a memoir of etchings and wanderings
I’ve been one of the fortunate few in the world whose lives have been almost always inspired by music. Being a single-child in a Bengali household, music is something one cannot escape from – it is crucial to be trained in vocals or an Indian classical instrument and to display one’s ‘talent’ on every visit to the motherland. I distinctly remember returning from school in the scorching middle-east sun in … Continue reading “The Sound of Music” →
2011 has been big on the weddings front. Two very close friends and a brother got hitched and I’m very fortunate that I was able to be present and collect my own share of happy memories with them. Ridhima-Bhavya in May, Shoi-Bulan in July and most recently, Riki Bhaiya and his Jabalpur bride this month. Amongst a variety of speculations on whether I would be or should be able to … Continue reading “Shaadi Mubarak!” →
The goodbyes are always the most difficult. I’ve done this year on year, and although I believe I have grown stronger, it shakes me up to think that tomorrow this time, I wont be here. Not in this room, not in this country. Not with the people I care for most. Sometimes, I wonder to myself – they years are so precious and we spend them trying to prove all … Continue reading “New Diary” →
In Bengali, there is a term we commonly refer to as ‘Maatir Manush’, which briefly means ‘made of the earth’ – it’s a connotation for somebody as simple as the soil, basic, true and strong. The past few days I have been heavily immersed in folk music – belonging to the remotest parts of the country and beyond its borders. The madness begun with Assameese, then extended to a little … Continue reading “Drunken in Folklore” →
One of the worst mornings in quite a while, and as soon as I stepped into office, the receptionist handed me a little green envelope, and it’s been so long that I took a moment to register – I had mail 🙂 It’s strange that any kind of electronic communication is christened ‘mail’. To me, those hold a very different place. Mail is real genuine mails, written by hand, posted … Continue reading “I’ve got mail!” →
A feeling of ‘new-ness’ all around me, and sometimes I cannot decipher whether it makes me happy or otherwise. It has been around two months that I have shifted base (quite literally) over to Gurgaon, Haryana, and am still not accustomed with the changes it has brought. • Joined work. Check. • Got my second, first paycheck. Check. • Met new people. Check. • Visited relatives. Check. • Started to … Continue reading “Contemplations” →
An air conditioned room, a cane rocking chair, uninterrupted supply of calorie and non calorie food, parents and not a worry in the world. I have been talking about changes throughout the past month – this seems to be the biggest leap I am about to take. Tomorrow, I board the flight to Gurgaon; a place I have not known at all, to people I have known for a little … Continue reading “Bari” →
I have been going around Muscat, strange as it may seem, on whatever little public transport exists here. Taxis are now considered safe modes of travelling for short distances, and the orange and white cabbies also readily converse in broken English and Hindi,dependnig on their perception of your nationalilty. So this evening, it was Mutrah, or the Old Muscat Corniche – which was completely destroyed by Muscat’s own tropical cyclone … Continue reading “Tourism Oman!” →
And it is another year passed in the bengali calender. Shubho Nobo Borsho to all. Welcome to the year 1417. Today is a day to celebrate, back in West Bengal. New clothes are a must, not to forget the feet touching and money getting too =D So much food and mishti all around. Here in Muscat, it has always been the same. The annual ‘Bongiyo Parishad’ meet, with children being … Continue reading “Nobo Borsho =)” →