Goa with Raos

Me and gajju went on a trip to goa in January 2006 on his recommendation
I cannot plan a holiday on my own.Goa was never in my list, it is a place we visit casually and it is the place we have visited the most , so there was all kind of reluctancy and hesitations when Gajju suggested this place , and i later realised his reasons for doing so .
Somehow Gajju and I , the Twain , met and we decided to go to Goa.
In todays time , you are considered a good , responsible, loving family man,only if you take your family out 3 to 4 times in a year on vacation , whether you can afford it or not . I fall short of this consistently year after year . I wanted to be as good as Gajju and so was catching on the opportunity and had agreed to spend obscene amount of money on a Goa trip.
Bookings were done by Gajju with our constant reminders to keep the budget in mind .
My constant cribbing for budgetted holiday must have been difficult on Gajju but he had committed and was not in a position to fall short of his commitment .." as they say ' looking good makes you powerless' and Gajju LOOKED GOOD ".
Both me and Gajju tried persuading our friend Ashish to join us but he didnot. We without Ashish are incomplete but for Ashish to travel with us... he has to plan it, he doesn't believe in following on others plan.
The Raos reached the airport good 45 minutes after us and made us understand that they were the seasoned travellers and we were lesser than that .
But we were committed to have fun , as we were spending a lot of money , so we enjoyed those 45 minutes having fun with each other , inspite of all the anxiety of being ticketless at the airport and the fear of we missing the flight .
The Raos emerged and the size of their bags was another proof of us being lesser travellers , our bags were smaller and qualified to be carried as cabin baggage , we were carrying the bare essentials for a 3 day stay and they were carrying stuff with which they could settle down in Goa for good .
Looking at our bags ,anyone would have said we were travelling separately and were heading for different places , else how would one justify two families going to the same place , same number of days but so different baggages .Another proof of we being lesser travellers and under prepared for our vacation .I looked at Seema and thought , ' only if she had the wisdom that Beba had '.
I was sure the Raos are going to have more fun then us , they came late , they had bigger bags and were so casual in their behaviour . Travelling by plane and being at the airport was like going to bus stop and catching a BEST bus for them, yeh nahin toh doosri le lenge , unlike us , it was a major event in our lives , there was excitement , adventure and we were cherishing every moment of it .
Their entry was like, nothing short of , Page 3 personality and we were the ones who read them and see them on Page 3 and we were delighted being with them for the next 3 days and will get a glimpse of their lifestyle .
To prove my reach in Goa i had instructed my friend Girish to receive us at the airport and if possible to arrange a vehicle for us at the airport .
But my middle class values got another pleasant surprise , Gajju had arranged for a SUV and had people holding placards with our names on it .Girish and his indica went unnoticed. .
Seema and kids too hopped into the SUV . They were too attracted to good things Gajju was providing .So human .
There were certain things Gajju was very clear of :
First----- no travel by cheap airlines or train
Second---- no stay in ordinary hotels
Third------ holidays should not have any budget.
After 45 minutes drive from the airport we reached Calngute and started our search for CSM - Colonia Santa Maria . A boutique hotel with a beach.
All of us liked the place and were unanimous that we stay there.
Gajju , inspite of referring his numerous stay in this hotel , could not manage to get us a room .
At last, my friend Girish was of some value to us and he managed to get us a room in another hotel but in the same compound and of the same ambience . His being local came handy as the girl at the reservations could relate with him and considered us living in midst of white skinned foreigners.
The hotels in Goa are not comfortable with people who swim in their pools or beaches with their salwar kameez , denims and tees , kurtas or in their 3/4th pants and for most of us these are swimming costumes . We believe in over dressing whether its pool or wedding. Anyways , the kids were excited they were getting to play in the pool , beach and the sea. Women were happy to see shapely men for a change and their glee was so evident , despite their best attempt to hide it .I was overjoyed seeing my family happy .
Gajju had his past experience about the place and so was keen on staying there. Another thing that I noticed as we entered CSM was , Gajju hiding himself behind dark sunglasses so that his other reasons for staying there got camouflaged and could not be read by others.
WE all entered the allotted room with our luggage . The cottage had two rooms . a bedroom and a sitting room. I was delighted that we were saving money and were also to stay together.
My happiness shortlived , Gajju organized a better and bigger room and that too in CSM the next day at some distance so that we could not see them , hear them and disturb them .
Gajju’s perception of holidaying together was to meet occasionally , staying separately ,and eating separately . Live separately and Let Live separately .
He would have had his way but Bhai was a spoil sport in his scheme of things , Bhai wanted to have all the fun with Shruti and Pari ..
Our next three days were very memorable , kids were having loads of fun , women were relaxing ,Gajju had hired a masseur permanently . All of us meeting at the breakfast buffet as it was the cheapest option to eat to your hearts content .
Gajju spent most of his time on the beach wearing his dark sun glass and seeing the kids play in sand and water and giving us instructions in between to take care of the kids without getting up from the bed laid on the beach , else he would have missed out observing the scantily dressed women thru the lens of his sun glass . This observation was an occupational necessity for him , you never know when a creative person might have to recreate the previous experiences and observations. It was a forbidden fruit for me though.
We were having great fun in our respective ways . On the third day of our stay we decided to cut short our trip and return back against the wishes of Bhai ,Shruti and Pari.
Gajju made few frantic calls to his agent for air tickets , the cost at which he organized those tickets are only known to him and I have not asked him about it till date. My middle class values have taught me not to practice certain virtues if they cost you .
In the end it was a wonderful holiday for me as I remember every moment of it even after 2 years.
I have forgotten the money spent but the memories of this vacation all of us will cherish eternally .




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maine Lahore nahin dekhya...

An eclectic group had decided to travel to Lahore via Waga border. As we always do this time too we surrendered to our trip planner Ashish to make plans and take decisions on our behalf which otherwise he would have done any which way.
Ashish, Gajraj, me and our families were few members of this eclectic group rest were not disclosed to us by Ashish. Ashish was to perform in a theatre festival in Lahore and we were getting an opportunity to visit a land that was part of India.. exciting, adventurous.
Exciting and adventurous because I was playing blind, I had no clue when were we going, how were we going and who all were going with us but nevertheless we were going to Lahore. Preparations were on I had to choose between Lahore and Nagpur and choice was obvious everyone suggested Lahore is once in a lifetime opportunity Nagpur can happen anytime, though it had not happened in 43 years of my life.
Among many uncertainities there was one thing certain and that was the uncertainity of gajju's departure with us, as always there were apprehensions and sceptism... which way gajju would head.. with us or not with us. He works double hard to find work around the date of departure if not work then he works harder to find excuses... this time he included Beba aswell in scheming and had made sure that this excuse will last atleast for couple of years. Gajju and Beba are going to be parents 2nd time and Ashish is frustated and angry with him cause he can't force himself on Gajju under these circumstances.
My dilemma to choose between Nagpur and Lahore continued and so did the uncertainities thanks to both Ashish n Gajju. For a month I had only two questions to them... are we going? are you coming?
To play safe I had made travel reservations for both Nagpur aswell as Lahore.
Got a frenetic call from Ashish a day prior to our departure to Amritsar to book tickets for all of us for the next morning first flight as we had to cross Waga border a day prior then he had assumed. I did as instructed, no question asked, booked all the tickets cancelled all my previous reservations. Later I distinguished that the very thought of going to Lahore had made me abundant, all the reservations were made on my credit card... or was it designed by Ashish to be that way?
On the eve prior to our departure we all met to celebrate Beba's birthday, lots of food , lots of fun and lots of camaraderie and bonding happened between all of us for the first time I sensed that Gajju may not come. One more time I asked him are you coming and he assured me that he certainly would try to come directly to Lahore, but this time I could hear clearly that he had no intentions, this was a birthday cum farewell dinner to all going to Lahore.
Next morning as always I, Seema and kids were ready on time standing down in our complex waiting for Ashish to come... once again forgetting that Sharma's and Vidyarthi's live in different time zones. Malad is good 40 minutes behind Andheri.
We all reached Delhi and both the families headed to meet their respective relatives and friends and were to meet again in the evening to take our next flight to Amritsar. Ashish had made this plan too... as it was convenient.
Late in the evening we checked in our hotel rooms and after a while we all went to Golden Temple for darshan, was visiting a serene place after very long time and enjoyed being there. The memories of operation blue star came alive. From there we drove around the city and came to Natyashala where EKJUTE had performed a play in the evening and we all were travelling to Lahore together. Few other members of the eclectic group were there,we had our dinner with Tom Alter, Juhi Babber, Nadira ji and members of her troupe.
Next Morning we were to get up early at 5 am to revisit Golden Temple and to have breakfast in some quaint street of Amritsar, though not aligned but we gave in to Ashish's wish and agreed to be ready by 5 am. We woke up late but were ready by 6 am and Seema was extrermely worried of the consequences of being late, she was worried that Ashish would be upset as we had missed the early morning prayer at Golden Temple, but our prayers at Golden Temple the previous night saved us and came to our rescue, Vidyarthis too didn't get up... Ashish was calm and didn't say a word. Seema is intrigued why Ashish bhai didn't say anything to me on being late.She is yet to discover .
