Dinesh Kamath's General Cartoons

Dinesh Kamath talks about BABA NAGAR the place where he was born and grew up

I was born in one of the most interesting places of Bandra (West) and that place was Baba Nagar. Baba Nagar is located on St. Peter's Road, the road which connects Hill Road to the junction of three roads viz. Bazaar Road, Chapel Road and the road that goes to Mount Mary. I appeared in the womb of my mother when we were residing in Baba Nagar. I got born in Patkar Hospital which is somewhere near the famous Band Stand of Bandra (West). I spent a big part of my childhood and teens and youth in Baba Nagar. A small part of my childhood I spent at Vasco Da Gama in Goa. This place too was somewhat similar to Bandra (West).

Now Baba Nagar was a popular place in Bandra (West). Some even called it a notorious place. I'll tell you why. Baba Nagar was known for having variety of youngsters residing there. There were scholars, sportsmen and even few gangsters. A few youngsters of Baba Nagar who indulged in drug addiction and boozing did spoil the name of that place. But I personally belonged to the group of scholars as well as sportsmen. Now I was one of the very few youngsters who was not only a scholar but also a sportsman. Almost all the scholars of Baba Nagar were not sportsmen. And almost all the sportsmen of Baba Nagar were not scholars. I was one of those very few youth who was scholar-cum-sportsman. I excelled in academic studies as well as in sports.

Baba Nagar consisted of five blocks or buildings - A. B, C, D, E blocks. Each was a two-storeyed building. I lived in B Block. Another thing that I forgot to mention about Baba Nagar is it had a big number of Catholics as well as a big number of Hindus residing inside it. I remember that there was only one Muslim family residing in the entire Baba Nagar.

Baba Nagar boasted of having sent some of its youngsters to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). This colony had architects, doctors, scientists, technologists and other professionals too. This colony boasted of having contributed to schools, colleges, State and even Nation brilliant sportsmen - especially Hockey players. Baba Nagar Hockey Team was Hockey Champ. The only hockey team in entire Bandra that could give tough fight to Baba Nagar team was Bazaar Road team which also boasted of having hockey stalwarts. There would be Hockey Tournaments taking place every year at St Stanislaus ground which was just opposite Baba Nagar colony. The two teams that would most of the time clash in Finals were Baba Nagar team and Bazaar Road team.

This colony had a big playground which was entirely made of concrete. I've played games like cricket, hockey, football and badminton at this place. I've also played indoor games like chess, table tennis and carrom. I used to excel in any sport that I would undertake to play. Those were the days when we youngsters would play games together, study together, love each other and even fight with one another. Another special aspect of Baba Nagar was when any outsider or outsiders proved to be the threat to someone in Baba Nagar then all the youngsters would unite to negotiate that outsider or those outsiders. As far as sports is concerned, I regret for never having attempted to play Lawn Tennis and learn swimming.

During my school days, most of the boys of Baba Nagar went to the nearby St Stanislaus school My brother and I were two of the few who went to St Theresa's High School. Both these schools were boys' schools. The girls of this colony would go to convent schools nearby which were meant for only fair sex. One thing I forgot to mention is Baba Nagar boasted of possessing beautiful girls. Some were real class beauties. The colony had handsome boys too. Another thing about this colony that needs mention is all the youngsters of my time would communicate with each other in English language. So the colony even boasted of possessing many scholars in English language.

If you go to Baba Nagar today you'll find that most of the youths of my time have left the place and have gone to stay at places which has much more space. But I'm sure that none of them must have yet forgotten their young days which they spent in a very colourful colony called Baba Nagar. Today Baba Nagar no more possesses the charm and colour that it possessed during my young days. That's sad! Bye!

Dinesh Kamath is a member of Film Writers' Association

For your information, I am a member of Film Writers' Association. How did I become the member of this Association. Well, In 1995, I happened to write an interesting film script. I approached some Bollywood film producers with the script but it was rejected. I didn't lose heart. I kept on trying to sell my script. One producer whose name was Liaqatullah liked my script so much that he bought the script and paid me a reasonably good amount. He made me sign a contract paper so that I don't sell the script to anybody else. With the help of this contract paper I could become a member of Film Writers' Association. One of the rules of this association is that you can become its member only if you have managed to sell at least one film script of yours. I satisfied that requirement and hence I became a member of the association which boasts of having many prominent writers of film industry as its members. Those writers include even Javed Akhtar, one of the legendary film writers I became the member of Film Writers' Association in 1995 and even today I'm its member. This association protects the copyright of your film script by registering it. Nobody else then can steal you work. I would like to remain a member of Film Writers' Association lifelong. My ambition is to write still more film scripts and I would like one or few or all my scripts become big hits like Salim-Javed's Zanjeer, Deewar, Shakti, Trishul, Sholay etc. Will this dream of mine materialize? Let's wait and see! Bye

Dinesh Kamath talks about his success and his ambitions

I do feel like a successful journalist today. But I'm not satisfied with just this much success. I want to be still more successful. I have achieved success just at the local level. My ambition is to become a National celebrity after which I would like to make it big internationally.

I have written for my newspaper more than 1200 columns on Movie and TV (each column has around 1000 words). I've written all these columns under my name. I've organised all these works and converted them into seven volumes of books. I'm making attempts to sell these books to the right publisher who will be in a position to pay me a good sum and also distribute my books all over the nation and also all over the world. These books can be considered as History of Bollywood and TV. The book contains quite a big number of articles on Hollywood too. So I am expecting these books to become quite a big hit not only in India but also in the entire world if only a good publisher decides to print, publish and distribute them in a big way.

I have also got my political cartoons on Alooramji converted into six volumes of books. These cartoons are around 1200 in number. I'm sure these books too will be bought in a big way all over the nation and probably all over the world, again if only a publisher undertakes to publish and distribute them. Next, I have a good number of children cartoons on Puno converted into five volumes of books. These cartoons are around 1000 in number and show promise of getting sold both in national and international markets. Lastly I've got all my brainteasers too compiled into book forms and they too can find market at both national and international level.
I forgot something. Here it is. When the Daily newspaper 'Newsband' was a weekly called 'In New Bombay' I had written 33 articles on useful tips, 50 humorous articles and 41 children stories. I had written all three of them under three different pen names of mine and I've made three books out of all three of them. All the three books show promise of getting sold in a big way in both national and international markets if only the right publisher agrees to print, publish and distribute them.

So now I'm just waiting to come across the right publisher who can help me get all these works of mine published and distributed in a big way. In case these books get sold I'm expecting to earn quite a big sum by virtue of which I will be in a position to start my own publishing house. My ambition is to start a newspaper or magazine and publish books too if I can get reasonably good money out of selling the above-mentioned books of mine. Just one good publisher can make all the difference to my life. Many readers of my works that appear in Navi Mumbai's daily newspaper Newsband have suggested to me that I should make it national and international and not be just content with local fame since they have found that I possess the potential to become both national and international celebrity. I thank these readers of mine for giving me such a useful suggestion, and their love and encouragement makes me feel confident that I will surely succeed in making it very big in the publishing world in the future. I am looking forward to continuing winning the love and affection of my readers in the future too. It is they who have made me a local celebrity and it is they again who are inspiring me to make it big both nationally and internationally. I will ever feel very grateful to them and I hope that they'll continue showering on me their love and affection even in the future. Bye!

Dinesh Kamath confesses why he resigned from Indian Customs

I was never interested in working for Indian Customs. I landed there when my dad, who was an intelligence officer over there, expired and I was offered the job under the quota reserved for children of custom officials who die while on duty. I had no problem performing the duties of a custom official but I just didn't like the job. I had always dreamt of and had worked towards becoming a journalist or film actor. But I never had imagined that I would land in a place like Customs. Throughout the 14 years during which I worked there I felt guilty that I was doing a job that I had acquired owing to my dad and not due to my own merit. I never liked that feeling. There were people who said that I could do nothing on my own. I would feel like proving them wrong. And today I have indeed succeeded in proving them wrong by becoming a successful journalist by my own merit. Every moment while I was working in customs I was searching for reasons to quit that job. I found the reason in the year 1996. I had come in contact with a maker of B-grade films, Pappu Yadav, with the help of Custom clearing agent (Import), Shafique. Pappu Yadav had his office at Ranjit Studio, Dadar (East). I invested a big amount for a film that Pappu Yadav was making. After the film was made it did great business and I got double the amount that I had invested. I became adventurous. I decided to go for film producing in a big way. I submitted a resignation letter to the Commissioner of Customs. Then I invested on three films that Pappu Yadav was going to make. This time I put in more than 80 percent of the money I had. I thought I would surely make roaring profit after which I could go on to invest in A grade Bollywood films. I was also dreaming of using in a big way my film script writing and film acting abilities along with film producing power. But I was shocked when the three films flopped extremely badly. One fetched me only ten percent of the money I had invested. The second fetched me five percent. While the third fetched me just twelve percent. I was almost bankrupt It was then that I regretted having left the Customs job. I had submitted my resignation letter on March 1996. It was in January 1997 that I went to Customs to withdraw my resignation letter. But to my horror my resignation was already accepted somewhere in May. Nobody had cared to intimate me about this. There was a rule that you can get the resignation withdrawn if you submit an application for withdrawal of resignation within certain period of time after the resignation is accepted. But it was too late for me. But I did apply for withdrawal of resignation immediately after I got the information that my resignation was accepted. I had a strong point that I was not intimated by Customs about my resignation having been accepted. But the Customs authorities refused to withdraw my resignation. I then made a case against Customs at Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). I was represented by a husband-and-wife couple who were both lawyers. The case went on for four years after which I got a verdict against me. I could have gone to High Court and appealed. But I was in no mood to waste my time and money. I appealed directly to the President of India who after taking a lot of time gave the verdict against me. I was expecting a reply from secretary of Indian President but it was someone from Customs Board who sent the rejection letter on behalf of the President. The thing is this court case and other procedures wasted my five precious years. Now I had to do service since I had no money left to start my own business. I did get offers from Customs Clearing Agencies but I rejected those offers since I didn't want anything to do with Customs. Then I did a course in accountancy and tried to be an accountant. I did medical transcription course and tried to be a medical transcriptionist. But both my attempts failed. I even tried to be film and TV actor but in vain. I tried all possible things to get myself employed once again but in vain. I then joined National Industrial Security Agency (NISA) and I got a job of a security officer/supervisor. This job I did for one and half years after which I got a big break as a journalist in weekly newspaper of Navi Mumbai, IN NEW BOMBAY which is now a daily newspaper called NEWSBAND. The rest was history! Now I've no fear of being jobless anytime in my life. I brought myself to this position by my own merit and not with the help of anybody. I feel triumphant today! Bye!

Dinesh Kamath's poem which he wrote when he was in Sathaye College

I'll pass on to you a poem which I had written during my college days. I had a tough time recollecting the poem but somehow I managed to remember the poem. I was in Sathaye College which was called 'Parle College' at that time and this poem was displayed on the English section of the notice board of that college. I hope you'll like the poem.

SHE

By Dinesh Kamath

I saw her at the Bandra railway station

Drawing towards her many a man's attention

For she was indeed a centre of attraction

Holding my breath in a gripping tension

Her beauty, charm, poise and grace

Left me in a stupendous daze

Which was but natural at my age

Being at the prime of my youth's stage

Suddenly a man emerged from the crowd

'Hi Sweety' to her he growled aloud

She gave him a very sweet smile

And spoke to him in a loving style

This was more than I could bear

But all I could do was give the man a cold stare

For a long time he kept speaking to her

But, to my relief, atlast alone he left her

The train arrived at the station

I was in a state of great tension

The train stopped, my heart beat faster

To catch this train will she bother

Quickly she entered the crowded train

leaving me behind in agony and pain

The train left, I could see her no more

Life now again was a Big Bore!

Dinesh Kamath says success is how much you contribute to the society and not how much society gives you in return

What is success? This question reminds me of a man who resided in a backward country. I don't want to name the country since I don't want to insult it. This man was a writer. He had written a great amount and all his works were also published under his name. In fact he had written more than any of his countrymen had ever written. But he was poor since he was very meagerly paid for his works. He however had a big number of readers who appreciated his works. This writer had no car, no proper house to live in, no luxuries of life. He lived like an ordinary man. But yet he would go around saying that he was the most successful man. One critic of his casually asked him, "You have practically nothing. You have no money, no bungalow, no car, no any kind of luxury. Then how is that you call yourself a successful man?" The writer replied, " I have the proof of all that I have contributed to my society. I call myself successful on that basis." The writer took the critic to his humble home and showed him a huge heap of his written works which were all published under his name. The writer then told the critic, "These are the contributions made by me to the society. I agree with you that society hardly paid me anything in return. But success of a man is judged by how much he or she contributes to the society and not how much the society pays him or her back." The writer further said, " If I had to be in one of the advanced countries of the West and if I had to contribute the same amounts of works over there I would have become a billionaire. My name would also have been recommended for a Nobel prize. So now you understand, my dear friend, why I call myself successful. I believe that success of a person is judged by how much he contributes to the society and not how much society pays him in return." The critic was not convinced. He asked, "But what about the quality of the work? I agree that you have produced a huge quantities of works. But are they of good quality?" The writer replied, "That is for the reading public to decide." He then showed a heap of letters of appreciation that he received from the members of reading public. His readers had showered on him lots of praises and had greatly appreciated the high quality of his works. The critic had nothing to say now. He had to admit that the writer had every right to call himself successful. He also realized that success is indeed decided by how much you contribute to the society and not by how much the society pays you in return for your services. Bye!