Emotions: I am

• tired from all the physical work that I did for the last few days.
• happy that the marriage went smoothly.
• not sad, and neither did I cry, when it was time for me to say goodbye to my sister after her marriage. I have been asked this question a hundred times, and I don't see why, after planning her marriage for the last several months, so that she starts her own family, would suddenly regret it at that time and cry. My relatives found this a bit un-emotional.
• amused at how some people try to make their living by dishonest means.
• a little sorry that I missed all the football matches over the last week.
• absolutely disgusted at what's happening in Mumbai.

The big, fat, chaotic, funny Indian wedding

Have not been able to write anything in the last few days as I was super busy. There's a marriage at home, and you know how things are, in any Indian house, when that happens. Lot's of shopping, planning, re-planning, more shopping, invitations, bookings, caterers, decorator, flowers, etcetera, etcetera.... most of our close relatives are visiting us often to help us. Some of them have already traveled to Kolkata for the event. It's family reunion time.

In the midst of all this, I have found a new pastime: Sudoku. I only attempted my first Sodoku a fortnight ago, and the first two days, couldn't solve anything! But now, I am able to solve them everyday, and one of the very first things I do each day. It's fun.

Most likely, won't be able to write anything in the next two weeks. Till then...

Celebrating Difference

When my Ma fell ill in the middle of the night several years ago, it was my Sikh neighbor who brought out his Taxi and helped us to the hospital. No, he didn't charge us a single Rupee.
When I flew overseas for the first time, I had a senior with me from Bihar. We goofed up in the foreign land together, helped each other and discovered things together. We even sang at a party together.
When I started my career in Bangladesh, I became friends with some of them. I even have an adopted sister and brother there.
When I shifted to Delhi, I made a few friends who formed my support group and still remain close friends. They happen to be Rajasthani, Malayali, UPite, Himachali, Uttarakhandi, Tamil, Maharashtrian, Punjabi etc.
When I was in Bangalore, my office friends were Tamil, Chattisgarhi, Malayali, Hyderabadi, Kannadiga, Kashmiri, etc.
When I traveled to Sikkim and Munnar, my friends from Karnataka were there to share those moments with me.
When I got lost in Thadiyendamol, a friend from Maharashtra and a Punjabi friend from UP were also lost with me and fought with me over interpretation of the map.
When I was traveling through the barren hills of Ladakh, there were friends who happen to be Bihari, Punjabi, and UPite (I guess, I never checked).
My chat history shows I chat a lot with my friends who are from Assam, Manipur, Delhi, etc.
When I find a long lost non-Bengali school friend on Orkut, I am equally elated as when I find a Bengali friend.

Yes, we are all different. Maybe, we speak different languages at home. Maybe, what we eat given a choice is different. Maybe our prayers are different. Maybe our traditional clothes are different. But isn't that a good thing? How boring life would be if everyone around me were similar in taste, manners, and habits! I can't alienate people because they are different. I will go on celebrating the differences. Are you with me?

Happy Diwali

Global economic depression, terrorism, racial fighting... nothing stops people from celebrating their festivals.

Similarly, if there is something bothering us from inside, no matter how many people around you are celebrating, how much lights have been lit, how many fire crackers are been burst, we can't enjoy.

May we attain inner peace this Diwali.

Feelings

I like you. I like the way you show different shades and various moods. I like you in the morning, when the sun's rays touches your beautiful face, and you glow like a goddess. I like you when your calmness matches the mood of the setting sun. Or when it rains, how it leaves you with a nice fresh fragrance. I like the way you make me want to be near you, and just when I try to go near you, you make it difficult. Sometimes, when I do get near you, you really take my breath away, and of course I like that too. It's been a while I have seen you, and I miss you. I am sure you know that I love you.

P.S: Her photograph as promised. Photo courtesy: Om

Riddle

What does Himesh Reshamiya have that Shankar Mahadevan doesn't?

Clue: No, it has nothing to do with natural flowing hair.

More Clue: Ustaad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan or KK doesn't have it; Kailash Kher only has half of it; Sukhwinder has one too, and Shaan has one and half of it.

Answer: It's the Filmfare award for male playback singing.

Trivia:

• Legends Kishore Kumar and Md.Rafi leads the male singers with the highest number of Filmfare awards with eight and six awards respectively.
• Kumar Sanu has won the Filmfare award a record five consecutive times from 1991 to 1995.
• Kailash Kher's only Filmfare award shared with Shaan is for singing the words "Subhan Allah" 16 times in the song Chand Sifarish (Fanaa). Subhan Allah!

The Political Parties of Waste Brinjal

These are some of the political parties of the present day of a fictitious state of Waste Brinjal:

The government is made up of a coalition popularly known as the Theft Front. Leading the pack is the Creating Perfect Election Manipulation (CPEM). Among the other big parties in the Theft Front are the Corrupt Practises Expert (CPE), Backward Flock (BF), and Resisting Forward Progress (RFP). The government of Theft Party has ruled Waste Brinjal for over several decades. For their own benefits, they backed unions: who at every pretext harassed industries, and in some cases, stopped work as well. All for gathering popular votes from the villages. And another standard feature for decades has been opposition to whatever the ruling party at the center does.

The main opposition is a decade old party called the Grasseater party led by Ms. Mega Chaos. Her and her party’s reason for success has been successful emulation of whatever Theft Front had done for years. If Theft Front can rig votes, so can Grasseaters. If Theft Front backed unions organized most of the bus workers, then Grasseater backed unions got majority of the auto workers together. In addition, they oppose almost anything the Theft Front does, and is known to call for the use of Article 356 and President’s rule at the drop of a hat.

Now to the present situation:

The coalition government of Theft Front, after resisting change and industrialization for years, finally wants to catch up with other states. It has taken some steps to make the state investor friendly. But the opposition, out of habit, or out of fear of the ruling party taking all the credit for the state’s development, opposes everything that the government does. The Theft Front’s cause is not helped by some members of the Front itself who opposes some of the moves fearing loss of votes from villages if industrialization happens. On one hand, the state’s Minister of Industries, Mr. Nice Effort, goes to Ruritania to bring business; and on the other hand, a government agency controlled by the Backward Flock refuses to renew a trade license of a major investor from Ruritania.

Even other than industrialization, any change is resisted by the union structure Frankenstein that the Theft Front created. If they want to evict the hawkers who were not there a few years ago and have taken over major parts of the cities, the unions are there to back the hawkers. If the government wants to remove illegal autos and autos which use illegal fuel to curb the pollution problem, again, they can’t, because the unions won’t let that happen.

Now, the question is, where is Waste Brinjal headed?