So I have one more 1st for you, the 1st time I attended an inauguration ceremony of a different kind in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. St. Jude India ChildCare Centres, is a NGO providing families whose children are suffering from chronic diseases with hygienic accommodation and counselling, free of cost, as effective post-medical nurturing can make a large difference to not only the convalescing patient but also his/her family, as families are in a state of shock to see their children suffer from life threatening diseases such as CANCER and AIDS.
St. Jude was opening 4 new childcare centres in the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, it is the new state of the art R&D satellite of the TATA Memorial Centre (TMC). Me being a very punctual person was very much late by 30 mins, while travelling to Kharghar, the thought most prevalent in my mind was, "Why am I wasting my holiday going to a hospital rather than watching cricket, sleeping or doing something that I like ?" But I wanted to do this just to realise whether I have the sensitivity to actually do social service, I was desperate to walk the talk and JSW Foundation provided me with a launching pad and I volunteered. It was just an inauguration ceremony and I didn't have to do anything but then also it was a baby step in the right direction.
Unilever's Global CEO Paul Polman was the Chief Guest of Honour, as HUL had sponsored one of the 4 centre's. But what struck me most was the exuberance of the children even after going through several rounds of chemotherapy.On the other hand I sulk even at the prospect of visiting a General Practitioner and when I am actually in a hospital the first thought that comes to my mind is when am I going to leave, and the stench that is pervasive in a clinic or a hospital makes me sick. Those places are too depressing. No doubt the contribution of donors is invaluable but the real contributors are the doctors and support staff that are there for them day and night. And it was really touching to see the kind of rapport the doctors had with the children, their love for them was infectious.
Visits to such places will be highly recommended for people who feel that they have been treated harshly by life, the visit will not only be thought provoking but will also rekindle one's faith in a long thought dead quality of humility and kindness. This visit has made me reaffirm my resolve to give back to society in whatever small way I can.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Of all things that happened to me for the first time!!!
I am very much hooked on to blogging, can't get it out of my mind. So I have to write about something or the other to satisfy myself, am constantly looking for an inspiration to write something on. All ideas that I get relate to my personal experiences or outright fantasies, and if I start writing about those then I will have to open another account and provide access to Adults only. What I mean by Adults is not people who are 18 years and above but those that can understand and appreciate art in every form.
Someone recommended me last night to write about my first crush, and I thought why not improvise on it and write about everything that happened to me for the first time. Had a great time reminiscing about it and am sharing with you a few of them which were outright hilarious when we look back at them but they were a part of my life.
1st Crush: Innocent and pure those are the first words that come to my mind when I think about her. 1st crush was way back in 1994-95 when I was in the 3rd Standard, was lucky enough to have her in my class the next year too. Would do anything just to sit next to her in class, but wasn't that lucky when it came to that, as we had to keep shuffling partners every week and when I was just about to get an opportunity to sit next to her, my favorite enemies raised their heads Exams and Holidays which affected the routine. Two years passed away and I was no better off than the 1st day of 3rd Standard, still couldn't muster enough guts to even talk to her. Latest update about her is that she is on my facebook profile and still can't get myself to talk to her. But for all that is worth, it's a memory that I cherish till date.
1st Date: Had to get drunk to ask her out in 2006(not related to the girl mentioned above, I refrain from mentioning their names to maintain privacy, not mine but theirs), had tried asking out girls before on the phone but was never ever successful in that.In my defence things didn't work out before because I was an introvert and didn't know how all things realted to love/crush worked (am still working on that). So yeah back to the date, asked her out in a drunkard state and the answer I got was a deafening "NO", had to work on that for a few more months to get a "YES". It was a learning experience, better late than never.
There are lot more firsts but will write about them during the course of next week. Like 1st time I got beaten up , beat someone up, got caught cheating in the exams, kiss, jail. But the thing about all 1st times is that on whatever point of time they might have happened to you,whether good or bad, one can never forget about them, their memory always last's forever.
