Category Archives: Baba Blog

Ever wondered what a museum dedicated entirely to the history of toilets would be like? If that peculiar question ever crossed your mind, you need to seek professional help! But if you really want to know, you can visit Sulabh in New Delhi, India or just browse this section of our website where we bring the museum onto your screens, virtually.

The Museum

Museums as repositories for the preservation and exhibition of the objects of historical, scientific and cultural interest are found all over the world. But rare are the museums that display the evolution of toilets and their various designs.

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the Founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, a pioneering non-profit voluntary organisation (NGO) in the field of Sanitation in India, envisioned the need for the setting up of a museum of toilets in the sprawling campus of his central office at Mahavir Enclave, Palam Dabri Road in New Delhi, India and has consultative status with Economic and Social Council of the U.N.The idea engaged his mind for long, eventually leading him to make hectic worldwide search for minutest details of the evolution of toilets, as also of various toilet designs used in different countries at different points of time. Sulabh International is grateful to the professionals, embassies and high commissions in setting up this museum by furnishing information on the subject and also providing details / photographs of various toilet designs used in their respective countries.

The Museum has been established with the following objectives :

• To educate students about the historical trends in the development of toilets;
• To provide information to researchers about the design, materials, and technologies adopted in the past and those in use in the contemporary world;
• To help policy makers to understand the efforts made by predecessors in this field throughout the world;
• To help the manufacturers of toilet equipment and accessories in improving their products by functioning as a technology storehouse; and
• To help sanitation experts learn from the past and solve problems in the sanitation sector.

I was so very pleased to receive the following custom-made birthday card posted to my Facebook page today from one of my fans.   I cannot express enough the deep gratitude that I feel from this kind gesture.

The only mystery to me is that my birthday is in November.

I’ve been told by many SmorgShow listeners that I am the best thing about the entire program and that they always fast forward to my section of the show.  Well I have very exciting news for these people.  I am so very proud to report that Mr. Steve Jobs and his very fine friends at the Apple company have approved yours truly for a new podcast series now available in the iTunes store.

Yes, that is correct… old man Baba has his very own show in iTunes.  If you have a favorite Baba story and just don’t know what episode of the SmorgShow it was from, look no further than Baba’s own show, “Not Just for Baba Anymore – The Wisdom and World View of Baba Gonesh“.  Subscribe to my show and you will hear such Baba favorites as “Thought for the Day”, “Comedy Camel”, “Love Poems”, “Indian Folk Tales”, and my new series, “Baba News”.

So take that…in your pants, Mr. Chris.   I have a show now too!!

– Peace, Baba

Hello everybody!  I have debuted a new feature on the SmorgShow Podcast this weekend.  I have decided to put on hold my famous folk tales that you have come to love over these last several months in exchange for more serious business.   I am now an official news correspondent for the SmorgShow Podcast.

There is a lot of turmoil in the world right now and as a result I have decided to present news from the homeland for the foreseeable future.

Listen to Episode 48 when I talk about the monkey catchers in India finally getting paid what they are worth.  Then there is a tragic story of a freakish man-eating elephant who devoured 17 human beings before being brought to his death.  Only old man Baba can deliver this type of news.   You cannot find this anywhere else in the media, so I hope you will tune in.   Hasta la vista, baby!

Peace, Baba

Actual Image from Surveillance Video

BREAKING NEWS: Your good friend and life coach Baba almost had his restaurant blown to smithereens!!   Some drunken fool came into my humble establishment and wanted a drink of water.   He was not a customer – he was just a drunk!   Our policy does not allow for free handouts even if it is only a glass of water.   My employees told him to get out of our place, and he left reluctantly.  But he later returned with a container full of disgusting urine and threw it over the counter and it broke all over.    We then threw him out of the restaurant again and called the police.   The filthy creature returned once again  with a container of gasoline and a match.   He tried to strike the match when a very honorable man who was a student of martial arts stepped forward and tackled the urine man.   The fight broke out with additional people trying to restrain the man who at this point was out of his mind and throwing chairs at my employees.

The police finally arrived and took the man away.    We thought we saw the last of him until the next day when he returned to apologize for being drunk.   He came back to look for his iPod which he had lost in the scuffle, which I have in my possession right now.   It was a very scary day for old man Baba.   I do not need this kind of aggravation in my later years.   I would like to thank my co-owner and shift manager Mohammed Malik for his quick thinking and for the brave customer for stepping out from behind the shadows to save the day.

CBS NEWS REPORTS

After the rave reviews I received for my Valentine’s Day poems last year,  I have prepared another segment of more very romantic, moving love poems for this year’s Valentine’s Day episode.   Please listen to episode 46 of the SmorgShow Podcast and you will have a very toasty feeling inside you.   My poems are enjoyed best when you are cuddled up together with that special someone.   If you do not have a special someone to share this with, that is perfectly fine as well.   As you listen to the soothing sounds of Baba’s voice, just imagine what it would be like to have someone in your arms if you were not so pathetically alone on yet another Valentine’s Day.

