TANZANWEISUNGEN (It won’t be like this forever) choreographed by Moritz Ostruschnjak, Bangalore International Centre, 210324

Announcement from Goethe Institut:

March 21 and 22, 2024, 7.00 p.m. | Bangalore International Centre

TANZANWEISUNGEN
(It won’t be like this forever)
by Moritz Ostruschnjak

We are delighted to present TANZANWEISUNGEN (It won’t be like this forever) by acclaimed German choreographer Moritz Ostruschnjak on the closing weekend of the Attakkalari India Biennial 2024.

The 30-minute solo is full of self-reflective and ironic references that defy any specific definition. Ostruschnjak remains true to the eclectic style of his latest productions and allows his soloist to transition effortlessly from a Schuhplattler to a grand jeté, from boxing footwork to break dance moves and from a reference to the jump rope; the common element is the sound, the pounding, clapping, breathing, jumping, bouncing that fills the space as a consistent rhythm.

The India tour of this project is supported by the Bavarian State Association for Contemporary Dance (BLZT) with funds from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

Only two shows.
Free entry. First-come first-seated. Register online today!

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Bus no. 201MD from MICO Checkpost to Domlur Bridge did not exist, so took an Ola Auto to just beyond the bridge. Shalini and I had coffee and masal puri (me) at the Udupi Food Hub, location:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KsjGFyqmHtpQ3mj47

parked the car and walked a few min to the BIC.

It would have been better if some explanation had been given before the performance instead of after it. Also, the gentlemen from (presumably) Goethe Institut and the Attakalari workshop, who talked, did not introduce themselves.

Very high intensity movement, humanly impossible for even the most fit person to keep up for beyond half an hour. Elements of different kinds of dance, ballet, performance videos.

After the performance the twosome ( choreographer Moritz Ostruschnjak and dancer Daniel Conant) talked for a while. It was first done in the Munich Opera House after lockdown, Daniel was dancing, the audience behind him on the stage, the empty hall behind him.

They “stole” ideas and movements from plenty of videos.

Enjoyable performance but took a little while to “get into it” and relate to it.

Two videos from the net (both at the Munich Opera House I think)

Anand: Charotar Crocodile Count, 06-080123

Count has been going on for 10 years with Voluntary Nature Conservancy (VNC). Pradyumna (short chap) , Anirudh Vasawa/ wife Niyata, Mehul, Nikhil Parikh, and others.

Trains:

Took 16508 (KSR-Jodhpur Exp), to Anand, dep 2230 from SBC on 040123, arr. Anand 0355 on 060123

Took 16209 (Ajmer-Mysuru Exp) from Anand, dep, 0304 hrs on 080123, arr. Blr City at 2315 on 090123

On 6th morning stayed at Motel Happy Home (location: ) Rs. 1000 on twin sharing. Very neat and comfy, tiny geyser. Tiny lift, WC.

Ate breakfast and lunch at Collegian Point, very good Gujju stuff. Really college students’ joint.

All other meals at the CHARUSAT canteen. Good Gujju food.

Swami Narayan hostel at Vadtal, Anand, had very spacious rooms with a dressing area with clotheslines), large bath with Western WC. Not sure how to book for rooms there.

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eBird

Fri 060123 at Shastri Maidan, walking distance from Happy Home:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125509292 (25 sp)

Sat 070123 at the meeting/departure point at Vadtal, opp Swami Narayan hostel:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125582698 (19 sp)

Sat 070123 morning (Maachiel, Traj)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125582698 (29 sp, including Osprey)

Sat 070123 evening, marshy area opp the gate of CHAROSAT:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125509292 (60 sp)

Sun 080123 morning (Malataj Lake, very productive)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125831047 (44 sp)

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Flickr:

Anand, 05,060123: (Vadtal in the morning on 6th)

Anand, 070123 (Maachiel and Traj Lakes, and small wetland in the evening)

Anand, 080123 (Malataj Lake, all sides), back to Blr

https://chat.whatsapp.com/HLl7DLGxVX6GpBY0JA7b7n

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FB:

Anand, 05,060123: (Vadtal in the morning on 6th)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159646365708878&type=3

Anand, 070123 (Maachiel and Traj Lakes, and small wetland in the evening)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159649600788878&type=3

Anand, 080123 (Malataj Lake, all sides), back to Blr
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159651597393878&type=3

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Gujju meal at the CHARUSAT canteen. bEgan barthA, kadi, sEv usal, khichdi, pApad, with a glass of chhAch (buttermilk).

