My memories of River Arkavathy - Part 1

It is said that 'you can't be unhappy in the middle of a big, beautiful river'. As I dialed the numbers 80009 80009 for Rally for Rivers campaign, my thoughts wandered back to those happy 80s & 90s. 

I personally have fond memories of River Arkavathy during my childhood. The prospect of playing in the river was the biggest motivation for an otherwise tiring bus journey those days to my native village of Harobele near Kanakapura. 

I am sure my friends and cousins who were born brought up there have fonder memories than me.Our visit to the village used to be twice a year. Once in summer and another in October.

During October Arkavathy used to over flow and there was no chance of playing. But, the rain water and the overflow created number of small streams and water bodies for us to play. In summer, we used to rush to the river as we got down from the bus. My grandmother always wanted us to visit the church first after freshening up. But our devotion was with Arkavathy. 

‘Thore’, as it is called in villages used to be covered by trees and was not visible until we were a few yards from it. We could however hear the flowing sound and that added to the joy & mysticism. Hence River Arkavathy will forever remain in my memory as a small river with which we grew up and now sadly seeing it gradually disappearing too.

For a small introduction, Arkavathy originates from Nandi Hills. Passing through Ramanagar, Kanakapura finally joins River Cauvery near Mekedatu. Smaller Rivers Kumudavathi & Vrishabhavathi are (were) its tributaries. About 20% of City’s drinking water used to be from this river. 2 reservoirs,each at Hesaraghatta & Tippagondanahalli were built on it.

The history of Harobele & many adjacent small villages or ‘Doddies’ as they are called fondly remembers River Arkavathy has their life line for centuries. The main source of water for thousands of villages en-route its union with its elder sister ‘Cauvery’.

The water used to be clean and clear. There were specific places for children to play-swim, for ladies to wash clothes- utensils, for youngsters to catch fish-crabs. In fact until three decades back, Arkavathy used to be the main source of drinking water too.

Small holes to a size of a vessel used to be dug up on the bank of the river. The crystal clear water used to surface and would be collected after filtering with a piece of white cloth on the mouth of the pot or vessel. Though bore-wells and small wells provided drinking water, the sweetness of the river water was always preferred.

(to be continued....)

My memories of River Arkavathy - Part 2

Continued from Part 1

As kids, we identified ankle deep, knee deep & neck deep areas  for playing . We used to jump from an 8 feet rock. I still remember a small snake peeping out from a small hole from the same rock. My cousin told us not to worry and if we made loud noise it would never come out. Experience spoke, we made more than a loud noise and it never came out.

After the swim, drying ourselves and the clothes was more fun. There was a Mango tree in the adjacent farm. The branches outgrew the fence and mangoes were open for all. There was neither shortage of mangoes on the tree nor shortage of stones under it.

Thus the competition of bringing down those Mangoes began. The prize, the mangoes were shared by all. Salt & Khara was always brought along. Lifebuoy soap too was an integral part of swimming. The smell of Lifebuoy soap still brings back all those memories for me.

What followed during the next decade is really tragic. The ever rising climate and human greediness contributed in killing Arkavathy slowly. The growing Bangalore population contaminated the tributary rivers joining Arkavathy. The unplanned growing constructions obstructed it’s free flow.

The rising irrigational activities and massive plantation of Eucalyptus sapped not only the ground water but also consumed the small streams which fed Arkavathy. The constructions on lake beds almost stopped all shallow water resources leaving the Arkavathy gasping for life.  

With houses getting water through pipes, Arkavathy was no more the life line. With Cable TV coming to the villages, water streams were not the favorite pass time anymore. Nobody cared to give a thought about the dying water bodies nor did anybody make an effort to revive them. There was more unclean water flowing.

My last memories of playing in Arkavathy water now goes back to 1997. 30- 40 of us plunged in to the waters after a family function. Another instance in 1999, where our entire cricket team played in the water for hours after a cricket match on a very hot day. No such luck in the later years.

Water flows, but not the water of those years. Arkavarthy is not the same it used to be. History says great civilisations prospered on the river banks, so did our childhood memories. Just hope to see all the rivers get back to their past best including our own Arkavarthy. The city of Bangalore does owe a lot to the River of Arkavarthy and its revival, for it has quenched it's thirst for decades.                

