Shravan

Today is the first friday in the month of Shravan- shravani shukrawar ... ma would do the pooja of the jivati print in the morning ... a simple one actually not ani rituals just haldi kumkum agarbatti arati and the cotton vastra of five bobbles .. a simple naivadya of  sweet milk and chana and half a banana for me and my brother  ... haldi kumkum in the evening would mean a couple of next door aunties dropping in  formally for the haldi kunku.. but mostly it would be the maid who was offered the haldi kunku and a cup of sweetened milk and a handful of chanas and a banana

The Month of Shravan brings such lovely memories...of laughter and happiness and so many celebrations .. of new green bangles and mendi and manglagaur pujas and puran and bhajjias...the smell of parijat in the early mornings when my maternal grandfather did his pooja and his ritual chantings... the gulbakshi venis made by the older girls ..the madhumalti flowers braided to form a delicate veni... my favourite ..some newly married tai or vahinis manglagaur puja ..where i would go to "help" ..collect the patri and flowers  from all the neighbours gardens.
the haldi kunku in the evening an excuse for all the women in the wada where my ajji stayed to dress up and go visiting
a month full of so many celebrations and vrats and visits to various temples with my aajji .. :)
I remember going to the Narsobache deool next doors in the afternoon for some kirtan and later maybe running around in the temple premises tiptoeing and strtching to reach the angara pot tied slightly higher on the first pillar

visiting the shiva temple on the mondays with my mom in the Shahu udyan nearby or maybe the other one near Kem hosp.. the cool interiors the drip drip of the ganga from the abhishek patra  overhead the soft lamp light the smell of kapur and flowers and agarbattis..

mom reading the kahani book in the afternoons ... me insisting she read me my favourite story of the lady who fed her jewellery ...and of course the nagpanchami story :)

for the friday reading links to the story below:) thank you marathi mati.com
http://www.marathimati.com/Maharashtra/Culture/Kahani-sukravarachi.asp
http://www.marathimati.com/Maharashtra/Culture/Kahani-sukravarachi.asp




 

5-7-8 the new lucky numbers for the poor....

THIS FROM THE EDITORIAL OF "SAKAL " LEADING NEWSPAPER IN PUNE
ROUGHLY TRANSLATED
if you  have a twenty rupee note and if you have managed to eat wadapav twice in a day with some "cutting" chai then you should dance in joy ..not just you but 60% of the  120 crore people of India should celebrate.... the "maaybaap" govt tries to convince the supreme court
if you have spent Rs 20 in a day you cannot call yourself poor anymore

the erstwhile babu must have spent lacs  to conduct a survey to collect this information .. if  an economically challenged person in the urban area spends  Rs 18 on education Rs 25 on medicine  and Rs 36.50 on vegetables then he cannot be considered poor...
once you cross this poverty line of Rs 578 you are not entitled to any benefits under the govt schemes...
where drinking water costs Rs 15 for a bottle ...this budget is adding insult to injury,,

On Paper any person earning 15000 per annum is considered BPL Below Poverty line-in reality the minimum wages are supposed to be Rs 60000 per annum... to give your children a shot at a decent life you do innumerous rounds of the collector office pay unofficial fees to get a piece of paper  that  states your income below 15000 and your children get the EBC(economically backward class) reduction in fees-

a person earning Rs 500 permonth  at a grampanchayat job of lighting the street lamps comes all the way to Pune begging and borrowing the bus fare to attend a job interview...has no education has no means of survival but the hope of getting a job and improving his lot....

A maid  earns approx 3500 to 4000 a month has 2 children - one of them studying a diploma course in engineering , the other in school , the husband who works only sometimes ...

try surviving on such budgets before you make such utterly stupid and insulting statements

I AM AS OLD AS TIME ---

I watched Peter Brooks Mahabharata last night
a powerful experience no doubt... a nine hour play condensed to about 3 hours for DVD release.

The productions use of an international cast caused heated intercultural debate. Negative criticism came from Indian scholar Pradip Bhattacharya who felt that Brook's interpretation "was not a portrayal of a titanic clash between the forces of good and evil, which is the stuff of the epic... [but] the story of the warring progeny of some rustic landlord".
I tend to agree with Mr Bhattacharya on this - the cast may be great actors - but that is what they are - they are nearly perfectly cast- for the european eyes and senses -
Indians may not agree whole heartedly --for to us the Characters n the epic are real life people -people we have grown up with :) we know them closely and in minutae- we know how they have behaved in other contexts as well - in other stories in other versions- the telling of the epic tale takes on a family drama like feel for us- slightly gossipy and interpersed with references to all the other tales that have happened at other times - in other places- told and retold by so many people with their own little quirky insights-
for us it is a tale of our own people---
the larger than life characters are mere humans here-
we keep feeling that there is more happening there than the camera shows us- and we wonder what is it that we are missing- why we are not being witness to that drama we know has happened -
the actors movements seem strange- culturally different body language - the hand gestures are perfectly executed but the hand raised to give blessings -well it is not the same fluidity that naturally comes to our elders --:)

it has its weird points like the use of magic by duryodhana to see arjuna doing penance--- but these gimmicks are for the western sensibilities that probably believe in the indian rope trick:)

powerful perfomances - amazing visuals - awesome mix of theatre and film---tasteful Costumes , hauntingly beautiful music score , taut and poetic dialog - I wish i had seen the original show - even if it was 12 hrs long_____

all in all a good dvd - definitely worth buying for the collection:)

The haves and have more’s

Does affluence give us the right to be rude, mean and abrasive….

