After Eighteen Years

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

It was around the end of April 2021. The second wave of the chinese communist corona virus has hit India very badly. So many people were getting infected every day. So many people were dying every day. So many people were gasping for breath and were running from pillar to post in search of oxygen cylinders. It was a horrible scenario. But India being an "Incredible" country was still busy in religious festivals and election rallies. Some things will never change in India.

Anyways Rahul was lying on his bed and listening to Osho Rajneesh's speeches in Youtube. It was around midnight. Suddenly he received a notification message on Facebook. He opened his Facebook account and was greatly surprised to see that he has got a friend request from his first girlfriend. He had a relationship with her from 2001 to 2003. She is now married to someone else and is now the mother of a cute little boy. She now stays in U.S.A. with her family. Rahul immediately accepted her friend request. Then she sent the following message in Facebook Messenger :

She : Hi. How are you? How are your parents? Hope everyone is in the best of health in these troubled times. 

Rahul : Hello. So far so good. I am fine. My parents are fine too. How are you? How are your parents? How is your hubby? How is your son?

She : Thanks for asking. My parents are fine. My hubby and son are also fine. 

Rahul : Good to hear that. And good to hear from you after eighteen years. 

She : Hmmmm...

Rahul : My best friend recently passed away due to corona. 

She : May His soul rest in peace. 

Rahul : Four people in my office have been infected with corona. Many people in our locality have been infected. Horrible times have come. 

She : Really, horrible times. Are you going to office?

Rahul : No, I have taken a three month holiday. I am staying at home only. Not going out at all. 

She : Good. Please be safe. Why have you shaved off your head? 

Rahul : Well, I thought that since I would stay at home for the next three months therefore I might as well shave off my head. At the end of three months, if I am still alive, then I would have a fresh growth of hair. 

She : Okies...

Rahul : Even last year during the lockdown I had shaved off my head. 

She : Okies...

Rahul : From now on, if I remain alive, then I have decided to shave off my head every summer. The head feels so light and its a heavenly feeling to caress one's hand over one's shaved head. 

She : Ok.

Rahul : One thing I must tell you. Your son is just too cute. And his eyes are just like yours. 

She : Thanks. 

Rahul : Did you miss me in the last eighteen years? 

She : No

Rahul : Ok. Anyways it was nice talking to you after such a long time. Take care. Bye...

She : Bye...

---

Bada Din

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I was a huge fan of Anjan Dutta ever since his first music album SHUNTEY KI CHAO had released in the year 1994. I used to listen to all his audio cassettes every single day. So when I got the news that he was directing a hindi film then I was really excited. I was really looking forward to this film. I knew from my heart that this film would be totally different from other mainstream films of Bollywood. 

BADA DIN released on 23rd January 1998. I was then sixteen years old. The songs of the film had released earlier. The music was by Jatin Lalit and the songs were peppy and had a feel good factor in them. The lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar. The song "Meri Aankhon Mein" was already a hit. The song "Suno Zara" was hauntingly beautiful. The song "Kehta Hai Yeh Safar" was very nice. It had a beautiful line - "Dekhu jaha jau jaha mil jayeghi waha har cheez ki dukaan, Sirf kahi miltaa nahi zazbaat ka nishaa". The song "Betaab Hum Awaara Hum Hai" had a rock song feel to it. The song "Behoshi Tan Man Mein" was seductive. The song "Naa Koi Tera" was very catchy. The weakest song in the album was "Oonche Neeche Parbaton Ke". 

The movie was produced by Gramco Films which was a division of HMV. The movie starred Shabana Azmi, Marc Robinson and Tara Deshpande. Tara had already made a name for herself with the film "Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin" which had released in 1996. This film also had Alok Nath and Irfan Khan. In those days Irfan Khan used to spell his name like this only. Later on he added an extra "r" to his name and changed it into Irrfan Khan. 

  

When I first saw this film I did not like it at all. Marc Robinson could not act properly. His acting basically spoiled the film. Tara Deshpande was too stiff and failed miserably in the emotional scenes. Though Shabana Azmi gave a stellar performance. Alok Nath was good. Abhay Chopra was very good. The young boy Sanjay Pathak was good too. The feel of the songs did not go well with the general feel of the film. The storyline was indeed different from other mainstream Bollywood films of that time. I personally feel that it would have been nicer if Anjan Dutta himself was the music director of this film. And I also did not like the name BADA DIN. I think the film should have been called MERRY CHRISTMAS because of the last scene.    

Marc Robinson was playing the character of David Dawson who was an Anglo Indian singer and musician. Shabana Azmi played the character of Lilian who was also an Anglo Indian and she was David's landlady. Over all these years Anjan Dutta has said in many interviews that he loves making films about the marginalised communities of Calcutta.  

In 1998 Anjan Dutta launched his sixth solo music album called CHOLO BODLAY. This album had a song called DUSHTU GAAN which literally means a naughty song. This song is about a film producer forcing the director of the film to insert a naughty song in the film just to titillate a certain section of the audience. Interestingly in the film BADA DIN too there was a titillating cabaret song called "Behoshi Tan Man Mein". 

    

This film was shot mainly in Calcutta. Recently I again watched this film on Youtube after 23 years. I loved seeing the old Calcutta in the film. Loved seeing the yellow and black taxis. 

        

Loved seeing fishes being sold in round glass jars in front of Shreeram Arcade. 

Loved seeing India's Hobby Centre in the background. 

Loved seeing the South Park Street Cemetery. 

Loved seeing the old trams. 

Loved seeing the now closed Blue Fox restaurant in Park Street. 

Loved seeing Marc Robinson drinking Old Monk rum. 

Loved seeing Tara Deshpande reading Isaac Asimov's novel THE ROBOTS OF DAWN. 

Loved seeing pigeons flying. 

