My Blogs...My Space...Me, Myself...

NSE Annual Day 2011

2011-08-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

My Dear Blog Reader,

You must be wondering why my frequency of posting blogs here has reduced. But I can’t help it! I have started writing blogs in Gujarati – my mother tongue. And I thoroughly enjoy this experience! Since last two years my Guajarati blogs (many of which are translations of the posts written here) are regularly published in my column called ‘Blog Ne Zarookhe Thee…’ in Gujarati newspaper ‘Janmabhoomi’. There is a good fan following developed for this column and My reader’s responses are overwhelming! That keeps me motivated and encourages me to write more and regularly so due to time crunch I am not able to write much in English here. So pardon me for not writing here very often.

All the blogs published in the ‘Janmabhoomi’ column are published regularly by me at corresponding Gujarati blog website. So those of you who can read Guajarati please follow me at :

http://blognezarookhethee.blogspot.com/

…now one recent update for you all!

On 10th Aug 2011, I was felicitated by my organization for completing a decade long service @ NSE InfoTech Service Ltd. My happiness knew no bounds upon receiving this honour! Moreover I also participated in Prayer song (Ganpati PanchRatna Stotram composed by Adi Shankaracharya) that our annual day functions began with. Our very learned CTO (a thorough gentleman Mr Ravi Apte) had selected this prayer like last many years and me along with the whole group consisting of eight people (including very respected NSE seniors like Mr. Nandkumar and Ms Kamla K.) had a very good time not only while performing on the eve of the event but also while rehearsing for this prayer.(Rehearsal sessions had started a few days before the event). I don’t have any formal training in music but due to my artistic lineage I have a sense of rhythm. I have an ear for music and love listening to good music and singing too!

It was my good fortune that I came to know about this prayer song program from my colleague Dipti and I am grateful to ApteSir for allowing me to be part of the group despite of me joining the practice sessions just four days prior to the final event. Up to two days I was only listening the song to grasp the words, the lyrics and the tune in which the group (consisting of four males including me and four females) was singing. It was not an easy song. There were many high notes and in the same para there were the low notes as well! This song was sung by PadmaVibhushit Ms SubbaLaxmi. So one can imagine the kind of song it would be! For full three four days before the event, I had put this song on my Mobile in Repeat mode and must have heard it more than hundred times! I love it!

…and we sang it beautifully! Hear it here: Ganesh Panch Ratna Stotram sung by NSE group on Annual day 2011

By the way I not only sang but played Manjira (cymbals) also!

Here are the pictures of our group engrossed in singing and worshipping lord Ganesha with whose blessings we could sing such a difficult but wonderful prayer song nicely and got praised for our efforts by our colleagues!

Share your feedback too!

Here are few of my other pics (getting felicitated by our respected JMD Ms Chitra & CEO Mr Muralidaran)

Little kids : Our Teachers!

2011-05-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

We can learn a great deal from little kids!

A small child is very simple. If it is beaten by father or mother, it cries for a while and then forgets the episode. It does not take an oath to teach its parent a lesson in future, it does not carry the baggage, it does not decide to take revenge. Why can't we adults learn this behaviour? By forgetting & forgiving in life, many times one gets a lot.

My little sweet angel daughter Namyaa is 11 months old but she daily teaches me a new lesson in life!

Daily whenever I return home after a tiring day at work, even though I am in a completely disheveled state with crumpled clothes due to mad-rush in overcrowded trains, Namyaa welcomes me with such a lovely trademark smile of hers and gets overjoyed that I completely forget everything else and even without removing my shoes and removing backpack from my shoulders, take her in my arms and give her a light peck on her chicks! She is so adorable! Her smile is magical! Here what we can learn from my little beloved is that even though you are lost in some important work, you should keep it aside for a while when somebody close to you arrives home from work & greet him or her with loving & warm smile.

Click here to view Namyaa's Pictures !
Namyaa (like her father) likes vibrant colours & designs, patterns. Whenever her eyes fall on something fancy, with complete focus & all her strength she tries to grab that object of her desire & rests only after picking that object in her tiny hands. And then what does she do? Whatever it is, puts it in her mouth! She does not understand it is not the object that can be eaten but by her this gestures teaches a great lesson. With great determination, focus & patience we shall chase our objectives and we are to achieve success in accomplishing them. All the unsuccessful attempts shall be retried with this strategy and then see how can success elude you.

Also it is as easy to divert Namyaa's attention elsewhere as simple & innocent she is! If some harmful or inappropriate object comes in her hand, give her some harmless colourful toy and she forgets the first harmful object and starts playing with the new toy! Here we can learn two lessons. One is we should not get attached to material things or objects beyond a certain point and two we shall learn to easily detach ourselves from materialistic things & objects. In life if we encounter a trouble, a problem or something negative then we shall not hold it for too long, divert attention on something we like & get fresh & then try to tackle the problem with a new outlook, a fresh perspective. We would get the solution in a short while for sure.

Other very simple but very important lesson children teach us is to express ourselves, our feelings. Many of our problems are due to getting clogged internally. We do not freely express our thoughts, ideas, problems & at times happiness too! A child will laugh when it wants to laugh & also cry when it cry. Have you seen a child dancing with joy or jumping or fluttering like a butterfly in the middle of the road as if nobody is watching it! And even if somebody watches it, it will smile & continue what it is doing! It is free of inhibitions, fears. When we cry, we shed our negative feelings through tears & become light. We shall not burden our heart & mind by storing thoughts or feelings there. You should see Namyaa smiling or laughing! How gorgeous she looks! My little Ms. Universe!...and at times she starts laughing in the middle of her crying! She has tears in her eyes & on cheeks, but the moment I call her, she turns her cute little face towards me & give me her million dollar sweet smile! I can't resist myself from taking her into my arms and give light pecks on her cheeks!

When Namyaa is overjoyed (most of the times she is!) she starts shaking both her hands in unison like a bird or a butterfly with that trademark smile of hers on her face! And at times also starts singing her 'ka..ka...ka..ka...' or 'aaa..aaa..aaa..aaa' song loudly in the language she only understands! She does not care a damn of the people present around! Can we be free like this?

Children are fearless but as they grow we instill different kinds of fear in them. Today Namyaa looks at a cockroach or a lizard and she tries to touch it or she sees a diya or a lit agarbatti, she tries to grab it in her tiny hands! It is true that in such instances, fear proves beneficial for the safety of child and it saves the child from harming itself but we shall not scare children unnecessarily or for our own convenience (which we many times do & curb their curiosity).In fact we shall accept the virtue of fearlessness from children to some extent!

Thus children can be our best teachers provided we have a yearning to learn!

Never ever Think about Suicide...

2011-04-24T04:19:00.001-07:00

Mother is said to be creator of new life. Woman is said to be Shakti. Today Mumbai women seem to have decided to prove these beliefs wrong. She has not only proved herself weak but also has become destroyer by killing her own offsprings.

I am talking about suicides of two women in Mumbai in last two months. Nidhi Gupta killed her two children by throwing from 19th floor of her residence building who were both below 8 years of age & later jumped herself behind them. Just after a month of this horrible incident one more woman Dipti Chauhan repeated the same act with her one & only 5 year old son from terrace of her 7 storey-building.

Attempting suicide is a cowardice act in itself. Moreover whatsoever pain is agonizing you in life can not be so big that it can make you contemplating suicide. Even if you are upset with your life, just because you suffered nine months pain to bring your child into this world do not give you the right to end its life. Those tiny innocent lives have not yet even begun and before that their own creator destroys them. How unjust & sad!

Why these two women could not sort the issues out? They could have taken their parents in confidence. If their husbands were useless, they could have filed divorce. Don't know about Dipti, but Nidhi was a CA & a professor. Could not these ladies have opted to separate from their husbands and lived on their own. In a city like Mumbai, it is not that difficult for anybody to make two ends meet. Then why die? And kill your innocent children? Why such harshest punishment to them due to your own problems with your spouse/in-laws or your incapability of handling pressure. You should behave maturely.

Lesson to learn for parents of married daughters is to understand the cues. When your married daughter gives you slightest hint also about the harassment from her husband or in-laws, help her. Stand by her. Even if financially it is not possible for you to help her, give her moral support. In a city like Mumbai it is not that difficult to live a life of your own if one has the strong determination to live and face challenges life offers.

Another strong point I want to make through this blog is about Media. They play a dirty role in such situations. We shall understand that it is their job to sensationalize issues. Don't take them too seriously. You should pay attention to only good & positive stories. I read yesterday only that people in depression get more depressed by such stories and get encouraged taking such drastic steps. Dipti was strongly moved by reading Nidhi's case and probably got inspired to end her & her child's lives from Nidhi's case only. I have not even completed this blog and I read one more suicide story of a man who killed his wife and child before killing himself. Media creates hype. They show gruesome photographs of such incidents which really affect weak minds and rather than spreading the right message, inspires people to do the wrong.

You should have a strong emotional quotient. Any issue be it grave or minimal, shall be discussed with your friends, family members. Nothing in this world is impossible. No problem in this world and in human life can be such that it does not have a solution. Every dark tunnel has an opening towards the end & light near that opening. One shall ask for help and take some one else's opinion when he or she can not think by him/her self. If there is nobody close to you, today there are so many help lines also available for counseling. But never in your dream also think about suicide.

First flower is going to bloom on one of my favourite plants...

2011-03-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

You must be wondering that I returned after a long time on my Blog space....

But now I have started writing my Blogs in my mother-tongue: Gujarati. So I hardly get time to write in English too after my pretty busy schedule. But whenever I feel like writing something in English and have time, I would drop in here to share my views with you!

Lajamani (Touch-Me-Not)

Lily

I want to share a small story. Shall I call it story? Actually, it is my true experience. I like growing plants since childhood. I have 8-9 pots with plants of different types at my home which I am maintaining since I was a school-going child (may be 15-20 years). I have a Sada-fuli (Baramasi) which has been all along with me since I had started growing my first plant. I have had Tulsi plant, Touch-me-Not (Lajamani) plant, Marigold (Galgota) plant. I have a Lily plant (which look like grass and flowers only once every monsoon. I have an aloevera plant. One plant I have is a very old plant which I had got from Bandra on my way to Mount Mary Church a few years back. I have office flower plants which also bear flowers in specific seasons and these flowers also opens up in the morning and lasts till sun sets!

I also have a rose plant which grows like a weed and never bears any flower!

But a few months back I had got a plant that bears very beautiful small flowers like sun flower with few petals. They have a very beautiful colour mix of yellow, orange and Red. These flowers are very delicate and cute. Now I had purchased these flowers and that time only one of my friends had instructed me to keep them in proper sun light and water them very regularly. I had kept it in my balcony.(Most of my plants are kept near the door of my home at the ground floor. Only 2-3 pots I have kept in my balcony on the 1st floor of my home)When I brought these plant home there were already 2-3 flowers on it and there were also a few buds waiting to be bloomed into beautiful flowers at my home and make me very very happy. Every morning I used to water this plant and look at the beauty of its flowers for a long time and felt divine when I touched them, felt them. (See the picture of the very pretty flowers in my balcony put here in this blog.)

After a few days my dad had to be hospitalized due to his heart-surgery and I was almost out, staying at hospital for many days and when after 5-6 days since I last saw my new favourite plant, alas! I was devastated to find the dead dried-brown plant instead of my loving green plant which bore those wonderful cute orange-red flowers only a few days ago. I really felt sad and fought with my family members for not taking care of my plant in my absence.

Few days after this incident I happened to visit a nursery one more time and I found the same plant again there. I could not help myself from buying it one more time with the resolve to take proper care this time. But after some days again I had to go out of station and same sad story repeated. My family members forgot to water this plant & for the second time I lost my favourite flower's plant. I waited for days without plucking out the dried brown leaf-less life-less stem from the pot only hoping that a new green bud of the plant will be visible one day. But in vain. Now after a few days, one day while watering this lifeless stem of the plant I noticed a small sapling of this variety of plant in adjoining pot. I recollected that before some days when the flowers had bloomed on my favourite flower-plant, I had plucked a few flowers after they had bloomed fully and were dried completely on the plant. I had tried to sow the seeds along with the dried flowers and waited for days. Nothing had come out from the soil in the pot. But the same plant had taken birth in that adjoining pot and a small delicate sapling was swinging with the blow of air in my balcony and I was ecstasic to witness this sight!

Now today I am waiting for the first flower on this newly born favourite plant of mine! Tomorrow Morning I am expecting to see the first orange-red flower on this tiny plant.

This time I am feeling more belongingness to this plant as it has actually taken birth from the seeds sown by me! This feeling of waiting for the new flower to bloom is like waiting for a new baby to born!

I will post the picture of this new flower in this blog in days to come...

....and as promised here are the day-by-day pics of this flower....Enjoy!!!

15-Mar-2011

16-Mar-2011

17-Mar-2011

18-Mar-2011

19-Mar-2011

20-Mar-2011

...and today on eve of 20-Mar-2011, this first flower on my fav. plant went to the feet of Riddhi Vinayak Ganpati Dada...

Good news : there are two more new buds growing on this plant now!!!

Obama is coming..!!!

2010-10-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Darshan Dodia (@darshandodia) has twitted some real funny humorous tweets:

* In name of God we clean our hearts; in name of festivals we clean our houses & in name of obama we clean our city !

* Finally colaba gets a facelift; plants r now watered, streets cleaned, debris removed, dividers repainted. THANK YOU @obama

* Obama shld make this a yearly trip to india. Atleast that way govt will be on their toes abt nations security.

Though it seems funny,we are like that only! In gujarati an idiom says "આગ લાગે ત્યારે જ કૂવો ખોદવા બેસે" meaning we start digging well when fire has already caught.We procrastinate. We don't care or bother at times or rather most of the times.

Another point to this issue is we do things as they have to be done only when somebody is watching. I had read somewhere Quality is doing the Best when nobody is watching.Obama is coming,let's clean our city.Prime minister or president is going to come,clean the place, repair the roads, beautify the surroundings. Why such showiness? Can't we always maintain all these things in order when some VIP is not visiting?

Also we are crazy lot. We revere celebrities like Gods. We treat them with utmost respect (and at times neglect the ones who truly cares for us).We get influenced easily.We have to learn maintaining self-dignity.We often forget about it when somebody of higher stature or position we come across.We shall treat every individual with same respect and care.

We need to stop being hypocrite and learn to be our true selves. God give us all power to do this!

Govinda Aalaa Re…

2010-08-28T01:44:00.000-07:00

Hey, I am not talking about Bollywood film star Govinda. I am talking about ‘Govinda’ who burst the Dahi-Handi or Matki on Janmashtami Day. (For those who even don’t know what Janmashtami is – it was the day or rather night on which Shree Krishna was born. The next day is celebrated to enjoy this great event.)

All Indian festivals have a hidden meaning behind it which we have forgotten today but we love to celebrate, enjoy and hence we celebrate all the Indian (and some of the foreign) festivals pompously, with lot of enthusiasm and at times with lot of money too! But some of the festivals we celebrate completely forgetting the very idea behind the festival only to have fun and may be for some other dirty motives. Dahi-Handi is such one festival.

To celebrate Krishna’s birth is just one reason but why burst Dahi filled Matki? Do we know? There is an interesting story behind it. In Gokul, where lord Krishna spent his childhood there were lot of cows and there was lot of Butter produced. Neighbouring village of Mathura was ruled by demon Kans (Krishna’s maternal uncle) and all the butter produced in Gokul had to be exported to Mathura and the poor people and children of Gokul were unfortunate and could not enjoy their own home-grown Makkhan.

When Krishna came to know about this, he made a plan. This Makkhan or butter was stored in the Matkis tied in the homes of Gokul-niwasees. So what Krishna did was, he gathered his Gowala-friends (or Govinda) and made pyramid like structure and burst this Matkis filled with Butter (or Dahi which is not actually the correct translation of butter) and shared it with all his Gowala-friends so that it was consumed before being exported to Mathura. This was even the poor Gowala-Friends of Krishna who could not afford to have Makkhan, got to eat it! What a noble cause and what a great task!

But today, we celebrate Matki utsav with the prizes of Lakhs of Rupees. Who gains out of it? Sometimes Govindas are not even awarded with the prize money announced. The gain is of Politicians who have made the festival a dirty celebration by associating large sums of money with it and by making the whole city a battle ground on this day.

This year there is a prize of Rs. 25 Lakhs announced for bursting the Dahi-handi and that’s not all. There is going to be Gold Dahi-handi, bollywood stars, Laavani Dance shows, DJ, Prizes of Mobile and ambulance and plethora of other attractive prizes. What is all these for? Enjoyment, fun. And Politicians purely have ulterior motive of getting mileage and publicity. They encourage higher and higher pyramids made by Govindas (There has to be ten or more layers for 25 Lakh prize money this year) but if a Govinda dies or accidentally looses his limb or becomes handicap no politician would go and look after him and his family. There are insurance going to be provided to Govindas this year but what about the loss of life or a limb of a human being?

There are other problems like Traffic Jam, tussle between two or more Govinda groups, Drunk Govindas driving rashly and carelessly on streets causing accidents or other untoward incidents and more.

How women can be left behind? This is equality-age and this year even women Govinda Teams will burst Matkis and have claimed equal amount of prize money.

I love all Indian festivals and love celebrating them with enthusiasm and great fervour but hate this indecent, abnormal urbanized avatar of them.

Sachin Tendulkar Book controversy

2010-08-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I came across a news piece on Sachin Tendulkar's autobiographical type book with collection of some rare pictures of his life. There were many salient features of this book such as only ten copies of this book were going to be published and they were priced at a whopping price of around Thirty Seven Lakh Indian rupees.(only good part was this whole amount was supposed to go for charity purpose) but
the main attraction (?) of this book was that each copy of the book was supposed to contain Sachin Tendulkar's autograph with his own blood!
Now this made me restless! I thought how Sachin Tendulkar could have agreed to do such a stunt? Though neither I am a sports person nor do I have any special liking for cricket, I surely have special respect for Sachin. He most certainly is a great Indian personality and is also a good human being. So definitely this piece of news about his blood-signed book made me think negative about the whole idea and Sachin himself. Look at the media power! It can surely change perceptions. I was not happy about this news.
After reading this news in all major newspapers, finally there was clarification by Sachin Tendulkar himself that he had not agreed to sign copies of this book with his blood and this false piece of information was complete rubbish. Now came the clarification from the publishers that they were misunderstood and misquoted by the media. If such was the case why the clarification came by Sachin first? This was a cheap publicity stunt. Even for a good cause one shall not rely on such petty measures. Media also has a responsibility. It shall verify the facts before publishing news but in today's cut throat competition that cares about veracity of any news item? 'We shall be the first to break the news' is the mantra of any news agency, news paper.
Thank God Sachin didn't sign the book with his blood!

My Tweets during Mar - May 2010...

2010-06-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

Last week thr was a program-talk cndcted in a school in Bharuch on my book 'Mahek'-I was phone-interviewd 4 it.Felt vry good!
6:14 AM Mar 2nd

Didnt go 2 office as I ws nt feelin well ystrdy.Saw Natrang marathi film in the eve.vry good film,music,location,theme,dance.I liked it.
6:18 AM Mar 6th

Busy wid the work on my fifth gujarati book 'Internet Corner' series.Wd finish a day or two.
6:27 AM Mar 6th

Enjyd anther superb marathi film 'Harishchandrachi factory'.Simply loved it.Language nvr bcme barrier in enjyin a gr8 wrk of art of any form
4:51 AM Mar 7th

The workload in office affects your mood and vice versa.Ideally it shouldn't.why can't v follow all we undrstnd?
5:36 AM Mar 11th

How good U feel when U make others feel good..!Why then we all not always do things that make others happy?
8:12 AM Mar 12th

After two holidays of the weekend why still ye dil maange more..?!I always feel yet so mny things 2 cmplete.1more holiday shd hv bn there..
8:04 AM Mar 14th

Saw a movie Ramchand Pakistani ystrdy.Very beautiful short film.Nice location,costumes & vry good theme.Also enjoyed Metro again.
8:06 AM Mar 14th

Tdy was the silver jubilee of my blog-based gujarati column in JanmabhoomiPravasi.Also news of 2nd &3rd edition of my books got published.
8:12 AM Mar 14th

Tdy I was eagerly waiting for JanmabhoomiPravasi.Newspprwalla threw 4 othr pprs bt frgt 2 put Janmabhoomi only!Finlly I gt it in the eve.
8:16 AM Mar 14th

While shopping for GudiPadwa ystrdy broke my leg @ Devii jewellers,Andhri.Can't evn walk properly.Had 2 tk leave frm offc 2.sitting @ home !
11:24 PM Mar 16th

My loving mom applyin turmeric-salt-water paste on my swollen leg.How caring & loving moms are!Paste may or mayNot work bt my mom's love wd!
10:30 AM Mar 18th

It was World HouseSparrow Day tdy & I celebrated it!wd every dy put a small pan filled wth wtr 4 my fav brd sparrow & othrs.Pls save Nature.
11:06 AM Mar 20th

Watched LSD tdy mornin or rather wasted my precious mornin hrs.DevD & NoSmoker lovers would like it!Ppl mk anythin in name of offbit.A pity!
12:58 AM Mar 21st

Having fast & accompanying ur frnds 4 lunch @ subway joint is difficlt!Hd 2 c thm eatin nice-lukin,temptin sndwchs &fill myslf wid jst chip!
12:30 AM Mar 24th

Charges of food items @ joints like pizzahut,CCD,subway etc. r more 4 the ambience thr.It's cool,hip,young & relyxin!Prfct plc 2 pass time!
12:38 AM Mar 24th

A genuine smile can make ur day at the same time a statement or a question can make u feel really really bad ...
4:50 AM Mar 25th

Travellin long dist generates a kinda excitement...specially whn u r goin to meet ur wife aftr almost a month!Leavin 4 mahesana tonight.
5:00 AM Mar 26th

Have come here for my wife's Seemant(GodBharai) but would not be able 2 c the ceremony as husband can't c this ritual.Strange ritual!
1:42 AM Mar 27th

Aftr a lng time attnded an evenin Aarti in a temple.Somnath temple @Mahesana.I feel a cosmic energy flowin thru me whnevr I attend Aarti.
6:06 AM Mar 27th

Loud noise of gongs in an Aarti seems like sweet music to my ears.In Mumbai when does one get time to attend Aarti in a temple?But One shd.
6:09 AM Mar 27th

As I was in Mahesana whr 'EarthHour' was not follwd,I followd it in my own way.switchd off mobile.went 2 terrace & sat,walked & talked alone
8:17 AM Mar 27th

Mahesana 2 Ahmdbad is 2 hrs jrny.I wnted 2 go by bus sittin.Bt sundy rush so all buses came jampackd.Took pvt jeep.It gt punctured halfway!
5:59 AM Mar 28th

Goin frm Mahesana 2 Ahmdbd in a jampacked bus now standing.Hope I reach in time & don't miss my train frm Ahmdbd 2 Mumbai!
6:01 AM Mar 28th

Caught train frm Ahmdbd in a filmy style!9:5 ws trains dept. time & I rchd pltfrm @ 9 & hd 2 run entire lngth of train 2 ctch my lst coach!
9:21 AM Mar 28th

Erly mornin my colleagues fooled me skillfully!I enjyd!Thn I also teamed up & fooled anthr teammmbr Antik!Sch inncnt prnks dn't hrm & r ok!
8:23 AM Apr 1st

It is so embarassin to keep smbdy waitin 4 u. Antik, sorry 2 keep u waitin 4 half-an-hour...
11:59 PM Apr 2nd

Pampered myself with a designer haircut @ JavedHabib's.Got a new hip kewl hairstyle!I wanna maintain it 4 a lng time this time.Gud exprnce!
12:25 AM Apr 4th

Aftr more thn 15days break due to hurting my leg,would strt gym again.Bck 2 Normal routine now after 3 days grt holidays!Gud Nite...
12:00 PM Apr 4th

Goin 4 a movie in theater (WellDoneAbba) after a long time!Its a diff & nice experience to enjy a movie in theater...
5:52 AM Apr 5th

Wht a film WellDoneAbba is!so mny messgs givn 2 society in a simple,light yet touchy way! Well Dn BenegalSaab! Well dn Boman,Minisha&Samir!
10:09 AM Apr 5th

Sm ppl talk & speak so loudly in bus/train.A lady on last seat is blabberin & disturbin all.A truly loud-mouthd woman!
10:15 AM Apr 5th

Added twitter application on my facebook so now My Tweets can be read from my facebook page as well...
10:56 AM Apr 6th

Enjoyd bhajji,sandwish & chai in MaitriBen & DeepaBen's cmpny @ jbims canteen.rmembrd my MBA days.School&College life is bst period of life!
11:25 AM Apr 7th

Got vry late from offc tdy.Hope 2 have a kool weekend.The week was quite hectic @ work.Wanna relyx for 2 days now!
9:34 AM Apr 9th

Goin 4 a re-union of my school friends.Would see most of them aftr 15 years!I think it wd b grt fun meetin pals of my alma-mater...
8:38 AM Apr 10th

Why weekend has to pass so fast??Did gym,read newspprs,met my school sir,surfd net,took a nap & wd c hindi play Chanakya now...bsy sunday!
6:12 AM Apr 11th

Chanakya - A good political,historical,hindi play...Very good performance by Manoj Joshi.I enjoyed!Good end of the weekend.Good night...
10:59 AM Apr 11th

First thing I do aftr wakin up everymornin is chant:karaagre vasate laxmi karamadhye saraswati karamoole tu govind prabhaate kar darshanam.
12:41 AM Apr 14th

I actually see laxmi at top of my hands,saraswati in middl and krishna at the bottom.wht can be better to start day than remembrin them??
12:44 AM Apr 14th

Thr r 2 more shlokas I chant everymorning,2nd:samudra vasane devi parvata stanamandalai: vishnupatni namastubhyam paad sparsham kshamasva me
12:48 AM Apr 14th

3rd shloka in Trikal sandhya: Vasudev sutam devam kansa chaanuramardanam devaki paramaanandam krushnam vande jagat gurum...
12:50 AM Apr 14th

Ystrday a gujju play with my voice was aired on AllIndiaRadio Samvaadita.But due to me being in Gujarat,I cld nt hear it.Dad has recorded it
1:08 AM Apr 15th

Its hot like hell here in Gujarat.In M'bai,sitting in AC offc all day long,can't mk out hw summer is & dn't evn wanna knw!!
10:17 PM Apr 15th

Have enjoyd many movies on the first day of release @ WideAngle - Mahesana.One more tdy:PaathShaalaa.With beloved wife & in-laws.
8:39 AM Apr 16th

Enjoying the overnight journey from Mahesana to Borivali in Aravali Xpress.Intrnt srfin,Readin&Music.Who says U cant enjy a jrny alone?
8:43 AM Apr 17th

Rehearsing 4 my gujarati play OmShreeMadBhagwat after a long time!V r doin 37th shw on Fri. @ Kalidas,Mulund...
9:32 AM Apr 21st

Goin 2 Mulund 4 my 37th show of OmShreemadBhagwat.we hv done shows in almost all theaters of Mumbai.Tdy 1st time @ kalidas.Excited!
6:16 AM Apr 23rd

I am reading The Professional by SubrotoBagchi & a Gujarati novel 'Karmachaari' by JeetendraThakkar prsntly aprt frm daily doses of
newspprs
1:14 AM Apr 25th

Trying to link twitter with my facebook page.Hope I succeed...#fb
12:12 PM Apr 28th

So mny things 2 do & so littl time!I wnt 2 lrn drivin but gym,office & other activities dn't let me do it!Hope I m able 2 do it in May..#fb
12:43 PM Apr 28th

Enjoying GoGreen even. orgnisd by my compny with Rahul vaidya's sweet musical songs...
8:06 AM Apr 30th

Ranakpur Exprss sucks!since lst 2 hrs it has rchd mumbai but movin like a snail & it hs stopped jst bfor borivali since lst 15 min..bored!!
9:54 PM May 2nd

Stranded due to stupid motormen strike..lakhs of travellers by mumbai local railway on streets now...me came upto andhri by bus.hp 2 rch Mld
9:11 AM May 3rd

@ant1k By putting lakhs of commuters in stranded state whatever action motormen have taken do not make them wise anyway.They r surely stupid
2:53 AM May 4th via web in reply to ant1k

@ant1k Also their strike is just for the purpose of pay hike.Not unfav. work condition.So u have to update urself first bfor tweeting...
2:55 AM May 4th via web in reply to ant1k

waitin 4 my office bus since lst 20min. + headache = not feeling good
6:38 AM May 6th

Shouted at my mother on 'Mothers Day' today and now feeling bad about it...'Sorry Mom' I wd say & she wd forgive me.Why mothers r so good??
1:45 AM May 9th

Internet Surfing is addictive.Evrytime I decide I will sit 4 half an hour only and I end up spending more than an hour & still not satisfied
11:53 AM May 13th

Mom,wife & sistrs r awy frm home.Me & dad havin mixed feelings of liberty & missing them.Also realizin women r really grt!
9:43 AM May 20th

I dont know how to cook,wash clothes,utensils,keep the home clean etc.etc.I strongly feel I shall learn all these,now whn my fmily is away..
9:47 AM May 20th

I wanna learn driving a bike and car too.I guess I would join a car training school soon...
9:48 AM May 20th

The new shfit concept in my office is amazin!for 10 days I have 2 go at 12noon.10 days @ 8am & 10days @9.30...Its cool,I liked it!
10:47 PM May 20th

I witnssd a terribl accidnt of a rickshaw getting skid & turned upside down in BKC.Hope driver & passngrs r safe.
11:11 AM May 25th

Heard abt Hindu-Muslim riots being strted again in Gujarat.Why cnt v humans live in peace rathr whn politicians wud let us live peacefully
9:18 PM May 26th

Let's Grow Up...

