Mikku

Mikku

My little niece is turning three year old ...and I am reminded of the morning of 7th October 2011 at Columbia Asia hospital, in Kolkata...when I first held her....

And then she became the center of my life! I love you Pundak! :)

Monsoon in Mumbai

Cataloging the small instances of "rains in Mumbai" is amazing. I remember my first experience of Mumbai monsoons! I left a little early from work as advised by my colleagues...it was a Friday evening and it had been raining for past 8 hours....I had to wait for about ten minutes in the rain till I got an auto-rickshaw for Chembur. I saw people leaving early as the weekend had started…and the first rain shower had ushered in. As my auto-rickshaw approached the LBS road (near Vikroli) I could see the water gushing down the slope...it seemed like a flood water to me! The water had a tremendous force…and was almost coming into the auto...I had my fingers crossed and prayed that Nirmal's words didn't come true! My (new) colleagues had warned me of the "rains in Mumbai"...and I made sure I had all their numbers handy. It was unrealistic to me ..the way the reckless rain water washed my feet every now and then…I would tighten my grip on the driver's seat and start talking to the driver…trying to divert my attention. The 'auto-rickshaw driver' stayed composed...he seemed prepared… The water level kept rising... and then we reached the 'Ghatkopar Bus Depo' and suddenly the water level around us had increased...Some of the auto-rickshaw's were emitting smoke like 'steam boats' …floating around and waves splashed to and fro…I was very scared...of the inevitable ofcourse… Our auto started to choke…the driver pressed on the accelerator…while I perched on the back seat…holding my (expensive leather bag) close to my body and praying hard….My praying obviously wasn’t good enough…the engine stopped….and I had this sinking feeling inside me, which was horrible! I pulled out my mobile phone and started calling… Someone would have to save me…from drowning…ok…wading through this dirty, black, filthy, impure water!!
I pleaded the ‘auto-wala bhaiya’ to do something…do a miracle and start the auto...cause I definitely wasn’t getting out of the auto...I have never waded through dirty rain-water…may be a little bit but not knee-deep water…even in Kolkata. The man on the wheels kept re-starting the machine…but it just wouldn't boot! Looking at my innocent face and listening to my frantic phone calls, he knew I was new to Mumbai…and something triggered his brain and he rolled up his trousers and actually got out of the auto…into the deep-dirty water…and started to push the auto forward…with me sitting in it like Queen Victoria! Our man managed to drag the auto for about fifty yards and then pulled it to the left-hand side…here the water logged was comparatively less. He then tried to start it again…we got talking…he concluded that the water had gone into the engine….but that the engine would start once after a few trials. I had no problem waiting…and by now I was acting ‘co-driver’! Finally the engine started and then there was no looking back…I will always remember that eventful evening and be grateful to that auto-rickshaw driver.

WIND SCREEN - SPLASH!

Just another day at...

Second day of morning walk (with my dad) was energizing, no doubt. In fact I have noticed that whenever I start that early in the day, I can actually finish a lot of chores and read the newspaper in detail, (including the ET)…sitting on the pot!

Today Ma wanted me to take the Santro to office and leave the ‘white’ car behind as she had arranged for a driver, to take her shopping… since she is gearing up for Raja’s wedding... She hates me for my elusive attitude towards clothes (specially the ‘chamkila stuff’..). She’d rather have my sister accompany her for such shopping spree…. “Miss Chamko”, as she is rightly named by Mitil di :)

Surprisingly I am having a good day at work…either it is genuine behavior from the ‘opposition party’ or it is the after effects of my morning walk!

Mr. Tikader (a pre-maturely retired Indian Air Force officer, now our Statutory cum Legal consultant) made his weekly visit and showed us his new Blackberry (his Puja purchase)… specially now that he has bagged the PWC account too. We had that extra cup of tea at his cost and watched him talk…..phew!! He is a nice man but modesty just does not exist in his dictionary....guess that’s what makes him unique...

Well now I should ‘close-shop’, Saturday evening beckons me… “Hey Arup please play some cheerful music, not ‘Tanhaee’....had enough of that".

“Tora O ebar badi ja, boss..”, says Biplab, with a cloud of smoke popping out of his mouth…

One Saturday afternoon…

After a marathon phone call with him I just wanted to relax… was listening to some western classical music on my IBM Thinkpad, when he text me and our usual post-scrap messaging carried on for sometime… Life seemed under control... While the juices were working on the Lakshmi Puja ‘bhog', I meticulously updated the ‘Production report’ sheet...

