राजधराण्याची रीतच न्यारी

 राजघराण्याची रीतच न्यारी ..

एक होती राणी, दिमाख तिचा मोठा

होती पगारी पण तिचे असंख्य दरबारी..

साम्राज्य गेलं, सत्ता गेली

जुनी पुण्याई धावुन आली, राणीला  तारुन नेली..

काळ बदलाला जग बदललं

राजपुत्राचं मन घुसमटल..

राणी सत्ता सोडेना, राजपुत्र राजा होइना

राजगादीवर आले सहा वारसदार, राणी म्हटली  माझाच कारभार..

राजघराण्याची रीतच न्यारी ..

राणीला आली नातसुन, होती ती काळी

तिच्या रंगाची चर्चा मात्र जगात रंगली..

सुनबाईचं मन  रमेना, बडेजाव काही रुचेना

होती मनांत पोकळी, राजवाडा सोडुन झाली मोकळी..

आली मोठी बातमी, सुनबाई होणारं आई

तिच्याबरोबर मीडिया पण डोहाळे देई..

राणीला झाला पणतू, मनांत होते किंतु परंतु

असेल का तो राजबिंडा की दिसेल  सामन्य जनता?..

राजघराण्याची रीतच न्यारी ..

राणीचे नातलग, राणीपेक्षा त्यांनाच चिंता

शोधु लागले सातव्या वारसदारात भीन्नता..

पणतू थोडा बाप, थोडा आईवर

सुनबाई बोलू लागली वर्णभेदावर..

राणीला काही उमजेना, खिन्न होउंन एकांतात बसली

सुनबाई आणी नातू म्हटले , आम्हाला वाळीत टाकली ..

किती ती चर्चा, किती तो खटाटोप

राजघराण्यालासुद्धा नाही सुटत प्रसिद्धीचा लोभ..

राजघराण्याची रीतच न्यारी ..

हे तर सामान्यांच्या घरात रोजच घडतं

सासू सुनेतला वाद समजुन सोडुन दिल्या जातं..

कुणाचे डोळे, कुणाचे कान बघुन आनंद होतो

आपलाच भास समजुन मिरवलं जातं...

शेवटी काय? 

तर 

राजघराण्याची रीतच न्यारी ..

टिप : ही फक्त कविता म्हणुन वाचावी.. हे वर्णभेदावर भाष्य नाही .

- जयवंत

State Elections: Watershed or Predictable?

With elections announced for state assemblies in Assam, Bengal and South, the election fever is bound to reach high temperatures in the summer of 2021.

The BJP which didn’t even dare to hold election rallies in these states not so long ago, is aiming to retain power in Assam and form the first right wing government in Bengal and not to forget Tamilnadu Puducherry and Kerala where they aim to make their presence felt.

For the party which let its partner Mamatha and Amma call shots in Vajpayee coalition for the state, the change is significant as one is now the biggest rival and other’s followers are looking for persona of Modi to come to rescue to retain power. 

All these states, for years since independence had silent unnamed RSS workers who relentlessly worked on the ground to make a base for the BJP. The Congress on the other hand remained in illusion of invincibility to let the power slip to Left in Bengal,accepted alternate 5 year term in Kerala and  pushed its own disciples in Assam relegating the second rung leadership to move to BJP.

The opponents, the media and the Power circles of 10, Janpath underestimated the ambitions of BJP and the ground reality of voters shifting the base to saffron party.

The shift is not a miracle. It’s something what Vajpayee predicted and Advani perceived. The duo slowly but steadily ensured to come out of the so called untouchable party tag. 

2014 to 2021 has been an amazing juggernaut of Modi ably driven by his trusted Sarthi Amit Shah. The thought process is very clear. Do whatever it takes to win. Work on your strongholds, be open to pamper turncoat ambitions, not to bog down for lack of local face and fight elections in the name of Mascot Modi. 

Mamata who single handedly mesmerised Bengal to dismantle Left is getting jitters in her own bastion .This is going to be her biggest fight for survival and probably will change the course of Bengal politics.

With Gogoi gone, Hemant Biswa on its side, Sonowal faring satisfactorily, Assam could be a safe bet for BJP.

Kerala, Puducherry is more to do with Congress than BJP. Even a small gain is significant for the future of Saffron party.

Amma’s disciples or Kalaignar offspring in Tamilnadu whosoever wins, BJP shall remain content for now to have a say in state Politics.

This is going to a tough test for the Congress. If it survives this battle,it’s partners fare better than the rest, then only the GOP has hope to remain relevant as a principal opposition party in national politics.

For the BJP, it’s all the way gains as it’s aiming the territories which were alien to them since the party’s inception.

Whatever are the results, 2nd May 2021 is going to be a watershed day in the history of Indian Politics.

