Life, Musing & Anecdotes

As I walk to office I see…

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
I see the clueless face of the security guards of my building looking unaware of everything…
I see the smarter security guard of the opposite building giving an occasional smile…
I see little kids trying hard to carry their overloaded school bag and run towards their carpool…
I see an old lady serving morning cups of tea to her customers from her stall on wheels…
I see a white hen running in the abandoned land…
I see people looking at their wrist watches and running towards their office…
I see the I-Am-The-Hot-Girl-In-My-Office girl walking wearing large shades and carrying huger bags with her nose held higher…
I see the super market guy sorting out products in his store…
I see the old lady in a torn blue saree cleaning the road…
I see the pack of lazy dogs lying on every available patch of sunshine…
I see the HOPCOMM truck standing occasionally at the corner of the street with fresh veggies laid out…
I see the Just-Another-Girl-In-Office girls walking carrying their lunch boxes, bag, laptop bag and speaking over the phone…
I see the nursing trainees of a nearby hospital flock together and walk at snail’s pace…
I see people yelling at tanker guys for coming late when water supply has stopped…
I see the thin skeleton like women carrying sand and cement to the nearby construction site…
I see the I-AM-The-Rockstar guy on his way to college in his bright jackets, colorful pair of Converse and grooving to the music in his ipod shuffle carefully clipped on his sleeve…
I see tensed and curious relatives of patients walking up and down the lanes near the hospital…
I see sometimes a caring husband holding the hands of his pregnant wife smiling at each other and taking her to the hospital…
I see my colleagues passing by in faster pace…
I see the ever busy main road stagnant with the morning traffic and vehicles honking at each other…
I see a gang of monkeys, at times, walking on the boundary wall of the adjacent school with baby monkeys clutching on to their mothers…
I see people standing outside their office premises and smoking away to glory…
I see an old man sitting on the pavement and selling cigarettes and chewing gums…
I see the frame of a fragile old man with the thickest spects begging on the pavement with his hand laid out…
I see my colleagues whizzing past the driveway and going towards the parking lot of my office…
I see the grumpy face of the fat security guard of my office who asks everyone to wear the ID card as soon as we step inside the gate…
I see the whole fleet of cars parked along the green patches of the office…
I see the receptionist not smiling to anyone….
And I see the clock right above her head and realize… Ohh I am again late… Hope my boss doesn’t see me now… and I enter through another door swiping my card avoiding the boss’s room!!

Image Source : istockphotos

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Bringing home the Goddess of Knowledge (almost forcefully…)

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Being away from home and family becomes tougher when you start missing all the gatherings, social dos, celebrations and mostly all the festivals. Being an Indian I can vouch that we celebrate more festivals than anyone else. I experienced this little depressing feeling a few days back as I kept speaking to my mother over the phone. I had earlier mentioned about my ‘Great Bong Joint Family’ who always get together during celebrations, and my mother’s less attention towards my phone calls and increasing busy schedule for last few days reminded me yes the family was coming together to celebrate one of my favorite festivals – Saraswati Puja. But I realized soon that I can’t be a part of this joyous celebration from miles down south. 🙁


I’ll tell you how I forced Ma Saraswati – the Goddess of Knowledge – to come to my home latter. First let me tell you a little about how I have been celebrating it till a few years.

I remember as kids I and my huge gang of cousins used to get very busy from days ahead of the Saraswati Puja. Every year my dad used to take me to ‘Patuapara’ & ‘Kumartuli’ – these are famous areas in Kolkata popular for idols and the magnificent creativity of the artisans – to chose an idol for our family puja. I obviously had my comments and criticisms on the looks of the idols and only after scrutinizing everything starting from the way the eyes are painted, how the hair is looking, whether the saree is matching with the jewelry the idol is wearing and even if the duck (her ‘vahan’) is looking proper or not did I allow my dad to order the idol. I must have been such a pain for my dad that time! On the eve of the puja flowers were brought in huge baskets from the wholesale market of Howrah for decorating the place. We used to be ready with homemade glue, colored papers and many more items to jump into getting the rooms decked up. Though always strictly warned by elders that we were not supposed stay up the whole night with the excuse of decorating (as this Puja happens in the morning and we had loads to finish in the morning too) they were always happily ignored. But I being the youngest had to bear the brunt and follow the orders. How I hated to go to bed that time when other cousins used to be up [there used to be more gossips and chit chats apart from decorations and I was always told I was too young to be a part of it 🙁].


