Not quite ghost story

The train had slowed down to a very pleasant roll as we were nearing Shalimar Station. It was raining heavily now and all the other passenger in my coach had left at the previous station Santragachi, leaving me all alone in the entire a/c coach. As we passed by Padmapukur Station, ghostly, empty, as the rains came crashed all around,  there it was - the solitary crow on the bench ... now just a blur through the rain specked window. A perfect setting for a ghost story ... where we'd be travelling for ever, the train and me and everytime I'd look out ... the crow would still be there.

PS - That didn't happen. Thank god!

Mint Blue ....

The Blue skies, the fluffy white clouds with some grey thrown in, the palm trees in a row through which peeps the Alipore Mint ... once pristine white but now blue...

Cloud cloud everywhere but not many drops of rain...

Such magnificent displays for all of us awestruck Kolkatans over the last few days .... but alas ... where are the rains?! It feels like as if in some forseeable futuristic scenario, all of Kolkata has been covered by a transparent utlra thin cover through which we can only see, admire, gasp at this display and hope and hope and hope that some rain might seep in ......

Rath Yatra 2012

Today is Rath Yatra. And getting back home would be a problem. But Kolkata Police seem to have gotten better at crowd management. We did not get stuck anywhere ... but that is perhaps because the Raths were going the other way! What with the metro construction on full swing on Diamond Harbour Road, all we could hear was the noise, clang of cymbals ... But just as we were going down Majerhaat Bridge, a smallish rath and procession passed us by. Oddly beautiful in the twilight.

Bouquinistes, in Behala? Mais oui!

Reminds me of the Bouquinistes of Paris - Booksellers who ply their trade along the banks of the Seine. This is ofcourse a random stall / shop dotting West Bengal and why not, India. This one happens to be in Behala.

Behala Bouquinistes?

But, I am sure .... when the shutters are open, the resemblance, if any at all....ends!!

A brief respite

Would it never end? Day after day of incredibly heat and humidity? The usual conversation that is part of the package ... will it rain, how long will it last, how high is the temperature, was it hotter yesterday etc ... was missing, as all of us zapped by the sultry sogginess fell one after the other into a zombiehood.

Our five day training in this merciless heat for our staff from MP, Assam and Orissa, ended yesterday. How they suffered. And yet not a cloud yesterday Fie.


So, when unexpectedly, the skies darkened, I had to rush up, brave the lightening. Later,  I kept the windows open as long as I could ... the wind brought in the dust, and then the rains ... I stood there soaking it up, to remember when this brief respite is over.

The yellow tram

Not quite trampled! There was that bright yellow tram snaking into the tram depot at Park Circus.

Sky Blue!

The sky was that surprising happy, hopeful, all things wonderfully right with the world blue!

It really was!  I took this photo with my quite basic cell phone and so could not / did not tamper with it!

Kay kaar?

Not mine definitely. KKR that is.

This IPL, the 5th edition, I was totally indifferent to KKR's fortunes. Wins didnot elate me, losses didn't shatter me. Why? I just don't feel any connect whatsoever with the team once Sourav Ganguly was out of it. Despite its name. Kolkata Knight Riders. Was it anger? I don't think so. Well atleast not anger alone. Even if Sourav Ganguly was not playing at all, a team without him wouldn't be of interest to me. Same reason I am rooting for PWI. Sourav.

Will they win tomorrow? Looks slim. But just the idea of having Sourav back at Edens is thrilling enough.

And yes, I have taken the day off tomorrow..

Kolkata Fish Fry

Is there ever anything better than a Kolkata fish fry? Well there isn't actually anything called a Kolkata Fish Fry. It's actually plain Fish Fry. But it has to be made in Kolkata. And not just in any restaurant or hotel. No matter how great or how many world famous chef it has!

