Being rich=Successful...

Being shameless / guilt free at exploiting others to become rich..  has this become the mantra these days?

Would you agree that, all high power CEO’s have the common ability to NOT feel guilt or shame (in comparison to lower level achievers) about cheating / exploiting others out of their teeth and skin? (Maybe they can justify it with their ‘ends’… i.e. final goal, and take shortcuts in regard to values and means, as practical way).

Do sensitive people remain behind? Are these people called nice guys? (from nice guys finish last).  Doesn’t seem illogical that nice people don’t succeed, but not nice people do?

Of course, there are dozens of hero’s, who are pride of their nation in history, and they seem to be shining with goodness and honesty like gods themselves.  But if critically examined, how many of them practiced these values day in and day out in reality? What do you think?

Lets leave the above hypothetical question behind.  But have you ever felt that, crime does pay, and criminals and exploiters of other people get away with current legal system, whose motto is, let 1000 criminals escape, but one innocent should not be punished?

I am not asking for dictatorship or cruel punishments or an eye for an eye.  There is no proof that even death penalty reduces crime.  But, how to deal with this aspect of rise in shamelessness, a feeling that, I can get away with financial crimes and even atrocities? – the issue is, how to have a more human, cooperative society, rather than worship-rich-people-at-any-cost attitude?

One of the simple ways to find out how huge inequality is present in our world is by checking “if there are just 100 people in this whole world” (google it).  Maybe its time to think about another type of economy, which is not based on money as credit, status, or the only resource.

Should the past inheritance of a person be converted into money and be gifted to them as a hereditary lottery? Can we have an alternative economic system, which measures and gives credits/resources on the basis of contribution each person gives to the society?

It will have to be sustainable, this contribution or creation, that a person gives to society as a whole, that must be measured, to provide credit/resources/status to that person.  Money can buy everything will have to be changed, or the nature of money as sole resource be eliminated. 

This way, each individual will be encouraged to create/contribute in a meaningful way to make the world richer, wealthier – but not just in monetary terms. 

This evaluation and providing credit should be a continuous process, and they should have an expiry date, or period, to discourage piling up of huge credits at one go and live on it throughout for generations.  The past should not be a bed to lie down, but a spring to push forward. 

Of course, its another utopian dream concept, (half baked), but shouldn’t we all utilize little bit of our thinking time to find and encourage, a more equal, positive, cooperative soviduals? 

Sustainable development

It’s a term that’s becoming common.  It used to be just development (vikas) earlier…  whatever I read about post independence India during Nehru as prime minister as history, and later saw in publicity campaigns during Indira Gandhi (PM) era, i.e. till mid 1980’s;  and even till the beginning of 1990’s.  The last 20 years seem hazy as a single theme or person didn’t dominate in India’s eco-politico scenery much (or blame lack of clarity on ignorance).  Anyway… since its my blog, it will be my POV (point of view).   This lack of direction seems to be probable future trend for coming few years as well.

Obviously this macro haziness, about what direction to develop would impact micro levels.  So if you ask a single individual – what his/her goal is – majority of people might find it difficult to precisely state it.  Similarly what should be the priority of their nations development goal be? 

I’ve been trying to figure out – this direction – the development of SD=sustainable development, that each individual and society should have.  (Here I am limiting the scope to just India as a nation, which is a huge 100 crore plus population).

But thinking about 100 crore (1 crore is 10 million) plus people, it would be easier to take a smaller group, or my local community or local region.  Some understanding of direction to move ahead would seem a requirement for each sovidual (society as whole and each individual).

Lets start from just one individual, yourself.  Ask yourself – what is MY goal?

Where do see myself in 5 years or 10 years from now?

What all I want to achieve?

What all would consist as my personal development?

The same needs to be done for a group/community, or your local region as well as for nation & ultimately the whole world. 

But when you try to answer these questions as an individual, you will realize how big a challenge exists before us all. 

      Just as its important to have some ideas as where you want to be in near future and few years ahead (micro), its imp. To have group goals (macro) as well…  lack of direction in development of a nation, what will it lead to? I leave it to your imagination.  India or your nation may have some such directions, but are you aware of them?

How to resolve this lack of idea about direction, purposes, goals etc. ?

Lets start with yourself – what are your individual goals? What kind of developments you want to achieve?

Its not an easy question to answer.  Because, its easy to say, abstract things, such as happiness, peace etc.  what is happiness and how can it be achieved should be answered to make it concrete enough to go ahead.  Similarly breaking down a large goal into small steps to set plan/set deadlines also needs to be done.

