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.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Enid Blyton rocks
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.
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.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The exam is knocking on the door
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.
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.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Untitled
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
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
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
My mother and Ma Saraswati
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.
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.
Friday, January 12, 2007
MY FATHER
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."
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."
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Looking back at 2006
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.
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.
Friday, December 15, 2006
11th December
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).
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).
Friday, December 08, 2006
Dhoom first, shock afterwards
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.
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.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
MY MOTHER
Three days back( Tuesday), I fell sick. I had eaten a banana the day before with my school tiffin, which is very very unusual. And since it was unusual, I vomitted twice that night. And twice, Mammam( my mother) woke up with me. Next day, she did not go to office. In the morning, we learnt that our family physician was out of station. So, Mammam saw my previous prescriptions, bought the required medicines, stayed with me all day, either giving me my medicines or feeding me occasional sips of salt-sugar water and my lunch or putting me off to sleep both in the morning and afternoon. She never misses office for petty reasons.To me,this seemed to be a very petty reason , but for her, it was a matter of great concern.Then she really did not care about what happened at office that day.
Yes, this is my mother whom I call Mammam right from the time I was one year old. There have been numerous occasions before this when I have fallen sick and on each of those occasions, she has cared only and only about ME. She has forgotten her place of work on those occasions. But this is not the only thing that makes her so special. The reasons for that will never end.
When I was in her womb, she was posted at a place very far from home. She had to climb high staircases at the railway station and then board the most crowded trains of the world. What a lot of pain it must have been! And all because of me!
During the first 9-10 years of my life, I didn't understand how lucky I was to have got a mother like her. I mean, I always knew that she was the best mother, like everyone does. But I couldn't recognize the specialities. We would get along very well with each other( we still do), she would fulfill all my demands, like my first watch, my story books and my computer. When I was in class two, Baba got transferred to Balugaon in Orissa. During that period, she suffered fractures in her ribs, legs and back in a car accident. Two months later, my grandfather suffered his second heart attack. Then I saw how much she can tolerate. Having not recovered fully herself, she had to do a lot of work during my grandfather's operation. And the mental pressure was always there. I was very small then. I couldn't help her much in the absence of Baba. But she managed everything so well. I can say with full confidence that NO ONE else could have done all that she did. Forget doing them, they would not have the guts to rise to the situation. After that, Baba came back and there were some years of happiness.
It was only when Baba got transferred to Guntur in AP in 2003 that I began to realize Mammam's special qualities. At school, I always hear my friends telling that their mothers keep on telling them to study, not to do this, not to do that... But Mammam is completely different. I always sit to study and get up at my own will. Plus, I do whatever I like. She TRUSTS me. She knows that I study, that I work hard. She knows that I never do anything wrong. Actually, before she asks me how my day went, I start pouring out all the news of the day. Her belief in me is invaluable. It has helped me a lot to become the kind of person that I am today. And needless to say, it has helped me, beyond anyone's imagination, with my studies. During the 3 years that Baba was not here, we would sometimes go for a movie and although Baba was not here, she would prepare Saturday night's dinner herself, specially for me. Not just Saturday night, I enjoyed every morsel of the food cooked by her during weekends. That's another speciality. She is such a good cook. Gradually, we became more like friends. I would keep on asking her to share all her problems with me because I felt that she was absorbing all the grief herself. And she did that for 3 years. Here again, I can say that no one could have tolerated so much. Those were tough times. She had to do everything by herself. Going to office, looking after her three children( me and my grandparents), trying to keep Bonu satisfied ( Bonu stays with us to look after me in my parents' absence) and doing all the household work. I would help her with the marketing and other small things, but she always said that the best way in which I could help her was doing my studies well.
Today, I can't imagine even a day without her. I confess that I can stay without my father as long as I can, at least, talk to him over the phone everyday. But, in my mother's case, that is IMPOSSIBLE. When she went through a surgery in 2002 because of a tumour, she had to stay at the hospital for seven days. That was the worst phase of my life. I just can't sleep withour her at night. So, Baba used to cover a side-pillow with her night-dress and keep it on the bed beside me.
In the end, I just want to say"Thank you Mammam. Without you, life would have been hell. I am the luckiest child on earth because God made me your daughter. The way I enjoy my life today is only because of you. You are great and like I have told you before, you are my role model. Love you always."
Yes, this is my mother whom I call Mammam right from the time I was one year old. There have been numerous occasions before this when I have fallen sick and on each of those occasions, she has cared only and only about ME. She has forgotten her place of work on those occasions. But this is not the only thing that makes her so special. The reasons for that will never end.
When I was in her womb, she was posted at a place very far from home. She had to climb high staircases at the railway station and then board the most crowded trains of the world. What a lot of pain it must have been! And all because of me!
During the first 9-10 years of my life, I didn't understand how lucky I was to have got a mother like her. I mean, I always knew that she was the best mother, like everyone does. But I couldn't recognize the specialities. We would get along very well with each other( we still do), she would fulfill all my demands, like my first watch, my story books and my computer. When I was in class two, Baba got transferred to Balugaon in Orissa. During that period, she suffered fractures in her ribs, legs and back in a car accident. Two months later, my grandfather suffered his second heart attack. Then I saw how much she can tolerate. Having not recovered fully herself, she had to do a lot of work during my grandfather's operation. And the mental pressure was always there. I was very small then. I couldn't help her much in the absence of Baba. But she managed everything so well. I can say with full confidence that NO ONE else could have done all that she did. Forget doing them, they would not have the guts to rise to the situation. After that, Baba came back and there were some years of happiness.
