The Chavanni

Some time back our Reserve Bank of India administration withdrew 25 paise coin from the market, that is, it is no more a legal tender. And with that withdrawal a little of our culture is lost too. Gone are the days when a chavanni (a 25 paise coin) had its own value, that is, material value or monetary value. Among Indian currency of various denominations, chavanni had its own charm and perhaps more popularity.

I distinctly remember- when I was young- I used to get pocket money of ten rupees a month, a sizable amount then, with instructions from my parents not to carry the entire ‘treasure’ in my pocket to school. I used to request my brother who worked in a bank to convert that ten rupee note (royally big in size then) into 40 chavannis with the intention of spending 4 annas a day. Later the currency was digitized and 4 annas became 25 paise. 16 annas or 100 paise made a rupee. Even though I intended to spend a chavanni a day, still at the end of the month I managed to save at least two rupees. My elder brother gave me an equivalent of the amount I saved at the end of the month. What a thrill it was!

Remembering the chavanni is quite nostalgic. It brings the simple and golden old days to mind. A coke in those days cost 4 annas or a chavanni, if you like. A cinema ticket cost 1 rupee 4 annas in Calcutta. We felt powerful to have a chavanni in our pockets when we went to school. We could have four or more varieties of snacks costing one anna or even less each, like puchka, moshla muri, churans and even sandesh.

A chavanni was also auspicious. When our community ‘Maharaj’ (Brahmin) visited our house, I remember, my mother used to give him 1 rupee 4 annas or ‘sava rupio’ as it was called then. Sava rupio was considered as ‘shukan’ or good luck. When there was an engagement ceremony, the would-be bride was given sava rupio with a coconut as shukan and also as acceptance of the girl in the family. No occasion was complete without that chavanni.

A chavanni also had its funny side. In our Gujarati language it is also called ‘Paavli’. If you wanted to call somebody an idiot or nincompoop, you said: “Aani pavli padi gai chhe.” It translates to “He has lost his mind.” Oh that phase, I feel sad it will never come back. It is lost forever with the chavanni gone.

Shocking satya

The second episode of Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate on child abuse was a revelation, shocking, overwhelming, overpowering and moving, to say the least. It is not that we were not aware of this nasty side of our society. In fact, we read about it every other day in the news papers. Aamir Khan has brought this ugly fact right into our drawing room. There are many aspects and facts Aamir’s research has disclosed.

For example, if I heard him right, every second child is abused at one stage or the other in his teens. This is absolutely shocking. Another point, according to his research 53% of the children abused are boys. That again means that the percentage of abuse of boys or male child is more than that of girls. So far we were under the impression that girls are suffering more and male child abuse is occasional. Aamir has broken this myth.

The more shocking aspect of the show - even our high courts are not serious or understanding about it. As one gentleman from a NGO said that in one case, when a child was abused orally, the judge said that only penetration was considered rape and there was no penetration in that case. This is absolutely unbelievable. A judge of a high court says this, and still occupies the chair? And according to this courageous gentleman, it took ten years and hearings in the Supreme Court to start a case against the perpetrator. Accused hire the finest lawyers available who ask most filthy questions to the children making them suffer more. Apart from such high courts, we have such lawyers too. The case will go on forever.

What is our society coming to and whom can you trust? What does a child do, what about his childhood and growth? As Aamir rightly said: “Listen to your child and more important, believe him or her.”

Some articles have criticized Aamir for charging huge money for this program. But let me say this, he may have charged but he has done his job and a wonderful job at that. How many actors do that?

Finally, I too believe in defense. Even a murderer should be given a chance to defend himself, but not a child abuser. He should be thrown in the tank right away.

Sachin Tendulkar's retirement

A recent statement from Sachin Tendulkar that he may continue playing till 2015 World cup, is most un-Sachin like. Normally he is a humble person and never responds to adverse comments from critics. It appears that this time, he was waiting for his 100^th Ton to make this statement, as if, not sure whether he would make it or not.

Though, without doubt, he is the best in the world of cricket, the media sponsored title of the ‘God of cricket’ is being taken seriously by the veteran. His utterance that he decided when to start playing and he will decide when to stop playing is narcissist, to say the least. He tends to forget that a set of selectors selected him to play for nation for the first time, though that set may have been different from the present one. If they had not, the cricket history would have been different. Even now, with all his achievements it can be his decision to retire, but it should be left to the selectors to decide whether he will play or not. Tendulkar’s statement should have read ‘he will continue if selectors decided so.’ If every good player decides that he will continue to play till he decides otherwise, there is no need for selectors. By making such statements he is setting a wrong precedent for upcoming youngsters with extra talents.

I wonder if selectors and coaches also call him ‘Sir’ like young players do and are in awe of him. Like: “Sir, will you be playing the next ODI? Or will you rather rest?” And Sir Tendulkar grandly proclaims his decision one way or the other.

I had thought that Tendulkar was far above petty differences of the dressing room and would attend the function to honor Dravid where cricketing greats from past and present were in attendance to felicitate him. But our God decided to leave for London the same day, not expected of a man like him.

Lastly, personally I regard Sachin’s playing skills in highest esteem. And like any other cricket fan, I was also praying for his 100^th Ton. It is a feat unlikely to be matched in another hundred years. He deserves every bit of praise and fame he got. I am proud of his achievements. But, he is human after all.

Musings-World of Babas

Sri Sathya Sai Baba left for his heavenly abode a few months back leaving behind a vast fortune and equally vast chaos. Some astrologers (jyotishis) and some Tantriks also call themselves Baba. Likewise, Baba Ramdev was in news recently taking up government against corruption and his attempted antics on Ramlila ground, though his main forte is Yoga.

This ‘Baba’ is an interesting word. The moment ‘Baba’ is attached to one’s name, one’s stature increases. Try removing ‘Baba’ from Ramdev or for that matter from Sathya Sai and see the result. Both remain common entity.

Interestingly, the word ‘Baba’ has different meaning in different languages or more than one meaning in the same language in different contexts. Let us take Hindi first. Here ‘Baba’ is used for one devoted to God, like sadhu baba or Sathya Sai Baba etc. ‘Baba’ is also used for one who has renounced the world or worldly pleasures.

In Gujarati, ‘Baba’ means a small boy. Whatever a boy’s name be if you don’t know it, you can safely call him ‘Baba’. In fact, yours truly too was called ‘Baba’ till he was married. In Urdu, ‘Baba’ is related to Tantriks & Fakirs and the like. Baba Farid and Jumman Baba Tantrik are good examples. In the case of Bengali, ‘Baba’ means father.

Interestingly and uniquely, all these different meanings of ‘Baba’ justify in the case of Baba Ramdev. He is a Yoga guru, wears saffron, gives spiritual discourses and has massive following. But the most pronounced meaning in his case is ‘Baba’, a small boy. A child is mostly stubborn. When a boy (Baba) wants something, he wants something, period. He doesn’t want to understand that thing’s utility, affordability, availability etc. We, on our part, try to explain all these to the child and also offer alternative things. When nothing works we spank him and that always works, well mostly.

Same is the case of Baba Ramdev. Except for his “abolition of corruption”, rest of his demands are not feasible. For example, Ramdev wants nothing short of death sentence for the corrupt or total abolition of high denomination currency notes. In a country where a killer of several lives don’t get death sentence and even if he gets, is not hanged for years, how can a mere corrupt ( small crime relatively) be hanged. Our administration went out of its way to reason with him, cajole him but to no avail. The last resort is spanking and that will definitely work. I personally guarantee.

Jagjit Singh-Winner all the way

True to his name Jagjit (winner of the world), Jagjit Singh captured the world by his inimitable voice. When he entered into Ghazal Gayaki (singing), Ghazal was a serious business and that too for a limited few. Jagjit Singh entered and shook this world upside down.

Jagjit singh is one of my two top favorite Ghazal singers, the other being Ghulam Ali. No doubt, there are other capable and worthy singers and I like them too but these two are my favorites. Jagjit had that deep, gloomy voice that instantly stirred your soul whereas Ghulam Ali is a master of variations few others can claim.

Personally I was not into Gazals when young. I didn’t know and didn’t like anything beyond film songs. During sixties and early seventies my favorite composers were Madan Mohan and O.P. Nayyar who along with lyricists like Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and others created magic, at least for me. Come late seventies and the first Ghazal of Jagjit I heard was “baat nikalegi to fir door talak jayegi” and there was turmoil inside me. I heard this number again and again and instantly was into Ghazals. Then came his “pyar jo tumne kiya mujse to kya paogi”, “tumko dekha to ye khayal aaya”, “ye daulat bhi lelo ye shohrat bhi lelo,” just to name a few. He captured the Ghazal world like a storm.

