Talking / Video sharing - life is busy, technology makes it easy

Recently I have started talking on Skype again. Skype is a wonderful tool as it allows free calls to another user and also free video conferencing. Actually BSNL calling cards have become very cheap, one can call to USA at Re 1.00 per min !!!!! ... even the cheapest calling cards in USA charge 0.03 cents per minute , which is more than Indian Re. 1.00.

Though I was talking to Ma , Ritu, everyday, I did not get the chance to talk to Sonamoni. Yesterday and today , I spoke with Sonamoni and even saw her pictures. She is so cute. In the video I can see her, doing all sorts of pranks and telling me "Baba, bhalo theko". She has just turned two years this 1st December , the day I started working in USA .

She is wonderful . I captured some snapshots of her while talking to her. In the snapshots she was drinking water ... the pictures are so sweet .

Today I had been to Kohls to get some dresses for her, but as it is winter, they dont have dresses now... most of them were winter dresses, nice dresses with fur lining, not suitable for India, unless we move to Kashmir .... which is a absurd idea. So I bought three tops for her. I shall check in Mayfair mall tomorrow, to see if I can find something for her at GAP .

I also brought wrist watches for Rangapishi, Chotokaku, Ritu and Baba. I bought a pair of comfy slippers for Ma, - probably they shall be better than the massage slippers Ma wears right now.

Could not take anything for my Baba .... how I wish he was there ... he is there by my bedside ...he is always with me.

Winter in Wauwatosa

Winter in Wauwatosa,WII have come to Wauwatosa on the 29th Nov 2008. It was a nice feeling coming down to USA, even though I had to change four flights. In fact this was my first international trip.

I had landed in Wauwatosa, or Tosa as it is commonly called by the locals here around 5:30 pm. While landing , I was coming from Minneapolis - Tosa on a connecting flight, I saw everything was white ... by snow. I had started thinking how can live here, I was just wearing normal clothes and a jacket ; the thermals were inside the suitcase. It was very nice to see the snow, but I was thinking to myself how shall I manage it.

Unlike the other airports, Milwaukee Airport was a very small airport, a small passage, everything was small. I had come through Schipol, Minneapolis, and so this one seemed a really small one. After collecting my luggage, all of them which were intact, I proceeded to collect a trolley. But somehow, the trolley would not come out. Then I saw that it was a pay trolley - one needed to pay one dollar in a vending machine to get a trolley !!!!!!!! I collected all the three luggages and dragged them out of the airport , as the trolley machine was not working. There I stood for sometiime and got a cab, which took me to the motel I was supposed to stay in. .. Extended Stay America, Wauwatosa - the cab driver took $36 , and I gave hime $4 as a tip !! I thought it was okay, but later I found out that $4 could have bought me a nice dinner!!

The hotel was nice; and the rooms even nicer. I was very tired , as I was travelling for 25 hours by flight, I had a good shower , and then went to Denny's a nearby food joint to have my dinner. I did not wear my thermals till that time, and I was enjoying the cold weather. .. well it was still manageable. I am putting up a photo of Wauwatosa, WI, which I got via the Zementa plug in ... its a plugin every blogger should have.

After my dinner, I came back home, and called up Ma, and Ritu .... it was 5 am at India. I checked the television for sometime, there were only 14 channels in the television so it was not DTH ... I was used to 120 channels in India. The premium US channels were missing. .... what a bad luck .

The next day was a Sunday, so did not much of a tension for office. Went to sleep quite late.

P.S. The post date was showing the date and time ( IST ), I changed it Wisconsin Central time.

26/11 - Terror attack on Mumbai - Taj / Oberoi on fire

The terror attack at Mumbai on 26/11/2008 has proved to be a deadly attack as it still continues even after 48 hours . The terrorists attacked in various parts of the city, Colaba, CST terminus, the airport, Ville parle, and suddenly Mumbai was under the terrorists.

The famous Taj Mahal hotel, Oberoi Trident , all situated in the Colaba region, has been under heavy terrorist attack.

It has been fourty eight hours and Mumbai is bleeding.

Another new day, new fun, new quarell

Yesterday, the medical tests got over and every passing day here, means that my trip to US is coming near. Later in the day, after Ritu had arrived from her office, we spent some quality time with Sonamoni.

During the evening Sonamoni said "Auto kore jabo". Sonomoni was having fever from the afternoon because of the season change, so all of us were worried about her. Later we decided around 8:30 pm to take Sonamoni along to a nearby shopping mall which has recently opened in our locality.

The earlier known Kempfort has now given place to Total shopping mall, and a couple of weeks back I had taken Sonamoni there to get her the birthday present as I wont be in India during her birthday.

We took a auto , went to Total and bought some gifts for Nadia, Auli's daughter. Richard and Mesho shall be coming to meet me on the 30th Nov, so I can hand over the gifts for Nadia. We bought some toys , one being a puzzle and the other that had to do with understanding sequences. These toys looked good to me as they would adding IQ to Nadia; also thought about buying the same for Sonamoni but she is too young ... chooooto Sonamoni . We love the pranks she makes , dont want to make her that serious right now. Alongside I have uploaded a picture of Nadia.

By this time Ritu and I had a quarell, amongst ourelves. As usual the effect of the quarrel was felt till today morning. Neither of us likes this thing , but it happens all the time.

Today morning before leaving Ritu , peeped past the door to see if I was coming to see her off , when she was leaving for office. I went just to see her go down the stairs. On the contrary Ritu has made dhokar dalna for dinner tonight.

Reminds me of Iris, the song by Goo Goo Dolls "When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am".

Broken - Shattered - Fixed .... the story goes on.

