The Car Chase... Phew!! Scary scenes for Mumbai!!

Between the hush of Mumbai city, a little me blogs again, to spew all that has happened in this city, when I was around… Not that I blog when there is something astounding happening with me, but things that hit me and hurt me most..Even though being a fan of this city….Well I’m gonna narrate to you something which will make the women of this city scared… YES it will!! Mumbai the most trustable city for the fairer sex to roam freely, but sad to say, this city doesn’t sound so trustable anymore.

As the story goes, a group (Group A) of party animals(including me) land up at Hawaiian shack in bandra. There they meet other friends group (Group B) and party till the place pulls down its doors and the staff (we know) says goodbye, then our groups move to another 'good muzic' place, Merlins, at Orchid’s, Santacruz…. rock the show and then decide to finally settle down at a friends place.. Group A+B reach the friends place back in Bandra. All listen to some muzic, have a good snack, wash it down with a glass of beer and proceed to their respective homes. Ganged up in two cars, one had my friend/colleague in the drivers seat and the other was driven by a sweet girl (from group B). As I was entering my friends car, my buddy asked me to step into the other car (which had a couple), as the girl who was driving, was gonna be alone after dropping the couple home. I agreed and stepped in…Being the person I am, I struck a conversation with all in the car, bid farewell to the couple and all that was left was me and the girl (she was driving, I can’t drive to save my life..) So, we took a U turn and proceeded from Carter Road, having a polite conversation, I was almost dozing (O, I forgot to mention, it was 3:30am) then suddenly, lady fair tells me there is someone with “bright headlights” behind us, I turned to look and found a silver mahindra scorpio behind us.. who suddenly started to flicker his headlights…We both came to a consensus that the Scorpio wanted to pass and allowed it to go ahead… Someone in that vehicle, lowered the window and signaled us (with freaking stubby hands) to stop… Initially, we thought they were cops patrolling and slowed down, but later realized there was no Police light or “Police” plastered on the vehicle.. We both assumed “trouble” and decided to make a dash.. The scorpio followed us, each time trying to overtake and stop us in our tracks…..

The girl began to panic and I was wondering…. “What the hell is happening?..” She asked me to call our common friend and I began telling him the mess we were in, he panicked too (the situation was scary with us & they were already waiting at the pre-decided place, The Marriott) he asked 'how was she doing' and mentioned her name (that’s when I registered her name..I know its funny, but I’m good with faces compared to names)… He hurled the steering wheel and turned his car around & drove towards the road, we were still getting followed onnn, stopping on the way to ask for the Cops help, but though I was speaking to him, least did he know, what was happening with us… The goons followed us continuously and managed to overtake us (the third time), slowing down before our vehicle, thus making us slow down too… The girl panicked (it was given for anyone to do so), I asked her to stop the car, she did… The Scorpio stopped approx 20mts ahead of us, 3 middle aged guys got off and walked towards our vehicle…

The girl(at the steering) panicked further, I asked her, if there was a weapon in the car, she screamed back “I’m a girl, how can u expect it of me”... I looked straight ahead, measured one of the guys and was thinking “I cannot let anything happen to her..I can take on one of these hurly burly guys, but what about the rest…What would be happening of her??”…It was a showdown, my ears were getting hot, fists clenching, body ready to respond to human reflexes, I could slash wrists and necks to save a fellow human, but how ?…I racked my brains for a solution, I had to do things… Its an instinct, it’s a responsibility (it’s a hard time you know..knowing there is a girl to save herself from getting raped and me to play fighter plane )...When they were about 10mts away, I screamed “Go, just speed off again and don’t refrain from running down anyone of them” she panicked, I asked her to stay focused on the road… She jammed the accelerator and sped away. We dashed to the nearest police station (at the intersection of juhu galli, SV road…. asking for help… I turned behind to check, and realized they scorpio guys had given up… I dunno what happened… We reached safety land before they did… We narrated the whole story to the cops and they were receptive, informed the control room too (I wonder if it makes a difference).. Our pals had already reached by then, but minus the COPS they had with them!! It seems “the area restricted cops”, chickened out, saying “this is not my jurisdiction”… What the hell?? Are these cops to save our city from crime? or what are they??

We all however, we felt a bit more secure and confident (not cos the cops were there, but cos we were more in number) and then proceeded in her car to escort/drop her home and return back to our respective homes…Knowing ofcourse, that this girl, though scared, was composed, smart & brave.. in the true meaning of the word(s).

My questions that night(rather morning) were… “What would have happened if she was alone in the car?” Is this the Mumbai I know??

“What are jurisdiction rules?? If, a human is being murdered in a different jurisdiction and there is another Cop close by, would he save your life or walk away saying, it not my jurisdiction?”

“Should weapons be made legal for women in India ??”

Last but not the least, “Is this city safe ??”

I would suggest… The govt. should invest in more security on small junctions (instead of gulping taxes, without burping), be more proactive and last but not the least, not be cowardly but take on different responsibilities with guts & grace.

Is this Amchi Mumbai??

