Appreciation, Awards etc. etc.

Ever since I started understanding things, I was never crazy for any award. I always had a curiosity about it though. It all came to my mind after 8^th April 2011 when I got an appreciation certificate & a lovely silver coin at the hands of creative director of my company (here ‘my company’ refers to the company that I’m working with… it’s ‘my’ company though not owned by me!). It was the company’s 14^th year’s completion celebration. All my colleagues including seniors, juniors & the production team gave applause and the creative director (with her hand as a mic) asked me to say four words… I said ‘thank you, thank you’ (4 words you see!). Well… jokes apart, but for me, it has always been a nice feeling when everyone is looking at me (hopefully with a smiling face) & I’m the only person on stage for those few seconds.

Wasn’t my 1^st ever award though, it took into flashback when I got my 1^st award at the age of 5 in some interschool speech contest… I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was a speech about Lokmanya Tilak on his death anniversary. It was a water-bottle & a tiffin-box with a few chocolates inside.

By-hearting shlokas from ‘Geeta’ & presenting it all in some school function (called as ‘Geetai-Pathan Pariksha’) was one of the most common activities those days… I wonder if today’s kids know what ‘Geeta’ is! On one such occasion, I still remember it was a red cricket ball that I won as 2^nd prize when I was about 10 years. On the same evening, I lost it! There used to be a common toilet in a corner of the open space where we used to play many useless games… and I was never so sad to see the ball right in the middle of the ‘po’ in the basket… yukksss..! I could see it but couldn’t take it back home.

Later, I continued to participate in drawing, speech, chess, acting & every possible contest & competition… and continued to lose many prizes one after another. I hardly stood first! The big yellow office file with all those participation & appreciation certificates is still kept in my drawer & it really feels nice to go through it once in a while. It contains many ‘Geeta-Pathan’ certificates, photograph taken while accepting a certificate at the hands of Marathi film director Shri Kumar Sohoni, a couple of newspaper cuttings praising me for good performances, an envelope that contained a Rs. 100/- note as 2^nd prize in mono-acting, a runner-up team certificate in inter-college volley-ball tournament, a review of a commercial drama that I used to play with my theatre group in Mumbai, and a few more to list. (It also contains a few related to academics which I purposely ignore while seeing the rest!)

One bronze medal that I won in a swimming competition during a camp… it is kept in the showcase where there are over 50 various trophies won by my sister are kept. And last, but of course not the least, the souvenir given by Maharashtra Mandal Dubai as an appreciation for doing backstage for a play at Indian Consulate Dubai some 4 years back. Special thanks to my friend N.D. & his wife!

It definitely makes me feel better when I look back & recollect all those moments when I got all these appreciations and awards. Well… there may be a few more to come my way… but as of now, thanks to my team for supporting & encouraging me and taking me in a trance where all those moments appeared in front of me.

Cheers!

Abhijit

Wo Subah...

Wo Subah…

Every morning we wake up… brush, have tea, take bath, eat breakfast, go to office, attend meetings, work, have lunch, come back home, watch tv, enjoy some drinks, eat dinner & sleep… and this routine goes on almost every single day except Sundays or a few other days. Sometimes we happen to come across a few news of natural calamities somewhere in the world, bomb attack in some town; and very often news of theft or fire in town, murder, rape, suicide or corruption cases & that’s all about it! I always wonder if there would be any such morning when I would open the newspaper & won’t find any of these news… and honestly I’m very much disappointed to say that I won’t find any such morning.

Suddenly things move around me & everywhere in the country, to support one ex-army-man who stands against the government for not passing a ‘bill’ since last few years. There are further complications regarding the bill, but without going into much details of it, one knows that the bill is a step against increasing corruption in the country & this short, old man wearing simple white kurta-pajama & gandhi-topi gets support like anything from all over India and abroad too! Personally I liked the way people united for some good cause.

After India won the world cup, I read an article which said ‘if such a huge crowd comes on streets against corruption, the country will grow faster of course in a better way’; and the article turned into reality very few days after it was published. Glad & proud to see that!

It’s important to protest against any bad practice that appears as a barrier in growth of the country, be it corruption, poverty, unemployment or casteism & racism for that matter! The question is does it have a long-lasting effect? And will the good things be maintained? Gathering at some place, holding boards in hands, doing ‘naarebaji’ definitely increases the moral of the society; but if that’s the ultimatum & if nothing would turn good later; everything is vain for sure. It’s actually not a mob’s job, but every individual’s responsibility!

Fighting against corruption & destroying it through its roots is the ultimate aim… and from 74^th rank in ‘corruption index’, we want to take India at least in 1^st position as the most ‘clean’ country (here ‘clean’ refers to ‘zero corruption’) to compete with Denmark, Singapore, Finland, Sweden & New Zealand and I’m sure if every individual thinks about it & urges to do so… it will be sooner!

That reminds me of a wonderful advertising campaign of a tea product, having a catch-line ‘Roj subah sirf utho mat… Jaago !!’ and takes me back to a late 50’s tune sung by Mukesh & Asha Bhosale – ‘wo subah kabhi to aayegi…’ lyrics by Sahir & music by Khaiyyam.

Abhijit

A Hug (Jhappi)

When I say that word – Hug – I never mean just a physical action… of course not ! It’s rather not an action, it’s a reaction to some action I’ve seen, heard or felt just a few seconds prior to the thought.

‘Jhappi’ is a word I guess that has come in existence a few years ago (in a film ‘Munnabhai M.B.B.S.) & I believe it became more popular just because it rhymes with the word ‘pappi’ meaning kiss.

A ‘jhappi’ is an expression… to express something you feel but can’t fit in words… to express something that’s never said… to convey a warm ‘thanks’ through a warm touch… to show an affection for someone, to say ‘I care for you’, ‘I love you’, ‘I miss you’ or ‘I want you to continue staying in touch’ for that matters. Myself being not so expressive human being who likes to talk less, I think there is nothing beyond ‘jhappi’ & it conveys anything & everything that I mean (most of the times)

Well…… I may think of offering a ‘jhappi’ to the writer after reading some lovely set of words (one can call it as a ‘poem’); hearing a few words from someone who thinks about me every 3 minutes during a day (and I don’t know about the dreams while sleeping); or some shocking news that comes my way & I can’t think of any word to express how sad I am at that point of time; or meeting someone who stays far-far away & is likely to meet me may be once in a year; or seeing some fantastic performance; or listening to some ‘out of this world’ musical notes… time for a ‘jhappi’ need not be an occasion, it can be any damn time.

Winning a tournament or a game that makes me feel on the top of this world (something like India winning the cricket world cup), I actually feel like hugging anyone who is standing near me & enjoying the match… no matter what the place is… it can be a hospital lobby too ! (Rather when India won the world cup 2011, I was literally in the hospital lobby…)

These ‘or’s can go on & on & on......

It has actually nothing to do with physical… so guys, don’t think twice if you feel like offering a ‘jhappi’ to someone you care for… so also, never feel awkward if someone offers it to you… it’s a feeling & has to be felt every now & then. So go for it with open arms… feel it… enjoy it !

Cheers ! (read it as a warm ‘jhappi’ to everyone who reads & likes this!)

Abhijit