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Born to Fly

The real purpose in life has its importance and the struggle you embark on, in your life to receive and to attain it, has the greatest wor...

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

A Tale of 2 cities

                        

I have lived in Mumbai for most of my life and in Delhi NCR for almost 5 years now. I sat down to think what it was that was different between life in the two cities. It was a Sunday afternoon at home and more than anything else this was a small leisure exercise and I have come up with some interesting tidbits which I am sharing below. 
          Delhi-ites please forgive the bias as the writer is a hard core Mumbaikar. So here                     goes...... 
          Wada Paav v/s Rajma Chawal, Wada Paav any day. 
          BEST Buses vs Blue Line, BEST is clearly better 
Shiv Sagar vs Sagar Ratna, Shiv Sagar boss!.... for sure
          Juhu Beach/Aksa Beach vs. No Beach...The Beach, surely.
Dahi Handi and Ganpati Bappa Moriya symbolise festivities in Mumbai and in Delhi you have the sweets doing the rounds during Raakhi.You also have
Raam Lilas at various places during Dussehra...Well each one to his own.
Heavy Rains and the city traffic uniterrupted...rain for two hours and city at a standstill...anybody's guess.
The friendly neighourhood baniya ready to deliver a bottle of coke on a phone call...Sadda arrogant shopkeeper frowning over deliveries less than a quid...what do I say.
Local train services for every destination you might want to visit v/s metro train services, currently only at places away from your home or workplace...In the present context Mumbai local trains are the useful ones..  
Booze for 30% Less in the Capital City with people lining up oh so patiently....Yes Delhi scores here... 
Except for the Peak hour crazy rush at the local trains and the state of cleanliness which is the same for both the cities, for me Mumbai is a hands down winner, I miss Aamchi Mumbai like hell I do...

An Obituary on teachers day!


                           

Good evening Fellow toastmasters and dear guests.
How many of you have watched the Hindi movie Bhag Milkha Bhag. (Run Milkha Run).

In this movie about the legendary Indian Athlete Milkha Singh there is a scene where Milkha is felicitated by old colleagues from the training academy amidst a lot of camraderie and fun.

Everyone at his Alma mater is heaping praises upon Milkha for his achievement in winning so many races.

Milkha then, quietly goes upto his Mentor Havaldar Gurudev Singh and transfers the medals from his own neck onto his mentor’s neck while thanking him for being there for him when it mattered most.

This shows the kind of regard that Milkha had for his teacher which prompted him to bestow this honor on Gurudev Singh.

In order to illustrate how a teacher can have a positive influence on his or her pupil, I want to talk about a teacher of mine who later went on to be the school principal to the delight of the students. (Honest)

I am talking about Fr. Tony Fonseca, a sports-loving, silver-haired, smart-looking Maths genius, who also put his school on the sports map of Mumbai besides helping students understand Newton’s laws and the theorem of Pythagoras.

Fr. Tony's methods were ahead of his time.

I remember that I had learnt one of the first lessons in team-work from him during the inter-class football matches. Father Tony used the black board to explain that we should not try to dodge and dribble past the opponents and instead we should use short passes! (Analytical and logical)

Coming to Father Tony’s teaching methods, the examples that Fr. Tony used to give in his Physics and Mathematics class, made remembering the subject child's play, they were that simple. (honest)

For instance, for explaining the principles of magnetism and how opposite poles attract, he spoke about how boys from our school (A Boys’convent) were drawn towards the window sills, during recess at the nearby girls convent.  

Another incident I remember proved to be one of my earliest lessons in planning and preparation.

Well, our class had to visit SnehaSadan, an institution for orphaned children which Father Tony was closely associated with, for charity and gift the children therein, from the money we had collected during a fund-raiser campaign.

As we were undecided on what gift to buy, Fr. Tony gave us an example that if you have to buy a gift for a man he would like to receive a shirt, whereas in case of children they would take to sports as a fish would take to water.

A few of us went with the sports gear and we were pleasantly surprised to see that Fr. Tony had prepared for the entire class to be there at Snehasadan. That was the degree of preparedness that he believed in.

For Fr. Tony service was a way of life and he often took time out to visit the homes of children and the children whose homes he visited were indeed blessed.

It was not a surprise to me when I learnt that Fr. Tony was the one who was instrumental in getting ex-students from our class to collect on the occasion of the 25th anniversary Alumni reunion.

I had sent Fr. Tony an SMS to wish him on last New Year's eve and received a reply after a while saying Ratan have a great year and keep smiling. That was his trademark style.... spreading smiles.

Moving on as I recall the contribution a great teacher makes to the life of a student, I would say that

You educate as well as reassure.
You inform as well as inspire.
You open our minds as well as our eyes.
 You've touched our lives.

Yes, You are truly the Unsung Heroes.

purvaiya- do jasoos(original song)

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

George Baker Selection - Una paloma blanca





WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON THE MOUNTAINS
AND THE NIGHT IS ON THE RUN
IT'S A NEW DAY
IT'S A NEW WAY
AND I FLY UP TO THE SUN


I CAN FEEL THE MORNING SUNLIGHT
I CAN SMELL THE NEW MOWN HAY
I CAN HEAR GOD'S VOICES CALLING
FROM THE GOLDEN SKYLIGHT WAY


(CHORUS)
UNA PALOMA BLANCA
I'M JUST A BIRD IN THE SKY
UNA PALOMA BLANCA
OVER THE MOUNTAINS I FLY
NO ONE CAN TAKE MY FREEDOM AWAY


ONCE I HAD MY SHARE OF LOSING
ONCE THEY LOCKED ME ON A CHAIN
YES, THEY TRIED TO BREAK MY POWER
OH, I STILL CAN FEEL THE PAIN


(CHORUS)
INSTRUMENTAL INTERLUDE
WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON THE MOUNTAINS
AND THE NIGHT IS ON THE RUN
IT'S A NEW DAY
IT'S A NEW WAY
AND I FLY UP TO THE SUN


(CHORUS)
UUH UUH


Read more: George Baker - Paloma Blanca Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

Ocean - Put Your Hand In The Hand (1971 - HQ) (Original Live Audio)




Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water

Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
By puttin' your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee



Every time I look into the Holy Book I want to tremble (tremble)
Or when I read about the part where the carpenter cleared the temple (temple)
For the buyers and the sellers were no different fellas than what I profess to be
And it causes me shame to know we're not the people we should be



So, put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
By puttin' your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee



My mama taught me how to pray before I reached the age of seven
She said, "there'll come a time when there'll probably be room in heaven"
But I'm feeling kinda guilty 'bout the number of times to do what we must do
But we forget what he said, then we figure that he'll still make room



So, you gotta put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
By puttin' your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee



Everybody come along



Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
(Who stilled the water)
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
(Who calmed the sea)
Take a look at yourself and you can look at
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/ocean/put-your-hand-in-the-hand-lyrics/#YlUGBlESeTqjfp46.99

DOLLY PARTON WINGS OF A DOVE




When troubles surround us, when evils come
The body grows weak
The spirit grows numb
When these things beset us, God doesn't forget us
He sends us His love

On the wings of a snow-white dove
He sends His pure sweet love
A sign from above
On the wings of a dove

When Jesus went down through the river that day
Well, he was baptised in the usual way
And when it was done
God blessed His son
He sent him His love
On the wings of a dove

On the wings of a snow-white dove
He sends His pure sweet love
A sign from above
On the wings of a dove

On the wings of a snow-white dove
He sends His pure sweet love
A sign from above
On the wings of a dove