My Experiences With Alcohol

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I am not much into alcohol. I only drink occasionally. My family members were too cool to allow me to drink on family occasions ever since I was sixteen years old. Before I had turned eighteen, I had already tasted beer, whisky, scotch, vodka, rum, red & white wine, gin, champagne etc. The first time that I actually bought alcohol from a wine shop for myself was when I had just turned eighteen years old. I had bought a can of Kalyani Black Label Beer from the wine shop in our locality. Most probably the price was around 40 rupees at that time. I do not remember correctly. It was in the year 2000.

The first time I went to a pub was also in the year 2000. It was Olypub in Park Street. I went there with a friend. We had beef steak and beer. After that day we started going to Olypub regularly. Another favourite dish at Olypub was Chicken-a-la-Kiev. It was and still is yummilicious! Since then I have been to almost all the famous and infamous bars and pubs in Calcutta. But Park Street still remains a favourite place. Even today if I have to booze outside with my friends then my first choice is always Park Street. Some-Place-Else at Park Hotel is another favourite hang out spot in Park Street. The alcohol is not that expensive there and they have live musical bands every night. Its a perfect combo! I have been to each and every bar and restaurant in Park Street. But somehow Olypub still feels special. Even today I get so nostalgic whenever I visit Olypub. I still remember the first day when I had visited this place. The memories are still very fresh in my mind.

Another favourite place to booze is at Shaw Bar which is also fondly called Chhota Bristol. The reason for this alternative name is that during the British period there was a hotel called Bristol nearby. Thus the patrons started referring to this place as Chhota Bristol. Shaw Bar is the oldest bar in Calcutta. The prices of alcohol are really pocket friendly here. There is a huge variety of food available. The various choices and their rates will just blow your mind. The ambience is very warm here and the camaraderie among the customers is really contagious. Women are not allowed here and therefore there is peace and no tension in the air! The only problem is to find an empty seat here especially on weekends. I once wrote a blogpost on Shaw Bar a few years back. Here is the link : 

http://rajgauravdebnath.blogspot.com/2016/07/shaw-brothers-or-chhota-bristol.html

   


The first time I tasted country liquor was when I was in St. Xavier's College. I guess it was around 2005. In those days the most famous country liquor brand was Farinni. Nowadays it is Dada. Anyways back then I had Farinni with Sprite at the famous Khalasitola. I went there with a friend of mine. It was initially a shocking experience to visit Khalasitola. I had heard and read about this place many times in many magazines and newspapers. The main reason to visit Khalasitola was that at one point of time this place was the favourite hang out spot for stalwarts like Kamal Kumar Majumdar, Sunil Ganguly, Shakti Chatterjee, Ritwik Ghatak, the hungryalists, and many such famous and not so famous poets, writers, painters, dramatists, intellectuals etc. Anyways coming back to my story, Farinni with Sprite did not taste that bad. Also we had some potato snacks and fish fries from the food stall which was inside Khalasitola. Many other food items and combos were available. In those days the owners of Khalasitola used to open up the terrace in the evenings. It was really nice to booze on the terrace on a beautiful evening and look down at the adjacent busy road. In those days me and my friends used to have long adda sessions on the roof of Khalasitola. We used to discuss everything from politics to poetry. I guess after a few years for some unknown reason the owners of Khalasitola stopped letting people go to the terrace and it remained closed. Maybe some drunkard had thrown some empty alcohol bottles on the road below or something like that must have happened. I do not know the exact reason why the terrace was suddenly closed for people.

Apart from Khalasitola, I have also been to Baroduari at Rani Rashmoni Road and Ganja Park at Bhowanipore for country liquor. Baroduari is a slightly better place than Khalasitola but Khalasitola somehow has an x-factor. And I hated the ambience of Ganja Park. I only went there a couple of times and then never went back there. Another unique place was Tripty's Bar at Bhowanipore. Some people also jokingly call this place Striptease!    

