Coin story

Its been long since I have written something on my blog, the reason, the stories just stopped coming to me from my chilhood. Probably, because I stopped visitimg my stories or caught up with grown up issues. Anyway, I remember when I used to go to my tution class after school, I would find coins on the way. This would happen once a month and sometimes thrice a month. And I would collect as much as a rupee in coins to 50 paise. I was so thrilled and I used to be very observant and would look in detail on the road while going and coming back from tutions. This was my personal secret and I enjoyed that money during my recess at school. I never told anyone, for the fear of not finding them, a superstition(not that i was sure if the word existed in my vocabulary). And, later when I grew up I found out that there is a community, when they take their dead people to cremation ground they throw small coins from the house till cremation place. It was their custom and could never find a reson of them doing so. Please if you readers have any insight on this practise, it will solve my mystery. Was I wrong in using that money, although I was not aware of its true emergence. But, I did have that little secret in my childhood. That was so personal and the pleasure it gave me mentally and in kind since that was my money with which I could buy goodies during recess and after school. It also taught me to observe and see things in detail. This habit has helped me alot in my creative work. Just, yesterday when I was coming back from my shoot I was obersving things around me. When I clicked a picture on the road, my driver said I quote "maine aap ko dekha hai aap kuch na kuch dekhte rehtey hai". This brought memories of my childhood.  

Dhadam Se Girna ... Ooouuuchhh

As a child I was prone to accidents and would just have strange freak accidents. I was also very Naughty as a child and would love to play all sorts of games and would be immersed in them. I was playing cricket at a near by grounds. There were lice tall trees around the periphery of the ground. I think it was a a Saturday and we had fixed a match with local team. We batted second and by afternoon the first team ended their batting by noon , we all took a break and our team begun batting, one of the trees was a favourite place to sit on and watch and cheer our team. I do not know at what time of the play I just got excited and while clapping lost my balance and almost from a second floor height of the tree I was down on the ground, fortunately I did not hurt myself too seriously but did get cut on the knee, oooouuuchhh it was very painful, but also was afraid if Mum would find out and than the scolding, but to my luck everything was laughed off as a freak accident. What a fall...

Once I was riding a bicycle in our neighbouring street and there was this cute looking girl who I liked, on that specific day of my ride I saw her in the balcony of her house and to Impress her I started doing stunts on my Bike and while i was trying to do a willy with my bike I lost my balance and DHADAM I was on the road with the bike over me. My immediate reaction to look at her and hope that she did not notice just this fall, but she did and she did see my fall and was laughing, but like it is said Hassy toh Fassy and we became friends. Rest is fun....

Some real serious incidents were when I came home school changed and went to the kitchen to check what was there to eat and without realising i touched the TAWA and it was very hot part of my fingers skin was left behind on the hot tawa .... oooooohhhhhh what howling and immediately was rush to the local family physician and medical attention. I was playing chor-police with friends and while hiding didnot realise there were nails around. One piece of wood had a nail and I stepped on it and the nail went straight into my sole through my shoes ooooouuuuchhh. One day I was walking on the street and suddenly the rare door of the taxi flung open and hit me on my bum and there I was on the floor, escaped unhurt.... wah

Standing on the road and there a bus took a wild turn on the corner and it hit me and I was flung to another spot got a a hit on the Head, I still have a big bump on my head.

My Dhadam days went on for a very long time ... Ouch 

Dazzling Stage ... moved my florist

The days of my work in railways, basketball and theatre I discovered myself designing things. I was exposed to artificial flowers and pot designs. I started designing these huge pots with various shapes and sizes and colours and artificial landscapes with white brown pebbles, artificial plants & flowers. I held my first exhibition of my designs at cymroza art gallery for 3 days and received overwhelming response. And I discovered that anything creative excited me and makes me feel very happy. So after 11 years of railway service and theatre, I decided to step out from railway service and take up creative work on full time basis. This gave me immense pleasure and thus my creative journey began with full throttle. I started designing lot of plays and events, thus my travelling to different parts of the country began. 

I remember and incident when I was doing Ila Arun musical show in Bangalore. I was executing my set and light design, I met a lady who was providing us flowers to incorporate on the stage. She was a florist handling hotels for flower displays in the lobbies and tables. She was with me and questioned me about my work and she heard that our work was very unstable and how does it excite me doing what I do. 

I tried explaining it to her about my work and the excitement of creating something new every time. But she refused to except that we can risk our lives with no definite Job and just be a freelancer. While these discussions were going on the work kept progressing. On the day of the show I asked her to sit with me at the light console during the show. As the show began and my lights, lighted the stage it changed its look and with every song something new happened and a different magic unfold. She was so surprised at watching the whole transformation take place on stage the flowers she provided looked so different with lights. She was mesmerised and watched in awe. After the show ended she came and held my hand and said I now understand why you do what you do and what excites you and how can you miss this excitement for anything in the world.

