Balaka Basu's Blog, page 23

A Phone Call from RG #WTFOW2018

“Hello,” said the voice on the phone. “My name is RaGa. I know you never expected a call from me, as famous as I am, but I’ve been given your name as someone who can help me in writing my speeches.”

It took me few seconds to understand who the caller was. For a moment, I even thought it was a prank played by my friends. I tried to carefully listen to his voice and match it to what I hear on television and then I asked him “Who gave you my number? And how did you come to know about me?”

The voice replied, “One of my assistants is a regular reader of your blog and he feels you are a good writer who can help me in writing meaningful speeches.”

I was feeling curious and I continued asking “But who gave you my number?”

He replied, “You need not worry about that, I have men to do these jobs.”

I asked, “What do you want me to do exactly now?”

He replied, his voice almost pleading “Please write a good speech where I will have no scope of a goof-up. Media is already calling me the Prince of Goof-up and I am tired of hearing that.”

I could hear a soft sob and then he continued “I am an innocent man, there was a time when women used to find me cute and eligible but now they laugh at me. I am 48 years and still unmarried. The other day my grandmother came in my dreams and scolded me for being a nikamma. She scolded me for not bringing a descendant to this world. She is scared that I am going to be the Bahadur Shah Zafar of our dynasty.” His sobbing became louder.

I felt pity, he looks innocent, his face resembles the face of a toddler whose Mom just dropped him at the playschool. I asked in a consoling tone “Okay, I will write a speech for you. What is the topic on which you want me to write?”

I could feel he was almost jumping in excitement. He said “I have to give a speech at an awards ceremony of an IT conglomerate. Please write a speech on how Steve Jobs founded Microsoft. I want to impress and inspire the IT guys.”

I said, “beg your pardon. Who founded what?” there were disbelief and exasperation in my voice.

He repeated, “How Steve Jobs founded Microsoft.”

I said, “Steve Jobs founded Apple.” My voice resembled that of an angry teacher rebuking her dumb student.

He continued “No, Apple was founded by Newton. I read it in school. Newton was sitting under the tree and an apple fell on his head….”His voice was sounding proud and confident as that student who gets one sum correct after a series of mistakes.

I stopped him midway.

I said “Mr RaGa, I would have loved to write a speech for you, but unfortunately I think I am the wrong person to do this job. You can get in touch with my fellow blogger friend Anamika Agnihotri, she can write you a speech. She recently tumbled out her secret that she is an alien and I think only an alien with a quirky sense of humour can write a speech for you. Please get in touch with her. Good night.”

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Beyond Last Wish #WTFOW2018

My dad’s grandmother’s sister was a child widow. She got married when she was seven years old and became a widow at nine. She absolutely had no memory of her married life. She didn’t even have a photo of her husband.

All her life she stayed as a leftover member of the family. Her brother’s family used to treat her like an unpaid maid. However, Didimoni, as she was fondly called by my great-grandmother, never complained. She happily toiled in the kitchen, helped raise kids, cleaned the house, washed the clothes and even gave body massage to her sisters-in-law.

Occasionally, she used to take leave from her brother’s family and come and stay with her sister, my dad’s grandmother. She enjoyed staying with her sister more than her brothers. In her sister’s house, she was always treated with respect and love. She didn’t have to do much work and she could even go and watch theatre and bioscope (cinema). Didimoni loved theatre and her sister’s house was very near to the famous Star theatre in Kolkata, so she used to frequent quite often.

When Didimoni was around 35 years old she felt she was dying. In those days 35 was considered old age and most women became a grandmother by that age, many women even died by then. Therefore Didimoni felt it was her time to fulfil whatever little wishes she had. She obviously didn’t know the concept of bucket list then but nevertheless had a wish list.

My dad was around 13 years old then. One day Didimoni called him and confided her wishlist to him. There were not many items on that list. She wanted to buy few books, wanted to watch the play Nati Binodini and the last item was to visit Puri and then Kashi. For any widow, Kashi meant the final resting place.

