रक्षाबंधनाच्या दिवशी शिवाजीपार्कला काही कामानिमित्त गेले होते. उद्यान गणेश मंदिराच्या बाहेर गाड्यांची, बाईक्सची पूजा करून घ्यायला लोकांची झुंबड उडाली होती. भटजी अगदी घाईत दिसत होते. नारळ फुटत होते आणि भटजी तिथे असलेल्या एका झाड्याच्या बुंध्याशी ते नेऊन ठेवत होते. दोन बुंध्याच्याखाली मिळून जवळपास १०-१२ नारळाच्या वाट्या पडल्या होत्या. तिथे जवळच काली मंदिराच्या बाहेर चाप्याची फुलं, गजरे विकणाऱ्या बायका आणि त्यांची लहान मुलं बसली होती. पण ते नारळ त्या मुलांच्या हातात ठेवावेत असं ना त्या पूजा करून घेणाऱ्या लोकांना वाटलं ना भटजींना. किमानपक्षी प्रसाद म्हणून मंदिरात ते खोबरं वाटावं एव्हढंही जमलं नाही. अन्नाची अशी नासाडी हे लोक कशी करू शकतात असं वाटून गेलं. आणि तेही देवाच्या दाराबाहेर. शिकल्या-सवरल्या लोकांची ही गत तर मग अडाणी लोकांबद्दल बोलायलाच नको. स्वत:पुरतं तेव्हढं पहायचं, बाकी दुनिया गेली तेल लावत ही आजकालची मानसिकता झालेय. घरचं विकून समाजसेवा करा असं नाही म्हणत मी. पण जिथे जमेल तिथे हातभार लावायला काय हरकत आहे?

आणखी एक डोक्यात जाणारी गोष्ट म्हणजे जिथेतिथे नगरसेवकांनी लावलेले बोर्ड. कोणी अनेक महिने बंद असलेला जलतरण तलाव चालू केला तर कोणी केअरटेकर नसल्याने नाना-नानी पार्क मध्ये बंद झालेली चहा आणि वर्तमानपत्राची सोय पुन्हा चालू केली. अरे, पण हे तुमचं कामच आहे, नाही का? ते तुम्ही केलं, त्यात काय महान आहे? त्यासाठी हा डंका का पिटताय?

मला तर दहीहंडीच्या दिवशी तिथे जायलाही नको वाटतं. अनेक वर्षांपूर्वी पार्काच्या कडेला टाकलेले प्लास्टिकच्या प्लेटीचे ढीग आणि लोकांच्या चालायच्या मार्गात बसून जेवणारे गोविंदा पाहून डोक्यात जाम तिडीक गेली होती. ह्या राजकारणी लोकांच्या कचाट्यातून हे सण सोडवायला परमेश्वराला पुन्हा अवतार घ्यावा लागेल. आम्हाला काही ते करणं जमणार नाही. 'गोविंदा आला रे आला' हे गाणं वाजवल्याशिवाय आणि हुल्लडबाजी केल्याशिवाय आम्ही हा सण साजरा करूच शकत नाही. :-(

The Circular Staircase - Mary Roberts Rinehart

When I started reading this one, at first I thought that I was reading an account where it all began with Ms. Jane Marple. And it would have been so apt too - because I had just read about where it all ends for Hercule Poirot. The protagonist had an uncanny resemblance to Ms. Marple, or so it seemed at the beginning. A spinster who is thrust in the middle of a mystery, groping her way about in an amateurish way, only to hone her instincts later. But an appearance of a nephew and niece soon put paid to this notion of mine. Indeed, the protagonist turned out to be one Ms. Rachel Innes who rents a place, Sunnyside, with the idea of spending an entire summer there quietly. But as it always happens - man proposes, God disposes. A search on the net revealed that 'Mary Roberts Rinehart' is an American writer, and not a pseudo-name of Agatha Christie, as I had mistakenly assumed after finding this novel along with Christie's other novels somewhere on Google Drive.

Sure, there are rumors of ghosts prowling about at night in Sunnyside but Ms. Rachel doesn't pay any attention despite the fact that her trusted maid, Liddy, isn't too fond of supernatural visitors. There is some trouble in finding servants and the only butler that they are able to recruit, because he has been in the employ of the owners of the place (the Armstrongs), insists on sleeping at the lodge on the premises at night instead of in the house. That night Ms. Rachel and Liddy see someone sneaking a peek into the house. Alarmed, they make sure the place is bolted down tight but in the middle of the night they hear a crash somewhere inside and find a mysterious cuff-link along with a picture that has been dislocated from the wall in the morning. Ms. Rachel is relieved when her nephew Hasley and niece Gertrude come to stay with her - though they bring along a friend, Bailey, who is a stranger to her. But things don't improve much, in fact, they get positively worse because at night they hear someone trying to get into the house and then the sound of a revolver going off. A stranger is found dead at the foot of the staircase, Hasley and Bailey are nowhere to be seen and Gertrude isn't willing to say much. Things take a sinister turn when it is revealed that the murdered person is the son of the owners of Sunnyside. A series of events follows and shatters Ms. Rachel's remaining hopes of finding peace and solitude at Sunnyside.

