New Golden Boy of India

Many of you might know my love for Hindi music. I equally do like Marathi and English music, selectively though. And being a big fan of A R Rahman how could I not write about it on this special occassion, both for ARR and for the country!

With the Golden Globe for the music in the much discussed, much more criticized "SlumDog Millionaire", now ARR is, for sure one of the most respected musicians across the globe. He has already done number of international assignments but this is really a special one.

And the award for this music-maestro brings everyone the joy and recognition for the music industry that India has awaited for over a half century. And yet feet firm on the ground, as humble and simple as he always has been, Rahman dedicates his award to his countrymen.
Three cheers for the new golden boy of the nation.

Shirdi Tour - "ek pravas"

End of the year 2008 was pretty good for me, had a number of events lined up, especially in the last week.

Christmas was on Thursday. And some time back my friend Neetesh from Bangalore told me that we could plan a tour to Shirdi and so I did it. I booked tickets for Shirdi tour from Hyderabad. So, Neetesh planned to be here in Hyderabad on Christmas morning.



25th December, pleasant winter morning. I went to receive Neetesh at the station and from there he asked me to take him to his another friend from Hyderabad. We had a delicious breakfast at his friend and headed back to my house.



Next day, a Friday, was a working day for me. I planned to be off at 5 as the bus was scheduled at 6 in the evening from SR Nagar bus-stop, a distance of 5 kms from my house. The plan was to go home at 5 and move right away to the bus station so that we reach at least 15 minutes before departure. (Though I was little sure of a delay in the departure as the buses start from the Central Bus Station and travel all the way to the other end of the city where we were to catch it and a 15-20 minute delay is a normal thing for us here). After a couple of arguments over bargaining, one fine auto-wala agreed to take us to the SR Nagar bus station at a charge of Rs. 40. (I always think, I must be looking as an alien to all auto-rickshaw drivers. In Hyderabad, You can always hear them(almost all of them) say "bahot dur / andar hai sahab" (it is too far, even if it's a 2 km long straight road), "traffic bahot jam hai!!!" (even on heavenly empty roads!).

Thanks to the autowala, we reached the bus-stop 15 minutes beforehand. I reported to the counter where I’d taken the tickets from. He told me that the bus would arrive at 6 and we have to catch it from the other side of the road. I and Neetesh crossed the road and the “wait and watch” game started. The shutterbug in me woke up and I took my camera out and then started a small photo-session on that last of the six-lane highway. After a couple of clicks we discovered that we’re thirsty. Right besides us was a Tea-stall and no wonder if we both wanted to have a tea. Neetesh went to get the tea and I started browsing through the pics in my camera. Suddenly I found a white AP tourism bus at a distance coming towards us and I just screamed at Neetesh “Bus, bus is coming”. Since the bus was close enough and I could read the Shirdi nameplate in the front panel, I asked Neetesh to drop the tea and come quickly. And as Neetesh came back we saw the bus passing by us. We both waved our hands at the bus-driver. But he didn’t seem to be interested in even giving a glance at us. We both could see the bus just accelerating and leaving us behind. The only sensible thing that came to my mind was that there must be one more bus to Shirdi, which was meant for us. Neetesh went back to the Tea-stall to bring the tea back. Hardly had we finished the tea, we saw a green Volvo at around 100 meters from us. That one also was a AP tourism bus and going to Shirdi. We felt happy and walked towards the bus impatiently, confirmed the service number given to us and finally boarded the bus.

I was happy that there was no adventure in the beginning of the journey and that everything started fine. This needs a special mention because whenever I travel some or the other kind of adventure happens with me. Adventure is bit glorified, We call it a Popat in our desi style for any funny / adventurous / humorous thing that happens with someone.

Moving through the city bus was heading towards the Mumbai highway. Neetesh was talking about his past Shirdi tours and around 20 minutes from the boarding point, in an area called Kukkatpalli, bus stopped by a not so relevant courier shop besides which were automobile spare-parts, garage like shops. We thought that this was just one of the pick-up spots for other passengers. In a couple of minutes, breaking all the passengers’ similar assumption the bus driver opened the door and left the bus. In a surprised state many followed him. We both to went down and tried to look for an answer to “kya hua?”.

Bus driver, extra driver and their helper were all standing at the rear of the bus where the engine was. The engine cabinet was opened but none of the passengers could guess that something was wrong there in that engine box. And when a curious passenger, losing his patience after 10 minutes of silent wait and seeing the drivers’ inactive gestures, except a couple of phone calls, asked about the well being of the bus. Driver revealed that a belt on the engine wheel was damaged and the bus would not move until the belt is replaced, And another service provider would come to replace the belt. Anyone who has lived for some time in the city would easily calculate the time needed to do this all. 50 minutes!! By the time our bus moved again it was 7:30 PM. This 50 minutes’ unexpected halt saw people searching for water (including us), some just chatting with their family, some having lit their cigarettes just having fruitless discussion on “Quality of Service in Tourism”. Now that the Popat showed its face to me, how could I forget my dear friend Deelip, with whom I have perhaps seen the most Popats. I called him up and reported in brief this adventure.

