Shadow or Ghost

Ana said, “What’s the matter, Ron! Why’s this strange expression all over your face?”

“Actually “Ron started and then stopped abruptly. “I have to leave. I got something urgent to catch up. I will come back soon and go through this notebook. I promise,” he said and got up to leave.

He started to walk down the stairs and Ana followed him, trying to understand what has gone wrong if at all anything has gone wrong.

As he was about to cross the threshold, he turned and said, “I need to go and see an ophthalmologist one of these days. I need someone who is awfully good. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Why?”She asked, concerned.

“You remember that afternoon when I slept off in your attic while waiting for you to return.”

“That was more than three weeks back, wasn’t that”, she continued. “You were startled when I woke you up. It was as if you have seen a ghost”.

“I do not remember that part. But when I was driving back home that evening, I felt there was a man sitting beside me in the front passenger seat”. He paused for a moment and then said “and that was not the last time. I seem to be having a company rather a constant company”.

“It could  be  what they call a ‘corner of eye phenomena’ and that’s the reason I would like to consult a specialist”.

“What’s that?” She quipped. “I have never heard of something like this before”.

“People sometimes sees an image from the corner of their eyes. The image occasionally resembles faces or human figures. Usually this phenomenon is short lived and the image vanishes if one looks straight at them. That is the reason these images are called ‘shadow ghosts ‘or ‘shadow people’,” he explained.

“Oh! I see that you have caught a shadow?”She said. “It’s not about your eyes. It’s likely that you have seen a spirit. It was probably of a person who has been long gone from our world... physically”.

“You know something”, she continued.” Seeing a shadow figure or a glimpse of someone is a very common way of meeting a spirit. In fact, most of the time this spirit is not a ghoul or a ghost. That’s the reason for them not being confrontational.  If there was an intention to frighten you, he could have opened and slammed the door shut midway or at high speed. Or would have tapped your shoulder and whispered in your ears”. She paused to take a breath.

“Stop this nonsense!”He said. There was more confusion in his voice than irritation. “If you don’t know about any ophthalmologist, that’s fine with me. I will find one. But please do not  make me more confused than I already am at this moment. It’s not at all a funny feeling!”

He started to move towards his car. Before opening the car door, he turned around and shouted, “Bye Ana. You take care”.

“Bbye” she said and then she murmured , “did he hear me!”

Why Give Night A Bad Name ....

Night, you are so beautiful, quiet, serene and peaceful

I can spend a lifetime gazing at your stars looking for the departed souls

When your moon is in all its glory and stars keep winking for attention

Lover gets moonstruck, strong becomes romantic and even the mighty turns emotional

and the poet sits alone tipsy, while tired farmer sleeps dreaming of a bright new day

Why they do wrong things during nights? Why did they give you a bad name?

Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Tel - Ecommunication & Speed

The Banerjees are a happy family of four. The parents and the brothers and sisters, all busy with their daily chores.

While the younger ones are in their teens and full of excitement, the parents are having are going through what everybody calls, a midlife crisis. Nothing seems to excite them any longer.

Mrs. Banerjee has decided to start her own consultancy. She has chosen a though challenge of reviving faltering businesses by giving their trademark products a new lease of life.

Mr. Banerjee on the other hand wants to come out of his plum finance job and dive into fashion consultancy and photography.

Scene 1:
Date: 20 July 2015
Time: 9:00 AM
Place: The living room, Banerjee Residence, Kolkata, India.

Son: I am fed up with this Ipad. I have been trying to upload the bike trick from this morning and all that I can see is circles.

Daughter: Mama, He had promised that he will give me the pad after 15 minutes and now it’s more than an hour and still not giving me. I wanted to listen to that song before I go to school. There is a audition tomorrow.

Mrs B: Oh! Keep quiet both of you. If I cannot send my proposal within the next hour, I will miss the biggest chance of my life. My career will be history.

Mr. B: (trying to answer a business call and at the same time upload a power point presentation from the laptop) this internet speed is going to kill me. That’s the biggest handicap of our telecommunication industry. I had worked so hard to get the contract for designing the costumes of the participants of the music talent hunt program that’s going to start on the TV soon. I got the styles, theme, and budget all in place but if I cannot present it, what was the point in working so hard. I agree the files are big but that the nature of the game.

 Sometime later .....

Mr. Banerjee have taken the wise decision to install Airtel 4G for their home internet network as well as his smartphone. Now their work takes about the same time as it used to take but communication time and the frustration time has been wiped off the system. By 8:00 AM in the morning all family members are done with their pre-breakfast internet chores and ready to face the day.

Scene 2:
Date: 2 September 2015
Time: 8:30 AM
Place: The living room, Banerjee Residence, Kolkata, India.

