iPhone problems

When a relative buys an expensive iPhone from another country for you, make sure you get it unlocked by an Apple store and not at your local mobile repairing store.

A Chembur resident approached the police station on Tuesday after his brand new iPhone, that was gifted to him from a relative in the UK, completely stopped working after he gave it to a small mobile store for getting it unlocked. An iPhone bought abroad needs to get updated and unlocked so it can accept an Indian SIM card.

Even after the man told the mobile store owner to get his phone repaired after it stopped working, he refused saying he would have to pay extra.

The on-duty sub-inspector then asked the complainant to call the mobile store owner to the police station. On arriving at the station, the mobile repairing store owner received an earful from the sub-inspector after agreeing to repair the software damage done to the phone.

His mobile number was taken down and he was sent away with a warning.

Why travelling in a second class women’s compartment is a nightmare

Mankhurd station has always been the most dreaded stop for commuters heading for Navi Mumbai. Recently, however, a train journey for the vegetarian commuters has become a nightmare.

 The reason? Fisherwomen boarding the train at Mankhurd station. These fisherwomen are infamous for not only making train compartments reek of stale fish, but also for their temper tantrums. No sane commuter would dare getting in these fisherwomen’s way or answering back to the obscenities yelled at them in case they feel they aren’t given enough room in an already packed compartment.

 Lately, however, these fisherwomen are seen selling fish in the second class women’s compartment. Much to everyone’s chagrin, these fisherwomen are least affected by commuters repeatedly requesting them not to shove plates full of fish in front of their faces.

 Vegetarian commuters who have grown used to the smell of stale fish are now forced to put up with fisherwomen selling fish as if they were cheap earrings or hair bands. It is only after Vashi or Sanpada station, where the fisherwomen alight, that commuters find it safe to breathe through their noses again.

Youngsters unable to cope with heartbreaks, says helpline data

Mumbai: Heartbreak seems to the major reason, apart from depression, why callers dial helplines. Going by the suicide prevention helpline run by Vandrevala Foundation, as many as 2,617 of the 32,000 calls (roughly eight per cent) it received in 2011were about break-ups. the number one mental illness in the city is depression, followed by relationship problems relating to romance.

The Foundation that works towards mental health awareness compiled data on all calls on its helpline in 2011.that saw a majority of its callers in the city suffering from depression.

Apart from the top two complaints, anxiety, mental strain, obsessive compulsive disorders, phobias and sleeping disorders were the most common reasons for dialling the 24-hour helpline (1860-266-2345 and 022-2570 6000). Of the more than 32,000 calls that help line got in 2011, as many as 2,890 were from people were suffering from depression whereas 8, 982 were from those with symptoms of phobias, eating disorders, sexual problems and somatic disorders where people complain of aches and discomfort without there being any medical basis to it.

Suicidal tendencies were another issue that was high with 400 callers and before that Vandrevala Foundation had 461 callers who are into substance abuse. Callers related to work and occupational problems was 304 and most of them tend to call after losing a job to learn how to cope with it.

Dr Arun John, executive vice president, Vandrevala Foundation at Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, says, “The call volume in one year has increased as more people are aware of helpline numbers and how it can benefit them. The anonymity that a helpline provides callers is what makes them discuss their problems at length.”

“A person with suicidal thoughts basically just needs a hand to hold on to and if he/she has someone to talk to who won’t judge or pull them down it makes a huge difference. As suicide is usually an impulsive act, in several cases, we have convinced distressed callers not to take such drastic steps. It was only this one time we got to know a college student committed suicide despite our attempts,” added Dr.John.

People suffering from physical illnesses and disability also used the helpline with 286 callers last year. Strong unreasonable beliefs or superstitions were another factor high among callers with 438 such cases observed in Vandrevala Foundation. Behavioural problems were noticed in 188 callers and hallucinations and delusions among 192 of them.

A team of trained counsellors and psychiatrists handle the helpline round the clock and across the state. Callers on the helpline range from students undergoing stress due to exams to lonely senior citizens who just need someone to talk to. Each caller’s details are carefully documented by the foundation and are treated as confidential.

