AKS

Often, we humans tend to loose our precious time and energy sympathising with our wrong past, in the process neglecting the opportunities that the present has to offer thus ultimately jeopardising what the future has in store for us.

........By Me

I am writing this though we completely stand a risk of going pink in cheeks
when Rohini reads this for our Hawaratpana. hahahaha

When we three musketeers- Clifford, Banoo and Me are together we roll out a lot of fun. Our definition of fun is not restricted to behaved and composed behaviour. More importantly we are best friends because we have stood by eachother in our most testing times. But more importantly we have accepted eachother in just the way we are. And when we all are together we bring the house down with our pranks. We usually end up singing OUR SONG " DIL KABHI GANDA KABHI HAI NEK BANDA" in full volume with the radio blaring it and people peeking in the car window to see whats wrong with us whacko brains.

Sometimes when we go to picnics we embarrass Banoo by rushing for autographs in crowded streets and speaking loudly that she is some actress on televsison to our astonishment other people join in too. We enjoy at Fun fairs and enjoy all the rides and laugh out loud when we are on the top in the giant wheel to avoid the embarrassment of crying out loud. We always end up going to Good Luck coz all three of us love Biriyani and brune bread and big fat kulfi served there( And we always have a good laugh at the mis-spelled notice boards put up in Goodluck). All this is harmless fun without hurting anyone and gets our spirits high and tension lightened.

Yesterday we all were at Hotel Nakshtra, Kothrud celebrating Lil Aryan's(Rohini's son) 5th birthday. And trust me we had a blast. I mean we played musical chairs, we danced like nobody watched(especially on Kombadi palali) and had great food. When we went to the ice- cream counter, I wanted extra ice cream but I didn't know how to ask the person manning the stall about it. So I looked at Banoo and the following dialogue took place

Me: Give me one more ice-cream as I have to give it to her(HOLDING ONE CUP)
Banoo: Her who ??( WITH HOLDING HER CUP IN HER HAND)
Me: You forgot kya she told us to get it for her( TRYING NOT TO WINK AND MAKE THINGS OBVIOUS)
Banoo: Oh yeah Get one for her (SLY FOX. GOT THE SCHEME FINALLY)
Me: Yeah give me one more scoop (HAPPY AT HEART)
Man: Ok Mam (SMIRKING. MAY BE HE KNEW OF OUR PLAN ALREADY)
Banoo: Get it fast or Ujwala will get angry( EH.EUUUUU...UJWALA.YUCKS CANT IT BE A BETTER NAME FOR OUR IMAGINARY FRIEND LIKE MONA ADITI OR EVEN SHEVANTHA)
Me: Yeah Ujwala wont like the delay( ME SMILING AND LOOKING GLEEFULLY AT THE ICE-CREAM)
Me: Thank you( YEAAAAAH! WE MADE A FOOL OF YOU)
MAN: You are welcome (I GOT YOUR PLAN.PLEASE DON'T COMEBACK)
Me: Where is Ujwala ( LAUGHING AND ENJOYING TWO SCOOPS)
Banoo: You are Ujwala (LAUGHING BACK LOUD)
Mannn all three of us laughed our heads off for 2 hours on t his Ujwala matter. It was just so spontaneous. I mean we all had our set of imaginary friends when we were small but this was way too funny. Without concocting any plan earlier me and Banoo were able to make the perfect excuse to grab another ice-cream.........But am still wondering why UJWALA......of all names
Just imagine Ujwala is such a off-beat name.When banoo was questioned on this..she said somehow this name struck her and she blurted it out........
yeah life is so strange and funny altogether at the same time...and by the way we are still searching for UJWALA....DOES ANYONE KNOW HER WHEREABOUTS???? OR DO WE HAVE TO FIND UJWAL FIRST.......HAHAHAHA

One word..Magnetic electricity..yeah Magnetic electricity is what I experienced last Month at E-square where our gang caught up with the latest chart buster Marathi flick- Mi Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy. After first few minutes of riotous laughs and sympathizing with the debauchery of the very naive and timid Bhosale the film starts getting down to serious business. Mr. Bhosale who thinks it is pre-destined for him to be mocked at by the world- his boss, his co-passengers in the bus, the shop-keeper, fisher woman and even his wife whos is tired of his penny pinching middle class ways.

