Are we HOME and DRY?

The recent Chennai floods threw up a lot of questions.  Biggest of them was, why the drainage system of Indian cities is still in the bygone era. A decade ago, Mumbai saw the highest ever recorded rainfall and in a single day Mumbai turned into a gigantic lake. Of course, the rains were beyond our capacity to handle and floods were inevitable, but surely the damage would have been much less, had the severely plastic clogged drainage system been functioning better.

The next big question posed was, why nothing is being done for flood water management in a country which sees droughts in many places. Well, this is completely our fault; nature cannot be blamed. Flood water stays stagnant and in a while, becomes breeding ground for numerous viruses and bacteria, which lead to epidemic et.al. Not to mention, the damage floods do on our roads, crops etc. Why can’t we reuse flood water?

I was having a chat with my wife on water logging, when we witnessed scenes in Pune after a night of heavy rainfall. My wife, who was born in Goa and has spent all her childhood there, talked very highly of the drainage system in Goa, which is able to handle rains much heavier than what Pune can imagine. She said the Portuguese should be given their due, since they ensured great infrastructure for managing waste water till their rule ended in 1961. Why can’t other cities follow the model of Goa?

Talking of flood water management, I was constantly thinking of how we can reuse water. I googled a bit and found a very interesting idea by someone from America. She said there should be water towers installed at places which are prone to floods. Diesel operated pumps should be used to send water up to the towers, once flooding starts. She further said that the cost of such towers and pumps far outweigh the cost of lives and property lost. Well I believe, this is a good and feasible idea and can be implemented at least in the metro and tier 1 cities of India.

I also read about air tankers. Air tankers are aero-planes that can transport huge quantities of water.  I saw videos of how these planes landed on lakes and floated on them for a minute and in the process pumped water into their tanks. Then they flew away to their targets which were either wild fires or other locations where aerial fire extinguishers were needed. Although this alternative is much costlier than the water tower approach, this is certainly useful in severe cases. What I am thinking of is, having many such smaller planes land on flooded areas, take in water and fly off to drought affected places. Watering those barren lands from above can be an easier option compared to cloud seeding.

Due to the quickly warming planet, the ice at the poles is melting fast. Seas are rising and already a few tiny islands of the world have submerged. Rapid industrialization and deforestation are adding to the woes. Also, it's a pity that trees are being taken for granted. It is universally known that trees not only help in controlling pollution but also in holding ground water together and prevent floods. Water management has to become our top priority else we will reach a phase where that old line will hold true – WATER WATER EVERYWHERE, NOT A SINGLE DROP TO DRINK.

Below is a video that shows the aftermath of Chennai floods.

He walked the MIDDLE PATH!

In our country, movies are mostly about glamour, richness, beauty, grandeur etc. Basically all the possible words that can be used to describe something that is slightly beyond the reach of the common man – the one who makes up the big class of India – THE MIDDLE CLASS.  But it is this very class which loves the movies, partly for entertainment and partly because it’s like being in a dream. A dream which they saw every day and night, but which still was so distant, that they lapped up any movie that was dished out. A plot was barely essential, as long as there was an item number, a gorgeous damsel in distress, a macho hero to become her savior and a savage villain to spoil the settings and get punished for it in the end.

Majority of the movies worked around this and to come up with something which didn’t stick to these standards, meant gambling. However, there was one director in particular who mastered in simple story telling. He was none other than, Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His movies made the Great Indian Middle Class relate to almost every scene. Stories were churned out from situations which were part of everyday life. His movies were light, more often than not had a witty plot and were laced with dialog that sounded brilliant yet next-doorish. Comedy was his forte but he was versatile enough with serious cinema too.

There could be an argument saying that most of his films had plots with characters that lied a lot. GOLMAAL, KISI SE NA KEHNA, BAWARCHI, CHUPKE CHUPKE, NARAM GARAM to name a few had LIES as the crux. Even his last film as director JHOOTH BOLE KAUWA KAATE was like that. But, Hrishikesh Mukherjee was not a stereo-type. He loved to make movies with a message. As they say, communication is more about how well a message is understood than how well it is conveyed. That’s where the simplicity in story telling came from. He did make masterpieces like ANAND and ABHIMAAN, which dealt with complex subjects like death and ego. But then again, he always found a way to add entertainment in all his movies.

Another facet about his movie-making that deserves mention is MUSIC.  He worked with greats like SD Burman, RD Burman, Salil Choudhary and needless to say the songs were memorable. To go with their wonderful compositions you had fabulous lyrics from wordsmiths like Gulzar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Anand Bakshi and the like. Just like the content of his movies, Hrishida’s movie songs also struck a chord with the general public.

Overall, Hrishikesh Mukherjee knew how to strike the right balance in his films. He neither indulged in opulence nor did he stoop low with production values. So not only did he find an audience with the middle class but also found fans in all strata of society – because somewhere, somehow we all follow the law of averages.  I hope we get many more blessed and great directors like him. Amen.

Unsung hero!

I recently heard an interview of Amit Kumar Ganguly on radio. He is simply and more famously known as Amit Kumar and is the son of the even more famous Abhas Kumar Ganguly. Oh alright, I am talking about Amit Kumar - son of singer Kishore Kumar. In a 30 minute interview I think around 20 minutes were spent talking about Kishore Kumar. It’s not as if Amit Kumar has not sung super hit songs. But so huge has been his father’s shadow, that this guy was hardly visible. At the end of the interview, I couldn’t help but think of Abhishek Bachchan who would certainly relate to this guy.

