Another old post

MEMORIES OF PRIMARY SCHOOL

Posted on December 20, 2008

The other day as I sat listening to a wonderful show on the radio where the
host was talking about his schooldays,memories of my childhood came into my
mind and I started reminiscing about my childhood.
Those were the golden days of my life with so much joy,carefree
life,innocence,togetherness....will they ever come back?
I know the answer is "no",but......I wish......
Like most of the kids,I loved to go to school.The teachers of my school
were truly like mothers.In Lower & Upper Kindergarten(which we fondly
referred to as LKG & UKG),we had classes from 7:45 to 11:15.I remember as
the last period approached,tears would start streaming down my cheeks,the
reason was that as both my parents were working,I had none to look after me
at home,so I had to go to a creche situated just a few houses away from
home,and due to some unknown reason,I never liked going there.I would wail
in the class demanding to go home.My teachers tried to pacify me by even
drawing my sorrowful face on the blackboard,but it was of no avail.My class
teacher in LKG,a certain Maria Miss even complained to my parents on the
"parent-teacher" meeting!She not being well versed with bengali would sound
so funny when she tried repeating my wails.It was like this:I'd cry as "AMI
BARI JABO and she'd get the verb form mixed up and say"AMI BARI JABE"!!! In
UKG,our class teacher,Babli Miss went on leave and we had another
teacher,Soma Miss who lived near my school and she offered to keep me at
her place after school everyday till my mother would return from office.I
sincerely appreciate her act and wonder if more and more children get the
priviledge to have such fabulous human beings as their teachers.coming back
to Babli Miss,I had a "GET WELL SOON" card ready for her,which I'd planned
to send her through one of the teachers,but somehow it didn't materialise
and till a few years back the card remained with a note written in my
childish writing.
Primary school began with different timings,11:30 to 4:15.I remember the
school bus would drop us to school by 11:15 and we'd rush to our classrooms
to leave our bags and then run down to play in the grounds.Our playground
was huge compared to our sizes then!We'd play all kinds of games like "hide
and seek","catching","colourman","racing","help sister","lock and key";we'd
also pretend having mystery to solve in imitation of the "famous five"!Then
as the bell would go,we'd again rush back to class where we had a prayer
session.Everyday a girl would recite the prayer verse from the office room
which would be played in each classroom through the sound boxes,then our
principal Sister Reshma would sing a verse which would be sung by all of
us.I still remember the first few words of the morning prayer:"Our Father
in Heaven,Holy be thy name,Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done.Give us today
thy Holy Bread...."
Music lessons with dear Philip sir was fun.He'd play beautiful songs on the
piano for us.From him we learnt innumerable melodies.Of them my favourite
continues to be "I have a dream" till today.The words were so inspiring.



I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I still remember the blackboard where Sir would write down the words of the
song that we were supposed to learn that day.He would even explain them to
us.Another very favourite song was "Do it now".It had inspiring words too.

