Tanhaji: The unsung warrior

‘The fort is captured, but the lion is dead’ 

This is what Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj uttered when he got the news of conquest of Kondana fort. Unfortunately the success of Kondana’s capture came at a very high price. Chattrapati Shivaji had lost his childhood friend and his most trusted military general – Tanaji Malusare. Tanaji attained martyrdom while undertaking the most daring mission of capturing fort Kondana which was strategically essential to strengthen the dream of Swarajya and overthrow the Mughals. Memorials are built in honor of brave warriors like Tanaji but are they really honored? A soldier or a warrior doesn’t die by the wounds of sword or a bullet from a gun; he really dies when we forget him. The dry chapters from history textbook didn’t justify his dare devilry act. Students mugged the chapters only to score marks. I got familiar with Tanaji’s story through Amar Chitra Katha book which told about his courage and sacrifice in detail.

 Tanaji’s courageous feats may have been faded from the memories of younger generation, but his legendary tale is coming in a new form through an upcoming biopic – Tanhaji: The unsung warrior starring the versatile star Ajay Devgan as the brave Maratha warrior ‘Tanaji Malusare’. I was happy that at least a biopic on Tanaji is been made when I saw the trailer but was equally sad to discover that it took so many years to make a movie on the great Maratha warrior. Capturing Kondana fort was not an easy task. With just a handful of 300 soldiers under his command, Tanaji scaled high peak mountain to free Kondana fort from the grip of Mughals. Legends say that not a single warrior had that guts to reach Kondana fort and resist the force led by the corrupt, greedy and evil general Udaybhan. Only Tanaji had the leadership, courage and will power to undertake such dare devilry mission. He not only took the enemy by surprise, but also killed many enemy soldiers of cruel Udaybhan. Tanaji was pitted against a mighty enemy like Udaybhan. Despite all the odds, Tanaji fatally wounded Udaybhan even when his hand was cut off due the fierce sword fight. Though Tanaji breathed his last in line of action due to severe wounds, he had fulfilled the promise by capturing Kondana for Shivaji Raje and Jijamata (Mother of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj)

Tanaji’s handful of soldiers had to face a mighty elephant named ‘Chandravelly’ which was a biggest challenge during their mission. The Maratha soldiers led by Tanaji not only killed the might elephant, but also slayed several Mughal soldiers. Capture of Kondana fort was the first surgical strike made by the armed forces of Shivaji Maharaj during dark night. The courageous feats of Tanaji will be relived in movie – Tanhaji: The unsung warrior. Before the Kondana capture plan was about to be executed, Tanaji was making preparations for his son’s marriage. He cared more for his nation than his personal priorities. He immediately met Shivaji Raje and chalked out the plan to capture Kondana fort with his team of 300 brave soldiers. Rest was history. Ironically Tanaji couldn’t survive to see his son getting married. 

Very less is written about Udaybhan the antagonist who crossed sword with Tanaji. The role of Udaybhan will be played by actor Saif Ali Khan who will be displaying his grey shades as corrupt Mughal official. Actor Sharad Kelkar will be portraying the role of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The movie boasts of a good star cast which includes Kajol, Ajinkya Deo, and Neha Sharma. Tanhaji: The Unsung warrior is been directed by Om Raut who gave us a powerful biopic - Lokmanya – Ek Yugpurush. The visuals in the movie trailer are high octane. The action sequences have the feel of a Hollywood action movie like ‘300’.  Power-packed with inspiring dialogues and mind blowing performances, Tanhaji – The Unsung warrior promises to be one of the awaited movies of 2020. If you want to get a glimpse on Tanaji’s life, I highly recommend readers to read Amar Chitra Katha book on Tanaji or watch ‘Farzand’ and ‘Fatehshikast’ which are connected to Tanaji Malusare’s life.

Tanhaji – The Unsung warrior is scheduled to release on 10^th January 2020.

