The Tiger bites a Lion..

Hello people... Bachi Karkaria had me in splits with this blog... I took the liberty to post it here for you guys and have transalted some bambaiyya language into Englist for your benefit.. Enzoy.. Hope she doesnt mind ;)

Bichare Balasaheb. How it is his fault? What he can he do if the name of the state is Maharashtra. Means, it is the maha- rashtra, no? Means, it has to be greater than the rashtra, no. Then why all the people are khali-pili ( unnecessarily) bom marta (shouting) over his attack on Tendulkar?

If you are called Maharashtra year in and year out, then the delusion of grandeur must get embedded in your DNA as surely as e coli in Mumbai's drinking water. It means you are above not just all other states, but above the Indian state itself. So naturally, Thackeray senior got his saffron silk dhoti in a twist over Sachin-baba's skewed notion of nationalism.

In his version of Tebbit's 'cricket loyalty test', Tendulkar put being Indian over being Maharashtrian, which the Supremo considers nothing short of high treason. So, he was perfectly entitled to launch a maha yuddh over it. Maharashtra must score over Mahabharat, no? What else could Krishna have done than give an 'affectionate warning' to the one-time Arjuna awardee?

Nakkich (Surely), Balasaheb is right. Of course, all cricketing glory is only about our Maharashtra. So where does India even enter the picture? Wadekar, Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Tendulkar - the game is entirely our 'kar'mabhoomi.

Rubbing lasan chatni (Garlic pickle) into the chauvinistic wound, Sachin also foolishly stated that 'Mumbai belongs to the whole country'. So, he ekdum and fully-ch deserved the threat that Thackeray bowled at him in Saamna. Thank Chhatrapati Maharaj, that the misguided fellow at least had the sense not to say 'Bombay'. Then his batata vada (hey days) days would surely be numbered.

Nakkich, Balasaheb is right. Of course, Tendulkar must keep off the political pitch. But politicians must not keep off the cricket pitch. They must keep digging it up like the Shiv Sena men did at Ferozesha Kotla during the 1999 India- Pakistan test series and again in Agra in 2003, just before the Veterans Match with you-know-who.

Nakkich, Balasaheb is right. Of course, he had to warn Tendulkar 'not to lose on the political pitch what he has earned on the cricket pitch'. Who says Thackeray senior is already in danger of losing on this cricket pitch what he had earned on the political pitch? Or whatever is left of his legacy after his son has turned it into a gilli-danda game, and his nephew has run away with the danda. At one time, Indian cricket too had its Tiger, but Pataudi's pampered cub is not interested in being out for a duck; he prefers to go out with a Size Zero instead. No such self-indulgence for the heirs to the Sena lair.They must valiantly continue the mission of hacking down the rich biodiversity of the Mumbai forest and turn it into a monoculture which saps the soil and the sons thereof.

Well, like mortals, tigers too must age. Often they turn into man-eaters since they are too weak to take on prey worthy of their earlier prowess. But this time, our Tiger hasn't attacked a man, but a lionized boy. So wagh-saheb has bitten off more than he can now chew. It hasn't helped that he's still licking his wounds from the last election, where he was thrown to the wolves.
The latest attack is considered a slip even in the gulleys where the Supremo is still venerated. The Marathi manoos proudly consider Sachin to be one of their own, and the boy from Shivaji Park has always returned the compliment with grace and modesty. He is a steeped-in-the-varan local. So, sorry Balasaheb, to borrow from another game, this time you have scored an 'own goal'. Why, if aapla Tendlya was the type to swear oaths , you could safely bet that he'd do so in Marathi.

So long...

Be proud to unearth the girl in you..

What picture comes into your mind when I say GIRL ... hold on guys, stop fantasizing.. I meant to ask, what qualities do you picture ? Love, compassion, empathy and all the related mushy qualities I bet. All of us have a girl inside us, thats right guys, you heard it absolutely right.. its up to us to unearth her and get her to the foreground. Don't go overboard and imagine a Bobby darling or a Rohit Verma, but try to get the point I am trying to make.

From the time we have realised the physical difference between girl and boy we have been told by our fathers not to play with girls. Even in the school, guys who play with girls are picked on by other "macho" guys and called names. Every time we feel vulnerable and emotional, we heard our friends jeer "Stop being a girl and get a pair". All this has led to a subconscious feeling that being a girl is bad. So much so, that girls have taken up being "a man" and are letting go of their feminine qualities to take on a "man's world". No one is realising that it is divine to be girl and a world without feminine qualities will be a dead, soul less world.