Third marriage anniversary - becomes just another day

Today was our third marriage anniversary. Ritu had a off day, and I managed to take a leave too, so both of us could be at home. As Ma and Sonamoni were also there it happened to be a perfect day.

I started off the day with wishing Ritu , a happy marriage anniversary. It was Preeti's birthday too, and after I had wished her, she wished me happy anniversary too. Rangapisi too called up and wished both of us. Ma also wished us . Ritu's Baba who is in Barrackpore right now, also wished us a happy anniversary.

As for the breakfast, Ritu was lenient today in making luchi and cholar dal. I ate a lot of luchis, ( did not count the numbers) ; I like it very much. Sonamoni had luchi with mixed fruit jam. It was a nice breakfast to start the day .

Today we had planned to sort out the BSNL broadband issue, an erroneous bill of Rs. 30,000 had come, so we were supposed to meet the Area Manager (Indiranagar ) to sort it out. When we went to BSNL office it was around 11 :30 am , and the area manager had left. I then went to the Customer Relations Officer (CRO) and he said that the bill can not be waived of, only they can charge for the 2 days, according to the Home 250 plan. The bill for those 2 days was also coming at Rs. 6000+ ; the CRO said it can only be waived off if the DGM approves it.

We checked with an auto rickshaw for the route, and we headed for the Telecom Bhavan on Ritu's Activa Honda. It took around 30 mins to reach there. I did not know the route, so we had to ask several persons to get the correct route.

The DGM was a nice person, he listened to us, but said he can not waiv it off. That was very unfortunate for us ; as we had only come here to get the waiver - now we needed to pay out Rs. 6000+ . Both of us did not like the idea at all , we could have done so many good things with the money.

While returning back home , we were passing through Shivajinagar, a market place for furnitures in Bangalore. We were planning to get a sofa set for quite sometime ; so today we stopped to check out one. After checking out various shops, we found one sofa set ( 3 + 2) at Rs. 11,000. The price was reasonable I guess compared to the other stuff which we had checked out - the other were mainly in the Rs 16K to Rs 19K range. We had liked one more nice fashionable set, but it was around Rs. 16,000 - but again that set was something which would have looked pretty nice for a second garden sofa - maybe we shall try that later. It was 4 pm .

Then we went back to BSNL, Indiranagar and paid the bill , which was now Rs. 10000 instead of the Rs. 30000, which we had initially received. We reached home around 5:45 pm .... whew .. a long journey.

Back home , we had paratha and chicken, ( Ritu was not fond of my paratha idea - as in the morning we had luchi ) , but however I got past Ritu to have some paratha. Both of us gobbled up quite a number, as we had only Pepsi and potato chips in between.

Then we took some rest, spent time with Sonamoni by playing with her, and addressing all her pranks. Ma was also assured that the BSNL issue had been solved.

We had told Sonamoni that we would taking her out for an auto ride - she went to Ritu and told , "Mmm , ta ta jabi , auto kore". Neither of us could ignore this small request from her, so after a photo session , - Maa took two of our snapshots - it was nice showing Maa how to take pictures. Ritu was wearing a Mysore Silk , Rangapishi had presented her this time , when she had gone to Dum Dum - she was looking gorgeous.

Ritu, Sonamoni and me took an auto rickshaw from our house to erstwhile Kempfort, which had been transformed to a shopping mall, Total. We took a round trip in an auto and got down at N.R. Layout - the auto rick took Rs. 50, but it our marriage anniversary and after all Sonamoni had asked for it - so there was nothing to think over.

After spending around 20 -30 mins in NR layout, we came back to home, only to get ready for the next day for office.

Sonamoni has got a gift - Childrens Day 2008

Celebrating Children's Day, our oganisation has given a gift to the employees who are having a child.

I was one of the lucky few, and just right now I have received a beautiful gift wrapped pack from the HR.

I shall hand it over to Sonamoni once I reach home , instead of the regular chocolate she aks for when I open the door.

My trip to USA gets shortened

I was supposed to go to USA for 6 - 8 months, and was pretty excited about that . The trip was supposed to be starting in the end of September 2008 and the place was Wauwatosa, a small town off Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Then came the global meltdown, as the investment banks saw Wall Street going down. With the economies moving north - Lehman brothers going bankrupt, AIG USA being bailed out by the US Govt, Goldman Sachs, a leading investment banker turning itself to the retail banking, General Motors about to file for bankruptcy if there is no bailout, Merrill Lynch being taken over by Bank of America, things have started looking bleak. The Wall Street effect has been felt across many the globe, and the Indian stock markets have plummeted down.

The Indian IT which has 80% - 90% of its client base in the USA, has been affected again. The September 11th, 2001 ( 9/11 ) disaster in USA had left India high and dry as many companies scurried for cover. It should have been a spot-on lesson for Indian companies , to see other ways to grow their business, but somehow the message didnt get through to the Indian companies. Seven years after the attack, Indian companies are focussing in European region for their business.

The Wall Street meltdown again had its effect on Indian IT, as it saw closure of various projects for Wipro, Infosys and other IT majors. Added to that, as a cost cutting measure, various foreign companies have kept their projects on the pipeline. That has resulted in most Indian IT services companies having very less projects.

Today I got my update on the US trip I was talking about, from 6 months it has been reduced to 1 month .... the project shall go on till mid 2009 , but from Bangalore.

My plans of getting "rich" also melted down. Ma and Ritu are very happy that I dont need to stay for 6 months in USA; infact Rangapishi said me she was happy too . Everyone was very worried about the cold ,winters are harsh out there, with temperatures dipping to -35C (degree Celsius ) . Someway I also felt good, - maybe it was a start of a business development program. Or maybe it was the start of the architecture role , I always think about being.