My most favourite alcohol is Old Monk rum. I usually have it with Thums Up, neither Coca Cola nor Pepsi, only Thums Up! Sometimes I also add mango or litchi juice into it, just to make a cocktail. It really tastes very nice. I also love collecting miniature alcohol bottles. I really find them very cute. Sadly they are not sold in Calcutta. I went to Goa in 2019 and from there I bought many miniature alcohol bottles. I wish to buy more such bottles in the future...      

     

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Poth Gechche Benke

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The music album 'Poth Gechche Benke' by Krosswindz was released on 1st June 1996 by Sagarika music company. At that time I was fourteen years old. In those childhood days, buying an audio cassette was a luxurious affair in our middle class home. I first bought this audio cassette from Music World at Park Street in the year 2000 when I was eighteen years old. The price of the audio cassette was Rs. 32. At that time I was studying in Class XI in St. Xavier's College. I loved the album immensely. The sound was different. The songs were different from other bangla band songs. The whole feel of the album was different. I listened to it on a loop for days and nights. Here is how the songs were featured in the cassette : 

Side A :

1. Poth Gechey Bekey

2. Koto Durey

3. O Mon

4. Elomelo Hawa

Side B :

1. Ghum Bhangey

2. Kachey Esho

3. Ei Dingulo

4. Obaak 

In Side A my most favourite song was 'O Mon' and in Side B my most favourite song was 'Obaak'. I guess this was the first bangla band album to have an instrumental track. Then once a friend of mine borrowed this cassette from me. She said that she would return it after a few days. But that bitch finally returned it to me after more than a month and only after I repeatedly asked her to do so. After this incident I broke all contact with her and never talked to her again. 

This year is the 25th anniversary of the album. This year is its Silver Jubilee. For the past few weeks I have been repeatedly listening to the songs of this album. I really miss those days around 2000 and 2001 and 2002. I really wish to have a Time Machine so that I could again go back to those days. I really miss the Park Street of those days. I really miss Music World. In those days I used to regularly listen to the albums of Krosswindz, Cactus, Parash Pathar, Abhilasha, Chandrabindoo and Fossils. In those days life was really different. I did not have a mobile phone. Talking to my then girlfriend over landline phone used to cause a lot of problems in my house. I still remember her landline phone number. I finally got a mobile phone in the year 2003. It was Nokia 5100. For network connection the choice was between Airtel and Hutch. I chose Airtel and I am still using that number for the last eighteen years. 'Poth Gechche Benke' is one of my all time favourite bangla music albums. In those days around 2000 I had thought that my life would go in a certain straight way but eventually the course of my life's journey also changed and it took various unknown turns and twists...    

      

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Cred Ads

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These days I am absolutely in love with the new Cred ads featuring Bappi Lahiri, Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Daler Mehndi, Jackie Shroff, Kumar Sanu, Rahul Dravid, Venkatesh Prasad, Jawagal Srinath, Maninder Singh and Saba Karim. Did I miss anyone? Anyways these ads are extremely funny and innovative. These ads have really touched my heart and tickled my funny bone. Hopefully the makers will make more such creative ads in the future. Its really a delight to watch these Cred ads. And here are my three most favourite ones :

1. Rahul Dravid as Indiranagar Ka Goonda.

2. Kumar Sanu selling Insurance. 

3. Nineties' cricketers in a Boy Band.

From my very childhood I used to watch a lot of TV. My parents used to scold me always for watching too much TV. But I never listened to them. In those days there were only Doordarshan National (DD1) and Doordarshan Metro (DD2). I guess for a brief time there was DD3 also. Anyways I loved watching films and serials and cricket matches on DD. But as a child I hated those commercial breaks. I really hated watching ads on TV. It was such a waste of time. I only liked a few ads, which were funny, but the majority of them were boring, like those ads about detergent powders. I used to think that it would be so nice if we could watch films and serials and cricket matches on TV without commercial breaks. I told my father about it and he said that these ads are sponsoring these films and serials and cricket matches and because of these ads we are all able to enjoy them on TV. Still I thought that it would be really amazing to watch TV without these stupid commercial breaks. I guess I was the first boy to think about OTT platforms! But I am sure other people also must have felt the same. Finally after all these years God listened to people like us and today we actually have OTT platforms where we can watch anything without those stupid commercial breaks.

