Day 328 - 10 Saal Baad

Dave Ka Divya (Garam) Masala. 

Or, try another one.  Jai Maa Bhavani Jhatka Mutton Shop.

If you are wondering if I have finally lost it, I am not yet there.  These are just two of the many interesting names of shops that I saw recently in Indore.  As I said in my last post,  I was at Indore last week for campus recruitment.  This post is about that trip.  Will leave the mundane (and the official) stuff out of this for obvious reasons.  However, the other bits of those two days in the capital of the Holkars, were very interesting, to say the least.  You might have to pardon me if you find that my sense of wonderment in discovering or knowing about small and interesting things is in working overtime, but I would rather prefer it that way.

So, coming back to the city of Indore.  Literally, after close to 10 years!  The first thing that you notice about the place is that there has been a lot of changes (read construction) in the last 10 years.  Clearly, Indore has been part of the 'India Rising' story.  Also, a lot of this seems a bit rough at the edges; still work in progress, maybe.  However, I distinctly remember the airport and the approach roads to it, which have not changed much.  Same can be said for most of the arterial roads in the interiors of the city.  But it is definitely a city which is expanding its limits.  Large tracts of barren land which were previously on the outskirts of the city are now teeming with commercial complexes and malls.  Hence, in a weird way, it looks like a city which has changed a lot, but still maintains an old world charm about it!  Hence a 'Dave Ka Divya (Garam) Masala' does not necessarily look out of place at all.  It is just very amusing for individuals like me who have lived most of their lives over the last 10 years in the concrete jungles, that our metro cities have become.



Indore Airport

I am no sociologist but I sense that with the steady growth of the city and its infrastructure, the ambition and aspirations of the people.  Most of the young people that I met on the campuses during the two days, appeared bullish, had the ability to dream; and dream big, and given the opportunities, I would not be surprised if they actually go on to realise those dreams as well in the future!  A lot of them were very well-informed and aware of what is happening around them.  For some, there were,  of course, still challenges around issues like strong mother tongue accents and a very localized view of the world.



Treasure Island Mall




Rajwada

It is a pity thought that we couldn't visit more places of interest and explore the city in the two days that we were there.  We drove by the Rajwada, a seven storey palace built by the Holkars.  We also drove past the Treasure Island mall, which I understand was the first of its kind in the whole of Madhya Pradesh, in spite of Bhopal being the capital of the state.  The place of interest where we did spent some time though was '56 Dukaan', known so because of the 56 shops / eateries offering various kinds of chaat items.  Everything was very tasty, just as we were told they would be!  I started out with a Hot Dog (not the American one; this is the vegetarian Indore version), moved onto Masala Puri, tucked into an Aloo Bonda and a Samosa to keep it company and topped it all off with a Mango Kulfi!  Phew!  I felt like I had already had the next day's breakfast!  I was reminded of 'Khaana Peeni Gali' in my own hometown, Ahmedabad!  But thank heavens, I did not even dare try the below:

A Faloooda-Rabdi-Icecream-Kulfi Delight

That is Sanjeev Wason celebrating Indore and our rich haul from the city with a sinful dessert!

On a more personal note, I met up with Khandu after about 7 years, which was good.  Could have been a mini alumni meet if I had known that another batch mate of ours was staying at the same hotel that I was in!

Destiny.  Take care.

Day 326 - The Whirlwind

Writing blogs is a time-intensive hobby.  I have not been able to post anything for the last couple of weeks.  This is partly due to me being extremely busy and partly, because the infrastructure required to do so has not been available!  Hence, this post is going to be all about what I have been up to for the last twenty days.

I have been busy with a constant stream of visitors at work, ensuring that the family celebrates a decent Diwali, making arrangements for the housewarming ceremony, ferrying near and dear ones from home to airport and vice versa, shifting my house and travelling to Indore for campus recruitment.