Sad that I shall be missing out on Sonamoni's 2nd birthday, which shall be on 1st December 2008. The date coincides with my start date of work in USA - maybe I shall leaving this month end.

Sonamoni and Ritu are coming back tomorrow

Sonamoni and Ritu are coming back tomorrow from their trip to Calcutta. They had been there for the last week. One day they had gone to our home in Dum Dum , and Rangapisi have given Sonamoni two frocks and to Ritu , a silk saree from Rangapisi's collection.

Ma and me are here in Bangalore; we have got a very good maid servant Mary who is quite elderly and looks after Sonamoni and also does the household work. She shall be taking a leave tomorrow , and so Ma shall be at home alone. But Ma has become better now, and the maid servant shall cook tomorrows food today.

Need to make arrangements to bring Ritu and Sonamoni tomorrow.

Sourav Ganguly calls it a day

Yesterday Sourav Ganguly, fondly called Dada by Indians, called it a day. He is also known as the Prince of Calcutta, an apt name given by Geoffrey Boycott .

With an amazing record of over 7000 runs , and probably one of the best captains India ever produced ; at a time when Indian cricket was in the doldrums, it remains to be seen how good shall the Indian captaincy be in the upcoming years .

In his last press release , he was quoted as saying that he was never understood properly . The then Greg Chappell along with Kiran More had used various means to keep him out of the team - an expose of the letter had landed Greg Chappell in trouble. Later Greg Chappell had to quit the Indian coaching, because of the extremely poor performance as a coach. He, Kiran More specially had also become the eyesore to many Indians , for their dismal choice of player choosing. Mr. Chappell have recently come back to India again, and as Sunil Gavaskar rightly puts it, maybe Mr. Chappell has financial reasons to make him back to a country which does not want him ; where as Sourav Ganguly has a flourishing family business in Calcutta.

However, Sourav Ganguly had returned back and showed the critics with his scintilating performance once again.

Dada shall always be in our hearts, as a great captain, an excellent batsman, and a pride of Bengal.

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BSNL Broadband Bill - Home 250 plan - A Shock

Today I have received my BSNL broad band bill . The amount has come to a incredible sum of Rs. 30000+ . BSNL customer care told me I had downloaded 27 GB ... of course I had downloaded, but was it so much . I was in the Home 250 plan ; seeing this usage, I opted for the Home 750 plus unlimited usage .

As for the bill I checked the portal usage for the specified dates and found it much less then what has been shown in the bill. I immediately checked with the Customer relations officer, and found I was right... the usage was not that high. I had to submit an application ; hopefully the amount shall be reduced substantially .

Keeping my fingers crossed, till I hear from them.

Barack Obama is the new President of the USA

A couple of days back , Barack Obama has won the US presidential elections. I had read it in the papers, but could not catch up with the TV till today.

Today I was astonished to see that many Americans are not happy as he is black. Facebook has lots of groups , by the name "Impeach Obama" .

And the group is 6000+ strong.

Where is the "black" when Carl Lewis, Flo Jo wins a Gold Medal in the Olympics .

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Sonamoni saying Bengali rhymes

Ma has taught Sonamoni some Bengali rhymes . Sonamoni can now say Bengali rhymes too; she is a little moody, does not say the rhymes in front of Ritu. Sonamoni is very close to Ma, and Ma has taught all the Bengali rhymes she knows till date .



This video was taken while she was in a good mood. In the bowl she is having fried potatoes and fried radish , which was been made for our dinner. In the video I am telling one line of the Bengali poem ( from Hasikhusi ) and she is telling the next.

Sonamoni has started eating by herself

It was sometime in last week , we started noticing that Sonamoni prefers having her food by herself.

The other night , when Ma was feeding her cornflakes and milk, she took the spoon by herself and started eating. Then she continued to finish off the corn flakes all by herself. I took some snapshots of Sonamoni while she was eating, and she is so camera freindly, she also gives a pose for it ..... she is not even two .

Sonamoni having corn flakes all by herself ; Ma is watching her eat, and I have taken the video.



Some memories are too good to be remembered.

Natun Kali Ma

Recnently Trinamool Congress headed by Mamata Banerjee stopped the production of the world's cheapest car Nano to be made by Tata Motors at around Rs. 1 lac ( $ 2500 ).

Its Kali Puja time in Kolkta now and the following picture of the New Kali Ma is doing the rounds.

Kali Ma, Mamata Banerjee clutching hold of then CM Buddhadeb Dasgupta's head. Also in the photo Mamata Banerjee is standing on top the Nano car - depicting Mrs. Banerjee has killed the Tata Nano car project .

Real people , real ideas ... he he he.

Picture of Tata Nano , in  Auto Expo 2008,New Delhi

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The show must go on - a glimpse of MNS,Indian Army life

Ritu has been working in ICU for the last couple of months. ICU is a very busy unit and unfortunately she is getting 'selected' for the ICU by the DPM every time.

As if the ICU was not enough by itself, this time the DPM, Bhola has put Ritu in night duty AGAIN at the ICU . The life for Ritu and all the other MNS officers are terrible - thats what I feel.

I remember when ( Ritu's mother ) had expired,R was in tension whether she shall be granted leave. She was consulting with her batch mates what can be done as the joining day was drawing near - after a lot of red tape stuff, she got "leave" - well a sort of leave , most of us are unaware of - maybe we can not think of also .

During her so called leave, she had to stay in the army hospital, as her superiors could not grant a leave more than that. So there was a person who was really in need of a leave to complete her mother's last rites, was there begging for leave and trying to find solace in what her superiors were saying.

