The Big Brown Suitcase

Like most of the Bengali family heads, my father never had any sense of architecture. So when he built the house which we currently reside in, he took especial care to carve out storage spaces - access to which would be near impossible.

We moved into this house some 10 years back. Mom utilized all such storage spaces to tuck away the stuff that were deemed useless. Some of these spaces were located behind immovably huge beds (one that was gifted by my Grandpa during mom's wedding). Others were placed near to the ceiling, beyond human reach.

I visited my family last February. My mom, all of a sudden, happened to recall that a Brown Suitcase remained hidden in one of those dark inaccessible corners. So, she bestowed me with the responsibility of dragging the suitcase out of the mythical storage space.

After putting in some inhuman effort, I displaced the cot and pulled out the huge suitcase of my mother's interest. It was a VIP make suitcase, 48" in size, scarred with innumarable marks. This brown suitcase was used by family since 1987. It travelled across India from Ranchi to Nainaital to Bangalore, before finally retiring in suburbs of Calcutta. 10 years of prolonged neglect was evident from the repulsive amount of dust and cobwebs which covered it.

Mom spread an old newspaper over the bedsheet, on which I placed the suitcase. Both me and my mom were quite curious about the belongings this gigantic suitcase, that was packed, closed and shoved away a decade ago. My mom doesn't believe in building up suspense, so she opened up the case without much ado.

The suitcase was full of clothes. Sweaters. Shirts. Sarees. And ladies underwear. But you know what? None of these garments were mundane pieces of wearables. Each of these clothes were related to some member of our family in some special way.

First: There was this bundle of tiny sweaters. All of them were hand-woven. one had horizontal stripes of red and yellow wool. She told "This was yours." I was 5 years old( and 1/20th of my current volume) when I wore that sweater. I remembered it from a photo from my close friend Pupun's birthday party. Next to it was a similar sweater, which she recalled was woven for my elder brother. She picked it up, ran her hand through lovingly and placed it back in the suitcase, realizing that it would now fit her grandson (bro's son) who would never be allowed to wear an unbranded outfit.

Second: Beneath an old blanket, was found a white half-sleeved shirt with a pocket on the left side. The pocket was embroidered with a blue-colored emblem of a burning torch ('mashaal' in hindi). It was my school uniform. My most chreished attire, ever! Me - who is known to be a generally indifferent person among my friends - really felt a lump in my throat when I saw my old uniform. Sniff! Sniff!

Third and the most important: With great affection, mom picked out a red Saree. A Banarasi silk. This was the saree that marked the beginning of a 34 year relationship of a most-beautiful-girl-in-village with the most-uncool-man-ever-on-earth. Mom got married wearing this very Banarasi saree. Next she handpicked a white silk petticoat. She caressed it and utterred "This was the saya (Bengali for petticoat) which I wore during my marriage..". It was quite awkward to see my birthgiver get so nostalgic about the underwear she got married in. This was the first time, my mom discussed ladies' underwears with me. She commented on problems she had wearing the petticoat, compared to the underpants she wore during her childhood. The white silk blouse which she wore at her wedding also was resting here, a look at which made Mom confess "I can't believe how slim I used to be!". She meant size zero :).

Fourth: Just like my amazement with the saree mom got married wearing, Mom was all excited about another silk saree of purple hue. It was the one, wearing which her mom/my granny achieved marital bliss! And trust me, that Saree didn't lose much of it's shine even after 70 years of first being used! Wow!

Fifth: Mom discovered a sleeping bag of American make, gifted by her younger brother, who considered her to be his closest friend -before he got married. She sniffed that sleeping bag for a considerable time before putting it back in the suitcase.

After a nostalgic hour, mom realized that this suitcase doesn't carry any immediate value for the family. So, I was ordered to place it back where it was dragged out from. But, I sensed from the the very content smile on my mother's face, that this was indeed a planned move on her part. She wanted me to know of this storehouse of invaluable memories. She needed a guardian of the same for future. Good to know that I fit the bill.

Trring Trring to Beep Beep

Last night I was watching Monsoon Wedding. Every scene, I was being awed by Vijay Raaz's Dubey act. P.K.Dubey suddently uttered something which got me into flashback mode: "Maa, mobile mein baat karne ke liye ek minute mein 12 rupiya lagta hai" (Sorry, can't remember the exact dialogue).