Mrs. B: The breakfast is being served. Everyone hurry up.

Son: Hey Sis, do you need the pad. I am done with it. Dad, you need to see the highlight of yesterday’s exhibition match between Arsenal and Manchester U. It was superb.
Daughter: Thanks Bro! You are being too kind these days. I am suspicious.

Mr. B: Leave the pad aside. Let’s talk over the breakfast, it’s good to start the day with some great family time. It makes the stress disappear give lots of positive energy to deal with the challenges of the day.

Thanks to our new 4G connection, it has added some precious hours to each day of our life and we can enjoy this time with each other and still stay focused on our goals and dreams.

Everyone: Thanks a lot for getting us these unbelievable speed, we can do all we do so much quicker and with so much ease.

A Gambler’s supper

Given a choice, I would like to dig my four fingers into one of those delicious meals with curries, rice and other side dishes. But life doesn’t always provide choices as most of my lunch ends being sandwiches while the car being the dining room.
After today’s lunch, I thought of digging a bit into the history of this food keeping many like me up and running.

There lived a recklessly extravagant British statesman called Jon Montagu (1718 – 1792) in south east of England in the eighteenth century. He was the fourth Earl of Sandwich, a historic town and civil parish on the river Stour and notorious as a gambler.

Montagu had invented this bread-enclosed convenience food known as the "sandwich", so that he would not have to leave his gaming table to take supper.

The concept is this food is wonderfully simple: a delicate finger food served between two slices of bread. People of the Mediterranean and Greece are known to have this culinary concept in practice since ancient times and Montagu is thought to have picked it up during one of his trips.

Early reference of sandwich is found in the 1760 that during the initial days they were assumed to food consumed primarily by the masculine gender during late night parties and drinking sessions.

The general public of England and rest of the world got indoctrinated with the passage of time.

For Reference: Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Solomon H. Katz, editor, William Woys Weaver, assoicate editor [Charles Scribner's Sons:New York] 2003, Volume 3 (p. 235-6)

You May Say I' am a Dreamer

I always dreamt of a home, just like in the film President (1937) “Ek bangala bane nayara, ati sundar pyara pyara, Vishwakarma ke dwara.”  Yes, dreamt and not really own a home as in my dream, but I am hopeful of fulfilling my dream pretty soon.  I always have dreamt big as they say “when you dream, dream big.”

I would like to own my dream home in a skyscaper and would like to buy myself a duplex on the 20th and 21st floor of a high rise. Just as K. L. Saigal would have sung “Itana uncha bangala ho yeh mano gagan ka tara, jis pe chadh ke indradhanush par jhulaa jhule chand humara”.

The property would have the guest room, lounge, dining, and kitchen on the first level and the 3 bedrooms on the second level and a terrace.  Each of the bedrooms would have balconies, a small dressing room, and the master bedroom would have a small study attached to it.The maid's room, however, will be semi detached.

As for the interiors, the flooring would be wooden and the doors and windows would have a mahogany brown wooden color. The walls would be painted cream and the ceiling white. The kitchen would be a spacious one with marble flooring and fitted with both chimney and exhaust (as we do use a lot of grease in our cooking). It would be fitted with GI modular (from Godrej Interio) and all the regular electronic fittings (viz, toasters, dish cleaner, grinder, juicer etc).

The living/lounging area would be fitted with a home theater and would have a lot of art work on the walls.  The stairs leading to the second level would have exquisite sculptures.

The home will be a smart home with interactive devices and gadgets and will be equipped with Godrej furniture and security systems. The interiors will be designed with a minimalist approach with lots of open spaces.

 Now, that is my dream and I believe I am going to live my dream someday, Goddess Lakshmi willing or in K. L. Saigal’s words “Bhandar hoye lachami ke haathon mei sara, paye ab jibhar ke sukh jisne bipat uthaye.”

A Dream That Everyone Dreams

 My “dream home” has fascinated me and my mind since I was a kid. As the mini me then, I would think of a home by a river miles away from the hustle bustle of the city where the only sounds would be from the flowing water and an occasional bird chirping.  As I grew up, I started loving the mountains and my dream of a dream house gradually veered towards the mountain and I started dreaming of a small house atop a huge mountain from where the only things my eyes could see was the cliffs covered with white ice. I would dream of myself seating on the window with a cup of steaming coffee and watching the mountains while drifting away to the dreamland.  Time passed fast and soon, I started to dream about living by the sea in a secluded island and watching the sea roar, cool breeze blowing over my shoulder and me sitting on the rooftop with a can of beer in my hand and wondering what made the ancient travelers take to the sea or if mermaids were a reality.

