jason194
male - 59 years, MUMBAI, India
Blog 117
God's presence is unquestionable
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Chinese in San Francisco
CHINESE LANGUAGE----------------
Have you heard two Chinese ladies quarrelling? They sound exactly like our fisher folks. Nearly 30% of the population in San Francisco is Chinese. Or they are mixed up with other ethnicities. The Chinese in the city are as fair as white people. Their cheeks are as red as white people. Chinese girls are beautiful and charming. I don’t know why but in their home land, Chinese people are not as attractive as they appear here. Perhaps it is the virtue of the place which makes them fair. San Francisco is beautiful so everything in it is beautiful, I feel. But Chinese people speak very difficult language or their language appears to be difficult to outsiders. But the spoken language is not so difficult but written is very cumbersome. In San Francisco everything is mixed up right from school days. There the Chinese, white and black or brown children go to same school. As such we find a white boy in love with a Chinese girl or black girl flirting with brown boy. Chinese people in this city have accepted this life whole-heartedly. They are toilers, law-makers, teachers and research fellows. They have totally blended with American way of life. Of course some of the Chinese people have been here since seventeenth century, so old is their history. However some of the families still speak Chinese but majority of Chinese have accepted English language as their mother tongue. -
An evening in San Francisco
An evening in San Francisco----------------------------
Yerba Beauna garden is famous place in SF frequented by lot of people. We went there with our little princess, Kashmira. First Amol took us to the garden where lot of children were playing. Amol dropped us in the spacious entrance to the garden. There were sliding boards, for climbing different metal structures, a large ball and many more play things for the children. Large expance of green is maintained in front where there is touching monument to remember Martin Luther King. King is ace freedom fighter of USA. His famous quotation is engraved upon the wall over which a water fall flows. Yerba centre is famous for arts and cultural activities and it has got three centres in the city one of which is in Golden Gate park. Metron theater is one of the building near Yerba gardens. They have a complex exclusively for children. This complex is beyond the road and connected to main building by flyover. There is Zeum, play ground, cafeteria and indoor games facility. Everything is clean and safe. I admire the sense of cleanliness and safety of the people of San Francisco. Kashmira played in garden and she had rides on horse. I enjoyed sitting on bench separately as if no relation with anybody. There is gun metal life size statue of a man in the gardens ready to shake hands with you.
As if the Yerba committee welcomes you. -
My Illusion!
This is perhaps the coldest “summer” ever experienced by me. San Francisco summer—why do they call it summer—is nothing but another winter. Hah! In the summer couple times hot weather prevails and even you may remember fans etc. All through the month of May very cold weather prevailed except for couple of days when it was sunny all day. That is why I say that it is in my life first time I experienced a cold summer. San Francisco weather is very moody and bizarre. If in the morning it is very cold and breezy then perhaps in the afternoon it is hot and sunny. If in afternoon, it is sunny then in the evening it must be raining and chilly. Yes, there is a prominent factor by which San Francisco weather can be identified—cold and wintery, especially in the mornings and evenings the winds have cutting edge. Winds bites you with such vengeance that we remember our granny. During such times it is calamity to go on Ocean Beach or that matter any other beach in San Francisco. Ocean beach is a place where lot of people go for walk or for athletics. On one Sunday morning at seven I was on ocean beach. The wind was terrific folks and there was no shelter from winds. The effect of cold weaned slowly as the sun rose, but I sat on bench till I gathered some warmth. Oh! I will not forget the day! San Francisco summer I will never forget because its cold weather.
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Summer in San Francisco
They say in San Francisco now summer is going on (
. according to Indians like me, if this is called summer what do they call cold season? Because today morning temperature is 10 degrees. But the cold is felt teeth chattering due to wind, in SF wind plays havoc all through the day. All over the bay area, not only near the coastal areas, tremendous winds give lashing morning and evenings. The San Franciscans are habituated to this phenomenon but easterners like me get bored. But going for a walk in the morning is an experience in San Francisco. In such cold weather in the morning anybody will naturally reach for a cigarette but here also our misfortunes stare us in the face. In USA you don’t get lose cigarettes, you have to buy a $4 or $5 pack containing 20 cigarettes. For a person who smokes stealthily, this becomes a calamity. Who will keep fuckin 20 something pack in the pocket? But San Francisco is swarming with rich stores selling different kinds of cigarettes in packs not lose ones. How disgusting!