Anyway, coming back to Amit Kumar – it has to be said that he has lent his superb voice to some of the most melodious songs in the history of Hindi film music. Let me list a few, which I believe will stay evergreen.

1.    Bade Achche Lagte Hai:

RD Burman’s composition takes the cake here, but given that the song uses minimal orchestra, it is Amit Kumar’s soulful voice which adds a lot of value to this song.

2.    Yeh Zameen Gaa Rahi Hai:

Again an RDB creation, penned beautifully by Anand Bakshi is one song, which I like to hear on loop.

3.    Keh Do Ki Tum:

The legendary duo of Laxmikant-Pyarelal composed this one and got the emotion just right. It aptly portrays the possessiveness of a person for the loved one. I actually didn't know till I heard in the interview that this song was sung by Amit. But I always rated this song very highly.

4.    Yeh Ladki Zara Si Deewani: 

This is such a feel good song even though the protagonists are pulling each other’s legs. The picturization of this song may be a bit outdated, but the audio is certainly worth hearing - even now.

5.    Oye Oye:

This song from the movie Tridev had taken the nation by storm. Although its tune is heavily inspired (copied) from an old English song, Amit Kumar’s rendition is delectable.

6.    Yaad Aa Rahi Hai:

Simply awesome to hear this one, but strangely the composer RD Burman himself didn't like this song. May be because he set such super high standards. Having said that, Amit Kumar does a beautiful job, especially in the antara… Bante bante dulhan preet… Wow!

7.    Deewana Dil Deewana:

This one from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is a gem of a song. The other half of this song is sung by Udit Narayan, but in my opinion Amit Kumar wins here.

There are plenty more, but I’ll wind up. It’s a pity this wonderful singer didn't get the acclaim that he truly deserved. But I am sure, like me there are many more Amit Kumar fans out there.

Luck

Years ago in Kerala, there was a couple who lived a pretty downtrodden life. Meeting ends were so difficult that on some days, they went empty stomach so that their only child could eat. The husband, a daily wage worker didn't always find work and so the wife supported by doing petty jobs. They often cursed their luck, until one day while cleaning the house, the wife found a five rupee note. Husband was away on work. Wife picked up her child, locked the door and walked towards the market.  She stopped at a shop to buy some food, and just as she was about to speak, she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She turned around and saw an even poorer man, standing with his hand thrust forward, holding a bunch of printed papers.

The man said, “Please buy one madam, and help this poor man”. She thought for a moment and then picked up one paper and asked him the price. “Good choice ma'am, that’s a lottery for 25 lakhs and it will cost you just five rupees. God willing, you may win the big prize”, he replied. Willy-nilly, she bought a ticket and walked back home. Two days later, the village was abuzz with news of a first ever full lottery win there. The wife’s luck had smiled big time. The family became the first lakhpatis of that village.

Such is luck, and talking of it, I think I need to share this wonderful message I had received on whatsapp. Read on.

Why some people have all the Luck ?  
By Professor Richard  Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire.
Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve?
A psychologist says he has discovered the answer.

Ten years ago, I set out to examine luck. I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune. I placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me.

Hundreds of extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research and over the years, I have interviewed them, monitored their lives and had them take part in experiments. The results reveal that although these people have almost no insight into the causes of their luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their good and bad fortune. Take the case of seemingly chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not.

I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities. I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying : "Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $50."

This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected. As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties'; intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and miss other types of jobs.

Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. My research eventually revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Towards the end of the work, I wondered whether these principles could be used to create good luck. I asked a group of volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person. Dramatic results ! These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck. One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic : 80% of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and perhaps most important of all, luckier.

The lucky people had become even luckier and the unlucky had become lucky. Finally, I had found the elusive "luck factor".
Here are Professor Wiseman's four top tips for becoming lucky: 
1) Listen to your gut instincts - they are normally right 
2) Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine 
3) Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well 
4) Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call. 
Have a Lucky day and work for it... "
The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect."
" There is a great difference  between "worry"  and  "concern", 
A worried person only sees the problem and a concerned person solves the problem..!"
TO BE LUCKY OR UNLUCKY - it is by  practice and choice.

What's in the name?

We all know why football is called football. I am not talking about the ball (object) per se. I am talking about the game that is played with it. But I always wonder how some names of other sports originated. Cricket - which also is the name of an insect – surprises me first.  Others include Golf, Hockey, Tennis and an indeed surprising one - Formula one. I am sure there must be a story behind each of these names, but there is no simple explanation.

I was looking at a message which said that UNO has decided to celebrate Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's birthday (Oct 15th) as WORLD STUDENTS DAY. Quite an honor, isn't it? Right then it struck me that TEACHERS DAY falls in the month of September. Then, my brain did what it always does; it started wandering. It was thinking, “September is the ninth month and October is the tenth.”  So what? Well it thought further, “September can be shortened as SEP, October as OCT”. Now where exactly was my brain going with this?

