Positive and Negative

 How do you remain positive/optimistic in the face of all the negative stuff happening around you? War, bullying, violence, crime and global warming?

I don't have a standard prescription, but some of these can probably help-

- a hobby you are passionate about

- focus on your own work, shutting out distractions

- working for a social cause

- playing a sport (not watching it)

- going out to see how people live, across income levels/professions

- meeting people socially and drowning your sorrows together.

West Coast Relatives Come to Pune

West Coast of the U.S., I mean. We met in Bangalore, then they left for California, and came back to meet us yesterday- June 9, 2026. Pushkar is a nephew, son of my cousin Baby (Prabha), and his wife Veena is from Pune. They have two kids now, and they have grown up. Rajvi and Raghav are in High School and Middle School, respectively. There was a lot of banter, and some food.

Raghav, Pushkar and Veena

Rajvi with Veena, Anu and Pooja and Prarthana

Baby with Pooja and Prarthana

Baby and me- she's 80, I am 65.

 

Met Gala- A Meeting of Musical Minds

 We had our own Met Gala at Mumbai, thanks to some friends who like music. Sheetal Garg, her husband Kausshal, Dipti Kane, Bhagyalakshmi and Venkatesh (hosts), and my wife and I participated, minus fancy costumes. Great fun, we sang many favourites on karaoke, including a few Jagjit Singh ghazals. 

Venkatesh and I also recorded a Chat Masala episode featuring our favourite songs.. solos and duets.

Apne Ghar Jaisa- Play

 A play with a play on Expectation versus Reality.

An old lady is imagining what a new tenant will be like, while coming to terms with the loss of her son. Her husband has agreed to let out the son's room to a stranger called "Shaukeen" (she thinks). 

It is a solo performance, almost, with her imagining the caste, religion, and habits of the tenant before he appears. She vacillates between a nice picture of him to replace her lost son, and depicting him as a complete outsider with strange habits, eating as well as lifestyle-related.

An unexpected twist at the end makes the one hour play watchable- suspense of a kind.

Padmavati Rao performed the old lady's role very well, with a variety of emotions showing while she sets up the room. Produced by Ranga Shankara, Karnataka. A part of the Shreeram Lagoo Theatre Festival.

Losses

 Lost a young nephew, Nikhil, short of his 30th birthday, last week. He was a helicopter pilot, and his chopper crashed while he was on duty, ferrying passengers. One of the two passengers survived, miraculously. 

He was unconventional in his choice of careers. Dropped out of engineering, and taught himself/trained for Welding. Worked with a firm for a couple of years, and then trained to become a helicopter pilot. He was quite good at it too. Bad weather probably caused this crash, that turned out to be fatal. 

Maybe our leaving the planet is pre-determined, because there is no easy explanation for deaths of this kind, and survivors at the other end. 

Anyway, we live on, and try to cope with mishaps. 

When he was young, above. When he was grownup, and visited India, below, sitting, left.

A Pune Gathering of Cousins

 On June 1st, we met with cousins who were available in Pune. The purpose was two-fold. To celebrate the birthday of our youngest aunt, mother of our host Jyotsna, and to remember Nikhil, my nephew whom we lost unexpectedly in a helicopter accident in Atlanta USA. The second came out of the blue, and we were still coming to terms with it.

Some of the cousins/families present. 

Nikhil is sitting, left, in the pic above. That was my Mom's 88th birthday in 2017, at Pune. His parents are behind him.

Aamne Saamne- Marathi Play

 Saw a great play in Marathi titled Aamne Saamne. It's a story of two couples, one old and one young. The young ones pretend to be married to live as tenants with the older couple. Their stories intermingle, and both learn from each other. A lot of hilarious and serious sequences later. Directed and acted in by Mangesh Kadam, the older husband in the play. Very good dialogue, acting and comic timing.. 

The older couple..

and all four taking the bow at the close..