Caution n Warning: Strictly for those who can understand Hindi written in English alphabets.
I went to one of my Tai Ji's and Tau Ji's house who live nearby. They are very old and the age reflects on thier body well enuf. Both of them are almost bed-ridden coz of illness and diseases which come as a parcel with old age. A small part of the discussion I had there:
Tai: ab bhagwan inko kitna kasht dega. Hamari halat bahut kharab hai beta.
Tau: beta (addressing me, that is).. ek park hai. usme 10 bacche khel rahe hai. sab bahut khus hai. Tum sabko jakar chocolate de sakte ho, toffee de sakte ho ... koi rokega ?
Me: nahi tau ji ... (still trying to guess what may come)
Tau: ab tum chanta (slapping i.e.) kisko maar sakte ho?
Me: jo apna ghar ka ho ... jaise agar mera bhai ya beta ho tab ...
Tau: haan, paas wale ghar ke ladke ko nahi naa maroge. Bhagwan mujhe apne ghar ka samajhte hai, isliye to chanta maar rahe hai. Isme ghabrane ki kya baat hai .... Hare Krishna.
and I started brooding ... Faith is good ... but where does it end ???????
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Tradition of Joote Lo Paise Do: Redefined
Here's Pooja. My younger sister. The sweetest creature possible (only puppies are better, I guess). What she did on her (and mine) elder sisters's marriage was the best anyone can think of. So, here's a summarised version of what "Nautanki" she did on my elder sister's marriage:
The custom in question (you must have guesses it by now) is the "Joote Lo Paise Do" which takes place in almost every marriage in India. My didi and Jiju came to our house after the marriage and we were having a nice time-pass when she along with one of my cousins entered the room, excited like anything, and declared that they have hid the shoes and now, jiju must pay them to get the pair of shoes back. Jijaji agreed, reluctantly. Negotiation started. Pooja started off at 1 lakh (what a thinking !!! ) and jiju at Re1. The deal ended after an hour or so, when both of them stopped at Rs 1000. She got the money and went away ..... happy as never before.
But forgot to return the shoes. Now, the next day when jiju was leaving (along with my sister, ofcourse) he took his shoes and went away. And nobody noticed (no one was in a mood to do so, afterall, my didi was leaving) that he has wearing his own shoes which was not supposed to be there. Pooja was yet to take them out from her "top secret" place.
After they left, and we tried to return to normal moods, Pooja regained the Light of Truth. She tried to contact me and said (very sweetly, you know) " Bhaiya, I think the shoes I hid were yours and not Jijaji's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "
And she was right this time.... :D
The custom in question (you must have guesses it by now) is the "Joote Lo Paise Do" which takes place in almost every marriage in India. My didi and Jiju came to our house after the marriage and we were having a nice time-pass when she along with one of my cousins entered the room, excited like anything, and declared that they have hid the shoes and now, jiju must pay them to get the pair of shoes back. Jijaji agreed, reluctantly. Negotiation started. Pooja started off at 1 lakh (what a thinking !!! ) and jiju at Re1. The deal ended after an hour or so, when both of them stopped at Rs 1000. She got the money and went away ..... happy as never before.
But forgot to return the shoes. Now, the next day when jiju was leaving (along with my sister, ofcourse) he took his shoes and went away. And nobody noticed (no one was in a mood to do so, afterall, my didi was leaving) that he has wearing his own shoes which was not supposed to be there. Pooja was yet to take them out from her "top secret" place.
After they left, and we tried to return to normal moods, Pooja regained the Light of Truth. She tried to contact me and said (very sweetly, you know) " Bhaiya, I think the shoes I hid were yours and not Jijaji's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "
And she was right this time.... :D
Sunday, December 17, 2006
A new file or just a rename ???
Is it a 'create new file' or 'rename' command. I m unsure. Kavita Gupta ceases to exist anymore. For the unintiated, she got married the day before yesterday. Henceforth, she will be spelled as 'Kavita Mitra' and pronounced as "Kobita Mitro".
The moment must be very special for both of them. OOPS !! I haven't yet described Kobita's Hubby (and my Jijaji). He is named as Subhadip Mitra. A great person to talk to. Knowledgeable and polished. Fat. Logical and Understanding. Yeah, all these adjectives are ture yet few, and thats the sole reason why my parents were ready for this inter-caste marriage (first in the family, so u can definitely imagine the kind of resistance they had to face). Right...coming back where we left, the moment is very special to them. And to many others as well (the wellwishers, ofcourse). And I avail of this oppurtunity to wish them ALL THE HAPPINESS OF LIFE.....
