Smarak Traasdayak

It was in 2012 when there was a regime change in UP. The Yadav's of SP replaced the Mayawati of BSP. And immediately a scam of previous government surfaced. In her regime, Mayawati had erected 130 statues of huge elephants (her party symbol) in parts of Noida & Lucknow. Subsequent police raids which followed revealed that the corrupt officials had overpaid the contractors to build these statues. Sub-standard material was used & the statue that should have cost Rs.5 lakhs were bought by state run agency for Rs.60 lakhs each.
Also not to forget here, the other statues she built of herself & her ideological mentor Kanshi Ram across the state.

During the recently concluded Lok Sabha election,  the current Prime Minister then BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi had said during their poll campaign that he will erect a huge statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel and name it as Statue of Unity. It will be world's tallest statue with a height of 182 meters and will be constructed on the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Modi had also started a campaign to collect iron from people throughout the country, bringing back the memories of collection of bricks asked by LK Advani in 1991 during the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Movement.

If BJP is playing the statue card then how can the Gandhi family led Congress stay behind. The architects of the Rs.70000crore Irrigation scam by the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra declared that it is also going to build a 312 feet high statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai. The government also released Rs.100crores as advance money for the construction, which is nowhere to be seen. And with the regime change in Delhi & also eminent in Maharashtra that entire advance money goes in the politicians pockets to sponsor their electoral campaigns, which is apparently the tax payers hard earned money.

Nehru-Gandhi Family Memorials
The memorials of this one family only in Delhi are spread over 120 acres. Their heir's talk about 'Garibi Hatao' slogans or promises to provide houses to poor. Then why so much of area is blocked in their own names. Add to it the maintenance cost. Is it borne by the family or their party? Or again taxpayer? This is also not enough. There is politics over whose memorial should be here and not be. They also prepare a list of exceptions. Former PM PV Narsimharao was not allowed to be cremated in Delhi for only reason that he will also have to be allotted space in the Zone of Dead.

Is all this necessary?
The main intention of a memorial is to protect the legacy of that great person. To display her/his lifes' work, struggles, victories which shall be inspiring for the coming generations. So many statues are built of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar across the country; are they maintained properly? Except their Jayanti Divas, they are left to nature for rest of the year.

These all are stunts made only to earn political mileage. Some political parties in the country have to gone to such extent that they have distributed our national heroes according to caste. For example, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of Marathas, Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar of Dalits etc.

The party or alliance which is in power when hit by corruption scandals in their tenure, this is the only way left to ask for votes. Make speeches about the heroes, play with the emotions of the people by showing an artistic impression of some upcoming statue and comparison of the same with some renowned statue in the world. So that people will forget all the scams and again vote them to power.

Does these statues do any good to improve the lives of common man? Is there any change in our lifestyle by construction of a new statue in our locality? Are these statues holding some magic wand which will give us potholes free roads or does the sword in the statue will stop the terrorists which once entered in the city through water?

Lets take the example of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in Arabian Sea. It's initial price, when it was proposed for the first time in 2004 by the Congress-NCP alliance in their manifesto was Rs.100crores. By the time next term was due, cost went to Rs.350 crores. During the LS elections of  2014 the cost crossed 4 figure mark with it's initial proposed price, Rs.100crores, released as advance. And not to forget, every penny will be from the taxpayers fund. Even after contributing so much, the same taxpayer will have to purchase tickets in order to visit the same in future.

Solutions
As an election appeasement policy, the Congress government declared the land of Indu Mill located in Dadar to be utilised to build a memorial of Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar. The Dalit political parties were trying to earn brownie points but none of them had a proper visionon what type of memorial should be built. MNS Chief Raj Thackeray had suggested to build a world's largest library in the alloted space. Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar spent his entire life preaching everyone to learn and educate ourselves. This library will help to protect the legacy of that great man. Solutions to these memorial politics are very simple if only one starts looking beyond votebank politics.

The same theory can be applied in case of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. If the government is willing to spend thousands of crores for making a statue in the water; then why not, instead of a statue, spend only half of that money to clean and maintain the 350 forts of Shivaji Maharaj. That is the true legacy of the great Maratha warrior. Not only will that keep his legacy alive, it will also keep on motivating the coming generations. Instead of a statue these forts will tell more about the history and glory of the great man and it will also attract tourists from all over the world.

Another example of our soldiers. No matter how many jawans die in the battlefield for the safety of our motherland. For them there is only one single Amar Jyot. We couldn't even build a war memorial commemorating the great services of our brave soldiers who are the real heroes. But politicians have acres of lands even if they didn't hold any constitutional posts or worked for mererly few years.

