Mumbai to Los Angeles

Mumbai to Los Angeles

So as we all know that I am currently in the United States of America (USA). Studying at Houston Community College, Houston, Texas. During my mid-year break, I got a chance to travel some other beautiful parts of the US. Such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles (LA), San Francisco, Boston, New York, New Jersey, Buffalo, and Arizona.

The entire trip was amazing. I felt nothing better than that before, visited many famous, non-famous places, traveled through different modes like bus, train, and airplane, ate unusual food, get involved into weird activities {for example gambling in Vegas ;) }, lived in different time zones, experienced from baking hot to freezing cold weather, took thousands of pictures, and met best of people: some were new and some not.

As a reader, you might be wondering why I put Los Angeles in bold, and with a link... because LA was or I say is my favorite part so far. And there are many reasons for that.

First, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the US. It is connected to the Pacific Ocean. Which I love a lot because I grew up near the Indian Ocean, and I never thought that one day I would be walking on the sand of the Pacific Ocean. Every evening in LA is a wonder of nature with a beautiful sunset.

Second, it is the center of the nation’s film and television industry.

Third, I have visited so many famous places like Hollywood Sign, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Griffith Observatory, J. Paul Getty Museum, Santa Monica Beach, Malibu Beach, Sand Mountain, Points Dume, Venice Beach, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and many other places.
(I am sorry I forgot some names) ;)

...and...

The Fourth and my favorite reason is, that I met someone whom I knew from India. "Carly", and she is behind the all other reasons. Ok! let me clear this. Why I like LA so much is because I lived it to its fullest, and without Carly, I wouldn't have done all those things. I wouldn't have visited all those places, and I wouldn't have eaten all those new food I ate. In short, my experience would have been different had it not been to Carly.

So it is my BIG THANK YOU! to my friend Carly.

"Thank You, Carly,"

Now again you might be thinking who is Carly, and how I met her or how I knew her back from India. Right?

Well, a short reminder, in India I work as a tour guide in Mumbai. So when she visited India about 8 or 9 months ago I was the guide for her group in Mumbai, and that's how we met. I took her around the city, and I hope she liked it. That is how we became friends.

One good thing about me or annoying thing about me is that I never leave my friends ;) I often keep them updated about my life what I am doing how I am doing and all. And in situations when I need them I try my best to reach them out. Same thing I did when I was planning my mid-year break trip. I tried to reach out as many people as I could. So that I would get another chance to meet them, to hang out with them, and to explore through their eyes. Because I believe, often a local knows more and in a better sense than a visitor.

Let's get back to LA and Carly. I gave her a one day tour, and she returned it with six days. She drove for me everywhere, took me to the places to visit: the places where I would never be able to go. I did not even knew that those places exist, paid for certain things, gave me accommodation, and we also cooked food. After few days we also went to Disney Land in LA: who doesn't like Disney Land? Come on!

This is my small note to Carly for being such a great, helpful, humble, kind, funny and amazing person. I thank you for everything you did for me, all the help, all support I get from you, your advice and your precious time and energy you spent with me.
Thank you for turning my small trip into an unforgettable memory.
Thank you for being kind and accepting.

and the most important one
Thank You for trusting me...

I hope one day we will meet again maybe in LA, Mumbai or somewhere at the different corner of the world. I hope someday I will get a chance to repay you not monetarily but in some other form that you would like. I hope will be friends forever.

Thank You, Carly!

Our Work or Job

My work.

What I did, what I am doing, and what I dream of doing in future...........

I was around 7 or 8 years old, when I  started working.

My first work was begging, yes, begging at HajI Ali Tomb, Mumbai.  

Though my father didn’t allow this, my sister and I had to do it for our food. We (My sister and I) used to go to Haji Ali every evening to get some food for us and for our mom.

Days and months passed like that and I started noticing that my mom collected old and used materials like plastic, iron, steel, coconuts, bottles and others stuff from the seashore to sell them to get some money for us.  So I decided to join her in her work.

I don’t remember for how long I did that but I remember for two or three Eid festivals we bought clothes from that money.

Few years later when I was around 11 years old I started selling books at Haji Ali Signal (Traffic light). I still remember, The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon was the first book I sold on my very first day at the traffic light.

I think coming onto the signal was one of the transforming decisions of my life. I have not only earned required money from there but also learnt so much.

It was my home, my office and also my school. Whenever I was hungry or needed any money. I just had to pick up the books and had to go to the signal. I also started asking  my customers to help me in reading English. I used to ask about the title of the books and the meaning and how to read, what is written on the books.

Well… I used to work only from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays I worked on the Stalls (Non-authorized stalls on the roadside). These are the stalls of Nimbu Paani (Lemon Juice) or Vada Pav (A kind of a snack that  looks like a burger) or sometimes costume jewelry.

Selling books was always fun. I never felt like I was working. There was always something interesting and enjoyable.

I met a lot film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Amir Khan, Hritik Roshan, Govinda, Akshay Kumar, and many others.

I would say, "I think I have met almost all the Bollywood actors and actresses".

I have also met cricketers like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Kaif, Partiv Patel, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and others too. I met some international stars like Rey Mysterio and John Cena (WWE wrestlers) and Johnny Depp (Hollywood actor).

Many times, people didn’t pay for the books and drove away, and there were also times when people  paid extra for our hard work.

I ran thousands of kilometers behind the cars during my time on the signal. But never felt lost, even when people ran away without paying. I always felt that my life is fun. There were no dreams, there were no fear of loss, there were no planning for tomorrow, there were no rush for so called monetary success. There was only today and tonight.

Signal is also a place where I met Caroline Didi (Mentor, Teacher, Sister and Mother)

Please read my previous article on ANGEL to know more about how I met Caroline didi and how that meeting transformed my life.

It was also a place where  I learnt to be an independent, and a responsible person.

After giving my 10th grade examination I joined The Foundation, a non-profit organization, run by Rahul Bose (a Bollywood actor, director, rugby player and a social activist).

I worked there as an office boy for four months and then left and went back to the signal. During this phase of my life I also worked as a waiter in marriages and as a bar tender in parties. That’s how I gained some knowledge about wine and other drinks.

Well… all these jobs were not my full-time work. I did all these for a couple of months and then left them. During my 12th grade I started working with a Senior Agency (an authorized distributor of Godrej Safe) as a sales man. Unfortunately, or fortunately I didn’t do any good over there too and had to leave after four months.

I think there was something else that was waiting for me. Something which I really wanted to do or something which I would love to do, and would never want to quit.

Yes! That is tourism.

Few months later I joined Mumbai Magic as a student tour guide in Mumbai.

Today it’s been four years and I am still working as a tour guide in Mumbai and worked in the admin department of the same company for one year and six months. From the last year I started working with another tour company called Be The Local as a tour guide in Mumbai.

Today, I dream of "Starting my own tour company for students like me, who face a lot of problems while completing their education. I want to create a platform for these students so that they would get some financial support while studying.

I have learnt through my life that, if you have vision, then no matter where and what you are, start from there. "When there is will, there is a way".