१. लोकसत्ता - दिवाळी अंक २०१४

माझ्या यंदाच्या दिवाळी अंक वाचनाची सुरुवात लोकसत्ताच्या अंकापासून झाली. अभिराम भडकमकर ह्यांच्या आगामी कादंबरीतलं प्रकरण खूप आवडलं. 'डेली सोप्स' हा जो काही तापदायक प्रकार टीव्हीवर रोज संध्याकाळी घरोघरी चालू असतो त्याचं पडद्यामागचं कटू वास्तव - स्ट्रगलर्सची धडपड, आशा-निराशेचे क्षण, पोलिटीकली करेक्ट राहण्यासाठी लेखकांना करावी लागणारी तडजोड, त्यातून होणारी सुमार दर्जाची निर्मिती आणि पर्यायाने चांगलं काम करायची इच्छा असलेल्या लोकांची होणारी घुसमट - एका प्रकरणातून सुध्दा जळजळीतपणे सामोरं येतं. वाचायला हवी ही कादंबरी.

'विवेकाचा आवाज हरवलाय' ह्या लेखमालेमागची कल्पना स्तुत्य आहे पण शुध्द मराठीत लिहायच्या नादात ह्यातले काही लेख उगाच क्लिष्ट झाले आहेत असं आपलं मला वाटलं. गिरीश कुबेर ह्यांचं लोकसत्तातलं स्तंभलेखन वाचलं असल्याने तो लेख मात्र मी नेट लावून वाचला आणि आवडलाही. पण राजेश्वरी देशपांडे आणि डॉ. भारत पाटणकर ह्यांचे लेख वाचायच्या फंदात मी पडले नाही. नाही म्हणायला 'महाराष्ट्र - सामाजिक यादवीच्या उंबरठयावर' हा प्रताप आसबे ह्यांचा लेख वाचला ह्याचं समाधान आहे. तरीही कदाचित कुठल्याही प्रकारचं गंभीर विश्लेषणात्मक लिखाण वाचायची सवय आता मोडली असावी ह्याचा विषाद मात्र कुठेतरी जरुर आहे.

'लेखक आणि ग्रेट डिप्रेशन' मधून एका नव्या अमेरिकन लेखकाची ओळख झाली. त्याची सगळी पुस्तकं आता माझ्या टू-रीड लिस्टमध्ये. 'राजकीय दहशतीचा उदयास्त' ह्या मालिकेतले चारही लेख सुरेख. किशोर प्रधान ह्यांना टीव्हीवर बघूनसुध्दा किती वर्ष झाली. ह्या दिवाळी अंकाच्या निमित्ताने त्यांच्या कलाजीवनाच्या प्रवासाची मस्त माहिती मिळाली - तीही त्यांच्याच शब्दांत. गुलजार ह्यांची 'चिन्हं आणि चेहेरे' न आवडायचा सवालच नव्हता. मीनाकुमारीवरची कविता फार चटका लावून गेली.

टिंग्या आणि फेडरी च्या लेखकाचं मनोगत, मिठालाही इतिहास आहे, संगीत शारदा वरचा लेख आणि गणितज्ञ सुभाष खोत ह्यांची मुलाखत काहीतरी वेगळें वाचल्याचं समाधान देऊन गेले.शेवटच्या न्यू यॉर्कर मधल्या व्यंगचित्रांवरच्या लेखामुळे त्यातली सगळी व्यंगचित्र एकदा पहायचीच असं वाटलं.

अंकाच्या शेवटचा भविष्याचा भाग न वाचण्यासाठी असतो असा माझा गेल्या काही वर्षांचा अनुभव आहे :-)

एकूणात सुरुवात तर चांगली झाली आहे. टेबलावर पडलेले धनंजय आणि नवल खुणावताहेत. पाहू कसं जमतंय ते.

Technical Analysis Of Financial Markets - John Murphy

Creating A World Without Poverty - Muhammad Yunus

The Only Financial Planning Book That You Will Ever Need - Amar Pandit

A Bend In The River - V.S. Naipaul

Auto World Vintage Car Museum, Ahmedabad

As far as I am concerned a car is a means of traveling from point A to point B. Nothing more than that. Certainly not something to drool over. But to my utter surprise, that's what I found myself doing when we landed at the Vintage Car Museum one afternoon last week. Thank God I had a digital camera. In good old days, I would have easily used up 1-2 rolls.

Here are just some of the beauties that I laid my eyes upon:

We were told that it is possible to take some of these cars out for a spin by paying the nominal charges. However, we didn't go for it.

As we were heading out I overheard a little kid asking his mom 'How much would it cost to buy a car like this?'. His mom, wisely, kept mum. :-)

Men of salt, crossing Sahara on the caravan of white Gold - by Michael Benanav

I could not post this one in time for this Diwali. But hope it will prove to be useful for animal lovers for Diwalis to come.

Adalaj Vav (Step Well), Adalaj, Gujarat

'We would also like to visit Adalaj Vav' I said to the young lad at the reception desk of the hotel we were staying at and paused to see his reaction. He was basically from Mumbai and had been in Ahmedabad only since a few months. Though the Vav was described as a popular tourist spot in the city, in my experience, such popular spots on the internet are seldom known to the common man in the city streets. I was, however, relieved when he nodded his head vigorously and sort of endorsed its inclusion in our itinerary.

It was blazing hot when our hired car started its journey from the Sabarmati Ashram towards the village of Adalaj in Gandhinagar district. But the roads were a Mumbaikar commuter's dream. No potholes, only roads - perfectly paved, lined with green trees and without any traffic whatsoever. I was to come face-to-face with the chaotic inner city traffic and totally insane driving during my trip to Kankaria Lake on the second day. But for now I was at peace as I watched the glimpses of daily life in Gujarat's villages float by as the car ate up the miles. When it finally did halt I was confused for a moment. Are we at the right place? Apparently so because I saw a few tourists clustering around a person who could only have been their tour guide. I walked towards them as if to ask for directions when I saw the steps and started climbing down.

Whoa! This one word summarizes my reaction to a structure the likes of which I had never seen in my life. I didn't even know anything about step wells till we planned this trip. If the internet is to believed, this well was built by Muslim king Mohammed Begda for the Queen of the Vaghela chieftain Veer Singh in 1499. That means the well has been in existence since five centuries and a dozen years or so. Obviously, the water at the bottom has turned green because of neglect and lack of use. The tourism department should clean and restore it to its formal glory. But when you start ignoring the smell of the bird (or was it bat?) droppings, this five story structure simply takes your breath away. The words 'intricately carved' simply don't do justice to its beauty. You are amazed at the dedication, hard work and time it must have taken to build this. How I wish I could travel back in time to the era when this well was frequented by travelers in caravans as rest stops during their long travels and sacred rituals were conducted during festive times.

As an aside, this well strongly reminded me of the scene in 'Bhool Bhulaiyya' in which Akshay Kumar is brushing his teeth in the morning and gets startled by the young guy who dives in to swim :-)

So if you are ever in Ahmedabad, make sure that Adalaj Vav is part of your itinerary.

Vaishnodevi Temple, Ahmedabad

We had passed the temple on our way back to the hotel in the evening on the very first day but I wasn't sure about visiting it. My research on the internet had told me that it is modeled after the temple at Katra and so has a couple of places where you have to get down on all fours to be able to move forward. I have plans to visit the original temple some day so I was in two minds about going to the replica. However, I decided to take the plunge the next day.

As I walked in after removing my footwear, the lady manning the gate barked 'Mobile band karo'. My face fell. No photos? 'I hope I can carry the water bottle' I asked with a bit of sarcasm. Apparently it was lost on her as she barked again 'Pani ka bottle chalega'. Praise be to God! Being in a holy place, it was time to wonder about the state of my soul. Instead, I was worried about the state of my soles - because I was walking barefoot in the afternoon heat. :-) But it was fun to walk on pretending that you are in the temple at Katra till I came to the first spot where it was necessary to crawl to move on. A group of 3 ladies (one of them a senior citizen!) and 2 gentlemen was ahead of me. One of the ladies (of sizable proportion) saw the tight space and opted out. The gentlemen shouted something to the senior citizen. Though I couldn't understand their language, I realized that they were asking her to take a short-cut instead. But the wiry old lady was determined to have it her own way and passed through the tight space. Encouraged, I did the same - with ease, if I might add :-)

There was one more tiny space up ahead (hard to negotiate for tall people!) and we were face to face with the Goddess. It felt good to have undergone a bit of a physical discomfort to be able to reach Her. As we left, a vermillion Tilak was applied on our foreheads and a tiny coin given as the Prasad.

Normally I strictly follow the rules wherever I go, but I couldn't resist the temptation of capturing a few of the images of the Goddess that dotted our return path.

It is said that you get to go to the Katra temple only when the Goddess Herself calls you there. Well, I am waiting for my invitation. :-)

Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad

If you ask me who is my favorite Indian leader from the pre-independence era, I would be hard pressed for an answer. I might perhaps say Sardar VallabhBhai Patel, for being instrumental in ruthlessly bringing together the various princely states to make way for India - though I must confess that there are moments when I wonder if it was wise to do so. I will neither name Jawaharlal Nehru (he trusted the Chinese for God's sake!) nor Mahatma Gandhi. I am not sure I will ever be able to figure out what made him give away a tidy sum of 55 Crores to Pakistan. We didn't owe them anything - after all it was their decision to separate. And it didn't help them in the long run anyways. Also I don't believe in the philosophy of offering another cheek when (and if!) someone should strike me on one (and you don't have to be a Muslim to say that, Mr. Parvez Musharraf)

But I put 'Sabarmati Ashram' in the list of places to be visited during our recent trip to Ahmedabad because I looked at it as a place of historical significance.

When we got down from the car, all I could see were a few scattered buildings - 'is that it?' was my first thought, till I was told that I will have to walk down a little to be able to reach the main complex. And when I did, I was charmed, despite myself. A vast expanse - impeccably clean - dotted with trees and simple cottages. And lots and lots of squirrels running about everywhere. It was evident that they had becomes used to the presence of humans as not a single one ran away even if you got close enough to take a snap. I especially loved the small one that reclined in the sand to munch on something.

The rooms are filled with photographs depicting Gandhiji's early life as well as major events in Indian history. I would have loved to read but being a tourist I had limited time at my disposal and so had to move on. But not before I took photographs of various envelopes that were used to post the letters addressed to Gandhiji. I remember reading about one in my school History textbook - 'To Gandhiji, wherever he is' it simply said. Needless to say, it was delivered to Gandhiji :-)

There is a section containing various letters written by Gandhiji, a library full of books and of course, a section selling Khadi artifacts.

I walked in wondering about what the place would be like and walked out with the satisfaction of visiting an important place in my country's history.