Northern and Eastern parts of India are experiencing unprecedented cold. Delhi recorded a maximum of 9 degrees centigrade, which was lowest in a century. This brought back the fond memories of my childhood spent in Delhi. Though this year might have broken a century old record, Delhi used to experience severe cold, especially during the period between Christmas and Republic Day. Mornings used to be foggy (pure crystal fog and not smog that we see today), days were murky with sun eluding for days altogether and nights freezing cold. Houses were not compact, heating was not very effective (mainly coal fired angeethis or sigris) and geysers were unheard of. Bathing was infrequent and body sponge with change of undergarments helped in keeping one clean. All these memories came alive when I recently read a piece in Urdu titled ” Bachpan ki sardiyan” or “Winters of childhood”. Though translation does not fully capture the finer nuances, I have tried to be as close to original as possible. It reads as under:

In winters in our childhood, geysers were unheard of and our Amma would heat water in a five litre ghee canister emptied after use of its content and give short bath ( munh haath) to all of us brothers and sisters. She would then put mustard oil in our hair, cold cream on our faces ( Neeli sheeshi wali cold cream – I think it’s Afghan Snow) and Vaseline ( he uses the word Pomade) on extremities to prevent dryness. Then she would dress up us in colourful jerseys. To outside world, we would like jokers but to mother, howsoever ugly her children may be, they always look cute and the best in the world. Today, we spent thousands on centralised heating, water heaters and geysers, costly and designer woollens, best of the food and diet, but the charm of the winters of childhood cannot be recreated .

Very simple, but touches the chords of the heart somehow! I hope it gives readers, most of whom are in Mumbai, a flavour what harsh winters of north are all about and how middle class dealt with it in the past.

This is the season of gifting, with Christmas just having been celebrated (though as explained in one of my earlier blogs, Christmas festivities continue for 12 days and 5th January is actually the last day of Christmas season ) and New Year spirit very much in the air. As it’s said, gifting is an art; in fact, it’s an art for both – the giver as well as receiver. What you gift is important, but how it is received by the receiver is even more important.

Just read an interesting article on what the receiver says and what he actually means when he receives a gift not as per his/her expectations. When someone received a grinder, while thanking the giver profusely, in her heart the receivers felt like grinding the giver. A gold ring (normally a precious gift and sure shot winner when a man gifts it to his beloved) made the lady blush, though in her heart she was cursing her lover for delaying this gift so much! The article wittily deals with gifts of various kinds and reaction of the receivers. In the end I Phone emerged as a great gifting idea on which the reaction and thought of the receiver were fully aligned.

I am privy to gifting related goof ups made by both givers as well as receivers. A gift like watch, pen or Bluetooth speaker invariably leads to duplication at the receiver’s end, resulting in further gifting! A piece of clothing can lead to size and taste mismatch issues. Shopping vouchers may force the receiver to go to the particular store much against his/her liking, while gift cards can ruin shopping experience when retailers refuse the card or give excuse of the card reading machine not working. Cash is king, but people could find themselves in uncomfortable zone while giving or accepting cash! Of course, I also came through a news item where a marriage invitation was sent on a cloth handkerchief (Hanky to be used in future), only blessings were solicited as gifts and as return gift, all the guests were presented with cloth bags having two saplings – neem and pipal – with full process on the paper on how to plant the saplings and care them to grow into trees! Very thoughtful gifting indeed!

Some of us seem to have overcome this dilemma at least as far gifting for occasions like marriage and birthday are concerned. It’s stated on the invite itself that gifts in the form of blessings will only be accepted.

Let in this new year, we gift everlasting gift of love, compassion, piety and kindness to fellow human beings as these gifts neither require any elaborate planning nor entail the risk of being sneered at by the receiver!

Happy 2020!

2020 is special; its not only a new year but start of a new decade also. In fact my previous blog welcoming 2020 is all about positivity and optimism. However, its risky to be living in a fool’s paradise and closing our eyes to the harsh realities on the ground. This feeling has provoked me to compose a few lines that capture the grim reality of today but as is typical of me, ends on a positive note.

New Year’s Musings

What’s all this hullabaloo about

Years come and years go

What are all of us celebrating

When the only change is a big No

Girls will continue to be molested and raped

Even infants and children will not be spared

Polarisation on caste, religion and ideology will go on unabated

How it can it be stopped when it’s been deliberately created

There’s negativity all around on Demon., GST, CAA et al

How can it be banished when misuse of social media is rampant

And while Bible preaches that love thy neighbour

But our neighbours are always challenging our valour

Does it mean it’s all very gloomy and all very murky

Not if we decide to get rid of the above evil faced turkey

If we are aware, awake and put up a united face

All the adversities can be converted into a magic mace!

