Metropolitis
Popular sociology is that branch of Sociology studied by any average citizen with commonsense who does not have any actual qualification in Academic sociology( own definition)
Metropolitis is a disorder seen in city dwelling people characertised by the following Symptoms Signs & comorbidities.1) Extreme Self-centerdness 2) Lack of Sensitivity 3) Self obsession 4) Morbid insecurity 5) High level of consumerism 6) Distancing from Reality 7) Lack of Faith  High Dependence on Gadgets(Cars,Mobile phones,TVs etc) 9) Sociopathic &/or Psychopathic Behaviour 10) Self destructive Competitiveness 11) Tendency to Hoard Resources 12) Indulgence 13) Morbid Objectivity 14) Manupulativeness masquerading as manageabilty 15) Power Mongerism 16) Lifestyle Sicknessess 17) Environmental Maladjustment 18) Cricketomania 19) Academic syndrome
We are all suffering from this condition knowingly or unknowngly.
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Posted in Popular Sociology.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– March 30, 2009
Tulsi-II
When I went to Varanasi with YPO as an official ,I was down with fever and could not go to the Kashi Vishwanath temple moreover the previous day had been too taxing so I kept indoors at Taj Varanasi .That prevented me from going to Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir as well. Although I did travel to Ganges and the Ghats in a cycle rickshaw with Mrs. Costa wife of a rotund and obese tycoon who had a bonhomie demeanor and who was a shipping magnate. She was excited to have me besides her as I was telling her tales of the Hindus.
Varanasi consumes 100 quintals of tulsi leaves per day for various rituals in 100s of temples and tulsi farming has become lucrative in nearby fields.I wish a significant of this would have gone into making herbal medicines. There is a Tulasi Ghat near Sankat Mochan mandir abode of the great scientist and seer the mahant of the mandir Pandit Veer Bhadra Mishra where I wish we had taken the entourage to listen to his discourse than another Business swami in Mumbai The anecdotes of Tulsi are abundant but some have to be experienced. I was so overjoyed when Dr Ameeta gave us a packet full of the seeds on world environment day at a function on at KEM of BMC on Environment Pollution Research Cell.
I don’t recollect if I have told the story of Surya my driver whose child was sick and fretting. 4 days had passed with no result from the GP.Then he took the child to a pediatrician with whom he worked as a driver before. He got the child investigated and treated but alas there was no response.Surya became desperate having spent money and the child becoming weaker.
Earlier after my lecture at Godrej Hospital he had heard from one Dr Borikar whom I had given a lift to. He was extolling the virtues of Tulsi and I had told him of my earlier experience.Surya saw me plucking a few tulsi leaves from the garden at Godrej and an idea flashed him. He went to the market and got Tulsi in bulk. He prepared a decoction for his sick child and administered him even if to his chagrin. The child cried and cried for the medical enforcement and at last slept. Three hours of sleep and Surya saw him perspire profusely .He touched him and felt that he was peaceful and normal.Tulsi had won for the gods!
Last week was a marriage in the house. It is traditional to conduct a statyanarayan pooja a vaishnav ritual on the next day where the new couple is the Yejman or host. The pooja requires 108 tulsi leaves to be offered to the deity along with fruits and flowers .This pooja is done to gain benefaction from the gods for good days ahead. I was out to shop for the occasion and wife called me to get tulsi leaves but to dismay all florists were closed in afternoon. Then at a signal my vehicle parked and I saw a mobile greenhouse with various items on sale on the shop on wheel.Quicly I lowered the window and asked the vendor.” Tulsi hai kya”? .He handed a plant nicely packed in mud in a polythelene.The leaves were green and fresh.”20 bucks” he said. I showed a note and the car moved on. My sister was dozing on the back seat. The plant sat on the rear .When she got up we were chatting about the number of leaves as this plant had not more than 80 leaves. Then Chandra my driver waived his hand as my sister turned around. Presto- she saw tulsi plant and superstitious as she is she thought it to be a miracle.Chandrakant my driver she thought was endowed by divinity .We later had to explain in good humor.
There was a plastic vrindawan pot mimicking earthen one in brick color and shape. It had been there for ages and every time I thought to throw it away something prevented me. Now out it came from the store room and the plat fit snugly on its new throne. It stood heroically near the pooja Table or the Chaurang.
The newlywed couple did the pooja devoutly .I was reminded of the movie “Main Tulsi tere angan ki” which I had seen long time back a family drama expounding the virtues of Indian married women. Now I offer the leaves daily in my pooja chore. Fresh leaves to Vishnu incarnations, Ram, Krishna and Hanuman and Shri Datta and Laxmi .I have wowed that I will take care of this plant since another cute little plant was nibbled away by squirrels in my office.
Tulsi shreesakhi shive pap harini punyade
Namaste narada nute namo narayana priye
It is customary to recite this shloka while circumambulating around the revered tulsiplant in every Hindu house hold in front of the house just as you have Nandi in front of any shivalaya.
Defense Research and Development Organization is looking at this herb to prevent immune deficiency due to Radiations at High Altitude .This project has entered it s 2nd phase with encouraging results reported from Bhubaneswar by W Sevamurthy .The project costs 7 crores. Tulsi has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial pharmacological activities. It is specifically indicated in oral health, fevers of viral and malarial origin, as an anabolic and ant ageing herb and for circulatory insufficiencies.
