Guru : Colonel JD Katkar

         

                  I switched on the news channel, just to see police restoring peace and calming the notorious youth. Later, I learnt, that these students were protesting for change in the pattern of UPSC examination, so that the non english speaking students could match up with the english speaking students. They were eyeing for the top posts in the indian bureaucracy and would be the SPs, DMs very soon. The so called pillars of the nation were destroying and damaging the government property even prior to their appointments, or even prior to their selection. It needs a deeper thought over the selection process of the sensitive appointments. The actions of burning a police van or vandalising a police station are not in any way, civic. So how can they be a cadre of Indian Civil Services. I only hope the instigators  are arrested and the students allowed to know of their wrong doings.
            Examinations and subsequent interviews or discussions were always in English for most of the important cadre. When we appeared in 1990, it was all in English and we came out successful.  Thanx to our beloved guru Late Col JD Katkar.
           Col JD Katkar was the director of Services Preparatory Institute, Aurangabad. The Institute provided training to the selected students from Maharashtra, so that they could pursue the noble profession of arms and provide leadership as officers of the defence forces. Col JD had a small team of instructors who taught academic subjects, a tall wiry warden who would enforce discipline from the morning tea till the lights out time. How can I forget “shukka”, the physical teacher. We all came from all corners of Maharashtra, some from big towns like Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Nagpur and others from villages not traced on the Google. Pale Budruk was the first revelation and many more. Nearly every one came from a humble background and most of us were non english speakers. Some had studied in Marathi medium till tenth and the others though studied in english medium, were no great shakes either. We all carried our accents with us and when our search engine failed to find any appropriate english word, then obviously the mother tongue would take over. It was a great place to learn, be it the values of life, be it discipline including bathroom etiquette, table manners, sports or academics or be it the leadership traits. We learned from our instructors, our seniors and from each other. All this, under the watchful eye of the “Diro”.
            Apart from regular interviews, the Diro would find time to be with us in the dining room, sports field or in the ante rooms. Till then we pronounced water as water and ate mangoes by cutting it into 4 pieces. Its him, who taught us the right pronunciation of water and it took us some time to speak water by making an O of the lips. Some of us had come from remote villages where drinking water was not readily available in summers. Similarly, new words started getting the right blend of spellings and pronunciation. One day during our lunch break, he showed us how to eat a mango. There were couple of us who were brought up in the mango orchards, but we wanted to learn.
           A true soldier and a thorough gentleman. I am yet to meet a colonel who could match his stature. He used to say “There are no reservations or concessions in the battle field”, and we knew it. However huge the monster appeared, we had to tame it and hard work is the only solution. Now I know what the protesting students missed. Young men, you may cross one hurdle by lowering it, but its your skill which will take you over the remaining ones.
           He still lives in us. Each time I say water, I hear him. We miss u sir.

Beautiful Letter to a son

Beautiful letter written by a father to his son  

Following is a letter to his son from a renowned Hong Kong TV broadcaster cum Child Psychologist. 

The words are actually applicable to all of us, young or old, children or parents.! 

This applies to daughters too. All parents can use this in their teachings to their children.

Dear son ,

I am writing this to you because of 3 reasons

1. Life, fortune and mishaps are unpredictable, nobody knows how long he lives. Some words are better said early.

2. I am your father, and if I don't tell you these, no one else will.

3. What is written is my own personal bitter experiences that perhaps could save you a lot of unnecessary heartaches. Remember the following as you go through life

1. Do not bear grudge towards those who are not good to you. No one has the responsibility of treating you well, except your mother and I. 

To those who are good to you, you have to treasure it and be thankful, and ALSO you have to be cautious, because, everyone has a motive for every move. When a person is good to you, it does not mean he really likes you. You have to be careful, don't hastily regard him as a real friend.

2. No one is indispensable, nothing is in the world that you must possess. 

Once you understand this idea, it would be easier for you to go through life when people around you don't want you anymore, or when you lose what/who you love most.

3.Life is short. 

