Limericks

I have been writing and creating limericks as far back as I can remember. Initially I coined them to educate and entertain my children and as they grew up, I recited my limericks to other kids. Everyone laughed at them, everyone enjoyed them and finally I started jotting them down. Over the years I lost many of them since my memory faded though few survived those I wrote down. Last year I decided to get my limericks published. The following image is of the book cover that my younger son designed and created. The title reads in phonetic Bengali ‘Hashte Hashte Goragori’ which in English means ‘Rolling in laughter’. The book consists of 52 limericks and I have many more as I continue to write. Since then the book has been received well by many of my friends and their families. I present two of the limericks from the book with images of the original Bengali script so that my Bengali readers can read them in original and an English translation (done by my son) for non Bengali readers. The way I write my limericks, it is very difficult to do literal or exact transliteration keeping the rhyme intact. More than the meaning of the words I like to play with the pronunciation, rhyming alphabets or expressions resulting in a nonsensical parody of everyday life. I hope you enjoy both – the original Bengali (if you can read) and the English translation.

Limerick 1 

 Syrup King

O rasogulla (a popular Indian sweet white in colour, dipped in syrup) let me ask you

            Who gave you this name?

How did you become so fair?

            Where do you live?

You are so soft rasogulla

            Swimming in the syrup

Seeing you our greedy mind

            Goes out of control

With big round eyes you keep staring

            Your tummy full of syrup

To appease someone angry

            I send you as gift

You may go anywhere

            Dipped in jars full of syrup

But never go, even absentminded

            In my maths paper

(In Bengali when someone gets a ‘zero’ in any subject (particularly in mathematics), we say ‘you have got a rasogulla in your paper since rasogulla is always shaped like a round sphere)

One of my friend’s granddaughter recited this poem for her school annual competition and won the first prize.

Limerick 2 

Passing Formula

Why are you crying Dashu? Listen to me

You got zero in maths? So you are gloomy!

            I know of an easy way

            Write it down now as I say

Plateful of rasogulla spread upon banana leave

Dry them up exactly at noon then pack them in sieve

            Sunburnt rasogulla, with Hilsa fish fry

            Stand on your head, legs up – eat it dry

Who can give you zero in maths now, no one will dare

Who can defy my formula; tell me the name of the mare

            Hey, why is your eyes moist again; why don’t you smile?

            You got two in history? That has been news for a while

Stop crying now; listen carefully, I will tell you what to do

Write it down in your diary; don’t reveal what I tell you

            Neem leaves and red soil, and handful of glue

            Mix them well and keep it on the roof beneath sky blue

Slice open tummy of ripe banana and fill it up with lime

Neem leaves and glue mix and a bit of salt worth dime

            Easily will you get eighty or ninety in history

            Seeing such a result we all will smile in glee

Caption Writing

Among my numerous hobbies I sometimes indulge in ‘caption’ writing. I look for interesting visuals from old magazines or books and then give them a suitable caption, the way I feel or see it. These captions are not always my original, few have been taken from Tagore’s song or poetry. I now have completed two albums of pictures with captions, here’s a smattering of the same. The captions are written in Bengali of course so my son suggested that I write the Bengali in phonetic so that anyone can read it and follow it up with English translation so that all of you may understand the meaning. Enjoy...

 In Phonetic Bengali – He nithur manab – na na na na aaghat heno na ore

                                    Hridoyer dhon oje, uhare rakhibo dhore

English translation – O cruel human – please don’t cut the tree down

                                    It’s the treasure of my heart, I will hold on to it

In Phonetic Bengali – chutir bansi bajlo je oi neel gogone

                                    Aami keno ekla boshe ei bijone

English translation – The yonder blue sky plays the flute of freedom

                                    Why am I sitting alone in this silent horizon?

Phonetic Bengali – Golper jhuli loye thandidi chole

                                    Hashi gane bhore dai jeeboner pole

English translation – Grandma goes with her bag full of stories

                                    Filling every moment with smiles, songs and happiness

Phonetic Bengali – Darogababur koto je kaaj sharati din dhore

                                    Betha tanhar shorbo onge, mathao betha kore

                                    Ektu aayesh korata ki emoni oporadh

                                    Jonogone to bojhe na ta shadhe kebol badh

English translation – Police chief does so much work whole day

                                    His whole body aches and so does his brain

                                    Is it a crime if he relaxes a bit between work?