Loved seeing that the lobster festival was going on at Moulin Rouge at that time. 

Loved seeing the Maidan with the Tata Centre building in the background. 

Loved seeing the bridge at Rabindra Sarobar lake. 

Marc Robinson while playing football with the local kids accidently breaks the glass pane of the main door of the house where he stays as a tenant. 

Then around the middle of the film the glass door appears again in one scene. 

And finally in the end the film closes with the young boy named Raka closing the glass door. 

---

Suman Sengupta

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I met Suman Sengupta for the first time in the year 2009. We were part of Bratya Basu's theatre group called BRATYOJON. We were staging the play RUDDHASANGEET at that time. The play was a huge success and every where we went with it, all our shows were performed in front of full houses. We performed at most of the theatre halls in Calcutta. Also went to other places in Bengal to perform. We also went to Bhopal and New Delhi. In Bhopal we performed at the Rang Mahotsav Festival and in New Delhi we performed at the National School of Drama.

Then after some time Suman left the group. I also left the group eventually. We went in different directions but our friendship remained intact. We kept in touch over phone and kept on meeting each other from time to time. Our favourite hang out street was obviously Park Street. We used to meet up at Music World, Olypub, Trincas, Some-Place-Else etc. We also used to meet at Nandan during the Calcutta Film Festival every year. He was a big movie buff. He used to watch as many films as possible. We used to discuss about movies all the time. Not only Indian films, we both used to watch a lot of international cinema also.  

On 31st December 2015 I went to his house in Salt Lake for the New Year Party. It was a nice house party organised by him. The food was tasty and there was no shortage of alcohol. We partied till around 3 a.m. Then from his house some of us went to another friend's house which was nearby to have tequila shots. We came back to Suman's house after more than an hour. That night I did not come back to my home and I slept in Suman's house. The next morning I met his dog. The dog really liked me a lot and I played with the dog on the terrace. Then me and Suman had a lovely breakfast and adda. 

Once I took Suman to the Royal Calcutta Turf Club. It was his first time at RCTC. Another friend also joined us there. Suman always wanted to see live horse racing but never had the opportunity. He was really thrilled to be there. He also put some bets on the horses and also made a small profit. It was a lovely day at the races.

A few years back he started working at an event management company. His office was inside Karnani Mansion at Park Street. I used to visit him regularly. After office hours we used to meet up regularly at the bars and pubs in Park Street. Sometimes I used to go to Apeejay House for my own office work. Then I would tell him in advance that I was going there and then we would meet for lunch.

During Durga Puja 2018, on Saptami I went to Suman's house with another friend. From there we went to the newly opened Jaisalmer restaurant at Sector Five in Salt Lake. We had a yummilicious lunch there. After lunch we went for pandal hopping. We went to all the major puja pandals in Salt Lake including FD Block. That year FD Block had a Jurassic Park themed pandal. It was amazing.

Today afternoon a friend called me twice. I was sleeping at that time. I woke up in the evening and called him back. He informed me that Suman has passed away in the morning. I was shocked due to this news. He told me that Suman was infected with corona virus and he was hospitalised for the last few days. But his fight with death ended today morning. I called up some of our other mutual friends and they also confirmed this news. Suman was around 42 years old. May His soul rest in peace. 

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Love In The Time Of Corona

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

It was 2020. The chinese communist corona virus was on its world trip. India was also in its itinerary. This virus was really going places. This globe trotting virus was starting to behave like a deadlier pandemic than KR and KRK put together. Then on 24th March around 8 p.m. Modi suddenly announced the lockdown with just four hours notice. The lockdown in India became effective from midnight.

Rahul had a hunch that the lockdown would last for atleast three months. So he decided to shave off his head because he had to stay inside his house for the next three months and at the end of it he would have a new set of hair. In these three months the only thing that kept him sane was his internet connection. He kept himself busy with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hoichoi, Addatimes, Mubi, Zee5 and Hotstar. There were also Facebook, Instagram and Youtube to keep him busy. Lastly there were some pornographic sites which also kept him busy at night.

Rahul first met Roopmanya on Facebook. He saw her profile in someone else's friend list and immediately sent her a friend request. After a few days she accepted his request. After the usual courtesies they became good friends and he started calling her Roop. Then instead of flirting with her he started playing Ludo with her almost everyday on Facebook. Somedays he would win, somedays she would win but on most days he would deliberately let her win just to make her happy. Rahul firmly believes in Shah Rukh Khan's dialogue, "Haar ke jitne walon ko Bazigaar kehte hai".

Apart from playing Ludo, Rahul and Roop used to discuss about "Money Heist". His favourite character was Professor and her favourite character was Nairobi. They also would discuss about "Dark" though both of them had no idea about what actually was happening in this web series. Maybe the makers also did not have any idea about what they were trying to make. Rahul told Roop to watch "Crisis In Six Scenes". He is a huge Woody Allen fan. Roop watched this web series and liked it immensely. She was also a fan of Woody Allen since her school days.

Doordarshan started re-telecasting its old shows like Ramayan, Mahabharat, Shaktiman, Shreeman Shreemati, Byomkesh Bakshi, Chanakya, Buniyad, Dekh Bhai Dekh etc. It was so nice and nostalgic to re-watch these late-eighties and nineties shows on TV all over again. This helped both Rahul and Roop to relive their childhood memories. As a child they both used to watch a lot of serials on DD-1 and DD-2. For a brief period there was another channel called DD-3 too. But that channel did not last long. In the late nineties Rahul and Roop got cable TV connections in their respective homes. They discussed among themselves and came to the conclusion that both of them liked the musical countdown show Superhit Muqabla the most. And Baba Sehgal was obviously their most favourite TV host. 

