TGI Friday

It's almost 11 o'clock at night in this part of the world. A day of running errands around the house and after an about-to-be toddler can become real deal sometimes. So this is the time I get to read, write and feed my mind, when the 'keeping busy' characters are done for the day...off to sleep..!!

I am quite enjoying this me time on a Friday night, when there's no real tug at the mind to be in bed by now...when the warning of a next busy day is spared (oh how I love weekends...). So here I am.. reading, blogging...surfing the web world.

We paid a visit to the Church Street Marketplace this evening. It's an open mall on both sides of the Church Street in the heart of downtown Burlington, lined with restaurants and pubs, handicraft shops, fast food joints etc., teamed up with band music and solo singers singing on the street and on a Friday evening like this, it seemed the whole Burlington turned up there to hang around...!! It was a wonderful time. It's so soothing sometimes to see people lazying around, sitting by the street reading a book or hearing to the singing of the young girl by the street or having dinner with the favorite person in a street-side diner.

Isolated thoughts,... accumulated, and put into writing.
'Til we meet again..

'Intimacy' - Hanif Kureishi

"It is the saddest night, for I am leaving and not coming back."...Thus begins 'Intimacy' by Hanif Kureishi which tells the story of Jay, a middle aged writer who is about to leave his partner of 10 years, Susan and their two sons and going to live temporarily with his friend Victor. The novel describes the state of Jay's mind the night before he decides to leave his family for good. Jay tries to justify his decision and also reflects his life with Susan and the sons. The small details of his family and his likes and dislikes towards its members gets zeroed in on this narrative. The book depicts the restlessness of Jay's mind as he reasons his longings, complains about what he did not get out of that life which he is about to leave and endeavors to hold on to what is very dear to him, as for example his relation with his two sons.The night before he will leave his house, Jay reflects on the change that underwent in his relationship with Susan, over the course of time, accepts his misgivings and tries to imagine the life his family will have after he is gone. 
The story flashes back and forth in time as Jay remembers the time he spent with his parents, how he used to look upon his father and the way his mother's indifference affected him. Jay also remembers about his friends, their relationship with the spouses, the lovers he had, especially Nina, a girl much younger to him. His leaving the family sometimes suggests his wish to be with Nina and sometimes that very reason fades away in the protagonist's denial. In 'Intimacy', the author portrays a certain aspect of human life, where uncertainty attempt to paralyze our spirit, age to restrict the risk-takings but the mind compels to break-free and savor the fantasies. 
The language of the novel is crisp, bearing a nonchalance of speaking to our own selves. The decisions and the states of Jay's mind described are very honest and unapologetic. The novel is written in the voice of the protagonist and the reader sees his world through his eyes. 
The book catches my attention because of the situation it is in and the ways that emerge. It does not talk about idealism and is not reluctant about it. The book delves on very human problems, wishes and desperation which are very crudely humane. The only thing that does leave a gap is that the characters remains as  Jay's version of them only. They express themselves very little through dialogues and incidents which are their own and are not observed or judged by the protagonist. 


My favorite quote from the book: "Nothing is as fascinating as love, unfortunately".


Image courtesy : http://books.google.com/books/about/Intimacy.html?id=zx2oAAAAIAAJ

Squash...anyone?

I am a foodie, but not that great a cook…but that does not deter me from trying my hand at cooking, and sometimes something I cook comes out as good tasting too. I have been cooking for four years now…and I love it. That is why in addition to all the food websites I love to visit, the group Facebook Cooking Club has become my favorite browsing destination nowadays. I am thus reasonably excited about the First Day First Show event in the FB Cooking Club tonight featuring Squash.

We also invited two of our friends over for dinner. The occasion is just the wish to dine together and have a real chat with the friends as we eat..!!!

So, along with the dinner menu that we had planned, the squash recipe got included.

I was excited about puling off the two events together and to observe how it goes. For my kind of not-so-good-cook, the day was certainly challenging….and of much fun.

I am going to share my recipe with squash that I cooked for the Cooking club. It is inspired and adapted from a similar recipe on Betty Crocker’s website. I have made little alterations with the ingredients. The recipe is an easy one and a quickie, too…J..So here we go…

Roasted Squash and Pepper  

Prep. Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 16 pieces
• 1 small red onion, cut into rings
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp garlic powder

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F, spray one 13x9 inch pan with oil/cooking spray.