The dialogue instantly reminded me of a 1999 afternoon when I was standing in Kalighat Metro station. The billboards were taken up by Command (later Hutch/Vodafone) - advertising it's low incoming call rates by comparing it with cost of streetfoods. Example: Bhelpuri Rs.3.00/-, Incoming Rs. 2.50/- or Lassi Rs. 5.00/-, Incoming Rs. 2.50/-. We've come a long way since that day. Rs. 12 per minute to make a call is plain unbelievable in current Indian Telecom market which is crowded by 10+ operators and jaw-droppingly low tariffs of 1 paise/second.Voice calls apart, it is not easy to single out any commodity or service that became cheaper in last 10-15 years.

In late 90s, my middle class parents percieved cellphones to be high-tech gadgets that were owned only by the super-rich. Which was kind of true in that era. The old Indian cellphone commercials clearly depicted Cellphones as toys of affluent folks. Older writers rued the fact how Bengali youth has changed ways to impress girls over the decades: In 70s, they wore Bell-bottoms, in 80s they rode motorbikes and in 90s, they are buying cellular phones.

The first cellphone that I ever touched and felt, was my elder cousin's bulky Nokia 5110, then considered to be a device of ultimate kewlness. Soon my elder brother bought one Motorola C-series phone. My father and bro went together to buy the phone, and came back in a Taxi, rather than public transport, to prevent the phone from being stolen! The excitement in the house was almost akin to buying the first car. His next phone was a Nokia 3310 - which was a bigger wonder for everyone - you know why? It was a phone without an external antenna! :P

Circa 2000, the rich-guy's-toy exclusivity of Cellphones waned off. Cellphones (popularly called 'cell' or 'mobile') became more and more abundant with cheaper models entering market. 2003 was marked by a phenomenal initiative launched by Reliance Infocomm - the Rs. 501 plan. Anybody paying just Rs. 501 could own a brand new cellphone along with CDMA connection. In addition, they could speak at a then-stunningly low rate of 40 paise/minute. People mobbed Reliance Infocomm showrooms, overlooking the 3-year contract and monthly installments. Biggest contribution of the 501 plan : it actually brought the cellphone to the mass. People whom we never thought would be part of cellphone user demographic - Shoeshiners, Autodrivers, Fruitvendors, Railway Hawkers - suddenly got access to the greatest technology of the decade. And our world changed forever.

Soon after, people got used to Cellphones. They became more of necessities, than novelties. Innovations continued: Phones with color screens, camera, music player, bluetooth, touchscreens, GPS, apps... phew! Once-amazing features like Music Composer, Polyphonic Ringtones, Snake 2, and in-built Flashlight fast faded into tech history. Cut-throat competition among operators generated hitherto unthought of Voice plans like Free Calls in same network, Lifetime connectivity, Hello tunes and Call rates as low as 29 paise/minute (P.K. Dubey would have talked to his Mom for longer time, had Monsoon Wedding been made today).

Talking. Did you happen to notice it's no more the same? How casual Phone Conversations have become? When you call someone, you can never expect his/her undivided attention to the conversation. The person on other side might be working on an Excel sheet/watching cricket score/cooking all the while talking to you. But on the other hand, if you miss someone, most certanly he/she will be one speed-dial away :)

Cellphones have totally transformed our ways of communication in last 10 years. It was my generation that witnessed the replacement of love-letters with text messages (SMS). Portability of cellphones ensure that lovebirds can talk absolutely anywhere - on the bus, in the bathroom, away from parents eyes. Same network/Late night Free Calls allow people to talk for any duration - 1 second to 1 night. However, at the same time, I feel that cellphones have devalued physical proximity. People are closer than before, but the longing for being together is not that strong anymore.

15 years back, calling my bro in Karnataka used to be weekly affair of huge importance. Not having long-distance calling facility in home, we went to a Phone booth at late night (to avail cheaper rates) and spoke to brother for 5-10 minutes. Those few minutes provided my parents with relief and happiness for next 7 days. Now, the current plans enable to me call my family and friends daily, spending more than 30 minutes in calls. I must admit that these conversations help a lot to bridge the 2500 km gap between me and my loved ones.

