Those were my friends

Today is 5th May and I naturally remember Baba Sule nee Diwakar Leeladhar Sule. Today is his Birthday but he is no more. I lost him some where in 1998. Today, when I remembered his Birthday, I also realised that I have lost many friends in 60 years of my life. Most recent was Vivek Vedpathak, only about four Months have passed. His Birthday was 2nd March 1946. That was Mahashivaratri on his Birthday long back in 1946. We were four friends from our school days. Me, Subodh Karve, Vivek Vedpathak and Baba Sule. Three of us were in same standard but Baba was one year younger. He was born on 5th may 1948. Me and Subodh were in same School and same class. Vivek was in another school but was in same standard. Baba was one year behind us. My school books after my use will go to Baba as second hand and will come back to my sister Sanji next year, who was two years younger. Those were the days of sharing and preserving. Next year these same books will go back to Baba's younger sister Maina. I used to take pride in preserving our books, knowing that next year they will be used by Baba and to be used again by Sanji in year after that. Baba and I met in year 1954, when we shifted from Malad to Mumbai Central at Reserve Bank Colony. Baba was our next door neighbour. We were at A-10 and Baba was at A-11. Tatya, my father and Bhai, Baba' father knew each other in Bank but became instant friends when we bacame neighbours and both families started sharing many things. We remain friends till last. I always remembered 5th May and after his demise, I still make a call to his wife Neelima on 5th May and let her know that I remember Baba. This post is in memory of Baba. It was early in my chidhood, somewhere in 1962, when I was 15 years old I had a first brush with death and that too death of our friend Eknath  Hattangadi. Ironically, he was Baba's friend. Shreerang was too good. He was a sensation in Elocution competitions and Dramas. He was very intense. They were staying in 'L' building on 5th floor. Shreerang fail down from their balcony and was dead instantly. Whether it was an accident or a suicide in his intense moment, we could never knew. We were too young for anybody to share this information with us but the picture of Shreerang's body on the lawns of 'L' building without any blood is still vivid. Then there was Arun Sahotre, a friend from Engineering College. He was too good craftsman and was doing our Smithy and Carpentry Jobs in practicals. We completed Engineering and he got job in Special Steels at Borivali and I got a job in Voltas at Pune. I remember that once he came to Pune long back in 1971. It was fag end of the Month and I was without money. However, I took him for dinner with a condition that I will refer the Menu and I will place the order to suit my pocket. I will not allow him to pay and he must accept and enjoy without commenting whatever I will be offering. We sat in Hotel Poonam on Junglee maharaj Road at Deccan Gymkhana at Pune. I ordered a half Tandoori Chicken and a Chicken Biryani. We enjoyed the meal. I have never tested such a good Tandoori and Biryani in my life after that evening. I went to Hotel Poonam many times after that evening but never enjoyed that food in absence of that intimacy. Mr Arun Sahotre died of Heart Attack in 1987. I cannot forget Ashok Dighe. He adored me. He used to call me Raju. Why he insisted in calling me as Raju I never knew. We were together in Bharat Bijlee and travelled in First class from Malad to Thane. He used to come from Borivali and will hold a seat for me. he had very good hand writing. We used to observe many people getting in and out of train and comment on them. We awarded many nick names to those people for our reference. There was a " Miss Penguti" ( Suppsedly a Tamil word for girl with long hairs). She knew that we have noted her and finally we became train friends. We used to get down at Thane and used to have Jilebi, Jamnagari Gathiya and Tea in the morning before climbing Bharat Bijlee Bus. I do not know what we talk then but those mornings, the Mumbai Local train travel, the morning Tea and endless chat was something very good part of my life. Incidently, when I married Manjiri in 1975, we came to know that Ashok's sister Chitra Dighe and Manjiri are also good friends. It was Chitra Dighe who dressed Manjiri up and did Bridal Make up of Manjiri in our marriage. Ashok was volunteer in reception hall and Baba was sitting by our side on Stage collecting and recording all the gifts which we received during our marriage reception. There was Narba Rege. Our Friend from Parle College to Engineering College along with Sahotre, Rudra, Appa Kulkarni, Waman Sule nee "Sulu". We used Rege's house in Parle for studying together and for making GTs ( Glass tracings) for our Machine Drawing submissions. If there were five drawings to submit, each one of us will make one drawing and others will copy by using a GT technique. There are stll many friends, relatives but I will stop for now. Ther are yet many more with whom I have lost contact and are in memory only and will remain there. These are the individuals who made my life rich. I was never lonely in those budding years.