Tulsi has religious connotations in the west too. It is known to have grown on Christ’s grave and hence used in Christian funeral rites just as in India when it is customary to place basil leave in the mouth of the dead perhaps due to its antibacterial effect and to prevent transmission of disease from the deceased to the bereaved family. Tulsi and marriage have something common in Italy and India In India marriages take place after Tulsi vivah somewhere in October November. In Italy if a potted Tulsi plant is kept on the balcony it means there is a young girl awaiting proposal. Also if a Basil plant is planted on May 15th the girl ought to be married off by June 24.All this and many more is sufficient to declare Christ as a reincarnation of God Vishnu for even the birth of Krishna and Christ have much in common.
The Italian Basil and Indian Tulsi are both from Osmium genus but the species varies .The Italian is fleshy and can be used in salads but Indian used only as a topping sometimes in cocktail too or in pep up drink. It is thought that Alexander who carried a learned entourage carried Basil to Europe from India
Posted in Blogs, Culture, Family Matters, Medicines, Religion, environment.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– May 21, 2013
A Tantric is never confused.
Confusion is a hallmark of mediocrity .Common people are always confused .Confusion is a compromised way of living.Tantrics are never confused.Their ideas are crystal clear and they understand matter and bengs aptly.They have innate knowledge of behavior of humans and their follies.They are aware about inferior people and their karma .Tantric does know about the fear that grips the ordinary men and women regarding their own knowledge and attitudes about their desires and complexes.
A true tantric has transcended all this mundane fears,desires,hatred,jealousy and weakness.He has by his daily routiene imbibed the true value of time,energy and space.He relates to the social issues with specific distance .He is involved peripherally but precisely till he enriches himself of the issue and is seized of the matter.He has noting to advocate and sell.Nothing to promote and demote.A tantric lives in essence and is never carried away by materialistic minds and celebrities.
A tantric is stable in thoughts words and actions for they consume time energy and space. The mentation of a tantric is a logical flow of ideas and and concepts and hence of words uttered to himself and others. There is mathematics consistency in a tantrics flow of thought and actions which bear out the thought.
How does a Tantric achieve this non confused state? Is it by chance or genetic profile that he has inherited? The answer is No. A tantric is an evolved being and he has achieved a definitive status through rigor of his daily actions from dawn to dusk. He is composed due to this daily training that he has chosen to adhere to since it has occurred to him to be a tantric and believer in Tantra Philosophy.
Confused people are ruled by others .Confusion makes a person vulnerable to being dominated by others. Confused beings are fidgety are stammerers do not related to wise men. They are carried by strong words and emotive thoughts expressed by others be they pertaining to region,sex or religion. They tend to be erroneously sectarian in their thoughts. They are a victim of mob psychology and believe in condemning something detrimental to their existence or resources. Confused beings thus can be segregated into sets and become known as a mass than class. Confused people seldom achieve anything substantial for themselves and for others due to their wrong premise and bias developed in their minds due to events that shape their assumptions and due to their faulty upbringing.
Tantrics do not base their responses on their experiences as they know that experiences and events repeat with periodicity .Tantrics base their responses on absolute knowledge of truth and reality.Tantrics make decisions that are learned by schemes of universe and not on individualistic patterns.Tantrics have imbibed the art of lateral thinking in common parlance.Seemingly they think tangentially and inappropriately but this is not true as commoners err due to substandard premise.
Confusion is net result of desires and fears. Confusion stems from illogical apprehension of past actions and of ambitions that have been inculcated due to competitiveness and obsessive thoughts of acquisitions resulting in aggressions and frustrations. Confusion results from a weak body and a weakened mind resulting from indulgence and misplaced violence that one unleashes towards himself due to ignorance and inferiority.
Tantrics have absolved negative thoughts and feelings. They are optimistic and rational.Tantrics live within ambit of their prowess and training. They now the limits of being and thoughts. They are wise men who are finite individuals .Tantric do not believe in their own immortality or supernatural powers called siddhis .The siddhas are more evolved than tantric and are a next stage of evolutionary hierarchy .Tantrics are not siddhas who can bring about sudden change in matter or lives.Tantrics are one step higher than leaders and celebrities .Tantrics are thus not godmen.They may be scientists and rationalists.
Tantra thus destroyes confusion and inhibits it. Tantra converts a confused to a neutral state and allows reasoning to enter the thought process of the mumukshu the seeker
Posted in Culture, Education, Writing.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– May 5, 2013
Creativity and Mood
In 1994 Jan first week in Sunday Review Bejan in ‘Ganesha says’ in the feature Future Perfect prophesied the following future for Virgos .It went precisely like that:
Main Trends – Contacts,Contracs,Communication,Teaching ,Preaching, Information Explosion, relatives and family, children and marriage, emotional highs and lows definitely so super creativity ,publicity, journey a separation or natural ending ,new links and attachments, Other noteworthy features
Not merely by reason common sense perfection application but violent emotion and drama, love and parting. Strange bizarre experiences.
