tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post419641735837444025..comments2024-03-23T15:12:26.734+05:30Comments on Reinventing memories: The company I keptSantanu Sinha Chaudhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15062744470522359652noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-46564055731504712252010-06-28T01:03:42.888+05:302010-06-28T01:03:42.888+05:30Sir another beautiful post! Reminds me of Krishnan...Sir another beautiful post! Reminds me of Krishnan carpenter from my childhood. I used to have a lot of fun playing around while he worked, I learnt quite a few things from that time..Vaishnavihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08829055456233904866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-1083371894854609802010-06-21T20:52:48.592+05:302010-06-21T20:52:48.592+05:30Yes, i stopped by reading your post on Koodali. Th...Yes, i stopped by reading your post on Koodali. There is something unique the way you tell the story, its worth coming back!Sujithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02315656474470735939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-85905308541420108512010-06-18T10:14:24.273+05:302010-06-18T10:14:24.273+05:30Thanks Santanu da and Mr Joe for spoiling me with ...Thanks Santanu da and Mr Joe for spoiling me with your overly kind words! I know I don’t quite deserve them for it was a hurried, coarse effort on my part with solecisms many, but I’m overwhelmed! Actually, Santanu da with his disarmingly simple, endearingly warm style makes us feel, smile and talk back. I think the great litterateur Orhan Pamuk, during his Nobel acceptance speech made somewhere a point like this : <i> Tell stories about others as if they were your very own and when you talk about yourself, make us feel as if you were talking about them all!</i> <br />Santanu da does it so admirably well and it has such a cathartic effect on us! He unconsciously relegates himself into an obscure corner from where he curiously watches his characters play out their roles live and kicking as if they happened just the other day and I could trace so many of the vignettes of the bygone days, my lost and forgotten relations, their smiles and frowns in them! And at times he is so devastatingly and ruthlessly unsparing about himself that I only wonder why can’t I ever be like him! And as my little sister, Sayantani somewhere commented in his blog, let me echo her saying that the paltry or “0 comments” his blog posts attract are just symbolic of what we all collectively feel, “We have no words!”Kaushik Chatterjeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08712252983920471892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-48537156814084005492010-06-18T06:39:53.296+05:302010-06-18T06:39:53.296+05:30It happens when Fate decides that a semi-literate ...It happens when Fate decides that a semi-literate dumb fellow be friends with the owner of a brilliant mind. The former can understand that the latter is offering a compliment, but can't make out if it is right- or lefthanded. <br /><br />Jokes apart, Joe, I couldn't agree with you more on what you have written about Kaushik and others, some of whom prefer sending me mails instead of commenting on the blog. I'm proud of my readership.Santanu Sinha Chaudhurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15062744470522359652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-76645687145075043572010-06-17T22:49:54.203+05:302010-06-17T22:49:54.203+05:30"When you collect marine animals there are ce..."When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to capture whole, for they break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl on their own will on to a knife blade and lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book..." (Steinbeck in the preface to Cannery Row). <br /><br />Santanu, I am reminded of this passage every time I read you. But what I like best is the way your stories attract so many beautiful responses - Kaushik, just to mention the latest. Keep at it!<br /><br />Joe<br />P.S. Another reason you should keep writing is that you will never make a good after-dinner OR after-anything speaker.Joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-17965850505082973532010-06-17T07:26:27.971+05:302010-06-17T07:26:27.971+05:30Many thanks, Sujith. The incident you have describ...Many thanks, Sujith. The incident you have described is very significant and it perhaps conveys what I wanted to say more vividly. <br /><br />You wrote about reading my piece on the veedu in Koodali, didn't you? Thanks for coming back. All best.Santanu Sinha Chaudhurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15062744470522359652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-53242246407540031682010-06-16T20:08:15.566+05:302010-06-16T20:08:15.566+05:30'During my visits to that country, I felt four...'During my visits to that country, I felt four things separate them from us: honesty in everyday transactions, hard work, discipline, and respect for manual labor.'<br /><br />So true. My first few days in US made me understand the dignity of labor. Me and my friend was renting a car. It was a black car and was dirty after few days of rigorous drive. Took it back to the rental place. A charming looking lady in her suit was at the front desk. We told her our need. We were expecting to hear american version of 'Oh Ramu.. gaadi wash karke dena..'. Instead to our amusement i saw the lady, remove her over coat, pull the car to the side, washed it clean handed the key back saying 'Have a good day sir'. Those few minutes made be un-learn a lot i learned in India!Sujithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02315656474470735939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-58155520571955055452010-06-13T11:23:13.676+05:302010-06-13T11:23:13.676+05:30Thanks, Sucharita and Kaushik. That I can reach ou...Thanks, Sucharita and Kaushik. That I can reach out to people like you is a wonderful feeling. <br /><br />Sucharita, I am actually thinking of a book, and your views give me tremendous confidence. But easiest part about a book is writing it. Getting it published by a reasonably good publisher is a tall order for someone like me. Anyway, let me see.<br /><br />Kaushik, I am floored. Your poem is absolutely wonderful. I loved it. I'll look forward to more! <br /><br />All best.Santanu Sinha Chaudhurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15062744470522359652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-54267595583519687522010-06-10T22:31:29.751+05:302010-06-10T22:31:29.751+05:30Picking up the fragments, ones and twos,
With corn...<i>Picking up the fragments, ones and twos,<br />With corners sharp and few edges chipped,<br />Vignettes of the past in myriad hues,<br />Some vividly live and others, wings clipped!<br /><br />The lost tunes of the whither world,<br />Sights and smells in a mist,<br />The teacher’s frown and the dreams unsold,<br />The unbought items in the list!<br /><br />Ranga pishi, sejo mama, heard my pussy purring?<br />The gust of wind from the trundling tram<br />A giggle of laughter from the passing pram,<br />Seeing a squirrel gone scurrying!<br /><br />Faces aglow after a ponderous wait,<br />And brows stitched for good,<br />Snatching a glance at her lovely gait,<br />To lift a sagging mood!<br /><br />Was it yesterday or the day just before?<br />Seems so sweetly close and yet never so quite,<br />Aah! let me enjoy the sun burning bright,<br />Before ‘now’ becomes no more!</i> <br /><br />Santanu da, carry on with your lovely, lovely memoirs and just let us read and feel and smile!Kaushik Chatterjeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08712252983920471892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653188975343905818.post-28622761387042248682010-06-10T11:45:53.471+05:302010-06-10T11:45:53.471+05:30This is hugely touching and amusing to read. I als...This is hugely touching and amusing to read. I also enjoyed your previous post very much, where you have talked about how various events of the outer world impinged upon your childhood consciousness.<br /><br />And this post, where you draw a picture of the domestic world of your childhood, peopled with ordinary-but-special figures from your past is written with such empathy and gentle humour.<br /><br />Don't you think such lovely memories, so wonderfully expressed, deserve something less ephemeral than a blog? A book perhaps?Sucharita Sarkarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802171314546508539noreply@blogger.com