Chalo Dilli

The wife was telling me this morning, “We must book our tickets to Delhi for August 16 today or it will become extremely difficult to get.”

“Tickets for Delhi? Who told you we are going to Delhi on August 16? And I don’t understand why someone wants to go to Delhi on August 16. People go to Delhi on August 15 so that they can watch and take part in Independence Day celebrations. But not on August 16,” I said.

“Not on August 15, but on August 16 that is the day we will be going to Delhi,” the wife insisted, “And you know we are not going there to watch the Independence Day parade. We are going there to take part and support Anna Hazare’s fasting that he said will be starting again on August 16. The whole India will be there to support him, not only just us,” she said.

“You are mistaken, not the whole India, but some few thousands will be there to support him, six thousands to be exact, if you believe Kapil Sibal,” I said.

“That’s the problem with you and your Congress party,” she continued, “not only you don't want to go to Delhi to support Hazare but you are also underestimating him.”

“Let me make it clear, it is not my Congress party, it is Sonia Gandhi's, and I have no connection with any political party. As far as supporting Anna Hazare is concerned, I am a supporter of the cause he is fighting for but I have my reservations about the way the agitation being staged,” I said.

“If you have your opinion then you must present it to Hazare when we are in Delhi and not to me, I am going there only to support him and not to express my opinion,” the wife said.

“I told you earlier, neither you nor me going to Delhi and that is final.” I said, and continued, “I never said we will not support him. We are just ordinary people. There are politicians, intellectuals and social workers who can carry out this mission more meaningful way, but not us. We will give him all our moral support while watching his agitation live on our television.”

“You will support him by watching him fasting live on television while you are having your dinner, right?” the wife asked. “ You are becoming too selfish nowadays. In fact you must also fast along with him to show your solidarity,” the wife said.

“You know I have acidity problem and if I don’t take my food on time it will get worst, and secondly, if Anna Hazare’s health deteriorates after a couple of days of his fasting he will be forced to get admitted in a hospital by the authorities and he will walk out from the hospital healthier than ever. On the other hand if my health worsens there will be no one to take care of and if I die, even the insurance people won’t pay you the money, claiming that death due to fasting amounts to suicide and suicide is not covered under the insurance scheme.” I said.

“You have a habit of talking too much,” the wife said. “If you don’t want to fast then don’t fast but at least come to Delhi and support me to support Hazare. Can you do that?” the wife asked.

“Okay, I don't want to discourage you. I will try to get the tickets today itself. Are you happy now?” I asked.

“One more thing, tell your cousins in Mumbai to send us a nine-yard saree before we go,” the wife said.

“Nine-yard saree”? You wear normal saree, why you want to wear a nine-yard saree when you go to Delhi?” I asked.

“Not for me, it is for Hazare,” the wife said continued,” “If there is a police crackdown after midnight and Hazare jumps from the stage to evade arrest and lands in front of me I can offer him the saree. I am sure being a Maharashtrian he will be more comfortable in nine-yard saree than in a churidar like Baba Ramdev.”

billiga hotell london

We are a ‘mail’ away, sitting miles away

Though I am yet to invent anything, inventions always fascinated me.

I was fascinated by Radio during my childhood. I used to hear music flowing out of this marvelous box in many places like public parks, hotels and in some of my neighbourhoods. I wished I had one at home.

By the time we got one in our home, almost all the houses in our neighbourhood have had it. So I had no reason to be a proud child of a house that owns a radio. However, I was still happy to have one at home. It was a small battery operated model. Unlike today’s FM channels, radio stations worked only for a specific time during those days, morning, afternoon and evening. It has become a practice of my mother to switch on the radio before she starts her routine morning works and we all family members woke up hearing some devotional songs that used to be broadcast in the morning.

As I was a school going kid then, my encounter with the radio was only in the evening. In the evening children of our family will gather around the radio and curiously listen to the music and some other programmes, leaving the news bulletin to elders.