Well one would aspire to hear the rocking line of Munna Bhai MBBS with Vidya Balan screaming in her sweet voice, saying "Gooooddd mmoorrrnning Mumbai".. every day and we would step out with a smile on our face and a will to have a fantastic day...
Sounds good, doesn't it ??
Every morning, i wake up, with a will to have a fantastic day (ofcourse) and sometimes even have one... But these fantastic days, are one of those when i leave either very late for work or happen to work on a weekend. You wondering why ?? Have a look at the pic posted and take a guess 'Which is MY hand!!' [Now your wondering "What connection to travel and my hand"]
Its the pic of a Virar local, bound for Churchgate (a First class compartment...i think it must have been 9:30am) .. All you can see is hands, hands and hands .... different colours, sizes and ofcourse with different things in them. Imagine all those people standing inside, there " isin't enough space for hands... the human body is still bigger in size" .
Even animals when loaded in trucks, still have space for themselves !! [i would summon Maneka Gandhi here]
When the government and railways boast about making mega profits, providing services for the common man blah blah blah... Do they mean 'Rinsing the common man in an over crowded train and selling his blood and ofcourse providing services to make this rinsing less painful' ??
I wish Maneka Gandhi and Laloo Prasad Yadav traveled in this train sometime, in such a state...
Laloo's buttery cheeks would get squeezed and sucked into his jaws, with his nose stuffed into someone's armpit and he would get off (at his destination ofcourse) smelling of others mehenat ka pasina, without his dhooti, which would be stuck somewhere in the gangway...
Maneka Gandhi on the other hand wouldn't be much better.... Gotten sqeezed,rinsed and battered she would go back her animals and say "You guys are much more lucky... You'll travel comfortably and then get slaughtered, whereas these Bombayites travel in pathetic conditions and still get slaughtered for our (politicians) sins".
Is this what these First or second class citizens pay such taxes for.... is this a morning that a mumbaite lives for, unless he believes that he should feel every human in the train, close to his chest, smell and mingle with his sweat, but still not ask his name!!
Sounds like hell, does it ?? infact worse that it.... Politicians call it 'Amchi mumbai', is this really mine or your own??

The Lazy Police

So, I see my self blogging week on week now...

This time around I have a story to tell!!

Being the Mumbaite I am, I was traveling back and caught one of the last trains, a Virar of course, which as usual had the last train kinda crowd, people with tired eyes, some alcohol friendly and some just late... all having a story to tell... some talking to their friends and some alone, thinking to themselves - "When will I reach back " (the local trains always have subjects, which would be a good study for psychologists)...
Anyway, I got a place to sit and was hearing a group of guys abusing the government (its the usual thing in these rickety trains, where one does not know what his plight would be)... but later one of them walked to the door and lit a cigarette, peering around, then called some friends to share the smoke and the conversation continued... I overheard them speak, it was about a cop (police man ofcourse), sprawled out on one of the seats opposite to the 8 seater...
It was a surprising sight, he seemed to be clueless about what was going on (no one is allowed to smoke in public transport) and probably was in the eleventh heaven, with a faint odour of Whisky and garlic surrounding him and occasionally scratching his crotch!! Opposite to him was another 'cop looking guy' sitting and was supposedly accompanying him, but chose to turn a deaf ear to the happenings around him...
Phew!!! This is our government, who we trust and vote for... No wonder they get bought off so easily for a few thousand or lakh rupees....

So your wondering what did I do there ?? The train was approaching my destination and I got off, but yes I got something with me, a pic of the moment (taken from my low end mobile phone) and a thought "Do we really need to work hard, slog our butt off, pay heavy taxes and take care of this sloppy government" can I truly and honestly say "Mera Bharat mahaan!!"

Why Eyes Wide Open ??

Ah... I write again...
So, I told some of my friends that I’ve started blogging and their reaction was "What!! You of all the people... BLOGGING", I smiled, nodded my head and sipping on a drink said "Yes".
They asked me the URL of my Blog, I told em "Guy-eyes-wide-open.blogspot.com"...
Blogspot.com needed no explanation and was understood instantly [knowing their geeky nature :)], but Guy-eyes-wide-open had its questions, so I explained
Guy - That is me, the Guy next door!! A simple human, living a simple life in this big City.
Eyes Wide Open - While living our everyday life in this city and traversing from point A to wherever and back, we see so much, hear so much and even though, we may not like what we see or hear, we still cannot change it, cos there's not much in our control. The next day the same old process is repeated again, but this time we live with Eyes Wide Open, to see more, to hear more and understand more, striving to change what we don't like to see.
They finally understood and we raised a toast to it. Hopefully, they would read my blog and start blogging sometime soon. I'm sure I would write stuff that is irrelevant (at times) to most people, but would make sense to those, who've been thru it.
Personally, I have been a bombayite, mumbaikar (these are the only two names, I like best for people, like me, who belong to the this city) and have seen soo much change in this city over the past few years. Some changes are really good and some so bad that it hurts!!!
How do we change this?? I don't have a concrete plan, but over time, I’m sure, it will develop... The media (print, TV, Internet) has soo much everyday, but how many of us actually post comments, thoughts that we as citizens, have!!
[My favourite sources for my kinda news are
Newspaper - Hindustan Times and Mid-Day.
TV Channel - Aaj Tak, Star News, Zee News.
Portals - www.rediff.com, www.mid-day.com, www.timesofindia.com and ofcourse www.hindustantimes.com :)]
Internet was the best thing to happen to this world and Blogging - Freedom of expression is just the beginning!!

My First blog

They say there is always a first time....
Well, i met these guys today who came in for a meeting to my office... So what influenced me ?? Their emotional attachment to blogging and supposedly clout got me and i decided to give it a try... So here it is ... Lets hope the drive continues and i carry on the good work :)
For those who find this blog, either surfing or in an organic listing, i could just say your lucky :D