Yesterday we were discussing about songs related to Zindagi.
Today morning My Boss sent me this quote,
         "WHEN YOU ARE HAPPY YOU LISTEN TO THE MUSIC,
           BUT YOU LISTEN TO THE LYRICS WHEN YOU ARE SAD."

And I remembered this song by Shailendra which has very little music composed by Anil Biswas.The lyrics really stand out.But the music is Divine for this particular song.Please listen to this one which is in our Anand mewa Anil Biswas cassette.
Am sharing the lyrics which are in english .


Song-Zindagi khwaab hai thhaa hamen bhi pata (Chhoti Chhoti Baaten)(1965) Singer-Mukesh, Lyrics-Shailendra, MD-Anil Biswas

zindagi khwaab hai, thhaa hame bhi pataa
per hamen zindagi se bahut pyaar thhaa
sukh bhi thhe,
dukh bhi thhe,
dil ko ghere huye
chaahe jaisaa thhaa
rangeen sansaar thhaa

Aa gayi thhi shikayat
labo takk magar
kise kehte toh kya
kehna bekaar thhaa

Chal pade dard dekar
toh chalte rahe
haar kar baith jaane se inkaar thhaa

Chandd din thhaa basera hamaara yahaan
ham bhi mehmaan thhey
ghar toh uss paar thhaa
hamsafar ek din toh bichhdna hi thhaa
alvidaa alvidaa
alvidaa alvidaa



ALVIDA.. BYE.

GREAT PLEASURE FROM AMAZING NATURE

काही दिवसांपासून गुलबक्षीच्या फुलांची ही गंमत आम्ही पाहत आहोत.
एकाच झाडाला ही फुलं येत आहेत. प्रत्येक फूल जणू म्हणू पाहतंय  'रंग माझा वेगळा'.

शिंतोड्याचा  खेळ (SPRAY PAINTING)  

लाजरी छटा 

जणू काही आई आणि मूल 

प्राजक्ताची हातभर मोठी पानं 

एक वेगळा अनुभव

माझा   ब्लोगवरती  सहभाग् गेल्या काही दिवसात न झाल्यामुळे  क्षमस्व .

गेल्या आठवड्याच्या शनिवार पासून मी व माझे शाळेचे मित्र एकत्र एका वृद्धाश्रमात जायला सुरु केले आहे . आमच्या  शाळेत 8वी पासून समाजशिक्षण (social Learning) म्हणून एक नवीन विषय आहे ज्यात मुलांना आपल्या आजुबाजूच्या समाजासाठी काहीतरी करायचे असते . शिक्षिकांनी आम्हाला असे सुचवले कि ह्या  वर्षी प्रत्येकांनी स्वतःला जे समाज कार्य करावेसे वाटते ते निवडून करायला प्रारंभ करावे .
काही मुलांनी आपल्या परिसरातला कचरा साफ करायला सुरुवात केली , काहींनी रस्त्यावरच्या कुत्र्यांची मदत करायच ठरवलं ,तर काहींनी गरीब व अपंग मुलांची मदत करायच ठरवलं . आम्ही 3 जणानी मात्र वृद्ध गृहस्तांची मदत करायचा निष्चय केला . माझ्या मनात सुरु करायच्या आधी हा विचार आला की त्या वृद्धाना सर्वात जास्त गरज आहे जिव्हाळ्याची  व नातवंडांच्या प्रेमाची , म्हणून आम्ही त्यांच्याशी नुसतच  गप्पा मारायचा विचार केला .

तिथे पोहोचल्या बरोबर तिथल्या SISTERS नी आमचं  आदरातीथ्य  केल . पुढचे अडीच तास कसे गेले ते कळलंच नाही .आम्ही थोड्या आजी -आजोबाना जेवण वाढल , भरवल , त्यांच्या साठी गाणी म्हंटली , इ . त्यांना अगदी त्यांचीच नातवंड व मला माझेच आजोबा आजी मिळाल्याचा भास झाला . आमच्याशी बोलताना ते आणखीन आणखीन open out झाल्याच मला जाणवलं . कितीतरी काळानी त्यांना आपलसं कोणीतरी मिळाल असावं . त्यात थोड्या जणांना तर बरेच छंद सुद्धा होते , मग त्यानी आम्हाला शिकवायचं कबूल केलं . प्रत्येक जण वेगवेगळ्या कारणांनी इथे आले होते . एक एकाची कहाणी ऐकून मन भारावून जायचं . पण हे   नाते जोडण्याचे प्रयत्न सफळ  झाले . त्यांना ही ह्या गप्पा मारण्याच्या कृतीमुळे अस  वाटेल कि ते एकटे नाही पडले आहेत  . हा कार्यक्रम आता वर्षभर आम्ही चालू ठेवणार आहोत . ह्या आधी असा अनुभव कधीच घेतला नव्हता .
  

Hello All,

It’s a small incident, which happened with me in a recent past.

Couple of years back, I was driving back from office. As soon as I exited out of office complex and hit the main road, my car met with a small accident. A company bus driver was driving his bus little recklessly and he happened to take a sudden sharp turn and hit the left front side of my car. I wouldn’t get to the details of what happened after that, as that is not the incident I want to narrate here. Let me jump straight to the part where I met a new car mechanic, whose name happens to be ‘Papa Mechanic’! :-)

I was suggested to a car mechanic garage, which is close to my office. After the accident, the car was not in a position to be driven home, so I decided to get it repaired from this garage and anyway, I didn’t have much of a choice then. I generally avoid getting my car work done at any road side garages because they are not adequately equipped to handle these new age cars. But then, I didn’t have much choice. So, after gulping down all my apprehensions, I went to this garage. There I was introduced to their ‘Lead’ mechanic, who happens to carry a rather unique name, ‘Papa Mechanic’! Upon hearing his name I got a little acid reflux of apprehensions and I wanted to just turn around and drag my car away from the garage. Also, since it was evening time, I realized that even the garage was about to close and all were on the verge of leaving for the day. But seeing my distraught situation, Papa Mechanic offered to inspect the car. He didn’t waste time in any pleasantries and straight away got down to examining the damages. After examining, he gave me a rough estimate of how much work was required. He said it will take him 3 days to finish the job and that I will have to leave my car at the garage. Upon hearing this, I almost decided that I am turning back, because I just couldn’t fathom the fact that my car will be at an unknown garage and with some unknown people.

To hell with it I thought, I was not leaving my car overnight on a road side. I expressed my unwillingness and asked him that how I can trust my car to be safe if it is parked on the road side the entire night. Papa Mechanic seemed to understand my concern then, but then the car was also not in a condition of driving back home. So, after some debate, Papa offered to help me by doing a temporary fix for that evening just so that I could take it back home. I was surprised a bit by his gesture. He went back to the garage and changed in his working clothes and got to work. By then, all his staff had already left. It took him a good 30-45 mins to temporarily fix the car. I was quite relieved by then. After fixing, he suggested me to drop the car while on my way to office the next day, so that he could work upon it the entire day and then let me take it back home in the evening. I was quite happy with this arrangement because then I was not required to leave the car at the garage the entire night. Papa Mechanic didn’t bother to ask for any money from me that evening. He was just in hurry to go home. So, since it was late in the evening (almost night), the least that occurred to me was to offer him a lift till somewhere. So I offered it to him. He accepted and I drove him till some distance as his place happened to be on my way to home. While driving back, he didn’t speak much.

The next day, I met him at the garage. Without a second thought, he said he will drop me till office, which he did. As a person, he appeared to be a trust worthy person. At the office gate, he told me what all work will be done during that day. I agreed and went off. By mid day, I just thought of checking how he was coming through. So I called him up to check the progress. On the phone, he sounded little disturbed. He said work is going on, but he is not in the garage. I got little worried, but I was assured by Papa Mechanic that that day’s work will be completed. In the evening at around 6.30pm, when I reached the garage to pick up the car, I saw that only about 10% of work had been done. I got little frustrated and shouted at Papa Mechanic for he was not sticking to his schedule. He was calm and only tried to assure me that the work would be completed within time. I could see that the work is definitely going to get delayed. With some level of dejection, I hopped into the car and drove back home. While driving I realized that I had forgotten some Rs.150-200/- in the car when I gave it in the morning. I quickly glanced around to check if everything is in place or not. To my surprise, it was all in place. Not a single thing was removed or touched.

