Remembering Kalia ! The real Viju Khote 🙇‍♂️

Obituaries are always sad but whenever they are written, they talk about all the bigwigs of politics, industries, icons or film stars who have a larger than life image and entertain us.

But there always are some silent contributors who work tirelessly, selflessly and perform to perfection for whatever comes to their platter, irrespective of the quantum and still manage to make a place for themselves.

One such personality, the one and only ‘Kalia’, Viju Khote passed away without letting the world know that he was unwell. The silence is more saddening considering the new trend of popularity hype which all newcomers generate through reality shows and get an instant fame. 

‘Sholay’ by all means is the biggest landmark of Hindi Film Industry and is known for its talented crowd gracing the big canvas to perfection. To make a mark in the shortest of roles possible by delivering an all time memorable dialogue  “सरदार मैंने आपका नमक खाया है”, Viju Khote not only made himself immortal but also proved “ रोल बड़ा होना चाहिए लंबा नहीं”.

It’s a tough rule of life that one gets stuck in his image and to break those shackles is not easy. Viju Khote was liked and seen till almost recently and whichever the roles he had, they were worth remembering whether it was Shambhu Kaka of ‘Golmaal 3’or Shirish Appa of ‘Ventilator’ in Marathi.

I am not a big fan of movies, but some losses hurt and when a humble human being makes an exit, the emotional connect strengthens more.

Maybe Viju Khote deserved more, but whatever he gave us will always be cherished and he will remain in our memories forever.

RIP Kalia ! The real Viju Khote 🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♀️ 

Disclaimer: The blog doesn’t talk about the film industry and its actors. It’s going back down the memory lane for one of the finest actors of Marathi and Hindi film industry. 

Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times

An enigma called Sharad Pawar!

Once upon a time, there lived a man who was young, dynamic, had a political mind and the political pundits along with aam janta of the state soon realized that it had found a protégé, enough to be called as future of progressive Maharashtra.

Maharashtra till then, was known for its leaders being tied to their ideologies, principles and bound to the election mandate.  It soon found that the young man had big political ambitions and he overturned the political platform to become the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra at the age of 39.

The  protégé turned into a Political Wizard. An ideal example of an able administrator, a leader who ensured his followers are taken care off and an institute was born, which became an inspiration to young aspiring leaders across political differences or ideologies.

The young leader went on to rule Maharashtra for at least 3 tenures and was central minister for a long time.

A simple equation was realized, Power is permanent ! And the leader had the key to make it work.

As the leadership grew, so did the followers. The loyalist were staunch and they never deserted. That became an example, how a leader keeps his stalk together. However, intentionally or either, the flock became vulnerable to power and political kingdoms were born.

It took 40 years to convert a simple equation into a complex one for his opposition. Once a young leader and now a grand old patriarch Sharad Pawar has found himself in a situation where he is left only with family members and close confidants and even few among them are deserting his ship leaving the Titan and Titanic in oblivion.

Reality Check ?

The most important lesson is to sustain without power. Those who stay with you in your bad times, make wonders when your time is on the upswing. That situation was never presented to the followers. Even in 2014, BJP-NCP government was almost a reality.

The basic principles for which NCP was formed opposing Sonia Gandhi took a backseat as soon as Congress led government was a reality. Alas ! An opportunity was lost to sit in the opposition on principles and power continued for followers.

If Narendra Modi was Gujarat then Sharad Pawar was Maharashtra. But that was not to be. Changing the sides all too often, proved a big bottleneck for the inspirational leader. The people in Maharashtra could never rally behind him as 'One State' on the lines of Gujarat being with Modi.

Some journeys are inspirational and so is Sharad Pawar's, albeit the road-map went haywire as it was not planned from long term gain. If Modi went by the rule-book of his party, Pawar changed the book whenever an opportunity knocked to keep his followers happy. The intentions might be to provide power to the flock but once they were out of power, they  found a new ship and what they call as 'Mega Bharti' became norm of the day.

Maharashtra, after a long wait of years is presented by another young visionary in the current CM Devendra Fadnavis and may be we might have many Maharashtrian aspirations fulfilled by him in the future.

A key thumb rule, hopefully is not forgotten! Ideologies and parties can not be built by inorganic growth and additions would be subtractions if they are not managed based on ethics and values. One must not forget Ataljee's wait of 35 years which made 2 in 1984 to Modi's 303 in 2019 just through perseverance, commitment and belief in self ideologies and people.