Priorities will have to be set.  What can be eliminated should have to be deleted from such a list, and from remaining most wanted list, grading of priorities will have to be set.  How to achieve any one of these goals will now throw up multiple means/ways to achieve it.  Thus which way to go to achieve it also will have to be set.

For example, I want to eat a healthy meal next time as fitness/health is imp. Priority – will throw up multiple food options.  If you don’t eat meat/fish then, as mentioned earlier, you can eliminate non-vegetarian options straight away.  But even then, based on your taste, resources you will have to select a smaller list of options and select one at a time, and work towards preparing it (before your next meal time).

Similarly you will have to plan for your future goals, further away than just next meal.  Similarly group level goals too will have to be planned. 

These are not easy and previous plans would have ended up in smoke.  So what’s lacking?

The skill sets to achieve individual and social goals… which definitely needs to be improved. 

The aim of education should be to provide such skill set.  Rather than trying to develop rot-memory, as our education system does currently.

An imp. Aspect of childhood is, say from 6 to 16 years, the school time period, is lack of responsibility to be part of productive contributors of the society… thus these age group children should be able to use this time period like a laboratory.  Where experiments can be done – and they should be provided with time, resources and guidance to deal with failure.  Overall, they should be given training to practice setting sovidual goals, through small projects.

Then a future generation wouldn’t be trying to find few people to govern them.  They themselves would be actively involved in governance (as sovidual goal achievement is governance, right?)

This future generation would be thinking, how would I like to see my local region in 5 years from now? What all facilities should my neighborhood have? And work towards actualizing them.  

How to live a simpler, greener life?

A common cold put me down for few days from wandering.  And as my general practice, I didn’t take any medication, and let nature take its course.  At times sinus congestion creates difficulties, but it was overall a mild condition.  I am not averse to taking medicines if the situation requires it, i.e. if my health is in more severe problem. 

But that also made me think, what all life style changes that I have made since last few years. Its an attempt to document these positive changes and not brag in anyway.

In around 2009, I explored other treatment methods (other than Allopathy).  There are, Ayurved, Homeopathy, Unani and so on..  generally called as ‘alternative therapies’.  Regarding mental health, I had read current psychiatric/psychological concepts based on Allopathy, or western medicine system.  But I wanted to know about other health systems/schools of thought as well. 

Thus, since 2009, I have made conscious changes in my life style.  One focus always is, to reduce my carbon footprint, as I consider we are exploiting our environment to dangerous levels and our future generation will suffer most for such greedy consumption. 

Reduced use of electricity – been trying to figure out how to use as less electricity power as possible.  Not using many electric power consuming equipments, is my method.

Fan – most common way to deal with the ubiquitous hot climate of India, I try not to use it at all, and can say, reduced use of fan by about 90% from my earlier usage.

Washing machine – instead I hand wash and make sure I dry my clothes without machine.  In this aspect also, I have reduced mo than 90% of washing machine usage.  (I also reduced use of soap for washing and for bathing – and try not to increase adding more soap chemicals, as I have seen how soap water can affect the mud/earth which it flows through.  Generally the mud becomes stuck with a layer of soap foam and no vegetation grows in these affected patches.)

Stopped using hot water for bathing – most households use electric heater to make hot water, and it consumes large amounts of power.  I also stopped using hot water altogether since last 3 years, as even wood fuel used to heat water pollutes and adds to carbon footprint.  In winter time, I take bath during mid noon.  (though so far I have not lived in below 10 degree centigrade areas).

Reducing other consumption – started going barefeet 24/7 since 2011, and stopped owning any footwear at all – also, stopped buying clothes since last 3 years, and will buy only when my current clothes will wear out totally. 

Overall, reduced my possessions to just 2 bags full – which I can personally carry (thus setting limits to the weight of possessions as well).  This helps to reduce buying and consumption to a large extent. 

Stopped using all kinds of beauty products – this was very low, but things like, face-wash, shampoo, deo’s, and a lot of similar stuff.  I use economical bath soap and toothpaste and that’s about it.  I have found, bathing with a bucket full of water (15-20 liters) on alternate days is enough to provide hygiene, even though I might not smell like a soap factory ;)

Reduced buying products wrapped in plastic and throwing trash only in trash cans, and not litter on public places (its tempting to throw trash on public places in India, as many areas are already littered with lots of wrappers and stuff, but I try to control.  Even though at times, it happens unconsciously due to long years of conditioning).

