Life Begins at 40! - April 2016

Every time we round up our age at 20 or 30 or 40… our folks will comment on our landmark age! Oh! You have turned 20.. Finally moving out of your teens…. 30?? Oh the youth is passing!! Really?? I am in my mid 30s and it seems to be the best time of my life! But I was supposed to move out of my youth, and here I am feeling as young, energetic, and vibrant as ever…. The Optimist that I am, if I have to die at 80, then I am not even midway!! But I have learnt so much that for the rest of my life I have to only apply those learnings and I probably will sail through a very happy life!! Sounds so good to be true!! This year, my significant other half turns 40! And I am taking this as a reason to celebrate!! A lot of our friends thought I was silly to throw a bash for his 40th… he is not turning 50!! Why are you in a hurry! Well my father-in-law celebrated my 25th birthday with as much gusto telling me that it was indeed a landmark year… he told me then, that for you it is a landmark year you are beginning a new life with a new family (we got married six months before my 25th birthday) and you have begun what seems to be a great career for you! We have all the reasons to celebrate… As usual I agreed.. Anyway he did not live to see me turn 30, so I am glad we celebrated. I think celebrations need no reasons! Rather if the reason walks up to you, then might as well celebrate. The time is always right when the time is NOW…. To me 40 seems like a mid-point perfect time to celebrate the youth while it exists and early days to the wisdom that comes with the grey hair!! A perfect gathering to get your parents, family and friends together! At 40 when you look back, the first 20 years of growing up, schooling and higher education altogether seem like just the kindergarten years. Kindergarten – When life seems carefree, we have our parents to manage us right from getting us our clothes to our pocket money and ensuring that we do something with our lives!! Those 20 years we yearn for our freedom. We keep waiting for the day we will have our first salary deposited in our independent Salary Account! Our first tryst as we assume with the flavour of independence! But that’s really when the struggle starts… Most of us have a paradigm shift in our lives as we move steadily up the corporate ladder. We are out of our protected cocoon meeting new people, making new friends and there starts a whole new rollercoaster of a ride! From the mid 20s till the mid 30s we are busy making a life out of the platform that most fortunate of us got from our parents personally as well as professionally. 40 seems to be that age, when most have chosen their path in career as well as personal life, achieved certain milestones, made enough mistakes and risen above those, seen enough failures and enjoyed success!! This seems to be an interesting age at the median. Gunjar is exactly there and I feel he has reached that age of his life where I would like him to reap all that he sowed!! They say life begins at 40… the first 40 years of childhood are the toughest, as up till then we are only doing research!! Research!! And how!! I am not so used to calling him Gunjarav… most of his friends and colleagues either call him Gunjar or Gunjaa… and so do I. His parents fondly named him “Gunjarav” ! I have myself explained this to so many people I introduced him or his mention to, and I am sure he got a chance to celebrate his exclusive name innumerable times in his life. So for the records – Vihang (his dad) means a bird and Madhuri (his mom) means sweetness, therefore Gunjarav means “Sweet humming of a bird”. That makes his name very meaningful, but a tad unique! I would say more meaningful and well carved for him, as he indeed has been the apple of his parents’ eyes ever since his birth till date and that pleasure he still enjoys, sometimes over-ruled by our little bundles of Joy – our two sons. He spent his childhood at Opera House amongst a massive joint Nayak family, though those were his very early childhood days, he still has vivid memories of Opera House and the large family he lived with. Soon they moved to Santa Cruz where slowly and steadily life engrossed him amongst family, a huge friend circle, cricket, movies and studies! While his father has the maximum influence on him and his mother ensured he gets a grounded upbringing, another person who played a very affectionate and important role in his life is his Chanda maushi (aunt) whom he fondly calls ‘mimi’. She has looked after him as much as his own mother and she is equally fond of him perhaps the only person who makes it a point to address him with another name “Suyog”. That’s his second name fondly given by her, the Maushi’s prerogative as we all know! Coming from a well settled middle-class Pathare Prabhu family, he has enjoyed a very happy childhood quite alike most of us, of course I keep bragging to him that I come from a bigger and crazier joint family, therefore I had a crazier and much more fun-filled childhood than him, but I am sure that remains to be just a light argument. Gunjar is a very competitive person. He always likes to be better than the best. So that makes him compete with me all the time! Jokes apart, but his competitive streak helped him effortlessly cross the school / college days as well as his post-graduation. This competitive flash of his is very evident when he drives on the roads! He will not let any other car over-take him, nor will he keep gazing at another car’s tail light. All cars have to be behind his, and he will merrily gaze at them from his rear view mirror as he zooms on the roads. He is notorious for his flair with the traffic watchdogs much against my amusement. This is definitely one of his child-like characteristics that will never allow him to grow old. Talking about cars! Like all boys, Gunjar loves his cars, we all who know him, can trace back to his teens and re-live all memories till date with the help of the car arranging his life chronologically with the car he drove at that point in time. The first car that he ever made me sit in was a green colour Maruti 800 and our friends still remember the Green maruti 800 as 5120 (the only part of the number plate I recall). His car, the trending music of those days playing loudly in the car, usually the car is on its way to a movie hall and we friends inside the car, is how we used to and we still do spend a lot of our weekends. The friends have remained but surely multiplied over the years with spouses followed by our kids! His cousins say he used to love playing video games with them, and even today he fights with our sons to grab a chance at a video game! Cars, video games, movies, music, such are his favourite things to do, which make me wonder, has he really turned 40? Well his favourite things to do are actually his entertainment in his free time, what he mostly stays busy in is what he loves to do the most. That’s his job! He is irritatingly persistent, dreams big, very friendly, good at number crunching, can talk a lot and as I mentioned earlier extremely competitive. That makes him perfect for his role. He joined the Zee Entertainment Network back in 2001 as a Sales Executive. Started doing what he is best at that’s selling! Ever since then Zee has infected his entire system. He breaths, eats, drinks, & sleeps Zee, to the extent that I feared he will name our first born ZEE… Well he has come a long way professionally, he does not like to boast about his accomplishments but he has spent 16 long years in a tough organisation like ZEE and is today a Cluster Head across various channels and going steady strong! I am not mentioning this because I want to brag about him, but because a lot is left behind in this race to be the best. I think the time has come that he starts picking up all the things he has left behind to reach where he is. Of course I am aware that to stay where one has reached is in itself a tough rather persevering journey and he surely has bigger ambitions going forward. But life is constantly ticking, and time is not waiting. At 40 if we realize that we need to pick all that is left behind in the journey, be it friends, hobbies, travel the world (withme), taking care of our own health, picking up a sport, some art form, spending time with family then by the time we reach our half century, we may feel that our 50 years have been more fulfilling. And then 50 years old, are still young, and another 10 years to even turn a senior citizen. Suddenly life seems to be so well planned exactly how our insurance agent explains it to be while selling a policy! Off late, I have been writing less in Prabhu Tarun. While we have some new pens and minds giving us some wonderful articles, Gunjar always felt that I should contribute to the magazine in some form or the other. Prabhu Tarun is very close to his heart and therefore to me too. While it remains to be a tough journey to live up to all the requirements of the magazine, my article is more of a dedication. I dedicate this article to this wonderful bond that Gunjar shares with this magazine. This magazine probably is a part of his cosmic connection with his dad - some form in which he feels connected to him. It is difficult to cover the entire 40 years in a 2.5 page article, so many aspects of our lives I may not have touched upon, as that would open a Pandora’s Box of memories! Gunjar and I have been friends for around 20 years now of which we are married for 11 years! That makes us best friends first! We both being so closely associated with this magazine, I have written this article like I would about a close friend! He may want to kill me for giving so much space of Prabhu Tarun to talk about him, though it is not just about him, but it is about a life I feel is beginning at 40!