If we talk of polygons then one with seven sides is called SEPTAGON, eight is OCTAGON, nine is NONAGON and ten is DECAGON. When we look at the first few letters, we can think of September, October, November and December. Now as per the calendar they are month no. 9, 10, 11 and 12, but their names correspond to 7, 8, 9, and 10. Mysterious! Of course, if you read up about the Gregorian calendar you will know the story behind the names of each of these months. But again, it is a bit hard to explain.

Then I think of Indian names of people. Majority of them are meaningful. Of course you have pet-names which make no sense, but they are not official and they are not many. On the contrary if you take western names, then meaning is the last thing you can associate with them. Amar, Akbar, Anthony – just three random Indian people I say, will find their western counterparts in Tom, Dick and Harry. Before you quiz me, I must say that Anthony means HIGHLY PRAISEWORTHY. Once again google saves me.

This world is so full of mysteries. Here I am pointing out just names, but there is so much that stays unexplained. I think the beauty of it is in STAYING UNEXPLAINED. Mankind is crazy to be running behind trying to know each and everything. I don’t know how many will agree with me, but I think this. The more we try to find reason behind every phenomenon, the more we distance ourselves from God. And aren’t we the same who have given God so many different names?

Numbers game!

Novak Djokovic won his ninth grand slam title when he beat Roger Federer in the final of Wimbledon 2015. It could have been a hat trick of grand slams this year for Djokovic, but for that heartbreaking loss in the final of this year’s French open. Djokovic started the year by winning the Australian open, and almost everybody other than Stanislas Wawrinka believed that Djokovic will win the French open as well. That belief had just got firmer when the world no. 1 had beaten Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the highly anticipated French open quarter final.

Federer fans cheered him to the T when he attempted to win his 18^th grand slam title, but it was in vain. However, the Swiss champion is still on top of the all-time list of grand slam winners with a mammoth 17 titles. Close behind him is Rafael Nadal tied with Pete Sampras at 14 titles. Nadal is going through a lean (read horrible) patch, but his fans hope that by 2016 he would be back to his best. That would be great for tennis, as there is hardly anyone who can match the competitive spirit of the Spaniard.

Just going by the numbers alone, one would be tempted to think that Roger Federer is indeed the greatest Tennis player of all time. However, that is far from the truth. It’s all about the era. It’s all about the kind of competition you face. Federer would have been considered as great as he is today, even if he had not won 17. That’s because the quality of his game had reached unprecedented levels. But his head to head record against Nadal is terrible. Nadal always had and will continue to exploit the weak Federer backhand. Nadal has beaten Federer, simply too many times. So does that make Nadal the greatest ever?

Now with Djokovic winning so consistently, and improving his head to head records against both Nadal and Federer, the question of being the greatest ever is still wide open. Expectations are riding high and a win at the US open 2015, will take Djokovic into double figures, as far as the number of grand slam titles is concerned. With at least 2 good years of tennis left in the Serb, Nadal’s record of 14 wins is in jeopardy.  But even if he overtakes the Spaniard, I doubt we would have found our answer.

Numbers are the biggest yardstick to measure greatness. But ONLY numbers are not enough. Reason is simple. SUBJECTIVITY! Last year, a Hindi film PK made big waves in Indian cinema. Its lifetime earning is over Rs. 700 crores which makes it the top grossing Indian film of all time. However, it is still not the greatest Hindi film ever. That coveted title is with ‘Sholay’. As I end this piece, Baahubali (a Telugu Magnum Opus) has raked in more than Rs. 300 crores and still going strong!

Wah Thai!!!

My wife and I boarded a flight from Mumbai and flew to Kuala Lumpur. From there we boarded another flight and reached our destination – BANGKOK. It was almost midnight as we came out of the airport and climbed into our taxi which would take us to Pattaya. Our cabbie probably had a very complicated Thai name, so he preferred a short name. The guy who waited for us at the airport and further helped us with contact numbers of co-ordinators in Thailand, he had a short name. His name was Pek. We were amused by that name but what really hit us was our cabbie’s short name. He was simply called A. Yes. Mr. A.

The drive from Bangkok to Pattaya is quite long, around 150 km. But the roads in Thailand are excellent. At times I saw Mr. A hit speeds of over 120 kmph. Most of the time, he kept the car running at over a 100 kmph. So after around 2 hours we checked into Hotel Hill Fresco in Pattaya. It was almost 2:30 AM as we went to sleep. The tiredness had taken its toll. Within no time, it was 7:30 AM and we got a call on our room phone. The woman at the other end told us to be ready by 8 AM. I was half asleep and I wondered why we had to do it. Then I called one of the numbers that Pek had given us. Jeejy, our female trip co-ordinator answered the call and told me that we cannot be late because there is a group tour planned. So with that we indeed started our Thailand trip.

Day 1 – Our morning started with a trip to Nong Nooch village garden. For a few hours we saw a lot of animals, the best of which was a tiger, which was chained - Thankfully. Oh how magnificent does a tiger look! Wow.