Someone recommended me last night to write about my first crush, and I thought why not improvise on it and write about everything that happened to me for the first time. Had a great time reminiscing about it and am sharing with you a few of them which were outright hilarious when we look back at them but they were a part of my life.
1st Crush: Innocent and pure those are the first words that come to my mind when I think about her. 1st crush was way back in 1994-95 when I was in the 3rd Standard, was lucky enough to have her in my class the next year too. Would do anything just to sit next to her in class, but wasn't that lucky when it came to that, as we had to keep shuffling partners every week and when I was just about to get an opportunity to sit next to her, my favorite enemies raised their heads Exams and Holidays which affected the routine. Two years passed away and I was no better off than the 1st day of 3rd Standard, still couldn't muster enough guts to even talk to her. Latest update about her is that she is on my facebook profile and still can't get myself to talk to her. But for all that is worth, it's a memory that I cherish till date.
1st Date: Had to get drunk to ask her out in 2006(not related to the girl mentioned above, I refrain from mentioning their names to maintain privacy, not mine but theirs), had tried asking out girls before on the phone but was never ever successful in that.In my defence things didn't work out before because I was an introvert and didn't know how all things realted to love/crush worked (am still working on that). So yeah back to the date, asked her out in a drunkard state and the answer I got was a deafening "NO", had to work on that for a few more months to get a "YES". It was a learning experience, better late than never.
There are lot more firsts but will write about them during the course of next week. Like 1st time I got beaten up , beat someone up, got caught cheating in the exams, kiss, jail. But the thing about all 1st times is that on whatever point of time they might have happened to you,whether good or bad, one can never forget about them, their memory always last's forever.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Karnataka on my own - something like that !
Life for me in the last 3 years has been a very long journey, can't stay in one place for more than a fortnight. But the last couple of months have taken me to Karnataka quite often and mostly alone, so decided to go sight-seeing to kill some time. I was surprised to find out that Karnataka has such beautiful places to visit over and above the famous ones like Mysore, Banglore and Hampi. Our country never fails to surprise me, when I least expect it and in the most amazing ways.
Firstly I would like to inform everyone about my current location, i.e. Toranagallu (hope you can pronounce it correctly), Bellary District, Karnataka, if you are still lost, then I am in the southern central part of India. As the weekend was approaching I decided to surf the internet and look for the places I could visit near Toranagallu. As I has already been to Hampi, which is around 50 kms from here, I decided to visit Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal, these places are around 150kms from Toranagallu. These 3 places were under the Chalukya Dynasty from the 4th Century AD uptil the 8th Century AD.
I had to start my day at 4a.m., for those who know me very well, will know that how difficult it would have been for me ? I had booked a private cab to take me there, and he told me that it will take 4 hours just to reach the place, as the roads are very bad coupled with heavy tipper movement. The roads weren't that bad for most parts but the air was filled with iron ore dust which made visibility very low. In this part of India the hills are rich in iron-ore reserves, hence, it is a mining hotbed for both legal and illegal miners ( Illegal mining is much more prevalent and lucrative as environmental clearances are hard to come by and vigilance is very low ).
We reached Aihole at 8.30a.m. which is good to time to visit these places as the tempretures are very high during the afternoon. Aihole was the first capital of the Chalukya Dynasty from the 4th to the 6th Century AD, and is home to around 125 temples both small and large of Hindu and Jain deities. Out of these only 15-20 have been taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India, the most prominent among those is the Durga Temple (sorry couldn't upload the pictures as I am not aware how to). As this was their first capital the architecture is very basic and primarily in the Nagara Style (North Indian Aryan Style) and Dravidian Style architecture. Aihole is considered as the school of Chalukya Architecture where they learnt the basics and experimented with different styles inherited from the Northern and Southern parts of India.
