A person died while doing stunts on a giant wheel ride. He opened the seat lock, stood up and started doing stunts. Other people on the ride and people watching him from down below requested him to sit down and affix the seat lock, but he felt thrilled. He fell down as his seat on the giant wheel reached the highest point, broke his skull and died enroute hospital. We see similar deaths daily relating to the youngsters performing dangerous stunts on the fast moving Mumbai local trains. Mumbai, home to the Bollywood also witnesses death and serious injuries to the stuntmen performing dangerous stunts as duplicates for our favourite stars.

What’s the feeling in humans that provokes them to do dangerous stunts, fully knowing that some of these could prove fatal? While it’s understandable for film stuntmen, for whom it’s a source of livelihood, commoners doing it just for a kick is slightly incomprehensible. I distinctly remember the stunts such as fireman (a man diving into a water well several feet below from a podium after sprinkling kerosene and lighting fire on his body) as well as death of well ( a wooden inverted dome with spectators from the top watching a stuntman driving motorcycle on the inner wall of the dome) that we witnessed in our childhood during Diwali/Dussehra/New Year fairs. Of course, these were professionals doing these risky acts for their livelihood. But it was scary to say the least.

International adventure tourism is a new fad, with thrill seekers going to distant destinations for sports like bungee jumping, sky diving, scuba diving etc. Disneyland became an iconic destination for it satisfied this animalistic urge of humans to seek thrills. Now we have these adventure parks almost everywhere in the world.

When the mankind is able to satisfy all its day to day needs of hunger, shelter, sex, ambition and filial love, it goes out seeking thrills that give a different kick. Whether this is representative of bravery or mere overcoming of fears it’s not very clear but what’s apparent is that once the life becomes comfortable, people seek out living on the edge. Those who struggle to meet two ends meet, they aspire for a life of comfort. To sum up, people leading comfortable lives seek thrills through risky adventures while those in penury and for whom meeting the two ends meet itself is an adventure, seek basic comforts.

Such is the irony of Human nature that’s hard to fathom.

Memories are short lived and “Me Too” movement that rocked the nation a few months ago, seems to have been laid to rest after taking its toll on a few stalwarts, the more prominent being Nana Patekar, Alok Nath, MJ Akbar, Rajkumar Hirani, Anu Malik, Suhel Seth etc. It, in fact, acquired such monumental proportions that I was also compelled to write a couple of blogs. The social media worked overtime when the movement was at its peak.

As aforesaid, all seemed to have quietened till I read about it again in newspapers. It assumed special significance as it came from the mouth of none less than PM Modi. Reacting to a statement by former PM Manmohan Singh that surgical strikes used to happen during Congress Government’s reign also, PM Modi reacted that Congress seemed to be suffering from Me Too syndrome, equating it to the popular Me Too movement discussed above. The Me Too movement spread like a wild fire, indicating that the suffering was experienced by quite a large number of women and was a social malaise. On the contrary, if Me Too of surgical strikes spreads to different Governments, from Nehru to Shastri to Indira to Morarji to Chandrashekhar to Charan Singh to Gujral to Rajiv to Narasimha to Atal to Deve Gowda also apart from Manmohan and Modi, this is no malaise but representative of our military might that can strike at the enemy anywhere anytime.

Let’s have more Me Too movements of the second kind and none of the first kind, which was a matter of shame and concern.

This is Jamun season. Jamun is a purplish black fruit, small in size having flesh and a stone inside. The fruit in its full ripeness is heavenly and sweet, though when raw it can be sour and bitter. The fruit as also it’s stone are known to have medicinal value.

You will wonder what prompts me to write, of all things, about Jamun. Read an interesting small write up in today’s newspaper penned by evergreen Jug Suraiya, where he laments about Jamun being sold at an exorbitant price of Rs.200 a Kg., something that was available to him for free during his childhood days spent in Kolkata, where he and his friends could pluck the fruit straight from the trees that lined Kolkata avenues, of course, free of any cost whatsoever! The writer further complains about freebies such as drinking water and clean air, which were available in abundance for free in his childhood, but which now cost a fortune (some of the mineral water brands come quite expensive; to escape themselves from polluted air, people are using expensive masks and equipment that are capable of purifying air inside homes).

Actually, in one of my earlier blogs, I had preached the futility of lamenting about the past and to live in present. However, coming across articles such as the one I have made a mention of above, one cannot resist indulging in a bit of nostalgia. Some of the instances of freebies that we were privileged to have in the times of yore and which I can readily collect are:

(1) Free chillies and coriander with every purchase of vegetable. Some vendors still oblige but only with larger purchases.

(2) Free pan for children accompanying the elders. Every time, I went with my father, uncles or other elders to their post dinner walks for a pan or smoke, I would be the beneficiary of a small sweet pan, especially rolled for me, more importantly free of cost.

