rod1944's Blog

Elections in India--------------
Very recently ten municipal corporations elections were witnessed by our state including Mumbai Pune, Nagpur etcc.this means nearly the whole urban area faced the elections. Elections ring in tremendous noise, loud propaganda and rivaltry. If Gandhiji were alive today, he would have run away from elections. From the moment elections are declared, starts a period which imposes a code of conduct on the people and the political parties. Whereby all the new inaugurations are banned. Anything that sways the minds of voters must be avoided by candidates. Another important feature of elections in India is birth of several new political parties. Like mushrooms these political parties spring and after the elections they disappear as fast. This shows political immaturity of of the people.
Elections when declated, certain of class of people gets active. Elections open for them a Pandora’s box. These good for nothing fellows get busy in organizing meetings, processions, erection of hoardings and sticking bills on walls. In city areas the elections stir in atmosphere hopelessly. Even the very young brigade gets swayed by elections fever so much so that they take out processions singing Janata party jindabad! Looking at the this scenario even the most ardent supporters of democracy would say-----
For God’s sake stop this tom-foolery.

Refreshing Diwali---------------------
The first day of Diwali is called Narak- Chaturdashi. All festivals in India are religion based. It is called Narak Chaturdashi because it is fourteenth day. On this day Naraksur, a great evil giant was killed by Lord Krishna and thousands of girls were freed from his captivity. Indian girls give special treatment to men. Married girls give to their husbands or unmarried girls give to their brothers. My wife awakened me early morning. She massaged me with perfumed oil and Utane—special powder of various herbs. She made me sit on a special seat and massaged my hair, head and whole body carefully. She painstakingly rubbed my limbs and neck. I was very much indebted to her for this royal treatment. Even the bath room was decorated for the royal bath. My wife took me to bath room and gave me a thorough bath of warm water and using expensive soap. She had taken complete charge of my bath, she was rubbing my different parts and pouring soothing water and I was enjoying this royal bath immensely. As if a deity was giving me royal bath and I was her disciple. She was giving me the instructions and I was mechanically moving my parts to her. So wonderful was the experience that we both were lost in it. After the royal bath, she made me wear new clothes. Then she treated me to royal feast of Laddoo, Gilebi, chiwada, chakali, sev and halwa. After the sumptuous meal, she gave a glass of warm kesar milk to drink. Thus it was singular morning of Narak chaturdashi. O God let my wife love me like this for years to come.

Anna Hazare speaks----------------------
On the 10th day of his fast Anna gave a speech on Ramlila ground before thousands of his followers. Now Anna fast is entering 12th day and he is showing terrible resilience in his fasting. He told his followers many things from his past experiences of the government handling of farmers’ grievances and corruption. The people in this country are sovereign not the parliament. Anna forcefully said that the idea is a mistake that parliament is sovereign. The elected members of parliament are servants of public. The people in this country are plagued by corruption and this is the main issue now. Corruption is a all pervasive devil which has corroded life at all levels. It is at the level of a peon as well as in high places. The common man is really harassed by this corruption. He remembered that when he was a youth of 18 years, how he belabored a cop for demanding bribe from a poor farmer. Anna decided there and then to fight corruption in life and ever since he has made it the mission of life. He lives in temple and sleeps in the temple, he has not married in life. But this 74 years feeble man is rock solid in his determination to fight corruption at all levels. Now the people are saying that parliamentary procedures are slow and that debate has to be made in parliament on various points before any law could be made. However Anna has made three main demands to government. They are a strong Lokpal at the centre with power to punish and imprison the corrupt officers. Secondly prime minister, parliamentarians and CBI in lokpal’s ambit and thirdly citiens charter should be drawn and published. Anna is shrewd man. He said that the governemtn has many times deceived him and he will not be deceived this time. Now government is ready to table the Janlokpal bill before the parliament and BJP also decided to support it. If that happens, let us hope that Anna’s fast ends on happier note.
Annna Hazare ended his fast as a victory of people on 8/28.

