Cricket & My Childhood

Growing up, I witnessed my father and my elder brother whenever they were at home, engrossed in front of the television, never willing to part with the remote, when there was India’s matches especially if it was a World Cup. Back then, I couldn’t comprehend the immense excitement and hype surrounding the game. However, everything changed in the year 2011 when I fell head over heels in love with the game.

Cricket World Cup 2011

Especially on the night of the final which took place on April 2nd 2011, remains etched in my memory. I can vividly recall the exhilarating commentary of Ravi Shastri. The atmosphere was electric, the tension palpable. It was the pinnacle of the cricketing world- the 2011’ World Cup final.

“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lifts the World Cup after 28 years!” Ravi Shastri’s words echoed across the country, etching the moment into our hearts. MS Dhoni’s  innings will forever be etched in our hearts. And the memory of that triumphant World Cup final will remain a source of inspiration and joy for cricket fans like me for years to come. MS Dhoni’s innings remains a topic of endless admiration and discussions. However, it’s essential to acknowledge the pivotal role played by Gautam Gambhir in that unforgettable final. With a well- built innings of 97 runs, Gambhir laid the foundation for India’s pursuit of glory.

Cricket & Bengalis

Cricket by far is the most popular sport in India, and the ICC Cricket World Cup holds immense emotional support in India and its cricket-crazy population. Undoubtedly, cricket is more than a sport in India, and the cricket World Cup is the most anticipated events in the country.

The emotions of World Cup are magnified when it comes to Eden Gardens. No doubt, the World Cup is the pinnacle of cricketing events! And for Bengalis, it becomes a time for intense passion, national pride and communal celebration.  In the bustling city of Kolkata, the iconic Eden Gardens stands tall, eagerly awaiting the return of the ICC World Cup after an arduous 11- year hiatus.

Eden Gardens is not just a place but a metaphorical realm that holds a special place in the heart of Bengal. For those who may not be aware, Eden Gardens is a famous cricket stadium located in Kolkata. It’s one of the most iconic and revered cricket grounds in the world. With the capacity to hold around 68,000 enthusiastic spectators, it’s the 2nd largest stadium in India.

Eden Gardens stadium

For us, Bengalis, Eden Gardens evoke a wide range of emotions and sentiments deeply intertwined with our love for cricket. Cricket is not just a sport here; it’s a passion that unites people across different ages, backgrounds and social strata. The whole city comes alive and emotions range from nervous anticipation to sheer jubilation whenever a match is being played here.

We take immense pride in our cricketing heritage. A World Cup hosted at Eden Gardens offers an opportunity to showcase this pride on a global stage. The spirit of camaraderie during the World Cup is heartwarming. We gather in homes and public places to watch matches together supporting our favorite teams and players.

At times, a world cup match at Eden Gardens can also evoke a sense of nostalgia and reflection. The crowds and the stadium has witnessed some of the most memorable cricketing moments, both joyful and heartbreaking. Whether it’s the chant of “Dada” echoing in the stands or the euphoria of witnessing our favorite players take the field, every moment here is etched in our memories.

Also Read: Interesting Facts About Kolkata – Our City Of Joy

World Cup 2023

In the end, beyond the boundaries and stumps, it’s the emotions that will be etched into the history of the World Cup 2023. This momentous occasion calls for unity and support of our nation. As fans it’s our collective responsibility to cheer for our team with unwavering enthusiasm and belief. The World Cup will not only be a celebration of cricket but also celebration of emotions that bind us with our beloved sport.

Sneha Chakraborty

Sneha Chakraborty, budding teacher who is currently pursuing her master’s degree in English. Her journey through academia has ignited profound love for the language. For the first time, she ventured into the world of content writing for this website, i.e., Kolkata Fusion to enhance her skills in this genre, and also with many more endeavours planned in the upcoming days.
We aspire for this content to resonate not only with cricket enthusiasts but also with those who may not be deeply passionate about the sport but still enjoy watching matches.

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To Start Off:

I call myself an accidental homemaker. I never had the plan to manage a home, do any household chores daily or even, for that matter, cook daily for my family. Did I even think of going to a 9-5 job daily? Not at all! All that I looked for was living for the moment. What more can you expect from a person who was never sure she would pass the annual exams and get promoted to the next class? So, there was I, unplanned and undaunted, who walked straight into the battlefield, aka kitchen, after getting married and setting up our new home at Giridih in Jharkhand.

What was special then?

Nowadays, the primary thought that runs through my mind is what to cook, pantry stock at home, and how to cook using less resources. But, back then, the only thought was to make palatable dishes. The duration of cooking and available resources was unseen, unthought-of, unprepared chapters. I cooked the whole day; okay, not exaggerating, I cooked most of the time before running off to the B.Ed College I had enrolled in, with a lunch box.

So, the question is, what special dishes did I cook then that took all of my time? I reveal to you now. At first, I used to start with tea. The induction temperature was never kept on high, as I feared the induction oven would burst up. So, the water boiled in its own sweet time, the milk boiled in its own sweet time, the rice boiled in its own sweet time, and I kept calling my two moms for recipe suggestions.

