22nd March 2015 – 28st March 2015 [World Cup – Godh Bharia]

 

Wed: Akshay is being drawn to Mumbai like magnate draws iron. It is fate only. For last 2 months he is doing up-down on daily basis. He and his company are spending big money on diesel and toll taxes. After two months daily commuting, they zeroed on a and rented flat in Mahim. It is on 10^th floor, east-west open, in center of town, a brand new building with latest facilities. They keep meetings in Parel their office is in Parel, so local traveling is nil. And rent is just 22k!

Akshay says he will never shift to Mumbai, but will fate play its role and shift him back to Mumbai, I hope not?

He is getting in good books of Rohit Podar, a very big Industrialist whose only job is to appoint proper executive for his numerous projects. And if he wants someone for project, he gives very lucrative offer, and for him honesty, loyalty and hard work are main qualities. So what will happen if his offers is very attractive option for Akshay? It will be very tough decision to make for him. And yes all this depends on result of current project.

Sun: Godh Bharia Day:

We call it “Godh Bharia” and westerners call it “Baby Showers”

For last several months, my fingers were itching to announce this happy news, Dhwani – Kashyap are soon going to be proud parents of ‘Chutki’. But I follow the tradition and on Godh Bharia I announce this news to the world.

Last week was very hectic and busy. Muskan – Dhwani were busy making arrangements for this day. Avi- Dhwani finally selected ‘Indian Aroma’ near Lal Deval after rejecting RK, Sacred heart Town, Parmar Park, Atlantis etc. They fixed very elaborated menu for Lunch. All our  guests were coming from Mumbai. Bindiya’s sisters, her brother, Dhwani’s family, Muskan’s family. Kosha and her family, Bhabhi – Prakash – Tina - Vishal,  Pinky – Pashu and Party all came on Saturday, some stayed in B-7, some at Raheja Garden and some in O Hotel. Mona and Shobha were in Khandala! Thus Saturday evening created this happy, celebration atmosphere.

Sunday program started dot on time at 12.05 as planned. Deepka Maharaj was in mood and did full ceremony in systematic way with lot of interest. By the time this Pooja [more like marriage] got over, all guest were in attendance. Lot of ‘Oil’ was applied on the happy couple. Tarula, Dhwani’s mother then took over and did Katchi style ‘Godh Bharai’. All in all this mixture of cultures made the occasion look really like diversified India. I had asked Muskan to wear paranda with Punjabi dress, but she is only comfortable in Jeans or Salwar Kamiz. Muskan’s mother somewhat made the feeling of Punjabi’s being around more real. LP [Kosha’s husband, Sikh by birth] himself says that he is pure Mumbai Boy. He has no connect with Punjab or Punjabi culture!

  

Kosha with help of her family members, Avi, Akshay, Sharat and Palakh decorated the venue. All Dodeja kid’s childhood pictures were printed on A4 and displayed. This idea was appreciated for its freshness. Then Kashyap has arranged his staff for shooting of interviews about the baby. This kept the group of guest busy at entrance, where Sana was shooting interviews. 

This high point of the day was few games organized by Dhwani and Muskan. Pinky Narang who is event manager in her professional life, took over the stage and conducted games. Mona was captain from Chawla group, Neha was from Dodeja’s, Simi was from Shah’s, Muskan was representing Nandas. We made them sing nursery rhythms, then Lullabies’ and few songs in Sindhi – Punjabi – Katchi – Hindi. The house was brought down by laughter and loud screams when four captains selected four adults and did their makeup. 

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  This Baby is soon going to get a baby!

5th Jan 2015 – 11th Jan 2015 [Sikh Wedding]

 

Mon: Fresh air, fresh mind, fresh people, fresh ideas, fresh happenings, fresh year. I need to start this year with fresh story, fresh project. And I have two of them. But first one is not for public consumption, second is.

Sindhu Films and Cut-it Studio is soon going to announce its first ever, video channel on You tube. This can be precursor to a movie making project in future. Bravo. Script is ready, actors have being approached, and production department is ready. Soon shooting will start soon.

