Sunday, December 27, 2009
The king, the subjects and the old man.
Kab se sambhale, rakhaa hai dil...
Tere liye, tere liye...
luh la la la, hmh hmm hmm hmm.."
sang the old man, jolly, oblivious to everything else and everybody around.
We had just completed a dinner hosted for one of our senior colleagues who was slated for retirement this month end. It was not clear whether he would get an extension, but we had anyway decided to celebrate. It was not clear whether he was happy or sad about throwing in the towel, but we had ordered the rum, all the same.
Earlier that evening, we left from office after work, in pairs or trios as it seemed convenient and met at this really nice, uptown restaurant in this otherwise parched town. One of them had been kind enough to give me a lift and the two of us had gone and purchased a fairly elegant and also large lamp. Let there be light... oh, just hang it.
There were six of us who were still firmly rooted to the job. One on the verge of the final corporate good-bye and this old man, who in his days at work was often referred to as "' loose cannon', by our very own boss.
Speaking of our boss, earlier this year, around this time, he had surprised - no, shocked - our entire team by announcing his resignation. Nobody clearly understood why he did that, although there were many tongues wagging. After his official attendance on April 30, we had tried to arrange dinner with him on several occasions, but it never happened until now. For reasons, best known to the boss himself.
Several things tickled my mind before, during and after this dinner. Because I had initiated this meeting, I was referred to as 'host' several times during this evening. By the end of the first round, the waiters were clear where they'll push the bills.
The team gathered was a strange mix... the only common thread being the boss with whom they had spent lot of good and bad times. Each one was in a different team, but under a common reporting with the new head of department.
Couple of other colleagues invited had not turned up. I guessed, if you can't say your Hellos properly then it's difficult to say your Goodbyes gracefully. These 6, present today, had some respect for the work this person had put in during these years. Another thing that amused me...
The old man, who's contract had expired months ago was a special invitee. He had always liked our man of the moment, probably because he received the needed support and praise (for his singing as well) from this quarter. While the retiree, me and the boss had rum with hot water, others were fairly content with their orange, lime and strawberry juices. There were no women.
As for me, I recalled briefly, the difficult confrontations with each of the other 5 members at different times in the last few years. One of the worst altercations was with the old man himself. And, I remembered the sizzling response sent by our 'best man' of today's occasion which had begun with an 'How Dare You...". Of-course, nothing personal about it.
Probably the absence of the comfort that our team had enjoyed for the last five odd years had forged a silent but certain bond among the six team members who had made the choice to make it to the dinner. The boss, was invited the same morning and for someone who could not get time for 8 months, this time 8 hours seemed enough to say 'count me in.'
So what had changed? in moral science class was one sentence I will never forget... "suffering unites mankind." Sigh, how true... you have to heat the stew to get a good mix. (sic)
Without stating it, I suspect the set of people gathered were re-living those moments and memories of the past. At that time, we had not realized the value and the strength of being united, of working in a single stream to achieve monumental milestones. Once the binding force was removed and once the threat seemed stronger that the individual selves, the need to bond and collaborate, now seemed greater than ever.
Or... maybe I'm over-reading this thing and maybe it was just a simple get-together. I enjoyed the dinner, although I missed catching up on my next plan (cuddling in the name of some late night movie). But these dinners are rare and I will cherish this evening without bothering to dissect it any further.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Our own, cozy Krishna Janmashtami
Devaki Krishna Ravalnath is our family deity.
Naturally, Janmashtami is special for all of us in our family.
Janm = birth (Sanskrit) and Ashtami = 8th day.
Like almost all Hindu festivals, Janmashtami symbolizes the Victory of Good over Evil. The young lord, Balkrishna, the eighth avatara (incarnation) of the supreme Lord Vishnu, was born on the ashtami tithi (lunar day) in the month of Bhaadrapaksha according to the Hindu calendar (which tracks the moon phases). The imprisoned Vasudev, father of Krishna, had to carry the child in pouring rain to escape from the evil uncle Kamsa. (Google Vishnu Dashavatara for more.)