It was only when Baba got transferred to Guntur in AP in 2003 that I began to realize Mammam's special qualities. At school, I always hear my friends telling that their mothers keep on telling them to study, not to do this, not to do that... But Mammam is completely different. I always sit to study and get up at my own will. Plus, I do whatever I like. She TRUSTS me. She knows that I study, that I work hard. She knows that I never do anything wrong. Actually, before she asks me how my day went, I start pouring out all the news of the day. Her belief in me is invaluable. It has helped me a lot to become the kind of person that I am today. And needless to say, it has helped me, beyond anyone's imagination, with my studies. During the 3 years that Baba was not here, we would sometimes go for a movie and although Baba was not here, she would prepare Saturday night's dinner herself, specially for me. Not just Saturday night, I enjoyed every morsel of the food cooked by her during weekends. That's another speciality. She is such a good cook. Gradually, we became more like friends. I would keep on asking her to share all her problems with me because I felt that she was absorbing all the grief herself. And she did that for 3 years. Here again, I can say that no one could have tolerated so much. Those were tough times. She had to do everything by herself. Going to office, looking after her three children( me and my grandparents), trying to keep Bonu satisfied ( Bonu stays with us to look after me in my parents' absence) and doing all the household work. I would help her with the marketing and other small things, but she always said that the best way in which I could help her was doing my studies well.
Today, I can't imagine even a day without her. I confess that I can stay without my father as long as I can, at least, talk to him over the phone everyday. But, in my mother's case, that is IMPOSSIBLE. When she went through a surgery in 2002 because of a tumour, she had to stay at the hospital for seven days. That was the worst phase of my life. I just can't sleep withour her at night. So, Baba used to cover a side-pillow with her night-dress and keep it on the bed beside me.
In the end, I just want to say"Thank you Mammam. Without you, life would have been hell. I am the luckiest child on earth because God made me your daughter. The way I enjoy my life today is only because of you. You are great and like I have told you before, you are my role model. Love you always."
Saturday, November 11, 2006
A Study in Scarlet
I just finished reading the first novel “A Study in Scarlet” of my Sherlock Holmes-Volume 1. To describe it in one word, it is simply WONDERFUL. The novel is divided into two parts. If you have read it, you will know. In the first part, it is a perfect detective story and in the second part, a perfect blend of emotions, horror and thrill. This work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has left me mesmerized. He has established a link between the two parts of the novel so well, that even if Sherlock Holmes himself ever read it, he would not be able to find a tiny mistake in it. After reading the first part, I was very surprised when the second part started with “In the central portion of the great North American continent, there lies an arid and repulsive desert…” In fact, the description of this ‘desert’ continued for two pages and I began to doubt whether there was a link between the two parts of the novel or not. But then, the surnames of the two murdered people of the first half appeared at one point and I came to the conclusion that this was a flashback. How beautifully this flashback has been described. Whether the feelings of the young Lucy Ferrier, or the orthodox Latter Day Saints and their customs, or the vindictiveness of Jefferson Hope at every point, the descriptions are too good. If Sherlock Holmes was the hero of the first part, Jefferson Hope was the hero of the second. He carries the whole story on his shoulders. He commits his life to the revenge of the murder of his lady love and her father. He is such a patient man. After reading about him, it seems that our patience is just not enough. Why can’t we all be a bit more patient, a bit more tolerant, like Jefferson Hope?
The two parts of the novel are too different from each other. But, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle connects them with extraordinary skill. He makes the novel so touching. It’s more than just a detective novel. Unless you read it, you won’t understand that some magic is there in it too. “Harry Potter” has magic as its theme, but Sherlock Holmes doesn’t. Still, it is just as magical. Only that magic is different.
The two parts of the novel are too different from each other. But, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle connects them with extraordinary skill. He makes the novel so touching. It’s more than just a detective novel. Unless you read it, you won’t understand that some magic is there in it too. “Harry Potter” has magic as its theme, but Sherlock Holmes doesn’t. Still, it is just as magical. Only that magic is different.
Friday, November 10, 2006
This article has been taken from The Telegraph Knowhow newspaper of 26th September, 2006. I had cut out this article before the puja and had completely forgotten about it. Today, I suddenly discovered it. I have not typed the whole thing. Just the words in bold are the reason for which I am including this in my blog.
“J.K. Rowling, here’s food for thought. Would you be interested in a three feet long pinkish worm that smells like lilies and spits? It was long thought to be extinct, this worm. But in true Hogwarts style, it’s popping out intermittently from tiny swatches of farmlands in the Washington-Idaho border. And it’s making waves in the region.
If conservationists had their way, they would hardsell the Giant Palouse Earthworm to Rowling and insist she gave it pride of place in Harry Potter’s armament of miracles. “This worm is the stuff that legends and fairy tales are made of,” says worm supporter Steve Paulson. “What kid wouldn’t want to play with a 3 foot-long, lily smelling, soft pink worm that spits on attackers?”
The worm was first found in 1897, and the species has always been elusive. It can burrow down to 15 feet deep. There have been only three reported sightings since 1987. The most recent sighting was on May 27, 2005 when a graduate student from the University of Idaho unearthed one specimen. The Giant Palouse Earthworm is the largest and longest-lived earthworm on the American continent.”
“J.K. Rowling, here’s food for thought. Would you be interested in a three feet long pinkish worm that smells like lilies and spits? It was long thought to be extinct, this worm. But in true Hogwarts style, it’s popping out intermittently from tiny swatches of farmlands in the Washington-Idaho border. And it’s making waves in the region.
