ADIEU, GREAT OLD TELEGRAM !

ADIEU, GREAT OLD TELEGRAM !

Kolkata, 15 July 2013

Dear Grandpa Wire,

It's a sad day for me, because you left us for good and I'll have no opportunity to interact with you in the coming days. Though I haven't seen you taking birth in India in the year 1850 and you are 163 today, but I was frequently in touch with you over these years of my life. As a child, I was curious to know why people used to affectionately call your voice - "Torre-tocca" and I got my answer when I was 12. Grandpa, how did you enjoy your first run between Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Diamond Harbour in 1850? You must have enjoyed it immensely, I believe.

You loved to travel at will, dear grandpa Wire (alias Telegram) and you were always in a hurry - to deliver whatever you were asked to and you always gave importance to whatever we had said. We are grateful to your father, Sir Samuel Morse, who foresaw your immense capability to work in the service of mankind and indeed he was right. Even Lord Dalhousie praised your loyalty and acknowledged your help which he took from you while suppressing the insurgency during the Sepoy Mutiny in India in 1857 !

I embraced you by way of a telegram while receiving my 1st interview call in 1973 from my would be employers, Glaxo and I wired my arrival to the great city of Bombay (now Mumbai) to my newly wedded wife way back in the 70's. I have always received you with a warm hug, whenever you came to deliver any news to me - good, bad or ugly !

Now that you will be no more in India from today on, only to be displaced and discarded by the younger technologies like e-mail, cell phone, sms and internet, the Nightingales and Bulbuls will sit atop the telegraph wires by the railway lines and across the paddy fields and mourn about your sad demise. And silently, I'll join them in their prayers by singing a ballad in praise of you. Adieu, grandpa Wire. Keep well wherever you will be.

Yours
Robin.

P.S. : The poem below and the picture (the lines of which are drawn with the computer mouse) are my final tributes to you and your services in India.

Robin.

OF DREAMS, FANTASIES AND MELANCHOLY...

OF DREAMS, FANTASIES AND MELANCHOLY... 

I am in a fix ! It's about which one shall I choose from the two associates of sleep : dream or nightmare? I would prefer to go for the 1st one, because dreams are normally happy & pleasant, while nightmares are not. But, I couldn't help - because, both are beyond my control. In a number of occasions in the past, while going to bed, I did rewind my pleasant memories to the maximum extent possible in order to have nice dreams in my sleep, but almost every time my desire was not fulfilled. I  could dream nothing, which could be called pleasant ! To the contrary, nightmares haunted me for a long time after I got up from bed !

Like many others, I too had day dreams and I wished these dreams come true. But, that was not to be ! I fancied many a good things in life, most of them consumables, which I desired to possess. But, while asleep, these things went on eluding and eluding me and thus I never got the 'taste' of the desired fantasy-land, which would make me happy ! I can not blame anyone but me for having these kind of wild desires and getting cheated eventually !

I didn't have any idea about what melancholy is till the end of my college days. Everything went nicely, I was pampered quite well at home by my parents, grandparents and elders in the family and all my friends and relatives were very kind towards me. There was no death in the family for a long time, no economic or social problems or even none of my books or articles were lost.

Then one night I had a dream (or nightmare?) that kept me weeping and sweating throughout the night until my mom reached my room at dawn, saw me weeping profusely and woke me up. When asked about the reason of my crying, I couldn't tell her anything about the details of the nightmare (or dream?). I was numb - totally numb for about half an hour and I became sort of blunt. I was extremely sad and melancholia gripped my senses throughout the day. Believe me, the nightmare was about the death of my dearest college friend in a road accident, the name of whom I better refrain from divulging. Fortunately, he is very much alive even today !

This "50th post" today carries some pictures taken by me in the past. Mostly color slides/transparencies, these pictures were damaged beyond repair. I took a chance and sandwiched two or three of them together in order to see what a dream looks like! What you see below is the result of my experimentation. Happy viewing...

FUNNY SIDE UP !

FUNNY SIDE UP !

Everyday, during breakfast time, while breaking the shell of an egg, it's a very routine affair for my wife to ask me : "Poach for you? Double fried or sunny-side up?". And more often than not, almost every time, my standard reply remains : "Sunny-side up, my dear." The same old story continues and continues and continues day after day... month after month... year after year ! Hardly do I opt for boiled, half boiled or scrambled eggs or even omelettes !!

In my real life too, when preoccupations (however mundane these may be) keep me busy - my eyes on the computer screen, my ears on my cell phone or my brain into some complicated calculations, my mind longs to get some relief and whispers to who knows whom : "Funny side up !" Indeed I want to smile. The more I smile, the more I get relaxed, because I know - laughter is the best medicine ! I like humor, satire and wit more than anything else and I know fun is the best way to relax !

Today's posting presents some nonsense rhymes and cartoons - composed & created by me for my own relaxation. In case, you too feel the same way, I'll know that my efforts have not gone in vain ! The 1st poem is a tribute to my guru, nonsense rhyme king, Sukumar Ray (father of legendary film maker Satyajit Ray). Please feel free to post your comments/criticisms by clicking the "comments/no comments" button at the end of this post. Today's post is the Post No. 50 of my Blog.