Except Rajghat, all other memorials should be removed and the place should be made available for public use. Every city has a municipality which builds gardens or joggers park. Why not name them after the deceased politicians. One can also build photo gallery within it which will depict the life story of that great leader.

Things are possible only if we show the will power to change it. When our current leaders will start thinking beyond petty politics that will be the government which will truely be of & for the people.

-SR.

The Fake Smile

Independent was she once, fear of nobody
Lives in bondage today, taking commands from everybody.

Sits and cries all alone, wondering why
With a broken heart, she lets each day pass by.

Happiness was once an ordinary feeling,
Time has taken it's toll, today, left her bleeding.

Fought against the world for her present,
Only to find herself isolated in torment.

She misses those small things from their best years,
Things that made them strong & moments which were forever to cheer.

Women within her wants to break free,
Mother & Wife, though, don't seem to agree.

But her love never faded, even in the storm
As real love always finds it's way around.

So to live in the dark, until it's dawn,
Her mantra for life is:
Head Up-Stay Strong-Fake A Smile-Move On.



-SR.

BJP betrays MNS

BJP has decided to part ways with MNS for the upcoming Mayor elections of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) as the term of current Mayor Yatin Wagh (MNS) comes to an end. The reason for snapping ties, among others, is BJP claiming that the MNS did not give, as promised, the chairmanship of the all powerful Standing Committee which is responsible for the financial transactions of the civic body. They have decided to support the nomination of Shiv Sena candidate in order to please their alliance partner ahead of Vidhan Sabha polls slated for next month. Another setback which MNS received was 2 corporators of the party have decided to switch their loyalty to Shiv Sena.

The MNS-BJP alliance was formed in February 2012 after the election results were declared. MNS, under the strong leadership of Raj Thackeray, won 40 seats in the 122 member NMC to become the single largest party. Whereas Shiv Sena-BJP, who fought together, won 19 & 14 seats respectively. The Congress-NCP combine won 35 seats, thus leaving no party or alliance attaining the magical figure of 62.

BJP has decided not leave any stone unturned before the Model Code of Coduct kicks off for Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections. Inspite of fighting election together with Shiv Sena in 2012, BJP decided to support MNS then, as Raj Thackeray was in the good books of Nitin Gadkari. Also Raj was invited by then CM of Gujarat Narendra Modi for his swearing ceremony in 2011. BJP was then exploring partners other than Shiv Sena in the state in order to gain a upper hand.

However lot of things have changed since the death of senoir BJP leader Gopinath Munde. Earlier there were two teams in the state BJP, one led by Munde and other by Gadkari. But now the new central leadership of the party under the command of Amit Shah has given clear instructions that word of state party unit head Devendra Fadnavis will be final and everyone has to fall in line, indirectly hinting towards Team Gadkari. Snapping ties with MNS is checkmate to Gadkari-Raj friendship.

But for MNS, it will further add to their misery of LS results. The party was completely routed, with 9 out 10 of it's candidates losing their deposits. The voteshare of MNS also came down from 4.06% in 2009 to 1.5% in 2014. The only shining star on the partys CV was the Mayor post of Nashik. Now that too seems to be fading away.

Many reasons seem to be responsible for the current state of the party. During the LS polls, Raj was in two minds till March whether to contest or not. After meeting with Nitin Gadkari who asked him not to contest in the election, Raj has always changed his stand by each passing day creating confusion among the party cadre.

When the party finally decided to contest, the candidates selected were all weak and had no mass reach in their respective constituencies. Plus there was no official party manifesto for the elections. Raj Thackeray himself addressed 35-40 rallies, but all of them were not matching to his own level of oratory. Though the party could strike alliance with the PWP, it didn't bear any fruits.

After the LS defeat, Raj addressed a massive rally in Mumbai and declared that he will be contesting the upcoming state polls and if mandate is provided will lead the party as its CM candidate. It boosted the morale of the party karyakartas. However in a recent press conference in August he backed off from that decision. During LS campaigns in April, on a TV interview, he said the blueprint for the state will be out in August. But till date the same is not released as he keeps on posponing it's release date.

Recently a leader from the transport wing of the party had alleged that Raj Thackeray has time to play with his dogs but not to meet the party karyakartas. MNS, like the ShivSena or CPI, is a cadre based party. They are the whole and soul of the organization. And by ignoring them, Raj is sending a wrong message to the partys rank and file.

Also the party has not been able to create second rung leaders. It is completely dependent on Raj Thackeray. This creates a leadership vacuum due to which other leaders are not able to attract crowds for their rallies.

