राह 

बहुत तेज़ दौड़ रही थी ज़िन्दगी
हुई ना थकान, ना कभी प्यास लगी
जिस राह पर रुक ना रही थी मेरी दौड़
उसी राह पर आज अपाहिज खड़ा हूँ मै!


सोचा था दिख रही है मंजिल
पाना है ना मुश्किल, बस लगा अपना दिल
जिस राह पर था मंजिल पाने का विश्वास
उसी राह पर आज गुमराह खड़ा हूँ मै!


उस राह को भरा था अपने सपनों से
राह के दोनों ओर सजाया था अपनों से 
जिस राह से जुडी थी मैंने अपनी पहचान
उसी राह पर आज अनजान खड़ा हूँ मै!


जिस राह पर दौड़ा, गिरा, डगमगाया
जिस राह ने मुझे कुछ मोड़ पर रुलाया
जिस राह पर बढते बढते भटक गया था मै
उसी राह पर आज नए विश्वास से खड़ा हूँ मै!

Noorondu Nenapu...

I don’t know why.

Nothing as such transpired today which would bring your memories back to haunt me. You were a good actor as some others also are. What made you special was that you were gem of a person. I could easily relate many of your roles as they showcased the day to day life. Right from Nagarahavu till Aptharakshaka I was in awe for the portrayal of protagonist of the plot. Though I am not an avid follower of Kannada movies, I used to watch many Kannada movies on Doordarshan. Your movies were the ones which struck a chord in my heart. It might be the angry young man of Nagarahavu or the ideal yajamaana/appaji/anna, you never seemed dramatic. You were all real. You were the life in those characters.

The day you left us I was in my home and the news came as a rude shock. How can you just leave us when you have so much yet to give us.

What made you closer to our hearts was that you lived the life you portrayed on screen. You were successful yet you were so humble. You were chided, pulled down in your career by some morons but you silenced them by utter commitment to your deed. You were deeply pained; who wouldn’t after all you had to go through in Gandhinagar. You could have brought those people down once people saw your real worth. But you did not. This makes you special. There would have been no difference between you and them if you had done the same. You never even spoke about it. You never complained. You just did what you do the best. As simple as that.

I am listening to noorondu nenapu now and it makes me sadder than you in that song.

You should have lived longer :(

WHOSE DIME IS IT ANYWAY??

Plate meals(veg) - 35
Meals(non-veg) - 80 
Curd rice - 18 
Pulav - 18 
Tomato rice - 20 
1 cup kheer - 10 
Fruit salad - 20 
Soup - 30 
Dosa - 15 
Tea - 5 
(*Rates approximated) 
The price list looks like that of any other in the next street hotel. For a change, have a look at the below price list: 

Plate meals(veg) - 12.50 
Meals(non-veg) - 22 
Curd rice - 11 
Pulav - 8 
Tomato rice - 7 
1 cup kheer - 5.50 
Fruit salad - 7 
Soup - 5.5 
Dosa - 4 
Tea - Re. 1/- 

If you are thinking that this might be the price list in the same hotel 2 decades ago, you are slightly mistaken. 

Keep reading... 

Today we are caught between the devil and the deep sea. If on one side we face rising needs with increasing influence of consumerism, on the other, the exorbitant price rise laughing hard on us. However there is one place which is totally insulated from the sky-rocketing prices. It is the place which guarantees equal (?) rights to all its stakeholders – the Indian Parliament. If one steps into our parliament canteen, one might see the price list as in the 2^nd table above. And look who’s getting these facilities. The poor destitute of our country, fighting hard (?) for the people who invested (again a ?) their valuable vote in them, spending a bunch of their energy on being the voice of the dear people?? The people we elected to the highest office with a hope of lessening our burdens eating their hearts out at our expense?

When the country is gaping at about 15%+ food inflation, the right and the left blame the center and the center on the states and once they are done with their blame game, they dine together in parliament canteen without a tinge of shame and thus maim the hearts of countless fellow citizens. They might probably discuss the causes of price rise while wiping off the subsidized food. An irony, isn’t it? They don’t even realize that they are a bigger part of the problem or do they?(If this is the case then God save his own country!!) An honest citizen would at least feel ashamed to fill his/her stomach at others expense. Tell this to our ‘leaders’. They fire back – ashamed? Is this a new word in angreiji just like avatar?

Whose dime is it anyway? Our country is so populated that even if half the taxpayers pay their taxes honestly, our leaders can lead a ‘happy enough’ life. Leading, in our leader’s lexicon, might imply leading his life happily whatsoever. And the worse part, this is not gonna change soon. The change would require our MPs to debate on the issue and probably pass a bill to cut off the unreasonable subsidy and match the rates to the current levels. Even a child would laugh at such a proposition. The last time (well, it was also my first time) I saw the entire parliament united was in the issue of salary hikes and perks, well, to themselves. Couple of years later, they started screaming at the CEOs and executives salary.

Coming back to food price inflation, instead of I-blame-you-you-blame-me attitude, every single MP can do his/her bit by refraining to burn a hole in honest tax-payers pocket. They should understand the consumer’s difficulty in balancing his life among various priorities. They should understand ours is a land where it is preached to serve others before you serve yourselves. A mother in our country says she does not like apples if apples are 3 and the members in the family, four. It is the nation where annadaana is considered greatest of all forms of service. Yet we are led by those who loot people at every instance possible and guess what! They loot legally (disguised as subsidy in this case)! Certainly India never fails to surprise!!