Who is Anna Hazare?--------------
The millions of youth in this country never asked this question. They accepted his leadership unquestionably, unequivocally. Anna Hazare first came into limelight in 1985 when he agitated for his village Ralegan Siddhi. He made many reforms in his village absolutely not relying on the government help. Anna provided the villagers employment and taught them the habits of cleanliness and good housekeeping. His reforms became the talk of the town. During this period he agitated with local and state governments several times. Because of his agitations some of the ministers had lost their cabinet births in state assembly, in Maharashtra. Anna shot into national politics with the issue of Lokayaukta bill. He needs an ombudsman on corruption. He is a man of great integrity and honesty. He believes that corruption has corroded all walk of life in INDIA. And this belief is now ingrained in the minds of millions of Indians especially youth. This is the success of this great leader. He has given the clarion call to millions of Indians to do or die.
Of late many cases corruption got publicity including Bofors, Adarsha, Two G scam, Sand mafia, drug mafia etc. add to this corruption in common man’s life. Go for any document such as a domicile certificate, thousands of rupees in bribe you have to pay. Public is suffering in all this cases. You pay the bribe and still lot of procrastination on the part of government clerks. This is all infuriating to common man or Am Aadami.
Because of the corruption there is price rise. So this all encompassing corruption must be nipped in bud, Anna says. The call of Anna Hazre is supported by millions of his followers all over the country, from students to villagers and urbanites.

Anna Hazare is arrested------------
In the whole handling of Anna Hazare’s case the lack of maturity on the part of Delhi police is evident. The lack of feelings on the part of government is discernible. See the whole chain events that to led to arrest-
1. At 6.30—Mayura Ganj ANNA woke up and prayed. At that time Anna’s party did not know, but they had an inkling as to what lay in store for them.
2. 7,00 Police arrived on the scene and Anna was taken in custody and apparently taken to CS PARK. But he was actually taken to police mess where he was detained for two hours. Meanwhile the mob of his supporters was increasing. They were shouting slogans at top of their voices.
3. 12.00 Anna was moved to magistrate’s office. A mob of 5k was already there shouting Bharat Mata Ki jay. In spite of the fact that rule 144 is proclaimed the mob was increasing by the throngs. People were gathering almost anywhere on the streets of Delhi. The whole nation is wakened to the call. There was feeling that something untoward is happening. There was anger and frustration in the minds of people. There was a feeling that government is doing injustice to Anna. The participation of youth and ladies is the most surprising fact of the proceedings. Thousands of young men and women had voluntarily participated in the agitation. They were donning the caps bearing Anna’s name. right from Mumbai and New Delhi to small hamlet like Ralegan Siddhi, thousands of youth in procession took out a march. It was a rare show of strength and wonderful show of solidarity.
4. 3.00 Anna Hazare is officially arrested under section 151 of IPC. And taken to Tihar jail. Where he is lodged with Kalamdi, what a juxtaposition.

Anna Hajare’s fast----------------
The show down between Anna’s team and the government is on 16th August at New Delhi. Anna declared his intention to go an indefinite fast against corruption in the country. He says that appointment of Lokpal in centre and states, under whose preview even a prime minister and judiciary will be brought, must check the rampant corruption in the country. That is why the gentleman and his scores of followers have been agitating for several months now. He has a large following in the nation especially of youth and ladies. In India corruption is a gigantic problem. It is all pervasive and all encompassing. Right from a small time peon to central minister even the central cabinet is corrupt, he alleges. Because of corruption there is inflation and the prices are rising. To nip in the bud this corruption is next to impossible, but with appointment of Lokpal it can be effectively contained.
The common man believes in the integrity of Anna and his team. They are in agreement with Anna that 70% corruption can be curtailed by Lokpal bill. Now there are two Lokpal bills, one presented by Anna team and the another government. Govt’s bill is called by Anna as a Jokepal bill. Whereas government is adamant on pushing its own bill which is not in confirmation to what Anna’s team desires. Yesterday on 15th August, on our independence day, Anna Hajare had organized a press meet in which he declared his determination to fight the corrupt government unto death. He announced that the agitation will be by peaceful method. If arrested he appealed to common man that he will continue the fast in jail. Annna is detained today along with his trusted comrades’ like Kiran Bedi and Arwind Kejariwal. So another Sue Keye is in making by our ruling party-UPA.