Though all the above reasons may be valid, one cannot write off MNS completely. The party in power today in Lok Sabha with 282 seats was at 2 in 1984. Under the leadership of Advani then Vajpayee and now Modi the party is rejuvenated. After a massive anti Congress(I) wave of 1977, Indira Gandhi brought the party back to power in 1980. Political scenario in state till June 2013 was not BJP friendly. After the elevation of Narendra Modi as Campaign Chief and then the PM candidate of BJP led NDA, a massive wave was created throughout the nation.

Raj Thackeray has himself been in politics for over two decades. Patience is virtue, which is needed to survive in politics, he has in plenty. Like LS, he is aware, in the Vidhan Sabha polls too BJP will have major say. Hence all masterstrokes will turn out to be failure.

BJP feels they did the right thing today by breaking the alliance but only time will tell its impact. MNS chief reaction on this will be worth watching. But right now he needs to start a No Holds Barred campaign in the state to give his party a breathing space.

PS: In order to avoid any further poaching, MNS has sent it's 38 corporators to Rajasthan. Similarly, NCP has also sent their bunch to Lonavla.

-SR.

एक मिठी प्रेमाची

तिचा जन्म होताच सगळेच चेहरे काही आनंदित होत नाही
भूरसटलेले विचार असणारे, त्या गोजीर्वाण्याला तिच्या पहिल्या क्षणातच कोसतात |

जन्माला आलेल्या मुलाचं कोड कौतुक करताना शब्द अपुरे पडतात,
परंतु मुलीचा मात्र त्याच क्षणी जगाशी युद्ध आरंभ होते |

भातुकलीचा खेळ खेळत बालपण सरतं,
अनेकांचा राग द्वेष सोसत, आयुष जगण्यामधे ती मग्न होते |

मौज करण्यासाठी मुलांना काही बंधन नसतं,
पण तिच्या पायात मात्र परंपरेच्या बेड्या कायम ठोठावल्या जातात |

येणारा प्रत्येक व्यक्ती आपले विचार तिच्यावर लादत असतो,
तिच्या आतल्या मी पणाला जणू प्रत्येक जन ठेचत जातो |

मुलगी म्हणून आई वडिलांचा,
बायको म्हणून नवर्याचा आणि,
आई म्हणून स्वताच्या मुलांच,
या सर्वांचे मनं जपेस्तोर तिचं उभं आयुष निगुन जातं |

कौतुक तर दूरच, नुसतं जान देखील ठेवण्यास
या तीनही पिड्या विसरून जातात |

सगळ्यांच्या आनंदात ती रमते, सर्वांना दुखात ती सावरते,
पण तिच्या भावना मात्र कायम सगळेच गृहीत धरतात |

आरश्यात पाहून कधी तरी गुपचूप हस्ते,
रात्रीच्या काळोखात कोपर्यातच ती रडते,
तिचा आयुष हे कायमचं,
तारेवरचं कसरत होऊन बसते |

नाही कपडा लत्याची, कि दाग दागिन्याची,
याची तिला कधी हि हाव नसते |

कायमच ज्याची ती वाट पाहते,
ते दोन शब्द आदराचे आणि एक मिठी प्रेमाची |




- एसआर

The Dark Knights

It was a  normal days end. I was about to finish my dinner while watching Julun Yetil Reshamgatti. It was around 845pm when Vinay called up. We had a normal talk in the morning, so I assumed it might be for some usual buddy chats. I disconnected the call and was messaging him will call later. But before I could complete my message, he called on my brothers phone and asked him to transfer as it was urgent. I immediately took the call and the first voice was shocking. Vinay was sounding broken like he may have cried sometime ago. In that panic striken voice he was saying, "Yaar siddhesh sagla sampla, majha purse marli koni tari. Me palm beach la fasloy. Tyat sagla debit credit cards, IDs, official docs, cash hota. Motha problem jhala aahey."

I never saw him like that as my image of vinay was always strong tuff guy. Hearing him so vulnerable made me speechless.  I summed up courage and told him, "Radu nakos, me yetoy tikdey."

Dressed up in casuals I left immediately. As I reached in the building compound, I again called him and told to stay calm and first block all your cards. I knew alone for me it will be difficult in the darkness, so the first name popped in my head was Rohan. His work location is in vashi and he might have reached home by 8 for the day. So I decided to ask him to join me. Our 1st call could not be completed coz of 7 days Gauri Ganpati visarjan, there was lot of noise in his locality. I sent him an sms that call back its emergency. He came in a silent zone and called me. I told him the situation and I said I need your help. He responded immediately. 

