A Gastronomic Delight!!!

If there is something, the Bengalis love ... its FOOD!
And I am no different...

In my younger days, I was not much of an eater... but that has completely changed... This of course is very much visible by exxxxtra lards of FAT that I have put on...
Awwwwww... come on; Give the girl a break... who doesn’t like good food?????
Nonetheless, recently on one of my rare, dine out experiences.... I went to the restaurant, 'Oh Calcutta!' at Forum Mall.

We had a table reserved, so were ushered in immediately... (Not that there would have been a problem if we didn’t reserve... coz we were quite early... compared to the standard 'bong' dinner time, and only a few table were taken...)

I had done the reservation in my friend’s name… (He was unaware… & was pretty surprised at this latest development… (Ha ha)

As soon as we entered... the door closed on the din outside… I felt transported somehow…
Soft, melodious, instrumental music, filled my ears with their refrain… the light was just right… the off-white upholstery teamed with the woodwork looked extremely pleasing to the eye… the ambience perfectly balanced & classy…I breathed in filling my lungs with the mouth-watering smell, wafting from a passing food tray…

We were shown to a quite table at the corner of the 'non-smoking section'...
The chairs were pulled out with utmost courtesy for the lady.Preference of water asked & the elaborate menu cards handed over...

I just wanted to get the ‘ordering bit’ out of the way… so we poured over the elaborate menu…
No… actually, I didn’t, because I already knew what I wanted… having had it before…
I waited till my undecided friend froze his choices…

Having ordered food, we unanimously voted for “Aam porar Shorbot’ as the official drink of the evening!!!

As, the waiters left… I took a deep breath, settled back into my chair…and looked around… the cozy couches looked inviting… after a day’s work…but I knew that it was difficult to sit there & eat…

My poor friend who is not used to my surprises…asked me in an amazed tone… “You booked the table in my name??? When did you do it??”

“Ah ha!! Surprised you didn’t I?? I made the reservations in the afternoon…Coz I knew, I would be verrrrrrrrrrry hungry & would not like to wait…” I said impishly, winking at him… He laughed…

As we sat chitchatting about our respective lives, the gentleman serving our table, came with our Cool-green ‘Shorbot’… & and some roasted makhanas with curry leaves… “Some munchies for you…” he said, setting the bowl down in front of me… I must have been really looking famished…!!!

I stopped talking … digging into the bowl for a generous helping!!! My friend just shook his head & laughed…!!! I pushed the bowl towards him… “Khao…” “No .. You carry on..” he said pushing the bowl back… I shrugged & resumed munching…(HUH... BIG deal!!!)



Well we talked some more…I finished the bowl of munchies…down to the last curry leaf…I fiddled with my ever-faithful camera & tried taking a creative shot…



And then the starter arrived… ‘Prawn Kabiraji’… My mouth open in a silent ‘o’ looking at the size of the stuff…it was huge… no wonder, the waiter, when asked, said it’s sufficient for two…!!! It was suffice for four!! They halved the dish & served it to us… Well… it was not that great to taste… there was so much egg in it that I could hardly taste the prawn part… I set aside half & managed to eat half…I wanted space in my tummy for the main course…!!!

The Main course arrived…the white boat shaped bowl of steamed rice… Thakurbarir Chingri Malaikari & Aam Kashundi Kakra…ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
The food served… the waiter receded once again…& I dug in… mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…the aroma of blended aam – kashundi & ginger teased & tantalized my taste buds!!!! The ‘tok-mishti’ taste of Aam with the pungent flavour of kashundi was absolutely lip-smacking!


I could feel the delighted smile that spread across my face…

My friend, thankfully was not too fond of Crabs… so I gleefully had the whole thing to myself… (Damn… that really sounds mean… however, as Tom Cat says…“BUT I AM HAPPYYYYY!!”) I simply love this dish… I generally love to eat shelled crabs…& crack them open myself… but I didn’t want to freak out my friend so I stuck to the de-shelled version.

The portions were quite big…My friend managed to polish off the whole malaikari & the rice…not so with me… I had from the beginning set aside a large portion of the crab… the typical bong that I am... I love taking doggy bags home… (So what??? Waste not want not, is my motto!!)

I tasted just a spoon of the Malaikari gravy… it was nothing exceptional… the original recipe had just been tweaked around with the addition of vegetables… Not being fond of veggies myself… I preferred the traditional version that my Ma makes in her kitchen… (I keep telling her to open a restaurant… it will be a runaway HIT!!!)

I have a badddd sweet tooth… & it was quite impossible for me to end this exotic culinary exposure without having a bite of something sweet…I had just enough place left in my tummy for that…I ordered for a caramel custard…. my all time favourite, my friend chose a mundane butterscotch ice-cream…

I was happily full… the waiter brought my doggy bag… & another got the ‘sweet paan’ as a mouth freshener...

