When days began at 4am...

After 5 months of exams and only exams my journey to the Rajasthan town of Nathdwara which is a pilgrim place for the Gujaratis was a welcome break.  It was actually a planned tour which the family undertakes every year.  The tiredness after the grilling schedule for preparing various exams vanished instantly as I boarded the train for the 2N-3D journey.

For those new to this, Nathdwara is a small town in the Udaipur district and the nearest airport is Udaipur  while by rail it can be reached via 2 routes: one via Mavli junction ( 25 min drive) and second via Falna( 3 hr drive).  By road it can be reached in 4.5 hours via Ahmedabad.  The time has reduced considerably compared to a decade ago thanks to great highways built by the Narendra Modi government and the NHAI.

I expected a change in the surroundings like every year but everything was same as the last year.  So much so that the workers in the hotel were the same and the roads were still full of cow dung.  Reaching at a time when the darshan was about to start, I didn't wait to bathe and rushed there.  And when I entered the temple happiness filled the heart.  I forgot all my troubles and was at peace something which eluded me in the past months.  And since then I did not miss a single darshan while I was there no matter how tired or hurt I was during the darshan.

The very sight of the God makes you forget all the worries.  Once you are in the temple you dont realize whether you are hurt or not.  It is only later that you realize what happened inside the temple.  This feeling was the prime reason behind not skipping a single darshan.  Whenever the thought of not attending crossed my mind, I just remembered Him and I was on my feet to head to the temple.

Lunch on 2 days was at the Government run RTDC and it is one of the few govt run entities I praise because of the ambience and the food they offer.  Even though it is a good 3 km away we didn't mind going there.  While the third day was the traditional Guajarati thali.  After a delicious meal a good nap is a ritual but due to travelling so far it was something I was deprived of.  Another reason for lack of afternoon nap was that by the time we returned it was time for second round of darshan.

Lord Shrinathji is probably the only God in India who does not give darshan to its devotees for the whole day.  Its a brief appearance for 7-8 times depending on the month of the year.  It starts with "Mangla" as early as 5am followed by "Shringar" , "Gvaal" and then the sumptuous " Rajbhog" at around 11.30 am.  After a 3 hour break it starts again with "Uthapan", "Bhog", " Aarti" and finally "Shayan".  Each darshan lasts for about 30 mins on average with a 1.5 hour break between 2 darshans and hence it is a great feat to pray to your heart's content when there are 1000's of people wishing the same.  If the names are observed closely they resemble the day to day routine.

As luck would have it, my slippers were stolen during the first darshan of the second day and since then most of the times I walked bare feet from the hotel to the temple since wearing shoes was quite cumbersome.  This made people wonder how such a young person can be so pious.  But the fact was something else.  Also there were no chappals/slippers worth the price quoted by the sellers so I considered it as destiny to walk bare feet.  It required smart walking as the roads are full of cow dung and 100s of people walking.

Corruption is one of the biggest problems in India and in the temple too.  If you wanted to do the auspicious aarti you had to shell out Rs.100/- on weekdays and Rs.150/- on weekends.  The arrangement is such that 80 per cent would go to the guards while the remaining would go to the person who brings the devotees.  Even though not wanting to be a part of this, the desire to see the aarti made me do this a good 5 times. But I was chuffed by one guy who not only facilitated a smooth entry and exit but also provided us with betel leaf which is one of the prasads and given to a chosen few.

Then there are the famous trustees and so called VVIPs who can enter any time during the darshan at their will and the guards will stop the entire crowd for them to have a peaceful darshan.  One such example is Kokilaben Ambani who is Vice-President of the Temple Board.  Luckily or unluckily she too had decided to be in Nathdwara on the days we were there.  On one day I was in the same row as she and this allowed me 20 minutes of darshan uninterrupted so I cannot complain much.  One of her friends is a distant relative so I got to greet her as well.  It made me extremely happy but would have been happier had I seen  her son and one of my favorite businessmen Anil Ambani  who too was there for a night but paid hefty amounts( A wild guess)  for a special darshan behind closed doors.

Waiting in the special line for offerings to God (read money) you are bound to strike a conversation with the person in front or behind you.  In my sister's words, Every gujju is doomed to be an open book to a fellow gujju.  The conversation starts with just one word, " Mumbai?" or "Ahmedabad?" referring to the place of residence and then the conversation starts.  Withing a matter of 5 mins you have exchanged so much information that it makes you realize the power of socializing.  New friends are made in this fashion.  And you keep bumping into people you met on your way in the train and/or at least one relative.

The whole trip tired me a lot due to the above schedule and as the trip came to an end I vowed never to go for all the darshans the next time I visit Nathdwara because of the stress I had experienced.  But I know I will break this vow and still run as soon as the darshan starts. A memorable trip as always!!
  



 

  

Success: wrongly defined today..

In today's 21st century when someone is asked what does success mean to them, most of them, including me, would say that being successful means to earn a lot of money and have a good status in society.  But the true meaning of success does not only ( and many a time not at all) mean earning money and flaunting it. There are innumerable things that define success.

Success essentially means achieving the goals you have set for yourself and achieving it.  Though each person may have his or her own view about the definition of success, nobody would ever deny the fact that achieving your targets is a success even if that meant not fulfilling the expectation of others.

Success can be defined in many ways.  For a kid who has been unsuccessfully trying to walk for months suddenly being able to walk without any support is a success in itself.  Observing children who have just learnt to speak makes us feel so very happy.  And the child keeps on saying things which no one would understand but the child is still happy that he can speak.  Doesn't that mean success to the child?

As we grow up and attend the primary school, getting a good rank in the smallest of class tests or even sidelining your friend to be the teacher's pet can all be termed as success.  How successful and proud did we feel when the teacher recommended our name for the post of head-boy/ head-girl to the principal!! Thus success can be seen in the smallest of achievements and if we do not want to even the biggest of achievements will be a failure for us.

When we went to junior and degree college, hanging out with friends and enjoying life to the fullest was a routine and hence when we passed all the exams it was an achievement.

Staying miles away from the family for education yet managing the household chores efficiently and also enjoying life to the fullest is success for me. Friends staying on the other side of globe have proved that to me.  The same can be said for people working far away from their families.

Speaking from the experience of my parents, when the child achieves something, it is success for them.  When a relative praises the kid for good manners, they feel they have succeeded in giving their kid the best of values in life.

Once a pauper, when you rise to be named to be among the fastest growing entrepreneurs is success as well.  For the world, it means success because that man has earned money and because he started from scratch and made a fortune out of nothing.  Examples like the owner of the dosa chain " Dosa Plaza" and even more famous, the legendary  Dhirubhai Ambani who sold "bhajiyas" in his early days to owning the world's largest refining complex justify the same.  But when the successful person himself is asked about success he would very modestly say that hard work combined with a bit of luck helped him achieve whatever he has.

All the above things point to one fact that success cannot be merely measured in terms of money and social status.  Success is the  fulfilling one's goal irrespective of whether that is an achievement for the world.  Success essentially means being happy on an individual basis without hurting others too much.

All said and done success in today's world of intense show-off and cut-throat competition, money is definitely the most important factor to decide how successful a person is.  This is the saddest part today that material happiness is given more importance than inner peace.  But I guess that is how the world functions today and we cannot help but  have a trade-off in internal happiness and material happiness. That itself would be a 'success'.

women-equal to men..

Last week international women's day was celebrated along with holi.  But women being notorious for taking their own sweet time to get ready, I thought this would be the appropriate time to express my feelings so that they can read it as well.  Jokes apart, exams and stress ( which comes absolutely free with it) kept me busy and so I apologize for expressing my feelings about the fairer sex so late.

For ages women in our country have been treated as the weaker sex and sadly they are the ones who are always forced to sacrifice for the family. While wishing my mom and my sister this year I gave a thought to the status of women today and I could not find a single reason why they should always be treated so harshly.

Today women are at par with men in all fields.  Be it Kalpana Chawla in the space department, Chanda Kocchar, Shyamala Gopinath , Shikha Sharma in India's financial sector or Indra Nooyi ( head of PepsiCo) and Sudha Narayan Murthy ( the woman behind the success of Infosys- after all she encouraged her husband and also gave him all her savings to start the company) , all have proved that women today are not behind their male counterparts.

On the personal front, I would start with the first woman in my life, my mother, who went through intense pain to give me birth.  I may have differences with her but I can never forget what all she has done for me.  Be it being awake in the night while I had a sound sleep ( and till today I have continued this habit thanks to her creating ambient conditions for the same), to sleeping on a half full or even an empty stomach so that the family could relish the wonderfully cooked new recipe.  Though I don't have a very sharp memory, I still remember how she used to carry this fat little boy in scorching heat so that I could be fresh when I went to nursery.  Whenever my sister or I suffered from fever, she was awake through the night measuring the temperature and saw to it that it did not go out of the comfort zone.  And later in life waking up early to prepare ' ghar ka khana ' so that her dear son or daughter did not fall ill consuming the adulterated food no matter how hectic her schedule was or how tired she was.  And then there was learning newer recipes as per the likes of the family. The list is endl She has almost perfected the zero-salary, zero- holiday job of a homemaker and hence whatever I say is less.

When I was about to turn 5, my sister came into this world and all in the family were happy as never before.  She is the second woman( she wont like me calling her a woman though)  in my life who has fought with me, argued, literally sketched and colored in my school drawing book so that I got an A grade, fighting my case against my dad, sometimes having a much better insight of the situation and many others.  She calls herself as my only girlfriend as she believes I will never have one.  We are as different as chalk and cheese- I love hindi music while she loves English, I believe in saving to some extent while she believes in splurging on anything and everything, I die for cricket while she goes to support Ronaldo and Messi to any levels. Still she is my best friend and will always be.  Its been a great time with her all these years and many a times I look forward to her for guidance.

Then there were cousins and aunts who consoled me when I was sad and celebrated my success more than me.