Diwali was enjoyable and fun; we had a good time celebrating the day with Amiya and Farheen.  The kids were all excited about their new clothes and bursting crackers.  Sweets and savouries made by Priya added some more pounds on to my circumference.  Just after Diwali, Obama-mania hit the country.  The joke was that he had come to India after watching 'Enthiran' and was to make an offer to the PM to swap all of USA's military might and cutting edge technology for Rajanikant!  However, seriously speaking, there was indeed a lot of hype around the visit; half of South Mumbai was washed and (tooth)combed for this visit.  Interestingly, he began his visit in Mumbai, making it very clear as to what his priorities were.  Coming to India, just after a defeat in the mid-term senate polls in the US, this was not surprising.  And guess what, one of the first things that he did was announce business deals worth $10 billion which would create jobs for Americans!  Pamela Anderson was the first recruit.

Just after Diwali was the housewarming ceremony on November 8th.  With a start time of 3 AM this was one long day, by the end of which I was so tired that I decided not to go to work the next day; one of those rare occasions when I have had to take an unplanned casual leave!

Housewarming done; next up was the stressful job of shifting the house.  The job was completed in a single day last Sunday.  It was very stressful, especially for Priya, but with my mother-in-law and aunt's help we got through it.  We are still in the process of arranging (and rearranging) everything in the house, but it is much better than last Sunday, when the house resembled a minefield!

The visit to Indore yesterday and the day before for campus recruitment was just after the shifting; with me leaving everything in the house to be managed by Priya!  Business as usual; no surprises!  'As expected', said Priya!

Indore was pleasant.  And a completely different place from when I had seen it about 10 years back.  The city has literally expanded.  It was such a refreshing change to listen to the views of the bunch of students that I was interviewing.  Filled me with nostalgia.  About 12 years ago, I was sitting on the other side of the table.  Indore was enjoyable also because I got to catch up with Khandu after 7 years.  He is still the same, but looks like the world around him has changed.  The trip also started to resemble a reunion, as I met up with Kaushal at the airport.  He was on the same flight back to Mumbai.  Interestingly, he was staying at the same hotel as I was for the exact two days that I was there.  And yet, we never bumped into each other.  Now, now; this is sounding like a Manmohan Desai movie plot!  The visit to 56 Dukaan before boarding the flight yesterday was good.  Hotdog, masala puri, aaloo bonda, samosa and malai kulfi; add a few more pounds now.  But the food was worth every pound.

Have decided to take it easy this weekend as the next herculean task of changing my address everywhere is looming large.  Last time it took about three months to do so; I am hoping to do it quicker than that this time!

Take care!

Day 306 - Leave Me Alone!

'Leave Me Alone!'  Yes, this is precisely what the kid whom I saw at the children's play park the other day, would have wanted to tell his dad!

After a long time I went to the children's park with my sons this weekend and was witness to an interesting, but horrible, incident.  A handsome little boy, surely not more than 5 years old, was being pushed to the extreme by a moronic chaperon!  I assume the moron was the kid's father; though he looked more like a grand-father.  Presumably, the kid was there to have a good time and play in the park as he deemed fit / enjoyable.  However, the moron would have none of it.  He was constantly urging the child to keep running faster than the other kids, go higher than the other kids on the climbing rope nets and do the highest number of slides.  The man was cursing the child if the 'effort' was not upto his expectations.  The boy was very chubby but not obese or lethargic at all.  The moron was probably trying get the child a six pack by the time they got off the park.  And no marks for guessing what the child was feeling.  He was irritated by the constant chat and rebuke and was trying to take out all that frustration on the other kids in the park.

Welcome to the modern urban India!  A land where ambitious modern-day parents in cities are pushing their kids to achieve impossible feats with dangerous results.  Fourteen-year-old Biswadeep Bhattacharya's father wanted to see his promising son become a world champion in Table Tennis. He forced his son to to practise without any rest.  Biswadeep was ranked among the top four table tennis players in the sub-junior category in West Bengal.  Gruelling long practice sessions, merciless thrashings for small mistakes or a poor performance was Biswadeep's order of the day. Unable to take this much pressure, one day he suffered a cardiac arrest!  Everyday such children are living under stress to prove themselves. Interestingly, this is true not just in studies, but also in curricular activities or sports.  There are a number of chillingly true examples of children committing crimes in order to continue to prove themselves or even committing suicides when unable to live upto the expectations.  There is no doubt that this is a dangerous trend.

In 2006, a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, only confirmed this.  In India, China and Japan, a majority of the respondents said children are under too much pressure from parents.  Interestingly, this was a mirror image of what the respondents had to say in the United States of America.

Apparently, this is so in the Asian countries, and especially in India, because the parents want their children to gun for and achieve all of their unfulfilled aspirations.  Every parent wants his ward to be better than him.  Moreover, the sheer scale of the populace itself drives parents to unnatural levels of competition. 

So what should one do in this competitive age, so that the creative and impressionable mind of the child is not burdened?  I think it is important to teach the child acceptance over and above the drive to excel.  Parents should train their children to accept failure and success equally as a part of their life.  I must say, this is not easy and will not come naturally to many.  At least not to me.  The other day I was shown Suryanksh's mid-term report card (I am amazed that they have one for Junior KG!) where he was marked 'Very Good' in one of the parameters and not 'Excellent'.  I distinctly remember feeling disappointed about that!  And not happy that, he was very good at something!  This is exactly what we as parents need to address as well.  There is no point teaching the child the principle of acceptance when you are going to be after his / her life to live upto your expectations!

The bottom line is: We need to take care of our future generations, so that they are capable of taking care of themselves in the future.  And running around the children's park with a whip is no way to do that.

Take care.

Day 302 - Cultural Terrorism

I am probably inviting trouble by writing this.  Nevertheless, I think this is important.

Over the last few weeks there has been news of a piece of literature - Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey - being banned from the course syllabus of the Mumbai University.  This was in response to the student demonstrations led by Aditya Thackeray, the grandson of Shiv Sena founder, the original tiger!  The demonstrations and the burning of the book were conducted because Thackeray and his supporters feel that the book contains an unfair portrayal of the party.  I haven't read the book but it is widely reported that in the book Shiv Sena is portrayed as a party that uses violent tactics; hiring goons to roughen up opponents.  I am not sure if any of the protesters themselves have indeed read the book.  Interestingly, this incident happens around the same time when Aditya Thackeray is announced as the head of the youth wing of the party.  Very interesting, but very obvious!

Courting Controversy - Such A Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry

The university authorities did not waste any time in banning the book fearing trouble.  This is cultural terrorism.  It is an affront to the basic human right of freedom of speech that every individual in this world is entitled to.  Culture being used as a spring board to promote fascism and insinuating beliefs is not new.  The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas comes to my mind as a good example.  Taliban destroyed the two colossal statues of Buddha carved into the sandstone cliffs of Bamiyan, in Afghanistan, in March 2001.  Burning a piece of literature and getting it banned from the university syllabus is no different.  Protesting about the contents of a novel which one might find objectionable is understandable and very acceptable, but, using the fear of violence to get it banned is indeed terrorism.

Salman Rushdie and the fatwa issued against him by Khomeini years ago for his book, The Satanic Verses, is another case in point.  The fatwa still stands to this day.  The other glaring example is of M F Hussain, also called the Picasso of India by some, who lives in self-imposed exile in Qatar.  Someone who should be celebrated and feted across the country for his body of work, finds himself exiled from his own land due to fear of violence.  One might argue that a lot of his artwork might be sensationalist in order to stay in the news, create controversies and this add to the legend (and of course the market price of his paintings).  However, I see it as artistic freedom.  Art and literature are creative pursuits and trying to confine them to certain norms and an acceptable framework of artistic expression, would result in only killing the creativity. 

I believe, culture should define us and not the other way around. 

Take care.

Day 291 - The Masterclass

21 years.  This masterclass has now been in session for 21 years. And this post is about the 'Master Blaster'.  A perfect role model for many thousands of young people seeking their destiny in this populous nation. 