Now at this age, I dream of a different kind of a house, not on the mountains, not by a desolate river or a distant desolate island.

Now, I dream of a house near the city, albeit a few hundred kilometers away from the din and bustle of the city.  The property I dream of is of a few acres (not hundreds but 10 would be just fine).  The outer perimeter of the property would be lined with trees.  The trees would provide me with lots of oxygen and privacy and provide nesting place for my winged companions.  The driveway would be lined with trees on both sides and would lead to my “dream house.”

In the middle of the property, an expansive Victorian style two and half storey bungalow would stand in its full glory.  The exterior of the building would be made from stones/bricks and would be designed in such a way that nature would peep in once in a while during the course of the day bringing in ample natural light and ventilation.  I would like to have plenty of bedrooms, outdoor and indoor kitchens and large living and dining spaces.  There will be terraces, balconies and living spaces all meticulously intertwined with open, close and semi covered transitions.  At the top floor would be my studio cum office where I would like to write/paint and meditate. The stairway would showcase lots of artwork and sculptures building up the mood of the exclusive guest visiting my art gallery in the basement.

Behind the bungalow would be a swimming pool, L shaped, with a diving board. The uniqueness of this pool would be an aquarium running along all the sides of the pool. While swimming in the pool, I would be having fish in their natural surrounding for my company. Beyond the pool would be a tennis court, a basketball court, and a small amphitheater with music systems for those wild crazy nights.

Around the tree lining and the outer perimeter of the property, I would like to have my organic farm, where I would grow all my vegetables and fruits.

Till that dream become a reality, I will have to be content with the 3 Bedroom apartment that I possess. I would love to have it redecorated with intrinsic details so as to evoke the feeling that I am actually living in my dream house. The walls of the bedrooms would be painted with earth colors and the living room would be painted white being accentuated with classically framed artworks. But one face of living room will be a video wall eliminating the need for a TV but equipped with touch screen and powered by a search engine bringing in answers to any query that one might have. The flooring will be combination of parquet, marble and some exquisite imported tiles. The wall of the bathroom will be lavishly cladded with hand painted ceramic tiles leaving the wall behind the bathtub for a large aquarium. The kitchen will be no less comfortable than a bedroom with clean lines and built-in appliances and seamless surfaces.

Each Bedroom set will be of a style distinctly different form one another with matching framed artworks a choice that Godrej Interio could easily provide from their wide range of products. While we would prefer to have the wooden look wardrobes in all the bedrooms, we shall have a traditional storewell in the study fully equipped with an electronic safe to keep important materials safe and secured. The balconies will be done in a way that will bring the nature into the interior living spaces and shall be illuminated by solar powered lamps as soon as the sun goes down.

My apartment will then be a place where, I shall close my eyes and envision I am sitting in the heaven and when I open my eyes I will see the same place. The only thought that will come to my mind will be "if there is paradise on face of the earth, it is this, it is this, it is this”.

Quill - A not so simple feather

It was a harmless simple feather. At least that is what it seemed to Ron. It was inside the age-old manuscript like object that Ana has discovered in the attic. Now a day’s Ron doesn't visit Ana as frequently as he used to do sometimes back.

After all the situation has changed since Ana has revealed her true feelings. Human are social animals and their life is all about relationship and relationship.

Today Ana had called him over the phone excitedly and told “please come over as soon as you can. I have some queer stuff to share.” She spoke in length about the old diary that she has found and the also the picture of the ancestral sofa.

But when he came over, she also showed him this old dilapidated notebook. She said “you have a look at it while I go down and arrange for some refreshment for you.”Before he could stop her she was running down the stairs.

It was a very old piece of treasure but definitely not before paper was invented. He was mesmerized and sat down on the chair by the discarded desk nearby. He gently placed the notebook on the desk and untied the ribbon carefully.

He removed the feather and held it in a pen-hold grip and glanced at it casually. He cannot believe his eyes. It was not a feather that he was holding but a quill.

“How didn’t I notice this so long” he thought, a bit disturbed.

He looked up at the mirror by the side of the room and was shocked. It was not his familiar face that was staring back at him from the mirror. It was almost him but somehow it appeared he was dressed for a fancy dress party themed 1715.

“What’s happening to me?” he murmured. He blinked his eyes and everything was back to normal to his relief.

“Am I hallucinating? Or it was just my imagination” he wondered.

Just then Ana came back to the attic with some cakes and lemonade.

“How long is your family staying in this house?” he questioned.

“More than three centuries”, she replied thoughtfully. I should tell you something interesting that I found out today. “Two hundred years back one of our grand great grandfather built this house. Interestingly, he was also called Ronbir. Just like you.”

Interesting indeed! Ron thought.