Trk Family Meet at Ostra

The 8^th Trk Family Meet was held at Ostra, a tiny village around 80 km from Jodhpur city from 21^st October 2012 to 23^rd October 2012.  The venue was selected at a Jain temple site that is nestled in the lap of foothills.

It was great feeling to reach at the secluded place blessed with abundant nature bounties.  Fresh and clean air, sweet water, neat and hygiene food and above all smiling villagers chanting bhajans at Ma Sachaiya’s temple at the top of hills were refreshing.  The white marbled temple with its beauty and peaceful atmosphere had given special solace and energy to us.  The lodging and boarding arrangement were at the Guest House of temple which was fully equipped with all amenities  and well appointed rooms and a big hall for organizing cultural events. 

Venue was selected near Jodhpur keeping in consideration limitation of movement by Baiji and Ashok.

The meet programme was organized at the behest of Niranjan Mohnot duly supported by Induji and Beenu.  Their uninstinted  efforts made it sure that everybody come and participate.  We were 36 members present at venue out of 47. 

Her Leadership Mrs Vineeta Kumbhat had circulated minute details of the each programme well in advance.   She also talked to each and every member of the family personally and encouraged them to participate.

On 21^st October, programme was started with homage to Baosa and honoring to meritorious students in the family.  The medals were given away to  Akshya,Payal and Chinki who triumphed in the professional examinations. Charmi was also honoured with medal for scoring 100% in 10^th Board.  Then we had series of different events. 

Presentation by kids:  Multilple topics were on agenda for presentation : My prospective bridegroom; If I were a girl and My dreams.  Arpit came out with a beautiful theme, “If I were a girl” on audio video presentation and judges obliged him with first prize.  Dimple was cheered by crowd and she bagged 2^nd prize for her humorous presentation on “My prospective bridgegroom”.

Many games were played in the afternoon session on 21^st by Chandu bhabhiji, Induji and evening was meant for outdoor games and Arti and Bhajans in temple.  Late evening was followed by Dandiya and competition of popular film songs.  At 12 midnight we all retired for rest.  However, some of us went to temple site on hill where “Rati Joga” was in progress.  Neeru was privileged to sing alongwith local ragis with his bhajan..”ranucha ra raja….”

The 22^nd was designed for the whole day programme.  A  lively debate on contemporary topics like The Merits  and demerits of Face Book, Watching cricket is a waste of time, Junk Food Vs Regular food, Organised day routine Vs unregulated routine, Live in relationship Vs marriage, Bahu should be treated as Bahu or daughter. Renu-Raju,  Niranjan and Arpit as a group were adjudged as best debators.    This was followed by another interesting game of Quiz by Beenu.  Ashok/Chinkiand Prasan/Sumit  bagged the  prizes. 

Mimicry organized by Beenu was participated wholeheartedly by one and all.  Chinki and Chinku done wonderful job by copying habits of their father and mother respectively. 

Evening was meant for bhajans and dance competition.  As usual, both kids and elders took participated in the events.  Finally Arpit and Kshitij were chosen best couple dancer as they performed on Punjabi Rap.  And as usual Nupur stole the show with her unassuming performance.  All attitude and intellectual games were won by ladies of the family viz Renu, Anju,Sunitaji.    Late evening after 11 pm was reserved for gossiping.

Numerous games were also played among them special Housie on family nicknames by Ashaji and Chnki, the games of proverbs and cinema names by Induji

23^rd October was the concluding day.  The presentation ceremony was honoured by Bhai sab and Jijaji Grodhan sa.  All winners were awarded with prizes, as a gesture of affection.  While appreciating the efforts of youngsters and ladies of the family, Bhai sab expressed happiness on participation of each and every member of the family.  Her leadership Mrs. Beenu kumbhat also thanked to all for coming all the way from different locations and participating in all events.  With the resolution of house the responsibility of organizing next family event was passed on to Chinki our own Nupur.  Anuranjan wanted more creative ideas and something different in performance particularly in cultural events.  He has promised he would come out some very excellent idea in next meet. 

