Karthik Blogs

Childhood memories are always one to cherish and refresh them at a later date. Its all about the child like innocence, no worries in the mind, no malice or hatred towards anyone. Each Year during the same time, my mind travels back to my childhood days spent in the City of Joy. Around the  same time each year, the City of Kolkata breaks into a riot of colours and artful celebrations coinciding with Durga Puja. We used to stay in the heart of the city which is South Kolkata, popularly known as Gariahat Junction. Now Gariahat is always the springspot of all action that happens in the city. All the Puja Pandals are centred in and around Gariahat, popular ones being Ekdalia, Teenkona Park, Deshopriyo Park, Dover Lane. Come Puja time and lakhs of people descend on the roads to have a compulsory tour of the various pandals in the city. Traffic comes to a grinding halt and the best possible way to get a circuit tour of the Puja Pandals would be on foot. I would of course be excited t

It is special and very special in a particular quote that belongs to me. I have a certain birthright licence over it. The quote goes as follows: "I am an Indian by Birth, a Tamilian by Heart but a Bengali by Blood" This is very profound in the sense that I had spent all my childhood days at Kolkata. I have been blessed to have witnessed the diversity of our Indian culture even as a child.  Now back to my Kolkata days, There is a love story brewing a very special relationship between me and my father's Vespa WBN-8251. You got it right, it was my dads scooter that took me around the different lanes and by lanes of Kolkata during the Puja season. I would stand in front, hold the handle in from and vroooooom we would be off on a joy ride in the city of joy. As a child this interim period between Mahalaya was extremely joyous to me for two reasons and that sort of forms the crux of the entire story today.  There is the rich Tradition in Tamil Nadu to celebrate th

If you are a die hard Bengali it means a lot today. It happens to be the auspicious occasion today being Mahalaya. It is celebrated the world over today as the day when Maa Durga is invited back to her mothers house with vedic chanting and devotional songs. It is the starting point of a week long celebrations in the City of Joy-Kolkata. Traditionally celebrated as the victory of good over evil, this festival is the culmination of the victory of Maa Durga over the demonic asura Mahishashur.  My childhood was spent in Kolkata and I thought I will bring back to life my memories of this day. Its that time of the year in Kolkata when the monsoon is just about receding, there is a subtle chilness in the air. There is that layer of mist that would envelop the city and bring about that festive atmosphere the city so loves to immerse itself in. I recall that this was the day when my examinations would get over and I would await the celebrations to begin. Coming back to Mahalaya, my moth

Last week Rains virtually halted Mumbai. It bought the grand city to its knees. It seems catastrophic as each year passes by with no solutions in place. I was shocked to hear that BMC has in its bank accounts nearly 65000 crore rupees making it singularly the worlds richest municipality. Yet when it comes to providing facilities and basic infrastructure to its citizens, there seems to be lethargy or corruption.The Mithi River in Mumbai seems to be the prime bone of contention. Seems that the excess water does not have a way to flush out into the ocean, so the flooding. Most likely the cause of floods in all the other places, so the linking of rivers becomes such an important topic of discussion As I was whizzing past on my two wheeler to my work place, I noticed something new at every traffic intersection. A bunch of well dressed youngsters were standing with placards in their hands. Inscribed on each Placard were the words "Rally For Rivers". Without probing further