Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Happiness is: Togetherness

Religion was so beautiful when we were children.

I remember my father, as the head of the Receiving Camp; Transmission Division of Tata Power Company , guided by a Poojaari of course, inaugurating the company-hosted Ganeshotsav Poojas.
And Mummy joining the women of our housing colony in making the Diwali snacks.... chaklis, laddoos, chivda, karanjis... that everyone, specially  we children hogged on without discrimination ...

There used to be another vibrant all-women event called Haldi Kumkum....
For the collective celebration in the colony, Mummy used to go shopping and participating with full vigour in preparing for the event... Incidentally a few of Haldi Kumkum gifts of that time are still there in the things Mummy has left behind ....

At another posting my parents used to host an Eid Party for the residents of our housing colony ...
Again, everyone would come together helping in preparing the snacks and meals for the evening.
There were no sniffing human noses back then...
Hence everyone joined in and enjoyed the cheerfulness in the truest humane spirit, forgetting the religious or even the rank hierarchy.

These were socially uplifting events as they brought people of all religions in happy and enthusiastic togetherness.

Religion remained beautiful and personal till quite some time later in life too as Christmas added more sweetness with cakes and doughnuts, while Navroz ensured a little differently prepared sevai coming from the neighbours.
And New Year was a grand celebration with elaborate dinner in the colony club followed by coffee and cake at midnight :-)

Diwali ensured brightness in the delicate light of the coolest clay diyas and Holi brought unlimited colour and fun and an unforgettable flavour of sipping Kashmiri chaai in a sun-bathed lawn of my friend.

Then, as one grew up and faced the so called "real world", religion became a much needed comforting companion, and a source of strength in difficult times.

So now when religions across the globe have gradually,  yet very visibly degraded to monstrous proportions, one feels like a lost soul in the deep dark and scary wilderness

Everyone seems to broadly agree that there is One God and He has sent from the Heaven to Earth a message of love and peace....
Why then is there so much conflict ?
Why is love and peace so scarcely visible?

Every relationship requires breathing space, and so is the case with various communities.
 If they have to co-exist  and  live peacefully with considerable amount of compassion for one another, there is a need for people to inculcate the habit of accepting and adapting to their surroundings , creating an atmosphere of openness and understanding coupled with some measure of tolerance... And "tolerance " comes about when there is love and mutual respect.

This Diwali, as I wish everyone prosperity, light, love and hope, I also pray for a new beginning that will bring in a mature enlightenment of the minds, hearts and souls in the real sense ...
Happy Diwali folks :-)


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Life Is A Give & Receive Thing

"What you sow, so you reap"
This is something everyone has been told in whatever language they speak and whichever place they live. It is the most unambiguous, explicit and immutable truth of all life at least on this Earth.

My late father's closest friend , who was also a colleague , living in the same residential colony just two bungalows away , has lived his life never forgetting this principle.

He is a bachelor , seemingly forever content , and friendly.
Quite uniquely , his journey thus far has been a collage of relations where one group had till now remained largely unknown to another group of people in his life.

Hence it was quite an enriching experience meeting his various "fans" and admirers in his neighbourhood hospital room yesterday.

The hospital staff too loved him and cared for him like their own
He had been friends with them , gifting them chocolates on festivals much before he needed their services 

Another visitor was one of his brother's friend's brother, who, with a combination of affection and nostalgia told us that he used to visit them often , that is as and when he happened to go to their side of the town.

Uncle's habit of never mixing one set of relations with another, had ensured that we were meeting most of his relatives for the first time in such a long association.
They were fondly "complaining" that he never listens to anyone.

His best friends are children and he keeps his relation with them extremely strong , pleasant and unreserved.

He has till recently preferred to walk short distances , even from home to his office he walks in the morning. 
His life style is as flawless as can humanly be possible...
A true saadhu ... A true saint, who has not shunned the world , but very successfully shunned its temptations ...

He has silently, and surely , with immense patience , created an enviably respectful position for himself among the people he has met over his eighty plus years.

Retirement is not a word in his dictionary.

His simplicity , intelligence and diligence are remarkable. Hence it is heartening to encounter professionals , specially engineers at his workplace , who feel indebted to him for the contribution he has made to their skill and progress.

His office staff had informed us of his hospitalization and when we reached the hospital , we found them doing much of the running around for the medical investigations , arranging for blood and sitting with the family telling them how he has given each one of them a part of his life , how he has been there for them and how much he is admired by not just his present co-workers , but even those who have worked with him decades ago

Although Uncle's health is a matter of concern for all of us , it was a heart warming and spiritually uplifting experience to notice those bonds of selfless love which he has created over the years , now unfolding with so much affection , coming full circle , hugging and loving him back.

People like Uncle are one in tens of thousands , the aura of their purity and blissfulness keeps blessing countless lives as everyone who meets him absorbs at least a bit of his goodness and may pass it on to another quite unknowingly ... 

Thank You Uncle ... You are a treasure we cherish with all our heart and it is our good fortune to have spent our childhood in your lap ... 💝💝💝










Wednesday, September 23, 2015

A Quest For God

I think the purpose of all religious books has forever been just one:
To implant in the minds of the followers / believers, the fear of God.
And hence one finds inscribed in there, a punishment from God Almighty for every wrong-doing.

And so instead of loving The Creator, The Almighty God, the believers (irrespective of the religion they follow) are actually always frightened of the "punishment" that may befall them.
(Ironically, for "rewards" the believers are asked by the preachers of the faith to "fight" for "pious and sacred" causes, which are of course defined by these religious leaders)

In reality however, this fear factor ensures that the followers actually remain glued to worldly customs and rituals without even realizing the essence of the divine message.

