Let me take you to my secret place
High above the earth into outer space
Only God knows where, only God knows how
I will take you there somehow
If this was the last day of your life
What would you do to make things right?
If this is the last day of your life
Who you gonna call to make things right?
- Last day of your life: By Glass Pear
Yes, this may just be a song which holds an apt place right now as we all elaborate on how we plan to spend the last day of our lives! When we decided on this as our topic this Diwali Special Issue, we got different points of view from many of our friends. Some said it is a sad topic to write on such a festive occasion. Some said, it’s too early for me to think about my last day I am still very young! But surely there were many, who understood the depth of the thought and gave us very interesting articles. Some may have used humour to make the topic lighter, whereas some have given the true picture of how they would like their last day to be. Some have in fact left some philosophical thoughts for us to ponder on!
My luck that I got to see the movie 2012 featuring on HBO over the weekend. In which, the protagonist and his family do not lose hope of being able to survive the natural catastrophe which had hit the world where, the world was coming to an end that day! The movie ended with the world completely destroyed but there sure were some survivors who then started a new year 01 – 01 – 0001. So the question that comes to my mind is will I be one of the survivors? Or will this day surely be the last day of my life? Well before I saw the film, my intentions were to simply imagine the end of my life and then write this article, but now, I want to give myself the hope of my family being some of the survivors! This means, my last day will surely be a havoc trying to run away from every catastrophe and reaching the safest zone as quickly as possible with my family like in the case of John Cusack in the movie 2012. I will surely not sit down either sulking on the fact that I may die soon, or also not sit waiting happily in the cuddly arms of my family waiting for the end to arrive, or accepting that the end is near. I will ensure that my family is all pepped up to fight the natural disaster till our last breathe! Of course it takes a few minutes of destruction to ruin the whole world, but ultimately those few minutes have to fade off, and if my family and I are able to survive those few minutes then there is a whole new world at the end of this one! Sounds like a grueling LAST DAY but will surely be worth it, if I along with my family can actually see the dawn of 01-01-0001!!
Getting as imaginative as possible, I’m sure media will play a vital role in exaggerating the end of the world, almost months before the actual last day arrives! What better proof can there be than the sheer existence of this movie 2012 itself, which is based upon the realistic assumption that the world is indeed coming to an end on 2012! So if media does play an important role, then I’m sure I will have a list of some of the Dos and Donts already with me! Some of the places which may seem to be the safer options will be worth a try for us to reach as we near the final day! Certain things which may find a place in my TO DO list could be:
- Encashing all the money I have in my bank account? May be exchanging all of it into US Dollars? May be not? What if Rupee gets stronger in the next world? What if none of these currencies exist? What if the age old barter system begins as it was at the beginning of civilization? Then may be converting all of it into gold makes sense? Hahaha well again, maybe not as you never know, gold mines could surface at the ground level and gold will lose its value!! Maybe then it makes sense to simply exchange all the money I have for food and other necessities and leave it with me to distribute to my people on the final day. Wonder how much of it I can really sustain with me in the bid to save my life!
- Meeting all my friends and distant family relations. Well it goes without saying that my immediate family and I will see the end together or rather fight the end together as long as we can, but I would like to meet the others who have ever touched my life, my friends with whom I have shared life’s most memorable moments. Thank them, seek forgiveness, may be seek explanation for any wrong they have done, reveal hidden secrets if any! Etc. etc. My extended family, who we call relatives! May be bid them a final good bye with a hope of meeting them again in the new world.
- Wonder how much it would help to carry my personal official documents like a PAN Card or a passport. Well in the movie, 2012, a green card did help a Russian get on board the submarine which was moving to a safer belt. May be in that case it is better to be safe than sorry, so I would rather gather these documents and keep them handy.
- Make a list of my favorite restaurants, holiday destinations, and spas and visit each one after the other. Enjoy some mouthwatering roadside chats and other junk food.
- Equip my family and myself with basic warm clothes and monsoon wear. You never know which weather the new world will greet us with!
- One more item which will become a collectors’ piece will be the World Map and the Atlas! I think I will have to grab one and keep it as safe as I can. You never know mountains could turn into valleys and some new islands will emerge and the old ones will submerge. This will help me in my own navigation also; I could auction it in the new world and make a fortune for my family with it!!!
- Last but not the least, I will teach as many life’s basics as I can to my son, to prepare him to face this world without me, in case he survives and I don’t. This will only be then my wishful thinking that he has indeed learnt his life’s lessons in the shortest time and will fight his own battle as long as he can.
Hey all this sounds like preparing me for a long holiday or an adventure trip! Well, if that’s the outlook, then it may get easier to handle the truth that life will never be the same here on. If life really ends then the story is over there. The end will rather be a tough one, since I will die fighting every breath to live more, in worry of my son’s wellbeing, my family’s whereabouts and so on. But if the new world begins with the old living creatures still alive and then if I have to be one of them, then life will never ever be the same, for as long as I live my balance life! What a weird thought! Today, a person’s status or ability to enjoy life’s luxuries depends on the disposable income he has but only as long as he lives, when he dies he leaves everything behind. His existence is a combination of the friends he makes, the enemies he defeats, his learning in his failures, and his experiences in his success! With the ending of the world, the amount of destruction will be so enormous that we will lose count of our friends or enemies alive. Money which ultimately is sheer paper will either burn or get destroyed in massive flood waves. With money goes the power, and that brings all of us on the same platform. We will then have to create a new life in the new world, with new people irrespective of their caste, creed, or nationality! Which means it will almost be a re-birth with the same face and soul!
