In love with operas!

Growing up in the times of Hindi pop music and the likes and, I still found time to listen to Ravindra sangeet and Bengali folk songs. Later on I also developed a liking for country music while I was in Sir's tuition.

Recently I came across another genre of music that I knew existed but never bothered to experiment with. And now I am in love with operas!

Opera is a form of art which is a beautiful blend of music and drama and appeals to me immensely. I am an amateur when it comes to this particular genre of Western classical music. But the four operas I have had the opportunity to listen to, namely "The Marriage of Figaro" by Mozart, "La Traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi, "Carmen" by Georges Bizet and "Tosca" by Giacomo Puccini, have left an indelible impression in my mind.

"Carmen" is a French opera the story of which is set in Spain and revolves around Carmen, a gypsy girl with hot temper. "La Traviata" is again a French opera based on Alexandre Dumas' La Dame aux Camelias. "Tosca" finds its place in the list of the most popular operas of all time. It is based on Victorien Sardou's drama "La Tosca".
The Marriage of Figaro or the Day of Madness is a comic opera based on Pierre Beaumarchais' "La folle jourenee".

I consider myself fortunate to be born in a generation where search engines like Google gives you all the answers to your queries. I have never been to an opera but that did not stop me from pursuing my passion. I hope I will find readers who share a common interest towards operas and acquaint me with new ones.

My career miscalculated...

Recently I saw a movie - 3 idiots - where one of the lead characters said - "Paanch bajkar pandrah minute pe main paida aur paanch bajkar sollah minute pe mere papa ne keh diya ki main engineer banunga aur main engineer ban gaya. Kisi ne yeh nahi pucha ki main kya banna chahta hoon." (I was born on 5.15 am and at 5.16 am my papa decided
that I will be an engineer and I became one. No one bothered to ask me what I wanted to become).

The few lines above summarize my present condition. I am not a student of any of the hot shot schools or colleges of India. I did my ICSE from a decent school in Durgapur. I was very confused when it came to choosing subjects for my plus two. I liked physics immensely. Biology was never my genre. The only option that I had was Statistics as my fourth subject. And before I even knew I was in love with it. Like all science students do, I too sat for the different engineering entrances examinations. But somewhere or the other I had a feeling that I was not made for it. I wanted to study Statistics. I was on cloud nine when I saw my name on the list of candidates selected for Statistics honors in St. Xavier's College. Unfortunately I managed a decent rank in every entrance examination that I had appeared. My family dragged me into an engineering college. I was too timid to protest. And here I am now facing hell everyday studying matrix educare. I guess I was not meant to be on cloud nine for long.

I know there are millions of people like me. Studying something they don’t like and feeling down and out whenever they can’t meet their parents’ expectations. Study 24 hours a day and still you can’t please them. Results come and the first things parents ask is what the highest mark is and who got it…

I am now preparing for Common Admission Test. After doing an MBA (according to my father’s wish of course), I wish to prepare for the civil services, something that I want to do and I won’t give up.

I hope that for some of my readers it’s not too late. I hope they won’t be timid like me and fight for what they want to study. If they make the same mistake that I did, they will go through college hating every moment of it and inwardly cursing their parents constantly.

Teenagers Entering Manhood!

When Swami Vivekananda went to the Art Institute of Chicago to deliver his famous speech in September 1893 people said 'Oh this man has come from India, the land of black magic, where people slaughter animals in the name of God". . .

Speaking of animal slaughter and sacrifices under religious pretention in India, I came across an article recently on the net that will give my fellow supposedly "Barbaric Indians" some consolation and a ray of hope and which will also make our religious sacrifices seem almost tame though not innocent.

There is a place in Denmark called the Feroe or Faroe Islands where every year young teenagers gather to prove that they are man enough for this world by killing hundreds of Calderon dolphins, Pilot whales and various other species of cetaceans. This is seen as a celebration and the schools are closed especially for this "festival". These extremely friendly cetaceans are on the verge of extinction and pay death penalty for being friendly or approaching the humans. No wonder this ritual has not been changed. The men who have to prove their manhood by being butchers never really grow up. They are just over grown boys who think like 13-14 year old.


The Countries of the European Union (Denmark being one of them) are supposed to be the torch bearers of this World, who will show us the right way. They are supposed to be the centres of science and culture. If the light of the west will show us slaughtering of innocent and harmless creatures then I would prefer to stay in the dark.

Being a citizen of a developing country, I used to despise our ritual of sacrificing goats, buffaloes to the Gods. But this incident has enhanced my level of tolerance.

After reading that article I feel ashamed of myself as I never had a kind word for my motherland, which is much better than Denmark atleast in oneway - We don't have to kill animals to enter manhood and whatever sacrifice is done in our country, is not done publicly anymore and is held in a secluded area.

I feel disgusted and helpless as I can't do anything to prevent the slaughtering in the name of festival from happening over and over again every year. When the Talibans hacked and chopped up people and killed them, the whole world was enraged and the world power US ended the rule. But these poor dolphins, despite being from phylum mammalia, are unfortunate enough not to be humans and so, few care if they live or die.

At the most what can happen if this slaughtering goes on? There will be just another addition to the list of extinct species and the future generation of Denmark, along with of the whole world, will read about them in Environmental Education school textbooks and will be told by proud fathers that they had poached them all to prove that they were finally men!

Meanwhile, all that I can do is lament for how much fallacy constitutes our race of humans and feel pity for the Calderon dolphins and for once feel proud that being an Indian, I don't have to mince up innocent creatures on the auspicious event of entering manhood.

L'Alliance

It has been one of my biggest dreams-learning French. My dream was extremely fuelled by Sir's French poetry and I hoped to write some of my own some day (obviously not as good as Sir!). The dream was materialized on 22nd August when I joined L'Alliance Francaise du Bengale. It has been almost three months since my joining and I have a feeling that I am not wasting my precious time here as many think, firstly because my time is not that precious yet as of those people who are twittering on twitter and secondly, I am loving the French classes immensely (and to talk of the people who tell I am wasting time, if loitering aimlessly in City Centre is a better usage, I drop my case!).

Before getting into the details of my institute and the varied dimensions that it offers, a little about the quirky man who teaches me French! Monsieur Amitava Das is in his early thirtes (although he looks like someone who has just done his graduation). He has a very homely sort of appearance that makes the nervous student attending the first class feel quite at ease!
He works in a multinational company and teaches in Alliance on saturdays and sundays. He is a wonderful teacher to have if you are a beginner. He isn't stringent but still can keep the students from being indisciplined.He has all the important qualities that a good teacher must have to keep his students interested in the subject. He is very lively and vivacious when it comes to teaching. When you are learning a new language its very important to converse in that language. He makes sure that it happens in his class - the students talking in French and only in French. He encourages us not to stick to our course book and read other texts as well (even TitTin and Asterix which were originally written in French.).

Speaking of my classmates, our class has students of all types, starting from school goers to office goers, Chinese to Bengalis! There are students who come all the way from Behrampore to learn French here. I have found some good friends as we share the same interests to a large extent. Most of them are associated to big names like IBM, PWC and yet find the pursuit of a Foreign language worthy to "waste" time on. Most of them are quick and eager learners and some are voracious readers. I feel comfortable in their company and get to learn a lot from them.

The things that separates Alliance Francaise from any other French teaching institute is its intensive exta curricular activities and the fact that it's directly under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, France. Cultural workshops are conducted by teachers and senior students on a regular basis and even new students are encouraged to participate in plays that are staged in front of huge spectators. From the question papers, the evaluation of the answer scripts, to the certificates that you get after completing the course, everything is issued by the French Ministry of education. Students who intend to do their masters in Engineering or in Management in France get special benifits. As this institute is directly under the French Embassy, deserving candidates get scholarships to do their masters abroad.If you are interested in French music, Alliance Francaise is the place where you should be.


I am not a regular class goer. The last time when I did regular classes was back in class ten(my English tuitions). And now I am a common face in the Alliance Francaise for the past three months. It is the place to be for someone who loves the language and wants to learn it.


N.B.- This is for all the students and the ex-students of Alliance Francaise du Bengale. Please be kind enough to share your experiences in the institute through your comments.

Which one of these do you want...

...to be "successful" in life!
I came across the following article on the net. I found it hilarious at the same time thought provoking. I couldn't trace the author. But I thought I should share this with my friends and readers.Hope you will like it.

Who says cars do not have a meaning!

BMW - Brings Me Woman

FIAT - Failure in Italian Automotive Technology
FORD For Only Rough Drivers
HYUNDAI - Hope You Understand Nothing's Drivable And Inexpensive. ...

VOLVO - Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object
PORSCHE - Proof Of Rich Spoiled Children Having Everything
KIA - Kills In Accidents
OPEL - Old People Enjoying Life
TOYOTA - The One You Only Trust, Always
GOLF/GTI - Girls Only Love Fun / Get Them Inside
HONDA - Hanged Over, Now Driving Awayends

Its very heart breaking to see that nowadays people's worth is determined by the car they drive,the clothes they wear and the place they live. Most of the people that I come across can hardly talk sense for two minutes. By sense I mean something that would make the audience think before making a comment. Most of them are rarely bothered by what is happening around them. The other day I asked one of my friend his opinion on the "Maoists fiasco". All that he managed was "huh...ummm..wait let me get a fag.". This is one of the several examples that I witness everyday. When Sudha Murty writes about her experiences in 'Wise and Otherwise' and 'The Old Man and His God' , the readers are awed by the stories. Well I can relate most of the incidents mentioned in the books with my life.

All I can do is hope for things to improve for the better. Maybe a day will come when girls will start talking beyond designer clothes and boys will start dreaming beyond big cars- boys toys you knonw!

Apologies!!!

Dear friends and readers,

It's been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. It is solely due to my lethargy and laziness. I genuinely apologise to all of you for this lapse.

I am happy to say that I have got over that phase and am actively back to "Thinking out loud" once again!
Do overlook my shortcomings and participate and encourage me whole heartedly.

What a piece of paper and a pencil can do!

This image drawn by my mother came as a surprise to me.I was taking my daily nap when I felt someone jerking my shoulders.It was my mother,her eyes were gleaming,the look which she usually wears when she has created something.It may be a sketch as in this case or a recipie . My mom is in her late thirties but has more enthusiasm and passion than most teenage girls I come across everyday.I was looking through Suvro Sir's posts in his blog when she saw this and at that very moment decided to sketch it.When I told her that I am going to publish this in my blog she denied me and insisted upon changing my decision till the last moment.

This is one picture that I am displaying,there are atleast ten to fifteen of sketches that she has drawn.Some of them are breath taking. For someone who has never touched a brush in her life, to achieve this feet is simply amazing.I may be a bit biased while writing this post.It's upto the visitors of the blog to decide the real worth of it.