koi hum nafas .....

I would recommend everyone to watch this Ghazal at least once.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV8zAjjcjNI&feature=related

दिल्या घेतल्या वचनांची, शपथ तुला आहे.........

दिल्या घेतल्या वचनांची, शपथ तुला आहे
मनांतल्या मोरपिसाची, शपथ तुला आहे

बकुळीच्या झाडाखाली, निळ्या चांदण्यात
हृदयाची ओळख पटली, सुगंधी क्षणांत
त्या सगळया बकुळ फुलांची, शपथ तुला आहे

शुभ्रफुले वेचित रचिला, चांद तू जुईचा
म्हणालीस, चंद्रोत्सव हा सावळया भुईचा
फुलातल्या त्या चंद्राची, शपथ तुला आहे

भुरभुरता पाऊस होता, सोनिया उन्हात
गवतातून चालत होतो, मोहूनी मनात
चुकलेल्या त्या वाटेची, शपथ तुला आहे

हळूहळू काजळताना सांज ही सुरंगी
तुझे भास दाटूनी येती, असे अंतरंगी
या उदास आभाळाची, शपथ तुला आहे..

हे चांदणे फुलांनी....

हे चांदणे फुलांनी शिंपीत रात्र आली
धरती प्रकाश वेडी, ओल्या दवांत न्हाली

तारे निळ्या नभात, हे गूज सांगतात
का रंग वेगळा हा, फुलत्या नव्या कळीस
ओठातल्या स्वरांना का जाग आज आली

तो स्पर्श चंदनाचा की गंध यौवनाचा
उधळीत रंग आला स्वप्नातल्या स्वरांचा
ती रात्र धुंद होती स्वप्नात दंगलेली

वाटे हळूच यावा करपाश या गळ्यात
मैफिल ही सरावी ही धुंद त्या मिठीत
आनंद आगळा हा ही जाग आज आली


गीत - मधुसूदन कालेलकर
संगीत - प्रभाकर जोग
स्वर - अनुराधा पौडवाल
चित्रपट - चांदणे शिंपीत जाशी (१९८२)

ऐरणीच्या देवा तुला....

ऐरणीच्या देवा तुला ठिणगी ठिणगी वाहू दे
आभाळागत माया तुझी आम्हावरी राहू दे

लेऊ लेणं गरीबीचं, चनं खाऊ लोखंडाचं
जीणं होऊ आबरुचं, धनी मातूर माझ्या देवा, वाघावानी असू दे

लक्षीमीच्या हातातली चवरी व्हावी वर खाली
इडा पीडा जाईल, आली किरपा तुझी भात्यातल्या सूरां संग गाऊ दे

सुख थोडं, दुःख भारी, दुनिया ही भली बुरी
घावं बसंल घावावरी, सोसायाला झुंजायाला, अंगी बळ येऊ दे

कुठे शोधिसी रामेश्वर....

कुठे शोधिसी रामेश्वर अन् कुठे शोधिसी काशी
हृदयातिल भगवंत राहिला हृदयातून उपाशी

झाड फुलांनी आले बहरुन, तू न पाहिले डोळे उघडुन
वर्षकाळी पाउसधारा, तुला न दिसला त्यात इषारा
काय तुला उपयोग आंधळ्या दीप आसून उशाशी

रुद्राक्षांच्या गळ्यात माळा, लाविलेस तू भस्म कपाळा
कधी न घेउन नांगर हाती, पिकविलेस मातीतुनि मोती
हाय आभाग्या भगवे नेसून घर संन्यासुन जाशी

देव बोलतो बाळमुखातुन, देव डोलतो उंच पिकांतुन
कधी होऊनी देव भिकारी, अन्नासाठी आर्त पुकारी
अवती भवती असुन दिसेना, शोधितोस आकाशी

या जन्मावर, या जगण्यावर, शतदा प्रेम करावे.....

या जन्मावर, या जगण्यावर, शतदा प्रेम करावे

चंचल वारा या जल धारा, भिजली काळी माती
हिरवे हिरवे प्राण तशी ही रुजून आली पाती
फुले लाजरी बघून कुणाचे, हळवे ओठ स्मरावे

रंगांचा उघडूनिया पंखा, सांज कुणीही केली
काळोखाच्या दारावरती, नक्षत्रांच्या वेली
सहा ऋतूंचे सहा सोहळे, येथे भान हरावे

बाळाच्या चिमण्या ओठांतून, हाक बोबडी येते
वेलीवरती प्रेम प्रियेचे, जन्म फुलांनी घेते
नदीच्या काठी सजणा साठी, गाणे गात झुरावे

या ओठांनी चुंबून घेईन, हजारदा ही माती
अनंत मरणे झेलून घ्यावी, इथल्या जगण्या साठी
इथल्या पिंपळ पानावरती, अवघे विश्र्व तरावे.....

Mauritius…….Places of Tourist Interest

In fact, the whole island is a place of tourist interest. The places which are known as ‘places of tourist interest’ are the places considered to be more scenic and beautiful as compared to other sea shores. The island is very small; length: just 61 km north south and width: 45 km east west. The whole island is surrounded by coral reef which acts as natural filter for sea water. The clean and clear water on all beaches is the result of filtration though the coral reef. The reef does not exist at some places such as Port Louis, the capital city. At some places the reef is broken. At such places you find the sea just like what we see at the beaches of Goa. Otherwise, the sea is light green, blue or gray. At some places such as Baie Du Cap, you can see combination of three colours spread over vast expanse.
The west coast is more beautiful than the east coast. Obviously, maximum number of places of tourist interest are at west coast. Commercially, the northern tip of the island is more important because some of the most beautiful places are at northen tip. However, I personally do not agree with that because due to commercialization, the north part is very congested and crowed. I found equally scenic and quite beaches and lagoons at south west end of the island.
I found the following places interesting:
In the North
Trou aux Biches, Mount Choisy, Bain Boeuf, Cap Malheureux, Coin de Mire and of course the capital city of Port Louis and the Fort. The Caudon water front at Port Louis is worth visiting at the evening time. It has most expensive mall and restaurants of Mauritius. So for a person like me, it’s just window shopping there! However, as we call in Mumbai, this place is the “in thing” here.
One of the most amazing place is Pamplemousesses. It is a botanical garden where wonderful varieties of plants, palm trees and water lilies can be seen. In particular, the palm trees and the water lilies are wonderful.
Caudon water front and Bain Boeuf may be familiar to many Indians because they are the most pictured spots in our Bollywood and Tollywood movies. The hero and the heroine are shown here jumping and shaking their bodies randomly. (sorry, I can’t say “dance” to what they actually do)
In the West and South
Wolmar (aka Flic en Flak), Tamarin,Casela Bird Park, Ile aux Benitiers, ( its an island, to be seen from the view point on the adjoining mountain)Chamarel Water Falls, Chamarel Coloured earth (7 colours of earth) and above all…..my most favorite belt…….Le Morne--Baie du Cap--Bel Ombre--Ilot Sancho--Gris Gris. I am going to write separately on this belt.
In the south, there is very beautiful temple of Lord Shiva which is believed by the Mauritians to be the 13th Jyotirlinga and the only Jyotirlinga outside India. The complex is called as Ganga Talao. Its worh visiting when we venture out in the south.
In the East
Ile aux Cerfs, Pointe d’Esny, Blue Bay, Ile de la Passe (it’s an island again)
Each of the place deserve detail narration. I shall try to do that with pictures taken by me as early as possible.

Ile Maurice...some pics

Note three different colours of sea

Sea.....so clear that you can see the bottom

me........on the jetty built for the convinience of boats.

The sea is quite deep here.

Ile Maurice

Mauritius!
"Mauritius was made first and the paradise was copied after it" Mark Twain, the famous American wrote in his book "Following the Equator".
When you are coming out of the International Airport of Mauritius, you see a huge sign board put up by the airport authority saying “Welcome to Paradise”.

After having seen the entire country, I believed that it is indeed paradise at many places. I came to Mauritius for the first time in 2005 and then in 2006 for professional work. My work again brought me to this beautiful island this year. During last 5 months, I am almost here except a week in August and 2 weeks for Diwali in India. Major advantage for a proclaimed “roamer” like me is that during weekends, entire Mauritius is on holiday. No work at all. Some staunch believers of weekend “chutti” go the extent that they even do not pick up their phones. I take full advantage of this situation and I am ready with all my “roaming” material even before I go to sleep on Friday night! Why I am using this word “roaming” has special reason. In India, when there is no mobile signal, we call it no signal or no network. Here it is called no roaming! In India roaming has different meaning. Here, since the entire island is one circle, there is no roaming as what we understand in India.

On Saturdays and Sundays I am out on some beach or on mountains. Well yes, being an island of volcanic origin, Mauritius has both. The greatest natural advantage Mauritius has is that mostly it is surrounded by coral reef. At very few places the reef does not exist or is broken.
Coral reef gives two advantages to Mauritius. One, it is protected from the violent waves of Indian Ocean. Two, it act as natural filter for the sea water and hence you see very clean and clear water on almost every beach. It is this reef which protected Mauritius from the horrible Tsunami which created havoc few years ago in Indian Ocean region.
The weather in Mauritius is very pleasant throughout the year. In many parts, it rains every day. But not heavy rains like Mumbai but thin showers for few minutes. Some crazy people in India call it “hajam favara”. Mauritius has only two seasons. Summer and winter. Summer roughly from November to April and winter from May to October. Simple!
This year, I had been in Mauritius during entire winter. It was simply great. The temperature goes down to about 18 to 19 degrees C, but due to winds, the cold just chills you down. I chose to walk during the evenings and to see different cities. Due to walking, I did not feel the cold much.
The summer has just started and I am still comfortable because the maximum temperature is about 25 degrees C. The highest recorded temperature here is 35 degrees C. So, for me, it’s no problem at all because I am used to 42 to 45 degrees C in Maharashtra.
All in all, the tip is that, you can visit Mauritius any time during the year. However, if you wish to go in the sea, better visit in summer. If you do not intend to go in sea at all and prefer just to appreciate the beauty of beaches from shore, then visit in winter. Because, in any case, winter is more enjoyable than summer.

