This, That and Some More

It was made out of pure Burma teakwood, about 6 feet tall and a gleaming exterior. It seemed to survive through the years of humid climate without much wear and tear, it only got one coat of polish after it was broken open by burglars. All through my growing up years, I looked forward to visiting my Grandmother in Calcutta and in long and lazy afternoons my favorite pastime would be to explore her almirah which she indulgently let me as I had the privileged position of being the eldest 'naatni'(granddaughter). Every time I opened the wooden doors, there was this smell of clothes, perfume and wood, there were many drawers with brass handles, some having secret chambers and false bottoms which added to the mystery of the almirah. My Grandmother carefully preserved all presents, knick knacks, photographs and other things which various relatives got for her from their many travels. There was a Japanese fan, a miniature windmill, tiny crystal figurines, ivory paper knives, Czech gla...

While we were growing up, we were protected, sheltered and safe in our parents nests, a lot of tragedies passed us by but the optimism of youth made us look forward to better things and better times ahead and our parents probably made sure that we did not get affected, but there are two people who still take me back to the very early school days. Rohit Mathur Rohit was a fellow back bencher in class 5 who sat next to me. We were thankful to be slightly away from Ms Sahay's watchful eye and at times we could whisper and copy work. Rohit loved to play football and often used to stay back after school for practice sessions. Apparently it seemed he had two good friends, Virender and Deepak. One day during the morning assembly, the principal gravely announced that Rohit was hospitalized as he was injured by a ball which hit him on the back of his head and asked us all to pray for him. Two days later, he announced that Rohit was no more and we should all stand and observe a 2 minute sile...

Like they say in Hindi, "ghar ki murgi daal barabar" (translates to "chicken at home tastes like lentil soup"). Now even the "ghar ki murgi" has disappeared and we are left with only daal and chawal and of course fish, which no self respecting Bengali can do without every day. Now of all times, ALL cookery shows insist on showing recipes only with chicken and egg - at least the ones on Travel & Living. The show makes me salivate but I am forced to practice self restraint and will power and avoid thinking that chicken and egg ever existed. The canteen now seems like a dull and boring place, I miss the butter chicken, chicken kolhapuri, chicken masala, chicken sandwich, egg burji, omlette sandwich, frankies, chicken biriyani ... I could go on... Lamb, mutton and pork are not healthy meats; fish is not liked by all so now the office canteen is strictly vegetarian. Even cakes at the pastry counter are certified to be 'egg less' and are dry and chew...

I have a few things which I can write about but blogging needs serious undivided time which I haven't had over the long weekend - it was long because I bunked office on Friday and did all the things that my heart desired. I day dreamt (wonder if that is a correct phrase?), I slept, I ate, I watched Rang De Basanti and I picked up this book called Shantaram. All of these activities were equally excellent but since my day dreams are unmentionable and describing what I ate will not really interest the world out there I might as well write about the book and the movie. Shantaram I do keep saying that books are better than men, the reasons why books are better is not of interest here. The book is written straight from the heart and even though many situations seem to be over the top but one can still relate to it. As a story, it is free flowing and easy to read like a thriller. There are essentially two things that make this book special, a few lines in the book make you sit up because ...

Rather popular line which a person hears off and on, however the over thirty five been there done that set will completely disagree and say that it's lust and not love that makes the world go round. With Valentine's Day becoming 'the' day to express your desire (or love), it has become the second largest revenue source for detective agencies as jealous significant others want to see what he or she is up to. Now love has to be expressed through diamonds preferably or some expensive gift which is again great news for the brands. The new love is more about money and lust and less about love - now whatever that may be! As an impressionable teen and well into the twenties I did believe that I would find it some day but it seemed to be like that elusive yellow butterfly which rested on a flower briefly. Everyday I hoped that I would meet that person, in a bus, in a college fest, in a party or just bump into him and I would know that he is the one. I don’t know why romantic f...

I guess that’s not politically correct - it should be Dilli (??) to Kolkata to Mumbai but who cares! I asked this question to myself once - does my personality change with the cities I stay in? The answer it seems is YES. The Delhi Me I was kind of young to be a true Delhi-ite but the school I studied in made sure that I caught on very fast. My new 3 tier pencil box from Germany made me the most popular girl in school for a day, short lived glory! My popularity meter rose with each trip to Disneyland or any country in Europe or North America. My status in the society was determined by how many political connections my family had, whether I lived in South Delhi, how many relatives I had abroad, the size of my house, gadgets and the size of my Dad's car. It became rather stressful to compete with the 'in' crowd so I veered towards the 'behenjis' who wore skirts beyond their mid thigh and put oil in their hair. I was a misfit in both the groups so I was used as a bridg...

No, this is not an outdated movie review! This is another account of my travel experiences. I have discovered that the degrees of bad and good behavior differ depending on countries and regions. Europe has a veil of politeness which barely hides what they think. The more open Europeans are the most wonderful people I have ever met. In North America again Canada is a much more pleasant experience than the USA, but USA is huge and depends on which area one is in. I was in Salt Lake City, Utah trying to put together a convincing presentation as to why a corporate entity should dump all the small outdated applications and hire us to redesign and develop a spanking new system which would help them cut their manpower by half. We were a group of 5 people led by a rather tyrannical brute called VJ. At times VJ abandoned us and took off in the company car while we had to walk back to the hotel - a long walk of about an hour. The first day I promptly got lost and just remembered the hotel name. ...