Tuesday, December 31, 2013

A walk to my birthplace Day 55 (160 Km covered so far)


Yesterday the jungle babbler took me back in time and today as I walked along, I was still in the world of birds. I remembered story of a bird family I had read as a child. 

There was a bird that had formed a nest in a field in the midst of tall grass. Every day the mother bird went out to pick up food for the baby birds and the baby birds eagerly waited till  their mother was back. One day as the mother bird came back, she saw that the babies were scared and unusually quiet. She asked them about the reason. One of the babies said, “O mother today the owner of the field was walking around. He looked around and commented about the wild grass to be cleaned up. What will happen to us?” The wise mother told the babies not to worry and their routine continued for a week. Again after a week the mother bird saw her babies worried when she returned back. Babies told her that the same man had returned and he talked about getting some farm-help to clear the weeds. Mother bird smiled and reassured the babies. Few days passed peacefully and the mother could see the fear haunting the babies once again. She asked, “What happened today?” One of the baby birds said, “Well, the same man had come and he said that tomorrow he himself will start clearing the field”. This time the wise mother bird thought for the moment and told the baby birds, “Its time to go. Lets move to a safer place.” Next day morning she shifted her babies to another place.


This simple story kept coming back to my mind. The message also is simple but profound. Many of us are aware about the weeds we need to clear in our life / mind but just the awareness does not help. Then sometimes we keep waiting for a help to arrive and no-one is in any hurry to clear your weed. The day you take a step to act yourself, it would actually happen sooner than later. The wise little bird knew this reality and shifted her babies only when the owner talked of doing something on his own!


As the year comes to an end, here is wishing my friends a new year full of purposeful action. Do take charge of your own destiny and act to clear the unwanted weed in your life! Wishing you an action filled 2014

Monday, December 30, 2013

A walk to my birthplace Day 55 (154 Km covered so far)

I am fortunate to have a huge campus of NCL next to my house. It’s a lovely place to take a walk in the morning. You do not feel you are in the midst of city as you walk through trees and tall grass.

Today as I crossed a cluster of trees, I was distracted by a sudden noise made by a group of birds. I realized these were jungle babblers- commonly known as “seven sisters” for the habit of moving in the group of 6-7 all the time and making a lot of noise.

“Seven sisters” took me back in time. During my college days, a few of us had formed our own nature club and registered ourselves with WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature). We diligently used to go on our bird-watching trails every Sunday. Mumbai has (or at least that time had!) a 91 Sq Km jungle which used to boast of about 285 species of birds ….

…. We used to park our two-wheelers near the film city gate of the forest and walk deep inside …. We walked on many Sundays in all different seasons …. During monsoon one could lose count of peacocks crossing the roads … a pheasant crow – an otherwise shy bird with a sweet call used to be a regular friend there …. Oriole with a bright yellow body and black head was a sight to behold! I still can feel the shiver up my spine when we spotted a family of huge vultures on a lonely road!

The best memory I have is that of a Malabar Hornbill. Hornbill is a bird with huge beak and not very common around crowded cities. On one corner of the road, we spotted a tree little below the level of the road. As soon as we spotted the hornbill, we stood there still like statues lest the bird should get disturbed. Hornbill sat there on a big branch and as we saw little more carefully, we saw a hole in the tree trunk covered with mudpack. A baby hornbill sat there comfortably taking feed from the parent hornbill on the branch. I don’t remember exactly but we sat there for a long time transfixed. It was something of a spiritual experience!!

Looking back, I realize that those jungle trails did a lot for me …. Those trails taught me to walk on lonely roads without any expectations and be appreciative of the gifts, the journey has in store for you. Walking around aimlessly, after all,  can be very purposeful!


I winked at the babblers and walked away with a promise to return tomorrow!

Sunday, December 29, 2013

A walk to my birthplace Day 54 (150 Km covered so far)

Couple of weeks back, I got an invitation for a function that aroused my curiosity. The function was about donating two boxes of books to readers. The function was organized by ‘Kusumagraj pratishthan(Foundation)’. Kusumagraj was a towering personality in Marathi literature so when you get an invitation to participate in a function that bears his name, it was an absolute honor.

I entered the venue to be met by a short man. “Hi, I am Vinayak Ranade from Kusumagraj Pratishthan”. I shook hands with typical enthusiasm I reserve for office bearers of any type! I had reached early and there were not many around. So I asked Mr Ranade “Tell me something more about this function”. I must say, I asked the question just to kill time and was not ready for what I was about to hear!!

