Boris Becker

It was a game of tennis like nobody had seen before. The flamboyant German teenager was dominating the play like no one else before him. His opponent was an American, whose countrymen had dominated the Championship for many years in the past. After all, the American had defeated two other American Champions, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, to reach the finals. The teenager’s serves boomed across the stadium, such was the strength he exhibited. Soon he had ran away with the first set, winning it comfortably, 6 games to three. But then the American showed just why his countrymen had dominated the sport for so long as he came back strongly in the second set, winning it, 7 games to 6. But still, the teenager had run him close. The teenager was young but he played mental games with his opponent, as he sent hostile stares to him, before and after points. And the moment arrived, which changed the entire tenor of the match. The American was leading 3-2, when he sent down an unplayable cross court drop shot, which seemed beyond the reach of his opponent, when out of nowhere, the German produced a spectacular dive, to reach the ball, and caught the American off balance. The German won the point, but more importantly, he broke the resistance of the American to win his maiden Wimbledon handsomely. That day, a Star was born. A Mega Star named Boris “Boom Boom” Becker.

The year 1985. The same year when India won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia and Ravi Shastri became the Champion of Champions. Those were the days when you had ample time to see the Wimbledon championship from start to finish. Thus, there I was, watching the Wimbledon finals. This year, the finals was between a veteran player, an American, Kevin Curren, and a flamboyant German boy, Boris Becker. By the time the Championship was over, everyone across the tennis watching world had only one name on their lips, Boris Becker! He had become the youngest Winner, at 17 years and 7 months. His overtly aggressive style of play was loved by one and all. And his crinkly eyes, muscular but athletic build and blond hair, charmed the girls to ecstasy. What endeared him to them was the power of his booming serve, his menacing stares to his opponents and his never say die attitude, displayed through his diving across the tennis court, to reach and come out with winners, in near impossible situations. And he reinforced his reputation the next year, when he defended his title by defeating the ultra cool Ivan Lendl. And the next few years he was always among the top seeded players, who entertained the tennis watching aficionados, with their great rivalries on court. I for one, never watched a full tennis match, after the retirement of Becker, even though there were great champions like Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, later too.

Yatindra Tawde

The Mind Readers

Research says “Women are very good at mind reading”. I am surprised this required research at all. After all, it is such a common occurrence, why waste money on research. Any husband will tell you how his wife reads his mind perfectly.
But why should I write about other people. I will share my own experiences.
Starting with an innocuous but regular occurrence, whenever I take up some extra domestic work, that too on a weekend, my wife reads my mind with mind boggling accuracy, “Which cricket/football match on TV today?”. I used to be surprised in the beginning, but now I am used to it.
Returning home with my wife, the slightest of slowing down of the car, is detected on the radar of my wife's brain. “You should not buy beer today, today is so and so festival”. Wow! How does she do it. In the time spent together so far, I have now come to know of the unknown festivals of India, which she uses to deny me my single can of beer. I may be having it only once in two-three weeks but for her I am a drunkard, who has to be weaned away by all possible means. But what is stunning is, the reading of mind, due to slightest of reduction in car speed.
On weekends, as soon as I start making myself slightly more comfortable, she senses that I am preparing to doze off. That's called sixth sense. Suddenly she remembers to buy those household things which won't make a difference, if not bought. There is no emergency but then it prevents a husband from enjoying his two winks.
But reading of my mind attains it's highest levels of accuracy when I am channel surfing. Any beautiful moment on TV, like for example Baywatch and the like, and the antennae are extra sensitive. Same is the case when we are in Goa, and I am admiring the foaming sea. But I not at a fault if some other type of natural beauty are in the foreground. However, the thoughts are sensed and all efforts are made by the wife, to distract me from such diversions.
So Scientists should not waste the public money on such common sense topics like mind reading abilities of women and they should concentrate on finding ways to block such capabilities.
Yatindra Tawde

