Musings

Yesterday we attended an event in Arlington Central Library. They had announced a book sale over the weekend, starting Thursday for members and from Friday onwards for public. On Sunday, the books would be at half price. The hard cover books were for $4 and soft cover for $2. Further, there was 50% discount for teachers and students. Their collection of books was quite impressive. All sorts of genre were there. Fiction, non-fiction, classics, poetry, philosophy, world history, biography, books for kids, humour etc. Books were being purchased in dozens and the event was well attended. I bought Poetry of Robert Frost and a book by famous Canadian author Alice Munro. Two more books were bought by my son. You would think why so few, but then, we have already purchased quite a few from book stores. I wish this book sale had ocurred earlier. If you are anywhere near this place, you still have today and tomorrow. It is from 10.30 am to 16.45 pm. Happy book buying! Ravindra Shenolikar 

On the Pfeiffer beach Light fog over the sea waves Nature's own white veil! Ravindra Shenolikar

  या अमेरिका वारीत माझ्या बकेट लिस्टमधली एक गोष्ट पूर्ण झाली. ती म्हणजे ब्राॅडवे वर शो बघणे. आम्ही '& Juliet' हा मजेशीर म्यूझिकल शो पाहिला. अगदी वेगळे वातावरण, बहूसंख्य अमेरिकन प्रेक्षक यामुळे एक अनोखेपण जाणवत होते. शो चांगलाच झाला. खूप मजा आली. हा शो टाईम्स स्क्वेअर जवळच्या एका नाट्यगृहात होता. ब्राॅडवे वर जे शो होतात त्याची नाट्यगृहे एका छोट्या परिसरात विखुरलेली आहेत. माझी आधी अशी कल्पना होती की एका रस्त्यावर सरळ ओळीत ही नाट्यगृहे आहेत. पण तसं नाही. ही एक दोन माईल्सच्या परिसरात उभी आहेत. '& Juliet' मधे अशी कल्पना केली आहे की शेक्सपीअरच्या 'रोमियो ॲंड ज्युलिएट' या शोकांतिकेतली ज्युलिएट रोमियोच्या मृत्यूची वार्ता ऐकून शोकमग्न होते पण ती आत्महत्या करत नाही. स्वत: शेक्सपिअर एक पात्र म्हणून काम करतो. त्याची पत्नी ॲन हॅथवे नवे कथानक रचते. त्यात शेक्सपिअरची लुडबूड चालूच असते. जगप्रसिद्ध नाटककार गप्प थोडीच बसणार! यातून एक नव्या युगाला साजेसे कथानक उभे राहते. ज्युलिएटचे पात्र करणारी जिआना हॅरिस या शो ची स्टार आहे. तिचा अप्रतिम आवाज, मुक्त अभिनय व ऊर्जा प्रेक्षक...

I can read and write in three languages. Marathi, my mother tongue, English, the medium of education and official work for most part and Hindi, our national language. I feel so enormously rich. As for English, I love both British English as well as American English. The former gives a classy, royal feeling whereas the latter gives a feeling of liberty for which America stands. It is a joy to read both types. Hindi has a unique charm of its own. I regret that I have not read too many books in Hindi. But when I do, the language casts its spell on me. So much beautiful work has been done in Hindi by accomplished authors and poets. I intend to make up soon. Reading Marathi is like coming back home. I cannot describe the joy I feel when I read Marathi. I intend to contribute my own bit and do whatever I can for the enrichment and spread of the language in my State, country and the world. Ravindra Shenolikar 

  He hired our common friend From childhood as employee When I heard I thought He had made a big mistake This friend's wife had Passed away and he was alone His daughter away for work He was given rental accommodation  near the place of work We would gather there Occasionally on evenings To have drinks and talks Used to be quite fun While it lasted but Soon cracks developed To our dismay and Grew bigger till one day He was fired and the  Old friendship was damaged Perhaps for ever Ravindra Shenolikar 

Saw this incredible web series on Netflix. You come to expect this from a Harlan Coben thriller. The plot is so rivetting you want to move to the next episode as soon as the current one has finished. David Burroughs is charged with the murder of his own son Mathew and sent to prison. He keeps saying he is not guilty. Five years after his conviction, one day, his wife's sister, Rachel Mills, comes to meet him in jail. She shows him a recent photograph. It is of a boy with the same birthmark on the right cheek as Mathew. David and Rachel suspect that Mathew is actually alive and they start to investigate. This fact reaches somebody and unleashes a chain of events. David is determined to find his son. Rachel helps him. Hayden Payne, who is in love with Rachel, renders assistance as David escapes jail and while being hunted down as a fugitive by the police, searches for his son Mathew and tries to solve the puzzle around the death of some boy who was proved as his son by some powerful ...