20130331_Our Trip to Varanasi

20130331_Our Varanasi Trip

As is our wont, we plan trip around places, where, there is possibility of some pilgrimage. We had been to Ratnagiri (nee Ganapatipule), to Indore (nee Mahakaleshwar - Jyotirlinga at Ujjain), to Rajasthan (nee Pushkar), etc.

We have visited all Jyotirlingas in Maharashtra, e.g. Trimbakeshwar, Bheemashankar, Ghrushneshwar – Verul, Parali – Vaijnath. So at a spur of moment, we decided to go “Kashi Vishwanath at Kashi – Banaras – Varanasi including a holy dip at Sangam – congruence of India’s two most sacred rivers Ganga & Yamuna at Allahabad.

I was always longing to see Ganga. Since childhood, you have heard so much about Ganga, its majesty, its holiness, about the Aryan culture and the Hindu civilisation which got developed on banks of Ganga. ‘Pran jaye par vachan na jaye’ culture or ‘Jis Deshme Ganga Bahati hai” or ‘Chora Ganga kinarewala’ culture. The stories of Ganga Landing on Lord Shiva’s head and those efforts of King Bhagirath to bring Ganga down on the palnes from Himalya and so on. 

I have seen Ganga earlier on two occasions once in Feb. 1968 along with Sanji & Sheela when we visited Lattai at Delhi and in 1988, when I took Manjiri, Shirish and Dushyant to Delhi on a Trip. Both times I have visited Ganga at Haridwar and at Rishikesh and Yamuna at Agra as backdrop behind Taj. Ganga at Rishikesh and at Haridwar look great but still at those places Ganga is in her ‘teens’ (Something beautiful with a great promise of blooming).

Ganga at Allahabad and more so in Varanasi is a ripe one and is truly awesome. The word ‘awesome’ off late, has lost its value by overuse of the word by young generation. For them anything and everything is ‘aussom’. The ‘awesome’ has ‘awe’ included in it. Dictionary meaning of ‘awe’ is ‘reverential fear’ and ‘inspiring’. Therefore, ‘awesome’ must inspire ‘awe’. And when I looked at Ganga first time at Varanasi, I was awed.

 

On the other hand the most sacred Temple of Hindus, the ‘Kashi Vishwanath Temple’ was a total disappointment. It has no grandeur of Jyotirling like ‘Trimbakeshwar’. The sanctum sanctorum – ‘the garbhagruh - गाभारा  is very small. The Linga it self very small and is always hidden under bilvapatra and flowers. The Kashi Viswanath Temple Darshan was very dis-appointing. The Temple cannot be seen from outside. It is surrounded by lanes and bye lanes full of stalls of pooja material. You walk at least 500 meters in lanes before reaching the temple. You pay minimum Rs. 50/- for keeping your shoes in some shops. If you have Mobile and Camera with you, then you avail a locker service being run by shops in these lanes and pay minimum Rs. 100/-.

That way whole of Banaras is made of Lanes and bye lanes. There are no name signs and how one travels through them is nothing less than a miracle. We had been to Railway station from our Hotel three times and all those six routes were different. I normally blame Nashik Rikshawalas for exorbitant rates, but here I was paying Rs. 90/- for a 4.5 Km ride.

