ती. बाबांस आणि सौ. आईस,

ती. बाबांस आणि सौ. आईस,

शि. न. वि. वि. पत्र लिहिण्यास कारण खरं काहीच नाही. सहज मनात आलं, की तुम्हा दोघांशी पत्रातून बोलावं. म्हणून हा प्रयत्न. खरं तर मी तुम्हा दोघांना खूप जास्त miss करते. बऱ्याच वेळेस असं वाटतं की तडक तुम्हाला येऊन भेटावा. पण वेळे अभावी नाही जमत.

आज लग्न होवून दोन वर्ष होत आली. मी रुळले आहे नवीन घरी, नवीन ठिकाणी. तरीही तुमची आठवण पदोपदी आल्यावाचून राहत नाही. आज आई-बाबा काय करत असतील? आई निघाली असेल का कामाला ? बाबांचे क्लास्सेस कसे चालू असतील? असे कायम विचार येतात.

तसे आता "रुटीन" चालू झाला आहे. खर तर, काही महिन्यांपूर्वी असे व्हायचे की खूपच आठवण येते आहे तुमची. पण आता, जसे प्रत्येक जण सवय करतो, तशी मला पण झाली आहे सवय तुमच्या शिवाय राहायची. तुम्हा दोघांना पण झाली असेल कदाचित. तुम्ही "मुलगी सुखात आहे" यातच तुमचा सुख मानता. पण म्हणून मला तुमची आठवण येत नाही असे नाही.

घरात स्वतः काही गोष्टी करताना विचार येतो, की मी कशी होते लग्नाआधी. मग विचार येतो की आई-बाबांबरोबर कसे करायचे मी ह्या गोष्टी. मग थोडा लग्नाआधी करायचे ते, आणि मला जे बरोबर वाटते, अथवा करता येते, जसे करता येते तसे, असे दोन्ही एकत्र करून एक वेगळ्या प्रकारे केला जाते. त्यात पण गम्मत आहे.

आधी सगळेच नवीन आणि वेगळे वाटायचे. पण आता माझा स्वतःचे वेगळे आयुष्य चालू आहे. काही गोष्टी ज्या मी आधी कधीच करायचे नाही त्या करते. आधी ज्या करायचे, त्या आता बिलकुलच करत नाही. खूपच वेगळे आहे, तरीदेखील सारखेच आहे. प्रत्येक लग्न झालेल्या मुलीला असेच काहीसे अनुभव येत असणार.

मला फक्त कधी-कधी असे वाटते की मी मुलगी असल्याने तुमच्या जवळ नाही राहू शकत. त्याही पेक्षा, मुलगी म्हणून स्वतःच्या आई-बाबांची जबाबदारी कमी, आणि सासू-सासर्यांची जास्त, हे बऱ्याच वेळेस ऐकते, त्याचे वाईट वाटते. तुम्ही देखील किती तरी वेळेस म्हणाले आहात...की आता त्या घरचे आधी सांभाळायचे. त्याचे थोडे वाईट वाटते. मग जास्त आठवण होते. असा आपल्या समाजात का विचार केला जातो, हेच कळत नाही. आणि आवडत त्याहून नाही.

मला कायम वाटत राहते, की शेवटी मुलीच्या आई-बाबांचे हात रिक्तच राहतात का?

असो! एव्हडेच सांगायचे होते की मी मजेत आहे. काळजी करू नये. पण तुम्ही दोघे नक्की स्वतःची काळजी घ्या.

तुमचीच,

प्राजक्ता

Why So Much Hulla-Bulla On Barfi?

... I really do not understand!

Why do we have to go back and analyse the film and then realise that it is copied from other films? Why can't we just enjoy it just as it is?

I watched Anurag Basu's interview yesterday. He openly admitted that the film is a tribute to all the movies that he grew up watching. He also mentioned that there was a note in the beginning of the movie saying so, which he had to remove because of the "Smoking is injurious to health" message that he had to add. Isn't that enough?

More than that, how does it matter if he has copied the scenes from such other movies? Just adding them in the movie in the right manner, at the right point of time in the movie, and with the right timing, direction, and editing is a feat in itself, don't you think?

Several scenes are copied exactly as they are from the other movies. That does not make their importance any less in Barfi. They remain as enjoyable as before. To understand that those scenes from those particular movies could be reused in this movie in the same likeable manner is great. To direct the artists to give excellent timing and beautiful moments in Barfi is awesome. To bring out the same effect, to shoot the scenes from the same angle, all that requires technique, and definitely a great understanding of camera work and filming.