Whatsoever ! Sharad Pawar will always remain an enigma of Maharashtra and National Politics and a thought will always remain, had his political trajectory taken a different path, then what would have changed for Maharashtra? 🙇‍♂️

Disclaimer: The blog is a mere observation on the current political situation of Maharashtra and does not comment and evaluate the policies or functioning of any political party.

Image Courtesy : India Today

Chandrayaan -II Mission so close and yet bit far 🙏

We Indians have always been fascinated by that astronomical body that orbits the planet and even the distance of 384,400 km from earth never made us feel that its an alien to us. It was always so close yet so far.

If mythology tells us Chand as one of the young and most good looking deities worshipped all over, the aura and love for it, has remained throughout ages even today.

चंदा मामा दूर के, पुए पकाए बूर के
आप खाए थाली मे, मुन्ने को दे प्याली मे !

The beautiful words made us connect instantly with that soothing Chandamama and the child in us could stop crying, eat instantly and could just spend many nights staring at him.

If the child in us slept instantly, Chand had an exactly opposite effect when it came to youngsters. It became a reason for them to keep awake the whole night as

रात का समा, झूमे चंद्रमा, तन मोरा नाचे रे, जैसे बिजुरियाँ
रात का समा !

to an extreme of

एक बात मान लो तुम, जो कहूँ मैं वो करो तुम
जो करो तो मेरा वादा, मैं करूँगी जो कहो तुम, तुम
तुम मुझको चाँद लाके दो !

All through the childhood to young romantic minds or religious old age, we never lost our love for that eternal Chand.

But there was one entity called ISRO, which never lost its focus on looking at Chand as an imapctful body which has capabilities to change the way mankind has lived so far. The belief by them made an attempt, what no one had done so far.

If Chandrayaan-I was about designing, developing and launching a mission to conduct scientific experiments. Chandrayaan-II was far more ambitious as it was about to demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface. The robot then would have studied and made us aware about the surface of the moon, minerals or test ice or water.

The moment of success was almost there and for a change 😊 kids, youngsters or oldies had the same goal for looking at that Chand and prayed for the 100% success of the mission. It was not to be ☹️. Nevertheless, being almost there has brought many success stories as well. Only 2.1 km remained out of those humongous 384,400 km.

As ISRO says, mission is 95% success and the Orbiter is already in its place which will keep the scientists continue their studies of the beloved Chand, though the communication is lost as of now. ‘Never Give Up’ mantra will keep ISRO on the job and hope they find a way to bridge that communication gap.

As they say, sometimes bad luck is more important than smooth sailing as it teaches us to be grounded, brings people closer, gives an opportunity to do better and the success what follows is always far larger than one anticipates in the first attempt.

As an Indian, let’s not forget that ISRO is those special ones amongst us who had the same childhood memories, young crush and respecting those age old customs or traditions and they will keep working hard till they achieve that eluded 5% success to be back on track.

Soon, the ISRO will make the those words real for us 🙏🙏

चौदहवीं का चाँद हो, या आफ़ताब हो
जो भी हो तुम खुदा कि क़सम, लाजवाब हो !

Image Courtesy: Geek

Disclaimer: The blog is a personal way of looking at the Chandryaan-II mission from common man’s perspective and salutes those extraordinaries amongst us. It does not comment on the mission, the technology or any individual.

Arun Jaitley: Final adieu to the leader

Two obituaries in two weeks of stalwarts of BJP and even in death, both of them ensuring to choose the same month for their exit as that of Atalji.

Sounds like, true disciples following the master even in death.

Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, two sides of young brigade of BJP had so many similarities. The media put them as rivals in Delhi. Both were almost same age, contrasting oratory skills complimented each other, both ran equally powerful ministries with iron but seasoned hands, had similar ailments, similar treatment, quit active politics at the same time and bid final adieu within days of each other. True pillars for the  party and losing them is a jolt to BJP as well the nation. No two individuals could have lived lives so parallel to each other.

Arun Jaitley, one of the most suave politicians of all times, connected with intellectuals and downtrodden through his speeches, hard work, policies, governance and always came across as man of all seasons for his party, the BJP.

Though not a mass leader, master strategist in Jaitley ensured the pulse of people is known to the party. As one of the most trusted lieutenant of Modi Government, Jaitley ensured Rafale fly in the sky and one country one tax GST became a reality.

Whenever one heard Jaitely, it had a convincing impact on the audience. His legal skills matched his witty comments blunted the opposition to get his agenda through for the cause of the nation.

