Author: Adi Sathe

  • Story of a boy fallen for forest beauty – Book intro

    Story of a boy fallen for forest beauty – Book intro

    It takes some trigger to spark your love towards nature and greenery. For me, it was this particular book which I read way back in my 10th or 11th grade. Today I am introducing you all to our very own butterfly man of India, Dr. Krushnamegh Kunte and his book “एका रानवेड्याची शोधयात्रा”. It’s a story of finding his own passion and love for a forest and his journey to become a “child of forest”.

    Blurb

    चाकोरीतल्या अपयशानं मुळीच खचून न जाता चाकोरीबाहेरचा छंद मनापासून जोपासणा-या एका पोरसवद्या तरुणानं लिहिलेलं हे पुस्तक म्हणजे निसर्गप्रेमाचा आगळा आविष्कार आहे. रसायनशास्त्राच्या महाविद्यालयीन परीक्षेत अनुत्तीर्ण झाल्यामुळे हाती आलेलं फावलं वर्ष मदुमलाईच्या जंगलात प्राणीनिरीक्षणात घालवण्याची संधी मिळाली आणि कृष्णमेघच्या मनात लहानपणापासूनच दडलेलं जंगलप्रेम उफाळून आलं. तो वर्षभर त्या जंगलात राहिला, पण एखाद्या ‘उप-या’ निरीक्षकासारखा नाही तर ख-याखु-या जंगलपुत्रासारखा राहिला. त्या जंगलातले हत्ती, रानगवे, रानकुत्री, अस्वलं यांच्यासारख्या प्राण्यांचं मनमुक्त जीवन त्यानं एखाद्या सहनिवाशाच्या भूमिकेतून निरखलं – पारखलं. त्याच्या त्या शोधयात्रेत आलेल्या सुंदर, थरारक, रोमांचक अनुभवांचं हे नितळ पारदर्शी संकलन म्हणजे जंगलरसात न्हाऊन निघालेलं आणि वाचकांनाही रानवेडाची दीक्षा देणारं ‘मदुमलाई सूक्त’ आहे. काही पुस्तकं निव्वळ वाचायची नसतात, तर अनुभवायची असतात. मदुमलाईच्या जंगलातला एक तरुणप्रसन्न जीवनानुभव त्यातल्या सा-या चढउतारांसह, रौद्रथरारांसह आणून देणारं हे उत्कट पुस्तक असंच ‘अनुभवण्याजोगं’ पुस्तक आहे… कृष्णमेघ जेथे रमला त्या ‘मदुमलाई’च्या प्रेमात पाडणारं…

    Exciting times in rainforest of Madumalai:

    Book takes you on his journey in the forest of Madumalai during the gap year during his graduation studies in Chemistry. Krushnamegh was very fond of forests from his childhood but this journey proved vital and pathfinder for his future of becoming an eminent scientist working on the butterflies of India. He has written a book in a fantastic style which holds you till you finish it. Book is full of stories about rich and diverse flora and fauna, a variety of birds, and the roaring Moyar river during monsoon. Krushnamegh has also included his encounters with magnificent beasts, elephants, of Madumalai named Kudkomban and Dada, his long tiring journey when he was on track of a pack of wild dogs along with stories of the notorious smuggler Virappan.

    This book is just a glimpse of what Madumalai and other rich vibrant forests of India has to offer for someone who loves nature. If you want to make up your mind about visiting such forests, this book will be the catalyst in finalizing your dates. 

    About the book:

    Title: एका रानवेड्याची शोधयात्रा

    Paperback Publisher:  Rajhans Prakashan

    ISBN: 8174348034

    Where to buy:

    I’m taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s My Friend Alexa. My current ranking is 310,686. I am trying to improve on this. Hope you all enjoy these Marathi books too.

    This post is also a part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter

  • Mountainous Small Tale – A new face of Marathi rural literature

    Mountainous Small Tale – A new face of Marathi rural literature

    Maharashtra and Marathi language have a very long illustrious legacy of literature. Today I am going to introduce you to one of the present torchbearers of this legacy. Most of the Marathi household knows him for his wonderful letters for the popular comedy show “Chala Hawa Yeu Dya” of Zee Marathi. Yes, you guessed it right. Mr. Arvind Jagtap. “पत्रास कारण की” was the session in programme where open letters written by him were performed by Sagar Karande. He opened up his heart about social issues via his letters. गोष्ट छोटी डोंगराएवढी (Mountainous Small Tale) is a short story collection written by Mr. Arvind, I feel, is a new face of Marathi rural literature.

    Blurb:

    सगळ्याच गोष्टी दाद मागण्यासाठी सांगितल्या जात नसतात. काही गोष्टी आपल्या मनावर डोंगराएवढं ओझं वाटत असतात. कुणाला तरी सांगायला पाहिजे असं वाटतं. एकदा शुटींगच्या निमित्ताने एका गावात ड्रोन हवेत उडवला होता. गावकरी जमा झाले होते. कुतुहल म्हणून त्यातला एक माणूस म्हणाला, “किती दिवस झाले राव वर बघून! आभाळाकडे बघणंच सुटलं होतं.” धक्का बसला ऐकून. माणसं वर बघायचेच विसरून गेलेत काही ठिकाणी. आग ओकणारा सूर्य असतो खुपदा वर. तेंडूलकर जेवढा कौतुकाने वर आकाशाकडे बघत उतरायचा ना तेवढ्या कौतुकाने बळीराजा वर बघत शेतात जायला हवा. ऐकायला साधी वाटते ही अपेक्षा पण खूप अवघड आहे. गावोगाव अशाच गोष्टी आहेत.