                                    People don’t understand that, interfering every now and then

Phonetic Bengali – ukil badir bodo chhele shaymakanto dhor

                                    Ghore boshe behala bajay, tole shurer jhod

                                    Posha meni bidalta tar mosto bodo bhokto

                                    Shamne boshe table neeye bol bajay je shokto

                                    Trahi trahi rob padate ghum nai karu chokhe

                                    Beshur behala bondho hole banchbe sobhai shukhe

English translation – Advocate’s eldest son Shaymakanto Dhor

                                    Strums his behala (an Indian stringed instrument) in his room, raising                                                 stormy tunes

                                    His pet cat is his biggest fan

                                    Accompanies him on tabla (a percussion instrument)

                                    The neighbourhood cries for help as they can’t sleep at night

                                    Everyone will live happily when the ill-tuned behala would stop

Collages

Earlier this month, my son, once again disappeared into the mountains and I fell severely ill. Bed ridden, struggling to stand up on my feet, I created these four collages to keep my mind from feeling the solitude of loneliness, here they are

Autumn colors in a village at the foothills

Autumn ushers in stillness in the blue sky, crowded with scattered clouds. Palms ripen and drop from the trees of their own accord. Two young friends contemplate to pick up the palms and enjoy a lazy afternoon.

A boat down the river

A boat sails off into the unknown as villages and mountains, forests and dreams pass by

Spirit of the Ruins

Soul seeking solitude amidst ruins far from the maddening crowds

Health is wealth

Mother and kid enjoy clean air, green trees, blue sky and share laughter at a health resort

Botanical Album

Normally, whenever my son goes away from home, either for work or on expeditions, do I get new ideas and thoughts to keep my mind occupied. Since my childhood I have been fascinated by the plant world wondering at their seemingly infinite varieties, species, colors, forms, shapes and their almost universal presence all over the planet. I loved playing with trees and shrubs sang songs to them, caressed the leaves and treated them as my best pals. Since fresh leaves, flowers or any part of a plant, doesn’t stay green and fresh for long and soon wilt if plucked, I wanted to build up my own botanical album containing dried leaves, flowers, etc in order to showcase the immense variety of this unique world. This thought turned into action around the year 1995 when my son had been deputed abroad for a long duration and I had to keep myself gainfully occupied.

I was in Mumbai then and I begin my search within the public parks and roadside flowerbeds near my house. Gradually I widened my net and started visiting other areas, poking and peering through bushes and nooks in search of common and uncommon specimens. Steadily my collection grew. I had no idea how to process leaves and plants for preservation; neither did I know of ‘herbarium’ paper. I followed my own process; which to me seemed logical – clean the fresh specimen thoroughly with a dry cloth, prick any thick stem to squeeze out the fluid, place it in between two sheets of blotting paper (or thick layer of old newspaper) and then keep it underneath a bed mattress for 45 – 60 days.

Once the specimen was properly dry I would arrange it in a pattern on a thick paper using glue and at times stitch with needle and thread. Since then I never looked back or stopped adding to my botanical collection. Besides my limited reach, my son soon joined in my search and suddenly my collection boomed as he would get specimens from some of the remotest places on Earth. Today I have over 200 specimens in my collection representing over dozen countries and several continents. Many of these are extremely rare and exotic; while some are commonplace but each represent nature’s work at its finest. Even after a decade and half, I am as spellbound as I was at all the patterns, mosaics and drama my specimens offer.

I hope my botanical collection, of which I would be presenting periodically with more stories, would give you as much joy and amazement to behold as I experienced to create. To begin with, I am showcasing some of my earliest specimens; from in and around the concrete jungles of Mumbai: -  

Article in Print Media

A year ago I was interviewed by a young journalist from Dainik Jagran, Oliver Frederick, mainly about my Braille writing. Based on the interview, Oliver had written a feature on my Braille pursuits, which was published in City Plus edition of Dainik Jagran (English edition), which is the most widely read newspaper journal in India. Sharing it with you all. 

Mouthwatering Dish – 1

I have been a mother for fifty years and during this period my house has been visited by thousands of people, mostly friends of my children and their families. As any mother I love to cook for my sons and according to them I am the best cook in the world; a sentiment all children nurture for their mother. To indulge and satiate the culinary buds of such a diverse range of people, visiting me from nearly all over the world, I had to literally think and cook on my feet. I had to delve deep into the traditional recipes of my birthplace (which I had learnt from my mom and grandmom) and the ones I had learnt while growing up and when none sufficed then I invented my own recipes. After all I was cooking for my children and their friends so I left no stones unturned to make sure that they were not only well fed but kept returning for more. Hundreds of them down the line have been asking me to compile a book of my recipes, which I finally completed in 2011. My son is right now editing and proofing the book and hopefully it would be internationally published in a year or so. Since the book would take a while to reach the market, I thought of sharing some of my special recipes here so that you can start tasting the dishes that I have been cooking in my kitchen. The first one below is a traditional prawn’s preparation that I learnt from my mom (since I couldn't make it right now, the picture will be put up later).

Chingri Bhate (Prawns cooked inside rice) –

Ingredients:

Prawns – 500 gm                                             Turmeric – a pinch

Coconut – 1 (grated)                                        Salt to taste

Green chilli – 3                                                Sugar – 1 tsp

Mustard Seed – 1 tbsp                                    Mustard oil – 40 ml

Banana leaf – 12 inch long

Rice – as required for the members

Method

1. Shell, clean and wash prawns. 2. Grind coconut, green chillies, mustard seeds to fine paste. 3. Clean the banana leaf and wipe it with a wet cloth. Hold the leaf on the flame for few minutes till the color of the leaf changes. Keep aside. 4. In a bowl marinate prawns with ground spices, sugar, turmeric, salt and mustard oil for fifteen minutes. 5. Keep the marinated prawns in the center of the banana leaf and cover it by folding all the sides and bind the leaf with white thread. 6. Prepare rice, when done remove from flame. And then remove half the rice. Place the stuffed banana leaf on the surface of the remaining rice and cover it with the previously removed rice ensuring that the leaf is covered with hot rice from all sides. Keep a lid on the rice. 7. After 40 minutes remove the banana leaf, open it and serve it on a serving bowl with plain steamed rice. 

Paper Magic - Collage

Collage is a form of art (a paste-up) in which various materials like pieces of paper, photographs, fabric, wool; woods, etc. are glued to a paper or canvas to render an artistic image. It is also a collection of ‘diverse’ things. In that sense my life itself is a colorful collage.

The idea of collage was buried deep within my mind since my childhood like that of a seed beneath the soil before it grows into a plant. Then one day in early 2007 when my son has been absent for a long duration I thought of making a collage; my first collage. Prior to this I had never seriously contemplated of making one; neither did I have any knowledge of how to make one. I only knew its dictionary meaning and nothing else. When an idea strikes me, which is often, I must immediately get it into action, be it writing, singing or painting or anything at all. My mind is like that, it gets excited like that of a child and then it cannot rest till I have succumbed to its bidding.

I had a collection of old magazines, which for a while my son had been asking me to get rid of. I didn’t read them but I had a vague idea that one day I would be able to use these magazines in some productive way so had kept them safe. With few hazy images in my mind I started going through these magazines, eyeing their pictures, text fonts, etc and slowly but surely a larger and firmer image gathered momentum. On 4^th of Feb 2007, exactly five years ago to this date, I began my first collage compilation. I had to sift through ideas as collage must begin with just that, an idea, which then needs to be translated into something tangible and visually appealing and then one needs to search and collect relevant pictures and cut them according to the mosaic. I wanted to rely mostly on papers so I looked for picture within pictures and where I found none I filled up gaps with watercolors.

Here I present an ensemble of my collages, few of which are framed and hang in my drawing room greeting visitors, others remain within my shelves. They are colorful; they depict some aspects of life and this beautiful world of ours. I haven’t seen or been to many places physically but my mind can still conjure such images since I live exactly the way my collages are – vibrant, colorful and always youthful. 

Collage with a message

My first collage - 04 Feb 2007