My World In Bits And Pieces

Monday - An usual grey, snowy dawn with a wind chill of -12.5 C.  Fogged up bedroom windows, deemed natural light giving an impression of a prolonged winter night that might keep the man of the house confined to bed for few more hours. The lazy wife aspires to bribe the time machine with her outrageously dodgy promise not to beat the scheduled flight departure the very next day! Voila! The man of the house has already postponed his business trip for a day - These are the pretty perks of engaging myself  into the duties of a full-time child-wife and blatantly placing my innermost entreaties in order to ensure that I can claim the maximum time of his; Of course not multiplying to the selfish joys of my daily shenanigans to book  him throughout the week. Chuckling with a semi-somnolent yet winsome dimple at my traumatic reaction to his 8.31 hrs alarm, he declares that a non-working day could merely stand as a wishful thinking nudged by a cup full of his self-prepared roasted dark and brewing strong  Mocha - Securing me further up in my Go Mama Go Snug and Tug Swaddling quilt, he heads for the common area with a long sip and the unfortunate invention of technology in the shape of a hand held device starts ringing frantically.

Enjoying the benefits of being a global citizen and now the leading most first world country, I can't afford to leave out on any daily (mis)happenings across the globe in specification to the country I was born and brought up in. It's been a while that I have willfully foregone the routine of reading newspapers as I am more excited about the time to time ear-splitting alerts from NDTV and CNN configured on my phone by none other than my au courant man within the wedlock. Logically, an 'Aam' nari like me surely doesn't deserve to be spared from the collywobbles - every time the imperiously famous name of our AAP front-runner pops up on my I phone 5s screen with all the pre Loksabha election halla gulla that keeps the capital bustling off late. In defense of our beloved Kejriwal ji and the recurring images of his much talked about, unforgettable broom and a self-righteously catchy topi flaunting 'Main bhi Kejriwal' dare I ask - Why must he be lampooned to death if people can carry bags with LV and GG written on them?

In my endeavors to balance out a low Chol as well as minimal Kcal lunch, I was speeding up to set up a quick platter for the busy bee on a conference call - and here goes viral the shameless retort of a sixty year old alleged molester or should I say a pervert to his not so exploitable victim on the Bhubaneshwar Indigo flight - 'I am the father of a daughter'! Whoaaa......

The very evening this incident left me pondering - People claim the ratio of literacy needs to go up so as to lower the crime rate in our country, but why such ordeals that every woman has to necessarily undergo in a nation that hoists their flag in the bout of patriotism towards a 'motherland' and not a fatherland? This is perhaps the major reason even when I hadn't moved out of the country, my delusional protests that watching the news, reading the national headlines felt more like a daily dosage of pain and shame went unheeded. I could hardly find anything worthwhile that received a decent coverage except hopeless cases of crime, corruption, poverty and hunger that sold like hot jalebis along with a dash of the media maverick's Bolly grapevine on who casts the couch with whom or who went under a bigger knife for bigger implants. Dear Mankind, Compassion, Equality and Brothers in arms of all cast and creeds - (in anticipation of course) We live in a world heavily populated with 7 Billion electors, voters, residents, tax-payers - Can't we ALL pledge to accumulate the total financial strength in Dollars, Pounds, Dinars, and Indian Rupees amounting to multi Trillion Dollars and utilize the same to renovate all the old world monuments deviating from the skyrocketing nuclear power reactors for a while? Furthermore, can't the enormous money be invested on the well fare programs for the poor, handicapped and acutely needy global humans? Followed by a binge of intellectual exercise, and a prompt packing of sundry clothes, he urges a crunchy dessert dipped in pecan syrups and prodigal with whipped cream. A believer in low Chol and minimal Kcal kinda dietary solution has by now surrendered! Hell ya. 

A day well spent in the thoughts of my country and how efficiently I can help my doctor-to-be cousin brother who is trying for a student's visa to the United States, I share a chortle with him over the phone as he sounds shilly-shallying about appearing for the Academic IELTS examination. A little satire is good for the soul and the satirical part here is that - He has his certified IELTS trainer sissy sitting miles away from him  who's even ready to give him online classes! All said and done - to add to my satire I refrained myself from - yet couldn't help my devilish psyche to unleash and implore the young blood to set the American Embassy on fire during his Visa interview - By politely announcing - 'You guys hesitated to issue NaMo a visa earlier and now your president had to come all the way here to share chai with us and sit through the parade.' That would impress the panel in no time to grant him a visa valid for ten years till he can also bring in his little sister to make it big out here! How's that? :D 

Tuesday - 

'Jai Hanuman gyan gun sagar
Jai Kapis tihun lok ujagar


Ram doot atulit bal dhama
Anjaani-putra Pavan sut nama


Mahabir Bikram Bajrangi
Kumati nivar sumati Ke sangi


Kanchan varan viraj subesa
Kanan Kundal Kunchit Kesha'

.....A home alone wife and her day starts with the mother's handwritten Hanuman Chalisa in a personal diary carried all the way from the land of peace. My homeotwn, Santiniketan. Thereon - a heartwarming chat at length with both the Vasu Mallik and Sinha moms while the fathers preferred a mild snore over muted televisions running various clumsy political talk shows. A delayed flight and late meetings keep the man busy not forgetting to check on what I grabbed for a vegetarian lunch. Perusing through the old folders on my freshly formatted Sony Vio by the tech savvy better half - I stumble upon my carefully collected memories of people who meant and will always mean world to me.

The time has arrived that I create my family blog, and their beautiful pictures telling from where all it started. There might be a fair bit of lapse in the sequence as there are many and I might very well gather more - And I do take the freedom and privilege of keep modifying the factual details of time and place every once in a while with the generous help of my father and father in law.

