Three years of staying away from Kolkata has made me realise how important the city is to my life. There hasn’t been a single day that I have spent without reminiscing about Kolkata. Nostalgia strikes me, especially, when I am in the company of my Bengali buddies or when the drinking gets a bit heavy. At the same time, my eyes get moist and I feel a lump in my throat in the full knowledge that those days that I spent in Kolkata will never return.
I wish, along with the novel, Mr H G Wells had actually invented the Time Machine, so that I could relive those days… so that I would never miss...
...the sight of locals staring at westerners, or the ‘whites’, making them really conscious and uncomfortable. Few years ago, on a winter afternoon, I saw a bunch of ‘whites’ playing frisbee at the Maidan. It was surprising to notice that the real action was not inside the playing arena, but outside it, where a sizable crowd had gathered just to watch the ‘whites’ playing
...a bus ride for Rs 3
...a cup of cha at the roadside for Rs 2
...the chicken, mutton or egg rolls, or combinations, at roadside stalls starting from Rs 8
...a plate of chicken or egg chow mien at the same stall starting from Rs 10
...the juiciest mutton steaks at Olypub
...watching movies at Lighthouse, New Empire, Globe, Roxy, Metro, Chaplin, Elite, or one of the other English movie theatres. I felt very sad when, on my last trip, I saw Lighthouse had been turned into a shopping arcade
...the smoke and alcohol-filled evenings at Starlit Garden, the only-men’s bar at Park Street
...grabbing a quick beer on certain hot afternoons at Starlit Garden before proceeding to Kusum’s for their mouth-watering hot kathi rolls
...the Christmas week where the whole Park Street would be lit up from one end to the other with a huge Santa greeting people at the head of Park Street
...the Flury’s all day breakfast —a simple affair comprising eggs, toast, ham, bacon, sausages and brown bread
...michael’s roadside momo stall in Camac Street. The momos cost fifteen bucks for a plate of five on all weekdays from 11 am to 2 pm
...the great music at Someplace Else, a narrow dark room by the lobby of Park Hotel. I love the bar counter, the stage set up for a live band, the cocktails, good music and good finger food
...the makeshift book stalls constructed with wood, bamboo, sheets of corrugated tin and canvas on College Street, or ‘boi para’ as it is referred to by Bengalis
...the visits to one of the most ‘intellectual rendezvous’ in Kolkata, the Indian Coffe House. Every time I think about Coffee House and my college days, I listen to the evergreen song by Manna De – “Coffee house-er shei adda ta, aaj aar nei”
...the evenings that I spent watching the sunset at Outram Ghat having ‘cha’ in a ‘bhaar’
…bunking my classes to play cricket in the winter afternoons
… getting into the tin-plated buses, sharing an auto rickshaw with 5 (sometimes 6) other people, taking a ride in the tram and the metro rail, shopping my heart our in Esplanade, getting on the hand-pulled rickshaw and much much more.
Kolkata is not just a city for me. It’s an experience, an experience of a lifetime filled with so many fond memories... memories that would forever be a part of me. It is a city that would always be my home, no matter in which part of the world I live in.
Showing posts with label Park Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Park Street. Show all posts
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The ABC of Bengali
A is for Aaffice. This is where the average Kolkakattan goes and spends a day hard(ly) at work. If he is in the Government he will arrive at 10, wipe his forehead till 11, have a tea break at 12, throw around a few files at 12.30, break for lunch at 1, smoke an unfiltered cigarette at 2, break for tea at 3, sleep sitting down at 4 and go home at 5. It’s a hard life!
B is for Bhision. For some reason most of the Bengalis don’t have good bhision. In fact in Kolkata most people are wearing spectacles all the time. The effects of this show in the city.
C is for Chappell. This is the Bengali word for the Devil, for the worst form of evil. In the night mothers put their kids to sleep saying ‘go to bed, or Chappei will come and take you away.’
D is for Debashish. By an ancient law every fourth Bengali Child has to be named Debashish. So you have a Debashish everywhere and tying to get creative they are also called Deb, Debu, Deba with variations like Debnath and Deboprotim thrown in.
E is for Eeesh. This is a very common Bengali exclamation made famous by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas. It is estimated that on an average a Bengali uses eeesh 10,089 times every year. (That’s counting eeesh and other eeesh-ish words).
F is for Feesh. These are creatures that swim in rivers and seas and are a favourite food of the Bengalis. Despite the fact that a fish market has such strong smells, with one sniff a Bengali knows if a fish is all right. If not he will say ‘eeesh what feeesh is theesh!’
G is for Good name. Every Bengali Boy will have a good name like Debashish or Deboprotim and a pet name like Shontuda, Chonti, and Dinku. While every Bengali Girl will be Paromita or Protima as well as Shampa, Champa and Tuki. Basically your nickname is there to kiil your goodname.
H is for Harmonium. The Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar. Take four Bengalis and a Harmonium and you have the successors to The Bheatles!
I is for lleesh. This is a feeesh with 10,000 bones which would kill any ordinary person, but which the Bengalis eat with releeesh!
J is for Jhola. No self respecting Bengali is complete without his Jhola. It is a shapeless cloth bag where he keeps all his belongings and he fits an amazing number of things in. Even as you read this there are 2 million jholas bobbling around Kolkata- and they all look exactly the same!
K is for Kee Kando. It used to be the favourite Bengali exclamation till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai (now Kee Kando’s agent is trying to hire Bipasha Basu).
