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Showing posts from 2012

Completing what was unsaid for me

Blank paper seems difficul  to start writing on. One needs a blank paper to write and to me a blank paper seems like 'Now where do I start from?'Actually I know, I can start and write all that I want and what I want to create or plan, but I am not used to total freedom. I live by rules. I am proud to say I follow the law almost always. I feel society has norms which one must accept to make the running of the society smooth. I don't know what I would do with total freedom. My family and friends think I have a lot of freedom and in the strict sense I am not answerable to anyone. But I have lots of self imposed rules. When I write, there is a fear that if I have had a conversation which now I am penning down, I hope I am not hurting anyone. I definitely do not want to encroach on someone's private space but my writing for sure reflects my thoughts. The thoughts , views or opinions about certain things , area, people etc. None of this is sacrosanct and the final truth. Its

Bai, my Grandmother.

Its that time of the year when Shivaji Park fills up completely. No its isnt another funeral or a visarjan. This is for Ambedkar death anniversary. I have written about it earlier. Have taken children in the crowd to see what it is all about. Never got too scared of the crowds as my Granma always took us to lot of religious places. Baijnath temple in Devghar in Bihar to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Benaras to Srinathji, Nathdwara in Rajasthan to The Mahakumbh mela at Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh , we have experienced all as children. I never saw my maternal Grandparents or my paternal Grandfather as they had passed away many years ago. My Dad's Mother, my Dadi, made up for the absence of all the three Grandparents. She gave me so much love that I never had a chance to miss the others. She showed her love in many ways. Apart from being an amazing storyteller, she cook produce wholesome tasty meals really fast. She had great knowledge of the religious scriptures and she was afraid of no o

Is believing= Getting conned?

In most Indian families, as soon as the daughter of the house turns18 or 20, the family starts looking out for a boy for her. The trick is to catch them young or the proverb of the Early bird catches the worm. So if the man hunt starts early , you will get a good groom. Financial security and good family are two main criterias for a good groom. The groom's grooming, the woman can handle later. When I kept saying No to the boys my parents were showing and a couple of boys rejected him, the family went into a strategy meeting. Two things came out of it. One that my hair was too wild and it made me look modern. So it was decided that I had to tie my hair and put two hair clips to keep in place for every meeting I went for. Secondly, I was too thin. Size zero was not fashionable that time. Solution to that was to take medicines to put on weight. We had gone to Ahmedabad to see a guy and he rejected me. There was a lot of heartbreak within the family as their daughter lost out on yet

Home they brought the Warrior dead

I had been for Balasaheb's funeral. Could see all the swarming crowds and the cortege at Shivaji Park and Shiv Sena Bhawan the full day. Went on impulse. The experience was powerful. I know all of us have read a lot since his demise. There are pics and articles praising him and debasing him and his ideology. Some newspapers who support the Congress Goverment have tried to put his funeral as a family rift story. But you saw the pictures and a picture is worth a thousand words. In our times, we have never seen a crowd like this. In the morning, I thought this was the party workers and each reaching to please his immediate boss in the party. Alas, I was wrong. This was not the crowd of slum dwellers or goons or villagers. This crowd was of Mumbaikars. People like you and me who wanted to see him. There were no celebrities in the crowd so the throng of people was all for Balasaheb. My Dhobi said he feels like the protective umbrella is ripped away from his head. This is the loose tr

What about Mother Earth in Diwali?