Well, my imagination took me on a long adventure ride with a one way ticket out of this world! Either into the new one, or then into a new life! But the journey only allowed me to introspect further on things that I have always wanted to do but could not! I may have not mentioned them in this article as I never lost hope of surviving the end of this world. But my mind did touch upon those areas and opened up various clogs which will now allow me to venture into lesser known zones, take risks and live life to the fullest. It has made me realize how criminal procrastination can be to my own well being which I always knew but didn’t follow. I have always known, but not always done the urgent and important things in life thinking that I can do those tomorrow, but what if this tomorrow never comes? This journey allowed me to refresh the love and respect I have for my family and close friends, and how much they mean to me. I could actually in my mind form a sort of a ‘Circle of Concern’ that comprises of my own people and how do I currently rank them in my life. I suddenly could remember some of my old school friends whom I have not spoken to for ages while I travelled on my imaginative journey. I could remember some old friends who tried really hard to keep in touch with me, but due to my ignorance I lost contact with them. To sum it up, this journey helped me look at my own life through a third party perspective. It has broadly given me a new set of a ‘Circle of Concern’ and has helped me revamp or re-align some of my short term plans. It has re-instilled some of life’s basic teachings back in the forefront.
My message to all those who thought that this was a sad topic to write on, is that, unless you explore an avenue you can never conclude or judge the outcome of the same. The depth in this article lies in its strength to shake the person inside YOU, to refresh all that you already know, in a way which brings a new perspective of your life at the forefront. It might not teach you something totally new, but it will surely help you realize and feel what you already know. Often, only when you are at the verge of losing someone or something is when you realize the importance of the same thing it holds in your life. This is precisely the crux of this exercise of imagining your life coming to an end. It will quickly like a computerized brain put all your priorities in the order that they should be in and suddenly you feel if you have a little more time, you can sort your life for good! Hope this Diwali and the New Year bring a fresh dimension to our lives and make it a more meaningful life for us and our families. What can be a better occasion than Diwali to start this new journey in our lives!!! Wishing you all a very happy diwali and an even prosperous new year!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Nov. Diwali 2010 Issue - Introduction to the Section 'Sach Ka Saamna'
Sach Ka Saamna !!
“The mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship is one of the most complicated human connections. It comes with a built-in conflict before the relationship even begins: two radically different views of the same man. One woman always will see him first as a man; the other always will see him first as her child.”
The above statement was made by Elizabeth Graham, who wrote the article, “The Other Woman”. Does the term “The other woman” remind you of one of the bollywood movies “Pati Patni aur Woh”! But here we aren’t talking about that “other woman”; we aren’t discussing an ‘extra marital affair’! We are talking about the other woman who is for some women your son’s wife or for some your husband’s mother! For times immemorial the relationship between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law has been unique. It has often been the butt of all jokes, with many cartoonists always finding enough matter to fill pages depicting their relationship. Like the following saying which depicts an aspect of this relation - "I wish my daughter: the sun of the winter, I wish my daughter-in-law: the sun of the summer." And I’m sure if a daughter has to compare her mother to her mother-in-law she will give a similar point of view!
With changing times, the trigger points between these two women have also kept changing. Earlier these women had their lives revolve around that one man. For the MIL the only concern would be losing her son to his wife, and for her son’s wife, her only concern would be to make her presence in her husband’s life above his mother and sadly they would leave the poor man to sort it out for them who would further ruin the situation! HAHA!! Well today the story might be slightly different. Many a times both the ladies of the house are working and therefore have strong egos that clash! Or then it is the kids who bring in new set of issues which lead to the difference of opinion between the two! Basic lifestyle changes and adjusting to each others’ habits can also be a trigger point. For years a tradition followed gets suddenly revamped by the daughter-in-law can be a killer! And the worse is yet to follow if the family reciprocates positively to the changes she brings in! Similarly it’s a battle lost for the daughter-in-law if her mother-in-law’s age old recipes are still a hit with her husband than her high fibre calorie controlled salads and soups! Ultimately the crux of the matter remains to be that the mother can’t look beyond her son who is the apple of her eye and her son’s wife cannot stand this very fact! It’s a classic power struggle between two women fighting over the same man!! WHAT A TRAGEDY!! LOL….
Well others’ Tragedy is often a topic of conversation and gossip for us humans. We love hearing what is NOT happening right in someone else’s life. We all know how enjoyable it is to hear two ladies gossip in the train about their respective mothers-in-law. Ever tried eaves dropping on someone else’s telephonic conversation? It is FUN!! How many of us can confess to the fact that we love reading news about petty domestic violence or small time robberies than read about a global merger on international news? I think we all can!! It gives our subconscious mind a sort of a solace to know that we aren’t the only ones going through problems, but there are others facing graver issues than us. Why are serials like ‘Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi…’, ‘Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki’ etc. such popular hits? - Because they are almost telling our own stories, but on a highly exaggerated scale. The ‘tu tu main main’ between a ‘saas’ and ‘bahu’ is a very entertaining concept which many TV channels have minted money on. But every saas and bahu need not always fight. It may not be an unconditional relation, but it definitely works on a give and take basis. I’m sure they all have their light moments to cheer each other. They can sometimes get along like a house on fire! They can also team up with each other against the ‘OH SO Important’ one MAN in their lives. They can even bond over shopping, gossiping, and of course narrating TV serials’ stories if one of them has missed an episode.