Image Courtesy: The New Indian Express

Disclaimer: The article does not aim to propagate any political party and is a mere observation of an avid follower of the current state of politics.

Manya Singh..The girl power

 

As the nation is engrossed in ‘Hum Do Humare Do’ debate, farmers fighting over identity crisis as political parties are infiltrating their agitation, India gripped in cricket fever with COVID-19 showing signs of exit, a young girl took a silent entry in the world of glamour and grabbed pole position at Miss India 2020.

Manya Singh, daughter of an auto rickshaw driver made headlines as she proudly took runner up crown as Miss India World 2020. 

The girl who starved for food, clothes and studies, overcame challenges through her sheer determination to reach the pinnacle of glory to make her parents, city and nation proud but most importantly made a statement on girl power.

A girl dream can come true but for that to happen, belief in your daughters is the first step, supporting them is the second and empowering them is every parent’s moral responsibility.

Let Manya grab the headlines for now and best wishes to her for tomorrow. 

Image courtsey: Hindustan Times

Bose and Thackeray.. Identities personified

Is it a mere coincidence or fortune that 2 of India’s brave sons were born on the same day (not year)?

As nation celebrates, Netaji Subhashchandra Bose and Balasaheb Thackeray’s birth anniversary, similarities come to galore with their memories.

Both leaders who were supposed to be close to Congress turned out to be its biggest bête noire.

If Netaji was a typical politician and Thackeray, a cartoonist, both ditched their original professions to form their own Senas, Azad Hind and Shivsena.

Both became youth icons when they were past their prime youth. Both had the charisma to motivate and invoke nationalism amongst the youngsters.

Both changed their soft approach into hard core aggression which they believed was the way forward for democratic India. If one said attack, the other said defend and give it back.

Both were misunderstood when they went vocal with their ideologies, time proved their preachings were visionary and sustainable beyond their lifetime.

Both had liking for the cigars and were open to admit it.

If Netaji was (is) Bengal’s pride, you won’t find any Maharashtrian not speaking the tone of Balasaheb.

Bengal and Maharashtra, both the states having a rich culture, political history and vocal citizens are bound to miss the iron men of Indian politics today.

May the soul of Netaji and Balasaheb bless the nation on their birth anniversaries. 🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♂️

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia and India Today

Disclaimer: The article is a personal observation about 2 great sons of Indian soil and does not intend to make any political statement.

Indian Cricket Team and the Spider Story

Once upon a time there was a strong kingdom which had a powerful King, warrior soldiers, intellectual well wishers who were ably guided and protected by wise men.

With no onslaught expected the king was advised to get rid of unutilised species whoever they were from the kingdom and ultimately it zeroed down to spiders who were identified as having a least worth.

Out of nowhere, a war erupted and the king

had to flee, only to find shelter in an unprotected cave in faraway mountains. As the night progressed, king heard whispers from the enemy soldiers near the cave but surprisingly, they walked away. As the sun rose, king came out of the cave to find out that the spiders had built a web in the night outside the cave and the opponents just walked away assuming no one could reside there.

The king realised his mistake, dropped his plan to get rid of spiders and went on to defeat the enemy at next opportunity.

That’s what exactly happened in India Australia Test match at Sydney yesterday. The guns were blazing everywhere to get rid of Pujaras, Viharis and Pants from the team. Fortunately we had a wise king in Rahane who stood by his spiders and the web they built (supported by ‘Always under the lens’ Ashwin) not only saved the kingdom from ignominy of defeat but(also) the platoon is now ready for the final battle at Brisbane.

Amazing turnaround by the Indian Cricket Team at Sydney and though a lot of homework is needed for Gabba, interesting times lie ahead.

Mentally strong team will take the series and accolades. May the game of cricket win rather than off the ground nuisance. 

Disclaimer: The imaginary story is used as a reference only and does not intend to compare any individual with spiders.The intention is to positively correlate all the hard work spiders do to build the web for its own benefit.

Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times and Wikipedia

माझी आजी! माझी ताई!

24 December 1990. आज तिला जाऊन ३० वर्ष झालीत(1 April 1911-24 December 1990). Mrs. Gokhale ह्याच नावाने ती educational field मध्ये ओळखली जायची. आमच्या साठी मात्र ‘ताई’.

आजी असुनसुद्धा ती आम्हा नातवंडांची ताई होती.

आधीची दुर्गा ढवळे आणि लग्नानंतर सुशीला गोखले. दोन्ही नावं तितकीच सार्थ ! प्रचंड दरारा, करारी, पण तितकीच प्रेमळ.

ज्या काळात मुली शाळेतसु्द्घा जात नसतं तेव्हा ही Pune Fergusson ची graduate आणि नंतर डबल-ग्रॅज्युएट. दरवर्षी शाळेत, कॅालेजमध्ये पहिली येणारी दुर्गा BA Honoursला दुसरी आली. शहीद भगतसिंगच्या फाशीमुळे प्रचंड चिडलेली आमची ताई परिक्षेत ब्रिटिश राजवटीविरुद्ध ताशेरे ओढून आली. ब्रिटिश प्रोफेसर्स तिला पहिला नंबर देऊ शकले नाही पण त्यांना तिची हिंमत पण हिराऊन घेतां आली नाही. तिच्यातली दु्र्गा शेवटपर्यंत कायम राहिली ती अशीच! सावरकर आणि टिळक तिचे दैवत.

बालविवाह ही प्रथा असताना ताई मात्र शिकत होती. वयाच्या 26 व्या वर्षी तिचे लग्न आमच्या नानांशी (Anant Ramachandra Gokhale) झाले आणि ती कायमची सेवासदनमयी झाली. एका छोट्या खोलीत सुरु झालेला नागपूर सेवासदनचा कायापालट एका व्यासपीठात रुपांतरीत करण्यात नानांइतकंच ताईचे पण कर्तुत्व अस्मानी होतं! नानांच्या पाठीशी खंबीरपणाने उभी राहीलेली सुशिला.

बालविधवांसाठी शाळा आणि होस्टेल, गरीब मुलींना शिक्षणाबरोबर रोजगार, Montessori Training College ची स्थापना,इतकं सहजतेने करु शकणारी म्हणजे फक्त ताई. वंदनीय Principal Mrs. Gokhale.

संस्क्रीत पंडीत, English म्हणजे हातचा मळ, हिंदुधर्माविषयी प्रचंड आस्था आणि ज्ञानं पण प्रथेप्रमाणे १.५ दिवसाच्या गणपतीमुळे शाळेकडे दुर्लक्ष होते म्हणून घरी १० दिवसांचा गणपती, इतका सहज आणि सोपा निर्णय😊 आजही आमच्या घरी गणपती १० दिवस असतात.

वयाच्या 80 व्या वर्षीसुद्धा उत्साह आणि कणखरपणा कायम. मला आठवतयं, माझा मोठा भाऊ डॅा. उदयची surgery झाल्यावर, डॅाक्टर्सना नववार नेसलेली माझी आजी दिसली आणि म्हातारी समज़ुन ते तिला आधार द्यायला गेले.शांतपणे हीने  डॅाक्टरना सांगितले , “Dont try to confuse or pacify me, Tell me the diagnosis. I am more interested to know what you guys are doing about that”. डॅाक्टरने दंडवतचं घातलं 🙇‍♂️ 

मी स्कुटर शिकल्यावर double seat बसणारी ताई, ‘सिलसिला’ चित्रपट ३ वेळा बघणारी ताई,Science,Maths, Sanskrit, English, History, Geography चे आमचे doubts सोडवणारी आमची ताई किंवा ‘पुलाव स्पेशल’ ताई.

काळ पुढे जातो, आपण आपल्या आयुष्यात गुरफटून जातो,जुनी पीढी नसल्याची सवय करुन घेतो पण त्यांची उणीव मात्र आपल्याला कायम भासत राहते.

ताई जाऊन ३० वर्षे झाली पण आजही तिची आठवण येतांना मन उचंबळुन येतं. असती तर हवीच होती वा अजुनही हवी आहे पण नसली तरी तिचे आशिर्वाद आमच्या पाठीशी कायम आहेत आणि आजही चुकलो तर धाक आणि प्रेम तितकंच आहे याची खात्री आहे.

We miss you Tai .. keep blessing us 🙇‍♂️ 

- Gokhales

RIP Maradona !

When football meant Mohan Bagan versus East Bengal and visibility of the game restricted to Doordarshan, if youngsters were playing football and keeping awake for FIFA World Cup(across India), then the enigma who made it possible was none other than one and only Diego Maradona.

As they say, short personalities make a towering impact and whatever they

touch turn into gold even if it was hand goal by Maradona.

The ‘Hand of God’ in 1986, (Maradona) took Argentina to victory against England in quarter finals and rest is history. The champion craftsman took his country to coveted championship and our generation got an answer to undisputed ‘Pele’.

Yes, the world of football now formally argues  who’s the best ever, Pele or Maradona? And the answer still remains under the wraps.

The man with golden foot, golden hand and golden heart, faltered immediately after retirement. The fat became obese, hero to fallen one and the king on the ground found peace in drugs and finally ended up in rehabilitation in Cuba.

The king returned but with diminished personna of himself. Out of sight is always, out of mind, but not Maradona! This time though, he has gone forever.

The world will miss Maradona and for many amongst us, he still remains the greatest forever.

RIP Maradona.

Image courtesy: CBS Sports