In Gratitude

(Flashback : 10 years ago.)

It’s the typical scene of a normal free afternoon. It could be the summer vacations or maybe just a lazy holiday.

I am back home at 1.00 pm after 3 intense hours of cricket in the morning. Linger around at the lunch table till grandmother chides me to finish lunch faster.

Afternoon restlessness begins to set in. Little sister is sleeping. I have been threatened against disrupting here baby sleep. Evening playtime is 5.30 pm. TV time is strictly 5 pm because that’s when Small Wonder is telecast (and there was nothing else worth watching on TV then). I have nothing else to do till then.

So I sit on the bed in my grandparents’ bedroom, next to the window by the peepul tree. Open a comic book.

And I am off.

To a land of mythology and fairy tales,

To the jungle where the  Shikari Shambhu rules supreme.

To the Kingdom of Raja Hoodja  to see if poor Tantri has had any luck.

A little bit of practical science with Uncle Anu,

And then a few simple laughs with good old Supandi.

And compare the cheekiness of Raghu and Anwar,

With the spunk of Kaalia the Crow and Kapish the monkey.

Framing my own “it happened to me” stories in my mind

And creating “Tinkle tells you why” questions.

I am atop Govardhan just before Krishna lifts it with his little finger,

Jumping towards Lanka as Ram rushes on to rescue his beloved Seeta.

Hurrying towards the battle field of Kurukshetra as the Pandavas face the Kauravas,

And shuddering with anticipation as the Sudarshan Chakra heads towards Shishupal.

I stand atop the proud forts of Sahyadris with Shivaji Maharaj,

And chuckle at the wit of Birbal.

I get electrified with the INA troops as Netaji addresses,

Cheer till I’m hoarse when Tilak speaks.

And gasp when the shy school boy grows up to become Chacha Nehru.

And today, 10 years later, I could have been the same young school boy as I pay my tribute to the man who made growing up in the 90s so much fun! And who made Indian culture and mythology cool, way before MTV or advertising happened.

In fond memory of Uncle Pai (17^th September, 1929 – 24^th February, 2011).

Creator of Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle Comics and one of the greatest storytellers of modern India. 

For more, do visit my personal blog : http://neilgiri.blogspot.com/

SUMAN NAGAR ANNUAL FUNCTION

Hi friends ! This is the first time I am writing in the chequebook and I am very excited about it . I want to relate to you my experience in my this year annual function which was in the last month in my colony .
Like every year this year also we had a get-together in our colony. But this time something very excited took place. In the get-together there are many programs like cooking competition ,sports ,fancy dress competition, dances, skits etc . First of all I took part in the cooking competition for the first time . All my competitors were elderly ladies who obviously were better experienced in cooking than me . But I was quite confident about myself . The major ingredient was coconut. I consulted Sangita Maushi (as we all know how good cook she is) for some good recipe. She gave me a recipe of tender coconut pudding . I liked the recipe very much and decided to make it . We had to make the recipe at home and then bring it to society office for display and judgement. I started making the recipe with a little help from my mother . The recipe was ready and I had to keep it in the refrigerator for setting. I was very confident about my recipe and thought that I would win the first prize . But it is said that over confidence is not good and so did it happen .
The time for the competition was nearing. I removed the pudding from the refrigerator. I was shocked to see that the pudding had not set properly. My mother said that maybe we should keep it in the refrigerator for a longer time. All the participants had arrived in the colony office with their dishes. They all were waiting for me to come. All the decoration I had planned for the pudding went in vain. I became anxious and took down the recipe in a hurry. The judgement had already started and the participants were waiting outside for the result. A lot of time passed but the results had not come. My anxiety further increased. At last judges declared the result. I, of course, could not get the prize as the pudding was not set properly. But to my surprise, judges said that the recipe was very nice, but because it had not set properly, I did not get the prize. The real fun was later.
I was not disheartened by the failure and thus decided to make the recipe again at home. That time the pudding was set properly and became very fluffy and tasty. I wished that this should have happened during the competition. Anyway, I understood my mistakes that I had made the first time.

After getting really agitated by some tough sums in maths,i got up to find some job which i could do to calm my racing mind.Going to the window i found a a flower by name kanchan planted in one of our pots.It also flourished some memories of our trip to modi resort,where we found heaps of kanchan flowers fallen down.So i took my camera and clicked some photos.most of them were blur. BUT THIS ONE WAS LIKE GOLD FOUND IN the ashes.pls comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everybody,

I'm Rutuja. I took part in a dance competition organised by spectrum 2011. My dance form is odissi. I have uploaded my video. Hope you all will like it.