"No matter how dry it has been, it has to rain tonight." my late grandmother would repeat each year. And lo and behold, the rains would lash at midnight for sure, if not before that.
The regularity, intensity and consistency with which my father prepares and conducts this ceremony, year after year, has lent greater sanctity and fondness towards this festival to me, than any other.
I make it a point to return from work on time on this special day. Because that's the evening I am certain to meet my sister, uncles, cousins, in-laws, nephews etc. My two sons and 4 nephews are between age 7 and 15 years. And together they can stir a few tsunamis with very little effort.
Our vegan folks at home observe a fast (abstain from onion, garlic, stale food etc.) and the day culminates with a small pooja (prayer ceremony) at home. The boys wear the 'Pudve' (a red, orange or yellow silk robe worn below the waist) and look festive and show their eagerness to assist my father in the rites.
A statue of the Lord is bathed, decorated and maintained centre stage and as we recite the Shahastra naama (thousand names of the Lord), the children offer the Akshatha (rice grains mixed with vermilion) and the Tulsi dala (basil leaves in pairs).
Following that, is the aarti with ghee soaked wicks is lit to perform the fire rituals. The energy and the enthusiasm of the kids in playing the shankh (conch), taal (cymbals), jaganta and chipali makes the dinner worth the wait. My father then calls us for the argee (tender coconut water and milk mix) to the Lord, distributes the teertha (holy water) and then applies the naam made of sandalwood and vermilion paste on our forehead.
The dinner itself is no less of a ritual. I recall vaguely, my parents waking me and my sister up for dinner on Janmashtami evenings because it would get terribly late some time. These days we do things at the city-speed. Purchasing vast varieties of satvik (non-toxic) vegetables starts the previous day. All the vegetables are cooked into a tasty dish we call 'Gajbaje'. It appears to me that an undhiyo is an more oily and more spicy - but certainly not more tasty - variant of this dish.
When possible, we serve dinner on the banana leaf. When I see the kids now, I recall the days when me and my cousins would fight for the big leaf, the big piece of boiled maize in the gajbaje. We would count the different types of vegetable we encountered in our serving. The pleasure to see our sons doing just that cannot be described in words.
Across Mumbai, Janmashtami is celebrated with the Dahi Handi festival where the human pyramid tries to reach the pot of curd (and cash) tied several hundred feet above the ground. Many krishnas land up with broken bones too.
Also the beauty and grandeur of the Janmashtami celebrations at the ISKCON temple is legendary. Most of the religious festivals in India have got hijacked by vested interests now. The fervour and pomp in many public festivals appears hollow and the celebrations cause more noise and pollution rather than invoke a religious sentiment.
That's why I cherish these special moments of our Janmashtami pooja where my dear ones meet, sit together and eat together, at least once every year. Hail our Lord, Shree Krishna.
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare!!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Project Sansad Makeover
Proposal: Project SANSAD MAKEOVER
Project Manager: TBD (Will be decided based on responses analysed from a web based survey of all educated and tax paying Indians)
Version 1.0, 21/06/2009
Author : ANP
Draft: To be Approved (again, from the web survey results)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
April Gone By: Wishing...
God, it's been Hot!
So we'll find out why I missed the April blog. These are all the lovely people I've known whose birthdays fall in April.
