Differing gods

There is an upper caste God .

And then there is a lower caste one .

Perhaps the upper caste one is kind and all knowing .

Dressed in finery and offered great food .

The lower caste one may have clothes or just bare .

 In lowly surroundings .

Where divinity doesn't matter and you don't care .

But it's God after all and you got to seek gains .

Takes time here like the slow moving local trains .

To please and propitiate .

We have different holy cows .

Needs different rituals and vows .

These are the lower and upper caste Gods .

And who said on earth God is one .

Have heard that In fact each galaxy has its own sun

The Walk

 It has been a long crazy walk .

 Probably a limp at times .

Sometimes put in the history dustbin as stupid talk .

But  the wheels were set in motion .

With multiple actors and varied hues .

The story began and the canvas grew .

As time ticked with a song here

A narrative there

 Action somewhere

The plot thickened ..

 The walk limp and run to freedom and equality

 Is still on like the daily ticking of the clock

( this on the journey to achieve any change/ on any revolutionary movement)

Bouquet of Emotions Chance Encounters & Wait @Jagran Film Festival-Mumbai

About 18 to 19 hours of uninterrupted  cinema and more cinema over the weekend ..As the memories are still fresh my  mind prompts me to write about my experience

Good cinema is a bouquet of emotions and thoughts .For cinema buffs the the Jagran film festival(Mumbai edition-Fun Republic Andheri) that concluded on 30^th September then had an eclectic mix of movies, documentaries and shorts..A  large enough bouquet.

In such festivals a great treat awaits us  as you can glance thru the locales and emotions that a character goes through the busy streets of Buenos Aires , to the scenic locales of Himachal to the madness  that is Mumbai. Female directors  as I observed ruled the roost at Jagran Film festival .Not that the male directors weren’t good. Amongst the plethora of films that we saw over the weekend (managing work and film balance:)) a  few that stay with me….

Amo Akka ek se(we are all one) literally sent a shiver down the spine and gave goosebumps as it chronicled the  fight for basic rights and land by an illiterate but strong tribal woman leader- Jhilabai all of 89!Pratibha Sharma is indeed a very talented director and she depicted not just the collective fight but a range of emotions from loss to victory ,resilience and patience .A chance meeting with Pratibha Sharma made us realise that she went through five long years of work to make this  documentary shot in the Satpura range.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li6Th71gPwo

(you can watch the documentary promo here)

A chance technical glitch took all of us to the screening of Ribbon by Rakhee Sanidhya which addressed the challenges of gender discrimination at work and child abuse –a horrific evil that has sadly enough become a permanent feature of our society. The subject was very sensitively handled and the lead actors Kalki Koechlin and Sumit Vyas were amazing.In the audience interaction some questions were surprisingly  asked if the problem of child abuse really exists .. To which my friend promptly told me that the concerned person seems to be living underground not aware of the reality around him..

Counterfeit Kunku by Reema Sengupta with its catchy title,moving theme and innate pathos stole everyone’s heart.It is about a single woman’s struggle to find a rented tenement as generally rented houses are denied to single folks( and if I may add in many localities also based on caste, religion , food preferences etc ).She then wears kunku(sindoor/ vermilion) and dresses as a married lady and manages to get a house

Maya was one of the shorts that delineated the story of a fiercely independent woman , love , longing and struggle to build new relations even as the earlier ones get entangled in myriad emotions and feelings.

A few notable ones were:- Las Acacia-an Argentine movie which  depicted a range of emotions from loss to wait and hope, The Dawn-an Assamese film which dealt with grief, loss and again revival of hope, Vodka Diaries – a Hindi psycho thriller that revived memories of European cinema .Juze-a Konkani film which tackled the topic of exploitation, moral depravation and a flicker of hope toward the end!

Then there  were endless shorts and other movies which marked the entry of many young and talented Directors. It was heartening to know that good cinema is alive and kicking and there is a whole new generation ready to take the mantle ahead.

