Today is Anant Chaturdashi, the last day of Ganpati festival. As my residence is on the way to the beach, the tenth day immersion processions present a scene that’s full of spirit, devotion and gaiety. While the spirit of those forming part of immersion procession is understandable, dancing untiringly to the rhythmic beats of the accompanying bands, it’s the spirit of traders, shopkeepers, residential cooperative societies, groups, individuals lining the procession route that’s to be seen to be believed! It’s truly a selfless service being offered to Ganpati bhakts – water, vada pav, halwa, boiled chana, samosa, khichadi, sherbets – with utmost enthusiasm. And the service is not exclusive for the immersion processions . Every passer-by, passing vehicles, BEST buses – their staff as well passengers, bikers, cyclists et al are the beneficiary of this free service. 

And year after year I see the members of  Aniruddha Disaster Management Academy forming orderly queues to manage processions, traffic and passers-by and extending great help to Mumbai police. Ditto home guards, scouts, volunteers from Bohra community, all helping maintain order is highly appreciable. 

A few days ago I wrote a post on master chef Vikas Khanna’s sharp retort to a western media journalist on hunger in India. India may still be struggling to feed all its 140 crore citizens, but the never say die spirit that’s especially demonstrated on occasions such as Ganpati festival in Mumbai is unparalleled and unique. 

Ganpati Bappa Morya! 

I haven’t driven a Ford but had an excellent experience of driving a Chevrolet. There are some inherent strengths of American cars. They are sturdy, spacious and powerful.

And Ford did quite well during its two decades long stint in India. I remember the craze for its Ecosports model that at its peak enjoyed long waiting period. Just before Ford decided to bid adieu to India, it’s relaunched Endeavour was seemingly generating substantial interest amongst big car lovers.

I have heard good words about their sprawling Chennai factory and even if it’s currently being restarted solely for exports, it’s a great news – for workforce, Chennai and of course, Indian automobile market that’s of late seeing exciting developments.

India is a slightly unique market where consumer is price sensitive and conscious of mileage. Given the Ford’s experience, I am sure they can come out with products especially customised for India, apart from its much loved Ecosports and Endeavour that will always find buyers in India. But that’s still undecided as currently they are targeting only export markets.

Welcome back Ford as their reentry should further spice up passenger vehicles segment in India.

I worked for 10 years in one and then for about 28 years in the second organisation thereby spending an entire career span of almost four decades in two organisation. The shift from the first to second organisation was also incidental and not on account of any issue with the first! 

Civil servants join civil services and retire after holding various positions upon attaining superannuation. Ditto defence personnel though defence services do have a concept of short service commission, including the newly introduced Agniveer. Even organisations like Tatas are known to recruit greenhorns who then go up the organisation’s hierarchy to finally retire! 

I as also the examples cited above are the cases of people working in their comfort zones and yet neither regretting nor necessarily stagnating in having served their respective organisations over long periods! But every time you listen to or read a management guru, a spiritual guru or any motivational speaker, they will exhort you to come out of comfort zone to attain success! 

I interpret this exhortation not as much against long engagement with single organisation but rather getting smug or complacent while working there at! All my 40 years or so, I remained excited, motivated, inquisitive, optimistic and ready to accept new challenges ( assignments, roles, transfers etc), never really becoming smug or complacent to be falling into so called, “comfort zone” that the gurus caution us to avoid.

The mantra, therefore, is not to necessarily look out for career growth but not treat your workplace as a comfort zone, but a karma bhoomi! Job hopping should be resorted for very cogent purposes based on sound logic and not for the sake of testing survival out of comfort zone as preached and exhorted! A workplace should be full of excitement and challenges and therefore, can never be a comfort zone. 

On Christmas Day last year 2023, I launched my first book, “ Ordinary is extraordinary “, a self help motivational book cast in a storyline. The book was read and liked by many of my friends and acquaintances as also people not known to me. The high point of the book was readers identifying closely with the main protagonist Sunil, an ordinary man next door, the likes of which we come across in our everyday life. Many readers gave me feedback that they could finish the  book in one reading and wished that it read a tad longer. A few also wished elaboration of the lives of other characters that found mention in the book, but that was just about it. And one general feedback was that my next book was being eagerly awaited! 

