Elections are over and results are out. Some outcomes are on expected line while a few have come as a surprise. But those who didn’t think it important enough to use their right of franchise either due to being out of their respective bases or sheer lethargy, should neither participate in the result euphoria or otherwise nor be concerned about the future.

In a democracy, voting is the only effective medium for any citizen to express his or her view. It doesn’t matter whether one votes for a specific personality, party, ideology or just as a part of one’s duty, what’s important is to go to the nearest polling booth and cast one’s vote!

The above action assumes all the more importance if one looks at a few of the closely fought contests. Winner from our constituency trailed by a few votes ( some reports say 1 vote) but was declared a winner only after physical votes were counted and that too by less than hundred votes. This result could have been different if a few of those who voted for the winner had decided to abstain from voting or if a few of the supporters of the loser had not abstained, but decided to vote!

NDA could have won a few more; India group could have tried its hand at forming government- in fact, anything could have been possible if the overall voting percentage was close to 90% against the final figure of around 60%.

Elections are not mere events, but festival of democracy and merit the same degree of dedication, devotion and enthusiasm like Diwali, Eid or Christmas. After all , it’s about electing a government that decides our future for the next 5 years.

Let’s now hope that our country sees another 5 years of stable and effective governance to attain newer heights and better life for our citizenry.

On August 12, 2022, novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, United States. The captioned book is an autobiographical account of the attack and the author’s struggle in its aftermath to come over the physical and mental agony.

Some of the takeaways from Salman’s autobiographical account of this big tragedy in his life are enumerated below:

(1) Author has a superb style of expressing his thoughts by using words and phrases that are reflective of his great command over language.

(2) Salman is not only a great writer, but very well read too, having almost scholarly attributes. He has liberally quoted gems from well known and not so well known classics.

(3) A few passing remarks are reflective of his love for India, especially for Mumbai, where he was born and spent his childhood. But like several others, especially in Western media, he’s not happy with the rise of majoritarianism and insecurity of minorities.

(4) Permanent loss of his one eye is the sore point that he’s finding difficult to come to terms with. His wife Eliza is his source of strength and the high point of his life, being with him through the darkest of the hours of his life.

(5) He’s a confirmed atheist, but is fine with faith remaining a personal matter being practiced privately rather than being flaunted and imposed. The attack has not cowed him down in that sense.

(6) He wants to leave the incident behind and continue what he’s doing best at – writing more and better!

(7) His new inspiration and role model is former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, popularly known as Tiger, who lost his one eye in an accident, but showed grit and determination in facing speedsters Halls and Griffin. Readers will remember my recent blog on this theme.

The author lived a protected life under tight security for almost three decades after fatwa issued against him post release of his book , “ The Satanic Verses” that was considered sacrilegious. It was only for the last few years that he thought fatwa to be a thing of the past that no longer posed any risk to his life. But it was not to be as was proven by almost fatal knife attack. He considers himself lucky to be able to be back on his feet and more importantly his writing desk.

It was indeed like a festival day. I and my wife woke up early, finished morning chores, dressed up well and by 7.30 AM, we were part of the long queue outside our polling centre. People of all age groups, genders, ethnicities, religions – the last two wherever easily identifiable by type of their wears- queued up there to exercise their right to franchise. And people had come in large groups, with their family members, friends, neighbours, acquaintances and atmosphere was absolutely festive. There was very good bandobast, but the crowd was highly disciplined, following all the rules and directions.

And by casting our votes, there was a sense of fulfilment on having discharged our responsibility that emanates out of the right granted to us to vote. The scale of elections and their management are something that we as citizens of India should be proud of and our wholehearted participation makes elections meaningful and successful.

We all would have casted our votes to the best of our ability and knowledge to the best candidate, propagating the best ideology. Winning and losing are part of this exercise but let’s pray and hope that the outcome results in the next 5 years of peace, prosperity and progress.

One of the most eminent and loved Pakistani Punjabi Urdu poet, Anwar Masud, never ceases to entertain one with his poetry that’s humorous, but not altogether bereft of a social message. His Banyan ( the humble vest that we wear underneath our shirt) and Aaj ki pakaiye ( What should be cooked today), which is in dialogue format between a man and his servant, have already attained iconic status. He’s also a well known scholar, having command over Urdu and Persian as well, apart from Punjabi, his mother tongue.