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar's genius has been in session for 21 years.  Right from 1989, when as a 16 year old, he blasted 28 runs off an Abdul Qadir over in an exhibition match in Peshawar; till earlier this week, when he scored his 49th test century, a sublime 214, a lot has been written about this man and his cricketing talents.  I will, hence, not try to repeat all that (though it might just be worth it) and just stick to my take on Sachin. 

The one word that comes to mind when one thinks about Sachin is consistency.  One can argue that he had this phase of a couple of years, when according to his own high standards, he was scoring below par.  He was also dogged by injuries.  In fact, the pundits opined that his batting prowess had declined, his career had slid permanently and the end was nearing.  However, nobody could have imagined the kind of purple patch that he is in right now.  They call it the 'second wind'.  Some tacky Hindi commentator even compared it to the flame that burns its brightest just before it gets extinguished!  Whatever it is, I am loving it!

As an ardent fan, I have seen it all.  The pounding that Abdul Qadir got in the exhibition match, the bloody nose in Pakistan, the nearly missed century in New Zealand, the series of run-a-ball (or better) innings, the 'Sholay-like' friendship with Vinod Kambli, the opening slot in ODIs, the 'Don' himself wanting to meet him, the sand-storm inning in Sharjah, or for that matter the one after that; the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri and the Padma Vibhushan, the Mike Deniss episode, and more recently the Symonds one, the misfit captain, the injuries (tennis elbow being the main culprit; and I was actually thinking all the while that he plays cricket!), the apparent loss of form, the abstention of an international 20-20 career, the second wind, the wax statue at Madame Tussuad's, scoring a double century in ODIs, highest number of centuries in ODIs and test matches, highest number of runs in ODIs and tests, almost leading the Mumbai Indians to the winners trophy in IPL 3, scoring the most number of runs in IPL 3, in spite of not playing the format internationally. Phew! I have just skimmed through the surface.  Imagine, there is more to come.

To me, for the last 21 years, Indian cricket has meant Tendulkar.  And when he is dismissed, the hopes of a whole nation sink, the stadiums go quieter or just empty up and a million television sets are switched off.  When he does well, the whole nation is in a cheerful mood, the stock market is on the upswing (a recent research paper correlated Sachin's performances to the stock markets' performance!).  He has handled such intense scrutiny, pressure and criticism amazingly well. 

However, the best thing about him is, he still is very down to earth and retains his middle class grounding.  Here is the proof.

Take a bow, Sachin!

Take care.

Day 284 - A Magical Week!

One shoots bullets from his fingers, the other caresses cricket balls with his magic wand.  Both are big blockbuster hits this week!

I am just back from watching the Tamil film 'Enthiran' starring Rajinikanth, the ultimate crowd-puller!  Crowd puller he definitely is, not only in India both elsewhere as well.  For instance, he is extremely popular in Japan, of all places!  Coming back to the film itself; it is a special effects extravaganza which keeps you engaged for a little more than 3 hours!  I can safely say that I haven't really seen anything like this in Indian cinema before.  No wonder it is the costliest Indian film ever made, at Rs. 150 crores.  And Rajini, the superstar, does pull in his worth at Rs.45 crores.  Skipped a beat?  Yes, that is exactly how much Rajini was paid for Enthiran, to play the double role of a scientist and a humanoid robot created by himself.  The story itself is very predictable.  However, in my view, the film is doing roaring business (Rs.117 crores in box office collections) because of the following:

1) The Rajini charisma.

2) Superb special effects; probably the best ever seen in Indian cinema.  The last 30 minutes of the film is especially terrific!

3) A stunning Aishwarya Rai; I do not like her much, but in this film she looks fabulous!

All in all, the film does live up to its hype.  Rajini, at the age of 60, is stunning, to say the least. By the way, he is probably the only superstar who has no qualms being himself and being seen with his bald head in real life.  Hats off to Thalaivar!

The Rajini Magic.