Last years Puja at my house  
when we had gone for my cousin’s marriage

The morning used to start early with applying haldi [paste of Kancha holud and mustard oil] followed by an early morning shower. This is a must for Saraswati Puja which is held during Vasant Panchami and you can say yellow or ‘basanti’ color is the theme for the Puja. After that it was time to get into the saree – this used to be an experience. Probably the only times when I used to wear sarees those times! 

With sisters

My ‘Great Bong Joint Family’ believes if you are offering something to the god it should be done wholeheartedly loaded with love and care. An idea which I am very fond of. Thus the bhog was prepared by the members of the family. My aunt (pishimoni) leads this contingent of preparing the bhog and I used to be an enthusiast in participating in this department right from my childhood. [May be that’s how I know how to bring taste in food!] We used to prepare all sorts of sweets that are offered during the puja including ‘tiler nadu’ (sesame & jaggery balls), ‘narkol nadu’ (coconut & jaggery balls), ‘mowa’ (made with puffed rice and jaggery), ‘Payesh’, ‘luchi’, ‘sandesh’ and many more. It used to be quite a hectic morning preparing all of these in separate gas stove and utensils which are used only during Pujas! The Puja used to start as soon as the ‘thakurmoshai’ arrived with the ‘Narayan shila’. Offering anjali and sitting infront of the jaggya/hom used to be my favorite times. Since we are Bangals, [those who relocated to western Bengal after the partition in 1905], our special lunch for this day included Illish (hilsha) and many more fishes apart from other Bengali delicacies.

Saraswati Puja is also considered the Valentine’s Day of Bengalis. The scope of interaction increases among boys and girls as the puja is celebrated in schools with one school inviting students from others. Unfortunately I studied in a school that followed the Brahmo Faith (those who don’t believe in idol worshiping) so missed the fun of celebrating either the Puja or the Bong V-Day! 🙁 That was in fact well compensated by the huge family celebration that I had in my home.

Now since I am almost in the other extreme end of the country I can’t be a part of the celebration. As I spoke to my mom and realized they were all getting busy in buying fruits and sarees for the puja (to be offered to the goddess). I thought how can I not offer my prayers to the one who always helped me before the exams and during the exams! I remember how I used to plead her for good marks all throughout my student life till my masters and she always came to my rescue! So a day before the puja I decided there is nothing that can stop me from bringing her to my home. I will celebrate Her home coming in my own little way in which ever way I can. Support came from my mom, husband and my mother-in-law who encouraged me to do the puja. Mom’s words gave me the relief that when I am offering my prayers with my heart and bhakti She will never mind even if the puja was small or not complete with the complex ‘mantras’ and ‘jaggyas’.

So I ran, after the office, to the local market to get fruits and flowers. Thankfully Indro has an idol of the goddess with him otherwise I don’t know if I would have got that here in this city. However, in the local market I saw many helpless Bengali couples who were searching for all the particular things that are required for the elaborate puja. Once back I started with making ‘payesh’ – a sweet item made with milk sooji and sugar and I added jaggery. I knew I’ll never get the time to do that in the morning on a weekday before office. Next was ‘alpana’ or rangoli which is traditionally done with rice paste I chose to do it with rice flower. I missed doing all these without the family but still was happy in my heart that I am atleast doing it. Indro also helped me here and there in filling the designs with the yellow flower petals.



My little celebration


I had to compromise a little on the haldi before the morning bath. I never found ‘Kancha holud’ in the market for which I had to be content with the normal turmeric paste and mustard oil! At 7 in the morning I was thinking since I am married now and have a cupboard full of sarees (which I never wear normally) I should wear a yellow one for the puja. Somehow I pushed Indro to go for a bath at that time when he walked around the house half asleep 🙂. We finally lit the diyas, laid out the fruits, sweets and ‘tiler nadu’ (which I surprisingly got in the store), ‘payesh’ and offered our puja. I was quite surprised that Indro knew some of the mantras. I just told Her in my mind ‘I am welcoming you in my home with my heart don’t go by the arrangements just listen to my prayers and keep coming to us every year’.