 

The most important feature of this programme was that all Bahus of family played very active role in all events.  The mimicry by Shilpi was just excellent, Priya also obliged the crowd.  And children enjoyed the most by playing in sand.  The joy of Rishu, Adi and Akshi was the star of attraction. 

In category of 1 to 5 years, our kids Nandini and Adi in Dance and singing sequel, Akshi, Adi, Rishabh and Nandni, in Dandia enthralled the crowd. 

Neel Kamal and Chandu bhabhiji were in full traditional costume in Dandia and ideally won the best dressed participants.

 

Sunitaji and Renu in Mind twister, Renu and Anju in Mobile character, Kshitij and Renu in Card Game, Chinki, Shilpi, Kartik and Arpit in Fancy Dress, Chinki and Anju in Song quiz, Kaku and Anju in letter filling made their strong presence felt. 

 

Our great musician and singer Kartik made our evenings very soulful and melodious with his Synthesizer and sweet voice. His gazal “Chithi na Sandesh……” made the crowd jittery.  Beenu and many audience could not stop their eyes being mist.   Chinki our own Lata Mangeshkar made the crowd emotional with her gazal ….”Aaj Jane ki jid no karo….”.  Ideally both were chosen as the best singers.

As usual Raju and his whole family entertained the audience with his trade mark group dance and copying Bhabhiji and Jain sab.  Kshitij with his mummy and papa enchanted the spectators with his prop dance.  Our Anju made the family immerse in the meditation with her early morning yoga session and she herself lost in deep meditation when danced on Rajasthani songs.  The parody of the singer presented by Beenu Pradeep was also appreciated by the crowd.

My spontaneous dance on “….Kesario hajari gal ro phul…..made Kamala baisa so energetic that she got up and started dancing like a 20 year old girl.

It was really a very wonderful experience seeing all cousins and kids enjoying together and sharing common platform for a better tomorrow.

The special thanks and appreciation was given to Induji for taking all troubles for organizing events at Ostra. 

 

 

Mokalsar Days

It is said that a person always tend to remember his childhood.  There is great impact on rest of his life for whatever he learns during  growing age whether through formal education, extra murals and experience, rightly known as formative years.

Baosa, my father  was posted in Barmer district, therefore, he preferred to settle in Mokalsar, a village with facilities of good housing, abundant drinking water, schooling and government medical facilities. 

Ramdan Hundia Govt Primary school was my alma mater.  My sister Kamla was teacher who  got me enrolled to school. 

We had a big house with open space.  In those days there were typical names of parts of house like Ora (room), Saal (hall), Basali (front room), Bada (space where cows were kept), Rasoda (kitchen), Malia (First floor) and so on. 

In 1987 I happened to go to Lunavala and Khandala from Mumbai after my training at GTC, Mumbai.  I saw a great rush of public  enjoying water splashing, natural fountain, falls, water canals and mountains.  The 90% of the crowd was from Mumbai and they all were cheering the beauty of nature.  Though it was really a nice site, but then I realized how I had been lucky.  For  urbanites these beautiful scenes are only for the purpose of excursion once in a blue moon, but for us this was a routine in Mokalsar, particularly in rainy and winter season.  The whole village is resting in the lap of high hills known as Chhapan ka Pahad.  The hills have various layers.  Between two hills there are natural valleys. The streams of water coming from up hills become fast flowing canals.  It looks like the various branches of family coming together at single point and they flow jointly. 

 The village was blessed with many such places known as Mamaji ka Than (Place were local deity Mamji were worshipped), Beh Talab (Running lake), Abotio ki Beri (The Sacred Pond), Chopla (small lake with entry from four sides).

 Mamaji ka Than had multiple small ponds with crystal clear running water.  It was great fun to come there after climbing a hill  for about one hour or so.      Behtalab was again a great fun during monsoon.  There were great falls and number of small ponds and lakes  forming out of gushing water coming from a radiant gravitational force.  Almost all kids and elders alike used to enjoy such bounty  of nature.  There was no restriction either by parents  or anybody, so it was free affair at any time. 

