Cleaning Up

Moving on is like Cleaning up,

Moving on is like emptying your pocket which clinged onto manier bills you pocketed so that she won’t have to pay,

Replacing that blue shirt which you wore on your best days with newly brought T-Shirts,

It used to smell of her Jasmine, but now it Doesn’t.

It’s like discarding those old boxes, which held dear her cards that she gave you on your birthdays,

Moving that rugged couch out of your house, which was once epidome of coziness but now .

starting to hurt your butt,

Witnessing so much of tinkling, cuddling and chirping took place back then, but now it doesn’t.

Moving on is like getting rid of all that luggage that you have been carrying for no reason.

Moving on is just like cleaning up,

Just that after cleaning up it feels pale and empty.,

But after moving on it doesn’t. . 

- V. V. Talavanekar

The Brotherhood of Football

               All of us will agree, it is one of the best thing that happened to us all. Those muddy fields, Breezing Beaches, Parking lots, Streets, Hallways they all have been witness to this Divine Connection. Where we all united as one heart, one soul, one team; For nothing else but One Goal!

And this one is for you all, who believe in the spirit of this beautiful game of Football

THE BROTHERHOOD OF FOOTBALL

We don't smoke, dope or booze,

We take it to the field,

And let it all loose.

We refuse to depend on fate,

We make our own destiny,

Shedding blood and sweat.

When we go screeching to the ground,

It feels so dark We just pull our socks up,

And start for new dawn..

We need no guns, We need no arms,

We let our football spell the charm,

Our glare is enough but we mean no harm..

We run, we chase, be it at night be it a day

Sometimes we stumble, also an occasional fumble,

But together we always find our way.

Many people ask, But there is no real reason to this at all,

We just happened to be this way,

Bound by the passion, Bound by the Spirit...

Bound by The Brotherhood of Football..!

-V. V. Talavanekar

दावं

स्वैर हे शब्द,

स्वैर पण स्तब्ध,

अंतरी कल्लोळ,

सांगता येईना,

जिव्हा हि निशब्द

लवणारी पात,

राक्षसी जात,

सोडता येईना,

गर्दीची साथ

हवाबंद निवास,

मंद हा प्रकाश,

पाहता येईना,

मृगयेचा सुवास

उरीच्या साधना,

उरीच्या वासना,

सांधता येईना,

माझिया मना

ठेवितो नाव,

बंधिस्त जमाव,

चालता येईना,

तोडूनी दावं

-वि. वि. तळवणेकर

The Fortnight Fickle

Day 1 (Shreeyash's place)

               'Hey, you got some books on cosmology?' asked Prateek crashing into the room.

               Shreeyash was in the far end corner crouched low fixing the study lamp.

               'Who's the catch?' said Shreeyash without looking back. Still turning the screws of the lid.

               'No one!' replied Prateek in an even tone.

               'uu..huhh??' Shreeyash turned around with a raised brow.

               'Nothing', a smile appeared on Prateek's face, he was anticipating this. Out came a well-versed reply 'I just happened to come across a Nat Geo Quiz Contest so was intrested to know about cosmology, the winner gets a Telescope, We can use that to....'

               'Seriously dude is that your back up??' Shreeyash interrupted laughing. 'I have seen you enter this room with that baby-face expression of yours for countless times, and I don't need a second look to guess that it's about a girl.' He added putting the lamp back to it's place,

               '5 months back you were a football freak, Barcelona was your temple and Messi your god.. Then as that chick moved to another Messimaniac and you spent half the evening blabbering about some trashtalk I can't even recite.'

               'Well the thing was she was too much into balls than other things you know' Prateek retorted hopelessly.

               'Aah.. Is it? Then what about that girl you met at J.J.'s painting exhibition? Gotta say that was a class act Pee-Boy! To hook up with a painter.'

               Prateek gave a frown, 'Okay! It's a girl'

               'There you are!' Shreeyash said as if he outwitted Sherlock Holmes at a mystery.

               'Why do you hide it in the first place? and Where do you find these man?, cant you find a perfectly normal abnormal girl?'