Mr Ranade started his narrative. In 2004, he met with a near fatal accident in which his friend lost his life and Mr Ranade himself was seriously injured. He had to lie on the bed for close to one and half years. All he could do that time was to reflect on life. “For the first time I realized that the world can run without me. I have a printing business which my wife had to run and she did it efficiently.” Mr Ranade recounted. He also had a unique hobby. He never forgot to wish anyone on their birthdays. He soon realized that he had about 3000 contacts. He organized these contacts into the groups. He would send a birthday message to the person concerned along with the others in the group so that others in the group also wished the birthday boy/girl – a very simple way of spreading happiness.  Invariably people celebrating their birthdays called Mr Ranade in the evening and asked him about what can they do for him.

This set him thinking. From this huge contact base came an idea “Pustak tumachya daari (Book at your Doorstep)”. Mr Ranade raised funds through his well-wishers and created what he calls “Reading Groups”. He would go and buy best of Marathi books and put 100 of them in a box. He would then give this box to one volunteer who would take responsibility of circulating the books in the box to the registered members of the reading group for next 4 months. After 4 months Mr Ranade or one of his volunteers would come to take the box and replace it with other box! The whole mission was about giving quality books to anyone who wants to read! “Lot of books in libraries lie on shelf but this way many of the books get read and people don’t mind reading if the books are easily available”.


Mr Ranade does not take a penny from this venture; neither do readers pay a penny. Today he has 400 boxes of books in circulation with each box containing 100 books. This is the overwhelming power of a simple idea acted on diligently. Here is a simple man who runs his business, his family but also runs a madness where 40,000 books are in circulation and the number is growing. Take a bow Mr Ranade – the world needs more mad people like you to make it a better place!!!

Saturday, December 28, 2013

A walk to my birthplace Day 52 (145 Km covered so far)

Just like any average Indian middleclass boy, I drooled at Royal Enfield bikes (more commonly and fondly called “Bullet” across all its models). The problem was, I could never afford one – neither the price nor the mileage. However, the dream of buying a “Bullet” always lingered on in my mind.

Finally at the age of 43, I bought a Royal Enfield classic 500 - a sheer beauty. I just wanted to live up my old dream of roaming around on my bike with my wife. As we started roaming around, we realized the problem. Back seat is not all that comfortable to ride and Pallavi complained some back pain after some long rides. I was little disappointed and decided to take the bike to one of the mechanics I had heard about.

My cousin had told me about a mechanic who operates in Pune. He is considered as expert on ‘Bullets’ and also called Bullet Ramesh. I went to him with my bike to check if something can be done about the backseat. Well, Ramesh operates near a petrol pump and when I went to search for him, a man in shabby dress approached me.  He introduced himself as Ramesh. I was little disappointed – he looked a simple man not even wearing a mechanic apron! I told him the problem and asked him if he could do something.

He told me that he works on bike and not on “other parts”. He also told me not to waste my time searching for the solution for the seat. I was disappointed but liked his direct talk. “I am sure something can be done” I asked him. Ramesh scratched his head for and said, “May be if we adjust suspension setting, ride on the back seat could be little easier.” I asked him “Ok, how much time will it take and when should I come?” He looked at me, shook his head, sat down near my bike with a screwdriver, “I will do it now”. He showed me how simple was the adjustment and finished the job in couple of minutes. “How much do I pay you”. He smiled – “Nothing for this. Just don’t ask such questions, some people will advise you to change the suspension instead of this simple job! By the way, I am also authorized to service your bike”.


I thanked him and left thinking. There was something about his expertise that appealed to me. He was not the one who hyped his work. I also may not have to pay for overheads like his workshop rent, uniform and many other things which may not have any relevance to servicing my bike! May be this simple man had a very simple USP for which I would not mind paying him – his passion and knowledge for Bullet!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

A walk to my birthplace Day 50 (142 Km covered so far)

Today as I walked my thoughts drifted to some random memories about my sister.

I have a sister who is elder by 6 years. I can’t exactly say that we grew together because she was someone I always looked up to and knew that she will always take care of me. Well, I always needed someone to defend me due to whatever mischief I played almost every day. My sister always used to fight my case and that delicate little girl used to be a terrific advocate!

I used to exploit her benevolence to the full. I still remember, once I had a slight injury to my finger at the beginning of the academic year. So my sister wrote the science journal for me. Her handwriting, unlike mine, is outstanding. I told her that if I now write the journal, teacher will detect the difference and that would be a trouble. She smiled and wrote my journal for the rest of the year!! My mother told her not to fall for such obvious tricks but she was ok…..

Of course there was a little fee to be paid for such cover. I used to be the errand boy not only for her but also for her friends. In those days when telephone was a luxury, I used to go from one place to other exchanging the messages she and 3 of her best friends wrote to each other. Other duties included standing in the Q for movie tickets, escort them from a late night movie etc but I was fine ….

