अर्ज किया है.....

तबदिली जब भी आती है मौसमकी अदाओंमें
किसीका यू बदल जाना बहोत याद आता है

(Forwarded)

शाळेत असताना आठवी ते दहावी संस्कृत घेतलं होतं. दहावी झाल्यावर संस्कृत सुटलं. आज लोकसत्तात एक लेख आला होता त्यात वाचलं की छत्तीसगड मध्ये एक बाई गुरुकुल पध्दतीने संस्कृत व्याकरण शिकवतात - ४५ दिवस. गुरुकुल पध्दतीने शिकायचं आणि ते पण संस्कृत. मस्तच! संस्कृत परत कधीतरी पहिल्यापासून शिकायचं अशी खूप दिवसांची इच्छा आहे. देव करो आणि भविष्यात ह्या गुरुकुलात ते शिकायची संधी मला मिळो. :-)

महाराष्ट्रीयन असूनही मी मराठी चित्रपट पहात नाही. कारण एकतर ते अति विनोदी असतात नाहीतर महागंभीर. आणि मला दोन्ही तऱ्हेच्या चित्रपटांचं वावडं आहे. पण ऐतिहासिक चित्रपट दोन्ही पठडीत मोडत नाहीत कारण इतिहास घडून गेलेला असल्याने स्टोरीलाईन आपल्याला माहीत असते. :-) "रमा-माधव" बद्दल वाचलं तेव्हा हा चित्रपट पाहिला पाहिजे असं वाटलं. पेशवाईचा काळ माझ्यासाठी नेहमीच कुतूहलाचा विषय राहिला आहे. त्यातून ओरिजिनल "रमा-माधव" म्हणजे मृणाल कुलकर्णी आणि रविंद्र मंकणी ह्या दोघांनी गोपिकाबाई आणि नानासाहेब पेशवे ह्या भूमिका कश्या केल्या आहेत ह्याबद्दलही उत्सुकता होतीच.

पण काल कुठल्यातरी मराठी चेनेलवर चित्रपटाच्या प्रोमोजमध्ये रमा-माधवावर चित्रित झालेलं romantic गाणं पाहिलं आणि मी चित्रपट बघायचा, निदान चित्रपटगृहात जाऊन बघायचा, बेत बदलला. म्हणजे ते दोघं गाणं गात बागेतून नाचत-बागडत नव्हते. पण तरी असं फिरण्याइतका वेळ माधवराव पेशव्यांकडे असेल असं वाटत नाही. प्रत्येक चित्रपटात गाणं असलंच पाहिजे हा सोस का? :-(

तौहीन ना कर शराबको कडवा कह कर
जिंदगी के तजुर्बे शराब से भी कडवे होते है

The SMS forwarded by my Gazal-buddy made me pause. No doubt, what it says is true. But then one doesn't get addicted to life's bitter experiences, right?

"मॅडम, वो देखो" the cabbie yanked me out of the Golden Era and I pulled one of the earplugs out with extreme reluctance to look where he was pointing ahead. A tempo had overturned right in the middle of the road. There wasn't much damage and no humans were in sight. So I guess no one was injured but the traffic cops were taking their time to arrive at the scene. In the meantime, the vehicles continued to drive on both sides of the tempo.

"साले इतना फास्ट चलाते है. फिसल गया होगा" he said slowing down just enough to take a look at the tempo before resuming his own super-fast speed. :-)

A smile crossed my face as I tuned into the songs again. Hell! If I have to die, I might as well go listening to my favorite songs. :-)

Evil foreigners, upright Indians and FDI in insurance

गर्दिशमे तारे बहोत है लेकिन
टूटता वही है जो किसीकी ख्वाहिश बन जाता है

(Forwarded)

I finally managed to listen to songs from the Golden Era during cab journey to office today morning :-) It so happened that the cab windows were slightly tinted. It made me uneasy in the beginning but I realized that it was not possible to read the paper because the sky was overcast as usual. Happily I fished out the earphones and got lost in the 60s and 70s. Some of the gems that brightened my morning - आजा पिया तोहे प्यार दू, तुझको पुकारे मेरा प्यार, नैनोंमे बदरा छाये, ये समा समा है ये प्यारका, हमने देखी है......

And finally the all-time favorite by the late Jagjit Singh - अगर हम कहे और वो मुस्कुरा दे. Incidentally, it had been raining when I had listened to this gazal for the first time, years ago.

अगर हम कहे और वो मुस्कुरा दे
हम उनके लिये जिंदगानी लुटा दे
हर एक मोड पर हम गमोंको सजा दे
चलो जिंदगी को मुहोबत बनाये

Perfect lines for a rain-soaked morning, what say? :-)

A sher that goes perfectly well with the romantic monsoon days ;-)

अगर है गहराई तो चल डूबा दे मुझ को
समंदर नाकाम रहा अब तेरी आंखोकी बारी है

(Forwarded)

It is becoming more and more difficult these days to get any reading done during my morning cab ride to the office. It invariably starts to rain the moment I step out of the house. It is almost impossible to ignore the little raindrops as they make their way across the cab windows and make a pattering sound on the roof. It is an effort not to look at the overcast sky. The whole atmosphere has such a fresh romantic ring to it that I yearn to slip on the earphones and listen to songs from the Golden Era. But then I think of the Mint lying unopened in the backpack. If I don't read it in the morning, I won't be able to read it at all. I open the newspaper but can barely read because my eyes keep darting outside.

How I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day :-)

It was painful to watch Arjun killing Karna in Mahabharat (Star Plus, 8:30pm). I have always liked the character of Karna than Arjun in the epic tale. Fate was cruel to him but he did the best that he could. He just made one mistake - of throwing his lot with Duryodhana - and fully paid the price for it.

