AN ORDINARY HUMAN'S EXPERIENCE OF "TEMPORARY INSANITY DAY (FEBRUARY 16, 2020)" IN D-MART IN TILAKWADI AREA OF BELGAUM:

#beyourself #beyourownvoice
AN ORDINARY HUMAN'S EXPERIENCE OF "TEMPORARY INSANITY DAY (FEBRUARY 16, 2020)" IN D-MART IN TILAKWADI AREA OF BELGAUM: 😂🤣😅🙃🙂😌🙂❣️

Last Sunday, we drove to D-Mart located inTilakwadi area of Belgaum city. The highway in front of the building housing the departmental store is dug up for fly-over construction to decongest vehicular traffic at the railway level crossing gate number three making it difficult to park our vehicle in D-Mart's subterranean parking lot and had to park the car at the road near the building(inset photograph).
There was a curtained kiosk at the entrance to security check ladies/women shoppers. The lady security guard quite diligently pressed my pelvis and buttocks as part of a security check that made me wonder why she did not press my chest/breasts as part of the process.
D-Mart in Tilakwadi area is notorious for bottom pinchers and bottom brushers, who do the commercial meme creators huge favour by making people the women/ladies in particular as a "BADASS!" I, therefore, was aware of my cousin-sister's, Mother's and Aunt's discomfort in shopping at D-Mart. L.O.L.!!!! 
My cousin, Joshika Gupta was relieved of missing out on being graced with "ignoble touch". While she was paying for the purchases (Pani Puri mix, Pani Puri Water mix and a couple of packets of Tang.) I slowly made my way through a non-operational POS area. Just then, a store attendant left his post at one of the POS moving swiftly towards me brush past me touching my right arm, and his hand touched my right lap. I turned around and tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around and sheepishly blurted out "Sorry!"
 I replied to him, "I did not tap on your "Shoulder" in demand an apology, but to tell you never do anything disrespectful. Gentleman, do not deliberately disrespect anyone and invariably disrespect yourself."

Once my cousin and I had cleared the security at the exit and were walking towards the make-shift vehicle parking area, she suggested we have Pani Puris from a Pani-Puri vendor "parked" on the pavement. My Aunt and cousin-sister like Pani-Puris very much and whenever they see a Pani_Puri road-side vendor they always make a beeline towards it. My Aunt and cousin stood to the right of the vendor's Pani-Puri stand while I stood to the left with my back to the afternoon sun for a while till Aunt urged me to be with them. While the young Pani Puri vendor was busy preparing to serve us I asked him whether the street lights lit in the evening. He said "No". I reiterated my question only to receive the same reply with the explanation that the street lights did not work because of fly-overs' construction work. I explained to him that the construction work could not and should not hamper street lighting and they should be aware of it. Just then his elder brother hurried to the stand and asked his younger brother to hand him over the plastic glove he was trying on. In the flurry, they damaged the glove and still used it. Meanwhile, a group of young ladies had joined us to the left of the stand enjoying their chatter while waiting for Pani Puris. At elder brother's behest, the younger sibling moved to the left of the stand to take onions from a container and chop them. He was grinning from ear-to-ear as he approached the side of the stand and deliberately brushed his arm on my stomach before I could move away from his way. He grabbed the knife and onion and looking at me with the grin still stuck on his face he stood behind us to do his brother's bidding. I saw him looking at the girls while peeling the onion. 
I asked him whether he could read and write. He shook his head in affirmative and hung his head so low that it literally touched his chest. I simply told him and his brother, if we are literate and ignore reading to be aware of our rights and responsibilities as a human, a national, a citizen and above all as a literate individual then, we allow ourselves to be exploited and make it a valid reason to exploit and abuse anyone else. We give vent to our frustration through hooliganism and then justify it as a backlash to abuse and exploitation. We become the oppressed and the oppressors too. Its example is the blatant misuse of media and social networks. Both the brothers and the group of young ladies stood silently rooted in their place. I earnestly hope I did not ruin their celebration of "TEMPORARY INSANITY DAY!"
My experience of Kalyan, Maharashtra, and Belgaum has made me wonder whether there are "two groups of masses":
1. ONE: who is obsessed with chest and breasts and never miss an opportunity to ignobly touch that part of your anatomy when they walk past you or are standing in front of you.
2. TWO: who is obsessed with the pelvic region of your anatomy and never misses a chance to touch you there.

