Remembering Nana

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. It was originally written on Quora as part of my answer to the question: What are your best memories of your Grandparent?

My maternal grandparents lived with us while growing up. My parents were doing their Post-grad at the time of my birth and hence, a good amount of my childhood and teenage were spent under the care and supervison of my Nana and Nani (That's what we call grandfather and grandmother in our part of the world).

I shared a very special relation with my Nana. A retired School Headmaster, he was the one to inculcate the habit of reading in me. He handed me my first book, Gulliver's travel, when I was just 7. We would spend our Saturday and Sunday mornings reading in our garden where he would explain me the meanings of words I didn't understand. He would take me to Temple every alternate evening and then buy me a popsicle on our way back to home. He would accompany me to my first Chess Competition and pacified me when I broke into inconsolable tears on losing the first match of my life. He would come along with me on Annual days and I would run straight into his arms after receiving accolades for academics. He would be the first audience to all my written stories and be an honest critic to them as I wanted him to be. He motivated and inspired me in a way that nobody else could. We would spend many a evenings talking about anything ranging from Indian Politics to Spirituality. I would confide my fears and troubles to him and he would counsel me on how to deal with them in the best possible manner. He was a man of strong will and an absolute moral fiber and I looked upto him for everything. I was the object of his affection and he of mine. They say girls wish for a man like their fathers. I always hoped to marry someone who could even be half the man as my Nana was. That should say about how much I revered him.

Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease sometime in his late 60s. That was a horrible time for the entire family. More so for him. Woes of an Alzheimer patient are really hard to pen down. It started with him forgetting our names to the condition being as bad as him forgetting about performing his daily activities which included eating and sleeping. It pained us immensely to see him struggle each day. One day he slipped out of home for walk and then forgot his way back to home. We always kept a check on him but on that doomed day things happened just too fast. We reported to the Police and tried searching every possible place in the city. My uncle went ahead to give an advertisement in the newspaper following which somebody called us from the government hospital where a passerby who spotted him took care to admit him for he was found unconscious under a tree. I can not bring myself to write what happened during the time he was gone to the time we found him. The memories would still haunt us for the rest of our lives. We admitted him to the best Hospital of the city where he was diagnosed with a hemorrhage in the brain. Turned out, he might have slipped somewhere while walking and fell head-on on some object. He passed away on the fourteenth day that followed after we had admitted him.

I cannot just list one best memory I had with him. I had tonnes. From him accompanying me to my first day at School to him being around at the last day of my School where he would read messages written on my shirt by the people I knew and laughing hard on some of them. From him being the mentor and guide to being a patient friend. From him getting me Harry Potter books to him watching Harry potter and Prisoner of Azkaban movie with us (Yes, he was that cool!). To say I miss him would be an understatement of my feelings for him. I make myself believe that he's happily watching over all of us from heavens above. That's what I would want myself to think when I remember him.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. It was originally written on Quora as part of my answer to the question: What are your best memories of your Grandparent?

Two Cents: Piku

I rushed after a hard day at office to watch this movie, along with two of my friends, last week. We were five minutes late but soon settled ourselves in the third row from front - the only seats we could manage considering the house was already jampacked. So, did we laugh a lot? Yes, like silly kids on innumerable references to poop-centric jokes. Did we cry? There were quite a few lump-in-the-throat moments. Would we recommend it to others? Yes, yes, definitely yes.

Like the trailer promised, Piku did deliver. An emotional journey of a father-daughter duo from Delhi to Kolkata is captured with heart and soul. Mr. Bachchan nails it as hyperchondriac Bhaskor Banerjee who takes no shame in introducing his daughter to her suitor as financially and sexually independent. It is only then that you realize that Indian Cinema and Character roles have come a long way past Sanskari Babuji(s) and tear-shedding Maa(s). Bachchan's Bhaskor is stubborn, demanding, opinionated, sweet and a royal pain. He's open to the idea of Piku's sexual encounters but is opposed to the idea of getting his daughter married because, that according to him would take away her freedom and make her sacrifice herself to a man, yet that's exactly what he does in the movie - an instance of which is when Piku is not allowed by her father to drive on a Highway. Bhaskor is obsessed with constipation and wants to have a real good dump before he dies. His problems with his motion is what effectively gives motion to the movie.

Tagging along is Irrfan Khan as Rana who plays Mr. Cool with such a conviction that would make ladies go weak in the knees. Supportive and flag-bearer to the idea of liberating women, Rana handles Bhaskor like no other. He speaks sense when nobody else dares to. He doesn't shy away from giving people a piece of his mind when the situation demands. He convinces Bhaskor to go Indian-style on a western toilet for a good potty. He chases Piku in an open yet subtle manner. There are more than a few occasions when the audience would go 'aww' over Irrfan's Rana.

Deepika's Piku is not just a pretty face. She manages everything on her own from taking care of whims and fancies of her father to running a successful business with her co-worker Syed. Sex, for her, is a physical need about which she keeps no secret like when she chooses to go to bed with Syed. Independent and fiery, Piku is a daring woman who's not to be messed with. She has her flaws and gets impatient a tad easily but at the end of all of it, Piku is a grounded superwoman. She loves earnestly, dreams naively, and lives honestly. She makes her own rules and lives by it - You have to adopt her dad incase you want to get married to her. Deepika is riveting in the movie.


Two Cents: Don't dare miss it. Piku is undoubtedly one of the finest made movies about loving your parents. 

We're friends, right?

"You're not serious, are you?" Anuj asked while casually turning the pages of The Quantum Theory by Alex Rook.

"What if I say I am?" Anushka questioned in reply. She entwined her curls between her fingers as she looked out of the window.

"Ah! Let me guess. He reads 5 point someone, listens to Beiber and wears I'm-so-kewl band around his wrist," teased Anuj.

"Shut up! He's nothing of that sort. And how come you're mocking him when you haven't dated any better yourself. Remember Miss Page 3? Or, forgotten about already?" smirked Anushka which visibly irritated Anuj. He never liked the mention of any of his exes. He wasn't the kind of person who entertained memories of the past.

"He's into Poetry. A big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. Also, he's got such an impeccable taste in music. I happened to be at the College Auditorium where he effortlessly played Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight. Everybody was so awed by the end of it. But you know the best part of all this? He's amazingly grounded. None of that I'm-so-popular swag. It's like he knows he's kind of a phenomenon in the college and yet he's so rooted," Anushka said in a single breathe. Anuj could sense the magnitude of her keenness by the way she smiled while talking about him. He had never seen her like that before. Sure, she did beam whenever she happened to talk about any of her crushes but he could tell it was something different this time. She was smitten hard. And Anuj couldn't understand why but it pained him somewhere. He put his book down and fixed his gaze solely on his best friend now.

Anuj and Anushka had been the best of friends for so long that now they did not even remember what it meant being without each other. Nothing could keep them from sharing things about each another. At times, they shared their silence too. Their relationship stood the the test against envy of their respective exes. In the brief time that she spoke about the new crush of hers, it grieved for Anuj to know that someday he might just have to let Anushka go. He could not fathom what it would mean to lose her — his best and only friend.

"Well, what about him? Any sign he's interested?" Anuj asked keeping his tone normal while a storm seethed inside him. He was hoping for a negative answer.

"We did have a chat on Facebook the other day. He's asked me if I could show him around a bit since he's new here and doesn't know a lot of people. Good thing Apoorv had already introduced us to each other on his first day here. Let's see what happens next. I honestly have no idea," Anushka said as she clubbed her loose hair into a bun while Anuj sheepishly watched her so as not to catch her attention.

"So, what do you think? Will it work between the two of us?" Anushka asked her best friend.

'I hope not,' said a voice inside his head somewhere. "No harm trying," Anuj managed to say.

"Anyway, I'm not pinning my hopes much. Don't want to be a stupid fangirl. You'd tell me when I start behaving like one, wouldn't you? We're friends, right?" asked Anushka as she got up to leave.

"We're friends. Yeah, right. We're friends." said Anuj like he was in trance.

Anushka grabbed her bag, waved goodbye to a lost Anuj and made her way out of the empty classroom. "We're friends," Anuj kept repeating under his breath while he watched her go.

