The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself

-- Mark Twain

लोकसत्ता दिवाळी अंक २०१३

मराठी माणूस म्हटला की अभ्यंगस्नान, उटण, रांगोळी, फराळ आणि फटाके ह्यांच्यासोबत दिवाळी अंक हा आलाच. मग मी तरी अपवाद कसा असणार? :-) लोकसत्ताचा दिवाळी अंक इंटरेस्टिंग वाटला म्हणून आणला. अंकाने निराशा केली नाही हे विशेष.

अंकाची सुरूवात झाली आहे ती मिर्झा गालिब वर गुलजारने लिहिलेल्या चरित्राच्या मराठी अनुवादातल्या दोन प्रकरणानी. हा अनुवाद अंबरीश मिश्र ह्यांनी केला आहे. ही दोन प्रकरणं वाचून गुलजारने लिहीलेलं चरित्र कसं असेल ह्याची कल्पना येते. मूळ पुस्तक "वाचायची पुस्तकं' नावाच्या मारूतीच्या शेपटीपेक्षाही अधिक वेगाने वाढत चाललेल्या यादीत समाविष्ट केलं आहे. :-)

कवितांचा आणि माझा अगदी ३६ चा आकडा नसला तरी फार सख्यही नाही. त्यामुळे किशोर सौमित्र ह्यांच्या कवितांची मला फारशी ओळख नाही. सिनेमा आणि नाटक ह्यातून काम केलेले कलाकार म्हणून ते मला माहीत आहेत. त्यामुळे त्यांचा 'लोन्ली' हा लेख मोठ्या उत्सुकतेने वाचायला घेतला आणि आतून हलायला झालं. गर्दीत राहूनही एकटेपणाचा अनुभव बहुतांशी लोकांना नवा नव्हे पण स्वत:च्या आयुष्यातल्या अनेक घटनांतून त्याचेही अनेक पैलू लेखकाने छान उलगडून दाखवलेत. 'झुलवा' हा चित्रपट मी कधी पाहिला नाही. आणि कधी पाहणार ही नाही. ह्या बाबतीत मी अगदी पळपुटी आहे. जगात खूप दू:ख आहे, अगतिकता आहे, वेदना आहेत - सगळं माहीत आहे. मी काही काचेच्या राजवाड्यात वाढवला गेलेला राजपुत्र सिध्दार्थ नाही. मग उगाच त्यांची वर्णनं असलेली पुस्तकं कां वाचायची? चित्रपट का पहायचे? डोक्याला ताप देणार्या अनेक गोष्टी असताना हा नवीन भुंगा का लावून घ्यायचा? 'हे असं काही होत नाही' असं म्हणून जे सोडून देता येत नाही ते आपल्या आयुष्यात का आणायचं? अर्थात ह्याबाबत मी मित्रमंडळीच्या अनेक शिव्या खाल्ल्या आहेत. पण माझी भूमिका कायम आहे. 'जोगवा' तर मोजून दहा मिनिटं मी पाहिला आणि मग चेनेल बदललं तरी खूप अस्वस्थ वाटत राहिलं - ताप यायच्या आधी वाटतं तसं. लेखकाने ह्या चित्रपटात भूमिका करताना आलेला अनुभव लेखाच्या शेवटी मांडलाय. तो वाचावा असाच आहे.

ह्यापुढचे लेख कधीकाळी भारतात असलेल्या राजेरजवाड्यांच्या आत्ताच्या वंशजाबद्दलचे आहेत. ह्यात पुण्याचे पेशवे, जव्हारचे मुकणे घराणे, अहेरीचे आत्राम घराणे, सावंतवाडीचे सावंत-भोसले घराणे, कोल्हापूरचे राजघराणे आणि सांगलीचे पटवर्धन ह्यांच्याविषयीचे लेख आहेत. सावंत-भोसलेवरचा लेख थोडा रटाळ वाटला.

जमशेटजी टाटा हे नाव ऐकलं की शालेय जीवनातलं इतिहासाचं पुस्तक आठवतं. पण गिरीश कुबेर ह्यांचा लेख त्या पुस्तकापेक्षा जास्त माहिती देणारा आहे. म्हैसूर-बंगलोर मध्ये रेशीम उद्योग भरभराटीला येण्यामागे जमशेटजी टाटा आहेत हे मला आत्ता कळलं. तीच गोष्ट गोरेगाव-जोगेश्वरीमध्ये असलेल्या गोठ्याबद्दल. भारतात पोलाद कारखाना काढायला ह्या माणसाने किती परिश्रम घेतले आणि भिलाई आणि मयूरभंजला त्यानी कसं संशोधन केलं ह्याचा इतिहास अतिशय रंजक आहे. हा लेख म्हणजे राजहंस प्रकाशनातर्फे प्रसिध्द होणार्या टाटा उद्योगसमूहाबद्दलच्या पुस्तकातलं एक प्रकरण आहे. अर्थात हे पुस्तक वाचायला हवंच.

