Butterfly

Thoughts on a birthday

2011-03-06T13:08:00.002+05:30

Birthdays are just another day in the calendar--they come and go--and while we expect gifts and surprises on this day, do we ever stop to wonder why this should be a special day for us? We were all born on certain days in certain years, but why should we remember those days with such pomp and splendour? Why should it be a birthday and not a birth date--just another date? Is that date so important, apart from all its official applications?

I had never thought about these questions before all my previous birthdays. But, I realise that the reason was that I had taken birthday wishes and celebrations for granted instead of pausing to think why I found them so important. But, now I know the answers to all these questions. We celebrate the fact that we have lived on earth successfully and happily for one more year. We rejoice at having seen the light of the world and getting to know all our near and dear ones, and it is this joy which we want to share with them. Now, how we share it, depends on each of us. We can do it by throwing a grand party or spending a quiet evening with coffee and music, or as I had said last year, by sitting for exams!

On all my previous birthdays, I had written some exam paper or the other, and eating the chilly chicken prepared by my mother, while again preparing for the next day's paper. We would have a celebration at some eatery after my papers got over. And, on the day itself, I would get numerous calls, wishes, cards, etc. So, this year, my feelings before my birthday were weird as this was the first one away from home and the first one without exams( and also the first one when I was compelled to wear woollens because of the extended Delhi winter). It didn't feel like my birthday at all. So, when my parents came to Delhi a week before my birthday for two days, my hostel friends surprised me at midnight with a cake, and my classmates surprised me with another cake the next day, I was overwhelmed, and that is when, I started asking myself these questions. Birthdays are not about a specific kind of celebrations one is used to. What is important is, a sharing of the joy, which I did this time at different stages with different people I love. We do need some days in the year for realising the meaning of this love. So birthdays really can't be just another day in the calendar. They come with their own sweet reasons!

Flight chronicles

2011-01-15T18:57:00.002+05:30

Travel and journey--such routine parts of our lives. In our attempts to fulfill our everyday targets and make life pleasing for our dear ones, we undertake those hectic, jostling, noisy and sweaty journeys by buses, autorickshaws, cycle rickshaws or most recently, the metro. For work involving a greater degree of general or self interest, we sometimes need to travel farther and accept the punctual services of our very own Indian Railways or our 'low-cost' airlines. Each of these journeys is not just about reaching our destination. The journey itself becomes such an integral and interesting part of our lives because of the entertainment that each means of transportation brings with it, chiefly thanks to our fellow passengers. Seriously, the way people behave in an auto or on the metro or on a long-distance train will make for an entire novel, movie or television series. But, more on those gems later. Today, let me write about my air travelling expriences.

The first time that I was travelling completely by myself, I almost made a fool of myself by getting confused with the seat arrangements and thinking that my seat was just next to the window. Then, an elderly couple came and claimed that seat as one of theirs. I realized my mistake and promptly shifted to the aisle seat but they kept frowning at me for another half an hour. Then, they stared at the sandwich which I ordered, and kept on staring at it as I ate it. I wanted to ask them, "Is there anything wrong with my sandwich? Do you suspect it to be a bomb? Or are you just tempted to have one too? Go on, have it then, but please stop staring!" Look, it's a lot better to have sweet elderly people as co-passengers than some nasty guy, but even old people can get on your nerves at times by behaving weirdly. On another occasion, for instance, my friendly old grandma co-passenger asked me to occupy the middle seat so that I wouldn't have to get up each time she went to the toilet. I told her politely that I wouldn't have problems getting up, but I had not taken into account the fact that I would be switching on my laptop. So, when she did ask me to let her pass, I was at a loss to manage her legs, my legs, my entangling headphones and huge laptop. Somehow, she went through and I promptly occupied the middle seat, having learnt my lesson. But, this was my mistake and I turned out to be entertaining for the other passengers. Then, the lady returned from the toilet and began bombarding me with questions. Why was I going to Kolkata? Why was I in Delhi? Who lived there? Who lived back in Kolkata? Which class? Oh ok, which college? It must be colder in Delhi, right? What is the temperature? Is the flight taking too long? How much did my ticket cost?...Therefore, despite all my affection towards old people, I was happy when the flight landed.

Then, ther will be people who will talk in intellectual tones, delivering their sermons on various topics. They will discuss stuff eagerly with their co-passengers. For instance, a woman sitting next to me did not know in which terminal our flight would land at the destination airport. Before the flight took off, she angrily began ordering her driver at the destination to find out and be at the right place. She was kind of loud. Then, she asked the man sitting next to her, who was very glad to help a lady. Then, the two began conversing in English, one in her American accent, the other in his Indian accent. The man seemed pleased with himself, and they discussed the pathetic condition of our airports, offering their own solutions. Some people try so hard to act smart on planes.

And, I don't even need to mention how awful a flight can get if there are naughty kids around. They and their wailing, crying friends, can constitute the worst group of co-passengers. Some people keep on looking at the loo from their aisle seats while others will go there at least twice, that too when the air hostesses are pushing the food trolley and there's no space for such varied movements of different people. I also don't understand why people have to board the aircraft with such huge pieces of luggage. It's supposed to be 'hand' luggage, but people carry medium suticases on board. What pleasure do they receive by increasing their own burden when they can give those chunks of rock away as their main luggage and be comfortable throughout? Why do they have to pull those trolleys all along past the Security Check counters, the long boarding gate queues, the crowded airbus and the still more crowded plane aisles, hurting other people's feet? Then, there are the seat-exchanging people, who for any tiny or no reason, will want to exchange their allotted seats with those of any other random people of their choice!

I also find it a little annoying when people don't switch off their cell phones on board. They simply ignore the air hostess's repeated pleadings and think, "Nah! Nothing happens if we keep them on. Why do they ask us to switch 'em off anyway? We don't see the point." But, supposing some problem did arise? When people have no idea about what the problem can be, why do they refuse to follow a simple flight rule which requires them to press a button just two more times than usual, and stay away from their plaything for a few odd hours? There are some who switch on their phones even before the flight lands properly and all over the plane, various versions of the Nokia 'ti-ti-ting-ting-ting' tune can be heard. They begin informing people that they have reached when the flight plane is still in motion. After all, it had required their utmost efforts to keep their fingers away from those keys, which they can't help but go on pressing with or without reason.

And, these are only some observations. There can be many many more, specially if you have an eye for detail. In my next post, I shall try recording my metro riding experience in Delhi!

2010...Unforgettable

2010-12-31T16:53:00.003+05:30

So, here it is--the customary year ending blog post. A post reviewing the past year would seem rather common at this point of time, but I would never attempt my hands at anything different. That's because 2010 was the most memorable, challenging and strange year of my life. As it draws to a close, I cannot but sit and wonder at the way events unfolded in the last twelve months and demanded a host of plans and calculations and gave birth to a whole new set of emotions. I'm talking like this because the entire year brought changes with it--sudden, tricky ones and expected ones as well--and with them, my mentality changed too. There was the height of success at one point and a deep inferiority complex at another, when all that had seemed made of dreams became a harsh reality and I began to question that success itself. I seemed to be changing my like/dislike for poeple over a span of a week or two. When bad times came, I actually became bent on enjoying myself just because that is what I had intended to do during that period, instead of trying to understand the condition of those around me. But, I'm glad I recovered myself and learnt that happiness and light could be found naturally even in the darkest moments. I wouldn't have to force happiness upon myself or on others. Instead, supporting them should be my primary concern. Perhaps, support, cooperation and patience themselves combine to bring relief. A plethora of new faces got added to the album of my brain. But, in getting engaged with them, was I distancing myself from the old faces? Have I been able to fully connect with them yet ? If I have, then why was I so desperate to bring alive those old faces again? Why did I feel that I would almost die if stuck with these new faces for ten extra days?

I've had to deal with more sets of questions like the above and sometimes, a plain blankness of mind. The night before leaving my hometown with my bag and baggage, I swear that I didn't feel anything--no sadness, no excitement, not even the usual frenzied depth of my prayers. But, it's been memorable because I've been able to overcome many, if not all, of these challenges and questions. So, ultimately, I have felt happy-- very happy and satisfied with myself. The year was not satin smooth but it brought an immense measure of happiness at the end of every long tunnel. And in the case of those tunnels through which I'm still travelling, my eyes are all set on the next year. I'm ready to confront whatever lies at the end of every journey because 2010 has taught me to fight and believe in happiness itself. I want to thank God for adding a year such as this to my life.

I would like to wish everyone who is reading this post a very Happy New Year. May your lives take the happiest of turns!

The boy who lived

2010-11-20T20:50:00.003+05:30

A blog post after a long, long time. When this year began, I wrote a post urging everyone to update their blogs regularly, saying how bad I felt not to get a peak into the minds of my fellow bloggers anymore. But after my last post on this blog in September, I myself disappeared. No, I wasn't that occupied with other things, or particularly depressed for any reason. Frankly, I don't think I had anything to write about. But today, I have a very good reason to write a post. What better reason to write a post than the advent into our lives once more of the boy wizard? Yes, its Harry Potter I'm talking about.

No matter which city I live in, how could I miss a Harry Potter movie? 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows(Part 1)' is here and is here with great expectations, which I'm sure it will satisfy. Based on J.K. Rowling's last book of the Harry Potter franchise, this is the first part of the entire movie, the second part of which is scheduled for release in July 2011(so, its not completely over yet:-)). I think this division into two parts has been the wisest decision that the production team has taken. The seventh book, although shorter in length than its two immediate predecessors, is cramped with much more information. In fact, only after reading the seventh book does one realize that there's a lot more to the story than one thought there was at the end of the sixth book. So, a movie of even three hours couldn't have done justice to the book, and this is the reason for which the movie automatically becomes more engaging. It has stuck so well to the book that when I saw some of the scenes, I remembered that had pictured them exactly like that while reading the book. It doesn't eliminate the important stuff, provides the audience with the details and doesn't leave inconsistencies and jumble-ups like the sixth movie. The tense moments are really tense and the dark moments are really, really frightening, specially the two sequences featuring the snake. However, amidst all the violence and horror, the humourous bits wont escape the audience's notice. That is, I guess, the brilliancy of David Yates' direction and the actors' dialogue delivery.

Speaking about acting, I'm totally enchanted by Rupert Grint after watching this movie. He was, in a way, the best thing about the movie. All those paroxysms of jealousy against Harry, the dilemma, , the moments of realisation, the love for Hermione--the expression in Rupert's eyes are just like what Rowling had described in Ron's case in the book. Emma Watson again delivers this good, consistent performance as always and Daniel Radcliffe is actually a bit of a letdown in some scenes. But, its Rupert Grint who brings alive the sequences featuring the three of them. A special mention for the three actors who played the roles of the people into whom Harry, Ron and Hermione are transformed after drinking Polyjuice Potion: they were a hilarious trio. I also liked Tom Felton and Alan Rickman in their tiny portions in this movie. Their real parts though, come in the next one.

There are some people, even in my college, who are saying that this movie is not good. But, they belong to that roup who have always criticised Harry Potter movies and books. For people like me though, its different. My room mate and I were discussing last night that we have grown up with Harry. So, he's within us. We identify with him in many situations of our life. For us, the feelings associated with a a Harry Potter movie are bound to be different. From a very impartial perspective, this movie was much better, truly much better than the fifth and sixth movie and it was very good as a movie. But, even if there are some fine points of criticism, I'm bound to overlook them because every time, there's some new addition to the Harry Potter collection, life becomes happier and more energetic, like it has for the last one week. My spirit just got lifted a thousand times more!

Life comes full circle at Stephen's

2010-09-22T21:43:00.002+05:30

Even a few days ago I was ever willing to chronicle my life in this wonderworld called Stephen's. Now though, somehow, the excitement of a new life has dwindled. But, don't get me wrong. That's not bad. The things which had existed as in a dream for a while, have now turned into reality. Stephen's is my own sphere--I have made it my own sphere. Stephen's is no more that intimidating structure made of red bricks where I had come for my interview on a hot June afternoon. It is not about those tense moments spent outside the interview room, shooting nervous glances at my possible would-be classmates. Rather, it is about passing by the same room thrice a day for having my meals with the same classmates-- without ever remembering what that room had meant such a short time ago, but on the contrary, thinking about rushing to the assembly, the next class or going for a night stroll.

The reason for which I feel even more that life here has come full circle is that I'm excited beyond words now about going home for the autumn break. Sudden bursts of homesickness are also an integral part of life here, specially during weekends. So, excitement at the prospect of going home, counting the number of days left, going crazy about this with friends( who are equally excited), reminds me even more that this place is not alien to me anymore. Ok, I know this sounds a bit contradictory and strange, but I can't help it. This is how things have taken shape.

And, after all the emotional talk, I again feel like jumping, packing my bags, crossing out one more day on the calendar and breaking into crazy jigs. Well, this was one crazy post I had never intended to write!

Second Home

2010-08-29T23:16:00.002+05:30

It is 7.00 in the morning on a busy weekday. My cellphone alarm rings. I switch it off and go back to sleep again. When I get up again, its already a quarter to eight! But, I still feel relaxed because after having woken up late in this manner for a whole month, I have already mastered the art of taking a bath and getting fully ready, which includes meeting the 8.30 a.m. deadline for breakfast!

So, this is how a day begins for me at St. Stephen's College. Miraculously, I'm always in time for breakfast and for the morning assembly, which begins at 9.05 a.m. The classes, which begin from 9.35 a.m. are still not at all pressurizing. Instead of talking about studies (which are undoubtedly enjoyable thanks to those brilliant lectures), I'll talk about the other aspects of classes. Classes also mean getting to see a lot of greenery from each of the windows, pigeons flying into the air suddenly from the lawns, and even having dogs in the classrooms!One day, two dogs actually slept soundly in our classroom while we took notes. My classmates, in general, are nice, crazy and very talented. One of them, Sohini, is also one of my two closest friends here. I'm so happy and honoured to have a friend like her who actually got a compilation of poems and short stories published when she was in the 9th standard. One has to read them to believe what a sense of imagination a 12 or 14-year old can have. Then there's Suravi. Now, the moment I think about her, I start hearing giggles in my mind because that is what Suravi does most of the time. She giggles about anything and everything, forcing all eyes to turn upon her. But, she doesn't seem to care, and now, after spending a month with her, even I don't care. That's because smiling,shopping, sharing similar thoughts, going crazy and going crazier, are just the things that have woven a strong bond of friendship between Sohini, Suravi and me. When I think about how quickly we have taken a liking to one another's presence, I feel that this bond was always destined--there's something so very natural about this friendship.

Speaking of my other classmates, I feel sorry for the marginalised male section. There are just five boys in our class who always sit quietly in a corner, intimidated by the presence of 23 girls!College life during the day also means going to the library, the cafe and the chapel. The construction of the library is pretty interesting and I love a particularly dusty section among the downstairs bookshelves. The cafe( and not the canteen :-)) is obviously always full of people and we like going there in between classes to take a look at interesting people and regular people and for having the nimbu paani. The chapel is in complete contrast to the cafe and according to me, its the ideal place to study if one is too tired of sitting in a residence room. The chapel is a tiny world in itself because the moment one steps inside it, all the hustle and bustle of the world outside, the rustling of the tree leaves and even the sound of rain is shut out from one's senses. The only thing that one keeps on hearing is the sound of some musical instrument which someone or the other keeps on playing inside the chapel. The kind of peace that spreads throughout my mind and body then is indescribable.

One more extremely important aspect of my life in college is being a part of extra-curricular activities. For first years, its easier to participate in them and I'm trying my best to do that. But, talking about them will require a separate post altogether. So, I'll finish this off by talking about Residence. The most important person in Residence is my roommate, Barathi. She's a student of first-year Chemistry honours and is a state champion shooter. But, more importantly, she's a very nice and cooperative person. I've already had a lot of momos thanks to her and she too is a die-hard Harry Potter fan. She too gets up late, and in this way, we go along very well. We don't always talk a lot, and yet, sometimes, we go on chatting after switching off the lights at night. But, with her also, right from Day One, I've formed a very sweet bond.

Tomorrow morning, my day and week will start off in the same 'relaxed' manner. Life here is good. Every moment that I have to spend without my parents and they have to spend without me, is absolutely worth it.

My Last Duchess-from a different angle

2010-08-12T17:14:00.002+05:30

Ok, before you all think that this is going to be another post on Stephen's, let me tell you its not. Well, its is connected to Stephen's in a way but that's not going to influence it in a huge manner. In my next post though, I'll revert to the Stephanian mode again because each day spent here gives rise to a new experience.

Anyway, I had read this beautiful poem called 'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning in the tenth standard. But, I now realize what a limited outlook we had formed then about the poem. For us, it had been concerned with this plain and simple plot about a duke looking at the painting of his last duchess, admiring it, and expressing his suspicions about how his wife could blush when the picture had been painted or how could she could have 'depth and passion' in her glance, despite his absence. He never appreciated the fact that she smiled 'in much the same way' at him and many others and so, he took steps to wipe her smile forever. So, this was all and the mot analytical thing that we were required to do was to judge the duke's character, invariably as a very cruel and remorseless man. Looking back, I realize that not critiquing the duchess's or the painter's characters left us with an incomplete knowledge of the poem.

First of all, we should try to find out why the duchess behaved as she did. One of the explanations for this is that she was young and immature and didn't quite know when and to whom she should limit her favours and smiles. Then again, having married into such an old and glorious family, she was expectd to know how to conduct herself. So, maybe she had married the duke just to get the family name for herself. Maybe, she had married the duke to meet this selfish end only and didn't bother anymore about loving the duke. Just because the duke had killed her or sent her off to a nunnery because of her close association with people of lower ranks, the duke cannot be blamed entirely. Yeah, I agree that his action was a bit harsh and the duchess didn't deserve being treated so unfairly without any evidence but even then, a man could not--just could not--tolerate the idea of his wife being unfaithful to him.Therefore, at a certain stage, my sympathies do lie with the duke.

Then, there are other things that can make the poem so much more interesting like the way it is read. Yes, a difference in the way it is read can bring a whole world of difference to its meaning. The first three lines of the poem, for example, read:
That's my last duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder now...
Normally, one would interpret the first two lines as the duke's admiration for the painting, which was as good as real or alive. However, if one overlooks the full stop between 'alive' and 'I' in the second line, the meaning changes to a recalling of the painting scene by the duke. This contrast of meaning can apply to all lines of the poem. Plus, there's this whole discussion about visible characters, invisible characters, what's the significance of their being visible/invisible, etc., etc., etc. So, I dedicate this post to Browning and hope to return in future with more posts about his creations.

The next stage at Stephen's

2010-07-24T12:29:00.002+05:30

On a certain weekday morning in this month, many students gathered in front of a certain assembly hall in a certain college of India. After a while, they began entering the hall and occupied the seats that had been allotted to them. Their whisperings seemed to create a stir not just in the hall, but throughout the college grounds. Then, as the principal of the college entered the hall along with the other teachers, silence fell. It was when the principal began speaking and welcomed all his students as a part of the college family, a new period dawned in my life.

Our first day in College kicked off in the above manner. This morning assembly is, in fact, a very important part of my college. For the non-Christian students, its an affair for the first four days of the week. Not that everyone likes sitting through the long speeches every morning, but I feel that if the assembly is ever stopped completely , life here would somehow be incomplete. We, the Stephanians, are very proud of our family and like our principal mentioned on the very first day, I always try to walk on the Stephen's grounds with respect. The best thing about this place is probably its old world charm with its red buildings, high ceilings, black wooden doors and windows. Till now, my experience here has been very good because the people are very nice. And, that includes everyone from the students to the teachers to the non-teaching staff. Even the ragging part was fun. The most prevalent from of ragging here is introduction. I was all by myself in my residence room ( we don't say 'hostel') one afternoon when a few seniors came and wanted me to tell them about myself. Then, they asked me to guess their courses, which states they come from and what they aspire to become. So, I kept myself cheerful and made one of them the future President of India, and they too were really happy. Now, I'm on very good terms with them.

Life here is obviously different for the Resident Scholars and Day Scholars( I love the Stephen's terminologies). I'm a Resident Scholar, which means that I stay at one of the residence blocks in College. So, I'm a part of the routine here 24X7. One of the aspects of this routine which I really admire a lot is the dining. I feel that the dining hall resembles the Hogwarts dining hall(of Harry Potter fame) a lot , with its long tables. The way people sit together and enjoy their food even if its mess food, the way the food is served very neatly and the way people bond through the eating sessions thrice a day, is something so wonderful.

There's naturally more to the life here, but as of today, I want to leave the narration here. Actually, there's a lot more to discover about this place like the Chapel, the societies, more regular and proper classes and most importantly, more people from almost all the 28 Indian states. Till then, bye bye!

The Stephen's experience

2010-06-30T17:07:00.002+05:30

It was a very hot day and my woes added to the heat. By the time we reached our destination, there were beads of sweat on my forehead despite the journey by an air conditioned car. All the way from my uncle's house in Gurgaon to our destination in Old Delhi, my parents and uncle kept on discussing about the landmarks, which would help us to reach our destination the next time. But, I just couldn't concentrate on what they were saying. I just felt...well, I don't know even now just how I felt that day before the first ever interview of my life.

My interview for the English honours course at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, was scheduled for 3 pm. I caught my first glimpse of my would-be college after our car turned a corner, which sent a chill through my nerves. Inside the college campus, everthing was so peaceful. The Stephen's college campus is so much different from all other campuses that I have been to in this one month. Whether it was Presidency College, Lady Brabourne College or Jadavpur University, I saw student unions, senior students, prospective students and parents engaged in a war of words and a desperate fight to make the whole situation chaotic. Being used to such an atmosphere, Stephen's made me even more nervous at first with its silent grounds, smart students,calm parents and admission officials looking as though they were doing a very trivial job, unlike in Kolkata's colleges, where they give themselves airs. I really liked all this though and it made me more eager to be a part of the paradise called Stephen's. But, I still couldn't get over my nervousness. I had never before appeared for any kind of interview, and I knew that the Stephen's interviews were tough. My cousin, Sayantani Dasgupta, had told me about her interview experience at Stephen's. From her tale, I could picturize a dimly lit and very cold interview room, and myself not being able to answer the questions as smartly as she had.

It was only when I was waiting outside the interview room that I started gaining some confidence. As the candidates stepped out of the room one by one, the others gathered around them to know what they had been asked. I caught snatches of what they were saying , and I felt that if I would be asked the same sort of questions, I would be able to answer well because the questions mostly seemed to be about books, and books are my forte. Finally, it was my turn amd what a turn it turned out to be! My interview was ...a sort of discussion about books. They asked me about the books I had read recently, and what I thought about them. Slowly and steadily, I went on to discuss a few Bengali and English books with them. But, I thought that my last answer was the best one. They asked me, "Which part of our syllabus attracts you the most?" I replied, " I had gone through your syllabus a long time ago and cannot recall much, but studying in this college itself is an attraction for me. Whatever is there in the syllabus, I'll study with interest because my main motto is studying here." Then, my interviewers smiled and let me go. I came out of the room very much satisfied with myself. It didn't matter to me whether they ultimately selected me or not. The fact that my first interview had gone so well was the biggest joy.

But, they actually did select me! I got the on-campus residence facility as well. Now, I am a Stephanian. I am a student of that beautiful place with its red brick walls, lush green gardens and rich legacy.

Where the sea is a gorgeous blue

2010-06-02T17:22:00.022+05:30

The days after the ISC results have sure been busy. They have all been about online college application forms,last dates of submission, admission tests, interviews,cut-off marks, etc., etc., which has kept me hooked on to the net for long hours, in the hope of getting the correct information, not just for myself but also for my friends. But, what seems to have been completely overshadowed in this aftermath, is the short but superb trip we made to Vizag just before my results.

It wasn't exactly a surprise trip. The train tickets had been bought long before , but they weren't getting confirmed. We were still on the waiting list of passengers. We had almost given up hope, but two days before the scheduled day of our departure, they finally got confirmed! Actually, my father had to go there for some office work and we decided to keep him company. After a train journey of around 17 hours, we reached Vizag early in the morning and saw the small hills surrounding it, looking beautiful in those early hours. Once we were at our hotel, we slept for a while, not having got much of it the night before. Later, we had a splendid breakfast with idlis, vadas and utthapams. As my father had to get on with his work, my mother and I hired an auto and went to the city's sea beach, Ramkrishna Beach. Vizag is one of those cities in India, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, which has the distinction of having both hills as well as the sea. Ramkrishna Beach is, by no means, one of the best I have seen. Neither does the sea have big waves nor is the beach very clean. But, in the light of the noon sun, the water turns a lovely shade of blue, something that I haven't seen elsewhere, even for the same sea( the Bay of Bengal).

The sea as visible from Ramkrishna Beach

From Ramkrishna Beach, my mother and I proceeded to Rishikonda Beach, again in an auto. The best thing about it was that along the entire route from Ramkrishna to Rishikonda(picture left), the sea was visible to us on our right and the hillocks on our left. Rishikonda is about half an hour's journey from the city, and the beach is almost similar to Ramkrishna, except for the fact that its much more clean, and much nearer to the hills. We returned to our hotel just in time for lunch. At the same time, we learnt that the tickets for our return journey to Kolkata were still a long way from being confirmed, and no tickets were available via the Tatkal Scheme. So, we first went to an airline office and bought plane tickets to return to Kolkata. Next, we had to go to the railway station to cancel the train tickets which weren't confirmed. All this naturally took up a lot of my father's work time. But, he said that he would be able to work in peace now that there were definite arrangements for our return. Dropping him off at the hotel, my mother and I ventured out again, this time to the Kailasgiri hills. The auto took us upto the foothills. From there we climbed a few stairs and completed the journey to the hill top on ropeway cable cars. It was a top class experience, as we went slowly up the hill, and left the city and the vast expanse of sea below us. From the main view point on the hill top, we could see the waves softly lashing against the sea shore, and numerous boats with white sails. It was blissful to sea the blue sea and the green hills against the backdrop of the faint orange evening sun. We liked the place so much that on our third evening at Vizag, we returned there with my father. We thought that he shouldn't leave Vizag without enjoying that view. When we went with him though, we were a bit more late, and stayed on to see the city and hills completely lighted up. A park has been built on the hill top and a train ride through the park, gives one a very good view of the whole landscape.

My mother at Kailasgiri(top);The view from Kailasgiri (above and below)

On the second morning of our stay at Vizag, my mother and I preferred to stay back at the hotel as my father went for the final round of his work. Having finished it, he came back jubilantly and then, post-lunch, we went to Simhachalam, a temple town about an hour away from Vizag. Simhachalam is the abode of Nrisinghadev, one of Vishnu's avatars, I think. Anyway, it so happened that we went there on the occasion of an important religious festival and so, saw people from all parts of Andhra Pradesh thronging the temple. We had to wait two hours in the snaking queue before we could catch a glimpse of the deity. But, tarpaulin sheets had been hung to protect the devotees from the sun and I found, much to my relief, that South Indian temples are much more disciplined than North Indian ones. The temple's wall carvings, mostly of stone, were very beautiful.

Simhachalam in the afternoon (above left) and in the evening(right) when we were returning

The next day, we visited the Three Hillocks. The three hillocks have a temple, a church and a mosque on their hilltops respectively.We went to the temple and the church, both of which are very nice. The view from the top was also very good, but not as good as the one we got to see from Kailasgiri. In this case, we mostly saw the docks, and less of the sea.

From the Three Hillocks, we journeyed to Bhimanipatnam or Bhimili, another small place away from the city, by following the same hill-and-sea route from Ramkrishna to Rishikonda, and further beyond. Again, we were spellbound by the fact that we never lost sight of either the sea or the hills. Bhimili's beach is more open and large(picture on the left shows myfather and me at Bhimili). Otherwise, there's not much of a difference with Rishikonda. But, for tourists, its definitely the best beach around Vizag. The same afternoon, we had Hyderabadi Biryani for lunch. Though n0t much of a biryani lover myself, I enjoyed the one which we had that day thoroughly. I thought it was the best biryani I had ever tasted.

Our flight was scheduled for the early hours of the next evening. So, we only had a few hours of the morning left to see the only thing that remained. It was actually a boating programme in the sea, just around the breakwaters, in a launch! The day being a weekday morning, it took a long time before our launch got the minimum number of people, without which the authorities refuse to venture out into the sea. Needless to say, the launch ride was awesome(one snap from the ride on the left and two more below). The launch ride lasted about twenty minutes, during which we could see those little boats sailing past us, and those big ships only a little ahead of us, all of which we had so far seen from a great distance. At first, everyone was seated, but as soon as the launch moved into the clearer expanses of the water, they all got up excitedly, moved towards the doors and windows, and tried to feel the breeze by slightly leaning out of the doors.

