MALALA you have IMPACTED ME MORALLY

After completing “I AM MALALA”, I understood, that I knew so little of my neighboring country Pakistan, and the dreadful situation the peaceful civilians face there. I really felt blessed to be a part of India, where we women can expect to have a life. And have the freedom to breathe, to read and to have a career.

The Tale of Malala Yousafzai and her fight for education keep you hooked to the book from head to tail.  A major part of the book, focuses on the political history of Pakistan. Which is interesting to know. It also shows how Islam is interpreted differently by different followers of the same.  While people like Malala and her father have a more liberal outlook, but a huge proportion of the followers take it in a very different way. While the Yousafzai family and many other such families believes that their religion preaches peace, equality of sexes, knowledge to all, there is a different side to it too. The extremists like Taliban, believe women should not go out and study, they should always be behind veils. They are even against male teachers teaching female students, if at all they get a chance to educate themselves. Now the question is, if women do not get education how are they going to teach? I have not read Quran, but I firmly believe that all religious books preach nothing but goodness and humanity. And if we believe in God, then we must believe that he has created both man and woman, and so he must have dreamt of equality for both.

The book starts with Malala and her family in Birmingham, but goes back to their past in the scenic valley of Swat in Pakistan smoothly. The book narrates the childhood of her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, and his quest to get education to all. His fight with poverty, family issues and even hunger to establish a school in Mingora, a small city in Swat. It’s remarkable to see this man’s open mindedness and modern thinking, in- spite of the orthodox society he belongs to. Infact his relationship with his wife, Tor Pekai is also beautifully described. They had a household, where sons and daughters had equal opportunity and love. And I think, this thinking and bringing up, made the Malala of today.

I generally used to associate Talibanism with Afghanistan, but this book told me how bad it had hit Pakistan’s life.  Enforcement of laws, which the Taliban’s thought was correct, through the most gruesome ways, left the peace loving civilians in a state of despair. Flogging, be-heading, moral policing and pushing women behind the curtains of ignorance became a part of their living. The slow intruding of the Taliban into Swat, is given in details.

However Ziauddin was not scared to raise voice, and he took his daughter along. Gradually his influence in local politics and beyond increased and he became a known face. Malala was spotted in almost every frame with her father campaigning. They featured in documentaries and Malala also started her blog on the life of a schoolgirl under the Taliban rule in the disguise of Gul Makai. In no time, they became known faces and her diary attracted lot of world attraction. However her fame brought her to be noticed by the deadly Taliban, who said she preached Western culture. And what follows next is history, she was shot at point blank range by a Taliban youth in her school bus. However she survived miraculously.

The book is a must read, however I personally think it should have given a little more insight on the work she did and does today. Whatever it is I salute the kid, for raising voice in a society where gunned and masked Taliban could kill any damn one. Where the fear of a dreadful death looms heavy. And off course I feel whatever Malala is, it is for her will and her ever supporting and open-minded family, who deserve same applause as she does. Finally I end with the saying

“The highest education is that

Which does not merely give us information,

But makes our life in harmony with all existence.”

Rabindranath Tagore

So let the light of education light each every corner of this beautiful world. Whatever religious belief we have does not matter, God is always great and want his children to be happy. This book had impacted me morally, I firstly appreciated my Indian individuality more and secondly my privilege of getting education without being shot.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

ME AND MY PEPPY FRIENDS

I have been in Mumbai for quite sometime now, like two and a half years, but frankly I have not witnessed much of the famous nightlife of this city, which literally never sleeps. Plans and plans and more plans, but execution very remote. Most of our parties are house gatherings, which off-course I simply adore, after all what can be better than sitting in the coziest corner in the world, called home and sharing a drink, and many heart-felt feelings with people you bang on. Yet at times, madness, glitter, lights and that perfect high of euphoria, beckons mysteriously and alluringly. And the chance to dress up and confidently rock the dance floor!

A few days back, some of my closest friends in Mumbai, a gang of lady chemical engineers had planned to spend an ecstatic evening together. Me and my friends Krishna, Priti and Prabhjot, had ultimately narrowed down to “The Irish House” Kala Ghoda, for that most awaited evening, ladies night out.