Shyamchi aai (Shyam's mother) - Memories of Sane Guruji's mother

I have just finished reading the book Shyamchi aai written by Sane guruji and I cannot stop the tears flowing from my eyes which I experienced after every chapter of the book which reflected a mother’s unconditional affection for her son. Deeply emotional, equally entertaining, Shyamchi aai is autobiography of Sane guruji’s childhood and reminiscence of his late mother yashoda who imbibed truth, compassion, kindness and values in his mind with her teachings. The opening of the book begins with Sane guruji narrating his mother’s memories to children of ashram which takes them down the memory lane at Palgad, a small village based in Konkan.  Every chapter that I read I have experienced that these stories are a reflection of every child and his love towards his mother. But unfortunately nowadays the younger masses are so immensely influenced by westernized culture that they ignore their parents and give more preference to mean friends. This book is a eye opener for every son or daughter who neglect their parents . One of the episode of this book is very close to my heart where shyam hides in his house to avoid swimming in water as he fears water and is teased by his friends. How can  a mother tolerate the world taunting her son as coward? shyam is bitterly thrashed down by his mother and dragged to the well where he finally learns swimming. In this chapter, it shows that if mother can shower her love to her child, she can also thrash her child if he is mistaken or showing any ignorance towards his duties. After reading this chapter, I came to a conclusion that mother’s love is not blind, it actually leads us to right path.This episode of sane guruji’s life was included in the SSC marathi literature and I still cherish the memory of mugging down the grammar, answers just to score marks.

         

This story isn’t just about a mother and a son, it also conveys about a father’s love, respect towards Indian culture and elders. The book sadly ends with untimely death of sane guruj’s mother and unfortunately shyam is not with her at the last moment of her life as he is pursuing education in a far off village. This moment is very heart rendering and I was deeply touched about this mother who longed for happiness and success of her children. This book was adapted and made into motion picture in marathi language titled same as the book. Even the movie was equally entertaining and is still remembered today for sincere performances.

The scenic description about Palgad village is mentioned very beautifully in the book and there are many other memorable characters in this book like purshottam( shyam’s brother), durvanchi aaji( grandmother), dada( shyam’s father), venutai. This book gives insight on the culture of our Hindu tradition like taking meal in patravali,cooking tasty dishes like shrikand vada and cultural events like Savitri Vrat, Somvati Avas. When I finished completing this book, I discovered a new perception of life, a divine satisfaction, peace which a bhakt (devotee) receives after praying to God.

This book will stay in my heart forever, trust me this book is a life changing experience.

Lanka’s princess – A vengeful vamp or a misunderstood princess

‘The fault lies not in our stars, but in ours’ – Shakespeare

On international woman’s day, we accolade, salute and admire the feminine spirit of woman race. For a girl, various mythological figures like Sita, Durga, Urmila, Sati, Anusuya and Savitri are role models. Would a girl consider Surphanka as her role model? No, never. She is the lesser known and most hated character from Ramayana. She was Ravana’s sister, the dreaded demon king of Lanka. For those who feel that Surphanka was really a hateful character should read the novel – Lanka’s princess to know the tragic story of Surphanka who was once known as Meenakshi, the dusky princess of Lanka. Born with long sharp nails, she was partly demon, party human. Her mother, Kaikesi was a demon while her father Vishrava was a rishi (sage).

 Right from her birth, Meenakshi was always unwanted for her parents because her mother showered affections towards Ravan and Kumbhakaran while her father was more caring towards Vibhishan.  Deprived of parental love, she found the affection in her grandmother Taaraka. Through this novel, author Kavita Kane has highlighted the mediocre mindset of parents to yearn for a male child. Even today, a girl child is considered inferior in rural areas and is sometimes often left abandoned or killed. Surphanka too goes through this same plight. She is considered evil, timid and ferocious by her mother. Meenakshi and Ravana can’t see eye to eye. It is Ravana who kills an innocent pet of Meenakshi. Meenakshi’s hatred for Ravana grows up with time and flares up when Ravana kills Meenakshi’s husband. Even Meenakshi’s son gets killed mysteriously. And thus begins the transformation of Meenakshi into villainous Surphanka. She turns into a ferocious vamp to see Ravana destroyed. She masterminds conspiracies to trigger a war between Ram and Ravana. But in the vengeful vendetta, she realizes that she hasn’t gain anything in this senseless bloodshed.

 In Ramayana, there is very less mention about Surphanka. We only know that Surphanka made lecherous advances towards lord Ram and Lakshman. It was Lakshman who humiliated her by disfiguring her face. What happened before Ravan abducted Sita and what happened later after the death of Ravana is mentioned well to detail in Kavita Kane’s book – Lanka’s princess.

