The Emerald Palms, Varca, Goa

A couple of weekends back, we were in Goa. I call it the let loose haven or the tropical paradise. Each time I have set foot on the golden sands by the Arabian beauty, I have collected new tales to tell. This time we had put up in "The Emerald Palms", a Club Mahindra Property near Varca Beach in South Goa. This was our second rendezvous with Club Mahindra, the first being Gangtok. And unfortunately this time nothing met our expectations. And would firmly "NOT" recommend this property to any Club Mahindra Membership holders. The reasons I have listed in this blogpost of mine.

The Emerald Palms

NO FEEL OF GOA

Goa is one of my most preferred travel destinations. Its air is absolutely intoxicating yet detoxing your heavies. The water, the waves, the breeze, the colourful crowd infuses a new zest of living life. But the location of "The Emerald Palms" keeps you away from the spirit of Goa. Yes, its true that South Goa, is serene, silent and scenic. Its seclusion is its beauty. Yet the part of Varca beach which is near this resort, is isolated to a different level. For kilometres you will see no sign of life, no shack and you can't even buy a bottle of water, and this is the picture of broad daylight. Nights must be scary, we didn't try though. And this secluded beach is again 2 kms away from the resort, with no facility to reach there arranged by the Club Mahindra Management. So if you please to touch the waters of the sea, you will have to drive down 2 kms and find almost a nobody. Yet the beach is exceedingly beautiful, its clean beyond imagination, pebbles, crabs, fishes give you a complete feel of the aquatic life. I would have loved to behold this phenomenal natural beauty, if this was not the only beach available nearby.

The secluded beauty

Posers always...found someone even in that nobody zone

EXTREMELY COSTLY FOOD 

Well not that I have to write much on this topic. But the food was far too expensive and taste wise just OK. There were shacks just outside the resort and most of the younger crowd was having all meals there, one for money and two for the Goan Spirit. And I must admit that I loved the food there.

AWAY FROM MARKETS AND PLACES OF INTEREST

Well as the readers have already guessed it, that " The Emerald Palms" is away from any market, Church, renowned eateries and each time when you plan to venture out, be prepared to travel for 20 - 30 mins on secluded stretches of roads.

  Our Room

  Our Room

 Tea Time

 Chill out at the nearby shack

Chill out at the nearby shack

Overall the experience of "The Emerald Palms" as a resort is just about average. The only thing I loved was the room, spacious, gorgeous and chic. I loved my time within the four walls. And as we were finding it different to go to beaches, due to the location hazard of the property, we chose to convert this trip to a food trip and made it a  point to explore some great eateries nearby. My posts on them will follow soon. Till then "bye" and keep reading my space for more updates.....

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

visit my website: http://www.talestotell.co.in/

MY NEW WEBSITE

Hi,

I have launched my own website and need your support and love to make it a success...please  do like it, comment on it and share if you like.....

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

The link is as follows:

http://www.talestotell.co.in

NIGHT.......................

THE SKY, THE MOON AND THE STARRY SHINE

THE KNOWN, THE UNKNOWN AND THE ENVELOPE OF BLACK

THE NIGHT, OH! NIGHT YOU ARE SO MYSTERIOUS

THAT AT TIMES I LOVE YOU BUT AT TIMES I AM PETRIFIED.

AT TIMES YOU ARE GRAVE AND SILENCE RULES

AT TIMES THE CACOPHONY OF URBANITY GETS INFUSED

YOU CAN BE NAUSEATING AND GENERATING JITTERS

OR FULL OF LIFE, FREEING OF ALL FETTERS.

TO ME YOU THE GORGOEUS BACKGROUND

THAT BESTOWS THAT IDENTITY TO LIGHTS

TO ME YOU ARE MY CREATIVE SPACE

WHEN NARRATIVES, POETIES IN MY MIND DOES RACE

OH NIGHT MY KNIGHT, YOU ARE A FIGHT TO FIND HOPE

HOPE FOR A BRIGHT MORNING WITH FLOWING SMILES

HOPE FOR BETTER, MORE CREATIVE TOMORROW

GETTING ME BACK MY MIND'S REVENANT FILES.

SO LET THESE LINES BE DEDICATED TO THE DARK

THE OWL, THE FIREFLIES OR THE DISTANT CRIES

AS I WATCH THE CITY GETTING ALIVE, AND THE NIGHT IS STILL YOUNG

GET ME MORE CREATIVITY AND KEEP ME MESMERISED........

