Dada vs Didi (and a Lad-en-Arabia)

Dada vs Didi (and a Lad-en-Arabia)
I never knew Didi was reading my blogs - I am so very delighted to know this. It seems I have been able to impress her with my write up on benefits of a bandh. I must admit her 'do-it-now' attitude also, which she probably has picked up from her Nandan going opposition leader, as I see a result almost immediately, in less than two months of me publishing the benefits list.

However, having said that, I am very disappointed that Dada is not following my blogs. Had he read this, he would have not chosen the wrong moment for all media attention. Congrats to him for getting re-selected to the team, but why chose this wrong moment, because of which, all of local media rushed to Behala instead of Harish Chatterjee street in Hajra. What a shame! Instead of covering the fight (literally) of Netas for the farmers, these people are giving coverage to the re-inclusion of a single ex- Neta!

I am not sure whether this Bandh is going to help the farmers and if it does, to what extent, but I am sure the precursors to this bandh is surely going to help another set of 'khete khawa manush' (working class) - the carpenters. There will be a huge tender coming up soon for furniture supplies to what her opponents' godfather once defined as the pocketbook edition of the squalory sty for pigs. And look who’s supporting her – none other than the leader whose name says ‘doing good things is his passion’ - the same leader who had first shown the way to such blatant show of frustration in the same place, twenty years back.

Couple of days back, my son was asking me what would be the Bengali for Republic. I said 'Praja trantra'. I went on to explain him that it is the common people who decide what should happen with any policy or anything related to the country which is a republic. While watching the tv coverage of the highly energetic 'bully and break-to-make' match being played by 'swines' in the 'sty', I was wondering whether I should refine my explanation of republic. However, while coming to office today, I was reassured I have explained the meaning of republic clearly. So many people on the roads...looks more like a Sunday morning rather than a conventional Bandh morning. We have full attendance at office. People have hit back in their own sweet and soft way, but nothing is sterner than their decision - bandh or no bandh, we are going to be normal.

I tried to speak to people to get an idea of what they are feeling. A whopping 90% people on the road are more interested in Dada's inclusion into the team rather than Didi's exclusion from the mass mind frame. Jio Kolkata - that is the spirit! Another reason to support me being a 'Dada-ist'!

My close friend Upal ha suggested a Novel way - marry Didi to Laden. Match makers gear up please. Newspapers too - especially two newspapers ET & TOI who specialize in punned headlines these days - a suggested one would be 'DIDI GETS LAD AT LAST'. I am not sure if there will be a miss print of introducing an extra 'i' in the latter's nick name somewhere in the middle.

In addition to mass hysteria about the event, it would also ease up things a lot for two ruling Booos - one in the state of land reforms and another in the country of opportunities. The first boo though would have to handle another situation coming up pretty soon - his frankensteins have decided to ‘do it like didi’ on the 14th December. This despite having a set of friendly people at the power center and also allowing fuel price cuts and even winters to come early to Bengal, which was not happening earlier due to the conspiracy of the orangies at the center earlier.

This also gives me to think why would the anti militancy laws not be applicable to these people as well? What ya feel?

Dhan 'Taurus'

Dhan 'Taurus'



Dhan Teras was imported to Kolkata by the now-so-predominant Marwari andGujrati communities. The Tamilians and the North Indians had their supporttoo in favor of this custom, where buying precious metal means you areinviting prosperity. But probably no one ever imagined that it will begrabbed with such euphoria by the Kolkata Bengalees that the importers wouldlose control over it forever.

20th October was one such day. The otherwise nondescript Bengali commoner showed their bullishness for the second time in the year (the first instance was that of the Durga Pujas) by head-dashing their way into jewellery shops all over West Bengal and especially Kolkata.

This year, Suparna, after a long wait since 1993, has given herself to thetemptation of buying jewellery for a holy cause ( and then flaunt it at parties). She was continuously insisting me for the last couple of days to goto the jewellery shop and finally, I gave in too (did not want to create more tension, though I really do not like jewellery.)

As I was coming from office, I told her to be there at Anjali, one of thenow-famous ornament makers of Kolkata, and that I would join her there. Amitabh, my office colleague, was also with me (he is marrying in Jan, so definitely has compulsions here, you know?).

The first shock was when we reached Anjali.

There were about 200 people standing in two long queues outside the shop, on the footpath! And the queue is for GOLD!!! Who saysIndia is a country of poor?

Hawkers vending tea/coffee/jhalmuri/peanuts were making brisk business and there was a policeman, specially posted there to ensure that there is no untoward incident.