We, misconstrue self-discipline to be a straight-jacketed existence of abstinence; dignity to arrogance and humility to be timidly passive. This happens when parents, teachers and senior members of human society ignore the fact that they are responsible for the youngsters to be aware of the biological changes and sexual urges and how they are to responsibly respond their queries and not manipulate them to their selfish gains resulting in immorality and social hypocrisy. We are invariably responsible not only for the strength of our character but also of others if we firmly believe in yours and mine instead of ours..."Our World...Our Planet Earth."  For evidence, look at all the memes and viral posts in social networks.
I am not a "NATIVE" of Karnataka state of India. I may be part of the so-called "migrant population" like the two brothers earning their livelihood selling Pani-Puris from their road-side vending stand eventually becoming a cynosure to the NATIVES giving an opportunity to the law enforcers to fleece them for allowing them to use the pavement to earn their living if they are not skilled enough to formal employment: sweating it out at a sweatshop like restaurant, road-side dhaba, construction site, retail outlet, workshop or an industry. The constant hammering of one's existence in a social milieu to be more of a bane than a blessing invariably triggers them to act in defiance to such innuendoes both overt or introvert. This invariably exhibits the fact: "WE ARE LIVING IN A PARADOXICAL VICIOUS CIRCLE: EVERYONE IS A VICTIM: OPPRESSOR IS THE OPPRESSED!"

Should we not introspectively question the reason why mega and metro cities and towns have immigrant populations? Should we try to delve deep within us using our #compassion #education #respect #ethics #wisdom #rationality with full awareness of #sustainability #diveristy #resilience and sans #bias #prejudice
Be generous with your comments and thoughts on this post.
THANK YOU! for giving your precious time to read it. 🛐☮️✝️☪️🕉🌳🍀❣️

Source of D-Mart, Belgaum's Image: https://www.justdial.com/photos/d-mart-belgaum-belgaum-supermarkets-eav78aqsx1-pc-131259884-sco-992uqa6y2qe

A Hall of Mirrors (Poem)

I walked into a hall of mirrors;

curious to view me in them. 

As I moved from one mirror to another

'for a moment, my images made me wonder,

filling me with good humour.

Gradually my images clouded my mind with gloom;

making my very being asunder.

I gently closed my eyes

dispelling the darkness engulfing my mind;

finding my real self, yonder.

The warm reassuring glow rising from my heart;

Gradually lit my eyes lifting me up

preventing me from falling apart.

Thus dispelling the darkness from my mind,

reviving my belief in 

self, humanism and beings of all kinds

Lesson from a Sanyasini

I was traveling from Cuttack (Orissa) to Calcutta by train.It was an over night journey. My Father was with me, to help me settle down in the city where I was to join a new job. The train reached Howrah Station, its final destination, quite early in the winter morning.My Father and I, like the other passengers were all set to alight from the train, when I saw a Sanyasini, in her late fifties, trying to step out of the train with a bag and a small basket. She was small built and frail and her saffron attire suggested that she was from Sharada Math of Ramkrishna Mission. I offered to help her with her bag, but she insisted that I carry the small basket instead for her. When we stepped on the railway platform we realized we were on the far end of it and had to walk its length to exit from the station. In sheer urgency to hire a taxi to reach our place of destination, my Father hurried ahead of us, towards the main building of the railway station, where the taxi stand was situated. Trying to keep pace with my Father, while carrying my bag and the Sanyasini's basket, I found that she was walking rather slowly but steadily behind me. I found it to be quite a task to keep pace with my Father, who was hastily milling through the crowd, while the Sanyasini was walking slowly. I was trying hard to keep both of them within my visibility range, trying not to lose track of any one of them on the crowded railway platform. In sheer exasperation, I realized that I was a stranger to the Sanyasini and she had entrusted her basket to me; while my Father who knew me, would definitely turn around to look out for me and on not finding me, would halt and wait for me to catch up with him. So, I walked within the Sanyasini's visibility range and as I had thought, I saw my Father waiting for us at the exit of the Railway station. The Sanyasini thanked me when I handed over the basket to her and said, "So, it is not easy to carry a small and light basket too. God bless you Maa" and quietly merged with the crowd.

...not I

You hurt the boy?

...not I!

You broke her toy?

...not I!

You holed up the field?

...not I!

You stole the shield?

...not I!

You wreaked the nest?

...not I!

spilled ink on Grand dad's desk?

...not I!

You ate up the cake?

...not I!

You reached school late?

...not I!

You went to the movies on sly?

...not I!

You pulled the dog's tail?

...not I!

You toppled the cart?

...not I!

You pulled her veil?

...not I!

Why do you lie?

....who, I?...

Links in a Chain

Mrs. Chandran (nee Balan), our English language teacher in the high school I was a student of, had quite an attractive personality and was role model to many of us, her students. She took the initiative to organize us and publish the first hand-made school magazine and got me to illustrate all the articles and literary contributions. I was an average student with not much inclination towards Science and Arithmetic, but I was proficient in Hindi and enjoyed the English language. Mrs. Chandran was a divorcee. Her employment as a teacher was helping her support herself and care of her two children studying in the school she was teaching in. Unfortunately, I began experiencing unpleasantness, when Ms. Chandran started pointing me out in the class for my inability to express myself properly in English and my test scores nose-dived from modest 60% to 45% I was intrigued at this sudden discovery of my lack of knowledge of English language and it shook me up too. I was not a very self-confident student and was quite introvert too. Such a sudden change in her behaviour made me lose all my confidence in expressing myself in English. One day, she blatantly told me and my classmate, Debosree Das, to take tuition from her after school hours. Then, taking tuition was not in trend and those who opted for tuition were looked down upon. I spoke to my parents and they decided it was not feasible for me to attend tuition after school, while my friend Debosree started attending tuitions after school hours. I worked hard to improve myself and still continued to earn low marks in English. Time passed and I prepared myself for ICSE exams and earned a modest score of 62%

My question is: How relevant are private tuitions? What is a school's responsibility in helping a student effectively learn a subject being taught in school?

In the early nineties, our family moved to Orissa to set up an industrial unit, but the things did not work out in our favour leading the family to face financial hardship. In order to help the family to tarry over the difficult times, many of my Uncle's friends started sending their children to me after school to help them with their studies and now, I was giving private tuitions. When I tried to explain the lessons to the children and explain various concepts and methods of language and science, the children insisted that I help them with their homework and help them prepare for class tests. In the name of preparing for class tests, I had to help them to memorise all the answers their teachers had given to them to the questions on each lesson, of course, for each and every subject! According to them, this would help them to score good marks in the examinations!

My question is: Do we study to learn and understand? Is Education in school to learn and acquire knowledge and prepare oneself for life or to score impressive marks?

While working for an organization managing its Livelihood Training Programme projects, one of my colleagues, had an uncanny way of avoiding any work-related responsibilities as he was confident that the project would fail. He would only observe us trying hard to work in organizing training programmes. I personally believe in doing my bit and execute my responsibility to the satisfaction that no stones remain unturned in completing the project.

A time came when Management tried to set a functional target for us to achieve without providing us with the required support and it was then that most of the members of the team cautiously worked on the new assignment except the gentleman, who then jumped into the arena, while we had made it quite clear to the management that both external and internal (organizational) environment was not ready to help us meet the objective. At that time, out of clear exasperation I had exclaimed at the gentleman "Can't you keep your backbone straight and your head high and clear? You are Father of grown-up kids and have seen life more than anyone of us?"

My question is: Are not the organizations and the society at large responsible or each and every individual, who is its integral unit or building block? To what extent can organization negate an individual's individuality and as a result alienate itself from those it is functioning for?

When I left the organization, one of its business partners' gave me employment. It is then I realised that the lady, who was the Director of the organization, was treating me exactly as my colleague in the previous organization and deliberately negated all the efforts made to achieve my functional objective as part of the organization. Respecting the social network and its functional objective, realising that I was employed to accept failure as part of the role reversal, without any further ado, I stopped from all my efforts in innovating and improving the operations of the organization to complete a farce called Performance Assessment when the building blocks of the organization were not in place.

My question is: Like the schools are the organizations too not responsible for its employees? IS not the failure of an employee the failure of an organization? Is not the strength and potential of an employee, is that of an organization too? Therefore, is not the overall development of an employee or its unit the responsibility of any organization?