Shammi Kapoor--------------
My most favorite hero of yester years, my darling boy of Hindi screen and a man of true grit, has died on August 14th in Mumbai. It is unfortunate that the popular hero was suffering from kidney trouble. A man who had given scores of people pure joy had to suffer dialysis in the end. But God is great because he was relieved of his pain soon and he breathed his last peacefully. Shammi had to struggle in initial years in film industry. I remember when I was in 8th grade, I saw for first the time his movie and it was Tumasa Nahi Dekha. To tell you the truth, we were mesmerized by his charm, his romance and his personality. Overnight he became our hero. Those were the days of Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Deo Anand. These three heroes were ruling supreme on the minds of film goers. Shammi came, he saw and he conquered hands down.
The most melodious songs were picturised on Shammi. His Brahmachari, Kashimir Ki Kali, Dil Deke Dekho, Tisari Manzil, Prince, An Evening In Paris, Manoranjan and of corse Tumasa Nahi Dekha has given heavenly joy to Hindi music lovers. In an era when Hindi film music was on the waning, his films have given the most memorable songs to lovers of film music. He worked with most of popular heroines of his era, including Nutan, Sadhana, Rajashri, Mala Sinha, Hema Mallini, Sharmila Tagore and Tanuja. Shammi also played some comedy roles like Dil Tera Diwana in which he played havoc with Mehmood. His other popular movie is China Town in which he played a double role. The music of China Town is land mark in Hindi film industry with song Mera Nam Chin Cho. The versatile actor passed away is shocking thing to many of his fans like me. I liked his personality and charm very much as Elvia Prestley. May his soul rest in peace. God bless his soul.

God is supreme-----------part 2
God’s presence must never be doubted by anybody. I know there is lot of suffering in this world. Hundreds of children are going hungry and many people are having hardships. But you know Karma theory, by that theory everything can be explained and everything falls in line. As man sows so he must reaps. It is as simple as that. Jews suffered in second world war because of their doing. But Karma theory assumes the rebirth of man and according to me rebirth is total fallacy. On scientific theory it is proved that rebirth of man is not possible. You know matter can not be made nor it can be destroyed by any means. It is universally accepted truth. We know that population of India has grown by leaps and bounds. From where these large no people have emerged? One explanation for this phenomenon is as follows-----they have destroyed an equal numbers of plants. You know plants have been cut on large scale paving road for large population. So everything is there, everything gets a rebirth according to decree of God and everybody has to suffer his misdeeds and atones for his sins.
I believe that man has no rebirth for reasons given above. Or he has rebirth on some other planet, or galaxy other than Earth. Karma theory is not helpful in that context. It is beyond the explanation of man. Man has to learn many secrets of God. So I entreat you, have faith in God. Spare some 15 mins after your bath for God. Pray with your heart aleast remember Him with full concentration. Who knows, your devotion may register at God’s pulpit. If not anything you will get satisfaction that you worship Him. Your mom will get the solace that her son finally bowed before God. Have faith that God is there, even a diehard person like me has faith in God then why not you. Whatever our arguments with God, we can complain at the time of our meeting with God in our daily meetings, isn’t it? God is supreme.

I am not sure if this email was rhetorical and meant to convince me, or you were expecting an actual response. But going on the latter assumption, I will just take the last line from the email:
"God is merciful and God is great!"

So, if God is really merciful and great, why does he allow so much pain and suffering? There are so many small kids who go hungry today. Some die because of hunger, some of them get chronic diseases because of unhealthy conditions.
Why does God not take care of them?

6 million jews were killed in concentration camps by Nazis. Some of them died in extremely painful ways including poison gases. Why did God allow it to happen?

Its easy to avoid the whole problem by saying that it is beyond our comprehension. But that is completely wrong since it is just refusal to think with our own mind.