2010-05-23T03:37:00.000-07:00

Every morning I take a bus from Bandra station to reach my office at Bandra Kurla Complex. There is a long queue at the bus stop, if buses do not come one after the other in time. Usually there are BEST officers at this bus stop to manage the queue and discipline. But one day they were not present. I was standing in the queue and bus came little late and stood little ahead than the place where it should have stopped. 5-6 people got in to the moving bus even before it came on the stop. Few more people who were not in the queue ran along with the bus and as soon as bus stopped tried to get in before all of us who were standing in the queue in the scorching heat for a long time.
Why are we such a lot? Why do we always need somebody to supervise us?
Didn’t those people who got into the bus without standing in the queue see us? Didn’t they know we were all standing in the queue from a long time and trying to maintain discipline? They should have at least respected that fact and should have waited till we all got in and then they should have boarded the bus. But the BEST officer was not present. So they took advantage of that fact and breached the discipline, broke the rules and didn’t care about the queue.
When would we get mature? I feel sad when we show apathy towards normal code of conduct in public. People spit anywhere on the roads, throw garbage, food and chocolate wrappers without thinking about it for a second.
These days there is a new trend in Mumbai. Every Monday night you will find lot many people on the S.V.Road walking bare feet individually or in groups. They start from Meera road, Dahisar, Borivali or Malad or Andheri or any suburb on western side and walk all the way up to Dadar to have darshan of Siddhi Vinayak. Now I don’t know how many of these genuine Ganesh Bhakts are. Many youngsters walk all this long distance only because their friends are walking. It is like a picnic for them. There are many noble people who serve these Ganesh bhakts water, ice creams, food etc. etc. at regular intervals along the entire path from Borivali to Dadar. They give these things in plastic cups. And the Ganesh bhakts after eating and drinking throw the plastic cups without thinking for a moment on the road. I have seen this many times and have got shocked to see their ignorance and apathy. Plastic is anyway harmful for the environment but the garbage they throw on the road makes our city dirtier and worse. I want to appeal the noble donors that they shall keep dustbins near their stalls where they offer the food, drinks etc. BMC shall also put dustbins at regular intervals on S.V. Road where people can throw garbage.
I think we all play some part in creating awareness about cleanliness and code of conduct at the public places. Teachers shall teach about it in the school and colleges. Parents shall talk about it with their children and they should first themselves follow the same so that their children can learn it from their behaviour. We educated people shall try to prevent ignorant and illiterate people from doing wrong in polite and good manner when we observe such thing at public place. Let’s all contribute towards this good cause and make our city and country a better place for living!

Effective Communication

2010-04-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

I saw Hindi movie PaathShaalaa recently. The movie started with title credits. There were three things simultaneously going on, on the screen. There were names of main actors and of the people who would have worked day in day out for making this movie, being flashed on the screen with red big fonts. The images of newspaper clippings containing recent news related to schools & students (mostly or almost all) negative in nature like 'A student commits suicide’,’ A teacher beat student to death' etc. etc., were being flashed in the background. And at the same time, a nice music track was being played in the background. Now a normal human being can concentrate on one thing at a time. My attention was on reading the news item clippings and I missed reading all important names of people involved in making this movie. At the end of the movie as audience do not wait an instant after the movie is over so there also I could not read the names & credits. I didn't know who directed the movie and who produced it. This was major communication failure.
You should see how title credits are given in Shyam Benegal directed "Well Done Abba". Along with the picture of a well (central theme of this movie) was displayed with photograph and name of each and every character of the movie along with his or her real name. What a great idea! By this way director has also given due credit to all actors. And audience can also read and know each actor's real name. This is classic example of effective communication.
When you communicate with somebody the idea or message should reach the person or group clearly then only the communication is successful.
While making a corporate power point presentation also one has to use as simple a template as possible. If you use gaudy background or very flashy template, the central idea or message of the presentation may get lost.
Hope I communicated properly and my idea/message has reached you, dear blog-Reader!

Earth Hour This Saturday...Batti Bandh Please!!!

2010-03-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

Citizens from across the globe, in hundreds of cities around the world are switching their lights off on March 27 , 2010 for one hour, from 08:30 PM to 09:30 PM, to raise their voice against Climate Change.India is also going to be one of the participants of this program.Tell your family, friends and colleagues about WWF Earth Hour, and ask them to join in and switch off for a healthy planet.

If you are thinking what would one do during this dark one hour...then my friends....there is lot that can be done...just a few creative thoughts...

---> You may sit with your family members and can have a candle - light talk/dinner/ antakshari session...!!!
---> You may convince your other locality friends and play some game in your area in this dark hour!
---> Sleep! (its winter so fans are anyway not required!)
---> Don't do anything ...!just sit idle/ meditate/ make the plans for what to do onthe new year eve!
---> Talk with your other friends/relatives on your phone/mobile
---> Anything which you can think of doing in the darkness!!!

Please be a part of this drive...and spread awareness about Climate Change/Global Warming....save energy...and Be Responsible.....!!!

Read my previous posts on past Earth Hour initiatives at :

http://vikasgnayak.blogspot.com/2009/03/batti-bandh-switch-off-on-28-mar-2009.html

http://vikasgnayak.blogspot.com/2007/12/batti-bandh-on-15-dec-2007.html

Today's Politicians Vs Mahatma Gandhi

2010-03-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

I saw Mayawati's pictures in the newspaper with the garland of currency notes worth of Lakhs of Rupees. The report said just a week back she was presented with the same kind of Crore Rupee worth garland and a leader of her party also announced that Behenjee will be now greeted with same type of currency note garlands in all future occasions. This is the same Mayawati who had been in news a couple of months back for getting erected crores of rupees worth statues in her state Uttar Pradesh. (When our leaders would be in news for all the right reasons?)I could not help myself from drawing a comparison between today's leaders like Mayawati and the great father of the nation - Gandhijee. 'Dalit ki Beti' became 'Daulat ki Beti' as rightly quoted in the newspaper and Gandhijee even left the routine clothes & chose to wear just the khadi dhoti for poor country people. Former the showcase of ostentation & wealth, latter true living-example of leadership. How can I even compare the two?
At least Mayawati did it publicly. (Again let me clarify, by no way I am trying to justify wearing garlands of currency notes. I strongly oppose this idea.) There are so many other politicians (I will not use the word ‘Leaders’) who do take bribes under the table and are totally corrupted.
There is another breed of politicians who simply love to remain in news for all wrong reasons. A couple of days back, BNHS (Bombay Nature History Society) head-quarter was attacked and the word 'Bombay' in the name was replaced in the night by some shiv sainiks (how can they be called sainiks. Do they protect people in anyway?) by a board with a board bearing word 'Mumbai' in Marathi script. What good it will do to public at large? They just want to be in limelight by keeping the flame of their so called Marathi-issue burning. Do they think that this kind of acts will help them increase their vote bank? Strong supporter of Marathi-cause Raj Thackerey, even after a few years of the name change 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus'(CST) from old 'Victoria Terminus'(VT) kept referring to CST as VT in his public address not single time but multiple times. This is clear example of his double standards. The issues created by his sena or shiv sena are simply vote bank gimmicks and they have nothing to do with true Marathi pride or whatever they claim. Children of some of these sena workers are not studying in Marathi but English medium schools. They keep protesting people from other states, caste and communities coming to Mumbai and threaten organizations and companies to give priority to local Maharashtriyans but have hired non-Marathi people personally in their houses and offices according to recent news. Mahatma Gandhi practiced what he preached. But why again am I even talking about a legendary like him while discussing about the petty politicians of today. There can not be any comparison between them.
I wish younger lot among today's political field players like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Agatha Sangama come forward and do some good work to take India at a new height of development and success.

My Tweets in Jan - Feb 2010...

2010-03-05T03:41:00.000-08:00

* Happy New Year to all the Twitters!!! Happy 2010...
11:46 AM Dec 31st, 2009

* What a unique way to start a new fresh year!I have almost completed 2 shows of my play out of 21 tobe performed in a row in 7days...enjoyin!
5:42 AM Jan 1st

* 5th shw of our Bhagwat play attended by VaishnavGuru VaishaliBetiji.She blessed us all & liked our shw.we all r vry happy!
6:55 AM Jan 2nd

* 3days of Bhagawat Mahayagna almost over.
6:29 AM Jan 3rd

* 3days of Bhagawat Mahayagna almost over.V have finished 8 shows in a row & yet 13 more to go!v r completely 'Bhagawatmay'!Bhagwat rocks!
6:32 AM Jan 3rd

* Almst the entire team of Bhagwat is staying at bunglow in Borivali.It's like picnic & loads of fun!fighting 4 bathroom now..!
7:11 PM Jan 3rd

* Having group break-fast, lunch or dinner is so much fun!Maharaj made a tasty dinner lst night&nice theplas for breakfast now!
8:38 PM Jan 3rd

* It's a mammoth task 2 do 21shows in 7days in a row.Lot mny un4seen things nvr-thot-of crops up.Bt v completd 13shws alrdy.Hop 8mr go nicely

* Since last four days we are cut-off from the outside world & r living a new diff life.completd 14 shows of Bhagwat in lst 4dys.7 more 2 go
6:37 AM Jan 5th

* Rehearsing @2 in the night for tmrw's 2 hindi shows of 'Bhagwat' aftr havin group-dinner with team.last 2 days of our mahayagna left now!
1:13 PM Jan 5th

* Last night here @Mangalya Bnglows & we-bhagwat team having grt time!tmrw last day of our Bhagwat Mahayagnya.We wd miss being tgthr a lot...
12:00 PM Jan 6th

* 21st show of OmShreemadBhagwat will start in a few minutes!In a few moments 7 day Mahayagnya will b ovr.we wd miss it like anythin!
7:17 AM Jan 7th

* I felt as if I hv cm into a new diff. World tdy aftr staying disconnected from routine life 4 Bhagwat Mahayagnya.feeling vry vry different!
5:09 AM Jan 8th

* change is the only constant in life.wht wd we be & hw wd life be without change!we shd embrace change, for good...
5:12 AM Jan 8th

* Though I enjyed evry bit of Bhagwat Mahayagnya - 21 continuous shows in lst 7 days,I feel relyxed now.evry thing shall come 2 a graceful end
5:16 AM Jan 8th

* sight of setting,orange sun is so beautiful!Look like a bindi on sky's forehead!I guess I shd leave office early evrydy 2 enjoy this sight!
4:44 AM Jan 11th

* A blind man with his stick was passing frm opp. Pltfrm on malad stn.Kind of funny & long stare a lady standing thr gave him made me laugh!
8:25 PM Jan 11th

* Pretty excited to run in tmrw's marathon.goin now 2 cllct the running kit & feeling the flair here already on the way..!
2:25 AM Jan 16th

* Oh this goodie-running-kit contains so many good items!I jst took a long walk on marin drv promend up2 chrnird flaunting my cute goodie bag!
5:09 AM Jan 16th

* Its a wndrful experience 2 enjoy sunset sitting at marine drive.u feel as if u r in a diff. World!
5:10 AM Jan 16th

* Yippeee...I am going 2 run Dream Marathon Mumbai'10...So mny othr runners in thier sports-corport wear on Malad stn as well as in the train!
5:59 PM Jan 16th

* Mumbai has caught Marathon-fever!!!The excitement is in the air and in the spirit of Mumbai now!!!
6:01 PM Jan 16th

* Marathon was a gr8 experience.After it I have become health conscious & started enjoying walking..!
5:38 AM Jan 19th

* U feel good when u rise early & start ur day early in the mornin.A walk in fresh morning air charges u up!why I don't wakeup early everyday?
6:07 PM Jan 21st

* Had an incredible experience enjoying 3D Avatar @imax wadala.Mst watch.Superb.Outstanding.Absolutely Amazing!See with ur family,a gr8 gift!
10:14 AM Jan 24th

* Wearing smthin different ocassionally @ office gives gr8 change & a nice feeling!I always enjoy it!Tdy my whole team supprtd me!It ws fun!!
8:13 AM Jan 25th

* Tdy me & my team wore white kurta-pajama & tricolor dupatta(specially designed for tdy) in the office.We got special attention by evrybdy!
8:10 AM Jan 25th

* I love indian carnatic music vry mch.It has power 2 touch ur soul & tk u 2 a diff. World.enjyin MorningRaga songs now which r dear 2 my hrt!
Jan 25th

* Finally I got connected to internet thru my mobile while roamimg in gujarat.Feeling gr8!wd chk my mails & then tweet!ciao!
9:12 AM Jan 31st

* Joined gym after more than 7 years from 1st Feb. All my muscles paining a lot today but hv no cmplaints abt it!Soon I will b in shape!!!
6:44 AM Feb 4th

* 3rd edition of my first three gujarati books & 2nd edition of my 4th gujarati book r being publishd.Yippeee!I m 2 glad!!
7:17 AM Feb 4th

* Why this happns always @busstop?whn we r waitin 4 a specific bus,it will nvr come 4 long time.At othr times same number bus comes in lots!
5:57 AM Feb 6th

* This also happens invariably tht whn v hv 2 rch sm plc in time, we get late,get stuck in traffic & so on..!
5:58 AM Feb 6th

* @antik: smbdy commented me on my tummy on annual day of NSE.That motivated me to join gym!Also I wanna sty fit...
7:42 AM Feb 6th

* Jst visited a temple whr SandhyaAarti was going on.Dholak was being played by a lady & so were Manjiras.Aarti singer was too a lady.liked i!
7:48 AM Feb 6th

* It's vry good tht Rahul Gandhi trvlld by m'bai locals bt he shd hv tried ctchin local frm malad durin mornin peak hrs.He cdn't ctch it only
8:33 PM Feb 7th

* It's unfortunate tht 'My Name Is Khan' could not release in M'bai.I saw it tdy in Mahesana-Gujarat.It's a wndrful movie.Mst watch.Don't miss
9:50 AM Feb 12th

* I was wrong in writing MNIK couldn't release in M'bai.But I m happy to knw that it did.It was 2nd slap on sena's face!Hope this wake them up
1:24 AM Feb 13th

* @antik : look who is talking. Ishqiya ka plan banate waqt kisi ne mere baare me socha tha?btw, how was it? Or let me ask did u guys go 4 it
1:28 AM Feb 13th

* Can u write ur mind truly & opnly on an open space like this?atleast i dont think i can!wht if the prsn about whom i write,read it?
6:55 AM Feb 16th

* A good song /music can enhance ur mood!A song from khamoshi did it to me!I m cheerful & happy since morning!
11:48 PM Feb 17th

* Two holidays of the weekend now!what a relief!How life would have been without weekend holidays,I wonder!!
8:05 AM Feb 19th

* Going 2 attnd 9thGujarati Transmedia Films&Stage award night tdy with my dad.Would be thr between a gamut of gujju entertainment industry.
4:50 AM Feb 20th

* Things gettin bck 2 normlcy in offc now.Omkar rtrnd aftr 2.5mnths typhoid brk.2new ppl joind my team.We got a new SnrMngr too...
8:24 AM Feb 24th

* Today I spent the whole day with my loving wife Ami.Did holi darshan,learnt littl scooty drivin &saw kismatconn.day was good!
10:23 AM Feb 28th

* Lst 2 lst holi @ GoraiBeach,lst holi with my OmShrimadBhagwat team..bt nt celebrtin holi this yr anywhr :-( nyway,Hppy&clrful Holi 2 all!
9:07 PM Feb 28th

Verdict of a gang rape case...

2010-02-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

A rape case verdict came in just two months time in a very controversial gang rape case of Surat in Gujarat. I was very glad to read this news when generally in India any legal battle takes years and many times the genuine people never get justice in their lifetime. Ruchika case recently in news is the best example of this. Even Neeraj Grover murder case or Shiny Ahuja rape case in spite of having been occurred in metro city like Mumbai yet continue with series of hearings only. Many such cases garner lot of media attention but then with time media interest fades and these cases creep into oblivion and get erased from public memory. How many of us remember about Abhishek Kasliwal case or Patrawala kidnapping and murder case? Many such cases do not see light of the day after a period due to lack of strong evidence or due to strong political link of the accused. In such a grave scenario, a gang rape case where a police officer's son and his other two friends are the criminals and the victim is a poor young girl of class12, getting verdict in the court of law is more than a welcome change.
Rape is the most heinous crime where the victim has to suffer the repercussions throughout life. Society is yet not mature enough to accept rape victims with grace which is a pity. Many such victims commit suicide or if the raper is influential then the life of victim becomes worse than hell.
Few days back I had read news on a rape victim nurse who had been raped 36 years ago in a hospital by a ward boy and she is in the comma till date. The ward boy mercilessly tied a metal chain in the nurse’s neck so that she could not shout and raped her. This caused the shocked and traumatized nurse to go into the comma. The ward boy was caught and was given the punishment of seven years imprisonment. But the poor nurse is still suffering with her life like a vegetable and after 36 years of this terrible incident yet she hangs between life and death. She was 28-29 years of age when she was raped and today she is above 60 and her family also has left her on her own. The hospital has given her a special ward and the nurses look after her.
Every day you read in the newspaper about some minor or some child getting raped these days. 2-3 days back I read about a young guy who went to some person for seeking a job and upon finding his 15year old daughter alone, forcefully entered the home and raped the girl.He was caught by the neighbours and later repented. It is a weak moment of impulse in which man commits such a gruesome and abhorable crime.
I feel girls today shall become bold and brave. In a situation like that of a rape in fact they shall become stronger and protest and defend themselves bravely. If they get frightened or scared, the Satan in the form of man will succeed in committing this inhumanly crime. But if the girl under attack protests and give a strong blow on the nose or a strong kick in between his legs, the rape may be avoided.
I would end this blog with the prayer to God to give sanity to all humans to be good with others around them and with the hope that like in the gang rape case of Surat, Indian judiciary system improves and give faster verdicts.

Smile Always...

2010-02-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

I have the habit of listening to music while travelling by train. Even if I am writing my blog or reading something in the crowd of co passengers or while I am feeling the air on my face while standing on the footboard of the train, my nokia headphone earplugs are in my ears and some music is always on. I have a huge collection of my favourite tracks saved on my nokia phone which I play in random order. It’s fun to hear a song from your favourite collections only but which one that would be decided by the phone software! Sometimes it plays just the perfect songs which suit my mood at the time of listening. I keep adding a few new songs regularly to my favourite collection so that I get to hear new latest favourites as well.
Today I caught the train for going to office and started to play music. After a song or two, the familiar tune started to play which I had heard long time back. It was from one of my favourite movie 'Khamoshi - The Musical'
I had loved this movie a lot and today also whenever I watch it, I cry every time I see & enjoy it. The song was 'Re Moj me le chalo mil ke Baajaa Re Raja Podhe Sambhaal...'.
What a brilliant idea was shared by Mr. Bhansali through this song. Those of you who have seen the movie would already know the sequence. And for those who have missed this beautiful emotional film, let me briefly tell you about the song. There is this Christian family consisting of five members: husband and wife both can neither speak nor hear their two cute children and the old wise and loving granny. The family is very fond of music & even though the couple is neither able to sing nor hear the melodious tunes emerging out of their piano, all of them count it as their precious possession. Granny sings some very beautiful songs and plays piano for her beloved grand children. Bad times come and the family has to decide to sell their proudly owned piano. Do children understand the complexities of life? They cry and are not ready to easily part with their favourite piano. Then comes this very nice song where granny explains the children in the language their little minds can understand. She asks the men taking away the piano to carry it slowly and with care as the king piano is sleeping she says! Then she tells her grandchildren not to cry as so far only she used to sing and play the piano but now entire world would enjoy the melodious tunes of that piano and would sing along! She even ask them to smile and bid a happy farewell to their beloved king piano. What a noble thought!
Kavita Krishnamurthy has done complete justice to this touchy song. The peak of the aalaap at the end of the song is a perfect graceful end when even the granny who consoled and convinced her grandchildren to be smiling all the times but who shall she share her grief with? This agony of her loss of the priced possession-the king piano makes her cry too and those feelings are expressed in the best way in the enthralling aalaap by kavitajee.
All I have to say at the end of the blog is keep saying 'All is well' and keep smiling always!!!

Quality experience in Shatabdi Express...

2010-01-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

Quality makes difference. In a regular long distance train in second sitting coach you can reach Ahmedabad from Mumbai in less than 200 Rs. while in AC chair car Shatabdi it would cost you 675 Rs. But you should have this experience once to understand how quality makes difference. I had to travel by Shatabdi a few days back and I started having a pleasure as soon as I boarded the train from Borivali. May be the train had recently got the new coaches. The new coach in which I got in had an airplane like look and feel. The wide thick glass window, transparent thick plastic or acrylic made overhead stand to keep your luggage, the pullable curtains, the lamps above your seat for use in dark or at night, the toilets, the door, the seats in 2s and 3s and the passage between them all the things were classy and would make you feel as if you are travelling in an airplane. Infact the speed of this train is also faster and it takes only 6 hrs to reach Ahmedabad while other regular trains take 9 hrs for the same journey.
It was early morning when I boarded the Shatabdi express and I could enjoy beautiful sun rise view near Vasai-Naaigaon creek. It was a marvellous experience to enjoy this sight from the thick glass-window seat of an AC coach of Shatabdi. Moreover we were served tea-coffee at this time only and the train slowed down so I perfectly enjoyed sun rise experience holding tea cup in one hand and newspaper in the other! I had hardly finished tea and the breakfast of Upma with coconut chuttney and bread slices with Jam & butter was served. My fellow passenger was a young guy from Mumbai with whom I enjoyed having discussion on varied topics from Pakistan to politics and movies to our school lives! He narrated an interesting activity from his school life. He had done his schooling in Rajasthan and every day in his school a student had to tell a small story in front of all fellow students. This not only gave students an opportunity to hear very good stories every day and thereby learn good lessons of goof life but also gave them a platform to speak thereby honing their oratory skills and boost their self-confidence. I feel every school shall follow this process. (Teachers or principals of any school reading this blog please try it out in your school!)
Chocolates and tetra pack of fruit juice served kept us refreshed while we were having interesting conversation. After some time my fellow passenger friend went to sleep and I started reading a short story book I was carrying. I overheard the conversation between an old lady and an old gentleman sitting right behind us. She was discussing traits of Gujarati community in general and was saying that she had studied in a Gujarati medium school. The thing that surprised me was that she was saying all these things in fluent English! She also informed the old gentleman that she liked reading good Gujarati literature books in her free time. I was impressed by this lady and introduced myself to her and gave her to read the book written by me for her feedback and review. I was carrying it because third edition of my books is being published soon and I had to finish proof-reading. She read some pages of the book and liked it. She also immediately recognized my father even though I have not mentioned anywhere in the book about he being a famous actor. She recognized him from my full name printed as author in the book and asked me about our gujarati folk drama-art Bhavai and discussed about it with the old gentleman sitting beside her.
Bread sticks with butter and tasty tomato soup came next immediately followed by not very delicious but ok-ok lunch and I ate so slowly that I missed ice-cream!
It was a very pleasing journey which ended with some responsible thoughts about two observations I made during this journey which I wanted to share with some railway authority also but which I could not as I didn't meet any of them after these thoughts occurred to me. One was about the water bottles. Every passenger travelling by Shatabdi is given a mineral water bottle which is already kept at his seat.70 passengers per coach in total 12 to 15 coaches (I didn't exactly count how many were there so it could be even more also) makes the count of bottles to around 840 to more than thousand! Now I noticed that more than half of these bottles were only half used and kept at the vacant seats when passengers left the train. If this water is not reused then it would be surely a significant loss. So I would request any concerned railway authority reading this blog or anybody who can make this message reach the right authority please do convey it to reuse this unused water and not waste it. Second observation I made was about the huge use of electricity in lighting more than 30 tubelights in my one coach only (please do the calculation for all the coaches of the train yourself now!) in bright day light. Since the time I got into the train till the instant I got down for more than six hours all these tubelights were switched on and there was no need of doing so when the sunlight entered through the thick glass and nobody had used curtains to stop it from illuminating the coach naturally. Even if alternate or a few tubelights are kept switched on during day time, it would save substantial amount of electricity/power. We all have to be responsible citizens now in order to survive on our mother earth before there is scarcity of the valuable resources like water and electricity. Spread the message and act now to save water and electricity!

My Tweets in December 2009

2009-12-31T11:28:00.000-08:00

* Last day of 2009 spent in rehearsing 4 my play full day.we r doin 21 shows in jst 7 days thus startin 2010 with bang & in a unique way!

* 5 point sm1 was 1 of the best novels I read.So is the movie by Hirani&Chopra.salute to them & chetan bhagat!must read&watch!

* Twitting in the middle of smthin is fun.Enjoying 3idiots.A nicely made film.very good treatment 2 a novel.aamir ko mananaa padega!

* Passing thru LBS marg in slw moving traffic.feeling nostalgic.used to travell by same route 4 my engineerin deg. colleg VESIT 9yrs ago.

* Bookd tkts of 3idiots 4 7.30 shw 2 wtch it wid colleagues.Antik driving his car with max. Speed but mumbai traffic scks!we wd b late as usul

* Decided to go 4 some work in the bank so woke up early and today only it had to be a bank holiday!why it always happens so???

* Readin ChetanBhagat's 2States 1Chptr at a time.Bcos I love Krish&Ananya's company&want 2 keep enjoying it 4 as lng as I cn!I love this book.

* Rehearsals for Aum ShreeMad Bhagwat,my first gujju play,in full swing.21 shows in 7 days in a row from 1jan-7jan.wht a way 2 welcme 2010!

* Today I went 2 Alibag by Ferri from gateway.It was very nice & kool experience.shaky shaky yet enjoyable 1 hr jrny.Had fun!

* I love seeing the joy on people's faces.passing by a christian locality.evrybdy is in christmas festive spirit!Its so much fun!

* There is a striking similarity between Chetan Bhagat and Sumit Raghavan ('Sajan Re Jooth Mat Bolo' and 'Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai' actor)...

* It seems hospitals have become routine in my life.In 2009 mom was admitted twice,ami thrice.I hope 2010 turns out to be better.

* I reached Fr.Agnel church after it was closed but the security guy instrcted me not to light candle & opned church only 4 me!I was touched.

* Walking on the skywalk at bkc is a kool experience!I always enjoy it.Infact it acts as a gr8 stress-buster for me!1.3KM dosn't seem 2 long!

* Today we performed rehearsal of our gujju play in front of well known gujju play director Kamlesh Mota. 21shows in 7days frm 1st Jan'10!

* tatkal rail tkt bookin on irctc website nvr helps.site is damn slow & in a jiffy entire tatkal quota gets exhausted.2days 4 tatkal is 2 shrt

* How strongly I felt to be with my wife tdy.She is thr in hospital in Mahesana,Gujrat-10 hrs away frm me,here in m'bai.Ami,gt well soon...

* I simply love the smell and the feeling of air-conditioner in AllIndiaRadio bldg where I read gujrati news.Heavenly & amazing!

* whole day passed in reading newspapers and surfing net.wanted to do many more things but couldn't.time flies...

* I voted for Dev in the @Kingfisherworld Calendar 2010 Launch contest. http://bit.ly/7BO5i4

* Ystrday in a marriage reception,evrybdy wanted to shake hands & get a foto clickd with my dad-'NattuKaka'.I liked the feeling tobe with him.

* Marriage of a close relative is fun event & ocassion 2 meet so mny relatives,friends & have a good time!Jst attended my cousins' in Gujrat

* I like using time to the fullest hence hate waiting 4 smbdy/smthing 4 lng time.ystrdy hd 2 wait 4 my delayd bus 2 mumbai 4 more than 1 hour.

* Travelling very long distance by bus,even though its luxury type,is very uncomfortable & tiring...

* since last week or so,I daily walk 2-3 kms as a practice for running dream run mumbai marathon to be held next month...

* I jst saw 2 unusual sights:A fat young LADY smoking & an aged MAN crying in front of his mom.In India these may be counted uncommon still.

* Cats are so beautyful! Kittens are even cuter..their agileness,curiosity and sharp activeness drives me crazy!!!

* ct scan equipment's rotating wheel @ nanavati hospital scared my mom but it looked like spinning washing machine to me!

* Heard chanting of sanskrit shlokas in unison while passing by a school and felt very nice.reminded my school days...

The Golden Temple at Amritsar

2009-12-26T01:31:00.000-08:00

Today I want to share my experience of visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Actually I visit holy places of all the religions like church, mosque or a gurudwaaraa. And I don't intend to advocate any specific religion. But certain good things, some good rituals etc. I liked very much which I observed during my two visits to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Hence this blog.

Amritsar is a very nice city. I visited it twice so as to see the temple made up of Gold as many of us might guess it to be from its name.
I wanted to start my honeymoon journey visiting the holy golden temple first (also had read that Abhishek Bachchan & Aishwarya had also started their honeymoon after visiting Golden Temple first. That inspired me to do the same!) Second time I took my mom and sisters also along with my wife for darshan of this beautiful place of worship. Both these times my liking for this temple and the city Amritsar has grown more.

The golden temple is actually Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara visited by thousands of people daily. Some visit it with pilgrimage intentions while others as a tourist spot. Some others like me visit it out to feel mixed feelings of holiness & wonder.

It has a very unique and beautiful architecture. The main central gurudwara is sitting in the middle of a holy & serene lake housing lot of big size gold fishes. The lake is surrounded by a marble-floored walkway on all four sides and by four different buildings on all four sides.

I loved walking through the entire square-shaped promenade with marble flooring very much. On a hot sunny day also your legs won't burn walking bare feet here. A most unusual sight even before we entered the temple was outside at the shoe-house where you have to keep your shoes before entering temple.

The old man offering service there literally took everybody's shoes in his hands and touched them on his head as if the shoes were some sacred holy objects! I felt strange. Later I realized that his intention in doing so might be to respect even the foot wares which brought people to this holy place for darshan. I could only think of this logic.

And I observed that all the men and women offering the service at shoe-house did the same thing. After keeping your shoes you have to dip your bare feet in the water in the small tank like structure at the entrance of the temple. The touch of holy cold water on bare feet felt very nice.

After this ritual you enter the temple premises. But one mandate for everybody is to cover their heads before entering the premises. Anywhere inside the temple surroundings, if you are found without a cloth above your head, you will receive firing from the volunteers or temple-keepers!

At the entrance and inside the temple premises you will find some Sikh temple-keepers with yellow long kurta-like robe and the symbolic Sikh kirpan and typical turban and beard. They would scare a timid normal man but yet they have a warm welcoming smile on their faces!

You would find them at the gate screening people entering the temple or roaming freely inside temple premises keeping a watch on people's movement and scolding those whose heads have not remained covered! I got a scolding even for feeding the fishes in the lake!

While walking on the promenade you would hear the musical kirtans offered to the God inside the gurudwaaraa. It’s a serene and holy experience doing parikrama around the temple. you would observe many Sikhs taking a holy dip and having holy bath in the lake water or praying near a very old holy tree inside the premises.

There is a long queue of devotees gathered near the gurudwaaraa entrance but it moves fast and you feel great as you reach near the golden temple shrine. Many people get the sheera-prasad to offer and drop some of it in the water for feeding fishes when uniformed temple-keepers are not watching!

At the gate of main gurudwaaraa two guards control the flow of people entering by a stick clad with yellow coloured cloth. You feel nice as you enter the two storied main gurudwaaraa shining with bright golden tinge. Sound of melodious kirtans soothes you and you feel divinity all around. There is no idol or picture of any god but a thick and big religious book is being read by some saints sitting inside the gurudwaaraa. The walls are decorated with beautiful carvings and colourful floral patterns. There is a thick floor-mat on the ground. Photography is prohibited inside the main gurudwaaraa but even if you get caught doing it, you will get a mild and brotherly scolding!

Another memorable experience I had at the golden temple was that of having a lunch-prasad at the 'Langaar'. Every devotee, poor or rich, elder or younger, man or woman everybody queued up in a disciplined manner. Everybody first collects the steel plate, a spoon and the water bowls. There are long ten to twelve rows inside a huge lunch-hall in which people sit together for having lunch. Apart from the temple-staff young people also serve roti, the moongdal subzi and daal which taste heavenly. There is a typical way in which rotis will be offered. You have to hold both your hands and the person will throw the roti in your hands with gods name and you don't feel bad to accept roti in this manner at all! There are lot many devotees offering their service in preparing the food, cleaning the utensils, giving the water etc. with great enthusiasm and devotion. This community lunch and the overall experience at the Langaar were really unforgettable.

What set Golden Temple apart from other places of worships is the overall ambience, the feeling of grandeur, not getting bothered, disturbed and irritated by any beggar, Sikh turbaned temple-keepers in their yellow robes, a beautiful lake with lots of big fishes, warm people serving selflessly at the Langar,nobody asking for any donation or monetary favour, people having prasad-lunch at Langar together.
All these and much more have etched the golden temple with golden memories in my mind and heart forever...

We have to be more responsible citizens...

2009-12-13T02:47:00.000-08:00

A news story of my neighbourhood in Malad in today’s newspaper shook me. I was shocked to read that a thief was beaten to death by normal citizens like you and me.
I am neither writing this blog to favour the thief nor do I want to become a human-right activist. But the story of the dead thief actually shocked me.
There were three guys who broke into a house in a chawl in Malad at around 3:00 am and somebody came to know about them and he shouted and gathered the crowd. Two of the thieves ran away but one got caught by the mob and the mob does not have any sanity. They tied him upside down near the gate of their colony and brutally bit them. All of them, one by one. The poor thief all by himself. He was 30 years old and could not take the beating. Died on the spot before police came and took him to the hospital.
Now question here is: Did the mob do right thing? I am not at all in favour of it. A Life has been lost. Isn't it too much the penalty for a petty crime? I am not advocating any thief and would certainly feel angry at a person getting red-handed trying to rob or do any kind of crime. But who are we to punish? And that too such severe punishment which can end a life? Let police do their job.
In mob, the mentality is very bad. Any person joining the mob would not think and enquire the matter. He would simply join hands in beating the poor culprit. It’s sad. In train or in bus or on the street , you many times find such incidents where people gather and start beating one person who may not even be guilty sometime. This 'haath-safai' attitude I hate. People want to remove their frustration, their anger, their sadness, their helplessness. But is it fair?
In future, if you notice such a tamasha, Please intervene and save the person from the mob. I am not asking you to leave that person who may be guilty. But by doing this, you may save a life. Because mad crowd would not think much and may kill the person by severely beating him to death. You may ask the mob politely to stop beating and as a responsible citizen, take him to the police with the help of others in the crowd. If police is not around, you may even call emergency number of police (100) and ask for help. But for God's sake and for that suspect fellow's life's sack, don't let the mob take the control in its hands and let something undesirable, unjust happen.
May the soul of the thief, who died today rest in peace and God, please don't make him a thief in his next birth...

26 November

2009-11-25T11:18:00.000-08:00

Today is 26th November. A date which Mumbai will never forget. Exactly 1 year back on this same date Terrorists attacked Mumbai and killed hundreds of innocent people. City was shaken. It was not only an attack on its people but was also on its vulnerability, its alertness, its security, its pride and its soul. The entire nation stood still and watched the drama which lasted for about three days. Police force lost its brave officers. Security forces sacrificed their brave heroes. Politicians didn't do anything. Who were at real loss? The people who lost their family members in this Blood-shed. Nothing will ever fill the void created in their lives by the loss of the martyrs who lost their lives in the 26 November episode.

My blood boiled when I read a couple of news items in the papers in last few days. One news was that JJ Hospital morgue can not withstand the stench of the deadbodies of the nine terrorists who got killed during the terrorist attack after 26-November-2008. Can you believe that? It has been a year and still the rotten corpses of those satans are still kept preserved in India. What do we want to prove? Their own country is not ready to even provide them land for their burial for which they claimed they were doing their Jihad. And after their clear refusal of accepting these dead-bodies also we are waiting for what? These carcasses should be immediately disposed off. But who cares?

Second news which made me angry was that there is a video game which is being sold largely and is being played by lot of Mumbaikars.
This video game is on 26-November-2008 attack. Don't we have conscience? It is a shame to earn money on such a concept. It is some kind of joke? some kind of fun?what do the game makers want to convey through creation of such a game? They are greed-blind but what about Mumbaikars who purchase such games and watch their children play such game or play it themselves? Rescue operation, shooting of gun, killing people - what does all these things in such a game give you or your child? Entertainment or Sadistic pleasure? I simply hated the idea of this game.

Third thing which irate and irritate me is the treatment given to Ajmal Amir Kasab by our government and legal system. Lakhs (now it must have summed to more than a crore) of rupees is being spent on the security of this man. Sorry, I used the wrong word. An evil like Kasab can not be called a man. He is worse than an animal. He had killed so many innocent people (he was from the duo who killed maximum people by firing indiscriminately at CST, Kama hospital and than on the road in south Mumbai also killing our heroic ATS chief and other brave police officers) and yet after a year he is alive and is being protected by our government and legal system. Such a heinous criminal shall be hanged in the middle of the road among people and shall be allowed to be killed in the most horrible manner by the public. That would not only set an example for the world but also would be seen as an effective step towards curbing the evil of terrorism.

There were numerous other stories of people whose lives were completely changed or shattered by 26 November incident. There was a 25 year old guy who got killed in Colaba near his own home. The picture of his sad mother holding her beloved young son's photo frame who had never hurted anybody in his life and was always ready to help others made the corners of my eyes wet. Major Sandip Unnikrishnan was the only son to his parents who gave his life fighting with the terrorists. The sentiments his parents might be feeling when they miss their brave martyr son makes me cry. There was a lady whose partial body got paralyzed and then there are some children who are now orphans.

These and such hundred other stories make me feel a potpourri of emotions. I feel pity, grief, anger, helpless, sad all at the same time.

When our netas will stop playing dirty politics and stop cribbing about completely non-important and trivial issues like deciding to build a statue worth millions of rupees in the middle of the sea or slapping an MLA for taking oath in Hindi or by forcing the vendors to put Sign boards in Marathi?

God, please give good sense to all of us and please make this city a better place for living...

My First appearance on T.V.

2009-10-28T11:44:00.001-07:00

I appeared first time on Silver screen (Television) on SAB TV in a small but important role in the comedy serial 'Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma' on 5th Nov 2009. It was very special because my first scene was with my Father , a veteran T.V. - stage - film artist Mr. Ghanshyam Nayak. See the Video.

Do you know Luke or chana-kulchawallah at Jalandhar?

2009-10-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

It was a hot sunny holiday afternoon but I had to go to office. Not for work but for my annual day dance rehearsals. I took local train from Malad to reach my office at Bandra.As soon as I got into the train, something striking caught my attention.
I have got a strong liking for tattoos & body-piercing. I am scared to get a permanent tattoo made on my body somewhere but whenever I get a chance, I always get a temporary tattoo made on my arm or face(!) I had got a face tattoo made during an office-party. Also during my honeymoon I had got a henna tattoo made on my arm in Manali. I like aesthetically made tattoos made on bicep or neck or chest. Now coming back to the main story, the hands of a young guy fully decorated by permanent tattoo designs grabbed my attention instantly and I got a seat just beside this guy. I was observing the tattoo designs at that time an uncle sitting on that guy's other side ask him if the tattoos were real and when did he got them made? The guy replied the tattoos were real and he had got them made some ten years ago. I asked him didn't it pain to get both his full hands being punctured by needles? He replied yes it did! But only when the tattoo was being made. Never after that. I was first time seeing a real tattoo so big on a person sitting next to me. The faded greenish-black design pattern consisting of animals,trees,moon & other things were etched on that guy's hands & it was looking like that portion was swollen on that guy’s hands. I felt an urge to touch and feel it! But I can't imagine myself having my hands full with such tattoo.
I got down at Bandra. That tattoo guy also got down at Bandra. I started walking towards the auto-rickshaw stand and noticed him also going in the same direction. We took the same auto on sharing basis. On the way to my office I started communicating with him & came to know that his name was Luke. He worked for IBM & was on the way to one of his client’s office which was little further from my office building. He thanked me for sharing the auto as he didn't know there was sharing auto rickshaw concept here in this area. I also got to know from our conversation that he too was an engineer and he did modeling part-time and got opportunities as model due to his attractive tattoos. I removed a 10 rupee note I was supposed to pay, from my wallet and kept in my hand. I informed rickshaw driver to drop me near my office building and instructed him to take rickshaw further up to the office Luke wanted to go to. We again started talking and it so happened that my office building came and I got down and bade him a good bye only to notice that the 10 rupee note was still in my hands only! I felt very bad. What impression Luke must have got about me? I genuinely wanted to give my share of 10 Rs. But I had entered my office & by the time it occurred to me Luke also must have reached the office he was supposed to go to. I was already late in attending my rehearsals so I could not even go to search for Luke to give him the 10 Rs. Note. Point here is not the money. (Anyway 10 Rs. Is a petty amount) but I was thinking little deeper. In life many times the situation comes when time has moved and you realize you have made a mistake or an error but you can't do anything about it and all you can do is repent. But life has to go on! So I guess we shall not take such things too seriously!
But hey, if any of you know Luke, please inform him I didn't deliberately not paid that day, ask him to contact me...Luke, if you are reading this blog write a comment so that I can contact you back!
One more similar incident I would like to share with you guys. I was on family vacation in Amritsar and was going to Delhi by rail. The train had left Amritsar in the morning at around 9.30 and even though we were in ac coach, there was no arrangement of lunch.'Jalandhar Cant' station came at around 1.30 in the afternoon and ticket-checker had informed me that train would stop there for a good amount of time so I decided to get down and get some food for my family. I enquired at a nearby stall but nothing good and suitable for lunch was available there. I moved further. Actually I had to carry food for five people and I don't know why I didn't ask my wife or sister also to join me. I found a food stall where something called as 'chana-kulcha' was available at 10 Rs. Per plate. Anyway there was nothing more available so I decided to buy five plates of 'chana-kulcha'. I gave chana-kulchawallah 50 Rs. Note and ordered 5 plates of 'chana-kulcha'.He prepared 5 plates but I could take only two and asked him I would return and take the other 3 plates later. I just turned and noticed the train moving. I had come quite far from my coach. With two plates of hot 'chana-kulcha' in my hands, I ran but could not make out how far my coach was. In a jiffy I took the decision to get into nearest coach. And literally jumped into that nearest coach. I could neither take food for all my family members nor could take change of 30 Rs. Back and was here in some coach which was not even mine! Moreover due to the coach which I had boarded now was non-ac and hence It was not internally connected to my ac coach. There was one more girl from my coach who also had to board this non-ac coach as the train had suddenly started. We thought we would have to wait till the next station to go back to our original coach but my wife had already created a scene there and the TC had to open the shutter between the ac and non-ac coaches and we came to know that after running at 'Jalandhar Cant' station we had caught the coach just next to our ac coach. We were re-united before the next station only!

These two experience - stories I shared with you all to tell you all how I felt after each one. After realizing that the 10 rupee note remained in my hand only and Luke had gone ahead. After realizing that the train had started moving and I had yet to collect food for my three family members or the excess money I had paid to the chana-kulchawallah! If you also have experienced something similar, please share!!!

My Fishes & My aquarium...

2009-08-30T12:01:00.001-07:00

I am a great Nature-Lover. I love birds, animals, flowers, insects etc. And it was my strong desire to have an aquarium at my home. I fulfilled this wish few days ago. I have a small aquarium at my place now which is home for three lovely cute fishes!

Actually the count of fishes should have been eight. But I have to share my grief of loosing my five little cute pets and also have to confess that I was responsible for the loss of the lives of these small lovely creatures. Hereby I also intend to share the lessons I learnt to have an aquarium at your home. My this blog will give you some very important tips for the maintenance of an aquarium at your home.

I had set up a small aquarium at my place in the small water-tank made up of transparent glass. I had filled it with water and decorated it with the shells and conches I had collected in the past. I had a small water-bubble-pump also placed inside the mini-aquarium. I had done this two-three days prior to bringing my first four fishes home. I bought them finally one night and brought them in a small plastic bag. I feared they should remain alive till I reach home from the shop and put them into my mini-aquarium. They did! I had bought four fishes. A pair of Tangerine and another pair of zebra. Tangerines were beautiful reddish orange in colour with a niddle-like tail protruded and zebras were grey coloured small and thin types. I cut the plastic bag carefully and slid them into their new home. They started moving fast in zigzag manner, getting acquainted with their new home perhaps. I loved watching them. I had a feeling of great satisfaction having fulfilled my wish of bringing home my own little cute fishes! I gave them some fish-food which I had purchased from the store. It was fun watching them galloping their food hungrily. I had read somewhere that it is good for Blood-Pressure patients to watch Fishes in an aquarium for sometime daily. I thought my mother should everyday watch my little cute fishes to keep her blood-pressure under control.

The red tangerines were calm in nature while the zebras were pretty agile and were constantly moving very fast here and there. I was happy to have indulged in one more new hobby by bringing my new pets home.

Next morning, I checked my aquarium first thing in the morning after waking up and was shocked to find one zebra-fish floating upside-down at the surface of water in my small aquarium. It was actually the dead-body of my first lost fish. I was in pain. When a fish does not move at all and floats upside-down, it is dead. I took out the dead-fish in my hands and tried to examine its smooth little lifeless body. I found a scar on the stomach and took no time to realize that the good-looking conch with needle-like thorns must have hurted my little cute fish and had costed her life. I felt sad for realizing this so late that I had already lost one my fishes till then.
Never keep anything needle-like or thorn-like in your aquarium which can actually hurt your fish and take its life away. I immediately removed the conch with thorns on its body out of my aquarium. I threw the body of my first dead-fish on the roof of my home so that a bird can eat it and my fish-dead body can be of some use after its death. The sight of lone zebra left now in my aquarium was disappointing.

In a few days, I bought another pair of Orange and black Mouli fishes. They were very small in size and looked beautiful with the orange body and black tail and a few black spots on the body. My total five fishes stayed well with each other in their little abode.

After ten days time, I had to replace the water as it had become dirty. This shall be normally done in a fortnight’s time on regular basis. I had not consulted anybody before doing this routine thing for the first time with my aquarium which was my second biggest mistake. I took some water in a bucket from the running tap and after removing my fishes from the aquarium with the help of a handheld fish net, kept them into this bucket. All the five fishes seemed scared and were moving in frenzy into the bucket. Little did I know that after 20 minutes or so I would find only four of them in living state. I cleaned the water-aquarium-tank thoroughly. Also cleaned the stones, pebbles, shells and conches and kept them back in fresh tap water filled tank. As soon as I saw the bucket where I had kept my fishes, I got second shock upon finding another zebra fish dead. I was sad and thought there were no objects which could hurt any fish in the bucket. Then how did it die? But I didn’t know the very source of life for a fish could also kill it.
You shall never put fish into fresh tap water as it is chlorinated and little fishes can not consume it to breath. I threw the other zebra fish dead body on my roof top to be eaten up by a hungry bird. I had not yet realized the reason why this fish had died. I kept a close observation on my other four alive fishes. None of them were as energetic as before in spite of me putting them into fresh water and offering them some food. One of the Tangerine’s was also on the verge of dying. She could not remain steady and swim. Her body turned automatically upside-down. But yet it was alive. I was restless. I didn’t want it to die at any cost. I consulted a neighbour who used to keep fishes at his home in the past. He suggested that fishes shall never be kept in fresh tap water. Water for the aquarium shall always be kept idle for a day or two so that all the fluorine content in that water diminishes and finally it becomes chlorine-free and fit for little aquarium fishes. He also advised me to buy liquid solutions called De-chlorinator and anti-fungal liquid for better and healthy living state of fishes. I immediately purchased them and put a few drops of both into my aquarium. Luckily the tangerine fish that was sinking sometime ago was still alive. After putting the drops of these liquids, the fishes were feeling little better and were in a better state. Yet they were not fully energetic and agile as before.

The next day I found two Mouli fishes dead. I felt helpless and sad. Same process of throwing the dead little fishes on my home’s roof was followed. Now there were only two Tangerine fishes left in my aquarium. It looked empty. I bought another pair of Hockey fishes which were again very cute and unsteady! They constantly moved here and there in my aquarium making it full of life! The speciality of this breed was that they had a transparent grey body with a black long patch across their body in the center and this patch turned at their tail to make it look like a Hockey-stick. That is why I guess their name was so. The black patch was changing its colour. That was another surprising thing about Hockey-fishes.

The four of my fishes stayed happily. This went on till a month or so. And one day a strange mystery took place. Upon returning from office that evening I checked my aquarium to find only three fishes inside. Two Hockey ones and one Tangerine. One tangerine fish was missing. Now this fish was not very small in size. So if it had somehow managed to jump out of the water then I would find its body lying nearby the aquarium. But I couldn’t find anything near or far from aquarium. I was surprised and shocked. I tried hard to find it. A though occurred to me. A lizard could have come from the nearby wall and some how managed to eat my lovely tangerine fish. It seemed very very difficult but not impossible.
I asked my wife, my sister but nobody had any clue where my tangerine fish had disappeared. I inspected the water tank thoroughly. Checked the conches carefully. In a large conch, many times I had found my fishes resting but it was open enough to hide a fish. Another few conches were having long bodies but very small opening on their head. I shook all the conches well to check if the fish had gone inside any of them, but could not find anything there. Now it had become a mystery where my little cute dish could have gone?

Another four-five days passed. I shared my disappeared fish-mystery-story with most of my friends-colleagues and everybody was surprised but nobody could suggest me where my little cute fish could have gone.
Finally the day came when I decided to replace the water in my aquarium. My wife was also helping me this time. Before removing my three lovely fishes out of the tank, I started taking out the conches from the aquarium tank. I don’t know why but I shook each conch thoroughly before removing it out. Third or fourth conch which was a very long and slender with a pointed head and a small opening came in my hand and as soon as I started shaking it, some orange coloured substance fell out of it into the water with very bad stench. There was my cute not-so-little tangerine fish. Why it had to go inside that conch? I felt a shock upon seeing that orange mass which was not even solid now, falling into the tank. That sight still haunts me. That orange thing falling into my water tank from the conch. How did a big fish go into that conch through a very small head, is still a puzzle. I had shook all the conches that first day my fish got missing but I could not find it there. I had even taken that conch inside which my missing fish was entrapped, into my hands and had shaken it with the fish present inside that conch but it didn’t, rather couldn’t come out. Perhaps it had already died then or was it alive? Whatever be the case, I could not save it. Lesson number three is never ever keep any object in your water tank where your fish can go into but can not come out. I lost my beloved fish due to this silly mistake. I had not thought at all that fish would like to go inside the conch. That sight and stench made my wife also ill. She got a headache and vomited the whole day. I was sad and disappointed too.

It is easy to have a hobby but difficult to maintain and give justice to it. Also you should do your homework thoroughly before taking on any new hobby.

Now my three fishes are living happily in their tiny aquarium. I lost my five fishes but now would not loose any as I have learnt my lessons.

My Eco-friendly 'Ganpati' Bappa Morya...!!!

2009-08-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am Happy as Ganesha, my favourite God has come to my home today, on account of 'Ganesha Chaturthi'. He will stay with us for a day and a half. I am happier because he is in his 'Eco-friendly' avataar this time! If you wish to have his Darshan please come to my place before 04:00 PM tomorrow(24-Aug-09). After 4:00 we will take him for Visarjan. And if you can't make it to my place, no worries as I am uploading his picture in this Blog. Here it is :

We had brought Sumukh (Ganesha) home for three years in a row some years back. Usually people bring Ekdanta(Ganesha) home for odd number of years:1 or 3 or 5 or 7 and so on.
But after my marriage last year, my father had a wish to bring Kapil(Ganesha) one more time to my home. So this year he proposed to celebrate Ganeshotsav at my home. I don't know why but I was not very very keen and enthusiastic this time. There are many such things I feel in my life now which I used to love before a few years, but for which I am not very enthusiastic now. Earlier we used to celebrate Janmashtami also with great zeal at my Granny's place. We used to decorate the jhula and make a jungle for Krishna-Janma. But since 2-3 years I haven't attended the Janmashtami celebration there. Same way on all earlier occasions, I had thought about some themes and had decorated my place with lot of creativity and enthusiasm. This year I was not sure whether we would do any such decor.
We had to decide what kind of idol we would buy this time. I and my sister were discussing about it since a week. But I was so busy during whole last week that I could not go and check out the idols being sold near my place. I didn't even send a formal invite mail to my colleagues whom I wished to invite to my home for GajKarnak(Ganesha) Darshan. On Friday eve I checked my office emails and saw a couple of invites for Lambodar(Ganesha) Darshan and I realized I could not send it to anybody and Saturdays are holidays for us.
2-3 days back I had gone to 1-2 shops to cursorily check the prizes of Vikat(Ganesh) idols. They were very costly and bigger in size too, for my home. I am a strong recommender of Eco-Friendliness and wished to go for one such idol this time. But there is not much awareness about this kind of issue in the market and I had heard a friend saying most of the shops or idol-makers were not even aware of any such thing called 'Eco Friendly Idol’. Saturday morning I went to see VighnaNash(Ganesh) Idols finally and upon reaching the Ganesh Art Shop near my place, found many cute Vinayak(Ganpati) idols there of varying sizes and shapes. People have a crazy tendency to see DhumraKetu(Ganesha) in various forms : like GanaaDhyaksh(Ganesha) in Shankar Mahadev swaroop or BhaalChandra(Ganesha) in Hanumaan swaroop or in Vishnu or Saibaba swaroop. Infact some weird artistes make Gajaanan(Ganesha) in human forms also, like one idol I saw in Shivaji Maharaj's swaroop! I personally don't like this trend of giving some other form or swaroop to VakraTund(Ganpati) other than his own. Though I like creative idols made out of marbles or chocolates or dry-fruits or fruits or any other such articles/objects. In Ganesha Art Shop, I was browsing through a couple of KrushnaPingaaksh(Ganesh) idols and I found three idols separately kept. These were moderate in size. Neither too small nor very big. I wanted to buy a small idol not costing too high as I feel one wastes money if he spends too much in buying the bigger size idols for home. But I got curious to know why those three moderate sized Gajvakatra(Ganpati) idols were kept separately. The girl on the shop counter told me that those were Eco-friendly VighnaRaj(Ganesha) idols. Wah! I had forgotten also that I wanted to buy an eco-friendly idol when I came to this shop and here I accidentally found a few such idols! I was happy. I asked about the prize. They were costlier than the small size idols one of which I would have bought had I not came across these eco-friendly ones, but I wanted to go for one of these eco-friendly idols only now. I asked the girl at the counter why these eco-friendly ones were very less in number. She explained me that due to these types of idols being made from Mitti (soil only) and not using Plaster-of-Paris (which is very harmful for environment), they can not be coloured very brightly as people like them to look. People prefer gaudy and bright colours only and also there is not much awareness also about the harmful effects of immersing the normal plaster-of-Paris idols into sea water. Thus people do not prefer less attractive eco-friendly idols. Now the whole concept of Ganeshotsav is based on faith in God then why this attractiveness concept? But that is reality. Infact idol-makers also have to earn and sell the idols so if they don't find buyers for less attractive eco-friendly idols why would they make it in bulk? But I wanted to buy eco-friendly DhumraVarna(Ganpati) only and I did that! (And felt very happy and satisfied even though I had bought it for three times the higher prize than what budget I had in my mind!)
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I decorated my place also with 'Eco-Friendly' theme. I used all the items available at home - different colours and size Duppattas and Chunris. See the pictures:

Also I decided to put all the different Ganesha idols and pictures already at my home gifted by somebody or bought by us.

