Why a change?

Well, people change their jobs, bikes, even girl-friends (or happens otherwise?  Donno...) Now, just allow me changing the blog hosting site  Actually, Blogdrive has been good; until it started refusing me uploading any new file  

BTW, your feedback has been always motivating to keep penning down; whatever crap comes to my mind...

Future of the Past

Why, why, why….
We ridiculed telephone, when we were using telegram…
We ridiculed Personal computers and boasted – "There's market for only 5 PCs in the World!"
We ridiculed the shoe salesman who believed, in Africaland with everybody with bare feet – "Here's ample opportunity for business"
Have we learnt from the Past? Have we really used our Past to make our Future?

Why, why, why….
Have we learnt from 1857's first wave of Independence, from our freedom fight?
Then, we united, we fought, we succeeded…
Now, are we really liberated? Did we learn from Past? Why are we still facing the communal riots, fighting injustice, regional fanaticism? 
Have we learnt from the Past? Have we really used our Past to make our Future?

Why, why, why….
Why are we so afraid of changing?
Why are we still following proven paths and killing the person who has the guts to flow against the stream?
Why couldn't we appreciate Wisdom of Galileo? Why was he criticized?
Why don't we understand that stones are not thrown on fruitless tree?
Why can't we understand that we had made our Future in the Past – we had made our Present in the Past?
Why, why, why….

So… is the World always negative? No hope around?

NO, Certainly NOT!
We HAVE the conviction that we can design our Future!
We have the guts to challenge the Present and craft our Future… A Bright Future for us, for our people, for our society and for our country!!!

After all, our Present will be Past of our Future.
That means, we have our Future in our hand Now.
Certainly, we are the change…
And, if not now, WHEN???

शायद कल हो न हो ....................
 
(These random thoughts were scribbled on 12th March, 07 within 20 minutes during Soft skills workshop on the Topic "Future of the Past")

Be busy and happy..

Love… Laugh… Think positive..

Rely on your own capabilities..

You are not inferior.. Don't be afraid of being ridiculed..

Always be with Friends - Hobbies - Music - Children - Books..

Live the Life your own way!

Boredom breaks…

Days were dull… time had stagnated… never-ending exams were going on n' on… everybody in my MBA class was quite tired, frustrated, anxious and desperately required a break!

 

& really, the repeated boredom and end of examinations were such a killing combination that it was very easily triggered by weekend holidays… and bang! We friends decided to move on for an outing… Among the different choices for the trip, from destinations for pure fun at luxurious resorts to places of natural wonders to pure historical/ tourism type places, one place really caught out attention… Pondicherry or now renamed as Puducherry!

 

Located on the Southern part of India on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal and bound by Tamil Nadu on the North, West and South; Pondicherry the little Union Territory lies in the eastern side of the Indian Peninsula.

 

Even after spending 1.5 yrs in Bangalore, I hadn't have got chance to visit any place towards south of Bangalore. So, I readily joined the gang of boys.

 

Haunting overnight journey…

And, the wheel started rolling… It was 4 p.m. by which Manas, Ankur, Saurabh, Abhishek started planning for the trip and a Qualis for transport was quickly arranged. By 9:30 p.m., we had left the hostel for Pondicherry…

 

Before leaving, I glanced through the web pages to get some information about Pondicherry. Most of the information looked quite okay. I joined the team just to chill out, and not expecting much from the place. But, over the next two days, I was going to be proved wrong. There were going to be tons of surprises over the entire journey…

 

With uncommon friends coming together, it was really unusual group from my MBA class. Though we have been together in a class, sometimes we tend to be within sub-groups, the close-nit groups with whom we are most comfortable and lose the opportunities to gain from other individuals, their experiences...

 

Around 9:30 p.m., we crossed the never ending traffic thro' the "Electronic city", the focal point of Bangalore IT. An hour of wait at the Tamilnadu entry check post and cup of tea permitted us enter the state of Tamilnadu near Hosur. National Highway No. 7 has a unique significance, as it runs cross-country from Varanasi to Kanyakumari. Excellent state highway led us to Krishnanagar via Hosur and we followed NH-66 further to Pondicherry. From Krishnanagar, one can travel to Chennai following NH4. Again, NH4 has a special place in my mind, as it touches my home-town Pune. Okee… enough about the highways… 

 

As we entered NH-66, suddenly the environment started changing… We were surrounded by different style of rock & hills. Chilling air and rocking songs in the Qualis overjoyed us. I could sense smell of fresh mango flowers (mohor, in Marathi) from the surrounding farms. It was a single lane road with periodic potholes, slowing down our speed. We were enjoying the journey with the road, turning gently through thick trees and small villages around.

