Fragility of life

Even though I hardly know her, Vinod and his parents have a long standing association with her. Gowri, the maid had been with the family since the time he was born. Last night, we made our usual phonecall to his parents only to find out that Gowri, whom we had just seen last week while in Bangalore, had been hit by a vehicle and died. This news came as a shock especially since she had wished us well just 3-4 days ago. Especially so for Vinod since hes seen her as a kid. Apparently, the accident became a police case and when she was finally taken to the hospital, she passed away. My father-in-law had been to the hospital especially since while she lay dying she had asked for him. How fragile and vulnerable life is....one day u r ok and the next u r gone. My in laws are definitely going to miss her presence around in the house.

Gowri, rest in peace.

Food Galore

Vinod told me that there was a vegetarian food festival going on at a hotel called Kenilworth Hotel. One could choose from Rajasthani food, kebabs & sizzlers or an italian fare. Having craved for Italian food for quite some time, we decided to give the vegetarian Italian fare a try. Nothing fantastic really.

Ydy was Avani Avittam (a religious observation where brahmin guys who wear the so-called sacred thread get together to perform some prayers.) The sacred thread is changed on this day. After the religious part the ladies supposedly arrange a sumptuous feast. At our end, I, for the first time, tried making the traditional Indian varieties of food - Vadas and Payasam along with a 3 course lunch. (its a huge deal i managed to make all of this ON MY OWN). Not a terrible success, didnt reach the standards of my mom but nonetheless the food was enjoyable.

Raksha-bandhan of North India is also observed on this day. This is where sisters tie a friendship band sort of thing (called rakhi) for their brothers. This band is supposed to protect them from evil. After the band is tied, brothers present their sisters with a gift. I tied rakhis for my cousins in Bangalore and got cash in return. Just perfect for some mini shopping.

OK, I am back to doing my long-pending homework. Ciao!

Welcome the Goddess of Wealth

I have been absent from the blogging scene for a while mainly becoz there was nothing much going on here. Last Thurs, I flew Air Deccan to Bangalore because of a festival/occasion called 'Varalakshmi Vritham'. Varalakshmi is the Goddess of all wealth and gives us whatever we want. To get the blessing of Lakshmi, this pooja is performed. As the pooja is not practised in my home, this was the first time I was conducting one in my in laws place. It was a new experience doing this pooja and I realised I really have many years to go before I can appreciate rituals. Pictures of the pooja shall be uploaded when my camera is finally charged.

Met my folks in Bangalore and made merry. Left for Kolkata from Bangalore via Hyderabad, the current terror city by Kingfisher. I must say Kingfisher is in a league of its own. A really good domestic airline with great looking cabin crew.

In the meantime, I am doing my pre-course homework. Loads and loads of stuff to read, some of which I have learnt before but just can't remember. Sch starts on Mon (3/9) and I am so looking forward. Also hav a trip to Bhubaneswar coming up wkend after next. Basically Vinod is going there on work and I am tagging along to enjoy the sights and sounds.

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the state of Orissa, India. This city has a long history and today stands as a centre for religious activity. Apparently, there are about 7000 temples here and therefore got the coveted title of "temple city of India." Am really looking forward to this trip.

Till then cheers!

Rain rain come again another day

Its the monsoon season now and many parts of West Bengal are seeing showers like crazy. In Cal, its not that bad but when it pours, it pours so very gloriously. It rained from Sunday up to Mon afternoon. Not a big deal...but the repercussions of the rain were terrible. Many parts of Cal were seriously waterlogged and we had to avoid those areas. Traffic was snarling...Its already bad on normal days...Imagine the scene when it pours. I got to see what the monsoon is like in my apts on Monday. The following pics will speak for the condition of the monsoon.

This was the scene on the ground floor of my building. Pictures taken from bedroom.

Wed was India's Independence day- a holiday. In the morning, our building had flag hoisting. We thought it was a good opportunity to see the inhabitants of our building. After the flag was raised, people sang the Indian national anthem. Thereafter, I had a private rendition of the anthem on the guitar, courtesy of Vinod. In the afternoon, we headed off to a place called Hiland Park to watch Shah Rukh Khan's latest movie, Chak de India (loosely translated as Go for it, India). Movie was good though seats were slightly uncomfortable. Anyway just before the movie started, the trailer had some famous Indian singers sing the national anthem. We were so engrossed in the music that we failed to notice that everyone in the theatre was actually standing at attention. We followed suit....At the end of the movie (which was good), we were welcomed by a massive crowd in the mall, with ppl behaving like they were seeing the escalators for the first time or like they had never seen sales before. I think the way people behaved here is far worse than Singaporeans reacting to a sale. Oh boy....Think a public holiday is the worst time to go out for shopping here.