Didi, We all are missing u and I am not crying .... Saccccchi !!!!!!
The moment must be very special for both of them. OOPS !! I haven't yet described Kobita's Hubby (and my Jijaji). He is named as Subhadip Mitra. A great person to talk to. Knowledgeable and polished. Fat. Logical and Understanding. Yeah, all these adjectives are ture yet few, and thats the sole reason why my parents were ready for this inter-caste marriage (first in the family, so u can definitely imagine the kind of resistance they had to face). Right...coming back where we left, the moment is very special to them. And to many others as well (the wellwishers, ofcourse). And I avail of this oppurtunity to wish them ALL THE HAPPINESS OF LIFE.....
Didi, We all are missing u and I am not crying .... Saccccchi !!!!!!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Kolkata Unleashed !!!
phew !!! after 3 days of relentess shopping, I got some time to spend an evening with my lappie. Not because I m done, but because today is a Sunday. and most of the places (where I intend to go) are close today. Now, you must be thinking: what kind of shopping centre is this which remains closed on Sundays ??
Well, I myself never knew such places existed in Kolkata ... but now that I have been there, I m quite sure and am determined to give u the detailed (somewhat) description of whatever I saw in these 3 days.
A point to be noted is that I learnt a lot of things during these "expeditions" (I choose to call these expeditions, and u wud agree with me once u go thru the text :D )
So here it begins (the 'events' are spread over all 3 days):
1) We have a sofa set which was not in a very good condition. The sponge was coming out at places. Needed repairing. Went to Chandi Market (This is the famous place in Kolkata for electronics goods). I have been there a lot many times but today the search criteria was competely different. So, I started seeking "Ganjee Foam" (thats what the covering foam of a sofa called). The passages were narrow and filthy, shopowners too rough (they havent read the customer satisfaction chapter in Kotler). I learnt that BHOR is the best company which produced Ganjee Foam but now its in locks. So, the next best is NATIONAL and thus I bought 2.2 m of the same.
2) got to buy some cosmetics. Papa told me to visit Kajaria Market in Dalhousie. Initially I had some inhibition: Why go that far for buying cosmetics ?? About the market: a highly congested building with small shops (around some 300 ft each). Just enuf space for a person to somehow paas between two opposite shops (yeah, they were that close). Still, each person there is talking in lakhs and crores. Thats the biggest cosmetic market around here which supply materials to the whole city. They dont entertain a single piece customer like me. "Managed" to get some of the best cosmetics, at prices I cud never imagine in my dreams (wholesale prices, you know).
3) Next in line is the Bhikamchand Market where Steel / aluminium items is the core competency. Again in Dalhousie, the market is probably the oldest building I have seen (at least, the outlook suggests so). The shop where I went to have my 7.5 ltr Prestige Pressure Cooker is owned by a person called Mr. Amarnath Kundu, who seemed to a very nice guy. He gave me some discounts (am good in PR :D ) and even showed me the way to Thirhatty Market.
4) On the way to Thirhatty Market. Lots and lots of shops, all selling electrical items: bulbs, lights, tubes etc etc. It seems that all markets in Dalhousie try to develop monopolies by mutual agreement (We studied this in Economics, and as expected, I am unable to remember the exact term right now !! )
5) hmm... straight off to Baghri Market (Dalhousie, yet again). The product which I was wanted to buy was a shaving brush. The speciality was that the hairs were not normal, I mean, common. The hairs used in the brush were taken from a Horse's tail. Priced around 6 times that of a normal Gillette Shaving brush. Believe me, I dont know what it feels like but the price suggests it must be good. Only time I failed to find a product. Returned empty-handed to the pavilion.
5) My last place of adventure (again in Dalhousie) is a market which I dont know by name. I started asking ppl: where is the market where I get Locks and Keys?? and they were smart enuf to understand that I am a new to the place and they must help me out. So I enter another building, shops selling locks of all possible sizes. Got thoroughly confused. Absolutely no idea how to judge a Lock by its outlook. Decided to go by the weight and number of levers. Well, bought whatever my list (made by my mom n dad) asked me to.
6) On the way back... till now, the experience has aroused enuf curiosity in me to explore more. Went about roaming and saw a place which seemed like a slaughter house, though not exactly. was a lot bigger, not in a house but spread across a huge area.
Tried to learn more about the place (Dalhousie and burra-bazaar) and got the following info:
There is a "Gali" where u get only balloons... wow, what an idea...isnt it !! and another gali where u get only hangers ... do the people manage to earn a living thr ?? god knows ....