Footnote: For people wondering how pre-2000 cellphone scenario was or are nostalgic about the same, I highly recommend the movie '99'.

Bollywood 2009!!!

Wow, even before I could lose a single kilo of weight (I resolved to lose 20 kilo in last December... he he), 2009 is into it's last month. Time flies faster than bullets fired by Quick Gun Murugan.

Major part of the year was wasted by draught of releases, courtesy the Multiplex-Producer deadlock and when it was solved, Indian viewers were flooded with sewage water of substandard productions, punctuated by a handful of sparkling movies. Flavour of the season seemed to be black comedies -with Kaminey, 99 and Sankat City emerging as the standout productions.

1) DEV D!! Undoubtedly the most brilliant movie to have a Bollywood tag in the entire decade. Anurag Kashyap, lage raho! I'm obsessed with DEV D !! because: Emosanal Atyachar, Mahi Gill, Dialogues and Set.

2) KAMINEY!! Vishal Bharadwaj, take a bow for consistently proving yourself to be the best director in India. I' obsessed with KAMINEY !!because: Dhan Te Nan, mean characters, Tassadaq Hussain's camerawork and a superb climax.

3) 99 !! IMHO the smartest movie of the year, in terms of storytelling. I'm obsessed with 99 !! because: AWSOME script, AGM (Mahesh Manjrekar) and Kuber (Amit Mistry).

4) Sankat City
Of all the black comedies that were released, the one having the least budget and most laughs was Pankaj Advani's Sankat City. I'm obsessed with Sankat City !! because: Faujdar (Anupam Kher), Sheshaiyaa (Chunkey Pandey) and Mona (Rimii Sen).

5) Wake Up Sid!!
This year's Rock On. Predictable storyline buoyed by high production value and some decent music. I'm obsessed with Wake Up Sid!! because: Konkona Sen Sharma, Gunja sa hai koi Iktara and Kashmeira Shah as the fourth floor hottie .

6) Love Aaj Kal!!
This had been the most awaited 2009 movie for me, after Dev D, of course. Imtiaz Ali didn't meet my expectation,still I was satisfied with the movie's pragmatic, urban theme. I'm obsessed with Love Aaj Kal!! because: Chorbazari, 1960s Calcutta and Harleen Kaur.

7) Straight - Ek Tedhi Medhi Love Story!! Straight - Vinay Pathak's 3rd Outing (not sure) as protagonist of a Bollywood movie - presents Gujju restaurateur Pinu Patel, his romance and hilarious sexual identity crisis. I'm obsessed with Straight !! because: Vinay Pathak (obviously), Fresh music, the Climax.

Yeah! Over! These were my 7 favourite movies of 2009, till 4th of December.

Disclaimer:

Somewaht liked Billu and Delhi 6.

Missed out Luck by Chance, Little Zizou, Barah Anna and Firaaq.

Planning to watch: Paa, 3 Idiots and Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year

Let's hope to see a better Bollywood in 2010!

Addenndum!

I watched Paa, Rocket Singh and 3 Idiots and loved all 3 of them!! Adding these 3 completes my list of top 10 movies of 2009.

The Stopover - Part 1

Whenever I visit Kolkata, I have to spend some hours at Chennai airport to board the connecting flight. Same happens when I return to Trivandrum. Every time I stop over at Chennai, I meet someone significantly memorable. Each of these characters are/were interesting in their own way.


In April 2008, I was supposed to take a 5:30 AM flight to Kolkata. I stepped into Chennai airport at around 10:30 PM along with co-worker and co-passenger Sajal (affectionately nicknamed Bihari).


Killing 7 hours was no small deal. Those being the wee hours, number of people in airport (read air-hostesses and gorgous airline staff) was hopelessly low. Laptop was loaded with movie but none of the charging points were functioning. The Higginbotham's bookshop was closed and book is one item which can not be window shopped. The last known saviour in such a circumstance- a brimming cup of hot coffee - could not be purchased as the Wings snack bar closed at 10:30.


