Used to be that my earliest blog posts were so much more interlaced with humour..reading through a few of them reminds me gently that sometimes I wrote assuming I was the greatest funny writer available on the planet when I wasn't... at other times I'd say I've managed to frame a few lines of brilliant humour that even now strikes me as not too bad at all...
But of late my posts have been less funny. In fact they haven't been funny at all..if funny was dynamite, then the funny in my last fews posts would be hard pressed to blow the kneecap off a mosquito... In fact, the last funny post on my blog was I recall not when, BUT,( to rhyme with duh! as George put it so well in his review of Wanted) I do appreciate good humour when I come across it and in recent blogdom nothing has come quite so close as these examples of fine funny writing one a movie review as only George Thomas could write it..and the other a muse out loud on the names of scandinavian kings by one of the sharpest minds I've had the misfortune of not interacting too much with - Kunal Sawardekar
Read, and enjoy!!!
Showing posts with label Humour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Humour. Show all posts
November 12, 2009
October 08, 2008
Thakumar Jhuli
Eons of Bengali youngsters have been weaned on stories from this definitive treasure trove of fantasia, which translated means "Grandmother's Bag" and we (my sister and I) were no different. For us however, more fertile memories are linked with the teller of these tales, our Thamoni (which is the nick/moniker by which we addressed our grandmother) whose bed time story telling sessions were a great hit with us.
This post is a long due tribute to one of my closest friends.
Dr. Rajlukhsmee Debee Bhattacharya was born in Mymensingh, Bangladesh in 1927. She did her schooling in Mymensingh and then in Calcutta. Being a stellar student and Gold Medallist in B.A and M.A from Calcutta University (which in her times for a woman, was a real big deal!!). She later earned her doctorate from Pune University in philosophy, and taught Philosophy at IIT Kharagpur, Fergusson College, and N.Wadia College,Pune , where she retired as the HOD of the Department of Philosophy. All this while she was also a very active Bengali poet , one of the few pravasi Bengali poets of note (Pravasi being the Bengali term for non-resident Bengalis-She was based out of Pune since 1952). She was a recipient of the Prestigious Bhuban Mohini Dasi Medal from Calcutta University for her contribution to Bengali literature. She was also a noted translator of poetry from Bengali to English and English to Bengali, and had traveled abroad extensively to many conferences where she shared her expertise and experience in the finer nuances of the very difficult but very critical art of translation.
She was tremendously dynamic,phenomenally creative, inspirational,a killer cook, brilliant, open minded, youthful and refreshing to interact with but most of all she was a very loving person. When I was doing my engineering at the College of Engineering Pune (from 1999 -2003), She was my confidante and counsel. Whether it was studies related advice, or guidance on extracurriculars or generally helping me sort out personal issues, from Applied mechanics, engineering drawing and quantum physics to texture of brush strokes in the artwork of certain artistes to heated discussions on whether R.K. Narayan deserved the Nobel prize in literature or not (I thought he did, she thought not), whether "Dil Chahta hai" was really the awesome movie I though it was (She felt that despite the well portrayed urban glitz the movie ultimately lacked substance). That there was almost a 60 year difference in our ages wasn't apparent to me at most times, when it did, it struck me with a mixed sensation of awe that said i-hope-i-have-half-the-energy-she-does-when-i-get-to-her-age.
And while this post is hardly adequate to convey the loss I or indeed most members of my family felt when she passed away on a February morning three years ago, it will serve to underscore that her memory lingers on, as does her legacy.
As I was rummaging through my files the other day I saw some handwritten translations of short children's verses by Thamoni. Interestingly, the illustrations for this work in progress were done by yours truly (and therein lies the weak link) way back during the run up to my Second Semester Exams at COEP. I searched the web to see if I could trace the originals which she translated them from. The source it appears might well be a work by Shel Silverstein dating back to 1964 a work comprising of a collection of illustrated children's verse called " Dr. Shelby's Zoo". Have given below the English originals of the verses along with scanned images of Thamoni's translations. Let me just say that the translations fantastically maintain the edgy humour of the originals as well as the extremely creative names that these beasts have, those of you who can read Bengali won't have to just take my word for it, and, ahem... my illustrations don't hold up too badly either.
The Man-Eating Fullit
Here is The Tail
Of the man-eating Fullit,
Let's not pull it
Gru
Don't pooh-pooh the Gru,
For if you do,
He'll bite you through,
And chomp and chew,
And swallow you.
But if you don't,
Don't Think he won't!
The Long Necked-Preposterious
This is Donald,
A Long-necked Preposterious,
Looking around for a female
Long-necked Preposterious.
but there aren't any
The Graveyark
See the Graveyark in his cage,
His claws are sharp, his teeth are double,
Thank heaven he's locked up safe inside,
Or we'd all be in terrible trouble!
and my personal favourite...
