Quest For Youth

Quest for youth - - Date - 6/1/2003

Look! how obsessed they are
Today's men and women in their forties,
They abhor the march of old age
To ensure their career and sexual opportunities.

So they go in quest of the elixir
The 'eternal' fountain of youth,
They find that in modern medicines
Tucked inside plastic surgeon's booth.

The first treatment starts with
The 'Harmone' injections,
For better skin, muscle and sex
Followed by 'Botox' injections.

So there is a boom in this business;
Determined to avoid signs of ageing,
They pop in 100 Vitamin pills a week,
And practise tummy tucks at week endings.

Over one lakh in their mid-age
Daring not to face the mirror
Rush from one Doc to another
To cheat the world and look younger !

But how foolish are they
Knowing that ever-green no one stays,
They giggle they're cheating the world
But in reality they're only cheating themselves !

I'm a Kargil Widow

I'm a Kargil widow

I'm a Kargil widow
I lost my man in the battle
He was such a brave and young soldier
Who died for his country, without rattle.

When home they brought my husband dead
I couldn't control my emotions,
But i hardened my heart and held back my tears
Lest it may devalue his sacrifice.

Days rolled by, brooding my future
With him, how i and my children,
Will pull on in this cruel world?
Oh God! Widowhood is truly a life long pain.

But like a silver lining in dark clouds
Bug bosses started knocking at my door
Bringing sympathy, flowers and cheques.
And assuring me of all help and sore.

It's nice of our government
To try for our rehabilitation
But strangely , i am caught in the cross-fire
Between my family and in-laws friction.

The bone of contention is the money!
Not less than fifteen lakhs in cash,
While I try to plan for my future,
My in-laws and parent tug at my cash.

Wail my in-laws, they lost their son,
As well as their bread and butter,
Look! they tell me to marry his brother,
to retain the bucks from leaving the house.

Rue my parents, our daughter is now a widow,
We spent so much for her marriage,
I guess they too have an eye on my wads,
so they cajole me to shift here, bag and baggage,

I'm in a fix, knowing not what to do,
Both want me to remain with them,
But i can now see through their game,
"Make me part with my money" - is their aim.

It's An Experience

It's An Experience

When you are in your teens
You are bubbling with energy,
You are curious about everything
That goes around you covertly.

But one thing that tops them all
Is the sole thought of sexuality
How you wished to have a peek
To satisfy your curiosity

Out you step in your 20s
You are a grown-up adult now,
A wee knowledgeable, a bit wise
Putting your best foot forward - wow.

"Enjoy life" becomes your passion,
Movies, parties, datings, outings,
These suck up all your time
Leaving little for serious things.

Then follows the same beaten path
Romance leading to engagement,
And then moving on to marriage
O! The wedding night - Its an experience!

Three days later, you are off
To your honeymoon destination,
Enjoying the golden period of your life
And then back to your usual profession.

Now begins the real test
Of your post-marriage life
Whether you'll remain in wedlock
Or reach deadlock, depends on you and wife.

Gen-today doesn't consider
Wedding vows absolutely sacrosanct,
'Coz if you look around
You will find many a marriage tottering
And heading towards 'Divorce court!"

Letter Box

Letter Box  - Date - 17.10.07

1.                  The red Indian Letter Box

You will find it everywhere

In cities, towns and villages

As a symbol of postal network.

2.                  The postal system was started

By the East India Company.

The first postage stamp was issued

In Karachi in 1852.

3.                  It was , however, valid

In the province of Sind only,

The other provinces had to wait

For two years to get same service.

4.                  In 1954, the company issued

A postage stamp on all-India basis,

There were altogether 662

Post Offices in India then.

5.                  Now look at the red letter-box

It accepts all kinds of letters

Invites, greetings, gifts and news-good and bad.

Holding them safely till clearance.

6.                  So whenever you want to say something

Which you don’t wish to convey by phone or e-mail

Take a paper and pen and write it down

Then push it down the throat of letter-box.

7.                  So next time you pass by a letter-box

Do halt and have a look at it,

And recall its selfless service

And with a silent hi, greet it!

Hard times are here, o' dear.

Hard times are here, o' dear. - - Date - 12/10/2008

Financial systems the world over,
Are in a great turmoil,
Bulls have lost their ferocity
And bears hammering the bourses.

The woes started thousands of miles away
In the ‘Wall Street’ of New York.
Nasdaq, DOW, FTSE, and Nikkei,
Closing business, down by whooping points.