My Goddess of Knowledge

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Story of the unfortunate lot

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
The following post is an excerpt from my internship report while doing my masters. This story has been published in Merinews – Citizen Journalism portal and my earlier blog. This is a modified version of it. I also write under the name Sarani Basu, so if you find this content with the same name don’t think it is copied, it is written from a personal experience. I am completely against plagiarism.
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It is sad to say the oldest profession on earth is prostitution. Today as a profession it is growing rapidly in India more than ever. According to The Human Rights Watch, there are approximately 15 million prostitutes in India [it doesn’t include the sophisticated escorts industry]. Alone West Bengal accounts for 26% of the total number of prostitutes in the whole country. Through the ages prostitutes have been shunned and reviled by society in general, and their punishments included stoning, whipping, branding, imprisonment, and death. Their clients, on the other hand, are rarely touched by the law. Many innocent girls are lured into this and many willingly run into it for the easy cash.
We look down upon them and stay as far as possible from them, (I am not talking about the people who enjoy them), but have hardly ever tried to understand them or observe them closely .
Sonagachi, situated in north Kolkata is Asia’s largest red-light area. During an internship with a NGO, I was fortunate enough to visit the place where I interacted with the commercial sex workers for over a month. It takes a lot of time for them to trust you and open up to you with their horrifying stories. This is the place where I came across the disturbing truth of the society which brings a lot of questions in my mind. I have narrated few true stories taken from their lives which speak about their plight. [All names mentioned here are changed as they didn’t wish reveal their actual names].
The population of CSWs in Sonagachi constitutes of Nepalese, Indians and Bangladeshis. Most of them in the age group of 16 – 25 are trafficked into prostitution by their family, relatives or boyfriends. Depending on their looks these girls have different levels of income. The dark skinned, not so good looking ones earn as low as Rs 20 to Rs 30 per customer! While their fair skinned, young, good looking competitors earn in the range of Rs 2000 – Rs 8,000 per client. But they need to pay a portion of their income to their ‘malkins’, or the brothel owners. The list doesn’t end here. Their husbands and the police both demand parts of their income.

I asked Dolly, barely in her 20s, why she joined the profession. She narrated that she had an arranged marriage, but within a month her husband left her at a brothel in Sonagachi so that she can earn money! Her family disowned her and the husband comes every week to collect money from her. In case she hesitates to give him the money she has to undergo immense physical torture.
Pari had another sad story. After her husband, a daily wage labour ran off with another woman, she joined a construction site as a daily labour with a pay of Rs.100 a day. But her job turned into pleasing the men working in the site, every day, starting from the lowest rung workers to the highest rung promoters. “It’s better to come here and earn the same amount from each customer than earning it from a group of men”, laments Pari.
Khushboo, a 23 year old from Nepal said, “My father sold me when I was 15 and since then I am working here.” Many young girls from Nepal are sold in these places by their own parents. And the sole reason is poverty. Their families unable to repay loans from moneylenders sell their daughters so that they can help the family financially.
Most of them are in this profession for food. A CSW who is a mother of two doesn’t know where to feed her children from. Her husband doesn’t want to work so she had to sell her body to feed her children. There are quite a number of girls who are tricked by their lovers with promises of marriages and finally they end up here. Women who came from areas near Bangladesh border said, their husbands and in-laws knew what they did but didn’t have any objection since they are the only earning members of the family. Their husbands on the other hand are lazy to work so they send their wives forcefully. On top of that they are tortured if they show unwillingness to give money for their alcohol.
Along with these women their children also suffer as they grow in the same environment. Many sex workers have brought in their daughters along with them in the profession. But Nandini, a 25 year old has sent her two children in a posh boarding school, her children know that their mother works in the city but are unaware of her profession. For me that is a brave move that she has taken. At least she is saving her children from this dirty trade by providing them good education and keeping them far away from the dirt.
All of these women are victims of hunger, poverty and illiteracy. They are poorly fed, overworked and suffering from various diseases with absolutely no knowledge of hygiene. Thankfully, there are some non-profit organizations who try to educate them on health and hygiene and keep doing health check-ups from time to time. When West Bengal is opening its door to new economies, when the IT sector is booming why is the society so cruel to this unfortunate lot? People from all ranks of the society visit them. Starting from police, to politicians, businessmen to college students all take pleasure from them but still no one cares for them.
I Cry but can you hear me?
Image Source: Flicker [http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/4101206359_aafe7ce624.jpg]

