Category: ललित

  • 2024, a new beginning?

    2024, a new beginning?

    It’s already been 10 days into the new year of 2024. Since the world has witnessed, endured and came out (?) from the pandemic, I have seen two types of reactions. One who celebrates every small bit of success, appreciating their new lease on life. The others who feel celebrations are useless, mind filled with uncertainty. I am yet to figure out where I belong. So at the beginning of a new year, it puts me into a difficult position. To celebrate, or not to celebrate, that’s the question?

    What really happened in 2020?

    I wasn’t the person who celebrated new year, birthdays, anniversaries of loved ones with a pomp before this lockdown and all. However I am glad that no harm came to me or my close-ones during that melancholic period of lockdown on accounts of the deadly virus. Yet there was a lot happening in the personal space. Even with the benefit of hindsight, I am not able to figure out that whatever turns life has taken, are they leading to better days ahead or not. After four years, it’s still unclear. Moments stayed with me from these four years are so few that fingers of my two hands would be enough.

    A few of you may find this a very random rumble about a dull life. But I look at this as a way to crystalize my thoughts. I hope some of you will agree with me on the usefulness of putting thoughts on paper (or screen). “Consistency is the key”, they say, when it comes to creativity. Well, it definitely took a toll. You must have seen me writing blogs very rarely in a past couple of years. I had started my own YouTube channel where I recited my poems for you all. It turned out to be a short endeavour. There is one thing I am being consistent with is my reading. I have been reading more and more books per year since pandemic.

    They kept me on track

    Books have been strong and steady companions for me throughout my life. Recently, I went digital and discovered a whole new experience of reading. Nowadays, I read ebooks on kindle and listen to audiobooks. However this doesn’t mean that my love for good old printed books has decreased. The only change is that I rarely buy new paper books. Whenever I want to enjoy reading in old ways, I turn to my collection of my favourites.

    Well in 2024, I am looking forward to continuing my reading journey. I recently bought a whole set of फास्टर फेणे (Faster Fene) written by B R Bhagwat. This particular series has a strong nostalgia attached to it. When you own a complete set, it feels like a dream has come true, which you had left way back in your childhood.

    At the new beginning

    So, here we are, when we have passed that beginning phase. A routine has now settled in. I am beginning a new journey. Where I want to keep walking without worrying about the destination. Maybe this is what being consistent means. Hope you all will read my writings again frequently and share your thoughts on the same. I am glad to be back in touch with you all! See you around…

  • Thrilling story of a crafty work – Book review

    Thrilling story of a crafty work – Book review

    Indian freedom movement is a very huge canvas to paint many pictures which has led to the creation of many stories, novels, films ranging from fact-based historical docuements to the historical fictions building an imaginative story on the backdrop of the events. Swaraj Spy comes into the later category. I received the review copy a long long ago but couldn’t finish reading it sooner. But I am able to finish it now and here are few of my thoughts.

    What to expect

    Vijay has been able to capture human emotions very well when he describes the situations of displacement, oppression, and fearful situations. However, the storyline loses its grip over the readers mind in between. This was the reason that it took me so long to finish this book. And yet, I would say that you would not regret reading this one. The way author has manages to bring in the global events in the story is credible and brings some traction to the story. Vijay manages to bring in some action every now and then but by the end of it, he is able to pull the story together and tie it in a nice bundle.

    From the blurb

    Kumar Nair moves to Singapore after being dismissed from a British paramilitary unit for refusing to disperse unarmed women agitating for India’s independence. But war breaks out and the Great Depression destroys his fledgling business.

    After the fall of Singapore, he joins a secret espionage school set up by Japanese Intelligence and the rebel Indian National Army in Penang, Malaya. When several cadets trained at the school are betrayed by a double agent, Kumar is sent on a rescue mission. But while the Japanese want Kumar to continue the mission with surviving agents, Indian leaders ask Kumar to save as many as possible and hunker down until the war ends.

    Inspired by a true story, The Swaraj Spy will take you on a thrilling adventure through time and history.

    About the book

    • Name of Book: The Swaraj Spy
    • Author: Vijay Balan
    • Publisher: Harper Collins
    • Publication year: 2022
    • Pages: 500
    • ISBN – 10: 9356290741
    • ISBN – 13: 9789356290747
    • Price: ₹ 408

    My ratings

    Stories: 3/5
    Writing Style: 3/5
    Cover Design: 4/5

    Overall Rating: 3/5

    Where to Buy

    Should you read it?

    You won’t regret if you pick this book to read once. Just don’t go in with very high expectations

    If you want more book recommendations, click here.

    This review is powered by the Blogchatter Book Review Program. 

  • Banaras – a Strong Call of an Unknown Connection

    Banaras – a Strong Call of an Unknown Connection

    I felt in my heart that I should not miss this opportunity. It was a strong call to ignore. As if Banaras was calling me. This all started after a virtual get-together of the extended Blogchatter community about earlier this year. Almost everyone was very excited with the idea of an offline retreat coming around September – October.

    By April, the destination was fixed. As soon as I got to know it’s going to be Banaras, I felt a strong pull towards it. I had never been to this oldest city in the world. And yet, it felt that there is something which is calling me back. I had to go. I don’t think I had planned any of my trips this early.

    What an experience it was!

    Our retreat was organized in a very beautifully restored Guleria Kothi on the banks of Maa Ganga. That added to the pull I was feeling inside me. Even though I wasn’t sure what we were going to do in the retreat, I had decided that this had to happen. I scrambled all my resources and just fixed my spot. Boy, oh boy! I am so delighted with those 3 days we all spent together. I enjoyed my time exploring the city, invoking creativity through various sessions, and going on a boat ride on Ganga on a rainy morning. It was a total fun!

    While roaming around the narrow lanes of Banaras, colourful and artsy doors of old houses in the city fascinated me. My mind kept playing Kabir bhajans in a loop. These might be the lanes through which Kabir himself must have roamed in the city humming his own writings. Kumar Gandharvaji‘s tunes of those nirguni bhajans got an additional layer for me after my trip to Banaras. I also got to listen to another flavour of these bhajans from Umesh Kabir during one of our sessions of retreat.

    The return journey from Banaras to Pune via Mumbai was very eventful. Mahanagari express decided to be so late travelling over 1500 km, that it was terminated one stop before the scheduled station. I had to literally run to catch my connecting train to Pune.

    Answering the mystic call

    I summarise my experience of Banaras in this poem answering a mystic call from an unknown connection which I feel that I share with this oldest city of Banaras.

    कुछ है जो आज भी मुझे वापस खींच रहा है।
    वैसे तो रहा था बस ही चार दिन और,
    लौटे हुए कई हफ्ते हो गए है। लेकिन..
    मन अभी भी भटक रहा है उन तंग गलियों में।
    शायद जहा कही कबीर, तुलसी के पैर लगे होंगे।
    मां गंगा का विशाल रूप आंखों में बस सा गया है।
    मजधार में तैरती इस नाव की तरह मैं भी खींचा जा रहा हूं।
    बहता जा रहा हूं ..
    लगता है कोई पुराना रिश्ता है इस शहर से,
    पांच हजार सालों के इतिहास में ढूंढना भी तो मुश्किल है?

    To read more such stories, browse Adi’s Journal pages.

  • Gossip – very tempting but unhealthy

    As I woke up today, it dawned on me that today is September 1st. I am always forgetful about turning a page of my calendars at home, at desks. So before I forget about it again, I turned them to the current month. I started thinking as I read the lines which I wrote for the September page of ‘Amurta 2023’.

    पहिले वळून मागे,
    पाठीवर बोच कशाची?
    वाटते लपून आहे,
    रोखली नजर कुणाची?

    आदित्य साठे

    Sharp sting on my back,
    And I turned around.
    Gaze stared from a corner,
    Shadow lurking around

    Aditya Sathe

    The chain of thought started from the obvious meanings of lines about some piercing gazes we all feel on our backs every now and then. However, it kept growing as new links started to get attached. It settled on the final form which these gazes take. Gossips. It seemed to be a good topic to have a word with you all. Hence, this blogpost.

    Irrespective of your age, gender, nouns, pronouns and what not; everybody enjoys the spicy tadka of gossip every now and then. This temptation gives all the ammunition needed to those chaar log of the society to have a say in every action we take. I am quite aware that I have no moral grounds to lecture anyone about how gossiping is bad. Having indulged in it quite a few times, I strongly believe that a person is a fibber if he or she claims about not being part of gossiping.

    We have witnessed gossiping right from our childhood when your buwa visits you or your mum takes you to mama or maasi’s. Just like a good observant kid, we pick up the vice and start gossiping about our schoolmates. Most of the time we miss the thin line between asking for the well-being of your friends or relatives and gossiping.

    And the game of Chinese Whispers begins.

    “तुम ने सुना क्या?” “You know what he did?” “तशीच आहे अगं ती.” You can easily hear these sentences from any intense gossip sessions of friends or relatives gathered after a long time. Inherent storytellers in us take charge. He starts narrating the story with all the masala one can add to it turning a rai into a pahad. Next day, some other storyteller adds more tadka to this adding a few more grains of rai to it. I have heard stories of gossip reaching back to the same person completing a full circle taking entirely different forms. Sometimes things go out of hand. A story of sipping some cola from a glass might even go too far labelling someone as a drunkard.