Our Super-woman – Vidula! - March 2016

Vidula Kanitkar Kothare – I am so delighted to get this opportunity to announce such a great achievement of a dear friend. To be featured in a book as a “SuperWoman” for her success as an entrepreneur indeed calls for accolades! The author Prachi Garg in her book “Super Women – Inspiring Stories of 20 Women Entrepreneurs” has covered women achievers, dedicating a chapter to each Diva. The coverage on Vidula was rather nostalgic to me. It talks of her journey from her decision to pursue her career in art, through the formation of Think Creative Pvt. Ltd. It takes us through their hardships and their tough, but memorable journey of transforming a small agency they founded with a single client and a single computer to a full-fledged Advertising and Marketing Solutions provider. In times when many creative agencies were shutting shop, Think Creative has not just prevailed, but with a vision to diversify in various fields of communication solutions, have excelled to become a dependable service provider for their innumerable clients. While I am sure this is a joint effort of the three founders along with their troop of 15 employees, still, Vidula stands out to be a sure, strong and rooted pillar of Think Creative. It was a pleasure to read about this woman whom I have closely observed over more than a decade that I have known her. The success story of Think Creative Pvt. Ltd. Is not new to me! We have been friends since even before the inception of Think Creative, when I knew Vidula as the would-be wife of our dear friend Nikhil /Shrinal Kothare! Those days of struggle when three partners got together to start a venture, their struggle to prove their mettle, the challenges of running a start-up agency with conservative investments, from acquiring new clients to retaining existing ones in a dynamic industry like Advertising where the “Jungle Rule” follows where survival is at stake! This agency has come a long way! But I am yet to remember a day when I have seen a frown on Vidula’s face, or even a sign of dismay or pressure about their struggle. She exuberates confidence and perfectly compliments Nikhil in running the show shoulder to shoulder with their partner Hitesh. Over these years, I have seen her as a wonderful life partner to a dear friend, a loving daughter-in-law/sister-in-law, a doting mother, a very creative professional but above all, a warm and pleasant person. With all her business responsibilities, she has effortlessly managed her duties towards her family. Her sister-in-law Sanjana, being a dear friend to me, has often mentioned how proud she feels of Vidula for managing her responsibilities as a daughter-in-law along with her demanding work profile. We all struggle to manage home and work together, but being able to fight this struggle with a smile on the face is what makes a woman stand apart the others! When work is passion that gratifies our soul, but along with work we also embrace our duties towards family is when we release positivity and that’s exactly what Vidu is all about! In her busy schedule she has always made time for all the creative requirements of Prabhu Tarun. Think Creative has been designing for the “Diwali Anka” cover page for many years! They designed the logo of Pratyush – One of the most popular events in the history of Prabhu Tarun. I take this opportunity to mention their contribution towards our magazine. I will not thank them, as that would be-little their emotions towards Prabhu Tarun which has been as dear to them as us! I wish all the success to this Woman of Substance, her business as well as her personal endeavours and may she reach higher pinnacles of success in the years to come. I conclude saying, that I am very proud to know you Vidula, and Pathare Prabhus will be very glad that you belong to us!

August 2014 Editorial - My Struggle with the Quarterly Alarm!

Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we have got! Yes! Indeed… Time is money; time is everything… With the people we love the most, all we want is more time, time to talk, time to meet, time to eat together, or sometimes time to just sit and gaze at each other. When things go wrong we say “my time is running bad” when life is perfect, we say “the good times have started”. We believe that time is a healer and it heals all our wounds! We come back from a great family vacation, we actually rejoice on the quality of time we spend with the family. We walk out of a pathetic review meeting, we sulk on the terrible two hours of frustrating conversation we had with our colleagues! At all times it’s the moment we celebrate or mourn! A mix of such good and bad moments is what we call our LIFE! When we look back at our life in flashback, it is a combination of these good and bad times! Sadly what is meant to be everything is what we keep fighting with or against always! It is always a race against time! We race with time right from our childhood to reach school, or the examination hall, to our first interview, to our first date, reaching in time to work, a father- to-be struggles to make it in time to see his wife deliver their bundle of joy, a child tussles to reach his dying parent before the last gasp of breath, and the struggle continues in our “OH SO BUSY” lives! It is simply never ending. Whether we are a working professional or a homemaker or even a student, we never find the day enough. Every single day, we feel we needed an extra hour or minute to make that call to an old friend, or finish a meeting with a client, or reach a stationery store to pick up our child’s books, change the curtains, pay the bills, etc. 24 hours seem to be too less! Our expectations from ourselves are so high, that we are constantly battling it out with time to make every single minute count, every single second worth its while. From childhood our minds are conditioned to win this race against time and we gradually realise that we always seem to lose against time! While it is correct that time waits for no one, as, WE may delay, but TIME will not. How do we tackle the evils of procrastination if we do not respect the time we have on hand to finish what is meant to be done in time? But at the same time, there is never enough time to do all the ‘nothing’ we want to! After all, the time we enjoy wasting is not wasted time! The crux is to find a balance in doing nothing and doing all that needs to be done in an appropriate time! Sometimes coming home from work and simply watching my kids play amongst themselves is the best time of the day for me! I am actually doing nothing, while the time demands that I at least play with them if not cook a meal in the kitchen! I often wonder what more of a waste of time is, watching TV or just simply doing nothing? I strongly feel that it is ok to sit and do nothing, or talk nonsense, or chat up with an old friend or simply gaze outside the balcony but watching the IDIOT BOX is the real criminal waste of time for me, especially when my husband is watching it! But my husband who sells real time on television surely does disagree with me! Although I feel that we allow a lot of such criminal time killers to rule over our ‘awake’ time we have, that we could have put to better use! Even if that means sipping a cup of coffee with our favourite people and music around us or ‘whatsapping’ with some friends, or posting pictures on FB or clicking pictures in a social gathering, which to some of us means spending quality time with our loved ones, but to some it means sheer waste of time! What is important is that we all get our dose of doing nothing, but not at the cost of procrastination! Had I procrastinated lesser and spent lesser time doing nothing, I would probably have submitted my editorial well in time, and perhaps motivated myself to pick another subject than try and deal with this complicated phenomena called ‘time’ in a short article. Lack of time probably is just an illusion created by my own mind that is yet dealing with the want to do nothing, and doing everything in limited time that I have! Somehow I can visualize my late father-in-law chuckling mischievously over me for cribbing over something that he so efficiently managed! He perhaps was busier than me but managed this very same editorial month on month without ever sulking about any lack of time, which surely tells me that I am perhaps going miserably wrong in my management of time if I cannot manage an article even once in a quarter. Yes! I call this quarterly phenomena of writing an editorial for Prabhu Tarun my ‘Quarterly Alarm’ as the name suggests, I have to write it every fourth month! Someone so rightly said that ‘Time is what we want most, but what we use worst’. I close with a little introspection on the same thought and with a hope, that the next time I face this struggle that I call a ‘Quarterly alarm’ I will perhaps win it hands down against the ever ticking time!

December 2013 Editorial: I Was Alive When Sachin Played Cricket!!

