Indranarayan Ghosh

It's so not like me to forget Bhoot Chaturdashi, but that is EXACTLY what I did. Facebook has already got flooded with Diwali greetings, I see on my calendar that I marked tomorrow is Kali Pujo, but the fact that it would mean today is Bhoot Chaturdashi has completely escaped me. So sad!

I was listening to Christmas Radio on Pandora, but had to pause Elvis midway through his "here comes Santa Claus" and start Lopamudra Mitra's "himer raate oi gaganer deepguli re" on YouTube. I would miss eating 14 shaak but we will make sure that 14 prodip will be lit all around our house (though I am not sure how long they will remain lit in this Seattle drizzle). 

I love lighting "akash prodeep". That's a lamp to be lit on the top of one's house to remember one's ancestors. We can't do it on the top of our roof, so we light it in a red glass bulb and hang it facing the back yard. Well, it's the thought that counts and our ancestors have anyway said প্রবাসে নিয়ম নাস্তি (probashe niyom nasti), meaning you don't have to follow all the rules when you are abroad. So be it!

As I light akash prodeep and put a pointer to my ancestors to look down and pinpoint my house (do they have Google maps?), I can't but think about Indranarayan Ghosh. So here's the toast to my ancestors of the Ghosh family!

For those who are wondering who that is, here is the synopsis.

When Lakshmansena was the king of Bengal, he had five Brahmins and Kayasthas come from North India to his kingdom. The Kayasthas were Ghosh, Bose, Mitra, Dutta, Guha who accompanied the Brahmins Bandopadhyay, Mukhopadhyay, Chattopadhyay, Gangopadhyay, (I forgot the fifth one). I think it was Someshwarghosha who came to Bengal as the first of the Ghosh-s.

Someshwar's descendants spread all over Bengal and the most important branches were Uttarrarhi (North of West Bengal), Dakshinrarhi (South of West Bengal), and Bangaja (East-Central and South Bengal). I know that my family belongs to the Dakshinrarhi Ghosh, but I am not sure how many generations were there between Someshwar and the person we can track our family from - Indranarayan Ghosh.

My roots grew from here :)

I know very little about Indranarayan Ghosh. All I know is he was a zamindar (landlord) near the later district of Hooghly but then relocated to Jessore (now in Bangladesh) because of the tyranny of Portuguese pirates on the Ganges. He was given the land in Jessore by the then Nawab of Bengal, Alibardi Khan. This was circa 1750. Indranarayan went to this village called Bidyanandakati, where there was a river called Bhairav. On the northern side of Bhairav was a place called Mangalkot, where Indranarayan had a mansion. The mansion had four blocks with a quadrangle shaped courtyard in the middle. I know that he had three sons (a trait that is visible in our family in almost every generation so far) and each son and his family owned the North, South and West blocks. The East block had the offices and guest house kind of things. We branch out from Indranarayan's eldest son's family. 

I firmly believe that I lived there in one of my earlier births. I can very well picturize myself walking through the 150 acre orchards or by the side of the lake. There were celebrations for Dolyatra (Holi) and Durga puja in the house, with Radha and Krishna being the family deities. Well, Krishna is still our family deity in Calcutta. Kali puja was celebrated in the village temple though. Didn't I walk down there with lamps amidst the faint fog of an autumn evening? Probably! 

Anyway, that's the story...tonight when Mushu's Indian buddy wakes up all my ancestors for a bash, Indranarayan should definitely be the honored chief guest of the party! I love my ancestors!! :D 

Am I really?

As I still look (and behave) like a teenager and fit into decade old clothes quite comfortably, it takes a little effort to realize that I am actually growing up (or getting wiser). These are some points that reminds this quite to my face -

1. I am ENJOYING political discussions. On those evenings of the Presidential debates, we actually were looking forward to those. Arnab and I spend a lot of time discussing these. We have different opinions in most cases but we do talk about these (and love to).