Let me clarify, I am not big on feminism and feminist movements because they do a lot of harm to womankind than to improve their condition, though I would confess to being fascinated and charmed by women. I often wonder what makes a woman take all kinds of hits (physical /emotional / financial) from her loved ones and still continue to love them. How often have we heard of a woman suffering domestic violence quietly and in hope that her husband / boyfriend will mend ways if she continues to love him. Being a man, I would not shake hands with any person who was abusive of me; but a woman not only stays under the same roof with him but also feeds him and "makes love" to him. Either she is dead inside or she has a heart as large as ocean to forgive all his mistakes. I would like to believe its the latter.

There are innumerable instances of women forgiving their husband who have strayed and taken them back, I can't really remember the last time I heard a man to this. But all this is changing and changing quite swiftly. Women are abandoning their feminine qualities and taking up qualities unique to men. I have heard now than ever before "If he can do it, so can I". All this is leading to a world with no love, compassion and empathy there is only cut throat competition. So ladies, don't mould yourself into men; just take some of the good qualities that men have and blend it with your best ones. Similar advice goes out to the guys, "there is a woman in each one of you.. just let her free".

Imagine a all man's world; every one means business, there is no place for emotions and each one is fighting with other in gathering incremental benefits. In contrast a all woman's world will be the one with love, compassion and empathy along with your normal inborn qualities. We need a woman's world now more than ever. The next time you see an emotional scene in a play, feel free to cry; next time you meet your loved ones, tell them you love them and what they mean to you; next time you see someone in pain try to empathise with them. Its not a sign of weakness to show some emotions and if someone calls you a GIRL... feel proud about it.

So long....

PS: Excerpts and instances taken from "Vagina Monologues".

Some prayers should not be answered..

My class teacher always said, "Be careful of what you pray for, because you do not know which of your prayers will be answered by God". I would go a little further with that, you never know in which form your prayer will be answered by God.

Raunak was a 6 year old kid who used to travel in my school-cab (auto). He was in pre-school; I being a 4th grader was always expected to walk him to his pre-school. To tell the fact, I hated this job. Even though it didn't cost me anything and his pre-school being just a small detour on my way to school, I hated dropping him off and picking him from his pre-school. I don't blame myself for being just a normal 4th grader hating any sort of responsibility, but what it ended up in, remains etched in my mind and many times makes me cry.

Raunak absolutely loved me. I was like the elder brother he never had, he used to keep chattering all the way from home to school and on the way back. He even kept mentioning about me to his parents and I was like "super hero" to him. I was not basking in the glory, for I knew this would only mean that I would become the designated person to accompany him to his pre-school. His parents even met me on couple of occasions thanking me for taking care of him like a younger brother. It was not long before I started hating Raunak. I was made to do a task I never wanted in first place and then made to look a "super hero" for that same task. Damn.. my luck. To make matters worse this little guy started imitating me, my style etc.. it felt like I was walking around with a miniature mirror image of myself. God, just take him away from me...

It was Christmas time and holiday season was about to begin. We had began preparing for the carols to be sung on Christmas and would have special prayer sessions every week. It was during this time that prospective students applied for admissions for the following year. Raunak coaxed his parents into applying for admissions at my school. He happily broke the news to me the follwing day.. saying.. "Bhaiyya (elder brother), now we will be in same school". Damn.... why are children so irritating. The following week, prayer sessions included a special prayer to the Lord from me; praying that "Raunak does not join my school.. There are many schools in the neighbourhood and all are great, so he wont be losing on anything by not joining my school but I would be gaining so much by him not joining."

Turns out.. he got the admission and his parents didn't even try for another school looking at his enthusiasm to join this school. I was shattered to say the least. I blamed God for letting me down; for not hearing my prayers. The rest of the school term was over and soon I forgot all about Raunak and was enjoying my holidays. As 01st of June (beginning of term) arrived, my heart sank. I had to bear my nemesis all the more; but I did not meet Raunak on first day of school or on the days to follow.. I was so glad that I didn't even bother finding out why he was missing.