Slithergadee
The Slithergadee has crawled out of the sea,
He may catch all the others, but he won't catch me,
No you won't catch me, old Slithergadee,
you may catch all the others , but you wo--
This post is a long due tribute to one of my closest friends.
Dr. Rajlukhsmee Debee Bhattacharya was born in Mymensingh, Bangladesh in 1927. She did her schooling in Mymensingh and then in Calcutta. Being a stellar student and Gold Medallist in B.A and M.A from Calcutta University (which in her times for a woman, was a real big deal!!). She later earned her doctorate from Pune University in philosophy, and taught Philosophy at IIT Kharagpur, Fergusson College, and N.Wadia College,Pune , where she retired as the HOD of the Department of Philosophy. All this while she was also a very active Bengali poet , one of the few pravasi Bengali poets of note (Pravasi being the Bengali term for non-resident Bengalis-She was based out of Pune since 1952). She was a recipient of the Prestigious Bhuban Mohini Dasi Medal from Calcutta University for her contribution to Bengali literature. She was also a noted translator of poetry from Bengali to English and English to Bengali, and had traveled abroad extensively to many conferences where she shared her expertise and experience in the finer nuances of the very difficult but very critical art of translation.
She was tremendously dynamic,phenomenally creative, inspirational,a killer cook, brilliant, open minded, youthful and refreshing to interact with but most of all she was a very loving person. When I was doing my engineering at the College of Engineering Pune (from 1999 -2003), She was my confidante and counsel. Whether it was studies related advice, or guidance on extracurriculars or generally helping me sort out personal issues, from Applied mechanics, engineering drawing and quantum physics to texture of brush strokes in the artwork of certain artistes to heated discussions on whether R.K. Narayan deserved the Nobel prize in literature or not (I thought he did, she thought not), whether "Dil Chahta hai" was really the awesome movie I though it was (She felt that despite the well portrayed urban glitz the movie ultimately lacked substance). That there was almost a 60 year difference in our ages wasn't apparent to me at most times, when it did, it struck me with a mixed sensation of awe that said i-hope-i-have-half-the-energy-she-does-when-i-get-to-her-age.
And while this post is hardly adequate to convey the loss I or indeed most members of my family felt when she passed away on a February morning three years ago, it will serve to underscore that her memory lingers on, as does her legacy.
As I was rummaging through my files the other day I saw some handwritten translations of short children's verses by Thamoni. Interestingly, the illustrations for this work in progress were done by yours truly (and therein lies the weak link) way back during the run up to my Second Semester Exams at COEP. I searched the web to see if I could trace the originals which she translated them from. The source it appears might well be a work by Shel Silverstein dating back to 1964 a work comprising of a collection of illustrated children's verse called " Dr. Shelby's Zoo". Have given below the English originals of the verses along with scanned images of Thamoni's translations. Let me just say that the translations fantastically maintain the edgy humour of the originals as well as the extremely creative names that these beasts have, those of you who can read Bengali won't have to just take my word for it, and, ahem... my illustrations don't hold up too badly either.
The Man-Eating Fullit
Here is The Tail
Of the man-eating Fullit,
Let's not pull it
Gru
Don't pooh-pooh the Gru,
For if you do,
He'll bite you through,
And chomp and chew,
And swallow you.
But if you don't,
Don't Think he won't!
The Long Necked-Preposterious
This is Donald,
A Long-necked Preposterious,
Looking around for a female
Long-necked Preposterious.
but there aren't any
The Graveyark
See the Graveyark in his cage,
His claws are sharp, his teeth are double,
Thank heaven he's locked up safe inside,
Or we'd all be in terrible trouble!
and my personal favourite...
Slithergadee
The Slithergadee has crawled out of the sea,
He may catch all the others, but he won't catch me,
No you won't catch me, old Slithergadee,
you may catch all the others , but you wo--
July 15, 2007
On Why Architects Refraining from Ganja is a good idea...
Well, one of my favourite artists of all times is Maurits C. Escher. Now he was known for capturing finer points of Riemannian, Lobachevskian and other more mathematically complex topologies through his art. His works span some of the more subtle concepts of relativity, dimensional bending,etc. apart from other stuff. The picture above is a print by him called "Relativity" (c.1953)
So what does this print have to do with architects ?
Just this: take a look at our hostel (the pic on top)...this maze of ladders and corridors leaves us feeling like snakes in one big game of "snakes and ladders" in the new hostel that we at IIFT call our home for now. Either the architect of this crazy maze was a fan of Escher like me, or he overdid his daily dose of ganja prior to designing our hostel, which brings me full circle back to the title of this blog as my parting thought....
Alright so you're a hot shot architect and the only way you can prove it to the world is by designing something that's way out of the ordinariness sweepstakes, but is it essential that you source your inspirations from dreams inspired by particularly potent variants of cannabis smoked by you and your buddies??
P.S. On second thoughts the Escher-esque topography of our hostel does seem to grow on one as the academic year progresses...but till then..:(
July 06, 2005
Sawai Singh Rajpurohit's Wedding....2
The story so far...