We met Kewal, theatre actor and director in Amritsar, my brief encounter with him has left some great memories. the first half of the day was spent with him. We had early morning tea at Gyani's Moochmarod Tea centre,a must visit,if you are in Amritsar, we went to Jalianwala Baug, breakfast was chole puri and gur ka sheera, Amritsari lassi with dollop of white butter follwed and lunch was with Nadiraji and members of her troupe. From there we headed to Attari to see the Retreat Parade at Waga border. The atmosphere was electric, the BSF soldiers and Pakistani rangers jointly showcase a parade for 5ooo people on either side to the chants of Hindustan Zindabad and Jiyi Jiyo Pakistan. Our contingent had harried time, Ashish asking us to pose for photographs and the soldiers asking us not to get up from our seats. Thanks to Ashish's popularity amongst the BSF we were given the best seats and were invited for tea by the BSF Commandent and the kids were shown mortars and sophiscated guns, we could shake hands with Pakistani rangers and touch their land and feel their air. Travelling with Ashish entitled us these additional benefits.
From Waga we headed back to amritsar and came to Durgiana Temple followed by dinner n jalebis.
We returned to hotel with all the excitement as tomorrow was the day scheduled for our crossover to Pakistan. Everyone went to sleep except me,as disaster was waiting to happen. I fell down in the bathroom and tore a ligament or had a serious sprain.
Morning I realised that my foot was in bad condition and I could not walk. Ashish was preparing to leave and I was confined to my bed.
All the excitement and joy had disappeared from Seema,Shruti and Pari's face. They had sensed that our Lahore trip was over. We all bid adieu to Ashish,Pilu and Mowgly, the door bell rang and a man from the travel desk had come with our tickets to Delhi by evening flight.
As our flight took off I remembered Ashish saying all the time" jinne lahore nahin vekhya, woh janmya nahin". The Sharmas were so close to reincarnation but were aborted.

9 days of MIZAAN ALI

Of the many apathetic experiences that all of us have in our lives this is the one that Iam sharing. A very recent incident that has left me with innumerable questions and inquiry.


Recently a NGO,Balprafulatta, assisted with local police and few journalists from some regional paper and tv channel, raided my restaurant looking for child labor, under suspicion they picked up MIZAAN and put him in the van, as I was not in the restaurant and Mizaan didnot know hindi, nobody could understand what was going on. Dilip, my cashier also accompanied him to MIDC police station.


When employed Mizaan had given few documents alongwith his bio data, his age and address proof. These documents were ration card and voting id card both issued by the govt. of West Bengal and as per these documents his age was 19yrs. Alongwith these documents and his kin Qasim Ali, also employed with me, we reached police station.


I showed the papers to the duty officer, girls from NGO, one of whom certainly looked younger than Mizaan, and the journalists. They all agreed that getting Mizaan was a mistake and I was assured that he would be freed once the prodedures were completed. After a while there was a complete shift and the officer on duty refused to accept the documents as they were in Bangla and none of them could read bangla, Qasim did read it but that was not sufficient as the officers on duty didn't understand Bangla and all my efforts of showing them the original voting id card and arguments that it had the seal of Indian Govt. were wasted. Once the boys were brought to the police station the NGO expressed its inability to help as they were in police custody and police were apprehensive because if released the press would accuse them of corruption.


