ng back’, are terms which seem so irrelevant today, these words sound so ‘unMumbaikar’. What has happened to my Mumbai? It breaks my heart to see things today which one does not usually associate with Mumbai. Why is there an eerie silence on the roads today? Why have the people stopped honking unnecessarily? Why is there no traffic jam on the roads? Hey, why is that traffic cop not taking a bribe from that guy who broke the signal? Why are the cops manning the check posts and the nakabandi not looking mean anymore? Why is the local panwallah not his chirpy self today? What has happened to my Mumbai today?
Was this attack supposed to be a wake up call for Mumbai? But don’t they say that Mumbai never sleeps? Or was it all just a way of romanticizing the city? Were we not asleep all this while? How does one explain all this? So many people have used and abused Mumbai, so many people have managed to traumatize Mumbai, so many people…
Be it some insane politician like Raj Thackeray or Bal Thackeray before him, or the local police, or the underworld, or the terrorists, Mumbai has always been used and abused. They say Mumbai will bounce back as usual. Mumbai has a spirit, it is said. But does this give them the liberty to take Mumbai for granted?
‘Stay calm’, ‘We have to be united’, ‘We will look into the matter’, ‘We give our heartfelt condolences to the dead’, ‘We will treat these terrorists as terrorists’, ‘These things happen in a big city’, ‘We will talk to Pakistan’- all these statements were heard over the last 2 days from various people, politicians mostly, to which I have this to say,
‘No, we will not stay calm’, 
‘No we will not be united for the simple reason that we have always been united-Who are you to assume that we are divided?’
‘We know what the matter is, sir. We do not need an explanation’,
‘Thank you sir, for treating terrorists as terrorists- now we know why they have so much courage to enter the city at will and bomb it from time to time- they know they will be treated like a hero who will be allowed to meet relatives and given home food because if you don’t then there are people from the human right associations who will make sure that they are treated like heroes.’
‘Yes, Mr Politician, these things happen in a big city and probably will continue to happen especially if the city is continued to be governed by people like you.’
‘Thank you, but no thank you, sir. We do not want you to ‘talk’, we want you to show some guts. We have been talking and talking and talking and look what we have achieved. We do not want more buses or trains or anyone coming from
We need action. Isn’t there anyone in this country’s leaders who have the guts and intelligence to counter this problem? Then why don’t you please contact Mr Bush from
We do not want to be called a sissy country. We do not want to be a soft target for terrorists just because the people in power are gutless and heartless who can think of only votes, votes and more votes so that they can squeeze the citizens for 5 more years. I heard some politician was also contemplating whether they should be having a party meeting to discuss if they want to call for a bandh in the city. Imagine!
Enough already.
Enough, Enough, Enough!
Today no one can understand Mumbai more than the people who have lived here all their lives. No one can understand Mumbai as much as the people who knew it as
I want my 
No, you wouldn’t accept it.
Think about it. That’s exactly how ridiculous the name change for
I want to call my city
I want my
Time to wake up
I recently heard a conversation between a Bihari and a Upiite. Here are excerpts from that conversation.
Bihari: What is up?
UPiite: The Indians are going to the moon, so I guess the rocket is up…
Bihari: arre not that, about Raj Thackeray
UPiite: oh that? Arre it is getting increasingly difficult man. My Marathi tuition teacher has raised his fees again.
Bihari: Yeah, same here. Well, it’s in demand na. So how much Marathi have you learned?
UPiite: Ticha aaii laa… Aaii ga…
Bihari: very good…I have learnt… Aai chaa gho…aai za…(self Censored) hehe…it is a very mother oriented language…everything revolves around the mother… I’m loving it…I thought only Biharis loved their mothers but Maharashtrians love mothers too…
UPiite: Yeah there is no difference, eh? I think so too… a lot of mother is used in Marathi… like ‘Aaii La’ is also much used…
Bihari: I have also learned, what ‘Guddi buddhi jhaali’ means…
UPiite: hahaha…very nice…and you know what ‘Aai shappat’ means?
Bihari: Yeah, again mother comes into picture… so are you applying for the Railway jobs?
UPiite: yes but they are beating up non-Maharashtrians.
Bihari: I know…but they are fools…I got the forms filled in Marathi…they didn’t touch me…instead they beat up 50 Maharashtrians who had filled the form in English…idiots.
UPiite: hahaha… maa-hiti aahe…(Maa again) they are so stupid…what are they fighting for anyways?
Bihari: I guess, they want more intelligent people to turn Maharashtrians because they don’t have intelligent people amongst them. Simple.
UPiite: Yeah, I guess that is the reason. Also, they want a share of the pie from all Government organizations. I mean, there is so much to earn from bribes in the Railways.
