Posts

Showing posts from September, 2006

R D Burman : Rah Pe Chalte Hain

Pancham Yahoo group .. is something i am fond of being associated with. I keep on discovering many nuances, traits and memories of my favourite music director- R D Burman. Here is what what Mandar Trifaley writes about the song that is dear to my heart : "I just went to the site called Music India Online and found really gem...Under Music Director section there is Boss's folder and I was listening Raah pe chalate hai...(Namkeen) and I heard the antara in own voice of LoRD. So just want to share this with everyone. click the headline above and listen the song. LoRD is great " Sabyasachi Chakrabarti writes Dear Friends I got a chance to meet RD along with Gulzar in a hotel named Casino in Cochinin 1980 where I was staying so were both of them too. After breakfast I wassitting in the lobby when I saw RD & Gulzarji entered and took their seat. Theywere talking to themselves and I just could not believe my eyes that if it wasRD? Immediately I decided to meet them and

Ramdan has begun

Holy Month Ramadan has begun. Last year, I managed to Ramadan fasting almost 28 days till the advent of Diwali. Will I be able to do it this month? I like the concept of Ramadan in Islam – identical to the one in Hinduism According to Sri Swami Sivananda Fasting controls passion It checks the emotions It controls the senses also. It is a great penance It purifies the mind and the heart It destroys a multitude of sins Fasting controls the tonguein particular which is the deadliest enemy of man.Fasting overhauls the respiratory circulatory digestive and urinary systems. It destroys all the impurities of the body and all sorts of poisons. It eliminates uric_acid deposits. Just as impure gold is rendered pure by melting it in the crucible again and again, so also this mind is rendered purer by repeated fasting Both religion state that fasting does generate ideal sublime and ethical conscience that helps get rid of bad habits and attitudes; Acquire new good traits and habits; Strengthen and

Dr. Ashok Tulpule : My First and the Best Customer

I should have written about Dr Tulpule much earlier but it’s not easy to articulate the impressions of an awe inspiring multifaceted person that has been evolved over many incidents and interactions. Anything scrolled down in a half hearted inadequate manner would have been a gross injustice to this immensely vivacious talented personality. A mere mention of his name in the context of Hrishikesh Mukherjee on my blog brought a comment from his cousin Prakash Tulpule. With that comment, all memories of yester-years flashed back. I decided to pen my thoughts about this renowned cardiologist without whom my career to medical device industry wouldn’t have taken off. It was early 1982; I had embarked my career in Medical Device Industry. High story under construction Hinduja Hospital building caught my attention to start working on the possibility to get some business. I started making sales calls and few such calls took me to– a wonderful gentle, light-hearted person named Mr. Abhyankar – a

My Life Companion

My father had bought this in 1964 at Indian Rupee 4.00 (10 cents). Printed in Great Britain, this ‘The Little Oxford Dictionary compiled by George Ostler is still is intact with her brown cover bind that has inner liner in the form of surgical dressing. The thread – almost like suture - that holds the pages has still not given up. This little dictionary has been my companion from early English learning days and still with me next to my worktable. There used to another Marathi – English – Marathi dictionary – I think by Veerkar. It was bulky greyish green coloured one that reminded me of baby elephant. This baby elephant helped me in my Marathi school days. Later in college days, my father brought Riverside Webster Dictionary – crimson red colour with few illustrations on thin butter paper. He put his name on this dictionary but I grabbed it when I saw it. Being gentle person he was, he didn’t object. Other than Veerkar, both these dictionaries are still part of my life. Little oxford s

Extraordinary lives

Many years ago, in Readers Digest, I had read a short essay by Richard Nixon on ‘Extraordinary lives of Ordinary people’. He talked about the struggle and sacrifice of ordinary people through tremendous adversities with a single cherished dream of making their family to lead a better life. I couldnt lay my hands on this essay but every time I took Dubai or Shrajah taxi and chat with Indian or Pakistani driver, I think of that essay. Today, after giving my car for servicing, I took taxi run by Edison. He appeared about the age of 28 but turned out to be 34 year old . His being from Kerala was no surprise that his coming to Dubai at so late in his life was unexpected. His coming to Dubai wasn’t pre planned life time mission as other Keralites. In Cochin, he was fairly established in his stationary business but when municipal authorities , in order to widen the road, razed his shop, he had no means to survive. Being rental premises, he didn’t get any compensation. All the proceeds went