Anyways throughout the lockdown Rahul and Roop talked to each other almost every day over phone. They started sharing non veg jokes and memes over Whatsapp. She also made Dalgona coffee a couple of times at her home. Rahul thought of making it a couple of times but then he was too lazy to actually make it. On one hand people were dying due to corona in the world and on the other hand the saree challenge was going on at full speed for ladies in Facebook. Roop uploaded her saree pictures and she looked very beautiful in them. Rahul jokingly asked for her nudes which obviously she did not send. Sometimes they would chat over phone throughout the night and then go to sleep in the morning. They gradually fell in love with each other with each passing day and night. They sometimes would video call each other and talk for hours. Finally one night he officially proposed to her and after a few giggles she officially accepted him as her boyfriend. 

Super Cyclone Amphan hit Calcutta on 20th May 2020. Throughout the day it was cloudy and windy. The cyclone came around late evening. Rahul watched it with a cup of coffee sitting on his balcony while smoking cigarettes. The electricity went out during the cyclone. Thankfully he had fully charged his two mobile phones. He lit a candle in his room. A neighbourhood aunty was blowing conch shells continuously. Some people still believe that blowing conch shells will stop upcoming storms. Anyways this was the strongest cyclone that he has ever seen in his life. It was really scary. He composed three poems that day in the afternoon. He sent those poems to Roop and she really liked them.

Once the lockdown ended then normal life resumed for both of them. They both joined back their respective offices in the first week of June. Now they decided to meet in person. On 13th June 2020 Rahul and Roop met for the first time at Park Street. It was a Saturday afternoon. Since it was their first meeting therefore Rahul bought a dozen red roses for her. They met in front of Peter Cat and went inside straightaway. There was no waiting period. There was no queue in front of Peter Cat. The restaurant was almost empty. Only a few tables were occupied. Rahul ordered Chelo Kebab and Roop ordered a Chicken Sizzler. It was so nice to come to Park Street after almost three months of lockdown and eat these delicious food.

From Peter Cat, Rahul and Roop went to the Oxford Bookstore. It was also quite empty. They browsed through the books for some time. Then they went upstairs to the Cha Bar and both drank iced tea there. Before leaving the place Rahul bought "Tutti Frutti On Park Street" by Sayantani Gupta Jafa. He only bought this book because Park Street was mentioned on the title. Roop bought the short story collection by Hector Hugh Munro alias Saki. 

After leaving Oxford Bookstore, they decided to go for a walk. They walked till Park Street Police Station, crossed the road and then walked back towards Flurys. Rahul decided to hold her hand in this walk and she also let him hold it. A lot of poor children beg on Park Street. Rahul never gives money to adult beggars but he can never say no to children. So as they were walking, a lot of these poor children surrounded them and kept on asking for money. Rahul gave them each a ten rupee note and these children were very happy. It was so nice to see sweet smiles on their little faces. The weather was nice and a cool breeze was blowing too.

Some fallen and chopped trees were still lying on the footpath even after so many days of Cyclone Amphan. In some places some wires were also tangled up on the road side. And on some places the footpath was in very bad condition. Park Street looked like it needed a makeover very badly. But still Rahul and Roop loved Park Street very much.

After the walk, Rahul and Roop went to Starbucks for some coffee. They wanted to go to Hard Rock Cafe but that place was still closed. At Starbucks they had a lovely adda. From Starbucks he took an Uber and dropped her home and then he came back home in the same Uber. From 8 p.m. he saw Anjan Dutta and Neel Dutta's concert on Zoom app which was organized by a event group named "Carpe Diem". The father-son duo performed from their home. Rahul had to buy a ticket worth 200 rupees to watch their performance. This was the first time that Anjan Dutta and his son performed for a virtual concert over the Zoom app. Unfortunately the sound quality was very bad. But since Rahul is a huge admirer of Anjan Dutta therefore it was just nice to see him and hear his songs even when the audio quality was not that good. Rahul has been a big fan of Anjan Dutta ever since he heard his first album "Shuntey Ki Chao" in the mid nineties. In those days Rahul used to buy all his audio cassettes from the shop named "Melody" at Rashbehari Avenue. Sometimes he used to buy from "Symphony" at Esplanade also. He used to listen to Anjan Dutta's albums on continuous loops. Now Anjan Dutta is almost 67 years old but still he is singing like he used to sing in the nineties. He is an amazing and a very talented human being. Rahul just loves him a lot.

The next Saturday, that was 20th June, Rahul and Roop again met at Park Street. This time they went to Mocambo for lunch. They both ordered the Irish Chateaubriand Beef Steak. It was yummilicious. After lunch they again went for a walk hand in hand. They were again surrounded by those poor children. Rahul again gave each of them a ten rupee note. After the walk Rahul and Roop went to Flurys to have coffee. It was so nice to sit near the big windows and see the passing cars and people. From Flurys they went inside Park Hotel to use the restroom there. Only "The Street Cafe" was open at Park Hotel. Tantra, Roxy, Aqua and Some-Place-Else were all closed.

The next day, that was 21st June, Roop came over to Rahul's house for lunch. After lunch they started kissing each other madly and made love for almost an hour. They both were truly, madly, deeply, hopelessly and helplessly in love with each other. In the evening she made coffee for him at his kitchen. After coffee they indulged in another round of love making and then went out for dinner at South City Mall. 

Rahul and Roop started meeting each other almost three to four times a week. They spent their weekends together. On the weekdays they would meet after their office hours. On weekends she would come over to his place. On 26th July, Roop came to Rahul's place for lunch. After lunch and after their initial round of smooching and love making, they watched the film "Dil Bechara" on Hotstar. After watching the film there were tears in both of their eyes. The film was a very sensitive film and it was really heart touching. Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi acted really well. But the x-factor of the film was the chemistry between Saswata Chatterjee and Swastika Mukherjee. 