To capture a similar love hate relationship between some of our PP “saas – bahu” jodis, we have created a very light segment exclusively for them. As I said earlier, we love knowing more about others’ tragedies, here is a quick glimpse into not someone’s tragedy but a sneak peak into the lives of a couple of sporting ‘saas-bahu’ jodis who have very enthusiastically answered some of our questions. The plain intention of doing this section was to give our ladies a chance to share a light moment with their respective ‘saas-bahu’ and definitely to create some very interesting content for our readers to read.
All the “saas and bahus’ reading this section please make note of this special disclaimer:
“All views expressed in the following section are purely realistic and non-fictional and any resemblance to a person living or dead is purely intentional.”
Please read with an open mind and allow it to tickle your funny bones and do not stress over the same. Have a crackling DIWALI!!!
“The mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship is one of the most complicated human connections. It comes with a built-in conflict before the relationship even begins: two radically different views of the same man. One woman always will see him first as a man; the other always will see him first as her child.”
The above statement was made by Elizabeth Graham, who wrote the article, “The Other Woman”. Does the term “The other woman” remind you of one of the bollywood movies “Pati Patni aur Woh”! But here we aren’t talking about that “other woman”; we aren’t discussing an ‘extra marital affair’! We are talking about the other woman who is for some women your son’s wife or for some your husband’s mother! For times immemorial the relationship between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law has been unique. It has often been the butt of all jokes, with many cartoonists always finding enough matter to fill pages depicting their relationship. Like the following saying which depicts an aspect of this relation - "I wish my daughter: the sun of the winter, I wish my daughter-in-law: the sun of the summer." And I’m sure if a daughter has to compare her mother to her mother-in-law she will give a similar point of view!
With changing times, the trigger points between these two women have also kept changing. Earlier these women had their lives revolve around that one man. For the MIL the only concern would be losing her son to his wife, and for her son’s wife, her only concern would be to make her presence in her husband’s life above his mother and sadly they would leave the poor man to sort it out for them who would further ruin the situation! HAHA!! Well today the story might be slightly different. Many a times both the ladies of the house are working and therefore have strong egos that clash! Or then it is the kids who bring in new set of issues which lead to the difference of opinion between the two! Basic lifestyle changes and adjusting to each others’ habits can also be a trigger point. For years a tradition followed gets suddenly revamped by the daughter-in-law can be a killer! And the worse is yet to follow if the family reciprocates positively to the changes she brings in! Similarly it’s a battle lost for the daughter-in-law if her mother-in-law’s age old recipes are still a hit with her husband than her high fibre calorie controlled salads and soups! Ultimately the crux of the matter remains to be that the mother can’t look beyond her son who is the apple of her eye and her son’s wife cannot stand this very fact! It’s a classic power struggle between two women fighting over the same man!! WHAT A TRAGEDY!! LOL….
Well others’ Tragedy is often a topic of conversation and gossip for us humans. We love hearing what is NOT happening right in someone else’s life. We all know how enjoyable it is to hear two ladies gossip in the train about their respective mothers-in-law. Ever tried eaves dropping on someone else’s telephonic conversation? It is FUN!! How many of us can confess to the fact that we love reading news about petty domestic violence or small time robberies than read about a global merger on international news? I think we all can!! It gives our subconscious mind a sort of a solace to know that we aren’t the only ones going through problems, but there are others facing graver issues than us. Why are serials like ‘Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi…’, ‘Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki’ etc. such popular hits? - Because they are almost telling our own stories, but on a highly exaggerated scale. The ‘tu tu main main’ between a ‘saas’ and ‘bahu’ is a very entertaining concept which many TV channels have minted money on. But every saas and bahu need not always fight. It may not be an unconditional relation, but it definitely works on a give and take basis. I’m sure they all have their light moments to cheer each other. They can sometimes get along like a house on fire! They can also team up with each other against the ‘OH SO Important’ one MAN in their lives. They can even bond over shopping, gossiping, and of course narrating TV serials’ stories if one of them has missed an episode.
To capture a similar love hate relationship between some of our PP “saas – bahu” jodis, we have created a very light segment exclusively for them. As I said earlier, we love knowing more about others’ tragedies, here is a quick glimpse into not someone’s tragedy but a sneak peak into the lives of a couple of sporting ‘saas-bahu’ jodis who have very enthusiastically answered some of our questions. The plain intention of doing this section was to give our ladies a chance to share a light moment with their respective ‘saas-bahu’ and definitely to create some very interesting content for our readers to read.
All the “saas and bahus’ reading this section please make note of this special disclaimer:
“All views expressed in the following section are purely realistic and non-fictional and any resemblance to a person living or dead is purely intentional.”
Please read with an open mind and allow it to tickle your funny bones and do not stress over the same. Have a crackling DIWALI!!!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
September 2010 Editorial
Life – A five ball game!
“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. They are Work, Family, Health, Friends, and Spirit and you are keeping all of these in the air.