We couldn't visit Araku Valley this time, but I would love to return to Vizag, tour Kailasgiri again and go to Araku in future.

On top of the world!

2010-05-20T11:03:00.003+05:30

When the message alert tone rang on my mother's cell yesterday afternoon, I thought my heart just stopped beating. My mother's hand was shaking as she pressed the 'Select' button to read the message. We then began looking at my board exam marks and when we finished, we both shouted out in joy and hugged each other. Then, she was the first one to jump up in joy, with her eyes filling up with tears at the same time. And this moment yesterday, was definitely the most memorable one of my life...

On the day before my board exam results, I had only wished for one thing, forgetting all my other targets. I had just hoped that I would be able to make everyone in my family and all my teachers very very happy with my results, and that is precisely what has happened. I have secured 96.5% marks from the humanities stream. I got 92 each in Geography, Psychology, Environmental Education and English, 95 in Bengali, 99 in Economics and an unbelievable 100 in History! My exam was undoubtedly good, but then, who expects 100? The aggregate marks(96.5) is calculated according to the 'Best of 4' system (taking English and three other subjects in which one has secured the maximum marks). But, I feel that my biggest victory has been becoming the school topper, my long cherished desire. Many people had looked with scorn upon my decision of taking up Humanities in Class XI. They were sure that it was a mistake, and I have been working very hard for the last two years to prove them wrong. And, I have actually done it now. I have edged well past the Science and Commerce stream students of our school to become the topper. :-)

I am very thankful to my parents for supporting my decision to take up Humanities because in Kolkata, most parents don't do that. I have heard weird stories of some of them threatening to leave their homes if their wards wish to take up anything other than Science! My parents never had any qualms about this, which is one of the foremost reasons for my success. My Geography tecaher, Pratima Ma'am, also the head of our Humanities department, encouraged me a lot and helped me to face the kind of challenge that I had taken up. Her contribution in my life will remain unparalleled. My other subject teachers, Manisha Ma'am, Abhijit Sir, Saswati Ma'am, Tanushree Ma'am, Saheli Ma'am and Shaluk Ma'am, have also encouraged me a lot and have always egged me on to go for the best, to go for full marks, to go for a 95+ in every subject...I now feel on top of the world to see my parents, my teachers and all my family members so happy....Now, nothing seems difficult....I just hope I am able to make the right career choices for the future and make them even more proud. :-)

The Day of the Jackal

2010-04-25T13:12:00.013+05:30

As the Jackal readies his rifle, adjusts it into the perfect position and positions himself to pull the trigger, my pulse races. Even before he pulls the trigger, I become sure that in the next few paragraphs, I'll read about how Charles De Gaulle will die on the spot, how he will lie in a pool of blood with his skull cracked, how the highest authorities of France will not be able to save their president despite all those security measures and how people all over the world will be stunned at the whole incident. But, unfortunately, the Jackal is unsuccessful. Its hard for me to believe that he, The Jackal, is unsuccessful. Its so tragic that even after all his preparations, he falls prey to one of those slight, and yet, very big, mistakes which human beings commit. He overlooks a simple Gaullist ritual and misses his target, eventually bringing about his own downfall.

I know that while reviewing any book or movie, I'm not supposed to give out the end. But, for this masterpiece named 'The Day of the Jackal', written by Frederick Forsyth, I couldn't help doing so. I strongly wanted to express how bad I felt for The Jackal in the end. The Jackal is the codename of the anonymous Englishman who had been hired by Marc Rodin, Operations Chief of the French OAS organisation of the 1960s, to kill Charles De Gaulle, the president of France. The book starts off with the true account of an unsuccessful attempt to kill De Gaulle in August 1962, by Bastien-Thiry and others. After Thiry's execution, Marc Rodin decides that the only way left to overthrow De Gaulle, is to hire a foreigner to kill him--a very experienced and skilful killer, but a foreigner, whose name won't be present in any French police records. It is then that The Jackal enters the scene and chooses his codename himself.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part, 'Anatomy of a Plot', describes how The Jackal plots to kill De Gaulle. He goes about securing false passports and driving licenses and makes very careful observations to assume as many as four false identities. He gets a very special rifle made,practices with it and decides everything relating to when, where and how he will kill De Gaulle. Everything goes on very smoothly for him and there seems to be no force on earth which can discover his activities and stop him.

But, as the first part draws to a close, we find Commissaire Claude Lebel, 'the best detective of France', on The Jackal's trail, after a certain OAS member is captured. The French police and other authorities conclude that a man about whom nothing, save his codename, is known, is out there somewhere, waiting to take the life of the French President. It is then that Lebel is ordered to take the rsponsibility of finding him out with necessary help from other departments. And, when it is the question of the life of someone as important as the French President, the authorities leave no stone unturned to try and track The Jackal down. The second part of the book, 'Anatomy of a Manhunt', concerns this tracking down. The third part, 'Anatomy of a Kill', is about the final touches to the work on the part of both The Jackal and Lebel , ultimately resulting in the detective's victory.

But, I so wish that The Jackal had been successful...Its not that I particularly hate De Gaulle when I say this. In fact, I'm not considering any historical fact here. Its the fictional part about The Jackal's adventures that enthralls me. His cleverness, his extreme courage and confidence to undertake those risks and his sheer determination to carry on, even after knowing that the whole of France was on the lookout for him, make me feel sorry when he misses his target by inches. Full credit goes to him because while he laid out the plan and almost executed it completely on his own, Lebel received loads of help from the authorities of several countries. Sometimes, The Jackal is very ruthless, killing two or three innocents, when he realizes that they may prove to be obstacles in the path leading to De Gaulle. He is not bothered by these crimes because the only thing that matters to him is piercing a bullet through De Gaulle's head. In spite of this ruthlessness, he spins a secure web of support in the end from the readers.

The author also presents several other characters, who are connected with the main plot in one way or the other, and also portray the attitudes and emotions of people who had been affected by the Gaullist policies. Lastly, kudos to Mr. Forsyth for presenting The Jackal in such an exciting manner! The various situations he has created in the book can engage the readers so much that they cannot let their attention be diverted even for a fraction of a second, and therein lies the biggest power of his writing--to keep the readers glued to the book till the last page is turned.

Eating sessions!

2010-04-16T12:38:00.003+05:30

I'm writing a post around ten days after my exams got over. So, what had I been doing all this time? I had been eating!

Yes, ever since my exam ended, that's how I seem to have spent 70% of my time. It all began last Wednesday, when I had a lot of ice-cream to taste the freedom of the post-exam days. On Saturday, we received an invitation from my mother's school friend and ate fish fries, a typical fry with butter filled inside( forgot the name), and potato fries and glasses of cold drinks. The fervour continued on Sunday afternoon, as I went for lunch with my parents and grandparents. We chose the buffet spread and got to have a wide range of dishes, from soup to noodles, chicken to prawn and lamb to crab. Even the dessert included fruits and mousse, apart from ice-cream. That was not the end though. The same evening, due to a bizarre string of incidents, my parents and I went to see my uncle, who's been sick for some days now. While the rest of us were engaged in a conversation, my aunt slipped into the kitchen and prepared puris for us. After a while, I lost count of the number of puris she had served me!

I again had dinner with my parents at McDonald's on the occasion of Bengali New Year. Besides, I enjoyed the great food prepared by my grandmother, on the day I spent at their place. Tomorrow, I will be going out with my friends and so, there are more eating sessions coming up. So, you can all understand by now that very soon, I'll put on weight!

I'm waiting

2010-03-29T18:48:00.002+05:30

Finally, this long, long month of March has come to an end. When it began, it seemed that this would be the longest month of my life ever. But now, it has ended and it wasn't so long after all...My exam started on 3rd March and went on and on and on...There were long gaps between the exams. We had an exam on the 8th, then on the 15th and then on the 25th! But, the next one was on the 27th and the next today, that is, the 29th! So, a gap of ten days before one exam and of just one day before another...weird timetable! Our timetable is the worst among all the other board exam timetables. The West Bengal Higher Secondary exam started long after our exam did but it'll end before ours does! And, like my cousin Woodsmoke said, we had long enough gaps between two exams to sign up for a Tollywood movie...

But, I am so happy and thankful that with today's exam, almost the whole of this battle is over. Now, just the economics exam is left and that is again after eight days! So, I can relax and study. And then, I'll go all crazy. I just can't wait to read all those story books which were bought long ago. I plan to watch all the Potter movies again. I'll do whatever I want to and for the next one-and-a-half months, its going to be complete fun and relaxation for me.

My birthday

2010-02-28T20:34:00.003+05:30

Different people celebrate their birthdays in different ways. Some like to go out with friends and have a blast while others prefer to stay at home and have a quiet celebration with their families. Some enjoy the surprise parties thrown by their families. But, I celebrate my birthday by sitting for exams!

Yes, I really was born at a peculiar time of the year--the time when all sorts of school exams are held all over the country. The result is that every year, I end up celebrating my birthday by sitting for the day's exam and preparing for the next day's one. When I was in the fifth or sixth standard, I used to feel very disgusted. I would see my friends lavishly celebrating their birthdays while I would find myself in mid-ocean on a day which is supposed to be the best day of the year for any person. I would envy them at times. But, gradually, I realized that my birthday is special just the way it is. If it really is the best day of the year, its good for an exam to be held on that day. Then, there are more chances of being luckier.

This time, my birthday on 3rd March is bigger than ever. That's because, this year, my twelfth standard board exams begin on that very day....the day I turn 18! I just hope that I begin adulthood by writing one of the best papers I have ever written. That is how I want to celebrate my birthday....by the sense of joy, satisfaction and relief that I'll earn by writing the first paper of the most crucial exam of my life till date.

My name is Sengupta and I'm not a fan of MNIK

2010-02-12T21:48:00.006+05:30

I just returned home after watching the Hindi movie, 'My name is Khan', and in true 'My name is Khan' style, I want to tell Karan Johar, the movie's director, something. I want to say, ''My name is Sengupta and I don't understand your movie.''

I do not understand which is the focal point of the movie and I personally feel that this is the biggest problem with it. It doesn't have any strong storyline. It can neither be called a movie which spreads a message about autism( the disease the protagonist suffers from) nor can it be called one which deals with the plight of Muslims in the post-9/11 USA. The two themes have been ridiculously portrayed! They don't seem to mingle with each other throughout the movie. So, the end result is a long, long film, which is meaningless and boring. Even the way in which the autistic person has been portrayed in certain scenes, makes the disease look like something funny. Besides, there is way too much drama in the film. There was no need to have portrayed the hurricane in Georgia and how the protagonist's relief work there creates ripples across USA. Everything related to this hurricane looks so absurd!

I'll mention the good points though. Kajol, the lead actress, is brilliant and people should watch the film for her only. The first half of the film is also good and I realize now why it is good. Its good because it has a lot more of Kajol in it than the second half. It is the romance between Kajol and Shahrukh Khan which is worth watching. Shahrukh himself isn't that good in the movie but the two of them are very good together. And, I'll remember this film only for Kajol's performance. Oh, and also the song, 'Sajda'.

My name is Sengupta and I just spent a very disappointing evening with Mr. Khan...

Darkness descends

2010-01-31T14:52:00.002+05:30

It was a pleasant evening--neither too hot nor too cold.Lots of people had gathered together for an evening full of fun with their family, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, and others....I was present among them with my parents. I was walking with my father scanning the treasures lined along the wall and attempting to pick one of them up when, all of a sudden, the lights went off! Groans and sighs could be heard all around...The Kolkata Book Fair 2010 had once again plunged into darkness...

I am telling the story of yesterday evening when I visited the fair with my parents. We were inside the Rupa and Co. book stall when this unfortunate incident took place. We had read in the papers about the power-cuts at this year's book fair but hadn't expected them to continue even on the fourth day of the fair. It was just horrible and over the next two hours, the authorities couldn't do anything about it. When we had entered the fair, it had been crowded with lakhs of people. But, the crowds started dwindling in the absence of electricity. It was weird to see a book fair without crowds ...

After a while,it wasn't too bad actually. We could go through the books more easily as we weren't jostled by people anymore. A bit of light from the paths outside the stalls prevented them from going pitch black. Aided by that light and the light from our cellphones, we didn't have much problem in seeing the books. We even bought books by the light of the cellphone and there were many others like us! I bought 'Roots' by Alex Haley, 'Letters from a father to his daughter' by Jawaharlal Nehru and 'Great Stories By Nobel Prize Winners.' My father bought 'The Namesake' by Jhumpa Lahiri and '101 stories' by Satyajit Ray, while my mother bought 'Jiboner Jal Chhobi'( 'Life's Water-colour') by Pratibha Basu.

But, this doesn't mean that people will be happy to use their cellphones every year. The whole incident was very shameful. Most of the stalls were fully empty and the salesmen were sitting disappointed. The food stalls were the ones making real profits and somehow, in most of the food stalls ,there was no power cut! We also couldn't go around the whole fair. The darkness just ruined our mood. We ended up roaming around a particular lot of stalls, but what more could we expect? I just hope everything returns to normal next year. Its disheartening to see my city losing one of its greatest possessions.

100th post on Butterfly

2009-12-31T20:32:00.003+05:30

Time just flies...I still remember how my cousin( Woodsmoke) had first encouraged me to create my own blog. That was way back, in 2006. She was the one who had created my blog for me as I had sat with her, agreeing with whatever she had written in my profile and the blog template she had chosen. She had even suggested what I should write in my first post. I had been very excited although I had doubted how long my interest would last. But, my interest not only lasted, it increased with every passing week. I was a more regular blogger then and would post something or the other every week. During my first six months as blogger, no one would read my posts other than my cousin. Then, it was she again, who requested her fellow bloggers to read my blog. So, on my last post of 2006, I got many comments from many bloggers who gradually became great online friends of mine!

Naturally, my eagerness to blog increased. I would spent a lot of time reading my friends' blogs and updating my own one. Without my realization, blogging became an indispendsable part of my life. I would become restless if circumstances would prevent me from staying away from blogging for a very long time. I would become very curious about what comments I had received on my last post and what new posts my friends had written. Then, as I would surf all the posts, I would completely get lost in the blogging world...

This enthusiastic behaviour continued through 2007 and 2008 but sadly, 2009 was not such a great year for blogging...While my frequency of posting reduced because of pressure in studies, my friends' frequency of posting also reduced drastically. Many of them have even stopped writing. I know that they are all engaged in jobs now and are not students anymore, like some of them were when I started interacting with them. I know that they are really busy, probably beyond my imagination. Even then, its disappointing to see none of my fellow bloggers updating their blogs...So, I too, have lost much of my earlier interest in blogging. Blogging is not just about updating one's own blog. Its also about knowing others through their blogs. I strongly feel that one of these activities cannot work without the other, or cannot regularly work without the other. Thus, the blogging platform has just become a bit lonely for me.

But, I'll not stop posting because I still feel that blogging is the most important way for me to express some of my feelings, if not all. There are some things which, I guess, I can express only here. In this 100th post, I would like to request all my fellow bloggers to try and write, at least once, every month. I don't know whether they are all reading this post or not but this is my request to them all.

Finally, Happy belated Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all! :-)

Three days of my life

2009-12-11T20:03:00.004+05:30

The last three days have been like a whirlwind. But, the days were a bit different and a bit interesting as well.

My pre-board exam will be held next month, but our practicals and viva exams are getting over in this month itself. I had two such practicals, one today and the other yesterday. Besides these, today is also my parents' anniversary. Every year, I decide what to gift them, with just about four days in hand. First, I wrack my brains for a long time as I simply cannot understand what to give them. Finally, when I decide on something, I have around three days left for making my plan successful. Yes, three days is a lot of time. But, I prefer to present something which I myself have made. So, with my packed schedule and my intentions of totally surprising my parents with the gift, it becomes a bit difficult to make my mission successful. So, this year, I had decided to plan about the gift with a lot more time in hand. Strangely, whenever I would try to think about it, my mind would inexplicably divert to other thoughts! Thus, this year too, I found myself pondering over the present on Tuesday evening, with just two days to go! When I ultimately decided to make a glass painting for my parents, I also realized that it would be very difficult for me to finish it over a span of two days because during those two days only, I would have to study for the two practical exams, study for tests which would be taken at my tuitions during those two days and attend the tuitions, of course, which would automatically take up my time. Yet, I had made up my mind.

On Wednesday morning, I studied for around an hour and a half. Then, I went out to buy the glass. I was feeling extremely nervous carrying the glass in my hand. It was the peak hour in the morning and I was having a feeling that I would drop it any moment, what with all those people , cycles and rickshaws on the road. Back home though, I managed to make a good glass painting in a matter of two hours. It wasn't very elaborate...just some flowers and some writing. But, I was happy. Up next was an afternoon tuition. At 5.45 p.m., I returned home from there and studied very hurriedly for the evening tuition test. I actually got full marks in that test! Back home again at 9.30 , I started studying for the next day's practical exam. That exam, on Thursday morning, was very good. Another tuition test was waiting for me at 4.30 p.m. that evening. I studied for that and that went well too. Only after finishing my study for today's practical exam, could I breathe freely yesterday. And, today's exam had to be good because the date itself is very good! So, I'm really satisfied with myself today. I was feeling so happy to see the smiles on my parents' faces when they saw my gift.
One more reason for which these three days were different is that I got stuck in traffic jams. I'm very lucky to have a schedule which doesn't trap me in these jams. But, for some reason, having the same schedule and using the same route, I had to face these jams over the last three days. Whatever the reason, stranded in a traffic jam, all sorts of people can be observed. Impatient clicking of tongues will be heard and everyone will invariably criticize the driver even if it is not his fault! Some people will get down from buses and start walking to reach their destination. Again, to some people, nothing will matter. They'll go on enjoying a blissful sleep...I think that one can best spend this time by either studying(if that is so urgent) or sending messages from their cell phones!

Kurbaan

2009-11-30T20:27:00.003+05:30

Saw a really good movie after a long time...The movie is 'Kurbaan', starring Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and others.

First of all, for some reason or the other, I had been very eager to watch 'Kurbaan' long before its release. So, I went to watch it feeling glad and excited. I'm not saying that this is the best movie I have ever seen ,or that this is the best movie made this year. But, it is certainly one of the best. Most of you must already be knowing what the movie is all about. Its common knowledge by now that Saif plays the role of a terrorist in the movie and Kareena marries him without knowing that. Maybe, the element of terrorism in the movie is not something new. There have been other movies, even in the recent past, which have talked about terrorism. But, its the way in which 'Kurbaan' tells the story of terror that sets it apart from other films. Its not just about violence, gunshots and plans to bomb areas. Its also about the psychology of different people and the way in which they react in different situations. It also tells a heart-rending love story...love, in the time of terror...

All through the movie, there is tension and excitement. Not a single moment allows the viewer to think about anything else and he/she is completely immersed in the movie. The film has some great performances, which I feel, should be the numero uno reason for everyone to watch it. Saif Ali Khan was exceptional and seemed to portray different emotions with equal ease. Kareena Kapoor was also great, specially in the last scene. Both of them were looking very good, individually as well as together. The supporting cast deserves special mention. Om Puri and Kirron Kher are just perfect in their roles as jehadis and I loved Vivek Oberoi in all the scenes, no matter what the newspaper reviews had to say about him( only looking good and giving an uneven performance, etc., etc.). Vivek was even better than Kareena in a few scenes. Plus, there was this guy playing the role of a suicide bomber and although he had no lines, he was brilliant in the few minutes of his screen time.

The film has just two or three loopholes, I guess, but they are not so noticeable. The good things will ultimately make the viewer forget them. I'll suggest to all those reading this post, to watch 'Kurbaan' soon. I'm sure they'll love it in one way or the other.

All that glitters...

2009-11-07T16:40:00.003+05:30

Recently, I had the opportunity to go to a gold jewellery shop and the experience was just boring. Yet, as I looked all around me, I saw people, specially women, buying different articles of jewellery having different designs. Some of them were even ordering jewellery, suggesting their own designs, not being satisfied with what was being shown to them. Seeing all the fuss, a series of questions gradually came to my mind.

First of all, I thought, why do people buy gold jewellery? That's because gold is an asset.
What is an asset? Well, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a property having money value. But then, other things can also be assets. Even after that, why do people buy gold jewellery? Ah, it is required in weddings, to be gifted to the bride and bridegroom. As soon as I got this answer, I suddenly started hating this Indian custom of presenting gold in weddings. I slowly realized the demerits of this custom. No matter how much is gifted at the time of the wedding by the bride's parents, if the amount of gold is less, the bridegroom's family will be dissatisfied. Their dissatisfaction will be visible even if the dowry included a bed, an almirah, other expensive furniture, clothes for everyone in the bridegroom's family and so on, but there was just an article of gold less. I just don't understand the reasons behind this kind of attitude. The rest of the things given at the time of Indian weddings are assets as well. In spite of that, people in India just seem greedy for gold. In South India, there's even a custom of giving gold to the bridegroom's family equal to the weight of the bride! And, to think that we talk about our 'rich' culture!

So, I don't think that Indians are bothered about assets when they demand gold in weddings. Its just a tradition, which has become dirty and harmful over the years. If I had some sort of ultimate power, I would just ban it. The price of gold is rising every day and with the advent of costume jewellery, gold jewellery just remains securely in bank lockers. One fine day, when people find that they are too short of money and the last resort for them to keep on feeding themselves, is to sell the gold, they do it. They actually sell all those glittering articles they had once longed for. True, it brings them immediate money and helps them in one way but on how many occasions could they adorn themselves with the jewellery? That was the real purpose, wasn't it? Selling it all off some day couldn't have been the real purpose!

So, after writing so much, my main point is that gold jewellery has no utility in the long run and therefore, the custom of presenting gold in Indian marriages shouldn't continue. But, unfortunately, it will because there's no one to protest...

Its Rocking!

2009-10-16T23:39:00.005+05:30

As the bus started moving, I waved my hands even more eagerly at my parents. They waved back at me. Then, slowly, they started disappearing from my view...From that moment, began my life's first out-of-station tour without my parents. Not being able to see them anymore from the bus windows that day, things seemed a bit uncertain to me. But, as I moved further and further away from home, I discovered a new kind of joy...

Every year, the Class XII students of only the Humanities stream of our school are taken for an excursion. This year, it was our turn. :-) The 25 odd students(20 girls and 5 boys) of our class were taken to Adra in Purulia distirct of West Bengal. There were five teachers with us. In the first paragraph above, I have described how I had felt when we had started off for the tour from our school in a bus. But, gradually, everything looked very bright. We all enjoyed our journey immensely. Some of my classmates were singing, some were enjoying the view outside while others were just gossiping. After some time, I felt that being among these people for the next three days, will mean a lot of fun. After all, a trip with one's school buddies, while being at school, comes hardly once in a lifetime!

I and my closest friends in this class, Shreyasi, Amrita and Rinita, had occupied seats at the back of the bus. In fact, quite a few seats were empty and so, we kept on changing our places.After a six-hour journey, we reached Adra past 3 p.m. There, we entered the community hall of the South Eastern Railways which would be our home there. It was late and we weren't even allowed to wash our hands properly so that we could have our lunch as soon as possible! The food was good and much better than our expectations. There was rice, dal, potato fries, fish curry and even chutney. Adjoining the community hall were a few dormitories and toilets. We entered the biggest, but stuffy dormitory ,which had been allotted to the girls and selected our beds. There were around twelve mattresses arranged on the floor with bedsheets and pillows. After resting for a short while, everyone again started getting ready to go to the place where tusser handloom works are made. Our teachers were pleased as we got ready on time. First, we had to walk through the town of Adra to reach the autorickshaw stand. Everyone(no exceptions here) in the town was staring at us as we walked as if they had never seen so many people(or girls) together before. At the stand, four autorickshaws were hired and we went to the tusser handloom shops. The autorickshaws there are also different and I, along with my three friends, occupied the back seat, which is almost like the back seat of a Tata Sumo car.

As it was evening already, the place where the tusser sarees and other clothes are made, was closed. But, a man at one of the shops selling the handlooms, offered to explain to us, the process by which the clothes are woven. It was an interesting session, at the end of which we returned to the community hall. The return journey was spooky as the road was completely dark, with thick outgrowths of bushes on either side and the occasional flashes of lightning gave brief glimpses of excellent hiding places for anything and anybody among those bushes...Later that evening, a few of my classmates sang to the music of one of our teacher's synthesizer. The songs that they chose were those sentimental ones that talk about friendship and everyone seemed to listen dreamily. But, after dinner( rice/chapati with egg curry), the dreams ended temporarily for me as I didn't get a wink of sleep at night because of various reasons. I tried hard but the circumstances didn't let me sleep even after the day's long journey...

We were supposed to start getting ready by 4.30 the next morning and I was among the first people to do so. Later on, I borrowed one of our teachers' cellphones and called my parents. I narrated the happenings of the previous night to my father but, as soon as I heard my mother's voice, I burst into tears. I still don't know why I did something so silly...Not having slept the night before, I was also feeling sick and decided to skip breakfast. Things began to look up again as I slept a bit in the bus on our way to Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, a two-hour ride from Adra. It was there that we worked on our project. We were shown around the Loco Fabrication and Assembly Shops by two guides. It was a unique experience and we saw how a complete engine is made after the assembling of its different parts and the construction of its body. Questions were also posed to the employees about the plant itself and about their own living conditions. Besides the plant,the Chittaranjan township itself is also huge and we had lunch at one of the restaurants there. That, according to me, was the worst meal we had during the whole tour. By that time, I had already shaken off the morning's disappointment and sickness because we had all worked together at Chittaranjan and the cooperation had lifted my mood again...

We returned to Adra in the early hours of the evening and afterwards, had a blast at the campfire. Everyone danced in a circle around the fire and there were individual performances also. Each and everyone was in great spirits and even the teachers joined in the dance! The dinner that night was also very good , considering that there was mutton. But, at night, with our teacher's permission, my three friends and I shifted to the stage in the hall for sleeping. We took our mattresses and pillows there and the place was surprisingly a lot cooler than our dormitory. We had to use blankets and didn't even need the fan after a while. We had a deep and good night's sleep.

On the third and final day, we bid goodbye to Adra and headed for Maithon. Maithon is a lovely place with grren hills and a calm river. We also saw the famous dam at Maithon and took lots of pictures. The lunch, again, was not so good but we had a good time in the park adjoining the hotel where we took our food. On the way back to Kolkata, the bus stopped at Shaktigarh. This time, we all bought the famous sweets of Shaktigarh for our parents. But, after leaving Shaktigarh and crossing Dankuni, another important place, we heard a massive sound and also saw a spark. Some people thought at first that Maoists had attacked the bus! Thankfully though, it was just a burst tyre. We were forced to get down from the bus and wait on the highway as the tyre was being replaced. But, even that was fun! I guess, that happened because there were so many of us together. Otherwise, being in a group of three or four and being forced to halt in the middle of a highway and watching daylight fade to give way to evening,definitely wouldn't have been a funny experience...

When the bus again entered the school premises at around 7.30 that evening, we saw our anxious parents waiting. I was delighted to see my parents again and enter my home again although I had been away from them for just three days. But, those three days had been entirely different from all other days of my life and had provided a rich and lively experience .In addition, it had also brought new thoughts to my mind; thoughts which have still not stopped intriguing me. Yet, one common feeling that all my classmates and I share about the excursion is that , 'Its Rocking!'

p.s. I couldn't upload pictures today because of some stupid error. Will try to upload them in the next post.:-)

A different Puja

2009-10-03T16:53:00.002+05:30

I spent a great Durga Puja with my parents this time. Its true that this year's Puja vacation wasn't as good as last year's one but it had its own share of surprises.

On the first Puja day, Shasthi, my parents and I decided to leave for Digha the next day. Digha is very near to Kolkata and it takes about four-and-a-half hours on bus to get to Digha. So, things took a new turn altogether and preparations were made as quickly as possible. At first, we hadn't expected to get rooms in any hotel but luckily, we could book one. We also thought that the best course would be to go straightaway to the bus stop the next morning with all our luggage. After all, many buses leave for Digha everyday and we would surely get three seats on any one of them...

