IKEA has finally arrived in Mumbai and their mega store at Navi Mumbai is not something that Indians would have seen till now. Of course, those who have traveled abroad to places such as Dubai and Singapore are well aware of such mega stores having visited Carrefour and IKEA thereat. But for others this is an experience to be believed through a visit.

IKEA arrived in India a few years back with their store at Hyderabad and on line delivery. I remember Indians feeling excited at their commencement of Indian operations. In fact, I am told that several people from all over, including Delhi and Mumbai undertook visits to Hyderabad not to see Charminar or Salarjung Museum or Ramajirao film city, but to specifically shop at IKEA.

We of course had done some e -commerce transactions with IKEA and were already enrolled as IKEA family member. In view of ongoing Covid and expecting a deluge of crowd, the store had made pre registration mandatory and we could do so easily in view of priority accorded to us by virtue of we being part of IKEA family.

Somehow this visit reminded me of my childhood days of visiting an exhibition at Pragati Maidan and halls of fame there that were decked up for such exhibitions. IKEA showroom looked as big as one of those halls of fame, like you needed a ticket to enter the exhibition, here you required a pre registration and QR code and there were similar queues for entering the showroom.

Once inside, the experience was almost ethereal, with all kinds of goods aesthetically placed. You felt like picking up every trinket – pieces of crockery, cutlery, storage et al. Food court had long queues and coffee house served quick snacks that were both – delicious and reasonably priced.

I don’t know whether IKEA will be able to sustain this interest or things are going to peter out once the initial euphoria dies down. Will they bring more and more attractive deals and win Indians’ mindshare and wallet share or will Indian experience be below their worldwide benchmarks? Only time will tell. But as is said “ well-begun is half done” and by beginning their Mumbai operations with a bang, IKEA seems to have won the first battle.

Welcome to Mumbai IKEA!

While the world at large is rejoicing at the passage of 2020 and transition to 2021, not everyone shares this optimism and joy. For many, who have been badly bruised and battered by Covid 19, the path to recovery is going to be uncertain and long drawn and that too if Corona does not spread its fangs by way of more vicious strains.

I sometimes follow Urdu press for their poeticism. Came across a couplet in one of the Urdu publications that captured the circumspection of a large population to the premature celebration and optimism around 2021. The couplet reads:

दुनिया गुजर रही है रोज़ आज़माइशों से

है किस तरफ़ न जाने रुख़ वक़्त की नदी का

हम दो दहाईयों से है अबतला में और अब

इक्कीसवाँ साल है इक्कीसवीं सदी का ।।

The above is loosely translated as below:

World is facing new challenges each day

Only God knows what will be future’s way

For last two decades we have faced only trials and tribulations and no deterrent

Will this 21st year of 21st century be any different?

Let’s not presume that with change in calendar date, all is going to be automatically well! We shall have to continue with the new lifestyle post Corona and not revert to our old habits. We will have to respect nature and respect fellow humans for this Covid has been a great leveller and we need to imbibe the reality without any qualms or doubts!

Happy new year once again to my readers.

So what’s your new year resolution?

Most people would feel quite wary if posed the above question, thanks to their totally unexpected and unusual experience of 2020! If you get only 2 out of 12 months in a year, you cannot be expected to fulfil your resolutions! In fact, going by the above analogy, 16-17% achievement should be considered good enough, given the time one had. Unfortunately, the problem is that these new year resolutions are either 100% fulfilled or else treated as failed promises that we made to ourselves! For example you either quit smoking or don’t quit, go for medical check up or don’t , travel to your favourite destination or not, acquire a particular skill or not – it’s all black and white; there’s no room for shades of grey!

Given the persistence of pandemic and uncertainty associated with our day to day lives, even the year 2021 resolutions that are either black or while may not help us much other than giving us frustration at the end of the year for having failed to have achieved anything! Therefore, it may be much better if make new year resolutions around efforts that are journeys and not destinations. I have tried to create a library of such resolutions from which, we can select one or two:

(1) I will try to read at least one book.