We visited many Temples but Ganga Darshan at Banaras and ‘Sangam’ of Ganga-Yamuna  at Allahbad will linger in my mind for days to come. All in all, it was an uneventful trip but still I am content with “Feeling Good” emotions.  

Happy New Year - 2013

Happy New Year - 2013

Dushyant’s Birthday – 2013

This year I have missed my annual June - 2012 Blog. But I am now trying to catch my 1^st January Blog, where we celebrate Dushyant’s Birthday in absentia. This winter Dushyant came early to India to attend marriage of Cousin Prasad and had to leave early and couldn’t wait for his Birthday of 1^st Jan. Right now he is enjoying his Birthday with his friends in Switzerland being overlooked by Mount Alps. 

                      Happy Birthday dear Dushyant

As I said earlier in Jun – 2011, I have been behaving as free person. This academic year starting June 2011, I have done very little coaching at MBA Institutes. Coaching to Police officers for their MBA in HR was very interesting at YCMOU.

Our summer holiday should have been in Ludwigsburg, Germany with Dushyant, but we spent it in Singapore with Shirish and Idhant. The Singapore Trip was a bit unscheduled, however, we enjoyed our stay in Singapore as usual with lots of Varieties of Food and lot of playtime with Idhant. We were fortunate to attend Idhant's Birthday on 30th May 2012. 

We were there for nursing Shirish, but he recovered from his accident all by himself. We watched him recovering very fast. His pain threshold is very high. He can really endure pains. From a backbone binding “Straight Jacket” to driving his car all by himself, he recovered in less than fifteen days. He started attending his office, that too in a new role of ‘Global Head’ from 13^th June 2012 i.e. within just few days from that frightful accident on his birthday of 26^th May.

From Jan 2012 to Dec. 2012, I did complete my 1^st year of learning Astrology and have passed the exam “Jyotish –Pravesh” in flying colours. Now I can prepare Horoscope Charts and find out what is good time for what. (Muhurt). However, prediction is a very difficult matter and will take at least two more years. 

I also did join a class for vocal classical Music, but our teacher is busy attending performing in his own program and is more irregular at class than us students. In last three months I have attended only five sessions and have remained as ignorant as I was earlier.

I am continuing to have one foreign tour and one domestic tour every year. This 31^st March on my Birthday, two of us were at Pushkar in Rajasthan.  We enjoyed those ten days. Starting from Jaipur, we moved in hired Taxi from place to place. A new Hotel every day till, we came to Mount Abu and then took the train for Borivali, Mumbai and then Taxied to Nashik

The year went without much achievement. My dream for being a ‘Doctorate’ looks still far away. As per my list, I am yet to learn “Pourohitya” – the Science of doing a proper Pooja. I may join some social organization, but I am not clear about it.

I am now disillusioned at coaching at MBA. When you coach for a Syllabus and prepare student for University Exams, the coaching is more mechanical. I did that for four years starting from June 2008. I think, I will stop taking Guest Lectures for a “Syllabus and Exam oriented coaching” after my Birthday of 2013.

Like last year I still think, that this year of 2013 in my 67^th year, I will travel more, listen to songs more, and practice singing a little bit, read more, and live life more like a retired person.

Annual Day Speech at Sir MS Gosavi Institute of Business Studies

ANNUAL DAY SPEECH – 26.02.2012

SIR DR. MS GOSAVI COLLEGE OF COMMERCE & SIR MS GOSAVI INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS S

STUDIES, NASHIK

At the outset, let me begin with submitting my tribute to Respected Sir Dr. Gosavi ji, who is Guru of all Gurus,

देवानां च ऋषीणाम च गुरुं कांचन सन्नीभम!

बुद्धीभूतम त्रिलोकेशं तं नमामि डॉ. गोसावी गुरुम !!

I also salute Prof. Devarajah, who has just addressed you and has provoked your thoughts beautifully.

