आयुष्य म्हणजे नक्की काय ?

So here are two imaginary ladies (:P) talking to each other on a Wednesday evening..


A : What am I doing in life? Everyday I just get up , go to the gym , get ready , go to work , go back home , chores+cook , read , sleep and repeat! But where am I headed , where am I going?

B : I have similar feeling.. Its like we are on auto pilot. Nothing changes , nothing breaks. Good nothing is broken...


A : yes , I have no complains about it.. Actually I am really happy with everything these days.. But so what , what next.. Whats life?

B : I know , a million dollar question , actually a billion dollar question , whats life?

Then these two ladies keep talking about Life and whats life for 30 minutes

A : You know you are right , we need do something extra , to keep going.. To enjoy life.

B : Are you kidding me ,  do you want to say that we do not enjoy life?

A : Well absolutely not! We are few of those amazing people (hAHA) who live to their fullest. Who are always smiling , having fun , living in the moment

B : I know.. We are awesome!

A : But still , I dont know whats life?

B : Yes so true , I still think that there is more to life than this.

A : I know , btw did you checkout the sale on Ann Taylor? It looks good.

B : Wait let me check ....(a moment of pause) Wow , the blue dress ? Its $169!! But its so good

A : We think alike, that blue dress is so pretty , whats the cost after the discount?

C : Wait up girls , I have been listening to your crappy discussion on "Whats life" for almost 39 minutes and now you decide not to conclude it and talk about Blue dress?

A and B : Exactly our point , That's life!

The Infinitesimally Slow Progress

Sometimes its so frustrating to be involved in a process that shows infinitesimally slow.. I am a part of one of such activities. and trust me whatever efforts you put in.. Its still slow.. Very very slow..

That brings me to one of my favorite books , the Outliers.. There is a chapter in that book that talks about 10,000 hours to mastery.. supposedly if you practice something for 10,000 hours you will be effortless at it..

A few years ago , my kathak guru had said that to me once, you need to practice to such an extent that it becomes effortless. I have never forgotten that. Anytime I am at a concert or watching some form of art , I am reminded of her. Recently I was watching a YouTube video from one of the Pt Ravi Shankar's concert. A true maestro he was..I know it hurts , it hurts to play the sitar.. Its not easy to play.. It physically hurts to sit in a position , to maintain the pressure so hold it at an angle..Well this is too basic for the maestro. The point is being a part of infinitesimally slow process to achieving mastery in the same.. To the level that it seems effortless. Everyone feels they can do it too.

Like MS Dhoni's helicopter shot. He is so effortless that it seems easy.. But what about the years of practice that went into it.. That must have been a slow process too.

या ढगांच्या मागे चंद्र आहे हे मला माहितीच नसत तर कदाचित मी त्याची वाटच बघितली नसती
उगीचच बघितला चंद्र ... आता ढग कधी जातील आणि पुन्हा चंद्र केव्हा दिसेल याची ओढ !

पण जर मला माहीतच नसतं चंद्र आहे , ढगांमागे का असेना , आहे नक्की तर....
तर वाटच पहिली नसती मी त्याची ... थांबले नसते त्यासाठी ...

पण मग ते सुंदर प्रतिबिंब ... ते सुद्धा नसतं पाहायला मिळालं ना ?
शांत तलाव , बोटी , चंद्रबिंब ... आणि मंद वर ... आहाहा

कशाला हवयं असलं क्षणिक सुख .. नकोच ते प्रतिबिंब
नकोच तो चंद्र आणि नकोच आस , पुन्हा ढग दूर होण्याची !

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काय मजेशीर असत ना मन , हेही हवय आणि तेही !

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आज संध्याकाळी मस्त Ray hubbard lake च्या इथे जेवायला गेलो होतो आम्ही,... पोचलो तेव्हा सुंदर चारदा दिसत होता , पाण्यात  प्रतिबिंब सुद्धा दिसत होत आणि काही वेळाने चंद्र दिसेनासा झाला. भरून आल होता आकाश ... खूप खूप ढगाळ वातावरण !
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I was stuck in traffic sometime back. I could see the hotel from the cab so I decided to get out and walk.. I thought that will be quicker as I had been in the can for 50 minutes already and was really bored.

So I walk out of the cab with heavy bag , heels ,wearing a suit on the beach front...sweating and walking towards my hotel.. As I start walking definitely I am inappropriately dressed for the place.. After a long day , heels have already started hurting after a long day and the bag....blaah blaah blaah...

So in order to reach the hotel soon ,  I back my decision of walking saying - I will reach earlier and I can get some nice time on the beach.. Ohhkay ... Thats some good motivation... I am trying to walk faster just hoping to get some nice time on the beautiful Brazilian beach.. The stuck cars make me feel better about the decision.. Well I still can see the hotel... I keep walking and doesn't look like I have covered enough distance...

After few more minutes (Definitely felt like much more than what it was) I finally see the hotel closer.. Cmon Gayatri a little faster.. the thought of spending the evening on the beach is the only motivation... After a few more minutes , I reach the front gate of the hotel and guess what!
I look at the traffic and see the same cab driver there...

