learning and growing

 Durga Puja 2023 has come to an end and a 'Subho Bijoya' to all my readers. It has been a wonderful Durga Puja. I don't want to write in detail about all the five days of Puja and how I spent it because there is nothing new in the joy of pandal hopping, hanging out with friends and having good food. However, Saptami this year was special. Mother and I had a lovely time in a houseboat that we booked for a day in Mangaldhara Lodge, Barrackpore. Early morning, we set out for Barrackpore. We reached our SBSTC bus depot in City Centre, boarded a bus at 6:15 am in the morning and reached our destination at 1:00pm. It was our first time in Barrackpore.The check-in time was 12:00pm. After completing all the formalities we headed towards our houseboat. There were two houseboats placed one beside the other. We crossed the little bridge to move to the front area of the houseboat. From there we took a left and passed the common drawing room area and entered the narrow hallway of the ho...

During my time spent in Chhatarpur, I had developed a special affinity for the small tea stall that was located near our area of residence there. Mother and I visited the tea stall almost every evening. The owner of the tea stall could not speak in Hindi properly and spoke in their own Bundelkhand accent. My mom knew no Hindi and I too was not very fluent. But both mom and I bonded with the man, his wife and two daughters. I still wonder how they understood our language because my mother spoke in plain Bengali even if it was Hindi. Bengali readers will know what I am trying to say here. I started calling him 'Chacha' and during my last few days there, he promised my mother that he would readily come to my wedding to serve tea to the guests and would wait for the invitation eagerly. He blessed both my mother and me. I recalled this incident with a smile on my face yesterday evening while mother and I were chit-chatting over tea. I completed by B.Ed from a university there in Chh...