Before I even begin, let me confess that I don’t qualify to write even a single statement about him. I am neither a cricket nor a Sachin fanatic. But the recent surge of emotions that I along with the rest of the world witnessed is compelling enough for me to write a few words about this Bharat Ratna awardee!! Recently the social media expressed conflicting views on whether Sachin was a true worthy recipient of the most prestigious award bestowed upon any Indian for his contribution and great work in serving this nation. “Kapil Dev’s World Cup winning team in 1983, taught us to dream, but Sachin enticed us to dream big and achieve big through dedication and commitment, he was the catalyst in making people sit up and notice India as a world force, at a time when the ‘India’ story was just beginning and hence he is the worthy recipient of the Bharat Ratna”. A lot of us will wholeheartedly agree to this statement quoted by Raj Mankar my cousin and a cricket enthusiast and an ardent Sachin fan. But there were some other almost contradicting views in media. They said – “Fine Sachin was a talented cricketer, he has many an unbeatable records to his name, but for all this he got name, fame and money…. Tons of money! What did he do for India to deserve this honour devaluing the prestige attached to this award?” (Quotes picked up from social media). “If it is for sports, then, why not Dhyanchand, the hockey wizard, Milkha Singh, athlete, PT Usha and so on?”. Well, this debate may go on, but a unanimous verdict is sure in favour of this honour bestowed upon the Little Master. Cricket to me is just a game that is played in our by lanes and gullies, a sport that bonds two eleven member teams that we see in countless parks, maidans, and stadia. International cricket to me is an extension of the teams to the countries. The popularity of this sport in India has converted its sports value to one of the highest entertainment quotient that any sport could boast of and that media can ever have monetized on. If Bollywood is a source of entertainment, in a cricket crazy country like India, cricket probably enthrals our people much more than Bollywood. In that comparison if the country has been OK with legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar being awarded the Bharat Ratna who has given Bollywood some of the most melodious songs and who has been the voice of the Indian Heroine for the longest span in the history of Indian Cinema, then Sachin Tendulkar surely is a legend in his field of sports and entertainment keeping his audience in awe and forever inspired by his sheer talent, humble values and the dignity in which he has conducted himself throughout his career. Simply translating Bharat Ratna in English would mean India’s Jewel, which he surely seems to be! I may have partially observed him very frivolously passing by the TV set when cricket crazy fans in my home sat watching him play. And the one common attribute that he always reflected was his modesty whether we won or lost because of him or in spite of him; he always came across as the most humble player on the grounds. I may not have any clue of his achievements in statistics, but the outpour of emotions during his 200th test match which announced his retirement sure symbolizes the love, respect and affection this country has for him. It clearly brings out the passion, determination and the love he has for the game that he has consistently and rightfully maintained in a long span of 24 years, probably the longest sports career span we may have witnessed. To have the nation and the world stand still and watch him swirl his bat, to sustain the performance for that long a career with feet firmly held on ground is an achievement in itself. “Speaks volumes of his middle class maharashtrian value system” says Raj Mankar. It was indeed an amazing experience for me to see all my cricket crazy family and friends turning into these super poets and writers overwhelmed with this cricket phenomenon! My nephew, Nishad Vijayakar who probably posts only when he has something to say on cricket in his status on his facebook profile has this to say for him – “Only Sachin Tendulkar can make you feel happy, proud, sad and disappointed at the same time. Unfortunately though after tomorrow, we will no longer be able to watch the God in his temple (any stadium) with his weapon (bat). I am one of the lucky few who actually got to watch the God's last innings live!! We will miss you Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. You have made the whole nation proud and happy. Couldn’t have asked more from you — feeling blessed.” Raj Mankar – “End of an era! Not only his cricket, but even his farewell speech was exemplary. It speaks volumes of the entire persona!”…. I remember a picture that The Times Of India published the very next day of his speech, where we could see Sachin referring to points he had jotted down for his speech. The points were nothing but people whom he wished to thank. And the fact that he did not have a well scripted speech shows that whatever he spoke was from his heart. Akshay Kothare another ‘sachinist’ and my brother in law – “Cricket will be now known as AS (After Sachin) and BS (Before Sachin)” Very emotionally he admitted that he along with the rest of the fellow fans in Wankhede had moist eyes when Sachin took his last leap! Another friend very emotionally declared that Sachin was the reason to bunk college, or work and fight it out for passes to get into a stadium and watch the God of cricket play, and that never in the future will he enter a stadium to scream crazy slogans for any other cricketer. Such craze, madness, love, respect, admiration for a legend who has left an indelible mark in the hearts of innumerable fans! He has carved a niche for himself in the history of World Sports. While the nation mourns at the loss of such talent from Team India, I am sure the whole world is waiting to know what the little master chooses to do in his life’s second innings! While he may not have influenced my life in any way, but those few days of Sachin’s farewell surely shook me to look up and notice this wonder. Very few people can command such worldwide attention even from people like me, who are least interested in the game. His effect on people around me and the country as a whole, surely calls for my salute to this legend and nudges me to proudly declare that “I was alive when Sachin played cricket!” “Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance I want to watch Sachin play cricket again!” – Song recomposed by Nishad Vijayakar!

August '13 Editorial for Prabhu Tarun: "In Search Of The 'Reset Button!"