My dad was very fond of Didimoni and he immediately arranged for the books and within few months she could also watch the play. However, when it came to visiting Puri and Kashi it became a cause for concern. In those days travelling to Puri or Kashi was not easy, especially for a widow and a 13-year-old boy. Therefore Didimoni reluctantly aborted her plans and made peace with her life.

Fortunately, my grandfather came to know about her secret wishes. He agreed to arrange for the trip. Finally, Didimoni, my dad’s grandmother and dad went for the trip. As my dad was the only male member of the group he had the responsibility to look after the two old women. They went to Puri and stayed for almost a month where Didimoni enjoyed herself a lot. She was so happy with my dad that she gave him Rs 50 that she had saved over the years. In those days Rs 50 was almost equivalent to Rs 5000.

From Puri, they went to Kashi. When Didimoni reached Kashi a letter from her brother was waiting for her. In the letter, her brother had written that as she went to Kashi they are considering that she would never return back. It should be her final destination and she should stay there till her last breath. Her brother also demanded that as she would now live under the shelter of God, she should not have any requirement for materialistic things like money and jewellery. Therefore whatever she had she should give it to her brothers and spend the rest of her life chanting the name of Krishna in Kashi.

Didimoni hardly had any cash, she only had few gold ornaments that she received at her wedding. This letter came as a big jolt to Didimoni and she understood that her brothers would not accept her back if she returned. She was almost resigning to fate and decided to spend the rest of her life in Kashi like the other widows. Thankfully, my dad’s grandmother understood and assured that Didimoni need not worry about her brothers and she can live the rest of her life with her.

Didimoni came back from Kashi and lived the rest of our life with us. She died when she was 75 years old. All her life she had a special fondness for my dad and whoever she met she always used to tell them that my dad had taken her to Kashi and fulfilled her last wish.

Living 40 years after fulfilling the last wish, isn’t it funny?

Prompt: Write a story about a character who finds out that he or she is dying and has been knocking things off his/her bucket list and has finally reached the last item.

Genre- Memoir

 

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When He Smiled #WTFOW2018

“Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it.” Ruku uttered these words with a hint of arrogance and smugness in his voice.

His cycle was punctured and we were standing in a deserted field. I was standing there shaking in fear, imagining all kinds of bad things that could happen to us and this boy was uttering stupid lines from a Disney movie. I cursed myself partially for nagging him to go and watch this movie during our last date. I never perceived it would boomerang on me. A part of me actually felt like strangulating him.

My voice sounded rude when I asked “Do you have any idea what can happen now?” I am sure my body language was in synchrony with my inner turmoil.

He was nonchalant as before and said with a cool voice “A lot of things can happen. We can get robbed, you can get raped, I can get lynched, and police can pick us up suspecting indecency in public place.”

I seriously felt like slapping him. He was actually speaking out whatever I feared but was scared to utter. I looked at his face carefully and tried to decipher what was going on in his mind. Was he looking scared and nervous or indifferent and carefree? I could find out nothing because his face was as calm as a placid lake.

He perhaps finally understood my anxiety and to calm me flashed his beautiful smile. His smile always melts my heart and turns me into a smitten kitten. I blushed like a new bride and lowered my eyes. I was feeling shy to look at him.

He left his cycle and came near me. He came quite close and I could smell his sweaty body. I actually love his sweaty smell, it always make me feel giddy. He put both his hands on my shoulders and lowered his head to reach my eye-level. My eyes were still lowered yet I could feel his intense stare. He asked softly, almost in a whisper “what are you scared of?”

I kept looking down and did not reply. My one toe was fiddling with the other and my eyes were fixed on them. He lowered his head further. His head was now twisted below mine and my eyes met his. I looked up and he again flashed that mesmerising smile and said “Do you know why I uttered that line?” I said no by moving my head from one side to the other.

He chuckled and said “Us means you and me together and our fate is not in you or me alone but in us. So be brave enough to see it baby!” He embraced me in a warm hug and all my misgivings vanished.

