If the sight of 26 people gorging on Indian and Chinese dishes with manic delight at Bawarchi last Thursday noon wasn't intimidating enough Bar-B-Q got a taste of how it is like when 13 of 'us' congregate for a feast. It was only half the number but, the damage was close to the double.

From Chicken Malai Kebabs and Fish Peshawari to Mutton Korma and Rogan Josh, we ran through the entire menu with the ease of practiced assassins. And the victim at the receiving end of such a gastronomic blitzkrieg could only salvage a meek smile that often is a sign of acceptance of higher powers and savage appetites. If we thought dessert would bring him some cheer, well, it failed. Not because the ice-creams didn't melt in our mouths but it put him back by another 400 rupees, taking the count past the 6000 rupees mark- A formidable record and a menacing precedent.


All said and done, last afternoon we have set a milestone which has triggered Pujo for us all and on the other hand established itself as the benchmark we would all aspire to reach and be happy to fail.

Today is Soshti, from when the Pujo gets into second gear and one starts wondering what a field day burglars could have considering the entire population comes out on the streets.

As has been the norm with me, Soshti is the most hectic of all pujo-days. Two shifts with two different group of friends spanning the entire day (and night), covering almost all of South Kolkata and about 6-7 kilometers on foot.
No wonder I don't remember Saptami mornings.


Here's hoping 'Clear Bright Skies' for the coming four days.


Happy Pujas.
Sobaar pujo bhaalo kaatuk.

Gotto rush now...........

Finally!

I have a follower.

And no treat/money/points/pastries for guessing who he is.

As it is, I owe a grand treat to him.

And much much more.


Your treat awaits you.

Fly back FAST! :)

Me ? Superstitious ? What an idea !!!!!!

I am not known to be a superstitious person. Yet, for all these years I have had my own set of rituals. Ones which were not overtly visible at all and were meticulously guarded in their execution. I never resorted to them in 'times of peace' as opposed to 'times of war' as we called our examinations during school. Those two dreaded weeks in the year when there was hardly any 'light and happiness' around you. Wherever you looked there were bespectacled boys and girls cramming their last minute notes, revising the revision-worn revisables for the umpteenth time. On the other end were 'Us' - a bunch which swung between amused ridiculing of the 'Others' and feeling the pangs of tension ourselves. Whenever glancing at the sea-like syllabi, taking stock of the situation and resolving to give our 'reasonable best' a fear of retribution at having mocked all the studious people seemed to hang over us ominously . And deep down in our guts ( I say 'our' because I am sure the others felt the same way) there sometimes arose this sinking feeling when D-Day dawned and hence the refuge in rituals. This selective fidelity perhaps makes me inadmissible to the hallowed club of 'Devotedly Superstitious People', the ones who did it all year round. But, then we have our arguments too. We were never the ones who studied anytime but just before the exams were thumping at our noses and knocking at our doors. So, we, of all people had the right to be superstitious unlike the ones who put in their hard-work on a daily basis. They were destined to succeed. We only had hope to do so.

Enough of arguing my case.


My 'acts of faith' during exams ranged from waking up at the same time as the first exam, pouring a generous dab of oil on my hair, bathing with exactly the same number of mugs of water ( and yes, never hot water. Not even in chilly December), combing exactly in the same manner as yesterday, tying the shoe-laces in a pre-fixed order and taking the same seat in the bus/auto-rickshaw that took us to our school. Nothing fancy. But as the years rolled on I suspected I was developing some kind of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I quite liked the name of the ailment then and I have renewed my fascination for OCD since I watched Jack Nicholson in 'As Good As It Gets' but, at times I felt 'it was time to change'.

"What with this silly fixation with rituals? I am getting hooked!"

So, I began to test the efficacy of my 'little acts' by being random from the next exams that I took. I didn't do too well. But then, who does in +2 Science ?

Slowly I desisted from my set of superstitions one by one and finally I was 'cured'. ( I know I sound like those dubbed dum-dums in Asian Sky Shop commercials). Now I hardly have a pattern to my activities. Any of them. I am the first one to cross the road after a cat has crossed it as perplexed onlookers, themselves reluctant to cross the road, gaze at my arrogance.

Why this long winding post on personal superstitions then? All the talk about rituals ?

I have this habit of never leaving a book unread for a long stretch of time once I start reading it or leaving a film midway. I have done just that, unintentionally though, in the past two days. ( I don't consider leaving 'A House for Mr. Biswas' after reading the first 200 odd pages an authentic 'exception' because it was, to put it very politely, a forgettable ordeal. An instrument of sheer torture by virtue of its literary stagnation) I left 'Judgment at Nuremberg' and 'Citizen Kane' midway and went off to sleep. Though I was dog-tired on both the occasions the old ghosts of OCD were troubling me a bit, to have left two films midway in their run in two days. I have never done that before. Hence the post. Hence the remembrances. This might just redeem me.



P.S - I know a boy who had all the makings of a perfect OCD specimen. Someday I intend to write an epic-post on his gamut of rituals and beliefs. But, I hear he is improving too.
He is superstitious about 'improvement'. :)

Had a gala get together at Mannu's place last night. His placement party was all good chicken curry and goppo. 8 of us stayed over for the night. It was all unadulterated adda and fooling around after a long long time for us. We people get to meet only once in a year. And their darned University doesn't him grant them a leave for the Pujas. May their Gods sink in sinks.


Myself, Kaustav, Uttu and Pappu stayed awake till 5 in the morning playing 29. K and me on one side, P and U on the other. And yes, we won by a good yawning margin. :P


Paglaa, Kudo, Sinha and Mannu dozed off blissfully in the other room.

How on earth do they manage to sleep so much ??

I am still wide awake. Even after only 3 hours of sleep in the last 30 hours.

And now, I am off to watch 'Two Brothers'.