    प्रत्येक शेतकऱ्याची गोष्ट छोटी वाटते पण असते डोंगराएवढी

    – अरविंद जगताप

    Mirroring today’s rural life

    We always have romantic notions like beautiful countryside, lush green farms, clean air. However, ground reality is starkly different from this. Mr. Jagtap has captured this reality with all the nuances of today’s rural life. His storytelling is so crisp and engaging that you don’t feel the weight of serious issues about which a story is written. These stories are from rural areas of Maharashtra. A couple of them take place in cities yet they have a strong rural connection through a student from a village living in a boarding school in the city, or a group of friends who came to the city with an agenda to meet some politician for work, etc. 

    I got introduced to this book by Spruha Joshi’s YouTube video in which she narrated a story from this book titled “अमर रहे! पण कुठे?”. It’s a story about a martyred soldier and the way his village receives his body for last rites. Other than this, पाकिस्तानच यान (Pakistan’s Spaceship), किस (Kiss) and गायीचं काय करायचं? (What to do with this cow?) are some of the stories that made a strong impact on my mind. Arvind has a unique style of visual storytelling. Characters and places from his stories come to life in front of you while you read.

    My Rating

    Book Cover: 4.5/5

    Storytelling: 5/5

    About the book

    Title: गोष्ट छोटी डोंगराएवढी

    Paperback Publisher: Indian Bharat Publications

    E-book Publisher: RBONATO.com

    ISBN: 9788194148203

    Where to buy:

    I’m taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s My Friend Alexa. My current ranking is 396,140. I am trying to improve on this. Hope you all enjoy these Marathi books too.

  • Alexa: Once Again, The Journey Begins

    Alexa: Once Again, The Journey Begins

    This year marks the fourth year of my association with this amazing campaign called “My Friend Alexa” started and run by a thriving, buzzing community of Blogchatter. My Friend Alexa is a very unique blogging campaign where creating your own blog takes a back seat in a way and you appreciate and enjoy what your fellow creators have put out. It truly celebrates creativity. When one receives the love of your readers, viewers in the form of comments and shares, it boosts the confidence of the creator 10 fold.

    Who’s this Alexa?

    Blog or any page on this massive world wide web is ranked on various aspects like traffic, content authority, etc. There are many indicators to look out for. But,  Alexa Traffic Rank is one notorious indicator to get hold of and be consistently good with it. I won’t bore you with how techie details about how rank works and all. (To be honest with you, I also don’t know exactly how it works. 😉) It ranks your blog/website based on the traffic and engagement you get on it. Any guesses who must be acing it? Yes, OBVIOUSLY it’s Google. (See, how tough the competition is?) Google is proud owner of Alexa #1.

    My journey in campaign

    From my experience of past four campaigns, the only thing I can tell you confidently is, “Consistency is the only key to be on top of the game”. If you want to keep your rank following the downward trend, you have to keep investing yourself. You should consistently create and keep engaging with your community.

    2020 – Gems of Marathi Literature

    2019 – My Musings

    2018 – Marathi Poems

    In 2018, I wrote 8 Marathi poems and recited it for my readers while in 2019, I logged in the thoughts triggered by a particular incident / line in the book I was reading and for last year, my idea was to bring gems from Marathi literature for everyone to enjoy. 

    I could only complete the campaign of 2018. For the next 2 campaigns, the only thing I was consistent about was being inconsistent with it. This year I am totally committed to completing this one and continuing the momentum in future too. So, see you around. Hope you will enjoy my works.

    I’m taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s My Friend Alexa.

  • Aura Around Disability

    Aura Around Disability

    Today is a proud moment for India as a country. Two of our athletes bagged gold in the Tokyo Paralympics 2021. Our ace shooter Avani Lekhara and Javelin Record Breaker Sumit Antil have created history for us. We are extremely proud of them. On a personal level, as a person with hearing disability I am very happy that my fellows are making it happen. Avani has become the first woman Indian athlete to bag the gold for India while Sumit broke his own records thrice in this tournament to bag his gold. They are getting recognized. And almost everyone was waiting for one man to react to these amazing athletes. Yes, you guessed it right. Mr. Anand Mahindra. 

    Only last week, Padmashree Deepa Malik who’s a paralympian herself and heads the Paralympic Committee of India, requested all automobile industry leaders from our country to research and make SUVs for people with disabilities like she is using in Tokyo. And as we all expected, Mr. Mahindra promptly put his crew on the task. Today he kind of reiterated his commitment along with a promise to give the first of its kind to our Golden Girl via his twitter handle. However, while replying to this tweet a guy sid correcting Mr. Mahindra’s use of the word “disabilities”. 