As we shifted ho from Kunwarda towards the nearby village of Bhadrajun, we were greeted by a road that slipped in towards a vale encircled on three sides by mountains, and seemed headed for what seemed like a dead stone wall ( you've seen Rajasthan hill fortresses in the movies and tourism shows, then you know the kind)...which magically turned into a well disguised opening that led us straight into a well populated walled city rather similar in layout and appearances to infamous Wadas of Pune..and then leading towards the royal palace.
As we were inspecting our rooms we were accosted by Raja Gopal Singh of Bhadrajun himself ... royal hosts are something else!
Having enquired after all our creature comforts he invited us to breakfast at his palace the next morning...
Our rooms at the Rajwada were situated on either side of a nice long terrace where we were decided we would spend the night , accordingly the instructions were given and we came back to find a neat row of 8 beds on the terrace ..rather reminiscent of my I-block days it was...with one BIG difference...the view...ensconced on three sides by mountains bathed in moonlight, the fourth side facing the palace gates which themselves lead to the cobbled path right down to the entrance to this fortressed hamlet...and the sky, an absolute delight( so so many more stars than I've ever seen..anywhere!!!)...There really wasn't much to it, Avya, Pintya, Das, Parbat ( savvy's younger bro, who is, I'd venture even more of a handful than his significantly pahucha hua elder sibling) and Self resigned ourselves to the only activity that justified such a magnificent seting... serious boozing and intensely heated Daru debates!!!
Ironic that you never have a camera when you really want one!!..:'(
At somewhere past three we instructed the attendant( who stayed patiently awake, waiting on us and even fixing our pegs) that 10 a.m. would be the right time to breakfast...then turned in...
Next morning , Das and me, who were the last to go to sleep were gently woken up at ten...a quick shower and then we joined the rest of the gang at the palace dining room for breakfast and an audience with the Raja...
Breakfast done, we spent the rest of the morning lazing around and smoking Four squares ( which despite being one of the foulest poison sticks available in the country is for some reason the only brand in Rajasthean)...also explored the palace and generally had a nice time...
In the afternoon we piled into the car and headed to Sawai's where, surprise !!
We were greeted by Subbu, which was a true delight, coz none of us conceived he'd come all the way from Dubai to attend the wedding..but when Savvy gets married public G maraa ke aata hai ( aana hi padhta hai..pyaar hai pagle!!:)..).....and Santy Singh Bappara was there too ...they'd tootled down from Delhi
So from there we headed full filmi style dancing and all towards Parakhiya...
Reached there in the evening , had dinner and dozed off..(the wedding was late at night ..remember)...all this while from about 7 p.m. in the evening till really late in the night sawai had to sit seriously (which is SERIOUSLY difficult for Sawai) all decked up in an extremely becoming ( and, I'm sure, uncomfortable beyond human tollerance levels in Rajasthan's broiling heat) full length suit , while we ayeeshed!!
Late at night we sort of arm twisted Sasur ji into letting us be there at the pheras( not that it helped,coz, we still could'nt see the bride)...and then went straight to bed as soon as the pheras were done..the ceremony continued for a couple of more hours I believe....
[aside2]
Having seen two indian weddings( my sister's wedding) at close quarters, I've come to rest on the conviction that traditional weddings are a real pain in the private-parts-that-hurt-the-worst atleast for the marrying couple...bengali weddings by this count are even worse..oh yes, our muhurats are really late at night as well
[/aside2]
Next morning Subbu had to scram in order to reach Jaipur in time for a flight, and we had to scram if we wanted to stop over at Mt.Abu on the way back...so the plan we hatched late at night was we'd get up nice and early and leave for our respective destinations....
On the way back, we stopped at Mt.Abu, a short detour through the ghats and we were there... beautiful!!...
We:
>Skipped Lunch
>Saw the Dilwara:.. amazing artistry, unbelievable craftmanship, definitely one of the wonders of the world...we also saw the awe inspiring statue of rishabh dev which weighs in at a staggerring 4250 Kgs...of pure gold...
>hired a camera {mercy!}
>bought some (lots actually:)..) beer
>drank all of it
> drove to the higest point there called Guru Shikhar
> climbed it...( Das was pretty Okkay by this stage..if you know what I mean..and so when our guide said that here is a not so easy trek to the top..Das quickly told him off in no uncertain terms," Boss!..mai teen beer ke baad na , tu mujhe abhi Everest chadne bol mai chad loonga..samjha??"...after some time...{near the top}...Das:" Boss, Everest kal chadoonga to theek hai, kya?"...
> rang the bell there( which is what you're expected to do by way of entertainment once you reach the top, and ate diced/slice/spiced raw Mangas..yum)
> climbed down
>drove to random rock structure with the Mt.Abu Observatory in the background
> danced in the middle of the road, blaring "Kajra re" at full volume from Bunty aur Bali
>bought some more beer & drank it as well
> drove to the lake there
>did some boating
>returned hired camera
>skipped town
We drank all the way back to Bombay...In short trip me full INNjoy maara...
