The English Summer

The Badshah of Bollywood, Big B, had once said "London ki shaam bahot haseen hoti hai". And it truly is. I got to experience it this summer on my secondment to Reading, UK courtesy JIS. I was told by all my collegues that I am getting the best season to visit UK, since it was just the beginning of summer here. One would think being in Hindustan, why would summer be best. But those staying in US and UK will know why summer is always wanted. And you will know too, after you read through.

I reached UK at the start of May, the start of peak summer and mango season in India. And it was a "cool" welcome change for me and my wife. It was cooler than the winters in Mumbai. And brighter too. The sun shows up here since 5 in the morning and doesn't go till 10 at night. I used to get up at 5.30 am for the first couple of weeks, many times feeling that I am late for work, due to the early mornings. But it helped me track the stock market back there.

But then gradually we adapted; to the long days and cold temperatures. And even the temperature began to warm up. There's a ground near my house, where students started to play....cricket. And that is where you realize you are in England. Green fields are dotted with white players and a pitch in the middle.


In US, it's mainly football. Yes, comparison does come in every part of life. The roads are quite narrow here. And houses are quite small. Cars are right had driven. Public transport is quite ammmazing and you can comfortably stay even if you don't own a car. This is a very positive thing in today's world of climate change. "Bike to work" is a very popular corporate initiative and a lot of people can be seen using bikes. And like the countries, people are also quite different. They have a more formal and disciplined, but fashionable lifestyle. Walk down Oxford street in London and you feel you are walking on a ramp full of thousands of fashion models. Every human being dresses up nicely. Every woman wears make up and touches it up wherever she feels right, as J said in her blog, may it be train, bus, road, anywhere. And any type of attire is style.

But London was not the first place I visited, though it's my most visited place in UK until now. And comparing it with the other major cities of the world (read US) I visited, it's the most visited one here too, after Mumbai, ofcourse. So I feel one blog would not be sufficient for it and I will continue the visits further. This one is just to restart my dried blogpen. So do visit again for the english updates. Cheers mates...

Put an end!!

Its the end of the month and also the end of the week, in Maharashtra atleast, since its holiday tomorrow on ocassion of Maharashtra Day. So Happy Maharashtra Day in advance to all of you. Its also the last phase of elections today and an end of the voting process. So this marks the end of the current government. And to do that I went out early in the morning and cast my vote. I exercised my right after almost 10 years.

I am satisfied that I have put in my effort to be the change I want to see, and thats what I request you to do, no actually I urge you all sincerely to do. Its a very easy and hassle-free process. Take the info chit you have received giving your ward number, take a photo identity such as a drivers license, a pan card or passport and go to your respective ward. There are volunteers out there and people too, to help you find your ward and guide you through the process. I voted using the EVM. You will hardly have to wait in queue for half an hour at the maximum, but isn't it worth the wait? Its better than having to wait atleast 2 hours daily for the electric supply to get back. I am sure atleast one of your acquaintances has got an election duty today and they are putting all their efforts to make your voting process hassle-free. So please go out there and cast your vote as soon as you finish reading this post, if you haven't done it already.

Voting is our right, responsibility and privilege and we should exercise it at all costs. We are fortunate to be able to do that, unlike our neighboring country where an unwanted force of maniacs is ruling and the people and government can do nothing about it. Make sure you vote so that we all won't have to face such a situation where an unwanted group of uneducated criminal corrupts are ruling our precious Hindustan out. I don't wish to hand over my motherland to such undeserving mortals, do you? So go out and cast your vote to put an end to all the foul play. Let us be the change we want to see.

Jai Hind!!

हर हर महादेव !!

Hello again. Long time no c...well, I am back with a new template. Please let me know if this one looks good. And with a movie review. But this blog has to be in my Marathi....so kindly excuse me.

मराठी बद्दल सध्या भरपूर भाषणं होत आहेत. मराठी माणसाचा स्वाभिमान जागवायाचे भरपूर प्रयत्न सुरु आहेत. पण हे सगळे रास्त आहेत असं नाही . अमराठी लोकांची मारहाण करणं हे तर अगदी मराठ्यांच्या सुस्वभावा विरुद्ध .

पण जनजागृति तर झालीच पाहिजे . आणि संतोष मांजरेकर ह्यांचा नवीन चित्रपट "मी शिवाजीराजे भोसले बोलतोय" हा एक खुपच चांगला मार्ग आहे . मुन्नाभाईच्या थीम वर असलेला हा पिक्चर सुरु होतो डोम्बिवली फास्ट सारखाच . एका सामान्य मराठी बँक कर्मचार्यापासून ही कथा सुरु होते . सगळीकडे होणारा आपला अपमान सहन करून मराठी असल्याची लाज वाटायला लागलेल्या भोसल्यान्ना वेड लागायची पाळी येते . हे सर्व पाहून हिंदू नृसिंह प्रभु शिवाजीराजे खुप बेचैन होतात . ते तड़क रायगडावरुन निघतात आणि भोसल्यान्ना गडावर आणून चांगली कान उघडणी करतात . भोसले जागे होतात आणि मग सुरु होते त्यांची पराक्रमी घोडदौड .

भोसल्यांची भूमिका सचिन खेडेकरनी फार छान बजावली आहे . फारश्या विनोदी भूमिका न करणारा सचिन ह्या भूमिकेत सर्व पैलू दाखवतो. त्याच्या बर्याच विनोदांना हास्य व टाळ्या तर प्रत्येक आश्रुला प्रेक्षकांकडून आश्रू.सुचित्रा बन्देकरचं काम पण मिसेस भोसले म्हणुन चांगल झाल आहे . प्रिया बापटनी भोसल्यांच्या मोठ्या मुलीचा रोल सुंदर केला आहे आणि अभिजित केळकरनी धाकट्या मुलाचा . सिद्धार्थ जाधवनी गुंडाच काम पहिल्यांदाच सीरियसपणे केलय . पण सगळ्यात महत्वाची महाराजांची भूमिका बजावताना संजय मांजरेकर मात्र खुप कमी पडतात . त्यांच्यापेक्षा सचिनच्या आवाजात जास्त जोर वाटतो .त्यापेक्षा अजिंक्य देव खुप शोभला असता असा वाटत. मकरंद अनासपुरेच काम नेहेमिप्रमाणे टाळ्या घेउन जात .

चित्रपटाचं संगीत ठीक-ठाक आहे पण "हे राजे" गाणं मनात घर करतं . बाकी सर्व तंत्रज्ञान नविन आहे पण मुन्नाभाई ची वास्तवता ह्या चित्रपटात कमी पड़ते . पण त्याचे विशेष नाही ; एकुण हा चित्रपट कमीतकमी एकदा पहाण्यासारखा आहे . मी ४ तारे देतो .

हर हर महादेव !!!!

रेटिंग - * * * *

The art of troubleshooting

Troubleshooting(TS) is a term used for problem solving, especially of technical nature, that too more in relation to computers. And there are people assigned to do the job. But I call it an art because I feel it does have a personal touch to it. The type I am referring to here is the one in which TS is done over the phone. I learned TS in the US when I started working on-campus. There, it was preferable to solve problems over the phone if possible, so that the commuting time to and from classrooms is reduced. Initially, it was difficult and after struggling for a few minutes, I had to say "I will be there in a minute". But as I started getting to know the system better, I was able to TS the problems more n more on the phone. And I tell you, there's a great satisfaction when it is done on the phone. The persons on the other side are happy that they could do it themselves, only they needed instructions for it. I get the satisfaction that I saved time and efforts.

But the greatest of satisfaction was when I used to TS back at home. My mom picked up voice chatting quite fast and I do appreciate her zeal and willingness to learn new things. But sometimes there were issues such as internet didn't work, or some error messages, or installing new softwares for VC etc. My brother was not always at home to help her during daytime (night time in US) and the only way to TS was me calling home and TS on the phone. And due to my on-campus job, I had developed the art of TS and was easily able to get things going. My mom was happy that she could solve the problem and I was happy that she was happy.