As the days passed my curiosity towards radio was also diminished. As I grew, my fascination turned towards telephone. I used to view the members of the families that had telephone at their homes with much respect. How fortunate they are, I used to think. They can talk to anyone in another place from by just sitting at their homes. And they can also communicate with other family members at their home when they are outing. But my wish for a telephone remained as a wish for a long time.

That is the time when television made the entry into Indian homes. For majority of the middle class Indians, owning a television set was a distant dream. Some of the households who had owned it kept the TV set outside their homes during Saturday evening, when our own Doordarshan, the one and only channel then, used to show old movies. Most of the members from the families in the neighbourhood will gather in front of the television to watch the movie like in a cinema hall, minus the chairs, fans and ACs.

No doubt, television was a fantastic invention. It was black and white in the beginning then slowly graduated into colour. Today it will be nearly impossible to find a house in India without a TV set. Owing a TV set has become necessity rather than a luxury. If television made the world closer then the cable TV network has made the world smaller. For anything that brings good there will be a bad side too and as far as the cable TV networks are concerned some of the reality shows contribute to make the bad side.

The following one should have been said earlier than TV, but in my order of thoughts it comes only now. Though I have marveled about almost all these above inventions, aero plane had a special place in my heart.

My imaginations still go wild when I think of this wonderful invention. How could such a huge and heavy thing be lifted in the air and fly like a bird with so many people in it? Though the technology has its own answer to it, come to think its functionalities, we owe lot to the people who have made it possible.

It took nearly 30 years of admiration from the land to physically experience the pleasure of flying in an aero plane. My first flying was to an overseas destination, crossing the paddy fields, mountains then the sea and at last landing in a wonderful Arabian city after being in the air for almost four hours.

By now I must have travelled a quite lot of times by air, but that four hours of my air travel will always live with me, not because it was the best but it was my first.

However, if you ask me to rate all the inventions in an order of numbers, none of the above will find the number one spot. I can never place an invention other than the Internet at the number one spot. The reason for this are plenty and one of them is I am able to share my thoughts with you in this manner.

It just brings us closer to a ‘mail’ away, sitting miles away. Truly great.

M.F. Hussain, May His Soul Rest In Peace

Death is always a loss. You were part of this world till yesterday and today you are not here. You won't be here either tomorrow. You will be never seen again. You are gone. Will someone remember you after a couple of years? I doubt it.

The only difference of loss by a death is, in some cases the loss is felt only by a family and in some cases by the country and in rare cases for the whole world. Artist M.F. Hussain's death was surely a loss for the country, if not the world, and he will be remembered for a long time to come for the work he left behind.

He was a great painter, indeed. Started his career as a movie poster painter he has grown into world renowned artist with sheer hard work and with little bit of luck. I have seen him very closely, when he was a regular in the corridors of Bombay's famous Jehangir Art Gallery in Kala Ghoda, walking barefoot (the one thing that I hate about him). He was not alone there. There were other artists like him. One of them was Mr. A.H. Ara, though he has not became a celebrity like M.F. Hussain. To become a celebrity you need to have a little bit of luck along with talent. M.F. Hussain had both.

I was also a regular at the Gallery, not as an artist but someone who was working in an office in the same vicinity. Many a time I was sitting in the next table in the famous Samovar restaurant in the company of all these talented artists. Artists are maintained their trade mark appearance. Hussain in kurta pyjama with long and unattended silver hair and beard, walking barefoot. On other hand Mr. Ara always in his well-ironed suit.

Mr. Ara preferred Way Side Inn, an old-fashioned restaurant in the Rampart Row, just the other side of Jehangir Art Gallery. His visits to Samovar were rare, but Husain was always there, in around Jehangir Art Gallery and Samovar. Mr. Ara owned his gallery in the Rampart Row, a little away from Jehangir Art Gallery. It was located in the same side as of Way Side Inn restaurant. Maybe that is the reason why Ara preferred Way Side Inn to Samovar.