I want to make the world green. I want the world to be a safe place. I want food, clean water, electricity for all. When I have more than 20-25 guests at home, I immediately switch to throwaway plates and glasses. All the veggies I buy whether from roadside or malls come in plastic bags. I carry my own cloth bags but I dont want to separate the French beans , green chillies and lady finger at home, so I ask for small plastic bags. In a supermarket, they seal the vegetable in a plastic bag before weighing it. Yes, I do save on the big plastic bags. The garbage bin is lined with a plastic bag which is thrown everyday. I want to grow plants on the terrace but the water consumption will go up by watering them. The building is as it is buying tanker water as municipal water is not enough and I dont want to add more tankers. The washing machine consumes so much electricity and water and the maids wont clean clothes as well as the machine does. I want new cell phone every year and then I do

Infrastructure today

This morning the weighing scale said I was heavier by 2kgs in a month. Don't worry, the Skyfall didn't happen. Much as I wanted to feel like dirt and blame my eating habits, I was quite okay. Disturbed for sure, but not killing. The pain, if any, was quite bearable. The first thought was as far as people can't make out, its okay. My life seems to revolve around people's opinions.  I think about them,what they said, how they behaved etc. all the time. Maybe I should finally listen to my yoga Sir and start meditation. Its something I have completely avoided without appearing to be resisting it. The class gets over after Shavasan or the sleeping pose. Post that the women are totally agitated about reaching home and push each other to get out of class. The calm effect of the aasan has worn off completely. Since most women are sixty plus, they look at me and comment on my children. Comments vary from 'Your kids must be keeping you on your toes' to 'Are their exa

English Vinglish -2

The festive navratri is over. Learnt a lot and loved a lot in these nine days. In my mind, I still relive my Dhanbad navratri days. All good private garbas were organized by the Rotary club , Jain Jagruti etc post these nine days. the festivities continued till Sharad Purnima or the full moon post navratri. We would not want to repeat clothes. just borrowed Mom and Aunt s sarees with the three blouses maroon, black and green we had stitched before Durga Puja. Women danced, men watched. Then it was our turn to watch while men danced to Garba tunes. Later there was a round of Dandiya where men and women danced together. We almost never got to participate in that as it was way past midnight and our men cousins wanted to drop us home. This was usually at a place called L.R.D in Shashtrinagar, Dhanbad. How much ever the late nights we had, we rarely slept late in the mornings. This time of the year, all my Bengali friends were in Calcutta  for Durga Pujo. No facebook those days but we we

English Vinglish

I saw English Vinglish last week. In India, English has become the spoken language. Try going to a Mcdonalds or Indigo or Costa or a Five star  hotel and placing your order in Hindi. They will take it with certain looks. I usually go to our favourite Chinese restaurant and ask 'Sabji mein kya hai?' It means what is the vegetable dish you recommend. Well not exactly but loosely. This habit comes from Dhanbad where we used to go to Dhabas on the highway for dinner. The highway was called GT road aka Grand Trunk road. Its quite good now. Those days it was a two lane highway with villages and small eateries and garages. The trucks would be lined up through the night and Dad would spot the Dhaba or the eating joint through the row of trucks. There was a place called Hind Hotel. They would give whistles to all children made by an alcohol company. Round whistles half white and half  with transparent colours. My favourite was the yellow and white one.The place also had a gaggle of g

Shraddh period in Hinduism

According to the Hindu calendar, this is the shraddh period going on.  For fifteen days in a year, the ancestors are remembered and prayed to. No auspicious events / ceremonies take place in this time. People use the tithi/date of death to invite a Pandit and feed the departed soul. It means you remember the person passed away, give food to the Pandit and the crows. People keep a cooked meal on the terrace. They try to make the favourite food of the departed person. My memories are of my Grandma mixing and crushing all the savouries with her hands and when it was in form of  a paste, my Uncle would go to the terrace and throw the food for the crows. Crows in Hinduism are considered messengers of the departed souls. A lot of people feed Gathiyas to the crows for the full year. If your ancestors are happy, then your life goes well ,is the general belief amongst Hindus. The shraddh period falls exactly between Ganpati and Navratri. One does not buy a house or have a wedding in this time.