So, the work went on in the same fashion, for the next few days. My frustration level was building up as one of those days; he didn’t turn up for work at all. Every day I shouted at him for the delay he was causing. Somehow, instead of 3 days, Papa Mechanic completed his work in 7 days! He had done a good job. On the day of completion of work, he handed the car over to me and I was supposed to pay him. I held this grudge of delay in work, within me, so I said I will pay him half and will pay the other half once I am thoroughly satisfied with the work. On hearing this, he got little disappointed. Very curtly, I made him go away with half the cash he was supposed to receive. After 2 days, I went over to the garage to give him the balance amount. I understood that Papa Mechanic had not come to the garage for last 2 days. Upon inquiring I got to know that for the last 10 days or so, Papa Mechanic’s 5 years old son had been admitted to the hospital as he was suffering from severe dengue fever. His son’s condition was rather critical as he was unconscious for couple of days.

At that moment the entire previous 7 days played back in my mind and then I could join the all dots and realized that all the while, Papa Mechanic was juggling with his son’s battle with dengue fever on one end and finishing my work on the other. I felt miserable then that I had not given him the entire cash two days back, when he would have needed it the most. I realized that Papa Mechanic is a guy of self respect and didn’t ever use his personal situation as an excuse to delay my work or not do a quality job. I immediately called him up and asked him to meet me that evening to take the balance amount. When he came, he gave him balance amount, which I had stashed in an envelope. He didn’t bother to count the money in the envelope. On parting away, I just told him that not to hesitate to call me if he required any help. At that moment, I didn’t want to hurt his self respect, so I kept mum about my knowledge of his son’s illness. Later that evening I got an SMS from Papa Mechanic saying “Sir thanks you”. I felt happy that my additional help of Rs.2000/- has reached him and he has accepted it.

Since that day, Papa Mechanic has been my point man for all car repair work. Not just that, quite a number of my friends now go to Papa Mechanic for any repair work they have. Everyone tells me that he is quite good at his work and that price wise, he is very reasonable as well. No one would ever know story behind it! I have known Papa Mechanic for last 2 ½ years now. He has been quite helpful all throughout. On Diwali’s he sms’s me ‘Sir, Happy divali’ and on Ramzan eid’s, I sms him ‘Happy Eid’! J Whenever I happen to meet him, I do make it a point to ask about the wellbeing of his son.

I would have narrated few more stories of this unique character on why does he carry such a unique name! But would post then at a later time. J

Here, I just wanted to share with you all, how some good relationships can unexpectedly develop, with people who are outside your family or friend circle.

Regards,

Jayant.

गेले काही दिवस आपल्या सगळ्यांचे छान relationships बद्दल चे अनुभव वाचताना खूप मजा आली.  मी काय लिहावे या बद्दल विचार करत असताना एक मुद्दा लक्षात आला, आणि एखादाच अनुभव लिहिण्या ऐवजी त्या बद्दलच लिहावे असे वाटले.

I have been driving car now far last ten years or more. I am not very mechanically inclined person & whenever there is any problem with car I can do precious little. There have been many occasions when my car has broken down in the middle of road. We once have been involved in a serious road accident.

In all these times; without exception, bystanders have helped. At the time of accident, it was the auto rikshawallas of Vasai who took us to hospital.

Just last month or so when our car broke down near airport, passing towing van stopped & one of the attendant tried starting the car.

None of these people knew us personally, they were obviously not well off & we generally tend to ignore this particular class. However the help they offered was without any precondition.

I think these kind of experiences where unknown people help you when least expected reinforces your belief in good things in life.

  गेल्या शनिवारी प्रियांका घरातून ऑफिसला निघताना घराची चावी नेण्यास विसरली. संध्याकाळी तिचा गोंधळ होऊ नये म्हणून मी ऑफिसला जाताना चावी आमच्या जवळ राहणाऱ्या वयस्कर आजोबांकडे नेऊन दिली व तसे प्रियांकाला कळविले.परंतु रात्री खूप  उशिरा आम्ही तिघेही एकत्रच घरी परतल्यामुळे चावी घेण्यास गेलो नाही. रविवारी आधीच ठरविलेल्या कार्यक्रमामुळे व्यग्र असल्यामुळे मी ठरविले होते कि सोमवारी संध्याकाळी त्यांच्याशी शांतपणे गप्पा करण्यासाठी जायचे व चावी घेऊन यायचे. परंतू त्यांचा रविवारी संध्याकाळी आमच्यावरील काळजीमुळे फोन आला कि ,' तुझी सोमवारी सकाळी ऑफिसला जाताना धावपळ होऊ नये  म्हणून विचारतो तू चावी का घेऊन गेला नाहीस? ' 

   मला त्यांच्याशी  आरामात गप्पा करायच्या होत्या, हे त्यांना आधी कळविणे आवश्यक होते याची मला जाणीव झाली, आणि  त्यांची माझा गोंधळ होऊ नये त्यांना माझ्याविषयी वाटलेली काळजी, तळमळ पाहून मला विशेष वाटले. 