Like God comes in many forms, so does His "punishments" and one such "punishment" concerns the political environment of a place and people.
It says that God will impose cruel ruthless rulers over the sinners.
One does not hear much of this "punishment" in any constructive context.
It is either forgotten by the preachers or is being missed out deliberately.
Or still worse, it is being misinterpreted into further frightening an already wretched lot.

Also, since the Holy Texts are open to varied interpretations depending on the understanding of the interpreter, a single verse may be quoted differently in different contexts.
Hence an all-encompassing definition of who a sinner is cannot be given.

But one can assume with some certainty that as soon as the word "sinner" is mentioned one inevitably thinks of people who are not praying as per the set norms of the community they belong to, not visiting Mandir-Masjid-Church-Gurudwara, not feeding the cow, crow etc or not performing the "qurbaani" as in slaughtering animals "to please God" and so on.
In essence these so called "sinners" are those individuals who do not follow the worldly rituals associated with that divine religion.

It is taken for granted that following "religious" rituals makes a person a good human being.
Therefore when one talks of "good human beings", one never thinks of ...

the man who buys good quality soaps and distributes them among poor children so that they may also have a fragrant and clean bath.

Or
that man with limited means of livelihood who gave away his small ancestral property to his lesser privileged relatives because he thought they needed it more than him.

Or
that middle class man who feels the hunger of others and feeds the poor on the streets from his own earnings.

Or
the woman who, in spite of an already over-burdened routine, runs a tiffin service to supplement her husband's income.

Or
those very few parents / teachers who are working diligently to give their children / students a humane mindset in this world inflicted and infected with every possible kind of barbarism.

God never ceases to insist that He comes to us in infinite forms.
Do the followers not believe that "kann-Kann mein Bhagwaan bastey hain"  and "Zarre-Zarre mein Khuda ka noor nazar ataa hai..." ?
So what is stopping us from seeing the beautiful image of God and feeling His sacred presence in His infinite Creations?
The past week ushered in a unique period of religious activity happening across India as we celebrated the birth of Mother Mary, the arrival of Lord Ganesha and also the arrival of the month of Hajj.

In an astonishing paradox however, staunchly orthodox followers across religions have found "loopholes" in their respective religious texts and scriptures to justify, endorse and encourage violence, rape, war and more such damning threats to peace while emphatically defending and affirming their religion as "an ideal way of life" and "a message of peace, aman and shaanti for the entire world".

The more I think, the more I am convinced that NO Religion has ever stated that war and violence is wrong .... Yes! I am amused to note that religions across the world have actually been very diplomatic on this issue.
They have gone a step ahead... and given their followers a cruel luxury called "Rules for War".
Go By The Rule Book And Kill People ...
How "convenient, comforting and rewarding" that indeed is for the believers ... !!!!
And armed with a divine hand book of rules, these so called preachers of peace are tearing apart every little thread of hope.

But thankfully there have been and still are God's lesser known messengers who don't live by violence .. They are silent, yet firm in their endeavor... Their reach may not be as vast, but their goodness is immensely impressive and enduring ....and the lives that they touch become truly blessed ....
And to realize this one needs to read and listen to the likes of Amir Khusro, Mandela, Gandhi....
And Amrita, Lennon and Sahir too ...

Also from the more contemporary, we have among us, Dr.Badri Raina and Mr.Mickey Nivelli...
These are the people who have been and who still are tirelessly interpreting God's Message better and better with each passing day ....

Time to seek some enlightenment perhaps....
Eid Mubarak to all

Friday, September 4, 2015

Happy Teachers Day

Who is a teacher ?
Before one gives a specific definition, I would like to mention that just like a mother can only be good, a Teacher can also be only good.

Anyone who can urge others to overcome their shortcomings and become a better person is a teacher.
This is how I identify a Teacher from among  the spilling multitude of humanity.

And saying so I can't help but remember  Mummy
She was a graduate in English Literature and loved Urdu poetry.
She was a passionate and intense reader of books in both languages.
And she was a natural teacher.
"Natural" I say because anyone who has been in touch with her has learned something good from her because she preached through practice ....

By a fortunate chance she got an opportunity to teach in the school where we siblings used to study.
Instead of teaching English, she chose to be a teacher of Moral Science.
Yeah! Back then, in the good old days there used to be a subject called "Moral Science"...

Trying to keep pace with the ever-changing Time, and being nothing but another rat in the race of life one never realised when, but surely quite a  long time ago Moral Scinece books vanished from school bags ...
Now one hears that in the days to come  schools will replace character certificates with aptitude certificates ...

Sometimes in a glittering world of insatiable materialism, it becomes difficult to find morals ...

However some of the Teachers are now better paid.

Happy Teacher's Day

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Uss ko Kahaan dhoondhey re bandey .... 💐

( A childhood memory and a spiritual awakening has triggered this write up. )

Soon after the Morning Namaaz, my father used to switch on the cassette player and we children would literally wake up to the voices of Sabri Brothers singing one of the most popular Qawwalis ever ...
"Taajdaar e Haram ..."
and
Lata Mangeshkar singing that heavenly Bhajan soaked in spiritual purity ...
" nis din barsein nain hamaarey ... "

Those voices, those words and those thoughts are forever etched in my heart.

Having been brought up with such fulfilling and plentiful diversity has not just enriched me spiritually but also prepared me for the life that I am now leading ...

Many times in life man needs a cushion (or perhaps a punching bag 😊 !) to rest upon in difficult times (or alternatively punch the pain out !!! )

So while no one really knows between Religion and Man, who invented / created whom, logically speaking religion must have germinated from this seed called pain.