RIP

Sometime in September 2000, the Kannada tabloid ‘Lankesh Patrike’ had invited it’s readers a small write up on the topic ‘My favourite movie’ called ’Nanna Mechina Cinema’. 

I had just then watched the English movie ‘Benhur’ and  was mighty impressed by its epic making. I wrote a small write up in Kannada about the movie ‘Benhur’. I had also written saying if any movie in Kannada could be compared it was ‘Mayura’.

On the last day of the deadline, I decided give it in hand to Lankesh Patrike’s office. I went to their office with my writeup. As it was already late in the evening I was hesitant to go inside. 

Just then I noticed a lady near the gate. I approached the gate and it was Gauri Lankesh herself. I told her about the write up and she said ‘Post maadbahudithalappa’ (You could have posted) . I said it was the last day and hence came personally. She said ‘Kodappa’ and took the envelop.

Later, the write up was published in the tabloid which happened to be my first write up published in any main periodical. Being the first published one, it always stayed in my memory and so was the incident of Gauri madam taking the envelop from me. 

Now she has become a ‘memory’, though her thoughts and struggles will always remain. 

It is so strange yet so beautiful that things which have no relation independently become so inter-related down our memory lanes due to situations. Otherwise there could be no way I would remember Gauri Lankesh whenever I see a ‘Benhur’ poster or whenever my recent writeup gets published in any periodicals.

RIP madam.

Write-Turn 16 - The Binary at Namma Metro – The two kinds

Unity can only be manifested by the Binary - Buddha

Waiting for the Metro in the station, my eyes were fixed on the tracks. Two Iron- lines stretched to eternity. With the first phase fully functional, Namma Metro looks highly successful. The Bangalore commuters can now be broadly divided in to two. Those using the Metro and the other polluting the environment.

How amazed we were when we first heard decades back that computers run on Binary system. Life too, sometimes works on the same concept. 

A beggar confronting a person who refuses to give him anything says “there should be only two kinds of people in the world, one who begs and the other who gives them”.

I Got in to Metro and started seeing two kinds of people all around. In the station there were two kinds of people, those who were getting in to Metro and the other, getting out. The ones inside were just travelers who were going to belong to the second kind of trying to get out at some point of time.

For the Metro staff, there were only two kinds of people, the Purple lanes ones or the Green. For the security, there were again two kinds of people, those whose bags needed to be checked and those who were bare handed and not to be checked.

Inside the Metro, there were two kinds of people. Those who got the seats and those who did not. Among the ones who got the seats there were two kinds. One who offered their seats when ladies or elderly came and the other who did not.

Among the people who did not offer seats, there were two kinds of people. Those who did not care whatsoever and the other who had a flash of guilt inside.

Among the who felt the guilt, were of two kinds. One, who let their guilt pass and remained the same. The other who let the guilt prick their hearts and offered seats to the next set of ‘deserved’.

These ‘offerings’ were of two kinds. One, a willing, helping offer by getting up from the seat. The other, not so willing but an inquiring one. ”Do you really want to sit” kind, with a stiff face.

When the offer was made, there were two kinds of reactions. Accepting and the non-accepting. Among the ladies who accepted the offer (I mean the seats) there were of two kinds. Those who smiled and thanked. The other who did not think smile was necessary as seats were their constitutional right.

There were two kinds among those who smiled. Those with genuine smile and the other with just the customary smile.

Immersed in these thoughts, I forgot for a moment which ‘kind’ I belonged to. Then the ‘getting out’ kind of people brought me to my senses.

Out of the Metro, there were again two kinds of people. Those climbing the steps for fitness and others using the escalator for fineness. Among the people who took stairs, there were……….….Oh, this will go on.

This write up will have two kind of responses. First from those who read till the end and other….

Thanks for being the ‘first kind’.

Write-Turn 15 - What’s in a name? Ignatius.

I have not read William Shakesphere. But I know that it is he who said “What's in a name? that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”

I keep getting these marketing calls like all of you do. Normally, the callers are well trained, confident and informative of the service they are trying to sell. One thing they are not trained is in the pronouncing of the names. Understandable, names differ. Does it become so difficult if you have a name like ‘Prashanth M Ignatius’. Looks like.

