she said... "but can you afford me?"
N she said... "i'm doing alirght... but he's making good money.. so its easier to get married"
she told me... "there is a rush to make money vbv... there is so much to be done... mayb yr in cal.. so yr oblivious to it"
all of this is... so bby... afterall.. the city nvr sleeps... they're always in sucha hurry to do so much... and become something more... and make a difference.. or... err.. as he likes to put it... they always want to live a life.. 2 sizes bigger than their shoes.. with a bigger holiday.. a better car... a fancier dinner... and slightly more exclusive clothing...
and then you pan into kolkota...
with exactly 3 multiplexes.... (bby has tht many on the versova rd)
abt 5 fancy restaurants.. (kol has a million good restaurants… but who are we kidding.. its not abt eating good food… its abt going to a place which is worth dropping a name of… in a conversation J)
and a laid-back life-style that says.. work will happen one of these days… we’ve been working for a very long time… it’s not like we have managed to avoid breathing or eating… life continues as it is… so why not sit-back and enjoy the ride…
nothing… or no-one signifies this better than the editorials on those Telegraph pages… that greet us every morning.
On the day of Bengali new year.. I come across this article.. that traces the history of Bengali sweets… how the eating patterns have evolved over the last 200 yrs… and the main shops that have played a role in introducing new sweets… also how the culture has changed and now the bengali’s have a lesser taste for these things..
It’s amazing… cos this isn’t the only time something like this surfaced in the editorial pages… there were aricles about Pakistan… about cinema… about independence… which were all written in a similar vein.. the important characteristic to note here…
Is the sense of grasp on time… the ability to step back… and take a holistic view of a situation.. and then comment on it… in a third-person… is a charactheristic.. of a very mature culture… similar to what some developed nations & their ancient cities might exhibit.
When you are… surrounded by such grandeur… and greatness… and you see ppl in another city.. (which was yr city) striving to drive a 1.6 ltr car.. instead of a 1.4 ltr car… you wonder… exactly which one of us… has lost the plot on life J
I read an interview of rahul bose… where he said… manhattan… and kolkata were 2 of the most interesting places in the world for him.. somehow I wonder… was he thinking what I’m thinking?
1 comment:
you have become a bong mofo after a short stint in calcutta. dont be taken in by their pseudo-intellect. calcutta is backward, archaic and regressive in all actions and completely the opposite in speech and thought. a city and a state full of thinkers but no doers. people in bombay do take that step back every once in a while. you cannot blame someone for wanting more, for being more materialistic and hence more ambitious and hard working. that is not fair. lastly, please do note that rahul bose, that 2 pence actor, who couldnt make it in the corporate world, who couldnt make it as a sportsman, who couldnt make it as a successful actor, also says this being a bong. i am not even slightly biased against that great state, but i am against their pseudo-intellectualism, which i humbly suggest you don'g get drawn into. please do heed at least some thought to this advice from a stranger. good luck.
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