If conservationists had their way, they would hardsell the Giant Palouse Earthworm to Rowling and insist she gave it pride of place in Harry Potter’s armament of miracles. “This worm is the stuff that legends and fairy tales are made of,” says worm supporter Steve Paulson. “What kid wouldn’t want to play with a 3 foot-long, lily smelling, soft pink worm that spits on attackers?”
The worm was first found in 1897, and the species has always been elusive. It can burrow down to 15 feet deep. There have been only three reported sightings since 1987. The most recent sighting was on May 27, 2005 when a graduate student from the University of Idaho unearthed one specimen. The Giant Palouse Earthworm is the largest and longest-lived earthworm on the American continent.”
Friday, November 03, 2006
My two best friends
In this post, I am going to talk about two of my best friends. I have very few friends, with whom I share a very special bond. They are not my friends at school or friends in my neighbourhood. I get along well with everyone at school. But, there are occasions when I don’t like their topics of discussion. For instance, they talk about boys, which is my least favourite topic. You might say that all this is natural at my age. Still, why do they have to discuss it? Can’t there be any other topic? And I don’t have a single friend in my neighbourhood. Forget being friends with them, I don’t even know their names. You might say that I am very choosy or I am a snob. I admit it. I admit that I am choosy. And that’s why, there are only a few people with whom I am the best of friends. They are my mother, my father, my maternal grandfather and grandmother and my cousin (Woodsmoke). Today, I am going to talk about my grandparents.
“Old is gold”, and my grandparents perfectly match up to it. My grandfather is 80. It is really amazing that even after two heart attacks, a recent eye operation and many other ailments, he is still so lively. He is certainly different from other old men. He doesn’t always sit with a glum expression on his face and seem to dislike everything. He is a fun-loving man. Even at this age, his sense of humour deserves applause. If you suddenly meet him now, he won’t let you realize that he is sick, that he is suffering from so many ailments. Plus, he is an educated man. He knows his English really well. His GK is fantastic. He watches the news, probably ten times a day. He loves eating biscuits. And the best thing about him, he loves and understand his family, specially, his grandchildren (me, Woodsmoke and another cousin of mine).
As for my grandmother, the first thing that I would like to mention is that she is among two of the best cooks of this world( the other being my mother). You can’t help, but like her hand-made food. And she is absolutely perfect about everything from cooking to cleaning to just sitting and watching TV. She speaks so sweetly. Anyone who meets her, becomes friends with her. Yes, she is a bit fussy, but that gets overshadowed by her role as a grandmother. Which other grandmother would have liked it if her grandchild would have played pranks on her? But my grandma doesn’t mind. Apparently, she minds, but I know she loves doesn’t. For if she did mind, why didn’t she remove the objects using which I like to irritate her? Every time I visit my grandparents, those objects are perfectly in place for me to utilize. I call my grandparents everyday. I love them. They understand me.
Not all grandparents in this world are good. Nor are all of them bad. But those who are good, deserve their grandchildren’s love. So, we should always be friendly with them. Even if they are not so good, then they can become happy and lively once again, if they get their grandchildren’s love. It will take a lot of Gandhigiri to express your love to your not-so-good grandparents, but ultimately you will get happiness.
“Old is gold”, and my grandparents perfectly match up to it. My grandfather is 80. It is really amazing that even after two heart attacks, a recent eye operation and many other ailments, he is still so lively. He is certainly different from other old men. He doesn’t always sit with a glum expression on his face and seem to dislike everything. He is a fun-loving man. Even at this age, his sense of humour deserves applause. If you suddenly meet him now, he won’t let you realize that he is sick, that he is suffering from so many ailments. Plus, he is an educated man. He knows his English really well. His GK is fantastic. He watches the news, probably ten times a day. He loves eating biscuits. And the best thing about him, he loves and understand his family, specially, his grandchildren (me, Woodsmoke and another cousin of mine).
As for my grandmother, the first thing that I would like to mention is that she is among two of the best cooks of this world( the other being my mother). You can’t help, but like her hand-made food. And she is absolutely perfect about everything from cooking to cleaning to just sitting and watching TV. She speaks so sweetly. Anyone who meets her, becomes friends with her. Yes, she is a bit fussy, but that gets overshadowed by her role as a grandmother. Which other grandmother would have liked it if her grandchild would have played pranks on her? But my grandma doesn’t mind. Apparently, she minds, but I know she loves doesn’t. For if she did mind, why didn’t she remove the objects using which I like to irritate her? Every time I visit my grandparents, those objects are perfectly in place for me to utilize. I call my grandparents everyday. I love them. They understand me.
Not all grandparents in this world are good. Nor are all of them bad. But those who are good, deserve their grandchildren’s love. So, we should always be friendly with them. Even if they are not so good, then they can become happy and lively once again, if they get their grandchildren’s love. It will take a lot of Gandhigiri to express your love to your not-so-good grandparents, but ultimately you will get happiness.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Diwali celebrations
Happy Diwali!! And, this is really a very happy one because Baba is with us again on this sparkling occasion. The diwalis of the three years when he was not with us, were also good but his presence will light up Diwali even more. My world is literally dark without my parents. So, Diwali can only be fully lighted up when I am with both of them.