Just the last week, I was in Mumbai for an important meeting and stayed at her place the night before. Next day morning, I sat up chatting with her on the breakfast table till she reminded me of the time. I panicked – I had to attend an important quarterly review meeting. I wanted to quickly iron my clothes and asked her for the iron. She told me to go and take the shower and she promised me to iron my clothes. Without hesitation, I followed the instructions and finally made it on time …


As I ended my day I wondered about the morning incident. I knew the importance of my meeting extremely well. I also knew that I couldn't afford to be late – Did I sit there chatting with her half-knowingly that she will help me to get ready? The answer is YES. Was it fair on my part to do so – the answer is YES again! There are very few people in life who preserve your childhood in their mind. These are anchors of your life who give you immense stability in your ups and down. For them, you always remain a child. If you keep aside logic and modern days norms of correct behavior,  you will understand what exactly I mean!!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

A walk to my birthplace Day – 49 (136 km covered so far)

I am pathologically nomadic! I can never sit at home. Even on a weekend, I keep figuring out multiple options to roam around. My friends always keep asking me about the reason for my high energy when it comes to an outing.  I never have been able to understand it …. Well at least till today.

My mother underwent a serious cervical spinal cord surgery over four years back. She fought hard to get on to her feet but that surgery did leave serious restrictions on her movements. She has to walk with some help and that too slowly. After the surgery her going out for long trips became difficult and I also could not take her out anywhere for a vacation due to multiple reasons.

Finally things worked out. Pallavi, kids and I decided to go to Mahabaleshwar (about 120 Km from Pune) along with my parents. We had planned this vacation just to relax but my mother made it clear that she is not going to sit at the resort. She suggested that we should go to some place around Mahabaleshwar which we have not gone earlier. I did some search and narrowed down on Tapola – beautiful place with confluence of three rivers. We decided to go there and take ride in a boat for couple of hours.

We reached there and booked a boat exclusively for ourselves. As we went down to the water, I realized the problem! This place was not well developed with a proper jetty etc and one had to climb a little iron ladder to get into the boat! Impossible for my mother for sure! I abandoned the plan as I did not want to take any risk. My mother stopped me. “I will try”. I told her not to worry about the money that we might waste – it was ok for me. She insisted. “It’s a beautiful place = lets try”. Looking at her spirit the boatman was touched and he offered an innovative solution. He pulled the boat next to a small platform from where my mother could sit on the edge of the boat and we could get her in on the bench inside! She actually did it! Thank god nobody with a faint heart was around to watch it!!


The boat ride was great. It was serene surrounding and we sailed through at a comfortable speed. I looked at my mother. There she was - sitting quietly enjoying the breeze in that lovely surrounding. It was such a lovely picture that I forgot to look around and kept staring at her. That instant I suddenly got answer to the question my friends keep asking me. The answer was so obvious and in front of me! I know the source of my madness and answers could be found in genetics!!

A walk to my birthplace Day – 48 (133 km covered so far)

I read a Danish story in newspaper’s children’s section and that kept ringing in my head all the day. Just felt compelled to repeat the story  here. Of course I don’t remember the exact names of the character but that hardly matters!

John went to his grandmother’s place just before Christmas. Grandmother gave him 50 krones and told him to buy anything for Christmas. When they went to the big mall, grandmother said, “John, go and buy whatever you want. I will sit here and read my book”. John was little disoriented as he had never gone alone in such a shop. The shop was full of Christmas gifts and little John felt like Alice in the wonderland. He moved from one counter to another and stopped in his tracks when he saw a beautiful red and white woolen sweater. He remembered his classmate and best friend Rob. Rob never came to play out with other kids on the ground. Whenever anyone invited Rob to play, he politely turned it down saying he was not well. Only John knew that Rob avoided playing out in the open as he did not have proper warm clothes. John instinctively picked up the sweater for Rob. John went to the counter and gave it to the sales girl along with his 50 Krones. The girl smiled at little John and asked him whom was he buying it for. John told him about Rob and the salesgirl smiled and gift-packed it for John in exchange of 50 Krones. When grandmother heard the story, she looked the price-tag, went over to the counter and paid the balance of amount after thanking the sweet salesgirl.

Grandmother then took little John to Rob’s place. She asked him to keep the gift in the door, ring bell and come back. John followed the instruction and both of them stood behind a tree. Little Rob opened the door, came out, picked up the gift and was overjoyed. “Thank you Santa!” he yelled looking up. Grandmother told John, “Santa is very busy these days and that’s why he asks us to help him in distributing gifts. Santa will definitely thank you.”


