Love @ Durga Puja 2022

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This is an imaginary story. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. 

Rahul is usually sad, depressed and melancholic throughout the year because of some unknown reasons or because of some past life karma. I guess that is just his basic nature. But only during Durga Puja his whole body, mind and soul gets filled with great joy, happiness and positive energy by some unknown divine magic force. This euphoria starts from Mahalaya and ends on Dashami. 

On 23rd September, Friday, Rahul went, after office, to Some-Place-Else at Park Hotel to watch Somlata Acharya's performance. The concert started around 10 p.m. and went on till midnight. The place was very crowded. People were boozing and enjoying the live performance. Rahul was standing near the bar with a glass of Caldera beer in his hands. He also had a bowl full of cheeselets. He was video recording the concert on his phone. Suddenly a beautiful girl came and stood beside him. Rahul's eyes immediately shifted from Somlata Acharya to this beautiful girl. It was love at first sight. She also was video recording the concert on her phone. After some time she casually looked at Rahul. He immediately smiled at her. She immediately removed her eyes from Rahul's eyes and looked towards the stage. After two more songs she again looked at Rahul. He smiled at her again but this time a bit hesitatingly. As luck would have it, this time she smiled back. Rahul immediately offered her his bowl of cheeselets. She initially rejected his offer but then after Rahul's insistence she finally took some cheeselets from the bowl, thanked him and started eating them. As the concert went on both of them finished off the bowl of cheeselets. After the concert Rahul asked her name. She told him that her name was Bonhishikha. Rahul told her that he would just call her Bonhi and then he asked her for her phone number. She refused to give him her number but instead asked him to follow her on Instagram. Rahul immediately did that. Her Instagram profile was locked. Then she told him that she needed to get back home. 

The next morning Bonhi accepted Rahul's request on Instagram and also followed him back. They started chatting on Instagram. Rahul asked her to meet him for coffee that evening at 5 p.m. She declined his coffee offer. Then he asked her to meet him for tea that evening at 6 p.m. She declined his tea offer. Then he asked her to meet him for hard drinks that evening at 7 p.m. She declined his hard drinks offer too. 

The next day, 25th September, was Mahalaya. It was a Sunday. The previous night Rahul was partying at Roxy at Park Hotel. He left Roxy at around 3:30 a.m. and came back home at around 4 a.m. Then he switched on the FM radio on his old Sony double deck music system and started listening to the broadcast of Mahishasur-Mardini. He messaged Bonhi on Instagram. She was also listening to the radio at the same time. They messaged each other for some time and then Rahul went to sleep at around 6:30 a.m. 

That Sunday morning Rahul woke up at around 11 a.m. He asked Bonhi to meet him for lunch. This time miraculously she agreed. May be Goddess Durga must have done some magic on her. Anyways they met for lunch at Sholo Aana Bangali restaurant at Patuli because this place was near her home. They ordered the non veg Mahalaya special thali. They had a lovely adda over lunch. She told him that she was a divorcee. They really bonded well over lunch and had a great time. Rahul impressed her with his unique sense of humour and his happy-go-lucky attitude. She gave him her phone number. That night they talked over phone from around 11 p.m. to around 4 a.m. 

Over the next few days Rahul and Bonhi really became very good friends. She developed a soft corner for him in her heart. Maybe she also fell in love with him without realizing it. Rahul asked her to meet him on all six days of Durga Puja, from Panchami to Dashami. She happily agreed. 

On Panchami, 30th September, Rahul took Bonhi to Kala Mandir for Kabir Suman's concert. It was an amazing concert. The whole auditorium was packed. Not even a single seat was empty. Kabir Suman was in a fantastic mood throughout the whole duration of his performance. Rahul has been going to Kabir Suman's concerts since 2003. In the last twenty years he has missed only approximately four or five concerts of Kabir Suman in and around Calcutta. But this was Bonhi's first concert of Kabir Suman. She really enjoyed the great maestro's performance. Rahul has observed that over all these years generally in concerts Kabir Suman gets really angry and agitated by the audience's behaviour, like late arrivals or the ringing of mobile phones, but this time by some strange miracle Kabir Suman was in a very good mood throughout the whole concert. Anyways during the concert Rahul proposed to Bonhi when Kabir Suman was singing the song "Sararaat Jwolechhey Nibir". She accepted with a smile. As the song was ending Rahul gently kissed Bonhi's lips in the darkness of the auditorium. He touched her soul with this kiss. This kiss would forever stay in her body, mind and soul engulfed in Kabir Suman's heart touching song. 