Here I must add another thing. In the nineties whenever India used to play a cricket match in India, then the stadium used to be over packed with people. However when Ranji matches were played in those same stadiums then they would be practically empty. As a nineties' boy, I used to discuss with my brother and cousins and friends that it would be really nice if some famous foreign cricketers also played for our Ranji teams. It would have been really fascinating to watch Shane Warne play for Bengal and Brian Lara play for Karnataka and maybe Wasim Akram play for Punjab! I used to think that each Ranji team must have atleast three foreign cricketers. In this way the quality of Ranji cricket would have improved and there would have been more people in the stadiums and thus this would have brought in more money. My argument was that if foreign footballers can play in our football teams like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and if Indian cricketers can go and play in the English County teams then similarly foreign cricketers should be allowed to play in our Ranji teams too. Sadly it never happened. Only years later we now finally have the IPL format which has proved to be a big success...

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A Suitable Boy @ Netflix

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Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' was published in 1993. I was eleven years old at that time. In those days Pranoy Roy used to do a news show called 'The World This Week' on Doordarshan. This book was featured in it. There was a buzz around this book. It was the longest book at that time. There was a graphic shown in the show which also commented on the weight of the book. As a child I used to wonder why someone would write such a long novel and who would have the time and energy to actually read it. Years later around 2005 I finally borrowed this book from RKM Library at Golpark and actually started reading it. Though I lost interest after the first few chapters and returned the book back to the library. 

Yesterday night I spent watching 'A Suitable Boy' at Netflix. I started watching it around midnight and the series finished around 6 a.m. Then I went to sleep. I watched it at one go. There were six episodes. Each episode was around an hour long. I really liked it and I was transported back to the early fifties' India. Mira Nair has done a fabulous job. Hats off to her. This period drama almost looked perfect in all respects. All the actors looked their part and everyone really performed well. Loved Tanya Maniktala as Lata, especially her beautiful eyes. If you have not watched this web series then please watch it on Netflix if possible. However I have only one complaint. There should have been more cultural references to the films, music, theatre, literature and even cricket of those days.

Tanya Maniktala as Lata Mehra has done a superb job. She has acted with such ease and comfort. She seems to be a natural actress. Tabu as Saeeda Bai is flawless. Ishaan Khatter as Maan Kapoor is a delight to watch. He woos the audience with his carefree ways and also holds his fort in the serious scenes. Rasika Dugal as Savita Kapoor is awesome. Mahira Kakkar as Rupa Mehra is okay. Ram Kapoor as Mahesh Kapoor is fascinating. Gagan Dev Riar as Pran Kapoor, Vivek Gomber as Arun Mehra, Vivaan Shah as Varun Mehra, Shahana Goswami as Meenakshi Mehra, Mikhail Sen as Amit Chatterji, Thomas Weinhappel as Hans, Namit Das as Haresh Khanna, Danesh Razvi as Kabir Durrani, Joyeeta Dutta as Tasneem, Sharvari Deshpande as Malati, Shujaat Khan as Ustad Majeed Khan, Shubham Saraf as Nawabzada Firoz Khan, Randeep Hooda as Billy Irani, Aamir Bashir as Nawab of Baitar, Ranvir Shorey as Waris, Vijay Varma as Rasheed, Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Kishen Chand Seth, Vinay Pathak as L.N. Agrawal and Manoj Pahwa as Raja Of Marh are all very good in this series.

However in the end the way Lata chose her husband seemed a bit hurried. She took so long to make up her mind to choose the perfect husband for her and then suddenly chose her husband in an instant. I was not happy with this ending. I would have loved it if she had finally chosen Kabir Durrani as her husband. I would have loved to see their marriage. The fact that she was Hindu and he was Muslim should not have mattered in the matters of love...