'Faith' and 'blind faith' are two very strong words that come out of the same emotion, the same word but can have diverse effects on us because they are either a result of a combination of experiences or a higher degree of unconditional emotions or merely a trust in hearsay or myths! We interact with people in our lives and with various positive or negative experiences we start trusting these very people with wide levels of affection - we develop what we call 'faith' in people. Everyday we stand in front of the Almighty thank him for what he has given us and very often ask for some blessing in the form of health, wealth or well being and when we get it from Him it strengthens our 'faith' in Him sometimes converting it into blind faith! There are certain people in whom we implicitly trust because they have proven their unconditional love and affection towards us in action and words. We then reciprocate similarly to those feelings and thus blossoms a relationship which keeps building on mutual trust, faith and love. When there is such a background to any relationship 'faith' becomes an integral aspect of that relation and slowly at times graduates towards blind faith. But what happens to that trust we instil in age old beliefs, customs, and superstitions which arise out of just hearsay or mere age old practices? So is this termed as blind faith as well? or a better term could be 'myth faith' So we humans start having faith in myths which are age old superstitions and practices and which today hold no scientific relevance. Well this myth faith does arise out of teachings passed on from those people on whom we have had immense trust and faith. But have we ever asked the question why before we follow some of these age old superstitions? Very often customs and traditions are connected with auspicious occasions like weddings and festivals. These customs and traditions help us bond with our people, they strengthen our value system, they help keep our respective community together because they distinguish us from the rest of the people who follow their own sets of traditions. In totality these traditions encourage positivity and spread happiness during those times of the year when we are all looking forward to sharing some memorable moments with the people we love and care. So one may ask why question such wonderful practices! To which I completely agree! I am absolutely in favour of practicing such traditions which help and encourage us to bond and further enhance our relations. But there are a few superstitions which we Indians follow in the name of customs and traditions which are probably just myths! Myths that spread negativity and gloom. A myth that generates fear - a black cat crossing our path is inauspicious! Many of us know that it's a myth but a lot of us still hold ourselves back if a black cat does cross our path and especially if we probably are on our way for an interview. If biologically the poor cat has inherited that colour, and happens to take the same route as us, how can there be a scientific justification of this incident being a bad omen? Cutting nails or hair post sunset or sweeping the house after sunset is termed inauspicious. Well most often we never sweep at night but if there is a one off day when we have to then will that day be a dooms day just because we swept the floor? How can a hygienic practice of cutting nails be a bad omen irrespective of the time? Do the nails have any sensors that indicate the time of the day? A whining dog, a twitching eye, a cowing crow, sighting an owl, sighting an elephant, itching palms! So many good and bad omens which we still hear people follow! The probability of these instances occurring often is low, and the after effects of both following or not following these myths may be very inconspicuous. But some of the myths play a very harsh role in our lives and are actually a stigma for many! A widow is considered inauspicious, she needs to step down on her efforts to look attractive. A woman who cannot give birth is inauspicious! No amount of justification can ever prove this a fact! And women can only change this for themselves by believing that they have every right to live a full life. I used to think that in our well educated and forward thinking society such myths no longer exist, but we women are responsible for allowing them to still dwell in our lives. Even today it is the other women in the house who compel some less fortunate women to follow these sick age old myths arising out of sheer lack of knowledge. While it is a myth that these myths don't exist in our society, there is one such myth which we all will agree that it sure prevails in many households even today! The famous menstrual taboo! A biological process which graduates a little lady into a mother and presents the family the most beautiful gift of tiny feet that bring in all the happiness and cheer into our homes is still considered a taboo even in educated homes today. I would like to know which God in mythology has verified this myth and asked us ladies to not greet Him when we are in one of those days! How many pickles rot, how much of the food we cook gets polluted and for how many people we are termed a bad omen in our 'those' days has never been verified or even backed up with scientific conclusions. But this taboo is so well ingrained in us that we have been happily allowing people around us to treat us as untouchables and probably we will pass on the same baton to our daughters in the future! That's the unfortunate truth of this real myth! I found a logical answer to why such a practice of isolating women during their periods began in the first place. I may be wrong, but in comparison to there being no firm logic for following this taboo, I prefer believing the below logic, which makes a lot of sense to me! If amongst our readers we get more such reasonable answers I will be more than happy to know. What I have been told is that, in older times we didn't have a hygienic solution such as a sanitary napkin to allow a clean way of dealing with periods. So the only solution was to keep the ladies away from the routine cooking and holy rituals. Also during menstruation ladies undergo hormonal changes and bleeding can cause weakness and pain. Just as a reason for ladies to get their much deserved rest during this time, isolation was considered a solution. But just as 'the Chinese whispers' this solution slowly converted into a taboo! Lot of ladies as well as men ask me why I get so furious on this particular issue, if I am not affected by it directly? Well I may not be, but then I know a lot of ladies around me who do have to face this on a regular basis and that affects a lot of people and activities involving them! Some unfortunately themselves believe that they sure are impure in those days and the isolation will help them sustain their equation with God! While some ladies, agree with me, but are helpless about it and prefer keeping silent than revolting. Some men think its none of their business and its too much of a ladies' problem to get them involved in. They think too much is made out of nothing and abstaining yourself from some activities in those days shouldn't make any difference! I wonder what would these men do if they were asked to abstain from the same activities without any logical reasoning! And of course! There are some men who say, if my mother can do it so can my sister and wife and so will my daughter! Now I have a problem with this mindset, where you are regressive yourself, and you continue making your next generation equally regressive until they grow up to find no logic in it and decide to rebel, IF AT ALL THEY REBEL! I am thankful to two ladies, my mother and grandmother who never allowed this wonderful biological wonder to be treated as a taboo. They informed us of its power and educated us on why the not so aware society treats this wonder as a bad omen. Today this so called taboo is being extensively researched upon and is used to cure various ailments using the stem cells generated from it. Finally science is proving the 'old wives' wrong! The sooner we start changing our outlook towards these myths the lesser number of people we will hurt. If God's fear is not allowing some of us to change our outlook, then we at least need to figure out what is His will? He says be compassionate towards others. By ill-treating women in the name of God and rituals we are in the process anyway defeating God's will of being courteous and compassionate towards others. Moreover these superstitions are making our society regressive. Where science and technology are cutting their own benchmarks and moving ahead, we are still hanging on to our petty and shameful beliefs. India will need a revolution to change these superstitions. We women need to press the 'reset button' in our brains first to agree to not ill treat anyone in the name of rituals. Only then will we impart the same information to our generation next. Our gen next is aware of their reset button they use it way too often than us! We need to find our own and stomp it as soon as we can!

September Issue - Coverage of PP IDOL - Kaun Banega PP IDOL?

The afternoon of September 1, 2012 was abuzz with a lot of excitement, exhilaration and anticipation as some of the budding singers from our community put their singing talent to test at the auditions of PatharePrabhu Idol – A novel show conceptualized by Mrs. Puja Ajinkya of “Valaay Prathishthaan”, held at our Pathare Prabhu Khar Cultural Centre. PP Idol as the name suggests clearly indicates a talent hunt show, a format that is very popular on TV but what makes it special is that this show has been organized for the talent of our community exclusively! “Valay Prathishthaan’s” PP Idol will be the first talent show of our community in which the participants underwent an initial screening by way of auditions judged by very able names from the music fraternity- Mr. Mangesh Borgavkar and Miss Apurva Gajjala of Saregama Fame ! A very important mention has to be made of the systematic organization of the auditions. Every participant and every attendee had to register first, followed by a quick interview which was video recorded, courtesy Mr. Amar Ajinkya. The hall decorated with posters of PP Idol set the mood just right, and threw a positive energy in the crowd. Each participant patiently waited for their turn in the hall and enjoyed a wonderful cup of coffee and some great conversations with fellow participants and others who had come to extend a moral boost to the organisers as well as the participants. Once the participants’ name was announced they had to proceed to an enclosed room, where the judges waited for them. Here, they got their chance to exhibit their singing flair and win the coveted positions of the top 5 finalists. Out of around 13 talented entries 5 finalists were chosen. These 5 finalists will now compete against each other at the finale! It was a pleasure to see the friendly judges interact with the participants and also encourage them for having given a special place for music in their lives along with their respective careers. The judgement was clearly unbiased as the organisers also patiently waited to hear the names of the 5 finalists. Kudos to Mrs. Puja Ajinkya and her team for putting up a great start to what looks like will be a notable entry in the history of our community events! The auditions seem to be just the tip of the iceberg of entertainment! We surely look forward to this extravaganza and wish that the “Valaay Prathishthaan” team gathers loads of accolades of the whole community for this very honest and ambitious initiative. Now all we need to do is wait and watch these top 5 finalists collide with each other to win the first ever title of PP Idol, 2012. Well well well, do you know who these top 5 finalists are? They might be your uncle, aunt, sister, brother, or rather any other PP socialite you personally know! Be there at sharp 7.00pm on November 24, 2012 at Rangsharda Auditorium, Bandra West, as the “Valaay” team unravels these 5 finalists and presents you the PP Idol! We look forward to seeing you turn over in large numbers and for that kindly book you seats well in advance as the plans open on 19th September. The tickets plan will also be displayed on the group pages of Valaay Prathishthan and Prabhu Tarun on Facebook. Interested people can block their seats and inform Pooja Ajinkya referring to the plan. For further information on the show contact: Pooja Ajinkya on +919820231742.

July 2012 Editorial - Kids Say The Darndest Things!