(2) One day in a month I will skip watching TV

(3) I will try and make at least one friend this year.

(4) One day in a month, I will undertake partial fast by giving up either rice or chapati that day

(5) I will try to eat at least one fruit everyday.

(6) I will turn vegan for at least one day in a month.

(7) I will visit my place of faith at least once every quarter

(8) I will relieve my wife of cooking at least one evening every month or I will give at least one evening free every month to my husband to be with his friends.

(9) I will watch at least one Oscar or national award winning Hollywood/Bollywood classic during the year.

(10) I will try learning at least one new recipe.

The above is only indicative and not comprehensive.

As you will notice that above resolutions are not difficult to follow ( and in fact many of us follow all the above several times ) and can be readily fulfilled. The only problem is that one still needs grit and determination, for it’s my experience that you will be offered chapati on a non chapati day, you will botch up the new dish whose recipe you learnt over Internet and will never try your hand again, you will be tested with the choicest of kebabs during the vegan day , the day you are scheduled to visit temple, church or your preferred place of worship, an urgent task will suddenly come up, your tryst for a new friend will fall flat et al. This, in fact, was explained to me at length by the head of a Jain family with whom I got quite close at one point of time. The senior gentleman would give up tea one day, milk the other and rice another day. It looked quite simple on the face of it but it was quite difficult to practice.

The moral of the story is that we may choose easier resolutions, but fulfilment could still elude us. Better is to embark on a journey of overall betterment!

Happy 2021!

Cricket was a gentleman’s game. Five days test match used to be played at a languid pace with crescendo on the 5th day, a close tie getting decided in last 20 mandatory overs. A lot of technique, strategy, patience and perseverance went into the game.

One day international started with 60 overs a side that got reduced to 50 overs later on. The idea of getting the result on the same day excited cricket lovers, though the purists were not amused with the power hitting and restrictions on bowling.

And then came even shorter version 20-20, where spectators didn’t even have to wait for one full day to know the fate of the match but only a few fun filled action packed hours. The purists sounded the death knell for the gentlemanly game for this form of cricket was brutal, power packed and raucous.

The year 2020 had an analogy with the cricketing game of 20-20. It proved to be brutal, raucous and powerful in the wrong sense. It tested our patience, perseverance and above all immunity. Like for cricket aficionados, 20-20 rang a death bell for the gentleman’s game, 2020 rang a death knell for aficionados of life! Life came to a grinding halt and like the shorter version of game that gave us new terms such as power play and super over, the year 2020 gave us new terms such as mask, hand sanitisation, social distancing and lockdown.

But the analogy ends here! While 20-20 might herald death of a game, the year 2020 heralded death of human beings. We all heard news of loss of lives of our acquaintances and famed personalities.

2021 brings with it fresh hope, aspirations, desires, will to live life and dreams in our eyes! Because where there is hope, miracles do happen and 2021 will be miraculous giving us back our Corona free lives!

Happy 2021!

The title of the article is not wrong as the date indeed goes back to 1983 and today is the 37th anniversary of this landmark event of my life. It was on this day 37 years ago that my student life of the past 16 years came to an abrupt halt and leaving my MSc that I was pursuing at that time halfway, I took up a banking job in a nationalised bank.

The change was total and metamorphic so to say. From the holy and serene precincts of University of Delhi to a branch of Nationalised Bank , it was a big shift from me. There was change in profile of my colleagues – from same age group and studious type to middle aged and boisterous, profile of my activities – from studying and brainstorming to dealing with dissatisfied customers under a dead routine, profile of my dressing – from simple jeans and T-shirt’s to formal pants and shirts and profile of my thought process – from an aspiring academician to be a career banker !

Thus it was a life changing moment and my life has never been same again. From a physics student aspiring to do further study in quantum mechanics to a banker aiming for state bank probationary officer and IAS exams, it was a true metamorphosis.