My two moms helped me a lot with different Daal tempering suggestions but never told me about the Daal-Water proportion consistency. So, some days, the Daal was watery, and some days, Daal was all Daal and no water. And salt was never on the higher side. In fact, almost all the food items cooked by me were unsalted, waiting for a taster to put a pinch of salt after a second thought. A, my husband was on the receiving end. He used to sit with the salt pot by default, just in case.

Kolkata Conversations of the Accidental Homemaker:

Our Kolkata trips involved food conversations with my two moms. They poured all the maternal love in the form of food in front of me to taste and learn a point or two. But I ended up making one mistake or the other. I was generous with water proportion in cooking. Initially, in my Giridih kitchen, I used to cook the spinach leaves, chopped cabbages, methi leaves etc., all by putting some water so when they started to give out water after getting heated (as their characters are), I had to look for bigger utensils to fit in the watery vegetables before the water dried off in their own sweet times (I had mentioned that my induction was always on a simmer).

The guide of an Accidental Homemaker:

My only saviour was the markets of Giridih where Bengali vegetables (predominantly available in the Bengal markets) were available in very few quantities. So, there were no trysts with Mochas (Banana Flowers), Thor (Banana Stems), and other seasoned ones that involved skilled chopping before cooking. Like a happy lark, I escaped the Bong kitchen ordeal by making Kadhi Chawal, Rajma Chawal, Kabuli Chana, Chana Matar and sundry that are prevalently made in the North Indian kitchens.

Chicken preparations and the quintessential Sweet Bengali Pulao were reserved for Sundays that A made with all the diligence of a Sous Chef. I used to run around helping him handing the ingredients or grinding them and he would keep stirring the spatula in the wok. I always claim that A taught me to make round Rotis and soft Paranthas and it’s true to the T. He used to explain cooking with examples, like, imagine you are rowing a boat while rolling the Roti or Parantha. The example might sound hilarious now, but that was the basic I clung to while rolling out the doughs for rotis and paranthas during the beginning days.

Cut to Circa 2020:

My happy affairs with the kitchen were put to test when my Mother-in-love accidentally fell ill, and I, the novice, had to manage the kitchen. It was like a bowler debutant’s batting after Tendulkar got retired hurt. Are you geared up to know more about it? Please wait patiently for my next blog until then……Sayonara!

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Mahabharata – the serial on Doordarshan

During my childhood, we didn’t have a TV in all households, forget about cable and individual entertainment devices. Doordarshan was our sole rescue. So, every Sunday, people used to flock near the windows and in the drawing room to watch Mahabharata. This was in my grandma’s house in Mugma, Jharkhand.

Kurukshetra (Dharmakshetra) war

Some scenes have refused to leave my memory even after 3 decades.

1. Bhisma, the great Pitamaha getting slain by arrows for keeping up to his valour and not fighting against a woman (even as a child, I had wondered whether he was disrespecting a woman by not fighting with her! As back then I wasn’t aware of eunuch).
2. Abhimanyu, getting trapped in Chakravyuh. I remember the entire crowd crying at his death – for being cheated by the Kauravas. As a kid, I didn’t bother to ask myself why he entered the Chakravyuh with half-baked knowledge!? If he has gained the knowledge in his mother’s womb before she fell asleep, should he have not tried to gain the full knowledge from his father when he was practising his war skills? Or he might have – but Arujana was confident of protecting his son forever.
3. Karna’s death. I still remember the man trying to pull out his chariot’s wheel when he was killed! What a silly death for a Dharmaveera.
4. In the dual, when Bhima was all haggard, the smirk on Krishna’s face and his tapping on the thigh. And then Bhima hit Duryodhana on his thighs.
5. The lie on the lips of the ever truthful, Yudhisthira and not to anyone else but his Guru (a teacher who holds one of the highest positions in our lives) – Aswathama is dead, and then he mutters an elephant. He lies to his teacher that the latter’s son has died in the war, whereas Pandavas under the guidance of Krishan had named an elephant Aswathama and killed it (after all, the lives of animals are made for sacrifices). So, Yudhisthira didn’t lie after all – Drona just fell into their trap!

Incidents leading to the Kurukshetra war

Those were the scenes from the great Mahabharata war. Some scenes are not a part of the Kurukshetra war but are crucial for this war, and I so remember them.

1. Draupadi stripped off her saree. And the white saree didn’t seem to end. Dushasana kept pulling it and pulling it, and Draupadi kept chanting Krishna’s name. And, the entire Sabha sat still, some jeering, while some hanging their heads down in shame. Roopa Ganguly’s face got engraved in my mind in that scene, with burning eyes and unkempt hair.
2. Some rishi (I can’t remember from the serial. But read that it was Indra, the father of Arjuna) came and asked Karna from Mahabharata to give away his kavach kundala and he parted with it –to keep a promise to his guru, Parshurama! He wasn’t superstitious. He believed in his cause and believed the better one, fighting a righteous war, would win.