Anyways after the concert Rahul and Bonhi went to Some-Place-Else at Park Hotel. It was very crowded there. Rahul ordered Caldera for both of them. Some band was playing there. They left Some-Place-Else around 1 a.m. and went to Roxy. After dancing for some time on the dance floor, they went upstairs and smooched each other very hard. They left Roxy around 3 a.m. and went to Rahul's place. They made love for one hour and then he took a cab and first dropped Bonhi to her house and then he went back to his house in the same cab. 

On Sasthi, 1st October, Rahul took Bonhi to JW Marriott for Lucky Ali's concert. Bonhi could not meet Rahul during the day time because she had some family engagements. Rahul had asked her to meet him for lunch but she could not. She told him that she would be able to meet him at 8 p.m. So Rahul took a cab and went to her place at 8 p.m. and picked her up and then they went to JW Marriott around 9 p.m. There were some opening acts. Lucky Ali came on stage at 11 p.m. and sang for an hour. After that there was DJ music. Rahul and Bonhi had dinner at Marriott and they left the hotel around 3 a.m. They again went to Rahul's house and made love for one hour. 

On Saptami, 2nd October, Rahul and Bonhi met at Maddox Square in the evening. The whole park was crowded. Couples were there almost every where. School boys, school girls, college boys, college girls, middle aged men, middle aged women, old men, old women and obviously children were there throughout the park. Maddox Square is indeed a magical place during Durga Puja. Anyways Rahul and Bonhi walked hand in hand throughout the park. They ate fuchkas and papri chats. They shot at balloons with toy rifles. From Maddox Square they took a cab and went to Some-Place-Else at Park Hotel. After spending an hour inside Some-Place-Else they went to have dinner at Wow Momo at Park Street because that was the only place where they could find an empty table. All other restaurants were full and had almost one hour waiting time. At Wow Momo they ordered non veg combo meals. From there they went to Netaji Indoor Stadium for the Dandiya party. Rahul had bought online two passes for the Dandiya party. Inside Netaji Indoor Stadium the whole floor was full of people, mostly non-bengalis. Rahul bought two sets of Dandiya sticks and then they started dancing. It was fun. There was a big stage where there were many singers. Mostly the songs were in hindi and gujrati. There were also songs from nineties Bollywood films. Rahul just loves the nineties. Everything associated with the nineties makes him happy. The nineties bring tears of happiness to his eyes. He especially loves the nineties Bollywood movies and the songs. Anyways Rahul and Bonhi left Netaji Indoor Stadium around 3 a.m. and went to his home and made love for an hour. 

On Ashtami, 3rd October, Rahul took Bonhi to the Durga Puja at Ramdulal Nivas popularly known as Chhatu Babu Latu Babu's house. One member of this family is a friend of Rahul so she took him and Bonhi upstairs and showed them most of the rooms. The rooms of this old heritage house were beautifully decorated with paintings and sculptures. There was also a Durga Puja inside this house. From this place Rahul and Bonhi went to eat at Barkaas Arabic Restaurant near Park Circus. They ordered Laham Mandi. The food was delicious. After dinner they went to Maddox Square. After spending an hour at Maddox Square they went to his place and made love for an hour. 

On Nabami, 4th October, Rahul and Bonhi first went to Rabindra Sarobar in the evening. There they walked hand in hand throughout the length and breadth of the lake. A cool breeze was blowing. They sat on a bench and smooched each other like there was no tomorrow. From there they went to the Durga Puja at Ballygunge Cultural and Samaj Sebi. Then they went for dinner at Kurry Patta on Lake Road. After dinner they walked hand in hand throughout the area around Southern Avenue, Sarat Bose Road, Keyatala, Hindustan Park, Golpark, Gariahat etc. They drank cold drinks and also ate ice-creams. Then they went back to Rahul's home and made love for an hour. 

