Durga Darshan

Durga Puja at Tembi Naka, Thane West

The picture attached with this article is one of the most vibrant images of Durga Ma I have ever seen. Recently when a friend sent this picture to me as Durgapuja greetings, I asked her if she could find out where this Durga idol was situated at. She said it was in a Puja Pandal near Tembi Naka in Thane West. I didn’t believe her – I thought this beautiful idol must be installed in some very big temple. An internet search didn’t give any clue and hence I decided to visit this place itself, to see Ma Durga there…

It so happened that I couldn’t go to Thane even on the day of Durga Navmi. It would have been a journey of more than an hour to reach there – and I was not sure if I will find this very idol of Durga ji there. Afternoon of Dashmi – and time was running fast. Suddenly, I felt it was now or never. Seeing this very idol of Durga ji was my dream – and I decided to take chance.

This place is called Tembi (or Tembhi) Naka in Thane West. It is not far from the railway station and buses reach this place from most of locations in Thane. Another landmark here is a big Jain Mandir which I had visited some years ago with a friend. The roads were very crowded – much more than non-festive days. I got down near the Puja Pandal, and became part of the group of devotees watching and praying to Her. It’s a huge arrangement, decorations done on a grand scale, and everything was very systematic. I saw Durga ji from a distance, and kept looking at her to be sure if she was the same :). Now what I witnessed, I will never forget in life. A yagya was under process. The sacred fire in the hawan kunda was rising very high. A couple was presiding there, with the man wearing dhoti–kurta, and the lady had put up bright saree and traditional ornaments. More than a dozen Brahmins were chanting Vedic mantras and the whole atmosphere was full of positive energy and vivacity. They kept putting offerings in the hawan kunda and Agni Devta took all of those; in turn producing heat, light, dhoop and smoke which purified the whole environment. Durga ji’s idol was installed far away at a higher platform and it seemed she kept watching all of us…

Durga Shakti is the divine energy – the beginning of this whole universe – the reason of all that ever happens – she is the cosmic energy – the sacred force – the feminine creative power – the great divine Mother in Hinduism…

India is the land of festivals. Hindu festivals, representing their unstoppable fervour and unmatched spirit of liveliness, are not invented with any particular purpose – they are simply part of our life. Just outside Her temple, the same life and energy spread itself in the form of countless colourful shops. On both sides of the road, there was a fair like situation. It attracted children with plenty of toys and items to splurge on. (I found an office of Anand Sangh there, though I couldn’t find out if this organisation was behind this puja organisation too.) Very nearby, an organised formal fair (mela) was running. I entered, remembering the mela, fair, circus, and pradarshini (exhibitions) that our hometown used to sport every year when we were young.

There were lines of shops selling toys, gol gappe, laddoos, and fashion accessories. Then there were stalls offering sports and games – use the airgun to shoot balloons – or throw rings to win the items kept on table – I never imagined we could enjoy gaon ke mele ki masti here too! There were merry-go-rounds and big jhoolas: one of them had motorbikes on which a baby boy sat in style but started crying when the speed got higher. Little girls, some times troubling their fathers with their demands, looked around curiously. Then, one of the STAR attractions – The Magic Show! The magician’s name was Jadoogar Bhairwi! And the name of the show left me rolling in laughter – it was called ‘Dil-bahaar Mayajaal’! :) Jadoogarni Bhairwi was on the stage with her eyes closed with a black mask. She hit another girl with a long knife – aiming at the apple that this bichari girl had kept on her belly while she lied on a table. And she was perfect – she hit the apple and escaped the girl! The artificial clapping applauded her with great sense of magic! :)

This area is just adjacent to Talao-pali (Masunda lake). This is a lake in which boats take the merrymaking families on the rounds. In the midst of the pond lies an island while the closed lake is surrounded by a circle with seating arrangements. A great festive environment indeed…

If you happen to be around this place during the next Durga Puja, do visit the Tembi Naka in Thane West. There is something there for each one of you… Soulful bhakti and heartfelt masti, if that’s the spirit of festivals in India, then its alive here in all its elements…

(Rahul)

Want to be like them?

Last evening it had rained abruptly and most of us came back home a little wet. Some of us who lived nearby got fully drenched because we took the chance of walking in the rains. Those who lived a far away were luckier. But not all of them…
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Today while we exchanged morning greetings waiting for the elevator, one of our colleagues had an interesting story to tell. Last evening he had gone out in the rains but had to stop by the nearby road seeing the ferocity of the rains. He works in middle management and commutes in a scooter. While he stopped there, he saw many of our senior management colleagues leaving for their homes in their cars. This poor chap expected them to stop and give him a lift. But he was shocked to see that one after the other; they kept fleeing without any of them stopping for him! He is a popular figure in the office because of his humorous nature and his head is totally bald, so people won’t do mistakes in recognizing him. The matter was of status-consciousness.
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While all of us laughed with a clear heart at his miserable condition :), we saw him changing now. May be it was the elevator which had made him feel light, or the comfort of privacy inside six surfaces. He declared: “I have made a vow that I will also buy a car like those senior managers and I then I will also equal to them!”
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Nothing wrong in this, but from somewhere, one colleague asked a question: “And when you will become like them, will you also become like them?”
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In the chaos of we getting out to get to our respective cubicles – there was a silence…
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How often, in the over enthusiasm to compete with and leave behind the bad guys, we ourselves become just like them?
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(Rahul)

Do you also want to be like them?

