Musings

The world cup football at Qatar is hotting up. Among the big teams, Brazil, France, England, Portugal, Netherlands have qualified for last 16. Germany & Argentina are struggling. The world cup is already throwing up some amazing matches. The match between Ghana and Korea was a thriller. The goal of Recharlison for Brazil was incredible. Mbappe is doing well for France. Brazil is waiting for Neymar to recover and be ready for the knockouts. Next three weeks promise thrilling action in Doha. I hope Argentina win today's crucial game. It will be most probably Messi's last world cup. I want to see him till the finals. Same can be said for Christiano. Both, legends of the game. Ravindra Shenolikar

It was raining when I left office and came down on the ground floor. I quickly walked to my car as I was getting wet. As I approached the car I saw a tiny bee with wings stuck on the front glass just above the wiper. It had got stuck there and was not able to move. I realised that if I start the car I will have to start the wiper and in one stroke the bee will be killed. The thought made me restless. Behind me I saw a leaf fallen from the tree above. I picked it up and brought it near the bee. At first it did not respond. I was getting more wet and frustrated. I tried to place the leaf at different angles near the bee. At some point it started to make an effort. Perhaps it understood what I was trying to do. It was with a lot of effort that at last it climbed on the leaf. I carefully lifted the leaf with the bee perched on it and kept it in a safe place so that nobody will tread on it. Satisfied, I got into my car and drove away. I felt a great joy at having done the right thing, overc...

ह्या चित्रपटात श्रेयस तळपदे व मुक्ता बर्वे प्रमुख कलाकार आहेत. सोबत संदीप पाठक आहे. श्रेयस सखाराम पाटलाच्या भूमिकेत आहे. मुक्ता त्याची पत्नी. सखाराम अतिशय कंजूष व्यक्ती आहे. एकेक पैसा कसा वाचवता येईल ह्याचीच त्याला चिंता असते. त्याच्या घरी लहानपणापासून दामू (संदीप पाठक) आश्रीत म्हणून राहात असतो. पाटलाची छोटी मुलगी माऊ. त्यांच्या घरी पिंकू नावाचे बकरीचे पिल्लू असतं. माऊचा पिंकूवर फार जीव असतो. पिंकू तीन तीन दिवस काही खात नाही म्हणून मोफत उपचार करून घेण्यासाठी पाटील व दामू पिंकूला घेऊन मुंबईत येतात. टी.सी. पकडणार म्हणून ते पिंकूला स्टेशनवरच सोडून पळून जातात. पाटील घरी परत येऊन बायकोला बाता मारतात. पिंकू दिसत नाही म्हणून माऊ नाराज होते. पिंकूला रेल्वेत जमा केले जाते. पिंकूच्या लिलावाच्या दिवशी पाटील बाईचा वेश घालून लिलावात जातात. शेवटी पिंकूला घरी आणण्यात पाटील यशस्वी होतात व माऊच्या चेहर्‍यावर हसू फुटते. श्रेयस, मुक्ता व संदीप पाठक यांनी सफाईदार अभिनय केला आहेः चित्रपट विनोदी ढंगाचा आहे. रवींद्र शेणोलीकर

Yesterday saw this film on OTT. It is a hilarious murder mystery plot. Rajkumar Rao plays Jayant, the upcoming tech wizard in a private company that manufactures robotic machines. Vijay Kenkre is the director of the company and Monica is his ravishing secretary played by Huma Qureshi. Director's son from first marriage is played by Sikander Kher. Director's daughter Nikki is in love with Jayant. Jayant has an affair with Monica who tells him that she is pregnant. That shocks Jayant. Shalu is Jayant's sister. Sukant, another employee in the company, is in love with Shalu. The movie begins with the murder of a boy who has confessed love for shalu and tells this to Sukant who immediately uses the robot and kills him. Fun starts when Jayant, Arvind the accountant and the director's son, find that Monica has been playing with all three. They plot to kill and get rid of her. But the director's son gets killed. Enter police inspector played by Radhika Apte and things move ...

I have come to this park after many days. There is a pleasant chill in the air. It is evening time. People are scattered in groups. There are senior citizens, ladies in groups, health conscious walkers, families, children and people like me, alone, capturing some "me time". At the centre of the park is a small lake. At one corner is a temple where some devotees are always to be found. There is one amphitheatre too where mostly youngsters gather and talk. Some equipment has been installed where people do exercises. In general, the park has been well maintained by the municipal corporation. Sunday evenings tend to be gloomy as the weekend is about to end. One has to find ways to get around it. Either by watching a film or reading a book. This is the best part of the year as weather is cool for at least three months. From the month of March, heat begins to oppress. There is excess enthusiasm everywhere after two years of covid restrictions. Life is back to normal and is more val...