{Sone Pe Suhaaga} As we enter bombay , on the 20th, we are greeted by fulll blown monsooons...happy-happy!..joy!joy!
As we shifted ho from Kunwarda towards the nearby village of Bhadrajun, we were greeted by a road that slipped in towards a vale encircled on three sides by mountains, and seemed headed for what seemed like a dead stone wall ( you've seen Rajasthan hill fortresses in the movies and tourism shows, then you know the kind)...which magically turned into a well disguised opening that led us straight into a well populated walled city rather similar in layout and appearances to infamous Wadas of Pune..and then leading towards the royal palace.
As we were inspecting our rooms we were accosted by Raja Gopal Singh of Bhadrajun himself ... royal hosts are something else!
Having enquired after all our creature comforts he invited us to breakfast at his palace the next morning...
Our rooms at the Rajwada were situated on either side of a nice long terrace where we were decided we would spend the night , accordingly the instructions were given and we came back to find a neat row of 8 beds on the terrace ..rather reminiscent of my I-block days it was...with one BIG difference...the view...ensconced on three sides by mountains bathed in moonlight, the fourth side facing the palace gates which themselves lead to the cobbled path right down to the entrance to this fortressed hamlet...and the sky, an absolute delight( so so many more stars than I've ever seen..anywhere!!!)...There really wasn't much to it, Avya, Pintya, Das, Parbat ( savvy's younger bro, who is, I'd venture even more of a handful than his significantly pahucha hua elder sibling) and Self resigned ourselves to the only activity that justified such a magnificent seting... serious boozing and intensely heated Daru debates!!!
Ironic that you never have a camera when you really want one!!..:'(
At somewhere past three we instructed the attendant( who stayed patiently awake, waiting on us and even fixing our pegs) that 10 a.m. would be the right time to breakfast...then turned in...
Next morning , Das and me, who were the last to go to sleep were gently woken up at ten...a quick shower and then we joined the rest of the gang at the palace dining room for breakfast and an audience with the Raja...
Breakfast done, we spent the rest of the morning lazing around and smoking Four squares ( which despite being one of the foulest poison sticks available in the country is for some reason the only brand in Rajasthean)...also explored the palace and generally had a nice time...
In the afternoon we piled into the car and headed to Sawai's where, surprise !!
We were greeted by Subbu, which was a true delight, coz none of us conceived he'd come all the way from Dubai to attend the wedding..but when Savvy gets married public G maraa ke aata hai ( aana hi padhta hai..pyaar hai pagle!!:)..).....and Santy Singh Bappara was there too ...they'd tootled down from Delhi
So from there we headed full filmi style dancing and all towards Parakhiya...
Reached there in the evening , had dinner and dozed off..(the wedding was late at night ..remember)...all this while from about 7 p.m. in the evening till really late in the night sawai had to sit seriously (which is SERIOUSLY difficult for Sawai) all decked up in an extremely becoming ( and, I'm sure, uncomfortable beyond human tollerance levels in Rajasthan's broiling heat) full length suit , while we ayeeshed!!
Late at night we sort of arm twisted Sasur ji into letting us be there at the pheras( not that it helped,coz, we still could'nt see the bride)...and then went straight to bed as soon as the pheras were done..the ceremony continued for a couple of more hours I believe....
[aside2]
Having seen two indian weddings( my sister's wedding) at close quarters, I've come to rest on the conviction that traditional weddings are a real pain in the private-parts-that-hurt-the-worst atleast for the marrying couple...bengali weddings by this count are even worse..oh yes, our muhurats are really late at night as well
[/aside2]
Next morning Subbu had to scram in order to reach Jaipur in time for a flight, and we had to scram if we wanted to stop over at Mt.Abu on the way back...so the plan we hatched late at night was we'd get up nice and early and leave for our respective destinations....
On the way back, we stopped at Mt.Abu, a short detour through the ghats and we were there... beautiful!!...
We:
>Skipped Lunch
>Saw the Dilwara:.. amazing artistry, unbelievable craftmanship, definitely one of the wonders of the world...we also saw the awe inspiring statue of rishabh dev which weighs in at a staggerring 4250 Kgs...of pure gold...
>hired a camera {mercy!}
>bought some (lots actually:)..) beer
>drank all of it
> drove to the higest point there called Guru Shikhar
> climbed it...( Das was pretty Okkay by this stage..if you know what I mean..and so when our guide said that here is a not so easy trek to the top..Das quickly told him off in no uncertain terms," Boss!..mai teen beer ke baad na , tu mujhe abhi Everest chadne bol mai chad loonga..samjha??"...after some time...{near the top}...Das:" Boss, Everest kal chadoonga to theek hai, kya?"...
