Tuesday, December 20, 2011

It Is A Cruel World


Yes it is! It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you do. It doesn’t matter if it was your fault or somebody else’s. It doesn’t matter if you had had this same shit happened to you three times in the past. If you are found in a wrong place at a wrong time, you will get punished.

When you are riding a bicycle, you don’t want to get caught in front of a truck. No matter who leaves the proper lane, it’s you who is going to pay the price. Slippery floor doesn’t get laughed at if you fall by slipping on it. When it rains, you get wet even if you already had gone through it twice on the same day.

Of course, the opposite is also true. But I don’t feel like explaining it. You get the idea.

It’s an unfair world. And make sure that you are in a position to thank God for this!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Things Often Lead To The Opposites


I recently came across this quote and like not unusual, this provoked my thoughts. We often come across things which have layers of meanings hidden deep inside them. On the first sight, they look too plain and simple. But give it some time and you discover the deeper layer which you couldn’t first see.

Talking of this particular quote, it was plain and obvious. You do something in excess and it produces a very opposite of the desired effect. Consider eating as example. If you eat too much, you get indigestion. That causes you to lose taste in food. And you end up with a completely opposite effect. If you get more, you enjoy it less.

Now I gave this a little thought and in no time realized that the opposite is also true. If you do not eat and stay hungry (for a sane period of time), it enhances your ability to digest food. And on the same lines, it also makes you enjoy even relatively simple food. If you get less, you enjoy it more.

But again, there is a third layer. When you eat too much, you miss many of the details. That is, your tongue misses many shades of flavors, your nose misses many shades of smells and your guts miss many proteins the food has to offer. If you eat less, you get a detailed view and feel of every dimension of the food. If you get less, you know more about it.

One more thing. All what is said above is not the demand and supply rule of economics. Yes, that rule is also true (I guess), but there is certainly more in life than economics.

And as usual, these principles apply to all the things you do in your life.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Uncertainty Principle of Life


The other day, when I was once again reminded about the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, I started to think about me. Or should I say a thought sparked in.

By the way, to put it simply, the uncertainty principle says that a fundamental limit on the accuracy with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle, such as position and momentum, can be simultaneously known. In other words, the more precisely one property is measured, the less precisely the other can be controlled, determined, or known.

Now what it has to do with our lives? You don’t know it unless you are in control of and responsible for something. I am a web designer. I want to create great and user friendly websites for basic users. For this, I have to go through a large number of websites created by other designers and developers. But by doing this, I sort of choose to go on advanced user level. And at the same time, I cease to know precisely the needs of a basic user.

In the same way, when you turn into a parent, you have to think like one. But for being a good parent, you want to know or guess what your child thinks. But as you assume your new role of parenting, it gets increasingly difficult to think like a child and to read a child’s mind.

I have came across a large numbers of lecturers and teachers in my life who, when left alone, are masters in their subjects. But when the try to explain it, they fail miserably. That is because they fail to read the needs of the minds of their students.

That is one more reason for you to want to achieve a state of perfect balance in your life. Running blindly in a direction is easy, but knowing where to slow down or where to stop and doing so can be incredibly difficult. But doing exactly that is what makes all the difference.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Steal Their Ideas, Don’t Just Copy Them!


Corporate world is full of copy cats. People try to make an exact copy of whatever is successful in recent times. Be it some product, a movie, TV serial or a book. It’s alright when people do it on local level or in the form of some stepping stone from where they actually plan to go somewhere.

Apple (read – Steve Jobs) is the best known example of copying things successfully. But when it copied things, it changed them so much for better that it looked like a totally different thing, which established Apple as their owner. And as these things were now available in much better form, original ideas became worthless. This was something more than copying. This was stealing.

When you copy something, the original thing remains with the original and rightful owner. What you can get is (at the most) as good returns as the original owner gets. But when you steal, you become the owner. The original rightful owner ceases to be in possession of that thing (or the fruits of it). Apple (you know what to read) had mastered this art.

But what happens when another top level company tries to copy Apple?

You must have seen the popular 1984 commercial by Apple which was aired only once and gave the company promotion worth of millions of dollars. The commercial was aimed at IBM, the then computing giant. It was (hopefully) original idea which worked as a charm for apple.

But after two decades or so, BlackBerry tries to do the same with the current tech giant – Apple. Though it gained somewhat popularity as a gimmick amongst some Internet users, it never delivered what BlackBerry aimed for. Because, they had just copied the idea. And the presentation was crude. Apple didn’t have to strike back, but it sort of did.

Moral of the story? Don’t just copy their ideas, steal them!

Friday, October 21, 2011

..


रिते रिते मन
  तुला भेटल्यापासून
  जसे वाचलेले सारे
  कुणी जावे विसरून

आता अंतरात माझ्या
  
गच्च आभाळ भरून
तुझ्या होकाराची वाट
  बघ पाहतो दुरून
तोड बंध सारे
  जाऊ दे पाऊस पडून
  कशी होशील हिरवी
 थोडी भिजल्यावाचून?
-यशोधन

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Mausam

I watched "Mausam" and wanted to write a film review. But then I came across this and instantly knew that this is exactly what I wanted to say. Even more than what I wanted to say.

I insist everybody out there to watch this movie. But don't go there with wrong mood or expectations. Read the review so you know what you are going to see there.

For those who are dumb enough to not to realize that the word "this" in the very second sentence was the link to the review, here is the same link again. And to make it work, you are supposed to click on it.

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Art of Banner Ads


Banner ads have become more and more important from past few decades. If you place a proper ad at a proper place, it may be very helpful in boosting your business. And on the face of it, it looks like we are thinking enough about those. But it we examine it in result oriented fashion, we see the scope for improvement.

I never could understand why people strive so hard to put their ads in the crowd of other ads? I mean, when you go to a mall, or a busy street, you see endless stream of ads. In many cases, two rival products are boasting about their quality while hanging together. What’s the point? If we talk about malls, there are too many lights and too many other “physically present” products, to make your two-dimensional advertisement really matter. And these ads are costly too.

And when it comes to a busy street, well the banners become even more illogical. For God’s sake, that’s a busy street! People are supposed to be busy there! People don’t WANT to see your ads there. For them, those are just obstacles and a reason to make that place look more cramped. Even when people stop on a busy road, all they want to see it open space, which they can see only in upward direction. But your ads block their view. What do you think this makes them think?

There’s another (though not so serious) mistake we tend to do. When it comes to place the banners, we prefer posh areas (again malls) over the slums. But again, we forget something. When the surrounding is as beautiful as (or even more) than your banner, why would people look at your ad? And again, you are creating a slightly negative impact by standing in the way of their beautiful view. And on top of it, this option costs more!

But if you erect a banner in a dirty area, say a slum, people are just looking for something good they can stare. If your ad happens to be the most beautiful thing in the eyesight, naturally it will get some long stares and the small details you so painstakingly have put in your ad will get noticed. And this package costs cheap. I did a small research and found that ugly sites earn more through Google ads than their pretty counterparts. And this is for the same reason. When you land on an ugly webpage, you just want to get away. And of an advertisement happens to be the neatest thing on the page, you tend more to click on it!

So when next time you want to place a banner for advertisement, make sure you are getting long enough stares from a person in right state of mind for your product.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Art of Creativity


Oversimplification kills the fun.

But who will tell this to our Bollywood people? They just don’t realize that people like it when they have to think while watching the movies. They like to decipher, to solve the mystery. They like to interact.

Any experience of art should be both ways. It’s not just about the artist reaching out to the viewers. But also, it’s about the viewers reaching out to the art. And the ultimate height of any experience of art is when all three points artist-art-viewer form an equilateral triangle.

This is why computer games, puzzles, fantasy novels are so popular. In each of these cases, you have to interact. But all we have to do while watching the typical Hindi movies is to dumb-down your mentality. Let alone taking efforts for thinking, we have to take efforts for not to think!

If you want your piece of art to be heart-touching, make sure that you hit the point of perfect balance. After all, travelling to the Disney Land is also part of the fun!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

मसण्या उद


उदमांजर नावाचा एक प्राणी आहे. त्याला मसण्या उद असंही म्हणतात. कारण तो स्मशानात जाऊन पुरलेली प्रेतं उकरतो. माणसांत सुद्धा मसण्या उद असतात. प्रेतं उकरण्यातच त्यांना रस असतो. भोवताली असण्या-या असंख्य सजीव आणि चैतन्यमयी गोष्टी सोडून ते स्मशान धुंडाळत फिरत असतात.

अण्णा हजारे आंदोलनाला बसले आणि काही दुर्लक्षीत प्राण्यांना चर्चेत येण्याची संधी दिसली. राष्ट्रीय पातळीच्या वृत्तपत्रांपासून गावपातळीच्या स्वत:ला प्रसारमाध्यम समजणा-या हँडबिलांपर्यंत सर्वाना आपली अक्कल पाजळण्याची आठवण झाली. अरुंधती रॉय पासून गल्लीच्या कोप-यावर बसणा-या रिकामटेकड्यापर्यंत सगळ्या बेरोजगारांना अचानक सुवर्णसंधी दिसायला लागली.

या लोकांची एक सवय असते. यांच्या समोर काहीही टाकले तरी हे खायला तयार असतात. मात्र, खाण्या आधी हे लोक भोकं शोधत राहतात. अर्थात, भारत नावाच्या "जो जे वांछील, तो ते लाहो" या तत्वानुसार चालणा-या देशात त्यांना भोकं मिळतातही. वारा कसाही वाहत असो, आकाशाच्या रंग कसाही असो, उन असो वा पाऊस, थंडी असो वा गरमी, या लोकांना सतत काही तरी टोचत असतं. कोणी काही करायला निघाला की जीवाची बाजी लावून मध्ये बोटं टाकणारी ही मंडळी एरवी एक बोटही हलवायला तयार नसतात.

काय चुकलं हे सांगण्यात सगळ्यात पुढे असणारे हे लोक. पण काय करायला हवं हे विचारलं, की काही तरी गुळमुळीत बोलून सुटणार. यांचे घोडे नेहमी वरातीमागुनच धावतात. चौ-याहत्तर वर्षांचा म्हातारा आपल्यासाठी हे करतोय याची त्यांना लाज वाटत नाही. पण अण्णांसाठी रस्त्यावर उतरण्या-यांना मेणबत्ती संप्रदाय म्हणून हिणवण्यात यांना पुरुषार्थ वाटतो. एरवी हे लोक घरातल्या सर्वात आतल्या खोलीत डायनिंग टेबल वर बसून बायका पोरांसमोर पुढा-यांच्या ढुंगणावर फटके मारण्याच्या वल्गना करत असतात.

बोलण्यासाठी पैसा आणि अक्कल दोन्ही लागत नाही हेच खरं.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Options – Do we have enough of them?


Choices, alternatives, options. Call them by any name you want. If you live in a competitive world, you are familiar with them. And as you are reading this post, I bet you live in a competitive world.

With a little thinking, we can easily reach to a conclusion that we work mostly for having more and more choices in our lives. For us, choosing anything is not as important as having the option of choosing something else. Even if we know that the thing (or person) is precisely something we want, we don’t go for it unless we have some other options to choose from.

This looks very natural when we keep a way out. Something to fall back on. Or “Plan B”, as they call it. But do we stop there? Won’t you like to have virtually unlimited options in every field of your life? Even nowadays, this seems to have become the catch line of many advertisements. All the companies want to provide their customers maximum possible number of choices. “Now choose from 99 colors”, “Pick your favorite from thousands of designs” and so on.

But how good it is? In my opinion, having choices kills your creativity, focus, determination, stamina, and most importantly – your killer instinct. When you are obsessed with having more options, you get diverted from doing what you wanted to do with your most preferred option. When having an option to retire, less people choose to work. When having an option to lose, most people won’t go for that last winning punch.

Too many options make you too comfortable for living a good life. And yet, they don’t seem to be enough. Life is not about what set of choices you have, but it is about what you choose from it.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Self help books - they just don’t help.


Self help books - they just don’t help.

Yes, accept it. And no, you cannot win.

The heroes of all the stories you read in such books never read such books.

You cannot think big. You don't think at all, remember?

If you don’t have respect for your own words, how will you respect those printed in a book?

You cannot change your habits. Not even one, forget seven.

This may sound like a self-help article, but it is not.

Chicken soups are only for your taste. Tongue or mind.

Accept it. You better spend your bucks on a real soup.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Winning the Defeat

Why do we race? Why we always want to stay ahead of others? Why we want to get better grades than other students in our class? Why we want promotions and increments faster than our colleagues? If you stop and take a deep breath, you will realize how short is the life span of the fame you get by staying ahead in one lap of a race. No one remembers you longer than that lap. And no one remembers who lost the race to you. The fact is – there are too many races to remember the position holders of each of those.

Not only this, but we see that most of the people prefer to compete with the people they see or directly interact with. We conveniently forget that there are classes outside our class and there are offices outside our office. But we never bother comparing our performance with the students or colleagues. We mostly prefer to compete within a very closed group of people.

Now, the question is ‘why do we do this?’. Why such a strange behavior? Why do we get so happy when we beat the student next bench or the employee next cubicle, even when we certainly know that there is an endless stream of more bright students and more efficient employees? Why we want a better car than our neighbor? Why a better kept lawn? Why better jewelry than your kitty party fellows?

The answer lies in very narrow minded tendency of human brain. You don’t want to see yourself win as much as you want to see others to lose to you. That is why we want to compete with the people we can see or directly interact. And that is why I would like to win in rowing than in any other race, because only there I can see others losing to me.

But if you want to do better in life, get out of that pond. Winning every battle doesn’t matter, winning the war does.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Problems are to stay…

If you are reading this, I can bet that you have, at some point of your life, discussed the difference between humans and other animals. Then we come across many answers – opposable thumbs, language, sharing, laughing, greed, intelligence, rape (yes, rape! Think about it) etc. But I always feel that these answers are only partially true.

When I think about human behavior, I always wonder why a very obvious feature has always been neglected. This feature, in my opinion, has made this world as we see it. This feature has divided the animal kingdom between humans and other than humans. This feature has given us all our failures and successes. And this feature is – we, humans, always look for trouble.

Now don’t confuse this with curiosity. Monkeys and cats never ask for troubles, they are just curious. That gets them in trouble. Likewise, many animals get in trouble because of hunger or thirst. But this is not the case with humans. We get in trouble all the time because of all the reasons that animals have. Also, in addition to that, we have a natural tendency to ask for troubles.

If you look around, you will notice that humans either tend to unnecessary pile up wealth and fame, or they tend to destroy it. Both ways, they ask for more problems in their life. Only because of this tendency, we have discovered all the corners of the world and also we have terrible road accidents. Only because of this tendency we have business tycoons and also we have lives ruined with alcohol. Only because of this tendency, we like to solve puzzles and also we like to watch family dramas in typical Indian daily soaps (as if we don’t have enough to care about in our own lives and so we need to worry about the problems of billionaire families on screens).

No matter what you do, or you don’t do – all of us always want a certain amount of problems and troubles in our life. If somebody is not so bright in studies, he is already in trouble. If he is bright, then he will not study – asking for problems. If he likes studying too, then he will go for the toughest course! And we like to talk about our (or others’) problems too. If suddenly we change our attitude and decide to keep problems and troubles out of our lives with united efforts, we certainly can. But then, what will we talk about? And what will we live for? And if you think further on this line, this is the very reason why communism failed, isn’t it?

So if your life is full of problems, it only means that you are human!

Monday, June 27, 2011

The Gift


To give this topic a typical predictable start – all of us, at some point of our lives have taken and given the gifts. Different occasions, different people and different gifts. Gifts could range from a pen to a honeymoon package. From a paperweight to a house. From a movie ticket to a car. Anything.

But hey, this is not a guide about “what to gift your grand-mom at her 88th birthday”! Or not even some personal experience of mine about “how I got the most amazing gift of my life”. This is just about a place of gift in our lives.

A show-piece or a daily utensil, we always value a gift on the hands giving it to us. Surprise or not, the gifts make us excited and anxious. If you really want to know your deepest feeling about someone, recall what you hoped was there in the wrapped gift pack he or she held on your birthday.

But gifts also represent our life. Yes, they really do. Life is like giving and receiving gifts. Sometimes they are surprise gifts, sometimes expected. Big and small, costly and not so costly, even good and bad! But most importantly, life is all about opening the gifts. Once opened, no matter what’s inside, we lose  interest. It’s the process which makes results valuable.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Loving the Perfection


I see everyone is in search for perfect partners. They want him/her good-looking, fair, well-mannered, educated, intelligent, matured and so on. Often, we hear them asking for contradictory things. They want somebody sincere but fun-loving, strong but tender, matured but mischievous, tough but sensitive etcetera. I believe movies, especially Bollywood movies and Internet has played a major role in this. Because in those worlds, everything is so perfect. They look good, learn good, earn good, think good, do good and end good. We have gone to such an extreme in this mentality that the ideal human figures we imagine are almost impossible to occur naturally.

But, that is not the issue. It’s your choice what you want to chase. But have you ever thought the after effects? Have you ever thought that the perfect humans often act like machines? That they can be so predictable? That we also need faults and mistakes to love somebody? That sometimes, deficiencies and disabilities are your strongest allies?

When you start with unnecessary high degree of perfection (or with such a perfectionist) you may know in advance where you will end-up. This not only kills the fun, but also denies the unlimited possibilities. Not only professionally, but also socially. Would you like to be in a relationship with no ups and downs? Would you like to play with perfect kids who don’t scream or break stuff or jump in dirt? Perfection stops you from being adventurous or taking risks. Perfection always underperforms. We all may think that we love the stars on screens, but that’s not true. After all, accepting each other with their shortcomings is love, right?

I may not have expressed myself in fully correct way here. But hey, when did I say I am perfect?

Saturday, June 11, 2011

चुकतं कुठे?



राजकारण ही गोष्ट वरवर पाहता कितीही सोपी वाटत असली, तरी ती तशी नाही आणि कधीच नव्हती. या खेळातले खेळाडू सतत बदलत असतात, आणि नियमही. कारण जनता नावाच्या अंपायरलाच मुळात आपल्याला नेमकं काय हवंय हे कळत नसतं. मग जो खेळाडू या अंपायरला "तुम्हाला हेच हवंय, आणि ते माझ्याकडेच आहे" हे पटवून देण्यात यशस्वी होतो, सरशी त्याचीच होते.

आताच येउन गेलेल्या आणि अजूनही पडझड चालू असलेल्या 'रामदेवबाबा विरूद्ध सरकार' या वादळाबद्दल मी बोलत आहे. थोडासा विचार केला तर राष्ट्रीय पातळीवरचे म्हणवणारे नेते आणि स्थिरचित्त म्हणवणारे योगगुरू प्रत्यक्षात किती अविचाराने वागतात हे दिसून येईल. मीडीया ने काय दाखवलं यापेक्षा पडद्यामागे काय झालं हे जाणून घेणं जास्त रोचक ठरेल. कालानुक्रमे घडलेल्या गोष्टींकडे पाहिल्यास सर्व संगती लागत जाते.

रामदेवबाबा राजकारणात उतरण्याचा तयारीत लागले होते. तसे संकेतही त्यांनी द्यायला सुरूवात केली होती. अध्यात्मातून प्रसिद्धी आणि आदर कमविणार्‍या या माणसाला राजकारणाच्या चिखलात उतरण्यासाठी द्यावे लागणारे कारण आणि तो प्रवेश गाजवण्यासाठी एका मुद्द्याची नितांत गरज होती. आणि भ्रष्ट्राचार हा असा मुद्दा होता जो दोन्ही कसोट्यांवर उतरत होता. म्हणून काळ्या पैशाविरूद्ध घोषणा देण्याला सुरूवात झाली. पाचशे आणि हजाराच्या नोटा रद्द करा अशा बालीश पण जनसामान्यांच्या पसंतीला उतरणार्‍या मागण्या करण्यात आल्या. बाबांची पब्लिसीटी टीम कामाला लागली आणि हळूहळू वातावरण तापू लागले.

पण मध्येच अचानक कुणाच्या ध्यानीमनी नसताना अण्णा हजारे नावाचा आतपर्यंत राज्यपातळीवर असणारा समाजनेता राष्ट्रीय पातळीवर सरकारच्या विरोधात भ्रष्ट्राचाराचाच मुद्दा घेउन उभा ठाकला. इतका कळीचा मुद्दा आपल्या हातून निसटतोय म्हटल्यावर बाबांची तारांबळ उडाली. संपूर्ण राजकीय भविष्यच त्यावर अवलंबून होते. हा मुद्दा हायजॅक होवू देउन चालण्यासारखे नव्हते. मग घाईघाईने बाबा अण्णांच्या बरोबरीने आखाड्यात उतरले.

हे आंदोलन यशस्वी ठरले याची काही कारणे होती. आणि त्या कारणांमधे बाबा कुठेच नव्हते. पहिलं कारण म्हणजे अण्णांना असणारा राजकारण्यांचा आणि चळवळींचा अनुभव. आपल्या विरोधात काय होउ शकते आणि आपल्याला नेमकं काय करायचं आहे हे अण्णांना उमगलं होतं. त्यांची तयारी पूर्ण होती. दुसरं म्हणजे केंद्र सरकारला अशा आंदोलनाची सवय नव्हती. शिवाय अण्णांचा इतीहास आणि वैयक्तिक आयुष्य त्यांच्या बाजूने होतं. राजकारणाशी संबंध नसल्याने आंदोलनाला राजकीय रंग देणंही शक्य नव्हतं. मागण्याही रास्त होत्या. यामुळे आंदोलन यशस्वी झालं आणि अण्णांचा टीआरपी खूप वाढला. विदेशी मीडीयातूनही अण्णांवर चर्चा व्हायला लागल्या.

रामदेव बाबांना हा मार्ग फारच सोपा झाल्यासारखा वाटू लागला. अण्णांनी घालून दिलेले उदाहरण पुढे गिरवायचे आणि "देशाच्या भल्यासाठी भगवी वस्त्र पांघरूनही राजकारणात करावा लागणारा प्रवेश" जाहीर करून टाकायचा की झालं. त्यामुळे बाबा बेसावध राहीले. शिवाय बाबांच्या बाबतीत वर उल्लेखलेल्या सगळ्या बाजू लंगड्या होत्या. राजकारण प्रवेश आधिच जाहीर करून टाकल्याने सरकारही आता त्यांना शत्रूच्या दृष्टीने पाहणार होतं. आणि पर्यायाने साम-दाम-दंड-भेद काहीही वापरताना मागे हटणार नव्हतं. अण्णांच्या वेळी तोंड पोळल्यामुळे सरकार सावध होतं, तर अण्णांच्या यशामुळे बाबा बेसावध.

सरकारने सापळा रचला. भव्य स्वागताने बाबा हुरळून गेले. स्वत:हून अडकत गेले. सरकारने वातावरण तापू दिलं आणि ऐन क्लायमॅक्सच्या वेळी बाबांच्या सगळ्या मागण्या मान्य असल्याचं सांगून आंदोलनातली हवाच काढून घेतली. अशा प्रकारे हीट विकेट दिल्याने बाबांच्या बोलींगला अर्थच उरला नाही आणि सरकारची प्रतिमा थोडी-फार उजळली. मात्र या अनपेक्षीत परीस्थितीमुळे बाबा गोंधळले आणि चुका करत गेले. सरकारला हवं होतं त्याच पद्धतीने वागत गेले. युद्धाला सुरूवात झाली. मात्र आता सरकार गाफील झाले. समोरून येणारा फूलटॉस बॉल पाहून बॅट्समनने अती जोर काढायचा प्रयत्न करावा आणि अलगद हाती झेल द्यावा तसं झालं. मध्यरात्री झालेली कारवाई हा असाच झेल होता. मात्र अनुभवहीन बाबा आधीच्याच धक्क्यातून सावरले नव्हते. सरकारच्या प्रत्येक खेळीला शेवटची खेळी समजत राहीले आणि बेसावध सापडले.

सरकारने या सगळ्या भानगडीत एकाच दगडात तीन पक्षी मारण्याचा प्रयत्न केला. बाबांच्या आंदोलनाचा मूळ मुद्दा बाजूला करून जनतेचे लक्ष विचलीत करणे, बाबांचा राजकीय काटा काढून भविष्यातील स्पर्धक संपविणे आणि अशा प्रकारच्या आंदोलनांना तात्पुरता तरी पायबंद घालणे. मात्र या परीक्षेत त्यांना तीन पैकी दोनच गुण मिळाले ते मध्यरात्री कारवाई करण्याच्या चुकीच्या निर्णयामुळे. तिसर्‍या उद्दीष्टामध्ये अर्धवट यश आले होते, मात्र झालेल्या बदनामीने ते पुसले गेले.

आता बाबांच्या राजकारण प्रवेशाची शक्यता अत्यंत धूसर झाली आहे. शिवाय त्यांच्या आध्यात्मिक साम्राज्यालाही सुरूंग लागण्याची चिन्हे आहेत. मनमोहन सिंगांची प्रतिमा डागाळली आहे. त्यांच्या नावावर निर्णय खपवले जात असले तरी नियंत्रण त्यांचे नाही हे पुन्हा एकदा सिद्ध झाले आहे. आणि सध्या तरी अण्णा एकमेव नायकाच्या रूपात उरले आहेत. मोठ्या नावांच्या या खेळात एका महत्वाच्या मुद्द्याचा मात्र खेळखंडोबा झाला आहे.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

चारोळ्यांचा पाचोळा


झाली पहाट
तरी धुके दाट
पहावी वाट
येण्याची तिच्या

आता वेशीवर
हृदयाची लक्तरं
कशाला लवकर
यावे तिने?

गेला गेला दिवस
आता एकच आस
संध्याकाळ उदास
होऊ नये

आली शुक्राची चांदणी
गंधाळली रातराणी
माझ्या विश्वाची राणी
आली की काय?

मनाचा पिसारा
अंगभर शहारा
तिला विचारा
काय करू?

- यशोधन

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

वाचकाशी (सं)वाद


मी काहीबाही लिहीतो, ते वाचतात. मग कधीतरी त्यांच्यापैकी कुणाचा आणि माझा संवाद होतो.

तो (किंवा ती) : तुझी कविता वाचली. छान होती.

मी : थॅंक्यू. (कितीही मोठा मराठी लेखक किंवा कवी असला तरी तो धन्यवाद म्हणत नाही, थॅंक्यू च म्हणतो!)

तो : मला ना, अमूक पेक्षा तमूकच आवडली.

(आता खरा त्रास सुरू झाला...)

मी : (मनातल्या मनात) आवडली नाही, कळली म्हण! (प्रकट) हो का?

तो : कुणाला पाहून लिहीलीय वाटतं.. त्याशिवाय अशी जमणं शक्य नाही.

मी : तुम्ही हॅरी पॉटर वाचलंय का हो?

तो : म्हणजे? त्याचा काय संबंध?

मी : जाऊ द्या.

तो : पण मला एक कळत नाही -

मी : (म.म.) तुला काही एक कळत नाही! (प्र) काय?

तो : तुला हे सुचतं कसं?

आता मात्र माझ्या सहनशक्तीचा अंत होतो. ज्याचा स्रोत माहीत नाही अशाच कल्पनेला 'सुचणं' म्हणतात ना? आता "सुचतं कसं" याचं काय उत्तर देणार?

मी : (प्र) तुम्हाला सुचत कसं नाही?

तो : (म.म.) हलकट!! (प्र) हॅ हॅ हॅ... मला सुचलं असतं तर मीही तुझ्यासारखंच लिहीलं नसतं?

(या वाक्यावर माझ्याकडूनही "हॅ हॅ हॅ" यावं ही अपेक्षा स्पष्ट दिसते. आता हा टाळी-बिळी मागतोय की काय अशी मला भिती वाटायला लागते. पण मी आणि तो यापैकी काहीच करत नाही.)

तो : मग हल्ली काय लिहीतोयस नवीन?

मी : काही ठरवलं नाही.

तो : का?

मी : सुचेल तेव्हा बघू.

तो : असं कसं? काही तरी विचार तर केलाच असेल ना?

आतापर्यंत माझ्या डोक्याचा भुगा झालेला असतो. 'काहीही लिहीण्याआधी ब्लू-प्रिंट बनवत नसतात' हे या माणसाला समजावून सांगणे शक्य नाही हे तोपर्यंत सिद्ध झालेले असते. शिवाय 'शालजोडीतले टोमणे माझ्या लक्षात येत नाहीत' हे तो ओरडून सांगत असतोच. आता हातघाईवर येण्याशिवाय पर्याय नसतो.

मी : असं काही नसतं हो.

तो : मग कसं असतं?

मी : ते सांगता येणार नाही.

तो : का? सिक्रेट आहे?

मी : नाही हो, मलाही माहीत नाही असं का आहे ते.

तो : अरे पण तू स्वत:च लिहीतोस ना? मग त्याची पद्धत माहिती असायलाच हवी.

मी : म्हणून काय झालं? तुम्ही जन्माला आलात, तेव्हा तुम्हाला तरी मुलं जन्माला घालण्याची पद्धत कुठे माहीत होती?

तो : (म.म.) हरामखोर! (प्र) हॅ हॅ हॅ... बरं मग, चलतो मी आता.

मी : (म.म.) वा, काय पण पंच लागलाय! आता हा किस्सा ब्लॉग वर टाकायलाच हवा. (प्र) असेच भेटत रहा.

परत सांगा तिला...

सांगा तिला, राहू दे म्हणावं इथेच तुझा पसारा
तोही घेउन गेलीस तर कशासाठी जगायचं?

कुणाच्या आयुष्यातून निघून जायचंच असेल
तर किमान पाउलखूणा तरी राहू द्याव्यात
तुझ्या पावलांच्या सोबती शिवाय पाउलवाट सरत नाही

कुणाच्या आयुष्यातून निघून जायचंच असेल
तर आपल्याच रंगांचे पापुद्रे काढून नेवू नयेत
तुझे रंग मिसळल्या शिवाय संध्याछाया विरत नाही

कुणाच्या आयुष्यातून निघून जायचंच असेल
तर काही सूर मागेच विसरून जावेत
तुझे सूर जुळल्या शिवाय आता विराणीही रंगत नाही

नक्षीकाम करणार्‍याने भिंतीचा पक्केपणा पाहू नये
जगण्याची ईच्छाच जिवंत राहण्याला जगणं बनवते
खूप आयुष्य असणार्‍यापेक्षाही भाग्यवान असणारा एकच
तुला कळलंच असेल कोण ते..

Sunday, March 27, 2011

सांगा तिला...


सांगा तिला, घेउन जा म्हणावं तुझ्या आठवणींचा पसारा
अजून किती वेळा मी उगाचच अडखळून पडायचं?

कुणाच्या आयुष्यातनं निघून जायचंच असेल
तर उगाच पाउलखूणा वगैरे ठेवायच्या भानगडीत पडू नये
त्यांच्या बाजू-बाजूनं माझ्या पावलांची कल्पना करायचा मोह आवरत नाही

कुणाच्या आयुष्यातनं निघून जायचंच असेल
तर आपले सगळे रंग न विसरता सोबत न्यावेत
नाहीतर नवे रंग बसत नाहीत आणि जुन्यांसोबत येणारा आठवांचा डोह सावरत नाही

कुणाच्या आयुष्यातनं निघून जायचंच असेल
तर सोबतीचे सगळे सूर विरून गेल्याची खात्री करावी
आधीच अवरोहांच्या या उतारावर घरंगळताना आजकाल आरोह सापडत नाही

उगाच मातीच्या भिंतीवर फार नक्षीकाम करू नये
फारसं आयुष्य बाकी नसणार्‍याला जगण्याची इच्छा देण्यासारखा गुन्हा नाही
फार आयुष्य शिल्लक नसण्यार्‍यापेक्षाही दु:खी असणारा एकच -
आयुष्यात फारसं काही शिल्लक नसणारा..

Monday, February 14, 2011

The Indian Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 2


Continued -

“You must be thinking how I guessed that it was you and you had a little adventure of accident when coming here. Well, you know my methods. I know very well the distinct firing of your scooter, which has never been tested by pollution control authorities. That is how I knew that it was you. But when I expected the ‘clink’ of your side stand which declares the presence of the spring at the time you park the vehicle, all I heard was short struggle between a metal rod and concrete floor. By that I knew something was wrong with your stand. What could it be?

“But then you surprised me by ringing my bell in half the time you usually take to climb two stairs to get on this very floor. You could not have used the elevator as they are load-shedding right now. What made you run so fast? May be you wanted to hide from people looking at you. And sure enough, all your arm and leg are covered with mud. It must be the pipeline they have broken while digging on the side of road and never cared to fix it.

“Considering all the facts I had in my possession, it was a child’s play to guess that you had slipped over the speed breaker they have recently made on the blind turn. Not only it is on a wrong place, but also its height is much more than it should have been. I have written a letter to the road authorities, but it takes them few weeks and a dozen of more such accidents to realize that something has gone wrong.”

As was his habit, my friend never failed to surprise me. Pointing at my dirty linen, he told me “Now change these clothes and put on fresh ones, if you will. I will give you mine for the time. But first get yourself clean”.

Soon I found myself all fresh and clean as ever. By that time, he had made a cup of tea for me. I took a seat on his sofa, when the expected question came. “What brings you here on such a beautiful morning and in such a hurry?”

-  to be continued

Saturday, February 12, 2011

The Indian Adventures of Sherlock Holmes


Whenever I think of the amazing display of reasoning powers of my friend Sherlock Holmes, few cases stand out. I found one of those cases when I was re-visiting my records of our stay in India.

I was hardly half a dozen months after our arrival at the port of Bombay Docs in India. At that time we had settled ourselves in a mid-sized town in Maharashtra region, thanks to the ‘fees’ Sherlock got to stop the investigation case for which we were appointed. In the short period of first two weeks, the ever observing eyes and quick mind of Holmes had recognized the amazing potential of constant supply of challenging criminal cases and the hefty fees both the parties would pay him, one to stop the investigation and the other to carry it on. And as far as I was concerned, it was Holmes who pointed out to me that nobody checks the validity of your degree in India. So, I could easily start and run my clinic here. And so did I. I also owe the ever-increasing stream of patients to the departments of health, food and irrigation of Indian government.

It was a hot afternoon that day. When I rang the bell of Holmes’ flat, a voice belonging to the owner of the flat came to me. It said, “Pray come in, my dear Watson. How did you like your little accident aver the new speed-breaker?”

I was speechless even if I was well-familiar with the ability of deduction of the sharp mind sitting inside the head of my friend. The first thought which crossed my mind, was he must have been watching me from the gallery. But as I stepped in, I saw him coming out of bathroom wrapped in a towel and dripping wet. It was clear that he was taking a bath at the moment I had entered the building compound. Then how did he recognize that it was me, who is standing out of his door? Not only that, but he also knew that I had a misfortune of slipping over the speed breaker on my way here? Smiling at my face expressions, he pointed to a chair to tell me to sit down.

“Friend Watson, I know what you are thinking and I can explain” said he, his eyes twinkling.

to be continued -

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Facebook


Just watched ‘The Social Network’ for the third time. The makers say that everything shown in those two hours is true. Mark obviously denies. Whatever is the truth, but one has to accept that it’s an outstanding story. How many people get a billion dollars for a rigorous session of ASP coding? By the way, what is the income source of ‘facebook’? I mean, they don’t put any ads. I hear something about them selling private data of the users to marketing companies.

If that is true, then it’s the private little information of people like you and me who made this nerd world famous, youngest billionaire ever. It’s quite disturbing to know that MNC are ready to pour billions to peep into our lives. They want to know everything. What have you done? What are you doing now? What you plan to do next? How do you relate with others? What is your marital status? What you like to wear? What is your favorite drink? Everything.

There are phases when I enjoy conspiracy theories. That is one of my favorite pastimes. It’s amazing what different people pull out of same set of facts. There are all kinds of these theories. From “NASA never landed on the moon” to “the ultimate aim of Google is to rule this world”. And interestingly, they use YouTube, a Google service which is based in USA to spread their ‘message’.

Coming back to the topic, they show Mark writing a blog. When he completes a paragraph, he puts a </p> tag. What the hell? How a non-technical person is supposed to write a blog? Or was it just an HTML page Mark used to edit every now and then? Were there no blogging platforms there back in ’03? Whatever. But the typing speed is worth watching. I bet everybody who has watched the movie has, at some point, wished to pull up a keyboard and test his or her skills. They must have boosted the video speed.

Anyway, the movie is a treat if you are a nerd, not bad if you are a lover of sci-fi Hollywood movies and a nightmare if you are a regular watcher of Bollywood movies. So, go ahead, make some pirated copies ;)

Monday, January 31, 2011

Marry-Go-Round


Have you ever thought of getting married with someone? No, I am not talking about the common crush your class of 9th standard had. Or the sweet looking next-door-girl who occasionally comes to you for help. Or the only girl in college who has ever asked you for notes and made a positive remark about your intellect. I am talking about serious stuff.