Repairing things whenever possible and not replacing a thing like wallet etc, until it cannot be used.  Using bottle to carry water whenever possible, and avoid buying bottled water.  Reduced use of paper (try to do e-book reading, and reduce use of paper whenever possible), and avoid a/c cars and train carriages during travel as well, and use public transport as much as possible. 

Though I do binge once in a blue moon, but its getting less frequent.  Moderation in food consumption, controlling my weakness for sweats, and avoid being a victim to fashion fads is another aspect.  I have not abstained from anything totally, but try to moderate and remind myself about this everyday, as its an uphill task and not easy at all.

All these are conscious decisions, and try not to use the excuse that, I can afford it in terms of money.  At times it seems like an idiotic idea not to buy a bottle of drinking water for 10 rupees, but take out the trouble to carry a filled water bottle as extra luggage.  But I am trying it.

I have lots to improve.  I have not measured how much carbon footprint I have reduced, or how much money I save in this way.  But it does give me a sense of satisfaction that I am doing my bit for environment, through a more ecologically friendly life habits. 

What else can be done? I keep an open mind and welcome suggestions. 

An incidence from 2008 re-examined…

Could insecurity lead to reduced corruption?  I am trying to analyze it by comparing India and Singapore…  and one thing which I had read was that, level of corruption in Singapore is v.low and in India, its very high.  What all could be the reasons?

During the beginning of 2008, the share markets fell down steeply world over.  And during these days, another unrelated incident occurred – India announced it will stop export of rice.  Singapore imports lots of rice from India, and this announcement lead to an immediate rise in rice prices ;) – something like 15 to 20 rupees per KG rise. 

As a free market economy in Singapore, the prices of rice kept on increasing as a premonition of decreased supply and increased demand to stock up rice.  In supermarkets suddenly 20 kg rice sacks increased in display, and people were also trying to buy bigger packs, even though such a behavior will increase the feeling of shortage, and rice pack areas in supermarkets began to look empty.  This went on for some time, before panic subsided. 

Would such an event created similar levels of panic in India?  People might have expected the Govt. to step in at such an event, and provide low cost rice through public distribution system (of course of low-quality), and other measures etc.  Another difference is that, Singapore does not produce any rice, and overall imports most stuff from other countries (from water, electricity, to most food items).  But as India is a vast country, a sudden food shortage would not be expected and people would be complacent even when disaster occurs in one part of the country.

And in Singapore, as it’s a small country, the realization that corruption and other practices which weakens the country overall will affect me and my family as well – would be much higher than in India.  Thus, insecurity could be a factor, which changes the behavior of a Singaporean to be more national centric and less self centric. 

But, this argument will fail when behavior of citizens of most poor countries are considered.  What is the level of corruption in Somalia or such countries?  So, its not just feeling of insecurity that if our national economy falls down we will starve, but also already existing levels of comforts, that will have to be sacrificed. 

Maybe that sense of nationalism could have been engineered by Singapore govt. and due to its smaller size, there are more commonalities among the population and idea of oneness. 

Of course, the whole world is one, and ours.  The people who see the whole world as their own home, will be concerned about environment and be more broadly responsible and less greedy about ONLY their own self growth.

How to create more such people, in India & world over?

How to show that this larger connectedness & impact on future generations and their own children to more people?  I ponder on and on… ;)

T V - characters shown...

a cold put me down for few days, so stayed at home with a family i was with during this phase of travel and there was nothing else but watch lots of TV... whatever the kids, elders, everyone there watched. 

there were serials, movies, advertisements, chat shows, talent shows... everything you can imagine with TV...

everything had lousy stereotypical characterizations..  worst of all, the way women are shown in visual media..  as having low EQ...

in almost all TV visuals, they are clingy, caring to the level of suffocation, self-sacrificing, religious, with blind beliefs on one hand..  and

on other hand, negative women characters are shown as  - jealous, aggressive, cruel, self-centered, psycho-paths.  

the overdose of such images keep repeating in all the forms - movies, serials, adverts and so on..   its almost as if, they are self-sacrificing goody-goody person, or the other extreme, of morally corrupt, evil personas...


mythological serials among these stand out in terms of discrimination.  women gods (godesses) are shown as dependent, cry-babies or uncontrollably aggressive...  and every time need a sensible male god to guide them... if even women gods are shown like this, what can be expected from mere mortal woman?