Music in our lives

The swimming pool has repaired their brand new music system.  Brand new is a very Indian way of saying it is New.Today while I was swimming, I heard a song from Premrog called Ab Hum toh ho gaye Pardesi, Ke tera yahan koi nahin. Awwww, that was so depressing. Actually all these funny songs of the eighties, I get irritated with. No joy in them for me. I shudder to think how it will be to swim to Dum Dum Digha digha, Oh mere sona re, Kranti. Sorry, these are songs which people born in late sixties or early seventies would have heard blaring on loudspeaker in their towns. The swim  coach said if we do not use the speakers, they will get spoilt. I heard a shloka going on at a Ganpati Pandal. I started singing along and was later surprised how I knew it so well.  Shani Mantra was my cousin's mobile ring tone for years. He passed away this year and the Shani Mantra still remains. All reminders which shake our equilibrium. Music has such a strong association with our lives. So when I h

Ganpati at home

We start planning our Ganpati at home months in advance. I am planning and me and the help are executing it. The first time it started with joy, love, bhakti/belief. Then it was once h,appy,so let us do it again. The years passed and the confidence grew. I learnt from my earlier Ganpatis. So we improvised each year. Years back, a friend had heard all my apprehensions and asked me what I wanted from the Ganpati. What I wanted the guests to experience? How did I want my family to experience during and post the event? The apprehensions were never about the work involved for the Puja, they were always about the people. People means the ones who are family really. The bro, sis and sis in law are the biggest support system. My parents are the rock solid support who are there through out to be, to advise and to handle should anything need handling. The friends and relatives who visit for the Ganpati have been coming for years. The numbers have increased. We now have children's friends an

God of small things

I have 2 wind chimes on the terrace. With the night sea breeze, they clang a lot and wake us up. On some nights, I remember to put them on the red tiled terrace before I sleep.On some nights we sleep thru howling winds and clanging chimes, too sleepy to get out of bed. Last night, I spent a good hour untangling one of the wind chimes. I had to hold the chime straight by the small ring on top. Then look at all threads and metal cylinders to figure who is caught up in what. During the whole process, it kept giving its musical notes. It was so relaxing and happy. I managed to untangle the first two very easily.The beautiful symphony continued as I tried to unravel the mysteries of threads,metal and wood. The husband thought I was angry, so he let go of his telewatching ritual to check what I was up to. I was completely lost in it. Could not get my eyes off the black threads and the silver metal in my hands. Eeeks !I am sounding like fifty shades of grey:)  For me, it was one wrong move a

I can't review a book.

I read the first book by E L James called Fifty Shades of Grey. I am not doing a book review because I am not that well read a person nor an authority on English Literature. I have not even studied English as a subject in college. I am not a sex Goddess to qualify to make judgements about the sex in the book. I am so imp[acted by the book where the author calls her conscience as her Inner Goddess that even I have got the audacity to use the word Goddess. The author is one hell of a lucky woman. I am jealous of her fame and the way her book is doing so well. Not the Booker prize material but it is selling like hot cakes. My 5 year old saw the book and said "Mom, it is selling at all traffic signals." Book sellers at traffic signals is a typical Mumbai phenomena. And before I start rambling about Mumbai, let me tell you about the book. We have Cheryl Cole saying Prince Harry could be a Christian Grey. So Grey is the hero and Anastasia Steele is the 21 year old heroine. I sho

Life is simple

After the anger outburst and simmering, there is a lot of self introspection. I go through every thought and strategy to justify myself. My righteousness seems the only thing that matters. I wrote the earlier post after simmering for a week but the anger was still evident. I cursed and I cussed.  Then the question was why am I still here in this place, if I have so many grudges? Apart from the husband's work being here. The anger continued in all areas of my life till my body. I had a catch in the back. Louise Hay confirmed that it was the message: Get off my back.  I went to the family Doctor and he just said that back ache is always due to stress. When did it start? I knew exactly the moment on Monday, I experienced pain. I smiled. He said that I will not give you medicines. Please continue doing your yoga with full awareness. I paid the fee and stepped out feeling better . Doc had insisted I join the Yoga class and he is a regular there for last 15 years. Next day at Yoga cla

Jai Maharashtra?

