used to think the watchman of our building is pretty useless. but just now he caught a man who was stealing plants n made him do sit ups in the middle of the road! am pretty impressed! once a Nepali watchman had taken out a dagger to kill a thief n we got so freaked, that he was fired!!! think this is a far better approach.
damn! i sound like a teacher already!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
the name is miss.mukhopadhyay
OK...am officially a school teacher now.
hard as it may be for some (including me) to believe, i actually am gonna b teaching a bunch of kids. n honestly, thats a bit scary! was supposed to teach class 7 & 8, but somehow got stuck wit class 3.
but its not really that bad. i had loads of ambitions while growing up, n it ranged from a rickshawala to a doctor! teacher, engineer, CA, banker, writer, businesswoman....i dreamt of being it all at some point of time or the other. so am glad that atleast one has been realised. now lets see if i can achieve the others or not! :P
hard as it may be for some (including me) to believe, i actually am gonna b teaching a bunch of kids. n honestly, thats a bit scary! was supposed to teach class 7 & 8, but somehow got stuck wit class 3.
but its not really that bad. i had loads of ambitions while growing up, n it ranged from a rickshawala to a doctor! teacher, engineer, CA, banker, writer, businesswoman....i dreamt of being it all at some point of time or the other. so am glad that atleast one has been realised. now lets see if i can achieve the others or not! :P
Saturday, November 10, 2007
anger...frustration...and more anger
wat is going on?? why is it happening? why oh! why?! that was my 1st reaction wen i heard abt the bandhs scheduled for monday n tuesday. i just couldnt belive it. i was sooo desperately waiting for my exams to get over n this had to happen! exams r supposed to start on monday n how i hear its a bandh! now god only knows wen they'll start n wen they'll end :(
am really so so so angry. cant believe this polital drama going on. wat do these stupid fuc**ng politicians think of themselves?? they bloody get elected by us, enjoy the frigging luxuries of life by the damn money we pay as tax n then they have the audacity to do this to us?? wat the fu** has ever been achieved by calling a bandh? if i am not mistaken, there have already been over 10 bandhs in 2007 itself. can the so called "sensible" politicians tell me wat has been the outcome? has anything been solved? have any less lives been spared? in fact becoz of these studid bandhs more ppl die, more property is lost n more ppl r inconvenienced.
i really feel that a certain insane woman shud be executed or at least locked up in a mental asylum for the rest of her life! wat rite does she hav to disrupt lives like this? My exams r getting postponed becoz of this drama. mayb coz she's illiterate she thinks no1 else shud get a degree! bloody bitch.
i really donno wat to do or say. wish the youth of the country cud really stand up n protest. this is no way we deserve to be treated. n as long as such ppl lead the country, one can only imagine wat the future is gonna hold. no wonder even after 50 yrs of independence the country hasnt progressed. i was fiercely against brain drain even a few days ago, but now i think i'm all for it. i dont mind living even in a remote village in africa as long as there's order there. no wonder ppl r leaving the country. if this is wat an industry has to face, ppl deserve to remain unemployed n be victims of poverty n malnutrition. n probably thats wat the politicians want so that they can maintain their foothold.
i just dont have anything else to say. pardon the foul language, but i am way too angry n frustrated. this defies logic n reason.
am really so so so angry. cant believe this polital drama going on. wat do these stupid fuc**ng politicians think of themselves?? they bloody get elected by us, enjoy the frigging luxuries of life by the damn money we pay as tax n then they have the audacity to do this to us?? wat the fu** has ever been achieved by calling a bandh? if i am not mistaken, there have already been over 10 bandhs in 2007 itself. can the so called "sensible" politicians tell me wat has been the outcome? has anything been solved? have any less lives been spared? in fact becoz of these studid bandhs more ppl die, more property is lost n more ppl r inconvenienced.
i really feel that a certain insane woman shud be executed or at least locked up in a mental asylum for the rest of her life! wat rite does she hav to disrupt lives like this? My exams r getting postponed becoz of this drama. mayb coz she's illiterate she thinks no1 else shud get a degree! bloody bitch.