On Dashami, 5th October, Rahul took Bonhi to The Rajbari Bawali. Its an old Zamindar house which has been converted into a resort. He had booked a day's outing at this resort which also included their Durga Puja special non veg lunch thali. He also had booked a car for the whole day. They went to Bawali Rajbari around noon. They first roamed throughout the place and clicked a lot of pictures and videos. Then they boozed sitting beside the swimming pool. Rahul drank whiskey while Bonhi had vodka. After an hour of boozing they went to have lunch. The food was yummilicious. Especially the mutton was simply divine. The mutton pieces simply melted inside their mouths. After lunch they again went near the swimming pool and took rest there on the comfortable long lounge chairs. In the evening they had tea and snacks there and also went to see the Durga Puja inside the campus. Rahul clicked some pictures of himself with the Dhak. There were four Dhakis who were playing beautiful music. Around 7 p.m. Rahul and Bonhi left Bawali Rajbari and then they came to his house and again made love for an hour. That day's lunch was so heavy that both of them did not feel like eating anything for dinner. They just took rest on Rahul's bed and watched Woody Allen's "Crisis In Six Scenes" on Netflix. Around 2 a.m. Rahul took an Uber and dropped Bonhi home and then came back to his home in the same Uber... 

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Bombay 2022

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First of all let me state that I prefer to call the commercial capital of India as Bombay and not Mumbai. Similarly I prefer Calcutta over Kolkata, Bangalore over Bengaluru, Madras over Chennai, Pondicherry over Puducherry and so on and so forth. Anyways on 10th June 2022, Friday, I went to my office and as usual I was carrying my gym bag. If you open my gym bag then you would find a t-shirt, shorts, gloves, gym shoes, a small towel and a deodorant. Recently I have joined the BEING STRONG gym which is near Southern Avenue. My initial plan was to go to the gym everyday after office, that is like six days per week, but nowadays I am going there only three days per week - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

On 10th June 2022, Friday, my plan was to go to my office and then go to my gym around 7 p.m. and then go back home. But something happened in office and I had to immediately go to Bombay. So a colleague instantly bought my aeroplane ticket from MakeMyTrip. I had to catch the 5:30 p.m. Indigo flight. I told her to do my web check-in and asked her to reserve a window seat for me. I left my office around 3 p.m. in the office car. Once on the road I saw that there was huge traffic jam all around. The AJC Bose Road Flyover was shut down. Park Circus was closed too. Someone from my office called me and informed me that there was some gun firing in the Park Circus area and that has resulted in huge traffic jams all around. Luckily my office driver took another route via Moulali and Kankurgachi and succeeded in dropping me at the airport in the nick of time. I managed to catch my flight on time. Since I already had my boarding pass and I was only carrying my gym bag, therefore I straightaway went to the security check. I boarded the aeroplane and sat on my window seat and clicked some selfies. Also clicked a lot of pics and videos from the window while take off. 

I reached Bombay around 8:30 p.m. I came out of the airport and saw that it was already raining. I met a cab driver called Wasim. I asked him to take me to any good hotel nearby and told him that my budget was around 3500 per night. He took me to Le Grande Hotel in Andheri East. There, after some negotiations, I booked my room for six nights for Rs. 3200 per night including breakfast. I went to my room which was on the third floor and took a nice hot shower. Then I came down to the hotel restaurant and had my buffet dinner. That day when I had my breakfast in my home in the morning, even in my wildest dreams I had no freaking idea that I would have my dinner that night in Bombay. Life is really strange! Anyways after dinner I went back to my room and went to sleep. 

