A morning in Lake market.

I could hardly believe that an entire week has flown off since leaving Hyderabad. Have I been busy ?.. not really... except when I was busy working myself up over visa issues and creating havoc for Maa and Tukan too. But I better not go into that.....there were so many unpublished blogs created and destroyed :) some, where I would hammer myself into the wall and others, where the insecurities would speak for themselves.
My mom and I watched Parineeta on Friday.....I love watching movies with her because she has her own set of likes and dislikes and I love argueing it out with her at the end of the movie. It was only towards the fag end of the movie that I realised I had read the story before (yup you can call it lack of recognition due to commercialised rehaul :) ) it was one of my favs written by sarat chandra chatterjee....but that said, the ending was made too dramatic ... too loud and garish for the rest of the movie. But what was beautiful was the relationship shared by lalita (vidya balan) and shekhar (saif ali khan)....the small jealousies of possesiveness, the companionship and togtherness, the play of feelings and of unspoken words was amazing to watch. Ofcourse Saif ali plays his role with `elan... and so does Vidya balan. Saturday morning.. found us in Inox at forum. I would never ever compare it to Imax. It lacks that something which I cannot put in words...even though both are these commercial multiplexes with huge screens. Kolkata crowd is a very familiar crowd of teenage couples and groups mainly, and marwari kids. Thats what is maybe the underlying difference .....I had seen Imax fill with families. The movie was Batman begins. Reviews : I love all superhero movies because of the message they leave behind. This one talked of facing your fears and had some amazing twists and turns in the story.... what was really great was it delved into how or what drove batman to become batman. Given that, I missed the theme music of spiderman or anything worthy of taking its place.
Sunday morning.. I made my way with Maa to Lake market. It is one of the many markets here in Kolkata where you still have to bargain your way through ...... and where the packed and parcelled vegetables and grains are yet to make their entry. Ofcourse it does mean wading through littered vegetables and fish markets... but it also brings a human touch... leaving it to you to decide whether you prefer air conditioned supermarkets over them ...... It was in this market, that I would find myself in, nearly every Sunday morning during my school days, clutching Maa or Baba's hand as I gingerly picked my way through the narrowly spaced vendors and their displayed goods. Their offers of chocolates would usually never meet with a no :)... there was this groceries shop where we would get all our groceries from. There were three people there whom I had grown to know. And the bill would usually run for miles... that too in a way of writing which had more curves than I have ever seen anyone write.....there was also this potato vendor who would count the money out in english .... "ram twenty thirty forty"... and to a new just inducted to maths small kid like me - he captured all the entertainment and charm of the english world for some seconds. I was probably going there after what ... some 6 or 7 years. And it turned out exactly as I had expected...there were two of the three old people at the grocery shop, they greeted me with smiles as if I had never left frequenting them...... "arre...kato baro hoye geche" (how you have grown)..."shedin ii dada ke jigesh korchilam meye aar cheler bishoy" (was asking your dad the other day about you and your brother). There is something about being recognised after all the years ... something about feeling that there is still the same bond - of a little girl coming with her parents to do the sunday marketing...and something that brings back childhood memories in a flood.........The potato vendor was also still there and even though as my mother later told me that we wouldn't have bought from him for some years now ... he called at our retreating backs "aloo chai naki" (do you need potatoes? ) Homecoming :) yes ..... rather market-coming. The openness and blatant lack of trying to hide their surprise or curiosity.... their gossips and chats ... and small questions about your life which ceases to make it just a shop-keeper and any other buyer bond ....the nuances of their human touch....I wouldn't trade all this anyday..... :) ..... At the exit to the market ...(not that it is a proper exit...there are two ways you can either use to enter or leave the market) a mango seller was intent on selling mangoes to Maa, insisting they would be very sweet ....since he had forced her to buy them.... and they were. One ended up as mango shake today morning and the other I have left to savour and eat...... I also finished reading Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh and have now moved on to White Mughals (Shalu's gift) and Hitch-hiker's Guide to the galaxy. Amitav Ghosh has established himself as my favorite writers .... his sensibilities, style, characters and their relationships (...I do keep going around in circles about relationships :)) weave you into the story ... I would recommend Hungry Tide as a good read. Looking forward to another lazy week ...gorging myself on mom's hand cooked food.....and fighting with tukan and playing with bruno. I also have Namesake and some more books lined up....and a visa interview in the horizon...:)
and I just realised this blog has also run to pages ..........