Finally there are friends.  But schooling in a boys convent made me a shy guy and talking with girls was not natural.  Friends with a similar case at junior college did not help in reducing my shyness as well.  At degree I was always a reticent guy until a few female friends changed me with their unique ways and were patient with me when I just acted stubborn.  Without naming anyone, one of them deserves the maximum credit as she is always there to change me and make me realize that being shy is not good.  Amongst many friends now she remains the closest and I continue to learn a lot from her.

All this proves that women should no longer be treated as the 'sex-object' and it is high time they get their due share in the society.  Still there are atrocities on women, and activities which are a blot on the society.  Will the male-dominated society really accept women as equal is a question that can be answered only with time.  On a personal level I wish it came at the earliest.

"The Wall" turns into a memorial..

Amidst the joy of holi celebrations came the disappointing  news of Rahul Dravid's retirement.  First believed to be speculation but when Tendulkar paid a fitting tribute it was sure that "the gentleman" of Indian cricket had indeed decided to call it a day.

In line with his love for perfection his conference started at the scheduled time of 12.30pm and the speech was short but clear.  It filled the heart with sadness and confirmed that dravid will henceforth never be seen wearing the national jersey.

Rahul Dravid  will always be remembered as the man who would not let India lose.  He could stay at the crease for 5 full days and yet look fresh. He had his own effective version of the "leg glance" which always went for a boundary.  And not even 9 players on the off side could stop him from hitting a four.  Such was the technique that earned him the title "Mr. Perfectionist" for not even the Brits who invented the game could play so well..

 He was Indian cricket's "Mr. Clean" and was hardly involved in controversies. If Dhoni is called Captain Cool, people have not observed Dravid carefully. In spite of not getting due credit for the hard work and being criticized for the smallest of errors,  he braved all with a temperament a smile most people die for.

He started his career with a brilliant 95 but was overshadowed by Ganguly's 131.  And since then there have been numerous occasions when he did not get the credit for laying the foundation for India's great show. Still he remained committed to the overall interest of the team.  When asked to keep behind the wickets to make way for an extra batsman he happily agreed.  In case the opener was unfit and a suitable replacement could not be played, he readily opened for India. No other slip fielder had a safer pair of hands and his world record of 400 odd catches is a proof of it. No other cricketer has adjusted so much for the team with each having his own mind.  Such qualities made him the pride of Indian cricket.

Apart from various awards he has received some that stand out are "Wisden cricketer of the year" , "ICC cricketer of the year" and the most recent of having the honor to deliver the "Bradman Oration" which no Indian cricketer ( including "the God") has had.  His contemporary  Glenn Mcgrath even went on to say that Dravid would have been the only cricketer to earn a place easily in a team of Australia's greatest. But the best compliments have come from his fans when they said " arrey abhi dravid baaki hai, haarne ka sawaal hi nahi hota".  

His retirement has created a vacuum and it will never be filled.  Whatever said is less to pay tribute to the great man and though he may have retired from cricket, he will never retire from our hearts.

mandate 2012: emergence of regional parties a threat to india?

Blogging for me is a good way to express my opinion and hence when I decided to blog I decided to start with a topic I love a lot: POLITICS.

Even though I had an exam at 11.30  in the morning I was busy watching the news channels for the recently concluded elections' results.  And the results were quiet impressive with BSP having a tight race for the 2nd spot with the BJP.  Come 5 pm and the results showed that Samajwadi party had swept India's largest state and BJP alliances had swept Punjab and Goa with the latter being for the first time.  The only saving face for the "Yuvvraaj" of congress was manipur and uttarakhand.(where it was neck to neck with BJP).

These results along with the the results of the recently concluded municipal elections in Maharashtra have thrown up some interesting facts.  These results have shown that national parties like the congress and the bjp do not have any connect with the people at the grassroots level and hence have to form post-poll alliances with the regional parties even though they get a pittance.  Along with understanding the problems better the regional parties also project themselves as the 'messiah' of the 'sons-of-soil'.  As a result the ' aam aadmi' votes for the regional parties and brings them to power.

The real problem starts here. Any party (mainly the bjp and congress) to get the magical figure of 273 in the Lok Sabha becomes heavily dependent on these regional parties for support and hence are at their mercy for the 5 years in ruling.  And if not handled well it can create serious problems as in the case of the present UPA government.
And to have a successful pan-India presence and win the Lok Sabha elections on their own the BJP or the Congress have only two options:
1- Have a manager like Atal Behari Vajpayee who can keep a coalition intact with the fiercest of woman (read Mamta Banerjee or J.Jayalalithaa)  without giving too much into their demands.  But this option is somewhat impossible as there are few to none like the great octogenarian.
2- Build a cadre of workers on the lines of the regional parties so that they are less reliant on the regional parties.

If this is not the case then India is seriously going to be in a tight spot as one cannot imagine a coalition at the centre with parties having leaders with high tempos like Raj Thackeray or Mamta Banerjee and a host of others who have recently strengthened their position in their home states.

Its time the national parties prove they are really "national".