Eid Mubarak!

Here's wishing Eid Mubarak to everyone. Check out this news about the Muslim devotee of Lord Ganesha - Muslim devotee of Ganesh keeps promise. Wish the media would cover more such instances. That would go a long way in bridging the gap between the two communities.

I will sign off with this thought:

I may never be good for everyone.
But I will be the best for the ones who really deserve me!

Good Night Folks and Have a Nice Weekend! :-)

गणपती बाप्पा मोरया!

आज महाराष्ट्रात कुठेही गेलात तरी तुम्हाला हेच शब्द ऐकायला येतील. गेल्या काही दिवसांपासून अवघा महाराष्ट्र ज्या दिवसाची डोळ्यात तेल घालून वाट पहातोय तो दिवस उद्यावर येऊन ठेपलाय. बाप्पा येताहेत - नेहमीप्रमाणेच वाजतगाजत, एका हातात मोदक घेऊन, दुसर्‍या हाताने भक्तांना आशिर्वाद देत. घरोघरी त्यांच्या स्वागताची जय्यत तयारी तर झाली आहेच पण गल्लीगल्लीतले मंडपसुध्दा सजलेत. आता अनंतचतुर्दशीपर्यंत आम्हाला दुसरं काही सुचायचंच नाही. बाप्पांची कितीही रुपं पाहिली तरी मन भरायचं नाही. आरत्या म्हणून म्हणून घसा बसेल पण उत्साह कमी व्हायचा नाही. त्याला त्याच्या मुक्कामी पोचवायला जाताना नेहमीसारखंच रडू येईल. आणि मग पुन्हा एकदा चहूबाजूंनी जयघोष होईल - गणपती बाप्पा मोरया, पुढल्या वर्षी लवकर या. :-)

We hardly pause to think about the history of the products that we use in our daily lives. Take for example the mosquito repellent cream Odomos. I was under the impression that it must have been launched sometime in the 90s or 80s at best. Turns out I am wrong.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found a reference to Odomos in one of the "Feluda" stories written by the late Satyajit Ray. These stories were written in the 60s and 70s. In another story I came across a reference to Dettol which is another household name in India.

As far as the stories go, I just love them - no gory murders and no steamy plots. I just wish I knew Bengali. I could have read the original stories then instead of the translations. :-(

Join Goonj's Vastra Samman initiative .

Two very good articles that I read in the Mint:

Lessons from World War II

Light in August

And now finally, a forwarded शेर:

ये शबनमी लहेजा है, आहिस्ता ग़ज़ल पढ़ना
तितलीकी कहानी है, फूलोंकी ज़बानी है

Good Night Folks!

Over the weekend, I got to see a very good movie quite by chance. It was titled 'The Beate Klarsfeld Story'. This is a true story of a German (non-Jewish) woman who worked really hard to track down Nazi war criminals like Klause Barbie. One can imagine how difficult it must be to hunt down these leaders who, more often than not, were protected by their sympathizers and hired thugs. What made it more perilous is that Beate did this despite being kidnapped, tortured and almost assassinated - not to mention risking her immediate family's safety.

Kudos to the Klarsfelds for ridding the world of these criminals!

शांताबाई शेळक्यांनी अनुवादित केलेल्या गुलजार ह्यांच्या काही त्रिवेणी मला मेलमधून फॉरवर्ड होऊन आल्या. त्यातल्या मला अतिशय आवडलेल्या ह्या तीनः

उडून जाताना पाखराने फक्त इतकेच पाहीले
किती तरी वेळ फांदी हात हालवत होती

निरोप घेन्यासाथी? की पुन्हा बोलावण्यासाठी?
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काय ठाउक कुठून घाव घालील अचानक
मी तर या आयुष्यालाच घाबरतो फक्त!

मरणाचे काय? ते एकदाच मारून टाकते!
-----

रोज उठून टांगायचा चंद्र रात्री आभाळात
रोज दिवसाच्या उजेडात रात्र होईतो वाट बघायची

हातभर अंतर पार करण्यासाठी आयुष्यभर चालावे लागते!

If there is one song which I absolutely adore these days, it is "मोरा पीया मोसे बोलत नाही". Just love everything about it except for the lines in English which someone keeps on repeating at intervals throughout the song. :-(

And the song that I have taken an instant dislike to is "मुन्नी बदनाम हुई". I agree that the music is catchy but I so want to throttle the guy who wrote the lyrics. Someone please explain to me what is "झंडू बाम" doing in this song? :-(

Belated Happy Birthday Ashaji!

When almost all the FM channels were playing Asha Bhosale's songs yesterday evening, I could guess that it must be her birthday. But when one of the RJs said that she has become 77, I just couldn't believe it. Asha Bhosale? 77? Imagine that!

