Sunday 29 July 2018

From #Mokhada to #Ekjute at Prithvi...... every commitment matters!!




















From #Mokhada to #Ekjute at Prithvi...... every commitment matters!!

It was one of those days when you have two commitments that you just want to keep both but don't know how. Not easy but I did it. One being the trip to Mokhada to distribute note books that I too had donated towards in a small way. The other to watch Juuhi Babbar Sonii and my Ekjute family perform at Prithvi.  A big dilemma - but then they say when you want something real bad, things begin to work for you. It did and how !! because I managed not only to travel four hours back and forth to Mokhada and a touch-and-go to Prithvi dishevelled and tired but happily refreshed to watch "Salaam 50s ke Naam".

Note books donations, such an easy way to say you care. It has given me a joy and an opportunity to contribute in a small way to a social cause - education. So every year when my friend, Dipesh Tank, founder, Youth for People, a Malad-based NGO joined hands with Diganta Swaraj Foundation and reached out to seeking support for note book donations, I am happy to participate as always. The icing on the cake is travelling to Mokhada and Jawahar, which is a rural area which lies in the outskirts of Nashik to personally distribute note books to students belonging to the scheduled tribes of that region. There I was again this year waiting to board the bus. One normally won't thank a pain one has, but this year I can happily say that thanks to a knee pain, Dipesh, Poonam and Narayan offered to send us in one of the cars which worked to my advantage to keep my second commitment. So there we were, three friends, Sailesh Mishra, Surjit Kaur and Me along with Agilan Ramaswamy (Narayan's friend) who had no idea what was going to hit him speeding off to Mokhada.  Four hours on the road flanked by beautiful scenery and a continuous banter, Agilan not only survived but had fun too and I made another friend for life. It was not long before we happily bonded at the crossroad of Mokhada over tea, waiting for the bus to arrive. As always, everyone was teamed up and given notebooks to distribute. The four of us were sent off to a school in Chikenpada and Chas Village, a small little school amidst lush green with a rocky path leading downwards to a village just past it. Done with distributing books there to the happy children, as we motored down the hills flanked by green trees and scenery to die for towards the main Ashram School, Surjit spotted a small bridge over a river.  A detour to that spot.... and now all I can say is that, I am glad we did stop, thanks to Surjit,  because it was worth it. The filmy keeda in me took over and we posed and posed.  It was the most calming but definitely the filmy moments that I insisted on,  I know for sure that the four of us are going to cherish and never going to forget that madness. 

The main Ashram Shala, we visited houses 350+ resident students and many more students come in from the neighbouring areas. The class rooms and the main hall double up as classroom area during day and as bedrooms at night - even as eating areas. Electricity is a rare commodity here. Greeted by a hall filled with students, the team distributed notebooks to them. The most beautiful part of being there is always the way we are greeted with swagat songs and heartfelt thank-you. From there we moved on to another school. Here we were greeted and treated to a Lezim performance followed by a small program in the main hall where the Zilla people and our team exchanged thoughts and ideas. Over 40+ thousand books were distributed. 

It was 3.30 pm and as we were going back in the same car, we sought permission to leave and the ride back to Borivili was just as fun-filled as the morning. Guess what, we were in Mumbai by 730 pm and Yeah, I jumped into a rickshaw with cross fingers hoping to reach Prithvi in time..... I did..I did.....

Literally jumping out of the rickshaw exhausted but excited to have made it,  "Salaam 50s ke Naam" was a nostalgic ride down the memory lane. As introduced by Nadira Babbar ji this performance was Ekjute's tribute to the golden era of cinema. All about  of those films that had the zamindaar ka ladka and the kaabile ki ladki, it was  filled with the most beautiful songs of the 50s like suhana safar aur yeh mausam, shola joh bhadke, suhaani raat dhal chuki and so many more that made my eyes moist.  Well, I would have jumped on stage but for the fact that I knew I had to behave (ha ha!) and  flanked by an awesome actor, Suhant Singh (and his sweet son) and director, Kajri Babbar on either side of me. The performance by stalwarts Juuhi Babbar Soni, Pilu Vidhyarthi, Hanif Patni and all the awesome actors with choreography by my dear friend Raj Yadav (who I must thank here again for introducing me to Juuhi and the Ekjute Young Talent Company family) was super indeed. What can I say about actor friend, Ankur Parekh - was it Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar or my favourite Biswajeet that he reminded me of ?  I think it was just a mix of all those stalwarts and more that added to the 50s experience along with Juuhi M'am as the lovely kabile_ki kanya performance. A musical play filled with dance and song beautifully intertwined indeed ..... and think about it -  what is better than to see all your friends performing on stage, applauding them and then going backstage to hug each one of them.... and what can I add again here about Juuhi M'am except that I adore her not just for her acting but for her love  and inviting me to watch the play..most importantly because it is all thanks to her that I am getting to be a part of the one thing I always craved for and wanted  in my life - theatre!!!

Keep a good attitude and do the right thing even when it's hard. 
When you do that you are passing the test. 
And God promises you your marked moments are on their way
~Joel Osteen

because COMMITMENTS MATTER and so does FRIENDSHIP !!!