 

   अजित 

A pleasant stay...

Hello everyone,

I am sharing the experiences of village again. Every time when we decide to go, due to some reasons it always get cancelled. This time we were lucky enough to get the time and finally went to our native place. As in the earlier blog, Sanket has given a few information about how it looks like. The nature, flora and fauna mentioned were absolutely true. I would like to share some more experiences.

          Last month we all four of us went to Ahmednagar after the end of Sanket’s exam. Every time when we reach there, we have to clean the entire home as nobody stays in there when we are in Mumbai. So this time, all the household chores were distributed between us. Me and Surekha started by cleaning the house from every corner, Surekha was also doing some kitchen work, Sanket was busy in cleaning our car. As we have ample of water in our “Houd”,  so he cleaned each and every part of the car thoroughly. Sawayam was providing with water to all the plants which reside in the “aangan”. There is one special plant known as “Parijaat”. As we were not able to visit there for a very long time, so during the hot summers of Nagar, the “Parijaat” tree became totally dry.  We felt very sorry about it, as it was not cultivated by us. It automatically grew in our compound.

       There is one small “tekdi” (small mountain) near our home. We hardly ever climbed on it. This time swayam said,”Pappa we will go on that mountain this time”. It was evening time. Me, swayam and one of our neighbourhood’s  son whose of Swayam’s age went on the hill. While climbing up the hill, we enjoyed a lot as the climate was very pleasant. I was giving instructions to kids while climbing. The strong breeze we could feel was incomparable. On the top of the hill, there is a small temple which is well known. We spent time over there for sometime. Kids were busy in playing. Swayam told us a story from one of his story books very loudly. It was very nice to trek for few minutes.

           There is no continue electricity in the villages. So during night time, me and  surekha were sitting on the “Varanda” (small area in front of the door). Just a casual discussion and “gappa tappa” was going on. And suddenly we could feel the darkness of the nature and sound of “Raat-kida”.  There was full dark and we were enjoying different kinds of sounds. After a long time we started to enjoy the darkness. At 12 midnight when electricity arrived, all the lights were suddenly ON. And then we realized the importance of “diva”…

- Latpate.

  भावबंध 

हवे हवेसे 

न आवडे,  रहाणे  कोणा एकटे 

विभिन्न ते जितके 

तितकेच ते निराळे 

 

बालपणी मायेचे              

यौवनात प्रेमाचे

तारुण्यात सहचार्याचे

उतारवयात आधाराचे

वाढता, अनेक भेटती

थोडे हृदयास भिडती

काही सोबत करिती

अनेक विरून जाती

काही असती धृड 

कित्येक वरवरचे 

क्वचित जिव्हाळा साधती 

काही हरवून जाती 

प्रयत्नात वाट दाविती

यशात आनंदे दूम्बती   

निराशेत आधार देती   

विरहात सांत्वन करिती 

काही असती अबोल 

परी भावना अमोल 

विश्वास असे ज्यांपरी 

कृपा साधती ईश्वराची 

नसे हे सर्व एकतर्फी 

वाढवावे ते मने मिळवूनी 

टिकावयास हि अतूट नाती 

प्रेम हवे सदा अंतरंगी 

किरण 

  

We wish to write about an incidence that occured during Mohit's illness when he was 10 months old.He was admitted in KEM hospital NICU and was unconcious for nearly 20 days. It was Diwali time then. One of our neighbour,family friend,BHAI KAKA , working in the reserve bank of india, used to visit NICU to help and support us.He used to come directly from his office,sit till late night and would then go home.

One day ,as usual he came from the office and was there till late night.At that time we used to stay in chawl system house with common balcony.His family on that day had gone to Girgaon and other neighbours on the same floor had locked the common gate .When BHAI KAKA went home no one opened the common dore.He spent the whole night sitting on the staircase.In the morning he went to his office and from there directly came to the hospital and waited till late night.