And then, there was a “BANG”! I rushed to the exit door…as soon as I could swipe the card and push the main door open…

The front-bashed, navy blue Maruti 800 was thrown close to the boundary wall of the Tagore House and Manik da was looking dazed... We saw a ‘Tempo’ standing in the middle of the road ...a little ahead to the left hand side with three men in the front seat... The driver of the Maruti car had pulled himself out of his car, but he was limping...He started shouting vehemently at the ‘Tempo’ driver and asked him to get down from the vehicle.... First-aid was provided by our eager office boys...Suddenly a lot of people had gathered. The Maruti car driver called his insurance officer…and the drama began!

I was glad that my dear little WB-6163 was saved, since I park my car near Mr. Sen’s ( our neighbor) house... It was Sourish’s Indica that had a close shave. Apparently the ‘Tempo’ was driving at around 50 Kms / hr (which is too high a speed for Salt Lake roads), when it hit the Maruti at the crossing opposite our office. The rear wheels of the Maruti must have been raised to a height of about two feet, before the car got disoriented. The 'Tempo' had a minor bump near the right-hand door, due to which the driver seat got jammed... This could have been a serious accident...

Slowly the crowd disappeared...we got back to work as it was time for our evening 'tea-break'. Today ofcourse we had a 'hot-topic' to discuss over 'tea'!

Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind...

....i continued to listen to Bob Dylan and flashes of the 'Swastika' sign, (that I drew on the copper pot in the morning, for the Lakshmi Puja) kept going through my head...

Tenga Valley

Tenga Valley is a small, bow shaped, cozy little valley, close to the Indo-China Border, in Arunachal Pradesh. Not many people have heard of this place. My father was posted there in the year 1984 and we had the opportunity to experience ‘heaven on earth’!

We lived on ‘Chindit Top’ in Tenga Valley. Our ‘fairy tale’ home was ‘valley-facing’, with a 3-tier flower garden in front and a kitchen garden in the backyard. Just after the kitchen-garden was a huge open field, like a plateau, where ‘Ravana’ was burnt during ‘Dassera’ festival but rest of the year butterflies and kids would occupy the field. Beyond that one could see row of houses, where my friends lived and then the surrounding hills that protected us.

Our school, Kendriya Vidyalaya, was down below, in the valley. The Army jeep was available to drop us to school, but we preferred to walk down the hill, leisurely, with our not-so-heavy school bags. Our school was barely 2 kms away from home. We enjoyed chatting with the locals and learnt to chase the grazing cattle off the roads. The locals were friendly and the kids had reddish cheeks, since they ate a lot of plums, like my mother would say! The plum trees grew in abundance and we could simply pluck them and eat, whenever we wished to. We would wonder about after our PT classes were over and our Maths teacher used to be on leave as she was pregnant, for the second time. We were usually told to clean the playing ground of pebbles and autumn leaves during those free classes. That would give us the opportunity to roam around the school premises and beyond. Plum trees grew wild and we had our pockets full...We were strictly prohibited from eating any other wild 'red-fruit'. Pears & apples were available too, but I preferred the red-plums, so that someday my cheeks would turn red too.

My little sister shot in height just by running around with Disky (our dog) in the duplex apartment. She was a riot those days. Disky and she literally grew up together. Disky was her playmate. Disky would accompany her to school with our ‘bhaiya’, and then he would eagerly wait for her to get back home. She made sure Disky was spoilt till the hilt, like herself! He would chase the rabbits in the kitchen garden and she would run after him, trying to grab his tail….And my mother would chase Tanya with a stick…


We watched snow-falling, from the 1st floor balcony of our house. Everyone was indoors...hopefully. Ma had pushed us inside thick blankets and the ‘bukhari’ was burning fast to keep us warm. Schools were shut for a fortnight at least. And it was a perfect Christmas. My parents worried about the rabbits and my Mom's dainty plants. But the Rabbits had already made burrows in the kitchen garden. Ma loved her plants very much. She had won the ‘Best Garden’ award for three consecutive years and didn’t want to lose that reputation. Though later she had to give away all her precious plants to the local nursery.


Summers were the best time for everyone. We had picnics almost every other weekend. Those were truly good times. “Dimdams” would bite us when we climbed the hills and we were taught to ooze out a little blood from that spot. Otherwise it would keep itching and turn blue. “Dimdams” (a name given by the locals) are a part of the Mosquito family. They breed during the rainy season, May – September. Hill-goats were a common site. They have huge horns but are harmless. We would nicely plug ourselves in the middle of the forestation and open our picnic baskets and share our sandwiches, only with our ‘best friends’!

Life was simple and enjoyable...


PS: Disky was buried in Tenga, after he died of Jaundice.

"Diplomacy"

Sir Winston Churchill was one of the highest Diplomat of his times. He was once asked to define 'Diplomacy'. And he said, "Diplomacy is getting work done, painlessly".
Some people use this to their convenience and go to any extent to get work done. They define diplomacy as 'doing the nastiest things the nicest face'!
Today's scenario -'a fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject'.
Is Diplomacy ethical? Does it involve Manupalation?
What do you think..?