I do believe in Linda Goodmans basics of 12 personality types where she fits perfectly the stereotype responses of diverse persona to situations ,but this 1994 years prediction was a tough code for it was a mixed bag of expectations that set me really wondering and introspecting .
So, on 19 January I lifted my mighty pen and tried to wield it like a sword injuring myself although not grievously. I distinctly labored to write the following preface to a magnum opus that was never to be. But it definitely rekindled and stirred up the desire to perform on literary horizon ofcourse without an audience. The following is the proof for witness.
“Very many years back when the clime was as near the nature, I had a flirtatious affair with pen and paper. That was the era of enthusing youth, with creativity bursting at seams. Words like streams came cascading down from higher echelons and spread themselves beautifully making evanescent waves in the hearts of beholder.
Words which could hold much more than what they meant .Words which had passion to rise and feel .Words like dew drops smoothening the soul of anyone who silently touched them .Words that were like the colorful pieces of a Kaleidoscope opening up a vision of blue skies hung across the horizons .
They came one after other and another with flair to fashion my thoughts ,to cast impressions of eternal happiness on the mirror of the mind. They descended like the sound of rain filling the air with fragrant moods difficult to set aside….
And then, suddenly they vanished as spontaneously as they had come into dark abyss of nothingness…
Where?
Why?
How?
But they were not there for an answer.
The silence was to be borne out of exemplary courage.
Only reason would ask the Question .How Long?
Decades passed by the sun and the moon and then with the same rhythm of uncertainty and unpredictability, the seed that lay dormant flowered emanating a verbal rainbow of joy and existence.
Hail …. For it was life itself ebbing and waxing and waning and waxing again.
And for once wait ……… let the whole world of word unfold its colossal canvas.
By the great gods in heaven and mortals on the earth. Pray…….. for Alas this day has dawned…..
Posted in Fantasy, Personal, Writing.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– April 21, 2013
Archival Photographs & Prints
When we stayed at Naigaum or Naigao near Parel in Mumbai on the second floor was a family whose relative probably worked for some press as a Press Photographer and he would throw some unwanted photographs which we gathered and kept for mere fancy. My mother was in fact an avid collector of sorts by default. She would stash away many things from coins to documents and jewellary and facts and artifacts. Mother was a dedicated Diary writer too and I inherited this gift from her as I wrote daily diary from about 16 years of age till date.
When we brought these photographs home she kept them securely in an Iron cupboard manufactured competively by a company called Ambica.It did not have the finesse of the leading brand but was robust and precise. When recently I visited my mother’s place I found this collection securely in a drawer and I am about to write about these valued hard prints.
I am sure they would be available as microfilms in some Newspaper archives in India or abroad and do not put much value on them .However I would be glad if I am proved wrong.
I will start one by one randomly. They are all black and white.
1) It is a Cecil Beaton photograph of Students alighting from a building of Osmania University founded in 1918.There is no date on this print but a note mentions that at that time there were 18 Universities in Greater India and 3 were in Indian states
2) Untitled glossy smaller photograph bogey of a train belonging to erstwhile GIP Great Indian Peninsular .This bogey was a bazaar on long distance train or a railway bazaar docked in major railway station for consumer sale. The rake carries advertisements of Sunlight soap, Lux toilet soap and Monkey brand soap. All hand written by my father and his brother who was a calligrapher with Railways.
3) Crown Copyright titled Bumper harvest with well dressed farmhands sitting and refreshing with a boy serving one of them with tea or beer in a cup. A beautiful girl is witnessing this act against some compound wall .This is probably from UK and talks about mechanized farming and increased agricultural output.
4) A group of white air force personnel of around 8 of them are mounting a propeller on a spitfire after assembly. All the soldiers seem to be British and are well nourished in shorts and bare bodied. In the background is a hangar and an other plane .
5) A well focused photograph of a locomotive manufactured by Vulcan being lifted by Christen Smith crane off S.S. Belaray at 10 Alexandria docks in Mumbai .The unloading operations are being supervised by British and Indian Officials and other staff some of them carrying unfold able umbrellas .The officers are wearing Solar Hats and wearing coats .
6) A Copyright photograph of inside of a submarine with control panel showing the wheel and dials with two soldiers and one carrying a black cat whose eyes reflect the flash from the camera. The black cat is a mascot of the submarine named Mickey.
7) A close-up of a British soldier giving thumbs up sign after return from Dunkirk wher in fact the British lost heavily.
Two British 75 M.M. guns mounted on American M 3 armored vehicles with 2 gunners each parked near an medieval European tower bearing a flag mounted less than half mast showing collaborative action and surrender.
9) A British military camp with union jack and 4 soldiers with bayonets on their rifles standing at attention with a quarter master and two officers approaching for inspection. There are white canvass tents in the background and a large Banyan tree.(Untitled)
10) A coal fired steam engine train about to leave Ahmednagar station large empty platform with officers standing near the station maters officer.
11) Boribunder (Victoria Terminus) Station opening on road with 3 railway policemen. There is an advertisement of Shell Tox with a graphic man spraying .This ad is hand drawn.
12) Kalyan Station platform no 1 with a policeman in foreground and Indian passengers clad in Dhoti and Coat and turban or Gandhi cap with 3 porters Hamals.