2. Mix all ingredients (except the onion rings) in a large bowl and spread in the pan.

3. In the oven, roast for 15 minutes, take the pan out, stir the whole thing well, mix the onion rings now and roast it for another 15-17 minutes, until the squash is tender.

4. Serve hot.)

 

The Glass Bowl

On my last vacation to India with my 5-month old son, my mother gave a glass bowl from her crockery trove. The reason I write about this apparently trivial object is because this particular bowl (it is from the time when I was a baby and just started being fed rice cereal from a bowl) is almost my age....i.e., nearing thirty.
Maa has preserved this bowl from its potential brittleness like she also has kept our (me and my sister's) first shoes, frocks, kindergarten report cards and many such souvenirs of our childhood. The bowl was carefully made to survive trough the years by my mother. I cannot even imagine being capable of preserving a glassware for so long.
I came back with it and now my son has his cereals and pureed fruits from the same bowl......how interesting does that sound to you? To me it is amazing, and a wonderful emotion.....even more so now as the petals of motherhood are slowly blooming in my life.
In this special phase when I feel the responsibilities along with the joy of being a mother, I also get to understand my mother in a whole new light....like never before, and suddenly sometimes I miss being around her, living far away in another land, with only social networks and telephone to turn to in today's 'tech-all' times. 
I could always relate to her in a mother-daughter way, but now I have started to relate and feel our motherhood....although I have a long way to traverse....

Of Meetings and Meetings Again...

Year 2011 passed by hurriedly, busy with the role of a new mom and my love of reading quite unintentionally ignored...I read very little, of which the book that was the most interesting was one by Anita Shreve, “The Last Time They Met’'. 


The book narrates a story of two lovers, who meets after many years, under unusual circumstances but with overwhelming love  for each other. The novel flashes back in time in a very intriguing fashion, recording the chance encounters of the protagonists at the age of fifty-two, twenty-six and seventeen, in the same order…

The story reveals the undying love between two persons despite the various turn of events in the course of their lives, which are not similar for the two.  The novel weaves brilliantly the anticipation and promises on one hand and the pathos, constraints and heartbreak on the other. The last chapter discloses the first meeting of the two and what happened afterwards and relates to the upheavals in the lives of the two people in love..

Shreve wraps up the whole narration in the last page of the book so masterfully casting a rare magic spell of storytelling, compelling the reader to remain maddened as well as satisfied and with an assured longing  to read the story all over again. ..

The novel gets its hypnotic and suspenseful side thanks to the reasons and chances due to which the lovers meet in wonderful coincidences but could not remain together for life..

Sharadiya

Today is "Mahalaya", which signifies the end of the "Pitr-Pakshya" and the beginning of the "Devi-Pakshya". It is said that on this day, Maa Durga leaves her Kailasha abode to start her journey for her paternal home on the earth. 
Mahalaya also marks a stipulated, quite predictable routine for many of us. Waking up early and listening to the "Chandipath" (Rendition of Shlokas for the worship of the Goddess) by Shri Birendra Krishna Bhadra, feeling the crisp autumn air which seems to proclaim the advent of the much awaited festive season....the much anticipated Durga Puja ( or Navaratri, as it is otherwise known in many other parts of our country). This year, the wait is even more important and special for me. After 3 years, I will be going home for the Pujas. There is nothing like spending this time of the year with your family. I have known the pain, of staying far away from the family, missing them much more during this festivities, so the reunion this year is so special......only if my husband could join me too in the trip back home...that would surely have completed the joyous moment. Guess for me, not every good thing occur at once. I have some and I lose some...
But here's wishing everyone reading this piece a very happy, peaceful and safe festive season. May the reverence of Goddess Durga touches our lives. 




Image Courtesy : aumkaar.wordpress.com

9/11

Year 2011 - USA is commemorating a decade of the horrifying tragedy that rocked the heart of the country....stole many innocent lives...near and dear ones gone forever....

This 9/11, I am in this country and cannot help watching the live coverages from Ground Zero on TV, and wondering how strongly this country has moved on...without forgetting a single moment of that fateful day.