Ours was a Convent school,so we had much music throughout the year with
prayer songs topping our list.Christmas meant a lot of celebrations with
fun,frolic and more music.Either Philip Sir or Ashit Sir-our dance teacher
would dress as Santa on the day our school closed for winter vacations,it
would be usually on the 23rd or 22nd December.We would be taught the
practice of sharing with others and we had a gift giving session when each
of us would carry gifts in the form of
biscuits,jams,pickles,clothes,blankets,etc to be donated to the poor and
the needy.
The teachers who loved me a loooooooooooot and were equally loved by me
were Nisha Miss,our class teacher in class III and IV,Sushmita Miss,our
Bengali teacher(she loved my handwriting and often praised me!),Philip
sir,Reba Miss,our Games teacher.The Games periods were our favourite,we'd
do a few rounds of routine marching and then we had the liberty to play as
much as we wanted to.
Nisha Miss was such a favourite with us that I remember feeling very sad on
being promoted to class IV because it meant losing her as our class
teacher.I remember walking up to her with my friend Nandini to thank her
for being a lovely teacher,and you can imagine our joy to see her as our
class teacher again in class IV!
In class II,our class teacher was Mrs.Chandana Kar who was a very
sophisticated lady and wanted to make us one too and she taught us to greet
her in the morning as "Good Morning Mrs.Kar" instead of our usual "good
morning miss" and in the evenings we had to say "Thank You Mrs.Kar,Good
evening Mrs.Kar And Bye-Bye Mrs.Kar"!
I have very vague memories of classI,don't know why but probably because
our class teacher,Mrs.Rekha Bhattacharya wasn't that friendly with us and
she'd always be scolding all of us! But I remember sitting beside Somhrita
and Ritwika and we'd play "doctor-doctor" where I'd invariably agree to
play the patient (being the submissive one always) ,Somhrita,the doctor and
Ritwika,the nurse. I remember carrying bread to school everyday for tiffin
and Ritwika carried apples and neither of us liked our tiffin and would
feed the crows from the windows.I remember our bengali teacher,a certain
Bibha Miss who taught us to write essays.She would write the essay on the
board and we had to copy them down in our notebooks.
Our school had a lot of events lined up for us to participate in.I always
took part in the writing and speech competetions and often won accolades
for them.I also did well in the "flower arrangement" competetion having
stood 1st in successive years.In the functions,I'd always take part in
music,dance was something that I just couldn't and was allergic too! So the
Dance lessons were my least favourite ones!
I had so many wonderful friends in school-Roma,who was in the same section
always with me till we left school from UKG(when she
joined),Sootrisa,Madhurima,Sukanya,Mahmootha,Ritwika.....they remain close
friends of mine even today.I remember once in class IV,our principal,
Sr.Reshma,who used to take our Moral science classes,punished me and
sootrisa by sending us out of the classroom for giggling during the
prayer.We were giggling over a very silly thing,i remember it but I won't
divulge that!Let that remain one secret from my schooldays.
We had regular "Parent-teacher meetings" and though every time the teachers
spoke well of me,I always felt nervous attending them!Being a very
goody-goody,studious girl,I was always in my teachers' good books.May be
that's why I loved my school all the more and still feel so nostalgic when
I see some child in the same blue frock or white shirt and blue skirt with
navy blue socks and black ballerina shoes.........

Another old post that I had written down elsewhere on Summer Vacations

summer vacations

Posted on December 20, 2008

It's that time of the year when colleges and schools have vacations for a
whole month.Seeing my aunt ( a teacher) at home reminded me of the many
summer vacations that i had once had.How i would wait for the middle of may
for the school to close,not that i didn't like school,but...vacations
charmed me more,even today it has not changed.

Summer afternoons remind me so much of my grandma,whom i lovingly called
"ummi".She used to be an ardent television watcher and every afternoon,i
remember,she'd watch the serials on doordarshan.there were so many and my
cousin and i would often watch them with her.vacations were a time to watch
tv shows.i especially remember watching serials like
"aurat","shanti","swabhimaan" and the like.

My mother was a member of the local library"JAGARANI PATHAGAR" and i
remember she used to bring so many books by different authors which were at
that time not suitable for my reading.but i would lie on the floor,often
under the bed and read them while ummi would relax on the bed.she had a
programme till 2:30 afterwhich she would come downstairs to relax in the
ground floor bedroom(as hers on the 1st floor was unbearably hot) and she'd
ask me."tutul,ghumobi na?mati te keno?" and i'd make an excuse of feeling
hot and hence continued reading books.

even earlier,while in primary school,summer holidays meant loads of
homework.they included writing an essay each time invariably on"how i spent
my holidays".and this was a topic that was a favourite with the teachers
and till high school,teachers kept asking at least,the same
question!primary school homeworks(or fondly abbreviated in the school diary
as HHW) also included an exercise of increasing the vocabulary by learning
5 new words daily.handwriting practice was also a common task.

Summer holidays meant a lot of friends going out for trips but having
recently had a trip in the easter holidays,it meant that i had to spend the
lazy afternoons at home listening to All India Radio,especially the western
music shows and the daily "natoks".the first trip that i made in the summer
holidays was in 2001 when i went to kedar-badri.

With the increasing pressure of studies,vacations gradually became
synonimous with extra classes in tuitions,different timings,mock
tests,marathon phone call sessions with my best friends...but one thing
that still remains the same is that i still read books in the afternoons
while listening to the radio.today ummi is no more with us,so i need not go
under the bed for cover but i prefer keeping my door shut during that
time.habits never die...

Vacations are the time to get nostalgic.this year i have no separate summer
vacation,it's the study leave that i have now,but lying down on my bed,i
fondly recollect the lovely afternoons that i once spent.will they ever
come back?i don't know but they will continue to be a part of my best lived
days.

"din guli mor shonar khachay roilo na,roilo na,shei je amar nana ronger din
guli........."

P.S. this was writeen by me long time back,way back in may 2003.had never
posted it anywhere,so thought of doing it now,though it's not summer
now,but somehow rjdeep's blog made me feel so nostalgic......

Here's something that I had penned a few years back,most probably in2007..it got published in my college magazine

   P.S.  It is written in Bengali...

