The Yellow Butterfly

'P' of #AtoZChallenge  लहानपणापासून पु.लंचं घरी येणं जाणं असायचं!  कधी cassette मधून गोष्ट सांगायचे, कधी radio वरून गाणी ऐकवायचे.  आणि भरपूर वेळा आई आणि आजी मला त्यांची पुस्तके वाचून दाखवतं.  मला तर ते माझे आजोबाच वाटायचे!  किती गोष्टी सांगत, किती हसवत!  जास्त करून त्यांच्या गम्मतीदार गोष्टी ऐकल्यामुळे ते माझ्यासाठी खूप मोठा Source of Happiness होते आणि अजूनही आहेत!!  मी सहावीत होते तेव्हा ते गेले.  मी पहिल्यांदा कोणाच्या 'जाण्यावरून'  एवढी रडली असेन! तेव्हा तर मला फारशी idea पण नव्हती की, ते नक्की कोण आणि कित्ती मोठे आहेत! मला माझेच आजोबा गेले असं वाटलं! दुसऱ्या दिवशी आणि त्या नंतर झालेल्या media coverage नंतर कळलं की फक्त मी नाही ते सगळ्यांचेच favourite आजोबा आणि Once in a Lifetime Phenomenon होते ! त्यानंतरच्या दिवसात, सगळ्याच channels वर त्यांची नाटकं, गाणी, काथा-कथान, जुने films broadcast केले!  खूप blessed वाटलं की मी ते असताना जन्माला आले, आणि मला ते थोडेसे मिळाले!  आणि त्या...

O of #AtoZChallenge At night, when the world would be making it's bed, waiting to drop down, my Aaji would put on her transistor in her bedroom and listen to old Hindi songs on radio. Suddenly, everything would go quiet. A warm, fuzzy feeling would envelope our house. A smile would appear on our faces, the worried wrinkles on the foreheads would disappear and we would find ourselves going down the Old World Lane!  Ah! The eternal- Old World Charm! Even today when I hear any old Hindi song, my imagination turns into  black and white and I get transported right into the song!  If I have to revisit an era, I would travel to the 'black and white Mumbai' era. When the streets looked squeaky clean, the Victorian buildings at VT, Churchgate basked in it's full glory, Marine Drive and the Arabian Sea looked it's cleanest. During my time-travel, I can feel the warm wind blowing, making my tresses dance. I imagine life to be simpler with lesser choices, less...

N of #AtoZChallenge Nalu म्हणजे Nalini, my Aaji. My Aaji has a played a BIG role in my life. My Aaji (Mum's mum) and we lived together till she passed away. I got her, all for myself till the time I was twenty-one years old!  She was not just my Aaji, but my roommate, my sister, my friend, my Guide, my Teacher! All rolled in one! My Aaji would often tell me stories. And some of these stories would be memories about her childhood. Whenever she narrated I would immediately be transported back in time, to the Mumbai of the late 1920's and early 1930's! My imagination would turn sepia and I would see my Aaji as a दोन वेण्याची छोटी choti Mulgi (but with my Aaji's face)!  Aaji grew in the heart of Dadar. Her father taught my Aaji everything! He put her in the best school of Dadar (King George semi-English), he helped her in her studies through school, he encouraged her to sing and learn the harmonium, he taught her to cycle on the f...

M of #AtoZChallenge  प्रिय मुलुंड,  मी तुला खुपचं miss करते! मी ह्या जागच्या पाठीवर कुठेही राहीले तरी,  तूचं माझं कायमचं घर अशील!  तुझ्या रस्त्यांमध्ये एक वेगळीचं warmth आहे, ओलावा आहे, comfort आहे !  दूर बसूनही मी बऱ्याचदा तुझ्या रस्त्यांमध्ये रमतगमत फिरत असते.  बरंच काही शोधात असतें, बर्याच आठवणी आठवतं असते! कदाचित मी त्या ओळखीच्या रस्त्यांवर,  स्वतःचीच पुसट झालेली ओळख शोधत असेन ? माझ्या मुलुंड पूर्व मध्ये कोणी हरवूनही हरवणार नाही!  सगळे रस्ते, सगळे गल्ले, सगळे कोपरे, अगदी जाणून आहे मी!  लांब चालतही गेले ना, तरी घरी परतायचा रस्ता सापडतोच!  गोल आणि छोटं आहे नं माझं मुलुंड East!  कुठूनही सुरु केलं तरी तिथंच येऊन पुन्हा सुरु करू शकतो!  ती झाडं, ती सावली पण लक्षात आहे,  अगं मीच काय,  तुझ्या त्या Saidhan जवळच्या झाडावर पण, पीढोन-पीढी राहणाऱ्या चिमण्या पण दर संध्याकाळी तेवढाच किलबिलाट करतात! खाली रस्त्यावर दर महिन्याला वाढणारा traffic क...