Of course, I took the above feedback with a caveat that friends were always generous and supportive and that I must be very careful about the ground reality. The ground reality of today is that people, in general,  are very busy and hard pressed for time to indulge in anything outside their core activity, which is pursuing their profession. Whatever leisure time they have, they are spoilt for choices – Internet, social media, OTT, sporting events, movies et al. Besides, everyone has a wish list of the movies they want to see, the authors they want to read and places they want to visit! I for one read the biography and filmography of Satyajit Ray and then watched all his movies one by one on YouTube and other channels! I did a similar exercise of reading James Bond’s books following them by watching the concerned movies based there on. Currently, I have got interested in Salman Rushdie’s work and hope to read some of his books. 

Under the circumstances, the only factor that comes to my rescue is my self motivation. My blogging journey of the past several years has been sustained due to my self motivation. Most of my blogs are hardly read by at best 4 to 5 readers and enjoy no commercial support in spite of I having created a significant body of work. And my next book, a romantic interlude with country’s partition as a backdrop, is a work of pure fiction that’s high on emotions but bereft of any preaching! This is not a curtain raiser for my new book, which will be launched properly when it’s ready, which is still some distance away, but this post is primarily aimed at all the existing and budding writers- bloggers, authors, social media users etc- exhorting them to persist with their passion by remaining self motivated, irrespective of number of likes or quality and quantity of feedback on their work! Our writing, if it touches even one heart, can be deemed to have achieved the purpose that’s primarily satisfying our own creativity. It was this self motivation only that kept me going for years in my professional life despite normal ups and downs. 

A friend shared a beautiful post on Instagram this morning. A BBC reporter asked master chef Vikas Khana that as he didn’t come from a rich family, his sense of hunger ( a desired attribute for a chef ) must have come from India. To this Vikas replied that he came from Amritsar where everyone got fed in langars. His sense of hunger, in fact, came from New York.

And why single out Amritsar, when a great deed is visible right in front of my eyes ! Four Bungalows Gurudwara, right opposite my home, serves day and night langar daily to hundreds of hungry , who queue up neatly at the desired hour and then bin their disposable plates in a trash can. And I am told that similar daily langars are also organised at Seven Bungalows and Sion Gurudwaras, where hundreds get fed daily thereby escaping starvation.

Many a times we criticise when a new religious institution – a temple, Gurudwara, mosque or church comes up, lamenting that we need more schools, colleges or hospitals! But let’s not forget that many religious establishments are doing yeomen services by distributing langars, running charitable dispensaries, hospitals, diagnostic centres as also schools and colleges. This is one great confluence of religion serving society against the general perception of religion dividing the society.

Kudos to Vikas Khanna for great response to a representative of Western media that loves showcasing abject poverty and other social evils in preference to great strides made by India in the fields of space, science and technology. And kudos to all religious establishments that are fighting the great battle against poverty, starvation, illiteracy and lack of healthcare.

This Ganesh Chaturthi, a few questions come to my mind. Most of us pray or remember God, at least our favourite God ( Isht) daily. We generally eat good food, sometimes indulging in sweets and other special dishes, especially on weekends and holidays. We clean our abodes daily. Then what makes festivals so special ? 

I think festivals connect us with our friends, relatives, neighbours, acquaintances etc, who are very much on our mind, but probably need a festival to be reached out to! And unlike other social occasions that connect us, festivals are more sombre, pious, understated and yet joyous!

Let me wish all my friends, relatives, neighbours, acquaintances and others a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi restating that all of you occupy a special place in my heart and life, thought at times expression of these feelings may be amiss! 

I did not exist till two angels decided to bring me into this world; 

They were my parents, my first teachers.

I was illiterate and knew nothing apart from speaking,

Till a set of people taught me to read and write;

They were my second teachers, school and college teachers.

I didn’t know basics of my profession, but a set of patient, matured and knowledgeable people

Took charge and guided me through my professional journey

They were my next teachers, my colleagues and bosses.

The life’s journey was tough, entailing rat race, competition and challenges,

But there were my stress busters, my wife and daughter, my next teachers.

And each day as we live and acquire tips to live better from gurus, friends and acquaintances:

Don’t they all qualify to be our teachers! 

Happy teachers day to all the above, unnamed in this verse, especially composed on the occasion of the teacher’s day, but their names and faces sharply etched in my heart! 

Certain songs and tunes are integral part of certain specific occasions. On the first of every month, Radio Ceylon used to play Kishore Kumar classic, “ Khush hai zamana aaj pahli tareekh hai.” Similarly, there are specific songs that can be heard on Holi, Diwali and Independence Day.

Likewise, an immortal tune is associated with Ist September that was the theme played in 1961 romantic comedy starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida titled “ Come September”.

Internet search showed me that there’s indeed a song titled “ September “, composed by by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. It was introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical production Knickerbocker Holiday. This song has some wonderful lines such as:

“But it’s a long, long while from May to December
And the days grow short when you reach September
And the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
And I haven’t got time for waiting game”

And there’s something about September that’s represented by transition of weather from hot to cooler ( reverse in the Southern hemisphere, where September heralds onset of Spring), from summer to autumn, from longer days to shorter days and in general, a feeling of good times!

Let me wish all my readers happy September, autumn, September the song and all time classic Come September tune. If I may pay an ode to September in my own words, it would read:

Come September, the start of four ber months

Post rain greenery, cooler days, shorter nights

Festivity all around in the air

Streets and homes decorated with lights.

There’s something about September

That ignites love, romance and passion

Let’s complete the circle fully

By filling it with empathy and compassion!

Hindus are known to have numerous gods. On the top is the supreme trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Then there are very popular, much adored and widely worshipped gods such Ganesh, Hanuman, Durga etc. However, the human manifestation of Lord Vishnu in different yugas or ages in the form of Ram and Krishna are part of our culture, ethos, personality- whatever you may call it! Their stories as enshrined in Ramayana and Bhagvad form the very basis of our existence and the way we conduct ourselves in our daily lives.

While maryada purushottam Ram’s life is highlighted by his victory over Ravana and celebrated as Dussehra and Diwali, birth and childhood are important highlights of Krishna’s life, making Janmashtami a very special occasion.

Ram and Krishna are human manifestation of supreme lord and mere chanting their name wields the power of uplifting human consciousness to a divine level. As per Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON movement, mere chanting of Krishna‘s name will ensure deliverance from all the sins! Let’s celebrate this Janmashtami by chanting the simple mantra

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare!

In our schooldays, rape and killing of a brother and sister by the notorious gangsters Ranga and Billa shook the city of Delhi and the entire country as it was unprecedented and heinous. Thereafter, over the years, we have been exposed to more heinous cases of rape, molestation and murder, including that of Nirbhaya in not too distant past that once again rocked the nation and its establishments! Kolkata’s most recent case is a new addition to this abominable list of the crimes most heinous! 

I have spent a good part of my life in the city of joy and being born and brought up in Delhi and a confirmed Mumbaikar for more than past 2 decades, I have always appreciated Kolkata for its several qualities, most importantly for the respect for women and elderly! And this is not a mere impression, but borne out of personal experience relating to real life incidents with my then very young daughter and my aged parents! That this incident happened in Kolkata and that too inside the holy precincts of a hospital makes it all the more abominable and repulsive! 

When shall we stop treating a girl or a woman as a commodity or an object of consumption instead of another person equal to us? Why a woman rejecting our obscene overtures has to be necessarily trolled, harassed and worst of all, victimised? Why a girl cannot walk alone during any part of a:24 hours day? And how can a man become a beast, most wild in his sexual arousal that he can indulge in worst of acts with any female, age no bar? 

And we as a nation, need to stop politicising such issues ( a sexual demon has no religion or political philosophy) but act firmly by forcing the law keepers and conscience keepers of our nation to come up with deterrents that send a chill down the spine of these sex hawks before they indulge in such heinous acts!  We need to go beyond social media and candle light marches before this evil strikes someone our near and dear!