I grew up watching....

Its morning and the alarm didn't go off today.... aaaahhhh feels like today is Sunday. Start of the day with a Big cup of hot tea...the first sip... takes all the laziness away and u ease on yr chair admiring the beautiful bright day which u can spend as you wish to do. Yeah!! Sundays are special...and as a child i use to love it for many no school on this day was the primary reason :).

Sunday use to be much awaited day for the specail TV shows they use to telecaste my earliest memory goes to the time when they use to show Fairlytale Theatre, Disney Hour and Fraggle Rock. I can still picture myself watching Fairlytale Theatre with my mouth open surprised by the magical world of Fairlytale. After a few years mythology concept was brought into television and in very shortime everyone knew Raja Dasharath and Rama. The Shops would shut, life would come to stand still to watch this mythological serial, for hours we would be watching arrows flying in the air multiplying and changing forms. Mahabharata was even bigger...with so many different characters, events and technology it was even better. To be honest i have watched Mahabharata as many times as it was shown on TV be it DD or Zee. And who can forget Mogli... Jungle book everybody would sing the title song... Chaddi pehen ke phool khila hai...

Not to forget the wonderful shows telecasted during the week, Ados Pados, Nukkad, Buniyaad, Hum Log these were the favorite of my parents they till date talk about these serials i dont much remember about the first two but Badki, majli and chukti of Hum Log... i remember and also Dada moni ( Ashok Kumar) giving the intro for each episode. That was first time i understood that partition equally bad for Indians and Pakisthanis. Watching shows like Spiderman, Gaint Robot, Heman gave room to an imganinery world.. i remember playing episodes of Gaint Robot with my friends and everybody would fight to be Gaint Robot... ha ha..Byomkesh Bakshi, Gopichand Jasoos, Tenali Raman and Akbar Birbal were other favorites and who can forget Swami of Malguri days. Simple story of a young boy from village touched our hearts. Shows like Paramvir Chakra and Udaan made me determined to join Defense.The show i loved to hate was Kile Ka Rahasya i would hide behind my mom and watch that serial at every climax... i would swear... i will never watch this again :D :D Zigma... does anyone remember that show... desi version of Star Trek in school we would make paper gloves/watch which were worn in the show and we would say "OVER" after each dialogue. I wonder why didnt they telecast that show again. If anyone has any link about this serial please send it to me.

My other favourites were Indradhanus, Stone Boy, Surabhi, PC aur Mausi, Dekh bhai Dekh. Chunauti, Neev, Campus were story of student in hostel... it was the first time ragging and drugs on college campus was paid attention to. For once i was scared to be in college. And not to forget KING KHAN...Sharukh.. Fauji, Dusra Keval and Circus... i remember Fauji use to be telecasted during my Balvihar class... and i would try to convince my mom to let me skip Balvihar (which never succeeded) so that i could watch King Khan. Dusra Keval was a very touching story of sikh parents who had lost there son to Terrorism.

There are many more like Vikram aur Betal, Bharat ek Khoj, The Sword of Tipu Sultan ( i loved the title song music), Jeevan Rekha, Kitty of Karamchand, Talaash these were the show which i grew up watching...there were only few channels still we never got bored of watching them...and yes... we didn't have to go through the torcher of watching saas bahu jhagada, lead actors/actresses dying and reincarnations...Wish could watch these shows again and go back to those wonderful Sundays and other weekdays..

PS:

Thanks Swaptalk... for giving me the link of all DD shows

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_DD_National

Another similar blog

http://mhmehkri.livejournal.com/6044.html

House Hunters

I have been trying to write on this topic from past 2 weeks… just could not come up with how to begin the topic…. HOUSE HUNTER. Yeah that’s the reason of me missing from action for so long. I have a new profile now House Hunter although we have closed on a house 2 weeks back and moved in so its House owner… but the process of doing it was one of a kind. As first time buyers having no clue of the terms used here, it was journey filled steep curves and narrow lanes.

Being a part of General Google… we googled for everything, google became our best source to learn and understand the market, the terms used by realtors, search properties, loan options, legal documents and every possible thing you can think of related to buying home. For weeks we just ate, talked, slept of options found on google.