You will soon realize that Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it. Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family friends and have proper rest. Value has a value only if its value is valued.” – Bryan Dyson
A friend shared this with me as one of the shortest and effective speeches given by the Former CEO Mr. Bryon Dyson of Coca Cola Co. This seems to be an aspiring thought for many of us who want to prioritize as per Mr. Dyson. But most of us do exactly the opposite all the time. WORK is usually treated as the Glass ball. Most of us are slaves to this Rubberball perceived to have been made of Glass. Competition, hunger for success, unending desires and the jungle rule – “survival of the fittest” are some of the characteristics that have become a second nature to all of us. And why not, when all of these attributes put together give you the power to achieve life’s set goals, and live a worthwhile life as we dream it to be! This Rubber ball has definitely made its way to the top of our wishlist, since it is impressed upon us to be a key to all our troubles and worries. Yes I agree, this is that ball which opens our doors to one of the most powerful privileges, The Power to BUY! WORK gives us the power to buy almost everything under the sun. Yes when I say almost everything, I literally mean ALMOST everything, but not EVERYTHING! Work gives money, and money can buy a movie ticket, a candle light dinner at one of the most expensive hotels, a car, a house, a holiday, etc. etc. But it can’t buy you TIME which is what you need the most to be able to enjoy all these pleasures of life! And it definitely can’t buy you PEOPLE to share this time with, as we all know, life’s precious moments don’t have any value unless they are shared! Shared with your loved ones i.e. family and friends! This reminds me of one of the popular ads of a credit card, which emphasizes on these priceless moments and tries to nudge us to experience these moments of spending our time effectively with those people who matter since that is priceless, and for everything else there is money that can buy you anything!
Recently I had visited my sister in the US for a good one month. I tried observing the work patterns of most people living there, one of them being my brother-in-law. He holds a senior position in his company, and is a successful professional there. What was most impressive about his work culture was their respect towards OTHERS’ time and the accountability they hold towards the job. These have been the defining factors of their work culture in my opinion which drastically differentiate them from us. They not only respect your time while on duty, but also respect your personal commitments and allow flexibility because they know that you will be accountable for the job assigned to you. Here in India if you ever come across such people, we put them on a pedestal and call them ‘professional’. But no one looks at it this way that in a “profession” we all are meant to be “professional”.
A Professional set up at work helps in maintaining good spirits, which is then carried forward to our homes as well. A healthy atmosphere at work always escalates one’s efficiency leading to faster turn-around time for all jobs and projects undertaken, thus giving us scope to wind up each day on time, but that rarely happens! Every organization has its own set of people who are typically known for wasting their own and others’ time. Well nowadays there are innovative ways of wasting time. Most men or nowadays even women spend their productive work hours in smoking. This smoking is also accompanied with loads of gossip and grapevine which they term as networking! Umpteen number of “cutting chai” through the day is the other culprit both for longer working hours and heaps of acidity!! Computer games, social networking sites, untimely snack breaks, and if all this was not enough, then “Project BOSS” is always on agenda! Well “Project BOSS” only is a nicer way of putting one of the most used formulae by many inefficient fools in our organization known as “CHAMCHAGIRI”. I’m sure we all know at least two to three ‘chamchas’ in our office who are forever wagging their tails around the BIG BOSS. May be that is their only route to success, since their work rarely speaks for them!
We often fear the thing we want the most. A skyrocketing career is what we all want and the thought of not being able to get it is what we fear the most! So automatically we have one person in our lives that we fear by default – our boss! However great the camaraderie between the boss and his team, his juniors always have something to crib about their bosses behind his back. For that matter, even I always made an attempt to memorize things I have disliked about my boss so that when I become one, I don’t repeat the same. But I must confess that today many of my reactions remind me of my boss, and I sometimes wonder if my team ever detests me on any occasions. In either ways, the bottom line does not change; this boss-subordinate relationship will always remain constant. In a bid to carve a niche at our work place, we spend a lot of time doing everything but work during work hours, a lot of time is spent pleasing this most important and scary person in our lives – OUR BOSS and then by the end of the day, we often realize that the actual work has remained pending. But the fact remains that whatever we are willing to put up with is exactly what we will have. All this stress, and workaholic behavior definitely fetches us accolades in our career, but one of the most vital aspects of our life gets ignored in this bargain – our health.
The most popular phrase used and heard around is ‘health is wealth’, still in the struggle to earn this wealth we allow our health to take a back seat, sometimes let it slowly deteriorate. Today’s fast life leaves us no scope for a healthy lifestyle. Sedentary jobs, loads of stress and unhealthy and untimely eating habits are a standing invitation for all chronic cardiac problems. Constant exposure to pollution while travelling only adds to our health woes. We are allowing health hazards like diabetes, obesity, hypertension a permanent residence in our bodies. Health is that glass ball which if broken once, will collapse the other balls in the game too!
All said and done this rubber ball called WORK is the one which needs the most attention to keep the other balls juggling. The ones, who are willing to risk it, either have a back-up plan or tremendous confidence to make it big anyways. Probably they have their own success stories to share. But, every success story has a painful experience behind it, without which success does not taste as sweet. Which means at some point in their lives they have had to sacrifice one of these balls? Then the question is which ball are we willing to hurt to get to success? May be of all of them hurting the rubber ball could be the best bet for a few, but for some it could be the only ball they live for. Though broadly we all have similar priorities in life, but our approach and experiences in life compel us to take decisions which then decide the fate of these balls in our lives. It is therefore difficult to generalize and pass a verdict on how each of us have to prioritize or play this game of balls, as we all will seem right in our own circumstances. May be mastering the art of juggling, so that we are able to balance all of them at any given time of our lives is the best answer. Whatever we do, enjoying every moment to the fullest is important because it is not about how LONG we live, but about how BIG we live our lives that will decide how worthwhile our life has been. Life is like a road trip, where the journey makes the trip enjoyable and at the end of this road all we can do is introspect! So let us all play the game such that when we introspect we emerge as the winners of the game!