But, a shock awaited us at the bus stop the next morning . After cutting the tickets, we were told that our bus hadn’t arrived yet.We and the other passengers were asked to wait as the bus was trapped in a traffic jam and would be late. But, even after two hours when the bus did not arrive and the people at the ticket counters were flooded with querries, out came the truth. A trailer had broken down on Kolaghat Bridge, a very important bridge on the way to Digha. It had blocked the entire bridge, thus stopping all vehicles from crossing the bridge. No steps had been taken to remove the trailer and the vehicles trapped there had caused a 12km long traffic jam. Hearing the news, we knew that we had no chance of going. Even if our bus arrived, we would get stuck in the jam on the bridge. So, we were feeling really dejected at that time. But, an elderly couple, who had also booked seats on our bus, told us that we should still try to catch a train to Digha because going home would be highly disappointing and would spoil the rest of the Puja days. Their enthusiasm raised our hopes again and we agreed to share a taxi with them on our way to the railway station. First, the five of us cut tickets to go to a place called Mecheda on a local train. Our experience while boarding the train was very bad because the crowds were constantly pushing and I had a tough time pulling our trolley suitcase. Looking back though, I realize that I had done a pretty neat job with the suitcase that day…

Anyway, a little more than two hours later, we reached Mecheda and then, hired a car to go to Digha. When we finally reached Digha at around 3.30 p.m., we were tired but very very happy. Some moments later, we were also forced to thank the bus authorities , whom we had been cursing till then, that our bus had not arrived. This is because we rang up one of my aunts, uncle and cousin who were also supposed to be coming to Digha that day and they told us that they were still trapped in the traffic snarl on the Kolaghat Bridge! They actually reached Digha later that night past 11 o’clock. If our bus would have arrived on time in the morning, one of our Puja days would have been totally spoilt. …We had been so lucky!

The stay in Digha was good and we took walks on the sea beach and also met my aunt. We visited some nearby places like Mandarmani, Talshari and Udaipur. They all had a common attraction and that was the sea. Personally, I thought Udaipur was the best. We also went to the place where the Subarnarekha river meets the sea. But, the good food, specially the breakfast, came as a huge relief.

Happy Durga Puja :-) :-)

2009-09-24T21:58:00.002+05:30

Its been a long time since my last post on this blog. I have never been away from my blog for such a long period except when I have had exams. But, this time, there were neither exams nor any other engagement. In fact, life was very smooth and I had a good time going clothes shopping with my parents. But somehow, the eagerness to post something new was missing. On several occasions, I tried to convince myself to write something as there was no dearth of topics. Yet, even after thinking of writing something new, I just couldn't bring myself to do it at the end of the day.

But today, I want to write; I want to open my heart out. I am very happy today and so is the world around me. Its that time of the year again when Kolkata has geared up for the Durga Puja. Colourful pandals, lovely lights, good food and smiling faces....its a dream world altogether!
To get lost in this world of dreams, I went pandal hopping with my friends yesterday. :-) I had, even after being born and brought up in this city, gone and taken a grand tour of pandals a very few times. So, yesterday's experience was special. There were four of us- Amrita, Shreyasi, Sukanya and I, and we had decided to make best use of Amrita's car. Little did we know that travelling in her car would turn out to be our biggest drawback yesterday; a drawback, thanks to her driver, who would benefit the passenger community a lot by changing his occupation immediately. He didn't know any of the common routes and when we tried to direct him by taking directions from our parents through cellphones, he simply wouldn't listen.
After a while, we decided that the best course would be to take rickshaws or to walk after stopping at a particular pandal. And, that was when we enjoyed ourselves the most because we were on our own. We visited the nearby pandals by taking directions from local people. We took our lunch at a chinese restaurant past 4 o'clock. By 7 o'clock in the evening, we had visited 12 pandals in South Kolkata and Salt Lake and felt that the beginning to our Puja had been awesome.
Wish all of you a very Happy Durga Puja!

First letter tricks

2009-08-23T17:50:00.003+05:30

It actually felt good to be tagged after a long time. This time, its Subhadipda who's tagged me. You have to use the first letter of your name to answer the following questions and the answers must be real. If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and cannot use your name for the boy/girl name question. So, this one proved to be a bit tricky because Subhadipda and I share the same first initial. On top of that, he already seemed to have chosen the easy answers!

1. What is your name: Sinjini

2. A four letter word: Slap

3. A boy's name: Seamus

4. A girl's name: Shreyasi

5. An occupation: Singing

6. A colour: Saffron

7. Something you wear: Skirt

8. A food: Sandesh( A sweet)

9. Something found in the bathroom: Soap

10. A place: Shillong

11. A reason for being late: Saving rickshaw fares and walking instead

12. Something you shout: Shouting is something which I never do! So, there's nothing that I shout.

13. A movie title: Shonar kella( A Bengali movie; the title means, 'golden fort')

14. Something you drink: Sprite

15. A musical group: Soundgarden

16. An animal: Shark

17. A street name: Shimla Street( the street in Kolkata on which Swami Vivekananda's house is situated)

18. A type of car: Skoda

19. Something scary: Snakes

20. Ice cream flavour: Strawberry and vanilla(two-in-one)

Joyride

2009-08-16T20:38:00.003+05:30

A joyride...That is what I can collectively call the past three days .

It was time for a family gathering after all! My parents had planned to treat two of my cousins at our house after their great exam results. Along with them, their parents too were, obviously, invited. One of them, unfortunately, had to leave for New Delhi before this party because his new academic session there has already begun. But, when the others ultimately turned up for the party at our place, no one seemed to remember the reason for which it had originally been planned. For all of us, it was just a gathering after a long, long time.

From Friday evening, my parents and I began the preparations for the party. My mother cooked two of the dishes that evening and her cooking continued throughout Saturday morning. Meanwhile, we had to get up very early on Saturday morning because I had to go to school for the flag hoisting ceremony(it was 15th August). When I returned from school at around 9 a.m., a real surprise greeted me. My maternal uncle and aunt who stay in Gurgaon, had come to Kolkata the night before and they would be coming over to our place in the evening too, along with my three paternal aunts and uncles and cousins who had already been invited!Then, my happiness and excitement knew no bounds. The three of us at once finished a hasty breakfast and quickly thought about the amendments that would have to be made to the menu that evening because of the arrival of two more people. Then, while my mother prepared the dishes, my father and I went out to buy a few things. We, specially my mother, had to work a lot, but, we enjoyed ourselves very much. After an even hastier lunch, we cleaned up our rooms and got ready just in time to receive the guests. They started coming from 5.30 p.m. At the party, puja gifts were exchanged and it was fun to see how everyone seemed to scrutinize all the gifts. Then, there was this crazy phtograph session when my maternal uncle and I strived to take the best photographs possible. I particularly insisted on taking a group photograph which would include me too and would be taken with the help of the self-timer on my camera. No one seemed to think that it would be pssible but my father made them all sit/stand in a very good order and I arranged the camera and finally, the picture was taken! :-) My mother's cooking went down extremely well with everyone, more so because she had cooked so many items all by herself. There was plain rice, dal, fried bori( I couldn't find an english word for this), paneer, mourola fish, hilsa fish wrapped in banana leaves, chicken manchurian, mutton curry and mixed fruit chutney.

And, there were laughters piercing the air! Everyone was very happy. It made me realize that no matter how frequently we talk over the phone with all our relatives who were present at the party, there is nothing like meeting up and having fun. It felt good to be a part of a gathering where different people seemed to be rediscovering their love for their family.

Today also, we had lots of fun and this time, it was a different kind of family gathering. We (myself, my parents, my maternal uncle and aunt and maternal grandparents) went to Vedic Village, Spa and Resort, located in a very remote part of North 24 Parganas distirct. Its a very pretty, cool and quiet place and we had a really nice time and a delicious lunch. After returning from there, my uncle showed us loads of pictures which he had taken during his recent American tour. Thanks to my uncle's brilliant sense of humour and mu aunt's giggling style, which is very contagious, we had quite a few laughs today also.

So, this Independence Day and weekend was simply a joyride, just as last year's Independence Day and weekend had been!

That's the group photo about which I was talking. :-)The people standing at the back are( left to right) one of my cousins and my paternal uncles. The middle row includes (left to right) my father, one of my paternal aunts, my maternal aunt, my mother and my other paternal aunts. Sitting below them are my maternal uncle, my other cousin, myself and another paternal uncle.

Quick updates

2009-08-02T00:10:00.003+05:30

There seems to be too many reality shows on television these days and some of them are so irritating. And people actually watch such things! The worst of the lot is probably 'Rakhi ka swayamvar' , aired on some channel. I was stunned to hear about the concept of the show from some of my classmates who waste their precious time to watch the show and I was even more stunned to see their enthusiasm about the show! How can people tolerate such programmes? Have people become so dull these days?

The Durga Puja is in the last week of September this year, which means the fun is going to be less, for different reasons. :-(

I went for an eye check-up today and was extremely relieved when the doctor said that I don't have any eye problems. Although I have not been facing problems with my eyes, I was almost certain that there would some hidden problem, major or minor because eye troubles are very common in my family.

I recently donated some money for the Cyclone Aila victims. This donation programme had been organized by our school and each of our students donated something, grudgingly or willingly. So, I was pretty happy because a month back,I myself had promised someone that I would send some money for the donation purpose, but before I could talk to my father about the money, some unexpected problems had cropped up. I had not been feeling too good about the whole thing, but I now I feel happy again. :-) Many students of our school are saying that the money collected by us will never reach the victims and will fill the school's coffers but I am not worried about that. I don't know what will ultimately happen to the money but by contributing, I did my duty and that itself is satisfying. At least, I will always know that I tried to help the cyclone victims...

Pottermania yet again

2009-07-18T23:22:00.003+05:30

For the last one week, Pottermania has been at its peak in my house, thanks to me, of course. I was extremely excited about going to watch a Harry Potter movie after two years. And, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' has not been a disappointment...

Firstly, the movie is better than its predecessor, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. While some important parts had been eliminated from that film, all significant(and insignificant) incidents from the original story have been included in this film. There's just one event which has been totally altered, probably to add to the adventure, but I must say, it hasn't worked too well. It seemed a bit like our Hindi movies! But, this fault has been completely overshadowed by the brilliant cave sequence towards the end of the movie. Harry Potter and Dumbledore visit a dark and very dangerous cave in order to find something really important( won't mention what it is; will have to give away half of the story if I do) and everything in that sequence has been portrayed wonderfully. It seemed as though it had been copy-pasted from the book. Both Sir Michael Gambon(as Dumbledore) and Daniel Radcliffe(as Harry Potter) have performed exceptionally well during that sequence. Throughout the movie also, Sir Gambon's performance was much better than what it had been in the previous movies. And, no matter how Daniel is criticized for not being able to portray Harry's feelings and spirit well, I still believe that no one else could have been a better on-screen Harry Potter. I still feel that he has acted very nicely even in this movie...

The opening scenes of the movie have been brilliantly shot and as for the other actors, Tom Felton deserves special mention. Tom Felton plays the role of Draco Malfoy. He has been superb in showing to the audience just how much Draco feels helpless and scared and at the same time, just how bravely and determinedly he behaves. Rupert Grint, playing the role of Ron Weasley, has impressed with his great comic timing. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley were perfect and have also added a kind of charm to the movie.

As a whole, the movie is a must-watch. Its been two and a half hours since the movie ended but I'm still absorbed in it. I enjoyed the movie a lot , more so because the wait for it has been very long. Now, as I finish writing this post, I slowly return to the world of Muggles ( that's the world of non-magic folk) and realize that my exams begin from Monday , the day after tomorrow and so, the coming week, starting from tomorrow, isn't going to be so magical after all!

A day's feelings

2009-06-21T16:27:00.004+05:30

Had to go to Durgapur(225 kms from Kolkata in Burdwan district) yesterday after the demise of one of our relatives. The person in question, had actually passed away last week but the most convenient day to go to her house in Durgapur turned out to be yesterday. She was my maternal grandmother's elder sister. My parents had decided that they would surely go and condole her children because they are of the opinion that even if one cannot manage to attend a person's birthday party or marriage or any other happy occasion, one should be present with the person after the his/her kin passes away. They immediately plannned to book a car for the journey to Durgapur and it was also decided that one of my maternal aunts would be going with us too. But, the most difficult part was convincing my maternal grandparents to go. Over a span of six days, starting from last Sunday to this Friday, they, specially my grandmother, changed their decision thrice! Our sweetest words came flowing out only to ensure that they agreed to go with us because we knew that the person who had been the most grieved by the death, had been my grandmother. We knew that she would feel good if she went and met her sister's children. But, old age is like a second childhood! And, just like children, my grandparents finally agreed to go only after they got a good scolding from my maternal uncle who lives in New Delhi.

I had interacted with my grandmother's sister hardly twice and was not emotionally attached to her and neither am I emotionally attached to her children, who are my aunts and uncles. Among all our relatives, these people somehow got included in a group with whom I never got a chance to interact and so, no such bond was formed between me and them. So, yesterday was the first time when I met them properly and they really liked me! After meeting them, my grandmother became very sentimental and talked a lot about her childhood and how her relationship with her sister was very important in her life. Throughout the day, I got to hear the names of loads of people both at our relatives' house and during the journey, owing to the non-stop chat between the elders. I once wondered how they remember the names of so many people, some of whom they have not seen since years, and the details of so many incidents , some of which had happened many moons ago.

The best part of yesterday was definitely the journey. Occupying my permanent place on the back seat of the Tata Sumo, I spent the journey hours either listening intently to the elders' conversation when it sounded interesting or listening to the FM on my cell phone when their conversation sounded boring. The road, that is, the Durgapur Expressway is very beautiful and I would suggest people to visit Durgapur by road, just to enjoy the long drive. Personally, I really like long journeys like those by cars or buses or trains....The other great part about yesterday was that my grandparents were very happy. The smiles that you can see on their faces in the photograph below matter to us a lot and are worth a million dollars....

In the land of Lord Jagannath

2009-05-29T18:18:00.018+05:30

The view of the sea from our hotel room on the first day.

On my first evening on the beach at Puri, with my flying umbrella.

That's one of the sand-built structures, the figure of a woman, which some people make on the beach everyday.

A sign on Swargodwar beach prohibits people from bathing there without a 'noliya's' help. And, Swargodwar is the place where people ignore this sign the most without any sort of hesitation!

A portion of the 'Natmandir' wall of the Sun Temple at Konark, showing the dance postures.

My parents and I in front of one of the wheels of the temple.

Raja Narashingha Deb, who had taken the initiative to build the Sun Temple, can be seen here with his queen.

One of the carvings at Konark shows Shravana carrying his blind old parents.

The slab at Konark showing that to preserve the structure, the interior was filled in by the order of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal in 1903 AD.

The sea at Chandrabhaga

That's supposed to be Lord Jagannath's paternal aunt's house. Anyway, whoever lives there sure has a lovely place to live in. Who doesn't want to have such a nice house?

My parents on 'New Marine Drive', the continuation of the Swargodwar beach.

A camel on the beach at Puri

Last Saturday, I went to Puri with my parents. We had decided that we would visit Puri once my mother’s work would be over and my summer vacation would begin. So, our train berths and hotel room had been reserved a lot earlier because loads of people go to Puri during this time of the year and it would have been very difficult to get places on the train and also in a hotel without advance reservations. Thus, according to our plans, we reached Puri on Sunday morning after catching the Saturday night Puri Express from Howrah Station. I had never been to Puri before and so, was very excited. I had been told that the kind of waves of the sea at Puri cannot be seen anywhere else in India. They are huge and majestic. Well, I first saw those waves this time and I have to admit that they really are more beautiful than those of the water bodies in other places. But, as it was raining when we reached Puri, I first saw the sea of Puri in its tumultuous form. It was only drizzling but that drizzle was enough to raise the waves higher than usual. And, the sea was beautiful!Our hotel was situated on ‘Swargodwar’, the beach road of Puri. So, the location was obviously fantastic and we were very lucky to get a sea-facing room. That helped us because we did not venture out on the first day owing to the rain and yet, we could watch the sea sitting in our room! I just went for a short walk along the beach with my father that evening and we had to hold on to our umbrellas tightly to prevent them from being blown away by the wind!
Next morning, we first paid a visit to the Jagannath Temple, which apart from the deity’s presence, is a pretty horrible place. Yet, my parents said that it had been twice more horrible when they had visited it some twenty years ago. According to them, the pandas at the temple had been more authoritative then. Well, whatever might have been the situation then, the situation now isn’t exactly pleasant. The pandas just wait there to trap you and make money.I thought that the weirdest of all the pandas was this one. Now, he was standing with two sticks in his hand ,beating everyone on the head with those sticks as they were leaving the temple and then, demanding money from them! Later on in the day, we took a bath in the sea. J It was a wonderful experience. The waves came splashing and washed us over and over again. All around us, people were shouting with delight . But, contrary to what I had heard, no one was taking the help of the ‘noliyas’ or guards to take a bath. People were confidently standing or sitting or lying down or performing all sorts of aerobatics as the waves were crashing in and submerging them completely. There are three watch-towers on the beach but it didn’t seem as though the three policemen were watching over anybody .They were simply sitting there all day. Poor fellows, their job must be boring!
During our five-day trip, we also visited the famous Sun Temple at Konark. An hour-and-a-half’s drive from Puri takes you to Konark. The temple boasts of great art and architecture, seeing which one must utter the word, ‘Wow’. The main structure consists of the temple, which is actually a chariot, all carved out of sandstone. The chariot has twenty four big wheels and on the spokes of each wheel, different stages of different activities of those times had been carved . The temple has three idols of the Sun God, representing childhood, youth and old age respectively. Other than the wheels, there are numerous carvings on the walls of the temple, the chariot and a hundred and twenty eight dance postures on the walls of the ‘Natmandir’. The Natmandir and the Conference Hall are separate structures, located just beside the temple. On the way to Konark, the sea disappears but reappears for a short distance at Chandrabhaga. The sea there is just like that at Puri, but the colour might just be a tad bit different and more like a river’s colour.
In the evening, Swargodwar becomes extremely lively with all types of stalls that are set up on the beach. They all use very bright lights and sell everything . Tea, sweets, chat, clothes, pearls, idols, conch shells, bags and what not! People also opt for rides on camels and ponies and there are merry-go-rounds for children. Besides these, there are some very talented people who build beautiful structures out of the sand on the beach. All these activities go on all over the long and sprawling beach.
But, the food at Puri was a huge disappointment. We tried different restaurants and different menus, but the quality of the food is just not upto the mark. The chicken is too spicy, they can’t cook the vegetables properly, they have only one type of curry for all fishes, the ‘puri-bhajji’ is always served cold and its best to not even talk about the idli-vada. Yes, we tried everything but were not satisfied. One can’t expect the food to be like that of ‘Mainland China’ everywhere but there has to be a minimum standard, which is terribly lacking at Puri.
We were lucky that Puri was not affected by Cyclone Aila. The rain of the first two days cleared up on the third day and the weather became quite pleasant, specially in the evening.

Rabindra Jayanti celebrations

2009-05-10T15:35:00.006+05:30

Last week, I was busy with the birthday celebration of that great, great man; the one and only Rabindranath Tagore. A function was held in our school yesterday on the occasion of his 149th birthday and some students from Class XII, including me, performed the 'Pancharghya', which consisted of three poems and five songs from five of Tagore's stages, namely Puja, Swadesh, Prem, Prakriti and Bichitro. So, from last Monday to Friday, we rehearsed a lot and tried to make sure that everything was perfect. After the first stage rehearsal on Thursday though, we were criticized like anything by three teachers for giving such a 'dull' performance. We were told that our singing quality was very very poor and that we would have to increase the pace of each song because we were taking up too much time. Earlier, when we had made them listen to our poem recitations and songs, they had not pointed out our mistakes. But, that day, with just a day to go for the function, they said that we would not be allowed to perform on Saturday if our condition did not improve. We obviously were very upset and very angry but we are from the seniormost class. This was the last time when we could have performed for our school. So, with a lot more determination, we corrected ourselves the next day and were successful. The same teachers could not point out any mistake anymore! What's more, we took only ten minutes for our performance. Its true that we could sing only the first two stanzas of each song and recite only two stanzas from only three poems instead of five, but we were happy.

And on Saturday,that is,the day of the function, we simply rocked on stage. Yes, the other performances by the junior classes were also good, but we were undoubtedly the best. From Class XII, we had Sukanya and Souvik to say a few words about each of the stages before we recited a poem or sang a song from them. We sat down on the stage in the form of a semi-circle, with Sukanya and Souvik forming one end of the semi-circle. Next to them, sat Debjyoti, Debasish, Asmita and Debarati, who recited the poems and after that sat Basav, playing the tabla. Basav thus divided the students who recited, from those who sang, that is, me, Samprita, Arpita, Sreshtha, Archisman and Arittra. We were praised a lot by the other teachers for our superb coordination, our performance and also our looks. Yes, our looks because all the girls had to wear saris on the occasion while the boys had to don kurtas and pyajamas. I was a bit nervous; no extremely nervous, after wearing the sari. It was probably the second or third time that I wore a sari yesterday. But, considering that, I managed my sari quite well although I had to do it only for a couple of hours.

I have never received formal singing lessons. But, I still agreed to sing yesterday because if I try, I can manage to sing certain Rabindrasangeets pretty neatly and in tune. The second and more important reason was, of course, the last opportunity to perform for the school. That was the reason which united us and a unique spirit of friendship prevailed. The memories associated with this function will be one of the sweetest of my school life. Among ourselves, there was an unsaid sense of cooperation right from the first day of the rehearsals. It didn't seem then that we study in different sections of Class XII or that we come from differerent schools and have known one another for just a year or so since our admission to Class XI. There was always this feeling that no matter what else we are, we are the seniormost students of this school, we are friends and we have to perform together; we have to give our best.

That's the 'Pancharghya' team in action on stage(left)

(above left to right): Basav, Arittra, Archisman, Souvik

(left, from left to right): Asmita, Sreshtha and Arpita

(above) Me and my mother :-)

Life sucks

2009-04-26T18:36:00.001+05:30

There are some good reasons behind the above title. I have started feeling the pressure of Class XII even before a month has passed since the beginning of the new session. Its not that I am not studying, but no matter how much I try to convince myself that my studies are getting on quite well and there is still ample time left, every evening, the pressure seems to mount a bit more. I have no idea as to why this is happening, but I just can't seem to be perfectly satisfied with my efforts.

Then again, I feel that this irritating , extreme heat is responsible for making me tired. After school gets over at 1.45 p.m. , when the sun is at its cruellest, I have to rush to my tuitions. The worst part of it is that I have to take my lunch in between and nothing is as difficult as eating in that afternoon heat in front of the school church. So, when I finally return home at around 4.30 p.m. , I can't concentrate on my studies beyond 9 o' clock and start feeling sleepy! But, the routine is going to turn worse from tomorrow. Our dear, dear , generous principal has fixed new school timings and the new school hours are from 7.35 a.m. in the morning to 12 noon. What an idea sirjee! As if there is no sun in the sky at 12 noon! For me, the more detestable part is that I have to get up earlier in the morning. The school gates will close at 7.20 a.m. To think that previously, I used to sleep till 7.10 or 7.15 in the morning! At least, the mornings would be comfortable and I would get ready easily in twenty minutes to reach school by 8 a.m.

And these elections and the Election Commision and their thousand and eighty seven rules are making my mother's life miserable. There is nothing new about her being busy during the elections but she has this crazy boss this time, who started making the entire staff work round the clock two months prior to the election. So now, they are all tired and of course, this heat is making them all feel worse. In a five phase election, elections in this city and North and South 24 Parganas had to be held in the last phase. Why could they not have been in the first or second phase? At least, my mother's troubles would be over soon.

So, in short, my life really sucks at present...

The sea is 'lovely, dark and deep'

2009-04-12T17:50:00.001+05:30

This is also a hand and mouse drawing , but I somehow think that my previous works were better. But, of course, that is for all of you to decide. :-)

Two people who mean a lot to me

2009-03-29T17:02:00.010+05:30

And, those two people are my maternal grandparents(picture above). This March, I have not been reading books only although my previous two posts suggest so. I have also been visiting my dear grandparents regularly.

My grandmother is, without doubt, a very good cook and the dish which she is preparing in this picture is, specially, for me.:-)

My grandfather before lunch

My grandmother has a lovely garden and in this picture, you can see her caring for her pumpkin plant. For her, every job , no matter how big or small, has to be perfect with a capital P.

The picture above shows a pumpkin on my grandmother's pumpkin plant. She is very proud of her pumpkins now-a-days!

The tiger, The duality, The waves, The murder

2009-03-14T18:41:00.005+05:30

This March, I am determined to finish reading seven books, having nothing else, or almost nothing else to do!

So, after reading 'The Kite Runner', I began with 'The White Tiger', written by Aravind Adiga and winner of last year's Man Booker Prize. Its about how Balram Halwai, a rickshaw-puller's son from a remote village of India, climbs the ladder of success. But,this success is not the kind of one which we watch in most movies or what we dream of. This success is entirely propelled by corruption, both of the Indian political system as well as of Balram himself. In fact, its the miserable political situation around Balram that makes him corrupted. Balram narrates his story in a letter to a Chinese Premier , who is supposed to be visiting India shortly. He tells the Premier that whatever information about India's democracy will be given to him by the Indian Prime Minister by means of a booklet during his visit, is not true. The ways in which certain magazines tell us how to become an entrepreneur in seven days, are actually not going to bring success.Balram knows India's "democracy" and he also knows how to become an entrepreneur in seven days, but through totally different means. So, over a period of seven nights, Balram tells the Premier how he became an entrepreneur in Bangalore. With every passing night, we slowly proceed from Balram's backward village life to his life as a driver in the village to his life as a driver in the capital city of Delhi and finally as an entrepreneur in the technological hub of Bangalore. The idea of the author to present him as a driver is very good because that's how Balram easily gets to know all the places where his employer goes and the kind of people he meets. He observes the city and its people very well and gets to know more from the other old drivers.

The way the author presents the story is , I think , his greatest achievement .A lot can be written about Inida's corruption and the futility of democracy if the people are illiterate.Among such writings, only those can be hailed as good which have something new in them. In the case of 'The White Tiger', that novelty lies in its presentation. But, its has its follies and of them is that the suspense of the story is lost at a much earlier stage because of Balram's confession of what he did eight months later. As he confessed his crime so early during those seven nights, the drama leading up to his crime didn't seem so interesting and the things depicting his inner conflict became bland. But, this crime is the most important incident of the novel and because of a fault in its narration, I did doubt whether the novel was worthy of the Booker Prize or not.

The other stories which I finished reading during the past week are 'The Strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde' and 'The Merry Men' by R.L.Stevenson. The first one is, of course, brilliant and the second one is not bad either. Everyone knows all about the first one. The second one deals with the adventures of a man on a dangerous islet while trying to find a treasure which had been present inside a ship that had been wrecked by the sea waves near the islet. These destructive sea waves are themselves 'the Merry Men' and they can rise to a height of fifty metres. Though the story is mostly dominated by long descriptions of the islet,the waves and the situation around each time the man goes to find the treasure, its pretty engaging.

Besides these, I also read 'Murder on the Orient Express' by Agatha Christie . Now, this is only the first time that I read one of Christie's works and I am afraid I didn't like it much. The story was very good and everything was in order but the ending was so poor. It lacked that final magical touch of a Sherlock Holmes story where all the clues and all the facts fit so wonderfully into one another. Somehow, Hercule Poirot didn't impress me as much as Sherlock Holmes.But, I am sure that Christie's other works are better than this , otherwise she would not have been such a popular author. So, I intend to read more of her books in future.

The Kite Runner

2009-03-05T19:15:00.002+05:30

'The Kite Runner', written by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel based on Afghanistan, describing the plight of the Afghans over a quarter of a century. The readers see that plight through the eyes of Amir, the narrator. Amir is the son of a rich and very respected man of Kabul in the 1970s. But, as Amir grows up, he doesn't live up to the expectations of his father. It becomes clear that he has not inherited any of his father's talents and interests but is completely like his mother, who had died while giving birth to him. On the other hand, there is Hassan, their servant's boy who had not got the joy of seeing his mother either. Hassan's father had served Amir's family for forty years. Hassan was mainly Amir's playmate and did Amir's chores. Although Amir and Hassan were the best of friends, Amir noticed that Hassan was more courageous than him, too loyal to describe in words and was somehow loved by his father greatly, probably even more than his father loved him. So, Amir was desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament in the winter of 1975 to prove a point to his father, to prove that he was worthy of being his father's son.