I have been dealing with a lot of disappointment and anger. Expectations not being met seems to have become the done thing. Whether it is family or friends or retailers. Same story everywhere. I simmer in the rains. Walked into a local exhibition of handmade goods at a small wedding hall. Bought some local pickles from a vendor and some unpolished poha from another guy. Came home very excited that my next day's breakfast was taken care of. When I washed the poha  before cooking, all chocolate brown colour started coming out. I saw this was not dust but colour. That evening I was passing by the exhibition, I decided to go and tell the vendor about the colour in the poha. As soon as I said that and in a calm manner I may add, all hell broke loose. This vendor , a man of  50 started screaming at me. He said I have never eaten village poha and I do not know what it is all about. I told him that I can make out the difference between colour and dust but he started getting very aggressi

Time nahin! No time.

Mumbai people believe in bragging that they have no time. All over the world and in Delhi, people brag about the things they have. Mumbai is different. Here the people love saying that "They have no time." The local Marathis have an amazing sentence 'Ushir zaala' which means it has become late or I am running late or you have come late, depending on the punctuation mark after the two words. Having no time and I am busy are words of the nouveau rich. They want to show that the world runs on their shoulders or something equally ridiculous. Apart from I am busy is the biggest snub you can give someone. People can be busy some days or some hours. How can it be an everyday affair. Everyone is working and most are fulfilling their responsibilities too. But this whole thing about being busy, having no time and running late, irritate me no end. I have an over weight friend who is only running after her two children including dropping picking up from school and tuition , te

Grooming= Make up

Make up seems to be the in thing these days. Grooming has got a new meaning and that is application of make up. This fakeness which is creeping into our society is benefiting the cosmetics companies, cosmetologists, beauty salons, beauty and spa therapists, cosmetic surgeons and all the related industries. So every magazine which is a film/ beauty/ women's or business magazine has advertisements of luxury spas and beauty products. The amount of money these companies spend on media, I wish they spent on research and to cut the cost of the product. Most of the cosmetic giants who have their own counters in a lifestyle store are rude. They rattle like parrots what is taught to them. Their own make up is usually gaudy and OTT( over the top). I for sure do not want to buy anything from them. When I started working for hotels, they did not insist on make up at all. A saree was the main requirement in terms of dress code.Then I had some colleagues tell me I should wear make up when I g

Aaj ki shaam

Western railways staff went on a flash strike this evening. Only if you live in Mumbai and travel within Mumbai can one understand the impact of this. Railways are Mumbai's lifeline. People use the local train transport all the time. The motormen and more went on a strike in the evening just when the office goers want to travel back home. The city came to a stand still. The buses were jam packed andso were the roads. the cabbies had started playing truant. In between all this I had gone to my saree blouse tailor at Tardeo. On the way back, I wanted to pick up Caramel custard for the family from Cafe Noorani. I walked two km to Noorani and ate the fresh caramel custard and packed a few. Did not get a cab and kept walking , blissfully unaware of the strike. Crossed a couple of Parsee colonies, Sardar Pav Bhaji shop, Haji Ali, Mahalaxmi race course, Wellington golf course. I felt as if I was getting reacquainted with Mumbai. Cabs not coming and me walking were in sync till I reached

Respect Love

Watched "Cocktail" first day first show with two of my girlfriends. The movie has no wildly explicit scenes. There was a scene where Deepika is close to Saif. They are just showing the cheeks next to each other and she is mouthing some dialogues. There is a silence in the scene and one expects Saif to buckle in and start making love. No such thing happens and in that way that was the only surprise element in the whole film. Rest was predictable as ever. When this emotional scene was on, I heard a man yawn loudly. A large part of the audience burst into giggles. Once more a little physical moment was shown and this man yawns loudly and the entire crowd giggles. One cannot hear what was said on screen and the moment is lost. When there is a rape scene or gory violence being shown in the films, no one makes any noise. there is pin drop silence in the theaters at that time. Forget a love making scene , even if there is a kiss, the audience giggles or yawns loudly or passes a comm