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Ray @ Netflix

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Ever since I first saw the trailer of Ray I was really interested in it. There was a growing buzz around it especially on Facebook. My Netflix subscription had expired so yesterday I again paid 499 bucks to renew it. I really wanted to watch Ray on the first day of its release very badly. It was like seeing the first day first show of a movie. First of all I loved the intro music and animation. The visuals in the intro reminded me of the drawings by Satyajit Ray from his story books. It reminded me of my school days in the nineties when I used to borrow Satyajit Ray's books from the school library. It reminded me of my childhood days and those beautiful afternoons which were spent in reading the works of Satyajit Ray and mentally getting lost in the world created by the Master.   

Among the four stories my most favourite one is 'Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa' directed by Abhishek Chaubey which is based on Satyajit Ray's short story 'Barin Bhowmik's Ailment'. Manoj Bajpayee is a sheer delight to watch. His subtle nuances and facial expressions help to make the character of Musafir Ali come alive. I will not write about the story here. I will not give any spoilers here. Please watch it on Netflix. And watch this story for the sheer brilliance of Manoj Bajpayee. Watch how the story goes back and forth by ten years. Watch it for the scene where Manoj Bajpayee first sees the golden pocket watch. Watch it for the toy scene from Manoj Bajpayee's childhood. The way it was shot, it reminded me of a particular scene from 'Sonar Kella'. Watch it for the sadness and helplessness in the eyes of a young and unemployed Manoj Bajpayee. Watch it for the continuous shot which shows the rise of Manoj Bajpayee as a ghazal singer. And finally watch it for the twist in the climax scene at the Rooh Safa shop. Notice how the camera tilts at the mention of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The reference to Satyajit Ray's stolen short stories is unique. Gajraj Rao, Raghuvir Yadav and Manoj Pahwa are amazing in this film. The editing is wonderful. The music is captivating. The set design is noteworthy. The cinematography is outstanding. The direction is brilliant. One thing caught my eye. In one particular shot, three toothpaste brands were shown - Colgate, Prosmile and Bicana. Colgate is okay but I don't know why the names of Promise and Binaca toothpastes were changed. 

My second favourite story is 'Forget Me Not' directed by Srijit Mukherji which is based on Ray's short story 'Bipin Chowdhury'r Smritibhrom'. Ali Fazal is brilliant. Shruthy Menon, Shweta Basu Prasad and Anindita Bose are all very good. Ali Fazal with his good looks and engrossing expressions carries this story on his broad shoulders. The dialogue "After this, therefore, because of this" is interesting and is a hint to the actual storyline. The choice of the film 'Drishyam' in the multiplex is also interesting. Those who have seen the film 'Drishyam' will know the connection. The scene with a parking space full of Mercedes Benzes is captivating. The choice of the name 'Ennui' for the American firm is interesting. The picture frame of Ali Fazal with a cricket ball is also interesting as we all know that Srijit Mukherji is a great cricket fan. Notice the names of the flat owners in Ali Fazal's building. Ali Fazal's downward spiral into madness and loss of trust on his sharp and prized brain have been effectively captured by the director. The shot where Ali Fazal walks towards Room 301 is soul stirring. The scene at the Ajanta caves is haunting. The way he loses his mind is fascinating. And again the twist in the climax scene is mind blowing. The continuous shot in the climax is just brilliant. The forget-me-not flowers are apt. The gravestone of Maria Dsouza is heart breaking. And the last shot of the camera zooming out is mesmerizing.

