blog bondhu

ami jaani Kuntala di move koreche. ghor-dor thik thak guchono hoy ni mone hoy. tomar poltu-biltu-r ki obostha? tader teen tolay tulte khub ekta oshubidhe hoyni to? porshu bhor raate jege chile. ta amio bosshyo jegei chilam...Agatha Christie poRchilam. tumi ki korchile? nirghaat paper lekhar naam kore youtube dekhchile? ba prolaap? Oreo-r mini othoba low fat Ritz er sohojoge? thik jantam.

tomay ami dekhini. oi photo. tobu ami jani, tumi pNepe khaona. moolo joRito kono ranna mone hoy khub ekta roche na. tumi amar baRite ele, sudhui pNauruti khaoabo. amar kache sandwich er hazaar rokom recipe ache. tumi douRe tarokeshwar local dhorte, ami school bus. tumi laal fite bnaadte, ami neel. tumi London khelte, ami lock and key. bossho dumb charades e ami tomaye asaani se hariye debo, challenge. tumi ki kore paar pete janina, kintu PE period e amar pet mochoR debei. aha, ki timing ! oi somoy koto guruttopUrno kaaj uddhar kora jeto, tar ekhana "list" baniye felte pari. putul khelar cheye je aamer achaar sohojoge detective novel poRa onek beshi lobhonio, aar keu na bujhuk, tumi bujhbei. tomake ami dekhini, tobu ami jani.

Sugata da, lojjaye poRe jaccho to, nijer naam dekhe? tomake ami jani, chini, pray proti soptahe dekhi. tumi "tumi" theke ekhon "tui" bolo. besh lage. tomake ami gym e National Geography-r magazine haate prothom dekhechilam. bangali je, bujhte ekebarei oshubidhe hoyni. tumi amay photo tolar tips, bhalo blog er sondhan, New York ghorar pontha aar cake chaRao ekta oti guruttopUrno jinish diyecho....upodesh. room mate niye thaka theke bag e beshi taka na rakhar.

kintu eta sombhob hoto na, jodi na tomar "joyful experience" guli tumi, kokhono Charminar, kokhono Niagara, kokhono Hoogly Setu ba kokhono Grand Canyon er sohojoge tule dhorte. tomar blog poRte poRte ami, photography-r lecture deoa bhodrolokti-r pechone Harry Potter niye 6 mash aage theke uttejiito ekta chele dekhi, je makoRsha ke bhoy ebong nijer photo tule dite bolte lojja pay. chee chee.. :-) je khete (alu posto), coding ebong kukur bhalobashe, je onayashe Robindronath er kobita torjoma korte pare, je kina shokh kore (Kuntala di, bojjo !!!) bNadhakopi diye macher matha randhte jaye.

bhagyish blog chilo. bhagyish mathaye utpotang kheyal ashe, ebong shoto byastotar modhyeo tomra ta likhe felte dwidha koro na :) besh duur theke ke ki korche jana jaye, bojha jaye, na dekheo kauke bondhu bhaba jaye....karur sukh, dukkho, byastota (oi du din blog na kora manei kaajjer chaap), raag, oshohoyta-e saath deoa jaye. she tara Hoogly te thakuk ki Columbia-e, Rishra-e thakuk ki Edison e. koi fark nahi padta!

ei na hole bondhu?

in 2 minutes

i woke up. it was dark. i was tired and hungry. u know the kind of tired, when you sleep at the wrong times, and open your eyes to see darkness everywhere, and realise that it is past dinnertime. and hungry, as, oh well as hungry u can be when it is past dinnertime. as i pulled my body straight up, i realised i will have to cook. i will have to peel, cut, wash, stir, mix, pour, wash some more. by then my appetite would go for another round of sleep. the best, easiest and tastiest fix was maggi. good old maggi. just two minutes.

feeling extremely proud of my culinary judgements, i broke the solid slab of noodles into two...aah, how like the advertisements. but wait, how much water should i put. a cup? whose cup? never mind. i just put enough for all the singular threads to have a nice, long swim. then the tastemaker. in the meantime the roomie comes and advises that the tastemaker goes before the water. what the hell? its all going in the same place..."sab moh maya hai". i advance unperturbed.