2. I am actually untying my tennis shoes before taking them off and not slipping them on and off with a high chance of breaking the heel.

3. I am keeping a tab on what I eat. No I am not trying to *lose* weight. I am trying to stay healthy. But then , I am not stuffing myself with a bag of chips. A big piece of fish is mostly what is getting in to my stomach as the main meal.

4. Opening bills before greeting cards when the mail arrives. I didn't do it yet, Arnab did. 

5. Liking "old melodies" and "old movies" more than recent ones. Now I understand why those are still called "evergreen".

6. Cleaning up clutter and finishing a big batch of cooking on the weekend is actually making me happy these days. I can't tolerate a bed not being made in the morning or a sink full of not-yet-washed dishes.

Well, I have crossed my silver landmark and am advancing towards completing my third decade. So it is natural that there'll be changes. However, here's a song which I liked to listen to as a child and now like because of the meaning as well....this makes me feel that enjoying life is much more important than just counting the years.

Un, dos, tres

Sad as it is, there are still a lot of shelters that kill animals when those places are over populated. I wonder why people don't get their pets spayed/neutered. They think it is "cruel" to spay/neuter those animals but then is it "humane" enough to have healthy baby animals killed just because the shelters are over populated? Anyway, I don't want to argue in favor of spaying/neutering, there's basically no point AGAINST that!

Eggroll

Nimbus

There are also quite a few shelters who save death row animals by taking surplus animals in from there. I personally know of some people who have offered to foster or even adopt these animals, who would have otherwise been put to death. Seattle Humane Society recently got a whole batch of teeny tiny kittens from some animal shelters in Eastern Washington. A lot of those kittens already went to their forever homes to loving families, but there are still quite a few who are either sick, underweight or very young to be up for adoption. As foster parents, we were asked if we could help. Neither Arnab nor I had any experience with young kittens. Fun to look at, they are a lot of work. Unlike Mota and May who had come to us as respectable adults, little kittens need supervision while they eat, they may not be housetrained (a lot of carpet cleaning is needed) and they have so much energy that it is very probable for them to chew up cords, get into nooks and crannies, slip out from under closed doors and stuff like that. However, we still volunteered and took three kittens in.

Tangy peeking out from under the sink

Eggroll talking to Tangy

They are around 5-6 weeks old, one still wobbles while walking but he/she (we don't know yet) lacks no energy. Eggroll, as the kitty is named, was jumping on to the floor from Arnab's knees and tried to climb up my leg this morning, chewing and clawing at my denim. Nimbus, a black and white kitty is a hearty eater and Tangy, an orange-white tabby (yes, ANOTHER orange cat) is a little shy with people but with Eggroll, she (we think it's a girl) would fight and roll around. They are splashing in their water bowl, falling backwards in their food and scattering the nuggets all around. One also wiped his paws on the wall after using the litter box :) They are fun to have in the house. Though Mota and May are not happy with "unruly little kids" in the house, as they don't have to interact with one another, we are not much bothered.

Tangy, Nimbus and Eggroll will have to stay with us until they are a little older and weigh around 2 lbs. It will be very hard for us to return them to Seattle Humane, but I am sure these cute, tiny, cuddly kitties would soon bask in lots of love and care throughout their lives in their forever homes.

The world where sense doesn't make sense

Just remembering Sukumar Ray and his immortal creations once more on his birthday. May Pagla Dashu, Hijibijbij, Kakeshwar, Ramgorurer chhana, Nera, Gomratherium.... keep on being our best childhood friends and the dialogs like from Ha-ja-ba-ra-la and Lakshmaner shaktishel keep on enriching Bengali forever.

Dreams of art and craft and a morning room :)

Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca" is one of my all-time favorite books. Other than the main storyline, there are a lot of other things (and descriptions) that I like a lot. Say, the Happy Valley or the description of the first breakfast that Mrs. de Winter had at Manderley. Rebecca's "morning room" is my most favorite one out of that. I would dearly love to have a morning room for myself.