    So, I have just one suggestion for you all (and for myself too). Be mindful about this risk of crossing into the unhealthy realm of gossips while you are having fun with your friends and relatives. खैर छोडो, पर आप ने सुना क्या..

    This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023. If you like to read more of my thoughts, please check this…

  • An Impulse – Best fuel for alluring creativity

    An Impulse – Best fuel for alluring creativity

    I have been mulling over a thought since I drafted my first post of this blogging August Half Marathon a couple of weeks ago. I had written the first one easily and personally i feel it had turned out qite a nice piece. Since then, I had been pondering about what to write other 9 posts about before the time ends. However it felt like my mind was empty. I wasn’t ready to put my pen on the paper.

    It was a constant thought running in back of my mind that I have to write 9 more posts. Today is the 4th day of the marathon and I have already lost almost all extra days which I had. With fait this background buzz, I was reading some document which needed my comments sitting at my office dest.

    It was just like a flash

    Suddenly it started raining. Not a drizzel which picked up a momentum later. It was like a sudden impluse just like a burst of creativity which has to come out in one form or the other. Afternoon was oddly on the hotter side and this splashing shower came down as a relief. A poem by Ba. Bha. Borkar aka Bakibaab came to my mind.

    घन वरसे रे,
    घन वरसे रे..
    वरसे जलसर
    आले सर सर.
    मल्हारचे स्वरसे रे..

    बा. भ. बोरकर

    I couldn’t keep my eyes on the document anymore. A sudden urge to capture this moment came and grabbed my phone to record some clips of this pouring rain. I recorded a bit of it from a couple places from my office and stood by one of the windows to enjoy the rain.

    I must have been there just about a minute. Suddenly, showers just stopped as if someone had turned off the tap in clouds. The whole thing could not have even lasted for 10 minutes.

    As I am writing this post, clouds have parted clearing the space for the Sun to shining back. These sudden showers acted as a fuel for my creativity as I have gladly created a small reel for my instagram @adisjoural leaving me humming one more poem describing game of tags played by rain and sunshine during the month of Shravan from my childhood.

    श्रावणमासी हर्ष मानसी हिरवळ दाटे चोहीकडे;
    क्षणात येते सरसर शिरवे क्षणात फिरूनी ऊन पडे.

    बालकवी (त्र्यंबक बापूजी ठोंबरे)

    This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023. If you like to read more of my thoughts, please check this…

  • Schism of isms – an unnerving bigotry

    Schism of isms – an unnerving bigotry

    “My truth is the only truth and you all should bow down to it…” A thought cropped up in a human mind and the first spark of Ideological friction flamed. We used to express our differences of opinion by discussions and discourses. But now we as a society have stooped down the baser instincts of humans and took some bloody turns throughout human history. Today around us, we are witnessing rising tensions in various factions of society across the world. Schism is appearing on the surface.

    The words ending with ‘ism’ have become gospel truths which are to be parroted and invoked without understanding the meaning, thoughts and philosophy behind it. Masses have flocked behind them and formed their sects and cults with “ready to die for” attitudes. Personally, I can accept it up to a limit. Believing in an idea or propagating it is a welcome thought. However, when you believe in a thought, you shouldn’t be against something. Nowadays, if you are a believer of one ‘ism’ you have to be ‘anti’ another.

    Let me give you an example

    Just think of the current state of Feminism. It started as a movement which started with a just cause, equality and rights. Today a few of the followers have taken a very different route. These days if you are a believer/supporter of feminism, some people think you have to be ‘Anti-men’. Feminism started as a fight for having equal rights and dignity, a proper balance. However, it appears from a few extreme views floating in the ether  of this universe that this movement is trying to take up a path of ‘female supremacy’. But this will turn out to be a see-saw instead of a balance of justice. If we continue on this course, it will become a cyclical process. 

    Paolo Frier in his ‘Pedagogy of The Oppressed’ warns and reminds about the correct course for any movement. “The oppressed must not, in seeking to regain their humanity, become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but rather restorers in the humanity of both.”

    In today’s time of influential social media, information explosion, superfast internet and propaganda; polarisation is a very easy thing to achieve. Opportunists are always out there to harness this herd power for their own selfish reasons. It’s our duty as a society to be strong and keep our discretion and reason intact. Bioses are everywhere. Agents of chaos are lurking around to widen the schism of isms. It’s a call of the hour to be alert and think. Let’s unite together to work towards harmony and not fall prey to these schisms, “For vs Anti” divide. 

    This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023. If you like to read more of my thoughts, please check this…