After being there for a short while, we decided that enough is enough and standing in this queue would not do much good to my already damaged left knee. Suparna suggested that we go to a PC Chandra showroom nearby, which must not have this huge rush. We obliged. After a 10 minute futile walk to find out the showroom, we discovered that we were pretty close to it once but did lose way. We reached the shop, and there we were, standing behing100 people. What luck! Only 100 people on a Dhanteras day in a queue?

The excitement gradually came down as I discovered we have move only about 4 feet in the queue in about 15 minutes time. I was suggesting that probably the people presently shopping inside must all be snobs and hence taking too much time to choose things, and then, all of a sudden, the queue started moving. Amitabh meanwhile had gone to fetch some bottled water and also brought a candy bar along with it. We were inside in about another 25 minutes.
Inside, in approximately 400 square feet, there were 150 people. the diamond jewellery counter was relatively less crowded. However, other counters, especially those which were selling the 'Goldlite' brand, were looking like free bread counters in post liberalised Russia.

After being party to one hour of knudges and grudges and stamping and shouting and mingling and free sex for some, we came out, victorious, with a ring in the hand. We were lucky, as we could see people going back empty handed, without having the priviledge to buy something, as either they were out of budget or the things they came looking for went out of stock.

Amitabh was so excited, he stopped on the way at a Gangulibagan shop to buy two Silver coins as well!

Should we call it the Dhan 'Tras' (Tras is the Bengali of fear)?

My Apu

My Apu
It's Saptami...The dhaks (drums) are being beaten. All of Apu's friends are at the 'Mandap' - the place where the worship takes place. However, Apu can't go out to the Puja Mandaps alone (he had a fever two years back and cant walk since then). His mother cant take him either - she works as a domestic help and has gone out on work. Apu was trying to listen to the 'Dhak' beats, when this weird person with a gun like thing arrived to shoot him. Is Apu scared? Never, Apu is a brave boy!

He knows it - they call it the carma, errr...the camra. The take photos using this every year, promise to send them back but never sends them.

Apu's real name is Sujit. He belongs to a potter family and haven't seen his father ever - his father left the family a month before Apu's birth and nobody ever found out where he is.

Bandh vs Bubai

Bandh vs Bubai

I am so excited today that the bandh took centre stage and pushed Bubai to come in second on my blog - my first break of resolves on the web.

Here is a report from a newspaper on what is happening in Kolkata, with a photograph of the Mother of All Bandh's in the recent past. A photo of the Father is also there. http://www.ndtv.com/topstories/showtopstory.asp?slug=Trinamool+bandh+underway+in+WB&id=20451&category=National

Happy Bundho-bast (pun courtesy TOI). Enjoy!

Bubai is at home today, enjoying his book of birds (500 of them in one book, and he has many such books), his dinossaurs (there are 8 fat books and two thin ones), his drawings & paintings, his 'plethora' of Tinkles (that's his mother speaking anyway), 'The Incredibles' running on the laptop since yesterday, his daily dose of Pogo/CN (worst thing to do as per Suparna, though I confess I myself do that sin once every day) and his utmost urge to get himself into the Guinness Book of Records by being the slowest eater on earth.

The 8 benefits of a 'Bandh'

The 8 benefits of a 'Bandh'

Bandhs are great. Here is a list of 8 top benefits of a Bandh, especially in Kolkata.

1. Bandh's are environment friendly - the city pollution levels go down rapidly for a day.
2. Bandh's are traffic friendly - you can roller skate to office today if you wish (and the potholes vanish!).
3. You get special government care if the bandh is an opposition sponsored one - so many buses on the roads and all semi empty.
4. You come to office seating in window seats in government buses paying just Rs 8.50.
5. You come to office in 25 minutes in a bus, which otherwise takes 1 hr 45 mins in a bus and 1 hr even in a car.
6. Nobody can force you to come to office - max they can do is deduct a day's leave.
7. You come to office in a kurta-pyajama or a bermuda and slippers.
8. You can leave office early with out any loss of pay.

Everyday should be a bandh day...why aren't they contemplating this seriously?

এই তো শুরু

I am probably the only person in this world, who had programmed blogs, worked on blog rating widgets, but creating my own blog so late. Nevertheless, happy to have my own blog finally. What would I blog about? Well, my primary passion - photography will take up a majority of the space. Then there would be some space for Flex, some for Ajax, some for .NET and Java, some about Project Management, some for Wagon R, some for Nohari - the place I am from, some about the Basu's (my family), some about Choto (Suparna - my wife) and Bubai (Wribhu - my son) and few about other things as well. Would like to start off with my son :)