my musings...

For most of the people who are unfortunately adult now, one of the exciting things we did during vacations was travelling by train. The first thing that made a train journey exciting was - the window seat. Oh the joy that was felt when you found an empty window seat, was indescribable at that age ( because it was overwhelming and also because we didn't know enough words back then). This was equally complemented by sulking when there would be a grumpy adult already occupying the coveted seat. Then you somehow try to make a hybrid crying - complaining face to appeal to that person's conscience. If that didn't work then complain in a low voice to your parents go get the window seat. Mostly the tactic worked and you would be watching the moving landscape for the rest of the journey. The second fond memory of those times was eating in the train, not alone, but sharing it with your co passengers. And as the grass always seems greener on the other side, anything offered by other p...

Outside the window, the birds are busy making merry On the other side of the wall though, silence reigns heavy  Imparting a lull, playing a comforter's role Offering solace to a disturbed soul. Looking through the other window, the one that rings Everyone is sharing about every damn thing Stamping their opinions, trying to prove their truth Not ready to listen, discussions turning uncouth. Tired of this rat race, don't want to participate anymore Open to having my views changed, there are things that I don't know Keeping my beliefs to myself, maybe I am a little green Don't want to convince anyone, opting silence over the din. But is this really why I chose to be silent? Maybe I chose to be silent because At the end what difference does it make? World goes on, people do what they want Elaborate arguments are given to justify actions What value do few kind words have among all this friction?   So, I am silent because my words don't really matter Pretending to be bett...

मनाचं असं एक वेगळंच मन असतं आशेच्या एका किरणाचं पण सूर्याइतकं तेज असतं वास्तविकतेनं मात्र याला खूप वेळा दुखावलं आठवणींच्या बोचऱ्या काट्यांमध्ये याला परत कसं फुलवावं? खूप त्रास झाला, खूप कष्ट पडले प्रयत्न करून मनास मी कसेतरी बांधले... "जे झाले ते चांगल्यासाठीच झाले..." अशी सारखी त्याची समजूत घालत राहिले... आणि मग त्या दिवशी... परत ते भेटणं, पूर्वीसारखं बोलणं... मनाच्या जखमेवर, हळूवार फुंकर घालत राहणं... शेवटी निघताना... मनाला घातलेला बांध  तुटू पाहत होता... निराशेच्या गर्तेत पण आशेचा आधार वाटत होता... बुद्धीच्या तर्काविरुद्ध मनाने शेवटी बंड केलेच शहाणपण बाजूला सारून वेडेपण जवळ केले... भावनांच्या भरतीला तरी मी किती वेळ थोपवून ठेवू? बोलायचं होतं बरंच काही... पण ओठी आले फक्त - "येऊ?" तो एकच शब्द, आशेने किती ओतप्रोत भरलेला तू "थांब!" म्हणशील, हे ऐकण्यासाठी जीव आतुरलेला काही क्षण असेच गेले, स्तब्ध, सुन्न शांततेत... मनाच्या जखमेवर जणू, कुणी ओढले होते वेत... शेवटी मीच परत मनाचे पंख छाटले दटावत त्याला परत जमिनीवर आणले त्याला जे पाहिजे होते ते कधी मिळणार नव्हते असं ...

ज्या गोष्टी आपल्या एकदम जवळ असतात त्या बहुतेक वेळा आपल्याला स्पष्ट दिसत नाहीत. डोळ्यांच्या अगदीच जवळ असल्यामुळे त्यातले बारकावे दृष्टीआड होतात. आपल्याला नेहमीच असं वाटत राहतं की त्या गोष्टीत काहीच दोष नाहीत. माणसांचंही थोडं असंच असतं. वर्षानुवर्ष आपल्याबरोबर असणाऱ्या माणसांचं आपल्याला सगळंच बरोबर वाटतं. त्यांचे अवगुण, त्यांच्या उणिवा या नजरेआड गेलेल्या असतात, किंवा त्या अश्या कधी स्पष्ट दिसतच नाहीत. यातली काही माणसं आपली एकदम 'खास' असतात. ही अशी लोकं असतात ज्यांबद्दल आपल्याला असा दृढ विश्वास असतो की ते 'आपल्याला' चांगलं जाणतात. आपला स्वभाव, आपले विचार, आपले गुण-दुर्गुण, त्यांना सगळं माहिती असतं असं आपल्याला वाटत असतं. आपण त्यांच्यावर डोळे झाकून विश्वास करतो आणि आपण असं समजतो की ती व्यक्ती नेहमी 'आपल्याला' काय वाटतं याचा विचार करेल. कुठल्याही पूर्वग्रहाशिवाय 'आपली' बाजू समजून घेईल आणि जर आपलं कुठं चुकत असेल तर नीट समजावूनही सांगेल. हे असं सगळं आयुष्य चांगलं चाललेलं असतं, त्यांचं पण आणि आपलं पण. पण कधीकधी प्रसंगच असे उद्भवतात की डोळ्यांच्या अगदीच जवळ ...

When I had started writing this, it was part of the previous post . But when I was reviewing that post I felt that this topic should stand on it's own because this is something that I really feel strongly about. So the trigger point for this blog-post was one of my Facebook friend's post about difference between Hinduism and Hindutva. The post was actually tweeted by Shashi Tharoor[1] and she had just shared that post on Facebook. Now this is a very delicate topic and the views differ from night to day depending on your beliefs on the matter, most of which has been shaped by years of reading second-hand, third-hard or nth-hand interpretations of Savarkar's book 'Essentials of Hindutva'[2] or 'Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu?'. I had come across similar posts in the vein of anti-Savarkar from the same friend and had even urged her to read the book herself to form her own opinion. When I had read the book some 6 years back it had offered me clarity on my religion....

We are a generation which has been fortunate to be the most connected in our species' history. The sheer number of platforms available at our fingertips to express ourselves overwhelms me. Maybe that's why I have been content with only Facebook and WhatsApp till now. But I think even that may change now. Nowadays whenever you open Facebook, all you see is people expressing opinions and people getting married. Although I like to do the former and am ready for the latter (just letting the universe know, in case if anyone is interested 😜) it has started becoming a little unhealthy. Now I am not saying that people should stop posting what they think/believe/agree with (or getting married for that matter). With everything going on in our country, there is no dearth of important topics that need to be debated. It's heartening to see people investing themselves in the really important issues pertaining to our country. The generation before us used to read the newspaper and the...

Usually when I write something, I am clear on what the end is going to be, what is the objective that I am writing for. And this is not because I spend hours on thinking how and what to write but rather it is because one of the things that I am really good at, is... procrastination. I would feel like writing on a topic and then I would actually put my thoughts in words months later. But sometimes it happens that the topic is already there, lying dormant in your conscious and then some trigger just brings it to the surface. This is one such topic. So let me start from the beginning. Last weekend I was going to a nearby place, Bhongir, for a outing. I had to spend 2.5 hours at the railway station waiting for the train. And before you assume that the train was late, let me make it clear that I was left waiting because the train that I thought would take me to Bhongir, didn't run on Sunday. But then years of missing the 1'o clock local at Pune has done wonders to my patience and...

बैठा था में उस किनारे औरों से थोड़ा दूर, थोड़ा परे, सामने मेरे थी बिखरती हुई लहरें लग रहा था की समय बस यही पे ठहरे। लहरों की वो लयबद्ध आवाज़ शांति का एहसास दिला रही थी, आनेवाली संध्या का साज देखने आँखें क्षितिज पे मेरी टिकी हुई थी। धीरे धीरे सूरज समंदर की तरफ बढ़ रहा था आकाश के चित्रपटल पे नए रंगों का जन्म हो रहा था, अपनी किरणों की कुँचियों को बेफिक्री से चलाए वो अपनी कलाकारी की अद्भुत छाप छोड़ रहा था। प्रकृति की वो शानदार रचना लेकिन मन को मेरे खाए जा रही थी, उस चित्र की क्षणिक सुंदरता मुझे एक अजीब मायूसियत से भर रही थी। लग रहा था ये सूरज कभी डूबे ही नहीं ये चित्र कभी आँखों के सामने से हटे ही नहीं, लेकिन मेरे चाहने से भला क्या होता है? जाता है वो जिसे जाना ही होता है। आखिर सूरज अलविदा कहके चला ही गया जाते जाते थोड़े और रंगों को बिछाएं, शायद उन आँखों को उसे कहना था शुक्रिया जो आखिर तक उसके साथ रहे, अपनी नमी को छुपाएं। वो सुंदरता मेरे नसीब में हमेशा के लिए शायद थी ही नहीं, मैंने भी आस लगाई थी उस चीज़ की जो कभी मुमकिन थी ही नहीं। फिर भी अंत में जीवन में मेरे ...