Be it Helen of Troy or Draupadi, women were indirectly the reason behind great wars. In Ramayana, it was Surphanka who triggered the war by manipulating events and provoking Ravana to kidnap Sita. The novel – Lanka’s princess is not just about Surphanka, it is also the story of the ambitious Ravana who becomes a pawn in hands of Surphanka. I really accolade author Kavita Kane for giving a voice to the character Surphanka through the book. In the first few pages the reader will feel sympathy for the poor Meenakshi. In the later pages, as Meenakshi’s happy family gets devastated, she takes no time to show her grey, vamp shades. I won’t divulge too much detail about this novel and let the reader discover the true nature of Surphanka.

The USP of this novel is the prologue where Lord Krishna meets an ugly, deformed hunchback woman named Kubja and tells her about previous birth when she was a demon princess and how her villainous deeds brought her destruction. The story moves to flashback and the story of Surphanka begins. According to my views, Surphanka was not a born evil vamp. It was the circumstance that shaped her destiny and transformed her into an ugly vamp. Had Surphanka’s parents brought her with same love and affection as they showered on Ravana, Surpankha wouldn’t have destroyed Ravana.

Since I have enjoyed this read, I am looking forward to read Anand Neelkantan’s book – Asura to know more about Ravana.

I rate Lanka’s princess - 10/10. After reading this novel, readers will definitely change their views about the demon princess Surphanka who was once a dusky, beautiful princess named Meenakshi.  

If God was your friend on Social network

What If God was on FB, Twitter and Instagram? What would you be your reaction when he would have accepted your friend request? Life would have become so easy.

In olden times, sages meditated for thousand years to seek a boon from their god. But now when you have God as your friend on FB, your every prayer would be answered instantly. Every now  and then I see people lining up at temples to offer their prayers to God with a hope to gain some materialistic things in life. The prayers sent from our heart connect with God sooner or later. Since God has so many devotees to bless, our wishes get delayed sometimes. Human being is an impatient creature whose desires are endless. The moment he realizes that his prayers are not answered, he starts blaming luck and God for it. Even I get angry on God sometimes.

Now that God has realized that he must find out some way to make life easy, he would have created a verified account on FB, Twitter and Instagram. Since God is active on FB, the list of his friends would go to zillion. Every now and then, a new devotee would send a friend request to God with a hope to get his prayers answered. His FB messages would be filled with complaints, requests and melodramatic queries (job, marriage, business, a sweet girlfriend or even becoming immortal). The other advantage of God’s online presence would be end of flourishing business of Godmen and astrologers who keep misleading people with their false predictions and advices.  

God would fulfill the wish of every devotee at the click of mouse. The most joyful part of God’s participation in social networking would be receiving weird Candy Crush requests from devotees all over the world. Especially on his birthday, he would be receiving a millions of birthday wishes minus the offerings. The most herculean task for God would be to fulfill a boon in form of a miracle of his countless devotees active on FB, Twitter and Instagram. His updates on miracle would get millions of likes and followers on FB and Twitter. But in this process, God will realize that somewhere he has lost his significance by making himself available on social networks. He will see that people on earth have stopped struggling, lost the value of emotions and become more impatient than earlier. The next day all the devotees will be shocked to discover that God has deactivated all his social network accounts and is no more available online. Now it is time to rebound for human beings.

I had seen the Jim Carrey movie – Bruce Almighty long back and found it interesting if a mortal person would have got the divine powers to be a god and fulfill all the requests. Being a human is easy, but performing role of God is really herculean and out of our capabilities.

God listens to all our prayers calmly and even fulfills it quickly. But we human beings are so impatient in desires that we don’t notice the miracles happening around us – the gush of life giving air, the cool shower of rains and the beating of heart that keeps us going. God doesn’t need a social network to fulfill our prayers.
The whole world is a social network for him and the people in this world his followers. Just remember God from the bottom of your heart and it won’t take a second to witness a miracle in your life.

With God, everything’s possible. Through this article, I wanted to convey a message that no matter how heart breaking struggles may be, our steps to temple always find a way to him. We will lose the significance of struggle if we don’t stand in queue for tireless hours to get his glimpse.