Ganesha is the only cute and lovely God who is liked by artistes and creative souls alike! Which other God you would be able to see in so many different forms (liking singing Ganesha, Sleeping Ganesha, Dancing Ganesha or playing some musical instrument or in some latest urban avataars two-wheeler driving Ganesha!)
Ganesha is my favourite God!
Please come to my home before 4:00 PM tomorrow (24-Aug-09) if you wish to have darshan and if you can!

May Ganesha bless all of us...!

Ganpati Bappa Morya..!!!Mangal Moorty Morya..!!

While Giving Out Money...

2009-07-30T12:20:00.001-07:00

Who in the world would not like to receive money?! Be it in the form of salary or some lottery prize or as blessing when touching the feet of some elder relative...!

I read a news article today morning that even though Government has ordered schools to pay teachers their salaries on 1st of every month,they are paid their salaries only by 20th. Isn't it shocking? People work so hard the whole month and when it is time to get paid for all their hardwork, employers behave unfairly and delay their salary.

I am so lucky that I get my salary always even before the month ends! By 29th,30 th or 31st my salary is always deposited in my salary bank account.I am very lucky and happy to have joined such a place of work where people are being valued. Paying on time indicates that you care for your people and value their contribution.

I have generally observed people hesitating while it is time to shell out money. While getting their work done, they do everything in their control, but when the work is done and it is time to pay their attitude changes.
Recently my father took charge of a program of old Rangbhoomi Songs and Bhavaai to be performed on stage. He had made all the arrangements and his four other artiste friends along with three musicians were supposed to perform in this show which was suppposed to be anchored by me (for the first time I was playing the role of 'host' of a professional show!).All these seven people and my dad and me were supposed to be paid at the end of the show. Now from his pat experiences my dad knew that such programs end late at night and after the show is over, the artistes are in a hurry to leave. But they have to wait till the payment is made to them. My dad took his own money and made the payment envelopes before leaving my home for the show and as soon as the program got over, he handed over the payment envelopes to every artiste. As usual, the program had ended quite late and there were female artistes too in this program. They thanked my dad and left happily. My dad was actually paid the amount after an hour from the show ended! If he had made all the artistes wait for the payment till the time he actually received the money, everybody would have got late. But this simple gesture of my dad touched me!

I fight with my mom and my sisters many times when they bargain with vegetable vendors, pastiwallah or some other pedlars for a rupee or two. They avoid buying things when I am at home!I always keep telling them that they shall pay our kaamwali bai her salary in first 2-3 days of the month quoting my own example.(that I get paid my salary even before the month ends.)How happy she would also feel to get her salary on time.
Dunno if my mom and my sisters follow my advise or not?

But I hope you all, my blog readers would follow my advice and pay in time and have the right attitude while giving out money...!

On the way during my recent journey...

2009-06-17T11:23:00.001-07:00

A few days back I had to go to Lonavala for some official work with one of my colleagues. We had hired a Tata Innova car which was too big for just three of us (me, my colleague and the driver).We started our journey early morning. We took Western Express way (going towards Pune).

My colleague narrated an incident which occurred in his building a few days ago. He stays in a multi-storied building and there is this enclosed type of lift in his building. There was a problem with the lift that day and a young girl was trapped inside the lift. After some 15-20 minutes, the problem was resolved and the girl was rescued. She was scared and she vomited after coming out of the lift. Her father made a scene. He had gathered some neighbours and a few other residents of adjoining wings of the building and all of them started beating the security man who was on duty then. Now there was no fault of that poor security fellow. But he was made scapegoat and had to suffer the rage and beating of the angry crowd. I felt pity and sympathy for the poor fellow. How justified is such behaviour of a crowd?

Though it was very hot outside, the car being Air Conditioned, our journey was pleasent.We reached a Food Joint after travelling for about two hours. I had had my breakfast before leaving but my colleague and the driver wanted to have their breakfasts so we stopped at this food joint and entered the restaurant. I didn't want to eat anything but I just read the rates of food items available there. Idli-Sambhar which we get for Rs.20/- in a decent restaurant here in Mumbai was charged for Rs.35/- there in that restaurant and the Vada-Paav which we get for Rs.5-6 was available for Rs. 15 /- there. All other items were also heavily priced. I wondered if the quality there was beyond ordinary but after my colleague tasted the food, we concluded that it was ok and not very very good. I thought why then these guys were charging premium charges for their food items? Just because their joint was on a High-way, far from the main city and there were not many other restaurants in the vicinity, should they charge so high for ordinary food items of normal quality? Is it fair to take undue advantage of something in such a manner? Is it ethically correct? Even if one is doing business, should money or profit be the only criteria of the business? Just taking the example of Idli-Sambhar in that restaurant, if the owner of the place had kept the price of this food item Rs.25/- (Rs. 5/- more than the normal rate), it would be justified. But was the price of a single plate Idli-Sambhar at Rs. 35/- is too high.

We come across many such other scenarios in our lives. If there is some problem in a specific area, then the Auto-Rickshaw or Taxi drivers would charge higher amount for going to that area. If there is shortage of water, then natural resource and basic element necessary for life - water will be sold by some people at a high price.

I kept thinking about these points and my destination - Lonavala came. But my thoughts on the points above still kept running through my mind.

Enjoy the journey while reaching your destination...

2009-05-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

This thought occurred to me early one morning while I was returning from swimming pool a couple of days back after my swimming session. I don't go for swimming daily as I am getting lazier day by day these days. But whenever I go for swimming, this is my experience all the time. The journey is wonderful!
Early morning when you walk, a freshness is there in the air. You also feel charged up as you walk in this fresh air. The early morning air seems pure also as it is not polluted as vehicles have not started crowding on the street early morning. I like listening to music so I wear my headphones and walk listening to my favourite songs. But even if you don’t listen to music on your phone or i-pod, there is lot more on the way early morning when you walk on the street in that fresh air. There is chirping of birds, noise of bicycles of Doodh-wallahs,ho-ha of newspaper vendors and newspaper-delivery boys on the side of the street, voices of children going to school, radio being played in some house or shop around the corner of the street etc.etc. I always enjoy these sounds of morning when I am not listening to music on my cell phone.
I walk for around 25 minutes to reach swimming pool. Swim for about half an hour and start my return journey. During my return journey hustle-bustle of city life has begun to some extent. I see employees waiting for their company bus at specific points and I feel I haven't even had my break-fast and bath! Looking at those employees, I feel I am late! And I increase my speed to reach home faster!
I also encounter few other health-freaks like me returning from some gym, in their exercise-attire. I meet lot many different kind of people, most of them starting their day.
I like feeling rays of early morning sun on my face, during my return journey.
This season, I was fortunate enough to experience first shower of monsoon during my return journey from swimming pool. I enjoyed the rain heartily. I listened to the track 'Barso Re...Megha Megha..' from Guru and caught the raindrops on my body. Mother earth was also enjoying the rains and was giving rise to that lovely smell which I love very much! All this time it was waiting for the rains after getting heated badly through the summer.
It was a very nice scene looking at people behaving differently on receiving the rains unexpectedly. Some were running here & there to find shelter for not getting wet. Few others (like me!) were enjoying the rain by expanding their hands as if to greet the rain with their welcome hug! I loved the touch of the raindrops on my face. Suddenly the climate became sunny when the rains had not stopped yet. I felt like singing that song we used to sing aloud in childhood - "Aav re Varsaad..Dhebariyo Varsaad..Ooni Ooni Rotali ne Karela nu Shaak..!" (When the rain continues in the sun-light, we used to call it 'Nagadiyo varsaad'!)
I saw a few dogs and a cow getting wet and felt like they were also enjoying the first rain of the season!
At this point of time only I thought of sharing my feelings with you all through blog! And finally today, I got time to put my thoughts here!
I have always felt that journey is more enjoyable most of the times than the final destination. During a Trek or a picnic also I have enjoyed my journey thoroughly.
Is not life like that too...If we consider it as a journey (and heaven (or hell!) as the final destination, than we can make it memorable by doing good deeds and enjoyable by giving joy and a reason to smile to others whom we meet on our way!

I hope we all enjoy our journey of life by living every bit..!

A "Help" experience...

2009-05-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

Once I was returning from my office as usual in the evening. My home station - Malad came and I was pushed out with many others by the flock of co-travellers who were getting down at Malad. Crowd and moreover humid-hot climate of Mumbai make the local train travel, a worst experience. I breathed relief after getting down on the platform. The train moved further and so did I.A few steps further I noticed a herd of people surrounding somebody lying unconscious on the platform, near station master's office. Out of curiosity, I also could not help myself from checking out who it was. There was a young guy, little younger than me, lying on the ground unconscious.
People have this very bad habit. Crowd a place where something has happened and be a mere dumb spectator. Do nothing. Enjoy the Tamasha.
Looking at the unconscious boy, a few said that the boy might have got epilepsy attack; a few others suggested he might have had empty stomach and might have fallen unconscious due to weakness. One of them even suggested the boy might have fallen from the train. A lady was saying,"somebody shall make the boy smell an onion or a chappal (footwear)." But nobody was taking any action. Infact they had surrounded the boy and ensured that he does not get enough air to breath.
I ran out of the station to bring an onion, as I knew that just outside the station a few vegetable-sellers used to sit and sell vegetables. I asked and grabbed an onion and came back on the platform where the boy was lying. But I noticed that nobody was there now. Neither the boy nor the crowd! I went to Station master's cabin and asked about the boy. A person sitting in that office said in a rude tone that if I was a relative of that boy or what. I replied that I was not related to that boy in any way. But I wanted to help him and I had brought an onion for him to smell. He signaled that the boy is lying inside the room. I went inside.2-3 police officers and a few other men were trying to shake him and bring him into his senses. He was responding and in a few moments he came to conscious state. But still he was in a drowsy condition and he tried to get up and walk but didn't succeed. He fell back. I gave the onion to one of the men there and he broke the onion and took it near the boy's nose so that the boy could smell it. The boy though weak, was conscious now. He snatched the onion from the man's hand and threw it! Police man asked him if he was hungry. The boy nodded to indicate he was hungry. I told him I would feed him and asked him to come with me to the stall outside, on the platform. The boy had to take support of one of the police man's and my shoulder to come out of station master's office room. The boy was not able to maintain his balance and stand or walk properly. We managed to bring him to the stall. We made him drink water and I ordered a Vada-pav and a tea for him. The police man told me the boy had drunk and due to empty stomach he was in this condition. I felt a shock. I don't know why but I felt a sense of regret. I felt I should not have helped this boy at all. A drunkard should not be shown any pity and left on his own. I hate such people who do not have any control over themselves and after drinking beyond limit who loose senses and behave like animals. In parties also you find many such people vomit and spoil the venue and the party. Their friends have to carry them back to their homes. I have a strong sense of disrespect and disgust for such people. They not only loose consciousness but create trouble for their family members and friends also.

The boy tried to eat vada-pav.He just ate a byte and due to his semi-conscious state could not hold the vada-pav and it fell from his hand. I saw it and didn't like it but could not stop there any further and left for my home.

Jaago Re...

2009-04-30T02:46:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the polling booth where I exercised my Basic Right. That of Voting. Voting for the right candidate in this Loksabha Elections 2009. It was a great satisfying feeling after voting. I don’t know why but it indeed was. Although, I didn’t have to do anything which involves my physical or mental capability in voting process, I got a very good feeling after exercising my right of being a part of the process of electing right candidate for my constituency, my city and my country. Those of you who are reading this and yet haven’t voted, please do so before 05:00PM today!

After talking a bit about voting, let me now come to the main point of this Blog. I wish to share my feelings with you all about the lethargic attitude of ours. We all are lazy. I don’t know why but we all show this attitude at some or the other point in our lives. Today I heard lot of people saying why to vote? What does politicians do for us? Arre baba, you are not doing any good to the politicians by voting. Understand this simple fact. You are doing good to yourself only by voting. That way you will be able to make difference and elect the right person who will do better for your city and better for your country.
There are many of my friends and colleagues who are 23-24 years old and who would get a chance to vote for the first time. But they have not got their names in the Electoral Voting roll. (Getting your name in this register is a must for voting.) Why? I asked them. The reply was : we didn’t know how to register our names. Now everything shall not come and fall in your lap in life. Right? You have to be a responsible person and get your name in the register your self. Government had run a campaign for doing this registration of names and giving Voter ID cards to all eligible citizens. This campaign was quite systematically run in phases and covering all the areas of our city. There were advertisements in all major newspapers and media. Why didn’t many of those who have not got their voter ID cards or got their names registered in electoral role used this opportunity? Lethargic and reckless attitude. 'Hota hai Chalta hai...' types attitude.
One more thing which made me upset was that many people left Mumbai with their families for a mini vacation. Government didn’t declare a holiday today so that you can run away from your homes to a picnic spot and enjoy. This holiday was given to you so that you can Vote. But many of the people I know have used this opportunity in the wrong manner by opting not to vote and enjoy a mini vacation with their families. Is it a responsible and mature behaviour?

I have come across many people who have not updated their latest and proper details at the right places. Like many of my acquaintances and friends have not got their voter ID cards cancelled in the older places/states they lived in before. They have moved now to a new place/state. But they have not updated their details in electoral rolls. They can not vote at the new place due to this. They neither vote at the new place nor go their old place and vote there. They waste their voting power and right. My cousin used to stay near my place a few years ago. But after moving to a new place, she didn’t update her address in the places where she regularly got mails and letters from. After five years, still letters and mail in her name come to my place. (As the postman knows that she in my cousin and I would make them reach her). She is now married also and has got second new address after shifting to the new place five years ago. But still she has not updated her details. In my office also I get to see many letters, official documents, bills etc. in the name of employees who had left my organization a few years ago! I feel irate and irritated. Why don’t they update their latest address details in time? Why this carelessness and Lethargy?

We all procrastinate. This is a very bad habit. We all must remember those lines we studied in our school days
कल करे सो आज कर
आज करे सो अब...
(Do tomorrow’s work today and today’s work Now!)
& get rid of the bad habit of delaying things and taking things for granted.

A New Chapter of My Life - as an Artiste...

2009-04-11T02:55:00.000-07:00

It was one of the grand rehearsals (GR) of a Gujarati play ‘Sharda’ some 10 years back or so. My father was acting in that play so he had taken me along for the GR. I was sitting in the audience section in the darkness and the play was being rehearsed for the last few times before the live grand opening show. Artistes had put on make up and were in their proper dresses of the characters they were playing. There were lights of different colours – dim and bright alternately, of different colours making faces of artistes red or green or blue as per the mood of the scene of the play.

The loud music being played was magical. I was enthralled and swayed in awe by the performances. I reached into a different world that day. My senses were enjoying each and every moment of that new world. A dream was born in the auditorium there at that instance on that day. I wished from the bottom of my heart that I want to be there – there on THAT stage, perform. Feel those different shades on my face. Dance or act on those melodious musical tunes.

After that instance also, on several occasions I went to see Gujarati plays and loved to do so. On every such occasion whenever after the play, I used to go back-stage and wish artistes and appreciate their work, that dormant wish, that sleeping dream awoke. But for those few moments only.

I completed my B.E. degree, joined one of the Best organizations of India as a software professional, and completed my M.B.A. also. During all these years, I got a few opportunities to try my performing skills on the annual day events or in college festivals or such similar functions. But I could not do anything on professional front until 2008.

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I had joined acting and personality development workshop called ‘Theatrix’ a few years ago and enjoyed all those sessions very much and learnt a lot there. Utkarsh Majumdar (A Gujarati veteran stage actor) met me during one of the Theatrix sessions at Birla Krida Kendra (at churniroad) and when I introduced my self as Mr. Ghanshyam Nayak’s son, he was very pleased to see me. He told me I had to take forward the legacy of my father and forefathers – that of acting. It didn’t have to stop. I was touched by those words and the dormant wish and the sleeping dream again were agitated.

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My Grandpa's father - Keshavlal Kapatar.
Original Name - Shree Keshavlal Shivram Nayak
He was a very famous comedian of Shree Deshi Natak Samaj. He had performed lot of Gujarati plays in Bhangwadi. In one of such Super Hit plays called 'Arunoday' he had played character of a Compounder so well and that character became so very famous that he was started being called 'Keshavlal Kapatar' ('Kapatar' was gujju-deshi version of the English word 'compounder')

My Grandfather - Prabhakar Kirti (Ranglal Nayak)
Original Name - Shree Prabhakar Keshavlal Nayak
He was also a very famous comedian of Gujarati Rangbhoomi and Cinema. He had acted in hundreds of Gujarati Plays and Movies. He was also a well-known All India Radio (Aakashwani) artiste. In one of his very famous Gujarati play called 'Sarmukhatyar' he had played the female character of heroine 'Kirti Devi' so well that he was given a name 'Prabhakar Kirti'.

My Father - Gujarati Bhavai's 'Ranglo'
Original Name - Shree Ghanshyam Prabhakar Nayak
He is also a very famous comedian of Gujarati Rangbhoomi and Gujarati as well as Hindi Cinema. He is also a very good and well known T.V. and radio artiste. Through the immortal character of 'Ranglo' he is the lone folk-artiste in Mumbai who has kept the Gujarati Loknatya(folkdrama) of 'Bhavai' alive today.
His Profile you can see at the website : http://ghanshyam.glogster.com/photogallery

And finally the 4th Generation - me now!

Yes…I began acting in my first ever professional Gujarati stage venture called ‘ૐ Shree Mad Bhagawat Akshar Deh Roope’.

On 14th Feb. 2009, in the first show, at Birla Matushree Sabhagruh I began my new journey to carry forward the legacy of my three generations. A new phase of my life – that as an actor started. I had worn make up and costumes! And in that show I played 8 different characters! I don’t feel there could have been a better start than this. 8 different roles, those too in a program related to God! In first show I was feeling a potpourri of emotions – nervousness, excitement, zeal etc. etc. I was overwhelmed to have received a good feedback. First show was performed with all possible goof-ups and glitches (which are common in any professional play) but it was appreciated and liked by the audience. I was also satisfied with my performance. One entry (that as Dashrath Raja) I made late due to very less time between my previous get-up as that of Janak Raja and the change as Dashrath Raja. Director had to run and scream in the make up room ‘Vikas kyaa chhe? Eni entry chhe Dashrath na role nee…’ (Where is Vikas? He has to enter on the stage as Dashrath immediately…) and I had to run! But I handled the situation well and the scene was played well.

Second show was played on 21st Feb. 2009 in Tejpal Auditorium where my father had begun his career as an actor. I was feeling great pride! This show onwards I had to play seven roles. (The Janak Raja’s role was assigned to somebody else so that I get proper time to be ready for my Dashrath Raja’s role). 3rd, 4th and 5th shows were played in Birla Matushree. Iskon Auditorium and Dinanath Sabhagruh respectively. My wife and sister watched me act in 1st show and my sister complimented me that I look like my late grandfather ‘Prbhakar Kirti’ on stage.

My Dad and uncle saw me perform in 5th show. They both appreciated my act. With every show I am trying to improve more as an actor and do better.

Please note few next shows details:

11th show --> Zaverben Sabhgruh, Ghatkopar on 12th July 2009 at 4 PM

12th show --> Dinanath Sabhagruh , Vile Parle(E) on 17th July 2009 at 8:30 PM

13th show --> Tejpal, GovaliyaTank, GrantRoad on 18th July at 8 PM

14th show --> Birla Matushree Sabhagruh, Churchgate on 25th July at 8 PM

Please come and watch me perform on stage and give your honest feedback. I will wait!!!

The official website of my play: http://www.shrimadbhagawat.com

The Video can be seen on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvEo3r5WEXU

Batti Bandh (Switch Off) on 28-Mar-2009

2009-03-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

Citizens from across 85 countries in over 800 cities around the world are switching their lights off on March 28 , 2009 for one hour, from 08:30 PM to 09:30 PM, to raise their voice against Climate Change.India is also going to be one of the participants of this program.Tell your family, friends and colleagues about WWF Earth Hour, and ask them to join in and switch off for a healthy planet.

If you are thinking what would one do during this dark one hour...then my friends....there is lot that can be done...just a few creative thoughts...

---> You may sit with your family members and can have a candle - light talk/dinner/ antakshari session...!!!
---> You may convince your other locality friends and play some game in your area in this dark hour!
---> Sleep! (its winter so fans are anyway not required!)
---> Don't do anything ...!just sit idle/ meditate/ make the plans for what to do onthe new year eve!
---> Talk with your other friends/relatives on your phone/mobile
---> Anything which you can think of doing in the darkness!!!

Please be a part of this drive...and spread awareness about Climate Change/Global Warming....save energy...and Be Responsible.....!!!

For more information on this program visit :
http://www.earthhour.in

On 15-Dec-2007 also there was a similar Batti Bandh Program for which I had writen a Blog Post...

Read it at :

http://vikasgnayak.blogspot.com/2007/12/batti-bandh-on-15-dec-2007.html

A Legend - Manognya Desai

2009-03-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

After my three books had got published last year, I received a call from a lady. I used to write my column ‘Internet Corner’ in Janmabhoomi since last four years then, based on which my three books were published. Same kind of column she used to write in Mid-Day (Gujarati) called ‘Life Ka Funda’. She complimented me for the book. Certain people you connect with instantly even when you have not seen them or when you have not even met. We talked over phone for a good 10-15 minutes and she told me that she was a speech therapist too and worked at Ramakrishna Mission, Khar Road. I really liked communicating with her. She had impressed me in the first interaction only.

After this incident the review of my books also got published in Mid-Day which I later came to know, was written by none other than this lady herself.

Five-six months later, my fourth book ‘Abhooshan’ got published and this time I decided to hand over the book to her myself so that I get the opportunity to meet her in person and communicate with her. Last time when we had talked for the first time, I had promised her that I would meet and have a Tête-à-Tête session over Tea. So I took an appointment and reached her home after my office hours, one evening. She greeted me with a pleasing smile and warmth at her place. She was already talking with one of her patients (a young girl who was accompanied by her parents) and asked me very politely to wait. I overheard her conversation. She was a good communicator and a friendly doctor was what I could guess from her conversation. After the patient left, she introduced me to her family members and they were all very good people. Her elder brother praised me and my column and talked about two-three very good articles, I had translated and written in ‘Internet Corner’ two-three years back, which had touched his heart and still he remembered. You feel very good when somebody genuinely appreciates your work. She arranged tea meanwhile. Her brother’s grandchild was a cute little boy who was very fond of this lady whom I had gone to meet and was playing fondly with her all the time. I could see how attached she was to all her family members and how they all loved her too. She introduced me to her brother’s wife who had done some ‘Bhavai’ program with my father a few years ago. After all the introductions and Tea, we started our discussion on the various topics. One after the other ,so many good things we discussed that I could not keep track of time and a good one and half-two hours passed in a flash! We discussed the present state and future of Gujarati language. We discussed about radio. (I read Gujarati news on All India Radio and she hosted many shows on weekdays on Gujarati FM channel) We shared lot of common interests and I came to know many facets of her during my that meeting. She used to write poems, apart from writing reviews of books in Mid-day Gujarati she also handled many other small sections and columns which I daily used to enjoy in Mid-day but was not aware that she only handled them. She also used to prepare cross-word for a Gujarati newspaper of Gujarat. After all these work-related discussions, I talked with her about my family – my wife and my sisters. I told her how my second elder sister was looking for a good job in teaching field but due to dwindling Gujarati medium schools, was unable to find a good opening after her long struggle. She was so considerate and immediately thought up something and asked me if my sister would like to work as her assistant. Here was this lady whom I was meeting for the first time and with whom I discussed my family members and their problems and she even offered my sister a job in our very first meeting! We also discussed about good books, importance of reading , other few good people and many other interesting things. We connected instantly. Company of people whose thinking wavelength match with that of yours, you enjoy very much. I was delighted to meet Manognya Desai.

After our first meeting, I talked with her a couple of times over phone and soon I went at her office in Dadar with my two sisters. She had offered a job to one of my sisters and in this regard only I had gone to visit her office in Dadar. She greeted my sisters also so warmly that they also connected with her instantly. This time also we discussed many things and it was almost confirmed that my sister would join her as an assistant from 1st Jan 2009. (We had gone to meet her in last week of December 2008) She very kindly explained what all she expected from my sister and my sister considered herself lucky to have met so good and loving a personality and was delighted that she would work for such a great Boss! She was also happy that now after getting an assistant, she would actually be able to accomplish much more she wanted to since a long time, but could not do due to her busy schedule and health related problems. But she seemed to be relieved. I was more joyed than both of them! I thought 2009 would prove to be a very good year for me, my sister, for ManognyaBen and for all.

But things take their own shape with time in Life. You think something and something else happens. After agreeing that my sister Tejal would join ManognyaBen from 15th Jan 2009, she got a call from a school to join as a teacher for the leave vacancy of a pregnant lady. Teaching is Tejal’s first love and her top priority. ManognyaBen had also told that if Tejal joined her and she got another teaching opportunity after joining she would immediately relieve her to take up teaching job. Tejal was in a dilemma and she instantly called up ManognyaBen even without waiting to inform about this development. And ManognyaBen was happy to learn that Tejal got this call and she asked her to take up that teaching job without a second thought. I have come across a few people who I would not call selfish but business-minded and who would first think about their priorities and business only giving little consideration to others. But ManognyaBen didn’t think about her desires to take up her work further first and thought about Tejal’s interest and priority more and blessed her with good wishes! When I came to know about this whole thing I was angry upon my sister. I wished more that she joined ManognyaBen and not take up this new job offer which came after we had met and agreed with ManognyaBen. I most of the times think more about others and the commitments given to them than my own family members. Many times I think is that fair? Anyways, I wanted Tejal to join ManognyaBen not only because she was looking for a Job but also as I knew by joining ManognyaBen how Tejal would benefit. Working with such a great lady would automatically improve Tejal’s personality. She would certainly gain much more than just the salary money. Also ManognyaBen’s desires, the ideas she had in mind to do more about Gujarati language and the Gujarati people would get a shape and it will be a very good thing for society. But destiny had some other plans.
I talked with ManognyaBen and asked her if it was okay if instead of Tejal, my wife Ami joins her. She was actually not feeling well when I called her up. She was having health related problems since last few days. So she spoke little with me but I assured her I would be there to help her any time she needs it and I also promised her that if not immediately, after some time whenever she would feel appropriate, my wife would join her as assistant and we would surely take her ideas and desires forward. She felt very good as I gave her this assurance and talked with her. I could feel her response on the phone even though I could not see her. This was on 10th or 11th Jan 2009.
On 13th Jan 2009, I left for Mahesana to bring back my wife to Mumbai from her parent’s place. The plan was to celebrate my first Uttarayan also in Gujarat with my wife. It was our first Uttarayan after my marriage. Also I had heard a lot about great Uttarayan celebration in Gujarat and was curious to celebrate one at my in-laws place in Mahesana. So on 14th Jan 2009 I just went to the terrace of their flat in the morning and I got a call from Varnin, ManognyaBen’s nephew. As soon as I heard his introduction, I warmly asked him how everybody was there and ManognyaBen. He said ‘ManognyaBen aapani vachche nathi.’ (ManognyaBen is no more.) I got the shock of my life. I didn’t even have a hint that something like this could have happened and Varnin had called me to give this kind of shocking news. I could not speak for a few moments. Varnin was also almost crying there on the phone. I consoled him and informed him that I would see him and other family members after I return to Mumbai. I went to the nearby Mahadev Temple and cried there. My wife Ami was sitting beside me and watching me. I prayed for the peace for her soul.