The sages (or mullas or priests) that you are refering to are the cause of some of the worst problems of humanity today.

amol
- Show quoted text -

God is supreme----------------
This is an attempt to answer Amol’s query ‘what proof you have about the existence God’. You know that man’s life is complicated and more complicated is his body. In his body there are thousands of different bones and muscles and innumerable glands and their functions. If one of the function is disturbed or in case of system’s failure it can cause man insufferable pain, okay? You may explain it on basis of science but can you explain this please------------
In the recent blasts a small girl miraculously escaped unhurt. Or a small baby who fell from thirteenth floor of tower in Mumbai was caught by a woman and saved, that too miraculously. Similarly in the train accidents many people are killed whereas many others are saved. We say they are miraculously saved, but can you explain these miracles? So my friend, there are many things in this universe that has no explanation on scientific basis. Not a single leaf of a plant moves without the permission of God. There is no exaggeration in this statement my friend. There is some power which controls the movements of this universe. It is of couse beyond the comprehension of the man. Those who understand the decree of God are called as Sages. You may shun the existing religious practice as going to temple or church but you can not deny the existence of God. God is there and God is omnipresent. God is not a man nor he/she is woman. God is all pervasive entity that is in every man and woman. So as long as we say that miracles do happen, we cannot deny the existence of God.
God is great, God is omnipresent and God is all powerful. So my friend showing disrespect to God is an unpardonable mistake.
God is merciful and God is great!

My dad’s first visit to Ambernath----------------------
We alighted on Ambernath platform on one evening of the month of August, 1928. Torrential rain was falling, we somehow managed to come to gateman’s cabin. Out side on left side, means down side a large well was seen on which some women were filling their pitchers. On the right side there was no sign of any inhabitation. Otherwise the whole area looked deserted, some tin shops were seen on the left side but they were all closed, except one shop. The handful passengers who came by the train had walked down the only footpath that led to Khuntawali. After the rain subsided we also followed suit. The atmosphere on station was ghastly and we thought of returning to Mumbai by six o’clock train. But in that village we were to stay for a life time. The road was straight and walking down it we saw several snakes. It appeared that there were quite a lot of snakes in this area. In fact there were two roads going from railway station, one leading to Power house, on this road there was no bridge, so to go to station, people had to take another road. On the road to Khuntawal, near chemical factory there was a wooden bridge. The road was deserted and eerie and we had to walk carefully for the fear of serpents. In the twilight some slums were visible. The rain had completely stopped now and woolen mill’s hill was visible. After making some inquiry we reached Hukmachand’s hotel by 7.30 pm. Seth Hukmachand was sitting in the cashier seat, he said, “O come on in Seturao and have a seat” I forgot to tell you that with me was Kashinath, an old friend. Woolen mill happened to be first company in Ambernath. Leather cloth factory which was of the same owner was the second factory. That day in the store room we slept on the only shack that was available.
On the other side of railway nothing was visible except for few hutments near the station and beyond on a hillock some houses. Rest of complete open space was vacant except for Shiv Mandir, which was standing majestically near Waldhuni river. And beyond Shiv mandir was Ambernath village away from Ambernath station. Ambernath fair was on Shiv ratri day and festivities continued for three days. People from far and near came to fair and trudged along the hillock to have a darshan of Shri Shankar.
From next day our duty started. I went to Kalyan with seth, he introduced me to various suppliers. I used to load the goods on a handcart and bring it to hotel. Then take my meal and rest and then used to sit on cash. We had day and night access to cash box but never did cheat Hukamchand seth.

