Disciples of God are followers of the King today!

“There are long queues of people waiting outside a TV shop. All the box-shaped devices, big or small are displaying the same picture - A five feet five-inch-tall figure is manoeuvring the ball in all the directions of the field. As the young and old, with their eyes glued to the Television screens, watch in awe, the stage is set for yet another Tendulkar Century!”

Giving nightmares to the bowlers as he redefined batting, Tendulkar as a bowler too, was a treat to watch. He may get hit for runs, but then he would ensure to take wickets, he was every captain’s safe bet when it came to breaking the long partnerships of the opposition at the crucial stage of the game. After all, it's not an easy feat to take 200 wickets in International Cricket.

As Sachin remained the pillar of the National team, he along with his teammates, Ganguly, Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman, collectively termed as the ‘Fab 5’ formed a team which taught us to win matches consistently not only in the subcontinent but also outside it and thus brought Team India to a formidable stature which it enjoys today.

Tendulkar: From a boy-wonder to Child Prodigy to the Little Master to God. His journey was awe-inspiring. His cricketing career, a 24-year long walk on the 22 yards was the entire childhood for the kids born in the early nineties. Thus, Tendulkar remains even today, in their hearts not as a mere cricketer but as an emotion. The mere mention of whose name gives them goosebumps.

When Tendulkar hung his boots in 2014, there was a strange vacuum in the hearts of the cricketing enthusiasts, those nineties kids who were all grownups now. This void, however, was soon filled by a Delhi boy who was once himself among those nineties kids who grew up watching the great Tendulkar bat. And thus the stage was set for Virat Kohli.

As his career progressed, he proved to be a more lethal weapon of the Indian squad, a deadly combination of Ganguly’s courage and Tendulkar’s discipline.

Being Virat is not easy though, when every day you are being watched closely and when you are always compared with the Master who is your admiration in cricket. But, Kohli did not let the outer world hamper his inner self and kept scoring runs, breaking records after records. Very soon he may go on to break Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries which at one stage seemed unfathomable.

As Kohli remains the cornerstone of India’s success, he with the likes of Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are taking the reins of the team further whose seeds were sown by the Fab 5.

Kohli: From a Star Player to Captain to the King, the journey is on at it’s going on a rapid pace.

As we approach 2020, there are no more long queues outside the TV Shops. Thanks to the Digital India movement, every hand now has got a big or a small device which can now store a plethora of apps and an unimaginable size of data. And at the end of any cricketing day when people browse through the cricket news, Kohli has already hit yet another century.

When they look at the ease with which Kohli scores runs, these people who were mere toddlers in the nineties, who in the cricketing arena call themselves as the disciples of God, they are followers of the King today.

Little Things...

Mornings in Mumbai, though not really cold but are dark. In this darkness, the street lights are consorting with the moon, which is yet to set, to spread the light.

There is enough traffic on the road to refer this time of the day as ‘peak hours’.

The watch on your wrist seems to be deceiving as it shows 6.30 am.

Just 6.30 am and yet another ‘busy’ day in the life of ‘Mumbaikars’ has already begun.

Amidst the plethora of auto rickshaws, school buses and milk vans as you hurriedly make your way towards your bus stop (that place, where you will meet your daily commuting agent, the company bus which will further take you to your workplace), you come across another bus stop where the kids are waiting along with either of their parents for the school buses.

It is here you overhear a voice,

“आई, आज bus आलीच नाही पहिजे...”

(“Mother, I wish, the bus should not come today”)

Unable to resist your smile, you look in the direction of the voice, the little boy must not be more than six-seven years of age. This reminds you of the famous Marathi nursery rhyme, “सांग सांग भोलानाथ, पाउस पडेल काय?” (where the kids pray to the Lord Shiva, to tell them if it would rain so that they will get a holiday from school) But, it isn’t monsoon and the sky shows no signs of rains so the school kid can only pray that the bus shouldn’t come.

Somewhere in your mind you pray to the God that the little boy’s wish should come true.

Somewhere in your mind, the song, “सांग भोलानाथ, पाऊस पडेल काय?” keeps playing and you realise that you have reached your bus stop.

“Hi, Good Morning... what’s up?” One of your colleagues who has already reached the bus stop greets you.

“You know what?

“आज bus आलीच नाही पहिजे...”

You reply spontaneously.

God’s Grimace

Disclaimer: This article is not against any God or Religion but is against Human behaviour. Any resemblance with a particular God, Religion or Place of worship is purely coincidental.

