Speechless!

He seemed to be in his late Seventies...

2011-12-31T02:09:00.000+05:30

...Wee hours of a sudden chilly Calcutta morning...A busy traffic signal...I had donned the usual ear phones listening to the Radio....I glanced at the traffic lights and started crossing the road on seeing it glow red, when suddenly an SUV (I used to be pretty good with the different makes of cars when I was young, but they suddenly started changing at a rate at which I could no longer keep up) while taking a U-turn slowed down a couple of feet away from me...I took a closer look to find an aged man tepidly crossing the road...His pace was slow and there were two reasons...One, he seemed to be in his late seventies and two, he was carrying a thick chunk of plywood of the size of a table top - pretty heavy and awkward shaped...

A spotlessly clean white Kurta-pajama, an Olive Green half-sleeved sweater and an off-white shawl...he belonged to a well-to-do family. Then why was he......? I crossed the road with him thinking that he would be somebody's father...probably of a girl child who got married and is well-settled with her husband away from her city or country....or of a boy...who made his parents proud by making it big in life...so big that it keeps him away from an aged father who has to buy his own medicines when he falls sick, has to regularly visit the market to buy vegetables, has to (may be) depend on a rickshaw, a bus, a taxi or a driver for a transport.

There is a saying in Hindi which goes :-

Samajhdaar ke liye ishaara kaafi hai

which means, A hint is enough for someone who is intelligent...

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Ami joto boli tobe...ebar je jete hobe...

Duware daraye bole...Na na na...

O je mane na mana

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A Leader should know how to manage failure - APJ Abdul Kalam

2011-12-14T22:07:00.000+05:30

(Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum, Philadelphia, March 22,2008)

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam:

Let me tell you about my experience.

In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's 'Rohini' satellite into orbit by 1980.

I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Sottish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, 'You conduct the press conference today.

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

Source: http://faisalmb.com/blog/post/A-Leader-Should-Know-How-to-Manage-Failure-Management-Lesson.aspx

Weak in the knees - Series

2011-08-29T14:03:00.001+05:30

With this post, I start a new series,
About things that make me go weak in the knees....

It is my dream to have an entire cupboard full of STILETTOS.....

Aaj rang hai...

2011-06-22T18:07:00.005+05:30

The first time I heard this song back in 2004, I was still in college or had just enrolled myself into my Masters and I vividly remember standing spellbound in front of the stereo set throughout the entire rendition and towards the end of the song, couldn’t hold back my tears.

The song is like a live story but with two sides. One side of it is being happily expressed by Sadhna Sargam and the contrast being narrated by Ustad Sultan Khan. I haven’t seen the movie hence I do not know about the situation of the song, the female voice is all excited but confused about a certain change in life she’s going through (probably that of being in love or getting married) and the vocals along with the accompaniments show that passionate merrymaking all around.

A tuneful Shehnai ushers in the more mature part of the lyrics and the not-so-happy part that talks about “Mere mehbubi ke ghar rang hai ri”.

Just like a smile reaches a high-pitched laughter, like a choking throat leads to severe weeping, like all tiny things in life reach a crest with time, this song also arrives at its crescendo.

Then there is submission at its peak.

“Allah ka pyaara wo toh

Jag ujiyaara wo toh…”

When you pray and when you call upon God, you need not know the language, you need not know the religion, you just surrender (Strange, but you also don’t need to know how to surrender).

People die in the name of religion. The Crusades, The Jihads and the likes keep telling us that same story…but is Thanking HIM any different in any religion? Is crying in front of Him any different?

One of my favorite songs:

Movie: Maqbool

Vocals: Sadhna Sargam and Ustad Sultan Khan

Music Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Lyricist: Gulzar

Just a little bit more....

2011-06-18T22:43:00.002+05:30

I know it's not fair to expect someone to feel someway for me, to expect that HE would understand when I don't even know where HE is and what HE is cooking up for me...but as I continue to make the same unfair mistake over and over and as I continue to stick my head out of the window trying to look at what is coming ahead, ignoring the lamp posts in the way, I can only sit back and think lazily about the strange number....ticking behind my mind and continuously whining to HIM..."Why me...When me (and louder still)...Why can't I see?"

It is like looking at a beautiful chocolate syrup dripping from an unseen container at the top and falling on the freshly iced chocolate cake, kept right beside a few dollops of heavenly-white vanilla ice-cream ready to be pounced upon and then realizing that you are sitting on the wrong side of the TV.

I couldn't decide on a Title for this one

2011-06-07T13:09:00.002+05:30

I have been watching a lot of movies lately and quite a couple of them have been about real incidents from the Holocaust (Greek word, meaning "whole burnt". It was the bureaucratic, state sponsored persecution and murder of approximately 6 million Jews during the Nazi regime).

Infants to the old, sick to the healthy, rich to the poor, almost about two-thirds of all Jews residing in Europe were massacred during that time.

While searching for "What happened to the children?" I found this over the net:-

In Holocaust Testimonies, edited by Joseph J. Preil, the survivor Aaron Schwartz recalls Plaszow and the slaughter of the Cracow ghetto:

"When I came to Plaszow the first day, they put me in a group where we were digging a huge grave .. they brought in trucks, with children, from infant to twelve years old. They were all killed .. when the children were brought in, they were shot, right in that grave ..
A little girl, a beautiful blond girl, sat down in the grave, dressed in an Eskimo white fur coat, was all bloody, and asked for a little bit of water .. this child swallowed so much blood, because it was shot in the neck. And then it started to vomit so terribly. And then it lay down and it says, "Mother, turn me around, turn me around." ..
This child did not know what happened to it. It was shot, it was half-dead after it was shot. And this child sat down in the grave, among all the corpses, and asked for water .. it was still alive. There was no mother, just children brought from the Cracow ghetto.
So this little girl lay down, and asked to be turned around. What happened to it? I do not know. It was probably covered alive, with chlorine .. I am sure, because they did not give another shot to that girl .."

Over one million children under the age of sixteen died in the Holocaust - she was one of them ...

Oh God!! I love movies...

2011-05-31T13:19:00.005+05:30

At 1 in the morning today, I had this strange realization, that fantasy and/or period movies are far better when compared to any other genre movies, particularly Hollywood flicks. Well, here’s my take on it.

Warning: Do not attempt to watch back-to-back Hollywood movies if you are staying away from home and living in a hostel.

I mean, they are always EATING in films. WHY?

In case it is a romantic movie – They obviously eat out on dates.

In case it is an action movie – They are eating when they are not taking part in action.

In period or fantasy movies, they show kings burdened with the ruling of a country which is at war or the central protagonist (usually, for whatever reasons – unclean) on some quest and in each of those cases either do not get the time or the suitable environment to dine properly and even if they are shown to be eating food, it is usually a large, fat roasted pig/chicken/some other animal, which would be eaten in the most unmannerly of fashions and you would rather prefer watching it being eaten than wanting to eat it yourself.

Contrary to this, the other genre movies are ALWAYS showing the central protagonist or whoever is visible on screen gorging in awesome food. From the clink-clink of the cutlery to the greens and the reds and the browns of the food stuck on them to the steam issuing out of it followed by the completely satiated expressions on their faces screams at you – “Mmm, I am eating and you are either paying or staying awake to watch me eat (and probably feeling hungry at the same time)”. How’s that? Are these eating scenes specifically added into the movies for the Cineplex audiences, such that they feel the urge to munch and order for food at the theatres? I do not know.

The first movie I watched tonight was The Holiday, where the characters would eat occasionally and the second movie was Oceans Eleven – Brad Pitt was shown to be eating, in nearly ALL the scenes. While searching for the above picture over the net, I found a comment thread on “Why is Brad Pitt always eating in all the Oceans movies?”

So, what did I do as a result (of the terrible frustration accompanied by the massive appetite it caused me)? At precisely 12:45 a.m. I pressed the pause button on my laptop (just as Julia Roberts was about to devour something delicious from the white Chinaware in a Las Vegas restaurant), went to the kitchen on the third floor carrying with myself a packet of Maggi Vegetable Sweet Corn Soup and made myself a part of it.

On my way down the dark staircase, I met this love-stricken young lady, whispering sweet nothings into her mobile phone, cursed her for almost tripping down along with the bowl of hot soup in my hand on her plugged-in charger coil. She reminded me of having crossed that age when I could sit on the staircase, oblivious to the number of buzzing and biting mosquitoes swarming around me and going on talking or listening to my “Prince Charming”….

Oh God! I love movies, or do I?

THE CENTENARY POST, dedicated to - The Place, The Language and Her People - BENGAL

2011-05-09T12:35:00.011+05:30

আমি আর স্পীচলেস, স্পীচলেস এর শততম পোস্টটিতে আপনাদের স্বাগত জানাই।

এটি রচনা করার আগে আমি কিছু সময় পোস্ট টির বিষয় সম্বন্ধে ভেবেছি, আর বিষয় যেহেতু “বাংলা ভাষা” তাই স্বদেশীয় ভাষা তেই পোস্ট টি সম্পূর্ণ করব বলে মনস্থির করেছি। বিগত দুই বছর আমি কলকাতা ছেড়ে রাজস্থানে পড়াশোনা করছি, এখানে এসে হিন্দিতে একটু পাকাপক্ত হয়েছি আর যত বাঙালির সাথে কথা বলেছি, ততই অবাক হয়েছি এই দেখে, যে তারা বাংলা ভাষার থেকে দূরে বহু দূরে চলে যাচ্ছে। গতকাল টেলিফোনের মাধ্যমে আমার দুই বান্ধবীর সাথে কথা বলছিলাম, একজনের একটি প্রশ্নের উত্তরে আমি “ক্রমশ প্রকাশ্য” বলাতে দেখলাম যে সে, সেই কথাটি উচ্চারন করতে গিয়ে দুবার হোঁচট খেলো। কনভেন্ট স্কুলে আমরা সকলেই পড়াশোনা করেছি কিন্তু ভেবে খারাপ লাগে যে বাংলা ভাষাটি, যেটি কি না আমাদের মাতৃভাষা, সেটি’র থেকে নিজেকে বিচ্ছিন্ন্প্রায় করতে বসেছি। ভেবে আরও ভয় করল যে আমার এই বান্ধবীটি একটি সদ্য-জাত শিশুর মা। আমাদের আগামী প্রজন্ম বাংলা ভাষা বলতে পারবে তো? বঙ্কিমচন্দ্র না হয় নাই বা পড়ল, সুকুমার রায় পড়বে তো?

মানছি, যে রবীন্দ্রনাথ সহস্র তে একজন, কিন্তু ভেবে দেখুন তো, যে সময় মিডিয়া র এত দৌরাত্রি ছিল না, সেই সময় তেও তিনি বাংলা ভাষায়ে গদ্য, কাব্য, সংগীত ইত্যাদি রচনা করে বিশ্ব-জোড়া ক্ষ্যাতি অর্জন করেছিলেন। আজ রবীন্দ্রনাথের দেড়শত জন্মজয়ন্তী উপলক্ষে এই যে এত ধুমধাম, এত কর্মযজ্ঞ, তারই সৃষ্টির মাধ্যমে এই যে তার স্মৃতি-চারণ করা, সেটি বাংলা সাহিত্যের প্রতি তার অসামান্য অবদানেরই পরিচয় মাত্র। সত্যজিৎ রায় এর কটি ইংরাজি কাজ আছে বলুন দেখি, তাও তাকে আবাল-বৃ্দ্ধ-বণিতা সকলে একবাক্যে নমন জানায়। উপেন্দ্রকিশোর রায় চৌধুরী বাংলা ভাষায় শিশু সাহিত্যের সৃষ্টি করেছিলেন আর সেই ধারা পরবর্তি প্রজন্মের লেখক/লেখিকারা অব্যাহত রেখেছেন। অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর, সুকুমার রায়, রাজশেখর বসু, লীলা মজুমদার ইত্যাদি আরও বহু রচয়িতার অনুদান অপরিসীম।

এই স্বল্প পরিসরের মাঝে যাঁদের উল্ল্যেখ বাদ পড়ে গেলো তাঁরা এবং তাদের অনুগামী’রা আমায় নিজগুণে ক্ষমা করবেন। তবে এখানে আমার এক বান্ধবী’র কথা না লিখে পারছিনা। নাম তার প্রিয়াঙ্কা, বাবা অবসরপ্রাপ্ত উচ্চপদস্থ বেসরকারী কর্মচারী। বাবা’র কর্মসূত্রে প্রিয়াঙ্কা কখনও কোলকাতা আবার কখনও বা হায়দেরাবাদ এ থেকে পড়াশুনা করেছে, এবং প্রথম পত্র ইংরিজি হলেও দ্বিতীয় পত্র হিন্দি নিয়ে পাশ করেছে, কিন্তু তথাকথিত অনেক এই-প্রজন্মের-বাঙ্গালীর চাইতে অনেক বেশি বাংলা ভাষায়ে সে স্বচ্ছন্দ্য। বলতে বাধা নেই, যে বিভূতিভূষণ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় এর “চাঁদের পাহাড়” আজ থেকে চার বছর আগে ওই আমার হাতে তুলে দিয়েছিল। আর সবশেষে যাকে ধন্যবাদ না জানালে আমার এই সামান্য প্রয়াসটি বৃথা থেকে যাবে, তিনি অতি অবশ্যই আমার মা, যিনি হাতে ধরিয়ে এই ভাষাটি’ র সঙ্গে আমার পরিচয় করিয়ে দিয়েছিলেন, যিনি এই অতলস্পর্শি সাহিত্য সম্ভারের সাথে আমার যোগসূত্র ও ভালোবাসা স্থাপন করে দিয়েছিলেন। হয়ত সেইজন্যই স্বদেশীয় ভাষাকে মাতৃভাষা বলা হয় (মাদারস ডে তে আমার মায়ের উদ্যেশ্যেও এই লেখাটি উৎসর্গিত)। আর সেই সকল গুরুজনদের, যারা কোনও না কোনও অনুষ্ঠানে আমার হাতে একটি-দুটি করে বাংলা বই তুলে দিয়েছিলেন।

আজকের দুনিয়ায় বন্ধুর বড় অভাব। ছোটদের হাতে তাই বন্ধুরূপী গল্পের বই তুলে দিন। দুটি ইংরিজি বই এর ফাঁকে একটি “চাঁদের পাহাড়” অথবা একটি “রাজ কাহিনী” অথবা একটি “প্রফেসর শঙ্কু” তুলে দিন। বঙ্গ সাহিত্যের এই মনি-মুক্তা খচিত সুবিশাল ভাণ্ডারের সাথে তাদের পরিচয় করিয়ে দিন। বড় হয়ে আপনাকেই ধন্যবাদ জানাবে তারা।

Looking back...

2011-04-30T13:05:00.004+05:30

I have no regrets..because whenever I loved or liked...I always said so...
Whenever I saw others happy...I was equally happy,
Whenever I saw others sad...I understood...
Whenever I was hurt...my parents always said "Think again, may be you were wrong"....so I got sad and complained that they did not understand...but I also got a chance to better myself.....

I hope people who love, who have less hatred in their hearts and HE would understand...

Image source: http://v-imagine-l.deviantart.com/art/White-flowers-125098943

Secrets of a Girls' hostel revealed....

2011-04-28T19:52:00.011+05:30

As I am on the verge of packing-my-bags-again mode, I look back at the 2 years spent in a girls' hostel for the first time in my life and thought sharing a couple of funny-secrets might turn out to be an interesting read.

ME: Aunty, (our warden, a very nice lady)...how long has this hostel (PG actually) been in existence?
AUNTY: As a girls' hostel, 14 years...
ME: You mean..it was something else previously?
AUNTY: Yes...it used to be a boys' hostel before...
ME: ...and which of the two (boys/girls) do you think is easier to manage, aunty? :)
AUNTY: Oh...Sun..Reeta (That's also how my name is pronounced :) )....don't ask...it's always the boys...
ME: What difficult?
AUNTY: oh no no no...easier...much easier to manage I tell you... :) (Provided there are no girls' hostels in the vicinity :) )
ME: Ha ha ha...and why do you say so Aunty? What do the girls do wrong?
AUNTY: Ha ha ha...It would be easier for me to tell you what the boys do right.. :)

Ahem...now before the men start feeling all jubilant let me cut it here....

Observations:
It's almost always common to hear someone or the other screaming..reasons being lizards, flying cockroaches, rats, squirrels, birds' nests containing newly hatched eggs, even other girls ;)

There would never be boys around, but even then you would hear "I Love You's", "Sweethearts" "Darlings" being exchanged...(well it's somewhat like a female-version of the friendly-hurling-of-abuses that men exchange in each sentence which we women do not understand..(Info Courtesy: T, A , and Hangover :))...)

You can never lay your hands on the T.V. remote control...I have been lucky enough to operate it thrice in the last 2 years and received a lot of disgusting looks for watching TLC, Man vs Wild..etc...because it is usually the "Saans Bahu" serials that they would be interested in...

FIFA world cup final....I sense a general excitement in all the women...I finish my dinner early so that I can catch the closing ceremony et al...when I reach the mess...they were all watching Star Screen Awards....and cheering Shilpa Shetty :)

There would be springs of laughter and oceans of tears, There would be strong shoulders and also patient ears...
Jealous looks...sharp and very very fowl words...
But there would also be unspoken connections and never to be broken cords...

Let it rain...Let it rain...Let it rain...

2011-03-30T21:42:00.002+05:30

In the Sun...
I couldn't have waited so long in vain...

Despicable Me... ;)

2011-03-22T23:10:00.005+05:30

Despicable Me Lyrics (Pharrell Williams)

I'm having a bad bad day
its about time that I get my way
steam rolling whatever i see, huh
despicable me
I’m having a bad bad day
if you take it personal that's ok,
watch this is so fun to see, huh
despicable me

Why ask why better yet why not
Why are you marking x on that spot
Why use a blow torch isn’t that hot?
Why use a chainsaw is that all you got
Why do you like seeing people in shock
But my question to you is why not
Why go to the back and stand in line
Just use a freeze gun it saves me time

I'm having a bad bad day
it's about time that I get my way
steam rolling whatever i see, huh
despicable me
I’m having a bad bad day
if you take it personal that's ok,
watch this is so fun to see, huh
despicable me

Sometimes...

2011-03-12T21:37:00.004+05:30

You have to stand alone,
to prove that you can still stand...

Pre Marital Syndrome

2011-03-04T01:26:00.003+05:30

Let me first clarify: This is by no means related to me or about what I am going through. It is an entry about all that I have observed in the recent past in others, right before they were tying-the-knot.

I have celebrated more than 10 wedding ceremonies in the last 4-5 years and all of them of very close friends and/or relatives (mostly that of ladies’ and some men). The close association with the soon-to-be-married people enabled me to minutely detect the psychological alterations they had gone through superficially (because what you feel inside can only be understood by you) a couple of months right ahead of the wedding. Let me add, this might turn out to be a very sensitive piece of blog post but I can no longer control my urge to type this down.

First the one’s who managed it in a matured way.

Hundred percent of those who had stuck to that one person since the time they had fallen in love, have come out as clear winners. Most of those years of togetherness have taught them the art of being humble. These are the ones who suddenly grow up and maturate before D Day. No matter who they have brought home to their parents have been initially probably rejected or disliked. That’s the way parents are, they feel they can decide the best for their child and s/he is still too young to choose a life partner and so is bound to be wrong. The torments both go through, teach them the ground realities. These people do not pass false comments and learn to celebrate their parents’ nod or concession in the most humble and pleasant manners together with everyone around. They have their feet firmly rooted to the grounds.
Now for their counterparts, who shoot up to space and weave an imaginary and non-existent cocoon of their own.

The not so lucky ones in matters controlled by Cupid are mostly those that completely lose it. They are blinded by the entrance of that special person in their lives and end up neglecting and sometimes mistreating others in relation. A feeling of elation in graduating by some means enter their souls and they start believing that they posses the power to comment and take decisions on less luckier people. Most of them end up messing things at home and outside, in the present as well as in the future.

Let us pray:
Dear Lord Almighty, please grant us the uncontrollable piece of mind to be at peace
And empower us with the extra tablespoon of patience to bear the latter kind of relatives and friends.
Allow us to go deaf and dumb till the day they are declared Man and Wife
And deliver us from the temptations to throw back at them until then.

Amen

Creativity strikes at 2

2011-02-05T02:52:00.003+05:30

Jaipur, 2:10 a.m

Strategic Business Management: name of the subject I am supposed to write a test on in exactly 10 minutes less than 12 hours time. Have been going through a lot lately and could not find a reason to blog. Well, not the right time practically to write now but there's no knowing when creativity strikes.

'Just took a break from studying and decided to watch Dhobi Ghat, which was stored in my D drive for quite some time now.

"A 90 minute movie that does not have a story...boring...couldn't understand when it began and when it or how it ended...." was what I had heard about this movie.

I just finished watching it. Creativity is contagious I gess. I am blogging...

Dhobi Ghat is an art film having some spectacular artwork.

Beginning with the photography, the frames, where they show "A movie by Kiran Rao" followed by the terrace scene displaying "Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)" - Tushar Kanti Ray, the director of photography.
A film that had all the actors performing stupendously and not just Amir Khan.
The guitar pieces played in the background.
The Tthumri.
The story (um sorry..the diaries).
The silent life of Arun.
The black and white stills - Jyotika Jain.
Yasmin Noor and her three letters.
Munna, his life and his dreams
Shai

If you haven't stopped expecting good art movies being made, this one is for you. Go watch it!

I loved Dhobi Ghat...You tell me....Did you?

At the receiving end...

2010-12-07T16:37:00.003+05:30

Aaro aaro Probhu aaro aaro....

Tujjhe bhula diya oo...

2010-12-07T14:39:00.003+05:30

Music Director - Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani
Lyricists - Kumaar, Vishal Dadlani
Singers - Mohit Chauhan, Shekhar Ravjiani, Shruti Pathak

Naina laggeyan baarashan
Tu sukke sukke sapne vi pijj gaye
Naina laggeyan baarishan
Rove palkan de kone vich neend meri

Naina laggeyan baarishan
Hanju digde ne chot lage dil te
Naina laggeyan baarishan
Rut birha de badlan di chhaa gayi

Kaali kaali khaali raaton se
Hone lagi hai dosti
Khoya khoya in raahon mein
Ab mera.. kuch bhi nahi
Har pal har lamha
Main kaise sehta hoon
Har pal har lamha
Main khud se yeh kehta rehta hoon

Tujhe bhula diya oo
Tujhe bhula diya oo
Tujhe bhula diya oo
Phir kyun teri yaadon ne
Mujhe rula diya.. oo
Mujhe rula diya .

Teri yaadon mein likhe jo
Lafz dete hai sunaai
Beete lamhe poochhte hain
Kyun hue aise juda.. khuda
Khuda mila jo yeh faasla hain
Khuda tera hi yeh faisla hain
Khuda hona tha woh ho gaya
Jo tune tha likha

Kaali kaali khaali raaton se
Hone lagi hai dosti
Khoya khoya in raahon mein
Ab mera.. kuch bhi nahi
Har pal har lamha
Main kaise sehta hoon
Har pal har lamha
Main khud se yeh kehta rehta hoon

Tujhe bhula diya oo
Tujhe bhula diya oo
Tujhe bhula diya oo
Phir kyun teri yaadon ne
Mujhe rula diya.. oo
Mujhe rula diya .

Naina laggeyan baarishan
Tu sukke sukke sapne vi pijj gaye
Naina laggeyan baarishan
Rut birha de badlan di chhaa gay

Dol pal tujh se juda thha,
Aise phir rasta muda thha,
Tujh se main khone laga,
Juda jaise hone laga,
Mujh se kuch mera

Tu hi mere liye abb kar dua,
Tu hi is dard se kar de juda,
Tera hoke tera jo main na raha,
Main yeh khud se kehta hoon,

Tujhe bhula diya oo
Tujhe bhula diya oo
Tujhe bhula diya oo
Phir kyun teri yaadon ne
Mujhe rula diya.. oo
Mujhe rula diya .

I've never felt like this before

2010-11-16T16:01:00.003+05:30

As if I have never said this to myself, but, each time you say this, you know that this time it is different. It is either better or worse than all the other previous experiences.
The strangest part is that I cannot compartmentalize it into any one category.
Quite Happy, Very Sad, Extremely Confused.
My platter now is full.

It always helps talking to the 'person' who never talks back, He who is the Best listener...
I hope You are listening...

Nargisi Kofta

2010-11-03T19:35:00.003+05:30

Diwali breaks and I am back home. With all the festivities around, this time I have to cook up something really special. So here you go ladies and gentlemen - Nargisi Kofta ..only for you.

For this you will need:

Minced Chicken
Boiled eggs
Chopped onions
Chopped tomato
Salt
Turmeric powder
Almonds
Curd
Coriander leaves
Coriander powder
Cumin powder
Chopped green chillies
Whole garam masala
Red chilli powder
Cumin seeds
Ginger garlic paste

Recipe:
To the minced meat add little chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Use your hands to mix it thoroughly. This mixture has to form a layer around the boiled eggs. This paste can get real sticky and you may find it difficult to handle, hence smear your hands with some water and spread a plastic sheet on the kitchen counter. Take the meat mixture equal to the size of a boiled egg and spread it evenly on the plastic sheet like a usual Papad mixture. Now take an egg and place it in the center of the meat spread and wrap the plastic around the egg.
If you find this cumbersome, you can use your own method to coat the egg with this meat mixture. Once all the aggs are covered, heat oil in a pan and deep fry these eggs. Fry them for about 3 minutes.

Make a paste in your Grinder:
Chopped tomatoes and fried almonds(fried almonds do not stick to the bottom of the pan)

For the gravy:
Heat some oil, add whole garam masala, cumin seeds, chopped onions, salt, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder. Once this is well cooked, pour into this the tomato and almond paste. Cook it in a low flame but keep stirring. Add green chillies and curd once the oil starts to come out. Then add water.

Once the gravy comes to a boil and you are happy with its consistency, add in the koftas.

Garnish it with chopped coariander leaves and you are done.

Note: The snap above has been taken from sangamny.com

The Ultimate Sacrifice

2010-10-04T13:52:00.001+05:30

Like any other normal day, I set out from my home to office. My office cab was always on-time, it took me thirty minutes to reach Saltlake, where my office is situated. As I disembarked in front of the gates and lighted a cigarette, I walked past a group of girls. I heard them chirping behind me -
Shruti: "Hey check out that new guy on the block; isn't he handsome?"
Angela: "He sure is, must be in his mid twenties".
"Stop flirting girls", chipped in the more serious Bhavna, "No chance for you, 'heard, he's already engaged and going steady with this pretty girl called Savi".
Angela: "How do you manage to get these informations Bhavna, you idiot".
Bhavna: "Yeah, yeah...call me what you want to, but the bottom line is that you've got 'no chance. I also managed to see Savi's snaps on his mobile, by God, she is good looking. Oh and by the way, your handsome hunk is called Tatya".

I reached the lift, pressed the button, still slightly tensed from the conversation I had last evening with my new Lines Manager. After a three-month training period, I finally managed to clear it all and today was going to be my first day at floor.

"Hi Tatya!! Everybody here, meet your new colleague Tatya", introduced my Lines manager, Gora. I shook hands with Riddhi, Kaushik, Vivek, Rohan, Sampriti, Sagnik and Briti.

Fifteen months have passed since that first day. Today I am the most loved character in the floor. I know the details to everybody's life, I assist them in making important decisions, starting from my Manager to my cab driver, everyone smiles, cares and loves me. Riddhi and Rohan were going together when I had joined, but the scene changed after a few months when a new girl called Sushmita joined office. Rohan and Sushmita are now married. Riddhi is now going around with Sagnik. I sometimes have to keep my mobile switched-off because of the number of calls I keep recieving from these two lovebirds.
Riddhi: " Tatya!! You wont believe what Sagnik did today, he took me out in his new WagonR and was caught by a Police, he didn't even carry his liscence, can you imagine?. If this is the kind of responsibility he has, what will he end up doing post marriage?"
Or, Sagnik : "Hey dude! do something for me yaar, Please call up Riddhi and ask her to come out with me tomorrow. She doesn't want to go out with me anymore, she calls me irresponsible, can you believe it, calls 'ME' irresponsible, I tell you these silly girls, they never understand".

Briti di is one serious and moody character who very seldom speaks. We keep asking her as to why she is still single..she smiles at times and at other times just gives us a cold look. The only person in the floor who is allowed to play jokes on her, is me. Briti di takes serious interest in astrology. She is around 32 years old. She always maintained her stance of remaining single because, she had once gone through a "situation", which would "never be accepted by any man", she used to say. We never asked her about it, she never told us about it as well.

I myself have had a complicated affair with Savi and reach my wits end trying to figure out, what exactly these girls want, although I admit having wronged her in the past and rationalise all her tantrums to that one year of pain and suffering she had to go thorugh because of me. But all said and done, I am a changed person now, Sagnik is right, these silly girls, tch. But I love Savi, I love her a lot. She is all I have ever dreamt my wife would be like. Quiet (that is when she is not screaming), beautiful, docile and submissive, obedient, extremely childish, emotional and my doll.

It wasn't like this always. Things had gone drastically wrong several months ago and I was completely broken down when Savi rebelled to my atrocities one day and said that she was tired of my not being able to commit to her for my a, b, c, d reasons and that she wanted to call the affair off. I realized my mistakes and tried my level best to make it up to her, but by then, she had lost faith.

Briti di had consoled me at that point saying, Savi would one day come back to me and we would be happily married.

Savi and I had a terrible fight few months back and I had lost all hope. I telephoned Briti di and screamed at her telling her not to make crap prophecies. She listened to all that I said very patiently and then came up with her story.

She used to study in a North Indian residential university. The city is situated on the banks of the river Ganges. It is a religious abode for the Hindus. Millions of peole visit the place for various religious purposes. Even its burning ghats are famous for different rituals and occult practices. While in college, she came across this saint( Naga Sanyasi- The Naked saint), who (as she says) had hypnotised her to become his follower and imparted to her the knowledge of astrology. Once the Guru was absolutely sure of her training, he asked her for a sacrifice (Gurudakshina-something a student has to sacrifice or give in the honour of the teacher as the price for his/her teachings). Briti was confused, she had never thought about this before. There was a time, when she even drank undistilled, raw alcohol from the skull of a dead man from the burning ghats nearby with her Guru and His other disciples. She asked her Guru what sacrifice he had to make as a student. He removed his loincloth to reveal his abdomen, and Briti almost fainted when she saw that Guruji had to sacrifice his reproductive organ. He told her that she would have to lose her chastity to one of his followers.

Briti di's voice became very serious over the phone. "Now you know why I say that the person who marries me will have to posess a very big heart?"

I was unable to speak. After a couple of seconds of silence, Briti di spoke again, "If I told you that the two of you would be happy together, then believe me, it will be so. I had to give such a big sacrifice, in order to learn this, i cannot be wrong, my predictions cannot be wrong".

Her existence was mechanical, her voice was a monotone, she never expected anything good to ever happen to her. Then came Sumit da, the way, a hero appears in a hollywood flick. He joined our office as the operations head for a period of one month, within which he proposed marriage to Briti. Sumit was a very jovial character but in no time after having proposed Briti, he became extremely serious. We guessed that Briti must have told him about her shocking past. Within the next one month we received wedding invites from both Sumit and Briti's side. They were getting married - Briti was getting married.

Today, as I look back to the torments our relationship has gone through, I only look up to heaven and thank God that Savi and I are finally getting married in another two weeks time. Briti di was right, Savi is mine and will always remain so in this birth and in all the rest to come.

9/11

2010-09-11T14:15:00.004+05:30

Thus I complete a year away from home. Congratulations to me!!!

There is so much I have learnt, there is so much I have seen but I have given up on the food they serve here...impossible!!

A couple of months more to go and then....

Well...

When...

2010-09-06T16:57:00.003+05:30

When you get just a couple of hours to sleep in a day
When you see your blog rank going up and down once every two months and you still can't force your brains to produce any creative juice
When you wake up each morning only to forget what day of the week it is
When the piled up clothes and you look each other in the eye, the former yells out "Please... we need a wash, you know it right?"
When you learn to look at things from a different perspective and soon after get lost in the same
When you wake up in the morning (each day) before your alarm goes off
When you have fever and you don't get the time to visit a doctor and the fever and you take care of each other

You know you are .........................

(Can you guess and fill up the blank?)

If you thought it doesn't rain in Rajasthan, think again...

2010-07-30T20:29:00.004+05:30

It rains...it rains cats and dogs...the streets, the trees, the beings, especially the peacocks, dance with joy. Young and old purposefully get drenched and look here and there with a sense of "happy guilt" when stared upon. The trees which dried up (read died up) during the summers, get back a new life and shine bright green (of various shades) in their newly found plumage. They look like they have just taken a much needed bath and that too after a very long time. Miles and miles of stark barren, 'depressed' land, which for an entire year kept staring and gaping at the sky now get to quench their thirst

Rejuvenation!! Everywhere!!

Bhangarh

2010-07-18T14:43:00.014+05:30

A place lost in time...Alwar district in Rajasthan has a lot many stories to tell. Either through the dilapidated palaces or through the chhatris or the forts or even through its wildlife. One such city lost in time is the city of Bhangarh, rated as one of the most haunted places by the Government of India (Archeological Survey). Entry into the premises before sunrise and after sunset is strictly prohibited. All that remains of the city is the palace, a few temples, some havelis and the main market.

The Palace

Someshvara Temple

Replenished...

2010-06-27T00:25:00.004+05:30

If the last 8-9 months saw me complaining about the incessant heat and the unbearable cold, cribbing about the nonavailability of non-veg food at the hostel, making faces at the "lauki" or the plain "masoor ki daal" and roti, the last two months was a complete opposite. I had the best of foods at the best of restaurants in my favorite city.
Try and stay away from home atleast once in your lifetime. The love and affection you get upon returning home for that short period is a heavenly experience. You don't have to ask for your favorite food, you get it naturally not just at your home but at relatives' places as well. If you cannot manage time to visit them, they come down to see how much you have changed (in my case how much weight I have lost/gained...etc)...of course along with your favorite dish cooked and handed over in a tiffin box :).
Well I have seen and done the same for friends and relatives and have heard stories before but it is the first time for me, hence I would confess, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Flame and grill,
6 Ballygunge Place
Machaan
Magnolia
Flavours of China
Trincas
Pepper Chino
Silver Oak
Arsalan
Bedwin
Food court (South City, Highland Park)
China Town
Haldiram's
Grub Club
Many more...

Got to attend a wedding in the family, a house warming of Wrik's new flat and a ride (to one of those "many more" food joints) in my Dada's brand new car. All this, along with 6 weeks of hectic internship schedule. My visit to Calcutta was choc-a-bloc.
Now that it is time for me to start packing my bags again, I feel the pace slowing down a bit. The two months re-playing itself in slow-motion. The smiling-faces, the loving hugs, the delicious dishes (slurp), the hustle-bustle of the metropolis all receding in the background.
The countdown has begun and the battlefield awaits me.
But this time Jaipur, I am thoroughly reloaded and refueled. I am ready to devour all the "lauki's" you have in store. "Shonar Kella", we will surely meet this year.

Oh, by the way, I have finally seen the end of Finance and thank God, seen it off in style :) . So, am happy with myself for more than a couple of reasons.

Jaipur!! here I come...

Thanks to my project

2010-05-18T12:50:00.002+05:30

Thanks to my project I got to meet so many people I had lost contacts with. Thanks to my project, my friends got in touch with so many of their contacts they had not been in touch with.

Thanks to my Speechless, I can tell the whole world that I have a lovely bunch of friends and relatives.
Babua (I got to meet one of his "Mankus"), Papu, Roshni-Babua, Bulta dada and ofcourse Tamaghna (met one of his best friends and his wife - Prashant and Kusumika).

I want you all and the world to know that I am real glad I got to know you, either by birth or by chance and am honoured you don't forget me when I time and again decide to go on hibernation-mode/absconding-mode.

Love you all...
Please do not change...