Mahjabeen.........

March end came and gone, as usual. We all are busy during the last week of March every year to complete the year end work. People in taxation and finance like me are particularly running from piller to post for clients and self. Often I feel that all this last minute rush is due to human tendency of procrastination. We all know well the deadline, 31st March, but every year the rush is common.
There is a day, 30th March, which is almost forgotten for one thing. That's Mahjabeen's anniversary. In Urdu, in the context of a girl, Mahjabeen means as beautiful as the moon. In the film world, she was known as Meena Kumari. Her real name was Mahjabeen and I like that name rather than Meena Kumari. She is one of the two old time actress I like. The other is Mala Sinha.
I have seen all films of Mahjabeen. But I liked two most. First, Choti Bahu and other is Pakeeza. Her performance in both the films was fantastic! Her expressions were unmatched. If seen in the context of the background story, you can just 'read' her expressions.
When I was studying at VJTI, I attended a small course of one week duration on Film Appreciation at Dadar. I think that was organised by some film society. They explained all the aspect of film making and acting. They also explained how to appreciate the technicalities of the film and the acting performed by various artist. The most important of that was to understand the story and the psychology of each character and how it is presented by the Director and performed by the artist.

I have seen Pakeeza umpteen times. Each time, I experience and find something new in the film. The most dominating aspect of Pakeeza is not the Ghazlas or story; but its the tehjeeb what is shown all through the film. To understand and enjoy Pakeeza throughly, one must know the notions and customs prevailing in northen India at that time. Unless you have at least some exposure to that, you can't understand that movie. I came across many persons, who wrote off Pakeeza as a film merely on life of a girl who unfortunely landed in the vocation of what we call as naach-gaana. Even if that is taken as the theme of the movie, the fact that the performance of Mahjabeen was ultimate by any count can not be disputed.

Pochampally & Venkatgiri

Somewhere in 1983-84 SHE said her most favourite dress is saree. Since then I am in the quest of saree. Now about a year back SHE said her most favorite sarees are Pochampally and Venkatgiri. So I was busy collecting all information on Pochampally and Venkatgiri sarees! Now, don't ask that silly question; who is SHE, because I am not going to tell that! (but she is NOT my wife for sure).

I have this big bundle of information of varieties of sarees. Now obviously my favrite sarees are : Paithani (can we call it 'saree'?), Dhaka cotton, Pochampally and Venkatgiri. So my original liking is Paithani and Dhaka cotton. Other two are obviously renect additions because SHE like them!

As I said elsewhere, my obession for Paithani is quite old. I developed interest in Dhaka cotton sarees when I was in Calcutta (now Kolkata) for one month in March-April, 1986. According to my information, Dhaka cotton sarees are of two type. One that need starching and other which does not. Obviously the Dhaka cotton sarees which need starching are cheaper and have single but great disadvantage that after wearing, the lady look like a baloon! For this reason, many ladies do not prefer that. The other variety is preferred by many ladies and of course, by Bengali ladies.

This reminds me the old and very famous shop "Aadi Dhakeshwari" at Gariahat in Kolkata. (I hope the name of the area is correct). There I saw one old photograph of Satyajit Ray and Suchitra Sen selecting sarees for one Bengali film which Satyajit Ray was making. Since then, whenever I saw Suchitra Sen in any film, I believed, the saree she is wearing must be from Aadi Dhakeshwari!

I was very much impressed by the simplicity coupled with elegence of the shop. I purchased two sarees there. One for my mother and believe it or not, one for my would be wife, who was nowhere in sight. (That was in 1986. I found my wife in April, 1988) When I returened home and shown two sarees to mother and told her for whom the other saree is meant for, she was amused. She said then do something to find wife.

I was just a young man in his mid 20's. When I paid for the sarees, the elderly gentleman on the counter stood up with folded hands! I was shocked and very much impressed too. I never came accross such thing in Mumbai. I was equally impressed at only one more saree shop. That is Nalli at T. Nagar, Chennai. The only difference is, at Nalli, I went after marriage!

There are about 40 villages within 70 k.m. radius of Hyderabad including Pochampalli, Koyalagudam, Puttapakka, Elanki and Chautupal where Pochampaali cloth is woven. Pochampally is in fact famous for pure silk sarees. They have their own designs and are known as Pochampalli Sarees. The colours are mesmerising. Even more astonishing is the simple methods they use to produce such majestic sarees. These are also known as “ikat sarees”.Along with the traditional parrot, elephant, diamond and flower motifs, the ikat saree designers these days are developing new and modern designs to go with the current trends of the market. The term “ikat” stems from the Malay - Indonesian expression 'Mangikat' meaning to bind, knot or wind around. In principle, ikat or resist dyeing, involves the sequence of tying or wrapping and dyeing sections of bundled yarn to a predetermined colour scheme prior to weaving. Thus the dye penetrates into the exposed section, while the tied section remain undyed. The patterns formed by this process on the yarn are then woven into fabric. There are three basic forms. First is single ikat, where either wrap or weft threads are tied and dyed prior to weaving. Second is combined ikat, where wrap and weft ikat may co-exist in different parts of a fabric occasionally overlapping. The thirds is double ikat which is by far the most complex form. Here both wrap and weft threads are tied and dyed with such precision, that when woven threads form both axis (x-y), mesh exactly at certain points to form a complete motif or pattern. No written document is available about the origin or evolution of the ikat technique in this region. It is widely believed to have developed around the turn of this century.