The reason for writing this blog now is that the same thing I did today. We had disconnected the internet cables last night and my bro mis-connected them in the morning hurry. My mom called me to say that the net is not working, and I was able to get her to do the right connections within minutes and the happy "Haaaa....zaala" was my certificate of a good job. I knwo my mama complains that my cousin doesn't teach him voice chat and so he asked me and my bro to do it. So you can see, its surely an art.

Valentine's Day

Firstly, I admit I got inspired by J's blog. And, I don't belong to any political party yet. But, I too believe that the whole Valentine's day issue is a blown up thing. It's more of a business than anything else. I don't need to have a specific day to do something for my loved one to tell her I love. Infact, I feel everything you do should make your loved one feel that you love him/her. Be it small things or big, you can do it anytime of the year, any moment of the day. More so, on their birthdays or your anniversaries. I did use to feel lonely on these days earlier when I was single, but now I feel this day isn't that great, after I am married. And mother's day and father's day are all the more ridiculous. I am sure, most of the time I am at my home, I think how can I make life easier for my mother, father, brother and wife and think how can I make them happy. I don't need a special day for that. And giving gifts is not at all a way to do that. There are many better ways to do that.

And if people believe that Valentine's day is a special day, I wish to ask, how many are aware of Guru Pournima. Its the day when we worship our Guru, our teacher. How many of us do that? Do we even know on that day that it is Guru Pournima? This day has been designated by Hindus since epic ages. Business people making big of Valentine's day should take special note of this and think what have they done on this day this year. I am sure no DJ or restaurant had thrown a party or no shop had special gift offers for your gurus, be it your school teacher, music teacher, management guru, whoever.

I feel its more of human behavior. Its the joy of celebration, an ocassion to do something special. Thats why we all like festivals so much. I am sure if all the people who wish to celebrate V-day are asked to moan or observe a sad moment for some tragedy, half of them will back off. And thats human nature. The only thing I want to stress is if we do something, we should have some solid reason behind it, not blindly follow what the (western) world is doing. We have a much better and richer culture which this world looks up to and we all should make sure we protect it, strengthen it and pass it to our juniors. I know there are grey areas, like J has said in her blog, but I think we are wise enough to sort out the two colours and make it clear.

Have a nice weekend ahead.

धन्य ही देवांहून जनता !!

Yesterday, a very melodious period came to an end. After six months of week after week of musical Monday and Tuesday nights, the final five champs are ready for the mega-final. And I have already started to worry about what to do on the Monday and Tuesday nights henceforth. Every week, Zee Marathi provided all of us blessed people with a musical extravaganza, which we rarely get to witness, even after paying for tickets. The quality of songs, knowledge of the kids and their talent overall has ever increased during this period and has made them ready to keep giving good performances for the years to come. I take this opportunity to sincerely thank Zee Marathi for giving us this very valuable five-star gift. The show just portrays pure love for music, unlike other similar shows where faltu bakwaas between arrogant and incompetent judges just makes it irritating to watch. Here, I would like to applaud Vaishali, Avadhoot and Pallavi for taking everything in the kids’ stride and making the show a real pleasure. Cheers to all three of you and keep it up.

Yesterday was yet another excellent performance by all the five and was a fitting finish to this grand schedule. All of them sang very well and exhibited their singing skills. Prathamesh has proved that he is a very talented singer who can go on to pursue a great career in classical singing and be a very good successor to Suresh Wadkar. Rohit has already proved his talent as a classic combo music director and he has it in him what is displayed by today’s leading marathi music directors like Ajay-Atul, Avadhoot and the likes who can sing as well as churn out some excellent pieces of marathi music. Mugdha is a girl who can sing any song and make it sound extremely sweet. Her innocence renders a pure feel to every song she sings and its just amrit to the ears. Kartiki, with her rustic voice and tremendous devotional music background and home-location, is very well-poised to be an upcoming successor to Bharat-ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, that too in a female voice. But her rendering of other Anand Shinde songs also turns the crowds crazy. And finally, my favorite, Arya, is truly an amazingly versatile singer. Her progress throughout the schedule of six months has been remarkable and has transformed her into a great all-round singer to be. She is the future Asha Bhosale and I wish to request Ashaji to start a one student gurukul just for Arya to hone her skills more and make herself immortal for another 100 years. Be it any song, and Arya makes it adoringly beautiful as herself. She is my winner-elect.