Kashyap and myself attempted a photography tricks experiment called by us ‘Playing with lights’. And here is one shot of Shyamlal Bathija, who volunteered to pose for us. This is a very good start of the year. And I am looking forward to next week Khandala stay at Mona’s Bunglow. So if that works out, the year starts in big way.

9^th Jan: Friday: First Sikh wedding which I attained was of Amit – Guneet way back in 90’s. During that wedding, we all sat on chairs, in pin drop silence, as brief ceremony was performed, in presence of all Sindhi’s with one Shikhni present, i.e. Gunit!

Kosha Shah, who works in Art Department of TV Serial Production company got married to Pure Sikh boy, Lovepreet. Wedding was arranged at Guru Nanak Darbar, Andheri (East) at 11.00 am. This wedding was similar, but again different also. Present as Bharaties were, Sikhs, Punjabis, Sindhis and Gujraties! In short, reflecting the current social mixing culture of this century in India.

Sikh wedding is a simple, elegant, colorful, happy event. After ‘Milni’ [which we missed], everyone gathered in Darbar, on first floor. Granthi said few ‘Vachan’, sang some bhajan’s, asked couple to pay obeisance to Granth Sahib. Shawl and ‘var malla’ was gifted by Granthi to couple, they signed a register and bingo, marriage was over. All ‘baratis’ sat on floor, some exchanging greeting, some making merry and some in serious mood. All got over in 40 minutes flat, and after exchange of ‘Bhadai’s’ we shifted to ground floor to eat excellent Punjabi Food. This week, Mumbai was cool, no perspiration or heat in afternoon, wow. Pune is going through lowest temperature of winter.   

10^th Jan: Dhwani’s birthday. This was dinner cum cake cutting day. After wedding, Dhwani – Kash – Akki – Niki stayed over in Mumbai and returned on 10^th. Dinner was planned with cake cutting. Dhwani had lots of gossip to exchange so her chatter was on, even after us requesting her, ‘Please take some breath in between the sentences. Pause is also great expression, use it.’ Cake was arranged from latest new bakery in Shivaji nagar. Some thing called ‘Chocolate Cup Cake’. It was very elegantly made with sculptured look. Great. Our anticipation level was raised high. But first bite dashed all our hope of eating excellent cake, in big way. Like Rajiv Masand says for movie review, my review for cake is, ‘I will give this 1 out of 5, that also for its look.’ But I am sure, this Bakery will do well, because it has learned the art of hype. Product itself is immaterial, they are selling exclusiveness, decoration, unique item design, up market feel.

Muskan & Rinky made us play few party games as suggested by Sharat. We turned of Comedy Night with Kapil Sharma on TV and laughed more during these games!  

Just as 10^th Jan turned into 11^th , we all wished once again ‘Happy Birthday, Dhwani’.        

 

by P G Dodeja

20th Oct 2014 – 26th Oct 2014 [Diwali Week]

20^th Mon: This Diwali is turning into uncertain Diwali, unplanned Diwali, filled with twists Diwali of decade. Planning of Diwali week was done with great gusto, but at implement stage things have gone haywire. After 7 years, I was able to get affirmation from all my cousins for Diwali Dinner. In all 40 members gave confirmation. This is going to be high point of this Diwali. But… Location, based on certain budget is a challenge. Options are getting narrower, will we miss this dinner?

21^st Tue: (Dhan Teras) Kashyap – Dhwani are in Mumbai, for meeting. Suddenly on Sunday night, Dhwani’s grand father was hospitalized for food poising. Last year also he spent Diwali week in hospital. Return of Kashyap-Dhwani is based on his health report. All the activities, which we had planned are in suspended state. ‘Kila Competition’, ‘Photo Hunt’, Cocking Competition’, ‘Teen Patti’, ‘Shooting for DD2’, ‘Saras Baug Visit’, ‘Laxmi Road Visit’, ‘Cousins Diwali Party’ will any of these things take place?