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When I get ‘eve-teased’ by kids!

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Post my marriage we moved into this apartment complex after days of tiresome house hunting. The biggest relief for me was its proximity to my office, it is only a 10 minute walk (no wonder I wake up so late).
Now ever since we moved in Indro has been asking me that we should go and introduce ourselves to our neighbors so that we get to know them and the other way round. But the lazy soul I am, I haven’t got the time to do that as yet. It is somehow not only about time and being lazy but I kind of feel very weird that I suddenly knock on some ones door and start the I-am-your-new-neighbor story. I know I’ll find it weird if someone did that to me.
My new married life in my new home had just started off in peace till I got a ring on my doorbell one fine evening. I ran to open the door, leaving Facebook behind, thinking it might be my husband and I’ll be the good wife and welcome him for a change (all inspired by our Bollywood). But when I opened the door there wasn’t any soul nearby. I thought it must be some kid playing a prank. I had seen quite a lot of kids playing in and around the building. I returned back to my room and resumed chatting with a long lost friend from school. After a few minutes the bell rang again. This time also there was no one. After few more such bell ringing I stopped attending the door.
Next evening, same bell ringing resumed. After getting myself fooled for the first time, I stopped opening the door from then on. This soon became a routine and I stopped attending doors in the evening when I am not expecting anyone. Indro also often gets fooled in similar fashion. He has come up with a new ideology for this according to which I should go and start playing with the kids and make friends with them. I say that’s a bad idea! And even for that I need to sight them first near my door. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get hold of the prankster(s) as yet. L
One evening when we were about to go out for shopping I saw a little boy with loads of excitement in his eyes running towards our door. But his timing was bad (if I assume he is the one playing pranks) as I happened to open the door before he did anything. The expression on his face was a sight to look at. That small little soul – all of just 3 feet – didn’t even understand what to do, so he just flashed a smile and fled! So far this is my only luck in sighting my prospective ‘eve-teaser’! [I must say this is a better ‘eve-teasing’ than the other notorious one – let me clear here I mean eveing teasting and not ‘Eve-teasing’].
But I can’t complain much on this. I remember when I was a kid the ground floor apartment of our building was still vacant and I loved to ring the bell whenever I passed that area. Once when we were returning home after a dinner and waiting for the elevator to come down, I rang the bell of the ground floor apartment almost at 1130 in the night! To my surprise one old fellow answered the door in a half asleep state. I was totally unaware if anyone had moved in there. My dad apologized to the poor fellow and I was left red faced! You can guess what I must have got after that from my parentsJ. Thankfully the poor old man didn’t yell at me for waking him up at the middle of the night!
But I was good enough to not repeat such an incident again, but these pranksters in my apartment don’t seem to be that good. All you little Munchkins I know how exciting it is to play pranks, but at least be a little generous towards some poor beings like us at times! I hope one day they get tired of ringing bells!

I guess this is what they think after each ring!