Broken Promises

Its difficult to say I love you and mean it all the time. I don't even to know when I say something, do I mean it? When I am shouting at children, I say a lot of mean things. I do not mean that to happen ever to them. I curse myself and use a lot of cuss words on myself. Do I mean that? No. So what do I really mean when I say something? If I am praising someone, I have to mean it, even if it is momentary. Or else the person will know I am lying. If I say something out of habit, I mean that as that held true for me for a long time. Sometimes when I say, I love you, do I mean Thanks for your call or Thanks for the work you did for me? Its a feeling I have and I interpret it into words. I say the words which come the easiest to me. It could be words of love or words of anger. Do I mean every word I say? When I click on Like for every friend's wall post on Facebook, do I mean it?I am not too sure. There are so many broken promises in my words. I say I will visit but I don'

Games people play

I do not follow tennis. But the Men s final at Wimbledon was hard to miss. We watched the first hour, attended a wedding reception and were back for last part of the match. The wedding reception was full of heavy weights of the political arena but the match pulled us home. The play of emotions on the players faces just as it ended was something. I could feel Andy Murray's pain. Since I do not understand much of the finer points of the game, I was watching the emotions freely. The effort gone in, the strategy, the coaching, the number of people working for the player's win and the livelihood of people dependent on that was all weighing in the air. It was not easy for both of them. Murray just could not talk and ready to burst into tears which he eventually did. The self control vanished, dejection took over. Inspite of that, he was truthful. He gave credit and it came from the heart. The coach was mighty cheesed. he refused to clap at any point. I thought that attitude was disgu

M for Maayka

In India, married women have this huge joy in visiting their Mother's house ie maayka in Hindi. Vacations,in earlier times, were almost always to the mother's house with the children. The girl's parents got to spend time with their child and grandchildren. The Maternal uncle or Mama was a popular man as he would be catering to all the needs of his nephews and nieces. The lady got to spend time with her parents. The grandparents pampered their child and grandchildren. Maximum joy a mother experiences when her children are well looked after. So the lady who has come to her parents' place is happy that her children are thrilled. The parents are happy that their daughter is well looked after by the son in law.Its a Win Win situation for all. Each parent in India has one main aim and that is to see their children settled. 'Settled' for a girl child is happily married and married into a family richer than theirs preferably. Career and the rest is not of much importa

Wasseypur aur Hum

The very name “Dhanbad” got into limelight a dozen times in the last few weeks , making it the reason enough to create waves of curiosity amongst almost every native of Bihar. I had my share of inquisitive moments too.More than anxious, it made me proud…proud that my childhood state has drawn so much attention from such famed individuals as Anurag Kashyap and Manoj Bajpai,just to name a few… The D-Day arrived and my excitement saw a new high. The movie started with a bang, shot, murder, sending shock waves deep down the spine. Concentrating on the storyline I ignored all the violent gestures. Brilliant and realistic portrayal of how the Coal Mafia and their political ambitions following the gang war often made my heart skip a few beats, as the cameras rolled… it didn’t occur to me once that I was sitting along with a hundred other people including a few children ( some,who had come accidentally and regretted, as ,they couldn’t identify well with the plot). Lucky me. I felt all al

My First Stress

When we were young everything happened in moderation. The weather was bearable. The stress was almost non existent. The water problems were there and people still managed to cook and bathe. The school tests were not so tough. Passing an exam was achievable.Gradually things started shifting. Bade halke se (very gently). For me, the first was getting into a college hostel. My parents wanted to send me to Bombay to study. One Aunt who was a local, married to a Bombay man had recommended for me to study in Mumbai. My parents were completely enrolled by the idea. They had no fears for their child's well being in a new city. When my results came, they knew I would get into any of the good colleges. The thing was getting a hostel seat. We had chosen Sophia College as that was recommended by the Aunt. Mom had asked her sister living in Mumbai to go and check out the place. Then we had asked a relative who was a Chemistry professor in a college to go for the hostel interview as I was in Dha