i really donno wat to do or say. wish the youth of the country cud really stand up n protest. this is no way we deserve to be treated. n as long as such ppl lead the country, one can only imagine wat the future is gonna hold. no wonder even after 50 yrs of independence the country hasnt progressed. i was fiercely against brain drain even a few days ago, but now i think i'm all for it. i dont mind living even in a remote village in africa as long as there's order there. no wonder ppl r leaving the country. if this is wat an industry has to face, ppl deserve to remain unemployed n be victims of poverty n malnutrition. n probably thats wat the politicians want so that they can maintain their foothold.
i just dont have anything else to say. pardon the foul language, but i am way too angry n frustrated. this defies logic n reason.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
cool..or cold?
went to this "cool" new school yesterday where i came across a bunch of teenagers who kinda drove me crazy!...no they didnt do or say anything to me, just observing them for a mere half hr made me realise that either i was too old or that kids today r way too grown up for their age....
u wont believe the things i saw n heard...not only were they dressed to 'kill' (well, their shopping bills r surely to kill their parents!), they spoke n gestured in really strange ways. i always thot i had gone to a pretty cool school....in my school guys n gals often made out under the stage or in deserted classrooms....n that i thot was WOW! but that was till yesterday!
this bunch of teenagers that i happened to see were hardly 15 or 16 yrs old. yet they spoke abt alcohol, sex, used the four letter word at will n showed no respect or concern for the teachers around. i remember wen we were kids anything to even remotely do with sex meant helpless bouts of laughter n sampling alcohol was probably the greatest adventure! (ok...mayb we werent the COOLEST!!). but i guess we had the innocence that these kids gravely lacked.
am not judging anyone or saying wats bad n wats good....but i do, on some level, feel bad for these kids. childhood is suppossed to be a time wen u dont have to worry abt anything. as a grown up i do realise now that there are jus way too many problems that i hav to deal with n these werent there wen i was a teenager...i feel bad that the kids of today r exposed to these problems n worries so much before they shud hav. mayb ours was the last generation that actually went out at 4pm everyday n played hopping catching n lock & key with friends. it sad enuf that kids dont do that anymore...n its really sad how fast they're growing up. or it may just be that i'm getting old n really really "uncool"! but frankly, even if thats the case, i dont mind...i atleast was a kid for long!
u wont believe the things i saw n heard...not only were they dressed to 'kill' (well, their shopping bills r surely to kill their parents!), they spoke n gestured in really strange ways. i always thot i had gone to a pretty cool school....in my school guys n gals often made out under the stage or in deserted classrooms....n that i thot was WOW! but that was till yesterday!
this bunch of teenagers that i happened to see were hardly 15 or 16 yrs old. yet they spoke abt alcohol, sex, used the four letter word at will n showed no respect or concern for the teachers around. i remember wen we were kids anything to even remotely do with sex meant helpless bouts of laughter n sampling alcohol was probably the greatest adventure! (ok...mayb we werent the COOLEST!!). but i guess we had the innocence that these kids gravely lacked.
am not judging anyone or saying wats bad n wats good....but i do, on some level, feel bad for these kids. childhood is suppossed to be a time wen u dont have to worry abt anything. as a grown up i do realise now that there are jus way too many problems that i hav to deal with n these werent there wen i was a teenager...i feel bad that the kids of today r exposed to these problems n worries so much before they shud hav. mayb ours was the last generation that actually went out at 4pm everyday n played hopping catching n lock & key with friends. it sad enuf that kids dont do that anymore...n its really sad how fast they're growing up. or it may just be that i'm getting old n really really "uncool"! but frankly, even if thats the case, i dont mind...i atleast was a kid for long!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
heppi budde
are birthdays meant to make u happy or sad? on one hand its time to celebrate n on the other its really getting closer to death. well, not bad either ways i guess!
had a weird converstion wit a friend minutes before my birthday...for some reason we ended up discussion childbirth n wondered wat wud happen to twins who were born at midnight...rahter if 1 was born at 11.59 pm n the other at 12.01 am...wud they celebrate their brithdays on 2 different days? we also tried to discover the grossest details abt childbirth, but shall not write abt that now, lest ppl fall sick!
my dad wished me at the stroke of midnight n i kinda expected wat he said next....like all (hyper) parents he suggested i shud get married this yr. n that followed the "happy birthday to u"...baba....how can it b happy if ur talking abt marriage?!?! mayb thats another bad thing abt birthdays...specially birthdays in ur mid 20s....it puts immense pressure on u from all corners to tie the 'not'!
oh well! who cares if i'm a yr older or single or anything! as long as i get to eat my birthday cake, i'd b happy. the birthday wen i wont get to eat that, i'd b devastated....but thank goodness that aint this yr! yippeeee!
had a weird converstion wit a friend minutes before my birthday...for some reason we ended up discussion childbirth n wondered wat wud happen to twins who were born at midnight...rahter if 1 was born at 11.59 pm n the other at 12.01 am...wud they celebrate their brithdays on 2 different days? we also tried to discover the grossest details abt childbirth, but shall not write abt that now, lest ppl fall sick!
my dad wished me at the stroke of midnight n i kinda expected wat he said next....like all (hyper) parents he suggested i shud get married this yr. n that followed the "happy birthday to u"...baba....how can it b happy if ur talking abt marriage?!?! mayb thats another bad thing abt birthdays...specially birthdays in ur mid 20s....it puts immense pressure on u from all corners to tie the 'not'!
oh well! who cares if i'm a yr older or single or anything! as long as i get to eat my birthday cake, i'd b happy. the birthday wen i wont get to eat that, i'd b devastated....but thank goodness that aint this yr! yippeeee!
Monday, October 22, 2007
substitutes
if exams cud b substituted with chocolate cakes, life wudn't b that bad. just imagine....a chocolate cake everyday for 10 days in a row, a chocolate cake lasting for 3 whole hrs, a chocolate cake that may start losing its charm n taste ( really sad if that happens, but then great too since i'll get off my addiction!) n a chocolate cake that ur forced to eat! wow! sounds good indeed.
wit exams in 3 weeks, i'm going crazy, n this post may just substantiate that!! but i just cant help but think of a yummy chocolate cake on my desk wen i walk into that huge, depressing classroom of mine. n wen manna sir, the 70 yr old prof. we've got who always kinda gives us a look that says "u ppl r so doomed! u hav to take exams! i dont. i am thru giving exams. its time to enjoy now while u ppl suffer n i make u fail" walks in, i cud jus give him the look that says "u oldie....u r so doomed! u r old n diabetic n cant have this cake but i can"!!
aaah! life's good.
wit exams in 3 weeks, i'm going crazy, n this post may just substantiate that!! but i just cant help but think of a yummy chocolate cake on my desk wen i walk into that huge, depressing classroom of mine. n wen manna sir, the 70 yr old prof. we've got who always kinda gives us a look that says "u ppl r so doomed! u hav to take exams! i dont. i am thru giving exams. its time to enjoy now while u ppl suffer n i make u fail" walks in, i cud jus give him the look that says "u oldie....u r so doomed! u r old n diabetic n cant have this cake but i can"!!
aaah! life's good.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
had quite a wacky puja this time! it started off wit the on a horrible note wit the rains on saptami but i guess i more than made up for that on the following days.
ashtami was fun. pooja n i decided to go to north kolkata. we rode the tram after soooo long! n mayb we werent the only ones who dont take the tram regularly anymore, coz we noticed that we were the only ones on the tram (except the conductors) !
we walked, took buses to places didnt know, asked for directions from the north kolkatans who kinda smirked at us 'south kolkatans', walked, took buses n then pooja's shoe snapped! it was probably the highlight of the day (either this or the sadhu we saw clad in a pink dhoti!!). she walked with one shoe on till we found a cobbler! n then she posed wit the cobblers son to take photographs! it was the cutest craziest thing ever!
went out pandal hopping at 4 am on nabami to avoid the crowd. saw some amazing pandals at behala n around. came back n crashed. went out again in the evening.
ever heard of a coffee shop that doesnt serve plain coffee?? n that too wen its called cafe COFFEE day?!! we were so completely disgusted n taken aback wen the waiter gave us this stupid 'puja menu' wich had none of the regular stuff n everything was horribly over priced. shouted at them, ordered nothing n left! headed for maddox square. i was so disappointed wit good ol' maddox. went there after 2 yrs just to find how it had changed. the old charm was replaced by unbearable noise, tv crews everywhere, beggars n wat not! my friends n i concluded that mayb we were becoming old, coz the school n college kids around us seemed to b having a gala time n we cudnt even tolerate it!! sigh!