With my respects to Prof. Dr. KR Shimpi, who has said so many good things about me and with my respects to all the other dignitaries on dais, I am very much pleased to establish a dialogue with you all my students.

I am grateful to Sir Dr. MS Gosavi College of Commerce & to Sir Dr. MS Gosavi Institute of Business Studies Nashik, to have invited me today to this Annual day & Prize Giving ceremony. It is always a pleasure to be able to address young minds.

Today is annual day, there have been many achievements by you in various competitions’ and in academics and I congratulate to all these achievers.

We are in the world of competition and each one of us has to survive in this world by enabling us with various different qualities. Each one of us is bestowed by the almighty with various qualities and it is for us to acknowledge them and nourish them.

How do you develop yourself? What is the most powerful enabler? What makes us distinguished?

No doubt that the most powerful enabler is our Mind. Mind trains your brain and brain guided by our mind puts you into action or inaction and that decides your destiny.

Who is in this world can understand mind? Who has ever won over the mind?....... Almost nobody.

One of our great Gurus who has addressed the mind and has tried to teach

our minds through his "मनाचे श्लोक". He is off course none other than our guru संत रामदास स्वामी !

His one of the foremost address was: “केल्याने होत आहे रे ! आधी केलेची पाहिजे !!”.

One can achieve everything he wishes, but that must match with sincere efforts. Dear friends, you will not achieve anything with wishful thinking. One must put in effort with all his earnest and then things will happen. On this annual day, I would like to share a secret with you. The difference between achievers and non- achievers is the application of mind on the activity at your hand. You don’t need to have extra-ordinary intelligence to be successful. We all have that bare minimum “IQ” – Intelligent Quotient”. The fact that you are in this College, certifies that you are qualified for success. What happens is that we differ in application and that makes the difference. म्हणूनच रामदास स्वामी नी म्हणून ठेवले आहे कि “केल्याने होत आहे रे ! आधी केलेची पाहिजे !!”. With some deviations, Sant Ramdas Swami said:

मनाची शते ऐकता दोष जाती ! मतीमंद ते साधना योग्य होती !

चढे ज्ञान वैराग्य सामर्थ्य आंगी ! म्हणे दास विश्वासतां यश भोगी !!

Ramdas Swami said: मनाची शते ऐक. Our mind is full of deficiencies and diversions. Mind is never still and you need to train it remain focused. Mind is susceptible to all types of attractions. One should be able to observe his own mind as a third party. When you are able to listen to all those variations in your mind without your involvement and evaluate them not as your mind but as if it is somebody else’s mind, then Sant Ramdas Swami assures you that all your faults will disappear i.e. मनाची शते ऐकता दोष जाती!

Not only will you be able to remove your faults but when you are training your mind you become eligible for doing great things. May be in your past you have been labeled as “Slow Learner”. Sant Ramdas Swami has said that when you listen to your mind, observe it and thereby automatically remove your deficiencies; मतीमंद ते साधना योग्य होती!. Here, we can take साधना as skills obtained through purposeful practice. Thus Sant Ramdas Swami is telling us that a trained mind, which is under our control, is the great enabler.

Sant Ramdas Swami further said; चढे ज्ञान वैराग्य सामर्थ्य आंगी!.

This is beginning. This will lead you increased knowledge of any aspect. Your knowledge will have a rising trend and that brings in great abilities. That is one kind of power. We generally say that “Power Corrupts”! But Sant Ramdas Swami also tells us that as you have been listening to your mind, this increased Knowledge and the Power obtained through it, does not corrupt you but also brings in you a kind of non-attachment. Thus चढे ज्ञान वैराग्य सामर्थ्य आंगी!

Sant Ramdas Swami has further assured us by saying म्हणे दास विश्वासतां यश भोगी! You believe in yourself, practice things, remove your deficiencies and you will enjoy the success. This success is not a relative thing. It is not only coming first or second but a satisfaction that I know my abilities, I have worked on them and I have achieved. I am at peace with my achievements.