 

It was 2:30 a.m. We stopped by a tea shop. Here, the chai-wala was preparing tea in different style. A very concentrated tea syrup was already prepared that contained some milk as well. While serving the tea, the chai-wala was adding hot milk to the concentrate through a long filter. It was nice to notice such small differences, unique to the land. Though we were just 100 km away from Bangalore, the villages in Tamilnadu immediately had entirely different look and feel, not much resembling with Kannada village.

 

It was indeed a long overnight journey covering 350 km to reach Pondicherry. Our driver was also now tired....

 

Pondicherry Calling, "Le copain bienvenu, détendent maintenant…" (Welcome buddy, relax now...)

I sensed that the Qualis had stopped somewhere… Oh… I didn't know when I had slept during the long travel and here I was, already in Pondicherry. It was clearly a different environment around us - clean roads, white-gray colored buildings clearly forming the ambience of the city.

 

The land does not promise a stock of monuments, as we travel to Pondicherry. Despite being a seaside resort, it is different from typical beach resorts. The history of modern Pondicherry began with the arrival of the French in 1673. It became a part of Indian Union in 1954. The French air still wanders around the city streets, across the buildings…

 

No room available in Pondicherry!  

The very first view of the sea refreshed us. We hoped to find place in one of the beach resorts. On the Chennai road, we visited every sea side resort available. One needs to book room in advance, to stay in any one of the beach resorts. Apart from the decent Banyan Beach Resort, all other resorts like Hotel Ashok (ITDC), Kailash Beach Resort, The Dune (Beach Resort) were extremely costly. Due to the weekend rush of tourists, none of the resort had any vacancy. Finally, we gave up after couple of hours' search and got rooms in a very boring lodge in the heart of the city. Apparently, everybody was dissatisfied to stay in such lodge, but the same place was going to be very beneficial further. For next couple of hours, we slept as if we hadn't have sleep since ages… But, we had no choice but to start with the sightseeing ASAP. With some shopping of T-shirts & shorts, everybody geared up for the Fun under the Sun @ the Sea!

 

And, Delicious food welcomes us at Beach...

We slowly traveled to the Auroville beach, exploring Pondicherry. Pondicherry is a typical south Indian Tamilian city, but with distinct French flavor. The Auroville Beach, as the name suggests, is close to Auroville. It is right opposite the road leading to Auroville. The beach is located around 12 km from the main Puducherry town. We entered Hotel Muthu and literally were thrilled with the wooden huts, benches, home-made simple tasty food, sea food. If you are planning Pondicherry trip well in advance, this is the place to stay. The ambience absolutely refreshed our minds. Just before 18-20 hours, everybody was dull; but now we were in an entirely different world, in a mood as if we had been having fun time since weeks. We relaxed, chatted. Everybody had started enjoying the entire experience.

 

 

Auroville Beach…

Although the ambience at the hotel was great, now the sea was pulling us. We ran towards the sea and here it came roaring, welcoming us with thousands of waves. I was taking "darshan" of the Bay of Bengal for the first time. One wave followed another, without tiring for a moment. Every time I visit any seashore – Atlantic at Atlantic City, Pacific at California, Gulf of Mexico next to Galveston - Houston, Pensacola beach Florida, Arabian sea next to Kokan,… every time, the ocean has something different to offer, has its own identity.

 

Here, in Pondicherry it was great to see something really big. The massive scale of sea teaches us humility. It was hard to believe that the very same sea has potential of mass destruction, remember the mass-destruction by Tsunami! But, still it was offering a lot to everybody – fishermen, tourists, trade, rain water…

 

Pondicherry beach is known for shallow waters and small waves, making this an ideal place for swimming. The beaches here are relatively clean and less crowded. Activity is not the highlight of a Pondicherry tour. Come here to roam about, feel the spirit and be charmed. This beach with its serene surroundings was an ideal place to laze away our day. Mangroves were quite less, but the entire coast was full of coconut trees. Climate was surprisingly extremely pleasant. We were expecting lot of humidity, but cool breezes welcomed us. Sarabjeet took nice pictures of all of us, while we played for hours in the sand, with the waves, jumped, danced, played volleyball, cracked jokes, and enjoyed every bit of the company of friends and the sea...

 

To Auroville, the 'City of Down'...

Further, we moved to visit the Auroville, main tourist attraction in Pondicherry. Lot of foreigners were traveling on the road on second-hand bikes, mopeds – quite a funny site, it was. A small road thro' lush greenery led us to the entry gate of Auroville. Auroville is set in a rural landscape of narrow lanes, deep red earth and lush greenery. It was 4 p.m. and we wouldn't have been allowed visiting "the Globe of the Matri Mandir" after 4:30 p.m. So, we ran madly amid green jungle on the jungle tracks.

 

Auroville was conceived as a utopian paradise by the Mother, the spiritual successor of Sri Aurobindo. The idea was to build a futuristic city where people of goodwill would live together in peace and harmony. Around 1900 people live in communes and sustain themselves by involving themselves in agriculture, handicrafts, alternative technology, educational and development projects including Aurolec, a computer software company.