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Prompt:“Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it.”- Brave

Genre: Romance

Image Courtesy: Pixabay

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#BlogchatterEbook- Final Week

I take on the Baton of Blogchatter Ebook Carnival from Tina whose ebook ‘Bhumi’ is also part of the mix.

About Tina’s ebook: Bhumi’ is an ode to womanhood where you will see real women come alive unlike their stereotypical counterparts on celluloid. Read at leisure and pick any chapter as each is a complete story.

My eBook Experience: It felt great that Blogchatter showcased my compilation of stories on their platform. I had written 26 memoirs during AtoZ Challenge 2018. I was planning to publish through Amazon kdp. But before that, I submitted the manuscript that was showcased on the website of Blogchatter under their eBook Carnival. I met quite a few Indian bloggers through Blogchatter eBook Carnival and I am glad about that.

I pass on the Baton of Blogchatter Ebook Carnival to Ravish whose ebook ‘Break Free The Leader Within’ is also part of the mix.

About Ravish’s ebook: It’s an audiobook of about 18 min. It talks about 12 qualities of effective leadership. Shailaja V, Blogger & Entrepreneur, says: “A really good read on what makes effective leaders! Inspiring and a worth dekko especially if you are in the leadership/startup space.”

The Clothesline and Sikku #WTFOW2018

The regular readers of my blog already know about Sikku. She was my mom’s foster daughter. My mom loved her more than she loved me. One day, my mom washed clothes and brought them out of the house to dry them. It was one of the rare sunny days in Gangtok and Ma found it perfect to do some cleaning work. Those of you are aware of the climatic condition of Central Himalayas would know that getting a rain-free dry day in those places is as rare as founding an oyster with a pearl inside.

Ma happily brought all the clothes outside and started spreading them on the clothesline. Madam Sikku was busy playing inside the house but when she saw Ma was spreading the clothes, she excitedly came running out of the house. She came and gave her cute toothless grin and my ma’s heart melted like a molten chocolate. She said in her childish voice “main bhi kapla sukhaoo?” (Should I also dry the clothes). After that amazing smile and cute words, no human being on earth would have the heart to refuse her. So Sikku Madam picked up one cloth from the basket with her tiny hand and with the other hand she grabbed the rope on which Ma was spreading the clothes. Very neatly she spread the cloth on the rope and looked proudly at Ma. My Ma was already under an overdose of cuteness and this proud achievement by her daughter further melted her heart. She flashed a wider grin at her cute bundle of joy and nodded.

However, picture abhi bhi baki hain mere dost(This is not the end of story). The moment she left the rope, following the rule of elasticity the rope sprang up dislodging most of the clothes that were hanging from it. Half of the clothes fell on the grass beneath.

The previous day, it had rained heavily and the grass was still wet and muddy. Most of the freshly washed clothes now resembled kabbadi players who had just concluded their match on a muddy field. In those days there was no washing machine and Ma had hand-washed all of them. Looking at her hard work going literally down the drain Ma must have gone into some kind of trauma-induced trance.

Sikku understood something was wrong. She tried to salvage the situation. She started picking up the clothes and hanging on the rope. However, her little hands were not enough for the job. So, while she was picking up one cloth, the other was falling down. The more she was trying to put the clothes stubbornly the more those clothes were being adamant about not staying on the rope. By the time all clothes were looking identical brown in colour and slimy in appearance.

I guess this was enough for Ma; she ran and took all clothes from her hands. Sikku in her desperation had also put few clothes in the basket. As a result, the few clean clothes that were lying unperturbed in the basket had also turned muddy.  Ma went inside cursing her bad luck. By the time Ma finished washing the clothes once again Gangtok Sun had gone on a sabbatical. Thus, for the remaining few days our living room resembled a Dhobi Talao and Ma kept uttering “ei meyetar janya” (for this girl). However more than anger, I guess there were love and indulgence in her tone.

This was written for #WriteTribeFestivalOfWords #writebravely based on the following image prompt.

