Down Memory Lane...Mombasa, Kenya

I moved to Kenya somewhere in August 2002. I was the Engineer In-charge to build an extension to the already existing floating Dock in one of the major shipyards in Mombasa, Kenya. My decision to take up this job in a “place” like Kenya did raise a lot of eye brows within my fraternity. I kept getting sarcastic “ All the best” during my tenure when they learnt about my would be venture. Neither did I exactly know what is going to be my fate on this safari of mine. Infact as the person I am I would not think too far away from what I am being offered. It never crossed my mind regarding culture, people, food, time, place weather, etc. But I took it up, at first it was the monetary demand which made me think in favor of it, it was nothing that I can boast about but just the thought of earning 5 times more to the existing made me make that decision. The thought of fulfilling my dreams, dreams that were seen and pledging to fulfill them were at hand now. Dreams that were seen when times of hardships have overcome you, time when you have seen your parents wanting to give you the best and in return keep their desires at rest. That’s when my dreams emerged, to give them back 10 times more what they need.

I landed the Nairobi airport somewhere mid morning, the morning cold breeze sweeping through. Nairobi they say is cold for 12 months a year, I wondered if the warmth in people too had been eroded by this cold. For the first time I saw the local African beings. Never at their first sight could I imagine any kind of characteristics that were visible. I was on a high vigil as stories told to you while traveling always kept coming to my mind, I was then swayed through the rush of people to the Domestic terminal where I would board my flight to Mombasa.

Mombasa, the commercial capital of Kenya, and the entry and exit point of goods from the world over to the interior of Africa. The natural harbor made it possible for ships to come in the port from various parts of the world. The only other port which did not come even close to the Mombasa port was Dar-es-salam in Tanzania, but due to the available water draft, Mombasa could harbor in bigger ships. What infringed me was the difference in temperature between Nairobi and Mombasa, 45 minutes ago I was shivering in the cold and now here I am sweating my guts off while loading my baggage in the back of Salim’s car. Salim, a stout, small, curly haired dressed in faded jeans and T was waiting at the exit with the placard surprisingly with my name spelt correctly. Blazing he’s ever naughty smile nodded to me as he saw me approaching towards him. With a gentle yet robust handshake we moved on. A 35 min drive from the airport to my destination awakened me if I had made the right choice to come to Africa.

I lived for 5 years in Mombasa, traveling around Tanzania, Zanzibar and Kenya. I spent most of those 5 years working in Mombasa, a place known as a tourist hotspot for its beach resorts. The sand at the beaches are white unlike in India, and if you want to spend some great amount of time at the beach got to make sure you cover your eyes with sun glasses or else the harmful sun rays could really do the damage to your eyes. Nothing like a chilled bottle of Tusker beer at the beach, I have indeed tasted some of the best beers and this one comes up right there at the top in terms of taste. All beer lovers know that a beer is all about the taste.

Most people imagine that the local African people could be violent or harsh but with my experience living there I can comfortably conclude that these people are most humble and ever inviting. As long as you don’t have any foul interest they don’t mind your existence. Every Kenyan is well aware of the political happening in their country; a political debate over a chilled beer is always on the cards at nearby tables.

Right choice , we all make choices and when we make them weigh our pro’s and con’s which suit us, sometimes we manipulate our pro’s against the con’s or the con’s against the pro’s because that’s what we think is right. Its about the mind v/s the heart, we make choices to suit us, if we come out of it victorious it was the right choice and if we don’t we manipulate it again.

Now sitting here in Abu Dhabi as I write this post I am definitely sure I did make the right choice then, the experience of Life in those 5 years were exhilarating, and experiencing life is what I look forward to.

On this day..

On this day the 28^th Of April

In summers of the year 1982

When the lovely breeze defied the scorching heat

They tapped their legs and danced to every beat

They ran with a smile helter & Skelter

And must have ran brushing my shelter

They announced to the leaves

And they announced to the trees

They announced to the rooftops

And they announced to the shades

A girl has arrived with a smile that shall never fade

Years drifted like an Ocean tide

They come back today in my sight

Same Old Breeze defying the scorching heat

With their soft and hazy smiley treat

I hear them giggle as they whisper in my ear

Wishing my wife a blessed year

On this day the 28^th of April.

- Makarand

NewYork - Movie Review

Star Cast: John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Irrfan Khan;

Director: Kabir Khan

Music : Pritam

Rating : *** ½ / 5

New York. By far the best flick for the Yash Raj banner after Chak De! In terms of performance, direction and whether for box office is much needed to be seen. But the film drought factor might be an additional booster apart from that it is a good movie.

The movie starts with a very intriguing scene in New York where the FBI nabs Neil for smuggling arms in his cab. This scene by far exceeds expectations, and is definitely worth comparing to some of the Hollywood scenes within the same genre. Neil is detained by FBI agent Irrfan, who reveals to him that his college buddy John is a terrorist suspect and persuades Neil to act as an infiltrator into the married life of John and Katrina. John Katrina and Neil have been close friends during college sharing some great moments as pals, but at the end of their college days Neil falls in love with Katrina but at the same time is heartbroken as Katrina expresses her love to John.

That’s when 9/11 happens, Neil because of the heartache leaves his buddies and disappears.

7 years post 9/11 when Neil is nabbed by Irrfan , Irrfan convinces Neil to bring in information about John. Neil agrees to do so because he wants to prove that John can’t be a terrorist neither can he run a terrorist cell and also puts in a clause that the FBI wont kill John if he surrenders. If John is a terrorist and whether he truly runs a terrorist cell is for you to see when you watch the movie.

Kabir Khan is just 2 movies old, but shows what an entertaining director he is. He’s knack of creating scenes and bring the audience to the edge of the seat is repeated in various scenes throughout the movie. The very first scene of Neil being nabbed is definitely one of them, some of the scenes about the tortures in the detention cell are good, one particular scene where Katrina , wife of John is frisked by a NYPD officer and then the scenes that follow it are some of the best shot scenes. Another one worth mentioning is the climax of the movie, which arguably couldn’t have been shot in a better way. All in all this Kabir Khan is all set to entertain us movie buffs for a long time to come.

Talking about performances, the all talked expressionless, John Abraham is simply amazing. He definitely has grown, and as John himself says it’s like writing a new series of John himself. His performance stands out as an actor now. He’s definitely proves that he can be a good actor if it can be extracted from him. Katrina, well well surprise surprise, this broad can act too. What ever is said about the electronic voice makeover and stuff, is all useless if the emotions aren’t depicted on the screen, and she has done it remarkably. Neil Nitin Mukesh is good, though he could be better, with the amount of screen space he had in this 2 hr 20 min film he could have added a touché better, but nevertheless doesn’t let you down. Irrfan Khan, well this guy is like Mr. Cool, as if the screen is meant for him. The timing of his dialogues his body gesture, just explicit. He actually could talk you through his eyes only. Infact some scenes with his FBI seniors are damn good. His got his own way of convincing or putting the agenda right through you.

The music is very airy to the ears, Pritam once again proves his worth. None of the songs are in lip sync mode but travel through the entire movie to give you that feel of the emotions.

So all said and done, watch the movie without any intentions to see any ground breaking reasoning towards global terrorism. This movie though is based on terrorism is a Yash Raj production which does not include gruesome Lovy dovey part in it. So if the atrocities shown in the detention centre are diluted by including a slow track don’t mind it. But watch the movie for some good bollywood entertainment.

Happy Watching.