Juggling work with hobbies and personal life is quite difficult. I have been trying to write detective stories and that takes so much time. I was working on rummy tournament and that consumed a lot of my time too. Finally now that Kush has grown up quite a bit, he needs his time to be exclusive of the time dedicated for family. He is 12 now. Soon he will become a teenager. I hope he still comes to me and chats to me like he does now. I would never want him to become incommunicado but then I remember that I was myself a very difficult, angst ridden teen.
All these work items ensured that I never took a proper break. It is either work or story or if there is time there are so many movies. Finally when the story got completed and then in quick succession the rummy tournament started working, I suddenly realized that I had time, a lot of time. Till the next project starts, of course! but still I had time on hand. I could once again indulge myself by reading books. So I read 'Moby Dick'. It took time, the tome is huge but I loved it even though I lost a lot of symbolism at play. Then I read the book 'Sambhaji' by Vishwas Patil. It is about Sambhaji, the first son of Shivaji, who became Chatrapati after his father's demise. His step mother, Soraiya bai, tried her darndest to foist her son Rajaram as king but Sambhaji was able to foil the plan. It came to Hambir rao Mohite, the commander in general of Maratha army, to take the right call. He was Soraiya bai's own brother but he chose to support Sambhaji. So without any internecine war, Sambhaji became king. He of course got many conspirators killed, some of them by throwing them under the feet of drunk elephants. I loved that book though the end was bitter. Aurangzeb got Sambhaji captured and tortured badly before dicing his body in small parts and having them thrown away.
I then decided to visit the Raigad fort because it was the capital of Marathas. We drove there and it took us close to 4 hours. We used the ropeway at Hiranaki darwaza. We literally flew to the fort! It was very, very hot that day but we still managed to check out the royal court, the marketplace, the Jagdishwara temple and the samadhi of Shivaji. The view of the valley was breathtaking.
I have watched Kush's drawing skills mature. He is working on a comic book of his own. Recently I realized that Kush has hit a plateau and so it was time to enrol him to learn drawing. His art teacher has held one exhibition of his paintings. He himself was taken aback at the detailed works of Kush. His praise made Kush's day. I really don't want Kush to try and make a career in drawing or painting but let us see! I never wanted to become a computer engineer and look, what that got me into!
On a parting note, Bunty shared with me a great truth. Some philosopher, I forget his name, wrote that people should try and avoid pain, that it should be our life's mission. The world with its alluring gifts is a trap where people experience pain. It could be pining in love or it could be maddening rush for making money but the world will always exact its price and always leave the person in more pain. The less you want from the world, the less it can hurt you. That philosophy drives Bunty's life. I must say I have been thinking a lot about it too.
All these work items ensured that I never took a proper break. It is either work or story or if there is time there are so many movies. Finally when the story got completed and then in quick succession the rummy tournament started working, I suddenly realized that I had time, a lot of time. Till the next project starts, of course! but still I had time on hand. I could once again indulge myself by reading books. So I read 'Moby Dick'. It took time, the tome is huge but I loved it even though I lost a lot of symbolism at play. Then I read the book 'Sambhaji' by Vishwas Patil. It is about Sambhaji, the first son of Shivaji, who became Chatrapati after his father's demise. His step mother, Soraiya bai, tried her darndest to foist her son Rajaram as king but Sambhaji was able to foil the plan. It came to Hambir rao Mohite, the commander in general of Maratha army, to take the right call. He was Soraiya bai's own brother but he chose to support Sambhaji. So without any internecine war, Sambhaji became king. He of course got many conspirators killed, some of them by throwing them under the feet of drunk elephants. I loved that book though the end was bitter. Aurangzeb got Sambhaji captured and tortured badly before dicing his body in small parts and having them thrown away.
I then decided to visit the Raigad fort because it was the capital of Marathas. We drove there and it took us close to 4 hours. We used the ropeway at Hiranaki darwaza. We literally flew to the fort! It was very, very hot that day but we still managed to check out the royal court, the marketplace, the Jagdishwara temple and the samadhi of Shivaji. The view of the valley was breathtaking.
I have watched Kush's drawing skills mature. He is working on a comic book of his own. Recently I realized that Kush has hit a plateau and so it was time to enrol him to learn drawing. His art teacher has held one exhibition of his paintings. He himself was taken aback at the detailed works of Kush. His praise made Kush's day. I really don't want Kush to try and make a career in drawing or painting but let us see! I never wanted to become a computer engineer and look, what that got me into!
On a parting note, Bunty shared with me a great truth. Some philosopher, I forget his name, wrote that people should try and avoid pain, that it should be our life's mission. The world with its alluring gifts is a trap where people experience pain. It could be pining in love or it could be maddening rush for making money but the world will always exact its price and always leave the person in more pain. The less you want from the world, the less it can hurt you. That philosophy drives Bunty's life. I must say I have been thinking a lot about it too.