Peace, Baba

It was so nice to have my such dear friends out to my restaurant last weekend.    I purposely wanted them to wait coming to see my new establishment until I felt the place lived up to all my dreams and expectations.    I have been so busy over this past year creating an atmosphere that is welcoming and enjoyable for all ages.   If you have not done so already, please listen to episode #44 of the SmorgShow Podcast and listen to Chris, Ally, and Mr. Malauskas talk about all the wonderful dishes that the Hidden Palace serves up on a daily basis (except for Sundays when we are closed).

They did a pretty good job discussing the Indian culture and dining etiquette, so consider this episode to be an educational experience for all.    Until next time, I am Baba and I thank you for visiting my blog spot.

Peace, Baba
नमस्ते

Click for Compassion Website

Unfortunately I come to you today with a very solemn message.  Usually just the presence of old man Baba is enough to lighten a room.  Everyone looks forward to my uplifting stories from generations past.  Children rush up to me and gather around my robes as if I were a summer campfire.    Well, let me tell you why I am coming to you today in such a different manner.   While everyone is preparing for their holiday festivals and family gatherings, shopping for loved ones, and celebrating in whatever way that each of you wishes to, it is also very important to remember those who are not as fortunate.

Yes, this is a very charitable time of year.  Unfortunately, we tend to think about those less fortunate only around such time of year when everything else seems to be so abundant.    I am here to tell you about a situation that does not go away simply after the last of the eggnog is had, after the decorations are taken down and put away into storage for another year, or after you send off that final thank you note to a loved one for the generosity that they shared with you during the holidays.   I am here to talk to you about a very serious problem in my home country of India.

The problem is Child Survival:

• Were you aware that of all world’s malnourished children, nearly one in three lives in India, and about half of all childhood deaths are attributed to malnutrition?
• Did you know that in India where there is a population of almost 1.2 billion people, that 35% of the population lives below $1.00 per day?
• Of every 1,000 babies born alive, 52 die before the tender age of 1.
• Nearly half of all children younger than 5 are malnourished
• Every year in India, 1.5 million children die before their 5^th birthday because of unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, or poor hygiene.
• Nearly 30% of all newborns have a low birth weight
• About 46% of children younger than 3 are too small for their age
• 74% of children younger than 3 are affected by anemia
• Only 15% of mothers receive complete prenatal care

But there is some good news underneath all of these dire statistics that I have shared.   I would like to make you aware of an organization called Compassion International.   You can sponsor a child for just $38 per month which will go a long way to helping children in need.   By becoming a sponsor with Compassion International, local church partners provide nutritious food, prenatal care, health care, education, and faith for those in the most need of help.

Your tax-deductible contribution of just $38 a month connects your sponsored child with a loving, church-based child sponsorship program that provides:

• Food and Clean Water
• Medical Care
• Educational Opportunities
• Important life-skills training

When you sponsor a child, you will receive your child’s photo, personal story, and a child sponsorship packet by mail in approximately 15 days.   You will be able to correspond directly with your sponsored child through letters that both of you write to each other.   When children find out that they have been sponsored, the joy they feel is indescribable. Just knowing that someone across the globe cares means more than you can imagine.  Sponsoring a child will profoundly change the future for your child – and you.

I am providing you with a direct link to Compassion International where you can make a profound impact on the life of a child today.   God bless you and your generosity.

Peace, Baba
नमस्ते

Hello everybody!  I am sending this from Mumbai this week.  Be sure to listen to this week’s episode as I talk about the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.  You will learn all about Lord Ganesha.  Here is a photo of this year’s winner of the Ganesha statue contest.   It has been a wonderful vacation and I will be heading back to the U.S. next weekend.   It will be good to see how my restaurant is doing!

I am sorry for not posting in a few weeks.  It has been a very busy month at my Hidden Palace restaurant.  How much money I have had to invest in changing the name from Baba’s Village to the Hidden Palace on so many things, from menus to signage, from yellow page listings to employee paychecks!  What a nightmare.  But things seem to be falling into place.  I now need a holiday from it all!  I will be looking for a getaway very soon and will discuss travel options with Chris and Ally on our next week’s show.  Perhaps a beach vacation would be nice like the photo I have posted here.

In the meantime, make sure you download Episode 28 and enjoy one of my favorite childhood bed-time folktales as I tell the same to Chris and Ally.

Ahhh…it was nice to be back on the SmorgShow this weekend.  After a 3-week hiatus, Chris and Ally have returned from vacation and the show went on as scheduled.  I unfortunately was not able to be in the studio in person, but rather by phone.  I was busy working the streets and could not be there in the flesh.  That is, I was handing out new restaurant menus now that I have been legally forced to change the name of my eatery.    So Baba is back with a renewed lease on life.  My restaurant is called “The Hidden Palace – A taste of Baba!”  You can call it the Hidden Palace for short.  I got a lot of negative criticism from Chris and Ally about the taste of Baba part.  I explain what this means on the latest episode of the SmorgShow Podcast.  Download it today from iTunes!

This has been quite a week. I cannot believe the amount of frustration that I have inside me. Apparently there is another Baba’s Village in the city whose owner not only claims that I stole the name of his restaurant, but also that the bad reviews of my restaurant are causing harm to his business. It is a very messy situation and you can hear about everything on this week’s show. Download episode #25 of the SmorgShow Podcast at iTunes for more details.

On SmorgShow Podcast Episode 24, I debut my brand new commercial for my restaurant. It is updated to counter all the negative reviews I received a few weeks back. I have made substantial improvements to my establishment. Come see and taste the difference!!

My visit to the SmorgShow Studio yesterday was a short and simple one. I stopped by and delivered some strong-hitting camel jokes which went over extremely well with the show hosts Chris and Ally. They will be going on vacation in two weeks, so I am planning to make a pitch to them to let me host the show on July 31. Check out next week’s show to find out more!!

Peace, Baba
नमस्ते

Well, it has been a very difficult week for old man Baba. After receiving scathing restaurant reviews on last week’s podcast, I realized it was time for me to take matters into my own palms and grab the bull by the foot.

I had received many reviews concerning an employee of mine being very rude at the serving counter. So I made the decision to terminate the individual this week. She was actually a carry over from the previous owner (Nick’s Gyros and Red Hots). She seemed nice enough at the time, so I kept her on my staff. But she had since turned very ugly against the customer (and this is quite a feat since we have very ugly customers)! This is absolutely unacceptable and does not meet Baba’s standards. I do wish her very well in her next endeavor.

So I was not able to make the podcast in person this week, but I did call into the program. You can download SmorgShow Podcast 023 from iTunes or from www.smorgshow.com.

Thank you very much and I will talk to you all very soon.

Baba

On this Father’s Day, I can’t help but recall a favorite memory of mine. Once when I was a middle-aged man, oh so many years ago, my father and I went to a cricket game, a very popular sport in my homeland, while my infant son Ganesh stayed with my mother and fell asleep at their house. I didn’t get back to pick him up until 12:30 a.m., at which point I had to wake the poor child up and put him in the car seat for our ride home. He was really good about it, and fell back asleep for the majority of the 45-minute ride back to my home.

When we got home I grabbed him out of the car seat once again, at which point he got a little fussy. I don’t blame him, I woke him up out of a dead sleep twice and brought him out in the chilly weather. So as I’m carrying him up the walk to our front door through the early morning darkness, Ganesh turns to face me suddenly and says “DADA!!”

And then an amazing thing happened – he ripped not one, not two, but three extremely intense farts. These were LOUD. Maybe they were just amplified by the stillness and dead quiet of the wee morning, but all I know is he farted right on my arm and the vibrations carried all the way to my feet. If any seismologists want to know what that slight tremor was at 1:10 a.m. in the area of the Barnala District of Punjab, fear not! It was merely my son displaying his staggering gastrointestinal capabilities.

But the best part was the aftermath. After he farted, I was flat out impressed. Seriously, it was that good. So he farts, and then there’s this three second pause where I look at him incredulously and he looks at me as if to say “Whoa…did I just do that?” So we’re staring at each other, and then at the exact same time we both start laughing hysterically. Giggling like little kids, which is cool for him and possibly pathetic for me that I still find farts this funny at my age. And then we instinctly high-fived each other. Oh! It was an extremely touching moment for me, and a memory that I carry with me to this very day.

A monk was driving in India when suddenly a dog crosses the road. The car hit and killed the dog. The monk looked around and seeing a temple, went to knock on the door. A monk opened the door. The first monk said: “I’m terribly sorry, but my karma ran over your dogma.”

Another “Thought for the Day” for Downers Grove Community Access Channel CATV.

In this video, I provide simple tips to ensure you are fully prepared to have a perfect evening with that special someone.   This was a fun one to do for television because it is very visual and difficult to pull off on the radio.  Kudos to Mr. Fred Moore for having a painted mural of an Indian landscape in his collection of television studio props.

My very first “Thought for the Day” on video!  This was originally aired in 1982 on Downers Grove Community Access Channel CATV.   The story behind this was a good one.  It took three attempts over the course of three days to get this right.  So naturally, we had to throw away this hunk of meat with all the ingredients into the waste basket of the classroom.  I can only imagine what the nighttime janitor was thinking when he came across this on not one, not two, but THREE occasions!

Now that many years have passed, I can finally speak out negatively about the writers of this bit.  It was obviously an ignorant American who wrote this.  Had he done any bit of research on Indian culture, he for sure would have learned that the cow is sacred in my country.  We would never make a dish like this.  But since this was my first voiceover for a television skit, I sold my soul and agreed to read it as it was written for me.

This was my very first TV commercial that I did with Chris during his high school television class.  I had already been a regular feature on his radio show long before he teamed up with Dave Jackson on the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord.    For Chris’s project he needed to do a TV commercial.   I agreed to do the narration as long as I got free publicity for my product.  The young lad in this video is not me, I only do the voiceover.   I have since sold the brand name “Gonesh Cones” and have purchased my own restaurant in downtown Chicago.   In exchange, I believe Chris got an A+ for this effort.