The New London

An email from my husband's inbox, dated Sept 28th 2010:

Hi R,

Kolkata is bracing for Durga Puja. In Delhi the shit and snakes have been cleared and now everything looks fine for the Commonwealth Games. We Indians are the world's best "manage masters".

Mamta-di is in Darjeeling, promising to turn it into Switzerland of India. Since Kolkata will be London and Darjeeling soon to be Switzerland, we Indians will have no need to go abroad. Just take the train, and if the tracks are not blown up by Maoists, you will make it to the vacation hotspots. She is flagging off a new train every week.

Cheers!

A. Mukh.

(Also shared in my Facebook Notes)

Lets have some raunak shaunak/ Lets have some party time

The Bengalis are all for addas and parties - at least our group is. Fridays, saturdays, sometimes sundays. Often pot-luck, or if someone hosts, even better. No cooking for the day. A heavy brunch latish morning, some in-between snack, some unashamed starvation till we arrive at the scene of the party.

We do have our low key comfy gatherings but dancing happens often. The kids leave us to the gyrations and hang out with their groups. Some of them are a tiny bit embarrassed by the mix of indian+western+salsa moves of the adults. But what the heck -

"Lets have some raunak shaunak
Lets have some party now
Lets have some rolla rappa
Lets have some dhol dhamaka
Lets call the dholi now
Lets have some addi tappa......

...... yeh life ki gist
[ And we twist we twist
We twist, we twist.....]

We'll be singing dancing hot romancing
Masti all the time
Any season need no reason
For some place n feeling fine
Here's the party everybody
Move your body
Shake shake......"

But what about meditating on your KARMA in solitude during weekends....or just getting a hang of your inner yang/ yin...

For a while sundays have been just family time for us, and movies with the kids on fridays, and some family tennis and hiking on sunday mornings. But come saturday nights and we start missing the friends and some ......

.....raunak shaunak....some party time...

The week comes in full circle:)

FUNERAL PARLOR OR HOME - SAGA OF THE "BODY"

Our friend's mother is visiting him from his hometown in a progressive village in India. She radiates a natural affection for others that I have seen in my parents and grandparents while growing up, and reminds me of the bygone simple ways of life.

In one of our parties, a group had gathered around a table talking to this lady. The conversation ranged from local Indian politics to how she was enjoying her stay, and if she wanted to move to the States permanently. To which the lady replied in her lilting accent, that she would love to move in with her eldest son sometime in the future, and ultimately be blessed with the good fortune of passing away at his home, surrounded by grandchildren, specially the eldest grandson, and friendly neighbors. (Dying at a son's home is still a privilage in India, and the mortal remains are first brought home before being taken to the funeral home for cremation.)

Her audience of elderly ladies had the option of keeping quiet, agreeing with her, or moving on to some other discussion. But all at once, they started whispering about how the "body" is not brought home in the States. And there was a detailed description of the "body" being left and treated at the funeral parlor.

When will we learn that sometimes silence is golden?