I wanted to pay the bill … but my friend would have non of it… (MCP… But I loved the gesture…)
I chewed on the paan, while the bill transaction was made… & then we left…( had difficulty moving… ha ha ha ha!!)

A great atmosphere… Good company & great food… Altogether a GREAT evening!!!
Here’s to many more!!!!

My First Show as an Emcee!!

Well.... they say 'There's always a first time....' & I couldnt agree more...
I was doing, what I do best... trying to put an event together and manage it...
It was the Music Launch of Surma Dohar's 1st album 'Piriter Bondhu Re'...
I had called the press for this...Print & Electronic Media...
Every thing was going fine... I requested my colleague, Susmita, to emcee the event, since there was no emcee available... (she very obligingly agreed...She took great interest...even came & discussed points with us) She is one of those typical bengali girls... (Overtly)saccharine... coy... pretty... anddd....she sings...(Good heavens!!! FULL PACKAGE!!)
I was happy with the way things were going... but alas!!! Maybe I was happy too soon...
Just the day before the event... when, I sent an official communication to our designated emcee... Susmita...(poor thing... had a cold feet!!!!) She refused to do the event...
Her logic..." Babaaa, taarpor kono gondogol holey , tora amakei aashey dhorbi...!!"
UH..huh!!! (BIIIIG Trouble)... She was the only one in the goddamned office who could speak proper Bengali... (as in, use typical big words..)
Oh no... dont start with me... yeh I am a bengali too...so what??
ANYWAY... I became quite harressed & stressed out due to this... (and something else, which I rather not discuss...) It suddenly seemed to me that the whole world had united against me...(me???? what did I do?)
I got absolutely no help from anyone...
I bit my lip... took a deep breath & gauged the situation...
I was never a so called 'girl guide'.. but as an event manager.. I strictly believe in their moto 'Be Prepared' (I wasn't really prepared for this...) but the show must go on...
I discussed it with a couple of my colleagues... well... you could say that they supported me... they knew, they had no option... (Ha ha ha)
AND I BECAME... KHUDIRAM ...(Baar kheye!!!)
I decided to Emcee the event myself... (Damnnnnnn!!! can you beat that???)
I warned everyone that .. I will do the anchoring in English...
Here I am .. at Octane Lounge... waiting for the press to arrive... mentally preparing myself to face the crowd...
Discussing a point with our creative guy... (he has landed me in a big mess this time... with the mistakes on the invites...will scalp him one of these days...!! If only he was not such a helpful guy...)

Light... Sound.. Camera .... ACTION!!
'Good Evening Ladies & Gentlemen.....Thank you all for being here...'
I stepped into shoes... I had never worn before...
I wondered whether my voice quivered... I wondered whether my hands shook... I felt numb inside....
The lights, (thankfully...) were too bright... It blinded me...I couldn't see the anyone... perhaps this helped me to break the ice...
I actually, dont remember when... I smoothly, switched over to 'Bangla' for the announcements...

I introduced the band... happy to hand the mic over to people who are comfortable with it...

Taking a breather... Sharing the sofa with the guest of Honour... Arjun Chakraborty... I am really impressed with him... very professional and a thorough gentleman....

With the emceeing out of the way... it was party time...Chilling, with a glass of Vodka & Pinapple juice... with Susmita, the lady who almost became the emcee... welllll....I told you she was sweet... Didnt I?
My pillars... Shouvik & Roopal (ie. SHAADA KALO!!) they are the ones who encouraged me to do the emcee bit... (so if I was good.... thank them.... if I was bad.. blame them... Ha ha ha!!!!)
My friend who came to boost my morale... thank you love.. even though you came in a tad too early for the NEXT event!!! (but... I have since loooong stopped trying to teach her....the value of being on time... she looooves being fashionably late!!!)

With Shouvik & the team members of Surma Dohar... thanks guys... without you I would not have know that this side of me, exists... (especially Joy... thank you for the encouragement....)With Shouvik... Joy... Pota.. Roopal.... at the end of the party...!!! (UFFFF.. Roopal... next time we have a party... please do wear a light coloured shirt... at least we will be able to make you out in the dark....Heeeeeeeeeee... Just Kidding..)
Everyone had a great time... the band members were elated with the press coverage they got...
Some people even said... that my emceeing was so effortlessly done that they didn't even realize that I was not a seasoned emcee....(true or not I dont know.. but it really felt great to hear this...!!)
As the saying goes....Alls well that ends well!!!

