Every time I visit Goa, I repeat the same thing – the moment you land at Dabolim airport ( and now one has the choice of MOPA airport too), the holiday spirit seems to overwhelm you! You can feel fun and joy prevalent in the air.

The recent visit that coincided with our 36th wedding anniversary was more special than any previous Goa visit. For one, it was dirt cheap package given by my friend Sunil Babbar of Raahi Travel Solutions and second my friend Sunil Bahl and his wife chose to accompany us to be part of our anniversary celebrations.

From the resort to sightseeing by coaches to airport pick up and drop, everything was planned with precision. Apart from the usual fun at South and North Goa beaches and staple visit to iconic churches and temples, this trip became special highlighted by two new experiences. One was a day’s trip to Doodhsagar falls that was a revelation and final day’s extended lunch at Curlies at Anjuna beach! Especially recommended by our children, the beautifully located and laid out restaurant did not disappoint us either with food – both vegetarian and non vegetarian or drinks!

My special thanks to Mr Babbar and Raahi Travel for this unbelievably cheap but top class package as also to their key man Manoj, who was there for us at our beck and call. And I cannot end this blog without thanking Mrs and Mr Bahl, for this visit wouldn’t have been half as interesting or enjoyable without their gracious company.

In my career spanning almost 4 decades, I don’t recall a single instance when I reached office late. It was not that from day 1, I had the luxury of traveling by chauffeur driven personal vehicle. In fact, this luxury came quite late to me , after more than halfway traversing of the professional journey. I used all sorts of conveyances to travel between home and office – personal two wheeler, bus, cab, auto rickshaw, Mumbai local, shared taxis etc. Weather was not always conducive to smooth travel and there were days highlighted by heavy downpour, flooding. And why speak of only natural calamities- even problems created by humans also contributed to the occasional inconvenience- flash strike, break down, severe traffic jams! In spite of all the above, there were occasions when I reached home late, but I was never late to the office in the morning.

Towards the fag end of my career, I observed people giving scant regard to the sanctity of meeting start time and would amble into the meeting room 10-15 minutes after the commencement – sometimes even more! My penchant for punctuality embarrassed the congeners of the meeting no end, who later on started requesting me to come only after the meeting was about to start instead of sitting there and waiting for others to join! 

And why only office? I have never been late to airport, railway station, social get together, personal invites et al. I even hated reaching Cinema hall late: a cinema outing was not complete for me unless I watched all the ad films, trailers and documentary ( a compulsory in earlier days), including the national anthem. 

I think good handwriting, nail trimming, tucking the shirt inside, wearing polished shoes, standing in respect when a senior walks in, addressing seniors as sir or madam and above all punctuality are a few of the virtues that are ingrained in our psyche by our elders and Alma maters but may not be all that important in the changing milieu and context. But I would like to invite comments from my esteemed readers whether I am a lone crusader for the aforesaid causes and virtues or are these still relevant and important in the fast changing present times?

In today’s world of technology and connectivity, if one wants to experience real quaintness, I suggest Jaisalmer to be the destination.

First impression was impressive – a direct non stop flight from Mumbai, but one couldn’t remain untouched by quaintness immediately upon landing at Jaisalmer. You deboard the plane and a few steps take you to the arrival section of the airport- no bus or aero bridge required! Airport is as basic as it could be and when you come out, you realise there are no Olas or Ubers and there’s a prepaid taxi booth, probably run by a cooperative union. Enroute hotel, we hardly see either a structure or a soul.

From our hotel, the main city, which could be called city centre, was barely 4 kms away, but a tuktuk, the only mode of local conveyance, charged a royal sum of Rs600 for this less than 8 kilometres of return journey. At almost Rs75 a kilometer, I think one can hire a BMW or a Mercedes cab in Mumbai.

The market is the most basics of markets, with a few sweet shops, kirana shops and clothes and handicrafts shops. My wife checked whether any mall or organised market was there to which the locals expressed surprised at her naiveness. Jaisalmer Fort stands tall over the old/walled city and continues to be the main attraction.