मधमाद सारंग  हा सारंग.... समुद्राच्या लाटांप्रमाणे उसळवतो ह्रदयात अनंत आठवणी विस्मृतीत गेलेल्या क्षणांच्या एक चित्रपट कासावीस करणारा तरळू लागतो मन:चक्षूंसमोर असं वाटतं हे सूर सांगताहेत अनंत काळापासूनचा इतिहास माझ्या आयुष्याची क्षणचित्रे हे केवळ एक माध्यम पण कथा मात्र  अवघ्या मानवजातीची वेदनेची, संघर्षाची हातातून निसटणार्‍या क्षणांची अपरिहार्य क्षणभंगूरतेची तरीसुद्धा हा सारंग ओढत राहतो पुन:पुन्हा करत राहतो घायाळ रवींद्र शेणोलीकर

I write short blogs. I write poems. I am fond of short stories. But try as I might, I found it difficult to write a short story. Two months back I subscribed to a workshop on story writing. It was conducted by an eminent story writer. She began by explaining what is not a story. What are the essential elements of a story. The thing she impressed upon us all was that you need to identify the seed for a story. Events are constantly happening around us, in our lives and the lives of others, our friends, relatives, acquaintances. We also read and watch news in which there may lie a seed for a good story. So the first step, she said, was to identity the seed for a good story. Once this is done, then you have to use your imagination to create characters, incidents etc. and build the story. Sometimes you think of adding situations and characters as you start building the story. You may think of the end at the start or it may be revealed to you as you are writing the story. It was a good works...

 का? असं विचारलं तर कोणाला फारसं आवडत नाही. विशेष करून विचारणारी वयाने लहान व्यक्ती असेल तर. पण हा प्रश्न विचारला जातो तेव्हाच नव्या शक्यतांचा जन्म होतो. एखादी गोष्ट अमूक पद्धतीनेच का करावी? वेगळ्या पद्धतीने नाही का करता येणार? सरधोपट मार्गानेच आपणही का जावे? असे प्रश्न ज्यांना पडतात ते नवे शोध लावतात, नवीन वाटा चोखाळतात. म्हणूनच हा का? जो आहे त्याचा आदर करावा. त्याला मिटवण्याचा प्रयत्न करू नये. लहानपणी कुणी सांगायचे, मांजर आडवी गेली तर काम होत नाही. १३ हा आकडा अशुभ आहे. कित्येक इमारतींमध्ये १३ नंबरच देत नाहीत. क्रिकेटमध्ये १११ हा नंबर अशुभ मानतात. त्याला नेल्सन म्हणतात. जिथे का? हा प्रश्न उच्चारला जात नाही तिथे अशा अंधश्रद्धा बळावतात. ह्या का? मध्ये नवे समाज, राहणीमान, चालीरीती निर्माण करण्याची शक्ती आहे. प्रचलित समज, व्यवस्था ह्यांना आव्हान देण्याची ताकद आहे. म्हणून आता जर हा प्रश्न कानी पडला तर विचारणार्‍या व्यक्तीकडे नीट लक्ष द्या. ह्यावरून आठवले. कपिल देवची पहिली टूर होती. नाइट वाॅचमन म्हणून त्याला दिवसाची राहिलेली दहा पंधरा मिनिटे खेळून काढण्यासाठी पाठवला. नाइट वाॅचमन...

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry, founded and popularised by the poet Matsuo Basho. It is a very short poem of just three lines. The lines follow 5-7-5 format. First line should have 5 syllables, second 7 and third 5. A total of 17 syllables only. Haiku essentially captures the present moment, anything that you see or hear or smell or taste or feel that touches your heart. It is poetry with as few words as possible and is not expected to have a decorative language. Suggestiveness is a prominent feature of Haiku. It started in the 17th century but took a considerable time before it was first translated into English. Ravindranath Tagore brought it to India after his visit to Japan. Now, it is written in many Indian languages, particularly in Hindi and Marathi. Haiku became popular in Marathi in the 70s and 80s. Shirish Pai, acclaimed poetess, was instrumental in introducing it in Marathi. Since then, several poets have tried their hand at writing Haiku in marathi and the form is gainin...