Next stop Badami, it was the 2nd capital of the Chalukya's from the 5th to the 6th Century AD, here the rock-cut cave temples are the most prominent and beautiful, along with the cave temples the Chalukya's have built a fort which also is home to some more temples. There is also a pond between the fort and the cave temples, on the banks of the pond, one finds the picturesque Bhoothnath (one of the incarnations of Lord Shiva) Group of Temples. Badami has four sandstone rock-cut cave temples, cave 1 belongs to Lord Shiva, caves 2 & 3 to Lord Vishnu and cave 4 to Jain Tirthankars, these caves took 28 years to build and out of those, 12 years were devoted to cave 3 which is the grandest of them all. If Aihole was the school then Badami can be considered as the Degree College of Chalukyan Architecture.
From the rock-cut temples of Badami to the astonishing temple complex to Pattadakal, the University of Chalukyan Architecture, the temple complex consists of 10 temples and Virupaksha Temple is the most prominent among them. The Chalukya's built these temples in the 7th and the 8th century AD, Pattadakal in Kannada means the place where the kings are coronated, it has been home to 94 coronation ceremonies. The place was considered holy as it is situated on the banks of Malaprabha River which flows from the south to the north. As one enters the premises of the temple complex, it is home to 4 main temples and 6 small temples which were basically built as blue-prints for the larger ones. The first 3 temples are built in the Nagara Style, the pecularity of this style is the shikhar which is built in curvilinear form. Then we move on to temples built in the Dravidian Style i.e. the shikhar is built in step form. Form these we move on to the Virupaksha and Mallikarjuna Temple which are built in the Chalukyan Style i.e. a blend of the Nagara and Dravidian Style of achitecture.
The Virupaksha and Mallikarjuna temples have excuisite carvings and their pillars are carved with stories of Krishan, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Panchatantra (classical Indian Stories). The outer walls have carved windows, each with a different patters and with intricate carvings of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Rightfully the place has been bestowed the World Heritage Site status by the United Nations.
Was done with seeing all the places by 2.30 pm and had a very spicy Kannada meal, it was just too spicy but it was a nice experience having the local cuisine. And when on the way back to Torannagallu made a stop over at the Tungabhadra Dam, just in time to see the sunset. It was a fitting end to an absolutely amazing day.
Firstly I would like to inform everyone about my current location, i.e. Toranagallu (hope you can pronounce it correctly), Bellary District, Karnataka, if you are still lost, then I am in the southern central part of India. As the weekend was approaching I decided to surf the internet and look for the places I could visit near Toranagallu. As I has already been to Hampi, which is around 50 kms from here, I decided to visit Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal, these places are around 150kms from Toranagallu. These 3 places were under the Chalukya Dynasty from the 4th Century AD uptil the 8th Century AD.
I had to start my day at 4a.m., for those who know me very well, will know that how difficult it would have been for me ? I had booked a private cab to take me there, and he told me that it will take 4 hours just to reach the place, as the roads are very bad coupled with heavy tipper movement. The roads weren't that bad for most parts but the air was filled with iron ore dust which made visibility very low. In this part of India the hills are rich in iron-ore reserves, hence, it is a mining hotbed for both legal and illegal miners ( Illegal mining is much more prevalent and lucrative as environmental clearances are hard to come by and vigilance is very low ).
We reached Aihole at 8.30a.m. which is good to time to visit these places as the tempretures are very high during the afternoon. Aihole was the first capital of the Chalukya Dynasty from the 4th to the 6th Century AD, and is home to around 125 temples both small and large of Hindu and Jain deities. Out of these only 15-20 have been taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India, the most prominent among those is the Durga Temple (sorry couldn't upload the pictures as I am not aware how to). As this was their first capital the architecture is very basic and primarily in the Nagara Style (North Indian Aryan Style) and Dravidian Style architecture. Aihole is considered as the school of Chalukya Architecture where they learnt the basics and experimented with different styles inherited from the Northern and Southern parts of India.