 

During the inauguration ceremony of Auroville on 28th February 1968, the soil of 124 countries was poured into a lotus-shaped an urn, to symbolize universal oneness. This urn is today kept in the Matri Mandir. This spherical marble chamber has a crystal placed inside it (believed to be the largest of its kind in the world), reflecting the suns rays. The concentrated light acts as a focal point to aid mediation.

 

We then visited the Visitor Centre at Auroville and tried to understand the history and philosophy of the settlement, various projects and activities undertaken by the community...

 

An evening @ Pondicherry Promenade...

The 1.5 km long promenade (walkway) running along the beach is the pride of Puducherry. We strolled on the sea front visiting several land marks, the War memorial, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, old light house, local carnival, the old customs house, lot of crowd and amazing sea spread up to horizon...

 

After a descent south Indian dinner, we surely deserved deep sleep. Next day, lots of surprises were waiting for us…

 

Heavenly sunrise @ the beach...

The sea being on the Eastern side of the city, the sunrise was certainly not worth missing. Tejas & I got up very early and rushed to the beach. We were staying at a place in the heart of city, so we took a walk to the beach. Old French style buildings, churches and museums, tree-lined boulevards along the seashore reminded us of a bygone era. In Pondicherry, history still lingers in its buildings and boulevards. The French legacy is evident in its landscaped town and imposing churches. People travel to Pondicherry because of its ambience. The Laidback Township, pristine beach and the palm trees swaying in breeze were bringing a slice of serenity...

 

Now, we were waiting eagerly for the sunrise… We waited, waited and waited and here came out the Lord, shining n' blessing the World! A perfect "Saakshatkar" Sunrise at Pondicherry! Since I come from the western part of India, this was the first time, I watched Sun rising from the Sea. The only sound we were hearing was from the waves crashing against the rocks and the chirping of the birds!

  

Sri Aurobindo Samadhi soothes the mind and soul…

My parents and sisters were quite excited knowing that I had been visiting Pondicherry. So, they had been insisting me visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The tight schedule of the trip would not have allowed us finding and visiting the Ashram. Visiting Pondicherry and not visiting the Ashram would have bothered me a lot. I desperately wanted visiting the Ashram...

 

Tejas & I were wandering through the lanes and roads of the city. We were appreciating the French style of construction. Name plates and road names were still in French. I recollected my memories of the city of New Orleans, USA which is again a French colony and has similar French flavor across the city.

 

I noticed a board mentioning "Aurobindo Ashram post office". It was clearly evident that we were very near the ashram. And yes, the Ashram was just few footsteps away from us. I was really delighted. I really believe that if you have very, very strong desire to do something, call it "Sankalp", you can really achieve it! My "Sankalp" was fruitful! I could really reach and visit the Ashram...

 

The Samadhi is located in the Ashram where Sri Aurobindo and the Mother worked for many years. Ashram is one of the most well known and wealthiest ashrams in India. The Ashram was set up in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo Ghose (pronounced and often written as Ghosh), one of India's greatest philosopher-poets, who originally came to Pondicherry to escape persecution by the British. It was after arriving in Pondicherry, that he was drawn into the spiritual realm and discovered the power of yoga. His philosophy deeply rooted in yoga and his writings inspired a number of followers.

   

The ashram's influence can be felt in most of Puducherry. The main ashram building is where the mortal remains of Aurobindo and the Mother are kept. Their 'Samadhi' or mausoleum, which is generally surrounded by supplicating devotees, is in the central courtyard under a frangipani tree and is covered daily with flowers.

 

Message given by "the Mother", engraved on Sri Aurobindo Samadhi: "To Thee who hast been the material envelope of our Master, to Thee our infinite gratitude. Before Thee who hast done so much for us, who hast worked, struggled, suffered, hoped, endured so much, before Thee who hast willed all, attempted all, prepared, achieved all for us, before Thee we bow down and implore that we may never forget, even for a moment, all we owe to Thee."

 

More surprises follow… found the unique Ganesh Mandir - Manakula Vinayagar Koil… 

While checking information about Pondicherry, I had read about Manakula Vinayagar Koil, a 300 year old Ganesh temple. Just next to the Ashram, we found this Ganesh Mandir as well. It has a golden spire and walls portraying forty different forms of Ganesha. The temple also has a smaller shrine dedicated to Lord Murugan (Kartikeya), who is Ganesha's brother. The temple compound also plays host to 'Lakshmi', the temple elephant, who uses her trunk to dispense blessings and to collect coins from the devotees.

 

Paradise beach comes last; but rejuvenates the entire experience of the trip...

With the rich paybacks from unexpected surprises of sunrise at the beach, visits to Aurobindo Ashram & Ganesh Mandir, I wouldn't have expected any more returns over and above this breakeven. But, biggest delight of the trip was still ahead - Paradise Beach! After traveling 8 km from the town, we reached the Chunnambar Resort along the Cuddalore Main Road.