I really do not mind Anurag Basu copying the scenes. In fact, he has used the same theme of those scenes. But used them beautifully in his movie. And what really is wrong in that? All great artists have done that. Shakespeare is a good example of that. Most of his world-famous dramas had their plots or stories picked up from stories from history that were already well-known in those times.

So, if one film-maker does use the world-famous scenes from different movies in his movie, why should it be such a big issue?

If such scenes had been used by the Chopras, Johars, or Khans, would the media raise similar issues? Or would these bigwigs be acquitted just because of their well-known names?

आठवणी लहानपणीच्या गणेशोत्सवाच्या

आज हरतालिका! आणि उद्या गणेश चतुर्थी. सकाळी उशीरच झाला उठायला. पूजा-अर्चा नाही झाली सकाळी. फक्त देवीला हळद-कुंकू वाहिले. दररोज सारखी office ला पण आले. कामामध्ये थोडा विरंगुळा, म्हणून office cafeteria मध्ये उभी होते, तेव्हा एकदम लहानपणीच्या गणपतीच्या आठवणी आल्या.

आम्ही लहान होतो तेव्हा आई हरतालिकेच्या दिवशी उठवून नाहायला लावायची. माळ्यावर कुठे तरी जपून ठेवलेली, जी फक्त तिलाच माहित असायची कशाची आहे ते, ती plastic ची पिशवी काढायला लावायची. उघडून बघावे आत तर काय! वाळू! मग आई आम्हाला त्या वाळूने पाटावर हरतालिका देवीच्या दोन बाहुल्या शेजारी-शेजारी, आणि त्यांच्या पुढ्यात महादेवाची पिंडी, असे तयार करायला लावायची. (उजवीकडे काढून दाखवले आहे.)

मग त्या पाटावर साग्रसंगीत पूजा व्हायची. हळद-कुंकू, गंध, अक्षता, फुले, पत्री, हे सगळे वाहायचे, दूध-साखरेचा नैवेद्य दाखवायचा. एखादे फळ असेल तर ते देखील ठेवायचे देवापुढे. त्या नंतरच खायला मिळायचे. भूक लागलेली असायची. पण "आजच्या दिवस तरी जरा दम धर" असे सकाळीच ऐकवलेले असायचे. मग गपचूप पूजा व्हायची वाट बघायची.

आम्ही खरी वाट बघायचो ते हरतालिकेच्या संध्याकाळची. आई ऑफिस मधून कधी येते त्याची आतुरतेने वाट  बघत असायचो. कारण संध्याकाळचे मुख्य आकर्षण असायचे...शनिवार वाड्यावर जाऊन गणपती बघायचे.

आमच्या घरी गणपती नसतो. म्हणून आई-बाबा आम्हाला घेऊन जायचे सगळे वेगवेगळे गणपती बघायला. काय मज्जा यायची! सर्व प्रकारचे गणपती असायचे...मोरावर बसलेला, हत्तीवर बसलेला, सिंहासनावर शिवाजी महाराजांसारखा, साई बाबांच्या वेषात, मुषकावर, वीणावादन करणारा, कृष्णासारखा डोक्याला मोराचे पीस असलेला, आणि किती तरी विविध रूपे.

खूप सारे काका-काकी आजू-बाजूला असायचे गणपती बाप्पाला घरी न्यायला आलेले असायचे. किती तरी मुले बाप्पांना घेऊन जात असायचे. एखादी हातगाडी दिसायची. त्यावर आठ-दहा छोटे-मोठे गणपती असायचे. सगळ्यांची तोंडं झाकलेली. एखाद्या चाळीतील सगळी मुले गोळा झालेली असायची, जोरजोरात ठरवा-ठरवी चालायची त्यांच्या मुलांच्या मंडळाचा गणपती कुठला ठरवायचा ते.


शनिवार वाड्याच्या त्या पटांगणावर पूर्ण फेरफटका मारायचो आम्ही. रात्री उशीरा पर्यंत. इतके सारे सुंदर गणपती बघून डोळे दिपायचे. मग आमच्या comments असायच्या...हा गणपती एकदम बेरकी दिसतोय, तो फारच cute आहे, हा छोटा फारच मिश्कील आहे. तो मोठावाला कॉमेडी दिसतोय. एकाचा डोळा जरा तिरका आहे, तर दुसऱ्याचे पोट जरा जास्तच बाहेर. काही गणपती "कृष्ण-धवल" असायचे, म्हणजे एक पूर्ण पांढरा, तर दुसरा एकदम कृष्ण सारखा काळा. काही ugly वाटायचे, तर काही जात्याचे सुंदर.