Bizzare ideas from people make this world a MORE BIZZARE place to live - this same kind of dominance is also present in other walks of life.

Durga Puja 2008 at Bangalore

Ma has been staying with us from Feb 2008 onwards. Ritu and I along with Sonamoni took went to see the Durga Puja held at Bangalore Air Force Camp at Murgeshpalya.

We went to see the Pujas on Maha Nabami. It was nice to see Durga Thakur once again. Sonamoni and Ritu was also there, and we all enjoyed it.

Later we went to the Shiv Temple beside Kempfort. Ma liked the temple and the Shivthakur ; after all this was one of the places one should visit in Bangalore.

Then we all came back home.

Tomorrow was Maha Dashami, some people call it Dassera . It was a holiday for me.

Ritu had also taken an off day from work - for her it was her Ma's bereavement anniversary. She did not get leave from office , so we got hold of a Bengali thakur moshai who did the pujas for the bathshorik.

Durga Puja 2008 has arrived

Durga Puja 2008 is here again. Normally during Durga Puja I go home at Dum Dum to enjoy the pujas in the true spirit . But this time I am staying back in Bangalore . This is not my first stay at Bangalore during the Pujas, I was there some time back at Koramangala too (Sarathi). At that time I was staying in Koramangala and the Durga Puja behind the house we resided .

We now stay at Old Aiport Road ( HAL ), Bangalore and one of the Durga Puja festivals are held opposite our house - in the Indian Army Air Force camps . Yesterday was Maha Sashti and we had visited the idol - it is always nice to see Durga Thakur everytime . It is THE greatest festivals of the Bengalis, and is celebrated world wide.

The Durga Puja lasts for 4 days , but it is the hearalding of the Puja which has all the fun in it . The Mahalaya rings in the bell - as after one week of it , Puja begins . The Bodhon is done on Maha Sasthi , and after that Saptami, Ashtami, Nabami and Dashami follows . Dashami draws an end to the Durga Puja as the idol is immersed on that day - preferably in the Holy Ganges .

During my childhood days we used to go out with Rangapisi, Pisimoni, Timmi and Chotokaku to buy new clothes. Then I used to burst crackers and toy pistols during the Pujas.

When I came out from Calcutta in 2002 I used to check out the Durga Puja sites on the internet - but never could I find the warmth and fun which I had in Calcutta .

Here in Bangalore , Durga Puja is celebrated with fervour and zest . Food lovers gather in flocks to the pandals as one gets to taste the best of Bengali food at this time of the year - otherwise they would have to travel places to get the same food.
Though Durga Puja is a time when all the Bengalis wait ; unfortunately for some it becomes remembered as a period of greif and sorrow .

So for them Durga Puja is a time for sorrow. My mother in law breathed her last during Maha Dashami 2007 and life is not been the same for Ritu anymore . This year Ritu shall be performing her Ma's ( my mother- in - law) Bhatshorik this 10th Oct 2008 .

Pakhi's video shot at our house in Dum Dum

This time when I went to Dum Dum , I had taken some videos of Pakhi, Bonta's daugther . Sonamoni is Pakhi's didi . I am posting a video of Pakhi below .

Sonamoni playing with Ma - Chaaiiii

Sonamoni has learnt the word "Chaai" for quite some time and in this video she is doing the same with the potato .



Cute na !!!!!

Visit to Innovative Film City, Bangalore

Yesterday we had gone to Innvoative Film City , Bangalore. It is situated at Bidadi, near the Toyota factory and it took two hours to go from our house at Airport Road.

I had read some reviews of it at mouthshut.com but though it would be better.

We first went to the Dino Park , where there were unimpressive mechanical dinosaurs and some eerie sound. I had taken Sonamoni there first as she liked the small lizards while watching television. But she got scared on hearing this eerie sound and on seeing the mechanical dinosaurs, moving their claws, she got close to crying.

Then Ma, Sonamoni, Ritu and me took some snaps in front of Cartoon World ; the venue was closed for some reason.

We then entered the Mirror Maze , it was a nice thing - with only mirrors in it , and one had to figure the way out . Ritu and me were there for sometime but lest we get lost , we quickly returned back to join Ma, Baba and Sonamoni.

Sonamoni started saying "bhoi pacchi" and we felt like laughing. The Dino Park was a very small place , and it did not look like a great attraction . The main audience the babies were getting frightened . Basically there was nothing to see apart from the models, so we also pushed off.

Then we went to the Louis Tussaud's ( Madame Tussaud's great grandson ) wax musuem and I had to quarell with Ma ( who availed a wheel chair ) and was afraid of going inside. But I convinced her and took her inside. The wax models were quite good, but some of them did not look like the real people. For example the wax model of Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi did not look like the pictures I have seen on magazines.

Then there was the long way back home - we reached home at around 9 pm.

Our first broadband connection

A couple of weeks back we had received our new BSNL landline connection @ Bangalore,( 27th September 2008) with no major hiccups - though there were some for getting the ISD connection .. but it all happened and it did not take much time .

What everyone waited for was the broadband connection. Though there were many private players who were offering the broadband connection , BSNL had a very good speed.

It had been 3 weeks we were waiting for the connection to come ; and BSNL was saying that the connection shall come within next week. Now this next week turned out to be the next week every time.

So today I went and met the person in charge and brought the modem and other stuff by myself . Later a person called me and guided through the setup .

But even then there was no Internet connection !!!!

So I used the CD installer to guide to me through the wizard ; and it found that the Microsoft VM was missing. After installation of the Microsoft VM I stopped the antivirus and followed the steps in the wizard and after rebooting I got the internet connection up and working.