On 11th June, Saturday, I woke up early and had my breakfast in the hotel restaurant. I had booked Wasim's cab for eight hours for that day. He reached my hotel around 9 a.m. After breakfast I went to do some urgent office work in Wadala. The work got over in one hour. After that I was free. So from Wadala I went to see the Gateway of India in Wasim's cab. I clicked a lot of pics there. The weather was very pleasant. It had rained in the early morning. From the Gateway of India I walked all around the Colaba Causeway area. Since I came to Bombay in just one shirt and one jeans therefore I bought some shirts, t-shirts, shorts, socks, underwears and a black cap with a marijuana mark from the Colaba Causeway area. I had my lunch at Cafe Leopold. I ate chicken biryani. The food was good but not that good. Nothing like our Calcutta Biryani. Calcutta Biryani is simply the best. Anyways after lunch I walked around the nearby area and checked out a lot of shops and also checked out a lot of passing women. Bombay really has some of the most beautiful women in India. After an hour I had coffee at Cafe Mondegar. I had to wait for around fifteen minutes before I could get a table. Loved the walls inside the cafe as they were full of murals and cartoons drawn by the great Goan cartoonist Mario Miranda. The cafe was chock a block full of people. Also loved the old retro Jukebox inside the cafe. From Cafe Mondegar I again strolled around the nearby area. In the evening it started to rain again. So I went back to my hotel. Post dinner my plan was to go for a nightout but it was raining tremendously therefore I just stayed inside my hotel room.  

On 12th June, Sunday, my cab driver Wasim Bhai came to my hotel around 9 p.m. After breakfast, first I went to see Amitabh Bachchan's bungalow named Prateeksha. Then I went to see his another bungalow named Jalsa. The security guard outside Jalsa was very rude. Most probably he was fantasizing himself as an angry young man! Anyways from the Shahenshah's bungalow I went to see King Khan's bungalow named Mannat. The security guards outside Mannat were very nice people. They did not interrupt me even once as I was clicking pics of Mannat. There were also a lot of Shah Rukh Khan's fans from different parts of India outside Mannat. Anyways from there I next went to Bandra Bandstand. Loved this place a lot. The view was amazing. A cool breeze was blowing. Also loved the sound of the waves as they were crashing into the  land rocks. From Bandra Bandstand the view of the Bandra-Worli Sealink was spectacular. From there I next went to see Salman Khan's flat at Galaxy Apartment. After that I went to see Sachin Tendulkar's house.   

That day in the evening I went to Inorbit Mall in Malad. There I met a friend of mine. She is actually from Calcutta but she has been staying in Bombay for the last seven years. We had tea and a lovely adda at Tea Villa Cafe inside Inorbit Mall. From there she took me to Infinity Mall. There on the top floor we went to this place called Bounce. Loved this place which was full of children as well as adults. Most of them were bouncing themselves on those big trampolines. From Infinity Mall we went for drinks and dinner at Buddy's Bar. The food was good there. After dinner we took an autorickshaw and I dropped her home and then went back to my hotel. 

On 13th June, Monday, I had some office work in the morning. After work I became free around afternoon. I was near the Andheri station area. There I saw a double decker red coloured bus. I immediately boarded it and went and sat near the window on the top floor. I had no idea where the bus was going. The last time I had boarded a double decker bus was in the early nineties in Calcutta. Maybe I was around ten years old back then. Now I am almost forty. I asked the bus conductor which was the last stop. He said the last stop was Kurla. So I bought the ticket for Kurla. I thoroughly enjoyed my double decker bus ride. From the Kurla bus stop I took an auto and went to the Phoenix Mall. It is one of the biggest Malls in Bombay. There I had my dinner at the Rainforest Restobar. After dinner I took an Uber auto and went back to my hotel.        

