Musings

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...

 सायकल सायकल चालवायला आम्हा भावंडांना माझ्या मोठ्या चुलत भावाने शिकवली. म्हणजे मी व माझी बहिण आणि चुलत भावाच्या दोन सख्या, म्हणजे माझ्या चुलत बहिणी. मे महिन्याच्या सुट्टीत मुलुंडला एका मैदानावर आम्ही सायकल चालवायला शिकलो. नंतर सायकल भाड्याने आणून राउंड मारणे सुरू झाले. पण प्रत्यक्षात वडिलांनी नवी सायकल घेऊन दिली तेव्हा पंख फुटल्यासारखं वाटलं. माझं फिरण्याचं क्षेत्र रूंदावलं होतं. सायकल घेतल्याघेतल्या मी नौपाड्याच्या काकांकडे नियमितपणे जाऊ लागलो. पूर्वी ते शक्य नव्हतं. एकदा हिंमत करून मुलुंडच्या काकांकडे गेलो. काकू चाट पडली. परतताना सांभाळून जा असं पुन्हापुन्हा सांगितलं. पण मला काहीतरी मोठं यश मिळाल्यासारखं वाटलं. नववी-दहावीत शाळेत सायकल घेऊन जायला ग्रेट वाटायचं. पुढे जुनियर काॅलेजला, म्हणजे ठाणा काॅलेजलाही मी सायकल वरून जायचो. साधारण ह्या सुमारास आमच्या मित्रांच्या वर्तुळात सायकल ट्रिपचं वार वाहू लागलं. एक दिवस तळ्याच्या कट्ट्यावर एकदम गोव्याला सायकल वरून जायचा बेत ठरला. तयारी जोमात सुरू झाली. सातजण फायनल झाले. आमच्या म्होरक्यामध्ये उत्कृष्ट नेतृत्वगुण होते. त्यानी सगळे नकाशे मिळवल...

Yesterday's IPL Qualifier match between KKR  to score of 4 overs and 8 wickets in hand, KKR were sailing. Then Gillgot out and all hell broke loose. They just couldn't get runs and every big hit tried ended in a wicket. Soon KKR were 7 down and needed 6 runs of the last two balls. It looked as if DC would turn the tide and win. Last over was being bowled by Ashwin and he had already captured two wickets in the over. Suddenly, everyone was on the edge of his seat. Then, Rahul Tripathi hit the fifth ball with all his might and it went sailing over the stands. KKR had won and qualified for the final. One of the best games and dramatic finish. Hopefully, the final with CSK will also produce such amazing action. Ravindra Shenolikar

This year, the annual Times Litfest is being celebrated online in view of the pandemic restrictions. I registered for the festival. On the first day there was an interview with Anupam Kher. It seems, he has written a book titled 'Today is the day' or something like that. What I like about Anupam is his very clear voice and diction. Perhaps that is his major attribute that has brought him this far. His talk was very interesting, particularly the part about how he purchased a nine bedroom house for his mother near Shimla when she had only asked for a small house of her own there and got a scolding from her for buying such a big property. Next was Anand Neelkantan who writes his own interpretation of various epics and mythologies. He has wriiten a book titled 'Valmiki and his women'. He has made Shurpankha and Manthara etc. more humane and palatable. It should be interesting. This seems to have become a trend now. I remembered so many years ago our own Iravati Karve has wr...

This 2016 movie is set in Canada and is a murder mystery. Isla, the 16 year old protagonist, who had been led to believe that her parents had died in a accident, receives a letter from her father who is in prison. She decides to visit him and goes to her native place without telling her uncle. She finds that her father is serving sentence for the murder of her mom but father denies this. Isla begins her own investigation with the help of local girl Tina whom she befriends at a motel where Tina works and where Isla had initially stayed. Tina also gets help from the local policeman. Isla finds that 9 of her mother's clients, young native girls, had disappeared into snow and died. No investigation was done by the authorities. Then her mother had been murdered and the jury had pronounced her father guilty in ten minutes. Meanwhile, her uncle is on the hunt for Isla and comes to the mining town where Isla is making discreet enquiries. In the end, Isla finds out the real culprit behind t...