Sanjal bhabhi’s unique hobby
Back in Christmas 2022, my cousin Sushil from Sydney, was like, "Hey bro, wanna check out Melbourne?" And we were like, "Why not?" We've been in Sydney for more than a decade, but not had a chance to visit Melbourne, so it sounded fun. Sushil, his wife Madhavi, my wife Varsha and I, started early morning.
Sushil, being the driving enthusiast he is, took the wheel all the way, blasting Rafi's tunes on his phone the whole ride. We rolled into Melbourne by evening.
"We're gonna crash at my buddy Kishen Bhai's place," Sushil told us.
I asked Sushil,' Are you sure they will be cool with us, we are strangers to them? "
"Don't sweat it, or I wouldn't have invited you," Sushil reassured.
Turns out, Kishen Bhai and his wife Sanjal were the nicest hosts ever. They really made us feel at home. Sanjal bhabhi cooked delicious dishes.
Kishan bhai and Sanjal bhabhi
The next day, we planned a beach trip, but poor Madhavi felt sick halfway, so we had to return. It was scorching hot that day, unlike the cold December back in India.
We were having a chat, when Sanjal bhabhi showed us the video of her son Karan's wedding. In the video, I was surprised to see bhabhi reading out a poem on Karan which showed all the excellence of craftsmanship.
I asked, ' Whose poem is this?' I was more surprised when bhabhi told me that she had comppsed the poem.
Then bhabhi opened her file and showed us more poems penned by her on loose leaves.And believe me, there was one poem written on Kishan Bhai himself.
I said, "Kishan Bhai, you're lucky to have someone write a poem about you, especially your wife." Kishen Bhai was all smiles.
Turns out, whenever there's a gathering or a get-together, friends ask Sanjal bhabhi to whip up a poem for the occasion. Sanjal bhabhi readily takes up the challenge with pleasure. She is not particular about the sophisticated language but uses day-to-day language , a mixture of English and Hindi, with amusing rhymings. That makes her poems appealing to the crowd and wins applause accompanied with laughter of satisfied acceptance of the observations in the poems. Her poems shows close observation of the qualities of friends and certainly you need generous heart to appreciate them. Will not a man be pleased if his cooking skill is appreciated by someone?
I thought, if a poet were asked to write a poem, he would select heroes from the history, most probably. But who makes a simple man feel like a hero , highlighting the qualities, perhaps not known to him as well. That makes Sanjal bhabhi's hobby a unique one, doesn't it?
I told bhabhi, "Good thing we skipped the beach, or I'd never know about this cool talent of yours."
Coming to know that I'm into languages, a little bit, so now sometimes bhabhi sends me her poems for some fine-tuning, I just do a little touch up, I confess, as I hate to meddle with the essence of any spontaneous art work.
Last year, when Karan's mother-in-law passed away, bhabhi composed another beautiful poem to read out the funeral. It really captured the essence of who Raji was. Read the poem and you will understand yourselves.
Raji, a person of rare stature:
The memorable event in Karan-Divya’s life was staged ,
On the day, they both got engaged,
When we met Raji, a person with the rare stature,
With the cool, calm and sweet nature.
She was ready to help others with no expectation,
Busy with the social work, her passion,
She was intelligent and artistic,
Who did her work which was filled with a magic.
On the seashore, she loved walking,
Speechless, as if meditating.
Thus was the life, smooth and steady,
But suddenly a cloud made it shady.
Nobody had expected what befell,
When suddenly Raji bade us farewell,
The God gave her a short life, unfortunately,
And we are all standing at a turn of life, so tricky.
Raji’s memories will never part,
We will always nurture them in our heart.
Paddy, Divya, Manju, do not feel alone,
We are always there, just grab a phone.
I felt, Raji's soul must have been happy at her heavenly abode to find someone appreciate her qualities.
So, what do you guys think of Sanjal' bhabhi's hobby? Pretty unique, huh? Bhabhi takes so much pains to write down a poem, would you take pains writing your opinion about the hobby?
संजलवहिनींचा आगळा छंद
२०२२ च्या ख्रिस्मसमध्ये माझ्या मावस भावाने, सुशीलने त्यांचा मेल्बर्नला जाण्याचा बेत सांगितला आणि आम्हाला येण्याबद्दल विचारले. आम्ही याआधी मेल्बर्नला गेलो नसल्याने आम्हीसुद्धा येण्याचे कबूल केले.
सुशील, त्याची पत्नी माधवी, मी आणि माझी पत्नी वर्षा, असे आम्ही चौघे जण मेल्बर्नला पोहचलो.
मेल्बर्नला सुशीलचे मित्र किशन भट्टी आणि त्यांची पत्नी संजल यांची भेट झाली. किशन भाई आणि संजलवहिनी अतिशय प्रेमळ दांपत्य. संजलवहिनी मराठी परंतु किशनभाई काश्मीरी. माझी व वर्षाची त्यांच्याशी पूर्वीची ओळख नसतानाही ते आमच्याशी अतिशय प्रेमाने वागले. त्यांनी आम्हा सर्वांचे खूप चांगले आदरातिथ्य केले.