I have always loved her songs. But I have also liked her as a human being. It is not easy to carve a niche for yourself when your elder sibling is the name to reckon with in the same field. But Ashatai managed it and that too with finesse. She has gone through perhaps more than her fair share of grief in her personal life but that didn't dampen her spirit. She remained bubbly, as usual. And that's the thing about her that has always appealed to me.

I am not crazy about celebrities as such. After all, they are just human beings like the rest of us. Many of them don't even know how to behave themselves in public. So I am sure that if I come across any one of them I will not run around for an autograph. There is, however, one exception to this rule of mine and that will always be Ashaji. I fervently hope that I get to meet her one day. :-)

If you stay in Mumbai, Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Kolkata or Pune and are always on the lookout for a new place to eat at, then this is the site for you - Foodiebay.

I almost forgot to post this. Last week I got a call from an FM Radio Station. Apparently, I had won a music CD in some contest that they had conducted. It took me a minute to remember that I had indeed sent an SMS. The lady who called me then asked me for my residential address.

Now, I don't officially belong to the Paranoid Community but I sometimes come pretty close to becoming part of one. This was one of those moments. So I asked the lady if there was any way I could confirm that she was really calling from the place she claimed to call from. I could sense that she was slightly taken aback. Perhaps, none of the people she had dealt with so far had ever asked her that. But she immediately recovered and suggested I call the number I was seeing on my mobile screen.

Now it was my turn to kick myself for not thinking of this. I hung up and dialed the number. Happily, I was greeted by the signature tune of the channel and this was followed by a recorded message of their various programs. Of course, some of you might say that this cannot be a complete proof because this also can be set up. I agree.

Anyways, soon afterwards, I was connected to the lady who had called me in the first place. I gave her the address and received the CD in due course of time.

But this whole episode threw up an important question: Do people who receive calls take pains to verify their source before parting with an important piece of information like their residential address?

At first, I wasn't sure I read it right . Islam will sooner or later dominate Europe: Italian priest - said the TOI news. I made a dash for my afternoon cuppa tea. But 2 sips later, the news heading stayed the same. Okay, let's see what this is about. Turns out this priest is alarmed by the drop in the Christian population and the increase in that of the Muslim immigrants.

I consider myself a secular in the sense that I usually don't bother about what religion people follow - though years earlier I was shocked when a Chinese colleague had told me that he didn't follow any religion. As far as I am concerned, everyone has a right to worship the Almighty in whatever form He appeals to them.

Curiously enough, from this point of view, I understand and rather sympathize with this priest. I guess many of us would not have had any reason to be alarmed if the predominant image of those following the tenets of Islam would have been of peaceful, "live-and-let-live" kind of people. Mind you, I am not saying that all those who follow Islam are extremists. But sadly, those who are Islam's public face, are extremists. So even if my friendly neighborhood Muslim uncle and aunty come to Ganesh Puja, that doesn't make me easy in mind. That's because whoever makes headlines are not these gentle folks who want to live life the way most of us do - without wanting to convert everyone in the neighborhood to their faith. What I see daily in headlines are those who get a kick out of blowing up girls' schools in Afghanistan or those who want to convert all of Italy to Islam.

So what's the solution? I think it's high time that the level-headed people in the Muslim world work with the media. This is not the job of a handful of people. There has to be a coordinated effort. When such voices are routinely heard, more will surely join in. This will help clear the misunderstanding that common people might be harboring against each other. It will stop misguided youth from being utilized for terrorist activities. The media has to stop giving publicity only to negative news. In fact, it should make more noise about the positive developments happening on this front. And finally, scholars from the Islamic world have to come forward to explain exactly what the teachings of Koran are - so that no one can foment unrest by claiming that the Koran preaches so.

But I guess the question is "Who will bell the cat?". I hope someone will, before it is too late.

Monday morning. I am just settling down at work when the phone rings. I don't recognize the number but decide to pick it up anyway - only to regret my decision a moment later. Clearly it is someone from a call center.

Now, my interaction with such people has turned out to be a constant source of amusement for my family. "Why can't you be rude to them?" is their usual question. "They are just doing their job" is my usual answer.

The moment I realized the call was from someone trying to sell me some scheme or other, I played my usual "I don't need any financial products, insurance products, credit cards or personal loans" tune. The guy waited patiently for me to finish and then told me that my number had been chosen for some credit card scheme from their bank. I said I am still not interested. Then he told me it is free. Another "No" from my side.

This, for some reason, rattled him. He said "But madam, it is free" - as if this was reason enough for me to grab this offer pronto. I was close to my boiling point by then. "So What?" I asked and followed it up with "I still don't want it". I then simply ended the call. I was sorry later to be rude but hey, if that's the only language they understand, then so be it!