Ab mujjhe koi...

2010-05-08T00:24:00.010+05:30

Ab mujhe koi intezaar kahaan
Ab mujhe koi intezaar kahaan
Wo jo behete they....abshaar kahaan

Aankh ke ek gaaon mein
Raat ko khwaab aate they
Chhuney se behete they
Bole toh kehete they
Udhte khwaabon ka aetbaar kahaan

Ab mujjhe koi intezaar kahaan...

Movie: Ishqiya
Music Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyricist: Gulzar
Singer: Rekha Bharadwaj
Link to the song

Speech of the day...

2010-05-05T16:58:00.003+05:30

My cousin Bro says :

One of the several reasons for the terrible performance of KKR -

"The love Sourav Ganguly has for Ajit Agarkar is a lot more, when compared to the combined love Ajit's friends, relatives and loved ones have for him..."

Chicken Homecoming...

2010-05-01T22:03:00.006+05:30

Ingredients :

Mustard Oil
Onions - grated or chopped
Ginger-Garlic paste
1 Cup curd mixed well along with Turmeric powder, red chilly powder, dhania powder, salt and sugar.
Lemon juice

Whole spices:

Cloves (Lobongo),
Green cardamoms (Elach),
Black cumin (Kalo jeera),
Methi (Fenugreek seeds)
Mustard seeds (Shorshe)
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
Dry whole red chillies

Procedure:

Heat mustard oil in a pan, add to it all the whole spices and fry till Methi turns golden brown.
Add to this the onions and fry till it starts changing colour, then add in the ginger-garlic paste. Fry for about 5 minutes.

The chicken goes into the pan next. Once the chicken starts giving out the juices and changes colour wait till the juices dry up. Now add the curd, well beaten along with the turmeric, red chilly, dhania powders and salt and sugar.

Cook for another 15 minutes and add water if you want (this dish would be better off without any gravy. The above picture shows a lot of it though, but that was because I was forced to stop cooking. The people around had suddenly gotten very hungry).

The secret to the taste lies in the addition of lemon juice saved for the end.
Garnish with fresh coriander.
Serve hot.

Try it, it is really yummy.

Banvra mann...

2010-04-30T21:36:00.007+05:30

Lyrics - Swanand Kirkire
Composed by - Shantanu Moitro
Film - Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi
Painting - Sunrita Dutta

Banvra Mann Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna
Banvra Mann Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna...

Banvre Se Mann, Ki Dekho Banvri Hain Baatein
Banvre Se Mann, Ki Dekho Banvri Hain Baatein
Banvri Si Dhadkane Hain, Banvri Hain Saansen
Banvri Si Karvaton Se, Nindiya Door Bhaage
Banvre Se Nain Chaahe, Banvre Jharokhon Se, Banvre Nazaron Ko Takna.
Banvra Mann Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna...

Banvre Se Is Jahan Main Banvra Ek Saath Ho
Is Sayani Bheed Main Bas Haathon Mein Tera Haath Ho
Banvri Si Dhun Ho Koi, Banvra Ek Raag Ho
Banvri Si Dhun Ho Koi, Banvra Ek Raag Ho
Banvre Se Pair Chahen, Banvre Tarano Ke, Banvre Se Bol Pe Thirakna.
Banvra Mann, Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna...

Banvra Sa Ho Andhera, Banvri Khamoshiyan
Banvra Sa Ho Andhera, Banvri Khamoshiyan
Thartharati Low Ho Maddham, Banvri Madhoshiyan
Banvra Ek Ghooghta Chahe, Haule Haule Bin Bataye, Banvre Se Mukhde Se Sarakna,
Banvra Mann, Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna...

When you stay away from a city, it seems to change very fast

2010-04-26T00:48:00.010+05:30

Calcutta, as I have have seen it in the last two days, has changed a lot.

6 months, it took for me to come back home. The excitement, the last minute packing, the PNR status, the screwed up last Macro Economics exam, all kind of seems to justify what I am feeling now.

The city still has the same impatient crowd, the increasing tendency to storm South City mall on Sundays, the same disgusting food in the food court South City, a lot more variety available now than before though, the same faces telling me "Tui ki aaro roga hoye gechhish?" or "Oma!! tor chul ta koto boro hoye gachhe".
The fact that you get to understand the expletivess used by passersby and you smile "Hey, I am home".
The heat here in Calcutta suddenly gets so likeable for the very first time (when compared to the one back in Jaipur). I was surprised to see a cactus planted in one of the pots at the hostel (in Jaipur) terrace all burnt up due to the heat and I thought cactus was suited for the deserts.
The best part is that I would not have to care about gender differences for the next month and a half while conversing in Hindi.

Coming back home also gives me the access to one of my favorite places, the kitchen, Stay tuned for some yummy recipes on Speechless.

A realization - ever since I have been able to understand the world around me, i have noticed that everything around seems to change and if watched closely, actually has never been with you. The only constant factor is the self and its faith. It's all an illusion and a very colourful one too. The sooner you understand that, the better for you. But we will always remain silly because we love to cry, laugh, get angry and love the colours of the changing surroundings and then get affected by it.

The only time when the independant variables change due to the dependant ones.

I am not very fond of Accounts (although, I am pretty decent with numbers) and I have a question for the ones who are a little better in it than myself. Please tell me something - What kind of asset is the Sentimental Value and Faith? Does it ever depreciate? (You're not allowed to tell me "Silly girl, it is not an asset").

Typing Speed II

2010-04-03T13:38:00.000+05:30

44 words

Typing Test

Hold on and don't shed a tear

2010-03-24T17:10:00.004+05:30

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can I get a Hug (GOD)? I think I used up the last one...

My First Roli-Moli

2010-03-06T10:12:00.004+05:30

There is a custom of tying a thread round the wrist and applying a red tika followed by few grains of rice on the forehead of guests.

I was summoned to do this act of greeting-the-guest, for the CEO of Mart, Mr Pradeep Kashyap.

It was for the very first time that I even set my eyes upon a thali containing the Roli-Moli. It is a decorated small thali containing two tiny round containers – one filled with a red wet tika and the other had rice, it also had a huge roll of red-yellow thick and strong thread and ofcourse sweets. The moment Jyoti, my assistant for the occasion was given the tray, the guest arrived. I did not even get a chance to ask HOW it was to be done…

Luckily… all these years of hindi cinema viewing came to my rescue but there was still a HUGE problem. There was no way that thick thread would or possibly could be torn by me. Luckily Dheera, a Punjabi girl was nearby(very near actually) She helped me by tearing a small enough piece out of that scarily thick thread roll, while our guest was buzy greeting seniors from the management.

Finally, he faced me. My hands trembled as I dipped my thumb in the red tika pot. I applied it on his forehead. There was almost no visible red sign there. I wasn’t sure whether the rice grains would at all stick on that negligible little red mark. Nevertheless, I tried and to my utter relief, two grains decided to stare back at me from his forehead. I finished by tying the thread around his wrists.

“My Blessings for you”, smiled Mr.Kashyap.
My still trembling hands folded into a Namaste and “Thank You”.

Phew!! Singing in front of a packed auditorium is easier. Atleast you get to practice and you most definitely are informed well in advance.

The Voice of GOD…

2010-03-05T09:48:00.003+05:30

My Darling Child…
Some things are left unsaid…
Do I have to come and tell you…I Love You?
Do I have to tell you I am there to look after you?
When will you understand?
It is only for you I make the moon look different each night.
I feel good when you notice and smile at it.
Only for you I make the sun rise in the east and set in the west
“Look to the east in the morning…In the evening, look to the west”
My darling, I wouldn’t say it all…
For there are some things that are left unsaid…

I will not tell you, I am there when you smile,
I take you in my arms, when you’re in pain.
I am there in the sunshine and I am there during the rain.
From the moment you wake up…
Till long after you have gone to bed,
My Darling, I wouldn’t say it all
For there are some things that are left unsaid…

In your lifetime, always look out for me.
Try to make sure when I am there with you,
You don’t end up asking – “Who is He?”
I wouldn’t tell you I was there; I wouldn’t tell you that we just met.
My Darling, I would never say it all…
For there are some things; I always leave unsaid…

Strength

2010-02-08T16:58:00.004+05:30

A Calcuttan in The Pink City II

2010-02-06T17:10:00.002+05:30

Jan 14th 6:53pm

Winter in Jaipur. Temperatures touch a degree centigrade here. Brrrrr. That’s like -15 degrees for this particular person, whose blog you are currently reading.

Two full sweaters, one jacket, two socks are my daily wear during these months.
One of the worst things to do in hostel life is ‘washing clothes’. I have given up on the hope of ever being successful in cleaning towels. I have tried all possible and feasible combinations – washing powder, soap cake, warm water, boiling hot water, but I am yet to achieve the first visible victory. Henceforth, all my towels will be either washed by others/ machines or I will change my towels once every three months.

Feeling homesick…Okay, I know that was abrupt, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. Not that I keep dreaming of places in Calcutta but I really miss a few things. I badly miss my singing classes, my wardrobe, my terrace, maachher jjhol, my cooking sprees, my tiny little bed and the window next to it.

These posts will be outdated when I finally post them. I do not get the time or opportunity to publish my posts, but I make sure I write as many as I can (offline).

P.S – You will always find my posts containing Calcutta instead of Kolkata. The reason being simple – I like Calcutta more. One city which has three forms of names, English – Calcutta, Hindi – Culcuttah and Bengali – Kolkata. I prefer and will always prefer the English name.
I’d also like to add one more thing here – I have heard Kolkata being pronounced peculiarly all over (even on national news channels), just want to help you pronounce it right – it is “Coal-Kaata”.

A Calcuttan In The Pink City

2010-01-25T09:41:00.003+05:30

An ardent moon gazer and a fanatic fish lover wonders while sitting in the aircraft, that, now that she’s finally aboard, her craze for seeing airplanes will probably diminish.

She was wrong. Her hostel is just five kilometers away from Jaipur airport and she still runs out into the terrace like a kid to see a plane touching down or taking off. The horizon is clear, no high-rises, and so no viewing obstructions. The air -traffic (for whatever reasons) is very high in the skies of Jaipur. At the same time, we have witnessed five-six airplanes blinking in the night sky. The winter skies are crystal-clear and tiny, almost invisible jet-planes, only their criss-crossing smoke-tails giving away their presence are abundant.

The first full moon in Jaipur was equally awestrucking. The moon (for whatever reasons again) appears bigger in Jaipur. I was almost taken aback when I first saw the full moon one night from the terrace. I have experienced five full moons in Jaipur since then, each of them being a precious chunk of jewel in the sky.

Now accustomed but initially I almost gave out sudden-shrieks upon coming across the seven-eight foot desert animal – Camels, on the streets, pulling carts. Poor creatures are made to have tattoos on their body. Actually body hair, in specific areas like neck, ankles and humps are cut in such a way, it forms designs giving them a tattooed look. They are used for several purposes, from using their milk for making milk products to generally as livestock, to “The Camel festival” in Bikaner. Am yet to try tea with camel’s milk.

The Pink City was founded back in 1727 by Sawai Maan Singh and it was limited within a boundary, entirely painted in pink. The gates of the boundaries would be closed by seven in the evening and all those within the premises would be safe and all those outside had to remain outside until daybreak when the gates were re-opened.

Four months in Jaipur and I keep receiving calls asking me whether or not I have put on some weight. All my friends and family had high hopes that since I was moving out for the first time, I would surely be able to gain some kilos. I keep disappointing them. The day my family comes to know that I have become healthy, they would formally invite people and treat them. Why just family, even my neighbors would distribute sweets.

Jaipur has several places of historical significance, like, Amer fort, Jaigad Fort, Nahargarh Fort (Ref: where the genuine Prof Hajra was pushed off the hills by the fake Prof Hazra (Kamu Mukherjee) in “Sonar Kella”), The City Palace, Jantar-Mantar and Albert hall.

To be contd….

Abstract

2010-01-20T11:32:00.006+05:30

Saraswati Puja

Not Yellow but Brown Saree

Jaipur

Very cold

Soon to be ...very hot

Calls from home

Pressure to tie the knot

No Khichudi

Still not being able to trust

Temper

Giggles

Mother Teresa

Blog rank 75 to 52 :(

Larger Than Life

Command

Understand!!!

A new day...

2009-11-16T09:43:00.004+05:30

Let the rain come down and wash away my tears

Let it fill my soul and drown my fears

Let it shatter the walls for a new new sun

A new day has come...

~A part of the lyrics of "A new day..."

African proverb

2009-11-13T13:51:00.003+05:30

If you refuse to be made straight when you are green,

You will not be made straight when you are dry.

Expecto patronum

2009-10-17T01:12:00.002+05:30

I am a double Capricorn, probably among the most pessimistic of all zodiacs. There are like half a dozen dementors chasing me day in and day out. But, ha, I have discovered a way of chasing away those dementors. Why of course, I will share the secret with you.

Remember what Prof. Lupin told Harry Potter before he was taught to conjure the patronus charm? He asked Harry to think of a happy memory, a very powerful one. Dementors are creatures(in Harry Potter- the book) which suck out happy feelings from a person and makes one believe they can never be happy again. Our life is full of sadness, like we say "Life is not fair" and there are very few instances of happiness we come across. If we keep thinking about those sad memories, our lives will only stagnate..

Imagine, please - We are like electrons in the outermost shell of an atom. Each day, we lose some energy and fall back on to the lower orbit and in the process, get closer to the nucleus. This cycle continues and one day we cease to exist. That is the day we fall into the nucleus and become one with it. All this while we haven't fallen out into space, because of the attraction with which the nucleus was pulling us towards it. We know, we are the electrons, wondering who the nucleus is? GOD ofcourse. So, no matter how terrible a shock you go through, you can never fall out into space just like that. There is a very strong force which is guarding you always. We lose energy only to become one with The Almighty and moreover, energy can neither be created nor be destroyed(remember?), then why do we allow ourselves to lose on motivation? HE might take away everything from you but HE will never leave you.

God, when will you take Chemistry away from me? I still have nightmares that I am being forced to give an exam I am not prepared for and it is only after I reach the hall that I am informed it is the Chemistry paper. I wake up each time shocked and horrified, consoling myself that it was 9 years ago I passed my last chemistry exam. Phew!

I have been going through a lot of disorientation for the last couple of months (14 months to be precise). Prior to Roshni's wedding, I was in a mess. Things have changed and they look better because I see them differently now. The scenario remains the same, the one thing that changed was my approach to the whole thing.
I had a blast at the wedding. Forgot about the tensions and the worries, smiled and laughed like I haven't in ages (even danced on a dance floor at the sangeet).
I was having great difficulty in dancing with a 4 inch heel, so, I opened my shoes and stepped on to the floor. All those lights beneath the dance-floor made it really hot. I asked my niece Dona, "How are you dancing? Isn't it extremely hot?"
She said, "They make it hot on purpose, so that you have to jump on it".
Don't know whether that is true or not, but the hidden truth in it knocked me real hard.

All this while, I wanted to dance, but I made it difficult for myself because I was wearing a high heel, I wasn't comfortable in. I got rid of it, but wasn't really putting in the best of efforts, that is when the floor felt hot and I started jumping (literally).

Sometimes... you NEED shocks in your life...you NEED them to put you back on track...

Get rid of all your discomforts, chuck that long face, it is all in your head, believe me. If you have to be sad, be sad only because it is taking long, very long for you to meet the nucleus. It will, however, take us some more time, to realize, that, The nucleus(GOD) and the electrons(parts of YOU) are not separate entities. When they exist, they exist together and when they end, they die together. It is just space and time that separates them.

Life is a sad journey, full of viruses, the happy memories are the antibiotics which you have to store with you and use them to ward off those swine flu's and common colds (yesss, I used Biology this time).
Look the dementor in the eye, think of a very happy memory, a powerful one, concentrate, smile (comes with a lot of practice on such situations) and yell (this is instinctive) - "EXPECTO PATRONUM"

Random...

2009-10-14T00:57:00.002+05:30

A home away from home....

2009-09-24T18:36:00.005+05:30

Firstly, Thank You for the prayers.

It has surely taken a shape. I have a lot to write about.New problems, new solotuions, new adjustments and brand new experiences, but all in good time...

An observation - Two weeks before, I used to think my hindi was 'quite good', but ever since I have stepped in this city, I know why Dada preferred giving interviews to hindi television channels in English... :)
This is going to be my first Durga Puja, away from home.

More from Speechless whenever I get time again.
Till then, be happy and Sharodiyar Onek onek preeti-o-shubhechha

A tiny little Request from Speechless

2009-09-09T23:05:00.004+05:30

Speechless : HE doesn't listen to her when she prays for herself but I am sure and so is she, that, HE would listen to you.

Sunrita is going through a very sensitive phase in life. She has done EVERYTHING within her reach and now it is just up to HIM, The Almighty.

If you are reading this blog at this very moment, please close your eyes and pray for her, even if it is a tiny little two seconds' prayer. Please do me this favor.
Please close your eyes and pray for her.

Please...Please...Please...

Virgo man and Virgo woman [23rd August - 23rd September]

2009-09-02T22:25:00.005+05:30

Shy and modest.

Analytical and practical.

If you do not expect too much out of them, they are reliable.
You are sad, you had to call off an all-arranged party because it is raining badly outdoors, be assured, if there is just one friend you have to answer at the door, it will be a Virgo.
Your friend stays in Siberia, you have to pass him a parcel, the only source is his friend, A Virgo, who has come down from Siberia(for some personal business) and has agreed to pass it from you to him. The scorching summer sun is almost forcing you to stay indoors and you are sure this friend of his wouldn't turn up at the meeting place. You reach the rendezvous quarter-heartedly and this person comes ahead and greets you with a smile that would even put the sun to shame.

More of givers than takers.

They have many friends and can socialize well.

Well read - talk about anything and you will find them involved.

Perfectionists.

Virgos born in the first half are very fussy about clean rooms, bathrooms and wardrobes.
They act as mentors to friends and acquiantances, counselling them about anything complicated ranging from career to relationships. As far as their career is concerned, it is always a positive curve and relationship wise quite the opposite. Popular with the opposite sex.
The Virgos born in the later half are comparatively steadier in relationships but are lazy.