To enable the Wi Fi I did some settings in the BSNL page , and the Wi Fi also turned up. Also I went through the BSNL mail settings, and configured my Windows Mail with my account details .

On getting the connection I downloaded all the neccessary software, eg Skype, Windows Live suite ( I am blogging this from Windows Live Writer .. its pretty good as I dont need to stay connected with the internet for blogging; I had to do so with Scribefire ), all the major IM messengers, Tokbox client ( free video conferencing ) and the some Windows Updates .

After Ritu came from home, we were all very busy with the internet . I showed some pictures of Sonamoni and Ritu checked her Orkut page. Baba was interested in the Pay commision reports ; while I showed Ma the pictures of Nadia, Auli's daughter.

Get a broadband - get a life .

If only I could turn back time

It has been close to one month Ma and I have returned from Dum Dum Our family house is in Devinbash, Dum Dum, Calcutta .

Normally I go to Dum Dum twice/ thrice a year, but this time I had gone there for my elbow implant removal .

Pilu Kaku had done the removal; I did not rely upon any new surgeons after my bad experience at Mumbai . The doc there was a cheat , he had charged me a Rs. 1.50 lacs for the surgery .

Once the surgery was over ; it was the caretaker's who made the most fuss. Afraid of the matrons, they used to give medicines which were not menitoned . One day they gave me some tablets which I was NOT supposed to have - luckily I knew that the dosage administered was wrong.

Once I was discharged, I thought I was a freebird , but the half-plaster on my hand obstructed me from being "normal". There were lot of restrictions , obvioulsy for my good - but that kept me at home .

Everytime I go to Calcutta, I hear lots of new things about Calcutta - like new shopping malls, multiplexes, new highrises, new eateries ... etc, etc. But within that I try to find out the old Calcutta in which I spent my days before moving out .

I used to work in a place near Dalhousie, Calcutta and Park Street, was a stone's throw away. As I am very fond of music ( retro, blues ) , I used to go to a place named "SomePlace Else" in the The Park . It was a small pub, but the bands, crowd and the music was mind blowing . It was one of my favourite watering holes too . Opposite to Park was Music Planet , somewhere I could divulge my self in more music ... maybe I shall write on this in another post .

It was real fun again to spend 3 weeks in Dum Dum , with Rangapisi, Chotokaku, Sejokaku and eveyone one, like Preeti , Pakhi ( Bonta's daughter ). I had most of my favorite foods , including Ilish maach, sutki maach .. and the rest . IT WAS REAL FUN.

Sejokaku used to accompany me everytime I used to go for a checkup to Pilu Kaku ; even if he had some work . Being brought up in a joint family , I had seen problems / solutions in either sides -- but whatever they are joint families win hands down over the nucleated families.

Well, my small finger is still not okay , I still cant type with it properly .. dont know when it shall be proper.

Back to Bangalore after my long stay in Dum Dum

I along with Ma are back to Bangalore on 17th August 2008. Its nice to see Ritu and Sonamoni again . The maid servant had left when we were there in Kolkata and it was a real tough time for Ritu and Baba. But right now , we have got one , who is quite good.

Sonamoni started crying once she saw us ... but within a couple of minutes she returned back to her self and she became okay .

Right now I am still to get over the nerve problem with my small finger.... its irritating.

Recently Sejokakima had a bypass surgery and we were all tense with that ... but good news is she is recovering well

I cant write more now.

Going to Kolkata with Ma from BIAL for the first time

Today I am travelling to Ma to Calcutta from Bangalore to Kolkata from BIAL for the first time.

We had arrived at BIAL airport around 6:45 am , but to our suprise we found that the Spice Jet counters had not opened up . On enquiry I found that the counter opens only after 7 a.m.

The Kingfisher airlines staff were helpful me in getting a wheelchair for Ma ; but I found Spicejet services pretty bad ... as there were no staff even while checking in.

To add to the above our flight has been delayed by one and a half hour ... that dampens it, but the excitement of going to Dum Dum is very much there .

Today most of the flights are delayed , the airport authorities are saying that the delay is because of the heavy showers in Mumbai and also for the Mumbai air traffic congestion ,

Seven bomb blasts rock Banglore

Updated news, seven bomb blasts rock Bangalore ....

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/25beng.htm

One person was killed in seven blasts that rocked Bengaluru and its outskirts on Friday afternoon. While four low-intensity blasts went off at Nayandahalli, Madivala, Adugodi areas on the outskirts, blasts also rocked the tony areas of Mallya hospital, Langford Road and Richmond Circle in Bengaluru city. Two blasts were reported in Madivala.

One woman was killed and several have been injured.

The blasts took place at 1.30 pm in Nayandahalli, 1.50 pm in Madivala (2 blasts) and 2.10 pm in Adugodi.

Gelatin sticks appear to have been used in the blasts.

Bomb blast rock Bangalore, India

Today bomb blasts have rocked Bangalore.

Even though news reports say there are 3 blasts, people in Bangalore are talking about 5 to 6 blasts

Timmi's Tenth posthumous birthday

18th July - This day always used to be another day for celebration at our house in Dum Dum ; until ten years ago. This day was Timmi's birthday .

But now instead of celebrations, we place a garland around her photograph.

I saw the calendar close to midnight, and saw the date was 18th July - more than anything else it was Timmi's birthday - Timmi, my only sister with whom I have grown up with.

Normally I remember her birthday every year - but this time it had slipped out from my mind ... which was just an excuse.

After Baba had left us, ( Timmi left us earlier than Baba) Ma did not do much of Timmi's "birthday celebrations". After all, there was nothing left for her to celebrate - she was looking into her future through our eyes - I think specially Sonamoni's. This time Ma had thought of putting a garland to Timmi, and she said to bring me one on 19th July. At that time I told Ma, "Timmi'r jonmodin to kaalke hoye geche" ; to which Ma replied "Aajke sotero july na, ami to kobe theke bhevechi Timmi ke ekta mala debo".

In my childhood days I remeber Ma and Timmi used to quarrel over things - both trying to confide in their own circle. Ma still does scold me , I reply back also -- but I know she loves me from the bottom of her heart.

The day Timmi passed away, 6th March 2008, Ma did not cry .. maybe she cried but it was not that open ... maybe it was profound grief and sorrow that overtook Ma and all of us in Dum Dum. I saw Ma crying alone one day in Baba's room - she was crying profusely in front of Timmi's photograph. When I saw her, she told me to leave her alone.

I cried a lot - I used to cry every day, Timmi was and still an inseparable part of me. During that time I was working on my first job, and every day I would board the return bus, it struck me, on reaching home I would NEVER see Timmi again.

Maybe I have become self centered with my family, that I don't even remember my only sister's birthday.

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven

Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven
I'll find my way, through night and day
Cause I know I just can't stay
Here in heaven

Time can bring you down
Time can bend your knee
Time can break your heart
Have you begging please
Begging please

. . . . .

Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure.
And I know there'll be no more...
Tears in heaven

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven

Selfish Sujay

Sometimes I dont realise that what I like is also liked by others. Both me and Ritu had come back from work ..... a hot cup of tea is what I need after reaching home .

There were 2 sweets left, I finished 2 of them. When Ritu came to look for the sweets , I said I had finished it.

Ritu said "tumi amar jonyo ektao rakhle na".

I felt very bad .. later Ritu told me she had taken only one sweet out of the boxful of sweets Rangapisi had sent.

Golden times with Misti Rangapisi - some cherished memories

This time Rangapisi has sent lots of sweets of SenMohasoy along with Ritu . I dont remember the last time I had sweets of SenMohasoy , maybe it was 5 -6 years ago.

Rangapisi has sent dorbesh and khirer chop .. these are few of the Bengali sweets one need to have in Bengal. There are so many Bengali food items, including sweets that it is hard to enumerate. I am having 2 sweets twice a day. Before leaving for office I have two of them with tea , and after reaching home I am having another two .

Rangapisi told me she had sent the sweets specially for Ma, because Ma loves sweets very much. When in Kolkata, Ma used to get it from Basanti Sweets , most of the times she had rossogolla and doi. When I used to go to Calcutta from Bangalore, I used to buy sweets every day , Ma used to have them as in-between-meals . When Baba was there with use he used to tell me, "Tor maar jonyo miste niye ashis to , maajhe maajhe dekhi fridge niye kheye nicche".

In my childhood days , we used to quarrel among ourselves ( me, Timmi, Pinki ) that who should go with Rangapisi. Going with Rangapisi was alluring, because we knew we would be getting a nice treat ,whereever she went .... be it the local fish market at Nagerbazar, or to a nearby movie show , or if it was New Market, Ma told us she would not be making dinner for us.

I remember in my childhood, during the evening ... around 7 p.m. , Rangapisi used to call one of us. She might have called for different reasons various times, but most of the time we assumed that she shall be going to the local fish market for vegetables, fish and other household stuff . Whoever was lucky that day, would accompany her to the market. .... if there were lot of shopping to be done, she would have preffered me, as there were lots of bags to carry .. otherwise it would either be Timmi or Pinki.

The fun started from the house itself. Nagerbazar was the closest market at that time, and it was a 10 minute walk from our house at Devinibash. But with Rangapisi along, we used to go by rickshaw. On reaching the market she continued with the regular marketing ; there were some shops Rangapisi used to buy vegetables from , in fact Dadu also used to take vegetables from them ... so Rangapisi also took from them. Well, marketing continued as usual ... we used to wait when shall it get over...becuase most of the time, we knew Rangapisi would take us to some eatery after the marketing was over.

There were a couple of them during my childhood . Pagoda, Alice and Madhurima ..... I dont know how many still exist among the above names ... but I remember Madhurima had closed down when I was in Kolkata itself, dont know about Alice and Pagoda .. they were pretty good resturants to us at that point of time.

Pagoda was a specailist in Chinese foods, in fact that was the only Chinese resturant in Nagerbazar at that time .. and it was quite well . About the price I think it was reasonable and within limits as the resturant was full most of the time, and we had to wait. Nagerbazar and Dum Dum were not a posh locality at that point of time, a very calm place from what it is today. The people in Pagoda had come to know us very well, as we frequented there often .. courtesy Rangapishi. Most of the time we had fried rice, chilli chicken or garlic prawn ... to me that dinner was the key to all the marketing I had done with Rangapisi. Sometimes we had the dinner there, and packed the same for Chotokaku and barir bacchader .... ( everyone below the age of Rangapisi was barir baccha). Sejokaku often commented that "bacchader modhye singh bhanga buro rao". ache.

Sometimes we had snacks in Alice, sometimes in Madhurima .... but Alice was the preferred one as it was near to the market . However, if Rangapisi did not take me along, I knew that I would get the share as I was one of "barir baccha" ...:-)

Years have passed, I have gone to better resturants ... even to seven star hotels.

But I shall cherish these memories for my entire lifetime .... they shall remain PRICELESS .

Problems, problems....with travel agents , flights

Sonamoni.Ritu and Baba has come back to Bangalore yesterday. There were so many problems in between .

At the Kolkata airport, Sonamoni was denied a boarding pass . I had booked the tickets through a travel web portal (ezeego.com ) for Sonamoni and Ritu and the ticket clearly showed the same. However the airline officials (at SpiceJet ) had a different story to tell . They said that the ticket PNR number was not valid for the infant , and in order to get a boarding pass , she should get a new ticket - Rs. 750 was the amount for her . Guess what would happened if there was an adult instead of an infant ... the adult would have not been allowed to board the plane as there were no other seats .

I called up the travel portal and after several verbal exchanges they informed me that they would let the higher officials know about it and if there has been a mistake on their part they shall refund the amount .... they also promised me to call me up , but still now I have not received any call.

After the booking problem was solved , there came one more problem .... this time .... a flight delay due to bad weather. I knew that Kolkata was experiencing severe thunderstorms , it always happens this time .. as June - early August is monsoon time in West Bengal , India. The flight which was scheduled to leave at 3:55 p.m IST was delayed to 6:50 p.m IST.

The funny thing was that since I had registered my number for flight information , the SMS and automated calls came to me informing about the flight delay - and I was in Bangalore. Ritu , Sonamoni and Baba who were the ones to board to the flight were in Kolkata Airport , were unaware of the delay... and so were the flight officials at Kolkata Airport !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What would one call this...... real time updates dont happen for some flights still .

As this was a no frills airline, there was no refreshments for the delay. I was calling up Ritu now and then ; Sonamoni was doing all kinds of pranks in the airport , and Ritu was running behind her. We have found that she is very freindly with people she has not seen ever, but I dont know why does she start crying all over again , when she goes to our house at Dum Dum.... need to look into this .

Again after sometime I received one more SMS , it read the flight had been delayed to 7:25 p.m. IST . A little later Ritu called me up saying that the security check is over ... that time I told her that the flight has been delayed to 7:25 pm.

I had thought that I would take leave on this day to meet Sonamoni ; but now it looks I shall be reaching home before Sonamoni and Ritu. My office bus starts at 6:45 p.m and I should be back to my home by 8 pm.. it goes through a winding route ... not the shortest route.

On boarding the bus I enquired with the City Taxis at BIAL , and they informed me that they is no need to book a cab, it is available at the Bangalore International Airport 24 x 7... 24 hours. I informed this to Ritu, as this was her maiden arrival at BIAL .... dont know when the guys shall start the HAL airport ... it used to be so convenient.

I reached home and later called up Spicejet - the flight had arrived at Bangalore at 9:50 p.m. IST ... that was a great relief .. at least the flight has landed. It was easy to get a cab, and Sonamoni, Ritu and Baba reached the house at around 11:15 pm .

Sonamoni was now Naramundi Sonamoni... yet she was looking sweet . She was wearing a frock which Rangapisi had given her a couple of days back.

Sonamoni's Hair Cut

Today Sonamoni had a hair cut ; and now she is Naaramundi Sonamoni :-)

She had been given lots of toys to play , while cutting her hair .

After her hair cut , she was looking at the mirror and laughing to herself , and saying "nai nai".

Monkeys in our house

Ma just called me now .

Two monkeys have come inside our house and taken off two bananas .

Ma is getting tense :-)

The Room behind our house - Kakumonir Ghor

Kakumoni was a person whom we used to wait for in our childhood days. I remember he used to bring in loads of fruits and various kinds of plants from Guhawahati, a place in Assam . Well at that time I was more interested in the fruits ... there were some kinds I never used to see in Kolkata.

I remember he used to fruits in crates and one more thing he bought a cake from Sheikh Brothers. The cake tasted so different , we used to crave for it ... but of course stock were limited.

After retirement he came down to Kolkata and build his own room ... beyond our house . There was a small passage which connected the house with Kakumoni's room.

Kakumoni was an amateur artist , but his art sense was acclaimed by great contememporay artists. There were many paintings in his room .... some of it seemed unmeaningful to us ... but we heard it was from a great artist .... did not spend such time comprehending the meaning of the pictures.

Sometime back, before Baba , he has also left us .

The room is still there with the pictures ... only Kakumoni has left us.

Remembrances of Baba Ghosh

Baba - one whom I adored and feared the most. I remember when I was a child I always used to escape to Dida , when Baba was looking for me .. maybe I had done my homework.. or something like that.

During my higher studies, Baba always used to accompany me with the study materials and he was very instrumental in various phases of my life.

Even when I started working, Baba used to take daily reports from me, what I have done.... if I used to say the same thing again , next day he would say me ..."Eta to kalkeo korechis, aajke natun ki korli tahole" and scold me. As Baba had come to know something by interacting with me everytime, he also questioned me about various aspects in software engineering.

I never used to take care of my planning .... I knew Baba would do it for me.

I last spoke with Baba, when I was in Mumbai... before FIFA World Cup 2006 on the phone .. it was regarding the inagural match ... Germany vs Costa Rica .

I was telling Baba, I shall stay awake and watch the match ... and I remember Baba saying to me, in a taunting voice .... "Tui janish Costa Rica kothai .. oder match dekhar jonyo tui raat jagbije". .... little did I know that time that this would be my last conversation with Baba.

I got a call from my home at Kolkata after a couple of days, that Baba is not well . Ritu also told me I better go to Calcutta.... she could comprehend it.

I hastily went back to Kolkata to see Baba in a state of coma .. he had suddenly suffered from cerebral haemorrhage.... the same state continued for the next 5 days .

Within the 5 days I saw Baba's hand coming up and down and was very happy and told it to Ma.On listening Ma turned very happy too.... "Tahole bol Baba fire ashte pare"... we were so happy... But Sejokaku told otherwise, he said this is happening because of pain.

21st June 2006 - It happened to be my birthday . Our phone rang around 7:10 am ..... Ma received the phone and called Sakakaka. I hastily woke up and took up the receiver ... the caller on the other side said something which I still have to live with .

Baba HAD LEFT for the heavenly abode.

........
And I'm underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief way down in the shadows
And the perverted fear of violence
Chokes the smile on every face
And common sense is ringing out the bell
This ain't no technological breakdown
Oh no, this is the road to hell

And all the roads jam up with credit
And there's nothing you can do
It's all just pieces of paper flying away from you
Oh look out world, take a good look
What comes down here
You must learn this lesson fast and learn it well
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway
...... Chris Rea - Road To Hell ( Part II )

Where have all the flowers gone - long time ago

Timmi , my sister was always an inspiration for me. I remember all those days when we used to share over small things and sometimes quarrell on them also. She always wished I would become better in my life .... always was there by my side when I was down..

Timmi left us on 6th March 1998 .... and lots of new things have been added and subtracted from our lives.

I have moved to Bangalore, working on a better job, got married, have a daughter Sonamoni, ... Ma is also with us ... Baba has left us on 21st June 2006 .

After Timmi , Dida, Pisimoni, Kakumoni and Baba has also left us ... but life still continues .

Lives of all great men remind us,
We can make our lives sublime .....
And walking leave behind us,
Footprints in the Sands of Time
--- H.W.Longfellow

A void of emptiness

Sonamoni's going away to Kolkata has left an emptiness in our room.

Really miss the moments when Sonamoni is with us . Ma and me are missing her every moment.

She shall be back on 9th July 2088.. looking forward for that day.

Get yourself a second life

Sometimes when we are getting bored in our work or need a break from
the family chores .... getting a second life is amazingly refreshing .

Thats what the digital networking comes in. After SecondLife's succes there have been various Web 2.0 applications that have come up ... some of them are right now free .. like Minilife .

Others worthly of mention are Vivaty, Yahoo Mash, Google has something in its sleeve also.

Hey there is one more... VSide .... it calls itself the 3D side of Facebook.

Life is amazing .... or rather technology is making life amazing.

Wish you were here ALLWAYS

21st June 2008

Two years have passed since Daddy Ghosh has left us .... he was such a inspiration for me. To me HE is always with us in some way or the other. Many things have changed after his passing away, I have come to Bangalore, Sonamoni, Ritu and Ma is with us, I have received a hike this month....... yesterday Ritu had bought a pair of jeans and tops ... tomar "ekdom baccha meyer moto lagche" .. ONLY YOU ARE NOT WITH US.

In the morning I prayed in front of Baba's photograph for sometime , gave him a floral garland, sweets and that was all I did. Then I went to a seminar and came back home later in the afternoon.

Ma was as usual , ... .. she never expresses herself . But obviously remembrances are there with her ..... and it will be there with her forever.

Rangapisi had called me up and I had informed her, what have I done.

It also happened to be my birthday.

Baba you shall be with me always and forever.

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Pink Flyod - Wish You Were Here

Of crests and troughs

Nothing works for the better. Sometimes efforts to better rebound to yourself and you stand alone. This has happened with me in P ....Don't know what to say in this front ... maybe this is the way of life here

Building up our home

This Saturday, we bought a new automatic washing machine .... we are taking steps to build up our new home

Sonamoni turns 1.5 years

Yesterday Sonamoni turned 1year 5months old .... from the 13day old babe she is now 1.5 years old.

She has come up a long way.

All in a day's work

Unfortunately our maid has not turned back after her leave ; so we are in pursuit of another maid servant. After work it becomes very difficult for Ritu to do all the household chores - its getting very hectic for her.

Sonamoni now keeps Ma busy all the time with her untimely pranks - in fact she keeps all of us busy.

Everyday I return from office , Sonamoni greets me with her smile ... it makes me feel fresh again.

If Ritu's time permits we have a small chat over a cup of tea, and then I start playing with Sonamoni .

Sonamonis dinner is an episode in itself ; while she shows her tantrums by moving away from the plate and not willing to eat .

While Ritu makes her dinner, Ma is at the helm of helping her eat it. Nowadays I have also joined the league ; I draw her sketches on a diary and correlating them whats there in the book .. this tactic helps us to make her have her dinner .


Her favorite sketch happens to be MyaoPussy ( cat ) ... see above ... sometimes I draw three of them of several sizes and call them Ma, Baba and Sonamoni myaopussy

The Missing Frame

It has been more than a decade when Timmi left us ( 6th March 1998 ).

There has been many incidents after the date; passing away of Baba (21st June 2006 ), coming of Sonamoni ( 1st December 2006 ), passing away of my mother in law ( 22nd October 2007 ) ; I was fortunate to share some of my ups with my parents, Ritu and our family .

I have moved to Bangalore with a better job. I have got married and have a kid - both of them are very supportive in their own ways. There are somethings Timmi wanted me to become - I hope I have met some of the expectations of her and my parents.

Ma has come to Bangalore and is presently staying with us . She spends her time playing with Sonamoni and is in a better condition than what she was earlier. It has been around two months Ma is staying with us ; but Baba's coming remain unfulfilled .

As everyone of us get busy with our day to day activities , we just find sometime to look back .

Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.

Doo, doo, doo, Looking out my back door.
There's a giant doing cartwheels,
A statue wearing high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola listening to Buck Owens......

Credence Clearwater Revival - Looking Out My Back Door