We came to know about this incidence from another neighbour after Mohit was discharged from KEM. Nobody on the floor celebrated Diwali till Mohit was discharged .They said "now is our real Diwali and we all put our lanterns and diyas till Christmas then."They made a special place in our hearts and are more than our blood relatives."

-JAYANT AND SUCHITRA

A remembrance of the past

I love to remember the different events of my life. Many a times a small column in my cupboard reminds me of many of my experiences, relationships and the people who love me as a friend. It is just amazing how such a small place can hold so many memories and joyous moments. It is an ordinary cupboard with ordinary things in it. But this collection is the most prized possession of mine. It has so many things I would not like to forget; Friendship bands- Friendship day is every year but every band is something special and is precious to me, Birthday cards- they are increasing in number every year, yet the new ones are as beautiful  as the initial ones.Some of them are really beautiful and some have been done with an open heart, but both had been made with lots of love. Also a book on friendship from a departing  friend with sweet poems and rhymes that touch my heart whenever I read them and remind me of her. A few of the tiny projects everyone makes when they are little(the small handmade books made out of art sheet, a quiz game and some handmade bookmarks)A letter written to someone when I was really angry, A dress designed and drawn for me by a friend who never really liked drawing and other little things that are not actually little but have a great purpose behind them.

Every time I open this cupboard, I am drawn to this corner where sometimes I get tears in my eyes and sometimes all the happiness in the world.

I'm sure many of you must be having some memories you never want to let go.......but losing them in this busy life

You shouldn't because..............they are just too precious!!

-Anagha

I want to write about Anita who works with us for 2-3 hours everyday. She has completed her primary education in Marathi. But when it comes to helping us, she is more than a well-educated person.

During these days, we had lots of stress and work liabilities.Last week, Soham was asked to pay the school fees by demand draft at a very short notice. Anita willingly accepted to do this. This is inspite of the fact that she is not wellversed with English. She interacted the bank officials, got the draft and submitted it at the school office, informing me only after the work was done.

I had similar experience when I needed yearly statement from bank account for leagal purposes. The computer printer of our local branch was out of order. Anita spoke to the manager and arranged for a printout from Govandi branch which she promptly collected. On a few ocassions, she has spoken to and interacted with persons or officials in medical college, banks or even the proffessors as and when the situation demanded.

If she needs a leave on the day when I have some work or operation, she adjusts her leave accordingly. During Mohit's examination, we needed a scaner cum printer. She went with her husband and bought it immediately for us. She really thinks about our problems and tries to go out of the way to help us, which not even your dearest and closest person will do.

Even during Mohit's first day of MGM college, she as an elder Tai, accompanied him to show all the details about train, auto and other routes and Mohit also never felt odd to learn from or accompany this girl to medical college.

We are really lucky to have such a considerate, trustworthy Tai with us since last twelve years.

-Suchitra

      लता आजीनी रविवारी आपल्याला छोट्या बोटींना सुद्धा त्यावर असलेल्या छोट्या दिव्याच्या सहाय्याने  मोठ्या समुद्रात मार्गक्रमण करताना अडचण होत  नाही  असे सांगितले होते. कारण दिवा जरी लहान असला तरी त्याला तेज असते. व त्याच तेजामुळे मोठ्या बोटींना त्या लहान बोटींचे  समुद्रातील अस्तित्त्व  समजते. त्याच अनुषंगाने सोमवारी आकाशवाणीवर तिच्या ८५ व्या वर्धापन दिनानिमित्त आकाशवाणीवर त्यांनी  सांगितलेली एक आठवण सांगते.

         ज्यावेळी आकाशवाणी सोडून इतर प्रसारमाध्यम सुरु झाली तेव्हा असे वाटले कि आता आकाशवाणी कोणी ऐकणार नाही.ती संपली. परंतु त्या वेळी पु.ल. देशपांडे असे म्हणाले होते कि, काही चिंता नको. कारण कितीही मोठ्या घरात कितीही झगमगीत दिव्यांची झुंबरे असली तरी देवघरात घासून पुसून चकचकीत करून तेवत असलेल्या  पितळी दिव्याचे तेज झाकोळून जात नाही. 