               'Listen, first thing ours is a perfect match. I think finally my True Love is with me!..'

               'Making a pardon Mister! - True Love #760' Shreeyash teased.

               Prateek didn't bother to respond, he went on '..She likes to stay up late, staring at the skies, to the various twinkling stars, their constellations, talking about the universe and planets And you know better than anyone not just that i love staying up late.. I am also good at staring.. But at different planets.. (winks)'

               'Hot one or Cute one??' Shreeyash interjected again.

               'Cute one!' said Prateek almost Grinning.

               Shreeyash smiled in return, Prateek always amused him with his little wordplay. Shreeyash was looking through his bookshelf, extracted one thin handbook and handed over to Prateek.

               'Take this one. It will be good for the start.'
               'Yep, thanx' said Prateek as he admired the cover page for while with a galaxy of stars spread across it.
               'Wait a while if you can, maa is making paranthas.' Shreeyash tried to lure him to stay for the afternoon as he was clearly bored staying home fixing his room.
                'Naah.. In a rush! see you around..' Prateek started for door as he bagged the book.
                'Hey wait, a quick advice..'

               Prateek paused 'Proceed GURU!'

               'Cosmologists are known to be patient species, if you go too fast.. you might crash into a dead-end way before the fortnight.'
               'Yeah sure i'll keep that in mind.' Prateek waved and closed the door behind him.

Day 7 (Online Chatbox)

Shreeyash :      hey! howz it goin?

Prateek :          pretty gud til nw.

Shreeyash :      hmm.. gud 2 knw :D :D

Prateek :          answr this.

                         hw 2 go 2 Sun?

Shreeyash :      umm... At night??

Prateek :          nope! B)

Shreeyash :      pass! :/

Prateek :          U can go on any day except fr SUNday :P :P :P :D

                         hahahaha :D

Shreeyash :      lolzzz :P ahhaa! KASMOLAGI huhh?? hv built sum liking in a week ;) :P :P

                         chal gtg ttyl

Prateek :          Cool.

Day 14 (Prateek's place)

               'Hey Peee-Boy!!' Shreeyash walked in to a messed up room. A chart was kissing the flooring, few magazines were scattered on Bed. and somewhere in between was Prateek boxing the ruins.

               'What happened?' asked Shreeyash as there was no response.

               'Nothing.' said Prateek plainly.

               'What is it?' inquired Shreeyash.

               'Its over!' Prateek stood upright to look at Shreeyash.

               Shreeyash was clueless, He asked in one go, 'Why?? Why so fast? Last week everything was going great, now all of a sudden?'

               After dusting the desktop which for last couple of weeks hosted some out of the world things. Finally Prateek spoke sitting by the end of the bed.

               'She wasn't ready for a commitment! She was dating quite a few guys at a time, turns out your 'Go Slow!' sign wasn't appropriate this time around.' Prateek sounded angry and low. Shreeyash kept a straight face. He did not respond.

               'I thought of her as earth! And me: her lone moon, but she turned out to be Jupiter with more than dozen of moons around her....'

               Just when Shree thought of stepping in; Prateek's mom snapped in with a parcel in hand. 'Pratu, some parcel for you, 'Evening Shree....'

               Just as Prateek heard 'parcel..' he rushed towards her. grabbed it and pushed her out from the door only. She didn't even get to talk to Shreeyash.

               As Prateek locked the bedroom from inside. He turned around gleaming.

               'What's in there?' Shreeyash was wearing a question mark on his face.

               'I am a TRAVELER now !!' said Prateek as he punched the package in air! showing a Trekker's guide printed on it. They both burst out laughing as that Fortnight fickle ceased to an end for the time being.