A kite runner , by the way, is someone who tries to run and gather the kites that fall from the sky after being snapped. Running along with many other boys and beating them all in the chase for the fallen kites and finally holding the kite triumphantly, also happens to be a very important part of the tournament. The one who gets the last kite to have fallen at the end of the kite-fighting, is considered to be almost equal to the one who wins the kite-fighting tournament. Now, Amir won the tournament and as the last kite fell, Hassan ran through the streets of Kabul to fetch it for Amir so that would get the double honour of both winning as well as possessing the last fallen kite. But, what happened to Hassan on that day is the event around which the entire novel revolves. He was sexually assaulted by three other boys. Although Amir went looking for Hassan and finally found him completely cornered by those three boys and on the verge of facing some painful, humiliating moments, Amir did not protest. He just runs away like a coward, being too scared of the other boys. But, when Hassan came home that night, the kite was still with him and he handed it over to Amir...

After that, Amir and his father were forced to flee to America when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. We see how Amir completes his studies there, gets married and gradually manages to bury his guilt about Hassan in the peaceful life that he leads there. But, what he does not get there is redemption. And,so, when Rahim Khan, their old and very close family friend calls him up to say that he is dying in Peshawar, Amir goes to Peshawar to see him. It is then that a whole lot of secrets about Hassan and his life after the Russian invasion are revealed to Amir and it is then that Amir decides to search for Sohrab, Hassan's now orphan kid. I will not give away the end of the story here, in case some of you have not read it. But, the story is so purely beautiful. I don't remember having liked a story so much after reading the Harry Potter books. And, now, this one is right up there with Harry Potter, being my most favourite book. It describes the relationship between two people, one belonging to the Pashtun tribe of the Afghans and the other to the Hazara tribe, one the cowardly master and the other , the ever-loyal servant and friend. As the story nears its end though, one does not find Amir a coward anymore. The Amir-Hassan persona seems to mingle in the end , with the words, " For you a thousand times over", being spoken by Amir just as they had been uttered by Hassan on that winter day when he had run that kite for Amir and the ending could not have been more perfect in this heart-wrenching tale.

Speaking of heart-wrenching, the novel also has another aspect. The readers learn about Amir, Hassan and Sohrab through the years when Afghanistan passes from one ruling hand to another. When Amir describes his and his father's journey to Pakistan in a fuel tank while fleeing from Afghanistan, the suffocation, the sufferings of the people crowded in the tank, the pitch blackness, I just felt that I could not read any more of that. Amir's American life, is , of course, way better and at one point, I didn't feel as though I was reading the same book. It was as though I had suddenly shifted to some other book. Yes, it becomes a bit boring also with the narrations about Amir's falling in love, every detail about his marriage, details of his wife's past life, about their not having children and about deciding not to adopt any children. But, when Amir again enters Pakistan and then, Afghanistan, I feel that the author was probably trying to keep the readers relaxed so that they would be able to overcome the shock of reading about Russian-invaded Afghanistan and fully absorb the bigger shock of reading about Taliban ruled Afghanistan. How can someone be so brutal and inflict such suffering on fellow humans and on those little children? Their terror becomes clear when the author says that although there are lots of children in Afghanistan, there is no childhood. Fathers are a rare commodity there. There are many more such heart-wrenching sentences in the book , describing a nation completely devastated, with the worst sufferers being the children. So, I feel that we are all very lucky. We get three good meals every day, have sufficient clothing and a concrete roof above our heads. Besides these, we have plenty of other things and yet, we waste everything. We have experienced all the joys of childhood while millions of Afghan children haven't and yet, we complain about the most minor things. After reading the novel, this situation seems very unfair and justice doesn't seem to be even-handed at all...

Of millionaires and books

2009-02-01T21:15:00.002+05:30

With a lot of hope and expectation, I finally caught the morning show of 'Slumdog Millionaire' yesterday. It was certainly worth a watch, primarily because of the performances. The supporting child cast was even better than the adult actors. The boy who played the role of the teenaged Salim, the protagonist's brother, was awesome. In fact, the character of Salim was what kept me so engrossed and I thought that Salim was responsible for carrying the story forward. Although Dev Patel ,who plays role of the protagonist ,could have acted better, I did not care because his looks and smile bowled me over. I specially liked him when he smiled widely on seeing the final question.

I don't know whether the movie should win an Oscar or not but I definitely don't want A.R. Rahman to win an Oscar for this one. He has composed better music before. Besides, the ending of the movie was like any other Hindi movie. After arresting him, when the protagonist narrated how he had answered the questions, how did the police know that he was speaking the truth? Why did they let him off so easily in the end after even giving him electric shocks? But, I don't think that anybody has commited a grave mistake by portraying India's poverty because it is the harsh truth. Each of the things shown in the movie exist in this country. The country's people should not expect foreign film makers to ignore them sweetly, specially when those film makers know what sort of profits they can derive by making a movie which deals with India's miserable condition.

On a different and more cheerful note, I also went to the Kolkata Book Fair yesterday. I totally got lost in the world of books and for myself, I got a collection of all short stories written by Guy De Maupassant. The book includes more than 150 stories! I also got a collection of stories by R.L.Stevenson and 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga. Besides, my parents bought books for themselves and after spending nearly four hours at the fair, they realized that they had just enough money left to pay the taxi fare. They realized that just in time though, because we were thinking of looking around a bit more for some other books!

2009-01-23T19:07:00.001+05:30

One of hand and mouse paintings again...Couldn't think of an appropriate title for this lady though.

9 things which will never happen in 2009

2009-01-11T20:06:00.002+05:30

The year passing by without any terrorist attack in any part of the nation or world
The two halves of the year without road, rail or air accidents
The four quarters of the year without that running inflation
12 months of industrial progress for West Bengal
52 weeks without natural disasters
365 days without those stupid strikes which rob hundreds of their daily wages
8760 hours of prevention of pollution
52600 minutes of complete literacy in India
3153600 seconds of love, peace and prosperity all around

Merry Christmas :-)

2008-12-28T18:19:00.006+05:30

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

2008-12-21T21:01:00.004+05:30

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

2008-12-13T21:14:00.004+05:30

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

2008-12-06T18:09:00.001+05:30

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.

Sitting pretty

2008-11-23T22:08:00.000+05:30

Black and white

2008-11-14T18:48:00.003+05:30

In my last post, I had mentioned that I would be a starting a new paint blog soon. But, following Subhadipda's suggestion, I would like to post my paintings on this blog itself. This is the blog which is very close to my heart and I don't want it to get less attention.

So, the above picture is the first of those paintings done with the mouse. Hope you like it!

Something colourful

2008-10-31T21:46:00.004+05:30

A white paper, a pencil, a box of tubes containing water colours, a palette to choose and mix the right combination of colours, numerous brushes and a conatiner of water...or tubes containing oil colours instead of water colours and the container of water replaced by two tiny containers of oil...

Whenever I paint, my mind is burried in these things. A slight slack of concentration and the picture may go horribly wrong, especially with the water colours. But, its never difficult to get totally engaged in what I paint because I love to paint. It always keeps my mind away from other worries and after a good painting session, the mind feels refreshed. It is also a treat to see my own paintings after finishing them if I am really able to do a good job.

But, unfortunately, these studies don't let a person do anything else. Sometimes they are so mean! So, although I have been continuing my painting classes, I have not been able to painting the time it deserves. I don't suppose I will ever be able to give it that time ,which I used to give it three or four years back, ever again. But, since I devote a lot of time to blogging, I have been wondering for the past few days about combining the two activities together. If I start another blog and use it only for posting my computer and mouse paintings, it would help me to devote time to painting and become something new in my life. So, I have decided now that I will start such a blog. I will post the URL here so that you all can visit it. I hope you will like my paintings just as you have admired my writing.

I must add here that I first got the inspiration to start a paint blog after seeing Deeptidi's (Deepti Siwal's) paintings on her paint blog, Marasim. I don't know why she stopped blogging and can't be seen in blogosphere anymore now but as long as she was there, she created magic with her paintings. I too want to do the same...hope you will encourage me.

The white abodes

2008-10-18T12:39:00.033+05:30

At Chamoli (below); My parents on the ropeway to Chandi devi 's mandir(right)

The three of us at Bheem Pul(left)

The Alaknanda at Managaon(right)

Badrinath temple(right)

My mother at Chopta(above)

Mymother and I at Kedarnath(left)

The Kedarnath temple(right)

Clouds engulf the way to Kedar(above)

Forests on the way to Kedar(left)

My father in his doli(right)

On the way to Guptkashi(above)

The rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini merge at Devaprayag, on the way to Guptkashi(left)

The evening aarti(above and below)

Ram Ghat (right)

I used to think that no one in this world knew where heaven was. But, now I have been forced to change my opinion. Loads of people, including me, know where heaven is. And, it looks like the two bottommost pictures.The pictures are those of Kedarnath and Badrinath, the places I visited over the last two weeks with my parents. We started off on 5th October and first took a flight to New Delhi. Then, we reached Haridwar on the Janshatabdi Express the same night. Haridwar is not the type of town present in a person's dreams. It is rather congested and there is practically nothing to be seen in it except the Ganges. But, there was something about the town which made me like it though I don't know what it was. Our hotel was located in Ram Ghat, one of the busy market areas of Haridwar. Whenever we would step out of our hotel, a mixed smell of pickle and jalebis and the noise of autos and rickshaws would greet us and that would make me very happy. Ram Ghat and the nearby areas are marked by narrow lanes, sweet shops, shops selling woollen garments with the shopkeepers shouting in Bengali ( as 90% tourists are Bengalis), restaurants like Mashir Hotel and Dada-Boudir Hotel with their names written in Bengali and what not. I am extremely fond of sweets and I specially liked the gulab jamun at Haridwar! But, in spite of being a Bengali, I hated the food at Mashir Hotel, unlike most other Bengalis there, because it was just tasteless! There would haardly be any space to walk through these areas but there would always be a lot to watch and hear.

Away from this hustle and bustle, at Har Ki Pauri, the atmosphere is totally different and I felt that we had arrived at another part of the world. There, the Ganges flows widely and the people move calmly towards its banks. The evening aarti begins exactly at 6.20 p.m. and ends exactly at 6.30 p.m. Thousands of people gather around the banks of the Ganges to watch this ten minute show which is not just a ritual. It is a symbol of peace which attracts the rich and the poor, the happy and the unhappy, the religious and the non-religious. It is dominated by the sound of bells echoing throughout Haridwar and the flame and odour of giant panch-pradeeps spreading contentment all around.

The next day, we went to Guptkashi, one of the many spots between Haridwar and Kedarnath, where people halt. But, halting at Guptkashi is not a practical decision, as we understood afterwards because it is 35km away from Gaurikund, the point from which the trek to Kedarnath begins. So, as we halted at Guptkashi that night, we first had to travel to Gaurikund in the morning and could start for Kedarnath at 9.30 a.m. That is not at all good because it takes six hours to trek to Kedarnath and the weather there starts deteriorating after 1 p.m. So, people should halt at Gaurikund. The road to Guptkashi is much better than the place itself. When we had lamost reachd Guptkashi, our car turned a bend on the mountainous road and we got the first glimpse of the white snow-capped mountains! It was only a short glimpse but it gave me immeasurable pleasure. It was a feeling of joy and satisfaction and I could not believe that I had finally come near the white mountains which I had so much desired to see. After that though, Guptkashi offered us nothing impressive except the lush green mountains. Our hotel had no provision for food and we had to eat at a restaurant where there was a one man show. The man, Chauhan, was the owner, chef, waiter and receptionist at his restaurant, the only gentle one in this bizarre place. But, I must praise him because he prepared really good food. Although the food was hot (so hot that it made my mother jump up and down in spite of preferring hot food herself), it was good.

On 8th October, we started our journey to Kedarnath. The journey to Kedarnath can be completed on foot, on horseback, on dolis ( like palanquins but without the roof and carried by four bearers) , kandis (baskets carried by people on their backs with the passengers sitting in them) or helicopters. We chose the dolis because my father has been suffering from arthritis and both my parents are heart patients and it is not possible for them to walk 14 km. The doli stand is located a kilometre or so away from the point where the cars stop.It is ruled by total chaos and confusion and by the time we started off on our respective dolis ( one person in one doli), we felt like pulling our hair out. But, the doli bearers' job is very very praiseworthy because frist of all, they carry people. Moreover, the road to Kedarnath is very steep , rough and dangerous. But, the infinite energy with which they carried us deserves a million applauses.

The first few kilometres on the way are full of mountains covered with thick jungles and when my doli was moving just on the edge of the road, it was giving me the chill to look down and find the hills leading down to nowhere! The gorges are so deep that even when I noticed a stream or two, they appeared like long ribbons. The more we went, the less thick the jungles became and after a stage, disappeared altogether. But, the road became steeper and the cold went on increasing. We stopped five times on the way and every time, had either tea or coffee. A friendly feature about the trek to Kedar is that when people going uphill happen to exchange looks with those coming downhill, they say "Jai Bhole" to each other. This is not a rule but the urge to chant "Jai Bhole" occurs naturally to the trekkers.The mid-point of the road is at Rambara where we had maggi for lunch. Till Rambara, the weather had been bright and sunny but as soon as we crossed it, the weather suddenly deteriorated. Clouds engulfed our way and drops of ice-cold rain began to fall. The cold started pentrating even my thick power shoes and cotton socks. At Kedarnath, the cold was unbelievable! We were shaking even after wearing two sweaters. We just managed to visit the temple in the evening and see the deity but could only listen to the aarti as the temple became very crowded after a while. After coming back to our hotel, we gulped down mouthfuls of boiling hot khichdi and I went to sleep in my jeans. Even after covering ourselves with two quilts each, we took time to adjust to the cold and could not move in bed. The next morning, we went to offer puja at the temple. It was painful at first because we had to wait in the queue bare footed. But, inside the temple it was warmer and yet, it was worse because we had to fight the crowds there. Everything is very unsystematic inside the temple. The queue breaks up into two near the entrance and again merges into one of its own accord near the sanctum sanctorum, trigerring line breaking and complete chaos. People sit around a small pool where the deity has been placed, and offer their puja.It was a bad experience to see two people fighting around that pool just because one of them had pushed the other while trying to touch the deity. What I didn't understand was that why all those people at the temple that day have to adopt wrong means to reach the deity first. Why couldn't they have waited half an hour more for their turn patiently after having trekked for six hours? If they had maintained peace, the whole process would have become smoother and quicker. Reaching Kedarnath is not easy but once you reach the place, you realize that all your efforts were worth it. The white majestic Neelkanth range and the sight of the temple gives you a lot of satisfaction and gives you all the energy to fight the biting cold. In the world of those huge mountains, nothing else matters. All your big and small desires together seem very little.At least, this is what I felt ...

The return journey on the doli is very uncomfortable because this time, the doli bearers run down with their dolis and the passengers keep on bumping up and down in them. We also stopped only once on the way at Rambara and reached Gaurikund in, surprisingly, two and a half hours. Before returning to Guptkashi, we visited a place called Trijugnarayan where Lord Shiva had married Parvatin and the marriage fire has been kept burning till this day. On the 10th of October, we started the long journey to the second dham, Badrinath. This time too, we visited places on the way. One of them was Unkhimath, where Usha, the daughter of Surya, had married Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Krishna, and the place where Lord Kedarnath is said to live during the winter season when he has no visitors at Kedar itself. Both Trijugnarayan and Unkhimath are nice place swith pretty temples but the palce which stands out is Chopta. Chopta is a very colourful place with a very blue sky, snow white mountains, mountians with rich green trees and a lime green valley visible altogether. Although the road to Badri is motorable, it is very bad and very narrow. So, only a certain number of vehicles are allowed to ply on the road for a period of two and a half hours, enabling them to cross the danger zones safely without any chances of congestion. Thus, from Joshimath, a place on the way to Badri and also from Badri, the vehicles start only at 6.30 a.m., 9 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. but not at any other time in between or before or after. If a vehicle misses the 11.30 a.m. 'gate' (as they are called), it will have to wait for two and a half hours to use the 2 p.m. 'gate'.

We entered the narrowest of roads by the 4.30 p.m. 'gate' and at once, forgot all about Chopta. The mountains were now mysteriously beautiful. They were bare and grey and as my parents said, (I have never before heard them speaking in this poetic manner and must admit that I was puzzled) strange people would come out of the mountains any time and charge at us. It was a different kind of beauty. The next morning, we first visited Badrinath temple but only saw the deity without offering any puja. At this temple, things are much more in order and people themselves are less frantic. Then, we went to Managaon, 3 km from Badri, which is India's last village in the north before the Chinese border. At Managaon, we had to use our feet to walk around and see the origin of the Saraswati river from the Bheem Pul and the Ganesh and Vyas Gumfas. So, naturally, my father, with his arthritis, could not see everything and waited in the car while my mother and I discovered the sweetness of Mana. We had even thought of walking 3 km more to visit the Muchkund Gumfa but local people said that going there and coming back would take two hours in all. Sadly, we gave up the idea. Both at Badri and at Mana, the Alaknanda river is peacock blue. The river there is just like the sea with its white waves and in fact, we don't even get to see the sea in such a form often.

On the night of the 12th, we stayed over at Chamoli, a district town on the way back to Haridwar. That is also a very picturesque place and although there is no special spot to be seen, one can spend hours sitting and watching the splendid view.

After coming back to Haridwar, we visited Rishikesh, Ram Jhula and Lakshman Jhula. Although these places are really nice, we didn't enjoy them to a good extent because their beauty was nothing compared to what we had already seen. So, its better to go to these places before going to Kedar, Badri, Gangotri or Jamunotri. The security in these places is very bad. Any time, any moment, they can be blown up along with the millions of people visiting them. We also visited the Mansa Mandir inside Haridwar and the Chandi Mandir on the outskirts of Haridwar. There too, the view from the hilltops where they are located is more important than them. They are accesible only by ropeway and the view from the ropeway is also splendid.

A few things more about this trip. Its a completely wrong notion that only the rough and tough and young people can go on a hectic trip such as this. We saw many elderly people enjoying the trip. If people are a bit careful, anyone can enjoy the trip. Also, contrary to what we had heard several times before going, there is no need to be part of a big group for going on this tour. There were only the three of us and we didn't face any problem.Besides, there seemd to be no other business in Uttarakhand apart from tourism. Wherever we went, we encountered hotels, tourist lodges, guest houses, etc. etc. but very few houses of local people. Moreover, there's no good connection between people in different sectors of the tourism industry. For example, the hotels don't know when they'll get the advance money paid to the travel agencies by the tourists. The industry is marked by double crossery and treachery. This trip will be memorable because before starting on the 5th, every moment we feared that we might not be able to go at all becuase of the numerous obstacles which came our way. And then, we could go after all! If any of you ever need any information regarding this tour, you can ask me. I'll be very happy to help you.
Jai Bhole! Jai Badri Vishal!

Rajarshi

2008-09-22T14:45:00.003+05:30

Rabindranath Tagore was undoubtedly a great man and a great novelist. His writings really are different. But (I know I have no right to say this considering the fact that I am talking about a man like him; forgive me if I hurt your sentiments which I know I will) sometimes, they are so boring!

'Rajarshi' was a novel written by him after having a dream. He dreamt that a little girl had visited a temple with her father one day and seeing the blood of animals sacrificed to the god/goddess, on the temple steps, the girl had asked, " Why is there so much blood?" Based on this, Rabindranath Tagore had penned an entire novel. I haven't read the whole novel yet but I have felt that our Nobel Laureate was just not at his best when he wrote this one. Why did he have to describe the time of the day so often? In every chapter, there is one long paragraph about either the day or the night or the afternoon or the early evening. In two lines about the atmospheric conditions, we could have understood the coming incidents, whether they will be good or bad. In one of the chapters, he describes the morning as a very pleasant one and tells us about everything and everyone from the sun rays to the squirrels and from the goats to the people happily chatting while preparing to take a bath. But, then he says that Jayshingha (one important character) is not happy to see everyone else so merry! Then, why did he make us read so much? And that Jayshingha! He changes his mind every alternate chapter. He is just not able to decide whether to support the king or the priest. By inserting this character into the novel, Rabindranath Tagore makes things so boring. There was simply no need for the readers to digest this man called Jayshingha when he practically does nothing and finally kills himself. Chapters have been on Jayshingha. And, what's the point of having such a philosopher like Govindamanikya as king? Just because a girl asked the reason for all that blood, he ordered that all sacrifices should be stopped! Why didn't he just concentrate on his other administrative duties? Oh, but of course, he was a philosopher, not a king. So, how could he? Govindamanikya was also a big bore in the sense that he was wanting to listen to the 'dhrubopakhyan' from a little boy of five or six who, all the while, was wanting to go and meet his friend and play in the woods. The only smart person in the novel is Raghupati, the priest, who doesn't waste a singel moment in deciding what he wants. He is the villain but to me, he is the character who makes us open our eyes properly and read every time he comes into the picture.

I hope I'll get something better in the rest of the chapters though I have every doubt. I know I have already hurt a dozen sentiments and am already being cursed but I could not help it!

10 messages received

2008-09-12T21:23:00.002+05:30

Here are some of the really nice SMSs which I have received over the past few months. I don't know whether you all have received some of them too or not. Anyway, I hope you'll all enjoy them!

1.What did Kangaroo say when she found her baby missing?
Just think
Try again
She said, "Aaila! kisi ne meri pocket mar li..."

2.Jab barish hoti hai, tum yad ate ho. Jab kali ghata chhaye, tum yad ate ho. Jab bheegte hai hum, tum yad ate ho. Ab bata bhi do mera umbrella kab wapas karoge!

3.Ek sardar ki maut bijli girne se hui,par uski lash muskurate hui mili. God ne puchha,"Aisa kyun?"
Sardar: Oye, mainu laga koi meri photo khinch raha hai...

4.(kuch kuch hota hai remix): Exam pass aye, dil ghabraye, teacher ne na jane kya paper banaye. Ab to mera pen ruk ruk ke chalta hai, kya karun haaye, kuch nehi aata hai!

5. Sardarji dukhi the, kisi ne puchha, "kyun tension me ho?"
Sardarji: "yaar, ek dost ko plastic surgery ke liye 2 lakh diye the, ab saale ko pehchaan nehi pa raha hun!"

6. S_nrise
B_tterfly
Pict_re
L_nch
Clo_ds
St_dies
M_sic
S_nday
all are very boring without "U"!

7.Maintain silence for 2 minutes in memory of all those poor mosquitoes who died last night after drinking your blood; they had a diabetes attack because you are so sweet....

8.If you find a friend better than me, i won't stop you, but if that friend leaves u, just look behind. I will be there....To slap and say, "HO GAYI TASALLI!"

9. Teacher: If I saw a man beating a donkey and stopped him, what virtue would I be showing?
Student: Brotherly love.

10. A man ordered soup in a restaurant but found a fly in his soup. He said to the waiter, "Mere soup me ek makkhi hai!" The waiter replied ,"To main kya karun? Main dhaba chalaun ya inhe tairna sikhaun?"

An element of my blood

2008-08-31T21:23:00.002+05:30

I have often talked about my hatred for Mathematics. Whenever I have complained about the problems cropping up while studying, I have blamed Mathematics. But, I have never mentioned a word about the subject which has helped me to stay calm even during the most critical situations. I have always assured myself, "Never mind, there's still History...."

I had liked History from Day One. It has always been fascinating to read about people who lived years ago and to understand their lifestyle, their achievements using nothing but human labour, both physical and mental and their ability to think beyond their times. The strength of mind that they have shown before numerous wars or their failure to show it and the reasons associated with either of the two attitudes always provides for an interesting read.

How can History ever be boring? I know that different people have diffferent preferences. I myself hate Math whereas there are many who don't. But, I have seen that eighty percent people don't like History. And, its not just hatred. They treat History as an inferior subject; a subject whose study requires no special skill, a subject where success is guaranteed if you can memorize well, a subject which is infinitely boring , a subject which is useless because it deals with the past....Their comments hurt me and prick me like a needle because History has been my saviour. Over the years, I realized that it is the subject on which I have a very firm grip and it is difficult for others to loosen that grip. But, its not that I like History just because it fetches me good marks but because of the subject itself. We must know something about our past. We have got to be acquainted with the reasons for the existing world problems and those reasons can only be provided by History.

The other day, my friend was telling me that its good that I have taken up Humanities and that all my subjects are good. But, how am I tolerating History? "Even if you are studying History now, you obviously won't do your graduation in History?", she asked and then added, "Will you?", a bit doubtfully. I replied that if the circumstances let me take up History, I will do it. Then, she said, "You have a lot of patience." Now, why is it that one always needs patience to study only History? Isn't patience needed for studying itself, irrespective of what subject it is?

Anyway, I have stopped caring about such comments because deep down, I know that History is an element of my blood. I love to get transported to a different world whenever I study History and the two of us are inseparable mates. If History is removed from my blood and my soul, I will not survive...

A day of the bloggers, by the bloggers and for the bloggers

2008-08-17T22:45:00.003+05:30

Woodsmoke mentioned in her comment on my last post that of late, whenever she has visited my blog, she has felt like a celebrity. Well, after reading this post,I'm not sure whether she's going to feel like one again because this time, there will be other celebrities also.

Rohit, a dear fellow blogger, came to Kolkata late on Thursday night to meet my cousin. This morning, he came to our house along with SubhadipDa, another fellow blogger. Then, Woodsmoke arrived too, with her sibling and my cousin, AriD. Now, AriD's a blogger too. So, we, the five great bloggers, went to Vedic Village, a resort just on the outskirts of Kolkata. Instead of wasting much time there seeing the other things and admiring the greenery they have tried to maintain there, we straightaway entered the restaurant, Bhoomi. It was a very nice place for having lunch. We(except Rohit) had rice, moong dal,mixed vegetable, mourala fish wrapped in banana leaves, prawn, mutton and two kinds of sweets. Rohit only took a very small quantity of rice, a very small quanity of dal ,an even smaller quantity of vegetable, only one type of sweet and nothing else.I was rather surprised because after reading his blog, I had somehow felt that this guy really loves to eat. I don't know when'll be the next time that I'll meet someone who eats lesser than him! Anyway, nothing was wasted because AriD was there to help the others finish off everything. During the meal, we only heard him asking us to pass some item or the other to him. And, he was sitting next to Rohit! So, there were two people sitting close to each other of whom, one's plate was almost empty and other's was completely full!

I don't know what the others will think about this, but according to me, the journey was more enjoyable than the lunch. I was my usual self all the while, talking extremely less. I obviously was teased about it but I enjoyed Rohit's and SubhadipDa's funny expressions when I talked very softly, even when I did talk. But, I also want to mention here that although the two of them talked more than I did, they are not the kind of people who go on talking. They, too, are rather quiet, specially SubhadipDa and, Rohit's voice is very low. AriD has always been a man of few words. He actually fell asleep during our return journey.So, the only person who literally talked non-stop today, was my dear sister (as she always does, of course)!

The Rohit that I had imagined after reading his posts, was definitely not the Rohit whom I met today. But, this was only our first meet. So, I'll get to know more about him after him after this. I hope we'll become more friendly after this. Maybe then, I'll be able to relate him with his blog. Today's impression is that he is a really nice guy...a bit shy but definitely, the type of person I like.

To describe SubhadipDa in two words, he is handsome and serious. Today, he was our guide and he was quite serious about his job. At the same time, that calm expression and light smile were always lingering on his face and he too, has got a good sense of humour. Overall, he is also very good and really good looking and to a good extent, I could relate him with his blog.

To conclude, the day was splendid and the other four bloggers will keep on popping up in front of me tomorrow, no matter where I go or what I do. I can imagine how many times I'll laugh to myself in the bus tomorrow remembering today's jokes( still haven't figured out why this happens so frequently to me in a bus only)!