My third favourite story is 'Bahrupiya' again directed by Srijit Mukherji which is based on Ray's short story 'Bahurupi'. Kay Kay Menon, Rajesh Sharma, Bidita Bag, Kharaj Mukherjee and Dibyendu Bhattacharya are all very good in this story. But watch this story for Kay Kay Menon. He is simply brilliant in the role of Indrashish Shah. In the end credits, his surname is shown as Shah though I think that it should be Saha. Shah is a gujrati surname whereas Saha is a bengali surname. Anyways Kay Kay Menon's helplessness is breathtaking in the green room scene. Loved the way he mockingly says, "You want to fuck me, you fuck me...". His tussle with God is captivating. The way Kay Kay Menon and Bidita Bag look at each other at Chung Wah restaurant is heart breaking. Calcutta looks magnificent with Victoria Memorial and The 42 building in the shot on the office terrace. The scene where Kay Kay Menon goes with the name of Amit Dutta to the Peer Baba is frighteningly eerie. The words "Umar bhar Ghalib yehi bhool karta raha, Dhool chehre pe thi aur aaina saaf karta raha" are majestic. Loved the shot where Kay Kay Menon is standing on his balcony wearing only his underwear and the day turns into night. Loved the camera movement in this scene as it first zooms in and then zooms out. And the scene where Kay Kay Menon goes with the name of Rakesh Singh to the Peer Baba is simply ethereal. The last shot is brilliant with the screen blacking out and the following squish sound. The way Srijit Mukherji has made this story, it reminds one of 'Vinci Da' too. However I have one question. People who wear spectacles, do they still wear them while indulging in sexual intercourses?

Lastly my least favourite story is 'Spotlight' directed by Vasan Bala which is based on Ray's short story of the same name. This story begins with a fake godwoman. Notice her phone number which ends with 420. Harshvardhan Kapoor as Vik is unimpressive. After seeing the brilliance of Ali Fazal, Kay Kay Menon and Manoj Bajpayee, Harshvardhan Kapoor is a total disappointment. This story gets spoiled due to his acting skills or lack of it. However that is the character that he is playing in this story. Still I think someone else should have got this role. Anyways Chandan Roy Sanyal, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor and Radhika Madan are all good. The references to Agantuk, Parash Pathar, Nayak, Pratidwindi, Devi, Kapurush, Mahapurush, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Joy Baba Felunath are delicious. I loved the reference to Oregon since I love Osho. The twist in the meeting between Vik and Didi is interesting. The climax is captivating though I am not sure whether it is Kafkaesque or Lynchian! Overall out of the four stories, this is the weakest link.

P.S. There is now a heated debate going on about this anthology. Some people have hated it completely and think of this as a disrespect and insult to Satyajit Ray. They are saying that Netflix and the three directors have murdered the beauty, essence and the innocence of the original short stories. While others have loved it and have welcomed this anthology with open arms. I loved two films - 'Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa' and 'Forget Me Not'. I did not like 'Bahrupiya' that much and I think it could have been better. The story could have given due punishment to the original Rakesh Singh. Indrashish should have devised a way to kill the real rapist and then believing himself to be God, because he actually punished someone for his sin, he could have happily gone to the Peer Baba as Rakesh Singh to test the Baba's supernatural powers and eventually face his own doom. And I absolutely hated 'Spotlight'. Its neither good nor funny. Its a total disaster. Its the worst film among the four. Though it is clearly written on Netflix that these films are based on the short stories of Satyajit Ray but my view is that these films are not actually based on the original short stories but are kind of inspired from them. The basic ideas have been taken from the original short stories and then the makers have made something altogether new with them. I support this endeavour and I think that Netflix must make more such films in the future from Satyajit Ray's short stories. Directors must have the creative freedom to explore new dimensions with old stories. Some people will like them. Some people will not like them. That is part and parcel of this game. Really looking forward to Ray Part Two...       

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Venice Of The East

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Last night it rained heavily. It rained almost throughout the night. I was awake till around 4 a.m. Enjoyed every moment of this night long rainfall. Started talking to a friend of mine who stays in Bangalore. It was raining in Bangalore too yesterday night, though not as heavily as it was raining in Calcutta. We talked for almost an hour. It was really nice talking to her over phone with the sound of rainfall in the background. Then I started listening to the songs of Kabir Suman till around 4 a.m. It was really ethereal to just lie down on my bed and listen to those songs and think about the past and to look outside my window at the falling rainfall and the occasional lightnings. 