Zulu Marriage

I became familiar with the word ‘zulu’ through Lans Klusener but hadn’t developed much interest in my first to South Africa. This time, met a zulu person and hopefully soon would get a chance to visit Kwazulu Natal to get glimpse of Zulu tribe. http://www.africapoint.com/ posted interesting facets about Zulu history, traditions and culture. One of the fascinating aspects of Zulu tradition is marriage. Among the Zulu, marriage is an important aspect of life. Courtship through to marriage is a subtle and complex process. The girl makes the crucial first move, by sending an adornment of colored beads through a trusted friend. Through her color choice of beads, she sends across powerful love messages to the favored young man. In Zululand, color is symbolic and can be used as a language. Therefore, every colored bead speaks a particular message: red means love or passion, white -faithfulness and purity, blue - thoughts of love, loyalty or loneliness, yellow -jealousy, and black expresses t

Five Essential Pointers of Success

From a Black South African man who has succeded the corporate ladder through financial and social adversities and now owns and manages a company that was previously owned by a white businessman. Respect towards others. Honour your commitment Good and Happy Family Be friend with your Banker Hard work

Last Minute Blues for India Hockey

It’s painful to watch India’s matches in the current world cup. Fourth time in a row, India went down in last 10 minutes. Does India hockey team need a sports psychologist? If cricket team were to lose in this manner, all conjectures would have led to match fixing accusations. But this is not true with our Hockey stalwarts. Enthusiasm match with skills and spirit only to leave the field with dropping heads. Coach Bhaskran attributes this crucial inability to hold the team together in final 10 minutes. 2-2 with Germany, 1-0 with England and South Africa, and today 1-0 with South Korea till final 10 minutes and then all of sudden we concede penalty corners in galore. It must be so hard to the youngsters who play with their hearts out. I still have vivid images of India winning world cup in 1975 in Kaula Lampur when I gave my first SSC exam. As I gave my second exam on first day at chetna college , I knew India had prevailed over Pakistan with big noise outside. I still remember Ajit Pa

Being feminine : It's no one's fault

Image
It was my last day of a week long distributor/product training program in Nice, France. Spare time during the week went by roaming at the beach side of Nice. Monaco city, Monte Carlo- casino and city of Cannes. Train ride from Nice – Cannes could be a specimen of what a paradise must be. On one side, foamed azure waves and the other side sloping red hills nestled with exquisitely designed penthouses. I never felt financially so inadequate in my life after seeing the opulent lifestyle of world’s some of the rich and the mighty. Being alone at such wonderful place, I did feel hollow within, more so when I saw families sun-bathing at Nice beach or charming wizened couples doing ball dancing. My last day in Nice turned out to be an eventful one. It was my lunch time and I had come to my room to attend something. My telephone rang and a melodious, cute and gentle voice of a lady over the telephone call seemed to have momentarily beckoned the possibility of shattering that hollow emptiness.

Treasure Box of my Early Years

Image
This week, rummaging through a blog of Chennai based Journalist opened a small treasure box of my childhood that nourished my early days of intellectual growing. My parents didn’t let me posses this treasure box lest it would take me away from the drudgery of insipid academic books. But they had no objection of my spending all the time through this treasure box during my vacation days at my cousin’s place in Mughbhat -Thakurdwar; a Marathi quarter in the downtown of Mumbai. The treasure box was ‘Chandoba’ – popularly known all over India as ‘Chandamama’. A flimsy 40 odd page A5 size magazine bound together with two or three stapled pins would transport me to the world of fantasy, fiction, imagination filled with awe, curiosity, interest and entertainment. The style and narration of various stories were neatly segregated and structured in different sizes with abundant illustration in orange, blue colours. Combination of stories with backdrop of folk-fairly tales, mythological and histor