Leading a life in opposition for most of the career and when the opportunity came for long stint in the Government, the stalwart is gone.

RIP Jaitley Saab !! 🙇‍♂️

Image courtesy: Gulf News

Disclaimer: The blog is personal homage to a leader who came across as one of the most seasoned politicians of all times. It doesn’t comment on political parties and their policies.

Sushma Swaraj !!

In many walks of life, we come across people who are leaders, mentors or are one amongst the most respected lot and yet they do not get coronated to the coveted positions. 

However their contribution, dedication and the place they earn in people’s hearts is remembered for years across generations. 

Such stalwarts are rare and Sushma Swaraj probably will always be there at the top for her  ‘Rashtrabhakti’ and affability towards the people of this great nation, ‘India’.

Democracies are not built by independence but by the people who leave the lure of power and remain part of an ideology till the ultimate goal is achieved. An orator at par and friends across all parties would have easily made Sushma remain in power all through her life, albeit she chose to be in opposition for most of her career and that’s what differentiates her with others who switch parties and make headlines especially during any election fever.

One of the youngest minister in Haryana Government to India’s most beloved Foreign Minister, Sushma made mark in all the roles she performed.

Sushma chose the eternal journey so soon after her successor in Delhi, Shiela Dixit left for heavenly abode but the sequence reversed. I still remember Sheila Dixit sitting next to Sushma, the day later became the Chief Minister of Delhi and beaming with joy for her friend Sushma. That was the camaraderie she shared with Dixit and leaders of opposition parties though being poles apart in their ideologies.

Irony of democracy made Sushma lose the power to Sheila and not because of the policies or politics. It were those costly onions who tilted the favour against Sushma and Delhi might have lost one of the most deserving Chief Ministers ever to rule.

Nonetheless, Sushma being as Swaraj as name, was always one of those outspoken and real trouble shooters for the party. Those who heard her speeches in Parliament especially during the fall of that 13 days Government of Ataljee would agree for them being a BJP supporter due to ‘Sushmavachan’. 

Her functioning as minister in the successive BJP governments of Vajpayee and Narendra Modi made people come across an ideal minister whom they always missed in any government.

A firebrand leader who took on Soniya Gandhi in Bellary to one of the most affable leaders of all times, also faced few unwarranted controversies especially during LalitGate and one must say, we as people or the politicians must be responsible enough to get to the root of any issue and then make a statement.

Her health and her troubles with mobility made her sit out of 2019 Modi Sarkar but Sushma being Sushma probably chose to leave for ever rather than leading a retired life.

Article 370, which was close to many people and always top of her Party’s agenda was the day she chose to leave us but not before patting the current government and celebrating the victory of democracy till her last breath.

Sushma Swaraj will always be remembered as an all time great and one who made a difference to India so we can be ready to usher a new era in ‘New India’.

RIP Sushma Swaraj 🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♀️ 🙇‍♀️ 

Image courtesy: NDTV

Disclaimer: The article is a mark of respect and does not talk about political opinions and being on either side of the government or the opposition. This is a personal blog and opinion.

26th July ! A standstill Mumbai !

ओ …ओ … शामे मलंग सी... |

...is Mumbai, but

........वो शाम कुछ अजीब थी..|

It was not a normal evening and day . It was 26th July 2005.

It’s been 14 years since then, but every year on 2607, it takes me back to those memories which made all of us realize that we are humans and don’t have any control on our lives whatsoever. 

Many amongst us might have witnessed the fury of the nature that day and I relive my story here.

The morning of 2607 was as usual refreshing but cloudy. I was back from a year long hiatus from Mumbai and had no reason to be in the office especially considering the fact that my project was just over and next assignment was to start in 15 days (100% compliance to company policy 😊) However, in a zeal to meet old friends and colleagues, I landed up in my office at Worli and for unknown reasons chose not to take my own vehicle.

Day well spent and friends met, I thought it wise to make a move at 4 pm considering Mumbai clouds which had started to gather together. The taxis were scarce and I made my mind to stay with my relatives place at Dadar. As I was about to enter their complex, a bus honked and I changed my decision to enter the bus. Then began the most unique journey and fight with the fury of the nature which is still vivid in my heart, my thoughts and my memories.

The bus started to move with a speed of inches per minute and the wise driver decided to take us to Kalanagar flyover to avoid water logging in the bus. The journey which started at 4:30 pm made us reach Kalanagar in the night. Many thoughts of getting down from the bus were thwarted by unknown Mumbaikar friends who stopped each other’s rush of blood and kept us safe.