Tailpiece:Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. -Cecil Beaton
Posted in Arts, City Of Mumbai, Journalism, Research, Writing.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– April 3, 2013
A Dull Day
Today I saw a missed call by Mandar on my cell and I skipped a beat.Mandar would just not call at that hour in the morning and I instinctively knew something was wrong. His father ,my cousins husband had been sick for some time now and I was worried .I dodged the idea to call him back avoiding to hear any sad news but then was caught on wrong foot. At around 11 am Shyam called me to break the news Yes Uddhavrao is no more he declared .I reminisced about him in my mind. He was a distant relative but I thought hard.I had met him around 5 years back when I was on a Konkan trip.
Mandar had done all the bookings and planned the itinerary to smartly include his house as one stopovers.We relented for we too were interested in going to Kankavli after 5 years.It is on the Kokan Railway .first time I went Mandar had come to receive me at the station. It was my first journey in the Kokan Railway>We had read about excitedly about the construction of this railway over nearly 10 years that would connect Mumbai to Kokan and then up to Kerala .It was a tough job for I knew the terrain of the Sahayadris the ravines the mountains and the valleys the deep gorges and fiords. The journey is scenic as the train stopped en route for technical reasons and looking down deep bridges constructed from valleys at times nearly 300 feet was a scary sight.
Many had lost life during construction of this railway.At kankavli we had met his father a quiet gentleman and a banker who had retired from syndicate Bank.He and my cousin were married long time back .It was at malad when malad was in a phase of new development.Laxmi Nivas had been just built by my senior most uncle and the marriage was solemnized in the new premises. We were kids then.It was actually a love marriage and they had not checked their Horoscopes for compatibility.In those days middle class used to serve cold drinks at receptions.Icecream was out of reach and dinner was cooked by the women of the household.Caterers were unknown or a taboo.
Uddhav rao a we addressed him was a modern man.Fair and upright he was a badminton player although he was an asthmatic.He was suely a fitness freak,never smoked or drank liquor and had no vices.But he was a lover of non veg food which he gave up in later life .I remember when as newlywed we had been to his Irla quarters when he served chicken cooked by him.
But I had vivid memories of him during my Ratnagiri trip in Konkan .He was posted there in the town as an agent which meant a Bank manager.I was in SSC 9th standard or may be 10th.when my cousin sister called us during summer vacations to Ratnagiri.There was a huge discussion at our place.We were at Abekar Nagar in Parel.Finally it was decided that I and my elder sister will go to Ratnagiri to spend a few days.In those days there was a ship that sailed from Mumbai port(Bhau cha Dhakka) to Ratnagiri.The name was Kokan Sewak meaning servant of the Konkan.This was a huge ship with three classes upper deck lower deck and cabins.Cabin was unaffordable so we checked onto upper deck open to sky.Lowe deck was covered. I and my sister went to Bombay port by Taxi with my father and our luggage.The sun was strikingly hot in summer. I felt very adventurous. It was my first travel in a ship of that size.As we boarded the ship anxiety creeped in .I was nervous and weak. But I had to protect my sister so I appeard bold and forthright. The ship honked and I within o time before I could get a glimpse of my father left the port.There was a meele and a loud hue and cry with some departing with tears others for the last time.
The ship rolled to and fro and it made me sick .Lots of people on board felt the sea sickness as they puked one by one .I controlled I .As my mind was picking up happening on the deck and the Engine room of the upper deck. A tall mate was manning the machines. I looked at him with awe. Yes I had wanted to be a seaman in future and this guy was a model of sternness and professionalism. As the ship cruised towards the high seas many people removed their chatais and sprawled on the deck. I and my sister were made comfortable by a Muslim family who spoke Marathi. As a brave contender I strolled around and entered the canteen which smelled of non vegan food and fish. It was very repulsive but I knew that this food is nutritious. So I ordered for kheema bread and had it without anyone’s knowledge as I had been given pocket money.
This made me sick in the stomach and I puked after a while.There after I felt silent waiting for the destination port. Around 9 pm the ship stalled and anchored .A group alighted in a small boat with oars and we were being ferried towards the jetty.A solitary light on the jetty guided the oarsman.I was now thoroughly scared .There were no mobiles or phones .We had posted a letter informing about our arrival and were worried if no one comes to pick us up.As we came on to the jetty pulled up by a boatman.I looked around and found no familiar face.A chill went down my spine as I suppressed my tears which swelled up.My sister looked equally uncomfortable.We were about to voice concern to each other just then we saw him emerge .What a sigh of relief at that hour of the day in no mans country.He had got a transport a small rickshaw and we went to the town of ratnagiri.That night I became sick due to the Kheema and Calcium Pantothenate which I had taken from my mother.I was bent on becoming strong so I had become a misinformed faddist.
Mandar was a tiny tot.And he had a pet monkey named Gaja .He would sing “Gaja re Gaja ,Kay tuzi Maja,Gaja vajavto Bandbaja” We palyed games,and cards and chatted and chatted .We would go to the market to buy the Ratnagiri Hapus Mnagoes a delicacy of Kokan and although it was sultry ,the air was refreshing and the mood happy.
We went to Chinchkhari a picnic spot by the seaside and Theba Palace.At night we played antakshri and kepourselves active and joyful.Then there was a call from Mumbai as my sister had a letter of proposal so suddenly our trip was slashed down .But my first Kokan trip had benn a hit.
Kankavli was the Native place of Gogtays and hence after retirement Uddhavrao shifted an house built by him near Kaleshwar mandir with a stream nearby.He would work in his garden where he had planted herbs and vegetables and fruits.During my first trip ,we had learnt about the disasterous earthquake that occurred in Kutch killing hundreds.
My second trip was with mother when we had taken our vehicle .Sudha my cousin came with us to our Native place Burumbad near Chiplun .We had been there to pay respects to our diety amanayeshwar .Sudha had never been there and she was grateful .On way we visited Ambav the native place of Ponkshes and had met my iditatnt uncle Padmakar Ponkshe who had relocated from gorgaon to stay and had planted 100 Sagwan trees.He would do honorary service at the local school.Padmakar was in the elite advertisement world in colaba but his soul was in Konkan.
Uddhav Rao is no more but he is a part of our past till we are alive then everything would just fade away and it would turn into unknown history or in fact no ones story
To be completed & edited
Posted in Family Matters, Travel.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– March 6, 2013
Readers Digest
The unwelcome news was an irritant. A journal was almost a periodical of the past due to bankruptcy. I am not interested in how and why but the news seems true and just as everything nice and good has to end the magazine is on its last lap.
A small sized journal was a treat during yesteryears and it was special. Special due to its readership and its getup just as Illustrated weekly was distinct so was readers digest and so was Blitz or Time or Life or junior statesman.
I will try to dissect this monthly piecemeal by making point which can be surely challenged and disputed.
I will list the good things and bad things as they occur to me without bias
1) The journal was surely a propaganda of the western capitalism but it was a hard working journal of the bourgeois
2) It mollycoddled virtues of the west as if it was free of any vice and crimes and the latter was glorified as thrilling .And it was truly a mouthpiece of the middle class haves who live life simply and honestly but who lack real world stuff.
3) The stories were awesome and unstoppable mix of adventure ,personalities and geography for those who could not afford National geographic or Time
4) The advertisements were exclusive sometimes designed for the digest by leading agencies like Lintas ,Ogilvy and Mather,3 Brothers and Fils etc some with very informative advertisement supplements neatly written for unsuspecting noveau riche
5) The art work was amazingly fine with a class so was the layout especially earlier to 1980s.Those were the days when comps were not active and designs had to be done by handiwork and It was done meticulously. All this deteriorated steadily and it ceased to be the choice of the connoisseur
6) The paper was fine earlier although old issues would become discolored yellow but had fragrance of an archive .Then gradually the quality deteriorated.
7) It was a family magazine with something for each member and his interests.
The features were gems like the one that improved your vocabulary or Life’s like that or Humor in uniform. We could never afford subscription for it was costly than Illustrated weekly, so I would buy issues from footpath shops and one issue would last for months for I would actually study the articles as if they were lessons for the stuff was heavy for schoolboys and even collegians .Issue after issue it was a window to the outer world and other cultures across continents. And if a reference was found pertaining to scientists and their discoveries or history and its heroes my joy knew no boundaries as I would be dying to share with my friends to increase my peer value. I remember how elated I was when there was an article on Samoa when we were reading about Samoa in “A Letter from Samoa” By Sir Walter Scott. I learnt to use a word aborigine before we had read it in Geography about Australia or Vitriolic could be a word in literature and not necessary in Chemistry or about the Loch Ness monster or the abominable snowman the Yeti.
The Digest covered topical matters like the “Sound Of Music’ or “How the west was won” from Hollywood. Or even the Everest Expedition when Tensing and Norgay put the flag on the highest peak. And about the Russian space crafts and satellite much as we would read it from a Tabloid Soviet Union or American space missions about Armstrong or about Lee Harvey Oswald who shot President Kennedy which we read from Scientific amercan.We read about the Flying Sikh “Milkha Singh” or the Bay of Pigs Fiasco and about Che Guevara and Cuba and Myanmar then called as Burma .The array was spread wide on canvass and the choice was that of the reader for then he would be sure to digest the information and use it to his advantage to get jobs or to become elite city dweller with a qualification from the university of Readers Digest or RD.
Post Script: My sister became a RD buff after she was married and went to stay in Nasik. She started English speaking classes for the Marathi medium collegians who sought to get better jobs in Mumbai or Pune.She would take references form RD and polish the students’ language skills. Her daughter did her post graduation in HR but lost touch with the subject when she got married and went off to the US. But when she came back she struggled till she became cozy in an ad agency as a copywriter. Thanks to RD
Posted in Education, Family Matters, Humor, Journalism.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– March 5, 2013
Kihim Trip
Last time I went to Kihim was around 15 years ago. I liked the spot and its beach which was clean.Then again this month I got an opportunity to visit Kihim town and stay at weekend at my friends bunglow.Arun and Sonia came to my place from Jogeshwari parked their Santro and I took my old Baleno for the larger luggage space and powerful Ac although it is an battered car and currently a service is due as per sms received from Spectra i. I thought I will do it after I come back. Shekhar and Lata started from Parel a bit late.