There was also a Thai cultural show. It consisted of dances, a dramatized kick boxing match, percussion play and at the end an elephant show. The evening was even better where we went to watch the ALCAZAR show. The show comprised of dances, where the performers – in excellent and very colourful clothing – danced to world tunes. When the hindi song, AAJA NACHLE NACHLE MERI JAAN started the entire auditorium erupted with joy. So many Indians had turned up to watch and the atmosphere went electric. It’s at moments like these when you feel more Indian. After the show, we went to the Pattaya beach and strolled around the Pattaya walking street. After that we bought from an Indian restaurant and carried the parceled food to our hotel.

Day 2 – It was time to check out from the wonderful Hill Fresco hotel. Our next stop was GEMS discovery. We took a mini tour inside the building. In a small open train! For around 15 minutes we were shown the various steps in the process of discovering precious and semi-precious gems. After that we were taken to a store were all those gems were lined up. FOR SALE! Once out of there, we were transported to a Buddhist temple. Here we witnessed the Reclining Buddha and the beautiful architecture of the Pagodas. With that ended our stay in Pattaya and we were on our way back to Bangkok. By evening we had checked into Hotel IBIS, Nana. After freshening up we went to JATUJAK market in Mo chit. From Nana to Mo chit we went by a SKY TRAIN. It was a first for me and it felt superb.

Day 3 – This had to be the best day of our trip. In the morning we went to Safari world. We visited a sanctuary and saw a lot of wild animals in the open. For the first time in my life I saw a herd of tigers enjoying in the open. Truly unforgettable sight! After an hour long Safari, we were taken to an area which seemed like an amusement park, minus the rides. However the animal shows we witnessed there were unbelievable. I was awestruck by the way they were trained to entertain. We saw the Orangutan show, sea-lion show and best of the lot – Dolphin show. After that we had Indian lunch and then took a stroll inside Safari world. Crocodiles that we saw there almost seemed like statues, until they moved. The day ended with a wonderful tour to Bangkok’s very own Madame Tussauds. We clicked a lot of pictures with wax figures of celebrities.

Day 4 – Siam center a very large mall in Bangkok houses the Oceanworld sealife. It definitely has to be the largest aquarium I ever saw. Just a few inches of glass separated us and sharks. For more than an hour we saw many species of sea life. Sea horses look really cute, I must say. The evening was exhausting. Jatujak market is huge and we shopped just enough to warrant a massage. So we went ahead and took it. My first experience with a THAI foot massage was heavenly. The legs were rejuvenated and we shopped for an hour more. It was very late in the night when we went to sleep in our IBIS room. We were all packed for the next day.

Day 5 – We hired a cab that took us to the Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, from where we flew to KL Malaysia and then to Mumbai and finally reached Pune. The sight to remember that day was our Bangkok cab overtaking a LAMBORGHINI.

Oh shit... what a hit!

The leitmotif of this film is crap. And I don’t mean it in a disparaging way at all. Shoojit Sircar has a way of working around things that induce cringe whenever we mention them. And it works well, just like it did when he made Vicky Donor. “Piku” played by Deepika Padukone is a story of a daughter who is forced to - as well as willing to - take care of her ageing father, played by Amitabh Bachchan, who has the perennial problem of constipation. His mind is as constipated as his bowels and the kind of shit he thinks and the subsequent troubles they bring to the ones around him makes up the story of the film. Almost every scene talks of poop and everything from the color to viscosity to amount is discussed in a quirky, funny way.

The titular character is a nearing-thirty woman, who juggles a professional life with a personal (single and desperate to mingle) life that is way busier than she would like. A demanding father, who is paranoid and selfish to the extent, that he wouldn’t want his daughter to get married, is not something one looks forward to. But Piku plays her part knowing that her father is completely dependent on her, especially since she has lost her mother. The irritability that comes to Piku and the issues it creates with the other people in her life keeps the movie going.

Along comes Irrfan Khan who plays Rana Chaudhury, as the driver of the cab, Piku hires for a road trip from Delhi to Kolkata. This is when the monotony in Piku and her father’s lives changes for the better. The slow but sure impact that Irrfan has on Piku and her father is delightfully done. Irrfan himself is a harried son and brother to the two females in his life, whom he cares for a lot, but can’t put up with at the same time.

The acting is terrific. Deepika holds her own when pitted against the likes of big B and Irrfan who do complete justice to their roles. Bachchan Sr. is spot on as the cranky father who is unsure of how long he will live, but sure that he won’t let go of his daughter. The romantic angle that Irrfan brings in is subtle and his eyes speak a lot more than his words. The supporting cast is solid with Moushumi Chatterjee staging a wonderful comeback to cinema. I don’t remember the last film she worked in, but here she is superb. Jisshu Sengupta as Piku’s business partner and Raghubir Yadav as the family doctor have small but very likeable roles.

The other high point in the film is about the thing that eventually turns to shit. Yes food! A variety of Bengali cuisine is shot in a very delectable manner. Another FOOD FOR THOUGHT here is the psyche of the man who is at the fag-end of his life, but still not able to LET GO of neither his excreta nor his fears. A beautiful moment in the film is when Irrfan tells Amitabh about a 99 year old Japanese man who rode a cycle.

The only grudge I had with the film is the accent used in the film. Big B has some wonderful lines in the film but the Bengali touch appeared unnecessary. Also there is a liberal sprinkling of English and Bengali in this film – without subtitles. The music is hummable and the duration of the film, is just about right.

Overall a nice and different film which gets 3 stars from me!

Every tune has a song.