Next stop Badami, it was the 2nd capital of the Chalukya's from the 5th to the 6th Century AD, here the rock-cut cave temples are the most prominent and beautiful, along with the cave temples the Chalukya's have built a fort which also is home to some more temples. There is also a pond between the fort and the cave temples, on the banks of the pond, one finds the picturesque Bhoothnath (one of the incarnations of Lord Shiva) Group of Temples. Badami has four sandstone rock-cut cave temples, cave 1 belongs to Lord Shiva, caves 2 & 3 to Lord Vishnu and cave 4 to Jain Tirthankars, these caves took 28 years to build and out of those, 12 years were devoted to cave 3 which is the grandest of them all. If Aihole was the school then Badami can be considered as the Degree College of Chalukyan Architecture.
From the rock-cut temples of Badami to the astonishing temple complex to Pattadakal, the University of Chalukyan Architecture, the temple complex consists of 10 temples and Virupaksha Temple is the most prominent among them. The Chalukya's built these temples in the 7th and the 8th century AD, Pattadakal in Kannada means the place where the kings are coronated, it has been home to 94 coronation ceremonies. The place was considered holy as it is situated on the banks of Malaprabha River which flows from the south to the north. As one enters the premises of the temple complex, it is home to 4 main temples and 6 small temples which were basically built as blue-prints for the larger ones. The first 3 temples are built in the Nagara Style, the pecularity of this style is the shikhar which is built in curvilinear form. Then we move on to temples built in the Dravidian Style i.e. the shikhar is built in step form. Form these we move on to the Virupaksha and Mallikarjuna Temple which are built in the Chalukyan Style i.e. a blend of the Nagara and Dravidian Style of achitecture.
The Virupaksha and Mallikarjuna temples have excuisite carvings and their pillars are carved with stories of Krishan, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Panchatantra (classical Indian Stories). The outer walls have carved windows, each with a different patters and with intricate carvings of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Rightfully the place has been bestowed the World Heritage Site status by the United Nations.
Was done with seeing all the places by 2.30 pm and had a very spicy Kannada meal, it was just too spicy but it was a nice experience having the local cuisine. And when on the way back to Torannagallu made a stop over at the Tungabhadra Dam, just in time to see the sunset. It was a fitting end to an absolutely amazing day.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Atithi Firangi Bhava!!!
Atulya Bharat is the slogan luring tourists to India, even though the sales pitch was a tad late, the advertisements portray the diversity of India and the various options our country offers to the most discerning of tourists. Tourism will always be a money spinning business and one of the main drivers of poverty alleviation especially in Thrid World countries.
Tourism contributes 6.23% of the GDP, 8.78% of the total employment and brings in around US$ 11 billion for India. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) in India stood at 5.37 million in 2008 and a similar number in 2009, compared to 562.92 million Domestic Tourist Arrivals (DTA) in 2008. In comparision China received 53 million foreign tourists in 2008, India as a tourist destination has just scratched the surface. There is a huge untapped tourism potential in Historic, Adventure and Wildlife tourism.
But I would like to highlight the fact that even though DTAs are ten times FTAs the domestic tourist is not treated at par with the foreign tourist. Indian fascination for the fairer skin continues, coupled with the lure of the green back. We are treated as second rate tourists in our own country when visiting tourist destinations which are also popular with foreigners. Even though we can match the spending power of the firangi, discrimation persists. The only advantage of serving them better is that they stay on for longer durations compared to us but we have the numbers, don't we ? I was most appalled to learn that the police in Goa has been informally informed not to harass the foreign tourist, I wonder what is the basis for that, is it because of their growing clout in Goa or plain and simple discrimination. The Goa police pipms don't have any problems with harassing domestic tourists as they are aware that it won't make any difference. as we don't have any other attractive alternatives. Are we given such special treatment in Russia or Israel ?