Once the bus started again it was good and it took a stop again at some unknown place where a roadside restaurant was chosen by the driver to have dinner. Nothing was more interesting than a Veg fried rice and a Gobi Manchurian to me. After the meal, the bus started again and then it travelled non-stop all the way to Shirdi. Of course, having had a working day and a marathon (!!) 5 hour journey, I retired to sleep.

The hotel which we were to take some rest and freshen up in the morning was a good thing in the tour package. The room was pleasant. As we entered the room, followed the room boy and started to inform us about the room and the ‘Darshan’ process, in Telugu!!!! Understandably, he was appointed for this hotel tied up with AP tourism, and an assumption that we have come from Hyderabad, he chose to speak Telugu as he did to the other passengers. I do understand Telugu a bit and so didn’t object. All I could understand is how to use the geyser in the bathroom works and other people would move out for the ‘Darshan’ at 9.

One thing I quickly found was a notice stuck on every door was about not carrying camera or cell phones to the temple as they are banned now a days. We took a bath and I felt like we should go for the ‘Darshan’ after having breakfast. But Neetesh being more devotional than me, resisted the thought and we walked down to the temple. Reaching there we found out that the queue was unexpectedly long and it would take at least 2 hours to come out of the temple. We joined the queue. ‘Darshan’ is a batch process where people from the queue are left inside in groups. To my horror, when we were at the last corner of the big temple the gateman stopped us. Thinking of it as a routine thing, didn’t bother much. But as it was taking longer than 10 minutes a few people in front of me and all behind us in the queue started feeling restless. It was 11:30 and somebody had already told us that 12:00 in the noon was a time of 'Puja' of Saibaba. And perhaps we were stopped there because the Brahmins in the temple need some time for preparation and nobody should disturb them.

The clock was ticking, and so was the patience of the queue tested bitterly. In this Hot & humid climate, distance between two persons could not even allow air to pass between. Old people were trying to find a place on benches to sit by, some lucky got it, or the benches were occupied already. The devotional theory of Sharmaji was scorching, as we both were feeling thirsty after standing for almost 2 hours in a queue, most of which standing at one point without space of even an inch or two to move. No signs of moving ahead to the ‘Darshan’ Hall. And we were told that we’ll be allowed in only after the 12:00 noon 'Aarti'. This hour long freeze started showing its effect on the queue. I think we saw at least 15 odd people going sick and fainted. Some of them even had to leave the queue and go back.

But to our relief at quarter to 12, we were let in to the ‘Darshan’ hall by the gate man. The ‘aarti’ was yet to start and you are said to be lucky if you get to attend any of those 5 “aarti’s offered to Saibaba. We found place to sit down at the other end of the hall from where we could only see the broadcast of the proceedings on a LCD TV screen. Nonetheless, I was feeling pretty relaxed and calm by the atmosphere out there and also because my feet were rested after a strenuous walk up there. The 15 minute ‘aarti’ really calmed me down further. But once the ‘aarti’ was over it was all but a sensible ‘Darshan’. A rush by the people was not less than a stampede. The people pushing each other without any concerns, to reach Saibaba’s idol for ‘Darshan’ can only be described as stupidity. I wonder how people forget the biggest lessons of Saibaba – “Faith and Patience” right in that temple. It saddened me more when I found even the Policemen doing nothing more than just pushing the devotees to go out faster. A huge lack of management & administration by one of the biggest trusts in the country. They cannot even try to manage a queue.

After having the ‘Darshan’ (and pushed out by the cop there), we bought some Prasad Laddu. And we left the temple premises to get some water to drink and reach the hotel room at the earliest. We took some rest and walked back down to a restaurant to have some food. The food in the resto was delicious. I really love the way we Maharashtrians make the curries. It was 4 when we reached the hotel back and the unanimous thought of taking a nap (!) for an hour was passed immediately. Since both of us were tired, the nap was pretty strong and quarter to 5, a room boy knocked the door. With sleep in the eyes, pain in the feet I opened the door. The boy now told me in Marathi that the bus was ready to start and we two were only left out to board it. Departure was scheduled at 5. We knew it. So, in little hurry we packed our bags and went downstairs. The bus was really on and was waiting for us. But we were sure that driver would not say anything as it wasn’t 5 yet. And when 10 more minutes passed we found that we were not bad and it was not over yet. A family was yet to reach the hotel and subsequently board the bus. As a result the furious assistant-driver asked the already arrived children in that missing family to rush and find their people out. Some more time passed and finally the missing family arrived. The assistant obviously spoke to them in a complaining voice.

This way our journey to Shirdi that started exactly 24 hours ago at 5:30 PM, started again, this time to a flawless travel back to Hyderabad. A beautiful sunset on the banks of Pravara river after an hour was a treat to watch and a memory to cherish.

One last thing. We both shall, perhaps not forget the sweetest thing in Shirdi- the tea from a stall we had had while waiting for the missing family!!