Image Source: istockphotos

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Its Time for a Change

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

Its time for change everywhere this new year. My Linked In profile is prompting me that 12 of my connections have changed their jobs in the last 2 months!! (I am not thinking on that line though, I’ll again have to search for a house!J). A simple change which I am thinking right now is a better name for my blog. I am quite bored with the earlier name. How about The Sunny Side of Life… it sounds better to me. J Thus a new template for the blog, I loved the color – a facelift for my digital scribbling pad!
We have become so mechanized these days – guess our parent’s era had a lot of free time which they enjoyed in leisure. I somehow can’t switch off myself completely and rest. My mind is always busy with a hundred things even when I am not working. I am planning so many things now that I wish to do in the near future.
1.    My Recipe Blog –
I started brushing up my culinary skills in Bangalore (what else can you do when you are miles away from good home cooked food!). And to everyone’s surprise I managed to whip up many tasty spreads with absolutely no previous experience in cooking. Thanks to all the beautiful compliments from my friends and colleagues which encouraged me to try out different recipes.  Now that I try to keep my hubby (who loves continental food as much as I do), happy I try out recipes from all the corners of the globe and have mastered on many. All thanks to the beautiful programs on TLC & BBC Entertainment and my love for travelling. Thus my plan is to share the recipes which are my renditions of the popular ones as well as of some authentic bong food (Bong food is quite popular down south). But the bong recipe’s credit should go to my mom because she is an absolute gem when it comes to cooking. I have a nice name in mind also for this blog.
2.  Home Décor –
The new house I moved into looks very nice and neat to the guests whom we have hosted so far. I’ll reveal the secret – its minimalism. I have tried to use as less of items as possible so that it looks more spacious. But now I am in mood for some experiments. Since this is a rented apartment I can’t get a wall splashed with colors and textures (I’d love to do it when I have my own house). I can’t hang my paintings also as most of my oil paintings (the good ones) are adorning the walls of my house in Kolkata. Let’s see what I can get to make my house look more vibrant and cheerful. That calls for an artistic shopping trip to some lifestyle store! That would be interesting.
I am awestruck with the wall! Image: Google Images
3.   Knowing my city better –
I have been staying in this city for 3 years now, but I am so hopeless that I haven’t been to most of the popular places in Bangalore city. The excuse of being busy with work doesn’t sound nice anymore. My parents finished visiting almost every famous spots in the city within 1 week, and I couldn’t do half of it in three years! It sounds terrible. What have I been doing??? So I’ll have to visit Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore Palace, Tipu Sultan’s Palace, Cubbon Park, Bangalore Museum, Nandi Hills, Innovative City, Lumbini Gardens… I think it’s a long list. Please suggest me if there are anymore. So far I have seen only ISKCON, Wonderla and almost all shopping areas! However, this 26th Jan I finally visited the famous flower show in Lalbagh.
I’ll have to visit the palace Image: Google Images
4.   Explore Karnataka –
 This list is similar to the earlier one. I have always loved travelling. Though my dad keeps a very busy schedule, he always made sure that every year we took at least two breaks for a relaxed holiday. It sounds very funny that my passport is full with visas from more than 15 nations but I never took out time to explore what my current state has to offer. The only places in Karnataka that I have visited are Hampi & Mangalore. As I am writing this I am feeling so disgusting about myself. Within this year or the next I’ll try to visit all the attractions that the state as to offer.
I haven’t even seen the Jog Falls! Image: Google Images
5.   Travel in train –
I have been reading a lot on how our Railways got a facelift under the various Rail ministers. This is a longtime wish now, I have not travelled in train in the last 12 years (apart from some local trains from Kolkata to Chinsura where my Aunt stays, and all posh trains across Europe & Egypt). I loved travelling in trains when I was a kid when we used to go for vacations. It was a different fun altogether to laze around in the comfortable coupe and stare at the racing fields outside. The need for saving time and convenience killed the whole fun of a leisure travel. Though everyone enjoys upgrading to a flight and fly to the destination in hour’s time, I feel restless being confined to a single seat and wait till you are free outside. It is even boring when you are travelling alone for a long distance and have a stopover in between. But I am always forced to take the flight because the company approves leaves like a miser and I am not left with an option of wasting 36 hours for one way to Kolkata. But next time when I am visiting home, I’ll try and come back by train. [I can bring more stuffs from home and as much of Rosogolla and Mishti Doi as I want, and no one can take that away!] J
Image: Google Images
6.   Get back into the dancing shoes –
Dance is the first love of my life. It was a hobby which turned into passion with time and it is dance which had given me recognition when I was a professional dancer in a very famous troupe in the city. Graduation, Post Graduation and now work has taken away the life of a dancer from me. My mom hates me for that. I know she will be the happiest if I start dancing again. It was my sweet mother who had introduced me to the beautiful world of dance. I remember she used to take me to dance classes every Saturday. I started dancing from the age of three! And got introduced to kathak when I was in my first standard. But truly I started loving dance the day I won my first competition at the age of 6 (it was on the famous Rabindra Sangeet “Ama Shobai Raja”- a favorite with all young dancers). I still remember how amused I was to see the audience in Kalamandir, (a famous cultural auditorium in Kolkata) after my name was announced and how I got a cold feet in collecting my prize in front of so many people. Thankfully didn’t recognize the number of people while I was performing as it was all dark on the other side, otherwise I don’t know if I could have danced at all that day! All along my school life days started quite early with dance practice and swimming then school and then back to dance school for n number of rehearsals before shows and dance tours. So my plan is to start dancing once again taking time out from my current busy schedule – not for anyone else but for myself, to make myself happy.
In one performance
There are in fact many more plans which keeps on appearing in mind like taking up a foreign language, brushing up on my driving skills (I think I have forgotten after three years), even learning how to ride a scooty but for now I just hope I can do the above six successfully. 
Image: Google Images

