पिठोरी

 पिठोरी

आज आहे पिठोरी!

"अतिथि कोण ? "

  " मी !"

"अतिथि कोण ? "

  " मी !"

"अतिथि कोण ? "

"विनय!" (स्वतःचे  नाव घेत )

अशा प्रकारे आम्ही ५ That's देवाला नमस्कार करून आई कडून वाण आणि आशीर्वाद (आजही मला फोनवरून

  माझी बहीण, निशाने आशीर्वाद

  दिला) घेत असू . आई पाटावर पिठोरीचे (धारपाया ) चित्र काढीत असे . पुढे माझी सर्वांत मोठी बहीण , पुष्पा हे चित्र कागदावर काढू लागली आणि त्यानंतर मी काढू लागलो . The mantle was sort of passed  onto me. 

दरवर्षी हे चढणे सोपे नव्हते  आणि हे पिठोरीचे चित्र फार मोठे असायचे . मग माझ्या  मुलीने  ते लहान काढून त्याची फ्रेम केली . आता आम्ही तीचपुजतो.कदाचित माझ्या बहिणी  धार्मिक असतीलही , पण मी थोडा वेगळा आहे. तरीही आम्ही सारे कर्तव्य निष्ठ आहोत . असो . 

आम्ही मोठे झालो . मुले झाली . मुलं पण मोठी झाली. मला तरी आठवत नाही की आई वाण देत असतांना  आम्ही कधी मजा मस्ती केली असेल.  आम्ही हे सारे गंभीर्याने साजरा करत होता, may be with all the sanctity (पवित्रता) !

आई तिच्या सर्व मुलांपासून , जावई सून ते सर्व नातवंडांना वाण देयायची . ( जर कोणी प्रत्येक्षात नसेल तर त्याची /तिची प्रॉक्सी ).

संजीव हा तर वात्रटपणात नक्कीच सर्व  प्रथम!

एकदा संजीव वाण घेत  होता.

आई , " अतिथी कोण ?" 

संजीव , " मी (नाही )"

आई , " अतिथी कोण ?" 

संजीव , " मी (नाही)" l

तो 'दोनही वेळा ' नाही ' हा शब्द  इतक्या  हुळू बोलला की आईने ते ऐकले नाही . मात्र तिसऱया वेळी आई , " अतिथी कोण ?" 

संजीव , " मी  नाही , माझी बहीण ! आजी तू काय तेच विचारात आहेस  ? आदिती कोण ? आदिती माझी बहीण आहे न ?"

विनय त्रिलोकेकर

Toofan Mail!

Toofan Mail!

It was some years back, may be thirty years ago.  I was going to my going to my sister's place in Hindu Colony. As I was proceeding towards her home I met my friend, Gaja  at Dadar station (Central Rly).We were meeting after ten - fifteen years.  He hadn't changed much, except for some grey streaks peeping through his  dark black and thick hair and now he sported a dark black Van Dyke, which he had dyed black and the fact he confessed later. He hadn't put on any weight, the same thin and lean Gaja! We were meeting after many years. It was a pleasant surprises for both of us. 

I don't know whether it was Gaja who dragged me to the corner Irani Cafe or me. Anyway, both of entered the Irani Cafe (today it no longer exists), which we used to frequently visit after our working hours while we worked together. In fact, it was our अड्डा or joint (common  frequented spot) for many of our friends since our early working days and for some who were not employed then.

We ordered for 'maska khari' and his tea and my coffee. It was the same, nothing had changed, our taste (likes) had remained the same and even the surroundings.

 Gaja must have read my thoughts, for he said, "We have come here several times before and now after so many years, nothing has changed over here!"

 Those wood chairs with round seats and bent backs, perhaps of German or Polish design, wooden tables with marble tops with  red & blue -  checked table cloths and on which stood large jars that allowed one to have a nice peek into the goodies ( mostly variety of biscuits and chocolates) that these jars held. Yes, everything was the same! Even the huge mirrors on the walls  to create a feeling of space,  and the high ceiling.had remained almost unaltered.  The eagerness and speed with which the waiters served wasn't missing either. We both were impressed by their hassle - free service so far. 

Thee menu read as bun maska’ (bread and butter) and ‘paani kam chai’ (a strong Iranian tea), or khari chai (very strong tea), mutton samosas, Keema, Akuri (a scrambled spicy egg preparation), berry pulao, vegetable puffs, vegetarian/chicken Dhansak (a spicy broth with lentils, pulses) and Biryani, cherry cream custard, cheese khari biscuits, plain khari biscuits, coconut jam and milk biscuits and Dukes Mangola and Raspberry drink. The whiff of Keema was quite tempting. So we ordered Keema pav. It is needless to say that the taste hadn't changed a bit!

 Yet something was missing? What was it?

"Juke Box!" Both of us shouted together.

This lead our talks to songs and music .Gaja was Encyclopedia on Music. His knowledge was immense - fathomless - he could accurately tell the music director, the lyricist, the playback singer/ singers, the actor for whom they sang and name of the movie. Now our talks had  gathered momentum. Gaja was in his elements, talking rapidly about those old songs and simultaneously humming and even singing them. He had a good voice. 

 Perhaps, some passenger train was nearing the station, there was the shrill whistle sound of the engine and soon we could hear the rumbling and then the hiss and the screech of the brakes. There was too much noise, so we too took  a break and our second helping of Keema pav 

Now that train was leaving the station and it was making steadily increasing chugging sound ' hush, jush'. and Gaj's humming too had gathered speed. It had reached a crescendo and Gaja switched to singing..   

" तूफान मेल, दुनिया ये  दुनिया, तूफान मेल।  ---कोई कोई कहाँ का टिकट काटता , एक  है आता एक है जाता सभी मुसाफिर बिछड़ जाएंगे पल भर का है मेल तूफ़ान मेल। दुनिया ये  दुनिया तूफ़ान मेल। जो जितनी पूँजी है रखता उसी मुताबिक सफर वो करता। जीवन का है भेद बताती ज्ञानी को ये रेल तूफान मेल। " 

Gaja was singing this Kanan Devevi's (कनान देवींचे) song in the same rapid tempo and quite loudly. 

  "Do you know Kanan Devi was often called A Real Life Cinderella?" he asked me.

There were some young teenagerse sitting on the nearby tables, they hardly paid any attention to us. They seemed to be in rush , far they were telling each other," टाईम नही है मेरे पास l ", " फुर्सत नहीं", " No time ,        " Dead line to meet", and so on.

And I realised that this world is indeed like the Tufaan Mail - it has become so fast that we have forgotten ourselves, because of gadgets like smart phones, computers, we have lost touch and forgotten those small moments of happiness we used to cherish! Today Gaja is no more .

But I still remember that day of 2nd January, 2013. We, some colleagues from our old company,Chowgules had met at  Gaja's farm house in Wangani  Many of us were meeting after some thirty years after leaving Chowgules. Thirty years us long period. Lean and thin Francis had put on  definitely some weight but Molly,  his wife (also our colleague), who was also slim , had become a typical Amma.  (Perhaps, this must have been the result of their years of gratifying stay in Saudi). Of course, I had met them in Saudi, but to others the change in Frances was shocking. Dilip Bhasale had managed to remain almost unchanged, just a streak or two in his thick hair. Both Pore ,who was  always bulky, but he  and Rane now had bulging pounche and  receding hairline. . I was pretty thin earlier (in Chowgules) and had shoulder length hair. Now I had shaved them and kept bald., I still regularly do. Gaja hadn't changed much, looked as fit as a fiddle. Only his beard, moustache and hair had turned grey.