Most often we love a song because we like it's main tune. Couple it with good lyrics and the song becomes great. However there are many songs where the interludes are extremely good. One such song is PEHLA NASHA PEHLA KHUMAAR from the film JO JEETA WOHI SIKANDAR. The piano pieces played in that song will stay in memory forever.

Today I thought of filling out those tunes with words. The song begins with the words CHAAHE TUM KUCH NA KAHO. The first stanza beautifully rendered by Sadhana Sargam ends with the words CHUN LIYA, SUN LIYA. Then, the piano starts. The following four lines can fit that instrumental.

All the way... warriors will go... all the way
with courage that won't fade away...
They know that after night there's day...
Masters at keeping all the foes at bay!

After this interlude, Udit Narayan starts, with UDTA HI FIROON. After his stanza is over, there is another piano piece. I have tried to fit the following words to that.

Moving like the wind, they blow the opposition down.
And having just the target in their sights, they see only the victor's crown...
like a being on a mission, they move on, really strong, their hopes never gone... 
they keep just moving on and on... on... on.

You will have to listen to the song very carefully, before you read this. Meanwhile I know, I need more practice with lyric writing! :-D

Human's day.

As the month of March began, media of all kinds was abuzz with something or the other related to women. Although it’s only the EIGHTH day of the month which is called the INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, preparations began right from day one. No complaints. Woman - God’s wonderful creation has every right to celebrate. But just when the mood got all upbeat, some horrible memories came back to haunt.

The December 2012 Delhi gang rape that shocked and angered the entire nation was remembered once again - This time through a BBC documentary. The documentary tried to be as real as possible and in the process drew further outrage from many sections. The contents of the same, were just too insensitive - was the claim. There were many who supported the documentary and said that it made for compulsory viewing. I don’t know what is right. So I will leave it at that.

Media ensured that every protest or support for the documentary was highlighted and the nation was simmering again. The immediate and quite grotesque effect was seen in India’s northeast corner. DIMAPUR in Nagaland had turned almost into a warzone. An alleged rapist was lynched to death by a mob of over a thousand. People got fed up with the delay in justice and took law into their own hands. What was even more shocking was the fact that the mob had broken into a jail; overpowered the police and took out the alleged rapist lodged there. He was paraded naked through the streets and beaten to death.

Yes, there were shopping discounts available on account of Women’s day. Yes, there were many promotions on TV, radio, internet and print media. Almost everyone is having an air of feminism these days. But is it all just a sham? Due to the innumerable cases of atrocities against women, ALL men are now bracketed into the same category. Male bashing has become the norm now. This is a bit like hating everyone from a particular religion because some from that religion are terrorists.

Back in the old days, the weaker gender took it all lying down. There was hardly any rebuttal. But now the big gender war is out in the open. There are solutions to this, but not quick. WILL - Both political and public on a sustained basis is required. Celebrating Women’s day or Men’s day, is just like trying to apply balm on a FRACTURED finger.  Hopefully, we start changing for the better and soon. Hopefully we have more days where we call them HUMAN’s day!

The Good God!

The following was received in a whatsapp message. Kudos to Mr. Harakhchand Sawla and to the anonymous one who wrote this piece about him.

*****

A young man in his thirties used to stand on the footpath opposite the famous Tata Cancer Hospital at Mumbai and stare at the crowd in front- fear plainly written upon the faces of the patients standing at death's door; their  relatives with equally grim faces running around. These sights disturbed him greatly. Most of the patients were poor people from distant towns. They had no idea whom to meet, or what to do. They had no money for medicines, not even food. The  young man, heavily depressed, would return home.

'Something should be done for these people', he would. think. He was haunted by the thought day and night. At last he found a way - He rented out his own hotel that was doing good business and raised some money. From these funds he started a charitable activity right opposite Tata Cancer Hospital, on the pavement next to Kondaji Building. He himself had no idea that the activity would continue to flourish even after the passage of 27 years.

The activity consisted of providing free meals for cancer patients and their relatives. Many people in the vicinity approved of this activity. Beginning with fifty, the number of beneficiaries soon rose to hundred, two hundred, three hundred. As the numbers of patients increased, so did the number of helping hands. As years rolled by, the activity continued; undeterred by the change of seasons, come winter, summer or even the dreaded monsoon of Mumbai. The number of beneficiaries soon reached 700.

Mr Harakhchand Sawla, for that was the name of the pioneer, did not stop here. He started supplying free medicines for the needy. In fact, he started a medicine bank, enlisting voluntary services of three doctors and three pharmacists. A toy banks was opened for kids suffering from cancer. The 'Jeevan Jyot' trust founded by Mr Sawla now runs more than 60 humanitarian  projects. Sawla, now 57 years old, works with the same vigour. A thousand salutes to his boundless energy and his monumental contribution!

There are people in this country who look upon Sachin Tendulkar as 'God'- for playing 200 test matches in 20 years, few hundred one day matches, and scoring100 centuries and 30,000 runs. But hardly anyone knows Harakhchand Sawla, leave alone call him 'God' for feeding free lunches to 10 to 12 lac cancer patients and their relatives. We owe this discrepancy to our mass media! (A relentless hunt on Google failed to procure a photograph of Mr. Sawla.)