Computers, Information Technology to Bridge Generation Gap

"Baba, why don't you write emails to me when we have computer and internet system at home?" Asked Meghna when she visited her parents during her visit to India from Norway. Father and daughter had many common interests and both enjoyed sharing their views on the current events and developments both on the national as well as global front. The only point of difference between the two was the use of technology in daily life. Meghna's Mother chuckled and said "I have failed in making your Father use electronic gadgets, see if you can succeed..." Meghna immediately picked up her laptop and placed it in front of her Father and said "Baba, I am going to leave this for you and before I go, I will ensure that you begin using it!" while saying so, she deftly opened the system and with a click of mouse button the computer was transformed into a music system playing her Father's favourite Western Classical songs, Occidental classical songs and music. She encouraged her Father to go through the play list to choose the songs he wanted to listen to. Suddenly the melodious reverie was interrupted when the computer suddenly started tinkling like a telephone!! "Baba, sit up, now it is time for you to video chat with Manik Uncle in Iceland!" She quickly pulled her Father up to sitting position in front of the computer and nimbly tapped on the keyboard and hey presto! the computer screen transformed into TV screen and the whole family could see Meghna's Manik Uncle's cheerful and animated face appear on the screen which broke into a big grin and he yelled "Hey Sagar, how are you? you seem to have lost weight and look, your hair line too has receded beyond the visibility range? What are you all up to? how's the festival season in India? Thanks to Meghna that I have got a chance to chat live and face to face with you! The families in India and Iceland had a memorable reunion through the web meeting and all bade teary eyed farewell promising to login in again soon to such web meeting. After dinner, Meghna and her parents once again sat down in front of the computer to see an old movie, which was her parents' all time favourite. During her fortnight visit to her parents, Meghna spent most of the time with her parents in using the computer to help them unravel the versatility of the machine and by the end of the fortnight, she had succeeded in getting her parents hooked to the computer system. At last, it was time for Meghna to bid goodbye to her parents and get back to Norway and her work. Her parents had come to see her off at the airport. When Meghna heard the Airline's departure call, she hugged her parents and said "Baba, I'll eagerly wait for your aerogramme..." Before she could complete, her Father said, don't forget web meeting with us as soon as you reach there and then it will be my turn to call you on web meeting, your Maa and I...take care my dear and safe journey. Thanks for the computer, I will use it when ever both of us will miss you and want to contact you..." Meghna was moved to tears, tears of joy crept from the corner of her eyes as she hugged her parents good bye.