Gaja and Rame were both industrious and would never stick to doing jobs and hop from one job to another. Rame had a small tempo and  a private taxi business and also ran a small shop. Gaja was also industrious, risk taker and had done many things in life. This assistant of mine had risen ,starting from lowest rung, trying his hand as a stock broker and even became  an entrepreneur

But it was the same Gaja we knew, a jovial and humourous guy, who tremendous love for music and songs. At his farm house he had a good collection of old songs and a turn table to play those lovely records of melodious oldies and we listened to them till the wee hours.

His sense of humour and fun loving and  joking  habit hadn't left him either. When we were inside the compartment of V T bound train at 6 in the morning, he asked Pore,

"काय पोरे,डेक्कन क्वीन काय गात आली? वसंत बापटांच्या दख्खन राणीच्या बसली कुशीत ऐकू आले का? नाही न- कसे ऐकू येणार- आपण कवी कोठे आहोत - आपल्याला ऐकू येते ते 'हाहा हा हहा - हीहहा ही' गाडीचे हसत खिदळत धावणे - बरोबर? हा हा ...हा हा हा!!!" 

On his birth anniversary , which was pn 10th September, hisson, Yogesh , had made this Facebook post:

If we can be even halof what you were - as  independent thinker, a principled man, an ever supportive husband, an always encouraging father, a doting grandfather, all this while keeping the most energetic and humorous take on life - we will consider ourselves blessed! No wonder we still find ourselves, all too often, looking back at your life and drawing inspiration from it personally and professionally. Thank you for giving us wings and, more importantly, the courage and freedom to dream and to pursue those dreams. Happy Birthday, Baba !

This then was our Gaja. 

(Standing is our Gaja. We miss you.,)

There was time  when we, be it a friend an associate, a relative or a colleague, would meet some time, chit chat, joke and have fun. We even had arguments and debates on principles, but it was never personal. No one had any hard feelings. We had respect for one another.We expressed our views without any hesitation and with an open mind. We laughed at even PJ  jokes cracked.  Initially this chit chatting took over cups of coffee and tea. Soon the cups were replaced by glasses and tea and coffee were replaced by ...we had got ourselves promoted to have  Beer, Whiskey or Rum. But the sweetness of these meetings never diminished.

We made  pen friends and I was even a member of one 'Friends Club' ,such was our craving to have more and more friends! We friends wrote letters to each other. I loved it. Now this art has gone on dust bin.

Right from my schooling days, I had this habit, you may call passion to write letters. Greta Smith, an American girl, was my first pen friend. Exchanging gifts was all that she cared for, our wave lengths never matched and our  friendship simply fizzled out. Moreover, her requests for costly gifts I simply couldn't afford (with no pocket money allowance,  my pockets used to always remain empty then. )

Then I selected a senior person ( already a colleague senior) asy next pen friend. To impress him, I sent him this letter:

Dear Ravi,

               Isn't that your name? Ravindrakumaram Kuriakose is all very well, but you see when you are dreadfully busy in studies for X exams (as currently I am), you will certainly have no time to write such long names; particularly when it takes you more than an hour to remember how to spell it. Again there is another difficulty you may face - of finding the 'Malayalam to English & English to Malayalam' Dictionary. Do you have one? Even if you do have such a dictionary, you have to actually find it, then see  if you have spelt the name correctly, which will come only after you have made out which is dictionary and which is dust and there is job of finding where 'R' in Malayalam be located. So with all this bother that I may have to undergo, I am sure that you won't mind my writing it short and calling you 'Dear Ravi'-----   

I am not sure if this letter of mine had made any impression on him or any impact. But it certainly started a series of exchange of letters between two of us. His letters was always on similar lines, always covering his college life. He had taken Science stream, how he was finding it difficult to cope up with physics vand mathematics and yet he was now doing Engineering and frequency was getting reduced and then had stopped all together. 

But suddenly, I received a letter from his elder sister, Rohini.  Fr her I learnt that Tabi had marri

Dear Vinay,

I am Ravi's eldest sister. Ravi is busy in his studies. Even if he wasn't, he would hardly write. He doesn't love writing letters. It was me who pushed him into it. He wrote all those letters to you and his several pen friends, but they were my thoughts. It made me feel young, about 15-20 years younger, about your age. I am in my forties and you must around 16-17, right? I liked what you write and written so far. We, my husband, Keshvan and me, have often read together your letters (to my brother.Anyway he hardly ever reads them.). 

Vinay, one thing I would like to tell you, like an elder sister would to her younger brother, is that to write a good letter you must approach the job in the lightest and most casual way. You must be personal, not abstract. You must not say, "This is too small a thing to put down." You must say, "This is just the sort of small thing we talk about at home. If I tell them this they will see you , as it were, they'll hear your voice, they'll know what you' re about." You could write about how your sisters had laughed at your bad jokes.If you intend to write such volumes you must know it will be impossible for you to keep any order or method in what you write; that will come first which is uppermost in your mind and heart, not that which is uppermost in your head --. A letter written in this fashion eliminates distance; it continues the personal gossip, the intimate communion (sharing of thoughts, in case do not know what communion is), that has been interrupted by separation ( you may be physically present); it preserves one's presence in absence. It cannot be too simple, too commonplace, too colloquial. Its familiarity is not its weakness, but its supreme virtue. If it attempts to be orderly and stately and elaborate, it may be a good essay, but it will certainly be a bad letter. Perhaps you may not understand all this right now, but one day you will.---- 

( She had written many things about Ravi, his graduation, and now he was doing his MBA and ended the letter in this manner)

--Yours ever loving sis Rohini.

She then regularly wrote me letters  I learnt a lot from her letters.

In between, I had completed my  BSc and even started working. Her letters too became less and less and they ceased to come . I wrote to her, but remained unanswered.  Then one day her husband, Keshav, wrote to me - Rohini was no more, she had died of leukaemia.

I was shocked and deeply saddened. Oh Rohini , why didn't you ever tell me about your own health? Is this what call your ' intimate communications:? May your soul rest in peace!

There was this college classmate of mine, Farooq Ruknodian. Whenever , he would go to his home in Capetown, South Africa during vacations, He sent beautiful letters to me, be it about  Apartheid, African wildlife and African language. But suddenly, he had left , without completing his studies and went to South Africa for good. No, he hadn't ever mentioned his address on those letters.

Another classmate, Neville Mistry, wrote good letters on various subjects - his Karate workshop (5tj degree black belt), his scouting activities ( he still continues both the activities even at + 75), movies from Bollywood to Hollywood and many other topics. But he writes no more those lovely letters,though he does sent me occasional email, SMS or  WhatsApp messages of birthday wishes, and other wishes on festive occasions and even  some forwards which are interesting and entertaining. But all these don't have the intimate feelings that his letters had .

 My colleague Francis, about whom I have already written, would write good letters. Earlier he would pen them and then switched to typing them .He had keen eye for details.  His letters, that he sent from Saudi  Arabia, were always well typed, descriptive and neat and clean. 