In the evening all the boys alongwith Mizaan were transferred to Children Remand Home at Dongri and I was assured that next day Mizaan and another boy, who had come to give tiffin to his father when raided, would get released from there.


I reached Dongri the next day and witnessed a very sorry state of affairs inside the remand home. All the juvenille boys n girls brought from mumbai are kept inside this remand home as prisoners and in very inhumane conditions. Mizaan complaint that he was assaulted by warden with a plastic pipe. I met the suprintendent of the remand home and was told that only the Child Welfare Board had the power to release, in the evening I met an official of Child Welfare Board and briefed him of his case, who got Mizaan summoned before him, he too was convinced that getting Mizaan was a mistake, but he also told me that Mizaan will have to undergo a medical checkup and if he is found to be over 18yrs he would be released.


This entire procedure took 9 days and at last I procured a medical certificate from police hospital and got him freed. Taking Mizaan for his medical examination to procuring the medical certificate was an experience which only chosen and blessed get and I consider myself to be one. Only the brave and strong can stand up to such situations and I did it successfully.

Mizaan, Qasim and Saiful came to mumbai from West Benagal in search of employment as there was no money, no food, no shelter for them in their home town and each one of them had a family to support or they were burden on someone else back home.


Working in my restaurant Mizaan , Qasim and Saiful get free accomodation, four meals everyday, uniform laundered every alternate day and they earn Rs.2800/ wages per month. Most of this money they send home for other family members.


In Children Remand Home I noticed that all the children brought were from this strata of society who have no one to look after them and they have no other choice but to look after their own self which in law book is a crime and the remedy provided to them is more hardship and imprisonment.


Mizaan is amongst those who remain hungry for most of his life, has never been to any school, starts working at a very tender age, to manage a meal for himself and his family, he does all this not out of choice but because there is no other option available to him.


There are innumerable Mizaans in our country, in rural India, who start working at a very early age either they plough farms, they graze cattle or they help their families in their shop or which ever employment they are in , there is no other world and law prohibits them to survive the way they do. Working for them is not permitted then what do they do? Someone please ask Mizaan whether he has any other way to survive.


Am sure they too must have created a surreal world but there is no path for them to reach there. This is the only way they grow up and create their destiny. The way to their destiny is thru hardship, this is life for them and this is one journey they have to complete in whichever form it comes to them.


I consider Mizaan to be a real hero he lives a life about which thinking we dread, the very thought of this life gives us goose pimples. There are hundreds of Mizaans languishing in Remand Homes living a life which they haven't chosen but are forced into.


There are hundreds of such NGOs existing and being registered who imprison Mizaan and in return get governmental aid.


While Mizaan is taken to Remand Home who takes care of his family about whose condition nobody knows? Are the NGOs doing their job completely and correctly?

They say all is well that ends well, it ended well and left me fulfilled.

0

Sept'08....Boyz day Out

After long had a very relaxed weekend, relaxed because I was in Kerala with people very close and dear, it was a boyz gettogether. We knew each other before, here we created a new relationship, we created legendary memories for ourselves in a short duration of 3 days and 2 nights.

Vivek from Banglore, Jagan and Venkat from Hyderabad, Me from Bombay and Ashish from all of these. Gajraj could not make it because of.......meeting to attend in Delhi or was it Mumbai, somebody being unwell, meeting his creative team before the shoot, preproduction work, like him even Iam confused what held him from coming as soon as i get to know shall edit this and put the right reason, but he kept our hope alive till we reached mumbai. Alok from Delhi could not make it trust he too had reasons and shall re-edit when its confirmed.

It all started with our host, who became our warden the moment we all landed in Kerala, from different places different time. The creator of this impromptu trip was Ashish , he was the pied piper and we all followed. He has cracked this formula of being happy and making others happy. Being selfish and selfless at the same time.

Ashish spoke to Seema, my wife, before discussing it with me and she consented very eagerly and happily, such moments of me not being around 24*7 were very rare in her life in the last 15 years of our togetherness. With dawn on thursday she smelled liberation... though short but welcomed.

