His book has not been reprinted .... therefore a rare one. I shall be thankful if someone in possession of the same kindly gives me access the same for my work on Iconography of terra cotta temples of Bengal.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
A FORGOTTEN PALACE IN WEST BENGAL (INDIA)
A VISIT TO SONARUNDI
I visited a small village named Erera during January,2007 ...... this was my first visit to a small place without any official bindings in many years.It is near a station called Salar in Murshidabad district.The village is predominantly inhabitated by agriculturists - the land owners and the peasants.
I stayed at Erera for two days and two nights.The last place where my host took me on the 1st day was Sonarundi.It is at the border of districts Burdwan and Murshidabad, 5 km from the place where I was put up .... may be 17/18 km from Katwa , a big and quite well known town in the Burdwan district and on the confluence of the Ganges and Ajay rivers.
TRIPS TO SONARUNDI :
(On LH, a view of the once-magnificent Arch of the Entrance)
Most of the external areas of the palace are a photographer's delight.But, it is important that this once-magnificent structure gets fund for repair urgently, as I was told by my host that the deterioration is rapid.
( On the LH, a view of a small portion of the Palace which has properly maintained facade.
The Palace was a two storied brick-and-mortar structure , rectangular in shape , built with bricks.The structure could be at least 125 years old.The photos 'Ravaged by time' posted at the end of this page as well as the one above give the Viewer idea about the height . The compound wall and the minor gates with arches are gone. But, as one walks around this Palace, and also on the ground beyond the Stable, one can see crumbling structures of the once-strong boundary walls , gates etc.
I felt sad at the way two cannons were lying on the dusty ground , neglected . If they could have been mounted on masonry blocks , with their respective histories inscribed on plaques fixed onto the front face of these blocks, it would have looked quit regal !
(On the RH, one of the two cannons lying on the ground)
The owner, known as 'Ranee-ma' stays at Katwa with her relatives.I would like to meet her during the coming winter during my next visit to that region , learn and publish the history of this Palace with some more photographs . This will create an awareness about the urgency of the situation. Also, I believe , publicity will attract tourists to Sonarundi.After all , Katwa is not very far from Calcutta. Crossing the rivers in a ferry while wondering at the width of the confluence , homage to Ma Kali and Radha-Krishna at BilalaBabar Ashram at Shankhai Ghat and then a visit to 'Uddharapurer Ghat' on the Ganges and then enjoy an afternoon's photography around this Palace, feeding the age-old fishes of adjacent pond can be an intersting trip to travel-crazy Bengalis.
A post-script : Forefathers of my mother are from a neighbouring village ... Shimulia. I was told that my maternal Grandfather, Yoshoda Nandan Bhattachayra, who was a freedom fighter and a Doctor, studied in the school adjacent to the Palace of Sonarundi. It was at least an hour's walk for a boy from his village those days.
A FEW MORE PHOTOS FROM MY ALBUM :
( Clockwise from the top :
Ravaged by time -I
Ravaged by time - The entrance to the Tower.
Ravaged by time - Another view of of I )
DESTINATION SONARUNDI :
If one plans to travel by train and buses from Calcutta , there can be two alternatives .
- One can go to Burdwan by train, take a Burdwan-Baharampur bus and get down at Sonarundi.This trip will take upto 90 minutes.
- At the time of returning, one has to change buses at Pachindi to visit Uddharanpurer Ghat on the Ganges and Shankhai Ghat at the confluence of the Ganges and Ajay river.These are small distances which can be covered on foot . The ferry-ride across the confluence in a bright afternoon is a trip one must enjoy. On the other side of the ferry-ghat,one can take a rickshaw to the market of Katwa town, relish his/her pick of the choicest sweets available from the neat eateries and then take a train to Calcutta.
- The other way is to start from Katwa , cross the confluence to Shankhai Ghat and follow the reverse of the bus journey mentioned above.Once back to Burdwan, there will be lots of trains to take to Calcutta.
From top to bottom ( clockwise) :
(Confluence of the Ganges and Ajay river)
( Uddharanpurer Ghat on the Ganges )
( While I was standing at the Sankhai Ferry Ghat)
NOTE : for details regarding location, please view :
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=23.670311&lon=88.114471&z=13&l=0&m=a&v=2
KNIGHT : OUR BLACK LAB.
knight:ourblacklab.
This is from my writings during Sept-Oct,06 :
We are worried and sad .......
Knight on the eve of his 8th birthday,February,2008. Only if you watch him closely, you will find that his legs are thinner, the ribs are showing, the skull is protruding through his still excellent coat. May be his eyes also betray his sinking health and ... his suffering.