  "Vinay, sorry I couldn't write to you earlier. I'm sending this from my colorful (colourful) electronic type -writer. I've a very busy sketjule (Schedule). Working here is different, but very satisfying. My boss is fantastic.  He is small and stout (a rare feature for an American, you see.), with short arms,short legs and a round head with a red pimply face, planted directly on his trunk, which is also round and short, and with apparently no neck, which gives him a froggish appearance. But don't go by his looks. Beneath that thick round head there is a very sharp and clever brain and under that thick and stout chest there is a kind heart. When he appreciates your work he gives  solid pat on your back or even hugs you and exclaims, "Very nice work,pal!" I feel very embarrassed when he does this." 

This is exactly what I meant about my shy and humble friend, he is very observant and no airs , down to earth guy! He is now in Kerala and writes no more but phones occasionally.

We no longer have time to meet up with our friends and even our dear ones. No more those get togethers, which we once frequently had, when we joked and had lots and lots of fun. Gone is the art of letter writing,  it has been taken over by brief email, short telephone call, SMS and WhatsApp messages. 

The speed with which we have almost lost the beautiful art of writing is also catching up with the speed at which we are losing our skill of communication as well. 

Oh, this world is indeed like the Toofan Mail!

Will we ever get off this Tufan Mail ?

Vinay Trilokekar 

 

गटारी

• गटारी

'गटारी' हा शब्द प्रयोग आम्हाला लहानपणी वर्ज्य होता, बंदीच होती म्हणां न! आई म्हणत असे, " आपल्यात 'गटारी' म्हणत नाही. तुम्ही मुलं बाहेरून वाईट वाईट शिकून येता. आजीने ऐकले तर तुमच्या बरोबर माझाही उद्धार होईल."

होय, आजीला असले 'वाईट शब्द' चालत नसत. आम्ही पत्ते खेळतांना चुकून गुलाम बद्धल  ' गुलम्या ', राणी ऐवजी 'रं ... (माफ करा, इंग्रजीतला 'oops'), पत्त्यातील दहाला मेंडी म्हणजे फारच आणि असे काही बोललोच तर आमचे काही खरे नव्हते.  आणि तिला इंग्लिश फ्लॉवर चालत नसे त्यासाठी त्रीफुल म्हणणे योग्य. असो.

Today and tomorrow (the first day of Shravan falling on Friday)  my mobile will be flooded with WhatsApp messages about गटारी from  'n' number of friends. But this guy, sent me this msg that he had sent me last year and a year before as  well.
                                                       
"चला गटारीला बसुया"
श्रवण मासी हर्ष मानसी
हिरावल डेट चोहीकडे
कोम्बडी मच्छी बंद जाहली
आता फ़क्त..... साबुदाणे वडे 😜
 श्रावणापूर्वी येणाऱ्या ह्या अमावासेला गटारी का म्हणतात माहित नाही . कदाचित काही लोक अँड आपल्याला श्रावणात दारू , मांसाहारी ( non veg) मिळणार नाही (बंदी ) ह्या भीतीने पी पी करून अक्षरशः गटारात लोळत असावेत , म्हणून ' गटारी साजरी केली ' !

पण आम्हा PP लोकांचे तसे नसते . आम्ही जे काही करतो घरात बसून , घरच्यांच्या समोर/समक्ष (परवानगी,) लपून छापून काहीच करत नसतो! Whatever we do , we do it decently.

जे काही करायचे ते सभ्यपणे करणे हीच आम्हाला मिळालेली शिकवण . आजेम्ही ' दारू ' ढोसत नसतो तर we have drinks , sitting on a chair and taking the drink sip by sil from our glass kept on the table across.

असो 

.आज आहे दिवोली अमावास्या ! आम्हीी  दिव्यांची साफ सफाई  करून  त्यांची  पूजा करतो , नैवेद्य दाखवून  आरती करतो. आजच्या ह्या पवित्र दिवशी मी देखील ' ड्रिंक ' घेत नाही . अहो त्यासाठी इतर दिवस , yrs there are other days!

दिवोली अमावासेच्या सर्वांना खूप खूप शुभेच्छा ! 

  Happy and safe drinking to those who celebrating Gatari!

                                                                                                 विनय त्रिलोकेकर 

The mission possible – Make India Read

 The mission possible – Make India Read

                      

                                    Preface

A friend of mine reminded me about what I had promised, quoting me in verbatim as ‘Another video pertains to Amrut and Amit being interviewed by VEDH . Since Amrut Dedhmukh's mission is 'Make India Read' and which is also my pet subject (Reading, I mean), I would love to write about him at length.’

No, I haven’t forgotten. The interview pertains to Amrut Deshmukh, who calls himself ‘A Booklet Guy’. He writes reviews on his booklet app which helps people to get an idea about the book and which will enhance the reading habits of people, so he feels.

               Make India Read!

The interview begins in this manner. The stage of ' Zapatlepan Te Jamtepan(झपाटलेपण ते जाणतेपण) is also set. The heading ' Zapatlepan TeJamtepan (झपाटलेपण ते जाणतेपण) has been appropriately labelled as‘Passion to Wisdom’ in the logo of VEDH  -वेध. [About VEDH  -वेध, Ihave elaborately written in my earlier post captioned ‘The Interview’and repost the same on request ]

Amrut  sits comfortably across, in front of two interviewers. He is asked by Dr, Jyoti Shirodkar,

“अमृत, तुला वाचनाची आवड अगदी लहानपणा पासून होती का? तू एवढी  [पुस्स्कं वाचतोस …” 

[I won't make word by word translation, but just the jist of the whole thing. (Amrut, did you like reading right from your childhood? You have read so many books?)]

No, he says and gives credit to his elder brother, who has instilled in him the passion for reading. He goes on, to tell us how his brother would deny him toys as gifts for his birthdays. He would tell the parents of Amrut's friends they should not gift him in toys and only books as gift were welcomed. It is really very shocking indeed! I would like ask Amrut. Would he too deny his own children, if and when he has them, the pleasure of playing with toys?. And what was his age, six or seven years? Not allowed to play with toys since that age?

People do not realize the importance of toys, it seems. Toys serve multiple purposes in our life. They provide entertainment while fulfilling an educational role. They enhance cognitive behavior and stimulate creativity and imagination. They aid in the development of both mental  physical skills, which are necessary in later life. There are many more benefits, but most importantly, it is most enjoyable activity for a child. 

Amrut confesses that he had once faked his birthday, when everyone in the house were away. When he says he had managed to lay his hands on four toys, you can see child’s laughter writ large on his face.    

Amrut tells us that as he was denied the pleasure of playing with toys, naturally his focus was shifted to books, initially reading children’s books like ‘Chacha Chaudhary’, ‘Sindbad the sailor’,etc.  He tells us how he switched from fiction to non - fiction.

 With the right timing and precision Dr. Anand Nadkarni carefully interrupts Amrut, asking him how his speed of reading developed.

According to Amrut our brain loves speed. He says the average speed is 150 to 250 words per minute and he can read at speed of 1200 words per minute .

And  this is  punctuated by Dr Nadkarni's 

"Wah, 1200 words per minute!' "!

However, Amrut modestly adds that it can be done by practi and continues. How did we read the first word ‘APPLE’ that we learnt as a child?  We must have  read the individual letters A,P,P,L,E and read the word as Apple. Do we still read it that way? Now we just look at entire word in totality, without reading the individual letters. Thus we juet look at the word in totality, without bothering to read the individual letters in that word. We are able to recognize the word without reading the individual alphabets.

But our education stopped at that level. Our teachers, he says, did tell us that just as you can read a word without reading the individual letters in it, you can also read a group of words without reading the individual words. He quotes Tony Buzan’s technique. We can read four- five words together. We should hold the book away from us thereby increasing our peripheral vision. In this manner we are able to read two – three lines at a time. We read horizontally going from left to right and then we move to the line below and proceed in this manner to complete the page.

However, Tony Bozan reads vertically, entire one line at a time and covering three to four lines at a time. Hence he considered as the father of speed reading. 

We come to know from Dr Nadkani that Swami Vivekanand was also master of this visual reading and he could read, understand and grasp 15 to 20 wotds at a time and remember them.  

Now Amrut is adopting that method popularized by Buzan.

I feel that at this juncture I should write more about Tony Buzan, whose real name was Athony Peter Buzan. He was English author and educational consultant. He popularized the idea of mental literacy, radiant thinking and technique called mind mapping. They say he may have been inspired by techniques used by Leonardo Vinci Albert, Einstein, and JosephNovak’s ‘concept mapping’.

 Now coming back to Amrut’s interview, yet again comes the leading question from Dr Nadkarni, 

“अमृत, अश्या रीतीने वाचना मध्ये आलास म्हणजे पुस्तकांनी तुला झपाटले, मग विषयांची रेंज वाढली ?”  

(Amrut, in this way you came into Book Reading  and then  the range in the subject increased.)

We come to know that initially he enjoyed reading children’s books, but then he realized that he was reading for others, he switched to reading books like self- help, self – improvement, leadership, creativity,  innovation, psychology,  positive thinking, etc. After knowing that such books were not the choice of young people, especially collage going, who would often ask him as to why he wrote only on such ‘learning’ subjects.

He realized that he was writing for others. so he sacrificed his own taste and began to write about fiction and even started reading romantic (love stories). He was fascinated by the novel (I think it is by British author, E.L.James) ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and he says, “काय, काय त्याच्यात  दाखवले आहे  !” (What all things are there in the novel.”)

The  expression on his face says it all.

Since we are on the subject of interviews, I shall take liberty of straying away, just briefly though, into ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

. Anastasia Steele, a college senior steps in for her sick roommate to interviewChristian Grey, a prominent businessman, for their campus paper. But little does she realize what she is walking into and what path her life would take. Grey is as enigmatic as he is rich and powerful. He finds strangely drawn to Anastasia, and so is she to him, both emotionally and physically.

 “What all things are there in the novel”  so says Amrut, almost blushingly. There is erotism, involving bondage,self- discipline, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism.     

As Amrut’s story is being unfolded, bringing all the episodes to light,Dr. Nadkarni once again asks him a leading question as to how he managed to complete his CA despite all his activities. Dr. Nadkarni adds,with a sense of humour, that CA is very tough and as such it’s an abbreviation for ‘Come Again’  and did CA when his heart was not into it. Then what made him do his CA, what was his motivation?  We get to hear from Amrut an interesting  and funny anecdote. He says he had this

“गैर समज”  (you may call it mis-information, false notion) that all the CAs (Chartered Accountants) had beautiful wife, didn’t all father’s CA  friends have them? Become a CA and you will have beautiful wife, so his young mind believed and he did his CA  

On a serious note, he says that though he disliked he did CA because there was no clarity (in his mind) and he was yet to find the ‘WHY’ of his

He found his WHY on reading, books make you think differently, almost opposite of what you earlier believed. He says,”इन्ट्रोव्हर्ट लोकांना  मी तुच्छ मानायचो .  कमी बोलतात   (I would consider introvert as very contemptible. They speak less, dumb people!) But reading made him think otherwise. He realized that the quality of idea and presenting an idea have no connection. The ideas of such people are taken because others present their ideas loudly and lavishly. Again about multitasking he had to change his views. He says that our brain is not meant for multitasking. You have to focus on one thing at a time.  

It is rather a controversial subject, I believe. I feel you should have a natural turn for it,for multitasking, I mean. Some people are very good at it. I remember, I had once gone to Crawford Bayley & Co. and met Mr.Setalvard, senior advocate, regarding our company’s legal case. He, this man, Mr. Setalvad was genius, I tell you – an epitome of multitasking! LlllllllHe had our entire case in his head While we wer discussing, he had to take some urgent call from some important client of his. He even made two, three calls and when we had finished all that, he was back with me. He knew exactly where we had stopped and we continued. In between, he had called in his steno as well as his PA and dictated letters to both of phem simultaneously, without referring to any written document. When I left his cabin I was totally impressed by him. 

Many a women are very good at multitasking. Anyway, whether multitasking is good or bad is rather debatable topic.

Dr. Nadkarni puts in, “Despite having all the ‘attractive’ distraction in the media, how does he remain so focused?” He tells how he has spread this noble mission (Make India read) on social media, without spending even a single rupee by using what is available for free. And today he has some six and half to seven lakhs followers.  He makes an interesting observation that people tend not to use what is available for free but like to spend money instead.

He asks, “There two categories of media users. Many share jokes and forward messages on Facebook. But how many people have their ownYou Tube or Facebook Live or Facebook page to spread their business? Hardly any! Because it is available for free. But many will go in for visiting cards, distribute pamplets, etc. because you to pay for them.”

I shall certainly take a cue from him for spreading a word for my already published books as well as my upcoming books!

Amrut had found the WHY (purpose) of his life after reading Simon Sinek’s book. Simon Sinek is one of Amrut’s favourte authors.

And we continue with the interview. How did you get this idea? He says he was depressed after suffering his three startup failures.  

Another question, but this time from Dr, Jyoti Shirodkar,in rather surprised tone, “What, three failed startups?”  (Jutting in this manner by her and asking him leading and pertinent question, she makes Amrut bring out his stories of struggles and challenges he faced. Otherwise the entir thing would have been success success and success; making whole the interview  monotonous and boring. In fact, it was so interesting that I, as a viewer, sat glued to my seat watching.) Amrut just mentions, just briefly though, about them – the first one the CA firm failure, the second being the fund management in the Stock Market, when, as he humourously adds, he initially managed and damaged the funds and then he started something for the CA students , which didn’t click. When he was brooding over the failures, he gets a call from a friend (who is also a CA, he tells us) asking him to join in for a movie – बाहुबली.

He says, मी त्याला मुर्खात काढले  (Whether he was stupid to ask him accompany him for the movie.)

"काय  येड  लागलाय ? (काय वेड लागले आहे?) इथे  वाट  लागलाय आपली आणि तू ..... 

[What I have written in bracket, the usage of word like येड for वेड; has given an idea for another book.]

After too much coaxing by his friend and his friend offering to pay for the movie, Amrut agrees. They reach the theatre fifteen minutes before the start. So Amrut tells his tells about Stephen Covey’s ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’.  Having read it recently (in that very week), it was still fresh in hid mind, he told him about the 7 habis – “ठाक, ठाक. ठाक!” in those 15 minutes,  he says. His friend is so much impressed that he said, “LookAmrut,  I don’t get time to read. . But I always had the guilt. I used read earlier (The usual dialogue of finding no time that everyone has, says Amrut and I agree.), please send me the summary of

whichever book that you read. Your reading habit will benefit me.”   

Amrut liked the last sentence that he had uttered. “What an idea! My reading will benefit other”, he says.

“Okay”, says Dr Nadkarni.