 

At the resort, overnight stay within the tree-houses on the backwater banks can provide a relishing experience of the great outdoors. But, even this resort did not attract us here. The Chunnambar backwater and paradise beach were really the magnets that pulled us to the place.

 

 

It was absolutely fascinating to notice a very narrow line of beach at a distance in front of us – the Paradise beach. Paradise beach is a very narrow blade of elevation separating Chunnambar backwater and the Bay of Bengal. Flanked by a quiet flowing creek on one side, the beach can only be accessed by boat. The beach at Chunnambar, also known as Plage Paradiso, is located near the mouth of the backwater. The sand is pristine and the water is clean. It's an ideal place for sun bathing and beach sports.

 

A ferry boat took us thro' the backwater. The backwater was quite shallow, very quiet and protected as compared the free sea facing the south-east Asia. A motor-boat slowly sailed us to Paradise beach. The slow journey ensured that we enjoyed the fresh and relaxed breezes, company of buddies, thick wall of coconut trees, an old stone temple, adding unique flavor to portrait - entire feel as if we were visiting Kerala backwaters. Every moment was sooo enjoyable, that we had been completely engrossed in the surroundings.

 

Noticeably, the Paradise beach is just at the most 10 feet above the sea level. So, even if we are on the backwater side and though the sea is behind the beach, we are easily able to watch the sea roaring, dancing towards the Paradise beach…. A fantastic site, certainly!

 

Few fishermen at a distance were fighting with the waves - perfectly orchestrated efforts to sail through the sea! It was told that a short, pleasant cruise into the sea from here could reward the tourists with the memorable sight of playful dolphins in natural habitat, horsing around. There was a very small shallow portion of beach where the sea was penetrating to the land, creating the entire backwater behind the Paradise beach. This place offered a unique collage of AMAZING soft sand, colors, water, trees at Paradise beach – a complete delight!

 

We reached the Paradise beach and actually could not believe our eyes. An completely virgin beach – lonely, clean without any footsteps, crystal clear water, delicate and extra soft sand, deep blue sea with its eternal boundaries,… Ohh ho, we just went mad looking at the site. We are seldom lucky in our life to be at such places. My 5 senses were too weak to "feel" the ambience in totality. So, I took deep breath to feel the entire mahol (ambience) and thanked the Lord to make trip to such heavenly place possible.

 

We strolled, jumped, danced, played, laughed, rejoiced, and went totally crazy… The perpetual waves never missed a single chance to wipe out the foot-prints and kept its beach as if nothing ever happened there, nobody ever visited the place. I wondered – In our life, can't we learn something from these waves? Can't we forget about the past and start again with clean slate? Why do we keep cribbing about the damages done to us due to the unsought events? Yes, it is certainly in our hands to make use of present, use present to move on… 

 

Memories to cherish forever…

And, rest of journey was just icing on the cake! Super-fast journey back to Bangalore, thanks to the convoy of vehicles of the minister we chased; full-stomach awesome lunch at the Dhaba, as if we haven't had food for years, the haunting songs in the Qualis, road-side rocky hills, ruins of old forts, crops…. Everything was too good and total fun!

 

To summarize, a trip that won't be easily forgotten for years!

Pondicherry rocks!

To be precise, we explored the Heaven, also known as Pondicherry!

Picture: NaNe Ghat, 28th Nov 2000

Life these days... Functions, parameters, variables n' loops - unwinding, darkening, rewinding, confusing, diffusing...

while(1)
{
sleep(from1hr/day_to12hrs/day);
hike(passionately);
music(from_heart);
chill_maDi(mast);
surf(unlimited);
read(garbage_stuff, eternal_stuff);
eat(set-dosa);
bike(Pulsar_on_NH4_@100kmph);
consult(@life);
confuse(self, others);
}

I don't want to be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me!

Jack Nicholson, The Departed

आपली मुलं कशी बनावीत असं तुम्हांला वाटतं - पुस्तकी किडे, दूरचित्रवाणीचे/ संगणकाचे गुलाम आणि उध्दट - गर्विष्ट की निरोगी आणि अष्टपैलू All-rounder? खुरटलेली, रोगट, विक्षीप्त, चिडखोर की "अष्टपैलू" म्हणजेच सर्वांगीण/ ३६० अंशातून विकास झालेली?

मुलांना मागेल ते तातडीनं विकत आणून दिलं म्हणजे संपली आपली जबाबदारी? आहे आपल्याला थोडा वेळ मुलांच्या गप्पा ऐकायला, त्याच्याबरोबर प्रकल्प बनवायला, प्रसंगी त्यांना कडक समजूत द्यायला? 

