A place called home

Home and Durgapur has long been synonymous. A small industrial town in the heart of Bengal which has grown from a small to not so small town. For me every street, every stone, every tree has a story to tell. A place where an imbecile me grew up to be a more explicate individual. A place where memories galore have been formed. Memories that will be cherished a lifetime.

I was born in this small town in the 80's. An era which saw a sea change from manual to computers, from tape recorders to CD players, from renting of a VCR/VCP's to watch a movie to the cable connection, from playing physical games to playing online or video games. A change which changed the lives of people henceforth. Durgapur in my growing up years was a place where hanging out with your friends either meant going to Durgapur Club or going to Paramount Confectionaries in Steel Market. Being seen in these two places was always considered hep n cool. But in today's modern Durgapur, these places have ceased to be places of cool or hep value. You rather go and hang out in the chic, glassy malls in City Centre. Small things which add up to greater pleasures and building up of memories that you cherish a lifetime are seldom made in a mall. Its always gaping and drooling over a nice piece of dress on the mannequin rather than sitting down with your friends in a small place and do things you love to do or discuss things which matter as being friends. Malls don't and can't give you the pleasures and the memories that we made during those years. Running to the local 'chop thela' in the evenings with just a rupee in your pocket and getting a paper packet full of delicious mouth watering hot chops was happiness worth dying for. The taste which I cherish even though so many years have passed by. Or for that matter an egg chicken roll or a plate of chilli chicken from a restaurant called 'La Cafe' or the steamed momos and noodles from a Chinese restaurant called 'Hongkong' or the prawn chops, again from a roadside thela in Steel Market. The tastes which can't be replicated by any 5 star restaurant anywhere in the world. Can these tastes and these memories be made in a mall!!? I wonder!! Sitting on the gate in front of  Amrita's house and relishing these delicacies, finger licking potato fries with 'luchi' that Ritu's mom made and we hogging them even before its the tiffin time in school, going to the school sister's den just beside our school on Christmas and enjoying the Christmas goodies, checking out the Xaverians' while parking our bike in school, the eagerness for the most awaited festival of the year, 'The Pujas', cycling to school in the foggy winter mornings, the computer classes with the boys, the first moped rides with Ritu and she telling me to increase the speed seeing a man on the cycle overtaking me, the fun and carefree school life, the making of new friends in NIT, the pandal hopping during the pujas, etc etc etc. The list goes on but the memories don't fade neither they will during this lifetime.

Durgapur, is no more a home for me now. Life has moved on and I have moved on with it leaving Durgapur far behind. But even now when I hear the word 'HOME', all that I can think of is 'DURGAPUR'.             

Shining India's Emerging Talibans

During my graduation days in one of India's premier universities, people especially boys who were my friends used to tell me,'don't wear jeans here. People here are not educated enough to accept girls in these kind of western clothes. If someone does something that you don't like, then don't come and tell us, because we had warned you in advance. Its not that we are asking you not to wear it, its just that, since we are your friends we don't want anything bad happening or someone misbehaving with you.'

'We are not asking you!!Hello!Are you not able to hear what you are saying!I mean I am over 18 years of age and here is someone giving me moral lessons on what to do and what not to!!!!You say you are just concerned but do I need to ask you before deciding what to wear!!!' That was ironical because these people belong to that section of society which call themselves literate.....But is just being literate means you are educated!!

Twelve years down the line, its not only what a girl wears to a party or college it is also what she posts on her social networking page makes headlines. People want to dictate terms to a female on not only what she should wear but also what she should write. I mention the word 'people' because it is not only the opposite gender who issues such kind of 'Fatwas' but also our own gender leave no room.

We say our India is shining!India is a sovereign country!!Freedom of speech and expression is our Fundamental right!!!But where does all these theories go when two girl express their discontent of not supporting the bandh issued on the demise of some party leader!In the name of saving the culture girls are issued 'Fatwas' against wearing jeans or any kind of western clothes!Why doesn't culture come in when men repeatedly rape women on the streets of Delhi?Why doesn't culture come in when a father, brother, uncle sexually molest and rape a class 8 student for 2 years continuously in Kannur, Kerala?Where does your culture go when a group of 30-40 men molest a girl on the streets of Guwahati?Where does your culture go when men go for an IPL match just to ogle at the skimpily dressed cheer leaders?Where does culture go when a lift man rapes and murders a bright young advocate for just refuting his advances?

Culture is not all about clothes. Culture is about all the values which are embedded in you by your parents and passed on to your next generation. If parents have a Talibani attitude towards girls then that is what you pass on to your next generation. Being literate doen't really mean you are educated. A person who knows how to put his signature on a piece of paper is also literate but a person who not only knows how to sign but also knows the future implications it will have on him and others is an educated person. Passing out from a renowned institution doesn't prove you are educated if you are using it as a ticket to call for maximum dowry.

India can only truely shine if women are respected else it won't be any different from a Taliban ruled neighbouring countries. 

An Eye full of SNOW!!!