He continues telling us. The movie had started but he couldn’t concentrate watching the movie. He didn’t wait for the end either and left during the interval under the pretext of going to the loo. That was indeed ‘solid idea’ (of writing about books, a summary, a review)! 

He searches internet. There is no one doing such work. He says that there were great books like ‘चाणक्य  नीति ’ (A book of ethics by Chanakya , ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ (by Dr Johnson) ,‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ ( A fable about  fulfilling your dreams, by Robin Sharma.)  and ‘Think and grow rich’( This book could be worth a million dollars to the reader

Vinay Trilokekar to

VEDH -वेध - The first interview

The interview-VEDH  -वेध

Preface

Some days back ( some years, you could say) back, one of my nephews forwarded a series of videos, made by VEDH  -वेध . I thought of writing about it and about the interviews.

                VEDH  -वेध

 VEDH, which stands for Vocationa Education, Direction and Harmony)  &  IPH (Institute for Psychiatry Health) under their Avahan (आवाहन) series and presented in Association with M.C.Dattar Classes & Palshikar Institute. Dr. Anand Nadkarni who is eminent psychiatrist and founder director of the Institute. Here Avahan (आवाहन) could be taken as summons or call for all of us to take notice or as a challenge to achieve something.

One of the objectives of the institutes is to expose young minds to varied career perspectives. This is done by introducing them to prominent, successful academicians or achievers via a live on stage chat session with Dr.Anand Nadkarni or series of interviews conducted by Dr. Nadkarni and Dr. Jyoti Shirodkar. It is being done very effectively

These videos were captioned under the heading  ' Zapatlepan Te Jamtepan (झपाटलेपण ते जाणतेपण) and Pratikul Te Anukul (प्रतिकूल ते अनुकूल). झपाटलेपण ते जाणतेपण has been appropriately labelled as Passion to Wisdom in their logo  and so is  प्रतिकूल ते अनुकूल, which is, as we all know, ' Adverse Conditions to Favourable Conditions', has been also titled aptly.

All the interviews were fantastic, conducted with professionalism. Both the interviewers allowed the interviewees to feel at home, asked them leading and pertinent questions, bringing out their stories of struggles, challenges faced and the success they achieved. But no moment the interviews were monotonous or boring. In fact, they were so interesting that the viewer sits glued to his seat watching the entire stories being unfolded in these videos. All the anecdotes in the lives of these successful achievers are brought to light by asking them questions but there is no bragging or self - praise anytime. Switching from one anecdote to another is done with precision, right timing and careful interruptions, without being or appearing to be rude to the interviewees or viewers. You simply ease into the whole thing.

It was certainly a learning curve for me. I must have interviewed many, a number of staff and teachers, but all of them for recruitment or assessment purpose. All the interviews were conducted in a routine manner with same set of questions for all the candidates, never bothering about the candidate's nerves, whether or not he / she felt at home, and most of the time trying to find what the candidate doesn't know rather than what he/ she knows. We never bothered how to make the interview interesting to both, the interviewer and interviewee.

The Interview - Aseem

Through one of these videos we come to know about Sarang Gosavi and his Aseem  (असीम) Foundation, an NGO. असीम means infinite or limitless!

Sarang Gosavi, a thinker, a change seeker and change maker, who has been in Kashmir since 2001. He is the founder of Aseem Foundation. He is helping the Kashmiri Youth to become entrepreneurs by providing training; and on the larger front helping establish a bond between Kashmiris and the rest of the India.

‌ Yunus is a student representative from Kashmir. She is doing her BA in Psychology. Simultaneously, she is an entrepreneur (Apple Biscuits Bakery). Replying to the question what she has got from Aseem, she has now got confidence and she is able to stand on own feet and likewise she wants to motivate others. She says Assem is not an NGO for her but a family, where they all work as a team. She is grateful to Assem and Sarang Sir, who is her mentor, adviser and guide. She is, she adds, what she is today is only because of them.

Through the interview we come to know about their work, which is primarily concentrated into three areas:
1) Education, providing different opportunities of Education to the people in border areas of India. We learn about their great work especially in Kashmir.
2) Social Entrepreneurship, creating different avenues of Enterprise by utilizing local resources in the border regions areas of India. We meet Yashmin Yunus.
3)  Research about the problems faced by citizen in border areas, and Creating awareness in the rest of India.

Answering a question how did Kashmir happen to him, Sarang tells us that he had acquired a job in Tata Technologies through the campus placement and knew that eventually after getting experience of 3 years or so, he too ultimately go to the US, may settle there as his brother was there. However, after listening to  General Patankar's motivativational talk at Balgandharva (Auditorium) and his call for  youth to work in Kashmir, he felt that he should go and have the  real picture of Kashmir. There were all negative reports in Sakal and other media about Kashmir. When his mother refused him permission to go there, he lied that he was going to Goa with friends, but instead landed in Kashmir. Thus began his journey. He was good at computers and so it was only natural for him to start computer centre by default and it began at S Alfayaz Public School. We come to know how he would take a five days leave from his Tata Technologies, Pune, clubbing it with weekly holidays. This would get him 9 days, but actually just 3 to 4 days (5 to 6 days lost due to train travel) to work in Kashmir. He tells us about General Patankar's motivations and help. All the anecdotes are interesting, about people of Kashmir, how they take ten steps forward if you're to take just one step in their direction, about their hospitality -  how they would never ask you as to why you were there (your purpose of visit) but would say "Aap aaj therjaao" (You stay with us for the night) and how they entertained him lavishly every time. Asked whether he was not scared of working all alone, he says there was bliss in the ignorance.

We come know about their other projects like Olive Green Bakery (a project for widows of army men, where Mehek and Yashmin train them), Abhilasha Project and Second Opinion Health Center (in collaboration with IPH) We get to know about Aseem's Super 40 project. (Super 40 is an initiative of the Samba Brigade of the Indian Army in association with Assem to help local students in the entrance tests for joining the Armed Forces.) Sarang talks about the emotional bonding that he has with his students, he tells us how he and two of his students cried at the time of seeing them off at the railway station and how they came back the next year and today he considers them part of his family and they can drop in any time they want. He says he doesn't have a sister of his own but says they are more than his sisters to him.

[Entire video is available on YouTube, and it's worth viewing].

Another video pertains to Amrut and Amit being interviewed. Since Amrut Dedhmukh's mission is 'Make India Read' and which is also my pet subject (Reading, I mean), I would love to write about him at length. So that video and the interviews can wait.

Vinay Trilokekar 

‌

 

F

A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND RAMAKANT DESAI
  (I had written this very  article earlier and I wanted to repost the same on 27th April, which was Death Anniversary of  Ramakant Desai. However, I somehow missed it. Now I am repostimgv itvtoday,  on 20th June,  which is his Birth Anniversary.)

When I expressed this idea of repostimg,  his classmate,  Shri Prabha Karle immediately wrote to me and  I quote,
"Never get tiered when its about Ramakant, though a repeat, such a wonderful and a loving personality he was! Thank you Vinay. Your article reminds us , how rich and lucky we were, having friends like Ramakant.'  So here I go"

Today is Ramakant's birth anniversary. I do hope that today many will pay him rich tributes. There was no mention on this Tiny gismt, not a column, not a single line or even  a word, when it was a big day in  Indian cricket. It was a milestone - completing 500 aTests!