Real people, with their stories of loss and longings, tear my heart apart. Our world is repeatedly being assaulted by these heinous acts of terrorism. The present time has so become vulnerable in the hands of people who probably themselves do not even know what they want... 

Looking back, in the year 2001, the day when all these happened, I was in Kolkata, and I remember that was my 1st day in my College Hostel ( Our favorite PCGH )....I knew nothing much then about the WTC but know that it was something very important and surely knew how terrible a thing had happened. Several years later....in 2009, when during a trip to New York city, I visited Ground Zero, I felt a severe surge of emotion...I watched the Freedom Tower being built and I realized that this is going to be a mark of sadness and hope, of holding on to the past and moving on to tomorrow,of never forgetting the moment and becoming stronger by the day...all blended together. 

I look forward to seeing the light of that day, when we do not have to have tears in our eyes remembering something so heartbreaking and inhumane..."You may say I am a dreamer....but I'm not the only one..."

A Mom now..

On 2nd May, 2011, my husband and I, brought home our little bundle of joy, our son, Sanket. Life has changed wonderfully since....Things which I have never imagined happened...something never felt before, was felt in the past two months...and I can also see the promise of many more such wonderful things to occur in future. 
So the new mom is happily busy nowadays. 
Mothers' lives are never relaxed..as many will agree, and I am of course no exception. My little two-month old keeps me on my toes - action packed days and sleepless nights ( the later I am wishing to pass soon ).....:) But exhaustion has seldom been so rewarding, and sleep has never been so easily ignored. 
Looking at the little one's face makes my day now.....when he smiles at me ( a thing he has started doing just a few days ago ), it takes my heart away....
All for today...hope to be back soon...:)

Historic Win....!!

The most awaited tournament for the cricket players and the lovers of the game, the ICC World Cup, 2011, came to an end on Saturday, April 2.......and did it finish the way we want it to.......you bet...!!! India, after awaiting 28 years to bring the coveted cup home, succeeded and so well deservingly won it by beating Sri Lanka in a match that will be etched in the annals of cricketing history, forever.


I am sad that I cannot join the euphoria back home.....but really feel after following the whole tournament and its glorious end that words really do fall short for describing occasions like this....:) Kudos to all the players and our brave hearts who exhibited tremendous cricketing sensibility on the field and finally became the proud owner of the World Cup.

The winning Indian Team with the ICC World Cup 2011 Trophy.

http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/photos

After quite a while...

I have heard about the expression 'Writer's Block'.....the creative block writers feel at certain times. Although I am not quite a writer, for the past few months I felt the block, nonetheless. One of my blogger friends also wondered whether I have stopped writing altogether...:) I thank her heartily for the reminder that I should wake up from the hibernation I got myself into all through the winter that passed....It's not that nothing came across my mind or no ideas occurred...it's just that somehow I could not bring myself to put those thoughts into paper (or should I say on the internet..) 
But there is one thing I would like to share....I will tell you that I was not creatively inert altogether these few months.....I did some little paintings (but only as a beginner....) and will put those up today for you to see and comment/criticize. I am absolutely in the learning phase and thus there is nothing much to expect. I got an opportunity to attend a few watercolor painting classes under the able guidance of artiste Kristine Brock , and only began to learn but unfortunately, I was not able to continue attending the classes for a number of personal constraints. So whatever little I learnt and I tried (and still learning and trying), I put up here....

 Bird on a tree branch (2.5" X 3.5" canvas).

 Wild Little Fowers (4''X 6" canvas)

Yellow Finch bird in watercolor ( 3.5" X  5" canvas, cold-press watercolor paper )

Snowfall @ Nashua, NH, USA, Jan 12, 2011..

Let it snow.....!!

Last evening, we, the residents of Nashua, NH, experienced the first snowfall of the season. This is my first winter in this part of the United States....and I loved the view and the feel of this beautiful city after it is covered with the new snow of the season. The sky was overcast for the most part of the day and evening and my prayers to see the full moon shine upon the first snow remained unanswered.....and I missed the glittering evening delight but hope to catch it some other time this season....!!!
The heavy snowfall sometimes becomes difficult and gets in the way of our daily activities here but nevertheless I am excited for a whole new experience.....!!! :)

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart.."