The places out there in Dalhousie are of those times when Kolkata was the capital city in India under the Brtish rule. No doubt, these must be the posh places then but ofcourse, they dont fit our style of living today. Nevertheless, the places are something to be seen (at least for once). Not only because of the historical value and the best buys u can have, but because you will see how busy a person and how narrow a road can get. U will see people always rushing, no one bothers for anyone else, people using slangs at will and throwing the leftovers of Pan-masala wherever n whenever they feel like.
Well, I now firmly believe that I am far away yet closer (than what I was) to Unleash Kolkata.
Well, I myself never knew such places existed in Kolkata ... but now that I have been there, I m quite sure and am determined to give u the detailed (somewhat) description of whatever I saw in these 3 days.
A point to be noted is that I learnt a lot of things during these "expeditions" (I choose to call these expeditions, and u wud agree with me once u go thru the text :D )
So here it begins (the 'events' are spread over all 3 days):
1) We have a sofa set which was not in a very good condition. The sponge was coming out at places. Needed repairing. Went to Chandi Market (This is the famous place in Kolkata for electronics goods). I have been there a lot many times but today the search criteria was competely different. So, I started seeking "Ganjee Foam" (thats what the covering foam of a sofa called). The passages were narrow and filthy, shopowners too rough (they havent read the customer satisfaction chapter in Kotler). I learnt that BHOR is the best company which produced Ganjee Foam but now its in locks. So, the next best is NATIONAL and thus I bought 2.2 m of the same.
2) got to buy some cosmetics. Papa told me to visit Kajaria Market in Dalhousie. Initially I had some inhibition: Why go that far for buying cosmetics ?? About the market: a highly congested building with small shops (around some 300 ft each). Just enuf space for a person to somehow paas between two opposite shops (yeah, they were that close). Still, each person there is talking in lakhs and crores. Thats the biggest cosmetic market around here which supply materials to the whole city. They dont entertain a single piece customer like me. "Managed" to get some of the best cosmetics, at prices I cud never imagine in my dreams (wholesale prices, you know).
3) Next in line is the Bhikamchand Market where Steel / aluminium items is the core competency. Again in Dalhousie, the market is probably the oldest building I have seen (at least, the outlook suggests so). The shop where I went to have my 7.5 ltr Prestige Pressure Cooker is owned by a person called Mr. Amarnath Kundu, who seemed to a very nice guy. He gave me some discounts (am good in PR :D ) and even showed me the way to Thirhatty Market.
4) On the way to Thirhatty Market. Lots and lots of shops, all selling electrical items: bulbs, lights, tubes etc etc. It seems that all markets in Dalhousie try to develop monopolies by mutual agreement (We studied this in Economics, and as expected, I am unable to remember the exact term right now !! )
5) hmm... straight off to Baghri Market (Dalhousie, yet again). The product which I was wanted to buy was a shaving brush. The speciality was that the hairs were not normal, I mean, common. The hairs used in the brush were taken from a Horse's tail. Priced around 6 times that of a normal Gillette Shaving brush. Believe me, I dont know what it feels like but the price suggests it must be good. Only time I failed to find a product. Returned empty-handed to the pavilion.
5) My last place of adventure (again in Dalhousie) is a market which I dont know by name. I started asking ppl: where is the market where I get Locks and Keys?? and they were smart enuf to understand that I am a new to the place and they must help me out. So I enter another building, shops selling locks of all possible sizes. Got thoroughly confused. Absolutely no idea how to judge a Lock by its outlook. Decided to go by the weight and number of levers. Well, bought whatever my list (made by my mom n dad) asked me to.
6) On the way back... till now, the experience has aroused enuf curiosity in me to explore more. Went about roaming and saw a place which seemed like a slaughter house, though not exactly. was a lot bigger, not in a house but spread across a huge area.
Tried to learn more about the place (Dalhousie and burra-bazaar) and got the following info:
There is a "Gali" where u get only balloons... wow, what an idea...isnt it !! and another gali where u get only hangers ... do the people manage to earn a living thr ?? god knows ....
The places out there in Dalhousie are of those times when Kolkata was the capital city in India under the Brtish rule. No doubt, these must be the posh places then but ofcourse, they dont fit our style of living today. Nevertheless, the places are something to be seen (at least for once). Not only because of the historical value and the best buys u can have, but because you will see how busy a person and how narrow a road can get. U will see people always rushing, no one bothers for anyone else, people using slangs at will and throwing the leftovers of Pan-masala wherever n whenever they feel like.
Well, I now firmly believe that I am far away yet closer (than what I was) to Unleash Kolkata.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
