Asa Mi Asa Mi

असा मी असा मी 

 पु.ल.देशपांडे  

"  जन्म आणि मृत्यू या टोकांच्या मध्ये नियतीने चालवलेली आपल्या साऱ्यांची फसवणूक एकदा लक्षात आली की त्यातून आपली आणि आपल्या भोवतालच्या माणसांची 'हसवणूक' करण्यापालीकडे आणखी काय करायचे "

हे ज्यांच्या आयुष्याचे व्रत होते असे महाराष्ट्राचे आवडते व्यक्तीमत्त्व म्हणजे  पु. ल. देशपांडे. 'असा मी असा मी'  हे पु. ल. देशपांडे लिखित विनोदी पुस्तक,कित्येक दशकं वाचकांचे मनोरंजन करत आहे. जीवनात नितांत आनंद मिळवायचा असेल तर पु. लं. चे हे पुस्तक म्हणजे निव्वळ खजिनाच आहे!

'असा मी असा मी' हे एका मध्यमवर्गीय कारकुनाचे आत्मचरित्र आहे. खरतरं,आत्मचरित्र हा खूपच जड़ शब्द झाला.हे पुस्तक म्हणजे त्याच्या सुख-दुःखाचा मनमोकळा संवादच आहे. तुमच्या-आमच्या सारख्या सामान्य माणसाचे मनोगतच म्हणा!

हि गोष्ट आहे धोंडोपंत भिकाजी कडमडेकर ह्या कोकणी गृहस्थाची,जो नोकरी निमित्त मुंबईत स्थायिक झाला आहे. 'धोंडोपंत' हे नाव काही आत्मचरित्र लिहण्याइतके दमदार नसले तरी, 'नावत काय आहे?' असे खुद्द शेक्सपियर म्हणून गेलाय. धोंडोपंतांचे नाव जरी 'दमदार' नसले तरी त्यांची गोष्ट मात्र नक्कीच 'दमदार' आहे. 

१९६० च्या दशकातील मुंबई ही आत्ता सारखीच  fast & busy होती.गर्दी हा मुंबईचा अविभाज्य भाग होता अणि धोंडू हा ह्या गर्दीमधील एक छोटासा ठिपका होता.केस पांढरे होवूपर्यंत निष्ठेने चाकरी करायची आणि पेंशनी च्या पैशांमध्ये डोळे मिटण्याची वाट बघणाऱ्या typical मराठी माणसांपैकी हा ही एक.धोंडू उर्फ़ बेंबटया हा  कुटुंबसहित चाळी मध्ये रहायचा. चाळीच्या दोन खोल्यांमध्ये आपल्या सात माणसांच्या कुटुंबाचा पसारा मांडला होता. धोंडू 'बेन्सन' ह्या इंग्रजी हापिसात(ऑफिसात) clerk  होता. त्याचे आयुष्य रेल्वे च्या पटरी प्रमाणे इतके सरळ होते की कला,छंद ,राजकारण,समाजकारण किंवा धर्म-श्रद्धा यासारख्या गोष्टींचा त्याचा क्वचितच संबंध यायचा. 

रस्ता मोकळा असताना ही रस्त्याच्या कडेने चालणाऱ्या 'कॅटेगिरी' मधील एक म्हणजे धोंडू. आपण,आपले कुटुंब आणि आपले चार सहकारी इतकेच त्याचे जग आणि आस्तित्व सुद्धा. धोंडूच्या ह्या छोटया, सुटसुटीत जगामधील घडणाऱ्या गंमती -जमती आणि लोकांच्या स्वभावांचे खुसखुशीत वर्णन धोंडूनें आपल्या आत्मचरित्र/मनोगतामध्ये केले आहे.अगदी कुटुंबा सोबत (बायकोला धोंडू असे संबोधतो) ची साडी खरेदी असो, हापिसातील (ऑफीसातील) सहकाऱ्यांसोबत कोणा 'बाबा' (महाराजांचा) दर्शनाचा प्रसंग असो ,बायकोच्या मावशीच्या घराचा पत्ता शोध मोहीम असो किंवा फुकट मिळालेल्या नाटकाच्या तिकिटावर नाटक पाहण्याचा प्रसंग असो. धोंडू वाचकांना निखळपणे हसवतो. 

आचरट मुले, typical बायको,चित्र-विचित्र सहकारी आणि कटकटे शेजारी ह्यांच्या मध्ये रमलेल्या धोंडूच्या आयुष्यात स्वातंत्र्य नंतर बरेच बदल येतात.बेन्सन कंपनी हि बेन्सन अँड मंगलदास होते. धोंडोपंतांचे प्रमोशन होते आणि धोतराच्या जागी सूट-बूट येतो.चाळीतील कुटुंब flat मध्ये जाते. भिंतीच्या रंगसंगती आणि खिडकीच्या पडद्यांवर खर्च होऊ लागतो.तुळशीचे वृंदावन जाऊन घरी cactus चे रोप येते. पूर्वी भजनी मंडळा मध्ये रमणारे कुटुंब (बायको) आता club मध्ये रमू लागते. मुलांच्या शाळेतून parents meetings साठी बोलावणी येऊ लागतात. धोंडू सुद्धा सोसायटीच्या badminton club चा प्रेसिडेंट बनतो.एकूणच संपूर्ण 'family' काळानुसार 'update' होते आणि 'smart ' बनते.