Even pouncing, sorry pronouncing a name like ‘Prashanth’ becomes a task for few callers. ‘Prasanth’ is a common mistake, but ‘Per-santh’ is an irritating mistake. A few pronounce it as ‘Pirasant’ and worse was ‘Parishan’. If you think I am exaggerating, no. I am for economy of words while writing these articles.

As I said, they are confident. The confidence in the tone in the initial ‘Good Morning’, ‘Good Evening’ is very evident. It is intact till “Am I speaking to’ part too. Then creeps a slight hesitation when it is passing through the ‘Prashanth EM’ part. The mumbling, stumbling, grumbling, falling part is when ‘Ignatius’ starts.

“Am I speaking Prashanth Yum, I……G..No…..Tesuius”, here the fort of confidence has its initial cracks. Then it is shattered. I don’t make an effort to correct. Not that I enjoy their struggle, but an effort was required by them before calling.

Then there are 4 or 5 versions of it. Ignaaatsious, Hignation, Ignitisation, Hignateaous, etc. Then I correct them and then say I am not interested. ‘What’s in the name’? like William (Shakeshere I mean) said.But there is. ‘Ignatius’ associated with me is a big name. It is not my sir name.

Ignatius was saint from Loyola who is popularly known as Ignatius of Loyola. It is a practice with us that we keep a Saint’s name along with our name in honour of a Saint. We just hold on to the name and forget all the Saintly habits. They say Ignatius means ‘fiery one’. 

Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish religious leader who lived from 1491 to 1556. He founded the famed Christian religious order, Society of Jesus or Jesuits as it is popularly known. Renowned for their service in the field of Education and Awareness, Jesuits are spread all over the world.

The popular St Joseph’s Schools and colleges of Bangalore belong to this order. The life of St. 

Ignatius is an interesting & enriching one. His initial life was laced with his love for military exercises and his longing for fame. How he got in to a religious life and went on to become one of the most celebrated Saint is a great read. You can read his life here – Ignatius of Loyola

Today happens to be his feast. Normally, a Saint’s feast is celebrated on the day he died.

Happy feast to all the Ignatius’ I know. 

Write-turn 14 - Perceptions_Enemy

Perception you see ;-)

Write-Turn 13 - Time & Patience

Read a saying “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time”. All three scarce these days. One, warriors for the right purpose and the other two Patience & time. Is patience & time interdependent is something to be thought up on. Are we ‘patient’ when we have enough time? Or do we find enough ‘time’ when we are patient? Not sure.

PC:http://rummuser.com

Most of the traffic woes we experience everyday on roads seem to be because of impatience. Traffic rules are compromised to save ‘time’, sometimes less than 10 seconds. We break lanes to overtake a slow driver ahead of us. In the process we slow down the opposite vehicles. The ‘slow driver’ you overtook catches up with you in the next signal. Traffic, the great leveller. You jump the signal again 5 or 6 seconds before it turns green to gain that extra ‘time’. The pedestrian who was crossing peacefully has to hurry.

Being impatient is blamed on time. Time or lack of it has made us all warriors. Warriors fighting against time, for time or to catch up with time. Does Patience work here? Looks like patience is not a virtue any more. Time not a treasure, but a war to be confronted.

It is said in our times ‘relax’ has been replaced with ‘try harder’ and ‘be happy’ with ‘achieve’. Are we happy of ‘achieving’? Time has come where ‘being happy’ is becoming an achievement. Confusing?

A small video on ‘Time’ to end.   

Write-Turn 12 - Unsolved

Squirrels are busy animals but shy. They normally hide behind a leaf or any object when they are watched. This one on the tree in front of my house was not to be. 

There was a quite a loud noise from the tree which forced me to go have look. I knew it was a Squirrel, but expected not to spot it so easily and at such close distance. 

The crying continued as I was watching and it did not make any effort to hide or run away. Some serious issue but I just couldn’t figure out what it was. I went and Googled and found this info -

   "When a squirrel is scared and feels that it is in danger, it will at first remain motionless. If it is on the ground, it will run to a nearby tree and climb to safety, and if it is already in a tree it will circle the trunk and press up against the bark tightly with its body"

The situation was quite different from what I read. It surely was scared and seemed in danger but was in constant motion. It was on the tree already and it looked concerned on the tree. It did not circle but was moving in straight line. It did not look like pressing up against the bark tightly either :-)

Finally, could not figure out what was the problem, but the loud crying continued.  