MY EXPERIENCE OF GOING TO REALITY SHOW

Hi, I am Anagha,

As most of you know, me & some of my mallakhamb friends had been invited to a program named 'Marathi Paul Padhte Pudhe' on Zee marathi. The audition was held at Matunga in some hall. I was really excited. We practiced very hard to get selected. We were going to do 3 pyramids on Pole Mallakhamb.We fell a lot of times during practice , but still we continued. At the audition everything went well & much to my joy we were selected. The actual shooting was going to be held at N.D.Studio in Karjat. I could hardly believe that. I would always see the Jodha Akbar set when we passed the studio while going to Modi resort. I had never imagined that I could ever go in and actually explore what is inside. Now, was my golden chance. We practiced for all our worth. At last we were called for the technical round in the studio. We divided our selves into groups and went in three different cars.

As we entered the studio it was like entering another city. I was dumbstruck by the entire surroundings in the studio. We went to the hall to take some rest. Our turn wasn't supposed to come until evening so we decided to take a short tour in the meantime. It was truly magnificent. Historical buildings stood here & there looking the same as the original ones. We also went inside the 'Red Fort'. I was feeling as if the world had gone several centuries back. There were 2 baby Elephants at the large entrance of the fort. When I entered, I gazed here & there with utmost disbelief. Long silky Red & Pink drapes hung from the ceiling with golden laces to match, touching the ground & making it look royal. We reached a big hall with a throne at the end of it. Beside that, on a cushion, lay a most wonderful crown set with artificial gems, pearls & diamonds. Large portraits in the long, narrow corridors gave it a mysterious look. At last it was time for our performance, so we left for the studio. In a large room they had set a stage & some steps for the audience to sit on. The actual shoot was the next day so the judges had not come. I was starting to get a little bit of stage fright, but it soon vanished as good thoughts came into my mind. We performed very well & the people there were impressed by our performance.

At last it was time for us to leave. I felt sorry to leave but it was the next day only that we were going to come back. I was very tired & sleepy so I longed to get back home. I think it was a fascinating experience & I will never forget it in my life !!!

Saniya meets Saina

I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my sleeve, as I headed out of the door with my friends. We had had an exhausting trainng session and I desperately needed some water for my parched throat. I made straight for the water cooler and placing my racket carefully on its top, I downed an entire glass of water without speaking. Hardly had we begun to feel normal again when we realized that we should be getting back inside. I picked up my racket, and just as I was about to push open the door of the Badminton Hall, I froze. A poster was pasted on the door, saying, "Yonex-Sunrise invites you to Khar Gymkhana to meet Indian Badminton sensation Saina Nehwal. Registeration will be absolutely FREE" Saina will give you her valuable guidance and expert comments on her shots.”

I should mention, at this point, that I am a huge Saina Nehwal fan. I idolise her. I love her. I respect her. I watch every match of hers. It had only been a dream for me so far, meeting Saina Nehwal. Now here was an opportunity to interact with her! I needn’t tell you what was the first thing I said when I got home.
“Hm... Sunday morning?” said mom. I held my breath. “I don’t see why that should be a problem.”
I could only squeal in delight.
It seemed as if Sunday would never arrive, but somehow, it did.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I could hardly believe it. But even then, I kept telling myself not to get my hopes up. I would only believe it when I actually saw her. Today, exactly a week later, I have no memory of that morning upto sitting in the car. All that I remember is that I was a bundle of nerves. Somehow I remember getting into the car. Dad was going to take me to the venue. We were both quiet on the drive.

It was 9.15 when we reached. I registered at the entrance and, with a deep breath, stepped inside the Badminton Hall there. There was a notice at the enterance saying, “Yonex-Sunrise welcomes all Badminton enthusiasts to Khar Gymkhana for Coaching Clinic by Saina Nehwal.” I still didn’t dare to believe it. I didn’t want I all to slip away ike a bad dream.
I got inside. On one side of the court, chairs were set up for parents to sit and on the other, all us kids had settled down. I was surprised to see the low turnout of people. I quickly hurried to where I could see place and sat down. I hardly knew anyone there, although I had seen most of the kids at badminton tournaments a few times that year. Then, there was a lot of waiting to do.

Almost an hour later, a lady with a mike told our restless crowd, “Children, Saina has arrived! Shall we give her a standing ovation? Please welcome, Saina Nehwal!” I could hardly believe it! As I stood up with everyone else clapping hard, I felt happines blowing up inside me like a huge balloon, as she slowly came into sight. A smiling, happy strong young lady in a ‘India’ jersey with a racket in one hand, which looked like it belonged there. She looked truly delighted to see us all turned up to meet her. She waved and smiled at us all until everyone sat down.
Then, some inportant-looking guy in a Yonex shirt started telling us all abouth the no. of awards and titles won by her. Only half-listening, I was looking hard at her. She herself looked a little uncomfortable by the praise. Her eyes kept wandering to smile and nod at all of us. However, when he was done, Saina acknowledged all the praise gracefully. Then, without much further ado, she stepped onto the court.