The oldest centre is 'Chirala', which is situated on the rail route between Vijayawada and Chennai. This was once known to produce the famous cotton 'Telia Rumals' or 'Chowkas' woven in pairs admeasuring 55 to 75 sq. Cm. Characterized by their bold, geometrical motifs, in red, black and white, offset by wide single coloured borders, they were used by fisher folk and cowherds as loincloths, lungis or turbans. In the 1930's they were exported in large numbers to Burma, Middle East and East Africa where they were known as Asian Rumals.

Over the years, I learnt how to identify Pochampalli saree. At the same time, I must admit, now a days it is very difficult to identify because designers have adopted many new design techniques with the help of CAD/CAM. It is sort of fusion of various styles which is being adopted and manufactured with the help of computerised machines.

ॐ नमोजी आद्या.........

(First four lines of this eternal song is my mobile caller tune)

ॐ नमोजी आद्या । वेद प्रतिपाद्या ॥ जय जय स्वसंवेद्या । आत्मरूपा ॥१॥ देवा तूंचि गणेशु । सकळमति प्रकाशु ॥ म्हणे निवृत्ति दासु । अवधारिजो जी ॥२॥ अकार चरण युगुल । उकार उदर विशाल ॥ मकार महामंडल । मस्तकाकारें ॥३॥ हे तिन्ही एकवटले । तेथें शब्द्ब्रम्ह कवळलें ॥ ते मियां श्रीगुरुकृपें नमिलें । आदिबीज ॥४॥ आतां अभिनव वाग्विलासिनी । जे चातुर्यार्थ कलाकामिनी ॥ ते श्रीशारदा विश्वमोहिनी । नमिली मीयां ॥५॥
	-	संत ज्ञानेश्वर

Jagdamba.......

Just how much one could be serious about his business? Well, the question is thought over, analysed and discussed by many management experts all over the world. When I studied management, this question was very much there and we too deliberated on that. Over the years, I found simple answer to that. One has to just "love" his business or job. This single word "love", according to me, covers all aspect of diligence, foresight and planning of business activity. Above all, it covers devotion. I came across many articles, where it is said that if you love your job, you never think you "work". The work becomes your life and you follow it with full devotion.

Yesterday, being Friday evening, I was out as usual on my scooter. Mostly I go in the old city to roam around. (old city means the walled city of Auranzeb's time which was enclosed with huge, tall and long wall having 52 gates i.e. darwjhaas.) 

While coming back I stopped at the good old dairy which was favorite of my mother. She trusted only that dairy for all her needs of curd and khoya. Mostly she used to make that at home but in case of need, she would accept it only from that dairy. One unique aspect of that dairy is that it also sell fresh cream. Yes, cream. One hardly finds fresh cream for sale in any diary outlet. I was studying in Mumbai then. But whenever I came down to Aurangabad for vacation or for short trip of 2-3 days, it was mandatory to visit there and get some khoya just to eat as it is. Since last about 40 years the dairy is same. No change in furniture at all except addition of one deep fridge.

So what about that? Yes, in that dairy, you will find on the front wall, as usual a line of photo frames of various deities, which is common in any old fashioned shop in Maharashtra but along with those frames, there are number of photo frames of buffaloes! Full size photos of buffaloes! Just see how much he "love" his business!

Paithani

Paithani........the ultimate feminine wear of India. There is no match to Paithani in India even today. Perhaps every Indian woman who at all love to wear saree (and there are few left in that category now a days I believe) have strong desire for Paithani and dream to have at least one in her wardrobe. I know few ladies who have more than one, but the number of ladies who have none is more!

According to me, it is wrong to refer to Paithani as saree. It is not saree as what we commonly understand. The correct word is "shaalu". Yes, Paithani is shaalu and not saree. It is simply Paithani.

But let us first understand what is Paithani. I mean what is real or authentic Paithani. I ventured in the study of Paithani during 1990-93 (of course with the kind consent of my wife!) and found many interesting aspect of this ultimate Indian feminine wear.

Paithan is a small town near Aurangabad about 60 kms. in north-west. The name is derived from this town. The shaalu woven in Paithan...so its Paithani. Paithan was known as "Pratishtan" in ancient India. It was capital of Satavahanas whose one of the famous Rules was Shalivahana.(200 BC) There are number of stories of the immense wealth of the people living in Pratishtan. At that time, it had been an international trade centre for silk and zari. It was exporting cotton and silks to the great Roman Empire. During the 17th century, Aurangzeb patronized the weavers and the designs in this era came to be known as "Aurangzebi".

