Mukhota

Shakespeare in As You Like It wrote

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players

Are we mere actors playing our roles

Or merely enacting roles that the world wants us to perform

A perfect son to aging and ailing parents

A brave brother to a timid sister

A trusted husband to a wife

A super father to a child

An ideal worker at office

A friend who can be counted in all seasons

A rightful citizen to the country

In short, you are Ten on Ten

The Perfect Man

But if this man is merely acting

Who is the real man behind the mask

Who is the real you

How do we take off the mask

And discover the real self

Try standing in front of the mirror

Close your eyes and think

You will not have to think hard

And reveal you to yourself

Ask your mother if you are

Truly the Shravankumar who would carry her to heaven

Or you left her to fend for herself

While you ran the rat race.

That is when the mask shall come off.

Ask the loving sister

Where her brave brother was

When she needed her the most

How you found an excuse to be excused

The mask may vanish in no time.

Ask the wife at home

Who sees you day in and out

Is he the man to be trusted

Is he the Mr. Reliable

How loving he truly is

And the truth shall be revealed

The mask will be unmasked in no time.

Ask the daughter where the Papa was

When she had her play at school

Why he missed out on vacations

While he himself was travelling at work

The mask shall be peeled off swoosh.

Ask the office folks why he put self before them

How he moved up the ladder

Yet claiming to be deeply in love with his team

They know what lies behind the mask.

Ask the friend who asked for money

In desperation, in need

And how you missed his call

Did not respond to his many messages

A perfect friend indeed

The mask of friendship will evaporate.

 

So we all are players and actors

Acting and acting all the way

Fooling others, creating a false image

Yet deep inside lies another person

Not so good, not so perfect

Even the Godman preaching is no different

For he ran away from his worldly duties

Ran away from his family

To speak big, show his holiness

Yet behind the holiness lies hollowness.

Why blame the politician

Who is the biggest actor

Lying, cheating, fooling all

For he is one of us.

The same as you and me.

The only difference is that people see his falsehood

See through his mask

While yours remain intact for most

Creating a world of make believe

A world so made up and of perfection

Fooling and lying quietly

Wonder why do we hide the bad

Why act, for you are no God

We all have our weaknesses and faults

Both the good, bad and the ugly

Are in me and you

And no matter how good you appear to the world

Those near and dear

All know the real you

They separated the wheat from the chaff long ago

Stop acting....Mask off

Be you, find yourself.

SS 

Daddy, Tell Me More

Daddy, tell me some life lessons
That you have experienced and seen
The good, the bad and the ugly
And how I can live it any better.

Forget it Darling
For we all live our lives
The way it comes our way
No one can plan, no one can predict
No one can teach, no one learns
I have lived mine
You shall live yours
Live it, feel it and move on with it.

No dad but I am sure
You’ve lived a full life of almost sixty
Maybe I may understand the world better
Even if I cannot change it, avoid it.
Not too many, a couple and some more.

So listen Darling
The first rule is
Life is never fair
Fair and lovely exist
Only in the cosmetic world
And even there that is a myth
Do not seek fairness in everything
For it is never there
For a blinkered person
The love of a father to his two children
The discipline of a teacher for his students
The appraisal of a manager for his workers
Will always seem unfair
You may even question the fairness of the creator
Why did you give such fortune to one
Why did you forget me when
You were giving away your goodness
The more you seek fairness
The more unfairness you see
The depressed and cynical you become
The scales of life are never evenly balanced
There will always be a tilt
One way or the other
So Darling, forget fairness
Just do what you have to do
And do it well to the best of your ability
And leave the fairness question aside
And move one with a smile.

The second rule of life is
You cannot be a winner always
What goes up must come down
What is down one day
Will come up the next day
No matter how good you are
At school, at home and at work
You will not always taste success

Failures will also kiss your feet

As they tread on in life
One day you will be over the moon
Next day you suddenly find
Yourself on the dark side of the moon

So learn to accept defeat and failures
Yes these can be hard and depressing
But the art is to quickly recoil, rebound
Tomorrow is yet another new day
A new day for new trails and fights
Just keep at it and never tire, never give up
Learn from the failures and defeats
Jump into the boxing ring again
And punch away to glory
Just learn to keep your head high
Learn to stay positive

Don't ever let anyone or anything dull your sparkle
Accept defeats as you enjoy success.

The third lesson of life is
Love what you do
When your mother cooks for you
She pours in her love
And food turns into ambrosia
That is the secret sauce of life
When at play
Play as if your life depends on it
Give in your best efforts
Stretch beyond endurance
And you will be able to do it
Only when you love playing more than anything
When I was a kid, even if I had fever
I would go out to play
Because that’s what I loved the most
When you love your work
You will do it with utmost dedication and honesty
Eight-hour schedules are for regulars
For people who love their profession
Hours do not matter
They just go on and on
Till the work is done
Till the patient is healed
Till the paper is published
And when people talk of work life balance
That’s another myth
Don’t fall for it
It doesn’t exist
Work hard with all your heart
Yes, enjoy the little hours left
With people you love
With food you enjoy
Music that makes you happy
With books that give wings to your imagination
Just be the mother in the kitchen
Of all you do.

The fourth and most important lesson of life is
Just be kind and do good to all
And you will never regret it
Don’t worry whether you will get repaid
In this world or another
Just be good and do good
You will sleep well at night
You will have the moral courage
You will have love as your protector
Do good to people
Make the place you live and work
A happy one
Your broad smile in the morning
Your warm shake of the hand
A tight hug to someone
A loud laughter when you hear something funny
All these will brighten the space you live
And when you’re out in the open
A little help to the stranger
No more than offering your seat on the train
A penny to that outstretched hand in the street
Will make you happy from within
And when that happens
Happiness comes out in the open
No matter how the world treats you
No matter how the people behave

Just be nice for no reason
And when you’re good,
Rest all falls in place
So Darling just do good and be good.

SS

Love in Times of Run

“Shibu, Group G is where all the good looking girls are.”

Thomas’ message a day before the big run was the one that caused a flutter in my heart. At last, after all the years of train rides when every time you boarded and looked at the names in the passenger list, it invariably contained a list of women almost all of them 60 plus. Even before the train left the platform, you would hear, “Beta, mujhe upper berth mila hai…” and before she could complete, I would happily give up my lower berth and jump straight on to my goal upstairs, cursing my luck. But the desire to be close to pretty women never died as I transitioned from train to plane. But luck never smiled on me there as well. But now after 50 years of wait, fortune smiled on me…running the Mumbai Marathon 2015 with babes all around!

So, at 3.30am, I got up even before the alarm went off, took a shower and shaved…can you believe it? Normally on a holiday, I love to skip my bath and here I was ready at 4 am with my best YSL cologne sprayed in abundance. Off to the run for fun.

I reached the venue well before time and stood in a long queue to take a leak before the 21 km run started. Startled by a young lady standing in the men’s line and fighting with the guard there insisting that she would use the men’s loo “kyonki ladies queue toh aagey badh hi nahin rahi….” Then commeth the hour, commeth the man…the run started….for me, with my doctor ruling out running with a history of spinal injuries, it was walking but walking at a brisk pace. And lo what did I see…

You heard as if an army muttered;
And the muttering grew to a grumbling;
And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling;
And out of the houses the women came tumbling.
Great women, small , lean women, brawny women,
Beautiful women, big fat women, tall women, short women,
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
Mothers, Aunts, cousins,
Cocking pony tails and rainbow nails,
Families by tens and dozens,
Mothers, sisters, mothers-in-law and wives –

Truly a colourful sight, indeed.  Very delightful, indeed, to say the least. But I had a task to complete and a few young and old women to beat. Distracted, but not distraught, I started my Long March to CST through crowds that were running, jogging, walking….the first leg was the crowded walk across the sea link. With sunlight an hour away, darkness hid the beauties from my sight. To add to it, was the crowd of onlookers, it was so much that it reminded me of Xerxes’ army in 300 and I was Leonidas, the Spartan, the handsome, the brave heart standing out, walking all alone battling the Persian beauties.

As I crossed the sea and turned for Worli village, I met her. With the sun peeping out slowly and the light blue hue all around I saw a young girl in her 30s…by the time you are in 50s everyone seems very fair and young. She wore a grey T with a Swoosh and a black bottom till just below her knee. As she crossed me, she just smiled…..’twas a slight simple smile but to me it felt like a beckoning call. As she surged ahead, I upped my speed and caught up with her in the next 200 metres. As I drew near, she smiled again. A friendly smile from her, but ‘twas enough to give me the wings I needed to fly. Happy was I for sure!

An old jungle saying that Walkers can’t be Runners came true and she again moved ahead and gave a sign to catch up, catch me if you can... But by then  I was charged and started walking faster and faster. I could see her meandering through the crowds…you couldn’t miss her…I couldn’t miss her…..Once again I caught up with her and once again she smiled….remembered Dilip Kumar singing Nain lad gayi hain jiya ma kasak hoibe kari… the next 500 metres or so were memorable….matching step to step I kept pace never looking at time or the hundreds of others around.

Around the 10 km mark, I remembered another woman, the woman who had run all the races with me all the past 25 years, the woman, who till yesterday believed, I would be doing the Dream Run of 7 kms only…reluctantly she agreed to my going for the half marathon but with a condition…keep me informed from time to time. It was 7.30am by then and my hand went to the pouch and pulled out the Kala Jamun or simply Black Berry. I keyed in my password, searched for D and texted, “10 done all fine”. This not only brought me back to reality but slowed my pace down. As I looked around she was nowhere to be seen.

Dil hai ki maantaa nahin…since when have we men listened to reason and so began my quest to search the Runner Woman.  I walked and walked, I sped and sped, overtook people by the dozens in fact by the tons but she was not to be found. As Gilbert O’Sullivan sang ‘Alone Again Naturally”. Walking ahead, around Copper Chimney, I met a colleague from office. She was jogging slowly at a neat pace and here I was walking. As I came abreast I raised my right hand to wave and she gave a knowing smile. She would have, however, felt slightly down with an oldie walking and trying to overtake her running. I must have hurt her ego somewhere, so, instantaneously, she changed gear and went ahead.  

I was in the race just to prove to myself that I could do half marathon within 3 hours and 15 minutes which was the time allotted as per age category. I wasn’t racing against anyone. And so I went ahead with a slim hope of seeing the woman in grey if I increased my speed. In doing so, I again caught up with my colleague and waved to her again. She gave me a surprised look and shot past again. Within 500 metres I caught up with her again and then she gave up and let me go. Then came the next and only hill…Pedder Road where everyone started slowing down but my pace remained constant which meant I started overtaking people. This is when I met…

No, not her, but another lady in black with a beautiful check bandana. She too gave me a friendly smile and we started talking as she ran and I walked. By the time Babulnath Temple came, unable to keep pace, she smiled and signaled me to go ahead. This gave me time to pull out my phone and send a text to D…”15 done 6 to go all fine”.  This is where I just took off and walked faster than ever before. I was well aware that my time was good so wanted to set a benchmark for myself and the speed was by all standards near running.  Still she was haunting me…will I see her now or maybe after the run. 

Flying down the last stretch as never before, I clocked 2 hours 42 minutes 15 seconds. I didn’t raise my hands as I crossed the line but put my hands in the pouch once more and dialed home. D picked up and I shouted, “Completed and feeling great.” She said well done and within a minute came a text from the Most Beautiful Girl in the World, “Proud of you Baba”.

Post Script

Today about 55,000 runners took to the early morning run at the Mumbai Marathon. Remembered my two half marathons of 2015 and 2016 when I was happy to cross the finishing line in sub-three hours of grueling walk. This was not an exceptional timing for the true runners but for a man in his fifties and walking instead of running, it was something and, more importantly, it gave me a sense of accomplishment and one more check box ticked. The bad part was that after both the runs, I had to make another dash to my orthopaedic surgeon for I had stretched my back beyond its limits and was asked to take complete bed rest for a week or so. The love at home then declared, “ now that you have done two half-marathons, no more hero-panti and marathons going forward. I can’t have you bed-ridden anymore.” I smiled and said,”One more please. Next year will try and do the full marathon and then hang up my shoes.” “Whaaaat!! No way!” The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had spoken and Pheidippides lost the Battle of Marathon- another chapter was added to the Greek Tragedies.

This is a repost from 2015. The post script and pictures added are new additions.