It is such a simple story but it touched my heart. I wondered, who was Santa? Was it Little John who thought of spending all his money for a dear friend or was it the salesgirl who kept aside commercial considerations so that a noble mind does not get disappointed or was it the grandmother who guided little John like an angel. Perhaps they all were! Rob would never know his Santa. It must be happening to all of us.  There is always a Santa out there for everyone. All we can do to repay Santa is to be a silent Santa for someone else. After all that old man with white beard wearing red dress wouldn't mind a little helping hand here and there!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

A walk to my birthplace Day 47 (130 Km covered so far)

Today was a busy day as I again drove to Mumbai early in the morning and returned back late. Though I did not walk the physical distance, I feel like writing as I walked on the self exploration path.

Today was get-to-gather of our school class. We all passed out from school in 1985. Two of our friends were visiting from US and that was good enough a reason for about 30 of us to be there. It was an informal gathering and we just sat around the room chatting. A few of our friends are great singers and they obliged to our requests. One of the friends had us in splits with his stand-up talk show and I pitched in with a few poems. Overall mood was pretty relaxed.

Some of the friends were quiet so we decided to draw them in with interviews. I happily offered to be interviewer and the whole idea was to create some humor. By unanimous vote, we called one of our classmates, who was well-known and I must say well-respected for his pranks in the school. Though he was quiet today, we anticipated a lot of fireworks and fun once he got going. I asked him, “So tell us something that you always wanted to do but could not”. We all hoped that we will get to hear something peppy about a prank he could not pull off! Instead, he thought for a moment and said, “I wanted to serve in Defense Services but I failed to clear my exam and that will always remain with me”. Everyone was quiet; I made some stupid conciliatory noises and moved on. I conducted couple of other lame dialogues and thankfully it was lunch time so we broke off.


It set me thinking. As we chatted along in small groups, one of my friends summed up my emotions beautifully. “When we meet someone after a long time, we talk to the image we have in our mind rather than the person in front of us!” We do not realize a lot of water could have flown under the bridge and things are never the same again.  Meeting someone after a long time may be the reason for today’s faux pas. I sincerely hoped that otherwise I generally talk to the person in front of me and not the image in mind!!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

A walk to my Birthplace - Day 46 (130 Km covered so far)


Last  ten days were hectic coupled with extreme cold wave in Pune. To make the matters worse, I travelled for about 4 days – hmmm in short – I had multiple excuses and somehow missed my walk.

When I started this walk, I wanted to finish 240 Km before 31st December 2013. I was doing pretty ok till about couple of weeks back and then suddenly due to multiple reasons I lost almost four days. The target of walking 240 Km by 31st December looked pretty much out of reach. With that depressing thought, I almost gave up and lost 2/3 more days.

I was little sad giving up midway and it troubled me. It was my own target and nobody had thrust it upon me. Why should I be so bothered? The reason was obvious -  my blog about “A walk to my birthplace” was getting a fantastic response and I loved the attention and feedback. I guess I was missing that adulation.

I sat down and thought about it. Basic purpose of starting this project “A walk to my Birthplace” was to ensure that I keep fit. Just to keep my physical and writing fitness - intact, I branded my morning walk as “A walk to my birthplace” – and yes that worked like magic. I realized that walking 240 Km by 31st December was a secondary goal to which I had attached all my attention. The purpose of this was always my own fitness.

I just re-assessed my targets – decided to walk 240 Km before my Birthday ie 18th January and suddenly felt good. Only problem was I was scheduled to travel again – but this time I packed my walking shoes and walked in Mumbai as well as Bangalore.

While walking today in Bangalore, I realized my basic purpose is physical fitness and I need to keep walking even after 240 Km – may be I will have to start a new project “Walking past my birthplace” and then keep walking and of course keep writing J

Monday, December 9, 2013

A walk to my birthplace - Day 34 (116 Km covered so far)

Finally back on track - Missed the walk a few times in last few days and missed writing when walked!

Just while picking up my stuff from the locker, I saw piece of coral that is a permanent fixture there – this piece always has a great re-assuring effect on me …. Of course there is a story behind it.

Long time back, in 1991, Pallavi and I became good friends. There was something more to the relationship that was obvious to others but not to us … I was 21 and she was 18 and we just loved spending time with each other. I was her father’s favorite student and little wary of even guessing anything about my relationship with Pallavi.