KOLKATA (Part 4) Nandan chottor

Month of May & its hot as Hades… as usual I was waiting for an opportunity to write something more about My City Of Joy…
Soon enough I took a break from my mundane work and hightailed to the place I wanted write about… as I stepped off the taxi… I felt a sense of familiarity…
Nandan… the first multiplex… the pride of the ‘Buddhijibis’ of Kolkata… was inaugurated by Satyajit Ray on 2nd September 1985.



The Logo of this theatre was also designed by the versatile Oscar winning Director… Satyajit Ray, himself…




The blue grey building with its surrounding moat looks more like Fort Knox than a theatre… that however has never stopped people from visiting the place.



Even today with the glitz & glamour of the Fames & Inoxes of the world…the young Kolkatans happily queue up at the Nandan ticket counter, or sometimes just pass time 'bird-watching'... & chatting...


A Statue at Nandan....









I have been visiting Nandan, for a donkey’s years now…
The first time I went there, was with my Dad & bro to watch
‘The Little Mermaid’… (one of my all time Disney favourites… I have it on DVD at home & still watch it sometimes…
However, it was in my College days… (Since my college was a stone’s throw away…) that I used to hang out here with my college gang. We actually had only two regular places to go… one was the Sugar & Spice outlet next to our college & the other was Nandan… Life wasn’t really so complicated those days…We used to sit at Sugar & Spice with

just one mushroom turnover between the 8 (Debarati, Soumita, Rituparna, Raktima, Chaitali, Chandrima, Sunetra & me) of us… We bought tickets worth Rs.5/- @ Nandan… they used to be printed on brown paper… Yes… ofcourse we had to, kind of crane our necks to see the movie… this is where I actually learned the meaning of ‘larger than life’!! (ha ha ha) I have seen, some fantastic movies here… like ‘ Love and war’ based on the life of Ernest Hemingway…(and drooled over Chris O’ Donell… while being jealous of Sandra Bullock…)
‘English August’… (giggled appreciatively over Rahul Bose’s butt…)
Hey…Sometime back I repeated this feat… drooling over another male anatomy while watching ‘Casino Royale’… aaaaahhhh… Daniel Craig is lip-smackingly delicious… the rest is better left to the female imagination…
I have also watched a special screening of ‘Ice Age’ with Boo, Putu & Vickey…I remember watching ‘A.I’ (Artificial Intelligence) here with my friend, Vishal and embarrassing the poor guy by crying buckets…‘Kailashey Kelenkari’ a Feluda film by Sandip Ray was screened here which I saw with my friend & sparring partner, Suman… He is photography buff… & after watching this movie… he is just dying to go to Ajanta – Ellora caves…
Nandan is still surrounded by greenery… but what I really found disappointing, was that the openness that the place had, while I was in College had somehow vanished… I remember, whiling away all our free periods here, just sitting on the ledge of the moat… eating, chatting… (with Debarati… the most outspoken of our bunch even passing comments at some people…) This place has now been barricaded with iron grills & trees… on both sides leaving only the narrow walk-way…
There used to be a group of guys who frequented this place… not that we ever interacted with them… I just remembered because one of them, used to whistle beautifully… not at women… but simply whistle away full, well-known songs… it was always wonderful to hear him…




I moved past the ticket counter…coming out of the side gate of Nandan… We used to have bhelpuri here, during college…

As I walked towards Academy of Fine Arts… nicknamed simply ‘Academy’ by the residents of the city… I saw the banyan tree around which stump-like structures have been made… for the people to sit down… chat or grab a cuppa from the stall nearby.

The site for the Academy of Fine Arts was chosen by Lady Ranu Mookerjee the next day, on the behest of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. The building for the Academy of Fine Arts was built during 1959-1960 with funds


from the Chairman of the Academy's Board of Trustees.The Academy, holds art exhibitions, theatres & related worshops on a daily basis… I cannot say that I have been here much… infact… if I remember correctly…only once to watch a play with my parents… & I don’t remember much of it…
I walked further down… My eyes kept darting this way and that trying to absorb whatever I saw..

The zigzag branches of this 'almost-bare-leafed' tree made a stark picture... I shot it from across the street...

The Fairy atop the gaint marbel dome of Victoria Memorial can be seen above the foliage....

A group of different trees growing from the same place.... the difference can be made out from the trunks...

