By Manuwant Choudhary Driving around Patna suddenly I notice the city looking brighter and more beautiful and its then I see why - young artists paint the sarkari walls with their fine Mithila art. Some 200 artists, including women artists from Madhubani villages, are busy eight hours a day to paint the entire city walls and they are each paid just Rs.1000 per day, something a painter would get, not an artist.
Anisha Angad has just finished her course and has applied to Shantiniketan for further studies but until then she is enjoying this art experience, although she is a scultor by training. "It hurts us when we see people spitting. We hope and pray that through our hard work we can help change peoples mindset on hygiene and keeping the city clean." Art would be the last thing on the minds of youth in Bihar for whom a paying job matters most so I was surprised how so many youth are taking to art. Said Anisha, "My mother is an artist. She now lives in Lakhisarai but she is originally from Jamshedpur so I was inspired by her. Of course job prospects are negligible." Whats most amazing is that the artists enjoy doing this - with earplugs for some music. What fun !
By Manuwant Choudhary (Photos Courtesy Midday) Just last week in Bombay I walked up to Nana Chudasama's office on Marine Drive and asked a guard about his health. The guard replied, "Saheb wheelchair pe aa gaye the tab bhee office aate the...lekin ab nahin aa sakte.." (Even on a wheelchair Saheb would come to office but now he can't make it...)" Nana's daughter Shaina N C is the BJP spokesperson but the guard informed she only comes sometimes.."Zyada to wo yoga kartee hain..." (She mostly does yoga !) I posted his last banner on facebook on Modi's assault on the Reserve Bank of India - he was the predecessor to twitter, his witty one-liners would make it to the front pages of newspapers.
I thought of him so spoke to a friend that I would like to visit Nana the next time I am in Bombay, but that was not be as people driving on Marine Drive saw this banner.
Narendra Sinhji Mansinhji Chudasama was the son of Bombay's second police commissioner. He was from Rajkot in Gujarat. After graduation he joined an American oil company but later as a public man he was the Sheriff of Bombay. His well known organisations included I Love Mumbai, his anti-spitting campaigns in the city he loved won him the hearts of millions.
But few would remember that his leadership potential was first recognised by Swatantra Party and they even gave him a ticket. He lost the elections but he became extremely popular with the people of Bombay and remained in public life long after the party ceased to exist. In fact his banners reflect his liberal spirit and that of the original party he joined - Swatantra. As a student in Bombay after graduation I was in need of a place to stay...the only one available was a Patel hostel but I was not a Patel so obviously I could not get in. A friend suggested I meet Nana, he was a trustee. I wasn't sure but gathered some wit to approach him in his office. I introduced myself and that I was from Bihar and I needed a hostel. Without a word he pulled out his letter head and in a neat handwriting gave me a recommendation. Although I never stayed at the Patel Hostel but I still value his act of kindness - he was a Bombay man till the end. Also as a member of the Association of Youth for a Better India (AYBI) all our weekly meetings were held at Giants International...so my training as a liberal activist would be incomplete without him. As a member of Lions and Rotary Clubs he realised even an Indian Club could become International and do valuable work. So he founded Giants International which now has 500 Clubs in India and abroad. A journalist colleague asked me what Nana would have thought of his daughter joining the BJP. Of course, I cannot answer that...but to me he would be happy that at least she is in public life, although she looks quite uncomfortable answering for the sins of her party.
Nana married a Bohra Muslim Munira in 1969 - secretly. A prayer meeting for Padma Shri Nana Chudasama will be held at the Nehru Centre Auditorium, Worli, on Wednesday December 26, 2018, from 5 pm to 7 pm. He was cremated at Banganga yesterday.
Nana is survived by his wife Munira Chudasama, Daughter: Brinda/Alfaz Miller. Son Akshay Cudasama. Daughter-in-law Aparna Chudasama. Daughter Shaina NC/Manish Munot. Grandchildren: Aahana, Aashti, Wyoma, Shananya, Ayaan,
By Manuwant Choudhary Game Over !!! Abhay Singh remembers these words sharply when the Taliban in all their black turbans and klashnikovs raided their cricket field in Kabul. The Afghan security surrounded the television crew and when Abhay said he had work to do, he was told curtly, "You can work only if you live. Game Over !" Abhay from Bihar works for a television agency that fixes the giant TV screens for sports channels. His few days in Kabul were not his best as his uncle had passed away in his village but his agency did not give him any leave. So instead he asked his wife in Delhi to attend to the family grief. In Kabul TV crews are told to always carry their passports on their body, a small laptop bag for a few clothes to change into and absolute essentials like medicines etc. The cricket match was going fine...the stadium was packed when the Taliban entered. The entire crew were whisked away through kabul alleys not to their hotels but to the airport. When Abhay asked them what would happen to their luggage, he was told it would be sent after things settle down ! On his return to Delhi when he arrived home he found the door to his apartment slightly ajar...so he thought his wife had not left for the village...when he called his wife she said she was in the village. He enters the apartment and finds it completely empty, no cupboards or sofas...even the dining table. "I thought I entered a wrong apartment. So I went out to check the number on the door...but it was mine..." I enquired from neighbours and he was told they thought he had been transferred. "The other night movers and packers came to the building with a truck and the men carried away the stuff...There was even a manager giving orders..." "When the truck was loaded the neighbours were told "Ek trip aur karenge." But the truck did not return. Abhay filed a police complaint but the IO said, "Kahani mein kuch twist hai..Patee bhee gayab aur patnee bhee..!" Abhay told the officer, "Sir, pehle dacoit ko to pakariye...twist kya hai wo bhee dekhiye.." The police did nothing...After Abhay contacted his uncle who works for the Intelligence Bureau the police began investigations. The last he knows about the case is when the police informed him, "We have identified a truck with and RJ number (Rajasthan) which could be involved..." On a positive note, "Abhay did get his suitcase from Kabul".