असे करत-करत कधी रात्रीचे दहा वाजायचे कळायचे नाही. मग दर वर्षी सारखे आम्ही विचारायचो: "एक छोटी मूर्ती न्यायची का?" मग नेहेमीचा संवाद व्हायचा.

"नाही न्यायची!"
"पण का??"
"आपल्याकडे गणपती नाही आणत."
"पण का म्हणून? सगळ्यांकडे असतो. आपल्याकडेच का नाही?"
"नाही."
"पण काय होता नेला तर? वाटल्यास पूजा नको करायला त्याची."
"अगं असे नाही चालत. मूर्ती आणली की पूजा-अर्चा सगळी करावी लागते."
"मग करूयात ना."
"आपल्यात नाही करत."

शेवटी मग compromise म्हणून दोन कमळं घ्यायचो. त्या कमळांचा काही उपयोग नसायचा, तरी घ्यायचो. आणि ते गणपतीमागे लावतात चक्र, ते देखील घ्यायचो.  just मज्जा म्हणून. त्यातच आनंद मानून घरी परतायचो.

मग दुसऱ्या दिवशी गणपती बसायचे. ज्यांच्याकडे दीड दिवसाचा गणपती असायचे, त्या सगळ्यांकडे संध्याकाळी जाऊन यायचे. गौरी-गणपती असतील, त्यांच्याकडे जाऊन यायचे. बिबवेवाडी, धनकवडी, मार्केट यार्ड, असे पुणे दर्शन करून घरी परतायचे.

विसर्जन ज्या दिवशी असेल, दीड दिवस, पाच दिवस, गौर-गणपती जातील तेव्हा, त्या सगळ्या दिवशी घाटावर जायचे. विसर्जनाची मज्जा बघायची, आणि मुख्य म्हणजे वाटली डाल, खिरापत, आणि पेढे, असे वेगवेगळ्या, अनोळखी लोकांच्याकडून पण प्रसाद मिळायचे. काय मौज वाटायची! आणि सगळे लोक अनोळखी लोकांना पण प्रसाद वाटतात. अतिशय उत्साही आणि मंगल वातावरण असायचे.

एव्हड्यात दहा दिवस कधी संपायचे कळायचे नाही. आदल्या-मधल्या दिवशी रात्री आई-बाबा गणपती दाखवून आणायचे. दगडूशेठ हलवाई, मंडई, तुळशीबाग, बाबू गेनू, जिलब्या मारुती, हिराबाग, खडकमाळ, जोगेश्वरी, कसबा गणपती, नातूबाग, गुरुजी तालीम, हत्ती गणपती, असे किती तरी. सगळे चालत-चालत बघायचे. कधी कधी थोडा पाऊस असायचा. पण तरी सगळे गणपती cover करायचे. कणीस खायचे आणि चालत-चालत फिरायचे. खूप धम्माल केली.

अनंत चातुदशी च्या दिवशी आमच्या काकांकडे अनंताची पूजा असते. मग आम्ही त्या दिवशी सकाळी अकरा पर्यंत जायचो त्यांच्याकडे. आई प्रसादाला कायम बोटव्याची खीर करून न्यायची. येत-जाता किती तरी मिरवणुका दिसायच्या.

रात्री लक्ष्मी रस्त्यावर मिरवणूक बघायला जायचो. शेवटचा दगडूशेठ हलवाईचा गणपती गेला, की एकदम खाली-खाली वाटायचे. आता गणपतीची भेट एकदम पुढल्या वर्षीच, असे मनात म्हणत घरी परतायचे.

आज इतक्या वर्षांनी सगळ्या गोष्टी जश्याच्या तश्या डोळ्यां पुढे उभ्या राहिल्या. खूप nostalgic वाटले. आठवणी पण साठवून ठेवाव्यात, असे वाटून गेले, म्हणून पटकन लिहून काढले. या पुढे पण गणपती उत्सव होईलच, ढंग नक्कीच वेगळा असेल!

Another Award

...yes, I got another award in office yesterday as an appreciation and recognition of work that I did in the last release.

The last release that happened in the end of July was a real big release, and I had absolutely slogged out for that. I was handling three products, three writers, interacting with numerous, numerous people, and overall handling complicated information.