On 14th June, Tuesday, after breakfast, I took an Uber auto and went to Juhu beach. I spent around two hours on the beach. Made some new friends there. From there I came back to my hotel, took a shower and then went to the Prithvi Theatre. There I bought the ticket for that evening's theatre show. The name of the play was RANGAI. From there I went to visit the ISKCON temple. I ate the bhog at the temple. Then I came back to Prithvi Theatre. I went inside the Prithvi Bookstore and bought Naseeruddin Shah's "AND THEN ONE DAY : A MEMOIR". Loved this bookshop a lot. After this I ate paw-vaaji and tea at the Prithvi Cafe. This cafe is really a very cool place to hang out with friends and strangers. I made some new friends here. Clicked a lot of pics here too. The play started on time. The play was good. It was about the lives of two wall painters who are stuck in a big bad city. After the play I again had coffee at the Prithvi Cafe and discussed about the play with strangers. Then from there I took a cab and went to Marine Drive. At night Marine Drive is an amazing place to hang out. A lot of people were there. Singles, couples and also the full family crowds were there. Saw a lot of pretty girls there. I also took a ride in a battery operated vintage carriage. After spending almost two hours at Marine Drive I went to have dinner at the Bademiya Kebab Restaurant at Colaba. I ate chicken kebabs there. The place was full of people even at around 2 a.m. After dinner I came back to my hotel in an Uber. 

On 15th June, Wednesday, I went to Pune. I took an AC Bus early in the morning. I reached Pune around 10 a.m. From the Pune Bus Stand I took a shared autorickshaw and went to the Osho International Meditation Centre at Koregaon Park. I registered myself there at the reception area and bought my Osho robe and also got my Osho Card. Then I participated in the afternoon dance meditation under a glass pyramid. I met some lovely people there. Met a girl from Germany. Had an interesting chat with her. Then I had my lunch at the Cafeteria. Unfortunately they do not allow people to click pics inside the Osho Ashram. Anyways after lunch I left the place and went to have coffee at the nearby German Bakery. After coffee I roamed around the streets of Pune for some time. Then I took an auto and went back to the Bus Stand. From there I took a share-cab and came back to my hotel in Bombay. This car ride from Pune to Bombay was amazing. The car went through a lot of mountain tunnels. The road was as smooth as Osho's beard! I have been an Osho follower for almost the last ten years. Almost every night I listen to Osho's speeches on Youtube. For the last many years I had this tremendous desire to visit this Osho Ashram at Pune but this tremendous desire never transformed into reality sometimes because of shortage of money and sometimes because of shortage of time and sometimes because of shortage of both. But this time it finally happened. My tremendous desire finally transformed into reality. When you desire something from the bottom of your heart then the whole universe conspires to make it happen. 

On 16th June, Thursday, after breakfast, I first took an Uber autorickshaw and went to the Jio Convention Centre at Bandra Kurla Complex. I walked around that area. This place has a lot of commercial buildings. Loved the shape of the ONGC building. From there I went to the Jio World Drive. Loved this Mall. On the top floor there was this pub called Some-Place-Else. From Jio World Drive I took an Uber cab and went to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. I went to the Masala Kraft restaurant inside Taj and had chicken biryani. Loved this iconic hotel a lot. From Taj I went to the Gateway Of India. There I took a boat ride on the Arabian Sea. It was fantastic. Then I took a ride on an open double decker bus. Loved this bus ride too. I got down at Kala Ghoda. This place is named after a statue of a black horse. I walked around the entire Kala Ghoda area and also walked inside the narrow lanes and bylanes in this area. Then I went to have coffee at the Kala Ghoda Cafe. Loved the black caps which the waiters of this cafe were wearing. From there I took an Uber cab and went back to my hotel. From my hotel I went to the airport and took the Indigo 10:30 p.m. flight. A beautiful air-hostess asked me if I would like to have the empty seat near the emergency door. I readily agreed to her proposal because that seat had great leg space. She also was kind enough to give me a free non-alcoholic beer. I reached Calcutta around 1 a.m. and took an Uber and came back to my home. 

   

P.S. : If you want to see all my Bombay pics then here is the link : 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2790118124468120&type=3

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REKKA

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The first interesting thing about REKKA is the name itself. Its a very unique and unusual title for a novel as well as a web-series. This name will instantly draw attention of the bengali audience. Its a masterstroke. Recently I watched REKKA on HoiChoi and loved it tremendously. I watched all the nine episodes back to back. 