And therefore, religion should ideally become like that comforting cushion ( or the punching bag ) for the believer in their stressful time

But it has ironically brought more discomfort and misery on this Planet for reasons that are no more secretive or pious 

So the flight from being a "true religious believer" to becoming "a true human being" is grounded before take off in most cases

The shocking fact that God / Allah / Bhagwaan is being "sold" to unsuspecting believers sometimes in the form of bread and sometimes in the form of guns , has never dawned upon most of us ... !!!

And hence in the midst of life's tough times the believer thinks only of more Pooja , Havan , Waziifa ( specific number of chants for a special purpose ) taaviz , pilgrimage etc 

So when more than a decade and a half ago, I faced an extremely challenging and the most difficult phase in my life , some well wishers  advised me to go for Hajj / Umra to find peace of mind

( Umra is like Hajj , all rituals are same , but it can be performed at any time of the year , whereas Hajj is performed in a specific month and on specific days of that month )

But my parents, sincerely religious and admirably courageous souls that they were, were against any such "escape" route.

They argued as to how could anyone find peace in pilgrimage when one's life was scattered like a city after a devastating storm?
How on earth would going away from problems solve them ?

Indeed back then picking up the broken parts and reconstructing a walkable path ahead was not easy ... But bringing back some normalcy in life was the need of the hour ... and for that I had to put in my most diligent efforts by ensuring my presence where I was needed most.

The pilgrimage was forgotten as I gradually began attending to the more worldly matters requiring my attention at that moment.

Some months later I met a cousin, who had been for Hajj that year ...

What she told me is something I still find unbelievable and intensely goose bumpy !!!

My eyes become moist and my heart flutters with joy and amazement ...

I feel wrapped in the embrace of a deeply protective divine power

It was tremendous joy, incomprehensible wonder, immense gratitude, complete amazement and so much more when my cousin described vividly in detail the miracle that she had seen ...

She had seen something that to rationale, logic and perception seems completely impossible ... !!!

She said that during the tawaaf (parikrama) of The Holy Ka'baa, she had seen me, some distance away from her !!!

At that place which is the Holiest Land for any Muslim .... at some distance from her  .... but right there in front of her ... She had seen me !!!



💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝



Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Independence Day Greetings to all

Independence Day , 15th August  is just a couple of days away
And if I may be allowed an honest expression of what my heart tells me , I dare say , on social networking sites all kind of celebrations and debates begin like a  cloud burst , and rather early too , in a flood like out-pour where everyone is  trying to score quick loyalty points  .... I may be accused of doing the same :-)
Loyalty shows through deeds more than words ... Hence let my words be .... Carry on with your deeds dear friends :-D

Would like to share some interesting things I noticed in the past few days .... we Indians have been offered ways to reiterate and display our Indian-ness for this one special day  ....
Hence there are among other things:
1) A collection of  ring tones playing classic patriotic numbers to choose from,  that will greet everyone we call from our phone on 15th Aug and amply convey how patriotic we are

2) There are also dupattas and stoles in tri-colour, saaris with tri colour borders and pallus and other accessories to wear for Independence Day outings

3) If you choose to send messages instead of calling , there are a handsome number of "Ready-to-use"  quotes and tri-colour images celebrating this sacred National Day  available on the net to wish friends and family

Every celebration is now becoming class-oriented , limiting the reach of joy to a particular class of society ....
It is a  class that can afford mobile phones  and has access to the internet , essentially the moneyed and educated class whose morals are strikingly ironical ...
They may themselves break traffic rules but preach righteousness to others

But there is another class of human beings too who start celebrating  this day well in advance
They are those under-nourished and  malnourished children , who should have ideally been in school , and at least been provided one balanced meal a day , selling  replicas of The Indian National Flag on traffic signals


Ever since I started using messaging and Facebook , I have almost stopped using the phone for its basic purpose i.e calling people for a conversation , hence  the ring tones provided will not put across  my patriotic feeling to any audience
And in my opinion the other options available do convey greetings and best wishes , but  they are not my own words
Therefore I am writing down my feelings ...in my own words

I feel that it will be a much more profound greeting even if the words are few , but are our own and the  feelings come from our heart
The only compliment I like to give myself often  is that I would like to think of myself as  a very grounded person
Usually I buy clothes , food and other requirements from local neighbourhood sellers
Also I prefer Indian  fruits and vegetables , Indian cosmetics , Indian toiletries , Indian tourist destinations etc because I think this is the way we can help our lesser privileged countrymen and  in effect  serve our country a wee bit better

While I wish every Indian across the globe A Very Happy and Proud Independence  Day , I wonder if instead of asking foreign brands to come and  flood our markets , would it not be better for our governments to promote the local artisans and farmers  to improve their products and take that to the foreign market ... ?
Would that not be a more dignified way of  presenting ourselves to the world ?

Let this Independence Day be an opportunity for all of us to reflect a little and to look back a little 
Instead of just a "one day celebration"  let this be a process where we celebrate India every day not with token  ring tones and dupattas and stoles but with a sincere promise ...
Let us promise ourselves to put in our efforts to make India the nation  where our diversity is the strength of the masses ,  not a plaything in the hands of vested interests to exploit and loot us and our Motherland

Happy and Beautiful Independence Day Thoughts and Wishes to All
God Bless

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

May Better Sense Prevail

What do you do when you are facing some of the worst moments in your life ?

Do you go and kill people who have not done any harm to you because someone has harmed you ?
Or do you try to get over the shock so that your thought process is not influenced by outside vested interests ?

Do you start hating everyone, specially belonging to that community, sect , religion etc ?
Or do you allow space for the fact that every creation of God is born with both good and bad inside him/her/it

Still worse
Do you go and burn yourself up ?
Or do you sit and try to calm yourself ?

