Musings

आता पाऊस जरा जरा लागला आहे. आभाळ भरले आहे. रिपरिप सुरू आहे. झाडे चिंब झालीयेत. पानांतून पाण्याचे थेंब टपकतायत. खाली छोटीछोटी तळी जमू लागली आहेत. मधूनच पावसाचा जोर वाढतो. आवाज वाढतो. हाॅलमधल्या ओट्यावर बसून मी ही सगळी गंमत बघतोय. कमालीचा आळस अंगात भरलाय. घराबाहेर पडावेसे वाटत नाहीये. अंतर्मुख करणारा हा पाऊस पाहात बसून रहावेसे वाटतेय. लहानपणी शाळा व पाऊस एकाच सुमारास जून महिन्यात सुरू व्हायचे. कोणीतरी शिक्षा केल्यासारखे वाटायचे. हुरहूर वाटायची. वर्ग बदलायचा, शिक्षक बदलायचे. मग हळूहळू नवीन वातावरणात रूळायला सुरूवात व्हायची. आजही पावसाळ्यात शाळेत जाणारी मुले पाहून ते दिवस आठवतात. त्या संमिश्र भावना आठवतात. पुन्हा एकदा शिकावेसे वाटते.

The world cup 2018 has taken off in Russia in a grand way. The games I have been lucky enough to watch so far were so clean, it was a joy to watch. The Spain vs Portugal game was incredible and the world saw the genius of Christiano Ronaldo. The Peru vs Denmark game was equally riveting with Peru losing despite overall dominance. I missed the Argentina Iceland game and it was a shock to know about Lio's missed penalty. Today Germany has lost to Mexico in a major upset. Now the Brazil vs Switzerland game is about to start shortly. This world cup is going to be awesome, one gets the feeling. Let's sit back and enjoy. While this is the scene on field, one can only imagine what must be going on around the places holding these games. There must be a frenzy around the venues with spectators having a time of their life. So many Indians have travelled to Russia even though India is not among the participating nations. With every kick-off the heart is just flying to Russia.

We set out on Saturday morning for a weekend at Lonavla. My family and my sister's. Just half an hour journey and we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. They have egg and cheese muffins that I like. Feeling good we left and two hours later reached Lonavla. We were to stay at a bungalow which belongs to my sister's family friend. It is on amby valley road at a good altitude. A caretaker, a young boy of 25 years, looks after the upkeep and also prepares food. We had carried a lot of vegetables, eggs, bread and what not. The bungalow has a beautiful, expansive sit-out overlooking the valley below. The view is just magical. At any moment clouds start drifting in. You spend most of your time in the sit-out rather than inside the bungalow. For a still better view one can go onto the terrace. Sitting on the bench there and watching the scenery before you, one loses all track of time. The caretaker made sumptuous meal and we had a deep nap. It started raining in the evenin...

Doing your work in the best possible way gives indescribable joy and satisfaction. Sometimes it is tedious, stressful and challenging. But after going through all that and coming out a winner gives you the ultimate feeling. It is work that gives value to rest and recreation. It is the work that you do that defines you, gives you identity. Do it with utmost seriousness and never turn your back to it. Along the way a day dawns when you are rewarded for your efforts, you get recognition and things start to fall in line. You should not aspire for it though. Just enjoy working. No reward is greater than the contentment you feel inside you.

When I was quite young some people would ask me what was my ambition. I never had a ready answer. A friend once remarked that a person without ambition is like an animal. I was a bit embarrassed though I did not see myself that way. I was so taken by the myriad beautiful things that life had to offer that I had no time for ambition. The priority was movies, sports, reading, picnics, friends and so on. When I grew up I understood that ambition, so far as I was concerned, was quite boring. For me life did not mean becoming an engineer or a doctor, work my way up in a company and some day occupy a higher position. It did not mean seeking power and have control over people. It did not mean starting a business and earn a lot of money. My ambition, if it could be called so, was to know how things work, to know the principle behind the manifestation, to revel in the abiding beauty of our planet, to enjoy the arts, to ponder the human existence, to decipher the science of things. Having ...

Writing is funny. Sometimes you write a post with ease and flow. You get the right words and phrases along the way and you are quite pleased and satisfied at the end. The post has come out like you had it in your mind. But sometimes the response to such a post may not be great. You are surprised. You, being satisfied yourself, had expected a better response. However, regardless of the lack of good response, you remain satisfied because your satisfaction has come from within. You do not depend upon anybody else. Sometimes the reverse happens. You have something in mind but find it very difficult to put into words. You finish the post somehow but are not entirely happy with it. You are conscious that it could have been better and you could not get all words or phrases right. You post it anyway. Then, to your surprise you find that the response to the post is pretty good. There are some compliments given. You quickly get over your disappointment. It has been cured by the overwhelming ...