Winter Fragrance

The month of November brings a new fragrance in my bathroom, the smell of glycerine soap! This is one of those smells that has remained constant in my life. My dad who is very particular about which soap to use during which season, (we keep teasing him about it!) hardly experimented in the winters! It was always glycerine, he tried quite a few brands but ultimately remained loyal to one of the traditional Bengali ones. I realised how i got conditioned to the ritual when i moved in with Utsav two years ago. Whether i shopped at Spencer's or the local grocer, anytime after November, i invariably bought the same brand!!

The strong but pleasant smell takes me to a bitter-sweet roller coaster ride through the many winters i spent in my Lansdowne Chakraberia home. I remember mamma peeling oranges for us at our terrace. My sister and i often did our homework on the terrace too, which ended with a game of ludo where our ayah (boudi, we called her) joined us!
I remember papa almost chasing us to the terrace the moment we came out of the bathrooms with shampooed hair! 'Chhate jaa' he screamed, he wouldn't tolerate his daughters catching a cold! However, no matter how much she stays protected, my sister always managed to catch one, nevermind the season!!! I remember our daily quarrels about the speed of the fan in our room!
I remember peeling kilos of fresh peas for those amazing matar kachoris!
I remember the beautiful crysanthymums and pulsatinums that papa grew so passionately.
I remember the trips to New Market for Christmas decorations and the sinful rich plum cakes! The trips to the Zoo, Victoria Memorial Gardens, annual flower shows...i remember them all.
It also takes me to our annual holidays to Mumbai and Ahmedabad. I remember how Mahim dressed like a bride during the Christmas week.
Its amazing how a particular fragrance brings so many memories to our minds, memories so fresh that it feels like 'just yesterday'.
Thank you Papa, thank you for the glycerine-soap-months, for the wonderful winters, specially for me. It means so much more now.
Love you, Papa.

monotony

I know what you mean Gejo (or should i say Priya!), i think we are very lucky to have realised this before our 30s, don't you think?! Or are we going through our mid-life crisis two decades too early? Its quite strange, stillness and motion together… a wink and years pass by but each day seems to drag and suffocated in the monotonous grind.
Jesus, am i making any sense?
I don’t know what it is, why this monotony; but something, somewhere needs a little mending. And i have to figure it out before i turn into one of those irritable middle aged women!

seekh

kabhi kabhi samajh nahi aata ki main chal rahi hoon ya tham gayi...jaise hi kuch kadam aage badte hain, jane kahaan se ek ajeeb sa thaharav aa jata hai. kya meri zindagi ab shuru hui hai, ya kahin se aake tham gayi?
kuch saal pehele tak mere charo taraf karvaan sa lagaa rahta tha, ab sirf chand log hain jinhe main apna humsafar manti hoon. aage ye saath denge ya nahi, ye to waqt hi taye karega, jab tak hain, hain.
meri yahi chalti- rukti zindagi ne ek bahut ehem baat sikhai hai mujhe: khush rahna sirf apne hatho mein hi hai; apni khushiyon par kisi aur ko haq dena, khudkhushi se kam nahi.

Durga Puja

As the Durga Puja approaches, as the structures of upcoming pandals start to disrupt the traffic, everything changes in this city. Perhaps this is very subjective, perhaps, everyone feels the same…I don’t know. The air smells different and the colour of the sky changes. Even when the rains play spoilsport, there is something very rosy about the grey clouds, giving the bamboos stocked for the pandals a very quaint, moist smell.
I don’t party every Puja night, nor am I an enthusiastic pandal hopper, but I love the feel of this true blue Bengali carnival! The only ritual I try to maintain is the anjali on ashtami at the 22 Palli Durgostav. The traditional idol of the Devi leaves such a great impact.
I like to take late night walks around my para, just off Elgin Road, to witness the cosmopolitan side of the Puja. The cute Punjabi children running around with balloons and whining for another ice- cream; the Gujarati college kids in their colourful chaniya cholis and kediyus grabbing a bite (and some gossip) before they hit the dandiya –floor; the Biharis in their bightest best teamed with matching jewellery (just out of an K-serial), the sugar sweet didas in crisp red and white sarees struggling to get out of the rented Sumo for devi darshan. I think the spirit of the regional puja along with the national navratra can be felt only in this part of the city…it’s amazing, you have to experience it to believe it!
(I apologise if I’m sounding snobbishly partial!)

All of us go through our daily lives in our own way, all of us have sudden thoughts swimming in our heads through out the day, but somehow most get lost in the grind. Had i begun blogging when it all started, i would be richer by a million thoughts today! Well, this is my very first post. And i must mention that i have been inspired to do this by reading the blogs of a very special girl, Khyati Patel. She is more like my baby and perhaps that's why we always have these 'random thoughts' in our crazy heads! So, this is for u my little darling!
Wish me luck!