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3496793674991691"      crossorigin="anonymous"></script> I saw this web series on Netflix. Essentially, it is about Kargil war of 1999, how it was fought on the Indian side, the challenges faced by the Indian army and Indian Air Force. It was nail biting and I could not stop till the last episode. It was very well picturised and directed and the challenges to win back the occupied peaks were very well explained. The sacrifices made by the soldiers bring tears to the eyes. The performances of lead actors Siddhartha and Jimmy Shergil were outstanding, well supported by Abhay Verma, Amrita Bagchi, Dia Mirza, Mihir Ahuja and Prajakta Koli. This web series needs to be watched. Ravindra Shenolikar 

I saw 'Pride and prejudice musical' on the online British Council digital library yesterday. It was based on the famous novel 'Pride and prejudice' by Jane Austen. The musical was of two hours duration. I must say that it was most captivating. The lyrics were superb and performances outstanding. In particular, the parts of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy were played brilliantly. Elizabeth was beautiful, with a clear and lovely voice and very expressive face. Even though I had not read the novel, I had some idea of the story. With the subtitles, it was not difficult to follow and the lyrics could also be enjoyed easily alongwith the music. I look forward to watching some more musicals during the year. Ravindra Shenolikar 

  फक्त चोवीस तास नाही पुरत फक्त चोवीस तास दिवसात अठ्ठे चाळीस तास तरी हवेत इतके काही करायचे असते.... वाचायचे असते, लिहायचे असते पाहायचे असते, अभ्यासायचे असते पण हां हां म्हणता संध्याकाळ होते अंधार पडतो, दिवेलागण होते बघता बघता सामसूम होऊ लागते घराघरातील दिवे मालवू लागतात वाचताना डोळ्यांवर झापड येते शब्दांचे अर्थ कळेनासे होतात शरीर दमून, थकून जाते आणि शरणागती घेत हे स्वीकारावे लागते की अजून एक दिवस संपला आहे रवींद्र शेणोलीकर

The first test between West Indies and Pakistan at the Brian Lara stadium, Trinidad, produced some quality test cricket. Batting first, West Indies scored 311 on the strength of Kavem Hodge's 84 and Shai Hope's 92. Mohammed Ali took 4 wickets and Mohammed Abbas took 3. Pakistan replied with 282 losing last 7 wickets in the space of 38 runs, largely due to a magnificent spell by Justin Greaves. Shan Masood scored 109 for Pakistan. West Indies had a meagre lead of 29 runs in the first innings. Pakistan came back in the match in the second innings by having West Indies tottering at 93/7 at one stage. But West Indies fought back through Shamar Joseph's 38 to score 181, giving Pakistan a target of 211 to win the test. Mohammed Abbas took 5 wickets. West Indies bowled superbly in the last innings to bowl out Pakistan for 120, winning by 90 runs. The captain of Pakistan Babar Azam fought a lonely battle and remained unbeaten on a classy 58. Jayden Seales got 5 wickets and Justin G...

Today I saw Moscow Opera's Anna Karenina Musical on my smartphone, courtesy British Council online library of which I am a member. I have read the iconic novel 'Anna Karenina' by Leo Tolstoy, perhaps the most famous novel in the world. So, naturally, I was in a position to appreciate the musical better. Still, I don't have words to express how beautiful it was. Not only was the music awesome, but the lyrics (libretto), even with subtitles, were quite brilliant. So were the performances of one and all. It is a herculean task to present the 800-1000 page novel in just over two hours. But it was achieved with great team work, coordination and class. The screens and lights were used brilliantly to create the effect of a railway train. Above all, the musical was successful in bringing out the incredible passion of love, the suffering, drama and emotions in the story with stunning music and performance of actors. It was over two hours of pure magic which is impossible to forg...

I read an article with this title written by Tara Westover in a recent edition of the weekly "The New Yorker" dated 24th February 2025. It has come under the head "Personal history". The article has the above picture of a sari clad woman at the start. The obvious Indian connection attracted me to the article and I started reading it. The story goes thus :- The author is a graduate student at the University of Cambridge in USA. She has formed a close friendship with a student named Sukrit. She has come against the wishes of her father who stays in Idaho and is not on speaking terms with her. She carries the hurt with her all the time and the bitterness sometimes spills into her conversation with her fellow students. Sukrit is aware of her pain. He suggests that she visit his mother in Delhi for a few days. She finds it absurd initially but later on agrees. Sukrit's mother, Satbir Bedi, is a divorcee. But she is also a high ranking government officer enjoying all ...