The art of weaving Paithani is more than 2000 years old. There are very few families left in Paithan who know the art of weaving Paithani in authentic manner. I know there are 5-6 families in Paithan and 2 families in Aurangabad who still weave Paithani by old method i.e. all by hand!

In recent time, Paithani was at the peak of its popularity during the reign of the Peshwas. The Nizam of Hyderabad was also attracted to the Paithanis and made several trips to Paithan. His daughter-in-law, Niloufer, is believed to have introduced new designs of border and pallu (padar in Marathi i.e. outer end of the sari). During the period of Nizam, the men wore the stole over their dhoti and kurta, while their women were resplendent in Paithani in weddings, festivals and religious ceremonies. As with most of the traditional arts and crafts of India, Paithani too suffered a decline under the British Raj. Once there were over 500 families practicing this hereditary art which required high technical skill and aesthetic sense, and tremendous discipline to do the slow, tedious work. I have seen that a normal Paithani takes about 2 to 3 months to complete even if all the raw material is in hand. The actual waving takes so much time. The time to complete increases as per the complexity of the design.

There are mainly three type of silk threads used in making Paithani. They are 1) Charkha - this is widely used. It is cheap, dull and uneven. 2) Gatta : Fine quality silk, thin shear, shiny, smooth and even. 3) China silk : Extremely fine and very expensive to use.

Due to proximity to the Ajanta caves, the influence of the Buddhist paintings can be seen in the Paithani motifs. Commonly used motifs are : Kamal or Lotus flower (on which Lord Buddha sits or stands) as shown in Ajanta paintings, Hans, Ashraffi, Asawalli (flowering vines) this became very popular during the Peshwa's period, Bangadi Mor, peacock in bangle, Tota-Maina, Humarparinda (peasant bird), Amar Vell, Narali, etc. Small motifs like circles, stars, kuyri, rui phool, kalas pakhhli, chandrakor, clusters of 3 leaves, are common for the body of the sari.

Pallu (or Padar in Marathi) of Paithani is the matter of "concern" for every woman buying Paithani. The prominant part of Paithani is therefore its padar. All ladies, who I accompanied to buy Paithani, were very fussy about this Padar. So I ventured to find out what all the fuss is about and landed with loads of information. The padar are mainly of this type : Muniya, a kind of parrot (popat) used in borders and always found in green colour with an occasional red touch at the "chonch" (mouth), Panja a geometrical flower-like motif, most often outlined in red, Barwa 12 strands of a ladder; 3 strands on each side, Laher design is done in the centre to strengthen the zari, Muthada, a geometrical design, Asawali a flower pot with a flowering plant, Mor (peacock). The mor is very popular now a days. Honestly, padar of Paithani is not a matter of description, its a matter of experience. dekho toh jaano.

Making of Paithani is all about using natural ingredients. Cotton or silk, gold, silver, precious natural stones, pearls and above all natural colours. Yes, the colours used to dye the yarn is derived from vegitables. The dominant traditional colours of vegetable dyes are Pophali - yellow, Red, Lavender, Purple, Neeligunji - sky blue, Magenta, Motiya - peach pink, Brinjal - purple, Pearl pink, Peacock - blue/green, Yellowish green, Kusumbi - violet red, Pasila - red and green, Gujri - black and white, Mirani - black and red, I must add, purple is rather known as "baingani" means like baingan.

I had the privillage of knowing many things about Paithani from none other than my grand-mother. (my mother's mother). She had few authentic Paithanis in her wardrobe which she carefully kept wrapped in full white pure cotton cloth cover. (mul-mul). The secret of identification of perfect natural baingani colour was explained to me by her! According to her, Paithani HAS to be of 9 "war" and NOT 5 "war". She said all these girls who wear 5 war Paithani is all rubbish! (now here, "girl" means any woman who may be even the age of my mother!) The Paithani which was ultimate in her collection was the one she wore in her marriage and which obviously was given to her by her father. That is the ultimate Paithani I have ever seen. Other few I remeber is one kept in Mubarak Mahal in City Palace museum in Jaipur and one in New Palace museum in Kolhapur. It is not known to whom those Paithani belonged. But they are in fairly good condition.

Many times, I was caught unawares and was commanded by my mother to accompany some ladies of my family to buy Paithanis. Once my aunt came down from US and commanded that I must accompany her to select and buy Paithanis at the house of the Paithani weavers. Those particular days were the days of my life fully testing my endurance! I realized what Bhagwan Shrikrishna described as "sthitapradnya" in Bhagwadgita. (Chapter 13 of Dynaneshwari). The person who shows around the Paithani and actually make all these ladies to buy one or even two when they infact intended one, is the real "sthitapradnya" I must admit.

Now a days I often see banners and ads about something called as "Yeola Paithani". I don't know what exactly it is. But one thing I am sure, that can not be authentic Paithani for the simple reason that at the price which they are being sold, it is impossible to make real Paithani with all that natural silk, gold/silver zari and forget about diamonds, rubies even simple natural pearls.

All in all.............Indian woman's desire for shaalu or rather Paithani is aptly described in the famous Marathi song thus ..... पदरावरती जारतारिचा मोर नाचरा हवा ... ग आई मला नेसव शालू नवा .....

Tank Bund or Hussain Sagar

After posting the Ghazal "tumhare sheher ka mausam...." there are scintillating memories of Tank Bund area in my mind. From 1984 to about 2000 I was studying the history of Deccan with specific reference to Golkonda-Qutub Shai-Asaf Jahi-Berar. I wanted to find authentic information about the area I was born and where my ancestors lived. My family belong to Berar. We have our ancestral agricultural land and home in Berar. Berar was under the rule of Asaf Jahi from 1724 till 1948. In between, the Berar area was taken over by British under a treaty with Nizam, but the Ruler was Nizam and British were administrators. The eldest son of Nizam was designated as Prince of Berar. I will write about Berar in detail some other time.

The Tank Bund area of Hyderabad in my mind is of 1984 and thereabout. Then the Tank Bund was relatively calm and quite. The traffic was there but it was not nuisance. The area was rather romantic I must say. Particularly in the evening, just before the sunset and few hours thereafter, the area was full of cool breeze flowing from Hussain Sagar carrying peculiar scent of "saahil" mixed with "Gulmohour". No wonder, the mahaul used to instantly push me in romantic mood! (Though I never had any aashna!)

The Hussain sagar or Tank Bund as it is popularly called, was built on a tributary of the Musi River during the reign of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah in 1562. It is actually a dam which is fed by the Balkapur river which branches off from Musi about 32-33 miles from Hyderabad. The Bund links the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and is named after Hussain Shah Wali. The Bund is about one and half miles long and covers an area of about eight square miles. On either sides of the Bund, Ibrahin Quli Qutub Shah built two sarais. On the Secunderabad side, there are four sluices to regulate the level of water in the dam. The construction of the dam was entrusted to Hussain Shah Wali who was son-in-law of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah. His tomb is located on today's Golkonda-Mumbai Road.

In the 19th Century, drinking water from Hussain sagar was supplied to Residency area but it was discontinued after commencement of regular water supply from Osman Sagar in 1921.

There is an area on the other side of the Bund i.e. opposite to the lake, which at that time was muddy perhaps because of seepage of water from Bund. Due to the muddy soil, it became breeding ground and heaven for mosquitoes. In Telugu, mosquitoes are called "Domal" or "Domul" or "Domulu" or something like that. So the area came to be known as "Domal Guda" - area of mosquitoes! Later, the seepage was stopped and the area became dry but the name stuck! Today it is one of the posh locality of Hyderabad. Due to the advent of technology, and particularly this internet, I have one friend on Orkut who lives in Domalguda. She has beautiful bungalow and lives there with her husband and two wonderful kids.

ek baar muskura do........... on You Tube

Here is the Ghazal ........ek baar muskura do............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBJaovimA_U

SCN to PWC

At last SEBI woken up from slumber and issued a show cause notice to Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), the auditors of Satyam. I saw the news in today's Economic Times. However, the news article does not say what action is proposed by SEBI for which PWC has been directed to show cause. I believe, PWC is equally responsible for whatever has happened in Satyam. Without their connivance, the falsification of accounts was not possible at all. I would say, the fraud is NOT committed by Ramlinga Raju alone, but it is committed by Raju along with PWC. So they are equally responsible. However all will depend upon the investigation and what charges are framed against PWC in the court of law. Then the trial will take place and based on evidence produced by the prosecution, the court will arrive at some conclusion. As of now, we have to only wait and watch.

tumhain hi sochta hun main......dedicated to my loving wife

mujhay ek baat kehni thi, tumhain itna bataana tha
ke meri zindagi ho tum, tumhain hi sochta hun main

buhat masroof rehta hon, buhat say kaam hain mujh ko
magar tum say nahin ghafil, tumhain hi sochta hun main

buhat say log miltay thay, magar jab say tumhain dekha
na janay kya hua mujh ko, tumhain hi soochta hun main

mujhay auroon say kya lena, mera logoon say kya rishta
meri duniya ho tum hi tum, tumhain hi soochta hun main

nigahoon main basi ho tum, khayaloon main samai ho
sukoon-e-dil ho tum mera, tumhian hi soochta hun main

buhat mushkil hai ye jeena, tumharae bin mera rehna
ke meri saans main ho tum, tumhain hi sochta hun main

kabhi tanhai main baitho, agar tanhai main tum ho
toh itna yaad kar lena , tumhain hi soochta hun main....

ik baar muskura do.......

