BABA?.........DARR, SHUN!……………

BABA?.........DARR, SHUN!……………
No, this is not in reference to our dearest sanju baba who was behind bars for his jawaani ka jurm.I talk about the new trend of our generation –baba bhakti.
Ever since the eternal shri Sai Baba became the favorite lord of us mortal beings, innumerable wannabe gurus started to work towards trying to turn themselves into spiritual leaders. Sai Baba miraculously cured and cared for his bhakts where as our so called baba bhais are looking out for people who can take care of their needs and cure their problems. While Shri Sai Baba is, was and will always remain the people’s Baba.Today’s so called ‘gurus’ want their followers to be the baba’s people.
As I waited exasperated at the signal of ring road, with its never ending traffic flow, I was deafened by the loud- speaker gibberish of a cracked up voice shouting something that ended with,’ baba ki jai!’ Oh look!’ said my aunt whom I was driving to the railway station’, there goes the procession of great shri [why twice I wonder?]guruji.’upon turning my face towards the by- lane from which the crackling sound traveled out, I was amazed to see the entire street jam packed with baba bhakts trying to push, stamp and shove their way to have a glimpse of him who sat looking extremely pleased ,alighted on a throne in the flower laden truck. He was throwing out packets of some stuff to the public, enjoying the attention as his truck waded through the sea of frenzied followers. He did not appear divine, nor sadly pleased [like all our gods do]’He is very popular ‘, continued my aunt,’ all the NRI’S also follow his pravachans.He is very pious, does not allow women to touch his feet even. ‘Angered at the last comment and the fact that my signal was still red, I silently let out expletives in my mind that would cause the bhakts to think sacrilege! After finally seeing my aunt off, I carefully took the long route home to avoid the on –going tamasha on the jai ho! route.
I wondered how important the episode of a chance baba darshan would have meant to his fans .Got me thinking to what it is that makes for such ardent following.
While our gods had to perform miracles, rise above the ordinary and elevate the level of health, wealth and happiness of an entire ‘yug’,today’s so called saints just need the gift of gab to have a supreme effect on the living on a prayer crowd. If you listen carefully the pravachans are about everything you already know in your religion. nothing they say is new other than the way they say it .our glowing with good health babas and ma’s do not have a halo, its just the right diet of ghee, fruits and no gello.our stress ridden lives leaves us looking for ‘the one ‘who will make us feel less guilty of our deeds if we are able to provide the baba’s needs. They show us a short cut to spirituality. Listening to this clan is possible with electronic media; c.d. and seminars etc.modern babas have great marketing strategies to procure fame and following. as is the case in fund- raising business,baba products are also offered[some along with free side effects such as dysentery and lead poisoning] Babas are more popular than self help books because they say what we want to hear but do not adhere to. On more occasions than less of late, the baba turns out to be the head of a sex racket, money scam or a murderer leaving the bhakt to crawl to another baba lest he loses his religion. Eloquent orators do not make gods because all they do is give you the message of God. They are a medium, follow the thought they speak of, not them. Worship the work they talk about, not them. We have enough gods, saints and holy spirits who have left us with more teachings about good and godly things that we can follow for a million lifetimes. We do not need another God.
Be your own guru aur ho jaa shuru, start God’s work today.

RADIO GAA GAA……FM FEVER IS HERE TO SWAY………

RADIO GAA GAA……FM FEVER IS HERE TO SWAY………

It’s finally here! The Radio Revolution that we Surtis have been making noise about. We now have our own for apnu Surat.No more need we be dependent on the Mumbai/Ahmedabad folks and their jokes…… BIG927, MIRCHI and MYFM are here to please us. Hopefully, this means that we will be able to listen to format especially created for people of Tapi- town. Even though commuting in Surat takes only a max.time period of 30mins to go from any point A to B, we have faithful radio listeners in our busy sabzi and paanwallahs, over worked diamond polishers, trendy college kids with fancy mobile phones, bored housewives who have had enough of saas bahus and of course commuters by cars and autos who need not worry if their c.d.players have gone for a six. There is something for everyone as all the frequencies have a different age group on target, be it from varachha, to ved road, katargaam to, khatkiwaad or lalgate to majuragate.So you can ‘suno sunao,life banao’ and be ‘always khush ‘with filmy songs,bhajans, cricket remixed [20-twenty] scores and town tattle.’ Move over Parvati and Mr.Walia, here come Vidya Belan and Raj a.k.a Munna.
The radio bandwagon is all set to woo us surtis by giving away freebies in forms of coupons for coffee and dinners, tickets to movies and other knick knacks as they offer easy to answer questions and options. Describing Surat as khubsurat and a land of fine dining,’ ‘leheri lalas’ and patang manja, they talk about the town nukkads in a nutshell. Popular film characters are impersonated to make the lingo more entertaining. Personal problems –a la’ Sleepless in Seattle’ are aired to get surtis to participate in phone-in/sms advice .Even though some of the RJ.’s[radio jockeys] sound ahmedabadi, the script given to them is surti so they should be able to catch up given some time. Thus with the onset of the festive season, life should be all song and dance on the FM scenario.
In Swarn Surat, as it is called, we have always been surrounded by loud sound, whether its from gramophones on special occasions, cars reversing with harsh tunes above the allowed decibel sound wave, surtis fighting away in their famous profanity or pandals put up for navratri/ganeshutsav etc.Now with the advent of the local FM options, there will certainly be more singing in the surat terrain. Huge hoardings and colourful umbrellas announcing the FM channels are sprouting around town and in your face lest you forget to tune in. Here is your chance then surti, to put your feet up[tap to tune] and participate in the trend of your town, vote for your choice, get entertained, gain freebies, make your voice heard all within the comfort of your home. Radio is ‘BIG ‘news and is here to make us surtis sway……..so gaa gaa dear surti and swing away because FM fever is here to stay.Top5 things you most definitely will and won’t hear on surti radio…………….
WILL WON’T
1. Cookery recipes. 1. Cocktail recipes

2. Cricket tosses 2. Modi’s losses

3. Love stories 3. Financial worries.

4. Rakhi Sawant Item numbers. 4. Santana and Diana Krall’s wonders.

5. Hot and happening surti news. 5. Aamchi maati, aamchey manas.