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Letter to Me #WTFOW 2018

“The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.” – The Lion King

Dear Me,

When you look back at your past what do you see? Do you see pain and sadness or laughter and happiness? Perhaps you see a mix of both. I am certain you do not want to look at the ugly and sad incidents from the past and always try to run away from them. But let me tell you, those ugly and painful incidents have been your biggest teacher. If you think carefully then you will realise that you have learnt all your lessons from those incidents.

Let me tell you what you learnt. You have learnt that whatever it may be life is beautiful however just like a rose has thorns life also has few thorns and those thorns can be in form of untoward incidents or some Homo-sapiens. Unpleasant incidents like death and sickness cannot be controlled and we can do nothing about them other than accepting. Early deaths of loved ones leave deep holes in our hearts but those wounds often make us strong and more careful towards ourselves and those around us. Often losing a near and dear one teach us the lesson that nothing is permanent in life and we should be more careful about utilising our time. We should try to make each moment joyful so that when we reach the end we are not left with regrets.

The other thorns come as people. There will be people in your life that will hurt you badly. They would come as your relative, neighbour, friends, lovers and even random strangers. They will say or do nasty things to put you down. Some of them would manage to leave a gaping wound in your heart however you should not get bothered because years later when you will look back at it you will realise that person actually helped you become a better and stronger person. So the best thing to do is to forgive that person. Take care of that wound, let it heal slowly and learn a lesson from it.

Often we give too much importance to undeserving people who do not value our worth. These people are the real toxic people who never appreciate the love that you shower on them because these people are so undeserving that they don’t know how to value relationship. They consider themselves too important and often take a sadistic pleasure in torturing you. They increase their importance by treating the other person as shit. These people actually do not love themselves and therefore incapable to love others. Usually, these people are incapable to see anything good in you and they would often use you to fulfil their needs and when you are unable to satisfy their needs they would move on to another person. They are never repentant of their own deeds and always blame the other person for whatever went wrong. These people are usually so toxic that they would get jealous when they see you happy and usually try to find loopholes in your happy life. The only way to defeat these people is to stop giving them any importance and concentrate on your own happiness. Always remember that your happiness should not be dependent on others. The moment we expect others to make us happy we go wrong and cause more pain to ourselves. Don’t expect anything from anybody; the more you keep your expectations nominal the happier you are. Do not give anybody the “power” to make you happy or sad. The moment you give the control of your happiness or sadness to others the more wretched you make your life. Just be yourself and concentrate on yourself and you will evolve as a person. I think the mantra of a happy life is “I give a damn”. Learn to say “get lost” to the toxic people in your life those who are playing havoc with your mental peace.

For years you have not been able to forgive many of them who hurt you but now you have reached a stage where for your own mental peace you should forgive and forget these people. The best thing is to remember the good things and good people and forgive and forget the bad people as if they never existed.

 

Love and hugs

I, Me, Myself

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Book Review- Diary of a Baby #BlogchatterEbookReviews

Name of Book: Diary of a Baby

About the author: Mahak Wadhwani is a career woman turned mom to a 2-year-old and a blogger on Baby & Beyond. She landed headfirst into a life of pooplosions, 3 am feeds, teething & toddler tantrums – a life so exciting that she just had to share her journey with the world.

Book Blurb: Have you ever wondered what goes on inside your baby’s mind? “Diary of a Baby” is a candid, witty take on life from a baby’s perspective written as diary entries, followed by an interpretation phases of baby’s life from the author’s own parenting experience.

Ebook Link: https://www.theblogchatter.com/downlo...

Review: I loved this book because it is written from the viewpoint of an infant. The title itself intrigued me to read this book. The story begins when the baby in inside Mommy, followed by delivery. The second reason why I chose this book is because long back I had also written similar stories, Pablo is Born and Pablo on a Plane and perhaps that is the reason why the book excited me.

In the book the author gives us information at the end of chapters on the various nuances of child birth and infancy. She also shares her real experiences there. Most of us who have been through the process of raising an infant would be able to identify with what Mahak went through.

The names of chapters are also very nicely selected. Through the voice of the infant Mahak actually manages to capture all the emotions that we go through after the baby is born. For example how the massage is the bonding time for mother and child and how the child misses the Dad. The fact that most of us spend our initial days in our maternal house and how it takes time for the child to adjust to the new home have been beautifully captured.

I was in splits when I read the line “Of course Mamma spends most of the time googling why my baby won’t sleep.” I guess all of us moms are guilty of doing this. The sixth chapter is equally hilarious where the baby successfully diffuses a potentially dangerous situation (A date night of Mamma and Pappa). In chapter 8, baby N gets a fall and mamma is scared, guilty and miserable all through the day. All of us have faced this situation and Mahak wrote this chapter with an amazing sensitivity.

In chapter 11, Mahak writes about how switches attract babies. This particular chapter made me so nostalgic because my son used to do the same. Most kids love to play with keys, remotes, utensils and mobile phones instead of toys at a certain age. I really appreciate Mahak for being able to put herself in the shoes of a toddler and write this chapter. The chapter is comical. In chapter 12 separation anxiety is discussed and I guess again all of us will be able to relate. My son even now bangs my door each time and I go inside the bathroom. He is 10 years old. Phew!!

This book is an amazing read for all mommies and daddies who are dealing with infants or toddlers at the moment. Even for veteran parents this book would be a great fun read. This book is hilarious and informative. It would surely bring a smile on your face.

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Image Courtesy: Pixabay

Old and New Memories of Gangtok #WanderfulWednesday

When my Dad joined Ministry of Home Affairs, his first posting was in Gangtok. It was the late 1960s and Sikkim was then not a part of India. The day my Dad set foot in Gangtok, he fell in love with the beauty of the place. In those days he was on deputation and had no fixed office. He was allotted a desk and chair inside the Royal Palace from where he used to carry out his official work. At night he used to stay with a Lepcha family. It was some kind of a rudimentary home-stay. Sikkimese people are great hosts and since ages, they have the custom to allow outsiders to come and stay in their house. Later, when Pawan Kumar Chamling became the chief minister of Sikkim he capitalised this custom and turned it into an industry. Today Sikkim is well known for its home-stays.

He was posted in Sikkim again in 1974-75 for the second time when Sikkim became a Union territory of India after abolishing the monarchy. This time he was not alone and my mother was with him. My father loved Sikkim whereas my mother hated the place. She admired the scenic beauty but the loneliness got the better of her. Being an extrovert my mom loved to talk and socialise but Sikkim in those days was nothing more than a jungle. She used to sit and cry on our veranda most of the evenings. Unlike Ma, I loved Sikkim as it was the place I grew up and till date consider it my home.

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Going back to Sikkim after 14 years was awesome. This time it was even better as I took my son along to show him the place where his mother grew up. The trip was both nostalgic and simultaneously we were creating new memories. My son being brought up in Mumbai had no idea how life in the hills could be. He was surprised to find that his mom used to cross small waterfalls on her way to school. He was also amazed that the house where his mom stayed as a small girl had an amazing view of the Kanchenjunga.

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Nowadays Gangtok has become a tourist hub. It is now a crowded city. I personally missed the previous beauty of Gangtok where everything used to be so serene and pristine almost untouched and virginal. I located the only Bengali sweet shop that we used to frequent back then on our weekly trip to the market. I also located the snack store where I used to love to eat samosa and amurti as a kid. Visiting a place where you have lived once always leaves you with renewed memories.

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The only Bengali Sweet Shop in 1980s

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Every Sunday we used to eat snacks here after finishing our weekly grocery shopping

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The Samosa and Matar taste still the same

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M.G.Road

The only religious place that I love to visit again and again is Rumtek Monastery. It was wonderful to take my son to Rumtek. Whenever I feel depressed I think of the Buddha statue inside the monastery and immediately I feel rejuvenated. I feel a strong connection to this shrine that cannot be described in words.

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