Yugpurush- A must-see-play-you-are-sure-to-enjoy

This week, I was invited to watch the play Yugpurush (in Hindi) at Nehru Centre. Until now (forgive my ignorance) I was not aware that our great leader Mahatama Gandhi also had mentor who played a pivotical role in shaping up his strong character of peace through non-violence.

This is the best play I have watched in a long time. I was very impressed by the dialogue delivery, the expressions (that were so realistic) and the way the play was handled. It transported me to another century where Mahatma tells the story of his mentor, Shripad Rajchandra, a  poet, philosopher, spiritual guru and one of the Mahatama’s closest friend, and how he was responsible for shaping up his personality and his belief in non-violence and his peaceful solution to grave problems.

The props kept changing with great efficiency, relating the story during different times and I sat mesmerised as I watched the scene and the situation move from one location to another.  At one point, you are in his humble home, where he is sitting by his loom weaving cloth, at another moment he is in Bombay, as a young Lawyer looking for a job, where he meets his mentor,  At another instant he is at the ship yard with tourist on route to his trip to Africa and at another instant, he is in Jail with his freedom fighters behind the bars. The play scores the most in creating realistic and visually stunning scenarios throughout its duration.The story moves from present to past to present again and the inert positions of the actors  transports you to that era.

At one scene, Mahatma is caught up between two religions, Muslim and Christianity and he is in dilema as to which religion should he follow, Muslim or Christian or should he continue to uphold his own values as a Hindu. He is advised to look within him to find answers.

After Gandhi moved to South Africa, the duo corresponded through thousand of letters. It is through this correspondence that Mahatma understands the value of non-violence, the fearlessness and his tranforming character and consciousness.

Directed by Rajesh Joshi and written by Uttam Gada, the play features Parthsarthi Vaidya, Pulkit Solanki and Babul Bhavsar in important roles. The credit goes to the director for handling difficult scenes and to the lighting and the props used as well.

It is worth a watch. There is no moment of boredom. I would love to watch it again and again.

My thoughts on Neerja

Not for a minute did I feel I was watching a film.I was there sitting tight on my seat, fear writ on my face as I watched the gun and granade toting men hijack the plane with so much ruthlessness, violence in their attitude towards.helpless passengers, and the plight of crew members as they handled the dangerous situation.

What if I was in that PanAm flight? 

This thought came to me several times..Such was the reality in the acting of Shabana Azmi, (who can bring you to tears with her personal pain) Sonam Kapoor, the brave flight attendant (who makes us believe that she is the real Neerja) and the rest of the actors..

Superb

 acting of all the characters in‪#‎Neerja‬ (including children, women and.old) that.kept me glued to the.edge.of.my.seat.... ‪#‎GoWatch‬

image credit

Redevelopment - 3 Packers and Movers

It was time to move out of our homes to make place for redevelopment. We are promised swanky apartments in a high-rise building with all the modern amenities, a swimming pool, a gym and an impressive lobby. But that is in the future, right now it meant that we had to move out to a rented apartment.

Relocating means that we have to sort out our possessions, and decide what can be taken with us. There are many things I have been hanging on for years, hoping that it will come into use someday, now, that have to be disposed immediately. I realized that I had lots of junk coated with dust. I didn’t actually need them. Many of my possessions had occupied the cabinets, nestled in dark corners, hidden, ignored.

Now I needed help, somebody to help me sort, pack and then help me unpack. I needed packers and movers.

Research is important before taking any task, although recommendation helps. Friend suggested ‘Agrawal Packers and Movers’. I went to their site and discovered that they claimed to be the best having won number of awards, they could be trusted.. or so I thought.

I called them up to give me the quotation. I was actually moving just few block away, so I didn’t think it would be a problem. Moreover, I was not moving all my furniture since it was just from my bigger house to a smaller one. I had already disposed off the excess furniture.

A representative from ‘Agrawal Packers and Movers’ quoted a lump sum price of Rs32k. I found the price too steep, therefore hired a private person who agreed on 10K.

Most of my neighbors decided to move during the weekend. The building compound was filled with trucks of all sizes and shapes. Packed furniture lay scattered in the compound awaiting loading and transporting.