By Manuwant Choudhary For local errands I prefer taking the rickshaw..especially the battery-operated Hawa Garee...the ride is smooth and it makes no noise..even the autowallah appears calm...with four passengers full..he does not have to stretch his neck into alleys or shout. As I climbed into one I notice I had three other co-passengers - all girls. They were all well-dressed in jeans and shirts, handbags....but seemed unsure about their shopping. Two of them sat right across me and seemed quiet mostly. They spoke only when they were asked something by the third girl who sat beside me. All three were pretty but the third the prettiest..and she had a way with words. She asked the first girl if she would like to shop at a store nearby or go to Pantaloons as well. The first girl, shy, would reply in mono-syllables. The second girl wanted to buy a pair of sandals. "Is this for pujas?" The third girl asked. "I will take you to this shop I know tomorrow." The third girl looked affluent...she had a nice cellphone...and as the breeeze got into her hair...she would straighten it.... And then she took some 5 selfies !
Just then the red light ! And we could all hear a girl and boy arguing on a rickshaw alongside..The girl tells her boyfriend..."If you don't let me study then my mummy will not allow me to stay here beyond first year !" The third girl beside me was all ears and then she blurts..."Agar padhai nahin kee to meree mummy bhee humein bas first year hee hone dengeen." We all laughed. The guilt showed and she adds, "Abhee to raat bakee hai,,padh lengen.." Then they spoke about some technical stuff even I could not follow....they said, "Bahut tough tai...samajh mein nahin aatee hai.." Out of nowhere the third girl remembered something..."On Tuesday I have to go to the temple. Will you come?" The other two girls said no as they had classes. The third girl wanted the other two to talk more but when they didn't she broke off into a song or poem..something like..."Please don't mind me because I want you to talk.." Just then a car passed us by... The third girl went.."Oh wow...whats that car..the black one..its so beautiful...." The other girls asked her.."Batao naam uska.." All the third girl would say..."I don't know...I just liked it...the black colour..." The other two knew..."Its a Jaguar !"
By Manuwant Choudhary This Sunday evening I watched Nandita Das's film Manto. I had been looking forward to the film ever since the trailers were out. Because Sadat Hassan Manto's short story Toba Tek Singh featured in our ICSE school text book and it left its mark. The mad sardarji who kept uttering gibberish ..oh pad dee gir gir dee...moong did daal deee..but one thing he was clear on was he came from a village called Toba Tek Singh, except he did not know where it was - in India or Pakistan ! I grew up wondering who the writer was? To be frank I do not know Nandita Das except having met her once at a wedding in Bombay. But I could relate to her Manto completely. Especially the Manto in Bombay - a city that asks no questions, as he put it. Manto loved Bombay and his own life as a writer in a city where he could write freely and get paid for what was his...and drink... The film is a bit slow but life in those days must have been just that way - a walk on the beach was all that mattered and an evening party with the top film stars. I had grown up wondering how and why a writer like Manto would choose to leave Bombay and India for Pakistan. Nandita Das's film explores just that and very sensitively. Its painful seeing Manto leave Bombay. You must watch the film. Unfortunately, the hall was mostly empty, a few rows were booked thats all. It seems our audiences have somehow become identical to the Muslims who wanted Pakistan. So in the film when two Muslims in Lahore announce the killing of Gandhiji with a glee, an old man scolds them, but I found two men sitting beside me laugh. 70 years later we have become them. Manto was lonely in Pakistan, and a wreck. He had no freedom to write what he wanted...the remunerations were even lower...and then a jail term...for his short story 'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat) The last scene is from the story Toba Tek Singh. Two months after the partition...both the Indian and Pakistani governments realise they are yet to divide the mental ayslums - Hindus and Sikhs to be sent to India and Muslims to Pakistan. I thought the mad house was exactly how I visualised it as a child reading that story...even the characters - the sardarji - just amazing. If he was alive today, I wonder what Sadaat Hassan Manto would have written on the lynchings in Modi's India ?
By Manuwant Choudhary I personally do not think we need a Bharat Bandh...ever since Modi became Prime Minister the markets are barely working...in fact the only person who works in India is just Prime Minister Modi. With petrol at Rs.86.76 and Diesel at 78.30 and the rupee at Rs.72 per dollar...Ive sent my car to the garage. And I don't want it repaired anytime soon. Instead I walk around mostly. But with the restaurants going to be shut I decided to buy my eateries for the day. So I picked up a can of baked beans and an MTR Dal Makhani which one can microwave, to take care of my day. But to find a tin opener I had to walk some 10 kms...and I finally found one ...Made in China... They don't make them in India. So I wonder what is Modi's Make In India? Everytime Modi publishes a growth rate..his billionaire friends become multi-billionaires. And yes apart from billionaires we make space shuttles like Chandrayan and what do you call Mars in Hindi...Mangalayan... But this morning I overslept for sure...it was silent outside...the bhajiwalas, paperwallahs, batterywallahs, chaadar wallahs, raddi wallahs were all missing. The pheriwalla have always been a part of the Indian landscape but what has changed now is that earlier there were single or double storey houses, now you have multi-storey apartments, I've noticed how they stretch their vocal chords so they can be heard even on the 6th floor ! But the loudest of them is Mann Ki Baat on All India Radio, replayed on all private radio stations and TV channels. I am not sure how Modi can help India's economy...but I just love his confidence. New India by 2022...we will win 2019....we will win for next 50 years !! As for Pakistan, to save the economy Imran Khan wants to ban import of cheese, But I love phoren cheese !
While the walls have been covered by culture and religious art, passersby often spit on the walls even while the artists are at work.