as the water boiled, i had another idea..why not make this a healthy maggi ( as if!!!)? out came the veggies. and with surgeon like preciseness i made equally sized, absolutely unbiased pieces of them all. my two minute dream was long shattered. the water still boiled.

as the oil shrieked (there goes my healthy), and the veggies screamed, i realised i had no chillies. now, being a bengali has several advantages, very few disadvantages. one of them is reluctance to bland food. chilli-less food is unimaginable, unthinkable, unpalatable. so out they came from an ungodly corner in the refrigerator. and forgetting all preciseness, i chopped it. inhumanly. without thought or mercy, the sharp edge of the sparkling knife came down on them with unmistaken aim. every time. except once. when, having an evil mind of its own, it decided to land on my finger. left hand. grimace. facial contours changed as i kept the agonized hell burning heaven freezing pain unexpressed. the water still boiled.

i dropped the chopped chillies in the heated pan. and grabbed it to give it a good shake. one needs to show who is the boss. uh oh.... was it hot? i guess so....as i dont have any more sensation left in the small scalded portion of my fingers, i cannot trully describe the degree of heat. right hand. the water boiled still.

with parts of both my hands sacrificed, i sat glum waiting for the maggi to be finally done. and then i realised. 2 minutes? it was past twenty. why was the maggi taking so long? oh dear friends, it was maggi no longer! it was a mashed, white, unseparable mix of gooyey noodles. :(

with motherly love nevertheless, making as much use of my hands as i mortally could, i mixed the two. the maggi and the veggi, overboiled and overburnt. by now, my appetite, judging the situation and realising nothing good could happen here, had taken its hunger elsewhere. but adamant and stubborn i am. i will eat my over cooked maggi, i did.

so what if maggi is now off the charts for the next six months?

shei lokgulo

aajkal sobai boddo byasto. karur ektu daRiye kotha bolbar somoy nei. ektu bhabar somoy nei. ki thik, ki bhul, bhalo, mondo, pochondo, opochondo...sob mile mishe ekakar hoye geche mathar bhetore. amar nijer i nei, shutorang onnyo kauke dosh diye labh nei. kintu ekta somoy chilo, jokhon sara din amar kono kaaj chilo na. amar ashe pashe manush gulo o kemon jeno byastotaheen chilo. eta tader niye.

amader baRite, kolkata-r onek baRi-r motoi, bashon bikri korte ek mashi ashten. chotto khatto,mota shota, gayer rong moyla, chul kutkute kalo ebong chitchite, gaye shuti-r shaRi goRali chaRiye praye haNtu-r kache. ek jhuRi bashon niye shoptahe ekbaar she ashbe. ashbei. chokh mukh roddure poRa, ghamakranto obosthaye eshe bell bajato. kintu hashlei baajimaat. otogulo daaNt manusher hoy? holeo oto shada? tar chilo. she koto golpo. tar chele ki kore, koto boyesh, kothaye poRe,baRite aar ke ache, bashon bikri kore ko poisha paye,bor kobe maara geche, ei dhoroner onek kotha maa-r deoa jol,mishti sohojoge she bolte thake. bashon she amader baRi theke kono din i peto na. tobu ashto. ekdin eshe bollo, or cheler tumour hoyeche. brain e. daktar dekhale boleche naki kichui kora jabe na. ekta bashon ali-r jonnye to aroi na. er pore ki hoyeche ami janina. take aar dekhini.

tarpor chilo amader paRay thaka ek dompoti. udiya. khub i gorib. budo eiii mota bhuRiala, budi totadhik rugno. Shib mondirer pashe ekta jhupRite ora thakto. school e jaoar somoy budo amar dike takiye protidin hashto. ami hashtam na. ke na ke baba. oder jhupRite sobsomoye kacher botol aar khoborer kagojer mela thakto. ki korto ke jane. sukher kotha ei je ager bar baRi giyeo eder dekha peyechi. eibaar aar buRo hasheni. kintu ami haslam. ami to aar bhoy paina.

ekbaar aamra sobai puri beRate gechilam. guest house er pahaRadar chilo ek buRo bhodrolok. puro kuNjo. chotto khatto. amar oke khub bhalo lagto. boshe boshe ranna korto. ba ruti banato. amake ekdin golpo korchilo, or ek meye ek chele. tara khub bhalo chakri kore naki. amar sudhu mone holo, tahole babake niye jaye na keno. ei kotha bolate, buRo amar maa-ke bollo, "aapnar meyer khub maya". ekhon mone hoy ei jonnoi amar oke bhalo lagto. proshongsha kaar na bhalo lage!

amader baRite tokhon onek lok. maa eka samlate parto na bole ekta chele rakha hoyechilo. gonesh. kintu dekhte michke kartik tar moto. amar oke ekdom bhalo lagto na. aam, lebu, kul eshob peRe dito bote, kintu onko ta amar cheye bhalo korto. du minute e sesh kore felto. moha raag hoto amar. khamche khumche ditam. ekbaar bisshokorma pujo-r somoy baba, amake aar oke niye thakur dekhte beriyechilo. tar kichu din porei o baRi chole gelo. naki onno kothao gelo, janina.

amader baRite ekta kukur chilo. na posha na. o ashole paRa-r kukur chilo. edike amar abar sanghatik bhoy. kintu Lalu ke amar kono din bhoy kore ni. o chilo amar bondhu.amake dekhle or gheu gheu daak obodharito chilo. or ekbaar teen te baccha hoyechilo. amader janlar karnisher neeche. tokhon gache sobe peyara hoyeche. baNdorer khub utpaat. addhek peyara to orai kheto. khuble khuble. ekdin Lalu-r ekta baccha keo.

aro chilo, bijoy kaku je protidin amaye schol e niye jeto, jar cheye beshi bhorsha ami ekta somoy kauke kortam na, ma-ke protidin tatka mach bechte asha ekta lok, mudikhanar dokaner gujrati malik, je gelei amar hathe pauNruti-r packet guNje dito, chootobelar amader baRite kaaj kora Fujia mashi, je amay lojens kine dito protidin.je ekhon dekhleo amaye chinbena.

Lalu aaj nei. shei bashon wali-r motoi. keno hothath ajke tader kotha mone poRlo janina. sudhu mone hoy, jader ami aaj chini, jader shonge roj kotha hoy, jara amar bondhu, tader theke bhalo bodhoy ami eder chintam.

Erai Sottyi.

cinema

ei ektu aagei ekta bangla cinema dekhlam. khub kharap kichu na, tobe boddo jeno odorkari kobita meshano hoyeche. dialogue kom, gaan beshi. gaan-er abar shur nei, choritro gulo kemon jeno beshi matraye kabbyik, bhabuk ebong odorkari byapar shyapar niye chintito. jai hok na keno, modda kotha holo,ei shob jana sotteo, amio jeno kiram ekta ghor-er modhyey chilam, ei ponero minute khanek.ekta besh dukkho dukkho bhab, ki hote parto, ki holo na, keno holo na, ittyadi ittyadi...tarpor aar bhabte icche korlo na, dur chai bole uthe poRlam.

tokhon i byaparta mathaye elo. ei cinema jinishta boddo sanghatik. aamra ja noi, ja kokhonoi hote pari na, korte pari na, taii korte, ba hote baddhyo kore. korei. jemon rang de basanti dekhe e heno manush nei, jar mone 'ishhh amar desh koto bhalo, ami desher jonno kisui korlam na' gocher bhabnar udoy hoy ni. othoba hum aap ke hai kaun. uribbas....shei dekhei na choto kakar biye te antakshari-r ashor boshlo. otota jome ni jodio. kintu ekta 'ami bhalo, amar ashe pasher sob manush bhalo, kukur bedal porjonto' byapar upobhog kora gelo. ekta sondhyer jonyoi. ke kake kobe ki bolechilo tai niye chulochuli 'pause' kore. kimba dhorun dilwale dulhania le jayenge jatio kono aro lomba nam-er chobi. durga pujoy jake 'onjoli kotar somoy?" jiggesh korechilen, jar sathe aar kokhono kotha hoyni, je dwitiobaar na takiyeche, na heseche, na bakyalap korar ichche prokash koreche, shei taake niyei koto jolpona kolpona...aro ache,harry potter. bishwash korben na jani, kintu ota dekha-r por ami mone mone opekkha kortam, ekta chithi-r. jeta amake bolbe amio besh daini buRi. ki moja.

moja ta beshikkhon thakena. cinema hall theke badi asha porjonto, byas. bus-er janla e boshe akash patal bhabte bhabte badi eshe jaye. amader nijosshyo jogot o. sekhane na kothaye kothaye kobita ache, na jaadubole "bhul" ke "thik" e porinito korar soronjam. sekhane hajaar byatha ache, byabodhan ache, bojhapoRa ache, kintu happy ending ache ki? jani na. sudhu mone hoy, oi tuku somoy ekta notun prithibi ke onubhob kora gelo, jeta amar noy. emon kichu onubhuti holo, ja hoyto cinema ta na dekhle kono din hoto na. nijer moner onek onek ojana dik, jekhane emon ekta "aami" ache, jake chini na, jani na, kintu je hote parto, tar dekha paoa gelo. ei ba kom ki?

cinemawalloh, the show must definitely go on!!

garbage

so in my on campus job, i clean stuff. table, windows, beds,carpets... dustbins even. initially, i hesitated in giving the description, but as time went by, i realised there was really no shame in doing what i was doing. menial and unworthy it may sound, but a bird in hand is worth two in the bush i guess!! on a more profound note, all this cleaning was long pending, ignoring mom's instructions do not pay off! but this blog isnt about how i have suddenly woken up to labour rights and equality, or how i love my hands smelling like an infusion of latex-rubber gloves and the greenish blue cleaning spray( i dont). it is about the innumerous items of interest we chance upon, and sometimes sneak, while pretending to be Mr.Clean.

the very first item to be metioned must be the pennies. for the love of God, i still do not know why some guy stuck pennies with a chewing gum? all over his side of the bed, we had a penny party going on..needless to say, most of them have found their wayto the pockets. quoting a fellow cleaner- "i have so much change in my pocket my pants are falling off !".
on the same day we found an ironing board, a mandolin, 3 guitar picks, rolls of toilet paper, a printer, a soft toy, t shirts, underwear,nike shoes too big my size, magazines,decorative magnets, a box of wafers,pencils of various sizes,condoms, a blue tumbler, writing boards, ethernet cables, a shawl, gold jewelery...huh...my job isnt that bad after all...

what i wonder is why were these tings left behind? i agree carrying toilet paper might be ridiculous, the shoes may have been torn, the wafers might have been past their expiry date, but what about the others? they seemed like stuff either bought fancifully to please oneself or a gift. had they lost their importance? the small soft toy left in a corner smelled sadly like a break up, the mandolin unused indicated a life of deadlines, unaccustomed to small pleasures, the inexpensive but cute magnets had lost their attraction, the trip lay forgotten;only the souvenir remained, the nikes and the golds were probably from people who had either a very forgetful nature or too much in their lives to remember anything anymore...

while i emptied the rubbish, i thought of my habit of collecting trash. from all the birthday gift wrappers to the first starbucks coffee cup to the portrait of the first crush,the exam papers from ten years back,the stones from a certain fort in Rajasthan,the saved chats that i read over and over again( do not call me a freak),some of dad's snaps he thinks are lost,innumerous friendship day bands,a ticket from the best train journey of my life,a rusting chain that disadorns my neck,all the useless conversations and un-needed memories that dwell bright and proud in my head,in my heart...are these really worth collecting? are these testimony to the times when i laughed and loved or are these fossils that prevent me from moving on?

Is it time i bring out the greenish blue spray and wipe them all off?