It has not been many days since I ran my second 10k run successfully. The last time I participated in the run it was more of a walk than a run. This time it was half run half walk and I completed it in lesser time than I had expected. I was pleasantly surprised by this and I saw the same feeling echoed by most the other runners from HTC. It is one of the things I really like about marathons in general. You are in competition with yourselves, not others. This time I had decided to finish better and actually do some running in the 10k run. Everyone was trying to do better than what they would normally do. The atmosphere around, the positive encouragement and an urge to be better drives us all to put that extra spring in every step. Competition is not new to us. We compete in every sphere of our lives. From getting good grades to getting placed, life has been a series of competitions. From competing with Sharmaji ka ladka to competing with Vermaji ki beti, it has mostly been competition ...

When I was studying engineering, we learnt in one of the subjects that a less probable event conveys more information. 'The sun rises in the east' - hmm... ok... everyone knows this... so what? See what I mean, zero information. But when you read 'Click here to know xyz about Nick Priyanka's wedding', now that's information(according to news outlets) since the probability of a common person knowing that xyz is miniscule. [Disclaimer: The subject only dealt with quantity of information. It didn't have any theory on the quality of information.(Although I wish it did, so that I could use it to purge my news feed)]. Anyways, I am writing about probability of events because often in our lives, rare events or one-off moments are the ones which make the most impact. An unplanned trip to Lonavala will be the one of your best outings(despite a lack of candid pics which you pose for). An unexpected act of kindness remains etched in your conscience changing your o...

Recently I had to visit a hospital in one of the rural cities. It has always been a pleasure to return to a simpler and healthier life of villages. This time around though, there was an undertone of worry because of the hospital visit. My uncle who was a patient there, was hooked up to a slew of medical machines continuously monitoring his vitals. It is difficult to describe in words what I felt when I saw one of the toughest and fiercest person I know hooked up to all those wires, unable to utter a few sentences. In the afternoon it was time for him to take his juice. The bed in the ICU was an automated one which will tilt the upper half so that the patient is in the sitting position. The sister there pressed the button to activate the mechanism but after two three presses we realized that there was no electricity and hence we couldn't get the patient in sitting position. Since my uncle is a well built village man, two of us had to support him to make him sit on the bed. I was ...

एका टेकडीवर एक छोटंसं झाड होतं खुंटलेलं, उगाच वेडंवाकडं वाढलेलं आजूबाजूला सगळंच ओसाड, भकास ना पशु-पक्षी, ना माणसांचा त्रास. नुसताच सरसरणारा वारा, बेछूट, बेधडक भिडणारा पण तो मात्र एका स्थळी स्थिर सोशिकपणे वाऱ्याला तोंड देणारा. जवळच दुसऱ्या एका टेकडीवर होते त्याचे काही भाऊबंद भलीमोठी त्यांची उंची खोडही त्यांचे रुंद. बाजूच्या टेकडीवरच्या जंगलाकडे तो रोजच उदास नजरेने पाही त्याला आठवे तो काळ जेव्हा इकडे ही नांदत होती हिरवाई. वेडावाकडा असला तरी त्याच्या कुटुंबाचा तो लाडका होता जास्त नसले जरी मोजक्या मित्राचा तो यार होता. एके दिवशी मात्र, या आनंदवनावर काळ बरसला कुऱ्हाडीच्या घावागणिक, एक एक जण धारातीर्थी पडला त्यांच्या शेवटच्या घटकेतही ते, 'काळजी घे' सांगत निघून गेले कुणाच्यातरी स्वार्थाग्निवर, त्याचे कुटुंब स्वाहा झाले. आता आपली पण वेळ आली असे समजून त्याने डोळे घट्ट मिटून घेतले कुऱ्हाडीच्या घावाच्या अपेक्षेने त्याने अंग अकसून घेतले पण तो कुऱ्हाडीचा घाव कधी आलाच नाही डोळे उघडले, तेव्हा गमावले होते त्याने सर्वकाही. कावरा-बावरा झालेला तो, समजत नव्हत...