You know what I most liked about this novel? Of course, there is the hint of the supernatural that grabs us by the collar right from the beginning. There is that. But even more than that, I loved the old-world charm that it brings forth in abundance. The times when people would close down their houses and head somewhere for the summer. The spacious summer places with luscious gardens and plenty of open space to trek about. An old town where everyone knows everyone else. Busy mornings spent in going to town for shopping nothing in particular and quiet, starlit nights where silence is broken only by the whistle of the train skirting the sleepy village. Lazy breakfasts, an army of servants (maids, parlor-maids, cooks, butlers, housekeepers, laundresses, drivers), people driving around in hacks and buggies and long blissful moments of blessed solitude. Does anyone live like that anymore? Can't help but wish that I was born in that era :-)

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves

Trust me on this one - if you are looking for something to bring a smile to your lips and drive away the dark clouds of doubt, disappointment or gloom, there is no better way to do it than to reach for the nearest Wodehouse offering, possibly one containing the duo of Bertie and Jeeves.

For the record, I wasn't looking to fight any dark clouds but I had, for once, had enough of both philosophical and crime genres. No harm in checking out what Bertie and Jeeves were up to. As usual, the plot is thick with characters - each one as eccentric a specimen as God could make of a human being. So there's Aunt Dahlia, always looking for faults in and never one to shy away from pointing them to her nephew Bertie. Then there is her husband, Bertie's uncle Tom, who is sore because another collector, not to mention his arch-rival, Sir Watkyn Bassett, has managed to secure an antique statuette at bargain basement price. The household of Sir Watkyn, Totleigh Towers, is crowded with equal, if not more, number of characters. There is his daughter Madeline, who owing to a previous episode is laboring under the misunderstanding that Bertie is in head over heels in love with her. Bertie, therefore, is always in danger of finding himself walking up the aisle at a moment's notice - especially if her engagement to Gussie Fink-Nottle falls apart for any reason. Stiffy Byng, Sir Watkyn's niece, is engaged to be married to Rev. H.P. ("Stinker")  Pinker, the local curate. Bertie is forever suspicious about any suggestions made by Stiffy because they have landed him, on more occasions than one, in a tureen of soup. Stinker is after the vicarage that Sir Watkyn can bestow upon him. Then there is Roderick Spode, who has always loved Madeline but never dared to tell her this. Bertie's friend Emerald Stoker, who is the younger daughter of an American Millionaire and plans to visit Totleigh Towers for a month and Sir Watkyn's dog Bartholomew complete the cast.

If you can manage to keep the who-is-who straight, this book is a laugh-riot that is guaranteed to keep you in splits. Bertie is told that all is not well between Madeline and Gussie Fink-Nottle. Feeling the noose tightening around his neck, he hastens to Totleigh Towers, with Jeeves in tow (of course!), against his better judgement. Weighing on his mind is another thing that his Aunt Dahlia has told him - that Sir Watkyn would stoop to any level to recruit Jeeves. As if this wasn't enough, Rev. H.P. ("Stinker") Pinker informs him that Stiffy has a job in mind for him. Needless to say, owing to the prior disastrous experience of hosting him at his mansion, Sir Watkyn is not happy to see him at his doorstep and under his roof. Madeline mistakenly assumes that he has come there to check if he still has a chance to lure her away from her fiance. Roderick Spode practically threatens to break his neck if he causes Madeline any grief. And as if to make sure that Bertie's cup of woes is full to the point of overflowing, Gussie Fink-Nottle falls in love with Emerald Stoker.

If you want to know if Bertie and Jeeves emerge unscathed from this madhouse, you have to read 'Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves'. :-)

Notes to myself for future trips:

Golden Temple during Baisakhi, Hidimba Temple during Dasera
Frog Temple, Sitapur, UP (Built by Raja Buksh Singh of Oel in 1860-70, dedicated to Lord Shiva, based on Manduk Tantra)
Agumbe, Jogigundi Waterfalls, Sirimane waterfalls (38 Km), Sringeri (29 Km), ancient Jain temple (19Km)

पोलादपूरजवळ कुडपण या वाडीतून प्रतापगडवर जायला असलेल्या ट्रेकच्या वाटेवर दिसणारी भीमाची काठी
महाबलीपुरम येथील एकपाषाणी मंदिरे
उत्तराखंडमधल्या स्वर्गारोहिणी ट्रेकवर लागणारा भीमपूल
शुचीन्द्रम मंदिर, तामिळनाडू (२६ डोकी असलेली शिवप्रतिमा)
देवगडातल्या गिर्ये गावचं श्री देव रामेश्वर मंदिर