The Search...

Perhaps its human to search for the Old in the New. New places, new people, new emotions...we always try to look for familiarities. Memories are like set-points in our life's system and we keep adjusting our life's variables to somehow attain this pre-assigned set-point. 
I know not if this is right or wrong....i don't know if our past should be given so much power...so much power that it can influence our present...i confess i do not know. then again, i presume that this influence varies from person to person.


Perhaps when we search for familiarity in the New we do so to adjust ourselves easily and fit into the New. The New often comes accompanied with the Unknown...so maybe our attempt to fit in and be comfortable is aided by searching for something familiar, something known in the unfamiliar surroundings. This search is perhaps primarily for comfort.


The following is a short note that i'd written in December last year....in a somewhat unfamiliar environment whilst missing a similar place far away in time and place.


A new place...strange familiarity...
As if the old had never left...just changed.
Miles away...
Yet the same feeling...
Familiarity knocks on my door.
Winter winds...a cup of stale coffee...
Miles apart yet similar...
As if the old had never ceased to be... Just changed...




A different junction...a new place...
Yet emotions remain the same...
Eyes search for the same faces, the same voices... But none of them remain...
A change...yes... Only of time n place...
Emotions....they still remain the same.


an attempt at translating the above into bengali (first attempt ever)


sob e natun...natun lagche aj sob
tao jeno sob e lage chena...
jeno purono kichui sesh hoyni...
bodleche, kintu chole jayni...
dur theke durante chole geche...
tobu onubhuti gulor rong paltayeni ajo...
chena sriti jeno aj dakche amay.
sei ek e thanda batash...sei ek e purono coffee...
tobu koto dure...onek dure...
jeno purono kichui sesh hoyni...palteche sudhu...


ek natun more...ek natun jayga...
onubhuti...chetona...ajo sei ek e rokhom...
ami khuje cholechi sei purono sob kichu...sei sob chena mukh...
ja chilo chena seta hariye geche aj...
palte geche onek kichu...
jayga palteche...somoy palteche...
tobu paltayeni sei mon....paltayeni sei onubhutir sporsho.

The Spark

Came across a wiki link that made me feel more than proud of the family i belong to!

I had grown up knowing that my mom's side of the family has a rich cultural and historical background. But to see the facts on a page, on the internet...that too on wikipedia...is quite overwhelming!

My Grandfather, Samir Roy Choudhury, born in the family of Subarna Roychoudhury, the Zamindar of Kolkata, prior to the arrival of the British, was one of the Founder fathers of the Hungry Generation.

About the Hungry Generation, my mom can tell you better stories as i came into the picture much later!!
I was born and spent the initial months of my life in my Grandparents' Patna residence. The environment was always culturally rich. And Post Modern Literature had been an integral part of my growing up years. Like they say, what we see and observe in our formative years...we learn. And these lessons become a part of our very self. It becomes a part of who we are.
So true.

From what i've gathered from the reviews i've got from my valued readers, the effect of these childhood lessons have been reflected in my writings over the years. I distinctly remember the article that i had submitted to the College Magazine...the Teacher Editor had classified it in the category of Post Modern Literature. Knowingly or unknowingly the subconscious works in a way that reflects the learning of our formative years.

Incidentally, my Grandfather carries a notebook and a pen with him...nearly always. His 78 years old self has retained the creative spark...infact the spark has brightened over the years.
On a recent visit to a hospital for a tumor surgery, he had a dream. In this dream he saw policemen chasing a thief. The day he returned home, he asked me for a pen and a piece of paper...any paper, he'd demanded. Urgency clear in his manner and voice. He then quickly jotted down his dream on the paper that i'd given him. Am sure that dream has already developed into a short story or a poem.

Distant memories of a tiny me sitting on a tray, in a Dark Room of our Photography Studio, and watching my maternal uncle work.... of paint brushes and colours lying around and experts editing photographs with them... 1990 didn't have Photoshop facilities!! ......somehow did leave an impression on me.

My first professional work to be published was on the cover page of my Grandfather's publication, a Little Magazine named "Haowa 49" .....infact my design was critically acclaimed. The thing is...i was 4 years old then.

The little that i know and all that i can know has its roots in my family.
I've always been a happy and content family member but today i feel more than proud of my family.

Somehow when others tell you about yourself...you get to know yourself better! :-)

Kolkata: my homely project!!

Recently I had been asked to prepare a presentation as a College project. After hours of thinking i finally selected the topic suggested by my friend Nilakshi. According to her we should select topics close to our heart. So, I finally settled for the topic "Kolkata"...what better than my home sweet home...

Thank you Kolkata for being my Home and being the topic of my College project. Where would i be without you!!??

Ohk...here's a short summary of the project i finally made...

I called it "Kolkata: a City in transition...a journey from Kalikata to Calcutta...to Kolkata"

This project shows the changing face of the city over the years...right from the British Era to the present Metropolitan City.

Two major aspects of the city have been highlighted here:

• the identity of the City as the Cultural Capital of India.
• the socio-cultural life of the City

These two aspects have been focussed upon because:

• any change that creeps into a city so culturally rich is bound to get reflected in the culture of the City
• "a city is what its people make it..." so obviously the changes will be evident in the life of the citizens

hence the socio-cultural references.

This project is a tribute to the City that gave India her first martyr of the Struggle for Independence, Khudiram...its a tribute to the City that was home to the first Nobel Laureate of our country, Rabindranath Tagore...its the city of the first Modern Man of India, Raja Ram Mohan Roy...Netaji, Vidyasagar,Vivekananda, Mother Teresa....n so many others...

Excerpts from the project:

"It is believed that India as a whole did not witness Renaissance...but Bengal did, and Calcutta was the centre.  The growth of the Bengali Intelligentsia due to the introduction of Western Education in India under the initiative of men like Raja Rammohan Roy led to an intellectual awakening...popularly known as the Bengal Renaissance..."

"The existence of a distinct duality in the City is evident through the ages. Be it the Babu culture (a group of Bengali intellectuals who though Indian by blood were British in nature) or the Bongs (the globalised/westernised Bengalis)...be it the intellectuals or the modernists...a distinct duality persists."

"Penurious...prosperous...progressive...

a culmination of diversities...

a harmonious coexistence of deep rooted culture and modernisation...

that's the city for you...

Welcome to Kolkata" 

"Kolkata Kolkata dont worry Kolkata...amra tomari Kolkata..........tumi je naya Kolkata..." ~Usha Uthup