If any one want to know what is real and authentic Ghazal.............here it is...........(this style is of NWFP which is in Pakistan now)

ik baar muskura do..
afasana_e_chaman ka..
unwaan he badal do..
phoolon ka sar kuchal do,,
kaliyon ka sar masal do..
aakaash ki jawani..
badal main mounh chupaae..
mahtaab doob jaay..
taaro ko neend aay..
zohra jabeen pari rukh..
tamseel_e_maah_o_ anjum..
aankhain sharaab aaheen..
jazbaat main talatum..
helti huwi labo par..
hansta huwa tarana..
a dill nawaz paiker..
khatir main hai zamana..
lab hay ehmaree par..
nikhree huwi hai laali..
yeh halki halki surkhi..
tasveer hai shafaq ki..
awara sokh zolfain..
rukhsaar choomti hain..
bekhud hain goomti hain..
ho zeest ka sahara..
tum mauj main kinara..
laiken suno khudara..
ik baar muskura do..

ik nojawan musafir,,
fetrat ka laa ubaali..
ik aalam_e_junoon main..
ik samt ja raha tha..
jaisay k apnay dhun main..
parbat pe chad raha tha..
zulfain k muntashir thi..
chehray say musmahel tha..
nazrain k raah pe thi..
kitna shikast dill tha..
maazi ki dhunlako main..
ik akss paa raha tha..
guzra huwa zamana..
phir yaad aa raha tha..
armaan tarap rahay thay..
hasrat machal rahi thi..
betaab zindagaani karwat badal rahi thi..
ik baar muskura do....

Deogiri aka Daulatabad

Since my childhood I am fascinated about this fort. I am visiting this fort since my school days and still I often feel that I have not yet fully explored it. I used to go to the fort on bycycle with friends. We used to spend whole day on the fort exploring various manuments. Its so huge and mighty that even today at many spots it scares me. It is built on a conical hill and is about 600 feet in height. It is said that King Bhillam-V of Yadava dynasty had built this fort in 1187 AD. Some say that Rashtrakuta Kings, who built world famous Ellora caves might have built this fort also. Yadava dynasty ruled this fort from 1187 to 1318 AD.

As usual, by habit, I tried to find out the purpose of building this fort at this particular geographical location. The location of the fort is peculiar. It is basically a plateau but this particular area is surrounded by hills which are not very high, but sufficient to protect the fort. It is said that the fort was built for certain purpose and thats very interesting.

The fort is located on the then Diamond and Silk route of India. At that time, trade of Golkonda diamonds and Paithani silk was at its zenith. The diamonds were mined and traded from Golkonda (near today's Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh) to what is known today as Middle east and Europe. Similarly, Paithani silk was manufactured at Paithan, a small town near today's Aurangabad which is about 75 Kms. from the fort. The sea port was at Surat. (even today its known as Surat in Gujarat) The goods were exported from Surat through ships and import was also allowed from the same port. This has significance since that time. It is the prerogative of the Government to decide from which sea port Export and Import would take place. Import-Export is not allowed from any xyz port. This is true even today. The then rulers of the area, where Surat is situated, were very liberal in respect of business and trade. (That's true even today!) So Surat was the port from where the import-export was 'permitted'. The Diamond merchants from Golkonda were required to travel from Golkonda to Surat. The fort is situated exactly at middle on that route. The route was known as Diamond and Silk route of India at that time. Later on, in Mughal period, the silk route changed.

The rulers were collecting toll from diamond and silk merchants in lieu of the protection they offered for safe journey of the merchants and safety of their merchandise. The toll was in the form of gold and silver coins, gold or silver ornaments, articles of gold and silver, lengths of silk, Paithani Shalus etc.  Real Paithani, as we know, is not ordinary silk. It is a silk cloth woven in natural silk yarn in which very fine gold or silver threads are interwowen. Real Paithani is sudded with pearls, rubies, diamonds. It is said that to wear real Paithani, the lady was required to be eually strong to bear its weight! I have seen real Paithani in one private meusium and have also felt it. I could get a chance to hold it in my hands, and belive me, its quite heavy!  

The collected toll was so huge that they felt need to store it in safe place and the safe place was identified in the conical shaped hill surrounded by other hills which in fact protect the huge cone. The fort was built on the hill and was named in most holiest manner "Deogiri" which means Hill of Gods.

The fort was build with an idea that it would serve the purpose of "safe deposit vault" for storing the toll and will also serve the purpopse as safe place of residence for the rulers. Eventually, the "vault" got converted into capital of Yadava dynasty.

The fort is thereofre highly secured. Various measures are employed to secure the fort. I call them layers of protection. They are : surrounding hills, three layers of fortifying wall, the peculiar arrangeemnt of gates, falls gates, steep gradient, the great moat and ultimate is the "bhul bhulliya".

I propose to write about each of them seperately as and when I get time to do so. 

She won it! (at last!)

She won the Oscar at last! She was strong contender for the coveted icon since few years. This time luck smiled and she too! One of the very few Britishers and the only western actress I like. Needless to say that I am her fan since Titanic. Her performance in that movie was simply superb. She expressed the "suffocation" of aristocratic girl so naturally that one could "feel" it! Her actions in the scene when Jack express his feelings for her were so obvious and natural ......and in the end she says why I should leave......you leave .... and then she in fact does not let him go! I have seen the movie several times only for two reasons; one : the high tech photography and the tricks and two : her performance. Now have to see this movie for which she got Oscar.

कधीतरी.......

कधीतरी एकटे उगाचच फ़िरले पाहिजे..........तलावाच्या काठावर उताणे पडले पाहिजे.......

माझी आवडती मराठी कविता......since school!