We see him punk-drunk and slam dunked by the Hotel officials questioning all the great Marathi martyrs about how and why they have made the hum-drum Marathi manoos such a simpleton that his silence and straight laced attitude is considered as his weakness rather than his strength.

His words stir the soul of Shivaji Maharaj on Pratap Gharh and he decides to show Mr. Bhosale the true purpose of his living. And that his lax attitude and not his language is responsible for his non-vertebral living. From the entry of the Mahesh Manjrekar who played Shivaji to the Hilt(He has a unique Baritone voice, I didn’t feel justified to see his voice dubbed. However I didn't understand why the young Shivaji looked like a 50 year old too) begins a series of Combat activities which drive the audience crazy- even we indulged in loud chants of the slogans of Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai and Jai Maharashtra (Along with Banoo whose strong shrill whistle can give any guy a run for his money) and a lot of claps on all the power packed monologues of Bhosale. Bhosale’s overnight transformation from un under-dog to a Strong-warrior is justified in a series of events where he posses challenges to the corrupt politicians, government officials and nefarious builders. I am still not able to fit the item song picturised on Priya Bapat and Ankhush Chaudhari in the film. It is a complete un-called for number. The OST background number is quiet catchy and sets your heart and foot thumping.

The slapstick humor of how only surnames like Kapoor's and Chopra's make it to the tinsel town inducing Priya to Change her surname is a stark reality wrapped in humor. The acting of all lead characters is balanced and does not go overboard to create artificial humor( Even hackneyed actor like Makrand Anaspure fares well). There are some witty moments- The dialogue of the builder telling the Bhosale’s about the plush greenery of Badlapur had me in splits (Being from Mumbai I am aware that Badlapur is the worst polluted suburb of all).The animation some how didn't gel with the film. The scenes of Shivaji Maharaj on Horse with video in the background seem like they were shot in the 50's with the horse standing still and the film moving behind. . The cinematogrpahy is shot well. Also the fight scenes shot on the hi-rise (hi-risk) building are very artistically and creatively shot.


The USP of this film is the awakening of the Marathi Manoos after years of dormantly bearing the flak. I don’t know why am I biased towards this film, may be because I am a Maharashtrain. May be because I could subscribe to the feeling of begin looked down upon. I still remember a train cat fight I had a few years back because someone has said "yeh ghati log". Yeah I didn’t appreciate that one bit. But as Shivaji Maharaj(aka Mahesh Manjrekar) says it’s a word that should be taken with the respect. I liked the approach of being in the system to change the system with Bhosale trying his luck at politics and giving a LOOOONG explanation about it


The main reason behind this film getting rave reviews and catching public fantasy is downright simple. Lakhs of Maharashtrains could relate to Bhosale’s situations- we all wished we could vent our anger like Bhosale - go out on sporadic aggressive sprees, try and bring about a positive change and emerge victorious. We wished our Language, our State and our rich Cultural Heritage be treated with the due respect that it commands. This film clearly woke up the Bhosales in us- it appealed us to stand tall for our self-respect and voice our opinions instead of bearing the spineless atrocities rendered by others. This is one film that I can recommend others without being in two minds about it. If you have watched it already you made a wise choice if you haven’t caught it yet its high time to start spending on quality entertainment. This one is definitely worth a dekho.........

Have you ever witnessed the grim death of hope………
I have experienced it and this is how it feels..........

When the final fatal blow of fate is struck with one last heavy breath already half-dead hope is released from the comfort confines of saccharine sweet delusional optimism……

it falls in the whirlpool of pesimistic reality ..and slowly drowns to the bottom of the dark depths of painstakingly irrevocable loss.

what remains are the last signs of positivism – handful of bubble top memories of good-times surface and dim.

lifeless hope continues to lie there quiet, solitary and undisturbed……………

resting and rusting in womb of sadness engulfed in deploration for the rest of eternity…….

leaving you with a sinking feeling in your heart which you experience when the waves in the ocean wash the sand away under your feet……..

