Exploring Kolkata - My Way

Have I ever lived in the city? Yes, when I was a kid, I lived in Kolkata for about a year-n-half. During those months I spent in the city, I never liked it, forget about loving it. It was a mess, I didn't have any friends, I was very young, constantly missed my hometown Delhi and every single day craved to go back. The fact that my Bangla was not perfect and had a strong north-Indian accent didn't help; it only made me an 'outsider' amongst my class mates, and though they found it amusing and interesting, I always felt weird. I didn't like that phase, and still don't.

An Interview With Anupam Roy On His Album Dwitiyo Purush: Courtesy Bengali Paper Ebela

I got to read the original Bengali version of a recent interview with Anupam Roy in the newspaper (?) Ebela (I happened to read it online). Since it was all in Bengali and isn't available outside Bengal (unless you're an e-reader of the paper), I figured it would be good to share it in a translated-to-English version just to let other non-Bengali fans and those who're not very proficient with the language enjoy the read too....I am reproducing the original interview here in a translated English version and have no ownership over it. Its not my work. Also, Im not a 100% correct in the language, so please do forgive me if I haven't been able to write it properly.

If you would like to read the online original Bengali version of the same, please click here

In a market that's going downward, he doesn't fear coming out with a single! Not a music director, he calls himself a 'poet' (I translated this from the Bengali word 'kobiyaal' and felt this is what it means, please correct me if I'm wrong.) After 'Dwitiyo Purush', Anupam Roy speaks with Sangveta Chakravarty.

He was busy in recording. The moment he heard of the interview, the first thing he wanted to know was 'how long will it take?' When I told him half an hour, he said, 'then let's go ahead and begin. Good if it's over, else will again catch up later.' The album Dwitiyo Purush, the singer-music director debate, love - an 'open' and free Anupam about all this on the pages of 'Obela'.

First I'd like to know about 'Dwitiyo Purush.' What kind of songs does it have?
Dwitiyo Purush has 10 songs. They're mainly based around romance, love. It's difficult to typecast the songs. The songs are similar to the kind of songs I generally do. They are written by me, and the music too.


READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

The Kolkata Chow...Chomping Glory

Okay, so what's this? Noodles right? Wrong, if you're buying this in Kolkata, precisely where this was clicked. If you're out to get some noodles in Cal, you must ask for chowmein, or better still, chow...

I didn't learn this for a long long time, in fact, it's only now on my recent few trips that each time I ask for noodles and the person mentions 'chow' I quickly understand what he's talking about. Earlier I would take time to think it out.

This picture is that of my typical lunch/dinner when I was in Kolkata for about a week. I was staying at a small guest-house in a place called Southern Avenue that's near the big Rabindra Sarobar Lake. It's a gorgeous little place, tucked away, cosy and amidst all the hustle bustle of south Kolkata. It's kind of become my home away from home. Whenever I visit Kolkata I end up staying here, and yes, I do quite miss the para when I'm back in Mumbai....

Well, back to the pic above, there was this tiny little food stall near the guest house that made these amazing noodles (chow), rolls and rice. I absolutely loved the Bengali touch to the typical noodles...so it was that once I tried it, I had it for lunch and dinner every time that I was not out somewhere and was in the guest house.

Crossing Kolkata Streets The Abbey Road Way

Okay, so today I woke up to read a piece in Mumbai mirror about how Mamata Banerjee was using the above shown poster around the city to encourage pedestrians to use the zebra crossing. The moment I read this there was one pic that immediately came to my mind.

Of course almost all music lovers and Beatles' followers are aware of this iconic pic...

But the one that came to my mind immediately was the one below....

Lol.....isn't that absolutely what you would love to see instead? I would!!! Desi flavour desi ilaaj.....If you're urging Kolkatans (is that what you call people who live in Kolkata? Please correct me if I'm wrong) to cross the road properly, why not use an image that features one of the most sought-after, popular and loved musician of today, and his amazing awesome band....!!!

I definitely vote for this one ;-)

Yeah, I know the zebra crossing is missing (you see this wasn't really that big a road, just a small lane), but what do we have the photo softwares for, right?

- Debolina Raja Gupta

The Aaloo Sheddho Gang!!!

It happened quite by chance today. I've always really loved eating that typical Bengali comfort food - aaloo sheddho bhaat with ghee and kaancha lonka.... While growing up in Delhi, this was never a part of our menu, but yes, sometimes if ma wasn't well, or if the vegetables were kind of in that stage when you're about to head for the sabzi mandi (those days we didn't have vegetable stores in malls, remember?!), the quintessential aaloo was what most homes would still have, and ours was no exception. So it would be a meal of daal bhaat and aaloo sheddho. And that's how I got introduced to it and fell in love with it.
Image courtesy kichukhonn.blogspot.in

Of course this isn't a dish that people from other cultures or regions know of, and I don't expect them to like it either. It's requires quite a different kind of palette to enjoy this one I feel. I remember once as a kid when I was visiting Kolkata and went to a relatives' house for lunch, they asked me what I would love to have and I replied - aaloo sheddho bhaat! Poor people! The poor things had toiled the whole day preparing a lavish Bengali spread, complete with various kinds of torkari (sabzi), daal, bhaaja, maachh (fish) and chutney and sweets, and all I wanted to have was aaloo sheddho! They were aghast and my parents were quite embarassed! Of course I didn't get to have it, though I did get to have that amazingly delicious Bengali ghee that I have loved ever since and of late have asked any visiting relative to pick up from Cal if they happen to come over here. I'm talking of that grainy brown ghee - Jharna Ghee!

Bengali Script: My First Memories of Learning The Bangla Words

I've always been an avid reader, a compulsive reader who can't live without books! And for as long as I remember, I've been reading, my oldest reading memories being around the age I was 3.....While I was a kid, the scripts I was reading were English and Hindi.

My ma used to read me a lot of Bengali books of rhymes and stories that she used to buy on our once-a-year or once-in-two years trip to Kolkata, and if my grandparents or aunts were visiting, they would always brings some new Bengali books for me, that my ma would read out to me...Of course I didn't understand most of it, the words sounded unfamiliar and I there were so many unknown and alien words that I stopped asking about them after some time. The situations and the settings sounded different, like a different world out there, and I loved the dreamy, faraway feel of reading these stories from Bengal.

Rice grains on my kitchen floor

My little rice bowl in the rice bucket

 

 The beauties - glistening rice grains

As a bengali, almost all my food fantasies have had one constant throughout the years - rice. Yes, it's true that I used to take immense offense when anyone used the term 'bheto baangali' to refer to those bongs who always crave rice, whether it was applied to me directly or not. I somehow never wanted to accept the fact that yes, I did have a rice tooth, actually, an entire rice tummy - just a tooth wont do!

Beginning of Winter: The Aaloo Kopi Way!

Winter is slowly creeping in, and there's one very very special fragrance that I have always associated with winters, and I guess always will.

When I was living in Delhi, every time the winters would start drifting in, ma would cook a cabbage dish (as this was my absolute favourite) and this would be the season when the vegetable would be the freshest in the market. It was a really simple preparation, hardly any spices or masala, the only special touch being the extra-than-usual adding of peas, and the one ingredient that is almost a must in every bengali household - aaloo (potato).

I made this yesterday (you can see the cabbage, tomatoes, peas, potato and bay leaf) and my hubby and daughter loved it too. It wasn't as delicious as ma makes it, but it did bring back to me my memories of my years spent in ma's kitchen, and also the fragrance of the beginning of this year's winter.

- Debolina Raja Gupta