We are well on the road of monetary progress. The dollar power and the rupee force with the credit card supremacy have come together to form a new class of people the “have mores.” I am always right ……I have money… is the most unspoken line one gets to see amongst this privileged class. It needs no voice- it is well heard above the din of loose change or more likely the swoosh of money counting machines.

In this city of retail samrats …. Where however unbelievable this may sound- the daily cash collection is weighed mind you not counted at some outlets… where a sale outbreak of one day leaves staff wide-awake 3 nights in a row just counting money from the cash sales..… Is it any wonder that the most unspoken line is Mere ko sab samjhata hai… mere paas bahot paisa hai….

I pay you- I own you: is the feeling that gives rise to the most atrocious behavior.
Sorry, please, excuse me, thank you do not belong in the lexicon of these boors. It is ok to order your old family maid to clean up the mess after last night’s party. You See I pay her so why do I need to say please or thank you.

The over worked waiter struggles to keep up with a haphazard order from the noisiest table in the restaurant… noisy enough to elicit complaints form the regulars at nearby tables.. is rudely abused for inefficiency ……..Don’t You see I am a paying customer… I am king

On the road a small car or may be a two wheeler bumps a posh new car…nobodies fault actually considering this happened as the car braked too hard so as to not bump the more posh car ahead … no damage done… actually not even a scratch…leave alone a dent but you see the kind of rage that is uncalled for… my big car… my new car.. you chotta lok…

The raised voice is geometrically proportional to the amount of money one perceives the other not to have.

Does affluence give us the right to be rude, mean and abrasive… does one really own everything in sight just because I have the power to pay?

Will I be more cowed down if the person in front of me has more money than me? Haven’t people heard that size actually does not matter?

As our wallet gets warmer our hearts grow colder… Kindness is another lost concept. We have lost the ability to be kind to the helpless., to be considerate when others falter, to say please and thank you for the simplest tasks done for us… forget doing anything for others unasked.

The service industry has long thrived on the thoughtfulness shown by some for others needs … now not only is it expected that you maintain a certain “standard” but also is thankless…job thanks to the moneyed boors.

disappointment :)

A grieving mother went to Buddha and asked him to bring to life her son Buddha asked to get mustard seeds from a house/ person who has not suffered from death - she tried hard and searched far and wide - but alas all the people she met had faced the death of some loved one -:)
she understood the futility and bowed before the wise one.
well so is the tale of dissapointment
who has not faced disappointment tell me:)
it has crushed the best of us at times but are we not hoping again looking forward for ---well some more
hmmm looking at it -
Once i hoped a man would come and change my way of life -bring me ---i dont know---- romance -- a new way of life ---
at work every single sales has the potential of disappointmet
every single expectation has the potential of dissappointment
but hope has to be rejuvenated - to be nourished , nurtured

so as not to be disappointed should i stop expecting ......
hmm

the CottonKAL

started on the 15th aug and finished on 23rd sep- The frozen leaves shawl is a awesome design hats of f to the designer Anusla a simple design so beautifully done so complicated and sophisticated looking it takes your breath away - i have so enjoyed doing this one that i have decided to cast on the same in green silk yarn :)

Let us Agree to Disagree :)

Let us Agree to Disagree before I go on

I don’t really read marathi literature anymore – but if I say this aloud amongst my friends there will be an uproar I will be instantly labeled a snobbish reader- as the reason for the downfall of our maay marathi –
But I don’t Agree ----
I read a lot and on a variety of subjects from pulp fiction to philosophy to poetry to religion to archie comics---- Shakespeare to Chetan Bhagat - I see a lot of films nearly one a day and very very rarely do I need to see the same film twice- I read more books than I re view films-
So basically I have touched so many subjects –some I have gone to depths some I have just skipped through – I can be called a well read person

All this introduction so that my reviews are taken a tad more seriously than they would be other wise......
Well it seems that good old approval crises still rears its not so pretty head once in a while.....

Well the point of the matter is I don’t really like Chetan Bhagat’s Writing- and was met with instant reproval- I did not really get to support my statement –
I don’t really like CB’s work – I find it for want of a better word mediocre –
He does write simple to the point short books that tell stories that millions of Indian youth enjoy reading BUT He is not a good writer in the literary sense. He is no Vikram Seth or Arundhati Roy.I see no reason to read a piece of mediocre work and praise it . I see no reason to praise any mediocrity at all

It is not that I am against CB I am against Sandip khare and Salil Kulkarni too
Another explosive discussion waiting to happen-
(Sandip khare is a marathi poet and lyricist currently a hot favourite like CB in the 25 something age group.Salil Kulkarni of the sa Re ga ma fameJ a music director again ahot favourite in the same age group –)
An age group that is barely literate in my books- that is - they are engineers and professionals but they have not read anything beyond the scope of their exams- their exposure to classics is basically the cartoon films made on the books- who think “Sidney Sheldon” is a classic- and Kailas Kher is a sufi singer
Let me say this again I am not against any of the People I mentioned above – I am against the mediocre work that is being praised- the mediocrity of a creative piece has to noticed –accepted and improved upon—
To recognize mediocrity when it is shoved in your face and to be able to reject it – we must explore that what is the best-
When the young praise Khare as pratiGADIMA(gadima reincarnate) - the valmiki of marathi literature who wrote the Geet Ramayan –that got translated in 9 indian languages- a legendary poet, lyricist, playwright, script-writer, dialogue writer, actor, novelist… I wish these worthy fans would read at least one work of GADIMA and choke on their words of praise for the mediocre…

Do read this article “A” literature for hundred rupees .