Kids Say The Darndest Things! All of a sudden it feels like I have been plucked off from the intimidating conference rooms, and planted into a bright little kindergarten! Not sure if this is where I want to remain planted for the rest of my life, but I am surely having a ball with the cute little kiddies all around me! Well, my own amongst them are just two… … my two sons Shaurya and Vir! But they bring along so many kids into our home and thus in our lives, that currently my life is no less than a 24 hour playschool! It has been around six months that I am mostly in the company of kids, young and old. Courtesy my older son, who brings home all his friends to play, as if the newest addition to our family, my younger one is not enough, who is my loyal companion round the clock! With Vir coming in our lives, my life has sure taken a 360degrees turn. Now I don’t have to chase a Sales target, but I am chasing time, daily to complete my chores! No ruthless bosses around, but cute little angels (sometimes these angels also have small wicked thorns!) whose demands just don’t seem to get over even with the end of the day! Exhaustive excel sheets, and sales projections, have been replaced with innumerous diapers, baby food, toys, vaccination tracks, etc. My 9hrs of work time has suddenly been extended to 24 hours for which I am not even being paid a salary, forget the over time! But at the end of everything, like all moms say the clichéd line….. I see myself using the same line here… “What these twinkling, innocent, and smiling eyes convey to you each day is simply priceless!” Well, surely Vir has given me the opportunity once again to spend some quality time with my older son Shaurya too! But Shaurya need not use his twinkling mischievous eyes to convey his feelings, he can well express them through words, and at his age, kids say the funniest things with the most poker faces they can ever exhibit! His one liners just make this journey more joyous and fun. Here I share some of our conversations: Me: Shaurya do you want a baby sister or a baby brother? Shaurya: I only want a brother, no place for girls… If you get a girl, I will have to marry her when we grow up! Then sometimes they throw such questions which are very difficult to answer! Shaurya: Aai, when you were as old as me where was I? Me: You were a star! Shaurya: Then why couldn’t I see you as a baby when I was a star, the way I can see all stars from here? Then another touchy question….. Shaurya: Now are you my mother or Vir’s? Me: I am yours as well as Vir’s mother. Shaurya: Mom, if you have two babies, why can’t we have two mothers? (I wonder what his dad has to say about his son’s point of view) These are just a few of our weird conversations, but when I hear him speak with his cousins, they are even more hilarious! Shaurya: What happened to your great grandfather? Cousin: Aai said he has gone to heaven to meet GOD! Shaurya: Arre you don’t know what that means, it means he is dead! Cousin: I know that yaar, this is just what we should say, when someone dies! And here we are, Adults – who think we can fool these kids. But these kids are far smarter than we can imagine. Another funny conversation between Shaurya and his building friend: Friend: Who is this person sitting on your sofa? Shaurya: Hey! You don’t know? She is my mom! Friend: Arre I always thought NIKITA (my maid) was your mom, because she accompanies you every day in the evening when we play in the compound! What a transformation! From office politics, smart projections, and eternal chase of sales targets, here I am enjoying my kindergarten moments with my little ones. As much as I wish to get back to the grind, these moments will always be special. While we withstand the worst sarcasm from the board rooms, and gulp down the pressure of targets, our kids’ innocent one liners throw us completely off the track! Very often they casually speak the bitter truth which we as adults always know, but never want to confront. Their innocent questions and poker faced replies to our questions remind me of the once famous American comedy series hosted by Bill Cosby called “Kids Say The Darndest Things!” I always wondered what the word “Darndest” meant. Perhaps NOW I know the meaning of that word! As I leave, one last time, here I share some funny pearls of “laughter” I came across while surfing the internet. A small boy is sent to bed by his father. Five minutes later..... 'Daad....' 'What?' 'I'm thirsty. Can you bring drink of water?' 'No, You had your chance. Lights out.' Five minutes later; 'Da-aaaad.....' 'WHAT?' 'I'm THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??' I told you NO! If you ask again, I'll have to spank you!!' Five minutes later......'Daaaa-aaaad.....' 'WHAT!' 'When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?'

To Fresh Beginnings - March 2012 Editorial

How often do we dread to stride on a path unknown? To uproot ourselves from the routine and risk a new path is a difficult decision - a decision arising sometimes out of choice but very often a result of circumstance. A little change in the routine brings in a breath of fresh air. It could be the arrival of a newborn, reallocating ourselves to a new home, etc. The freshness of the change often alters our life for the better. But sometimes such a change can ditch us! The risk of nudging ourselves out of the comfort zone and exploring another avenue can be rather unpleasant. The fear of facing failure and starting all over again is usually the hindrance for most of us to take risks in life. We underestimate ourselves and thus fear exploring - Be it a new job, a new residence, a new vocational stream, reviving an old passion. The ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ create such a huge mind block that we refuse moving out of our cocoon. It may sound rather strange to an outsider, but we Indians distinguish this risk taking ability of our people by the community we belong to. Historically it is believed that the ‘marwadi’ and ‘gujarati’ community reign in their acumen for business, therefore are known to be risk takers or so called gamblers in the game of business. The ‘sindhis’ are known for their “kanjoos” calculative minds and do rather well in their small time businesses. These are the people who boast of very glorious “rags to riches” success stories. They have made it big because they had the guts to challenge themselves, they had the perseverance, and the confidence to move out of their routine and explore fresh areas. Unfortunately, even today a ‘marathi’ is believed to be rather naïve and timid in his approach towards his goals in life. An impression of a typical ‘marathi manoos’ is that of a middle level manager going for a 9-5 job, having a modest home, very satisfied in his life and very proud to be a ‘marathi manoos’ too, worrying about his children’s education, he thinks he has invested well enough in LIC policies to take care of his family’s future. Well, I beg to differ. In my opinion a ‘marathi manoos’ has evolved beyond the shackles of mediocrity. As I know many of us who have led rather successful lives, moved out and explored. There are many of us who are willing to tread on an unexplored journey, try unique career options, break the routine of a 9-5 job and embrace other business opportunities. Prabhu Tarun has featured such risk takers of our community who have chosen an off beat career in last year’s Yuva Manch Section. It was indeed a pleasure to read success stories and educate ourselves on their road to a different career; these were people who chose to walk on an uncertain but promising path and have been successful in their own journey. Yet, it would be a pleasure to come across more entrepreneurs in not just our community but other marathi communities too. The more we propagate successful entrepreneurs around us, the more the outside world will start believing that we are as good as them or even better. Of course it is important to break this belief that a community makes entrepreneurs. It takes the perseverance of an individual and the back up of his family and social circle to walk a different path. It is true that many other communities stand united to help their fellow members in any small and big challenges. Help may not necessarily be monitory, but it could be help in networking, help in tutoring, offering a business advice, or even offering an internship to gain some experience in the specialization that a youngster wants to explore! If nothing else, then simple good wishes and encouraging words also work wonders! Nevertheless, seeking help through the right people for breakthroughs is as important as offering help! We have many of our community members who hold high positions in various fields and can offer such help to youngsters in our community. But our youngsters may not even be aware of them. The younger generations have got attuned to a misconception that the community is only for their grandparents and parents to mingle. They yet have to find out such advantages which they can seek by merely interacting or actively involving themselves. They continue to fear and dread to walk on an unknown path, least realizing that the community they belong to could have someone like them, who thought similarly some years ago and managed to make a great career and a successful life with the same unique off beat profession that they today fear. This can happen only if the community as a whole upgrades its array of involvement amongst its people to other aspects of life! It is time that we rise above the usual and sometimes regressive areas of discussion to more progressive subjects. Yes we all know that usage of the “English” language is extremely high in our newsletter, which is often criticized by many of our fellow PP members. With due respect to all these members, I would like to reiterate that if another language connects better with the future of the pp community, then it is time you all bypass this bit and embrace the new youth who is coming forward to participate actively by contributing to the content of this newsletter. Where else would you be able to read the journey of a highly designated market researcher, a talented event manager, a photographer, a grooming specialist, if it was not for the flexibility of our newsletter to allow these talented people to express their views in our ‘Yuva Manch’ section throughout the last year? The point is not “WHICH” language they are writing in, but “WHO” is writing! Please notice the variety and usefulness of the content available today in a community magazine which can help career decisions for our own people. These people would continue shying away from the community had we not allowed them the flexibility of language. If these articles have encouraged even one youngster to defy traditional career streams and explore something new, then I believe that the community newsletter is doing its job and catering to its rightful audience, which is the future of the community. Performing Arts has been a critical binding force in our community. We took a risk by setting a large stage to showcase this art and it paid off! It all began with ‘Pratyush’, which brought together tons of youngsters who got a platform to showcase their talent. Today ‘Pratyush’ has become a benchmark and has set a trend within the community and we are pleased to see many other similar programs being organised with the same enthusiasm which are further bringing the community closer. These programs further instil our faith and confirm that we are in the right direction. We now want to look forward and set another trend with a new showcase of our own community. It may be a risk, but we will walk the unknown path to explore and test our capacity. This time we will bring forward a totally different facet of the people of our community. We hope that this fresh beginning will also mark a new trend and encourage a new set of talented people giving them their due recognition. Well, right now it all seems to be a jigsaw puzzle that we all are trying to solve, but sooner and surely we will spill the beans of our next project – ‘Pratyush’ will don a new look and enthral the art lovers with masterpieces awaiting everyone’s appreciation! I may sound ambiguous to you all, but spare me, as that’s exactly what I am. It may be early to talk more on this, we have our set of challenges and sooner we resolve them, we shall announce our next project! Higher the risk, greater is our determination to make it work, greater the determination, higher the efforts and thus higher the chances of success. Sometimes we only realize during such times what we are capable of as these times test our abilities. The will to fulfil against all odds is at its peak when we have lots at stake. To emerge as a winner in all we do, breaking the shackles of mediocrity is extremely important. A calculated risk will always allow us to explore the unknown and sometimes even explore our own worthiness! If we don’t allow ourselves that chance we may lose the opportunity to know more about our own self. In our careers as well as our personal lives, we owe ourselves that chance, that risk to keep bringing out the best in us. Today I am at that time of my life, where I think I am starting all over again! While I explore the unknown, and test a new direction in life, I hope I emerge as a winner at the end of the journey. Till then, here I raise a toast to A FRESH BEGINNING!