I distinctly remember when “ye daulat bhi lelo” came, I was posted in the North and enjoying the life there. This number instantly transported me back to my childhood in Calcutta. True to the emotions in the song, I remembered my childhood days in Bhowanipore where water logging was frequent and we did make paper boats and let them loose in water. Indeed broken toys were our wealth to be guarded with care. Along with depth and gloom there was something in his voice that moved me and I longed to visit Calcutta and particularly Bhowanipore where I was born and brought up and to meet those childhood friends with whom I played and quarreled. I did just that at the first available opportunity. I saw my old school, my old house (now occupied by others), the streets and by lanes where I played, with new eyesight. Alas almost all friends were scattered.

Jagjit Singh not only sung, he sculptured, crafted the songs during those sixties and seventies. Within a very short span I was deep into Ghazals and forgot all about film songs. That was Jagjit Singh for you.

There are, as I mentioned earlier, other great singers. But you can find similar voices or near identical voices of these singers. I doubt if we can find one anywhere near Jagjit’s for quite a time.

Jagjit Singh was the one and only one.

Musings-Advantage Bachelor

Ratan Tata, in his life so far, fell in love four times and in serious love at that, and came close to marriage. “I came seriously close to getting married and I guess I backed off in fear” is what he said on CNN Talk Asia Program. If Mr. Tata had married the first lucky woman he fell in love with, would he have fallen in love with the second woman, and the third and the fourth? It is a mystery even Tata himself cannot solve. But he is a sensible, smart and lucky person. It is not for nothing that he is Ratan Tata. Even in the heavenly bliss of love, he looked around carefully, observed us ordinary mortals having tough time in our married lives, didn’t like what he saw and decided (wisely) not to take the plunge. Most of us wish we had that sense and will power. But we are not Ratan Tata.

In contrast, take the case of Bagun Sambrai, a tribal politician who has over a dozen wives. Sambrai says Lord Krishna is his inspiration and intends to carry on his good work, brave man that, Sambrai. May he succeed in his divine mission and rot in hell.

Then there is Mangani Lal Mondal, an MP of JD (U) who declared in court that he does not remember how many wives he has. Mondal appears to be one confused person, suffers from loss of memory or perhaps he is sly. But to me, it seems he wants to forget the miseries of having so many wives.

Bagun Sambrai may boast of being a follower of Lord Krishna and Mondal may apparently want to forget the number his wives, but I am sure both of them and others like them, must be envious of Mr. Tata and wish they had that wisdom. Instead of taking inspiration from Lord Krishna, they wish they had that foresight of Mr. Tata. Though married only once, I for one wish I had that wisdom.

Cricket-From Dad to Dadu

Just when we thought that Sourav Ganguly, the Dada (elder brother) of Calcutta had transited to Dadu (grand father), he was absorbed by Pune warriors to play in IPL matches.

Shah Rukh Khan’s slogan with Sourav “korbo. Lodbo, jitbo” (will work, fight & win), didn’t cut ice in the previous IPLs and Sourav was dropped like a sack of bricks from Kolkata Knight Riders. One would have thought that he would take a wise decision and retire with grace. But even after a clear “not wanted” signal from every team, he had aspirations to play and even publicly expressed his desire.

Seeing his desire to remain in the game, SRK and others offered him a job of an instructor or adviser of a team, that is, transferring from ‘Dada’ to ‘Dadu’. Wisely or unwisely, Dada refused and thought it better to while away his time. After all he had done that in the past and had reentered the game with thumping success.

But that time age was in his favor, now even though he is not old, we think he is well past his prime and should accept whatever work involving cricket, be that of a coach, commentator or anything that comes his way. Some people think that it is the player’s own choice if he wants to come back. Ganguly is no ordinary player but look at the last few years’ facts. He has not been successful in any of the IPLs. On the contrary, he was a disaster. Kolkata Knight Riders under him performed poorly and could not even make it to the semi finals. This constant failure shows that his powers are on the wane, law of diminishing returns. Look at his contemporaries like Srinath and Kumble who felt that their playing days were over and gracefully accepted the inevitable.

Still, here is hoping that Dada does well in this IPL for Pune warriors, if given a chance, of course.