In the morning, I attended my Biology coaching class(imagine,tuition even on Diwali day), after a breakfast of chicken sandwiches. Then, I came back from there to have a lunch of Fried rice and Lemon chicken prepared by Mammam. After this very delicious lunch, I went off to Landmark Bookstore with Baba. I had never visited Landmark before. But it is fantastic! So many books, arranged very neatly and divided into many sections. I bought "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes(Volumes 1& 2)", "Famous Five(three adventures in one book)","Fifth Formers of St.Clare's" and "The mystery of the Vanished Prince". I was very happy after buying just what I wanted.
And now, I have to go and get ready to attend a Kali Puja invitation. We'll go there along with my grandparents. We were supposed to start at six from our house. But now, it's already 5.50. I don't suppose we can start before 6.15. Whatever it is, I must go now. Anytime now, Mammam will call me.
In the morning, I attended my Biology coaching class(imagine,tuition even on Diwali day), after a breakfast of chicken sandwiches. Then, I came back from there to have a lunch of Fried rice and Lemon chicken prepared by Mammam. After this very delicious lunch, I went off to Landmark Bookstore with Baba. I had never visited Landmark before. But it is fantastic! So many books, arranged very neatly and divided into many sections. I bought "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes(Volumes 1& 2)", "Famous Five(three adventures in one book)","Fifth Formers of St.Clare's" and "The mystery of the Vanished Prince". I was very happy after buying just what I wanted.
And now, I have to go and get ready to attend a Kali Puja invitation. We'll go there along with my grandparents. We were supposed to start at six from our house. But now, it's already 5.50. I don't suppose we can start before 6.15. Whatever it is, I must go now. Anytime now, Mammam will call me.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Last Moments at Goa
After finishing two major tours at Goa, we decided to go around the city and buy gifts for our family and friends. We had not seen everything in Goa. Three major spots, Mayam Lake, Shaptokoteshwar Temple and Palolem Beach were still left. But Palolem is too far from Panaji and our driver didn’t seem to know much about it. Crocodiles had arrived at Mayam Lake and Shaptokoteshwar Temple was closed for the time-being. So, first thing in the morning, we went to have breakfast at Dona Paula. This time, we took grilled chicken sandwiches, omelettes and coffee at a better restaurant. That day, it was raining. Immediately after breakfast, we came back to the city’s market place. After roaming around a bit, we entered a Handicraft shop. Here, we found Goan Handicrafts for everyone. Very happily, we bought them and then, we bought two bags from another shop. I bought a cap for myself. But Goa is a pretty expensive place. All things, including food, clothing, shelter, conveyance, etc. are a lot more expensive than Kolkata. That afternoon, we had a very delicious lunch at Goa. It consisted of Rotis, Chicken Tandoori, One vegetable curry and Limca. This was the best meal we’ve had in Goa. After lunch, we saw a church situated in Panaji itself. It is called the Church of Emaculated Conception. We couldn’t go inside the church as prayers were going on inside it at that moment. So, we just looked around and came back. This church is not shown to the tourists in the conducted tours. Tourists have to see it by themselves. We saw the houses of businessmen and other VIPs [the Bishop, the Army Commander, Dempo Brothers (members of Dempo, the football club)] in a locality called Altino (meaning “height”). These houses are really beautiful. We also saw a temple of Hanumanji, which no tourist ever visits. It was completely empty. But it is very very beautiful. I don’t know why it is never shown to the tourists in the conducted tours. But it should be shown.
That night, we couldn’t go out for dinner because the drizzling continued. Instead, we sat in our room and tried the food at our holiday home. It was not bad.
Next morning, it was time for us to leave Goa. We checked out of the holiday home at 9.30 a.m. Then, we went to have breakfast for the third consecutive day at Dona Paula. This time we were lucky. After finishing the breakfast of Masala Dosa, Dahi Vada, Half-boiled eggs and coffee, we found a family of four searching for more people in order to rent the eight seater family boat. Immediately, we gave them half the cost for the boat and went with them to a blue boat which was waiting for us. And it was great! We enjoyed ourselves immensely in the 15-minute ride in the rivers of Mandavi and Zuari. At about 12 o’ clock, we reached Dabolim Airport. Biding adieu to Goa, we boarded the aircraft to Mumbai. From Mumbai, we were back to Kolkata by 7.30. Nothing very significant happened on the way, except that the woman at the Security check-point at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport opened my cap to see if I had hidden bombs there.
The Goa trip was fantastic. But I missed my maternal grandparents, Mama, Mami, Tanni Didi (who is known as Woodsmoke in blogosphere) and Riju Dada. After seeing the beautiful state of Goa for the first time, memories of our Rajasthan trip came rushing back to my mind. My grandparents stayed back at Kolkata to enjoy Durga Puja, while Tanni Didi is now miles away in Idaho. It’s pretty unfortunate that Mama, Mami and Riju Dada visited Goa just a week before we did. If we had known before, we could have made the trip together. I feel that Goa is a must-se place for everyone. It provides the perfect getaway from hectic city life. If you’ve not already visited Goa, please do so in your next vacation. And I promise you, you’ll feel better when you come back.
That night, we couldn’t go out for dinner because the drizzling continued. Instead, we sat in our room and tried the food at our holiday home. It was not bad.
Next morning, it was time for us to leave Goa. We checked out of the holiday home at 9.30 a.m. Then, we went to have breakfast for the third consecutive day at Dona Paula. This time we were lucky. After finishing the breakfast of Masala Dosa, Dahi Vada, Half-boiled eggs and coffee, we found a family of four searching for more people in order to rent the eight seater family boat. Immediately, we gave them half the cost for the boat and went with them to a blue boat which was waiting for us. And it was great! We enjoyed ourselves immensely in the 15-minute ride in the rivers of Mandavi and Zuari. At about 12 o’ clock, we reached Dabolim Airport. Biding adieu to Goa, we boarded the aircraft to Mumbai. From Mumbai, we were back to Kolkata by 7.30. Nothing very significant happened on the way, except that the woman at the Security check-point at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport opened my cap to see if I had hidden bombs there.
The Goa trip was fantastic. But I missed my maternal grandparents, Mama, Mami, Tanni Didi (who is known as Woodsmoke in blogosphere) and Riju Dada. After seeing the beautiful state of Goa for the first time, memories of our Rajasthan trip came rushing back to my mind. My grandparents stayed back at Kolkata to enjoy Durga Puja, while Tanni Didi is now miles away in Idaho. It’s pretty unfortunate that Mama, Mami and Riju Dada visited Goa just a week before we did. If we had known before, we could have made the trip together. I feel that Goa is a must-se place for everyone. It provides the perfect getaway from hectic city life. If you’ve not already visited Goa, please do so in your next vacation. And I promise you, you’ll feel better when you come back.
South Goa at its Greatest
My mind still full of what we had seen the previous day, I woke up on the day of Navami. We all got ready quickly for the tour of South Goa. It sounded promising. Our driver, Bhanudas arrived at about 9 o’ clock. Our first stop that day was Dona Paula. Dona, the daughter of a Portuguese viceroy had fallen in love with Paula, a fisherman’s son. They had committed suicide at this point, which is now a tourist spot. This is also the meeting place of two rivers, Mandavi and Zuari. First, we took breakfast in one of the restaurants by the riverside. It was amazing, eating and getting a majestic view of the rivers. Then, climbed up the steps to get a better view of the rivers. We also saw the statue of Dona and Paula. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go for boating in the rivers because there are only two kinds of boats here. You either board scooters supporting only one person at a time, or an eight-seater family boat. We were not ready to go venturing alone and we needed to pay the full cost of eight people for the family-boat. So, we left Dona Paula and went to the first church, The Basilica of Bom Jesus. This Basilica is dedicated to the infant Jesus and also has the Chapel of St.Xavier. The interesting fact about this Chapel is that it contains the remains of St. Xavier himself! We saw the remains, safely preserved in a glass box kept at a certain height. After coming out of this Basilica, we crossed the road and went to another church, Se Cathedral. This church has six chapels and fourteen altars. Beside this church, the St. Francis of Assisi Church is located. This is really beautiful. It shows St. Francis holding Jesus Christ during his Lord’s death. On either side of their statue, are the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul respectively. Next, we saw a museum erected by the Archaeological Survey of India. This museum has all the things which were used by the Portuguese in India and many portraits of Portuguese viceroys and other important people. In fact, 8 galleries are dedicated to those portraits. Of course, we couldn’t see so many. Then, we came out of the museum and prepared to leave the spot. In the same compound, we saw a deserted church named St. Catherine’s Cathedral. Leaving the churches, we now went to explore the temples. We saw two temples. First one is the Mangesh Temple and second one is the Shanta Durga Temple. Both the temples are beautiful and look, more or less, the same. Both are situated amidst the hills and both have a kind of pond within the temple premises. But the Shanta Durga Temple is more popular.
Around 3 o’ clock, we visited the Polva Beach. At first sight, it looked great as its waters gleamed in the sunlight like a silvery mass. But, as we were about to explore the beach, it started raining! So, we decided to have some food in one of the restaurants. We hoped that the rain would get over by the time we finished with our food. But, the rain continued even after we had finished a meal of rotis and Pomfret fish curry. Yet, we were not disheartened. Making good use of the umbrellas we had taken from Kolkata, we walked down to the beach. My God, what a wind was blowing! I was surprised it didn’t blow away our umbrellas. Even then, we took photographs. With that, our South Goa trip also ended.
That night, we had a dinner of Mixed fried rice, one vegetable curry, chicken curry and tomato juice ( tomato juice is the most sour thing I’ve ever tasted apart from “Center Shock”, the chewing gum) again at Sher-e-Punjab.
Around 3 o’ clock, we visited the Polva Beach. At first sight, it looked great as its waters gleamed in the sunlight like a silvery mass. But, as we were about to explore the beach, it started raining! So, we decided to have some food in one of the restaurants. We hoped that the rain would get over by the time we finished with our food. But, the rain continued even after we had finished a meal of rotis and Pomfret fish curry. Yet, we were not disheartened. Making good use of the umbrellas we had taken from Kolkata, we walked down to the beach. My God, what a wind was blowing! I was surprised it didn’t blow away our umbrellas. Even then, we took photographs. With that, our South Goa trip also ended.
That night, we had a dinner of Mixed fried rice, one vegetable curry, chicken curry and tomato juice ( tomato juice is the most sour thing I’ve ever tasted apart from “Center Shock”, the chewing gum) again at Sher-e-Punjab.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Beautiful Beaches of North Goa
We went for a walk along Miramar Beach in Panaji the day we reached Goa. This is not exactly a sea beach. It is a beach along the river Mandavi. Nevertheless, it is beautiful. After eating panipuris, we boarded a launch for an evening cruise on the Mandavi. But there was no scope for observing the scenery. There were singers and dancers on board, ready to perform once the launch started. The first performances were good (one song, one dance, dancing by all the little kids on board and dancing by all the couples on board). But then, they called all the boys to dance. After that, it was pure ghost-dancing and needless to say, we didn’t enjoy it all. The music was being played at full volume. Moreover, the songs were mostly Himesh Reshamiya numbers. So, we didn’t get what we had expected from the cruise.
Next day, we went on a tour of North Goa. While going there, we witnessed the beautiful state of Goa. It is very clean and very green. The houses have sloping tiled roofs and are mostly two-storeyed. The street-lights are lined neatly and look different from the usual street-lights found in other Indian cities. Panaji looks like any foreign city. Yes, it is that much different from other Indian cities. Goa has a unique combination of hills and sea. We first visited Aguada Fort that day. Basically, it was used by the Portuguese to see the ships and get alerted. Situated atop a hill, this fort overlooks the sea on all sides. You get a really splendid view from there. It also hosts the remains of an old light-house. Our next stop was Sinquerim Beach. This beach is surrounded by small hills, some resorts and lines of coconut trees. Tourists are not allowed to go down to the beach. So, we watched it from the top of a kind of enclosure which has been constructed for tourists. Before reaching here, we had wanted to see dolphins in a lake near Aguada Fort. But the people there charged too much money. Besides, there is every doubt whether you’ll be able to see the dolphins or not. So, we decided to leave the creatures alone and go to the next beach. The net beach was Calangute Beach. This is the most popular one in Goa. It is very long and without trees or hills. We ventured a bit into the sea and then, drank Mirindas under one of the umbrellas which had been laid in front of the restaurants. This was also great. We sat there for a long time, watching people bathing and the lifeguards blowing their whistles. The next beach was Anjuna Beach. This is again, a bit different. You have to go down the hills using steps to reach the shore. There are big boulders on the shore and the beach is surrounded by hills and coconut trees. We had not noticed the steps while going down. So, we went down using a pathway laid with rocks. We also had to climb some of the boulders on the shore. It was both fun and danger. But it was more fun. While going to the next beach, we fed on cucumbers! Yes, we were already a bit hungry. Our Branch (Breakfast+Lunch) of chicken sandwiches, toasts and omelettes had been digested. Anyway, cucumbers were enough for the time-being. So, we visited Vagator Beach. This is almost like Anjuna Beach. But it is bigger and you need to climb down many more steps to reach the shore. It is more beautiful also. After that, we visited the Shree Bodgeshwar Sansthan in the town of Mapusa. It is a kind of temple. We also saw the Secretariat of Goa. It is indeed beautiful and is situated amidst the hills. With that, our tour of North Goa ended.
We returned to Panaji by evening. We took dinner at a restaurant called “Sher-e-Punjab”. You must have heard about it. It is there in almost all cities of India.
Next day, we went on a tour of North Goa. While going there, we witnessed the beautiful state of Goa. It is very clean and very green. The houses have sloping tiled roofs and are mostly two-storeyed. The street-lights are lined neatly and look different from the usual street-lights found in other Indian cities. Panaji looks like any foreign city. Yes, it is that much different from other Indian cities. Goa has a unique combination of hills and sea. We first visited Aguada Fort that day. Basically, it was used by the Portuguese to see the ships and get alerted. Situated atop a hill, this fort overlooks the sea on all sides. You get a really splendid view from there. It also hosts the remains of an old light-house. Our next stop was Sinquerim Beach. This beach is surrounded by small hills, some resorts and lines of coconut trees. Tourists are not allowed to go down to the beach. So, we watched it from the top of a kind of enclosure which has been constructed for tourists. Before reaching here, we had wanted to see dolphins in a lake near Aguada Fort. But the people there charged too much money. Besides, there is every doubt whether you’ll be able to see the dolphins or not. So, we decided to leave the creatures alone and go to the next beach. The net beach was Calangute Beach. This is the most popular one in Goa. It is very long and without trees or hills. We ventured a bit into the sea and then, drank Mirindas under one of the umbrellas which had been laid in front of the restaurants. This was also great. We sat there for a long time, watching people bathing and the lifeguards blowing their whistles. The next beach was Anjuna Beach. This is again, a bit different. You have to go down the hills using steps to reach the shore. There are big boulders on the shore and the beach is surrounded by hills and coconut trees. We had not noticed the steps while going down. So, we went down using a pathway laid with rocks. We also had to climb some of the boulders on the shore. It was both fun and danger. But it was more fun. While going to the next beach, we fed on cucumbers! Yes, we were already a bit hungry. Our Branch (Breakfast+Lunch) of chicken sandwiches, toasts and omelettes had been digested. Anyway, cucumbers were enough for the time-being. So, we visited Vagator Beach. This is almost like Anjuna Beach. But it is bigger and you need to climb down many more steps to reach the shore. It is more beautiful also. After that, we visited the Shree Bodgeshwar Sansthan in the town of Mapusa. It is a kind of temple. We also saw the Secretariat of Goa. It is indeed beautiful and is situated amidst the hills. With that, our tour of North Goa ended.
We returned to Panaji by evening. We took dinner at a restaurant called “Sher-e-Punjab”. You must have heard about it. It is there in almost all cities of India.