Happy new year to all on the hope that none of us falls prey to the evil web being woven around especially through myth and fiction on social media. Let’s keep our ears and eyes open for real facts and think from our minds rather than hearts!

Memories of new year eves mainly revolve around the special programme that Doordarshan used to telecast and when the clock hit 12’o clock, wishing family members happy new year over some sweet meats. Not that, I have not celebrated arrival of new year partying with friends and family at a club or restaurant, but I think memories of distant past of childhood are more strongly imprinted on one’s psyche.

For a change, I have welcomed 2020 only at 6 AM after waking up. Probably it was partying and celebrations of past few days during my daughter and her children’s 3 weeks stay here with us that took toll on my stamina that led to such a cold reception of the new year. But that does not for a moment indicate that I am not excited at the prospects of having a great 2020, which also heralds the start of a new decade. An eternal optimist, I have lots of wishes and yearning for the good of me, my friends and family, organisation, our country and the world at large.

(1) India, the land of peace and love, should get over these acronymic syndromes such as CAA, NPR etc and be the multi ethnic, multi religious, peaceful and tolerant society – the land of Krishna, Mahavira, Budha, Nanak and Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti- that it always has been since the time immemorial.

(2) Kashmir, the heaven on the earth, should become heavenly once again and those snow laden mountains be pristine white, trees of chir and deodar prosperous green and waters of Dal lake blue and serenely calm instead of the current regime of fear, hatred, helplessness currently prevalent there at.

(3) Let this be the end of the woes of our farmers and our prudent water management never leads to another draught , forcing our farmers to commit suicide. Let our rivers and water sources be filled up to brim to quench the thirst of parched throats and lands.

(4) Can hatred and criminal mindset be eradicated from human psyche so that we don’t witness indiscriminate shooting on the praying mobs in temples, churches and mosques and on children and patrons in schools and restaurants, rapes of girls and minors and jihad of any kind? Can this world be a happier, safer and more beautiful place the way in which God almighty has endowed it to us?

(5) Can my family members and friends and why only them and not everyone else be healthier and happier, overcoming their worries and troubles and fulfilling all their wishes and aspirations?

(6) Can my organisation,in which I recently completed 25 years, become the best – in its line of business, for its customers, as the best employer and in its philanthropic pursuits – and become a niche organisation?

As a popular saying goes, ” if wishes were horses, beggars would ride them”! We can wish for the moon and sky but we will have to work towards all the above aspirations rather then expecting their fulfilment to be served to us on a platter! So karma is a pre requisite for all this goodness to come into our laps.

Another change from the past is that I am not making any new year’s resolutions because there’s no point in resolving something and be disheartened at the end of the year for having not kept the resolution. Instead, this year our resolve should be to be happy and to spread happiness as ultimately the objective of all the goals and enrichment is Supreme bliss!

I wish all my readers Supreme bliss that should not last only one year but the entire decade as it’s being made at the start of this new decade and in fact, the entire lifetime! For my country, I wish that in this year 2020 let the nation score quick runs as is done in a T20 match for we have to do catching up with the rest of the world and batting like a 5 days’ test may not help!

To end, let me say a few lines:

Is 2020 merely a number

Or is it the start of a new year and decade?

When we leave behind our worries and woes

And become a real happy brigade!!!

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best-known St. Nicholas stories is the time he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors.

A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that is hung on Saint Nicholas Day or Christmas Eve so that Saint Nicholas (or the related figures of Santa Claus and Father Christmas) can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as stocking stuffers or stocking fillers. The tradition of the Christmas stocking is thought to originate from the life of Saint Nicholas. In some Christmas stories, the contents of the Christmas stocking are the only toys the child receives at Christmas from Santa Claus; in other stories (and in tradition), some presents are also wrapped up in wrapping paper and placed under the Christmas tree. Tradition in Western culture threatens that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece or pile of coal. Some people even put their Christmas stocking by their bedposts so Santa Claus can fill it by the bed while they sleep.

The modern Christmas tree originated in western Germany. The main prop of a popular medieval play about Adam and Eve was a “paradise tree,” a fir tree hung with apples, that represented the Garden of Eden. The Germans set up a paradise tree in their homes on December 24, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. They hung wafers on it (symbolizing the eucharistic host, the Christian sign of redemption); in a later tradition the wafers were replaced by cookies of various shapes. Candles, symbolic of Christ as the light of the world, were often added. In the same room was the “Christmas pyramid,” a triangular construction of wood that had shelves to hold Christmas figurines and was decorated with evergreens, candles, and a star. By the 16th century the Christmas pyramid and the paradise tree had merged, becoming the Christmas tree.