I went towards bhandup station and took a ticket for Vashi via Thane, return. In the train, I messaged baba everything and told not to worry and dont keep calling as my battery is low. I got down at Mulund and thought to meet Rohan there itself so that I can explain him in detail and we can start figuring out some ways to reach there. I was searching for a PCO outside Mulund station near the exit towards MCC as I was at the risk of losing my battery power, and damn I couldn't locate one. So finally I called Rohan through my phone to ask his location.

Now the adventure begins. Rohan assumed it was Palm Beach Road in Mumbai and so he took a bus towards Bhandup. I was wondering now what to do. I told him I am at Mulund waiting for you. So he disconnected the call. In some time he messaged there are no autos as roads are blocked coz of visarjan. So in the mean time a thought struck my head, why not try calling Pravin, just incase. I know his office hours begin at 7pm and phone is not allowed. Still with a fools hope I tried calling. Well, as expected, he didn't picked up. So I dropped a message that we gotta petty situation will you be able to help us in that.

By that time, Rohan messaged that he boarded an auto and is coming to Mulund station. That was a huge relief. So I called vinay again to ask his position. He was still there, I told him I am coming with Rohan but it will take sometime. He asked me to tell Rohan to get a torch. I said he has already left his place. He said fine and disconnected the call. Again Rohan called and said board the Titwala train which has just arrived, we'll meet in Thane.

When we reached Thane, he messaged walk towards Platform No 10 as we both were poles apart. Finally we met at Thane-Vashi platform. Our badluck was that the 934 local just left few minutes ago and next train was 30minutes later. We told vinay our situation. Also there was no response from Pravin yet, so we assumed he wont be able to join.

The fun part in this was Rohan was getting calls from his home regularly as they thought he is going for some party. Once he got so irritated that he gave his phone to me and said you only tell where we are going. I was like, 'Me kay bolnaar'. Then as the train reached midway I told rohan to sent the same sms which I had sent to my home telling them about the situation. And I told him to send it through my phone, so they'll have my contact incase your phone is off.

Well, that did work and after that, only once Rohan got a call from his house. The main intention of calling Rohan was that my phones battery was in its final stage. But when he came, even his phone was beeping constantly,  connect your charger. We were up for on helluva night ahead.

When Rohans message was sent Pravin called up. I explained him the situation in detail. He said, I'll see what I can do and hung up. Just to relax our mind we were having normal talk for sometime. By the time we reached vashi vinay called up. But to our surprise it was Pravin.  He asked for a break in his office, took his friends bike and reached at the spot. Now that was a relief as some one was their with vinay.

I asked pravin to fetch him to vashi station as his office was also at the same location. First he didn't say anything but in sometime he called again, that vinay is having another friend with him. And he cant come triple seat as there is bandobast and also that bike is not of his ownership.

He had valid point. So we had no option. They messaged their location as Palm Beach Road, Sector 14. We took an auto from vashi station and told the automan the same. First time i saw an auto in Navi Mumbai ferrying on meter. We came a bit far and I was getting a bit sceptical as he was heading towards Khairne. I again called them and asked their location, they replied on the highway sector 14. When we reached sector 14, I called pravin saying I have reached, now where are you. He said we are on the highway. So we came back on highway but I couldnt locate them. So i called him again and he asked me what is their on your right side. I said settlements. Residential building. And behind me a huge mall. He gave an opposite answer. On his right side was no mans land and behind him was only one Emerald building. We tried asking our automan but even he was clueless.

One thing I must admit that our automan was very cooperative. Never said a word in all the confusion. Also he took money as per meter, nothing extra as it is normal in vadhi side. Such breed of automan are very rare.

Then pravin was telling me to send a picture of my surrounding. I was like you wont be able to guess anything. So on the highway we stopped near the mall. There were lot of people around. I asked the guys outside is their any such building around, even they were unaware of the same. Then one of them asked me to confirm which sector 14, vashi or nerul. I called pravin again and asked him. There he said come towards Panvel. I told the automan now, Chalo Pavel ki aur.

As we entered Nerul area, I finally saw that Emerald building. Called Pravin again so he asked is therebanything on your right side? I said no, complete darkness. So he told you are on the right way, come ahead you'll see 3 of us roaming on the road. I told my automan to keep left and not to leave the highway.

Going ahead I finally found these 3 guys roaming around and waved to them. It was 11 now and last train in Thane-Vashi route is at 1110. Vinay was suggesting for an FIR. We said its no use at this juncture.  We might face problem to find a mode of transport to go home. And since we dont know anyone here, the police won't cooperate much.