Evening I went out with my wife to a jewellar's. She was going through some pendant designs when I opened my mobile and started reading the next chapter of Hellen Keller's autobiography. I was as much captivated by Keller's beautiful writing as the women visiting the shop seemed to be with the gold ornaments. At a certain point my wife brought me to attention. The lady behind the counter showing various designs to my wife could not help smiling. I put off any further reading and devoted myself wholeheartedly to pendant selection. Generally, my wife needs endorsement from me for her selection. She knows that I don't give it routinely but rather according to my taste. I chose the same design that she had chosen earlier when I wasn't watching. That settled the issue pretty quick. We left the shop, did some routine purchasing and took an auto back. Now, once home, I would have all the leisure to read Keller. Ravindra Shenolikar

 Daman Travel springs wonderful surprises  As we veered off the highway  in the direction of daman which was some distance away we passed through some villages  that were so peaceful that I wished to stay there itself. It was a pleasure to drive through such deafening peace. And then that beautiful promenade  at zampore Beach that stretched for almost a kilometer; We took a lot of photos there The restaurant in the market  offered good food and cocktails Sometimes you don't expect much but end up getting so much. Ravindra Shenolikar

 ज्योत कधी माझ्या काळजात  मिणमिणते एक ज्योत कुट्ट काळ्या अंधारावर सहजपणे करते मात खोपटात कुठे गावी मिणमिणते एक ज्योत होतकरू कुणी विद्यार्थी प्रकाशतो अभ्यासात पडक्याशा देवळात मिणमिणते एक ज्योत सात्विकतेची उब पसरते गाभार्‍यात अगम्य ह्या विश्वात मिणमिणते ज्ञानज्योत कुतुहलाच्या तेलाने पेटते बुद्धीची वात रवींद्र शेणोलीकर

 सह्याद्री चॅनलवर "दुसरी बाजू" असे शीर्षक असलेल्या कार्यक्रमाचे शंभरहून अधिक एपिसोड झालेत. यू ट्यूबवर ते पाहायला मिळतात. आपल्या आवडत्या कलाकारांबद्दल अधिक माहिती मिळते. त्यांचे बालपण, शिक्षण, तारूण्य, कलाक्षेत्रातील प्रवेश वगैरे वेगवेगळे कंगोरे समोर येतात. काल मी इला भाटे वरचा विक्रम गोखलेनी अँकर केलेला कार्यक्रम पाहिला. त्या दहावीला बोर्डात मेरिट लिस्टमध्ये आल्या होत्या हे ऐकून नवल वाटले. त्यांचे बालपण, शिक्षण पार्ल्यात गेले. पार्ले टिळकच्या त्या विद्यार्थिनी. पण पुढे सायन्स घेऊन फारशा चमकल्या नाहीत. नाट्यक्षेत्रात त्यांनी बराच उशीरा प्रवेश केला. पण तिथे त्या रमल्या व खूप प्रसिद्धी व नावलौकिक मिळवला. मुलाखत अशी रंगत गेली. विक्रम त्यांना मोकळेपणी बोलून देत होते. इला भाटेंची मुलगी सुद्धा दहावीला बोर्डात मेरिटमध्ये आली. पुढे डाॅक्टरेट मिळवली. त्यांचे पती सुद्धा डाॅक्टर आहेत. नंतर मी विजया मेहतांवरचा कार्यक्रम पाहिला. त्यांच्याबद्दल काय बोलावे? रंगायनची चळवळ, नंतर व्यावसायिक रंगभूमीवर प्रवेश, आंतरराष्ट्रीय नाट्यशिक्षण व अनुभव असं कितीतरी सांगत होत्या. मराठी कलाकारांवर प्रेम असणा...

एखाद्या ऐतिहासिक स्थळाला, वास्तूला, मंदीराला किंवा राजवाड्याला भेट देण्यापूर्वी त्याबद्दलची माहिती वाचून ठेवावी. सध्या गूगलवर हे सहज शक्य आहे. तिथला इतिहास, स्थापत्यकला, शिल्पकला ई. गोष्टींचा रसास्वाद घेण्यासाठी थोडी माहिती असणे जरूरी आहे. तरच ज्या काळात ती वास्तू बांधली गेली त्यावेळची स्पंदने जाणवतील, भिंती बोलू लागतील, चित्रं सजीव होऊन कथा सांगतील. बरेचदा आपला टूर प्रोग्रॅम आधीच ठरलेला असतो. जास्तीत जास्त ठिकाणे बघायची असतात. आपण भराभरा त्या वास्तूच्या दालनांतून फिरतो, फोटो काढतो, सेल्फी काढतो. पण त्या स्थळाचे, वास्तूचे सौंदर्य समजून घ्यायचा प्रयत्न करत नाही. इतिहासात डोकावत नाही. एखाद्या टूरच्या बरोबर गेलो असल्यास तर घाईच असते. टूरचा व्यवस्थापक जरासुद्धा मोकळेपणा देत नाही. म्हणून शक्यतो आपले आपणच टूरला जावे. कुठलेही ठिकाण वा स्थळ आपले ऐतिहासिक वैशिष्ट्य घेऊन उभे असते. ते त्या वैशिष्ट्यांसह अनुभवणे महत्वाचे आहे. रवींद्र शेणोलीकर