My room should have two big bay windows opening towards a rose garden and another one with a seat towards the kitchen garden. The windows would have light lacy curtains to let the morning light stream in. I would paint my room in a light yellow or peach color, as yellow brightens a room more than white. Peach adds a light warmth which also I like. The floor should definitely be wooden. I haven't yet decided between maple or rosewood. Either should be ok.

Now, coming to the furniture. I want a desk, like Rebecca had (with docketed pigeon holes) and drawers full of rich, white writing paper. I'll have to have a desktop and a nice lamp too. This should sit in between the two bay windows.

The center of the room should have a nice bright rug on the floor and I want the other furniture close to the walls so as to make the room not look stuffy. On the left corner of the room, just next to one bay window would be a comfortable recliner for me to work on my yarn crafts. The walls there would have shelves to keep my patterns and books related to yarns as well as stock my supplies needed for these projects. I might want to have a small rug on the floor right below the recliner.

Near the middle, but on the left would be a big table for paper crafting and jewellery making. It should have proper lighting, a big magnifying glass and shelves for supplies too. The near left corner would have a place for displaying my work and I'll have some comfortable little seats scattered there for my visitors to come sit.

Now let's see what's there on the right end corner. That would be next to the other bay window and I guess it will have a lot of natural light. So I'll set up my easel over there. Next to it would be the drying rack, the table to put my paints and brushes on, and a book case for my art books and magazines.

Coming towards the entrance, on the right hand wall would be a smaller window with a seat. That is for me to curl up with a good book and utilize the throw I recently crocheted :) Oh, did I mention I want a mug of hot cocoa?

The near right corner would be for my quilting and sewing stuff. I need a sewing machine there and a bright daylight lamp in the corner. I would also have my sewing supplies in that corner.

The walls, I would not keep them bare, but as the room would anyway be very colorful, I'll put up only a few of my own artwork. The little seats that I have scattered can be well utilized when you come to join my knitting group :) We can pull them up towards the center and can also sit on the big rug and knit/crochet warm fuzzy things this winter :)

[PS: This is all in a dream, but when I finally start my non-profit organization, I'll surely have some studio like this for myself.]

Best of Bengal

This being the Pujo season, I am thinking of Bengal quite often, though to be very honest, to me Bengal and Calcutta are kind of intermingled. I'm actually more Calcuttan than "Bengali", because I can relate more to the rainwater puddles near Deshapriya Park than to the paddy fields of Bengal. So, I would use Calcutta and Bengal interchangeably as needed.

These are a few things which are absolutely Bengali, can be called symbols of Bengal too, that I like very much!

The big debates:

Bengalis are renowned debators. We love to argue. The typical "coffee house" setting would speak of endless arguments about various topics from all over the world that has intrigued Bengalis. But those topics that even Bengalis are at a loss to determine are ones totally home grown. That's about bangal versus ghoti. That is which group has produced better people, whose food is better - that continues to which fish is better, with ilish representating the bangal (people from East Bengal) and chingri, the symbol for ghoti (people from the west). That can't keep the arch-rivals out of the argument for long. So inevitably it comes to which football team is better - Mohun Bagan or East Bengal. This is continuing for ages. Major problems arise when spouses hail from the different teams (like us) or when a supporter of one team finds him/herself surrounded by the rival supporters.

Another debate is about north and south Calcutta. The north being the older part and the one where heritage still resides, north Calcuttans say that it bears history and the richness of the place, whereas south Calcuttans would always find the old quarters back dated and time barred, the roads too narrow and proudly say that it is the south which is the hub of modernization that is so necessary in the 20th (or 21st) century.