(3) Accompanying elders to any shop would generally fetch me a free toffee or chocolate, though bigger purchases such as saris or gold jewellery would mean free coke and cookies.

It’s difficult to explain whether this nostalgia is about freebies or the freedom associated with childhood. I think the free air, water and Jamun that Jug Suraiya mentioned was more to do with the memories of his childhood than the current state of affairs associated with the above elements . Actually, more than anything it was about the free mind, which in today’s world is not quite possible being occupied with all the worries and concerns about studies, careers, income, luxuries, promotions, assets, cars, social status, IPL, politics etc. if mind is preoccupied and busy, nothing comes free!

Came across an interesting piece of article on the gendered nouns. The article states that English as a language has been quite progressive and in more and more cases, the use of gender neutral “it” is replacing he or she. The article specifically mentions about ships and boats that were earlier referred to with feminine pronoun “she”, before it was substituted with “it” in English. However, in several languages like French and Spanish, the trend of assigning masculine or feminine genders to nouns is quite prevalent.

The above is an interesting piece as it to some extent attends to my curiosity of the change in the use of gender specific pronouns to gender neutral “it” lately. In my school and college days, countries, maritime transport, cars etc. were generally preceded with feminine pronoun, while several others used to be represented by masculine pronouns. Further living beings such as dog, Tom cat, cock , tiger were he and their female counterparts viz. bitch, pussy cat, hen and tigress were she unlike these days’ common usage of “it” obviating the need for determining the sex of the living beings!

Interestingly, while English has progressively evolved to using gender neutral pronoun and several other languages are making an attempt, our own Hindi does not provide this option. In Hindi the verb defining action of the noun is picked up depending on the noun’s gender. While in English we say, ” Pencil writes well. It lasts long”, in Hindi we will have to say, “Pencil accha likhti hai. Woh bahut chalti hai.” By using feminine verb forms, we make pencil a feminine noun. This, of course, is a matter of great inconvenience to non- Hindi speaking person, who constantly struggles with the task of assigning right gender to the noun. He or she is at loss when we laugh at him or her when he or she says, ” sabzi accha hai instead of acchi, paani thandi hai instead of thanda” etc and I can fill this blog up with many such instances, where non- Hindi speakers struggle with the task of using right gender for nouns representing things of daily use.

However, this dilemma is not restricted to non- Hindi speakers. We, so called proficient in Hindi, commonly use predefined genders in our daily conversations. A koyal (Cuckoo) is always surili (musically harmonious), saanp (snake) is zahreela (poisonous), makhi (fly) tang karti hai (nuisance), while a macchar (mosquito) kaatta hai(bites) etc, irrespective of whether koyal, saanp, macchar or makhi is he or she!

While I call upon linguists to work on the options to make Hindi simpler, we can never do away with this fully. Our beloved country will always remain Bharat Mata, beloved river Ganges, Ganga Maiya as also personification of the great Himalayas, Sun, Moon, Planets etc, which is inherent to our very culture.

It’s such a feeling, of being involved in the process of electing the right candidate, who for the next 5 years shall represent us and our aspirations. Respecting the secrecy of vote, I am not rooting for any particular party, candidate or political philosophy. Indian electorate is matured enough to use their franchise to the best of their ability. This has been repeatedly observed and so called illiterate, poor and backward masses have voted differently for state and national polls, proving that they have enough maturity and intelligence to clearly discern local and national issues.

While discussion on merits and demerits of GST, Demonetisation, Rafale etc. is most welcome and in fact required, noise on Pulwama, Balakot, polarisation, beef etc is most deplorable and I fervently hope that Indian electorate would rise above partisan politics to vote for development and growth agenda that binds the nation rather than dividing it!

Mumbai voting date did not seem to be well planned as by taking one day intervening holiday on Tuesday, one could get 5 days on a trot, sufficient for a quick getaway to Goa. But going by the enthusiasm of Mumbaikars, I think the fear seemed misplaced as people indeed prioritised the need to use franchise over trips and outings.

A word of commendation for Police, Election Commission and Local Administration is a must. From the agility and courtesy demonstrated in enrolling us for elections to the ease of casting franchise, all has been planned well like a well oiled machinery. This made a national obligation a rather pleasing experience to execute.

Go Mumbaikars and Indians and vote! Democracy is our strength and right to franchise an important privilege bestowed upon us by the constitution of India. The right use of franchise will go a long way in our voice being heard in the policy deciding the future of our great nation!

The great patriotic song by the great poet Muhammad Iqbal “Saare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan hamara” will remain only a song unless we go and demonstrate patriotism by voting ! Then only we can say that “hum bulbule hain iski, yeh gulsitan hamara!

Jai Hind!

If life is there, there ought to be expectations for without expectations life would seem full of drudgery and aimless. However, to aim for something, work towards achieving it and actually reaching there is different from having expectations and not being able to fulfil them. Generally, one sets aim for himself or herself and tries to reach there with one’s own effort and strategy. Expectations are dependent on others as somebody else is expected to fulfil them.

In any organisation, the end of the year is the time for reward and recognition. While everyone tries to make an effort to the best of one’s capability, the distribution of reward and recognition is seldom uniform and therefore, while it exceeds expectations in certain cases, expectations are belied in certain others. This is because fulfilment of our expectations is generally not a function of our effort and ability but on how the same are perceived by others and is therefore, dependent on others. However, excellence, hard work and self satisfaction are something within our own control, helping us achieving our ultimate aim, objective or goal, whatever you may call it! This brings us to the second difference between aim and expectations- aim is long term and is the end result; expectations are short term and event based!

It all comes back to the same universal teaching of Bhagvad Gita, which my regular readers by now remember by heart. I would not have liked to repeat the same shloka for the risk of sounding preachy, but that’s the sure short panacea for one to overcome the disappointment of unfulfilled expectations and therefore, I can’t help but to mention it.

Karmanye vadhika raste, Ma phaleshu kadachana

Ma karma phala he tur bhuh, ma te sangotsva karmanye.

Let’s take all this in our stride and move ahead! There’s is much more to life than expectations belied, for the ultimate end is the only truth and rest all is mirage! We must enjoy the journey as the end is assured; small blips here and there are aberrations!

We have deep respect for our ancient scriptures. As earlier opined by me in one of my earlier blogs, the teachings of Bhagavad Gita hold as much relevance today as they held when conceived and penned and in fact, Bhagvad has emerged as one of the greatest tools for learning modern management practices. We also bestow great deal of value on ancient medical sciences Ayurveda and Unani and some of the well known home remedies are used in Indian households for curing minor ailments, in preference to running to a Doctor prescribing anti biotics. However, as also opined by me in one of my earlier blogs that not everything ancient needs be good and all modern innovations be harmful. A video posted by a friend on social media by an acquaintance bolstered my belief that some of our past convictions may require updating.

The video had a Swamiji giving a discourse on what’s wrong with our modern habits that are causing severe health issues, including cancer. His advice was to immediately throw the following practices out of window, should we desire a long and healthy life:

(1) throw the wheat flour out and switch to healthy cereals like jowar, bajri, ragi etc. We have all heard about the gluten and gluten intolerance in some people, but very few alternatives can beat a hand rolled, hot, fluffy phulka and it’s nutritious value. It’s been our staple since ages not for nothing. More importantly, so much research has happened over the years that has led to green revolution and newer breeds of wheat have solved the problems of food shortage. If everyone switches over to alternative cereals there can be a severe food shortage leading to starvation and crisis.

(2) throw pressure cooker out for it doesn’t cook but crushes and blasts pulses and grains. His advice was to switch over to traditional means of cooking using firewood and handi. Pressure cooker is one of the smartest inventions that has revolutionised kitchen cooking. It preserves all the nutrients and saves phenomenal amount of time and fuel. Endorsing quaint ways of energy sapping and highly polluting methods of cooking instead of modern, energy saving, quick and hygienic methods to my mind is regressive.

(3) throw iodine salt out of window and revert to rock salt (kala namak). We know that how iodised salt has addressed the problem of goitre in the population. It has side effects such as high BP, but the remediation is to moderate it’s use rather than switch over to rock salt and develop iodine deficiency.

(4) use neem datun and throw fluoride toothpastes out. Indians have been severely lacking in oral hygiene due to insufficient care and use of stuff such as tobacco and pan masala. They have been losing teeth at an early age and bad breath can be nauseating. Swamiji wants us to go back to such primitive oral care.

(5) switch to vegetarian diet. To me, eating is something very personal and giving religious or health colour to one’s eating habits is sacrilegious. Leave taste apart, which is a matter of personal preference and choice, nutritional value of fish, eggs and chicken is well established and vegan diet somehow doesn’t measure up to the balance and nourishment of a non vegetarian diet, As aforesaid, eating is purely a personal choice and no body should preach such matters.

Hope my readers agree with me that in certain matters updated knowledge is better than folklore. We must wisely choose the best of modern and traditional.

Sri Lanka was beginning to see peace after years of internal strife. In fact, it had emerged as a popular destination, especially for Indian tourists, who found going to neighbouring country convenient and relatively cheap, yet providing exquisite experience. With clean beaches, affordable water sports and affable local people, visit to Sri Lanka provided a complete holiday experience.

However, last Sunday’s serial blasts in churches and posh hotels, mainly aimed at praying and merrymaking catholics, have shaken not only the island nation, but the entire world. More than 300 innocent church goers and hotel guests were consigned to bloody death on the holy Easter Day. In the process. several Indians, Bangladeshis and three children of the billionaire owner of popular brand Vera Moda and Jack & Jones met their tragic ends in a foreign nation.

After a day of suspense, ISIS ultimately claimed the responsibility for these serial blasts, operating through local operatives radicalised by this extremist outfit. The attack was purportedly to avenge the shoot out attack on Friday mosque goers in Christchurch a few days ago.

This should be a wake up call for all the nations directly or indirectly supporting the cause of terrorism under one pretext or the other. No nation is safe from their evil design and it is also amply clear that these suicide fidayeen bombers can strike anywhere anytime. Let the powers of the World join hands to root out terrorism from all over and stop supporting terrorism in any form or for any cause. Till that time, this bloody game is not likely to stop. It should also be wake up call for everyone to tighten the security and alertness. Let’s not lower the guard and remain vigilant especially in places like trains, metros and crowded hubs.

May God bless the souls of innocents martyred on the day of Holy Easter and give some wisdom to those considering killing innocent lives as holy war!

I am excited and not without a reason. In my life extended over 5 decades and at least 3 decades of having attained majority, I will be voting for the first time. It’s not as if I have been a careless, irresponsible citizen, who never used his franchise. First it was my nomadic life, as my transferable job kept me shifting from place to place. Of course, for last 2 decades or so, I have settled down in Mumbai, but getting a document – be it passport, ration card or voter ID card has never been easy in India. But India is changing. A neighbour told us that getting enrolment into electoral roll was not all that tough and we were surprised at the treatment extended by the officer in the election Commission’s office. He was most helpful and courteous and stated that though getting ID card before elections wouldn’t be possible, but based on the SMS to be received by us, we could go to the polling booth along with personal ID and vote. And indeed we received the SMS and further inquiry revealed that we could go the the designated polling booth and vote.

The political parties should also feel excited as their chances are going to get brightened by addition to the voter strength in their constituency. Whom shall we vote for? I think electoral preference, like religion, should be a strict personal affair and although people do participate in exit polls, to my mind this should be a well maintained secret. That’s why it’s called secret ballot! I might not have ever stamped the symbol of my choice and deposited my vote into the ballot box, but unlike a few idiosyncratic fellows, I don’t doubt the integrity of EVM and I shall press the button to cast my vote to the most deserving candidate who is worthy of something as rare as pearl – I have heard it takes decades for a pearl to form inside nacre, like my vote (actually our and not only my as my wife is also voting for the first time though I can’t reveal after how many decades as far she is concerned as ladies don’t want to talk about such stupid numbers), which has fructified after 5 decades! Let the representatives of various symbols – hand, lotus, bow and arrow, lamp etc. sit on the edge- wait for the result, which will be delivered when the counting of votes commence after elections. Long live democracy in India!!!

Life is all about paradoxes. The more you ponder over it, the more you realise the pertinence of the aforesaid statement. Recently, our organisation brought in a retirement scheme for some employees. Those who were targeted were taken aback by this sudden decision of the management. Philosophically, their exit could be attributed to their fate! It can also be stated that whatever happens in life is predestined and it happens for one’s ultimate good! But it is very difficult to explain to the affected person when he asks, ” Why me?”. And this cuts across whole lot of events that we encounter in our lives! This ” Why me?” is asked by those suffering from cancer, losing their near and dear one, living in the condition of extreme deprivation etc.

The paradoxes add a layer of complexity to human life. Some people smoke heavily yet die at a ripe age old, while a teetotaller dies young of lung cancer, liver cirrhosis or heart attack! Some people slog all their lives yet live in extreme penury, while a few are born with golden spoon in their mouth, inheriting big fortune from their ancestors and don’t need to work all their lives! In spite of preparing hard for the examination, the mind simply refuses to work on the d- day resulting in abysmal performance! A prime property suddenly becomes junk due to coming up of a chemical plant, which emits heavy pollutants, in its vicinity! In our daily lives, we come across such paradoxes almost regularly, but thank God the impact of some such paradoxes is not very hard or deep and we continue with our lives, taking such events in our stride!

While not very religious and definitely not superstitious, I feel that sometimes a few such eventualities in life shake you to the core and you start seeing a great learning in a famous English proverb, ” the man proposes but God disposes” ! There seems to be a superpower sitting somewhere there, playing pranks with individuals, the impact and motive of which could be deep rooted and difficult to comprehend! This also brings one to believing another famous sloka from Bhagvad Gita that reads:

“कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन। मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥”?

In simple words, it means:

You have a right to “Karma” (actions) but never to any Fruits thereof. You should never be motivated by the results of your actions, nor should there be any attachment in not doing your prescribed activities.

The above teaching by Bhagwad is the only explanation for paradoxes affecting our lives.