Hacked/ me but not ME!!

Hi All..
One of my personal email accounts has been hijacked. Yes someone actually had all the time and energy to  hack poor insignificant ME!!! Just informing here so you can look out for anymails coming from me but not ME!!!:):) 

Afghan Church- A chance stumble

It was by chance that I stumbled into Afghan church while going driving around Colaba. I had seen this beautiful Church while going towards the army cantonment before and always wondered about it. As I decided to check it out, on a sudden whim, I realised that I was just plain lucky that the church was opened by its caretaker after working hours (as it was around dusk) for a foreign tourist. As I walked into the church, I was transported into a by-gone pre-independence era.What a feeling it was!

First things first- Why was the Church called Afghan church I wondered? I found out that the church was built as a memorial by the British for the martyrs of the First Afghan War.The entire church was built with stone with beautiful Gothic arches and stained glass work done by artisans brought down from Britain, as was told by the caretaker.Below is a picture of the facade of the church:

A picture of the inside of the church with ornate work on the walls and beautiful stone carvings.On the wall were erected memorials of soldiers who had died at the war.
One of the most interesting things that I saw was that the pews had round holders to erect rifles!

A picture of the shrine:

 A picture of a marble engraved Baptism Front:

A view of the inside of the church with beautiful stained glass work::

An ornate brass lectern used to address the service:

Marble plaque inside the church, dedicating it to the martyrs of the war.

Woodwork and ornate carving inside the monument:

A picture of the long benches of pews, made in beautiful wood:

Afghan Church was a beautiful experience. the irony is that such a beautiful monument which is a heritage structure, is not preserved and maintained well. The premises outside have got overgrown shrubbery and unkept gardens around. I hope it is decorated with a beautiful garden to make it one of the tourist attractions of Mumbai.

The fast car!

I usually refrain from writing about personal experiences on this blog, but I just have to break the rule with this one! This is about an encounter I had recently with a very interesting autorickshaw driver.

Those living in Mumbai are familiar with the autorickshaw walas and how they form the basis as the lifeline of Mumbai. We are all used to the black and yellow rickety rickshaws and nonchalantly get into one and move from one destination to the other.

Well, the other day, my friend and I hailed an autorickshaw and presto!.. what do we see but a snazzy, state of the art vehicle,almost like a car! 

Features in the auto:    

                                 

 1) It had a bright light inside, as shown in the photo here:                                                    

                                                                                                     

2) There was a small video screen attached to the back of the driver's seat, with videos of  latest Bollywood

      

3) There were two high quality speakers attached to the back of the rear seats.

4) The seats were amazingly comfortable and were from a Maruti Zen ( Indian Car)!!!!That was one of the most innovative things about the vehicle (I seriously am thinking whether I should refer to it as an auto!!) . The ride was so comfortable, it hardly seemed like an auto!

                                        

5) The next amazing thing was that the auto driving handle was of shiny steel!Check out the pic below. It was gleaming happily under the light in the vehicle, as the driver was proudly exhibiting it to us!

6) The  BEST part and the thing which takes the cake is that, once we reached the destination and were quizzing him about his auto, he stepped out, shut off the ignition, walked a short distance and pointed his car keys to the vehicle and vroom...it started on it's own! It was remote operated!

We had the most amazing ride ever!Over and above the features mentioned, he also had a water bottle holder and a mobile charger!  I was so happy to see the passion of this person. I took his number and told him that I'll call him if I need to travel sometimes.

It was an amusing experience and I was thinking... this city is so thought provoking! Only in Mumbai one comes across this pot pourri of people! Who would have thought that a mundane auto ride would result in such entertainment? He also informed me that the newspapers that come to interview him but he was publicity shy and said he did this out of passion and to render a comfortable ride to his passengers. I noticed his smug and happy expression at our delight. 

Customer delight at it's purest!!