L of #AtoZChallenge Lion King has changed the Sunrise for me!  It's a forever change.  There are rare times when I have seen a rising sun.  But whenever I have seen one,  'Naaaaaachiii baingyaaaa, baba bi chiwawaaa....'  rings in my ears!  I am that sun who rises on that screen,  I am that ant who walks on the twig,  I am those bisons who run, I am that leopard,  I am that bird who flies across the huge waterfall, I am the mighty elephant who slowly walks past the wide mountain,  I am also the flamingo who flies over the beautiful river basking in the early sunshine.  I am the antelope hopping to reach in time,  I am that little giraffe who runs with his mum, I am also Zazoo who glides and swoops down at Mufasa's feet,  and bows to him.  And then Mufasa smiles.  Oh that smile!  That kind, wise smile!  It is then when I knew that I wanted to BE kind l...

K of #AtoZChallenge Lately I have been cooking.  Regularly.  Cooking was neither my hobby nor my duty. Today, cooking has become my need.  It's not that I want to cook and make great recipes for Kedar (my partner/inmate),  or to make him 'happy'. I am cooking, because, I, MYSELF want to have good food and feel happy!  It's the familiarity of taste of a particular dish that I long to have,  that makes me want to cook in the exact way how my mother cooks.  It's the longing of having 'junk food', but now that there is no option to eat out,  I HAVE to try to duplicate it at home! And satisfy the craving with however I have cooked it!  It generally turns out to be good!  Guess first time has it's charm!  I have discovered I NEED to have a quick response (appreciation) for my Art piece! I don't generally display my creations onto social media.  But I NEED to be APPRECIATED by Kedar (the...

J of #AtoZChallenge  When I was in school my idea of college was heavily influenced by movies especially Ishq Vishk (which was far more realistic than Dil Chahta Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and even Remix!) I remember my two years of Junior College in bits and pieces. It was almost like walking into a colourful, youth movie set. There were all sorts of teenagers wearing cool outfits, some wearing no-brainer normal outfits, some trying to be fashionable and some just being themselves. I think the idea of 'not wearing a uniform' was itself daunting. I couldn't believe I had to make an effort of thinking what should I wear every day to college. And feel as if I was going to be judged every day! I would secretly feel like Gabriella from High School Musical and would wonder if people would randomly start jumping and dancing all around!  My college was a huge quadrangular building with dark, cool corridors, breezy second and third floors, an air-conditioned auditorium,...

                                                                                                                                        I of #AtoZChallenge It's a classic case of 'Lost and Found!'  I realized that I had often lost I and found I.  Over the years it had been normal. To lose I.  To find I.  Eventually I always learnt something in the process!  Only I didn't know when was I lost and when I was found.  It was the 'butterflies in the stomach' feeling that I always got.  Before losing I.  And just before finding I.  Did I look forward to getting lost? Or did I...

H  of #AtoZChallenge  'Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times,  if only one remembers to turn on the light!' (image courtesy: Google images) I was amongst the 'first receivers' of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer' s Stone and Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets books in India; the British  editions published by Bloomsbury! My Gaurav Kaka bought them in London when he was coming back to India and had gifted me. I was in my sixth standard back then; some eleven years old. SAME AGE AS HARRY :)  Only back then I didn't know what I had received! Though I was amongst the first receivers of the book, I was NOT amongst the first readers of the books! It took me a while to realize that I was sitting on a goldmine! My creche Mavshi, Jyoti Kakee and Jui Tai had taken the entire group to watch the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The movie shook me to the core! Harry's journey to Hogwarts, exploring the magical wo...

G of #AtoZChallenge Ganpati's Aaji-Aajoba, Parvati's parents, are Earthlings.  Every year Ganpati visits Earth twice and lives as a fellow Earthling.  Aaji Aajoba make sure to invite all their relatives and friends over to the house to meet Ganpati.  Then all the family friends sing and dance around Ganpati and entertain him thoroughly.   Just because they know how foodie Ganpati is, Aaji-Aajoba lovingly make 'special Ganpati meals': modaks, shrikhand, different sorts of bhaajis and pulavs every single day!   Every year Ganpati goes back to his parents chubbier and fluffier.  This year while Ganpati and Parvati were underwater and were on the way back home, Parvati playfully cupped and squeezed his chubby cheeks and chuckled, "Your fitness freak Baba is going to freak out more than ever!"   Mushak giggled, "Kheeekikheekii.."  Parvati looked at him crossly, "You too are looking fluffier than usual!"...

F of #AtoZChallenge My first school was Yashomandir. At age four. It was a Nursery school in Mulund East.   The uniform was a red pinafore with a white shirt. My mum would fold a handkerchief in a triangle and pin it (with a safety pin) on the left-hand side.  My school name-badge would be pinned on top of it.  The Principal of our Yashomandir was Teacher-Aaji.  I never made an effort to know her real name because for me she was Teacher-Aaji. Whenever I meet her, I still address her Teacher-Aaji.  She was a tall, pathicha kana taath (spine-straight) woman who had the looks of a commanding yet a kind Principal.  My class teacher's name was Rita Teacher.  My memory of walking down the street to Yashomandir is fresh to the extent that I still remember how the sunshine felt, how I hopped and skipped to school holding my Aaji's hand, the warm breeze that flowed, the hide and seek the sun played through the shady trees.  I even ...