Wave like a kid does!

The bus had stopped at a traffic signal. I gave a casual glance outside the window. There was something special in that black car! A young kid of around 2 was waving at the bus! I tried to read him and found he was looking at someone in the front seats. He kept waving his hands with a cute chuckle. I moved and tried to find the person he was waiving at. I found it was another kid in the bus! As time passed, the kiddo in the car looked harder and harder as if trying to recognise this boy and he kept waiving and waving his hand. The boy in the bus was slightly older, may be of around 5. This boy was also waiving at the other kiddo, this was the kids’ way to say hi to each others, and these two kids were perhaps in another world!

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The cute kid in the car was from a well-to-do family. He was in the pink of comfort along with his parents in the car. The boy in the bus was also in his mother's lap - but his and his mother's looks told they were from an economically struggling family. But their personal rapport seemed very instant and natural. Indeed children know no economic or class divide - and these two kids proved that in front of my eyes... After a while the traffic started and the car zoomed away. The two kids kept waiving at each other until they lost their line of vision... I sat with moist eyes and a touched heart; while the poorer boy's mother pulled him closer to herself. May be she had noticed him and wanted to divert his attention. (Will their mothers wave at each other like they did?) Indeed, children are unbiased and pure at heart…
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Now what if we, the adults, happen to be unbiased and pure at heart? People call us – childish! I wonder if being childish is a bane or a virtue…

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This world will try to corrupt you. Stay childish.
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And, wave like a kid does!

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(Rahul)

Accidental Findings….

Yesterday I witnessed an accident.

I was walking back to home along with another colleague. It was an after-office rush on the road and the road had become in bad condition after the rains. Suddenly we heard a huge sound of a crash. A motorbike rider had fallen and he scratched on the road along with his bike for about 70-80 feet. Behind him we also saw another young boy fallen on the ground along with his bicycle. It seemed the motorbike had accidentally collided with the bicycle moving in the same direction and both had lost balance. The motorbike rider had suffered a lot, so people rushed to see him.

The place was very near to a tea stall where a lot of boys and grownups also kept hanging on for smoking. At that time a group of layabout guys were hanging on there – and naturally they came into action. I will call these guys as tapori guys – because this is their best description in Mumbai :) These tapori guys picked up the motorbike wallah and made the bike stand. The guy seemed to be ok, as he stood up on his own. He was around 28, well educated and from a good family. His bike was the powerful Pulsar. By this time people had picked up the young boy and took him to the footpath. The boy was of around 12, good looking and chubby :) Now this boy had not suffered any visible injury as such. (May be this is because young children fall a lot but are flexible enough not to sustain serious injuries) But by that time the crowd had reached the size of around 50-60, and everyone was worried for this boy’s safety, and hence he looked nervous. He sat down on the footpath while people worryingly crowded around him with worries. Someone asked to check his head for any injuries, while someone asked him to lie down. Some ladies stopped walking and reached out to see him. Now something strange and very touching happened.

The bike rider came to this side of the road, walked through the crowd to reach the young boy and checked his wellbeing. When he got confirmed that the boy was alright, he turned back to go to the other side of the road where his bike was standing. I watched in horror – his jeans had tore off at his left knee - and his knee and the jeans around it were wet. I realised it should be blood… By this time he felt pain each time he raised his left leg in order to walk…. Everyone was busy with the young boy and almost no one was looking at this guy… He walked to the other side of the road. Then he realised that he was in pain and couldn’t ride his bike to the hospital. He waived for some auto-wallah to stop but there were none. Then a tapori guy who was very worried for him realised that time was critical. He started the bike and asked him to get on as the pillion rider. Then the guy and the tapori guy left on his bike for a hospital…

Now when I look at the incident, what do I remember? The public had stopped their work to see them, while people believe Mumbai never stops. Then the guys whom I call tapori guys in fun, and we most often ignore them as good-for-nothings – they were the ones who helped both the guys. And the most touching part was when the guy with injured leg walked up to reach to see the wellbeing of the young boy… He should be a very nice person…

If I think about it then the biker rider was without his helmet. Imagine something more serious could have happened than his injured leg. Then we also realise how unsafe it is to ride a bicycle in Mumbai. And the worst part is the condition of the roads. Barring some particular localities, roads in Mumbai are worse than many other smaller towns and cities.

Many a time we come to know of a person’s real character at the time of crisis. By this incident I came to know about three people and their true characters – the sensible and caring biker rider, the concerned and helping taporis, and the simple and kind Mumaikars…

People are good…

(Rahul)

Accidental Findings….

Yesterday I witnessed an accident.