Reaching Goa
Our flight was scheduled at 6.05 a.m. on the day of Saptami. I got up at 4.20 a.m., took a bath and dressed quickly. My parents were almost ready. Since the airport is very near to our house, we reached the airport at exactly 5.00 a.m. After the baggage screening, security check and all those necessary things were over, we boarded the aircraft. Now, this flight was scheduled for Mumbai and from Mumbai, we had to board another flight for Goa. Oh, how nice it was! Slowly, the plane started moving and roamed over the whole runway. Then, it gathered tremendous speed and was up in the air! We got a breakfast consisting of a bun, fresh fruits, an omelette and tea (or coffee). It was a great journey and all through it, we witnessed the beautiful scenery outside. We could see both the Howrah Bridge and the Second Hooghly Bridge from the plane. A little above, we saw the big, white fluffy clouds floating in the blue sky. The plane landed at Mumbai at about 8.45 a.m. We didn’t go out of the airport because it was a normal working day for the Mumbaikars, which would cause traffic jam. Fearing that we may not be able to return to the airport in time, we stayed there. The time passed quickly and before we knew it, we were on the aircraft to Goa. It was a journey of 45 minutes and the air hostesses served us lunch (mutton biryani and kheer) within that time. We got the first view of Goa from the plane. It was splendid. Lush green hills and valleys and light dirty-brown Arabian Sea. The plane landed at Dabolim Airport at about 1 p.m. First, we collected our baggage from the airport. Then, we went outside and searched for the placard bearing my father’s name. The driver of the car we had hired was supposed to come holding the placard. We noticed him and approached him. He brought the Maruti van nearer and we got inside the van. It was a great feeling. So, finally, we had reached Goa!
Puja Plans
I never mentioned our plans for the Durga Puja in my blog. But we had big plans on our mind. Air tickets to Goa had been taken; hotel booking and car hiring had been I never mentiofinalized. Only my parents needed a proper leave from office for five days. You would ask, “What leave? You’ll be going during the Puja and getting four readymade holidays.” But that was the problem. It was raining so much that we feared the West Bengal Government would cancel all holidays for government officers to control the flood. My mother is also a government officer (Joint Block Development Officer). Luckily, the rain stopped just after Mahalaya. My father’s bank’s half-yearly closing also got over the day before Shashti. So, all these holiday-problems were solved and we were ready to go to Goa. Like all other years, we were happy to go somewhere during the Puja. We don’t like to stay at Kolkata during the Puja because we don’t like pandal-hopping and, at least once in a year, we would like to get free from the crowds of Kolkata.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Success
Finally, our results were declared yesterday. I stood first in class! And I am so happy. By standing first, I have got all the things that I had wanted. Firstly, I could make my parents and other close family members happy. Then, I got a CD of Harry Potter-1 from Mammam, an audio-cassette of the hindi film “Fanaa” from Bonu, while Baba’s gift is still pending( which will most probably be a book). Thirdly, by standing first two times in a row (last year, in the annual examination, I stood first), certain people of my school will, hopefully, think of me as a more able student. My toughest competitor, Krishanu, has been standing first in all the examinations, whether terminal, unit or final, since class three. I was second most of the times. But last year, I finally broke his record and stood first. Firstly, people thought that there had been a mistake. How can Krishanu stand second? It has to be the eighth wonder of the world. Slowly, of course, they accepted the fact that Krishanu had stood second. But they still believed that Krishanu, and only Krishanu, had the ability to stand first and no one else. Before that, whenever I had stood second, it had been for the difference of a few marks. These people, whom I do not wish to name, never thought much of me. I did not want them to think either. But I felt very bad when they refused that I had stood first on the basis of pure merit. I, in fact, had an open quarrel with one of them on this subject. So, I had to prove myself this time. And since, I have been successful, let’s hope they’ll acknowledge my abilities also. I personally feel that Krishanu has every ability to stand first. He is one of the best students of our batch. But sometimes, I feel sad when some people don’t think highly of me also.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
A Rainy Day
Today, I did not go to school.It's raining cats and dogs here at Kolkata. I was very unhappy in the morning when Mammam told me I would not be able to go. I actually started crying. It was not going to be a special day at school but I was still frustrated. At least school is better than home in the weekday-mornings. No one is at home except Bonu(she takes care of me).I was particularly irritated when Mammam told me I could practise Maths today by staying at home. I hate that subject. There was a stage early this morning when I was angry with everyone, including Mammam and Baba. But it was not their fault that the rain seemed to go on endlessly. It's still raining heavily now and I wonder how my parents will reach their offices today. Their offices are so far from our house. Had they stayed at home too,at lest one of them, then today would have turned into a brilliant hoilday. It would have marked the beginning of a four-day mini holiday. Yes, a four-day holiday because tomorrow is Mahalaya, the next day Saturday and the next day Sunday. Anyway, what to do? I'll just have to pass my time doing something or the other. Even if I don't do Maths, maybe I'll study history and bengali. I have a small test today at my Bengali tuition calss in the evening. But I have already finished studying for the test because until today morning, I thought there would be no time to study today on account of school.
Friday, September 08, 2006
An exciting week-part2
Starting from where I left last day, let me talk about the small program that was held on the occasion of Teacher's day at our school,St. Stephen's. It was a tiny, one hour program. We(I, along with my friends Debarati,Sritama, Aloy,Gourav,Souvik, Krishanu and Oindrila) staged a drama. We actually tried to present the short story "David Swan" written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which we had done for our terminal exam, in the form of a drama.Time being short for rehearsals, we could not do justice to the strong theme of the story. I also can't say we performed extremely well in front of our teachers when they came to our class. Nevertheless, it was fun. Although Aloy played the title role, his job was the easiest as he had to sleep(or rather pretend to do so) almost all through the drama. I was the narrator. Sritama played a middle-aged widow's role, Krishanu played the old merchant's role while Debarati was his wife. Gourav and Souvik were the two thugs and Oindrila was the pretty young girl. Of course, if you have read the story, you will know about all these characters. Besides our drama, there was a Kathak dance performance and another drama (a Bengali one).