I had actually felt the pain. My heart was crying. Why God did this? ManognyaBen was not old enough to die. She had so many desires, so many plans, and so many brilliant innovative ideas. How much literary world would loose by the early exit of this great lady. I came to know so many virtues of her and so many talents of hers so far oblivious to me. She was a great poetess. (I read some of her poems recently after her death.) Varnin told me she was also into astronomy. She used to go for Field-trips to observer stars and planetary incidents. She was a writer, a radio-jockey, a critic, an orator, a speech therapist, a counselor, a guide, a philosopher. She was a warm and pleasing personality. I regret of having missed all the programs devoted to her in her sweet memories due to my pretty hectic schedule. But I respect her from the bottom of my heart and wish her soul rest in peace.

Recent Attack on the girls in a pub in Mangalore

2009-01-29T05:02:00.000-08:00

I heard this news recently that in Mangalore a few Shri Ram Sene Activists entered a pub in Mangalore and beat up a few girls who were sitting in the pub. They not only beat up the girls but dragged them out up to some distance.

It happens just after the republic day on 26-Jan-09. Is India a democratic country in the true sense of the word? Are we actually free citizens?

In the metro city of Mumbai also the news like 'A Bihari gets beaten up' or 'MNS activists attack a North Indian fellow's shop' or 'Sena activists attack North Indian candidates appearing for Railway exams' are quite common. A few days back these activists attacked Mumbai University. They haven't even spared Taxiwallas and Auto Rickshawwallas. Infact after their Dadagiri, some other people also have stopped paying Taxi and Rickshaw fares and do open Dadagiri and threaten poor drivers. Their chief can spit venom over North Indians and when is arrested, the whole city is on the siege and under fire. On Valentines Day Shivsena activists burn the greeting card shops.

Today this war is between MNS and North Indians. Tomorrow it can be between MNS and South Indians or Punjabis or Gujaratis.

In our constitution, it is clearly mentioned that any Indian Citizen has the basic right of staying anywhere and working at a place of his/her choice. It is the Fundamental Right of any citizen.

Do not MNS activists and their well-literate head know this fact? Why the divisive politics then?

We are in which age today? The news like Girls getting beaten up by a few men who claim themselves to be activists is shame. These activists are no less than Goondas or hooligans. Their act is abhorable and Government shall take immediate steps to curb such practice. There is no difference between Terrorists and these activist Goondas. And if Government is unable to stop them, we have to fight them out ourselves.

I wish to convey to the general public also that please don't be mere spectators of such incidents. When you observe such an incident, try to protest. Gather people around. Of course you alone can not fight a Mob. But even if you succeed in getting 4-5 people around you who are also the audience to the drama happening, please unite and confront the Goondas/so-called activists. Try to fight. Because that is the only way we can stop such a bad practice from spreading and making our lives miserable. Tomorrow you can be the victim. So whenever you notice something wrong going on, please don't simply ignore. Try to discuss and gather with people around and protest/confront. If we simply wait for Government or politicians to protect us and keep silence towards the wrong happenings then we will suffer more.

Dasvidaniya 2008...Welcome 2009...!!!

2008-12-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

A year going by...leaving behind memories of all hues and tastes...sweet and bitter...every year seems to go faster than the previous and life just goes on!

2008 has been a very significant year of my life.It changed many aspects of my life.The most memorable event of my life has occured in 2008 - my marriage.Ami became my better-half.We tied knot in Feb'2008.Memories of Honeymoon are yet afresh.I had been to some of the most beautiful places during this phase.Another two new chapters of my life started - first as a Radio news reader and the other of getting four books published with my name as the Author.Being a part of Staff Welfare Committee of the Organization for which I work - NSEInfotech & NSE,I got lot of opportunities to do some noticable work for my colleagues as well as for society in my own small way.I successfully built a network of good contacts.This year has made me more responsible.One more new opprtunity is at the door of my life which just came in December 2008 which I would talk about in 2009!(Little Suspence you know...!)

It is not that the year was all Goody-Goody year.This year has also been a financial disaster for me.Actually not only for me but due to Global Economic Recession and slowdown each and every individual has got affected in some or the other way.But my loss has been due to my follies and greed or whatever one may call it.I lost heavily in Bearish Stock markets and my entire portfolio of investment has been washed away.Serial blasts in various parts of my country and Terror attack on Mumbai on 26 Nov 2008 has shaken not only me but also the whole nation.

But, as a friend Keisha SMSed me today - 'Life is only traveled once.Today's moment becomes tomorrow's memory.Enjoy every moment,good or bad,because the gift of life is life itself...', the wheel of time will keep rotating and we have to make the Best use of whatever we have got and make life of ourselves and others as beautiful and livable and lovable as possible.

I had taken a leave today from work to retrospect the year which is ending today.Whatever I gained or lost has given me lot of learning.I have made some new good friends.Lot of things happened during this entire year.I wanted to think about it all. So I spent the day at home.In the afternoon I slept for a good hour and half that I can not do on a normal working day being present in the office.(Though I have expressed my desire to do so, while taking a stroll after lunch on many occasions with my colleagues!)Then I went to Bandstand and Mount Mary Church to spend the last evening of the year 2008 and I had a good time with myself.I missed Ami as she is at her Parent's place now.After many years, this time that moment when an old year passes by and welcomes a new fresh year,I spent with my family.At 12:00 midnight,I lighted some beautiful floating colourful candles in water bowl and cut cake and shouted 'Welcomed 2009' forgetting all the worries and tensions!We all prayed to God to make 2009 the Best!And then we watched some T.V. prgrams and now I am writing this Blog and sharing my feelings with you all!

Now I am already into 2009.And I want to live it even better than 2008!(Lot of new year resolutions you know!)I give a warm and heartfelt welcome Hug to the year 2009!May it prove better than all previous years in everybody's lives.As in 2008, the year start situation was totally different from year end situation. Economy was at peak with sensex value of above 21000 level in January and in December it had fallen down to 9000 level.May the same situation-reversal phenomana occur this year too.I mean, in January 2009 the sensex level is at 9000, hope we see it at 21000 level again in December 2009!May all our dreams come true in this new year and we all live happily and this world become a better place!

Dasvidaniya 2008 ... Welcome 2009!

Temples...

2008-12-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

Temple…I have always been fascinated by temples…be they in any form. I visit temple, Daherasar (Jain temple), mosque (Islami temple), church (Christian temple) and Gurudwara (Shikh Temple). I was always curious to go to an Agiyari (Parsi Temple) also. But no one other than Parsi can enter an Agiyari. That’s the reason I have not visited an agiyari so far. And I have found a divine feeling in a temple of any religion – a feeling of eternal peace, of a satisfaction, of a positivity.

I love going to Mount Mary church and have visited Haji Ali Dargah and a few other mosques in Aurangabad and Ahmedabad. Visiting GoldenTemple and another Gurudwara called ‘ManiKarna’ in Manlai were one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Though I don’t prefer going to crowded places much, I like visiting SiddhiVinayak and Mahalaxmi temples in Mumbai. During one of my visits in Vadodara there was a private temple – owned by a family, Jaggan Nath Temple and another Kashi VishwaNath temple – both are etched in my memory forever! Visit to Swami Naarayan Temple in Delhi was also an Amazing experience.

I used to attend Aartis on Thursday evenings in a Saibaba temple in Malad. I had attended Aarti in a CheharMata temple in Mandropur(a small village in Gujarat) a few evenings when I was there. I had attended Aarti in RiddhiVinayak Ganesh Temple a few times and during all these occasions of attending an Aarti, I have felt a kind of energy flowing into me, in to everybody around clapping during the Aarti. With those musical lines of Aarti, I feel I am directly communicating with God.
It’s again a feeling which cuts me across from the world outside and connects me directly to God. I wonder then, why don’t I attend an Aarti every day?

When ever I go to RiddhiVinayak Ganesh Temple near my home, I pray. I close my eyes, fold and join hands in Namaskar mudra and feel that something within me, my aatma in the form of a jyoti - is moving out. It flies and goes outside the temple. It moves towards sky. It enters the universe far, far above earth and enters a bigger Jyoti which we call as Parmeshwar or Ganapati bappa. At this moment, I start praying,” O God, please burn all the vices, all the weaknesses, all the negativity present in my soul and fill it with fresh energy, new strengths and great positivity and all the good qualities.” I wait for a few seconds for letting God do that and then feel that the spirit gets separated from Paramaatma Jyoti and starts moving back towards me. It enters the temple and finally comes back into my body. This entire process is very quick and takes only a few seconds. But this happens only when I am in a temple.

At times, when I am feeling very low or depressed then I go to a temple and I feel better. I sit for a few minutes in the temple and try to feel the serenity and purity around. I observe people praying and children playing.

I love roaming and visiting new places very much. I make it a point to visit temples whenever I go to a new city or a new location. Even when I have gone for picnics, I remember of having attended a temple or two at that new place. I had gone to Pune and Chennai for some official work and found and visited new temples. I had gone to Daman for picnic and had attended a prayer in a Church there. I had gone to various places during my honeymoon and there also at all the places me and my wife stayed, we attended lot of temples.

I recollect two-three experiences during these temple visits in these far-off cities.

I had gone to Pune for official work and after the work, I managed to visit two Ganesh Temples of the famous AshtaVinayak eight temples. My journey to these temples was very unique and interesting. I sat on a hay pile in a truck and reached the temple at RaanjanGaon! I took an interesting local transport ride to reach another AshtaVinayak temple.

My visits and journey to temples of Dwaarka, Somanath and Nageshwar in Gujarat were also very very interesting.

I had gone to Chennai for official work and after the work I visited a few temples. Temples of South India are peculiar and lovely. I visited a very old (more than thousand years they claimed) Shiva temple – Kapalishwar temple. It was a beautiful grand temple with hundreds of Shivalingas of different sizes.

The next day I visited Kamakshi Temple in Kanchipuram and a few other famous temples there. One thing I very much disliked was that the foreigners were not allowed in a few of these temples. I heard in other few temples of South India, even women are not allowed. I can’t digest this idea. Why shall there be any rule for a certain sect for entering or for not allowing them to have a Darshan. After all God treats every one equal and God does not believe in any kind of discrimination. Then why we humans make such discriminatory rules and regulations?

My most favourite part of temples of South India is the dome.

It is called Gopuram and it has got a very peculiar and beautiful pyramidal shape. I loved the Gopurams of Meenakshi Mandir in Madurai and that of Rameshwaram temple near Hyderabad. I loved the Gopurams of Tirupati Temple as well as Mahabalipuram temples. There are so many Gods and goddesses in Gopuram facing all four directions. I also love that pillar outside south Indian temples lit with lots of Diyas. Though the south Indian temples are generally dark (or so they seem due to the Black stone used for constructing them) , their grandeur make you feel good and little in front of God or Goddess residing in them.

Rameshwaram temple was huge and houses more than 21 wells inside its premises. One has to take a bath in the holy sea water , at the shore of which this ancient temple is standing, and purify his/her body with all 21 well’s water before finally having Darshan of Jyotirlinga of Shiva which is believed to be built by God Rama himself. It’s a great experience.

I have been lucky to visit 6 jyotirlingas (one I just mentioned – Rameshwaram). There are 12 of them across India. I wish to visit and have the holy Darshan of all of them. One thing I dislike about these famous Jyotirlinga temples and other big famous temples is the commercialization in and around these temples. If you wish to have quick Darshan or touch the idol and enter the GarbhDwar of the temple, spend money, buy Tickets and you can do that.

On one side you will see some devotees rolling their body literally on the ground and going for Darshan and on the other side you will find different queues for the Darshan of same God. Pay more and your queue will be shorter! Inside temples also there will be Pundits treating devotees differently depending on their spending capacity. Prasads will also be available in different denominations! I simply abhor these ideas. In front of God, I believe everybody is same – be it a millionaire or a pauper. Then why we have this differential treatment for different class of people?

I love the NeelKanth Mahadev temple located in the middle of a small forest like area near Paadaa Kendra in Mahesana in Gujarat. (My in-laws place).It is actually not a typical temple. It does not even have roofs or walls. But still it is one of my most favourite temples and whenever I sit in this temple, the feelings I experience can not be described in words.

Squirrels run all around me whenever I am praying the Lord Shiva sitting in this temple and doves and sometimes Peacocks play in the surrounding area of this small temple. I loved a few similar temples in Surat - Gujarat also.

Few years back we had gone to Daman in one of my office picnics. There are some very beautiful churches there. I could not help myself from visiting a huge ancient Portugal Church. There was some special kind of prayer going on when I entered the church. Everybody was standing in two queues and the Father was giving a white sugar candy to them as they bowed their heads to him and they were eating that candy as Prasad and moved forward. I also was very curious and just joined the queue without thinking much. As my turn came, I also bowed down my head and father handed me a candy. But he suddenly realized something and asked me to return the candy back as only Christians were allowed to eat it as Prasad. I was quite embarrassed. I could not decide what happened was right or wrong. I left the church with remorse. But then realized that I should not have tried to be part of a custom which I knew nothing about.

I have many more such experiences to share but place and time permits me to write this much only for this Blog! I would surely share other such experiences in future Blogs...

Mumbai Terror Attacks...When would I see the World Without Terrorism...???

2008-11-29T10:34:00.001-08:00

Yesterday(On 28-Nov-2008, Friday) evening I was going to Churchgate, after my office hours, to read the news at Aakashwani(All India Radio).It was just 06:30 PM but due to winter being on it's way, it was dark and the street was almost empty. I felt like asif it was midnight. All the shops were shut. The city which is always on the run had come to a sudden halt and for the first time in my life I experienced fear while walking on the street. The fear of terrorists, the fear of sudden firing, the fear of unexpected sudden fatal attack...Since last two nights and two days they have made my city worse than hell. They have killed more than 100 and injured more than 300 innocent people of my city. They have succeeded in creating panic and grief among all of us.The entire nation is watching this drama. The whole world is condemning this ghastly and inhuman act. They are just 15 (or even less than that) but they have stirred the entire country. They came to Mumbai by sea route Wednesday night(26-Nov-2008) and dispersed in groups of two to three and started firing indiscriminately at various places liked Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Cama Hospital, Nariman Bhavan and many others. Some of them entered two top-Indian 5 star hotels - Taj and Oberoi (Trident). They have made hundreds of people captive and have already killed more than 100 for no reason. They are constantly firing bullets through state-of-the-art machine guns like AK47 as if playing with the toy and using hand grenades and other destructive weapons they have not only destructed valuable properties but also put a shameful blot on the capital hub of India - Mumbai.They have killed many foreign nationals also.They have killed a person who gave them water to drink.They have killed ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) head and a few other top police men. They have killed businessmen and commmonmen. NSG Commandos had to be called to fight with them and to save lives of the captives they had held in two hotels and Nariman Bhavan building. An NSG commando and many hotel staff-members have lost their lives in the battle with these terrorists. There were lot many people waiting outside the hotels and the building terrorists had used for their mission.

I can write pages and pages of this episode and talk about fragile security system and corrupted political system and all that but I would not talk about all that any more.

Today morning, a courier person came to my home for delivering a mail. Usually my mother or sisters offer water to the postman or courier guys even without them asking for the same. But today my sister took the mail from the courier fellow from closed door only and when he asked for some water, she latched the door and came inside to get the water. This small example shows how terrorism and similar things affects us.It scares us. It makes us not put faith in fellow humanbeing.It destructs the bond between two humanbeings.

Why they do this? Don't they have heart? What would they finally achieve by creating a kingdom of terror? I remember the beautiful prayer song from the movie '1947:earth':

ईश्वर अल्लाह तेरे जहाँ मे नफ़रत क्यू है जंग है क्यू?
तेरा दिल तो इतना बड़ा है इंसान का दिल तंग है क्यू?

कदम कदम पर सरहद क्यू है? सारी ज़मीन जो तेरी है
सूरज के पहरे धरती है फिर क्यू इतनी अंधेरी है
इस दुनियया के दामन पर इंसान के लहू का रंग है क्यू

गूँज रही है कितनी चीखे प्यार की बाते कौन सुने
तूट रहे है कितने सपने इनके टुकड़े कौन चुने
दिल के दरवाज़ो पर ताले तालो पर है ज़ंग ये क्यू

I really wonder at times why humans have this vice called Greed? They want to conquer the world. They want the religion they are following to be accepted by all. They want to rule the earth. But consider the entire universe. How infinitesimally small we are. And afterall without God's wish does even a Leaf can turn? Then why this destruction? Why this bloodbath? Why this war?

Can't we simply live as Human beings? Without any labels of religion? Without any boundaries? Without any greed-ill wish? Just as a Human...

When would I see the world without terrorism? A world where peace and humanity prevails...

God into Human Body...???

2008-11-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

I want to start this blog by asking you a question: Do you believe in God entering into a human body? I want this blog to be interactive. So please all the readers share your thoughts on the subject matter as comment (you can enter it using the link provided at the bottom of this Blog).I would like to know what you all think on this subject.
I believe in existence of God. I pray. I go to temples also. But I don't think God can enter into a human body. I have encountered many such incidents which I would like to share with you all.
There was a lady in whose body, they said, Ganesha enters. She has got a very good personality and there is certainly an aura around her. She has got excellent oratory skills. Her house is always full of devotees. Lot of people come to her for seeking solution of their problems. She sits in trance, hears the problem and suggests a remedy/solution. She gives some rice particles and/or a flower and asks the solution-seeker to do some number of fasts or may be to feed cow for a few days or such similar thing. I had also visited her place when I was a very young child. Till day my family members visit her place sometimes. But I don’t go now.

There was another lady in whose body, it is believed that KalikaDevi comes. Ditto same description of her place and devotees as in the above case. One peculiar thing in this case is that on Kali-Chaudas night (the night before Diwali) she appears completely different. She sits also in a different way, with one leg bent and the other half bent. Her tongue comes out so much that one would get scared looking at her this swaroop. An ordinary human being may not be able to bring out his or her tongue this much. She applies a big Red bindi on her forehead and keeps her hairs open (untied).She resembles Kalimata. Faint-hearted people may get heart-attack out of fear, if they see her in her this avataar. Her whole body shivers/vibrates and she moves her head and face in a circular motion. There are so many devotees on this night at her place that her whole home gets full with people and people occupy and fill up her neighbours’ home also.

One of my male friends is a great worshipper of DeviAmba and GanpatiBappa and celebrates both these festivals with great fervour and devotion. I have attended aartis during Navartri and GaneshUtsav at his place. He sings these aartis without referring book and also recites many Sanskrit shlokas after the aarti which he remembers by-heart(I wonder how?). On specific days during these festivals, he also becomes different. He also does what we call in Gujarati 'Dhune chhe' (ધુણે છે) .(Shakes the body with great power)This friend of mine is almost same age as mine and is a well-educated person. We may have to shift towards the walls and give him enough space when 'God' enters his body.

One of my aunts says Meladi Ma enters her body, another believes Bhuvaneshwari Ma enters into her. An uncle who visits my place can call Ashapura Ma whenever he wishes to call her into his body. My family members even though, elder than these people, bow down to them and seek their Aashirwaad when respective Gods enter their bodies.

At times, the people in whose bodies God enter become violent also and they hurt the person in front of them. They may slap the person or call certain person by calling out his/her name if that person is not in the vicinity. They remember old incidents and quote them during the conversation with the people in front of them while constantly shaking their hands and sometimes with their eyes moving in circular motion or in the upward direction.

I don't believe in this phenomenon. Earlier I used to when I was a child. During my S.S.C exam I had gone for the darshan of KaliMata Woman and seeked her blessings and kept the rice she had given me in my pocket while writing the exam. I had scored 90.85% in S.S.C exams. But today I am sure, it was my hardwork (and luck also) that fetched me good result. One of my cousins also had gone and seeked her blessings, but he had failed!

Today, I firmly believe that God can not enter a human body. Human is so small and God is so great that even if the human wishes/believes God enters his/her body, it may be a state of mind and a psychological phenomenon. Humans commits so many sins consciously or unconsciously that something as great as God can not enter the poor human body.

May be one of the reasons why they do so (not all of them though) is to garner attention and seek respect.May be psychologically they start believing that God enters their body to curb an inferiority complex or may be to show that they are special.In some specific cases, I am unable to decide why those individuals must be believing/behaving so.

What are your views?

Reading...

2008-10-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

Reading is a very good hobby, a very good activity.Every wise and smart individual must read a lot.
I love reading. I strongly feel good reading can affect your personality in a very strong and positive way.
When you read fiction, you reach another world - a world of fantasy. Reading has got the power to enthrall you, make you feel moments of ecstasy or agony. You may laugh with the characters of the story or cry with emotion. I get goose bumps while reading. A good story makes the hair on my hands stand and I get the intense feeling of sharing that good story with a friend who has the same sensitivity. Reading may take you temporarily into another world - far from all your present worries and tensions. If the novel is interesting enough, you want to read one page after the other till the end day and night without the track of time. You might get addicted to it!
Non-fiction work also can work wonders in building your personality and character. They have the power to transform you into a new Avatar full of positivity, full of optimism. You can learn how to live a happy and successful life. I have personally benefited a lot by reading self-help books in my college days. They teach you right techniques to not only tackle the worldly problems but teach you how you can use mental power in healing and to achieve your personal goals.
Reading should start at very early age. Then it will become a habit. If a child reads stories, it becomes a better human being. It becomes creative, a thinker, and a right decision-maker. Stories like Aesop fables and Panchatantra Tales not only interest a child but also teach it the right lessons early in life.Researchers have supported the fact that a pregnant lady should read good books during her pregnancy and it will have positive impact on the child that will born.You should encourage children to read.Haven't you noticed how much children enjoy stories?Then why not make them read those stories themselves?
Elderly people also read to pass the time.You must have noticed your grandmother or grandfather reading the BhagvadGeeta or some other holy book.When others neglect elderly people,books become their best friend and Reading becomes their main and best activity to pass time.
Good reading gives you confidence. You learn how to talk in the outside world, how you can appear in interviews, group-discussions, debates. You read more and not only your vocabulary improves but also you have more stuff to talk, to discuss.
Reading newspapers is also a very important and good activity. You keep yourself abreast with current affairs. You can become alert and learn from others mistakes which appear in news. These days newspapers don't just print news but a gamut of other interesting stuff like interviews of celebrities, spiritual or inspirational articles, contests and much more. I spend a good amount of everyday time in reading newspapers and it has actually helped me a lot. I start my day with the toothbrush in one hand and a newspaper in the other! I read all the supplements provided with the main newspaper. I have the habit of carrying old newspaper supplements in my bag wherever I go. (That’s the reason you will always find me with a bag!)I read whenever I get the time and the space. In the crowded train every morning, I fold the newspaper article multifold, may be two-three months old supplement of Times or DNA or Gujarat Samachar and read it. At times other passengers look at my position and think I am crazy. There is no space to even move a limb and I manage to read in that situation. But that is how much I love and enjoy reading!

My Teachers...(Part-2)

2008-09-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

5th september is celebrated every year as Teacher's Day (in memory of Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan who was a great Teacher) and this year I wanted to thank all my teachers by writing and dedicating this blog to all my respected teachers on that day...but life in Metro/Mumbai does not permit one to fulfil all one's wishes and poor me also didn't get time to complete this blog on teacher's day!But Never mind...it's never too late for doing a good thing! So my feelings may be expressed late but they are true and heart-felt!!!

In part-1 of this Blog I wrote about all my Tution teachers.Now let me talk about all my school teachers...All who helped me being whatever I have become today.I salute all my school teachers through this Blog.

गुरु गोविंद दोनो खड़े काको लागू पाय
बलिहारी गुरु आप की गोविंद दी यो बताय

These lines I must have recited number of times in school on microphone while reading an essay on the importance of Guru - Teacher on the day of Guru Poornima in school.They suggest Teacher is greater than even God and I agree with this subhashita.

My first two teachers were Kusumben and Bharatiben in Naani Shreni (Junior K.G.) of Nutan Vidya Mandir, my first school.I have the memories of the first day of my school life still fresh in my mind.(It's strange but yet true.I may be just 3-4 years old then but yet I remember which clothes I had worn and how my classroom was!)They were wonderful teachers.They tackled all those tiny-tots so well!Most of them crying-out-loud!These two teachers not only made me like to go to school at that age but taught me the first lesson of my school life very well.In Nutan Vidya Mandir I studied upto 3rd standard (that is for about four and a half years) and I came across teachers like KundanBen,HeeraBen and may be some others.(But I recall only these four teachers.)They were very good and made my base strong.They told me very good stories and contributed in my progress a great deal.Midway in my 3rd standard, I changed my school to Sheth N. L. High School - My Alma Mater - from where I passed my S.S.C.(10th standard - last year of school life).It has a great share in my life - in my career - in my development.In 3rd standard,I had a difficult time due to change of school and change of educational environment.But my first class teacher in that new school was TaruBen.She was very good and supportive.She gave personal attention to my progress.Can you believe, I, who had scored 90.85 % in my S.S.C. had flunked in Maths and other few subjects in the Unit Test and a few other mid term exams in 3rd and 4th standards. My 4th standard class teacher MeenaBen was also very cooperative and with personal attention on my progress made me work harder and pass the final semester exams.Unlike in Primary standards(3rd and 4th class),secondary standard classes had different teachers for different subjects.So I came across many teachers after I entered my 5th standard.I may not remember all my teachers but surely remember all those who had left their footprints on my heart and mind through their teaching,their characteristics,their way of life.I heartfully thank all of them for making me whatever I am today.In secondary school, 5th standard,Mr. Ajit Nayak was my first teacher who taught me ABC's of English as a second language subject.Other few teachers I would like to mention here are : Chandrakala D. Desai(Gujarati),Preeti Shukla-Vyas(Gujarati),PratimaBen(Gujarati & S.S.),Mrs. Ravalji(Maths),UshaBen Pathak(Marathi),Mrs.Kapadiya(Hindi and Handicraft),Mrs.Phillips(English),DhiruBhai Desai(P.T.),JanakBhai Sir(Drawing),Ibrahim Sir(Maths & Science),MrudulaBen Bhagat(Gujarati),NirmalaBen Chheda(Principal of my school),MeenaBen Joshi(Music),Librarian Mrs. Telang,Mrs. R. P. Dalal(S.S.),ArunaBen Kothari(Sanskrit),C.D. Ashahr(Gujarati & S.S.),SumanBhai Desai(Science),S.P. Naik(Maths),Late ShashikantBhai(English),RamanBhai(Science),Mr. Gokani(Science),VarshaBen(P.T.),Mrs. Madhubala Raichura(Gujarati),UshaBen Dave(Sanskrit) and many others.We had two different sections in my school then.Timing of Boys Section was in the morning and Girls section was in the afternoon.I was pet student of a few of the girls section teachers as well.(As I used to come standard First between both the sections, the girls section teachers knew me.Also I used to participate in various common programs on special occasions like 26th January function, GuruPoornima Day Program, Annual Day of the school event etc. and hence was famous.)The few girls section teachers were:Late Mrs. KaumudiniBen Ashar(Gujarati & S.S.),KokilaBen Nayak(Gujarati),NaynaBen(S.S.),KrishnaBen(Science),Mrs.Garodia(Science) etc.
I remember the peculiarity of some of the teachers which have made a deep impact on my mind.My Most favourite school teacher ,if someone ask me to name,it would be none other than C.D.Ashar sir. He always used to wear a white half-sleeved shirt (which he always used to keep out) and a white trouser.He taught us subjects of History,Geography and our first language - Gujarati.He was excellent teacher.Many teachers have lot of knowledge but they are not good at explaining things effectively.But Ashar Sir was one of the Best teachers of my school.He used to teach by involving Fun element.His favourite address to a student was 'Neech Sundar Vaghran' with that peculiar facial expression and a typical accent.Even though these words were derogatory, nobody felt bad because they were not spoken with bad intention or tone.Infact we used to laugh loud when he adressed somebody with those words!He recited stories from not only India but even foreign countries.He loved reading and was a great literary himself.I admired his oratory skills.We all used to get engrossed when he was telling us a story.He gave us the knowledge about Illiad and Odyssey.He made us love words and taught us to play with them.He introduced us to the words like Agony and Ecstasy.He used to seat on the table with his one leg hanging half in his peculair style and told us great stories.He used to bring maps and models to make the study interesting.He taught us wonderful tricks to remember certain things by associating facts with something specific or by using funny acronyms.(For eg. to remember the direction of earth rotation on its own axis he asked us to remember word 'Pruthvi Papu'...! which meant Pruthvi-earth moves from paschim(west) to purva(east) or DiDaJ and RaJaD - This is quiz for you readers of my blog..can u guess what it could be? May be my old classmates who attended AsharSir's class would be able to answer!)It was Ashar Sir who inspired and encouraged me to get the Best score in S.S.C.He told me once that he would like to read my name on a wooden board which had names of all the top scorers of S.S.C of all previous years since the inception of the school.I really worked hard to do that but unfortunately could not come first in the school in S.S.C. board but success of scoring a high score of 90.85% in S.S.C. I would attribute to the encouragement of my favourite teacher ChanduBhai D. Ashar.I have a great respect for him.
Another great teacher was Mrs. Phillips - a christian elderly lady who taught us English.She was very good at teaching the language and always encouraged us to use right grammer and speak in English at least in her classes.Her thick glasses and soft puffed cheeks and chin made her look cute and she always spoke in a very good accent and style.
Shashikant Sir,R.P.Dalal Mam,Raichura Mam,C.S.Desai Mam,Preeti Mam,ArunaBen Kothari also always inspired me and encouraged me during my formative years.
MeenaBen taught me taking part in singing and music related activities.The practise sessions we students had with her were really great and memorable.

