Images from the Winter past and other anachronistic stories ..

The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about – George Bernard Shaw (or some such guy with a thing for smart alecky one-liners)

I have finally had to succumb to intense public pressure and general hue and outcry to end the long silence on this blog (caused by a formidable mix of consulting, consulting, consulting, procrastination, writer’s block and new found addiction to Big Bang Theory – Of these the top three reasons have since been removed and hence the I’m back act). Also, flattering footage across multiple fora (which shall remain unnamed in the interests of humility and general coolness) have made me realise past folly and I shall hence endeavour to be more regular (Dramatic aside: Forsooth! yet again! Humbug! (pronounced ‘Haambaag’) shout cynics and Bong intelligentsia from within the haze of Kafka and cigarette smoke at Coffee House, College Street, Calcutta but are then silenced by look of steely resolve in writer’s eyes and threat to open windows of said Coffee House).

So net net I had this really cool idea of doing a photoblog style post with snaps taken from here and there since December last year, idea being that pictures speak a thousand words et al. Thats assuming you wanted something equivalent to a thousand words in the first place which, if you’re not bong or Gullu or Tarun, will be something of a feat. Get in touch with me in case any of the above three pre-conditions don’t apply to you, and I’ll gift you a Bourneville for you would have definitely earned it. So without much ado .. here goes:
(Drama and special fx aside: sparkly lights, drumroll, applause, IPL cheerleaders,Ironman2)

Photoseries 1: So news is that I left consulting some time back and was then told that non-consults have still not bought into the utility of gtalk on official laptop as a productivity enhancing tool - I therefore, went and bought meself a sleek black Sony Vaio laptop. These snaps were the first thing I did with said new laptop. For those of you from outer space, the well built guy on the left is me .. the guy on the right is Karthik (quintessential good boy from James’; for lasting proof check out the sandalwood smear, intact right through face-pull session). Also (check this out), the last face pulled is supposed to be ‘Burmese’(! – also, why Burmese you ask .. I shake my head in abject ignorance for I do not know).


















































Photoseries 2: These snaps are from JNU, taken during multiple trips while picking up / dropping the sis. I’m particularly fond of the last one; this is during one of the coldest nights of winter – happened to chance upon this litter outside the JNU canteen wall. The second one captures the self during the grow-beard phase post consulting. I even managed to smuggle the beard aboard a flight to Cal, without extra baggage cost but finally decided to let go when the mater asked me to choose between family and the beard. Prudence prevailed with the happy ongoing result that the parents haven’t disowned me yet.
























































Photoseries 3: The same shaft of light at Diwaan-e-aam, Red fort, at the ruins of Khidki Mosque, Saket and into my room during a winter morning. This last one quite reminds me of Jacobean magazine submissions at school, where kid after happy kid would turn in articles revolving around ‘darkness creeping across the corner of my room, my heart and all things in general’. Living in the living breathing heart of world philosophy and culture does it to you, I guess. Pathos probably aggravated from seeing several of Ramlal’s heavenly egg chops lose their existence in perfect harmony with a bottle of coke – but then again, thats just speculation.




















































Photoseries 4: This one is for the friends, long suffering and staunch. Check out for example, the totally priceless expression on Naddu’s face in the first snap. Also related to this snap, the vast expanse to Nadir’s left is not, contrary to popular perception, the lost city of Atlantis – its just Sajju, of the ponderous paunch. I think Sajju’s best moments happen when he’s well fed and has begun on the desserts. Pure hypothesis, but I have a gut feel for such things. Also, this photo has a title – Pati aur Woh. Woho!
Moving on, the second snap centres mostly around Karthik’s Winnie-the-Pooh(!) water bottle with the man lunging around in the background during one of our winter baddi sessions. I turned out to be quite the kickass baddy studboy and whipped Karthik quite regularly, with the poor boy huffing and puffing away to measly 15-10 wins. Coming back to the bottle, I never could get the full story out of him (c’mon, an ex-James’ guy carrying a Winni-the-Pooh water bottle, there has to be a story! If he’d been from LMB or Bosco or CBS or FAPS or Bombay, I wouldn’t even have bothered to ask, but he’s from James’ for God’s sake!)
The third snap is lasting testimony to the everlasting charisma of the married man, in life in general and on the baddy court in particular. Thats my close friend Nadir, after about the first ten minutes of baddy post marriage – the man knew I was capturing incriminating evidence and yet did not even have the will or honour to crawl away and die. Sigh!




















































Photoseries 5: Miscellaneous snaps. The first one was taken at about 5.30 in the morning, at New Delhi Railway Station; at the exact instant when I decided that the Jaipur Lit Fest trip was a mistake. I have long since reversed the verdict and the trip was a rip roaring success. Gullu and I managed to escape unhurt after two days amidst authors, authory types and Delhi page 3 socialite aunties (lasting answer to the question: Whats more scary than Godzilla and IPL4-without-cheerleaders, combined.) But more of that later.
The second snap is of a phuchka (gol gappa equivalent in Calcutta, only much cooler and more philosophical) stall at CR Park. The Bong equivalent of Chinatown, in Delhi. As in, not a Chinese place Bongs in Delhi go to but .. heck, I suppose you got what I’m saying. Anyway, the place is quite cool and has solid bong stuff scattered all over including something called an egg-devil. This has to be had to be believed, or then again, maybe its just my Ramlal egg-chop legacy speaking. Talking of James’, the socked foot you see in the picture, belongs to partner in crime, Karthik. If the boy ever decides to develop superhero side-profession, his superpower is bound to be something employing Phuchkas. The Phuchka PowPow move, or ‘He’ll Phuchkao your past to protect your future’ types.
Third snap was taken at a dhaba in Purana Qila during the South Asian Bands Festival. Thats also the time I first heard the Raghu Dixit Project for the first time – seriously good stuff. There was also Strings with one of the most thakela performances in recent memory. The last snap was taken from office, just after sunset – the real thing, but obviously, looked much better.




































































Photoseries 6: Ok this was interesting – all snaps from the same evening. The first two snaps were taken at the dargah of Hazrat Nasiruddin ‘Chirag’ Dehlvi, spiritual heir to Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia. The first one is a view of the courtyard and the second of the main tomb area seen through the tomb of one his followers.
The other two snaps were taken at the Advaita concert at JNU, presence courtesy having gone to pick up the sis. I think that was the first time the mater attended a live concert, albeit inadvertently. Turns out she quite liked it. So did I, in fact. Great fusion music – even to an illiterate musical pagan like me.





































































Photoseries 7: To end with a pilgrimage, these last snaps are from an oft taken trip in Calcutta – from my home in Park Circus to Mocambo at Park Street. The first snap is of the mater trying to look interested in what I order, the second of the pater putting macho stare and the third of the guardian dragon of Park Street.





















































PS: Please check out the awesomely scary skulls scattered at base of said dragon. I think this must date back to pre-Jurassic Park days; no one seems to give dragons much footage these days.