The options are not easy to choose when one is devastated beyond words

The person who has been hurt and wronged is not in a position to take a mature and prudent decision obviously because in a state of shock , anguish (and at times personal loss) the power to think rationally gets majorly compromised
Such a person needs friends to stand by him , to spend time with him and most importantly to calm and soothe his mind and heart
This is the time when Friends are tested for their sincerity
It is not always about monetary help that one expects from well wishers
Many times the more important requirement is guidance , showing a ray of hope in times of total darkness , healing the wounds and trying to erase the scars

This is true for all times
Human suffering may be due to a natural calamity or a man made / created / planned disaster ... or even a broken relationship or having not done well in an examination
It is always the response of the victim that determines his/her future

ALWAYS REMEMBER:
VIOLENCE ( and VIOLENT RETALIATION ) NEVER HELPS  ANYONE .... And in fact it HURTS THE VICTIMS MORE
There can be no valid justification for violence... mental, physical , verbal ... all kind of violence is criminal

If one is blessed with the power to ever give an advice to someone , they must take time to think rationally ( do the difficult job of setting the bias aside for a while ) , and  always talk about ushering in peace
This instantly brings positivity and surrounds the aggrieved person with an aura of hope which sets the ground for a better future ...
May better sense prevail

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Eid Mubarak

Ever since I have joined Facebook and its other networking variants I am amused to observe  how much goodness  there is in the virtual world ....

No one seems to be endorsing violence or corruption and everyone seems to be on the side of peace and togetherness.
It is heart warming to see Eid , Holi , Diwaali , X'Mas , Gur Parab , Pongal , Navroz and an infinite number of other festivals being universally celebrated in the cyber space
Also  birthdays , wedding anniversaries , birth of a grand child , wedding/engagement/other festivities in the family etc are all celebrated with joyous and heartfelt greetings :-)
And as if this is not enough  there are birthday and anniversary celebrations almost every day on one or the other group and we see a long chain of cheerful wishes flowing through from across the globe  :-)

Yet in a surprisingly ironical real world people are not as accommodating , respectful and  polite  ...
There is wide spread  (almost unchecked) corruption which in turn results in barbaric terrorist activities  happening under one or the other pretext ... There is a glaring lack of tolerance and an alarming rise in intermittent acts of violence...
There is mud-slinging and name-calling  , there is heart break and depression , there are calls to "avenge injustice"  and oath-taking to "teach the other a lesson "
There is so much rigidity as though human hearts have turned  into stone ...

Everyone is entwined and entangled  in this demoralizing scenario and usually people choose their side of the fence as per their background and philosophy considering their circumstance at that given present time

Incidentally, this year  in the Holy month of Ramzaan , from having sermons on the benefits of Yoga and Namaaz ,  and  the warnings about how a "wrong " pronunciation of Arabic words could lead to blasphemy by Urdu speaking believers of Islam ,  to the mindless killing of one sect of believers by another sect  in a mosque  have left the ordinary followers of the faith speechless and confused.

A religion that is said to be preaching universal peace and brotherhood is being put to disgrace by a few of it's  "followers" misleading  an entire world of people who are at a loss to perceive the "compatibility" between peace and violence


Meanwhile Ramzaan is moving at a fast pace .... The intezaar for Eid has already begun ... I wonder kis ne kitney Qur'an padhey aur kitney sajde karey ...... ?
Who did it right and who did it wrong ?
Whose ibadat will be accepted by God Almighty ?

But the biggest of all questions is a thought that nags the mind :
Is this the kind of "ibadat" that one should be satisfied with ?
What is the purpose of such rituals ?
Should the customs that have religious sanctions not be evaluated and updated from time to time ?
Ramzaan , or for that matter any time of the year is not just for the followers to spend nights and days reading Qur'an , offering namaaz and reading some duas ( that have been "standardized "  and circulated over various internet groups )
As we talk of spirituality and find ourselves among a mind boggling maze of rituals the question of "har yug mein badaltey dharmoN ko kaisey aadarsh banaaogey .... " is of great importance

If we can just learn to stop being judgmental and also stop counting the good deeds of a person in relation to his/her roza and Namaaz , if we can respect the creations of God Almighty for what they are , and learn to ALSO  PRACTICE  what we so fervently preach on the social networking sites , we would go a long way in living up to the spirit of Ramzaan .... and perhaps be able to imbibe the truthfulness and depth of God's message better

So while we prepare to bid this year's Ramzaan an affectionate  Khuda Hafiz , and get ready to eat our sheer-khurmaas and qeewami sevaiN, let us spare a thought for the larger message of God , which is universal in whatever name/form it comes to us , shunning discrimination of all kinds :-)

Happy And Mubarak Eid to all
God Bless


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Ramzaan Mubarak

Ramzaan is not just a spiritually gratifying time for the Muslims of the World.
It is also astonishingly a terrifying time for many housewives , now known as home makers.

There is a couple residing a short distance away from my house .
The husband has retired and is a hypertension patient
The wife too is no longer young. She has health issues all of which I don't know , but I could see heavy swelling on her feet as she scurried in and out of the Casualty Ward where her husband had been brought after he had fainted in the bank where he had gone for some work

After he was shifted to the ICU , and things had settled a bit , she told me that he had been fasting for the day. (It was an optional roza, which he could easily have avoided considering his condition)
She also kept insisting that she was preparing meals for the evening , thereby implying she was under pressure to have the table laid out elaborately with "iftaari"
This tension was certainly not doing her any good

There is another instance that I'm reminded of ...
This was a young couple.
Husband a fitness freak wanted to fast in Ramzaan to control his excessive eating (and I wonder if there was  any religious attachment to the act too ... but that is apart )
However at the iftaar table he would expect an extravagantly sumptuous feast  evening after evening ....
The wife naturally was under a huge stress to have peace at iftaar time

Is this what Ramzaan should entail ?
Is this the spirit of Ramzaan ?

