Sudipta's Life

The kind of Holi celebrations I've seen outside my engineering college, I would say, are really tame compared to what used to happen within. At home and the colony around us, it was a sort of tame affair with the womenfolk mostly remaining away from the guys or at least refraining from playing with strangers. The occasional adventurous dude who decided to propose on this day by putting a red sindoor mark on the girl's forehead was usually beaten up badly, whether by his own friends in congratulations or by the girl's brother in retaliation is another story. The situation here in the US is entirely different. With the creeps outnumbered by far and a more vociferous female populace, the percentage of females coming out for the university Holi celebrations is much higher and the occasion is therefore understandably a lot more fun. The exact middle ground of this was in our engineering college: with everybody an adventurous dude and no females at all. In Gujarat, Holi celebrat...

People say, ideally, you should sleep like a log. What they fail to tell you is when exactly you begin to sleep like a dead man and not like a log. Or, more importantly, when sleeping "like" a dead man can make you one. So I was at my uncle's place about 3-4 years ago during one of my breaks in the college. It was winter, and we were sleeping under thick quilts. Mosquito coils were lit around the house because there weren't too many mosquitoes anyway. So my uncle and aunt were in their bedroom, and my aunt's brother and I were sleeping in the guestroom. Point to be noted: I was definitely fast asleep. Late into the night sometime, the tip of the quilt I was under touched the mosquito coil and caught fire. Not exactly the flaming inferno fire, but the gradual one that creeps up and eats away. I did not know when this happened -- I was sleeping. So the fire gradually climbed up and most of the quilt was burnt till my feet, but I was still fast asleep. The room was f...

My sister went away to her in-laws house today. The wedding went fine: minus the usual glitches of managing a hundred people everyday: I need soap, Mr. X who's on that sofa wants some tea, etc. It is always fun meeting relatives who I had last met twelve years ago. Everyone tells me how little I was when they had seen me last, and then they're surprised to see me all grown up. Some people would attest to the fact that I haven't; but thats a different story. ;) All these days it has been hectic. And the more difficult part, I found, was telling elders in some cases what was to be done. I completely know that they're guests in my house and they aren't supposed to know where the market is or where to find the scissors, but still directing people and asking them to go and drop off three kids at another place was kind-of awkward. But I got over it, and accepted it as part of the job. The part that was unacceptable was that my sister was getting married. I always thought ...

When I had first arrived in the US, a lot of things were new. The people, especially, were very friendly and open. If you're walking along the road on the way to the university, total strangers will nod and smile, and even greet you with a "Good morning!". Soon, I learned to reciprocate: like the other day I passed this old lady who was walking with difficulty because of a cast around her knee; I wished her, "Get well soon", and she beamed at me and said, "Thank you!". People are genuinely appreciative with their comments, and if you are even of the slightest help to someone, they will make sure that you understand their gratitude, especially with the classical "Appreciate it". Something else also struck me as a newcomer: the concept of a personal space. In India, if you're in a queue lets say to pay the electric bill or at a railway reservation counter, everyone is almost breathing down the neck of the guy in front of him. We don't m...