L is for Lungi. People in Kolkata manage to play football and cricket wearing it. Now there is talk of a lungi expedition to Mt. Everest.
M is for Minibus. These are dangerous half buses whose antics would effortlessly frighten the living daylights out of Formula 1 race drivers.
N is for Nangtoe. This is the Bengali word for Naked. It is the most interesting naked word in any language!
O is for Oil. The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure anything from cold (oil in the nose), to earache (oil in the ear), to cough (oil on the throat) to piles (oil you know where!)
P is for Phootball. This is always a phavourite phassion of the Kolkattan. Every Bengali is born an expert in this game. The two biggest clubs there are Mohunbagan and East Bengal and when they play the city comes to a stop.
Q is for Queen. This really has nothing to do with the Bengalis or Kolkata, but it’s the only Q word I could think of at this moment. There’s also Quilt but they never use them in Kolkata.
R is for Rabi Thakur. Many years ago Rabindranath got the Nobel Prize. This allows everyone in Kolkata to frame their acceptance speeches and walk with their head held high and look down at Delhi and Mumbai!
S is for Sardarjee whom Bengalis are very envious of because he is born with a semi-monkey cap on.
T is for Trams. Hundred years later there are still trams in Kolkata. Of course if you are in a hurry it’s faster to walk.
U is for Ambrela. When a Bengali baby is born they are handed one.
V is for Violence. Bengalis are the most non-violent violent people around. When an accident happens they will shout and scream and curse and abuse, but the last time someone actually hit someone was in 1979.
W is for Water. For three months of the year the city is underwater and every year for the last 200 years the authorities are taken by surprise by this!
X is for X mas. It’s very big in Kolkata, with Park Street fully lit up.
Y is for Yastarday. Which is always better than today for a Bengali.
Z is for Jeebra, Joo, Jip and Jylophone.
B is for Bhision. For some reason most of the Bengalis don’t have good bhision. In fact in Kolkata most people are wearing spectacles all the time. The effects of this show in the city.
C is for Chappell. This is the Bengali word for the Devil, for the worst form of evil. In the night mothers put their kids to sleep saying ‘go to bed, or Chappei will come and take you away.’
D is for Debashish. By an ancient law every fourth Bengali Child has to be named Debashish. So you have a Debashish everywhere and tying to get creative they are also called Deb, Debu, Deba with variations like Debnath and Deboprotim thrown in.
E is for Eeesh. This is a very common Bengali exclamation made famous by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas. It is estimated that on an average a Bengali uses eeesh 10,089 times every year. (That’s counting eeesh and other eeesh-ish words).
F is for Feesh. These are creatures that swim in rivers and seas and are a favourite food of the Bengalis. Despite the fact that a fish market has such strong smells, with one sniff a Bengali knows if a fish is all right. If not he will say ‘eeesh what feeesh is theesh!’
G is for Good name. Every Bengali Boy will have a good name like Debashish or Deboprotim and a pet name like Shontuda, Chonti, and Dinku. While every Bengali Girl will be Paromita or Protima as well as Shampa, Champa and Tuki. Basically your nickname is there to kiil your goodname.
H is for Harmonium. The Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar. Take four Bengalis and a Harmonium and you have the successors to The Bheatles!
I is for lleesh. This is a feeesh with 10,000 bones which would kill any ordinary person, but which the Bengalis eat with releeesh!
J is for Jhola. No self respecting Bengali is complete without his Jhola. It is a shapeless cloth bag where he keeps all his belongings and he fits an amazing number of things in. Even as you read this there are 2 million jholas bobbling around Kolkata- and they all look exactly the same!
K is for Kee Kando. It used to be the favourite Bengali exclamation till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai (now Kee Kando’s agent is trying to hire Bipasha Basu).
L is for Lungi. People in Kolkata manage to play football and cricket wearing it. Now there is talk of a lungi expedition to Mt. Everest.
M is for Minibus. These are dangerous half buses whose antics would effortlessly frighten the living daylights out of Formula 1 race drivers.
N is for Nangtoe. This is the Bengali word for Naked. It is the most interesting naked word in any language!
O is for Oil. The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure anything from cold (oil in the nose), to earache (oil in the ear), to cough (oil on the throat) to piles (oil you know where!)
P is for Phootball. This is always a phavourite phassion of the Kolkattan. Every Bengali is born an expert in this game. The two biggest clubs there are Mohunbagan and East Bengal and when they play the city comes to a stop.
Q is for Queen. This really has nothing to do with the Bengalis or Kolkata, but it’s the only Q word I could think of at this moment. There’s also Quilt but they never use them in Kolkata.
R is for Rabi Thakur. Many years ago Rabindranath got the Nobel Prize. This allows everyone in Kolkata to frame their acceptance speeches and walk with their head held high and look down at Delhi and Mumbai!
S is for Sardarjee whom Bengalis are very envious of because he is born with a semi-monkey cap on.
T is for Trams. Hundred years later there are still trams in Kolkata. Of course if you are in a hurry it’s faster to walk.
U is for Ambrela. When a Bengali baby is born they are handed one.
V is for Violence. Bengalis are the most non-violent violent people around. When an accident happens they will shout and scream and curse and abuse, but the last time someone actually hit someone was in 1979.
W is for Water. For three months of the year the city is underwater and every year for the last 200 years the authorities are taken by surprise by this!
X is for X mas. It’s very big in Kolkata, with Park Street fully lit up.
Y is for Yastarday. Which is always better than today for a Bengali.
Z is for Jeebra, Joo, Jip and Jylophone.
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