Mumbai:An Acco nightmare!

Well,I don't intend to bore you with the details of life in Mumbai.I am sure there are a lot of blogs in the blogosphere who can provide you with the details.
Bottom line is,life out here is hectic,tough and at the same time filled with masti.
All that said and done,one of my friends came over to Bombay(I keep switching between Bombay and Mumbai) so that he could attend a course and if possible,try to find out a good job here.I thought it was a good move,Mumbai is after all a city of opportunities.
Since he was planning to stay for a month or so,he wanted me to check if there was any good accommodation available out here.The thought of that made me a bit anxious.Being familiar with the intricacies of Bombay life,I knew that real estate and money were the two areas where the city can screw you really hard(pardon my language).
So I started off with an 'accommodation hunting' spree in the internet.I searched for a hotels,lodges,guest houses etc etc.
Him(my friend) being a newbie made things only worse as he came with a budget(which would have provided him a 5star accommodation in any other city) that wouldn't get him past ten days in a city like Bombay.And since he was keen about having an independent room,the only option available were budget hotels(since Paying Guest accommodation meant you had to share the room with total strangers).
Now,(here's my favorite part),there are two types of hotels in this world-
1)The illegitimate kind that charges you by the hour.(The kind you would want to avoid at all costs)
2)Then the ones that are comparatively safer.
We categorized these 'budget hotels' into three on the basis of daily rental-
(1000-1500)-The rundown kind, located in some narrow gully, where the cleaner is also the receptionist and the cook.
(1500-2500)-Pretty decent ones near the main road,where you are given a room that rivals a jail cell.
(2500-5000)-Not much different from the above,except that there is a doorman who opens the door for you at the entrance.
How would you justify a hotel that charges 5000 bucks a day,as a budget hotel?
Ans: The hotel's in Mumbai.

My point is,if you ever plan to come to Bombay for a long duration,it's highly recommended that you do some research and fix your budget accordingly.Some of the options that you can look into for accommodation are as a Paying Guest,Budget hotels or a serviced apartment.
But be ready to spend a wad of notes.
Or better still,call up that long lost distant cousin of yours from Mumbai and stay with him.


Image source: http://www.amren.com/ar/1999/08/broke.gif

Salman Con - Conman on the loose!

Before I get into the details,here's a little background about conmen.According to wikipedia, confidence trick or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence.The term conman(or confidence man) was coined by the american press during the trial of one William Thomson,who won confidence of strangers and led them into parting with their valuables after gaining their trust.Although it seems quite impossible as to how victims fall for their schemes,an experienced conman has the confidence,skill and the charishma to win your confidence with his words and his act.Afterall,if someone comes upto you and confidently says that you have a patch of ink on your nose,you do tend to fall for it.Conning is just taking this to a whole new level for financial gain.
That's the background for my post.I've been observing reports in the newspapers, about a certain conman whose modus operandi is to con people using the name of popular bollywood actor Salman Khan.He has conned three victims till now,and is still going at it.
He approached them with either an offer to act in one of Salman Khan's movies or a chance to meet the bollywood actor face to face.He would then take the victim to a beauty salon and ask them to get a haircut or a face pack so that they are 'presentable' in front of the actor.The funny thing is,he managed to convince an Indian male(who still prefer to look raw) to step into a salon for a make over!
He would then ask them to remove their gold ornaments and watches for 'safe keeping' so that they don't get discoloured during the make-over!!The next thing you know,the victims are left with a huge salon bill with the conman not in sight and their money and gold all gone.
For the second victim,he pushed the act even further and took him shopping for new clothes and then disappeared with his belongings.Although it's still not clear whether both the acts were committed by the same man,but the unusual fetish for using the same actors name and repeating the trick despite the fact that the first act was well publicized has baffled the police.
So,the next time someone comes to you and mentions Salman Khan,you might want to have a good look at him.
Will keep you updated,this one seems to be quite slippery.