Route allocation on day 1:

How NOT to translocate a crocodile, from Anirudh Vasawa’s presentation:

Venue:

The VNC office at Vallabh Vidyanagar:

The camel is used widely as a beast of burden, and to pull carts too:

‘

Non-vernal hanging Parakeets during our morning birding in the Shastri Maidan area on 6th

Male and female Alexandrine Parakeets:

Awake and Asleep, the two Spotted Owlets:

Bud, Manjunath and Prashanthi, brefus at Collegian Point:

Pretty Marwadi lady on the train:

Spotted Redshank from evening birding on 7th:

Kites for the Sankranti festival, and the thread reelers:

Sarus Cranes:

One of the many crocodiles we counted!

Knob-billed Ducks:

Small Salmon Arab:

The muted colours of the crocodile:

Harvesting hay:

Delicious Khaman being sold by a vendor:

Bud, Mehul, Vipra, Niyata:

The beautiful horns of the buffaloes!

Every lake has a cremation area:

We were asked to interact with the villagers and get information:

Beautiful little temple at Maachiel Lake:

A not-very-wild Nilgai at Traj lake:

Drummers at a wedding procession:

It WAS a croc count!

While the crocodiles bask, the village women go about their usual work of washing and filling water:

Hanuman Langurs warming themselves at the fire where trash is being burnt:

Sunrise at Malataj Lake:

Videos:

1. 0164 Rose-ringed Parakeets mating, Shastri Maidan area, 060123:

2. 0207 Greater Coucal foraging, road to Maachiel Lake, 070123:

3, 0056 (1) Sarus Cranes foraging, road to Charotar, 070123:

4.0228 Crocodile camouflaged in the undergrowth, Traj, 070123

0262 (2) Sarus Cranes foraging, near Traj Lake, Anand, 070123:

0269 (3) Zooming in to the Sarus Cranes, near Traj Lake, 070123:

0156 Crocodiles Basking, Dabhou Lake, Anand, 080123:

Charotar Crocodile Count, Anand, Gujarat, 06,-080123

Count has been going on for 10 years with Voluntary Nature Conservancy (VNC). Pradyumna (short chap) , Anirudh Vasawa/ wife Niyata, Mehul, Nikhil Parikh, and others.

Trains:

Took 16508 (KSR-Jodhpur Exp), to Anand, dep 2230 from SBC on 040123, arr. Anand 0355 on 060123

Took 16209 (Ajmer-Mysuru Exp) from Anand, dep, 0304 hrs on 080123, arr. Blr City at 2315 on 090123

On 6th morning stayed at Motel Happy Home (location: ) Rs. 1000 on twin sharing. Very neat and comfy, tiny geyser. Tiny lift, WC.

Ate breakfast and lunch at Collegian Point, very good Gujju stuff. Really college students’ joint.

All other meals at the CHARUSAT canteen. Good Gujju food.

Swami Narayan hostel at Vadtal, Anand, had very spacious rooms with a dressing area with clotheslines), large bath with Western WC. Not sure how to book for rooms there.

---

eBird

Fri 060123 at Shastri Maidan, walking distance from Happy Home:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125509292 (25 sp)

Sat 070123 at the meeting/departure point at Vadtal, opp Swami Narayan hostel:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125582698 (19 sp)

Sat 070123 morning (Maachiel, Traj)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125582698 (29 sp, including Osprey)

Sat 070123 evening, marshy area opp the gate of CHAROSAT:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125509292 (60 sp)

Sun 080123 morning (Malataj Lake, very productive)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S125831047 (44 sp)

---

Flickr:

Anand, 05,060123: (Vadtal in the morning on 6th)

Anand, 070123 (Maachiel and Traj Lakes, and small wetland in the evening)

Anand, 080123 (Malataj Lake, all sides), back to Blr

https://chat.whatsapp.com/HLl7DLGxVX6GpBY0JA7b7n

---

FB:

Anand, 05,060123: (Vadtal in the morning on 6th)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159646365708878&type=3

Anand, 070123 (Maachiel and Traj Lakes, and small wetland in the evening)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159649600788878&type=3

Anand, 080123 (Malataj Lake, all sides), back to Blr
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159651597393878&type=3

---

Gujju meal at the CHARUSAT canteen. bEgan barthA, kadi, sEv usal, khichdi, pApad, with a glass of chhAch (buttermilk).

