Sachcast

मी ह्या विषयावर बराच विचार खऱ्या अर्थाने केला तो घाना ह्या आफ्रीकेच्या पश्चिम भागातील देशात घालवलेल्या एका वर्षात. माझा त्या देशातील तो दुसरा दिवस मी कधीच विसरणार नाही. पहिला दिवस, मी आम्हाला ज्या हॉटेलमध्ये ठेवले होते, तिथे उपलब्ध असलेले नुडल्स, सॅलड सारखे ओळखीचे पदार्थ खाऊन काढला होता. पण त्या पहिल्या आठवड्यानंतर माझी रवानगी त्या देशाच्या एका मागास अंतर्भागात होणार होती आणि मला ओळखीचे असलेले सर्व खाद्यपदार्थ मला नक्कीच आयते उपलब्ध होणार नव्हते. हे सर्व अनोळखी पदार्थ खा किंवा उपाशी रहा असे दोन पर्यायच माझ्यासमोर असणार होते. आजचं मरण किती दिवस उद्यावर ढकलत राहणार असा विचार करत मी माझा मोर्चा स्थानिक आफ्रीकन पदार्थांकडे त्या दिवशी वळवला. "तुला हे हवंय? नक्की हेच हवंय ना?" जेवणाच्या बुफे काऊंटरवरील वाढपी बाईने मला दोनदोनदा विचारत एका मोठ्या वाडग्यामध्ये फुफु नावाचा एक चिकट गोळा टाकला आणि त्यावर मटणयुक्त रस्सा ओतला. आजूबाजूच्या आफ्रीकन लोकांकडे मी पाहीलं. ते लोक त्यांच्या त्यांच्या वाडग्यांमधल्या मोठ्या गोळ्यांचे छोटे छोटे तुकडे काढून त्याचे गोल गोल गोळे करून आणि त्याच्या...

Actually I am not writing about those memories but the thoughts about them. These go back to the school days, which I have always thought that these did not matter much after you pass a certain stage. Yes, I can write this having arrived at a midlife stage where there is still a substantial part to be lived and for which I am very much looking forward. Yet at this same point of time in the life, there is a past which has greatly impacted the course that life has taken. I was born during the socialist era, in the city like Mumbai to the middle class parents, both of them government servants keen on getting their child admitted in the school that gave high emphasis on studies. It started with my kindergarten Ramabai Paranjape Balmandir. I remember at first instance not liking the school because of the crowd of children that surrounded me. I was extremely shy of people and remember crying a lot because of that. But then as the days passed by I started liking that school a lot due t...

Riding a motor bike is a pleasure. For me, learning a one and also getting used to one has always been pain. But not anymore, as I have seen the pleasure in it. Coincidentally the make of the scooter which I ride these days is also called Pleasure. The best part of riding is listening to the vehicle and then going further accordingly. You can make out the speed as well as the disturbances. It's like a music, if you know it at the core, you can also make out the minutest discordances. Many people go after the speed and many more go for the show. I doubt how many go for riding for the sake of pleasure of riding. Even I have found it recently. All of my earlier affairs with various kinds of vehicles have never been the ones which I have loved. This time however it's different, as I have started out again keeping all of my past experiences aside. I am giving due consideration to all rules of the ride and not hurrying myself through. I don't let myself get much bothered by di...

It was a damn tough decision to leave a job at a large sized philanthropic organisation in India and going to a village with confirmed intention of settling oneself there. When I started to let people know about it openly and after finally putting in my resignation at the office, the reactions I received for this update were mixed, but not too mixed to get really surprised. After starting for my native village leaving Mumbai for good, I posted about it on facebook. That was also to say final bye to Mumbai, the city which has given me so much in my life. The status update got flooded with likes and comments wishing me well for my future endeavours. Had this been even about 10 years back, I doubt whether reactions would have been that positive. Majority of my close and older relatives who have lived a secure life with government jobs have always been against my getting into private and insecure world of low pay non profits. But now scene seems to have changed. I was actually surpr...

“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...