Out of the three products, the one that I was supposed to only manage was the one in which I ended up writing too. It was being handled by a novice writer, and ultimately I had to review and almost rewrite everything that the writer had done. It was a learning experience for me. It taught me patience and working in pressured environment. I learnt the lesson that for novice writers, I need to adopt a different strategy.

The second product was again being written by a junior writer. I spent a lot of time again in making the writer understand the mistakes, only to find the same mistakes being committed again and again. By the time I could again help the writer understand the fine nuances of writing, I had to concentrate on the third product, which was going to be the toughest of all.

I learnt a valuable lesson while handling the second product. I learnt that how much ever you try to be at all places every time, you cannot. How much ever you try to do all things on your own, you cannot. How much ever you try to make people do things perfectly, they will not. Because, they will do it only as per their capacity.

And finally, that you have to let go. You simply cannot do all the things, all the time, all the way. You have to stop yourself and not stretch. You have to let go and understand that you cannot be there all the time, and that you are not responsible if people do not do work as you want them to do.

The toughest was the third product. Information was hard to come by, and when it came, it came in hordes. Multiple people commenting on existing information in the documents, providing new information that had to be added, requesting to delete some information, requesting for a fourth or fifth review of the updated information. It was crazy! But there was method in all this madness.

I could handle it because I had learnt how it was to handle the third product from the last time. I had faced similar people and similar sources of information in the last release. I was prepared for it. The good part was that people had started trusting me with the documentation for that product and readily helped me.

There were days when I was struggling with my information. At times, I was at loss to understand where to start. For some information, I couldn't see when the reviews and comments would stop coming. A week before closing the docs, I was done with most of the documentation. However, with my past experience, I knew that there was one block of information that was still pending from a team.

That's what exactly happened. It was crazy handling the complex information. But I could do it and get the reviews too. It was a mammoth task of interacting with so many people and getting information from them.

But I have learnt so much from this. I have actually seen myself grow as a writer, as a senior person in a team, and moving on to handle bigger things. I really, really love my work here.

During this last release, it was only once that I was off my rocker when I was facing issues on my personal front and when there was  just too much of information to handle at work. But then, all my colleagues helped me and supported me. My manager especially knew how hard I was working and asked me to take a week off when the release was over.

I have really been lucky. I thank God for giving me opportunities to perform, to excel, to help me grow, and to test my mettle. And I thank Him for putting me in a set of people that support me, understand me, and help me grow!

To Babai

Babai in a pensive mood

Dearest Babai, who is right now not as healthy as she used to be. It is heart-wrenching to see her like that.

Babai, my Aai's Aai, has always been this one strong woman, who has never ever bowed down. To see her in the bed all the time, too weak to talk is very disturbing.

When me and my sister were kids, we used to stay at my grandmom's place after our school. We used to be dropped by our rickshaw-wale kaka in the afternoon, and stayed there till evening, when Baba used to come to pick us up.

Those were magical days! Babai and Kaka (my Ajoba) used to stay at Prabhat Talkies, literally in the heart of Pune city. They had a two-room home that housed so many people at a time. We used to have all our cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, all together under one roof. But the house always seemed enough for all.

Babai was almost the head of the house, taking care of the kitchen, the kids, the grocery, everything around. She was a solid support for my Mami who continued working as a nurse. My cousin, my sister, and I used to spend afternoons together after school. We used to fight during lunch for the place closest to Kaka. We used to fight again for the afternoon siesta for a place closest to Babai. She would pacify us saying that she had long hands and would reach up to all.

She was the one who taught us to read time. She had this old, broken-down clock that she used to tune and change the hour and minute hands, and then ask us to guess the time. I can never forget that red-faced clock and those "timely" hours spent in the balcony.

Babai had always been strong, at times very, very headstrong, to the point of being irritating. She always gloried in the work that she did, the contacts she maintained in her big family, be it on her own side, or her husband's side. Everyone in the family used to respect her, love her, and never forgot what she had done for them. And she really did do everything possible for everyone. No one left her threshold unsatisfied. She was there for everyone, a lighthouse, a beacon, a solid wall of support.

She had her flaws. She was too headstrong. She had been too much in the limelight, too much in the power to give up easily. She always wanted things her way. She has had a tremendous ego. But all in all, she never bowed down, never gave up.

Today, when I see her in the hospital, I can only remember how she was once upon a time. She is diminished, faded, and tired. After 85 years of being headstrong, it is hard to see her bowed down due to her age. She is slowly losing against time.