All these teachers have played a great role in building my life,my career and has produced many more successful people with their noble and great profession of teaching.

If someone asks me what would I be if not a software professional, my answer would be - A Teacher! (I mean it! I have taken tutions and taught a few school students during my college life and I am sure at some point in time in future I would surely teach an entire class of students!)

My Teachers...(part-1)

2008-08-31T11:20:00.000-07:00

I read an article in today’s newspaper covering an interview of a Lady Professor of St. Xavier’s Institute and running came the memories of my school and tuition teachers and college professors who had influenced my life and made me possess some good qualities I hold today.

This blog will be a tribute to all my teachers whom I respect from the bottom of my heart. They are my idols, role models. I have learnt a lot from them and try to imbibe the good qualities they possessed.

I will write two Blogs on Teachers. In the first part I will talk about all my Tuition and Private Coaching Teachers. And in the second part I will talk about the teachers in my School and college.

I had not even started going to school and my mother had started sending me to one of the tuition teachers in my neighbourhood. She was Kokilaben. My First Teacher. A good building needs a strong foundation. The strong base of the building of my academics, my career, my education, I would attribute to Kokilaben. She taught me from the Bal-Mandir (Junior K.G. as we call it today) till the 6th standard. As it was not a private tuition and many students like me used to be all taught together, we not only learnt our school lessons but also the other important lessons of life. We learnt many good qualities from the tuition of Kokilaben. Her daughter Divya was also in the same class as I was and we were in the same school too (but different divisions). She was very good academically and very good friend of mine. (Infact till date she is one of my best friends) Chaitali, Shabana, Shabbir, Parul, Savita, Nilesh and many other friends I made at Kokilaben’s home. I still remember the Red-coloured thick semi-transparent Foot-ruler she used to use while teaching us. She occasionally gave us those small toys like the butterfly whistles or small Chakardis(small toys that can be brought into circular motion with hands) etc. Also the hanging black board on which she used to write and explain us the lessons or do the maths sums is still fresh in my memory. Also I remember how her face used to become all red when we all used to laugh at a joke together or when she was very angry at somebody’s mischief. I have very fond memories of my first tuition classes and I have a lot of respect for my first teacher – Kokilaben.

After learning for about eight years at Kokilaben’s classes I had to move on and join some private class (as she didn’t teach higher level classes). I had joined Vyas classes in Std. 7th. After that I joined Mavani Classes in Malad where Miss Leena used to teach us Maths and Science and Mr. Vinubhai Nayak taught us English. Leena miss had actually strengthened my Maths and science base and I would attribute my very good academic progress to her. She taught Maths and Science so well that I started scoring highest marks in these subjects after joining Mavani Classes. Vinubhai Nayak was one of the Best Teachers I have memories of. He taught English language and grammar so well that I remember his teaching style and the lessons till date. He made me grammatically strong. Today in foreign countries also they speak grammatically wrong English. But Vinubhai taught the English grammar rules so well that I could write and speak English grammatically correct and better than my same level English medium counterparts.

10th was the year of S.S.C and the most important year of my school life. Leena miss got married the same year when I was in 9th class and she stopped teaching at Malad and went to Ghatkopar post marriage. I had a tough time as I was so used to her teaching style. But life takes away one good thing from you and offers another even better. In vacation of 9th std. I joined V.C.R. (vacation cum regular) batch of Kumudben classes. Kumudben is another teacher whom I will never forget in my life. She used to teach so well and in a great manner. We all used to love attending her classes. In a small room around 70 to 100 students used to sit together on the floor (not even benches) but we all loved the classes. We used to laugh like anything in the class at a joke cracked by a student or some peculiar punch lines used by Kumudben while teaching like ‘Chaalo Jatu Karo…!’ (Let it go) or ‘Hey Bhagwan…’ (and some student always used to rhyme that with words ‘De vardaan…!’) or the sweet names she used to call us students by – like Labaadiya or something similar! I scored 90.85% in S.S.C and Maths and Science were the subjects where I had scored maximum – possible only due to Kumudben. In college level she taught only 11th and 12th class Maths to Commerce stream students only and I had chosen Science stream in Junior college level. Even though I had joined Mumbai’s best coaching classes in 12th Science called Agarwal Classes, I learnt my Derivatives and Integration Fundamentals clear with Kumudben’s teaching only. We were so thankful to her for letting us sit in her classes even when she used to teach only commerce stream students. That was one of the Best coaching session in my life which I attended during my 12th std. along with all my friends like Divya, Dipti, Zankhna, Jayesh, Hitendra and Pratik.

After these years, I mean after 12th, I didn't get any coaching teacher by whom I got highly impressed or who could influence me.I recollect a few professors whom I may talk about for their peculiar characteristics.(But they didn't have as lasting an impression as Kokilaben or Kumudben or Leenamiss or Vinubhai had on me)In Agarwal classes also I had joined V.C.R batch and there I got to attend lectures by a few well known professors like Babu and Pareira for Maths, Avatramani for Chemistry, A sikh Prof and Prof Mathew for Physics but I sometimes had difficulty understanding the concepts taught by them.(Either I had a problem due to my vernacular medium studies till 10th or I didn't have the pace at which they taught and others learnt)Only prof I loved was Prof Kadaali who taught Chemistry. He was amazing at teaching the subject.

After 12th ,I attended many crash course classes or regular batch at Vidyalankar but in the same way as in case of Agarwal classes, I just got little support to score marks in the exam. No professor had the lasting impression on me.

In my next Blog I would talk about some of my School and college teachers whom I deeply respect.

Happy Independence Day...!

2008-08-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is 15th August - our Independence Day...So I am feeling a little patriotic! Let me share today some thoughts in that context only..

What is patriotism? Whenever our national anthem is being played somewhere and I try to connect and listen, I feel a vibration pass through my body. Many theaters in Mumbai have the custom of playing national anthem before the movie starts. Everybody in the audience stand up in respect of the national song and I really love that feeling of national pride every time I see everyone standing in it's respect and a strong sensation passes through my body everytime I am standing hearing the national anthem.

Same happens when India wins in a significant cricket match or any other sport or if some Indian achieves International acclaim or success. Reading the news of Abhinav Bindra winning Gold Medal recently in Beijing Olympics made the corners of my eyes wet with tears (of pride). I had felt the same when Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai had won The Best Beauty titles. Even a foreign resident of Indian origin also does something great or achieves some remarkable success, it makes me feel proud. Reading the news of a Gujarati US born NRI Raj Bhavsar winning a Bronze in Beijing Olympics also made me feel happy and proud. Sunita Williams or Kiran Desai or Amartya Sen scaling new heights of fame by their professional success made me feel great and proud.

When some foreign country tries to belittle India or us, Indians, then I feel ireful. When US recently tried to accuse us for the paucity of grain or food, I felt not only irritated but outrageous. It was silly and baseless accusation. Reading about the racial discrimination faced by Shilpa Shetty in the UK Reality show sometime back also made me feel angry. Today where are we heading to? Globalization has made the whole world a small unit. And still certain people or countries indulge in such silly things.

So is that all about patriotism? I guess not! Patriotism is much more than this.

Patriotism according to me is respecting our country and try to do whatever we can for its betterment, however small it may be. There are lots of troubles and issues in the world today like Global Warming, over population, Economic Slowdown, paucity of natural resources like power, water etc. We as true and responsible citizens of our nation shall always try to help Government in whatever efforts they are making for India's growth and to tackle all the above mentioned problems.

We got freedom 61 years ago from the British Rule. It's time to retrospect. What have we achieved in all these years of freedom? This Freedom has costed us a lot. Many lives have been sacrificed and too many hardships have been faced to achieve it. So we shall all just not have to enjoy the freedom but we have some responsibility too, as the true citizen of a great nation.

We all love the cleanliness of countries like Dubai or Singapore but what we do to make our country or city the same? Do we try to maintain our public places and roads neat and beautiful? We throw garbage anywhere. People spit or piss anywhere on the roads. It is time we start being conscious about such small things.

Do we pay attention while using water or electricity? Many times I observe, people keep Taps open after drinking water or washing their hands at a public place. Women use plenty of water thoughtlessly while washing clothes or for cleaning their utensils, homes etc. Lights and fans are kept switched ON even when they are not needed. We have to be aware of all such tiny things.

On roads, there is lot of traffic. Why? People don't think before using vehicles. Even for a small distance where a walk can do, they use vehicle. Options like Car pooling can not only be a very effective tool for saving fuel, fuel costs etc. but also reduce traffic and pollution levels to a great extent.

Patriotism for me is not just showing respect for your country but to treat your fellow citizens with respect and care. We don't care about our neighbours, our colleagues, our fellow Indian citizens. We act selfish. Many times I have seen people thinking about themselves or their own families only. But true patriotism is in the belief of ‘वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्’ (The whole world is a big family). We shall not fight amongst ourselves based on our own state or religion. Humanity shall be at the top above all the things. If we understand this, then only we will be able to fight the terrorist attacks and other such grave issues.

Let's pledge of contributing our own bit in making our independence truely meaningful. Let's enjoy our Independence in true Spirit...

Happy Independence Day to all...!

People Never Forget How You Treat Them…

2008-07-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Never treat people badly because they never forget how you treated them. And why should you treat anybody badly? There are enough tensions, stresses, problems in everybody’s lives, why not spread little happiness by a good genuine smile and make their interaction with you better. This will also make the person you gave that smile to, feel good and in turn make you feel better.

Some people always wear that weary look on their face that you don’t feel like communicating with them, some others go to extreme and have such disdainful look on their face that you don’t at all feel like looking at them, forget communicating. Imagine the state of a person working under such a guy!

On the other hand, there are people who always have that cheerful smile on their face which make them look cute! Even if such people are busy in their own life, you always feel approaching them, in need and they will also welcome you with genuine concern. How lucky are those who have such a Boss!

I would like to share two recent incidences of my life with you all. One good and one bad. Generally, I don’t like sharing bad things. But this bad incident I will share with you all anyways so that you also learn something from it and abstain from behaving in bad manner with others.

First I will share the good experience. I had some work in the Degree Engineering College I had bidden a good-bye to some seven years back or so.

Generally you have these very ill-tempered, rude people in Government and other such offices who do not have any respect for fellow human-beings and this reflects in the way they treat others. You have some work to get done from them and see how much bhaav you have to give them. Sometimes you literally have to plead them or in worst situations you may even have to bribe them. Bhagwan bachaye aise logo se!

But in my engineering college, there was this very good natured clerk who always had a big smile on her face. The peculiar thing about her was that she remembered all our, student’s names by heart. Whenever we used to go to her for taking the Railway Concession receipt or for some other official work, she always greeted us all with our first names and helped us in filling up any remaining or wrongly filled details of the form. She used to have little conversation whenever possible while stamping the form or doing her job. It always felt good to talk to her, sometimes after standing for a good amount of time in the queue. So after seven years or so when I went to my college for some work, I was not sure if that ever-smiling gentle-woman would be there or not. Seven years is a long period, isn’t it? But she was there! And the moment I went to her, she said,” Kaise ho Vikas?” I was pleasantly shocked! After seven years, still she remembered me by my first name! She must have come across thousands of students after I passed out from my college. But she remembered my first name. I smiled back and thanked her for helping me in getting my work, for which I had gone to the college, done. I felt so good about this incident, about the way she made me feel that day that I will always remember it. By your little gestures at times, you show the person with whom you are interacting that you care, you respect and you value them. And that’s a very nice thing to do! You make some one feel better.

Now, the bad incident. I had to visit this ENT doctor once. After sitting at the clinic for almost an hour and after seeing all those patients having some or the other problem with their Ears, Noses or throats, when I went into his cabin, he gave that weary look. I felt bad. There was no welcoming expression on his face, forget smile. I started talking about my problem and he didn’t even bother to hear me completely. He wrote me some medicines. I was wondering if something was wrong with him (or me?!).And I left the cabin in a few minutes. My day was marred. I will never forget how he made me feel that day. Neither I would advice anybody to consult that doctor in future (you loose business also by treating somebody badly!!) nor I would ever treat anybody in the same manner. Because I learnt an important lesson that day. I knew how I felt when that Doctor, almost ignored me.

Never ignore or neglect anybody. Listen to your clients, your friends, your colleagues or any body communicating with you, with genuine interest and respect everybody.

People always remember how you make them feel…

My SSC Result day in 1994...

2008-06-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday SSC Board exam Results got declared. They brought back the memories of my SSC Result I had got in 1994.

I had got 1st rank throughout all the exams in 8th and 9th standards. Infact up to preliminary exams of SSC also I was Standard First (that was the term we used in my school as there were separate Boys and Girls sections then) in all 10th class exams also. My parents never asked me to study or force me into anything. I doubt my father knew also which all subjects I had in 10th class! But I remember that day of June 1994 very well even today and I will never be able to forget it. My favourite teacher C. D. Ashar Sir had once shown me the wooden board in our school where names of all those who were 1st rankers in SSC board since the inception of the school. He said,"Nayak, I want your name to be there this year." But that SSC Board exam Result day came and I stood, not first, not even second but Third in the school. Two girls were ahead of me. I had scored 90.85 % (636/700 Marks) which was not at all a bad score and I was 28th in Mumbai. I had not only missed Merit List by 7 marks but also I could not obtain 1st rank in the school. I was very sad inspite of scoring above 90% marks. The grief increased when all the prizes and praises went to Aruna Gada (The girl who came 1st in my school).My Tution Teacher Kumudben personally visited her home and congratulated her but she didn’t come to my home. All these facts hurted me the young me then. My parents and my sisters were very supportive. They knew I had aspired to be the first and didn't even come second. But my parents explained it is a dream for many to score above 90% marks and I had a very bright future ahead. Had I been depressed and stood there only with my failure to be first in the school, I would not be where I am today. I moved ahead. I accepted my result. So what if my name was not printed on that wooden board where my favourite teacher wanted it to be? I took admission in D.G. Ruparel college science stream and even though I was a vernacular student (Gujarati Medium), I managed to score 93% in H.S.C and completed my Engineering Degree from one of the Best colleges in Mumbai (VESIT, Chembur). Today I have completed my M.B.A also from India's one of the Best Management Schools (JBIMS). Also I am working in one of India's leading and world's one of the Best Stock Exchange's (National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.) technical arm (NSE Info Tech)

Had my parents kept over-expectations and put me in pressure during my SSC or after SSC, I would not be able to achieve all this today. I love my parents for that. They never bothered me with their expectations and always encouraged and let me took my decisions on my own. I am Thankful to them for that.

I urge all parents of the SSC students who got their results yesterday, not to discourage their children if they have failed to score high marks or if they have failed. SSC is not the End. There is a long way to go. And today where we are! We have so many choices to make! Try to learn what skill your child possess and help him/her grow in that field. Don't burden him/her with your wishes and aspirations. Let him/her be what he/she wants to be in life.

I pray for all the students that they achieve what they want out of life....

The Rain Goddess DhundhiyaMata...

2008-06-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

I Love Nature and I love all Natural Beauties one of them is Rain! (Ya...I consider it a Beauty!)I love the showers of Rain and the climate it creates...I love the Aroma of Soil when the first rains of the season wets the over heated Earth...I love the clouds, the rainbow, the orange evenings (we call it 'Khileli Sandhya' in Gujarati) and the gusty winds rains bring along with it in the monsoon...

Though some people don't like the gloomy flavour attached to the dull kind of climate during monsoon and some others do not like the water all over the roads and the mud and the need to carry an umbrella or a raincoat wherever you go, I think nobody would wish Rain should not come as soon as possible after a hot hot summer! Everybody longs for it. Year by Year summers are getting hotter and hotter and winters cooler and cooler. So this year when the monsoon started little early, in the first week of June (usually it starts in the third week of June), everybody was happy that they got a little relief from the pangs of summer heat...but after raining for continuously eight days or so the Mumbai Rains seem to have taken rest! It has vanished since a week or so. We all are now waiting for the rain to return. This waiting reminds me of my childhood days.

There are some beautiful cherishable memories associated with my childhood and the waiting for rain. There used to stay an old lady called Prabhaben in my neighbourhood and we children used to call her ‘Prabhamasi’. She was a very strict lady and we all used to get scared of her a lot. But one traditional ritual related to the Rains, she taught us and that is still fresh in my mind after about 20 years.

Come the month of May and she used to call us, all children and ask us to get some ‘Lal Mati’ (soil) and we all sat in a circle. She then used to get some water and made a small figure of a Rain Goddess called ‘Dhundhiya Mata’. Sitting idol of this rain goddess looked beautiful even though it was not in perfect shape or had any artistic touch. Prabhamasi used to stick two small white stones as DhundhiyaMata’s eyes. She used to make a little nose and little mouth also on the face so that the idol looked like a human figure. Two tiny hands and two tiny legs were also the part of the idol and DhundhiyaMata was made to sit on a tile or a flat big stone. Chundadi of a nice clean cloth was put on the head of this idol and on her forehead Prabhamasi used to put a KumKum Tika. We all children used to see the making of this idol and then her symbolic Sthapna in open air on the grounds in front of my home. It was believed that DhundhiyaMata will bring rains early and in good amount, if we regularly pour some water on her head every day and pray to her to send the Rains soon. She was called ‘Rain Goddess’ after all! Daily two to three times we children ensured that DhundhiyaMata get her share of ‘Jal Abhishek’. We enjoyed this game. It was fun to see DhundhiyaMata’s idol decaying with all that water we used to pour on her head. The custom was so. Finally DhundhiyaMata used to ensure that Rain come on time and the last remains of her idol be washed away in the first few showers of it. That is how the Visarjan of DhundhiyaMata’s idol had to take place. I still remember how I used to eagerly watch through my window how DhundhiyaMata’s idol looked in the Raining water and how gradually it used to diminish and finally only the nice clean cloth remained on the tile after all the soil used to get washed away by the rain water.

For a few years Prabhamasi made DhundhiyaMata idol and then I took on her legacy and made it sure to make the idol with my little hands for some more years till the time I got adult and got busy with my higher level study and then Job etc. As a child I always had great faith in this ritual and Rain Goddess DhundhiyaMata. Don’t know whether it was DhundhiyaMata who brought the Rains or not but then certainly we all children believed so. And we all religiously and regularly followed the ‘water-pouring on her head’ ritual with sincerity.
I wonder Today’s generation children would do so? They would hardly get any time out of their busy school schedules and then their videogame or internet sessions.

This year I feel like making a DhundhiyaMata Idol again! To call the Rain back who has vanished since a few days… (And I promise if I do so I would surely click a picture of the idol and post it here in this Blog!)

Propagating wrong ideas through Movies...

2008-05-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Today I saw the movie ‘Jannat’ (with lead actors Imraan Hashmi and Sonal). I like movies on varied subjects and this being a movie on a different kind of subject - that of gambling, cricket match fixing/batting, I liked this one too.

Now this is not one of my most favourite movies or I didn’t like it so much that I would write a Blog on the same. But there are two three points I want to make through this blog about how movies propagate wrong ideas. There are a few strong points about the movie 'Jannat' which I would like to discuss through this Blog.

The hero is a gambler and is greedy creature who has left his home as his father is a poor honest fellow who could not fulfill all his son’s materialistic wishes. The hero is a firm believer that money if earned through a way like gambling where there is no direct harm to anybody or direct implication on anybody ), is fair(I believe there is direct implication on gambler's family members by gambling). The hero does not have any fear of loosing at all while gambling. He takes tremendous risk and looses lakhs of rupees in a single gamble game.

This hero has an innate skill of predicting the moves of a cricket match. By intuition he predicts the batsman will hit a six and the batsman actually hits a six. He says the batsman will now be clean-bowled and the batsman is clean-bowled on the next ball! He is unaware of his own skill and one day accidently realizes about it in a hotel while watching a cricket match.Later, exploiting this skill he earns a lot of money. He becomes very famous in Bookie’s world and due to this skill reaches South Africa with his girlfriend. He works for an underworld Don there. He makes a lot of money and becomes a very prominent Match-Fixer. The large amount earned by him is spent by the Don on Terrorist activities, for other illegal means like drugs, cocaine etc. But the Hero is indifferent to this aspect. Even though he knows the money earned by him is going for wrong means and is killing lakhs of innocent people around the world, he believes it is not his business to bother about how the money is spent. When the heroine confronts him, he even argues that even Indian Government is taxing the citizens heavily and then uses this amount for making nuclear weapons and guns and bombs. Now this point I have a problem with. How can he make such a statement? The Government also may be using a part of the tax money for the purpose our hero is mentioning, but he forgets that the whole idea of investment by Government in weapons and guns and bombs is for the Security of the citizens and not for killing them. So how can he justify his own indifference by blaming the Government?

Second point I disliked about the movie was a scene where the hero narrates his childhood days when he didn’t get all the luxuries the children of rich families get to enjoy. He says his father never took him from the way on which Ice-cream parlour or a Toy shop was present as they didn’t have the money to buy it. The hero says he does not wish his children also to pass through the same phase. He wants to give them all the pleasures in life. But at what cost? With the money earned by illegal ways? The hero speaks all these dialogues so convincingly that the gullible youth watching the movie gets convinced by his ideology and would get the wrong message. I heard two youngsters talking during the interval of the movie about this point. One of them was favouring the hero and said why one needs to bother about others when he is making money for self and the family? It is justified even when one does a little wrong by being little unethical and being selfish. I felt really sad hearing their conversation.

The end of the movie is fair. The wrong does not live longer and the hero gets killed by the police. The message – bure ka ant bura (wrong always looses/dies in the end) comes but very late in the movie. The whole movie according to me propagates wrong ideas by which the youth and the immature minds may get influenced wrongly. Movies are a very strong media impacting the minds of the audiences heavily. So directors and writers of the movies have the social responsibility of not propagating the wrong ideas.

Living in a chawl ...

2008-05-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday one of our neighbours - Pragnabhabhi, Kamleshbhai, Tejas and Chintan left their place in our neighbourhood in Malad and shifted to a new place in Bhayander. If we were staying in a building then it would not have made much difference but we live in a chawl in a colony called Bhadran Nagar. Hence it was a big incident for my family and many other families in our neighbourhood.
There are 16 rooms in my chawl and exactly opposite is another chawl with another set of 16 rooms. The doors of our homes face the doors of the homes in the chawl opposite to ours. Pragnabhabhi used to stay in the home 2 rooms after my home. Just beside her stays Lalitabhabhi and Rameshbhai's family who is a Marwadi family. Exactly opposite to her stay Kokilabhabhi and Ketanbhai. These three families are very close to each other. We also have good relations with all the three.
Now, Pragnabhabhi and Lalitabhabhi together purchased new flats and Pragnabhabhi already moved to her new home yesterday. So on this occasion there was hustle bustle since morning yesterday. Kokilabhabhi came to our home and started talking in an emotional tone about how she felt on this occasion. She had tears in her eyes. She was not feeling well since last few days anyway and moreover this now. Her one of the closest neighbours and friend was moving away from her. She said what she would do when Lalitabhabhi also moves away after a few days. She would be all alone.
This is the essence of staying in a chawl or a community habitat. You are close to your neighbours. Even at the midnight you are in need of help and they are there. There are numerous other advantages. You not only share new recipes you make for lunch/dinner but also your grief and happiness. They - your neighbours are a part of your life. Kokilabhabhi had become emotional as she was feeling a part of herself was moving far from her. Her tears made me, my sisters and my mother also feel a bit sad.
In a chawl system, the neighbours are very much a part of your home. Me and my dad are most of the times out of our home for work but my sisters and my mother are kind of attached to our neighbours Rekhabhabhi, Ramilabhabhi, Manisha, Kokilabhabhi, Lalitabhabhi and Pragnabhabhi. Ramilabhabhi are at my home most of the times. At night/evening also when I return home after a tiring day, my mother is sitting and chitchatting with either Ramilabhabhi or some other neighbour. And at times I don't like that. I feel as if my privacy is at stake. But then I don't complain and perhaps I also feel I don't mind it because in the same manner I like the company of my colleagues at office, my mother and sisters like the company of my neighbours. They share their work, gossip and do the daily chores in each others company and watch saas-bahu programs also together!
There are fights also at times between families staying in the same chawl but then that’s part of life. Good and bad are sides of the same coin.
Your doors always remain open, your children grow up easily and there are lot many other advantages like the safety of your home in your absence etc. of living in a chawl/community.
Tomorrow even if I move out of my current residence to live in a bigger place, I will never be able to forget my this home where I was not only born but also grew into whatever I am today.

My First Experience as a Radio Professional...

2008-04-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Being a creative and truly versatile soul I keep my fingers in many pies. It’s my nature to keep doing something new constantly in life. Kabhi dance to kabhi writing... Kabhi swimming to kabhi teaching..! Last year I appeared for a written exam at Radio station for Gujarati news reading position. (Have you heard a software professional doing so before?!)I passed this exam and a voice audition followed in February 2008. (It was just before a day I was supposed to leave for my marriage in Gujarat!)I cleared that too. And last month my training started for the post of a Gujarati news reader of Aakashwani - All India Radio. I have to reach AIR building after my office hours whenever I am supposed to do the duty. Generally 2 officers are on duty every day. They have to sort the news items from the heap of papers that keep piling up through out the day. (These news strips come from News agencies like PTI, Bhasha etc.)The news are printed in English and Hindi. The officers on duty have to sort and select some 10-15 news items for translation. They translate them into Gujarati and then it is supposed to be read by one of the officers during 10 minutes interval from 08:50 PM to 09:00 PM.I find it all very interesting - specially the reading the news on Radio (Live broadcast) part! Though this news bulletin can't be heard from anywhere in India (It is for Gujarati Audience in middle and East Africa) I am sure it would give me immense satisfaction and pleasure when I would read my first news on Radio.
On Wednesdays there is a program called 'Vartman Na Vhahen'(Current Affairs) and on Thursdays - 'Akhbaar Ni Atari e thee'(From the news balcony) which are both five minutes duration programs. Here the officer on duty would prepare an article from newspaper or write something related to current affairs on his/her own and read it on Radio.

Yesterday I got the first chance to go On Air. I had to prepare and read an article from a newspaper for 5 minutes. Now this 5 minutes should also include brief intro and the summary and the presenter’s name etc. I was over excited to step into the world of Radio and doing something new of this sort for the first time in my life. (I have participated in Radio Drama during my school days some 15 years ago and have cleared auditions also for Gujarati drama and news reading but this was for the first time I was going to present something professionally for a Live audience in Africa. I had chosen an article on 'Global Warming’. The article was long and my mentor Maitrayiben warned me about its length and that I would not be able to read it in 5 minutes. But I was over-confident and assured her that I would edit some part and finish it well in time.