Till the next post, ciao!

Adieu to the weekend

Well folks, another weekend passed with me in Cal. Sat was very a really exciting day as we set out for the streets in the afternoon. Vinod drove quite a bit and I think his confidence is growing. Our driver says in a months time, he'd be ready to hit the streets. I really hope he is able to manage driving on his own soon so that on days we don't have our driver, we can still go for drives.

Sat, we went to some shopping malls, of coz I bot sth for myself. Would have bot loads of other house decoratives, but considering that we would have to move base again in the near future, I resisted the temptation. Also went to Victorial Memorial. Well, if you want to know what this place is about, visit http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/ . Basically its an art museum documenting the history of India, growth of Calcutta, etc.





Sunday was a lazy day and we spent our time at home. Got really boring at home, so I attempted to start on my pre-course stuff. And it was no surprise that I cudnt rem loads of things from my El bachelors course. Now, at least I know I need to read up n refresh my memory on grammar stuff.

In the news this morn : http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=250720

Who would have thought that an innocent Sunday morn could turn out to be THE NEWS in Kolkata the next day. This piece of gripping news is the highlight in all papers in the city. In fact, I wake up each morning to the newspapers and this morn, I was awaken to this. Not a terrorist attack, just an accident. Yet, I am sure, in the minds of many, the first question would be "Was it a terrorist attack with Independence day around the corner?" Apparently, that morning, the employees of Macdonalds were preparing for a child's bdy party with the kids expected to arrive at 10am. Time of explosion : 9.34am. Imagine the state if the explosion took place any later. Lives of innocent kids would have been at stake. While investigations are underway as to whether the restaurant had adhered to fire safety rules, we can only hope that this remains an isolated accident. Coz Park Street is a prime eating location, that sees tons n tons of people each day, any time of the day.

Restaurateur Baba Kothari suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after witnessing the damage to his restaurant next door, Flavours of China. We had been to this restaurant just few days back....and today the restaurant stands damaged....May Kothari's soul rest in peace.


Till then, Ciao.

Some pics

Hey folks,

For those of you who wanted to see some pics. Below is the link. Excuse the mess in certain parts of the house. Am still in the process of neatening/rearranging stuff.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560237971TQxjYW

There u go..Cheers

Sights & Sounds of Calcutta

A few days back, we went to Lake Market (a market near Lake Gardens, which apparently is predominantly occupied by South Indians) to get Gingely oil. We needed that oil for our cooking and for the altar lamp but could not find it anywhere in the supermarkets around our house. All they had was MUSTARD OIL. (which I understand stinks). The day we ventured out to Lake Market, I wish to hope was an isolated instance of complete darkness. There was a power cut and the entire area was pitch dark, the only light around being headlights that were on high beam.

Roads were potholed (not like its any better elsewhere, this was just really bad) and stallkeepers trying to attract you to their stall. After much asking around, we managed to find the oil we needed, bot some flowers and fruits and headed home. Thank god for the driver and the car, our misery in Lake Market was shortlived. Feels great to be chauffeured from place to place. Speaking of chauffeur, I must tell you that the streets in Calcutta are on sensory overload. Everyone moves around one another - all driving here is based on a dare. Whomever is going faster or looks crazier has the right of way. Just like ydy, when my husband who was driving the car tried to make a turn and a taxi refused to budge. End result, we suffered some scratches on our Chevy. No serious damage but its amazing how such bumps and grazes are considered the norm. When you drive, you share the street with bullock carts, bicycles, cows, packs of wild dogs, lots and lots of people trying to cross the road or simply strolling along the road, buses, trucks, trams, hand rickshaws, bike rickshaws, motor rickshaws, motorcycles, mopeds, scooters, handpulled carts overloaded with goods going to market, construction materials, etc. ... (I might have missed a whole lot more modes of transportation for all you know). No one ever uses a lane (I mean I dun blame the drivers coz the god damn lanes are not even marked)

Drivers use their horns constantly. (This applies to all of India anyway) and I am so glad even my hubby who has nvr driven in India before has learnt how to use the horn in appropriate and inappropriate occasions. If you think the roads are disastrous, you really should look at the side streets. A 2 way road will consist of 3 lanes of onward traffic and 1 lane of the opposite. And by the way, I managed to cross a busy road full of trams, dogs, cars, etc etc etc etc etc safe and sound!! Hurray!!