Several callers start using the helpline frequently to receive help when in distress. In many instances, people who have just lost a job or about to appear for an important exam call up the helpline asking for guidance and a listening ear.Other issues such as vulnerability, self harm, living conditions, activities of daily life (220 callers), child protection and cognitive problems were also recorded in the data.

Dr.Harish Shetty, psychiatrist at LH Hiranandani hospital, said, “Helplines are very effective in helping people with mental illness and suicidal tendencies. This one time a man called our helpline threatening to jump into Powai lake as he owed a lot of money to some people. We not only convinced the man not to take such a drastic step but also spoke to his money lenders and requested them to go easy on him.”

“Several times we have conversations that are last for one or two hours to help people in distress,” added Dr.Shetty.

(This the fourth and final installment in the series on mental health issues)

Karaoke Night

So,i decided instead of sitting at home on a Sunday,doing nothing just because i have an off i should do something fun for a change! I ended up at an expensive nightclub where a karaoke championship was being held. Not a very shabby night, but the place was overpriced and it got boring when contestants chose to sing love songs. Soooo,here’s my half assed write up on it.

While most people look at karaoke as a platform for half drunk pub goers who awkwardly sing to their favourite songs as their friends cheer them on, there are a few in the city who look at it as an opportunity to display their singing talents.

 These karaoke enthusiasts in the city were in for a huge treat on October 7, as the Karaoke World Championship’s final round was held in Palladium Mall where 27 participants from across the country tried their best to woo the judges. The venue was packed with people till around 1.30am as the winners, who would represent India in Finland, were declared by the end of the event.

 The contestants, who were dressed to the nines, performed to songs ranging from love songs to rock ones and succeeded in keeping the audiences engaged with their singing as well as performance skills. Many of these contestants had a group of friends present in the audience for moral support and to even act as cheerleaders.

 The contestants were judged on their ability not only to sing but crowd interaction, costumes and stage presence. The winner in the male category, Faizan Khurshid from Kolkata, who entered the venue with a huge scarf covering his face, sang English rock band, Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The contestant, who was known as ‘the underdog’ in the competition, managed to pull off one of Queen’s toughest songs flawlessly. Khurshid had painted his face red and black, and enacted the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapdosy in a musical style.

 Sharvari Deshpande from Mumbai, winner under the female’s category, sang Christina Aguilera’s ‘Tough Love’. Though the judges criticised her for her bad choice in costume, she managed to woo them with her flawless sur and taal. The two winners also get to enjoy return flights and accommodation in a luxurious chalet for six days while in Finland.

 Other contestants who stood out were two women from Mumbai who performed to American pop star Lady Gaga’s songs. The contestants had gone up to the lengths of keeping their performance in sync with Gaga’s extravagant dressing style, which helped them bag the runner-up position. Another contestant sang Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ impeccably while a male senior citizen kept the audience grooving to ‘Mustang Sally’ by Mack Rice.

 The judges of the event were actor Javed Jaffrey, singer Manasi Scott, music directors Raju Singh and Sulaiman Merchant. A group of four college students who performed to The Beatle’s ‘Hey Jude’, will be accompanying the two winners to Finland to cheer for them whilst enjoying free accommodation and tickets to Finland. Only two groups were competing for these perks at the championship. The sole group competing against the other one at the Karaoke Championship were a group of four girls from Kolkata who sang Jamelia’s hit song ‘Superstar’.

Banter

Women commuters who work in the graveyard shift will always warn you against travelling in the first class compartment of trains after 9pm for the simple reason that it is usually empty and hence, unsafe. Men entering the first class women’s compartment and harassing a woman isn’t unheard of in the city.

 At around 9.30pm on Saturday, a drunk, homeless man entered the women’s compartment of a Panvel-bound train at Sewri station. The two women sitting in the compartment chose to ignore the drunkard instead of telling him to get down at the next station out of fear.

 The homeless man, who reeked of alcohol, stood next to the compartment’s door yelling at no one in particular and started pacing up and down the compartment restlessly to the women’s horror, who by then had put away their mobile phones and were watching the hysterical man, wondering if they should take the risk of confronting him or not.