The Extortionist

Sam runs a big ticket extortion racket along with his other clan members. And the victims are usually tourists. Tourists who like to move around with all their valuables and useful things everywhere. In this SouthEast Asian country, Sam is king. The country has a lot of tourism attractions to attract tourists to explore the natural beauty as well as great ancient heritage places. No wonder the tourists flock to its shores.
But in the good old times, it was never like this. The tourists came then too, enjoyed their stay to the fullest, visiting the verdant sunny beaches, the beautiful eye catching temples and experiencing the rich culture of the island nation. And these tourists enjoyed feeding their simian cousins as an added attraction. For many years, it was a routine during the peak holiday season, year after year. Then things started changing.
The change of the millennium brought about many changes for the human species. Their lives became faster, their machines became smarter and they started hoarding all the planet resources for themselves. It became more and more apparent that, going by the pace at which humans were going, if the other species had to survive, they had to evolve much faster. And some of them did. You only have to look at the millions of cat videos on the net to realise that. When you watch them you get the feeling that they are the ones who have their hoomans at their beck and call, to feed them, to cuddle them, to make their beds, so on and so forth.
Sam and his clan have the extortion racket running successfully for a few years now. It all started when a teenage Sam picked up a bag and scooted off but not very far away. The woman, whose bag it was, realised what had happened and screamed loudly and cried out, “My bag, that scoundrel has run off with my bag.” Suddenly her son comes from nowhere, eating an ice cream. Being smart, he offers his ice cream to Sam, who is sitting at a distance. The ice cream is a big turn-on for Sam and he abandons the bag, which is quickly picked up from the surrounding crowd and given back to the woman. The woman has got back her bag and she is so happy. Sam has got his ice cream and he is very happy. But more than happy, his extra active young mind is working overtime. He has seen a tourist give him the most cherished goodies in exchange for a bag and that sets him thinking. He makes it a habit, in fact it becomes his addiction. Almost every day he picks on some vulnerable tourist, who is careless with his possessions, and pinches them from the tourists. Then he waits in anticipation for the next set of tasty goodies offered to him, which invariably are. He then goes on to train his clan members to help him in his daily shenanigans and before long he has set up a profitable venture.
Yes, the monkey groups in the state of Java, in Indonesia have become a handful for the many tourists flocking to that place. They extort food by taking possession of the tourists bags, cameras, mobiles, etc. , handing them back only after they have been offered the best food that the tourists can manage. And the racket has gained such gigantic proportions that they are now making news across the world. Like the humans developed agriculture across various parts of the world in the ancient past, Inspite of being separated by huge distances, the evolution of the world wide simians to pick up this pioneering trait of the Indonesian monkeys, is a big possibility.
Beware tourists!
Yatindra Tawde

Brush strokes of God

Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking!! A dreaded word indeed. A prominent Indian Star says he would like to learn how to multi-task from his steady girlfriend of many years, and one of the top stars today. But alas! He doesn't know that he is not wired for it. And no other male of the same species is. After all there is some chemical ‘locha’ which was programmed by the ‘Vidhata’, when the male was created. After all, the male was an experiment of the Lord which was then improved upon drastically, when he created a female. And then there were millions of years of evolution, during which time the chores taken up by the male and female of the human species, reinforced and reiterated, what characteristics are being shown by them now.
From times pre-historic, the man took up the role of a provider. For this role, he had to go into deep jungle, with the weapons he developed, to hunt and kill animals for his and his family’s daily food. Since the animals were more better endowed in terms of strength, speed and agility, the human male soon realised that he cannot overcome such animals alone, he had to act in a group. For this he had to develop good working relationships with others. Thus his instincts of a provider and camaraderie with fellow males increased, and became second nature.
However once he came back to the community, since a lot of energy had been used up in hunting activities, he just wanted to rest and recuperate for the next day, so that the energies are stored for the next day, which was bound to bring its own challenges. Doing this over and over across innumerable generations, hard wired only one instinct of the male, and that was to be a provider and his other abilities did not develop to that extent.
And what was the female doing all this while? What was she not doing…first and foremost, she had been given the most difficult task by the Lord, i.e. to give birth to the next generation. So right from giving birth to looking after the children, but at the same time, maintaining cleanliness at the abode, washing clothes, ensuring that everyone has something to eat, so preparing meals, beautifying the abode, et al. And neither food nor water was always abundantly available, hence she had to make use of the same, most frugally. In pre-historic times, there was no money to buy any requirements, hence only alternative was bartering, in which goods are exchanged. Hence she developed negotiating and selling skills. For this she needed street smartness and convincing speech, which got developed to their highest peak performance. And doing all these activities together, day in and day out, is the same thing, which we refer to as, multi-tasking.
So friends, multi-tasking is something, which the female species has got a big lead in terms of generational evolution and when a male feels that he will learn it, just by observation and repetition, is living in a fools paradise. At best, the male can start attempting it now, and over the next million generations, we can be able to reach the same space, where the female is today.
Yatindra Tawde