Ohhhh.. I could have just waited! And then I realized my moms typical saying.. Sometimes waiting solves the problems!!

Anyways the evening that I spent on the beach definitely made up for the sweaty hurting walk!

The roots and Wings Dilemma

Yes the roots and the wings. It is one of the dilemma that we have experienced at multiple decisions , situations..

मला पंख हवेत उडण्यासाठी ... उंच उंच जाण्यासाठी
बेभान होऊन खूप खूप उंच जाण्यासाठी
उंच उंच उडताना घर हरवलं तर ?
आणि बेभान झाल्यावर  पुन्हा भानावर आलेच  नाही तर

मला  मुळ सुद्धा हवियेत ... घट्ट  धरून ठेवण्यासाठी
हो अगदी घट्ट धरून ठेवण्यासाठी
इथेच तर ती उब आहे जवळीक आहे
इथेच तर पकडून ठेवण्याची आहे ताकद आहे


Well a lot of times, this crosses my mind and I am unable to decide what do I really want?  I wish I had both... I am sure you have been there .. this dilemma has been there since forever and ateast to me it looks like its gonna last forever!

कुरुक्षेत्र ते धर्मक्षेत्र

आयुष्यभर जी काही कर्म आपण करू त्याचा हिशेब चित्रगुप्ताच्या दरबारी  द्यावा लागतो असं म्हणतात .. कुणीतरी याच्यावर विचार केला आणि युग-युगांपासून  सांगितली जाणारी महाभारताची गोष्ट आणि त्याची पात्रे - ही लोक चित्रगुप्तासमोर काय बोलतील ? त्यांनी जे काही केल , ते का ? कसं ? अशी सगळी उत्तरं देतील का ? त्या क्षणी त्यांच्या मनात नक्की काय चालू होतं ? असे हजारो प्रश्न आपल्या मनातले .... आणि त्यांची उत्तरे !

मला महाभारत बघायला अगदी लहानपणापासून आवडतं .... कदाचित बाबांमुळे .... ते मनापासून महाभारत बघतात... आम्ही ते जुनं महाभारत (बी आर चोप्रा ) इतके वेळा बघितलंय की काही सीडी खराब होऊन गेल्या !
गीता आणि आजूबाजूचे भाग तर पाठ व्हायचेच राहीलेत....  कुरुक्षेत्र आणि त्या निगडित साऱ्या घटना फार सुंदर दाखवलेल्या
आहेत ..

आता पुन्हा वळूया धर्मक्षेत्रा कडे ... Netflix वर ही series आहे .... Its such a wonderful concept.. प्रत्येक पात्र आणि ते माणूस म्हणून , आई म्हणून , भाऊ म्हणून , बायको म्हणून , मित्र म्हणून , काका म्हणून आणि अशी अगणित नाती निभावताना त्याने काय योग्य केला काय अयोग्य केला .... याच विश्लेषण .. चर्चा ..... जे आरोप इथे त्यांना एकमेकांवर लावता आले नाहीत ... ते सुद्धा लावले गेले ....   कधीही न व्यक्त केलेल्या भावना ... न ढाळलेले अश्रू .... सर्वात महत्वाच चित्रगुप्ताचे भावना नाही तर तथ्यांवर चा विश्वास !


एक एक पात्र ,  म्हणून  येत ... द्यूतक्रीडेचा विषय आल्यावर प्रत्येकाच्या त्याबद्दलच्या भावना आणि राग दिसून येतो ... शेवटी  स्वतः कृष्ण समोर येतो त्यावेळी खोपा गोष्टींचा खुलासा होतो.. व्यास आणि त्यांनी  लिहिले ? किंवा विदुराची द्विधा मनस्थिती .... भीष्मांची प्रतिज्ञा आणि असहायता

कुंती आणि कर्णाचा संवाद ... भीम आणि दुर्योधनाची भांडणे .. Its nicely captured.. Well written .. Very focused

London Diaries

London - A beautiful beautiful city! I loved it to the core. Last week I was in London for a convention. Day one - I was jet lagged but super excited so decided to walk around the Kensington area. I got Prabhat road kind of feeling. (पुणेरी !!!! Cant get over Pune ever :P) ... Thats when I decided , I will walk /take tube and roam around London without taking cabs... It was so much fun.

खूप खूप भटकले , जे popular tourist spots  आहेत ते तर पहिलेच पण खूप चालले , वेगळया वेगळ्या रस्त्यांवरून ... खूप लोकांशी गप्पा मारल्या .... ब्रेक्सिट ची प्रदर्शन पहिली .... trafalguar square वर गर्दीतली शांतता अनुभवली ...  Buckingham palace , change of guards , Westminster Abbey आणि बरंच काही ! आणि नेमक Wimbledon च्या काळात तिथे असल्याने , wimbledon ला सुद्धा जाऊन आले... #TheQueue म्हणजे नक्की काय ते आता मला कळलं... Watched Raonic's game on Center Court , Serena/Venus Williams , Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis... It was a real treat.. I felt like a lost kid in the candy shop as I could not get enough of anything!

The city is beautiful , The history goes back to centuries and some of the monuments have been preserved since forever..  I wont be able to write much about the trip that the emotions/feelings/memories are flooding again...