On Rahul's birthday, that was 12th August, both of them took a day off from their offices. She came to his house around 1 p.m. She bought a Titan watch for him as a birthday gift. She also brought a specially hand made birthday card for him. After lunch they made love to each other and then went to "Lord Of The Drinks" at South City Mall. From there they took an Uber and went to Park Street. The poor little children again surrounded them. Since it was his birthday therefore he bought Chicken Rolls for all of them from Kusum's and also bought colouring books and crayons for all of them from the footpath hawkers. After this Rahul and Roop walked hand in hand at Park Street and then went to Papaya restaurant for dinner. Rahul loves this restaurant very much, especially the view from the balcony and from its windows.

In September Some-Place-Else, Roxy, Aqua and Tantra started opening one by one. Rahul and Roop went to all these places together. Throughout September, October and November Rahul and Roop went to many rooftop restaurants like Altair Capella, Club Fenicia, Liqua, 3132, Glook, Skai Lounge, La Letizia, Cafe Offbeat, Soul, Afraa Lounge at City Centre One, Fairfield by Marriott, Wykiki at Swissotel, Aura Skybar etc. They also went to the new Coffee House at New Town. Once they went for coffee at the Darjeeling Lounge at ITC Royal Bengal. Another time they went for lunch at Cal 27 at Taj Bengal. When Hard Rock Cafe finally opened in October then they went there too. They also went to this faraway place called the Malt Louge at Rajarhat. It was really too far. Another time they went to The Grid, Echoes, Traffic Gastropub, Pub 13, Wafira and also to The Irish House. Another evening they went for coffee at Cafe 363 at The Oberoi Grand Hotel. On another Sunday they went to the newly opened Canteen Pub & Grub. Rahul and Roop also went to see Arko Mukherjee's performance at Five Mad Men. They were madly in love with each other and they were painting the whole town red.

During Durga Puja they went to Fort Radisson on Saptami. First they had a couple of drinks at the Footloose Bar and then they had a buffet lunch at the restaurant on the first floor of Radisson. The food was really tasty and the mutton was simply divine. In the evening they sat together at Ganga-Kutir near the river. A lovely breeze was flowing and it was so nice to stare at the flowing river. Rahul and Roop did not go for any pandal hopping this time. They also did not go to Maddox Square. Since 2002, every year Rahul has been going to Maddox Square on Ashtami evenings. Only this year he did not go there. 

Rahul and Roop decided to get married in December 2021. He met her parents and also met her cousins. Her parents really liked him. Her cousins also liked him a lot. Many couples were getting married in these horrible and terrible corona times. But Rahul and Roop decided to wait for some more time and thought that December 2021 would be the best time for marriage. Both wanted to have their wedding in winter.

Rahul and Roop decided to go to Goa from 25th December 2020 to 3rd January 2021. It was a kind of pre-marriage honeymoon for them. They reached Goa on Christmas and spent the day at Baga Beach. They stayed at a hotel near Baga Beach for a couple of days. They also went to visit Aguada and Chapora Forts. Then they went to Arambol which is in north Goa. From there they went to Palolem which is in south Goa. While going to Palolem, they stopped at the Cabo De Rama Fort. From Palolem they finally came to Panjim. They also went to the Big Daddy, Deltin Royale and Deltin Jaqk casinos at Panjim. Rahul had visited Goa in 2019 also but this was Roop's first visit. It was also her first visit to any Casino in India. Both of them gambled at the Casinos but unfortunately lost money in the process. Anyways it was really romantic to walk hand in hand on the beaches of Goa and make love in the hotel rooms at night. On 31st December 2020 they went to Lucky Ali's concert at the "Prince Of Tides Club" in Calangute Beach. The Punjabi rapper Badshah was also performing that night at the Big Daddy Casino, but Rahul and Roop chose to go to Lucky Ali's concert. It was a mind blowing and heart touching concert. Lucky Ali started the concert around 10:30 p.m. and at midnight he finished the concert with "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" from the film "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai". At the stroke of midnight there were a lot of fireworks in the sky and Rahul and Roop hugged and smooched each other wildly, madly and passionately.

In January, February and March 2021, Rahul and Roop went to a lot of places like the Blue Tokai Coffee Shop, L.A. Bar & Kitchen, Coffee House at College Street, Craft Coffee, Trapeze, Lounge 31A, Unplugged Courtyard at the Golden Park Hotel, Soi6, Gold at JW Marriott, Burma Burma, The Blue Poppy, Cafe 42, Illish restaurant, Barista and The Square at Park Street, Artsy Cafe, Bar BQ, Oasis, Moulin Rouge, Galleria 1910, Cafe Central, Wokies, Waldorf, Sam's Pub, Roastery, Broadway, The Tea Room, Kenilworth, Ivory, Paradise restaurant, Olypub, Old Currency Building, Limelight restaurant, Aminia, 95 Degree Cafe, Kwality restaurant etc.

In January 2021, Rahul took Roop to The Royal Calcutta Turf Club to witness the Calcutta Deby races. This year a blackish horse aptly named "Black Pearl" won the Derby. This was Roop's first visit to RCTC. This was her first experience of live horse racing. She also put some bets on the horses and made a marginal profit. In January Rahul and Roop also went together to the Calcutta Film Festival and the Little Magazine Fair at Nandan. The Calcutta Film Festival which was supposed to happen in November 2020 got postponed and finally it happened in January 2021.

Roop's birthday was on 31st January. Luckily that was a Sunday. She organised for a small party at her house. Rahul went to her house for lunch. He bought a beautiful silk saree for her as her birthday gift. He also bought a black forest cake for her. After lunch they smooched for some time at her room. Then around evening guests started arriving. Most of them were her cousins and friends. It was a fun filled birthday party. The party went on till midnight.