Once we made ourselves familiar with terms like foreclosure home, homes on short sale, FHA approved, buying agent, credit rating, good faith estimate, HOA etc. we started the act of looking for a house. We saw all types of houses, beautiful, comfortable, BIG, small, House with red florescent and blue walls… he he, once with leaking roofs, houses which felt like Battle of Panipat took place there and our dream house… Big comfortable… with a fire place…. lots of closet space….cute patio, a nice private view very near to P’s workplace… we jumped and signed a contract for it… the very same day. So excited by the house we got our friends to place in the evening and literally trespassed the ground to show the house…. And then was the most difficult thing to do… wait… wait for the Bank to get back to us…. And we had feared not to happen happened.. bank did not approve of our contract… L So.. me and P with heavy hearts started the search again…

Our enthu was dampened by the fact that we did not get the dream house… and nothing can match that one. But we continued our search and again saw few more houses…. The ones we liked or choose were always taken… gone…under contract or the worst for senior living… he he.. at one point we almost thought that we will have to rent a place again… but thanks to internet, remax and a joint effort by of our buying agent AA and us we managed to find couple more of them which were could fit our budget and give us stuff we wanted (not in comparison with dream house). We shortlisted 2 from the list one with a pool view… I loved the view and the other with 2 car parking…P liked the later. Comparing both we decided to go with the one I like…the house with pool view… agreed on price and asked AA to draft another contract. Happily we decided to head back to our temporary weekend home… my best friends (BF) place. On our way back a 40 mins drive… we talked about the house.. the view…one thing led to another and compared the two house ‘one with view’ and the other ‘2 car parking’ by the end of the drive we were convinced that the other house is better option and so sheepishly we wrote an email to AA asking her to change the contract for the other house…. The next day we checked the house again to be sure, and then signed and submitted a new contract… and then… kept our fingers crossed….. to our surprise the wait was only few hrs and we got a call…. Saying the bank has approved our contract! Shocked by the quick response both of us were shocked by the news and felt silent… still remember my BF’s hubby saying… khush ho jao yaar… tumko ghar mil gaya! :D :D

It didn’t end there… then was the task of getting loan approved and at the rate which was promised to us.. the EMI changed every day, we were always asked to compromise this not available… that will be more expensive… our loan agent working on weekends for us… to get the best deal.. us calculating and hunting for other options… days passed, emails flew in all directions, phone calls.. uff… by the end of it we just wanted it to happen.. and then the D day came… Friday the 13^th for apartment no 313 :D :D . Finally the loan was put in place not completely on our terms… but it was not a bad deal at the end.

And now we are HOUSE OWNERS and not house hunters… It does not have a fire place but I guess we can still keep it warm with our friends and family… the view is not a pool view but of woods.. its nice to listen to birds singing in the morning… and the closet space…. It has plenty room for my shoes

Welcome to OUR home!

Bus, Train aur....... HUM

Just back from home land and I miss it more. It was a great trip back home; it is always nice find things where you had left it. You will not believe we were out of the Airport and Bang hit the traffic jam at Saki Naka…he he some things will never change. Mumbai felt and smelt the same as it always did warm and welcoming.

After being in the state of lost between countries and time it was my turn for the journey back memory lane. It was refreshing to meet my college buddies and talk back things which we dreamt in college, laugh on same old jokes sorry… pj’s and learn that some relationships never change. Kudos to PAKAUS! Being with friends, family and other familiar things I learned why I hate being in this country. Not only because I am away from friends or family, but fact of being cut off from the outside world. By world I mean outside my little apartment. Let me put it this way “IF YOU DON’T HAVE A CAR IN THIS COUNTRY, YOU DON’T HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE.”

Our country might be termed as developing country but still we have an infrastructure that helps to commute from one place to another.. roads or no roads you will still find a way to commute. I did a lot of travelling this trip home and could feel the upgrades and face lifts that the mode of commuting has gone thru. And I must say a BIG thanks to no other than Lalu ji. After almost 4 or 5 years I travelled long distances by train, and was pleased by my experience. The compartments be it AC coach or the normal sleeper coach are always clean and dry, the loo’s don’t stink (either we have become highly civilized or the housekeeping is very good). Here you take any subway or an Amtrak train they always smell…. Nothing particular, but it does smell. Back home we eat such spicy food in closed AC compartments but it never smells. And yeah the best is… no more you have to stand in Q’s for booking train tickets, just do it online. IRCTC’s payment and refund system is amazing. Things like Mumbai smart card lets you travel in trains and buses. You need not have perfect change to buy ticket in the bus… just have yr prepaid Mumbai smart card punched in the Bus. The best was Megacabs…. Just call them and they will pick you up from home and drop you at the place you want to go…. rates are almost the same and these big air-conditioned cars. All this makes me want to go back to India more and more.

