27th July 2014 – 2nd Aug 2014 [Carnama – 4]

IN BLD - Akshay - Kashyap - Sharat - Neha early 90's at our private river side picnic spot in Khandala Area 

• "There's nothing more contagious than the laughter of young children;
•  it doesn't even have to matter what they're laughing about.” 

CarNama- Pune is still a city of two wheelers. And during 80’s we used to travel even Mumbai – Pune  by two wheeler. Dad did not like this idea. After birth of Akshay & Neha we also felt the need of car in Pune. Of course, MRX 8025 was stationed in Pune, but Pune family was not confidant about this car. So, two Maruti cars were purchased with gap of some time. One was christened 'BLD', due to its number plate initials matching with our uncle initials. Cars were mostly used for city conveyance, Lonavala / Khandala picnics and not for long journeys. 

Mon: Sharat - lali have returned from Singapore trip. So story season is on for last few days. After Dinner, Sharat loves to tell tales of his Singapore trip. Then there are 1250 pictures to be seen and commented upon, along with detailed story of how and why of the photograph. Singapore is a small country, thriving on tourism. They have developed Santosa Island into a great place to spend some time. Sea Aquarium, Paramount Studio Rides, Mustafa Bazar, Live Studio, Light & Sound Shows etc are all designed to attract tourists. To my surprise, we had managed to live without watching TV.

 ‘No TV, No Life’ people should not be offended. No one in our family is addicted to TV. Akshay likes to see same movie again and again, I love to surf news channels, Dhwani loves teenager based shows, Kashyap only wants to see Hollywood, Bindiya loves ‘Tarak Mehta’ and Kapil Sharma, for Muskan some serial are ‘Bade Achhe’, but again she cannot sit and watch earnestly for long. So our nights are spent without TV shows, gossiping past, telling old stories and planning future.

We visited Kahne Goan after 7 years. All memories of 1^st decade of 21^st century came flooding back. We had so many outings, Holi, New Year, Birthday Celebration. Akshay kept saying, “Papa..”. As we passed Krsna Bhoomi, I expected to see mini Jungle of Mango trees, but all looked pygmy version of Mango trees! The pleasant, pure and fresh breeze of Vadgaon Valley refreshed everything in its path, making world seem made up of dew drops and fresh deodorant! Rain Gods have blessed us with excellent 10 days of rainfall. Weather has turned into a ‘Climate of Heavens.’ Let’s say thank you to God.

Thursday: 10 days steady rainfall has being followed by hard rains for last four days. Pune rains are not like Pune rains, but more like Mumbai rains i.e. non-stop and heavy pour.’ Lakdi Pull,’ i.e. Bridge at Deccan was touching Mutha River. And meteorological department warned about cloud burst! So all citizens are on high alert and long distance travels are cancelled, even Muskan cancelled her Mumbai visit on her Mumbai-Papa’s birthday.There was some land slide 80 km from Pune, in which one small village was buried. However, could burst did not happen.
Fri: We all sat down after Dinner, including Lali & Sharat, to make Diwali Program. Normally lot of excitement is generated and some dreams are built. High plans are made with clear understanding that some small part of plan will be implemented. Muskan nowadays is promoting the idea of full family going out for 10 days trip to place where you need passport to go. She says her intuition is saying that this year we will do so. Our wait is only  for 5 months. Lets wait & watch.
   

 

by P G Dodeja