The present age is often termed as the media age. There are numerous tools at our disposal that cater to our need to communicate with each other. Freedom of expression has become our second nature. In fact we rarely think about what we speak. Freedom of movement is exercised by millions everyday. And many of us are not even aware that we have 'Freedom of religion' because rarely anyone has to exercise it consciously. But imagine yourselves living in an age where these freedoms don't exist. Where hunger is prevalent and people are starving. Where people have to pay 'jizya' to go to pilgrimage sites. Where people are not free to celebrate festivals and worship their Gods openly. This was Maharashtra before Shivaji Maharaj. Its said that, 'The darkest hour is just before the dawn'. The arrival of Shivaji Maharaj was the first ray of sunlight tearing through the heart of surrounding darkness. Shiv Jayanti is the celebration of the birth of a Maratha King in s...

Recently one of my friends posted a question on FB as to why do you travel? He got many responses to the question including mine. Many of the responses had the common thread of exploration, perspective, life is short etc. Even when I was writing my response I wanted it to be brief, but ended up writing quite a few lines. Many days have passed since, and I have visited some more new places and gained new experiences. But it is not always about the pleasant experiences and beautiful locations. Sometimes you are stranded at a bus stop and meet some unpleasant people or have the beautiful image of the place that you have in your mind, destroyed by the ground realities. It is at these times I think to myself, why do I do this? I know this sounds corny, but such questions inevitably occur when you are waiting for the train for 10 hours. (I reached 6 hours early and the universe rewarded my overzealous punctuality by delaying the train by 4 hours. I finished a novel in that time, cleared the...

I was never a people person Talking to someone always sounded fearsome I remember the recesses when the kids used to play on the playground And I would be sitting near the window Watching them go round and round. Mind you, I wasn't sad I enjoyed my own company People never noticed me And that is how I preferred it to be. But then, nothing ever lasts long How long could I have stayed alone? As the years went by I made some friends to remember me by. They were all good souls Adding to my life some Rock N Roll They became the reasons for the fun I had Maybe, life with friends isn't all that bad? I slowly came out of my shell Realized new things about me as well All the while the friend circle grew The person that was me, was born anew. I could be myself among my friends Laugh, joke and speak utter nonsense It was all in good spirit, they knew No one started a sentence with "People like you..." But maybe along the way I crossed a line som...

When I first came to know that the catholic church had banned Copernicus' book because in it he suggested that the earth revolves around the sun, I thought 'What!, its so obvious'. Maybe it was because I already 'knew' that the earth is not the centre of our solar system. But now I can understand why the church did what it did. When we hear something getting repeated or experience something everyday, we tend to think that this is how things are. And when we encounter something out of the ordinary it comes as a rude shock. We have been wired to think about ourselves a lot, it's how we have survived as a species. Of course we think about our families, our friends, relatives and the society(this one is unnecessary most of the times). But we think about all of them from 'our' perspective. For people living in cities, this becomes a more acute problem because we have a very strict routine and few (meaningful) human contacts. So we are always concerned with...

The 'babas' and 'imams' and 'priests' who call themselves the incarnations of God or claim to speak His word, I always ignore them. The things they speak ring hollow in my ears. My brain is a pretty standard one and it doesn't like complicated things and elaborate 'truths'. It always tries to find a simpler explanation and that's why I just try to be a better person. That is enough for me rather than devoting myself to someone to feel closer to God. Being a better person is a huge task in itself, which will never be complete in one's lifetime. No matter which God you believe in or whether you believe in the concept of God in the first place, you still will be making a positive change just by keeping your moral compass pointing in the right direction. So whenever news of such pretenders getting booked for some crime appear in my news feed I just scroll on. After all someday they have to face the music. You can't fool everyone all the t...