Thank you Calcutta!

A friend asked me to write a long letter about my stay in Calcutta. It has been two years since I have come to this city. Here is an excerpt from the letter...

:) a flood of memories come on to me like a giant wave. suddenly, i am reminded of a different time, where my city smelled of the sea whenever i turned east. where, all troubles could vanish if i just turned the bike towards the beach road. different times. so many people. a lot of moments. i am already there. wait, again, there is loyola college. how many coffees i had and how many spoons of sugar have i stolen from rishi. not a single haunt has been left unhaunted by me. the place at the side of bertram hall. the hostel. the cricket ground. hockey ground. football ground. the side of loyola church. the ictr. viscom dept. social work dept. chemistry dept. main block. landing. jubilee block. canteen. yrcs office. so many places. each with its own memories. there were days when i reached loyola at 7.30 in the morning and stayed on till 8.30 at the night. and now. everything is just a memory. the bad ones leave no longer a bitter taste. the good ones have become idealized into a dream. memory. i always says, that it is difficult for sense perception/experience to match up with memory. and so it is with chennai. it is now Madras. a distant, dream city. my home city by name. when i am angry with the world, i think of how i am stranded in calcutta. when i am in harmony with it, i look around and thank god for the many blessings that i have received here. life has been a good journey. sometimes difficult. sometimes easy. but always on the run. never in the same moment twice.

and suddenly, two years have gone by.

i have not dwelled on that thought too much. but two days ago, on the twelfth of may, 2008, i had first set foot in calcutta. Chinna and i had come here for me to take my entrance test. things did not go as expected. everything looked as if this trip would be reduced to being a short vacation to a city that i had never been to. but things changed. when i came to start a new life in calcutta, my dad took a transfer to work here in the same place as i. we moved into a small house. hardly 200 feet in dimensions. i did not have my bike. the trip to the university was a while away. i cannot say that i was not afraid. and still, things were interesting. challenging... more than anything else, always changing.

soon, i got back the comforts of my old life. i created a new life for myself. this beautiful city has opened its arms to me and taken me to her bosom. one thing i know for sure about calcutta is that, as a city, she teems with life. she has a distinct soul. she is beautiful. i learned more about life and myself. i have gained as a person. i have been guided from strength to strength. things keep looking better.

two years have gone by. not so suddenly.

I realized that I cannot write just one long letter about Calcutta. They always have to be many short ones. But here is a short list of those I thank. Not just in Calcutta. Not just FOR Calcutta. Not in any specific order.

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No. I still am afraid that I will miss many names.
So, thank you, all of you.
I love you all.
Thank you, Calcutta.

Rain... 5th September 2009

Happy Teacherz Day!

I know that some of my teachers would kill me if they see the 'z' used in the previous line. But like every other miscreant who'z crying for attention from his/her favorite teacher, I let it be - as a tribute to all of those who would smile reading this. Teachers. Not necessarily mine. Not particularly academic. Not always those who teach the great philosophies of the world. Teachers. Sometimes they say everything that has to be said with a smile. I am sounding too much like an Archie's greeting card. Before I break into the 'you held my hand and taught me to write...' song, let me move on.

This is an extremely localized phenomenon, just like the 14th November being celebrated as Children'z day. But despite this distinction as an Indian Secular Non-Patriotic Day (That'z a tough one folks!), Teachers Day gets little attention. Maybe a set of Reynold's pens from Class VII. A phone call from an ex-student (who still is charmed by the idea of Old School)? Teachers don't get a fair deal these days. I went to school in a time when children waited nervously outside the staff room to give a card and a rose to their favorite teacher. Some had to carry contingency flowers, in case they bump into their not-so-favorite ones. It is not a big deal anymore. Some got chocolates. Or even boiled sweets. But the sense of satisfaction in the eye of the teacher was unmistakable. It was as if this was the one day they have been working for all year long. They seem to say. It was worth it.

Its raining today. I come to know that there have been very few takers for the teaching profession in the recent past years. The best teachers are already in their late thirties. Smart ones don't head the teaching direction these days. The corporate world offers them more money or the universities offer more pride. Schools? They are fast becoming leftovers. I wish I am being the typical oldtimer who says that those days were the best. I maybe wrong. I hope I am wrong. I hope that strong minded individuals become school teachers and inspire students of the next generation to be the best they can be. I have had many who have reshaped my life. Talking about each of them is not the scope of this post. There will be another time abd place for that. But let me leave you with names and their nature in a few words (if that is possible)...

Mrs. Leela Chandy - Class II - Class Teacher - forced me to stand on my own.
Ms. Sheila Beatrice - Class III - Class Teacher - took me seriously.
Mr. Arul Prakash - Class VI - Tamil Teacher - sparked my fancy with the stage.
Mrs. Catherine Simon - Class VIII - English Teacher - made me want to be Scarlet Pimpernel.
Mr. Ganesh - Class XI to XII - Tamil Teacher - defined versatile for me.
Mrs. Lydia Sagayam - Claa I to XII - Librarian - trusted me as a leader.
Dr. Sujatha Ross - Class VIII to XII - Principal - gave me a huge homecoming.
Dr. Claramma Jose - BA I Year - A Doll House - showed me the power of the dramatic word.
Dr. Chitra - Dip in VisCom - Screenwriting - was my teacher; is my mother.
Dr. T R Joy - BA II Year - Iliad - a teacher should not worry about covering syllabus for the course, as much as he shoud about uncovering it for the students.
Prof. Britto Kumar - BA III Year - HEL - man is not happy because he has everything; he has everything only when he is happy.
Mr. Vijayalayan - BA III Year - Fiction - 1 challenge; 30 days; 1st novel.
Dr. Ananda Lal - MA I n II Year - Drama - gave me the strength to jump by believing I will.

Thank you all!