परंतु चाळ बरी की सोसायटी? धोंडूचा आणि मुलाचा पिक्टरच्या हिरो-हिरोईन वर चा मुक्त संवाद चांगला कि धोंडूच्या वडिलांचा सुभाषिते आणि पाढे पाठ करून घेण्याचा नित्यक्रम? मुलांच्या शाळेतील मिटींग्स हितकारक कि धोंडूच्या चितळे मास्तरांच्या घरी घेतलेल्या शिकवण्या? असे अनेक प्रश्न धोंडूला शेवटी पडतात. ह्याची उत्तरे त्याच्याकडेही नाहीत. पण हे प्रश्न मात्र वाचकांना अंतर्मुख करायला लावतात. आणि मग आपल्याला आणि बहुदा धोंडुला हि प्रश्न पडला असावा की धोतरातले साधे जीवन जगणारा 'असामी' बरा? की सूट-बुटाच्या रंगीत दुनियेतील 'असामी' बरा? म्हणूनच धोंडू म्हणतो, 

'जसा मी तसा मी असामी असामी ' :-)

पुस्तक विकत घेण्यासाठी लिंक - Asa mi asa mi

Pyjamas are forgiving

PYJAMAS ARE FORGIVING

TWINKLE KHANNA

When it comes to making decisions, we often face a dilemma; Should I follow heart or mind? Someone rightly said that when there is confusion between your heart & mind, don't listen to your heart because the mind knows better than your heart! The tale is based on the same baseline that mind knows what the heart doesn't accept.

The story is about a forty-year-old divorcee; Anshu. After divorce, Anshu started having an overwhelming feeling of sadness and hence started suffering from depression. She became addicted to alcohol and insomnia. Shanthamaaya Sthalam, an Ayurvedic hospital of Kerala was the go-to place for her. The hospital/ashram was famous for its Ayurvedic therapies. It was famous for removing Dosha, the energies believed to circulate in the body and govern physiological activities from a person who undergoes the therapy. Aashram has strict rules and diet for its visitors. Every person has to put all the luxuries aside for twenty-eight days in the ashram and has to live a simple life.No smoking, No alcohol, No sexual intercourse. A most critical part of ashram life was its strict and unpalatable diet.

Anshu was used to with ashram's rules. She decided to visit Shanthamaaya again to find the ultimate remedy to her sleep problem. However, instead of meeting eternal serenity, she met someone who caused eternal pain in her life. Jay; Anshu's ex-husband was there with his second wife Shalini and cousin Lalit.

Shalini was eighteen years younger than Jay and her affair with Jay was the major reason for Anshu and Jay's divorce. 

Jay's presence was very unsettling for Anshu. She decided to ignore him. However, her heart was not ready to accept. Anshu tried to keep herself busy with her new friends Jenna, Javed, Anil & Vivaan. She used to spend most of her time with them to avoid Jay. 'The heart always wins over the mind'. Clearly, Anshu was no exception so she refused her brain's instructions and met Jay in private. Jay was smart and witty as usual. Anshu's ceased emotions were triggered by their meeting. Against her mind, her heart fell for Jay once again. Jay and Anshu started meeting frequently outside the Shanthamaaya secretly against rules. Gradually Anshu started breaking most of the Shanthamaaya's rules for Jay. Jay used to talk about how he missed Anshu in his life and how he wanted her back in his life. This made Anshu forget everything and forgive her ex-husband.

Meanwhile, Lalit and Jenna started hanging out together a lot. Anshu was worried about Jenna because she knew how mean Lalit was. However, she didn't say anything to Jenna. One day, Jenna skipped breakfast. It seemed suspicious to Anshu as Jenna never did it before. Anshu went to meet Jenna. After seeing Jenna, Anshu felt something was wrong with Jenna. After lots of Anshu's efforts, Jenna openly talked about Lalit's misbehaviour with her. She told how Lalit assaulted her the previous night. Anshu was angry. She straightly went to Jay and told everything to him. She wanted to complain about this to Shanthamaaya's chief doctor; Dr Menon. Conversely, Jay convinced her that it was mere speculation. Jenna consented to everything that happened between Lalit and her. Blinded by rediscovered love of Jay, Anshu kept it secret and didn't complain. However, her mind was not convinced.

Shortly after that day, Anshu was going to Jenna's room to meet her. As soon as Anshu reached the door of Jenna's room, Jenna suddenly fell down. Surprisingly, Jay and  Lalit were also there. Anshu immediately hospitalized her. Jenna was unconscious. Anshu stayed in the hospital to take care of Jenna. Jay came to the hospital to meet Anshu later. He convinced her that it was an accident due to the wet floor and not to mention his or Lalit's presence to anyone during the incident. Once again foolish Anshu stopped thoughts of her conscious mind and believed Jay.

A few days later, Jenna finally gained her consciousness back. Anshu was very happy. She came back to the ashram and went to give this good news to Jay. However, Jay was sitting with Shalini and was affectionately kissing her. Anshu was pissed off after seeing that. An intense wave of anger for Jay ran in her whole body. She suddenly had the feeling of being used. More to that, Jay's disappointed face after listening to Jenna's recovery news made Anshu unravel Jay's deception. She realized that she was deceived and being used by Jay for purpose. It was not an accident but an attempt of murder. She understood her mistake of trusting Jay.

Anshu decided to reveal Jay and Lalits deeds. She decided to talk to Dr Menon about this. Not only Anshu let cat out of the bag, but she also handed over the pieces of evidence to doctor. Two days after the revelation, Anshu's twenty-eight days ended. She left the ashram with bittersweet memories and a good life lesson.

How independent and determinant Anshu became weak and gullible, similarly people can become vulnerable under certain circumstances. To convey this wisdom, the author compared clothing with human nature. She says that jeans really know how to hold a grudge. One the other hand, pyjamas are forgiving in nature and may make a person vulnerable.