  प्रियांका नवरे 

My Amazing Experience

Today I had a visit to the Belapur at Navi Mumbai for my office work. Afternoon I was taking my lunch in the car suddenly my driver came ,he told me that about something is going in the garden ,the garden is next to my car.I immediately ran there, already five  drivers were gathering and there hand stone and sticks in their hand. I immediately said for stopping this, and to my amaze it was 7 feet long brown cobra , it stood about 3 feet from the ground . I requested them for not harming him . To my wonder it slowly calmed down and then we letted him the way to go his own way. I was such a marvel of nature that everyone remained shocked while seeing him. I was really very amazed by seeing this.         






Sanjay Khemkar

Dear friends,I am extremely sorry for the delay of posting my blog. I was busy in preparation for my exams which ended just four days ago.I wanted to share some of the images which we took in an exhibition.

नुकताच घडलेला माझ्या आयुष्यातील आनंदाचा क्षण मी सगळ्यांबरोबर शेअर करत आहे.
नागपंचमी हा सण आपण प्रत्येक जण साजरा करतो. ह्या सणाला शाळांमधून एका सर्पमित्राला बोलावतात. तो येवून सापांची माहिती सांगतो. साप कसे हाताळावेत? सापांच्या जाती कोणत्या? साप हाताळताना कोणती काळजी घ्यावी? ते ऐकून व बघून मुलं खुष होऊन टाळ्या वाजवतात.
उन्मेषच्या शाळेत मात्र वेगळाच अनुभव आला. सर्व शिक्षकांना माहित होते कि त्याला जंगलातील प्राण्यांची, सापांची खूप आवड आहे. शाळेत गेल्यावर शिक्षकांनी उन्मेषला व त्याच्या बरोबर दोन मुलांना सांगितले कि  तुम्ही सापांची माहिती इतर मुलांना सांगा. मग काय उन्मेष खुषच झाला. त्याने नेटवरून सापांचे फोटो गोळा केले व भारतीय साप या पुस्तकातून सापांची माहिती गोळा केली. विशेष म्हणजे या तिघांना त्या दिवशी वर्गात तासाला न बसण्याची मुभा देण्यात आली.
दुपारी ३ वाजता सापाचे फोटो व माहिती मुलांना दाखवावी असे सांगितले होते. त्याप्रमाणे उन्मेषने सर्व  सापांची फोटोप्रमाणे माहिती सागितली. सापांची माहिती अगदी अचूक शब्दात मी मुलांना सांगितली, हे त्याने संध्याकाळी घरी आल्यावर अगदी उड्या मारत आनंदी चेहऱ्याने मला सांगितले . ह्या गोष्टिचा आम्हा दोघांना खूप आनंद झाला.
दुसऱ्या दिवशी मी शाळेत फी भरण्यानिमित्त गेले असताना उन्मेषच्या रावतेबाई, मिलिंदसरांनी त्याचे खूप कौतुक केले. ह्या गोष्टिचा मला खूप आनंद झाला. कारण चारचौघात कधीही न बोलणारा माझा मुलगा त्यादिवशी खूप भरभरून बोलला होता.
असा आमच्या शाळेचा हा छोटा सर्पमित्र!
उन्मेषची आवड व छंद ओळखून त्याला योग्यवेळी योग्य संधी देणाऱ्या सर्व शिक्षकांना मनोमन धन्यवाद.
विशाखा परांजपे

birthday gift

On my birthday Shivani tai and Vaishnavi had gifted me a beautiful origami bowl.I was delighted and wanted to show you the photos. It is my precious gift .Now I think that I should make others glade by giving them such beautiful things. 

Thank you.

My plants

Hello Friends,

Please check out some snaps of my garden plants.


Gulbakshi

sontakka

lemon

kavati chafa

white chafa

tomato

rose

mahek chi cactus

ball cactus

lemon grass

vidyache pan

Ani :-)methi

Thanks.
Vedant.

Shivani and vaishnavi had made a lovely card for Ananya to welcome the monsoon.She was absolutely thrilled to get that special card with an excellent picture of monsoon.Katdares have laminated the card and displayed it for all of us to see.
The Patils also presented sarvesh with a very nice origami pot.It is really very beautiful.I think sarvesh can upload that photo for us to see.
It is really great that inspite of her studies Shivani finds out time to do all this.Agreed she has able help from Vaishnavi.Taking inspiration from them I have decided  never to say I do not have time.

Dear friends,
In yesterday's Loksatta, there is one lekh on Edit page by Prashant Dikshit on Success of Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh and Covey's theory. I think, you all will enjoy. Lataaaji had mentioned that day how superhero's are made. This article complements that. here is the link. http://www.loksatta.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=239612:2012-07-23-18-22-21&catid=402:2012-01-20-09-49-01&Itemid=406

If you can't open the link see Tuesday Loksatta editorial page.

Shubhada Chaukar 

नागपंचमी

नागपंचमीला आम्ही  clayच्या नागाची पूजा केली.   आमच्याकडे या दिवशी उकडीच्या मोदकांचा नैवेद्य असतो. मी व ओमने मोदक बनवले.(आधी काही वेळा   प्रयत्न केल्यामुळे ओमला मोदक बनवणे आता  तितके अवघड वाटत नाही.)  गच्चीवरच्या हळदीच्या पानांनी त्यांना सुवासिक केलं. शिबिरात मोदक केले होते त्याची आठवण झाली.'मोदक वळताना तांदुळाची पिठी वापरल्यास उकड हाताला चिकटत नाही.' ही  लताआजींनी त्या वेळी दिलेली टीप त्यानंतर प्रत्येक वेळी मोदक वळताना लक्ष्यात ठेवली. त्याचप्रमाणे माझ्या आजोबांची ही आठवण झाली. ते खूप मोठ्ठे-मोठ्ठे (21 मुखऱ्या असलेले) मोदक बनवत असत. मला अजूनही अनेकदा प्रयत्न करून सुध्दा 18-19 मुखऱ्याच पाडता आल्या आहेत.

"हळदीची पाने कुणाला हवी असल्यास त्यांनी आमच्या घरी येउन घेवून जावी;म्हणजे त्या निमित्ताने तुम्ही आमच्या घरी याल." अशी ओमने केलेली विनंती आहे. "पाने नको असली तरी  तुम्हाला आमच्या घरी readymade मोदक सुद्धा बनवून मिळतील. व  त्यावर तुपाची धार ही मिळेल." हे माझ्याकडून दाखविलेले आमिष आहे.  काय?तोंडाला पाणी सुटलं ना ?


So....Hurry up!!! Limited stock of leaves!

Prachi gave me a sapling of curry leaves on Sunday. I was very happy to get a ready made planted plant. When I called her up to thank her I was touched with her thoughtful decision to plant it in a pot and give me. She said she planted the sapling 15 days in advance to see whether it  grows. I am sure that plant will not die because she has nurtured it with lots of love.Thank you Prachi.

Archana

Thanks Gargee for sharing information about blooming of Kadamba.
There is one Kadama tree in our vicinity. When I was passing through that area, I showed it to my niece Sanika, she was very surprised to see the beautiful balls of kadamba.
We tried to take pictures but could not take it as we were not getting proper angle and all of them were against light. Unfortunately Aradhya and Arya were not with us but I will surely take them also on that road.

Archana

After reading on the blog about Vedant's new hobby I too thought of having a kitchen garden.I was  so fascinated after reading about Vedant's garden that I almost bombarded him with a lot of (silly) questions .I am sure he must have been bored with all this.But he explained everything to me so patiently and to such detail that it really looked very simple.
The best part of it was a big surprise which really touched my heart.Last sunday he gifted me with a pot in which methi seeds were planted just a couple of days back.He had a full grown methi plant too but he chose to give me this one.All this so that I could understand all about growing a methi plant,right from scratch.
How thoughtful of him.
After a long time I felt that I found a teacher who understood the needs of his student.

संपलाभ

  काल  अचानक  मोटरमनचा  संप  झाल्यामुळे नेहमी  सांताक्रूझ  स्टेशनपर्यंत  ट्रेनने येणारी  मी  बसने  आले. मालाड  हायवेवरून  सांताक्रूझपर्यंत येत असताना, विशेषतः  गोरेगाव,जोगेश्वरी  या  पट्ट्यात  सुंदर  आणि  घनदाट  अशा  हिरवाईचे  दर्शन  झाले  आणि  श्रावण  सुरु  झाल्याचे प्रकर्षाने  जाणवले.