Knight is suffering from the deadly disease - Asitis. One or more of his two vital organs...... kidney and liver are not functioning the way they should, robbing our dear Lab of his life force. And, sadly, this degeneration cannot be reversed by medicines. Careful administration of medicines ( mostly homeopathic ) and diet can retard the progress of this killer disease. Ruby , my wife , is determined to see that her Lab lives another two years .... he is 8 1/2 years old now. I shall thank God if he completes nine.
Memories of Knight : his early days at Durgapur :
from Pune, summer 2004.
I brought Knight home in an evening of the spring of 1999.He was carried in a small plastic basket. He was 6 weeks old and he drank milk from a plate on his arrival. ( Only now, we have to sometimes administer milk or glucose-water solution by droppers.) I was worried if he was deaf and would clap near his ears to test if he would respond.
He had two encounters with death during the very first year of his life.
The first one was when he was about 13/14 weeks old. While Ruby was preparing breakfast and tiffin for Babai and Pucho before they would go to school , a subdued but sharp groan attracted her notice. She found to her horror that the pup was being carried away by three dogs (of Indian origin) through our Bungalow's backyard . He was rescued and taken to a doctor at Benachitty who administered the 'first aid'. But, the real treatment .... stitching of the gaping wound... was done by Dr Saha . His stitches , done in the morning, would open up in the night. I still recollect that to give relief to Knight, Pucho and Ruby would stay awake and wipe off the blood and puss that would ooze from the wound. It took 6 days and 27 stitches before he was on the recovery path. And , without Dr Saha , Knight would have died.
Knight has been my companion for morning walks since he was a little grown-up. The second brush he had with death was because of my fault. I used to often leave him unleashed during his morning walks . He would often stray into the bushes on the sides of the solitary lanes of our colony and would catch up with me after I have gone a few steps ahead. I heard a muted groan.... and Knight had blood FLOWING out of a gush from his right hind leg. How I brought him back to our Bungalow is a story which we can skip. Again, Dr Saha came as the angel of his life,He arrived within 20 minutes of our phone call . The verandah was full of the dark blood in spite of tying up the wounded leg with cloth . He stitched the gush and ( I remember till date) in a reproaching voice that the dog could have died out of shock of blood loss.
There were two fallouts of these two events. Knight and Bhonde , the street dog who was carrying him away remained enemies throughout their lives. Knight grew up to be a strong and spirited lab.... though we discouraged his being a quarrelsome animal, we taught him to reply back to barks and chases Knight faced during morning and after-noon walks .Knight eventually could put Bhonde on the defensive . Secondly, he was not allowed to walk without leash any more. When he was older, he would sneak away from the compound .... we could not keep 100% check on this , but, Ruby would quickly start calling him back and shut him indoor.
Like all other Labs, Knight was always a very sober dog, rarely thrusting himself on a visitor. Even then, when we used to have a large no of visitors, we used to tie him up in a room adjacent to the sitting room .....from where he could see us. He would groan after a while to call attention and seek release. We noticed that he would not disturb the guests at all when set free from leash.... he would enter the room soberly , sniff around a little and curl up near a person who was not averse to the proximity of a dog , but away from persons who detest dogs. Gradually, he developed habit of not coming near the persons who have aversion for dogs.
Knight with my mother and aunt at our Durgapur Bungalow
A few fun stories about Knight. When he was a 'kid', he pissed near the leg of the very tall lady. Once he chased a cow without caring about the kicks from her hind legs .The cow was running away and hurt a maid servant during his flight. This part of the story was not 'funny' ..... Ruby had to arrange for this woman's treatment in our Company's dispensary. He used to dislike young boys in shorts, though, we could never understand the reason. He would bark at the young boys who used to visit our residence and once he chased a boy and his parents were quite tense for a while apprehending that the boy would fall down or be bitten by Knight. Neither happened and we were relieved when Knight was put on leash. Another story I remember of Knight charging across the garden and colliding with Pucho . The impact was so severe that Pucho lost control and fell flat on the ground.
Though he was bitten by street dogs in his early childhood, he had a liking for some of the dogs and bitches he would meet daily in the neighbouring area. This aspect of his nature was visible even when he came to Calcutta in December,03. The only non-street dog he was comfortable with is Nadubabu, a Golden Retriever.
After quite a few months of his demise :
We lost Knight on 12th October,2007.
His end was painful. Last three days, he could not move downstairs to relieve himself. A local Doctor and a vet-assistant diagnosed this as a problem of worms and injected him with intervenes doses of fluids ( he starved himself to a pathetic figure) and anti-worm drugs. In retrospect, his end was hastened by this treatment. We can understand now that his liver failed and he was never to recover. But, he would have lived a little longer had he been left alone.