Azmeri Haque Badhon as Mushkan Zuberi is admirable, amazing, adorable, astonishing, alluring, angelic, astounding, appealing, awesome, beautiful, bewitching, breathtaking, brilliant, captivating, charming, classy, coquettish, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, daring, elegant, enthralling, enticing, excellent, exquisite, exciting, fascinating, fabulous, fantastic, flawless, gorgeous, glorious, graceful, haunting, heart-stopping, ideal, impressive, incredible, junoesque, jaw-dropping, killer, kissable, lovely, luscious, mesmerizing, magnificent, marvelous, mind-blowing, nice, naughty, noteworthy, overwhelming, pretty, pulchritudinous,  pleasing, queen-like, quaint, ravishing, radiant, refined, remarkable, splendid, sensuous, salacious, stunning, superb, seductive, spectacular, titillating, thrilling, terrific, tantalizing, unbelievable, unique, voluptuous, wonderful, yummilicious, youthful and zealous. Words will always fall short to describe Mushkan Zuberi. If you need just one reason to watch REKKA then simply watch it for Azmeri Haque Badhon. 

Rahul Bose as Nirupam Chanda is at his usual best. Anirban Bhattacharya as Ator Ali is interesting especially his mannerisms and accent. Anjan Dutt as Kharaj Khashnobish is excellent. All the other actors are quite good. The individual name of each episode is apt. The intro is captivating. The use of rabindrasangeet and its picturization in this web-series is marvelous. The director's cameo is note-worthy. The scene on the top of Shahid Minar is fascinating. The drone shots are amazing. The web-series slowly but interestingly builds up to the tête-à-tête between Mushkan Zuberi and Nirupam Chanda in the sixth episode. The seventh episode contains content which is extremely graphic and has some disturbing visuals. Some members of the audience may be traumatized by it. The last shot in the ninth episode is fabulous. Anyways the web-series ends on an interesting note and hopefully we will get to see REKKA Part-II in the near future...

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Apne Baap Ka Kya Jata Hai

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'Mrityudata' had released in 1997. I was fifteen years old back then. This film was the comeback vehicle for the great Amitabh Bachchan. He was coming back on the big screen after a gap of five years. He was fifty five years old in 1997. At that time the three Khans were ruling Bollywood. 'Mrityudata' was a very big event. It was also produced by ABCL. In those days ABCL was creating a lot of buzz all around. Everyone was waiting with eager anticipation for the release of 'Mrityudata'.

I was really excited about this film and I really hoped that this film would become a blockbuster. The 'Angry Young Man' had become old but still he needed to prove himself to the nineties generation. Sadly upon release all my hopes were shattered and this film became a big flop. It did not receive either commercial success or critical acclaim. The most popular song in this movie was Daler Mehndi's 'Na Na Na Na Na Re'. In those days Daler Mehndi was a musical sensation and all his songs used to become superhits. Most probably the first time I saw this song on TV was on DD Metro. However my most favourite song in this film album was 'Apne Baap Ka Kya Jata Hai' which was sung brilliantly by Sudesh Bhonsle. Loved the intro music of this song. Loved its lyrics. The lyrics clearly described the ground realities of India back then. The lyrics are apt even today. Some things never change in India. Also loved the ending portion of the song...  

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Electricity Boxes of Calcutta

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Calcutta is indeed an amazing city. Here one can even find art on the mundane electricity boxes. Usually posters are pasted on these boxes advertising the phone numbers of girls who give body massage. Sometimes other posters show the phone number of sexologists. I guess the most famous sexologist in Calcutta is Mr. D.K. Lodh! And I have also seen posters of astrologers on these boxes too. Some astrologers claim that they have full knowledge of black magic and they can even bring your ex-girlfriend back into your life or they can even make any girl fall in love with you. Anyways over all these years I have seen so many posters belonging to various fields on these electricity boxes in Calcutta. However over the last few years many of these boxes have been converted into pieces of art by some good souls. Here are some electricity boxes which caught my eye in the last few years. There are many more. Hopefully someday I will be able to click pictures of all of them...