-V. V. Talavanekar

शव-वास

           'पुरुषाने स्वैराचार करावा पण स्त्रीने मात्र पंख गाळून उंबरठ्याशी झुरावं', हे कोणा महापुरुषाचे कथन? सून डॉक्टरीण हवी पण तिने घर सांभाळावं नाहीतर आमच्या घराण्याच्या दिवट्याची चार-चौघात शोभा होते. मुलगी हवी पण का? तर वंशाचा दिवा फुलवणारे यंत्र म्हणून.
           मुलाचं प्रेमप्रकरण तरुणाईतील चूकभूल समजून माफ केलं जातं, पण त्याच परिस्थितीत मुलीच्या माथ्यावर अक्षम्य पापाचा ठपका का म्हणून? तिच्या कसोटीत सेकंड इनिंग नसतेच मुळी, पण जर मिळालीच संधी तर तिच्या पदरी येतो तो नेमका 'फोलो-ऑन'!

                                               
           रात्री चाळीतून शतपावलीस निघा, अथवा काही वेळ बाल्कनीत उभे राहा किंवा सोसायटीच्या गेटपाशी रेंगाळत राहा, हमखास कोणत्या ना कोणत्या खिडकीतून भांडी खणाणण्याचा आवाज येईल. त्या मागोमाग 'पांढऱ्या पायाची', 'अपशकुनी', 'नाटमोडी', 'वांजोटी', 'काळतोंडी' असला काय काय जाप होत असेल; अगदी शिव्यांचा शब्दकोश उघडला तर त्यातही स्त्रीचा यथेच्छ उद्धार केलेला असतो. पुरुष सहसा नामोहरम होताना कुठेच आढळणार नाही. 'बापचोद' बोलणारा आजवर तरी कोणी भेटला नाही!

           तिला प्रत्येक गोष्टीवर बंधनं  असावीत?

           मुलाने शिकावे, चांगलं settle व्हावे, आणि मग लग्न करावे.
           पण मुलीने १५वी करावी, त्यानंतर २ वर्षे काय तो खेळ-खंडोबा मांडावा आणि  चढावं लग्नाच्या बोहल्यावर. तिच्या जगण्याचा परीघ इतका नेमका का असावा? तिला तिच्या वर्तुळाची त्रिज्या का न आखता यावी? हे फेरे म्हणजेच का तिचं वर्तुळ? तिने एवढ्यातच घुसमटत जगावं?
           तिला तिची स्वप्न जगवायची संधी का न मिळावी? का इतरांनी लादलेल्या स्वप्नांची पूर्तता करत तिने दिवस काढावेत? जो तो येतो आणि आपल्या स्वप्नांचं ओझं तिच्यावर लादतो, आणि ती मुकाट्याने ते वाहून नेते. बापाला कन्यादानाचं पुण्य लाभावं म्हणून मनातून इच्छा नसतानाही ती लग्नास तयार होते, आईजवळ या विषयावर ब्र सुद्धा काढत नाही 'का?' तर, तिच्या पति विरोधात तिला जावं लागू नये म्हणून; करिअर दोघांचंही महत्वाचं, दोघाही तितकेच महत्वकांक्षी, पण निव्वळ बाळाला मातेचं वात्सल्य मिळावं या एका अटीवर ती आयुष्यभर आपला स्वार्थ पाठीशी घालते इतर अनेक इष्ट-अनिष्ट तृटींप्रमाणे.
           अशा अनेक परिस्थिती ओढवतात जेव्हा अगदी पोरकं असल्यागत वाटतं, अगदी मेल्याहुन मेल्यासारखं होतं. पण ज्याला त्याला ती मदतीसाठी ओ देते तो प्रत्येकजण तिची आणखी मुस्कट दाबी करतो; अगदी तिची सख्खी आई सुद्धा म्हणते कि, 'अगं, स्त्री चं जिणं हे दिव्याच्या वातीसारखं, जळून राख व्हावं पण ते हि इतरांना प्रकाश देण्यासाठी.'
           मुलगी म्हणजे परकं धन अशी काहीशी समजूत धरून एखाद्या पाळीव पशु प्रमाणे वागणूक देतात. इतकंच जड जात होतं तर जन्मतःच का नाही नरड्याला नख लावून सोक्षमोक्ष लावलात? हे असं उभं आयुष्य पावलो-पावली गळचेपी करण्यापेक्षा!
           यात पाहिलं तर आपण सर्वच गुन्हेगार आहोत. तुम्ही, मी, सर्वच! अगदी तो मर्यादापुरुषोत्तम राम! तो हि यास अपवाद नाही. जेव्हा अग्निपरीक्षेच्या प्रसंगी माता जानकीला जननी ने सामावून घेतलं, तेव्हा राम हि मातीस मिळाला.
           कुणास ठाऊक तिचा श्यामनिळा कुठे गुडूप झालाय!
           दोष द्यायला कित्येक अपराधी सापडतात पण शेवटी शिक्षा मात्र ती एकटीच भोगते. स्त्री म्हणजे साक्षात निर्माती, तिचं अस्तित्व, तिचं जीवंतपण म्हणजे साऱ्या जगताचा श्वास, पण मग जेव्हा तिचा श्वास कोंडला जातो तेव्हा तो शव-वास तिने एकटीने का म्हणून भोगावा?

-वि. वि. तळवणेकर

A journey towards the dark

I have a journey to make,

a journey by the silent lake,

a journey by an arid park,

a journey towards the dark,

On its way I stopped by some places,

Came across some intresting faces,

Some at the theatre, Some at the bar,

Some by the cemetry, Some by the altar

Some over a field of crop,

Some under a raining rooftop. .

But I know I mustn't hang on to them for long,
The least I can do is bid you a farewell song,

You must know I have some decisions to take,

as I have a journey to make,

As they say,

Its a long route folks,

Through which one will find manier forks,

Here there is no early Sunrise..

and longings are considered not that wise,

you can have no one with you for the ride,

And the moon would just refuse to turn the tides,

I know, I must choose and avoid further lies,

I can love no one but no one I should despise,

I know, I must dust my cloths and part my ways,

I need not leave you in a misty haze,

So You must know,

I have a journey to make,

by that silent lake, by that arid park,

A journey towards that infamous dark!!

-V. V. Talavanekar

The One Minute Manager: A Book Review

Author(s): Dr. Ken Blanchard & Dr. Spencer Johnson, Country: United States, Language: English, Genre(s): Business/ Self-help/Motivational, Publisher: William Morrow & Co

                 'The One Minute Manager' is written by Dr. Ken Blanchard and Dr. Spencer Johnson both being internationally recognized authors. Through this book the authors want to help people experience better health and lesser stress through better communication. 
                 The facts will tell you that it has sold more than 13 million copies and been translated into 37 languages. And that's what this book talks about 'facts' about behavior and 'truth' that is inevitable. The truth which will hold good universally, be it in a circus, at home, at school or at any organisation.


SUMMARY:
                 The story revolves around a young aspiring manager who wants to know  the secret to efficient man-management. And after analyzing so many 'autocratic' and 'democratic' managers, he comes across 'quite a guy' who calls himself 'a One Minute Manager'. Who tells the young man to know the secret to his 'productive yet supportive' organisation from his subordinates. And when he finally lands up on 'the secrets' he finds himself nothing but amused at how simply and quickly he learnt a great deal about how to come across a Win-Win situation in case of producing results and winning over the people just by making them feel good about themselves and also being honest and upfront about the tasks in hand.

WRITING STYLE:
                 Also what is fascinating is the charm in his writing. We often come across 'managing mantras' which will bore you to death but this hundred odd paged copy is a reader's delight and with no uncertain words and to the point metaphors which leave you with a knowing smile on your face. The author ponders upon keeping things simple, short term and efficient leading to greater productivity. And yes! he double underlines on 'Implementation' part. And how well does he implement in his writing skill. The language is simple and the vocabulary is so easy on you that you will hardly take a peak into The Oxfords or The Collins.

MY THOUGHTS:
                 You just cannot put it down till  you turn the last page And by the end of it you yourself feel like a One minute manager yourself. But don't forget! learning is half the part, implementation is the key. Just like i tried to fill you in with this 250 word review but alas! I failed, just because 'The One Minute Manager' is that very good, and I am still learning (*wink*).

                 This whole review may look very one-dimensional but it really is 'Quite a Book' just like the One Minute Manager! And I am sure you will hit the Wheeler or Crosswords soon!

-V. V. Talavanekar