I had that utterly non reachable BPL mobile which to everyone’s surprise was the only network working on the bus. I don’t even recollect how my handset was moving from one hand to other and getting people connected to their homes to convey their safety.

The night in the bus was all about chitchat and keeping ourselves awake. As it dawned at 6 am, we got down from the bus to witness one of the goriest sights of the city of Mumbai. There were no visible slums, no small buildings and no roads except a confusion whether we were on the bridge over sea or on the road. People especially female passengers panicked and left the bus and only god knows what happened to them or whether they remained safe.

They say GOD is the biggest script writer and out of nowhere, I heard a female voice which sounded so familiar but I hadn’t heard it for at least last 20 years. To my utter surprise, the old lady was none other than my class teacher from school. After spending night in the taxi, the driver suggested her (and her husband) to board the bus, as it was safest destination in watery Mumbai.

Water began to recede and the bus started moving. Many families were helping people on roads and I had the option of getting down for my destination. However I chose to stay back with my teacher and finally, the bus driver drove us to SV road, Khar where hundreds of buses were brought together by BEST on 27th July. Ultimately, I stayed in a hotel in Khar till the next day with my teacher and her husband and once their family members picked them up, I went my home on 28th July. I was lucky that I could make it to home after the ghastly rains 🙂

I am yet to figure out, what made me travel on 26th July ? Whether it was my zeal to meet my friends, or help unknown friends through my BPL mobile, or to be with my teacher or just to make me witness and realize how the nature can go against mankind.

Many lives were lost and many stories remained untold . Thankfully, my near ones who took the risk of being on roads, in the railway bogies, or stayed in hotels or offices remained safe 😊🙏

The story still remain fresh in mind and the fear of rain fury still brings that extra caution whenever rain gods get angry.

You guys may also share your part if you have witnessed it too !!

Disclaimer: This is neither a blog nor an article. This one is my way of thanking the almighty who kept me and many others safe on that once in a lifetime day and for all those wise decisions I took on that panicky day.

Image : Mumbai my love

 - Jayawant

The legend is 70 ! Happy Birthday Sunil Gavaskar

It was Gavaskar

De real master

Just like a wall

We couldn't out Gavaskar at all, not at all

You know the West Indies couldn't out Gavaskar at all !!

The calypso might sound redundant today but it mattered in 70s and 80s, when the pacemen from Windies were no less than an army and very few batsmen in the globe had the courage to face them, forget even dominating them.

As the world wasn’t curious enough to talk about Indian cricket and its results, his own country not expecting any miracles on the ground and media in hibernation, came a young Mumbaikar by the name Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, all of 21 and stood like a rock to create history and scored 774 runs in four test matches in his debut series. He along with Dilip Sardesai brought the greatest laurel for the nation and the then skipper Ajit Wadekar when India beat the might of Windies in famous victory in the year 1971.

The calypso what Windies made, went on to be a reality for the bowlers around the world till Gavaskar hung up his boots in 1987.

For almost 17 years, Gavaskar was making and breaking records at will, but what probably highlights, is his contribution in building the future generation of cricket in India. Master blaster Sachin could be an ideal example to showcase the impact Gavaskar had on the youngsters in his era.

Today, India is blessed with many stalwarts but one man who showed the way for being ‘Fearless against Fearsome’ was none other than Gavaskar. How to build an innings, face the pace on overseas grounds is an inspiration and a lesson for youngsters even today.

In a true sense, it was Gavaskar who made India fall in love with cricket.

Many still rate Gavaskar as a defensive captain, but it was him who made his team learn to draw matches rather than loosing them. May be that was the first step towards transformation of winning days to come.

Post retirement, Gavaskar was the first Indian cricketer to establish himself as a full time commentator and has carved a special niche in the box. The camaraderie he carries with today’s generation of commentators makes Gavaskar an ageless sportsman.

As true cricket fans, we would have loved to see Gavaskar take over the mantle of a mentor or a coach, however that was not to be 😔. May be that’s not the way he wants to pursue his passion for the game and enjoys his stint seating, observing and making his opinions count in a critique’s role from the commentary box.

Sunny bhai completes 70 years of his age today and may we see this patriarch of Indian cricket continue contributing to the game which he was born for.

Happy birthday Sunil Gavaskar 🙇‍♀️ 🙇‍♂️ 

Disclaimer: The blog is an expression of thoughts of  a true cricket fan of Sunil Gavaskar. 

Image courtesy : gettyimages ae 

- Jayawant