 It was on Thursday, September 22, 2016, exactly a week back, India began its milestone journey of playing 500th Cricket Test match, a feat previously reached only by England (976 Tests), Australia (791) and West Indies (517). England’s landmark occasion was a drawn affair in 1974, Australia’s was an Ashes win against their arch rival England in 1990, while the West Indies celebrated their crushing win against Bangladesh in 2014. India crushed New Zealand by 197 runs to celebrate the 500th test in style. During this period there was mention of many cricketers of the yester years. Sadly there was no mention of my friend R B. Desai by anyone. I do hope, they will rectify their blunder and recognise his contribution soon 

I knew him since his college days. I was schooling then. I used  to go to watch Inter- collegiate matches. He had left  Rupatel College and joined Siddharth. There was this classmate of his, Dinoo ( Dinkar Joshi), who became pally with me. He introduced me to Ramakant, Sudhakar Adhikari (who later on married my sister’s friend Radha, she passed away some time back. May her soul rest in peace.). Ramakant was quite soft spoken and down to earth person and he was very friendly to me. But during his  college days he was very shy. Their college group was very huge. During the inter collegiate played the Brabourne Stadium, invariably between Ruhia , captained by Ajit Wadekar  (a lone fighter for them) and Siddharth, this group would go to a restaurant  after the match day and as my sister was part of this group would also join in and would take me along. There would a lot of shouting and laughing all arparo. But Ramakant rained aloof, a shy boy sitting on one corner. 

. If there was a man who proved that size and stature did not matter when it came to bowling ,it was Ramakant Desai. Standing at five feet, four inches tall, Desai was capable of bowling at a deceptive pace and getting the ball to rear up unnaturally for a man of his small size. He was affectionately called “Tiny” because of his height, but he was still by far the fastest bowler India possessed throughout the 1960s. He troubled the batsmen with bouncers, which was unusual for an Indian bowler at the time. He had ‘bunnies’ of two batsmen, the first being the Pakistani legend Hanif Mohammad, whom he dismissed four times in nine innings during the 1960-61 series. I remember, in that test match at Brabourne Stadium, it was the fourth day of the match and one of my uncles, Prabhakar Dharadhar, who was the chief scorer, took me there. As a fourteen year it was my first experience to watch a live test match. When India’s 8th wicket fell at 300, everybody thought the innings would fold up and Pakistan would start their second one. But in came my hero. He mixed his innings with aggressive and lusty big hits and perfect copybook defense. At the end of the day’s play he was not out on 60 and wicket keeper Nana Joshi unbeaten on 29. In the evening both the teams were invited by one of my relatives, Dr. Prabhakar Kothare at his residence. (Dr. Kothare would always invite teams when they played at Brabourne. His son Raju would often take me to their home on such occasions.) I also remember, how I had congratulated Ramakant and he had replied, “Vinay, come to watch me score some more runs.” He did score some more runs, coming in at no.10, he scored 85 (unfortunately not a century) and shared a record 149 – run with Nana Joshi, which was broken by Pakistani players Asif Iqbal and Intikhab Alam. But it is an Indian record for the ninth wicket that stands even now. India had taken lead in the first innings. Pankistan started its second innings. All the eyes were on the great Hanif. Ramakant ran in. First ball - hhsh- went past his bat, narrowly missing the edge- beaten neck and crop! We could hear the radio commentary blaring 'beaten all ends up!' Ramakant ran in again - second ball, a bouncer, his most reliable weapon - and this time it did not fail to take the edge and the ball safely landed in the hands of Polly Umrigar in the first slip. The whole stadium erupted. This time we could not hear the radio commentary.Though they say 'seeing, is believing,– we simply couldn’t believe our eyes! The legend was out for a blob -a zero! It must have been his first zero in Test cricket and it started 'his 'Ramkant's bunny - days' as we Indians say, since then he became Ramakant's 'bakra' or goat
 In all the subsequent matches in that series,  he made the great Hanif  hop at times and the legendary opening batsman was generally all at sea against Ramakant. Ramakant also created 'bunny' out of England's Peter May. 

Ramakant played Test cricket for only nine years, appearing in his final Test against New Zealand in India’s 1968tour Down Under. New Zealand batted first at Dunedin, getting bowled out for 350.Desai took two wickets. In response, India were 300 for eight when Desai walked out to bat, and were soon 302 for nine. Then Ramakant and No. 11 Bishan Singh Bedi added an invaluable 57 to help India take the lead. This was impressive in itself, but there was more. Desai was struck on the face by a bouncer during his innings. His jaw was fractured and there was an instant swelling. Braving the pain,and a fractiured jaw , Desai batted on to remain unbeaten on 32. That was the fighter in him! He even bowled some overs in the second innings, but it was EAS Prasanna who turned the tide with a six-wicket haul as India won what proved to be Desai’s final Test. It was heroic final hurrah. 

In his first year in the Ranji Trophy, he took 50 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 11.10. It is still a record for Bombay (Now Mumbai), and that too in his first Ranji Trophy season, a record at least till 1972-73 It included a performance of 5 for 10 and 6 for 28 against Saurashtr In the Ranji Trophy final in 1960-61 he took 7 for 46 and 4 for 74 in Bombay's victory over Rajasthan. Two years later, also against Rajasthan in the final, he scored his only first-class century, 107, in another victory. In his 11 years in the Bombay team (1958-59 to 1968-69), he never finished in a losing side.

I had watched him in the Times Shield ‘A’ division inter office matches, he would often take me in their tent. It was indeed a treat to watch batsmen getting clean bowled by him, in any form of cricket, Test, Ranji or first-class cricket, especially when the stump would get uprooted and go cart-wheeling quite some distance. Playing for A.C.C. he would bowl his heart out just as he did in Tests, and that too on the dead pitches in India. Perhaps, a more judicious use of his talent both in the Ranji Trophy and other matches could have preserved him as a penetrating bowler for a longer period.
I not only had the privilege to know him personally but also to play against him once. It was in Kalyan, it was during my college days. During the vacation at gone there and was staying with Vernekar family. Raju Vernekar was captain of Kalyan XI team and had selected me. It was Tennis ball cricket match between Kalyan XI and Thana XI. I do not why or how, but many ‘outsiders’ in both the teams. Ramakant was in the Thana XI. We lost the match. But I had remained unbeaten on some 10- 15 odd runs, faced some overs from Ramakant. May be he bowled loose deliveries to me with a purpose. He had taken all the wickets, so I think. A tribute to you my friend,the 'Tinny Terror' - On the occasion of this India’s Cricket milestone! ( Now on his birth anniversary)

Whenever he came  to our home in chawl , he would join us enthusiastically in playing underarm tennis ball cricket in the passage adjesent to the staircase.  Needless to say  all the building kids would get excited and thrilled to play thus.

  [On reading this tribute of mine to Ramakant his friend and class mate, Prabha Karle sent me this WhatsApp msg.: Excellent tribute, Vinay. What a  good natured boy was Ramakant! I also remember him taking 25  quick wickets in Australia tour. His recored some 85 runs at the Braborne Stadium if I mistake not.'(which of course you had already written in this in your blog)]

Vinay Trilokekar

मराठी व्याकरणातील गंमत - जंमत !

 मराठी व्याकरणातील  गंमत - जंमत !     

                           तसे माझे शिक्षण इंग्रजी माध्यमातून झाले . जे काही मराठी  शिकलो ते सारे शाळे पुरते मर्यादित राहिले . आणि तरीही मी मराठीत लेखन करू लागलो .