Reader's Digest is one of my favourite reading materials. I love this magazine because of its interesting articles on an extended range of topics..the magazine provides me with doses of humour, famous quotes, lifestyle lessons, real life incidents and experiences....and even good recipes sometimes...!!
All of a sudden, today, I started writing about Reader's Digest because this latest edition carried an article about one gentleman's experience about the effects of two little but very important words in our lives - Thank You.
The piece gave me a renewed insight about the importance of being thankful for what we are blessed with....the persons and possessions of our lives. The thought that moved me the most in the article is, I quote -
"Until you learn to be grateful for the things you have, you will not receive the things you want."
We sometimes forget to thank other people or even just be grateful for what we already have and rather crib about what we don't have or about the things we want even then...
The feeling of being grateful is rewarding and this feeling gives us the hope and persistence to sail through life - to be happy for what we have, to feel for those who don't have even that much, to be patient for what we want to have and to let go of what we were not destined to have... :)

Life is full of moments....some good, some not-so-good, some filled with happiness, some others heartbreaking. But this well-connected moments and their accumulation make this journey more beautiful, enriching...and worth living for.
Some incidents occur and the memories and the associated feelings, the impressions....remain etched in our minds. Other occurrences fade away by the passage of time...much as the sea-waters wash away the foot-prints we leave while walking across the shores.....
Our lives are thus a rendition of remembering and forgetting.......of holding on to some, and letting go of the others...!!!




Image from: ininweb.uprm.edu

Thanksgiving..

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about the festivals celebrated widely in the United States. Thanksgiving Day is one of them. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, it is originally a harvest festival, where people of the region pay thanks to Almighty for a bountiful harvest and in a larger sense it marks the thanksgiving for everything that matters in our lives, for all the beautiful relationships and for all that we are blessed with in our lives. In USA, the day is awaited throughout the year with pleasant anticipation and is celebrated with joy along with friends and family. The one important aspect of this celebration is the family re-union over dinner and the menu (another important parameter) famously consists of a turkey delicacy. I have observed while living here that the Thanksgiving Day is the only day where most of the offices and businesses remain closed and the later reopens in the wee hours of Friday morning with wonderful and huge deals to the shoppers' delight. Thus the whole weekend starting from the Thursday until the Sunday remains in true festive spirit nation-wide.
I am now revealing the true intent of my story...that this year, after merely observing the pomp of the day for the past two years, we decided to celebrate the day in our own way. One of the two major aspects of the festival was missing (as we are thousand of miles away from our family...so family get together was painfully out of question)....but turkey was not.....!!!! So we decided to have a turkey dinner...:) Observing that a whole turkey would be too much for just the two of us, we bought a Turkey wing and I cooked it in true Indian style ( much in the same way as I would have made chicken tandoori )....!!! and I must say, we loved it....it tasted even better than chicken...( as were said by many of my friends here...) 
For the two of us, (the husband and I), experimenting with food doesn't happen very often....we prefer to stick to our good old Indian foods and delicacies, but we tried this and much to our delight, it came out very good.....We most definitely will always be very much Indian, in every way possible, and..even more especially when it's about the palate....but Thanksgiving with turkey will remain memorable......:)

p.s. For my friends here, I share a photograph of the Turkey I cooked....:)

Sau Gram Zindagi......