Pallavi’s father was invited as part of Indian delegation to Mauritius for a few days in 1991. Pallavi asked me if I could pick him at airport when he returned back. “I will also come with you” she said casually (or so I thought) … my heart fluttered …. “OK” I tried to sound as normal as I could. We were there at the airport in the middle of night and thankfully her uncle who accompanied us was busy finding out flight arrival information. Both of us quietly sat on a luggage trolley without exchanging a word!!

Once Pallavi’s father arrived, we drove to their residence in Worli. He was back from his first overseas trip and all of us chatted late into night sipping some tea. When I finished my tea Pallavi’s father affectionately told her, “Go, get some more tea for dada (elder brother!!)” She stomped furiously to the kitchen and did not return for some time. Though little awkward, I felt happy for some strange reason …. Perhaps it was the first clue that I was looking out for!

It was quite late in the night and I got up to leave. Pallavi returned back and quietly handed me a small piece of coral that her father had got from Mauritius.


I drove back with my little gift, feeling quite upbeat! I came home and kept it with all my important belongings. It is the habit that I have retained for last 22 years. That piece of coral is always kept in my  locker. Every time I see it, I am reminded of the reason to live for. That little piece has magic to bring a sense of well-being every time I look at it!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

A walk to my birthplace - Day 29 (107 Km covered so far)

I was back to walking track after couple of days of break due to rains and travel.

Yesterday when I came back from office, my son was eagerly waiting for me. As soon as I stepped in, my 6-years old son came running with ‘breaking news’. “Teacher made me class monitor” then he proudly showed me the badge given by school. We performed a little jig. My teenage daughter watched with half-amusement and half embarrassment. “How long are you going to be the monitor?” she asked. My son simply ignored the question – just like me, he does not believe in petty details when it comes to celebrations.

 “We need to celebrate”, I told my son. “Yes, lets go to Goa”. I know going to Goa, almost 500 km away, to celebrate for this occasion was going little overboard. But my son has inherited my genes of disproportionate celebration for any happy occasion. We generally wafted in the cloud of happiness for some time.

Once sanity prevailed, my wife took over. She decided to drive home her point. “Chinmay, now that you are a class monitor you have to be in your best behavior and your class-work should be neat and tidy”. I could see the little on was now lost in his thoughts and suddenly he was not sure if being monitor is such a good thing after all! My wife and I did our best not to laugh.

With Assembly elections in the air, I couldn’t think of comparing our little scene with what happens at a much higher level with higher stakes. It is quite common to see the politicians in full force while they are in opposition – they speak with gay abandon with little concern for anything. If and when the tables turn, this bunch comes into power. Once the celebrations and initial euphoria is over, reality dawns – They are now accountable for something, they no longer have the liberty to point fingers at power for anything that goes wrong! With power come responsibility!


Sometimes I just wonder whether they secretly yearn to get back to opposition benches! You can never underestimate the joy of lack of accountability!!

Monday, December 2, 2013

A walk to my birthplace - Day 26 (103 Km covered so far)

Today was a hectic day. I had to attend a function along with the family in Mumbai. It was a wedding reception of a close family friend’s daughter so we were looking forward to it. Only problem - it was in Mumbai on Sunday evening which meant, I had to drive a two-way distance of 300 Km to be back home the same day.

 Sneha, whose wedding reception we were to attend is daughter of very close family friend. Pallavi and I have known Sneha since she was two years old and for us her marriage was an indication of how time flies. It was an occasion we were keen to attend.

Before attending the function, we went to Vile Parle – a suburb of Mumbai where I grew up and my parents still live there. While growing up it was a cozy little suburb which was home. Whenever I entered Vile Parle, I used to feel at home. It has been over 12 years since I left the place and of late I sometimes find it difficult to connect. Obviously the suburb has undergone a change – A lot of new people and a lot of new constructions that were not part of my childhood.

My parents were very happy with this surprise visit and did their best to pamper all of us. One could also see their eagerness to get best out of the short time and this is what hurts! When I get to spend so little time with them, I always feel an acute pain. I almost feel like a guest in the house where I grew up. Though I meet them often and talk to them almost every day, these short visits leave me somewhat more depressed than happy. Something does not seem right.

While driving back to Pune, I wondered what bothers me. Seeing your parents getting old is very painful. When you don’t live with them, it hits you even more.  When I go to Vile Parle, I look for the signs of childhood. When I go home, I perhaps look for my parents exactly as they were in my childhood.


While on one hand I was quite happy to attend the wedding of a kid whom I had seen grown up, I was not quite ready to accept my parents ageing. I guess it’s a strong desire to see one’s parent eternally young – howsoever illogical it may sound – it is in them that I look to preserve my childhood! Today was a day with rainbow of emotions – a little more than I could handle! May be you do not cherish some distances that you travel!!