The other day, I came across another pearl by Anwar Masud in Punjabi that I found to be amazingly succinctly composed. When we are angry with someone, we need not use abusive or unparliamentary language that’s become bane of today’s world. The abuses entailing especially female relatives viz. Mother and sister are most disgusting and need to be banned altogether. In contrast, this gem of a piece by Anwar Masud teaches us how any hatable or disliked person can be cursed within the realms of decency. Being an erudite linguist, it’s very difficult to find words equivalent to the ones used by Masud in his poem even for a Punjabi like me. But as I want to share this delectably funny piece by Masud with larger audience, I seek readers’ indulgence to accept my humble attempt at translating this masterpiece. Original Punjabi lines in devnagri and it’s English translation are as below:

जा तेरी खखडी फीकी निकले खीरा निकले कौड़ा 

रब करे तैनूँ खाना पै जाए डाडा गर्म पकौडा 

The cucumber you eat be tasteless and bitter

A piping hot pakoda should singe you mouth’s inner

जा तेरेपिंडे उते तेरे टिलले हो जान कपड़े 

खुरक वी तैनूँ ओथे होवे जिथे हाथ न आपरे 

The clothes that you wear should dangle from your body

Itching should irritate unreachable part of your body

इक मुके ते पै जावे तैनूँ होर इक नवीं पसूडी 

जा तैनूँ सुते पए नूं शाला लाड जावे कोई तंबूरी 

May you encounter restlessness at a drop of hat 

Earn you should, while asleep, a wasp’s wrath 

जेडी गाल ज़रूरी होवे पुल पुल जाए तैनूँ 

ऐनक किथे रखी सी याद न आवे तैनूँ 

Important things should elude you in the nick of  time

Misplaced specs should remain so when you need at all times 

कदी न होवे कदी न होवेकदी न  होवे पूरी 

तैनूँ जेडी आवे शाला रह जाए निछ अधूरी

Should never get fully  consummated 

Incomplete sneeze should leave you devastated

मगरों लवे न तेरे पावें मारें ओनू पखी 

शाला तेरे नाक दे उते लुडियां पावे मक्खी 

Fly should escape all your attempts at swatting

Irritate you endlessly with her fierce dancing 

मच्छर तैनूँ केरा पावन जिथे डांवें मंजी 

पुर जान ओसदे दंदे तेरी कंघी हो जाए गंजी!!

And mosquitoes should infest where  you put cot to rest 

Your comb should lose all its teeth and leave your hair messed up at best! 

Our building has more than 400 apartments using the same infrastructure and utilities. There is a notice from the Society office to use water frugally due to short supply by authorities. Each apartment has different dynamics – number of occupants, size of the flat, whether occupants take shower or bath using a mug or bucket (more lavish stylists could be using a bath tub too), number of faucets having leakage etc and no single individual is in control. The same applies to the use of electricity and other common infrastructure.

The sidewalks under our building are amongst the dirtiest in the city with accumulated litter, dog shit and broken tiles. People freely throw their empty wrappers, bottles, cans, peels and spit as the existing dirtiness invites further messing up!

The youngsters ask the guard to get an auto to the doorstep, as they don’t want to walk 50-60 steps to the road. Expecting them to use public transport will be a tall issue.

And there are so many such things as above that can break one’s heart who’s trying to contribute to the noble causes such as cleanliness, water conservation, environment, traffic decongestion etc.

But let’s follow the principle that we should do the right thing. Let’s contribute our two cents to all the above issues and leave others to do their two pounds😀!

As the famous poet Majrooh Sultanpuri has said:

मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिब-ए-मंज़िल मगर

लोग साथ आते गए और कारवाँ बनता गया

Loosely translatable as:

I had started the movement all by myself but with conviction

As people kept on joining it became a revolution.

One spark can initiate a fire that can spread like wildfire. This is the philosophy adopted by me for my writing also. Even if one reader is influenced by it, its purpose is served as it’s the first step towards a bigger revolution.

I am an avid Reader’s Digest fan, having been connected with the publication since my early childhood that adds up to more than 5 decades. Month on month, I have waited for my RD copy and this enthusiasm for the new edition has not fainted a bit even after so many years, though the choices for recreation have increased multifold since those days! I think it’s more about habit, almost an addiction rather than a means of information and entertainment for which there are alternatives galore!

Reason for a blog on RD all of a sudden is a news item that I came across today, announcing the end of RD, UK edition after an uninterrupted run of 86 years. It’s mentioned that the company just couldn’t withstand the financial pressures of today’s unforgiving magazine publishing landscape and has ceased to trade.

I sometimes wonder that given the falling subscription and commercial support, how long will print editions of morning dailies and iconic publications like RD shall be able to sustain! My problem is that though for reading books, I am comfortable with my Kindle, I badly yearn for my copies of morning dailies and RD to attend to all the featured syndicated stuff – cartoons, crosswords, sudokus, puzzles, word jumbles etc and demise of such stuff will be a loss that’s simply impossible to be compensated.