Write Turn 11 - Power of Silence

Write Turn 10 - Metro Blues :-)

Of all the technical checks, trail & errors the Namma Metro officials conducted, this must have slipped their mind. 2 weeks in to the full functioning of the 1st phase, the inevitable has happened and the administration was caught unaware.

No, I am not taking about the strike or the other incidents that happened yesterday. Just have a look at this piece of Report I read on Deccan Herald last Monday -  

 A staffer at MG Road Metro station said drunk commuters do not listen to their advice not to board the train. “They argue that they are not using the service for free and tell us to back off. We advise them for their own good and because we know how tough it is to clean up the mess they leave behind,” he said. 

“The train goes till Nayandahalli and passengers suffer for nearly half-an hour. This is totally uncivilised on the part of a commuter,” said commuter Suresh Gowda, adding that officials should make an arrangement to clean the car at the next station.

About 30 people in the front car of the last Metro train on Friday moved to the extreme end as foul smell spread after a passenger vomited near Central College station. 

If I had to sign off in Kannada, I could have written "inno e kannalli enen nodbeko". Unadulterated translation - 'Remains to see what all this eyes have to see

 :-)

Write-Turn 9 - Operation Thunderbolt

Our PM’s visit to Israel is making all the headlines from the past 2 days. With that I was reminded of an old movie I had watched very long back. This movie was about the ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ or Operation Entebbe carried out by the commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976.

After searching the youtube without knowing the name of the movie, I ended up finding quite a few videos relating to the same the operation. Finally it was Raid en Entebbe  that I was looking for.  

 Air France Flight 139, which left Tel Aviv,  Israel having 246 passengers. Picking up  another 58 passengers at Athens, the plane is  hijacked by 4 terrorists. With a stop of    refueling , it ends up at the Entebbe Airport in  Uganda. A successful rescue mission called  ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ is carried  which has  later been hailed as one of the most daring  rescue missions in the world.

 ‘Raid en Entebbe’ is a movie based on this.  You can watch the movie or the other  documentaries to find out how the breath-  taking operation was executed. The quality of  the print is not so great on youtube but just enough for one to get engrossed.

I did not remember any details of the movie from my earlier watch.  One thing vivid in my memory was the beautiful sound track which was used during a very decisive moment in the movie.The commandoes are in a long flight to Uganda as a part of the operation and they start singing this song to kill time.

Beautiful soundtrack and an engrossing movie.

Write-Turn 8 - Prayer for Essentials

Give me work to do
Give me health
Give me joy in Simple things
Give me an eye for beauty
A tongue for truth
A heart that loves
A mind that reasons
A sympathy that understands
At the close of each day
Give me a book
And a friend with whom I can be silent

-Anonymous

Write-Turn 7 - High & Dry

I, like many of our old Bangaloreans must have passed this road many hundred times. Must have looked at the structure a thousand times. Still, the awe factor looking at as not diminished a bit as I found out this morning.

Vidhana Soudha and the road in front looked as beautiful as ever in the 6 am day light. Could not stop to take a picture at that time, but could not resist on the way back.

Our summer jogs 2 decades back used to start near the old Tiffany’s (now the Coffee Day building) and end in front of Vidhana Soudha. It looks still the same with only the newly erected fences being an eye sore.

We all have seen Bangalore change in the last 2 decades. Before that a change of this magnitude must have been some 7 or 8 decades back. Broadened roads, modern buildings, hanging bridges, flyovers, and underground metro stations are all there now.

But is there anything else which more identifies itself with Bangalore than Vidhana Soudha? I doubt. Or is it the mind-set that we are so obsessed with it? Even the identical and brighter Vikasa Soudha stands a pale imitation of its older brother

Write-Turn 6 Regrets of the Dying

Read a very interesting article on an author, motivational Speaker, song writer Bronnie Ware. She was a carer for terminally ill patients, a care taker or a nurse what we call here. In 2009, she started writing small blogs about nature, travel etc.

Her fourth post on the blog was life changing. Based on her 8 years of experience of care-taking the about to die patients, she wrote an article called ‘Regrets of the Dying’. It had the Top 5 regrets of the patients on their death bed which were told to her.