On the darker side they are exacting, ruthless, insensitive, extremely self-critical and worry a lot.

It has always happened with me - I think of a sentence/ start saying it /not satisfied with my narration and my Virgo friend completes it for me, in a much better way than I had thought, narrated or not mentioned at all. I am yet to find out how they do it. All of them.
Possess very very strong receptors. Extremely observant people.

They may at times appear cold, that is majorly because they seldom trust others and have very little faith in themselves and their own abilities. They are methodical in their approach but if somethings goes wrong, they lose heart easily.

Ask them a single question, they'll give you at least three answers. In worst case scenarios, ask them a question and they ask you two questions back. :)

Honest, broad-minded and appreciative. They are careful in money matters. Virgo men, keeping their career constant are ready to sacrifice a lot for their loved ones. Virgo women can even sacrifice their career for the special person and have the talent, patience, capability and will power to bounce back as and when required.

Blast from the past...

2009-09-02T01:12:00.008+05:30

It was a long day in office, I was glad to be back home. A shower and a cup of steaming-hot coffee did wonders to my system. After watching the back-to-back repeat telecasts of Friends, I decided to login to my favorite time pass, Orkut.

One friend’s account led to another and then to another and then, suddenly, I found him. The most handsome, honest and bright boy I had ever befriended.

The cool breeze from the window to my left, forced, the tired me, to drift back into time.

10 years ago...

It has been more than a week that we moved into this new locality. I felt like a sapling, uprooted from familiar soil and being re-planted elsewhere.
After spending twelve years in a girls' school this was my first year in co-ed college. The whole thing was ironically similar.

Prior to this place, we stayed at the ground floor of a two-storeyed building. This time it is the third floor of a four-storeyed house, that did not have an elevator in it. The pain staking process of alighting those seventy two steps, several times, each day, was reason enough to complain. More so, because none of us were used to, this steep task before. To add to the discomfort, we were yet to have a telephone installed at the new place, hence, emergency calls had to be made from some PCO booth at the corner of the street. So, going down and coming up those six dozen steps could not be predicted.

I had only recently joined my tuition classes. For my Maths tuition, I had to travel a very short distance by bus. I was a little late in joining my batch, which had already begun about a month back. As I entered the class for the first time, I met eye-to-eye with this very good looking guy sitting right at the opposite side of the door. I sat next to the wall, consciously avoiding the unoccupied seat next to him. Sir, buzy with a formula derivation, raised his head and asked me to fill up that gap. The good looking guy smiled and lifted up his paraphernalia off the seat I was asked to take.

The first sum given by Sir was from dynamics. This guy, his name was Apurv Basu was the first one to complete the problem.

I was completely lost. Having finished the sum, he did not have anything else to do, other than staring at my copy and finding me unable to put even a scratch mark. He smiled again, “They did’nt start dynamics at your college?”

“I am yet to attend a Pass class”, I smiled back.

“Brilliant!!”, He chuckled. “You want me to help you with this?”

“If you want to”, I answered.

Sir took three pages in finishing the sum whereas Apurv completed it in one and a half pages. I raised my eyebrows approvingly at him. “Do not be surprised, I am majoring in Physics”, he whispered.

The other students in class bullied him a lot because he was always amongst the first to complete the sums, always the highest marks getter in class and was intrinsically a quiet person. We walked together that day and all the other days to the bus stop, he spoke a lot, about where he studies, where he comes from, his friends, his parents, what he wanted to become in life.

“I had initially thought you to be an introvert, you know”, I had said and he had given me a meaningful look, the meaning of which I could not decipher.

One day I saw a copy literally being thrown around in class, it came to me at one point of time and I saw beautiful pencil sketches at the last pages. Sketches of Aishwarya Rai’s pictures. I asked someone, “Who’s copy is this?”, a girl said, “It is Apu’s”.

He gave me an unperturbed smile. “Let them do what they are doing to my sketches, I have several of them back home”, he mouthed at me.

He had stopped attending classes since that day, or so I thought, because I did not get to meet him for several days till on a Wednesday, our last class before the final exams I met him again. He entered and stopped at the door when he saw me.

“Where have you been?”, we both asked each other at the same time, after he came and sat next to me.

“I come on Fridays not on Wednesdays”, He said.

“Oh! And I come on Wednesdays not on Fridays”, I smiled back.

After class that day, all of us wished Best of Lucks to each other. That was going to be our last class and probably the last time meetings for several of us. Apurv and I walked to the bus stop in silence.

"Give me your phone number", he said.
"Phone number?!?", I was almost inaudible.
"Yes, phone number. How else do you think we can keep in touch?", he tried to immitate my voice.

All these two three months, he had always spoken so much that I never got to tell him much about me. I realized it was too late for explanations now.

I looked up at him, I knew he would not believe what I was going to say, my heart sank.
He sensed the pause and looked up from his note copy to meet my eyes.
Nudged me to hasten the precess, "C’mon, tell me fast, your bus always comes early”.

I pursed my lips and let the words go, "We don't have a phone at home".

This time he stood still, staring at his note copy, still holding the cap of his pen in between his teeth.
After those several numb seconds, he looked at me. Disbelief trickling down from each wrinkle on his face.

“We recently shifted to this new place and so....”, I tried to explain.

You know how men look when they are shocked, angry and sad at the same time. I will never forget those red, watery, brown eyes.

That day, bus number 237, that he travelled in, arrived very early. Without exchanging a single word, he climbed on to the bus. It waited at the stoppage for as long as ten seconds. Here I stood on the pavement and watched him clasping the rod tight at the ceiling of the bus, as he stood facing his back towards me. The conductor signaled the driver to move on, the driver shifted gears and as the bus rumbled, he turned back and gave me a last look over his shoulders. Then, like an animation flick, the bus disappeared behind a cloud of grey exhaust fumes.

That is the last visible memory I have of him.

A loud slap of the windows made me wake up from my slumber. It had started raining.

I sent him a friend request with a message, “Hi, remember me?”

His profile revealed him to be well settled in life and married with a one year old kid.

Would he remember me? I retired for the night.

Next day came in his reply, “Whoa! Of course I remember you. How have you been? Know what? My wife and you share the same date and year of birth”

Dramatic-irony?? Co-incidence??

------------------------------------------------------

Roshni gets married...

2009-08-15T20:40:00.009+05:30

My oldest niece, Roshni just had a grand-monsoon wedding. One of the loveliest and the most memorable weddings I have ever attended.

Many of us, from all over the country united for that one special occasion at the steel city of Bhilai. The festivities included the train journey to Bhilai ( if you have traveled overnight in a group in order to attend a wedding and back, you sure know how fun-filled it can get) , the aiburo-bhaat, the sangeet, the wedding, journey back to Howrah(along with the bride and the groom) and ofcourse, the reception. Rosh looked beautiful on each of her special days.

Met several of Rosh-Pradyumna's friends who had come down from various places. Lovely bunch of people, each one of them (Deepa, Sandip, Srijit-da).
Another person who has to be mentioned is Anrit-da, the same person who helped Rosh, Dona and myself, with the tour at Bhilai Steel Plant two months back. He deserves a round of applause for the precision with which he managed the entire event. I asked him my favorite question(in case you didn't know...it is "What is your zodiac sign?" ) and he answered, "I am a Virgo".

[I think I know enough Virgos now, to be able to confidently publish a post on them...Stay tuned]

A few posts back I had mentioned my sister, the one who's my favorite and I hadn't met for several years, I got to meet her yesterday at the reception.

Finally, I officially turn mashi-shashuri at 27... :)

The hangover of this wonderful event would stay with all of us for a long time.
Here's wishing both Roshni and Babua, a very happy married life.

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PS - I took the above snap in the morning of her wedding day, right after she was made to wear the shaakha-pola ( the red and the white bangles ) before the haldi ceremony.

Hello there!! What's your name?

2009-08-06T23:15:00.004+05:30

My name is Pinku Pimple.
I am Sunrita's rare new friend and I am not leaving her in a soon.
So what if she's going to become one of the youngest aunt-in-laws in a couple of day's time?
I am staying put on her tiny little right cheek.
This is my first snap and I will remain with her in all the snaps she takes at the wedding.

Say cheese Sunrita.

Phir bhi sapne hona zaroori hain...

2009-08-03T22:56:00.003+05:30

Heard this song first time when I had gone down to Bhilai. My niece had this collection of Sona Mahapatra's songs.

It caught my attention because of its lyrics. If you listen carefully, each of those sentences kind of make you smile and you say, "How true"...
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Sapne
Sapne sapne hona zaroori hain
Kacche pakke aadhe poore

Har doosra chehra yahaan soya-soya hain
Aisa lage sabka kuchh khoya-khoya hain
Shehron me pedh sote nahi hain
Chidiya nahi hai gaati
Yahaan raat din chalke bhi yaar manzil nahi hai aati

Phir bhi sapne hona zaroori hain...

Yahaan roz chhapte hain darr akhbaron mein
Bazaar pahunche ghar, ghar bazaaron mein
Sab suna rahen apni hi baat
Yahaan shor har kaheen hai
Dooje ko sunne ki kisi mein bhi himmat hi nahi hain

Phir bhi sapne hona zaroori hain...

Chahe daak mein koi chitthhi na aati ho
Dil baantne waala sangi na sathi ho
Be shak ho yaar tera gawaar koi samajh hi na paye
Dil bar bar haan bar bar bas toot ta hi jaye

Phir bhi sapne hona zaroori hain...
Kacche pakke aadhe poore
Sapne sapne hona zaroori hain....

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Here's the link in case you want to listen to it as well
Sapne hona zaroori hain
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PS - My apologies for publishing incoherent posts and comments, just tells about the mental state I am presently in. I wish I was a little more disciplined and stronger willed. Anyways, please bear with me..

Are you...

2009-07-29T14:00:00.001+05:30

More impulsive than me?
I have deleted my orkut account 4 times (erm, okay, 5 times). Saving the first and the last times, all the other reasons for deletion were emotional (read mental). No, I have no intentions of returning to another social networking site in the near future and I have no intentions of receiving howler e-mails and sms(s) from friends and acquaintances by deciding to delete it again..

I have, in the last one year, thought of deleting my blog about 3 times. But, this time(one of the rarer occasions), I thought of an alternative *smile*...sorry..Top Secret!!

A greater lover of Fish?
Most mommies say this to their children these days : "Eat fish... beta, and your eyesight will never fail you. You will never need a spectacle. It has Vitamin A, you see"
And most children say this to their mommies: "Uuunhh!! it has a disgusting smell, I feel like puking and moreover, too many bones to separate"

I have till date, thrown several cups of milk in the drain, fed the crows with my breakfast roti almost each day before leaving for school, thrown tantrums against vegetables (still do this), but never-ever have I refused FISH.
Arre!! where else would you find such a lot of variety?
You have the Tangra and the Parshe and the Pabda and the Chingri and the Ilish and the Guley and the Pomfret and the Topshe and the Magur and the Telapiya and the Kajri and the Bhetki and the Rui.
OMG! letme stop right here before I end up turning this into a thesis.

Oh! but I forgot the Koi and and the Chitol and the Beley and the Mourola and the...
..zip!!zip...zip ur lip!!

Hmmphh!! hmmphhh!! crash!! bang!! topple!!

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Speechless : "Sorry for the interruption. 'had to intervene, I will surely request her to continue with another topic next time. Till then be happy, enjoy life, do not waste food and yes...eat fish...hee hee"
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Happy Birthday, Speechless!!

2009-07-28T01:31:00.003+05:30

It was easy being the mother of my first blog, Speechless. Easy because, she never troubled me and at times acted as my mother when I troubled her, by ignoring her presence, using her for my own emotional benefits. She has always been patient and allowed me both space(writing space) and time(in between posts) to wade through the darker hours.

Birth is much but breeding is more...

In this case, giving birth was the easiest thing to do and breeding didn't cause any pain at all. She is one friend, who will always say, exactly what I want to hear, without whining a bit, will look like what I wish her to look like, without cribbing about the color or the style or the words being used. I talk to the mirror but the mirror never speaks back to me. "Speechless" is alive and is the mirror that talks, cries, complains, fights and smiles along with me.

The two of us have grown by one year. In the last year, the mother had to smile when all she wanted to do was cry, but the daughter cried with her heart. The mother told the world, what the world wanted to hear, when she actually wanted to scream the opposite, the daughter understood, kept quiet and waited for the older one to regain her self belief. I spoke a lot, when all I really wanted to do was run away into the lonely mountains and get lost and wished I could forget to speak. The times when, "Speechless" helped me sing a song, cook up a dish or write a few lines that somehow managed to rhyme themselves...

In this year-old journey, I've come across fellow bloggers (ones who have personal blogs) and have been surprised to notice, how much each of their blogs speak about them and how naturally gifted they are in making their blogs speak. A's blog is as lively as he is, B's blog is always up-to-date like him, C has done a great job in pruning her posts like a well manicured garden. My blog is as confused as I am.

At this time a year ago, I did not know whether I would have the patience or the skill set to continue writing this far. Now, I know, I do not posses any, i.e, patience or set of skills. But since Speechless has reached this far on its own, I am positive , that she will see many more birthdays (thankfully her mom does not forget dates).

Thank you Speechless for being there when everyone else vanished.

Thank you, all of you, who had helped her with her first few steps.
Thank you for following, for subscribing, for dropping in your valuable comments and most importantly, for giving her your company and trust.

She has proved to be a perfect Leo - generous, loving, creative and stubborn(in a positive way).
Here's wishing you a very Happy Birthday.

Tobu...Mone rekho

2009-07-20T14:22:00.004+05:30

One of my favorite Tagore songs...

Porjaye : Prem

Tobu Mone rekho jodi doore jai chole.
Jodi puratono prem dhaka pore jaye nobopremojale.
Jodi thaki kachhakachhi,
Dekhite na pao chhaya'r moton achhi na achhi-
Tobu mone rekho.
Jodi jol ashe ankhipate,
Akdin jodi khela theme jaye modhuraate,
Tobu mone rekho.
Akdin jodi badha pore kaaje sharodo prate- mone rekho.
Jodi poriya mone
Chholochholo jol nai dakha daye noyonkone-
Tobu mone rekho.

Calcutta, we can do better than this

2009-07-17T13:49:00.004+05:30

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There are moments in your life, when you want to speak a lot but your voice chokes, when you wish to write a lot and your fingers resist, when you want to think a lot but your brain refuses to transmit the signals. Kindly accept my apologies for having gone speechless for over a month.
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As per the norms of West Bengal government's transport department, every state bus needs to be changed after a period of fifteen years.

Thanks to the never-ending riots ad strikes, we get new and better state buses even before a bus has reached its dying age. They always burn down government buses. My humble request to the protestors, next time, kindly target auto-rickshaws in Kolkata, they need serious reformations.

Jokes apart, just ahead of the Lok sabha elections in India, there was this text message, that was being circulated -

"10 terrorists came by boat, 539 terrorists will soon come by Vote. PLEASE VOTE CAREFULLY"

The party we didn't vote for is attacking the MLA's on the road and the one we voted for, is voicing their displeasure against these attacks by bringing havoc on city streets by torching down buses, tormenting commuters and causing a lot of discomfort to those who a few days back voted in their favor.

Generations of bengalis have taken birth and died witnessing this chemistry between West Bengal and Strikes. The two probably have had an unsuccessful arranged-marriage in the past but neither has ever thought about a separation.

Why this vandalism in the facade of protests? Here we are in a serious dilemma as to who we vote for in the up coming Bidhan Sabha elections.

Surely we can do better than this Calcutta...can we not??

View images

Raate'r aandhare ekaki ami...

2009-06-05T01:33:00.002+05:30

Sholok bola kajla didi koi?

2009-05-21T13:44:00.005+05:30

My mother used to sing me this song at bedtime each night, when I was a very small girl.

I have this cousin sister, 4 years older to me, who I am very fond of. She is my inspiration, my idol, my favourite singer, my favourite cook and she loved and cared for me a lot...

She was beautiful, she was loved by all, she never came second in school, she was a GREAT singer, she was Aries. Arun Bhaduri shaheb judged her in a competetion when she was 12 years old and asked her whether she would take training under him...yes, she came first in that competetion and whenever Arun Bhaduri went to judge at the same venue, he asked about that small girl, who had sung Vrindavani Sarang the previous year... That's my didibhai ...

When I was 4 years old, I was admitted to a school in the city, far away from where she used to live. Whenever my mother sang this same song each night, I faced the opposite side and cried, thinking about my sister. She stays in the northern part of the country now and I haven't met her for several years...
Was thinking about her a few days back and I thought of this song.
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Singer : Pratima Bandopadhyay

Banshbaganer mathar opor chaand utthechhe oi..
Ma go amar Sholok bola kajla didi koi?

Pukur parey lebur toley,
Thokaye thokaye jonai joley...
Phuler gondhe ghum ashe na,
Tai to jege roi.
Ma go amar Sholok bola kajla didi koi?

Shedin hotey keno ma aar didi re na daako?
Didi'r kothaye aanchol diye mukh ti keno ddhako...mukhti keno ddhako?
Lebur toley pukur parey,
Jjhiji dake jjhope jhare...
Phooler gondhe ghum ashe na,
Tai to jege roi.
Ratri holo ma go amar kajla didi koi?

Banshbagaer mathar opor chaand utthechhe oi
Ma go amar sholok bola kajla didi koi?

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Miss you Didibhai...The memories of the times we've spent together, will always remain with me, no matter how far we are from each other...

The entangled mesh...

2009-05-16T13:22:00.004+05:30

Jodi taare nai chini go sheki
Sheki amaye nebe cheene
Ei nobo, phalguner deene
Janine...janine...

----------------------------------

Everything seems to be tied in knots. What I expect and want, just refuses to happen.

The good things first.

"Waahan Chaalika Bhava", was what my haate khori, err, I mean, haate steering guruji, Babua, told me. Among several other things, I always dreamt of having a driving licence. After a month and a half of training from a nearby motor training school, I now have one. Thank you for all the inspiration Babua. I have also done my bit of encouraging and Dada has enrolled himself at the same school. Kudos!!