22^nd Wed: Early morning, I called Kashyap to know about Bapuji’s condition. He was critical. Kashyap said, ‘He just passed away.’ One more episode of uncertainty appeared during this Diwali. Whatever plans I had were put on hold and I made program for Mumbai with Lali. Neha was going to Mumbai for Diwali Pooja at Valecha Chambers, her driver had left Mumbai for Pune to drive her to Mumbai! Lali and myself joined her and reached Matinga around 1 O’clock. We used this opportunity, like Dad used to do, and visited V K Munyal at Laxmi Nivas, Sion. I was visiting this place after years. After spending good time with VKM and Dhama, eating Pakoras, Mitahi, Fruit and tea, we returned to Matunga for Dhwani’s Granddad, ‘Bapuji’s’ last rituals. He was in spite of his health and other conditions, till end full with life. Always willing to joke, he never took things and life seriously. During Meeth’s engagement, I saw his relatives respect for him, his jovial nature. He had lungs problem, but he never gave up smoking ‘Beedi’ packet in a day! His argument being, ‘Beedi’ or no Beedi, I am going to die, so why sacrifice? Kashyap used to make him skip one or two Beedi, which he would skip for present by saying, ‘How can I say no to jamai!’ And then go and smoke one in balcony. He died of multiple organ failure, in other words, old age. After final rituals, Kashyap – Dhwani joined us and we returned in Xylo. This Diwali is different, no two thoughts. We chatted for a while, I said Happy Diwali and Happy birthday to Muskan, as it was past 12.30 am. We were into Diwali Day. When I hit the pillow, after waking Bindiya, it was 3.30 am! I drifted to deep sleep, wit the thought, This Diwali will stay with us for decades.

Call it early morning or late night. One huge twist, something which we will all keep repeating for decades!

23^rd Thu: This year Diwali Pooja was done in such a way that, family should become more disciplined. Being late, keeping irregular hours, taking all things for granted etc has become daily bane. So this is also an part of ‘different’ Diwali. We started Pooja bang on time fixed by Deepak Maharaj, that is 11.0 O’clock. This is for first time we skipped bonus for few of our staff, to bring some accountability to performance. Again a first step.

25^th Sat: Bang on Day. This day, made this Diwali more memorable for more than one reason. The reason will be engraved in Dodeja history, mark my word. Yes, after struggle of 7 years, we, managed to have all Pune Dodeja’s [Lokram Dodeja’s decedents] together for dinner party. Every one enjoyed it. Here is just the present mark picture. Rest will follow in future blog.   

Pune Dodeja's [Decedants of Lokram Dodeja]

 

by P G Dodeja

6th Jan 2014 – 12th Jan 2014 [Birth and Birthday]

9 Jan : Muskan updated her status by becoming ‘Buaa’. She was very excited and had gone to Mumbai to be with her family. Kajal was in Delhi, and her doctor has planned delivery on 9^th morning by operation. And a baby boy, looking like his grandmother was born.  The similarity is very much striking and accurate. 

 Nandini while accepting congratulations said, ‘Uncle tell Muskan to make me massi.’  I told her, 'Mere Dil Ki baat, Cheen Lee.' 

 So this is my way of telling her to make Nandini  ‘massi’. And ofcource lots of other people will also change status. Most of us will move to next generation.

10 Jan : Dhwani wanted to Cut her Birthday cake exactly at her birth time. i.e. 8.30 pm.  Whereas Bindiya is very punctual and follows a very accurate time line, Dhwani on other hand is exactly opposite her. She does not have time measuring knack. Her two minutes can be 30 minutes and 60 minutes can be 5 minutes.  Everyone knows this. So it was 8.30 and I was relaxed, watching TV along with Bindiya. Not expecting Dhwani and party to reach home in time. Suddenly bell rang, all kids of the family entered and table was set on war footing. And believe me, Dhwani cut the cake at 8.36 pm! An achievement in itself.

The cake was a present from Kashyap & Muskan. They had baked this unique cake made up of exotic product range like some very special cheese, strawberry paste and fresh strawberry, some imported diet biscuits, few other ingredients which I cannot pronounce. All sourced from Dhorabjis. The whole birthday celebration was done in very fast forward manner, so much so that we do not have a picture of cake also! It got finished within 5 minutes. This is Fast & Furious generation, so be it. I agree we enjoy food, but to me also this is the limit!