It will be tucked away inconspicuously . This one is very prosaically named "Cafe"!

in one of those old Raj Relic buildings

Will have high ceilings and iron rafters

a fan at the end of a very long rod

With impossibly narrow alcoves into which fit rickety wooden chairs and lovers / adda-bajs hunch over a shared plate of any of the very small but unchanging menu, which taste exactly the same year after year ... and all of it delicious

How does one describe it? Well "Anadi Cabin" type will do for most Bengali's. I almost expected Byomkesh Bakshi to come tripping into this one, while I waited for my order of 6 fish fries and 5 fish chop (they only had 5)!

Mmmm....somethings should NEVER change! And guess what? Byomkesh IS arriving tomorrow to Kolkata. Abar!

The hills were alive...

...not with the sound of music. More like our wails, our prayers - silent and loud throughout our journey through the Khasi and Jaintia hills. Thank God the bus didn't go via the Garo hills, on our 17 hour road trip from Silchar to Guwahati. Only a day before we had slept comfortably on the night bus and woke up on reaching Silchar early in the morning.

We began our return at 7am from Silchar and made good progress till we reached Ladrymbai. And there we were for another 4 hours, inching through a narrow high road with steep drops on either side. That thin narrow road was now a 4 laner. The lane on the extreme left had coal filled trucks lined up for miles. And the other three were free for all with huge Volvo buses, vans, vannettes, cars of all shapes and sizes, bikes, cycles and what have you. Ever so often, our bus would pull to the extreme right, swerve off the road and onto a miniscule track on the edge (of the aforementioned steep drop downhill) and we'd go tossing in our seats, with bottles and various bags skittering from left to right inside the bus. And after a while another heave ho and we all tilt to the right. And it went on and on and on.

I am NOT making this up. Normally, giving the narrowness of the road and the height and the nonstop winding, even two large trucks or buses crossing each other is perilous. This was nothing short of a death wish.

But we survived. After a four hour delay, the 12 hour ride should have taken 18 hours, but the super man at the wheel sliced off one hour! We landed at Khanapara in Guwahati in 17 hours and headed straight to The Naga Kitchen and tucked into two Naga thalis to quell our quakes and shivers.

We had gone to Silchar for a field visit, to plan out some training for parents of deaf children. My colleague said, "Let's get the trainer by night bus and send her back by night bus". Absolutely. Nothing to see, nothing to fear. True.

All you adrenalin junkies - the bungee jumpers, the sky divers, the tight rope walkers - now try this. I dare you to.

My own International Kolkata Book Fair

The International Kolkata Book Fair or Boi Mela came, conquered and went, leaving a good percentage of Kolkatans happy as well as sad (ten days is so short a time). Except me. I was happy and ecstatic. No, no ... it wasn't because I manged three trips. Nor was it because I bought quite a few books. All these ofcourse made me happy. But the ecstasy came from how I made the perfect trip to the boi mela, beating scores of others!

The last day of the boi mela fell on a Sunday, the forenoon of which is when all good Bengalis (god bless their collective souls) are busy contemplating a good Sunday lunch; I, the early bird, zoomed off to the boi mela and reached the gate at 12, when I was ushered in. And viola! The entire boi mela to myself and (to be perfectly honest) a couple of hundred other early birds but there was so much of the book fair per person that I could be forgiven in thinking that I was alone.

Stall owners were opening the shutters or collapsible gates, setting up books and other wares in and around the stalls.

Ah! I even went to the favorites – Ananda & Dey and did not have to queue up (that alone is like the 8th wonder of the world). I sauntered in, browsed, picked up books and even conversed with the owners about books, prices, discounts, life in general…

Two hours of strolling around the Milan Mela grounds and several books later, I walked out of Gate 3 and upto the main road wherever I was taken aback at the sight of maybe a million crossing over from the Science City side and rushing in through Gate 1.

As I crossed over to the other side which was no problem at all (god bless Kolkata Police) there was a minibus waiting on the other side which I boarded and took the only seat available! The good bus conductor told me to get off at Park Circus Tram Depot from where I could take an auto – and there indeed was one auto waiting which then dropped me off at Ballygunje Phanri where I got into another auto which just happened to saunter along and was home in no time...

tucking into a good meal of Dal, bhat and Mach Bhaja!

The post siesta evening cha

and the company of my many book!

Bus. Stop here!

Last week, I went with couple of friends to see Nandikar’s Anto Adi Anto, at the Academy of Fine Arts. After the play, we parted ways as my friends would be taking the metro. I decided to take a bus home, the roads being relatively empty by this time and the buses as well. Besides, taxis just don't agree to this short ride. I walked to the spanking new bus stop all shiny, brightly lit, with Robi Thakur staring handsomely out of the vinyl ad, outside the Academy of Fine Arts. [Such marvellous bus stops have been sprouting all over the city. And atleast to me, is a sight to behold, given the past history and usage of bus stops]. However, bus after bus whizzed past. But none seemed remotely interested in stopping or even slowing down at the stop. What was going on? I turned to my left and realised that a goodish crowd of maybe 10 had gathered in front of the Rabindra Sadan Gate, a few metres down from the stop and that was where the buses were stopping. Argh.

I steadily ignored the unruly Kolkatans and dug my heels in at the busstop. As minutes ticked past, I struggled between doing the right thing or getting a ride back home. Gnashing my teeth and feeling mightily silly, I sauntered over to the by now sizeable crowd for my bus and within minutes found a ride home.

Kolkatans don't deserve these new bus stops. Neither do they deserve the new buses.

PS - I caught another play at the Academy - Bohurupee's Nana Phuler Mala ... and this time, I am happy to say I didnot budge from the bus stop and got the bus to stop for me at the bus stop - by jumping on to the road and waving my arms frantically!

PS2 - If you wish to read about my similar elation about buses, here is one for you:

A new bus no less

Too Crow-ded

Ah. Gone is the terrible chill that creeps around the time of the Ganga Sagar mela and settles in to our top floor north west facing flat and seriously gets me depressed. I really don't relish holidays or weekends "chilling" at home, in winters! So, last Sunday (or perhaps the one before that), armed with a madur, a bag full of books, my cell, a cushion and a thick shawl, I crept up to the terrace. Took a few minutes to settle down properly and then ah! How I soaked up the warmth. I should do this more often, I thought. I guess I haven't done this at all last winter and this winter, this was my first. And how good of all the other residents to keep away, leaving the terrace to me! And strangely, even the crows weren't around. Great! Thanks to Ma's daily ritual of feeding them and their progeny for nearly 10 years, perhaps longer, anyone's entrance to the chhad has pavlov's dog effect on them - hundreds of crows, cawing and congregating like in the Hitchcock night mare.

But, this bliss was shortlived. Soon, one by one, the crows started arriving. Cawing and flying around, as if calling their brethren. Argh. It was so irritating. I looked around to see if I could find something I could throw at the one nearest to me, and found my cell phone. Which ofcourse I couldn't / wouldn't hurl at them. So, I decided to take a photo. (Why? dont ask...one of those spur of the moment things). However, that worked. As soon as I would point the cell at any crow, it would swoop away. Amazing. It would return but after a while. And so there I was, half sitting, half lying on the madur, like a mad lady pointing at the crows in turn, shouting take that you foul fiend, you! And I chuckled madly as I did so.

And what do you know, the elderly gentleman who too had crept up to the adjacent terrace for a bit of the sun, crept downstairs as quietly as he had come!

Anyhow, I have had my one whole day of sun-on-the-terrace for this winter. Now with Saraswati Pujo, weather is decidedly warmer and the winter is gone!

PS: - If you wish to read about Saraswati pujo's past and more fun activities on our terrace, here are two past-posts for you:

Saraswati Pujo Post - Belatedly

A roof with a view

A little bit of magic!

It's not always hard work, only. Sometimes, I get lucky. Like last December when I was in Bhubaneswar for the first ever Inter State Meeting of parents of children with Deafness (from our project area in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam), there was this lovely Odisha Handicrafts mela bang in between the venue and my guest house. So, post programme, I got to see the mela....the fairy lights did SO beckon!