Crores of devotees hunting for 'God' in Vithoba temple at Pandharpur, Sai temple at Shirdi, Balaji temple at Tirupati will never find 'God'. God resides in our vicinity. But we, like mad men run after 'god-men', styled variously as Bapu, Maharaj or Baba. All Babas, Maharajs and Bapus become multi-millionnaires, but our difficulties, agonies and disasters persist unabated till death. For last 27 years, millions of cancer patients and their relatives have found 'God', in the form of Harakhchand Sawla.

As you forward interesting jokes and poems instantly, do forward this message. Mr Sawla deserves his fair share of fame.

*****

A story of hope!

“That looks very serious!” exclaimed Dr. Anand Parekar handing over the report to Dr. Mohini Joshi. “Yes, he has about two months to live, unless a transplant is successful.” replied a dejected Dr. Joshi. She continued, “How do I break this to him?”, and tears rolled down her eyes. She closed the file and kept it on the table. It read – Patient name: Aditya Nagpal, Age:26. Aditya was detected with HEPATIC cancer just six months ago. Chemotherapy, radiation and the most advanced of cancer medicines could do nothing as the cancer spread rapidly and more than 90% of his liver was damaged. For someone who never drank a drop of alcohol in his life, this was unfortunate. 

"Just tell Aditya to meet me, when he comes for his next checkup", said Dr. Parekar, getting up to leave the room. 

"That will be today evening but, why sir? What's the matter?” enquired Dr Joshi. 

"Don't worry Mohini, I think I can handle this better and I will break this to him. You just direct him to my cabin when he comes. Ok?”

"Ok sir!”

"Hello doctor! I am Aditya Nagpal. Dr. Joshi told me to see you!” spoke Aditya as he walked into Dr. Parekar's cabin. 

"Oh, hi Aditya, please sit down! Yes, I wanted to meet you. Would you like some tea or coffee?”

"No Sir, I just had tea before leaving from home", replied Aditya. After that, it was all one way talk as Dr. Parekar explained the situation, while Aditya heard it without uttering a single word. Without doubt, this was the most shocking time of his life; life which was to end in a couple of months, unless a miracle happened. "Transplant is our only hope!” concluded Dr. Parekar.

Aditya felt tired as he reached home. The kind of tiredness he had never felt before. He didn't speak to his mother who opened the door. He went straight to his room and banged the door shut. He stared at his bed for a few seconds and then collapsed on it. He woke up startled by the cell phone ringing. It was his mother. "I have been knocking your door for so long... what happened to you?," cried his mother on the phone. "Ah Mom, sorry... wait let me open the door.” he replied. He opened the door and saw his worried looking mother. 

"Mom, just give me a couple of hours to sleep. I am feeling very tired. There is nothing to worry. I just want to sleep for some time." 

"Ok son, see you at dinner time!” she said and walked off. Aditya locked the door, went back to bed and lied down.

It was from nowhere that a motorcycle appeared right in front of his car. Driving at a speed of 75 kmph, Aditya had to swerve quickly to avoid running over the biker. The tyres screeched as he tried to push the brakes, but instead of stopping, the car turned turtle, slid down the slope and hit a tree at the roadside. Just as he was about to slip into unconsciousness, he saw a man, about the same age as his, extend a hand. "Thank you!” murmured Aditya before fainting. Aditya heard a knock on the door and woke up with a start. The accident was a dream. 

"Come out son! Time for dinner.” called his mother. Dinner was a quiet affair, as Aditya continued to think about the dream. Was the car a metaphor for his life that had recently crashed? Was the biker the unwanted cancer that came out of nowhere? He had questions. But wait, why was the tree at the end of the slope? It stopped the slide which could have been worse. Who was that man, who pulled Aditya out of the car? Is there hope? His mind continuously wandered from one question to the other and he barely felt the taste of the food he was having.

"Good night mom!” he said and retired to his bed room. He could not sleep. He didn't want to think about his life, but the more he tried, the more he ended up thinking. He got up, went to the living room and switched on the TV. He browsed through the channels and stopped at a movie channel. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION was on. He had watched it before, but didn't mind watching it again, given the brilliance of the film. During one of the scenes the lead character says - HOPE IS A GOOD THING. MAY BE THE BEST OF THINGS AND NO GOOD THING EVER DIES. That moment Aditya felt as if time had stopped. The movie continued to play on, but Aditya had no idea of what was going on. He just had that one line about hope going through his mind. He immediately picked up his phone and called Dr. Mohini Joshi. "Can I meet you tomorrow at the hospital say 11 AM?” asked Aditya and hung up after a few seconds.

Next morning sharp at 11 AM Aditya was waiting outside Dr. Joshi's room. A few minutes later she called out Aditya. "Dr. Parekar said transplant is our only hope. So let's do it. Liver transplant. Money is not a problem.” said Aditya all in one breath, even before taking his seat. "I know Aditya, please sit down first, I know money is not the problem, just that finding the right match to your liver is. Our hospital organ bank has nothing that matches your type. We need to look elsewhere and fast.", replied a concerned but calm Dr. Joshi. 

She continued, "I need to talk to your parents as well, Aditya. It is time they know about this. I also know that you won't be able to break it to them. But, they need to know Aditya. I will come over to your place today evening. We also need to check their liver compatibility. All is not lost! We do have hope." That last word brought a smile to Aditya's face.