I was not able to track all of my neighbors, but the few that I met, I was quite impressed with their packing. The furniture was bubble wrapped, covered with brown paper and then plastic. Since I had employed an unprofessional person, he just moved my furniture uncovered, manually lifted most of the boxes and delicate articles were transported on foot.

But the packers and movers that mushroomed in my building looked quite impressive.

So what was the verdict?

Two of my neighbors had hired ‘Agrawal Packers and Movers’ and both were highly disappointed.

“They claim to be number one but they are not.” Said my neighbors who used their service.

Agrawal Packers sent only few people to do the packing and when they complained, they send more people from outside the company who didn’t know to pack. Moreover the truck came in late at night instead of morning, and the family were shifting till 2am. This is very tiresome for the family with health problems and insensitivity shown was very disappointing. In addition to that, they had to hire their own carpenters to dismantle the furniture because such service was not provided by the packers.

Another neighbor used the service of ‘Metro Packers and Movers’ whose motto is " WE Have A Job To Do - And It Must Be Done Well” Metro movers promise exclusive customer support with their personalized moving service.

“Most of them promise a lot and then try to cut corners once you opt for them” said my neighbor who used their service. “The steel cupboards were not bubble wrapped therefore they got scratched”.

Excel Packers & Movers has emerged as a prominent packers and movers in Goa

Two of my neighbors used Excel service and they were very happy. They were impressed with their packing and they found the people quite courteous and professional and did good job. “Tough job well executed” they said.

‘Gurukripa Packers and Movers’ have their main office in Indore and they are in service since last 12 years. Two of my neighbors who used their services were very happy with their services. With just Rs16k their work was very efficient. “They finished packing and moving in one day and everything was packed and transported properly, they even unpacked for us and sorted it out as per room, making it easier to unpack in new house.” they said

One of my neighbors moved to the next building and I was amused to see him transport his furniture across the fence.

Getting a right type of help relieves the person of the burden of relocation but if wrongly selected, it leaves us exhausted and drained.

The Secrets of the Nagas

The Shiva Trilogy part one ends with Sati chasing the retreating hooded Naga.

Part two- The Secrets of the Nagas” continues with the chase still on, it is difficult to understand the story if you have not read the part one,-‘The Immortals of Meluha’ and it gets interesting if it is read as a sequel, same excitement, same curiosity to read more-about-what-happens-next.

While in part one, you grow to like Shiva, Sati and many other people that appear in the story, in part two, you are introduced to two Nagas and you discover that they are not as evil as they were thought to be.

I don't wish to reveal the secrets about who Nagas are and how they are related to Sati.

But, Shiva believes that Nagas are evil and he needs to destroy it but first he has to be sure that they are evil. 

He questions his philosopher guide ‘Gopal’ , he says “the Nagas are obviously the people who are evil right? Almost everyone seems to agree. And yet, the Nagas helped a man in need, in the interest of justice. That’s not how evil is supposed to be.”

“I have travelled through all of India. Met practically all the tribes except the Nagas. And if none are evil, maybe Evil hasn’t risen. Maybe I am not required.”

Shiva searches for truth going across India but finds no answers, only more confused that everything is different from what it appears to be..

My favorite passage on Page 108 because this is what I believe in:

“There is no past life sins, Sati! There is only this life! That is the only reality. Everything else is theory. Believe the theory that gives you peace and reject the one that causes you pain. Why believe in theory if it causes you unhappiness? You have done all you can to take care of your child and your self. Now have faith.”

After reading the two parts of Shiva Trilogy, I begin to respect the author Amish, who has done a great research and presented the story which is fiction and yet so believable.

There is so much truth when he quotes

 "Remember nobody is good or bad. They are either strong or weak. Strong people stick to their morals, no matter what the trials and tribulations. Weak people, many a times, do not even realise how low they have sunk" 

What evil is he talking about? How can we destroy evil when it does not exist by itself?

Good and evil, two sides of the coin, he must visit Panchavati, the city of Nagas to know the secret.

Waiting for part three…..