The complete inhabitation of the village was based on caste and religious lines.  Therefore, you can easily be  identified where you are staying.  There used to Chhota Rawla (small thakurs), Bada Rawala (Big Thakurs), Brahmno ki gali, Kumahro ka bas, Lunkaro ka bas, Pani ki seri and so on.  Gori Pipli used to be the main Bus Stand where a huge Peepal tree gave  cover to the passengers and vendors alike.   The oswal community was very rich and they had magnanimously donated for the welfare of society.  Hundia family had done great service to community by building primary, higher secondary schools.  They also constructed hospital, hostals and done  many more philanthropic activities.   The architecture of the Jain temple is similar to that of Dilwara  temples. 

 

During our time there used to be three schools one middle school for girls, one primary school for boys and one secondary school for both boys and girls.  Mostly classes were regular.  Lot of focus was on physical activities.  Every day parade and exercise on drum beating for around  one hour  was compulsory.  Independence Day and Republic Day functions had special significance.  Rehearsals for cultural events and ground cleaning used to take place at least 15 days in advance.  We used to wait for the day.  Shri Dau Lalji Sharma, our head master was full of energy and he had command our English language.  He started mock tests and pre board examinations to ensure better results for metric students.  The sole credit goes to him for making school results 100%.  Our soul will always thank him for making school a very sacred place.  During recess time, he would play Bhajans of great singer Pradeep on loud speakers  that had imbibed great musical values in us. 

Like any other village, Mokalsar is also  vibrant and a colourful village that not only leaves fondest memories but is also infectious. The culture of this village is well known for its ethnicity and vividness.

Fairs & Festivals of Siwana Tehsil creates a sense of colour that covers the entire place adding to its beauty. The preparations for festivals, big or small are always elaborate. Every festival would have religious and mythological, seasonal or historical significance. Different fairs are associated with different reasons such as fairs with religious importance or associated with changing seasons to welcome monsoons or spring or something else, reason may be any each fair is celebrated in joyous spirit. The Fair of  Chamunda Temple in midst of hills was of special significance.  To see Bhopa (person who encompass   deity in his soul) and solving problem of village folks had special effects on our mind. 

Folk Dance & Music of Mokalsar  are graceful and energetic forms, which reflect vigour and dynamism. The expressions, spontaneity, exotic & bright coloured attires are all part of Rajasthani styles of dances. Some of the popular dance form performed here are Ghoomar, Holi,  Kacchi Ghodi and Ger. It is not just an art form that exists for entertainment or as an expression of creativity it is also a source of livelihood. The musicians create a soulful melody with its various instruments such as sarangi, kamaycha, dholak, harmonium, matkas, etc.  Bheels  used to play special mouth organs.  Though I was very young, but it was special pleasure to enjoy the whole night “Rati Joga” or “Jagran” when local folk musicians used to lift the whole atmosphere to new height of spirituality.  I still remember the eulogizing  Ganesh with the starting prayer..*The mare ghar me aaijo re….*

Though anybody would long to live in such beautiful environment, but my destiny had something else in my account.  So left village in June 1979.

 

 

 

Foreign Direct Investment

Government has cleared the proposal for FDI upto 51% state in direct retail trade in India.  This will pave way for big International retail chain like Wal Mart, Tesco, Carrefour, Metro etc to open their shop in India. This opening has come with certain riders like minimum sourcing of 30% of their merchandising from small and medium industries, presence only in cities exceeding population of one million and Sates are free to allow or not to allow their presence.

There has been big hue and cry on this decision.  Principle opposition party BJP, its friends and some of the government allies are opposing this move from tooth and nail and  observed Bharat Bandh on 20^th September 2012 in protest. 