Another very interesting experience happened with me, when I was in Hampi, Karnataka recently; was the paucity of Hindi speaking guides. Hence I had to hire one in English, this guide of mine was contemplating sending his son to learn French in Banglore, this reflects the fact that the income from foreign tourists was so lucrative that he was willing to send his son to learn a foreign language at an exorbitant cost. This cost will have to be recovered along with his daily expenditure from the tourist, i.e. Indian or foreign. There are some systemic problems as well, why couldn't the Karnataka Government impart training in Hindi, when they could do so for Kannada and English? With these 3 languages he can cater to the huge number of Indian and English speaking tourists that visit Hampi every year. Otherwise we will have to visit our own country with the latest copies of Lonely Planet as guides are getting very expensive to hire.
We not only have to increase foreign tourist arrivals but also make sure that the huge domestic tourist industry is not left in the lurch. The Indian tourism industry should take a leaf out of the Bharti Airtel's and Tata Motor's of India and try to replicate their success by catering to the aam admi.
Tourism contributes 6.23% of the GDP, 8.78% of the total employment and brings in around US$ 11 billion for India. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) in India stood at 5.37 million in 2008 and a similar number in 2009, compared to 562.92 million Domestic Tourist Arrivals (DTA) in 2008. In comparision China received 53 million foreign tourists in 2008, India as a tourist destination has just scratched the surface. There is a huge untapped tourism potential in Historic, Adventure and Wildlife tourism.
But I would like to highlight the fact that even though DTAs are ten times FTAs the domestic tourist is not treated at par with the foreign tourist. Indian fascination for the fairer skin continues, coupled with the lure of the green back. We are treated as second rate tourists in our own country when visiting tourist destinations which are also popular with foreigners. Even though we can match the spending power of the firangi, discrimation persists. The only advantage of serving them better is that they stay on for longer durations compared to us but we have the numbers, don't we ? I was most appalled to learn that the police in Goa has been informally informed not to harass the foreign tourist, I wonder what is the basis for that, is it because of their growing clout in Goa or plain and simple discrimination. The Goa police pipms don't have any problems with harassing domestic tourists as they are aware that it won't make any difference. as we don't have any other attractive alternatives. Are we given such special treatment in Russia or Israel ?
Another very interesting experience happened with me, when I was in Hampi, Karnataka recently; was the paucity of Hindi speaking guides. Hence I had to hire one in English, this guide of mine was contemplating sending his son to learn French in Banglore, this reflects the fact that the income from foreign tourists was so lucrative that he was willing to send his son to learn a foreign language at an exorbitant cost. This cost will have to be recovered along with his daily expenditure from the tourist, i.e. Indian or foreign. There are some systemic problems as well, why couldn't the Karnataka Government impart training in Hindi, when they could do so for Kannada and English? With these 3 languages he can cater to the huge number of Indian and English speaking tourists that visit Hampi every year. Otherwise we will have to visit our own country with the latest copies of Lonely Planet as guides are getting very expensive to hire.
We not only have to increase foreign tourist arrivals but also make sure that the huge domestic tourist industry is not left in the lurch. The Indian tourism industry should take a leaf out of the Bharti Airtel's and Tata Motor's of India and try to replicate their success by catering to the aam admi.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
A 'Khan' worth Emulating
The Khan I am talking about is undoubtedly the world's most popular Khan, Shahrukh Khan. I am neither a fan of his "kind" of movies nor of his acting skills, except for Swades. But the kind of clout he has over the Indian Film Industry is quite remarkable for a person who has had no Godfather from the industry. The rise of Shahrukh Khan is quite remarkable, it is testimony to his hard work, dedication, self-belief and vision, the Airtel advertisement does give a glimpse.
The man has an amazing stage presence matched by only the great Amitabh Bachchan, whenever I see him perform or compare a show, the first thing that comes to my mind is the scene from the movie Gladiator where Proximo tells Maximus, " Win the crowd and you will win your freedom ", he knows that very well and never for one moment losses touch with the audience. He has no qualms in accepting that money and fame are important drivers, I don't think that anyone else would accept such a fact, let alone talk about it. Entertainer to the core. Everyone raves about Aamir's quest for perfection but Shahrukh achieves it without any fuss. Movie-wise Aamir definitely makes much more meaningful cinema than Shahrukh, but people don't want to see Shahrukh doing any other roles. Vox populi would pair him with Kajol for all his movies, he has made romantic cinema his forte for the past 2 decades, unchallenged.