When you waste your life today, tomorrow you would find that life is leaving you. The earlier you treasure your life, the better you enjoy life.

4.Love is but a transient feeling, and this feeling would fade with time and with one's mood. If your so called loved one leaves you, be patient, time will wash away your aches and sadness. 

Don't over exaggerate the beauty and sweetness of love, and don't over exaggerate the sadness of falling out of love.

5.A lot of successful people did not receive a good education, that does not mean that you can be successful by not studying hard! Whatever knowledge you gain is your weapon in life. 

One can go from rags to riches, but one has to start from some rags!

6.I do not expect you to financially support me when I am old, neither  would I financially support your whole life. My responsibility as a supporter ends when you are grown up. After that, you decide whether  you want to travel in a public transport or in your limousine, whether rich or poor.

7.You honour your words, but don't expect others to be so. You can be good to people, but don't expect people to be good to you. If you don't understand this, you would end up with unnecessary troubles.

8. I have bought lotteries for umpteen years, but I never strike any prize. That shows if you want to be rich, you have to work hard! There is no free lunch!

9. No matter how much time I have with you, let's treasure the time we have together. We do not know if we would meet again in our next life.

With lots of luv, Your Dad.

Have a nice day

Bollywood : a true reflection

                 India is a land of festivals. Some festival is always on. May be advantage of a multi religious community. The festivals would dissolve the differences and the friends and neighbours would savour delicacies like “shirkurma”, laddus, christmas cakes, kheers, biryanies ……….. Its mouth watering and we would put our differences in a corner and enjoy the good feast. The government has also been kind to declare holidays on the festivals for everyone to catch on with the lost sleep, complete homework, catch up with friends and find some time for a movie. The Bollywood wise make sure to time the release of a block buster around the corner.
                Salman Khan starer Kick was released on the eve of Eid. Being a holiday and a true bollywood fan, I sneaked into a movie hall to get the kick. As always, less for a few exceptional movies, I enjoyed it to the hilt. At times I had to hold myself in the chair to stop myself from dancing on the floor to the pulsating music. I feel its a dream journey travelling to the exotic places, singing the new songs, speak it up to your bosses or the villain which you hardly get a chance, smash countless bad people for a right cause and justify your wrongs for a right cause. but whatever it is, I felt fresh, rejuvenated and relaxed. In the evening as I was switching the channels, Dabang 2 caught my attention. Inspector Chulbul Pandey is a dream cop and an attractive personality. So I continued watching it.
             After watching both the movies one thing is very clear that God had to come down in some avatar may be as Ram or as Krishna or may be as chulbul Pandey or as Devil who would terminate the evil and allow the weak and the infirm to grow. We all await for that miraculous personality who would come forward and fight the evils for us. The recent example could be of Kejriwal, People found hope in him to fight the mammoth giant named corruption. hope he comes true.
          The second glaring revelation is that the lawful means are inadequate to bring some high end criminals to book and the hero has to outthink, outwit and outpace his opponent. May be thats why in real life, the cases against them keep on moving till countless years and at the end most of them get off due to inadequate evidence or some technical hitch. Everyone wants instant justice, which the hero gives them. Though short lived and illusionary, one gets happy over the victory of the good over the evil. We are not too much bothered about the means to achieve it, we just want a win over the evil.
          Overall one feels nice to be at the centre stage and wage a war against the evil, pick up a cause to be the purpose of your life, be a help, how small it may be to the needy. Dance to the choreographed numbers amidst the item girls, as such there are hardly any places or events left where one can dance leaving behind the inhibitions. Lastly it takes me home to mumbai, eventually each bollywood movie carries some part of mumbai. 