Though she started getting emails & comments from unknown readers, she had no idea how popular this post was going to become. A million people had read in a year and 8 million people within 4 years and is still counting.

She wrote a book on the same subject and it got translated in to 27 languages. You can read the blog here - Regrets of the Dying. She is now written 3 books and a motivational speaker.

For those who don’t read blogs, the top regrets as per that post are –

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not 

the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

What would be yours?

Write-Turn 5 Don’t just leave a will, leave a vision

Just as I started to write, came a courier. Except for the credit card bills, receiving a package through courier is a happy feeling. Reason being that it means the item ordered online has reached safely. Another reason mostly being the item on discount or sale or an item which is not easily available on stores.

The one received today made me happier than for a reason. It was not the one to be received but an acknowledgment for something I pledged to give. Yes, received a ‘Eye Donor Card’ for the pledge I made to donate my eyes.

Many asked me what I did for my birthday early this month. I just laughed and had said nothing special. I in fact did something special which I wanted to do for a long time. One box ticked in life.

The stats relating to Corneal Blindness in India is staggering. One third of the world’s people suffering from corneal blindness are in India. There are around 2 lakh blind people waiting for donors every year in our country and only 45,000 are collected.

That is a huge gap between demand and supply. That 45k collection amounts to only around 5% of the total deaths in the country.You can go through the sad statistics regarding this issue on - Eye Donation Stats

The stats are for you to decide yourself. There are several cultural and religious myths that acts as a hindrance for people to donate eyes. These needs to be thought upon and youngsters need to act and create awareness.

The sole idea of writing this piece is to motivate a few of my friends who read this. Even if 5 decide and donate, including mine that would be vision to 12 people.

Write-Turn 4 How to make Good Tea?

Before you start to read, this tea making video by Sanjeev Kapoor had the maximum views on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVmV1tJ1YPo . Now for the story.

Got up early today. Pretty early. If little early, it would have been yesterday. Since it was early and nothing to do I decided to make Tea, a'good tea’. There is a saying that ‘Where there is tea; there is hope’What is a good tea? is open for a big discussion. Where and with whom too matters. 

US President Abraham Lincoln had great thoughts. Mere mortals like us cannot match his thoughts. Thanks to some 'tea makers', who have made us feel what the great Lincoln felt. He once said " If this is coffee, bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee".

Back to my story, I started with boiling the milk. When that was happening, a boiling urge to check the mobile started. I did not open watsapp, instead opened Google and casually typed ‘How to make good tea?’. Google being Google did not disappoint. 

It first threw some 'tea' quotes with pictures. I was not aware that there were so many of them on 'tea’.Some very philosophical too. I liked this one the best, "Life is like a cup of tea, it's all in how you make it".

There were other things too. One which caught my attention was a essay written by George Orwell way back in 1946. The essay is called 'A Nice Cup of tea'.Essay I had read about it earlier in a Kannada article but not in detail. Those who drink, make , like , don’t like ‘tea’ need to read this essay.

It’s a pretty long one but worth the read with a cup of tea. He has emphasised about 11 factors that contribute in making ‘nice’ tea. You can read in instalments. You may not agree, appreciate or follow on all points but would try one or two applicable.

My story, the milk was boiled, but I had to abandon the next steps of making tea as I had to complete reading the essay. According to it I had not boiled the milk right. Try reading the article :-)

Write-Turn 3 - The Road(s) Not Taken

‘For the first time ever domestic passengers in India have crossed one crore in a month’. Wow, that’s a great stat.

For the ones who thought it ‘may’ happen, yes, it has happened this ‘May’. Many of my 'young friends' I know might have contributed to that stat.

As soon as I read it I was reminded of the poem by Robert Frost, ‘The Road not taken’. That particular poem is entirely of a different context and of a different subject.

But 1 crore passengers taking the flight means that, that many people not hitting the Indian roads. I remembered the poem, ’The Road(s) not taken in that context. Apologies to Mr.Frost.

The stat of 'a crore' passengers open doors for lot many other stats for me. Every time a passenger boards a plane, there is a 'Namaste' or a greeting by the aircraft staff. That means a minimum of a crore greeting has been conveyed. Even if 50% of the passengers greeted back, that’s around 15 million ‘good words’ (even if it is not meant at heart entirely) exchanged. When the world is witnessing so many ‘unpleasant’ events today, that is a happy bit of statistic.

