Of Dogs, Cats and other relatives.

Hello all.....

Well, for one, I have been terribly busy. My pooch, Crownie, gave birth to 4 lollopping dollops of love.. two look like the father (the one we KNOW of) and two don't. One suspiciously resembles our cat, Bolai. 

The pups were born on the birth anniversary of my grandfather, which also happens to be a dear cousin's birthday. When I informed him, post wishing, that our family had just been extended, his reaction (via text) was "throw them out!"- of course, in mirth.

They have been named Lucky, Benny, Princie and Squealer.  Lucky is the eldest, and the runt of the litter. Seldom have I seen such a lazy pup! Just because his siblings push him to the side, he decides, "oh what the heck! there is enough and more to go around.. once I wake up!".

Thus, it was up to us, and the Tender Touch feeding bottle, Lactogen 1 and BonnySan. Mum and I have been taking turns, and now that he has gained a bit of strength, he has decided to get back to being nursed- except that the milk is almost depleted! Hence, the bottle does four rounds- and Crownie gets the rest. The poor thing- they have made her so terribly thin! 

In the mean time, it has been announced that a cousin is getting married by the end of January. That has brought about a certain amount of excitement in the family- yet it is not so apparent..just like the pujos this time. It is not in the air- just not in the air- as yet. In the mean time pandals have been sprouting up everywhere, with various materials being used, and more than enough fire hazards being created. Yet, the feeling of it all has failed to materialise. The Determined Shopper has stepped out in spite of the rains, bargaining away in a particularly harassed manner- although it is the shopkeeper who looks dead by the end of it!

By the way, my version of the Determined Shopper- A cotton saree, killed of all starch thanks to the humidity, spectacles precariously perched on the nose, hair up in a bun, ever so slightly dishevelled, the smell of chinese food (obviously from the lunch break that they had to take in order to "refresh" themselves) mingled with some Avon/Oriflame perfume, at the very least four to five different plastic bags, screaming out their origins, and above all, the ubequitous ladies' bag, short strapped, but huge enough to hold half the World Bank in it. She stops at every crossing, surveying not the traffic but the next destination to be attacked. The traffic would find it very difficult to disobey her unspoken dictats- that they dare  not move till she is safely across and attacking her next "victim". This continues... and continues. They never stop making this type.

I wonder what I shall be up to during the Pujos. With friends visiting from everywhere, I shall be busy. Will I get the time for a bit of self-introspection that I desperately need to do? Who knows? Let's see!

Getting an education- not a degree

It has often struck me as to how the educated masses of India have actually let education remain merely at degrees, and left it at that to rot. My aunt, for instance, is a Master's in Sanskrit, but she did nothing with it. Why is it that we are so anxious to rise above others through studies, yet we seldom do anything constructive with it?

I have spent five years studying law in Calcutta University, and one year trying to study it at an autonomous college called NUJS. What did I gain from it? An apathy towards the subject and a mean sentiment towards anyone who pursues it. I don't want to have anything to do with it in the future. Hence, what am I doing now? I am doing what I NEVER wanted to do earlier on- that is, study more! In what ways? By joining the money-making bandwagon of course! Doing an MBA! Yet, to what end did my last five years of slavish confinement to a particular subject serve me? I am eager to scream out "nothing!" but deep in my heart of hearts, I know that, without it, a part of me is not there. Yet, it has not prepared me for anything that I wanted to do when I grew up!

Do I know anyone else who did this? It seems to run rampant in my own family. My sister took up science thinking that she will pursue engineering, only to end up becoming a starlet of the hospitality industry! My mother, who has a gold medal in her Master's in english, is asked to set the paper on the Law of Torts by a college (she is an advocate too). My father became a lawyer, when he should have actually become a full-time tantric. One of my dogs too, is a bitch, and she insists on being the male! Dear Lord, why did it have to come to this!

This constant dissatisfaction- what does it arise out of? Is it a sense of insecurity? Is it a sense of being incomplete, which is why I look for similar examples in my own surroundings? Or is it a sense of being inadequately armoured to make a difference to our surroundings with what we have that makes us let go of what we slogged so long for?

When shall Indians start looking out of the covers of mere books and broadening their horizons? When shall we proudly state, 'my son is a businessman' along with 'my son is a doctor'? When shall we hold our heads high when stating 'my son is an artist, and he paints throughout the day, and colours are his best friends'? Have we made ourselves incapable of retracing ourselves to our original dreams? How many of us actually wanted to become lawyers, doctors or engineers? A cousin of mine would often want to do nothing better than cook all day when he was eight (a great foodie!) and today, he is into aeronautical engineering- after all it makes more money, doesn't it?

Jai Gurudev

As my classes were wrapping up one of these evenings, a little group of boys and girls came in, and asked for a few moments of our time. At first I thought, must be a course project of sorts- the type where they conduct census, etc. Hence, I was hardly interested in what they had to say. Yet, what they said that day made me take a spontaneous decision, which was possibly the best decision that I could have ever taken.

They spoke about the Art of Living. A course was being held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium over the last week, and was terribly affordable as well-although I seemed to be the ONLY one from my batch to go for it! I went for it, and my life, as I knew it, took a slightly different turn.

I still don't know where I am headed in life, nor do I know what my goals are, beyond happiness. However, the ONE thing that I have definitely learned is to be happy NOW. We are so busy trying to make sure that we are happy in the future that we forget to be happy now.

I experienced varied emotions through the workshop. My innermost fears, anger, hurts started surfacing. At times I wanted to run away from myself... It was painful. Yet, by the end of it, there were tears of joy in my eyes, and the smile on my face was no longer forced and fake.

I have turned slightly calmer. I hope I can become a little more calm over time, and focus better as well. This was just one of the doors that I have ventured into. Lets see what the others hold in store!

Jai Gurudev!

I had been procrastinating about this for a very long time, but it had to happen now- c'est la vie! Hi! For those of you who do not know me, I am Debjyoti Ghosh, a Homo Sapien male, born and brought up in LaPierre's City of Joy (and Strife, and Sorrow, and Anger, and Joy yet again). I am 24 and about to be 25- yes, that is the way it goes most of the times...

I just about finished my studies in law, and am hovering in the middle of nowhere currently, at the mercy of Calcutta University, who, of course, will take their own sweet time publishing our results, thereby more or less making sure that those of us who had any ambition of pursuing further studies with other universities are thwarted at their efforts.

In the mean time, however, I am busy cleaning up the house. My sister has left for Delhi, and as is generally the case, has purged her cupboards before going, leaving behind all the undesirable stuff, which, of course, the designated major domo has to throw out. Moreover, I need to clean up if only to declutter my own mind.

My lover left for his home as of yesterday, and shall be off to Russia before the end of next month. All this cleaning up, and of course, reading a few (hundred) books might distract me till the time he comes back.

Mum has decided to quit her post as Vice-Principal. In other words, she and I shall be at constant loggerheads if we are not careful- but that would be after a month's notice has been served, thank ye God!

The dogs have FINALLY learnt to get along, so I guess it is time to get our furniture straightened out. We need to make many changes in our home- and no time is better than now...