मुलांचा नैसर्गिक कल ऒळखून त्यांना कला/ क्रिडा अश्या क्षेत्रातही पुढं जाउ द्यायचंय की आपल्या इच्छांची सक्ती करायचीये? आज प्रत्येकालाच का बनवायचंय Doctor/ Engineer/ MBA आणि पाठवायचंय अमेरिकेत कायमस्वरुपी dollars कमवायला?

मुलांपुढे कोणाचे आदर्श असावेत - स्वार्थी आणि आप्पलपोटी राजकारण करणारे मालिकांमधले अभिनेत्यांचे की इन्फ़ोसीसच्या नारायण मुर्तींचे?

हा असणार आहे आपला निर्णय! सर्वस्वी आपलाच निर्णय!!!

खरं तर यशाची निसंदिग्ध व्याख्या करता आली पाहिजे... गुणांची टक्केवारीच म्हणजेच सगळं काही का! बुद्धिमत्ता म्हणजे काय फ़क्त अभ्यासातली पोपटपंची? मुलांमधला निरागसपणा, नाविन्याची ओढ, जिद्न्यासा दाबून टाकण्याच्या मागे आपण का लागतो?  वर्गात पहिला येणार्या, पण रस्त्यावर कोणाला पत्ता विचारायला किंवा घरी आलेल्या पाहुण्यांशी २ वाक्यं बोलायला लाजणार्या मुलाच्या बुद्धिमत्तेचा काय फ़ायदा! 

  (Picture: My nephews Tanmay, Sameer and Ishaan; 03Nov05)

आज मुलं असायला पाहिजेत ना निरोगी मनोव्रुत्तीची, smart आणि mature! चांगले छंद, अवांतर वाचन, छात्र प्रबोधन सारखी उत्क्रुष्ठ मासिकं, Discovery/ National Geographic/ Internet जगाचं दालनं मोकळी उघडतील...

भरपूर खेळ खेळायची आवड निर्माण झाली पाहिजे. खेळ लावतात शारीरिक कस, शिकवतात गटात काम करायला आणि प्रसंगी तडजोड करायलाही; खेळ शिकवतात पराभव स्विकारण्याचं धैर्य, नेत्रुत्वगुण, निर्णयक्षमता अंगी बाणायला...  जाउ द्या मुलांना डोंगर - द-यांमध्ये मुक्तपणे भटकायला. शिवरायांचे गड-किल्ले त्यांना सांगतील काय असते स्वातंत्र्याचं मूल्य, घामेजल्यावर - दमल्यावर गोड जुनं टाकं शिकवेल पाण्याचं मोल, क्रुतद्न्यता वाटेल आपल्या पूर्वजांची ज्यांनी घेतले कष्ट अश्या उंचीवर टाकं खोदण्याचे! डोंगरमाथ्यावरचं एकुलतं झाड बघून दिठी सुखावेल, दरीची खोली बघून छातीचा ठोका चुकेल, कातळकड्यांच्या राकट रौद्रभीषण भव्यतेनं भारावतील, अथांग पसरलेल्या सिंधूसागराची गाज ऐकून थरारून जातील......

ह्या सार्या गोष्टी मुलांचं अनुभवविश्व सम्रुद्ध बनवतील. कणखरपणा, धीटपणा, धाडसीव्रुत्ती, धडाडी असं खूप काही शिकवून जातील. बुद्धिबळासारखा एखादा बैठा खेळ सुद्धा शिकवतो डाव-प्रतिडाव खेळायला, प्रतिस्पर्ध्याच्या चाली ऒळखून त्यावर प्रतिहल्ला करण्याचं कौशल्य! व्यावहारिक चातुर्य, सामान्य द्न्यान, साहित्य, खेळ, निबंध, वक्त्रुत्व, चित्रकला हे सारं सारं हवंच रोजच्या अभ्यासाच्या जोडीला!

हे सगळं ठीक आहे, मग काय केलं पाहिजे आपण?
शिक्षा नको, शिस्त हवी!
जबाबदार पालकत्व हवे, पण त्याचा ओव्हरडोस नको!
मुलांमध्ये समाजात वावरण्याकरता गुण बाणायला हवेत!
आपल्या कामातल्या ताणतणावाचा मुलांवर राग कशाला काढायचाय!
गुण-दोष काढत बसायला नको, ते सुधारता कसं येईल आणि सकारात्मक, खेळकर व्रुत्ती कशी बनेल, याकडं लक्ष हवं!
आपण यालाच संस्कार म्हणत आलो, हल्ली कोणी याला म्हणेल "Positive Parenting"! काहीही म्हणा हो, पण शेवटी निर्णय आपलाच आहे ना......

बोला, आपल्या पाल्याला बनवायचंय सखाराम गटणे की सचिन तेंडुलकर?

(वरील लेखन श्री साईनाथ बालक मंदिर, चिंचवड, पुणे यांच्या ३५ व्या वर्धापनदिनानिमित्त काढण्यात आलेल्या स्मरणिकेकरता केलं आहे.)