Alarmed at the hell and havoc
Caused by topmost companies going bust,
The U.S. govt. is rushing to douse the fire
By injecting 700 Billion dollars in the economy.

The meltdown of American economy
Has caused convulsions in the world markets,
Their indices have also plunged down
In sympathy with the baffled Uncle Sam.

India is also affected by the U.S crisis
Because of globalization,
There is fear in the minds of mega companies
Because of slow down in the foreign markets demand.

So production is cut down, also purchases
New recruitment is stopped; newer staff is laid off,
Borrowing money from banks has become difficult
Property rates have tumbled down , yet not many buyers.

So what should ‘common man’ do?
He should not rush to his bank, or sell off his shares,
Also cut down on luxuries, postpone buying white goods
That way he will remain stable till this phase passes off.

Out govt. is keeping a close watch on the scenario
Telling people mot to panic, our banks are safe,
We are taking all steps to stabilize the economy,
By legal and fiscal measures in the R.B.I. Act.

911 Night

9 1 1 Night

What a night it was:
Same skyline, same darkness
Same stars, same twinkling
But one thing quite different - atmosphere!

With thoughts of near and dear ones
Looming large on their worried minds
Wandering whether they'd still be alive
Or lying dead in the dusty debris.

People couldn't talk
People couldn't walk
People couldn't sleep
And lay awake whole night.

They shattered the 'Twin Towers'
Which were like the 'nose' of America,
They slammed in to the 'Pentagon'
Hitting the very 'hear' of Uncle Sam.

How monstrous of the terrorists
To attack American 'icons'
A benign country which helps poor nations
With money, material and medicines

How could this happen? they mused
And happen to us, O Jesus!
Number One powerful country
Replete with overflowing wealth.

'Super Power' only a while ago,
But now turned in to a battered sight
Lying prostrate, licking its wounds
Such was that awful, fearful, tearful night.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

Your very first day of birth

Was greeted with jingles of joy,

By the members of your family

Because the baby was a boy!

The gradually cam the day

When you turned twenty five,

And your near and dear ones

Celebrated it as 'Silver' hive.

As the engine of time moved on

You also moved along with it

You noticed grey streaks in your hair

And celebrated your 'Golden' hit.

Ah! You now look mellow

And an honorable gentleman,

You have reached the 75th milestone

So they are celebrating your 'Platinum' run.

We all here now wish you

Many more 'Happy Returns Of The Day,

Full of fun, health and happiness

In truly satisfying way.

Holaram Hasija

Spotlighting Some Select Characters by Holaram Hasija

1. Mr. Butani was one of my colleagues in the B.E.S.T undertaking , having worked for > 30 years in various departments, viz Traffic, Bus Engg (Dadar) Ticket & Cash (Dadar) , Electric Services south (Colaba) and lastly consumers Dept (Elec House) from where he honourably retired as Sr. Consumers' Assistant in B Grade Officers Cadre. He was the first graduate to set foot in the Traffic Department joining as Sr. Clerk in a total salary of Rs. 65/- per month (Rs. 50/- basic plus Rs. 15/- D.A. = Rs. 65/-) !

2. Butani let out a secret. He disclosed that from his very school days, he wanted to excel in English and so he had a good command on English language. This set him apart from other colleagues ( and officers) who seeing his superior drafting  held him in good esteem. Slowly the Traffic officers sought his help to see whether their reports/appeal orders were okay or needed modification.

This quality (proficiency in English) helped him to establish a firm foot - hold in Bus Engg. Dept also. Poor Butani was feeling like a 'fish out of water' becuase he had absolutely no knowledge of the working of Bus Engg. Dept. (Mr. S.G.Laud was the Chief engineer, Transport , Head of the Buss Engg. Dept and his deputy was P.B. Kerkar , who later became the General Manager.). But soon the flavor of his spoken and written English started floating across the dept. and  began to impress his new colleagues and officers. After 6 month probationary period, Butani was confirmed in the alien Dept. The Engg Dept's officers, being technocrats, had no good knowledge of English. So they used to call him in their cabins and requested him to go through their reports/appeal orders, to see whether they were okay or needed improvement. He never said NO to anyone. 

Thus Butani conquered Bus Engg Dept, with his 'gun of polished English'.

3.While in service, he enrolled for MA course (In History & Economics) keeping terms at the 'University School of Economics & Sociology (Fort) and obtained his  M.A. degree, a few marks below 2nd class in 1952. This got him one accelerated increment in his salary. Two weeks later, he enrolled for 'Compact B.Com' course taking 'Transport ' as a special subject at Potdar college of commerce (Matunga, holding evening classes for working persons) and walked out of it with B.Com degree (3rd one in his cap in 1954). 

4.Mr. Butani was the founding father of the BEST Sindhi Sabha. Sometine in 1958, he along with 2,3, colleagues led a delegation to the then Dy. G. M. (Mr. P.R. Shivdasani) requesting for permission to form an association of Sindhi employees in the undertaking for social and cultural interaction purpose. He assured him (DGM) that the proposed BSS would be non-political and purely a social entity, causing no problem to anyone in the undertaking. The tactful diplomatic approach convinced the DGM of our bonafide intentions and he granted the permission. Thus BEST SINDHI SABHA was born (Cheers!). Mr. Butani was made the secretary of BSS assisted by other office-bearers. Mr. Butani gave cent to his literary skills and brought out an annual magazine 'Pushp' (Flower) in Sindhi which was much appreciated. Mr. Butani continued to be elected as secretary for three consecutive years 1959 - 1960 after which he bowed out voluntarily and gracefully. The magazine still continues to be published without break, thanks to the untiring efforts of Mr. Holaram Hasija (Hans).

5. Being of an artistic bent of mind Mr. Butani joined the Natya Academy of the Indian National Theater (affiliated to UNESCO, Paris), for a one-year course in Dramatics, specializing in 'Stage Lighting' for which he was awarded First Prize in 1960.

6. Side by side, because of his tremendous interest in travel and tourism. he joined, 'Tourist Guides' 6-month certificate course conducted by Govt. of India Tourist office, Churchgate, , Bom. 20 and successfully passed both written and practical tests. He now became certified 'Tourist Guide' and started taking assignments on Sundays and holidays. Not long thereafter, Mr. Butani founded the 'Tourist Guides' Association (TOGA) and remained its Hon. Secretary for three consecutive years viz. 1967-1969. He also started an annual house magazine named "TOGA" in English, of which he was the editor as well.

During the third quarter of 1969, an unbelievable thing happened. America sent Apollo 11 spacecraft to Moon with three astronauts. Two of then Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed on the Moon on on 21st July 1969. the news mesmerized the world. Later it came in the news papers that Apollo 11 Astronauts along with their wives would be travelling round the world and would be in Bombay on 26th Oct 1969 for a day. On reading this news, Mr. Butani got a brainwave and decided to congratulate them on behalf of Tourist Guides Association, present a gift and a copy of last year's 'TOGA 1968 magazine to each of them. But how was it possible? Butani pondered over this and hit upon an idea "to route the gifts through the American consulate in Bombay!" Fortunately, the consulate officials agreed to deliver the gifts to astronauts. Believe it or not, just 4 days later Butani received a letter directly from the astronauts appreciating our gifts and magazine, signed by each of them in their own hand. A photocopy of the letter is attached.

7. Mr. Butani is a freelance writer cum poet. His letters, poems and articles have been published in many newspapers. His main theme is cruelty to animals and environment. He is also an ace photographer , having held two solo photographic exhibitions of 111 color photographs in Madras in 1982 and in Calcutta in 1983. He has also bagged many awards and honors. Hut despite these achievements , he is not swollen-headed and prefers to maintain a low profile.

The Thespian

The Thespian

Some persons may fascinate you for a while

And then slide into the forgotten lane,

But some just don't don't fade away

And stay in a corner of your brain.

One such abiding influences

From the vintage stars of by gone eminence

Is the matinee idol 'Dilip Kumar'

The "King of tragedy", par excellence.

None in the history of Hindi cinema

Has so dominated the tear-jerking scene,

As this versatile artiste has

Setting new trends on the big screen.

Precise and particular, using 'eyes'

Slow in actions, mumbling mono-syllables,

He has retained hos own 'hall-mark'

Despite going on to seventy six.

Here are some memorable roles

That he played in superb manner.

The 'jilted' lover in ANDAZ

Or, better still the 'guilty' lover in AMAR.

Or , by giving a romantic touch to DEVDAS

Or, the melancholic tinge in MADHUMATI,

Or, portraying poor Salim in MUGHAL-E-AZAM.

Or, playing nice and funny in KOHINOOR.

But he reached the pinnacle of his performance,

In "GANGA-JAMUMA' which he also directed,

Combining all the shades of the human character

So here is paying him a tribute inlaid with jade.