Autobiography------------------30
Meanwhile new developments were taking place in my physique, there were outwards changes in my looks. My voice had become hoarse and hair growth had become visible on my chin and my lips. Visits to gym were showing its effect on my arms and calves. Of late I was taking interests in girls but ignoring them I had to concentrate on my studies. Mathematics I studied from seventh std came to up to date with tenth std. my personal habits changed and I was wearing ironed dress and a handkerchief was always in my pocket. In short I had become self-centered but whenever there was a call for helping others I was in forefront. This my nature was liked the people in our wada. Our dada was at Rihand dam and he used to write to me time and again. Though we were in 10th std we had nott gone to any trip so far on behalf of the school. So we took ourselves to Matheran, a nearby hill station in winter of that season. We carried our own materials of cooking and the like. We walked on foot to Matheran from Neral railway station. We enjoyed our trip but we were tired at the end of day. Moreover cooking made us impossible for sight seeing since our whole evening and noon time was wasted in cooking. Nevertheless we enjoyed our trip immensely. We had stayed in a dilapidated temple and the memories of ghosts are sufficient to throw us peels of laughter even today.
In 10th std our Bapat sir has organized an election of student council. In the election we saw factionalism and groupism as I lost the election but the experiment was laudable. In sports our class excelled in cricket and kabbadi. In cricket my ringing sixes are still remembered by many. But in kabbadi I was injured and my smallest finger was permanently became deformed. That year happens to be my last year of rest as the school life is concerned. Next year was my SSC and the year of tremendous tension as our building at Amebernath was being built. Moreover we shifted to Ambernath on rental basis to keep watch on our construction. We had taken an apartment in Karnik’s bunglow. Karnik was friend of my father and a gentlman. I had to travel daily to attend the school and supervise the construction work. Needless to say that it affected my final result in SSC mathematics and English, I hoped for winning prizes but in both I stood second. I was too disappointed to say anything. As a result of staying in Ambernath I slowly fell into bad company. Ambernath was then notorious for tadipaar people. Ambernath was also a paradise for bootleggers and pick-pockets. I joined Sadanad Krida mandal as my gym and soon entangled with their affairs by becoming their secretary. Ekanath Shide was founder of Sadanand and I became his right hand man. We two of us presented Sadanand krida mandal glory and brought it into limelight. In politics our allegiance was to Congess.

World cup Football----------------------
                               Hats off to South Africa gentlemen for organizing the world cup football so impeccably. Such a young nation doing so neatly  is a matter of pride to all the Africans but especially to the citizens of this young nation, really laudable. There is no confusion, no resentment and no unnecessary delay anywhere. It is estimated that South Africa will earn a revenue of 63 millions dollars simply by accommodating the guests. Millions of dollars of other business will generate, this is extra. That is why everybody in the nation is happy at the moment. The hapless islamists should LEARN a lesson from SA. To organize this gigantic event SA  has worked hard no doubt, building the infrastructural amenities like roads, telephones and hotels etc. south Africa has kept ten stadiums ready for this world cup event. Out of which Greenpoint stadium in Capetown, Moses Mobhida stadium in Durban and Nelson Mondala stadium in Port Elizabeth are world class stadiums. Ellis park stadium in Johannesburg and  Peter Mokawa stadiums are also world class. For the first time I saw all the matches on TV. It was hilarious to watch USA and England’s match and at the same time Germany-England, Germany-Argentina and finally Germany-Uraguay tussle to decide third position. Germans played superior game than their opponents in every match but the last with the Spaniards. In that match they were on defensive throughout.
                      The Dutch were unlucky indeed. Throughout the tournament they remained uneaten but in the last game they had to taste the defeat. The match was heading for o-o position, it was last game even after the extra time, and suddenly the Spaniards surged forward and registered their only goal, it was the winner. How sad for Netherlanders, in front of their Royalty. I had declared from the first that Netherlands is winning the world cup. Spain had reached semi-final for first time but poor Netherlands had the honor for third time. I thought Netherlands will win this time as they have waited for so long but providence had something different in store for them. When the match ended I nearly collapsed not that I had monetary interest in  the match but I love the Dutch football. As an independent judge, I should have liked German game but from very beginning I had made up my mind that Dutch will win. With a little luck the Dutch players won  all matches against them and remained unbeaten till the final. Football is a beautiful game, no its poetry. It is fast game, perhaps no other game is as fast as football. It is the world’s most popular game on the ground and a poor man’s game. I may have taken a liking for football a little late but I love the game and I am proud  to say that son in law is expert in this game. Our Mahindra played football in his childhood in Kolhapur and he was most popular football player of Kolhapur. Football gave me more happiness that any other game, I could say.