ARITRA CHAKRABARTY SENGUPTA

visit my website : http://www.talestotell.co.in/

pic courtesy google images..

How wud u describe?

From today I start my " how wud u describe ?"series
So let's SriGanesh....n what better than this...

Let ur imagination flow.....

Love Aritra

visit my website: http://www.talestotell.co.in/

City Walk

Mumbai has many names, some call it “Maya Nagari” or the city of dreams; some call it the city of lights. Some say that it is the city that never sleeps. And in reality the city does justice to all the names offered. It is hard hitting as you land here, but gradually grows on you and converts your hatred for it to love. It's unequivocal aura casts a spell unknowingly and stealthily. This aura resides in the crowded streets, clamorous waves or the Parsi colony...it exists in the millionaire homes of South Mumbai or the clustered chawls and slums of Dharavi. The beating of drums during Ganapati or the aroma of biriyani in Mohd. Ali Road during Eid, there is just something about it. 

I am by nature a peace-loving person, my only aim in life is to be happy. Which is quite a difficult aim you might appreciate. And few things that make me so, are lights (read my post:My Radiance Obsession) and exploration. So this Saturday, me, my hubby and my friends Nilesh and Shalaka headed on a expedition, which fitted my second mentioned modus operandi to seek happiness. We explored South Mumbai during hours when most other cities would have gone to sleep. 

Sharing with you my moments with the city...

a. Bandra Reclamation: We drove to this amazing spot and for the first time stopped the car to take a look at the glorious view of Mumbai this spot offers. The lighted sky-scrappers across the sea and the black looming night sky, a treat to eyes as the sea breeze leave you feeling revolutionary. 

As I was not equipped enough to capture the view with justice,

I spotted one from Google images

BANDRA RECLAMATION

We at Bandra Reclamation

b. Marine Drive: Then we drove off to Marine Drive, which is an area of our frequent visit. But this Saturday was different, a kick-start to the long Independence Day Weekend, and hence the streets were more colorful than ever. The horse carriages decorated in plentiful and playful leds, Coffeewalas and Champiwalas more busy than usual. It was a cacophony representing life. We had our time gazing at the bay and the incessantly banging waves. A delectable dough of darkness, lights and effervescence.

Colourful Maine Drive

c. Bade Miya: For every person who wants to take a dig on super yummy non veg stuff and is OK with street foods, Bade Miya in Colaba is a must destination. Though it has fine diner outlets in two other locations in Mumbai, this one is undoubtedly the best. Its mind boggling to see the number of cars that convene to that street near Gate way even at hours as late as two in the night to indulge. With salute worthy swiftness and efficiency, they serve no less than mouth smacking stuff. We narrowed down to "Bhuna Chicken" and "Rumali Roti" and loved every bit of the taste, the ambience and the added pinch of ecstasy. 

Bade Miya

We at bade Miya

We at Bade Miya

Overall I admit, that the more I have tried to hate the city and curse the jammed roads, the more I have fallen for it's unsung glory.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

visit my website: http://www.talestotell.co.in/

The Woking Mama-restaurant review

Main land China has been my all-time favourite Chinese eatery. I just adore to see and feel the Hunan and Szechuan sauces embrace the prawns, chicken…yummy! And also because of its nearness to the place I live, whenever there is a craving for Chinese, I, I mean, we land there. But last Saturday we were in a shopping mall which is unfortunately not the home for this favourite diner of ours and then there was this urgent craving for Chinese….oops!! So we landed laden with uncertainty, indecision, and dubiety on this place called “The Woking Mama” to satiate our craving.

But as soon as we entered, the décor struck me. It was pretty homely, non-flashy, earthy and creative. The painted lamps, wooden furniture…it’s not bad…aha! The waiters were cordial, to friendly, to jovial…it’s kind of good…aha! And then the food, well that’s most important and I am not going to spare even a single star if that is not good enough!!

