Classmate at Chembur

This weekend, I decided to finally take the long trip from Malad to Chembur to visit one of my IIM-B classmates who has been living at Chembur for many years. This visit was long awaited, my classmate always telling me that it has been many months since I had moved to Mumbai and we should visit him as early as possible. It was a pretty long ride of 80 minutes or so for a distance of around 20 KMs or so ! But that is Mumbai and its traffic - one has to be mentally resigned to its impact on one’s timeline and schedules. I decided to keep shooting some photos enroute to avoid sleep. Here are some snapshots (dates on the photos is incorrect - I forgot to set the date correctly).

IMGP0073, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

IMGP0072, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

IMGP0070, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

The sign boards are as good as one can see anywhere. But don’t look down on the road ahead below the sign boards if you are not driving ! It is simply too action-packed to the hilt !! One has to close one’s eyes occasionally, or pinch oneself, when the distances between lanes drop down to inches, or better still, centimeters. People walk across wide roads in between vehicles to reach the opposite sides - there is simply no choice when the signal crossings are faraway, and there are absolutely no overhead crossings.

One has to be an amazing driver with fabulous dexterity to manouver through this sea of vehicles of all kinds.

The road gets slightly better as we enter Chembur.

If you are interested to know more about Chembur, please follow these links - “Chembur Portal” and “Chembur in Wikipedia”

Well, after some serious guidance from my classmate friend, we managed to find his house in a quite neighbourhood with hardly any traffic. Mumbai always has some quaint areas like this one - very interesting. Away from the maddening crowd, so to say !

We had a long chat about all the latest happenings in India and elsewhere. Being in the financial services industry, the discussions turned towards the markets. Not surprising. What was indeed surprising was the extensive discussion that followed about the inner peace that my friend has achieved by following Isha Yoga methodology. Please follow these links to understand “Isha Yoga” and the purpose of “Isha Foundation”

It is truly amazing - the challenge is to find the time to commit to this noble activity in life. I am going to try.

Best Regards

Vijay Srinivasan
13 Jan 2007
Mumbai