You know, you plan of one thing and something else turns up. This is what happens to me every time. Destiny always plays this game with me. Anyway, I am still drinking the essence of life, of course … 🙂
When I started blogging I thought to post once a week. But you see, it took so long to come up with another post! It’s that time of the year again … yes, it’s winter… it’s Christmas time compelling me to take another walk down the memory lane.
Christmas is one occasion after the Durga Puja that we (my sister and I) used to wait for eagerly in our childhood days. You’ve got it right! Cakes and pastries being the prime reason it was the time when we enjoyed circus, visited the zoo and the National Museum of Kolkata, rather Calcutta then. The animals and trapeze at the circus and the mysteries wrapped inside the showcases of the museum in the form of Mummies always fascinated me.
To me winter meant a 7-day vacation for celebrating Christmas and New Year by wishing friends with hand-painted greetings cards. It is one of my hobbies. I loved to craft greetings cards for my near and dear ones. Now, as it is obvious, e-card replaces paper cards (you know, that ‘don’t have time’ excuse… actually I became lazier … 😛 ).
Winter in Kolkata has always been pleasant and much desired. It reminds me of wet grasses in fog-wrapped mornings. It was a season when we struggled to get up early in the morning and get ready for school. Had real hard times … guys! 😉
Winter to me then was synonymous to picnic, orange and pickles that my mother never made at home despite all our sincere requests, craving and begging. We were even ready to offer our service, but could never been able to win her faith! 😀 Now I understand she hardly had time to indulge in pickle making after managing all the household chores and her job simultaneously. But my stance was different at that time. Every year we had clash over this issue. However, God has been kind! The supply chain for mango and plum pickles was managed by my aunt, whom we affectionately call Koli Mashi. Every winter, she used to make various sorts of pickles and bestow upon us. Thank you, Koli mashi for quenching our ‘eternal thirst’ for pickles … for so many years! 🙂 She still does it happily.
Winter for me was all about playing badminton. This was one sport I loved to play. We (me and my friends in the neighborhood) used to play badminton after getting back from school or whenever we could find time … in the morning and in the afternoon, until the dusk fell. We played in the park near our house, on the ground in front of our house and even on the wide walkways beside.
It was a beautiful place where we lived … an enclosed area … an estate owned by the Ordnance Factory of India. The high wall stood all around like the Great Wall of China to maintain privacy from the busy main road outside. This wall had caused us so much trouble that we hated it from the heart. First, there were times when we had to sacrifice our brand new shuttle corks just because someone served it hard and it went up … up… and away … over the top, right on the other side of the ‘Great Wall’. It was too high for us to climb and the main gate was far enough. The cork will already be crushed under the wheels or picked up by someone else by the time we could reach there.
Secondly, we lived in a ground floor flat. And that god damned wall barred us from viewing what was happening on the other side while my school mate Shonali (she was blessed to reside in a 2nd floor flat) could watch every thing standing by the window at any given point of time of the day. I envied her so much for this … and innovated ‘reasons’ (read found excuses) to go upstairs at her flat once done with my home works. 🙂
When I was very young and Shonali and her family did not move in the neighborhood there was no chance of getting to 2nd floor (the roof was inaccessible, too – no one was allowed to get on the roof except the maintenance staffs) what we could only see from our window is the top of the Double Decker buses (that graced the streets of Calcutta then). We didn’t have the permission to go outside when mother was not home. I stood by the window waiting patiently only to get a glimpse of a Double Decker! 😛
To me winter meant Pitha, nalen gur-er sondesh and Jaynager-er moya, an assortment of delectable Bengali dessert. Ma prepared different kinds of pitha and kheer that we loved to eat so very much. I remember… Ma used to make pitha in the evening after coming back from work. Baba also helped her in preparing all those traditional Bengali sweets.
Things are different now… Baba is no more. We got busy with our jobs. Ma, though has retired from her office, can’t manage it alone. Winters come and go. No mist and dews … only smog. Sun is not that soft and gentle anymore (environmental pollution, I mean). No sweets, no circus, no visits to the zoo. The chilly breeze from the North brings only memories with it. Those are the days I’ll cherish till my last breath!
Footloose Forever 
Oh yes. it was indeed terrible 🙂 Looking forward to more such reminiscences of Kolkata from you.