When I came out of Asda after the same boring weekly shopping, a whiff of the icy cold wind froze my spine!!!God! it wasn't that cold when we came in for the shopping!!! Right from the store's entrance I could see some flakes like things falling from the sky. What were these? I wondered? There was a snow forecast on the sunday, but today was a saturday! And it does not look like rainfall as well!! Is it SNOW!!!I wondered both with curiosity and excitement!! It was a moment that I had always been waiting for. Waiting for witnessing a snowfall!!! I really hope it was!!!
When out in the open and as the flakes touched my face I could not stop myself from jumping with glee and shouting 'snow atlast!'
By the time we reached home there was 3 cms of snow all around. I was so excited that I quickly put the little one off to sleep as I did not want to miss even a moment of my dream event. The freezing temperature outside could just not prove to be a deterrent in front of a super excited human being that was me from enjoying this historic moment in my life. I quickly grabbed the camera, loaded myself on with the woolens and out I went. It was 10 in the night, about 5-6 cms of snow all around, and an excited me out in the open making snowballs and throwing them all around.
As I woke up in the morning, and removed the curtain of my bedroom window, I saw a scenery that was just picture perfect. It was as if someone had thrown a white blanket all over. Our community lawn looked like as if a massively big white canvas topped with cotton was spread all over. Trees and shrubs were covered from head to toe branches of which were swooping down due to the weight. Snow Snow all around! It was actually 'an eye full of snow!'

My baby turns 2!!

If I had a time machine I would have gone back to the day my little princess was born and start writing her a mail everyday telling her how she grew up. I would write down even the minutest of the detail of each day. Things she does everyday, things she says everyday, the number of smiles she puts on my face everyday. But since I don't have a time machine and neither can I go back on time, I have decided just to write her a mail on every birthday she celebrates with us every year.
So my baby turns 2 this 6th Jan, 2012. She has grown so fast. It just feels like yesterday that she was born. The nurse placed a tiny girl on my hand saying she is my daughter. Oh God! she was so tiny. So tiny that it scared the hell out of me even to lift her up! Lest I might drop her or I might hold her in an inappropriate place that it would hurt her. And most of all the very idea of me being a mother was still in the settling down period. It was a transition period from a girl to a woman to a mother. I quickly kept her in the cot beside my bed as my fingers were trembling with joy, fear, uncertainty, and most of all due to the cold!!! She was born on the coldest day of the season!!
Today, after 2 years since her birth, many things have changed along with her growth. We have moved to a new country all together (though temporary) with new and different people. Saanvi has grown from a tiny little baby to an over active toddler who is always on the move. Also she has grown from a little crying infant to a non-stop talker. Since the time she wakes up till the time she goes to bed, the non stop chatterbox goes on and on and on!!! It feels great when she calls me 'Mama' in different styles! Some times 'Ma--Ma', sometimes 'MaaaMaaa' and sometimes 'Chonuu'...She often runs around the house looking for her father and shouting 'Sud'!! Feeds her doll with the toy milk bottle the way she drinks her milk. She kisses me all day especially when I am angry with her or refuse to talk to her. She also does 'Sssshhhhh' with her little index finger placed on her tiny lips when I ask her to say 'twinkle twinkle little stars', and then gently says 'tinkle tinkle lil stars'....
The feeling of becoming a mother is finally settling down within me. Day after day I see my little princess growing from just lying on her back to lying on her belly, then to lift herself up, then cruise herself forward, then to start crawling, then holding on to things and standing, then walking and now running....She has grown within a wink of an eye from an infant to a fine toddler!!!! My baby has turned 2!!!

An Autumn in London

The English weather is like the English women! Very unpredictable!!
Whether a British or otherwise, it has been rightly put. It is almost 3 months that we have moved to London from Delhi, the weather has always struck me. It is so very unpredictable unlike its counterpart in Delhi. Though I had heard much about it from my husband who had frequented this place in the last 2 years, yet the reality just hit my face strongly. They say that the worse is yet to come. 'THE WINTERS'.
I sometimes stop to think how bad can the winters be!!It is already dark by 5.00 pm nowadays. Well the days are no better since most of the times it has a overcast sky. It feels like the sun refuses to rise in this part of the world. God! as it is it is so depressing and they say that the worse is yet to come. What more it will be. Snow all around with the rain, wind and darkness. How does it matter although I am very excited to witness the snow for the first time in my life. I had seen the remnants of the so called snowfall, much of which had already changed forms and had flown down the mountains through neumerous streams and by streams the last time I had visited Kashmir. Hence, the very idea of witnessing a real snowfall in front of my eyes exites me so much that the chilliness and the all the more depressive weather hardly proves to be a deterrent.
What irks me the most is that almost everyday I wake up to a bright sunny day which eventually turns into the same old rainy and windy day in the next hour or so. The sun plays hide and seek all day round. Sometimes the weather seems just so perfect and pleasing that I am unable to restrict myself to the confinement of the four walls. But the moment I step outside to bask in the sun and gather some Vitamin D for my body, a dash of icy cold wind hits me which is enough to freeze me to death forget about gaining some Vit D.
So unpredictable as it is yet I have slowly come to live with the English weather and have also started liking it so much that if it is sunny all day it makes me think something is out of place.