Life in a Metro 2

It was Thane again for me. The target was to reach by 3 pm.

I left office from Goregoan East at 1 pm. I made it a point to take small buffer this time and not as big as I did last time although it helped me. I did not have the liberty to add those buffer time.

I stepped out of the office and was happy to see no rains. This time rains were in my favor.

I usually avoid rickshaws near my office as they refuse most of the time. But still I asked each one of them politely and each one of them refused politely. Finally I started searching for Ola and Uber cabs as usual. Does it really matters if rickshaws go on strike?

I had almost walked half a kilometer while I was booking a cab. Quickly booked Ola micro, thanked God as there was no surge price. With no time, I called the driver to ask his location and he told he is at Inorbit Mall i.e. Goregoan West which is very far. I asked him, will he manage to reach in 10 min for which he replied, "Saab, Bahut traffic hai". I understood and cancelled the ride. Ola app still has to fine tune its application.

I opened up Uber but there was no cab available except for SUV or Uber Black. I tried Ola mini this time and got one quickly again. He reached in 5 minutes and the trip started with traffic. 

Traffic  is something which people have to accept in Mumbai. This will add on when the Metro work start in Western Express Highway. I was already late and got restless to reach Borivali as I had to catch a bus there after. He dropped me at Magathane depot. 

I had to catch the AC 700 bus to Thane but instead got a NON AC bus. I just stepped in the bus and asked for a ticket. He refused and told that this bus doesn't go the destination. I confirmed again but he was sure that it will not go to my location. I was confused as the same bus had dropped me last time.

I got down to return back to the same depot after walking for a Kilometer. I then started inquiring again with other conductors who told that the bus goes to the place but have to get down at a particular location and then take a rickshaw. The previous bus conductor was unaware of it. As per the rule the more late you get, the more problems come your way to make it really late.

I finally got a AC 700 bus after waiting for 10 min. I remember the quality of this bus but I did not have options as before. People have started ignoring this bus and the bus usually goes empty. This time I managed to take a picture of the interiors. 

Although it was not raining water was dripping from the AC vent. To save the seat they had put plastic sheet. I shifted place twice to find a better place to sit in. The bus was vibrating even on roads without potholes. I feared that some of the parts might fall on me. I could see screws fallen off from the top.

I cannot avoid the bus but this time I estimated the time wrongly. I started my google map to to check how far I am from the destination. It showed 45 min away. I wanted to make the delay as small as possible. 

I reached the destination and I could see rickshaws to Thane station and no body ready to take me to my location. I moved ahead to search for rickshaws. It started drizzling slightly. I prayed and got a rickshaw in time. I started my google map and saw the destination 5 minutes away.

Finally I reached at 3:30 pm.


‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

Life in a Metro

I had put alarm for 6:45 am and purposely missed it to sleep a bit more considering that I would reach on time to a place. Subconsciously my mind had recorded my wife's statement that Thane is just a station ahead.

I quickly tried to have breakfast so that I leave home by 8:00 am. But as usual I was delayed by 35 min. Still I had enough time in hand to reach Thane at 11:00 am.

While we experienced a sunny day yesterday, it rained heavily today as per the rule (Rains come when not expected). My shoe got wet while I reached bus stop. To my dismay there was no share auto or bus. Buses were either full or going to some other place. After waiting for around 20 min got rickshaw to station. And I suddenly remembered that my railway pass had expired 4 days back. I quickly started my OLA app to find no cab nearby.

I had to take a quarterly pass in order to reach Borivali. And in the train I suddenly felt heavy and was sweating all over. Had a quick water sip to relieve my thirst. I was praying to God to take train to platform no. 1 as it was near to the overbridge connecting to Borivali east.

But as per rule train stopped at platform no 8. I had to walk 1.5 km to reach platform no. 1.

Finally after reaching Borivali East, I checked time. It was 9:30am and I was supposed to reach Thane by 11:00am. Rains were intermittent. I tried to book OLA again but the estimated fare was 1000 bucks. I dropped the idea of travelling in a cab and joined the queue at bus stop. Then started enquiring for Thane bus. 700 AC bus came and one told that quality is very poor and recommended to catch some other bus but since I was running late I had no options.

Quality of the bus was indeed poor with broken parts inside (Do not go by picture above).  The bus conductor shouted "the fares have been reduced, please come". Very few people stepped in. It was known fact that BEST AC bus is China made and warranty has expired. There is no maintenance done as well.

I was sitting near window and water started dripping inside. Some complained to conductor. But he did not have an answer.

I finally reached my destination just on time since I had calculated enough buffer time.

No wonder life in a Metro is interesting to read.

Nutritious and healthy life with #QuakerBowl

"Time Nahi Hai" is the common excuse we get to hear now a days from all. Urban life has become so fast and hectic that there is no time to look into our health. While health is deteriorating with no or less exercise, people resort to wrong food during breakfast and snacks that adds to the problems. We hear about cholesterol, heart attack and high BP. All these come from wrong lifestyle and wrong diet.

#QuakerBowl event organized by Pepsi Co and IndiBlogger was a healthy event that gave all participants an insight into the health benefits of Oats in a fun way. Event started with Celebrity Chef and brand ambassador of Quaker Oats Vikas Khanna. There was hooting around while he entered the stage.

It was fun and knowledge sharing quiz session by Vikas Khanna. The right answer earned a bag of goodies. While he was sharing his experience a smile was there on everyone's face. 

Quiz session followed by blind folded soup taste and the ingredients had to be written in a minutes time. It was a laughter riot on stage with the participants while Vikas was checking the ingredients written by male participants.

The final activity was to create a dish with Oats as the main ingredients. We were divided into teams. The nutritious and best looking dish wins. And guess who, our team won the prize. Yes, team 10 won the activity and we got loads of Oats and juice to relish at home.

It was a well spent nutritious morning. A morning to remember with Vikas Khanna. I missed taking a selfie for some or the other reason.

As I returned home with the goody bag, my wife was thrilled to find me with bag full of oats as she has it some times as breakfast. She quickly made some snacks and called it as Oats Green Poha. I had a spoonful and then it did not take time to finish it up.

Well technically this shouldn't be called a poha because it's made of oats. But we have to name it with something familiar to those home cooks who want to cook healthy. So here is an all healthy oats green poha made of plain oats, coriander leaves and more. I got some download from my better half to write here in the blog but all credit goes to her.

Oats Green Poha Ingredients

You can easily guess most of its ingredients. But the measurements are most important.

Serves 2-3 people

2 cup roasted Oats
1/2 cup moderately sliced onion
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste (adhrak lasun)
1/2 cup finely sliced potato
1/4 cup raw/roasted/boiled peanuts (seeng)
1/4 cup green peas (matar/vatana)
1/2 cup ground coriander leaves (dhaniya pattha)
4-5 curry leaves
2 small green chillies
1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
Salt to taste


How to make Oats Green Poha?

Heat oil in a Kadai.
Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds one after the other.
Add onion and ginger-garlic paste.
Add potato, mix and add water enough to cook the potato slices.
When half cooked, add peanuts if you are using raw. If roasted or boiled it can be added later.
Add green peas and mix.
When the ingredients are cooked, add haldi powder, green chillies, curry leaves, salt. Add the peanuts now if roasted or boiled.
After few seconds of mixing, add coriander leaves paste and mix well.
Yet after another few seconds of mixing add roasted oats, lemon juice and water (if required)
Note: Add less water to make it less mushy.
Mix it well and your Oats Green Poha is ready to eat.

Do comment below if you get a chance to make it.