The neighbour nuisance!!!

One ominous evening, this "not-so-respectable" respected lady, arrived at our door!!



I was expectedly, quite badly disappointed!!!





She was chitchatting  with my parents, over tea, and a plate, unnecessarily overfilled, with overpriced snacks!!! Anyways, I was happy that I was safely, imprisoned in my room!!!





I was supposed to be leaving for some place, so  I just wanted to speak to my mom, for a moment.
And disaster struck!!!






"Nikhil!!! Beta, how are you?"

"Am good aunty! How are you?" though, I said such sweet words, all I wanted to say was.
"Why the hell are you here?"


"Am alright beta!! Old lady, medical issues! Carrying on somehow!"
 She was so very faking it!



I just wished, God would have been a bit more kind, and gifted some people, a bit less of oxygen!!!




"What are you doing these days?" her curiosity peeped, well out of her concern!


"Nothing much. I'm into writing. And......" I tried being humble, but I guess, she had sniffed spice, and cut me halfway.


"Oh! Good! My nephew is also a writer!! With a leading daily!"


"..... a bit of painting...." She literally snatched my turn, even before I could actually begin, again!!


"Hmmm... my son-in-law's brother is also a repute painter!! He was a student of Government Art College! He's doing a lot of exhibitions these days!!!" She was literally finding it quite a spice, to relish!


"..... I'm doing a bit of photography,  as well."

I said, trying to salvage, my just lost pride!!



"Really? My sister's husband's cousin's brother-in-law 's son is also a good freelancer photographer!
Earning some good bucks, these days!!" the smile across her badly wrinkled cheeks could match the level of accomplishment, when India had defeated Pakistan convincingly, in a cricket match!!!






And, yet, it wasn't over!!







"And beta Nikhil! What else are you doing these days?"






"Aunty! I just turned gay!!!"

To be continued.....

Of money and miscellany!!!

Months before my college ended, for the first time, I took to full time earning!! 

The previous experiences were just meagre English tuitions, where, I, inevitably tortured people, weaker than me, in English!!! 

I entered into a partnership, with one of my elder friends. A business, and, that too, real estate!!! Shit could never be shittier!!

The greatest thorn, down the throat of any Bengali is, his, creativity, if at all, by chance!!! 

Literally!! 

Bengalis are expected to be badly creative, by birth. But, to be frank, it's some serious respite, if, you, being a bong, are not good at any art form!! 

Seriously!!

It's an entirely different issue, whether, I was good or not, but, definitely, I did know some!! So, like, most other nuisance neighbour's we had one more, that too, an elderly one, who  was usually, a keen participant in neighbouring affairs & issues!! 

She was one of those, who, would be back  bitching  about the newly married lady, and say, "I'm never into back bitching!!!"

Her heights of hypocrisy were hilarious!!!

To be continued.....

Dad calls it a day!

Dad, retired from his government services, in grand style! 

But, it was more sad a news for me, than, it was, actually, for him!! 

Because, it simply meant, he would always be there, round the corner, with his poisoned arrows of criticism!!! 

Tragic indeed!!!

Quite expectedly, he turned to full time writing. To add up, he got to the editorial board of half a dozen Bengali science magazines!!! 

A science writer-editor, my dad was literally, on cloud nine! He was touching his dreams, what, if at sixty? 

He was well a five-year old nagging over toys, when it came to buying fish, at the market!! I guess every Bengali father is, simply, too good, at that!!!

If you don't like fish, you are anything but a Bengali! A Bengali's reaction to having a great catch of "ilish", "bhetki", or "chingri", at a reasonably cheap price, is simply orgasmic!!! 

My dad, I bet, was not that happy. even when he became a father!!! 

"Maacher jhol bhaat" is an instantaneous turn on for a Bengali, on any given day! Bengalis and fishes are more intensely in love, than Romeo and Juliet would ever have been!

To be continued.....