Knight's last ride in our car.We took him out for a trip to Brace Bridge on the afternoon of 16/9/2007,as we apprehended his end was approaching.His loss of health is evident from the dents on his skull. 
Coming back to his last days, we thought of relieving him of his pain and suffering. He would pass fluid and make pathetic noise calling us to clean him. He used be laid on newspapers and Ruby was constantly cleaning him with water and drying him with hair-dryer. The house smelled of phenyl. Ma came and left after one night as she could not bear to witness Knight's suffering. We vacillated, but, Babai and Pucho put strength in our hearts.
Even then, I fixed up an appointment with Compassionate Crusader Trust and changed it. That was when I dropped Ma to Jamir Lane and asked Ruby how was Knight faring. That morning, at 5am, Knight wagged her tail when Ruby came out of the bedroom and offered him morsels of food. We thought all these medicines were having an effect for good. But, within 2 hours , his heath deteriorated.
I returned with a piece of white cloth and flowers from Lake market and called the expert from CCT .They sent a young man with an ambulance-like set-up. Knight was lying on my lap very quietly since I returned.I believe this kind of animal perhaps can guess that his relief from the pain was round the-corner.(It is 9 months and 10 days since the day Knight left us and my heart is heavy as I recall and write about the morning of 12/10/2007.)
at Bakreswar, March, 2005
I was sitting in front of the cupboard facing the door. He hardly opened his eyes when the man came in and emitted a loud sound when the injection was given ( I read about such a compound in TOI of 22/7/2008.... this medicine,pentobarbital- a barbiturate commonly known as ,is strong enough to kill a human being. Some people do visit
Mexico where pentobarbital is easily available and buy this medicine to commit suicide ).This man who gave the injection consoled me stating that a pet tells something to the owner when he leaves him.
The rest was quiet and dignified. Ruby and I accompanied Knight in the ambulance of CCT to the graveyard. He was wrapped in the white cloth, we placed flower on his body and he had a dignified exit from Parnasree, never to come back. A rectangular grave was awaiting Knight ... when he was laid there, the person who put him in the grave joined us in admiring the shine of his black coat. The bright sunlight made it clear to us how badly his lever was affected .... his eyes were yellow.
Next morning, in our Western verandah, Ruby noticed a patch as if a dog slept there. I do not believe in this sort of things, a patch on the yellow mosaic is still there which no longer resembles a dog's sleeping posture . No harm in believing, that was the one last night Knight spent in our company.
When Babai came home during December,07-January,08, he did not want see the pictures of Knight which I took when his health was declining. Babai said only once ; "That Knight is not besides me when I am at Parnasree is unthinkable".
to the USA in August,2005
But, Knight's memory is with us more than any other pets we had because he was such a decent character and understood us so well! Our life-style will not permit us to have another pet for a long time to come.... but, I wonder if we shall ever have another opportunity to have a friendly dog like Knight around !
Before Departure.
Resting in peace.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
THE CELEBRATION & A 'THANK YOU' NOTE !
My elder son Sujash got married to Moumita on 11/12/2009.The Reception was held on 13/12/2009. Both the functions went on smoothly. Sujash and Moumita flew to New York , back to their routine of higher studies on 22/12/2009.My younger son Surath flew back to London after cooling his heels for a few more days on 27/12/2009. The last of the guests left on 31/12/2009. We loaded lots of photos in the digital frame Surath has brought from the UK . As these photos offer a slide show of the events leading to the marriage in 2008 , I thought it is time to pen a 'Thank You' note to all who contributed to make the Reception a grand evening.
Moumita suggested if the Reception can be arranged in a lawn .Fortunately, we located a lawn quite close to our Flat @ Parnasree.This lawn in a premises called 'Daga Vatika' suited us to a 'T'.It was half-a-kilometer away, close to Behala Airport and adequate for the 300 guests we planned to invite.The few persons who went with us to check if the lawn is good enough came out satisfied at our selection.
After this easy task was over. Ruby started the lengthy process of getting ready the dresses everyone of our and the extended families would wear on the evening of Reception. In all, she designed more than a dozen dresses for that evening, each of which drew admiring attention of the guests.
Hurray! to Liaqat whose associates did a wonderful job for us.
FROM L TO R : SUJASH, MOUMITA AND SURATH in dresses designed by RUBY on 13/12/2009Surath landed in Calcutta on 5/12/2009 and took over the responsibility of the balance work to be done for the evening of the Reception and formalities of gift exchanges . He single-handedly tackled decoration of the lawn and the Reception Hall and led the running around during exchange of gifts between the families of the bride and groom.He was in the party that went to accompany the bride and the groom to our Flat from the bride's residence on the afternoon before Reception, managing the activities of decoration on phone . Surath also captured video and still photographs of the occasion which fill up 16 GB of my HDD.