The other blockbuster hit this week was India's nail biting, edge of the seat winning effort against Australia in the first test match at Mohali.  Kudos to the magician from Hyderabad.  The man with the most unique initials in the cricketing world is truly Very Very Special.  VVS Laxman played tormentor to the Aussies yet again with his almost run a ball effort which won India the match.  Never one to play the ball under his nose, he used his bat like a wand; scoring runs effortlessly all over the ground, when wickets were falling at the other end.  India at 8 wickets down and still more than 100 runs to get for a win, were a goner.  I had switched off the television at this point of time as well.  3 hours later, I was pleasantly surprised to be informed that Laxman and Ishant Sharma were still at the crease and India were inching towards a victory.  Ishant Sharma scored 31 sterling runs and his effort was equally important as Laxman's.

Laxman, Ishant and the rest of the victorious Indian team celebrate the win.

With the gutsy fightback and holding their nerves during the last few moments, India showed the Aussies why they are ranked the number 1 test team in the world by ICC.  I hope they stay there for a long time.

By the way, the opening ceremony of the CWG games was a huge success!  Some respite from the constant torrent of bad news related to the organisation of the event in Delhi.  And what's more, looks like the Indian contingent is winning medals galore, a lot of them golds. 

Hope we continue to do well and erase the bad memories in the run up to these games.

Take care.

Day 277 - Happy Birthday.....Almost!

As promised in my last post, this post covers all that happened on my birthday, which was on September 30th.  The fact that a lot of my friends were looking out for this post and in fact, asked for it, makes me assume that there is a demand for this out there.  So here goes.

Birthdays are special and so was this one.  Birthdays are also days when you realise that you have reached another milestone in your finite lifetime on this planet.  Another year gone, and hopefully a few more to go.  A few more to look forward to.  One invariably tends to veer towards thinking about what has been achieved till this day and what is in store for the next few years, at the least. 

However, this time around I had little time to do any of the above because, as fate (and the Supreme Court) would have it, this was the day when the Allahabad High Court was to deliver the much awaited judgement on the land title dispute for what is known as 'Ram Janmabhoomi'.  Given the sensitivity of the matter, there was a high alert in the entire country to prevent any ignition of violent acts due to religious fervour.  Most of evening on September 29th was spent in planning for the continuity of operations at work for various worst case scenarios.

Thursday, September 30, was a day when the whole country waited with bated breath for the verdict.  This was the single most talked about subject wherever one went.  However, for me the day started of early with surprises!  At the stroke of midnight, Priya sprang a surprise; an impromptu party, complete with cutting a small chocolate truffle cake!  The kids and the neighbours were co-conspirators!  Priya gave me a collage of the kids' pictures as a birthday gift. Wow!

Is this cake for me!?!

The Midnight Party!

Another surprise awaited me about 5 hours later, when my Dad called me to let me know that Mom had just boarded the flight to Mumbai for a surprise visit! So the first thing that I did on my birthday was to drive to the airport to receive her.

At work, there was one more surprise awaiting me.  Vikas and the entire team sang the Happy Birthday song as soon as I walked into my office!  I was floored.  Thankfully there were no birthday bums!

It is a great feeling when someone wishes you.  Even more so, when you get that phone call or note from friends with whom you have lost contact over the years.  Throughout the day, the wishes kept trickling in through various means!  Text messages, emails, wall posts on Facebook; it was all happening.  We are living in an age of information overload and instant connectivity and I truly saw its impact on this day.  For a while I was trying to reply instantaneously to everyone who was wishing me.  However, I was fighting a losing battle.  After a while, it was such a deluge, I just gave up.  I was able to wade through all the messages only by the next day. 

Also, I also took possession of my new apartment on Thursday in the morning.  The outcome of the verdict was known by 4.30 in the afternoon.  Thankfully, there were no violent reactions to the verdict, which agreed that the disputed place was Ram's birthplace, however, divided the title of the land into 3 parts.  Given that the country had accepted the verdict with maturity, I decided to venture out with the family and treat Priya, Mom and the kids to a pizza party in the evening at Papa John's.  The kids had been wanting me to take them there for ages.  The only sad note to my 'happy' birthday was known the next day morning. My mother lost her ring, most probably, the previous evening.  Frantic searches did not yield any positive results.

