These birds are our new guests who visit once in a while and make a sound which is very unique.
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The sights and sounds of our amiable sparrows Our neighbourhood is now a bee-hive of babies who are not lesser than six months and children who are not more than 10 years old. The moment morning breaks and the sun rises in the east at around 5.45 am some sparrows come to our verandah like small children. When the babies -- who live nearby and whose voice, laughter and cries have become so much familiar --are fast asleep, these sparrows add life to our daily routine work. They wake my parents to a new day. Sparrows have a habit of coming in a flock of five to seven and the number of male bird visitors are greater than females. The male birds, who wear darker shades of brown on their wings and neck, make a louder sound which if carefully heard seems like "speak speak" and "quick" and then they whistle. They nose-dive from the grill to a level of our first floor and again starts flying from than point without touching the ground and comes back in full ene...
A cat gives good company Toofan became really thin after a fight with a stray cat and his health had deteriorated at that time. Here is sitting in a meditative state in our kitchen. Pets have a unique way of building relationships with people. Like dogs are faithful to their masters, cats never forget their house number. We human beings often wonder how can a cat remember the house even after it refuses to become completely domestic. Since I was in school my experience with cats have been quite so fascinating since one of these animals was my constant company for more than five years. Like puppies, kitten too love to play with us but their hidden claws to catch prey are something one should careful about. In Bengali there is a saying that cats are "Bagher mashi", which means they are linked to the tiger family and the the proverb is true in every sense. They quietly proceed towards their prey-- a mouse is their favourite hunt -- and pounce upon it. They don't kill ...
A great man who had stirred entire West Bengal and made a place for himself in the hearts of men and women as a Hero in the era of 1950s and 60s and 70s is no more alive but his memories have not faded since 33 years have passed by since his demise in the year 1980 on 24th July. A versatile actor and a man of great genius was popularly and lovingly known as Uttam Kumar to all and sundry. I have seen him in real on television and he looks so much real that it does not seem that he is acting. He is like our Guru. His movies have kept him alive not only in our thoughts but make us believe that he is still there...Yesterday was his "Mahaproyan Diwas". The entire afternoon was spent searching for a single movie of his on television but much to my dismay there was not one which was aired between 3 pm to 6pm. Finally, the news channels made me very very happy when they aired some very special moments where some great people were remembering the "Mahanayok". Some popular B...
Sitting on a small rock just off the coast of Kanyakumari, at the southernmost tip of India, Vivekananda went into deep meditation-- but what a strange meditation! He meditated not upon God, but upon India. It was as if all the pages of India's history opened up before him. Engrossed in deep meditation, he felt in his heart of hearts that India would rise only through a renewal and restoration of that highest spiritual consciousness which has made of India, throughout its history, the cradle of religions and cultures. No nation can survive without the policy of give and take. As India's greatest deficiency was her poverty, India would have to learn from other countries how to remove it, and for this it was urgently necessary to learn Western science and technology. But India would not just take like a beggar; she would also give something as well. India's strength is in her spirituality, so India would make the whole world understand what true religion is. Swami Vivekanan...
Feeling happy happy The expression of any human when he is happy can be superficial and transient at times, the reason being real happiness which is felt within might not show on the face always. A kind of contentment envelopes our being when we break into laughter when someone cracks a joke, enjoys nature while walking alone down the street in the evening or eat a piece of chocolate pastry. A similar kind of fulfillment is felt after reading a good short story after months of separation from books and authors. Simply putting on some slow music of our choice when we are at home brings the body to rest -- which can be termed as a state of mental peace if not complete happiness. At times jamming up with an old friend rekindles memories from the green past. The freshness of thoughts and the current that is exchanged over a conversation injects a new life into the body that tends to decay soon after transformation. But in all these a lot of enjoyment can be drawn from within ...
To be free is freedom.