' Thank you' Surath for managing all these activities without loosing your cool.
LIGHTING @ DAGA VATIKA ON THE EVENING OF 13/12/2009 Surath's fiancee, Ritika was always available for discussion and video chat with Ruby regarding the dress design phase and kept up the tempo. This was her 2nd visit to our place in Calcutta. She handled two major responsibilities with elan . First was : carrying gifts for Moumita's family, together with Surath and a contingent of US/Indian friends, to her place and representing our family .Second was : looking after the guests during the Reception. Her demeanour earned a lot praise from our friends, immediate and extended families.
'Three Cheers' for Ritika for coming forward to share the families' responsibility of hospitality.
RITIKA & MOUMITA AMONG FRIENDS OF SUJASH & RELATIVES OF MOUMITA AT HER PLACE WITH GIFTS ON THE MORNING OF 11/12/2009 Our Caterer Debu , whom we 'discovered' a fortnight before the Reception, executed his responsibility of the dinners of both the marriage party and the Reception smoothly. Shall I call it like 'a hot knife in a slab of butter'.... hmm, not a very apprpriate comparison. A well-known caterer of Calcutta,"Bhoj' was thrown out because their extremely poor show in another Reception a few days ahead of our dinner. A risk we took and whoa!, it worked !
'Three cheers' for Debu for 'delivering' the long-debated menus on the buffet tables , excellent and mouth-watering in taste .
'Three cheers' for Moly and Prabhat for their co-operation in allowing our out-station guests in their vacant flat @ Parnasree. It was a great help as we could accommodate Ritika and her parents, who came all the way from Gurgaon plus some the friends of Sujash just across the road.
MOTHER OF THE GROOM, ON THE EVENING OF RECEPTION.SAREE DESIGNED BY HERSELF .
The marriage is an occasion which need the best from the mother of the groom and Ruby was always ready with ideas for making the occasion different by raising all the departments a notch above the usual . Design of dresses and the invitation card and packaging the gifts to the bride's family received her top attention. I do not know which were her bigger achievement - the aesthetics or the show or managing the disparate group of guests our friends and relatives,friends of Sujash and those of two extended families .... I cannot say. I would say, Ruby, what this occasion would have been if you were not so resourceful !
MY MOTHER & RUBY ,BLOWING A CONCH-SHELL .LOOKING AHEAD TO DECEMBER, 2010 !
Not resting on her laurels, she has started planning for the surprise items for Ritika-Surath's marriage !
Monday, August 04, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, December 22, 2007
IN THE AUTUMN OF MY LIFE-II
It is about one year I retired from a 9am-7pm job. I did not feel like going back to this routine. So, I did not try hard enough for another assignment.
I have deviated from my initial plan.I never thought that I would spend time reading story -books, which was my favourite pastime when I was working.If I go back to my blog written 3 months after 'retirement', I find the following:
'A great thing will be brush up my knowledge of : Photoshop, MS Project, MINITAB & Six Sigma and learn a bit of : Coreldraw/Pagemaker, HTML (Elementary) & Web hosting, PRIMAVERA during April and September,'07.'
My time this year has gone into other areas.
- I have done good amount of reading on terracotta temples.... though not enough.In this process, I have been associated with 3 major libraries of Calcutta.Quite an enriching experience.
- I have come in contact with members of 'AISHEE', an NGO engaged in restoration of a Terracotta temple of Hooghly district.Now, I have been invited to join this group.
- I have visited numbers of Terracotta temples @ Hooghly district and Bishnupur, have taken hundreds of snaps and can start writing my 'OWN' articles.
- I have been an active member of PANIIT's 'IITians for ITIs' Project.
- I have entered into a contract with a company publishing articles on net.I have started @ the ground level out of my choice.I have now offer for shifting gear.
- I have made friends with Iftekar of calcuttawalks.com. While I have no commercial interest in 'walks', Cacuttacanvass will grow.
- I have remained active in Flickr through out the year.May be my skill for taking and editing photos has improved !
- I spent time with and for my family.
All these are activities with long time horizon.I learnt during my 40s , from lectures of and articles by Sharu Rangnekar, that a person must plan for post-retirement life.......s/he need have one or more hobbies to remain 'meaningfully occupied.I took that advice seriously though these activities are what I thought of doing much later in my life.
Publishing in net does give a person a lot of satisfaction. A person can always find friends , if he tries seriously, who enjoy similar interests and can contribute to his knowledge and ideas.I never could imagine such a pastime during my 40s!
I have regrets too.
- I lost my friend Knight, our black Lab.He was 8 1/2 years old when he left us on 12/10/07. We expected him to be around for another 1 1/2 to 2 years.A loss I am coping with.