 

 

AAMI BHALO AACHHI?

Posted on December 20, 2008

sheeter bikeler shesh ushnotatuku chhoar lobhe shey taar tintolar flater
balconyte eshe daralo.ekta holde pakhi ki mishti shish dichchhe chapa
gachhta y boshe.e bochhor december er majhamajhii besh jankie sheet
porechhe kolkatay.gaaye gorom shaalta bhalo kore joriye nilo shey.oboshyo
boyosh barchhe,rokto-o thanda hoe jachchhe.

noy noy kore shaat purno holo taar.ekhon ki ar shey parker jubok
jubotigulor moto gaaye gorom jama na diye ghurte pare?naki pare shei
jouboner moto dariye dariye vivekananda parker fuchka khete-ke jane,hoyto
ba pare...............hoyto keu kichhui bolbe na,kintu
tobuo..................mone ekta dwidha theke jay.

complexer park ta te kotogulo futfute bachcha ki shundor chhotachhuti
korchhe ar tader mayera road e pith diye bench e boshe pnpc korchhe.eder
dekhle boddo rupu der kotha mone pore jay.

rupu,urfe rupak dasgupta london er byasto odhyapok.or stree debangana o
nijoshyo chakri niye byasto.aar oder chhoy bochhorer meye shuchi-or oporei
shobcheye maya taar.ei je pujor shomoy e elo ora,besh ek maash theke
gelo-ki shundor hoihoi kore kete gelo kota din.or jiboner onyotomo shukher
shomoy chhilo ei ekta mash.adorer natni ta ke niye koto jaygay berano,or
jonyo shoukhin ranna kora,gorber sathe flater bipasha di,maya,romola-eder
bari giye dekha kora-besh kete gelo kota din.rupura to majhe bolechil,"ma
tumi shuchi ke pele ekebare pagol hoye jao,na?ta bole nijer to boyosh
hochchhe, shey kothatar kheyal achhe?shorirer opor eto jhokki ki deoa
uchit?amra to ar kota din.erpor tomar komor-hatu te byatha hole ke
dekhbe?"

keno?jara dekhe shara bochhor,tarai dekhbe.oi je bhorsha naam er oi
protishthan tar ki jani naamta,hya,paromita ra.ora to maash gele ound
pachchhe keno?orai to amaar taka diye kena shontan,sheba.tora ar kodin
ashish shara bochhore?ar okhane thakleo shara shoptahe duto phone ar
kalebhodre airmail e toder sporsho onubhob kori.abar to ebar eshe computer
kine diye geli-ki?na amay tora email korbi.jani na baba,oshob koddur
parbo.

kintu toder opor obhiman korina.tora okhane nijeder "career" gorte
byasto.shontaner shafolye koshto hole mukhpuri shei mayer moron.tora to tao
khoj rakhish amar.ontoto noboneerer didi dadader chhele meyegulor moto
dayityogyanhin to tora nosh.tora shaat-shomuddur paare bilete achhish-koto
byasto,tao tora "duty" korish,bochhore ekbar ashish.atmiyoder jonyo koto
daami daami upohar ene kortobyo korish,ma ke kodin shukher chorom e pouchhe
dish.............

na!shukher chorom na,shey to chhilo jkhon tui koto chhoto chhili.ki shundor
jibon chhilo tokhon.du kamrar flat e tui jokhon heshe khele
berati-aha!bhableo mon juriye jay.shuchi ta o nischoi tar kochi paaye
bishmoy bhora chokhe shorbotro ghure beray,shobkichhu chhoy,jekhane
shekhane haat dey,ar tora nischoi bokish tokhon,baron korish.oh,na!tora to
byasto.eshob nischoi oi baby-sitter kore.o nischoi english ei kotha shekhay
oke,achchha-shuchi ke tora bangla shekhabi na?nijer shikor theke puropuri
utpatito korishna.

kintu na,ami mon kharap korbo na.mon kharap korle chole naki?ei to besh
bhalo achhi ami,para protibeshira shobai bole,"didi apni to besh bhaloi
achhen,kono dike kono chinta nei.ki shundor nijer moton kore achhen,ekta
nijoshyo prithibi apnar-gaan-bajna,boi,ranna,travel and living niye dibbi
shomoy kete jay......"ke jane,tahole hoyto shatyi ami bhalo achhi.shobai to
ar bhul bolbe na.ami bujhi na hoyto....ke jane.........tobu majhemajhe rupu
der kotha mone porle monta bhari hoye jay,hoyto ekei bole bhalo
thaka..........

holud pakhi ta ekhono shish diye jachchhe

CHANGING TIMES : DURGA PUJA

In this post I shall relive a few fond memories related to the Pujas and Puja vacations of my childhood.