Our host turned warden, was performing in a theatre festival at Ernakullam. The play's name was OTTAYAM, wherein he plays the central character and is also the director of this play. He loves to share his life with people in his life and this time the outcome was my kerala trip.He invited few of us to be with him to spend some wonderful moments... moments of fun, camraderie... how selfless and... he also gets to dominate us all at one time one place, a personal achievement and satisfaction... very selfish.

On friday morning as I reached Kochi there was a taxi waiting to pick me up to my new home for the next 3 days.Enroute the first thing that attracted my attention was a smart traffic police constable, later I observed them intentionally and found that the police in Kerala are minus the paunch, unlike their counter parts in Mumbai.

The guest house where we were staying was a hub of VVIP activities. Chief Minister, Home Minister, bureaucrats were staying with us without any noise no check ups, no sniffer dogs, no traffic diversion, they were in their world and left me in my own. Wow!!! The room had panoramic view of the Kochi Port. Here I had my break fast, the first great meal and I anticipitated that I shall return home putting on few extra pounds.

Jagan and Venkat's flight got delayed and with that our lunch too got delayed. After waiting for them for a while we left without them and asked them to meet us at The Grand, here we had our lunch. The food here is too good and I found another reason to over eat. A friend in Mumbai had cautioned not to indulge, but I did... indulge in food.

After lunch we all went for a boat ride to Fort kochi, in between we saw some amazing resorts and honey moon cottages. Our boat operator informed us that these are available for 7000 rupees, we all looked towards our host... after visiting Fort Kochi and Mattan Cherry,a colonial street with beautiful architecture and artefacts, we headed to our rooms.

Later in the evening me and Ashish went to see a play, while rest of the gang bonded over drinks and we joined them after the play. It was here that our host turned warden and didn't let us enjoy the evening as he had to report for rehearals at 7 next morning. He lives simple and makes sure that others too live simple... high thinking. All of us were brought to the guest house, Jagan wanted to break free but could not, as our driver took instructions only from the host. When in room we watched television for a while, the channels were selected by the host and went to sleep in our respective beds that was assigned to us by the host.

Next morning I woke up in a room inundated with water, it rained heavily and from some part water seeped inside our room. Ashish left for rehearsal and from there he made sure that we all were ready to leave for back water boat ride by 8 am.. getting ready at 8!!! and I thought we were vacationing, but our schedule had been decided,restaurant where we were to have breakfast was decided, what we will eat was decided., he was not with us but was with us every moment.

We reached Alappuzha by 11, a boat was waiting for us to take us for a memorable trip of back waters of Kerala, why its called Gods own country I sensed it here. In every boat that passed us from every direction everyone was enjoying and drinking but we had no drinks, someone was calling us every 5 minutes to enjoy this state of ours. Jagan and Venkat got adventurous and organised some todi and tapioka but as we were to have it Ashish called and we just looked at the unfinished bottle in rest of our boat ride. We picked up some fresh prawns in between and were served a very traditional kerala meal. I cannot describe this back water ride as I do not have words in my limited vocabulary but will suggest everyone to take this ride in their life time. It is experiential.

In the evening we headed for Ashish's play, for which we all had got together. He performed in front of 800-900 people and everyone had a memorable evening. It was a moment of pride for me as he was being appreciated and praised. Good show, see if you can catch him performing it some place.

Dinner was again at The Grand, last round of over eating in kerala for me.

Next morning Ashish went for his press conference and made sure that our itinerary was fixed before he left us and made sure we did exactly that till we reached home.

Kerala was a memorable and fulfilling trip for me, got in touch with the humanity of wonderful people from this region though we all met Anand and Krishna, reporters of The Hindu, for the first time but not once they made us feel strangers in their home town. Their hospitality was impeccable and they made sure that we did every thing that our host, Ashish, wanted us to do. Again Anand and Krishna's warmth and love are to be experienced and cannot be described. Will wait eagerly to host them in Mumbai.

This trip will also be remembered by me because I noticed something very unusual, in the time when consumerism has swayed us, I observed this region to be simple, didnot notice any major malls, not every other car was a sedan, the natives here wear simple clothes ,they do not fashion parade in colleges, offices. One thing they consume a plenty is fish curry rice and they have been blessed with it. I found them to be happy in simplicity or are they enlightened in the land of God.

Last sunday evening I returned home and Seema's vacation got over.