We saw this film at a morning show today as we could not get good seats over the weekend. The film is based on the life of Sambhaji Maharaj, elder son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and covers the period after the death of Shivaji. It is based on a marathi novel of the same title authored by Shivaji Sawant. It chiefly depicts the ferocious battles waged between the mughals led by their ruler Aurangjeb and the marathas led by Sambhaji. Vicky Kaushal has given a standout performance in the lead role of Sambhaji. He has brought out the valour, the immense physical and mental strength and the pride of Sambhaji quite brilliantly. Akshay Khanna has played the cunning, cruel and fanatic ruler Aurangjeb with maturity and elan. Rashmika plays Yesubai, wife of Sambhaji, called Shri Sakhi in the movie, with an expressive face. Ashutosh Rana has played Hambirrao Mohite, Chief captain of Sambhaji's army, with expertise. Diana Penty plays the role of Aurangjeb's daughter, Divya Dutta appears...

वीणा गवाणकर यांनी हे गोल्डा मेयरचे चरित्र लिहिले तेव्हा त्यांचे वय ७५च्या आसपास होते. हीच मोठी कौतुकाची बाब. इस्रायलच्या ह्या उत्तुंग व्यक्तीमत्वाबद्दल संशोधन करून, कागदपत्रे तपासून व उपलब्ध सर्व माहितीचे संकलन करून, संबंधित पुस्तकांचे वाचन करून त्यांनी या अतिशय वाचनीय पुस्तकाची निर्मिती केली आहे. अमेरिकेत आपल्या कुटुंबाबरोबर वास्तव्य करणारी गोल्डा, तिचे प्रखर राष्ट्रप्रेम, त्यासाठी वाटेल तितके कष्ट घ्यायची तयारी, राष्ट्रनिर्मितीच्या ध्येयासाठी अमेरिका सोडून मध्यपूर्वेत पॅलेस्टीनमध्ये येणे, प्रतिकूल परिस्थितींना तोंड देत राष्ट्रनिर्मितीच्या चळवळीत सामील होणे, पुरूषांच्या प्रभावळीत स्वयंतेजाने तळपणे हा सर्व प्रवास पुस्तकात वीणा गवाणकरांनी क्रमवार व कौशल्याने टिपला आहे. या बरोबरच गोल्डाचे व्यक्तीगत, कौटुंबिक जीवन, पतीशी मनाने दूर जाणे व वेगळे राहणे, तिच्या प्रकृतीच्या वारंवार त्रास देणार्‍या तक्रारी यांच्यावरही प्रकाश टाकायला लेखिका विसरल्या नाहीयेत. इस्रायल राष्ट्राचे निर्माते बेन गुरियाॅन यांची निष्ठावंत, उजवा हात बनून राष्ट्राची निर्मिती झाल्यावर राष्ट्र उभारणीसाठी गोल्डा वारंवार अमेर...

Saw this movie alone two days back at viviana mall. Based on a novel by Colleen Hoover, the main part of Lily Bloom the florist is played by Blake Lively. Ryle is played by Justin Baldoni. The love story is scarred by domestic violence by Ryle who is extremely possessive and jealous of Lily's former boyfriend who meets her just when her relationship with Ryle is taking off. The movie is a bit slow in the first half. Most of it is shot in Boston. A baby is born to Lily from Ryle but she decides to divorce him for the violence she had been subjected to. The relationship ends with the birth of the baby. Blake Lively has played Lily Bloom with great flair and Baldoni plays the violent Ryle perfectly. Ryle's sister Alyssa is portrayed by Jenny Slate with expertise. Atlas is played by the good looking Brandon Sklenar. Movie is worth watching in a cinema hall. Ravindra Shenolikar 

Evening I listened to the raag puriya on you tube music sung by Apoorva Gokhale. Puriya is based in Marva thaat. It's notes are the same as raag marva but the vaadi swar is gandhar and sanvadi is nishad. In marva the vaadi swar is rishabh and sanvadi is dhaivat. This too is a raag that creates a serene atmosphere like marva. It is sung or played during the evening when it is beginning to get dark. Apoorva Gokhale's rendition of raag puriya was excellent. The nuances of the raag were well captured by her. She is blessed with a good voice and has obviously taken a good taalim from her guru. I had seen her name in many concert advertisements but heard her for the first time. She started with a vilambit, followed by a drut and ended with a taraana. She was successful in creating the perfect mood of puriya. YouTube music is a blessing with so much content available. There are recordings of live performances of longer duration of forty to fifty minutes that are a delight to listen to...