TAKE A STEP FORWARD…

Our table in Wadeshwar was very noisy. Old school friends were meeting after a long time. Subjects kept on changing tracks continuously. Amongst was an ex-NDA Cadet, Prathamesh Apte, who is currently completing his training in IMA-Deheradun. He was narrating his thrilling and unique experiences. We were awestruck! So much of hardship, mental as well as physical stress with extreme discipline. But, he told us, PATRIOTISM gave them the strength to overcome this hectic schedule and pumped ‘josh’ in them. We are proud of our friend and certainly have a real respect for him in our hearts! That evening flew off quickly, and was a memorable one..
At night when I relaxed on bed, my mind kept on asking questions relentlessly. Why Prathamesh stands out amongst us? What’s special in him? He has created a different niche in the society. He is looked upon as role model by school students and their parents. Even in our school he gains a never before appreciation from teachers. WHY??? For few minutes my mind went blank. I couldn’t find any answers..
The next moment I realized that the answers were in my questions! The society around us is striving hard to attain self-security in all respects. People are identifying themselves as separate, isolated souls, and thus want to satisfy their growing needs which aren’t the basic needs (those are greed)! No one wants to heal wounds of others and at the same time wants to remain woundless. Willingness to help poor and needy people is dropping down. Though we realize help is required, helping hand is not being extended, and this help will surely change the situation! Some people keep a very clean approach “others are poor that’s their problem; they are living bad lives due to poverty. As I pay (heavy?) taxes, its not my job to help them. Government is responsible and must take a strong initiative”. This means majority of the society is flowing in a steady streamline aiming materialistic pleasures. Prathamesh has stepped aside this routine streamline and hence is making a different mark! That’s why he is so extraordinary and hence a respectable human being. But just by appreciating his step, or by giving a pat on his back, will the situation change? It’s easy to say that ‘you are doing a great job, keep it up’, for people flowing away from moral values. Why don’t these people work on similar lines? Why do they run to materialistic achievements? Are they lethargic? Are they weak, incapable of doing it? Intolerant? Are they cowards? NO… we lack the approach, outlook and we are resisting change. Its an acquired inertia towards change, which is difficult to break!
It was almost midnight; there was deep silence outside, suggesting answers to my questions-SILENCE! I woke up and went near my window, gazed at the pitch black sky studded with millions of glittering stars. Its so refreshing to see such natural beauty! This remembered me of a song from SWADES ‘ yeh tara who tara ‘, which really stands as an example of how one should change the way to look at things around. One such quote I read few days back. It says… ‘I cursed myself when I desired a new pair of shoes, when I found that the person next to me doesn’t have feet!’ I was shocked…this strengthened my thought process further.
“Sanskar” I uttered suddenly. The moral values inculcated during upbringing of kids. YES! Finally I collapsed on the answer. Molding of wet mud has to be done very carefully in order to shape it into a perfect pot. This is missing today. With growing unit families and both parents working all the day, children aren’t getting good ‘sanskaras’. They on their own decide what is right or wrong landing in wrong directions, keeping money as their prominent and sole aim! This is because their parents run behind money. Being children they are keen observers and quick followers, thus they walk fast on a misguided, wrong path living a self-centered life!
Has everything finished? Can’t we do anything to improve this situation? Is everything running out of hands? Absolutely not! Its responsibility of today’s parents, we – the present youth (future parents) to change this situation by altering ourselves. Take out quality time for children, be with them. Also, set an example for youngsters by working differently for healthy social cause. Along with parents, teachers too have a crucial role. They shouldn’t act as catalyst to drag the students in ‘academic competition’. At the same time just by giving donations you can’t help poor people. More than that, dedication and time is needed at this moment, a huge manpower is much needed to initiate a change. Its said that, ‘Man isn’t intelligent by answering all the questions, but by being open to all the questions’. So let us end our pseudo ignorance, lets be open to all problems, let us take step forward..Together!

TARNI... THE SAILING BOAT!