There is apprehension that with entry of multinational in retail trade, about 5 crore small traders will be rendered redundant and this will give rise to unemployment.  They also contend that it is anti farmer and as such anti India. 

We have seen the rule of BJP during 1999-2004 period and noticed that as far as economic policy of then government is concerned, they were similar to that of congress.   The only difference of ideology is that Congress does the politics of “secular” character and BJP is seen as pro Hindu.  But their move to oppose FDI is only a opposition for its sake or I would say it is populist move alongwith Mamta, SP,CPM and their brethren who came together to show their solidarity otherwise always fight like street kids.

Now let us examine whether FDI will harm the interest of small trader community.   Such fears were raised earlier also when domestic player Reliance announced its foray into retail trade in the year 2005. There was big vandalism in some parts of the country.  Reliance stores were ransacked by mob.  However, Reliance went ahead and opened its stores.  Now see the change.  Reliance and Big Bazar   brought the technology, gave experience to the consumer of  modern retail.  It gave freedom to the consumer to enjoy the best  quality product at the most completive price.  So effect?  The neighborhood traders or “mom and pop” stores learnt the tricks of the trade.  They overhauled their stores, they also introduced technology, made their store more clean, more hygienic, better equipped and ultimately who is the gainer?  Both trader as well as consumer!!

There were big doubts  and protest when KFC came to India.  Today we have large international chains like KFC, Mc Donald, Pizza hut in food business in nook and corner of India.   But with their advent, did we do away with our traditional dishes, Idli Sambhar, Vada, Aloo Bhaji, Samosa, Dhokla?  The only difference which brought in the country that our eating joints have become more modern and competitive.

Now the let us see the fear of losing business of small traders who are typically our neighbor hood stores.   Though there may be some realignment of retail practice by small traders, but theory of  losing business as such is ill founded.  World over the big retail chains like Wal- Mart, Tesco, Carrefour, Metro etc have very big sized stores with size ranging from 30,000 sqft to 2,00,000 sqft.  In India it is next to impossible to find such huge space in the high street because of skyrocketing real estate prices.  It will be totally unviable enterprise for them to be in the heart of city.  Therefore, the next best course of action will be to find suitable space in the outskirt of city or at the best in the lower ground floor of the huge shopping complex.  Our kirana store have the advantage of proximity to consumer,  credit facility, personalized services like home delivery, rate bargaining  etc which will be typically missing at large stores.  Certain countries like China, Malaysia,  Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Phillipines, etc have allowed 100% FDI in retail business, but their local business channels are still thriving.

By not allowing multinational companies to operate from our country, we only thwart our consumer to get best of  deals.  Consumer is benefited by way of getting best of international products at the most competitive prices.  Our farmer will be richly benefited because there will huge demand of his produce by these stores.  Today more than 30% of our farm produce wasted because of lack of proper storage  and supply chain facility.  FDI will strengthened supply chain management.  Farm produce will be better produced, better stored and ultimately both the consumer and farmer will be gainer.  In India, we have tremendous problem of adulteration in food items like pulses, spices, edible oils, etc.  These items are mostly supplied to consumers directly through unorganized small retail stores.  The small stores, will be able to source their merchandise through these  big stores who have strict quality control system.  Thus there will be serious blow to unscrupulous middleman/trader.  A rough estimate suggest that there will surge of around 10 million new jobs after arrival of FDI in India.  Further government  Policy mandates a minimum investment of $100 million with at least half the amount to be invested in back-end infrastructure, including cold chains, refrigeration, transportation, packing, sorting and processing. This is expected to considerably reduce post-harvest losses.

There is another point of view of some quarter.  They say that East India Company entered India for trade during Moghul  rule  and they governed us for 200 years.  This analogy has  got no sound footing.  When East India entered India, Moghul empire was at this nadir of shattering.  There was no concept like unified India.  There were princely states, they had their own currencies and sovereignty and most of the time they were fighting to each other to establish their superiority.  * A strong legal framework in the form of the Competition Commission is available to deal with any anti-competitive practices, including predatory pricing.  We have recently seen the changes in Income Tax laws whereby Vodafone was not allowed to go scot free despite judgement from Supreme Court.  Therefore, any attempt to wipe out local business will not go well with the our stringent regulatory framework. 