'taming of the shrew' is another popular concept, which keeps repeating (especially in south indian movies), and at times shocking dialogues (against female equality) are mouthed by most popular hero's..  these hero's are worshiped and their posters adorn every nook and corner of big and small towns of these areas..  


i could not find even one single level headed, assertive, balanced female character... from small kids to grandmothers are spoon fed on these visuals day and night...

and i guess there is no end to this kind of cribbing against TV..  i had been away from TV for almost 3 years and i had to go through a few days to realize why its called 'idiot box'... 

i fear to imagine, a future generation, brought up in this idiotically low EQ personalities.. 

i have no idea what can be done.   but, if censorship is used, it will be argued as against creative freedom.  but what can be done about such trash? there must be some way.. ??

mental + physical health care...

which is the most imp. part of holistic health care?
even the above question can make some kind of sense as our brain & our learning systems train us to see both parts & whole - to understand things / concepts.
that is one of the reasons - we have multiple specialties in health care  - which one should be given priority?

reminded me of a joke - which is the most imp. body part? - there was a competition once.  and each body part tried to prove themself.  in the joke, the anus region shut down itself to prove its the most imp. part. 

but jokes apart, what care should each individual human being must be provided by the community to make him/her a valuable member?
a constructively contributing member, whose input is less and positive output is more?

this is a very simplistic way to look at a complex process, but lets take it as step one.

as step 2, lets bring the size of a community or the whole world down to 10 people (instead of say 10 billion in near future). 
there people will be of different age groups, and if all of them are healthy, then that community/group will be actively engaged in developmental activities.

health of the group is thus an imp. component... but what is 'health'?

its not mere absence of illness, and its well being of physical, mental & social aspects - so goes the popular definition.   Now, what is well being?

how is mental and social well being different? does a person in coma (brain dead state) where all other organs are working constitute as physically healthy?

now, we are back to which is the most imp. organ/ body part debate.  without mind, without being able to sense (or make sense of those sensations), there is no real self or person.

then is mental health (MH) most imp. aspect?  but, before answering that, what is MH?

mental / mind = functioning of brain.  thus, actually the term 'mental' is an outdated term/word - it originated when mental/mind were mystic concepts to humans.

so why not discard such terms?

there is another term, 'psychology' as well, which is obsolete in this same way. logy (study) of psyche - where psyche is greek word for soul... totally un-scientific.  but why do we keep using these terms which bring up false imagery?

instead of schizophrenia - why not make it - 'dopamine' imbalance or something literal?

that is how attitude towards this one very imp. aspect of "brain-health" will begin.

similarly, security, cooperation towards each other as human beings, respect towards environment and ability to see the world around us as an extension and preserving it etc all become part of this brain-health for all concept.

probably even thinking about how to implement this for just 10 people can be too complex..  lets start with one person then..  our self.  ;)

this blog in comparison...

how healthy am i? - we have to compare it with some state..  

how fat, tall, fair..  rich, successful.. am i ???

everything needs something to compare with...  and what do we compare it with? are we even aware of it?  

and, we can compare our reality with things/concepts/standards from a fantasy world our brain can create.  and reality often becomes 'mundane' if matched with the 'fantasy images' that we are capable of generating.  

and of course, everyday, movies, and other media creates such fantasy images and concepts by the dozen for us to consume.  its a competition, where the winner of the day / week, walks away with millions, as the most fantastic fantasy grabs headlines, gets people to buy products connected with it and provides another miracle cure.  

the funny thing is, 'association'.  our brain has this crazy capability of associating - diverse elements, to create a smooth flow of happenings...  associate to connect together.  

thus, when we see a video of someone buying a diamond ring and expressing job and hope for life-long happiness, without realizing our brain associates them together.  diamond ring and eternal happiness are associated, even though the video we saw depicts just one instance, just one story.   

and when each aspect of this happy ending is mostly pleasant, we forget to re-check that association.  

for example, if a video shows someone with a cold, getting punched on the face with a resultant bloody nose, but as completely recovered from that cold..  we don't assume that, yes.  yes...  you get it.   the unpleasantness pain part makes us check the association that may form - and thus helps us to discard an association that, getting punched in the nose cures cold.  

 am i mentally healthy? that's another question to ask self.  because these comparisons unknowingly can create chaos with how you perceive yourself, your life.  as often we remain unaware of the comparison standards we are checking ourselves against.  

