Nouvelle année heureuse

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!

Its been ages since i have written....the train of life has passed many a station.....India performed

like they always do at the end of the year.......Saddam Hussien was hanged.....and here I sit in

my wilderness celebrating coming of a New Year....confused as ever..........as the world around

me goes insane....I am slowly becoming part of this insanity....yeah i am.....i hope this year is one

which ushers in peace...tranquilty.......propably people will wake up ......sensing the time to

change has come.....ha the optimisim in me is at an all time high......probably the mood of the

wilderness is rubbing off on me.......may the next year be the happiest and most prosperous

year of them all for all of us....long live the wilderness...

Back to the Future...

"I hear her voice, in the mornin hours she calls to me
The radio reminds me of my home far a-way
And drivin down the road I get a feeling
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads"

These are the exact feelings whcih i felt as i was listening to the song by John Denver on the way back home from the wilderness......yep I am home........sweet sweet home...everything is not hunky dory.....hard times befallen our family in terms of health.......but things are looking up....hmmm the most interesting thing was my visit to my old office today.......it felt nice to be back to beginning...my comp and my seat...it was great....till i realized it was not my seat anymore.....I was unwanted....it was strange..the work was same...the place was...but the people had moved on...then I met the "team ZJ"...the perfecto team...well it was great reliving the past...as i sat there thinking abt my tryst with issues in the past..it gave me hope and confidence to deal with probs i will face back in the wilderness....hmm..the song which comes to mind right now is...

"Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
But there's one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm freeNothin's worryin' me"

Om Sarbamangalama ngalle sibe sarbatto sadhike saranye trambak gouri narayani namastute

Hey.....am not some religious fanatic.........but a sentimental bong who loves Durga pujo..........the 5 most amazing days of our lives...I am a Bong born and brought up quiet far from the eccentrities of an Calcuttan lifestyle....But these 5 days bind them with this part of my personality......which lies dormant most of the times.....Pujo is all about what we call "adda" and having hell lots of work..a typical morning on a puja day starts of with "Pushpanjali"...where we offer floers to the godess as a mark of our respect in return for her blessings...then usually there is an evwent for the kids...and then there is "BHOG"...back home we feed about 800 to 1000 people every afternoon...it is a humungous project....but it is also something we all look forward too...tiring legs...paining hands..and dirty clothes may be detrents but the satisfaction u get is priceless...then after lunch we usually assemble at some family friends house which is near the pandal...and then come back in the evening for cultural programmes...and more adda...our pujo is a result of a conglomoration of migrant Bengali families...knitted together by the strings of time..thus we are very close and this closeness makes the experience even more amazing..the open air and the vast expanse...is the reason behind the breathe of fresh sir which rejuvinates our soul thus making it an unparalleled experience...As the fifth day approaches...our hearts sadden with the prospect of the pujo coming to an end....the fifth day when the idol is immeresed in a local lake...is called "Visarjan"...the fanfare and slogan shouting with which the "Visarjan" ends is something unique....dancing on the streets....loud explosions of crackers and people shouting....among this cacophony u find peace and happiness...a feeling of Contenetment....the last day ends again with a feast and "Bijoya" celebrations in which we great eacother and salute our elders.....and finish off with the last "adda"of the pujo...and in all this i did not mention the most important part of this experience my friends and family..without them it cannot be what it is..

Reflections from the bygones..

In past few weeks there were a couple of really nice things which happened.I
got to go for my brothers wedding which was awesome.Though it was a little strange as it took some time for it to sink in.I noticed one thing about Kolkatta (Calcutta)..the old was trying to blend in with the new...but the new wanted nothing to do with the old...well that is mostly whatis probably happening to other cities in India also...My end Theme Exams are done and went quite well.

There is a very beautiful bend in the river here in the wilderness...there is a Ganesh temple next to it..the visit to the bend was an awesome experience...the serenity and the perpetual feeling of bliss were the highlights of the trip..the next two places we visited have been christend as Start and Mid point respectively...both these spots we came across quite erroneously...and both these spots have an amazing views...they have a very calming effect on one....the silence of the valleys below...the sound of friendship...the clicks of an
camera...these small things give you a reason to smile in this wilderness..lastly but the not the least the visit to the beach...the senic beauty of the sun setting over the waves of the Arabian Sea.....the company of friends and hot chai and pakodas...what a lethal combination..these are the attractions of the wilderness...which bring smiles and peace to an otherwise stressful and uninteresting life in this wilderness...well that's my perspective at least..

I want to break Free....

Its been a week since we celebrated our 60th Independence day..........long live my country...long

live its people......hmm which people am I talking about...the kid o the road who sells flags to

passersby....the kid who asks us why freedom is for the people who have money.......the kid who

sleeps on the pavements of our mega metros....the kid who works 12-14th hours a day.........the

kid who has not seen the face of a school in there life........what is freedom....most appropiately I

will end with a poem by Sumitranandan Pant which really to me is the essence of freedom....

Hum panchi unmukt gagan ke,
Pinjad bandh na gaa paayenge,
Kanak teeliyon se takrakar,
Pulkit pankh toot jaayenge

Hum behta jal peene waale,
Mar jaayenge bhooke pyaase,
Kahin bhali hai katuk nimbori,
Kanak katori ki maida se

Svarn Shrinkhla ke bandhan mein,
Apni gati udaan sab bhoole,
Bas sapno mein dekh rahe hain,
Taru ki phungi, par ke jhoole

Aise the armaan ki udte,
Neel gagan ki seema paane,
Laal kiran si chonch khol,
Chugte taarak, anaar ke daane

Hoti seema heen shitij se,
In pankho ki hoda hodi,
Ya to shitij milan ban jaata,
Ya tanti saanso ki dori

Need na do, chaahe tehni ka,
Aashray chhinn-bhhinn kar daalo,
lekin pankh diye hain to,
Aakul udaan mein vighn na daalo

My Wilderness

Hmm... am back...the wilderness is busy with activity....assignments and quizzes galore....

Couple of interesting things happened......one had a ball of a time with my study group trying to

make a presentation.....interestingly on crime and society.........my take on it ........is Society needs

to change for that to happen each one of us indiviuals have to change for the revolution to be

successful....I had a conversation with Avinash......and it was good to talk to an old buddy after a

long time..it rekindeled the thought if probably should have flown off...to the "Land of

opportunity"....but then today i am here.......and one quote which comes to my mind is

" I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it's both, maybe both happening at the same time."

it from Forrest Gump.....and probably is the reason I am in the wilderness today......

My first Post......

Hmm....today is my first post......as i sit here writing....there is lot of conflict...around me...from lebanon to kashmir............there is death and blood all around......out here in the the wildereness virtually insulated to the outside world....I feel enraged at the death of humanity...but my puny voice doesnt make a difference...anyways...its the weekend and the wilderness is on fire....parties galore...we need to forget ourselves and all the world by becoming insane.......so that we can be sane...

"If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane."
Jimmy Buffett, entertainer, lyrics in "Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes"