Category: Delhi

<World Bicycle Day, June 3> In the rocky and desolate countryside off Nashik, as one approaches the Western Ghats, a bicycle lover has created a highway resort overlooking the mine-pit hollows and a solitary windmill. His / their love for biking is evident as one enters the complex and finds a bike track and a model of  an old bike displayed in the lawn. No rent is charged from biking enthusiasts. Exploring the resort one finds handle-bars, wheels, chain-sprockets, cross-bars, steel rims, paddles and even saddles of different shapes used as functional art pieces. Signs outside washrooms, a combination of mirrors above wash basins, light fittings etc. amplify their love for bicycles.

The tall bushes in this region fight for every drop of moisture and produce some stunningly coloufull thorny-flowers.

​Phillumenists (matchbox/match label collectors) in India were overjoyed when a premium matchbox manufacturer announced the launch of a special pack commemorating 75 years of India’s Independence with 75 new & old matchboxes, some which were available way back in 1942. While it was a delight to see the three-fold large box (14 x 36 x 3 in), its price tag of Rs. 1947 was a dampener. On another occasion one would have waited for the price to be reduced but for this one, the risk of losing it was high as it was a limited edition box. Out of the 75 match boxes in the special set, eight can be counted as ‘Rare’; twenty five as special editions of the “I Kno” series which are really good; while the rest can be procured either from the current market or with a bit of patience can be bought from collectors. The reprints in this pack include many of ITC and WIMCO’s legacy brands, some of which are still available in the market are, SHIP, Three Mangoes, Kapas, Vaxlit and AIM. Wish the older specimens also had the replica of excise duty stickers which were pasted on each matchbox in earlier years. At the time of Independence matchboxes were available for 3 paisa a box. Even after 75 years a box of 30 or 50 sticks is still reasonably priced between 2 to 3 rupees. This commemorative set is surely expensive (capitalists encash every opportunity), but worth every stick if you are a memorabilia collector and have a large empty drawer. Get it till it is available. The packaging though could have been better. Caution: keep matchsticks and matchboxes away from extreme heat and places in proximity of sparks; away from direct fire and away from the reach of children. As collectors, we empty the box leaving only three or four sticks in the box to keep a record of the wood used, the colour on the mix of potassium chlorate on the tip and a thin film of wax on the stick. The striking surface on the side of the matchbox has a coating of red phosphorus which is highly inflammable. And please, ‘Strike Gently’.

What will the river give back
in return for your medals?
For your sweat, blood, your toil?
Will it return the honour or punish
the guilty? Will it drown those men 
in a deluge of shame or water? 
Ask the river, will it, in return 
for what you are offering her.

The river too is being sullied
by the same men and women
who have perpetrated injustice 
in the name of gods, temples, and holy books.
Its waters have been poisoned
so are the minds of the mob; the soil
rivers, trees and the house of honest men.
The river, girls, can’t protect itself. 
Neither prayers nor faith 
can get you justice. 
Stand firm and fight girls, you must.

I wish you had gone to your akhara, and 
shown the medals to each girl in the village
and had vowed 
with a fist full of soil in your clenched hands
to wrestle your dignity
from the men who also assault
the very essence of this nation.

Stand firm girls. Stand mightier 
than the Ganga in spate.

In solidarity with protesting wrestlers. 31 May 2023

एक दिन ग़र्क़ न कर दे तुझे ये सैल-ए-वजूद
देख हो जाए न पानी कहीं सर से ऊँचा

फ़ज़ा इब्न-ए-फ़ैज़ी

” दग़ा करे वो किसी से तो शर्म आए मुझे ”

<Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken> 

For anyone who loved Rock Music at any point in their life it is the day of mourning. We lost the Queen of Rock, Tina Turner (1939-2023) yesterday. She breathed her last in Zurich with her family beside her. In my growing up years she filled my soul with music. “What’s love got to do with it?” was my favourite. So long Tina, you rocked like no one else. Catch you on the other side of the rainbow. 

(Tina Turner rocking and swinging on Eiffel Tower for a music video. Photographer unknown)