of The JB…

The foot opposite the Standard Chartered Bank branch near Kolkata High Court isn’t exactly the place one would expect to find such things lying around, especially, if you know that the sort of people that work or live around that area wouldn’t know of the existence of such a thing as Bourbon and that too JB.

Some one around clearly has very good taste and knows his Bourbon..

The fever

I am in office and I can feel the fever coming. My shoulders feel heavy, like someone just slung bags full of lead over them and my head is throbbing with pain.
My eyes are dizzy. Now ,thats a good thing cause its fun watching hazy images of people floating around and nothing that anybody tells you registers.
Makes it easier to face impending troubles. I dont need to see these people.
So everyone should get a little fever every now and then.

Weird stuff...GOOD stuff!

The Piscine Passion

Never separate a simple man from his cheese they say. In this part of the continent the saying enjoys a slightly different variation; here in Bengal we never separate a Bengali from his fish!
I experienced a nonchalant display of such fixation early yesterday at the fish bazaar. Now, unless it is obvious, there is nothing I hate more than having to wake up early on a Sunday morning and being sent off to buy fish without even being given a cup of tea. I had to be the only customer in that smelly, slushy, fly plagued market who after ordering his fish stood photographing everything around him!

“Aare dada, maccher chokh deke bole deova jaye she mach bhalo kina…!”
(You can look into the eyes of a fish and tell whether it is good quality or not!),

“Mamaaaa……Ami Puri-te giye shudhui Katla, Koi, Ilish, Rui, Nadosh, Pabda, Bhola, Bhetki ja peyechi gaande- pinde shatiyechi…jibon amar sarthok holo guru!”
(Duuude…. I visited Puri and voraciously ate whatever fish I could find; now my existence makes sense (followed by a long list of fish))

“Peti norom hova chai, NOROM, tita hole nebo na!”
(The stomach needs to be SOFT, I will not accept it if its bitter!)

"Phees Cutlet, Phees Phry, Phees Chop, Phees Kobiraji, Phees Phingar, Phees Pulao, Phees-er jhol, Shorsher-tele bhaja Ilish-er gaada, jast Phees!"

(A food-shack owner screaming out his fish-menu to passer-bys!)

Watch the Bengali argue with a fish vendor over the quality of fish and you will get a fair idea how Plato and Socrates would have debated a Metaphysical phenomenon or Western Philosophical theory; the knowledge and ingenuity thrown across at each other is just unsurpassable!

"Deem chharan, Deemta chhariye alada kore deen, bhaja khabo!!" (remove the eggs and pack them separately, I'll fry them!!), I said to the fish vendor as he removed a blob of eggs from the belly of my two kilo Rui and kept it aside.

I am one of them too.

The Recession hit Kolkata Cuppa

Cant live without these, I'll admit that first off. Over the months though, the size of the average 'Bhaand' everywhere has shrunken distinctly.

Yesterday I was seated at Bankshall Court waiting for my case to be called on and realising I had time to sneak a chai I ushered a chai-walla lurking nearby. The minute he produced this dwarfed earthen pot I made a face to which his reply was priceless.

"Reesheshaan" (Recession), he said.

I bought one of these for Rs2/- like the quintessential, overpaying recession hit customer and needless to say, the 'reesheshaanary' (recessionary) earthen pot was dry after I took a single draught.

So whoever said, recession hits everything, DID afterall have Kolkata's 'Bhaander Cha-walla' in mind while making his inference!

And salutaions to the chai-walla for keeping abreast!

An ode to Cad-B

Honestly, this was a long time coming. I had earlier been introduced to the Cad-B shake during the final months of college in Pune but could never remember to write about the blessed thing. For the uninitiated, Cad-B shake is the thickest chocolate shake on the planet and by ‘thick’ I mean REALLY thick and viscous, in near freezing temperatures you can invert the glass for as long as you want and the thing won’t even flow out!

To add heavily to its sinfully addictiveness is a heap of grated chocolate spread generously on its surface, served frozen for the maximum near-orgasmic pleasure!

You can get these shakes in two sizes, Half and Full and boy you should see the difference between the two! The Full Cad-B shake is a universe of chocolate and you can’t dig deep enough into its thick, brown depths to scoop out those little chunks of chocolate floating inside.

I have often fantasised about the Cad-B shake and imagined wonderful variations of it. What if there was a Strawberry Cad-B, with chunky strawberries floating around deep in the chocolate? Maybe a Honey Cad-B with a dollop of honey on the chocolate grating..? Or for that matter even a Caramel, Mocha or a Mint Cad-B…!

If you are new to Pune or have never tasted the beverage before, maybe you should take a walk down to Deep Bangla Chowk or Kamla Nehru Park (among other places) and have one, maybe two, you can never get enough of Cad-B!

Warning: It is not meant for the “Oh I ate a pea I am gonna get fat..!” kind.

The constant duel

My present predicament has brought me to a face off between philosophy and pragmatism. All my prior decisions and actions have been taken favouring the latter whereas the former has always been set aside as fantasy, as romantic ‘gas-balloons’, gas-balloons that eventually get lost in the sky or pop.

I was standing at the edge of a cliff all this time and the coup de grace has just come through, I have finally, more or less come to terms with myself on a decision I am going to take pretty soon but this time its philosophy I am going to go with.

Philosophy, a refuge for the confused, the dazed, individuals seeking answers deep within themselves, introspecting all the time.

We shall see if philosophy brings me happiness, satiation. Mine is a rarely trodden path, a path for the brave, a walk in the hills at night, blindfolded, a path for those who are willing to endure pain in order to pursue their aspirations, an image, a single image of the perfect future.

I think its motivation that’s more like the gas-balloons, they either get lost high up in the sky or pop. It’s the motivation that needs to be garnered, protected.

A strong, single minded focus is the binding string, faith being the fabric.

Sam

Its Sam’s turn now. He leaves on the 15th of this month for Cardiff to pursue his MBA. I called him a little while back to have one of those last pre-departure chats. A Trademark “Bol Bail-ke-Bulle” (I decline to translate that) greeted me from the other side and immediately an overwhelming pain welled up inside. Although the guy kept insisting he would come back after his course was done and take up a job at Pune, I know and I am sure he does too, that this probably was going be it. The point where Sam leaves the nest.
The process began with Babu leaving Pune in 2006, Karan Singh around the same time for Mumbai and then Jeetu, followed by Bikram who eventually came back and finally myself in 2008. Mayukh plans to leave in about a year or so. Although Jeetu keeps coming down from Aurangabad and catches up with Bikram and Mayukh da, Babu hasn’t been to Pune for a while.
I dare to think what would become of Pune in about two or three years from now. Bikram would be gone and so would Mayukh da. The city for me wouldn’t be complete without the rest of the seven. The city would be the same as what it was in the monsoon of 2003 when I first set foot in it as a lone stranger. There wouldn’t be much of a point visiting it alone.
Before hanging up I wished Sameer all the very best. I couldn’t tell him how much I would miss him, I wouldn’t be uncomfortable, but if you’re reading this Sam, Carpe Diem man! Get back soon, Ehsaas hasn’t played its best gig yet!