The food:

Street food from Calcutta still comes in my most pleasant dreams, but the ones that are "signature luchi, rasogolla and mishti doi. I would also include the fine Darjeeling tea in this group. I don't know the history of mishti doi, but know that the sweet version of regular yoghurt is a speciality from Calcutta and is renowned all over the country. It probably comes second to the other great one - rasogolla. It is not for nothing that Nabin Chandra Das from Bagbazar is called "rasogolla'r Columbus". Luchi is another concoction to which bangals have to bow their heads. Luchi and rasogolla are the two foods which can compete with all the ilish recipes that bangals have produced so far! The flaky thin white balls of luchi, paired with mutton curry or the simplest cubed potato in light gravy can make any Bengali nostalgic.
food" from Calcutta are

The clothes:

The moment you dress a 21st century corporate woman in a red bordered white saree (laal paar shada saree)and make her wear the traditional red and white bangles, you bring out the essence of a Bengali girl in her! This is "the dress" of a married Bengali woman and is a trademark of traditional ceremonies. It changes the entire look.

For men, white dhuti-panjabi, especially the ones that have crinkly sleeves (the sleeves are crinkled by using a fruit) adds that special "bengali touch". The white clothes also look very nice in summer.

Related to clothes and fabric, another thing which started off with humble beginnings but are now selling for $128 at Nordstrom is kantha. This is an essence of Bengal as well, where when babies were born, they were wrapped in kantha (quilts). Those were lovingly made by the grandmoms or aunts by reusing old soft sarees. Those sarees were stitched together with some soft stuffing in between. Some artistic women didn't just stitch them together, but used to design those stitches in beautiful patterns. These are now sold as "kantha throws" in Nordstrom!! Anyway, the design is reused for sarees and other types of tops as well. This is one of my favorites too.

The celebrations:

Even if I was an unbiased third person, I would still think traditional Bengali weddings are the best! It
is colorful, absolutely gorgeous but without elderly ladies dancing on the streets. The bride's dress in red and gold is stunningly beautiful and the groom's white provides the subtlety contrast. Overall, it's as beautiful to look at as it is to feel.

Indians celebrate a lot of religious, or should I say socio-religious events. Durga puja is the one for Bengalis. The pandals (decorated tents) in which the idols are kept for five days have crossed the level of good craftsmanship and had elevated itself to be a work of art. That is beautiful to look at and sustains many families all the year round.

The creativity:

Bengali names are very creative and almost all of them have come from Sanskrit words. Unlike most of the world, Bengali names are not always derived from gods and goddesses (at least that is not the criteria in naming someone) and are very modern. People think of unique names, with Rabindranath setting the bar really high in this regard. Some names are a bit too intellectual, but still I am very proud of Bengali names, and my name too. (Well, I am still hanging on to it even with all the distorted pronunciation that I hear.)

That's the thing...

The journey from "barnaparichay" to Java

Rabindranath's poetry and songs are my favorites, my all time best ones. One of those that I like most is - বিপদে মোর রক্ষা করো (bipode more raksha koro) - guard me at the times of trouble. That which prays to God saying that make me know you during happy times so that I never doubt your presence when the world is all against me. I try to follow that. I may not be "praying to God" but I do feel grateful for my life when things go well, and when they don't, I try to remain as patient as possible.

Anyway, recently some stuff went really well which made me very happy and inspired me to grow myself by challenging my intellects even more. Encouragement can do wonders to anyone. Especially if you were not expecting them. All these make me grateful for my life and thank that person who is behind all of this. He is Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

Now when I am gradually evolving into the role I have always seen myself in, the dream career in a fast paced sci-tech industry, the economic independence and the confidence this entire thing imbibes in me, I need to take a look back at that day when Vidyasagar said "they [girls] are also getting educated now. Their time is also coming", the fact that he wanted to see us empowered, lacking neither in education nor in the freedom to pursue our dreams...and makes me realize that I can't thank him enough. I can't ever pay his debts.

The only thing I can do is to take myself up to that level where Vidyasagar can be proud of me, proud of the fruitfulness of his relentless battles. That girl whom he had one day taught how to write the Bengali alphabet can now automate cloud (server) behavior  with Java.