Amazing weekends

2008-08-03T21:09:00.002+05:30

Last Saturday, Woodsmoke and me went to Gariahat market with our mothers. She needed to get some new salwars and shirts made for herself. It was so much fun! The purpose of going itself did not matter much to either of us. The real enjoyment was staying together all the time and cracking jokes about something or the other. Woodsmoke got quite bored while choosing the dress materials because the other three people with her too had to be satisfied with them. After that, when my aunt took a considerably long time to buy dress materials for herself and started talking about buying more things, you should have seen Woodsmoke's face! I didn't know that she despised shopping so much. As for me, I was pretty amused throughout. This was not because of the shopping but because of all my cousin's actions. For me, shopping always means spending four to five hours at a stretch with my parents outside, which is very hard to come by. So, even though I am not a shopaholic, I look forward to shopping. Anyway, I know that Woodsmoke was enjoying herself with her family but not quite the way she had wanted to. So, she was extremely delighted when my mother suggested that we should take lunch first.

But, my aunt was not to be put off so easily. Post lunch, she resumed her shopping business. Woodsmoke kept on teasing her that she probably wanted to buy something for every neighbour back home.Well,she took it quite sportingly! I should have liked to photograph my dear cousin's bored face when the senior ladies were choosing sarees. The man at the saree shop opened one of the sarees and showed its different parts to us. He was looking like such a cartoon that Woodsmoke whispered to me, saying that he should try it on himself. Then, the two of us started giggling and I also remember giggling over certain other things. Every time we did that, my aunt exclaimed, "Look at what they are doing!"

Woodsmoke's experience that evening at a cyber cafe was hilarious too. I went with her there and we worked at different computers. Her computer's keyboard didn't have a single letter or digit printed on the keys. When she asked the fellow there whether there was a better keyboard or not, he replied, "Why, the keyboard is perfectly alright. Only the letters are missing;that's all."

The next day, we went to Dakkhineshwar, Belur Math and Shaktigarh.This time, we were also accompanied by our fathers and our common grandparents. Once more, Woodsmoke was thrilled to see the mad crowds at the temple who were ready to throttle one another to catch a glimpse of the goddess. It was the to and fro journey that we enjoyed more than whatever we saw at these places. I didn't even know that there were such beautiful roads in West Bengal. While returning, Big 92.7 Fm radio channel started playing songs of Shah Rukh Khan movies! This time, both of us were truly thrilled and we started singing the songs. "Jadoo teri nazar", "Main Agar Kahoon", "Aankhon mein teri", "Kal ho na ho".....it was the icing on the cake!

Yesterday, me and seven other students of our school went to Jadavpur University for an essay-writing and a debate competition. Six of us, including me, wrote the essays and two participated in the debate. All were environmental topics. We were escorted by two of our teachers in a sumo and had a marvellous time both at the campus as well as during the journey.When we were having lunch on the campus, a man was sleeping on a bench nearby. Our friend, Arittra, went near him and coughed loudly enough to rouse him! And, this is just one example of the funny things which happened yesterday, thanks to Arittra of Class XI and Lalit and Soumyodipto of Class XII!

She's here!

2008-07-25T22:36:00.003+05:30

Usually, for me, Tuesday happens to be the worst day of the week. Somehow, I always want them to end as quickly as possible. But, Tuesday, the 22nd of July,2008, was bright and cheerful right from the morning. The weather was beautiful. It was neither drizzling nor was it too humid. A very pleasant wind was blowing. All this perfectly matched with the fact that we would be going to the airport that night to receive my cousin Woodsmoke.

I would be meeting her after two years. During these two years, we have mostly communicated through blogging. We have sent emails but not regularly and when we used to talk over the phone, those five minutes of talking were too less to express our sentiments properly. Unfortunately, I did not know the Google Talk formula for a long time and when I came to know about it, I could not download it properly. So, I was counting the days and the nearer her arrival time drew, the more excited I became. So, the most recent Tuesday was very promising.

My uncle and aunt(Woodsmoke's parents) came to our house in the evening. After having dinner together, they went to the airport along with us(me and my parents). It takes just about 15 minutes to go to the airport from our place. So, we were there in a flash. After a few moments, board showing the schedules of different flights informed us that the flight from Frankfurt had arrived at the expected time(11.05 p.m.). Those were some moments! My excitement and impatience was increasing every minute. The first passenger to come out was a swarthy German man. As my aunt and me were standing in front and smiling widely in happiness and in the hope that any moment we would see my cousin, that guy smiled back at us. Probably, he had thought at first that we were the ones supposed to be receiving him.Anyway, then two more Germans came, then an Indian family, then three Koreans and so on. But where was Woodsmoke? Just when we were thinking that she would be the last passenger to show herself, we saw her coming! As she came closer, I saw that she was looking extremely pretty. Her smile somehow looked more charming that night.

But, I won't be able to say that the Tuesday was 100 percent good. When I was returning home in the evening after attending school and tuition consecutively, I fell down from the autorickshaw. I am used to sitting on the front right side seat with my bag but that day I was a bit absent minded. My right leg was very badly injured. I didn't realize its seriousness on Tuesday because of all the excitement. Besides, there was only a burning sensation on Tuesday. But, the wound started showing its real colours from Wednesday. Yesterday, I was walking on one foot. Couldn't even dream of going to school. Today though, its much better and tomorrow nothing will stop me from having a grand time with my cousin.

The Diary of a Young Girl

2008-07-13T20:29:00.002+05:30

We all have read about the Second World War (1939-45). In all history textbooks, the important events and battles, the decisions of important people and leaders and dates are written. Sometimes, we get tired of learning those long paragraphs about the treaties, their causes, thier consequences, etc. We think we know almost everything about the War. At least, that's what I thought till last week.

But, after reading 'The Diary of a Young Girl', by Anne Frank, I feel that my knowledge about the War is zero because I had no idea about exactly how much the common people, specially Jews, had to suffer. Anne Frank was a German Jew whose family had sought asylum in Holland during the Second World War. They used to live in a proper house till July 1942 but were forced to go into hiding like millions of other Jews because the Jews were being captured by the Gestapo ( Nazi policemen) and sent off to concentration camps. Just because they were born Jews, Adolf Hitler had forced billions of them to live a life of misery and had given orders to murder them mercilessly. Even when Anne Frank and her family had not been compelled to go into hiding, their life was troublesome, thanks to Mr. Hitler. Anne had devoted three-fourths of one page of her diary to writing about the restrictions imposed on Jews. They had named thier hiding place as The Secret Annexe. They used to live their with the van Pels( referred to by Anne as the van Daans) and Dr. Dussel, a bachelor. Anne had started writing in her diary from 12th June, 1942 by describing her feelings and experiences in letters addressed to an imaginable person named Kitty. We first get a taste of Anne's happy life as a teenager at school, with many friends, many admirers and at home. But, at the Annexe, her life was f ull of troubles. Life was hard for them. The Annexe was part of a big office building and a warehouse was also attached to it. Few of the office members namely Mr. Voskuijl,Mr.Kleimann, Mr.Kugler, Miep and Jan Gies and Bep had secretly helped them to hide at the Annexe for two two years. There wasn't always fresh food, they could never open the windows beyond an inch, there were rules regarding the use of the lavatory, they could never raise their voices and they obviously could not go out. No one else knew what had become of them. Anne had written about the conflicts between different members of the Annexe, her love for her father, hatred for her mother, relationship with her sister, the irritating habits of Dr.Dussel and Mrs. van Daan and affectionate relationship with Peter van Daan. We get to know how her feelings gradually changed over a span of two years. When Gerrit Bolkenstein, a member of the Dutch government in exile had announced that he would collect eyewitness accounts of sufferers during the war (like letters or diaries) in 1944, Anne began to edit her diary. She hoped that a book would be published based on her diary.

While reading the diary, one will feel that the eight members of the Annexe were not united. There always was a quarrel between some of them. But, there are times, when one will feel that they were united. When Anne describes how burglars had broken into the office on two nights, how they had narrowly been saved on those occasions and how they all were waiting patiently for England to invade Holland so that they might be free once more, one understands that they were united. There was a lot of anxiety and optimism in Anne's last few letters. The invasion had finally begun in 1944 but before the whole of Holland could be occupied by the British, someone had tipped off the Gestapo about suspicious incidents at the office. So, just when Anne's miserable days had seemed to come to an end, they were captured. At the end of Anne's letters, we get to know that the different members were sent to different concentration camps where they ultimately died. The most painful part of it is that all Jews were liberated from each of those camps just two or three days after the members of the Annexe died there. Only Anne's father, Otto H. Frank, survived and edited Anne's diary and devoted himself to sharing his daughter's thoughts with people the world over.

So, when we read about a period of two years in textbooks, we never understand how the common people had to suffer. They had to live through each and every day of those two years in terrible insecurity. We might read that Holland was conquered in 1944 by the British, but it was not that easy. The leaders had to debate a lot before invading any country and any small town or city in the country. All this can be made out from Anne's writing. The individual amotional woes of the Jews in hiding were always there to add fuel to the fire. We will never understand them, no matter how much we try. We can only hope that the world will never see another Adolf Hitler. Oh, why was he so cruel? How can anyone be so cruel? If he had not been so cruel, Anne might have fulfilled her dream of becoming a journalist and later on, a writer. She might have been able to see this book being published and might still have been living.

Namesake

2008-07-05T16:18:00.002+05:30

'Sinjini Sengupta is suffering from a nervous problem', 'Sinjini Sengupta had participated in a reality show', 'Sinjini Sengupta was eliminated from it', 'Sinjini Sengupta is now in a Bangalore hospital', etc., etc., etc.

All this was being flashed on every news channel last Saturday. I, Sinjini Sengupta, saw the images of another Sinjini Sengupta in hospital, on TV last Saturday. Sinjini had participated in a dance reality show telecasted by ETV Bangla. She had been eliminated in one of the rounds. She had been so hurt that she actually had to be admitted to a hospital. The news channels were so happy and excited. They had got some hot news and had got the opportunity to criticize ETV Bangla, the judges of the concerned show and all reality shows. Serious talk shows were being held by each Bengali news channel to assess who was to blame for Sinjini's condition. People were sending SMSs and presenting their individual opinions about the problem. It had beome an all-India issue.

I became a bit irritated of all this. It did not give me a very nice feeling to see my own name being flashed every time, stating that I was sick. Personally, I felt and I still feel that it was her and her parents' fault. She already had that nervous problem. In that case, they should not have allowed her to participate at all.In a reality show, one can be eliminated in any round. There will be a lot of competition. Not just reality shows, there is a lot of competition in every field now. If one does not have the guts or the mental condition to face that competition or to bear the misery of being beaten, one does not have any right to participate in the battle. Under such a circumstance, one should should not be forced to participate either. If one's performance is not good in any episode, one can't expect the judges to smile at him/her and shower false praises. One will deliberately be criticized and that criticism can help one to improve in future and to learn from mistakes.

Having said all this, I must also add that I am feeling sorry for Sinjini. From the deepest corner of my heart, I hope she gets well very soon. After all, it's not every day that you see people who have the same name and surname as you and even study in the same class! Yeah, she is a Class XI student! And, since all these particluars of mine have matched with her, some people actually got a rude shock at first. Richa, one of my fellow bloggers, had thought at first that it was me. The dreamer, another fellow blogger actually asked me whether I was the same Sinjini Sengupta or not. My most favourite teacher at school, Shaluk Ma'am told me that she had got the shock of her life on opening the newspaper on Sunday morning. Our Bengali teacher, Ratna Ma'am said to me in class, " You're Sinjini Sengupta. Then, how come you're here? Hadn't you become sick?"

Well, let me confirm in this post that I am not that Sinjini Sengupta. I had learnt Kathak till I was in Class VIII. But, I never ever thought of participating in any dance reality show!

The story of a benevolent thief

2008-06-29T20:00:00.003+05:30

On a fine sunny morning a few days ago, I was awaken by a commotion going on in our house. Instead of hugging me with the usual charming words, my mother asked me whether I had seen my father's bag the night before. She was referring to a small brown bag which my father carries on his way to work. I went to the study and found my father searching frantically for his bag. I joined him in his efforts but could not find anything. He said that when he had first come to the study that morning, the cover of the bed had looked as though it had been tampered with. Moreover, not just one, but two of his bags were missing. When all our efforts proved futile and my father was absolutely certain that he had not left his bag at his office the previous day, we concluded that it had been stolen after all. The brown bag had his identity card, a diary containing the phone numbers of fifty million people, other important papers, a cheque book andthe duplicate keys of the main gate of his bank, but no cash. The other bag, a big black one, was absolutely empty.

My parents thought of lodging a complaint with the police station although they knew that the bags would never be found again. They also decided that the broken window of the study would have to be repaired on the very next Sunday. We suspected that the bags had been taken by the thief with the help of a long stick, as anything else had not been broken. After that, they both left for work. My father had to see to it that the payment from that cheque book was stopped and pay the money to order new keys for his office gate.

At about 8 o' clock that evening, our calling bell rang. Imagine my surprise when one of our neighbours handed me that same brown bag! She said that she had found it lying beside the drain behind their house but had not found any other bag. She had found my father's identity card in it and had thus come to return it. I checked the contents of the bag and found that none of them were missing, not even the keys! It was clear that they had been tampered with because they had all been shoved together into one pocket of the bag. I informed my parents over the phone and they were equally stunned.

That night, we decided that the thief was rather benevolent. He had not found any money in the bag. So, it had turned out to be pretty useless for him. He did not touch anything else and thus saved my father a lot of trouble.He could easily have thrown it into a dustbin or the drain or somewhere quite far from our house. But, he left it at a place where it was quite easy and natural for someone to find it out. The funnier part was that he took the big black bag, probably to carry other things which he would steal in future!

Tagging is great when there seems to be nothing else to write about

2008-06-13T23:03:00.004+05:30

I have been tagged by Woodsmoke. This one is interesting.

Name three most valuable assets.

PC, cellphone and a bag containing my pocket money.

If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the three blog buddies you would take alongside with you?

Woodsmoke, SubhadipDa and Amiya Didi

Where is the place that you want to go the most?

Hogsmeade village of Harry Potter books.

If you can have one dream to come true, what would it be?

Buy a top-floor flat of a very tall apartment and watch the whole city from one of its big glass windows.

What are you afraid to lose the most in yourself?

Determination.

What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money?

I would try my best to make sure that it wass returned to its proper owner. If I am not in a position to do so, I would leave it as I had found it.

If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?

No, I would never do that. If he loves me too, it is he who will have to confess first. If something goes wrong between us later on life, I will not be able to accuse him. He will obviously say that I had proposed to him and so, it was because of my initial mistake that I am suffering now.

Which type of person do you dislike the most?

The ones who always brood and the ones who get tired after doing very little.

If you were given the chance to have one super power, what would it be and why?

The ability to predict the future.

If you could do one thing different in life, what would it be?

Get fromal singing lessons.

Are you a shopaholic?

Not at all.

Which actor/actress would you like to be?

Of course Shahrukh Khan! He is good in every respect. Aamir Khan might technically be a better actor than him but his charisma cannot be matched by anyone. He was good in studies and sports and as the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, he was fantastic. He has such an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm. I have stopped reading Aamir Khan's blog after he confessed that his dog was called Shahrukh and said that 'Shahrukh is licking my feet'. Although he asked everyone not to jump to any conclusion, I know why he wrote about his dog and why added that horrible line. He really can't underestimate SRK, no matter how great his acting skills might be. After all, SRK is the best performer among them all.

One song that gives you goosebumps?

There is a Rabindrasangeet called 'Jakhan porbe na mor payer chinho ei bate...'. That song gives me goosebumps.

Do you have any plans for tomorrow?

Yes. I have to attend my economics tuition in the morning, study at home in the afternoon and go for a movie in the evening with my parents. The movie is called 'Chalo...Let's Go'.

I tag?

Shreya, Richa and SubhadipDa.Do at least some of these questions, please.

Gifts: Expected and Unexpected

2008-06-04T21:16:00.006+05:30

I mentioned in my previous post that a party would be thrown on the occasion of my good result and that it would be the ideal gift for me. The party was thrown and it was wonderful. But, before describing that event, I will talk about one unexpected gift which I received.

Two days after knowing the result, my father suddenly anounced that he would have to go to Shillong to attend a conference. It would be a two-day affair for him. At least, that's what my mother and I thought till he asked us whether we would we would like to go with him too! Without losing a minute, my mother took a leave from her office too. The flight tickets were booked, the bags were packed and the camera was made ready in a single day. So, it would be a two-day affair for us too!

We took a flight to Guwahati from Kolkata and reached Shillong from Guwahati by car. The car journey was one of four hours. But, it was not at all tiring. The road was so beautiful. Everything around us was only green. I was mesmerised by the hills covered by dense green jungles, the winding hilly roads and the narrow streams with their big rocks and swiftly flowing water. One can never get tired of these sights.

On Day One or rather, Evening One, we could not explore Shillong much except for Golf Club. Golf Club is actually a vast green ground for playing golf. It is really very vast and when golf is not played there, it is a favourite hangout for the residents of Shillong as well as a tourist spot. The sky looks amazingly blue standing at any point of Golf Club and the clouds that can be seen, are the most beautiful ones I have ever seen.

While my father attended his conference the next day, my mother and I went over to Ward Lake in the city itself. The lake is surrounded by very neat and well-maintained gardens. There was a very beautiful white flower called 'Forget-Me-Not' in the gardens. I also noticed a very nice purple flower which was common even on the streets. Shaluk flowers had grown in the lake itself. Altogether, it was a very pretty sight, specially from the wooden bridge which connects the two segments of the gardens. After about twenty minutes, we were forced to return to our car as it had started raining quite heavily. We found my father sitting in the car as his conference had got over. Then, we decided to go to the Elephant Falls but when we heard that it was situated on the Shillong-Cherrapunji road, we changed our destination to Cherrapunji instead. In about two hours, we reached Cherrapunji. This time again, the road was spellbinding. The higher we went up the hills, the more prominent did the clouds gathered at the cliffs become. It was pretty funny too as our car struggled to pass through the fog for fifteen minutes and sunlight flooded in through its windows in the next fifteen minutes. On the way to Cherrapunji or Sohra, we stopped at a 'View-point'. The sight from the point was lovely and it gave me goosebumps. The forest trees covering those hills were gently moving in the breeze but to me, it seemed as though many people were hiding in tose forests and whispering to each other. From the top of a hill in Cherrapunji, we witnessed the fog slowly clearing to give us a glimpse of the the Seven Sisters Falls. One can see seven small waterfalls at a time from the top of that hill. We also visited the Mawsmai Caves in Cherrapunji but did not risk entering them as we had neither torches nor the proper shoes(it was very slippery inside the caves) with us. On the way back, we also got a taste of the rainfall of the place with the second highest rainfall in the world.

We also saw the Elephant Falls on our way back. Somehow, I did not find it that beautiful and I found it very spooky! The next morning, we went to Shillong Peak from where the whole of Shillong can be viewed. We were quite lucky as we were able to do so. Sometimes, the fog refuses to clear for hours on end, disappointing many tourists by hiding Shillong from their glance.

As a city, Shillong is not a typical neat hilly one. It is not the sort of hilly place which everyone will imagine at first. The outskirts of Shillong, the tourist attractions and the roads to different places from Shillong make it a place worth visiting. We could not visit many other spots as time was limited. But, the trip was very enjoyable and an excellent gift. The surprise provided by the gift was a gift itself.

While coming back to Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport, Guwahati, we visited the Kamakshya Temple. To describe it in one word, it was untidy. It is a place ruled by the Pandas and it didn't seem as though we offered a puja at the temple. It seemed as though we were running some sort of a race. The way that Panda rushed us through the rituals was annoying and something close to torture.

Back home, I received my expected gift. The party was a huge success. My paternal aunts, uncles, cousins, maternal grandparents, two of my friends(Sritama and Mekhala) and some office colleagues of my mother had been invited. I wished my maternal uncle and aunt and my cousin Woodsmoke could be there too. The fun would have become two-fold then. On a sultry Sunday afternoon, our guests enjoyed rice, dal, stuffed parwal, Topshe Fish's fry, Bhetki Fish's paturi, chicken korma, mango chutney, papad, rasgulla and two-in-one ice-cream. I got loads of pens. Those pens will last till the last day of my ISC exam. Besides those, I got two glass bowls, two table lamps, two Titan Sonata watches, a cheque, some cash, two Ganesha idols, two flower vases, chocolates and five books. The books are 'The Iliad', '101 Short Stories by O.Henry', A collection of short stories by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, 'Galpoguchha' by Rabindranath Tagore and 'Gone With The Wind' by Margaret Mitchell.

Degrees of Ecstasy

2008-05-21T20:11:00.004+05:30

Tuesday
20th May,2008
2.55 pm.
I was sitting in front of my PC for one and a half hours. The internet connection was excellent. It did not show any sign of getting disconnected in spite of the fact that millions of students were trying to view their ICSE, ISC and Higher Secondary (State Board) results simultaneously. But, inexplicably and much to my frustration, I got the following message on the screen exactly at the time I mentioned at the beginning of the post: "Local Area Connection:A cable is unplugged." After that, I simply could not connect to the internet anymore. Five minutes past three, ten minutes past three, fifteen minutes past three....the time was flying! But, I was sitting helplessly as I continued to see "Error 678: Could not connect...." on the screen . The results were supposed to have been declared at 3.00 p.m.

Then, suddenly, my father called me and started telling me my marks! He said that my mother had been able to know the results through SMS and both of them had forwarded the marks to me. When I checked my cell phone, I found that I had received the messages but somehow, the message alerting tone had not worked. Both of them were on their way home!

Coming to the marks, I have got what I had wanted. My overall percentage is 94.4. This is according to the ICSE rules. There are seven subject groups. The English marks has to be taken into account along with the marks of a student's top four other subjects to calculate the overall percentage. I have got 90% in English, 96% in Bengali, 98% in Environmental Education, 94% in History-Geography, 94% in Maths (what a pleasant surprise!), 94% in Science and 90% in Computer. I have stood fourth in my school. The top three are Krishanu Ray (95.6%), Souvik Choudhury(95.4%) and Soorma Das(95%).

Yesterday was one of the most fantastic days of my life. My parents were so happy. My mother was extremely excited and a broad smile lingered on her lips all evening. And, I have never seen my father so happy before. Their smiles mean a lot to me. I'll just remember the expression on their faces and that is my greatest gift. My other relatives were so happy too. My maternal grandparents have a very disciplined lifestyle. But, yesterday, they forgot to take their evening tea on time after knowing about my results! My paternal aunts started informing all their neighbours about their only niece's results! These are not material gifts but they are invaluable. They clearly show that I have been able to live up to everyone's expectations. My teachers were very happy too!

I am extremely happy and satisfied. I have only one demand. I want to celebrate with everybody one day. A party will be organized in a few days. And, this is just the beginning. After this, I have miles to go. The next big exam will be the ISC exam. For that, I will work harder and much harder than I had done for my ICSE.

I thank my parents and all my teachers( both of school and of tuition) for helping and encouraging me so much. They have always been beside me. You all obviously don't know who Bonu is. Well, her real name is Radha and I have been calling her 'Bonu' since childhood. She has been a sort of a bodyguard to me and has looked after me all day in my parents' absence. Although I go to school and tuition classes all by myself now, Bonu used to accompany me till I was in Class 10. So, her contributions are not less and I thank her too. Last, but not the least, I thank all my fellow bloggers because they too have wished me luck before my exam and have been such good friends that I have had reason to enjoy myself in the midst of studying.

Name problems

2008-05-14T17:39:00.002+05:30

After reading my last post myself afterwards, I was convinced that it was my worst post ever. So, I request all of you that if you haven't read it already, please don't. Let me just talk about something different.

My name, as you all know, is Sinjini . But, the spelling of my name should have been Shinjini because that's the actual Bengali word. So, in Hindi, my name should be written using 'Shalgamwala sha' . But, my father had written 'Sinjini' in my birth certificate.

When I was in the sixth standard, I first became aware of the fact that most of my friends and also some teachers pronounce my name exactly like its spelling. I used to become very irritated that I was being called by a different name. It was always "Sinjini", "Sinjini" and "Sinjini", but never "Shinjini". Then, I told some of my friends, with whom I interacted the most, the actual pronounciation of my name. After requesting them repeatedly, they gradually started calling me "Shinjini". I don't really blame them for calling me 'Sinjini' because I can't blame them. It's not their fault if they correctly pronounce what is written.

I have often asked my father the reason for which he had written that spelling. Every time, his reply has been the same. He says that writing just 'S' and not 'Sh' implies that my name should be pronounced as 'Shinjini'. He says that trying to change the spelling in the birth certificate itself will give us enough trouble for a lifetime. According to him, another reason had also motivated him to write that spelling. He had intended to keep the spelling very simple so that I would not suffer throughout my life like him and my mother for a long and complicated spelling. "Would one additional letter have made my name so complicated?", is what I ask him in return. His reason is not entirely rubbish. I have seen different people writing his name in different ways. His name is Saumyabrata Sengupta( quite long!). I have seen rarely seen that correct spelling written anywhere. It's either 'Soumyabrata', 'Soumyobroto', 'Soumobrata', etc. If he writes the correct spelling somewhere and somebody else pronounces it, the pronounciation is deliberately wrong!

For my mother, it is still worse. Her name is Nabanipa. A very similar and a very common name is Nabanita. So, people always write Nabanita Sengupta! Even if her name is pronounced laying special emphasis on the 'p', nobody writes 'p'. The spelling of her name has been changed to 'Nabanipa' for her bank account after repeated efforts.

In future, I can't expect many people to call me 'Shinjini', specially if I move out of West Bengal. I also can't try to correct everybody. So, I will have to live with that spelling for the rest of my life. After all, it's my name, it's my indentity.

'Great Expectations'

2008-05-07T19:59:00.003+05:30

Ten to fifteen days later in this month of May, I'll be sitting in front of this very PC and viewing my ICSE results. For the past one year or so( yes, that's even before I actuaaly sat for the exam) , I have often pictured myself sitting in front of the PC, typing the URL of the website in the address bar, waiting for a minute or two while the page remains white with the cursor and dumble and suddenly shows me my result, my percentage....Then, I had pictured myself laughing and going to inform my parents that I have got above 90% and informing my tuition teachers the same thing. I had even thought that if I become the school topper, my name will be published in the Anandabazar Patrika( every year, the newspaper publishes the names of certain ICSE schools along with the ICSE and ISC school toppers' name and percentage and we had seen our school's name in that list) . I have expected too much and no matter how much I make myself understand that it is not good to expect much, I have failed to control my imaginations.

The main reason for which I desperately want to get above 90% is that I want to give something to my parents. The more I think about how much they have done for me and how much I have done for them, I feel that I just have not done enough. They love me much more than I love them. But, they do expect a lot from me. I have found it in their eyes and words.

I also want to get something that big because I want people to notice me. When I say people, I don't mean my parents or other family members, I mean my classmates and the entire school. I know why they don't may much attention to me (there are, of course, exceptions among them). It is because I don't flirt with the boys. It is because I don't indulge in the gossip about new and old student couples. It is because they have not been able to relate me to any boy. It is because I never cheat during the school exams, unlike most of them, and don't show them my answer script during the exams. It is because I am short and not so attractive. So, I just dream of getting above 90% in my ICSE exam with the hope that I'll probably be noticed by them after that.....

But, these are great expectations. They will never be fulfilled too easily. They are not giving me any happiness. Just making me feel more desperate and lonelier the more I think about them. I have to stop expecting greatlty. I just have to....

Nostalgia

2008-04-26T15:03:00.005+05:30

From left to right: My father, myself, my cousin Woodsmoke, my cousin
Riju Dada, my uncle, my aunt and my mother in Jaipur in October 2001 Woodsmoke and Riju Dada at Chhatri in Jaisalmer

From left to right: Riju Dada,Woodsmoke, My aunt, My father, myself and

My uncle inside Junagadh Fort in Bikaner

Bottom row(left to right): My mother, myself and Woodsmoke

Top row: Riju Dada. Picture was taken on the way to Rajasthan

Kajol, Humanities Aur Hum

2008-04-18T18:58:00.000+05:30

“Sometimes, the greatest journey between two people is the distance between them….”

