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 ...

Australia isn't all that bad! I have been here almost a month now, and am kind of getting used to the place. Before I came here, like any person moving to a new place, had my preconceived notions about how it would be here. I thought the people here would be uptight and unfriendly, I thought the food would be bland and insipid and I thought I would not be able to adjust completely. The journey to the land down-under was a long and tiring one. I was in transit for almost thirty hours, with a stop-over at Kuala Lampur. I came from a wet and humid Mumbai to a cold Melbourne. It was quite a drastic change in climate!  The first thing that struck me when I got out for the first time was the scenic beauty. One can see the horizon (actual land and not buildings appearing to touch the sky) almost all throughout the city suburbs.  The people here keep to themselves, but unlike my assumption, are extremely approachable and polite. I think it took me some time to get used to ...

Happy New Year 2007! With every year that passes by, there are events that have taken place, which affect you in some way or another and change your world. Occurrences that leave an indelible mark on your memory, and change you forever. Each one of us is affected in a different way, and each one of us reacts differently to the same event. This year too saw many such events. I have listed three that affected tremendously and changed me in some way, forever. Ironically, all the three I have listed, transpired within a week of each other.   The recent football world cup will be remembered as one that belonged to the underdogs. Teams that were pitted to win the cup, like Germany, Argentina and Brazil, did not. Instead, two teams that were far from being at their best reached the finals. Both Italy and France reached the finals with a little luck and gritty football. The stage was set for a great game of football, and what a game it turned out to be! Two thrilling goals scored, wi...