FranKophone

Pre-note : This post is NOT about the book or the movie. Sometimes we are not in the best of our moods. Sometimes problems bother us a little too much. Many a times simple things give us "that elusive joy". I decided to take a walk on a cold Saturday evening.  My first stop was the street-side tea vendor. Viola ! He was not in the best of his moods. He told one of his "regular customers", " I just incurred a loss of 400 bucks. To earn it, I have to struggle now."  A simple statement. Yet it struck me with profound intensity. To start from the scratch. To carry on with your job in spite of hardships. Not that he had a rocket-science job. But this incident reflects the basic attributes of any enterprising mind. I took my lesson and moved on. This time I walked till my legs could carry me no further.

Life is a gift. I am in Kolkata these days. Yes, the City of Joy.  It has been a long  hiatus from writing. Reasons are numerous ;  none of them seem valid to me. I am living  my own life. On my own terms. I am a whiff of wind – once here, at another instance, somewhere else. No rules, no diktats. I’m a free bird. Coming to Kolkata has been quite an experience. In a train, sweating most of the way, getting my way in the crowds at the station, breaking rules there, listening to people hurling abuses and not saying a word , getting the dreaded sprain again – in the same place, keeping a calm head, getting lost on the way to the guest house, living life king size, watching a government hospital function, noticing a cute medico ( LOLzzzz),queues for washroom, cafeteria and the like , riding a rick, sitting next to the auto driver, seeing real super- bitches emerge from their cocoons of goodness, waking up at 6 in the morning ( on a regular basis, mind you ! ) -...