My first take at street photography

a city that is home for the homeless

anxious

Caution Drive slow! but one cannot move in this dense traffic

one of the various means of transport

Papa, can I have one!

friendly advice

waiting

Book Review: Adultery by Paulo Coelho

The story is about a woman Linda, who has everything what people need to be ‘happy’ but one fine day she starts thinking beyond the materialistic happiness and starts questioning the emptiness of her soul. And in the quest of filling her void, she discovers her adulterous self and is it her journey how she deals with it. This book touches those corners of ones heart, which we do not dare to accept. The part that is depressed, adventurous and adulterous. Don’t be judgemental when Linda starts cheating her husband, and decides to put her happy family and job at risk. Just travel along with her in her journey and experience her triumph over her Adultery in the end.

I do not know what made me buy this book in spite of all the negative feedback. And I also do not know how does Paulo Coelho has all the answers for my questions. This man definitely has the power to touch the souls of the readers. There were a lot of times when I felt that the lines were written just for me and this is not the first time that I have felt the same while reading his book. All the books I have read before of him gave me the same goose bumps as this one. It cannot be a mere co incidence but I felt a lot of times, how on earth did he know I was thinking about the same thing. I did not turn to him for my answers but he has answered them all.

This book is not a usual page-turner. This book demands time. You need to read every page slowly and reflect on the words. It can take hours and sometimes even a day. And when you find it lying the next day exactly the same place as you had left by the night lamp, you are not the same person.

The story of Food

The story of food is very old. It dates back to the evolution of mankind and was influenced by all the stages of history. Food is not merely what we eat to feed our hungry selves but it is much more than that. Food is an integral part of every culture. It is associated with the family bonding times, celebrations and cultural festivities. Food is also associated with a lot of nostalgic sentiments like “Maa- er hater  eelish”, or “Ghar ka khana” etc. It also tells us the story about the history of a particular place. For eg.  Beryani of the middle-east is popular under a name Biriyani in India and is now the favorite dish of most of the people living in Kolkata.

But as we always find the slightest pretext of satisfying our taste buds and indulge in the culinary art as we call it, are we equally aware of where does the food we consume come from. The rice which we Bengalis swear by to make our meals complete, where to they come from. From the shelves in super markets? From the paddy fields we see from the glass windows of the AC compartments of the trains we travel? Unlike the developed nations, in India we still buy vegetables from the local vendors. But do we know  if he produces the vegetables himself or is it imported from the other part of the country? Did we ever try to have a slightest conversation with him to know it. Are we too busy for it or the thought didn’t come to our mind ever? Do we know which crops are grown in which parts of India? Yes, we all have read them in geography and passed the exams with flying colors.

When we plan our vacations and look for places to see, we plan for the mountains or seas or the historical places. But do we ever think of visiting a place to see the where the food we eat is grown? Do we ever fill our minds with gratitude for the people who work so hard to feed this country bursting with population? Set aside the thought of their living conditions.

Yes we donot live in a desert or places like the African sub continent where the food is scarce, and we the so called middle class always have enough to eat. India is a developing nation where IT has become a serious business, sending satellites to the space is applauded nationally,  the new highroads are constructed to cater to the ever increasing cars in the roads, youngsters flaunt the latest technology smartphones and very little effort and attention is given to agriculture. There is no motivation for youngsters to pursue agriculture as their profession.  The poor to poorer condition of the farmers have led their children to look for other means for a better life. There is minimum or no technology developments in agriculture. The same bullock carts are used to plough the fields for ages is acceptable to us but not a phone which is older than a year. These facts made me realize whether or not have we taken our food for granted?

Is this ignorance or the lack of attention sustainable and a healthy sign for our next generation. We all are protesting for a safe society for us but can we guarantee sufficient food for the generation to come?

It was not my Home

Being Aware and compassionate

You were right. The people here are poor and majority of them live a life which is poorer than the lower middle class. The living conditions of the people living in a small slum nearby the Airport are worse than what we saw in the Ghetto in Terezin. What we saw in OpenLucht Museum the conditions when the people in earlier times lived in the same place with the animals is luxury when compared to the people living in the slums.

I see things differently now. I realized that earlier I just closed my eyes assuming that certain things don't exist. The people here are as ignorant as I was before. The privileged continue to enjoy the privileges without a single thought about how better we can do things to help those who are less privileged.
I do not blame them. In this  society, survival is the only aim for one and all. People seem to run a race and they are so busy running that they often do not look around to see whats happening.

People are not compassionate towards each other and treat each other with mistrust. For example , standing in a crowded bus, I feel something touching my bag, my instant thought was the person behind me was up to some mischief of pick pocket. I looked around and saw a very skinny old man with big glasses and wrinkles all over his dark face struggling to stand straight. the very moment I was filled with shame and guilt of my thoughts. I know we cannot change everything around us, but at least we can be compassionate to one other around us. Be polite and make them feel good for that moment is what I learned from you.

Many people say we cannot survive being honest and polite. I used to but I do not believe in it anymore. I was standing in a queue for the auto rickshaw for long in the scorching sun along with 5 others. The moment the only Auto came, the people broke the queue and got in it before me. I could see that the people who did it were ashamed of their act and they choose to look away from me to hide their self guilt. It understand it is difficult to stand in the sun for more than 5 minutes and we were standing for about 15. May be they were in a hurry and they had more important appointments. I was not angry . But I am sure I would be very angry if it was one year ago.

Whenever I look around me now, I always think of you and try to imagine how you would do things differently. Living with you has changed me in a big way . I feel very lucky that I got the chance.
Parents pass their Legacy to children and I hope I have the strength to retain it.

PS: Biologisch food is not available. I really do not know how to bring awareness about it.

Jab....

Jab koi paraya des apna des lagne lagta hai...

Jab kahin paraye log apne log lagne lagte hain..

Jab kahin koi anjaan bhaasha samajhme aani lagti hai..

Jab kahin anjaan chehro ko dekhke aur darr nahin lagta...

Jab kahin ghar jane ka mann nahi karta...

Jab darwaza kholte ki wahi mitthi khushboo swagat karti hai..

Jab kabhi ghar ke samne wala ped mano tumse baat karne lagta hai...

Jab kabhi khidki pe chhoti si nili chiriya aake  shor machati hai..

Jab dosti ki paribhasha badalne lagti hai..

Jab sach bolne se aur darr nahi lagta...

Jab galtiyon ko maaf kiya jata hai...

Jab annkhein bhar aati hain ye sochke ki ye sab chhorke ekdin kahin aur jana padega....

Jab yahin meri zindagi ka wo na bhulane wala panna ban jayega....

Jab....