That evening at Aditya's place, Dr. Joshi came straight to the point. As she finished speaking Aditya's mother's eyes welled up in tears. In moments, she was inconsolable, as Aditya's father hugged her tight. Dr. Joshi looked at Aditya, who in turn looked heavenwards. Dr. Joshi returned her gaze to Aditya's parents and said softly. "Can you both come to the hospital tomorrow? We need to perform some tests on you both. If compatible then a portion of your liver can be used for the transplant." Aditya's parents looked up. His mother had stopped crying. Both said in unison, "Yes we are ready!” This time it was Aditya's turn to shed a tear... A silent one though! 

The next morning as Aditya's parents were getting ready to go the hospital, there was a knock at the main door. Aditya's father went to answer it. Their driver greeted him. Aditya's father said to the driver, "Yes, we are almost ready, wait in the car, we will be there in 5 mins." "Ok Sir! But I came to say something else.",said the driver. Mr. Nagpal stared at the driver for a moment and said to him, "We'll talk in the car. Now go!" ”Alright sir!” said the driver and he walked back. 

Once in the car Aditya's father asked the driver, “So tell me, what were you saying?" "Sir, I am quitting, from tomorrow I won't be able to drive for you", replied the driver. "Oh no! Why? You know Aditya is undergoing treatment. We need you.” moaned Mr. Nagpal. 

"I know sir, and I am very sorry but I can't help it. I have to go out of town, and I'll be gone for long. But do not worry. My nephew will come as replacement. He is a good driver and has been driving for more than 5 years. I have told him everything and he is willing to work for the same salary. If you are ok, then I can tell him to come from tomorrow itself." 

"What is his name?” asked Mr. Nagpal.

"Sir, his name is Ravi.” replied the driver.

The next morning Ravi reached Nagpal residence. Aditya's mother answered the door-bell.

"Mam, I am Ravi Singh. Uncle sent me, as your new driver!"

"Oh OK... please sit here. I will send Aditya.” said Mrs. Nagpal and went back in the house.

Aditya came out and Ravi immediately got up from his seat and said, "Hello Sir, I am Ravi".

"Hi Ravi! Can I see your driving licence please?” Aditya said without a smile. However he did stare at Ravi for a few moments. The latter's face seemed familiar. 

After a brief discussion they both shook hands. "Thank you sir! I won't give you a reason to complain!” a smiling Ravi said.

"Alright Ravi, you can come from tomorrow. Be here sharp at 10 AM. I need to go somewhere. See you.” said Aditya with a serious look.

"Sure Sir, see you".

Ravi was a 28 year old, short man with a lean frame. But it was his smile that stayed in Aditya's mind and he still thought about his familiar looking face. Perhaps he got those looks from his uncle, thought Aditya and went back to his room. He stared at the calendar and counted something. Then he looked at the mirror. He wore a weary look and his eyes seemed dead. He thought to himself - Am I going to just live out the rest of the days, waiting for myself to die? He then sat down and wrote down into his diary. He was making a list. A BUCKET LIST.

Next morning Ravi waited near Nagpals' car. "Take me to this address!", ordered Aditya as he saw Ravi. Ravi looked at the address and nodded. After a 15 minute drive the car stopped near a bungalow. "You wait here in the car; I'll be right back.” said Aditya and got down. Aditya held a pen and paper as he walked towards the bungalow gates. He stopped and screamed at the top of his voice, "REEMA!!! REEMA!!! Please come out... REEMA... are you there?” A security guard came running from inside the gates and yelled, "Hey you! Stop shouting. If you want to meet madam, you have to wait. We can let you in only after checking with her. Tell me your name."

"Tell her it's Aditya Nagpal. Her class mate from College".

Aditya waited as the guard made a phone call. Aditya looked on as the guard kept an unwavering gaze on the former while talking on the phone. "Ok, mam, I will tell   him!", said the guard and hung up. "Hey listen, please leave, madam says she doesn't know any Aditya", said the guard sternly. "Oh is that so?” asked Aditya and began to walk straight towards the bungalow. "Hey, hey wait, you can't go in there!” said the guard pulling at Aditya's arm. "Oh, if you want to stop me, you got to kill me", laughed Aditya. The guard started hurling abuses at Aditya and violently jerked him back, but nothing seemed to stop Aditya. The guard was soon joined by another servant who began pushing Aditya. It was loud and got louder when Ravi ran in to defend Aditya. 

Hearing the commotion, a beautiful lady walked out of the bungalow. On seeing her, the men stopped. The guard spoke, "Mam, this man won't leave... we tried to...". "There you are REEMA", interrupted Aditya, "you don't know me huh?” Reema was as puzzled as the rest of the guys. She indeed didn't have any recollection of Aditya, so all she did was shake her head. Aditya spoke loudly, "Yeah right, miss beautiful. I was Mr. Invisible in college. Wasn't I? You were just too popular to know me. But I came here to tell you that I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED YOU and still do. I LOVE YOU A LOT. Never had the courage to tell you back then. But now is different. I LOVE YOU REEMA. I came here only to say that. That's all. Bye". Everyone was quite stunned but Aditya had already started walking back towards his car. Ravi looked at everyone else, shrugged his shoulders and followed Aditya, who took out a piece of paper and made a tick with his pen.