Namaaz padho ,  Roza rakho , Qur'an padho .... All very good :-)
Ibadat is for self purification and Ramzaan is specially a time for introspection , when one controls hunger and thirst  as an offering of one's love to God Almighty and also as a means to enhance the compassion in one's heart for those who have to go without food (and at so many places even water is in limited supply ....or is even sold for cash/kind to the poor)
Ramzaan is also a time to think of such underprivileged people who go hungry not because they are fasting but because they don't have enough food

Also to perform any kind of  Ibadat / Prayer / Pooja one must be healthy and medically fit ...It should be an act of goodwill which must essentially result in peace and betterment of self and others....and not a burdensome complusion
Remember God does not have a favourite worship style and there could be infinite number of ways through  which one can pray and express one's gratitude and love for the Almighty 

As we welcome yet another month of Ramzaan , let us be thankful for the blessings we have and spend time in releasing the toxins from our thought process , relaxing our hearts and renewing ourselves into better human beings :-)

Ramzaan Mubarak to all

The "Guide"

Film "Guide" completed fifty years of its release in 2015.
An unrivalled, ahead-of-its-time film, "Guide", as we all know was based on a novel of the same name by reputed writer R K Narayan, directed by the legendary Vijay Anand and produced by Dev Anand.
Vijay Anand has also contributed to the screenplay of "Guide".
There was also a 120-minute US version written by Pearl S Buck which was produced and directed by Tad Danielewski.
"Guide" was screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, all of forty two years after its release.

From the conviction and faith the producer-director team had in the story to Waheeda Rahman accepting to play the female lead, "Guide" has been a very unique and special experience.
Special not only for the makers, but for the fans and viewers as well.

It is not just another film.
It is an experience that leaves the audience enriched, pensive and entertained.
The songs of "Guide" have been among the best in Bollywood history, remain unsurpassed in flavour and popularity even after half a century.
The music (by none other than Sachin Dev Durman), the lyrics (by legendary poet philosopher Shailendra), ... and their presentation ... superlatively class apart ... !!!
And totally wowsome are Waheeda Rahman's dances, not to forget her amazingly accomplished portrayal of Rosie!!!

An interesting memory associated with one of the songs of "Guide" was narrated by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.
He said in one of his television interviews that Pancham Da being a good friend of his coerced him into playing the tabla for the song "Mo se chhal kiye jaaye ... " although Pandit Ji had left playing tabla and was concentrating on Santoor.

I have heard Waheeda ji saying Dev Saheb was so comfortable and secure in his performance that not once did he try to even remotely overshadow her in the film.

I saw "Guide" after more than a decade of it's release.
In those days the sprawling lawns of our Colony Club used to fill up with the residents every Saturday night.
The weekly film show used to be a much awaited event for most of the people.
And of course "Guide" was House(Lawn)Full !!!

A family friend who was staying about thirty kilometers away, had seen the film nine times already came over all the way specially to see it yet another time.
I am convinced that in doing so he was not exaggerating his reverence for "Guide".
He was doing exactly what I have been doing ever since.

I see a new Dev Anand every time I watch him in "Guide" 
I learn something new ... something good ... and I cry every time Dev Saheb sings "Din Dhal jaaye ... " , Kya se Kya ho gayaa ...." , and watching that dialogue with the antaraatmaaa ... 

"Guide" is an overwhelming and unparalled phenomenon.
From the beginning "Guide" was special.
Everything about it was so different from the films we were used to seeing in those days ....
It was a deeply engrossing saga of complicated human relationships woven with incredible sensitivity and ease.
Who can forget the philosophy of "Wahaan kaun hai tera .... "
The grandeur of "Piya to se naina laagey re ... "
The pathos of "Din dhal jaaye ... "

An ardent fan of "Guide" has mentioned this following small bit of interesting information on Facebook, and I am copy-pasting it here :

The conversation between a lesser known actor Dilip Dutt (a regular in B R Ishara films) and Dev Saheb is memorable and remains heart touchingly profound even to this day :
Dilip Dutt : "'kya baat hein Sir aaj akele hee pii rahein hein "
Dev Anand : "'Batein karne ko itna taras raha thaa Mani kee socha thodi pii kar apne aap se kuchh kahooNga "

Aur ...Mani ki chaal ... that small shot from behind ... when he leaves ... 
ek taraf ye aur doosri taraf puri picture "Guide". Am exagerating,? 
But not as much as I appear to ... " !!!

And another fan readily agrees , adding:
"Yes ... also captivating is the moment when he keeps the unfinished Glass on the table and looks upwards where he can see Waheeda ji ...
Thanks to Vijay Anand, Dilip Datt would be remembered in History "


And Dev Anand, the gentleman that he was, saw to it that even the smallest actor would not be ignored.
Such is the undying, unfading magic of  "Guide" that everything about it touches the soul.
Everyone knows they are watching a film.
But what a deeply moving, spiritually enriching and genuinely soul-stirring experience it is to watch Dev Saheb absorbing in himself the ultimate enlightenment!!!
The unadulterated bliss of it all was so real and so comforting, its aura engulfing and hypnotizing the audience completely ....

That was the kind of honesty with which The Great Anand Brothers created this legend on screen ... A stunning tale of Real Eternal Beauty !!!

When the film ended I knew once was not enough ...
Must have seen it countless times after that, but every time there is something enriching and refreshing to discover ... to learn ... to relive ...
The "Guide" never ceases to guide.

