Citizenship

 Not sure if I am a citizen anymore. I had a passport, but someone in the Ministry of External Affairs just said it doesn't prove I am a citizen. 

Well, maybe the fact that we are a part of the Universe is enough. It makes us a universal or global citizen. If only Trump, Starmer (or whoever is the next PM there), and other world leaders understood this. 

I do have an Aadhar card, but I am without any support (Aadhar) when it comes to proving my credentials. 

I have kids and they were born here in India. Are they citizens? Not sure anymore, the way things are going.

Anyway, when I know more, I will let you know. Till then, let's imagine a floating citizenship for ourselves.

Pu La Deshpande

 To honour the memory of Pu La Deshpande, famous humourist, there was a program at the Film Archives, Pune. A film about him was screened, and many speakers in a panel spoke about his achievements. Good way to keep the memory alive-

The 2 day program concluded with an award named after Pu La being given to Shama Bhate (above), a Kathak dancer from Pune who has done a lot for the art form. There was also a Films Division documentary about Pu La, mostly in the first person, narrated by him. It has his trademark wit.. for example, he says his father worked in a paper maker's firm, and did not realise his son would waste reams of paper trying to write something on them.. also, when he had gone to donate blood, while the syringe was in his vein, the blood bank owner asked him for a donation, which he was scared to refuse.. obviously!

38 Together and Going

 Our anniversary is coming up on 26th.. it's number 38. Tough to remember all the ups and downs we went through, first couple of years in the U.S. and then the rest in India, with a few trips to Sri Lanka, cambodia and Vietnam thrown in. A Eurail tour on the way back took us to Greece, Italy and France, Netherlands etc. We went to a friend's place in Brittany, near the Northern coast where Mt. St. Michael is located. 

Made friends in the U.S., Ron and Carmon Green, Leslie and Bob, the Sonis, and Athena and her family, Annie and Samrendra Singh and their sons, and a few more. Wilma Reeves and a Filipino faculty, Ceferina Hess, for example.

We also had a group of Indian friends, Alok, Anil, Suresh and my brother Satish hung out together. Alok's wife Pam too. We went to Charleston, Gatlinburg, L.A.  and Las Vegas, plus a few National parks like Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and so on. Visited Kiran Kenjale and Neena in L.A. and Prakash and Meena, in Detroit.

Made a few friends in our long stay in India at multiple places- Bani and BK Mohanty in Bhubaneswar, Bhagyalakshmi and Shweta Kushal at IIM Indore, Smita Dabholkar and Gadgil at IMT Nagpur, Vijayakumar and family, Dhanapal and family and Yashad Gaur, in Harihar, Anjula Gurtoo in Lucknow, and Shraddha and Neeraj in IIMK. Also Ravi and Dipi in Calicut. We also have musical friends from a group on FB.

We have a wide social circle that includes her schoolmates and students from when she taught (Vaseem), and mine from IIMB, Osmania and all the places I taught in, like IIM Indore (Sanjana Rao, Anusha Soni, Pratima Gaekwad) and IMT, (Ishita Modi, Garima Shah). Keeps us occupied. Plus all the Plays and concerts that we are able to attend in Pune regularly. Life is a party, when you have the right company, right?

Classy RD Burman Concert

 A classy concert featuring RD Burman-composed songs in Pune yesterday (23rd June, 2026)

Selection of songs, singing and camaraderie among singers was a notch above the usual. Pancham magic working, maybe.. here are a couple of glimpses.

Moutusi Das and Satish Ingle were the highlights, and sang Dun Maro Dum and the medley from Hum Kisise Kam Nahi very well. Mehbooba, mehbooba also. Meri jaan maine kahaa was  also done nicely. Aparna sang Piya tu ab to aaja with zest. Lots of great RD songs were featured.. a treat!

Kranti Shah was a great Emcee too, her second I have seen.

Songs by Different Music Directors

 That was the theme of a nice program, Yaadon ki Baraat, that I saw yesterday (June 22, 2026) at a Pune auditorium. This was the group's 50th such program, and a guest singer was Preeti Pethkar. She sang Pyar kiya to darna kya .. very well. A fusion experiment with whistling was good too, and a flute artist who played the song on Flute. Some other singers were good too,. Bipin and Saavni among them- Bipin sounded like Kishore Kumar- a rarity (White-haired guy, and lady in Yellow in the pic). Music directors ranged from C. Ramchandra to Annu Malik and Jatin-Lalit.

Movie Classics in Marathi

Marathi films have had great pioneers like Dadasaheb Phalke and V. Shantaram. Recently, there was a festival of films, of which we saw two. Saamna starring Nilu Phule and Dr. Shreeram Lagoo was a classic about a duel between a powerful local businessman and a principled man who hunts him down for his misdeed. The story is by Vijay Tendulkar. Directed well by Jabbar Patel.

The second was a comedy based on two couples (actually four men, two disguised as women) who are tenants in an old woman's house. Their shenanigans to keep up the pretense, and love stories developing which add to the confusion, is the plot. Hrishikesh Mukherjee had used this plot in his movie called Biwi aur Makaan, in a film earlier. It is hilarious, with good acting and direction by Sachin. Ashok Saraf (who starred in the Hum Paanch serial on TV) and Laxmikant Berde steal the show. Supriya Pilgaonkar and Ashwini Bhave play the love interests. Name of the film is Ashi hi Banva Banvi.

Kabir Bedi's Autobiography

 One thing that strikes you about his stories, is their honesty. He does not shy away from his failures.. like the stock investments in Netscape. Or his failure to stop his son from committing suicide. Or his multiple attempts to make his marriages work. Not everyone is as honest, when writing about themselves.

His spectacular success in Italy when he played Sandokan is quite unique to an Indian actor, because this was not Hollywood. He did play a few roles in Hollywood movies and TV series, and rubbed shoulders with the best. Some of those anecdotes are very interesting, like when he had to walk out of a dinner that Gina Lollobrigida was hosting, because Parveen Babi was offended. Her mental illness is also handled sympathetically.

Many unknown facets emerge, like his acting in Theatre due to Alyque Padamsee, or his learning Vipassana at a young age, or his meeting the Dalai Lama, because his mother turned into a Buddhist nun, or that he is a direct descendant of Guru Nanak through his father.

Interesting read, and something new for everyone, I am sure.