तू.....

मनात तू,
हृदयात तू.
डोळ्यात माझ्या तूच तू
विचारात देखिल तूच!

जिथे जातो मी तिथे तू,
एखाद्या सावली सारखी माझ्या संगे असतेस तू!
पावलो पावली आठवतेस तू,
गल्ली बोळात देखिल दिसतेस तूच!

पहाटेच्या गारव्यात तू,
दुपारच्या कडक उन्हात देखिल तूच!
दिवसा स्वप्ने पाहतो मी त्यात देखिल तू,
रात्री झोप येत नाही ह्याचे कारण पण तूच!

डोंगर कपारीत फिरताना जाणवतेस तू,
राना वनात भासतेस तूच!
थकून थांबल्यावर पुढे जायला प्रोत्साहन देतेस तूच,
घामाच्या धारा पुसण्यासाठी बनलेला रुमाल देखिल तूच!

माझ्या रोमा रोमात तू
नसा नसात भिनलीस तूच!
श्वासात तू,
उसासे टाकतो मी, त्यात देखिल तू,
माझं सळसळणारं रक्त बनून धावतेस देखिल तूच!

माझ्या हळव्या मनाला छळणारी तू,
मनाला कधी सुखावणारी तू,
वाट पहायला लावून मन बेचैन करणारी तू,
त्याच मनाला कधी उभारी देणारी देखिल तूच!

अशी फ़क्त जाणवणारी ती तू,
कधीही न भेटणारी ती तू,
दूर राहुनाही सगळ्यात जवळ तू
जवळ असून ही सगळ्यात दूर तूच!

-प्रांजल वाघ
०५ फेब 2009



This work by Pranjal A. Wagh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

The Sandbag Millionaires...the government that is!

Shedding a little light on the mockery of security that is present in Mumbai.....

These days whenever you wherever in Mumbai the most common thing you find at every nook and corner is a sandbag post albeit abandoned. Tight Security supposedly!

Is Mumbai a battle-ground? Is it not supposed to be a City?


(A Paramilitary personnel mans a post at Mumbai CSt station. He is armed with a 5.56mm INSAS rifle and has a buller-proof vest but alas no protective head-gear!)

Moreover the policemen, if they do occupy these posts are 2 to 3 in number and have one SLR in between them! The others are armed with state-of-the-art lathis! Moreover they are not aware and trained of how to react to a Terrorist attack synonymous to 26/11!

Even if they are trained they still use riot-control helmets! And yes, their bulletproof vests are torn with the kevlar breastplates sticking out of the vests!

As for the sandbag posts ( or bunkers as the media choose to christen them! How many of them know the difference between a bunker and a post, God knows!) they are anything but safe for our police! As per a newspaper report, pests like mice and cockroaches have made these new posts their home!
(Good! Even if the government cannot rehabilitate the slum-dwellers atleast they do rehabilitate the gutter-dwellers!)
These little terrorists are now keeping the police-men busy! They have to face the butt of the SLRs and the lathi-charges inside the posts! Althought the BMC has promised to disinfect these posts who knows when that will happen?

Well, who can blame the poor police-men! I really pity them! They have to work through so many odd shifts!Keep the crime-rate below a level, protect the city and on top of that they are expected to combat terrorism?

In the police, I dare say, one man is forced to do the work of at least 5 people due to shortage of men!

And coming to the question of security, whatever happened to intelligence agencies? Have this politicians and police head honchos ever seen English movies based on the CIA or something? Whatever happened to good old electronic surveillance?

Are we even, 2 % of what they are as regards the level of intelligence?

Really do the politicians think that Sandbag posts and more number of police make a city secure? In fact they make the citizens feel insecure, like they are constantly under a threat!

One simple thing these guys have to understand!
What good is security inside your house when you have left the doors and wondows of your house wide open?

Is it really worth spending millions just to put up makeshift sandbag 'bunkers'or should they be spent on new equipment and most important, training!
Or how about increasing the salary of the poor chaps of the police department? I think that gesture is long overdue!
Come on, this is the least that the government can do for the cops! It would mean so much to them!

Think about this!

The only tragedy of being an Indian is that we need to be reminded by others of our shortcomings! Be it 1962 Himalayan Blunder, 1999 Kargil Intrusions, The numerous terror attacks and so on! And worst part is we never learn from our mistakes!


This work by Pranjal A. Wagh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Thinking About Her....

A Poem written by me in the rainy season..... :)




When I wake up in the morning
And I lie lazing in my bed
Listening to the sound of rain drops
Falling outside
I think of her
Everytime
And then my mind wonders
Will the rain be falling where she is,
Will she be lying in her bed
Looking ever more beautiful
And will she be thinking of me
And what i might be doing then?


