LIGHTS: Our assignment on Day 2 of the auditions is to travel for 180 minutes into the city in the ravishing Cedia. The task was to click pictures, make videos & give you a feel of the dream city.
CAMERAS: As we roam about the streets of Bombay, of course showing off a hard earned trip, we know this is a city we call home & yet it has many unexplored rooms for us. Andheri: THE TINSEL TOWN OF MUMBAI, A place were most producers reside, a few film stars a whole lot of budding artists with countless T.V. artists. Also there are hundreds of small workshops, where the most happening works for all these are done. We cover a designer duo here.
Juhu: A poor man’s haven & a rich man’s neighbourhood.
Bandra dubbed "Queen of the Suburbs": The area is eclectic, visually inspiring and home to high-end boutiques also an abode of roadside clothes shoes & bags. There’s something for everybody here. Bandra is a great place to start your shopping jaunt. It is the hub of the youth, it has the hippest joints to the cheapest jaunts. More than many hangouts, be it sipping coffee or smoking hookah, catching up over a sport with beer or just talking automobiles over drinks. They are all here.
ACTION: So here is our blog that is celebrating the unbreakable spirit if Bombay.



The mumbaiya term for anything outstanding, remarkable & superb. It can be used anywhere comfortably replacing the English ‘WOW”.
CEDIA: Our first drive out in cedia, the drive was smooth. Must say it is a remarkable vehicle. Also as we went around we couldn’t stop being noticed. People looked at the car with awe, it explained pretty much that in everey mumbaikars’ eyes the car’s simply Jhakaas.




BANDRA FASHION BOUTIQUES: when it comes to fashion nothing beats Bandra, this queen of suburbs pulls enough townies to see whats up. Its is a shopper’s paradise you can buy anything ranging from the cheapest to the most expensive. Bandra boutiques offer the latest of the fashion trends and are often in sync with the trend forecast. Though most of them get products from Bangkok to sell, each has its own forte. They do such a wonderful job at dressing up. We say Jhakaas! Amazing accessories, latest clothes, funkiest shoes & sexy bags. Any woman can have a makeover here.




TOTO’s: The little garage pub barely has any capacity yet gets crowded every evening. Its for the automobile lovers. The insides are pretty much parts of old car & bike parts. They play great music & have lasted a lot of competition. This place is truly Jhakaas.


and, Jhakas in its own way;



A Mumbai word for carefree, the free-spirited, the one’s who don’t much bother. The true chasers of their dreams. These are our bindaas mumbaikars.
SHROYUKEN TATTOOS: Kevin a young entrepreneur and artist owns this little tattoo studio. He comes from an advertising background having worked in Dubai & O&M, India’s largest advertising company. Kevin retired from it to chase his dreams, doing what he always wanted to do. Today he owns two studios one in Andheri, Lokhandwala & the other in Bandra. While the third one is opening in town. Kevin is known for the fineness of his work.





Rajesh & Anirban: Another story of chasing the dream, these gentleman have left back great paying jobs to start something which is their own baby, their brand RA. They are retailing their designs from the most top end stores of India, have been a part of the Femina miss India collections, have been a part of the Lakme fashion week & are the first Indian designers to have showcased their designs in the Malaysian Fashion Week. They are exporting their products to countries like Dubai & are sure there’s a lot more coming their way.





The kitsch, the loud, the funky.
The Dudes with the piercing, tattoos & weird hairstyles are often branded dinchak.


Our roadside shopping which is usually bright colourful & cheap. Is more often than not dhinchak.


The funky flip colored flipflops are quite dinchak.

Today was a fab day in more than many ways........some you shall see by tomorrow morning.
After a morning mental alertness session which was fun-task-tic, with a couple of other contestants....
I got to drive with my two ladies : I hope the frist doen't take offence.
No denying the second is as sexy........
and now we sit ignighted as we put it all together.....to tell you the story.
Love & peace.

This is the story of a denim that fought like Achilles and survived during its invasion trail of 5000+ kms across the distant lands. It carried on its ancestor’s legacy of facing boldly the harshest conditions and only got polished and sexier with every passing day.

