Connecting the dots...

Its been over a year I have blogged. A lot has changed over the time. This post is to connect the dot, establish the missing link! Shall I say, I have spread my wings? Or the butterfly has come out of the cocoon? Whatever I may call it. I don't know whether my life has changed for good or for bad, but it has changed a lot. Till the time I was in IIMC hostel, it was the best time I had. At moments it was better than the time I spent at home or college. I consider 2009 as the worse year of my life so far. But there were something good too! I got financially independent. This year, the year went as it is, without causing much ripple, but a serene breeze touching over the surface. I have become much more independent, responsible & free in decision making. Now I am sure, there is nothing which I can't do. I have become more self confident & am proud of myself!

A Different Way of Enjoying Puja

This Puja has been the most different ever. By this time I don’t think you need to be told why it has been so! Take for instance the Mahalaya. Back at home, I never woke up at 4 to listen Birendrakrishna Bhadra. Maa used to put the radio on, later on the TV too. I used to open my eyes only once & again fall asleep. This year, Sucharita got the Mahishashurmardini CD, all the Bengali girls planned to get up by 4 in the morning, go to the terrace & play it loud in the laptop. With time, various alterations came to the plan. 4 AM became 5, location shifted from terrace to Sucharita’s room & the number of girls lessened from 7 to 4 & I’m feeling very proud to write that I was among the 4 bengali girls who didn’t back out at the last moment! B-) was fun as we were listening to Mahishashurmardini, chatting, having ‘Sholo Ana’ chanachur & badam till 6.30 & again going off to sleep till 8.30. The common point which revolved around the discussions of mahalaya morning was, we’ve become closer to our culture & tradition. We never bothered to wake up & listen to it religiously which we actually did. But the anti climax was…we had class for the whole day. :-(
Then came Puja. More than half of the Bengalis went back home, to Kolkata. I tried to enjoy as much as possible. Morning was same as any other Sunday morning. Lyadh khawa, carried on by cleaning up my room, washing etc. etc. In the afternoon, I put on my new purple top from Sarojini, did a little make up & along with Neha, Bahni & Jaya went first to the beauty parlour near Taapti. Got a complete make over which was followed by evening snacks of pakodas, tea & goja. After that we went out for our venture to find out the puja pandal in JNU. We found it, located near the Godavari hostel. Simple décor & idols but the only thing that felt strange was that the idol faces were still covered with clothes! Generally the faces are revealed in the Shoshthi morning only! Anyway, after coming back, I was bestowed with complements from various people! It felt nice! Saptami was class as usual. In the afternoon, I set off for Baby Mashi, my local guardian’s place in Kalkaji, very close to Chittaranjan Park. I reached there by 6.30. We went to see the pandals in C R Park, Nabapally & C R Park Cooperative Puja. Heard Shraboni Sen to sing & was elated to find out that Siddhartha Da was on the tabla. I miss my Sunday morning music classes! :-( Had ice gola chuski & good Bengali barir khabar! I gave Ashtami morning Anjali in the closest Nabapally pandal after which we went to Kalibari. With the Bengali crowd, perfect Durga Protima, Bengali music, and Bengali hoardings, it felt as if I’m in Kolkata only! It felt different, it felt nice and it felt sad. Ashtami night spent in C R Park Kalibari puja, listening to Shubhankar Bhaskar & Rezwana Choudhuri was a real treat for ears! I’vent been that lucky in Kolkata. I took an off on Ashtami & today’s Nabami, I’m attending classes. No plans yet.
Another difference this year is that, instead of going to puja pandals in the morning after getting dressed & decked up, I’m going to class room. What a tragedy! :-( Only good this is that, our classes are getting over at 2.30, after which we are free. Faisal Sir gave us Sewaiya treat! I don’t know how things will turn out to be in the next year, but this year, it was like this. Don’t feel that sad, it wasn’t that bad! I’ve enjoyed Puja much better than many others. I sign out with the hopeful note…Aschhe bochhor abar hobe! Shubho Bijoya in advance folks! :-)

Life In Another Metro...

It's been such a long time since I blogged! I've been away from home for more than a month now. I never knew I would b able to manage myself so well! It's not that I don't miss my home or friends! I do, I do that like hell! But somehow I'm surviving. I'm doing that quite well. I've become more responsible & self dependent! I wanted to right so many things, but nothing concrete is coming to my mind right now.

O ya, hostel life is great fun! I do wake up till late night, chill & let others go nuts! I've been my nutty best! I remember one saturday night, we partied till 5 AM on the terrace! I won't say what I did. Ok, I danced & sang & did something which I don't know how to put into words! But ya, after that night, people's verdict was, me and Anwesha (my partner in crime ans she actually spells her name as Anaysha, but I would rather stick to Anwesha!) should replace the TV in the lounge...Another very sweet compliment which I got was, "You always bring smile to people around you. Please, keep on doing that!" :-) I can remember another rainy night. It rained cats & dogs! By now you must have known how much I love rain! People who loves rain like me, went to the terrace, got drenched, shivered, sang loudly & came down after the warden called up to ask what made these halla! :P Nights r really cool!

Love thy neighbour has been absolutely true & suitable for me! My neighbours & friends, Debarati, Neha, Megha...make my nights cool! They play pranks & so do I! The most common being knocking the door & fleeing!

Till date in Delhi I've visited India Gate, Qutab Minar, Lotus Temple, Priya, PVR Saket and JNU campus, PSR (Partha Sarathi Rock)...need not mention about Ber Sarai, Munirka & Katwaria Sarai....My first film seen in Delhi is Rock On! After much longing I watched it & loved it! I love the music more than the film which I have in my ipod now! :D I love walking in the meadows & the jungles inside the JNU campus!

I don't want to write about hostel food! :( I look forward for wednesdays & thrusdays...We get chicken & diiiiim!!! :D Other 5 days its all about surviving ghas phus! :-(

IIMC has so many dogs! Its like a dream! Most of them are orangish brown. We (me Sohini & Samridhi aka Sam) have named them Maupassant, Romeo, Buri nazar wala as it has a blck face (remember the phrase, buri nazar wala tera muh kala!) but later on came to know that its name is Chocolate! There is a cute white puppy whose name is Shahid Kapoor (named by RTV ppl) and I have named 3 little brow puppies Google, Yahoo & Hi5! And there is another full black dog, her name is Mahi! The only thing I don't like in them is that their lack for self respect! Why do they love so unconditionally??? I hate cats & they roam inside the hostel freely & fearlessly & don't feel a bit ashamed of shitting infront of our rooms or corridors! x-( I hate them like anything! Oh, I forgot to mention about the pea cocks! They are found in vogue. Insects are oversized! Nilgais are also available! What more do you want?

What more? I've grown relationships here! Now I have a daughter & a grand daughter! :D

Another most remarkable thing is that the number of bengalis in IIMC. Even if I can't be a journo by the end of 9 months, the non bengali people will surely learn bengali!!!

And how can I forget writing about what I came here for! Classes...nothing special! Don't know why they keep on repeating the same things! Assignments make me dog tired! :( This lab journal is sooo weired! News reviews are soo boring! Class seminars r soo tiring & nothin comes for free. Report everything! But I do like the Ad & PR classes! I can watch my favourite ads & know the story & concept behind them! I like the radio programmes but don't like editing them! I like the movie shows but don't like reviewing them! But...whatever it be, I had always wanted this life & I'm here today. No regrets, no offence, life is rocking on!!! \m/

This is the second time I enjoyed my right to vote. Since childhood I fancied the election procedure. The very powerful feel that the future of the Government depends upon me is really nice! As soon as I turned 18, I ensured that I’m eligible to vote. The day I received my Voter Identity Card, I felt ecstatic though I felt absolutely opposite when I glanced at my photograph! Last time, during the Lok Sabha elections, it went smoothly. This year I voted in the Panchayat elections.