You are our tomorrow - our future. Bright faces that I see here today receiving prizes will be the active citizens of tomorrow. Tomorrow you may grow up to be Einsteins, Rabindra Naths, Gandhis, Abdul Kalams & Kishore Kumars. You must ensure that some of you do not turn out to be a burden on the society, strugglers in the race of life waiting for someone to give them a job.

To grow up as good citizens one needs values. It is in our hands…. in the hands of our schools, colleges, teachers and parents to instill those values in them which will help them to grow up as good human beings who will contribute to the society.

While there should be focus on excellence in academics, one should also not forget that education does not mean mathematics or physics alone. Education means intellectual, emotional, cultural and social development of a person. One cannot develop a uni-dimensional person who is good in crunching numbers but does not know how to be a good neighbor. It is not marks alone that make a man.

It is the responsibility of our schools, Colleges, teachers and also parents to ensure that you the youths in finishing stages of their teens will grow up to be responsible citizens, who will think about giving to the society, who love all people irrespective of caste, color or creed.

We from the past generation, envy you. It is because you have an excellent future unfolding before you. Those of you who are about to graduate are emerging into the dawn of an especially promising new age. An age in which an awakened India is defying the clock by showing the world that something almost inconceivably old, counted among this planet’s longest surviving civilizations, can return to centre stage as something entirely and astonishingly new.

Yours is the moment. Yours is the day to seize. And this new world opening before you is the oyster that will surrender your pearl. So it is little wonder that we envy you – while at the same time we look to you to bear the torch that we must one day yield.

You carry with you not only your own potential – the germinating seed of your contribution to India’s future – but also the burden of our expectations. More than that, you are the inheritors of a glorious tradition that is Gokhale Education Society.

Your education will not end with what you have learned here. “All the world’s a school, and all of us men and women merely students.”

Life always has something new to teach us, and those who will most succeed are those who are quickest to learn. I truly believe the one factor that has contributed most to India’s success has been our readiness to learn, to adapt and, if necessary, to start afresh.

In the past, our success owed much to our industrious workforce, but times and trends and economic forces have changed. In the future, we can no longer only depend on our traditional strengths but must find also new skills, new ways, and new recipes for success. You will be part of that exciting quest, and if I were to restrict myself to just two sentences in imparting my advice to you, those words are “Be Adaptable. And stay alert”.

Just remember that - whatever you do and wherever you go – the learning is never a closed book, neither will your future prove a straight road. So keep your eyes peeled, your hands on the wheel and watch out for the corners. It may at times seem a bumpy ride, but never let it throw you.

And draw strength and inspiration from the fact that India has not only survived – but has prospered beyond all expectations. Quite simply because we never lost our adaptability, our flexibility and our willingness to learn.

Let us not forget that the end of our classroom days brings both release and triumph, alloyed with renewed resolve and a swelling pride in the institute that has done so much to enrich our lives.

So I wish you well, and I wish you all illustrious careers that will help carry India to do greater things.

This is where you are on your own, and can finally live up to the call of Nation that is India.

And we will watch you. And so will the rest of India.

I would like to close my talk with an end note containing message from Sant Ramdas Swami. The message says

मना पापसंकल्प सोडूनी द्यावा ! मना सत्यसंकल्प जीवी धरावा !

मना कल्पना ते नको विषयांची ! विकारे घडे हो जनी सर्व ची ची !!

Hey my mind, please help me in dropping all sinful plans

Let me embrace the truth and all the truthful plans.

Let me not dwell on thoughts of worldly pleasures. Such thoughts will only discredit me in Society and in the minds of all people around me.

I wish you good luck in all your future endeavors’.

Ulhas D Wadivkar.

BE( Elect), MBA(Finance)

Retired Vice President – Graphite India Ltd.

& Visiting Faculty to MBA Institutes

Management Consultant