    It’s not about the label

    Sadly, part of the twitter thread is now all about the “correct” label for the community. If ‘disabilities’ is ok? Or we should call it ‘different abilities’. Some might even argue to call us people with ‘special abilities’. We Indians are so fascinated with our habit of labeling everything. Our honorable PM has coined a new label for us, Divyang. Personally, when I hear that word, I feel some mythological or mysterious limb has grown on my body. 

    Every language has a word for every disability. A person without eye sight is called blind person in English, आंधळा (Āndhaḷā) in marathi and so on. In a lame attempt to feel compassionate, sympathetic for us, people started creating such odd labels. 

    However, these specific terms are adjectives. They describe a PERSON with particular disability. While addressing one should not forget that you are talking about a person. Your focus should be a person and not a disability. Many forums and organizations, like United Nations have issued guidelines about inclusive language. They all prescribe to identify someone with disability as a person with disability and not to use the terms “handicapped,” “differently-abled,” “unfortunate,” or “special needs.”

    We, the people with disabilities

    We only need recognition and acceptance as fellow human from you and not your sympathy. Our disability is a condition which we have accepted and we are leading our lives happily. And as rightly proven by Avani and Sumit, hell yeah we are successful like every other person. So, let’s just call a spade a spade for once and accept us as we are. Once again, Congratulations to our champions and excitedly looking forward to engineering mastery of Mahindra and Mahindra.

    Read more such articles here.

  • Abhangwani – Vibrant Corner of Every Marathi Heart

    Abhangwani – Vibrant Corner of Every Marathi Heart

    There’s a very vibrant and long tradition of Vaari (वारी) in Maharashtra dating back for more than 800 years.  Every year palanquins carrying ‘paduka’ (sandals) of saints are taken with this pilgrimage to reach Pandharpur on occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi (Eleventh lunar day of the bright fortnight the month of Ashadh). It’s a great procession which goes on for 15 days on foot from Dehu, Alandi and other places to Pandharpur. Lakhs and lakhs of Vasrkaris take part in this procession singing various abhangs, devotional songs of Lord Viththal written by Saints.

    This tradition of singing abhang in procession is taken to a next level and widened its reach to the general public of Maharashtra and other places in the country by various singers and composers. However, one name comes on top of this list. Bharatratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi composed a number of abhangs and created a full length program with them. Pandit Kumar Gandharva’s program on Sant Tukaram, Kishoritai Amonkar, Chota Gandharva, Master Krishnarao and many other musicians also composed many Abhangs and performed regularly on stage. Many marathi movies featured some of them as film songs.

    Abhangs which are very close to my heart

    Every composition by these legends is phenomenal and worth listening to again and again. Words written by these saints appear to be so simple and easy to understand, however, if you keep listening to them again and again, someday, you may feel some eureka moments. Today, I am listing some of my favorite Abhangs here for you to enjoy the eternal bliss.

    Laxmi Vallabha – Pandit Kumar Gandharva

    Pandit Kumar Gandharva composed a bunch of abhangs written by Sant Tukaram to the new tunes. Sadly the program flopped as people didn’t accept the new tunes. However, this one particular tune stuck behind and is sung by many of his disciples and musicians influenced by Kumarji’s style and music.

    Avgha Rang Ek Zala – Kishoritai Amonkar

    Gaanasaraswati Koshori Amonkar is a legendary classical vocalist of Jaipur Gharana. She has composed a few abhangs, some Meerabai’s bhajans and performed them in her concerts. This particular abhang is written by Sant Soyarabai who was a disciple of her husband Sant Chokhamela.

    Haribhajanaveen Kaal – Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki

    Every Goan music enthusiast is proud of Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki who was accomplished classical vocalist and composer. During his time, he composed many bhajans, abhang, thumari, natyasangeet etc. Haribhajanaveed kaal is abhang written by Sant Sohirobanath of Goa in which he describes importance of self realization

    Dnyaniyancha Raja – Pt. Bhimsen Joshi

    Bharatratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi created a flagship musical program and took these wisdom gems written by our saints to every nook and corner around the country. I am choosing this next one form his compositions. Dnyaniyancha Raja is written by Sant Tukaram in honor of Sant Dnyandev.

    Carnatic classical vocalists also sing these abhangs with equal devotion and mastery. Padma Shri Aruna Sairam, vocalist duo Ranjani – Gayatrhi are just a couple of names who frequently sing these masterpieces. Hope you will enjoy these renditions full with devotion and dedication.

    This post is a part of the Blogchatter Half Marathon. Read my earlier story here.

  • अधीर मन

    अधीर मन

    काजवे सभोवती लक्ष दिवे पेटले,
    अंधारी रानातील वाटेवर पावले.

    वाकुनी नभातूनी डोकावतो चांदवा,
    चालली वनातूनी राधा बघ सुंदरा.

    वाटेच्या शेवटास दूर डोंगरावरी,
    राधेला भेटण्यास वाट पाहतो हरी…

    On my YouTube Channel Adi’s Journal

    This post is a part of the Blogchatter Half Marathon. Read my earlier story here.