As the years passed I have also moved out of Rampart Row. After many years down the line one day I came to know Mr. Ara has passed way. I got to know that from a newspaper report. He was person who I knew closely than Mr. Hussain. He was great human being always helpful and kind. When I heard his death, I did the only thing I could do. I prayed for a second.

Popularity of Mr. Hussain was growing. And with the arrival of cable television networks he was getting wide coverage for his work. News hungry media was always at his disposal. He has transformed into film maker from a painting artist. He has found Madhuri Dixit has a medium to get more popularity. The film Gaja Gamini was the result of that association. He is also a recipient number of Padma awards which he truly deserved.

However great you are, sometime along the journey of your wonderful life, you are bound to lose the balance. That's the rule of life. Otherwise why should a great talented and world renowned artist like M.F. Hussain must draw a 'nude' picture of Hindu God Saraswati? As an artist he has every right to draw a nude picture. The picture can also be shown holding a 'veena', a musical instrument which the Hindu God Saraswati holds. But was it necessary for him to inscribe the name 'Saraswati' in it? That is the one mistake for that he has got punished for rest of his life.

Your freedom ends where my nose begins. Mr. Hussain definitely misused his freedom while drawing that picture and he has paid a big price for that thoughtless action.

We should not talk evil about the dead. As there is no re-take in life his controversies are also gone with him. May his soul Rest in Peace.

Where Baba failed and Anna gained

I am against any form of corruption. I fully support Anna Hazare's and Baba Ramdev's efforts. But what I feel about these 'dramas' being staged in New Delhi recently by Baba Ramdev is utter nonsense. I have surprised by the reaction coming from these so-called 'intelligent' lot that is aired day in and day out in number of our news channels. These channels have their own reason to celebrate with anything good or bad happening in this country. It is obvious that their prime objectives are their viewer rating rather than any national interest. As the saying goes, even someone beats his mother there will supporters who will be taking sides.

I have astonished to hear some weird questions from these so-called 'intelligent lot', including members of the proposed Lokpal committee. The questions being asked is, if Ramdev is a 'Tug' why the four ministers went to airport to see him when he arrived there. The answer is simple: Even if he a 'tug' he is also an Indian national who comes here to agitate with a mass behind him. It is the duty of the government to hear him and make assurance that his concerns will be looked into. Is it wrong? What I want to tell the people who are opposing and crying foul against the action being taken against Baba Ramdev after midnight by the Indian government is, he has given all rights of a Indian citizen, the government heard his grievances and assured him that all this concerns will addressed and therefore he must end his fast. He has been reminded that these kinds of agitations could escalate the situation. There is a remedy for everything and the government is working towards that goal. What was Baba Ramdev's objective? Whether he was really serious about the issues or he just wanted to stage this drama for his own popularity are the questions that to be answered by these so-called 'intelligent' lot. If his efforts were honest he should have called off his fast at the end of the day after the government assurance and waited for the outcome. But that was not the case. Yes, India is a democratic country and every citizen has his right to express his opinion whether it is happiness, anger, or protest whatever it is, but they have no right to express it by holding a gun over the head of the government or anyone else in that case. And that's where Baba failed and Anna gained.

And before I end this note, one point that I would like to make in front of our honourable Supreme Court of India. The court is right in seeking government explanation on what prompted the government to take such an action against Baba Ram Dev. With all respect, being a citizen of this country, let me put up my answer to the highest court on this. The answer is ……Maintenance of law and order situation of the country falls under the preview of the Federal government and failure to take an appropriate action based on Intelligent output will not only bring disastrous consequences but also in that case the same court which questioned the reason for this action will be the first one to stand up and question the government's inefficiency to handle such a delicate issue effectively. Anybody can wise after the incident, including the judicial system. However a prompt action at a right time can bring a fruitful benefit in the long run. Surely, the government has only done that.