They say you live only once. But if you can do it right, once is enough.
With one matchless masterpiece, Dev Anand has ensured that he would be remembered for many many more decades not only as a heart warming romantic hero, but as an intense and compellingly magnificent actor film maker too !!!
He is ageless and timeless.
With "Guide", he attained immortality.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Dear Maggie

Every love affair begins at some point in time , knowingly or unknowingly ... Often the most " durable , sturdy and long-lasting " are  those that grow and mature with time .... not meaning to offend the love-at-first-sight fans a la Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra brands ;-)  :-)

I don't remember precisely when Maggie was launched in India , but what I precisely remember is the morning she entered my life :-)
She looked inviting , tempting and so beautiful as she  outshone everything else on the  breakfast table that day at my sister-in-law's place in Allahabad  .... In fact I don't even remember what else was there !!!

I had been just about married . That first  winter in Allahabad was a beautiful and luxuriant experience when I was introduced to a life completely different from what I had been living till then.
Civil Lines in Allahabad in contrast to the much calmer Bombay of those days  used to still be lovelier and beautiful  any time of the year  ... I can never forget the gorgeous , stately spacious bungalows , sprawling lawns and abundant flower beds (specially in winters) .... and the plentiful gulmohars and amaltash blossoms of the summers.

An aura so romantic sows seeds of long lasting , affectionate and strong  associations as happened with Maggie and my family :-)
She gradually crept into our lives and made for herself a permanent place
The children turned out to be even greater admirers , insisting to take her to school with them , much to dismay and disagreement of my health-conscious-traditionally-indoctrinated mother-in-law :-)
But we had to give in to the pleasures of the younger generation once in a while , hence the children were allowed to take her to school on special occassions  ;-) :-P

It is not just the children , even we the elders and  so many lakhs like us have found her to be that Mom-like-well wisher who would never let us sleep hungry ....
We will always love her ... And why NOT ?

I have one last ( out of an economy pack of four ) Maggie atta noodles portion left in my kitchen ....
But after the latest developments I ve been postponing eating it ....
Jaaney phir kab miley type of emotions ....  :-)

Times change ....and how... ???
In my childhood Maggie used to be a woman ( and also featured in a  very endearing cartoon strip of those days ) , then she became a delicious noodle brand  , and now very sorry to hear that she has become something like  an abuse...

But  even when there is such a strong current flowing against Dear Maggie , those holier than thou clan of "Haaaaaaawwwwwwwww-you ve-eaten-Maggie-all-these-years" somehow come across as among the most ungrateful people around ....


Friday, April 3, 2015

Miyan , My Nana

It comes to you in scattered memories.
Like bits and fragments of a corroding mosaic pattern.
I am talking of an entire era gone by.

Interestingly those childhood memories sometimes peep through the clouds of time in a casual conversation with one's own children
But most vibrantly they pour in when you are in the company of your school friends, cousins and siblings. Each one has shared a patch of their life with you. And together for each one the experience of going over that shared past brings a sense of enriched fulfillment

Radiant with golden rays of the setting sun at a point far away in the horizon, and promising to rise with renewed sparkle and vigour ushering in a new dawn ...
The past and the future thus meet in the present moment !

The vastly spread out palatial kothi with its arched gates and long baradariis, high ceilings, huge rooms ... intricate mosaic floors and walls ... still stands.
Many years ago the towering wooden gate would open in the morning and an uninterrupted flow of men and women would start soon after breakfast time.

Miyan ( My Nanaa ) would sit on a comfortable chair with long arm rests from morning till afternoon listening to people who would come to meet him on issues ranging from legal and political to personal and family.
Everyone who would be there at lunch time was inevitably his guest and would join him in the dining room at the oval dining table ...

We as children were always in awe of him and hence whatever I know about him is through Mummy telling us about the kind of person he was and the values he held close to his heart ...

I don't remember having any conversation with him .... We used to use the private side entrance so as to not disturb Miyan in his meeting, to go upstairs to where Ammi Jaan (My Naani ) would be busy  preparing paan-giloris for the people sitting with Miyan downstairs, or cleaning some part of the house with her marked thoroughness, or some such other activity ...
Miyan was more  a man of the people and for the people, greatly loved and respected through the town ...

Miyan would retire to his room after lunch for a siesta.
Early in the evening he would go to the family mango orchard adjacent to the Kothi, which also had a small graveyard, the resting place of family elders who were no more ...
Miyan would sit there reciting The Holy Qur'aN for some time

He was very fond of gardening.
He loved planting all sorts of trees and looked after them like an affectionate father taking care for his children.
Some of the trees planted in his time still stand like silent onlookers as Time passes through their branches and leaves.

Miyan was deeply religious, but not a fanatic or extremist ...
During Holi and Diwaali when people from the neighbourhood visited him he took their greetings  with great respect and affection

Also Mummy told us a small story to illustrate how sane and logical he was
One evening, when the town and its outskirts were experiencing a a communally charged atmosphere, Miyan had just finished the asar-ki-namaaz, his personal attendant came in to inform that there is a group of people outside who wish to meet him urgently.

They were the residents of a nearby village.
They spilled out their fear nervously.
They had heard that a mob was planning to desecrate a Masjid in their village in the darkness of the  night
Naturally they wanted Miyan to do something to stop it.
At least talk to the authorities and get police force out in the village for protection of the Muslim place of worship
Miyan's response must certainly have stunned them for he said :
"Look I believe that Masjid is a house of God / Allah / Khuda ... and  He is responsible for the protection of His House ... We need not interfere, He will do His best"
Perhaps he knew that if at all there was any truth in the rumour the presence of police without nay untowrd happening could serve the mischief mongers' purpose.

Miyan was opposed to Indian Muslims leaving India during the most scarring and nerve-shattering national tragedy called The Partition of India.
He would counsel the victims of violence, often providing financial assistance too to those who had lost their belongings, urging them to not leave their place of birth.
I am reminded of him very intensely every time I see Balraj Sahni in "Garam Hawa"

He was a great champion of education and women's emancipation
In matters of marriage also girls in the family had the liberty to choose and voice their dissent if they did not agree on certain things
Also noteworthy is another fact that even in those traditionally orthodox times purdah was never forced upon the women in the family.