left maddox n headed for park street. walked out of 3 restaurants. never thot walking out of restaurants cud b so much fun but we just cudnt deal wit the weird weird weird 'puja menus'. wats wit the puja menus anyway? very irrritating it is. finally had soup n starters at golden dragon n as usual laughed at badly dressed ppl around!!
its dashami today n am feeling sad. tho it didnt really feel like the pujas this time (before n during), am starting to miss the festivities. n this puja will b memorable for a no. of reasons...shall write abt that some other time. till then lemme go wish everyone subho bijaya.
ashtami was fun. pooja n i decided to go to north kolkata. we rode the tram after soooo long! n mayb we werent the only ones who dont take the tram regularly anymore, coz we noticed that we were the only ones on the tram (except the conductors) !
we walked, took buses to places didnt know, asked for directions from the north kolkatans who kinda smirked at us 'south kolkatans', walked, took buses n then pooja's shoe snapped! it was probably the highlight of the day (either this or the sadhu we saw clad in a pink dhoti!!). she walked with one shoe on till we found a cobbler! n then she posed wit the cobblers son to take photographs! it was the cutest craziest thing ever!
went out pandal hopping at 4 am on nabami to avoid the crowd. saw some amazing pandals at behala n around. came back n crashed. went out again in the evening.
ever heard of a coffee shop that doesnt serve plain coffee?? n that too wen its called cafe COFFEE day?!! we were so completely disgusted n taken aback wen the waiter gave us this stupid 'puja menu' wich had none of the regular stuff n everything was horribly over priced. shouted at them, ordered nothing n left! headed for maddox square. i was so disappointed wit good ol' maddox. went there after 2 yrs just to find how it had changed. the old charm was replaced by unbearable noise, tv crews everywhere, beggars n wat not! my friends n i concluded that mayb we were becoming old, coz the school n college kids around us seemed to b having a gala time n we cudnt even tolerate it!! sigh!
left maddox n headed for park street. walked out of 3 restaurants. never thot walking out of restaurants cud b so much fun but we just cudnt deal wit the weird weird weird 'puja menus'. wats wit the puja menus anyway? very irrritating it is. finally had soup n starters at golden dragon n as usual laughed at badly dressed ppl around!!
its dashami today n am feeling sad. tho it didnt really feel like the pujas this time (before n during), am starting to miss the festivities. n this puja will b memorable for a no. of reasons...shall write abt that some other time. till then lemme go wish everyone subho bijaya.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
the indomitable bengali
we bengalis are quite a funny race...it doesnt take much to make us happy, it takes even less to make us angry but it takes a lot to make us non-greedy! the typical bengali man (or woman), his pot belly in place, has to have mangsho for lunch on sunday n cannot survive without his daily share of mishti n regular dose of adda. mind u, this adda may range from anything between politics to cricket to global warming to cricket to movies....(did i mention cricket?!!)...!
i shouted at my poor father the other day n critisised him for his "typical middle class bengali mentality" for he refused to buy a pair of shoes from woodlands...the reason? "paashei toh bata ache"! he, like most middle aged bengalis, has never worn a shoe other than those made by bata in his whole life. wats with the obsession u ask? beats me!!
if u want to savor the real bengali spirit, then u have to get into a crowded mini bus. i once happened to be in one n tho the lack of space almost killed me, i had the most fun bus ride of my life! the bus was moving very slowly n the bengalis were in their true elements. after all the abuses, threats n requests to the driver n conductor to drive faster fell to deaf ears, it was time for sarcasm. of the many funny things i got to hear that day, the best ptobably was "janen toh dada...pocketmar der training deoar shomoi khub mara hoi, jate ora used to hoe jai...conductor der training er shomoi khub kore gali deoa hoi jate orao used to hoe jai"!! i just couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the journey!
no matter how opinionated the typical bengalis is, how greedy he gets about food and how seriously he engages in (mostly useless) adda baaji, u cant help but admire him! n i really feel sad for this one particular bengali gentleman i heard abt. he underwent a surgery n the first thing he enquired afterwards was if he could eat the bhog on ashtami (which happened to be 3 days after the surgery)!! it may sound absolutely preposterous, but i could help but laugh for 10 mins after i heard abt this! poor man, how could he even think of sacrificing the ashtamir bhog, even if it was for just this one time?!!