श्रावणमासी हर्ष मानसी हिरवल दाटे
चोहिकडेक्षणात येते सरसर शिरवे
क्षणात फिरूनी ऊन पडे!
वरती बघता इंद्रधनूचा गोफ दुहेरी विणलासे;
मंगल तोरण काय बांधिले नभोमंडपी कुणी भासे!
झालासा सूर्यास्त वाटतो, सांज अहाहा!
तो उघडे;तरूशिखरांवर, उंच घरांवर पिवळे पिवळे ऊन पडे!
उठती वरती जलदांवरती अनंत संध्याराग पहा!
सर्व नभावर होय रेखिले सुंदरतेचे रूप महा!
बलाकमाला उडता भासे कल्पसुमांची माळचि ते
उतरूनि येती अवनीवरती ग्रहगोलचि की एकमते!
फडफडा करूनी भिजले अपुले पंख पाखरे सावरिती;
सुंदरा हरिणी हिरव्या कुरणी निजबाळांसह बागडती!
खिल्लारे ही चरती रानीं, गोपही गाणी गात फिरे,
मंजुळ पावा गाय तयाचा श्रावणमहिमा एकसुरे!
सुवर्णचंपक फुलला, विपिनी रम्य केवडा दरवळला
पारीजातही बघता भामारोष भामारोष मनीचा मावळला!
सुंदर परडी घेऊनी हाती पुरोपकंठी शुद्धमती
सुंदरबाला या फुलमाला रम्य फुले, पत्री खुडती!
देवदर्शना निघती ललजा, हर्ष माझ्या ह्रदयात!
वदनी त्याच्या वाचुन घ्यावे श्रावण महिन्याचे गीत!
............................................. बालकवी

माझे आवडते मराठी गाणे.......रोज अनुभवायाचे....

उषःकाल होता होता, काळरात्र झाली 

अरे पुन्हा आयुष्यांच्या पेटवा मशाली...  

आम्ही चार किरणांची ही आस का धरावी 

जे कधीच नव्हते त्याची वाट का पहावी 

कसा सूर्य अंधाराच्या वाहतो पखाली

अरे पुन्हा आयुष्यांच्या पेटवा मशाली....  

तिजोर्‍यात केले त्यांनी बंद स्वर्ग साती 

आम्हावरी संसाराची उडे धूळ माती 

आम्ही ती स्मशाने ज्यांना, प्रेत ही ना वाली

अरे पुन्हा आयुष्यांच्या पेटवा मशाली....  

उभा देश झाला आता एक बंदीशाला 

जिथे देवकीचा पान्हा दूधाने जळाला 

कसे पुण्य दुर्देवी अन पाप भाग्यशाली

अरे पुन्हा आयुष्यांच्या पेटवा मशाली....    

धुमसतात अजुनि विझल्या चितांचे निखारे 

अजून रक्त मागत उठती वधस्तंभ सारे 

आसवेच स्वातंत्र्याची आम्हाला मिळाली

अरे पुन्हा आयुष्यांच्या पेटवा मशाली....  

Why I took Law as Career

The question I often face as to how and why I took law as a career. The question is obvious. I started my career as an mechanical engineer, then obtained MBA (Finance) and then degree in law. So the question, why Law? The most prominent reason is independence! I hate the very concept of "Boss". Your actions and even thinking is governed by someone else and his justification for that is nothing more than "company policy" or "direction of higher management". So he himself is not truly independent. Then you can't refuse to do something which you really do not like to do. As a lawyer I can refuse to accept any brief which I believe is not worth handling. The reasons are many. Such as apparent frauds, mis-statements, mis-declaration or plain cheating! I have refused to accept many such briefs which my inner conscious was not ready to accept.

Here are the positive and negative sides of career as lawyer I experienced during last 18 years :
Best things: Total Independence, fresh challenges every day by way of new matters coming to you, no limit to one’s success, a variety of work suited to each one’s practice, long vacations.
Worst things: Delay, frequent adjournment of matters, lack of systematic working by the courts and the absence of good or specialised judges. (the last one is unique to me because mostly the judges are having experience of general civil and criminal law. Whereas I practice in Taxation and Financial Laws. Many judges expressed to me, even in open court, that they do not have any exposure to the law I am arguing!)

What I really do?

well...they say I am a person with 5 degrees and 6 languages. But that happened just like that. I did not deliberate. Interests went on developing and I followed them with all sincerity. I often wonder how life took me through so much diversity. From engineering to finance and then to law via economics and Hindu philosophy. I do read a lot and travel a lot. May be for that reason such interests went on developing within me over years and I followed them. Now I am in late forties. What do I do with all this in background? Well, I believe I enjoy life. I enjoy all things around me. The people, places, cities, food and of course my professional work. Above all, I enjoy being with family; my wife and my two loving daughters. One habit I still enjoy; that is at least once in a week I go out all alone for movie or dinner or just to roam around in the old city on my scooter. Car strictly no-no for me for this purpose. Only scooter! My family has happily accepted this habit. If I am out of the city for professional work, I make it a point to explore that city and take as many pictures as I can.