- Mayura Nayak
“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. They are Work, Family, Health, Friends, and Spirit and you are keeping all of these in the air.
You will soon realize that Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it. Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family friends and have proper rest. Value has a value only if its value is valued.” – Bryan Dyson
A friend shared this with me as one of the shortest and effective speeches given by the Former CEO Mr. Bryon Dyson of Coca Cola Co. This seems to be an aspiring thought for many of us who want to prioritize as per Mr. Dyson. But most of us do exactly the opposite all the time. WORK is usually treated as the Glass ball. Most of us are slaves to this Rubberball perceived to have been made of Glass. Competition, hunger for success, unending desires and the jungle rule – “survival of the fittest” are some of the characteristics that have become a second nature to all of us. And why not, when all of these attributes put together give you the power to achieve life’s set goals, and live a worthwhile life as we dream it to be! This Rubber ball has definitely made its way to the top of our wishlist, since it is impressed upon us to be a key to all our troubles and worries. Yes I agree, this is that ball which opens our doors to one of the most powerful privileges, The Power to BUY! WORK gives us the power to buy almost everything under the sun. Yes when I say almost everything, I literally mean ALMOST everything, but not EVERYTHING! Work gives money, and money can buy a movie ticket, a candle light dinner at one of the most expensive hotels, a car, a house, a holiday, etc. etc. But it can’t buy you TIME which is what you need the most to be able to enjoy all these pleasures of life! And it definitely can’t buy you PEOPLE to share this time with, as we all know, life’s precious moments don’t have any value unless they are shared! Shared with your loved ones i.e. family and friends! This reminds me of one of the popular ads of a credit card, which emphasizes on these priceless moments and tries to nudge us to experience these moments of spending our time effectively with those people who matter since that is priceless, and for everything else there is money that can buy you anything!
Recently I had visited my sister in the US for a good one month. I tried observing the work patterns of most people living there, one of them being my brother-in-law. He holds a senior position in his company, and is a successful professional there. What was most impressive about his work culture was their respect towards OTHERS’ time and the accountability they hold towards the job. These have been the defining factors of their work culture in my opinion which drastically differentiate them from us. They not only respect your time while on duty, but also respect your personal commitments and allow flexibility because they know that you will be accountable for the job assigned to you. Here in India if you ever come across such people, we put them on a pedestal and call them ‘professional’. But no one looks at it this way that in a “profession” we all are meant to be “professional”.
A Professional set up at work helps in maintaining good spirits, which is then carried forward to our homes as well. A healthy atmosphere at work always escalates one’s efficiency leading to faster turn-around time for all jobs and projects undertaken, thus giving us scope to wind up each day on time, but that rarely happens! Every organization has its own set of people who are typically known for wasting their own and others’ time. Well nowadays there are innovative ways of wasting time. Most men or nowadays even women spend their productive work hours in smoking. This smoking is also accompanied with loads of gossip and grapevine which they term as networking! Umpteen number of “cutting chai” through the day is the other culprit both for longer working hours and heaps of acidity!! Computer games, social networking sites, untimely snack breaks, and if all this was not enough, then “Project BOSS” is always on agenda! Well “Project BOSS” only is a nicer way of putting one of the most used formulae by many inefficient fools in our organization known as “CHAMCHAGIRI”. I’m sure we all know at least two to three ‘chamchas’ in our office who are forever wagging their tails around the BIG BOSS. May be that is their only route to success, since their work rarely speaks for them!
We often fear the thing we want the most. A skyrocketing career is what we all want and the thought of not being able to get it is what we fear the most! So automatically we have one person in our lives that we fear by default – our boss! However great the camaraderie between the boss and his team, his juniors always have something to crib about their bosses behind his back. For that matter, even I always made an attempt to memorize things I have disliked about my boss so that when I become one, I don’t repeat the same. But I must confess that today many of my reactions remind me of my boss, and I sometimes wonder if my team ever detests me on any occasions. In either ways, the bottom line does not change; this boss-subordinate relationship will always remain constant. In a bid to carve a niche at our work place, we spend a lot of time doing everything but work during work hours, a lot of time is spent pleasing this most important and scary person in our lives – OUR BOSS and then by the end of the day, we often realize that the actual work has remained pending. But the fact remains that whatever we are willing to put up with is exactly what we will have. All this stress, and workaholic behavior definitely fetches us accolades in our career, but one of the most vital aspects of our life gets ignored in this bargain – our health.
The most popular phrase used and heard around is ‘health is wealth’, still in the struggle to earn this wealth we allow our health to take a back seat, sometimes let it slowly deteriorate. Today’s fast life leaves us no scope for a healthy lifestyle. Sedentary jobs, loads of stress and unhealthy and untimely eating habits are a standing invitation for all chronic cardiac problems. Constant exposure to pollution while travelling only adds to our health woes. We are allowing health hazards like diabetes, obesity, hypertension a permanent residence in our bodies. Health is that glass ball which if broken once, will collapse the other balls in the game too!