One month down the line I heard from my Mom about Raunak, his parents visited my place to tell me about him. Not finding me at home, they had a chat with my Mom. On 31st May (day before the term began) Raunak had died. He had slipped and fallen into hot boiling water kept in container while there was a party at his house. His parents took the pain to locate my house to meet me and tell me this news as they knew I was the person closest to him. Apparently he was so happy all the vacation going gaga over the fact that he would be going to school with Bhaiyya (me). He spent 2 months of vacation buying books and stationary for school, his parents had never seen him so excited about anything before. Alas, he did not join my school. I cried like a baby that day.. even to this day his thought brings tears into my eyes.

Probably God answered my prayers, probably it was destined to happen. Whatever the reason be, I never forgave myself for hating Raunak. I never got an opportunity to apologise to him for having hated him all this while when all he did was loved me like a brother... and I never will. All he got for all his love for me was hate and he didn't deserve it. God loves us through various people and when we do not respect HIS love, he takes it away from us and leaves us to repent... all life..

We have to be thoughtful on what we pray for because we do not know in what way our prayer will be answered.

So long.....

To love or not to love..

To love or not to love is not in our hands.. its an instinct of sorts, because more often than not we do not choose the people we want to love, it sort of takes care of itself.

Abhi never thought Pam was the type of girl he would normally be attracted to. For starters, she worked in his office and he had heard a lot of her attitude being a problem for guys to approach. Somehow, with no prior planning, he asked her out on a date and she refused him bluntly. Known for his persistence, 3 weeks later he succeeded in taking her out for dinner and movie. Nothing dramatic happened on that date and after he dropped her off at her apartment that night he would not have imagined that one day he would be in love with this girl. Something that he never planned happened that night, something that was strange.

Pam was like the girl next door, chirpy, bubbly and full of playful antics. She could get away with most things making a cute innocent face that would disarm the opponent and she knew she had this power. There was no one who could point a finger at her and she was doted by one and all. Obviously, she, being the "hot-chick" of the team, was used to the "male attention" most of the time. One day this new guy in her office asks her out unexpectedly and not knowing how to respond, she refuses. Probably, she just wants to make sure that he actually wants to take her out and is not stumbling upon her. After 3 weeks of persistence she is out on a date with Abhi.

Abhi is like a man-with-a-plan. Mostly he does the right things when out on a date and more often than not ends up charming the girl all ends up. Either, Pam was hiding her feelings too nicely or he was horribly wrong that night, as he dropped her off that night, he didn't see the normal enthusiasm in her. It was like saying "Huh.. what the hell.. it was better than sitting at home". It didn't go well with him, not one bit. It confused him completely and he wanted to figure out how did he go wrong on this date.

Innumerable dates later, he still was unable to figure her out. She would be hot as fudge and cold as ice at the same time, this combination was killing Abhi and his quest for Pam became the only obsession for him. He would take her out on romantic dates, they would talk at great lengths about almost any topic in the world. They knew each others' family like their own despite not having met them. He would readily do anything for her and she for him. Despite all this, something was cosmetic, something just didn't feel right, something didn't make her feel that he truly loved her.

Pam was like the apple of her parents eye. She was doted ever since she was a child. There was never an instance that she was scolded by her father and rarely by her mother. She had, what you would call a fun filled childhood full of love and attention. Match that to the notoriety of her elder brother and it would not be rocket science to guess that most of her relatives loved her. She made wonderful friends all her life; friends who would absolutely do anything for her and would take care of her like a flower. She could be herself in their company with no one being judgmental and it was all pure unadulterated fun. Being the focus of guys' attention was not new to her either, she was kinda used to being in the spotlight all the time and being pursued all the time.


It finally dawned to Abhi what that strange feeling was, he had finally realized that no matter what he does for Pam, she would never notice it. A girl who has experienced so much love from everyone she met will never notice that he loves her. There is no scope for him to make a gesture to her that will be so unique, that it would make him special to her. It was almost like a fortress of family and friends which he will never be able to breach. That didn't break his confidence and he continued to love her with all he has, for he had realized that there was some thing special in this woman that endeared her to all and it was a privilege to have known and loved her.


God gives us all something special, this was her special gift and he had to live with it. Plus maybe she did love him and cared for him and maybe he was expecting a spectacular gesture... which didn't come along ... just because she didn't love him the way he did, doesn't mean she didn't love him with all she had.


Maybe this is true.... maybe not.. no one would ever know.


So long..