It’s a Sunday Morning. You wake up early and decide to pay homage to your favourite God (Yes, in a country where there are so many Gods and Goddesses you do to have your favourite one, don’t you?)
You board the train which is jam-packed (Alas! Sunday isn’t a holiday for local trains) and travel for almost an hour.
You reach the place of worship to find an incessant queue of devotees. Soon you too become one of them.
You are piously waiting in the queue with your hands joined and eyes closed when a sound falls on your ears “एक आदमी का पचास रूपया”...
You don’t need an interpreter to tell you that they want you to pay money so that you can pay respect to your Lord.
A righteous self tells you to withdraw and join that queue where they aren’t charging. But it’s too late, you have already reached the cash counter, and you end up paying.
It takes a few more ‘crowded’ minutes before you enter the main hall of the Lord. But where is He? You can’t find Him. Many heads are creating a hindrance between you and Him.
Finally, your Eyes meet His. Hardly had you started praying when you find His eyes grim. Confused, you stare at Him, and the Lord begins to talk to you...
“Welcome son. Good to see you here. So, paid 50 bucks to see me?”
Ashamed, you lower your eyes. You don’t respond.
“It was I who created you, gave you an ability to think, and out of this thinking you could invent the concept called ‘Trade’.” The Lord continued.
You are confused but are eagerly listening.
“And today you have put me, your own creator on Sale.”
You have no words. You are still listening, gaze lowered even more now.
“I am omnipresent. But still you come here, pay money to see me, and then you offer me a plethora of things. Do you really think that this barter is going to work? I can see everything, good, bad and ugly, and your future is a consequence of your deeds in the past and the present. That is your Karma. Your money and other offerings simply don’t please me.”
You feel like apologizing, but before you could utter a word, a human voice hits your ears,
“यह कब से यहाँ खड़ा है, निकालो इसे बाहर”, one security personnel instructed another.

There resides a Super Hero in You

You board the train to travel to your native town for the festival of Diwali.

The train is running full house. You can see people waiting for the Ticket Checker with their 'Waiting' Tickets.

With a confirmed ticket in your wallet, you consider yourself lucky.

No sooner did you complete the ticket checking formalities and hit your berth for a good night sleep than you catch a glimpse of a kid.

He must be 3 years old and is notorious. He is sharing the berth with his mother.

Making you nostalgic, He reminds you of those days when you too were of his age and used to share the berth with your mother.

As a kid you never slept alone on the berth. You always feared that you will fall down.

Years went by and you grew up. From school to college and from college to office things happened.

At times you succeeded and at times you failed.

But somewhere at the back of your mind the fear still persists- the fear that you will fall down in Life.

You are lost in this reverie when the kid approaches you and startles you with his innocent question,

"Uncle, are you छोटा भीम?"

You don't know how to respond. You simply smile.

No matter how kiddish a questiom, your thoughts gather and revolt,

If a kid can fantasize the super hero in you why can't you identify him. Why do you live in a constant fear?

They say, Kids are Avatars of God Himself. Unknowingly this kid too, alike God enlightens your mind.

There resides a Super Hero in each one of you. Finding him and using his powers to its fullest is the need of the day.

This Diwali, let's unleash the Super Hero within. Come let's give up the fear and pave the way for courage.

Here's wishing you a Happy and a determined Diwali...

Let there be Light...

Being Winner...

This is an era of competition. No sooner a child is born than he finds himself competing with fellow children of his generation in every walk of life.

As parents become managers of this competition, it starts with enrolling the kids in a good school. When parents of children of our generation had an option of a Vernacular medium or an English Medium school, parents today choose a school from a wide variety of options starting from a State Board school to an International board school. Not to mention this selection of school largely depends upon the financial well being of the parents.

And as they start their schooling, parents starts conversating with their kids in English, it really doesn't matter to them about how adept they themselves are with this foreign languague. Good, bad or ugly, they talk to their kids in English only believing that more and more practice will make their kids well versed in English.

Well it doesn't stop here as going to a good school and talking in English are just the basic necessities. Parents want their kids to be all rounders. Being so, children are burdened up with additional load of a plethora of coaching from cricket to swimming, from painting to Karate and what not. When an all round development of kids is a need of the day, a closer look reveals that this desire for all round development comes from a mob mentality. "Since Mr. Sharma's son is a swimmer, I feel my son should be a swimmer too... Since Mrs. Gupta enrolled her daughter for a Karate training, I too followed the suit." Comparison begins.

With comparison there begins a race. And parents, they want their kid to be a winner, an absolute winner. Everyone wants to be a no.1 as a no.2 is actually good for nothing.

And when you are running a race, you either win or you lose. When winning gives you confidence, losing gives you complex. When complex shatters the self confidence, too much of winning gives rise to over confidence which ultimately makes way for Arrogance.

Coming to the scene...

