ChatGPT on Mumbai Street Food!

I asked ChatGPT to compose a rap song on Mumbai Street Food. What a response!

 Verse 1:

Street food in Mumbai, it's a flavor sensation From vada pav to bhel puri, it's a culinary sensation Chaat vendors on every corner, with their carts of delight Selling treats that are sure to make your taste buds ignite

Chorus: Street food in Mumbai, it's a culinary tour From the beaches to the streets, it's the flavor that's pure So come and take a bite, and let your taste buds roam Street food in Mumbai, it's where you'll find your culinary home

Verse 2: Samosas and pakoras, they're a staple on the street With chutneys and sauces that can't be beat Dabeli and sev puri, they're a spicy treat Street food in Mumbai, it's a flavor that's hard to beat

Chorus: Street food in Mumbai, it's a culinary tour From the beaches to the streets, it's the flavor that's pure So come and take a bite, and let your taste buds roam Street food in Mumbai, it's where you'll find your culinary home

Verse 3: From the street vendors to the local joints Street food in Mumbai, it's where the flavors anoint With a diverse culture, it's a culinary delight Street food in Mumbai, it's an experience that's out of sight

Chorus: Street food in Mumbai, it's a culinary tour From the beaches to the streets, it's the flavor that's pure So come and take a bite, and let your taste buds roam Street food in Mumbai, it's where you'll find your culinary home

Outro: So come and take a trip, to the streets of Mumbai Where the street food is lit, and your taste buds will be happy From chaat to pav bhaji, it's a culinary delight Street food in Mumbai, it's an experience that's out of sight.

Visit to The Taj Mahal

The urge to write

Writing a blog post after a long time. While it is in the nature of a travelogue, the thought process started off as somebody laughed at some minister in Goa who went on record to say "Local tourists are the scum of the earth".

Funnily enough, in the group in which this was posted, this receded quickly from being a political post to an interesting discussion on how we behave as tourists in India.

While this discussion was going on, I was about to visit the Taj and was feeding the group with a running commentary as to the environs of the Taj and this prompted the creation of this article.

The Approach

A Random Store outside a monument

The first picture I took was outside a place that looked like it was just behind the walls of the Taj. While it wasn't, it was a monument of tourist significance nevertheless.

The sheer level of dirt that we somehow find acceptable boggles the mind. While the sense of horror diminished once I realized that this was not the Taj, one cannot help but feel that we as a nation need to raise our acceptable level of cleanliness anywhere.

Anyway, to continue the narrative, no sooner we parked than we were surrounded by people wanting us to buy this or do that. Among the first people to harangue us was a guide who pointed to a card and said his charges 'officially' were some Rs. 1,000 odd. We ignored the guy and were soon accosted by another person who said his charges were Rs. 500 including the price of entrance and a promise to get around the large queue that would be naturally there on a Sunday. We eventually picked one such guide though the thought process was more in the nature of 'helping the economy' than any historical information. Of course 'jumping the queue' would also have played its part; we Indians like nothing better than jumping queues / beating the system.

The first thing the guide (Rizwan) proceeded to do was to ensure we used paid loos rather than the free ones. Since the charge was extremely nominal, we rationalized saying that the free ones were possibly stinking. The second thing he conned us into doing was buying some booties (for visiting the mosque) at Rs. 10 / pair. We could have got them later at Rs. 5 but how were we to know. Still we contributed to making a kid happier so that was fine. Though, the guide made the kid give him a pair free of cost. This should have alerted me, but I was too happy being with my son.

Rizwan made us avoid the main West Entrance and took us to the South Entrance. This was via a khufiya steep staircase which led to a path that took us through the residences of the locals.

In these narrow by lanes you could see two wheelers, and even a car which was quite wondrous since it seemed to be in active use. 

The highlight though of the trek through these gully's was an apothecary (Okay, even we have been bitten by the Shashi Tharoor bug!).  Read the sign that is hung out on the right. In case you are finding it difficult, it says अंग्रेजी दवाएं which translates to English medicine.

The Queue

We then queued up to enter. And Rizwan duly managed to pull us up the queue. While we felt guilty doing this, we acknowledge that this is the thing Indians are best at. Jumping queues. Though, if you stop to thing about it, if all the guides are ensuring that their flock jumps queues, then how will anybody benefit? And how about the general public who do not want / cannot afford them?

Having said the above, the value of the guide was more in entering via this approach. While it would have saved us 10-15 minutes when we entered, by the time we exited this difference could easily have been an hour even if everybody stood diligently in queue.

While on the subject of queues, I have to mention that I saw excellent wheelchair arrangement for elderly and disabled people, presumably at a fee, but that is acceptable.