It happens only in India?!?

PS: Due to distorted Demand-Supply equation affordable food prices are but a temporary phenomenon according to a report by Equitymaster.

Is anybody listening?

VEGETABLE VENDORS

Paanch rupaye me teen le lo seth…

Tazaa tamaate laal tamaate…

Bhendi tazaa hai kya? Ye dekho saab abhich khet se utha ke laaya potha..

Poora phreshh adaa ree, togoree maalakre..

I was walking through the crowded vegetable market of my town amazed by the typical tone of these canvassing of their vegetables and the price negotiations which felt like music to my ears. Suddenly a known voice from the other direction interrupted my thought process – Arey chhote maalik! Kaise ho aap? Kab aaye banglaur se? The voice was one of the hundreds of vegetable vendors over there and he was one of many vendors from whom we regularly buy vegetables. And by regularly I mean for the last 20-25 years. These vendors have become a part of our lives. We have met and talked to them more than some of our close relatives. I was elated standing there among them when I was home during the year end vacations.

It was a welcome change from the air conditioned, neatly stacked, one stop ‘fresh’ grocery stores in the city of Bangalore. I had missed the crowded and never silent market of my hometown where every vendor would greet you heartily and return back a precious smile. Here a relation is built on the grounds of friendliness and affection which both the parties – the vendor and the consumer – would carry till the end of their lives. Relationships, here, are not based on the hypocritical expectation of favors/returns. A smile is what one needs to invest. The relationship once built would then make their way to next generation as well. Way back when I was a child, one of the vendors used to take just Rs.10 for whatever we bought and every time we used to buy vegetables worth more than that. Then my dad would forcefully place extra money in his hands. He would give me and my sister some vegetable to keep munching. He would also put in couple of vegetables more into our basket. The vendor never asked any favor in return for his affection. Today I don’t see him in the market. His son takes care of his stall as he is not keeping well. The same values are instilled in his son as well. His son is of my age and we have been friends since our childhood. It was this friendship which made him to wave me the other day and call me to his stall. He expected to share few words and was never to make me buy at his stall. All these years of association with some of the vendors have made us know each other’s family to an extent. When they spot me alone, they’d ask maaji nahi aaye? Seth kahaan hai? Seth ko bolo kabhi dukaan chodke idhar bhi aaya kare…

A striking difference that I observed is in the way people behave in these outlets. In the ‘fresh’ and air conditioned grocery store that I visit in B’lore I came across a kid running happily from one stack to another. She was excited to find various vegetables in so many colors. She put her hand into a stack to get the feel of the color when her parents yell – Take your hand out Honey! Don’t touch them… Keep quite… Go and hold the hand of your mummy! The other day I had been to the market in my town with my family accompanied by our tenant’s family. They have a sweet li’l daughter aged about 7. As soon as she enters market, she runs straight to a vendor, smiles at him; the vendor gives her a carrot which she relishes till they finish buying and come out. She has the complete freedom even in that crowd.

During the training sessions in my company, we were taught FISH philosophy. We had seen what Pike place fish market looks like. It was when I went to the market in my hometown that I realized our market resemble Pike place fish market. The energy surrounding them, their attitude towards their customers, the way they make our day are all proof enough to say they are unknowingly following the fish philosophy. Had I realized back then that their actions could be stated as a work philosophy, I would have been the child prodigy on #1 best sellers list(of course with the help of one who knows how to convert thoughts into words)!! I had all the resources and experience back then but not the realizationJ

I sometimes wonder what keeps motivating these vendors all these years. They get meager margins on what they sell. They usually have to fight their way out with government authorities. They have to keep on working hard 24x7, 365 days a year. There is nothing called weekends to them. In fact they have to toil harder on Sundays. They hardly hang out with their social circle. In fact there exists no social circle. They see no dramatic growth/changes in their environment around/wealth/position/status. They don’t know what Orkut/Facebook is. They cannot tweet their helelessness. They don’t know what a pizza looks like. They are content with roti cooked in their homes almost everyday of the year. A film CD, a Television and in front of that hordes of them under a tin shed is what they call their multiplex. I have seen them wearing same shirt for about 5 years but they don’t complain! They manage to put up the genuine smile on their face and especially the large-heartedness (which is woefully missing in those who drive their BMWs, eat nothing raw, check out calories before consuming anything and have almost forgot what sunshine is).

Every time you go back they welcome you with a smile and kind words. They ask about your work. They tell you that you have shrunk since the last time you visited them (thus reminding you how important mothers home-made is). You never negotiate the total amount of purchase. They just tell the total amount and in some cases you stand there surprised thinking this guy will never change and then you forcefully hand him couple of notes more. He never complains about the problems he faces. He never tells you how cash strapped he is. He just gives you what is called more-than-desired-service and which is mutually satisfying. He blends all his social elements in his business as he has no explicit social circle. You know you are getting more value than desired when you deal with him. At the end of the day, more than money, satisfaction is what matters him the most.

Don’t we have something to learn from him?