I was so happy to see this transformation in a person who believed in a secured life she lived. Till today after 35 years of designing I am as excited and nervous as my first show. 

Wahhhh!!! Festivals

It’s the festival months of the year with Navratra and Diwali passed us in last months and now Christmas and the New Year to look ahead too. I remember as a young boy in school when festivals were the most beautiful time of the year. The time when we had those Diwali holidays and Christmas holidays and the Year ending with that 31^st night to welcome a New Year. What I loved most about all these festivals was the fun to share those beautiful time with different families, different cultures and different religion. Ramzan would be fun at home with lot of goodies at Iftars and have dad’s friend to open evening rozas with them at the table. All our building friends would wait to eat ‘Shir Khurma” on Eid ,my mum made. Eid namaz at Bandra's big Masjid. We would wait for Diwalis and those lovely plates filled with goodies like farsans and sweets. The Modaks during Ganesh chaturthi. Those lovely cakes during Christmas. Playing Garba during Navratra and singing those Bhajans, visit church and during the mass wait to hear those church bells. And the evening mass on New Year eve. During Diwali every house lit with those lovely diyas, diyas outside each home and colourfull lights on every balcony. Those beautiful star lamps during Christmas. Visit pandals with our Marathi friends during Ganesh chaturthi. Those displays during Christmas. Those mud pots filled with rose sherbet in Mohram and I remember I had visited a friend and he made me witness that Prabhat Feri. Loved hearing those shabats at Gurdwara. Eating those big motichur laddos from our Marawari friends at weddings. My god the list is endless.

I remember the time I travelled to Haridwar & Hrishikesh during Diwali. I was at the Ghats around 6pm on a beautiful winter evening, sipping on a cup of tea in a Kullad(Mud Mug) and watch the evening settling for the night. Suddenly lot of people gathered at the ghats and start performing Aarti at the ghats, the huge fire burning through this huge hand handled diya and the bhajan they were singing, it was so beautiful and soothing sound of music which reverberated the Ganga Ghat. After the aarti a lady just walked up to me and offered Prasad. And as I got up and turned to go I saw the whole place was lit with lot of colourfull lights. I can’t forget that visual which so beautifully etched in my memory and the walk next day on Laxman Jhula. I am eternally blessed to be born in this country with such diverse ethnicity.

Festivals were such wonderful and beautiful time of the year and the year to get closer to your friends from different religions and know more about their cultures.

Beautiful Religion and Beautiful Cultures and Amazing Families filled my growing up days. 

Travel & Games ...

I was in my 11^th standard (FYJC) and exploring new set of people and friends. I was at the top of my 6 feet 7 inches and confused what to do with my Height. A friend of my father(Abbas, top basketball player of India, and an Arjun Award recipient) came to meet him and saw me and asked what sports I play, well the usual games we played gulli danda, hide & seek etc. He laughed and said why you don’t come to the Basketball grounds where he played. So after a week I went to Nagpada Neighbourhood House club to play my first game. That built in my confidence and I began Learning and practising the game. The same year I was selected for National’s Maharashtra Junior team (Pune 1980-81). Well we lost at quarter finals but that put me onto playing basketball for no of years and also to travel. I came back from Pune and was offered a place in Western Railways team. My appointment was under sports quota and were allowed to work half day in office and from 3pm till 5pm I was at the grounds practising. But my desire to work in the creative field gave me an opportunity to join a theatre group and so my rehearsals from 6pm in Juhu.

But I recollect the days of my travel with western railways team. 

We got 1^st class pass for local travel and free passes for through trains. Whenever we travelled to Ratlam, Baroda, Rajkot, Jaipur, Madras etc. to play games we travelled in First class, the train would reach our destination, then our boogie would be detached from the main train taken to the yard area and stationed there. We would have electricity, water supply and we would continue our stay in the same 1^st class bogie, it would be a problem for me as I would not fit into those sleepers straight, so the space between the sleepers would be filled and a big bed used to be made with my feet going out of my cabin into the passage. Sometimes we would go on top of the compartment to take shower for fun, these big holed pipes would be our shower.

Wow! It used to be fun those days and a different experience of travel and stay. I enjoyed those meals at dhabas and Chais in Kullad( mud Mugs), those lovely snacks on platform, especially those cream roles with chai. Sometimes our bogie would be at the end of the train and we would open the small partition door and sit there watching the rail tracks going underneath. Wow!!! Lovely experience and fun filled days of travel and games.