Pujas meant so much fun. It meant a month long vacation in school. It meant very few holiday homework, no examination after reopening (at least till primary school. After that high school onwards this happy situation changed, puja vacations meant preparing for second terminals!) Pujas came in with an added brownie.Going out shopping with my mother.When I was a little kid, I would go shopping to New Market, Treasure Island with my mother and Mamoni.Ma would pick me up from school and we would head towards the shopping zone of Calcutta. Those days there were no huge swanky shopping malls. The box elevator at SreeRam Arcade was a thing to gape at. And I would definitely stare at it in wonder.Shopping meant coaxing Ma to let me buy a pair of dungarees,inspired by Kuch Kuch Hota Hain( although I never much wore it),it meant sitting at the steps of Treasure Island eating chow mein prepared by Mamoni..Those days were fun…Today there's no time to go shopping to New Market and Lindsay Street.I have to settle with Gariahat, Dakshinapan and at most South City Mall

Pujas meant taking a bath quickly in the morning and wearing new dresses.Often mismatched accessories would follow.Pujas meant taking Ummi’s(my grandmother) hand and walking to Phase 1 puja pandal and offering anwatching Didi draw the programme schedule in chart papers to be put up at the  pandal and then looking at it in wonder.Didi no longer makes the posters.Some other kid's "Didi" surely makes them.Pujas meant devouring the stories in Sharadiya Anandamela Pujashonkhya. Enjoying every line of Kakababu’s adventures,Feluda comics, Pandab Goenda,Arjun’s adventures…

When I grew up a bit,in Class 11, I first went out with my school friends on Shasthi. Sukanya, Roma, Kasturi, Mouli, Ritwika.

I still remember on that year we went to Mandarin. And every year after that it became a ritual to go to Hatari every Shasthi.Our Shasthi day outs were fantastic.Pandal hopping.invariably getting wet,short sessions of adda at Maddox Square,me and Roma getting lost and waliking all the way from Maddox Square to Gariahat(!!),meeting friends invariably at Maddox or at Hatari…this year will be different.Only three of us will probably go out.Times change,everyone’ s getting busier by the day.The small little fun moments that we once had have become memories.Today even Ummi is not there anymore. I will definitely go to the pandal and offer anjali.But I will miss her surely…

Earlier Puja vacations meant sneaking up with a storybook when Ummi would watch tv and pretending to sleep when when she would come down to check on me. Puja vacations meant marathon phone call sessions with Madhurima,discussing anything and everything under the sun..These days we only text.No more do we have those phone calls.Time flies,time changes.Memories try to hold me back,but I got to move on.This is life…

A beautiful forward that i got in an email..

  WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY PUJA IN ADVANCE

 
Agrim Saarod Subhechcha.....

An old Post on my trip to South Sikkim in 2008: Came out in The Telegraph,Calcutta

South Sikkim’s solitude

SUCHETANA GUPTA

My favourite holiday

Recently, I visited south Sikkim with my parents. Our first stop from New Jalpaiguri station was the picture-perfect town of Rabangla.The journey was wonderful, with the Teesta giving us company for some time. We reached Rabangla by 3pm, greeted by the beautiful view of the Kanchenjungha, Narsimh, Pandim and Kabru peaks. Taking in the chill, we climbed up some 450 steps to the local monastery. As evening turned to night, I looked up at the sky to see a huge cluster of glittering stars against the darkness. We soaked in the silence as evening prayers were being offered at the hilltop shrine. The next day, we travelled to Legship, some 13km from Rabangla. Legship is known for its temple, situated by the river Rangit. Its hanging bridge is another attraction. We headed for Borong next. On our way, we stopped at the ancient Ralong monastery. Built in the 12th century, it now has a newer building, recently opened as a branch of the Rumtek monastery. Borong is a hamlet situated amidst greenery. There’s just one hotel there — the lone Wildflower Retreat — which has a few cottages located amidst lush vegetation and wild flowers. The first thing that strikes city slickers at Borong is the absolute silence — broken only by occasional birdcries and the murmur of the breeze blowing through the trees. The aroma of wild flowers fills the air. Our stay in this resort proved to be memorable. The cottages, set against the dramatic peaks, surrounded by greenery, made for a really pretty sight. We moved to Namchi next — the district headquarter of south Sikkim. The view of the Kanchenjungha from Namchi is splendid — be it at sunrise or sunset. From Namchi, we visited the shrine of Samdruptse, where a 135ft statue of Guru Padmasambhava stands tall against the skyline. The statue is quite a sight in the pristine surroundings. Namchi is fast gearing up to become a tourist hotspot, given the panoramic views of the Kanchenjungha and Samdruptse it offers. If you’re looking for that perfect week to spend with family in the solitude of the hills, I would strongly suggest south Sikkim.

Changing times : REALITY

I may sound very negative in what I will say now,but honestly speaking this is what matters to me.So I decided to write on it.
Of late I am noticing something.People these days are tending to lead a fast paced life.No matter who you are,what you do,how busy you are in life actually,you got to pretend to be REALLY BUSY for people to stop and take a notice.If you are like me,happy with the slow pace in your life,you are simply a NOBODY.You are not worth taking a note of.Why blame strangers?Even your closest friends have no time for you. You can't complain.They are too busy in life. But once you meet them on a rare occasion,you find yourselves exchanging email addresses.Earlier it would be your cellphone numbers.Still earlier,in the prehistoric times,it would be your landline number that you would share.But these things have become objects to be displayed at the museum!Now even email address has become a thing of the past!You simply exchange your facebook account name and may be instantly send invites on your Blackberry.
My friends complain as to why I still do not socialize on any social networking site.My logic is that if you can spend a minute on facebook writing on my wall,I'm sure if you try you can surely spend a minute on your gmail account sending me a mail.It's not that I am against social networking,of course they have their own merits,but what I feel is that it is outrageous that people have to become so addicted to it.To the extent that you stop communicating with your best friends because he/she does not socialize on a networking site. You have hundreds of friends on these sites but you forget to communicate with your true friends.Actually technology has made life simpler for human beings but it has stopped making them humane.

I wish people stop losing a diamond when they are busy collecting stones...

Hygroscopic Nokia Phone

Have you ever heard the term "hygroscopic"? According to the Oxford Dictionary hygroscopic is " an

adjective

(of a substance) tending to absorb moisture from the air "


Well, honestly, I could not find any better word to describe my Nokia 2690 that I bought this April on my birthday. The phone was launched in mid April and I bought it on the 19th. I did not have any prior user reviews on the phone since it was newly launched. But I trusted Nokia to always deliver the best as they have done so for the past 10 years to the world, connecting people as they call it.
The phone was absolutely brilliant, very stylish looking, the sound was good,display clarity superb and what attracted me the most was the music player and the memory capacity of 8GB! I thought finally I've got THE phone I've been looking for.It worked very well for me till mid August when one fine day the display screen went hazy,hazier and then haziest. Finally it went blank. I tried switching it off and then switching it on again. I tried it for a long time. Then a friend suggested me to call and see if the sound was okay. I tried and to my horror discovered that I could hear the person on the other end, no matter who called,me or the other person but the person on the other end could not hear me. There was a problem with the microphone I thought. I kept it switched off for a long time and then when I switched it on,the display was normal. I sent it to the service center, NOKIA CARE. They did some "job" and gave it back.It was working okay then.Again within a few days the same problem cropped up.I got it to another nokia care shop and they said the phone had trapped moisture and so the warranty would no longer be responsible for it.I wonder how my phone could trap moisture! I do not swim/take a bath/drench in the rains with it. The only solution that came up to my mind was that may be the phone is hygroscopic! I got my phone repaired for Rs 165 and then it worked quite well for a few weeks.Again after many days the same problem has cropped up today again. I am disgusted with Nokia. I have heard quite a few acquaintances complaining of similar problems and every time the phone is taken to Nokia Care, they say "moisture". I wonder what material Nokia is now using these days to make their phones for they are so hygroscopic! I think Nokia should change the material, IMMEDIATELY.  I am pissed off...

Weekend Cooking Spree

This week I had a long break.So I decided to go on a cooking spree. I started with cooking Payesh for my mother on Friday because it was her birthday. She assisted me,obviously. But the end result was awesome. The payesh actually tasted good.
Saturday my cousin came home hungry from work. I made her sumptuous Chicken momos. And as usual, they tasted wonderful too..
And yesterday I was entrusted with preparing the dinner. I made Jeera rice and Bombay Chicken Curry. Recipe courtesy www.indianfoodforever.com
. The rice was a bit overcooked and the salt content was also low. But on the whole, the meal was good and light. Even my father who always criticises did not complain! That's the biggest assurance that the meal was good :-)

Or...is it???May be he always criticises the food that is actually tasty and no criticism meant...???

Dunno!