Paul Newman and Rain drops keep falling on my head ....

I had a friend called Siddhartha Sharma in MHOW. We both loved English oldies. One day on an old gramophone we heard Englebert Humperdinck sing "Raindrops keep fallin' on my head". In later years I found out that there is a B. J. Thomas version of it in the "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".

This song was written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the movie and won the Oscar for the best original score. It's a wonderful uplifting song. It was even in the soundtrack of Forrest Gump and Spiderman II.

'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' was a wonderful wonderful movie and here is ....

my tribute to the Gentleman of Hollywood, Paul Newman, who passed away a few days ago. Since the day I first saw this movie and I heard this song I have been a big fan of his work. The song's success should also be given to Newman and Katharine Ross. Who made it adorable with their innocence and charm.

October 2nd

Man, at his highest potentiality, is realised and fullfilled within each creator himself..... Whether the creator is alone or finds only a handful of others like him, or is among the majority of mankind, is of no importance or consequence whatever; numbers have nothing to do with it. He alone or he and few others like him are mankind, in the proper sense of being the proof of what Man actually is, Man at his best, the essential Man, Man at his highest possibility. The rational being, who acts according to his nature.

It should not matter to a creator whether anyone or a million or all men around him fall short of ideal of Man; let him live up to ideal himself; this is all 'optimism' about Man that he needs. But it is hard and subtle thing to realize - and it would be natural to Dagny always to make the mistake of believing that others are better than they really are (or will become better, or they will teach them to become better or, actually, they so desperately want them to be better) - and to be tied to the world by that hope.

This is from Ayn Rand's notes about a character in 'Atlas Shrugged', but when I had read it I never thought from Mahatma Gandhi's point of view. He was that Creator, Creator who stood alone on his path when no one was around him. It didn't matter to him when all the people around him had a different take on India's struggle for freedom. (As it had happened after 'Chauri Chaura' when Nehru, Patel and Jinnah (people as intelligent and smart as them) had all thought that they should let the struggle go on, however, Gandhi ji had a different view. )

(On February 4, 1922, around 2,000 protesters gathered for picketing of the liquor shop at the local market in Chauri Chaura. Sensing the trouble, armed policemen were sent to the city police station to control the situation. The crowd marched towards the market and started shouting anti-government slogans. The policemen fired into the air as a warning signal. However, it had the reverse effect on the crowd who were in no mood to retreat and started pelting stones at the armed policemen. Seeing the situation was getting out of control, the sub inspector ordered the policemen to commence firing on the advancing crowd. Three protesters were killed on the spot, ( 2 Hindu and one Muslim) and several others were injured. Seeing this, the crowd became violent and attacked the police from all the sides. The armed policemen lost their courage to fire, seeing thousands of protesters marching towards them. They retreated to the shelter of the police station. The crowd decided to take revenge for their dead comrades and set fire to the building from all the sides. Twenty-three policemen were burnt alive, including the station sub inspector.

Mahatma Gandhi asked all Indians to end the Non-cooperation movement, and went on a five-day fast to absolve himself of what he perceived as his role in inciting the attacks. Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging a revolt against the British Raj, while not emphasizing the importance of ahimsa (non-violence) and not training the resisters enough. Due to his fast and the exhortation of Congress leaders, Indians gave up civil resistance in 1922.)

Nevertheless, unlike Ayn Rand's character, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was able to change men around him. He put most people through his tough standards of the 'Man'. Some went out crying however most become his ardent followers.

We need him and his ideals in the world more than ever.

October 2nd, is Gandhi jayanti (Mahatma Gandhi's birthday) in India and World Peace Day. A few years ago the UN had agreed to follow on Gandhi ji footstep of peace and termed his birthday as World Peace Day. He still motivates people all around the globe, even Barrack Obama quoted him on 2nd October and wanted world to follow on his footstep. Supposedly he has Gandhi Ji's photograph in his office and questions his every action against Gandhi's philosophy.

Selfishness

On 30th September I was at the Changi Airport, Singapore to drop Tewari Sir. We had some time to kill before Tewari Sir left so we all decide to have a cup of coffee. First, I was the designated seat grabber while Farida and Tewari sir ordered coffee. When the order arrived we found that they hadn't given Tewari sir his coffee. So I stood up and ordered a new one for him.

As I was at the bar waiting for it when the girl who was preparing the coffee started chatting. She asked me, if I was in Singapore because of F-1. I replied that it was a combination of F-1 and business. She looked at me and smiled and said ..........

Deju Vu: An impression of having seen or experienced something before.

A few year ago I was at the JFK airport in New York. It was October too and I was there to meet my then girlfriend's parents. When I left Delhi to meet them by British Airways I was upgraded to Business class, hence at JFK when I checked in the lady at the counter looked at me a few times. She then called some one up and after a few negotiations told me that I have been upgraded on my flight back too.

She looked at me with a very generous smile and said " Sir, you are a very lucky man."

Without even giving a thought I immidiatly said " May this luck pass on to you from me." This was an instant reaction and that was the first thing that came to my mind.

She looked at me with amazement and said " Oooooohhhhh, that is so sweet, that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She then gave me a lot of BA goodies. When she saw me at the boarding gate she took my bag and carried it in the aircraft. She insisted doing that and was very kind to me.

I never thought of this instance for a long time but it was almost as if I had given my luck away to her. Of course, I have never been upgraded after that, (which was an usual affair for me), I lost my business after having a tiff with my partners. I dried out my savings over a few months in trying to establish myself again. Then, even after looking very hard at a project I lost a lot of money in it where the mediators took me for a ride and never returned my money. Sadly a lot of this money was in the form of loan and I am still in the process of repaying them one by one. And, as luck (or un-luck) would have it the girl whom I trusted most to stand by me, Left too.

However, life moves on and we all make a new beginning. I changed my style a bit and things have started to look good now. I have always believed that hard work and patience never fails.

She asked me if I was in Singapore because of F-1. I replied that it was a combination of F-1 and business. She looked at me and smiled and said " Sir, you are a very lucky man."

For few seconds I kept looking at her but unlike last instance this had happened to me, this time around, I thought for almost 10 sec before saying " Thank you very much." I smiled back at her. She served me coffee and I returned to my table.

For last few days I have thought a lot about this and have contemplated on my own behaviour. Have I become more selfish and greedy?

I told Tewari Sir this a couple of days ago when I met him with Sandeep Bhatnagar. He was unimpressed and said " That was a very sweeping statement you had made." Then after thinking a bit he said "Babu, you should say this to only your children."

We discussed life and it's ironies. Like always he in his own unique style added "Aisa socho shayad yeh koi purana karz tha jo tumne chuka diya aur achcha hua ki yeh tab hua jab tumhare pass zyada nahin tha aur isse tum phir bana sakoge". (Think like this, this might have been be a debt from last life and you paid it now, what if this would have happened when you had a lot of money. At least you can easily make it back again.)

I smiled and agreed.

Now, all I want to know is that if that girl in New York actually benefited from my generosity of giving my luck away.

If she did, it was worth the troubles of last few years for me.