Route allocation on day 1:

How NOT to translocate a crocodile, from Anirudh Vasawa’s presentation:

Venue:

The VNC office at Vallabh Vidyanagar:

The camel is used widely as a beast of burden, and to pull carts too:

‘

Non-vernal hanging Parakeets during our morning birding in the Shastri Maidan area on 6th

Male and female Alexandrine Parakeets:

Awake and Asleep, the two Spotted Owlets:

Bud, Manjunath and Prashanthi, brefus at Collegian Point:

Pretty Marwadi lady on the train:

Spotted Redshank from evening birding on 7th:

Kites for the Sankranti festival, and the thread reelers:

Sarus Cranes:

One of the many crocodiles we counted!

Knob-billed Ducks:

Small Salmon Arab:

The muted colours of the crocodile:

Harvesting hay:

Delicious Khaman being sold by a vendor:

Bud, Mehul, Vipra, Niyata:

The beautiful horns of the buffaloes!

Every lake has a cremation area:

We were asked to interact with the villagers and get information:

Beautiful little temple at Maachiel Lake:

A not-very-wild Nilgai at Traj lake:

Drummers at a wedding procession:

It WAS a croc count!

While the crocodiles bask, the village women go about their usual work of washing and filling water:

Hanuman Langurs warming themselves at the fire where trash is being burnt:

Sunrise at Malataj Lake:

Jallikattu on a colourful bus

I suppose many of my friends know my liking for clicking the colourful buses that ply in and around Bangalore.

Many of them feature flowers, abstract designs,temples, landscapes, gods, goddesses, birds and animals (sometimes real, sometimes imagined)…but occasionally I come across buses that have other references. I had recently posted one”Fast and Furious” bus.

This morning, I clicked this one….the text says, “Jelly Cut”.

The words have been anglicized. The reference (see the painting of the bull below the bus windows) is to the rural sport of “Jallikattu”, where bulls are raced, in Tamil Nadu, typically as part of the Pongal festival. A bull usually one belonging to the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds) is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull’s back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape. Participants hold the hump for as long as possible, attempting to bring the bull to a stop. In some cases, participants must ride long enough to remove flags on the bull’s horns.

I love cultural references like this!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallikattu

To see some amazing jallikattu images, check photos by my friend, Kumkum Prakash:
https://www.facebook.com/ash.gustography

Here’s one action-packed image of jallikattu from him:

Shehnai memories

I am listening to a shehnai recital right now.

My mind takes me back to weddings in Kolkata, where the artistes would sit on the “first floor” (a platform raised to about 10 ft) of the pandal (a gateway arch beautifully created from bamboo and cloth) decorated with pith hangings…

I smelt, again, the aroma of “begon bhaja” and”aloor-dom”, a must at every wedding feast, served on stitched leaves, with so many delectable sweets, too (I am a vegetarian so I didn’t get the maacher jhol)…. the rustle of men’s dhuti-panjabi, with the pleated folds of the dhuti tucked into the panjabi’s pocket.

The bustle; the shy bride in her red sari and finery, surrounded by other young women all decked up too; the pile of “kabuli chappal” at the gate; serial lights; the fragrance of “rajanigandha” bunches.

And through it all, permeating the atmosphere, the music of the plaintive shehnai, with the delicate percussion of the tabla accompanying it. How intense are the memories from just listening to some notes!

We say, “We’re coming!” when we’re going!

In most Indian cultures ( and, perhaps, elsewhere in the world) it’s considered inauspicious to say, when we part, “I am going.” It might mean we will never meet again!

So we always say, “I’m coming!” when we’re going!

….Or, at the very least, “we’ll meet again!”, ” see you later”, or that lovely invocation to the divine in both French and Urdu farewells…Adieu (A’ Dieu, be with God) and “khuda haafiz” (May God keep you safe).

In Tamil, when we say “varEn” (I am coming), it is a shortened version of “pOyittu varEN” (I will go, and return), which, too, we often say in full.

In fact, the very word, “farewell”, has such a good wish embedded… may you fare well until we meet again.

Auf wiedersehen! Porey dekha hobey! Phir milenge! Meendum sandippom!… Post inspired by Kathakali Chatterjee, my friend in Delhi.

T

The culture of opacity

One of the things, I think, that impedes my country in her progress, is our culture of opacity.

As a nation, we do not seem to like sharing information at all. Government offices, political leaders, even small businesses…how many of us like to share, openly, the information that we possess?

The first thing I notice when a business gets going is that the name of the founders are immediately hidden behind a wall of anonymity. Phone numbers are withheld, as are the names of those who run the show.