The dabaang girls

The dabaang girls


The neighbourhood toughie is known as a Bhai in Bharat. I don't know why or how this nomenclature came about. After all, why should a bad boy be addressed by terms of endearment. To put it simply, ‘bhai’ means brother. But here is my theory. When the neighbourhood people were disturbed by the antics of the toughie, and desired to be left alone, they started addressing him as a bhai, just to get into his good books, that is, if he had any. They hoped that by calling him a ‘bhai’, his filial feelings were woken up, and directed towards them. It also was an attempt to massage the ego of the tough one.
Nowadays, the neighbourhood girls are giving the neighbourhood bhai’s a run for their money. Or so it seems, going by three small news articles in the corner of the inner pages of this week’s newspapers. One was in Kanpur and the other one, in Pune and the last one, in Kerala.
The city of Kanpur. The Khamaria household is happy and celebrating the long drawn out marriage ceremony of the second son, Atul Singh. Usually in an Indian marriage, the groom goes in a procession to the bride’s residence. But here, the groom and his family, is in for a surprise. Suddenly a girl arrives, with the usual band-baaja-baarat, and many men in her procession, dancing away with gay abandon. Suddenly the girl whips out a revolver and fires a few rounds into the air. Thinking that the girl is a little extra extravagant, the grooms family plays along, but not for long. For the girl aims the revolver at the groom, while at the same time, revealing her face by lifting her pallu. The groom is shocked to say the least. For, the girl wielding the revolver is non other than his ex-girlfriend, Akanksha. Akanksha then goes on to abduct the groom, with the help of her associates, directly from the wedding mandap. The grooms family is still in denial, with this sudden development. And the city of Kanpur is in awe of the dabang mahila.
It's Pune. The laid back city, known long back as a retirees heaven, but today taken over by a cosmopolitan culture due to the fast development of the IT industry. A wedding in the Kulkarni family, the groom, boisterously enjoying his last night as a bachelor with his friends. His wedding mandap constructed outside his house, whitewashed just the night before, by the wedding contractor, stands ready for the next day celebrations. As the night enters the early morning hours, the noise levels go down and the groom and his friends, retire for the night. A few shadowy figures, with shawls covering their faces, make their way to the mandap, with bottles in hand. The contents of the bottles are emptied on the mandap cloth and then with a flick of a matchstick, the entire mandap is up in flames and reduced to ashes in a few minutes. The heat and roaring fire wakes up the groom and his family, and he sees his ex-girlfriend, escaping into the shadows.
The incident from Kerala is the most mind numbing. It shows the world of counterfeit godmen who think nothing of stealing from men or raping women, all in the garb of religion. It is the story of a girl, abused and molested by one such character, who had to bear the humiliation and torture from last many years. One day she decided, enough was enough. So the next time he came on visit to her house for some ceremonies, she  feigned sleep, with a newly sharpened knife below her pillows. As expected, he came near her in the still of the night, and in a few minutes, he barged out of the room, howling aloud in severe pain, holding onto his loins. Bobbitised!
These incidents show that at least a few girls in the country, will now stand up for their honour and their rights and not be cowed down by society. More power to them.
Yatindra Tawde

Dapoli

Dapoli
My first visit to Dapoli was about 6 years after my marriage. It so happens that my wife’s native place is near Dapoli, due to which our visits started.  Dapoli is in Ratnagiri district which lies in Kokan area of Maharashtra. As most of you are aware, the Kokan is one of the most picturesque places in Maharashtra, blessed as it is, with miles of  beaches, greenery of the top order, and an undulating landscape. Dapoli is known as the Mahabaleshwar of the Kokan, since it is blessed with a mild climate and situated at a height. It was very popular with the British, who had their army camp here. Let's go on a tour of Dapoli and the surrounding towns and places of interest. Join me!

Let's go in the same order as I visited them. The first town is the beach facing, Murud. Please note that this Murud is different from Murud-Janjira. We had stayed in one of the beach facing resorts where the waves almost lap at your legs. If you want to spend your holidays lazing at the beach, hanging on a hammock tied between two coconut trees, this is the place you want to be in. If this is not heaven, I don't know what is. For the adventurous, the nearby beach of Karde village is the answer. There is a huge choice of the best water sports ranging from the common, speed boat pulled parachutes (parasailing), where you will be flying and feeling the sea wind against your face, to the sea-sofa. This is an unique experience, where, literally a air-filled sofa is attached to a speedboat, and you are supposed to catch hold of a few straps attached to the sofa and hold on, as the speedboat drags the sofa, with you hanging on for dear life. Believe me, it's a thrilling and adrenaline pumping experience. And safe too, since you don't enter the sea waters without a life jacket. And all the other water sports are available too. For those, not inclined to enter the water themselves, but would rather enjoy other species doing it, you can always go dolphin watching, early in the morning. This will certainly act as great stress buster. For the foodie minded, are sure to enjoy the wide variety of fish platters on offer. And these fish dishes can be had, fried or with curry, sitting on the beach, enjoying the hot afternoon sun. For those with devotional mindset, Murud has a beautiful medieval temple dedicated to Durga Devi. Nearby, is a memorial to the great social reformer, Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve.

Murud is also known as Murud-Harnai. Harnai, a neighbouring village known for the fish auction taking place at Harnai bunder and also for the sea fort, Suvarnadurg, situated a mile away from the mainland. Nearby, is the village of Anjarle and the Anjarle beach. But Anjarle is more famous for the Ganpati mandir, situated on a hilltop overlooking the beach, hence also known as ‘kadyavarcha Ganpati’. The Mandir is, of course beautiful and peaceful, and when you drive from Dapoli to the Mandir, you pass through winding roads, and climb small hills overlooking magnificent vistas of the Arabian Sea. The panoramic view of the beaches and sea, seen from the vantage point of the hill, will stay with you forever.
Asud is one village, which should not be missed, when you are anywhere near Dapoli, and with good reason too. Situated at a distance of just 8 km. from Dapoli, on the road to Murud, it is famous for the ancient temples of Keshavraj and Shree Vyagreshwar. Once you park your car on the road side, and enter the village, you are transported to a different world, where work related or  any other stress, just evaporates, as you start walking down the hill, on a winding path, covered by a canopy of coconut, betel and jackfruit trees, planted so densely together, that the rays of the Sun, cannot penetrate, even during the main summer months. The coolness of the place is enhanced by softly running streams of water, which have been channeled through rocks, an ingenious piece of aquatic engineering. Once you reach the bottom of the hill, you cross the main stream and then again start climbing the ancient steps, ushering you to the temple built on top of another hill. Once you reach the top, the ancient temple embraces you into its structure and provides you with cool water trickling down the Gomukh, for your parched throat. The silence of the serene surroundings is broken only by the chirping of the birds. Shree Vyaghreshwar mandir is situated on the riverbank and houses the Swayambhu Shivling. Asud village is certainly a must-visit.

Jump on a vehicle on the way to Dabhol, and reach the Chandikadevi Mandir, just before you enter the town of Dabhol. This temple, dedicated to goddess Chandika, is underground inside a natural cave. You are not supposed to carry any light inside, and the only an oil lamp allows you to take darshan. It's a real experience when you enter the temple for the very first time. Once you enter, the darkness envelopes you, as you feel your way inside. You proceed like this for sometime , and then the dim oil lamp near the main idol guides you, suddenly you are in her presence. This temple is known to be very ancient.
Finally Dapoli! Dapoli has one of the biggest Krishi Vidyapeeth or Agricultural University in India. There are many nurseries too, Amrute Nursery and Koparkar nursery, to name a few. Blessed with a good climate and fertile land, the nurseries of Dapoli offer a wide variety of flowering and decorative plants. The Amrute nursery also has staying arrangements, though not on a large scale. Don't miss having lunch or dinner at Amrute nursery, whether veg or non-veg. I had the tastiest foods here and you should too, though advance intimation needs to be given.

The ST stand is just on the exit road going out of Dapoli and is flanked by a huge ground. The roads are tree lined and offer shaded roads. There is a lots on offer in Dapoli and the surrounding villages. So friends, Chalo Dapoli!
Yatindra Tawde