It was a freaky Friday, we winded our work quick and called for the day, to reach Prabhjot and Krishna’s apartment, they are roomies. We basically wanted to give ourselves time, to shed off the tiredness and look just the way we wanted to. But as you know, when four pretty ladies decide to dress up and spend an evening of euphoria, choosing the dress, shoes, accessories and the make up takes time, much more than we could actually think of. And we are proudly no exceptions either ;-).

The first phase was wearing the piece we wanted to and getting opinions of how it looked on us, then it was time to do the make up. Our dear friend Priti had brought with her, an attractive spread of great make up items, we were her first attempt of trying her hand on them. Well, we were the lucky guinea pigs. And actually we turned to be lucky, because she really did work well with our faces. I too extended my expert hand for eye make-up

;-), and then the magic wand turned, and there we stood happy to pose for selfies.

Planned at 8:30 pm, we left at 9:30 pm, expectantly! We reached the venue at around 10:15 pm, it is worth mentioning, we were lucky to get quite empty roads. 

The Irish House, was a good choice, thanks to Prabhjot. The ambience and specially the music was awesome. They played all the famous, English numbers which compels you to hit the floor and feel the enjoyable fang of palpable euphoria. And so we did, dance and dance and dance, till you break the floor, was our aim. And fortunately though we did not quite break the floor, but broke one goblet for sure.

The food and beverages unfortunately were not that great, magarita, mojito, Irish coffee, along with chicken popcorns, drunken prawns and nachos all tasted just kind of OK, nothing remember-worthy. However this was just for the restaurateurs to improve upon, it hardly mattered to us.

Overall it was a night of complete fun, and pure enjoyment. Unaware of who watched us, we girls had an awesome night of dance, rejoice and free-spiritedness. Looking forward to more of its kind. And this experience was most definitely a peppy one for me  and so I call it “me and my peppy friends”.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

FANTASICO BLUES OF PANGONG

As the crimson rays of the sun embraced the sky and spread its beauty all over…the crystal clear waters of Pangong Tso stood still. The sky like a proud primadonna looked down and was mysteriously admiring her own alluring image in the water, while I stood speechlessly trying to figure out what was I actually feeling with my majestic blues in front of me. Indeed the fastastico experience of my life!!

Nature can actually bring out the sleeping artistic bent of mind in anybody and the same syndrome struck me too. However when I decided to pen down my incredible experience I understood how difficult it was to describe “Pangong Lake’’.

  

When I and my husband Avishek were trying to decide on a holiday destination, the first name that came to my mind was Maldives and the only reason why I wanted to be there was, my love or lust for the color blue.

During my stay in Goa, I had the opportunity of meeting a Swedish couple, who had come to the happening tropical beach to celebrate their 26^th wedding anniversary. They had mentioned to us about the crystal clear blue sea in Maldives where aquatic life was almost visible through the transparent waters.

However, my husband was adamant about going to ‘Leh Ladakh’ and after a very long discussion (read argument), I almost unwilling endorsed Avishek’s quest to see the cold desert.

As a usual curious me, I googled a lot about the place. Its culture, landscape, flora and fauna slowly started intriguing my fancies and last but definitely not the least I saw the image of “Pangong Lake”. And from that point of time I started counting days for my vacation to start. Amidst the incredibly different landscape, there…… was my majestic blues waving the magical wand towards me.

Days passed and the long awaited vacation started, Ladakh was the most beautiful and soulful answer to the question “why we thought India to be incredible?” From serene monasteries, rocky snowcapped mountains to lush green Nubra valley, Ladakh had it all to quench the thirst of a traveler. It’s really hard to believe, that there can be a place where snowcapped mountains surrounds sandy deserts with double hoofed camels going around. But the best was yet to come, the icing to the yummy cake.

It was a long and memorable journey to the incredible blues. It started very early in the morning, pulling ourselves out of the warm quilt was quite an effort. Our journey started after a light breakfast and a steaming cup of coffee. It was the second last day of our vacation, the atmosphere in the car was strange. The feeling of coming to the end of this beautiful journey was creating a void inside on the other hand expectation and excitement of beholding the incredible was building within us.

The route that we were following had a lot to offer to us as tourists. As we drove past the city of Leh, we could see the white stanti stupa and red monasteries behind us, soon the topography changed and we were surrounded by huge rocks in varied shades of grey, black and evenblue and green. We gazed at the nature around us, speechless and spellbound. A visual which I will never forget is “some great breed blackhorses running at full speed with the exotic backdrop”.