Just imagine Can Coasta Coffee or Starbucks  give fight to our own Café Coffee Day.  More such our own store will come up.  We need not worry.

 
   
   
     
   
     
   

   
   

Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage

The debate of arranged marriage and love marriage is not new in India.  Both concepts have their own merits and demerits.

 Arranged Marriage:  In arranged marriage normally parents scouts for the probable candidates for bride or bridegrooms.  With active consent of their son/daughter parents usually fix up matrimonial proposal.  In India, this practice is mostly common.  As a tradition, it is assumed that when the girl enters new home, she automatically becomes member of the new family and her acceptance in the family becomes more strong.  Love and emotions take back seat.  But with the passes time, the strong bonding take place between husband and wife and their offspring become the source of their inspiration.  In this way they tend to remain as a happy family.

However, the strong negative point about this system is that there might never be actual love between boy and girl.   Still they  live together because of the social compulsion.  Love might not be there because their differences in thoughts, different social backgrounds, different economic status of the family and so and so forth.  Therefore, there is risk of unhappy family or breaking of the marriage.

Love Marriage:  In Love marriage, normally boys and girls know each other for a fairly long time.  They understand each other habits, thoughts, cultural values and family back ground.  The element of marriage takes place only when they feel that their relationship or courtship should result into marriage.     It is therefore expected that this will be a serious relationship.  They will have strong love and bonding for each other.  There will be more respect for each other.  More free space and less possessiveness will be the order of the day.

 

But many a times, we have seen love marriages in India proved to be a disaster. The “made for each other” tag vanishes as soon as they enter into a family life and they start realizing the difficulties of practical life.  The girl is not able to accommodates when the boy gives time to his parents, share his income with them, giving importance to his own brothers and sisters or rationalizing his own expenses on wife for which he was unmindful till marriage.  Perhaps we may call this as marriage as the result of   infatuation   and not love.

 The moot question is which method is better?  I think both systems are equally good.  We have to adopt both the ways in the present context.  In case of arranged marriage also both the boys and girls should get enough opportunity to interact so that they can understand each other.  It is rightly said “MARRY IN HASTE AND REPENT AT LEISURE”.   Parents still think that if the boys and girls meet quite often before marriage then it may prove negative and their engagement might not last.  But I think this is not correct approach.  Let them share their ideas about  post marriage family life. Let them develop a good bonding for better tomorrow. 

 Love may not always accidently happen and therefore, somewhere need for Arranged Marriage will always be there. 

Hike in Petrol Price

Government has recently hiked petrol price by Rs. 7.55 –a- litre.  A steep hike of 10%.  The actual impact to consumer is the tune of Rs. 8.00-a- litre.  The reasons given for such hike is that the oil companies are bleeding and their reserves have been eroded because of   mounting losses.  In India though the administered  prices were dismantled long back yet Public sector oil companies are controlled by the government therefore government dictate the price.   In view of this pricing policy, price based on market mechanism only remains on  the papers.  But the moot question is whether government justified further  burdening middle class who is already overloaded  with plethora of taxes?

Government has itself accepted that there is policy paralysis in India because of coalition structure.    It waited first for assembly elections in some of the states to over and then  parliament session to close, to blow this lid of hiking petrol price.  Further it had  extreme fear psychosis from West Bengal Didi  Mamta who will always flay its tantrum and act as a opposition leader to halts government for pursuing its policy.    Government found new love in Lalu Prasad and   Mulayam Singh and mustard courage to announce steep hike in petrol prices.  Now question is why only petrol prices?  Why not that of diesel, Kerosene and LPG?