 The man then held on to the flimsy wire mesh by the compartment’s door and started dangling off the entrance dangerously. However, he didn’t bother alighting the train at the next few stations. Commuters from other compartments gaped at him nervously through the wire mesh, afraid he would eventually fall off the train. That was when a railway police man who was in the next compartment yelled at the drunkard, warning him to get off the train at the next station to which the man hoarsely replied he wouldn’t.

 He was then pulled out of the train by GRP officials at Wadala station who gave him a good thrashing for creating such a scene.

Loss of energy & motivation is a sign of depression

This was the article that I’d written for the newspaper I work with, Free Press Journal, for World Mental Health Day.

Dr Gurvinder Kalra, psychiatrist at Vashi’s MGM Hospital, sees four cases daily where relatives bring the patient complaining that he/she is simply vegetating.

Mumbai :If someone in your family or friend circle loses interest in routine activities such as getting out of bed, taking a shower, going for a walk, etc, chances are that he/she could be suffering from depression, say psychiatrists on the eve of World Mental Health Day.

“General slowing down of movements and a loss of energy is a classical symptom of depression,” said Dr Shubhangi Parkar, head of the psychiatry department in KEM Hospital.

Psychomotor retardation, as the symptom is called, involves a slowdown in an individual’s movements and thought processes. It is more commonly seen in people of all age groups suffering from moderate to severe depression, as their body feels heavy. Other neuro-vegetative symptoms of depression include reduced appetite, disturbed sleep patterns and low sex drive.

Individuals experiencing symptoms of psychomotor retardation are confused by their inability to perform mundane activities that require mobility such as shopping, meeting the demands of work or school, going about with household chores and even taking care of themselves.

”When a person is diagnosed with depression it shouldn’t be taken lightly and if symptoms of psychomotor retardation is seen in any patient, anti-depressants and psychotherapy are used to treat it,” added Dr Parkar.

Dr Gurvinder Kalra, psychiatrist at MGM Hospital, who sees four such cases daily, said that psychomotor retardation tends to go undetected and is usually seen in moderate to severe depression.

”Family members of depressed patients complain about the patient becoming lazy and not doing anything throughout the day but seldom do they realise that the main cause behind that person being unproductive is depression,” said Dr Kalra.

These symptoms of psychomotor retardation are also common in cases of bipolar disorder, where extreme mood swings can be seen and schizophrenia, where the patient loses touch with reality. However, psychomotor retardation is mostly seen in cases of severe depression when the sensitivity threshold of the individual starts decreasing.

Dr Harish Shetty, consulting psychiatrist at Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital, said, “Patients suffering from this symptom usually complain about having difficulty in become motivated which is a characteristic trait of depression. Due to this, in many cases patients are unable to take care of themselves.”

The treatment of psychomotor retardation in moderate to severe depression is anti-depressants along with psychotherapy. In some cases, electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) resolves depression within a few treatments.

Guarding Dogs

Walking your dog on the streets of Mumbai is more like going to war than having a relaxing stroll with your furry companion. In areas where stray dogs are large in number and territorial pissings a norm to die for, people who own dogs have to arm themselves with a sturdy stick and another person to accompany them to keep the aggressive, alpha dogs at bay.

No sooner does a dog owner and the excited dog walk out of their building compound, they are usually greeted with a symphony of woof woofs and growling noises. A seasoned dog walker manages to ignore these angry canines and strut away with their fancy pedigree dog but those who dread facing these aggressive strays are often targeted by them as dogs can sense fear. The only option to allow their dog to take a leak or dump outside their building compounds is to force a lazy friend or family member to help keep the dogs at bay.

 Pet dogs being attacked by stray ones is not unheard of in this city. Many dog owners don’t look forward to taking their canine friends out for a walk because of this menace which is unfortunate as the poor dog is always cooped up at home and rarely gets to see the ‘outside world’ unless the dog has to be taken for a medical check-up.

