LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

so many times i have heard of this statement, yet, never has this realisation hit me so forcefully before this evening. she came like a gust of fresh air and blew my mind open, well and truly. yes, she was so unpretentious that i am actually repentant about all my posts mocking women till now.well, it just goes to show that not all women are the same and some are just as good as some men are bad. she had no make up on, yet, a few days ago she was sashaying down the ramp in a chic gown, looking memorably glamorous, and generating appreciativelooks from all present during the navy queen ball. she was dressed in a simple shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers, and seemd all the more pretty in them. she did have a ring and two beautiful steel bangles on her right wrist. the paucity of ornaments seemed to accentuate her feminity, and she looked simply radiant. her face wasnt painted, yet ,her cheeks looked like they had just been brushed with a pink blusher. there was just the faintest touch of pink paint on her lips and her hair was pulled back in an untidy knot. the only other thing that was feminine about her was the pink nail polish she had on. although they were bright, they werent glaring and it was easily evident that she had a fine sense of balance while dressing, choosing easy and accessible and combining it with just the right amount of feminine touch.

she has a mole right above her upper lip, something that makes her look a little bit more like the girl next door. but the best thing about her are her eyes. they are large, liquid and expressive. she can speak volumes through her eyes and it was just that which made it all the more interestin to watch her. she had the cutest expressions, the cute twist of her mouth, the wrinkling of the nose, the rolling of the eyes, the easy laughter and everything else which made it more fascinating to watch her. even as i dared to ask her,"why don't you become an actor?" she just changed the topic. clearly she loved her job too much and wasnt harbouring any dreams of making it as an actor. yet, i sensed some reticence is the way she refused to talk about becoming an actor and i guess somewhere she must also have stumbled on some roadblock. she says that she presently works as the head designer of zod! shirts and at 23 yrs of age that is a phenomenal performance to say the least. she loves her job so much that she works 18x7 and that is saying something in a world where almost 9 out of 10 people are unhappy with their jobs. i guess she is just one of those women who will remain happy no matter wher they are.

awesome link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuntalpaul.... link to grt pics of poush mela, bakreshwar, shantiniketan and the rest of birbhum.... hats off to kuntal paul... some great pics... refer to it guys

ONE NIGHT @ BAKRESHWAR

there have been so many times that i have wondered as to why i do not give up this rat race and go settle down to do something infinitely more peaceful, more meaningful and fulfilling, like working for the underprivileged children in the mountains or the remote villages of bengal. i guess thats just wishful thinking on my part because no matter how hard i try to fool myself, i am realist enough to understand that this rat race is all i know, its what i have been brought up to run and i will run no matter how much i dislike it. i would probably be lost among the men of the places where i yearn to be for its easier to be cunning than honest. anyways the one night i spent at bakreshwar highlighted two issues to me as clear as daylight. the first was the lack of actual government funding for the inner sanctums of bengal, leading to poverty, unemployment and crime. there were men standing in groups of 10-15 at corners just to ensure that cars were parked. if that many number of healthy men have no job other than parking a few cars over the period of the day, no wonder then there is an exodus of people towards the cities. if the bengal government chooses to ignore that fact then it does so at its own peril. bihar is a shining example of what good governance can do to a state. in the past 4 years it has become the beacon of hope that we have all beeen waiting for. it has a staggering growth rate of 11.03% in stark comparision to the rest of the country growing at 7.49%, and is second only to gujarat at 11.05%. if a state that has been languishing in apathy for so many years due to the negligence of its own sons can show such exceptional turn around in a matter of 4 years imagine what can be achieved over a much longer period through similar dedication.

its time we stopped shifting the blame and decided to own some responsibility at least.the states shift the blame to the centre and the centre to the states, the bureaucracy shifts the blame on the politica and the politica shift it on the bureaucracy. police look to armed forces to do their jobs and we all look to just earn a fat paycheck, and climb higher in that social circle. the economy has done wonders to our country. it has made a few businessmen the fattest cows in the country. almost all deals are made keeping their interests first. the middle class has really come of age and have a good life as of today and a chance to get into the next rung. its the poor however who are the real losers as little is ever done to assuage their needs. in bengal we have a saying, "tela mathay tel dewa". it means that everyone loves to oil the already oiled heads. however, enough of this cynicism. i cant help but think that at the end of the tunnel there has to be light, the people will realise in due time all the mistakes that are being committed. the dsamage to the climate will become more important than a few cash cows, the good of the masses will hold precedence over the best interests of the ambanis, and the people will see to it that no child goes hungry to bed and grows up illiterate.

bakreshwar as a place is really peaceful. like i mentioned in my last blog, it was the best of places where the bungalow was situated. when i climbed on the terrace, the view all around was breathtaking. there was no human habitation to be seen for most parts, only a few huts dotted the lanscape here and there. there was no noise, no pollution, no loud music and the air was like wine.i sad enchanted on the terrace until it got really dark. the greenery all around slowly dissolved as the sun went down and there was unmitigated darkness all around. however, a new sort of magic was already coming into play. you just had to look at the heavens and you would know why man in his primitive times looked to the heavens for all his answers. the night sky which under the brilliant lights of the mumbai skyline is almost non existent, foggy and uninspiring, regaled us in all its majesty in this little secluded place. the expanse was awe-inspiring to say the least and it seemed that infinite was just nothing until you witnessed this beauty. it was dotted with glittering stars which some ethereal seamstress had sewn on. it was like watching the grandest extravaganza of sorts and it took my breath away. my dad pointed out all the important stars and the constellations to me and i felt myself being transported back in my memories. when i was just a kid, our house was in a developing township called kalyani. it had hardly 3-4 houses as far as the eye could see and we used to take a farm cot out on the road and lie down to watch the night sky. dad used to identify all the important stars and constellations for me as i would lie, my head on my moms soft belly. it was like the years had been swept away with a casual flick of a magicians wand and i was till that kid watching that magnanimous night sky.

the coconut and date groves fanned a cold biting wind which seemed to suit the mood just right. small teemimg lights here and there on the horizon seemed bewitching and it felt like we had all been transported to some other age, some other world. we went out later in the night to have a look at the local market. i must mention here that my mom got some great deals in leather, wooden and other handicrafts, plus, we also had some pickle and decided to buy some more. when we came back we found out that my adventurous brother had cooked up a hare brained scheme. he wanted to roast a whole chicken over the fire and then have it. turned out that it wasnt that bad an idea. we got a rooster, some spices, cooking oil, an iron rod, leaves to burn and later that night we were sitting in front of a fire and having chapattis with chicken and potatoes and brinjal. it was just the sort of thing we should have had in such a place and the night was rendered more romantic by the appeal of the burnt chicken.

the next morning we had a bath in the hot water springs of bakreshwar. the water was hot and really served to unlock the joints which seemed to have frozen in the cold. even as we sat there with our necks immmersed in the hot water, there was a feeling of achievement. right after our bath we packed our things and set off for shantiniketan. there was to be only one stop on our way and it wa to be tantipara. the place where all the weavers of that area worked. they produce what is famous as bengal tashar silk, and yet, once again. what struck me was the abject poverty of these skilled workers. skilled workforce all over the world are supposed to be paid their weight in gold, but not here. they produce clothes of such exquisite beauty yet, they hardly earn much benefits. every single house had a loom, and they were all sitting and patiently working away at those looms. we bought quite a few of their handiwork from the village. at around 3 in the aftrenoon we reached shantiniketan. more on the shantiniketan story tomorrow.

as i was writing about the hot water springs, i remembered something quirky about women. although there was a sign there that said no women allowed, quite a few cam down to the men's side. besides, there were quite a few unanbashed women roaming on the side walk next to the men's side. now what does this tell you? the women had obviously come to dry their sons or watch that they dont dron in that 3 feet deep water. but no matter what the excuse is, would a man be let off if he wandered into the women's side? does this not stink of dual principles in the society? women have more shame than men, so dont watch them take a bath, yet they are shameless enough to enter the men's side? i have seen the same thing happen in aquatica in kolkata. the women and girls entered the men's changing rooms as if it were a free for all walkway. now for a pervert like me its welcome news that they wanna watch us. but arent there any self righteous men, who feel embarrassed? or are we all equally shameless?

FINALLY BAKRESHWAR

i have heard of the hot water springs of bakreshwar since my chilhood. my mom always wanted to take me there on a trip. yet, somehow we never manged to visit the place. turns out that it was a good thing too as this time it was an unforgettable experience, the kind you get to read in books and dream of experiencing someday. even as this world is getting steadily mechanised, men are searching for new avenues to reach the solitude that lies in their hearts. the only places where that is still possible seems to be some remote corner of the earth, far away from the maddening crowd and the incessant hum of civilisation. i had no idea that bakreshwar had such a treat in store for me. the place has made me realise, in a whole new way, how beautiful rural bengal is. God bless the people and and the land.

since the decision to visit bakreshwar was only a last minute decision, there wasnt much chance to get any official accommodation. but me, i'm not one to give up so easily. i visited the SDO's office and got the number of the local PWD accommodation officer of Birbhum district from the SDO. bakreshwar and shantiniketan happen to be a part of the birbhum district. although the ploitical fault lines have appeared quite close to birbhum they havent penetrated the district as yet. the naxal menace isnt as apparent in birbhum as it is in neighbouring purulia. pulak babu, the accommodation officer was indeed a gracious gentleman who went out of his way to get me the inspection bungalow. we decided to travel from bakreshwar to shantiniketan daily. the only fallacy in my planning was that i had taken into account the distance from bakreshwar to shantiniketan, but not the standard of the village roads. what i had planned to be a hardly 1 hr long drive turned out to be a marathon 3 hr drive. travelling to and fro from bakreshwar to shantiniketan was impossible.

even as our car approached shantiniketan, the foliage started to get denser and the forest came steadily closer. temperature dropped and suddenly the cold wind had started to bare its fangs. the entry into shantiniketan was a rather tedious process encumbered by numerous police posts placed to ensure that no vehicle without the required clearance was allowed to enter. thanks however to my defence card, the car managed to unentangle itself from this complex mess and we crossed the shyambati canal and discovered my brother who was already in shantiniketan with his friends. once he was onboard we started off for bakreshwar. the road leading towards siuri from shantiniketan is more heavenly than my words can explain. the open roads, the red soil, the greenery all around, the barren slopes, rocky banks, gurgling streams, crystal clear ponds with white angel-like swans floating around, the clean air was like wine to the tired soul. it was all too much for my mumbai-starved heart and i kept jumping up in glee everytime something like a mustard field or a shady grove came across. the car sped along at too fast a speed i felt, too little time to drink in all this splendour. evry now and then we came across a bullock cart making its way slowly through the broken roads, or an impoverished village with mud huts.

today when we see a village we wonder how much improvement has actually taken place and proof that the government is actually at work. true and, yet, saddening. the development in the cities isn't the work of corporate houses alone. its the government that plans, builds roads, transport, public facilities etc. yet, whenever we talk of amenities, the first thing that comes to our minds are the private ones and how good they are. the government cant charge as much as they do and carry out the unscrupulous tactics that they employ because it has to act like the responsible parent. yet, compared to the rate of development in the cities, the development in the villages has been peanuts. its not just the government's fault. equal blame is to be shared by us. when a son grows up and is capable of standing on his own feet he is expected to share the family's burden. then why should the same principles not be applied to our society? we as a society have actually grown up, at least in the cities. although there isn't any end to our demands, we can still say that we have sufficient. yet, no one takes the time out to go and help out in the villages in whatever way we can. why hasn't the concept of gap-year, gap-month, gap-week taken root in our society? is it because we are too selfish to notice our brother's agony? i like to believe that it's actually because we are still in our teenage and we need some more time to learn what our responsibilities are. lets hope we start sooner than later.

the accommodation in bakreshwar was better than what i had anticipated. admitted, there was no geyser, no great furnishing in the rooms. yet, the bungalow was located in the most picturesque place possible. alone, away from the rest of humanity and traffic. only empty fields and greenery as far as the eye could see. we had the most fabulous time in this isolated bungalow. but more on that in my next blog. i had mentioned in my last blog one quirky fact about women. i read in today's paper that women feel worse after having an emotional transgression and not so bad after sexual infidelity. with men its the other way around. any takers on why this is?

yesterday, was new year's eve, and i wish all of you a happy new year. a certain lady i know, happened to have a serious leg injury the last month,. yet, she went partying wearing her high heels. but if you tell them that they are all about their looks and very little else, they will give withering stares and cold shoulders. mrs v, a certain woman i know has been complaining to me for the whole of last week that her husband isn't responding to her emotinal tactics as well as he used to. she claims the cold war has become that much more difficult ever since her husband has started to pick up the rules of the game. in her opinion her husband would have relented in a day or two at max in the good old days. so, she feels she has to take it to new heights considering her status as the WOMAN OF THE HOUSE. she feels she has to either fall seriously ill or go shop for a huge amount or maybe go for a party and not take her husband with her. which one do you think would be the best possible idea?

BREATHTAKING

if there is one place that can inspire instant poetry in me it is rural Bengal. swami vivekananda has mentioned it in his travelogues, Tagore has immortalised theses places through his poems and prose, jibonanondo das has written the graceful and lyrical poem,"oi dhanshiritir tire".... the list is endless. yet, nothing actually compares to the beauty that is inherent in rural areas of Bengal. no disrespect intended to the great writers of Bengal, but no language can produce words lucid enough to capture the glory of nature in its resplendent best. i have always felt that if there is one thing on earth that can make me forget all else and just be at peace with myself, all ambitions, dreams and rat race forgotten, its the calm serenity of narure, its the ennervating fury of raging nature, its the boundless passion and seamless synergy of nature.

this year i had no hopes of getting leave and i was making do with small weekend trips in the sahyadri hills in and around mumbai. they are also one of the most pristine spots in maharashtra. however, i finally managed to pluck up the courage to ask for leave, and voila, i got it! for 10 staight days too. so, i went staright home and then proceeded to laze away to glory for if there is one place where you are king no matter how big and idiot you are, it home. mom kept stuffing me like a pig being fattened for slaughter on christmas day. all my trousers started getting tight after a mere two days. yet, my mom's cheif accusation remained that i do not have sufficient food. let me tell you something about bengali moms. they feel the fatter their kids are the better they look to the rest of the world. the word healthy has a completely different meaning in their vocabulary. when i was in academy and at the prime of my health, i was regulalrly chided by all moms around me to be weak and thin. so, when they give you food you are supposed to finish off the whole plate and ask for another plateful.

even as these shenanigans were on, we decided to go on a trip to shantiniketan, this being the time for poush mela and Tagore's birthday. for all you uninitiated, Rabindranath Tagore happens to be the poetry that runs through the veins of bengalis all over the world, at least till my generation. he built a small village called shantiniketan where he made a model of society should be in his eyes. its was sans all trappings of vulgar wealth, only th beauty of nature and man harmoninsing. he also built an university called vishwabharati, which is still one of bengal's premier institutes. so this time of the year is very special for all bengalis and a huge mela is celebrated in shantiniketan in memory of Tagore. its called the poush mela.

the first installment of my travelogue shall come up in my next blog. before i leave, here is an interesting thought.i mentioned in my previos blog that i will highliht the basic differences among men and women. so, why do men join mathematics for higher studies and women join biology? i know that there are some exceptions, but they just go to prove the rule. any interesting observations?

WOEMEN

hi guys, i am aback and this tym i plan to write with vengeance. i have finally found out what should be the best underlying theme for my blog.. i mean that it was rather haphazard over the last few times and if i do plan to write consistently it needs to have an underlying theme. guess what? my underlying theme is going to be women!! now i know that there are just too many blogs around that do the same thing.. write about women. blogs by women about what they want and by men by stating women, sex and the rest. however, i have decided to this with a difference. i plan to write this as an ongoing travelogue of my life and my experiences with women.. i must say that i do not have as much experience in bed as most men do. so that definitely will not be the highlight of my blog, although i will care to mention a few pointers here and there.but the most important thing to remember here is that women are enigmatic creatures to most of us men. we do not understand what they want, and most of the tyms they do not know what they want either. so, the secret is to visualise what they visualise, to think the way that they do and to get into the very minds of women no matter what the situation is. i know that every woman is different and no two women are exactly the same and all that crap. come on! be realistic. do you really believe that? i mean almost all of them go through the same girly magazines and pick up tips from them. so, chances are, that 9 times out of 10 they will behave in the exact same way.

i know that most of us who are in love feel that the one they love can do no wrong. like archana likes to say,"all of us in love either knowingly or unknowingly ignore all that we see as flaws in our lovers." well that might be the case with most of you, and that certainly was the case with me. so, just a word of precaution to all you guys madly smitten by the love bug, BEWARE!!! its not that the women you love are monsters, its just their nature to manipulate you and even the most tomboyish of them are doing it, whether they do it conciously or otherwise. the watchword in this case is CONSTANT VIGILANCE. its what they do and its what you need to do. no matter what you do think and then do. for in everything that you do they shall be searching for certain premeditated qualities, husband-like or boyfriend-like. so even as i write this blog i shall leave behind certain pointers that you may well find useful in the course of your love life. i do not profess to be a love guru, only someone wise to the wiles of woemen. so before you have had your first break-up get up and get wise. ITS HIGH TIME.

before i leave you i would like to leave with this parting shot. why is it in popular culture that so often fun is made out of men's butts yet sexy is what is attributed to women's butts? let me know if there are any plausible answers and i shall see you soon.

Beneath the coupled gold faints the painless catalog.

THAT MAN CALLED MSD

That man called Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he’s a phenomenon in a cricket crazy India. He leads the cricket team and the hopes of a billion Indians. No matter what the boxers, shooters, footballers, golfers, tennis players, squash players, badminton players or any of the rest of the players of any other game do, cricket still rules the spirit of Indians like nothing else. They are speaking of TRPs dropping in cricket games and the players not performing well enough, but the very fact that there is such a lot of speculation going around, proves the fact. We have the cricketers bagging as many sponsors as any Bollywood star. Just the other day, Dhoni was in Mumbai, at some place that I’m not allowed to reveal and doing something that I’m not allowed reveal (again). Archana, who happens to know him, invited me to this undisclosed location. I took up invitation with glee as its not everyday that you get to meet someone like MSD. Besides, I wanted to meet Archana as well (as if! ). So here is one pic of that memorable day. By the way, for all it matters, all those journalists ahev been feeding us crap. He’s a really nice guy.

In case you are wondering who that kid is, NOT mine!! Its always safer to make that clear at the onset. He’s a friend though and a great kid. His name is Akash. So, I guess its safe to say,
HONI KO ANHONI BANAYE
AUR ANHONI KO HONI
AKASH, SHAYAK AUR DHONI

THE SWEET THING CALLED LIFE

The best thing about life is that everyday has surprises for you, only if you are ready to embrace them. Sometimes you see things that change the whole perspective of your views about something or the other. At other times you meet new people and then all of a sudden they help bring new dimensions into your life. I personally believe that the secret lies in never giving up and continuosly trying new things out. Try building new friendships, let more people see who you are and when you feel that you have met the right persons let them get into your heart and set things right. At the same time try out newer ideas, learn newer things and, of course, try and excel in them. I have started taking lessons in animation and graphic designing and boy is it rewarding or what! Right now I’m involved in redesigning some of my old pictures and finding out best I can explore the software. It seems creativity is my thing after all, as I’ve been getting some good compliments on my work from the few that I’ve had the courage to show what I’m up to. Besides the class is a bonzer in itself, what with great guys like Behram Aderback and Kaushal Jhaveri always ready to lighten things up. Amit is a great teacher as well, and his inputs as far as photography is concerned is absolutely fascinating. It’s such a revelation to work with such creative people and such a liberation from my drudgery at work, to mention nothing of the unbending rigidity of the system, that I’m getting a breath of fresh life.


In this space I would like to mention a few new people who have come into my life over the last weeks. They have helped me immensely in tiding over a rather difficult period of my life.


On top of the list comes Sohini, who has been very insightful with her ideas and helped me to understand the few things that eluded the grasp of my understating. She has been really supportive too and exceptionally understanding. That’s why I wrote of the importance of new people in your life.

Second, of course, is Archana. She has been a revelation and also an outlet for my stored up thoughts. She is a little obtuse at times, but only intentionally, trying to point out the importance of letting things go and stop brooding over the past.

Arun, I must thank as much as anyone else, for just being there with me every evening and sharing his experiences with me. He was my friend in academy, but never in this manner.

Dehli and Kanininka have done their bit as well, although I think that its a sacrilege to mention them in the same breath, not at all in the same sentence.

Thank you all for helping me out and I wish all of you a great time.

THE LONELY TREE

A lonely tree she stood waiting for me
Her bark was rough like a peasant’s skin
Her stem gnarled like a woman in nude
Her branches flew upwards beckoning the sky
A lonely maiden in the wilderness, only for me.

 

A lonely tree she stood waiting for me
Her foliage was green and fresh
Like a woman’s hair freshly bathed
She smelt of wild flowers and nature’s bosom
A lonely maiden in the wilderness, only for me.

A lonely tree she stood waiting for me
The lush green grass kissing her roots
The blue sky caressing her leaves with affection
The breeze within her branches a soft symphony
A lonely maiden in the wilderness, only for me.

A lonely tree she stood waiting for me
A princess from a fairytale, regal in appearance
I wished that I were a bird to alight on her branches
I wished I could build a nest and therein stay
A lonely maiden in the wilderness, only for me.

A lonely tree she stood waiting for me
Yet, I, in my hurry, had only moments to spare
With all her love she beckoned, I burdened with care
To my life I would return, hoping someday to return
A lonely maiden in the wilderness, she waits for me.