Amiss

While recalling my life in M.E.S. College, Bangalore as a student of ‘B.A.’ Second year, I smiled to myself remembering my contesting the College Student Council elections in 1985. I am a shy individual, who is also an introvert and had a handful of friends in the college. It’d been a year since I had shifted from Calcutta to Bangalore but had not found it difficult making friends with my classmates. I had made friends with Anuradha Kanti, who was a year senior to me in the college and was behaviourally contrary to my rather passive demeanour. She had contested the Student Council Elections the previous year for the post of Lady General Secretary but had lost. This, year (1985), it was Election time again in the college.
In the college, the Student Council comprised of President, Vice President, General Secretary Boys and General Secretary for Girls [G.S.Girls] (Since it is a Co-education college) and all them were elected members of the Council. The students had to contest for the posts through student syndicates (aka parties) and not as independent candidates. This year too, as all the other years, syndicates were formed but one of the syndicates did not have a candidate to contest for the post of General Secretary Girls (G.S.Girls), therefore were not allowed to contest in the elections. There were only ten days to go (as the college allowed only 20 days to campaign for the elections) and I had Anuradha Kanti and two of my friends and class mates: Syeda Noor Asma and Anitha R.K. approach me to join the syndicate as contestant for the post of G.S.Girls. I was dumb founded as I had never even dreamt of participating in elections except as a voter. I asked for a day’s time to confer with my Grandmother and Maternal Uncle, who were my guardians, to decide on my joining the syndicate. My Grandmother was against it while my Uncle urged me to go ahead and experience contesting elections irrespective of the results. I told them that I had to pay Rs.160/- towards the promotional material expenses: pamphlets and banners and with their permission joined the syndicate the following day. While campaigning, I found that most of the students asked me whether I knew Kannada or not and what I had done for my classmates, to which I replied that I would learn the language if they would help me do so and also that I was not elected as Class representative to do anything for my classmates ~ following the axiom that “Honesty is the best Policy”.
On day three of my election campaign, which was day thirteen of general college syndicate election campaign, I found a small white cloth banner with the Words “ELECT AS G.SECRETARY-GIRLS” covering the length and breadth of the banner with the name (SUNIPA SEN) in blue just below it appearing as the atomic number of some chemical element or compound! This banner, which was strung to the branches of a tree opposite to the college main gate, too disappeared on the seventeenth day of election campaign. The pamphlet too had the name of the candidates of the syndicate at the bottom while three fourth of it was devoted to the manifesto. I was skeptical of even getting at least 9 votes as the promotional materials did not help in giving visibility to the candidates of the syndicates. There were three syndicates contesting and the other two syndicates were campaigning aggressively giving ample focus and visibility to the candidates.
The Election Day arrived and I was quite confident that all the members of our syndicate would get the least number of votes, but was amazed to find that we were the second in command as we lost to all the victors by an average margin of 25 to 30 votes and it was quite an achievement.
I thank my class mates, who elected me as the class representative to student council and the whole class made history by becoming the first to celebrate Kannada as well as English New Year. Go on two-day long excursion to Mysore and Ooty. Get fans and additional lights installed in the new classroom we occupied as students of BA final year. We were also the first batch to donate books to college library as part of our farewell ceremony.
I was reminded of all this while recalling my stint with TeamLease as Programme Coordinator when I was entrusted with the responsibility of organizing Job Fair at Jaipur in the year 2008, with Rajasthan Government’s department for Training and Employment. We had to organize the event for maximum 10,000 people within 10 days and with no prior experience in organizing such an event, we did manage to prepare ourselves with nearly 25 clients and 22 training companies to meet nearly 10,000 candidates during the daylong event; but to our amazement, we met more than 30,000 candidates on that day though we did not have adequate contingency plan to do so nor the required support from the State Government’s sponsoring department to manage such a surprising number of job aspirants, but we did it. We provided employment to nearly thousand candidates through the event. The Chief Minister Mrs. Vasundhara Raje too graced the occasion, as it was part of her election campaign and she too eventually lost the subsequent election and TeamLease too, in the meanwhile had organized its team of professionals with experience in event management to subsequently organize such events. What I learnt from both my experiences was, being a winner or being successful in a venture does not matter, but what really matters is you doing your bit to the best of your ability with all those who are with you and as long as it is being done for the benefit of everyone and not for any vested interest.

PUNJAB

Ramnavami is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of Lord Rama, a human incarnation of Lord Vishnu the sustainer of the world. On the festive occasion of Ramnavami like any other office goer enjoying the holiday relaxing over a cup of tea and newspaper, my eyes caught the brutal picture of two men pinning down a 17-year-old girl to the ground and let a man mercilessly flog her. According to the news in the Taliban occupied Svat province of  Pakistan the girl was flogged for two minutes by the Taliban along with her brothers they saw her with a man who was not her husband! It reminded me of Sita, wife of Lord Rama, who too proved her chastity to her husband, Lord Rama through the “Fire Test" (Agni Pariksha). I am not a feminist, but the news really stirred my soul and made me wonder, are we progressing or regressing as humankind?
I picked up the bookmark I had received from Ramakrishna Mission and these quotes of Swami Vivekananda are on its two sides: “No chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved”. On the other side, is the quote, “Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith in God – this is the secret of greatness.” How apt both the axioms are to the events I have mentioned. We can trust others only when we trust and have faith in ourselves as an integral part of the Divinity. All beings, including man and woman, are manifestations of the Divine, who is both the creator and creation of the Cosmos. The way we ill-treat earth, similarly we ill-treat women and all the beings who are weaker than us.

