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Night vigils and eggs to misbehaved bunnies

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  [This was published by My Kolkata on 26 March 2024.  You can read the published article online .  This is the pre-edited version without the pictures and links.] Eggs, Bunnies and Chicks - it’s Easter again! [A survivor’s guide to Easter in all its forms, with a little serious information thrown in … ] Eggs, Bunnies and Chicks - it’s Easter again! [A survivor’s guide to Easter in all its forms, with a little serious information thrown in … ] “Happy Good Friday!”  The wishes ping forth from the recesses of WhatsApp on the Friday before Easter.  It’s a red letter day on the calendar, it’s a long weekend at the office, obviously someone is celebrating something, so let’s wish them. The lone Christian on the employee list is singled out for the wishes. Painstakingly patient, she responds, “Good Friday commemorates the death of Christ. It’s a day of remembrance and mourning. We celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Christ on Sunday.” “Ok, then.  Enjoy!  We will wish you again for Easter,”
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Of Bumps, Baby Bumps and Other Barriers

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 [This piece was originally published in My Kolkata on March 15, 2024.  You can read it here .  This is the pre-edit  version. ] Bumps and other Barriers [The author drives wherever he can, encountering a few avoidable bumps in his daily commute or his visits to other cities. Here’s his irreverent take on our streets, our traffic and the ups and downs of driving.] Several years ago I was enamoured of the movie My Fair Lady. The words of one song in particular stayed with me long after. Here are the first two lines: “ I have often walked down this street before / But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before” Walking down the streets of dear old Calcutta (sic), amusement made me link the words to the journey.  As an adolescent I wrote about that somewhere and recall that it was largely about the Kolkata Mud Digging Agency (KMDA). The pavement and much of the road, in old Calcutta, hardly stayed beneath my feet.  Potholes, open drains, and other traps for the unwary were par for
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Music, the Food of Goan Love

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  (This piece was published in My Kolkata on 23.02.2024 Read it here ) A Kolkata Goan, visiting home during Carnaval time in Goa, does a quick round up of the bands and duets he heard.  From small parties to weddings to massive stage shows, Goan musicians have it all in the blood - tune, tempo and emotion. The pounding of the waves on the Calangute shore was overwhelmed by the pounding of bhangra emanating from the “shacks” on the beach. The continuous boom-boom of disco tracks, indistinguishable from each other, melded into what can loosely be described as a racket - to which local tourists danced in gay abandon, wearing matching coord sets, kurtis, I Love Goa tees and even sarees. The soft Billy Joel from the speakers in the coffee shop in which I attempted a cappuccino was completely drowned by the surge of sound from the beach. “Stay off the beach!”  The advice given by a college friend and established sound engineer couldn’t be more appropriate. And stay off I did except for a co
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Chorice, Corsets and Confetti - Inside a Goan Wedding - in Goa

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The original of this piece was published in My Kolkata on 16 February 2024.  You can read the published article here   The unedited piece is reproduced here, as written. Destination Goan Weddings (A Kolkata Goan visits his desh  to attend two family weddings and finds similarities and differences cutting across communities and cultures, religions and rituals.)  The newspaper advertisements scream “Destination Wedding” for Bangkok, Vietnam, and Goa.  Most of these are five-star affairs where the richer families book entire hotels and transport everyone across for a few days of happy chaos.  Destination wedding for some, a fairy tale wedding for others, a family wedding back home in Goa for the rest of us non-resident Goans. Travel and accommodation is every visitor’s own responsibility unless, like me, you know someone!   Pre-party A few days before the wedding, Goans have the Roce ceremony - equivalent of the haldi, or gayer halud for the Bengalis.The word roce being similar to ros of
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Hold the Gobi, Pass the Pork

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 Published by My Kolkata on 07 February 2024.  Read the published article here .  Or read the original below: [A Kolkata Goan, camping in Goa after 18 years, takes an irreligious look at vegetarianism and food through the eyes and taste buds of an almost-omnivore!] Let me just get over the shock and then we can discuss the main topic, though it’s intricately related to the shock!  In between Om Sai Vegetarian Restaurant and Shree Sagar Eating House (Pure Veg) we found Calangute Beach and our delightful homestay at Goa. On the way there from North Goa airport, Mopa, at 9:30 p.m. my daughter and I were most amused to see the number of Lunch Homes and Eating Houses marked Pure Vegetarian, not to forget the occasional Udipi Hotel. Goa has changed. Where did the Martin, D’Souza, Fernandes clans go?  Your guess is as good as mine.  After discovering the beach -- hidden between garish LED lighting, loud Punjabi bhangra music and multitudes of dudes selling hats, sunglasses (at night) and Lase
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Exam Fever? Don't Stress. This too shall pass!

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 [Published in The Telegraph's My Kolkata on 22 Jan 2024.  You can read the original article here ] [A former high school teacher and a just-done parent of three takes a light-hearted look at what’s on everybody’s mind and tabletop this month - exams! It’s serious stuff, though, so don’t stress too much.] One of the most quoted lines about examinations was originally stated by Mr Tom Vianna, a rockstar teacher who was responsible for the success of thousands of young men back in the day.  Mr V is famously quoted as saying, “Treat the ICSE as a pleasant interlude in your learning journey!”  I’m not sure I got the words right, but the sentiment was clear: don’t bother yourself too much about the exams. And, true to this sentiment, his students literally breezed through the exams, having been there, done that a dozen times in class. There were batches of Xaverians who actually organised end-of-exam parties during the exams.  They passed chits around which had lists of what goodies ea
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Pack your basket – it’s officially picnic season in Kolkata!

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 [Published in The Telegraph's My Kolkata on 09 January 2024.  You can read the original here ] Pick Your Picnic “This is picnic month, no one will come for other programs,” thus spake the official in Arunachal Pradesh a decade or so ago. On seeing a bemused, though quizzical expression, he explained that “everyone takes off to go for picnics”, leaving us to wonder how to get work done. This also got me wondering about Picnic Month in Kolkata. So, here it is - all six weeks of it! Come Boxing Day on December 26th, the picnic season starts in earnest. The morning after the night before, carrying baskets of Christmas leftovers, babes in arms and other ‘babes’ in tow, extended families would make the traditional pilgrimage to Alipore Zoo. Badminton racquets, shawls, bags and satrangis would then be chucked in gay abandon on the grass along with assorted “uncles” to guard them, while the entourage would go to “check out their relatives” - a favourite, time-worn joke
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