On Valentine's Day Rahul and Roop had a lovely date at WhatsUp Cafe. But on that day they had to stand in a queue and could only enter the place after almost half an hour. They sat on the topmost deck. He also bought a dozen red roses for her. On Saraswati Puja, which is actually the Bengali Valentine's Day, Rahul and Roop first went to The Terrace at Sarat Bose Road. From there they went to the Zucca Lounge. From there they went to the 8th Day Cafe. From there they went to Zold. And finally from there they went to WhatsUp Cafe.

On 29th March 2021, Rahul and Roop went to the Holi party at JW Marriot. For only two thousand bucks plus taxes, Marriott was providing unlimited food and alcohol. It was an amazing party. The music was awesome. They went there around noon and stayed there till almost 5 p.m. The place was fully crowded and people danced to the tunes of the DJs as if there was no tomorrow. One section had the rain showers. It was so sexy to get wet together in the rain showers. After the party Rahul dropped her home and then came back to his house in the same cab. 

The second wave of this chinese communist corona virus hit India badly. Things started getting worse from April. There was also a shortage of oxygen cylinders all over the country. There was also a shortage of vaccines all over the country. Suddenly one day Roop developed a mild fever. She took a crocin tablet and the fever went away. Then the next day the fever came back. Over the next few days the fever persisted. She also lost her sense of smell and taste. She also started having aches all over her body. Her family doctor asked her to immediately take the corona test. Unfortunately the result was positive. Rahul was deeply saddened by this news. She could not meet him anymore but they talked over phone for like ten times a day. Gradually her conditioned worsened and eventually she was hospitalised. Within a few days her condition worsened tremendously. She spoke to Rahul on the morning of 10th May 2021 over phone and then suddenly expired around noon. Rahul was devastated by this news. He broke into tears. He felt like committing suicide. He felt a tremendous amount of pain on his chest. After a few days he finally composed himself and then composed this poem in her memory :  

You came into my life 

When the world was in lockdown

Our love grew by each passing day

Only you could reverse my frown 

We met for the first time

That was a sweet Saturday

I professed my love for you

What more could I say

We had our good times together

We also quarreled some time

Life really has no rhythm 

Life really has no rhyme  

The first time I held your hand

There was a shimmer in your eye 

Now that you are gone

Its so hard to say Good Bye... 

---

Goa Trip 2020

---

2020 was a horrible year for all of us. My friend was telling me to go to Goa with him in December. He has never been there. I was in two minds whether to go to Goa or not in 2020 because of this stupid Chinese communist virus. I really hate communists. Anyways my mother told me not to go to Goa because she thought that I could be infected with this corona virus on this trip. You know how bengali mothers are. Then one day in office I ate chicken biryani for my lunch at a roadside food-stall, the price was only hundred bucks and after lunch I was smoking a cigarette and was standing near a parked car. The driver was sitting inside the car and the car-stereo was playing Lucky Ali's songs. Suddenly a thought entered my mind to go to Goa. I don't know why and how but I suddenly felt a massive compulsion to go to Goa. So I immediately called my friend and he instantly agreed to go to Goa with me. The next day we booked our flight tickets and made our hotel reservations. 

On 25th December 2020, I woke up at 4 a.m. By 6 a.m. I left my house, took an Uber and went to the airport. After some time my friend came to the airport. After going through all the procedures and checks we had a lovely breakfast at the airport priority lounge restaurant. My friend has a special card for that. Inside the aeroplane I unfortunately had to sit on the middle seat therefore I had to wear a white cloak. We were also given those plastic transparent face-shields. The air hostesses were very pretty. I talked to one of them and found out her full name. She was wearing a mask but her eyes were really beautiful. My plan was to land in Goa and search for her name on Facebook. The flight duration was something like two and a half hours. I went to the aeroplane toilet twice, not because I had to pee or anything, but because I love to press the flush of the commode and I also love the sound of the flush. A good looking woman sat next to me so I indulged in some small talk with her throughout the journey. She seemed to enjoy my company too. 

We landed in Goa around 12:30 p.m. From the Goan airport me and my friend took a cab and went to Hotel Arpora Central which was near the Baga beach. There we checked in and had a shower and then went to Baga beach. We had our lunch at the beach. Throughout the day we stayed at the beach and drank beer. There were so many restaurants and shacks on the beach. It was full of people. But the majority of the people on the beach were Indians. There were very few foreigners around the beach. It was hot but sometimes a lovely breeze was blowing too. Around late evening we went to a place which was having a Christmas party. The place was full of people dancing to the tunes of a DJ. The dance floor was too crowded even in these corona times. We also danced for sometime. A lot of beautiful girls were there on the dance floor. Around 9 p.m. we had dinner at one of the restaurants on the beach. After dinner we went to Club Tito's which is a very famous nightclub in Goa. From there we went back to our hotel and went to sleep. 

The next morning, that is 26th December, after breakfast we first rented a car for the next few days. In this car we went to the Aguada Fort. My friend drove the car. We navigated through the Goan roads with the help of Google Maps. It was very crowded at Aguada Fort. From there we went to Sinquerim beach which was nearby. There at the beach we had some food and beer. We spent the whole afternoon on the beach just lazing around. From there we went to Parra around 4 p.m. It is a road filled with coconut trees on both sides. It is a very beautiful place and a lot of young people were there clicking selfies. The cycling scene in the film "Dear Zindagi" was shot here. The sun was setting in the distant horizon. The ambience at Parra was very charming. From Parra we went to Curlies at Anjuna beach. It was very crowded. We had our dinner at Anjuna beach and then we came back to our hotel and went to sleep. 

