Frankthoughts

Since I have been here (in Melbourne) long enough - two months, I thought I am experienced enough to do a city to city comparison, of Mumbai and Melbourne. Please do not take this as expert analysis, or as insights to base your travel plans to these cities on, but, as a personal comparison as I see it. Having lived in both cities, there are things I like and dislike about them and the comparisons made are on the aspects that affect my personal life. Having said that, here goes! The first thing that any person coming from the Asian subcontinent will notice in Melbourne is the silence on the roads. Drivers here do not blow their vehicle horns unless absolutely necessary! Unlike the Asian subcontinent, where honking is almost customary, here, one “toots” only if they are really disgusted with the way the other person is driving. This is quite awesome because the roads are rather quiet and there are very few or almost no cases of road rage. On the Mumbai roads you sometimes cannot hear ...

The tragic passing of my cousins Ashish and Akshay in the recent Fox glacier accident last month has affected not only me but all who knew them. Till date, I still await the odd email or Facebook message from them. Them not being around is a hard truth that we all are still trying to come to terms with. I was fortunate to get to know them better and share some wonderful moments with them. Growing up in different cities (Mumbai and Pune) we hardly ever met, except for the odd family gathering…they moved to Melbourne and I met them after almost 12 years in 2007. They looked very different from the last time we met, and I am sure I would not recognise them if I ever bumped in to them anywhere else. Both were tall and lanky six footers and looked like regular 20 year olds. That evening we discussed family, our plans for the future, sports and even world politics. Ashish was vociferous about his love for cricket and his support for the Indian cricket team, while Akshay defended his fav...