The above is the tagline ( it might be a bit wrong , I don’t know the exact one) of the latest Bollywood movie, ‘U, Me Aur Hum’. But, after watching it, I could not find out any connection between the tagline and the actual story. Not any strong connection, at least. If I describe the movie in one word, I will say that it is boring. Plain and simple, boring! It is also unnecessarily long. In the first half, Ajay Devgan and Kajol spend one and a half hours singing, dancing and talking and thinking rubbish . How can a romantic relationship be possible between a well-to-do passenger on a cruise and a bar maid on the same cruise? According to me, it is one of the most absurd things on Planet Earth. Moreover, the music of the film is very poor. Ajay Devgan irritates you with his role and his direction. The story is not that bad, but it could have been presented much better than this if the length of the film would have been shorter. For watching this film, my parents had to spend 690 bucks (ouch) on the first day of the Bengali New Year! Yes, that’s 230 rupees for one person! We had expected the movie to be good. The only positive point of the movie is Kajol. Her performance stood out and if you ever watch ‘U, Me Aur Hum’, watch it to see Kajol and nothing or no one else.

My school has reopened. I am in the 11th standard now. Since I will not be shifting to a CBSE school, I have taken admission in my own school , which is an ICSE/ ISC one. Besides, I don’t know whether my ICSE result will be good or not. The CBSE schools in Kolkata ( very few of them) only take those students who get at least 85% in their board exam. In some schools, the minimum marks required is 90%. One can never say anything about his/her board exam results with confidence….Anyway, the main reason for which I preferred to remain in an ISC school is that I wanted to pursue Humanities . And, I have done it too. Now, I am very happy and am enjoying myself . English, Bengali, History , Geography….I like all these subjects. I have also started to like the two new subjects, i.e., Economics and Psychology.

Jane Eyre

2008-04-08T09:50:00.001+05:30

I just finished reading ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte. Written by Bronte in 1847 under the pseudonym, Currer Bell, ‘Jane Eyre’ is an account of the life of Jane Eyre, as is evident from the name of the book itself. I enjoyed reading it although it was a bit boring in parts. I must also add that it was tougher than Sherlock Holmes and far tougher than Harry Potter. But, the language was very clear and by the time I reached the middle of the novel, I was familiar with certain words that Bronte had used frequently and so, it became considerably easier.

Jane Eyre is an orphan. After the death of her maternal uncle, she is left under the care of her aunt, the arrogant Mrs. Reed. Right from the fourth page, the readers find Jane Eyre being looked down upon by her aunt and cousins. When she is sent to Lowood Institution after that, she feels that she is better off, but she still fails to find the warmth of a home at Lowood. Bronte has described the first ten years of Jane Eyre’s life excellently. Whether it is Jane’s trauma in the ‘red room’ at Gateshead Hall(her aunt’s place) or her confrontation with Mrs. Reed or her affectionate relationship with Helen Burns at Lowood, the author surely engages the readers. In fact, she has been at her best while describing the first ten years of Jane Eyre’s life. At the end of this period, she says, “But this is not to be a regular autobiography: I am only bound to invoke memory where I know her responses will possess some degree of interest; therefore I now pass a period of eight years almost in silence: a few lines only are necessary to keep up the links of connexion.” But, I would have gladly read a more detailed account because I feel that Bronte would have given us more of those wonderful descriptions which she has given in the first ten chapters of the book.

After that, Jane Eyre becomes Adele’s governess at Thornfield Hall and also falls in love with her employer, Mr. Edward Rochester. From this point onwards, the novel proceeds in a manner that finally unites Jane and Mr. Rochester with interesting twists and turns. The enigma of Thornfield Hall is the backbone of the novel. It makes the novel very thrilling at times. The worst part of the novel is St. John Rivers, Jane’s cousin, who according to me, talks too much and gives us difficult and long paragraphs to comprehend.

In the end, the credit goes to Charlotte Bronte for completely stepping into the shoes of Jane Eyre and then writing the novel. By ending the novel happily and adding a touch of mystery to the novel, she wipes the impressions of the boring parts off the readers’ minds. She has created a real heroine called Jane Eyre. We have been obliged to love and respect Jane Eyre because of her perseverance, unique attitude and a brave approach to the numerous challenges of her life.

2008-03-31T11:41:00.001+05:30

A bad phase

2008-03-28T21:17:00.003+05:30

YESSSSSSSS! The ICSE exam is finally OVER! What a month this has been! It was not all about the exam though. Both good and bad phases made up my March 2008. Actually, it was mostly good as I was satisfied after sitting for each exam. But, seven days were bad, very bad.

It all began on the night of 17th March. My father said that he was not feeling well. He had vomitted and had loose motion and was extremely tired. But, his face didn't suggest that it was something which would be cured after a good night's sleep. What scared us the most was that he showed certain symptons which he shown in August 2004 (when he had been admitted to a nursing home because of a mild cerebral attack). The situation didn't improve the next night either and my mother got angry with my father for not looking after himself, specially during my exam. I only kept quiet and tried to prepare for the Chemistry exam which would be held next day. But, my mother continued to be angry and my father continued to say that there was something wrong with his health, but he didn't know what was wrong. He just sat with a peculiar expression on his face. At the same time, they both kept on telling me that I had to give my exam very nicely. I know I should have been a bit more patient and should have cooperated with them for a bit longer. But, I couldn't control myself and burst out, "There's no peace here!" It's not that they got angry with me but my mother became more frantic.

Anyway, when I came back home on 19th March after sitting for my Chemistry exam and assured my parents that I had a spectacular exam, I was sure that the happiness in our house would prevail once more. Moreover, my father would visit the doctor that evening. Certainly, everything would be ok after that. At least, we would get to know what exactly had happened to my father. But, I was so wrong. At about 8.30 p.m., my mother called me saying that my father would have to be admitted to a nursing home. It was something more than just loose motion after all. She came back at half-past eleven that night and explained to me that the sodium and potassium levels in my father's blood had fallen much below the safe limit. He needed hospital care. But, such tough situations do arise in life. It was not the time for us to sit and cry but to stand up strongly. I felt weird. The first thing that bit me was that I had my Maths exam four days later. I simply hate and fear that subject. Would I be able to go to with my mother to the hospital to visit my father? Would I be able to cooperate with her ? How would I help her if I had to prepare well for my exam? Although she told me that by studying, I would help her the most, I was not happy. I hated the thought of staying at home with the books of that subject to keep me company while my mother did all the work alone. Besides, everyone else would visit my father, but I would not be able to visit him! I just couldn't tolerate that thought! My mother had seemed to read my mind. She suggested that if I had carried my books with me the next day, we could go and visit my father first and then to a relative's house nearby. I could study there all day and then we could visit my father again in the evening. I agreed at once.

The next three days passed according to our plans and expectations. I was considerabely more cheerful because I could study well( at our relative's house in the morning, at our house at night and in the bus during the one-hour fifteen minutes long journey from our house to the nursing home). My mother was cheerful too because she has always told me that as long as I am with her, she has no fear. My father was also happy because his health seemed to be improving.

Although we expected the doctor to release him on 23rd March, Sunday, the doctor, Goutam Sarkar, told us that he wanted the sodium level to increase just a bit more. My father was a bit upset and he had wanted to drop me at my school on Monday. Then, Dr. Sarkar asked me,"Will it be ok if your father doesn't go with you on Monday? Will your exam be good?" I smiled and said ,"Yes". Dr.Sarkar remarked,"That's settled then. Your responsibility is to give your exam well and my responsibility is to make your father fit by Monday evening." I was not disappointed. In fact, from that point onwards, I felt that I had to do well in Maths. Somehow, I had to. Doing well in Maths would not only be beneficial to my overall result but would also provide immense satisfaction to my parents. And, I was bale to provide them with that satisfaction when I myself on Monday that I had sat for my best ever Maths exam. It indeed had gone very well. From then onwards, there was no more grief. That evening, my father was released from the hospital, much better than before.

Everything is alright now. We are all happy. But, let's hope that such situations will never arise again. But, I think that's too much I am asking for. Bad phases will come and go. We have to stand up to them. If we never cry and if we are never worried, we can't expect such happiness to come our way either.

Questions

2008-02-26T13:59:00.002+05:30

With two and a half days left for my ICSE exam, I simply couldn't think of anything else to write. So, in my tiniest post ever, I welcome all of you to ask me three questions. Any 3 questions, whether random, private or personal. I'll have to answer your questions honestly here. In return, you have to post this thing on your blog and allow people to ask you questions (though I know that most of you have done it already). I myself should have done this long ago because I asked questions to Richa, Jayant and Amiya Didi.

You could also check out Muskaan, my pet monkey, in the side bar. I found her at bunnyhero labs where Jayant found his pig.

Six Random Details about myself

2008-02-11T14:08:00.001+05:30

Our very favourite Woodsmoke (in my case, even Jayant has tagged me)has tagged us all and we have to post at least six random details about ourselves on or blogs. So, I post the following six random details about myself:

1. I hate those boys who wear ear rings.

2.I also hate those children( specially boys) who get pampered by their parents. I particularly find boys being pampered by their mothers. Their mothers often think that they are very good and very innocent. But,in most cases , it is seen that the boys show their real faces in their mothers' absence.

3.I don't think that anyone in this world has eaten more apples than me.

4. Sometimes, I find one of ears growing hot and red and the other one staying equally cold at the same time. I don't know why this happens though.

5. When I go to school everyday, my mother comes down from our first floor flat and standing in front of the building, she waves goodbye to me . I always look back at her when I reach the end of the lane. But, most of the times, some people are there in the lane and we fail to see each other properly. That is something which really gets on my nerves.

6. I hate it when my parents' bosses (specially my mother's boss ) telephone them at home. Most of the times, I happen to pick up the telephone and I feel like putting the receiver down with a loud bang. But, I have to supress my desire because my parents don't approve such things.

A chicken-less life

2008-01-25T17:23:00.000+05:30

Yipee! My selection exam is almost over! Only the Bengali exam is left. But, that is on Monday and my preparation is quite good. So, I should be feeling very happy now. Well, I am feeling very happy and relieved. Yet, there is one terrible sadness....

This is just the right time for tasting some of that very delicious ckicken prepared by my mother. But, I can't! And, it's all because of this wretched disease called bird flu! Bird Flu has made my life chicken-less. I have not been able to taste ckicken for only one week now and I have started missing that clear brownish yellow chicken curry that my mother makes for me every Saturday. I have already started missing the soft leg-meat. I wonder when I'll next be able to taste that curry bit by bit and at the end of the meal, as I always do. And, the chilly chicken! The chilly chicken whose smell automatically takes me from my study-table to the kitchen.....oh, I'll miss it so much. Allowing me to taste that chicken has been one of the best gifts given to me by life.

I sometimes wonder what a horrible disease this is. It will not even let you eat eggs. My stomach aches when I think that I'll not be able to eat that hot, half-boiled egg with its pretty yellow yolk. Egg yolk has easily been one of the best things I have ever tasted. It's not as though we can't eat chicken at all . But, it must cooked upto 70 degrees celsius! By the time the temperature reaches 70 degrees celsius, the egg will almost turn to a brick and the taste of chicken might not remain as good as the cook wants it to be.And, who has that much patience anyway? Besides, there is no need to take a risk....

People might say that we could eat mutton in the absence of chicken. But, how can mutton ( with apologies to all mutton-lovers; this is a personal opinion) ever be the substitute for chicken? How can that hard goat meat ever replace the marvel named chicken? Fish is better than mutton. But, it can go nowhere near chicken. Only prawn is fit to compete with chicken. But, prawns are horribly expensive. One can't afford them every week like chicken.

People might also say that this is a temporary problem. Well, it is. But, I just can't help wondering why there is never any outbreak of goat flu ,or pig flu, or cow flu.Why does it always have to be bird flu? But, let's hope that it will not linger for more than a month. Let's hope that we can all get back to our chicken-full life once more very soon. And, let us also hope that bird flu will never again torture all chicken lovers. Let all the birds lead a very healthy life and let all chicken lovers never be deprived of such an important feature of their lives.

Books

2008-01-02T23:50:00.000+05:30

I have been tagged by Jayant now! So, here goes!

Total number of books I own:

70-75 (excluding School books)

Last book I bought:

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ by J.K.Rowling

Last book I was gifted:

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ by J.K.Rowling.(I don’t earn myself. So, if my parents buy a book for me, it will be a gift for me)

I am currently reading:

School Books of 11 subjects. No time to read story books.L

3 books I started reading but never completed:

‘Sherlock Holmes’-Volumes 1 and 2 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Kakababu series by Sunil Gangopadahaya

One book which I gave to somebody else, but never got back:

Thankfully, there is no such book.

Total number of E-books I own:

Zero

My most treasured books:

My Harry Potter collection without a doubt

My Tintin collection. Out of 22 Tintin books, I have got 18 books.

‘First, Second and Third forms at St.Clare’s’ and ‘Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Forms at Malory Towers' , both by Enid Blyton. They are special because they were gifted to me by my cousin, Woodsmoke.

Who am I going to tag?
Titash and Dhrubo.

The great Bengali detective

2007-12-25T13:08:00.000+05:30

“…..Shamasta jibantai geometry( the entire life is about geometry).”

In the 1970s, this line had been penned by the legendary Satyajit Ray. He had expressed this thought through the voice of Prodosh C. Mitter, one of his best created characters. Prodosh C. Mitter , alias Feluda, has remained the favourite private investigator of Bengalis for more than three decades. Just like everyone else, he is my favourite too. He might be called the Bengali Sherlock Holmes.

Feluda continues to rule our hearts even today. He was introduced to the world in the book , ‘Feludar goyendagiri’(Feluda’s investigations). After that, Satyajit Ray wrote 37 more Feluda adventures. Among them, the most famous ones are ‘Shonar Kella’( Golden Fort), ‘Joy Baba Felunath’, ‘Gangtok-e Gondogol’( Trouble in Gangtok), ‘Jata Kanda Kathmandu-te’( All happenings at Kathmandu), ‘Badshahi Aangti’( Badshahi Ring) and ‘Kailashe Kelenkari’(Mishaps at Kailash). In all these stories, Feluda’s intelligenge, bravery, skill of disguising himself and his general knowledge has impressed us and has made us love him and respect him from the bottom of our hearts. The way Feluda keeps his mind cool even in the worst situations deserves special mention. Along with his cousin Topshe and his friend Lalmohan Ganguly( popularly known as Jatayu), Feluda has traveled from Jaisalmer to Varanasi to Bombay. He even traveled to London once.

Feluda films are also a real treat. Satyajit Ray himself directed two Feluda movies (based on the stories ‘Shonar Kella’ and ‘Joy Baba Felunath’) which entertained and continues to entertain everyone from 9 to 90. In these two movies, Soumitra Chatterjee excellently portrayed the role of Feluda and Santosh Dutta ‘s Jatayu will remain unmatched as long as humanity exists. After that, Satyajit Ray’s son Sandip Ray directed a few Feluda telefilms on the small screen. Then, in 2003, Feluda once again came alive on the big screen with the movie ‘Bombaiyer Bombete’(Mumbai’s miscreants). Sabyasachi Chakraborty as Feluda was very impressive too. Parambrata Chatterjee played the role of Topshe and gave a quite satisfactory performance. But, Bibhu Bhattacharya as Jatayu was not that good. As I said before, nobody can make us laugh as Santosh Dutta did.

Now, in 2007, Feluda is back once more on the big screen with ‘Kailashe Kelenkari’. And, on the auspicious occasion of Christmas, I’ll be watching it with my parents . I’m really excited. The cast is the same as ‘Bombaiyer Bombete’.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Memories

2007-12-11T18:36:00.000+05:30

Here I go again! I will again be talking about my school life, but just couldn’t help it this time. Day after tomorrow, I’ll be spending the last normal working day at school with my present group of friends. After that, we’ll be returning to school to sit for the Selection exam in January and the ICSE exam in February. And, after the exams, all of us will never study together in the same school. Different people obviously have different targets. I have always said that my friends did not share all secrets with me. There were certain things, which they never felt like sharing with me. Sometimes, I felt really lonely. Yet, during the last 12 years that I have spent with them, many such moments have also come when I have enjoyed myself a lot with them. Those memories will remain some of the most cherished ones of my life. So, after 12 years, I am feeling very nostalgic.

Our class (i.e, the present Class 10 C) was always the best class of the entire school. It was the best-behaved class of the school even if it was academically average. The teachers used to praise us so much. By the time we were in Class 7, we had begun to set an example for the entire school. And, Class 7 was so much fun! Our classroom was on the terrace. So, we could play everyday. Besides, someone discovered this very exciting game called hand cricket. There was a stage in Class 7 when, in the absence of teachers in the class, everyone used to play this game. Big matches were held. Class 7 was academically quite easy. So, we had a great time. Also, we had the best Class Teacher, Mrs. Shaluk Banerjee. Shaluk Ma’am is the perfect teacher. She is such a teacher who is there in every student’s dreams. And, she is so beautiful! She has been taking our English classes since Class 6.

Class 8 was also quite fun. An exhibition was held just before the Christmas vacation and we had a great time preparing for it. But, things started deteriorating from Class 9. Our class was suddenly flooded with couples! So many boys and girls became fond of each other overnight and started proposing to each other. I suddenly began to notice certain students talking very seriously about something and stopping as soon as they realized that I was trying to participate too. At first, I used to feel very bad. But, once I understood what their topics of discussion were, I made no attempts to interrupt their animated discussions. I was least interested in numerous rumors which ere being created day by day. It’s not as though they would never talk to me. I still managed to remain on very good terms with Sritama and Mekhala. They still used to think that I was a very good friend.

The situation worsened further in Class 10. Our class completely lost its reputation of being the best class of the school. We had obviously lost a lot of reputation in Class 9, but in Class 10 it became horrible. But, my relationship with some other friends improved. Soorma, Sukanya, Gourav and Arittra became friendlier with me. Sritama and Mekhala were, of course, always there. But, the teachers have become fed up of Class 10 C. “This class is really horrible”, says our present Class Teacher, Mrs. Mita Das. The teachers will be really happy when Thursday ‘ s classes are over. They’ll finally be able to bid goodbye to Class 10 C. Some students will come back in Class 11, but this batch will never be there.

Yet, we are a bit sad. Yesterday, we had our last feast together. We have been having these feasts since Class 4. They’re awfully fun. At the end of 12 years, I feel I must mention the names of a few people who have made my school life really colorful. Its not that all of them have always done the good things, but by doing the bad things also, they have been a source of entertainment. They are (apart from my parents) Chandralekha Didi( my only home teacher till Class 8), Sritama, Mekhala, Soorma, Sukanya, Arittra, Gourav, Tathagata, Bejoy( for being good friends), Aloy( for making us laugh so much), Shaluk Ma’am, Mita Banerjee Ma’am (Chemistry tuition teacher), Debarati (her mother actually, for cooking tasty dishes for us) and Krishanu( for being such a tough competitor and increasing my desire to occupy the position of the topper of the class).

The Cloud

2007-11-25T22:50:00.000+05:30

“I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and streams,
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams….”

You must have guessed by now who that “I” is. And, your guess is correct. The “I” being referred to is the Cloud. The above two lines have been taken from the poem “The Cloud”, written by Percy Bysshe Shelly. It is like an autobiography of a cloud.

The poem starts off by talking about what the Cloud does for the flowers and leaves and sweet buds of the earth. In the second stanza, the Cloud talks about one of its experiences. The Cloud says that it was trapped on top of a tower like the princess of a fairy tale. Then, the lightning came to rescue it just like a prince. The Cloud then escaped with the prince. The Cloud went with the lightning in search of the lightning’s love. The poet has imagined a genii as the lightning’s love. The lightning doesn’t know where the genii is. But, it goes in search of its love “over the rills and the crags, and the hills, over the lakes and the plains…” So, Shelly has made a very beautiful comparison with a fairy tale here.

In the third stanza, we look at the sunrise and sunset through the eyes of the Cloud. “The sanguine Sunrise” is compared to a bird. The golden rays of the sun are like the outspread wings of a bird. The Cloud acts like a ship during sunrise and as the ship floats in the sky, the sun leaps onto its deck. During sunset, as the sky turns crimson, the Cloud rests peacefully in the sky. At this moment, the Cloud is like a dove resting peacefully in its nest.

We also see the beauty of the moon through the Cloud’s eyes. The moon has been picturized as a maiden who makes a rent in the roof of the Cloud. As this rent widens, the reflection of the stars fall on the rivers, lakes and seas . It seems as though these reflections are like “strips of sky” and the water bodies are paved with them.

In the next stanza, Shelly makes another extraordinary comparison. He says that the storm is like a war. In this war, the Cloud is the king and the rivals are hurricane, fire and snow. But, at the end of the storm or the war, the Cloud is victorious. Just as the captives are chained to the throne of the king after a war, hurricane, fire and snow are chained to the Cloud’s throne here. The victorious king also marches through an arch. Here, the “million-coloured bow” acts as the arch for the Cloud.

But, I think that the best part of the poem is the last stanza. The Cloud says that after a shower, the sky is absolutely clear. It is not present in the sky anymore. Therefore, for the mortals, it is dead. The sunbeams build up a blue dome in the sky. This blue dome marks the end of the Cloud and serves as its cenotaph. But, the Cloud has a different opinion.
“I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb,like a ghost from the tomb,
I arise, and unbuild it again.”
This is what it says. Obviously, the Cloud can never die. It can change its form and be in the liquid or in the condensed state, but it can never die. It will move on with its existence and that, I think, is the most touching part of this beautiful poem.

The power of candlelight

2007-11-09T00:25:00.000+05:30

“Mere jane ke baad awaaz uthana….” (“Please raise voices of protest after I leave…”).

The above line has become very important for the media now a days. It is actually an SMS, which had been sent by a very simple young man by the name of Rizwanur Rahman to a friend, hours before his death. Rizwanur, 30, expired on the morning of 21st September, 2007. But, his death was not normal. There were (and still are) deep mysteries behind his death. Those mysteries are like entangled ropes and the police have still not been able to clear up the mess. As the unending story about the Rahmans, the Todis, the Police Commissioner, Prasun Mukherjee and other officers like Gyanwant Singh, Ajoy Kumar, etc., etc., continues to haunt the police, Rizwanur’s SMS continues to move the people. Yes, the people. The common man.

Rizwanur Rahman, a common man, married his student, Priyanka Todi, a rich man’s daughter. So, Priyanka Todi left the comfort of her rich parents’ house and went to live with her husband in his small tiled house. And the result? Priyanaka’s father, Ashok Todi, started threatening a married couple with police help. Finally, he brought his daughter back to his own house and made sure that Rizwanur was swept out of the way.

In a very rare example of a criminal case, it’s not the CPI (M) or the Trinamool or some other party, which is raising the voice of protest. And, even if they have tried to protest, they have not exactly been successful. They have only called a bandh or two. But, those bandhs have adversely affected the daily life of the people. But, lighting candles in front of St. Xavier’s College or sitting in front of the College for hours, in protest, or signing Rizwanur’s photo with different comments, has not affected the people adversely even for a fraction of a second. It has been a silent vigil all through. All those people have not solved the numerous mysteries behind Rizwanur’s death. They have only prayed for justice. They have only tried to remember Rizwanur’s last words and fulfill his last desire . They have only tried to raise voices of protest. And, it is this act of the people, which has been successful and has been a source of solace for the Rahman family. The way the people have responded to Rizwan’s SMS, has given them the courage to continue their fight for justice.

Nobody knows how Rizwanur died. Nobody knows whether he was murdered or whether he murdered himself. The incredible amount of corruption in our administration will probably never allow these questions to be answered. Legally, perhaps, this will remain one of the many unsolved cases. But, the Rahmans will always feel happy realizing that they have got the support of the entire country. Rizwan’s request hasn’t been ignored. And, hopefully, Rizwan’s soul will rest in peace, thanks to the innumerable prayers. This incident will remain in the pages of history because of the response it elicited from the people in a democratic nation. It doesn’t really matter whether the CBI solves the case or the CID. They are all the same. We’ll only keep on reading new twists in the story everyday in the newspaper (and forget them very soon). But, the real action, the real protest, will rule our hearts and minds in the days to come.

Fun at school

2007-10-09T23:31:00.000+05:30

Two very funny incidents took place at school today.

Ayan, my classmate went to the school canteen and bought a chicken roll during the recess. He sat down alone on a bench and thought that he would enjoy the roll all by himself.But, he should have known that there was something totally different in store for him. A few others(Arka, Shubhronil and Souradeep) started teasing him and demanded that the roll be shared. Arka even tore off a portion of the roll without Ayan’s permission and ate it. All this while, everybody was having a laugh except for poor Ayan. At one stage, he became so angry that he threw the half-eaten roll out of the window. Seeing that, the others were simply delighted and they started irritating him even more. His Maths book was on the desk. They swung the book in front of his nose and told him to throw it away too. But, they didn’t know that he would take them so seriously. And, he actually threw the book out of the window! Then, he turned totally red in anger and tore up another copy! But, the smiles had not quite faded from the others faces. His behaviour was really funny (at least, that’s what we thought).But, Ayan was really lucky as his Maths book fell on the playground and was recovered.

After the Ayan Episode, came the Tube light Episode (also during recess). Some of the boys were playing with a paper ball. Suddenly, one of them failed to catch it properly and threw it backwards with the tips of his fingers. It went and hit one of the tube lights. And smash! What a noise that was! The tube light came smashing down onto the floor. It was broken into 2 halves and one of the broken halves was broken into a thousand tiny pieces. It was not just the tubelight though. The board on which it remains fixed broke too. Luckily, it didn’t fall on anyone’s head. They all escaped well on time. And, that is why we could laugh. How could a paper ball have broken a glass tube?

Going to Barrackpore:The two sides of it

2007-09-27T22:50:00.000+05:30

Recently, I had the very pleasant experience of traveling by a local train. We were going to my aunt’s house(father’s sister) in Barrack pore, a suburb near Kolkata. As the train entered the platform, all I could see was compartments full of people. No sooner had it stopped than there was a mad rush to occupy a compartment. I didn’t have to enter the compartment myself, I was simply pushed inside along with the crowd. But, miraculously, we got seats. I occupied the edge of one of the long seats. After crossing every station, it seemed to me as though the number of people were increasing. They just seemed to be preferring our compartment and everyone was just pushing my left hand and shoulder as they went by. So, I was really thankful when Barrackpore arrived. But, that was not the end. The return journey was still left and it was worse. This time, we didn’t even get to sit. My mother stood holding on to one seat handle and I stood putting my arms around her shoulders. And, when we reached Bidhannagar station once more, it seemed to me as though the entire population of West Bengal had landed up on the platform.

The daily passengers gradually get used to the hectic journeys by local trains. But, we are not daily passengers. My mother used to travel by local trains some twelve years back. My father has never traveled regularly . And, you can easily rule me out. Forget local trains, I have never had to travel regularly by crowded buses. I go to school and come back when the buses are least crowded. I think I am exaggerating a bit here. You might always ask me how I’ll manage to travel by a local train in future if it becomes compulsory. Well, I’ll have to manage when the time comes. But, the fact is that we are not used to it at present. We visit our aunt’s place hardly once a year.

But, going to Barrackpore also has a good side. The goodness obviously lies in the great food(specially fried rice) cooked by my aunt and her charming smile. That’s why going to Barrackpore also means fun. I must say that my aunt’s hospitality makes up for the dismal train journeys. While serving us during lunch(or dinner), she becomes very nervous trying to ensure that we feel most comfortable. But, the fun would have been much more had my aunt chosen to build her house in a place where we would not have to go by local trains.

Tagged!

2007-09-16T18:27:00.000+05:30

I have been tagged by Deepti Di(Chitrangada)! This is my first tag . So, I am pretty excited.

