for me. I joined gym with a sole purpose to lose extra pounds that I have accumulated all my childhood. The first month was a painful experience for me. I was not allowed to touch any weights and used to do only free hand stretching exercises for a month.
I used to see fit and slim people doing weights around me. Rather than getting motivated by watching them I used to feel bad about myself. I used to feel that I have done injustice with my body and now it would be very hard to fix it. But my instructor told me that I will surely lose weight if I will be regular to gym and I trusted him. Anyways I didn’t have any other option rather than trusting him and just dreaming about great physic. So I started the long struggle that went far more ahead than what I expected at the beginning.
As it was my holidays after board exams, I used to work out sincerely and put in lots of efforts day in and day out. Controlled my diet to the extent I could and used to put in long hours in gym.
Every young man wants to look strong, fit and sexy and I was no exception. Because these days only come once in your life and to be on front foot you need to have something noticeable. Guys certainly know what I mean!! Almost all guys start doing exercise either to impress their girl or to get a girl by becoming lean and fit. (Though girls always deny the fact and say we always look for nice human being rather than just height and body. And matter of the fact is No one will notice you if you are ugly and fat in the crowd. Yes I agree that if you have special qualities you will get an attention later but certainly you cant make first impression that matters the most. And even I wanted to have nice body like Arnold, whose poster I used to see in Gym everyday.
I reduced a considerable amount of weight in six moths till my college started. Again I met good instructors whose experience was always a always a plus point for me. Now I was in quite good shape and size as compared to earlier. And I was damn regular in gym for this period and followed my work out schedule very strictly.
You should be regular in gym and should follow the work out schedule given to you by instructor to be successful no matter you are losing weight or doing weights. You should actually feel from the heart and develop interest in work out. If you are not interested in reducing the weight yourself, no matter how sophisticated instruments you are using or how good instructor you have, you will never get the desired result. You should motivate yourself and dedication should come from within. And this applies to everything in life not only losing weight.
After a year or so, I was in quite good shape (Lost almost 20 Kgs) and I could feel the positive energy that comes with a great body and personality. I used to feel very nice when people used to tell me that I am looking fitter than earlier. I could feel the sharpness in my movements and freshness about everything. I had discovered new confident myself within me.
Then I took body building seriously and I used to do about 2-3 hours exercise with my partner and instructor Vinay. And with him I learned how to deal with heavy weights and we used to follow a really intensive schedule.
Now my condition is that I start feeling something wrong if I miss my work out at gym even for a day. From the day I was reluctant to enter the gym to the day I can’t live without it, I have made a really wonderful journey. Initially I have to fight myself and to convince myself and after a lot of sweat and pain I just feel great today.
If you try something with dedication, passion and put in all your efforts you can achieve anything and everything. Just believe in your own abilities and you can do wonders.
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