The night before the vote was terrible. We had a power cut at 1.45 am. It wasn’t that big deal as I thought that there will be generator & we’ll get the fans. But to my horror I found out that it was only our flat that had the power cut whereas the whole locality had it. I knew it; I have to be wide awake as I can’t sleep without fan. To add to my woes, there were mosquitoes all over. Biting, flapping wings inside my ear which irritated me big time! To escape that situation, I took refuge to music. Put my earplugs & surfed FM stations till 5! Can’t believe that I could see the sunrise! The morning breeze made me feel better. I continued reading The God Of Small Things. At 6 I got up & by 7 I reached the polling booth. Already there was a long queue. Many of the voters didn’t bring their Voter Identity Card! How funny! There was cloth shade to avoid the sun. It was not even 7 in the morning & the sun blazed! There were 3 different queues on the basis of certain classifications. Suddenly, a woman arrived, aged, red haired, dressed in salwar kameez & sneakers, and started conversation with another woman in the line. Her intention was to sneak in the line but the moment she tried to get inside, a man protested saying that she is just not supposed to get in between the line just like that! She, in her defence said that she had asked her to keep space for her. This infuriated the man even more. He was absolutely right as he said that had this been the process, everyone would have booked their position from the night before. She stood at the end of the line without uttering a word as everyone had favoured the man. But that lady was big mouthed. Or maybe she felt insulted & wanted to gain sympathy towards her. Or maybe she has this habit of drawing public attention towards her. She started howling that why isn’t the line moving forward? Why is it taking so much time? This is not systematic at all! She was in a hurry so things must be done as quickly as possible. Then one of the candidates came to her & as if she was seeking forgiveness, said that it is moving slow as one has to vote thrice. Electronic voting system was not available as the number of voters & polling booths were huge in number so the manual voting system had to be followed. Then the raged & wretched red haired lady started shouting even more & said that these are all lame excuses! She didn’t have any compulsion of voting & behaved in such a way as if she was obliging everyone by doing so! My my! This was just so stupid of her! I couldn’t imagine how irrational she could be! I just lost it on her. My condition was worse of them all I guess as I missed my good night sleep! There were lots of other people who were aged, sick but still they wanted to vote. If they could make it why not she? I felt like giving it on her face but my mother stopped me.

Firstly, what system was she talking about? The system of making queues & waiting for one’s turn is the most civilized format. Can she howl about system, time scarcity & stuff during buying a movie ticket from high profile multiplexes or restaurants during peak season & time? One always has a choice to go for something & otherwise. Just because it is a village Panchayat elections, the people around are not from high standard back grounds she bashed them. She could just make her way out as voting is a right & not a duty as directed by the Constitution of India. But then, I feel, if someone doesn’t vote, he/she loses the right to criticize the government. Either you select your rulers or just accept whatever is offered to you without being fussy. She talked of running out of time. The booth is open till 5 pm. She could easily come later, during her leisure time. She kept on howling as an insane but I think this one was the best. She said to her friend that won’t they offer us tea? I couldn’t stop but remarked “Keno mashima? Apni ki patri dekhte eshechhen?”  (Why Aunty? Have you come to meet the prospective bride for your son that you are expecting tea?) People around me started laughing & I think that was audible to her also! She decided to leave. But some of the polling agents requested her to come back. She was given direct entry inside the room. This really pissed me off! Why? Just because one vote is expensive they supported someone who is as blockhead as…!?! Whatever!

When my turn came to go inside the room, there was a strict security check which had to be undergone. I showed my voter identity card. The polling agent glanced at my card, then he glanced at me. I think he doubted whether the girl in the photograph is really me! :P My God this is my worst picture ever taken! There were 3 agents sitting at 3 different tables, all laid in a horizontal manner. The 1^st agent took my thumb impression at the voting slip. There were 2 reasons for this. Firstly, time was scarce. Secondly, signature can be forged, not thumb impression. The 1^st voting slip was for the Gram (village) Panchayat election. The slip was pink in colour. I was diected towards the voting counter, covered with a piece of cloth. Before that, another agent put a blue black dot on my left index finger. Then gave me the stamp with which I’m supposed to vote. I went inside, there was a dimlt lit lantern, (don’t know what it was for! :O) put the stamp mark on my chosen symbol, folded the paper, came back & put it inside the ballot box. The same thing happened for the Panchayat Samiti & Zila Parishad elections. The colours of the slips were white & sea green respectively. After this, I was shown the exit door & asked never to come back again! Who would, anyway? I was happy after voting! I really felt like an active citizen of the nation. Felt like a responsible adult!

Votes are always like a get together. We all stay in the same locality but hardly meet each other. Busy bees you see! But during votes, we can meet so many people, get involved in chit chats & I just love this! It’s like another festival! While returning home, one Aunty said, the Zila Parishad slip was sky blue in colour. I asked, wasn’t that sea green? I wondered who was colour blind! But my mother acted very diplomatic & said that it was a shade in between sky blue & sea green! :x But I’m pretty sure that it was sea green. But for me, to be very frank, the main excitement of vote lies in the dot in the finger! That proves that I’ve actually voted! I love the dot! It’s very hot! :D

Lot of violence & blood shed took place this year during elections. I hope this never happen again. Ever! I hope the souls of the political victims rest in peace. The Panchayat election results came out yesterday. I found out that the dot is no more on my finger! What a co incidence! The results are not the usual. The ruling party couldn’t make it to a lot of areas. There has been a mix & match. Well, let’s welcome the change & see how things act for the next five years. Keeping my fingers crossed! :-)

Beat The Exam Heat

Just before the exam started & till it ended, I received various SMSs from my friends! They really helped me smile, break into laughter during that crisis period! They were so true that I couldn’t help but feel amused! I’ve learnt that exams will come & go but we must take it lightly & it gets easier to overcome it! They are like:

This summer:
Lives will close
Options will close
Lives will be shattered

From the makers of PART 2 Exams,

Comes the sequel

PART 3 EXAMS!

Coming soon at a college near you!
Smile courtesy: Rehana

Exam, marks, percentage, sab bekar k baate hai. Sab mohmaya hai. Tum khali hath ayethe, khali hath jaoge. Nadan prani, bhram se niklo, satya ko apnao aur so jao!
Smile courtesy: Dips

Great students like us work on the principle of rockets. Not that we aim for the sky but we don’t start studying unless our tail is on fire!
Smile courtesy: Pallabi

“EXAM ANTHEM”
Hum honge all pass,
Hum honge all pass,
Hum honge all pass ekdin..
Ha ha likhte hai bakwas.
Phir bhi haivishwas,
Paper hoga jhakkas ekdin…
Smile courtesy: Poulomi

Exams are here.
At the paper you stare,
The answer is NOWHERE-
Makes you pull your hair,
The teachers glare,
The grades ain’t fair,
But just like the past 20 years,
WE DON’T CARE!!!
Smile courtesy: Pujasree

Brain is most outstanding object in nature. It functions24 hours, 365 days. It functions right from the time we are born & stops only when















We enter exam hall!
Smile courtesy: Natalia

So folks, if your exams are knocking at the door, open it with a smile on your face! Don’t worry, be happy! :-)

Life - Then, Now & Beyond...

This time Arnab da has tagged me. For the 1st time! lemme do the honours!!!

Life ten years ago :-
Class VI session had just started. Madhumita Aunty was our class teacher. As far as I can remember, I sat beside Poulomi. Life was pretty fun then! Study was not that big deal then. Math monster didn’t expose its ugly canines & claw. Physics, Chemistry & Biology were pretty interesting. Me & Tanusree got the license to go & come back from school all by ourselves. It was so much fun during monsoons! We got drenched in rain, holding the folded umbrella! :P I didn’t quit playing games like hide n seek, catch me if you can etc in the afternoon. That phase was one step ahead to childhood & a step behind teenage.

Life five years ago :–
It was one of the most crucial time of my life. I appeared for the 1st big exam of my life, 10th board exam. I had reason enough to be nervous & tense. Yet I was excited about it & waited eagerly for it to finish. Going to the exam centre, Birla High School was great fun! Me, Tanusree, Sohini, Sayani & Kreeti along with our parents went together. Those chats, laughter helped me beat the exam anxiety. I remember, after the social science paper all my friends said that ‘Thank God we don’t have to study social science anymore!’ I kept mum. But the day maths & science exam were over, I mouthed the same dialogue with maths & science in lieu of social science! 8) But Baba said you can never get rid of maths throughout your life! I realized how true it was when I had a special statistics paper in college! Well back to five years ago…the cricket world cup was going on. India made it to the final! The final match was scheduled just the day after our board exam finished! My excitement knew no bound. But alas India couldn’t win.:( But never mind! 2nd position isn’t bad either! :)
Then class XI started. As par my wish, I took up humanities. I met new people in my class. I lost my dear pals who went to other streams. But we were in same school! Recess was a relief for me as I could meet them & share tiffin with them. Somebody behaved strangely with me. I can guess the reason now but didn’t know it then, so lost one friend. Sarbani bannerjee, the geography teacher who harassed me like anything just because I didn’t take tution from her! Wish she was my mother in law. I would have lodged a complaint against her under Section 498, IPC. She would have been arrested without a warrant! :P She be damned, she be doomed! But to end it in a happy note, I really did well in studies & ranked for the 1st time in school! :D

Life tomorrow :–
Like every other morning, I think I’ll wake up at around 11 or 11.30 or maybe beyond that! :P I hate to wake up early you see! 8) Have to visit my music mentor’s place to rehearse at 6.30 pm. Have no idea when will I return. Don’t have any more plans for tomorrow. I hope some nice surprise comes up in the way! ;)

Five locations I would run away to –
1. My home. No matter how good the place is, I always crave to come back to my home.
2. Mamabari. Dida & Dadubhai really treat me like a princess. The special treatment I receive there is so special that sometimes I feel suffocated, literally! Tuli is an absolute sweet heart! She is like my disciple, follows me everywhere! My Mamis are like my friends only! The latest attractions being Pakhi & Brishti. My 2 & 1 year old cousin sisters!
3. Mani’s place. Be it Jadugoda, Dhanbad, Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar or any other place, Mani’s place is always beautiful, full of life, full of love & warmth. The welcome I receive there, Ratul’s company, Mesho’s taunting & giving advice, is just another heaven for me. Mesho & Mani are like my parents, Ratul is like my own brother & their place is like my own home!
4. Purulia & Durgapur – Both the places have same values for me. Durgapur has some more though! I spent my childhood in these places. Away from the city, close to nature. I learnt so many things in Purulia. I was such a smart & active kid then! I sang, danced, recited poems, did gymnastics, played & interacted with anybody around, that could be a dog or a goat too! The red soiled roads, the hills, the greenery & the nice people around were really wonderful! Durgapur was also special in the sense that it was where my father grew up & so did I, to some extent. I was famous as Bordimoni’r natni. My grandmother, Mamma was the headmistress of the Durgapur Girls’ High School. There was a big mango tree in the courtyard of the Durgapur home which contributed big time to my love for mangoes. I think my love for dogs also had the origin in Durgapur. We had so many dogs then, Kalu, Bagha etc. etc. Mind you, all of them were stray dogs! Those visit in the park in the afternoons, games of twilight! Visit to City centre for shopping & stuff with Maa & Kakimas & occasional visit to the Durgapur Barrage with Baba & kakus! All my cousins, Pompom, Titli & Tatun were born there. I got the sense of being an elder sister in Durgapur! These 2 places are really special for me!
5. Kashmir, Puri & Goa – Kashmir is the best place I’ve been to so far. It’s literally heaven on earth! I would like to go there once again just to spend some more days in Pahalgao. One day stay was nothing in comparison to what Pahalgao had to offer! I would love to run away to Puri & Goa as I love sea & they are the best places to experience the beauty of seas!
Sorry, I have mentioned more than five places & still have more to mention. If given a chance, I would like to make world tour as I just love traveling but those are the locations where I will ‘run to!’

Five bad habits I have :–
1. Procrastination
2. Over sleeping
3. Too much laughing & crying which often leads to awkward positions
4. Tearing my skin when involved too much in something & realize only when it starts bleeding badly. Also, dividing the split ends of hair!
5. I get addicted very easily to something which is introduced to me, for e.g. TV, chatting, tea, books etc. But I can overcome it easily!

Five things I will never wear :–
1. Plunging necklines
2. Backless, off shoulder, spaghetti, halter neck out fits
3. Midriff exposing outfits. I make it a point to drape sari in such a manner that it never reveals my navel.
4. Mini skirts, half pants, Bermudas etc.
5. Accessories such as high heels, piercing in any part of the body except ears & more than one ear ring in each ear.

Five biggest joys at the moment :–
1. My exams are over
2. The cassette/CD which I’m a part of will release soon
3. I will visit Mani’s place & Durgapur soon
4. The book ‘Amader Kotha’ written by Bijoya Ray, has finally been published & I know exactly what to gift Maa on her birth day this year!
5. Nature has given indication that members of my family, on the maternal line will increase! Thanks to Mishti Mashi & Mou Mami! :)

Something to achieve by next year :–
I hope to be a graduate this year only! By next year, I guess I will be doing my MA. I hope that go on smoothly. I also want to continue with my singing, in a more serious manner. As far as achievement is concerned, by next year, these are the ones & nothing concrete is coming to my mind right now particularly for next year.

