tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68551246241365601322024-02-21T01:25:45.942+05:30My life through the years.....Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-62110949642298957432018-06-18T09:08:00.006+05:302018-06-18T09:08:56.974+05:30Life in Barrackpore...80s<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This time I am back after....can you believe whopping 6 years ! I had even forgotten the URL, so had to dig it up from old documents.<br />
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There are times when the writing bug hits me and I start writing and then there are times I just ignore the bug. This time I could not ignore, hence I am back.<br />
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Over the last few episodes I have covered multiple aspect of my life in Barrackpore in the eightees which included my graduating to a teen from a child.<br />
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My father used to take a train to go to Sealdah from Barrackpore, from where he took a bus to go to his office. His Office had various branches in Chowranghee, Russel Street, Middleton street etc in Kolkata. He used to be in different offices in different point of time. Me and my father both used to start in the morning around the same time, may be 8 am, I do not remember exactly any more. My school started at 9 am, so I suppose it was 8 or may be 8:30 am. When I was young, my mom used to drop me to school, so all of us left home at the same time. My mother used to make tea, cook breakfast and lunch everyday fresh in the morning.I remember I had my demands<br />
and preferences for tiffin and always demanded tasty stuff without even thinking about how difficult it would be for her. I detested some common tiffins like Roti, bread etc. My preferences used to be unhealthy stuff like Luchi, parota, Motorshutir kochuri, noodles, sandwiches etc. She used to get up very early and also she has always been very fast and efficient with everything she does.She also used to go to my school in afternoon to pick me up.<br />
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As I grew up, in Class 6th or 7th, my parents developed more faith in me and allowed me to travel on my own. For some time after this my mother still used to come and pick me up from the bus stand near home. The travel was simple - a rickshaw to bus stand and then a bus directly on the main road in front on Air Force Campus where my school was located. Initially it was located in a place called Palta but later, a bigger building was constructed and it moved to a place called Badamtala. It used to be hardly 6-7 stops in the bus and there were quite a few students and teachers who used to take the same route. There was only 1 bus route - "85" that I needed to take, there was no other option.<br />
There was also Autorickshaw - but it was expensive in those days and also not as ubiquitous as it is now - in almost all Indian cities and towns. I do not recall the bus fare though...<br />
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The private buses in Kolkata have a strange arrangement of sitting and standing - it is not how we envision a bus normally - with 2 long columns of 2*2 seats with a passage in between. These buses had a unique seating arrangement with essentially allowed more people to stand, and hence many more people could be packed into it than a standard seat arrangement. I suppose these buses still ply in Kolkata, though there are more "normal" options available now than was available in those days.<br />
It was a rare occurrence that I would get a a place to seat either way, but since the distance was short and I was young, it was never a reason to be discontent. The travel was smooth 99.9% of days, but there were those handful of days when bus did not ply due to some issue - like a strike or some blockade in the route. Those days the options were either to take the autorickshaw, which were in heavy demand and hence a long waiting period, or to take a rickshaw which took an hour or more to reach the destination. The days this delay happened while returning back, my mother will be very worried as there was no mobile phone, internet or social media to get instant information. Landline phone existed, but it was rarely seen and was almost a luxury. Out of all our relatives, only 2 had phone. One was my mesho (husband of my mejomashi - Mother's 2nd elder sister) as he was working as a senior office in telephone department. The other was my dadu, whom I mentioned earlier, who had the first as fridge and TV in the family as well.<br />
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There were days when my father came home late from office and due to lack of any kind of communication facilities, the only option was to wait and pray. The reasons for being late were hardly 2, delay in trains due to some technical issue, which was completely acceptable and understandable. It was the other reason which caused great anguish - he used to go off for some unplanned work - his own work or to help someone else after office and forgot completely to look at his watch. The memories of waiting endlessly after finishing studies, sometimes in the drawing room, or sometimes even outside the door, are still vivid in my memory, like many others. The worst case for case-1 was on 31st October 1984, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated. That day the train services were halted completely and all commuters including my father had to walk along the railway tracks to reach home. My father walked all the way from Sealdah to Barrackpore - a distance of around 25 km. That was a day that is also etched in memory like many others, due to different reasons, which I will talk about some other day !<br />
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We lived in a rented home on B.T.Road, next to Barrackpore Municipality. Due to this strategic location, the bus stop was right in front of our home. It was a great advantage as those days the most preferred mode of local transports used to be buses and trains.The rented house we lived in had 2 tenants on the ground floor and the landlady lived with her family on the 1st floor. Our part had 3 rooms and a single toilet. One of the rooms was the bed room, one was drawing room and the 3rd was kitchen cum dining room. There were wooden windows, with no net layer to prevent mosquitoes from entering. There was no mosquito repellents and the mosquito nets while sleeping was the norm There was no AC, and fans were the only respite during the hot and humid summers. Power Cuts, which were popularly known as "load-shedding" those days in Bengal were pretty common, and there was no power backup ! We had kerosene lamps and candles for lighting up the dark corners during these occurrences, for all work including studying, cooking, going to the washroom etc. We all used to be upset when power cut happened but I do not remember thinking that we cannot survive it. My father used to be Central Government Officer and we were among the better-off middle class people on those days. This is a life that we had, which many of us in the same social strata cannot imagine today !</div>
Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-39713109089196109882012-03-31T00:12:00.001+05:302012-03-31T00:16:28.229+05:30Barrackpore continues....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My last post was quite a few months back, which as only
become the norm now :-) Well, will pick up from where I left last time -
arrival of TV in our house. The earliest memories associated with TV are
watching Spiderman on Saturday evenings after school. Cartoons were a rare
treat those days and the wait for a whole week to catch a new episode made it
all the more worthwhile. Then there was the Chitrahar - bouquet of hindi film
music over a 30 minute window - which also was eagerly awaited by all families.
In these days and times of multiplicity in every conceivable type of TV
channels - the charm of waiting and the eagerness seems to have been lost for
ever :-(</div>
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The earliest
soap operas on India Television initiated in those days of 80s...The first was
was Humlog which seemed to go on for ever....3 years? 4 years? Can't remember
so well any more. But many of the characters are still etched in my
memory....Ashok kumar in his role as the "sutradhar"....his comments
after every episode. Hum log was followed by Buniyaad, Khaandaan and then many
many more. We had some exceptional comedy series like Idhar Udhar & Yeh Jo
hai Zindagi....The characters still seem mint fresh in my mind and there is
nothing on television these days which even compare to these.</div>
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Watching movie on Saturday & Sunday evenings on TV was
also something that we used to look forward to eagerly.</div>
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Apart from
TV, other means of entertainment included visiting relatives. We were staying
in Barrackpore, which is in Bengal which is my home state and hence had many
relatives staying around. My grandparents from Father's side (Dadu - Thamma)
stayed nearby in Khardah. It is the same place we stayed for a few months
before moving to Barrackpore, which I wrote about in some of my earlier posts.
Then there were my jethus & kakus (father's brothers) and pishis (father's
sisters)and also father's cousins and their families. On my mother's side, there
were her uncles and aunts, her cousins and their families. We used to pay visit
to one of or the other place pretty often - at least once in 2 weeks. Those
days studies were never so demanding or tough as they are today....and it was
always possible to finish off the homework and dash off to some relative's
place or other !!!</div>
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It is
not that I enjoyed going to all these places...there were some those were my
favourites and at other places I had no choice but to tag along :-) Well I was
not so much of a social person and mostly an introvert who would rather sit in
a corner with a book than strike up some conversation. One of the reasons for
this behaviour is definitely my basic nature, which remains unchanged to this
day. Only change I have succeeded is change the way I come across &
interact in professional setup. On a personal level, I am still the same - the
way I was as a 8 year old. </div>
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But
there was another reason for my not being able to open up to the world. I was
obese as a child from the time I was around 7 years to 12 years old and subject
to taunts and comments from relatives & strangers alike. There were always
unsolicited advice from everyone on what all I need to do to be like all other
"normal" kids. The solutions ranging from eating less to jogging,
yoga, running, skipping & what not. Though they might not have spoken out
of any negative intention, but infringing on privacy is something that we
Indians are known to do routinely without realising the effect it might have on
the recipient. All of us have our weak points....things about which we
ourselves are not too happy about, which we are trying to work on. Very rarely
people are sensitive enough to realise this...</div>
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That
was my first understanding of what it feels to be part of a
"minority" community...people who can be identified among a crowd of
"normal" people...Subsequently, as I grew up, though I lost most of
the baby weight by the time I was 12 or 13, there were other reasons for me to
part of this "not normal" community....the fact that I was not
beautiful, or fair, or did not have long hair and then now being single in
mid-thirties....</div>
</div>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-36863213160411875192011-08-22T21:34:00.003+05:302011-08-22T21:42:08.130+05:30Growing up in Barrackpore ...continued..I was discussing the good old days of 80s.....Why do we seem always to add "good old" when we discuss our childhood? As we move forward in life, we always seem to look back at past days with rose-tinted glasses....We always keep only postives in mind when we look back, especially at our childhood days irrespective of the fact whether it was all rosy or there were issues at that time...
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<br />I was mentioning about the electrnics & white good evolution in INdia of 80s among middle class households. In my last post, I talked about refrigerator and two-in-one. Next on my list is the television, which today, we cannot imagine life without !!! We had a TV-free life till 1984, when we got our first televiion set. Kids today cannot even think of a life without Cartoon Network and us elders without our daily fix of instant news, soaps, relaity TV, wild life, world movies etc.
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<br />So how was life pre-TV in India? Well, books covered a major part of the time which is today eaten away and wasted by TV. My parents used to read lot of books and had inculcated the same in me as well, from an early age. And consewuently, like most people of my generation, I was hooked to books - all kiddie stuff available in English or Bangla. In Bangla, we had a biweekly magazine named "anandamela". I started "reading" it even before I could actually read myself - my mother used to read it out to me. This was when we were in Dimapur, about which I have written in some of my previous post.
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<br />Subsequently I leart reading myself and slowly developed into a avid reader of whatever I could lay my hands on. Lot of bangla children's literature from leading authors like Satyajit Ray, Sunil Ganguly, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Samaresh Basu, Samaresh Majumdar etc. English books read were mostly evergreen classics from Enid Blyton. Comic books were also staple, and I enjoyed Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle, Richie Rich, Tintin etc. I was not too fond of Indrajaal Comics which were also very popular those days - which mainly covered superhero stuff like Mandrake, Superman, phantom etc.
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<br />And then their was the radio. Well people today cannot imagine listening to the radio in any other place or form than in cars and through mobile phones while on the move!! But those days, most households actually had a "radio-set". This used to be in standalone avatar earlier and later as part of two-in-one after the advent of the same. Radio had a somewhat equivalent role to play as the Television of today. There were multiple channals and different programmes including music shows, talk shows on audio soaps and dramas. But the most important role that radio played in people's lives was to bring news - not live as it happens as television today but at fixed intervals multiple times in a day. And then the radio was not impacted my power cuts as it used to run on cells and not on electric power.
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<br />Television came to India in 70s and was owned by a very exclusive club of people. I suppose the same way it has happened for all new technology that was arrived before and subsequently including radio, music systems or say internet or mobile telephony later. In our extended family, there was a TV at house of "Barrackporer dadu" - my Ma's elder uncle's house. Ma was regular visitor at their place before her marriage and had lived long period in this house. Also my parents marriage was solemnized at this house only. Whenever we were in Kolkata, we were regular visitors as well, to meet dadu, dida, Bachhumashi & babua mamu. Also very much part of the memories assciated with dadur bari is Happy, the pet alsatian.