माझ्या 1000 Things To Do Before You Die च्या यादीत बंगाली शिकणं ही एक एन्ट्री आहे ती ह्या भाषेतलं साहित्य मुळातून वाचता यावं म्हणून. भाषांतर हा प्रकार मला फारसा कधीच रुचला नाही. अर्थात दाक्षिणात्य भाषा शिकता येतील असं वाटत नाही त्यामुळे त्यातलं साहित्य अनुवादित स्वरुपात वाचायला लागणार हे आलंच. तर 'नमनाला घडाभर तेल' घालायचं कारण म्हणजे 'गीतांजली आणि नोबेल' हा लेख. गीतांजलीला नोबेल मिळाल्यावर भारतात आणि जगभरात ज्या प्रतिक्रिया उमटल्या त्याचा आढावा डॉ. शरद देशपान्डे ह्यांनी ह्या लेखात घेतला आहे. 'गीतांजलीतले रविंद्रनाथ' हा रजनीकांत सोनार ह्यांचा लेखही वाचनीय आहे. थोडक्यात काय तर बंगाली शिकायला हवं ह्या माझ्या एन्ट्रीची पुन्हा आठवण ह्या निमित्ताने झाली. योग कधी येतो ते देवालाच ठाऊक.

पुस्तकं वाचणं हा माझा अत्यंत आवडता छंद असला तरी प्रकाशक कोण हे कधी आवर्जून पाहिल्याचं आठवत नाही. खरं तर पुस्तक वाचकापर्यंत आणण्यात त्याचा मोलाचा सहभाग असतो. 'राजहंसी वाटचाल' हा राजहंस प्रकाशनावर आधारित लेख त्याचे संचालक दिलीप माजगावकर ह्यांनी लिहिला आहे तो ह्या दृष्टीने छान माहिती देणारा आहे. व्यंगचित्रांकित साहित्यसंभार (शकुंतला फडणीस), सृजनशील मुखपृष्ठे (वसंत सरवटे), 'रंगायनचे दिवस' (अरुण काकडे) आणि 'सत्यजित राय आणि प्रेमचंद' (विजय पाडळकर) असे सगळे लेख वाचकांच्या माहितीत मोलाची भर घालणारे आहेत ह्यात वाद नाही. प्रशांत कुलकर्णीचं 'ब्रेकिंग न्यूज' मस्तच. त्यामानाने 'काय बरे होणार ह्या निवडणुकीत' सपक वाटला.

ज्याला इंग्रजीत 'Running from pillar to post' म्हणतात तशी धावाधाव करून 'धनंजय' आणि 'चैत्राली' हे दोन अंक आजच मिळवलेत. पाहू धावाधाव किती सार्थकी लागली आहे ते :-)

We are born alone. We live alone. We die alone. Only through our love and friendship we can create the illusion for the moment that we are not alone.

-- Orson Welles

Bhagavad Geeta - As It Is - Adhyaya 6

I have to be honest here. Ever since I read that Bhakti-Yoga is considered to be the best for the present age of Kali, I read the Adhyayas on Karma-Yoga (Adhyaya 5) and Dhyana-Yoga (Adhyaya 6) for the sake of it. Still, my takeaway from Adhyaya 6 are the following 2 verses:

Text 34:

चंचलं हि मन: कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवदृढम
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुषकरम

Purport:

The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.

I was mightily relieved when I read this. All the talk of controlling senses (this brought memories of yummy black forest cake to mind!), regulating life (Boy! Our lives already run as per the schedule dictated by the clocks!) and treating friends and foes alike had begun to scare me. It all seemed just impossible - not only in this life but probably in next several ones. Though I understand that all this is necessary for one to be on a true spiritual path, it looked very overwhelming - kind of asking a 7th grader to solve a Physics paper meant for someone in the 10th. Where am I going to start? How am I going to know that I am on the right track - given especially that I am unlikely to find a bonafide master to teach me the same. But it turns out that I can take baby steps - like chanting the God's name. I doubt that I can do so all throughout the day as some people have done in the past, if the scriptures are to be believed. But if I am not bone-tired by the end of the day, then a little chanting before I hit the bed and close my eyes is practical. Or so it seems at least for now.