Shahrukh's business acumen is one trait which has belatedly grabbed the attention of one and all. He has slowly and surely made sure that even after his glorious acting days he wouldn't cease to be the King Khan. He will definitely leave a legacy behind for others to look upto. If we look at his moves in a more chronological order, owner of, one of the the most beautiful residential property in Mumbai, a profitable production company, other actors have tried their hands at it unsuccessfully till now and owner of Kolkata Knight Riders - the most valuable (profitable too) IPL team, not because of the team's cricket performance but by the unmatched star branding power of it's owner.
In my eyes his business acumen is much better than his acting skills alongwith his determination to succeed and unwavering self-belief. My name is Khan and Mr. President I am a King.
The man has an amazing stage presence matched by only the great Amitabh Bachchan, whenever I see him perform or compare a show, the first thing that comes to my mind is the scene from the movie Gladiator where Proximo tells Maximus, " Win the crowd and you will win your freedom ", he knows that very well and never for one moment losses touch with the audience. He has no qualms in accepting that money and fame are important drivers, I don't think that anyone else would accept such a fact, let alone talk about it. Entertainer to the core. Everyone raves about Aamir's quest for perfection but Shahrukh achieves it without any fuss. Movie-wise Aamir definitely makes much more meaningful cinema than Shahrukh, but people don't want to see Shahrukh doing any other roles. Vox populi would pair him with Kajol for all his movies, he has made romantic cinema his forte for the past 2 decades, unchallenged.
Shahrukh's business acumen is one trait which has belatedly grabbed the attention of one and all. He has slowly and surely made sure that even after his glorious acting days he wouldn't cease to be the King Khan. He will definitely leave a legacy behind for others to look upto. If we look at his moves in a more chronological order, owner of, one of the the most beautiful residential property in Mumbai, a profitable production company, other actors have tried their hands at it unsuccessfully till now and owner of Kolkata Knight Riders - the most valuable (profitable too) IPL team, not because of the team's cricket performance but by the unmatched star branding power of it's owner.
In my eyes his business acumen is much better than his acting skills alongwith his determination to succeed and unwavering self-belief. My name is Khan and Mr. President I am a King.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Absolute Bliss – Underarm Cricket
Gully cricket in Mumbai is dominated by the underarm variety of cricket; this phenomenon is rarely found in other cities. Underarm cricket is most suitable for Mumbai because of the city’s lack of recreation/open space. Breaking all barriers of age, caste, language, status; it is emancipating to say the least.
My flirtation with underarm cricket began when I was in the 5th Standard; it was a great feeling to finally move on from the constraints of my building and the girls with whom I had spent my entire childhood up till that time. So moving on from the gossiping and bitching to the swearing and fighting was an eye opener. How could I miss out on so much fun? But I sucked at cricket in the beginning; I wasn’t good enough for the gully level team also. The blame can be put on the days spent playing langdi, badminton, lock and key etc.
Three years was a long enough learning curve to get the basics right and move on to a different set of friends to play gully cricket with. In this gang it was a great feeling to be considered a better player as I was among friends of my age group, moving on from the kacha limbu tag I fancied earlier. This was the time I really started enjoying it, not only because the performance improved but also for the friends I made during my time playing the game. The games used to bring out the best and worst of our behaviour, this went a long way in forging very strong ties with others as we knew each other inside out. Fights still continue as everyone wants to win (whatever be the cost) every time we play but we never carry the baggage after the game; swear and make up that’s the funda, remove it from your system mate then and there.
Never realized when the flirtation transformed into love for the game. Even though the playing days have been reduced to the weekend and the occasional public holiday, this has not subdued my passion in any way whatsoever. I owe a lot to gully cricket.