College Admissions

Mumbai is one city where every activity is magnified. Sorry, Delhi, I know you are the Nation s Show offs, but allow me to complete why I write this. The newspapers decide how I shall feel in the morning. They will complain about Mithi river desilting which never gets done for some reason. Then, it is the potholes on the roads which the BMC is trying to fill up. Then for some days, we shall see the Disco pub cleansing unlike the ethnic cleansing happening in other parts of the world. So I decide that bad roads affect me, the Metro rail construction and Mithi river doesn't affect me as my house and area of travel both do not fall into it. I do not frequent the city s watering holes or happening joints and Dhoble protests do not bother me. I had no pending files in Mantralay but I really felt bad about the five people who died in the fire. The last one month, we are talking about school results. Ads of various tuition classes are there on most empty walls and electrical poles. Just c

Mumbai, Meri Jaan

It was an arranged marriage. I do not remember why I had agreed to it. I was married and the boy lived in a chawl. This chawl was not a building. It had a ground floor and a central courtyard. The bikes were parked in the courtyard. People threw their litter there. Clothes were dried there and washed there too. Children were given their bath in the tub outside. The roof was not high but people made like an attic for sleeping quarters. There was a room followed by a kitchen and that was the house. The toilets were common and at the end of the chawl. They were almost always filthy.The bath area was in the kitchen itself. In the night, people used that area to go to the loo. There was one single bed in the room with an old dirty bed sheet and even dirtier pillow. The place had the stink of urine and rotting food. Everyone s house smelt like that or so I thought. The people also avoided using the toilet unless absolutely required. There was a shortage of water. So every house had a drum fu

Mumbai, Meri Jaan.

Saw a pet dog on a walk at Shivaji Park with his owner. The children from the nearby school come to the park for their games. They were surrounding this Labrador and playing with him. The dog was completely peaceful around the children. The children were delighted by his every action and were following him. The Master was preening like a peacock and very cool with children touching his dog.What if schools allowed pets? What if each class could keep one pet and one week every child had to take care of it? It would be so much fun for the child. And the sense of responsibility of taking care of someone would be developed naturally in the child. The feeling of caring and nurturing. I am not so hot on pets. I feel I have enough work and responsibilities and would not want to take on more. I feel two children are enough. I cannot take on one more child. No point having a pet if you cannot treat him like your own child. A week maybe but only a dog. I am not yet open to felines, turtles, bir

Wedding Videos

I am thinking about the school and college admissions. The stress parents and children are going through. I am thinking about the potholes which the newspapers are counting and the BMC is claiming to repair. I am thinking about the traffic scenario in the rains and what time will my children come home. I am thinking about the amazing candid photographer called Joseph Radhik and the video he has shot of the Ram Charan Teja- Upasana Kamineni wedding . The video makes me smile. It has captured the celebrity wedding in its most beautiful moments. I do not know the Andhra Pradesh film stars or politicians. I have not read much about them and I do not recognize most of them.So their fame eludes me but the wedding teaser by Joseph Radhik is simply awesome.Any wedding can be a beautiful wedding if the emotions are captured well. Last Sunday, we kept going through his work and videos on Youtube and Facebook. It actually inspired me to look at my own wedding album. My wedding was not the most