As you happen to play with these kids from an age group of 5 to 12, you find this girl who is most probably the eldest of the lot. You approach her enquiring few details about her, she replies in a tone which is nothing but rude. You don't bother thinking She is just a kid. You move on enquiring about other kids and there too the eldest one pokes her nose, her rudeness crossing all her limits. Offended you go away from the scene.

As you seek information about this rude kid, you come to know that she happens to be an all round winner in whatever She does at Her school. But does her behaviour really reflect those qualities?

Dear Parents, please understand winning doesn't always come from being a numero uno. If you really want to make your kids winners then,

Teach them their mother toungue, English will be taken care by schools. Still you want them to excel in English, give them books thus cultivating in them a hobby of reading.

Teach them values and culture which are Indian.

Teach them how to respect their elders.

Teach them a lesson of equality.

Teach them benevolence.

Teach them that it's not always about winning and failures too are important in order to grow.

Teach them comparison not with others but with their own self.

Most importantly, teach them humanity and a winner will itself emerge out from this human.

#Dedicated to all Parents.

The Irani Heritage

The food culture of Mumbai is changing. With Indian and International Restaurant chains fast growing, you see a plethora of them in and around the city. But amidst these newbies, resisting this change, the remnants from city's old Culture still stand tall.

And when you talk about the popular hangouts from the bygone era, you simply can't miss the Irani Restaurants.

Kyani and Co. is one such restaurant near Marine Lines which represents the Restaurants of yesteryears.

As you enter the restaurant, you find a septagenerian handling the counter. When he says, "Paanch-Dus minute rukna padega"(You will have to wait for five-ten minutes), a sense of satisfaction is clearly visible in his eyes. A satisfaction that even after being into business for maybe more than hundred years, they are still running full houses.

As you happen to wait for a table to get vacated, you start observing the surroundings. Everything around you seems to be from your History textbook. Be it the wooden tables and chairs or the old Grandpa Clock hanging on the wall (although from lost time, still shows today's time) take you back in time. The antique telephone with round dial on the counter reminds you of Graham Bell.
Forget about the airconditioners, the fans too are not like what you see today.
The old hand painted advertisements of their "No.1" products reveal the efforts that needed to be put in those days when "Ctrl C + Ctrl V" was an alien phenomenon. But the presence of a Lady on these hoardings clarify that alike today olden days marketing too was predomintantly influenced by the Female Power.
Behind the counter, there is a handwritten parchment stuck on a wall which says, "Credit Cards are not accepted". This very line brings your time machine back to today's era as you realize that your wallet is full of plastic cards but you hardly carry any cash.

It is when you are summoned by a waiter, your table is ready. As you search for the menu card, you happen to look at your table and you are surprised to find a menu card under a glass sheet. Looking at over hundered variants of Irani and Parsee cusines, you are now totally confused. You finally settle down for maximum variety of delicacies each of which comes with 'Pav' as complementry. It is not that you like the taste of all the varints but your tastebuds that are accustomed of usually eating Paneer Butter Masala or Veg Kolhapuri or for that matter a burger or a pizza whenever you go out eating get a sense of newness. Gradually you start developing this taste and before you could even realize, you have devoured four odd Pavs. As your plates get empty, the waiter approaches thinking you may ask for a bill, but he doesn't know your capacity and thus eyes you suspiciously when you say, "One Brun Maska, one Irani Chai and two Faloodas".

As you eat, eat and finally reach the climax of this food saga, you find a cold drink being served which you had seen when you were a school kid or a mere toddler, well how often do you find a Dukes being served in the era of Red Bull and Mountain Dew? But as you are already full, now you want to stop and ask for the bill. You have eaten like a monster and now you are asked to pay a meagre 330/- Rupees. You are contented. Since it is far well within your budget, you happen to check out their Bakery. Biscuits, Kharis, Nankatais, Cakes, Pasteries they have them all. You end up buying a few of them home.

One last survey tells you that even if everything here belongs to Bombay but the machinery used for cooking is from Mumbai. The fact that the place is listed on Zomato is a certificate that it's popular even today.

While you move out, you can't stop the photographer in you clicking every possible moment, every possible nuance.

God's own Shoulder

Amidst heavy rains and torturing traffic, manoeuvring their umbrellas as people try to find their way out, I can see this kid hardly a year old, oblivious to this downpour, sleeping peacefully on a strong shoulder under a big umbrella.

Sanguine he is as he knows that come what may this shoulder will never let him fall.

Confident he is as he knows that this strong shoulder will carry him in every thick and thin.

Optimistic he is as he knows that this shoulder belongs to the God Himself, His God whom he Calls “Papa”…

When God could not reach to each one of us, He created His Avatar whom we call "Father"...