A Slice of Life

I was woken up today By a forbidden dream A dream that should not have been dreamt. A hidden thought Under layers of 'do not' Came dancing; I woke up and wept. It was not a murder Not a heinous crime either But a secret that was to be kept. It had to be cut off From the reels of my dreams For a forbidden dream was not to be dreamt.  Artwork: Tanmayee Chakraborty

There once lived a small Moneyplant Green leaves on a blue pot; Tucked away in a cabin corner It craved to climb through a support. Soon enough, as Sir took charge His attention fell on the small Moneyplant “Your job is not to sit still”, he said “You must grow, give it a start!”. Thus, he set a target on the wall, Urging the plant to sprout and bloom He nurtured it and nourished it And made it laugh, in times of gloom! The plant began to spread its branches, Unfurling its leaves across the wall Whoever visited the cabin said “Wow, the plant has grown so tall!” It felt the sun and danced in the rain It swayed confidently in the breeze It came in the news for being so bold! It adapted and flourished with absolute ease. But then it was time, for Sir to leave And the plant sighed in his thought; After all, we are all but a Moneyplant Big green leaves, soaring on a blue pot.

As Game of Thrones called it a wrap for Season 7, a majority of the mortals on planet Earth (including me) are once again troubled with an innocently relevant question: “What is the purpose of life?” It seems that for the next one or may be two years until Season 8 goes on air, self-discovery is of utmost importance, especially since the last few months were spent primarily on speculation.  Now that we are on our own, what do we look forward to? Thankfully, for Bengali folks (again, including me) across the globe, this is not a problem. Something bigger awaits us in less than a week’s time – The Durga Puja. Yes, a lot has been written and spoken of about Durga Puja and by now, we all know that it is a grand carnival, bringing together the best of Bengal’s creativity, fashion, grandeur, colour, art, food, literature and music in one big potboiler. It is the homecoming celebration of our Ma Durga, and everyone, from beggar to Banerjee, participates in the festivities making the...

It was the day before Christmas. Piu’s flight had just landed at the Calcutta airport and she was waiting in queue to collect her suitcase. As she stood there at the baggage reclaim area, staring at bags of varied shapes and sizes slowly making their way around the carousel, her mind was shrouded by a mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness. It had been 6 years since Piu had visited her home in Calcutta. She wondered how it would feel to go back, to acquaint herself with the lanes and by-lanes which she had once known like the back of her hand. How would it feel to sleep in her old bedroom, adorned with numerous photographs of her childhood and adolescence, reminding her of the times gone by? Had her mother torn down the Shah Rukh Khan poster at the back of her bedroom door, in all these years? Had the Neem tree outside her window grown tall, or had it been cut down again by dwellers of the nearby slum? The questions were too many. Having spent 4 years abroad and the last 2 years...

It was a working Saturday for me and I was quite in the weekend mood already, struggling to concentrate on the mundane paperwork crowding my desk. These working Saturdays are particularly difficult to wade through, especially since my husband has all Saturdays off. The man has absolutely no qualms of peacefully lazing on the drawing room sofa, while I hurriedly make way through the morning rush on a Saturday, sweating and sulking about going to work. Hence, to make sure that I am not alone in this Saturday torture, I often hand him a list of chores to be performed at home, while I am away at work. That day, I had entrusted him with a severely important task – buying fish. Now, many may not understand, but a good fish to a Bengali, is as important as the Sun is to the Earth - we simply cannot do without it. Thankfully, the fish bazaar near our Mumbai home serves a splendid collection of sea and fresh water fishes, such as Pomfret , Rohu , Hilsa , Basa and the like, suiting our budget...

One pale Sunday, She sits in her room The feeling that looms Is an uncanny gloom. She cannot quite say Why it is this way, As nothing lifts her mood On this dull day. It could be her painting, With colours spread wrong She whiles away her time, By writing a sad song. Sometimes she lazes On the brown cosy sofa, Musing about holidays, At places, afar. Browsing through websites, She picks a red dress But the money in her purse, Seems a bit less. Giving it a miss, She pours in some wine The movie she’s watching, Is called ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’. An aroma from the kitchen Suddenly fills her room It stimulates her senses And punctures through the gloom. She gets up and runs, To see what’s in store But all she can see, is steam, Gushing through the door. Soon the cloud clears And on a plate, she sees A sizzling fried fish, Simmered with spices it is! Slices of lemon and onions Make the garnish With some cor...

Two years back, when my husband and I decided to get married, we were clear on one thing – grand wedding or not, there has to be a grand honeymoon. However, planning for a honeymoon was not an easy task. We wanted to visit a place that would satiate our wanderlust, suit our budget and also have a story - a strong background as to why we chose that place. It seemed almost impossible to find a place that ticks all of the above criteria! Tired of all the looking up, one fine day, we sat ourselves down instead and turned on our favourite movie on the laptop – Satyajit Ray’s ‘ Sonar Kella ’ (or ‘The Golden Fortress’). The movie, based on a novel by the same name, traces the journey of a fictional private detective named Pradosh Mitter, who travels all the way to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in search of a little boy who has been kidnapped from Kolkata. The boy is believed to possess a special power of remembering his past life, which was centred around a mystical Golden Fortress, amidst the sand...