What’s the definition of a ‘Maharashtrian’? / Where are we heading?

Credits – Shobha De (Great bhet, IBN Lokmat)

                Rajdeep Sardesai

This blog has two titles. Choose the one befitting. :)

Who am I? After the self-proclamation of being a Maharashtrian-to-the-core in one of my previous blogs, the Govt. of Maharashtra or rather the DTE is hell bent on proving otherwise. Confused, are we? Well, I was filling this application form today and believe me, it had FIVE types of candidatures, which means I was given five chances to prove that I am in some way a Maharashtrian, yet not one of them applied to me. They were successful in proving that I am an outcast.

All my previous generations have been maharashtrians, I eat maharashtrian food, I love thaalipith, I like pithla, and man do I love puran poli… I speak my mother tongue(marathi, in case you hadn't guessed that yet :P), I follow our culture, I love Ganesh chaturthi, I live in Pune, I did my engineering from this city, I like every aspect of this city (well, some of them need improvement :P ), but nevertheless, I like living here. Now WHAT more do I need to do to prove that I am entitled to a seat here as much as the others?

Incidentally, today, I happened to watch this interview of Shobha De’s where she was asked “Do you consider yourself a Maharashtrian?” and she was astounded at being asked such a question. And she replied, “Of course I am a Maharashtrian, 110%! That is not even a question”. And I feel the same way.

It’s saddening that a city like Ahmedabad or Delhi would welcome me with open arms, but not my own state. :(

Despite all this, despite having selected the “Outside Maharashtra Student” category on my application form, I stand firm on my statement that I am a Maharashtrian to the core and would like to see my state (where my roots lie) progress and prosper.

There have been a lot of agitations, morchas, a lot of 'dadagiri' by some sections of the society who claim to be pro-marathis (people who would like to see their people grow). I am not against their thoughts, only that their adopted methods cannot help them achieve their goals in the long run.

I agree with Rajdeep Sardesai when he says, “I too am proud of my roots. I too, would like to see the cultural identity of Maharashtrians preserved and the economic well-being of our community assured. Where we differ is that I am a citizen of the Republic of India first, a proud Goan Maharashtrian only later.”

For us to progress and to develop, we need to adopt better ways and come up with better, more constructive ideas than beating people up and forcing them to leave the state.

What we need is a medium to promote our rich culture (remember Tilak and the Sarvajanik Ganesh festival?) and polish the diamonds that we already possess.

Make love not war :)

Special credits - Rohit K :)..... happy? :P

  

What’s behind that smile?

Before someone accuses me of plagiarism, I would like to give the due credits of my blog to one of the Times Life authors (no hidden remarks on either Chetan Bhagat or Chopra here. I am sure they have received ample publicity and don’t really need my help  ).

Coming back, The Times of India has been the newspaper of the family for the past god-knows-how-many years. When we were kids, on Sundays, my sister and I would fight for Times Life – the only supplement that used to come in brilliant colors and a smoother-than-satin paper. It used to be fun reading the articles on human experiences, book reviews and food!

The level of excitement does not match that of my childhood anymore, but I still love reading the stories and experiences people have to share. Today the cover article was so simple and touching that I decided to share my thoughts as well.

A very simple question was put forth to some of the celebrities – what makes you happy? (Actually the whole point of the article was that women find more pleasure out of life than men, but that is something I would disagree on because every person is different and every person finds his own reason for happiness, be it a woman or a man)

Until this point, I really hadn’t given it much thought. In fact, such a question never even occurred to me. Happiness was something I experienced while the moment lasted and then forgot about it. But how as simple a question as this could have such varied answers tells that it really is not that simple. Man that was a complex sentence to write!! :D

But reading some of those answers made me realize it really is up to you to find happiness and gain strength from situations. There are going to be moments – some nice, some not so nice. People will come and go - some will stay, some won’t, but you will always be there – happy or not is up to you.

“Women and food make me happy”, says Vir Das. Cyrus Broacha says he avoids people and that makes him happy (it took me by utter surprise that such a great TV personality and comedian stays happy by avoiding people!). A few more men had some more thoughts to share. But my point here is, one is happy if one wants to be. Like say you’ve been bogged down by work pressures and in the end you don’t get the due credit for all the hardwork – what did you get out of it? Baldness, high B.P. and an unhappy family? I say just put the damn glass down once you come home. Don’t let office bother you at home. Spend time with your family and kids. They’ll make you happy and in turn you will reach office in a considerably better mood the next day. And who knows, your boss may actually think “Boy! Here’s a guy who can handle the pressure well, maybe I should promote him!”

Or say there’s this really cute guy at work who you really like but he does not like you. You may be his best buddy, you may even be there for him whenever he needs you but you are just not girl he was looking for! Don’t sit and fret that you don’t have a nice figure or you are not as beautiful as the girl in the next cubicle… forget the idiot who does not even realize your importance. Why the hell does your happiness depend on what that jerk thinks of you?! Be happy for who you are, be happy for how nice and helpful a person you are and be happy that you are you! Get your own identity girl! (ok ok all this because I was watching this show ‘Mahi way’ on TV yesterday and thought half the girls on this planet must be another Mahi and could do with some of my advice ;) )

Be happy for the person that you are and try to find happiness in the little things in life. Do something you like, help someone, bring a smile to someone’s face, appreciate the niceness in someone, appreciate all the people who are there for you today rather than fretting about the fact that a person who was in your life once, left you. For all you know, you might be looking into the past and the most beautiful person is standing here but you can’t see because your back is turned to the present and future!

A quote from one of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s movies:

It is simple to be happy but so difficult to be simple...

2010...

Hope this year brings joys, happiness, health, success and yes, the strength to face the tough times. I can't say let the tough times not be there (that would mean living in a dreamland :) ), after all isn't it the tough times that make you appreciate the beauty of the good? or is it just another one of those wise sayings? :D

Every year brings it’s share of joys and sorrows, highs and lows… for me, despite 2009 being a quiet year, it couldn’t have been more noisy! Contradicting myself, am I? J

Well, let’s just say I was a duck; appeared to the outer world as calm and serene, was infact paddling furiously within. Some thought processes were known to some around me, some were hidden and known to me alone. Though the thoughts were dime a dozen, most of them didn’t make any sense at a latter stage when reflected back upon and some of them still continue to endure. The mind is a strange thing, never gets tired of thinking, does it? My friend had once told me a scientific fact that there’s not a single second when the brain is not at work and I didn’t believe her. Today, I couldn’t agree with her more.

Nevertheless, hope the thoughts manifest into actions this year and bring with it the sweet fruits of success and joy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!