Payer Tolai Sorse

" Roll me up and smoke me when I die And if anyone don't like it, just look 'em in the eye I didn't come here, and I ain't leaving So don't sit around and cry Just roll me up and smoke me when I die Now, you won't see no sad and teary eyes When I get my wings and it's my time to fly Call my friends and tell 'em There's a party, come on by Now just roll me up and smoke me when I dieRoll me up and smoke me when I die ....." Willie Neelsen Standing in front of Maya Bay ,and humming the tune ,i was thinking maybe this is the place to party,and the place to die( incidentally Thailand had legalised use of Marijuana that year)! The white sand beach, the blue cloudy sky with the sun playing a peek a boo with our patience, the lofty mountains and the calm greenish blue sea kissing the white beach with gentle loving waves, Maya Bay , a paradise on earth. The bay had just been opened to the tourists that year, and the pandemic had given en...

How do you judge a city...by its population,buildings, tourist places, people ,safety? How can I ,who had landed in this wonderful city for 18days like a migratory stork or flamingo say how is Mumbai? I can only say that these 18days had produced a lots of memories....some wonderful,some disturbing,some sad and mostly happy.I have rekindled some great long forgotten freindships, relived my college days, made new friends,tested my limits of endurance both physically and mentally, and tasted love and hatred at the same time. I had seen a city filled with so much grit,and non challance, so much pity and apathy, a city which never sleeps and which never dies. I have discovered a part of me long hidden in the dark gulleys of Kolkata....may be the spirit of Mumbai gave me the courage to open out of my shell of introvertness. There is no word equivalent to goodbye in Marathi or Gujarati,so let's end this short with some wonderful pics! ...

02.01.23 They say "Bombay swapno ka nagri, Iha par Aamir fakir baan jate hein,aur fakir Aamir".(Mumbai is a city of dreams,the rich becomes poor and the poor becomes rich". So, when I got selected for a training workshop on Cytogenomics at ICMR,Mumbai amongst 100 of candidates,i didn't think twice before accepting it,even if that meant monetary loss of livelihood for me.   The coming was a bit emotional leaving 2 kids and a lovely wife behind. A honeymoon couple on the next seat in the plane meant no sleep at night. When I landed at the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminal Airport,it was pitch dark. At first,i thought about booking an Uber to the place of my stay(Nestle Apartment),but then i thought why not explore the city while it's asleep. But Bombay never sleeps....from the wonderful BEST conductor who dropped me near Ville Parle station,to the Newspaper man who guided me to the train station,to the morning walkers,the daily wagers....the city is awake always. The tr...

অদ্য যামিনির মত সেই রাত্রিও ছিল ভরা বর্ষার।ভাদ্রের নিকষ কালো মেঘরাশি কলিকাতাকে আপণ বক্ষ মাঝে জড়াইয়া ধরিয়া অবিরাম ধারায় স্নিক্ত করিতেছে। । ভগবান প্রতিজ্ঞা করিয়াছে আজকেই কলিকাতার সমস্ত ক্লেদ বর্ষার নবীন ধারায় ধুইয়া দিবে। তাহার ওপর অমাবস্যা।দূরে ঝি ঝি পোকা ও ভেকের ডাকে চারিধারে এক ভৌতিক পরিবেশ সৃষ্টি হইয়াছে। পার্শ্ববর্তী কদম্ব ফুল টুপ টুপ করিয়া মাটিতে পড়িতেছে, যেমন সদ্যস্নাত রমণীর কেশরাশি হতে বারির ধারা তৃষিত দেহপেলোবের ওপর ঝরিয়া পড়ে। এই দুর্যোগের রাত্রে আমাদের গল্পের নায়িকা সুলোচনা একাকী বিরহীনি রাধিকার মত মেডিক্যাল কলেজের ইডেন বিল্ডিংয়ের গাড়ি বারান্দায় কেনো দাড়াইয়া আছে?। সেই প্রশ্নের উত্তরে নাহয় পরে আসি,আগে বলে দিলে গল্পের সাসপেন্স নষ্ট হয়ে যায়। যাহ, সাধু ভাষা আর ধরে রাখা গেলো না, আসলে বাংলায় মাধ্যমিকে টেনেটুনে পাশ করেছি তো, বাকি গল্পটা নাহয় চলিতেই থাক।      গুরুজনেরা বলে গেছেন যে কোনো গল্প শুরুর আগে তার স্থান কাল পাত্র বিবেচনা করা খুব দরকারি। স্থান কাল আগেই বলে দিয়েছি, তাই এবার পাত্র,থুড়ি পাত্রীর কথাতে আসি।সুলোচনা,নামটা ভারী মিষ্টি। মা মরা ...

Paradox originated from the greek word paradoxus (para, meaning 'outside off' + doken ,' to think'). And you will realise it when you arrive at Ho Chi Minh, the city of Paradoxes, the "Paris of the East".  Is it Saigon or Ho Chi Minh.....well the official name is Tanh Po Ho Chi Minh (TPHCM), but ask most Vietnamese (they will say Saigon, a name given by their collonial masters,the French) ignoring the name given in the name of their leader, Ho Chi Minh, after the reunification of their country in 1976. Presently the central district 1 is called HCM, while the surrounding areas are called Saigon (a truce between the names!) After coming out of the airport, HCM suprised me. Being accustomed to the noisy dirty cities of SE Asia, I was thrilled to see wide boulevard flanked by 3 lane roads, beautiful lush gardens ,glimpses of French architecture interspersed with high rises of a metropolis.It is a   country of paradoxes, a country with a violent past with a peacef...