The above two images are taken from Google

And this is me, a badly captured one though

but just for the drink and the chopstick thing

To start with we ordered, Chef’s special chilli chicken and a mocktail whose name I completely forgot. Ok fine! I admit chilli chicken is a cliché choice, but it’s ok once in a while…yes the fancy names sucks at times. Well, jokes apart, it is worth mentioning that the mocktail was ordered on the recommendation of a staff boy, who was really sweet and friendly. And we actually loved the drink, it was pure, chilled grape juice with small pieces of apple in it and probably sweetened externally to combat the occasional sour of grapes. Loved it and also the starter. For main course we ordered Woking Mama yang zhou fried rice and Prawns with bell pepper, chilli and basil. The rice was a bit spicier than we had expected, but the prawn making was a thorough delicacy.

Overall Woking Mama was a great experience and now has joined my favourite “Pan Asian eatery” list. I recommend it to people who love to explore new joints and make eating a little more than just that.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

visit my website: http://www.talestotell.co.in/

Address: 

The Woking Mama

Korum Mall

Khopat 

Thane west

(They have a branch in Guwahati, in case you are interested)

Hero Worship and fanaticism

We say that India is a country of laudable cultural heritage and a melting pot of diverse cultures. But that is just one side of the coin. And the other side isn't that praise-worthy to say the least. You might say that "this is true for any Nation and our motherland is no exception". I agree, I agree that corruption, religious anomalies, racism are bugs that digs at every societal structure. But certain aspects do raise a concern in my mind. And this post just discusses one.

Social befriending is a rage these days and we all have become a part of this virtual world. So far so good! But as soon as this tool becomes a pistol in the hands of a raving teenager or a weapon in the hands of a user who is hardly aware of the devastation it can cause, it is a serious concern guys! And I think India is such a teenager when it comes to handling social presence. While media and movie makers are en-cashing on this crazy crowd, we are losing on our integrity and lot more. I get astonished to see the number of fan clubs stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rajnikanth have on social networks like twitter, Facebook etc. Yet it doesn't bother me, after-all they are public figures. But when I see people passing nasty, derogatory comments to each other in support of the heroes they worship, I feel bothered. 

The recent cyber bullying of singer Sona Mohapatra when she tweeted “Women thrashed people run over, wild life massacred and yet #hero of the nation. ‘Unfair’. India full of such supporters,” as an answer to Salman’s infamous rape comment, should raise concern amongst all. The kind of comments thrown at the singer to combat her attack on a man our nation follows like a brainless creature, made me cringe and think that are we living in a civilised society at all? These same people had stood against Tanmay Bhatt’s comic take on Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar. This hypocrisy proves my concern on dim-witted, thick-headed hero worship.

Frankly I disliked the video by Tanmay Bhatt too, because somewhere I thought it crossed the border of fun and entered into derogation and insult. But my opinion should not be based on the people the comments are aimed at, it should be content driven. But sadly this is far from the reality of the twitterati and social butterflies flying around.

Ø  When a movie like “Kabali” which is solely dependent on swag instead of content does ~200 crore business from pre-booking and earns a holiday for employees in many organisations, when the liability of Virat Kohli’s bad performance in a cricket match is thrusted on the presence of her girl-friend around, when Salman Khan can get away with anything and everything he says or does, don’t you think we are in an era when the media is earning  bread by controlling our minds the way they want, illiteracy has found a new vent and logical thinking has evaporated into thin air.  

Earlier we were blindfolded by religion, region, economic standards, now a new genre is added to this list which is “social media hype and hashtags”. Time to introspect!!! Time to understand the blurring line between following an icon and becoming a fanatic about him/her......

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta
Visit my website : http://www.talestotell.co.in/

পূজো পূজো গন্ধ

পূজো আসছে 

বাঙালিদের জন্য দূর্গা পূজো একটা অনুভূতি।  যার ব্যাখ্যা করা মোটেই সহজ না।  বছরের ওই কটি দিন শুধু না, দূর্গা পূজো  আমাদের  মন আবরণ করে থাকে ৩৬৫ দিন। যখনি হৃদ মাঝারে মেঘের সঞ্চার হয়, গর্জনে কেঁপে ওঠে সত্তা, মায়ের ঘরে ফেরার আশাই বাঁচিয়ে রাখে জীবনের দ্রুত প্রবাহকে। অদ্ভুত এই উন্মাদনা, অদ্ভুত এই ভালোবাসা যা এক উৎসব কে কেন্দ্র করে উত্পন্ন হয়ে, এক হৃদয় থেকে অন্য হৃদয়ে পৌঁছে যায়। এই ধরুণ, অফিসার কাজে আজ যখন মত্ত ছিলাম, কোথাও থেকে ঢাকের বাধ্য ভেসে এসে, মন টাকে অস্থির করে তুললো। না চাইতেই , এক রাস প্রসন্নতা আলিঙ্গন করলো মনটাকে। 

কিন্তু এই সুখ তো একার না, তাই তো ভালাম "এই পূজো পূজো গন্ধটা" সকলের মাঝে ছড়িয়ে দি। তাই তো এই কবিতা।...   

নতুন জামা, নতুন জুতো, নতুন অনুভূতি,
পূজো মানে খাঁটি হর্ষ, শুভ প্রতিশ্রুতি। 
শঙ্খ ধ্বনি, ঢাকের বাদ্দি, সেকি রম্য কল্লোল,
উৎসবের ছোঁয়ায় মাতোয়ারা মন, হৃদ পরিপূর্তি। 

দূরে কোন মন্দিরে, বাজছে যেন ঘন্টা,
আকাশ ময় ভাসছে যে মেঘ, একটু অনাবিষ্ট। 
কাশঁফুলেতে দিয়েছে দোলা বাতাস আবেগ পূর্ণ,
তুমি, আমি খুশির খোঁজে ডুবেছি যথেষ্ট। 

পূজো মানে আড্ডা মারা, পূজো স্মৃতিচারণ,
পূজো মানে নিজেকে খোঁজা,একটু অন্য রকম। 
পূজো মানে চিকেন রোল, পূজো ফুচ্কা খাওয়া,
পূজো মানে উদ্দীপনায় গা ভাসিয়ে দেওয়া। 

নাটকের মহলা, ডায়ালগ হলো কি মুখস্ত?
উত্তেজনা, উদ্দীপনা মিশ্রিত এক বাক্স।
তাই পূজো মানে অন্য আমি, অন্য আমার সজ্জা,
সেই আমি কে অনাবৃত করে, এই "পূজো পূজো গন্ধ" 

অরিত্রা চক্রবর্তী সেনগুপ্ত

Penning down thoughts...don't read it!!!

It is raining. Outside and inside. Outside it is water, but inside it is emotions, emptiness and unanswered questions that is raining heavily. And it often happens to me, but somehow I never write about it. Probably the story that goes inside is difficult to trap and portray in words. So I did never try. But today is another day and let tonight be a good night for my literary genius, that has just peeped out of the cocoon it had encrusted itself into. Long back in a conference some famous author had said "there is no writer's block that exist in reality." I had believed her and I still do. But now I know it does not hold good for all and now I also know what a writer's block is. And it is nothing but lack of encouragement. When you find that you are actually moving away from your dream, when you understand that you have thrusted on yourself too much work that hardly interest you and when you realise that passing days are not adding on to your experience as a human being, you do entire into a noncreative oblivion, which may be termed as "writer's block."

When I was a kid, I used to think that life is a movie and I was the heroine. But as candles got added to my birthday cake each year, I understood how ordinary a life I was living. I appreciated the fact that I was not exploring the world around me and I was not even exploring my deep seated aspirations. Unfortunately I never had the guts to be a rebel and break the cliches. I never could break out of the societal analogies of success, goodness etc. So quite unaware of what I wanted from myself, I became a chemical engineer. And with the kind of academic brains I was born with, I survived and emerged victorious. I even got a good job. But was I mentally prepared to be chemical engineer throughout my life? Was that all my heart was beating for? Those are the unanswered questions that rang and still rings in my mind.

I loved to dance, I loved act in plays. Today nobody will believe that I had done great kathak steps for a dance show without a formal training in the dance form. Confidence of execution reduces with reduction of practice,until it vanishes, as it has for me today. Now I cannot take to stage and do dance moves as I once did. For acting, I am still good at it and am comfortable in my skin on the stage. Blogging came to me few years back, but I knew I couldn't make a career out of it, because I write for myself, forced topics never excite me and hence I am kind of nonsalable. I couldn't be a slave to consumerism. But my aspiration to become a novelist increased with every passing day. With no knowledge of how the publishing business goes I plunged into writing my first novel. Slowly realising that without any godfather or without any connection it was tough to reach out to any publishing house, leave alone the famous ones. During the course of time, which is still on, I came in contact with one famous literary agent too. I would not name her, but she stained my thoughts on the distinction between creativity and money making.