If I were a beginning, I would be: The first chapter of ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’
If I were a month, I would be: October( Durga Puja month )
If I were a day of the week, I would be: Saturday ( day when I can spend maximum time with my parents)
If I were a time of day, I would be: Any such time when I could read Harry Potter
If I were a planet, I would be: EarthIf I were a season, I would be: Monsoon
If I were a sea animal, I would be: Dolphin
If I were a direction, I would be: EastIf I were a piece of furniture, I would be:- Book Shelf
If I were a sin, I would be: Murder
If I were a liquid, I would be: Rainwater
If I were a fraud/scare, I would be: Someone else
If I were a gem, I would be: Diamond
If I were a tree, I would be: Banyan
If I were a tool, I would be: Spade
If I were a flower/plant, I would be: Lotus
If I were a kind of weather, I would be: Any weather minus humidity
If I were a musical instrument, I would be: Piano
If I were an animal, I would be: Dog
If I were an emotion, I would be: Happy
If I were a vegetable, I would be: Cauliflower
If I were a sound, I would be: Sound of trinkets
If I were an element, I would be: Gold
If I were a car, I would be: Scorpio
If I were a song, I would be: Kaisi Paheli Zindagani (from Parineeta)
If I were a food, I would be: Chilly Chicken
If I were a place, I would be: Kolkata
If I were a material, I would be: Silk
If I were a taste, I would be: Salty
If I were a scent, I would be: Scent of good food
If I were a religion, I would be: Harry Potterism
If I were a sentence, I would be: The teaching of Maths is the worst thing to have happened in human history
If I were a body part, I would be: Eyes
If I were a facial expression, I would be: Affection
If I were a subject in college, I would be: English
If I were a shape, I would be: Triangle
If I were a quantity, I would be: Centimetre
If I were a color, I would be: Green
If I were a thing, I would be: A copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’
If I were a landmass, I would be: Antarctica
If I were a book, I would be: Any book of Harry Potter
If I were a monument, I would be: Golden Fort, Jaisalmer
If I were an artist, I would be: Pablo Picasso
If I were a collection of poems, I would be: Any collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore
If I were a landscape, I would be: Sea beach
If I were a watch, I would be: Titan
If I were God, I would be: Infinitely powerful
If I were a vowel, I would be: I
If I were a consonant, I would be: S
If I were a formula, I would be: Sridhara Acharya’s formula of solving quadratic equations(The easiest one I have come across)
If I were a Science, I would be: Botany
If I were a theory, I would be: As simple as possible
If I were a famous person, I would be: J.K.Rowling
If I were electronic equipment, I would be: Television
If I were sport, I would be: Cricket
If I were a movie, I would be: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
If I were a cartoon, I would be: Scooby Doo
If I were an explorer, I would be: Christopher Columbus
If I were a scientist, I would be: Galileo Galilei
If I were a relation, I would be: Faithful Daughter
If I were a river, I would be: Ganga
If I were intoxication, I would be: Love for my parents
If I were alone, I would be: Lost
If I were a question, then I would be: Where are you?
If I were a hobby, I would be: Blogging
If I were a habit, I would be: Anything other than saying “Stupid” and “Shut Up” almost always
If I were in an atom, I would be: Neutron
If I were an end, I would be: The last part of ‘A study in scarlet’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
If I were you, I would be: A much better friend

Horlicks Fun Facts

2007-09-06T23:26:00.000+05:30

These are certain fun facts(sponsored by Horlicks) which were published in TTIS(The Telegraph In Schools) in the two most recent edition. Would like to share them here.

Popeye:
Did you know: That his lookalike nephews are called Peepeye,Pupeye, Pipeye and Popeye.

David Beckham:
Did you know: That he appears in the film Goal 2:Live the Dream, when the film’s lead character gets transferred to Real Madrid. That in the film Bend it like Beckham, the director used look-alikes of him.

Sachin Tendulkar:
Did you know: John Wright, who later became the coach of India, took the catch that prevented Sachin from becoming the youngest centurion in Test Cricket.

Tintin:
Did you know: That the first Tintin book, Tintin in the Land Of The Soviets appeared on January 10, 1929 and ran till May 30,1980. That Snowy’s original French name is Milou and he is a white wire fox terrier.

Roger Federer:
Did you know:
That Roger contemplated taking up football professionally before taking up tennis as a career. That he is the first living Swiss to be featured on a stamp in Switzerland.

Baichung Bhutia:
Did you know:
That Baichung actually means younger brother and that there is a stadium in Namchi which is named after him.

Hrithik Roshan:
Did you know:
That his debut was actually in the movie Aasha as an extra in a dance sequence at the age of six!

The return of the Great Dane

2007-08-24T22:46:00.000+05:30

“And, I would have got away with it, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids!”

This is one very famous dialogue from my most favorite cartoon of all times. The Great Dane with his sweet face, his amazing teenaged friends and all those ghosts, ghouls, sea monsters, etc. etc. …. Yes, I am talking about none other than SCOOBY DOO!

When I was about five years old, we got our new T.V. with a new cable connection. One evening, as my father sat browsing through the channels, he came across Cartoon Network. The cartoon that was being aired at that moment was Scooby Doo. I remember being absolutely thrilled by whatever I saw that day. I liked the cartoon so much that I made up my mind to watch it everyday. I did watch it too. I remember that in those days, it used to be aired at 8 p.m. My love for the dog seemed to increase with every episode. At present, Harry Potter is my passion, my obsession. There was a time when Scooby Doo used to be in Harry Potter’s place. Most people around me liked Tom and Jerry and Dexter’s Laboratory. They were really surprised to note that I liked Scooby Doo. They made fun of my choice and me. But, I hardly cared.

In the year 2000, Cartoon Network held an election. They wanted to know which cartoon their viewers fancied the most. The viewers would have to vote for their favorite cartoon saying why they liked it. The cartoon with maximum votes would become the ‘Toon of the Millennium.’ I didn’t waste any time. Immediately sent my vote for Scooby Doo by post. And, Scooby Doo won! He became the ‘Toon of the Millennium’.

But, around 2003, pressure from studies began to increase. So, it became very difficult to sit and watch T.V. at 8 p.m. Gradually , my eagerness to watch the episodes began to flicker. Then, it stopped altogether. With the intervention of Harry Potter in 2004, Scooby was totally wiped out from my mind.

Recently, I discovered an entire new series of Scooby Doo called ‘What’s New Scooby Doo?’ being aired on Cartoon Network. The timing , 2 p.m., is just perfect. I started watching it on Thursdays and Fridays (days I don’t have tuition after school). I liked it a lot. These new episodes are fantastic. Scooby Doo is back in my life. So are Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy. And, of course, all those ghosts who are not really ghosts. They are just a bunch of people trying to scare everyone off because of some reason or the other. The dialogue that I quoted at the beginning of this post is the dialogue that they give after Scooby and Co. catches them.

My love for Harry Potter might eclipse my love for Scooby Doo, but I still love Scooby and will always do. After all, he was my first passion.

Pottermania

2007-07-25T22:04:00.000+05:30

After days of anxiety and eagerness, I finally read “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” on 21st July. Reading the final installment of Harry Potter, turned out to be one of the most pleasant experiences of my life. On other days, my mother keeps on calling me in the morning to wake me up, but my body simply doesn’t want to move (that too at 7 o’ clock in the morning). But, on 21st July, my mother had to call me just once (at 7.30) and I got up immediately. The bookstore (Star mark) had been decorated specially for the occasion with posters of Harry Potter and his friends. Black balloons were hanging all over the store and the people selling the book had dressed up as witches and wizards. Plus, the background music, which is played in all Harry Potter movies, was being played inside the store too.

We came back home almost at noon (coz the bookstore is quite far from our house) and I started reading immediately. Then, I read on and on and on. I didn’t even get up for eating. So, my mother fed me both my lunch and dinner. I became a witch too. I went with Harry, Ron and Hermione to wherever they went. I really liked the parts where the trio wandered from one place to the other, trying to find out about the next horcux. But, this was the first time that I was fed up with those long descriptions given by Rowling. Well, the descriptions were not exactly long. They were of the usual size. Their quality was excellent too. But, I was desperate to finish off the book in one day. So, there were times when those descriptions seemed really long. Yet, I enjoyed myself thoroughly and was successful in finishing it off in one day.

HP7 is really good. It’s better than the fifth and sixth installments, but not as good as the first four ones either. In fact, I still think that the third part is the best. I don’t know whether all of you have already read the book or not. So, I won’t spoil the fun for you by writing everything about the story. But, everybody knows that Harry is alive. And that is the best part of the book. At least, Harry killed Voldemort and destroyed all the horcuxes. At least, both Ron and Hermione are alive too. Some people are dead though. The saddest death is that of Fred Weasley, Ron’s elder brother. There was a small portion in the book when Harry was confused about whether Voldemort wanted horcuxes or hallows. Hermione kept on telling him that hallows did not exist and Ron was confused about whom to support. So, for days, they seemed to be getting nowhere in their journey of vanquishing Voldemort.

But, by talking about Harry’s children, Rowling has left a lot of scope to write more about Harry Potter in future. Maybe, someday, we will read another book based on magic, named “Albus Severus Potter and the Return of Dark Magic”. We may even get to read another seven-book series. All in all, HP7 is very good. This was the first time that I bought and read a Potter book on the day of its release. So, before its release, there was a lot of excitement. While I was reading it, my own hands and feet were becoming really cold. My heartbeat rate was increasing. For the first time, I felt that Harry Potter is not just a story for me. Harry Potter and his friends are my friends too. They have made my world more beautiful.

Exactly a week before reading the book, I watched “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. The movie was very good too. I think that out of five movies, this is the third best movie, the first and second movies being better than this one. HP5, the book, was not as good as the other parts. But, the director, David Yates, has managed to pick out the good parts of the story from its numerous sub-plots. All the actors were very good too. Daniel Radcliffe is just getting better with every film. The only person whom I didn’t like is Michael Gambon, who plays Albus Dumbledore. He did not do well at all. Moreover, in the movie, spectacles for Dumbledore were not used. So, that aspect was a total letdown. How could they imagine Dumbledore without his spectacles?

This was my last post before my pre-selection exam, which starts on 6th August. It will end on 22nd August. So, I will see my blogger friends again on the 22nd. Till

About a Friend

2007-07-15T22:29:00.000+05:30

As my blog celebrates its first birthday today, I would like to write something about a very special person in my life. It was that person who introduced me to the blogging world exactly a year ago. That person is none other than my cousin, whom you all know as Woodsmoke. She is the sister in everyone’s dream.

But for me, she is not Woodsmoke. She is ‘Tanni Didi’. And, ‘Tanni Didi’ is what I have been calling her from the very moment I have known her. I met Tanni Didi for the first time at a Kolkata restaurant in around 1995. I must say that I was not at all pleased to see her because she had hugged my mother. That had made me feel very jealous. “How dare she hug my mother”, is what I had thought.

But, gradually, I realized that she was not such a bad person after all. I slowly began to like her. I don’t remember a detailed account of those days now. But, I know that I used to irritate her. At our grandparents’ house in Kolkata, I used to force her to play with me after lunch in the garden. Under that scorching afternoon sun, she would be forced to play the ‘ Find the cat’ game with me. Cats frequented (they still do) our grandparents’ house. So, Tanni Didi’s job would be to find out where the cats were hiding! But, she was such a darling. She would never refuse.

Tanni Didi had even slapped me once…..in a taxi because I had been continuously crying and she had been trying her best to make me stop. But, when I refused to listen to her polite requests, she just lost her temper.

Our relationship became stronger in 2001, when Tanni Didi came to Kolkata. We (along with our other family members) went to Digha and we simply had a blast. Those moments with Tanni Didi were just wonderful. In that period, she taught me loads of things—new English words, new games, and drew my attention towards the Enid Blyton books. We also discovered that both of us were huge fans of Shahrukh Khan. Later on, that is presently, we both are huge Harry Potter fans.Anyway,when she went back to Delhi, she started writing letters and emails to me. She taught me that when we get a letter from someone, we should reply to it. And, each of those letters had something special about it. She would make fun of my friend Debarati, calling her Debarati Subramanium. In one letter, she had actually drawn pictures of Debarati and her family members in a way that suggested they were South-Indians.She would say that Debarati was actually a “Jhinge-seller”(Jhinge is the Bengali word for a certain vegetable). Needless to say, our communication through email was equally exciting as well. She had once sent me an e-card showing the picture of a huge bear hugging a small one. In the same year, we all visited Rajasthan. In Rajasthan, I don’t remember having spent a single moment without her, except during nighttimes.

A time came when I began to be inspired by Tanni Didi’s success. She began to get such good jobs. Well, she was always so determined to do something really good. Although she says that I will make our family proud too, I feel I lack certain things like determination. I am determined, but not as determined as her. It’s difficult to be like her. She is presently in Idaho in the US and she is managing everything so well. It is obviously very difficult to live in a different country with different type of people, so far away from home. But, Tanni Didi is so brave. She is studying and earning money at the same time. And, she is not doing something ordinary. She is teaching the Americans!

But, till date, the most wonderful thing that she has taught me is blogging. It was she who suggested that I should open my own blog. It was because of her enthusiasm that I opened this blog and made so many friends. For the first six months, I would not receive any comments on my blog, except for Tanni Didi’s comments. So, again it was she who requested everyone to read my blog. Now a days, my family members praise me so much for writing these posts on my blog. My fellow bloggers praise me so much. I have found such good friends in them. But, would all this ever have been possible without Tanni Didi? No, obviously not. Who else would have taught me all this? I don’t share that sort of a rapport with my other cousins.

So, on the joint occasion of Tanni Didi’s birthday (19th July) and my blog’s birthday (15th July), I would like to thank Tanni Didi with all my heart. I want to thank her for being such a wonderful friend. I want to thank her for making my life more colorful. I also want to tell her “Please come to India as soon as possible. I am waiting to eat beef prepared by you.”

Rain Rain Rain

2007-07-05T23:35:00.000+05:30

Not long ago, our city had been craving for a drop of rainfall.

A month later, the scenario has changed completely. The city doesn’t want the rain anymore. They are more than satisfied. In fact, now they are worried.

Kolkata has received almost 300mm of rainfall in the past three days. So, the entire city is waterlogged now. In some areas like Amherst Street and Shukiya Street, a boat service has been started to help the people cross the road. Water has entered the ground floors of all houses.
On Tuesday morning, I woke up to find a very dark environment. It was raining heavily. But, we had to submit a project on Tuesday. So, I got ready for school. My father went to call a taxi. In the meantime, I rang up my friends and came to know that they wouldn’t be going to school that day. Then, my father came back, completely drenched, and informed that there was nothing on the street. So, I gave up the idea of going to school and sat down to study at home instead. But, my parents still started for their respective offices after the rain slowed down a bit. Later in the day, I came to know that the usual Physics tuition class would not be held either. As the day dragged on, the rain showed ominous signs. It continued on and on and on .A canal flows just by our apartment. So, our area became waterlogged too. By evening, water had entered the ground floor of our apartment (Thankfully, we live on the first floor).

Yesterday morning, it was not raining. So, I got ready for school again. Then, like any normal day, I started for school with my father. But, our school had not opened! Some students were standing in front of the closed school gate. Oh well, that was still okay. We were coming back home quite happily. But, when we reached the Airport Gate bus stop, we got a nasty shock. All vehicles had been stopped and hundreds of office-goers and students were standing helplessly. The President of Vietnam would be passing the road. So, the great Kolkata Police force had stopped the daily life of the people. On a normal day, people die because of accidents on that same road. Then, these people are not to be seen. It seems as if they arrive just to help the people to fall in trouble. So, after standing for a full 50 minutes, the vehicles were released. After dropping me home, my father started for office. Yesterday, the condition was worse. So, he reached office after a record two-and-a-half hour

So, today morning, I did not get ready for school at all. I knew the school would be closed today too. And, that’s exactly what has happened. So, with no school and no tuition classes for three full days, I have been able to study to my heart’s content. In the tenth standard, it becomes difficult to attend school everyday, especially when the exam is just a month away. So, without having to worry about the attendance at school or about studying for the exam, I got this very important time for studying. So, the rain has come as a blessing for me, at least. In fact, I’ll be happy if the school remains closed tomorrow too.
But, most Kolkatans want the rain to end. So, let’s hope that the torrential rain stops and we receive occasional spells of rainfall.

Tithonus

2007-06-21T23:28:00.000+05:30

“I ask’d thee, ‘Give me immortality.’
Then didst thou grant mine asking me with a smile,
Like wealthy men who care not how they give….”

The above is an extract from my most favourite poem till date.

‘Tithonus’, written by Lord Alfred Tennyson, is a dramatic monologue, which talks about the handsome Tithonus and the Goddess of dawn, Aurora. When Lord Alfred Tennyson’s friend died at a very tender age, he almost went mad with sorrow. But, afterwards, he realized that death is important. At a certain age, death is a boon. Under this inspiration, he wrote this beautiful poem.
Tithonus had fallen in love with Goddess Aurora. Goddess Aurora loved him too. But, Tithonus made a big mistake when he asked for immortality from the Goddess. For her, it was just another favour to be granted. So, she happily presented Tithonus with the bane called immortality. Tithonus’ joy knew no bounds. This joy, blended with pride, gets reflected in the second stanza of the poem, where he says,
“So glorious in his beauty and thy choice,
Who madest him thy chosen, that he seem’d
To his great heart none other than a God!”
But, poor Tithonus! Goddess Aurora had granted him immortality, but not immortal youth. Of course, gods and goddesses never age. Although Ma Durga comes to Kolkata every year, we never find her hair graying. Similarly, Aurora was forever young. On the other hand, Tithonus was growing old every day. He was tired. All he wanted now was death. He only wanted to die like a normal human being. So, in the last stanza, he says, “Of happy men that have the power to die.” But then, he also assures Aurora that she would be able to see him even after he became mortal again. At least, she would be able to see his grave every day, when she would rise in the East.

So, we see that Tithonus loved Aurora. But, afterwards, he realized that he loved the life of a normal human being more. The poet does not tell us the ultimate destiny of Tithonus. Whether he became mortal again or not, is still a mystery. But, with such a rich concept and such a wonderful execution of the same concept, Lord Alfred Tennyson weaves magic. The central theme of the poem is the natural cycle of birth and death that goes on in this world. Many poets must have dealt with this. But, this topic becomes interesting when Lord Alfred Tennyson blends it with the topic of love. So, in this aspect, ‘Tithonus’ stands out. Hats off to Lord Alfred Tennyson for this!

"Barso re Megha"

2007-06-14T23:08:00.000+05:30

BDOM, BDOM, BDOM……….

That was the sound by which I was awaken yesterday morning. And, what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be!! It was raining! The sound was that of thunder. So, along with millions of other Kolkatans, I was convinced that the Monsoon had arrived. FINALLY!!!

We had actually received the first rains of the season on 8th June. But, that had not been enough to keep away the heat. And, the heat this time was aweful. Simply aweful. Very hot, with the sun dropping fireballs and very very very humid. So, naturaaly, the one-hour rainfall on the morning of 8th June had been highly dissatisfying.

But, yesterday’s rain (106 mm), accompanied by thunder and lightning(thunder and lightning like I have never heard or seen before) has made it very clear that the monsoons have arrived in Kolkata. I must say that the timing is perfect because my school reopens this Monday and I won’t have to face the heat, at least. But, it was sad that seven people died in one morning.
Nevertheless, everyone is relieved.

Cheeni Kum....and Himesh Reshamiya

2007-06-03T17:19:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, I saw “ Cheeni Kum” with my parents.Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu , Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal and a child artiste, “Cheeni Kum” is a romantic comedy. It teels the story of Buddhadev Gupta( Amitabh Bachchan), a 64-year old chef, who falls in love with Neena Verma(Tabu), a 34-year old citizen from Delhi.

The first half of the movie is good, but the second half is bad. In the second half, the film becomes very boring. There are good performances from all the actors and actresses. I specially liked Zohra Sehgal. She is so amazing even at 94. As a whole, I didn’t like the movie much. But, it’s worth watching.

I wonder how many of you watch the talent hunt competitions on TV. There are so many now-a-days. I watch “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa—Challenge 2007” and the Bengali version of “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa”. I enjoy these two programmes a lot because these are the only shows which I catch on TV now-a-days. The only con is Himesh Reshamiya. He is one of the Gurus of SRGMP---Challenge 2007(all-India version). And, he loves to quarrel with the other judges and Gurus over every third contestant. He makes the whole atmosphere so irritating. It doesn’t seem as if he has some to the show to encourage youngsters. His only objective is quarreling. When one contestant’s performance was not liked, he said, “Tujhe India mein kaam milega.Main tujhe kaam dunga.” Now, is there anything related to “kaam” here? It is a singing competition. Everything is not over for the contestants if they lose here. And, just imagine the luck of that person who’ll be working under Himesh.

A lesson learnt

2007-05-19T22:05:00.000+05:30

I f you ever get an opportunity to attend a program on an Environmental Awareness issue, try your best NOT TO UTILIZE THE OPPORTUNITY. Instead, sit at home and enjoy the programmes on TV…. Or just sleep…..Give any excuse for not going…..

Why am I saying all this?? Because last week, we were informed by one of our school teachers that there would be a program to celebrate World Environment Day 2007 (which is on 5th June) in advance. The students who had got the highest marks in Environmental Education from each class would be given an award. We would be taken to Khardah Rabindra Bhavan (abt 20 kms from Kolkata) and would return to our school by 4 o’ clock in the evening. The date was 19th May, 2007, Saturday ( today). So, this morning, my mother dropped me to school. But, only 14 students went to Khardah. I was a bit surprised. Why didn’t the other students want to go and receive their award? But, they did just the right thing by not going. When the awards were being given, we learnt that we would not be getting individual awards. Our school would be getting an award for “Outstanding Achievement to Environment and Nature”. And, the teacher who had informed us abt this program, would be getting an award herself.

So, what did we do there? We listened to the speeches of 6-7 guests ( each speech lasting for a minimum of 20 minutes). Obviously, they talked about the ways to save our environment, not to use plastic, not to fix signboards on trees, …….. They even showed their MS-PowerPoint presentations. But, all that didn’t interest us. They were so BORING!! So boring, that one of our students said that he would try not to get the highest marks in Environmental Education again!

We learnt a very good lesson today. I would request you all to listen to this little advice of mine. Please don’t attend these type of functions in future, whether you are supposed to receive an award or not. You’ll obviously get your award somehow. The organizers will send it to you. If you are interested in saving Mother Earth, do all you can. But, don’t attend these programs, NEVER…..

"The most disappointing day of my life"

2007-05-10T16:48:00.000+05:30

Three days back, we had been asked to write an essay at our English tuition class. The topic was “ The most disappointing day of my life.” Initially, the essay may seem really easy to write. But, once you write down the title, and make a move to write down the first word, the most difficult part of the essay pinches you hard. Which was the most disappointing day of your life?? Again, you may think that there have been many disappointing days in your life. So, that’s not a very difficult question. But, it is. It becomes really difficult to choose one day as the most disappointing one of your life.

The result was that 15 students started pondering hard, trying to figure out the day when they had been really hurt. When our teacher asked us the reason for which we were sitting , one boy named Ankit said that there is no disappointing day in his life!! Our teacher said, “ No disappointing day! Such a lucky guy, are you?” This was told very lightly, but what she said next confused us even more. After five minutes or so, we would have to read out the part of our essay which we had written. So, everyone at least started writing something( No matter what it was). Finally, I decided to merge a few incidents together to make up the most disappointing day of my life. I merged very minor incidents together . But, the focus was on one significant incident. My father had applied for a transfer to Kolkata after being posted at Guntur for two years. But, his plea had been rejected. So, he had to live in Guntur for another year.

Now, let me ask you the same question: Which was the most disappointing day of your life? Do let me know this. Also let me know whether you founf this question difficult or not.

The Virginia massacre

2007-04-21T15:25:00.000+05:30

“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today. But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off…”
“When the time came, I did it. I had to….”

The above lines are excerpts from the video package that Cho Seung-Hui sent to NBC News. Yes, Cho Seung-Hui, the 23-year old South Korean ,who triggered the firing at Virginia Tech last Monday. No one knows why he did this. He has made the whole affair even more enigmatic by killing himself and by expressing his feelings through such words as mentioned above. All of you must have seen his pictures in the newspapers. He looks so cruel. Wonder knows what he wanted to achieve by killing 32 honest people. And, what did he achieve anyway? He killed himself after that. News reports say that Cho was becoming increasingly violent. He had been taking medication for depression. Police are facing difficulties in finding out his motive because he was a loner. His classmates said that on the first day of a literature class last year, students went around and introduced themselves. But, when Cho’s turn came, he did not speak. The professor looked at the sign-in sheet and saw that Cho had written a question mark, where everyone else had written their names. The professor had asked him, “ Is your name ‘Question Mark’?”

Some people might say that he killed these people because they were not friendly with him. He must have been frustrated with his loneliness. Maybe, he took revenge by killing all those who had deserted him. But, my point is: Others didn’t desert him. He himself did that. Why did he not introduce himself in class that day? Why didn’t he write down his name? And, was he so lonely that he actually had to kill so many people? Cho Seung-Hui has not only triggered the deadliest campus shooting in US history, but has also revealed a very mysterious human nature. After some days, people will forget him. But, those who lost their family members will remember him forever. They will remember him as the one who killed their kin. Everyone had disliked him when he was alive. After dying, more number of people will dislike him. But, it won’t matter to him. He has cleverly escaped all these miseries by committing suicide.

Among the 32 dead people, two were Indians. Minal Panchal, the “sensitive” and “promising architect” and Professor G.V. Loganathan. I am feeling sorry for both of them…. especially for Minal. Her family must have pinned a lot of hope on her. They must have been really proud when she went to the US. Probably, they were waiting for that day when Minal would come back from the US after doing something big. But, their dreams never turned into reality because of a madman.

I just hope that the authorities do something to make the US university campuses safer. After all, students world over go there to study. My own cousin (Woodsmoke) studies at one of the universities and after this incident, we are all worried for her. May she be safe.

Back to a Cafe

2007-04-14T19:22:00.000+05:30

After 4 years, I'm back to a cafe again.

Yes, 4 years. I know I am surfing the net from a cafe only for today. In a week's time, the net connection problems at home will, hopefully, be over. But, this evening has brought back certain memories .

I first discovered the fascinating world of the Net in 2001. I had then just opened my new email account in rediffmail. We did not have a PC at home. So, I used to go to a cyber cafe (called A to Z Cafe) every Sunday afternoon. My father would accompany me. I used to send emails to Woodsmoke and my uncle( Woodsmoke's father). They were living in Delhi at that time. So, those were really special moments. I used to share all the happenings of my daily life with them.
After sometime, my father opened an email account for himself too. Every Sunday, I would restrict my father's afternoon nap to half-an-hour instead of one. And, I would force him to take me to the cafe. In 2001, we went to Rajasthan with Woodsmoke, my uncle, my aunt and Riju Dada (Woodsmoke's parents and her brother)and in 2002, we went to Woodsmoke's house in Delhi. So, the way we counted the number of days left for us to meet in person ,via email, made me think that they were very close to me. It never seemed that they were many miles away. It also strengthened our relationship a lot.

When we bought a PC in 2003, those trips to the cyber cafe obviously stopped. But, after coming back to a cyber cafe obce again today, I feel that those trips to the cafe had played a very important part in my life. I can never forget those Sunday afternoons.

Misc.

2007-04-01T15:53:00.000+05:30

The results of my annual exam were declared last Monday. This time, I stood second. I was very happy after getting my report card. But, when I realized that I was 42 marks behind Krishanu( the one who stood first), I felt very bad. I saw that I had got less marks in Physics and Maths( 75 each). Well, It's not that I had expected to get more in Maths. But, the Physics marks came as a shock. I just don't understand why I scored so less. I had expected to get marks in the 80s. My marks in another subject shocked me even more. I have scored 77 in Bengali and the highest in Bengali in our class is 87. So, for my marks in these subjects, I could not get to the top this time. But, that did not hurt me because I have stood second many times before this. It was the difference of marks which made me think that I had not done well. So, after coming back home, I began to cry. My parents had started for their respective offices after dropping me home. They were perfectly happy and satisfied with my performance. But, I was not. After sometime, my mother called me and on hearing her voice, I basically started howling on the phone. Although she tried to assure me that she was happy, I felt that I had not lived up to everyone's expectations. Anyway, as the morning went by, my relatives started calling me. My mother had informed them about my result and my unhappiness on getting it. But, they told me that were really happy with my performance. All of them told me that, in future, whenever I'll be called for a job interview, I won't be asked about my performance in the annual exam of class 9. I will be asked about my ICSE and ISC results. Actually, the ISC result will be more important. So, there was nothing to worry. In fact, I had done well. From the tone of their voices, it seemed to me that they were indeed happy. As I was going to my English tuition that afternoon, I realized that this is not the end. I realized that next year's exam is far more important. I have a big opportunity lying ahead. And, most importantly, my parents were happy. At least, the smile was still there on their faces. I really had been very foolish while crying. Then, I also thought that I have done well in the other subjects. I've got 90 each in Geography and Biology, 80 each in Computer and English Grammar. And, I've got the highest marks in 3 subjects ( 91 in Environmental Education, 85 in English Literature and 95 in History). So, all these finally made me happy. And, from tomorrow, it will be a fresh beginning. I'll studying very hard from tomorrow for my ICSE.
I have also decided something else. I had always wanted to be a doctor. I knew that I would have to take up Science in class 11 for that because I would have to study Biology nicely. But, if I take up Science, I'll also have to study Maths. Physics and Chemistry are ok. But Maths!! It is horrible, horrible and still more horrible. I'll never be able to do well in ISC if I study Maths. I just hate that subject. On the other hand, I like all the Arts subjects likeHistory, Geography and English. So, that's what I'll be taking up in class 11......Arts.
Yesterday, I watched "The Namesake" with my mother. It is a very good film. It is a must-watch for all of you. Kal Penn and Tabu were wonderful, especially Kal Penn. He looks very good as Gogol Ganguly. Irrfan Khan was also very good.
Oh, and did all of u know this? The World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka is going to be held again. This decision has been taken collectively by the ICC. In protest, Bangladesh have resinged from the ICC.This news was published in today's edition of the Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika. And, guess what!! Sourav Ganguly is going to be the captain for this match. Well, well, well.....Best of Luck to Team India!