I would like to start with two of my most favorite people from whom I have supposedly drawn in  most of my genetic traits. I am a sensitive Piscean like my grandmother and a spiritual loner enveloped within my own whims and fancies just like my grandfather.  I have preserved and cherished this picture for long ever since my birth and this is perhaps the only one I could think of that would showcase the two of them as the newly weds. My grandfather Sri Dhubendra Nath Sinha was the seventh son of Sri Bibhuti Bhushan Sinha, whose origin goes back to the inland Zamindars of  district Nadia in West Bengal. My grandpa married my grandma Srimati Srilekha Sinha, the only daughter and eldest child of  Bimal Krishna Dutta in the year 1956 in Kolkata who hailed from Kashiadanga near Bethia Dahori of Nadia district. 

Here comes my second favorite. My dad in my grandma's lap at the heart of our ashram, our ancestral home for more than eighty years now, Santiniketan - The land of ultimate peace, truth and magnanimity - that has kept the Sinhas bonded over the tide of time - with Rabindranath Tagore and Santiniketan. This picture goes back to the year 1957-58, when my dad was only a few months old.

Another marvel from my past collections - Sometime in 1957-58, dad poses at ease in the middle of our then four legged babies Rex and Boy. They had a language of their own to communicate with this fearless, carefree and confident toddler who took them to be his best playmates. They were the seeds that germinated my father's unswerving love and fondness for animals forever.

The next, I hold very very close to my heart solely because of the grandeur that surrounds this great looking couple. My grandma holding my elder aunt ( Mrs. Praiti Sinha Konar) in her arms with grandpa to her left and my dad in his teens on her right. Captured sometime in the year 1970-71

মামার বাড়ি ভারি মজা. A moment captured at dad's maternal place. From left - Dad's younger mama, dida at the center and dad in his early twenties. The two tiny lassies behind are my boro pishi/elder aunt Praiti Sinha Konar (from left) and my chhoto pishi/younger aunt Swasti Sinha Ghosh. Image goes back to sometime around 1981.

Sibling affection. Dad with his little sisters. Around 1981.

My mum's ancestry takes my sense of pride back to her Kashmiri pandit origin of  'Dhars'. The only daughter and youngest child of Sri Dilip Dhar and Srimati Rama Dhar, she migrated to Chittagong in Bangladesh with her parents and brothers post partition. With mixed memories of the war and the aftermath born within her heart, she was sent to India for her schooling. She was destined to grow, learn, celebrate life and fall in love with Santiniketan. Image captured sometime around 1979 during her vacation in Bangladesh after School Final Examination.

Being a part of a very close knit group of dad's cousins who shared camaraderie with my mum as inmates in the same hostel, she became pretty much associated with the Sinhas and their residence - 'Santi Nilaya'.

This picture reminds me of my grandma saying - 'তোমার মাম্মা জে ভাবে চুল বাঁধত আর সারী পড়ত, আমার খুব ভালো লাগত. ভীষন Neat.'Captured sometime around 1981.

The Following image reflects the bond the ladies shared even before the D day arrived. Mumma sharing a sisterly moment with  my both aunts. Captured around 1982 on my dad's birthday invite.

আমরা সবাই রাজা :) My aunts in their identically twin like frocks :) Year sometime around 1976.

The littleies with their beautiful mom. My grandma with my two aunts. Year - 1977-78.

One of the birthdays of  my dad that was celebrated lavishly at our nest with family and close friends. This was during his home visit on a vacation from the quiet life of the tea estates. This happens to be very close to my heart especially for that extra large creamy bite he gets from his best friend and doting mother at the same time :)

Like mother, like son :) Year 1982.

The same birthday evening. Dad with his cousin brothers - Anirban Sinha (From left) and Dibyajivan Dutta.

My pillars of strength then. Now. My parents just before tying the knot sharing the frame with their little hearts :) Year - 1982.

मेरी प्यारी बहने :)
Year 1982.

If marriages were not made in heaven, we would not have been so blessed :) A moment captured on my parents' wedding day.
#Flashback  30th November, 1982.

তত্ত্ব নিয়ে ব্যস্ত  Mrs. Pankrashi :) My Chhoto pishi on her big brother's wedding day.

Family is not an important thing. It is everything. Another significant marriage of two of my most favorite souls, planned above and united on earth. The big day of my husband's parents :)

Sri Kunal Vasu Mallik, my father-in-law - The eldest  child and only son of Sri Mihir Chandra Vasu Mallik and Srimati Chhaya Vasu Mallik of Kolkata holds his lineage that goes back to Raja Subodh Mallik who reigned people's heart for his immensely selfless contribution to the freedom struggle. Sri Kunal Vasu Mallik married Srimati Kamalika Vasu Mallik, my mother-in-law, the eldest child and only daughter of Sri Praphulla Kumar Mitra and Srimati  Maya Mitra of Kolkata in the year 1977. My extended family, the reason of my completeness today, Uddalok - my better half was born to them as the only child on 22nd September of 1979. I am in awe and love with this picture beyond words and would do anything to save it so that my next generation can put it up in the first few pages of their big family diary :)

ছোট্ট বর আসবে টোপর মাথায়ে দিয়ে :) My little groom Uddalok Vasu Mallik, stealing away the actual groom's helmet on his aunt's wedding day (খুকু পিসির বিয়ে) :) Year 1984 #Mybirthyear :)

One more for my bride to be please! Hah hah ha :) This time stealing away his dad's slippers :) মুখ গোমরা কেন? টোপর এসে পৌছায়েনি না কী? :)

In every conceivable manner, the family is the only link to our past, bridge to our future. Having said that, I hope to continue adding many more precious jewels to this venture of mine which is by every means dedicated to my astoundingly supportive and treasurable family.