     सांताक्रुझला  आल्यानंतर  संपामुळे  रस्त्यावर  ट्राफिक  तर  जॅम   झाला  झाला  होताच, शिवाय  एकही  रिक्षा  रिकामी  सापडत  नव्हता , खूप  आट्यापिट्ट्यानंतर  एक रिक्षा  मिळाला .घरी येऊन  चहा  घेऊन  भागवतांनी  दिलेली  मेहंदी हसनची  सी.डी. लावली. त्यातल्या  मातब्बर  गायकांनी  गायलेल्या  चीजा, वाद्यसंगीत  ऐकून  मला  खूपच  छान  वाटलं. थकवा  कुठल्याकुठे  पळून  गेला. मन  शांत  झालं.

       दुसऱ्या  आणि  नेमक्या  शब्दात  सांगायचं  म्हणजे  माझ्या  चित्तवृत्ती  प्रफुल्लित   झाल्या .

   So special thanks to Sanjay Bhagwat.  

      सुनीता        

A POEM (SCHOOL).

 I HAVE WRITTEN ONE POEM WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL!
                                       
 SCHOOL

SCHOOL CAN BE FUN
SCHOOL CAN BE BOARING
SCHOOL BRINGS FRIENDS
SCHOOL BRINGS ENEMIES
SCHOOL CAN BRING RULES
BUT DO YOU BREAK THEM?
SCHOOL BRINGS BULLIES
SCHOOL BRINGS WORK
SCHOOL BRINGS CHEATING
IN SCHOOL YOU CAN LEARN A NEW THING TOO
IN SCHOOL YOU CAN TRY YOUR BEST
IN SCHOOL YOU NEVER GIVE UP THE TEST
SCHOOL MIGHT HAVE TEACHERS YOU MAY HATE OR LIKE
SCHOOL IS WHERE YOU MEET PEOPLE OLD AND NEW
BUT EDUCATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CHOICE OF ALL.
                                                    
                                                                                                                 ARADHYA.

Happy Nagpanchami

         शनिवारी आमच्या शाळेत सर्पमित्र चंद्रकांत जाधव आले होते.त्यांना विचित्र मान हलवायची सवय होती म्हणून आम्ही त्यांचे नाव सर्पबंधू  ठेवलं होतं. ते सर्पमित्र का झाले याची कहाणी  ऐकताना भडभडून आलं.

ते गावात राहायचे. त्यांना लहानपणी साप दिसला कि मारा. असच शिकावलं होत. एकदा त्यांना हरणटोळ दिसला त्यांनी मारलं. ती मादी होती आणि pregnant पण.त्यांनी तिला मारल्यावर तिचा पोटातून लाल रक्त लागलेली २पिल्ले बाहेर आली.तेव्हा त्यांना  खूप अपराधी वाटलं म्हणून त्यांनी ठरवलं सर्पमित्र व्हायच ठरवलं.

       

    त्यांनी  सापांची माहिती खूप छान सांगितली.गारुडी कसे हाल करतो ते पण सांगितलं.त्यांनी सांगितलं,"गारुडी साप मे महिन्यात पकडतात. जुलै पर्यंत त्याला उपाशी ठेवतात.म्हणून नागपंचमीला साप नाईलाजाने दूधपण पितात. नागांचे विषाचे दात काढायला गारुडी त्यांच्या  तोंडासमोर रुमाल नाचवतात की साप तो चावतात व गारुडी तो खेचतात की सापाचे दात रुमालावर येतात. काही गारुडी तर सापांचे तोंड शिवून टाकतात. मग त्याला दूध पाजल्यावर ते दूध त्याच्या तोंडातच अडकते. त्यावर माशा बसतात. मशा त्या सापाचे तोंड कुरतडतात. मग  गारुड्यला कळते की या सापाचा आपल्याला उपयोग नाही. मग ते त्या सापाला कापून  त्याची कातडी विकतात.

साप दुतोंडी करण्याची स्वताची एक आयडिया असते. तापलेल्या लोखंडी सळईने सापांच्या शेपटीला तोंडाचा आकार दिलं जातो. 

इतके क्रूर प्रकार ऐकल्यावर आम्ही सगळेच खूपप हळवे झालो. म्हणून त्यानी आम्हाला त्या मूड मधून बाहेर काढण्यासाठी काही साप हाताळायला दिले. धामण, अजगर यांना हात लावतात्ना मजा आली. त्यांचा थंड, बुळबुळीत स्पर्श वेगळाच वाटला. 

 -मल्लिका