San Francisco parks are immaculately well maintained. Golden Gate, Lincoln, Lake park or Sutro park or Presidio, all park are spik and spin. Of course Golden Gate is largest park and in the centre of the city. The area on the right hand side is Richmond while that on the left side is Sunset. In summer the flowering plants in the parks are profusely laden with multi-colored flowers presenting beautiful sight. The Japanese garden in Golden Gate also boasts of------------
Nature God appears to be pleased with San Francisco whole heartedly with such colorful display of flowers. My heart dances with joy whenever I behold a flowering plant in full bloom. The red on the cheeks of lasses becomes more or deeper red. They look more beautiful and men feel younger,
So guys we are in San Francisco enjoying Californian summer and this is also the period of traveling dudes. All those men with family head for Yosemite. This is really an awesome place, a must for every Californian, nay for every American. Yosemite is fearful place for many and also it is gigantic forest with imposing trees and waterfalls. Unfortunately I missed a visit to this jungle but I had a glimps of it in video lecture, and it was breath taking. -
My brthday at my son's home
Since childhood, my many birthdays are celebrated but none as joyous and hilarious as celebrated by my son’s family, especially by Kashmira and Bageshree. In fact I am not very keen in celebrating my birthdays but after marriage a new responsibility came on my shoulder, that of remembering two dates—wife’s birthday and date of our marriage anniversary. The first was very easy as my wife’s birthday fell in the same month as my birthday. Remembering the birthday of my relatives is difficult task, I only remember that most of my relatives have their birthdates in the month of May. On the sixth of May my wife’s birthday is there and on 19th May, I happened to have entered this world and did my first tttyaaaaahhhaaaaaannnn!
It was night of 18th May and I suddenly came awake exactly at 12 o’clock. At that time Bageshree came with large cake and reminded me of my birthday. You can imagine how pleasant surprise it was for me. After observing the religious protocole, I was given the knife to cut the cake after ceremoniously blowing the candles. We enjoyed the function very much as Bageshree did a little photo session. The cake tasted very sweet after that. It was short but sweet function and I thanked God for His bounty.
I also blessed my Kashmira and Bageshree and Amol. -
Beautiful San Francisco
San Francisco again-----------------
Once again we found ourselves flying towards America as my son called me for our little darling Kashmira. But this time we were on BA( British Airways) and via London. British airways service is equally efficient like Singapore airways. Hithrow is a gigantic airport, their no 5 terminal is like vast town with almost everything in it. Of course their air hostess were not as beautiful or young as that of Singapore’s. moreover Singapore airline hostesses were blushing with every mistake and that was fun to watch at.
London’s Hithrow airport is a gigantic affair with terminal five, where we landed is like a small town with escalators, tunnels and giant lifts running madly and transporting passengers 24/7. it was hard to believe that this was the London of Queen Elizabeth II, it was London of Sherlock Holms or it was the London of Charles Dickens’s poor Oliver Twist. Due to currency problem buying anything was out question so to pass next four hour looking at mesmerising scenes was our fate. On such a giant airport there some carts called as buggies through which they were moving us, these buggies were moving among passengers deftly and transporting us to various destinations on airport. At the appointed hour we found ourselves at the certain gate and boarded our flight no. BA 285. to San Francisco. This time the journey was over the Atlantic so I was curious but out of the 10 hrs flight four hrs was over the ocean and rest was over Canada and Bermuda etc. I was following our flight over TV screen in front of me for time pass. As usual other channels were not working and only this channel was working so fliers had no choice.