We all love you, Babai! Just one more loving request we make of you...do not go away by losing away to life. Fight back! Be your own self! Be the iron lady you have been! Make your final exit on your own terms. Not by simply fading away!

The Fiasco Of Planting Trees

Today morning dawned a new scene. Around 9.30 in the morning, just as we were getting ready for office, there was a kind of sober commotion outside house. Some people from the municipal corporation had come to plant trees in the neighbourhood. Everyone started gathering around as people realised what was going to happen.

Everyone in the area had been unprepared for this surprise visit. Rather, all were taken aback that new trees were even required in our area. My locality consists mainly of self-occupied houses surrounded by small gardens. Most of the owners have created their own greenery and plants in their little gardens. Also, the area has never been barren what with gulmohor, palm, parijatak, and other variety of trees growing in the area. Naturally, a tree-plantation drive was as much a novelty as an unnecessity.

The worst part of the drive was that none of the residents were informed in advance of such a drive. And secondly, to plant those saplings, the corporation workers were digging up the newly-laid footpaths. The workers went about their work unashamedly, and have already dug up the footpaths on both the sides of the road at several places. The dug up footpaths are now easy pitfalls for idle walkers who may not always look down as they walk.

The irate residents were very vocal in their disapprovals. One of the men in the group was heard saying: "पण मी म्हणतो, चांगले फुटपाथ खोदायला कशाला पाहिजेत?" The other one was heard saying how these men would just keep the pits open and never bother about planting trees or even covering them up. "ते लोक काय, त्यांचे काम करून गेले, आता कोण येऊन बघणार?"

Another irritated man angrily was showing everyone, who was ready to pay attention, how those workers had dug up exactly in front of his gate. The kaka who live opposite us had already shown all the trees in his own garden when those people had dug up the footpath on their side of the road. But of course, that didn't budge the workers. Their target was to dig up the platform for trees outside the compounds, not inside. What mattered if there were scores of trees inside! There were none on the footpath or at the edge of the road. That meant there were no trees!

One other man with an upright civic sense was ranting about how the local corporator was really not of much use, how he knew the corporator had climbed the ladder to success, and how he was irresponsible. The resident was also unhappy about how most of the residents had not even bothered to come out of their houses even when someone was digging up right in front of their houses. He ranted on loudly of their indifference to the wrong doings of the civic body.

Honestly, I found the situation hilarious. Here were people who were angry that the footpaths were being dug up, while the workers nonchalantly and diligently completed their digging and went away.

What I would certainly like to know is, who really had this great idea of digging up the footpaths to plant trees in an area where there were quite some trees? Who also gave them permission to do that? And why is it always that digging is done when the road is newly made or when footpaths are newly laid?

The Immortals of Meluha

(I have tried not to delve out a lot of details from the book to avoid giving spoilers. However, if you have not read the book, and plan to read it, just a warning that the following post might contain spoilers.)

This first of the Shiva trilogy is a fantastic book. After I started reading it, I just could not put it down. It is fast-paced, funny, intelligent, and not a bit boring.

Amish Tripathi, the author has taken Lord Shiva out of his "Lordship" and yet awarded him the "Lordship" in a totally different way. We see him as a common man who has his own problems, ideas, thoughts, weak points, and strong points. But he certainly has the strength to lead people and think differently. That is what makes him different.

Amish has made use of one of the greatest civilizations of history, the Indus Valley Civilisation to the greatest advantage. In a very creative way, the life led in that civilisation, which we might have known only through school and history books, is brought back to life, providing a whole gamut of experiences of understanding the civilisation. Perhaps it may not be all true. But the way it has been imaginatively given a character of its own is very good.

The workings of that civilisation are intrinsically woven into the story. The civilisation was a way of life. And that is precisely what is portrayed in the book.

The characters are well fleshed out. Each one, including the hero, has flaws that are part of the character. Each character is dynamic and doesn't behave superficially. Some characters may not be given a lot of space, like the Queen of the Suryavnshis. But such characters are not lost. They still have their own presence felt.

A mixture of mythology, fiction, suspense, mystic, and a brilliant plot is what makes this book a pleasure to read. Right from detailed descriptions of the wars that are fought, the one-on-one fights, or even the skirmishes that take place, the book does not become dull any moment.

I really liked the book and am looking forward to reading the next one - The Secret of the Nagas. I am hoping that Amish does not disappoint even in the last of the trilogy and keeps writing many more such interesting books.