 आणि मग मला साल्या वर सल्ले येऊ लागले . लेखणीला ब्याकरणाची जोड हवी. आणि  इंग्रजी ग्रामर मध्ये वाचले होते. A verb agrees with the subject in person and in number.पण आपल्या मराठी  वेगळे असते . आपण चक्क लिंग मध्ये आणतो. 

Gender म्हणजे लिंग .इंiग्रजीत ( व्याकरणात ) खालील प्रमाणे  चार लिंग असतात. बरोबर ?

A) पुल्लिंग(n) पुल्लिंगी. (Masculine)

B)स्त्रीलिगं(n) ( Femenin)

C)  common gender in Marathi

सामान्य आणि 

[कदाचित कॉमन जेंडर  (Common Gemfer ):केवळ इंग्रजीत असावे. उदाहरणार्थ:

मुल (child / children.  ) म्हणजे मुलगा  / मुलगी ह्या पैकी कोणाही , (ती -f ) लोक /( तो - m )  समाज ( People), तसेच (ती );गर्दी  (crowd), आणि ह्या  गोष्टी कॉमन जेंडर मध्ये मोडतात :  ant, cattle, baby, bear , bird, cousin, doctor, dentist, etc Though cat comes in common gender in English but  in Marathi we have मांजर आणि बोका .

'मांजर आमी बोका ' वरून' पु ल  दयेशपांडे ह्यांचे निवडक पु ल -:पाळीव प्राणी भाग 2 मधला एक किस्सा आठवला .  

त्यांच्या ह्या व्हिडिओत ते असे  म्हणतात , (कदाचित अक्षरशः  /  शब्दशः , may not be in verbatim, ,  नसेलही )

"आपला बोका , हा   शब्द किती भारदस्त  आहे  मला लहानपणी उगीउच्च वाटायाव्हे की बोक्याला इंग्रजीत डॅम्बीस म्हणत असावेत पण नंतर लक्षात आले, मुळात इंग्रजीत डॅम्बीस शब्दच  नाही आणि बोक्यालाही  कॅट (cat);म्हणतात. तेंव्हा मला  ह्या भाषेच्या दुबळे पणावही  कीव येते. " ( मात्र माक्सय कडे असलेल्या ओरिजनल टेप (original tape) मध्ये ते  पुढे खेद व्यक्त करत असे  म्हणतात , " माफ करा , कोणत्याही भाषे ची  अशी थाटा करणने बरोबर नाही  असे करणे गैर आहे .."  मला आठवते की  त्यांचे लाईव्ह कार्यक्रमात अशाच पद्धतीने आपली दिलगिरी व्यक्त करीत .

And

D) नपुसकलिंग;.  (Neuter gender) 

आणि  ह्या नपुसकलिंगात सुरु होते खरी गंमत 

  जंमत  . येता का  ह्या गंमतीजंमतीत ?

Chair, table fan, radio, bed and for all these we use pronoun 'it'. However, in Marathi it is different. For example, we say: 

१):तो साबू  soap

2) तो पंखा  fan

3) तो पलंग (bed)

4) ते घड्याळ (;watch)

५);ते निरांजन ( lamp)

6) ती पाल (house lizard)

But for the English words that frequently used in Marathi, (ते ) table  (ते ) टेबल, (ती )chair   because it is (ती) खुर्ची , (तो ). रेडियो (;radio),  it is ( ते) जीवन  म्हणूनच (ते ) Life  आणि तरीही कित्येक वेळा टीव्हीवर  ती लाईफ म्हंटले  जाते.  ( तुमची लाईफ   असे नसते तर तुमचे लाईफ असे असते   कारण तुमचे जीवन / आयुष्य असे म्हणतो )

पण काही वस्तूंमध्ये थोडा गोंधळ आहे , जसे : 

(तो ) का (ती)  चहा, स्टोव्ह , पावडर , इत्यादी .

  पण तो शर्ट आणि ती पँट कसे , हेही एक कोडेच आहे .

मला. एका जाणकार व्यक्तीने ...(हो 'व्यक्ती' स्त्रीलिंगी म्हणजे  आपण ती व्यक्ती असे बोलतो / लिहितो पण जेंव्हा आपण मोबाईलवर ऐकतो " ज्या व्यक्तीशी आपण संपर्क साधण्याचा प्रयत्न करीत आहात तो / ते व्यक्ती संपर्क क्षेत्राच्या बाहेर आहेत" , तेंव्हा डोके चक्रावून जाते. असो .) मला त्या जाणकार  व्यक्तीने असे डांगितले की any substance, be it a fruit, ..फळ , खाद्य पदार्थ किंवा एखादी वस्तू (all the nouns are singular onlyसर्व एक वचनी ) असो., anything, , if the word ends in  'i' or इ  or ई, it is feminine तो   शब्द स्त्रीलिंगी  असतो  जसे   ती जिलेबी , ती बर्फी , ती मिरची , ती काडी , ती  कडी , ती नळी , ती नाडी ...बांगडी , चकली , सुपारी सुतारफेणी , फणी ,विडी शिडी शिटी  सणशी , ,मोरpळी  , सूरी , गावी , चावी  अशी अनेक उदाहरणे देत त्याने आपला मुद्धा मांडला.  पण मग ' ती'  पाणी का नसते  ते पाणी का असते सांगाल का ? सिगारेट  दारू ह्या गोष्टींना स्त्रीलिंगीत का मदतल , मादक असतात म्हणूल की सुक्या दारू ( फाटयातल्या ) प्रमाणे  स्फोटक पोस्टात म्हणून? हा थोडा वादाचा विषय ठरू शकत! वाणी म्हणजे भाषा (  language   ) स्त्रीलिंगी ( feminine) पण वाणी (;दुसरा अर्थ ) दाणेवाला , बनिया (.grocer)  पुलिंगी  (! masculine   ). Again some words end In  'i' or इ  or ई,  but  they are plurals पण दारी अनेक वचनी आहेत )  जासी  गोष्टी ,  गोणी , गाणी , केळी ,वगैरे.

अर्थात आपल्याला  माहित असते की  हा काही मराठी व्याकरणातील नियम नसून , त्यांत बरेच  अपवाद आहेत .ज्या सर्व एक वचनी  वास्तूंचे   अनेक वचन अशा प्रकारे होत असते , जसे   फणी चे होते फण्या ,  फळ्या , काड्या , इत्यादी ह्यांचा  ( एक वचन व अनेक वचन) मी उल्लेख करणार नव्हतो .

  हा काही मराठी व्याकरणाचा वर्ग नाही. असा वर्ग घेण्याचे 

 माझे मानस नाही . ह्या सर्वातून केवळ आणि केवळ मजेचा भाग  वेगळा काढून आपणा सर्वांना मराठी व्याकरणातील  ह्या   गंमती- जंमतीत बुडून आनंद हाच हेतू वाणी हा सर्व खटाटोप !

विनय त्रिलोकेकर

 

Reading Books       

 I have been a very voracious reader (उत्साही वाचक) up until a decade or so. I would read whatever that I could lay my hands upon, be it in Marathi or in English.  In fact, in the beginning  I began by reading novels in Marathi. It was Baburao Aralkar's (बाबुराव अर्नाळकर -अर्नाळकरांच्या धनंजय - छोटू , काळापहाड आणि झुंझार कथा )  Marathi crime and thriller novels.

