you are what you think

We meet many people in real and virtual world every day. Some strangers turn into friends. Some are forgotten. In pre-internet era, we often used to lose track of the people we had met during a journey. Strangers open up to us just as much as our friends, sometimes even more for whatever reason. I came across some wonderful strangers during my travel who left mark in my mind. I used to travel from Howrah to Asansol, my home town, every alternate Friday during my graduation days in early 2000.  This used to be six hour long train journey. I loved to watch the scenic beauty of rural Bengal from the window of the compartment and feast on snacks and tea. Some days some co-passenger used to catch my attention.  One day I met a middle-aged woman who was unnaturally silent and almost oblivious of the surrounding. Few hours passed. Slowly she regained her composure and noticed my curious stare. We started talking. After few pleasantries she opened up to me. She lo...

Another decade is coming to an end. We have spent 10 more years from our life. Time is a very precious resource. We can not predict how much more time is left to live. We can only make tentative plans to spend it more wisely. Year end is a time when we wish to put a break to our normal routine and make merry with our near ones. Some of us make new year resolutions. Some pause to reflect on the passing year. We grow wiser with years only if we learn from the past. We grow graceful with time only if we recognize blessings around us. The chilling bright weather and the festive spirit of December always energize me to undertake some interesting task. I spent most of the Decembers of this decade in preparation of something new. The last December preceding this decade was quite busy as I was returning from Canada and settling new home in Bangalore. The first December of this decade kept me busy in taking care of my ailing mother in hospital. The next December I was inching towards go...

Rabindranath Tagore once said losing faith on fellow beings is a severe sin. Ramkrishna Paramhansa used to believe that not trusting is much more painful than getting hurt after trusting. Only mutual trust can bring harmony in any relationship. World would have been much better place if we could have placed trust on each other easily. We are taught precautions while growing up since our society is an unsafe place. I deem myself lucky as I met enough number of strangers on roads, buses, trains who did not cause any harm to me. Rather I cherish some beautiful memories with these strangers. By saying so I don't deny the fact that I also experienced my share of unwanted touch from some ugly strangers.  Since past few years India has seen many cases of brutal rape and murder. These are the ones which get media attention or get reported officially. Many more cases don't get reported due to shame or lack of trust in the judicial system. Some people feel there is steep rise of s...

People say food is the way to a man's heart. Food bears the essence of culture of a community. One can not understand a community without exploring the local food. The method of cooking, the selection of ingredients and the style of serving define the uniqueness of every cuisine. In childhood, I was fond of my mother's authentic Bengali cooking specially fish curry and did hardly try any other cuisine except occasional sweet items our Bihari or Punjabi neighbors  used to offer during festivals.  I remember  I tasted Chinese food when I was in high school and I relished the taste, but did never think that noodles and momos can be accepted as staple food in place of rice and roti . I started my career with an IT company and moved to US few months after joining the job. Then my 'idea' about food changed completely! I somehow ate the meal served in the British Airlines flight.  I was simply not impressed by the American food I used to get in office cafeteria. ...

There is hardly any traveller in India who did never relish a hot cup of tea in roadside tea stall.  Chai  is not only a common yet special drink , but also pretext of many interesting discussions. I have many memorable moments attached to roadside tea stalls. But I did never think that a tea stall owner would leave a mark in my mind . I was preparing for my trip to Jaipur, the Pink city , when I came across an article on Gulab ji Chaiwala in newspaper. A 94 years old tea shop owner in Jaipur feeds 250 beggars every morning with hot tea and bread before starting business as usual. I noted the address and decided to visit the tea stall. The moment I landed Jaipur, I got lost in the glory of the city. I completed visiting Hawa Mahal, Jal Mahal, Amer Fort, City palace and Jantar mantar and was planning to visit Albert Hall Museum in the afternoon on the third day. I was checking the map and my eyes got stuck at the address of Gulab ji chaiwala which wa...

I was interested in painting since childhood, but did never focus to turn this interest into passion and barely attempted to create any art work except some mindless doodles. In 2015, I got opportunity to visit few art museums during my official trip to Europe.   It agitated that old craving inside me. After the trip, I enrolled into a drawing workshop in Chennai.   I walked to the first session with a mixed feeling of curiosity and anxiety. I was amused to meet people from different walks of life gathered there to attend the beginner’s class. Some were home-makers who wanted to pursue a new hobby, some were established artists in other form of painting and some were up to taking extra-curricular class during summer vacation.   The oldest student in the class was 82 years old and the youngest one was 6 years. My craving for creativity grew more after attending the first session and I decided to attend the weekly art classes. Art has meditative effect on human b...

She was part of my every day life for 4 years. She meant relief to me. I miss Sumati, my ex-maid. My morning used to start with her bright smile and sweet voice. My landlord shared her contact when I moved to a new apartment few years back. I did not connect with her. I met another maid in our building while moving my stuff and she agreed to work in my house instantly. Few months passed and I was looking for a maid again. There was a dialogue in a Hindi movie , 'A working woman can survive without her husband, but not without her maid'. Then I met Sumati, an ever smiling young lady with great manners. She used to talk in Tamil and I used to communicate in English. It was genuine willingness that broke the language barrier between us. She used to talk about her school going children, her husband, sister and in laws. I used to leave my flower pots with her during my long absence. I have hardly seen any maid like her who used to derive satisfaction out of cleaning a house apt...

I received a mail notification from Snapfish this morning. It was about their changed terms and conditions. Its been almost 5 years since I last accessed my Snapfish account. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to remember the account password. I was not surprised that I was able to log in at first attempt. I remembered it because this account was associated with the most precious  period of my life and the password was unique! I used to preserve all my photos and videos for almost 8 years with this photo sharing and printing app. The notification said the account holders need to order print at least once a year, otherwise photo access speed will reduce considerably. I understood they cant offer free storage anymore. Resources of irregular customers will be moved to less available and less redundant storage archival, which will cost them less - I reasoned with my preliminary knowledge on cloud service. The first thing that came to my mind was to order some print. I did not...