Must say that the makers of this show have been bang on target as far as the selection of Krishna and Karna goes. Both actors have done justice to the characters.

It would be sad to see this series draw to a close soon :-(

'Time Is Money' is said to be the motto of the city of Mumbai. We Mumbaikars are always running, whether we have watches strapped to our wrists or not. The funny thing is that we curse it and seem to enjoy it at the same time. And the sad part is that it leaves us with almost no time to bother about what is going on around us.

I was sadly reminded of the same because of two incidents last week. I can never be counted among the fans of the fiasco called 'Local Trains'. But there is no denying the fact that they save you a lot of time, if they are running on time. So there I was waiting at the station, thinking about thousand things and craning my neck every now and then to check if the next train was rolling in. Somewhere close to me I could hear a person telling an old woman he was with that the trains were running late and they won't be able to get into any because of the crowd.

Then suddenly the same person said 'Excuse me madam, can you please explain to her in Marathi what I am saying. I don't think she can understand Hindi'. At first, I wasn't sure he was talking to me. But he was. He repeated what he was saying and then added that he would get her into a rickshaw just outside the station and would pay the fare himself. I told the same to the old woman in Marathi. She nodded her head. But before the guy could guide her out she sat where she was standing. Maybe they had been standing since quite some time and she was tired. I didn't have much time to dwell on it because the train rolled in just then and I hurried to get into it. But as the train pulled away I wondered about those people. Who were they? Were they related to each other? Where were they going? Why? Alas! The questions would remain without answers forever.

Anyways, I was hurrying down homewards and as usual it started raining. Cursing my luck, I opened the umbrella and taking care to avoid the puddles as much as I could, resumed walking. As I concentrated on putting one foot in front of another I barely noticed the old man who was standing near a particularly high section of the pavement. It was only when a young boy who was following me took his hand and helped him onto the pavement that I realized that he needed someone to help him up. A pang of guilt rose within me but sadly this isn't the first time nor would this be the last. :-(

Sometimes I am afraid that this city is taking more from me than I am willing to give :-(

गहरी थी रात लेकिन हम खोये नही
दर्द बहुत था दिलमे लेकिन हम रोये नही
कोई नही हमारा जो पूछे हमसे
जाग रहे हो किसी के लिये या
किसी के लिये सोये ही नही

(Forwarded)

Breakfast At Corniche, Carter Road, Bandra

Sunday mornings are about getting up late and having a lazy breakfast or a brunch, if you can make it. I had heard that Corniche wasn't operational in mornings during the sweltering summer months. But now that the monsoon is finally here, we decided to make a trip.

Of course, The Londoner (Rs. 285), with extra bacon (Rs. 25), was a must. This time we added The Berliner (Rs. 295) and The Mumbaikar - Kheema Pav (Rs. 275) to the order. 

The Mumbaikar - Kheema Pav

The Berliner

I don't have to write anything about The Londoner. It was, is and will always be a soul-satisfying experience. The Berliner was exactly what was promised on the menu and more - eggs on a toast, sausages, hollandaise sauce and crispy chips. I wouldn't have noticed if the world had collapsed around me. The Kheema was perfectly cooked and seasoned though it could have been spicier.

Thank God for Sunday mornings and for Corniche!

Watermelon Feta Salad

I have tried this salad at two places and it has become one of my all-time favorites. It looked so deceptively simple that I thought making it would be a breeze. I couldn't have been more wrong.

During my first attempt I used orange juice in the dressing and that gave the whole dish an unwanted bitter note. I was so heartbroken that I didn't attempt it again till now. This time I made use of lemon juice and vinegar - 1 tablespoon each - added a pinch of salt and whisked it while adding olive oil.  I poured this mixture over freshly cut melon cubes. Crumbled a generous amount of Feta and tossed it in. Finally, I sauteed pine nuts in butter and sprinkled them over the salad.

And voila! A salad that you have to make a Herculean effort to stop eating :-)

Another excellent article by Uma Shashikant - Mindless tinkering with the tax rules must stop.

I didn't have much hopes of finding any new flavor at the Natural ice-cream parlor. But life has a way of surprising you. I discovered not one, but two flavors that were not on offer when I had last visited the outlet, about a month or so ago. The debutantes are Dates and Melon blast.

The Dates ice-cream was delicious, maybe a bit too sweet for my taste but I managed to convince myself that I was eating healthy because dates are good for the body ;-) The Melon blast was supposed to be a combo of watermelon and musk melon but I could only taste musk melon in it. It hit me like a blast of fresh air though so I guess its name is justified. :-)

Wild California, Nehru Science Center, Worli

The new show at The Science Odyssey dome tells you about the adventurous spirits in the state. And in the process shows you some jaw-dropping footage of the daredevil acts. My personal favorites are the sky-diving duo who do somersaults in the air, the two scientists who study the giant Sequoia trees by climbing to their tops, the workmen who are responsible for the upkeep of the Golden Gate Bridge, the team that is working hard to save the Bald Eagle population and the trainers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

If you are one of those who don't blanch at the sight of dizzying heights, this show is definitely for you.

Happy Friendship Day!

ही खास पोस्ट माझ्या मित्र-मैत्रिणींसाठी:

लोक स्वप्नं पाहतात
आम्ही सत्य पाहतो
फरक एव्हढाच आहे की
लोक जगात मित्र पाहतात
पण आम्ही मित्रांमध्येच जग पाहतो.

Thank you guys and gals.....for being part of my life and for being there for me :-)