Was I nervous when I entered the recording studio? I had decided to record my own voice through my mobile as there was no other way I could have heard what and how I spoke. I had kept the settings also ready on my mobile just had to press OK to start recording. But as soon as the newsreader Jyotiben finished reading news I got excited and in hurry forgot to click OK on my mobile. I took my seat and started reading. I guess I was too fast. Though my pronunciations of Gujarati words were quite clear and I didn't do a single mistake in reading, I made a blunder! I didn't look up to see the clock hanging on the wall opposite to me which is a must ritual for a newsreader or anybody who is giving a live performance on radio. I didn't see what my mentor Maitrayiben wanted to tell me through signs. I didn't see at the big equipment which had a scale to show how loud you speak. Louder you speak higher is the angle by which the needle of this instrument deflects. I never noticed deviation of this needle. I just kept on reading (or running?!) to finish my article. It was more than 5 minutes. I could feel the uneasiness around but didn't stop. kept going on and on. even after Maitrayiben clearly signed me to wind up, I could not stop. Finally she had to come beside me and abruptly switched off the button to stop the broadcast and to allow the radio speaker Taruben to continue her further program. After the recorded program tape was connected to the broadcast equipment, Taruben gave me a firing! She was not angry upon me but she explained me all my mistakes clearly and with a seniors style. She is a veteran in this field and knows all the nuances of Radio job. So is my mentor Maitrayiben. She also didn't favour me and explained me all the things I shall take care of while giving a program on Radio. Both these ladies were very kind and didn't insult me at all or scold me but taught me some very important lessons. I felt very very bad from inside. I tried to read newspaper and book (Kite Runner) in train while returning home but could not concentrate and my mood was not good. After returning home, first I narrated the whole incident to my mom and sister but still mood-change thing didn't happen yet. Now today after a day is over since my yesterday's bravado and after writing it down in this blog and sharing it with all my good friends (you all!), I am feeling good and now I feel I have overcome the blunder! Now my next duties are in next week.

Hope I do full justice to my job as Radio presenter and do my Best!

Buffalo Jeans : Creative Ads...

2008-01-23T23:49:00.001-08:00

I have a T-shirt with the message printed on it - “Great Ideas feel right in the Gut...”

I completely agree with the above statement. Any intelligent or meaningful idea appeals to me and moves me. The advertisements, be it on T.V. or Radio or in the Newspaper or on the Sign Board on road or anywhere in any form, are no exceptions. I always enjoy Hat ke Ads.

I came across these very creative and innovative kinds of Ads across Ville Parle railway station of western suburbs of Mumbai today morning. All the platforms carried these big hoardings of Buffalo Jeans wear which set me look at them carefully and thinking for a while. There were three-four different concepts. I would like to discuss them with reasons why I found them interesting, different than the rest of the ads and why I liked them.

Each of these Ads had a big Hindi letter written along with a word starting with that letter which was the concept of the picture. One ad had " श - शुरुआत ". It displayed five-six youngsters jumping from the fence of a field/fence (as if showing they are trying to run free from all the day-to-day tensions of the world and enjoy their youth!) All of them wearing Buffalo Jeans wear.(It reminded me of the movie ‘Rang De Basanti’, specially the scene where all the heroes remove their shirts and run freely along with an aero plane flying from just above their heads).This picture clicked with me instantly!
Another hoarding shown a Bengali lady sitting with her family including an old man, enjoying their meals as their hosts – three-four youngsters, wearing Buffalo Jeans were serving them the food. It made a nice picture of an Indian Tradition of greeting the guest like God! Appropriately it bore the letter-word combination:
“ स – सत्कार ”

Third Ad was a beautiful picture of five – six youngsters singing and dancing on the roof of a Bus wearing Buffalo Jeans and they all had this typical rock-star types hippy look with curly long hairs, white kurta and colourful muffler and with musical instruments like guitar, manjiras (cymbals), keyboard etc. (This picture resembled the scene in bollywood number ‘Chal Chhaiya Chhaiya…’).The theme here was “ भ – भक्ति ”

The last hoarding was a touchy picture of two-three youngsters wearing Buffalo Jeans and all drenched in the pouring Rain water and teaching football to two street children. It displayed the Hindi letter – word “ प - पाठशाला ”
Though these ads would seem very ordinary at first glance, yet they were classy and had a meaningful concept behind each theme and there was this Indianness in them with which I guess we all would connect. It appealed to me very much.

Advertisements like these make deep impact on the minds of the audience, if not consciously then may be subconsciously. ‘Buffalo Jeans’ has surely got a new customer – Me!

Exuberance...My First Set of three Books Got Published...

2008-01-23T23:49:00.000-08:00

Exuberance was the word I read a few months back in a magazine, on which readers were supposed to write narrating the most exuberant moments of their lives and there were many interesting stories I read as part of this contest. One such occasion in my life also came recently when I felt most exuberant - when for the first time my work got published...and I got a bonus! It was not just one book...but a series of three books!
The books are compilation of the articles, stories etc. published in the regular column called 'Internet Corner' I write every Saturday in supplement 'Mahek' of Gujarati Daily called - 'Janmabhoomi'. After I joined NSE.iT some six years back, I started receiving these emails of lots of types from various sources. I read and enjoyed them a lot and one day I thought why not share these good thoughts with thousands of my Gujarati readers who don't/couldn't access Internet. After all Good thoughts should spread across as far as they can. And in Gujarati a poet has said - 'Gamta no karie Gulaal...' (meaning the things we like shall be shared with many).With this objective I started this column in Janmabhoomi 4 years back.
I translated varieties of emails like stories, humorous articles, inspirational speeches of personalities like Narayan Murthy, Azim Premji, Subroto Bagchi, Dhirubhai Ambani etc., and some very nice touchy thoughts on love, life and many things in general. These articles were read and appreciated by many guajarti readers who gave me their feedback through post, emails, phone calls etc. from time to time. It was this encouragement that kept me going (and still I write every Saturday with same enthusiasm!) and has made me reach so far.
Mr. Rohit Shah of Gurjar GranthRatna Karyalay of Ahmedabad, Gujarat saw and read these articles and thought of publishing them in the form of books. I accepted the offer without a second thought and got this opportunity to spread the good thoughts to yet a larger set of audience through this Tri-series of books. Mr.Rohit suggested to divide the articles in three broad categories - Short stories , the first book named 'Katha Corner',
Inspirational and other types of articles ,the second book called 'Mahek'(means Fragrance in English) and one liners, quotes etc., the third book called 'Karandiyo'(means flowerpot in English).
It gave me immense joy when I actually saw my books published! I hold them in my hands and felt the pleasure which can't be described in words! Exuberance is the word that probably describes how I felt then.
The cover page design was the concept developed by one of my very dear friends Devendra Purbiya. He is an amazing personality with lot of creative talent. He is a very good photographer and a designer too. He had clicked the picture of foam holding it between his hands and edited this picture in some image editor with nine different colours. Now literature or any art form also has nine different types of Rasas (like Shaant, karuna, haasya, veer, bibhatsa, shringar etc.)So I thought why not use Devendra's beautiful picture which I had seen on his flickr profile, as a cover design of my books - as a symbol of Nine rasas depicted by each of the different coloured cube. And the same nine coloured square box was used as a common element on each of the covers of 'Internet Corner' series..
It really clicked well and the books look very elegant and attractive due to Devendra's concept. Thanks Dev!
My favourite poet, my guru and a great personality Mr. Suresh Dalal agreed to write Preface for my book and my happiness knew no bounds! I was over-whelmed when such a genius wrote a few words about my books and my work. Mr. Kundan Vyas, CEO of Janmabhoomi group also obliged me by writing his kind words for encouraging me and my work.
When I wrote Thank You note for all those who had directly or indirectly helped me in making me reach this far, lot of sweet memories of my childhood days, school days, college days and such old times came vivid.
The response I got from various people whom I didn't even know, after the books reached market, made my heart skip a bit! The first SMS I got from a Doctor in Ahmedabad, the call I got from the editor of a Well-known Gujarati website (who has also published the review of my second book Mahek - see the link http://www.readgujarati.com/sahitya/?p=1601) and comments of many people on his website regarding my second book 'Mahek', the feedback from the people whom I gifted the book etc. has increased my passion for writing and sharing good thoughts manifold. One more thing I learnt in life through this experience is that one never gets success in an instance. There is lot of hard work and time behind any success. One needs to be perseverant and passionate about things in life. Positive outlook and optimism surely leads to success.

And last but not least, the words from Mrs.Chetana Dave and VanalataDidi (who had published my first small item in 'Balko ni fulwadi' in Mumbai Samachar in 1990) that in Life one has to keep moving and not stop at one point or one success. I will always try to remember these golden words of advice.

[

You will get these books at -

Online on - Website 'www.rediff.com' (Rediff Shopping)

In Mumbai - Navbharat Saahitya Mandir
134, Princess Street,Mumbai - 400001
Phone - (022)22017213/22085593

In Ahmedabad - Gurjar GranthRatna Kaaryaalay
Opp. Ratan Pol Naka, Gandhi Marg,
Ahmedabad - 380001
Phone - (079)22144663

Also In Gujarat across most of the CrossRoad Book Stores and other book stalls
]

Swimming...

2008-01-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

I have taken yearly membership of Swimming at Kandivali's S.V.P. Swimming pool. Though I can't go on a regular basis whenever I get the chance to swim, I must admit - it gives me immense pleasure!

Yes - Immense pleasure...I have not joined it only for the body-building or exercise purpose but I have been renewing my membership at the Kandivali swimming pool since last 3-4 years just because swimming gives me a kind of joy which very few other activities would give!

During Summer I enjoy swimming more regularly. During winter I avoid going because it's already cold and I have allergic cold problem so cold water and cold weather combo would play havoc with my health if I continue swimming regularly in the winter. And monsoon has its own charm as far as swimming is concerned! You are already in water and there is a shower from the sky also and you feel water water every where!
The climate is so good during monsoons even when it's not raining and clouds hide the sun. The colour of the environment changes. The evenings are orange or yellowish and the mornings are also dull - not the usual bright sunny. In such climate, I love swimming like anything! And when the rain is just starting, the rain drops are big and fall on you giving you a completely different kind of experience love to capture these raindrops on my body when the rain just starts and then the rain starts in full swing.

I try different styles while swimming: Frog style, Butterfly style, normal swimming style, underwater swimming, back stroke et al. I love the back stroke style the most where I lie on my back in the water and either by moving both my hands from above the head towards the waist in the same direction together or in the opposite directions (that is one hand from above the head to waist and at the same instance the other hand from the waist to the head).And while swimming in this manner I directly face the sky. What a feeling! I simply love this style of swimming. I feel as if I directly connect with nature, with sky, with the clouds or birds flying and talk to them! Sometimes even those dragon-fly insects pass by and I talk with them too! I sing also at times while swimming in back stroke style. (Of course silently with my lips closed! Otherwise people swimming around me will surely think I have gone mad!)This style gives me a feeling of freedom. Freedom from all the worldly tensions, stress etc. for those moments at least! I feel liberated when swimming in this style. The world seems to have lowered its pace. But when someone who is also swimming in the same style but in the opposite direction, bangs with you, you come to your senses back! And then you have to get into proper posture for maintaining your balance in the water!

Diving and jumping are also two things associated with swimming. The former is entering the water with your head down towards the water and the latter involves the jump in the water with your legs entering the water first that is jumping straight in to the water as you are standing. I have tried diving from the height of say 1st floor of a building. It is scary but it is fun! When you are standing on the dive-board and about to dive into the water, you get scared like hell but you don’t think much and dive! And in a jiffy there is a splash! More the height you dive from, deeper you go in to the water. And you loose the sense of direction, depth etc. for sometime but immediately you have to come back to the normal state, gain balance and move upwards to come to the surface. Believe me it is a great experience to dive or jump from a height in to the water!

I also enjoy underwater swimming a lot. It is a different kind of fun. You can experience the kind of feelings the fishes might be living all their lives I have bought swimming goggles also so that I can see the sight under water. I can not stay for very long underwater. But for the time I am under water, I enjoy!
!

I still have to learn how to go right at the bottom of the swimming pool and remain there and swim there for longtime. I remember my Friend and colleague Sunil doing this very well when we had gone to Manas Resort for my office picnic. I tried hard to learn it but till date I have not been able to learn this style. (Any body reading this Blog and knowing this style can please share some tips about the right technique! I would be thankful!)

Whenever we go for office picnic, I am the one among first few who dive into the pool! The hectic schedule and the daily routine activities keep you so busy most of the times that you can’t pursue your hobbies or enjoy the activities like swimming or gymming regularly but one must engage in such activities more often not only for the health sake but also for making the life more interesting. I wish I can be more regular in my swimming sessions in 2008 as I love swimming...!!!

Batti Bandh on 15-Dec-2007...

2007-12-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

Batti Bandh Program got a lukewarm response. But the four young lads who were behind this concept were content that they were successful in creating a little awareness about the mammoth issue of Global Warming. I was also very much excited by this initiative and tried in my own way to contribute to this cause.
I underwent some really good experiences and came across various human thought patterns and learnt a great deal from it. I had written a personal mail urging my friends and colleagues to follow Batti-Bandh and make it a success after taking some information from the official Mumbai-Unplugged website. I was propagating the idea of following this program so aggressively that some of my colleagues felt as if I was going to get some reward by the organizers of Batti-Bandh! I had to fight with my team-members to convince them that this was a really good initiative for creating awareness about Global Warming. But we Indians are so biased at times that nobody can change our rigid thoughts brining about change in our perspective. I had an argument with one of my colleagues when he said there are numerous power-cuts already in their area and it would not make any difference at all even if we switch off all the lights of our homes for one hour. I tried to explain him that it was not all about just saving the power but also a gesture to think about we should care for our fellow beings and for our future generations. We should not waste energy, power, light, water etc. and should cautiously use them in order to sustain human life on earth for a long time to come. We all should be responsible citizens. We are all so engrossed in our own hectic lives that we think little about such things as energy or power conservation and their careful use. We see these matters as trivial. But they can cause havoc if we continue to ignore the signs shown by nature from time to time. So I had a tough time explaining all these points to my colleague who was arguing with me. To further aggravate me the other colleagues also joined him and started speaking negative about 'Batti-Bandh' program. How helpless we feel at times when we can't convince somebody and make him or her see our own point of view! I felt angry and disappointed and decided to keep mum but then Suraj (my best buddy in office) came to my rescue (!) and put across his point stating that this initiative was a small but courageous step in creating the awareness about a serious issue. Finally I didn't talk much to argue with my colleagues but got the opportunity to spread the word further by officially sending a mail to my entire office staff from 'Staff welfare committee' Mail Id and I was happy that I could contribute to this good cause in this manner! Even if one person read that mail and decide to switch off lights at his/her home it would mean a lot!
I put off the main switch of my home and got succeeded in making 3-4 more neighbours to follow the suit! We all came out of our homes and sat together at one common place. We had never gathered like that at 07:30 PM before. But today we all were happy to meet and discuss various subjects sitting together. One of the uncles from my neighborhood was negative about the 'Batti-Bandh' idea and was saying” what difference would it make even if we little bunch switch off lights for an hour?” I don’t like this attitude of people. They think if something wrong is going on then their doing right thing is not going to make any difference as the majority is involved in doing the wrong. But why do we forget that a sea is also made of lakhs of water droplets. I recollect a very nice story of a boy throwing star-fishes thrown out by the sea-waves in very large number, with both his hands back into the sea. His friend asked what difference it is going to make. His two tiny hands will not make any difference to the thousands of starfishes still lying on the shore. To this the little boy replied – “It made difference to those I already threw in the sea! They have got their lives back!”
Can’t we all think in this manner? By doing our little bit, we would certainly make a difference. If all of us start thinking in this manner then there would certainly be a change, betterment.
Coming back to my Batti-Bandh story, I could finally put across this point and we all had a really good time during that dark hour.
Hope such more initiatives are taken up by youth of India and we all participate and do our own bit in order to make Earth a better living place…

*********************************************************************************

(The below mentioned mail was posted as Blog on 14-Dec-07)
Hi Friends,

A Friendly appeal to all of you....Please switch off your all the lights at your home on 15th Dec 2007 between 07:30 - 08:30 PM to show that you too care for environment and are a responsible citizen.

I am myself going to follow this and be part of the 'Batti Bandh' initiative. And there are thousands of other responsible and sensible mumbaiikars who would join me ....So please you too be a part of it. Does not electricity go sometime without any prior notice for an hour or two? Assume it was such a case if you are getting two thoughts about doing this....

And if you are thinking what would one do during this dark one hour...then my friends....there is lot that can be done...just a few creative thoughts...
-> you may sit with your family members and can have a candle - light talk/dinner/ antakshari session...!!!
-> you may convince your other locality friends and play some game in your area in this dark hour!
-> sleep! (its winter so fans are anyway not required!)
-> don't do anything ...!just sit idle/ meditate/ make the plans for what to do onthe new year eve!
-> talk with your other friends/relatives on your phone/mobile
-> anything which you can think of doing in the darkness!!!

Please be a part of this drive...and spread awareness about Global Warming....save energy...and Be Responsible.....!!!

Rgds,
Vikas G. Nayak

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(Here is some more info)

First, a quick copy-paste off the Batti Band website so that you’re on the same page as I am.
Batti Bandh is an entirely voluntary event taking place on the 15th of December between 7:30 & 8:30 p.m. This event is aimed at requesting all of Mumbai to stand up for a cause that is greater than all of us. All you need to do is switch off lights and appliances in your home, shop, office, school, college or anywhere you are for 1 hour to take a stand against global warming. Just 1 hour.

The lovely intent here is to combat global warming. Inspired by Earth Hour in Sydney, the idea is to conserve energy during that one hour, as a mark of commitment towards fighting global warming. And, of course, it’s not just that one hour, but there are a list of things you can do every day to reduce the risk of global warming.

A woman I admire...

2007-12-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

In my last Blog I wrote about an all-the-time-smiling gentleman Anil Jawaharani.

Second person I am going to talk about is Dimple Upadhyay. My Sister Tejal's Best Friend. I know her since my childhood days. I have grown with her and my sister. They both are six years elder to me. Dimple has always been a ‘bindhast’ girl. She is the eldest among her three sibling sisters and a beloved of her parents. Today she is married with two lovely daughters of age 12 and 8.I know her since she was herself a school going kid.

Why I admire Dimple is because of her zealous nature. She is always enthusiastic about things in life. She was an average student but completed her graduation in time. She was my sister’s best friend. She stood by her in times of need. I have observed her giving correct advice when my sister needed it in her low times. Also she used to be there for my sister whenever she needed her. Today also whenever my sister want to take a big decision or may be simply wish to go for a shopping spree or a distant temple, Dimple will be there with her always!

But this is not the only reason why I have decided to praise Dimple and write a Blog on her! She possesses many other very good qualities. She is bold. She is Modern Woman, I would say. She knows driving and possesses her own scooty. She drives her father’s car also many times. She buys and sells shares. She has helped her father in his business and has been a very helpful and nice daughter to her mother also. She has been guiding source for her younger sisters as well.

Every time I meet her she is learning something new. She keeps asking me about latest software and good websites and Internet.She personally sat with me for creating her first email Id and learnt all the basic techniques to use Internet for her personal and business use like a smart curious pupil! She has been into many businesses herself. She has marketed beauty products. She has done beauty parlour courses and has tried her hand in making other women look more beautiful too! She has attended seminars related to her business here and there. She wears saris as well as modern attire of a professional woman also!

Last time I met her she was taking tuitions to learn Accounting Tally package. I asked her why this now? And pet came the reply: I wanted to know what tally is all about and I already learnt accounting during my B.Com. Days so thought why not learn Tally so that I can put my computer skills also to a good use!

She is always on the look out of learning new things. She never sits idle at home. She not only performs the role of a typical housewife but also keeps learning and applying her knowledge all the time.She likes to exercise,do yoga and she is a good cook too...Teaching her daughters at times,no problem!She does that too. Her hubby Mr. Jayvant Upadhyay is also a gentleman and loves her a lot and is proud to get a wife like her. She is a good wife, nice and loving mother and plays each role with her best capacity.Full of life,energetic,loving,caring,smiling always...

Bravo Dimple! I wish my Mother, sisters and fiancée also learn lots and lots from you!

Spread Happiness and Live cheerfully...

2007-12-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

In the next few Blogs, I want to talk about people I know who have some peculiar characteristics which make them interesting persons to know.

We all come across lot of people day-in-day-out during our work or at home or in the train or in the bus or anywhere during the course of our normal routine lives. But a few people we can not forget due to their special qualities. We can learn many good things by simply observing them.

First character I will talk about is Mr. Anil Jawaharani. He is my colleague and works in the NCFM Department of my office (NSE).He is so lively and jolly that one may never get bored with this man. He is probably in his forties. But young and old would enjoy his company alike. He spreads a kind of happiness and positivity around him. Sadness is Hundreds of miles away from this man! As part of his job, many times he has to be the invigilator of our online Examination system (NCFM) at NSE. Now exam is a scary thing for many. But if you get Anil as your invigilator you would forget what fear is! He would welcome all the candidates who are supposed to take the exam in his humorous warm style and then give all the instructions for the online exam in a very cheerful and funny way! Tension of the candidates vanishes as soon as they meet Anil! After every instruction he will fire a funny punch line and candidates will surely get a chance to laugh even in that serious ambience of examination room. Even during the exam he will keep the mood light and tension-free with his witty remarks. He also has to attend calls coming from candidates all over India querying about NCFM exams during a normal routine working day. He will make the day of the caller by wishing him 'Happy Birthday or Happy New Year' everyday! A caller would first get surprised by this wish from a stranger and that too when it is neither his/her birthday nor the new year day but after a few seconds he/she would want to talk more with Anil. And why not?! Who would not like to talk with a jolly and lively person? Sometimes I have to go to NCFM Department for some work and if Anil is present on his seat, he won't forget to call me by weird interesting names every time (like 'Bade Bhaiya', 'Doctor Sahab', 'Hero', 'Pyaare Mohan' and whatnot!!)Sometimes he would act also funny! His gestures also would surely make you laugh. Now when one has to work all day long in the office, who would not like to be in such a good company as Anil's? Don't we all avoid the boring, ever-complaining, sad people always? There is already enough of all those negative feelings in our lives and in the world where we live. Then why talk about and multiply it. Rather we should have more people like Anil to spread more happiness and good feelings around.

Anil may have ordinary troubles and problems in his life too. He is also a human being after all. But you would never notice him in a bad temperament. He is always cheerful and in a good mood! Always with a smile on his face! You want to get rid of your worries? Go and meet Anil!

Anilji, Khuda se yahi prarthna ki aap hamesha aise hi Haste aur Hasaate Rahe...

Dance Performance in NSE Annual day...(part-3)

2007-11-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

Finally the Big day came. We all were very very excited and anxiously waiting for the evening to come! The Annual Day event was supposed to start at around 7 and our performance was expected to begin at around 8. We attended half working day, had our lunch in the office and left at around 1:30 for the venue that is 'The Intercontinental' at Sahar International Airport Road, Andheri.
I left along with Vijayendra in Suraj's car. Vikram also was coming by his car with other group of around 3-4 girls. Rest of the gang was coming by Bus arranged by SWC, NSE.
We reached venue at about 3 and checked out the whole place. Who would not like being at a 7star luxurious hotel and that too when one has not to pay a single penny from his/her own pocket?! The place was marvelous.

There were some really nice big paintings on the walls around the spacious stairs. We clicked lot of pictures with great poses in numerous permutations and combinations!

In a while Tea – Coffee was served. There were 5-6 different types of Tea and a variety of biscuits just for us – Dancers!
One variety of the specially made Jain biscuits was so tasty that I still have their delicious taste on my tongue till today!

I had Assamese Lime Tea which had a very different aroma. After having tea/coffee-biscuits, we had a final rehearsal on the stage. The stage looked great. One of the Filmfare Award or some beauty pageant types!
However we felt it was smaller as compared to our NSE Audi stage. But it was decorated well with some wooden props. A disco light platform was also being specially prepared for NSE employees for the evening Dance party, following the event.
We only rehearsed once so as not to exhaust and tire ourselves. HitenSir was giving last instructions/tips on wireless mic. He was in great tension but looked chilled and excited. After that rehearsal, we went back stage.

Tried our costumes. Girls had already started with the make up and a special Iron man was called to iron our costumes. There was an air of haste and somewhat chaos all around but we were enjoying every moment. Some dresses had come at the last moment so many of us were busy trying those.
We didn't miss the opportunity to click pics in those sandoes and new dresses with make-up on! All this was so much fun!

The Banquet Hall where the stage was setup was decorated very well with the drapes and lights on the top with a huge elegant chandelier in the center.

All the chairs were also clothed with black and white covers alternately and with golden bows! Just below the stage a dance-floor was set up with glass covering disco-lights below the floor.
The center of the stage had stairs which led to this dance floor. The mood of the evening was building up...

At around 06:15 PM, first bus from NSE arrived and guests started entering the hall. Our excitement grew! We were all ready in the first set of dresses in which we were supposed to perform. The event began with speeches and some other facilitation program etc.
Our first dance performance was by the girls - Tuja Namo! It went very well. Half the girls were in Blue and the rest in yellow Indian Traditional dresses (wore by apsaras or dancers in the palaces of ancient Raj-gharanas). Though these dresses were not that royal, of superior quality or costly, they looked beautiful in that smoke-filled scarcely illuminated stage.
The first performance captivated the audience and we were all too excited to wait for our dance sequence! Audience appreciated the first dance with lot of cheering and clapping.

Second dance was 'Silsila ye Chahat ka..' by Tejashree and other girls where they were supposed to hold illuminated lamps in their hands and dance. Little time was left and still all the lamps were not ready with small LED bulbs with which they were supposed to be shown as illuminated diyas. Tejashree had to be more careful because her Diya was supposed to remain lit (that is the LED bulb of that diya to be ON) till the last moment and she had to do all the running around and dancing (including the 'special' peculiar hand movement of hers where she gave a beating to Aishwarya!) and her diya was flickering the most!!!

But that dance sequence also went very well and audiences liked it equally well. Third dance sequence was the western songs based and the dancers rocked! They set the stage on fire by their energetic and electrifying performance!

Audiences roared and cheered and clapped and were asking for more! ‘Once more's’ were also heard intermittently! Parody dance sequence was a major Hit! People loved the old - new fusion of songs and the humour aspect of this concept. While performing I saw some of the colleagues dancing lightly on their respective seats!
The expressions on their faces told it all how much fun they were having! Our 15 days rigorous rehearsals sessions were paying off! There were some goof ups in between in certain dance items - like in one of the western dance number somebody's, who was dancing in front, zip opened!

But he very cleverly managed to go back and correct the error. In another parody dance number one of my friends strived hard to remove his kurta, he had worn for the previous dance, but it was stuck and the dance began! His expressions I still remember and can't help myself from laughing till date!

Finally he used all his strength to get rid of the stuck kurta and literally ran to reach the stage and could manage to start with a little delay which was not even noticed by the audience! One more such instance was in the parody only where all the boys were supposed to tie a duppatta on their waists, but only half of them remembered and wore it actually! But these all details we could notice because we had the knowledge. Very few sharp people from the audience would even notice this small small goof-ups! That’s the plus point of a group dance! The parody sequence ended with an old song 'Tik Tik Tik Tik...' where all of us, some of us clad in western and the remaining in folk-based dresses, were supposed to come on stage and dance together holding each others hands. It really looked great and everybody enjoyed it thoroughly! The last set of dance sequence which comprised of bhangda, a pop-song and 'Jhoom barabar Jhoom...' number was performed after a short event. Here also in Bhangda, one of the dancers could not find the white coloured pant of right fitting so she came on the stage in black pants and we all other dancers were in white outfits for that dance number. But the dance went so well that this small imbroglio went unnoticed! The special stunts at the end of Bhangda number enthralled audience and they filled the hall with their appreciative feedback noise! The dance lights were creating the magical ambience more beautiful on the stage. In between the dance performances, smoke was also released to give a nice effect to the dance performance. There were two big screens put at the sides where we could see the performance from back-stage. The scene at the back stage was ultimate! You should have been there to know what I mean! There were so much noise, chaos, rush, haste! Dancers were all running here and there to change the dress for their next dance or to make the entry from the other side than their previous performance! I was enjoying all those moments very very much! Finally the last sequence ended with 'Jhoom barabar jhoom...' and we all used the stairs in the center of the stage to actually go down on the dance floor and call our colleagues, the audiences to join us on the dance floor!
What could have been a better end of a dance performance evening than this! It was so much fun! Joy was all there in the air! Our seniors, managers, subordinates all came on the dance floor enthusiastically and the party began!
After a while, we dancers were facilitated by a small but beautiful memento and the choreographers were presented with gifts and bouquets!
That was followed by another round of dance on the dance-floor. Some of us even used stage to dance and had a blast!
This was one of the Best evening of my life (and I am sure for many others among us too who had performed something of this scale on stage!).

