My first impression was of the green lawns lined precisely by those white and red painted bricks and the unending lines of the three tonners and two tonners. This was a world alien to me. This was the OG world to which my husband belonged. Coming from an entirely civil background, I had no clue as to what I had let myself in for. And my husband had done nothing to alleviate my ignorance. When our train reached Jammu, my husband remarked that there might not be anyone to receive us at the station. I smiled wryly. Who did he expect? With the smile of a self-conscious, newly married husband, he scurried out. I scanned the platform to breathe in the place where I was to start married life. My gaze was riveted by the sight of a group of OG uniformed jawans all lined up. A bewildered anticipation welled up in me. My husband re-entered the coach. He had changed from a self-conscious newly married husband into OC, workshop. “These jawans are from my workshop. My CO has sent them an...
My husband handed me something. “Your tickets for the Queen of hill stations”, he said. I looked down. “Oh Ooty,”I looked and felt disappointed. When families all across were on a ‘going abroad for a small holiday’ trip, Ooty was like falling down from a peak. .... From Chennai we were to travel to Mettupalayam, which would be a good 9 ½ hours. From there we were to board the narrow gauge ‘Toy train’. I was told it would be a novel experience for our seven-year-old son and us. It sure was. When we reached the station we found the train already packed. It was on first come first served basis. But our persistent efforts paid off in the end. We were bundled into a coach full of luggage. Another family like ours also managed to squeeze in. thus began our sojourn heavenwards with our feet failing to touch the ground. I cannot put down on paper the thrill of clutching onto something, more tangible than my husband’s hand, for safety with one hand whilst a finger of the other was pressed onto ...
Scanning the newspaper for tributes to the great Bengali Bard, Rabindranath Tagore , I came across a presentation by Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee . And my mind raced back to an evening in the past; an evening of recitations and songs I had experienced in Bengal Club .(please note the word experienced) a year back. A friend of ours had invited both of us, husband and wife, to this musical evening in honour of the Bard. Being used to spending the evening watching Himesh Reshmaiya snorting out popular numbers or watching with mounting disbelief the progression of the fast paced, nailbiting episodes of Indian Idol( we live very ordinary lives) , we were a bit apprehensive of what the evening had in store for us. Amongst the performers were Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee himself,singer Pramita Mullick , theatre personality Bijoylakshmi Burman , actors Arindam Sil, Chaitee Ghoshal, Parambratta Chatterjee amongst others. There were English renditions of various poems and plays. The English translations...
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