I find this refusal to share in the world of wildlife, too. When a rare bird, plant or animal is sighted, the threat from others is cited as a reason to make the information secret.

This would be a useful thing to do if the information were genuinely withheld from everyone else. But what actually happens is different. The information and the knowledge become instruments of power.

To know the man at the top, to know where X animal can be seen, to understand the workings and financial dealings of (to take an example) a hospital…these, then, become privileges granted to only a few.

Alas, information can never be kept entirely secret, either. Corruption and the cooking of figures soon becomes known; everyone knows about the place where one can see something special. But the information is not open to all; it remains in the hands of the privileged elite, and always kept a secret from the “mango public” (aam janta).

Even the process of this secret transmission of information vitiates it to some extent; the information is corrupted often.

This lack of transparency, this tendency to keep information to oneself and not share it…we have to overcome this in order that all of us may stride forward on the path to progress.

Thoughts about an Indian marriage

When a couple move from love tomarriage..they begin to navigate the thorny thickets of social customs, unspoken expectations, implicit equations, and the general interaction of personalities…marriage in India is not to one person but to the immediate, and extended, family…and is more complicated than any corporate management job!

As I got it, spelling mistakes and all.

DEGREE COFFEE

Dear friends

Today while taking the morning coffee my thinking went about the
Kumbakonam degree coffee and about the degree associated. “Degree
coffee” is the certificate awarded to high standard of Kumbakonam
filer coffee.

Just because a coffee is prepared with Kumbakonam coffee powder, it
need not be the degree coffee. It has to be brewed in the special
manner, the method first started in Kumbakonam. We get Kumbakonam
degree coffee in a shop at Usman Road, T Nagar. We have to ask for it.

I had read elsewhere recently that the addition “degree” to the
Kumbakonam coffee was not only with the type of coffee seeds and
method of preparation, but also or more based on the DEGREE OF MILK.

I surfed for the details of Kumbakonam degree coffee. Today I thought
I will write about coffee.

1. Offering coffee

Coffee is something of a cultural icon in Kerala, Andhra, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu today among all religions. It is customary to offer a
cup of coffee to any visitor.

2. Coffee brief history

Coffee was originally introduced by Baba Budan to South India in 17th
century and became very popular under the British Rule.

Until the middle of the 20th century traditional households would not
use granulated sugar but used jaggery or honey, instead in coffee.

3. Karupetti coffee and chakkara coffee
During my boyhood days we used to get what is called KARUPETTI to the
size of half the coconut and prepared in coconut shell using
PANAVELLAM. Chakkara coffee was the one using jagerry from sugarcane.
My father used to make a provision for karupetti- 4 numbers in the
provision list on those days. One by one karupetti will be broken to
bigger pieces and kept in tin for daily use near Kitchen Almirah

Now also in Chennai we get panam karupetti but very smaller but oval
in shape probably using bottom alone of the coconut shell. This is
sold mostly by street vendors near railway station like Tambaram,
Mambalam etc. It is sold in shops selling pooja items also. There one
can get it all the time.

Chukku coffee adding dry ginger, kurumulaku coffee adding pepper
powder is still common. These coffee use coffee powder, hot water and
either dried ginger or powdered pepper. While we are having cough,
kurumulaku coffee is felt very effective (even better than cough
syrups some times- The opinion could differ between persons)

4. Coffee powder.

On my boyhood days we used to get local coffee powder in tins and
brook bond in packets. The addition of chicory or anything about
chicory was never thought.

The sales man will pack ¼ kg or ½ kg in news paper from big tins and
in reaching home it was put in our small tin.

5. Coffee preparation

After well boiling about a litre of water in a copper pot, coffee
powder was added about three or four spoons. It was closed with a lid
for about five minutes.

Coffee water will be there at top, the sediments will remain at
bottom. The water at top was taken to other vessels with out stirring.
The sediments were some times used again pouring boiled water for 2nd
coffee. It had lesser taste comparing to first one.

Even now this method is followed in tea shops. In the sabarimala route
chukku coffee is served in this method getting coffee water.

In due course instead of karupetti we started using sugar. Probably
Karupetti would have come to the same price of sugar or its non
availability.

Filter coffee was something not much known in our houses in central
Kerala and coffee powder was something readily available in provision
shops till early 1955’s.

6. Coffee powder shops.

By 1955’s coffee powder shops started to appear in towns. Here
grinding machine was there, different type of coffee powders and still
nothing like FILTER TYPE GRINDING. The shop people will fry different
types of seeds to certain kilos, grind and keep ready in tins. It will
be packed in front of us by weighing.

7. Special grinding

Appearance of filter and special grinding started by 1960’s. The shop
people started asking whether for filter use. A coarse type grinding
was started for filter. Mostly it was Brahmins started using filter
coffee.

Having a coffee filter and consuming filter coffee was considered an
ELEVATED STATUS even among Brahmins.

8. Poti kappiyo filtero( Whether normal coffee or filter coffee?)

The Brahmin hotels started asking about the coffee type to the
customers. Filter consumed time, more powder of quality. Hence
charging was some 50% more than powder coffee.

9 . More on Kumbakonam coffee

Kumbakonam Degree Coffee is a coffee beverage associated with the town
of Kumbakonam, India. Its specialty is the usage of PURE COW’S MILK
WITHOUT ANY ADULTERANTS AND CHICORY.

South Indian Kumbakonam Filter Coffee, also known as Filter Coffee is
a sweet milky coffee made from dark roasted coffee beans (70%-80%) and
chicory (20%-30%), especially popular in the southern states of Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh.

The most commonly used coffee beans are Arabica and Robusta grown in
the hills of Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris District, Yercaud and Kodaikanal),
Karnataka (Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan), and Kerala (Malabar
region).

Outside India, a coffee drink prepared using a filter may be known as
DRIP COFFEE as the water passes through the grounds solely by gravity
and not under pressure or in longer-term contact.

The upper cup of the filter is loaded with fresh ground coffee mixed
with chicory (~2 tablespoons of mixture per serving). The grounds are
gently compressed with the stemmed disc into a uniform layer across
the cup’s pierced bottom. With the press disc left in place, the upper
cup is nested into the top of the tumbler and boiling water is poured
inside. The lid is placed on top, and the device is left to slowly
drip the brewed coffee into the bottom. The chicory sort of holds on
to the hot water a little longer, lets the water extract more flavour
from the coffee powder. The brew is generally stronger than western
“drip style” coffee.

The resulting brew is very potent, and is traditionally consumed by
adding 1–2 tablespoons to a cup of boiling milk with the preferred
amount of sugar.

The coffee is served in tumbler with a dabarah – Coffee is typically
served after pouring back and forth between the dabarah and the
tumbler in huge arc-like motions of the hand.

This serves several purposes: mixing the ingredients (including sugar)
thoroughly; cooling the hot coffee down to a sipping temperature; and
most importantly, aerating the mix without introducing extra water
An anecdote related to the distance between the pouring and receiving
cup leads to the coffee’s another name “METER COFFEE”.

10. Degree coffee

A term often heard for high-quality coffee is Filter coffee. Milk
certified as pure with a lactometer was called degree milk owing to a
mistaken association with the thermometer. Coffee prepared with degree
milk became known as degree coffee.

Another explanation for Filter coffee is that chicory beans were used
to make the coffee finally became degree.

Yet another explanation is that, when coffee is decocted for the first
time, it is called as the first degree or simply as the “Degree
Coffee”. This has the strongest flavour and the necessary strength to
mix with milk without watering down the taste.

In less affluent households, in earlier days, coffee was decocted for
a second or third time from the same initial load; this became the
second degree coffee and naturally, is not as strong. Affluent
households drank first degree or the famous “Degree Coffee” only.

11. Nescafe and Bru.

By early 1970’s instant coffee appear. It had more welcoming though
cost was more. For sudden coffee preparation these instants help. By
seeing the flavour many confuse also with filter coffee. Today all
houses will have a packet of instant coffee

12. Coffee powder shops.

Today coffee powder shops different qualities like pebery, plantation,
robusto, and home mix ready roasted. Grinding is always to filter
standard. At one time roasting was done while one asked for coffee
powder. Now roasted and kept. The hot grinded coffee powder is
purchased

13. Decoction.
Now having refrigerator in all houses, coffee decoction is prepared
for 2-3 days requirement in medium filters and kept in closed
containers in fridge. Every morning and evening, what is required is
taken from the container.

However freshly prepared decoction has more flavour. Second decoction
and all are things of past.

14. Brook bond coffee powder

There are many who use the packed coffee powder in filter of the
companies and make filter coffee rather than using powder from shops.
I think the companies too now a grind to filter stage and not very
nice.

While in Trivandrum having no coffee powder shops near, my wife was
using the packed powder in filter for coffee.

Writer- R. Gopala Krishnan, 69, retired AGM Telecom, Trivandrum now at Chennai.

Memories from my college days

Kanian Chatterjee sent me a rendition of Robindro Songeet.

I listened to it, and my mind went back…to my college days. I was a student of English (Honours) and Philosophy, for my bachelor’s degree, at Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College. Bengalis being very artistic, we also had a lot of cultural events, and one of them was “bAyishE srAbON”, which is the death anniversary of that giant of Indian literature, Rabindranath Tagore (or to pronounce it the correct Bengali way, Robindronath Thakur.)

We would grind rice paste the previous day, and make “Alpona” (rangoli) on the stage and around it. Bengali girls are incredibly talented at this…and the designs are always exquisite. The white designs were rimmed around with “lAl maati” (red earth), and it proved a lovely counterpoint to the sarees of the college girls…more about that later.

The favourite flower for this occasion was always “rojoni gondhA” (tuberose)…long stalks of these flowers were arranged in tall mud or brass vases on both sides of the stage. They cast their heavy, heady fragrance across the whole hall for days…the name means, literally, “aroma of the night”. These are white, night-blooming flowers.

For the music, we had several people singing, several on the harmonium, and a sArangi player and a tabolchi (tabla player) were men brought in for the evening.

Our college was probably the only one in Kolkata which enforced a uniform; young women always had to wear white sarees with red borders (“sAda shAdi lAl pAt”) always made of cotton (there were hardly any sarees of artificial fibres…it was always more comfortable to wear cotton!)
I w
(There were, of course, many girls who were averse to being regimented like this, and especially for newly-married young women, white sarees were a cultural no-no. I led a strike in the college in my third year, and got the uniform rule rescinded to “only on cultural occasions”. The professors were shocked to find Deepa Viswanath, their star student, who never cut a class, suddenly turning into a “biplobi” or rebel!)

Like a flight of white birds, the graceful young women would settle on the stage. They would tune their voices to the harmonium, and the sweet-voiced singing would begin. I must say, however, that I felt then, and I feel now, that though the lyrics are always amazing, the music of Robindro Songeet is, far too often, dirge-like and very mournful, and used to put me off quite a bit!

As a Tamizh girl, my college was very proud of the fact that I could read and write Bengali, and sing Robindro Songeet. I was always given solo billing for two songs…”kOn AlO” from Chitrangada, and “choroNo dhorithE”.(On other occasions, an AdhUnik (modern song), “kOn sE AlOr sopno niyE”, was a must for me to sing). It was a great point that my Bengali pronunciation was very good, and they took as much pride in it as if they had taught me the language themselves, instead my learning it in my childhood, from my neighbours, our maids, and others around me!

The event over, we would adjourn to the college canteen for some of the traditional snacks….jhAlmUdi, alUr chop, ghUghni, lUchi/AlUr dom, and, of course, jolkhAbAr (bengali sweets, YUMMMMM!). Since I was a star, I could always ask a couple of classmates, and their mothers or grandmother, having merely heard about my singing Bengali songs, would send “peethe”, which was only a home-made sweet in those days.( I was not averse to roso molAi from one of the sweet shops, either!) I can say that my nickname of “baby elephant” when I got married was due to a large part to my love for Bengali sweets. My friends had a project to convert me into a non-vegetarian, and brought chicken and fish in various recipes to tempt me…but to this day, I have not found something tasty enough to convert me into a non-vegetarian. The food was served from large aluminum dishes; we ate them out of stitched leaf-plates. I honestly don’t remember much plastic (except for buckets and mugs and things like that) from my childhood or youth. JhAlmUdi was given in “tOngA”s…beautifully made paper packets. How I love, still, my puchkA and my jhAlmudi, all these years later!

Of course, the food was washed down with “chA”. It was made and served from huge kettles, and drunk out of “bhANd”, the unstable mud cups that could be thrown away after use. The cups imparted such a unique taste to the chA!

Many of the newly-married girls did wear AltA, red dye made from shoe flowers, on their feet; and dancers were allowed to wear it, too. The conversation, always in Bengali, with very little English, would ebb and flow around the hall, with the monsoon often wreaking its thunder and lightning outside, resulting, sometimes, in power cuts. The songs would then cut through the humid heat, and the spiralling smoke from the mud lamps and the agarbathies (incense sticks) would permeate the hall.

Life in college was full of music, dance and culture…I was too young for my years (I started my undergraduate degree in 1970 when I was 16)…. and was often teased unmercifully, but theSe are some happy memories from those years.