My flirtation with underarm cricket began when I was in the 5th Standard; it was a great feeling to finally move on from the constraints of my building and the girls with whom I had spent my entire childhood up till that time. So moving on from the gossiping and bitching to the swearing and fighting was an eye opener. How could I miss out on so much fun? But I sucked at cricket in the beginning; I wasn’t good enough for the gully level team also. The blame can be put on the days spent playing langdi, badminton, lock and key etc.
Three years was a long enough learning curve to get the basics right and move on to a different set of friends to play gully cricket with. In this gang it was a great feeling to be considered a better player as I was among friends of my age group, moving on from the kacha limbu tag I fancied earlier. This was the time I really started enjoying it, not only because the performance improved but also for the friends I made during my time playing the game. The games used to bring out the best and worst of our behaviour, this went a long way in forging very strong ties with others as we knew each other inside out. Fights still continue as everyone wants to win (whatever be the cost) every time we play but we never carry the baggage after the game; swear and make up that’s the funda, remove it from your system mate then and there.
Never realized when the flirtation transformed into love for the game. Even though the playing days have been reduced to the weekend and the occasional public holiday, this has not subdued my passion in any way whatsoever. I owe a lot to gully cricket.
Monday, March 1, 2010
The curious friendship of Dr. Watson
Hat's off to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the Sherlock Holmes short stories, haven't been able to get enough of it. But for all the hoopla and hype around Sherlock Holmes, I have been really fascinated by the other resident of 221B Baker Street, London, Dr. John Watson.
Sherlock Holmes is not only a detective par excellence and he tops it up with being a pugilist and many other eccentric attributes. So unlike Sherlock, Dr. Watson is very human like, nothing fancy about him, other than being a general practicing doctor. Nevertheless he is the glue that holds together Sherlock Holmes by being there for him. He also maintains a detailed record of all the cases that they have solved together (I wouldn't agree on that part as Dr. Watson's only contribution is to tag along with him to say the most).
The part which intrigues me most about their friendship is that Dr. Watson takes in his stride the condescending behaviour of Sherlock, and isn't even one bit affected by it. Neither does he have an inferior complex nor does he harbour any ill feelings towards Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes also needs him to express himself and bounce his theories off him, and also to show off his unique skills to the absolute astonishment of Dr. Watson.
Dr. Watson assists him in maintaining a detailed record of his cases and also in researching for the new ones. He also humours Sherlock when there are paucity of weird cases for him to take up and holds him when Sherlock drifts into cocaine induced spams. Sherlock also appreciates Dr. Watson's company when solving his cases and always acknowledges him as his partner in crime-solving.
Even though it is match of unequals as seen in many works of fiction, but their friendship looks the most credible and real like among all of them. Seems like every superhero needs a human friend to keep them in a lash. For all their invincibility!!!
Sherlock Holmes is not only a detective par excellence and he tops it up with being a pugilist and many other eccentric attributes. So unlike Sherlock, Dr. Watson is very human like, nothing fancy about him, other than being a general practicing doctor. Nevertheless he is the glue that holds together Sherlock Holmes by being there for him. He also maintains a detailed record of all the cases that they have solved together (I wouldn't agree on that part as Dr. Watson's only contribution is to tag along with him to say the most).
The part which intrigues me most about their friendship is that Dr. Watson takes in his stride the condescending behaviour of Sherlock, and isn't even one bit affected by it. Neither does he have an inferior complex nor does he harbour any ill feelings towards Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes also needs him to express himself and bounce his theories off him, and also to show off his unique skills to the absolute astonishment of Dr. Watson.
Dr. Watson assists him in maintaining a detailed record of his cases and also in researching for the new ones. He also humours Sherlock when there are paucity of weird cases for him to take up and holds him when Sherlock drifts into cocaine induced spams. Sherlock also appreciates Dr. Watson's company when solving his cases and always acknowledges him as his partner in crime-solving.
Even though it is match of unequals as seen in many works of fiction, but their friendship looks the most credible and real like among all of them. Seems like every superhero needs a human friend to keep them in a lash. For all their invincibility!!!
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