Freedom is very precious for me. When I am free I can enjoy everything. There is an inner happiness when I can do things on my own terms and in my own way. I can think freely and I have the right to speech. But the meaning of freedom completely changes when we live a family life. I call this a disciplined freedom. Take for example, when I am at home neither can I wake up really late in the morning nor can I go out wherever I wish to and at anytime. I have to follow certain rules. But then I am certainly free to watch the TV all by myself which I hardly could when I was in the hostel or for that matter some eight to ten years ago. I am free to control the remote when my parents are not around. They have given me the allowance to watch the television programmes and movies which are a source of fun and entertainment for me. I can surf the internet at times because I have been given the freedom to check my e-mails and read news online. When I listen to the stories of my parents and other e...
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way After many years my family went out on 24th of December. We took the metro to reach Esplanade station from where we walked to the New Market, once known as Sir Stuart Hoggs Market, which was established in 1874. The market is one of the oldest in Kolkata. Now the market has spread its wings around the old building, which shelters hundreds of shopkeepers, small and big. The place wears a completely different look especially during this season, from the Christmas to the New Year. Once upon a time the foreigners were the regular visitors of this place to buy cookies and greeting cards. The foreigners have left, leaving behind their legacy and some Anglo-Indians who still make the place lively during the last few days of the year. This year, there was a huge Christmas tree made of card board right next to the Lighthouse cinema hall (which is now a departmental store) and beside the tree was a picture of a smiling Santa. On top of the tree was th...
I got my study table when I was only seven. The table, which seemed to me very huge then compared to my size, occupied a very important place in my heart and in our two-room quarter. The table was placed right next to our bed. It came to our quarter without a chair. I used to sit on the dining chair which was wooden just like the table. The new table of mine was a gift and I liked to study only because of it. I used to sit facing east. A teacher used to visit our house to teach me Mathematics. The fact that he will share the table was not at all acceptable to me. Moreover, I did not like his company. He did not visit from the second week. The chair was mine. I was elated. My journey of studying on a chair and a table started since then. The year, if I remember, was 1987. My father who had got the table also fixed an interesting table lamp on the wall facing the chair. But the light was not very comfortable for my eyes. I preferred the tube-light instead. Soon we shifted to our new quar...
Khwab ho tum ya koyii haqiqat, Kaun ho tum batlayo, /hoooo/ der se kitne dur khari hon, Aur kareeb aa jayo... Devanand was a craze once upon a time not only among the women of India but also among the men folk. The actor who died yesterday, was a somewhat look-alike of Hollywood gentleman star Mr Gregory Peck. Devanandji probably followed his style of acting. A style icon Devanand was once the heart-beat of the Hindi film industry or Bollywood. Unfortunately, the actor is no more. His tin-tin like hair lock like an inverted comma with his stylish head bent on a side and a scarf tied on his neck was so typical of him. He was the face for the voice of Kishore Kumar Ganguly. Devanand was incomplete on screen without Kishoreda. The actor's death reminds me of some great Hindi sound tracks... Gata rahe mera dil (my heart sings on...), Churi nehi mera dil hain (my bangles are my heart), Aj phir jine ki tamanna hain (I wish to live once again), and Dum Maro Dum, mit jaye hum, bolo subha ...
Flowers are one of the most beautiful creations of God. Some smell good, some others are known for their colours while a few have both. Some grow in our gardens and the wild ones prefer to grow in the forest. Roses, tube roses, merrigold, jasmine are some flowers that are commonly available in the local market. While a rose beautifies a room, a tube-rose garland adorns an idol in the temple; a merrigold is offered to our God at home and a jasmine garland tucked in a woman's hair makes a morning refreshing. A Jaba or a Hibiscus blooms in almost every garden in Bengal. This particular flower which I am talking here comes in different colours like bright red, deep yellow, soft pink and white which is so very rare. There are a wide variety of flowers which have no English names because they are found only in the villages of Bengal. A few of these are offered to Lord Shiva. Flowers which have long stems like Gladiolus and Roses are always kept in a bucket of water in a flower shop. The...