मराठी चित्रपटांना खूप जुनी परंपरा आहे... आणि पूर्वी काही चित्रपट खूप मजेशीर असायचे, जसे की
१. शिवाजी महाराजांचे type - सूर्यकांत चंद्रकांत यांचे शिवाजी महाराज, बहिर्जी, मांसाहेब...
२. लक्ष्या, अशोक सराफ़, महेश कोठारे - काही खूप छान होते, कधी कधी पकवलं solid
३. गावचे पाटिल (निळू फ़ुले), लावणी, गरीब बिच्चारा शेतकरी, देखणी बायको, फ़टफ़टीवर फ़िरणारे तरूण
४. रमेश देव, सीमा type शहरी
५. रडके - ताईच्या बांगड्या, इत्यादी
६. काही छळपट - माहेरच्या साड्या/ बांगड्या/ गायी, आणि तत्सम.....

सद्ध्या खरंच दर्जेदार चित्रपट येत आहेत... काही उत्तम चित्रपट:
१. १० वी फ़
२. निवडुंग (Hridaynath चं संगीत)
३. संत तुकाराम
४. एक डाव भूताचा (अशोक सराफ़ चा मावळा सही होता. खूप वेळा रविवारी हा movie लागेल अशी अफ़वा असायची, आणि "दूर"दर्शन निराशा करायचं...)
५. थरथराट - चांगला प्रयत्न होता
६. श्यामची आई
७. सैल (दिग्दर्शन: गजेंद्र अहिरे, संगीत: Hridaynath) - बघायचाय अजून (गाणी आहेत का कोणाकडे? desparately searching)
८. कळत नकळत (विक्रम गोखले, अश्विनी भावे, अशोक सराफ़)
९. सर्जा (बाबासाहेब पुरंदरेंच्या "शेलारखिंड" या amazing कादंबरीवर आधारीत - अजिंक्य देव होता त्यात)
१०. पिज़रा
११. सिंहासन: जब्बार पटेल दिग्दशि॔त सिंहासन राजकारणावर आधारीत चित्रपट आहे. सत्ताकेद्रित नेते लॊकांचे सद्द स्थितीतही लागु हॊणारे यथाथ॔ चित्रण... अरूण सरनाईक, श्रीराम लागु आणि निळु फुले यांचा सुरेख अभिनय..
अरूण सरनाईकांसारख्या सक्षम अभिनेत्याने वठवविलेला "मुख्यमंत्री जिवाजीराव", निळूफुलेंनी साकार केलेला हतबल पत्रकार "दिगू टिपणीस", सरड्यासारखा रंग पालटणारा कामगार नेता "डिकोस्टा", नाना पाटेकरने सादर केलेला दिशाहीन आणि गुन्हेगारी मार्गाला लागलेला तरूण, ह्या सर्व पात्रांनी या चित्रपटाला अजरामर केले आहे. राजकीय सत्ता आणि विशेषतः मुख्यमंत्रीपद यासाठी होणा-या नेत्यांच्या चढाओढीमध्ये सामान्य माणसाची होणारी ससेहोलपट, समाजाचे कधीच न सुटू शकणारे प्रश्न आणि लोकांची संकुचित मानसिकता याचे एका प्रामाणिक पत्रकाराच्या दॄष्टिकोनातून केलेले वास्तववादी चित्रण म्हणजे "सिंहासन"

१२. श्वास
१३. तू तिथे मी
१४. उत्तरायण
१५. बनगरवाडी
१६. वजीर - अशोक सराफ़ आणी विक्रम गोखले
१७. देवराई
१८. चौकट राजा
१९. सवत माझी लाडकी
२०. सरकारनामा
२१. पक पक पकाक
२२. रात्रारंभ
२३. अशी ही बनवा बनवी
२४. सातच्या आत घरात
२५. सिंहासन
२६. बिनधास्त
२७. अनाहत
२७. मुक्ता

२८. राष्ट्रपती पुरस्कार विजेता "जैत रे जैत"
कथा: गो. नी. दाण्डेकर यांच्या उत्क्रुष्ठ मूळ कादंबरीवर आधारीत कथेचं दिग्दर्शन केलं होतं जब्बार पटेल यांनी.
कलाकार: मोहन आगाशे, स्मिता पाटील
Hridaynath यांचं अद्वितीय संगीत, ना.धो.महानोर यांचे शब्द
संगीताच्या वाटेनं खूप वेगळी हाताळणी केली होती चित्रपटाची
फ़क्त कादंबरीपेक्षा शेवट का बदलला हे नाही पटलं.

आणि इतरही बरेच...... परत सगळे सगळे  बघावेसे वाटताहेत!