Woke up today morning around 9 a.m. Saw that there was tremendous water logging in front of my house. It was still drizzling. After breakfast I made some paper boats and put them on the water. Clicked some pictures and recorded some videos on my phone. The last time I had made some paper boats was probably around 2013. Anyways the sky was dark. Though the time was around 10 a.m. but it looked like it was around late evening. I sat on my balcony with a cup of coffee and looked at the drizzle. Smoked a few cigarettes. Nowadays I only smoke Gudang Garam cigarettes. The weather was captivating and intoxicating. I just love this kind of weather with darkness all around and rainfall.

In 2002, on my birthday my first girlfriend had come over to my house. On that morning it had rained a lot and there was massive water logging in our area. She had called me up on our landline phone before coming over to my house. I told her not to come because of the water logging and it was still drizzling. But still she came over braving all the water all around. She literally walked in knee deep water from Charu Market and came to my house in Lake Gardens. No rickshaws were available. When she came I saw that her jeans was totally drenched in water. So I asked her to take off her jeans and gave her one of my trousers to wear. She was really very shy and she would not change her jeans in front of me. So I had to go to another room and then only she took off her jeans and wore my trouser. Now my trouser was too big for her. So she really looked very sweet and funny in that big trouser. I still have that trouser in my almirah though now I have become too big and fat to fit into it. 

Many years back in the nineties, there was almost continuous rainfall for around three days and Calcutta was water logged for those three days. I was in school at that time and I clearly remember this incident. I did not go to school for those three days. I just watched Doordarshan at home and read story books. It was really magical to see water logged streets for almost three days. At that time 'The Statesman' had dubbed Calcutta as 'Venice Of The East'...

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Places That I Miss In Calcutta

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Music World at Park Street

The Tea Table at Park Street

Nescafe at Park Street

Blue Fox at Park Street

Sky Room at Park Street 

The old Barista at Park Street 

Cafe Thé at ICCR

Caffeine at Golpark 

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Friends Reunion

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Recently I watched the Friends Reunion on Zee5. A moment like this makes the human life bearable with so much misery, sorrow and death all around. A moment like this makes you feel that not everything is horrible in this universe. A moment like this makes you drink ambrosia from the cup of Nostalgia.

We first got satellite cable connection in our house in the year 1999. Though my father was dead against it because he was stupid enough to think that satellite TV would ruin his son's education, but I was adamant. I wanted cable TV in our house by hook or by crook. Ultimately I won this battle against my father and finally got cable TV in our house. This opened a whole new door for me, especially a door to explore Hollywood movies and American TV serials. I used to watch almost everything from The Simpsons, Xena Warrior Princess, Boy Meets World, 3rd Rock From The Sun, Small Wonder, Dharma & Greg, Will & Grace, Everybody Loves Raymond, Just Shoot Me, Baywatch, The Bold & The Beautiful, Full House, Frasier, That 70's Show, Nash Bridges, The Mind Of The Married Man etc. And then there was Friends.

I think I have seen every episode of Friends atleast twice. Still I can watch them over and over again. There is a feel good factor attached to each episode and one really connects with the characters. My most favourite character is obviously Joey. He is funny, innocently stupid but has an honest heart. And his most famous dialogue, apart from HOW YOU DOING is JOEY DOESN'T SHARE FOOD! Even one connects with the supporting characters as well. Friends is basically light romantic comedy and one can just watch it simply lazing around. 

Did you know that there was an Indian version of Friends called Hello Friends on Zee TV around 1999? I also did not know about it and just came to know about it recently. Here is how the six Indian friends looked like : 

Simone Singh as Sanjana (Monica)

Aparna Banerjee as Nisha (Rachel)

Maria Goretti as Penny (Phoebe)

Cyrus Broacha as Cyrus (Chandler)

Nikhil Chinapa as Vikram (Ross)

Anil Dimbri as Rahul (Joey)

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