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<br />My earliest TV memories are associated with dadur bari only. During our evening visits, the TV, occupying place of pride in the living room, was mostly turned on for few programmes. Our eyes and ears eagerly gobbled up the rare experience....whatever was on, seemed like magic. The experience of the technology was a marvel, its novelty never judged by the quality of programming. Another place I went one or two times to watch TV was at the house of one of our neighbours in Khardah, during the few months that we lived there. It was the house of Jinka, one of my playmates in Khardah, where she lived with her parents. They were one of the more well-to-do households in Khardah, her father was...well, as far as I remember a businessman, but my memory may fail me here. Her mother used to stitch clothes and teach tailoring to ladies in the area, which in today's parlance, we would rather say "she owned a boutique" !!! And another thing I should mention about them is that her parents had a mixed (Hindu-Muslim) marriage, which was also extremely rare in those days and that too in conservative areas like the places we are talking about here.
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<br />Coming back to TV, those days on Doordarshan (again, for the sake of the people who have not grown up in India, this was the name of the only broadcaster in those days, which was government, and by the way, it exists even today, though in a much transformed avatar) in Kolkata, we had 2 children's prgrammes on MOnday & Tuesday evening, which were called Hareko-Rokomba & Chiching Phank. The visits to Jinka's house were mainly to watch these programmes once in a while. But those days, well cultured, well brought up kids from educated families did not go to watch TV to others homes, and naturally my mother was not in favour or me doing this as well !! So, my TV pleasures were curtailed for the time being...till we had our own TV.
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<br />My parents also started thinking about the prospect of owning a TV around 1983-84. This was the time, when TV market started seeing a boom, with its manufacturers actively promoting it among the middle class. This was the time, when TV started becoming more widespread, from the rich & affluent to parts of the middle class. Lot of new manufactuers started crowding the TV market - and most of them were foreign collaborations with Indian companies. Due to regulations at those days, foreign brands did not have a direct play here....and also the market was not as lucrative as it is now. But it was surely the beginning of the consumer revolution that, in next 20 years has led to all leading foreign brands jostling for space in all neighbourhood electronics stores across the lenght and breadth of the country.
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<br />The brands that were there in the market at that time were BPL, Philips, ECA, Uptron, Beltron, Keltron, Sonodyne, Dyanora, etc. After a lot of analysis which included visit to electronics hops and discussions, We decided to go for a 14" Philips Television, and yes it was all Black and White at that time. The era of Colour television was still quite a few years away.The transmission was terrestrial at that time, which is again a alien concept to today's generation bred on Cable, DTH or IPTV!! What it meant was that a antenna had to be erected and the direction had to be set to "catch" the broadcast signals. But at the end of setting it up, the enjoyment and fun was matchless. It was a life changing experience. Our evenings and weekends changed forever from there....There was a new choice in life in terms of entertainment.
<br />Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-85697802482601012642011-08-16T00:03:00.001+05:302011-08-21T00:35:40.449+05:30Growing up in Barrackpore...Last time I was talking about the house hunting exercise undertaken by my parents to cut down on my hectic schedule to and fro school(Khardah to Palta)everyday. In between I diverted the discussion a little bit to talk about my Bangla learning at home & the applications !!!
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<br />We moved to a rented accommodation on B.T.Road, near Barrackpore municipality. The House belonged to Late. Dr. Amiya Chatterjee. Mrs. Chatterjee lived on 1st floor with a son(finished college) and a daughter in school. She also managed her husband's nursing home which was located nearby. There were 2 tenants on the ground floor including us. There was a Kali Mandir next door and the bus stop was just in front of the house. Chiriamore (the main market area of Barrackpore) and Railway Station were at walking distance. So overall, from a location perspective, you could not get anything much better than this.
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<br />The place was nothing like today's rented apartments are. We had total of 3 rooms, 1 bedroom and 1 living room. The other was kitchen cum dining room, and 1 bathroom. Those days houses did not very commonly have BHK (Bedroom Hall Kitchen) concept. Apartments / Flats as we call them now, were extremely rare those days. There were only houses built randomly with many rooms that were customized as any room as per the need of the landlord or the people whom it was rented off to. We did have lot of stuff to fill the rooms - beds, Almirah, sofa set, gas stove, lot of utensils, books, clothes etc...But No, we did not still own a TV. Around that time TV was slowly gaining popularity, but every household did not have one. It was still pretty much a upper class kind of thing (and no, there was nothing called a "upper middle class" then), with middle class slowly waking up to it.
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<br />Power cuts in Bengal were pretty common and frequent, and mitigation mechanisms were not power backup through either generator of inverter but kerosene lamps and candles. Even refrigerators were not too common those days, but we happened to be proud owners of this piece of electronics courtesy my dida. It was a wedding gift for ma, and subsequently for me and my father as well. It was a prized possession, which was something we could be publicly proud of. And yes, we also owned a "two-in-one".
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<br />Before you start opening google chrome or IE to get into Wiki or dictionary.com real fast, to try to make sense to my lingo, let me tell you what a "two-in-one" is. (For the benefit of those people who did not grow up in India in the eighties).
<br />"Two-in-one" was the predecessor to the music systems of today and successor to the standalone radio & gramophone players. It had both radio and cassette player and recorder. Cassette recorder and player were a novelty of those times and also not commonly owned and hence prized !!! The initial craze was to record tracks from gramophone records (as most people had collections of these. But the condition was that the environment had to be sound-free which is rarely feasible. Nevertheless, the ease of carrying the cassettes and the portability of the player around vis-a-vis the heavy duty record player made it highly sought after. It was much later that cassettes were mass produced by the music companies that more and more labels started being available. The 1st player that baba got for us, had a long standing career, playing for us for many years before I took it to my college hostel.
<br />Next, I will tell you about the beginning of our TV experience, and how it developed over our years in Barrackpore and beyond!!!
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<br />Before I miss out completely, let me tell you that we are in 1983 now.Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-51743937548322350502009-08-09T22:11:00.003+05:302009-08-09T22:49:51.091+05:30Learning Bangla...I have been telling you stories of my school days in Barrackpore for last few posts, and the last one particularly featuring my local train journeys to and from home in Khardah. All this travelling was taking a toll on me as I was not used to it and used to get too tired. Also, the home was a parental home of my father, and we were entitled to only one small room on the first floor, which was not sufficient to house my ma's pretty much expanded "sonsar" (I could not find a better fitting word here - it means a sum of family and household belongings) of around 9 years now.<br /><br />So there was a hunt on for rented accommodation somewhere nearer to school - to make life little more easier for me. Though I was an active part of many many house hunts later, this time I was a little too young to know anything. Life was very cool for me, I being shielded and cushioned from all the efforts my parents had to undertake to hunt for a suitable house, shift there, maintain a fine balance of relationship with my grandparents, and live very amicably in a house which had 2 other units inhabited by the landlords (on 1st floor) and another tenant (also sharing the ground floor with us). I was surrounded by my parents' love and attention and also with my favourite storybooks all the time. I loved reading books of all kinds - strictly the kiddie ones of course <;-)> both in English and Bangla...<br /><br />Though I never read Bangla in school - the languages I studied were English to start with and Hindi and Sanskrit at a later stage. But all credit to my parents, they taught me bangla at home - writing and reading, before I actually learnt Hindi at school. So Bangla was the 2nd language which I learnt to read and write. And the love of the language was sustained by constant efforts from my parents.....We subscribed to popular Bangla children's magazine - Anandomela, from the time I was 3/4 years old, and my mother made it a point to read me stories and poems from it regularly. And once I learnt to read, I got addicted to it, and used to look forward to it. This habit continued for pretty long, till the time I was say 14/15, and started losing interest in kiddie stuff. Anandomela, also evolved later as a more of a teens magazine and lost all its charm that it has in my growing-up years....<br /><br />The writing habit was sustained by encouraging me to write to all relatives strictly in Bangla. There were 2 mandatory times of the year when I had to write letters to all close relatives - "Nabobarsho"(Bengali New Year) and "Shubho Bijoya"(Dussera or Durga Puja - the most popular festival of Hindu Bengalis). And this is so typical of all Bengali families. We still carry on with the tradition of wishing near and dear ones on these 2 occasions, but today it is either a SMS or a phone call or a mass E-mail !!!!<br /><br />So, I actually never got to forgot the letters, but the quality of the handwriting was pathetic at best till the time I actually did write...but now I don't know how much it could have deteriorated further...It has been years that I wrote anything in Bangla at all :-(<br /><br />There is a hilarious incident related to my Bangla writing, which I am never allowed to forget by ma - she never ceases to tease me on this !!! I was very young, may be around 6-7 years at the time. It was one of the 2 "letter-writing" time of the year...I was writing to all - my mashis, mamas, dida, thamma, dadu, cousins etc. One of these letters was destined for my "Baro mashi"(eldest sister of ma). In Bangla, there are 3 different letters which bring about the phonetic of "R" or similar. So there are three "raw" (please read this as bangla) - "Bo-e-shunno-raw", "Do-e-shunno-raw" & "Dho-e-shunno-raw". If you are not familiar with Bangla, there exists exactly the same scenario in Hindi also. The fact is "Baro-mashi" is spelled with "Do-e-shunno-raw". But I did not know how to spell it an was asking my parents about the spelling. I do not exactly remember what ma told me, but my interpretation was the word was spelled with all three "raw", and ended by writing all "Baw" followed by all the 3 "raw"s!!!! It looked really funny to my parents though I never understood at that time what the fuss was all about!!! It was much later that I comprehended the it was so funny to look at such a spelling <:-)>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-60194061782467924182009-06-21T00:52:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:53:45.976+05:30Continuing school memories - after a long time(Entry dated 04/24/2009)<p>Friends, this has been another of those long breaks that this blog is used to by now <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />. But the good part is that I did not actually take a sabbatical from blogging altogether. All this time, I was trying to be as regular and disciplined as possible with my other blog, which is more current and I am free to write whatever I feel like. Not that someone has prohibited me from writing whatever I want to write in this blog as well, but since I decided to keep in a little autobiographical and in chronological order, I cannot jump guns and fast forward and rewind at will....So dear friends I am still stuck up in school and you have to bear with me for many more days and months before I can reminisce the more colourful college days and beyond....</p> <p>We stayed in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Khardah</span> for around a year before we moved to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Barrackpore</span>, primarily to ensure that I can avoid the daily strenuous travel by train and concentrate more on studies :-) But before I start with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Barrackpore</span> days, one small incident without which my memories of those days would be incomplete. I have already mentioned that Ma used to drop me to school everyday. I used to travel to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Palta</span> from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Khardah</span> with Ma, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">baba</span> used to travel from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Khardah</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sealdah</span>, and we actually used to travel in opposite directions, in trains that started around the same time. Everyday before I alighted the train, I used to get a hug and a kiss from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">baba</span>. One day, due to some mismatch in train timings, me and ma had to board our train in a hurry before I could go through my aforementioned daily ritual. I was so upset by this that tears started flowing automatically and I kept crying till the entire journey was over. And to ma's embarrassment, she had to answer lot of curious co-passengers, that it was not because she has hit me that I was crying, but because i did not get my daily dose of love from my father <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /></p> <p>Interestingly, I remembered this episode while I was trying to compare me at 7 years to my 7-8 year old nieces. I was actually trying to brag aloud that I was much more braver than the kids these days who keep crying at the drop of a hat, and then I remembered this and all my pride vanished into thin air <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /></p> <p>Moving to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Baarrackpore</span> brought an end to my "daily passenger" status in local trains. I never again needed to become a daily passenger in any local train in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Kolkata</span>, though I occasionally travelled as required. I had many long memorable train journeys mostly to and from college later. I also had the privilege(?) to be a daily passenger on the most dreaded <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">mumbai</span> local trains. Though it was not a very pleasing experience, but it did me a lot of good. I did overcome the "fear" of travelling in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Mumbai</span> local trains for ever!!!</p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-72750085647534273492009-06-21T00:51:00.003+05:302009-06-21T00:52:56.489+05:30School Days ........tits-n-bits of memories (Entry dated 09/21/2008)<p>Movement from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Dimapur</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Khardah</span> - was a pretty big change for me - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">atleast</span> from one aspect - the travel to school. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dimapur</span> used to be predominantly rickshaws, some walking, and some bus. But here, it was a different world...I had to use multiple modes of transport to reach office ....From home to railway station - rickshaw, then train to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Palta</span> station, then walking down to school, and sometimes rickshaw at this end also, if getting late.....</p> <p>So thus began my daily ordeal, or rather my mothers', to drag me out of bed, and getting me ready, preparing breakfast and packed lunch for me and my father, then getting ready herself....and then feeding me and dragging me along towards school. All 3 of us used to go get ready and leave home at the same time, and catch a rickshaw towards railway station. And then at station, me and ma used to catch train towards <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">palta</span> , and my father in the opposite direction towards <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">sealdah</span>.....and then after reaching <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">palta</span>, again hurrying down towards school....</p> <p>Ma used to go back home after dropping me and used to come back again to pick me up in the afternoon.... And in between take bath, wash clothes, cook lunch for the rest of the family.......oops.....thats quite too much actually..</p> <p>The train back home used to be fun ....the best part was definitely school getting over....and then it was fun walking back to station with friends....some of whom used to walk back home, some used to walk till bus stand to take a bus home and some of whom used to take a train, like me....Ma also made many friends - the mothers of my friends....it started a long association with them, which continued till the time I was in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Barrackpore</span> school - Class 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">th</span>. She remembers all of them fondly till date, though there never was a opportunity to meet then after 1989.</p> <p>And then reaching station and waiting for the train....and boarding it once it arrives. And then started the best part, which I was so eager to share with you all...the yummy food <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /> ...mostly what you would classify as "junk food" today, but this term was unheard of on those days...So most attractive stuff on train was some kind of a mixture - which we called "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">bati</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">gorom</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">chanachur</span>"...it contained fried mung <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">daal</span>, fried cornflakes, and a variety of fried <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">knick</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">knaks</span>, in a super <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">masala</span> mix and all kept fresh and hot using a small fire using coal....It tasted heavenly, and u know, it is not one of those "feel good" stuff of childhood that you always look back and find great.....I had actually tasted this years later and believe me, it still tastes the same <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />....The other goodies <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">included</span> cucumber - peeled, sliced into 4 long slices and smeared with salt mixed with red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">chilli</span> powder.........used to be a great and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">nutritious</span> treat as well in summers.....not that I cared a bit about the nutrition part ...but the great <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">enthusiasm</span> of my ma to buy this for me whenever I showed any interest is the testimony to the "nutrition" part <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-67934998131882176272009-06-21T00:51:00.002+05:302018-06-18T09:12:02.581+05:30School Days ........tits-n-bits of memories (Entry dated 09/21/2008)<div></div><p>Movement from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Dimapur</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Khardah</span> - was a pretty big change for me - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">atleast</span> from one aspect - the travel to school. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dimapur</span> used to be predominantly rickshaws, some walking, and some bus. But here, it was a different world...I had to use multiple modes of transport to reach office ....From home to railway station - rickshaw, then train to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Palta</span> station, then walking down to school, and sometimes rickshaw at this end also, if getting late.....</p> <p>So thus began my daily ordeal, or rather my mothers', to drag me out of bed, and getting me ready, preparing breakfast and packed lunch for me and my father, then getting ready herself....and then feeding me and dragging me along towards school. All 3 of us used to go get ready and leave home at the same time, and catch a rickshaw towards railway station. And then at station, me and ma used to catch train towards <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">palta</span> , and my father in the opposite direction towards <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">sealdah</span>.....and then after reaching <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">palta</span>, again hurrying down towards school....</p> <p>Ma used to go back home after dropping me and used to come back again to pick me up in the afternoon.... And in between take bath, wash clothes, cook lunch for the rest of the family.......oops.....thats quite too much actually..</p> <p>The train back home used to be fun ....the best part was definitely school getting over....and then it was fun walking back to station with friends....some of whom used to walk back home, some used to walk till bus stand to take a bus home and some of whom used to take a train, like me....Ma also made many friends - the mothers of my friends....it started a long association with them, which continued till the time I was in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Barrackpore</span> school - Class 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">th</span>. She remembers all of them fondly till date, though there never was a opportunity to meet then after 1989.</p> <p>And then reaching station and waiting for the train....and boarding it once it arrives. And then started the best part, which I was so eager to share with you all...the yummy food <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /> ...mostly what you would classify as "junk food" today, but this term was unheard of on those days...So most attractive stuff on train was some kind of a mixture - which we called "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">bati</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">gorom</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">chanachur</span>"...it contained fried mung <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">daal</span>, fried cornflakes, and a variety of fried <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">knick</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">knaks</span>, in a super <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">masala</span> mix and all kept fresh and hot using a small fire using coal....It tasted heavenly, and u know, it is not one of those "feel good" stuff of childhood that you always look back and find great.....I had actually tasted this years later and believe me, it still tastes the same <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />....The other goodies <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">included</span> cucumber - peeled, sliced into 4 long slices and smeared with salt mixed with red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">chilli</span> powder.........used to be a great and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">nutritious</span> treat as well in summers.....not that I cared a bit about the nutrition part ...but the great <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">enthusiasm</span> of my ma to buy this for me whenever I showed any interest is the testimony to the "nutrition" part <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-88174116665350433972009-06-21T00:51:00.001+05:302009-06-21T00:51:52.052+05:30School Days in barrackpore continue..........(Entry dated 09/19/2008)<p>So as you already know by now, I joined <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">KV</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">barrackpore</span> (Air Force) school in Class 3, and finished the unfinished Class which I started in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">KV</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dimapur</span>. I managed to top my class this time also, continuing on the trend so far, and then moved to Class-4 and then one by one into Class 6,7,8,9.........Nothing much interesting happened in those years to really take you all through on a detailed level, but I would love to share some defining moments/incidents which I still recall....</p> <p>One of which is the yearly ritual of Krishna Madam...Her son was in a student in the same school, one year my junior. Every year, she used to take my books and notebooks for him....I really pity the poor guy on having to read old books without any apparent reason...<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />and the worst part is having to refer classwork and homework notes of a senior...that too in school........and those good old days when studies were not as taxing as they are today ...</p> <p>In all these years in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">KV</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Barrackpore</span>, I consistently topped all the classes....but cannot say the same about co-curricular activities....I used to have a good handwriting - and both English and Hindi handwriting competitions were pretty regular for me. Well those of who who might have seen my handwriting recently may violently disagree to this, but believe me, the current state of affairs are mostly due to the almost complete migration from the "typed" medium from the "written" medium.....with some practice, if required, I assure you I can go back to my high standards of childhood <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif" /></p> <p>I also did participate in recitation and speech competitions here, but the success rate was very low. I developed speaking skills slightly later in the day....mostly when I moved to my next school. Today, formal communication is one of my key and closely nurtured skills....</p> <p>Group song was a safe option - and luckily I used to be selected for that as well....Dance, again was something which was alien to me , mostly due to the fact that I was an obese child...I did discuss this in one of my previous posts. So during the shortlisting - one look at me, and I was out of the probables <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" /> Not that it really affected me all that much....but there was definitely a sense of being left out....The first feeling of being different from the group ...being "non-normal" in some way.........And after so many years, after going through multitude of failures again and again and again.....now I have understood the meaning of success and failures .....and though I have learnt to accept failures and learn from them, the fact of being "non-normal" from the crowd in some aspects does hurt as badly as it did to me as a 8 year old ..........</p> <p></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-33174518391032977132009-06-21T00:50:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:51:00.396+05:30Growing up - School days at Barrackpore (Entry dated 09/12/2008 )I joined in Class - 3, in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Barrackpore</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">KV</span> in Air Force Station. I do remember quite a few classmates from that time - first name I remember if of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Vandana</span>, who was the monitor and became my very good friend for some time. But with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">KVs</span>, students keep moving in and out frequently, due to their parents getting transferred to some other city....so much so that by the time I left this school in Class-9, there were hardly 4-5 students who still remained from that Class I joined in 1983....<br /><br /><br /><br />Then there were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Soma</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Anamika</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Swati</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sharmila</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Sharmishtha</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Tuhin</span>....some of the names I can recall right away.... I also have a photograph of this Class with many of the names written on the back of it....I don't have it here with me, but at home in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Kolkata</span>.... Off late have got in touch with 2-3 of my classmates of this era...courtesy of course of Orkut....Would definitely like to get in touch with more school mates ...its interesting to find out how their lives have shaped out over the years....<br /><br /><br /><br />So year after year....went by as I progressed from one Class to other. Met some very good teachers on the way - many of whom I still remember fondly..Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-36134687002345659782009-06-21T00:49:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:50:17.680+05:30Journey to adolescence....in Kolkata (Entry dated 09/06/2008 )<p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Last week I concluded my days in North Eastern part of the country and landed in West Bengal. Well that actually doesn't end my relationship with North East as such, as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Agartala</span> being my mother's hometown, my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">dida</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">mashis</span>, mamas have been staying there and are still there. So that is one connection that still exists, and will always will. There are beautiful memories of childhood associated with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Agartala</span>....of the garden, huge varieties of flowers.....getting up in the misty mornings accompanying my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">dida</span> with a miniature flower basket ...plucking the colourful flowers..and then my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">dida</span> in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">puja</span>-room.....in her pristine white <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">saree</span> with her freshly washed long hair, chanting the mantras in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">puja</span> room – lit up with a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">diya</span> and fragrance of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">agarbattis</span> wafting in the air…..these were the times where u feel nearest to god…..though I was too young to realize this at that time….</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Normally we try and capture all our memories through cameras and camcorders, and keep it neatly arranged in cupboards to pull put and savour in leisure…But the real photographs and videos are the ones which are embedded in our memory, it only requires us to close out eyes & take our mind back….It is all so clear and sparkling….DVD quality <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></span><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> or even better………..This was one of those memories……all so new and fresh to the last detail….after so many years…..though it has been more than 12 years she is no longer with us…..</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Now to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Khardah</span> – the northern suburb of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Kolkata</span> where my father spent most of his growing up years, after being uprooted from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Noakhali</span> district of East Bengal. My grandfather (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">dadu</span>) and his elder brother had come and settled in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Khardah</span>, and they were both led very respectable careers as teachers. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Dadu</span> had 4 brothers as 2 sisters and he was the youngest. The 3 elder brothers settled down in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Deogarh</span> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Bihar</span> with their families, after being forced to move out of the ancestral home….My father, spent few his early years in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Deogarh</span> also, under the affectionate care of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">jethimas</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">jethus</span>, and having fun with cousins….</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Later, he moved to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Khardah</span>, and continued his schooling, college , university and career….More about his growing up years later …..as I have learnt from him over the years….</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">So, from Howrah station we reached <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Khardah</span> – <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Dadur</span> Bari – the two-storey house tucked away in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Khardah</span> – near the landmark “Paragon Ground”, a refreshing green patch used by local children and youth for sports and recreation. This ground has withstood the test of time and exists till date!!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Then started the search for admission to school....I was in Class -3 and in the middle of the term. Folks, I shared with you my school life in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Dimapur</span> earlier. The reason of the collective delight of my parents when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Kendriya</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Vidyalaya</span>(<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">KV</span>) was coming up in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Dimapur</span> and more so when I succeeded in getting through the admission tests after rigorous Hindi training sessions !!! Now since My father had got a transfer in mid-term of school session, they were comfortable with the thought that I would surely get admission in one of the many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">KVs</span> in and around <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Kolkata</span>....But the challenge here was to secure admission in a school nearby so as to avoid too much travel....</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">The running around started - to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">KV</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Sangathan</span> office in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Kolkata</span> for admission. Admission was offered in Fort William school which was around 20 km away from home and would have made traveling a nightmare ........<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Kolkata</span> traffic was bad those days also, with limited and infrequent buses in that direction.......After some more haggling, urging, negotiating and moving back and forth - Success finally!!!!!! Admission to Air Force Central School in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Barrackpore</span> was confirmed, as desired....And one fine day my admission was over and I joined Class 3 - B, the class teacher being <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Bandana</span> Madam.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">It was a big school, with every class having 4 sections..........big playground, lot of open spaces around. And the most exciting part was that it was in the middle of Air Force Station and hence we could enjoy views of Air Force Planes taking off and landing pretty frequently....</span></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-89300968048912973832009-06-21T00:48:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:49:25.129+05:30Here I come - Kolkata ..........(Entry dated 08/30/2008 )<p>So finally my father got his long yearned transfer out of troubled North East - towards the welcoming confines of his adopted city - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kolkata</span>!!!! Well why do I say "troubled".??? Wasn't it all great, beautiful and happy as I have been telling you all over last few entries ???Well friends so far my memories have been meandering around the positives .....I have been showing you my days in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dimapur</span> through rose-tinted glasses...........but is it only that.....</p> <p>But there is something more.........which if I keep to myself, will leave my North East story incomplete.....Though it was peaceful on surface, and we all led normal lives - going to office, going to school, going to market etc etc just as we do today....but there used to be one big gap....Nobody could actually go out after 6 pm in the evening !!! We had to rush back home if we were out by any chance.....it was not considered safe by anyone....I was too young and dependent to really enquire and understand the reasons for it, or try to explore the consequence of trying to violate the same....These restrictions were more in effect in some parts of the town than other.....Though I don't remember having faced in any untoward incident at any point of time....but this was an accepted fact, and people accepted to live with it.....But those days were different, people were more accepting, more tolerant and more patient .....and were happy to live with only as much life would offer......</p> <p>Another one - I told you all stories of how my father used to work in Geological Survey of India and he and his colleagues used to be away into interiors of the place - looking for minerals resources for the country.....So there have been many scary incidents with some of them during their sojourns.....There were anti-social elements or radical nationalists.......(who are universally termed as "terrorists" today) in those parts of the country...who had a peculiar misconception about geologists.....the general idea was these queer set of people who keep moving around rocky terrains with their hats on, steered on by compasses they used to carry, and hitting into rocks with their hammers, taking samples and noting down in their diary ....are into something suspicious!!!!!!! Their idea was these people have come to take away all the mineral resources of the region........or rather all the "gold" from the region.....Little did they know that that gold is found naturally at very few places in India, and North East is not one of them....</p> <p>So, inspired by their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">illusionary</span> ideas, at times these people were on track of the geologists tours....and at multiple times, geologists have been attacked, robbed of all their belongings, the camps going up in flames, and also the vehicles....only the life would be spared after much begging and persuasion....and these innocent geologist would be left to their fate on the tough, inhospitable hilly terrains....many a times rescued by army.....Quite a few of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">baba's</span> colleagues have gone through this, and undeniably this experience has left them traumatised and scarred for ever ..........</p> <p>Another experience to complete the threesome ...this one in Shillong......this is mostly learnt from my parents narration.......I absolutely have no personal memory of being part of this...IN one of my previous entries, I have talked about our impromptu visits to my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">mashi's</span> place in Shillong....It was one of those visits from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Dimapur</span>....I think we took a bus to Shillong....and after reaching there, we found that there is trouble brewing in the city and there is a curfew.....There used to be ethnic clashed in Shillong those days........the typical locals vs settler story....which has been around for centuries and would be around for centuries to come ...So this day was one of those unfortunate occasions when tempers had risen to high on both sides and hence administration had to do a clampdown. So here we were, me - a 5 year old kid with a young couple - my parents, who were not locals - stranded in a alien city with no mode of transport and absolutely nowhere to look for support.....Hey what am I talking about.....what about cellphones....why couldn't we just call up my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">mashi</span> to come and pick us up ????</p> <p>Dears, let me remind you gently again, that I am talking of days long gone by....we were in AD 1980-81, and even a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">landline</span> phone connection was a privilege....My <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">mesho</span>, as he was working in P&T ....for unenlightened ones who are cursing me for using obscure abbreviations...let me tell you that P&T means "Post and Telegraph" and this was the monolithic giant organization that later was broken up into Postal department, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">BSNL</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">MTNL</span> of today....So coming back to the point, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">mesho</span> had a telephone connection, as it was required for him to run the telephone services in the region effectively<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> So now you would say :OK fine, no mobile phones, but have you heard of something called a "phone booth". Why couldn't you have just made a call from there.....Well again to answer you I have to reply the same story on telephone availability and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">tele</span>-density etc etc.....Telephone booths were also not a well known commodity those days....</p> <p>So, without any mobile or any telephone booth anywhere, stuck up in the night in a lonely bus station, in a town in curfew.....can u imagine the situation....it is nothing less than SCARY....But then GOD does sends his angels when we are in distress ....Out of nowhere emerged a police jeep, with a senior officer, who saw us stranded and offered a lift....My ma still recalls his gentlemanly gesture with fondness.....He actually regretted that he could not allow my ma in front seat on the jeep as he was on duty !!!!!!! For ma and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">baba</span>, the front seat was not something we could afford to worry on at that time, a lift in police vehicle was the best possible way to move in a curfew-bound city .......</p> <p>A Deep Breath..........Another one ..........Another one.............</p> <p>Back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Kolkata</span> now <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /> See there are so many memories that crowd around me <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">everytime</span> I think I will move over now....There are still some images floating around which I could not tell you so far about....of those initial few years of my life.....I will share those as and when I find an opportunity as I move ahead in my journey to re-discovery.....</p> <p>So one fine day we landed at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Kolkata</span> - Howrah Station to be precise....and headed towards "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Khardah</span>".....This place is among the northern suburbs of the great metropolis....and here is where <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">baba</span> spent part of his childhood, education and journey to adulthood...This is the place which gave refuge to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">baba's</span> family - my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">dadu</span> and his elder brother with their respective families, after they were uprooted abruptly from their motherland in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">noakhali</span> district of then East Bengal, in the greatest tragedy of modern India - Partition........</p> <p></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-64006891441739565112009-06-21T00:47:00.001+05:302018-06-18T09:12:25.255+05:30Bye Bye Dimapur.............(Entry dated 08/23/2008 )<div></div><p>So at last I am coming to an end of second episode of my journey of - the stay in the beautiful North East.....</p> <p>I studied in the first school - Holy Cross till Class-2...There are as usual lot of memories associated with this school....I had shared my experience of my first day in the school and subsequent daily routine of my ma - dropping me at school and picking me up everyday....We used to stay pretty nearby to school, so it used to be either walking down or mostly rickshaws...Nor that I remember any other means of public transport in that distant hamlet - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">dimapur</span>....hidden away in distant north east....in good old early eighties...</p> <p>I remember the lunches that she used to pack for me.....few of my friends....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Paromita</span> was one of my very good friends.....she had a elder brother, and our parents were also fond of each other, we visited each others place quite often........have tried a lot to search for you in cyberspace....but was unsuccessful....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">paromita</span> - if you ever get to read this....a big HI....and do get in touch !!!!!!!!!!!</p> <p>Apart from her, I do remember a few faces.........well actually I have a few Class Photographs of those days, but no names unfortunately <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" />...</p> <p>I remember the small school canteen......the huge campus, the church, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">gulmohar</span> trees in full bloom.....the large playground......the picture has become hazy over period of time..........it has been 26 long years......</p> <p>And then the hawkers selling fancy tit-bits near the school gate.....I was allowed the privilege of tasting only very few varieties - considered "safe" by ma....one of which was raw oranges.....fresh green oranges .....juicy and tangy- cut into half and smeared with "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">kala</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">namak</span>"....tch...tch....my mouth still waters at the thought of it <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />....one particular item that always fascinated me looked something like chewing gum...but I am still not sure what was it actually......it was sticky, multicolored, wrapped around a very smooth long bamboo stick....and it was sold in small pieces........one of the early temptations, that was never fulfilled as ..........u see it was "not safe and hygienic enough".<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />...Not sure this is still sold around School gates these days..........but u know somehow I am not interested any more........there are newer and better forbidden frontiers to be conquered now....<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif" /></p> <p>Another incident.....my story of Holy Cross will not be complete without it.....There was an outbreak of Cholera those days....quite a few of my class mates were falling ill ....so one fine day school authorities decided to immunize all the students....I must be in Kg-2 then...5 yrs old...and dead scared to injections....I never wanted to go thorough this torture.......I told my teacher that I will not take the injection....as my parents told me against it...........she told me to tell Mother about the same....then I did actually in trembling voice, told her that my parents told me not to take any injection in school ......and can u believe it, they actually listened !!!!!!!!Well I do believe in my convincing and persuasion capabilities, but now I know I developed it pretty early in life <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />....</p> <p><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Kendriya</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Vidyalaya</span> (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">KV</span>) was coming up in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Dimapur</span> and that was great news for my parents.....Do u know what is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">KV</span>....Many of you might, but let me make it simple for the rest of you....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">KVs</span> are schools owned and managed by Govt of India, and they are available all over India. These are meant for children of Central Govt employees - including defence and civilians have to travel across the country on frequent transfers.........so whats so unique about these schools? First of all, only Central Govt employees' children are allowed entry.....they all follow the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">CBSE</span> curriculum and the same books.....the overall teaching pattern is identical with 3 unit tests , 1 half yearly and 1 annual exam, projects and assignments. And the beauty of the system is all schools are time synchronized and when the employee is transferred to a new location, the children can get admission into the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">KV</span> in the new location seamlessly, without the hassle of admission tests etc. The child starts off in new school exactly from the point he/she has left in old school, and with all marks in order it becomes complete seamless.....</p> <p>So for all Central Govt employees, who anticipate frequent transfers, it is an absolute necessity to get the children enrolled in central schools....</p> <p>So u can imagine the relief of my parents when they learnt of the new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">KV</span> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Dimapur</span> ....Then the next hurdle was getting through......admission tests etc....but wait..........there was a BIG problem.....Hindi in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">KV</span> used to be pretty high level....whereas in Holy Cross, I had just learnt the Hindi Alphabets in Class-2 , it was very elementary.........So to come up to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">KV</span> level, I had to pick up Hindi real fast.....then started the training sessions at home......though my parents were not actually masters of the subject.....they had studied <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">hindi</span> in school and could read, write and speak....</p> <p>So after some time of rigorous training if Hindi, I attempted the admission test and got through!!!!!!!! and from here started my school no.-2 and the first <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">KV</span>.. ...I studied here for only a few months before my father got transferred to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Kolkata</span>, and so my days in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Dimapur</span> came to and end.........</p> <p>But how can I say bye without relieving some moments of my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">KV</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Dimapur</span> days.....This school was very small as compared to Holy Cross.......This was new, only Classes I-V and only a single section per Class....did I remember to tell u that Holy Cross had 3 Sections and Classes from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">LKG</span>-XII !!!! The building was small and cozy and all the teachers knew all of us closely and vice - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">versa</span>....Principal Sir was also very friendly..........he had 3 daughters ...2 of them elder to me, and youngest one was in Class-I - very cute <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p> <p>I remember 2 Classmates here - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Samujjwal</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Sonalina</span>.....whom again I have never been in touch with hence....Hi both of you <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/27.gif" />..</p> <p>2 of the best experiences in this school was participating in the "bamboo dance" of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">mizoram</span>.....and selling <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">nariyal</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">barfi</span> in the school fair.........both unique and first time experience.....and ya as far as group dance is considered....the last one too....as subsequently i gained weight and was an obese child for quite a few years to come....and was disqualified automatically for any selection for group dance <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" />......This is actually not fair, as no theory states that one's dancing capabilities are no way inversely proportional to one's weight...but then who said life is fair <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />......Over the years I lost all interest in trying to perform dance of any form......and this continues to this day...I continue to live with a phobia of dance and dread the occasions - most office get <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">togethers</span>/parties where u are expected to dance with people around.....Though I do have to force myself into it sometimes....I am visibly uncomfortable..........I have never enjoyed doing anything I am bad at ........may be all of us are <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-61757392274685326952009-06-21T00:47:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:48:17.941+05:30Bye Bye Dimapur.............(Entry dated 08/23/2008 )<p>So at last I am coming to an end of second episode of my journey of - the stay in the beautiful North East.....</p> <p>I studied in the first school - Holy Cross till Class-2...There are as usual lot of memories associated with this school....I had shared my experience of my first day in the school and subsequent daily routine of my ma - dropping me at school and picking me up everyday....We used to stay pretty nearby to school, so it used to be either walking down or mostly rickshaws...Nor that I remember any other means of public transport in that distant hamlet - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">dimapur</span>....hidden away in distant north east....in good old early eighties...</p> <p>I remember the lunches that she used to pack for me.....few of my friends....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Paromita</span> was one of my very good friends.....she had a elder brother, and our parents were also fond of each other, we visited each others place quite often........have tried a lot to search for you in cyberspace....but was unsuccessful....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">paromita</span> - if you ever get to read this....a big HI....and do get in touch !!!!!!!!!!!</p> <p>Apart from her, I do remember a few faces.........well actually I have a few Class Photographs of those days, but no names unfortunately <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" />...</p> <p>I remember the small school canteen......the huge campus, the church, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">gulmohar</span> trees in full bloom.....the large playground......the picture has become hazy over period of time..........it has been 26 long years......</p> <p>And then the hawkers selling fancy tit-bits near the school gate.....I was allowed the privilege of tasting only very few varieties - considered "safe" by ma....one of which was raw oranges.....fresh green oranges .....juicy and tangy- cut into half and smeared with "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">kala</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">namak</span>"....tch...tch....my mouth still waters at the thought of it <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />....one particular item that always fascinated me looked something like chewing gum...but I am still not sure what was it actually......it was sticky, multicolored, wrapped around a very smooth long bamboo stick....and it was sold in small pieces........one of the early temptations, that was never fulfilled as ..........u see it was "not safe and hygienic enough".<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />...Not sure this is still sold around School gates these days..........but u know somehow I am not interested any more........there are newer and better forbidden frontiers to be conquered now....<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif" /></p> <p>Another incident.....my story of Holy Cross will not be complete without it.....There was an outbreak of Cholera those days....quite a few of my class mates were falling ill ....so one fine day school authorities decided to immunize all the students....I must be in Kg-2 then...5 yrs old...and dead scared to injections....I never wanted to go thorough this torture.......I told my teacher that I will not take the injection....as my parents told me against it...........she told me to tell Mother about the same....then I did actually in trembling voice, told her that my parents told me not to take any injection in school ......and can u believe it, they actually listened !!!!!!!!Well I do believe in my convincing and persuasion capabilities, but now I know I developed it pretty early in life <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />....</p> <p><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Kendriya</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Vidyalaya</span> (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">KV</span>) was coming up in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Dimapur</span> and that was great news for my parents.....Do u know what is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">KV</span>....Many of you might, but let me make it simple for the rest of you....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">KVs</span> are schools owned and managed by Govt of India, and they are available all over India. These are meant for children of Central Govt employees - including defence and civilians have to travel across the country on frequent transfers.........so whats so unique about these schools? First of all, only Central Govt employees' children are allowed entry.....they all follow the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">CBSE</span> curriculum and the same books.....the overall teaching pattern is identical with 3 unit tests , 1 half yearly and 1 annual exam, projects and assignments. And the beauty of the system is all schools are time synchronized and when the employee is transferred to a new location, the children can get admission into the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">KV</span> in the new location seamlessly, without the hassle of admission tests etc. The child starts off in new school exactly from the point he/she has left in old school, and with all marks in order it becomes complete seamless.....</p> <p>So for all Central Govt employees, who anticipate frequent transfers, it is an absolute necessity to get the children enrolled in central schools....</p> <p>So u can imagine the relief of my parents when they learnt of the new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">KV</span> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Dimapur</span> ....Then the next hurdle was getting through......admission tests etc....but wait..........there was a BIG problem.....Hindi in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">KV</span> used to be pretty high level....whereas in Holy Cross, I had just learnt the Hindi Alphabets in Class-2 , it was very elementary.........So to come up to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">KV</span> level, I had to pick up Hindi real fast.....then started the training sessions at home......though my parents were not actually masters of the subject.....they had studied <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">hindi</span> in school and could read, write and speak....</p> <p>So after some time of rigorous training if Hindi, I attempted the admission test and got through!!!!!!!! and from here started my school no.-2 and the first <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">KV</span>.. ...I studied here for only a few months before my father got transferred to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Kolkata</span>, and so my days in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Dimapur</span> came to and end.........</p> <p>But how can I say bye without relieving some moments of my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">KV</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Dimapur</span> days.....This school was very small as compared to Holy Cross.......This was new, only Classes I-V and only a single section per Class....did I remember to tell u that Holy Cross had 3 Sections and Classes from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">LKG</span>-XII !!!! The building was small and cozy and all the teachers knew all of us closely and vice - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">versa</span>....Principal Sir was also very friendly..........he had 3 daughters ...2 of them elder to me, and youngest one was in Class-I - very cute <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p> <p>I remember 2 Classmates here - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Samujjwal</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Sonalina</span>.....whom again I have never been in touch with hence....Hi both of you <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/27.gif" />..</p> <p>2 of the best experiences in this school was participating in the "bamboo dance" of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">mizoram</span>.....and selling <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">nariyal</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">barfi</span> in the school fair.........both unique and first time experience.....and ya as far as group dance is considered....the last one too....as subsequently i gained weight and was an obese child for quite a few years to come....and was disqualified automatically for any selection for group dance <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" />......This is actually not fair, as no theory states that one's dancing capabilities are no way inversely proportional to one's weight...but then who said life is fair <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />......Over the years I lost all interest in trying to perform dance of any form......and this continues to this day...I continue to live with a phobia of dance and dread the occasions - most office get <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">togethers</span>/parties where u are expected to dance with people around.....Though I do have to force myself into it sometimes....I am visibly uncomfortable..........I have never enjoyed doing anything I am bad at ........may be all of us are <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-34140682773087664312009-06-21T00:46:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:47:14.616+05:30Few more North East Tales.... (Entry Dated 08/19/2008 )<p>Last time I took you all through a glimpse of Shillong.......My North East sojourn would remain incomplete without a few more subtle views, which remain deeply entrenched in my childhood memories.......So now I will conclude the curtain raiser and will delve deep in my memory to bring out the last few of those jewels.........</p> <p>Well, I suppose I shared this aspect of my father's job briefly with you....He is a geologist and used to work for Geological Survey. Those days he had to spent 3-4 months in a year searching for minerals in the rocky terrains of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Nagaland</span>, me and ma used to join him in my holidays....</p> <p>I particularly remember 2 such trips....The first one is to a place called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Peren</span>, I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">must've</span> been around 5 years old then. I remember we stayed in tents that time....pretty exciting rite....Years later went to a outbound training session in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Rajasthan</span>, and stayed in tents.....but this was all set-up....The real experience is much more exciting <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> And this trip I remember in particular as I had mumps <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/20.gif" /> I also remember a local lady, who came and visited me and seeing me in pain offered a small bottle of eucalyptus oil to my ma for massaging on my cheeks....She reassured ma that it would be fine....she is also a mother and understands the pain I was going though.....</p> <p>A small gesture but I was so touched.....I still remember it so well. Well you would say whats so special about it, good people do help out each other in times of need....But living in today's hostile world, where we are going back to dark ages, becoming extremely intolerant.........bringing out our ethnic identities, losing all respect for other cultures, ready to dissect others at the slightest excuse....these are indeed heart warming memories.....and more so as in rest of so called "main stream" India, people from North East are still discriminated against.....I am sure, that even today, seeing a child suffer, irrespective of the fact that she belongs to a different cultural background, there would be many such compassionate mothers who would come forward for help............</p> <p>The other trip I remember in particular is one to a place called "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wokha</span>"....This time fortunately I was not ill any more <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> This time we didn't stay in tents. There were some newly constructed staff quarters of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nagaland</span> Govt, which was offered to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">GSI</span> team for the duration of the stay there....Apart from us, father's colleague <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Naskar</span> uncle and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">aunty</span> was also there with us....So it was a fun "holiday"....Well Holiday for us, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">baba</span> and uncle were definitely working <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> So what about those days.....Few small things.......that I can recall....Love Story had released around that time, and I was super fond of the movie and the songs....use to listen and sing them a lot..My memory of the songs is very closely linked to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Wokha</span>.....Well it is very typical of me..........My memories of lot of my favourite songs are linked to some snapshots....some locations.......some people...........</p> <p>I also remember the army of spiders (the fine variety) inhabiting the place we stayed in........I don't know how the brand new construction was infected by them <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />..........but I used to be dead scared of them...........well not that my bravery has enhanced in last 20-25 years....I am still scared of spiders <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />...</p> <p>And what else......yes sitting in the lawn outside and colouring in my drawing book....it used to suddenly get dark at 3.00 pm there.....it being located around the at the easternmost point of India..........though very natural, it used to amaze my young mind no end.....such that it remains firmly etched in my memory ...............</p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-21776372342742413222009-06-21T00:45:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:46:17.471+05:30Back after a year....with bang or whimper?? Well read on and decide for yourself !!!!!!!!!!!! (Entry dated 08/17/2008 )<p>Hi folks......M back on popular demand <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />.....This has been the longest break so far ...can u believe it ...more than a year. Have been thinking every weekend to start getting back to blogging, have been prodded by friends, but somehow never been able to do so....</p> <p>Busy ? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Naa</span>.........not really. On most weekends I really don't have much to, unless something at work spills over from Friday.....So not a sound excuse this one. What else? Laziness - not that too....I am very energetic at things I like to do....what the heck...forget reasons, lets celebrate the return and more importantly, resolve to continue religiously from now onwards !!!!</p> <p>Well friends, I suppose, I have spent quite a lot of time lingering over my days in the beautiful north eastern part of the country.....Will fast forward a little now. I know I need to speed up before you all start getting dead bored and yawn your way into more fetching areas of cyberspace.....NO <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/13.gif" /> I can't let than happen at any cost...</p> <p>So what else about my childhood days at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dimapur</span>....There are few other vivid memories as well....Our frequent trips to my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mashi's</span> place in Shillong (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Meghalaya</span>).Now for benefit of those of you who <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">haven't</span> had the opportunity to visit this place, let me tell u this is also paradise on earth ... of the east ......The hills, the meadows, the greenery, the lake, the lovely houses....the big polo ground....the hilly roads.....some snapshots that pass by my eyes every time when I think of Shillong....but most of it, the excitement of meeting my cousin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">didi</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">bhaiya</span>.........and many of these trips were not actually on holidays <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />...<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">sometimes</span> when my father had some official work in Shillong, we used to tag along....and then it also meant bunking school, but somehow those days in KG-1/KG-2/class-I we never had that much pressure that I see in kids burdened by today.....Well, it is another matter that I never took that much pressure even in Class-10<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">th</span> and had fun for most of the year as the schools remains closed for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Mandal</span> Commission for around 3-4 months in the year !!!! Well that is another story and another era in my journey of life....Will come to it later...</p> <p>So coming back to my North East days.....another very prominent memory of Shillong trips is eating loads of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Amul</span> milk powder - all 3 of us cousins shared it, away from eyes of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">mashi</span>, when ma and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">mashi</span> used to be out shopping <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /> The idea was to eat as much as possible, without any unwelcome warnings of stomach ache from elders.......I remember times when we took so much that we <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">couldn't</span> gobble it down even in 2-3 hours by the time they would be back from market.....First taste of freedom......doing what u want , without being told how and what to do !!!!!!!!Priceless isn't it .........</p> <p>Then there were boating trips on the Shillong lake.....in spring time, flowers around used to be in full bloom.......one particular <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">variety</span> which I remember - blue clusters in bushes all around which was called "forget-me-not" locally.....Though I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">don't</span> still know the real name of these, but one thing is sure, I have not <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">forgotten</span> them <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-63898073079183391792009-06-21T00:43:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:45:07.282+05:30Vacation Time ......... Train Journeys!!! (Entry Dated 07/08/2007 )<p>Have been stuck with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Dimapur</span> for the last quite a few entries....so thought lets fast forward a bit and move ahead in life !!! So life in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dimapur</span> was continuing as in the same leisurely pace, and in the same fixed rhythm....Another thing I really really need to mention here is the yearly rituals of visiting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Kolkata</span> - Dada-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dadi's</span> place and some of these visits extending to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Agratala</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">mamar</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">badi</span> - which literally translated to Hindi means mama's house, or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">nani's</span> place to be more precise in my case..... These were typically during summer vacations...</p> <p>Those times were really far back, and we were yet to see the boom in aviation that is a very recent phenomenon. The only means of long distance travel for middle class <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">indians</span> used to be the grand old Indian Railways.....First Class or 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">nd</span> AC in case of a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">LTC</span> travel and 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">nd</span> class in other cases....wait what is first class....... old timers like me can perhaps recall the ultimate luxury of a first Class compartment - it was non AC but only 4 people allowed in a coupe which was self sufficient .....great option for travel for a family of four. But we being a 3 member family, experiences were always not great with a stranger travelling as the 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">th</span> person - either for the person or us <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />...I mean it was quite OK, as Indian Railways was not supposed to be a private jet anyway, but the exclusivity and the privacy of a 1st Class Compartment was somehow lost !!!! And then somewhere down the line <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">the</span> 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">nd</span> AC was introduced and that became the next word for luxury for middle class train journeys.....and then as always there was the omnipresent "2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">nd</span> Class" or later rechristened as "Sleeper Class" ....but what about the current middle Class favourite "3rd AC"......Well, the brainwave that created this was still in incubation in the mind of some genius railway official/minister and was not born yet <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /></p> <p>Journey from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Dimapur</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Kolkata</span>- Howrah to be more precise (For those of you who don't have a clue to what has Howrah got to do with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Kolkata</span> - Howrah is separated from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Kolkata</span> by the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Hoogly</span> river and did not have a terminal station for Railways......though we have a station in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Kolkata</span> - named <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Sealdah</span> these days, but Howrah continues to be the major railway terminal and the gateway to eastern India.....)....Ok, so the journey was almost of 2 days..........by a train called "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Kamrup</span> Express" .....(<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Kamrup</span> is a place in Assam).....Though it was a continuous route with no change involved, there was physical change required as half of the track was "narrow gauge" and half "broad/normal" gauge.....The luggage and the passengers needed to move physically from one train to other in some station ...........well can't recall the name...<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">will</span> come back to you on this <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />....But it was not as easy as it sounds............when we moved from Narrow gauge to Normal Gauge train in the forward journey towards Howrah, there was no <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">guarantee</span> that the same seats that were reserved would be available there as well.....mostly there were confusions, with multiple passengers laying claim to the same seats by <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">virtue</span> of having valid tickets to them !!!......But how can that happen <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/7.gif" />....are we not supposed to get tickets from the same countrywide railway network with common database......the software will never allow that.........rite !!!! Well dears, we need to take a step back, we are talking of the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">eighties</span> here, very people in India would have heard of "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">telecom</span> networks" and "databases" those days.....we were still many years away from these basic facilities which we take so much for granted today and cannot imagine life without!!! </p> <p>So coming back to the train journeys, no ticket which you got was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">guaranteed</span> to be unique, though I must say the error rate was not more than 5%, and the railways was run with quite a high level of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">efficiency</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">in spite</span> of the complete manual systems with high <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">probability</span> of error....In case you landed up in such an error scenario, there were these <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">tripartite</span> negotiations which you needed to have with the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">TT</span> and the other family that was laying claim to "your" seats.....at the end of some hectic lobbying if you were lucky enough you could retain your seats and the third party would be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">accommodated</span> elsewhere............and if you were not, it could be vice <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">versa</span>..........So each journey used to to be exciting and unpredictable, with events unfolding on the course of the same........</p> <p>And then there was another problem of food.....These trains to north east of the country were mostly not equipped with pantry cars and you really didn't get much food in the stations too, that way it is available all through north and east.........In fact in other routes you have so much of variety that you are spoilt for choice........My parents do recall quite a few of these journeys when they had lot of trouble to get me the food of my choice.....which I called "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">eto</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">khabar</span>"<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />.....which is a typical <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">bengali</span> word (which even many of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">bengali</span> friends out there may also not be able to relate to !!!) Basically it means some food we normally eat at meal time....say rice or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">roti</span> .....which as I just mentioned was very difficult to get.........and being perishable items, these could not be actually carried from home for a 2 day journey.....There are specific instances of where I refused to eat anything other than "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">eto</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Khabar</span>" for some time .....rejecting all available options like biscuits, fruits etc <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> ......and then some co-passenger came to the rescue with food to my taste, and had to go without food themselves!!!! It must be so embarrassing for my parents, but I never knew or felt anything....but then those were childhood days......happy, carefree, sunshine filled............................. </p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-74518499427323898392009-06-21T00:42:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:43:17.886+05:30Dimapur continues………after a really long time (Entry dated 05/19/2007)<p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Hi all....good to be back after while……</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">I am well settled in Delhi these days….we as much external “settlement” I can achieve in my current state I mean <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />..</span><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Getting used to the new job, new colleagues, new work culture etc etc. People keep asking me whether I “like” <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">delhi</span>, as generally people coming from other cities do not have a overall very positive opinion for Delhi. Well, I really don’t know the answer to this question……..For me my entire world revolves around my job…..so there are differences from my previous experience, but I am not sure it is due to the place or company. Otherwise, I am not a social person at all, so no idea about the general social scene. Overall, there has been no negative experience so far here…… provided you keep in mind the overall limitations of the city, especially in terms of security of women, other things don’t matter much….I have traveled to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Mumbai</span> couple to times so far, and somehow it sill feels like “home”, though I lived only for 3 years there……..The comfort level, the feeling of security the city gives u is just unique in itself……</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> </span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Well that’s about life today, let me take you back to where I left ….. to continue my story – the journey into rediscovery which I started few months back….. <span style=""> </span>So folks, where was I….I had just got admission in Holy Cross in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">LKG</span>-A… I mean Section – A …..those days we used to refer class like that and used to be very particular that the section is mentioned as an integral part of the class <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></span><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Not sure whether it is the same way with kids these days……….I belong to a era of very very long ago, and things have evolved so much since then……</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> </span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">So life was <span style=""> </span>should I say full of ups and downs…….well on second thoughts, not really, I don’t remember any “downs” in those days….Those were sunshine filled days, no worries, only fun. Worries were reserved for elders <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> </span><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Though it was a alien place for us, with no extended family support available, but my parents managed very well. <span style=""> </span>And those days we never knew about terms like consumerism……lives were very simple, very small needs and most surprisingly we all managed perfectly well and did have a very happy life………</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> </span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">So it was pretty mundane and normal ( well though normal is boring now, those days it was not <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></span><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> ) life otherwise…..only that my father’s job was a little different from other regular central government jobs. I did mention<span style=""> </span>I think that he was working in Geological Survey of India. The job involves exploration, so people need to be out in the wilderness, away from cosy confines of home looking for presence of sufficiently large reserve of minerals which can be potentially mined at a later stage. So he used to be away from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dimapur</span> for around 3-4 months every year into different districts of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Nagaland</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Manipur</span>. These used to be groups of 2-3 officers with assorted group of people including drivers, helpers etc, used to move out of the base station into remote locations, difficult terrains, and unfriendly people at times. <span style=""> </span>Travel was by road…….no comfort of AC cars in those good old days, over narrow mountain roads……….days of travel to reach the destination. More specifically the transport used to be Jeeps ( <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Mahindra</span> make………not sure whether they still make them these days ), and tagged on by loaded trailers, filled with provisions for a month or more….And then the camp used to be setup. At some of the better locations -<span style=""> </span>in district headquarters like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Mokukchung</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Okha</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Peren</span>, there used be guest houses available as living quarters. In most other locations, it used to be tents…..</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> </span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Life in these camps used to a different experience all together…..well, how do I know all these, my father was the one working for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">GSI</span>, not me<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></span><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">….Well, these exotic places used to be our vacation getaways…… During my vacations, ma and me also used to join my father for a month or so…….. Though it is very long time ago, I do have vivid memories of these good times. </span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> </span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "> </span></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-16339104266322145352009-06-21T00:41:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:42:29.547+05:30After lo....ng time & completely out of context!!!! (Entry dated 04/03/2007 )<p>Good to revisit the blogs of long long ago....well it has been only about a month and a half but for a blog which is around 3 months old by itself, this is really a long time to be away!! Hope all of u missed me lots <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p> <p>Now excuse time....the post mortem of why we missed the targets......what all I didn't have which caused this long gap.(This part is real fun...this is what we keep doing all the time at work<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif" /> ). First of all I moved from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Mumbai</span>.....so I didn't have the precious commodity called "time". I was busy in all the formalities at office and home.....the legacy of 9 1/2 years at office .....it was the more difficult part.....and then getting stuff packed, looking for an apartment in Delhi etc etc, are pretty draining in themselves, and I didn't have the luxury to slip into in my "weekend blog mood" and write. So I kept pushing it back to a time when I would be "settled" in Delhi.</p> <p>And then the 1st week and half at work waiting for the life saving piece of equipment called laptop without which we feel like fish out of water....Then the next 2 weeks staying at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">maashi</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">mesho's</span> place where there is no broadband connection. And then the next 2 weeks waiting for the other live saving drug - broadband<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> Hopefully that will arrive sometime in very near future when I can go back to my weekly blogging schedule !!! </p> <p>So much for excuses........Will get back to where I left sometime next week. This is a stop gap entry just to say Hi to all and "explain" my long absence...I read recently that dying of blogs is a very common phenomenon across the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">internet</span>, as most people do not update the blogs after the first few entries !!! Well to reassure all and more so myself, that I am not going to add up to the growing community of dying blogs, felt compelled to communicate<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/10.gif" /> </p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-22203404919138796502009-06-21T00:40:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:41:43.506+05:30Dimapur continues………in school this time (Entry dated 02/04/2007)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/1170590235-sc-23.jpg" /></div><br /><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">This week I was not really in a frame of mind to write. I skipped my usual blogging routine- Friday and Saturday night, though I was online for long hours both the days...I am little tense, which is bound to continue for next few days....feeling a little jittery....But then the tranquil Sunday afternoon seems to have calmed down my nerves somewhat. So, I will not break the discipline of the weekly blogging, so soon at least <span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; "><img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></span>It has been only 2 months since I started writing. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Came back from home (for those dumbos who still don't know, I mean <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kolkata</span> <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />) last Wednesday and it already seems a lifetime.....It was my first experience with fog induced delays. Somehow the visibility near home was pretty good and so the thought that flight might be delayed never crossed my mind when I was starting from home around 7 .00 am. And then I had the (now) misplaced trust in Air Deccan which would notify via <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">sms</span> in case of flight delays. With 2 failed attempts to hire taxi....the first one failing when the car rental fellow failed to turned up(again first experience on this aspect too...it never happened earlier!!!) and then the 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">nd</span> taxi needed to be pushed by 4 people to start it and I refused to take a chance as I had a flight to catch....Finally the third attempt was successful and the taxi driver, under much pressure, maneuvered narrow <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">bylanes</span> in the "short" route to airport to reach well before time. Only to discover that there is thick cover of fog around airport and all flights are delayed by times ranging from 1 to 3 hours <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/14.gif" />It was really disgusting. My only concern was that the flight should somehow reach <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Mumbai</span> and not get cancelled.....this is always the worry with budget airlines. Anyway, the flight did finally land in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Mumbai</span> and I reached office very late in the afternoon.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">The rest of the days in the week have been really hectic, trying to cover up time lost during the leave, and things have become very difficult with me being single person army <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Anyway, this is life, things will continue....Let me get back to my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Dimapur</span> days once again. I was at the threshold of my entry into academics, my first school. Mostly for 90% of people once they get into a school, they complete the entire academic career from there only, till the HS exams. For me, it was not going to be the case...Holy Cross was the first of the 4 schools across which my school life has spanned. Last week I was telling about my rejection of School-I in favour of Holy Cross....Since then I have rejected number of options in my life at number of cross roads, when I had to a take decision....I have never looked back at them...I have this principle in life "Never regret your decisions". I have mostly stood by this principle, and have believed that whatever decision one takes at a point of time is the best that could have been possible, and it was what was destined to be. It has helped me at all times, so far. But there is one aspect, where my resolve seems to wavering, I have started thinking at times, may be the decisions were not the best ones that could have been taken at those point of times. Not a positive thought, I know, once you start looking back and doubting previous decision, the whole life seems to be a mistake, which no one can ever correct <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">Sorry about that, got into kind of retrospection....diverting from the primary storyline.... So How was 1st day at school....Among the Class of around 70 students in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">LKG</span>-A(Yes this was my class), I was among the bravest 3 who were not wailing away to glory <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />. I don't remember what were the names of my fellow bravery award winners were, there was a girl and a boy. So the first day went off pretty well, for me that way. And then onwards started the daily grind of getting ready in the morning and going out. It seems I was very reluctant to walk any bit while coming and going to school, so mostly one of my parents had to carry me (poor them <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />). Don't look at me like that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">yaar</span>, I was only 4 yrs old then !!!! And also did I mention, school was within walking distance from where we stayed. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">So my mother had another full time job from the time I started going to school....pulling me out of bed, getting me ready, and then dropping me to school every morning. In the first year i.e., <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">LKG</span>, she used to carry my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">tiffin</span> in the lunch hour, feed me, and wait till the final bells went off, taking me back home. From these days, I had my first best friend- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Paromita</span>. There were quite a few other friends as well, none of whose names I remember today unfortunately. I do remember some faint faces though..... It was a fairly cosmopolitan environment, the majority being local ethnic people, with a fair smattering of Bengali and Assamese people. There were minorities of other North Indians and South Indians as well. And the most interesting aspect of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Dimapur</span>, was the common language of communication... Any guesses?...Yes, tell me - Hindi? No wrong answer...Another last chance ...English? No wrong again. Let me give you the correct answer...It was a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">khichdi</span> language called "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Nagamese</span>", which was a mixture of Assamese, some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">hindi</span> and some tribal languages. But why do we need a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">khichdi</span> language to exist at all, what about the local State language....like we have Tamil in Tamil <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">nadu</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">bangla</span> in West Bengal and so on....Well, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Nagaland</span> is inhabited by large number of tribes, each of them distinct in language, culture, and habits.....There is no "common" or "majority" language for the state. That's why <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">nagamese</span> was born and it fitted the bill of the "unofficial" "official" language of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Nagaland</span> pretty well !!!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt; font-family:Georgia; ">So in school, offices, markets, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">nagamese</span> was the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">de</span>-facto language of communication. I picked up my first lessons in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">nagamese</span> at school and in no time was pretty fluent at it....Again unfortunately I don't remember a word of it today....</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-63417259445754394472009-06-21T00:39:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:40:35.910+05:30Still at Dimapur…..(Entry Dated 01/28/2007 )<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/1170008492-sc-22.jpg" /></div><br />Had a busy long weekend….for a change<span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:'Times New Roman'; "> <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></span> Actually made an impulsive decision to come home to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kolkata</span>. A meeting that was scheduled for 25<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> and 26<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> got cancelled at the last moment, so decided to check the air fares…I got something that I found viable enough to take the plunge…..and then asked boss…..(this is the most difficult and important part of a leave decision, however short!!!!), and he was OK !!!! So <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">didn</span>’t waste any more time and got the tickets. And here I am…..at home sweet home <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /> And then there were 2 occasions for family get-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">togethers</span>, during the long weekend itself, one of my mother’s side and one of my father’s side…..2 traditional Bengali lunches, meeting lot of relatives, overall it was pretty good barring one persistent uncomfortable question which comes up oh-so-often in such gatherings for which unfortunately I do not have any answer <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" /> <br /><br />So that’s about this weekend…………time to go back into flashback mode, unraveling the myriad colours of my past, my journey of life so far….. Last week, I was taking you through my years in a small town in the beautiful North Eastern State of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nagaland</span>- named <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Dimapur</span>. I will start precisely where I left you all last time, in the process of acquainting you with all my neighbours in the rented house where we used to stay in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Dimapur</span> (The 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">nd</span> one so far). So far you know 2 families residing there – the family of the landlord and the 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">nd</span> one who used to own a restaurant. There were two other families living there, single child families. One was a girl may be a year or couple of years younger to me…..she used to be one of my playmates….Not much memories…that’s about it…The other family had a little son….very cute. The most vivid memories I have of him is wiping his hands on the back of his shorts after eating …well whatever mom had made for breakfast/lunch/otherwise and putting his finger to his lips and telling mom to be silent ….not to tell his mom that he has been at our place and eating on top of that<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> Well, his mom as all young mothers, was anxious that he did not eat well at his place but gobbled up everything edible he saw at the neighbours place….She was kind of embarrassed at this behaviour of his and he was mortified of his mother finding out !!! So commonplace a scenario, but the image of the little boy remains etched as an integral part of memories in that place…. <br /><br />What about school….well I started school in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Dimapur</span> only. There <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">weren</span>’t many good English medium schools in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Dimapur</span>, u don’t anyway expect too many in a small place, more specifically in those days….. Today, however, the education scenario is completely different. We see “English Medium” schools mushrooming all across the cities and small towns. Any enterprising individual who has some sizable space and a will to make money seems to come up with a school as the fastest means to achieve his ends. And especially so in small cities where there are limited means to entrepreneurship. Oops, again I am getting diverted as always….Lets come back to the point <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> <br /><br />Coming back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Dimapur</span>, the only 2 good options were Holy Cross School and another one (unfortunately the name of which I don’t recall any more – I will call it School-1 for the time being!!!). It seems those were really good old days, when children and parents did not have to go through the hassle of numerous admission tests and interviews…I was not sure I remembered if I had to go through any tests, so I checked with my parents, so basically this is was what I learnt from them <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />The admission process was limited to filling up some forms etc. So I joined School-1 first. But somehow I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">didn</span>’t like the look of the school and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">didn</span>’t want to continue there!!! So then off to Holy Cross. This was a missionary school which was literally HUGE, both in terms of the covered area as well as the sheer number of students that studied there. Each class had 4 sections, each section having strength of 60-70 pupils. I joined this school in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">LKG</span> (Lower KG) class and continued till Class-2. <br /><br />What all do I remember about my first school…..not too much actually. I joined an orkut community for this school recently and was trying hard to remember the names of some of the classmates, but not much luck there<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" /> So not many names….some faces, some days, some scenes, all memories !!!!!!!!! <br />Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-26899492456400561012009-06-21T00:38:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:39:33.588+05:30Continuing with Dimapur.........early eighties (Entry Dated 01/21/2007)<p>So we had just landed ...(no that's not the right word...didn't take a plane...), rather reached <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Dimapur</span>. Told u briefly about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dimapur</span> yesterday...let me take off from there....My father went first, to rent out a place etc for our stay there. I was small then, not old enough to go to school. So, finally, one fine day in winter, in very early eighties, me and my ma also reached <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Dimapur</span>.....the town where I was to take my baby steps into academics....my first letters of the alphabet, my first school, my first step into growing up. </p> <p>The house that my father rented was in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Naga</span> area. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Ok</span>, so what that does mean precisely??? Well, those were old days.....many many years ago, India was not exactly very cosmopolitan, and we are talking about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nagaland</span> !!! Confused??? Well, what I mean is that the town was definitely segregated among ethnic lines, with areas well defined as local <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Naga</span> settlements and those areas where non-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">nagas</span> were settled. But also the fact that we, being rank outsiders, coming into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Nagaland</span> for the first time, could actually get rented accommodation in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Naga</span> locality with a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Naga</span> landlord, tells a lot about the openness and the positive spirit of the people. So though there was segregation, it was not enforced strictly. It was just that people felt more comfortable living among their own community, the practice that I see even today across even major cities like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Mumbai</span>.</p> <p>There were multiple dwelling units in the house that we were staying. Another inhabitant was my father's colleague, Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Prasad</span> and his family. They were from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Andhra</span>, and his wife did not speak any <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">hindi</span>. Though my ma also spoke very little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">hindi</span> in those days, but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">bangla</span> being very similar to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">hindi</span>, all <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">bengalis</span> can at least understand <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">hindi</span> and can communicate in some form in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">hindi</span> (Remember <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Bhattacharjee</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">babu</span> in "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">yeh</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">jo</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">hai</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">zindagi</span>"....and all those caricatures across so many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">hindi</span> serials and movies.....)But in spite of not able to communicate in words, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">prasad</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">aunty</span> and my mom did communicate....and she was my mom's first friend in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Dimapur</span>....Jyoti, her daughter was my good friend too, but I don't remember what language I communicated with her as well, because in those days, only language I spoke was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Bangla</span>!!! Jyoti's little brother was very fond of my mom.....We stayed there for a few months only and moved into another rented place, now in a non-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">naga</span> area. </p> <p>This house was owned by a Bengali gentleman who was settled in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Dimapur</span> for many years. He was into cloth business. They had a shop in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Dimapur</span>, selling <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">sarees</span>, dress materials, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">readymades</span> etc. The family consisted of an elderly gentleman, the patriarch of the household and his 3 sons. The eldest son was studying medicine and subsequently returned after his MD to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Dimapur</span> to practise. The 2 younger sons were completely into the family business. The 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">nd</span> son was married to a beautiful young girl and had a young son, a little younger than me. The eldest son also got married few years later. The youngest son remained a eligible bachelor till the few years we continued to stay in the house....Oh, just missed, mother of the head of family was also living with them. She was very old and frail....but I do have faint memories of her coming to our room and chatting with my ma.</p> <p>So, this house had multiple tenants - 4 to be precise. It was not an "apartment" as what we would generally expect when we start house hunting in any new city we move in now....I guess the concept of apartments was an alien one in those days in small towns....I think even today it might be up to some extent. But frankly, I don't have a clear idea....as I did not have to do it anytime in recent past....OK, so basically, the package consisted to 3 rooms and attached bath. So it is up to the tenant to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">accessorise</span> it to convert it to a 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">BHK</span> apartment as well call it today !!! So my ma, being an expert homemaker, did her best to set up the place which would be our home for around 3 years.....</p> <p>How were the neighbours and how was it living with so many families there....Well u may say u don't care. U know the face of our neighbor and u see him every day in the lift while going down to get to your car in the morning....And may be during the occasional "society" parties, where you have to engage a little small talk....That's about it. This is the reality in most big cities in today's society, but things were very different back then, and also as I keep emphasizing every time, in a small town. Here, in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Dimapur</span>, we became very close to all our neighbors - the landlord and 3 fellow tenant families....we were more like family....So who were they and how were they....Let me take you through a guided tour of the "neighborhood" !!!</p> <p>The biggest "apartment", or the biggest block, or <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">whatever</span> you choose to call it, was occupied by a middle aged gentleman, his wife and 2 daughters. He had come to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">Nagaland</span> in his youth and set up a restaurant there. In those days, and even now in many places in India, restaurants are commonly referred as "hotels", and this place was known as a "hotel". So for all practical purposes I will use the Indian meaning of "hotel" here, please do not go by dictionary definitions. So he owned a "Bengali hotel" in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Dimapur</span>, which over a period of time had grown to do good business. There was a sizable <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">bengali</span> population in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">Dimapur</span> (Give me one part of the world where it isn't anyway <img height="18" width="17" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />).....This hotel was popular not only among <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">bengalis</span> but also among all other ethnic groups...the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">nagas</span> and other non-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">naga</span> population. And anywhere in India/world, for any business venture to become successful, you do need the blessing on the local people....basically, the food here was very popular among <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">nagas</span>. We were not actually very frequent visitors to this hotel, but I remember we used to get food packed when travelling by train to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">Kolkata</span>(mostly). This place used to make the most amazing "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">kosha</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">mangsho</span>"..(This is a very typical <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">bengali</span> preparation of mutton/chicken). The combination of this with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">Rumali</span>/Any other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_56">roti</span> used to be heavenly.....</p> <p>So the family had 2 daughters. Both the girls were beautiful, few years elder to me, as I remember. They were in the same school as I went to (Holy Cross, will tell you more about it, in a short while)....I did spend a lot of time playing with them....Other thing I remember about them is their "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_57">mastermoshai</span>" (Private tutor), who used to be subject to their torment everyday.<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" />...Did I mention, they were extremely mischievous....