Nanhi yaadein

The other day I stepped out to the terrace and my feet burnt. The red tiles of the terrace floor were so hot. Instead of pain on my face, which is my normal reaction, I smiled. It was instant. My feet felt the heat and my face lit into a smile. A small memory hidden in the recesses came up. Summers in Jharia were always scorching. If we went to the aangan to cross from one room to another, our feet would burn. Terrace was a complete no no till four pm. Then we would go to remove the clothes which were drying and were warm. The terrace was swept and then water was splashed on it so that our rooms below cooled with sun set. Later we would put our mattresses and sleep with Granny on the terrace. Granny ,six children, religious stories, gentle breeze and the stars. My world was complete. A friend gifted me a bag with beads and I was all nostalgic. Our drawing room had jute and bead curtains. It was not jute. It was the brown strings of coir like the threads of a brown gunny bag. I had a

The Serai, Kabini, Nagarhole.

The Serai at Kabini runs like a well oiled machine. The hotel has got everything right from the word Go. Awesome location with superb river view from all the rooms. No villages surround the property. Earlier the hotel was known as Kapila. Kapila is the name of the river and Kabini is another river. They both merge into river Kaveri. Nagarhole forest and these rivers are entwined. The property was then called The Cicada which is only sound you hear in the nights. The group which runs the Cafe Coffee Day chain in India has taken over. I understand the group has some political backing. But the professionalism in the property is admirable. I do not feel like using the word 'Resort' for The Serai. Resorts in my mind and in India are these noisy hotels with even noisier restaurants. All 'wannabe' crowd wants to flock to these resorts and make much noise. The Serai has a calm and serene energy about it. They have made / renovated the hotel along with nature. So unlike the

Parents and children at resorts

I get very irritated by aggression by people when they see food. This is most obvious at a hotel buffet. Kids run to the buffet and push the adults away. Guests want hot food on the table by the waiter in spite of the buffet set up. People are crazy. They will take all fish pieces from the gravy. Some will ask for more meat in the gravy and will wait for 20 min till it comes from the kitchen. Parents have this weird fixation of feeding their children even at the restaurant. The kid is crying as he is being force fed. the parents are proud that they are doing a great job of shoving food down the child s throat. Then you have rich Indian who can afford more than one child and carry a maid along for the child. The maid is supposed to hold the crying baby and walk all over the restaurant while the parents are in the pool. The wailing children in a restaurant is too much to handle. It can spoil anyone's meal. These parents are oblivious to all this. It is not the child's fault. Mo

Nagarhole

On our holiday, we went to The Nagarhole forest in Karnataka. It is now called Rajiv Gandhi forest sanctuary. I have a huge issue with Indian politicians changing names of everyplace in India including streets and chowks and now forests too. The Sanjay Gandhi national park whose original name I do not know, in Mumbai, is being sold by the government all the time to make buildings. Then they talk of encroachment. Encroachment is not by hutment dwellers but by the Builders mafia. Every week a leopard is caught or shot at.The builders are like sharks and will gobble up every piece of our land. They have the muscle power thru the underworld and the black money thru the politicians and underworld. Priyanka gandhi is making a bungalow,12 km outside Shimla near the President s house. I thought buying land in Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir by non residents of the state was difficult.The newspapers mentioned how the President s prior permission was sought before the razing of the old bungalow a

My visit to 2 temples in Dadar, Mumbai

Last month I had been to the Swaminarayan temple in Dadar. I had work that side and decided to do darshan at the Mandir. the first time the children did not want to leave the temple. We were there for good one hour. They saw the evening Arti too. The next week, I took them again around the same time. I was happy that I was able to expose my children to the temple culture. They had a lot of questions. Prime question was why are women asked to move out when the Arti is going on in the airconditioned section. Why do mot seen get to be ahead in the Arti and women have to sit further behind. I explained that in Swaminarayan dharam/ religion, the saints/ sadhus/ Swamis do not look at women. There are different sections for women as the Swamis can to the rituals and not women. I myself now cannot see any logic to all this. And sure enough, whatever I was explaining to my children was not a good enough explanation for them. To explain celibacy vows of the priests is one thing and to explain th