I drove through Airoli and we got stuck in the traffic at Airoli surprisingly since only last week on way to Peth I had rolled out at jet speed.I then saw reinforcing repairs going on .Then driving over first two bridges and avoiding one that takes us to Vashi we came to Kalamboli and then on to Panvel straight over the newly constructed bridge without toll and came to Shri Datta snacks at Palaspe to refresh ourselves .Then after 20 minutes Shekhar arrived in his CNG Wagen R .He had a sound rationale to get this vehicle although he has a Vento too.Firrst they were twosome and although there is no CNG anywhere at Kihim one way you drive on CNG and return on Petrol which works out cheaper and you don’t clamber for CNG as well use a given feature based on a situation.This was sound logic.Then we nearly drove together till a small village after we went straight over Vadkhal.We had fresh fried fish and curry with rice.
Another 30 minutes and we came to Kihim Proper and landed at Vimal Smruti a farm house which Shekhar had purchased trying to retain an ancestral home for Renuka.Parking our vehicles ,Deepak the caretaker welcomed us as we surveyed the area. This bungalow is present in Brahmin Ali in Kihim with cute houses and road pavered recently with paver block. The house was not very modern and belonged to a doctor. There was adequate space in front and back and we instinctively went into the backyard where stood a good numbers of Supari,coconut and jackfruit trees.I clicked with elation .There was mango tree in full bloom with white flowers and it made the atmosphere fragrant.The drawing room was covered with panes and the furnishings were not lavish but adequate and decent.A wrought iron staircase took us to a larged room upstairs where we gents parked ourselves. The staircase led to a large square balcony fron where rooftops and townscape was appreciated.
We now rested for some time and then towards evening walked to beach and I caught the sun diving towards the horizon at 20 degrees on my sony.We clicked pictures .But the beach was dirty mostly due to two things a) Tourists dumping cartons used bottles and garbage and b) The sea dumping some of the dirt it picked fron the surrounding locations.The sand was not virgin and squids had made burrowing all over. We retreated diciding that next morning we would take a mighty stroll down the beach.
We then got back into our vehicles and drove to Alibaug .A district plac around 12 Km from Kihim.There were huge crouds everywhere and the shops overflowed with merchandice.Vehicles crawled all over the place .It was a wretched place to be I thought .But we were here for a reason.Shekar and Arun headed for the fish market and got pomphret and surbai and zinga,while Lata shopped for paraphernalia.I brought the ladies in Baleno the drive was tough as there were no street light and the road unfamiliar.I had passed over the gates of Thal unt of RCF while driving to Alibaug and remembered when I had been here for the first time at Alibaug .Hemant has a bunglow too here I recollected and I and Shyam and he had planned a visit that never materialized.The Thal unit reminded me of my days at RCF at Chembur where lots of reference was made to Thal and Peerpau the RCF Jetty .We reached it time and worried about the othr two just as they came in too.
Posted in Friendship, Travel.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– February 24, 2013
Trek to Peth Fort
After Sudhagad trek, my trekking days seemed to be over due to my spinal problem for which underwent surgery in April 2012 .However after satisfactory recovery 8 months on I decided to check myself against a limited challenge.Kothligad seemed to fit the bill for many reasons. It as nearby. Had a village at the base for stay. It was not very steep and the total height was around 1500 feet from sea level.
I did the preparations on prior day and filled my small haversack, One ground sheet and one bed sheet was the extra luggage. On 26th morning I picked Raju and other co trekkers at Mulund Airoli junction. I was driving my Baleno .Two days prior I had put a new tire tube in the stepni .I learnt that one can fit tube inside tubeless tires as well. I had installed two plus two Michelin tubeless tires in last 3 years and the stepni was being used alternately as well .Now eventually it was effete .We drove thro Thane Belapur Road .The road is finally in shape after a grueling decade or so. With sign boards in place. Earlier by taking the third bridge I had landed in Vashi and had to detour loosing valuable time. Thence on I had avoided all bridges for some time .Now I was aware that I can take first 3 bridges and avoid the 4th going to Vashi.With signboards in place and traffic low I was a cake walk. One traverses Airoli, Ghansoli,Mhape Turbhe and finally Kalamboli.
This time we did not take Panvel bypass but drove straight into Panvel as finally the long bridge over main panvel highway that takes you to Palaspe Fata is ready and ticking. It’s a pleasure now after 25 years of ordeal trying to negotiate your vehicle dodging crowds and traffic through Panvel over the ST stand. Letting the expressway go to the right we took the service road getting on to old Mumbai Pune road .Now we were heading straight to Chowk junction and could see the Morbe Dam wall onto the left side. At Chowk turning left towards Karjat we halted for relieving and refreshing ourselves.Idli and Hot Sambar did the trick at the nearby hotel which was teaming with families who had escaped the city .
Leaving the road that takes us to Neral and Matheran to the left we took a right turn from Kothimbe towards Ambiwali crossing river Chilhar .Otherwise the road takes us to Pathraj famous for its Navagraha Mandir which I happen to do the Pranprathishta around 8 years ago courtesy my boss and then onto Khandas the base village from where trek to Bhimashankar commences via Ganesh Ghat.
We kept the Baleno at a Hotel securely informing the owner of the hotel and started the treks after fixing the haversacks and water bottles. The dirt road was steep and it meandered .Few trekkers passed by with their mobikes.We were out of breath quickly. I was having palpitations and a few ectopic with audible physiological murmur. I got depressed and anxious and told myself to slow down. Others were finding it difficult too. Then at a spot we deloaded and reached consensus that we would reach Peth village leisurely as there was no specific need to hurry and cause discomfort. This was welcome as I was distinctly reconditioned having stopped my swimming activity for last two months due to the cold wave in Mumbai.
At a particular spot the view got scenic and on a ridge overlooking the valley of Kothligad from where we could clearly view the butte of the top of the fort granite wall .There under an Apta tree at a wanton spot and we really chilled out with the cola drink and Celebration .The party got too hot and there was great camaraderie with some groups which we encountered on way. Someone had hiked up Kilimanjaro in Africa when we enquired and that humbled us.Raju came into his elements and blamed everyone else for his woes and his present status in terms of money or social standing. But we blamed him in turn .Close to the village of Peth an old cow herdsman sauntered up and got him involved in the heated discussion. He was just a village hand and was amused at the ways of us citydwellers.Then I told this old guy how lucky he was to reside in a village as against the horrors of the city. Then he got going as his cows had got berserk and as he walked towards the village calling his herd I saw him reprimanded by his wife who was walking towards us in her native Marathi dialect. We told her how helpful the old man was and she was suddenly all praises for him .This was a sweet and unexpected encounter. Such encounters make your day at the end of it all said and done.
We were shown the house cum lodge by village boys who invited us to play cricket.Raju had shown them some demonstration shots with the bat .We were ushered in by shrikrishna who owned the spacious well tiled roof house and we had tea and snacks and the rested agains the wall.I was having wee little head ache.By then the place was buzzing with trekkers who came in for rest snack and tea.But they carrie on with their journey once thay were done as they were to spend overnight in the cave up onto the mountain.But we decided to stay back .Evening we walked past into the fields admiring the fullmoon.Then at sunset Raju hit the spirit with the lodge owner who was the beneficiary.It was a great feeling to stay in a village with electricity to charge our cells.
Then the table was laid .The spread was limited but the food awesome.There was mixed vegetable with drumstick to be savoured with rice rotis raised int ehier own fields as this was kokan and rice is the staple food.There was mango pickle and rice and dal and ofcourse papad .I had a large fill and then we dozed off to sleep .Next day I went into the fields onto the hill overlooking the house to relieve myself although there were some newly built toilets under some government initiative to safeguard womenfolk from defecating in the fields.Someones gain is someone elses loss I thought of the trees and their manure snatched by the intervention.
We then had tea and Pohe and left most of our luggage taking with us water and snacks and then left to surmount the fort.The morning was fine and feeling great .The trres were flowering especially the frangipani whose fragrance vanquished our fatigue as we came onto the shoulder of the mountain ascending with concentrated affort.Then we lost our way and was guided by some of the trekkers who yelled out to us to goback and then ascend from the rock patch parallel to the pipe that was been laid to get water from atop the fort to the village which runs dry in summer.We then grasdually came up upto the cave that was occupied with the trekker groups who were cooking and loitering. The cave were carved and had lattice work .TThey seemed to be atleast a thousand years old from the rock carvings and more ancient than Maratha period.
Through one of the cave was a chiseled seep rock staircase which we naturally negotiated to to reach to the top.It was a difficult climb and daring one as a faulty step would et us crashing into the valley 200 feet fall to death.Ont eh top we were alone we surveyed the tank and the flora and took snaps.all the mountains around us came alive although we could not identify the peaks , they wereto the north Bhimashankar,South Bhivpuri power station ,West Chilhar river basin,Kaulya ghat to the right an uninterrupted range that extended to Bhimashankar on the horizon.Mahuli is also visible on one side.Avid trekkers always can identify various mountains and forts and one requires enough study to do so.I am surely not one of those although on way back I could identify Peb fort mountain.
Posted in Hiking, Social Drinking, Trekking.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– February 5, 2013
The Glass Houses
Around 5 years back I was toying with an idea that every middle class professional dreams.A rural home away from home. I joined a real estate customer team that was taken in a bus to the sites at Talegaon a popular place for dwellers in Pune and Mumbai.One of the customers was a sales executive in Architectural Glass and he was telling us about this commodity which was the material of future.I was wondering how it is made and how it is lifted on site to be installed as huge surfaces of mighty tall structures giving all gloss and spit and shine effect on the city horizon.
But the revolution did occur with each corporate house wanting to erect a tall high rise corporate glass house to carry their commercial activities behind closed door seemingly transparent yet very secretive with zooming video cameras and tight securities with passwords and stringent rules and regulations designed for structured isolation of each well groomed constituent staff not necessarily well meaning.
Architecture changed fast in the last decade. In india architecture was a luxury few could afford and it basically revolved around making residential structures with greedy FSI .Or it involved greasing the palms of municipal officials to get the designed sanctioned always for commercial ends castigating all beauty and aesthetics.We had read about the great architectural ascent and revolution in the US where this was a high profile profession like the LA Law and very big architectural monuments were commissioned a distinct statement of American financial bonanza of capitalism where Best,Biggest, First ,Colossal,Tallest,Highest ,Longest were adjectives reserved for use for their own forms for bridges,sky scrapers,tunnels,highway ,dream homes.
In the lay press were only made aware of Le Corbusier and the cith he designed at Chandigarh with all the planning like in the west with roads,post offices,markets,schools and recreation grounds. That was in 60s and 70s and we wondered what it was like to be in Chandigarh.Then in early 80s I did get an opportunity to visit Chandigarh which stunned me with its spread and urbanfriendly houses designes like upmarket new delhi residential townships.The shops were extravagantly flodded with merchandise and smart fair people akin to those in Bandra linking road in Mumbai.The lavish marriage parties in star hotel was a great show of pomp and glory of an agricultural revolution in Punjab where fertile soil held promise for surplus granaries boasting of healthy diet in form of lasii and chaat.and above all tandoor.
In Mumbai my own friend who went for architecture were jacked up against all odds as there were very few takers due to land ceiling act and few started projeces as far as vapi and bordi.Yet some went into allied fields of corrugated box manufacture or luxury frame making or metal label designing and fabrication.Most student opted for medicine and Engineering or Pharmacy and Architecture was not very lucrative profession then unless of course you were a topper with an invitation from some foreign university with a scholarship under your cap. It was damn difficult to get into the premier school the JJ in Fort Mumbai.
As development went ahead with globalization a certain Parsee Architect clubbed with the echelons in power and became a leader in this field of art and science which was forced due to nexus with the mighty and projects were sanctioned only if channeled through this nexus.Most sane minded people in Mumbai could not understand the phenomenal rise of this professional architect with a golden pencil and a platinum T square ,while others resigned jobs as it was too demanding in terms of giving the kick to principles of the trade and act as middle men for ruthless builders who were acquiring lands from slumlords piecemeal with the patronage of politicians who maintained these slums as vote banks.Archtecture thus had to do much with redtapism,partiality and politics downright loathsome .
Posted in Arts, Business, City Of Mumbai, Design.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– January 20, 2013
Reductio & Absurdum
Long ago in the microcosm of educative formality housed in an architectural edifice of a model termed as a ‘Classroom’, we were introduced to a very very Greek concept attenuated in Latin with we tried to wrestle and prove the possible. “Reductio Ad Absurdum “That was classical Euclidean geometry. And I was in romance with it.
Geometry had all the elements of intelligence, design and construction. It therefore was a perfect recluse for a creative mind if it was not delving in the arena of enchanting words. A subject’s acceptance has very much to do with who teaches it or how it is taught. Geometry can’t be taught without a compass box and this was my solid weakness so much so that when I lost my protractor, I had flicked an entire Compass Box form my best affording friend and guarded it as a secret for donkey years.
Reading through encyleeopedias a moody pass time introduced me to an Englishman named Burke. We did have a teacher by that name ‘Tessie Burke” a small sized woman who was stubbornly strict but humble too. She was our class teacher for a while and taught us English may be in mid levels. Her surname was distinctly Anglo-Indian but her looks more goan.May be nothing to do with Edmond Burke a politician in England during warren Hastings time the latter serving as a British Governor of Bengal as we were told in our History Books was an epitome of learning .We were in his awe then the fact that he to the boss in a corporate that turned to be our rulers The East India Company.Edmonde Burke was a very smart man who managed to twist and turn English language to his own end while proving to be the best statesman belonging to the house of commons. This learned man was in fact in charge of Warren Hastings impeachment after he messed up the East India Companies objectives. Ground realities in India were humongously different and the British monarchy controlled the happenings far away in the east through English Principles of magnanimity, anthrophily and egality. These were all abstract and surrealistically in the favour of royalty as well as bureaucracy if not the polity. But all three were natural benefactors.Incidently Hastings was never impeached.
Burke used this action rhetoric profusely so much so that it appears in Wikipedia and this was indeed appealing to me. After glancing to the write up we realize what it to be honestly dishonest. Burke was very critical of East India Company who according to him became imperial rather than commercial .Burke is naïve of economics as he has never met Adam smith yet Adam Smith appreciates Burke as someone who understood him completely a paradox but a true one. This is not blatantly controversial. Burke knows the power of money in no mean terms. Burke is thus a verbose politician trying to gain brownie points through his speeches. The Hastings impeachment was a trail of confusion if not corruption. Surprisingly Burke is very critical of the French Revolution.
Burke employed the Straw Man principle to the hilt. And Karl Marx sums his conduct while putting him through the scanner of political philosophy does not mince words in his opus Das Capital
“The sycophant—who in the pay of the English oligarchy played the romantic laudator temporis acti against the French Revolution just as, in the pay of the North American colonies at the beginning of the American troubles, he had played the liberal against the English oligarchy—was an out-and-out vulgar bourgeois. “The laws of commerce are the laws of Nature, and therefore the laws of God.” (E. Burke, l.c., pp. 31, 32) No wonder that, true to the laws of God and Nature, he always sold himself in the best market.”
To be concluded
Posted in Blogs, Education, Politics.
By Dilip Vishnu Maydeo
– January 19, 2013
