Getting married

            Marriage is considered as one of the most important even in a person’s life as per the system of human society. The generation of our parents and before had accepted this custom of marriage very easily and without many doubts in mind, compared to my generation, who is exposed to the entire universe and not only to the immediate social surrounding. We are trained to think and analyse radically about everything that comes across before accepting and adopting to them. The vital thing like marriage churns up the sea of thoughts…why such a personal thing like marriage is celebrated on grand social scale!?? …mine is going to be an arranged marriage. The compatibility of basic parameters was judged, those were average and I decided to accept the gamble… thankfully the acquaintance developed into a healthy and enjoyable relationship over the 6 months of courtship period. The wedding preparation is paced up with every passing month, weeks and now by days! For me this entire procedure and period has worked as a realization time! I began with checking what all things at home, tagged as ‘mine’, will continue their journey with me in the 2nd phase of my life. I was surprised to realize what an array of things I have gathered and preserved till now!..news-paper cuttings, greeting cards, old photos, varied stationary, accessories, origami stuff, fabric painting swatches, drawing sheets….and unlimited memories related to all these! The nostalgia continued with the list made for the invitation. So many people, so many things have contributed in making what is known as ‘Trupti Sawant’! We tend to develop and believe in our perceptions of ‘what I am’, ‘how I am’, ‘what do I like’, ‘what do I want’; but when we look at others’ contribution in our life, the illusion breaks and we start realising that ‘I am nothing but only reflection of my surroundings!...there is nothing that is absolutely, purely generated by me!’ and that is why marriage not really only personal event but has strong social dimension.

             Another observation is related to the reactions and expressions of close ones when you inform them and/or invite them for your wedding. The look from feminine eyes generally expresses sympathy, compassion. I wonder if I should take it as an alarm! The fatherly eyes give a feeling, ‘We have tried our level best to give you all the knowledge and skills required to perform as a responsible member of a family and the society. Now with your marriage you are going to face the world first hand. We are not going to act as a shield for you anymore. You are going to get upgraded in the system. Come; join with us to perform as the frontiers.’ Thus in our culture, marriage is much more than a glorified celebration of copulation. It is fun to experience these various personal, family and social aspects related to marriage!

hello!

Hello Buddies!

Yes I do still exist on this earth n here today just to say Hi!
....gliding in d golden period of life, wanna check on the old ties...
....this is my egress, my platform, my expression, my wibes... I am but will not be away for long...

निर्मिकाचे ऋण

त्या निर्मिकाने इतके दिले आहे कि ह्या घेणारीची झोळीच कमी पडते. काही मोहाच्या कमकुवत क्षणांना धुसफूस होतेही पण पुढच्याच काही पावलांत त्याच्या अस्तित्वाची आणि आशीर्वादाची, त्या भरभक्कम पाठबळाची प्रचीती येते आणि पुन्हा कृतज्ञतेने मन भारावून जाते! ह्या भवसागरात एक कस्पट मी; तरीही किती चोख व्यवस्था लावली आहे त्याने माझ्यासाठी! त्याने जे काही दिले आहे त्याची परतफेड तर अतर्क्यच, मात्र मिळालेल्याचा अनादर ह्या वेडीकडून होऊ नये हीच इच्छा. त्याने जे काही दिले आहे त्याबद्दल अंतकरणापासून आभार आणि त्याहूनही मोठे ऋण म्हणजे; मला मिळाले आहे, मिळत आहे आणि मिळणार आहे हे कळण्यासाठी दिलेली जाण.

Rainy hysterics

Mumbai rains...flooded drains...even then packed are the trains....
The gadgets like raincoats, umbrellas get geared up as the rain advents. In this world with wide range of types of people, I found the following characters highly ill-mannered and insensitive towards their fellow humans...please guide me how to deal with such characters !

1. This first category refuses to remove their dripping wet rain coats while getting into the crowded train, sitting in a cab or any other public transport!

2. These characters, ladies especially, wear a rain coat and on top of that hold their umbrella wide open. Considering their careful nature, you must have guessed by now that they have been very careful to select the biggest umbrella in the market and now they are holding it without bothering that the way they are holding their umbrella, which is not really required, is drenching the person behind them in the que!

3. These are the ones least bothered about the rain. They are not carrying any umbrella or raincoat and to heighten the carelessness are wearing slippers, which are splashing mud over people all around as they rush ahead in their carefree manner!

Well friends I hope you are not fit for any of the above mentioned categories and let others enjoy the season without becoming the center of attraction!