The typical Odisha cloth lanterns strung on trees

turning the busy road in to fairy land!

And I did so want that yellow bird for myself....don't quite know why I didn't buy it. In hindsight, this was not the time to curb "impulsive buying"!

PS - Orissa is now officially Odisha from 4th November, 2011.

"Hariye Jaowa Din", Reminiscences of Bina Dey

A hand-painted greetings card by Bina Dey, October 4, 1933

Photo courtesy: Mukul Dey Archives

It's that time of the year again: The International Kolkata Book Fair which begins on the 25th and ends on the 5th of february. And for me and art lovers, here is a treat to look forward to:

"HARIYE JAOWA DIN", REMINISCENCES OF BINA DEY

At the fag end of her days Bina Dey[1906 - 1999], Mukul Dey's wife, recounted the story of her life and experiences to Ms. Anjali Bandopadhyay of Kolkata. Since 1996-97 Anjali took a number of audio interviews of Bina, extended over a period of about two years. "Hariye Jaowa Din" will be a compilation of Bina's interviews by Anjali, which is scheduled to be published in early 2012 by Papyrus, Kolkata.

Bina's reminiscence recounts in great detail her first marital home at the village of Moluti at the Birbhum - Jharkhand border, when she was the bride of Sharadindu Chattopadhyay, a well known Congress worker of Birbhum.

Bina's book will have rich illustrations by Mukul Dey and others, along with an interesting collection of rare photographs.

My earliers posts on Book Fairs past:

Miles to go before we sleep

Kolkata Book Fair 2009

Elephantine Task

Two stories made it to the headlines today. One is an elephantine saga that has pretty much played out in public space, consuming public money, not to mention time. Shame that it does. The other has been going on for as long as one can remember. A long time. However, it does not take up much of public / media time and space. Only once in a while when a report is published. Shame that it doesn't. Yet, neither has any effect on anyone whatsoever.

208 elephant statues, 2 statues of Mayawati, several elephant door handles, elephant fountains, Mayawati pillars and chakras have to be covered before the UP polls. So they are being draped with pink polythene (neutral colour) since elephant happens to be BSP's symbol. 1.6km of pink polythene. And at a cost of Rs. 1 crore. And this elephantine task has to be completed by 5pm of January 11, 2012 to meet the Election Commission's deadline.

Well that was the first story. The other one is that 42% of India's children are malnourished and stunted. That is around 61 million. That is one in three malnourished child on the planet is an Indian according to the HUNGaMa (Hunger and Malnutrition) report. But here, alas, there is no deadline at all.

Full text of the Prime Minister's Speech on the HUNGaMa Report.

The HUNGaMa Report itself.

Goodbye to all that....

Goodbye 2011 and hello 2012! And a new look to a site which is nearly a decade old! Thanks for stopping by!

Review: Oscar Wilde and the Nest of Vipers

So then Oscar Wilde and his pal Arthur Conan Doyle go about solving a series of crimes in end of the century (19th) London. And so his milieu is littered with names and events which is familiar to even me (in the 21st century) sitting so far away in kolkata. And after pages of pages of wit, fun and great conversation, one does get to know who it was who did it, we are also pleasantly surprised at how Watson like ACD happens to be and how ACD got his idea for so many of his holmesian plots from their current adventures! And oh there is Bram Stoker not yet written his most famous work and that is how Jane Avril got her name did she? And all this in the midst of a murder (or two) most foul. hmm. Thankyou Gyles Brandreth for the Oscar Wilder Murder Mysteries.

And I say this even if I began by reading Oscar Wilde and the Viper's Nest - the 4th and the latest book in this series. The "Game" my friends, is definitely afoot!

Postcards by Nandalal Bose

Akar Prakar brings a fabulous exhibitions - Postcards by Nandalal Bose. It was such an immense pleasure going through the rich collection, seeing the drawings, often accompanied by his comments in bengali and that thrill to see the master signing off as "Nanda"!