So, it was a day of surprises for me.  An action packed day with little time for introspection.  However I did re-dedicate myself to some of the goals that I had set at the beginning of the year.  I have been a little naughty with some of them, but nothing serious!  Should be back on track in a few weeks.  More on that later. 

Take care!

Day 272 - CWG, CSK & The Power of Ideas

'Due to all the criticism and bad press around the preparations for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), Suresh Kalmadi decided to commit suicide by hanging himself from the roof. And the roof collapsed. Next, he attempted to jump off a bridge with the same motive, however, this time the bridge collapsed!’

This is a joke which has been doing the rounds for some days now, ridiculing all the goof ups that have now become part and parcel of the preparations for the CWG. It is also a good example of how we, as a country, have a great self-deprecating sense of humour. There is now even a page dedicated to ‘CWG Jokes’ on Facebook! However, at the bottom of our hearts, we all know the fact that all this bad press is causing tremendous pain to all of us as Indians. We are probably trying to cope with it by trying to find the funny side of all this mess.

The past week has been particularly bad for the organisers of the CWG. A roof (false ceiling, actually) collapsed; nobody was killed. A bridge collapsed; 27 people injured, but nobody was killed! However, it was only meant for ordinary pedestrians. Elsewhere, in the Games village, trouble began to brew as athletes began trickling in. The apartments were not properly maintained. Toilets were not clean. Mattresses had human footprints and marks of dog paws on them! And then Lalit Bhanot lectured us on the differences in the standards of hygiene of foreigners and us lesser mortals. Indian boxer, Akhil Kumar’s bed broke when he sat on it! Would ‘The Commonwealth Circus’ be an appropriate name for the event? I think so. Because the sportsperson is anyway not in the limelight for these games. In fact, many of them have just pulled out. I do hope we hold the responsible people accountable and punish them. We should in fact punish them by boycotting the CWG completely. For a country like India, where a large portion of our population lives below the poverty line, organising a Rs.70,000 crore extravaganza is a criminal offence.

The other interesting happening over last week was the elevator pitches for ‘The Power of Ideas 2010’ initiative. Manish’s business idea has been short-listed as part of this initiative and he had to make a 5 minute elevator pitch to an evaluating panel in Mumbai. After umpteen number of rehearsals and fine tuning, I accompanied him to the venue on Saturday for the Elevator Pitch. I was also hoping to listen in on the business ideas of other participants. Unfortunately, the format of the pitches was such that only the participant as well as the evaluation panel were involved. Hence no audiences! Manish made his 5 minute speech and was bombarded with questions, which was a good indication of the open interest in his business idea / model. I hope he does make the next cut, because he deserves it.

I also got my new house registered finally during the course of the week. Hopefully will be able to take possession of the place after a few more formalities are completed. Will need to then plan the whole run up to the actual occupation of the house, including a fresh coat of paint and a whole lot of modifications which the better half has ordered...phew!  But, am I looking forward to it? YES!

The other thing that I am looking forward to this week is my birthday!  Though, aging by one more year is no fun, the day itself is so much fun!  Will write all about that day and much more in my next post.

Till then...take care!

P.S.: By the way, I would like to congratulate all my friends in Chennai on Chennai Super Kings winning the Champions League T20 tournament!  Hey....whistle poooodu!

Day 263 - Back To Basics

This week I spent two full days attending the first module of my firm's Leadership Program.  The theme of the module was 'Personal Mastery' and the content was based on the highly acclaimed The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Signature Program™.  The program is based on the tremendously successful book by the same name by Dr. Stephen R Covey, first published in 1989.  Dr. Covey followed it up with 'The 8th Habit', published in 2004.