Reports say that IndiGo topped the list in the number of passengers. No news of Kingfisher Airlines. With the ‘May Heat’, Kingfisher would have topped the chart in a different segment.

Also you don’t have to fly in a Kingfisher flight to feel ‘high’. You can have the same feeling (highness) having another ‘Kingfisher ‘product at the comforts of your home.

India Pakistan Matches - An experience by itself

Sunday’s India-Pak match. Finals & India loses. Sad feeling. Not for the loss but because of the margin of defeat. Excellent Cricket by Pakistan. Fast bowling at its best. Bowling of the old days.

India lost. Sad, but not as sad as it used to be in the 90s.  India invariably used to be on the losing side during the early part of 90s. The last ball six in the 1986 Sharjah Cup finals by Miandad had made a huge dent in to the psyche of the Indians. Indian players struggled during India-Pak encounters. The Akrams, Waqars, Aquibs, Akhtars penetrated the famed Indian batting line-ups with ease & regularity

However, 1996 World Cup quarter-finals changed it all. Aamir Sohail smashing Venkatesh to the fence and waving at Prasad was their last bright spot over India in global tournaments. Next ball, wicket rolled, Prasad roared and with that India dominated over Pakistan for the next two decades. The video clip of Prasad giving a verbal send off to Sohail remained thumbnail for the India-Pak encounters thereafter. 

Television sales go up in India during these tournaments. Televisions go down on the floor we have heard in Pakistan every time they lose to India. India never lost to Pakistan in the ICC tournaments during this period.  2017 Champion’s trophy final was a completion of one full circle for India-Pak encounters. Pakistan is on the top now. The best team during the finals day won.

The Start

‘Keep writing’ and ‘keep smiling’ are the two things I keep hearing from my friends and well-wishers. I know ‘well-wishers’ is an old fashioned word, but there are still hell lot of such good people left in this world. I often (not so often) hear from them that I write well and have a good smile. I have my doubts. I write sometimes and smile a lot, but not sure if they are as good as I am told they are.

‘Smiling’ is lot easier compared to writing. Reactions too is lot more and spontaneous to a ‘smile’ than to a ‘write up’. I smile when I am writing but can’t write every time I smile. I can smile lazily but can’t write lazily. Writing needs ‘effort’. So I am making an effort to ‘write’ at least on alternate days for the next 30 days. That means at least 15 small write-ups in the next one month.

I am confused as to how big or small an ideal write up should be. Few of my friends tell me that they read up to the point where they see an instruction called ‘continue reading’. They stop there. Request you all to ‘continue’ little further.

There is a saying that ‘It will take time, effort, blood, sweat & tears, but I will get there’. Let me not get that serious. Time & effort yes I will put in, with the weather relatively cool I may not sweat. Let there be no ‘tears of blood’ from those who read.

These series of write ups may be in English, Kannada or be a picture (because a picture speaks thousand words ;-) ) This is not a new thing, many bloggers have done it earlier. Let me try. Those who have always told me to ‘keep writing’ have this obligation of responding once in a while during the next 30 days. ‘Keep smiling’ depends on the responses I get. Happy reading. 

I will call this series ‘Write-Turn’. 

The art of having a ‘good’ haircut.

Hair quote - You're only as good as your last haircut - Fran Lebowitz

One must be wondering if there is such a thing called ‘The art of having a good haircut’ as against to ‘giving’ a good a haircut. Giving a haircut is an art by itself, but those who have had and having haircuts have to agree that is it one of the most ‘pleasurable experiences’ one can have. Hence choosing a good saloon suiting your sensibilities is a necessity if not a luxury.

It is not every day that we give our ‘head’ to somebody else to work on it. Though we ourselves don’t have full control of what is going on inside, the outer part is taken full control for a good 30 to 40 minutes. This ‘time duration’ depends on how much there is to work on. That ‘ haircut time’ is fast decreasing for me in the recent years for obvious reasons.

Not everybody can give a good haircut. You can’t learn it seeing YouTube videos. I doubt if there is a ‘dummies’ book on this. The mustache trimming still remains one of the most skillful acts, as there is only ‘cut’ and no option for ‘paste’ later. Having a haircut to your children is tougher. Wife would always want a bit more hair at the ‘back of the head’ of your child after the haircut. With ‘too short’, the situation can get worse than you forgetting your anniversary.

