Strange life

Meeting my school friends after 28 years had been an experience of pleasure and pain.We have all grown up and lived under different circumstances.Life has burnt and purified us giving us a golden glow.
It will perhaps take us a long time to really catch up with each other as we did in the past.It will perhaps take us some time to trust each other in order to reveal ourselves.
Gives me a strange feeling as i get connected to my class of around 50 to 60 thanks to facebook.Our effort to know each other might be futile but still i will live with the aroma of my past.
No time machine can take us 28 years back but the joy of reliving my childhood once again is too good to believe.

Skeletons of the past

Just when you start to feel that you have buried all the skeletons of the past some of them are sure to emerge to your utter disgust and annoyance. Time is a great concealer if not a healer always.It keeps on heaping the present,hides the past and highlights the future. The present is our reality,the past is just narrative and the future is perhaps which we never achieve or reach.Can a person move on without his/her past?Perhaps no because every second we have spent on earth becomes a part of our past.Present moves on leaving a trail and becomes our past. Hence trying to get rid of the past is like trying to get rid of ones own shadow.Only the darkness of the night can hide our shadow.So lets step out into a moonless night and live a pastless present for a brief period and with the hope that sunrise will free us from the bondage of past.

My days in Kohima

'Long ago down on a mountain in Mexico' no for me it was not Mexico exactly but Kohima in Nagaland.My dad was transferred there and he took us along with him.I was admitted at 'Little Flower school' there in class one instead of class two cause i had gone from kolkata and did not know either English or Hindi.Special classes used to be taken for me so i had to start very early from my home with dad.'Little Flower' was a lovely school and was located on the top most hillock.The statue of mother Mary with Jesus was visible from my house.My stay in Kohima has remained as the most enjoyable and memorable one.I used to roam free in nature sometimes plucking flowers,catching butterflies(unusually big in size) or maybe crossing a stream.The helipad was just below my house and i remember waving to the pilots who used to respond to our delight.We lived in a type5 quarter and had a grand fire place in our drawing room.It used to be reasonably cold year round and hence very comfortable.I had a naga friend called Ale who one day while chatting with me caught a live moth and consumed it leaving me shocked. Way back in the early seventies i have found educated nagas quite fashionable and westernised.A few weeks back i heard a young naga boy speak on Tagore in a documentary prepared by my nephew.I was very impressed at the way he spoke saying that lack of bengalis and their culture in Kohima has not given them any exposure to Tagore.They have not read Tagore's works as translations failed to reach them.Personally i would love to go back to Kohima once and take a walk down memory lane but it is evident that the north-east has remained neglected.It is high time that the government wakes up and treads the hills to build a better future for the people there and also promote tourism in these picturesque locations.

My baba

"Country roads take me home to the place where i belong......." this was my dads favourite.When my tiny fingers used to look for something to hold he was always there nursing me throughout the night. As i grew up and started walking he was there to hold my hand and help me take my first steps.Dad used to indulge me taking ice cream and chocolates almost every day.I started blackmailing him to get me almost everything i wanted.Outing with baba meant i climbing on his shoulder and pretending my inability to walk.Vintage car rallies were a must see every year so much so that the year my sister was born we brought ma and my sis home and went off for the rally.Baba coming back from office was great fun cause he used to carry something for his daughters almost every day.Life was full of fun and excitement.In fact it was so unruffled that i told him one day why we don't have any disaster to bring in some challenge.Baba smiled and told me "you will not enjoy it when it comes".How true he was because our life changed one day even before we could realize.Baba left us after a days brief illness.It seemed somebody had pushed me out on the streets.After 26 years of long struggle when i still think of him i seem to miss his caring words and constant encouragement.Did he really belong to us or has he reached where he belonged?This question will haunt me till my last day.Baba if you can read this then i would like you to know your nervous little girl has come a long way.She is a braveheart and is still waiting for you to show her the way and hold her hand.

Dol in Purulia

Had been to Purulia with a friend to attend basanta utsav which was organised by a ngo.It was the first adventure of its kind for both if us and we promised to take this to higher levels.We reached our target station around 10.30pm and found that the organisers were waiting for us with cars and buses.My friend and myself boarded a tata sumo and started our journey with three unknown men.Looking out of the window i found dark bare fields around us with little sign of human habitation for some stretch.We reached the spot which was the Panchakot  Rajbari ground.We were asked to pay up immediately and then came the most interesting part.Accomodation was in small tents and we were showed our tent number 5.None of us under any circumstance had ever tried living in tents so it took us time to digest our temporary shelter.Further shock awaited us when we were showed the make shift toilets.Real sense of adventure and sporting spirit guided us through the toilets which was followed by dinner.Baoul gan carried us through past midnight as we were reluctant to enter tent no5.We retired to our tent finally to be woken up by santhal madal and dance.Unique experience indeed.The rest of the night was a live together with blood suckers and a trial run for odomos.Woke up very early next morning and headed for the toilet with plenty of doubts in my mind whether i will be able to manage the show well.My friend who woke up later took lessons form me in this regard after learning of my success.This was followed by breakfast which was real brief and fast.We got ready to play dol with abir.Dol was played with baul gan and mohua.Almost everyone danced to its tune and enjoyed themselves.Lunch was reasonably good but the tents were boiling by then so i decided to sit in the shade of rajbari and read while my friend decided to go for a steam bath in the tent. Midafternoon when my friend upset with the heat and discomfort was almost ready to leave we were offered a room to retire in the palace.Beds were made on the floor and we slept with strangers.Everyone fell asleep except me as snoring like war front continued in the room.This carpet bombing inspired me to explore the palace and take some photographs.The evening followed with jhumur gan and chow nach.After dinner we retired to our tents where the vampires were waiting for us.We left gladly for kolkata next morning and laughed at our adventure all the. way.

A new house and starting anew

2009 was a different year for me cause i left what i called home for the last 36 years and shifted to a new area and house.I choose to call it my house as people make a home.Yes i live alone with a house help or my man friday precisely thursday, that is her name.Few people missed me in my old locality as i had not made any waves there.I was quite surprised with myself as i did not miss them either.My dad used to call me hard hearted which was kind of proved now.Actually all that was dear to me there no longer existed so i could detach myself easily maybe.Am a free human being now with no strings attached.So will stretch my wings and fly as a migratory bird but choose not to find my way back.

A tech savvy me

Learning new things at my age may not be very easy cause i am not very young any more.I have been introduced to the magical web world by my family and friends and i must thank them first.I am enjoying myself as every day am learning something new.Sometimes it gets a little frustrating when i can't do things but that is life.Take everything with a pinch of salt.