For the past few days, I have suddenly been engulfed by the feeling that I cannot write...it's not that I have felt that I cannot write well, it's just this feeling of not being able to write at all...it was like one of those nightmares from which one cannot possibly awake...one of those bad dreams which go on and on...and I tried to think of what was going wrong. So I decided to write an anecdotal blog post, which would not involve any syntactical flourishes (not that I have many), and talk about one or two incidents which occurred this December.
One of my closest friends got married. It was nothing short of a fairy-tale ending to a long and sweet romance. But there was another 'fairy-tale' ending waiting for me. This friend and I had had not spoken to one another for almost two years. We had had some juvenile and exceedingly silly fall-out over nothing in particular...and I missed her, a lot. There was another friend who was very close to us as well. After the stupid misunderstanding, all three of us tried to make amends, but somehow the cracks refused to seal themselves...or maybe we couldn't seal them well enough...it was just one misunderstanding upon another, and I presume it left all of us very hurt and sad. It had been a special friendship, you see. University days could not be recalled without the painful jab of recollection, that we had 'parted ways,' to sound dramatic!!
We moved on with our lives, made new friends...and God has been kind, I have never had a dearth of friends...actually, no one ever does...friendship is like one of those precious reservoirs, a plentiful resource...one needs to look around and listen...and anyway, who said things inanimate cannot be friends...books, music, movies, the arts, the Sciences...Nature...everyone of them has seen me through some lonesome spells and hours.
Well, anyway, I digress, so back to my story. After I went back home this time, a lot of my friends called me up and said that this friend of mine wanted to get in touch with me...but I had had no idea that she was getting married. Many thanks to those wonderful friends who got us back in touch, living right up to playing the benevolent messengers. She had promised me, in those long ago days, that whenever she would get married, I would have to come and attend her wedding, from whichever part of the World I was in.
And then we spoke...and she sent me one of the most touching, honest and wonderful letters I have ever received in my life. I realised when I read it, that I had been waiting for it all along. And all credit to her, for being so warm and pro-active, and re-kindling the old warmth of our connection. I know her husband well...he was and still is like a brother to me, and how wonderful a couple they make...
On the day of her wedding, I couldn't hold back my tears...some will say that I am being sentimental, but Life has taught me to value sentiments...more so on certain occasions...warm hugs, quick snatches of conversation and many pictures later, we were happy...the venue was exceedingly romantic, and my Parents and I sat on a table, on a dreamily decorated roof-top of Tollygunge Club, and partook of the hearty and delicious wedding repast, madde sweeter by the secure knowledge of a snug friendship renewed. To make things even better, I met my favourite professor and one my favourite teachers...in addition to exchanging pleasantries with common friends and familiar acquaintances...
Another incident pained and warmed my soul. I went for the Memorial Service of one of the best and finest teachers the World has ever had...I think this is a profession which commands and deserves respect...and we, who have stepped into this realm, have a lot of ideals to live up to and put into active practice. Adjectives fail m if I have to describe the kind of teacher Mrs. Nonda Chatterjee, Principal, CIS, was. She was brilliant enough to have taught at any University...Calcutta International School was synonymous with her...she taught O and A Level History and Literature, with an ease that belied the daunting nature of teaching...she was equally brilliant at Math. and Geography...and when she would teach us History and Literature, her analogies would range from Chemistry, Physics and also Economics. To her, Knowledge was an inter-related whole. Keats and Tagore were among her favourites, though she could speak eloquently on the subject of just about any writer...she had a broad cosmopolitan outlook, was dedicated to a superlative degree and had travelled many nations, and was full of anecdotes, each one relevant...she shared with us, so generously , so liberally, her views on a multitude of subjects...she remembered us...she connected with us...she made us discerning, critical and mature readers...I fumbled as I spoke at her memorial services, all semblance of eloquence abandoning me, being swept over by wave after wave of strong emotion. May her Soul Rest in Peace.
And then I met old school friends, my cousins, and someone I regard as closely as I would my sister...Aand of course, I was spoiled by the Love of family...Thank God for Love...it keeps the world on its axis, puts things into perspective...and keeps us warm and cozy...
One of my closest friends got married. It was nothing short of a fairy-tale ending to a long and sweet romance. But there was another 'fairy-tale' ending waiting for me. This friend and I had had not spoken to one another for almost two years. We had had some juvenile and exceedingly silly fall-out over nothing in particular...and I missed her, a lot. There was another friend who was very close to us as well. After the stupid misunderstanding, all three of us tried to make amends, but somehow the cracks refused to seal themselves...or maybe we couldn't seal them well enough...it was just one misunderstanding upon another, and I presume it left all of us very hurt and sad. It had been a special friendship, you see. University days could not be recalled without the painful jab of recollection, that we had 'parted ways,' to sound dramatic!!
We moved on with our lives, made new friends...and God has been kind, I have never had a dearth of friends...actually, no one ever does...friendship is like one of those precious reservoirs, a plentiful resource...one needs to look around and listen...and anyway, who said things inanimate cannot be friends...books, music, movies, the arts, the Sciences...Nature...everyone of them has seen me through some lonesome spells and hours.
Well, anyway, I digress, so back to my story. After I went back home this time, a lot of my friends called me up and said that this friend of mine wanted to get in touch with me...but I had had no idea that she was getting married. Many thanks to those wonderful friends who got us back in touch, living right up to playing the benevolent messengers. She had promised me, in those long ago days, that whenever she would get married, I would have to come and attend her wedding, from whichever part of the World I was in.
And then we spoke...and she sent me one of the most touching, honest and wonderful letters I have ever received in my life. I realised when I read it, that I had been waiting for it all along. And all credit to her, for being so warm and pro-active, and re-kindling the old warmth of our connection. I know her husband well...he was and still is like a brother to me, and how wonderful a couple they make...
On the day of her wedding, I couldn't hold back my tears...some will say that I am being sentimental, but Life has taught me to value sentiments...more so on certain occasions...warm hugs, quick snatches of conversation and many pictures later, we were happy...the venue was exceedingly romantic, and my Parents and I sat on a table, on a dreamily decorated roof-top of Tollygunge Club, and partook of the hearty and delicious wedding repast, madde sweeter by the secure knowledge of a snug friendship renewed. To make things even better, I met my favourite professor and one my favourite teachers...in addition to exchanging pleasantries with common friends and familiar acquaintances...
Another incident pained and warmed my soul. I went for the Memorial Service of one of the best and finest teachers the World has ever had...I think this is a profession which commands and deserves respect...and we, who have stepped into this realm, have a lot of ideals to live up to and put into active practice. Adjectives fail m if I have to describe the kind of teacher Mrs. Nonda Chatterjee, Principal, CIS, was. She was brilliant enough to have taught at any University...Calcutta International School was synonymous with her...she taught O and A Level History and Literature, with an ease that belied the daunting nature of teaching...she was equally brilliant at Math. and Geography...and when she would teach us History and Literature, her analogies would range from Chemistry, Physics and also Economics. To her, Knowledge was an inter-related whole. Keats and Tagore were among her favourites, though she could speak eloquently on the subject of just about any writer...she had a broad cosmopolitan outlook, was dedicated to a superlative degree and had travelled many nations, and was full of anecdotes, each one relevant...she shared with us, so generously , so liberally, her views on a multitude of subjects...she remembered us...she connected with us...she made us discerning, critical and mature readers...I fumbled as I spoke at her memorial services, all semblance of eloquence abandoning me, being swept over by wave after wave of strong emotion. May her Soul Rest in Peace.
And then I met old school friends, my cousins, and someone I regard as closely as I would my sister...Aand of course, I was spoiled by the Love of family...Thank God for Love...it keeps the world on its axis, puts things into perspective...and keeps us warm and cozy...
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