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Showing posts from August, 2009

Akshta @ Pasir Panjang ,Marathi Mandal Ganeshotsav,Nasik,Mumbai

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Godavari Ghat at Nasik – a distressing experience

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Sept 2003 issue of Times of India reported Raj Thakre’s blue Print of Nasik : " A jogger's park along the Godavari ghat with the trees to be planted along the route, , snow-theme park, a health spa, boat club and an amusement park " . Somewhere in the by lanes of my memory labyrinths lie a wonderful memory of Godavari Ghat that refuse to smudge or fade. Image of me holding the fingers of my grand mother, going along the sloping road from Bhadrakali temple to Godavari Ghat. Standing along the river in the twilight, youngsters wearing ‘red langoti’ diving off from the trapezoid shaped ‘cement block’ that stood in the middle of the flowing Godavari river . That cement block may have been served as the measuring device to know the depth of the river. My visit in 99 to Godavari Ghat shook my childhood image and another visit last month is now threatening to tatter that image forever. It pained me that see the plastic packets chocking the standstill water of Godav

Pancreatitis

'Is there any way we could be forewarned of this dreaded disease? Can this be avoided?' I asked Dr. Udwadia , whose skills in combating complicated physical disorders that require intensive care are legendary. ‘There is no solution that one can do that, Even if one discovers gall stones in gall bladder, they are harmless. Generally, no one would advice to have them removed'. He continued. ' It is only in rarity that these stones may pop out from the bottom of the bag , come to bile duct and block the mouth of the pancreas thereby beginning a rapid chain of events that would bring a human being on the threshold of life and death'. I was witness to two incidents of P ancreatitis that turned horribly fatal. Usually Pancreatitis (chronic) is associated with alcohol abuse but in these two cases, both became victim of 'gall stones' leading to 'acute pancreatitis '. I think one should be lucky to have it quickly diagnosed. I felt, most general physicians

Taj Mahal and Lalitpur on Rakhi Purnima

Raksha Bandhan reminds me of my journey from Gwalior to Agra. I had been to Gwalior to visit Cancer Institute - that was to be part of the beneficiary of JAICA aid for CT scanners. Visiting Agra and seeing Taj Mahal was a dream come true. Agra is in UP and belonged to Northern region while Gwalior was in MP, part of western India , my sales territory. Getting a chance to visit Gwalior gave me my best opportunity to see the Taj . Gwalior being just few hours train journey from Agra. Holiday of Raksha Bandhan came as a special boon . I took a mid day train that stopped at almost every station. Little kids dressed in traditional Indian attire, boys with rakhies tied on their right wrist, red tilak on the forehead while girls decked up in shimmering, glittering chunidars looked very adorable. Moms wore their choicest jewelry while dad carried boxes of sweets. Every station would have new set of families board and alight making me my first northern experience memorable. I realize

Sant Dyneshwar, Konkan and Walwalkar Hospital through Dr Ravin Thatte

A long ago, a business friend from South Korea had arrived in Mumbai after his visits to other parts of India. I took him to the Elephanta caves - the cave temples to Shiva, on an island ,10 km from Mumbai harbour. This was my visit to this place too. During the chat, he commented ' I have been to different parts of India, every one was enthusiastic in showing me the great monuments of India of different centuries. Why no one is showing me something of this century ?'. His comments made me realize the validity of his remark. We tend to preoccupy ourselves with history leaving the current accomplishment unnoticed. At jewellery shop in Shivaji Park while keeping Akshta occupied and entertained, my probing eyes reached for a box that stacked some books. What more can I ask for ? I pulled up a nearby wooden stool and started flipping through this hard bound Marathi book that talked about the famous personalities from Konkan. What impressed me about this book was the quality

Lokmanya Tilak & New English School, Bandra

From the class third till the eleventh, I studied at the New English School, Bandra. The name English remained only for the namesake, everything else in the School was Marathi, including the teaching of English language. In those eight years, this school underwent a physical transformation from tin roof to asbestos one with a another roof top structure came next to the first one. What remained unchanged was a brass bell whose frequency of tolls would announce different events and the calender day of August 1st - birthday of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. This day was commemorated, year after year , with only one agenda - that of public speaking competition. Every year, select students would participate in classroom speaking competition on Lokmanya Tilak and they covered four aspects of his life. ' Swarajya maza janmasiddha hakka ahe'(freedom is my birthright) , I won't take a beating for a crime that I didn't do (incident of groundnut eating and making classroom a mess)