A Toy Giraffe and Happy Kids

 

On my way to the office, there's a stretch of road where many nomadic families live in makeshift tent homes along the roadside. They also run shops, mainly selling “toys”. At first, I found it interesting that they had chosen selling “toys” as their business, but after a while it became clear. They have got a little army of their own kids!

I have never cared to scrutinize them, but I see only a few of the men near their shops/tents, perhaps many go out for other vocations. And the women are not seen too, perhaps busy cooking in the backside of their tents. But the children are always jumping around that whole area.

One fine day, I noticed that a man had bought a soft toy “giraffe” from their shop and was trying to put it on his motorbike to carry it home. The “giraffe” was big: like at least two feet tall! I had never seen a giraffe as a toy, and I could never imagine why someone would buy a “giraffe” for a kid. There are all sorts of other popular animals, like elephants, tigers, lions, deer, dogs; all these are popular in the soft toys category. But the man, who was in his late 60s, had bought a giraffe! I remember imagining that a kid was going to be very happy that day, while I passed by.

Another interesting popular thing they are seen selling is “inflatable kiddie pool”. Made of PVC, these can be inflated, and after being filled with water, small kids can sit or play in it. I never saw any such interesting things in my childhood.

Coming back to those nomads. Sometimes I wonder if our world is going in the right direction or wrong. We have people like MS Dhoni or Abhishek Bachchan who got only one kid each, while they can afford to give fabulous lives to a dozen. And on the other hand, we have these nomads and poor people who got no life of their own and their children play in the dirt whole day, but they keep producing children like the world is going to end tomorrow if they don’t. Our Prime Minister wants to make India a developed country A.S.A.P., and our main opposition party wants to do “wealth redistribution” in society. All the while, these poor families keep producing armies of offsprings every year.

Well, I do not have any problem with these kids. They are always nice, and it is always nice to see kids around. It is what they are going to turn out to be after they grow up, worries me. At some level, I think our world would have been a lovely place if kids were going to only play with toy giraffes or inflatable pools. But at some point, they are going to get old and need livelihood and means to contribute to the society. I don’t know how many roadsides they will be able to keep capturing every year, for their tent-houses and toy shops.

I know that in such moments we need to introspect instead of pointing fingers. But at some point, we are going to end both introspecting and finger pointing, and like everything else, we shall vanish in the thin air. At that point, it will not be about what we thought or did, it will be more about what happened or got done by the collective us, while we were around. In the shadow of these thoughts, I find myself feeling more powerless than I ever have before.

- Rahul

A Cat in the Park

 

Life With Background Music

 

During my teenage, once I had noticed that whenever I had a question in my mind which did not have an answer, after a while I would find the answer randomly somewhere out of the blue. I remember myself rationalizing it by thinking that when a question goes unanswered, our subconscious brain keeps searching for answers, and hence spots one when it comes across it.

Some time back, a thought came to my mind that our life would have been better and more interesting if there was ‘background music’ in it; like it happens in the movies. For example, if we were serious, an appropriate background music would be playing around us. It would help us communicate better, since the recipient would understand the context better due to the background music made for the occasion.

A few days ago, while watching a movie on TV, suddenly a dialogue appeared. A character said, “You know what? There is music in life too! It is just that not everyone can hear it!”

The depth in the dialogue stunned me. What if our world really has background music in it; but the problem is that we can’t hear it? And what if there are people who ‘can’ hear it? For example, someone said something to us, and we understood it only on its face value. But there is another person, let us say very wise and experienced, and that person could not only listen to the person but also the ‘music’; and hence got the context better?

I know this is an imaginary thought, but philosophically, the thought is magnificent.

If everyone really understood everyone else, perhaps there would be lesser conflicts and heartburns. Or maybe if everyone really understood everyone else, there would be anarchy everywhere, because at times it is better if we do not understand things too. Whatever the end results, I won’t mind a little music in life. And an ability to listen to it too.  

- Rahul Tiwary

A Little Homeless Girl

 

On my way to office, there is a portion of road besides which some homeless people live by having made a make-shift tent-house and they sell a host of items (mainly toys) to the passersby. As rains have started, today while I was passing by, I noticed half a dozen kids of around 6-7 years of age making a loud sales pitch and selling “mudguards” for motorcycles. As I ignored them and passed by, suddenly a scene captured my attention.

There was a small girl of about 6-7 who had collected a big dusty blanket on her head and she was shouting in anger. It seemed as if someone from her family had asked her to gather the blanket but had not told her where to keep it; and as she had already gathered the heavy blanket over her head, she was shouting and asking where to keep it, as she did not have the energy to keep it on ground and to pick it up again after figuring it out. This idea that such a homeless poor little girl would also shout in anger at her parents startled me a bit.

It is a whole different topic about why kids shout angrily at their parents; but the poor little girl doing the same thing in a way comforted me that she was having a normal childhood, and all was not lost. Of course, she was able to do it only if her parents had given her the right to do so, meaning she was loved by them and well taken care of. This is hardly a conclusion which could be made merely by going through the scene, but I am convinced that it is what it is.

- Rahul

 

Songs: Vishal Mishra Non-Stop Hit Songs

 

A Mother Between a Fight

 

On the way back from office, at a particular point on the roadside, I sensed there was a scuffle going on. Or it was a fight about to break out between some people. When I crossed the scene, I noticed that two auto-rickshaws had stopped and a tall dark guy in his late 20s was having a scuffle with someone, while two women were also standing by and then one of the women tried to stop and calm down the boy. From the way they were dressed, they all looked uneducated. The boy got agitated by her interruption and angrily shouted at her. It seemed she was his mother and she was stopping him from getting into physical fight with an auto-rickshaw driver.

I have read this ‘feminist’ claim many times that if women ruled the world, there won’t be any wars. While history tells a very different story, I think this claim is just another feminist propaganda made with a singular motive in mind. What I think a valid statement could be is to say that there won’t be any wars if “mothers” ruled the world. Not all women have got the mindset or character to think like a mother. Mothers, because of their God-like act of giving birth to a child, have a natural tendency to “preserve” and are naturally “anti-destruction”. One who constructs can’t be naturally inclined towards destruction. This is why; the role of “creator” is marked with a different god than the “destroyer” in Hindu Trinity (three aspects of God/Paramatman). If mothers had the power to influence events, at local or global level, it is logical to believe there won’t be any fighting, war or destructions.

Bogged down by deliberate and mindless wars, our world desperately needs everyone to think from the eyes of a mother.

- Rahul Tiwary

Cyber Fraud in the name of CCAvenue and Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan

 

I have been to Shirdi Saibaba Mandir for few times. I tried to visit recently again, and it led to a near-miss with a cyber fraud attempt.

Since I wanted to travel alone, I booked a bus ticket to Shirdi online. The bus operator’s online booking website mentioned about the terms and conditions, and they suggested to book VIP Passes in order to finish the darshan fast. In my past travels, I had always gone through the regular route, hence I thought of trying the VIP Pass this time. Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan has a website through which I booked VIP Pass for Rs 200. The next day, I got a call from the bus operator who told me that they have cancelled the trip and returning my booking amount since they have not found enough bookings for the day. Since I was not traveling now, I thought to cancel my VIP Pass too. I went to the same website and cancelled my VIP Pass booking. The website displayed a message saying they have cancelled the pass but won’t be returning any money since it was non-refundable. It sounded weird given that the temple is one of the richest in the world, but since there was no option, I decided to accept it.

Several weeks since the mentioned episode, I got a phone call from a caller who introduced himself from ‘CCAvenue’, which I knew was a company running payment gateway. He said that I had booked an online aarti and puja at Saibaba temple, but the booking amount had got refunded to my bank account by mistake and I needed to return the money back to the company. The guy who was calling was an educated guy speaking in good English and he was well versed with the technicalities. I told him that as per my knowledge no money was refunded to me as per the policy of the booking website. But he insisted that the money was refunded by mistake to my account. He said, “otherwise, how would I know about your booking”? I replied, “because these days, each bank or financial transaction as well as KYC document is being sold to frauds in our country”. The guy’s voice saw only a small dip and he started arguing with me that it was my moral duty to return the money to the institution. He asked for permission to send me an email with details of how to transfer the money to his company. I told him in reply that first I would verify my bank statement to confirm whether I got any money refunded or not, and then I would decide on the next action. He said it was fine, and he would call me later again.

First thing I did was to report and block his number. Then I checked my bank statement online and found that no such refund had ever taken place after the VIP pass booking date. The guy was clearly a cyber fraud.

While I got saved since I did not trust the random guy calling me, not everyone is as lucky. As our economy is becoming more and more digital by the day, frauds of many kinds are also increasing. Most of the victims remain silent and most of the crimes never get reported. A few cases we hear about are only a tip of the iceberg. Government and public regulators are totally ineffective and inadequate in stopping the flood of these crimes, and the final responsibility falls on our shoulders. Many times, it feels that the non-digital world was safer, but in true sense, it was not safe too; just the modes of crime were different. I don’t know how many years it will take for the government and regulators to get a grip on the situation, but currently, it feels like we can be safe only by taking extreme precautions at our individual level.  

- Rahul  

A Little Lizard Story

 

One fine day, when I opened the main door of my flat, suddenly a little house lizard entered in. In my hometown, house lizards are a common scene, but in a residential flat in a big city, I never had a lizard around. Seeing the lizard get in, the first thought that came to my mind was, “what is she going to eat (since there are no insects in the flat)?” Panicking, I knew each moment was important, hence I rushed and brought in a broom with which I tried to guide the lizard out of the door. The lizard was trying to hide behind some objects, but she saw the open door and hence went out. I immediately closed the door. The whole thing happened within a few seconds, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

After I settled in, the thought returned to my mind that my first reaction seeing a lizard in the house was not to rush it out but a worry about what the lizard would eat? The lizard was sure to be starved if she stayed in, and hence I had to send her out before she hid. This little worry about the lizard made me understand my struggles with empathy.

A little amused, I once again opened the main door and this time, there was no lizard around. Once again, a sigh of relief.

- Rahul    

Sweet Dreams (2025): Why Should Dreams Not Be Realised?

I happened to watch ‘Sweet Dreams’ (2025 film) starring Mithila Palkar and Amol Parashar. I chose to watch it since I am a fan of both. The story clearly seemed to be ripped-off from some Hollywood movies, which is totally okay since every Indian movie, no matter how much resembles any international movie, always feels distinct, and better. What really disturbed me was the ending.

Both Mithila Palkar and Amol Parashar are unique and special, and it is really wonderful that they were made a pair in this film. Mithila Palkar appears as Mithila Palkar in every movie and yet has a mix of mystery, familiarity, and genuineness which makes the viewer want to watch her performances every time. Amol Parashar is such a natural actor that we can say that he was “born to act” (btw, he did B.Tech. from IIT Delhi before quitting his job to enter acting). He brings grace and dignity to every role he does. With such an amazing cast, the movie could have done wonders if the makers did not fall for the cliches.

The first thing I did not like was the “setup”. Dia (played by Mithila) was living with a guy without marriage and Kenny (played by Amol) was a serial dater who was so desperately looking for a girlfriend (or wife) after getting dumped by his ex, as if sky was to fall if he had to live alone any longer. We could understand his emergency if he was an old guy reaching expiry date for marriage, or an orphan who had no chance of getting a wife until he fished her out of a river. This whole setup reminded me of recent horrific murder case of a Mumbai gurl by her live-in partner. The movie makers thought that just because the film had to be released on OTT, they had to provide the right (immoral) setup, which was ridiculous.

Secondly, the movie lacked side stories and ran straight from one pillar to the other like a documentary. Songs were good but felt wasted when the makers did not even try to make the best out of this film.

The worst thing I liked about the movie was its ending. These days, it has become cliché to leave the stories “open ended”. No matter how much “open” the ends are, we can clearly see which ways the ends can go. So, why take the trouble? In this film, the writers forced Kenny (Amol) to leave Dia (Mithila) and go for Roop; another girl who was clearly very interested in Kenny without any reason. The movie did not explain why Roop was after Kenny as if he was her last chance of redemption. Whenever Roop looked at Kenny, it seemed she was both melting and burning from the inside. She so desperately wanted Kenny as if there was no other boy in the entire world. And she was so determined not to be seen desperate, that she appeared doubly desperate; and it was so insulting (for her). Kenny clearly did not like her, did not love her; all he needed was a friend, but he was getting a wife instead of a friend. It felt so unfair.

Despite tolerating whole movie and eagerly waiting for the climax, when the end finally arrived, it turned out to be anti-climax. It did not make any sense why Kenny and Dia decided to part ways with each other, just because they had got other options. Kenny was clearly feeling too sorry for Roop and hence he was looking for an escape; on the other hand Dia was just showing her lack of confidence and determination like she was showing all through the movie. After trying so hard to find each other, these two people had finally found each other, but then they started talking about unimportant things as if they were totally confused. It almost felt as if they had become content with the process to reach the goal and forgot why they were trying so hard all through.

If the movie makers had just played straight and united Kenny and Dia in the end, I won’t be feeling so upset and blaming the film so much. And Kenny and Dia would be living together, happily ever after. Now that the movie makers totally destroyed their friendship, their only hope is to find each other again, in dreams. Dreams are not so bad after all.

- Rahul

Travelogue: Blue Ridge, Hinjawadi, Pune

 

Travelogue: Ryewood Park, Lonavala, Maharashtra, Bharat

 

Travelogue: Lonavala Railway Station, Lonavala, Maharashtra, Bharat

 

Travelogue: Some Pictures from Lonavala, Maharashtra