किशनभाई आणि संजलवहिनी
दुसऱ्या दिवशी आमचा मेल्बर्नमध्ये बीचवर जाण्याचा कार्यक्रम होता. त्याप्रमाणे मी, वर्षा, सुशील, माधवी आणि संजलवहिनी, असे पाच जण निघालो. परंतु माधवीची अर्ध्या रस्त्यात तब्येत बिघडल्याने आम्हाला परत यावे लागले.
भारतामध्ये डिसेंबर थंडीचा , परंतु ऑस्ट्रेलियामध्ये उन्हाळ्याचा महिना. त्या दिवशी खूपच कडक ऊन होतं.
आम्ही घरीच गप्पा मारत बसलो. मग संजलवहिनींनी मुलाच्या, करणच्या, लग्नाचा व्हिडिओ दाखवला.
त्या वेळी लग्नाच्या व्हिडिओमध्ये संजलवहिनी इंग्रजीमध्ये कविता म्हणताना दिसल्या. मी कवितेची तारीफ केली. त्या वेळी त्यांनी सांगितलं की ही कविता त्यांनी स्वतः मुलावर लिहिली आहे.
मग त्यांनी फाइल उघडून त्यांनी लिहिलेल्या आणखी कविता दाखवल्या. त्यांच्या कविता हिंदी आणि इंग्रजीमध्ये आहेत. त्यामध्ये हिंदीत एक कविता किशनभाईंवरही आहे. मी किशनभाईंना म्हटलं, 'आप बहुत लकी हो, कि तुमपर किसी ने कविता लिखी है, और वोभी तुम्हारे बीबीने.' किशन भाई साहजिक हसले.
कुणाच्या घरी वाढदिवस किंवा कुठला समारंभ असला, की संजलवहिनींचा छंद माहीत असणारे लोक त्यांना कविता बनवण्यास सांगतात. संजलवहिनीसुद्धा आह्वान स्वीकारून प्रसंगानुरूप छानदार कविता बनवतात. ज्या व्यक्तीवर कविता लिहिली, त्यांच्या गुणविशेषांचे सूक्ष्म निरीक्षण, सर्वांना समजणारी संभाषणातील हिंदी आणि इंग्रजी अशी संमिश्र भाषा आणि चटपटीत यमकांची योजना यांमुळे त्यांच्या कविता समारंभात सर्वांची वाहवा मिळवतात.
मला या आगळ्या छंदाचं खूप कौतुक वाटलं. म्हटलं, 'बरं झालं आपला बीचवर जाण्याचा कार्यक्रम रद्द झाला. नाहीतर तुमचा हा छंद मला समजलाच नसता.'
मलासुद्धा भाषेची थोडीफार आवड आहे हे कळल्यावर आता कविता लिहिली की इंडिपेंडंट ओपिनियनसाठी संजलवहिनी कविता माझ्याकडे पाठवतात. मी कवितेचा मूळ आशय बदलणार नाही, यांची काळजी घेत थोडे शब्द इथेतिथे करतो.
गेल्या वर्षी दिव्याच्या, संजलवहिनींच्या सुनेच्या आईस , म्हणजे संजलवहिनींच्या विहीणीस देवाज्ञा झाली. त्या वेळी संजलवहिनींनी लिहिलेली कविता खाली दिली आहे-
Raji, a person of rare stature:
The memorable event in Karan-Divya’s life was staged ,
On the day, they both got engaged,
When we met Raji, a person with the rare stature,
With the cool, calm and sweet nature.
She was ready to help others with no expectation,
Busy with the social work, her passion,
She was intelligent and artistic,
Who did her work which was filled with a magic.
On the seashore, she loved walking,
Speechless, as if meditating.
Thus was the life, smooth and steady,
But suddenly a cloud made it shady.
Nobody had expected what befell,
When suddenly Raji bade us farewell,
The God gave her a short life, unfortunately,
And we are all standing at a turn of life, so tricky.
Raji’s memories will never part,
We will always nurture them in our heart.
Paddy, Divya, Manju, do not feel alone,
We are always there, just grab a phone.
या कवितेवरून संजलवहिनींनी विहिणीच्या गुणविशेषांचं निरीक्षण आणि मनापासून केलेलं कौतुक दिसून येतं. संजलवहिनींच्या विहिणीचा आत्मा हे कौतुक ऐकून समाधान पावला असेल असं मला वाटलं.
मी असा छंद आतापर्यंत पाहिला नव्हता. संजलवहिनींच्या आगळ्या छंदास माझ्या मन:पूर्वक शुभेच्छा.
तर मित्रांनो, तुम्हाला कसा वाटला संजलवहिनींचा छंद. तुमच्या प्रतिक्रिया जरूर लिहा.
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