Unfortunately, she had injured her ankle, so she told us extremely apologetically that she couldn’t play a rally for us to see. However, she made up for it by telling us about her whole workout and training session. She demonstrated her shots and played a little for us us. She told us all about her practice. After every demo of her session, she would tell us how it was good for the game. She spoke to all of us very casually, as if she cosidered us all her friends. I felt like it was all a dream. She was extremely down-to-earth and extremely simple. She took the entire event extermely seriously, and, not at a single point, did she treat it like a publicity or a showbiz event. I was very imperessed by her personality and genuine friendliness.
After playing, we had a question-answer session. She sat down with her mother to answer all the questions. Again, I got the impression that she was truly serious about the event. She answered all the queries very seriously and repectfully. She did not even move a muscle when a small five-year old asked her something. As the people asked question after question about her diet, stamina, practice and other things, she answered them all. She spent almost two hours with us and everyone got the impression that she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. I didn’t speak once, as I was dumbstruck and I just followed her movements around the court, mesmerised. Then, finally, it was time for her to leave. After she had left, everyone returned to their cars and drove off.
I will always remember this experience, for the rest of my life. This meeting has encouraged me to practice harder and play more seriously and not complain about tough training. After all, Saina Nehwal did not become who she is today without hard work. This was a very memorable event and I waill always remember it, all my life.

SHANO VARUNA

"Shano Varuna"is the motto of our Indian navy.It means let the ocean be auspicios on us.This motto was completely reflected on the family day of navy which we visited.

My brother who is in navy had invited us on his family day on INS GODAVARI.It was a warship.it had missiles,helicopters which are known as seakings on it.they took us for sailing in arabian sea.we went upto 55km away from mumbai coast.the vastness of the ocean enthralled all of us.

There were around 17 navy ships.We saw INS VIRAT,the biggest ship of Indian navy.There were demonstrations done by Indian navy.all the officers were in uniforms which reflected pride,honour,respect,courage and a sense of responsibility.

I fell short of words to express the experience.but it was an experience of a lifetime.............

Interest in Classical things

Hi,

I am sanjaykaka contributing for the first time. Excuse me for grammatical & spelling mistakes.

When I was in a school, i used to listen hindi film music like u all do it. That was in 70s & I was in 8th or 9th std. It was an era of RD Burman, LP etc. Used to listen to Binaca Geet Mala every wednesday which was countdown programme of Hindi film music. Used to think that Classical music is boring. Marathi songs are just not worth listening. My schoolfriends were also of the same opinion.

One fine day, I listen to `Call of the Vally' album by Hariprasad Chourasia on flute, Shivkumar Sharma on Santoor & Brijbhushan Kabra on Guitar. This was semi-classical in nature & duration was around 38 minutes. I was stunned. thrilled. I played this music for 3-4 times at a stretch. Few days after that, I listened to Begum Akhtar's gazals. Again story repeated.

All of a sudden I realised that something great is in store in classical music. Then I started listening to classical music. In college days, alongwith few freinds, I must not have missed single concert. Not that, I have stopped listening to Hindi Film music. But I understood that every genre of music can be enjoyed. One should have open mind & approach. Now I enjoy, all kinds of music provided it is good. I have not yet listened much of western music.

Second story is about Painting. I am very bad artist. Failed in elementary as well as in intermediate exam. Never drawn anything. Was not aware of anything about it. 10 years back, I had gone to US for some exhibition & had time to pass. I ventured to visit Museum of Modern Art, New York. It displayed paintings, sculptures, designs, Architectural designs, photos etc. Even IBM PC, Macintosh were exhibited as a piece of design excellence. As everything in US, it was huge. I visited Painting & sculpture section. Except for few names like Picasso etc. I was totally ignorant about all artists. But when I started watching these paintings, I had a same feeling which happened after listening to Call of the Vally or Begum Akthar. Unfortunately, I never pursued this as a hobby.

Third time, it happened when I saw Birju Maharaj performing kathak on stage.

Now after thinking over it, it occurred to me that in any creative form, anything of highest quality gives u great pleasure but require open mind, patience. But it does not mean that popular things are bad.

Start enjoying all kinds of creative stuff.

regards,
sanjay

ps If u felt that it was boring story, please comment.