 I am specifically mentioning the women, because a woman, who is also a mother, is the first teacher of a child. She acquaints the child to with the environment and its surroundings. She introduces the child to the world.
I intend to share my respect for five women, whose love and wisdom flowed like the five rivers of Punjab. They have contributed in moulding me into the individual I am today:

• My maternal Grandmother: She is from Punjab and even today she is a pillar of strength. It is she who has helped me to understand what self-discipline, self-righteousness and integrity mean: In my childhood, I used to wake up with her in the wee hours of the morning. I used to pick flowers from the garden to offer with the morning prayers. I used to help her bathe the idols of God, prepare God’s breakfast and then sit down with her to browse through the holy books admiring the colourful pictures and reading some of the simple text while patiently waiting for her to offer breakfast to God so that I could then relish the acknowledged offerings as “Prasad”.
• One day, she dressed me in one of my good dresses and took me to merge with the crowd gathered alongside the road that the Late Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi’s official motorcade was to travel by. We, fortunately, were standing in the front row and I was too young to realise that I was about to see a woman, who will remain a stalwart in Indian politics. history I was literally clinging to my Grandmother’s arm when Mrs Gandhi’s open jeep slowed down in front of us and I saw a woman who looked quite fair, medium built like my Grandmother and she wore a full sleeve blouse with cream printed silk sari. She was standing in the jeep and waving to the crowd. The vehicle was full of bouquets of flowers she must have received during her official visit. She suddenly bent down and picked up a bouquet and flung it at me. I was awestruck by her gesture and remained on my Grandmother’s arm, while a girl standing beside me quickly picked up the bouquet and triumphantly waved it at Mrs Gandhi. I expected my Grandmother to chide me for behaving like a dumb child but was surprised to see her pat my head and take me to the nearest bookstall to buy me my favourite children’s magazine: “Chandamama”, which is still published in Chennai (then Madras).

(Frankly: I have always preferred to admire the flowers on the plants and not in the form of a bouquet!)

• ÿ My paternal Grand Aunt (My Father’s Maternal Aunt): She personified feminity, genteel demeanour and affection. I seldom saw her lose her cool with anyone. In spite of her frail health, she tended to her family of seven and kept herself busy concocting pickles and chutneys that we used to pinch from the storeroom and relish during long summer afternoons. She always used to smile and say that these tidbits were meant to be pinched and eaten by children as it assuaged a child’s heart’s desire for adventure and fun – imagining ourselves as treasure hunters while creeping into the storeroom to unearth the booty she had stowed away for us!
• She had a terrace garden and she used to tend to the plants like her own children. She used to narrate the progress made by each and every plant and flower from the time of my last visit to her house. She had even named some of the plants and herbs in her garden. I used to stand with her on the balcony of her house in Calcutta and admire the different kinds of vehicles plying on the road in front of her house and it is through them and their license plates she taught me to recognize colours, also English alphabets and numbers. She was a chronic asthma patient and this physical indisposition made her sombrely identify herself with the caged parrots in her house. She used to treat them with love and care and taught them to say “Ram, Ram”. She was from Keshab Chandra Sen’s family and in her childhood, her Mother tutored her on meaningful and melodious religious songs and she used to often quote them to help one wisely analyse a difficult situation.
• During my Higher Secondary Exams, which I preferred to appear from her home, she used to bathe and offer daily morning prayers and then perform a small prayer to bless me to successfully appear in the tests. On the eve of my Botany test, she suffered from a terrible bout of asthma and in spite of her ill health, she got up in the morning, bathed herself and offered a prayer for me. I was so moved by her sincerity in my wellbeing that it built up my confidence to appear for the practical exams on that day.
• My paternal Grand Aunt (My Father’s Paternal Aunt): She was a pragmatist and a rationalist. She always preferred to call a spade a spade, however much it may disturb the other person. She single-handedly managed the household due to my Late Grand Uncle’s ill health. She introduced me to the rural life of Bengal and its unique pristine beauty both before and during our visit to my Father’s ancestral village. She acquainted me to the simplicities of village life and showed me how vegetables were cultivated in the fields. She was a knowledgeable and well-read woman who introduced me to the Bengali idioms and folk tales. I used to enjoy her tongue-in-cheek humour and the way she used to dole out the slap-sticks on the idiosyncrasies of Bengali men and women. She had good knowledge of herbal remedies too.
• One day, during my visit to her house in Salt Lake (Calcutta, West Bengal), she made me sit beside her on the balcony overlooking a square. She winked at me and said, “Today is Sunday and during the day you will see this square bustling with life. You will see the Bengali gentry visit the fishmongers and the vegetable vendors positioned on either side of the square. Just sit back and relax and enjoy their conversation with each other and the vendors, that will give you a glimpse of the Sunday life in Bengali household and the Bengali housewives, who staunchly believe that the way to their husband’s heart is through his stomach and the poor husband weighing his pocket to find his way to his wife’s heart! After the colourful sights and sounds, you can enjoy the aroma of delicacies wafting from the locality, all from this very place! Just wait and watch....”