But the competition really has no significance now, since all the show-followers will agree that all five are equally talented and none is even a thread lesser than the others. As Vaishali and Avadhoot pointed out yesterday, Zee Marathi should declare all the five as winners and win over the hearts of all the followers (I am not saying maharashtrians here since I know a lot of non-mahas. are also following this show). They should consider the basic purpose of the show which is to provide complete entertainment to the audience and so they should consider the demands of the audience too. I wish to watch the mega-final live. So see you there, Champs and all the very best. And thanks to all of you for bringing us such a memorable six months. Looking back at my first line now, I feel it’s not the end, but a beginning to an era of the Champs rule in the Marathi music industry, and probably Hindustani music industry as well. And I already can’t wait for this Champ-rajya. Way to go, Champs!!

तुमच्या गाण्यांनी ही सगळी जनता धन्य झाली आहे.

Star studded new moon day

We all know that the sky looks most star-studded on a new moon day. But what I am talking here is a little different. It was a new moon alright, but with char-chand shining. Hold on, I will explain. What will you say when the King of Indian percussion, Tabla and the Maharaj of Kathak are performing together? Yes, you guessed it, I am talking about the live concert performed by Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pt. Birju Maharaj which was held in Dombivali's Savitribai Phule auditorium on the 25th nite. And I was one of the blessed few who attended it, very much by strong luck. I got 2 tickets for the concert only by luck, as the one who had bought it was not able to attend (I know...how unlucky).

So we reached the audi and the show started after a boring initial felicitation by the organisers, of the organisers, for the organisers, which seemed never ending. The audience finally was so irritated that the speakers were greeted with claps as soon as they stood for saying a few words, hinting them clearly to shut it up. And then Ustad started off with his magic. I was hearing him live for the first time and was mesmerized right from the start. His fingers on the Tabla were ruling the auditorium. And soon after, Pt. Birju Maharaj entered to a huge round of applause. And the show finally started. His feet moved so swiftly, that were the ghungroo alive, they would have asked for rest. All this at the age of 71. He presented a big variety of kathak sequences with detailed explanation, which helped even an illiterate like me understand the dances. Ustad Zakir Hussain was competing very efficiently to the steps. Pt. Birju Maharaj showed the varied rendition of the nos. from 1 to 8, 1 to 5, some short story sequences among many other sequences. The best were the elephant walking and the peacock, which is very famous, and which took the crowd to amazement.

During the break, the organisers again came on stage for felicitation of the maestros, and then before we knew that we were there for a surprise, they announced that the Queen of Indian Hearts, and an expert kathak dancer had come to attend the function. Who you are wondering? Well take a look for yourself...


Yesssss, Madhuri Dixit had come with her two kids, and family to attend the extravaganza and we were all blessed by her presence. The fourth chaand of the nite was Faisal Qureshi, brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain and an ace percussionist himself. They all were given bouquets and then Madhuri spoke a few words about her experience with Pt. Birju Maharaj during Devdas shooting, in Marathi. Ahahaha....it was pleasure to the ears.

The show soon resumed with Pt. Birju Maharaj's student Saswati Sen's performance, and she too danced elegantly, with no. sequences and narrations. The last dance on the poem composed by Panditji himself was exquisite. Yes, he is a very versatile artist, who knows dance, tabla, poems, singing, and maybe a lot of other arts. Then Maharaj again stepped on the dance floor and performed a few more grand sequences. I missed a part of it, since I went backstage to take a glance of Madhuri, when she left.

The jugalbandi between the two maestros was definately out of the world and I am proud to be a Hindustani which is home to such great artists. I salute Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pt. Birju Maharaj and thank the almighty for giving me the chance to witness the grand concert. This was the second surprise in a concert, the first being Asha tai's presence at the 72nd birthday of Pt. Hridaynath Mageshkar, on the eve of Diwali, last year. More about it in later posts. I wish I get more such concerts and surprises too!!

PPI making news

I came across this article which has an interview with R V Krishnan, president of the PPI (Professionals Party of India). He has talked about the views and aims of the party. Here is the link -

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=157085

I wish him and the party all the very best!!