 

The queue itself was regular. There were separate queues for men and women. However, each had only one metal detector which is what caused the bottleneck. And the length of the queue made anything more than a superfluous patting down impossible to achieve. You can see the picture on the right above proudly stating this is a plastic free zone. We were also told not to bring food and eatables inside. However, immediately on entry I heard somebody say "I forgot I had some Polo inside my jacket so I fooled the checker into not checking the jacket". I dare say the guy would not have touched the Polo inside but it goes to show the shoddiness of the check.

The Taj

Once past the checker we were into the compound and we could not wait till we crossed the threshold to the Taj to click our first photograph

The Courtyard before the entrance to the Taj

Here we were given the spiel of Mumtaz being the 3rd of Shahjehan's wives. They married when she was 20. She died at the age of 39 in her 14th childbirth. Shahjehan's first two wives were arranged marriages while this was a love marriage. The other two wives died childless.

There must have been 4 sons and 10 daughters. Aurangzeb was apparently the third son who had 3 of his brothers killed to ascend to the throne. All this history is courtesy Rizwan and I make no claim to the accuracy thereof.

Anyway, we went inside and straight away we saw another instance of the scant disregard we Indians hold for signs of discipline.

The sign on the left reads "Please do not sit on the rails" I went close to click the sign, but I had to click them with the sign. The women had no clue what I was doing. And they couldn't be bothered about the sign.

At any rate the Taj is so beautiful that its beauty transcends all these minor irritants. And viewing it with close family is like icing on the cake.

Being a Sunday, you can see the crowds. The queue at the level of the mosque actually rotates round the mosque comes down and goes round the monument below as well. We clicked a few more photos around the monument which I am sharing below.

A Side View of the Taj

Better than a selfie

Father and Son

Thoughts after the Spectacle

Booties spilling out of the bin

Since it would have taken us like forever to visit the mosque, we decided not to visit the mosque and the booties were useless to us.

However, those who used the booties, we found to our dismay, were slightly less than diligent in their disposal.

I guess we should be happy with the attempt to at least dispose next to a dustbin. You could arguably say that the administration should organize regular disposal from such bins and being Sunday, should do it more than once.

But, the thought persists; Can one not persist with the booties and dispose them where it is possible to do so neatly? We will not see foreigners do this. Nor would we do this abroad.

Why then, do we treat our own country like trash?




The rest of the visit consisted of being conned into buying pethas just outside the monument itself (tremendous cognitive dissonance going on there, but caveat emptor all the way) and a horse ride back to the car. The objective of said horse ride was to provide a small boost to the economy there. Totally unnecessary, but felt like doing something for the public there even if they were looting me mildly.

And so ended a great morning at the Taj suitable capped with comestibles and appropriate fluids.

Things to Remember

Watch the guides. Make sure you hold them to what they say (I was not diligent enough, so I cannot complain) even if you overpay them.

Do not grudge overpaying them. We have seen enough forwards about how we negotiate the last penny with the roadside vendor and then extravagantly tip in upmarket joints. This is where you apply that lesson. It makes a difference to them. Mind you, I am saying be generous, not stupid.

Is immortality desirable?

Over a number of mythological serials one has often heard this blessing "Ayushyaman Bhava" or May you live long. In many movies (of my childhood albeit) one also heard "Tumhe meri umar lag jaye" or may you grow at least as old as me. We also wish people "Jivet Sharada Shatam" or may you live to see 100 winters i.e. live to be 100 years old. These are regarded as blessings.

Personally, I don't know the joy in living that long. At nearly half this age, when one's body is already ravaged by the passage of time to a state where one is prone to either this malady or that (for whatever reason), I don't really see the point in watching it get ravaged further to a point where one is arguably unable to even write some rubbish like this.

Also if one accepts the fact that there are infinitely more sorrows in life than there are joys (and 'round objects' to people who believe that every moment of life is a celebration), why would anybody want to see more and more of such stuff.

Yes I agree that each phase of life has different pleasures but really do I want to see all of them? And how many more phases would there be before the last few phases start repeating. As I write this, I am inexplicably reminded of the Fibonacci series where Fibo(1) = 0 and Fibo(2) = 1. Any other Fibonnacci number n can be generally described as Fibo(n) = Fibo(n-1) + Fibo(n-2). To bring this parallel to the human life cycle there are possibly 3 phases i.e. Childhood, Youth and Parenthood and any future phase is a culmination of the previous two really.

So I do not think I want to be immortal. I would not mind dying right now!

Meaningless meanderings

Am writing after almost an year (is it a year or an year?). And a very tumultuous year it has been. I have had roller coaster rides in all facets of life; personal, professional, extracurricular. And here I am at this page again.

Do not worry gentle reader, I am not about to bore you with the gory details of the past year. This is just an observation.

Even as I sit feeling maudlin, one cannot help but wonder whether all the 'tragedies' in my life would classify as such in a relative world. One of my dear friends once said to me, "Your sorrows are all fictional. Many people have so many more things to cry about than you.". That friend, I have to admit is right. Nevertheless, in the grip of melancholia, one tends to get overwhelmed with such issues.