We were six of us in the car, excluding our driver phunsuk, our gang really got along well during the vacation and we actually had become friends. We had a doctor couple from Mumbai, an IT/ marketing couple from Pune and we two are chemical engineers. Coming from different professions and backgrounds, we had two things in common. One-we were fun loving and two-we were nature lovers; hence a trip to Ladakh was an ideal meeting ground for people who were destined to become great friends in future.

Suddenly a royal blue patch in the grey mountains attracted my attention, and our driver pointed out shouting “Pangong Tso” in Tibetan language.

My heart almost came to my mouth, my majestic blues have arrived!! As the car drove near to the lake, the sight that struck our eyes was out of the world. A crystal clear stretch of blue water lay in front, almost still. Surrounded by rocky snow-capped Himalayan Range was Pangong Lake, situated 4,350 mts above sea level. It was one of its kind; the chilled mountain breeze created ripples through the water body while rays of the warm sun fell on it and created the magical color effect. Even the most unromantic person in the world will want to romance nature there. We just could not stop clicking pictures, but none of the images could portray half of the actual beauty. The most freakish thing was the changing color of the lake to various hues of blue and green with the position of the sun. As the day progressed, the sky changed color, as if the sky was a proud queen having mood swings and with every changing mood, the beautiful lady takes a minute to admire her image on the huge minor created by Mother Nature.

The picture of my majestic blues will forever remain etched in my mind, my soul never felt so free before. And it is the fastastico experience of my life.

FANTASTICO BLUES

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

YOU ARE MUSIC TO ME

  The rhythmic strokes of the spade creating ripples,

The setting sun spreading its golden hue,

The cool alluring breeze caressing our souls,

And his music!!….

Some bubbles in my stomach,

Gentle holding of hands with love,

Nakki lake and the intoxicating Abu air,

And his music!!......

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

I didn’t know when my eye lids had embraced my eyes and deep felt emotions had surrounded my inner being. I wanted to let loose and feel every passing moment without an iota of negativity. Such moments of ecstasy are rare, magical and breathe life into existence.

I always wanted a fairytale life and though reality is not always like my imagination, life is kind enough to bestow with some fairy tale moments.

Mount Abu was our second trip together after tying the knot. Romance and ecstasy was in the air of the little hill station at the foot of the Aravalli. They say that the Maharajas of Rajasthan would come to Abu during summer to get respite from the scorching desert sun. 

The hill station is indeed blessed with a beautiful landscape, the charm of which is quite a contradiction to the desert. The Aravalli hills are rocky at one point and green at the other. Colours play hide seek under the vastness of the clear March sky. Surrounded by the hills in the vicinity was the magnificent Nakki Lake, a famous tourist attraction.

The lake with its surroundings was captivating in ways more than one. The sedate blueness, the happy faces and the colourful dressing of the local people made the area so full of colour as if it represented life. Street shopping couldn’t be more soulful than this. The market area with the signature merchandise of Rajasthan like bangles, Rajasthani dresses and turbans looked like the master stroke of a skillful painter.

It was our last day in Abu and we decided to spend it just the right way. Strolling lazily by the colourful lakeside we felt each other’s presence deep within. The sun was setting in full glory painting the sky red while the couples painted Abu red with romance. The soothing cool breeze, the multitude of hues above and our sudden discovery of getting late, was the beautiful evening going to end so soon? I just hoped not.

As we walked past the park around the lake, we noticed a blind man, silently playing a famous Rajasthani musical instrument called “Ravanhatta”. The tune was mesmerizing and we went to praise him for his skills. Immediately he said “babu if you pay me, I will come to play my instrument with you, on your boat ride”!!!

We were late, but not late enough to let go an experience of a lifetime. The boat moved lovingly fondling the lake water, it was dusk and the sun was bestowing its last beauty before going to sleep, we sat hand in hand and he played and played and played… Tunes, which have remained with me! We paid him, may be more than he had expected but what he gave us was priceless and timeless to me. He gave me my share of fairy tale, my musical…

Music was the tune of Ravanhatta, the rippling water, the movement of the spade fondling the waters of Nakki Lake. Music was the purity with which he played for us. After that day I had been to live concerts of many famous singers, listened to different hues of music. But even today, if someone asks me what comes in my mind when I think of music “ It is that blind man, the Ravanhatta and Nakki Lake in a beautiful crimson dusk.”

YOU ARE MUSIC TO ME

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta