Hey You !

When Mita's call came in the morning with "Khobor shunish ni?" My heart sank and I was mentally prepared for the worst! It was a shock indeed to read about a dear colleague taking her own life ! She was smart,attractive, tech savvy and a good human being ....so why this desperate measure? Life had thrown many challenges at her- her restauranter husband left her, daughter had a rare medical problem - but  she faced the numerous challenges on her own - but she was gutsy and we admired the fact that she was so meticulous with her work despite everything! Back at school when we were colleagues she would talk about her life as a rich man's unloved wife and how her world revolved around her daughter- and then the daughter  suddenly developed this medical problem. She left the school for an office job and gradually we lost touch with each other.But today despite everything else I went back time and again to remember her face- what made her take the final painful step on t

The festive hangover is slowly ebbing with the 240 volt jolt of work force! Though Bhaskar still says that it's just the beginning of masti time ...but post poojo my heart always feels heavy. Spent time with Baba and mammam, both are ageing and slowing down. We missed DJ kaku - the designer dhooti and taking money from him for the paan !Baba participated in the mainak Poojo function this time - he reminisced about how "Mainak" shaped up - how the first poojo happened.It was fun as the dadus refused to let go of the mike. Chibu on his part had the best of times- adda,  girls (hoping that it zeroes to one !), food , new clothes and no natok for a very unethical reason ! He stood by his friend and I argued that it's not right - a losing battle as always ! Bhaskar stayed at home and in many ways he sacrificed the fun for family ! Last evening Trilok was surprised that he played cricket and featured in cricinfo ! He wanted Bhaskar's autogr

Saw a burst of Kaash among the rubble and concrete construction and suddenly felt a burst of happiness. The sky looked blue with tufts of clouds and the half constructed pandals on the middle of the road , all giving  that happy feeling  next week poojo will begin. When we were young our main anticipation was the new clothes. Every year my grandmother (Didi)would send me a parcel from Benaras, her own creations for me. She would go over the latest designs in "Femina"( the only in- mag those days) and conjure up some wonderful ensembles. I was probably the first few among friends to own a maxi or wear a hep version of the Burmese Lungi :)!I remember how I waited for the parcel and that was the first question I would ask after I got back from school was ," Parcel esheche?" Strangely, most of my earlier poojos were spent in Benaras. Come Poojor chuti and me and my mother would board the AC Deluxe chaircar and take off - Dada  (grandfather ) waited for us at mughal