Hey You !

The hour was unearthly- probably an hour I would never wake up to unless I have a dire necessity. But it was worth it, as I could spend till the last minute with Chibu, and was treated to a gorgeous view of our Kolkata skyline from the apartment , which is my temporary home. The unedited, un-Photoshopped  version looked exotic and I watched over my cup of coffee how the magic was slowly  lost with the rise of the sun. Reminded me of a line from a poem I read long ago..."Things seen in candle light don't look so nice in day!" So many times in life we are disappointed when the rose- tinted hue is lost with time , be it fairy tales or Santa Claus or a romance that has lost it's moonstone shine! There s always the debate to be practical or a dreamer? Who is a success in the end ? Does it matter really ? At an age past mid-life I guess I can have the luxury of philosophizing and not thinking of a work day -or of rushing off  to work, all helter skelter. I smiled - well...

A long overdue blog about the path that I was seeking , or did the path seek me out ? Over the years the sheen of belief was wearing off and I was beginning to question the master about the magic - about faith becoming commercial, about what Bhaskar stated, "This is all about money".  Packing my bags off and going solo isn't very uncommon in my life, but this time I was not on work per se. Checking-in into the Ashram, was on my bucket-list for ever-since, and it was an amazing experience. Despite the crowd, the ambiance just reverberated with a mix of reverence, energy , faith, hope, prayer - and questions too ! Like I mentioned before meditation was not about spiritual pyrotechnics, but a metaphor connected to life. Like the corner I chose had a vantage view of the stage and despite a stench that started emanating from the corner, I just could not leave that place, for the view that corner offered got me stuck there. Life is like that, we are often stuck in the rut , ...

In search for soul detoxification, if there is something like that. .... Going back to a full circle...Took 16 years and maybe it's worth it .  The path is never easy, and the path just appears when it is time....  I started off when I had a lot of questions, dilemma, unfulfilled wishes and I am rounding off when I have lesser questions, desires and wishes.  Radhe /radhe  :) 

Heidi lived in Alps with her Alms uncle - I read this story in a book that was called The Big Big Story Book and it had a compilation of amazing stories that were my first foray into the world of English story books. Recently on a long flight I watched the movie much to delight of the young steward who was our attendant that night. My first glimpse of the Alps was from our flight ...the dawn breaking to spread the orange hues over the snowy terrain...looked mesmerizing even to someone who is not too fond of the mountains. Switzerland was beautiful, with its manicured terrain and flowers like pretty maids all in a row, picture perfect setting and breathtaking, like a touch me not porcelain beauty. Coming from my "elo melo" city I wondered how people managed to keep a country so organized , I have trouble keeping my room in ship shape...... No, I would not like to live there ......it's too distant and too cold ,but what I will carry in my heart is  the awesome time .......

This write up came back with a note of regret – for not being able to make to the next round in the competition, to the editor's table. Well, this is the first time I competed , that is if I do not count the House Competition essay writing, where I came second after Champa. Actually I do not why I took part – chance, curiosity or plain gambling …..because writing for me has always been a catharsis – an expression that I can share …..So no regrets , really! The road may be narrow and dark…….. It was 1983 and life with Baba always veered on the unexpected and the adventurous. Like that road trip from Kolkata to Delhi via Agra. We had this faithful Ambassador that took us on this journey with Baba at the helm and our cleaner Kalipada as his first assistant. I was the official navigator and Giri uncle, my father’s friend, in charge of our ummm, let’s say security, since me and my cousin Dimpi, both all of 18,  needed an escort , officially. Baba always liked the un-tr...

I changed my FB DP to a solo pic after eons. I guess it's time to let it go...Store away the memory and move on with the times.  Some memories die a natural death and some a sudden death.  I stood in front of 1/11 B Maqbool Alam Road in a state of shock. Those 3 minutes were like eternity when I realized that my childhood memories are lost forever.  I had  always wondered who lived in that bungalow where I had spent all my childhood vacations. I  often wondered if I went back. will  someone allow me to lift the shutter of the iron gate and let me take a peek at the "Champa gaach" , under which I used to build pebble houses and played with my dolls.And where we found a  snake coiled into a roll one morning much to everyone's horror!! We had a neighbor who went by the name of "Aloo". And we had a neighborhood school called "Bal Niketan"run by a lady called Suchitra , who dropped her surname because she was married to a Muslim , and the...

It's summer here - though Facebook announced with a lot of panache " Today is the first day of spring", a couple of days back,it still is summer. I kept a customary bowl of water for the sparrows inside my box window and it was a pleasant sight to see those birds flying in and out chip-chipping, fluttering their  wings and toppling over each other. Pretty sight definitely, especially as I enjoyed my unhurried cuppa tea and flipped over yesterday's papers. Champa's post on her  animal loving daughter took me back to a time when we had more pets in the house than people , thanks to my mother. In our sprawling Lansdowne Road house we has dogs, parrots, pigeons , rabbits , mynahs , fultushi and myriad pets that my mother was so fond of. She also had a family of Shalikh Pakhi who would follow her into the house and each year would bring back their "baby Shalikh" for her to see , whenever it was ready to fly and meet their Grandmom. The bunglow at Benaras  h...