आधुनिक वटपौर्णिमा

पूजा..पानावर मिळणारे ५ फळांचे वाण... वटवृक्षाच्या डेरेदार सावलीखाली जमलेला गोतावळा.. ह्या वट-पौर्णिमेच्या बालपणीच्या आठवणी..आता त्यांची जागा बंदिस्त घरात पुजल्या जाणार्या मरगळलेल्या फांदीने घेतली आहे. खरे पाहता सावित्रीच्या पुण्याईचा आधार घेत असंख्य जीवांना सावली देणाऱ्या, पाखरांना घरट्यासाठी जागा देणाऱ्या आणि भरपूर प्राणवायू देणाऱ्या वडाच्या झाडाशी जिव्हाळ्याचे संबंध प्रस्थापित करण्यासाठी पूर्वजांनी निर्मिलेला वट-पूजेचा सोहळा आता त्या वटवृक्षाच्या छाटणीचे कारण झालेला दिसून येतो! परंपरांच्या आंधळ्या वाटचालीचे याहून योग्य उदाहरण सापडणे विरळाच! आपल्या नवर्याच्या दीर्घायुष्याची मागणी करताना इतर अनेक जीवांच्या आयुष्याचा आधार आणि खुद्द ज्या झाडाकडे आपण मागणी करत आहोत त्याचा जीवच आपण काढून घेत आहोत ह्याची पुसटशीही जाणीव त्या सौभाग्यवतींना होत नसेल का? ह्या सगळ्या संभ्रमित वातावरणातही विक्रम सारखे काहीजण पुढे येऊन plant -rescue -group ची स्थापना करतात तेंव्हा त्यांचे कौतुक नक्कीच व्हायला हवे. विक्रम हा ताज हॉटेल मधील बगीचाचा in -charg म्हणून काम करतो. एका वट-पौर्णिमेला आईला तोडलेल्या वडाच्या फांदीची पूजा करताना पाहून तो उद्विग्न झाला. त्याने आईला केवळ तसे करण्यापासून परावृत्तच नाही केले तर गच्चीवर तण म्हणून उगवलेल्या वडाची यथासांग लागवड करून देऊन तिच्या पूजेची सोय करून दिली. ह्या घटनेतूनच जन्माला आली plant -rescue -group ची कल्पना. पाइपांच्या बेचक्या, छ्ज्जांचे कोपरे, कुंपणाच्या भिंती अशा अडनिड्या जागी आलेल्या झाडांना तिथून काढून त्यांची यथायोग्य लागवड करण्याचे काम हा group  करतो.  आता तर महानगरपालिकेने ह्या संघटनेच्या कार्याला मान्यता देऊन त्यांना रोपवाटिकेसाठी जागासुद्धा मंजूर केली आहे. ह्या संघटनेची शहरी भागातील हिरवळ वाचविण्याची आणि वाढविण्याची हि कामगिरी म्हणजे वटपौर्णिमा साजरी करण्याची आधुनिक पद्धत म्हणता येणार नाही का..  

Existance

Most of us believe that we live a dual life, one inside and another outside. Knowingly or unknowingly we keep ourselves at constant evaluation...what am I in this world around me? Is the world around me treating me right? Am I important for all those I am related to and come across? ...I need not worry about those whom I am not connected to....sometimes the answers are pleasing, sometimes despairing, all of it depending upon the relative frame of mind!


This piece of thoughts is about those moments when one feels that, 'it won't make much difference if I exist or do not exist. I am not making any difference to the world I am in.' such a thought is an outcome of the evaluation process which need not be conducted at all.

Mankind has achieved supreme powers through the technology and a false image has been built up that we are different from nature and can stand apart from it. In reality the man's ability to apparently conquer the world is a natural ability, entitled to him by nature itself. When we are progressing we are doing nothing but the job entitled to us in the system of nature. The laws of nature are quite evident and clear.

NO SURPLUS AND/OR USELESS IS EVER CREATED IN THE SYSTEM OF NATURE.


When we ponder over the minuscule thoughts, we forget this law and believe in our own fancies. When one exists it definitely has a purpose and meaning that may not be clear to himself/ herself/ others around him/ her.

To state in simple words, the world can not be the same with any of its components missing, however small or big. So next time when such stupid thought brushes across your mind just remember that the world will not be what it is, without you...your existence makes the world what it is.

The Meet

      It was the day of my architecture college alumni-meet. After a long period I was experiencing the gathering at the same old seminar hall, making me absolutely nostalgic with sweet memories of the college days… the introduction to the world of architecture and designing…sleepless nights spent at college to complete the group projects…the study tours…bonding with the buddies…on and on..
      JJ being the first and prestigious architecture college in India, many senior and eminent architects had gathered for the meet. The most senior among them being the one, architect Kamu Iyer who completed his graduation in 1957! The entire hall filled with architects, I was feeling the air around me about being an Architect…an amazing feeling of pride!
      The purpose of the meet was to form an official alumni association of JJ school of Architecture, to achieve benefit for both the college and the alumni. I am sure, the way everyone in the hall was experiencing the event was different, due to various backgrounds, various experiences, various memories and different perspective related to the meet…for me it was a good churn of close to heart memories…and a revitalized realization about preserving the radical instinct of designing which I cherished during college days and is endangered at present due to twists and turns involved in practicality of professional practice.