There is huge cross subsidization of diesel, Kerosene and LPG.  If there is reasonable hike in all the three, then definitely petrol price will alone not suffer such a  casualty.    Every year government gives subsidy to the extent of Rs. 1,90,000 crore on account of diesel, LPG and Kerosene.  Government has its own logic.  If LPG price is increased, then common man will suffer.  If diesel price is increased, then the freight cost will go up and there will be inflationary pressure in the economy. 

But the fact lies somewhere else.  The world over practically there is no difference in prices of  MS and diesel.  A major component in fuel prices is taxes.  A consumer has to pay bear custom duty, excise duty and VAT.  In some states  like Punjab and Haryana, the VAT is as high as 40%.  The oil companies are holy cows suffering from operational inefficiencies, corruption, indecisiveness, nepotism and ultimately this leads to higher cost of production and poor consumer is made to suffer.  Government is charging such astronomical  VAT to finance its resources.  But what kind of resources ?  Government does not have money to pay the salary to school teacher, maintenance of its hospitals, cleaning of roads, providing potable water to its farmers  for health of citizen.    But see the contrast.     It has resources to provide the best of luxuries to its ministers, bureaucrats, police officers, and VIPs.  In Punjab alone, the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister does not travel without a fleet of atleast 25 cars, surrounded by not less than 100 commandoes and so is the case with other ministers and their deputies.  Why this extravaganza?  Perhaps our democracy has become feudalistic type of governance.    The great nations and great leaders do not indulge in this kind of hypocrisy. 

However, there is a ray of hope.  “When there is will, there is a way”.  While giving reply to Parliament during discussion on Lokpal Bill, Finance Minister Pranav Mukherjee said, “Corruption cannot be routed by blow of a whistle, but government will take concrete step by making public institution more and more transparent supported by technology.  Refund of Income tax, Making of Passport  are such efforts in that direction.”   This leads us to believe that if government takes effective steps burden on common man be minimized  if not wholly mitigated. 

How can we achieve the goal of helping poor without disturbing economy.  The scheme of ‘Adhar’ is one step in that direction.   A few concrete steps like stop subsidizing the product, instead  give subsidy  by way of cash in the bank account of poor as per consumption norms, hike in excise duty in diesel run cars and SUVs, stop unproductive expenditure, reassess threat perception and cut expenditure on so called VIPs, strong anti corruption measures like Lok Pal Bill or equivalent, strong action on tax evasion are some of the steps which government can take to bring the economy on track.   

But surely, putting common man to suffer by hiking unprecedented petrol price does not go well with anybody when government has other options, like reducing excise duty, VAT and stopping cross subsidization. 

MY SCHOOL DAYS IN JODHPUR

The autumn is at its scenting ostentation.     The weather is at its best of pleasantness.  The cool breeze of morning followed by bright sun shine is so soothing that the mind and heart go for prayer and thanks God for making life so beautiful.  And when you are enjoying such beauty of nature, the FM  is rendering “Kanha se aaye badra”, “koi gata ..main so jajata”,” tuje mere sur me sur mila de” and so on by Yasodash, you are completed lost in mesmerised effect of music and of course its associated beautiful  reminiscences.    This has prompted to me write this

Having passed middle school in Mokalsar and after appearing test for National Talent Hunt examination, my train hurtled me to Jodhpur for onward education.  This was a rule in the family that everybody has to go to Jodhpur after middle school, though matric facility was available in Mokalsar.  But sheer thought of getting good education, parents, sent us to Jodhpur.

It was 15^th June, 1978 when I took  Bhildi  Passenger and changed train at Samdari to board on Barmer Passenger, to say good bye to Mokalar for ever and embrace a new city called Jodhpur.  I was 13  at that time. I  got off at Jodhpur Railway station at around 3.30 pm.  But I did not have the correct address, but had some vague  idea,  so walked upto Jalori gate and then took a tempo who unloaded me at my destination.      I didn't know that the excitement and happiness I had in my mind for joining new school and new location will put a new challenge to life…living in a hostel kind of situation without involvement of parents.