Orkut, a community website - "network of trusted friends"! A truly bright idea conceptualized on the Internet - bringing the slam books; "college-katta"s (chat-places) of any college, short messaging all at one place on the internet! Access to the site is only by invitation, so only trusted friends can join your friend-list. One can create an online profile for display - similar to a slam-book profile, what youth used to create. One can create/ join different communities of people having similar interests, similar to any typical "college-katta" (chat-place) of a college…

Being a network of friends, it is possible to visit profiles of friend's friends' friends... Without any restriction, one can view the messages (scraps, as they call on Orkut) written for somebody else. The entire network is created to allow expression of feelings, creation of network of friends, developing business relationships, finding partner for dating, etc

Getting trapped on the network

In November'05, I joined Orkut and found that many of my friends are on active on Orkut – friends from school, college, workplace, home town and even I made some new friends on Orkut itself... Slowly, I started spending more n' more time on Orkut. Before I would even realize, I was getting trapped. I started spending hours n' hours, surfing the site. Orkut had a provision to know, which of your friend had logged in recently on Orkut. I appointed myself on the "mission critical" task of monitoring the activities of friends on Orkut! Now, I had no time to read newspapers, magazines, books, journals. Even after 12 hours of hectic schedule at B-school and dozens of assignments, I had stamina to be online at Orkut for at least for 2-3 hours. The devil was pushing me hard, stealing my entire free time……….

The Positive Side

Orkut opened entirely new world – virtual world where there were serious discussions on politics, arts, music… People were criticizing the wrong…. There was masty, fun! Even I started a community "Chinchwad", for uniting all Orkut members from my home town "Chinchwad". The effort was very well appreciated. Over 225 people joined the community and it kept growing. Old friends kept meeting after years… old memories were being rejuvenated… New friends were being added... Orkut was also giving lot of insight about the generation in colleges, 5-7 years younger than me. I was able to really sense the flavor of entire youth – their aspirations, preferences… I started writing a lot, on the communities and also on my blog…

People portraying imaginary identity

I even know few guys who have created a whole new identity of themselves in this virtual world. They are actually projecting themselves as ones, they are really not! In real life, these fellows can be big-time losers. They are the weak people, running away from the reality. They might have failed at every juncture of their life. Now, they are satisfying their unfulfilled needs, what they couldn't achieve in real life...

I am 100% trapped

I agree that one needs a break, a change after hours of work. But, if this "change" become the only thing in life, there is seriously something wrong. I tried lot of ways to avoid Orkutting. But, for me living alone in the hostel, with a laptop & high speed broadband at disposal, none of the efforts worked to avoid orkutting...)) On one hand, I was realizing that I am becoming addict of the site; but I was puzzled how to escape from the trap... I should have been more worried about the exams, beginning within 2 days; but still found myself spending time on Orkut...

The Conflict

Controlling the orkutting became very difficult. Then, there was an option of "DELETING" Orkut account. My mind immediately denied doing any such act. I could not imagine stopping all the fun being at Orkut, losing all contacts on Orkut. No… no… never! I reemphasized - "I will still try to CONTROL and reduce Orkutting"!! But… even after trying so hard, I was not able to reduce orkutting. 

I am free now

The conflict was increasing day-by-day. Day by day, I was experiencing lot of impatience for no known reason. Orkut devil was ruling me and for me, being there online was absolutely irresistible. The "Root Cause" was the Orkut account and the only Escape route was to delete the account, which was unimaginable!

All of a sudden, I determined not to let Orkut ruin my time, career… The Opportunity Cost of the time lost while orkutting was so much high, that actually I could have managed plenty of other productive things within the same time frame. There is place for fun and enjoyment in the life, but that shouldn't be the only thing you do.

I believe, it is never too late to rectify your mistake. Today, I decided to kill the root cause of all problems – the Orkut account itself and …. and I DID IT! I deleted the account itself, erased my online identity from Orkut. My friends are still puzzled and believe that it was a wrong decision and I could have easily controlled the orkutting. But, believe me - it is a really rational decision. 

I am still not sure whether this would backfire in any sense? Orkut has become inevitable part of my life and I am surely going to miss it a lot. I am going to miss my friends on Orkut. But, I am not worried now… I am free now! Feeling extremely positive, having control over what I want, sure about what I want to achieve! It was a great experience for me to learn how to - manage ambiguities, identify core/ root cause and eliminate the same…  Am I going to face some other trap? Well, I don't know n' I don't care! But, this episode has given me tremendous strength for Sure!!! Thanks ORKUT for the great Experience!!!

(The entire discussion may sound stupid, boring, and irrelevant for some people... But, for me, it was a huge EXPERIENCE!)

You are failing at every step of life... You are trying hard... But, nothing is working for you, nothing going your way... Still, would you keep your morale, optimism high? Would you not still give up? What would drive you to keep faith in yourself? 

At every juncture of life, you are standing at cross-roads. There are diverse roads – straight, isolated, sloppy, curvy, smooth, rocky, crowded, steep, dangerous, lonely, dusty, hazy….. 