I hope God will read this article once I publish it on my blog. Maybe, he will definitely join us the social networks someday to answer our prayers instantly. After all, it is the Instagram age J

Immortals Of Meluha - A mythological adventure novel by Amish

Novel Title – Immortals of Meluha

Author – Amish Tripathi

Publication Date – 2010

Publishers – Westland

First of all I appreciate the imagination of author amish tripathi to come up with such a unique novel that retells the legend of lord Shiva in a fictionalized way. This book is like a reference guide for the readers who are new to Indian mythology and unaware of the legend of God Shiva.

When I gained my consciousness as a human being, it was lord shiva’s temple that I first visited and I felt a divine calmness in my mind. I wondered who must be this enigmatic yogi who is in constant meditation, detached from worldly pleasures. He is known by many names like “Ashutosh”, “Shankara”,”Mahesha”, “Neelkantha”, “Somnath”, “Balrajeshwar” and “Shambu”. “Immortals of Meluha” redefines Lord Shiva as a modern day warrior who realizes his divinity and potential as a divine “Neelkantha” and wages a war against inhumanity. On the auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri, I bought this book and as I started turning the pages of this book, my faith and devotion in Shiva has become more stronger.

Synopsis : Set against the backdrop of Indus civilization, immortals of meluha is story of a Tibetan warrior named Shiva whose tribe is constantly attacked by a terrorist group named prakratris. He not only has to confront these deadly ‘prakratris’, but also find a secured and secluded place for his tribe where he and his tribe can lead a peaceful life far from the bloodshed and inhumanity. But destiny has kept some different plans in store for this valiant warrior Shiva. Nandi, a resident of a place called “Meluha” invites shiva and his tribe to migrate to meluha where they can be safe from the heinous prakratris. Though shiva settles down at meluha along with his tribes, he has to face a new challenge to protect “meluha” city from chandravanshis and nagas, the deadly enemies who are bent to destroy the meluhan empire. How Shiva protects Meluha from chandravanshis, nagas and prakratris is best described by author amish tripathi in the first chapter of shiva trilogy – immortals of meluha. Today where Indian authors are coming up with same stuffs like stories about call centers and emotional love sagas, amish tripathi’s book is really a visual treat and a refreshing change. Through this book, author amish has bridged the gap between mythology and history and presented a modernized version of Shiv puran. In this novel, you will find all the mythological characters like Sati, Daksha, Nandi in a complete new avatar.

Author Amish has redefined mythology genre with Shiva Trilogy

Immortals of Meluha is the first chapter in the Shiva trilogy followed by another two novels – Secret of Nagas and Oath of vayuputras. Immensely gripping with action, romance, intriguing story line and engrossing characters, Immortals of Meluha keeps you glued right from the opening scene till the grand intriguing climax. If I want to describe about this book in simple words then it is like ‘Avatar” meeting “300”. This novel will remind you of epic hollywood movies like “Ben Hur”, “Avatar”, “Gladiator”, “Kingdom of heaven” and “Brave heart”. I highly recommend this novel to the readers who love fantasy, history and mythology. Hope you all loved this article. Do comment and keep reading.

Har Har Mahadev !!!

The Godfather – A literary masterpiece by Mario Puzo

Novel – The Godfather
Author – Mario Puzo
Publication date – 1969
Genre – Crime

“Behind every great fortune, there is a crime – Balzac”

“The Godfather” novel is unarguably the best crime novel till date that has stood the test of time and has been hailed as the great masterpiece in the world of literature. Written by Mario Puzo, “The Godfather” revolves around the mafia chief – Don Vito Corleone who passes on his empire's responsibility to his younger son Michael. Through this novel, Mario Puzo gives you a glimpse in the dark world of crime where every dishonest job is done with honesty and how the kingpins of crime keep law and politicians in their pockets.