- I have not learnt enough of Photoshop and 'Moviemaking',ie digital editing of my video shooting.
- I have lost the habit of reading novels.Night-time,my time for reading books, is now devoted to Internet.
All-in-all,this year , I have entered a different phase of life. Capital market has definitely added to my bank-balance......so I do not yet have a reason to worry in the financial front.
An enjoyable period of my autumn indeed !
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Will our children read Epics ?
I read an article in the Calcutta edition of Times Of India , published on 1st December,2007 that a US poll finds more believe in devil than in Darwin.This article is in page 17 of TOI,taken from a report by Reuters.
A quote from the report :" It is the latest survey in the US to highlight America's deep level of religiosity,a cultural trait that sets it apart from much of the developed world.".
A lot of statistical analysis follow.Those who are interested may please read the article in the electronic version of this publication.A lot of persons surveyed believe in God and devil.I believe if we conducted a similar survey in India, similar trait would have been noticed, but,percentages would surely have been different.
I believe that at the base of such findings ,we have Man's recognition of good and bad as well as his belief in powers beyond .While,the age-old debate continues for and against these beliefs, we have seen often beliefs acquire hues of superstition and turn ugly.Sometimes ,very ugly.
Parents can help their child to grow up with a strong and positive sense of good & bad . I believe,age-old stories of Epics can attract their imagination ,at the same time, build their sense of ethics.The characters , often larger than life,are never dull to a child's mind.The characters, Krishna, Ram ,Sita, Arjun, Ravan ,Karna and Yudhisthir ...... or their Greek and Roman counterparts .....stay at the heart of the child while s/he grows and steps into the world of adolescence and adulthood.
I believe , together with funstories , cartoons and adventures, 'stories' from the age-old tales of our civilisation can be an important part of a child's reading material.A big question : are there simpler editions of these Epics for children? There are.If the parents and more importantly , children demand , there will be more. So many adults reach out to 'Gurus' for 'Yoga' and "Gita' classes..... do they help their children or grandchildren with character building with the insight they acquire ? Does a question come to their mind....had they read Mahabharata in their childhood ,they would have understood 'Gita' better? Or,they would have dealt with their lives' major questions in a more matured manner?
Dear friends,just think about my suggestion. May be you will find it worth pondering.
A child in the company of his grandma
Friday, November 02, 2007
'COMEBACK'
What is more exciting ....... a rise to a stature far above average OR a comeback , after a drop from the pinnacle ?
I was reading an article in TOI about 'Comeback' efforts in the Pop music world of Western world. The BIG names .... Britney Spears, Whitney Houston,the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls.
And , then this question came to my mind.
In my opinion, Sourav is the biggest example of a 'COMEBACK' star. The way he scored to make his mark in the test at Lords . And, this come-back when the Coach was hostile, the captain forgetful + spineless and the selectors indifferent.
My score @ flickr.com
On 01/11/2007, I crossed 4500 viewers mark for my site :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cshyamal/
I thought that it will be benchmark for my flickr site. So, I thought I should record this event with a joyous note. I have 163 photographs and 102 contact on this day. I have 7 photographs which have made to the 'EXPLORE' category.
Since I have been active in flickr, I have gained some good friends . Eduardo Amorim of Brazil, Loken Roychoudhury and Kanad sanyal of Calcutta are among them.The association with photography and flickr have added to my circle and my 'brand name' too.
I have certainly got some ideas for better photography.What I need now are a few sessions with experts of Photoshop.
Satyendu Sanyal, my friend from IIT days , wrote that I have developed a way of capturing and presenting those scenes which are around us and often overlooked....... 'dekha hoi nai chakshu melia'.
Now , I look forward to a score of 7500.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cshyamal/
I thought that it will be benchmark for my flickr site. So, I thought I should record this event with a joyous note. I have 163 photographs and 102 contact on this day. I have 7 photographs which have made to the 'EXPLORE' category.
Since I have been active in flickr, I have gained some good friends . Eduardo Amorim of Brazil, Loken Roychoudhury and Kanad sanyal of Calcutta are among them.The association with photography and flickr have added to my circle and my 'brand name' too.
I have certainly got some ideas for better photography.What I need now are a few sessions with experts of Photoshop.
Satyendu Sanyal, my friend from IIT days , wrote that I have developed a way of capturing and presenting those scenes which are around us and often overlooked....... 'dekha hoi nai chakshu melia'.
Now , I look forward to a score of 7500.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
How to learn 'cook'ing !!
I was shopping for a book , a Puja gift for my mother, at Ananda Publisher's outlet on RB Avenue the other day.
While I was browsing through the racks, I was noting how the other buyers were going the selection process and also enjoying the chit-chat around.
