My brand new TV

Two days back mom and i had a tiff over a television program..i was watching F.R.I.E.D.N.D.S when my mom barged in and changed the channel...this resulted in a huge tiff between my mom and me....and dad caught between constant cross fire...he now got me my own T.v...so after another a heated argument...and few thousand rupees later now i have my own tv...and i am happy and at peace...so it finally pays off to fight with mom...lol!

NAMESAKE

An ambitious exploration of the immigrant experience.....

Namesame is about the Ganguli family who migrate to New york...Their journey of life over three decades...After surviving a life-altering train wreck, engineer Ashoke (Irfan Khan) enters into an arranged marriage with the beautiful Ashima (the singularly named Tabu) and they move to a very modest apartment in the very foreign setting of Queens.

As time passes, the couple has a son and a daughter, as well as a comfortable suburban life in Yonkers. But rapid assimilation takes its toll on their first-generation son Gogol (Penn), who as a teenager feels neither Indian nor American, and who is particularly enraged that his father has made him seem even more foreign and weird by naming him after a Russian novelist who died a virgin.

After graduating from college and going to work as an architect, Gogol starts calling himself Nick and dates a princess (Jacinda Barrett) to put his background behind him.

But his father's in death causes Nick to rethink his position and to eventually become engaged to a gorgeous fellow Bengali named Moshumi (Zuleikha Robinson), who has developed her own forms of rebellion.

Nair crams a lot into the movie's two-hour running time, which at times seems rushed - Gogol's sister Sonia (Sahira Nair), who has her own issues with the Indian diaspora, gets particularly short shrift.

But overall, this gorgeously designed and photographed movie artfully depicts the immigrant experience in ways that transcend its setting, melding Hollywood and Bollywood storytelling techniques to weave a tale a large audience will relate to.

Many scenes play like observed life, with Bollywood stars Khan and Tabu offering finely limned performances as parents struggling to find their way.

Penn's charismatic, loose-limbed work as the confused Gogol helps Nair avoid the earnestness that afflicts so many films of this kind, and he's quite capable of handling the big dramatic moments as well.

You don't have to be Indian to love "The Namesake."

Long after the credits roll up....and audience moves out of the auditorium...one wonders....lets mind drift off thinking about hard facts of life....children will grow up and go away,someday....one has to endure and overcome the loss of a loved one...one must go on...because time and live waits for none....taking life in our stride is the best way to lead it...Namesake makes you think...leaves a deep impact on your life....and makes you want to mould life your way...because life never gives you scope to make amends...you just live to regret

living a nightmare..

i just had the most pathetic day of my life....i dint quite sleep well last night...so that made me feel lazy and grumpy...moreover my daily quota of full House and F.R.I.E.N.D.S was unfulfilled,it just dint get telecast and this marked the day going down hill...this morning i spoke to samik far too long..my balance nearly got exhausted..then i noticed that i was late...i was due for class in 45 minutes and i still had to take a shower...somehow i managed to reach college only to have my classes late...then Debashree di gave back our papers...and i was shocked,the paper that i thought went well went awful..and i couldn't believe my luck....in a non academic exam i fared so bad...i was practically in tears and worse still everyone else scored well...all except me....moreover...Italian class was such a bore...and i was awfully sleepy..thankfully met samik afterwards so my mood was somehow lifted...and then as time wore on i was more and more tired,exhausted and sleepy with a splitting headache.....moreover got into a HUGE fight with mom..as she got on my nerves....and now i am going without dinner and i am terribly hungry...uff!what a day...almost living a nightmare throughout the day...but thankfully its coming to an end

INDIA OuttaWORLD CUP

India's World Cup 2007 run all but ended yesterday after the convincing victory by Sri Lanka. Barring a highly unlikely victory of Bermuda over Bangladesh two days from now, India are out.

Painful as this early exit is, there is a part of me which senses some good coming out of it. In the last two or three years Indian cricket is being successfully and rapidly morphed by various vested interests into a sort of sensational marketing machine. The BCCI has become a lucrative body with high profile politicians throwing in all their might to control it. Media, with its constant look out for sensationalist talking points, also played a big role by coining terms like "Team India" and "Men in Blue". As a result a realistic connection between team's performances and fans' expectations was destroyed.

Ground realities being disregarded, desires, passions, and emotions were exploited. It looked as if people were cashing in while the going was still good. Widely covered stories in the media of people shaving their heads, offering prayers for the team, naturally led to the ridiculous reactions to the loss. Now a national calamity will be declared and a multitude of theories will be offered as explanations. Much has been written about the financial disaster that will befall if India fails to reach Super 8. I see that as one bright spot in this gloom. It might bring in some much needed balance to cricket following in India.