So, why am I suddenly blabbering about Mahabharata – I’m currently reading Rise of Kali by Anand Neelakantan. And through this journey, I re-lived some of the scenes of the serial that was an integral part of my childhood. Now, coming to my hero – Karna.

Karna – the Dharmaveera, the Glorious

Who was Karna from Mahabharata?

To me – Karna was an ordinary man, disowned by his mother, unaware of his father, brought up by loving foster parents in a caste-bound society, an ambitious man with capabilities, a true friend, and a man of principle. I have not read about his wife and children. But I think he was a man who loved his wife honestly and with passion—and instilled the right principles in his children while being a caring father.

Karna as a husband & father

Yes, he had loved Draupadi, and from the book, I learnt even Draupadi loved him. But she was just a pawn in the hands of Krishna, who had to stop him from participating in her swayamvara. And he later got married to a herd of 5. Karna, of all people, should have stopped the vastraharan of Draupadi but his rage made him so blind that he faltered and did something no man should do to a woman and that too to a lady whom he loved so dearly. Why he participated in that crime – does anyone have an answer? My heart grieves to think of that Sabha!

I have hardly read anything about Karna’s children – maybe that’s because I’m not an avid reader. But I want to know how this fearless man was as a father and a husband!

Aswathama, the Brahmin son

This poor kid was a fighter well trained by his father but never got the acclamation from his father, Drona until he was alive. He was one of the closest companions of Duryodhana. He could live and die for the latter but not accept that his friend valued him after Karna. When he got to know that Karna has promised Kunti not to kill any other son of hers except Arjuna, he thought him to be a traitor. And, when Aswathama learned that Karna had given off his armour to a priest, he was furious. But, when this same man learned that Karna was Kunti’s son, he felt ashamed for doubting a man who chose death over the crown. But, would Karna’s name be related with good and equally bad if he had accepted the throne – forget about winning the admiration of many like me?

Rise of Kali – Anand Neelakantan

The war of Kurukshetra has formally ended. The Kauravas were dead, and the Pandavas was living dead.  Aswathama crawls to Suyodhana (known to us as Duryodhana), lying dead, and speaks about their friend, Karna from Mahabharata, “Suyodhana, the kingdom belonged to Karna, yet he died for you. You were right about him.”

Is everything fair in love and war?

When Karna struggled to pull out his chariot’s wheel, Arjuna, guided by Krisha, raised his bow and aimed Karna’s throat. This mostly righteous man thought Arjuna was posing, as “no warrior possessed of a modicum of honour would shoot a man like this.” He had got the same scope just a few mins back; he could have shot at Arjuna when he was weaponless. But he was following the rules of war. The rules of war? I mean, seriously – isn’t everything fair in love and war?

And to Conclude

If you have read till here, first, we would like to thank you for your patience and bearing with Neha’s random thoughts. After reading the two parts of Ajaya, her thoughts were all scattered. So many characters and all obsessed with their thoughts of Dharma and Adharma. It’s not just a fictional drama filled with whims and where anyone can be pointed out as right or wrong. It’s about us, the people taking a right and wrong actions in a particular situation. Of all the characters, she holds Karna from Mahabharata closest to her heart. And thus, this article.

Please feel free to share your views.

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Subhadra Sengupta was an Indian writer based in Delhi. She was born in June 1959 and had a master’s degree in history. She was the winner of Sahitya’s Akademi’s 2015 Bal Sahitya Puraskar. Of the many books, she wrote, I have read only a few. And have thoroughly enjoyed them. One of her books, Mystery of the House of Pigeons, was adapted into a television series for Doordarshan as Khoj Khazana Khojer. Most of her books are genres of historical fiction and non-fiction. But she also wrote travelogues, comic strips and detective stories. She lost her battle against Covid19 in the year 2021.

A few books I have read are Let’s Go Time Travelling, Let’s Go Time Travelling Again, Kings and Queens, A Flag, A Song and A Pinch of Salt and Mostly Ghostly Stories.

Let’s go Time Travelling

The book Let’s go Time Travelling describes the lifestyle of people from the Harappan Civilization to the British era. Its sequel, Let’s Go Time Travelling Again, gives us a broad picture of the various occupations of ancient India. I loved these two books as they had a lot of information about ancient civilizations depicted humorously.

To buy the Let’s Go Time Travelling, Click. And to buy Let’s Go Time Travelling Again, Click here

Kings and Queens

Kings and Queens is a book about famous and mighty emperors and empresses, like Chandragupta Maurya, the ruler of Magadha, was the founder of the Mauryan Dynasty. And Razia Sultan was an empress of the Slave Dynasty. Although she was a woman, that didn’t stop her from becoming a great ruler. Krishnadeva Raya of the Tuluva Dynasty was a powerful king of Vijayanagar. He was a fierce fighter, a book lover and even wrote poetry. Noor Jahan was the youngest of all the wives of Jahangir. But with sheer willpower, personality, courage & political skill, she gradually became the centre of power.

To buy Kings and Queens by lesser-known Children’s Writer – Subhadra Sengupta, Click here

A Flag, A Song and A Pinch

A Flag, A Song and A Pinch of Salt tell us about the lives and achievements of famous freedom fighters like Ambedkar, Abul Kalam Azad, Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu and many more. I learnt a lot about many freedom fighters I didn’t know previously.    

Buy the book online     

Mostly Ghostly Stories

However, Mostly Ghostly Stories is a very different book. It contains spooky and mysterious stories and elements of suspense, fun and courage.

Buy Mostly Ghostly Stories online

To read about Edaan’s Safari expereince, follow the link : MY FIRST JUNGLE SAFARI EXPERIENCE

I would like to read more books written by Subhadra Sengupta in future. If she had been alive, I would have interacted with her and thanked her for the good reads about historical events and other subjects.

Edaan Ghosh

Edaan Ghosh, a class IV student of Bhavan’s Gangabaux Kanoria Vidyamandir, Kolkata, is a passionate reader and loves to prod into the history of India. He has an extensive interest in the people, culture, religion and occupation of ancient India and also the world. While searching for books on the history of India for young readers, he and his mother stumbled upon the books by Subhadra Sengupta. Thus, a small tribute to his beloved writer on her Birth as well as Death Anniversary.

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Come Indian summer and the winter beauties like carrots, cabbages, cauliflowers and beans go into annual hibernation. Instead, the Bengalis aka the proven gourmets, indulge in finding joy in perfectly cooked thore chhechkis (stir-fried banana stem), mochar ghontos (banana flower curry), dnata chocchoris (drumstick curry), potoler dolma (stuffed ridge gourd) and aam daal/toker daal (lentils prepared with raw mangoes). These regular preparations with commonly available vegetables comprise the Bengali Staple Dishes.

As a kid…

I had a hate-and-bearable feeling for all these preparations mentioned above. I watched Maa cleaning and chopping these vegetables, stirring them in the kadhai with her deft hands while the rice simmered in the handi placed upon another stove top burner. A warm, magical aroma hovered in the kitchen as the cooking went on. As a naïve child, I tried to differentiate the aroma – this one’s coming from the boiling rice, that one’s coming from that obnoxious dumoor er dalna (fig curry), the other one might be from the frying onions and so on.

Now, I know that aroma was only of the love that cooked the food. But, no matter how the aroma was, whenever Ma served the dnata chocchoris, I wanted to abandon my plate and run to the backyard. The sole cause was that I hated chewing the drumsticks or pumpkin stems. My parents grew most of these vegetables, specially dumoor, sojne dnata, kumro shaak (pumpkin plant), lau shaak (gourd plant), in the small kitchen garden adjacent to our quarters. The pumpkin or gourd creepers never yielded fruits except for ample leaves and stems for Ma to use in her cooking.

Dida and her magic with the Bengali Staple Dishes

Dida, my maternal grandmother, was an excellent cook. I never got a chance to taste her fish or meat preparations because she turned vegetarian after Boro Dadu, my grandfather, died. I was then just a 5-year-old kid. Her shuktos and kalmi shaaks and paat shaker jhols were simply out of this world. I remember staying with Dida for a few weeks after my ICSE Exams and immersing in those delectable Bengali vegetarian dishes for that entire span.
During that stay, I helped myself with a humble breakfast of Dudh-Muri-Kola or Chire-Doi daily before climbing upstairs to the rooftop room to read the yellow paged storybooks till Dida called me for lunch. As I would re-shuffle the bookshelf to pick up exciting titles, the whiffs of Radhuni seeds (Wild celery seeds) would entertain my olfactory senses. Dida used Radhuni spices to temper Daals and Shuktos that she cooked often. The boiling rice smelt different from that of our house. Maybe, the underground water collected from the garden tubewell did all the magic. Or perhaps it was because of the cook’s love potion difference.
However, as I recollect, I realize that my Dida and Ma were true minimalist cooks. They cooked their versions of Bengali Staple Dishes with a few ingredients, optimum oil and optimum water – nothing more, nothing less. I guess it’s the same with all our previous generation mothers, aunts and grandmothers. They knew how to create delicious meals with significantly fewer ingredients.

Things changed during Adulting 1.0

As I grew and went out of Bengal, I started loving the same vegetables I did not love before. I was pretty disgusted with the varieties of cereals and pulses we could buy there. The scarcity of ‘Bengali’ vegetables irked me every time. Even if I caught sights of Mocha (banana flowers), or Thore (banana stems), I didn’t know how to clean, chop and cook them back then. The memories of the afternoons when we would help ourselves with the mochar ghonto (banana flower curry with lentil fritters) or dumurer dalna or thore chhechkis (stir fried banana stems tempered with mustard seeds) kept coming back in my mind. I longed to go back home. Therefore, I used to look forward to our weekly/fortnightly Kolkata visits when my mother-in-love (mother-in-law), would prepare the traditional food in ample quantities for us to devour. She packed ready-to-eat dhoka bhajas or chhanar koftas whenever we returned to that god-forsaken Jharkhand town.

My mornings used to start calling either of my two mothers on the instant recipes they would share as saviours. At the same time, our sole ray of hope of eating good food rested on the occasional paranthas, chilli chickens and weekly pulaos that Avik cooked. I don’t even want to think what would have happened if Avik didn’t know how to cook.

Then COVID came – Adulting 2.0 and foraying into the world of cooking Bengali staple dishes

Suggested Read: Our journey towards new normal after covid-19 pandemic.

During the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic, life somewhat compelled me to learn the ropes of traditional Bengali cooking from my mother-in-love. She made me realize that cooking is a basic life skill and we must know to cook at least a few simple dishes to survive hunger pangs. Yet, I wasn’t truly interested until she fell ill once. However, we were also not interested in investing in a cook because no cook could replicate the taste of her cooked dishes. Like, how to perfectly instruct an outsider to cook a basic dish like Alu Morich with no temperings except a dash of ghee and ‘as-you-feel-like’ pepper powder sprinkled just before serving?

Thus, I took the stride. Every day, I would sit by her side and take diligent instructions on cooking, what to cook and the basic tricks. Over a year, as she recuperated, I kept improving myself on the cooking front and practicing minimalism – less oil, less water, less cooking gas. Gradually, I developed a love for cooking. I tried my hand with the traditional shil nora (grinding stones) when the mixer became defunct in the middle of cooking lunch. By then I learnt that preparing non-veg dishes are one of the easiest jobs in this planet! It’s that perfectly-flavoured and balanced shukto or knacha mooger daal that tests your mastery of cooking! I feel amazed nowadays with my ability to retain the memories of the flavours of the food my mother cooked. Perhaps, that’s what we call – ‘mukhe lege thaka.’

And now…

I am fortunate to cook with my mother-in-love nowadays and to watch her closely while she uses simple cooking tricks. And the one spice that she, too, uses profusely in her meals – is love. It’s indeed a magical experience to sprinkle generous doses of love in your food while cooking and it cannot be taught until you start using it yourselves.

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The digital world and progressions in technology have altered the way of life. Undoubtedly, it has made students’ life more competitive and full of anxiety and restlessness. To calm the mind, children’s imagination needs to be aroused. It should be channelised towards more comforting and simple things like the chatter of a stream, chirping of birds, various scents coming out of house kitchens and bazaars. Children need to know how to respect nature as well as relationships with fellow humans. Lockdown due to the pandemic has enhanced the stress of school children who are going through a virtual school life, where they keep on studying without physically meeting their friends during recess and after school. That warmth is undoubtedly missing in the current scenario. On the other hand, this is the right time to get back to reading and re-living that warmth that is genuinely missing in today’s world. 

Reading is a habit – how to encourage your child to read?

Eight Ruskin Bond Books for children

One author who is widely read and widely loved all across the nation is Ruskin Bond. So, here are eight books by India’s favourite oldest child Ruskin Bond, that can help school children to tranquilise their mind for a while and befriend some crazy, roguish and imaginative children.

Getting Granny’s Glasses

There are some feel-good stuff, places and moments in everyone’s life. This book lets you live this feeling. The children can experience different colours of nature and learn to observe simple things around them that usually go unnoticed. Aren’t kids and old-aged persons alike? The joy of savouring the magnificence of nature has been best portrayed by Mr. Bond through Granny’s eyes. The book offers visual descriptions of life in hills and shows the simplicity and caring nature of humble hill folks amidst the harsh conditions in the hills.

The Eyes of the Eagle

How responsible and strong hill people are! They have to adapt themselves according to harsh climatic and high-altitude conditions. Their never-give-up attitude is the backdrop of this story. This book is set in the Tung valley, where Shiva resides in his highest abode, Tunganath temple.  It narrates the story of a boy Jai, his dog Motu, a few of his people, and their intrepid endeavors to save their herd of sheep from the evil claws of a golden eagle and its mate.

Angry River  

In this story, there’s one river, an island, a girl, her grandparents, a boy and a tree. That’s all. Fighting for the necessities and against all the odds of nature is the essence of this book. So, the thing that keeps the readers hooked to the book is the aloofness of the setting, away from the crowd, noise and modernisation. The story reveals how impertinent nature can be. But what may come, the spirit of these people never let them give up.

Though the story is about the flooding of the island and its nearby villages, it profoundly tells the struggle of people residing in these kinds of areas where bare necessities of life are hard to earn and present challenges in keeping life on a move. The book is about the courage that these people exhibit in hard times and always start afresh after any kind of natural distress.

The Road to the Bazaar 

This book is packed with lively scenes of a small hill town in Northern India. It lets the children experience the simple but exuberant life of a hill town. Some joyous children indulge in such mischievous and inventive activities that make life pleasant. You’re going to experience an unusual zoo made in the backyard of a house; watch the race of some atypical animals (ahem! insects); some gossip full of laughter; music of the flute; a day spent on an old tree; and many more.

This book is everything that a child can imagine. So, are you, fed up with the humdrum of city life? Have no time to perceive the primitiveness of life? Go grab this book.

The Blue Umbrella  

It is a delightful and fascinating story that teaches the virtues of benevolence, sacrifice, and letting go. It is tough to let go of what you love with passion, but keeping human relations above material fancies is what matters most. This is what Binya, the pretty and brave girl discovers at the end of the story. Her life was full of adventures after she gets her most dear possession, the blue umbrella. The way the beauty of the blue umbrella and everyone’s longing for it is described shows the exceptional art of storytelling of Mr. Bond.

A Long Walk for Bina

Through the story, Ruskin Bond has introduced the children to the flora and fauna of Garhwal hills and the changing landscape through human intervention. The controversial issue of the Tehri Dam is dealt with thoughtfully. So, children will be compelled to think about the effects of such kinds of interventions in the natural landscape.

Is development more important or the conservation of nature in its original form? This book highlights the effects of such kinds of invasions on not only wild animals but also on the residents of that particular area. This story with beautiful visual vocabulary is certain to make you happy and considerate of your surroundings.

Friends in Wild Places 

The book celebrates Mr. Bond’s unusual friendships. Befriending everyone he meets is an exceptional quality of Ruskin Bond. But the unusual point is that he befriends not only human beings but also plants, animals, birds and insects. This is the reason that his stories always have something related to wildlife.

This book commemorates Mr. Bond’s unique friendships and encounters with some unusual wild creatures. This book is the best way to let children know about wildlife through some captivating stories.

When I Was A Boy

Living in the magic of the world, conceived by Ruskin Bond, while reading the timeless tales penned down by him, sometimes there’s an urge to know about the life incidents that turned him into a marvelous storyteller. Here is the book with a comprehensive account of his childhood days and a concise description of his living in a room on the roof before moving to England. This astonishing book is attractively embellished.

You get to see the chubby little Ruskin tucking in cookies in his mouth. The little boy Ruskin looking through the windows of many colours while strolling through the ruins of a Jamnagar palace. And a growing young Ruskin doing his first dance at a ball in Dehra.

To Conclude

I can write so much more about the beauty of the literature under the name of Mr. Bond, but I think these books are good enough to start with. These books will give comfort, warmth, and pleasure to our young readers. It will help them to nurture that imagination which is very important in every stage of life. So, pick up any of the above books, go to a comfortable place, and dive into the world of Mr. Ruskin Bond.

About Ekta Kubba

Ekta is a Science teacher in a Punjab-based government school, but her heart ponders for literature. She is an avid reader and an ardent fan of Ruskin Bond, she is administering a fan group on Facebook, entitled ‘Ruskin, the Radiant Bond’. Staying at home during the 2020 lockdown enabled her to realize her long-cherished dream to pen down her thoughts. Her writings can be read on her Facebook page ‘The Writing Nerd’.

The group, Ruskin, the Radiant Bond can be reached here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/925991211175469/

Her page, The Writing Nerd, can be reached here: https://www.facebook.com/The-Writing-Nerd-111755207220177/

Disclaimer:
*The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of www.kolkatafusion.com. Any omissions or errors are the author’s and KolkataFusion does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.
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Our primary aim behind this webinar was to provide a grooming platform for would-be content writers, a podium for aspiring writers to hone their writing skills while writing with us and be industry-ready.

Like it takes a village to bring up a child, it takes an army to maintain a website. Until now, we used to accept guest blogs. However, subsequently, we will also mentor willing content writers. We’ll provide topics, keywords, image ideas, and word limits and help you research if you’re stuck. We’ll also do the editing for you. So, that when your articles are finally published, they are catchy, informative, and engaging. Though we aren’t providing any monetary benefits right now, we’ll promote your article and help you reach a wider audience. Interested candidates can drop their email id in the comment box or reach out to us at parnaneha@gmail.com or contact-us@kolkatafusion.com.

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India is celebrating 75th Independence Day this year. We, the KolkataFusion team are honoured to present to you a poem by our Guest blogger, Diptanu Chakraborty. The kid has not only understood the meaning of freedom but has beautifully put it in words. COVID-19 has put shackles on our freedom and we are dying to go out. How the country must have felt when it was under the restrictions of foreigners?

Related Read: Role played by Bengal in the Indian Independence Movement (Part 1) – Rise of British Paramountcy in Bengal

When I can enjoy freedom

I have no need of staying home.

I get to go outside, get to have fun

Until the day is done.

Covid has made my life worse

My freedom has gone, what a loss !!

The wind runs merrily,

Pulls along the old clouds crookedly.

The streams surf speedily,

The birds chirp splendidly.

They are all enjoying freedom,

But I am missing out, in boredom.

P.C. Max Pixel

If this is how I feel now

I wonder what pain people felt somehow

200 years of sadness and captivity

The freedom fighters fought for eternity

Related Read: Role played by Bengal in the Indian Independence Movement (Part 2) – The Struggle Begins

P.C.: MyGov Blog

Some got killed, yet fought bravely

Mothers, fathers, people mournedP sadly

Our heroes are no more

But still their souls live in us

We need to be in peace and not make fuss.

Read Next: Role played by Bengal in the Indian Independence Movement (Part 3) – Rise of Political Awakening in Bengal

The post My Freedom appeared first on KolkataFusion.

“The plants around us not only give oxygen to our lungs but also to our souls”

Anonymous

Continued from Part 1

Our neighbourhood 

Let us look at our green neighbour – the plants around us. These species of organisms scattered on the earth’s surface spend their entire lives confined in one single place. They are, by nature, immobile. They cannot change their geographical location at their whims. They stay still and static in the same place throughout their life. And they keep displaying their vitality and exuberance by growing green leaves, branches, blooming flowers, fruits and seeds. They go on writing the tales of life by spreading their roots underground – out of the reach of human sight.

That’s why in the philosophy of plant life immobility does not always mean an absence of vivacity. Though the aquatic plants float with the current of water and do not settle down or anchor their roots anywhere. They neither entangle themselves to a particular place nor develop any bonding with any point of location. Their positions always keep on changing.           

Human beings and plants         

Human beings perceive vitality as synonymous with variation and dynamism; change is perceived as the mark of life. But variability does not mean change of place or location or movability only. A life confined to a certain location is devoid of change and stagnant is not an acceptable proposition. This is the wisdom that comes from the life of plants of land that are immobile, static.

Each of them is the initiator of such a fundamental and major change in the form of a transformation process called photosynthesis which is directly or indirectly indispensable for the survival of all animal species of this planet. These green, self-fed species embody various kinds of change and transformation to supply provisions for subsistence to other organisms, including human beings. They have been imparting all ingredients of life – from oxygen to food – unconditionally since the very dawn of this creation.

It is a ubiquitous sight that the wanderers pick up and collect flowers, fruits, branches and leaves from the trees on roads or open fields indiscriminately without any hesitation or sense of guilt. Why should they not do that either?! Where would they go to seek permission? Even if they would desire for a nod, the plants are not capable of giving the same.

However lively and self-dependent for producing their own food they might be, the plants do not possess a mind after all. If they do not have a mind, then how can they have memory? Is it at all possible to find out any trace of historical awareness in plants? As per human logic and understanding, it is obviously not possible.

However, though plants do not have the kind of mind humans possess, they can have a mind of their own kind. And why should we assume that the history of human evolution and civilization is not inscribed on the walls of the vegetable mind? Who can say that the narratives of the different parallel episodes of the timelines of human history are not recorded in the annual rings of a tree?

Let’s learn from the plants around us

Truly speaking, our green neighbor sends out the signals of self-reliance of an entity and the height of freedom enjoyed by it. Many realizations derived from the experiences of human life seem unrealistic then. The reality of plant life can show a completely different direction to human philosophy of life. The secret password of feeling vigorous despite being denied any locational movement can be learnt from this set of silent green organisms with whom we have been co-living for so long. Despite being static, one can feel free of bondage – this insight also comes from plant life.

On the other hand, the floating aquatic plants teach us that flowing and moving do not always come out to be rootless. The wealth, greatness and shortcoming of human life are defined according to specific criteria constructed by the human mind only. Thus they are not eternal or fixed once and for all. The motionless state is not necessarily stagnancy; novelty can be sought, and creativity can be cultivated even by remaining still at one singular place. Therefore, stagnancy is not a shortcoming or failure at all as it is often perceived in the human context.

At the same time, we can have a variant outlook towards life if we realize that being in a floating state is not always being rootless or uprooted. Then it would seem feasible to float with the stream of life while carrying our own roots. This insight helps us to overcome the peril of refugee sentiment. Both stability and variability ambivalently attract the human mind, and this probably creates various existential and psychological crises and tensions for us. The plant wisdom can throw some light to get rid of them.           

There is no motivation to prove oneself as benevolent; there is no expectation of getting recognition or honor as a generous soul. These self-reliant, self-contained species spend their entire lifespan by unconditionally giving away their surplus, by providing shelter to others in their own body, by silently tolerating plunder of the goons, by not complaining about their fate of immobility. Perhaps the self-dependence of survival has given such insight, a rich philosophy of life to this species that can enrich the life of the self-proclaimed greatest species of earth. This makes the life and living of plants appealing on various grounds. Each and every nook and corner of human life is filled with the presence of plants – from birth to death – in each moment. The co-living and co-dying with green corpses are mingled with the different layers of human life.

সহমরণ

আকাশে পঞ্চমীর চাঁদ, নিচে আগুনের লেলিহান শিখা

গাছেদের মৃতদেহ পুড়ে পুড়ে সেই শিখা ঊর্ধ্বমুখী হলে

দূরের পাহাড়ে কান্নার ঢেউ

আছড়ে পড়ে কাঁদায়!

গাছেদের নির্বাক বেঁচে থাকা শেষ হলে

একদিন তারা চলে যায় সহমরণের পথ ধরে

মানুষের সঙ্গে চিতায়।  

(As a half moon rises up in the sky, the fire dances below;

The mountains open up the floodgates of their tears,

The trees die when they had lived up silently

burning with the pyre of a man.)

The post Pandemic thoughts (Part 2): Life with the plants around us appeared first on KolkataFusion.

Now more than one year has passed – almost from the beginning of 2020- the life of the most dominant species of this planet has been under the grip of the covid-19 pandemic. This epidemic has badly hit not only our bodies but also our mind. The human mind is not keeping well; many people are suffering from severe mental health conditions. The sky of our mind has become shrouded with feelings of insecurity, uncertainty, anxiety, depression, fear of death – from children to the elderly – perhaps nobody is spared.  

Side effects of the Covid – 19 Pandemic: Challenges to the physical mobility

The scientific research finding that the coronavirus infection is a contagious disease which has started to regulate our lifestyle during this period. If the spread of infection cannot be arrested, the situation would become virulent; we cannot let harmful viruses colonize our bodies. As a result, many various restrictions have been imposed on our day-to-day life to protect ourselves. This form of life is totally unfamiliar and unprecedented to all of us. And sadly enough, this different lifestyle is being called ‘new normal.’

One of the most critical aspects of this ‘new normal’ life is restricted physical mobility in public/social space, as maintaining social/physical distance has been identified as one of the powerful tools to arrest the spread of this infectious disease. Hence, the need has been felt to control and curtail our free and arbitrary movements. Society vis-a-vis state mechanisms have deployed various means to keep watch on and monitor an individual’s movements.

Yet these days, contemporary urban life had come to accustom to enjoying the flavour of freedom with free, unrestricted physical movements and self-regulated activities. Any kind of state or society-imposed injunctions generate a sense of resistance and conflict in the awakened minds of 21st century people.

Having come out of the inertia of unquestionable compliance, individuals of today’s world find the meaningful presence of their independent selves in the acts of protest and opposition. This is eventually reflected through various organised protests, debates, and attempts of disobedience and violation of restrictions and protocol advisories issued to maintain health and hygiene during this ongoing pandemic in multiple corners of the globe. Because of their lack of awareness, some people are showing their disregard for the entire Covid pandemic situation. Also, there are people whose struggle for survival is so very challenging that they cannot afford to sit at home to abide by the regulations of maintaining physical distance and avoiding exposure to the public domain.  

Almost all individuals are finding it difficult to accept the compelling closure and stalemate of homebound life that they have been thrown into by restricted physical mobility due to this pandemic. This sense of confinement is creating stress on their minds, which is affecting their mental health badly.

All these floating thoughts in my mind fetch many other thoughts along with them. Some hitherto forgotten thoughts have surfaced out of the oscillation that is going on in me between dynamism and stagnancy. The repetitive mundane life had covered them up from my sight until recently.

Physical Mobility of the Human Beings

Human science claims that human beings are the most evolved species on this planet and the best of all creations of nature! Human consciousness is the most developed, and therefore, human thought, understanding and senses are the finest among all other species of life. Human language – sign, words, gestures, or any other medium, through which humans express their thoughts and feelings, interpret other minds and external worlds in their terms, is also the most advanced one. This species experience the feeling of bondage in the state of immovability and immobility.

Stagnation, getting stuck in one place and lack of dynamism make humans unhappy, and take away their vivacity. To a species that can change their geographical location at their own wish and will, changing physical position, moving from one place to another, mobility of body are prerequisites of freedom. Unrestricted mobility of both mind and body keep human beings lively, cheerful and enthusiastic.        

But interestingly enough, this same species of Homo Sapiens, at some point of evolution, chose to settle down in one particular place to build up a durable/temporary shelter at the cost of their nomadic life. It took resort to stability in life and bid adieu to the once ever-volatile lifestyle. Since then, a permanent abode, a protected shelter, has started to provide a sense of psychological security to them, which helped them cope with the outer world’s sheer uncertainty. Thus not having a stable residence has become one of the basic existential crises of present-day human life.

Recommended Read: Covid -19 thoughts of a medical professional.

This crisis gives rise to various feelings of insecurity among the dwellers of today’s earth. The sense of security in recent civilized people has become inseparably attached with the assurance of a consistent place of dwelling. The episodes depicting the sufferings out of displacement and homelessness uphold one of this civilization’s major and serious community exigencies. In this way, contemporary human individuals carry inside them the dilemma of motion and rest, immobility and physical mobility, dynamism and stability, change and stagnation.

Perhaps, when the human beings said goodbye to the nomadic life to deal with the uncertainty, contingency, and suddenness of external reality, they started to feel in themselves their dynamic, change-loving spirit more and more. Whenever this spirit gets dampened, humans feel lifeless, depressed and gloomy.    

Continued in Part 2

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