Independence: A Short Story

Ashima was drinking her evening tea when her 8 year old son came back from his swimming lessons. Harsh dived straight into his mother's lap while Ashima put down her cup and gently ruffled through her son's unkempt hair. "Mom, it's Independence day tomorrow. Our English teacher has asked me to present a speech in front of the school assembly. Help me write it please," said Harsh drowsily. Ashima carried her son to his bedroom and tucked him into his bed quite gently. "Get some sleep first, Harshu," she said lovingly while placing a kiss on Harsh's cheek.

"The speech, mumma," Harsh murmured while he firmly held onto his mother's hand. Ashima dragged the chair kept near the study table and sat down while taking some mental notes about the 68th Independence day of the nation that was due tomorrow. "Okay, how about I help you with the points but you frame it out on your own? You're a big boy now, Harsh. I'm sure you'll be able to do it all by yourself. And you'll do fine," said Ashima while Harsh nodded his head. He had still been holding onto his mother's hand, lying comfortably on his bed, looking inquisitively at Ashima.

"India is an Independent and Sovereign nation. But first let's understand what really being Independent is all about. Independence of a country is a state where the nation is not enslaved by any foreign powers and the citizens live in peace and maintain harmony. Independence means being able to do things at your own free will without you being controlled by anybody. Independence means freedom at personal and social level. You can express yourself. Everybody has equal rights on all fundamental things. There's no fear. There's no injustice. Everything's fair and law watches us all," said Ashima to her attentive son who was wide-awakened by now. "Let me get by notebook. I'll write it down before I forget any of it," said Harsh jumping out of his bed.

"Useless. Everything and everybody here is so useless," said Rahul, Ashima's husband, while he barged through the front door and threw his office bag on the Armchair. "My boss wants me to change the data in the presentation file that we've been working on since last month. He threatens he will hold our promotions if not done otherwise," said a visibly distraught Rahul. Ashima rushed to get him a cool glass of water hoping to calm down her vexed husband. "And this College we were talking about for Rashi has Quota system. I'm afraid she's got no chance with the percentage she scored this year. She might have to give a skip," muttered Rahul as he emptied the glass. Rashi, Harsh's elder sister, was a Law aspirant who had just given her boards this year and was away on a vacation to her grandparent's place. "I'm going out to a colleague's home. Her daughter has been threatened by some religious group on charges of hurting their sentiment by posting something on Facebook. Kids, these days! Always so obsessed with social networking whiling away their precious time," complained Rahul. He signalled Ashima to close the door as he started to leave. "Oh! And lock the door properly," Rahul turned back saying, "it's not safe for women ever in this country. I'll be late. Don't cook for me." 

"India is an Independent and Sovereign nation. Independence of a country is a state where the nation is not enslaved by any foreign powers and the citizens live in peace and maintain harmony. Independence means being able to do things at your own free will without you being controlled by anybody. Independence means freedom at personal and social level. You can express yourself. Everybody has equal rights on all fundamental things. There's no fear. There's no injustice. Everything's fair and law watches us all," Harsh practiced the speech in his room.

A Beginning

So, did not you have a blog already?
I have. 

Then what are you doing here?
Err. Writing. Or atleast hoping to.

Why here? Why?
Because, I wanted to build something from scratch. And then, watch it grow over time. Sure I have done the latter but the former was an untouched territory and I wanted to explore more of it.

What happens to IMAGINEERING?
IMAGINEERING will always happen to be my first kid and I'm always going to be a mom to that blog.

I've been toying with the idea of a (new) blog for quite some time now. I'm in a place in life where I'm looking for impending changes. Even if that means shredding beloved things and ideas to adopt newer ones. I'm hoping to outgrow myself. As a writer. As a person.  I know not where exactly I end up from here but I do know the journey is going to be worth it.

Coming to Two Cents, this blog is going to be the space where I'll dump all my stories and happenings. Fiction, non-fiction and everything beyond that. Honest feedback would always be welcomed. I've always been a sucker for that.

And. So. We. Start.

More in the next blog. See ya...