Santa Claus, Christmas stocking and Christmas tree are three most visible symbols of Christmas and it’s all about goodies – whether filled into the stocking by Santa or hanging from the Christmas tree- to celebrate the spirit of Christmas, the day of nativity of Jesus. Many of us may not be attending midnight masses , but most of us do get smitten by this overwhelming festive spirit of this occasion and irrespective of our religion caste or creed, Santa, tree, stocking, cakes, pastries and other goodies are firmly embedded in our tradition!

Merry Christmas to all!

The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In most Western ecclesiastical traditions, “Christmas Day” is considered the “First Day of Christmas” and the Twelve Days are 25 December – 5 January, inclusive. The Twelve Days of Christmas” is also a famous English Christmas carol that enumerates in the manner of a cumulative song a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. The song, published in England in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme, is thought to be French in origin. The tunes of collected versions vary. The standard tune now associated with it is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin, who introduced the familiar prolongation of the verse “five gold rings”.

However, the matter of greater interest to me was the historical significance of each of the gifts, which has been very nicely explained by a fellow blogger, ” Coach Mueller” in one of his recent blogs. Taking the liberty of liberally borrowing from his aforesaid blog, the significance of these gifts are:

Day 1: “The partridge in a pear tree” is Jesus Christ

Day 2: “Two turtle doves” are the Old and New Testaments

Day 3: “Three French Hens” stand for Faith, Hope, and Charity

Day 4: “Four Calling Birds” are the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark Luke, and John

Day 5: “Five Golden Rings” recall the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old testament.

Day 6: “Six Geese A-Laying” stand for the six days of creation

Day 7: “Seven Swans Are Swimming” represent the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy

Day 8: “Eight Maids A-Milking” are the eight Beatitudes (blessings listed by Jesus in the sermon on the mount)

Day 9: “Nine Ladies Dancing” are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control

Day 10: “Ten Lords Are Leaping” are the Ten Commandments

Day 11: “Eleven Pipers Piping” stand for the eleven faithful disciples

Day 12: “Twelve Drummers Drumming” symbolizes the twelve points in the Apostle’s Creed.

There’s festivity in the year as we approach Christmas and also prepare to bid adieu to 2019 to enter into a new decade. Hopefully, this festivity overwhelms the current state of disturbed atmosphere in the country.

Merry Christmas and season’s greetings to all my friends and readers.

One of the main themes at all the self improvement programmes I have attended has been to have a larger purpose for all that you do or are doing. And this larger purpose has to be beyond power, prestige, money and material gains.

When asked what are the objectives one is trying to achieve by working, the common responses by the participants are – to make our organisation number one, to maximise shareholders’ value, to reach the top level of executive position, to work for the betterment of the organisation along with my own betterment etc. However, responses are seldom seen to be hinting at larger purposes such as betterment of society, contribution to the country and the world etc.

This is all the more pertinent to today’s political scenario, where all the actions that seem to be woven around larger more noble purposes are in fact a facade for a hidden agenda! This is highly painful and dangerous, if indeed true.

The first act of Modi 2.0, weeks into its second stint was abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 (a). It was a long pending task awaiting who would bell the cat? But was the objective only to assimilate Kashmir seamlessly into India for betterment of Kashmiris or to expose the historical blunders of our forefathers? Was it to best protect the interests of India and Kashmir or to score one up man ship on Congress and Kashmiris?

Next came CAB since converted into CAA. Seemed noble to provide an opportunity to persons affected by partition to seek Indian citizenship, but for some reason it excluded Muslims. Now it seems that hidden agenda could also be to change the ethnic mix in Bengal, Assam and Tripura for vote bank politics.

The quality of politics seems to have rotten to such low standards that even surgical strikes, bombing of terror camps and so much so the rape cases are being given a hue of political objectives and in the process nobody from Gandhi to Nehru to Savarkar is being spared.

BJP has hidden agenda and without any agenda Congress sees Hindutva in every BJP act. Didi only worries about her vote bank and fence sitters like AAP and Shiv Sena are clueless.

A fiercely loyal congressman in one of the groups I am a member of has opined that the day is not far when BJP goons will raze Taj Mahal ( like Babri Masjid? and what about congress goons damaging public property and an academically zero Rahul talking big about the likes of Savarkar) and India will become like Pakistan or more agonisingly like Syria!

I am sure his prophecy will turn out to be big myth and that Indians will ensure that this ethos does not die at the hands of these political comedians.