All said and done this rubber ball called WORK is the one which needs the most attention to keep the other balls juggling. The ones, who are willing to risk it, either have a back-up plan or tremendous confidence to make it big anyways. Probably they have their own success stories to share. But, every success story has a painful experience behind it, without which success does not taste as sweet. Which means at some point in their lives they have had to sacrifice one of these balls? Then the question is which ball are we willing to hurt to get to success? May be of all of them hurting the rubber ball could be the best bet for a few, but for some it could be the only ball they live for. Though broadly we all have similar priorities in life, but our approach and experiences in life compel us to take decisions which then decide the fate of these balls in our lives. It is therefore difficult to generalize and pass a verdict on how each of us have to prioritize or play this game of balls, as we all will seem right in our own circumstances. May be mastering the art of juggling, so that we are able to balance all of them at any given time of our lives is the best answer. Whatever we do, enjoying every moment to the fullest is important because it is not about how LONG we live, but about how BIG we live our lives that will decide how worthwhile our life has been. Life is like a road trip, where the journey makes the trip enjoyable and at the end of this road all we can do is introspect! So let us all play the game such that when we introspect we emerge as the winners of the game!
- Mayura Nayak
Monday, June 14, 2010
Pratyush 2010
A feeling of déjà vu is settling into me as I proudly announce another triumph, another feather, a rather bigger feather in our cap! Yes, we have done it all over again; the verdict is out that Pratyush 2010 is a SUPER DUPER BUMPER HIT!
June 6, 2009, witnessed the beginning of a new rising – Pratyush (as the name suggests). Pratyush’09 was the first show of its kind organized in our community. With approx. 70+ participants, a meticulous and professional choreographer like Vishwas Natekar, a talented director like Pooja Ajinkya and a tremendously enthusiastic team of Yuva Manch, we knew we had a winner in our hands! We just could not go wrong with our formula and of course we didn’t! Pratyush’09 still goes down in the history of Pathare Prabhu’s as the first ever mega event organized within the community! We had marked our arrival and we were here to stay!
But history is witness to this fact that such magic can rarely be repeated! As we all know there can never be another movie like SHOLAY, we were aware of the pressure of recreating Pratyush. Expectations were soaring high and we would not accept faltering on these expectations! We were determined to defy history this time! From the time we started conceptualizing Pratyush 2010 till the final execution we all knew at the back of our minds somewhere deep down inside, that we had to excel our past performance. We had the whole community eyeing us to know what we do next and we had to live up to all your expectations!
After six months of ground work and planning for the event, and one and a half month of rigorous rehearsals, the day had finally dawned, June 05, 2010. We all gathered at the auditorium at 8.30 a.m. in the morning to conduct a final round of grand rehearsal. Soon the stage was ablaze with glittering lights and the backstage was buzzing with all the performers queuing up for their performances. All participants lined up for their make-up, our director Mr. Satish Joshi and choreographer Mr. Vishwas Natekar performed a quick ‘puja’ on the stage, gave us their blessings and then it was SHOWTIME!
The curtains rose to a packed auditorium! As soon as the audio-visual flashed the thundering sound of claps filled the auditorium and we could sense a slight feeling of victory nudging us already then, but we resisted the temptation of allowing it to take over our minds. Pratyush 2010, presented a story of two Pathare Prabhu families portrayed by some of the talented members of our community, well woven with dance performances that entwined the complete story. The story had all the ingredients of a typical ‘bollywood masala’ flick. Comedy, drama, action, romance, tragedy, you name it and it was all there! This musical drama had an array of dance performances. From Bhangda to Lavani, from mushy romance to peppy numbers, from retro to funky songs, from sizzling item numbers to folk songs! We had dancers grooving to all kinds of music! Dancers from all age groups rocked the stage! Thanks to Mrs. Pramila Talpade with whose initiative we had senior ladies grooving to a popular retro song – ‘Shola jo bhadke’. They looked lovely on the stage winning numerous cheers and screams of ‘once more’ from the audience! Their enthusiasm and grit to go up on stage at that age and perform to a live audience unhesitatingly was much commendable. Vishwas sir would fondly call them ‘little ladies’ they were indeed little pretty ladies! If on one hand we had our senior members the juniors were not lagging behind! We got a roaring response with around 20 kids live on stage the youngest being a little more than 2 years old if I am not mistaken. These kids were the star attraction of that evening! No stage fright, full of confidence, and exuberance, these kids just stole the show! And now coming to the rock stars! Yes our very own dancers and actors who slogged for one month continuously to make the show what it is. It is indeed difficult to believe but for many of these actors it was their first stint at acting! They had to learn as quickly as they could and deliver at the same time! Indeed a tough time for most of them learning the dialogues, expressing, understanding timing especially for comic scenes, I must say! And now talking about our dancers! The efforts that these dancers have put in cannot be expressed enough in words. Whoever has seen the dances, will surely agree that as far as the choreography is concerned, the bars had been raised higher. Thus making it even more difficult for not just the non dancers, but also the dancers to get a grip over the dances! But the rock stars that they all are they could all manage it in the limited time span of one month given to them! A great team effort by the committee members, the hard work and perseverance of all the actors and dancers along with the cooperation of the Prabhu Tarun board made this event a grand success!