Going Home SWEET Home

At this moment there are so many topics in my head for this weeks blog. But none of them can over power the thought that i will be reaching Mumbai on Friday. From past few weeks there is nothing but this excitement of reaching Mumbai and meeting everyone... Its like i have been waiting for this moment since the time i set my foot in US. Everyone here says you will find it very different, it will be difficult for you to cope up with weather, traffic, air, pollution etc etc. Well! i really want to feel that... i want to see that just one year of staying outside my country can change my habits so much? I mean the air which i have breathed for more than 25yrs of my life; i will find it difficult to do so? I agree with the traffic part :D

Right now i feel like a spectator in a tensed India Pakistan match, where India has to chase 380 runs. The suspense of the 2nd innings.... the excitement, the doubts in yr head and the bursting patriotism in my heart. In my one year here, on anyone asking "how do you like it here" my answers where.... i miss mumbai, don't like it, HATE it. Though the comforts i live in now are more than i ever asked for its peaceful, more secured but..... these things could not win my heart. I wonder why?

So here i am waiting to reach my mother land, waiting to see again all the familiar face i have know throughout my life, waiting to visit the familiar places and waiting to feel the difference. Mumbai here i come!

Saraswati Puja

Jaya Jaya Devi
Chara Chara Share
Kucho Jogo Shobhito
Mukta Hare
Beena Ranjita
Pustaka Haste
Bhagawati Bharati
Devi Namastute

Today is Saraswati Pujo, as a child I use love this day. Mom-dad use say “no, don’t touch your books today”. Saraswati Pujo is celebrated by Bengalis on Vasant Panchami which falls on fifth day of Magha according to lunar calendar.

There are lots of traditions that I as a bong followed for this day. Mom and all anuties would say not to eat Kool (the fruit – bore in hindi or Plum). I use to save any yellow colored dress year around for this day. Imagine when you reach pujo pandal and you see 50 hues of yellow, Wow! Every bong who is studying or has kids in school observes a fast. Mom use to say… “don’t even have water till you offer pushpanjali to maa shoroshoti” (pushpanjali is the prayer offered with flowers)

For pushpanjali we use to fight to get palash phool, flower rare to find vibrant red in color… as if; we will not score good marks in exams if we don’t get that flower during pushpanjali. And the Phal prasad given after pushpanjali use to be special, furits like Kul (bore mentioned earlier), sugarcane, very sweet seeded banana use to be there.

For toddlers this day is special too. No Bengali parent teaches there kid to right or read till there Haathe Khodi ( haath is for hand in bangla and khodi is for chalk) every bong kido writes their first alphabets in front of goddess saraswati, the journey begins here! You can read more about saraswati puja here

Namesake

As days are coming nearer for my long awaited trip to India; I keep skipping into flash back mode of old days…. School times, college days, time spent with friends – family. And somehow it took me to what my friends and family called me at different stages of my life.

Yes!! My parents named me as JAYA, Meaning -Feminine form of JAY. It is another name of the Hindu goddess Durga. Initially though they wanted to name me as USHA… as according to my horoscope the hindi akshar U came up, but my mom wanted something a little uncommon. As a Bengali or rather in Bangla it is pronounced as J-O-Y-A. So I am called as Joya by all the Bengalis. At home only my father calls me Joya; di and mom calls me Jayu, i miss the way mom would take my name every morning to wake me up. All my non Bengali friends in our first 10 questions after introduction asks “so do you have a pet name like all bongs do? Which sounds like ribu, papu, popi, dodo,” the answer is NO. Two of my close friends from school call me Jayu too..(I hope you guys read this blog :))

As a teenager and a bully in school people nick named me Amitabh Bachchan ha ha….. I really was a dada in school. In college my group “PAKAUS” called me as Jaya dada, I tried to leave my bully and tom boy traits back in home – but it didn’t quite work.

Then came those days of facing the real world… yeah work life! I have worked in 5 different places… everywhere was named something @ Informatics it was chulbuli fataka, Call centre – Chelsea Roggers (pseudo name) they also called me Bong Babe, friends at Maratha…….. ha ha we use to great each other as… chudail, kamini, manhus (we still do that), GRM… it was - J- just that…. And my last place of work… I really miss ITC GRAND CENTRAL my boss Mr. Malik called me Miss India, fountain of English, Gonchi Gaan (means confused cow) depending on his mood, other colleagues called me Bhatakti atmaa… coz I use to appear at places least expected of me to be… :D :D

Just when I thought it was over… after shaadi… it didn’t… I got another name, what my loving Sasu maa calls me Mamuni (all her love can be felt when she takes my name) So that’s it till now…. I am sure there will be many more…