Crazy Doglady: Badly Bengali

Hello dear chums! How are we today? Did we have good breakfast? Good! Now let’s continue with my rants, because it is all about me… isn’t it! Of course it is! It’s my blog! So let us proceed!

With Durga Puja beginning with Mahalaya today, I sat down thinking, am I a true Bengali? I ask this question rather often, because of the following;

I never feel the feeling of Pujo (All the days are same for me, no special get-together/fun time for those days)
I do not care much for Kolkata street food (because I’ve never tasted any)
I am not well versed with Robindro Sangeet (I cannot sing, not even to save my life)
Pandal hopping is not as enjoyable as before (too much crowd & too many screaming elated Bengali aunties hitting the highest possible octave while they chit chat)
Political chats do not entice me at all (I detest the futile chit chat about what which politician should do and should not)
I am not much of a Tea person (I am more of a coffee person).
I have zero understanding of art (especially paintings and poetry)

After racking my brains and memories (read my previous article to see how difficult it is for me to play through my memories) for a long time, I have decided I am as Bengali as I can get and I am proud of it.

Like any true Bengali person, I have a steady supply of Boroline, Gelusil and Aqua ptychotis syrup with me.

We do use a Guptopress Ponjika (a book of auspicious dates, horoscope for the year, constellation placements throughout the year etc) at home.

I love bhapa ilish, shukto, aaloo bhaaja and mochar ghonto (and other lip smacking Bengali dishes as well)

I am a big fan of Soumitra Chatterjee (a total dude of the Golden Age of Bengali cinema & my 1^st favorite Feluda) and have watched and re watched almost all of his movies (not all though).

I may not be well versed with Robindro Sangeet but I have devoured books of Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, Leela Majumdar, Sunil Ganguli, Satyajit Ray (and the likes of them)

Amidst all my favorite fictional detectives from all over the world, Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi come in first 5 alongside Sherlock Holmes, Tintin – the reporter and Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

Oh and yes… I am the proud owner of the complete Tintin and Asterix series.

Most importantly I can proudly say that thanks to my grandma, I am well versed with the spoken and written language, something that not many Probashi Bengali (a term used for a Bengali living outside Bengal) can say.

My friends would know that I make fun of the Bengali accent and certain stereotypes that are there (like in every other culture), but no ‘non-bengalis’ can do that in front of me and get away with it. I am proud to be a Bengali no matter which state I stay in!

2 comments:

MB30 September 2016 at 05:21
OK this is my second time trying to do this, the first time I wrote a whole lot and it disappeared.
I really liked reading this piece, mainly because I can relate to most of it. I cant't write Bengali and only read and write it, I have not read Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay but seen all of Uttom-Suchitra movies, I am well familiar with all medicines in a typical Bengali household(thanks to my grandmother) especially Joaner Arok:) and I have read a lot of Tintin, ofcourse I can't match your level of Tintin:) I can sing some Robindro shongeet but know most of them and recongnize most of them, also Nojrul geeti etc.
What I am tryting to say is that we are Bongocentric, we are proud Bengalis who may not be a 100% Kolkata brand Bengali, but no less passionate about the feeling of being a Bengali. What we lack in certain things we make up with other things:):) This feeling especially becomes stronger during pujo, Shubho Mahalayar Shubhecha Royilo, keep up the good work!

Friday 30 September 2016

Badly Bengali

2 comments: