Sachcast

“थॅंक गॉड, मी मुंबईच्या बाहेर आहे.” एखाद्या माझ्यासारख्या नास्तिकतेच्या जवळ जाणारे विचार असलेल्या माणसाच्या तोंडातून हे शब्द ऐकून माझ्या आजुबाजूच्या आस्तिकांना अत्यानंद झाल्याशिवाय राहणार नाही. पण हे शब्द सहजच तोंडी येतात. हे सांस्कृतिक आहे, वैचारीक आणि मानसिक नाही. हे माझ्या मनातले विचार माझा गणेशोत्सवादरम्यान काहीतरी दिवस जिथे गोंगाटापासून दूर राहताना होणारा आनंद दर्शवणारे आहेत. “मुंबई मुलतः मराठी माणसाची आहे आणि इथे मराठी भाषेलाच प्राधान्य मिळाले पाहीजे,” इ विचारांपासून मी दूर गेलो नसलो तरी ज्या पध्दतीने इथे आम मराठी जनता तिचे मराठीपण जपण्याचा प्रयत्न करत आहे त्याचे गणेशोत्सव हे उत्तम निदर्शक आहे. हे निदर्शक मला सांस्कृतिक अवनती होत असल्याचे जाणवून देत आहे. दोन वर्षांपुर्वी एका प्रवास विषयक इंग्रजी वाहिनीवर एक अमेरीकन सूत्रधार मुंबईचा गणेशोत्सव सादर करत होता. त्याचे सुरूवातीचे वाक्य माझ्या कायमचे लक्षात राहीले आहे. तो म्हणाला होता, “ही मी बघितलेली जगातली सगळ्यात मोठी स्ट्रीट पार्टी आहे.” ज्या गोष्टी पाश्चात्य जगामध्ये एका बंद खोलीत आम जनतेला त्रास न होता केल्या जातात त्या येथे धर्...

While in the office at 1:00 pm on 4 th of April, I received a call from my brother in the afternoon informing me that my Grandfather had died. I rushed home and then went to his place which is just on the floor above us in our apartment building.  His body was lying there on the bed and his body was straight and stiff. People had started to gather. We needed to put a shirt on him as his body needed to be covered and prepared for the funeral. Ajay, the young man who did the job of taking care of him during the day time was there. My grandfather’s face was still looking fresh and alive except for the mouth which was open. I thought of closing it and felt the coldness and stiffness of the body. I could not close it. It was like a truth hitting the core of the heart, he Keshav Janardan Patwardhan was not going to return again to the life, at least not in this life, if one believes in the rebirth. As his body got cremated on the funeral pyre, in a flash of thought almost all of h...

I like to observe how people dress and keep themselves. Though it is one of the basic necessities of human life to protect body, wearing clothes and other accessories have become an elaborate art over the centuries. It is an integral part of the human beauty. For women as well as men, when, what and how much do you show and or do not show of your body can give different messages. While this is true in general there are people who don’t care about their dressing in general or at a particular occasion or moment in their life. I always like how people create their impressions through their dressing and body upkeep. I look at those political leaders. They wear those perfectly white kurtas and pyjamas but keep them not so perfectly ironed. If one is from a pro Hindu party, a red tilak on the forehead is found but worn with sharpness not blurred like the one that gets while performing rituals. Does it give the impression for us common folks that they are there with us but almost always a...