• T. K. Bose Uncle’s Mother (I called her my Paternal Grandmother): Mr T.K. Bose was my Father’s colleague in Titagarh Paper Mills and we were neighbours too in Paper Mill’s Staff Colony. Grandma used to live in Calcutta while we resided in its suburbs. I remember her as a petite woman dressed in white with a string of beads around her neck. She had a serene countenance and a very mild demeanour. The first time I met her was when I was collecting flowers from the ground. She approached me and asked me “Maa (In Bengali culture, a young girl is lovingly addressed as “Maa, meaning ‘Mother’), can you too give me some flowers for worship the way you collect for your Grandma”. I happily agreed to comply with her wish and we became good friends. One evening I introduced her to my friends, the other children of my age group, from other households in the staff colony. We all sat beside her and she narrated an experience Ananda Mayee Maa’s Ashram: “Ananda Mayee Maa used to have an orange every day and one day, to test her credibility and her faith in herself and God, more than twenty of her disciples visited her one by one and asked her for one section of the orange and she did not refuse anyone of them. No sooner had we heard the narration, we fired our fusillade of questions to find out whether Ananda Mayee Maa was a magician, whether she used a knife to cut the orange into small pieces and used whatever reasoning we could garner to disprove the credibility of the noble soul she revered.
• One evening, after the storytelling session, we joined her in a singing session. We wanted to collect Mexican Oleander, Plumeria and Crape Jasmine flowers lying on the ground of the common garden area of the staff colony. We collected the flowers and washed them with care, and then we pranced behind her to the small temple beside the Main gate of the staff colony. The small temple had three grey and black stones in the name of Shiva Linga. We all got along with our Grandmother to clean the otherwise deserted Shiva temple which stood guard at the Watch post (A small shelter for the Security Guard) and decorated it with flowers allowing our aesthetic sense to run riot in decorating the temple as well as the Shiva Lingas. She then asked us to fold our hands and sing the three hymns she then taught us to sing:

1. “Raghu Pati Raghav Raja Ram Patit Pavan Sita Ram. Ishwar Allah tero naam Sabko Sammati De Bhagwan” (This means: Lord you go by many forms and names but please bestow wisdom on everyone.)
2. “Vaishnav jan ko Tene  Kahiye ne Pir Parai Janey rey” (This means: Please tell even those who think they are wise to empathise and feel the pain of others too.)
3. “Ho oe koromeytey bir, ho oe dhoromey te dhir, ho oe unnotoshil nahi bhoyey...” (This means: Be bold in your action, be patient and steadfast in your faith, and be progressive and fearless...)
Now I realise how true and meaningful these hymns are.

• Ananda Da’s Maternal Grandmother (Called her my Paternal Grandmother): Ananda Da is more my brother than he is the son of my Father’s colleague in Titagarh Paper Mills. The first time I met her was in her house in Calcutta and I found her to be a soft-spoken and caring Mother as well as Grandmother. No sooner had she welcomed us in her house, she got busy trying to prepare eatables that she could serve us during our visit and very interestingly portrayed her mundane existence to us. I used to make it a point to meet her whenever she visited Ananda Da’s house because I enjoyed her fussing over me and treating me to all the eatables and food she cooked for Ananda Da. She appeared quite fragile, always worried about her Grandson but she didn't fuss over him. She was full of stories and anecdotes and I enjoyed listening to her. She lived her dreams and life through her Grandson without imposing her hopes and aspirations on him. She preferred herbal remedies to medicines prescribed by the doctors.
• The day Ananda Da’s school Final Results were announced and I learnt of his brilliant results. Out of sheer joy, I rushed to his house and hugged him with a big yell of congratulations only to realise that Grand Ma was looking at us and would disapprove of such a blatant demonstration of joy. To my sheer amazement, she came and patted on my head and said that I had truly exhibited euphoria a blood sister would. True, a relationship of the heart is greater than the blood relationship.

All five grandmothers were blessed with a loving heart and their love has flowed as freely as any of the five rivers of Punjab. White was the colour of their life, but they did teach me the colours of life and explained to me what life really means. All of them used to advise me on herbal remedies for any ailment therefore, this write-up is dedicated to them.