Autobiography-------------------29.
In1958, I was a naive boy not experienced about human nature and as a poet has said “when every man is a friend and every lass a beauty.” In short I was very young! That year I lived in Krishna build. With my kaka. As I told you Krishan build was a mixture of many religious communities. There were Christians, Dawoodi Bohras, Gujarathis, Marathas and to top it all a Chinese, families staying there all amicably. The Chinese family was engaged in their family business, viz. that of dentist. Ching Khoyi was my good friend but an expert doctor and dental surgeon, fortunately in those days we had no dental problems but in the night we used to talk and even his comely wife agreed to teach me Cantonese Chinese. His brother Chingalo Cye was my friend and he was a school going boy at that time. On the third floor some Sindhi families were our immediate neighbors. Their cousins stayed in Sion, Mumbai so they considered these people backward and looked down upon them. On our floor, Shah kaka, an electrical engineer in DMC, Shantabai, a Guju widow, Dayaram Bhambra, Sindhi family, we, Marathi family, Mirchandani, another Sindhi family, a Keral Christian family, Khan sahib, Muslim contractor and Cye family were tenants. All people were living in the huge building amicably. All were celebrating each other’s festivals and exchanging greetings on everybody’s birthdays. During summer evenings Shah kaka or our kaka used to treat us with cold and sweet Khas sherebets or ice ceams. It was a happy period in our lives.
In the same year I was made the editor of our school magazine and we chose our home in wada to write, as the house was vacant and we had a free run there. Girls and boys in the age group of 15 to 17 gather together but we exercised control. Girls’ hand writing was good and their imagination fantastic so they were necessary evil. We had doubt that our class teacher had planted them to keep an eye on us. Smoking was rampant then and we boys smoked Wills brand unlimited. Cigarettes butt was sticking in everybody’s mouth and girls preferred to sit in other room. Fortunately the girls reported nothing to madam. The hand written copy of our magazine was lauded that year with my name at the forefront, it turned out to be a feather in the cap for our class teacher also. Our class teacher, Miss Dixit, was a very whimsical woman but she was happy teacher at the end of year and to top it all, she got married in the end. Our friendship flourished in that year, we went to gym, swimming and excursion to hill stations independently that year. In swimming we won accolades that year and in boxing championship I stood second. In short it was a fruitful year and my parents and kaka, kaku were highly satisfied. My sisters also got admission in Sharada Mandir a school which was very near to our home. Only blemish to the whole story was my standard in Mathematics had gone down. So next year I had to do entire mathematics from the bigginning. I did it doggedly friends and I am proud to say I stood first in the examination in tenth std.

Our trip of Banares--------------------
We had a grand opportunity of going to Allahabad, Kashi and Sarnath once on a trip to Mirzapur. It so happened that one of the transport contractor of the company was friend of dada, my father. He agreed to take us to Allahabad. That time kaka, kaku and all the children were with us. We set in the evening for the trip. The driver of our truck, yes, we had to travel by truck to Allahabad was crazy of speed, so drive lasted for just one hour. Means at Mirzaour we waited for Hourah mail at railway gate and at Allahabad also we waited for the same train at the railway gate. That means the driver had traveled at a speed of nearly 120 mph flat. At Allahabad we had a grand living arrangement in the compound of the same contractor, with luxury bath and superior bed rooms. Our excursions in the Allahabad city were also in jeep provided by the owner of bungalow. In that trip we visited Ganga river to the sangam, we vsited Anad Bhawan, Pandit Nehru’s stately mansion and Birla mandir. We were definitely impressed by the vast expanse of Ganga river and various Ghatas( special banks of the river). We did some shopping in the city and roamed in the city, for shopping was not our craze at that time. We enjoyed our stay in the city of Allahabad and we were impressed by the hospitality of contractor. Then we traveled to Banares by the same jeep to visit to that holy city after staying in Alllabad for a couple of days.
These cities were so crowded in 1958, what will be the state of affair there now, I wonder. Kashi must have been a beautiful city from the look but rendered dirty due to people. A labyrinthine maze of alleys, terminating in a door so you would panic lest you may not trespass into somebody’s private property. But when you saw hundreds of other people pass the door you may venture. The by lanes were so narrow that if a bull came along marching, there was no place to hide. Of course I am telling you a story of long back but I hear there is little improvement in the situation. We visited a lot many Ghats, such as Dashaswamedh ghat, Harischandra ghat, so many. Everywhere there were women, especially Bengoli women. We were told lot of Bengoli women came to live in Kashi after widowhood. Panda is the agent of God and there are lot of panda people in Kashi. The stories of the brutality of pandas on the unsuspecting pilgrims are rampant in Benares. I visited Kashi when the term prostitution was not known to me but there was all material present in Kashi and I could sense it. Kashi is supposed to be most holy place in Hindu religion, a seat of Lord Shiva. But it is made fowl by human touch. Everywhere selfish preaching, at most holy places filthy arguments about human flesh and to behold unwanted scenes. I am sorry to say that Kashi is changed into a living hell by pandas. On this back ground the shrines of South India are clean, beautiful and devoid of agents of God. Hare Rama, Hare Krishna!

