OF H A P P Y STUFF............

 I swear by these delights..... Don't think one can go wrong with these..I don't need fancy ones (read ferraro ) I am happy with ordinary desi stuff !  Two of my buddies revealed that they don't like chocolates...it was like that moment from F.R.I.E.N.D.S when Ross revealed that he did not like ice-cream !

This is really the first time so many wonderful adjectives have been used about me....I am downright flattered so excuse me for flaunting it ! :D

What's company and What's crowd?

There are things in life which usually people do not prefer doing alone....(there are exceptions of course).. like shopping ...watching movies...and so on.

Shopping .... girls take time to shop (generally)...either you have very very limited options as most of them don't fit (always in my case :) )....or you are thin and are spoilt  for choice....(never my case ...sigh)...either way it is a time consuming process...a friend who has sensible opinions makes the journey worthwhile ...while ones with horrid opinions or no opinions are better left at home...for instance if you are trying a hot pink top that will dazzle the shit out of everyone's eyes then you need a friend who will make a puking gesture when you are trying it...not one who will say "you like it?...ok then take it".............

Watching movies is a little trickier.....It depends on the kind of movie..if its a laugh riot then a gang of friends with whom you can just laugh your heart out is desirable..while the poignant movies demand good company or no company....the last thing you want is someone making a stupid comment while you are watching something that is sensible to you.... This year i went to watch 2 movies alone.....One was Bigelow's Hurt Locker and another was KJo's MNIK...the experience actually was not bad ! ... my popcorn kept me engaged and people's conversation provided enough entertainment during the interval.. sample this: a fellow sitting a seat away from me:"arre yaaar mera 7000 rupay gaya IPL  mein"...fellow sitting beside the fellow sitting a seat away from me: "kyu ?" .....fellow1 " mumbai pe lagaya tha na...saala chennai jeet gaya"........ it was a great challenge to keep a straight face and continue eating pop corn !...and if some of you are not as enthusiastic an eavesdropper as I am....you can pass the 5 mins of interval by sms'ing or pretending to do so, while you play the age old snake game on your cell .

 At least I have realized that there is just no point in missing out on good movies only because one  does not have good company..better go alone..you don't have to hear your friend's yawn or stupid remarks when all you want to hear are the dialogues!.... :) Sample this: I recently went for a film where a character said "we are going off on a  tangent "....and a lady behind me questioned her friend "ei tangent maane ta ki?"................GRRRRRRRRR

Pockets, Books And Thoughts.

Well fortunately or unfortunately I study in an institution located in college street , Kolkata. The street is also known as the "boi para"..... (can be lousily translated as the book neighbourhood). As a student living unapologetically on my father's money I can't afford to care about the rightful way of buying books (read original copies), I get fake ones at bargain prices and will continue to do so till i have a paycheck to boast about.

In fact i believe reading a pirated copy is a lot of hard work and it only shows how determined and despo one can get to read a book. Sample this a friend once gave me a copy of "Unaccustomed Earth" saying it was unreadable. It did not take me long to find out why. All (and its ALL) the pages were mixed up. You begin one story reach a poignant moment only to find that the next story begins from the following page and the remaining half of the story you were reading exists 20 pages later. Well i read every single story and even numbered the book correctly. (i am impatient with kids but very patient with books and tangled wind chimes) .

But this is not what i wanted to talk about. the point i was trying to make is that i seldom buy books from the "stores" (read Starmark, Oxford and Crossword) because i am short of cash. But i love browsing and at times succumb to temptation. The last few times i went there i bought some Bengali books. The prices were really low and i was very happy because I did not think i could have struck a better bargain even at college street. But yesterday i went to Oxford , Park Street and i bought a few Bengali books but something gnawed behind my head. I saw a copy of "Shesher Kobita" (not published by Bishwabharati but another publication) being sold for Rs.20 and even some other Bengali authors had books selling at really low prices as compared to the English authors. Now I am no financial expert who understands the dynamics of the economy behind books but it just bothers me that a Sidney Sheldon (I am not looking down upon it ...i have read his books) sells for more money than Tagore or any other well-known Bengali author. Even contemporary writers in English sell their books at exorbitant prices. Even the english classics sell for more.

There's a question of demand,  but if it is low then why is it so? I fail to understand the reason why english books should cost a bomb. It is definitely not "greater" literature by any (ANY) means. Is "Shesher Kobita" a "lesser" work than "The Museum of Innocence", by Pamuk , which sells for a price upwards of Rs.500.Is something wrong with us? The way we perceive the world? I have grown up reading Sukumar Ray but i have friends who can swear by Paulo Coelho (hate his books) but who are ignorant of Feluda and Pagla Dashu. I have also fortunately been blessed with friends who are from the opposite pole and enjoy reading vernacular books.

It is not only a Vernacular vs. English divide. Pride and Prejudice and other classics sell for less money than a Jackie Collins. It bothers me, I don't know why. I am in no way the arbitrator of what other people should read and like to read but I feel as a reader I have the right to ask what is the parameter which is considered while fixing the price of a book and is that parameter a just one? Just to the author and the reader.

For instance if no one has a right to determine the price according to quality then there should an element of uniformity, if not exact ,at least the disparity should not be so damn great. A person may want to watch Heyy Baby , while another may wish to see The Social Network, at a multiplex there is no major difference in the pricing of the two movies. I just do not understand the dynamics of the pricing and end up thinking if I am the only lost soul thinking about it, and does it appear normal to everyone else !

Good-Mood-Food: The Cosmic Connection !

My mood is inextricably linked with the contents of my fridge. (I do not need to spell it out, it "shows" )

So lau and kumror torkari means I become sad and gloomy while a welcoming tub of Kwality Walls ice cream or  some good paneer curry can just make my day a tad bit brighter !

