Sasthi!!! The starting of the Carnival.
I realized it's sasthi when the nearby clubs started to play some good old rabindrasangeet by some not so good singers. I went upstairs to see the actions in the thakurghar( the room for gods). My aunts were making the traditional bengali sweets there along with loads of adda. But soon I was called by my sis to handle the lights for decorating Ma Durga's surrounding. I was browsing through my Dad's collection of lights for the puja purpose. Dad is no more. But still the lights are adorning Maa Durga!!!
I woke up from an afternoon nap to find the Goddess has arrived with her sons and daughters and pets and enemy. But this year the coming is a bit different. Generally our idol resides in the priest's house and come during the pujas for someday. But this year, she has come to our place and we have no idea where she'll go back... seems like coming back of a married daughter to his maiden home for ever. well, the deity will manage her own home.
Next was the moment of dressing the idols up. and after dressing was the time for the jewelleries. We had no probs with that as my granddad has kept all the jeweleries in separate packets with a list of what jewelery is for whom. so after some hours they were ready to be presented before our eyes for the next year.
All the while I was feeling the presence of my dad and granddad in their work. of course the puja is not the same as it was used to be with them. But life continues...
happy sasthi!!!
sasthir preeti o shuvechha!!!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Puja Live: Panchami
panchami night. the 5th night of the new moon. one day before the biggest carnival of kolkata, Durgapuja, begins.
I still remember one incident. in our half yearly exam of standard 3 we were to write a paragraph on the panchami night. me, as stupid as usual, wrote all about the puja of our family and how much we enjoy it. later the teacher told my parents that this paragraph was supposed to be about panchami, not durgapuja. so it should have contained the waiting for sasthi ( the 6th day), the thrill of having new clothes and all.
after so many years I felt like re-writing the essay again. but before that let me do a survey, in small scale though.
Nabanita Datta, 3rd year student of B.Tech, feels that pancchami is the moment when along with the forthcoming happiness, she is a bit melancholic thinking about someone . someone with whom her relation has no name. someone she spend the last year with.
Dhruv Majumder of new Delhi thinks panchami is a gateway of an occasion which may divert her mind from the pain of the recent break up with her girlfriend. He has his classes to attend, but he has decided to skip Friday, the saptami, to spend some time alone and with the deity.
Debalina Bagchi, post-graduate student of Botany, Presidency College, Is really happy on panchami night as her boyfriend is coming back to kolkata the very next day. though she has to miss her friends this time. she's really looking forward to spend some time with her love.
I could have asked some more people, But I didn't. because, the scene is more or less same everywhere. Now that leaves only one. Me. what do I think this time??
Some of the idols have arrived to the nearby puja pandals, our idol will come tomorrow from the priest's house. the lights adorning the houses of the locality are shining. The house has been given a fresh look. The pujo special issues of the books are almost finished. I don't have any thrill about wearing new clothes, neither do I feel anything about pandal hopping. The puja has just become an excuse to spend some time with the friends.
but, But I know that The moment I'll hear the dhaaks beating, the chanting of the anjali being offered, the girls looking mind blowing in their mother's saris I'll have an unmanageable urge to meet the chief guest of the carnival, Ma Durga.
best wishes of panchami. for the Bengali souls, panchamir preeti o shuvechcha..
I still remember one incident. in our half yearly exam of standard 3 we were to write a paragraph on the panchami night. me, as stupid as usual, wrote all about the puja of our family and how much we enjoy it. later the teacher told my parents that this paragraph was supposed to be about panchami, not durgapuja. so it should have contained the waiting for sasthi ( the 6th day), the thrill of having new clothes and all.
after so many years I felt like re-writing the essay again. but before that let me do a survey, in small scale though.
Nabanita Datta, 3rd year student of B.Tech, feels that pancchami is the moment when along with the forthcoming happiness, she is a bit melancholic thinking about someone . someone with whom her relation has no name. someone she spend the last year with.
Dhruv Majumder of new Delhi thinks panchami is a gateway of an occasion which may divert her mind from the pain of the recent break up with her girlfriend. He has his classes to attend, but he has decided to skip Friday, the saptami, to spend some time alone and with the deity.
Debalina Bagchi, post-graduate student of Botany, Presidency College, Is really happy on panchami night as her boyfriend is coming back to kolkata the very next day. though she has to miss her friends this time. she's really looking forward to spend some time with her love.
I could have asked some more people, But I didn't. because, the scene is more or less same everywhere. Now that leaves only one. Me. what do I think this time??
Some of the idols have arrived to the nearby puja pandals, our idol will come tomorrow from the priest's house. the lights adorning the houses of the locality are shining. The house has been given a fresh look. The pujo special issues of the books are almost finished. I don't have any thrill about wearing new clothes, neither do I feel anything about pandal hopping. The puja has just become an excuse to spend some time with the friends.
but, But I know that The moment I'll hear the dhaaks beating, the chanting of the anjali being offered, the girls looking mind blowing in their mother's saris I'll have an unmanageable urge to meet the chief guest of the carnival, Ma Durga.
best wishes of panchami. for the Bengali souls, panchamir preeti o shuvechcha..
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Recipe for Disaster
Disclaimer: don't try this at home. and even if you did, don't you dare ask someone to taste it if you love your life.
Take 100 gms of milk powder. add some flour.make a dough with some milk. make small balls and deep fry those. Add the fried balls in sugar syrup. and all the while think you are making gulab jamuns which will melt in your mouth.
some more things if you don't want to miss the disaster. Use a candle for cooking as the kitchen light will not work. lafter looking for oil, got that from your grandma. steal some resins from your mom's stock to put inside the balls.
When I took the 1st ball in my mouth, I immidiately knew it's anything but gulabjamun. Yet, mom said these are tasty after having one herself. and Vikram, my 10year old cousin, who always manages to have an headache ( as an excuse for not having my food) whenever I ask him to have something made by me; that Vikram is begging me for some more of these.
anyway, the credit must go to the milk powder which is tasty in any form (except the solution in hot water)
Take 100 gms of milk powder. add some flour.make a dough with some milk. make small balls and deep fry those. Add the fried balls in sugar syrup. and all the while think you are making gulab jamuns which will melt in your mouth.
some more things if you don't want to miss the disaster. Use a candle for cooking as the kitchen light will not work. lafter looking for oil, got that from your grandma. steal some resins from your mom's stock to put inside the balls.
When I took the 1st ball in my mouth, I immidiately knew it's anything but gulabjamun. Yet, mom said these are tasty after having one herself. and Vikram, my 10year old cousin, who always manages to have an headache ( as an excuse for not having my food) whenever I ask him to have something made by me; that Vikram is begging me for some more of these.
anyway, the credit must go to the milk powder which is tasty in any form (except the solution in hot water)
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Second Adolescence
I had planned to post something regarding Mahalaya. but this blog just don't let me post something meaningful. the incessant rain seems to have stopped. but the water is still clogged in. and in the 2nd day of the vacation I'm again having blues.
I was feeling so bad when I realized that I was not feeling very comfortable while reading a book. reading was a thing I love. I can't imagine myself without books. but probably because of the backpain I was constantly changing positions in bed while reading. moreover the story has a gloomy end. :(
these days it seems as if I'm in my 2nd adolescence. the same alienated feeling, the blues and all. in fact some moments ago I was thinking whether I should stop blogging. I know some of my blogger friends will miss me fo a few weeks but then...nah!!
but I can't stop it for myself. blogging is what gave me a platform to talk about me. well...though it sounds very selfish and egoistic, but it's not. I meant to say here I can express what I feel. my passions, my pain, my happiness. so even if I post very little, I can't leave it. It has become a part of me.
anyway... after typing these things the mood is a bit brighter, like the sunshine outside.(I'm lying..no sun is shinning outside) so no more brooding...
happy puja to everyone. Maa Durga will heal our scars.
I was feeling so bad when I realized that I was not feeling very comfortable while reading a book. reading was a thing I love. I can't imagine myself without books. but probably because of the backpain I was constantly changing positions in bed while reading. moreover the story has a gloomy end. :(
these days it seems as if I'm in my 2nd adolescence. the same alienated feeling, the blues and all. in fact some moments ago I was thinking whether I should stop blogging. I know some of my blogger friends will miss me fo a few weeks but then...nah!!
but I can't stop it for myself. blogging is what gave me a platform to talk about me. well...though it sounds very selfish and egoistic, but it's not. I meant to say here I can express what I feel. my passions, my pain, my happiness. so even if I post very little, I can't leave it. It has become a part of me.
anyway... after typing these things the mood is a bit brighter, like the sunshine outside.(I'm lying..no sun is shinning outside) so no more brooding...
happy puja to everyone. Maa Durga will heal our scars.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
Boys to Men
2 days ago I was watching 'Lizzie McGuire', my favourite show, on Disney channel. That episode shows the confusion regarding the tranformation from boy to man. The episode was wonderful, as all disney ones are. But that gave me some food for thought: When did I became a man shedding my boyhood?
ok. 1st let me confess,I can't consider myself a complete man( so no raymonds for me :P) until I start earning, but it's also true that I don't call myself a boy anymore (ignore the moments when I do something for a girl and she says ,"oh dwai, what a good boy you are")
But when did I transform. The Dwaipayan who came out from Hare School was definitely a boy.infact the plus 2 classes were actually the transition phase.But the dwai who comes out of Presidency College after his graduation( and again re-entered there) is a man!! more matured, more practical.
the lonely,introvert guy who always had problems in making friends has become some sort of amiable thing. the guy who had only a handful friends at school now had friends all over the collage and the globe. and some of his close friends haven't even seen him. The college years did this makeover( or was it the company of girls?)
but what was the moment when the transformation occured?? was it my 1st depression or 1st smoke?? 1st gulp of alcohol or the first kiss?? the moment of discovering something softer than butter or the moment when we decide to split up?? the 1st shave was pretty close to be that moment but there are many important part of being a man than the 1st shaving.
I think I got it. the moment when I grew up to be a man was the moment of betrayal. when I realized that my supposedly best friend was never a friend and was actually exploiting me and others.
that was my moment of transformation. what was yours??
(ladies,the question is not for you. coz we all know the answer:P)
ok. 1st let me confess,I can't consider myself a complete man( so no raymonds for me :P) until I start earning, but it's also true that I don't call myself a boy anymore (ignore the moments when I do something for a girl and she says ,"oh dwai, what a good boy you are")
But when did I transform. The Dwaipayan who came out from Hare School was definitely a boy.infact the plus 2 classes were actually the transition phase.But the dwai who comes out of Presidency College after his graduation( and again re-entered there) is a man!! more matured, more practical.
the lonely,introvert guy who always had problems in making friends has become some sort of amiable thing. the guy who had only a handful friends at school now had friends all over the collage and the globe. and some of his close friends haven't even seen him. The college years did this makeover( or was it the company of girls?)
but what was the moment when the transformation occured?? was it my 1st depression or 1st smoke?? 1st gulp of alcohol or the first kiss?? the moment of discovering something softer than butter or the moment when we decide to split up?? the 1st shave was pretty close to be that moment but there are many important part of being a man than the 1st shaving.
I think I got it. the moment when I grew up to be a man was the moment of betrayal. when I realized that my supposedly best friend was never a friend and was actually exploiting me and others.
that was my moment of transformation. what was yours??
(ladies,the question is not for you. coz we all know the answer:P)
Saturday, September 09, 2006
The Paradox of Life
I published my last post on 4th . 5 days has passed since. I thought of writing about so many topics but haven't done a single one.
I'm quitting smoking 3 times everyday. Everyweek I'm promising myself that I'd finish the anatomy assignment that is already pending for 3 weeks. And the list is endless. We are supposed to have an hectic schedule but as the study has become an extracurricular activity for me (except for the exam days) I have loads of time to spend on net and with myself. No wonder, my head is filled with useless thoughts.
Sometimes I wait for a letter that I know is never gonna come. last night at around pm I went out and I thought something was in my letter box. but I forget to check that out while coming back. but at 11:30 pm I was so sure that the letter has finally arrived. I even went downstairs with the key... no prize for guessing that the letter box was as empty as ever.
I'm not sure why I'm writing all this crap here. I have no idea. I planned to wrote something else actually , but the words just came out.
btw, can I put blogging in the list of my extracurricular activities??
I'm quitting smoking 3 times everyday. Everyweek I'm promising myself that I'd finish the anatomy assignment that is already pending for 3 weeks. And the list is endless. We are supposed to have an hectic schedule but as the study has become an extracurricular activity for me (except for the exam days) I have loads of time to spend on net and with myself. No wonder, my head is filled with useless thoughts.
Sometimes I wait for a letter that I know is never gonna come. last night at around pm I went out and I thought something was in my letter box. but I forget to check that out while coming back. but at 11:30 pm I was so sure that the letter has finally arrived. I even went downstairs with the key... no prize for guessing that the letter box was as empty as ever.
I'm not sure why I'm writing all this crap here. I have no idea. I planned to wrote something else actually , but the words just came out.
btw, can I put blogging in the list of my extracurricular activities??
Monday, September 04, 2006
Eventful Life
Friday: altercation with the 2 lazy asses we have as ourr lab mates
Saturday: attending a boring theoritical class of 2 hours and then bunking another one which is supposed to be of 4 hours to go to 'Olypub' a famous and cheap watering holes of Kolkata.
Sunday: going to a friend's place to reharse for the programme on Teacher's day.
Today: getting in in college only to find an angry HOD and a suspension on us fo r bunking the class.(well, can't blame him..only 4 was present representing the 23 students)..and after a lot of discussion Mr.Hitlar decleared that we all have to get a letter from our gurdian stating the cause of our absence.
we were just wondering whether to submit the xerox copies of the bills along with??
I told mom the story representing myself as the most innocent and always inclined to attend classes type of student. and she's ready to sign any letter that I write for her!!
Saturday: attending a boring theoritical class of 2 hours and then bunking another one which is supposed to be of 4 hours to go to 'Olypub' a famous and cheap watering holes of Kolkata.
Sunday: going to a friend's place to reharse for the programme on Teacher's day.
Today: getting in in college only to find an angry HOD and a suspension on us fo r bunking the class.(well, can't blame him..only 4 was present representing the 23 students)..and after a lot of discussion Mr.Hitlar decleared that we all have to get a letter from our gurdian stating the cause of our absence.
we were just wondering whether to submit the xerox copies of the bills along with??
I told mom the story representing myself as the most innocent and always inclined to attend classes type of student. and she's ready to sign any letter that I write for her!!
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