What is even more frightening is that if one pauses to consider options which may drive this sense out of my mind, I do not see even a set of events which would combine to drive this out.

This leads me to the cold logical conclusion ; "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in your stars, but yourself".

I don't have a solution to this; rather, am relying on the old adage, "This too shall pass".

The one striking thing about the last year is the number of people I have connected and reconnected with. Easily the year in which I have added the greatest number of friends in my life.

Chemistry - Theory and Practical

This musing is not about the field of science called chemistry. Rather it is about the interaction between two people, which for some reason has also come to be called by the same name.

What then causes two people to click together? It could be any of a number of things. One of the first reasons is loneliness. At the end of the day, whether we like it or not, we are all lonely. And while we all learn to deal with that loneliness one way or the other, there come instances when one feels so helpless that one cries and reaches out to grab whatever comes ones way. And if what one gets hold of, holds you firmly and helps you, some chemistry develops. Especially when one is used to being the one who reaches out and steady flailing arms which are reaching out.

Another reason, as a corollary to the previous paragraph is the response to the gratitude shown by the steadied arm. The display of gratitude unfailingly causes a tremendous endorphinic release in the giver of gratis.

Sometimes though, a mere look is enough to start things. Or a chance conversation.

I am probably lucky (or unlucky) enough to have experienced chemistry through all these mechanisms.

Chemistry theory is all fine though. Practical chemistry is far more difficult to handle. Especially with the onset of online communications which build up a set of online relationships which are just as solid and real (don't let anybody tell you its virtual). The major problem with chemistry is that people expect it to be a single bond with one entity only. And a lot of peoply are experiencing that it is just not practical. How do you dismiss this second (real or online) person who thinks the sun shines out of your arse as virtual and regard the spouse or partner who unfailingly brings you down to earth reminding you of your shortcomings (real or imagined) and telling you what an incomplete person you are? And how do you decide which one is the best?

As one gets older, one slowly comes to the conclusion that getting out of what appears to be an unpalatable relationship presently does not necessarily mean you will get into Utopia. Because a relationship bares naked all the strengths and flaws of an individual and the human mind is such that flaws get exaggerated far more than virtues. Getting out of an uncomfortable situation could mean that you are trading one kind of discomfort for another. Which is often more unpalatable.

This debate has no conclusion. Neither does this post.

The Meaning of Life

Been a while since I posted something here. Have generally been occupied with something new that caught my fancy. It still has my fancy but nevertheless today, it does not seem to be enough and my thoughts come back to "Does Life have a meaning?"

One distinguished socio scientist once said "Life is meaningless. And it is meaningless that it is meaningless."

These words, though they sound trite, are pretty profound.

For, no matter what theists of whatever religion may say about how we have been born to achieve a greater purpose and our objective should be to attain heaven, or moksha, or nirvaa etc. I have never been able to convince myself of the validity of such a proposition. Personally, I find a lot of things incredible. It is incredible that ours is the only planet which has life. Why is it incredible? Because the probability of our planet being exclusive in any sense other than cartological coordinates has to be 1 in god knows how many million or even billion. But, I am meandering. The point is that, given that we are such low probability events per se, to ascribe a greater meaning to our existence seems to border on sheer megalomania.

Having said that, I would not accord a value judgement to the statement above. Jean Paul Sartre has summed it up beautifully when he said, "I exist, therefore I am". Wishing it away won't change things. And a lot of us who wish life would end tonight (this probably includes myself at some points in time as well), either lack the courage or the energy to bring this situation to pass (believe you me suicide takes a good amount of both!).

The same socio scientist suggested that this lack of meaning is actually good, because it allows you to give it whatever meaning you choose to. Including the one I choose to give it right now which is, that it is a fact that life has no meaning!!!!

Friends

As we go through life we keep gathering friends. And we keep dropping friends. My experience in the latter has been more a sense of drifting apart rather than particularly stopping communication with somebody.

But the process of making friends has been fascinating. Quite often , the friendship has developed out of an instant 'connect' with the person. This is kind of propels both of us closer towards each other. Sometimes, the relationship develops slowly, getting ever deeper as time goes by. Yet other times, a good acquaintance suddenly develops into a deep friendship in a flash. I have had the intense pleasure of seeing all these types of relationships develop with my friends.

I wonder what people seek in any friendship. A lot of my friends have given me a lot without getting anywhere the same kind of reciprocation. Equally I have some friends whom I have given a lot to without getting or expecting any kind of reciprocation. There are also those with whom the give and take continues ceaselessly.

However, the one constant with all friends is that sense of timelessness, of never having lost the thread, of seamlessly continuing from where one had left off.

I think that old internet forward about the guy who swaps pieces of his heart with his friends aptly sums up the relationships I have with mine. All my friends have a piece of my heart and I have one of theirs.

I am truly grateful to all my friends for contributing so richly to my life. I would be incomplete without any of them.