Happy reading...

THE LINK BETWEEN TWO CITIES.

THE LINK BETWEEN TWO CITIES.

Rabindra Setu or Howrah Bridge, as is popularly known is the connecting link between the cities of Kolkata and the industrial town,Howrah (India). The bridge was commissioned in 1943 and replaced a pontoon bridge at the same site. The structure of the bridge is both awesome and spectacular. More than 26,000 tons of high tensile alloy steel were used to erect the vast structure and the entire quantity of steel was indigenously made in India and supplied by the steel giant, Tata Steel (then TISCO). It is a bridge that was spectacularly made without the use of any nut or bolt. Howrah Bridge is the sixth longest cantilever bridge in the world and the central span of the bridge is 1500 feet between centres of main towers. About 90,000 vehicles ply on the bridge daily, as per a year 2007 report.

Today, my posting is about the wonderful Howrah Bridge. The picture No, 2 (boat by the bridge) was taken by my son, Ritam Banerjee. Rest by me. Happy viewing...

HAVE I GROWN OLD ?

HAVE I GROWN OLD ?

Graying of hair... wrinkles... loosening of skin... trembling limbs... fading memory... old age finally arrives! These inevitable happenings are bound to happen... after a certain time... after one reaches a certain age. Let us not ignore the wisdom the old person had achieved over the years, based on his or her experience. Let's have some patience and let's try to understand them when they get old.

Let us not scold them if  they get dirty while eating and let's show some patience if  they find it difficult to dress or tie the waist belt or the knot of the shoe-ribbon. Let's recall, how much time did  our parents and grandparents spent teaching us when we were kids ! Remember, we asked them to read the same story repeatedly and they obliged with a smile? By seeing their ignorance of new technologies like computers and mobile phones, let us not laugh at them. Instead let us give them time to understand and interact.

If you find the great old person losing his or her memory or  finding it difficult to follow instructions, what he or she needs from you is necessary time to recollect and follow what you have said. Try to understand that after a certain age, they do not live any more... they simply survive ! Remember, the only thing they need from us is a smile and a lot of love... and compassion !

This posting hails old age and wisdom ! (The pic of Mother Teresa was collected from the internet and has been used here purely on non-commercial basis).

Any comments are welcome.

ARE INDIAN VILLAGES ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH?

ARE INDIAN VILLAGES ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH ?

Indian villages are beautiful. While a large number of people live in cities and live a metropolitan lifestyle,  most of India's population live in villages - agriculture & farming being their major occupation. They spend a substantial part of the day in agricultural fields and return in the evening to their respective homes to spend time with family members. They have strong family bonding, social responsibilities and religious beliefs and are caring to each other.

Cast and religion dominate their lifestyles in most cases and the village "Panchayets" or welfare bodies look after their welfare, health and education and act as mediators during social disputes. Despite poverty, drinking water, sanitation and various other problems, absence or lack of electricity in many cases, most of India's rural mass recognize the value of education and send their children to schools - often at long distances from their houses.

In spite of extreme hardships and poverty, the villagers have a distinct cultural inclination and many of them practice art to decorate the walls of their huts and take part in various rural performing arts like dancing, singing and acting. Villages are India's lifeline and time has come when the rural mass can justifiably claim their stake to economically raise  their standard of living after 66 years of India's independence.

Today's posting features some pictures of  Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal villages, taken by me over  the last two or three decades. The 1st picture ("Touch of mud") won me a  UNESCO award (Okamoto prize) in 1988.  Please post your comments by hitting the "no comments/comments" button below.

Happy viewing...

O DEAR ! HAVE WE PLANTED ENOUGH KISSES TODAY ?

O DEAR ! HAVE WE PLANTED ENOUGH KISSES TODAY ?

July 06, 2013 is the International Kissing Day ! Are you aware of it? Let me admit that I had no idea about it till I flipped through the pages of the newspaper with my morning cup of tea. Believe me, the funny idea caught my fancy by surprise, but, I enjoyed it nevertheless. Google confirmed me later in the day that the news of the International Kiss Day on July 06 was indeed correct ! It further confirmed that the world record for the longest kiss (58 hrs 35 min 58 sec) is currently held by Thailand's husband & wife team of Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat set on 12-14 February 2013.

Kiss is a sign of affection and even the animal world is quite liberal towards kissing ! Parent & child, couples, grandparents & grandchildren, friends between themselves - all of them use kiss as their expression of love & affection towards each other. Haven't we ever seen a master/mistress hugging and kissing his/her pet dog  in the living room to show closeness?!

This time, let me celebrate the International Kissing Day with a Bengali poem with a picture, created especially for this occasion ( in poor translation which means : "Miss the kiss and get a raisin in lieu. Don't worry my dear, in case you could not manage to procure a partner for yourself and thus missed the kiss, go ahead and plant a kiss on a cow, or a donkey or whichever animal you can catch hold of ! Well, just any... !")   I am not too sure if this can be labelled as a nonsense rhyme ! Happy reading...