The most remarkable comments were from a father .The conversation between him and the Sales Executive was like this :
Father : Can you please suggest a good book on cooking? My daughter is going abroad and she knows no cooking.
SE : You can try xyz book. It has such good recipes of dishes like 'lau-chingri' and other typical bengali dishes.
Father : Oh no ! She will not be able to manage such complicated dishes.
SE : What kind of dishes you think your daughter will be interested in?
Father : Elementary dishes. Like, mutton curry, 'dal', may be one or two vegetarian dishes.
A lady buyer butts in : You may please try abc book....it is wonderful.Also , very useful.
Father : (after a few minutes of browsing ) It is heavy and complex. Any other suggestion please.
SE : Please try mno book. You will surely find it useful and handy too.
Father : (after another few minutes of browsing ) Ok, I shall take this one. Hope my daughter can manage this.
When I completed my selection and went through the ritual of gift-wrapping, payment etc.,
I asked the SE how many such queries he face and added that my sons have learnt cooking without cookbooks !. SE , smiled diplomatically.The proud father and most of the buyers who were around when this selection process of a cookbook was going on had left. But , a lady from one corner overheard me and commented that this situation is a negative development of woman's lib !
:-))
I was about to leave the shop without delay as my wife was waiting in another shop with some selection problem ( I received three calls in my mobile) but this lady was very interested in sharing her life-story with me. Earlier, I would have left the shop without prolonging the discussion , but, now-a-days, after retirement , I have learnt to be more patient in social situations.
Well , I was told that :
:-))
While I was browsing through the racks, I was noting how the other buyers were going the selection process and also enjoying the chit-chat around.
The most remarkable comments were from a father .The conversation between him and the Sales Executive was like this :
Father : Can you please suggest a good book on cooking? My daughter is going abroad and she knows no cooking.
SE : You can try xyz book. It has such good recipes of dishes like 'lau-chingri' and other typical bengali dishes.
Father : Oh no ! She will not be able to manage such complicated dishes.
SE : What kind of dishes you think your daughter will be interested in?
Father : Elementary dishes. Like, mutton curry, 'dal', may be one or two vegetarian dishes.
A lady buyer butts in : You may please try abc book....it is wonderful.Also , very useful.
Father : (after a few minutes of browsing ) It is heavy and complex. Any other suggestion please.
SE : Please try mno book. You will surely find it useful and handy too.
Father : (after another few minutes of browsing ) Ok, I shall take this one. Hope my daughter can manage this.
When I completed my selection and went through the ritual of gift-wrapping, payment etc.,
I asked the SE how many such queries he face and added that my sons have learnt cooking without cookbooks !. SE , smiled diplomatically.The proud father and most of the buyers who were around when this selection process of a cookbook was going on had left. But , a lady from one corner overheard me and commented that this situation is a negative development of woman's lib !
:-))
I was about to leave the shop without delay as my wife was waiting in another shop with some selection problem ( I received three calls in my mobile) but this lady was very interested in sharing her life-story with me. Earlier, I would have left the shop without prolonging the discussion , but, now-a-days, after retirement , I have learnt to be more patient in social situations.
Well , I was told that :
- she is a non-bengali.
- she can read bengali without problem.Her schoolmates ' jeer prompted her to pick up the language.
- her mother used to run a business in the neighbouring area.Jyoti Basu and other luminaries used to visit their place for 'adda'.
- she now stays in a building near Lake Market which is 75 years old.
- she is a science student and is a 'consultant' in Hazard Management .
- she works not for money as she is from a very rich background.
:-))
Monday, July 30, 2007
Damodar temple @ Bahirgarh,West Bengal (India)
Restoration of Damodar temple , dt: Hooghly, WB
During 18th and 19th centuries, a no of terracotta temples were built in Bengal (currently West Bengal state of India and Bangla Desh) some of which are quite beautiful. Not only that the terracotta panels have artistic value and religious importance, but also they portray slices of social life of those days. Some of these temples have been restored through Archeological dept of Government.... you can see a panel from one of these temples among my posts : http://www.flickr.com/photos/cshyamal/389912490/ .Yet there are many more temples which need restoration and each monsoon eats into the life of these temples, heritage of our state.
A few days' ago , I visited the Archeological Museum of Bengal, located in Calcutta in connection with some work I am doing on terracotta when I learnt from Mrs Sumita Guha Sarkar ,an Executive of this Museum , that she is a member of a NGO named 'Aishee' which is engaged in restoration of a terracotta temple ( Damodar temple @ Bahirgarh, district Hooghly, West Bengal) built in the 18th century. The cost of restoration , estimated by a professional colleague of hers is Rs 200000/- which is approximately $5000/-.
On learning about my interest in terracotta, she and other members of 'Aishee' have requested me to appeal to persons who are intersted in this form of art for suport for their endeavour. I write this blog on behalf of members of 'Aishee' addressing to persons interested in this form of art.. I shall seek the Reader's help in two counts :
#Can you please help 'Aishee' through your like-minded friends , associates and colleagues ? Even if only 20 persons contribute $20/- this 'cause',the contribution add to the local support for the budget for restoration of this temple.
#Can you please help by suggesting other avenues for raising support for restoration of this temple? Please view my page @ Orkut (http://www.orkut.com/Album.aspx?uid=6316116344674143096)
to go through 'Aishe's brochure.
to go through 'Aishe's brochure.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
THE STORY OF BEHULA
I requested the administrator of a group @ Flickr to publish the following collage of Behula.
He normally does not allow a collage but said he can make an exception if he finds the story interesting. I sent the following note ... which is quite long... and told him that I can shorten the note if he agrees to my publishing the collage.
Here is the story :
It is a story from Indian folklore - a story of human courage against celestial wrath.Behula is the daughter-in-law of Chand 'saudagar' ( = merchant).Chand , a devotee of Shiva , refuses to offer his prayer to godess Manasa and thus earns her wrath.He loses all his merchandise and wealth during his return trip home after a very successful business trip.But, he does not yield.Godess Manasa , with her control over the snakes, strikes next by killing his son Lakhinder on the night of his marriage with Behula by a snake bite.Behula was a very courageous woman.She places the dead body of Lakhinder on a raft and starts for the heaven .On her way, she faces lots of problems but she reaches her destination without being cowered down .She manages an entrance to the court of god Indra ( Zeus of Indian mythology) and pleases all the gods by her song and dance. She earns back the life of Lakhinder and persuades Chand to offer godess Manasa a half-hearted prayer .Chand complies reluctantly and gets back all his wealth. Goddess Manasa gets her recognition as the deity only after Chand 'd offering the 'prayer'.As a footnote , I shall add that Indra and Shiva were the gods of Aryans' mythology and Manasa was a goddess of the aboriginals.Snake was their 'totem'.
He normally does not allow a collage but said he can make an exception if he finds the story interesting. I sent the following note ... which is quite long... and told him that I can shorten the note if he agrees to my publishing the collage.
Here is the story :
It is a story from Indian folklore - a story of human courage against celestial wrath.Behula is the daughter-in-law of Chand 'saudagar' ( = merchant).Chand , a devotee of Shiva , refuses to offer his prayer to godess Manasa and thus earns her wrath.He loses all his merchandise and wealth during his return trip home after a very successful business trip.But, he does not yield.Godess Manasa , with her control over the snakes, strikes next by killing his son Lakhinder on the night of his marriage with Behula by a snake bite.Behula was a very courageous woman.She places the dead body of Lakhinder on a raft and starts for the heaven .On her way, she faces lots of problems but she reaches her destination without being cowered down .She manages an entrance to the court of god Indra ( Zeus of Indian mythology) and pleases all the gods by her song and dance. She earns back the life of Lakhinder and persuades Chand to offer godess Manasa a half-hearted prayer .Chand complies reluctantly and gets back all his wealth. Goddess Manasa gets her recognition as the deity only after Chand 'd offering the 'prayer'.As a footnote , I shall add that Indra and Shiva were the gods of Aryans' mythology and Manasa was a goddess of the aboriginals.Snake was their 'totem'.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
A NEW TURN .... A NEW LEAF
New path ahead of me.
towards a new vista.........
New rhythm . new friends.
New revelation... a 'chetana'.
A God's gift.
I dream again... new dreams !
New revelation... a 'chetana'.
A God's gift.
I dream again... new dreams !
A VIEW OF LIFE ....... THREE MONTHS AFTER RETIREMENT
Well, I was told that life will be very boring if one does not go to Office.
But , I knew that family and hobbies are what support you when suddenly office-going stops !!
Flickr, camera, the work for Subrata Chanda and most importantly , ttob project have helped me a lot. I hardly felt the void . And ... the family has given wonderful support.
And , I feel great that I do not have to work with people like DB ,BD or PG .
Only thing I feel bad about is that : I cannot make my outstation trips with my camera now because of the heat of March2August sun. Certainly , a visit to Bankura and Birbhum is not in my agenda now. But, my writing can progress.
A great thing will be brush up my knowledge of : Photoshop, MS Project, MINITAB & Six Sigma and learn a bit of : Coreldraw/Pagemaker, HTML (Elementary) & Web hosting,PRIMAVERA
during April and September,'07.
I hope , by year end, I shall be a content writer too.It requires a lot of brushing up . While I am writing messages and mail, as well as prose in ttob, I have lost a bit of my flair and vocabulary.
