GIRINAGAR

GIRINAGAR 

Pristine Paradise in Pune

Tell me, which is the most beautiful, most pristine, most unpolluted and most verdant place in Pune?

I’ll tell you – it’s a lovely place called “Girinagar”.

Pune has changed – for the worse.

The pleasant, salubrious, tranquil, stress-free, easygoing, cozy, affable Pune I once lived in no longer exists. Yes, the Pune I once lived in no longer exists...!!!

Every nook and corner of Pune has suffered the ravages of “modernization”.

Except one place – Girinagar. Yes, there still exists a pristine paradise in Pune - Girinagar.

With the mighty Sinhagad Fort towering as a Sentinel, Girinagar is a fascinating place located on the slopes of the hills adjoining the cool blue Khadakvasla Lake.

The view from the Girinagar ridge is amazing.

You can see backwaters of Panshet and Varasgaon dams in the distance, and close by down below the serene expanse of the Khadakvasla Lake held back by the mighty dam.

The metamorphosis at sunset is enthralling.

The dance of colours, on the waters of the lake, from yellow to orange to crimson to blue to grey and then a still darkness – I have not seen a more magnificent sunset view anywhere else.

In the mornings as you climb up the hills cleansing, refreshing, revitalizing and invigorating your lungs with the clean unpolluted pure fresh air, you look in the distance and see the heavy layer of smog settling down over the city of Pune, and you know how lucky you are to live in this paradise called Girinagar...!

And now the monsoons have arrived and it has started raining.

The sensuous mist envelops all around, everything is a soothing green, and the place is simply magnificent!

Truly a "pristine paradise" in Pune...!

 

VIKRAM KARVE 

vikramkarve@sify.com

LOVE - A Teaching Story

LOVE

Ancient Wisdom

A  Story

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Here is an inspirational story I read somewhere:

Long time ago in China there was a time when people used to have gardens outside there houses. Almost all the families had one.

This story is about one such ordinary family having a modest house with a garden in front.

The family was going through a tough phase as the husband was not doing well in his career, the family was financially quite badly off and this was causing discord in their home.

One evening the wife was strolling in her garden waiting for the husband to come home from work.

From the corner of her eye she saw three old men standing in the far corner of her garden.

She gradually started walking towards them.

As she came closer she noticed that they were noble looking elderly men with long white beards.

She did not recognize them, but being a kind woman, she said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have a cup of tea and something to eat."

“Is the man of the house home?” they asked.

“No”, the wife said, “my husband is out.”

“Then we cannot come in now”, they replied.

In the meantime her husband returned home from work after another gruelling day.

He was obviously not in a good mood since, as usual; he had a bad day at work.

The wife immediately told him that they had guests standing outside and suggested they invite them.

Initially the husband was reluctant but then he finally agreed after being persuaded by his wife’s insistence, so he said, “Okay, go and tell them that I am home and invite them in.” 

The woman went out and invited the men in.

“We do not go into a house together,” they replied.

 “Why is that?” asked the puzzled wife.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and then pointing to the other one he said, “He is Success, and I am Love. Only one of us will come into your home. It is for you to decide which one of us three you want to invite into your home.”

Seeing the confusion on her face, they told the wife, “We suggest you go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”

The wife went in and told her husband about what the three old men had said.

The husband was overjoyed. “How nice,” he said, “Let us invite Success. He will make me successful in my career, I will no longer be a loser, a failure, and all our troubles will go away.”

But his wife disagreed, and said, “My dear, why don't we invite Wealth? Let him come in and fill our home with plenty of wealth – it will make us rich and prosperous and you won’t even have to work and we all can enjoy throughout our lives.”

Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house. The daughter wanted peace and harmony in the house so she said: “Let us invite Love. Our home will then be filled with love – that’s what we need most now!”

At first they did not agree with their daughter’s suggestion but the daughter was very stubborn and would not change her mind so the two parents finally gave in and agreed to invite Love.

“Okay, we will do as our daughter says,” the husband said to his wife, “you go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and told the three old men, “We wish to invite Love into our home.”

Love stepped forward and the wife started leading him towards her house.

As she conducted Love into her home she noticed that the other two Success and Wealth also followed and entered the house.

Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love. Why are you two coming in?”

The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. When Love comes into your lives, into your home, into your family…Success and Wealth automatically follow.”

I am sure you agree, Dear Reader, wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success, and even if those two, Wealth and Success are not there, it is Love that matters the most…

VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

PROHIBITION

A Teaching Story

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Here is a Ancient Wisdom Story titled “Prohibition”

Concerned at the increasing drunkenness and alcoholism in his kingdom, a famous king imposed strict prohibition on wine and liquor.

Earlier most people in that kingdom used to make their own liquor at home and had all the paraphernalia for distilling home-made liquor, and though they had stopped distilling liquor at home after prohibition was imposed, many such innocent people were arrested merely for possession of vats and distillery apparatus in their houses and they were punished severely in the same terms as those actually caught making illegal illicit liquor.

The Prime Minister advised the King not to be so severe with those people who merely had vats in their homes and were not actually distilling liquor but the king would not budge saying that even those having the tools of the trade deserved punishment.

One day,the king was driving his chariot along with his Prime Minister in the country when they saw a young man sitting under a tree.

“Have that man arrested…!” the Prime Minister told the King.

“What has he done…?” asked the king in puzzlement.

“That man is going to commit adultery…!” the Prime Minister proclaimed.

“How do you know…?” the king asked perplexed.

“He has the tools of adultery, just as those people have their vats…!”

The king broke out into a loud laugh and ordered that the people arrested for mere possession of vats be released immediately.



VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com


http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

Ancient Wit and Wisdom - A Teaching Story

PROHIBITION

A Teaching Story

By

VIKRAM KARVE



Here is a Ancient Wisdom Story titled “Prohibition”



Concerned at the increasing drunkenness and alcoholism in his kingdom, a famous king imposed strict prohibition on wine and liquor.

Earlier most people in that kingdom used to make their own liquor at home and had all the paraphernalia for distilling home-made liquor, and though they had stopped distilling liquor at home after prohibition was imposed, many such innocent people were arrested merely for possession of vats and distillery apparatus in their houses and they were punished severely in the same terms as those actually caught making illegal illicit liquor.

The Prime Minister advised the King not to be so severe with those people who merely had vats in their homes and were not actually distilling liquor but the king would not budge saying that even those having the tools of the trade deserved punishment.

One day,the king was driving his chariot along with his Prime Minister in the country when they saw a young man sitting under a tree.

“Have that man arrested…!” the Prime Minister told the King.

“What has he done…?” asked the king in puzzlement.

“That man is going to commit adultery…!” the Prime Minister proclaimed.

“How do you know…?” the king asked perplexed.

“He has the tools of adultery, just as those people have their vats…!”

The king broke out into a loud laugh and ordered that the people arrested for mere possession of vats be released immediately.



VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

THE NIGHT TRAIN AT DEOLI AND OTHER STORIES

THE NIGHT TRAIN AT DEOLI

My Favourite Short Story

By

VIKRAM KARVE


I love reading short stories. You can read a short story in one sitting and it immediately fills you with an exquisite sense of satisfaction.

I love writing short stories too, and I am sure you have read many of my short stories in my blog.

Dear Reader, let me tell you about my all time favourite short story – The Night Train at Deoli by Ruskin Bond.

The Night Train at Deoli is a beautiful story of unrequited love.

Each one of us has experienced this wonderfully painful emotion of unrequited love.

Dear Reader, I am sure you too have experienced the delightful heart-ache of longing, yearning – an alluring attraction for someone who is out of reach – a one way love – a love unreciprocated.

Well I am quite familiar with the delicate tenderness of unrequited love; in fact, my life story is a story of unrequited loves.

The Night Train at Deoli is narrated in first person by a college boy who travels by the night train from Delhi to Dehra Dun every year to spend his summer vacations at his grandmother’s place. On its journey up the hills of the terai, early in the morning, the train stops at Deoli, a lonely station in the wilderness... “Why it stopped at Deoli. I don’t know. Nothing ever happened. Nobody got off the train and nobody got in…and then the bell would sound, the guard would blow his whistle, and presently Deoli would be left behind and forgotten” – isn’t the description brilliant, so breathtaking in its simplicity.

On one such journey the boy sees a girl at Deoli, selling baskets, and is smitten by her… “I sat up awake for the rest of the journey. I could not rid my mind of the picture of the girl’s face and her dark, smouldering eyes”.

He looks out for her on his return journey and is thrilled when he sees her… “I felt an unexpected thrill when I saw her…I sprang off the foot-board and waved to her. When she saw me, she smiled. She was pleased that I remembered her. I was pleased that she remembered me. We were both pleased, and it was almost like a meeting of old friends”…superb writing, isn’t it…simply superb.

It is time for the train to leave, and for the lovers to part… “I felt the impulse to put her on the train there and then…I caught her hand and held it… ‘I have to go to Delhi,’ I said…she nodded, ‘I do not have to go anywhere.’…the guard blew his whistle…and how I hated the guard for doing that…”

Beautifully poignant, marvellously written, touches the very fragile chords of your heart, isn’t it?
I will not tell you the rest of this story, but I can assure you, that if you are a lover at heart, you will be touched with compassion for the protagonist and as the story elevates you to the romantic mood you will relate your very own tale of unrequited love.

Though The Night Train at Deoli is my all time favourite, I like many stories in this anthology, especially, The Woman on Platform 8, His Neighbour’s Wife and Death of a Familiar.

If you are a lover of the fiction short story I am sure you have this delightful book; if you don’t, do get a copy for your bookcase to delve into whenever you are in a blue mood nostalgically yearning for your unrequited love.


[The Night Train at Deoli and other Stories by Ruskin Bond – Book Review by Vikram Karve]

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

The Creative Engine - A Short Story

Please click the url link below and read "The Creative Engine - The Poet and His Muse" - a Short Fiction Story by me written on my Creative Writing Blog:


http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/12/the-poet-and-his-muse.htm

Regards
Vikram Karve