The festival ended with a film by Anurag Kawatra – Kuch Der aur (Wait a while)which dealt with the rather sensitive topic of a young boy’s life, associated ups and down and coming of age in the bylanes of Chandni Chowk!  As you reflect you realize there is a wait associated with each turn that life takes whether it is the protagonist's or yours. A sudden discovery ,a loss, search, wait and again revival of hope even as the protagonist  makes new associations , loses them , gets them back..chance encounters and all and the wait continues .. Well till the next Film Festival for cinema buffs likes us .. and no prizes for guessing that it is the MAMI Film Festival in October end..

Partner or rather Partners now in Crime-Asmita Sen and Anita Sachedev

#jagranfilmfestival #cinemabuffs #waitingforMAMIfilmfestival

MUSINGS.. Ashlesha Athavale​'s latest book..

MUSINGS.. Ashlesha Athavale​'s latest book..

I wonder if they remember me because I remember them..
Journalist and writer -Ashlesha Athavale reminisces in her latest book-MUSINGS about her growing up years in Goa- where her litterateur father, Narayan Athawalay was the editor of Daily Gomantak 

The book also has a few short stories & is a light read. Ashlesha’s love for nature and above all Goa stays with her as she pursued a career in journalism in Mumbai. 

For me Ashlesha is still the girl I met with her father on the first day of junior college D. G. Ruparel College of Arts, Science and Commerce,Mumbai

Ashlesha has also translated the much acclaimed –Colony which is about Sachin Tendulkar’s assistant's brother –Siddharth Pardhe and Siddharth’s tryst with the famous Sahitya Sahawas society(Sachin being a former resident) which houses all Marathi literary stalwarts .

You can order MUSINGS here..

https://www.amazon.in/Musings-Ashlesha-Athava…/…/ref=sr_1_1…

Proud of you Ash...

Real and Plastic ??

Real

  What is real?

 The undiluted form of raw nature .

The pure air ,the rawness in the wind, the elements .

 The rock, pebbles, the jaded wood .

The growing sapling, the water buffalo soaking in the sea waters .

No genteel prudence here .

Yet everything disciplined and orderly .

Switch over to the plastic environment

 With the air conditioned air , the controlled environment .

 Everything in soft whispers

And a disciple that is like a veneer on a sooth filled table .

What is real? What is plastic?

The plastic is the real thing for us

And the real a reality that we seldom touch& feel
Plastic become real

And the real plastic

(on being one with Nature)

What is Greatness..

We all casually say - this one is great, that one is superb.. What exactly is greatness, finesse in any field, the epitome of excellence ?? This is my take.. For some reason I was constantly thinking of one of the Indian Business leaders whom I immensely admire -Apurva Purohit (CEO of the Jagran Group) and Vivek Kamath-MSD Pharmaceuticals Managing Director (it is the company where I work, when I wrote this :)). In fact a casual conversation with Vivek was the inspiration for this poem

For me both of the leaders stand for varied degrees of excellence ...

Greatness

What is it

A craft

An art

Hours of preparation

Dull repetition

But a lot of smarts

Thought and intuition

A dash of creativity

And fun

All mingle together

In the right proportion

With  right timing and logic

In the correct sequence

To create this magic

Which lands like an eagle with great swiftness

On a mighty mountain peak

Called Greatness

Dedicated to all great thinkers and people I know and admire from all fields- writers, business leaders, poets, painters, artists, film directors, economists , designers, sportspeople etc

