Literature & Music

What app eats up most of your screen time — and do you even feel bad about it? WhatsApp is the decease, death of normal, healthy, warm, lively human communication and so it’s an incurable didease. Fortunately for me, people having perceived me as hater of humans, misanthrope like that of Moliere (or कवडीचुंबक of अत्रे) on account of my antisocial (on matrimony, man woman relationship, politics,…

What’s a movie or book that inspired you to travel? Kissa means anecdote, story, incident, event that is extremely special. Our Indian languages express our culture, so beautifully, which English, a foreign language, falls short to express the complete truth behind the word. In my opinion Urdu is the language which completely covers Indian diaspora. Look at this word Kissa which is the…

If you could erase one trend from history, what would it be? It’s difficult to compress my response to this prompt, in a word in title which I always do while responding to prompts. Therefore, I have just given the word which is exactly opposite the trend which sustained and erased turn-table from the history of listening to music. It’s not totally erased and still people like me are there who…

Which outdated technology do you miss the most, and why? I miss two stroke engines most because they were extremely powerful, quick and fitted on my most favourite bikes. While large ACs in all corporate offices, huge automobiles carry one person each with 2000 above cc capacities, 250 cc two stroke engines were negligible in pollution concerns but decisions to change technology are always taken…

Today’s WordPress Daily Prompt: What is the best excuse you have heard lately? The best excuse I heard lately came from a lady who arrived 40 minutes… Time logic 😂 Quite famously in my life, for the first time in it, my M Phil classmate Prof Mandhare , quite audaciously (for us, for him, it was just like, a fine day today) told my Illinois Ph D teacher Dr Sinha that Sir have you travelled in a…

What is the best excuse you have heard lately? Whenever I asked people what they think of politics, war, career, recreation (or even procreation), they tell me they are binging several web series, they are responding to messages (all forwarded, all forwarding, more a postman than any postman can be), watching reels, glued to screen, all the while, small screen. This is the best excuse I have…

Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are? We are neither shaped by experiences, nor by who we are but by others. Other people who come in our life or whom we bring in our life or who take us in their lives, they shape us what we are, who we are. If experience is our teacher then we get it in form of comb that Thoreau famously said, we get, when we are bald. Therefore,…

If you had to be an animal for a week, which one would you be and why? I would love to be a cat for any given period in my life. Great Marathi writer Prahlad Keshav Atre (P K Atre) said in blurb of his most famous 10000 pages autobiography Karheche Pani (water of river Karha which flows in Saswad, his native place, near Pune) that he is like a cat that walks around houses and peeps in curiously…

What’s a piece of technology you’re convinced will exist in 20 years? Vespa Scooter has completed its 80th anniversary today & it will survive forever, as long as people are interested in beauty over pragmatism, though in minority, are bound to be there in each generation, mad men & women like me. This article in Times is the proof of that. A movie is made on that legendary scooter. I offered…

Which book have you read more than any other? I have read Chandoba or Chandamama, several issues of it on my childhood and though I read thousands of books in my career I haven’t read any of those books, more than Chandoba. I truly believe Vetal sits on my shoulders like he did on King Vikram’s shoulders and will ask questions like he asked the King. If I don’t answer the questions, he will…

Are you a lifelong learner? I am constantly unlearning what naturally learnt from life’s experiences. I get angry for ungrateful behaviour, dishonest people, unloving closed ones who we consider our life, except one or two teachers not being good, we taught well but not many to learn. I’m constantly unlearning, stopping giving natural human responses to such situations. What I learn is exactly…

What’s one habit that has improved your life the most? Quick warm hand shake, hug, half cup of tea coffee, self made preferably or a road side amruttulya (tea stalls in Pune are called this, a UP Bhaiyya, a chaste local enthusiast or a run away home middle class boy starts on road side on dingy places, whole day sitting squatting, shining brass pots for milk tea, small to boil, Amrit means…

What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it? Any current chapter in our life we live, in the sense chapter we live, is always hard, making each new year in your life hard to live. I took 25 years to complete my Ph D. When I was able to register, I could submit before time, before last date of registration, while many scholars register several times…

What’s a book you think deserves a sequel? Earlier I wrote book of life I love most. Naturally I must choose Life’s book which deserves a sequel. What would be the sequel to my book of life? It’s like Epilogue of Shaw’s play. He wrote long explanations to his play’s endings. Similarly I will write an Epilogue which would be the sequel to my book of Life. Why I loved to live the way I lived in…

What villain actually had a good point? Villain had a good abuse for me. He destroyed everything with that for this creation of paradise of words later after a decade. May villains prosper on this land for the heroes to cease and restart their life’s engine with fuel and re fuel. It’s exactly what Thoreau said about getting a comb after going bald, getting experience and wisdom when everything…

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I would always love to live in Pune and in my home here and all places I dreamt like Vienna or Kannur or even Delhi are my romantic fantasies just like Ghalib said Khayal achha hai, ruminating on an idea is sweet, but when i delve deep in my mind, I realise that all my life I loved to live in Pune. It’s the place where Chh Shivaji’s…

Is a little chaos actually good for us? Chaos is a misnomer like love is a great misnomer. I mean the prevailing perception of love because love is actually sacrifice but here it’s a reason to be a murderer. Similarly chaos is actually a state that precedes order, calm, peace, most ecstatic state of mind resulting from all passions having been put to rest. It’s like hatred, envy, enmity are…