SS

Kumbhalgarh- A Photo Essay

Picture courtesy Internet

For twenty-seven long years, we carried the image of an elephant’s foot-like fortress in the Aravallis and here we were once again to see, admire and be awestruck by Kumbhalgarh. We now let the pictures tell the story of the pride of Mewar. Here, till date, the locals will tell you, Mewar never bowed its head before any outsider, it has always fought for glory and respect.

The Builders: Kumbhalgarh Fort was built in the 15th century by Rana Kumbha of Mewar. There were additions made by each of the later Maharanas of Mewar who followed him. The fort  is of immense sentimental significance for the people being the birthplace the legendary Maharana Pratap.

The Impregnable Fortress: Ahmed Shah I of Gujarat attacked the fort in 1457, but found the effort futile. There were further attempts in 1458–59 and 1467 by Mahmud Khalji, Sultan of Malwa Sultanate, but it also proved futile. Akbar's general, Shahbaz Khan, attacked this fort in October 1577 and after the siege of 6 months, he was able to capture the fort in April 1577. But it was recaptured by Pratap in 1578.

Built on a hilltop 1,100 m (3,600 ft) above sea level on the Aravalli range, the fort of Kumbhalgarh has perimeter walls that extend 36 km (22 mi), making it among the longest walls in the world. The frontal walls are fifteen feet thick, a width enough to take eight horses abreast.

Kumbhalgarh has multiple fortified gateways or Pols. Arait Pol is the first gate from where tourists can enter the fort. The gate is the southern part of the fort. Apart from this are the Hulla Pol, Nimbu Pol, Hanuman Pol, Bhairon Pol, Paghara Pol and more.

 

There are many palaces inside the fort. Of the prominent ones are Rana Kumbha Palace, which was built on the basis of Rajput architecture and Badal Mahal was built by Rana Fateh Singh.

There are over seventy Hindu and Jain temples inside the complex. At the entrance is the Ganesh temple which was built during the reign of Rana Kumbha. It was built near the palaces so that royal people could come and worship Lord Ganesh.

Vedi temple is a Jain temple which was built in octagonal shape. The temple was built by Rana Kumbha and is situated near Hanuman Pol. People have to go to the temple through the stairs as it was built on a raised platform. 

Neelkanth Mahadev Temple is situated to the east of the Vedi temple. 

Majestic Aravallis- See the topography is alike the fortress

Having seen some forts and castles abroad, all of which will be pygmies when compared to the forts of Rajasthan, I am more than convinced that there is no place like Incredible India; so give me more, give me more.

SS

Cakes 'n Calories

Hello God Bhai, I am back again.

You again! Why don’t you celebrate New Year like what most people do… go for a party, drink and dance as if no one is watching you.

Nahin Bhai. My party happens a day earlier.

Like Choti Diwali, one day before the main celebrations?

No Big Brother. How can you forget, it was my birthday a day before. I have enough fun in twenty-four hours before the rest of the world celebrates in their fashion.

Tell me what happened?

So the night before, I was enjoying a series on Netflix in my nightwear ,when the doorbell rang at 10.30pm. I was expecting the chemist to send some medicines, but when I opened the door was pleasantly surprised to see my daughter and her hubby, wearing conical caps on their heads and carrying balloons and carry bags, standing with grins bigger than anything you would have seen ever. The party had just begun.

The sleepy home lit up. I quickly changed into semi formals and then the first of the four cakes was cut with the usual singing of the birthday song. It was a small cake but overflowing with love from all sides.

You cut four cakes on your birthday?

Yes. That’s the usual number. Next morning reached office very early to find some people working in my cabin. These were three new kids in the department who were finishing the decoration of the room with balloons, twinkling lights, flowers and a nicely wrapped gift on the table. In some time, when the office was warming with people, in the middle of the hall, a made to order cake was brought. It was a replica of a football field with players. Later, I came to know that some of the team members were up till 1am to get the super cake ready. Was touched by their thoughtfulness and efforts of making a cake that depicted my passion for the beautiful game, and, I thought, it was also a silent prayer for the Emperor of Dreams, Pele who , that night, must have come to your gates. It was quite an embarrassing yet joyous sight to see almost everyone present joining the chorus and the cake party that followed.

After a sumptuous lunch with one team, returned back to office to cut the third cake… a petite red velvet cake accompanied by a huge bouquet of flowers. And then came the classy cheese cake baked by the missus apart from the table full of my choicest food laid for dinner. Can there be a better and bigger party than this?

Wishes rang in from all quarters… family, friends and colleagues, old and new, in forms of calls, simple messages to GIFs and more. One colleague sent a song he recorded with a beautiful picture of my family that he had saved from my DP. The one below are few lines written by a dear friend who makes all my weekly posts worth the trouble and effort.

Many many happy returns of the day
Our man of letters
A beautiful story teller
So sensitive and humourous too
Strikes a cord in me and you!
God bless you with health and happiness
Joy and togetherness
Many more stories to tell
For you tell them well!
As you get wiser and reach wider
May you consider
Compiling them all into a wonderful book
Into which we will often take a look
Escape from todays into yesteryears happy days
There is so much joy in that recount
May all those joys add to your account!

No..no chance. I am envious of you. Four cakes…mmm... must tell my people to let me cut at least two next Christmas. Anyway, what brings you here then?

Boss, have done full thirty-four years of service and now need some help for the last 365 days.

What can I do? It is your work and your world. What can I help you with? Just hurry up and tell me. I have a party at Heaven’s Gates to attend at tonight. Need to change into my psychedelic robe as well.You are allowed to make one wish only for almost everyone on your planet is making resolutions and most of them pretty miraculous ones where my intervention may also not help but I still have to listen to all. Soon the call lines to my station will get choked. So spell out quick and short.

God Bhai, need the strength of Kipchoge.

Who’s he?

What Sir, you have not heard of Eliud Kipchoge? He’s the greatest long-distance runner of all times. He won the Olympics in 2016 and 2020 and has won four of the six fastest marathons ever. He has even done a sub-two-hour marathon.

So now you wish to run marathons at the ripe young age of fifty-nine and also win the same. And you want me to give you the boon to make it happen! I always knew you were crazy but not as loony as you now are what you are now appearing with a wish like this.

Arrey Bhai, I do not wish to run marathons and win. Don’t get me wrong. What I was trying to say was that in the marathon of life at work, I have run for the last thirty-four years. Its been a gruelling but satisfying run. As I start the last lap of 365 steps, I want you to give me the strength of Kipchoge who reserves his best for the last few kilometres. My race is not about winning but being able to run the full course well. Often in the long-distance races, the athletes get exhausted and de-hydrated and fall off. At times the feeling that they will miss the podium may dishearten them and they quit. As for me, I have run hard all these years and have no hard feelings for all those who went ahead and got the glory they deserved for they were definitely better then me. Now it is all about being able to run hard and fast as if the race has just begun. Want to work hard and complete some unfinished work. Not glory that I shall seek but be able to walk into sunset with head held high.

I seek not an easy path in this last leg. Let the work get even more difficult and the goals look impossible to achieve, just give me the strength to continue with the same vigour, passion, honesty and integrity and all those principles that have held me in good stead all these years. Pain and failure is not what I fear, to be able to complete the course well is all I seek. Am reminded of a beautiful poem by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore from which I share below a couple of lines. As you know, translations do no justice to the true essence but I am still sharing as this song echoes  in my heart and soul as I take step one today.

Aaro bedona aaro bedona
Grind me with more pain,

Probhu, daao morey aaro chetona

Oh Lord, Bestow on me more awareness. 

Dwaar chhutaye baadha tuttaye
Opening all doors, breaking all barriers 

Morey koro traan morey koro traan
I seek my deliverance, liberate me.

Bhakt, I have taken note of your request. Your application number is 5 trillionth but shall try and expedite it for due consideration. Hope you have done your KYC. If not, please do it or else the application will get rejected. Heard you earthlings already have to do these verifications for everything from banking to insurance to buying cakes and flowers. We had to get updated so asked Jobs to do the job for us. Our App will include births and deaths apart from requests and complaints.

Dear God, thank you for 22, 34 and 59.

What are these numbers?

The year 2022, 34 long years since I started my career in March of 1988 and, of course, 59 years of living, loving and running.

Wishing all our readers a Happy ‘23.

SS