The story of a benevolent thief

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

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

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

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

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

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

Name three most valuable assets.

PC, cellphone and a bag containing my pocket money.

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

Woodsmoke, SubhadipDa and Amiya Didi

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

Hogsmeade village of Harry Potter books.

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

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

What are you afraid to lose the most in yourself?

Determination.

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

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

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

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

Which type of person do you dislike the most?

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

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

The ability to predict the future.

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

Get fromal singing lessons.

Are you a shopaholic?

Not at all.

Which actor/actress would you like to be?

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

One song that gives you goosebumps?

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

Do you have any plans for tomorrow?

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

I tag?

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

Gifts: Expected and Unexpected

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Degrees of Ecstasy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Name problems

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Great Expectations'

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

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

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

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

Nostalgia

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

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

My uncle inside Junagadh Fort in Bikaner

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

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

Kajol, Humanities Aur Hum

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

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

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

Jane Eyre

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

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

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

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

A bad phase

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

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

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

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

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

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

Questions

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

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

Six Random Details about myself

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

1. I hate those boys who wear ear rings.

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

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

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

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

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

A chicken-less life

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

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

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

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

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

Books

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


Total number of books I own:

70-75 (excluding School books)

Last book I bought:

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

Last book I was gifted:

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

I am currently reading:

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

3 books I started reading but never completed:

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

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

Thankfully, there is no such book.

Total number of E-books I own:

Zero

My most treasured books:

My Harry Potter collection without a doubt

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

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

Who am I going to tag?
Titash and Dhrubo.

The great Bengali detective

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

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

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

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

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

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Memories

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

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

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

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

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

The Cloud

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The power of candlelight

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

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

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

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

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

Fun at school

Two very funny incidents took place at school today.

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

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

Going to Barrackpore:The two sides of it

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

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

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

Tagged!

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


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

Horlicks Fun Facts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The return of the Great Dane

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pottermania

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

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

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

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

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

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

About a Friend

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rain Rain Rain

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

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

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

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

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

Tithonus

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

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

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

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

"Barso re Megha"

BDOM, BDOM, BDOM……….

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

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

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

Cheeni Kum....and Himesh Reshamiya

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

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

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

A lesson learnt

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

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

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

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

"The most disappointing day of my life"

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

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

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

The Virginia massacre

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

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

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

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

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

Back to a Cafe

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

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

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

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

Misc.

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