Inspired by actual events and people during america in 1940's, Godfather is the journey of a sicilian boy named vito who moves to america and how the incidents turn him from a ordinary grocery keeper into a mafia kingpin who on one side is a public enemy for the law while on the other side he is the savior or godfather of the innocent, oppressed and poor. Fondly called as the 'godfather' in the arena of crime, Don Vito Corleone's world turns upside down when he declines the offer to support illegal narcotics business and this is where other mafia groups come together to bring an end to the legacy of godfather. What rest follows is the series of massacre that leads to assasination attempt on don vito corloene and ruthless murder of his elder son – Sonny Corleone. This time Michael Corleone, the youngest son has to make his own destiny – either lead a happy life with his sweetheart or turn himself into a ruthless avenger and settle score with his adversaries who threaten to wipe out the existence of godfather. Michael ascends on the path of crime, turning himself into a dreadful vendetta for his foes and what price he pays to become the next godfather has been described very exceptionally by author Mario Puzo in his highly bestselling novel – The Godfather. 

This novel was adapted for motion picture and was directed by Francis Ford Coppolla. Released in 1972, this motion picture bagged several oscars and was hailed as the best motion picture in world of cinema. Actor Marlon Brando portrayed the title role while Al pacino played the role of Michael Corleone. No one could have justified the role of godfather with sheer magnificience as Marlon Brando did. He made this character larger than life with powerful performance. This novel became a great inspiration for several filmmakers to make gangster movies like scarface, goodfellas, once upon a time in america, american gangster , satya, dharmatma, company, sarkar and once upon a time in mumbai. Once you have completed reading “The Godfather”, then you should definitely read Hussain Zaidi's books – Dongri to Dubai, Byculla to Bangkok and Mafia Queens of Mumbai

A town called Dehra – Memories of Ruskin Bond’s Hometown

‘The past is always with us, for it feeds the present’ – Quote from the memoir

‘A town called Dehra’ is reminiscence of a sleepy town called Dehradun where author Ruskin Bond spent his boyhood as well as adolescent days. The characters in this memoir are Ruskin Bond’s relatives, his friends, love interest and the common masses residing in Dehra. From penning the memories of his father & granny to describing the scenic beauty of Dehra, Ruskin Bond has breathed life in the sleepy town called Dehra. What is so special about this book? The pages of this memoir are filled with the rare yester year photos of Ruskin Bond’s family (granny, siblings, friends and his mother). Sadly, there is no photograph of Ruskin Bond’s father in this memoir. In every book of Ruskin, his father has been mentioned in one or other short story. Even in this book, Ruskin reminiscences his long lost father in the first chapter. 

As you gaze at these photos, you will feel a personal connect to them. The pre-independent Dehra was different from the present times. Filled with flower gardens, litchi trees, ponds, valleys, Dehra was a town of the ordinary people. Very few books mention about the struggles of common people and Ruskin Bond’s books highlights the pathos of these ordinary masses. His popular short story ‘Garlands on his brow’ depicts the pain of a forgotten wrestler called Hassan. A popular wrestler Hassan succumbs to the charm of a flirtatious Maharani and what follows later is his fading charisma as a wrestler in the arena. Hassan is forgotten, ignored by his admirers and this ignorance claims the life of this unsung wrestler of Dehra. Ruskin Bond has even penned his fondness for cinema halls of Dehra in this memoir. He recounts his best days of watching movies in Odeon theatre at Dehra. Through this memoir, Ruskin Bond takes you on a trip to Dehra where you will see Dilaram Bazaar, the famous market place where Rusty and his friends relished on road side snacks. If you have read ‘The room on the roof’ and ‘Rusty Runs away’, you will be familiar with Somi and Daljit. In this memoir, Ruskin Bond has personally shared the actual photos of his friends. What captivated me to read this book was the short story ‘The last Tonga ride’ which recounts Ruskin’s fondness for Tonga rides and his friendly bonding with the Tonga driver Bansi lal.

A single reading session is not enough to savor on the nostalgic treat offered by Ruskin Bond in this memoir. This memoir is especially been written for those people who have fondness for past. If you are away from your hometown, you are sure to break in tears of joy and sadness when you read the chapters. When I was reading the chapters in this memoir, it reminded me of own hometown, my uncle’s little room, cousin brothers who pampered me with their unconditional affection. Sadly the hometown is more of a ghost town as all my relatives have departed. What remained in my mind are the sweet memories that keep playing like a re-run of a TV serial.

No matter how far and high a bird may fly, it has to return to its nest. Same is about us. We can never forget our roots, upbringing, heritage and our home. ‘A town called Dehra’ is a classic memoir that one will keep relishing with years to come.