West Bengal had been crying for change and the change seems to have arrived. For the first time after 32 years, Left Front is on the back foot. Looking forward to the Bidhan Sabha elections.

The beginning of this month saw me visiting the Steel city of Bhilai. With another wedding due in the family at the same place, the trip was great fun. Specially, the visit to The Bhilai Steel Plant was very exciting. The blast furnaces, the steel melting shops (SMS), the coke ovens and the merchant mills, the three hour tour was breath taking. Strangely I remembered most of the details from my Class Ten Chemistry books. Studying about the iron melting process in textbooks and witnessing ladles carrying molten metal from one factory to another and the extreme temperature conditions are two completely different things.

---------------------------------

Now for the more serious issues.

The next three months would be crucial in determining the path I am going to take.
So far, it has been difficult. Hoping the scenario to change.
---------------------------------

Jibono jokhono shukaye jaye...Korunadharaye esho
Shokolo madhuri lukaye jaye...Geetoshudharoshe esho.
Kormo jokhon probolo aakar...goroji utthiya ddhake charidhar
Hridoyoprante, hey Jibononath, Shanto chorone esho.

The Costly Rain

2009-04-13T21:52:00.008+05:30

I have heard you several times, I have stayed up to catch a glimpse. Saw you, one winter morning; And named you 'Shuri' since.

All that an eleven year old girl has to do, is - study, listen to her elders, go to school, enjoy her holidays and play. My final term exams had just got over, 'was promoted to a new class and now, I was enjoying my summer vacations. My hometown is in a place where the difference between summer and winter is frustratingly extreme. You have to experience both in order to realize, how bad or good it can get. The house in which we stayed had a total of fourteen rooms. Behind the house there was a huge well, used for our daily washing, drinking and cooking requirements and further beyond was our garden, some 4500 sq ft in area. It had several seasonal plants and trees, including mango, pineapple, guava, sweet potato, lady's finger and many others, whose English names I do not know.
I used to spend half my holidays exploring various things and places all over the big house. I was at the attic, doing what I was not supposed to do, exploring my uncle's secret drawer. There I had found the previous afternoon, a real pair of binoculars. I went up to the terrace last night and watched the moon with it for a very long time. It looked beautiful. I had a toy binocular, which my mama had given me, but this one was real.
"Mouri !!", called my mom from the kitchen. Mouri is my pet name. It was time for shower, then lunch and then a well-deserving afternoon siesta.
I dashed downstairs.
After having finished with the shower and lunch, I went back to the attic, took out the binoculars and gazed through it, at my latest interest, out in the garden. Well, to tell you about that, let's take you to last winter.

January
I was getting ready for school and was already running late, when I heard it for the first time. I paused, and then I heard it again. “Mouri, hurry up, or you’ll miss your school bus”, interrupted my mother. I had forgotten about it completely when everything repeated itself the following morning. It was coming from the garden and I promised to investigate the next day.
Next day was Saturday, a weekly holiday for me. I woke up early, perched myself on a stool out at the small terrace leading to the well from the first floor, which looked out at the garden. Yes, I heard it again, and this time I saw it. It was tiny, beautiful and was blue in colour. It was a bird, which had the most tuneful voice I had ever heard. I kept staring at it and named it Shuri.
Spring followed the rough, cold winter and Shuri was joined by her male countepart. He was a very handsome looking bird as well, having a brighter and a more attractive plumage. I named him Shur. In unison they were called Shur-Shuri. My eldest cousin gave me a big Milk chocolate because he said he really liked my christening abilities.
After a few more days, I could no longer find Shur. Shuri was all by herself and she was preparing to build her nest.
“Has Shur died?” I asked the elders at home one day. To which, my grandma said “Spring is the season, when one has all the choicest of friends around, it is only when the tough summer draws nearer, you get to realize who is worthy enough to be even called a friend”.
Needless to say, I did not understand what she wanted to convey.

I went to the garden one evening last week and to my utter joy, found a tiny nest made out of twigs, in between a v-shaped branch on the guava tree. It was built on a low stem, so I could clearly see two small off-white coloured eggs kept at the centre of the nest.
I ran back home and told my grandma what I saw and she asked me “ So, what will you call the two tiny birds once they’ve hatched?” I thought for a while and said “Katu and Kutu”. This time I got two milk chocolates, one from my cousin and the other from my uncle whose binoculars are coming very handy for the last two days. Now that the summer had set in, I was not being allowed to go to the garden every now and then in order to inspect the nest. Since yesterday, the binoculars have solved my problem.
I felt sorry for Shuri because I thought it was wrong for Shur to have left her all alone.
The heat was getting unbearable, the loo during the early afternoons was suffocating and one person died of heat stroke two days ago, I read in the papers. Obviously everybody was thirsty for the monsoons, I’m sure, so was Shuri.
While I was still gazing at the nest through the binoculars, I heard a loud banging noise right next to me. The door to the terrace that stood ajar shut hard because of a gush of wind. I heard someone scream from downstairs, “ Someone go to the terrace and see if the doors and windows are shut properly, it is the Kalboishakhi (norwesters)”. I had just turned around, when I saw my uncle staring at me. He had come up to check whether the shutters were closed, I was still holding his binoculars. I knew I would never again find the binoculars there at the attic. Little did I know that I would not be needing it anymore.
I kept the binoculars in place and ran downstairs to welcome the moisture-laden clouds.

“Aye brishti jhepe…dhaan debo mepe
Aye rimjjhim borosharo gogone re e e
Katfata rodey agune , aye brishti jhepe aye re.
Haye bidhi boroi daarun…
Pora mati kende bole,
“Phoshol phole na,
Ki debo tomare, nai dhaan mor khamare , mor kopal guni”.

It rained for an entire hour, giving water to the dried up land and to its beings.
Ma said from the small terrace that a few flowerpots were overturned during the storm. I jumped at the thought of what could have happened to the fragile nest. I rushed to the garden bare footed, the humid air feeling wonderful as it touched my skin, the grass under my foot was wet and cool. As I reached the guava tree, I spotted Shuri, perched on a Shiuli plant on the opposite side of the garden, all wet and untidy. She gave out a cry, this was not as sweet as her usual tone, it was abrupt and short.
She was no longer thirsty… but it came to her for a price – a few meters away from my feet, lay her nest and the broken, off-white coloured shells of the two eggs, of Katu and Kutu.

A weekend trip to Mukutmanipur

2009-04-07T13:16:00.009+05:30

General Description :-
The ancient town near Mukutmanipur is Ambikanagar(4 km away). The Maharaja of Ambikanagar, christened Mukutmonipur after his beloved queen, Mukutmoni. There is a giant water dam at the confluence of the Kangsabati and the Kumari rivers. It is the second biggest earthen(man-made, mud-banked) dam in India. The nearest railway station is Bankura (55 km from Mukutmanipur).

Transport :-
Train services are available from Kolkata(Howrah) - Rupashi Bangla Express leaves the Howrah station (new platform) at 6:00 a.m. and reaches Bankura at 10:20 a.m. If you have your train reservations done, you need not worry, however, if you are travelling by the general compartment, you are advised to board the rear half of the train, since the front half is Dhauli Express, which goes to Bhubaneshwar. This switching over takes place at Kharagpur station, where the train stops for about fifteen minutes.
After reaching Bankura, you need to hire a cab for Mukutmanipur( 1 and a half hour journey). Bus services are also available.
Howrah-Bokaro passenger is also available from Howrah ( Dep time - 22:40) reaches Bankura at around 3 in the morning. Bus services available from Machantala bus stop (at Bankura) from 5 in the morning.
You could also take Satabdi Express (Dep time - 6:05 a.m) or Black Diamond Express(Dep time- 6:15 a.m) from Howrah to Durgapur and take a bus to Mukutmanipur.
Personally, I would suggest you to go by car from Kolkata to Mukutmonipur. After you reach Mukutmonipur, you would find your car very useful, since your local conveyance would be a motor-pulled cart, which will be available only till about 11 a.m in the morning and then from 4:30 p.m to 8p.m. at night. There are very few such vans available in the area.

Hotels :-

Hotel Peerless - Booking at Kolkata Peerless Hotel, Contact- 9748401084 (Accounts dept).

Hotel Shonajhuri - Booking at Kolkata, West Bengal Forest Developement Corporation, 6A Raja Subodh Mullick Square, 7th Floor, Kolkata-13. Near Hind Cinema, Landmark- Dharamtala Post Office, Phone - 22370060/61. Booking time - Till 3:30 p.m.

This hotel is built atop a hillock covered with green trees. The view from the cottages Haritaki and Amlaki is very picturesque (first picture at the top). Book well in advance.

Hotel Amrapali
Hotel Aparajita- Has an in-house restaurant and the food here is delicious. Contact - (03243)253355, 9434224674, 9434480632.

Places to visit :-

To visit the dam, you would have to take a motor-pulled cart and travel the 7 km stretch of road along the Kangshabati river. Go during the sunset. It is breath-takingly beautiful during this time of the day. On the way, you will also see the Pareshnath Hillock.
You could take a 3 hour long boat ride, in order to visit a Deer Park.
Ambika Devi Mandir is situated in Ambikanagar, 4 km from Mukutmanipur. The shondha-arati begins at 7 p.m. If you set out early, while there is sunlight, you could also visit the Rajbari of Ambikanagar.

Ideal time to visit Mukutmanipur :- During the monsoons, July and August, the time of the year, when the lock gates at the barrage is opened and also when the mud-dam at the Kanshabati can be easily seen. Or during the winter, end of November - January.

You can always smile...no matter what :)

2009-04-05T20:51:00.003+05:30

Early monsoons for me at Boshonto Utshob '09

2009-03-12T13:21:00.007+05:30

This year's boshonto utshob was special in several ways.
I was singing after a gap of 2 years.
The solo that I performed, was not my difficult song #2...that is yet to come :)
Dada gave me this song on Friday, heard me sing it on Sunday and I performed it yesterday...

All through the morning I was tensed...I had forgotten what I sound like over the microphone.
Once I reached the venue, everything seemed to change...somehow the weather was just perfect, the people around were so happy and I found the "old me"..all that I could see around was soo familiar, I felt as if I was never gone... as if there were no 2 years in between...

Danseuese, Purnima Ghosh and her team members were slated to dance in the programme. My song was the second last in the evening and at the last moment yesterday, Purnima pishi did an extempore and danced to my song. I couldn't have had a better 'comeback'...I was so happy.
Watch the video and guess Purnima pishi's age..
The person playing the harmonium wearing white kurta, is My Dada (my teacher).

Na re, na re, bhoy korbo na bidayebedonare
Aapon shudha diye bhore debo taare.
Chokher jole shey je nobeen robe, dhyaaner monimalaye gantha hobe,
Porbo buker haarey.

Noyon hotey tumi ashbe praane, milbe tomar baani amar gaane gaane.
Biroho byathaye bidhuro deene dukher aloye tomaye nebo cheeney.
Ae more shadhona re.

The Active and The Inactive

2009-02-25T20:08:00.006+05:30

I'm not too sure whether the title for this post is appropriate.
My Dada (that's what I call my singing teacher) says, The Supreme Power, more commonly known as God, has two forms, one - The active form and the other - The inactive form...
For example:- A battery, when left alone seems to be useless, but, when the same cell is attached to a circuit, it can perform various functions. We know there is electricity flowing through the wires, but, it is only when, we switch on the light, darkness evaporates...

I was working at the computer in the morning today. I switched on the immersion heater for the sole purpose of heating some water...After about fifteen minutes, there was a power cut. The UPS started to beep, I ran and poured the water into a bucket, turned off the comp, went to the bathroom and shut the door. Then realized that I had forgotten the towel outside, so I came out and found a lot of smoke coming from the kitchen. Well, the power had come back and I had forgotten to switch off the immersion heater, a cloth kept next to it caught fire.
Had I not forgotten the towel outside, I could have jeopardized a lot of things (let's not think about what all things).

--------------------

Boshonto Utshob coming up. I have resumed my singing classes after a break of, I don't remember how long. My dada, is aware of the fact that I have not been singing at all and I knew he would make my come-back tough and challenging. I confessed to him that I was low in confidence, he just smiled. I knew by his smile that I was up for a steep climb. The following day he asked me to stay back after class, he asked me "Rai, you had sung Bedona ki bhashaye...remember?"
My heart did a very complicated double somersault, "Yes", I said.
"Take this song"...

"Bedona ki bhashaye" was the toughest song #1 I learnt and performed solo on stage. The new song is my toughest song #2. Dada reminded me about "Bedona" because he tried to convey that "If you want to gain your lost confidence, you will have to get it at the very first ball, I am not going to allow you a full over"

I have been singing since the age of three or four, I'v been blessed to have had THE BEST five singing teachers of whom Chandana aunty and Dada are my favorites. Chandana aunty -because I used to be four when I went to her and learnt till the age of sixteen, if people say, I can sing, it is only because of her and Dada - because, at an age (23) when I as well as others, knew that I was only capable of singing Classical and semi-classical, he proved that wrong and guided me to sing the toughest form of Rabindra-sangeet, "Toppa". Well, I could go on and on about dada and what I've learnt from him.

I sat down for reyaz this evening and my voice sounded like that of a mad elephant. I am not happy. Hoping for a speedy recovery...More on it, in some later post...

Some Culinary blunders!!

2009-02-23T23:57:00.008+05:30

If you have been bearing with my posts for quite some time now, you surely know about my Love for cooking. The above snap has been taken from my recipe diary. Yes, that is my handwriting (that's only if you are a graphologist...am all ears for you :)).
I would tell you about a few of my stories - Bad Day at The Kitchen.
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Story#1- Pompa and the Potols
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This is about my childhood friend, Pompa. Today, she has been married for about three years and can cook most of the things...but that was not the case...some eight-nine years ago, when we were in high school...back then, I was The Only "Hero" who knew how to cook...

During some vacation in school...Pompa's mom had to go out for an urgent work and asked (as a desperate last resort) Pompa to cook Potol (Parwal or Pointed Gourd - Thanks to Google for the English name)...
I chanced to visit her while she was fighting it out at the kitchen...
As I entered, I saw her sitting on the ground, both her hands occupied by pincers and a big-ish spoon...I used to be her best friend and whenever I went to meet her..she would look at me and smile "Raai"??
This time she looked at me and with a combination of expressions (confusion+relief) said.."Rai? Thank God...come here fast!"
I closed in (scared because I knew Pompa and her cooking skills)..and this is what I saw-
Pompa sitting on the ground...the lighted stove in front of her...the floor was flooded with greasy water, all of which was being spilled from the pan, mounted on the flame...
Me: Why have you added So Much water ?
Pompa: Almost on the verge of tears.. "What will I do...I've been trying for the past 20 minutes..but the Potols are refusing to get submerged in the curry...the more water I put, the more they keep floating on top. Rai. why aren't they going down at the bottom of the pan?" "Ma marbe to"...

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Story#2 - Hero's Heroism
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This story involves the same two characters as the first one.
I was in college then, Pompa had come down to our place and stayed back for the night. We were both supposed to go to our respective colleges the following morning.
My mom, before leaving for work asked me to cook some chicken for the two of us, have it, and then go to college.
Ma told me to take some curd from the refrigerator and use it for marinating the chicken.
Later during the day, I asked Pompa to help me with the cooking. I opened the fridge door and took out a usual red coloured clay container which contains curd brought from the regular sweet shops (in Bengal).
I instructed Pompa to pour the curd into the chicken as I used my bare hands to mix it thoroughly...all the while chattering and laughing away to girlie chit-chats.
After quite some time, I realised that something was not right...

Me: "Pompa, dont you think there is something wrong with the curd?"
Pompa: "You are asking ME?"
Me: "Dumbo! Can't you even tell whether this is curd or not"
Pompa: "Oh yes, if you are the hero, why don't YOU find out yourself".."I don't know"...
Me: "Dhut, this does not have the consistency of curd"
Pompa: "May be because it is a little old"
Me: "May be, but why will it be sponge-like?...Pompa!! eat it and check no".

There was this thing with Pompa - a) She never refused me, and b) She NEVER refused food...

She took a spoonful from the container into her mouth and sat down on the floor, her face turned red, she was panting for breath...signaled for some water...I gave it to her...swallowed everything, then straight way lied down holding her stomach. She wasn't making any sound, her face was still red, I kneeled down next to her, shook her with one hand.."What happened Pompa?"
Now mademoiselle sat up, shook me half a dozen times and said...
"I will tell this to everybody...just wait"...and for the first time, made spine-chilling sounds of laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha...this is no curd, Rai, This is Malai Chomchom...spongy-spongy..malai chom-chom...The Hero, who knows how to cook was adding a sweet as a marinade in place of curd, I will tell this to everybody".

With friends like these, who needed enemies :)
She did tell it to everybody.

Even now, in any get-together, this topic keeps coming back and I go red in the face :)

Arziyan - Delhi 6 - Maula maula maula mere maula...

2009-02-23T11:35:00.004+05:30

Lyrics : Prasoon Joshi
Music : A.R. Rehman
Singers : Javed Ali and Kailash Kher

For all those of you, who, like me, are unable to pray for themselves and end up losing all forms of speech while standing in front of God.
Thank you Mr. Joshi for giving people like us, the most beautiful words of prayer...and what do I tell Mr. Rehman..with each passing day, you are getting closer to God Himself...[Hail Capricorn :)]

Like Ramakrishna Paramahansa had said, There is just One God and all the religions are the different paths leading to Him...There is just One Pond in the village..all the people travel various paths and come to that same pond for their needs...

From Rabindranath Tagore to Kaaji Nazrul Islam to various other poets involved with other forms of music..like Sufi and Baool... all speak about that One Supreme Power...