This is my 2007 GAS denim, made in Tunisia (comm.. 01820000, art. 03-35-0673-34-04-2558 ALBERT RIC., lab. 44-3669).
I bought this wonderful mid-wash denim just before my marriage and yeah it did survive that invasion too. It wasn’t my favorite though and at times got lost in the many shades of blue hanging in my wooden wardrobe…..few months passed and it adorned me just a little more than fewer times. Then began the planning of ‘RIDE TO FREEDOM’ trip….freedom from the monotonous life…life that needed a much needed break….to break free our spirits from the clutches of predictability….and to leave our fate on instincts and not daily plans. A bike trip that was to start from Mumbai and storm to the desolate lands of northern India. The route was planned (not the halts)….music was I-podded (not the moods)…..medicines were packed (not the spirits)…..and clothing was decided (not this denim).

Came the day of rolling out my machine….to gun down the road. I loaded my 500cc Machismo and garbed myself in the pre-decided armor…..but something didn’t feel right. It was the denim I wore that didn’t seem to be in the right mood. So, went for a change and lay my hands on this lady hiding somewhere in the closet. It hugged me well… as if thankful to me….and I could feel the warmth and comfort in it.

550kms was a good long distance for the first day of ride. We reached Ahmedabad under the shadow of stars and dropped like dead-meat, while she lay bundled at one corner of our abode. We wished Sun ‘gud morning’ the next day and got on with cladding ourselves. I set my eyes on her lying in a corner as if vying for my attention…..and she did manage to. I picked her up and held from the waist with her legs dangling in air. And as she unfolded I was sodomized by her mystifying charm. The tan from the last days ride gave her a dusky blue complexion that tickled the indigo running in my blood. Then and there I decided she’ll adorn me for the rest of the ride.

The only time she was off me, was at nights when we both needed a much awaited break from the tiresome rides. Together we rode the highest peaks….roughened roads and ‘not-so’ roads….we braved the chaffed nature….survived snow, landslides and sandstorms….muddled with puddles…. And shared the endless emotions day and everyday. At one point she was stretched beyond her capacity and tore right from the crotch….and her smiling face just drooped like an autumn leaf. But her smile was stitched back by my lovely wife Jace, and though it reminded me of the Joker….it nowhere behaved like the character. The stitches did give up time n again but only to strengthen our bond. While I was worried about her survival through the ride she was concerned about my embarrassment, but soon we got over it and paid no heed to the staring eyes.

The 45 days ride soon got over but the denim left its indigo on my soul. She still hangs in my wooden wardrobe but always standing out amongst the many shades of blue hanging in.

She’s the warrior….she’s my HERO.

I was trying to fall asleep last night, but the sleep seems to have gone out of the window (for over three weeks, I guess) One thing that kept jogging through my mind was............ we'd be there tomorrow!
And here we've reached 'tomorrow'.... it is today. A morning where almost nothing is done, be it the packing or wrapping up the household or even having thought of what has to be carried. There sits a fat feeling, which fills me up, not an outstanding thought to anyone but me. The past one week has been frenzied for the two dozen people that we are. As I sit up here, almost sure someone else is also thinking of GDC if not typing their mind away. We are the people going through the same pressure, the same dream and the same process, yes, I did say process. We all are going through the same chemical reactions everyday, of thoughts rattling at one moment and going numb the other.
We have built a connect, a strange thread that is tying us all in a bond & a weird telepathic connection. We are learning to interact in our own quiet way; we end up thinking more than often the same things.
We are all looking forward to meet each other. On the occasion of friendship day, we shall meet, the twenty four people, 12 couples, all with one common dream.“Competition” they mentioned we'd be meeting, and I think of them as friends, isn't that what we have all become with the delicate strings GDC has tied us in. I begin to wonder how often these situations have I faced in life, competing with people I like. Are the other people also going through similar emotions? Well, well, well..... its just s few more hours. We shall meet & find out.
Looking forward to meet all the twenty two and the team, what an eventful day I say.