Well guys, I am back to what I do best- yappity yapping about sweet (sometimes bitter) nothings on virtual space. Well, to begin with I had so many things on my platter- First the good news is I won the "Miss Tiara Title" at Ritika Ramtri Mam's Course after winning most of the subcontests and got to learn so many different things like public speaking, presentation skills, group-discussion, fine-dining, business etiquette, interviewing skills, confidence building and fine dining. I had to really fret it out as the competition was very tough and the Title was too enticing. Secondly, I suffered from a bout of what they term as the "Writer's Block" where all the ideas almost vapurise like amorphous camphor but am OK now and have bounced back to my happy writing self : ) And lastly, I was completely tied down with work both professional and personal that couldn't squeeze time as exciting new responsibilities were added(That's a lame excuse: but still a "NO CAN DO")
So here I am ready to blog my heart away...Blog dear......Missed you so darn badly!!!

We were dying to initiate the Lonnavala Karjat trek along the rail route. The plan had turned up into a fiasco in prior two cases. This time “Professor” (Prathamesh) called up late afternoon. “kal chutti hain, lets get spaced out.” The whole plan for lonavala to karjat was fixed up. Along with it, we had a new criteria. Lets make it a freak trip. It was decided to start for this trip with just 100 bucks, and spend the least of it.

In case we come across the wild face of the nature, we were carrying some fire crackers. Other necessary things like water, soap strips, extra pair of socks, lighters, match-box, were also accompanying us that evening.

We started early, just wanted to save some time to avoid getting late the next morning.

As we hopped down the lonavala station, stretched our legs and started walking along the rail tracks. Walking down the track wasn’t as easy as we thought. The un-evenness made it difficult to even set down your feet. After a while we decided we could step on the cement bars on the rail tracks. But walking right from the middle of the track would be pretty risky. Risk’s like stepping onto someone’s poop is as risky as falling off from……..

The Guard at the “Railway Fatak” had spotted our torch from a distance. Sanjay seemed to be pretty friendly, so we let him know our plans for the night. According to Sanjay, walking on the rail tracks wouldn’t be wise. Just because of the darkness, and the long tunnels which are around 4 km long would be fatal for us during the night time. Instead we could walk the distance upto Khandala. Walking down till khandala would be even safe, and wait there till the dawn. Treading the remaining way during the day time would be easier.

As we had no alternative plans ready, we just decided to hop down to Mumbai, spend some time at Marine Drive, and leave for pune early in the morning. On our way to khandala, there was a point where the old Mumbai pune highway was somewhat 10-12 feet below the railway bridge. We decided to sit on the edge of the bridge with our feet suspended in the air. The rail track was just 1-2 meter behind us. Every time a train passed us by, it was a thrilling experience.

Khandala Station:

By the time we reached Khandala, it was pretty late. Ensiferum – Battle Song, playing on my mobile phone was the loudest thing on the railway platform. A bony chap entered the station, yawning and stretching his body. By the time he hopped the platform, my playlist had scrolled down to blink 182. He gave us a weird look, and sat on the bench beside us. The new guy joined us, as he boarded the Chennai mail.This guy was going out to catch up his friends in Kalyan. “kabhi kabhi apne bistar mein takkiye daal kar, gharse chup ke se bhag aata hoon. Subah 6 baje papa walk pe jate hain, uss se pehle ghar pohchna padta hain.”

Dadar Station:

The next local was after 40 minutes. So platform ke bench pe sone ki “Khwaish” bhi poori kar-lee.

CST: 0500 hours

We had the sweet coction – tea!

Our whole journey had been a WT(without ticket) journey. It was pre-decided, that we’ll be going the whole way without ticket. The total expenditure for the whole trip was Rs. 17 only, and the expenditure was unavoidable ;)

We boarded the Indrayani express for pune. The boggie jolted, we were on our way back to Pune!