Today I am due to go to the foreigners registration office in Calcutta to register myself. I dun really know why I need to do that but the rule says I have to so I do. I hear from my hubby that the people there are a bunch of 'unemployed' fellas who just sit and chat with each other. No different from the scene at the Automobile Association of India, Bangalore. People were just sitting around watching one another, talking on the phone or simply staring blankly into the air. Well, let me go the office and judge for myself. I hope this trip will not be an arduous one.

Till then, Sheela OUT!

Lost in translation

I came to Calcutta knowing very well that language was going to be a huge problem for me. Since I was going to be at home for some time, I knew I would have to converse with the maids and occasional repairmen who would come for maintainence.

My biggest fear was realised on Monday when the plumber had come home to repair the flush in one of the toilets. I was listening hard to his hindi (which to me sounded bengali) trying to make sense of what he was trying to communicate to me. Well, I did succeed to a small extent and responded "Theek hai" (aka OK) to everything he said. Just hope he didnt ask if he could sell me off to Sonagatchi. ( the red light district of Calcutta). What was important at the end of this hindi endeavour was that I was able to learn some Hindi vocabulary and got the required work done.

My hindi endeavour continues with the maids..perhaps thats how I will finally make some sense of this language. And now I know how important communication is...how important languages are....Now I truly understand why language is power. Because if you don't speak a certain language, you end up feeling powerless...the way I feel now. For now, I am managing.

I really hope I get a hindi tutor soon, someone who would help reinstate my power. My power to communicate in the language widely spoken here in Calcutta. Really looking to moving from telegraphic speech to proper free-flowing speech in Hindi.

Taking Kolkata by Storm

3rd August- Sheela left Singapore for Kolkata to join her husband, who has been posted there for a couple of years.

3rd August, 10.30pm: Sheela reached Kolkata and the first thing that she noticed - her hubby waiting for her at the immigration. They collect the bags, clear immigration and head straight home.

Upon stepping into the house, I looked around and noticed tons and tons of boxes lying around the house. And I thought to myself- I know exactly how I am going to spend the rest of my August before schools starts.

4th August- We have lunch at home and head out to the mall to do some shopping. Thereafter, we went to do some vegetable shopping (a whole new experience it was). Till date, I have only seen my folks buy vege from an Indian market. Now, it was me at the market, trying to choose vege. Thereafter, we headed to Red Hot Chilli Pepper for dinner. This is a Chinese restaurant located near our home. A pretty decent place packed with people. Food was more than decent except that we both felt soooo full after the appetizers, we couldnt really finish the main course. After dinner it was HOME SWEET HOME.

5th August : Today I tried to tie a saree for a Bengali function that we were invited to. I must have tried for about an hour and yet was not able to to tie a saree that came as close as the way my mom would drape one. Frustrated, I just decided to wear a salwar kameez. Anyway, thank god I didnt bother with the saree, coz by the time we reached the function hall, it was time for lunch.

Icing on the cake for the lunch was the mango kulfi...which by the way, literally is MANGO + ICE CREAM. The ice cream was served frozen on a real mango fruit. Amazing stuff. Food was not bad either.

Rest of Sunday was spent at home. In the evening, I got the flavour of a North Indian temple. Marble idols that were beautifully decorated and sugar as prasadam (offering).

So, one weekend successfully spent in Kolkata, India- The land where everything is old.

Rest of my week shall be spent unpacking. Maybe I should catch up on some reading as well.

Cheers

Final farewell

It was finally 1 Aug, the day I officially became unemployed and added to the unemployed statistics in Singapore- but not for long. When 3 Aug came, I contributed to the unemploed statistics in Kolkata.

The mini farewell in the office on the 1st was fabulous. As I made my rounds to say goodbye, my colleagues over at my cluster were preparing for a toast of.....BACARDI BREEZER...the one that tastes of medicine. We toasted and took some pics (Which I am yet to receive from Selwyn). I then made my way out with Arthur acting as protocol officer. He tried to form an entourage but that failed miserably. The rest of my colleagues were waiting for one another to come...so it was just he n me in the lift. I was rushing for a lunch appointment at Biopolis so had to quickly say my goodbye to him before trodding up the hill for lunch.

Hours passed and I was home and had to get ready for a spa treatment I had made an appointment for. Raj, I used the voucher to its max potential. The spa was amazing.

Till then

Ciao