Turning 30- A Reality??

Late..but its only when u see it that u can do smthing about it. And in this case - write about it!

There are some movies u hate, some movies u like, some movies u love..and some movies that hit u straight in the heart! “Turning 30” falls in the last category. Very realistic, open, critical and most importantly-very relatable. It is a very accurate description of the urban life, especially Mumbai. The men shown in it-the conventional, good-looking, rich, in love, charismatic…but ultimately –gutless freaks (Sid Makker). But can you blame them…isn’t everyone, and I mean everyone – at the bottom of their hearts-selfish? You would want to fend for urself first…but is that what life is about-living for yourself? The movie is a classic depiction of the balance you need to have in life-yes you need love, but you cant live only with it…you also need a career a.k.a. your true calling-your forte-something that you can call your own. Or vice versa..the degree of importance of career & love could vary between people, but both have to co-exist, necessarily. And not 25..but post 30,or 40..or whenever you think “its alright to stop being confused” or “I cant be confused anymore”. Its only then that a lot things will dawn on you…its like you decide when you have hit “your 30”. Its your life! :)

So I am going to stop ranting about the philosophy that hit me (incase you aren’t interested in the deep thought) Here are the 10 things you should watch the movie for -
1.Gul Panag and her super brilliant personality, the awesome chic look, the panache with which she carries herself, and her clothes and her haircut *totally love it*

2.Her friends – Malini (Tillotama Shome) & Rukhsana (Jeneva Talwar) who re-instill your faith in friendship and make you think of the people you would be willing to call “bestest, 3 AM, friends”

3.The ever cute Purab Kohli

4.Gul Panag’s house decor

5.All the coffee & wine that is drunk in the course of the movie

6.The idea of working in an advertising agency (cliché’..but still appealing to an engineer, who is now doing a run of the mill MBA!)

7.All the places in Mumbai you can identify (bandstand, azad maidan, eros, marine drive..)
8.The sophisticated birthday party (i.e. with no cake on the face) that you will be expected to have at 30

9.Sometimes men will be men, and you cant really do anything about it

10.And, lastly - to get a reality check on your life..a sincere introspection of where you are headed..and faith that its ok to be where you are!! Its your life!

The Extra Seat

Long weekend-monsoon-college-friends-mood-excitement. All these were perfect ingredients to plan a trip. And from the internet reviews - Mahabelshawar seemed more than inviting. Just About 120 kms away from Pune city, the hill station seemed to be the classic get-away. The perfect weather to be among the hills and greenery and waterfalls (and ofcourse the PJ’s that come along with friends-no matter how much corporate experience they have had!!)
We began our trip - bang on time, as per to the “Indian Standard Time”… (i.e. just about 45 minutes later than our so called “scheduled” departure of 6AM)! There were 8 of us, including the driver, in a “supposedly” white [read: really dirty with muck, hence almost brown] Chevrolet Tavera . But once in, there was no stopping the FUN! From which song will play (7 people,ok 8- but many more opinions!) to who will sit where..it was like being back in school-just that we didn’t or rather couldn’t fight to sit at the window seat! ;)

Through the “vaadiyan”, valleys and hills…our car slowly climbed the slopes of Panchagani..and we were left to wonder...India is indeed beautiful. At the least, every single get-away near Pune was worthy of being converted into an exotic tourist destination. We just weren’t using the beauty of the place to our economic advantage. We were trying to sound all knowledgeable and concerned- afterall we had to prove it was MBA students out on a trip ( :P ) …but our talk eventually retracted to sad jokes! Little did we know that we would have revive the conversation very soon..except this time, we would be the “affected” party and not the “discussing” party!

So just as we were officially entering “Panchagani”, we see a makeshift toll booth..with “Panchagani Tourism Department Welcomes You” board stuck on a tree…and a person with a muffler stopping each passing vehicle. When our turn came, he handed over 8 “ticket sorta-things” and coolly asked us for 190 Rs .. (he had done the math before we reached - 50Rs for the car and 20Rs for each passenger!) So we were in a state of “not-so-good-a-surprise”. But we didn’t really debate much (apart from uttering a few light abuses) thinking that the beautiful hills really did need a lot of “taking care” from the tourim department to maintain it.

But this wasn’t the end of it. While entering Panchagani market…(which a small winding road, food stalls lined all over, leading to a mosque and church on either end), we were stopped by a cop. This person, just peeked in and said “Gaadi side mein lo”. We were all staring at one another…since we couldn’t for the world think of what was it that we had been stopped for. The Cop then walks up to us and says “Extra Seat hai. Hundred Rupees do.” We were like “WAAATTT” ??? According to us (and even the car) there was place to accommodate 1 if not 2 more people. “Extra seat” like seriously? We were totally impressed by the “Innovation” in terms of the reason for extorting money from tourists! And more specifically the money not being productively used!

To top it all….the place was not the best of conditions….the roads were pot-holed, mucky in considerable parts, road signs were hazy in places, there were no proper tourist desks-information points- I am not even getting to the beer cans and alcohol bottles and the huge amount of plastic lying on the roadside (that calls for a separate column)… The place was driving crowds solely by its scenery...nothing else about the place had changed in probably the last 65 years!

Thankfully, we were in too a good a mood to actually mull over the happenings or take them to heart…and we had a blast the rest of the day (with more makeshift toll nakas coming our way, ofcourse) – with the Fog, and the plants and trees, the flora and fauna..the moss covered shrubs and trees, the blind drops into valleys, the myriad waterfalls…there was no dearth of interesting, pretty, fantabulous and absolutely smashing sights! The fog rendered the “End of the world” look to the entire place…it was like being transported to some new (rather very old, mystical) land!
The day ended on a happy note…but this blog is actually an after-thought of the things that are actually important and should be taken up by us (and the government) and a reflection on the changes that India needs and can usher in with not too much fanfare!