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Arziyan saari main;
Chehre pe likhke laya hun
Tumse kya maangu main,
Tum khud hi samajhlo...
Maula maula maula mere maula
Maula maula maula mere maula [4]

Daraare daraare hai maathe pe maula
Marammat mukaddar ki kardo maula..mere maula
Tere dar pe jjhuka hun, mita hun, bana hun, [2]
Marammat mukaddar ki kar do maula[2]

Jo bhi tere dar aya; Jjhukne jo sar aya,
Mastiyan piye sab ko jjhumta nazar aya.
Jo bhi tere dar aya; Jjhukne jo sar aya,
Mastiyan piye sab ko jjhumta nazar aya.
Pyas leke aya tha; dariya wo bhar laya,
Noor ki baarish me bheegta sa tar aya
Noor ki baarish me...ooo...bheegta sa tar aya

Maula maula maula mere maula...[4]
Daraare daraare hai....Marammat mukaddar ki kardo maula.
Jo bhi tere dar aya; Jjhukne jo sar aya,
Mastiyan piye sab ko jjhumta nazar aya.
Jo bhi tere dar aya; Jjhukne jo sar aya,
Mastiyan piye sab ko jjhumta nazar aya.

Hoo..Ek khushboo aati thi[2]
Main bhatakta jaata tha...
Reshmi si maya thi,
Aur main tak ta jata tha.
Jab teri gali aya;
Sach tabhi nazar aya
Jab teri gali aya;
Sach tabhi nazar aya
Mujjhme hi wo khushboo thi...jisse tu ne mil waya.

Maula maula maula mere maula[4]
Daraare daraare hai..

Toot ke bikharna mujjhko zaroor aata hai [2]
Varna ibaadat wala shahoor aata hai
Sajde mein rehne do, ab kaheen-na jaoonga
Ab jo tumne tthukraya to sanwar na paonga...

Maula maula maula mere maula
Daraare daraare hai...

Sar uttha ke maine to kitni khwahishe ki thi
Kitne khwab dekhe the...kitni koshishe ki thi
Jab tu robaroo aya[2], nazrein na mila paya
Sar jjhuka ke ek pal mein[2]..maine kya nahi paya...

Maula maula maula mere maula

Mora piya ghar aya[12]
Maula maula maula mere maula...

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One word!!

2009-02-18T21:51:00.004+05:30

1. Where is your cell phone?
Table

2. Your significant other?
Non-existent

3. Your hair?
Straight

4. Your mother?
Teacher

5. Your father?
Cancerian :)

6. Your favorite thing?
Thunderstorms

7. Your dream last night?
Forgot

8. Your favorite drink?
Water

9. Your dream/goal?
Depends

10. What room you are in?
Bedroom

11. Your hobby?
Artistic

12. Your fear?
Loneliness

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?
Heaven

14. Where were you last night?
Home

15. Something that you are not?
Cheater

16. Muffins?
Yuck!

17. Wish list item?
Peace :)

18. Where you grew up?
Mudiali

19. Last thing you did?
Ruminated

20. What are you wearing?
Casuals

21. Your TV?
Black

22. Your pets?
None

23. Friends?
Few

24. Your life?
Undulating

25. Your mood?
Sinuous

26. Missing someone?
None

27. Car?
None :(

28. Something you're not wearing?
Chain

29. Your favorite store?
Footwear

30. Your favorite color?
Green

33. When is the last time you laughed?
Afternoon

34. Last time you cried?
Sunday

35. One place that I go to over and over?
Dreamland

36. One person who texts me regularly?
Sw

37. My favorite place to eat?
MLC

38. My favorite food?
Fish

Jao pakhi bolo...haowa cholo chholo...

2009-02-11T14:43:00.006+05:30

Jao pakhi bolo haowa chholo chholo
Abchhaya janlar kaanch
Ami ki amake hariyechhi baanke
Roopkotha anach-kanach

Anguler kole jole jonaki
Jole hariyechhi kaan-shona ki?
Jaanleye golpera kotha megh
Jao megh chokhe rekho e aabeg...

Jao pakhi bolo haowa chholo chholo
Abchhaya janlar kaanch
Ami ki amake hariyechhi baanke
Roopkotha anach-kanach

[alaap]

Jao pakhi bolo haowa chholo chholo
Abchhaya janlar kaanch
Ami ki amake hariyechhi baanke
Roopkotha anach-kanach

Anguler kole jole jonaki
Jole hariyechhi kaan-shona ki?
Jaanleye golpera kotha megh
Jao megh chokhe rekho e aabeg...

[alaap]

....
...
..
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If you are a Bengali and if you have not yet seen Antaheen, you are missing something...Please go watch it!!
In order to listen to this song.. Click here and Play...

Vocals : Shreya Ghoshal and Pranav Biswas

Amar bhitoro bahire

2009-02-11T13:37:00.004+05:30

Amar bhitoro bahire ontore ontore
Achho tumi...hridoy jurey

Ddheke rakhe jemon kushum
Paprir abdaale phosholer ghum
Temni tomar nibid chola
Moromer muul poth dhore...

Amar bhitoro bahire ontore ontore
Achho tumi...hridoy jurey

Pushe rakhe jemon jjhinuk
Kholosher aborone muktor shukh
Temni tomar gobhir chhowa
Bheetorer neel bondore...

Amar bhitoro bahire ontore ontore
Achho tumi...hridoy jurey

Bhalo achhi, Bhalo theko
Akasher tthikanaye chitthi likho
Dio tomar mala-khani
Baool er ei mon ta re...

Amar bhitoro bahire ontore ontore
Achho tumi...hridoy jurey

----------------------------------

Click here to listen to the song.
Vocals : Sabina Yasmin and Kabir Suman

Come, Let's make Tea different

2009-01-20T22:25:00.007+05:30

A Discovery :-

I was asked to make tea one evening.
I poured the water from a bottle that was kept in a line of many other bottles on the rack, the bottle did not have enough water to make tea for five people, so I took some more water from another bottle that stood right next to it...

I prepared it in the usual way...boiling the water, adding sugar, adding the tea leaves (by the way...no milk was added to this)...
It was now time to drink...The first to go was my Baba..after the first sip..he simply looked up at me- His expressions were different...Then my Ma...she started smiling and stood up to investigate..I did not understand what was going on...by now the others were also making faces..(well, happy faces mind you)... Without hesitating, I took My First sip...and to my utter disbelief, the Tea tasted different, unique and above all...really good...
I followed my Ma to the kitchen and we both started to probe...
The first bottle from which I had poured in water, actually contained "Sprite"!!!!!!

Try it out...It gives you real tasty tea...but use water and 7Up or Sprite in 1:1 ratio ( or safer still, keep the quantity of water, more).... and do not forget to give me your feedback...The first sip would surely bring a smile to your face...

When will you come ...?

2009-01-14T02:03:00.003+05:30

In vain I feel; In vain I kneel;
When will you come? When will it heal ?

A futile chase; A deathly maze;
Intentions good, but the heart ablaze...
Both highs and lows; There are friendly-foes;
When unsure - Ask HIM, He surely knows.
Is it always pain; Is there no Gain?
When will you come ? When will it rain?

Of decisions bold; Of miseries told;
Hypocrisy reigns, all else sold.
It's not the end, It's just a bend,
If something goes wrong; no one will mend.
A loving touch; a caring hand;
When will you come? When can I stand?

The boat is here; I am ready to row,
When will you come? When shall I go?

Famous Capricorns

2009-01-12T13:24:00.007+05:30

There is a good news in the block...One of my colleagues, Tanusri, has given birth to a cute little baby boy, just a couple of hours ago. I congratulate her, specially for giving The Capricorn community a brand new member.. Best wishes to you and the new-born...Incidentally, today is also the birthday of Swami Vivekanda...so I'd call Tanusri's son, "Vivek" :)

Following is the list of a few people (Capricorns), who we all have heard about and who have contributed a lot to the society in one way or the other :

December 22 - Sarada Devi - The Holy Mother
December 24 - Ricky Martin
December 25 - Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty - Musician
December 26 - Mao Tse Tung - Political Leader
December 27 - Louis Pasteur - Microbiologist and Chemist
December 29 - William Gladstone - Prime Minister
December 28 - Ratan Tata
December 28 - Dhirubhai Ambani
December 30 - Rudyard Kipling - Writer
December 30 - Tiger Woods
December 31 - Anthony Hopkins - Actor
December 31 - John Denver - Singer
January 1 - Raj Kapoor
January 1 - Sonali Bendre
January 3 - J.R. Tolkien - Writer
January 5 - Deepika Padukone
January 6 - A.R. Rehman - Musician
January 6 - Kapil Dev - Sportsman
January 8 - Elvis Presley - Musician
January 10 - Basu Chatterjee - Film Maker
January 10 - Hrithik Roshan - Actor
January 10 - Tintin - First appeared in a Belgian Newspaper on this day.
January 11 - Rahul Dravid
January 12 - Swami Vivekanda
January 13 - Imran Khan (Actor)
January 13 - Orlando Bloom
January 14 - Mahasweta Devi - Activist and Author
january 14 - Ustaad Ali Raka Khan
January 14 - Joan of Arc - Saint
January 17 - Muhammad Ali - Boxer
January 17 - Jim Carrey
January 19 - James Watt
January 19 - Soumitra Chattopadhayay

The journey till Death or to be one with God

2008-12-30T16:05:00.005+05:30

Almost all rivers begin as a small, narrow but vibrant stream...The river in its uppercourse is always tiny, above the base level and possesses a great deal of potential energy. While attempting to reach its base level, it cuts down the soil and errodes it vertically which results the shape changes in the v-shaped valleys.. It is this pattern of conduct during youth which becomes the deciding factor, as to whether or not the river would finally reach its goal...

Like a tiny girl who dances her way downhill, not worrying about what others might think, not realizing what all she's expected to do and not knowing where she is heading, the stream makes a course for itself and frivolously descends to its base...

It cares little about who it could be beneficial to...just dances in her own joy downstream like a selfish young lassie...

She passes hills, forests and places which are scarcely inhabited by humans...and soon, the lively little stream reaches its middle course in no time...it goes through certain metamorphosis...the landscape has changed, the gradient has become less steeper, vertical errosion ceases, lateral errosion takes place...and the stream meanders aimlessly , not knowing why she is going through such changes...On the way she meets humans...who come to her banks for various purposes and she speeds herself up trying to scare them off from coming too close to her. But, she realizes that she has become heavier, she is not being able to move like she used to when she was younger...her energy is being used up in carrying the erroded soil with her downstream...She has given shelter to so many different life forms within her, diverse aquatic animals and plants starts to thrive. She is getting taller....her bed is a long way down under...she has gone broader, a long long way to her sides....she no longer has to make her own way...she is more relaxed...she is moving on her own and most definitely she has a goal...but what is this goal..?

Without her knowing, she has become more and more giving and she knows in her heart of hearts that her end is near....she senses it...she longs for it...she cries for it...prays for it to come closer to her each day...and finally she closes her eyes and gets lost in the arms of the mighty ocean...she is the happiest today...she knows the meaning of her journey, she looks back at her course and sheds a few drops of tears on the number of calamities she had caused due to her pride and insensitivity...of the number of living creatures she could help and bring a smile to...and then she goes to eternal slumber...her work has been done ...she can rest now....she has met her goal...she has come to her God....He will take care of her from here on...she needn't worry anymore...

You can speculate and introspect while in the journey...and when it's all over, it's too late...the damage cannot be undone...the path cannot be retraced...the devastated and distraught lives cannot be restructured...Think a hundred times before you bring havoc on somebody's life...it could mean a lifetime of devastation for them....We will all have to meet our God one day...and we will have to ask for His forgiveness...

Don't we all pray this..."... And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive; those that trespass against us"...

Capricorn (Dec22-Jan20)

2008-12-18T12:40:00.013+05:30

This is one zodiac sign, about which I could never reach a conclusion, probably because I always got biased.
Following are a few informations I managed to collect from the net...

The Good Capricorn and The Bad Capricorn :

Male :

Having Capricorn rising almost guarantees success. No matter how many obstacles stand in his way, no matter how far down the ladder he begins, his achievements will lead to plenty of money in the bank. Money is important to this man, not just for the power it brings, but for the freedom it allows. He won't rest until he feels safe, and to feel secure, he must have a hefty bank account. Sometimes Capricorn rising can go too far in his need for acquisition and become quite ruthless.

Having said that, he is very responsible, intelligent and sociable. He excels in business meetings and can be quite an investor. In a relationship he wants someone more relaxed than he is, someone that can help him loosen up when he is at home. He often finds himself with a woman of less intelligence and standing in society--he likes to help her improve. If she's willing to rise to his standards and expectations, she will do well.
Together they can build up a wonderfully large nest egg that he will enjoy spending on her (and himself) when he retires. He has a hard time expressing his emotions. This is because he is quite sure he lacks the vitality of the people around him. This isn't necessarily true, and the woman that can help him gradually release his emotions will find a warm man underneath the frost.
Once he does meet the 'right' one, he will be faithful and committed to their relationship.

Female :

This woman needs to feel secure. Like her male counterpart, she seeks safety in numbers--bills, that is. She will not rest until she has a stash of money in the bank, a few solid investments, and a home to call her own. She won't necessarily depend on a man to provide her with security, as she is willing to work hard herself. But, when she does find a man she can approve of, he must not come into the relationship as a liability.

She won't support a man. She has magnificent self-control and can come across as cold and unloving--underneath the fa çade she is full of anxiety. Capricorn rising won't admit to this, though. She is very slow to commit, always wanting to be completely sure that she is doing the right thing. Capricorn rising does not like shallow or flighty men; she wants depth and expects it. If you can't give her what she needs--ie, money, honesty, a solid social standing- -don't bother trying.

She may have a fling with you, but she won't marry you. The Capricorn rising woman will succeed, either through her mate, or on her own.

'Tis the season to be jolly!!...

2008-12-17T14:51:00.006+05:30

Yet again, the last but one page of the calendar has been turned, yet again, a new year is waiting at the side-stage for its turn to begin the show. Yet again, it is time to light up the streets and the trees. Yes, yet again....Winter is back!!!

Everywhere I look, there are happy faces...the festivity in the air and the hope of the goodness, the new year would bring... is contagious and is spreading like wild fire. People have started planning on their picnic spots, boys and girls play batminton on every by-lane at sun-down...enjoying every bit of their
winter-breaks (I miss my cildhood :( I'm sure we all do). We adorn ourselves with the brightest of clothes and woollens...may be because, we unknowingly try to make it up for Mother Earth, who lose all her colours during this time of the year.

Health conscious people are not scared to gorge in spicy..."rich" food. The food is properly broken down by our system and so...no ailing stomachs...the secret again lies in the magic of the season...Ofcourse there is magic...people wait for so many years to tie the knot on a wonderful winter day...not for nothing, I suppose.

The first cool breeze, the first misty morning, the first smoky vapour in the exhaled breath, also the memory of the school-time 'Winter Vacations', of Christmas carols during Chapel Service, all coming back again...

When I was young, I used to have serious throat problems- Pharyngitis, Tonsilitis and my parents had a tough time...bandaging my Nefertiti-like neck with the entire length of the muffler, which almost always fell short and a part of my neck would still be visible...fun days those and nice memories...I had a friend who actually once took a scale and measured my neck and then compared it with her own...she used to ask-"Are you sure you have only seven cervical vertebrae?"and I reminded her about the number of vertebrae in Giraffe (also seven)...Even then she looked unconvinced...

Winter is closer to my heart for one more reason. This is the only time people get to realize that I am growing old and am considered to be an adult for at least that one day I call My Birthday...the remaining three sixty four days I am "A Minor"...

'Tis the season of giving and receiving, of cakes and cookies, of merrymaking and good cheer...'Tis the time to wish one and all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...

Little Johnny Jokes...not Capital A ones :)

2008-12-12T18:58:00.003+05:30

One day little Johnny was digging a hole in his back yard.The next-door neighbor spotted him and decided to investigate.
"Hello Johnny, what are you up to?" he asked.
"My goldfish died and I'm gonna bury him," Johnny replied.
"That's a really big hole for a goldfish, isn't it?" asked the neighbor.
"That's because he's inside your cat!"

A Sunday school teacher asked Little Johnny, "Do you believe in the Devil?"
"No," said Little Johnny. "It's the same as Santa Claus. I know it's my daddy."

Little Johnny was getting bad grades in school. One day he stepped up to the teacher's desk, and announced, "I don't want to scare you Miss Finch, but daddy says if I don't get better grades... somebody is gonna get a spanking."

A door-to-door salesman comes-a-knocking and 10-year-old Little Johnny answers, a beer in one hand and a lit cigar in the other.The salesman says, "Little boy, is your mommy home?" Little Johnny taps his ash on the carpet and says, "What the hell do you think?"

Love comes to those who believe it...

2008-12-04T14:16:00.003+05:30

The reason I started blogging

2008-12-02T16:32:00.007+05:30

Ideally speaking, this should have been my very first post. I made every possible conscious effort to postpone this one, lest I get biased and end up writing it in a way I did not wish to. 'Guess, everything has its own sweet time of appearance and this post too decided on its own accord to get published now.
Like a dear friend told me a few days back, "This year was full of hopes, dreams, dreams that materialised (well, almost) and then of heartbreaks and tragedies"...The silence that came after the storm, some of us faced this year, forgot to recede with it. Having said that, I really pray and hope that all those storms and mis fortunes that were glued to us throughout this year, decide to stay with it( with the year, I mean). It need not follow us to 2009.

I have always been the listener in a conversation. Never spoke much, in fact I still don't speak a lot. For the past twenty-six years i'v heard innumerable tales, some funny, some sad, other's which I tried to understand but failed in the end and until a few days back realised, that all I can remember is other people's stories. I remember almost all the details that was narrated to me. I asked myself one day, "There are so many details to a person and his/her life, so many incidents, have I ever thought about how many I had myself? The answer was 'No'..." I started scraping the layers of dust that had accumulated on my experiences and was pleasantly surprised to find so many of them.
The obstacle that followed was equally wierd. I had not spoken for so many years, I needed a medium. In all these years, there had been just two people who listened to me, without ANY interruption. Strangely, one of them listened to me for a period of ten years and the other, for a little less than a month. Thank you both for your patience.

Discovery of the medium -

May 2008

There happened to be this ignorant girl, who knew absolutely nothing about blogs. Destiny made her come across this blog of a person she knew( or, she thought, she knew). The first day it all seemed like a list of unfathomable theories, the next day it got a little more interesting, she discovered a few, very nice short stories( I wish I could give you the link, I am sure you too would have loved them ), then she started learning the navigations in the page. Apart from stories, it also had this person's daily musings...so this was some kind of an online diary, she thought. It took her two days to finish off all the posts and she loved them. Whenever, this person made a post( the rate of posting was very slow), he informed this girl and she read them, she loved to read them.

During that time (the time-period in the year when I was the happiest), I was slowly made to believe that "Perks were coming a little late in my life, but they had started coming"...I believed and after a little less than a month, disaster followed.

A month of self-reconstruction and then "My First Blog", now "Speechless" was born.

A few nice people helped me with the technical aspects of blogging later on. I have been lucky to receive a lot of encouragement when I started.
Thank you all for helping me with my Speechless self...

Published in Public Interest...

2008-11-21T10:55:00.007+05:30

Two of my favorite - Sensible ads from a mail I received this morning....

Typing speed !!

2008-11-20T15:35:00.002+05:30

40 words

Tangra Maach...Kashmiri style

2008-11-20T13:03:00.004+05:30

Year 2000, was the last time when we had a wedding in the family. Finally, there's another one round the corner. Next up and very soon Arghya-mama is getting married. Preparations are on. In our culture, before a person actually gets married, he/she is invited by family members and given a grand treat, we call it the 'Aiburo-bhaat'. Yesterday, my mashi invited Arghya-mama, for his 'Aiburo-bhaat'. I was also invited along with him and his two sisters (who are twins and two years younger to me and also are my mashis [aunties] :)). We all had a lovely dinner. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, now, as I am desperately waiting for my lunch in office and I am terribly hungry, all I can think about, is yesterdays' menu.
In such a state, I would want to share with my readers, one of my favorite recipes.

Ingredients :
Tangra Fish
Mustard oil
Onions - finely chopped
Green chilies - Slit lengthwise from the middle
Ginger-Garlic paste
Coriander leaves
Tomato - Finely chopped
Cumin, Coriander, Red-chilly and Garam-Masala powder
Posto seed (Poppy Seeds) OR Suji (Semolina) - whole, not paste
Groundnut - paste
Salt and sugar to taste

Method :
Heat mustard oil in a pan, fry the fishes with turmeric powder and salt. Keep aside the fried fishes and add the finely chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste into the heated oil. Mix sugar (optional). Once golden-brown, add to it the green-chillies, cumin-coriander-red chilly powders also salt (save the garam-masala powder till the end) followed by the groundnut paste, coriander leaves. Fry till you get the aroma coming. Next sprinkle the posto/suji. Fry a little more and then mix water(very little). Simmer for another 5 mins and add the garam-masala powder before switching off the burner. You are done.

Please do not forget to give me your feedback after you have tried it yourself. It's lunch here now finally, so, adios.

Strange things strangely happen on strange occasions, strangely when you are least expecting it to happen...

2008-11-13T19:34:00.006+05:30

When I look back at the flow of events today, it appears to be a blur. They say, 'Morning shows the day', please read on and let me know whether what they say is right or wrong.
I was sad since morning, couldn't see a ray of hope by which I could be happy. My TL, Debajyoti sensed it and tried his best to motivate by forwarding me a few of his favorite songs (one of them being a Himesh Reshmiya number :-)). I began the music therapy session and towards the end of the list, reached a Gulam Ali – Gazal (Humko Kiske Gham Ne Mara) which did wonders to my mood. During lunch, when I was jotting down the lyrics of the gazal for future reference, Tanusri asked me to go with her outside, where she said “some people are singing along-with loud music, you want to come and watch?” I moved out with her quite unwillingly and stood there in front of a wheeled stage, where a certain karaoke competetion was being held. A representative approached us and narrated the process :
"This is a promo offer for a certain cell phone and we have arranged a karaoke competetion, all you need to do is sing along with the track, the lyrics would be displayed on a board". I said i'd compete. I climbed on to the stage, the song that was given to me was my unluckiest song of the recent times. I call it unlucky because, whenever I have tried to listen to it(leave alone singing or even humming), something or the other has gone wrong. I sang the entire song and was given a T-Shirt at first and later a Laptop-Backpack (the first prize) for the day.
The last time I performed on-stage was in August 2007 (occasion-Barshamangal)...don't feel like singing at all these days, dont know why...i hope i get back to the mood(of regular practice) soon. Wherever I go, even on social networking sites, my aquaintances and friends keep asking me the same question,"You still singing, right?" I had been repeatedly told by my teachers in school and professors in college,"no matter what you grow up to become, never quit singing". Am feeling extremely guilty for having discontinued (my singing lessons, for the first time in the last 22 years of my singing career) what used to be a passion and devotion for me. I apologize to everyone for this, I also look forward to starting my second innings in singing, i'm a tad bit low in confidence at the moment, please pray for me.

Minor at Twenty Six

2008-11-02T16:26:00.005+05:30

Location : South City Mall- Fame Cinemas

Movie : Fashion(A)

I had gone for the movie with my cousin sister, her two children and my ma. I am the youngest in my family and all my cousins are quite older to me, so much that their daughters are more like my sisters rather than my nieces. My cousin's eldest daughter is twenty and the younger one is in class nine.

I went to the ticket counter,

Me: "Five tickets for Fashion"

Person @ the Counter: "I need your age proof. Without that, I will not be able to issue a single ticket to you ma'm"

Damn, there was a problem. We all could prove our ages but the youngest(class nine) wouldn't be allowed.

I asked my ma and didi to go and ask at the counter again.

They were told " If you have children below the age of eighteen, then they will be needed to produce their age proof certificates before they could be allowed in".

I somehow felt like punching the person who asked me for my age-proof. I am going to turn twenty-seven this December, damn-it.

I kept quiet for a while. But, "No matter what, I am going for Fashion".

My ma and didi would accompany my youngest niece for Roadside Romeo(U) and I would go to Fashion(A) with my older niece, Raily. Decided, now I went to the counter again.

Me: "Three tickets for Roadside Romeo and two for Fashion"

Prsn @ countr: "Your age proof ma'm".

Raily took out her college ID and was not asked a word.

I showed him my Office ID and was questioned, "This does not have your age proof ma'm"

Now, I was enjoying it.

Me: "That's an office id, do you think I would be employed by a company had I been a minor?"

I gave him my debit card for swiping,"And this is my debit card, do you think a minor would be allowed a debit card by any bank".

He spoke to a co-worker and finally, "It's okay ma'm(handed me the tickets), enjoy the movie ma'm" .

While we were entering the theatre, security persons asked for our age-proofs again after seeing the Fashion tickets. Raily wasn't asked a word after she put forward her college ID, I was asked again, after I showed them my office ID, "Your date of birth ma'm?". I said... and was stared back at, with a look of shock and disbelief. She did not even peep into my bag, which I had opened for her to see. "Okay ma'm, you can go in".

Inspite of all the harassment, I would still like to thank the people of South City Fame Cinemas for making my day. I mean, where, I have my friends, who look like they should at least have one child each, I am considered to be a minor? Well! I take that as a compliment guys.

Once I had gone shopping with a friend and I had bought a lot of things already, Priyanka was yet to buy something. The shop keeper told her,"Your younger sister is buying so many clothes, you can also buy a few". I looked the other way so that she wouldn't see me smiling. Priyanka smiled too, "Thank God, at least he didn't call me your mother ;)".

The Art of Listening

2008-10-20T19:09:00.006+05:30

All my close aquaintances have been talkers and I have been the listener, the very patient listener. I still remember all that each of my friends( and also foes) had confided in me years ago. There had been times when I almost dozed off while tryig to pay attention to friends' late night sob stories and most of the times I ended up sobbing along with them. The reason why, they still remember to give me a phone call, whenever they have to say something...anything.

Twenty six years of listening practice and no talking made me a complete silent person. I dread talking these days, go off...as in, if there exists a switch to my system, then it involuntarily turns off when there are too many people around. I actually am scared that no one will pay attention to me if I ever have anything to say, so much that, whenever I speak, I increase my talking speed to God knows how many words per minute to finish off my story as soon as possible....at the end of which, my listeners (poor souls :-) ) look completely harried, attacked and lost. Sorry pals....but I genuinely love that look on your face :) What can I do? You dont give me a chance to speak!!

I do not plan to whine in this post of mine, on the contrary, I would request one and all..."Please guys!!practice listening to others, coz, if you do not listen to people like us, then we would one day revolt and stop listening to you"

After all, who do we go to when we want to be listened? Not to practical people, who will tell us exactly where we are going wrong bluntly on our face and ask us to re-think the entire phenomenon in question. On the other hand,we go to someone, who will give us a patient ear, who would listen to the entire story and in the process help us feel relaxed and also make us find out a solution for ourselves and we go back home and have a good night's sleep.

Listening is an art. People who listens are emotionally closer to all, than people who talk. He is more beloved, magnetic and does universal good to the way a person feels just before speaking his heart out. Imagine, when we pray to God, it is only we who speak, He just listens, we earnestly hope that He listens. Why? Because we want to be listened to, all of us.

People who call themselves 'good listeners' speak to God more often (because He is the only one who listens :)) and have very few (may be, one or at the most two) friends who they confide in.

We should all remember that Listening is a great role, it is a gifted art. So, listen to your near and dear ones, listen to your child, listen to your husband, listen to your friend even listen to your enemy, let him speak as much as he wants. They will all thank you for that, in their heart of hearts, without even thinking conciously about it :)

One of my happy days

2008-10-17T18:16:00.007+05:30

I was a bit low since morning today. At the end of day in office, I chanced a view at my blog and trust me, my blog looked very beautiful. Know why ? From a PR n/a, it has become a PR 3. I was soo happy that I almost shouted out. Nibedita joined to my enthusiasm and kept chanting rhythmically along with tiny jigs...... " jjhinka chiku...jjhinka chiku...jjhinka chiku". I dont know how long this PR 3 will exist, but at least for today, I have a reason to be Happy :)

The Festival called Durga Puja

2008-09-30T16:58:00.008+05:30

It is that time of the year again,

when bengalis all over the world wish they were at home, with their near and dear ones.
when tiny baskets of cotton-clouds float the clear blue skies.
a long drive anywhere in the out skirts of the city would take you to green fields with kash flower bushes everywhere.
new stocks for garments arrive at every store in the mall.
pandals are constructed at all the famous and not-so-famous puja committees.

Yesterday was the beginning of yet another Durga Puja...yesterday was Mahalaya..

My office is located near the two most famous puja clubs of the city...The Mudiali Club and Shib Mandir club...I actually grew up in these localities, so the pujas have always been extra special. Any festival actually becomes special due to the special people around you...We used to be a big group. That was around eight years ago....when we were still in school. All of us made the five days special just by being with each other...long long adda sessions...pnpc's, new clothes, new fashion, new hairstyle, holidays....life was so colourful.

Today, we are all far far away from each other, in separate worlds, being special to some totally new people, who didn't even exist eight years back. Funny eh! what life shows us with time...How the reason of our existence keeps changing, what we had thought and what has become of all our dreams...all the promises that we had made....of never losing contacts, always keeping in touch, slowly vaporizing into this harsh reality...'tis really strange how the presence (or absence) of a few people can alter the happiest festival called Durga Puja...

Remembering and Missing all of you - Tania, Jinia, Mou, Pompa, Sarmishtha, Sweta and Pali

Rapid Fire...

2008-09-26T18:12:00.005+05:30

Below is a set of questions I found in a blog over the net and even if nobody tagged me with this, I sure have tagged someone in the end :)
Okay, so my answers are as follows :

1) If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Tell him "Tata Bye Bye"

2) If you can have a dream come true, what would it be?
Go back to my childhood days, sing a duet with Sonu Nigam, put on a few kilos...

3) Whose butt would you like to kick?
Liars' and hypocrits'

4) What would you do with a billion dollars?
Chuck my job...get a two storeyed house built with a colourful garden all around it...make my self a walk-in closet...buy a convertible...take my parents for a world tour...

5) Will you fall in love with your best friend?
I'd prefer falling in love first and making him my best friend later...

6) Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Believe you me...it is always best when reciprocated..one way hurts...

7) How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
Eternity...(honest...provided the wait is worth)

8) If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Not his fault...neither mine...so, I'd wait for my Mr. Right.

9) If you like to act with someone, who will it be? your gf/bf or an actress/actor?
Actor, ofcourse..I can't act and if i'd act with my bf(who I presume wud be equally bad at acting) then the director wud have to be either deaf and blind or insane to cast the two of us...

10) How would you see yourself in ten years time?
With the same eyes, still without any spects...okay..seriously.. Mother of two adorable kids and wife of a loving husband...

11) What’s your fear?
That I am not being able to trust anyone again...lately..marriage

13) What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
:( no one tagged me...I took this from a blog I found on the net... :(

14) Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Happily married and acceptably poor... :P

15) What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Count the number of days to Saturday..

16) Would you give all in a relationship?
No no...I'v gotten mean...

17) If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
Two people at the same time?...I dont think so....

18) Would you forgive and forget, no matter how horrible a thing someone has done?
I know forgive...but who is 'forget'?...

19) Do you prefer being single or having a relationship?
It is a beautiful feeling to be loved and equally beautiful to love...Yes, I would want to be in a relationship.

20) The person you want to tag.
Shambhavi

Mandarmani Part II

2008-09-17T00:52:00.037+05:30

Saturday 13th Sep
The day of our journey. We were unable to put our entire concentration to work and waited impatiently for the clock to strike 2:30 pm, the time for our official logout. God had been benevolent throughout the trip, read on, and please count the number of times, for me.
We did not have to wait for long, there was a major fault at some nearby electric post and there was no electricity from 1 in the afternoon. We had candle-light lunch together, chatted, planned and at around 3:00 hopped onto our Scorpio. There was another car as well, a Honda City. Our Scorpio had a more experienced driver and Laltu(our driver) knew the route so the other car had to follow. It was tremendously hot and sunny the entire day, but the moment we began loading our luggages, the weather changed and it started raining just as we started. We drove through the slow traffic initially for jam due to heavy showers, but once we reached the Vidyasagar Setu (Second hooghly Bridge), there was no stopping us, the cars kept racing ahead. After about two hours of journey, we received a call from the Honda City, which had lagged behind. Their car was making terrible sounds, the silencer pipe needed welding. They had stopped at a garrage and would take some time to re-join us. We were stuck near the Kolaghat bridge traffic jam, one flank of the two-way road was being repaired.
I had the sole responsibilty of handling the finances for this trip, all the money as well as the bills were with me. After more than two hours of our journey, just before Kolaghat bridge, Bappa-da asked me, "Sunrita, did you bring that file? It had the bill for the hotel booking". I was unable to speak, my hands went numb, felt light in the stomach and head, I could only manage to shake my head from right to left in response. There was a dead silence. "What are you saying?" said Sud from the rear end of the car. Then there was silence again. I always carry a 'jjhola' with me, because of the journey, I had myself cleaned the bag the previous night and got rid of every piece of unnecessary paper. Even then my bag looked like it was nine months pregnant. It seemed like eternity. "Had this been the world of Harry Potter, I could have done an 'accio' charm to bring that bill from my office", I imagined in silence. I could clearly visualize my desk at office and the yellowish file lying innocently just next to my system. Tan spoke, breaking my trance, "Check out your envelope"...and I reached for it inside my pregnant bag, almost as if I was under some spell. There it was, the photocopy of the bill, neatly folded in between the five hundred rupee notes, I had completely forgotten about that at the freak of the moment, thank 'Prabhu' it was xeroxed in the first place.
We reached Sher-e-Punjab dhaba, Bappa-da called up the hotel and enquired about road conditions and dinner facilities while also confessing to them that we were not carrying the original bill. After hanging up, he came to us with a big smile,"It's alright they said, it does not matter". Phew!! I started speaking again after I don't know how long. We had samosas and egg pakora, the other car had also arrived at the dhaba by then. We started off.
It was drizzling and the Honda City could not be sighted at the back. We called them up, Dipu, from the Honda, informed us, their wiper was not functioning. We stopped, waited for them, found a mechanic, repaired it and after forty-five minutes resumed our drive. The drive was fabulous, the roads were deserted and there was a sparkling moon, only an 'ant-bite' short of being the full circle. It was a very long journey.
The last 5km of the journey was beautiful. We had to drive the entire length on the beach. The only lights visible in front were emanating from the car headlights and in it we saw hundreds of red crabs scattered on the shore. Some local people had adviced us not to venture outside the track marks already left by other cars on the beach, the reason being that, there was quicksand and our car tyres could easily sink. On seeing the crabs, Shanky got so excited that he actually drove out of the marks and came next to our car, and just as we were about to enter our hotel, their car tyre sank in the sand. At long last when we disembarked in front of the hotel gates, a manual clock was struck twelve times.

Sunday 14th September : Dinner was served at 1 am. Next morning we woke up early at 5:30 and rushed to the beach.

My pet "Sunday"- a Red Crab The most co-operative member of our group - Tinnu and Sheikh Sammad-a local boy, showing us how to catch a red crab

Mandarmani bade us a teary adieu while we left the hotel early next morning at 5:30 am. God was good to us for the entire trip like I have already mentioned. We realised that for the nth time when we saw The news headlines (both print and tv) next day - please CLICK HERE

Thanks Arindam-da for everything, this was my life's first independant trip, I learnt a lot from you...Thanks Tanusri for being there with me for Mandarmani partII....Thanks Binod...Thanks Rima..Thanks Sudeep for being such a sport and also for ALL the lovely snaps...Thanks one and Thanks all

Mandarmani Part I

2008-09-10T18:48:00.006+05:30

It was May 2007. We were a happy team in office. Our Team Lead was a psycho, but we managed to smile in spite of all odds. Seven of us were almost the same age-group and had a lot in common. Never-ever did we have a calm day under Him. On one such summer morning, when we were all tensed as usual, one of us suddenly came up with the idea of a tour – somewhere....anywhere.
Suddenly the entire room started chirping, an idea from here, a suggestion from there. The Google search engine helping us in finding out nearby places...
“Digha”, someone said....”Naaah”, was the chorus response..”Shankarpur”, another suggestion, “Ummm, what else ?”, then came the name - “Mandarmani !!”, a senior had gone there recently with his wife for a short honeymoon ( I personally believe, honeymoons should not be short and should never be to a place close to where you stay...), anyways, so Mandarmani it was going to be. We downloaded snaps of Mandarmani from the net and set those as our desktop backgrounds. Looked up everything we needed to know about the place. Counted the number of heads, decided on the mode and date of travel, calculated the per-head costing. Only thing that was left to be done, was to GO.
Then, the issues started coming up, somebody had to attend a wedding, another one did not get the permission, blah blah and blah. Mandarmani did not happen.
I was amongst the two most excited people, with few of us having issues at homes and otherwise, I became very sad at the cancellation of the trip and my colleagues never mentioned “mandarmani” in my presence again 'cos I gave them the, 'you better not mention, or else I will blast you' look whenever they did.

