ऐसा नहीं के जिंदगी बहुत छोटी है
दरअसल जीना  बहोत देर से शुरू करते है

(Forwarded)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - by Milan Kundera

To the Castle and Back - by Václav Havel

Supernatural Season 10, Episode 5

Goddess Calliope, who wants a play to be completed so she can gobble up the writer? Seriously guys, this could have been a plot of season 1, 2 or 3. But the series is in its 10th season now and you come up with this? Surely, aliens, robors and spaceships would have sounded better. Why do I have this nasty feeling that you are still groping for a viable thread that can form the backbone for this season? Unless, of course, the character that we saw talking to the writer Marie at the end of episode 5 is going to be it.........

P.S. So doctor Torres from Grey's Anatomy is named after this Goddess who makes writers part of her regular diet? I would have sued my parents if they had done something of this kind ;-)

Lately, I find myself reaching for the TV remote to turn the Mute button off - every time the  Amazon Kindle ad is aired. Like the plot and love the song - something that is hard to say for any ad these days. But I haven't been able to figure out why the Kindle guy has to go to the children who live so far off that he has to travel by practically all possible modes of transport - flight, train, bus and boat - to reach them. Do they belong to the village that he was born and brought up in? I am equally confused by his crossing himself and looking at the sky towards the end of the ad. Is he thanking God for giving him an opportunity to be able to do something for the kids or is he thanking God for Amazon? ;-) Whatever the case, it seems that Amazon has found out, and rightly so, that we Indians fall for emotional ads. Whether that will translate into actual sales or not is a different ballgame altogether.

Among the ads that make me bang the remote in frustration is the Fair And Lovely one. They have been spreading the false promise of turning your skin tone lighter, with its subtle message that fair skin is superior, for years. And now they are offering scholarships so women can earn all that they are expecting from their future husband before they get married? Wow! Another such ad is by Flipkart - which shows Ranbir Singh milking a she-goat to add milk to his cereal. Gross!

And Priyanka Chopra's ad for Schmidt chocolate has killed my appetite for it :-(

Donate To Anandwan

In response to my donation, I received a message from Dr. Vikas Amte  who serves as the Chief Functionary of Maharogi Sewa Samiti (MSS). An excerpt:

I feel extremely proud to inform you that by the end of last year,our organization had helped 2.5 million marginalized people through its constructive programs. Anandwan today shelters over 2100 differently-abled people (leprosy patients, visually challenged, orthopaedically challenged,hearing and speech impaired, orphans, senior citizens, and socio-economically backward people) and not only provides with basic necessities, but also encourages education and vocational training to help them regain their self-esteem and lead a dignified life. Today, after 64 years of hard work, the leprosy survivors and social rejects are specially independent and live off the land, have set world standards, for rehabilitation and coordinated some of India's most
daring and prominent ecological and social programs.

MSS has always stressed on being self-reliant and all the expenses associated with treatment, training and rehabilitation of the inmates had been met through the income generated by various in-house production units, agriculture produce and the contributions from well-wishers. However, today, despite all their efforts to be self-sustaining, MSS is unable to achieve its goal due to ever-increasing inflow of marginalized people from various corners of the country who want to seek solace at MSS.

Hence in order to achieve stability for its activities, MSS is striving to create a Constructive Social Capital of Rs. 55 Crores. The interest received on this fund will not only ensure adequate financial security, stability and progress of the various projects of MSS but also help expand the reach of its activities across a much larger cross-section of the society.

I, therefore, most hopefully, appeal to interested associates to kindly lend a helping hand to this project as generously as possible and establish a 'Pain-Friendship' with the Loneliest-the Last and the Least on this planet.

Detailed information about donation was also included towards the message. The same can be seen at http://www.anandwan.in/donate-to-anandwan.html

Anguish is caused by wanting what you don't have, not by not having what you don't have

-- A Buddhist Saying

४. प्रहार, दिवाळी अंक २०१४

'शोधा म्हणजे सापडेल' ह्या न्यायाने २-३ बुकस्टोलवाल्यांनी नन्नाचा पाढा वाचूनही मी नेटाने आणखी एकाजवळ चौकशी केली तेव्हा 'प्रहार' चा अंक हाती लागला. एव्हढंच नव्हे तर २ दिवसांनी त्याने दीपोत्सव आणि आकंठ सुध्दा आणून दिले. अक्षरगंध मात्र मुंबईत आता कुठे मिळणार नाही असं म्हणाला. पुढल्या महिन्यात लायब्ररी पुन्हा सुरु करणार आहे. तिथे कदाचित मिळेल.

तर आता प्रहारबद्दल. लोकसत्तात आलेल्या परीक्षणानुसार महाराष्ट्रात भरणाऱ्या विविध बाजारांबद्दल ह्या अंकात माहिती आहे एव्हढंच माहीत होतं. त्या दृष्टीने अंकाने अजिबात निराशा केली नाही. अलिबाग आणि वसईचा मासळीबाजार, मुंबईचा चोरबाजार, महाराष्ट्रात ७-८ ठिकाणी भरणारे घोडेबाजार, उत्तर कोकणातल्या प्राचीन बाजारपेठा, देवगड, कणकवली, कुडाळ, साळगाव, माणगाव, वालावल, चिपळूण, विजयदुर्ग, वेंगुर्ला, गोवा, मिठबाव ह्या ठिकाणच्या पेठा, सावंतवाडीचा लाकडी खेळण्याचा बाजार, शिरोड्याचा मीठाचा बाजार आणि भेडशीचा वनौषधींचा बाजार - ह्या सगळ्यांबद्दल इतरत्र कुठे वाचायलासुध्दा मिळालं नसतं.

चोरबाजारावरचा लेख वाचून मला सुध्दा तो एकदा जाऊन बघायची इच्छा झाली आहे :-) प्राचीन काळाच्या बाजारावरच्या लेखात वजनांची एक मोठी जंत्रीच दिली होती - १ चिळव म्हणजे ५ ग्रेम, २ चिळव म्हणजे एक मिळव, दोन मिळव म्हणजे एक १ कोळव, दोन कोळव म्हणजे एक चिपट, दोन चिपट म्हणजे एक आठवा, दोन आठवे म्हणजे एक शेर, चार शेर म्हणजे एक पायली, १६ पायली म्हणजे एक मण, वीस मण म्हणजे एक खंडी, १२० शेर म्हणजे १ फरी. बाप रे! वाचता वाचताच मला दम लागला. लोकांना त्या काळी कसं लक्षात राहत असेल हे सगळं काय माहीत.

१-२ गोष्टी मात्र खटकल्या. अंकात बऱ्याच ठिकाणी शुध्दलेखनाच्या चुका आहेत. शेवटचा भेडशीच्या वनौषधींच्या बाजारावरचा लेख अपूर्ण वाटला. आणि बऱ्याच लेखांत सध्याच्या काळातल्या बाजारात दुकानं असलेल्या लोकांच्या नावांचा उल्लेख Product Placement आहे की काय असं वाटण्याइतपत अस्थानी होता.

ह्या त्रुटी मान्य करूनही एका वेगळ्या विषयावरचे लेख वाचल्याचं समाधान अंकाने दिलं.