the indomitable bengali indeed!
i shouted at my poor father the other day n critisised him for his "typical middle class bengali mentality" for he refused to buy a pair of shoes from woodlands...the reason? "paashei toh bata ache"! he, like most middle aged bengalis, has never worn a shoe other than those made by bata in his whole life. wats with the obsession u ask? beats me!!
if u want to savor the real bengali spirit, then u have to get into a crowded mini bus. i once happened to be in one n tho the lack of space almost killed me, i had the most fun bus ride of my life! the bus was moving very slowly n the bengalis were in their true elements. after all the abuses, threats n requests to the driver n conductor to drive faster fell to deaf ears, it was time for sarcasm. of the many funny things i got to hear that day, the best ptobably was "janen toh dada...pocketmar der training deoar shomoi khub mara hoi, jate ora used to hoe jai...conductor der training er shomoi khub kore gali deoa hoi jate orao used to hoe jai"!! i just couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the journey!
no matter how opinionated the typical bengalis is, how greedy he gets about food and how seriously he engages in (mostly useless) adda baaji, u cant help but admire him! n i really feel sad for this one particular bengali gentleman i heard abt. he underwent a surgery n the first thing he enquired afterwards was if he could eat the bhog on ashtami (which happened to be 3 days after the surgery)!! it may sound absolutely preposterous, but i could help but laugh for 10 mins after i heard abt this! poor man, how could he even think of sacrificing the ashtamir bhog, even if it was for just this one time?!!
the indomitable bengali indeed!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
What causes loneliness ? Is it the lack of companionship or the lack of a zest towards life…or is loneliness a mental situation, a work of an overactive imagination ?
What is sorrow ? Is it the gloom of grief or the failed search for happiness...or is sorrow a realization of an ultimate loss ?
What is despair ? Is it a sense of hopelessness or is it a defeat by faith ?
What loneliness, sorrow and despair mean, I may not know, but what happiness means I do know.
Happiness to me is my life, the celebration of life around me, the power to see the trivial joys of live and the capacity to be satisfied.
Happiness is accepting the challenges and smiling through my pains. Happiness is realizing that life is beautiful even with the presence of loneliness, grief and despair. Happiness, for me is my lifeline !
What happens when I’m sad ? What happens when I’m hurt ? I don’t get a shoulder to cry on every time, I don’t have an assurance about the good times ahead. But happy memories are my cushion, my shoulder to rest on. My strength acquired in the past to help me find happiness in distress.
So when I experience a moment of happiness, I savor it and then cherish it ’cause its only memories that will remain, long after the moment has passed. The same memories that are my passport to happiness !
No grief is as large as it is conceived to be. It all lies in the mind. Grief is temporary, short lived, but it is happiness that is permanent. So look for happiness in the small joys of life, for unlike loneliness, sorrow and despair, happiness is a gift given by god.
And as Bertrand Russell said, “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness” !
What is sorrow ? Is it the gloom of grief or the failed search for happiness...or is sorrow a realization of an ultimate loss ?
What is despair ? Is it a sense of hopelessness or is it a defeat by faith ?
What loneliness, sorrow and despair mean, I may not know, but what happiness means I do know.
Happiness to me is my life, the celebration of life around me, the power to see the trivial joys of live and the capacity to be satisfied.
Happiness is accepting the challenges and smiling through my pains. Happiness is realizing that life is beautiful even with the presence of loneliness, grief and despair. Happiness, for me is my lifeline !
What happens when I’m sad ? What happens when I’m hurt ? I don’t get a shoulder to cry on every time, I don’t have an assurance about the good times ahead. But happy memories are my cushion, my shoulder to rest on. My strength acquired in the past to help me find happiness in distress.
So when I experience a moment of happiness, I savor it and then cherish it ’cause its only memories that will remain, long after the moment has passed. The same memories that are my passport to happiness !
No grief is as large as it is conceived to be. It all lies in the mind. Grief is temporary, short lived, but it is happiness that is permanent. So look for happiness in the small joys of life, for unlike loneliness, sorrow and despair, happiness is a gift given by god.
And as Bertrand Russell said, “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness” !
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