Of course my editorial is incomplete without thanking a few people who have contributed in a big way towards this show. Firstly a big ‘thank you’ to all the donors who have generously contributed funds, so that we could give this platform to our community members to showcase their talent. I’m sure with your support we will grow manifolds in the future and also form a base for bringing this talent on one platform and do more work within the community. We are very grateful to our event sponsor Videocon International for their support. And even more grateful to Mr. Vinay Nayak, who has helped get the sponsorship. We also take this opportunity to thank Mr. Pradeep Dhairyawan for helping us in our times of need, by providing us a venue for rehearsals completely free of charge. Of course Pratyush 2010 would never be the same without Mr. Vishwas Natekar and Mr. Satish Joshi. For Vishwas this was his second year with us and he had painstakingly worked on this project as his own baby! Although a professional he went out of his way to see that this show was a hit by creating some wow moments in the show. His assistants Shraddha Chavan and Aniket Jadhav along with him toiled through the days and nights, to ensure our participants were getting their each move right! Training a set of non dancers within a span of one month and making them perform difficult steps and stunts was an impossible task at hand, but he made it happen! Hats off to you Vishwas sir! For Joshi kaka this project began more than two months back, from the time we briefed him on the show. He was the brain behind the script and also directed the play. He had given his two months to this show, and ensured that we were able to put up a great act together. Understanding our requirement and then scripting accordingly as per the taste of the audience wasn’t an easy task. It was his dedication and hard work that such a convincing act could be staged. On behalf of Prabhu Tarun I would like to wholeheartedly thank both Vishwas sir and Joshi Kaka for their priceless contribution towards Pratyush 2010. Last but definitely not the least a very big ‘thank you’ to all the 70+ participants and all the backstage and on field volunteers who dedicated themselves to this show and made Pratyush 2010 what it is!
Before I conclude, I would like to share some of my thoughts or should I say lessons that we learnt during the making of this show. When we began planning for the season 2, we had certain apprehensions like; will we have the same number of participants this year as last year? Can we put up a show as great as or better than last year? Will the community support us again and come to see our show? Etc. Apprehensions were many but no solutions! We decided to take each day as it comes and work out every task as it comes. Slowly everything started falling in place just like a jigsaw puzzle. We learnt that sincere effort and hard work coupled with good intent is always rewarded. Whether it was for the skit or for dance, we got an overwhelming response from the community. Of course there were some who didn’t turn up, but there were double the number of fresh participants whom we welcomed with open arms! When something on such a large scale is organized it is not possible to keep everyone happy, you win some you lose some! With changing times expectations also change! Way back in 1997, as teenagers when we used to dance in community events we used to be happy with just a venue available for rehearsals. The icing on the cake would be occasional visits by the then Editor of Prabhu Tarun Late Mr. Suhas Kothare who used to often treat us with ‘vada pav’ and soft drinks! We never even dreamt of demanding snacks or refreshments while rehearsing and would happily sustain on just water for most days, which was also brought from our respective homes! Today it is binding for us to offer these comforts to our participants as is what they expect from us. We never even had the audacity to question the choreographer’s choice of dancers or even suggest who he should take in which dance back then because we had full faith in him. But today we have to handle such issues not only from dancers but also entertain parents’ requests. In this process if we have hurt any of the participants or their family members then we would like to clarify that there was no intent of doing so, but we were only trying to be as impartial to all participants as possible giving all a fair chance! Here, I would like to take the liberty and proudly state that today Pratyush is not just a platform for talented people to showcase their talent, but it is a ground to hone our skills and do things which we would never be able to do, anywhere outside. We appeal to everyone to please look at this platform as an opportunity and appreciate what it can offer you, than mull over what you could not do. If we all work together with this mind set we all will be better artists and deliver bigger and better performances in the future. Well, as they say “As you sow, so shall you reap.” I can proudly declare that we have got our due credit for all the efforts we have put in the show. Together with our gang of participants we have recreated SHOLAY, and will keep doing so for years to come! ARE YOU ALL WITH US?
June 6, 2009, witnessed the beginning of a new rising – Pratyush (as the name suggests). Pratyush’09 was the first show of its kind organized in our community. With approx. 70+ participants, a meticulous and professional choreographer like Vishwas Natekar, a talented director like Pooja Ajinkya and a tremendously enthusiastic team of Yuva Manch, we knew we had a winner in our hands! We just could not go wrong with our formula and of course we didn’t! Pratyush’09 still goes down in the history of Pathare Prabhu’s as the first ever mega event organized within the community! We had marked our arrival and we were here to stay!
But history is witness to this fact that such magic can rarely be repeated! As we all know there can never be another movie like SHOLAY, we were aware of the pressure of recreating Pratyush. Expectations were soaring high and we would not accept faltering on these expectations! We were determined to defy history this time! From the time we started conceptualizing Pratyush 2010 till the final execution we all knew at the back of our minds somewhere deep down inside, that we had to excel our past performance. We had the whole community eyeing us to know what we do next and we had to live up to all your expectations!
After six months of ground work and planning for the event, and one and a half month of rigorous rehearsals, the day had finally dawned, June 05, 2010. We all gathered at the auditorium at 8.30 a.m. in the morning to conduct a final round of grand rehearsal. Soon the stage was ablaze with glittering lights and the backstage was buzzing with all the performers queuing up for their performances. All participants lined up for their make-up, our director Mr. Satish Joshi and choreographer Mr. Vishwas Natekar performed a quick ‘puja’ on the stage, gave us their blessings and then it was SHOWTIME!