Of course, this is not the first time that I was attending such a leadership training program.  Also, I had read the book a long time back.  However, what struck me as I was going through the two-day program was the impact that can be created by smart and slick packaging.  I say this because the program does not talk about anything new.  In fact, most of us in our day to day lives must be following some or all of the principles behind each of the 'Habit' described in the program.  Smart packaging adds a halo to what is essentially common sense stuff. 

This is however, not to belittle the effectiveness of the program itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the video snippets of Stephen's sessions.  All of it makes very good sense, especially the 'Habit 7 - Sharpen The Saw'.  Stephen uses the analogy of the story of the goose which laid a golden egg everyday.  The point being, it is important to take good care of the production capability on an ongoing basis to ensure that the high quality production continues.  Hence it is very essential that self-renewal of the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional / social aspects of our lives happen so that we can be fresh and energetic to be able to practice the other 6 habits.  I think I enjoyed and related to Habit 7 the most because it also ties in with the resolutions that I made for myself at the start of this year.

Interestingly, I got an opportunity to practice some of the things that were part of the program on Saturday itself.  My car was hauled in for the first 'paid' service by the Honda dealer and service partner.  There was cost escalation and there was time delay, and still the things to be taken care of in the service were not, leaving me feeling cheated...and fuming!  I guess, my understanding of the concept of 'Interdependence', learnt over the week during the program saved them.  Had a similar experience at the 'Priority Banking' branch of the SBI this morning.  Public sector...always the same...priority banking or otherwise.

It was also good to meet up with Shankar Krishnamoorthy, an old friend and colleague, today after almost 6 years. 

As you can imagine, I have been thinking about taking care of myself, a lot this week.  You should too!

Day 256 - National Integration A Must - By Order, The Almighty.

This weekend has been a happy and rare co-incidence of Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi falling on Saturday.  The festive spirit was evident all over the city.  The Muslims were celebrating Eid on Saturday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which involves rigorous fasting and prayer routines.  The Hindus were celebrating the birth of the elephant God - Lord Ganesha, marking the beginning of a 10 day festival, during which Ganesha will be treated with the best of food and prayers, culminating in the immersion of the idols of the Lord in water bodies across the city.

I have always been a believer.  Prayers in the morning at home, have been a part of my routine for ages now.  I did, however, shun public places of worship for a period of almost 15 years after the Babri masjid was demolished by Hindu fundamentalists unleashing communal violence all over India.  The boycott of public places was to underline the fact that one does not need such places of worship, as religion should be something which is very personal for every individual.  Religion should not be used as a means of driving political agendas and causing irreparable damage to the secular fibre of the nation.

It struck me that this rare co-incidence of festivals of both the faiths falling on the same day might be a signal from up above, to us lesser mortals, that religion should be used to bring people together rather than divide them.  Our floor was a good example of this on Saturday.  After offering the prayers to Ganesha at home, we had lunch at Amiya and Farheen's place to celebrate Eid.  The same 'kolam maavu' was used for making the rangoli outside our door as well as writing 'Happy Eid' outside our neighbours' door!  In the evening, the Chaudhuris hosted all of us for dinner.

Ganesha @ Home

Sunday was a busy day as well.  Had lots of Ganesh Chaturthi darshan and Eid invitations.  We went to Sameer Dave's home in the afternoon.  Everything about the celebrations at his home was grand.  A large idol of Ganesha and lots of relatives all over the place.  Went to some of my colleagues' homes in the evening, with Arvind and Sagar.  Meera's place for Ganesh darshan and then to Arshan Dawji's place to savour some Sheer Korma.  By the way, this is the only downside to this rare occasion. The amount of sweets and rich food that is consumed; full of fats and calories, will take many many days in the gym to compensate for these two days now!

I wish all my friends a very Happy Eid-ul-Fitr and a very Happy Ganesha Chaturthi.  I do sincerely think that this rare occasion was The Almighty's signal to us as a nation to be united, while celebrating our diversity.  I hope many others do too!

Take care.