These are just a few glimpses from a life lived simply and for the larger benefits of the common man rather than selfish materialistic gratification.
Miyan did not preach with words
His actions and life style were his teaching to those who came in contact with him.
He was Simple, philanthropic, secular, broad minded, logical, patriotic, respectful, with a warm sense of humour.
I am overwhelmed, but not surprised, to know how immensely he is respected even today not just by those have seen him, but also by those who have only heard of him through their parents and grand parents

These are the kind of Stories from the past that we must pass on to our children .
We really don't need to remember which king killed whom and in which battle or which of the battles were holy.
Anything that results in killing and bloodshed cannot be justified how much ever religious scholars try.
In fact violence finding religious sanction is certainly and most horrifically man-made.
It serves political agendas and desecrates religion.

Stories of pseudo valiance carried forward from generation to generation have done humanity no good.
One such, and perhaps the most recent in our History is that of the Partition of India.
It has since been used to generate and ignite self defeating emotions of Hurt and guilt, victim-hood and self pity and doubt and suspicion

There is now an urgent need to dig out positive stories from the past and share them widely
Tales of love and compassion may help people to think better, feel better ....and do better ....

People like MiyaN were blessed.
Even their memories help to light up dark moment with hope for a better future, making the connection with one's past a pleasant experience.
The chain from past to present to future must be one that adorns us with positive energy instead of being a chain that strangulates liberty.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Happy Anniv Abbi Mummy

Nostalgiaaaaa ....
Was looking in to the things Mummy has left behind ....
Her purses , clothes , books ...
And in one of her purses I found something that has touched me to tears ...
An ordinary piece of paper on which I had written these lines for her ... Lines that I had read somewhere on Facebook

She loved poetry and most often when I found something nice I used to share with her ...

She had loved this piece ...

So I wrote it on a piece of paper and gave it to her ....
" Aankhon se ojhal huay dil se bhi door ho gaye
Kitney pakkey thay wo rishtey jo yuun choor ho gaye

Maili-maili si wo yaadein meri aankhon ne unhein dho dalaa
Khil uthi khwahishon ki dhanak , sajda e dil manzoor ho gaye

Ab nayi mehfilein hain naye log naye rishtey hain
Zindgi mein roshni hain nayi, raastey puurnoor ho gaye

Maazi ki umass mein jiye jaatey thay khud apne hi dushman bann kar
Khol kar dil ke kiwaadon ko jo dekhaa hai to masroor ho gaye

Door thay khud se , to bhooley huay thay andaaz e safar e ziist
Dil ki dhadkan ne jagaayaa to khwaabon ke shaher zinda e tabeer ho gaye "

I love reading and I love poetry .... Heirlooms from Mummy's treasure chest ... !!!
Earlier family and friends would tell me that I'm a true replica of my father ...
And now some of my friends say I have started resembling my mother too ... !!!
What a humbling feeling it is to realize that your parents are living in this world through you

Kuchh cheezein to dikhaai bhi nahi deti haiN .... lekin khoob sunaai deti haiN ... I can still hear Mummy's khanakti hui subah subah ki Good Morning as I often feel her standing behind me or at the door to my room , when I used to be sitting at my table and she would come to say " I am going to sleep now " ... 
And the way she used to say " Hello .... I'm FINE " on the phone ... !!!

And my father's hearty laugh vibrating like a positive synergy in all corners of the house filling every corner with renewed vigour ...
His ever smiling face ... So serenely affectionate

My parents' exemplary selflessness , truthfulness , honesty, simplicity and innocence till the last  breath in this world ... Such rare and priceless treasure
Kuchh nahi khoya hai ...
Sab yaad hai ...

Our parents are never really away from our hearts ... But till the time they are around and with us we never really stop being a child ... Lekin ... when they leave , one suddenly grows up ... It is a life changing experience ...

28th Feb was my parents wedding anniversary ... This year they are celebrating it in The Heaven above ...



Wednesday, February 18, 2015

My First Love

It took me an aeon to actually realise that falling in love  comes naturally , easily .... and quite unknowingly too... :-) :-)
All these years  I cursed the Hindi Films for creating what I thought was an unnecessary hype about " First Love " because how much ever I thought of it , I could not remember the boy/man who was my so called First Love :-)

Yeah ! Yeah ! Memory takes a dip for the worse when one is getting old .... Lekin phir bhi .... If First Love was anything so exceedingly important , then  no matter how many dips the memory takes , or even if it freezes , that precious image had to remain forever intact and eternally exciting.
Not only this , there had to be and "in-built instant recall system" in the brain (or may be the heart in such cases ;-) ) to fetch it back at one's will and desire.
Strangely there seemed none in my case ....
Okay so this proves I was different .... Perhaps I just wasted my delightfully naughty teenage only to get tied up with the responsibilities of  a  married life some years  later :-)
Honestly this sounded a little boring and I sympathised fully with myself on having lost such priceless moments doing nothing !!!

But one fine evening as I sat with my cup of tea listening to an old song of Rafi-Dev Anand combo the memories of my First Love flashed like a rejuvenating sparkle , lighting up the evening with a glow that was both enriching and splendorous  ....
Never for a day was it away from my heart ...
Yeah ! Never away because it was not a memory .
It was a part of my own self ...and  as I grew up and matured , so did the magic of my first love ...its aura engulfed me so affectionately that I feel incomplete without those moments of euphoric joyousness and quiet contentment ....
Those were moments so gloriously colourful .... So divinely soothing .... So eternally stunning !!!