Rihand dam--------------------------27
                   Rihand dam is perhaps the biggest concrete dam built by HCC Ltd. Our dada was transferred to it in 1955, and he first established store at Turra to facilitate the movement of plant and machinery. Turra was then a small village on hill top, now an important town in Mirzapur district. River Rihand was flowing majestically and on both banks there were hills and our camp was situated on the slopes thereon. It was actually a jungle area but in Uttar Pradesh man has devoured jungles, so there was absolutely no fear of wild animals. But there were small animals like large scorpions, snakes of all sizes, and lizards etc., occasionally monkeys made their presence felt and sometimes wild cats or hyenas or wolves. There were several chawls and a road winding went down to river bank. The roads had dangerous curves and sometimes people met with the accidents. I used to go for a walk daly down the slope to the river and would swim in the river occasionally. The morning’s cool air and refreshing water made my mind cheerful. Dada went to office at eight and returned for meal at twelve, then after some rest he went back to office only to return back at 8 in the night. We had a lot time to ourselves which we spent in games or reading. During this time I had the habit of spying upon the people and I peeped through the key holes. A whole new world opened up before me and I became habituated to it. One day I  was caught red handed by a neighbor and he scolded me. From that moment I vowed not to eaves drop or peep through the key holes. Some bad habits are easily overcome while some bad habits cant be overcome.
                  All the machinery including cooling plant, batching plant, ropeway, cable way and trolleys etc are seen from camp, this was not possible at Vaitarana. With all the modern machinery, the company built a gigantic dam on Rihand river and a power house to augment electricity for the state of UP. At that time we had no idea that such a huge dam is going to be built there. When we first arrived, we thought what a barren place it was but the place was soon bustling with activities. The place was very shortly transferred into most modern dam site and a power house. It is now the a busy township with all the modern facilities. This is possible due to clean and efficient management of HCC Ltd. I have all the praise for HCC Ltd., for all the welfare activities of company. In those days there were no sudden strikes, so industrial peace was guaranteed. The company made arrangements for lodgings and food of it workers. There was no unnecessary price rise of anything  and all the things were easily available in the market. So thee was general contentment among people. God was in the heaven and everything was well with the world. As the population increased the unrest started to be raising its head. Man became unhappy thereafter. Family planning was not a concept seriously taken in those days. Man’s majority of calamities are due to population though it is said that population is doing nothing.