Travel Back in Time : Konkan Region Beckons

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

Marcus Garvey 

Once in a while it is always nice to visit your roots . To check out the place from where you came and soak in the spirit . To make it more dramatic it’s the essence of your origin, your existence . Though I would like to proudly say that there are many places in India from where I have absorbed varied influences due to the various places where folks who have had an impact on my life and my early years have stayed(when they were growing up) – Pune, Lucknow, Indore, Mumbai (lion’s share goes to this metropolis). But the Konkan coast and Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra have a special place in my heart as the region is not only exceedingly beautiful but it also happens to be my ancestral place . The road from Mumbai to Goa(Ratnagiri is one the way) is lush green especially in the aftermath of heavy rains . For the sake of poetic license we can suspend reality for a while and ignore the potholes ( though one politician shamelessly mentioned that he would like to make the Mumbai Goa highway like the San Francisco Las Vegas road - was he joking?? It also reminds me of another analogy where a politician said that he would like to make Mumbai another Shanghai.On visiting Shanghai reality dawned and I thought when will this grandiose dream be ever realised !!).Anyway coming to the practical north gritty details of travelling on the Mumbai Goa highway to begin with the road via Pali (from Mumbai) is much better as compared to the road through Pen . 

The scenic beauty of Konkan is unparalleled . There are some patches of roads which are lined with the unexplored beaches on one side and the Sahayadri mountains or hillocks on the other . Surprise surprise as compared to the Mumbai Goa highway these roads are in a great condition too . Here I would like to specially mention the road from Rajapur to Ratnagiri via the villages of  Pawas,Adivare ( which has the famous Mahakali temple ).

https://ratnagiritourism.in/en/temples/mahakali-temple-adiware/

The Konkan region has it unique culture where a lot of importance is given to music and theatre. Holi and Ganapati are the main festivals. And folks from Konkan who have thronged to Mumbai for their livelihood make it a point to go their ancestral place , their “ village” at this time.Any true son or daughter of this soil will make it a point to visit their place. Coming to the local fare – the king of fruits – the Ratnagiri Alphonso mango ( though I am not very fond of it) is grown here and so are cashews and jackfruits. The people from Konkan are in fact likened to a jackfruit- hard from outside from soft from inside. I wouldn’t tend to disagree with this description. There are local products and delicacies too like the mango and jackfruit poli( pulp of these fruits sweetened , dried and rolled into thin sheets), kokam (  a local fruit and great if you want to lose a few kilos), kulith( again a local alternate grain), khwaja( local sweet made of gram flour and jaggery). Rice flour Bhakri(local  bread) and Pithale( gravy again made of gram flour) are the staple diet and so are rice and fish ( which you find in plenty due to the presence of the sea!). Efforts to find a “ so called  only vegetarian “ joint will not yield results where the Arabian sea rules the roost!

The Kokan region is slowly emerging as a big tourist destination .I just hope and pray  that this region and its places whether it is the more popular Ganapatipule or Tarkarli or whatever –retain their  pristine glory and do not lose their soul to gross commercialization. The rustic rawness is evident in all the places and it lends a unique charm to the entire region!

Coming back to our road trip..The wind in your hair ( that is if you switch off the car AC and roll down the window pane ) , the salty smell of the sea waters , numerous fishing boats , water buffaloes soaking in the creek , the sea waves playing touch and go with the shores , the blue clear sky above-this is my own private version of paradise :) You can stand on the hillock ,stop your car and literally soak in the spirit of the place .. Geography , history , time , space , mundane worries all just melt in this moment as you soak in this spirit or you become one with it.It stays .Comes with you even as you go back to your office desk , meetings , emails and discussions . This place - the place of my origin and I are one 

SHALLOW I

Shallowness of the mind

The hollow thinking

That is under

The garb of intellect

The senses are to be pleased

All materials pleasures welcome

And All reasons welcome

To justify all acts

Humanity, humaneness, values

All thrown without

Any sign of caution

The senselessness all pervading

To please the mind

But in this mindlessness

Does any thought exist?

Shallow II

Shallow minds

Hollow thoughts

Go together

And create a song of life

Without any rhythm

Without any lilt

That tries to pass

For a soft melody

But will it pass?

WIP

I am a giant WIP

The work happens daily

Sometimes known

And many times unknown

But work happens

What do it work

With what I work

And how do I work

All leads to the quality of the output

But the WIP sign continues