Dhwani again also celebrated her birthday at office. The staff of Cutit decorated cabin with ribbons and brought a nice creamy cake for her to cut. So the second cake was cut at cutit studio. Lali wants to start this celebration system for all staff members of Noble Printer! But I find it childish.

11 Jan: Kashyap & Dhwani left for Nashik. Dhwani’s ‘Phuiaya’ had some urgent work in Devlali. They returned home at 3 0”clock in morning. And Akshay also returned home at 2.30 am. Today's generation's sense of timing is very much improper. Maybe the internal clock setting is changing in all human being. For centuries, human being timing was set by rising & setting sun. Now that for last 100 years due to electricity the need for Sun is not so strong, this timing is changing.

Here is very interesting episode of Akshay. Around 2.3 pm, I received a call from Akshay, all excited. ‘Papa, arrange for 250 Voyager 11 Silver color bag. Inquiry is very strong, get in touch with Robert, who is out of reach, as he is attending annual meeting.’ Just after few minutes, Amol called with same request. Now Voyager's sell in year itself is much less than 250 pieces in all sizes and colors. So this was worth pursuing, and no one for a minute though about genuineness of inquiry.

The story behind this inquiry is unique. Ali is a distributor in Hyderabad. Last night he was feeling bored, so at 11.0 he started for Solapur in his car. He picked one distributor from there and reached Pune in early morning. He called all AT dealers with whom he had enjoyed Andaman Trip, and generated the 250 quantity inquiry of Voyager! He played this prank with all and by evening all dealers, Akshay included meet him. They all realized the truth of this inquiry and laughed. They then planned ‘Sinhgad’ trip.  But by 7 O’clock in evening Sinhgad gets closed, so they have to return back. They all went all the way to Lonavala to eat dinner at Tony Da Dhaba! This guy Ali, returned back to Hyderabad after 40 hours roaming around! What people do for boredom solution.

 

by P G Dodeja

2th September 2013 to 8th September 2013 [Moaun Vrit]

 

This week is a blur for Myself, Akshay, Lali & Avi. Xrbia has given us a challenge of setting up office in operational mode within 10 days. People say, ‘Paisa Fek, tamasha Dek’, but we cannot do that also. We are having lots of debates and arguments, but thankfully, work is progressing on planned speed. This is also a good example of goodwill v/s money power. Our progress is totally due to our goodwill of 3 decades with suppliers, service providers etc. Akshay is getting the first hand experience of how goodwill is also important.

Dhwani has said bye-bye to Dhwani. 

Sounds confusing? Replace second Dhwani with ‘Sound’, and again to make it more clear replace it with ‘spoken sound’. Got it? She is on ‘Moaun Virt’ for 9 days, it being the Jain custom. And in the process our days have turned into ‘Gool Maal’ movie days. Dhwani being Dhwani, even though is not speaking, but she is talking through Muskan, more than before. Muskan has become real expert in lip reading. All Dhwani has to do is mime few words and Muskan will come out with full sentence and Dhwani will nod her head. Sometimes Muskan comes out with full paragraph also! This ‘gool maal’ setup is working fine for both of them.

Then on Saturday, while watching TV we heard a big ‘Dhamaka’. Muskan being very sharp, ran to balcony and in panic rushed downstairs. ‘What happened?’

Dhwani was lying flat on her stomach in compound and Kashyap was helping her to get up. She had fallen flat on face and scratched heavily her both hands and knee. Her will power is good, we expected her to scream while her wounds were cleared, but all she did was ‘oooaa’. 

On Sunday, Muskan, Chinky, Rinky and myself visited MGRoad for ‘Ganpati’ Shopping. I noticed, Rinky is very much protective of all family members. She gets worried if according to her thinking we are in some trouble! I wonder what are implications and results of such quality. 

On Monday, Ganpati will visit us 8^th time.

 
‘Ganpati Bapa Mourya’

by P G Dodeja