When I am finding my way through a dense jungle
It reminds me of her long dark hair
It comforts me to think
That I am lost in the tides
Of her long and dark hair


When I finally find my way
And reach those mountain peaks
That seem to kiss the sky
Then I throw my sight from the top


And greedily devour the beautiful views
She comes to my mind
And I say to myself
Nature may be beautiful
But she is far more beautiful than Nature....




This work by Pranjal A. Wagh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Diva Maharashtracha - A Destination for 'Burrp'pet food!!!

A diversion from my usual serious blog posts....the foodie in me has finally spoken!

A casual call from my college friends Ojus and Harshad in the morning and a lunch date was fixed. Even other guys like Milind, Aniket, Hemant, Abhishek and Sharma were shopping in the nearby Parel. So we just called them for the lunch too.The destination - Diva Maharashtracha near Shivaji Park!!

Diva Maharashtracha is the third in a chain of excellent restaurants by the Maharashtrian enterpreneur and foodie Dr. Suhas Awchat and his wife Deepa Awchat. All three of their restaurants are dedicated to serving authentic South Indian and Maharashtrian cuisines......which we normally do not get in other restaurants!

Anyway....
So we decided to visit the restaurant which has been beautifully decorated in the true royal maharashtrain style!

The darwaan is dressed in impeccable maratha style and holds the door open for you with a smile and a warm "Namaskar!". A true marathi greeting straight from the heart!
As you enter into the restaurant a Tutari sounds overhead signaling your arrival! Your entry in the restaurant is declared in much the same manner as the arrivals of kings was done in the olden days!

As you are led to your table you are impressed by the ambience of the place. It plays popular Marathi songs and the wall-mounted lcd TV plays marathi channels! There are two mashaals mounted on the walls with simulation of fires in them! One can only imagine the kind of ambience if dinner is to be had at this fine restaurant!

As you sit down and have a look at the menu (the high prices not withstanding!) you can just glance and imagine the unbelievable diversity of the cuisine range offered by Maharashtra.
The menu card itself is wrapped in a beautiful Maharashtrian Paithani saree and provides detailed information about the dishes served by Diva....

The waiters are dressed in simple Kurta-Lehenga with a jacket over the kurta...and are so very polite and take extremely good care of you! I guess the waiters that I have experienced were never so very polite and well behaved!

'Diva' offers you authentic Maharashtrian chutneys (deviating from the normal pickles and stuff you get in everyday hotels!) shown in the pic below!


















You get authentic Garlic-Coconut dry chutney, Mirchi -Lasun Thecha(Crushed green chillies and garlic) and Kairicha Loncha(raw mango pickle). Along with that you are served fried chillies and the usual onions and lemons!

* A special announcement for vegetarian public! 'Diva' serves all vegetarian food in different plates. A special set of plates is always kept for vegetarian food! * Not that I care about it but still..........

Coming back to the food that we ordered..........
I do not have enough good adjectives in my kitty to glorify the lovely food that I had! Even so, a futile attempt at describing the food.....

Vegetarian Cuisine:

1. Shahalyachi Bhaaji (Flesh of Coconut) :
This was one of the most amazing things that I have ever eaten! Served in the entire coconut shell itself this vegetable was awesome in taste and even surpassed the non-vegetarian preparations. This coming from me, a die hard non-veg fan, should be an indication of how much I loved this dish!

2. Varhaadi Paneer (Paneer cubes prepared in special masala from Varhaad region of Maharashtra):
Awesome! Awesome! Assal Varhaadi jhatka to the dish! The Paneer cubes almost melted inside the mouth!

3. Moong Khichdi(Preparation of Moong with Rice):

Heaven! Moong Khichdi never tasted so much better, even at my place! The rice and moongs were just perfectly cooked and the taste was delicious!

Non-Vegetarian Cuisine:

1. Saoji Chicken (A chicken dish from the Saoji Community):

Dark brown and mysterious looking this Chicken dish was the center of our attention when it was served to us! If Saoji Chicken was a beautiful woman then it would numero uno on the World's Most Beautiful Women list! ;)

2. Kolambichi Khichdi (Prawns and Rice Dish):

Although this dish is better known as Kolambicha Bhaat in my house, Kolambichi Khichdi was mindblowing...excellent!!

Alongwith these lovely dishes we had soft and hot Jowar and Rice Bhakris!
And ofcourse we had drinks....Rich Creamy and Spicy Sol Kadhi and Sweet Raw Mango Panha!!

Dinner for 8 was on a little on the expensive side....@ Rs. 2700/-
But its allright to spend so much on such lovely food once in a while!

I would definitely recommend this place for ardent foodies like myself!
Just go and experience the diversity of Maharashtrian food!

The taste of Sol Kadhi still lingers on my tongue......

My mouth has started watering so I'll just sign off! :P

* Next time I promise I'll get more pictures to stimulate your taste buds!



This work by Pranjal A. Wagh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.