Something that impacted me last year :–
Quite a lot of things impacted me last year. Moon Didi’s marriage. She is one of my very close friends. She is like my own elder sister. Her marriage made me happy & sad at the same time! I enjoyed like anything in her marriage! It was awesome! Wish her all the happiness! My dissertation. It was my independent work. My imagination, my way of doing something which finally took a beautiful shape! My accident. It has made me very shaky & nervous while I’m on the streets. I always have the feeling that I’ll be hit by something. I’m really scared of crossing the road now! :( Stripping friendship with a very good friend of mine.

What I will miss about 2007 :–
Being a part of my college, SXC! I really gonna miss those days, I’m gonna miss my college days. :( The year 2007 itself!

Five things I want to do before I die :–
1. Complete reading as much classic literature as possible
2. Sing as many Rabindrasangeets as possible
3. Write something really meaningful. Be it something in prose or poetry.
4. Do a job which will satisfy me aesthetically, morally & economically, inspite of being married happily with cute & healthy kids! (Hope all these things will harmonize!)
5. Last but not the least…I want everybody to be proud of me. Be it my parents, other family members, friends, everybody! I don’t want to die thinking myself to be a waste of life. I must make a positive mark in the society & I’m sure I’ll do it!

No it's my turn to tag. I tag Abhishek, Sohini (you have been tagged twice dear!) & Titli.

Wish I had a piano...

Today the weather was oh so romantic! It started raining since last night & when I woke up in the morning & looked outside the window, chilly wind touched my face along with rain drops. The rain was so thick that it was like looking through a heavy white curtain. I cancelled my plan to go outside.
In the afternoon I was listening to ‘The Best of Richard Clayderman’ & felt enthralled. Few days back t2 came up with an article as to which celebrity should insure which parts of their body. A reader wrote back that Richard Clayderman must insure his fingers. I totally agree with him! Kudos to Richard Clayderman! Not that I didn’t listen to his music before but maybe because this was the 1st time 3 things were so well coordinated, the weather, my mood & of course the music. I really wished to have a piano & play it as…ok, not as good as him but even if I had a quarter of his flair, I would have been obliged to the Nature! At the same time, I felt very nostalgic. At some point of my childhood, even I played piano.
I was 10 at that time. My mother’s uncle had a piano in their Jodhpur Park residence. We used to visit their place quite often & for me, the main appeal lied within that graceful piano. It looked so charming & elegant. With glossy black body, milk white reeds, everything associated to it attracted me like heaven! My 2 aunts, Tania Mashi & Lipi Mashi played it so well! Their long, beautiful manicured fingers moved over the reeds like mermaids playing in water. Their beauty added to the lure of the piano was like reading a live fairy tale! As I had always read about piano in stories & saw them in good films. I fulfilled my penchant by playing my humble harmonium. But I wanted to be like my glamorous aunts. Wanted to solve the mystery as whether the piano contributed grace to them or vice versa! Once I had the golden opportunity. Nobody was around & I couldn’t resist myself. Slowly lifted the lid & moved my fingers over the reeds. Everyone looked at the source of the sound. My mother became very embarrassed & asked me to leave it & come back. But Lipi Mashi was a great support. She asked me to play whatever & however I felt like! To my quite surprise I found out that like my harmonium, the piano too gives out the music of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni! Everyone got amused & told me that music is same everywhere, be it Sa Re Ga r Do Re Mi! After getting a little accustomed to the organ, I played the Titan tune. I could hear a round of applause for me! I was so happy! It was like a dream come true! I was playing it with my right hand & didn’t use the left one. Lipi Mashi told me that she’ll teach me how to play it properly. But then, times change, situations change. They moved to the USA. I grew up & the pressure of study increased. I was happy playing the harmonium & tabla only!
Today I added 3 more thing to my wish list. In future, I’ll live in a big house. I’ll have a piano & I’ll definitely learn to play that. Till then, thank you for the music Mr. Clayderman!