That's all about this very exciting week. We are still waiting for the rest of our exam papers. The no. of exam papers we have got upto now has been updated from seven to eight. This is also an excitement.
That's all about this very exciting week. We are still waiting for the rest of our exam papers. The no. of exam papers we have got upto now has been updated from seven to eight. This is also an excitement.
Friday, September 01, 2006
An exciting week- part 1
What a week this has been! We have already got seven of our twelve exam papers. Upto now,my marks have been good and I am well ahead of Krishanu(my toughest competitor). Still, as long as we don't get our Maths papers,I can't be sure of holding on to the first positon. Maths is one subject in which Krishanu is certainly better than me. Let's see what lies in store for me this time.
On Monday,about hundred students of our school went to the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum. I was one of them.But the time was very short. Moreover, the museum authorities showed us an English movie(Doctor Dolittle) in their auditorium. Hardly had we seen the museum for 15 minutes when they called us to the auditorium. After seeing the 1 hr 15 min movie, one of our teachers said that we had about half an hour left for exploring the museum as we had to go back to our school within the school hours. The result of this was that we could see the museum properly. Had to rush about in the galleries, pushing the knobs to see many experiments,but not understanding a single one of them. Anyway,the good things about this little visit were--
Firstly, the auditorium was air-conditioned. We could sit there for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Secondly, the film was good and very funny. So funny, that the film ended but our laughter continued.
Thirdly, this was an outing for us and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Our school is quite far from the museum ,but we enjoyed the journeys from the school to the museum and back.
There is still something more to write about this week which I shall do in my next post.
On Monday,about hundred students of our school went to the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum. I was one of them.But the time was very short. Moreover, the museum authorities showed us an English movie(Doctor Dolittle) in their auditorium. Hardly had we seen the museum for 15 minutes when they called us to the auditorium. After seeing the 1 hr 15 min movie, one of our teachers said that we had about half an hour left for exploring the museum as we had to go back to our school within the school hours. The result of this was that we could see the museum properly. Had to rush about in the galleries, pushing the knobs to see many experiments,but not understanding a single one of them. Anyway,the good things about this little visit were--
Firstly, the auditorium was air-conditioned. We could sit there for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Secondly, the film was good and very funny. So funny, that the film ended but our laughter continued.
Thirdly, this was an outing for us and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Our school is quite far from the museum ,but we enjoyed the journeys from the school to the museum and back.
There is still something more to write about this week which I shall do in my next post.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Durga Puja, an important occasion for me
First, let me answer Woodsmoke's question. Durga Puja is important for me because it is the only time of the year when all three of us( Mammam, Baba and myself) have guaranteed holidays and can spend the whole day with one another, which is not possible in any other time of the year. That happens either because of my studies or my parents' work. This does not mean we do not enjoy ourselves.We do, but it is restricted. The Puja enjoyment is special in its own way.
It is an opportunity for having fun,seeking the blessings of Ma Durga,listening to the sound of 'dhaks' and watching the beautiful 'kashphuls'. Ma Durga comes to the city where I was born and am being brought up only once in a year. Yet, she brings a lot of happiness with her for all. I believe therein lies the wonderfulness of Durga Puja.
It is an opportunity for having fun,seeking the blessings of Ma Durga,listening to the sound of 'dhaks' and watching the beautiful 'kashphuls'. Ma Durga comes to the city where I was born and am being brought up only once in a year. Yet, she brings a lot of happiness with her for all. I believe therein lies the wonderfulness of Durga Puja.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Temporary Relief
After going through a very hectic terminal exam, I am giving this post.Now I can relax for 3 days.Again my school and tuition classes will start from Tuesday. Not only that,We will be getting our exam papers one by one in class. I don't know how my marks will be but I don't want to think about it now.I have studied very hard this time,yet somehow I feel I won't be able to retain my first position in class. Neither can I say that my exam was too bad. Anyway,as you may have seen my blog,you may have understood that I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. This weekend I am going to read 'Harry Potter and the half-blood prince' once again. Besides we will be going for Durga Puja marketing. No, I am not a shopper.But it's always fun to go around Gariahat Market with my parents and watching them buy things for me,themselves and other relatives.This helps me, like most other Calcuttans to get into the Puja mood. Besides, this year the Puja is too early.It is taking a bit of time for Calcuttans to adjust to this timing because we are used to experiencing the Puja in mid-October.
I will also be visiting my maternal grandparents on Monday. Also,I will be dropping my biology tuition class tomorrow. I just want to take rest. Well,bye now.I want to solve Sudoku!
I will also be visiting my maternal grandparents on Monday. Also,I will be dropping my biology tuition class tomorrow. I just want to take rest. Well,bye now.I want to solve Sudoku!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
10 SIMPLE things that make me HAPPY
1. Spending time with my parents
2. Harry Potter
3. Ice cream
4. Painting
5. Alsatian dogs
6. Playing cards
7. Listening to songs of Parineeta
8. Solving Sudoku
9. Rahul Dravid
10. Eating chicken on Saturday nights
2. Harry Potter
3. Ice cream
4. Painting
5. Alsatian dogs
6. Playing cards
7. Listening to songs of Parineeta
8. Solving Sudoku
9. Rahul Dravid
10. Eating chicken on Saturday nights
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