At San Francisco airport our possession was taken by Chinese people and they moved us everywhere efficiently as our children had arranged for wheel chairs for us. Amol came and we were relived at last. We entered the beautiful city, the city of beautiful people, the city of beautiful scenes and the city of immaculate public transport that is called MUNI. Viva San Francisco. I love you San Francisco. -
The great Indian election circus
I don’t know why Indians become mad when elections are declared. And it becomes quite impossible to control them or their desire to contest elections. May it be Sharad Pawar or comparatively lesser known politician. For many this is a golden opportunity to mint money. In every constituency, no less than twenty contestants are there. Then at the time of taking the name back, they support some candidate and get dough. For many workers of political parties, this provides an opportunity to earn money as money flows incessantly in elections. So everybody is happy because everybody gets his share of the pie. Parliamentary constituencies are vast in India. Offices have to be maintain, banners and posters, meetings have to be arranged, errands have to be run, lot many things have to be accomplished. All this requires money and political parties have loosened their purse strings in this period. I have also kept office during parliamentary elections and so I have first hand experienced in this regards. Right from inception to actual election day it is a hectic business for a person who maintains office and supervise the movements of common workers. Common man is not interested in election meetings unless a big gun is addressing like Rahul Gandhi or Sharad Pawar or L. K. Advani. And political leaders are notoriously off the schedule. People do not wait for leaders and definitely not in the sun. in Mumbai to collect crowds at drop a hat is easy as lot of bystanders are there. But in rural areas to collect crowds is hell of business.
That is why I call it as great election circus. Because at the end of day there is long list of candidates and their weird election symbols so that even the experts get confused what of layman. There are three things which always amuse me.
1. The selfishness of candidates in pushing the interests of their children. One honorable exception to rule is Sonia Gandhi. Some people will say that she knows her son is going to become prime minister, sooner or later.
2. Without taking into consideration the feasibility, some are eager to declare themselves as the prime ministerial candidates, viz Sharad Pawar. He brazenly pushes himself as future prime minister of NCP and for that matter he goes to any length even joining the third front. He is biggest fool of them all. This shows how power hungry he is and nation is not safe in his hands. Take the name of Telagi and see the change in his demeanor.
3. It is hilarious to hear the promises candidates give to public during election times. Rs 2/- kgs rice is old slogan. Free of cost electricity is new promise that too 24 hrs. Fortunately the candidates do not offer people Allaudin’s lamp. Nothing short of it is offered.
I pity the candidates, and the public as well. This madness is greatest at the time of LOKSABHA elections. -
Nana Chowk
Chowk means a square where many roads meet. That way Sata rasta is a famous junction in Mumbai. Nana chowk is in Grant Road area. In my childhood, I frequented Dadar, Mahalaxmi and Grant Road stations on western railway. I owe a great deal of worldly wise ness to my cousin Vilas Koparkar. He happened to be some years my senior and I followed him in many ways. When I overtook him and surpassed him we both did not know. Vilas Koparkar was a handsome man par excellence but he did know his worth. Any other man in his place would have become an actor in film industry or a character artist at least. But drink and to some extent gambling got the better of him. I remember as a child, I followed him to Kennedy bridge, Gamdevi and Opera House area where lot of Mujara girls lived. In the absence of dance bars they provided solace to Mumbai crowds. These girls easily fell for Vilas and they were ready to provide their services free of charge to him. Later for some years my contact with Vilas and Nana Chowk area stopped. Then I graduated to drink in my union activities period and went to far off places, not only Nana Chowk but I frequented the whole of red light area. Of course I went to red light area just for curiosity and to show my power. But my companions seized this opportunity to satisfy their lust.
Latif was my friend in Dongri, Shankar was friend in Kamathipura, Subhash in Khetawadi and Shakil was my companion in Kumbharwada. During that period I went to a bar in City-Light area. This was my most favorite place as it resembled Aroma bar in Dadar. On ground floor it was bootlegger’s place, on second floor it was country liquor’s joint and on third floor English bar, suit your pocket. What I liked about this bar was after the drink a beautiful hotel was very near which served high class biryani. In my later life, Arjun replced Vilas or Latif or Shankar. And even later I roamed that area alone fully drunk. The people in those areas knew me and seldom waged quarrel with me. In my sojourn, I met some beautiful damsels and kind-hearted companions. Shakeela was one such girl who without any purpose loved me and shielded me against dangers many times.