1 - Sailesh, Dr Vinay Kulkarni, Neeta Mehta (hi Sejal)
4 - Ramesh G Reddy
5 - SnehaPrabha Kamath (also of Colin Powell, General Secy of State withGWBush)
6 - MDBindu, Bhakti Banawalkar, Prafulla Bhat
7 - Ratnakar Bhat (also Pt. Ravi Shankar)
12 - Suma Nayak
16 - Pramod Bhat
18 - Glynis D'costa
21 - Ashish Prabhu, Sam Shenoy
22 - J.Thacker
27 - S.J.Bhatawdekar
9 - Jaya Guddi Bachhan
10 - Mandy Moore, Omar Sharif, Joseph Pulitzer
12 - Herbie Hancock, Ann Miller
13 - Gary Kasparov, Thomas Jefferson (3rd
14 - Sarah Buffy Michelle Gellar
15 - Leornardo Da Vinci 1452
16 - Pope Benedict XVI, Charlie Chaplin, Wilbur Wright
17 -
18 - Conan O'Brien
19 - Maria Sharapova, Kate Hudson, Ashley Judd, Paloma Picasso
20 - Carmen Electra, Jessica Tootsie Lange, Adolf Hitler
21 - Queen Elizabeth II (
22 - Jack Nicholson, Yehudi Menuhin
23 - Dev Slumdog Patel, Roy Orbison, William Shakespeare
24 - Barbara Streisand, Shirley Moore
25 - Renee Princess Zellweger, Al Pacino, Ella (3 octaves) Fitzgerald
26 - Jet Li [ yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa thud ]
27 - Sheena Easton, Samuel Morse [ da, di di da ]
28 - Jessica Alba, Penelope Cruz, Jay Leno, Saddam Hussein, Harper Lee,Oscar Schindler
29 - Andre Agassi, Uma Thurman, Michelle Pfieffer, Zubin Mehta
30 - Kristen Dunst [eeeeeek, help me spidey], Queen Juliana (
"And each one there
Has one thing shared:
They've sweated beneath the same sun,
Looked up in wonder at the same moon,
And wept when it was all done
For being done too soon..."
- - Neil Diamond
And while we are here, let the sizzling not stop...
She has nothing to do with April.
Well... almost nothing.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
March towards the Sunset
What other opportune time to show off sunsets then?
Nothing close to what one can see in Knysna (West Cape, South Africa) but I consider these good too.
Especially since it applies all the tricks shared by my colleague and friend Michael Kohli.
1. Slower speeds = Better colors.
2. Half-button-press just above the sun and then pan down.
3. Divide landscape into grids and position the objects.
4. 'Wait a few minutes after sunset. That's when the fun begins.' he said.
Indeed !
See two specks here? -->
The big one is a bird and the small one is a plane flying into the sunset.
What one gets out of a 5 MP camera when we pay attention to people.
Each day goes like this... dawn, twilight, sunrise, morning, noon, afternoon, evening, sunset, twilight (again), dusk, night, midnight. TRUE or FALSE?
APRIL SUNSETS: Please bear with my new found obsession. You will agree with me that these colors from the ever-so-simple Nokia N73 are awesome.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Rhythm runs the Universe
Tambourine Lesson 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlBxrpelaUE
Layne Redmond has followed an extremely unusual path specializing in the small hand-held frame drum played primarily by women in the ancient Mediterranean world. She intensively researched the playing styles and history of the frame drum in religious and cultural rituals culminating in her book, "When The Drummers Were Women".
This book details a lost history of a time when women were the primary percussionists in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt, Greece and Rome and also explains why they are not today.
With her infectious rythm, she is easily one of today's most exciting performers.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Trees
The variety of greens on trees amazes me; the rays playing tricks with the leaves, the breeze teasing them to sway. Fresh juvenile greens, strong determined greens and wise matured greens.
I am no gardener, not yet, but trees certainly soothe our eyes... energize our systems.
"Sanjeevani!" the monkey warriors cried.
"Aha!" exclaimed the young Isaac Newton under the apple tree.
And so did the not so young Adam eon eons ago.
Aromatic, Herbals, Tea, Coffee, Perfumes, Paper, Pencils... shade on a scorching summer afternoon. What more can we ask?
Trees hold the lives on this planet together. Trees won't fail you! Ever!!
http://inturbulenttimes.blogspot.com/2007/03/on-killing-tree.html
Enough reading. Now...
Come plant a sapling, water a plant.
Park your vehicle and go to the park.
Go hug an oak or simply admire a leaf.