Both Aditya and Ravi had a hearty laugh once inside the car. "That was very brave of you sir.” said Ravi. "Thanks man! We have more places to go. Look at this. We go there next.", said Aditya showing him another address. They drove off. There again Aditya did something weird and both laughed till their tummies hurt. On another occasion Ravi got a bit worried, but was quickly relieved when he saw Aditya swimming up to safety. Aditya had just jumped off a bridge into a river. Aditya was pumping adrenaline and just wanted to go on and on doing outrageous things. He was feeling boundless joy. It was almost 9 PM when Aditya and Ravi returned home. "It was a wonderful day. Thanks Ravi for all the driving.” smiled Aditya. "No problem sir! May I ask you something?” quizzed Ravi. Aditya nodded. Ravi continued,"Sir, can we go to a place of my choice tomorrow, if you don't mind!". "Where is it?” asked Aditya raising his eyebrows.

"It is an orphanage sir. Not far from here. I go there frequently. I love a couple of kids there like my own. They are very cute. Would you like to go there, sir?" 

"Alright, let’s start at 10 AM. See you tomorrow", said Aditya and walked towards the house.

The orphanage had around 45 kids aged between 3 and 12. There was a delightful din in the premises as Aditya followed Ravi into a small office like room. Ravi entered his and Aditya's names and numbers into a large register. After that Ravi led Aditya into another hall where he was immediately smothered by 3 kids who looked like 5 year olds. "These are my three favourite kids, sir.” said Ravi as he hugged each of them. Ravi gave them a bag full of sweets and snacks and asked Aditya if he was ok to take a walk around the orphanage. Aditya okayed.

"Whenever I feel depressed I come here sir. I buy something for the kids, whatever in my capacity, and when I see the joy on their faces, I forget all my troubles. These 3 kids I showed you were just learning to walk when I first met them here. I don't know why, but I feel connected to them and if possible I might adopt all three. But you know sir, the costs are just beyond me!” said Ravi kicking a twig lying on the ground. Aditya and Ravi spent the whole day in the orphanage. They sang, danced and ate with the kids. Aditya was overwhelmed by the fact that it was so simple to be happy. Difficulty was only in being simple.

That night Aditya slept soundly. Many more nights passed. The only sad part was that no donor was found yet. Aditya's parents' livers were not compatible and now he had just 3 more weeks. One morning Ravi didn't turn up to work. Aditya, who had by now become quite friendly with Ravi, missed him. By afternoon Aditya gave Ravi a phone call. "Sir, I am sorry I can't come to work today. I am at the hospital.” answered Ravi. 

One of kids from the orphanage was admitted with a head injury. The kid had fallen while playing and was comatose. An emergency operation was required, but it would cost 15000. Ravi had no means to help and was disconsolate. "Fill the form Ravi; I am coming to the hospital. Don't worry about the money. I will pay them. Just get started with the formalities.” assured Aditya.

The operation was a success and the kid lived. Ravi was overjoyed and didn't know how to thank Aditya. "Sir, I am too small a man to be of any help... but if you need me for anything at all, please ask. I owe my life to you sir. Thank you so much for saving this kid!” said a teary eyed Ravi. Aditya simply smiled. For him there were just a little over 2 weeks left. Suddenly his phone rang. It was Dr.  Joshi. She said, “Aditya, can you meet me at the hospital at 2 PM today?"

That afternoon, when Aditya came back after meeting Dr. Joshi, Ravi asked, “Sir, is everything ok? You look very upset!” The tough man inside Aditya broke all of sudden and he cried for a long time. Ravi was dumbfounded. "Tell me sir, what happened. Please sir!” requested Ravi. Aditya told Ravi everything. That night Aditya didn't eat. He went to bed but couldn't sleep. Then he took a sleeping pill. Moments later he was dreaming. It was the same car accident dream. This time though he could see the face of the man clearly. The man who offered his hand to help. That man looked exactly like Ravi. Aditya woke up and found that it was still only 3 AM. Till morning Aditya tossed and turned but the sleeping pill had lost its effect.

It was 11 AM when Aditya's phone rang. "Good news Aditya! Get ready for the transplant. We got the donor", screamed Dr. Joshi. "Your driver, Ravi met me last evening at the hospital. We tested his liver type and it is compatible. He is ready to donate. God is great Aditya. God is great!” Aditya couldn't believe what he heard. All he could do was cry. It was involuntary, but tears flowed aplenty.

The day of the operation arrived. Ravi had been operated on the previous day. A part of his liver had been removed. Aditya's parents held Ravi's hand and cried for long. He simply smiled lying on his hospital bed. He had nothing to worry. Just a week and he would be discharged. An hour later Aditya's parents were waiting outside the operation theater where Aditya had been for the last 7 hours. Suddenly the light bulb atop the theater door turned green. Out came Dr. Mohini Joshi. 

"Transplant is successful! Your son will live, and god willing he will live a long life", beamed Dr. Joshi and she hugged Aditya's mother who almost collapsed into the doctor's arms. Shedding tears of joy Aditya's mother screamed, "Thank you doctor, thank you very much. God bless you... Thank God... Thank God... thank you, thank you all!"