weeds

        Monsoon is the best time to lay a lawn or mend the old and ageing lawn. The grass feels fresh and energetic to grow, spread laterally, cover the gaps if any, turn fresh green and eventually soft in feel. The ready availability of the twin requirement of sunlight and adequate water make the lawn sing and attract the onlooker. Morning is the best time for it to absorb the sunlight and also for anyone who wants to get the feel of the morning dew beneath the naked feet. A bare foot walk on a beautifully laid garden is the most refreshing and energising experience one can get. A good lawn is an asset unmatched and the lawnmower would take pride in it and would take extra efforts to select the right quality of grass and then maintain it.
          The weather is also conducive for growth of weeds. The atmosphere is full of pollen and the stronger variety of weeds, following the law of the nature of survival of the fittest, would make its presence felt. The effect of the weeds would depend on numerous factors. It is akin to any infection we catch in our life.  At times we resort to home remedy or may be pop up a pill and back to work. If serious, then a doctor or a specialist comes into play, who would generally carry out a thorough investigation and recommend a course of treatment. Similarly for a few weeds, just uprooting them would solve the problem and for serious damage some more scientific options need to be exercised. But eventually the bottom line is to de weed. Its a laborious process and a shoddy work would leave some roots still in the lawn, which will soon force you out for de weeding. A stitch in time saves nine.
          Similarly our mind, the most fertile thing in this world gets infected by the weeds. At times at a manageable level and if unattended gets worse. These weeds take away the peace and makes it restless, resulting in loss of your charm. The way the weeds spoil the beauty of the lawn or a minor infection affects the health, similarly even a few weeds in the mind erodes your glow.
        Meditation and reading literature of wise are the ones which helped me to de weed my mind. It helped me for the peaceful sleep I enjoy today. It brought in a visible change. It cured my physical ailments. I thought I would share this. There are various other methods to de weed and its essential to pick up the right one. Lastly a beautiful lawn will always stand out from the unkempt one.

       

Golden Day

       I saw a rare phenomenon this morning. The ambient light was golden, as I woke up in the cowboy movie The Makanieze Gold. I could not hold myself in and rushed out. Every thing was gold and the rest had subtle layer of gold. I was mesmerised. It had rained heavily in the night as the monsoons had set in and everything around carried the freshness. The rain had kept me indoors for some time, but today it could not restrict me from my morning walk.
       The smell was seductive of a beautiful damsel, just out from the shower. She wore a fresh green gown and the strands wet with tiny droplets still clinging on the tresses. She had a beautiful glow and a contagious freshness which energised me to go further.
      The monsoon streams had washed away the layer of dust and everything shone like new. The streams washed away all the sins thrown in by the careless. At places, it was successful to carry it to the drain and at some places the sins laid exposed. Except these small patches, everything looked neat and fresh, “ kya kare Chand pe bhi Daag hote hain”.
      Bettles, bees, centipedes and numerous small insects of different colour, texture swarmed the environment, bringing in a lot of birds ever eager to catch a prey for the new borns. The stalks with their long wiry legs, laid ambushes by standing patiently in the small water puddles. The frogs were on a romantic trip, croaking at top of their voice and mating as if theres no tomorrow. Though the frogs were the loudest but the birds had their own music, chirping endlessly in different tunes, singing endlessly the various notes.
     The mangoes were ripe and yellow and the school children were trying their best to have a go at them without spoiling their uniforms. An old man was collecting the ripe mangoes fallen of the tree. The ploughed feilds had turned fresh green and the mood was upbeat of the village. It had brought in new life and more importantly solace and relief from the extremely hot summers. In eighties, when as a chid, I used to visit my village and there was not water pipeline carrying water to the houses, the ladies used to carry pitchers of water on their head. During the late summers, some of the wells used to dry up and the distance used to increase for the water carriers. My yet to be married aunts nearly spent their days ferrying water from the far of wells.
      May be thats why monsoon is so awaited in our country. It brings in life. It brings in relief. It brings in joy. Thats why the rain gods are to be pleased with prayers and "yagnas" and “hawans". yes a golden day.

armrest

Saturday was a movie day. Movies apart from the entertainment keeps you updated on the social scene. India, being a vast and varied country the social scene changes from short skirts to burkhas and for men from tharra (country liquor) to scotch. It is a refreshing break to be in various situations and in various parts of the world. One hardly gets an opportunity to be so near the beautiful actresses and get engulfed in their exotic perfumes. The pulsating numbers would kick alive the Jackson inside you and the romantic scenes would drift you into those nostalgic magic moments. As if some of the dreams get unfolded when not asleep.

I was roaming around the dingy streets of Hyderabad along with the chirpy Bobby Jasoos, savoring the delectable Hyderabadi biryani, trying to be the biggest detective ever and solve the mystery.

Suddenly a nudge brought me back in the cinema hall. My neighbor had pushed my elbow off the armrest and occupied it, showing it as a mistake or his right to place his arm over there. As an instant reaction, I also pushed his arm of the rest, breathed heavy to show my annoyance and my victory over him. Though he did not show any annoyance, I could feel that he had sized me up and would have decide to stay calm. Though the movie was on, my attention was on the armrest. Later I felt a bit confident about it and the catchy scene drifted me back to Hyderabad. Being a detective type of a movie, I wasn’t ready to loose any thread. As I was trying to solve the mystery I felt that I had lost my occupation of the armrest. Though this time it was not by force but that I had changed my posture. Though I did not like it but never wanted to be rude to apply force to get back my prized possession. Though I was trying to be magnanimous over the loss but it was still in my mind to win it once again. Yes, I got an opportunity and I got it back. Felt so good, but was out from Hyderabad fighting over a minor armrest.

Interval gave me an opportunity to think, what I am doing. I am here to see a movie, transpose to a new world, dance with the heroines, sing the romantic songs and with a cool look turn the tables on the villain by cracking the mystery. And I am stuck up with an armrest. In Mumbai local train, four persons would seat next to each other, a bit cramped up on a seat meant for four and instead of complaining would thank god for a seat. Each one of them would adjust and more often than not share the newspaper. To enjoy the movie, to capture the freshness of Vidya, to pick up the ever-amusing Hyderabadi accent, I have to get the armrest of my mind.

I walked back to my seat, smiled to my neighbor and took my seat with my arm not on the armrest. I enjoyed the second half of the movie without any disturbance, with no itch in my mind. I sang, I danced; I romanced and was part of the cast through out till the end.

Later on my way back home, I was wondering why was I fighting for an armrest. May be I have been through the environment where the brothers fight over the property rights, the neighbors would always remain inimical over minor issues, the states fought for separatism or over the boundary issue, the nations would lock horns for decades over the line of control. May be a relook over these issues can provide a fresh air to enjoy the good things.

 It’s all in the mind.

team spirit: Germany 7-1 Brazil

Last night match brought in tears to many, for the complete rout of the Brazilian soccer team at the hands of the Germans. The score line 7-1, speaks for itself. I saw the highlights and tried to analyse both the teams as both from different continents and with different flavour or style of football. It was the  match between a disciplined machine and flamboyance.
The star studded Brazilian team caved in 20 minutes. Rest was all formalities and rubbing salt to the injuries. The brazilian stars faded against the disciplined german team. Each of the players honed skills, each one better than the other. Each one had a style to begin with a hairstyle and tremendous fan following. Each one was applauded for displaying his magic be it a spectacular goal, sliding tackle or belittling the opponent with an air of defiance. The warning cards never imposed any caution or brought any visible change. They belonged to the land of soccer and they were the gods over there.
The Germans on the other hand were a team. They have a few names in their line up who are the stars. But each of the goal scored had team spirit written over it in bold letters. Instead of individual magic there was a team magic of short and quick passes, carried the flavour of the precise and strong german machine. It reflected the German strength. Selfless players, synergy and the espirit-de-corps made the team a menacing machine. Nearly all the strikers had an option of trying something glamourous with a 50:50 probability of scoring and getting himself counted in the list of  world cup finals goal scorers, but they preferred a goal and a victory over it. The German team made the Brazilian defence looked amateur and were often caught wrong footed. Instead of marking the players, the defenders were marking the places.
Team spirit as the name suggest brings life to any team.