so, beware - be more aware... ;)

barefoot in pune

selecting to walk 8 km rather than riding in a motor vehicle was one of the best decisions i took during my travel through pune.  this walk through busy roads of the city and cement paved path specifically for bicycles gave an unhurried exposure to varied people as well.  though for 1 hour on this path, i didnt come across even a single cyclist.  the footpath nearby was not clean enough and all the walkers had hijacked this cycle path.

there were manual laborers on the road side, who typically asked 'whats the time now'..  they must be thinking of their next break.

there were immigrant families who had set up their temporary shelter on roadsides with kids running around and baggages and few things to sell as well.

there were many ganpati mandals with their 10 day pendols - as the festival had just begun in full fervour a day before. there were couple of creeks / river, where people were washing clothes and taking bath - even though plastic bags and hoards of flowers floated lifelessly around, those people continued with their vibrant activities.

at the beginning of this walk, initially my legs, body and mind protested against this alien idea of such a long walk;  but once they got moving, didn't have any problems at all.

during this walk, whenever i reached cross roads, i asked people for direction towards my destination, but people would invariably point me towards bus stand or autoriksha stand.  some even told me, you will have to take a bus or auto to that place (and thus motivating me more to walk ;)
but i must admit, puneikars were all very helpful in giving directions and information.

also, during my stay at pune, met and chatted with lots of people and through their shared ideas, this 'snowball' of a trip gained momentum, even though the future plans are still vague..  but, lets go one step at a time..

why aimless wandering?

what's the purpose of such wandering?
why 2 months or so for aimless travel?
what do you want to achieve after all this?

these questions been posted by others as well as self...

there is the fun and relaxation part, which self timed, targetless activities can provide.  there are adventures to be had, as an unplanned approach throws up unknown challenges - thus putting yourself at mercy of multitude of elements is like getting the carpet pulled from under your feet, but a good way to shift self outside comfort zone.

its like an exam, you have not prepared for, don't know the pattern of the question paper, and have no idea what problems will appear before you, in an exam hall with stern supervisors and a ticking clock. 

organic development, non-mono culture, breaking the mould, call it what you want, as you can go beyond even your wildest imaginations..  beyond self's limitations, patterns and previous conditioning.

sometimes it can be wildly frustrating before giving glimpses of an elusive epiphany.  make you meet people with whom you'd like to stay, as well as those you'd rather have not met at all...

but to be honest, there are no certifiable benefits, no conclusive arguments against conventional questions. 

how to figure out, whether a person is passionate, or obsessed??

or whether a person is meditating, or being patient as against - being lazy or slacking or confused....

all these could be different ways to describe one behavior.. 

similarly realization that 'i am lost' also can mean that, you have found 'i'.. or yourself among unknown surroundings ;) 

book review, 'ambani & sons', by hamish mcdonald

It covers dhirubhai ambani and his dream company, reliance. It begins with dhirubhai’s life in Gujarat, where he availed scholarship as a poor student, and later in 1951 shifted to Aden, a british oil company area in desert gulf area.

After his return in 1958, it goes into details of his entrepreneurship and often grey methods to succeed in India. This book goes beyond the death of dhirubhai and gives details of the split between the brothers mukesh and anil.. and as they cool off towards each other at the end of 2010…

An India from 1960’s to the beginning of 21st century, marked by multiple social ideologies and govt. apathy to criminal enquiries towards his business empire. The author, constantly tried to portray how dhirubhai dealt with the govt. machinery to get what he wanted. And overall, what is indian govt. is a question which looms large, but is left for readers to find out.

What is a govt?
is it the constitution? Or the bureaucratic officials and the judiciary? Or the masses?

Or the corporates who seem to wield such huge resources? Rather than just accepting, govt. as one fixed entity, dhirubhai seemed to have moved ahead to define it on his own, as much as he can.
Whether its legal or not is like trying to figure out, which ‘ism’ is right one… As an analogy, indian govt. system seems like the hindu religion… with multiple views, rituals, philosophies – ranging from being in love with a god to complete atheism.

But each group thinks theirs is the right way, without realizing there are 100 other ways which are part of this concept known as ‘hinduism’. Thus in indian govt. system, there are socialism, communism, capitalism, individualism, collectivism and nepotism and so on. And in such a backdrop, the ambani story seems to have all the elements of a mega television serial. Foes turn friends, only to fight again, and at times dirty and at times compassionate.

The whirl wind of changes are ongoing in indian economical scenario even now, and no one ‘ism’ seems to be the lone winner. so the race & search goes on….