Family problems apart, as said earlier, having a haircut can be a pleasurable experience given the various factors in a saloon. I have always enjoyed not only the ‘hair cuts’ but also the 'waiting period' before a haircut. One common thing you find even in the most ordinary of the saloons are the good spread of newspapers and magazines.

During my childhood & college days, I used to feast on the Bollywood magazines in the hair cut shop (that sounds closer to heart than a ‘saloon’ for me). The ‘Stardusts’, ‘Filmfares’ ‘Movie blitz’ used to be my favourites in the cutting shop. I was update with all the Bollywood gossips, love stories, breakups and what not during the whole of 90s. We knew everything in the lives of Madhuri, Raveena, Karishma, Shilpa Shetty, Sonali and of course my favourite Kajol. We had great respect for the male actors and hence did not get too much in to their personal lives. I would let the other customers go ahead & have their haircuts till I finished these magazines.

One more advantage of haircuts those days were that they were ‘knowledge centers’. You would let go lot of your hair, but gained lot of information listening to the conversations happening. Converting the information into knowledge was left to your talent. With no news channels, all the breaking news used to be ‘broken’ there. The person giving the haircut used to pass on the acquired information to the next who bowed for the haircut.That proved that knowledge can be acquired only if you bow down from your pride & ego.

Luckily, the shop I went during my high school & college days was owned by a friend who played games with us. Not the ‘mind games’ but games like Cricket, Basketball etc. He played basketball very well. He mastered the art of holding the basketball and releasing it better than any of us. I guess he practiced it with the heads during the haircuts daily. The entire youth of the area used to be his clients and hence the latest fashion prevailed.

As there were few real estate offices, these shops used to be the real estate centers too. Movie reviews, new songs, cricket match commentaries along with Akashavani & Vividhbharathi were all favorites in the shop. The entry of small TVs altered the traditional environment of these shops. The heads used to turn towards the TVs like sunflowers tilting towards sun. I have watched lot of Telugu movies during my haircuts. If you happen to have a hair cut during cricket matches, you can see Virat Kohli batting left handed or Ashwin bowl left arm spin in the mirror.

People longed for new messages, hence 'massages' were not popular those days. These days we are bombarded with messages, hence massage (head) has become a must with a haircut.

I have tried all the latest fancy Saloons and I feel these days only the scissors make the sound. The ‘art’ is very much there but the ‘heart’ behind those haircuts is missing. I still prefer the local shops.

End of an 'Era' - Time Out

With the 1st ODI today, it is a new beginning in Indian Cricket and at the same time  end of an era of captaincy.  Calling 8 years of Dhoni’s captaincy an ‘era’ may sound little exaggerated, but not really if you look at India’s achievements during this period. Though I have not been a big fan of Dhoni, one will have to admire his achievements as a player, captain and an ambassador of the game.  He has played all these roles to near perfection, more so as a captain and a one day batsman.

As a batsman he made his mark with his explosive batting when he came in. That itself was an achievement given the explosiveness the Indian batting line already had. With  the likes of Shewag, Sachin,Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvaraj any new comer wold have been overawed, but not Dhoni. Getting elevated to captaincy of T20 team overtaking almost a dozen other senior players, he won it with his cool head. Could you imagine any other conservative captain giving the last over of the finals to someone like Joginder Sharma?

Dhoni displayed that kind of ‘Street smartness’ during his entire captaincy, with success most of the times and failures in between. We who had played Tennis ball cricket all along, always found the leather ball cricket a total different ball game. Players like Dhoni bridged the gap between street cricket and professional cricket with a fresh approach to batting and captaincy. We could see lot of tennis ball batting shots played by him on international stage without any inhibitions. I think that is what has made Dhoni so popular with the masses along with the likes of other greats of Indian Cricket.

Players like Dhoni also conveyed the message that India and Indian cricket is much more than the metros or the big cities. They represented the vibrant untapped talent the smaller cities offered. Indian Cricket really did blossom under Dhoni’s captaincy and the brilliance and aura of Virat Kohli at present could have been the only thing that would have diminished its effect as it has done now.

Dhoni has set high standards of captaincy and left a legacy for the future captains to better it.

Thanks Dhoni.