> rang the bell there( which is what you're expected to do by way of entertainment once you reach the top, and ate diced/slice/spiced raw Mangas..yum)
> climbed down
>drove to random rock structure with the Mt.Abu Observatory in the background
> danced in the middle of the road, blaring "Kajra re" at full volume from Bunty aur Bali
>bought some more beer & drank it as well
> drove to the lake there
>did some boating
>returned hired camera
>skipped town
We drank all the way back to Bombay...In short trip me full INNjoy maara...
{Sone Pe Suhaaga} As we enter bombay , on the 20th, we are greeted by fulll blown monsooons...happy-happy!..joy!joy!
June 22, 2005
Sawai Singh Rajpurohit's Wedding.....
Most everyone has seen a Punjabi wedding or a Bengali wedding (atleast in extended 3 hr long technicolor tearjerker/romantic comedies)...but not a Rajasthani wedding, and definitely not a traditional Rajasthani wedding(====>>reasons to follow). Therefore, when rumour was that a certain Mr. Sawai Singh Rajpurohit is going to get wed in aamchi Rajasthan,I for one made up my mind not to miss such a chance. But the first thought in my mind however, was ,"Here's old Savvy up to his evergreen pranks". Nor was I alone, several other Iconoclasts( COEPians miight just recognise us from a wierd ,but loveable, orange T-shirt with a hood..;)..) were more forthright with Sawai and told him pretty pointedly that until we had an actual invite in hand none of us were going to even believe him, coming to his wedding was several stages apres that...Anyways, to cut a long story short, Sawai handed us (Mumbai branch of Iconoclasts) our invites in person, and nebulous plans were fixed, holidays applied for, and the date in the calendar marked for Sawai's wedding...
The shaadi was to happen on the 19th of June( initially , we thought it would be on the 18th ,but with Sawai, such things are not to be grudged...especially if you consider that the wedding was actually at 2:00 a.m. in the morning) and since the venue was the quaint and suitably remote interior village of Kunwarda , we ( Das,Roshan(Dorli),Kunal(K.T),Avinash(Avya),Pintya, Sachin(Kesri) and self) were all set to leave on the 16th by a hired car...So we finally piled into our hired Chevrolet Tavera and headed Rajasthan-ward at about 11:30 p.m. on 16th evening(?)... After a long and memorable drive punctuated by stops at local dhabas for food and booze (except in Modi-land which is DRY..:(..) we finally arrived at Kunwarda on the 17th evening at about 10 p.m...after a quick word with Savvy at his home we shot off to where we were being put up for the night, The Royal Rajwada at Bhadrajun (pretty fancy it was , I might add), a quick wash-up to get rid of 24 hours of continuous driving, and then back to Savvy's for dinner...
[aside]
Now, a traditional Rajasthani wedding proceeds as follows:
First, the prospective In-laws meet the son/daughter-in-law. At this stage,the bride and the groom make do with photographs. Then, they(the parents) consent to the wedding and the time and date. Once fixed the marriage preparations run parallelly and separately at each end , until finally, the Groom and his baaraat party reach the village of the girl, and the actual marriage ceremony with complete pheras and everything is performed. Now, the baaraat party does not include any of the Groom's lady relatives therefore even your Mom and your Sister aren't present at the actual shaadi ceremony (assuming that you are a traditional Rajasthani groom). Not only that even though your Dad accompanies you on the trip to the girl's village, at the time of the marriage even he is not supposed to be present there. Given that Rajasthani weddings usually have their shubh-muhurats late in the night/earrrly in the morning (2:30ish (a.m.) in this case)...and, that we had to rather inconvenience the Bride's parents and hassle them into allowing us to be present at the time of the pheras...also, factoring in that the bride was veiled completely even at the time of the ceremonies(I believe even Savvy only really saw/met his bride after the ceremonies)... you get a flavour of how traditional the wedding was , and how unlikely it is that such events will be part of the next Mira Nair Bollywood tearjerker entitled "Desert wedding".....
[/aside]
Once at Savvy's we were treated to a traditional Rajsthani dance by the lady members of Sawai's family which is all part of the marriage ceremony. We also sampled some staple rajasthani fare esp the "Dal vaati"(?)..which is a ball shaped roti like fare rather reminiscent of the Bihari "littha". At the end of which, someone insisted that we shake our leg to the music as well and, well, we did!!...
Ceremony over, we tootled back to the Royal Rajwada to spend the night. But my description of my trip would be sorely disappointing if I did'nt spend some time describing the fascinating history, the amazing beauty and the colourful characters we met at the Rajwada...
The rest of the story...
The shaadi was to happen on the 19th of June( initially , we thought it would be on the 18th ,but with Sawai, such things are not to be grudged...especially if you consider that the wedding was actually at 2:00 a.m. in the morning) and since the venue was the quaint and suitably remote interior village of Kunwarda , we ( Das,Roshan(Dorli),Kunal(K.T),Avinash(Avya),Pintya, Sachin(Kesri) and self) were all set to leave on the 16th by a hired car...So we finally piled into our hired Chevrolet Tavera and headed Rajasthan-ward at about 11:30 p.m. on 16th evening(?)... After a long and memorable drive punctuated by stops at local dhabas for food and booze (except in Modi-land which is DRY..:(..) we finally arrived at Kunwarda on the 17th evening at about 10 p.m...after a quick word with Savvy at his home we shot off to where we were being put up for the night, The Royal Rajwada at Bhadrajun (pretty fancy it was , I might add), a quick wash-up to get rid of 24 hours of continuous driving, and then back to Savvy's for dinner...
[aside]
Now, a traditional Rajasthani wedding proceeds as follows:
First, the prospective In-laws meet the son/daughter-in-law. At this stage,the bride and the groom make do with photographs. Then, they(the parents) consent to the wedding and the time and date. Once fixed the marriage preparations run parallelly and separately at each end , until finally, the Groom and his baaraat party reach the village of the girl, and the actual marriage ceremony with complete pheras and everything is performed. Now, the baaraat party does not include any of the Groom's lady relatives therefore even your Mom and your Sister aren't present at the actual shaadi ceremony (assuming that you are a traditional Rajasthani groom). Not only that even though your Dad accompanies you on the trip to the girl's village, at the time of the marriage even he is not supposed to be present there. Given that Rajasthani weddings usually have their shubh-muhurats late in the night/earrrly in the morning (2:30ish (a.m.) in this case)...and, that we had to rather inconvenience the Bride's parents and hassle them into allowing us to be present at the time of the pheras...also, factoring in that the bride was veiled completely even at the time of the ceremonies(I believe even Savvy only really saw/met his bride after the ceremonies)... you get a flavour of how traditional the wedding was , and how unlikely it is that such events will be part of the next Mira Nair Bollywood tearjerker entitled "Desert wedding".....
[/aside]
Once at Savvy's we were treated to a traditional Rajsthani dance by the lady members of Sawai's family which is all part of the marriage ceremony. We also sampled some staple rajasthani fare esp the "Dal vaati"(?)..which is a ball shaped roti like fare rather reminiscent of the Bihari "littha". At the end of which, someone insisted that we shake our leg to the music as well and, well, we did!!...
Ceremony over, we tootled back to the Royal Rajwada to spend the night. But my description of my trip would be sorely disappointing if I did'nt spend some time describing the fascinating history, the amazing beauty and the colourful characters we met at the Rajwada...
The rest of the story...
November 07, 2004
"Manjrekar Theory"
I know that India lost the just concluded test series to Australia and the much awaited taming of the"last frontier" was finally and efficiently achieved by the visitors.Yet, there can be no denying the joy I derived from the victory in the last test.You may knock the pitch all you like, and cry shame to the heavens and back but the fact remains that India won. And that, I like!!
Now, you may think that this was because of several reasons among which would rate no doubt miscellaneous assorted and undeniably logical factors such as poor batting by the visitors, an absolute turner of a track, the sudden and ominous return to form of two of Autralia's arch nemeses viz SRT & VVSL, but I offer another explanation... My version is that we won because of Manjrekar.
Ever since the junior Manjrekar took to cricket commentary he has been the foulest "panvati" for India( as is described in local lingo). I've yet to see a match where Manjrekar was rooting for the home team in a close scrape and they came up tops. On the other hand you knew for sure that Tendulkar or Ganguly or whosoever-Manjrekar-names is sure to get out for a duck or thereabouts when you hear him harping about how dangerous these batsmen are and how we're in for a sure treat as far as their batting is concerned. On another day you might feel it in your bones that Kumble is gonna skittle out the opposition for next to nothing, only to hear Manjrekar confirm your opinions in enthusiastic tones,and the next thing you know Kumble has been tonked all over the park and his figures read 10-0-78-0 or something just as painful.The agony is, despite all of this Manjrekar remains a staunch India victory hopeful and never ceases to make hopeful and optimistic statements about India, NONE of which ever come true.
This friday therefore as India packed up there 2nd innings at 205ish and faced defeat in the final tie with a measly total of 104 to defend all hope had left my dejected countenance and I settled into my fave couch potato location merely to keep tabs occasionally on the unfolding of the ignonimous defeat to the Aussies. Therefore you can well gauge the electrifying and rejuvenating shock I received when I tuned into the brodcast between innings to catch Manjrekar averring that with a measly 104 to defend there was NO WAY INDIA could win this match. According to him, with the Australian batting lineup even 150 or 200 would be a virtual walkover . All dejection left me then and as events bore out my shrewd intuitive hunch India did in fact go on to win...and that's why I say we owe it to Manjrekar's "kaali zabaan" in no small measure!!
Now, you may think that this was because of several reasons among which would rate no doubt miscellaneous assorted and undeniably logical factors such as poor batting by the visitors, an absolute turner of a track, the sudden and ominous return to form of two of Autralia's arch nemeses viz SRT & VVSL, but I offer another explanation... My version is that we won because of Manjrekar.