We the sane Indians should see through the hidden acts of all these politicians and must understand one undeniable fact – this country has always been secular and all the religions have prospered here. Any attempt to even dream about ethic cleansing can be a ticking time bomb because our ethnicity is Indianness and not Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Parsi and Christian.

Just read that Vishal Dadlani, who owes allegiance to AAP, made a statement that these rape cases and onion prices are diversionary tactics to wean the attention of public at large away from Citizen Amendment Bill (CAB). I have huge respect for Vishal for his understanding of music and for guts to speak his mind. But the above comment was not required as it undermined the intelligence of Indian public. Moreover, a ghastly crime like rape is worthy of universal condemnation and nothing else. I hope like much of fake news on social media, this comment attributed to Vishal proves to be untrue though this very talented musician does suffer from occasional “foot in mouth” syndrome of making a loose comment and then eating his words- like the classic comment he made on Jain Munis and their nirvastra existence!

I haven’t read CAB and would not like to judge it based on half baked understanding. However, whatever little I could understand, CAB provides an opportunity to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians etc affected by partition to seek Indian citizenship. The logic for non inclusion of Muslims in this list is that partition of India happened on religion basis ! However, Muslims are as much affected by partition as any other community and several might have got stranded in Pakistan and Bangladesh per force! The government ruling the country must always observe Raj Dharma, riding above the narrow considerations of cast, creed, community, sex and religion. It must work for welfare of all religions. But as aforesaid, a full blog on CAB will happen after full understanding of its provisions and rationale.

However, enmity between the ruling party and opposition runs so deep that I seldom notice any point of convergence between the two. Hasn’t this Government done anything good? Were all previous Congress governments only dummies!

Parties and politicians should better watch out as ordinary citizen seems to have risen above the muck and they may be seriously misreading the public by underestimating their intelligence and understanding!

A dear friend,who is also my boss, sprang a surprise in the morning. He came to me, shook heads warmly and then gave a hug catching me unaware. Seeing this rather bewildered expression on my face, he wished me happy silver jubilee in the organisation.

Joining dates and work anniversaries are important events and one seldom forgets them. I clearly remember my first job date , my second joining and the current job, being the last time I changed my job. And I remembered this date till very recently, more so this being my silver jubilee. However, caught in certain other engagements, when the D day arrived, I forgot it completely.

These occasions are matter of great satisfaction and rejoicing for these are milestones. Milestones assume an added significance when destination is undefined and only journey matters, which is an apt description of my job and my organisation, where there is no limit to which you can excel or say I have done enough and nothing else is left to be done! As our CEO explains while putting forth his expectation – ” I will see the glass as half empty, replace it with a bigger glass when it is filled up to the brim and when even bigger glass is full, keep a pitcher there for all of you to fill.”! In this case, half glass empty is not pessimism as the saying goes but an overwhelming optimism to always look ahead and not to get complacent!

What’s next? More milestones to be crossed with renewed vigour and enthusiasm, maintaining child like inquisitiveness to learn more and new things and dissemination of whatever little I have learnt over all these years to willing learners!

As the poem goes:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Thanks to all my bosses, colleagues, team members, friends, well wishers and family, who have accompanied me on this continuing journey and whose support will take me to miles before I sleep!

The blog is titled this way instead of using a common gender oriented word such as women or females to highlight that no female in this country is safe from the evil intents of characterless sex maniacs. A few months ago, there was a case where a grandmother was raped, while today on the heels of dastardly Hyderabad act, I came across a news item regarding rape of 2 years old girl by a monster!

And our lawmakers are clueless about tackling this menace! There are stray noises in Parliament and lots of advisory around dos and don’ts for our girls such as – don’t venture out alone late at night, don’t wear provocative clothes, don’t drink alcohol, do jot down number of taxi or auto you are hiring, keep your parents informed about your movements etc.

Every time a Nirbhaya happens, everyone wakes up just to go back into slumber once again. Every time a girl dresses up in a chic manner, agrees to share a drink or two, is alone in a place, expresses her views openly etc, she is actually giving a license for her exploitation! To such low levels has stooped our thinking !

I call upon – not police – but all other vigilantes – cow protectors,green brigade, RSS, Nihang Sikhs, Muslim bodies, Christian missionaries – to rise above narrow consideration of caste, community and religion and join hands to protect our mothers, sisters and daughters! Unless we learn to respect a lady who is not our one of the above viz. Mother, sister or daughter, continue to treat woman as an object of desire and treat them as a weaker sex to be dominated and exploited, all our life’s missions will be failures and we shall not be able to justify our existence on this virtue of myopic missions of protecting cows, trees, religion, caste and community!

Only a strong community joining hands can weed out this malaise – law, police, governance etc will always be only partly effective .