The reason for this blog is a news item that I came across yesterday. A person, who retired from State Bank after a career spanning over 35 years, wrote medical entrance exam and has got admission to MBBS course at the ripe old age of 64. By the time he gets licence to practice, he’d be touching 70, but this example proves that there is no point regretting about the shifts in life against the choice, as it’s never too late to chase your dream! I am rather buoyed by this example and suddenly not feeling any regret at the direction taken by my life and it’s journey so far!

Period between Christmas and new year is one of the most awaited times of the year. I am told that things come to a complete passé in most of the Europe, US and down under in Australia and New Zealand. My daughter who works and lives in South Africa has also told me about the cold freeze ( though Christmas is summertime there), meaning no work!

In India, we are workaholics! Except for 3-4 days at a stretch that Kolkata is shut during Durga Puja, I really haven’t seen parallel of Christmas vacation abroad, in India. You celebrate Diwali today and go to office next day – for a change Mumbai had two days off Diwali this year. Ditto other festivals – Ganpati, Rakhi, Holi or Dussehra. Or may be we have too many religious and national holidays throughout the year that do not justify any break at a stretch.

It’s a fact that economic affluence and travel, including the overseas, are rather recent phenomena in India. In our childhood, our travel was mainly to our grandparents or marriages in family. Overseas travel was a rarity, unless someone was working abroad. I had mentioned in one of my earlier blogs that my father never owned a passport meaning he never crossed Indian borders, unless Pakistan is considered a foreign country, which it was not prior to the partition as my father used to study and work in Lahore. My mother is slightly more widely traveled having been to Switzerland to visit her brother, Johannesburg to visit my daughter, her granddaughter and a visit to Thailand!

This Christmas raised lots of hopes as just before the start of the season, the success of Corona vaccines created a lot of positivity and it seemed that end of Covid was near. However, a new mutated strain of Covid, fresh lockdowns by several countries and night curfew in Mumbai have all played spoilsport! However, I read two beautiful thoughts outside Mahim Church that summed up the never say die human spirit! The first one said, “ Unmask your heart and welcome Jesus” , which to my mind is a beautiful take on pandemic, exhorting us to wear masks on our faces while opening our hearts to help those who need the same most! The second one read, “ You can limit the numbers, but you can’t limit our faith”. While only limited number of devotees congregated at churches for Christmas Eve masses, a large number of faithfuls joined on line in a true spirit of the festival that is aimed at bringing happiness for one and all!

We have all been waiting for 2020 to get over and 2021 to come! We in fact should wait for Corona to get over! This hope was expressed during Diwali and Eid too and the same hope lingers on now during Christmas, because I read somewhere, “ There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.” Then what’s so special about this coronavirus?

With this I end series of blogs I wrote on the occasion of Christmas and wish my readers merry Christmas and seasons greetings once again!

My yet to be 4 grandson, who is in Johannesburg, where it’s summertime, doesn’t believe his mother that it’s Christmas time because he has always seen white Christmas, with snow everywhere and Santa wearing winter attire and coming on a sleigh that rides only on snow!

It’s a very cute and innocent query and I have tried to help his mother to try and satisfy the curiosity of the little kid by reciting to him this Christmas Carol, especially composed on the occasion of Christmas!

Oh baby, sleep now

Tomorrow is Christmas Day

Santa will come at night

Riding on his sleigh!

No mom, you’re lying

How can it be Christmas Day

Christmas is always white

How will Santa come in his sleigh?

I have seen pictures

It’s always cold and white

How can it be Christmas without snow

No mom, you’re not right!

Baby, today indeed is Christmas night

Santa will definitely come

Where there’s no snow

He will pick his sack and run!

World is large

With summery and wintery lands

Santa comes everywhere on Christmas

To children in main and hinterlands !