What was my age then ?
A tender thirteen or fourteen I think .
Father was posted at a place which was filled to the brim  with abundant  natural beauty ... And children were not over protected out there  for the simple reason that the place was perfectly safe .
The bungalow we lived in was almost on the edge of a valley ... And about a quarter kilometer away was this place that I would often go to all by myself.

Oh! How immensely I missed  that priceless phase in life  and longed to experience it all over once again right there ....at that very moment with the cup of tea in my hands and the song playing in the background ... :-)

The place where I used to sit evening after evening was a rock on the edge of the mountain . Far Far down below , in the valley there was a small village.
The huts in the village spread out vast and wide covering a large part of the valley . Evening was the time when , as the sun prepared to give us a cool and cozy break,  smoke could often be seen coming from the huts . A sign of  contentment that the families were preparing  a meal and would go to bed with their stomachs full ...
And across the valley rose the mountain range once again .... Behind which the sun had its retiring chamber :-)
I would forget the world around me and stare completely mesmerised by the magic unfolding right before my eyes as the sky changed colours from golden , to bright orange , from bright orange to dark ....and from dark oragne to a poetic mix of orange and grey ....
Why must all this happen so quickly ?
Why could Time not stand still in those divine moments when God  turned painter ?
Why must all that wealth of gold be lost in the darkness within such a short time ....

Oh! How passionately and wholeheartedly  I desire to hold those moments in my arms and sit with them forever !!!
That one picture of  "The Setting Sun" which I used to see almost every evening keeps coming back to me every day even now ...
That glorious sight was created by the Almighty right before me ....and solely for my eyes !!!
What a Heavenly  treat it was .... !!!
Even now I can feel its magic within me ....it gives me goose bumps whenever I think of it ....it makes me smile ...and it makes me happy
That sheer magnificence sure was ,   still is and will always remain my First Love ...
 

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Words undress you

Ever thought about the power of  spoken / written words ?

What you speak and  how you speak gives away your most secret inner self .
Just like friends do.
Remember "A man is known by the company he keeps "

Body language has become an important tool in making personality assessment these days. The language of silence may also be included as an extension one's body language .
But still one cannot deny or even ignore the message conveyed through spoken words.
Body language and  the language of silence is pretty much guess work . Keen and intelligent observers do study gestures and  facial expressions with great attention, and then give their interpretations
But  after a thorough critical analysis what they conclude is  at the end of the day their personal perception .

I read  a lot of Urdu and Hindi poetry  and remember reading this very profound couplet a little while ago :
"(Lafz) kehney waalon ka kuchh nahi jataa
(Lafz ) seh-ney waaley kamaal kartey hain "

Another one that is again unforgettable is:
"Wo ek baat bahot talkh kahi thi uss ne
Baat to yaad nahi yaad hai lehja uss ka"

It is said that one must never speak when angry or tense , the logic being a mind preoccupied with anger and tension is usually not in the right state of taking decisions and judging situations sensibly., which is obvious .
This advice is for the speaker of course.
But the listener is advised to pay attention to people when they speak in anger because it is said that like a drunkard who does not know what he is doing , an angry person usually  pours out his/her heart's inner most emotions in that state of mind , and hence he talks without any mask or pretense , therefore one can conclude that in a fit of anger one usually lashes out all the emotions that they may have kept subdued for better reasons.

Written words become even more authentic expressions of one's mind and heart . It is said that words once spoken cannot be taken back , but they may be forgotten or at times misunderstood too , however the written word is an undisputed  proof of one's thought process.

These days we are seeing large scale degradation in the values and morals including the language that is being used all around , and knowingly or unknowing being encouraged by various kinds of media. 
Obscenity and rudeness seems to be gaining acceptance even in educated and seemingly cultured homes . Civility , respect and decency are becoming extinct in the present social set up .

It is therefore worthwhile to recall that sensuousness of the body and language is not enhanced by nudity or crassness . In fact whoever advised to "never under estimate the seductive power of a decent vocabulary" could not have said it more wisely and correctly.

In the conclusive analysis of behaviour  itt all come down to how someone made you feel through their word , action and attitude and since one's language plays an important part in what  people feel about you  , it is always better to choose your words CAREFULLY ,  RESPECTFULLY and with a HUMANE heart .

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Hurt sentiment or wounded ego ?

Let us get this clear ....there are no hurt sentiments when a cartoon , a book , a film , a painting , a song  or such other thing gets branded as "offensive"  ....
Think about it .
Most people like me , I mean the masses who have better things on hand than divisive politics to keep them busy , would never even hear of what a few European cartoonists have drawn or what M F Hussain had painted or what Rohington Mistry had written in his book or what Deepa Mehta had shown in her films.
It is actually about egotism and selfishness ...and more dangerously about vested interests mercilessly slicing the  very idea of humaneness
They certainly revel and prosper under  religious , regional , linguistic , cast , color and many many other such sectarian divisions 

It also serves to divert the masses from asking far more relevant  questions ... How boring it would be for the media and the celebrity spokespersons of various parties to talk about water shortage , unemployment , police reforms ,  road  and electricity conditions , sanitation ,  health , poverty ....
Take the viewers of a television show or the reader of a newspaper or even the ordinary net surfer . Would they like to hear such unglamorous questions to which our powerful leaders otherwise also have no answers ?
And what is new about these issues ?
Don't we all know there is inflation , there is poverty , there is unemployment , the gutters often overflow with dirt , the roads have huge potholes and ill managed traffic .... So ? So WHAT my dear ?
We have learned to live with it .... Haven't we ?

But "hurting" so called  religious , lingual , regional , cast "sentiment" also keeps happening .... Then why does it ignite intense violent passion ?
Why does it instigate people to kill (and get killed ) ?
Why can't we learn to live with this "threat" to our existence too ???
Why ... Why ... Why ???