Yesterday, we went to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest movie 'Guzaarish'.....Bhansali is known for his larger-than-life portrayal of stories, scenes and the characters. His films transcends the viewers to a different world, to a space which is somewhere beyond reality but falls short of absolute fantasy.....thus leaving a lone cinematic possibility of being and the incidents happening.
'Guzaarish' dishes out the same intrigue and uniqueness and to top that, the film is shot by cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee with an excellence which seems less of a lens-work and more like an artiste's stroke on canvas....only it is celluloid...!!!
The story is plain....it just is about a well-known magician (played by Hrithik Roshan) , who, 14 years ago, met with a near fatal accident which leaves him quadriplegic. Being paralyzed physically, his health gradually deteriorates and after living, loving and suffering through his condition, he finally appeals unsuccessfully for Euthanasia (mercy killing). 
The story, as plain and with some constraints in the weaving of its details, acquires a certain level of drama with the maneuvering of the characters, their passion and demeanor, and the associated sequences. The gaps in writing has been somewhat covered by the camera and the director's expertise in the portrayal. The performances by the lead and character artiste's deserves mention. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's (playing the nurse to the ailing magician) mettle has been redefined, giving an impression that only Bhansali can understand, work out and make her come up with the best. Hrithik Roshan reasserts himself with respect to the acting skills as well as his drop-dead charisma, in this piece of cinema. The film expresses itself and flashes back into the incidents happened earlier in a very different and stylish manner ( I won't come out with the details here for keeping the magic intact for those who have not yet watched the movie), the scenes and colors are equally distinctive and used with defined sensibility. The costume and music, because of its unlikeness, went well with the narration.
For me, it was an experience worth having, except for a tad bit of melodrama in bits and pieces throughout and especially in the closing shot. Moreover much of the narration leaves many a things to the perception of the viewers, the expressions not as detailed as in his earlier films.......and this perspective of the movie may do either good or pose as a disadvantage for the movie  depending on the audiences' demand for clarity. 
'Guzaarish' is about the celebration of life and its moments.....the love we feel, but the movie does not blurt out the message, loud and clear..it flows underneath along the length of the film. 
I would have loved it rather more if it ended giving out a brighter sense of optimism as it intended to do, it seemed....but fell short for whatever reasons......
          "Thodi si teekhi hai, thodi meethi hai....
                 sau gram zindagi..........samhaal ke kharchi hai"

Today, November 22, is the birthday of a very dear friend of mine....but I don't write about the birthdays of all my friends in my blog. But she is special. Special because she is one of my friends since the time I came to know what is known by the term 'friend' (literally, I mean.....the greater meaning is still left to be fully understood), because we are friends since we were in class I, because I have neither seen her since 2001, nor spoken to her. But I still say we are friends and she knows that too. We just passed out of high school and she decided to take a certain step in her life which I thought (and still think the same) to be a serious lapse in judgement on her part. I suffered but severed all ties with her because I thought that she deserved much better and I was not ready to hear to her inconveniences (which often elevated to sufferings as well, as I correctly thought it would be like that )....I think I love her too much to bear those circumstantial constraints in such young age. I hear from my parents and common friends sometimes that she is all right, has settled in her life in a good way, got over all the problems but I, till date, choose not to be a part of her life. 

But I think of her often, remember her on her every birthday, and I knew somewhere inside that she knows this fact and she understands. She tried to contact me a few times, the friends who knew both of us thinks that I over reacted....but it's perhaps a confession that I, knowing the fact that each person is destined to live with certain respective terms and conditions in life, still cannot get over the feeling that she deserved much more than she went through. May God bless her with immense happiness, peace and love in her life.....and I want her to understand ( I know she does) that I consider her as one whom I'll always regard as my friend and will always love her.....only I choose not to be a part of her present....

The most enriching read of this year..

Reading is my passion. It is said about me by my near and dear ones that I cannot spent a day without spending sometime with a printed material before my eyes. I happily agree to that notion. It's true that I love to read, be it anything like a newspaper article, writings of fellow bloggers, magazine bits and pieces, novels and non-fiction or even (if nothing's available) the community newsletter and everything with religious interest and attention....!!! 
Last year I read a novel that I loved and will always remember.... 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini. It's the story of two friends in Afghanistan. This year, incidentally, another book on Afghanistan stood out of all my readings. This is not a novel though, but a work of non-fiction, named 'Good Morning Afghanistan. 

Waseem Mahmood, and award-winning broadcaster and an ex-BBC producer, writes this brilliant book about the radio programme (named, Good Morning Afghanistan) he, with his team, started in the nation ravaged by the unruly Taliban for over half a decade. After the fall of Taliban at the end of 2001, the radio programme voiced the concerns and the incidents that were taking place in the battered nation, helping the people in a way to get over the nightmare of years of war and irrational policing.