Our flat had One Bed room, one drawing cum study room and one Veranda and a kitchen.  Three brothers were already there.  Two were studying and the and the third one was working in a nearby town  who used to visit us once or twice in a fortnight.

Hanwant School was obvious choice by my father for secondary education as list of meritorious students were prominently displayed on the walls of School. 

I spent three years in the school and I do not remember any day without any teacher in the class.  And surprisingly, in the very first year I was called on the stage at the Annual function and honoured for having 100% attendance.    This was enough inspiration for me to do a little hard work.  In  all the three classes from 9^th to 11^th I stood first in the class.  Xth was of course Board and I secured 11^th position in all over the Rajasthan.   This came without any additional efforts.  I was simply studying regularly and did not carry burden of tension in my mind for Board exams.  Coming from a humble background of rural life, I was in indomitable spirit to impress the school with my extracurricular activities also. 

Therefore, I  took active part in debate and essay writing competitions.  And as the luck would have it, I stood on top ranking in both the contests at District Tournaments.

I had special challenges on acceptability in the school as I was new.   Therefore, it was vert pertinent for me to be recognised so that I get due respect from peers and teachers.  I observed a few days and found that some of the students are very good at studies and very prompt in response.  I tried to develop friendship with them by being more attentive in the class and making myself first every time in response.   Besides, remembering the lessons, neat assignments, focus on language was a must for me.  And very soon, with all humbleness, I made my presence felt in the class.  Participation in extracurricular activities particularly essay writing and debating were added in my profile as a hobby which I still pursue.     Lot of opportunities were coming in my ways from District Administration, Rotary Club, Lions Club to participate in these programmes.  And honestly, I did not lose even a single opportunity.  It was really a learning experience when I faced female students of St Patrics School in debating.  Their accent, their delivery style and sense of clothing, expression, and confidence was unparallel.    The first opportunity came to me to speak on stage on 15^th August , 1979 when I was class X student and was asked to come on stage and speak extempore.  This day was also coincided  with Krishna Janmasthmi and I was to speak on both the occasion.   And was surprised to see that I could speak for 10 minutes non stop and got standing ovation from students and teachers alike. 

There was no dearth of encouragement from school side.  Shri Mahendra Singh Chouhan was our Head Master and I was having privilege to buy any text book from Laxmi Book Depot at the expense of school.  What a great man was he!  He understood the psychology of a kid.  And I never allowed him to be disappointed when come to performance.   I also bagged many prizes in District level competitions in debate and essay writing. 

I never attended private tution classes.  But our routine was very disciplined.  Daily two hours practice on type writer was a must to score marks above 90%.  Since we all brothers were there as students, so house hold work was also important.  I was sharing the responsibility of collecting water, cleaning the house and utensils.  Though in our building we were four tenants, but cleaning of the whole building was my utmost priority.  When seeing a kid of school cleaning the building, all other neighbours particularly women folk would come out and extend their help.   Morning and evening walk was a part and partial of my life.  I used to get up at around 5 o clock, used to go for a walk upto Satsang Bhawan, used to participate in the morning prayers.  Evening used to be still more pleasant; we would have our dinner by 7 pm.  Raju nromally joined me in the evening walk.  We used to take different routes every time to enjoy the serenity of nature.  Walk upto Nehru Park and Shastri Circle was our routine. 

A common friend in the family introduced me to a lawyer Shri Paras Chopra in 1980 when I was in class X.  I started working with him  and got initial lessons for pass port applications, Sales Tax Returns, Income Tax Returns, Bank Finance and start up of new venture.  In the process I had to travel upto Jaipur for all these work.     Now when I think of past, I just smile.  My travel used to be either in Bus or train and  I still vividly feel smell of bidis in the train coaches.

My trip to Jaipur used to be of special significance.  My brother’s in laws house was there.  Suresh, my bhabhi’s brother used to give me company.  Both of us would cover   Jaipur city on bicyle and used to visit offices together as I had little knowledge of geography of Jaipur.  Evening used to be for merry making.  We would  play all games, have nice food cooked by mother of my bhabhi.  Card games, Dice Games, merry making, cinema in Raj Mandir, visit to Ganesh Temple on Moti Dungari road and so on were always on our itinerary.