Ever since the junior Manjrekar took to cricket commentary he has been the foulest "panvati" for India( as is described in local lingo). I've yet to see a match where Manjrekar was rooting for the home team in a close scrape and they came up tops. On the other hand you knew for sure that Tendulkar or Ganguly or whosoever-Manjrekar-names is sure to get out for a duck or thereabouts when you hear him harping about how dangerous these batsmen are and how we're in for a sure treat as far as their batting is concerned. On another day you might feel it in your bones that Kumble is gonna skittle out the opposition for next to nothing, only to hear Manjrekar confirm your opinions in enthusiastic tones,and the next thing you know Kumble has been tonked all over the park and his figures read 10-0-78-0 or something just as painful.The agony is, despite all of this Manjrekar remains a staunch India victory hopeful and never ceases to make hopeful and optimistic statements about India, NONE of which ever come true.
This friday therefore as India packed up there 2nd innings at 205ish and faced defeat in the final tie with a measly total of 104 to defend all hope had left my dejected countenance and I settled into my fave couch potato location merely to keep tabs occasionally on the unfolding of the ignonimous defeat to the Aussies. Therefore you can well gauge the electrifying and rejuvenating shock I received when I tuned into the brodcast between innings to catch Manjrekar averring that with a measly 104 to defend there was NO WAY INDIA could win this match. According to him, with the Australian batting lineup even 150 or 200 would be a virtual walkover . All dejection left me then and as events bore out my shrewd intuitive hunch India did in fact go on to win...and that's why I say we owe it to Manjrekar's "kaali zabaan" in no small measure!!
September 23, 2004
Dumber and Dumber’s Con-Quizt
Circa 2002: This is a small story of how Rahul and Me availed ourselves of entertainment and tremendous satisfaction at Fergusson College’s(FC) English Lit. Quiz.
We’re usually the last to arrive in time for anything. And Lord knows, as my usual pardner in quizzing Maniche will affirm, I’ve been late to a fair share of Quizzes as well, though not intentionally. However by a freak happenstance here we were, about 30 mins. early for the elimination round of some quiz and minus our respective partners ( Maniche and Bimal).A board near the info desk informed us that the elims of a Literature Quiz were as a matter of fact in progress, somewhere in the premises. So we scooted to the said location. We located a room full of teams of two huddled together and apparently intent on some really hardcore lit stuff.
We made bold as to approach the supervisor (let’s call her X) and enquired if we might participate in the same. Here follows a transcript of conversation as I recall:
Me: Can we participate??
X: Which college?
Rahul[oozing attitude]: COEP
X[oozing even mor attitude and a fair degree of contempt]: COEP???…Engineering??…But this a “LIT” Quiz!!!
Me[ feigning humility and dejection]: Oh I see… can we at least try??
X[humouring us]: hmm…sure
So we walked in and were handed the elims sheet, thru which we breezed in approximately 5 minutes, and triumphantly handed over to X, with an impatient air.
It was taken with an I-told-you-you-engineers-suck-at-this triumphant air.
However, at this stage Rahul made a snide remark the exact content of which eludes me, but the import was basically “bwehehehe…what a faltoo quiz..we must have got every Q right”.
This prompted X ( who I believe knew Rahul from his earlier days at FC, and prolly thought he was farting as usual..:D ) to check our solitary submitted sheet, right then .
We still had time to kill , so we stuck around to observe the other supposed “ Lit” worthies struggling through the elims sheet. By this time X had finished checking our sheet , and approached us with a different air altogether.
X[visibly shaken and apologetic]: you did really well!! and you came in late!and finished early!![puzzled air]
Rahul[grinning from ear to ear]: yeah…we know, just tell us when and where the final is…
( I gather we topped the elims)
To be fair to X, she did tell us the correct time and place for the Quiz Finals and we did turn up as promised. Also continuing to be fair to X, we were treated with a lot more respect on this day, despite the fact that on this day It was our turn to ooze attitude and act like merciless slobs [ rotflmao…couple of our wild guesses had all the staff in the Audi turn red like beetroots…raunchy is us!!]
We called ourselves “Dumb and Dumber”, which, although not particularly original as a quizzing moniker, gave X a rather embarrassed air throughout the proceedings.
FTR We had a real ball on stage,won the quiz, and all we had to show for our efforts was an “Oxford advanced Learner’s Dictionary” apiece… :’((…. BUT IT WAS FUN!!!!!!
We’re usually the last to arrive in time for anything. And Lord knows, as my usual pardner in quizzing Maniche will affirm, I’ve been late to a fair share of Quizzes as well, though not intentionally. However by a freak happenstance here we were, about 30 mins. early for the elimination round of some quiz and minus our respective partners ( Maniche and Bimal).A board near the info desk informed us that the elims of a Literature Quiz were as a matter of fact in progress, somewhere in the premises. So we scooted to the said location. We located a room full of teams of two huddled together and apparently intent on some really hardcore lit stuff.