When I look back on the incidents with nostalgia, I remember many characters I met in that period. Nana chowk and surrounding area has had a profound effect on my personality. I saw Mumbai’s most raw side and most rich side. I went to Leopold caffe in Colaba and roamed Altamout road and Peddar road as also I frequently went to red light area in all its form. I met many places, persons and encountered many incidents which have enriched my experiences to great extent. Nana chowk, Vilas and Arjun have taught me invaluable things in life. Vilas and Arjun have saved me from many nasty situations as I was a head strong fellow in those days. I salute Nana chowk. -
My Daughter------------Madhura
My daughter Madhura is, just as her name suggests, very sweet and unlike any of her relatives. Ever since her birth in 1978, she has given only satisfaction and happiness to all of us. Only once when she was lost, did she take our breath out. But that was when she was only toddler. Everybody in our home was saying somebody must go and fetch Amol from school but nobody seemed to make any move. So Madhura, such a tiny tot, dexterously and silently went ahead to fetch Amol from school which was just down the hill. In our home, pandemonium broke lose. Everybody started to search for Madhura frantically in the neighborhood. Then somebody told her mother they had seen such a girl going down the hill and all ran in that direction. When lo, the brother and sister were slowly climbing the way to home. Her mommy, with tears in her eyes, clutched her daughter tightly in her embrace. Madhura, on the other hand, was totally oblivious of turmoil she created, she was happy to have brought Amol. Both brother and sister were seen many times, enjoying their Tiffin in the garden on the hill. Such an innocent lot! Madhura then rapidly advanced into adolescence. She became beautiful lass and an athlete, taking part in 100 mts. Races and winning them for her school. Madhura is an all rounder that is why she was selected as a best girl consecutively for two years by PMM Inner wheel school during lX and X std.
My most lovable daughter completed her B. COM. Degree from Vaze-Kelkar college in Mulund and went to Pune for further studies. She did her , at Sinhgad institute of technology and joined Tata Motors as a software engineer. Her college days in Pune were perhaps the most memorable because she was always centre of attraction due her bubbly nature. She had perfect match in Mahendra Dalvi. She got married and went to Washington, thanks to her Mahendra. The surprising thing is she got employed in a small company in this period of economic downturn. With sheer hard work and her sweet nature, Madhura soon got the confidence of her employers. And when lot of employees were retrenched recently, believe it or not, her American employer assured her that they will not give her lay off. If worst comes to worst they will ask her to go off for some times. They want to retain her as for as possible. This is the best example of faith in her work. Really I am proud of you my daughter. I wish you all the luck, confidence and regards from you colleagues. God bless you my Madhura and God bless your popular husband, Mahendra.
Jason Monks -
Valentine's day.
At last the great Valentine’s day arrived. This year my Valentine is Kashmira, my little three year grand daughter. Actually Valentine’s importance began to grow in India in 1990s, when everything American became suddenly fashionable. It was well beyond my time of active participation as I was past my 40s, how sad! Valentine’s day got active publicity due to agitation of Shivsena and the so called moral police. Sriram sena is new entrant to the game. In this game Hindu chauvinists seem to be active participants. Muslims have hoodwinked the importance of this day. Hindus are opposing the thought on moral grounds. Both Hindus and Muslims are not opposed to marriages, their opposition is to love marriages or love concept. Fortunately humans have no love seasons as say, dogs or tigers or lions. How lucky we are indeed! Consider if you had love season. What chaos it would cause! Crowds of love crazy boys would go after girls. No doubts There would great fights for girls and there would be general running around. We say this has got significance in the context of present situation. On TV I saw police running after boys and girls. Now the poor boys were busy confessing their love to girls. But police objected this simple thing, and we saw police running after boys and girls on our TV screens. Moral police has unnecessarily made a mole out of mole hill.
Shaji Mohan was caught with 18 kgs. Heroin. Then about 25 kgs heroin was seized from his flat in Mumbai. If so much drugs are found on his in an Islamic country, surely he would be beheaded without inquiry. Now meddling moral police and our government police say pub people encourage drug trafficking. Rev parties and pubs are spoiling our youngsters. And this is nothing but aping western culture, they say. I firmly believe that it was unbecoming of police to run after boys and girls, who were confessing their love. In this free country they have every right to love whosoever they choose. And this brings us to that sublime feeling “LOVE “ how romantic, how silky, smooth and how sanguine. Once in a life time experienced feeling. How noble, and how heart warming. Love is deeper than the mighty sea, and for that matter it’s a nicest kind of poetry. It is rightly said by a poet. Our love may be not as noble as a Romeo or Paris but in our right we loved and experienced the same feelings. As poet Robindranath Tagore says, the poet has loved and lived, come what may. One moment of love gives courage to face a mountain of calamities. So gentlemen make love while the sun shines.
Jason Monks
