My city under threat

I am a Punekar.
I have been born and brought up in the city of Pune and I say this with great pride.
I love every bit of this city. The vintage Pune that dwells across the lakdi pul, the peths and the British Pune that you will find in the Gymkhana area and the Contemporary Pune that you will find along the NAGAR ROAD or Katraj Bypass Road, I love every part of it.

Being Punekar is about loving the Wada Pav. It’s about those late night bike rides to Sinhagad and Pirangut. It’s about the gatherings across the bridges late in the evenings. It’s is about celebrating everything you do.

We celebrate New Year, we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate when India wins the match. We celebrate Holi. We celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi.

Lokmanya Tilak brought Ganpati Bappa out of the houses into the mandals. He wanted to give Punekars a reason to assemble, to unite for a cause. Since then Ganesh Chaturthi has been the focal part of Punekars life.

The air in the city is completely different for the 10 days of Ganesh Chaturthi. You will see everybody busy with their local mandals and trying to be the best. The decoration, the lightening, the sound system, everything becomes a vital part of the celebration. And it continues till Anant Chaturdashi or visarjan.

Preparation for procession of the visarjan is much more than that of the Ganesh Chaturthi. The wadaks are busy practising new beats. The organisers are busy planning out the logistics. The public is prepared to keep itself free on those 2 days of mirawnuk. Every one is preparing to say GOOD BYE to lord Ganesha. And on the day of Anant Chaturdashi, the whole of Pune is on the streets to see their favourite deity going back to meet his mom. Literally, the whole of Pune!

A few years ago, the local authorities thought that 2 nights of procession can be a nuisance. Hence they made a law that there will be no sound played after 11.00 pm. I feel that this is an insult to the city. This place is famous for the procession. It is one of the tourist attractions. And you want to have a ban on it for what reason. To maintain silence on the streets when everyone is down there to have a blast!!! Think about these wadaks who practice for a month and are ready to beat the dhols non stop for hours.

The even has lost a bit of charm since then. But still the crowd has not lost its fascination. Last year, even when there was a RED ALLERT in Pune due to bomb threats, the people had gathered in huge numbers to enjoy the procession.

But this year, I see a threat. A bigger threat. The swine flu. The city that never cares about such things, now seem to be susceptible all of a sudden. The city that never took a note of the communal riots and bomb blasts is getting apprehensive about the virus.

The H1N1 has made its presence felt in a treacherous manner. The media has made people to believe that it is the most dangerous thing happened to mankind. The people have responded in the manner they had to. But the question lies here is different.

How will the people react to it on the most auspicious day of a Punekar? Will the fear of the virus keep the Punekars in their homes or will the carefree Punekar come out and celebrate being a Punekar?

I appeal to everyone who lives in this city. If you have ever loved anything in this city, if you have ever felt this city has done any good for you, if you want to know what Pune actually is … do be there on the roads to watch the visarjan. Nothing gets bigger than this here.

Do it with utmost precaution. But do it. It is important.

Being ASHUTOSH

Often I have heard fables about how Arul hates to leave his mumma and papa when it comes to ninni time. I have never experienced it, though.

The 1st time I had to put him to sleep was on a February afternoon in Jaipur. When everyone around us was busy in preparation of his TAU's wedding, the two of us had quite a time away from the rush. There were many such incidences later on.

Then, one day I was assigned to be his babysitter for 8 full hours. He used to play a funny game with me then. With a toy trash truck in one hand and a toy ambulance in another, both made from some damn hard material, he used to run in and pounce on me and throw is toys at me. I had to be ready for both, the toy attack which could injure me and his attack which could injure him. More often than not I missed one of the toys. I hate those companies who don’t use softer things to make those toys.
That evening my sis entered the house. She first checked me for any physical damage and then went on to thank her kid.

This time around, he has grown up to be 4. He understands that hurling toys could prove dangerous (he can read as well as spell this word ‘dangerous’). So he simply jumps upon me as if I am a jump-o-lene.

But the affection doesn’t end here. Today, he declared that he will be doing ninni with ASHUTOSH. Jumped out of his bed and settled into mine, with no hesitation. He has done this earlier but this time it is special.

In the night he woke up suddenly and said “ I am feeling scared, Ashu!!”
“You can come in my godi and do ninni.” I replied.

He then encircled me in a peculiar way and since then is fast asleep. I have seen a few kids go to sleep. But I bet none of them can be as weird as this fellow. I would have noted them down but I would rather prefer to observe all his postures.

I am sure his mumma – papa are missing him. They came here to check if he was asleep. He wasn’t. But yet, to my surprise, he stayed back with me.

I thought he didn't know who a mama is. A ‘mama’ has 2 ‘ma’s in it. Didn’t realise it for so many years! He made me feel it and with an overwhelming joy.

How I wish this night lasts forever.

Commemoration of reminisce.

I am supposed to be playing a cricket match tomorrow. Actually, in just 6 hrs to be precise.
Some local team here has given me an opportunity to represent them in the local league.
We are going to play with the tennis ball on some base ball ground having a thick grass cover.

Last weekend, I was with these guys, practicing.
The word “practice” means so much. It sounds almost like an attempt towards rediscovering myself!!!
Rediscovering myself within six hours over a period of two days.

It all started with the sight of a few guys practicing. I saw them when I entered the ground.
They were kind enough to give me a warm welcome. Somehow, I felt that I knew them since ages…
Of course I did. After all, don’t we share the same madhushala.

Then I was asked to bat.I felt as if my life was at stake.
Tennis Ball cricket has never been my cup of tea and here I saw myself under a scanner.
All of a sudden I saw that I had developed some bad habits. My stance was improper. Back lift was hopeless…etc … etc
Soon I realised that I was not getting my body weight right, committing myself too early and an array of things going wrong.

Slowly, I overcame those flaws and got into the rhythm. All this on my day out in practice.

But, there something more waiting for me on the next day.
We were scheduled to play a practice match against a good team.
I went on the ground with some butterflies in my tummy. Ghosh!!! Where did they come from? At the first opportunity I got, I went for a catching session.
Then came the toss and the match started.

I sat on the bench counting the number of players in the team. We were 13 of us.
So I went on with my assessments.
I must be in, This guy is not a good batsman. And, that one is not a good bowler. May be they will let me play to give me a feel.
Ok. I might open the batting or may be just do the finishing part of it.
Where will I be fielding? Point… Mid off… or deep fine leg. I hope these guys know I am good in the infield.

The few hours I spent on the ground that day were spent in anxiety. Each time the batsman got out I looked at the captain.
Each time the bowler was changed I went and had a word with him. Each time the ball came towards me I made sure it does not pass.

Since long cricket had given me just two feeling - the joyous tones after a good performance or the despair after a loss.
I had almost forgotten how things used to be when I was a newcomer. The days when I struggled to make a mark in the teams that played for.

Now that I await another opportunity of playing, these thoughts reoccur.
I might not be in the playing 11 tomorrow. But I want to be there to know how it feels to be a struggler again.

Elapsed memories are recalled when we remember that we have gone beyond them