Now specifically for the book review… ;)

A young dhirubhai – after working in gulf coast (near yemen) for a british petroleum co. for 7 years, returns to india in 1958, and begins his business with a partner in Mumbai textile market, with reliance textile industries… He seems to take bigger risks with each step ahead, and deals with multiple obstacles which India provides to anyone who wants to create changes at high speed.

He deals with lack of financial resources through generating money through chaotic indian shares market with new methods. Connects with plethora of govt. babus, policy makers, political big-wigs, customs and other agencies notorious for their ability to slow down anything and also manages to work with foreign organizations wary of murky business systems.

There are 100’s of obstactles that happen in India on a regular basis – jealous business rivals, people who start personal vendetta on perceived insults – and such vendetta’s can go on for year, and power hungry politicians, quirky family members, ideologists who attack relentlessly on basis of value conflicts and try to demonize their enemies, and clueless masses…

The same India, where almost anything can be turned around, a sinner to saint and back again, Where papers can be lost, scams wiped clean and bitter enemies become business partners, and also where loyal employees and partners sacrifice themselves for their leaders and his family…

All these happenings which rival mega TV series occur at fast pace in Hamish Mcdonalds book on Ambani, and if you are old enough and were an avid newspaper reader from last few decades, then you will re-live those bold morning headlines you had read in the past decades.. as the author has based his accounts on these media expositions a lot.

The author tries to remain objective, but dhirubhai’s aura is evident from beginning to end – though there are enough information presented and the reader is encouraged to see between the lines.

If you have not already made up your mind as whether dhirubhai is a saint or a sinner – then you might get more out of this book, otherwise, you will end up seeing just the side you want to see (selective attention). Its like this, you either hate him or love him..

the middle neutrality is very tough, but worth it to get many epiphanies. Though there is a comparison in the end – Modh Baniya community from kathiyawar area of Gujarat gave 2 personalities to the world – gandhi and dhirubhai. Maybe as different as Khadi and polyster. If you look at india of today (in 2013), both have influenced in its making. Should they or could they be compared? (recently I did read a comparison analysis between lincoln and gandhi… again controversial material) Some might refuse such a comparison.

But, suppose objectively if an alien compares them, what would be its analysis? Probably such objectivity wont be possible for most Indians – or probably time will tell…

sovidual: Barefoot in Bombay (Mumbai)

past these hills of Mumbra, the train goes towards Mumbai.  Below the hills a crammed concrete jungle indicates an over flowing city

barefoot in a Mumbai local train.. at noon time, after the morning rush is over.   

sovidual: Barefoot in Bombay (Mumbai)

Thane, the last railway station before mumbai city limits, is packed with people even at noon time

a crowded street, a big contrast after my rural stint.  

hanging out from the local train, at a mid mumbai station... 

Barefoot in Bombay (Mumbai)

Last few days, travelled in Mumbai, mostly visiting friends and having long chats – to catch up with the last 3-4 years…  connecting back from where we had left off years ago, happened again & again with so many friends, that I began to take it for granted.

Got into the groove of travelling in local trains of Mumbai… those old instincts took  over automatically..  which entrance of railway station to go to, where in platform to stand  to get the best compartment, where the ticket windows are..  etc. 

But being barefoot broke through that cocoon of habituation – each surface was stimulating and providing new information.  Gravel or small stones used for making the tar roads were spilled everywhere.  I would never have felt them if I weren’t barefoot. 

How shoes/sandals have become ubiquitous was evident as I could not find any other bare footer (though I must admit that I was observing in a casual way only)… almost all places were designed for footwear wearers.  Its like the way a city gets designed for car owners.  The recent rainy season had brought out lots of dirt and plastic bags – which were not cleaned up, and thus one of the least friendly places for a barefooter… though that’s the challenge too!

The amount of eateries, people, things lying around in open shops and otherwise, and consummated consumption – to be seen around was 1000’s of times more than the rural-tribal forest area where I stayed for past 3 years.  So I guess there are jolts of cultural shocks to be had even within a short span of absence.

Another difference – I walked around as much as possible – even though 3-wheelers and taxi’s seem to be the usual way to travel even 1 kilometer distance in this city.  Maybe I wasn’t under the constant time-pressure the mumbaikar’s are subjected to. 

I caught a few stares at my barefeet, even though I wasn’t really looking for it, but nobody asked me even once in the last few days about it – i.e. none of the strangers…  I am bit disappointed at this even ;)