Things to do /not to while travelling in a mumbai local train

Do-Plan you travel with a 15 mins contingency as alighting a train requires some practise and a few hits and misses.
Don't-Wear high heels and get into the second class ladies compartment, get ready to hear some classy marathi abuses form koli women whose feet you might accidentally step on.
Don't-Eat vada pav wrapped in newspaper, in first class people will look down on you with a demeaning look and also the lead in the print is harmful for your health.
Do-Be alert while purchasing the ticket as the ticket-window guy may purposely not return your change or give you a torn note, just to teach you a lesson.
Don't-Enter the train with a huge laptop bag, or else be prepared to give apologising looks to fellow-passengers, or else you will be cursed to death.
Don't-Travel in a Virar local if you are getting down anywhere before Borivali, people will poke and pinch you...no jokes...rumour has it ladies stand at doors with needles!
Don't-Listen to music from your cellphone on loudspeaker inspite of the warning announcement, or else be prepared to shell out some cash.
Do- always appreciate the regular bhajan mandali gangs because they are singing devotional songs which presumably don't disturb anyone though they can be heard 2 compartments across.
Dont-Talk in immpecable english in a train fight, you will get to hear, 'aap foreign jao, english hamein bhi aata hein par faltu mein hum jhadte nahin'.
Dont-Keep your water bottle, in the side-pocket of the bag and try hauling it over the rack above, chances are the bottle will shoot into somebody's eye and you will be showered with curses and angry looks, and if by mistake it happens, don't offer the bottle with chilled water for respite.....
Don't- stare at women through the bars of the mens compartment and gesturing is a strict no-no as it can be misconstrued as being lewd and you could be arrested.
Do-Be careful if the fourth seat next to you is occupied by a fat lady chances are three-fouths of her butt will not fit in the 1 inch space and will end up on your lap.
Do-Be wary of sitting next to middle aged droolers, the rocking of the train reminds them of their craddle days and there they are more likely to end up drooling all over you.
Don't-Standing on the footboard is a no no if you are a lady apart from safety concerns there are perverts who hold their hand out to feel you as the train passes a station
Don't-Travel ticketless on andheri stn and try to give the nonchalant look, as the expert mind-reading ticket checker will swoop down on you from nowhere and you are caught red-handed and shamefaced.
Do-If you are a lady and in a hurry use your charm and ask the college-going guy in the line ahead to buy you ticket.
Don't-Buy gaudy looking pastries from the food-stalls on the platform, the more colourful they are the higher the chances of severe case of diarrhoea.

That's all for now, but the list continues.....

Where I want to travel to next......

I have had my eye on the beaches of Thailand for quite a while. Thailand has a special place in my heart . After having spent almost one & half year of my life in a small town near Bangkok. Lately I have this strong desire to go there , look around , see how things have changed & meet those warm & friendly people.

There was this very kind childless couple I used to address the lady fondly as ‘Piao’ which by the way means ‘onion’ in my mother tongue. They took great care of me & my sister, as they would of their own.It would be nice to

Goa vacation continued

So we resumed our journey which turned out to be quite a long one almost 17 hrs , which amounted to a delay of almost 5 hrs...wow dat was one long journey , worse because of the bed bugs which feasted on us throughout the night.....im getting goosebumps as i write this down, it still gives me the creeps.

Day1: Finally we reach 'Gabriels Guesthouse' , our first imperession is 'this looks like a pleasant & nice place', it was painted flourescent yellow , green & pink from the outside. we were welcomed by Ivy & Hillary the owners of the inn .Also we are greeted by an annoying Pomerian which keeps trying to lick our knees all the while yelping….there is also a sort of helper of Nepaleses origin named ‘Andy’ shy but kinda cute….the best part of the guesthouse was its location ..2 mins walk from an untouched part of the beach. After completing the check-in formalities we were shown our pink & green painted rooms, which were quite cosy. We freshened up & decided to head for lunch , my friend in a mood for an Italian Meal pulled us to this place by the name 'Little Italy', which is a famous chain of restaurants in Mumbai....but as it turns out it was a big let down, the Tobasco pizza was anything but spicy, we practically mixed our own drinks & the Penne pasta with mixed sauce which was claimed to be made in fresh parmesan cheese tasted like amul cheese....& to top it all the bill totalled to almost 1.5 grand, wat a rip-off. The service at the restaurant was bad inspite of both their waiters getting 'Employee of the month' awards.

Then a short nap later, Its evening & we head to the beach & seat ourself at a shack owned by a mother-son duo, who are quite friendly & serve us on our recliners. It is a secluded part of the beach with only a bald-firang-photographer( who my friend thot was really cute) for company…it was a beautiful windy evening…we had some good music for company, wetted our feet in the waters, clicked some pictures, enjoyed our appetisers & drinks n watched the sunset.It was night when we reluctantly left the shack , inspite of the owners insisting us to stay for dinner. Wow...that was one relaxing day!

My Vacation

Just reurned from a 5 day Goa trip, went there along with my friends. We had the best time & i would like to share my experiences with you.
It all started almost a month ago when me alongwith my 3 city-born-9 to 5- working friends decided its high time we need a vacation desperately to calm-down our stressed-out, on the edge nerves. So began the search for our travel destination we scanned all options rite from Thailand, Cambodia, Lakshadweep, & finally settled down on Goa.(Thanks to our tight puse-strings & love for the sea) . It was a place we had already been to but we couldnt get enough of it.........

This is a detailed account of my Goa-vaction:
Day 0: We are all excited & packed, ready to Go Goa, we reach our Bus pick-up point 15 ins earlier only to learn that it would not leave as per the scheduled time...grr..i hate when things are late...
So finally we leave at 6.30 an hour later- after a crazy dog sniffed us , questioning the handicapped bus guy at least 8 times about when the bus would arrive all the while getting the same response'Abhi ayega Madam', looking at our compatriots...
Finally we are all settled in & ready to leave,then much to our annoyance the bus makes many unscheduled stops all over Mumbai & we manage to get out of the city only at 9.30, with a much heavier(loaded with some heavy cartons) & wobbly bus.
Then we stopover at Pen gaon for dinner at a creepy restaurant called 'Sai Darbar' with a smelly dark washroom only to see a sleepy guy entering the Ladies toilet to be screamed at by passers by...anyway our growling stomachs still rule over our sense of hygenie & we risk a Fried rice & manchow soup( which was suprisingly yummy).All of us well fed except for my friend who suffers from motion-sickness, we restart our journey only to realise that one fellow (probably an agent by profession, he was talking loudly over the phone trying to cut some deals while i was trying to slingshot him with a used bottle , u had to be there to get this part!) was left behind, an alarm was raised & he alighted.

To be Cotinued....