At the Core of yourself – "Emotions", "Values", "Rationale thinking" would drive you to a different direction. Each Force would try convincing you to opt different path. But, obviously you can choose ONLY one. (Or sometimes, you may not even get an opportunity to choose the path.) There cannot be win-win situations. There is always a trade-off while choosing one path & rejecting other. There is an Opportunity Cost associated with the path you choose. You certainly must give up something to gain something else.

Consider an example:

You visit and have Pizza and deserts at Pizza Hut. But, you find that the bill does not include amount Rs 150/- for the deserts. Now, you have 2 ways, diverse paths, to handle the situation:

1. Pay whatever is charged, and walk out: Cheat

Here, your emotions and values may drive your actions to save some money, though you pay the (opportunity) cost of "being dishonest". Here, cheating though an ill-trait is acceptable to you.

2. Ask the cashier to modify the bill and pay the correct amount: Prove yourself to be Honest

Here, due to your rationale thinking and values, you would feel – "I have enjoyed the deserts. So, I need to pay for the same." You will prove yourself honest; at the (opportunity) cost of paying Rs 150/- for deserts. 

Thus, at any cross-road, the selection of the path to be chosen (Behavior) is thus based on which of the forces out of "Values", "Emotions (Feelings)", "Rational Thinking" dominate you at that particular time. Therefore, behavior of the person cannot be guaranteed, for all cases.

Further, a person creates a self-image to be projected to the world. He wants himself to known as a man of certain values. He would strive hard to keep projecting his image.

Consider an example:

Amit has created his image in people's mind that he would never have alcohol. Now, even if he is willing to have some alcohol, he may be restrained from doing so to prevent his image. His emotions/ feelings would want him to try alcohol; but his Rationale Thinking would deny him doing any such act, which would damage his image. 

As suggested by psychological theories, Mental Conflict is generated, when there is a mismatch between Thinking, Feeling, and Behaviour. So, my say in this case would be – Don't be much worried about the things which you cannot control. Just be yourself. Next moment can be yours. Believe in yourself. Keep giving the Best. You clearly know sometimes that path chosen by you is consistent with your values and rationale thinking, though you do not feel like not choosing the path. It is a difficult path, where you need to put yourself out of your comfort zone. On this path, failure is just a step away. Chances of getting trapped are very high. And, yes you start failing every now and then. Your Feelings would again prompt you choosing the easier path for assured success. But, the path would demand you, breaking the rules set by your values. So, you stick to your path and keep trying, despite of continuous failures.

Is it called Perpetual Optimism?

I am more fascinated by Fort architecture दुर्ग-स्थापत्य & geography भूगोल than History इतिहास. I can mention 2 very special and extremely interesting locations on Durg Torna दुर्ग तोरणा, completely unknown to trekkers. My trekking Guru Mr Anand Palande श्री आनंद पाळंदे guided me reaching & understanding these sites.

Disclaimer: These sites are difficult to find & reach. Not recommended for novice trekkers.

1. Kaapur Take: "कापूर टाके"

Purpose: Currently, it is called as "Taake", but this seems more as a secret discussion hall – "khalabat khana" खलबतखाना

Location: Budhala machee बुधला माची. One has to traverse Budhala pinnacle सुळका from right side and reach the base of the hill "VishaLa" विशाळा. The Taake is located on the LHS, at all most ground level

Features:

• Completely bujalele taake, water available
• Supporting pillars carved with simple design – to n' thro design
• Entrance is almost blocked by mud & soil. We dug out lot of mud to make entry path clear…. We entered the taake. Actually, we found a big room (10' * 8' * 6'), further expanded towards left into more rooms (could not penetrate further). Extremely mysterious!  
  
  
  Kaapur Taake entrance कापूर टाके प्रवेश

2. Vivare विवरे (Caves):

Purpose: "Met" मेट- teheLanee naake टेहेळणी नाके

Location: Budhala machee. One has to come out of Bhagat darwaja भगत दरवाजा and traverse towards Budhala pinnacle, keeping Budhala machee tatbandee at 50' above.


Torna Balekilla from Kaapur Taake  तोरणा बालेकिल्ला - कापूर टाक्यापासून
Features:

• 3 rock cut vivare/ guha (caves) – 100% man made/ carved in groups of 1 single vivar & 2 vaiavre
• Entrance is a tunnel 1.5' * 1.5'
• One has to crawl 25' inside to reach a room (6' * 6' * 4' ht)
• There are 2 small rooms inside
• One of the Vivar has good water
  
  

VaaLanjai darwaja from VaaLanjai devi nake वाळंजाई दरवाजा - वाळंजाईदेवी नाक्यापासून

Note:: There is a similar Vivar on SuveLa maachee सुवेळा माची, Rajgad राजगड (Near Needle hole - Nedhe नेढे). This is again completely unknown to trekkers.