Diwali Issue Oct 2011 - Introduction to Growing Up Again Section

GROWING UP AGAIN! - What flashes your mind if you have to interpret this statement?
Well it is true that there are more than one ways of construing a text, and each way can hold a different meaning. Our interpretations vary with our experiences and the meaning of each statement differs for every individual based on his past life experiences. Growing Up Again – A mere statement which (to my surprise), MS WORD does not term as a fragmented sentence can have a deep meaning for someone, while someone else might simply call it an imagination which can never occur! It is indeed very interesting to read how our writers dissect a mini statement to make sense to themselves and express their version of “Growing Up Again!”
“What you perceive, your observations, feelings, interpretations, are all your truth. Your truth is important. Yet it is not The Truth.” – Linda Ellinor. Well, “The Truth” is something we all struggle with, celebrate, mourn, rejoice, train and get trained about, work towards, inform, and learn everyday in our lives! Our lives are filled with situations and experiences – good and bad, which are the truths or so to say the facts of our lives which we are constantly dealing with. But each of us has our own world of imagination where we dare to dream and live the idealistic life! In this parallel life we as individuals are the centre of all activities and every thing and person revolving around us is a character either real or fictional living a life with us which is our imagination! Some of us are able to fulfill a few episodes out of this parallel script we write in our lives, while for some; the script merely remains to be a written script. Well I don’t know how true it is, but it could be a good reason for the many funny and unreal dreams or nightmares we see while asleep!
Throwing such an imaginative topic to our writers was an attempt to tear a leaflet out of their script and wander into this imaginative wonderland that they all have created for themselves. Fiction always makes for an interesting read, because it surpasses all boundaries of reality. Not always! But it definitely has the ability to beat what is true and glorify an imagination.
This Diwali, we present to you snippets out of the imagination of a few of our PP friends’ minds! Each of them has interpreted “Growing Up Again!” in their own unique style, giving all you readers a plethora of engaging content to read. We wish this journey of all our writers does give you all readers a new perspective than the ones you have designed for yourself. If not, I ensure you can get a sneak peak into their imaginative minds and treat yourself to some great articles to read!

Diwali Issue Oct 2011 - Growing Up Again!