Rainy season in Kalyan------------------
Plenty of rains, sometimes torrential rains till the floods came in the city is feature of rainy season in Kalyan. For us children all seasons are enjoying but rains provided lot of opportunities to enjoy. In rainy season the water holes like wells, ponds and lakes were all full to the capacity so that they provided a good opportunity for swimming. Kalyan is near the Thane creek, it was good port in the not so distant past and Kalyan has a maritime history of its own. Since childhood we have been visiting the creek but we became aware of its history only when we visited the Durgadi fort. That was when we visited Durgadi for study purpose. Yes, Durgadi provided silent, picturesque place for studying and we went there at exam times. We swam in the creek sometimes but during rains we swam regularly in the creek. During rains it was fun to swim in the high tide. My friend Vijay Pradhan was an expert swimmer and I was expert diver. I used to jump from creek bridge often times. Vijay was in the long distance swimming while I was in the diving. At first I was afraid of water but slowly my fear changed into confidence, and I became an expert swimmer. There was gigantic well in Adharwadi near Mahavir mills, we swam in that well during any season whenever we went there to play cricket. Due to my dare-devil nature I met with some accidents while swimming. My diving expertise was well known in Kalyan in those days and I was even called when somebody met with an accident. I rescued some boys but one man drowned and I could not save him. That incident touched my heart and I gave up that kind work thereafter.
Floods came to Kalyan from three sides and whole station area was under water. Boats used to ply between station and Shankar Rao chowk. The ground floor of our Krishna build was usually submerged in water. In the morning there was no flood but while returning in the evening the office goers saw boats plying. Some miscreants capsized the boats in which people traveled unawares. The floods stayed for two or three days and then subsided but not after doing lot of destruction of property and goods and sometimes of life. Our entire market and important shops were in the station area and stench of rotten vegetables and goods pervaded for more than a week. The floods came to Kalyan when the creek burst open and this happened every 2/3 years. People came from far and off to see the floods in Kalyan. Now due to new developments and reclamation of land, there are no floods in Kalyan. For children like us floods was fun times with schools remaining closed for some days. Magical are the days of childhood and best are the days of youth.

Kagaj ke Phool---------------------
Gurudatt has been my most favorite actor and director, in fact he was more versatile director than actor. As director, he is matched by few of the directors. Gurudatt had been a gentleman director as against some of the rogue directors of today. A cinematographer needs a lot of imagination and a sense of arts and music. Kagaj ke phool was the last film he produced and directed and like his other films it turned out to be a master piece. They say the film is based on his life’s story and true to its end, he committed suicide afterwards by taking a overdose of sedatives. It was sad end of a magnificent director. Anybody who was familiar with the life of Gurudatt, the story of Kagaj ke phool did not have surprising ending. He was a thorough gentleman and extremely disciplined man in film industry. He used to attend office at sharp nine in the morning. The pampering of heroes and heroines in our industry is legendary. But Gurudatt never tolerated it. It is said that Dev Anand once came on late on the sets and Gurudatt immediately expelled him from the cast. He took upon himself the role of a hero and successfully carried out the role. The story of Kagaj ke phool is story happening in the life of any director who is terribly popular. He has scaled a great heights of success due to his one after another popular films. On family back ground though he is defeated man. His wife has deserted him and staying with her parents. His only daughter is studying in a residential convent. He loves his daughter and when he goes to meet her in the school, the school authorities take objection saying he is not a guardian of the girl. Exasperated he goes to meet his wife but she also refuses to see him. Everybody in the family resents his involvement with films. On the way home he meets Shanti, a girl he likes in the first meeting but a poor girl who is struggling to meet two ends. Shanty comes to Mumbai in search of a job and meets him. Some days in his life become colorful due to her. Then his grown up daughter chides him and Shanti for the love affair. Nobody understands the versatile director. He makes a film Devdas taking Shanti as its heroin. The film becomes instant hit and again people take him to pinnacle of success. The tremendous success on public level and his failure to control personal life ultimately lead him to drink. He goes down in the drink to such an extent that he ends up at a bootlegger’s door. He dies a miserable death in the studio where he had excelled.
In everything Gurudatt has done a sense of melancholy is seen. In whole picture this melancholic atmosphere pervades. In his real life also the quarrel between two women had cast a veil of melancholy on his existence. It seems the reel life was not far from the real life in case of Gurudatt. In spite of tremendous wealth and success, he was the most unhappy man and alone in the world. Fate is indeed stranger than fiction, they say.