 I was a member of Ding Dong Library (now closed), and mt to and fro journey of 3 hours or so, enabled me to finished reading novel in a day or two. Mostly it was light stuff, James Hadley,  Agatha Christie, Perry Mason or some other  detective stiff. I was a privileged customer, I was allowed two books at a time. One book I would exchange in a day or two ( meant to be read during my train travel) while the other book was retained for longer period meant to be read at home leisurely and which was read by my sister and me, Heavy I have been a very voracious reader उत्साही वाचक up until some decade or so. I would read that I could lay my hands on, be it in Marathi or in English.  I was a member of Ding Dong Library (now closed), and mt to and fro journey of 3 hours or so, enabled me to finished reading novel in a day or two. Mostly it was light stuff, James Hadley,  Agatha Christie, Perry Mason or some other  detective stiff. I was a privileged customer, I was allowed two books at a time. One book I would exchange in a day or two ( meant to be read during my train travel) while the other book was retained for longer period and which was read by my sister and me, Heavy Reading category with likes of Lloyd C Douglas ( I was so obsessed by his Magnificent Obsession that read it many times during my  teenage), Thomas Hardy (his  Far from the Madding Crowd left a deep impression on me), William Somerset Maugham ( I have read and reread his Of Himan Bondage umpteen times) and many other English writers and also read Marathi literature, especially P L Deshpande and Achaya P K Atre. I have slowed down, may be my age and other things. Now a days I don't read much (books) and reading is restricted to net. 

  Currently, I am reading a book titled ' The Ultimate Cheatsheet On Goal Setting '.I has been quite sometime sessed since I had a book in my hand, with all my eye problem. Doctor is yet to give me number post surgery and I have to go for the check as well. I read using my old specs with magnifying glass. I find it extremely hard and I could but a few pages till now. The book is interesting, but I am rather apprehensive about such kind of self help books and this would certainly fall under that category. In our our days, we never had such kind of books, so never read these books. Reading books written by Bill Gates,would certainly not make you Bill Gates!  Have you ever read Self Helo books? 

 I asked this very question to my daughter in law  and and also to a friend of mine, Rashida and told her that shortly I am going to write on the subject.

 Rashida:replied, "No. I don't like reading such books either.

 Unfortunately I haven't read any book in a very very long time." 

My daughtrt in law hasn'i ever read such books.

 

Coming back to the subject of Self Helf Books, Iam reminded of this

 guy, Rajamamidanna. He is fantastic and his satire on the subject  is

 very funny and worth listening to. I will try to reproduce the same in

verbatim (शब्दशः) as far as possible. Rajamamidanna is on the stage 

and addressing young crowd.

"...but it doesn't matter. So I got admission inone college called 

 ...You ISB....No I didn't do it in ISB but did it in BSB, it is the 

parody version of ISB, which in Bangalore. I went there. There was t

this  Placement Officer who said ,' You will get there. Relax.' 

For me to get there I have to be alive also. With so much got one 

company  called Nandi Pipes. I am not kidding - Nandi Pipe. They

 had  eight rounds of interview, man. After that they didn't call.

 I had to do the follow up. I called up . 

Where is my job? I asked. 

' It is in the pipene , bro!'

When you go through all this you get depressed. And of the worst

you do... Ah, don't read those Self Help books. Anybody read

 these  Self Help books?"

Suddenly looking sharply in the direction of a

 young lady, he continues, "so maam, you read,

 don't be ashamed. You are here.which means it  worked.

   

These Self Help Books are... from thr author's point of view. For

 them they are helpful. It messes up with your mind.

One fried suggested a book called . Secrete'

 Millions copies sold insecrete, my friends read and got marks in

 secrete, I did' know their marks. But I was reading 'You can Win'

 and they got placent in secrete. 

And the motivational books mess up with your mind., you start

 believing  as if you sre greatest person alive, which you know and

I know, I am not you are not. .

There is another book called 'Monk who so his Ferrari, Robin

 Sharma wrote this book. If you are a monk where did the Ferrari 

come from?Who are you? Osho? The same fellow..the  fellow wrote 

another book called 'Who will cry when you die', that's the tittle of

the book, and  I cried after reading that book. My sister told me 'No

one will cry when you die'. I asked 'Why?' 'If you keep reading books

how will you make friends?' So I purchase another book , How to 

make friends.'

But the worst book I read was 'You can Win'. It had a tag line

 Winners don't do different things they do things differently. Replace

the word Winner with anyone, say, Cab driver, and it will fit the bill.

Cab drivers don't do different things they do things differently.. Why

 are confusing in this manner? There is another guy called Henry

 Ford, who also confuses people in this way. If you think you can,

 you are right. If you think you can not, you are right. Just because 

we are listening....You will tell whatever you want to.

I also wrote a quotation, Hope is like a soap, use it daily.

These days the book tittles they come up with ... I went to the book

 store and there was this book -  am okay, you are okay', I didn't buy

 it because I was okay.!

Everybody must have read this book.Ah, ah (हां,हां .. orange colored f

cover ... ah , yes, yes..what setellite F#CK ( THE SUBTLE ART OF

 NOT GIVING A F*CK by Mark Manson). I don't know what is

 F*CK and this came up with another, a sequel  it seems, Every

 thing is F*CKED. Yoy are the one who told not to give F and now

 you say that every thing is F. I hate thsese sequels. In movies it is

 okay but why in Self Help books? There is guy,  

he wrote, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'.

It took me seven to eight years to cultivate those seven habits. After

 that he came out with 'The Eighth Habit' 

This guy is absolutely funny and entertaining. I have tried my level

 best to quote him and the entire show in verbatim.  But you must

  watch him (there is video on YouTube) to get the picture. The

 way he narrates the anecdote with the Placement officer, with his

 hand gestures, voice modulation, you can visualize the entire scene. 

The dialogue between them- the officer assuring him (he pats his

 own back, making you believe as if it's the officer) telling him ,"You

 will get the job man, relax?"  Later on, his  asking " Where is my

 job?" and getting the reply, " It's in the pipe line." The name of the

 company as ‘Nandi Pipes’, is done with  a purpose, and which

 synchronizes pretty well with ‘job is in the pipe line', and you

 simply  can’t stop from laughing.

 In fact the entire presentation leaves the audience in splits. 

The climax comes in the  the ‘F’ word book anecdote.  The way he

 tries to extract the name from the audience, encouraging them to

 come out with it with his intermittent interjections of " Ah, ah," and

 then  (spelling each alphabet as  F,*, C & K and then

 with  expression of innocence  on his face, asays, “I don't know

 what is that."  And then adds, "He was the guy who told us not to

 give F and now he says Everything is F  "

 

He has liberally used those interjection sounds  to good effect to

 express  his emotions. We are familiar with 'hmm', 'oops': woohoo:,'

 shh', etc.so  In English it is difficult to put it in writing the exact

 pronunciation of such sounds, but not so with our phonetical Indian

 languages. Therefore, I hace used  हां , हां . in brackets to denote

 thsese interjection sounds made.

 

 The last enecdote,, about  Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

 and The eighth Habit, he says '" In the second book, the first twenty

pages covered the acknowledgements why not remove them and

 put the Eighth habit in the first book itself? He then ends the

 presentation with this punch line...” in all these eight habits

 (ironically) Reading is not a ( good) habit." 

 

         I have always been apprehensive about these Self Help Books 

though I am currently reading the book which may well be

 categorised in the same class. Of course, at my age, I don't need to

 set any goals and no need for any self help books either.

Vinay Trilokekar