पाऊस आषाढाचा । कोसळे सृष्टीवर गडगडते अंबर । उच्चरवे ।। पाहता सभोवार । चिंब हिरवाई ।  धुंद झाली भुई । जलधारांनी ।। आनंदाची सीमा । नाचतो मयुर । निसर्ग मल्हार । आळवतो ।। जल वर्षावात । भिजे पानपान । जाहला बेभान । महासागर ।। आषाढरंगी । रंगले जीवन । उचंबळे मन । क्षणोक्षणी ।। रवींद्र शेणोलीकर

The four pillars of our democracy are, as you know, Legislature, Judiciary, Executive and Press.  The Executive carry out orders sent down from Legislature, i.e. from the ministers. They have very little freedom, though they are not expected to carry out illegal orders. Disobedience has a severe price which no on  wants to pay. Many orders are not given on file and yet, these are to be obeyed.  The Press, also called the Fourth Estate, is expected to be a guardian of democracy. But what picture do we see nowadays? Every newspaper is alligned with some political party. It does not take a very intelligent reader to observe this. So the reporting is biased, coloured, not reflecting the true state of affairs. The Legislature are in a dominant position. They make the laws and wield enormous influence over various sectors of society. The unbridled power breeds corruption. Common man is far away from this and suffers silently, waiting for next election. In the absence of checks ...

We have ordered a new sofa set and it is becoming a family joke. It is forty days now but the sofa is still to be delivered. We were told initially that it would take eighteen days. We had taken the trouble of visiting the workshop, giving precise instructions, measurements, selecting the fabric, furniture design etc. When we received the first photos we found that some of the instructions we gave were ignored.We put our foot down and asked to return the advance payment we had made. They said that they will make a fresh unit and asked for ten more days. After four weeks when I called, they said that they had not received the fabric. Last week they said that the structure had been sent for chemical treatment. These guys are never short of excuses. The only wise decision I made was not to dispose of our old sofa till we receive the new one. So we can wait without discomfort. I wonder how these people make profit by taking so long for a basic sofa set. May be they are focussing on other o...

 माझ्या आठवणीतले जुने आवडते ब्लॅक ॲंड व्हाइट काळातले मराठी चित्रपट म्हणजे ज्याला बाबूजींचे संगीत, गीतकार गदिमा, राजा परांजपे, राजा गोसावी वगैरे अभिनेते मंडळी ज्यात असत ते. रमेश देव सीमा जोडी असलेले चित्रपटही आवडायचे. रमेश देव काळाच्या खूप पुढे वाटायचा. जरासुद्धा अवघडलेपणा त्याच्या हालचालीत जाणवत नसे. नेहमी हसतमुख व स्टायलिश. विनोदी कलाकारांत राजा गोसावी, शरद तळवलकर खूप आवडायचे. हिरोंमध्ये अरूण सरनाईक सारखा देखणा व रूबाबदार नट दुसरा कोणी नव्हता. फार प्रतिभावान संगीतकार व गायक गायिका मराठी सिनेमास चार चाँद लावत. वसंत पवार, बाबूजी, लता, आशा, सुमन कल्याणपूर सगळेच मोठे प्रतिभावंत. जयश्री गडकर ही अतिशय देखणी अभिनेत्री मराठी सिनेमात होती. पण मला तमाशा प्रधान चित्रपट मात्र फारसे आवडत नसत. मराठी चित्रपट ह्यातून कधी बाहेर पडणार आहे असं वाटे. जरी उत्तमोत्तम लावण्या लिहिल्या, गायल्या गेल्या तरी तमाशा प्रधान चित्रपट वाॅज नाॅट माय कप ऑफ टी. नंतरच्या काळात पाहिलेला व मनावर प्रचंड परिणाम केलेला सिनेमा म्हणजे पिंजरा. डाॅ. श्रीराम लागूंचा मी बहुधा तेव्हापासूनच फॅन झालो. निळू फुले ह्या प्रचंड ताकदीच्...