Every time I hear a song on which we had performed that evening bring back the old sweet memories of rehearsal sessions and that grand performance evening back to my mind! I will always cherish these sweet memories for the rest of my life!

(The End...!)

Dance Performance in NSE Annual Day...(Part - 2)

2007-11-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

Let me talk about the characters among us now who danced in the grand finale show of NSE annual day dance event! There was this 'Dancer' who was graceful not any less than a choreographer or a bollywood heroine! There were lot of chain emails exchanged among us about this 'Dancer' but never her name was mentioned (Though everybody knew who she was!).Let me quote her name in bold letters for the first time, here in my Blog! She was none other than....'Dweetee Shah'...!

She danced so elegantly and gracefully, twisting her body like rubber and jumping and swirling that one would like to keep seeing her dance on and on and on! She was indeed the Best 'Dancer' in western category.

Next name I have to take is 'Asif' ...The Comedian, the actor, the flirt, the
Mischievous, the notorious...How many adjectives I shall use for him! And every time Dweetee entered the Audi; He never missed a chance to bow his head in her respect! She felt so embarrassed initially but later on she was used to this! He always praised her in all possible words, sometimes even touching her feet (of course jokingly!)

It was fun to hear Asif's sometimes witty and sometimes foolish comments! You should see his nakhras and style in the pictures people have taken during these rehearsals and I am sure you would be entertained!

Then there was Tejashree, heroine of our most of the songs (Aishwarya of our 'Silsila ye ...' Devdas number,Priyanka of 'Ek mai aur Ek Tu...' number etc. etc.).

I guess no one would ever forget her most graceful step in the song 'Silsila ye...' where she had to put her finger on her chin and wear those very innocent expressions on her face coming in front before the audience and then running all around among the other girls performing with her in that song! She did Salsa also in one of the songs and she did classical dance also in 'Tuj Namo...' - Ganesh aaradhna song.

Next I would talk about Umesh who danced equally well among boys as Dweetee danced among girls. He had the advantage due to his slim-lean body! My most favourite step performed by him was when he had to sit and jump and again sit and jump (in 'Dhoom' title track where Dweetee and Vijaya also had to do the same step with him).I envied him for that step! Vijaya was also a character one would remember! She was distinct among all due to her curly hairs which has also gained her the title 'Maggi' (noodles!).She too was a good dancer. She seemed funny at times when she was dancing in front but forgot her steps and asked the girl next what the next step is! She also twisted her body very well! How can one forget the stunts performed by her and
Dweetee in two-three songs where they had to literally jump on their hands - head down and legs up in the air - and go the other side! She danced very well in 'Hare Ram ...' number from 'Bhool-Bhulaiya' and equally good in 'Tuja namo...' also!(Like Tejashree only - contrast of western and folk).

Tomboy of the girls-group was Mamta whose deliberate pronunciations 'Yoges' for Yogesh and 'Suz' for 'Shoes' always mad me laugh! She was too energetic. Continuous Practice sessions made her sweat and she used to get exhausted at times but she never got tired and never said 'no' to any song to be practiced.

Then there was Deepa who was very enthu, Rukhsana who always made me laugh with her comedy style of speaking and carry herself,

Neeta who danced very well in spite of hurting her leg due to falling down (which she quite often does!), Anuradha who joined late (like me) but picked up her steps quite well, Aarti - my partner in 'Mood Mood ke na Dekh...' number and who danced in 'Dholi Taro...' with rukhsana,neeta and Premila - masked Ganpati of 'Tuja Namo...' aaradhna song.

Vibhuti, Rajani, Meetali and Navneet were equally enthu, energetic and danced in tune with last but not the least, Alpa who was again a very graceful and (I guess learned) dancer. Well, Girls are anyway pretty, delicate yet graceful and do a lot of 'nakhras' so even if they don't dance well, people are going to appreciate them! But I am giving them a genuine compliment! They all really danced well! Cheers gals!

Now Guys ...Asif and Umesh I already mentioned, Suraj - my choreographer for old parody numbers - was very comfortable while dancing and enjoyed his steps very much.

Rajanish could not make it to attend the practice sessions on time regularly but enjoyed his dance and we all loved his spirit!

Dharmendra was a very good dancer and he was complimented by our DMD Chitra mam herself! He used to dance with very nice smile on his face and enjoyed himself while dancing. Viren and Vikram also danced well.

Laxminarayan, also an SWC member, used to go for his dance classes at Shiamak's very often and so used to come late but was quite enthu and enjoyed his dance.

Yogesh also tried to dance his best.Roxy teased him by telling him that he looked like a watchman while dancing!
Vijayendra was our Abhishek Bachchan and he paired with Tejashree for a sequence where he did some salsa also!

Manoj tried to showcase his dancing skills after choreographing Fashion Show in last year's NSE annual day and did a good job.

GauriShankar (whom HitenSir called GauriSankar some times!) was also a good dancer (and a good singer too! I heard him sing a nice old Hindi song in the dress-room once). Then there was Vaibhav who used to enjoy his dance and shake his body very very energetically and enthusiastically. After our rehearsals sessions we used to have a JAM kind of session where some of us used to dance freely and there Vaibhav and Asif were the first to start with all those naughty steps as well as the typical 'Band-Baja' style steps!(Two males bringing their shoulders close, rubbing their chests against each other's and bending their bodies and dancing with hand movements!) Yogesh, Girish and myself also used to enjoy these JAM sessions very much! Sometimes we used to play some very peppy South Indian Dance number and Gaurishankar, Biren and many others also joined in and we used to have some smashing time dancing like nobody was watching us!(Is not that true style of dancing? I had read somewhere 'Dance like No one is watching.')

Pramod, Sujith, Hoshedar, Sijo, Vikas Shrivastava and Deepak also rehearsed hard to perform the Best on the Big Day.

Thus, we all actually had a blast of time during the Rehearsals...!!!

Now let me talk a little about the songs on which we performed.

Dholi Taro number had these four guys : Viren, Vikram, Dharmendra and Umesh and their partners were Aarti, Premila, Rukhsana and Neeta respectively. They were supposed to wear a Gujarati Traditional costume along with a special mask which carried a Girl’s face behind the guy’s costumes and a moustached guy’s face behind the girl’s costume. The choreography was fantastic and they had to frequently turn during the dance to make the opposite gender's face visible and also shake their heads continuously to make the masked faces real and to make them look talking with the guy's or girl's face next to him or her. It was skillful and amazing.

I like the steps choreographed by Roxy very much. All those steps were quite youthful and energetic. They were difficult but at the same time so good that you would definitely like to try and master them! I loved my song 'Jhoom barabar Jhoom' steps also very very much!11 of us were supposed to dance where we were divided into three groups. Initially we all had to sit on our toes and when song starts first 4 guys had to stand up quickly and sit again after 8 bits count the second group members including me had to quickly stand up and again sit back. Finally the third group members had to stand up quickly and do some steps and then we all join them and do some steps in unison! This kind of act of synchronization and coordination always attracted me and here I was a part of such a dance sequence! My God! I was enjoying !!!This song also involved Dweetee and Vijaya coming in the middle of the song, center-stage and perform some acrobatics kind of amazing steps which really looked great! Also one more good thing about the choreography was that we all had to run around using the entire stage space. Finally the exit was also special as we were supposed to go straight to the audience and invite them to join us in dancing!!!

Then there was Rang de Basanti number which was folk based but equally energetic and peppy! Our steps were not very difficult but required lot of energy! Once we had to perform on this song continuously for 4-5 times and we all were panting and sweating like anything! This song was not choreographed till the end of rehearsal period and we finalized some steps just before the day of our grand finale! In the last stanza we wanted to set some difficult and special steps. We set two such steps where Mamta had to run and sit on Yogesh's thigh and he had to lift her and complete a full circle. At the same instance, on either side, Asif and Vaibhav had to lift Tejashree and Navneet on their Backs with the girls keeping their one foot over the shoulder of the guy and the other foot on their back and swing their hands in air! It looked great! And all these while we other three dancers, me, Seeju and Deepa had to continue with normal bhangda steps in the background. We had a hard time setting the special difficult steps and rehearsing them but it was real fun!

Two-three days before our final event, the costumes came and we had to do the rehearsals with costumes on! The idea excited me! Like professional dancers we had to wear those jazzy-gaudy dresses and perform on the stage! The dresses were all showy and with frills and shiny material all above them.

But they were all generic sizes. So for the ones among us who were on little heavier side found problems with these dresses. They were too tight for them. For taller ones among us, these dresses were shorter. But somehow we all managed and the really problematic dresses which could not be helped with were replaced also by the choreographer.(Mr. Hiten himself had arranged to get these dresses for us.)It looked really funny when out of the group of 10 or 12 ,a few wore these dresses and the others were in their normal clothes and all of them danced together on the song.
Many of us were supposed to dance in 4-5 songs so changing costumes between the songs was going to be a tough task that we realized during these dress-rehearsals.

Our Choreographer Mr. Hiten was a man of great enthusiasm and energy. He not only taught us dance but gave us a few simple but very effective and useful tips to enjoy our dance and life. He said we all should not only focus on learning dance but also enjoy these moments of rehearsals where we were making so many new friends, learning so many new things, doing a completely different kind of activity than our routine work life. Me as well as all my friends and colleagues who were practicing there could not agree less on this. We all thoroughly enjoyed these sessions. One more important tip he gave us was to enjoy whatever we were doing. This applies to anything and everything in life. We all should enjoy whatever we are doing, be it work, be it some hobby, be it some daily chore or whatever and then see the difference! He told that we were not professional dancers so mistakes were bound to occur but we should not stop and get very serious about those mistakes. We should continue.(This also applies to Life, of course with learning from each mistake and try so as not to make the same mistake again)One of his tips made us all laugh loud! He said suppose while doing a particular dance sequence everybody in the group has to go to left but by mistake one of the girls forgets this and go to the right side, then she should not get conscious. She should assume and make audience believe that she is the heroine!(and rest of the group members are extra dancers!!!)(However nobody should deliberately attempt this in order to get attention!!!).'You are Hero or heroine!'-This should be your attitude! Audiences anyway do not know what the actual choreography is. They are going to believe what you show or do. So don't get bogged down or get conscious by your mistakes! Get over them. Continue the performance! Enjoy your dance! We all had a good laugh when he shared this philosophical tip in his own idiosyncratic style! Some of us thought him to be over-expressive and made fun of him at times! But that his how certain individuals are!

(Please read all the Masti of the Grand Finale Day along with some very interesting colourful visuals and some more special moments we enjoyed during the course of this dance event in the concluding Blog - part3 )

Dance Performance in NSE Annual Day...(part-1)

2007-11-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Why all the good things in Life have to come to an end???

I am talking about my dance rehearsal days which recently ended.On 26th Oct 2007 was the Grand finale of our Dance performance at the Annual Day function of my organization NSE. It was a novel idea this year to keep a Group Dance performance as the main attraction of this event. A special Choreographer was hired for this show. And he did a commendable job with making 40 of us shake our feet on the stage, many for the very first time!

As the saying goes,’ Real fun is in the journey’, we all had an unforgettable time span of around 15days of rehearsals for this dance event. This period will be etched in our memories to cherish for ever.

We all were very excited to dance in front of our own friends and colleagues. On the very first day we all gathered in the auditorium for selection. Choreographer was supposed to reach at 06:00 PM and we all were there in the Audi except the choreographer. We had to wait for him for almost two hours. He turned up with his group and they all looked typical hippy-attitude-dancer types! I mean their demeanour, dressing style everything was 'Different'! One of our SWC (Staff Welfare
Committee) members had a verbal fight with the main choreographer for wasting our precious time. He was furious but didn't show his anger then. His one of the group members made us all do a dance step and noted down the flexibility and skill with which each individual performed it. He was supposed to allot songs to every one on the basis of this observation and remarks. And we parted.

Second day the same story repeated and he was unreachable even on his mobile number. He didn't turn up only. I guess he took the verbal arguments with the SWC member the previous day, too seriously! For better I must say! Finally SWC Team decided to drop him and go for another choreographer and came 'Mr.Hiten Gala' and his associate 'Roxy' to teach us dance!

Practice sessions were supposed to start from a Saturday, about 15 days before the show. I had to go to Gujarat the night before. I asked SWC Team members to keep my place reserved as I was very very keen on performing on stage for this dance-show. I was doubtful if I would be able to be a part of the show as my stay in Gujarat was supposed to be for 5 days! I returned the next Thursday and went straight to the Audi at around 06:30 PM. The scene there was lovely! There were around 15-20 song snippets (some new and some old bollywood numbers) on which we were supposed to shake our legs and bodies!
My Friend Suraj taught me steps for a song with easy dance steps and gave me hopes that I too would get chance to perform. SWC Members were also very cooperative and let me be in. Finally choreographer sir, Mr. Hiten too gave me a green signal for performing and I was happy like a child!
My luck was even better that 2-3 songs were yet remaining to be choreographed and selection of dancers for those was yet remaining. The ambience there in and around audi was very pleasant, energetic and youthful!
There were these two choreographers: one Mr. Hiten Gala himself who when showed the girls their steps, would put even bollywood heroines to inferiority complex! Such was the grace and energy-level exhibited by him.

His dance steps were easy to pick up yet delicate and graceful! He choreographed two main full songs:'Silsila ye chahat ka...' from 'Devdas' and 'Dholi Taro...' from 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'.

He also choreographed the entire old-new parody sequence. (One old song immediately followed by a new song with same mukhada).The other choreographer was, favourite among us - youngster’s, Roxy.

His body was like a Rubber! He was flexible like sponge! He choreographed most of the western-based bollywood dance numbers. I wished I could dance in all of those! But most of them were already choreographed before I returned from Gujarat. So I just had to see my friends tap their feet and bodies in modern and difficult yet lovely dance steps!
Roxy had choreographed the amazing steps in the Best possible manner. I was lucky to get to dance on the steps set by him on one song:'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom...' remixed version of title-track of 'JBJ'(which was my most favourite among all).

These rehearsal sessions started every evening at around 06:30 and went on till 10:15-10:30PM.Even after a tiring day (for those who actually worked!) at office, we gathered in the audi. But believe me; every one of us was looking forward to meet for the practice! After some dance, we used to have snacks, specially prepared for us dancers, (thanks to SWC team).

There were some Jain snacks also prepared every day for my jain-gujju friends (who do not eat garlic-potato-onion etc.) and tea was also served. A few cold-drinks were brought specially for choreographers (which was everyday sipped a little, by some mischievous friends of mine first, before choreographers!)
After snacks-break, we again used to rehearse our dances. Suraj was my choreographer as he shown me the steps for my first song 'Solwa saal hai...' from 'Partner'. Here the steps were not very difficult and that really helped me gain confidence!

If I had started with those western-based numbers choreographed by Roxy, I would have surely found it very very difficult to pick up and come in sync with the other dancers! Rajanish also rehearsed the 'Solwa Saal..' number with me a few times.

The other song I started dancing for was 'Rang De Basanti...' title track from RDB for which a few initial steps were set by Roxy and then we could not practice on it much for some days.

Every day our rehearsal session started with the practice of 'Dholi taro..' and 'Silsila...'.Most of my friends didn't like this idea as they felt Hitensir always snatched the stage for his songs and treated Roxy's western numbers unjustly!

The western song participants had to practice outside the audi in small passage which was not very convenient and spacious. But we used to manage somehow. There were small small groups at times, 2-3 people performing on one song, 4-5 others on another song and so on.

How can I forget my Birthday! I celebrated it rehearsing in the Audi! And these naughty nasty friends of mine gave me B'day Bumps also right there on the stage where we used to rehearse.

Yogesh and Asif had planned this surprise attack game and pulled me on to the stage and all the boys joined in and lifted me with my hands and legs and started giving me bumps! It was for the first time I was treated like this!

I could not decide if I liked this act or not! But I am surely going to remember Yogesh, asif, vaibhav and all of them who gave me B'day bumps...(chun chun ke badla loonga...)!!!

(Read more about the 'characters' or I shall say 'Dancers' (We all who danced in this event!) and about the Grand Performance at 'The Intercontinental' in the Next part of this Blog Series)

Harishchandra Gadh Trek...A Memorable experience! (part-4)

2007-10-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

(Before reading this Blog, I would suggest (who has not already read previous three parts) to read my earlier three blogs on the same subject and view the pictures in order to enjoy this Blog fully...)

How fast that night in the cave got over and what a sleep that was which every one of us had experienced that night! I got up at around 08:30 or so when most of us had already awaken.
We were supposed to go to the second highest peak called 'Konkan-Kada'.We all who wished to visit this place got ready and started the walk. It was a pleasant morning and the route was green and beautiful!

It was not very difficult path (actually it was almost same as the path we had traced through the night but we found it easier because now we could see everything around with bare eyes and at night nothing was visible!)There were shrubs which we had to clear from the path to go ahead using our hands and we had to climb up and down to reach our destination.
There were some honey-bees accompanying us who scared some of us, though they didn't sting anybody.

There were some amazing flowers with colours we had never seen before in city life. Some very tiny and others with many petals! So many different insects also I observed on the way! It’s a human tendency to share the joy of seeing something new or marvellous.I also shared this joy with my new friends on the way!

We clicked some wonderful pictures. On the way came a few rivers also. After walking for about half-an-hour or so we reached 'Konkan-Kada'.

It was a wonderful place with amazing beauty and at a height of around 3800 meters from ground level. You should see the view from there to believe me! It was breath-taking! Some of us slept on the edge to have a closer and clearer view of the valley down there.

There was a mountain range around the spot we were at. On the left hand side there were water falls on the mountain visible while on the right hand side there was maidan like land which extended up to a few kilometers or so and in front, far there were other mountains clad with green trees and shrubs.

The peculiarity of this place was that if you throw some light-weight object from there into the valley, it didn't go down. Gravity Failed! That object would go up in the air and return to you! We threw many flowers and leaves which behaved in this way. We were amazed!

Also one more strange thing we observed was that clouds we could see coming towards us but surprisingly they had to return from a distance and they could not touch us or even come near us!

There must be some scientific reason behind both these phenomena bur they really left us in Awe! We clicked some snaps of the beauty around as well as of ourselves individually and in the group. We spent a good amount of time there and started going to our cave back following the same route by which we came.

After returning, previous night's dinner group had now started preparing lunch of 'khichdi' for us! I wanted to have darshan at the temple so made a group of 4-5 guys and started walking towards the temple. It was an ancient Shiva Temple where beautiful scenery was there surrounding the temple. The climate was cool.

There were: a small shivlinga, a ganesh idol and a big nandi carved out of stone. When I was clicking the pictures, a few friends met us there and suggested us to go to a nearby cave housing a huge Shivlinga.

We just went there out of curiosity but it turned out to be the best attraction of our trip. There was a huge Shivlinga (may be 8-9 feet in height) surrounded by water completely. There should have been four pillars around the Shivlinga but only one of them was in shape. The other three were already completely or partially broken.

There was darkness in the cave. It was scary as there could be snake or any other harmful animal/insect in the water but what gave us courage I don't know! We removed our T-shirts and jumped into the water of the darkness filled cave and swam to the Shivlinga. We offered water onto Shivlinga.

It was 'Ekadashi' day and my friend Swapnil who is a good singer also, sang a very nice prayer for lord Shiva and we swam for a little more around Shivlinga and then came out of the cave. There was one more fascinating experience near this cave.

I had dipped my feet in the stream-water just outside this cave. There were some Sucker fishes that immediately came near and gave me a free pedicure session! They were trying to suck something on my feet but God knows what they would have got! I was feeling ticklish! It was a nice feeling!

We returned to our group and narrated them the shivlinga episode, had our lunch of 'khichdi' and then started our return journey.
Return journey was also amazing. It was very pleasant day. Rain was coming and going, as if playing with us!

We enjoyed the beauty of Mother Nature in abundance! Yellow, white, lilac, pink all different coloured flowers, green grass and green moss, flowing pure water, rocks, trees, birds, dragon-flies, honey bees ,cactuses etc. made our return journey memorable.

After walking for about two hours or so we all stopped at a common point where we saw the spectacular view of clouds-clad green mountains and suddenly a Rainbow was formed in front of our eyes that was literally moving!

It went from one direction to the other and in a few minutes completely vanished! Rain started and we again started our return trek. Now came back those difficult patches which we had cleared yesterday evening.
We were walking in groups of 7-8 people or so at regular distance from other groups.

This one incident I will never forget in my life! There was this steep slippery wet rock at an inclination where your one step u don't put properly and u would straight away go into the deep valley.

One of my friends crossed it carefully. Another friend was midway and he slipped...there was a clear noise of him slipping but God was there with us. That fellow must have worshipped him in the morning and he came at his rescue! The guy's bag held him up or God knows what!

But he didn't completely loose balance and was stuck right where he was standing. My friend who had already crossed that patch was scared to death! So were we! Another friend who was ahead me instructed the guy in trouble not to move at all and he went ahead and helped him get into proper balance and made him reach the other end safely.

We all were relieved. We all remembered God then! We had seen somebody coming out of a dangerous situation, may be death?! We all walked silently for sometime.

Next came another difficult patch which was making way for water to flow through the moss-ridden rock. It was not exactly as scary as the difficult patch we just crossed sometime back. I was in my own thoughts trying to cross these slippery rocks carefully and Thud! My world was revolving! Dhadam!

I could not even understand what happened and I was lying in awkward position with the help of my hands, my legs up and the face down! I had fallen! Luckily the spot was not very dangerous which could have taken me straight into the valley but falling on slippery rocks on a mountain is scary! Ask me that! My heavy bag, camera pouch every thing fell with me, became dirty! But I too was lucky like that another friend of mine who had just seen death so nearby! And my hands supported me from falling further and I stopped there only. My friend with me shouted at me for stepping in the wrong manner (but I could not realize what had gone wrong. Still I don't know!) And came to my senses and untwined my legs which had entwined as I fell. Now I was afraid.

Every step I moved further was with a kind of fear and extra caution! Yesterday I had not felt any fear while crossing all these dangerous patches but now after falling I was scared! Same 5-6 dangerous patches we crossed and we reached the base of the mountain, the jungle where we had to walk for another two hours or so in order to finish our trek and reach 'Khireshwar' from where we had started our amazing trek!

This time we were hopelessly tired! Yesterday when we had started our trek, while passing through the same jungle we had experienced completely different set of emotions! But now we had tired! Darkness was also setting in. We increased the speed in order to cross the jungle before it was completely dark. But Time was speedier! And complete darkness set in before we completely bypassed the jungle. We had to use torches and walk for another half an hour or so to reach that small hotel in Khireshwar where dinner was awaiting us!

We finally reached there! Our 'Harishchandra Gadh' Trek was over! We had so much fun and a completely unforgettable once in a lifetime kind of experience of an over night trek!
(It was very late so we could not have got transport for Mumbai so we had to reach khubi-fata by the Puneri Friends' bus and got lift in a lorry carrying flowers to Mumbai! What an experience! We returned to Kalyan at about 12:40 in the night but the last train for Dadar had already gone and we had to reach thane somehow, from there to mulund and from there to our respective homes by auto-rickshaw!)
Some experiences are like precious jewels in your life...This trek was one such unforgettable experience...!!!

(Finally...The End!)

Those of you who really liked this blog and want to see the complete set of pictures (around 190) please visit :

Harishchandra Gadh Trek

Harishchandra Gadh Trek...A memorable experience! (part-3)

2007-10-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

The third phase of the Trek was the most thrilling and a bit scary too! Scary because the night had already begun here at 07:00 PM only and it was so dark that one could not even see the person beside him or her without the torch! And that too in a Jungle on a mountain where any creature could come and meet us on the way!

All of us didn't have torches so we were walking in groups with those having torches leading the respective groups.The path of this third phase was not very difficult (this we could make out on the next day in sunlight while returning back through the same route!) but darkness had decided to harass us! Unlike the previous portion of our trek, now there were more than three groups and distance between groups also was uneven.

At some spots there was building up a queue as it was very dark and those spots were very slippery or a bit difficult to cross while at certain other spots there was nobody around except those group members. These group members were scared wondering why others were not visible or audible(!) in the vicinity?The way was such that there were many hills, up and down, covered with thick bushes at some places and small streams were flowing at some other spots.

We had to walk through those streams. It felt so good when that cold water touched the feet! And you should listen to the musical noise the flowing water was making. Rain was going and coming as if to check our status whether we all are safe and sound in that forest in the darkness of that beautiful night! I was enjoying whenever I had to pass through bushes.

These bushes were covering the whole path so that while crossing through them you have to use both your hands to make the way! It felt so nice.

I felt truly adventurous doing this act feeling like a Hollywood movie hero! (Remember Jurassic Park??!!) He...He...He!!! I don't know why but I was not at all scared, neither in the evening nor at the night.

I had heard the comments of my friends walking with me and also had seen expressions on the faces of some others clearly indicating that they were scared! But I was not scared a bit! Infact I was enjoying that adventurous journey as a true Nature-Lover!

I made many good friends enroute. And interesting and strange thing here was that I couldn't even see the faces of those new Friends I was walking with! I could just hear them! Like I made friendship with a brave girl Ashvini (brave because she was having no fear at all and had lot of trekking experience. She was leading us at difficult points and gave us many tips as to how to put steps in right manner, how to move ahead etc.) who was beautiful too!(That I could make out only on the next day when I saw her in sun-light!)

I am very fond of singing and keep humming most of the times! (Most of my friends know that and get bugged when I start singing out of the blue!) But during this journey many friends joined me in singing! (Like Ashvini also did!) I also played some very good numbers on my mobile which many friends walking with me enjoyed very much!

Some songs were so apt at that instant in that kind of ambience that they were truly reflecting the mood of those songs and that of Nature around! The journey was thus made interesting by the music and the songs by us! Many people were falling, some were literally crawling and some others were having a difficult time even walking!

But the Overnight trekking was being enjoyed by all of us for sure! Many times the group ahead, had to stop for hours to catch up with the other groups lagging behind. Those were the moments when we got to chitchat with other group members and know each other better. Overall it was great fun throughout the journey. We had climbed up and down approx. 9 hills and crossed some 4-5 streams.

Finally there came a starlight maidan kind of patch of land and we could make out that now our final destination - the cave where we were all supposed to spend the rest of the night - was nearby. At around 2-2:30 in the night we reached the cave.The cave was small but spacious enough to accommodate all of us(around 40)! We all settled and some of our trek members/organizers got engaged in cooking dinner for us! They were so enthu and energetic!

Most of us were like, now we want to just lie down! And these guys started cooking Potato-Onion subzi and Soup for all of us! I really appreciate their efforts in making this wonderful trek memorable for all of us in every possible way! Kudos to Trek-Di group!!!

So in an hours time our dinner was ready! We had soup and the Subzi with the Rotis (already distributed in the afternoon). It was delicious! Candle light dinner in the true sense as there were a few candles lighting the cave (and a few torches too...So u may call it a Candle-cum-Torch Light Dinner)!

As soon as the dinner was over we slept! You should have seen how we all fitted ourselves into that cave! Everybody had got their sleeping bags, mattresses, bed-sheets etc. Night passed in a flash! And that was an amazing sleep I had, after so tiring a journey!

(Read the description of some beautiful moments at Konkan-kada we visited the next morning and the return journey with more pictures in my concluding Blog of this Trek series...Till then chao!!!)