श्तृप्रेम

मला प्राणी आवडत असले तरी उंदीर हा माझा आवडता प्राणी नाही. किंबहुना मी प्राणी मित्र असले तरीही उंदरांची मला जरा भीतीच वाटते. अहो जरा म्हणजे घरी उंदीर मामा शिरले कि मी सोप्या वरून पाय खाली ठेवत नाही...माझा घरातली  त्यांची  vaccation होइस तोवर मीच आश्रीतासारखी राहते. रात्री एकवेळ चोराची किव्वा भूता खेताची वाटणार नाही इतकी भीती मला या बिन बुलाये मेहमानांची ची वाटते. एकदा लहानपणी  पायावरून उंदीर गेल्या पासून भयाचा रुपांतर भीतीत म्हणजेच फोबिया मध्ये झाले.

पण परवा मात्र मी माझ्या या शत्रूची चक्क चक्क मदत केली. अहो नुसत्या शत्रू ची नाही तर त्याचा आख्या कुटुंबाची मदत केली. नेहमी प्रमाणे सदाशिव पेठेत कामा करिता गेलेले असताना मला एका वाण्यचा दुकाना बाहेर एक वेगळाच खेळ दिसला. गळ्यात एक छोटीशी घंटा बांधलेले एक गोंडस काळे-पांढरे  मांजर इकडून तिकडून उड्या मारत खेळत होतं. त्याचा तो लहान मुलांसारखा निरागस खेळ पाहिला माझी पावलं जग्यचा जागी थांबली. मनात आले फोटो काढूयात म्हणून कॅमेरा बाहेर काढला पण फोटो घायचे धाडस झाले नाही. कारण मला गोंडस वाटणारे मांजर एका जुन्या उंदरांच्या  पिंजऱ्याशी खेळत होतं. पिंजर्यात ज्याला आपण मौस म्हणतो त्या जातीचे ६ छोटे छोटे उंदीर होते. मांजर सारख लांब जायचं मग पळत येऊन पिंजर्यावर झप्तयचं. सगळे उंदीर जीव मुठीत घेऊन एका कोपर्यात सरकून बसले होते. मांजर सारखं येऊन त्यांना नखं मारायचं. आता मला तो सारा खेळ गोड न वाटता भयाण वाटू लागला.

आपल्या मरणाला आपल्या इतक्या जवळ पाहून त्या येव्धुषा उंदरांना कसे वाटले असेल हे माझा मनात आले. शेवटी प्रत्येकाला आपला जीव प्रिया असतो मग तो छोटासा उंदीर असो किव्वा विचार करू शकणारा माणूस असो. आपण इतक्या वेळ त्या मांजराचा हा क्रूर खेळ एन्जोय करत होतो हि गोष्ट माझा मनाला टोचायला लागली. एक क्षणभर विचार करून मी त्या मांजराला तिकडून पळवून लावले. मला खूप वाटत होतं कि आपण त्या दुकानदाराला सांगूयात कि त्या उंदरांना कुठे तरी दूर सोडून द्या. त्या मांजराला ते खायला देऊ नका. पण मुळातच दुकानदाराला त्रासदायक आणि उपद्रव ठरलेल्या प्राण्यांची मदत त्याने केली असती का? मी काहीचः न बोलता तिथून काढता पाय घेतला.

जाताना एकदा परत वळून पाहिलं - खात्री केली कि मला गोंडस वाटणारा आणि उंदरांसाठी भक्षक ठरणारं मांजर परत तर आलं नाही न. मांजर कुठेच नवतं. पण ते परत येणार हे  नक्की होतं. उंदीर मात्र तसेच भेदरलेल्या अवस्थेत एका कोपर्यात बसून होते. त्याच रस्त्यावरून अर्ध्या तासाने परत जाताना मी पिंजर्या कडे पाहणे टाळले. कुठेतरी अपयाश्ची अणि गिल्ट ची  भावना होती आणि भीती हि. दुकानदाराने जर ते उंदीर स्वताहून मांजराला खायला दिले असतील तर.....मी माझा मार्ग पकडला.

माझा मनाच्या पिंजर्याच्या एका कोपर्यात मात्र कुठले तरी विचार दाटत होते.


After a lot of motivation  from Bongs -I have finally mustered  up the courage to write in Marathi - my mother tongue and this is my maiden attempt at it. I hope I will  do better with every new post. This one is dedicated to one of the best Marathi Bloggers Ever - Bongs! :-)

P.S. By the way it is also part of my "achievable" New Year Resolutions 2012 to pen my expressions in different languages.

Mystical Women!

Have you ever met complete strangers who you seem to have struck a chord with! Out of blue they have arrived in your life and added a certain amount of value to it! Well I am writing about three such women that have touched me in a way or two in minimal interactions.
Everyday, I walk towards my Bus-stop. On my way just opposite the Ganesha Temple sits an old lady. She is very clean and fair. She always dons a nine yard saree in gay colors which comes upto her knees. She seldom has a woolen Shawl draped around her. She has a design of green tattoos on her face. Her wrinkled face always greets me with a warm smile. Everyday she asks me the same question of what time is it. Occasionally adding a sentence or two about how pleasant the weather is or if I am running late and whether I will be able to catch my bus. I always have this underpinning feeling that she wants to talk much more but since I am in a hurry to rush for my work, I do not have time for her at all. On a couple of Sundays I have tried to locate her but have never found her sitting there. It’s strange how pleasant you feel when you look at her, she sits just opposite the temple soaking in the morning sun. She is exceptionally radiant and looks like a guardian angle to me.

Many times in a week I come across this another middle aged lady. She is very lean, wears a 5 yard saree and below it she wears sports shoes. She keeps on running from place to place. She always greets me with a hello and communicates with me. The other day she saw me gawking at her sports shoes and gave an unwarranted explanation, she told me that she works as a cook in several households and morning time is generally the time that she has to run from house to house and prefers wearing these shoes. She wears pastel colored flimsy chiffon sarees along with a floral purple scarf wrapped neatly around her head. She sports a dark line of kohl under her eyes and puts a thick layer of face powder on her wrinkled face. She always enquires about me, my health, where I live and what I do. She is very friendly and we end up chit-chatting about sweet nothings while we walk together to the Bus Stop. I know from her talks that she is a lonely woman who works very hard to make both the ends meet. I like her a lot because I respect the fact that she personifies a strong sense of individuality.

One Sunday morning while I was on my regular walks to Parvati, I decided to take a halt at the Smabhaji Udyan. I spent some 20 odd mins, sitting on a bench there just observing people. Soon every body made a big circle and started a laughing club. I had never seen one before and watching all of them( All between the age group of 10 – 80) dance, twirl, put their hands up in the air and laugh like no body watched had me in splits. An old lady who could barely walk was escorted towards the group, she inched towards them with the help of a walking stand. She stood there all the time and had a ball of her time. I really felt huge gratitude towards her. At her age and condition she was making most of her remaining life. I felt a dire need to walk up to her and strike a communication with her. So once her laughing club was over I purposely walked beside her and greeted her Good Morning! She kept looking back at me and in a mini-second reverted my greetings! I am sure she must have tried hard recollecting whether she knew me. I was just happy that I came to know someone who had such a huge appetite for life.

There are people around us who are special in their own way! Who can inspire us and bring some kind of joy to our life! All we got to do is just look around, find them and learn from them!