Anyways my search for a publisher is on...and I don't know if it will ever end. But I am glad that I have not quit yet and I will never do. I will keep writing, whenever discouraging remarks and attitudes around fail to push me to oblivion..I will continue and continue and continue. With all my unanswered questions, with all my gauging of myself I continue to seek excellence in whatever I undertake. I am a chemical engineer, intoxicated at the thought of creativity. I am a traveler in my mind, both literally and metaphorically.

let the world be liberated of all preconceived notions!!

Before being human, be yourself!!

Do you face similar problems with yourself? Do you have unanswered queries bombarding your mind? I guess all creative people go through this...write about it.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta

Lost in hazing greens...

There wasn't a me, there wasn't a you,

There wasn't a moment of low.

There wasn't an iota of lingering sour,

There was no friend, no foe.

It was just the fog to keep us company,

The showers, the greens and the exotic rainbow.

But it is a task to return to truth,

Though gladly the memories formed a delectable dough.

Aritra

It was early in the morning when we started off for our weekend indulgence, of sinking into the thirst quenching greens, of the countryside of Maharashtra, around the maddening city of Mumbai. It was overcast and the greens were in pure glory, we took the Mumbai-Nashik Highway. Looking out of the window of the car, gave a sense of being alive and breathing. To me the journey to the destination is a also an integral part of the vacation, so it is important to make it joyful. We drove, we giggled and off-course we let ourselves become the paparazzi for the self proclaimed celebrities in us. There was no end to clicking, posing and more smiles. We stopped for hearty breakfast midway, but the fascinating stop for me was the tea break. The road was more than empty, the sideways were lined with lush greenery and tangible clouds. The wind whistled and fiendishly danced around, while the grey mountains exemplified dichotomy against the prolific greens. Oh! What a beauty and how opulent! And then to add to the surging pleasure were steaming cups of tea, from the road-side tea stall.

From left Avishek, me, Shalaka and Nilesh

Our Travel-diaries

and the cups of tea....

We reached Igatpuri in the afternoon and thanks to our friend Nilesh who arranged the resort in the extremely short notice of a day, the place was absolute serenity. Placed in a quantifiable distance from the main highway, or infact from any possible hamlet, "Jen Jon resort in Igatpuri" stands for peace. But mind you, there is no ATM around and internet/mobile networks are exceedingly poor, so if you ever plan to plunge into absolute seclusion, carry enough cash. Our rooms were literally made of glass, but strategically enough the transparency varied giving you adequate privacy and off course the curtains did the rest. View from the rooms was breathtaking with the "Vaitarna Lake and the luxuriant greens" to keep you company. The food and hospitality were warm, well warm goes with both right!! On a serious note I loved the "rotis and chicken curry". In the evening we drove down to the dam and lake, it was so refreshing. The tranquility of the water, the overcast sky and red soil around will remain with me. I recommend JenJon to all who aspire to have some raw piece of peace and experience alienation for sometime. Believe me it is worth it!!

Jen Jon, our glass rooms

View from our room

View from our room

Dip Dip into the waters of Lake Vaitarna

Next morning after breakfast we headed to Bhandardhara, completely unplanned, thanks to the technology that GPS guided us to our destination smoothly. But sadly after the soft serenity of Igatpuri, overcrowded Bhandardhara did not match our expectation. The natural beauty, the waterfalls, the grey mountains and opulent spread of green was somewhat upset by the mindless and arrogant crowd. They were littering, shouting and had parked their vehicles haywire creating traffic jam. However after visiting the famous Radha falls we decided to stop in a place which was in seclusion, and that we did. We stopped by a nascent waterfall, streaming on the stones, it started raining and we completely drenched ourselves and relieved from the impact of the head-splitting crowd. Here I request everyone reading my blog, even if the number is very small, please spread the word "STOP SPOILING the natural beauty of the places, do not litter, do not park inappropriately."

Radha Falls

Radha Falls

At last a place to relax

At the end we reached Mumbai but only after a wholesome Punjabi meal in a road side dhaba and off course oodles of tempting memoirs. Thanks to my companions Shalaka and Nilesh and my darling hubby Avishek for making a two day trip worth a lifetime....

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta