Ever wondered how would a street overcrowded with people, hardly any space to walk, hustling and bustling with goods and carriers, parked with vehicles around both the sides would look and feel like? Well welcome to Abdul Rehman Street located in the heart of South Bombay (now known as South Mumbai or Island City). The moment you enter the street, you will see scores of shops with different products and items lined up in front of the shop. Every shop can be termed as a class in itself with some of them having been there for almost over 30-40 years or more.

You will find everything that you need in this place, from the small things that you need in your day to day affairs like bags, keychain, wallets, pens, stationary and so on, to jewelries which are made out of true Gold, Silver, Platinum to those which are imitations that would make the real ones loose shine in front of them. The place is a mecca for people like me who want to start something on our own and are looking out to scout the market for valuable ideas and methods of operating knowledge.

The amount of knowledge one single person can garner just by visiting in and around here is amazing. So many offerings by so many individuals make’s your mind go crazy and more importantly helps you understand market and create strategies that would help you in every aspect of business and life.

So coming back to my visit of the day, well first I went down to my brother-in-law’s shop located suitably at one of the best locations on the street. The place offers some of the best products in their category and does help you understand the things that work in their industry and other industries. The most amazing thing that struck me was the fact, they deal only big. You go there and say I want one piece and they will say, “We are sorry but we need an order of atleast 1000 pieces minimum” I was shocked to learn the fact that every deal struck there is more than this, way more and the best part is they earn big bucks. In a span of 1 hour in the shop I learnt things which would have taken me 1-2 years to understand on my own.

The next stop for us was the shop just infront of the one we were in right now, the shop is huge. So huge that it could make some of the better shops in the upscale malls a run for their money in both aspect of looks and space. They deal in a segment which is related to women, and again I was in for the same surprise the only amounts they deal in are big ones. No small ones here too. Slowly and steadily I understood and recalled what I had heard and learnt over the years at my grandfather’s shop about how this place operates and the kind of things that happen here.

The next stop for me was a Bag shop. As a common guy in the city of Mumbai you would just see a bag and buy it. At least that’s what I used to do for quite some time. But the bag shop visit completely changed that for me. The amount of variety in this field itself is immense. Even the same type and size of bag is different by the kind of material that is used and the pricing differs according to this also. A bag which looks the same to a commoner would be different with different pricing and you wouldn’t even suspect that the one I have would be 3-4 times higher priced and better in quality then the one which you would have which looks the same.

I was amazed by this experience of variety, business, operations and so many other things that come into play in some of the most common and most widely day to day activities. The learning which is imparted by these individuals is much better than some of the MBA’s and MNC heads that I have met over the years. And trust me these guys know more and can do more, even if the knowledge is limited to the stream of work they are in.

At the end, I came out of the street with loads of different product samples in my hand and loads of bags in the other. In some ways it was more of learning experience for me then a buying spree of samples. I have made up my mind of going and visiting this place as much as I can and learn what I could from these guys because the learning and knowledge would make me a much better businessman then what I am right now.

Regards,

Tejas Shah

(TMS.Shammie)

Twitter: tejas 986

Linkedin: Tejas Shah

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Humans are one of those species that live on this planet who’s behavior is so complex that we their more amount of streams and sub-streams of science which deal with it, then the bones in our own body. Yet when you think about it, a human behaves simply on what he see’s, hears and feels. For example, have you ever witnessed a child who’s around 5-6 years old ? The actions that make him smile are the same ones that make an adult smile too. Yet the child does not think about whether the action is for good or evil, but the adult always thinks whether the action was for the betterment of his or not.

I think this is where the problem lies. We human beings are so engrossed in our routine mundane life that we forget the smaller parts of life which give happiness do not have a reason. Every single time a person smiles at us, our mind immediately starts thinking WHY ? Is this question really reasonable, should it be really asked, instead can’t we be just plain old happy and go ahead and live our lives. Maybe more so we should just start smiling at others too, sure at the start the other person could think WHY ? But am sure later on that smile could make a difference to that person too.

Why suddenly this lecture on smiles, humans and human psychology. Well there was an incident today, an office in my building caught on fire yesterday night. There whole office was burnt down with valuable data being burnt up. Yes it is sad, but the reason why I’m writing about it in such a way is, the family who owned the business where smiling. They smiled to everyone who came up to ask what happened, the smile was because people where genuinely concerned about them.

Life is difficult and in such trying times does life give you lessons to learn. Putting up a smile may not undo the past, but it may certainly help you face the future with a much needed light. Even in the darkest corners of every room there’s a small ray of light beaming in. A smile does the same, it shows hope, affection, love, respect, honor, ability and most importantly happiness. Life is too short to mull over the past, and too long to lessen hope and move along.

“Even though achieving balance is the difficult, holding a smile during the search for balance makes the journey worthwhile. Keep smiling and make others smile, make someone’s day abnormal so that he may enjoy the happiness of smiling without a reason. Cause someday somewhere someone needs to smile.”

Regards,
TMS.Shammie
(Tejas Shah)

Contact:
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I have been a regular visitor of Carter road for some years now and it kills me that I haven’t written a single article on it yet. So I decided I’ll just post up once article on it. It’s a short stretch of road adjoining the rocks and the sea where individuals from close by residential apartments to far away places come.

Carter Road is a place which offers everything for everyone, if you are a health conscious individual just start walking, jogging or running on this stretch of beautiful scenic road and you wouldn’t even know when you started. If you like sitting down by the sea and listening to music, you could do just that down by the small openings here and there which give away a small section of the rocks and a short sand stretch which could be termed as a beach in a way. There’s more, if you are a coffee enthusiast you could just laze around at the coffee shops located perfectly in front of the sea to enjoy the beautiful view of the sunset in the evening.

One of the beauty of this place is that it provides you with two completely opposite scenarios in the same day. If you visit Carter Road in the morning you would find it empty, only the morning walkers, joggers and runners would be visible, students coming down to colleges situated near the stretch, and some coffee lovers who would be sitting down in the Coffee shop in front of the sea with a book or the morning newspaper in their hands.

In the evening however, the place is bustling with people. Crowded to such an extent that you would be surprised how many love this place. You would find groups of young adults from every walk of life sitting together and enjoying the evening with each other. You would see models, film stars, businessmen and a lot of fancy cars. There would still be walkers, joggers and runners though ^^. Right at the start of the stretch are small drag along carts who sell different local stuff, and down at the end of the stretch you have cuisine’s from all around the world, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Coffee from around the world, donuts, subway sandwiches, etc anyone and everyone is spoilt for choice. For those who like art, there’s a small shop of a very well known renowned artist by the name Al’s. He’s one of the biggest tattoo artist’s in the country, with young and old both flocking to him for tattoo’s.

Another reason why Carter Road is different is the even though its crowded you still won’t feel its crowded. Moreover everyone loves to see the sunset and carter road offers the perfect setting for such a view. A view which an artist would want on canvas.

There’s an amphitheatre located here on Carter Road where a lot of programs are carried out by the resident association of Carter Road and the likes. Carter Road has been made what it is right now because of the hard work and dedication of such citizen associations who have helped keep green and open spaces proper and made it a wonderful place to come down with family and friends to enjoy a beautiful evening.

All in all, we should help keep Carter Road a wonderful place to enjoy for us, our friends and family, and the future generations to enjoy the beauty of nature and the importance of having a place which acts as a stimulant in every sense of mind and body.

Regards,
TMS.Shammie
(Tejas Shah)
Carter Road Bandra
(Facebook Fan Page and Group Admin)
If you are interested in putting up articles or you need help in posting something really nice or some news through the Carter Road Fan page do let me know.

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Diwali is celebrated with full of joy and happiness all over the country with children bursting firecrackers and adults overseeing them. Everyone wishing good fortune to each other, puja’s being carried for pleasing Goddess Laxshmi (Goddess Laxshmi is the goddess of money – so you see there is still a tiny bit of selfishness here too ^^), eating sweets, etc.

This is my first Diwali at my new house and my new company. It’s feels very different to not have the familiar setting around me which I have had throughout my life while celebrating Diwali. The friends with whom I have enjoyed since childhood, the nooks and corners around my neighborhood where we used to go and sit, set up firecrackers and watch others having fun at the same time.

But change is eminent, we cannot live without change since it defines how we progress in life. Without change nothing can progress. Even time changes every second as we speak, read, look and think to progress ahead. This is exactly why Diwali is celebrated, to tell us that change is eminent but there’s always light even in darkness. Every time change occurs, we should see the beauty and it’s use.

The sparkling lights above keep hope alive in more than a million hearts, with dreams been made and created. Dreams which hope to some day sparkle like the stars above which people still look after the crackers douse off. The small cups of oil and fire together called as Diya’s show us that if we want, we can put up light even in the darkest parts.

Thus, I wish all of you guys a very happy Diwali and a Prosperous New year. May light be shown to you in your darkest paths and luck shine to give way to dreams alive.

Regards,
TMS.Shammie
———————–
Skype: tejas986
Twitter: tejas986
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Eyes searching through the darkness,
Hoping for a hand to come by.
Trying to find something,
Maybe a path, maybe a walk.
Handheld up and around,
I need you to be in sight.
I wonder now falling around,
Wishing someone could break my fall.

I need you, I wish a thousand nights go by,
Still I think if I had made the walk.
A simple walk to talk,
A need to have a hand around me.
Do you think things would have been different,
Cause you know I would walk a thousand miles.
Just to hold your hand,
So that you could break my fall.

-TMS.Shammie