Now our only hope is.Bermuda beating Bangladesh in tomorrow's match which would paved way for us to at least enter the super sixes,a chance that we ill deserve...if team India puts on such dismal performance..then BCCI should contemplate not sending a under performing team to the World Cup,rather than sending a team which plays like a B grade them....and bring shame to a cricket crazy country like ours,where cricket is our second religion...

This Week That Was.....

19th-22nd march 2007,AFSU hosted the sanskriti.....for those who don't know what sanskriti is,it is Jadavpur University,fest...and this being my first experience...it was one helluva rocking time...best part was..even my Italian class dint take place so it left us with more free time to enjoy..and boy!dint i have fun...

day 1..
quizzing and antakshari was fun and so was second earth and they were good...it was great fun..specially the evening as we all chatted and lazed around

day 2
sweltering heat and parched throat..eastern rounds went well and the posters we designed looked great too...the drama "yeh" was wonderful and very inspiring...the "chou" dance too.was quite entertaining

day 3-BLOOD DONATIONS CAMP
FAS organized a blood donation camp for helping the injured people of nandigram...i wasn't sure of it because i had this nagging thought,that,the needles and the equipment were not hygienic and once i saw the sealed kit being used with everyone i was relieved..and since dad gave me the green signal..i went about with the process....after a lot of pricking and prodding...my vein was found and amidst pain and friends encouraging me i finally did it...despite fear and anxiousness killing me as the vampire[the Doctor] was sucking my blood into the pouch...but all for a good cause...liberated at last...free of the guilt that i could do nothing...i have done my bit to help people in distress...samik was pissed at all this but after a lot of bickering he came around..

day 4 sanskriti comes to an end
the evening was spent i basket ball court...lazing with friends and cracking stupid jokes and whiling time away...then saw SHELLAJIT perform...it was good...and then came LOKHICHARA...and for the first time i enjoyed watching a progressive rock Bengali band who specialized in death metal.it was just awesome...balmy evening..with cool breeze ruffling our hair...soon without notice it started to pour and we ran for cover....thank god khyati's car dropped me home...it was way past 10pm and with the rain it would have been difficult to come back home...

watching sanskriti for the first time...was really an experience of its kind...it was hot and sweaty but with friends around even that didn't matter...we just went with the flow and had a ball..maybe our fest was in the grand scale as the engineering faulty but i am a person satisfied with smallest of things...so the whole event was a memorable and a fun filled one...

yesterday at a friends place...we had a booze party..well actually the guys boozed as the girls contented themselves with just sprite,pakora and later on coffee,specially made by me...don't smirk!no one fell ill..no one said it was yucky! so that was a relief!we had the best adda session ever...what with almost 10 of us huddled in a small room...some sprawled on the bed,while others squeezing to fit and others making themselves comfortable on the floor..i even missed my Italian class to have fun...and my god!it was hilarious!

Midnight Fantasies

Turned in for the night
I pull the covers up
The music is drones on
Your thought comes to my mind
And my face lights up with a smile


I toss and turn, feel restless within,
Unable to sleep, I let myself dream.
Of a world with just,
You and me.
Starry eyed, feeling happy within.

I sigh! Wishing you were here
Cuddling up to me
Whispering sweet nothings
Nuzzling my neck
And holding me tight.

I am enveloped in your love,
Your thoughts fillings me
Taking over and overpowering me
As sleep gently beckons to me,
I let myself drift and drown in your thoughts

BENGAL up in flames,rise and protest

Mothers raped in front of their kids,youth first shot in their genitals and then shot dead...kids mercilessly thrown into the river...land taken away from farmers who gives me food we eat....government says they will give compensation...but how long will that last?employment where??as laborers...what if when there is no work?what happens to the sentiments that are attached to the land....the legacy of generations?what with the land that gives them their food....all this in the name for progress...for building industries....i say fuck the progress!what use is that kind of progress?that takes place on the burning pyres of thousands of farmers,powerless to protest....what progress?if it comes at the cost of tears of blood......who cares for that kind of government who is there by the people, and for the people but does no good for the people....threatening poor and harmless farmers to give up life...young girls being raped and brutally murdered...youth being slaughtered....any kind of protest being done away with...the left front government is doing just what they want...is this democracy??what about our say in all this?after all,we vote such crooks to power...don't we have a right to voice our opinion?after all this our government too....

youth,elderly people,women and even children...are being put to death for not giving up their land...some who have given and run away...gave up their land at half the worth...and those who stick back and protest they are being made to stand in a row and then being aimed and shot at....is this democracy????

