North Kolkata Calling !!

Being in Hyderabad for quite sometime we were missing Bengali Movies .However after coming back we took the very first opportunity to watch Sanjhbati by Saibal Banerjee and Leena Gangopadhyay.  The story of the film circulated around the prevailing situation faced by two generations.    An old lady whose son was settled abroad lived alone at their house in Salt Lake. She had two helpers or caretakers who took good care of her. A relation of of faith and understanding developed between them. She also had close relation with an old friend and a lady advocate. However a local goon (promoter's agent) was after the prime property. Her son and daughter-in -law repeatedly asked their mother to come and stay with them.  But the lady depending upon her husband's pension & friend decided to stay back . Sweet memories of her husband & growing up child etc. chained her . She found their touches in every corners of the house.  The goon trie

Anger is a much used weapon against making changes.  It maybe for good or for worst - depending upon the idea or ideology.  Youths are suscsusceptible to  protest at the drop of a hat-and I agree- it's a very natural phenomenon.  That's the way it has been and perhaps that will be the only way always.  But the question remains : Should the seniors get involved in such a predicament ?

We were in school and probably studying in Standard 3 or maybe in 4- as far as I could remember. We became very fond of Jug who used to entertain us in various ways. During those days Jug Suraiya used to work in The Statesman Calcutta ( not Kolkata ) and write in The Junior Statesman.  After a long time I found him in his column in TOI Hyderabad which brought back a lot of nostalgia.         However our Jug seems to have developed- well a kind of forgetfulness - probably forgetting the present while recollecting the past clearly -as he himself confessed in his account . Dear Jug let me tell you that not only you but we too are facing similar forgetfulness problem nowadays. 

Never have I seen a cat eating a crow ! I have often seen them devouring pigeons and other birds including parrots, sparrows etc. but never a crow ! Hence it was a rather surprising sight to see -with my own eyes- a cat eating a full grown crow. I am not sure whether she caught it alive or dead- but the way she she was tearing it apart while feeding , gave me the idea that she was quite hungry.    But the question still arise whether a cat- hungry or not- would ever become a scavenger ! Especially when it's food source isn't scarce !!

While finishing my morning walk I met my senior friend   & neighbor Siddhartha Ghosh. After a bit of chitchat I  enquired about a framed photo that I have seen a few months ago in his house. The said picture was hung just at the entrance  so that whoever comes may have a good look at it. Hence I too have not failed to notice it. The picture showed Kapil Dev (the famous Indian cricketer )  putting a shwal around my friend's shoulder as an act of feli- citation.  My friend who was the Chief Accountant of Ananda Bazar Patrika has retired and was in extension-as far as I know.  The felicitation was for his long service towards the ABP Sporting Club he claimed.  "The next time if you have the opportunity-please tell him about me." In fact it was probably me who produced the only cassette on the cricketer's achievement in winning the first World Cup for India. The song's lyric & music was compo

She is around forty or maybe forty five years old. I met her or rather she met me around the corner of a Kolkata street. It was an unexpected meeting while I stood there just  for few moments to smoke a cigarette. I was absorbed in my own thoughts when I saw the lady crossing the street right ahead of me. She was a foreigner and she seemed quite at ease with the large number of vehicles passing around her.  After crossing she went straight towards a small shop selling cigarettes, soft drinks etc and said something to the owner. The owner however did not respond and then she decided to come straight to me. Without a word the lady started pointing towards my fingers repeatedly. One doesn't expect such expression from a foreigner-I mean pointing fingers! or so towards a stranger. I asked her( in english ) to explain herself for such behavior. She finally told me to throw away the cigarette. Somehow she gave me the impression of....may