</p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-24695778548754905662009-06-21T00:37:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:38:10.589+05:30Whoppee.....Another weekend already !!!! (Entry Dated 01/19/2007)<p>Hi people.....so time for your weekly dose of bitter pill....dumbo, my blog I mean. U don't agree right, I see u vehemently opposing to the definition....it is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ur</span> eagerly awaited piece of bliss, which you look forward to every week <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif" /> I hope you get the message right...Whatever you feel about this, I have told u what I want to hear from you when u tell me next time that you read my latest entry <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif" /></p> <p>Not feeling too good today, little feverish, have been working late also....But today being Friday evening, the ritual of late night surfing and catching up with friends need to continue, no reason to deny my friends the pleasure of my esteemed company <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p> <div>So coming back to the point.....The train of my life had stopped at the station <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dimapur</span>...(I am a little outdated....prefer a train rather than aeroplane as an analogy to life....I believe in taking life one day at a time, live every moment, each day of life....which is not possible if u r traveling at breakneck speeds of hundreds of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">kms</span> per hour !!!But wait, where was this godforsaken place again ??? Well, my mistake...I should have known that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dimapur</span> is not a world city like "Paris" or "Sydney" which people can relate to instantly.....Let me refresh your memories. As you all know (I expect some base level proficiency for readers of this blog , so even if u don't know, don't let that out <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif" />) there are 7 states in the north eastern part of India, the 7 jewels of mother nature, which are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Arunachal</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Pradesh</span>, Assam, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Manipur</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Meghalaya</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Mizoram</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Nagaland</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Tripura</span>. So <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Nagaland</span> is one of these states. But what is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Dimapur</span>....I know all of you are frantically trying to jog your memories to recall the capital cities of these states....and no luck there as well, right. Well, let me not increase your blood pressure levels any more....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Dimapur</span> is a small town in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Nagaland</span>, and no your age has not yet taken a toll on your memory<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />, It is not the capital city of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Nagaland</span>. The capital city for all political and administrative purposes is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Kohima</span>.</div> <div> </div> <div></div> <div></div> <div>Before I go on about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Dimapur</span>, just wanted to share that the entire north eastern region has been very close to my heart and covers a large part of my childhood memories. I already told u that I was born in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Agartala</span>(When when when.....well in my first few entries.......need to sharpen your memory guys....at the end of this blog, when I have covered my entire journey so far, I would expect you to know everything about me that I know and more <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />.. I also plan a announce a contest....the one who knows the most about me takes home a prize....well keep guessing and reading this space for more details on the what the prize would be ) So that is my 1st North east connection - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Agartala</span> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Tripura</span>. The next is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Dimapur</span> where I spent a important part of my growing up years. Then there was Shillong in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">meghalaya</span> where my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">mejomashi</span> (my mother's elder sister ) used to live in those days. The family was of my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">mashi</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">mesho</span>(her husband. my uncle), and my cousin brother and sister. We used to visit them very often from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Dimapur</span>. A visit to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">mashi's</span> place was childhood dream getaway for me and also for my cousins. My <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">mashi</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">mesho</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">shomadidi</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">bappadada</span>(my cousins), have always been and continue to remain very important part of my life. So I have already covered 3 states in North east....now about the other states.....Assam - my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">shejokaku</span>- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">shejoma</span>(father's younger brother and his wife) used to live in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Guwahati</span> around the same time we were in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Dimapur</span> and we visited them quite a few times. And <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Mizoram</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Manipur</span> are places which we visited along with my father who was on official visit. Only <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Arunachal</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Pradesh</span> is the state which I never touched at all...U now know why north east is so close to my heart.....it covers so much of my early childhood....</div> <div> </div> <div></div> <div></div> <div>Coming back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">Dimapur</span>. Though it is not the capital of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Nagaland</span>, you can call it the commercial capital of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">Nagaland</span>. Well, let me remind that you that all this information is basically in past tense, more than 20 years old....I am not exactly sure how things are today , but this was how it was in those "good old days"....(Could not resist myself from using that phrase, but u know how life is.....today we may be struggling under hundreds of problems when when we would look back at today's life after say 10 years, we will always look back lovingly with that distant nostalgic look in our eyes and say ..."oh those good old days"!!!!) </div> <div> </div> <div>When I say "Commercial capital", please take me in context, I am not saying that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">Dimapur</span> is like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Mumbai</span> or something....so for the benefit all you cosmopolitan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">mumbaikars</span>/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">delhites</span>/residents of other great cities around the world.....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">Dimapur</span> is (was) one small hamlet in a remote corner of India. If you have lived in a small town, you would know these places have a character, a uniqueness of their own. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Dimapur</span> was a fairly cosmopolitan city with people from all over India, making it their home. As far as we were concerned, we had neither made it our home, nor had any intention to do so. Central Government officers are more like migratory birds who keep moving from one place to other....at the mercy of govt....only difference is that the birds keep moving between the same 2 places in different seasons.....in govt service, you normally don't come back to where u started from!!!! So we were there more as an obligation as my father was posted there.....The expectations from the place were not very high and we were really not sure what to expect out there.....But how was it really? Though life was little difficult...I will come to the "difficulties" in a moment, it was not that bad....and then my parents were very young and enthusiastic and no challenge was challenging enough for them<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></div>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-72584771127267780732009-06-21T00:35:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:37:01.146+05:30Same old boring weekend - 2nd in Jan '07(Entry dated 01/13/2007)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/1168718826-sc-16.jpg" /></div><br /><p><img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />Hi people....Has been a hectic week, then which one is not <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /> and anyway I prefer it this way only. Had travelled to Chennai for a day, and rest of the week was regular. 2 team members left this week and another one announced his plans to leave.....so it was a somewhat emotionally and otherwise draining as well......</p> <p>Today also was a little tiring with my weekly chores, weekly shopping, and then the movie screening in the evening. First time in my 9 years with this company, a screening like this was arranged - 2 shows for the entire team. The movie was "Guru", which I liked a lot. 2 reasons - of course <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Abhishek</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bachchan</span> and second- loved the concept, could identify completely with it...It talks about going all out to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">achieve</span> goals in life and at the end of the day if you are successful and helping others being happy as well, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">doesn't</span> matter if you have broken some rules here and there....Rather I think u need to break some rules to be successful, it is boring to be conventional and sticking to time tested measures and then the achievement levels are also average - nothing out of the way....Well <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">don't</span> jump to conclusions folks... I am not saying that I am into some rule-breaking <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">activity</span> <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />....I am quite law abiding citizen when it comes to it... but really to dream of some path braking stuff some day....Well this is my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">professional</span> persona speaking....The other part is completely confused and in a extreme turmoil, with no direction in life altogether<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" /> </p> <p>Some friends who have been reading this blog have termed it to be "depressing" at times....Well I know that.....it was one of those depressing weekends that i initiated this blog....to really try and look back into what life has been for me so far, the checks and balance and what have I gained and lost. Hopefully, we progress, the blog will get less and less depressing and so would be my life <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" /></p> <p>So last week, I left you all in the company of elephants in one of those scary dark nights in a small camp called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">gorubathan</span> in North <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">bengal</span>, where my father and his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">colleagues</span> were busy looking for Copper and Zinc deposits. The first 3 years of my life were spent there....the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">blissful</span> years, when there is only love all around - no challenges, no pressures, no hassles, no school, no <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">expectations</span>....Let me tell you all that my mother is a great cook and my father's colleagues and their families still remember her fabulous lunch and dinners at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">gorubathan</span> camp.....(Well this information was just thrown suddenly, but I think I needed to tell u folks sometime soon anyway, so now is the time<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />. Well, there are lots more that I would like to tell about my parents...wait patiently, things will slowly unfold !!!!)</p> <p>The next destination in my journey was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Dimapur</span> - a small town in the distant North eastern state of India - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Nagaland</span>. The posting to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Dimapur</span> from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Gorubathan</span> was not a very good news for my father and us, but anyway, he has always taken things in his stride and moved on in life. He already had difficult posting like Andaman and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">patna</span> before marriage. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Dimapur</span> was a challenge, as no one knew much about the place ......But north east as such was not new for us, my mother being from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Agartala</span> and then we had relatives in Shillong in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Meghalaya</span> as well...</p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855124624136560132.post-15716463404861885832009-06-21T00:34:00.000+05:302009-06-21T00:35:29.906+05:30Continuing on last entry - after a short dinner break !!!(Entry dated 01/07/2007)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/1168197039-sc-14.jpg" /></div><br /><p>Sorry folks, had to cut short the previous entry, it was dinner time. Not that someone was waiting for me at dinner table with some elaborate dinner menu <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />. Neither was I so ravenously hungry that I had to cut short my engaging blogging session and run off. But we Indians are so ingrained with time discipline from our childhood, that even terms like "breakfast", "lunch", "dinner", "sleep" become more of a habit than driven by necessity. I can't claim myself as the epitome of discipline, in fact I come pretty lower down the scale as per my ma's standards. But even I have my boundaries, which are set subconsciously, more by the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">upbringing</span> that anything else, which I can't seem to overcome !!! So the gist of the heavy discussion is that at around 10.30, I went and had dinner though I was not particularly hungry<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif" />. Dinner which is self cooked and had alone as well <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/2.gif" />, no, wait with TV as company !!!! So here I am, back after dinner and some home-work(not the school one, stupid!!)</p> <p>Let me start picking up where I left....So where was I, at my birth, right. Me the great was born in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Agartala</span> in the loving company of (apart from my great parents), my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">dida</span>(maternal grandmother), <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">mani</span>(ma's younger sis), <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Mejomashi</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">baromashi</span>(ma's elder sisters), and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">baro</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">choto</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">mamu</span>(ma's brothers). After being pampered by the extended family for few months there, we went to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">gorubathan</span> in north <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">bengal</span> where my father was posted in those days. </p> <p>My father is a geologist by profession, and was working for Geological Survey of India(now retired). So what is geology? The dictionary meaning is : "The scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth." More specifically, employees of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">GSI</span> are into mineral exploration, looking for the precious coal, petroleum, and other mineral deposits which are so important for the growth of the economy. Those days he was stationed at this place called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">gorubathan</span> in Darjeeling <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">district</span> of North Bengal. It was a Copper and Zinc exploration zone, which means, traces of deposits of copper and zinc were found there, and more probing was on to find the size of the deposit, in terms of its suitability for commercial exploitation. It was was lovely place. Not that I remember anything specific of the scenic beauty of that place...that's what I heard from my parents. It was a green valley, with lovely springs which turn into violent rivers in monsoon.....so characteristic of mountain rivers.....It was a temporary settlement, with furnished <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">hutments</span>, and no electricity available beyond 11 in the night. But there was always danger lurking in the dark, in terms of elephants. It is a elephant infested area, these animals would be in search of food, ransack crops in neighboring villages and camp would be on the way......Visit of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">elephant</span> family used to be a nightmare for the resident of the camp....Multiple families were living there.</p> <p>The only way to scare away elephants was by lighting torches(<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">mashal</span>) all across the camp....But then you need to be careful, as one wrong move, and the entire camp can be trampled by the elephants....Even though I was little, memories of some of those nights still are with me.....especially I remember my father feeding me <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">roti</span> with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Bhindi</span> fry (which by the way remains one of most favourite veggies till date)....and then lot of commotion all across ...</p>Koelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11762451489932745571noreply@blogger.com0