Canned Korn

Metalheads in Mumbai were extremely disappointed when Korn, a Grammy award-winning, American Nu metal band’s concert scheduled for September 7 was cancelled citing security issues as the main reason. Even though the organisers promised to refund all ticket holders, several of them voiced their frustration on social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, claiming the main reason behind the cancellation was because enough tickets were not sold.

 This rumour broke loose after an employee from Bookmyshow.com, the website selling the tickets, commented on a post that was put up on a Facebook page saying only around 348 tickets were sold in Mumbai for the concert that was to be held in the MMRDA grounds. Mooz entertainment, however, maintained that the reason was the “safety of those attending Korn’s concert after a thorough inspection of the site by engineers.”

 A single Korn ticket’s starting price was Rs 2,000 for the early bird ticket and went up to a whopping Rs 20,000 which was one of the main reasons why the response for Korn’s concert among the metalhead community in Mumbai was lukewarm.

 Most mainstream international rock and metal bands touring India have always performed in Bangalore which is now known as the heavy metal concert hub in India because of which metalheads in Mumbai are forced to travel all the way to Bangalore to watch their favourite international bands live. Inadequate infrastructure and bureaucratic constraints have been cited as one of the main factors why international bands skip Mumbai on the rare occasions they tour India.

 However, this is not the first time a concert has been cancelled in India. Metallica was set to perform in Delhi last year and that concert was called off in the last minute because of security concerns.

Smokers’ Corner

Teenagers in Mumbai’s suburb, Chembur who want to have a peaceful puff have found an ideal spot in a corner of a dark alley where they can escape from the prying eyes of neighbours and nosy Parkers.

 Ironically, this safe haven for these smokers is right in between a nursing home and a housing society where most of the residents are senior citizens. These adolescents tend to come in groups of three to four smokers who stand in small clusters behind parked cars after 6.30 pm while residents returning from work or their evening walks choose to turn a blind eye towards them.

 These teenagers who have been frequenting this spot for the past eight months are seen leaning against the small entrance to the hospital with a cigarette in their hands which they discretely hide behind their thighs or back when a passerby gives them curious looks.

 Other popular smoking spots in the eastern suburbs are outside cafes which are frequented by people of all age groups. However, to avoid being caught smoking by an acquaintance or even worse a nosy neighbour who’ll be sure to report their smoking habits to their parents, these teenagers are forced to look for shady corners of their locality to smoke in peace.

‘Booty’ Parlours

With a surge in the number of spas and salons spurting across the city, one is spoiled for choice when looking for a grooming or pampering session over the weekend.Be it a haircut, a facial or an anti hairfall treatment that claims to ‘boost’ your scalp for those luscious locks, there is no scarcity of such facilities in Mumbai.

However, while these beauty parlours and spas claim to help you in becoming a goodlooking, groomed individual most people end up walking out of these plush beauty centres feeling all the more insecure and unhappy about their appearance.

These salons’ employees have sharpened their tactics of boosting their business which merely involves pointing out a particular client’s flaws time and again and suggesting a treatment that will remedy that ‘flaw’. For instance, “ Madam, aapke baal kaafi dry aur freezy hain. Aap yeh hair treatment try kijiye..iske baad toh aapke baal ekdum soft aur shiny ho jayenge.” (Ma’am, your hair is extremely dry and frizzy. Why don’t you try this specific treatment that will make your hair soft and shiny?)

Those poor customers will soon realize the cost for that fancy hair treatment that assures them luscious locks runs up to Rs.6000 – Rs.7000 (120 $ – 130 $) atleast. Some who are affected by those taunts passed on their physical appearance tend to go in for such unnecessary treatments and after going through that entire process they are informed by their beautician  that they will have to shell out additional money for some shampoos and hair conditioners now that they’ve gone in for that hair treatment.

This has become such an effective business strategy for these spas and salons, wherein the employees attack the self esteem of gullible clients and bully them into going for other treatments that promise better skin and hair. A person walking in for a basic haircut is constantly reminded to go in for a facial since the beautician notices how ‘uneven’ his/her skin tone is.