Finally after long discussion we decided to leave for home. But the clock had passed 1110 and now we had to go via kurla. Pravin dropped the other guy some blocks ahead and he went towards his office. We turned our auto towards vashi. As soon as we reached station vinay was saying lets go without ticket as no one will be their now. But I insisted, so that there is no new situation.

Rohan took 3 tickets each to Ghatkopar, Bhandup and Thane. We went in the underground and climbed on Platform number 3. Suddenly my eyes went on the indicator. It was a Panvel train and for CST train will arrive at 4. Had I not seen that we would have surely headed for panvel.

After some 20minutes wait the train arrived and we all left for our home. The end was also good, as before we reached kurla vinays other friend called claiming he found the purse. It had everything except cash. Though circumstances are debatable that how he alone suddenly found it, but we were tired for the day. Important docs, IDs,  cards were secured was a relief.

The true heroes for the night were pravin and rohan who dropped in immediately without knowing full situation. One was at his workplace while other had just arrived home from a tiring day of work. Still without sparing a thought they came for their friends rescue. They are, for me, in this situation 'The Dark Knights.

-SR.

मी मराठी - My Marathi

भावना व्यक्त करण्यास भाषेचं बंधन नसतं,
परंतु आपल्या मातृभाषेत करण्याची मज्जाच वेगळी असते |
शब्दकोश दांडगा असावा असं काही नाही,
मनातल्या संवेदना कलम आपो आप पानांवर उत्रवत असते |

जात पात धर्म मानतो मराठी,
शाळा होती इंग्रजी, ज्ञान अमृत कमीच पडलं मराठी |
प्रयत्नांती यश प्राप्ती, मॅडमचे हे वाक्य आठवले,
धैर्यने घेतलं कलम, आणि पाहताच शब्द आपोआप अवतरले |

लिहलेले शब्द एकदमच आपलेसे वाटतात,
वेगळाच आनंद देत, चेहऱ्यावर हसू फुलवून जातात |
मनात विचारांची धांदल उडते,
नक्की कशावर लिहावं याचीच तारांबळ उडते |

खूप विचार करून आज अखेर शंख फुंकला,
कित्येक वर्षाच्या इंग्रजी प्रवासात, आज मराठी सुर्य उगवला |
आता बाळगला मनाशी एकचं ध्यास,
मी मराठी - My Marathi,
हीच आपली ओळख आणि हाच आपला अटाहास |



-एस.आर

Your Life -- Your Rules

Others throne may not be yours to wear,
No matter how much you strive, you will end in despair.
You cannot ask what does not belong to you,
You only get what is due to you.

Petty falls cannot shake you to the core,
Never it is about the battles, but winning the war.
No defeat is ever bigger than life,
Neither a victory be judged as destination in life.

All are born unique with a mission to fulfill,
Always it is incomplete until you breathe.
One cannot venture in owns path in some one else's shoe,
Yours it is to explore, not follow what others drew.

In a world filled with changes each and everyday,
You will always be judged for what you do or say.
Learn to ignore the voices which least matter to you,
You might miss an opportunity, if you keep pelting stones in the dew.



-SR.

Old Is Still New

Everyone moved ahead post college life,
I, too, sailed on an adventure to relish the nature's might.
Directions changed as opinions began to differ,
Deep in my mind I knew something was left to wither.

Life became a play, everyone ploughed their way,
Old memories vacated the place, to give new one's gateway.
Those memories became history for you,
But what was old to you, for me, is still fresh and new.

People were many I came across,
Many voices filled the crowd.
Never understood why I couldn't blend,
Maybe 'coz, I couldn't term them as A Friend.

Still I can hear our roars from the sphere,
The occasional tears and deafening cheer.
Pictures, even today, murmer the words we spoke,
Old memories you say, is the latest my mind still evokes.

There is a reason why I initiate get together's,
And always stress on all to gather.
You have choices in plenty, to taste the fun,
Might sound strange, still, for me you are the only one.



-SR.

Hope Is Kindled

Years' cold & extinguished fire has re-ignited,
A light from the shadows has sprung.
Strewed in pieces was the spirit is re-united,
The caged bird is set free and has finally sung.

Sounds of thunder & lightening has come to a halt,
Bombs falling from the sky have changed their course.
Visible is the island, which was long lost,
Never can dreams be achieved without paying it's cost.

Long halted was the train has finally moved,
Embarked on a new journey, life is in a mood to groove.
I find myself so excited I can barely sit still,
Daring to dream again and craving for life's thrills.

A new day embraces with open arms,
A new dream to guide in the ahead path.
Heart sings a song without any tune,
Hope has kindled a way, to venture in this new dawn



-SR.