The next morning, that is 27th December, after breakfast we first went to Anjuna beach. It was not so crowded in the morning. From there we went to Vagator beach and had our lunch there. This beach was totally crowded mainly with Indian tourists. We met a few Punjabi guys who were also from Calcutta. They were playing good music in their portable radio. From Vagator we went to the Chapora Fort where the film "Dil Chahta Hai" was shot. It took us some time to reach Chapora Fort because we got somewhat lost on the road. From Chapora Fort we drove all the way to Panjim and went to the Deltin Jaqk Casino. We had dinner and drinks at the Casino. We also gambled a bit. After midnight we left the Casino and came back to our hotel and went to sleep. 

The next morning, that is 28th December, after breakfast we drove to Arambol which is in north Goa. There we checked into the Love Temple resort. It was a very special and spiritual place. They do not allow alcohol or drugs inside the resort. A lot of foreigners were there staying in this resort. Some of them were meditating. We had lunch at the resort. After lunch we took some rest in the room. Then around 4 p.m. we went to the Arambol beach which was just nearby and stayed there till night. There were a lot of foreigners at the beach. Some of them were playing music with the Indians. Some of them were meditating on the beach. Some of them were just dancing on the beach. Some of them were doing yoga. I met a few foreigners and we talked about spiritual stuff. I told them that I am a follower of Osho. They knew about Osho and had read his books and had listened to his speeches on Youtube. We talked about things like calming one's mind and witnessing one's continuous chain of thoughts and how to go within oneself. Anyways we had our dinner at the resort and then went to sleep around midnight.

The next morning, that is 29th December, after breakfast we drove to Palolem which is in south Goa. The drive was for around three and a half hours from Arambol to Palolem. We really enjoyed this long drive. But on the way we first went to the Cabo De Rama Fort. We had our lunch at a restaurant which was just near the Fort. It was a very old Fort and the view from the top of the Fort was amazing. From there we went to Palolem and checked in at the Kings Villa resort. Around late evening we went to the Palolem beach. This beach was also full of people. Mostly the tourists were Indians here but some foreigners were there too. A young boy was showing some tricks with fire on the beach. I video recorded his tricks on my phone and later gave him a tip. It seemed quite risky to play with fire and perform those tricks. Later we went to a restaurant called Art's Cafe. There while having drinks and dinner we saw a live performance. The name of the singer was Bob Bluesman. He was an amazing singer and he also played his guitar beautifully. I recorded his act on my phone. Later after the performance he came to our table and talked to us. He asked me to kindly whatsapp him the videos. I took his number and told him that I would certainly forward him those videos of his performance once I reach Calcutta. After dinner we strolled on the beach for some time. It was a full moon night. The moon looked magnificent and ethereal. Then after some time we went back to our hotel and went to sleep.

The next morning, that is 30th December, after breakfast we went to the beach again. Before going to the beach I went to a saloon and had a shave. On the beach we went for a motor boat ride and went to the Butterfly Island. The boatman also took us deep into the waters to show us some dolphins. Unfortunately we could spot only one dolphin and that also for a few seconds. The boat ride was fun and we enjoyed it a lot. Anyways we had our lunch at Palolem beach and after lunch we checked out of our hotel. Then we drove to Panjim and checked in at Serene Waters Guest House. Last year in 2019 when I had come to Goa alone then I had stayed in this Guest House. I really love this place. There we had our dinner on the garden and then we went to sleep.

The next morning, that is 31st December, after breakfast my friend went out for some local site-seeing while I stayed back at the Guest House to take rest. I did not feel like going out that day. That night the Punjabi rapper Badshah was performing at the Big Daddy Casino and Lucky Ali was performing at Calangute beach. So we obviously decided to go to Lucky Ali's concert. We booked our tickets online at bookmyshow.com. My friend came back in the evening. At night around 9 p.m. we went to Lucky Ali's concert at the "Prince Of Tides" club at Calangute beach. I have been a fan of Lucky Ali ever since his first album "Sunoh" released in 1996. In my teenage years I loved all the music videos of Lucky Ali. I loved his film songs too especially his songs in "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai". Anyways once we reached the "Prince Of Tides" club then we had to stand in a queue for around half an hour. Then the organizers started letting in people after thorough checks. Once we went in the first thing that we did was to have our dinner there. Before Lucky Ali began his act, there was an opening band which created fusion music. The audience did not appreciate this kind of music and started shouting and became restless. Lucky Ali started singing from around 10:30 p.m. and finished the concert with "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" from the film "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai" at midnight. There were a lot of fireworks in the sky at the stroke of midnight. From midnight a DJ took over the stage. The whole place was overcrowded and everybody was dancing. Nobody was wearing any masks. Everybody was busy boozing and getting drunk and enjoying the beach party. The DJ music went on till 3 a.m. Me and my friend also got drunk and we also danced a lot. Made some friends there and we all danced together, you know the kind of instant best friendships which you make at the New Year bash, exchange numbers and then no one calls or keeps in touch for the rest of the following year. This party was the best New Year party that I ever went to in my life. It was so amazing to experience Lucky Ali's live performance for the first time in my life. He gave a mind blowing and heart touching performance. Around 4 a.m. we left Calangute beach and then took a cab and came back to our Guest House and went to sleep. 

The next morning, that is 1st January, we had a lazy and laid-back breakfast. The beauty of this Serene Waters Guest House is that they have a lovely garden which is just next to a huge lake. After breakfast my friend went out alone and I stayed back in the garden and enjoyed the view of the lake with sweet birds chirping all around. It was such a serene experience to spend the first morning of the new year in such tranquility. Around noon I took a shower and then went to Panjim city. There I had lunch at a restaurant and then I walked all alone through the narrow lanes and by-lanes of the old portion of Panjim. It was so beautiful to see the old houses. Some of these old houses were so nicely painted. In the evening I had coffee and cookies at a very small yet instagrammable coffee shop. Later I came back to the hotel. My friend also returned and we had our dinner together and then we went to sleep. 