विजयोन्माद

इतर कशाहीपेक्षा विजयाचा कैफ गहिरा असतो. त्याची धुंदी तिथपर्यंत पोहोचण्यासाठी घ्याव्या लागलेल्या सगळ्या कष्टांचा अडीअडचणींचा विसर पाडते. त्यातूनही असा एखादा धुरंधर जो स्थितप्रज्ञतेचा सदरा पांघरून आकाशाला गवसणी घालण्याच्या ध्येयावर विजय मिळवितो त्याचा स्वानुभव नक्कीच शब्दातीत असणार!
विजय- जीवनाने घेतलेल्या प्रत्येक आकाराचे उद्दिष्ट, एकमेव सत्य; ज्याचा परिणाम फक्त विजयवीरावरच होत नाही; तर तो विजय पाहणाऱ्या, त्याच्याविषयी ऐकणार्या प्रत्येक दुबळ्या जीवाच्या मनात आशेची आणि उत्साहाची पालवी तो फुलवीत असतो....
....विजयी भव!

महफ़िल

महफिल सुनी हो या हो आबाद, उसे होती है फनकार की आस. 
आए न आए महफिल जमानेवाले, महफ़िल उठाना है सिर्फ फनकार के हाथ!
उसके इस फन पे कुछ इस तरह फ़िदा है यह महफ़िल के साए से भी फनकार के जलती है यह महफ़िल!
जहाँ जाए फनकार, हो उजाला या अन्धकार, महफ़िल वहीँ है जहाँ है फनकार का संसार.

My precious...

Strand..the yearly book festival..the feast....This time also I collected some gems and the one I started encountering with today is ...I realised...is MY PRECIOUS ( please recollect the passion of Gollum in lord of the rings, related to this quote)... and it is The Grand Design by Stephen Hawkins ! This captivating book explains the complicated theories of science, of existance, of purpose with such a great simplicity that the reader feels it integrated with his/her experience, existance and interest! Kudos to the writer!
I am greatly thankful for having this precious collection of mine with me...thankful to them who created it...thankful to the situations which made me select and purchase it and thankful to the one who accompanied me during this purchase!

कमजोर दिल- होशियार दिमाग

दिल कि शिकायत है के याद करते है लोग हमें सिर्फ तब जब होते है सितारे उनके गर्दिश में.
 दिमाग कि दिल को नसिह्त है, " अरे कम्बख्त शुक्र कर गर्दिश में हि सही याद तो करते है तुम्हे!.... गर्दिश के हटतेही उनकी यादभी मिट जायेगी... अगली गर्दिश तक कमसे कम मुझे तो सुकून रहेगा!"   