Passing by the ‘Parish Hall’ (commonly called ‘Paris hall’ by the Bengalis) & grounds of St. Paul’s Cathedral… This place, too holds a lot of memories for my schooling years… this was where the yearly ‘C.E.L Fete’ used to be held… we used to go there nearly every year… my brother & I used to love the ‘wild fire stall’ and Santa’s visit…. It always felt like a Christmas fantasy… those were wonderful years… before innocence was replaced by cynicism…

As I walked through the gates of the Cathedral…peace seeped in… the hustle-bustle of the world outside the gate, faded into an oblivion… it was almost as if I had stepped into another world… in the fast fading light of the dusk, it seemed that the tall trees, on both sides of the path leading to the doors of the Church, stood fortifying, like silent, dark, sentinels, trying to shield the Cathedral from the influences outside…
I could not hear the screeching of the bus tyres, as it ground to a halt at the bus stop… I could not hear the blaring of the horns, as the movement of heavy traffic continued on the main road… I could not hear the cries of the bus conductors as they called out to people…
I stood looking at the beautiful Cathedral for sometime…

The building was initiated by Bishop Wilson in 1839 and was completed in 1847. The Architecture is in Gothic Revival Style with stained glass windows and two frescos in Florentine Renaissance Style .
A military engineer working with Bengal Engineer's Association, Major William Nairn Forbes , designed the cathedral with the assistance of C.K.Robinson, modelling the tower and spire upon the Norwich Cathedral.

The tower, as it stands today, was rebuilt along the lines of Bell Harry Tower in Canterbury Cathedral following the 1934 Calcutta earthquake. The wide imposing structure is quite a beautiful peace of architecture… with its central spires kissing the sky...The church is 247 ft. in length and 81 ft. in width and the tower is 201 ft. high

The orangish-red patch of flowers in the front

of the building creates a wonderful contrast… the flowers bend in the mild breeze…as if offering a prayer at The Almighty’s alter… the last rays of the setting sun rays hug the Spires almost as if it is reluctant to depart… the chirping of the birds sound like a choir singing the Lord’s Hymn…

As I move to enter the church… My eyes fall on a notice outside… ‘Photography Prohibited’… I was a bit upset… but then I realised... that anyone who want to feel the presence of Our Lord has to come here, himself...

As I entered.. My breathe caught in awe...The large hall... with extremely high ceiling.... the rows of beautiful wodden pews with chairs.... the large stained glass windows.... the intricately done artwork...

The Lord's Alter shone with a radiance....some people just sat on the chairs staring.... some sat kneeling, their hands clasped in a prayer and heads bent in supplication... while a few others went about lighting candles... I wish I could capture these moments... Time was running out , so I could not explore much.... I promise to be back...

While coming out of the gate I saw some Film shooting going on ... so I had to wait for a few minutes...that is when this tree caught my eye...

it made a nice picture.....

Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, inaugarated, the Planetarium 2nd July 1963... I remember going there with my uncle & cousins for the solar system show... & being totally starstruck....!!!!

As I entered through the colonial styled gates of this newly rechristaned & landscaped park... I let go of the reins on my imagination, and let it gallop... wild & free... just like Shadowfax... the Silver gray Stallion of Gandalf the White...

The name of the garden' Mohor Kunja' pained on a dead wood trunk.... I found it quite innovative...

A small Bridge... (to cover the drainage pipe canal) a nice touch...

Awwwwwww... now thats a cute touch... will definately guide the young citizens to throw their popcorn packets in the proper place...

Dancing in the evening breeze... a bunch of Sunflowers....

A Gaint Sunflower......I have never seen one soooo BIGGG....!!!!

The Sunflowers dance in the foreground... the central watch tower of the St. Pauls Cathedral can be seen in the background, from across the street... looks like a scene from an English countryside doesnt it?

Castle atop a hill.... In the light of fading dusk...with the high spires touching the sky....I dont know why but this photo reminds me of Macbeth Castle @ Inverness...

The whorling clouds in the sky reminded me of the eye in the cinematic adaptation of J.R.R.Tolkien's 'Lord Of the Rings'.....
the red,glowing, sinister, lidless, all seeing 'Eye of Sauron'...

Two for Joy... as the two Mynahs sit on the smooth extended arm of the tree, it reminds me of the 'Ents'..., fictional race of talking humanoid trees from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world of the Middle earth especially 'Treebeard'....who helped the hobbits, Pipin & Merry.

Couples cozy up on the oranate benches of the park....

The tall straight trunk of a tree

The Flying 'V' ... a flock of migratory birds fly high over the city.... I wonder if they can see me...

A lamp-post created in old english cast...

Tata Centre & Everest House .. seen here from the park...The towering sky-scrapers... a sign of advancement.... or is it constraint of space due to overpopulation???

The lush green carpet of grass is laced with small feathery tufts of 'Kash Phool'... a peice of dead wood rests in the centre

A beautiful, Golden yellow Sunflower stands out in its perfect symmetrical glory ....

"All things bright and beautiful... All creatures great and small...All things wise & wonderful....The Lord, God made them all..." We used to sing this song in school... but perhaps I understood its real meaning as I took this parting shot....

The sight of the stripe-bellied, buzzing bee on the radiant flower... with the dotted, yellow pollen grains on brown central disc florets... was as near to perfection as I could ever get....!!!