Bihari: But asking for bribes is also an art. I mean how can they know how to take what rightfully doesn’t belong to them? That’s a prerogative of us North Indians, isn’t it?
UPiite: yeah, right. They will spoil the market of bribes by asking for a vada paav for a train berth or at the most money for Misal for a Chair Car seat.
Bihari: That’s what I’m worried about. It will set a bad precedent. People will start expecting that we will settle for 10 or maximum 20 bucks.
UPiite: Yeah, look at the Maharashtrian traffic police- they are so cheap. Imagine, they take only 50 bucks for breaking a signal. These Maharashtrians don’t think big.
Bihari: Yeah…sad… What do you think of this Raj guy?
UPiite: I think the Maharashtrians would call him ‘chaangla’. I think if he is chaanglaa, he should be sent to
Bihari: hahahaha…that’s what he wants to make
UPiite: Better be careful what you call this city. They changed the name to Mumbai which, do you know, was primarily a Gujarati word earlier. The Gujaratis could not pronounce
Bihari: Oh, then what’s so Maharashtrian about Mumbai anyway? Why did the Maharashtrians change it to a Gujarati name?
UPiite: I guess because 60% of people in Mumbai were Gujaratis and slowly even Maharashtrians started speaking in Gujarati if they wanted to survive in the city because to conduct business one had to learn Gujarati or Sindhi.
Bihari: Hmm…I also heard that Mumbai is what it is today basically because of the efforts of Parsis, Sindhis and Gujaratis.
UPiite: Yes, and anyway, it was never Maharashtrian- it was supposed to be a part of Gujarat only but then something went wrong and it was made a part of Maharashtra.
Bihari: I guess because of the location. Hmm…then what is the MNS fighting for?
UPiite: You think they are fighting for Maharashtrians? Are you mad? Raj wants publicity and there are too many unemployed, uneducated, stupid Maharashtrians who are ready to vandalize and ransack for a vada pav and an aardha paav…
Bihari: what does that mean?
UPiite: arre, aardha paav means half a quarter of daaru…
Bihari: Not even a full quarter?
UPiite: No…that’s what I mean by cheap… anyway… If this guy wanted to do something for Maharashtrians he should go to the Vidharba and interiors of
Bihari: He doesn’t bother about them?
UPiite: No one bothers about them. There is no water, there is no farming, there is no infrastructure there, but who cares. Surely Raj doesn’t.
Bihari: So he is just interested in power and publicity?
UPiite: Exactly… just like our leaders in
Bihari: That’s the reason we came here in the first place. Now if Mumbai becomes
UPiite: Maybe to the south…
Bihari: But they would not tolerate us either and more than that who wants to tolerate them and their gibberish languages?
UPiite: Abroad is also not an option because they look down upon all Indians. Then what is the next option?
Bihari: We can go back home but then we would have to get back to what we used to do there- nothing.
UPiite: hmm, no body wants us…
Bihari: There is one place we can go to.
UPiite: where?
Bihari: We can go to the interior villages of
UPiite: Yes, he won’t have the courage to even acknowledge us then just like the rest of the country who turns a blind eye and a deaf ear every time the ‘C’ word is mentioned.
Bihari: That’s a good idea.
UPiite: I second that. (In a Maharashtrian twang) Chalaa Gadchiroli…
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
Writer: Abhishek Kapoor
Rating: ****
Rock-On: A fantastic story about four best friends who drift apart as they grow up and get sucked into the rat race of life. Each has his present and each has a past. The past which was mostly spent playing music together.
How lives change!
The dreams which form a major part of one’s growing up years suddenly become impractical and foolish.
‘What? You want to play the guitar for a living? How? Begging on the streets? Go and study your chemistry’
‘I will not tolerate this you stupid nincompoop. You better finish your MBA or else you are going to the
Don’t these words sound familiar?
Every guy who dared to dream can identify with this film- Rock On. More so in a country like
Even our education system is designed in a way where talent takes a back seat over marks and percentage.
Rock On is inspiring in the sense that, what a little space and freedom can do to a man’s self esteem and confidence.
Everyone lives differently when young. I agree change is necessary and maturity is imminent as one ages, but that doesn’t mean one has to sacrifice one’s dreams and family in chasing an unknown idea of happiness. Ironically, the quest harbored during the younger days will always remain and they will keep haunting us reminding us of only one half-question, ‘what if??’
Rock On rocks for its simplicity in the way a complex relationship is narrated in the film. To top it, amazing performances from all the protagonists make it an exciting watch.
As for the music, no need to worry about the rock music because the film is not about rock music. It’s about these four friends and their lives. So feel free and take your family to this exciting new genre of cinema in
Kudos!!!
Click on pic to view wallpaper.