5-Star Grand Finale!!

Since the past few months, every week begins with a musical extravaganza. Monday and Tuesday nights are booked for marathi orchestra and its an amazing musical treat for the eyes and ears. I am talking about the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - Little Champs on Zee Marathi. Week after week, the champs (or giants rather) present excellent songs one after the other and we still feel it's not enough. The apetite is ever growing. The skill, ease, expressions, technique and confidence with which they sing is really unimaginable. You just keep wondering how they do that. I am sure not a single orchestra in India currently is as talented as this group of kids. Unfortunately, till yesterday, one little champ kept going out of the competition every week, as per the rule of the competition.

It used to be a very sad thing to bid one shining star good bye. So finally there were 5 of them left, the best ones obviously. I personally felt that some champs didnot deserve the dropping out. And so did a lot of fellow fans. And so, Zee Marathi decided to conduct a call-back episode for the 7 champs who were dropped out. But 4 of them wisely opted out of the episode. I say wisely because the call-back didn't change the results much. It was just a TRP-raiser for Zee Marathi. In the call-back, all the 3 who participated were selected back into the group. In the following week, Radhika, who was dropped out first of the 8 initially, got dropped out first again. Avanti was next to follow and lastly, Shalmali. In the initial drop-out, it was Kartiki in place of Avanti. But I am very disappointed with Avanti's drop out. She was an equally good singer and so was Shalmali. It was very unfair to play with the emotions of the kids just to raise TRPs of your show. The earlier 3 drop out episodes became useless, since the results didn't change much. They should instead have directly included all of them in the Megafinals.

So, yesterday again was the day of dropping out one champ. And, evidently, none of them was even a micro less than the others. All are equally good which even the judges and public knew. Everyone felt that all of them should go to the megafinals. So, after a lot of drama and timepass, Pallavi announced that all the 5 stars have made it to the megafinals. It is indeed a late decision, since I personally feel that atleast Avanti and Shalmali also deserve to be in the final. But, at least the decision has been made. So, we are going to have a 5-star Grand finale, literally with a 7-member jury panel (what a force to evaluate 5 little champs). This itself is a proof of their extreme capacity and huge talent. I wish all of them the best of luck and may all of them win and make all of us maharashtrians proud. Way to go Champs!!!

Bye Bye 2008

The last few hours are left for this year to end and I can't wait for it. Not because I am so much excited that the new year is at the doorstep, but because 2008 has been such a bad year for a general human being and for a Hindustani in particular. The first couple of weeks of 2008 pushed the stock markets down the longest snake of a Snakes & Ladders board which is yet to end. People lost lot of money, fuel prices rose to 2-3 times the present value and the global economy went for a huge huge toss. Banking Giants in the United States which had sustained major recessions could not do it this year and had to file for bankruptcy. This marked the beginning of a recession this year and banks and companies followed the lead. This has brought us to a challenging 2009 which is already expected to be an even worse year. The recession might grow and more jobs could be lost.

Hindustan, however, is still looking fundamentally strong as far as its economy is concerned, but has failed big time to give security to its own people who are the lone contributors to this strong economic condition of the country. Their tax money has been hugely wasted and this can mean lesser people wishing to pay taxes in 2009, if at all they still have that much income during this financial year. Maximum cowardly attacks have happened in Hindustan in 2008, though all of them have been huuugely unsuccessful. They have only helped us to unite as a democracy and fight back every reason which has caused this condition. I hope 2009 brings in a new, fresh and young political leadership in the parliament which can better represent the Humble Intelligent New-found Dynamic United Strong Talented Armed Nuclear HINDUSTAN.

So, as my effort for this to happen, as I said in my previous post, First Step, I am gonna vote for sure and select a non-typical political party which is more concentrated to develop the country rather than on their personal interests. For me, otherwise this year was a good one, since I got to work on bridge design, something which I had always wanted to pursue as my career. And also was made PM on 3 projects. My new house will be ready early next year so I am quite excited about that too.

So I hope the new year will be better than this one, for me and for all of you. Lets not forget those who lost their lives this year and pledge to revenge their loss in whatever way we can. Lets all unite to make the world a better place to live.