One More Ganapati Missed.....

Since past 4 years.. I am able to make it home for Ganapati every alternate year…. 2004…. Yes I was there….. 2005…. Jeddah… 2006... Again home…. And now 2007… Hong Kong….. so chances are bright that I will make it next year...
Also every year Ganapati festival marks… my blog anniversary….
I wrote first blog during Ganapati of 2005….

This year I missed allthe festivals…. Starting from holi… then all the shravan… like dahi handi and all…. Now I after missing Ganapati, I am all set to miss Dasaraa too….just hoping that I will not miss Diwali also.. :-(
I really hate to miss any of the three festivals… Holi… Ganapati and Diwali…

It’s one year since last Ganapati but all the events are still fresh as if it was yesterday… may be because there are no new memories to overwrite them.. assembling of the ”Makhar”… then going together to bring the idol home… this is where the fun starts. Then comes visiting to friends and relatives…. Going together to see “Sarvajanik Ganapati”
Daily “Aarati” that too multiple times…. “Jagaran” and in the end “Visarjan”

All the sequence seems like a dream from here…

This year I think I m missing not being there for multiple reasons…one reason being the festival of course there are other reasons too… Deepa of course is another major reason…
Also since I am supposed to get engaged with her once I am back…that excitement is also there… Then the ongoing job hunt is also adding to the cause. I need to come back to Mumbai at the earliest so that future plans can be finalized…
So many things going on together….

Sometimes I think there must be some reason behind Ganapati bappa making me go around the world during his own festival…… first time2.5 hrs behind and now 2.5 hrs ahead. New countries…new cities…new people… new cultures…. Definitely the god of wisdom is making me wiser every year by enriching me with new experiences…
May be he wants to make me realize the value of family by keeping me away from my loved ones frequently…

The more I think…. More I miss... more I miss more I feel about it… more I feel about it then more is the urge to go back… but I should stay back… till the project completion…

I have always believed that whatever happens… happens for a good reason…
It is just a matter of time before we find what that “good reason was”. I hav learnt that even though the current scene may look bad… but whenever I have looked back to such scenes in from the past…. They always make me realize that they have always led to something good which otherwise would not have been possible…

Jo hua achha hua… jo ho raha hain… achha ho raha hain… jo hoga who bhi achha hi hoga… :-) wait n watch….

Hong Kong……Some random observations

The very first thought that comes to my mind is that this is nothing but an advanced version of Mumbai…. Same story repeated but in a sophisticated manner….
Both are harbors…both are islands…. Both are financially important cities….
Both are full of peoples…population density is very high…people are highly dependant on railway system, Bus and taxi for their daily travels… one more addition in case of Hong Kong is presence of trams. Again all the offices are concentrated in one area and all the residential areas in other parts….. Climate is humid…..
On any given day the scenario at Churchgate and Hong Kong railway stations can be easily compared….. in the morning thousands of people…. Rush there from other areas… and in the evening the other way round…

It is difficult to find out normal eating stuff like biscuits and all…
One day I went out especially to find out something to eat in the area around the office. Went across so many shops… all u can find is some cakes and pastries.. a few varities of sweets and chocolates…. That’s all…
Kaahi thikani biscuits disataat but they r so costly that to an Indian mind they seem disproportionate…. Even when I compare just currency units… I just could not fathom how someone can pay 20 dollars for some small pack of biscuits similar to crack jack… for which I would never pay 20 Rupees… L

All the shops are full of fridges… they contain only 3kinds of drinks….. First category is beer…. Second category is ice tea… and third category for remaining “alpasankhyank” like… juice… water…cold coffee…some energy drinks etc etc…. surprisingly almost negligible quantity of cold drinks… especially the ice tea seems to so popular that all the major players including Pepsi coke nestle; everyone has some brands to cater.

Not only cold tea… for normal tea also... These people have so many varieties…. And all of them taste so different… and true to the Chinese traditions.. with weird taste and smells….in past almost 2 months I have never been able to finish a full cup of tea… somehow I keep on trying but every time manage hardly half cup somehow….

People are game crazy…. Sony has a tight hold on the youth…In train.. in restaurants you can see many people hooked to their gaming consoles…. Not only the children but the middle aged people also can be seen hooked to the gaming consoles…. In trains….on the road… in the parks… in restaurants…. Everywhere…. And all consoles form Sony !!!

People are highly self dependant… u can easily see a very very old man going along the way I could never imagine person in such condition going all alone in India…. They are seen everywhere… doing their bit for the society…. Roaming around independently and even working. On my way home there is a fruit shop. It is open 24x7. When we go in the morning, we see all the young people running the shop... and when we return late after midnight we see a few old people. And I really mean old, some even hardly walking with help of stick. But they run the shop!!!

That’s all for this episode…. More stuff in coming days….:-)