Couldn’t ask for more…

After an ardous, tiresome,nothing-short-of-painful night trying to figure out Humean views,Regularity , necessitarianism ,the very nature of universal truths and accidental generalizations, the session in itself was deliciously redeeming..Arguments, counter- arguments, positions taken, Checkmates, Stalemates…And thanks to a very capable discussant ,there was a structure to the whole discussion this time round… Slept post class , well past lunch -very pleased with the good nap …Helped a dear little one pick her project topic..Attended a splendid talk by Subroto Bagchi with The Friend..Bagchi’s latest book is titled Go Kiss the World..The Friend seems to take it too literally…Spent a good deal of time catching up with other dear dear friends..Delightful gossip..Many many hearty laughs …A drive down to corner house for some ice-cream..More time with dear dear friends…

Point is , ( yes the deal is - I’m making my point - and The Friend would laugh ), life is so full in it’s perceived ordinariness…

The Friend would agree…

Shallow waters…

Yes ,I think it is okay to let days slip by sometimes..To allow things to happen and not steer them in any particular course…To sit back and watch as events unravel, in being the passive observer and reveling in the work of a grand sculptor ..I think it’s okay …

Ha ! This is crazy….

I am surrounded by books..And they have a quality of transporting me to a world that I can conjure up with all the thoughts and words contained within…At the mere whim of my imagination, there is my law,my order..All the colors are my shades…All that I love and cherish….

How different would that world be from the one in which I exist , i know not..Perhaps, after a utopian construction that lasts perhaps a decade( in relative time ), I would be discontent and would reek anarchy - to see how the mischief plays..

But what if the thoughts that are fissioned by the trigger of my imagination , can no longer be reined in?? What if one train of thought inevitably leads to another , and another till I have no idea how I reached that labyrinth that one often does find oneself in..That  maze of thoughts within which it’s a hard task tracing one’s steps back..

It would still be a world of my creation, and I would have no control..

Yin Yang

I look around me, and it’s splendid. .There are the tallest skyscrapers - Ayn rand would ‘ve loved them .Yes , man’s power to reach for the skies indeed..The roads are wide-several lanes; vehicles moving in precision, the lawns immaculate..The shrubbery astonishing for a desert country…The cars, each make a reflection of man’s ingenuity and brilliance..The law of the land is upheld with enviable responsibility. ..

Yet,there is a constant nagging reminder of a serious aberration…

The more I look, the more it seems like a hypocrisy..A lack of creativity..Of not knowing what to do with land , after years of bedouin existence.. The architecture is,as Meghna would say, mere “chrome and glass”..The date palms are reminders of the oasis from which they ‘ve been transplanted..Materialism is evident in the traces of what has been squandered…

That nagging thought persists..

Milan Kundera…

” … How can we condemn something that is ephemeral , in transit ?  In the sunset of dissolution,  everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia …..”

An occasion…

I would like to raise a toast ..
Here’s to M and her wonderful store.To all the spunk in her and the individuality she emanates..The zest for life, her quest to be herself..To her , for her identity, and knowing where to use it..To being humble enough to meet with just about anyone and chat for a couple of hours gladly..For having it in her to declare that she would just call it quits the moment she lost interest.To her for being so in tune with herself..
Here’s to her conviction that her little store should be a reflection of her aesthetics..That it is to her a living and not an occupation..That it’s more than a rebellion against establishment ..It’s a leap of faith…

Here’s to M and all kindred spirit..
Let’s drink and be merry..

Loochis,paturis and well…..Bond

If you know Bond- you will know he’s a taker for all the good things in life,particularly food…So our man is just back from Calcutta(yeah it’s still Bombay and Madras for me), where in true blue bond style,he checked out the finest places to sample Bengali cuisine..And when he did get back to Bangalore, he spent a good couple of hours apprising me of the fine flavors of Bengal..
So the other day ,we went to out to dine at 6,Ballygunge place,where I dappled for the first time with Bengali cuisine…
Now this is where I feel words can handicap me and by trying to put that fabulous gourmet meal in the confines of words, I ‘d really be destroying something of that evening …(whoa ! strong sentiments over food you could say - ask bond..he’ll validate)

So I’ll just make a quick note of some of the elements of my finest dining experience ever:
1.Beautiful old Bengali music and very polite waiters who weren’t ,for a change, breathing down your neck plus bond for company ..Perfect ambience
2.Tales of the culinary world….. That sinful gooey chocolate cake that Bond gobbled down in Mumbai with china( Achu - I believe you narrowly missed this) , affectionate anecdotes of China’s devotion towards beef( read that the way you wish to - after all , as Achu says, bond and china are indeed a couple) ..The fish gravy that is made with a 1000 small fish …Of the nuances of cooking….yeah like i said, he’s a connoisseur..
3.A taste bud tickling , absolutely delectable aam pora shorbet- apparently made by roasting the mango and then extracting the juice.. which left a sinfully sigh-worthy after taste .
4.Bond’s excellent powers of persuasion when it comes to experimenting with the unfamiliar - be it food or travel routes
5.Saffron flavored rice tossed oh-so delightfully with shrimps..Accompanied by loochis and an exotic paturi..which was essentially fish steamed in a banana leaf…Dessert was this sandesh baked in a clay pot..SIGH.I could’ve cried..

So i have my favorite cuisine now….And to all you hammer heads- this has nothing to do with my attachments….

P.S I think it’s about time Bond started work on a food guide…

A giant screen ….

I’ve just had this talk with a good friend .More like a heated discussion that ended with me realizing that I had been looking at stuff from a very insulated angle.
It’s not often that you come across someone who can argue in a non- vociferous, non-judgmental fashion..
That having been said, there’s this quality about a coherent,lucid,cogent argument which culminates in a change of opinion that you’ve held for a long time…Contrary to what I would’ve thought,this change of opinion is deeply satisfying …Makes you feel that maybe there are many perspectives you’re missing..It s not intimidating…More like a promise of a bigger picture..

Ex nihilo…

So if Russia could nurture Marxism ..And if communism could spread wings in China ..and France could be the hot bed of existentialism and Derrida’s deconstructions….Or for that matter phenomenology in Germany …Why haven’t we in India had a thought process of our own?A punk rock generation?A philosophy or a way of life that obsessed a generation or two?Or is it that we have too many bodies of thought and a diverse populace ?? Am I missing something?Well it’s not a case of jingoism…plain random musings…

Bigotry…..

Forgive my lack of perspective here…My ineptitude with the iambic pentameter and the what not..But modern poetry is so crass.And yes to generalize, is again an ” ism “…of which we have enough…But really ,what is all the violence in each line.. The apathy even when you talk of grief?

Why is it so unequivocal in its essence?I have enough television for everything-in-your-face…
I just wish poetry would hold on to its veil..So that one can ponder over what lies beneath …Stone cold eyes or a warm smile….Some tragedy ? Or a spirit yearning to break free…
Or perhaps,…like everything else..The explicit is just a sign of the times…