Growing Up Again!
It was a usual Friday Night weekend party at a friend’s place. After all the ‘hungama’ and ‘masti’ with half of the crowd falling asleep, just before sunrise some of us started playing the game “Truth or Dare”. The most entertaining and deadly “DARES” did their usual rounds with all of us, and then it was our turn to finally play the TRUTH game! Some of us got away with some easy questions while some of us were cornered with some embarrassing and trying moments. With a closely knit group, there is never a need to lie but sometimes remembering a past moment in our lives can be rather embarrassing or at times an eye opener! One question that was etched in my mind even days after the party – “Tell us three things / events in your life you repent the most!” Well an ideal answer that we all like to give is “I repent nothing in my life, as I have learnt something from every experience of mine!” yes, this is a great answer probably in an interview for a job, but does this answer seem true to any of us? I am sure we all have some actions or events to repent in our lives which we never like to admit and keep covering them up by saying - “yes I admit it was a mistake but I don’t repent it as I learnt a lot from it!” Well that sure is a brave front to take and I am sure we learn a lot from our mistakes, but I am also sure of this that there are some mistakes that we wish we never did!
I would have never gone back in time to relive my past, had it not been for this article. “Growing Up Again!” – What an optimistic thought. I look at it as a chance to live my life again! Well that is technically impossible, but imagination can be as wild as that! And if I have to imagine this then some of these mistakes I would like to undo. Yes of course many of my mistakes did teach me a lot, and were definitely required to mould me into the person that I am today. Imagine what a wonderful feeling it is to have the maturity of a 30 year old and still have the ability to change or undo certain actions that I did in my adolescence or may be childhood! Life would be so perfect! But these imperfections in life itself teach us the path ahead! Those sweet mistakes which accidentally introduce us to the love of our life, or which cause a fight between two thick pals only to bring them closer together, would never see the light of the day! Those days of hiding a Mills & Boons behind the science text book pretending to study, and then crying over a low percentage, those days of splurging our pocket money in the first week of the month, only to beg and borrow for the remaining weeks, fighting with our dad for a low pocket money least realizing that it is silently teaching us to plan our finance, those days of cribbing over not having a room to ourselves only to grow up and realize how much we miss sharing the bed and secrets with our siblings, those days of envying older cousins on having their independence waiting for the day when we will start working ourselves, only to realize that childhood was that golden period of our lives which will never return, etc. etc. these are experiences, and sweet mistakes which are worth every tear, smile, frown, and sleepless night they bring along with them. But even today when I introspect, I remember certain situations which probably haven’t affected me much, but have troubled someone else in many ways! These are mistakes I may have committed unknowingly which may have hurt someone and in the heat of adolescence I must have never bothered to even make up to that person! Today as a 30 year old my reactions are far more calculated and thought over, but as a teenager I know I must have hurt a friend, or a loved one least bothering about his or her feelings. These are some of the spoken words, or actions that I would like to undo if I get a chance to live my life again!
I have been very fortunate to have had a wonderful, secure and happy childhood unlike many people I know! Childhood comprises of those formative years of our lives where the experiences and learnings actually mould us into unique individuals. Although we were 10 people living in one house, our family extended over a larger group with other cousins living in the same building as us. We were a family of almost 30 living under the same roof! In school I remember telling my teachers on various occasions that I live in a joint family, least knowing that mine actually was a unique joint family with almost 30 people living in the same building sharing, playing, celebrating, cribbing and crying together! We had the most wonderful vacations and never needed friends to spend time with, as our cousins were our best friends! We had what many children could only dream of - A financially and emotionally secure childhood! But what I appreciate today, I took it for granted as a child. At that time, at any given time, I could walk into any of my uncle’s home and find someone to talk to or play with right from a 75 year old to a 5 year old! Today I miss having all those people around me. On the third floor of our building all flats were occupied by our family, so often in the evenings, the main doors of those flats would be wide open and we would walk in freely and move around and play wherever we like. As a kid I used to hate to see those doors shut and would always assume that it is against the family’s tradition to keep those doors shut, but today, I am eagerly waiting for all of them to just come back in the re constructed building to live together not even bothering about those doors open or shut! When my parents decided to leave that flat and settle in Vikhroli, I visited my empty home many times before relocating myself…. But many years later recently when I saw pictures of our building terrace posted by a cousin on Facebook, I realized that I missed giving a last visit to that terrace which is witness to some of the most memorable moments of our lives. It was our cousins’ so called ‘adda’ where we have celebrated all festivals, played holi, organized fun n fares, had our birthday parties, in fact some of us must have celebrated all our milestone events on that terrace right from our own naming ceremony to birthdays to wedding sangeets, to baby showers and probably completed the circle with our kids’ naming ceremony too! This ‘adda’ cannot be replaced by any other hang out area in the world; still as a kid I never really appreciated it as much as I do today! Such a wonderful childhood probably could have just bettered had I appreciated all these things while I experienced them! If I have to grow up again, I would want to live exactly the same childhood with the awareness of being given life’s best childhood and the ability to appreciate the same at the same time!
Growing up again! – In a matter of a few hours I could relive my complete life and imagine what I would want to retain and undo in my life in a jiffy! Imagination can surely reveal some truths that we often overlook in reality. Well many situations and experiences in our lives happen out of our own or other’s actions and reactions. But there are some experiences that are led by fate and are not governed by anyone’s actions or reactions. Are we destined to see happiness and pain in the degree that we actually do or do we decide that degree ourselves? Can we rule our destiny? If I have to grow up again, Can I make that small change in my life, where I can plan my destiny? Can I undo an event when I have lost a dear one? Can I undo a mishap in the life of a close friend? Is it possible to evade a natural calamity? Will I still see that much pain in some other form, if these events have to change? May be yes, or may be no! I don’t really know the answer to this, but it would be great if in my second chance of growing up I could edit my life in such a fashion that I could contribute in a larger way towards my fate not merely through my actions and reactions, but by changing certain patterns in life which seem rather unpleasant. I know this isn’t possible in reality, but imagination need not be bound! It is only in our mind’s eye that we can see fiction and wishfully think of living it someday! Alas! Growing up again does seem to be a great option, but is not a reality… we are here to live just ONE life, and we must do all we can to live it to the fullest!! Here’s wishing all the readers a very Happy Diwali and as we step into the New Year, I wish another healthy, happy and prosperous year for all of us to live to the fullest!

June 2011 Editorial - The Making Of Pratyush

By the time you all read this article, the verdict will surely be out. But it is just the end of May, and as I write, my mental state of mind currently is all jitters thinking about our most awaited event of the year – Pratyush 2011 which will be showcased at Rangsharda Auditorium, Bandra (W) on June 11, 2011. Well the program needs no introduction. Most of us have been a witness to this extravaganza! This is our third consecutive year and I am confident that we shall rock! For the last two years, I have had the pleasure and the privilege to cover the event in Prabhu Tarun and the opportunity to thank everyone on and off the stage for putting up a massive show like this! Since this year, our event is held in the second week of June, we will be covering the event only in July. So that leaves me not much scope to talk about what and how it all happened! So I found an alternative way of covering Pratyush…
Well, for all of you Pratyush is an event which is slated to happen somewhere in June, and I hope you all have booked your tickets! But for US (Pratyush event organizers) it’s a journey that began three years back! Journey filled with tears both of joy as well as sadness, excitement, fun, tension, anger, frustration, happiness, pride, overwhelm, bliss and I can just go on. From the day we conceptualized this show, till date, it has been the most unpredictable journey.
Way back in November 2008, we conceptualized an event with dance! All we wanted to do was re-create the magic Prabhu Tarun created some years back in 1997 in Amrut Mahotsav, which was the 75th year of Prabhu Tarun, and the whole year was celebrated with various events. Although we were very young, and barely contributed to the organizing of the show, we were participating in it and loved every moment of the rehearsals. For us ‘dance’ was all that mattered, most of us were in college and studying in our crucial years, but still would find time to make it on time for rehearsals with loads of dedication. Our then choreographer Mrs. Nandita Dhurandhar did a great job and trained us to perform various dance forms on that stage. The then Editor of Prabhu Tarun Late Mr. Suhas Kothare was indeed successful in getting a bunch of youngsters together to put up a good show, which surely left an indelible impression on young minds like ours! Such great memories, and we were simply looking forward to reviving the same magical moments! All we wanted to do was bring the youth together and provide them a platform that we got years back to showcase their talent, which otherwise gets lost in the competitive world of academics and corporate life! We got a tremendous support from the Prabhu Tarun Board and soon we got going with conceptualizing the program. Mrs. Puja Ajinkya – The director for the first year, and Mr. Vishwas Natekar – The choreographer for the past three years did a fantastic job! We got a remarkable response from the community and could put together almost 70 participants on stage! The community witnessed the first of its kind mega event and everyone associated with the show won accolades for themselves!!!!
The next year, was even tougher as it raised expectations from people. This time we brought in a new director Mr. Satish Joshi, who brilliantly wove a script with various dances and Mr. Natekar again at his best, put up a massive show! Well, the output was sheer brilliance!!! With accolades coming from every corner of the community, it was a very overwhelming moment for us! Because, rising above already high expectation was a tough task, but we sailed through. All this was possible because of a great team that worked persistently to put up such a mega event! And here we are, all set to rock the same stage all over again!
Well the journey so far sounds very good. But behind this journey there is a lot of heartbreak, disappointment, and fear. Is that very shocking to know? Well it may be shocking but, it is true. If you all have noticed I have been referring to ‘US’ as ‘Pratyush event organizers’. These organizers are a part of the ‘Yuva Manch’ committee and have selflessly given their time and have put in efforts to make this show happen. They volunteer for work only because they feel the urge to give something back to the community and by choice put in all the efforts without awaiting any orders from the Prabhu Tarun Board. But some who want to only be called a part of the committee for their vested interest, with time choose to walk away. It is indeed very strange to see success get into people’s heads. It is very unfortunate that some people just need more attention. They start thinking that the accolades are only for and because of them, but the fact will always remain that it’s the team effort that makes it happen. Talent is appreciated when it is exhibited humbly. People play politics on a stage which for us is nothing less than worship; such power seeking people can never garner respect and hence start drifting away from the team’s joint missions. The way a rotten potato spoils the entire basket of potatoes, similarly, they drifting away also leaves their residual negative energy and stench. We as a committee suffered in the bargain, losing many participants to this rotten potato!
Pratyush is all about the people participating in the show. As long as such negative vibes are only restricted to the committee, it is easy to handle. But when it starts trickling down towards the participants, it gets difficult to manage. Participants are ultimately young bloods, who get carried away by the words spoken by some who are all out there to ruin the show. Now you may ask that why would there be anyone who would want to ruin the show? Well we have experienced people whose nuisance value has risen to the hilt only because they have not been able to get the power to rule and the attention they feel they deserve while planning a program like this in spite of working in the committee. I know it sounds absurd and immature, may be it seems even more childish for someone like me to mention it here. This is not because I want to express my woes to you, but this is because we as a team want to appeal to all the participants.
We so eagerly wait every year, for your participation in this show, which provides you a platform to showcase your talent. We were never as lucky to get professional guidance in various art forms and stand on such a massive stage and perform. Here we are bringing it on a platter for you all and the least we want is a little bit of cooperation and support by being there and participating. Now that’s not asking for too much. Don’t wait for your friends to come, as here is where you originally met your friends, so if some don’t come never mind, you will make new friends! It is the art that binds the people together, and with clean intentions and a thirst to learn there will always be scope to find like minded people and grow your network even bigger.
All this may have dampened our spirits but we still have it in us to give this year our best shot! Not for anyone but for those participants who without complaining have always supported us through thick and thin. We started off on setting up a stage for the community and we are continuing our mission. We don’t know how long we can continue, but we are proud of these three years we have slogged it out along with all our participants. So all of you hold your breath, and raise a toast to the best event that could have happened in the history of our community, as we unfold Pratyush 2011. Starring a huge bunch of enthusiastic PPs, drama scripted and directed by Sanjoo Talpade and Bhakti Pradhan Shete, and dances of course choreographed by Vishwas Natekar! We guarantee you a rollicking ride as you experience another extravaganza from our kitty! Looking forward to seeing all of you come and cheer our little, young and old participants. I personally wish to dedicate this year’s Pratyush to all those participants who have stood by us like rocks through all the three years by contributing in their own way and encouraging us to keep coming back with a bang!