i have been mute spectactator to singur issue and now nandigram..but seeing such manslaughter i couldn't hold back the tears and my heart from wrenching in pain....we are in a city...in plush houses...with gadgets at our finger tips...fan ac,tv,pc frigde ..we are leading a luxuries life where somewhere into the villages farmers are fighting tooth and nails...giving up even their last dime..living in constant terror of being brutally murdered,yet they protest when their mother,their land,the legacy of their fore fathers had entrusted to them,which they someday hope to give to their own children..being taken away....

what a world are we into?where any protest against the wrong is silenced...what future will we give our kids...mothers rather kill their kids in their wombs than let them being born into this world of tyranny in mask of democracy....fuck democracy!we would rather have dictatorship than have a dgoverment claims to be democratic and fails to live up to its aim....

raise you voice in protest...don't sit back and think-"its not happening to us why should we bother"..its our democratic right to protest and seek redess.... think..today it is nadigram tomorrow it will be kolkata...today some one else's kids are being raped and killed tomorrow it could be ours...it could be you and me....protest...its our birth right...don't be ignorant..rise...and fight for the right....


"Denounce State Terror in Nandigram, West Bengal"
hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition
service, at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nandigra/

I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might
agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider
signing yourself.


FELE DIE MARXBAD
COPY HOLO BAGDAD,BUDHOOKE
BOLE BUSH MON AJ KHUB KHUSH,
CHORO KORO FONDI
DHORI ARO NANDI[GRAM]

How Opal Mehta Got Kissed,Got Wild and Got A LIfe

I was reading this book by kavya vishwabathan,and finished it just few hours back and i must say i found the book a very amusing one....i know all that stuff about how its not worth calling it a work of literature,after all it is plagiarised one...despite all this...i enjoyed reading it and had a good laugh....the book how opal mehta got kissed,got wild and got a life is about how an Indian Desi girl of 19,has been rejected from a dream college,reason being the lack of fun,romance and actually life...so her parents go out on a damage control spree,,,get her a tailor made life,a perfect boy to kiss and a fool proof way to get a life,with the help of personal websites,flow charts,lists,endless shopping,and then a makeover that changed the life of opal for the rest of her life...a mindless popular fiction,good enough to kill time and amuse oneself...a must read for all teenager........here are the few facts i found most amusing....


"Dad sighed."Dean Anderson suggested you need some romance,''From what i've read so far.'he picked up the nearest copy of Allure,the word kiss appears eighty seven times in each magazine issue."

"Mother said,impatiently,'you said something that resonated with us.you asked "how can i get wild if we're always around,so this weekend we're going to visit aunt priya,and you can be home,throw your own little party and get wild."


after reading the book,i finally realized how lucky i was...i choose my own subjects in school,didn't consult my parents,and in fact it was they who made me take my own decisions,they rejoiced with me,respected my choices....and went along with almost every career choice i had..their never tried to plan my life for me...neither did they impose their thoughts and made me follow them...i have had a pretty much uneventful school life....i dint need to prove myself or my popularity....in more ways than one...this book has humbled me...despite various arguments i have with my mum dad..i now value them more...plagiarisms or influenced...the book is a good read and proves to be quite an entertainer...

poetry reading session

my seniors in college arranged a 'poetry reading' session today...and Rohit informed me of it few days back and i completely misunderstood the whole concept...so today on being asked if i had gotten my poetry i was shocked and surprised...well firstly,i dint know that we were supposed to read ur own poetry and secondly,i have never made public my poems,except maybe on my blog.

after however agreeing to read my poem,i rushed to a Debashree di,our professor and she took my blog URL and went about helping me get my print out...since in the HOD's office none but the prof's are allowed to use the pc.to my dismay one of the printers we were using weren't working....luckily Suchorita mam,who was checking her mail in the other asked us to mail her the poems so that she could take the print outs for me...soon it was printed and i had them with me...what an embarrassment it was...to have my professor knowing my blog url and for them to read my poems..its too overwhelming and embarrassing.....

the reading session was reeally wonderful....my poems were appreciated...Raka,my senior even told me to make it into a song...and to see people appreciate my writing filled my with the confidence i lack within me regarding my creation...Rohit read the poet's empathy,it is my favorite poem written by him.i simply loved Prakriti's poems....one-who-must-not-be-named wrote a poem on "mana"..and it was hilarious...Ghalib's poem was heart rendering and so was the thought behind the poem written by Satish....this was the first time i attended a poetry reading session and i enjoyed myself to the hilt...we might even start a poetry club and have such sessions more often....

our first meeting with Salsa Dilshan Dasgupta

Salsa Dilshan Dasgupta is the daughter of Dr Sayantan Dasgupta and Dr Seemantini Gupta...who are our[Jadavpur University,Comparative literature Deptartment]professors...this is our first meeting with Salsa.....



Proud parents...sir and mam


who all went... Khyati,Satish,Abhinandan,Me,Tania and Rohit



mam and all of us



sir with all of us