The book starts with the description of one of the heinous acts of terror in modern world, the 9/11 and how it shook the lives of a string of people mentioned in the book along with the thousands who bore the brunt of this destruction first-hand. Written with the lucidity of fiction and details of a document, Good Morning Afghanistan is a compilation of true incidents that happened in the course of one and a half year, beginning from September, 2001 to January, 2003. It reveals what Afghanistan went through during the course of the Taliban regime and what it takes for the people to recover from such huge material and emotional damage. It takes courage and persistence to bear the unnecessary and meaningless acts of cruelty and terror for so many years.

The book is a documentation of a nation starting afresh, after having lost almost every hope of getting back their usual way of life, with the radio programme giving them the first glimpse of hope.

I must say that I will remember this book as well with a heart full of compassion and respect for the brave people of Afghanistan.

The 'Missing Home' Season

I sometimes feel that life here in US is difficult and that is only when I miss home, miss my parents, sister and friends....that remains a very difficult moment or minutes, hours or days...based on the severity of my home-sickness....For the past three years, the last quarter of the year, i.e, from October-December gets very low and depressing for me...and the reason is quite obvious....I miss the festivities back home,  Durga Pujo, Deepavali, etc. I'm still fortunate to live now in such a country where we get to celebrate Indian festivals in small yet special ways...but the grandeur is hard to find nevertheless. Same remains the case for our parents and close ones as they miss us the most during these festivals which also mark the re-union of family members and friends who have not seen each other for a long, long time. The husband has consoled me with the word that we'll be there at home during the Pujas next year....I'm just looking forward to it.....from now only...!!!! :)


Missing our near and dear ones is an everyday affair when it comes to people like us who live miles away from their own land and people.....but if I would ever regard a particular time as the 'Missing Home' season, it's now..


Now I will brighten up myself a bit to get over this sadness.....
I feel this a very wonderful coincidence..that here in USA, the festive season also comes now, in this quarter of the year....It's Halloween today, the festival to ward off the evil during this harvest season (or, the day of the dead, as it is variously explained to describe the significance of the celebration), the Thanksgiving Day, which comes in November, the festival to express gratitude and thankfulness to God and to our friends and relatives for every possessions and relationships that we are blessed with, and finally the Christmas, in December, which we celebrate in India in as joyful way as it is here.....


So, festive season, more or less is in the same time here as in my own country.....celebration is all around...missing only are the persons whom I love so much.....they are staying so, so far away....!!! When we meet once a year...it then becomes no less than a festival....!!! But this wait becomes so long...........






Image from: euro-quest.tripod.com

A letter to a kind reader of my blog...

Dear Reader,


Firstly, thank you for all your comments to date.....they are insightful, and some really helps. But I beg to differ with this last comment of yours. I don't dream to be popular, I just want to be better in whatever I do. Don't misunderstand my dream of getting better as the dream of getting popular. Secondly, I'm too small a writer and don't, even in my dreams, have the audacity to compare to the Tagores...His writings are a very sensitive point to me, and yours too, as I know..so I really don't have the courage to even mention him while talking about my writing. Thank you so much for being kind enough to read my blog regularly as you are the only one, except from my hubby and sister to read me with such particularity.
Till date, I've expressed only what I have felt, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in not so good way....that's why the longing of being a good writer. But of course, I don't want to be popular at the cost of the quality of my writing. I guess I have only wrote and felt about achieving perfection in my writings, never meaningless popularity. Yes, of course, I love it when people read my blog regularly and say good things about it, if I didn't, I could have maintained a personal diary of sorts, rather than blogging in media. Believe it or not, A writer's credibility depends on his/her writing ability as well as on the readership. These are interconnected in very many ways. You can't achieve one without giving proper value to the other, I feel. Wordsworth's poems would not have gained such heights if his sister didn't read and save each one of them and publish them later, because the poet himself is known to throw away all his writings in a careless fashion. We would not have known Wordsworth otherwise and imagine what loss it would have been for English literature. So a writer is partly true for his/her writings and partly for his/her readers. Otherwise it would have been incomplete. It's not about popularity my dear, it's like dewdrops on lotus leaves......it may not be necessary, but it certainly makes it beautiful.....


yours truly,
Suryatapa.


P.S. You want me to write about value of relationships in our lives. I remember that, will certainly write about it...just give me some time. :)