When one thinks of sea, while eyes wink boat comes to our mind! And then many more things start sailing. Grainy sand, rhythmic waves and the setting sun too! It’s a treat for any photographer to click the evening moments colored in artistic patterns, in varied colors. At the same time though, apart from sea life, another life is closely linked with the sea, ‘Life of a Fisherman’.

3-4Km away from Guhagar, a neatly arranged, small village resides at the shore, ‘Asagoli.’ Placed adjacent to this wonderful seashore, it’s populated with families of fishermen. Day in day out, for years together fishing business is being operated from this place. Me and my friend, Abhijeet (he was my guide too), went to Asagoli, during my trip to Guhagar. I got a chance to look at this different life closely and to capture some of the moments. We went there in the evening, sun geared up to bid Adios to the awesome shore! A small shade caught our attention; fishermen were busy processing the seafood. Sorting, weighing, stocking was done smoothly. None the less, my eyes were glued at the horizon, which was blazing and the silhouettes of number of ships made perfect wallpaper, I always wanted to click this scene.

Just then, a man aged in his 50s came walking to us, grey hair, bare feet, a normal dark colored shirt and a towel around his waist, a typical fisherman! Abhijeet knew him and told me his name, ‘Babya Timsekar’. With a very wide smile he welcomed us and started telling about the fishing methods, the business part, simultaneously pulling out several fish species from the ice packed crates! Yeah… he faced the camera confidently too! We were enjoying his experiences and the info that he was telling us. He was a very simple man. Babya, I thought would be earning enough to satisfy his family basic needs. But, Abhijeet made an effort to prove me wrong. The amount which Babya earns each month is truly HUGE! It’s so enormous that a MBA Graduate can’t think of it even after 10 years of corporate working experience! Yet Babya appears as I have described, if you meet him at the sea. It’s not an easy life though, but isn’t difficult to a person like Babya to wear branded clothes and throw attitude at the workers and towards strangers like me. But he never does it.

Along with Babya we walked towards the sea. A boat was arriving after hours of fishing, the job now was to empty the vessel and process the caught seafood. It’s really interesting to watch these activities, for them it’s a routine but the ease at which they do it is worth appreciating. As this shore doesn’t have a structured port to dock the ships, fishermen are at the task of bringing the craft outside the water. They swim towards the ferry and literally pull it on the sand almost 100m away from water! For the easy movement of the boat on the sand, they place furrowed wooden logs coated with some kind of paint, in a line and then pull out the ferry. It’s a treat to watch these guys working together as they sing along while pulling the boat. Wow!!! Clicking these moments did put a smile on my face, unknowingly!

Apart from this, the shore was full of life. Gulls, Kites were enjoying fishing too! Herons, Sandpipers too made effort to get their dinner as fast as they can. Kids were enjoying cricket judiciously, on the customized wet sand pitches! Screaming and running hard, lads were happy and they had a blast! Meanwhile the boat was unloaded and cutting, sorting, washing started at an amazing pace.

Women had entered the scene now and no doubt, they were highly skilled in above activities. They were as busy as the bees, and very shy to face the camera.
It was glad to notice that every person had a very distinct role to play. So many activities were going on in chorus. For the first time I had neglected a perfect sunset that too on a beach! Darkness took over, my camera lens got slower than a turtle. I packed up and we walked through the village. Small houses were depicting the fisherman’s life! They had walls engraved with fish shapes. Babya was accompanying us; he invited us to his house. On our way home, he collected ‘Thanda’ bottles i.e. cold drinks for us. He offered us thanda at his house, felt very nice and surprised, I had never expected this. We had a long chat on his terrace, I enjoyed observing everything, and I heard some typical songs ‘Koli Geeta’, which were being played in the village.

We had to get back to Guhagar, Babya , with his patent wide smile said bye, and escorted us to the main road. We shook hands, I said thank you, but had something more to tell, which I couldn’t. On our way back, I remembered the ‘Sailing Boats’ in the sea, fighting the waves and wind, these never stopped, Babya too was like a sailing boat…TARNI!