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We deliver in 30 mins or else its FREE!

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
This ’30 Minutes Guarantee’ is a very famous claim from the leading pizza chain Dominos. It’s not a bad bargain either specially when you are a hungry customer. But I hardly believed in such claims, as they are all marketing gimmicks, until the day I experienced it myself.
I and my ever so hungry (for good food) friends in PG had a typical routine for the weekends when we excused ourselves from the kitchen. Both me and my roomy being complete shopaholics mostly used to be out somewhere for our ‘retail therapy’ on weekends. One fine evening after a tiring shopping spree we thought of treating ourselves with our very favorite cheese burst. Being a regular with the pizza joint we just had to order and everything else was taken care of.
While we eagerly waited for the pizza and enjoyed some dance reality show in TV I just glanced over the flier and my eyes caught the small 30 Minutes Guarantee claim at the corner. I looked at the time and there came a naughty grin on my face – it was over some 45 minutes. When I shared the news with my friends we all had one question- Is it possible? [Who would mind a delicious pizza for free! But somehow I felt there will be some conditions applied somewhere.]
Finally when the delivery boy came around 50 minutes later, after placing the order, there was a little confusion within us on who will ask him for the free pizza clause! I being ever ready to open my big mouth went ahead. The poor fellow looked at our faces, then the bill to check the order time and said “Okay mam, you get the order for free, Enjoy your pizza!” I looked at him with a straight face and thought ‘really?’  I felt probably we were among the lucky few customers to get such a deal!
But as soon as he left, my friend uttered “they actually gave it for free!” to that I replied “good that they stick to their claim, how does it matter we got it for free, we should enjoy!” Right after that the three of us started having the same thought in mind – what if Dominos penalized the delivery boy for this? What if they deduct the money from his salary? Suddenly a guilt feeling sunk in all of us. I stared at the pizza box and felt we should call the delivery guy back and pay him. But when we opened the gate to look for him he was already gone.
Image Courtesy: Google Images
To be very frank it became little difficult to enjoy the pizza with this guilt of having someone else getting penalized for it. We decided on calling up Dominos customer care to find out if they deducted the amount from their salaries for such incidents. Only after their assurance we could finally enjoy our pizza that night.
I know that there are many more customers, who must have enjoyed this freebie. A month back when I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut, [I have changed my house and so has the proximity to Dominos], I noticed that the hot dot was missing from the box [for those who don’t know – Pizza Hut also has a similar claim, if the hot dot promise mark on the box is missing you can claim the pizza for free]. I could have claimed that pizza for free, but I dint mention it to the delivery boy. I didn’t want to spend time later feeling guilty.
The marketing gimmicks at times come to life. How we wait for such a thing to happen, but when it actually takes place sometimes you face a bigger question – How do they give something for free so easily? Is it at someone else’s cost? Thankfully this time it wasn’t at the cost of anyone innocent.
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