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I share many of these memories. Winter is Kolkata (after the harsh winters of Delhi) are still very enjoyable..and yes, badminton, nolen gur are still around. The circus too..we took our daughter there last year and she was thrilled!Though their generation, with malls and multiplexes substituting open spaces, may never know the joys of seeing dewdrops on grasses on an early winter morning, and going by the mild weather which passes off as ” cold: in kolkata, they will never know the pain of shivering on early winter mornings while going to school.
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Absolutely…and how terrible it felt bathing in cold water in the morning of Saraswati Puja 🙂 …It’s good to know that you try to give your daughter those experiences which, I am sure, she’ll also cherish someday in future! Thank you for visiting and sharing your thoughts.
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Joyful post.Happy and successful new 2015.
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Thank you. Happy and prosperous new year to you too 🙂
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Wish you and yours a Joyous season!!
Cheers!!
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Thank you… wish you the same 🙂
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Nice post
Sad that everything has changed so much but I guess that’s the way it goes everywhere. Funny how you say “winter” and no mention of snow or cold. Even funnier for me to visualize Indians dressed in Christmas clothing since most of you are not Christian.
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Thank you Rob and Diane for visiting my blog. Winter is not that cold in this part of the world, rather it’s more pleasant and for Indians it is all about revelry and merry making in Christmas. Though we are mostly not Christians Christmas is quite popular here. 🙂
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Lovely post, and I’m really enjoying your blog!
Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
http://www.thetechgypsy.com
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Thank you for visiting my blog, Robyn and giving me a chance to discover your wonderful blog.
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Hello Moon,
Great to find you here and I just enjoyed exploring your blog.
So nice to read your childhood memories and it takes me back in time 🙂
In Kerala, we used to celebrate Christmas along with other Hindu festivals with same intensity.
As you mentioned, for us also, the first thing that comes to our mind is Christmas cake, and the second most important thing is the “Star” (Yesterday I bought one and hung it in front of our house).
Thank you so much for sharing and have a beautiful day ahead 🙂
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Hi Sreejith, you are most welcome to the world of Footloose 🙂 I read your blog too. It’s pretty refreshing…gives a flavor of God’s Own Country. Thanks for visiting.
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Christmas is a beautiful time of the year! 🙂 Glad to know about your experiences.
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Thanks for dropping by, Renuka. Merry Christmas to you in advance 🙂
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Very well written till the last line. 🙂
I crave for the noren gud often.
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That’s so nice of you Indrani. And yes… nalen gur is something a bong can never ignore 😉
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Hi I have nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Thank you and keep inspiring. http://maverickbird.com/2014/12/18/i-am-touched/
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Thank you Svetlana. I really feel honoured by this nomination.
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I am also so partial to cakes and pastries 😀 And the first picture is so cute.
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The last paragraph of this mesmerizing write up reminded me of Sanjeev Chattopadhyay. I always used to read 3/4th part of his story, and then get scared to continue with the last 1/4th as that section will always tell me the reality. Reality is “Winters come and go. No mist and dews … only smog.” The world has changed, people have changed and so did the seasons…
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You will feel more energized for Puja, if returning home after a long journey.Fortunately it happened to me only one time in 3 years .
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it’s really gr8 feelings for me to cherish my kolkata days in winter through your blog…!!! awesome writing style….I can visualize the whole thing…. wonderful… 🙂
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Pitha, jayanagrer moya…. mouthwatering items. Once again you took us back to our childhood. The days are lost but we can still feel the freshness of those days through your expressions. Thanks a lot… have a great cHristmas and New Year 🙂
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Reminds me of my childhood days!! the way we had fun and the days that are long lost but are still alive within us. I can never forget them and you have, yet again, refreshed it. Thank you so much.:-)
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… 🙂
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Pitha, nolen gur-er sondesh and Jaynager-er mowa i also love it. Give some pics of Pitha, nolen gur-er sondesh and Jaynager-er mowa….
Lets arrange a picnic at zoo… you can be more nostalgic there
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that will be gr8! 🙂
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The winter is not the same what it was 15-20 years back. I am pretty apprehensive about the fate of nolen gur, the soft sun and other winter charms in a decade from now. Enjoy them while they’re still around. Cheers!
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Cheers! 😀
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