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!