We made bold as to approach the supervisor (let’s call her X) and enquired if we might participate in the same. Here follows a transcript of conversation as I recall:
Me: Can we participate??
X: Which college?
Rahul[oozing attitude]: COEP
X[oozing even mor attitude and a fair degree of contempt]: COEP???…Engineering??…But this a “LIT” Quiz!!!
Me[ feigning humility and dejection]: Oh I see… can we at least try??
X[humouring us]: hmm…sure
So we walked in and were handed the elims sheet, thru which we breezed in approximately 5 minutes, and triumphantly handed over to X, with an impatient air.
It was taken with an I-told-you-you-engineers-suck-at-this triumphant air.
However, at this stage Rahul made a snide remark the exact content of which eludes me, but the import was basically “bwehehehe…what a faltoo quiz..we must have got every Q right”.
This prompted X ( who I believe knew Rahul from his earlier days at FC, and prolly thought he was farting as usual..:D ) to check our solitary submitted sheet, right then .
We still had time to kill , so we stuck around to observe the other supposed “ Lit” worthies struggling through the elims sheet. By this time X had finished checking our sheet , and approached us with a different air altogether.
X[visibly shaken and apologetic]
Rahul[grinning from ear to ear]: yeah…we know, just tell us when and where the final is…
( I gather we topped the elims)
To be fair to X, she did tell us the correct time and place for the Quiz Finals and we did turn up as promised. Also continuing to be fair to X, we were treated with a lot more respect on this day, despite the fact that on this day It was our turn to ooze attitude and act like merciless slobs [ rotflmao…couple of our wild guesses had all the staff in the Audi turn red like beetroots…raunchy is us!!]
We called ourselves “Dumb and Dumber”, which, although not particularly original as a quizzing moniker, gave X a rather embarrassed air throughout the proceedings.
FTR We had a real ball on stage,won the quiz, and all we had to show for our efforts was an “Oxford advanced Learner’s Dictionary” apiece… :’((…. BUT IT WAS FUN!!!!!!
August 30, 2004
This just in...
Just watching the news parallelly as I check my mails and there's this snippet on NDTV India about those irritating bhajan singers, nay, tuneless non-bhajan bawlers, in Mumbai locals... these guys honestly, don't realise how much they irritate the mental composure of fellow passengers who have tired bodies, frustrating work days, seriously oxygen deprived lungs,legs that are so cramped for space that if-i-lift-one-and-then-the-other-i-needn't-worry-about-putting-them-back-down-see-mama-no-legs!,not to mention that niggling fear that one may not get down at that desired destination if one doesn't hold a PhD in crowd flow dynamics...Now with all this to distract what we really look forward to is, to be hassled by these bhajan inflicting pestilences..I mean,bhajan away all you want, at home for christ's or mohammad's or rama's or krishna's or whosoever's sake, dang it!!!!!!!
August 28, 2004
Comments Invited
Hmmm.... I was on the verge of suicidal tendencies on account of not having even a single comment posted by "friends" who "claimed" they visited my blog and tried to post comments but "failed".... Apparently the "...double quotes..." are unnecessary, my comments settings were horribly wrong as i subsequently found out..now anyone can comment on my blog and hopefully they will, the number of comments on my blog reads (til date) 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0...etc. and that 1 was a comment posted by yours truly himself...
Read this cool comment-lamment a la Leigh Hunt.... by one of my fave bloggers...HERE ...pity Satyen hasn't found time to update his blog in almost a year!!..:)
Apparently, if thing continue as they are, I'll have generated the number Googol on my hundred and first post!!!
Read this cool comment-lamment a la Leigh Hunt.... by one of my fave bloggers...HERE ...pity Satyen hasn't found time to update his blog in almost a year!!..:)
Apparently, if thing continue as they are, I'll have generated the number Googol on my hundred and first post!!!
August 25, 2004
India's olympic Gold....
No... before you descend into raptures of orgasmic pleasure, or spasms of intense disbelief...let me state categorically THAT WE HAVEN"T WON EVEN A SINGLE GOLD YET AT ATHENS 2004..in fact 1980, Los angeles (?) was our last gold in hockey (sigh!!).....when will we, like China and US boast of a haul of 20s and 30s of gold in a single olympic?????(?!)!!!!! ...*Anticipatory ecstatic sigh*
P.S: the central parenthesis contains...?!.. this combination, also known as an INTERROBANG ( which incidentally is also a blog on quizzing in general and Pune quizzing in particular maintained by my friend JR Ramanand , who among other small achievements in his life happens to be Mastermind 2003 winner!)
P.S: the central parenthesis contains...?!.. this combination, also known as an INTERROBANG ( which incidentally is also a blog on quizzing in general and Pune quizzing in particular maintained by my friend JR Ramanand , who among other small achievements in his life happens to be Mastermind 2003 winner!)
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