But , I knew that family and hobbies are what support you when suddenly office-going stops !!
Flickr, camera, the work for Subrata Chanda and most importantly , ttob project have helped me a lot. I hardly felt the void . And ... the family has given wonderful support.
And , I feel great that I do not have to work with people like DB ,BD or PG .
Only thing I feel bad about is that : I cannot make my outstation trips with my camera now because of the heat of March2August sun. Certainly , a visit to Bankura and Birbhum is not in my agenda now. But, my writing can progress.
A great thing will be brush up my knowledge of : Photoshop, MS Project, MINITAB & Six Sigma and learn a bit of : Coreldraw/Pagemaker, HTML (Elementary) & Web hosting,PRIMAVERA
during April and September,'07.
I hope , by year end, I shall be a content writer too.It requires a lot of brushing up . While I am writing messages and mail, as well as prose in ttob, I have lost a bit of my flair and vocabulary.
A QUOTE FROM THE PROFILE PAGE OF 'JUMPING JACK',FLICKR
" Now, Flickr itself - there's a phenomenon, I'm not sure I love or hate - since it consumes all of my free time and more. Not to mention it makes me astonished, bewildered, envious but also quite furious on daily basis (even when it doesn't act up :) ).
Well, this (minutely altered) Natalie Merchant's lyrics very much describe how I feel about it:
Well, this (minutely altered) Natalie Merchant's lyrics very much describe how I feel about it:
I've walked these streams
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond markets
The scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me
And I've walked these streams
In the madhouse asylum they can be
Where a wild-eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped and he raved of saving me
Have I been blind, have I been lost
Inside myself and my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have seen?
What they have seen...
Have I been blind, have I been lost?
Have I been wrong, have I been wise?
Have I been strong?
Have I been hipnotized, mesmerized, by what my eyes have found
In that stream carnival?
In that carnival..."
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Changes - 11/27/2006 : my article for "OUR STORY"
THE TOPIC WAS :
How did the world change, in reality or in your perception, during your young adult years?
The world changes. Every day . Imperceptibly.
At other times , it changes extremely quickly , much more rapidly than human psyche can stand.When we have a war, a holocaust, a sunami, people affected are devastated.
The reverse can happen too. A leader transforms the society beyond recognition . A new nation is born , with new ways and meanings of life .
A man is a small part of this flow. A turbulent flow.
He starts his life with some ideas and a lot of dreams. The reality teaches him at every curve of life . The process of maturing . If he migrates to another society , he absorbs other habits and ... more importantly , different sets of values.
That is the general background. I faced no sunami and I traveled a lot in India and visited other countries , I have remained in my state for a long period too.But , even as viewed through my 'small window' ,the world changed a lot during my lifetime while my view points changed too.
West Bengal of 50s and 60s did not touch me much. 70s .... I was conscious of the political events. But , social structure did not change perceptibly. But, I saw India changing , surging ahead of us.
I used to read a lot ....and in the eighties , I worked in a MNC , visited Europe and saw how they think and perform.Money started changing Indians and middle-class started rising. But , terrorism was still uncommon except for in border areas.
Nineties changed us totally. Rise ( and fall of ) share-market, rise and rise of commodity price , inflation, aspiration, migration for academic and economic reasons, hard work .... greed, rotting corruption pushing up cost of living and judicial activism .... I saw it all.
I faced VRS and the process of survival thereafter . I noted : Americans retreat from Afghanistan and the meaningless genocide in Iraq . Politicians looking at the market economics like the proverbial one-eyed deer, thinking Chinese model of growth and suppression are the best way out for the developing nations.
The good thing : Indian professionals are earning respect across the continents .... they are growing in wealth and influence wherever they are established.
What have not changed : the season changes are as beautiful, as it used be in 50s and 60s.Poverty and ignorance and greed ( both individual and collective) are still our greatest enemies.
ALL THAT I WANTED
I wanted someone to take me to the roof,
Of a tall building,
A clear navy blue sky, stars shining,
Show me the constellations one-by-one...
Down below,cars whizzing past,
Tail lamps glowing in the distance...
I wanted someone to accompany me to a lake,
A winter morning,crisp , clear sky,
Birds chirping,swirls on the water,
We glued to our binoculars,
Tell me about the birds I have never seen earlier,
Romance of the distance the birds carry in their relentless wings.....
I wanted someone to play her violin,
A quiet afternoon,
Play a cheerful raga ,and then another,
Tell me how to tune my ears.
In turn,
I shall tell her to read the unknown poems
Of Jibananda,Shankha Ghosh,
Explain the imagery,
Flavour of words,
Spreading throu' ether..............
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