So here are my top  comfort food items ( thanks to results, relatives, lousy people in general, I need loads of comforting. A bonus is that food items do not talk so no unnecessary gyaaan !)

1. Dal- Bhaat- Aloo Bhaja: (rice, lentils and fried potatoes) Simple as it sounds any minor flaw in any of these 3 elements can absolutely ruin the experience. The bhaat cannot be gola gola (gluey), the aloo bhaja cannot be soaked in oil or undercooked and the dal has to of the right consistency. Everything right translates into pure bliss.

2. Ice Cream/ Chocolate: If you need a reason then well you need help my dear friend, you do.

3. Maggi:  Is delicious. A plate of perfectly cooked maggi infuses a "self-sufficient-individual" feel in me...okay its for two minutes ..still !!!

4.Dal Makhni: Butter in any form can do nothing but do good to one's mood. Some restaurants serve a liquidy "torka dal" that is hellish and makes me murderously angry but some places do serve up the good old one !

5. Mukhorochok Chanachur: this is Thakurda to "Bapi" which is a fake. I love the tok jhaal one.

6. Pizza: Hungry Kya?.....well I can only answer "Haaan Har Waqt !"

7. An edible home delivery meal: Being the lazy bug that I am I end up eating a lot of home delivery stuff and mostly order Chinese. Well at times what i get can solve all diplomatic problems between India and China, they will get so scared seeing the contents of the packets that they will run for cover. Once i cried the entire time eating my share of veg fried rice, the cook had been too kind with the black pepper. Then once I had a nightmare of dying a painful death caused due to gastronomical disasters because what I ate that night was supposed to be "mushroom" but was a menacing black slimy thing. So when such disasters do not occur and in a rare moment of divine kindness i get edible tasty home delivery food ...I am comforted...very much so !

8 Shingara: The good old bangali mishtir dokaan er shingara can give Monginis and Kathleen a run for their money. Two of them sitting on a plate with my evening cup of tea (with the right amount of sugar) can make or break an evening.

I must state (though it is a well-known fact) that my culinary skills are non-existent however this pseudo-expert tone is what I am extremely proud of , to the greatest irritation of my mother
(yes i criticize every dish !).

Lets "Shake" things up a bit ...Shall we?

"Othello" being screened in Bangladesh  Othello Korlo Kelo

Sign outside a delivery room in a hospital.  Jubilous Caesar 


A hydrating skin potion. A Midsummer Night's Cream.

A birdie's migratory abode. Temp-nest


Stock Clearance . A Winter's Sale.

A Marwaari businessman paying respect to Steve Jobs. Mac-seth

How Much Is Your I.Q ??

No need to scream a three digit figure . I am talking about your Impatience Quotient. Mine is pretty high especially about the following.

1. Break-Up/ Patch Up stories that refuse to end. When we ask "what happened" we mean "give me the spicy bit and shorten the sob story"..if that seems too crass then let me explain.... even in case of very (VERY) good friends the trajectory is something like "okay tell me- poor/lucky you- that is really great/sad-- oh there is more ?- okay go on-- God this is never ending".

2. Boring Lectures: If they are good eye-candy then may be one or two can be forgiven. You can just totally look interested without listening a word of it. But even that gets tedious after sometime. Either they dictate  or they learn and recite or say something which is comprehensive only to them. If you are lucky enough to have long hair and earphones then great, otherwise be prepared to suffer.

3. The plateau phase of a relationship: Every diet has this "plateau" phase where you do not lose weight  and everything is at a standstill. Same in a relationship. After a certain point in time there is just nothing to talk about. . and how long can one pretend to be interested in one's- a.timetable b. career c. hobbies d.crazy things. ... the Papri Chaat becomes a tasteless gravy chowmein sooner or later. ( some are great and work for years , but this type also exists ! ).

4. Bollywood Comedy Films: They never make me laugh. I only get a royal headache. Period.

5. Relatives. Self-appointed caretakers of your future/love life/ marriage/ education/career/ daily routine. I miss having a ferocious Doberman when I see the worst samples of this breed of human beings.

The list is endless but these are pretty much the worst of that list.

Lessons Learnt Through Literature.

This is not for you if you are 1. Brilliant 2.Intolerant 3. My Teacher.


1. Never sit to read a theory essay without the OED

2.Mr. T.S. Eliot should have stuck to writing poetry.

3. "Studying Literature" can sometimes be synonymous to taking your favourite pizza under a microscope.... you are not allowed to eat it, only look at it closely analyzing the ingredients, the food group in which those ingredients belong, the country the ingredients originated in and so on.

4. You should more or less read/know/have heard about everything..... and I mean everything.

5. The text is GOD. It can save you when you know nothing ...and again I mean nothing else.

6. Your favourite item does not define the entire buffet. If you have a good starter, the dessert might be a nightmare. For  eg. Don't be excited seeing Jhumpa Lahiri or Rushdie on the stage, Mulk Raj Anand may be laughing hysterically at you, behind the curtain.

7. If you do not understand anything do not call up your friend. If you are lucky they'll tell you they did not understand either , if you are not God's favorite child you will hear an hour long lecture that will confuse you all the more. If she understood better she wouldn't have been your friend ! Get it?


8.  Don't call up any bespectacled-good attendance person 2 days before your exam, your self confidence will be broken, crushed in a grinder, dissolved in a solvent and then finally it will evaporate and cease to exist.

9.  You are still human if you don't like certain poems, Don't go by the "fuck off you animal " look some people give you when you say you hate an author.

10. Do not write blogs 3 days before your exam like I am doing. Go and study.