To prepare for board examinations,   my friend Ashok and I agreed to study together.    I used to go to his house from 12.30 noon to 6 pm in the evening.    During this period, we would study continuously without break.  Of course, in between energy drinks and fruits were always served by his Jiji to keep us refreshed.   I developed a very strong bonding with Ashok and I still consider him as my best friend.   The festival of holi used to be either during examinations or immediately after examinations.  There used to be special charm attached to celebration of this festival of colours in Jodhpur.  The celebration used to be a weeklong affairs.  I remember folk songs of a local singer, Dhinga Gori Mela, Gawar to Mela and host of activities in the city area, men and women attired in colourful costumes, enjoying festivities, the fragrance of jodhpuri sweets, suparis and smell of new clothes were used to be deadly combination to keep us mesmerized. 

I very strongly feel the school time is the best  time in the life of anybody when he enjoys maximum, he learns the lessons of life, the text book education which is really useful in life, and a time, whose memories are normally not faded, a time when you make friends for ever.  Therefore, let kids fly in the big sky called school,  let them inhale the fragrance of beauty of this world.

Jai hind.

Republic Day, 26th January 2012

My short speech in the office.

My dear brothers and sisters,

On the eve of 63rd Republic Day of India I congratulate you and greet all soldiers of the country. Our armed forces are known for their valor and supreme sacrifice to keep us safe. I once again salute them heartily.

Today while coming to office, I came across a fat lady on main sector 70-77 dividing road. The lady was crossing the road without caring about the traffic lights and high speed traffic. I stopped my car and straight went to that lady and told her that while her own life was in danger, her a single act could have caused multiple accidents. She looked at me and said, “Gentleman who are you to give me sermon. You know today is Republic day, the day when (in 1950) our constitution was passed by Parliament. We got Freedom of Movement as our Fundamental right and better you do your business”. I simply bagged sorry and went away. Dear friends, “Is this the meaning of Freedom”? We have taken the words of constitution the way we please. So we take freedom as free passes without any restriction. We have simply chosen to erase and ignore that we have also certain obligation towards society. While constitution has given us fundamental rights, it also speak about the fundamental duties of citizen right next to it. And very first duty is that we will respect the Constitution of India and abide by the governing laws. But how many of us care to understand this?

We in Punjab, perhaps 90% of us go to foreign countries particularly USA, CANADA,UK, Australia and also seek permanent immigration. We admire their traffic system, their laws, their civic sense, their cleanliness, their infrastructure and what not. And many a times, live in inferiority complex that in India, we lack all these beautiful things. We start comparing ourselves with uncivilized society. But still do we learn a lesson? That is the moot question! Once we come back, we are “Ajad” again. The first thing which we do is to spit at any where in corner of airport building. We sit in our car with family members who come to receive us. We will throw wrappers of chocolate on road. If traffic cop is not standing then we will simply jump the traffic light. If caught, we will bribe the cop. If distance of our residence is more, we won’t mind wetting the walls of any building to relive our bladders.

My dear brothers, I am not trying to give you examples of all our wrong doing. But the core thing which I want to emphasis is that these are very small things which do not cost us anything. They are very easy to adopt. It is rightly said “example is better than perception”. Our children learn from our behavior. Let us give them finest example of our behavior. I am sure, at some point of time, we must have felt embarrassment when our kid scolded us for violating zebra crossing.

Therefore, without taking more time, it is my humble request to all of you, let us make our country a beautiful place by our simple and good behavior. International community comes to us to understand our rich culture and heritage. Even the renowned TV host of USA Ms Oprah Winfrey was mesmerized by our family system and caring for elders when she visited us recently. So let us buckle us. Respect our laws and respect ourselves.

Jai Hind.