The next morning, that is 2nd January, after breakfast my friend went out alone. I was feeling too lazy to go out. So after breakfast I just sat in the garden and enjoyed the view of the lake and listened to those chirping birds. Spoke to some of the other people who were staying at the Guest House. Throughout the afternoon I took rest in my room. Later in the evening I again had coffee sitting in the garden. My friend came back around late evening. Then we had dinner together and went to sleep.

The next morning, that is 3rd January, after breakfast we took a cab and went to the airport. Took some pictures and videos while going there. At the airport all the shops were closed due to this pathetic Covid-19 virus. I remember last time when I had come, there was a beautiful shop selling Mario Miranda memorabilia at the airport. Unfortunately it was closed this time. Even the priority lounge was closed. Anyways inside the aeroplane I again had the middle seat therefore I had to wear that white cloak again. This time also I went to the toilet twice. The air hostesses were very pretty. This time a man sat beside me and I did not talk to him at all. We reached Calcutta in good time. From the airport I took an Uber and came back to my house. My friend took another Uber and went to his house. Faced a lot of traffic jam while going to my house. My mother was very happy to see me again. She warned me that I should never go again for vacations in these corona times.     

If you want to see my Goa pictures and videos then here is the link :

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2333950633418207&type=3  

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Trip to Satkosia and Chilka Lake

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Recently I went for a trip to Satkosia and Chilka lake in Odisha with my friends. My mother told me not to go for this trip because of this Chinese virus which has made our lives horrible. Like typical bengali mothers, she was scared that I might get infected with Corona in this trip. But I did not listen to her. We started from Calcutta in my friend's car on a Thursday night around 9 p.m. after having dinner. The plan was to drive throughout the night and reach Satkosia Sands Resort the next morning. We had already booked our rooms there. The night journey was fun but was a bit risky too. We took around four to five halts at the highway dhabas for tea, coffee, snacks and cigarettes, and sometimes to pee also. It was an amazing journey. Around dawn the horizon looked magical. We took a break to soak in the first rays of the sun. There were lush green fields around us. The scenery was fascinating.

We reached Satkosia Sands Resort around 10 a.m. on the Friday morning. After reaching there we checked in to our rooms and then had breakfast. Then I came back to my room, had a shower and took some rest. Around 1 p.m. we had lunch. After lunch we took half an hour rest and then went for boating in the lake nearby. Saw a crocodile. He was taking his afternoon nap on the banks. As our motor boat approached near the bank of the lake, the crocodile woke up from his slumber and went straight into the water. He must have cursed us for disturbing his siesta. After boating we came back to our resort. It started raining a bit. The weather has lovely and very romantic. There were dark clouds above and a lovely breeze was blowing. Along with that there was mild rainfall. I sat on the balcony of the resort and enjoyed the moment. We were the only guests in the whole resort. Sitting in the balcony the whole place seemed ethereal.

In the evening there was a folk song and dance performance which was organized for us by the resort. While watching this performance we smoked hookah. The performance went on for an hour. We gave a five hundred rupees note to the performers as tip. They seemed really happy to receive this tip. After this we went back to the room and started boozing. I drank my favourite Old Monk Rum with Thums Up. Around 9 p.m. we had our dinner. The food was really nice.

The next morning we woke up early and went for a small jungle trek nearby and also went to the sand-bar near the lake. The place was so quiet and serene. We were the only people there. After breakfast we left the resort and drove to Chilka Lake. It is also called Chilika Lake. The journey from Satkosia to Chilka was nice. There we had booked our rooms at Rambha Panthanivas. We checked in to our rooms, had shower and then went for lunch. After lunch we took some rest. Two of my friends went to Gopalpur beach. Me and another friend stayed back in the hotel. We wanted to take rest. Around late evening the two friends returned from Gopalpur. Then we all started boozing again and around 10 p.m. we had our dinner.

The next morning we all woke up early and went for a boat ride on the Chilka Lake. It was amazing. We all really enjoyed the ride. And the best thing was that we were the only boat on the lake. It was as if we had the whole lake to ourselves. Chilka is a huge lake with small islands. The boat ride was for an hour. After the ride we came back to our hotel. Around noon we started our journey back to Calcutta. We had lunch at a hotel on the highway. While coming back also we took four to five small breaks. We reached Calcutta at night. We faced the worst traffic jam just while entering Calcutta.

Overall it was a nice trip especially in these horrible corona times. We all really needed this small vacation. I was bored with the city life. It was nice to spend some time in the lap of nature. If you want to see some pictures and videos of this trip then here is the link :

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2259488300864441&type=3    

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Swami Agnivesh

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Swami Agnivesh left this world on 11th September 2020. It was really sad to hear this news. May His soul rest in peace. I only met him once on 9th August 2010 at Lalgarh in West Mednipur. It was a Monday. There was a protest gathering against the evil Left Front Government of West Bengal. In those days the CPM led Left Front was in power in Bengal. But it was quite clear that they would be kicked out of power in the next Assembly elections. Anyways, the protest gathering at Lalgarh was attended by political personalities like Mamata Banerjee and by members of the civil society like Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar. But this gathering was not under any political banner. 

I still remember that day very clearly. We all organised ourselves and met at Esplanade by 8 a.m. There was a huge convoy of cars. A lot of people had gathered. There were also a lot of students from Jadavpur University and Presidency College. We left Calcutta around 9 a.m. and reached Lalgarh around 1 p.m. In the Tata Sumo in which I was travelling, there were also Joy Goswami and his wife, Pratul Mukhopadhyay and Prasun Bhowmik. Throughout the journey they discussed about everything from politics to poetry. It was really nice and enriching to be a part of that discussion. The journey to Lalgarh took almost four hours. There was an element of risk in visiting that place in Jangalmahal. 

Lalgarh at that time was under Operation Greenhunt. When our car entered Lalgarh, an officer of the paramilitary forces recorded who was inside the car in his video camera. He did the same thing for all the cars. Medha Patkar was travelling in the car which was in front of us. It was a very very very hot day. It felt as if fire was coming down on us from the sky. There was a big stage. A lot of local people had gathered to hear from Mamata Banerjee, Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh and others. Before going on the stage, Medha Patkar first went and talked to the local people there. She also visited a few nearby mud huts. She also spoke to the journalists. 

Once the stage meeting started, I was behind the stage. I met a lot of people whom I had known during the Singur - Nandigram movement. There were a lot of old people too. Some of them got sick due to the extreme heat. I escorted an unknown old man to our car and gave him water and also poured water on his head and asked him to take rest inside the car. It was tremendously hot that day. After everyone finished their speeches on the stage, the meeting got over. Swami Agnivesh came down from the stage and started interacting with the soldiers of the paramilitary forces. He asked them about their families and also asked them from where they came. He treated them as normal human beings and not as soldiers. I met him there and shook his hand. He had a calm and sweet smile on his face. He was dressed in saffron robes and also had a saffron turban on his head. 

Around 4 p.m. we all started leaving the place. But we got stuck on the narrow road in between the jungles for almost two hours. There was some huge traffic mismanagement and a whole convoy of cars got stuck. Finally around 6 p.m. the convoy of cars could hit the national highway. By then it was totally dark. The journey back was tiring. But by evening it was a lot cooler. It was amazing to look up in the sky and see so many stars. We do not get to see so many stars in the Calcutta skyline because of pollution. But that evening it was really mesmerizing to see a sky full of millions of stars. Our beautiful planet Earth is so tiny when compared to the vastness of the Universe and still we stupid human beings have made this place a living hell for everybody. Finally I reached home around 10 p.m. I took a shower, had my dinner and went straight to sleep...

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Again At Park Street

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Last Saturday, that is 20th June, I again went to Park Street. First I went to Kwality Restaurant. I don't exactly remember when was the last time I had gone to Kwality. I usually go to either Peter Cat or Mocambo in Park Street but now I am thinking that from now on I will go to the less visited restaurants in Park Street. Kwality was almost empty. After I entered a few more customers came inside. I ordered chicken biryani. The food was good but nothing extraordinary. 

Then from Kwality I went to Flurys. There I had a cup of coffee. It felt so nice to enter Flurys after so many months. Flurys was 50% full. It was nice to see customers inside Flurys. I sat near the window and looked at the passing cars and the passing people on Park Street. I really love spending time inside Flurys. Next time I will have their 'All Day Breakfast'. Haven't had that for a long time. I still remember that Flurys had reopened on the Christmas Eve in the year 2004. There was a long queue in front of Flurys that evening. Before that it was closed for quite some time due to renovations. In those days there was 'The Tea Table' also which was diagonally opposite Flurys. Everyone used to call it T3. That was also a nice place to hang out.  
   

On 22nd June, I went to Apeejay House for some official work around 4 p.m. From there I did not feel like going back to office therefore I went to Cafe 42. This new Cafe is on the balcony of Ilish Restaurant which is on the intersection of Park Street and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road. At Cafe 42 I ordered fish kabiraji. The view from the balcony was very nice. This Cafe opens everyday at 4 p.m.   

From Cafe 42 I took a walk throughout Park Street and smoked a few cigarettes. It was sad to see that my old favourite Olypub is still closed. I am really waiting for Olypub to open again. I feel like having the beef steak and chicken-a-la-kiev at Olypub again. I have been going to Olypub for the last twenty years. I had my life's first beer in Olypub. I have so many fond memories of Olypub. Eagerly waiting for it to open again.  

After the walk, I went to Barista to have coffee. It was nice to enter Barista after so many months. I think Barista had opened in Park Street in the year 2000 or 2001. Previously it was on the other side of the road. There used to be a black Signature acoustic guitar on its wall. The price of coffee started at 50 rupees in those days. I still remember that in the year 2002, me, my first girlfriend and a friend of hers had gone to Barista and we had a lovely time there.   

After having coffee at Barista I walked till Park Circus and smoked a few more cigarettes. From Arsalan Restaurant I bought a packet of mutton biryani to have it at home. From Arsalan I took an Uber and came back home.   

On 23rd June, I again went to Apeejay House for some official work around 2 p.m. After finishing my work I decided to have lunch at Trincas. There was not even a single customer at Trincas. I was the only one there. I ordered lasagna. The food was tasty. It was sad to see Trincas totally empty. The waiter told me that the live music performances have stopped too. I am really waiting for Trincas to go back to its old form. Since the fifties, Park Street has been the party street of Calcutta with live musical bands and also cabaret shows. Then the evil communists came to power in 1977 and destroyed the party culture of Park Street. All the restaurants were forced to stop their live bands and cabaret shows. Trincas was the only place where the live music did not stop even for a single evening and they showed their middle finger to the bloody communists. But now this evil Corona has forced even the mighty Trincas to stop their live musical performances. From the evil communists to this evil Corona!      

Yesterday, that is 25th June, I again went to Apeejay House for some official work around 1 p.m. From there I went to Mocambo for lunch. I ordered the Irish Chateaubriand Beef Sizzler. It was yummilicious. It felt awesome to enter Mocambo again after so many months. It was partially crowded. The last time I had gone there, I had ordered Chicken Sizzler so this time I went for beef.  

After lunch I went to my favourite shopkeeper at Park Street and bought a packet of 'Black' cigarettes. I wanted to buy a packet of 'Gudang Garam' but it was out of stock...

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