August 2008, lunch break at office...same process repeated...same name came up...someone said....”Mandarmani”.... [ there were two major differences this time, (a) it was a different department...so..new TL...thank God and (b) old team mates replaced by new ones....the old ones are scattered all over the country now...one in Chennai...another in Mumbai...still another, in a separate company...only one colleague still remains ].
It took two days for all the decisions to be taken, I am the cashier, therefore in the thick and thin of things...yet...I lack the enthu which I had a year ago. Initially I thought..may be because there is still some time left for the trip I am not getting into the mood, but now this is too late, I mean, we are going this Saturday and I still do not feel a thing... Strange huh ??
Someone called me 'melodramatic' few months back (that really really hurt)....ever since then I completely have turned emotionless...God knows what He has in store for me, but I simply do not get moved by ANYTHING these days. I smile for a short while, I do get angry at times...but all for a very very small period of time.

I just hope, I get into the tempo soon enough....need to get back home and start packing my bags. More on the trip to Mandarmani along with snaps coming up in the next post. Until then...stay tuned.

Food for thought

2008-09-03T16:49:00.006+05:30

Design courtesy : Sudeep Dutta

Which is your Tree ?

2008-09-03T11:24:00.008+05:30

I have always taken keen interest in birthdays and zodiacs. There are hardly any dates that I forget. Everybody who knows me, is aware of this passion of mine. Arindam-da forwarded me the following e-mail this morning. Hope you also find the information interesting.
Match your birthday with the tree and then scroll down to read the description that follows. Read it, it is quite cool.

Dec 23 to Jan 01 ---------- Apple Tree
Jan 02 to Jan 11 ----------- Fir Tree
Jan 12 to Jan 24 ----------- Elm Tree
Jan 25 to Feb 03 ---------- Cypress Tree
Feb 04 to Feb 08 ---------- Poplar Tree
Feb 09 to Feb 18 ---------- Cedar Tree
Feb 19 to Feb 28 ---------- Pine Tree
Mar 01 to Mar 10 --------- Weeping Willow Tree
Mar 11 to Mar 20 --------- Lime Tree
Mar 21 (only) ------------- Oak Tree
Mar 22 to Mar 31 --------- Hazelnut Tree
Apr 01 to Apr 10 ---------- Rowan Tree
Apr 11 to Apr 20 ---------- Maple Tree
Apr 21 to Apr 30 ---------- Walnut Tree
May 01 to May 14 --------- Poplar Tree
May 15 to May 24 --------- Chestnut Tree
May 25 to Jun 03 ---------- Ash Tree
Jun 04 to Jun 13 ----------- Hornbeam Tree
Jun 14 to Jun 23 ---------- Fig Tree
Jun 24 (only) -------------- Birch Tree
Jun 25 to Jul 04 ----------- Apple Tree
Jul 05 to Jul 14 ------------ Fir Tree
Jul 15 to Jul 25 ------------ Elm Tree
Jul 26 to Aug 04 ----------- Cypress Tree
Aug 05 to Aug 13 ---------- Poplar Tree
Aug 14 to Aug 23 ---------- Cedar Tree
Aug 24 to Sep 01 --------- Pine Tree
Sep 02 to Sep 12 ---------- Weeping Willow Tree
Sep 13 to Sep 22 ---------- Lime Tree
Sep 23 (only) ------------- Olive Tree
Sep 24 to Oct 03 ---------- Hazelnut Tree
Oct 04 to Oct 13 ---------- Rowan Tree
Oct 14 to Oct 23 ---------- Maple Tree
Oct 24 to Nov 11 ---------- Walnut Tree
Nov 12 to Nov 21 --------- Ash Tree
Nov 22 to Dec 01 --------- Chestnut Tree
Dec 02 to Dec 11 ---------- Hornbeam Tree
Dec 12 to Dec 21 ---------- Fig Tree
Dec 22 (only) ------------- Beech Tree

TREES (in alphabetical order)

Apple Tree (Love) -- quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal, And attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous, sensitive, loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, many talents, loves children, needs affectionate partner.

Ash Tree (Ambition) -- extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive, demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, talented, likes to play with fate, can be very egotistic, reliable, restless lover, sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention, needs love and much emotional support.

Beech Tree (Creative) -- has good taste, concerned about its looks, materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).

Birch Tree (Inspiration) -- vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly, unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.

Cedar Tree (Confidence) -- of rare strength, knows how to adapt, Likes unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious, healthy optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.

Chestnut Tree (Honesty) -- of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.

Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) -- strong, muscular, adaptable, takes What life has to give but doesn't necessarily like it, strives to be content, optimistic, wants to be financially in dependent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain knowledge, needs to be needed.

Elm Tree (Noble-mindedness) -- pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others, noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.

Fig Tree (Sensibility) -- very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, sexually oriented, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great intelligence.

Fir tree (Mysterious) -- extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them, hard to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness after long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish, many friends, very reliable.

Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary) -- charming, sense of humor, very demanding but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a lasting impression, active fighter for social causes and politics, popular, quite moody, broad mind, honest, a perfectionist, has a precise sense of judgement and expects complete fairness, love nature and animals.

Hornbeam Tree (Good Taste) -- of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition, good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.

Lime Tree (Doubt) - intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones, hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough, but is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices for fami ly and friends, has many talents but not always enough time to use them, great leadership qualities, is jealous at times but extremely loyal.

Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) -- no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

Oak Tree (Brave) -- robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground, person of action.

Olive Tree (Wisdom) -- loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable, balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm, well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.

Pine Tree (Peacemaker) -- loves agreeable company, craves peace and harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write poetry, not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls strongly in love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally soft, low self-esteem, needs affection and reassurance.

Poplar Tree (Uncertainty) -- looks very decorative, talented, not very self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership seriously.

Rowan Tree (Sensitivity) -- full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.

Walnut Tree (Passion) -- unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.

Weeping Willow (Melancholy) - likes to be stress free, loves family life, full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic places, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with when pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition, suffers in love until they find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves to make others laugh.

My Cousin...WRIK..

2008-08-29T11:56:00.006+05:30

A Virgo, age 28 (yesterday was his 28th birthday), one and a half years senior to me, an MBA by profession and has been recently appointed the regional (east) head of an insurance company in India. I tried calling him up the entire day yesterday, only to hear, "The number you are trying to call is switched off..." Later at night I got the line but was on the call wait, so I hung up. After a few moments Wrik called back. Thirty minutes later when I finally said "Good night", I knew I would surely make a post out of this conversation.

Me : "Haaaaappy Birthdaaaay"
Wrik : "Thaaaank Yooouuu"
Me : "Where are you ?"
Wrik : "Guess?"
Me : "Ummm"
Wrik : "Guwahati-Shillong-Guwahati-Izawl-Guwahati", there were a few more places in that list, which I forgot.
After the initial Hi-Hellos..
Wrik : "Izawl is a heavenly place; the people out here are so simple and trustworhty. They say and do what they feel like saying and doing. The hotel where I was staying had a large room, the bathroom itself could fit in two of our flat-rooms of Calcutta. Whenever I opened a window, I could see the clouds floating in the air, right in front of me and the clouds even entered my room when I opened the door to my balcony"
Me : "Wow"
Wrik : "Know what ? The balcony looked down over a cemetery. The place is so windy that even with the doors closed it seemed like someone was breathing heavily on them from the other side. When I went to bed that night, I was suddenly woken up by a loud noise. I sat up straight, as if just received an electric shock on my back, only to find that the huge door(probably from the times when the British were still here) opened with a bang. I was shit-scared, I got off from the bed and closed the door. The moment I secured the bolt, the window on my left opened loudly. All I could think of at that point was, 'Okay, so this is how I am going to die'. My eyes fell on a lone Bible lying over a table next to the window(The Catholic population being the majority there). Already petrified that I was, I could'nt help thinking, ' Ok, great....so,they keep ready-made arrangements for dying people out here'. I carried the Bible to bed and slept throughout the night with that heavy book over my chest."
Me : "Aw"
Wrik : "There's more".
Me : "Tell me tell me !!"
Wrik : "The flight to Guwahati from Calcutta took us over Bangladesh. Rai,(that's my pet name) you wont believe".
Me : "What"
Wrik : "Almost all of Bangladesh is under water".
Me : "What are you saying?"
Wrik : " From that height I could clearly see long, winding roads submerged under what appeared to be a thin carpet of water and then the road suddenly disappeared".
Me: "Now, how is that possible?"
Wrik : "Arre, it went under deeper waters"
Me : "Okay"
Wrik : "Miles and miles of paddy fields, all under water. Give me one good reason, why the people from there wont come in here."
Me : "Hah hah hah..."
Wrik : "There is not a single dog out there in the hills, you know".
Me : "That's strange; why?"
Wrik : "They eat dogs out there, not many alive to roam the streets, you see".
Me : "Hah hah...that's disgusting!!"
Wrik : "I know. They eat dogs, they eat cows, frogs, snakes almost every living creature out here is an eatable. I once told one of my juniors, who was a localite-'If Maneka Gandhi comes here, she will die of a heart-attack and what more, she will come back to attack her heart all over again".
Me : "Ha ha ha."
Wrik : "The names of people here don't seem like ordinary names, they are more like sounds"
Me : "Like?"
Wrik : "I called the waiter, while lunching at a certain restaurant and after talking to him for sometime asked him his name, something he said, which did not at all sound like a name"
Me : "What did it sound like then ?"
Wrik : "Sounded like a car coming to a screeching halt!"
Me : "Heh heh...What was his name ?"
Wrik : "Do you have a pen nearby ?"
Me : "Yes"
Wrik : "Write this name down on some paper and pronounce it for me, I'll give you anything you ask for - Zongaihawmi Hranleh"
Me : "Zzzzoongg...no wait...Zzzongaaaaiii...Zzzzzoooo!!"
Wrik : "You can't take so long to say it. The girl took less than two seconds to complete it, at the end of which I told myself, 'Sounded like a splash!! after someone is forcibly thrown into a swimming pool'....I ended up making a strange noise myself while desparately trying to control my laughter."
Me : "Wrik, please write a book on all your experiences, I am sure it will be one big hit. Oh and one more thing, once you come down to Calcutta, show me ALL the snaps you have taken there and tell me more stories."
Wrik : "Sure darl."
Me : "I promise to call you up once every week for the dose of laughter that you and only you can provide. Let's go for a movie this weekend....you, me and Wribhu(another of my cousins)...how 'bout Rock On ??"
Wrik : "Done deal...just lemme know and I'll be there"
Me : "Great...See ya then...bye bye...good night"
Wrik : "Godd night."

That was my divine cousin Wrik...I promise to post more on him later....
Stay tuned....

Spread the Smile

2008-08-27T18:12:00.009+05:30

I woke up late today, had a hasty shower, skipped breakfast and somehow left home for office. Could not catch my 9:20 a.m bus on time, did not expect to do so. The bus depot is very close to my place, so, I got up in the next bus and waited for it to leave. All the while mentally calculating the left-over permissible minutes, that we could avail to be late to office...most of it already being used up since it is the 27th of the month. Our company HR, named it 'The Umbrella Minutes'.
After getting myself a good window seat in a Euro II bus, I adjusted my FM channel in my cell phone and settled down. The bus slowly but steadily filled in and after about five minutes, left the depot.
You must be thinking, What is so unusual about all that I have written so far. Yes, you are right, nothing strange, nothing unusual. We are all so used to our surroundings and so used to the fact that everything is the same. We get up in the morning, leave our homes for work or school, then eat when it is time to eat and finally leave office to come back home and restart the same process. We seem to be stuck inside a big computer program, which has an infinite loop. We are so used to this loop repeating itself at regular intervals, that we do not even make an attempt to come out of it, thus we are forced to...ah...well sometimes.....

The bus reached Lake Gardens and slowed down due to the heavy traffic during office-hours. On the left hand side footway, there stood around ten kids, all of them street children. None of them were more than two or two and a half feet in length. Still nothing unusual you say. Well yes, the way they stood was unusual. All of them, formed a circle, holding hands, occupying quite a lot of busy walking space. They were all dressed in tattered, unclean clothes, some had half the portion of their body covered and the tiniest and the cutest of the lot....hardly three years old, did not have a thread on her body. They all stretched their hands (the smallest one had to stretch the farthest to reach the two children at her sides), a broad grin sketched on each of those faces, not a drop of worry anywhere...and a small boy walking all around them with a twig in his hand....playing some kind of a game which looked like a combination of 'ring-a-ring-a-roses' and 'i-sent-a-letter-to-my-mother'.Everyone in the bus turned around to see the spectacle and smiled at each other...forgetting all their personal tensions and worries.

I completely forgot that my cell phone was camera enabled. I wish I had a snap to post here. We call a child's smile to be the most contagious and they are the blessed few who are still out of this infinite loop.They gave many of us a reason to smile this morning. May God bless those little angels !!

Hoyto tomar e jonno...

2008-08-18T16:13:00.008+05:30

I wished a funny wish,
A funny wish, wished I
If you wished the wish I wished
You wished the wish, wished I!!

One of my favorite songs...

Film : Teen Bhubaner Paare
Starring : Soumitro Chatterjee, Tanuja
Music : Sudhin Dasgupta

Hoyto tomar e jonno
Hoyechhi preme je bonno
Jaani tumi ononno
Aashar haath barai

Jodi kokhono ekante
Cheyechhi tomaye jante
Shuru theke shesh prante
Chhute chhute gechhi tai

Hoyto tomar e jonno ...

Ami je nijei motto
Janina tomar shorto
Jodi ba ghote onortho
Tobu o tomake chai

Hoyto tomar e ....

Ami je duronto
Du chokhe ononto
Jhhorer digonto jure, shopno chhorai

Tumi to boloni mondo
Tobu keno protibondho
Rekho na moner dondo
Shob chhere cholo jai

Hoyto tomar e jonno ...

Tere Ishq Mein...

2008-08-18T12:55:00.004+05:30

There is something about Sufi songs, that enthralls and mesmerizes. Ever since I heard this one, I was completely in love with the lyrics, the tune and even the rendering style...

To know more on Sufism, you could visit here.

“Tere ishq mein Haaye tere ishq mein

Tere ishq mein... haaye tere ishq mein..

Raakh se rookhi

Koyel se kaali

Raat kate na

Hijraan waali

Teri justjoo.. karte rahe

Marte rahe..

Tere ishq mein..

Tere roobaroo.. baithe huey...

Marte rahe...

Tere ishq mein...

Tere roobaroo...tere justjoo

Tere ishq mein..haaye..tere ishq mein..

Baadal dhuney...mausam buney

Sadiyaan gini...lamhe chuney...

Lamhe chuney...mausam buney..

Kuchh garm the..kuchh gunguney

Tere ishq mein...baadal dhuney..mausam buney...tere ishq mein..

Tere ishq mein...haaye haaye...Tere ishq mein...tere ishq mein...tere ishq mein...tere ishq mein...

Tere ishq mein...tannhaaiyyaan...tannhaaiyyaan...tere ishq mein

Humnein bahut...behlaaiyyaan...tannhaaiyyaan...tere ishq mein..

Rooh se kabhi..manvaiyaan...Tanhaiyyaan..tere ishq mein

Mujhe toh kar..koi din gaya

Mujhe chhed kar...koi shab gayi

Meine rakh li ...saari...aahatein

Kab aayi thi...shab kab gayi..

Tere ishq mein..kab din gaya...shab kab gayi..tere ishq mein..

Tere ishq mein...haaye ....haaye haaye...Tere ishq mein..tere ishq mein..tere ishq mein...tere ishq mein...

Raakh se rookhi..

Koyel se kaali

Raat kate na..

Hijraan waali..

Dil sufi yeh thaa......Hum chal diye...jahaan le chalaa...tere ishq mein..Hum chal diye...

Tere ishq mein......haaaye...tere ishq mein..”

Narkol-Shorshe Ilish

2008-08-11T18:30:00.005+05:30

My school-time friend, Priyanka Pal has recently turned into Priyanka Saha. Her metamorphosis has enabled her to get involved in various activities which was not undertaken by her previously. Well, in this case, I am only talking about her culinary creativity.
I started cooking since high-school, took it as a passion and simply love it.
Here is, the recipe which involves a fish that every bengali is a fan of.They literally wait round the year for this time of the season, the only time when Hilsa is available in the markets.
The following recipe belongs to Priyanka, after she shared it with me, I took her permission of posting it here and off she went, "Haan Haan..."

Ingredients :

Narkol bata (Coconut paste)
Shorshe bata (Mustard Paste)
Kaancha lonka bata (Green Chillies paste)
Salt
Holud guro (Turmeric Powder)
Laau pata (Gourd leaves)
Threads
Ilish (Hilsa)

Method :

All the above ingredients (except the Laau pata and the threads) are to be made into a paste together and applied over the pieces of ilish. The fish, coated with this marinade, needs to be kept aside for a couple of hours (the longer, the better).

Take each of the pieces of fish and apply a fresh coating of the marinade, then wrap it around with the Laau pata and tie it up with the thread.

After all the pieces are tied up, heat some mustard oil in a pan and fry the Laau pata-covered ilish on medium flame so that the fish inside the leaves gets cooked thoroughly.

Serve along with the Laau pata and Steaming rice.

Recipe courtesy : Priyanka Pal (Saha)