Merry Christmas :-)

My maternal grandfather, who is, err, a great 'devotee', on Christmas Day.

My father and I in a taxi on Christmas Day.

My grandfather and I at a Chinese restaurant in Kolkata, where we had lunch that day.

My grandmother with my parents at the same venue.

My grandparents and parents at City Centre on that day where we watched the new Bengali movie of the famous Feluda series by Satyajit Ray, "Tintorettor Jishu"(Tintoretto's Jesus).

A month of surprises

This December, I really am surprising my family. On my parents' anniversary, we were palnning to go for dinner. But, while planning, we realized that if we would start from our house after both of them returned from work, it would be very late because their offices as well as the restaurant where we wanted to go, are all very far from our house. So, I was struck with an idea and suggested that if I would travel to my father's office in the evening and meet him there, we would then go and meet my mother somewhere and then go for dinner. After a lot of pleading, they agreed. Thus, on their 20th anniversary, I went all the way from our house in Baguiati to my father's office in Chowringhee by bus. On hearing that I had completed that one hour and fifteen minute journey all by myself, everyone was all praise for me.

The next surpise came for them when I went for a movie with a friend, which I mentioned in my last post. And,the latest suprise was when I went and had food with my friends in a restaurant, for the first time ever, after the Christmas Celebration at our school on Friday. The function itself was not that good. But, I don't suppose any of us had gone for the purpose of enjoying the function. We had gone to enjoy with friends, to enjoy the gathering. Some of us suddenly decided to brighten up the evening more with the help of food. There were six of us, including me. Sukanya, Mekhala, Arittra, Sayani and Biswadeep made a nice group. The funny thing was that as I had invited Arittra to join us, he had assumed that I was the one giving the treat. But, while going to the restaurant, he realized from our conversation that Biswadeep was the one who would be financing. So, when the rest of us had already sat down, he stood staring at me with a very embarassed look on his face. I was forced to get up and talk to him. He said, "You're not the one giving the treat? But, I don't even know him(Biswadeep) and how can I just eat when he will be paying?" I replied very nonchalantly, " I didn't know him till today either. But, so what?" Hearing that, he became more unwilling to sit down. So, I said , "Ok fine, we'll all contribute something. Take your seat now." Thankfully, he was satisfied and occupied the last chair . We explained to him later that the reason for taking Biswadeep with us was that he is very rich and always has a good amount of pocket money with him! Now, wasn't that very clever of us? :-D

So, this month I have heard numerous time from numerous people that, " Tui to boro hoye geli!" (You've grown up!") I am glad that they have finally realized that!

rab ne bana di jodi

Today, I went to watch 'Rab ne bana di jodi' with my friend, Sukanya . This was special for me because for the first time, I went out independently with a friend. Earlier this year, when I had gone out with my blogger friends, my cousins were there and besides, they were all grown-ups. But, today, there were only the two of us, without the company of any adult and it boosted by confidence a lot. Moreover, I was the one who guided Sukanya today because I have been to that multiplex and shopping mall more number of times than her and know shorter and better routes leading to it.

Coming back to the actual topic, Sukanya was extremely happy too because some of our other friends had been planning to watch this movie but hadn't invited her properly to join their group. She had been telling me that very dejectedly and on hearing that, when I had proposed our going to the movies without taking anyone else, her face had lighted up. Today, there was not a single moment when the smile vanished from her lips and that gave me a lot of satisfaction because she is the friend who has been getting closer to me for the last few months.

The movie was also very good, specially the first half. The first half was actually very funny. The second half was a bit boring . The story is kind of sweet. Anushka Sharma is very glamorous and has done a good job. Every time she smiles, its a treat to watch her. And, Shah Rukh Khan is superb. But, of course, he always is superb! The way he walks in this movie, the way he makes his two appearances in the movie equally adorable and above all, the way he smiles, all make 'Rab ne...' a must watch. The love story fails to be extraordinary, primarily because of the abrupt climax and the way Anushka abruptly discovers the person in whom she actually finds 'rab' or God. But, at the same time, the love story does leave an impression because of the way it conveys the message to us that some love stories are indeed created by God.

Still life

This is one of my hand painted pictures, in oil colours. And, I changed my photo on the page because nobody seemed to like it. Specially, after protests from Nanny and Woodsmoke, I decided to change it. Hope you like both the painting as well as the photo.