Local food

    I am not a hard core foodie but always like to taste different types of food. When I was about to visit China for a week, the first suggestion given to me was ‘Oh! Carry enough food with you otherwise it will be a fasting week for you!’ Alarmed with this, Mom stuffed-in all the possible ready to eat food packs in my bag that included bakarvadi, gul-poli, dry-fruits etc; adding at least 2 kg in my baggage!
    I was a gourmet from my flight itself! American breakfast, Malaysian lunch.. and I was happy with both of them! I started getting into the habit of Chinese green tea from my flight itself.
    I was in Guangzhou for 7 days and thanks to the client that we were placed in a very nice business hotel in central Guangzhou. There used to be a grand buffet breakfast every morning. Being a business hotel, all types of cuisines used to be on counter including Cantonese. I took the opportunity to taste local Cantonese food every morning that included rice noodles, bean curd, fried noodles, baked beans in tomato sauce, smashed bean buns, sweet fried dim sum, chicken teriyaki, etc and of course the green tea! I liked all of them.
    For dinner we used to experiment as per available time. Chinese people are hard core non-vegetarians; to the extent that we also heard that there are no stray dogs on streets because they are kidnapped for food! We noticed very few pet dogs as well. In our country the dog protects the patron, may be there the patron protects the dog and do not wish to take the responsibility! Anyways I did not come across dishes with ingredients like dog, cockroaches during my stay. The only alarming food item that I saw on counter was fried beef tongue, which one can actually see that it is a sliced whole tongue and I did not dare to include it in my plate. Thankfully the option of chicken and sea food was always there and I didn’t miss any chance to taste it in real Chinese flavor.
    I dined at a local food joint on the first evening itself. It was fun to taste black baked beans in tea and chicken with rice. My only problem used to be the huge quantity, these Chinese places used to offer. It seems local people there have very good appetite.
    I also took the opportunity to taste Chinese KFC and MacD food. The efficiency of staff at these counters is amazing..fastest in the world I guess and most of them are girls and women. In general we found that things are very fast in china.
    Chinese pickles are also very famous and I made sure that I include it in my lunch plate. I enjoyed them.
    We also dined in the Chinese restaurant in our hotel. The picks were random from the menu card- sea food fried rice, mushroom soup, fried shrimps, fried noodles, green salad, chicken wings, etc and to our surprise we all liked them all! I should mention that my attempt to use chop-sticks was quite successful here!
    We also had lunch once in an Indian food restaurant started by a Nepali. It was alright.
    I must mention I did not miss ghar-ka khana or Indian food over this entire week. Even in the return flight I preferred tasting Malaysian fish lunch and only for the last dinner in flight I opted for Indian vegetarian to get back my gastronomy in regular Indian mode.
    All the ready to eat food parcels have come back in-tact!
    I brought home some sachets of Chinese pickles, but to my surprise I am not enjoying them as much as I used to enjoy them there. It’s not about what type of food I like, I guess it’s about having the regional food when we are in different place. Local food is developed with centuries of experiments and expertise. Therefore it is always the best food to have which is suitable for anyone in those particular climatic, geographical, social conditions. When we have local food, very easily we feel connected to our surroundings. We feel as if we are also one of them. According to me food is firsthand experience and explanation of nature and habits of the local people. I had similar experience when I visited Italy. For 15 days I was enjoying the local Italian food and thoroughly enjoyed and loved it.
    Local food is flavor of the place. This equally implies that Italian pizza tastes best only when you are having it in Italy. Chinese pickles taste best only when you are having them in China. It’s my first hand experience that when I tried having the same pickle in here, it reminded me of the flavor of the place from where I brought it and it was feeling completely out of place to have it in my plate besides my dal-chaval at my own sweet home.
    It’s my suggestion to all of you to taste and enjoy local food when you visit different places. The experience is magical! It makes your visit to the place complete.

जाता जाता ...

रोजसारखीच आणखी एक सकाळ. चाकरमान्यांची office  गाठण्याची लगबग. churchgate  station च्या लगोलग लोकांचे जत्थेच्या जत्थे फुटपाथवरून जात असतात. त्या काळ्या-पांढऱ्या formal गर्दीत एक रंगीबेरंगी आकृती लक्ष वेधून घेते. काळ्या शिसवी अंगावर हळद, कुंकू, गुलाल यांचे रंगीबेरंगी पण एका विशिष्ट पद्धतीने ओढलेल्या बोटांचे पट्टे, कपाळी ठसठशीत टिळा, इंद्रधानुष्यातला एकही रंग सुटणार नाही असे कमरेचे नेसू, पायांत चाळ आणि हातात विटलेला आसूड...जरीमरीच्या त्या आकृतीवरून नजर हटत नाही. बालपणी मनावर कोरले गेलेले जरीमरीच्या आसूडाच्या फटकार्यांचे आवाज आणि दुरून जवळ येणाऱ्या हलगीच्या आवाजाने मनातून घाबरलेली लहान मुले..मनात तरळून गेली. लहानपणी दरारा वाटणारी ती आकृती आज मात्र उलट दिशेने वाहणाऱ्या गर्दीत हताशपणे उभी दिसत होती. त्याच्या पसरणाऱ्या हाताला कुणीही भीक घालत नव्हते. बदललेल्या जमान्यात तो इतर भिकार्यांसारखा फक्त एक भिकारी झाला होता. देवाच्या पायावर वाहू घातलेल्या ह्यांच्या पिढ्यानपिढ्या. ह्या भक्तीच्या बदल्यात इतर समाजाकडून मिळणारे दान आज भीक झाले आहे. मुंबईत भिकार्यांचे settings असतात, त्यांचा भरपूर फायदा असतो; अशा गप्पा बर्याच वेळा कानावर पडतात..खरे असेलही हे सारे कदाचित; पण रस्त्यांवर भटकणारे जरीमरी कुटुंब, एखाद्या सकाळी वाट चुकून society च्या gate वर येऊन दानाच्या आशेने मोठमोठ्याने गाणारा वासुदेव ह्या सगळ्यांची अवस्था मुंबई सारख्या शहरात फार दयनीय असेल असे वाटते. काळाच्या वरवंट्याखाली भरडल्या जाणाऱ्या ह्या जीवांना आणि ते जाणते-अजाणतेपणी जपत असलेल्या सांस्कृतिक परंपरांना त्यांच्यातील परमेश्वरच मदतीचा हात देवो आणि ते तो डोळसपणे हातात घेवोत हि सदिच्छा!