What is the feeling when somebody finally decides to marry someone? I don’t know. As a matter of fact, sometimes I get really terrified by just thoughts of getting tied with someone for the whole life. No, I am NOT telling any tell-these-marriage-jokes-when-you-can-not-come-up-with-anything-else sort of stories. I am trying to imagine the state of mind one has when he or she becomes sure that “this is the face I want to see every day”. What people see in each other? And what if it wasn’t there at all? What if he or she developed something else after getting married? What if he or she had something else, something which casts shadow on all his / her good things, which you did not notice before? What if you are not up to his / her expectations?

I am a person who is not sure even when he buys a pair of socks. And whenever I buy stuff, my mind is trying to ease itself by reciting thoughts like “this thing is not going to protest, no matter how I treat it” and “I can always buy another pair if I make a mistake in buying this”. But n case of a marriage, none of these can be said. What drives the marrying people forward, when they know there is no turning back?

May be we can drop those who had a love-marriage, as they know each other enough. But what about the majority who is forced to get their marriage arranged by someone else? What if they put it on a secondary place what I value most? What if their definitions of beauty do not match with mine? What if they do not think that I may deserve someone better? And this list can go on and on.

The bottom line is : Getting married, if I get married ever, will be the most courageous thing I have ever done!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Are You Sure?


Have you ever had the feeling that the whole world is an illusion? That anytime, you may wake out of this ‘dream’ known as life and face a much better reality? Or everybody else, as they seem to have some abilities you do not posses, knows every damn thing about you; but they just don’t show it off because they want you to feel normal?

No, I’m not talking about human psychology here. I am just trying to check if I am as normal as you are. And I bet, at some point of time, you too had this urge. I remember reading somewhere that everyone, at least once, thinks of committing suicide. May be those who take these little mind games seriously are the creators of the films like ‘Matrix’ and ‘Inception’. And talking of these films, an idea just crossed my mind. A formula to give a hit and widely discussed movie is to take one of such little fantasies everyone has and give it some rules and regulations. You think this is a virtual world and the reality lies somewhere else? They threw in some rules for moving back and forth through these worlds, some rules to be obeyed in each world and came up with ‘Matrix’. You think there’s magic somewhere in the world? Yes, you got it. They regulated and standardized the use of magic and created ‘Harry Potter’. So, the next time any such little question bothers you, drop a letter to Warner Brothers Ltd and make big bucks!

Anyway, back to the topic. Sometimes, I wonder that how he (or she) can remember what I cannot? The logical part of my mind tells me the reasons. It tells me that every brain registers different things about the same event. It tells me that there must be a few things that you can remember, but he (or she) can’t. But somewhere in the back of my mind, doubt survives. Mathematical genius, musical sense and electronic circuitry expertise amazes me in the same manner. I think of those as aliens, who can solve Rubik’s cube. Thinking of this on macro level, you may have noticed that every Indian, by comparing to foreigners, tries to find out that is he living a normal average life or not. (Though, thanks to the population blast, the average value of everything in the world is shifting towards its value in India.)

So, the question is, “Do you feel the same way?”. You may have different specific questions. But I guess, if I am normal, the general feeling should be common in all of us.

P.S. – Asking such a question is useless, though. Because, if I am normal, the answer will be ‘yes’. And If I am what I sometimes fear, they you will answer ‘yes’ to make me feel normal! J

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The New Year Resolution


You might be little surprised to see this post is not dated First of January. This post is not even the first one of this year. So, what’s the point?


From my (not so inspirational) experience of all the new year resolutions I ever thought of at the beginning of every year could not last for more than a week. This year, I was determined not to make one. At least, not in the over-enthusiasm of January, the First.


As I thought on the problem, I realized that rapid draining of driving force was the culprit. Solution? Why not to make the resolution when half of the first month (and all the temporary flash of “New Year Enthusiasm”) is gone? May be, even this trick won’t work on my mighty laziness. But new year resolutions are all about trying something new in the new year, aren’t they?


Secondly, I never expected too much from myself. So, I was very generous excusing myself for every request. Let me try the other way now. Why not to put you on the brink?


So, here I am, trying not to get loud mouthed. The only resolution I have for social life is to stay connected with old friends. Through every mean at my stake (which includes, I think, this blog too). Regardless of what I thought of them earlier. No matter if I have to take some time off my very busy schedule[;)].


You gotta fight the Dunbar’s number whenever you know it’s affecting your social contacts!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Why? Oh why?

Life begins and ends with “why”. Life starts from a why and runs for a why. It pauses for a why and resumes for a why. Works for a why and waits for a why.
They say life is a gift for those who dare to start with a “why” and also for those who dare to start with a “why not”. Why is the reason behind every deed, every act, every happening, every good-bad luck. Why is the reason behind the growth of a child. Why is the driving force of a wise man. Why is the reason behind the respect an old fellow gets.
“Why” is the reason behind the creation of all the worthy things. It created science, it created philosophy, it created astrology, it created astronomy, it created economics, it created nations, it created wars, it created nations, it created common sense. And the most important creation : it created God!
“Why” is a very important, but often ignored element of every aspect of our lives. When we forget to ask “why”, we are left with senseless traditions and corrupt system, weak concepts and endless slavery, extremist views and Bollywood films.
As they say, ‘Behind every successful man, there is a woman’. Because she keeps asking her man, “Why? Why did / didn’t / couldn’t / do / don’t / would / wouldn’t /should / shouldn’t /have / haven’t you?”