Just About Everything

Not so long ago in a land that was hot and humid there lived a teenage girl, Ranjana. Like every child in her early teens, she wanted to "belong" and the best way to belong was to align with her friends. Most of her friends had started getting pimples and some of them were wearing glasses as well. Ranjana used to adore the pimples and glasses because in her eyes pimples and glasses made you look very intellectual. Unfortunately for her, she did not require glasses and pimples were not ready to sprout on her, not yet anyway. She would dream of a day when she would start getting pimples and probably need glasses as well. Alas, that did not happen for a long time. In the meantime, there was something else that troubled her a lot, and those were her pointy and sharp canines. A slight smile would bring those out much to her embarrassment! So instead of glasses and pimples, she had to wear braces during her teenage! However, in spite of the braces, the sharp and pointy cani...

Baul mela 2015 Last weekend was Baul weekend at Jadvapur, Kolkata. Like every year Baul mela was organized at Shaktigarh, Jadavpur. And like every year it was indeed a treat listening to bauls sing till the wee hours of morning. Not only was it a musical treat, the mela had a lot of interesting stalls; musical instruments, paintings, fabrics, and delicious food as well! Among other things, my favourite sweets, pattishapta and hot jalebis were indeed the hot favourites. Definitely the best way to begin the year. Absolutely out of the world! I am including a Baul song video at the end of this post. Baul singing at Baul mela Jadavpur Bauls at the Jadavpur mela musical instruments Pattishapta- A bengali sweet Jalebis- fried and crispy sweets

Happy New Year! I would like to start this year by sharing an experience that left me feeling very loved and happy. I wish to dedicate this post to our dog Jojo. We lost Jojo last October. My husband had got him home when he was a few months old. Jojo lived for 11 years, and my husband and he were the best of friends. In fact, I came into my husband’s life much later than Jojo.To Jojo, I was always someone younger and not to be taken as seriously as his master. We did have a tough time adjusting to each other in the beginning. I think it was more difficult for him, not only did Jojo have to get used to having a permanent member in the house, but he also had to get used to getting less time from his master because of me! Jojo Whenever my husband and I sat next to each other, he would immediately make room for himself between us and park himself there. So sweet... I still can’t forget those days. He did manage to start liking me after a few months, Jojo change...

Christmas at Bow Barracks This Christmas I finally landed at Bow Barracks, I always wanted to visit Bow Barracks during Christmas but somehow I never made it there before. It is not just Bow Barracks; the entire city comes alive during Christmas. It is really-really nice. Bow Barracks is located in Central Kolkata, very close to the Bowbazar police station. The best way to reach Bow Barracks is to take the metro and get down at "Chandni" metro station. It is only 5 minutes walk to Bow Barracks from Chandni metro station.. You can't miss it during Christmas because it is lit up so well. The Barracks have been in existence since the First World War. During Christmas Bow Barracks comes alive with music, events, Santa Clause, fruit cakes, wine, merry making, and lots and lots of fun, love, and laughter. My favourite part this Christmas was to come across a vendor who was selling home-made toffee. I had last seen such a vendor when I was perhaps 6-7 years old. I used...

Amur Falcon A trip to Doyang-Pangti area in Nagaland in October is a must visit for anyone who wishes to witness these amazing migratory raptors. Amur Falcons are sighted in the Doyang Pangti area near Kohima in Nagaland. What is amazing about this migratory phenomenon is the sheer number of these birds. From a distance it would seem like the sky is full of insects and not birds. Every October these Falcons can be seen migrating in large numbers over the Doyang-Pangti area near Kohima. They fly over India from Siberia and their final destination is South Africa.I am sharing photographs borrowed from Soma Jha who was there in Nagaland in October. Because of the sheer numbers in which they migrate, the Amur Falcons become vulnerable and many of these birds do not survive this journey, not because of natural reasons, but purely because they are hunted for food. In parts of North-Eastern India, they are trapped and captured in large numbers. However, on a positive note, ther...

It is that time of the year again. Yes, Jazz fest 2014 just got over today after a three day Jazz music affair that most of us wait for eagerly. This time I got  a chance to watch Sumith Ramachandran perform. As usual I loved the ambience and the music. Here is a clipping from the Jazz fest 2014 (Saturday, Nov 29th) at The Dalhousie Institute, Kolkata Some of the the other artists who performed this time were, Four On A Swing, The Ska Vengers, Th richens Tentett, The Shuffle Demons, The Bodhisattwa Trio, Monojit Datta... You can also check out a clipping from the last year's fest at  Jazz fest 2013 Kolkata .

Sharing a very brief video of idol immersion. You will get a glimpse of idol immersion in the Ganges. The water and the lights make the whole scene dreamy and peaceful. Not a very clear video but you can make out the boats at a distance.