Panoramic Versaille Palace right side of Garden

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Pune - Mumbai Traffic Jam

If you are a regular traveler on Pune - Mumbai Route, you must have witnessed what is shown above. This is a picture of heavy traffic jam near Panvel where our bus, Shivneri took almost an hour to cross the bridge that otherwise avoids Panvel traffic. And this is not a case happening once in while. This has now become day to day experience on this route. Lot of road expansion work in going on here that has created a bottle neck for the vehicles going towards Mumbai. Worst part is the road provided for these vehicles to drive is actually not a road. Distance between two potholes on this road is less than 1 inch. In fact there are pot holes with in a pot hole. With Fantastic suspension of Mercedes Benz model of Shivneri bus, you pretty much get a feeling of  sitting in a boat. And if by chance your bus is passing through flooded water, it really make you feel like sitting in a boat. Yesterday while in bus, we felt like singing a marathi song "Vallahav re nakwa, ho" generally sung by fishermen in sea which crudely means "pedal your boats".

I don't think road construction work is an issue here. The issue is the poor (even that doesn't describe the condition of roads actually) condition of roads whichconverts an other wise 3 hours journey of Pune - Mumbai route in to 6 hours. That's a shame. Just one suggestion, do not even think about travelling in your own car on this route. You will repent for your decision after an exhausting 6 hours snail pace journey. Go for Shivneri or other MSRTC buses.

A hazy Full Moon

Salman Khan: Charges framed

As the news arrive, Charges for culpable homicide have been framed on Salman Khan today. If you follow the news, it appears as if even framing charges is an uphill task when it is related to a celebrity.

Apparently, the Judge wasn't ready to take the case because he has been transferred. Prosecutor Erande must have done some hell of a task to convince him to accept the case today itself. Overall the outcome of today's proceeding is charges have been framed against Salman Khan and he has been directed to be present in front of the court when ever required.

I don't know if Salman Khan is guilty or not, so I am not going to make any comments about that here.What irritates me is the time required to get justice in India. Its an 11 years old case and all that we have reached till date is framing charges. Now that Mr. Khan is going out of the country for next 2 months, there won't be any developments.  With this pace, it surely will take around, may be five-ten more years, I don't know, to get a judgement. Then, there will be appeals, going to other courts and some other reasons we do not know.

I am just hoping, how pathetic the pace of judgement delivery is  in India, finally there is a judgement. We have seen it recently in case of Sanjay Dutt's case. Finally Justice is served after about 20 years. Salman's case has just finished 11 years. So, probably in coming 9-10 years, a judgement will be available. By that time, he would have turned something like 55, I guess. He might even have lost a big  fan base and the judgement passed would not mean a lot.  But I guess, that's the way it is. I will rather be surprised if what I wrote here turn out to be wrong.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Salman-Khan-charged-with-culpable-homicide-not-amounting-to-murder-pleads-not-guilty/articleshow/21299214.cms

Fountain in the Rathaus (City Hall) courtyard in Hamburg, Germany

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Mumbai Monsoon

Its the month of July and we have completed over a month of monsoon. Now, monsoon is something which I guess is a  phenomenon found in this part of the world only. Who ever else I have talked  mostly don't have any clue about it. They are little surprised when they come to know that a country as big as India received rain for only 4 months in a year and it survives on water that is accumulated during this period. If you visit European countries, its pretty usual to receive rain almost every second or third week.

 Personally, I was looking forward for this season for many reasons. First of all I have missed Indian rain  over last five six years. I don't remember when was the last I was soaked in rain. I remember how I enjoyed driving my bike at as minimum possible speed just so that I will spend more time in rain.

This year, I expereinced the much awaited rainy season resding in Mumbai. Now this is my altogether first ever experience of Mumbai rain. Interesting thing is even the rain this year is pretty different from last couple of years. I haven't one full sunny day since it started pouring on June 03. Mumbai rain is really different. If you are caught in rain, there is no way you can survive without getting wet. What ever mode you use to protect you, an umbrella or a rain coat, nothing works. I was amazed to see the intensity of rain. With in minutes, all low lying areas are coverd in water and creates problems for commuters. All transportation system pretty much comes to halt when the rain is at its fullest.

One interesting thing to look for is the aggresive Arabian sea during the high tide. I am yet to visit one of such places in Mumbai, but if you are in Mumbai and it is raining and it is high tide, I guess visiting such a place like Varali Sea face could be fun. Of course one should be really careful because situation in Mumbai apparently turns from good to not just bad but worst in a few minutes. So, do enjoy monsoon rain and also be careful with health and sudden dangers around.

Photo courtesy:

http://blog.le15.co.in/2012/07/monsoons-in-mumbai.html

http://vishalbheeroo.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/marine-drive-monsoon-and-crescent-of-waves/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombay_flooded_street.jpg

I am using these photos just as an aid to my post. I do not own them. They were searched on google images and posted here hence. If it violates any copyright (which I could not find on related links pasted above, kindly contact me and I will get them removed.)

Tour Eiffel, Paris

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