Into the airport came a guy in his late 20s, with a very bong-ish face. Unshaven, unslept, crumpled casuals and a laptop bag hanging from his shoulder. This guy too got very frustrated after a fruitless search for a fully-functional charging point for his laptop and finally vented out his disappointment in words nostalgically familiar: "Dhur bNara!"

I called out to this tired soul -"Bangali? None of the charging points have power. Just like Kolkata airport" . Traditionally, Bengalis tend to gel with strangers better if there is a common issue to grieve/complain/bark about. If you are aiming to repel a true-blue bong, try positive vibes. This guy (his name was Saptarshi)- likewise - spontenously struck up a conversation with me about all things bad about Chennai and Kolkata, then expanded his scope to India, the subcontinent etc.

Before he could proceed any further, Bihari headed for the loo. Now, Bihari's denim trousers had something embroidered on a very strategic location. Saptarshi'e eyes got suddenly glued to the trouser and he asked me with a very perplexed look "Why is 'REPLAY' written on his bum?" Honestly, I did not have any explanation to offer other than a dry smile.

Soon after, we decided to swap movies from laptops. While my OS was coming to life, my co-passenger looked around and whispered "Buddy, got porn?" Unfortunately, I did not. I gave him Seven Samurai, The Bong Connection and Om Shanti Om while he shared Fahrenheit 9/11 and some other movie which I fail to recall. This guy was a software pro, middle manager in one of India's 4 then-biggest IT giants. Like a quintessential perennially homesick bong, he advised me to gather 2 years of experience and return to Kolkata ASAP. As the Schedule Display started flashing 'Security check' for Indigo flight to Kolkata, we parted ways. Saptarshi was going to Guwahati and had 2 more hours to spend.

We rolled our luggage towards Scan, my friend settled himself well in his seat, preparing for a nap.

Dadu'r Jonmodin

For me, this year's Pnochishe Boishakh happened two days early. Google, de-facto homepage of every netizen tweaked their logo on 8th May. I was looking for a new gadget when Dadu's Protikriti in google's logo captured my attention. This time of the year in Kolkata is generally marked by saree-clad aunties sweating in makeshift stages of Nandan premises, dishing out conventional rabindrasangeets throughout the day. Add to that DD Bangla's lacklustre Robi-homage programs (the private channels are not much different) . I am glad to have escaped all that fuss and actually a bit proud to see Google India's tribute.

Some Disappointments

First, my parents had to cancel their trip to Trivandrum because dad fractured his ankle. So the opportunity of meeting my closest ones got postponed indefinitely. Everything was set, I even arranged an one room apartment where we 3 could stay for a couple of months together happily. All of a sudden, all plans came crashing down.

Instead I planned to visit Kolkata. I called up all my friends to announce my trip. Everynight I started having dreams of Phuchka, Bhetki Fry, Olypub and Coffee House. Just after I booked the flight, I got a great project to work on and was effectively tied down by professional commitments. Disheartening stuff, really.

Then came the Oscars. Even if I get a Deshdrohi tag for saying this, I would definitely say the Slumdog did not deserve 8 Oscars. At least 4 of them belonged to Dark Knight :-(

And finally, Ayesha Takia got married. I seriously feel that there should be a Law against hot actresses marrying when they are at the prime of their career. All the beauties in real life are bound to be taken before I meet them, if the same happens with women of fantasy too, the situation becomes very very bleak. Sigh!

Absent Letter

Finally my Laptop has been fixed. After performing very well for almost a full year, one fine evening the speakers, keyboard and touchpad decided to break down together. Luckily, the warranty was still valid and the HP people in Trivandrum replaced the components for free.

Vista was throwing up an array of errors, so I switched to XP. That created some more problems because HP apparently do not support Notebooks that has been downgraded from Vista to XP. In the end, I was compelled to reinstall Vista to bring my laptop back to working condition.

Now, there was a new issue. Broadband bill was unpaid for 2 months, simply because the office of the ISP was too far for any of us lazybones to travel and pay up. Asianet guys chose this opportune moment to locate the defaulter customer and snapped the connection. So there I sat with a perfectly working PC minus the internet.

Good news is now all the problems has been solved. It feels good to be back online. Yay!