Miracles never cease.

I walked through Bombay Central station again yesterday (had to) on my way to Byculla and what do I see, the station is spotless!!!! (well, spotless may be too strong a word....)

The permanent beggars were gone at 3 pm. They were still not there at 7.30 pm. The hawkers spawning the entrance were cleared. There was a lady on the overbridge at 7.30 , sweeping, clearing bits of paper from the .... It was too much to believe. My eyes were surely giving me dhoka. This is what happens, I thought, pleased with myself, when you feel very strongly about something. Some cosmic intervention takes place and the unthinkable happens. Like streetlamps being repaired the morning I sit to draft a letter to the newspaper. Like a deadly pothole being filled a day after I decide to something about it. Like a plaque at Churchgate being resurrected after I mention it on my blog...... My life is lately full of strange coincidences, or maybe they have been there all along and I've never noticed them. But, still........

I was so pleased with the new look of the station that I forgave the gropers, the spitters, the loafers with no life to lead except sit at a railway station and eat up women with hungry eyes. I forgave them all. The Railways can't do anything about them, anyway. That's upto me (and you). Next week, I might not feel so generous. Especially if the beggars are back. Especially if the clean-up is a by-product of the elections on Wednesday. That would be unforgivable.

I think I'll drop a thank-you note to the station master.

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Happy B'day, Big B.

AB is my favorite actor. He beats Naseer, Aamir and Harrison Ford to the post. That's another funny coincidence that Mr.R and I have - our admiration for the angry old man. Our devotion to Sholay is another coincidence that's really too strange for words. We've both seen the movie umpteen times (my latest count is about 22, not sure about Mr.R's tally). That's one of the first things I discovered when I met Mr.R. We've had many moments discussing the finer points of Sholay, repeating dialogue that is now immortal, wishing for that era to return.

Talking about coincidences, I remember one Saturday evening, when I, here in India, was watching a Sholay re-run on TV. I sent a text to Mr.R in the UK telling him about the movie. And lo! He replied with funny shock that at that very moment, he's listening online to a track from Sholay which was emailed to him by someone!!

It's really eerie thinking about the two of us, on two different continents, watching/listening to Sholay at the same time. Very eerie!!

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