I am supporting these publications fully; I hope other obsessive readers also do likewise so that print media doesn’t totally go out of business.

I count myself to be amongst the luckiest

For I have turned a sexagenarian,

But I am still being treated like a child

By my mother, an octogenarian! 

While professional matters requiring my decision 

Took a toll on my mind and health ,

For all the personal matters 

My mother’s wisdom is my wealth! 

And childlike behaviour displays every child

Who has the luxury of having mother, 

I still yearn for her, especially when in pain,

As if there’s none other! 

A child can dedicate an ode to mother

And celebrate Mother’s Day with pomp, show and mirth

Let’s see this from a mother’s perspective

Who only thinks of her child right from his /her birth!

Yesterday, I met an old friend, from my school days, after 46 years ( he corrected my – I thought we were meeting after 44 years). I couldn’t help but thank my stars for this amazing and nostalgic occasion. Why? Because, how many of us are lucky to meet an old pal after 46 years? It presupposes a whole lot of positives for such a thing to happen – being alive, in good health ( because we dined together), in good position financially ( won’t we otherwise avoid such occurrences) and above all, actively in touch with each other (otherwise how shall one know the coordinates of other)! And what it results in is sheer delight, heavily laced with the nostalgia of the days gone by ! The conversation revolves around parents ( whom we fondly addressed as uncle and aunty), siblings, common friends, special memories – there was a deluge of all of the above! And time just flew off as if we were together for a few minutes and not few hours!

Life becomes that much more cherished with friends, more so with those, friendship with whom has stood the test of time, becoming almost ageless. It was a delightful evening that revived the old memories, becoming memorable itself in the process!

All of us must have frequently come across the concerns relating to the potable water. Man has dug deep into the stomach of Mother Earth, but even this source seems to be either fast drying up or becoming an unviable option. Currently, water level in the major reservoirs is running low and monsoons are eagerly awaited. Our insatiable hunger for land has led to disappearance of water bodies on account of reclamation.

I was going through an article in one of the reputed magazines regarding some of the recent innovations that could be game changers. However, I didn’t come across an innovation that either creates fresh water by using chemistry or purifies used or ocean water to make it potable. Then it struck me that countries such as UAE have already addressed their water problem through large scale desalination of sea water and the process was already there, but it probably required more widespread adoption.

My wish of India, a peninsula surrounded by water on its three sides, West, South and East, going for desalination seems to be close to be getting fulfilled as evidenced by news item that I came across yesterday, regarding BMC inviting bids for a 200 MLD ( million litres per day) desalination plant to be set up in Manori island, just across Marve, Malad. This should help Mumbai reduce its dependence on rain water stored in five lakes around the city as also underground water that’s transported using tankers, an increasing number of which can be seen with the progress of summers. I understand that desalination process is highly energy intensive and could be expensive, but anything that addresses the issue of potable water is priceless. If it’s successful, Chennai, a perpetually water starved city could be the next to provide relief to its citizens.

I have been an avid crossword solver for more than last 5 decades. I remember those days of my early childhood in Delhi , when I was hardly 10 years old and my uncles used to solve daily crossword that appeared in The Evening News, Delhi edition that since stands discontinued. While this was freely available in Connaught Place, the workplace of one of my uncles, it was not available in the residential locality where I lived with my parents. Hence, it was only when I was at my grandma’s house that this wish of mine used to get fulfilled, with the uncle bringing the copy of the evening newspaper daily.

This passion that got triggered in me at very early years of my life, only grew with my age and today I solve at least four crosswords every day – Times of India, Economic Times and two in Hindustan Times – same grid, but two sets of clues – easy and cryptic. At least, because at times, if I go to market in the morning, I also pick up a copy of Indian Express and Mid Day, adding two more crossword to my day’s routine. In addition, I also once in a while attempt online grids.

The idea of sharing the above background is the unique crossword that I came across today, the like of which I had neither seen nor solved before. It had 5 clues in the across section – (1) Baseball level just below majors (2) letters written in the bottle of poison in the cartoons (3) three on a grandfather click (4) tic tac toe winner and (5) delicious – and answers to these clues were AAA, XXX, III, OOO, MMM respectively. The three down clues were – (1) what goes up must come down e.g. (2) x+y=y+x e.g. and (3) this is given and the answers to all these three clue was AXIOM. Picture of the solved grid is given above.

As I found it unique, I thought of sharing it with all my readers.