I was walking back to home along with another colleague. It was an after-office rush on the road and the road had become in bad condition after the rains. Suddenly we heard a huge sound of a crash. A motorbike rider had fallen and he scratched on the road along with his bike for about 70-80 feet. Behind him we also saw another young boy fallen on the ground along with his bicycle. It seemed the motorbike had accidentally collided with the bicycle moving in the same direction and both had lost balance. The motorbike rider had suffered a lot, so people rushed to see him.

The place was very near to a tea stall where a lot of boys and grownups also kept hanging on for smoking. At that time a group of layabout guys were hanging on there – and naturally they came into action. I will call these guys as tapori guys – because this is their best description in Mumbai :) These tapori guys picked up the motorbike wallah and made the bike stand. The guy seemed to be ok, as he stood up on his own. He was around 28, well educated and from a good family. His bike was the powerful Pulsar. By this time people had picked up the young boy and took him to the footpath. The boy was of around 12, good looking and chubby :) Now this boy had not suffered any visible injury as such. (May be this is because young children fall a lot but are flexible enough not to sustain serious injuries) But by that time the crowd had reached the size of around 50-60, and everyone was worried for this boy’s safety, and hence he looked nervous. He sat down on the footpath while people worryingly crowded around him with worries. Someone asked to check his head for any injuries, while someone asked him to lie down. Some ladies stopped walking and reached out to see him. Now something strange and very touching happened.

The bike rider came to this side of the road, walked through the crowd to reach the young boy and checked his wellbeing. When he got confirmed that the boy was alright, he turned back to go to the other side of the road where his bike was standing. I watched in horror – his jeans had tore off at his left knee - and his knee and the jeans around it were wet. I realised it should be blood… By this time he felt pain each time he raised his left leg in order to walk…. Everyone was busy with the young boy and almost no one was looking at this guy… He walked to the other side of the road. Then he realised that he was in pain and couldn’t ride his bike to the hospital. He waived for some auto-wallah to stop but there were none. Then a tapori guy who was very worried for him realised that time was critical. He started the bike and asked him to get on as the pillion rider. Then the guy and the tapori guy left on his bike for a hospital…

Now when I look at the incident, what do I remember? The public had stopped their work to see them, while people believe Mumbai never stops. Then the guys whom I call tapori guys in fun, and we most often ignore them as good-for-nothings – they were the ones who helped both the guys. And the most touching part was when the guy with injured leg walked up to reach to see the wellbeing of the young boy… He should be a very nice person…

If I think about it then the biker rider was without his helmet. Imagine something more serious could have happened than his injured leg. Then we also realise how unsafe it is to ride a bicycle in Mumbai. And the worst part is the condition of the roads. Barring some particular localities, roads in Mumbai are worse than many other smaller towns and cities.

Many a time we come to know of a person’s real character at the time of crisis. By this incident I came to know about three people and their true characters – the sensible and caring biker rider, the concerned and helping taporis, and the simple and kind Mumaikars…

People are good…

(Rahul)

The Gimmick of Austerity Drive

“Austerity is good”; but this is not a universal truth. It depends on the time, place and the manner in which it is done. Remember: one man’s medicine is another man’s poison.
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I think whatever the central government does has a tremendous impact on the nation’s economy. I am not against tokenism per se, and hence I didn’t immediately discard INC’s and Nehru/Gandhi dynasty’s recently founded love for austerity. But let us judge if this tokenism in its right place and at the right time?
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In general, nations go on austerity drives when the fiscal deficit goes unmanageable. It is the last step which helps them repay loans and it sends the right message to creditors. Now let us look at the situation that we are in. Yes, our fiscal deficits have gone wide. But, is it the right time for austerity as a policy? Particularly when we are still fighting an economic recession?
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One of the major solutions and action plan that global leaders thought of fighting global economic meltdown and recession was through increased government spending. Now think about this austerity drive in this light. Does it hold water?
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If our (UPA) government was so serious about spending less and austerity as a policy, it would rather go big bang. Look out at their big spends. Even look in their backyard. Government of India gives subsidy of more than Rs 900 Crores every year to make Indian Muslims do their religious pilgrimage to Mecca. How many bucks Rahul G will save if he takes a train instead of a plane, to cover this loss to the exchequer? In anyway austerity as a government policy is not working. If Dr. Manmohan Singh is an economist, (we are growingly realising he is more political than an economist) I wonder how can centre’s policies like giving tax cuts to the public, cheap loans, increasing government sector pay scale and big hiring by public sector banks gel with an austerity drive? Even beginners would know that austerity and increased government spending can’t go hand in hand. Doesn’t it make it so clear that this austerity drive is merely a political gimmick?
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Tokenism is not bad as such. But Congress/UPA is taking it too far. I think the plan is to show that Rahul G is a real leader. Last time they had done it by sending him to spend one night in the house of a so called Dalit. But the gimmick this time may send a very wrong message to the masses. And this is why I would even call this drive evil. Spending less is good for individual citizens and customers in hard times. But government reducing spending and even asking the masses to spend less is extremely wrong at the time of economic recession that India is still fighting on. Either the govt doesn’t understand economics or it is too driven by lust for power and image building for the dynasty to care for it.
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Do we, as an educated citizenry, understand this simple design?
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(Rahul)