The curtains rose to a packed auditorium! As soon as the audio-visual flashed the thundering sound of claps filled the auditorium and we could sense a slight feeling of victory nudging us already then, but we resisted the temptation of allowing it to take over our minds. Pratyush 2010, presented a story of two Pathare Prabhu families portrayed by some of the talented members of our community, well woven with dance performances that entwined the complete story. The story had all the ingredients of a typical ‘bollywood masala’ flick. Comedy, drama, action, romance, tragedy, you name it and it was all there! This musical drama had an array of dance performances. From Bhangda to Lavani, from mushy romance to peppy numbers, from retro to funky songs, from sizzling item numbers to folk songs! We had dancers grooving to all kinds of music! Dancers from all age groups rocked the stage! Thanks to Mrs. Pramila Talpade with whose initiative we had senior ladies grooving to a popular retro song – ‘Shola jo bhadke’. They looked lovely on the stage winning numerous cheers and screams of ‘once more’ from the audience! Their enthusiasm and grit to go up on stage at that age and perform to a live audience unhesitatingly was much commendable. Vishwas sir would fondly call them ‘little ladies’ they were indeed little pretty ladies! If on one hand we had our senior members the juniors were not lagging behind! We got a roaring response with around 20 kids live on stage the youngest being a little more than 2 years old if I am not mistaken. These kids were the star attraction of that evening! No stage fright, full of confidence, and exuberance, these kids just stole the show! And now coming to the rock stars! Yes our very own dancers and actors who slogged for one month continuously to make the show what it is. It is indeed difficult to believe but for many of these actors it was their first stint at acting! They had to learn as quickly as they could and deliver at the same time! Indeed a tough time for most of them learning the dialogues, expressing, understanding timing especially for comic scenes, I must say! And now talking about our dancers! The efforts that these dancers have put in cannot be expressed enough in words. Whoever has seen the dances, will surely agree that as far as the choreography is concerned, the bars had been raised higher. Thus making it even more difficult for not just the non dancers, but also the dancers to get a grip over the dances! But the rock stars that they all are they could all manage it in the limited time span of one month given to them! A great team effort by the committee members, the hard work and perseverance of all the actors and dancers along with the cooperation of the Prabhu Tarun board made this event a grand success!
Of course my editorial is incomplete without thanking a few people who have contributed in a big way towards this show. Firstly a big ‘thank you’ to all the donors who have generously contributed funds, so that we could give this platform to our community members to showcase their talent. I’m sure with your support we will grow manifolds in the future and also form a base for bringing this talent on one platform and do more work within the community. We are very grateful to our event sponsor Videocon International for their support. And even more grateful to Mr. Vinay Nayak, who has helped get the sponsorship. We also take this opportunity to thank Mr. Pradeep Dhairyawan for helping us in our times of need, by providing us a venue for rehearsals completely free of charge. Of course Pratyush 2010 would never be the same without Mr. Vishwas Natekar and Mr. Satish Joshi. For Vishwas this was his second year with us and he had painstakingly worked on this project as his own baby! Although a professional he went out of his way to see that this show was a hit by creating some wow moments in the show. His assistants Shraddha Chavan and Aniket Jadhav along with him toiled through the days and nights, to ensure our participants were getting their each move right! Training a set of non dancers within a span of one month and making them perform difficult steps and stunts was an impossible task at hand, but he made it happen! Hats off to you Vishwas sir! For Joshi kaka this project began more than two months back, from the time we briefed him on the show. He was the brain behind the script and also directed the play. He had given his two months to this show, and ensured that we were able to put up a great act together. Understanding our requirement and then scripting accordingly as per the taste of the audience wasn’t an easy task. It was his dedication and hard work that such a convincing act could be staged. On behalf of Prabhu Tarun I would like to wholeheartedly thank both Vishwas sir and Joshi Kaka for their priceless contribution towards Pratyush 2010. Last but definitely not the least a very big ‘thank you’ to all the 70+ participants and all the backstage and on field volunteers who dedicated themselves to this show and made Pratyush 2010 what it is!
Before I conclude, I would like to share some of my thoughts or should I say lessons that we learnt during the making of this show. When we began planning for the season 2, we had certain apprehensions like; will we have the same number of participants this year as last year? Can we put up a show as great as or better than last year? Will the community support us again and come to see our show? Etc. Apprehensions were many but no solutions! We decided to take each day as it comes and work out every task as it comes. Slowly everything started falling in place just like a jigsaw puzzle. We learnt that sincere effort and hard work coupled with good intent is always rewarded. Whether it was for the skit or for dance, we got an overwhelming response from the community. Of course there were some who didn’t turn up, but there were double the number of fresh participants whom we welcomed with open arms! When something on such a large scale is organized it is not possible to keep everyone happy, you win some you lose some! With changing times expectations also change! Way back in 1997, as teenagers when we used to dance in community events we used to be happy with just a venue available for rehearsals. The icing on the cake would be occasional visits by the then Editor of Prabhu Tarun Late Mr. Suhas Kothare who used to often treat us with ‘vada pav’ and soft drinks! We never even dreamt of demanding snacks or refreshments while rehearsing and would happily sustain on just water for most days, which was also brought from our respective homes! Today it is binding for us to offer these comforts to our participants as is what they expect from us. We never even had the audacity to question the choreographer’s choice of dancers or even suggest who he should take in which dance back then because we had full faith in him. But today we have to handle such issues not only from dancers but also entertain parents’ requests. In this process if we have hurt any of the participants or their family members then we would like to clarify that there was no intent of doing so, but we were only trying to be as impartial to all participants as possible giving all a fair chance! Here, I would like to take the liberty and proudly state that today Pratyush is not just a platform for talented people to showcase their talent, but it is a ground to hone our skills and do things which we would never be able to do, anywhere outside. We appeal to everyone to please look at this platform as an opportunity and appreciate what it can offer you, than mull over what you could not do. If we all work together with this mind set we all will be better artists and deliver bigger and better performances in the future. Well, as they say “As you sow, so shall you reap.” I can proudly declare that we have got our due credit for all the efforts we have put in the show. Together with our gang of participants we have recreated SHOLAY, and will keep doing so for years to come! ARE YOU ALL WITH US?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