The Big Question

2007-03-25T16:01:00.001+05:30

The first half of this year has lots in store for Harry Potter fans.

What will happen on 21st July,2007???

It is a big day for millions of Harry Potter fans across the globe. On 21st July, they will get to know the fate of their fictitous magical hero. Will Harry be killed by his creator, J.K.Rowling? Will she ultimately kill her protagonist after saving his life so dramatically in the previous six books? If you have read Harry Potter, you'll certainly know how breathtaking the last few chapters of each book were. Rowling had arranged the plot so beautifully in the last few chapters. She has done this six times. So, why can't she just do it once more? I do hope that Harry points his wand at Lord Voldemort and chants "Avada Kedavra". Just hope it's not the opposite. If Lord Voldemort kills Harry, we will witness the victory of the villain, the victory of the evil. We will not witness the victory of good over evil. But, then, that is the tradition. In all stories, we always find the good fellows winning. It need not necessarily be like that every time. Yet, it will be better if Rowling follows this tradition. She has millions of admirers. But, I guess her protagonist is a lot more popular than her. If she wants to get the same amount of love and admiration, she must not allow the victory of evil over good. Besides, we all know that when Sherlock Holmes was killed in "The final problem", fans all over the world had not accepted it. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had to make Holmes resurface in "The adventure of the empty house". Probably Rowling doesn't want anyone else to use the lovable character of Harry Potter to write their stories. She probably doesn't want anyone else to use the concept of Harry Potter stories, which are totally the result of her great imagination.

In any case, we, the Harry Potter fans, do not want Voldemort to live. We want Harry to kill him. I am sure Rowling knows that. And if she knows that, she must fulfill her fans' expectations. She already must or mustn't have fulfilled their expectations because she has already written the whole book. We are all eagerly awaiting the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" , when we will have the big answer to the big question: Will Harry live or will he die?

Before 21st July arrives, we will see more Pottermania. On 13th May,2007, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"(the movie) will be released worldwide. Most people say that the fifth part was not so good. But I think it was quite good. Let's see whether the movie is as good as the book or better than it or worse.

Enid Blyton rocks

2007-03-16T18:36:00.000+05:30

A few minutes back, I finished reading a story from "The Mystery Series" by Enid Blyton. This is "The Mystery of the Vanished Prince." It is a very exciting one. Well, the stories from "The Mystery Series" are always exciting.
This story deals with the disappearance of a certain prince called Prince Bongawah. As usual, the Five Find-Outers ( Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip and Bets) come to Peterswood, their hometown, for their summer holidays. Buster,the dog is also there. Even the "Famous Five" and "Secret Seven" stories feature dogs . In the "Famous Five" series, Timmy, the dog, is actually one of the five. So, all three of Enid Blyton's mystery series feature dogs. That's one speciality of these series. Anyway, let me get back to the story. The police constable, Mr. Goon's nephews Ern, Sid and Perce also come to Peterswood. But, they stay just outside the camp that has been arranged for certain schoolboys. Prince Bongawah is one of them.
The story begins really well. It's very funny, with Fatty and his friends fooling Ern, Sid and Perce by disguising themselves as foreigners. Actually, Fatty doesn't put on a disguise. He tells Ern, Sid and Perce that he has made friends with the foreigners. He introduces Bets to them as the Princess Bongawee, the sister of Prince Bongawah. The rest are introduced as cousins of the Prince. But, this trick becomes the cause of a few misunderstandings.As a result, when Prince Bongawah disappears from the camp, the police are misguided initially. Then, Fatty and his friends own up to their trick and Fatty promises the Chief Inspector that they will try to find the Prince. But,alas! The mystery seems to have neither head nor tail. The Prince seems to have disappeared from the camp without anyone noticing anything or hearing anything. The Five Find-Outers are puzzled. The only clue seems to be a very beautiful blue and gold button. The Five suspect that it may have come off the Prince's pyjamas. The second clue comes when Sid says he had noticed a third boy in the double pram belonging to twins named Marge and Bert. What follows is a peculiar string of incidents and ultimately, the Five manage to rescue the Prince! I won't talk about the incidents in between because if I do so, I will pour out the most interesting and main parts of the plot. It's such an excellent piece of writing. It is really amazing that Enid Blyton has written 51 mysteries ( 15 each of "The Mystery Series" and "Secret Seven" and 21 of "The Famous Five") and each of these 51 mysteries have got different plots. And, they really are different. One will never find two plots of the same type. It's not that I have read all 51 mysteries, but I am absolutely certain that 51 different plots have come from Enid Blyton's head and all of them are equally good.
I also read "Fifth Formers of St. Clares", again by Enid Blyton. This is the sixth and last book of the St.Clares series. I have read all the previous books of the series, except for "Second Former's of St. Clares". The last book is equally good as its predecessors. The O'Sullivan twins (Pat and Isabel), Bobby, Janet, Claudine, Carlotta,Mirabel, Gladys, Alison, Angela, Pam, Doris and Hilary go up to the fifth form. They are joined by a new student, Anne-Marie who thinks she is a poet. Alma Pudden comes down from the sixth form and Felicity, a real genius in music comes up from the Fourth form. Together with some of the first and second formers ( Jane Teal, Violet Hill, Sally and Antoinette) , Mam' Zelle and Miss Willcox, the fifth formers entertain the readers inspite of exam pressure.
Even the St.Clares series is very good. Oh boy, Enid Blyton was really a good author. How did she manage to write such beautiful stories? Anyway, if I don't stop this discussion here, I'll go on admiring Enid Blyton forever.

2007-03-10T14:46:00.000+05:30

Phew! The exam is finally over. It was going on and on and on....specially the last week....subjects like Environmental Education and Value Education( stories from the Bible) were just irritating! I was also fearing that I might have pox anytime. Actually, one of our friends,Anindita, had come to attend a tuiton class even after getting pox. Thanks to her irresponsible act, I could have had pox too and would not be able to sit for the exam then. I was even more worried because in the last week, Amrita(another friend) got the pox. And, she had sat beside Anindita that day! So, it was obvious that Anindita had spread the germs. Anyway, I don't want to think about this anymore. Like every year, this year too my birthday came during my exams. This year, I shared my birthday with Holi(March 3). Holi/Dol Jatra is always celebrated a day in advance in Kolkata. But I had my Maths exam on March 5. So, I celebrated my birthday by studying the worst branch(Geometry) of my least favourite subject. The best parts of the day were the lunch-time and the dinner-time, since the food had been prepared by my mother and maternal grandmother.
This year though, the vacation after the annual exam is not going to be that good. The next session will be a very important one because we'll be in the tenth standard.After all, we'll be preparing for the ICSE exam, the first big exam of our lives. So, my tuition classes will be starting from the week after next. Anyway, the pressure will be less as long as the school doesn't reopen. There'll be enough time to relax and have fun. There will be lots of things to look forward to. The Cricket World Cup begins on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see what the unpredictable Indians do this time. I think South Africa have got a good chance of winning the tournament. England will try hard too. But probably they won't be successful.What do u think? Which team will win the World Cup? Also let me know who your favourite player in the Indian cricket team is and why. My favourite is Rahul Dravid for the beauty of his batsmanship. What I like the most about him is that he always plays for the team. Yesterday, I saw in the newspaper that some politicians have described cricket as a game for rich people who drink beer in the afternoon. I hope you all don't agree with this. It's absolute rubbish. India is a cricket-crazy nation. Every Indian, whether rich or poor is mad about cricket. It is ineed true that the other sports are being neglected because of cricket, but all these politicians are in charge of one sport or the other, as was reported in the newspaper. And, these are sports like shooting, rowing,athletics, football,etc.

The exam is knocking on the door

2007-02-15T13:37:00.000+05:30

What a day was yesterday! Not just today's incidents, the incidents of the last few days have made me extremely tired. I am so much frustrated that I'm even feeling tired to think that I'll have to type this post now. When I say "incidents", I don't mean incidents belonging to different categories. All of them were related to my studies, specially the projects.
My Annual Exam commences next Thursday ( 22nd Feb). And, there's lots to revise. But, we get the time to revise only when we can miss school at least twice a week. However, such possibilities seemed to be very less because the teachers still hadn't taken our project files. On Sunday, what I did throughout the day was stick the pictures in my Environmental Education project file, complete my Maths project and complete making the covers of both project files. To make things worse, an extra evening tuition class was also there.
After submitting three projects on Monday and attending my routine English tuition in the afternoon, I came back home under a lot of mental pressure. I knew I'd have to prepare three big chapters for the test that was to be taken on Tuesday at my Physics tuition. I knew that it didn't matter if I performed badly in the test. But I also knew that preparing the chapters properly would mean preparing them for the Annual Exam. I also wanted to study Chemistry because on Wednesday, I'd have to give a test on the full syllabus! But forget reading Chemistry, I couldn't read Physics properly. I just wasn't able to concentrate! I wasn't able to study! Something had surely gone wrong. And then, I did something which I had never done before. I burst into tears, for not being able to study properly. My parents were alarmed. So, my father read the chapters to me and I just listened.But, it worked wonders because after listening carefully, I could remember almost everything.
Next day, we submitted our Geography projects in the first period at school. All through the rest of the day, many of my friends came up to me to enquire about the Physics project which would have to be submitted on Wednesday. Somehow or the other, no one knew exactly what to do. Anyway, it did not hurt to help them. And, guess what? I got the highest marks in the Physics test in the afternoon! Though the marks itself was not very good, I got more than my friends. The evening that followed ate my and my father's head. I hadn't completed the Physics project myself. But, I had never expected that it would take one whole evening to complete an apparently simple diagram and an equally simple graph. Oh, how wrong I was! The graph just would not produce a straight line passing through the origin. Unable to do it all by myself, I called my father, and we were simply disgusted! After a lot of approximation, we got what we wanted. But it was such a tedious job.
On Wednesday, I helped some of friends complete their Physics projects( specially the graph). Yesterday, there were more free periods and everyone did their Physics projects all through the day. This was one project which was truly eating everyone's head. We felt a bit relieved when our teacher told us that she would check the projects very leniently. By the end of the last period, everyone had submitted their projects. Later in the afternoon, we requested our Chemistry Madam not to take the test. Instead, we solved the questions which she had prepared by copying the answers from the book. We also cleared our doubts as yesterday's class was the last one before the exam. I was very satisfied, but what I heard in the evening again made me frustrated. My paternal grandmother had suffered from a stroke in the morning and was in hospital. My parents had gone there. After hearing the news, I was not very shocked because my grandmother is 83. She is bound to suffer sometimes. But, I felt very bad for my parents. They will again have to work very hard. They'll have to visit my grandmother in the hospital and do most other things concerned with making her better. Although two of my aunts and my good-for-nothing uncle and his wife are there, they won't try to help much. When it comes to work and money, they'll again have to take the help of my parents. My parents are always willing to help, but it makes them unhappy to think that these people remember them only when necessary.
This is probably my last post before the exam. I'll again be blogging on 9th March, when my exam gets over.

Untitled

2007-02-01T17:32:00.000+05:30

Dear Readers,

Ever since all of you started reading my blog, a question started to come to my mind frequently. I am a lot younger than all of u. Then, while replying to your comments, how do I address you? It looks very rude to address you by your names, because I am younger than you all. Some of your comments come signed along with your surnames( like Rohit Talwar or Richa Bhardwaj). But I also feel it rude to address you by your full names. And naturally, it is more difficult to address you when your comments come signed with your names only (like Subhadip, Kanu, Amiya). I feel very uneasy while addressing you by your names. When your comments do not come signed with your actual names (like Woodsmoke, Chitrangada, Deeps), it is easier to address you, yet I am confused! Whether I should or should not add "Bhaiyya" or "Didi" to your names......... I simply don't know what to do.

So, I request you all to tell me this: How do I address you?
I'll be comfortable with any name that you suggest.

Yours faithfully,
Sinjini Sengupta

My mother and Ma Saraswati

2007-01-23T16:27:00.000+05:30

It's that time of the year again when a small vacation comes our way, thanks to Netaji's birthday,Republic Day, Saraswati Puja, etc.It usually means a lot of fun. The annual exam starts knocking on the door during this period. Before this mini holiday begins every year, I promise myself that I'll make the most of these few days and study as much as I can. But somehow or the other, I don't quite feel like studying when my parents are at home...... feel like going out with them.....somewhere, anywhere. Again this year , this mini vacation is giving me extra time to study. And yet again,the situation is the same. I didn't quite feel like solving the Geometrical problems which I had planned to solve this afternoon. So,here I am, sitting and typing another post for my blog on the joint occasion of Netaji's birthday and Saraswati Puja.
Day before yesterday, we celebrated my mother's birthday. Unfortunately, she had to attend office, although the day was Sunday. The work that she had was extremely important. So, we thought it best to let her attend office. She said that she would come back early. After a good breakfast, I went to attend my drawing class. I was exactly an hour late. Our drawing Sir had called us an hour early that day and the class had begun at 9 a.m. But, for us, 9 a.m. on Sunday is equivalent to 7 a.m. on a weekday. So, we are always very slow on Sundays. Anyway, I must say that I did a good amount of work even after being an hour late. Sir was not angry either.
Saraswati Puja is celebrated at my drawing school every year. This year, our drawing Aunty ( who is the owner of the school and also, the original teacher) requested a few of us to arrange for the decorations of the room in which the Saraswati idol is kept. I knew that there were very few people who could help Aunty this year. Our seniors have all left owing to pressure in their studies. So, me and another student are the present seniors . After our drawing session was over, we took suggestions from Sir regarding the decorations.Three of us( including me) went to the market with Aunty's assistant to buy the idol and the things needed for decoration. This was a new experience for me. Inspite of being a part of my drawing school for about ten years, I've never helped to arrange this little event. This year, for the first time, I felt that I should help. So, we walked all the way to the market and bought a red marble paper and certain things made of thermocol. Then came the most difficult part.....choosing the idol! There were so many Saraswati idols ......some were big while others were small, some were clad in orange saris, some in green, while others in purple. Price was also a factor, as our budget was not much and the idols were expensive. After surfing for twenty minutes, we found the idol of our choice. Ma Saraswati looked gorgeous in a silver-cloured sari and her face looked as pretty as ever. Soma Didi( Aunty's assistant) did some useful bargaining and bought the idol for Rs.200, for which Rs.320 had been charged initially. Then, mounting Ma Saraswati on a van-rickshaw, and sitting on it ourselves to guard her, we headed back for our drawing school. Once the goddess was safe and sound in the second-floor room, we started decorating the room. In an hour, we did a very neat job. Satisfied with what we had done, I came home with my father at about 2.30 p.m. We had almost finished our lunch, when the Birthday Girl called to say that she was on her way home. Immediately, we finished eating and went out to buy Mammam's birthday cake. She doesn't enjoy cream cakes much, so we bought a fruit cake for her. When we came back, we saw her standing outside our apartment.
In the evening, she cut her birthday cake. Although she protested, we went out to buy her gift and returned with a dazzling set of fashionable earrings and necklace. She was very happy with her gift and then, we went out for dinner. We went to Red Hot Chilly Pepper on Ballygunge Circular Road. As is evident from the name, the food there is very spicy. But, at the same time, the food is very good. The menu was Chicken Clear Soup( with some momo in it), Rice Noodles and Shredded Chicken in Green Chilly Sauce. In this way, we enjoyed ourselves a lot.
Today morning, I went to my drawing school to attend Saraswati Puja. The puja was also held in our house, but in a very simple and short way.

MY FATHER

2007-01-12T18:27:00.000+05:30

Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Time: 10.20 pm.
" Baba, there is no laminated brown paper to cover my Biology project file."
This was what I told my father the night before submitting my project file. I had thought that there was enough laminated brown paper in the house, but I was wrong. I told my father that we would remove the cover from another project file very carefully and use it for the Biology project file. But he did not agree . Since my marks were related to this project, he immediately put on his clothes and went out at that time of the night to buy the required brown paper. We were lucky. The shop was still open and and he got the brown paper. But he did not complain even once, nor did he scold me. His only concerns were me and my marks. That evening, we had already been to the market once, but I didn't know about the brown paper then. It was my fault. I should have noticed. My father had to take up the pain and go to the market just because of ME.
My father is jsut like this. Incidents, such as the one mentioned above, have happened before too. But everytime, my father came to my rescue. Baba is absolutely a family man. He specially loves to spend time with me. As soon as he comes home from office everyday, I jump and give him a big hug, scratch is beard and pull his moustache. I also mess up his hair. Although he tries to protest, I don't stop. I even start tickling him. He tries to counter- attack, but is not successful every time. He never says it, but I know that he loves all this. I just know that he won't be able to stay calm even if I stop doing this for one evening. in this world will Baba talks to himself sometimes. When he is alone in a room, doing something, you can hear him murmuring to himself. He also murmurs in and even sometimes on the road. If he and Mammam come from opposite directions on the road, he looks at Mammam and then walks past, without recognizing her! So, he is a bit mad, but that, according to me, is also his special quality.
When I was in class two, Baba was transferred to Balugaon in Orissa. I mentioned in one of my previous post that it was very difficult for us back at Kolkata. But it was also difficult for my father. He had to live all alone. At least, Mammam and I were together at Kolkata, but who was there at Balugaon? Still, Baba managed to live there for one-and-a-half years without complaining about anything, even for one day. He would call us every night. I remember waiting anxiously for his phone-call. As soon as the phone would ring at about 9.30, I would run and pick up the receiver and say ' Baba' without saying 'Hello' first. I just knew it was his phone. I have been mistaken very few number of times. Baba stayed with us after his tranfer to Kolkata for three years. Then, he was again transferred, this time to Guntur in AP. This was even more difficult, as he was away for 3 years. This time too, it was just as difficult for him , as it was for us. But, he found a nice rented flat for himself and settled down well. In course of time, he learnt how to cook. He actually learnt how to live alone. I know that it was very difficult, having no one to open the door when he came back from office, to cook good food for him and most importantly, to share his feelings. He used to call us every night , but he did not let us realize for one moment that he was lonely there. This time, our new slogan was "O Baba, heh heh Baba" and we used to say it on the phone every night. We used to say it 5 times on one particular night and then, the number would increase to 10 on the next night, 15 on the night after that and so on, till it reached 50. After that, we would again start from five.
The most difficult part would come when Baba would go back to Guntur after coming home for a week or so. We used to get up very early to escort him to the taxi stand. After that, when I would enter our study, I would find it all neat and clean, very unlike what it is in Baba's presence.
Baba used to come home from Guntur once in two-three months. One such homecoming was in August 2004. But when we heard our calling bell and opened the door, we found Baba standing there with a peculiar expression on his face. We quickly brought him inside the house and discovered that he was very sick and exhausted. But we couldn't make out what had gone wrong. So, we took him to his physician who said that Baba would have to be admitted to a hospital. Baba had suffered a mild cerebral attack.For four days, he was in the hospital. He was recovering, but those four days were hellish.Not just those four days, the month after that when he stayed on at Kolkata to take rest, were hellish. Nothing seemed to be cheerful, beacuse Baba was ill. Both Mammam and I wanted him to get well soon. I had had experiences of someone else in my family falling sick and my father always rising to the situation. But this time he himself was ill. We could help Baba, but his physical pains were only his. We could not share them. Mammam did everything that she could to help Baba and it rent my heart to see them both suffering together. Why did God not punish me then, in some inexplicable way? I could have tolerated the pain, but why did my great Baba suffer? He does not deserve what he got.
I guess the only problem with Baba is that he snores very loudly.And there is a wide range of sounds that he can produce while snoring. If one finds different pages of the newspaper lying in different parts of the drawing room, then it becomes obvious that my father had been reading it.
Last word: " Dear Baba, to describe you very briefly, you are THE BEST. I can live without you for 3 years, but that life is very strange. It's like one part of my body staying at Kolkata and the other part going away with you wherever you go. It's not that Mammam doesn't fulfill my requirements when you are not here, but you yourself, is a big requirement for me. I am so lucky again that you are my father. Life has been very different and colourful because you have made it that way. Thank you and love you always."

Looking back at 2006

2006-12-31T16:19:00.000+05:30

Finally, 2006 is coming to an end. What a long year this has been! As I sit here, in front of my PC on the ultimate day of the year, let me just look back at 2006 which was dominated by studies.
1. In late February, my annual exam of class 8 started. The very first exam was Physics. I made a colossal mistake in that exam. The question paper had six long questions, among which we were required to answer four. But there was a printing mistake due to which the the question number had started from 2 and ended at 7. Although I saw this, I didn't observe this and thought that there were seven questions. Immediately, I decided to leave three questions and answer the rest. In the process, I lost 15 precious marks. Besides losing all hope of staying among the first three in class and getting the beautiful present of Harry Potter 6, I learnt a very good lesson. From that onwards, I always make sure that I attempt the required number of questions in an exam.
2. Surprisingly, I stood first in my annual exam, whose results were declared in March. From my mother's words I realized that this had been the result of sheer hard work. Two of my exams( Physics and Maths) didn't go well at all, but I worked hard for the rest. And, that clicked very well. Hard work really has no other alternative.
3. Before my new session had started in April, I had always imagined that life would be difficult in class 9 with seven tuitions. There would be no fun and studies would be everything. It turned out to be something similar only. But, after giving the first term exam of class 9 for 15 days, I was quite happy to be returning to my usual routine. For the first time, I discovered that tuitions not only meant studying, but also meant a lot of fun. By then, the groups of students at the different tuitions had become good friends with one another and so, the number of jokes and the laughter increased. Studies were there too. But, it was a different kind of fun.
4. I also discovered that doing project work is the worst, boring, tedious and time-consuming thing in this world. I've had to work harder for my projects than for my actual studies at times. What's really bad about projects is that their marks(20 marks) don't influence your result in a big way. Yet, you have to apply your best capabilities to complete them perfectly. In the ned, the marks you get in your theory (80 marks) decide your fate. Sometimes, if you get a lot of marks in theory, the teachers intentionally give you less for your project.
5. The most remarkable thing that I discovered in 2006 was BLOGGING. The credit for this goes completely to my cousin,Woodsmoke who introduced me to the fascinating world of blogs in July. Right from Wednesday evening, I start waiting for Friday afternoon because that's the time when I check my own blog and other blogs. It's always a welcome change after the first four busy days of the week.
6. Many significant events took place in my life this year which were concerned with things other than studies. Like, my parents' health detiorated a bit during May-June, but they recovered again during August. There were two tragic deaths which influenced the life of some of our close people terribly. We went to Goa during the Puja. Mammam was busy as ever in the first half of the year because of the Assembly Elections of Bengal. Baba got transferred back to Kolkata in April. My grandfather went through an eye operation in October. But the big change took place in my studies. All the above mentioned events took place. They brought with them different phases. Ultimately, we were able to overcome the bad phases and usher in the good ones. Last week, I won my last battle of this year when Baba was forced to buy a new mobile handset(coloured). I kept on telling him to buy a new one because his previous mobile had become very common with drivers and rickshaw-pullers. He didn't pay any heed, but that mobile had grown old and refused to work anymore. So, it meant victory for me.
I wish all of you, who are reading this blog, a Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true and may you be successful in the coming year.

11th December

2006-12-15T16:40:00.000+05:30

Of all the days in a year, 11th December is a very special one for our family because 18 years back, this was the day when my parents had tied the knot together. So, naturally, this year also, 11th December turned out to be memorable. Woke up in the morning and gave my parents the card I had made for them. I had drawn the 'Seven Wonders of the world' and had written down that my parents are more beautiful than the Seven Wonders and certain other things. Along with this, I gave them a boquet of artificial pink and magenta flowers, which I had bought with my pocket money. They were ecstatic and seeing their happy faces, my heart brimmed over with contention. Immediately after that, I went to school with my father. Both my parents had to attend their offices though. Incidentally, it was a crucial day at work for both of them. The day went well at school and at the English tuition class. My parents returned in the early evening. Then, we all got ready and went out for dinner. In an hour, we reached the restaurant, 'Mainland China'. It is a very nice place and what the three of us like about this place is that it is very well lighted. There are some restaurants where the lighting is so bad that you feel they are serving you bad food and in order to hide that, the lighting system is bad. Anyway, we first tasted Peppery Lemon Soup which was a bit spicy and very different from the regular soups taht we take. The main course included Rice Noodles, one duck preparation and Fukein Chicken. They were all superb. I tried my hand at eating the noodles with chopsticks and I must say that I did very well. The chocolate ice-cream with a cherry on top was the icing on the cake. So, this was we spent my parents' anniversary.
Knowing that we wouldn't be able to celebrate the whole day on 11th Dec, we had partly celebrated my parents' anniversary on 10th Dec. We went to City Center( shopping mall cum multiplex) to just roam about and buy a jacket for myself. Mammam said that I would be getting the jacket on the occasion of their anniversary:) After ransacking almost the whole of City Center, I finally got a blue jacket with a hood, which all three of us liked. Then, we had some chicken at KFC(Kentucky Fresh Chicken).

Dhoom first, shock afterwards

2006-12-08T17:27:00.000+05:30

Last Saturday, Mammam, Baba and I went to catch the evening show of Dhoom2. We enjoyed the movie very much. It is a good movie, with great locales, great action and all other technical things. But, the story is very bad. In the frist half the story is good, but in the second half, the story becomes a bit boring because Ash is not able to decide whether she should support the "Imandar chor"(Hrithik Roshan) or the "Beimaan police officer"(Abhishek Bachchan). It takes stupid twists and turns. Dhoom's ending was meaningful, but Dhoom2's ending is meaningless.
The star was definitely Hrithik Roshan. He is looking so handsome in the movie and he is at his best. He has simply bowled out Abhishek Bachchan( who, I thought, looked very stupid with his beard).He carries the film on his shoulders and if this film turns out to be a hit, it will only be because of him. What a performance! And, no one can dance like him. I don't know how he does it and it's such a delight to watch him dance to the tunes of the title track. John Abraham was very good, but Hrithik Roshan is better.
Sunehri's role is perfect for Ash. She does it quite well. Bipasha Basu is not bad either, but she doesn't have much to do. Uday Chopra is as good as he was in D1.But this film is worth a watch only to see Hrithik Roshan.
Yesterday, I had two tuition classes as I have on every Thursday. Mammam went to fetch me from my second tuition at about 7.30. We took a rickshaw and reached The Haldiram's bus stop. But before boarding the bus, we went inside Haldiram's and had Dahi Vada and coffee. Then came the most difficult task. We had to cross the road. This Haldiram's crossing is one of the most notorious places in Kolkata when it comes to traffic matters. After making sure that the coast was clear, we crossed this side of the road to reach the gap between the divider and were standing there with some other people, when suddenly people started shouting. Then, looking to my left, I caught a glimpse of a man who had just been hit while crossing the road. That one glimpse was enough to make my hairs stand on end. I immediately removed my eyes from that horrible sight. My mother clapped her hands to her mouth and told me not to look there. After that, we crossed the other side of the road with added caution and boared the first auto that came along. This was such a shocking experience. I felt weird. I agreed with my mother that it was completely that man's fault. He should not have taken the risk. People really ought to be a lot more careful while crossing the road. I began to think, why did the man not have a bit more patience? Why? If he'd had just a bit more patience, he would not have met this horrible consequence. We didn't know whether he was dead, but hopefully he was not. Hopefully, he's still alive and probably broke his hands or legs or something. Oh God, may he stay alive! The car that caused the accident was not caught, but the only thing that matters now is the life of that man and many others who use that stretch regularly.