For all the city’s quaintness, simplicity and old world charm, the best part of our Jaisalmer stay was a trip to Tanot temple, situated at the Indo-Pak border. Managed by BSF personnel, the temple’s legacy is rich highlighted by miracles attributed to the presiding deity, Tanot Mata, especially during Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971. How a Pakistani senior military official, leading his troops during 1971 war, came back years later to pay obeisance to Tanot Mata by offering her silver chhatra ( designed foil) gave goosebumps to everyone visiting the temple.

Our forces take great pride in our border vigilance and complete electrical fencing along hundreds of kilometres of the border that are amiss on Pakistani side.

It’s sometimes surprising that how all the modern ways of living life, including luxuries, seems to have somehow left places like Jaisalmer untouched!

Independence was still not complete

Till we became a republic;

26th January celebrates that full freedom

When new constitution empowered public.

Reflections of last 75 years clearly show

India’s grand progress is by all means steep;

But as Robert Frost philosophises

We have miles to go before we sleep! 

Happy 75th Republic Day to all!

Recently, we purchased a water purifier of a reputed brand. We were deeply impressed by the sales personnel, who was extremely aggressive and seemingly customer friendly. He promised us the moon.

The very next day when the machine was delivered for installation, all the promises were shattered. A few things that were to come as freebies were not delivered and there was a cost linked to installation that was not disclosed. Post installation demonstration was pathetic. During all this while, when we were going through this travail, our friendly salesperson was conspicuous by his absence, refusing to  accept our calls. Needless to say, it took us quite an effort, including the use of social media and escalation to the top echelons of the company to get our complaint redressed, albeit partially, because it’s very difficult for the service and delivery teams to make good something that has been mis-sold to begin with.

And doesn’t the above story sound similar to hundreds of complaints and grievances from banks customers, depositors as well borrowers, that we come across everyday. They are all victims of overselling and under delivery.

In reality, the organisations will really do well to advise their sales staff to under sell, withholding at least one feature, even if most banal, to give customer an enhanced experience on delivery . Anything additional that’s not mentioned as part of the initial sales pitch, but is delivered as a part of the product feature, is a pleasant surprise for the customer, even if this freebie or additional feature is as mundane as a pen! But for business hungry organisations and target driven sales force, this may be a pipe dream.

The latest edition of the much loved popular magazine Reader’s Digest has an interesting article on 75 ways to improve one’s life. Being part of the January edition, the article can be deemed to be suggestive of adoption of these 75 ways, in full or part, as new year’s resolution.

Of these 75, some are very common and are probably much talked about lately by experts and in social media. 5 ways that I will like to adopt this year to improve myself , I share with you as below:

(1) Call your parents; they want to hear from you. One day you won’t be able to – My octogenarian mother is in Delhi and sometimes there’s a gap of days for my communication with her. I plan to call her twice a week from now on, come what may.

(2) Smile at people you pass on the street – it’s true most of the passers by on the street would either be busy talking or surfing on their mobile phones, but even one stray ordinary walker like me doing plain walking that I come across while being on the street is going to be a recipient of my smile, irrespective of his or her response. In Johannesburg, where my daughter stays, there’s a healthy tradition of wishing any one who passes by you with hello and smile.

(3) Follow social media? Take a day off – This would perhaps the toughest, but a day off the social media that crowds one’s brain with information that’s not important, is really a great idea, worth trying.

(4) Call a friend you haven’t spoken with lately- Thanks to publishing of my book, I am receiving messages from unexpected quarters. Other day a school friend called me with whom I connected after 44 years and it brought so much joy to both of us.

(5) Celebrate and encourage other people’s talent, even if they are better at something than you are- This is also a tough call, given that we seldom accept the position of being inferior to others, especially in domains that we consider as our strength. A social platform to which I am a regular contributor attracts very few eyeballs, while the same platform used by more connected and popular contributors sees thousands of likes and comments. I used to feel belittled by this, but now I shall celebrate their success too, while incessantly continuing to making my contribution.

These are not new year resolutions, but no stage of life or part of the year is late for improving oneself or at least for making an attempt to doing so!

Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hain jo makam, woh phir nahin aate 

The above immortal lines penned by redoubtable Anand Bakshi, composed by maestro R D Burman , soulfully rendered by all time great Kishore Kumar and lip synced on screen by the then ruling super star Rajesh Khanna, most effectively sum up the philosophy of life that all the gurus and seers are trying to convey to ordinary mortals like us- “ Live the moment”. The times that have gone past us are never relived. Our present and future could be better than our past, but it would never be the same. Therefore, many of us indulge in the nostalgia of our days gone by, especially those of our childhood and youth. But either way – by getting lost in the nostalgia of the days of the yore or dreaming about a bright future tinged in the expectation of fulfilment of our ever expanding needs – we refuse to live in the present and while away all our life in this conundrum.

Last week’s Indian Idol was “ Kishore Kumar special “ in which one of the participants rendered the aforesaid evergreen song that moistened the eyes of all present there and provoked me to pen these few lines. 

Last year, 2023, was the first full year of my retirement that happened on 31/5/22 and I was determined to use it in the best possible manner. I started on a positive note and started some therapy for my arthritic knees. As is generally said, “ New Year resolutions are meant to be broken”, and so happened with me, with some unscheduled travel and social obligations sending my resolutions for a toss. The result – my arthritis worsened, spreading to other parts, mainly shoulders, along with certain other health issues ( cervical, insomnia etc), my efforts for a sustained engagement post my retirement bore no fruits and I also failed to fulfil certain social expectations. This was the year 2023 on personal front.

On other fronts, the nation once again witnessed an erratic monsoon, food inflation, serious train accident, Manipur incidents, loss in World Cup cricket final ( test match as well as one day) and towards the end, revival of covid in a new avatar. And while the Ukraine-Russia war refuses to die down, the world is witnessing unprecedented loss of life in Israel and Gaza. 

But being an eternal optimist, I welcome 2024 in full zest. If 2023 was a tad downcast on personal front, it also ended up on a high note with the publication of my first book on Christmas eve that’s receiving lots of adulation and some rave reviews and in spite of a slight deterioration in my health condition, I am still alive and kicking. And as a country, aren’t we set to become third largest economy, with booming industries and stock markets? Lastly, world is not blind to massive destruction as outcome of wars and seems poised to give peace a chance. 

On this positive note, let me wish you all, your near and dear, friends, family a very happy new year 2024. May you all scale new height of success and attain new peak of happiness in your life! 

Sent from my iPhone

Clicked a beautiful photograph from my balcony this morning with Sun and Moon in the same frame. This triggered certain thoughts in my mind that I converted into a brief verse:

Morning Sun gobbles up the moon,

And Moon reappears only after Sun drowns;

But it’s not impossible for the two of them to appear together,

Though such an event does raise frowns!

If nature is so flexible and so accommodating,

How come humans are so rigid and fanatic;

Divided based on religion, caste, creed and gender,

Sticking to their beliefs and thoughts as if these are prophetic!

Nature has so much for us to learn, if we are open and ready.

BJP swept Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and more surprisingly, Chhattisgarh, where the party trailed initially. The victory proved or more precisely contradicted three theories:

(1) Anti incumbency strongly influenced election outcomes – MP results contradicted this.

(2) Good governance could negate anti incumbency to a large extent. Chhattisgarh results contradicted this. Baghel government seemed to be providing good governance.

(3) Exit polls are largely correct Almost all exit polls predicted tight finish in Rajasthan and MP and Congress victory in Chhattisgarh. All proved wrong.

What are the learning for political parties:

(1) INDIA bloc needs to review its approach. They should join hands on ideology and common minimum programme rather than be a crowd just to oppose BJP.

(2) BJP seems to have won the support of women- can the party also earn at least some backing from minorities, more especially Muslims?

(3) Can South open itself up by trying something new, the way North has done?

(4) Lastly, but above all, no party should take our voters for granted. Let all parties have a growth and welfare oriented agendas rather than trying to woo with issues such as Mandal and Kamandal! Voters have grown much maturer and intelligent and can see through the political agenda that’s divisive and discriminatory.

Long live the vibrancy of Indian democracy!