Of course, it is clear that even if I manage to do so on a consistent basis, it is not going to take me very far on the spiritual road in this life. If there isn't going to be another one, then I would have reached as far as I could and that would be the end of it. But if there are more - and I certainly believe in rebirths - then the question is - do I get to pick up from where I left off? This becomes especially relevant because none of us seem to be remember if we have ever been before on this planet. The 41st verse answered me - but only partially.

Text 41:

प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वती: समा:
शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते

Purport:

The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.

Comforting as the verse is, I am not entirely convinced by it. We all see people born into rich aristocratic families waste their life by adopting a lifestyle that has nothing whatsoever to do with spiritual progress. So either they don't remember their spiritual efforts from past life or they choose not to follow it. In both cases, whatever you do in this life to not get attached to the illusions of the world is a waste, isn't it?

An article on the late director Satyajit Ray's first Hindi movie - Shatranj Ke Khiladi - mentioned a book "Lucknow - The Last Phase Of An Oriental Culture". Should be an interesting read!

Kayani's, Fort

I still remember the first time I had been to Kayani's a couple of years back. The decor was very different from the restaurants I had been to till then. It had an old world charm to it. Why isn't the waiter handing me a menu - I wondered till I was informed by my parents that the menu was secured under the glass top of the table. What? After the process of doing a double take was over, I scanned the menu. It did seem like it was printed sometime in the last century. I need not have bothered for my parents knew exactly what to order - chicken & mutton patties, the famous Irani tea and of course, the Mawa cakes & Cherry Custard to end the meal on a sweet note, well, several sweet notes. I have been a fan of the eatery ever since - though it has mostly been takeaways.

A visit had been overdue since last year so I decided to go this weekend. The menus under the glass tabletops are new now and seem to have a lot more items on offer since I last sat down there for a meal. Chicken Patties and Mawa cakes were on my takeaway list so I looked at the menu closely. Kebabs, Kheema Ghotala, Mutton Salli, Fish & Chips - the list was pretty exhaustive. But I wanted to have something lighter so I ordered Masala soda along with a plate of chicken sandwiches, Akuri on toast and Cherry Custard. The waiter promptly informed me that they didn't have Masala soda. I didn't want to go for the run-of-the-mill Coke, Pepsi, Mirinda etc. So a cuppa Irani tea it was.

The chicken sandwiches weren't anything to write home about. A hint of butter, and perhaps mayonnaise, with chicken mince that seemed halfway between being grilled and steamed. I am unlikely to order this item again in future.

Chicken Sandwich

 But the Akuri on toast more than made up for it. It looked like simple egg bhurji on buttered toast but I suspect that they must have added some secret ingredient to it to make it so tasty. You HAVE TO try it if you ever visit this place. The Cherry Custard was yummy as usual.

Akuri On Toast

Cherry Custard

So if you are on the lookout for something different to eat in a setting that looks as if it has been transported here from another era, go to Kayani's. I am definitely going there again - gotta try the Fish & Chips next time!

अर्ज किया है…

उसे कभी फुर्सत ही नही मिली पढनेकी
और तू बिकता रहा उसके शहरमे किताबोंकी तऱह 

Bhagwad Geeta - As It Is (Adhyaya 5)

I have finished reading the 5th Adhyaya. And for me, the whole of it boils down to this 12th verse:

युक्त: कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठीकीम
अयुक्त: कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते

The purport goes as follows:

The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.

On the theoretical level, this seems almost like a no-brainer, isn't it? The best way to get disengaged from the material world is not to renounce it completely but to be there and still be free from it. And yet, it is one of the most difficult things in life. In this day and age, who has got time to do anything just for the love of it? We all do most of the things because we have to earn our living or because it is our duty. That's precisely what gets us into the anxiety about the results of the work. Have I done it right? What if I have messed it up? What will this person say and what will that person think? Sleepless nights, increased stress levels and a complete waste of time - none of it is conducive to our well-being.

Yet, somewhere deep down, we all know that it is futile to fret over things we don't control. But we do it nonetheless. And make our lives miserable. Only if we could follow the adage 'Do your best and leave the rest to God'. Not only will we get rid of unproductive worrying, it will leave us with a lot of free time to do things we really love doing. There will be lot of peace and calm.

And who knows? In the process, we might actually be able to take ourselves a teeny weeny bit far away from the illusion that is this life.