February Editorial - She's Always a Woman to Me

“In order to impact my world the way I wanted to impact it, I was going to have to become a woman of substance.” – Susan Meier (Author)
What defines a woman of substance? I think a woman of substance is someone who by sheer living makes a difference in this world. She is the one who attempts and fails, but does not mull over the failure! She is the one who can lead unconditionally! She is NOT a spectator but she is the EXECUTOR who is willing to stand by her decisions however wrong they may go! For her family and friends, SHE is a part of the SOLUTION.

We often misunderstand a Woman of Substance to be the same as a Career Woman. A woman need not be a career woman to become a ‘woman of substance’. There are many women I know who are struggling to find their identity in the corporate world, while that does not stop them from being the women of substance, a working status does not qualify them to be one either. A woman proves her metal at home by being the perfect homemaker, multi-tasking between the kitchen and the kids and others in the family! She is the one who moulds the children in the house, helps them grow and become better and successful human beings! For a homemaker her job is well done if she has successfully fulfilled her duties towards her family keeping her own identity intact. Duties she easily fulfills but she often forgets to prioritize her own needs and desires, losing her identity in the bargain. Being a homemaker is a 24/7 job, therefore it is very crucial for her to voice her personal priorities, do the things she likes which give her satisfaction. She has to have her own world which gives her enough space to move out of the mundane. I know of women who are homemakers and still take time out, this is their “ME” time! They run classes, or join hobby classes, do gardening, charity, explore places, meditate, cook, paint, decorate their house or even clean their house! But they certainly do not sit at home and pity their state and expect empathy in return. These women know to respect themselves and their time and therefore command respect from others as well. Many of us when asked to name one “woman of substance” we know, will name our own mothers! These mothers are the ones who have got IT right! That makes them efficient, effective at the same time happy individuals! And after all, A happy homemaker makes a happy home!

Yes indeed homemakers are role models in their own way, but we cannot leave the ‘corporate woman’ out from this discussion. The status of women has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia especially in India. In modern India, women have adorned high offices on the corporate as well as political front and have contributed to some of the most path-breaking success stories in the history of Corporate India. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a great revolution in the history of women.

But the corporate world does not change rules by gender, therefore today; a woman has to be as tough as a man to prove her metal here! She has to fight preconceived notions that she will compromise on work because of her commitments at home. Or that she will NOT be able to physically manage the job like the way men do it! Rather there are men and sadly even some women who think that a woman is best where she deserves to be i.e. home! Now that’s nasty!

By nature women are great at multi-tasking, when at home they can gossip over the phone while watching a TV serial! They can run through their child’s studies while setting up the washing machine! They can cook as well as instruct the house helpers about their daily chores! In short while men at home boast about being uni-functional devices, which they so proudly claim if asked to contribute in household chores, women seem to be the best bet in the corporate world, if they have the right opportunity to prove their talent and use this same multi-tasking ability at work. And with time women have successfully found their foothold in the corporate world, and climbed to the topmost rung of the corporate ladder, far above the glass ceiling, shattering it to smithereens. From Shehnaz Hussain & Indira Nooyi, to Chanda Kochar women have proved that they are here to widen their own horizons and enrich the corporate world with what they have to offer. Like them, many women today have understood their scope and identified their area of expertise in whichever field they opt. Today, a woman does not mind doing that extra struggle juggling between her home and work, if at the end of the day she has mental satisfaction through work and peace through her home. She is independent and there for a cause! She has a point of view in the decisions both at work and at home, and she loves her struggle and her “no time for nonsense” status as her focus is well defined. Every such woman in my eyes is a woman of substance. She knows what she wants and also knows how far she can go to achieve it and then relentlessly works towards her goals!

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women: past, present and future. While I believe that we co-exist with men and do not need such days to celebrate US, I also feel that such days give us a reason to look within ourselves and appreciate ourselves for what we are. May be the men think it is not fair to have a special day for us, and we don’t have such MEN’s days to celebrate them! But for all you men out there, on this very occasion of the upcoming women’s day go ahead and wish at least two women who you think are “women of substance” giving them reasons why you feel so, and you shall be made to feel SPECIAL for the rest of your lives ! This suggestion coming from another woman cannot be futile! Try it and you will realize that women are those special species on this earth that can make your lifetime as special as you like it! If you are still not convinced then let me conclude and remind you of a song written by a MAN dedicated to all WOMEN describing them! And the song goes…..

She’s Always a Woman to Me
- Billy Joel
Oh--she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She's ahead of her time
Oh--and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind

She is frequently kind
And she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobody's fool
And she can't be convicted
She's earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But she's always a woman to me

November 2010 Diwali Issue - The Last Day of the World

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!

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!!!

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