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Midnight mass is the first liturgy ( the form of prayer) of Christmastide ( period immediately preceding and following 25th December, the Christmas Day) that’s celebrated on the night of Christmas Eve, traditionally beginning just before the midnight of 24th giving way to Christmas Day. This midnight mass is a jubilant celebration in the honour of the Nativity of Jesus ( as the birth of Jesus is described in the Biblical gospels of Luke and Mathew) and it includes the celebration of Holy Communion ( also known as Eucharist, it’s a Christian rite and as per the New Testament, it was instituted by Jesus during the last supper , giving his disciples bread and wine during a Passover meal. As per Jesus, bread represented his body and the wine new covenant in his blood.)

As I read it somewhere, midnight mass is a tradition of Roman Catholic Church, though many churches now hold midnight mass at an earlier hour. Since 2009, the Pope has celebrated this mass at 10 PM and therefore it’s now also known as Mass during the night since 2009.

Each festival of different religions has these traditions and folklores associated with it and this what makes these festivals so full of happiness and gaiety.

Although social distancing and and Covid protocols are still in force, churches are gearing up for midnight masses for the devotees to participate either physically or virtually, on line!

Merry Christmas!

I came across an interesting piece on the background of various names given to Christmas festival.

The oldest of the three is Yule, from Old English geól, which meant Christmas Day or Christmastime, and corresponds to an Old Norse word jól, which was a pagan winter feast lasting twelve days. The earliest citation of this word in the OED is from a work by the 8th century English monk Bede. It survives today in the somewhat archaic word Yuletide as well as in the yule log, originally a large log burned at Christmas but now more usually referring to a rolled up chocolate cake that resembles such a log.

Noel or Noël comes ultimately from the Latin natalis via Anglo-Norman and Middle French. Originally an exclamation of joy at the birth of Christ, in the middle ages it was also used to refer to the Christmas period. Like carol (and holly) it has found another life as a first name, especially for those born during the Christmas period, but otherwise is now found only in Christmas carols and as a greeting on Christmas cards:

Christmas comes from Old English and means “the mass of Christ”. The earliest citations come from the early 12th century and it has completely superseded its rivals as the standard term for the festival celebrated on 25th December, as well as the period immediately before and after it.

In our childhood, Christmas or winter break that we had from the last week of December till the beginning of January used to be colloquially called “ bade din ki chhuttiyan” , as Christmas falls after winter solstice after which days start growing longer and nights shorter. I have also heard people referring to Christmas as Ex -Mas for it’s also written as X-MAS. The “X” comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christós, which became Christ in English. X in a way also represents holy cross!

Call it Yuletide, Noel, Christmas, Bada din or X- MAS, the spirit of festivity and its fervour remains the same!

Merry Christmas!

A once-every-two-decade conjunction involving the solar system’s two gas giants will give earthbound observers a look at a so-called “Christmas Star” on the winter solstice.

Come sunset Dec. 21 in any time zone around the world, Jupiter and Saturn seemingly will merge into a single bright point of light low in the western sky.

The Great Conjunction of 2020 will yield an expected spectacular astronomical sight involving the two planets unseen in nearly eight centuries.

The two planets have been approaching conjunction — a point when planets or other bodies as seen from earth are near each other in the night sky — all year. That the conjunction is occurring near Christmas Day has given rise to talk about the Star of Bethlehem that the Gospel of Matthew describes in his telling of the birth of Jesus.

As the story goes, the Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew where “wise men from the East” (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem. There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask him:

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

Herod calls his scribes and priests who quote to him that a verse from the Book of Micah interpreted as a prophecy, states that the Jewish Messiah would be born in Bethlehem to the south of Jerusalem. Secretly intending to find and kill the Messiah in order to preserve his own kingship, Herod invites the wise men to return to him on their way home.

The star leads them to Jesus’ home in the town, where they worship him and give him gifts. The wise men are then given a divine warning not to return to Herod, so they return home by a different route.

As I am reading a few posts by catholic believers, the current situation is akin to the one that existed in the year Jesus was born – there’s darkness, unrest, misery, death, ignorance – this planetary disposition leading to the formation of Christmas star should clear away all these evils to give back the much awaited happiness to the human race.

This is the first of the posts during the current festive season of Christmas and new year and readers can expect a few more.