<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?><rss version="1.0"><channel><title>Diary of Jhoom Chatterjee</title><link>http://northstarr.rediffiland.com/</link><description>Diary of Jhoom Chatterjee</description><language>en-us</language><item><title>Diwali</title><description><![CDATA[It has been quite a while since diwali but somehow didnt get time to sit down and write. I went to the NGO project with which i am asssociated,during diwali for a short period. I know diwali in kolkata sounds more attractive than diwali in a remote village in jharkhand but the heart strings were pulling and the kids(the kids of the school there) were enquiring whether 'didi' was coming for diwali. Diwali is celebrated on the project in a big way and everybody looks forward to it. The kids came in the morning and cleaned up the whole area which is huge really with fields and trees and flowering plants including a huge banyan tree which is very old. In the afternoon the kids were asked to come around 4 o clock in normal dress and not in uniform and were encouraged to dress up too!  But right after 2 o clock the kids started petering in all in their colourful glory and very shy cos they were dressed up.  Anyway me, Manami(the japanese volunteer there) rounded up some older kids and started making packets of crackers to distribute to the kids of the scoool and also the village kids. It was a massive job and then the work started for making small plates filled with boondi(sweet) and sev and were laid out in a platform to be distributed later on.  Then we all dressed up and there was a small puja at the temple for baba lokenath and there was pin drop silence while puja was on. Lots of people came from the nearby villages and the school children and their parents were of course there. After the puja, the plates(made of leaf) were distributed to everybody and there was enough to go around,everyone was happy. Then the elder kids were asked to decorate the place with the diyas and when the diyas lit up in that vast area it looked ethereal. Then came the best part which was distributing the cracker packets to the kids, the enthusiasm was bursting. After the distribution was over the kids started bursting the crackers and in the usual silence there it was a welcome sound,everything looked so cheerful and the smiles on the kids faces and their excitement and giggles were infectious. People go to sleep there very early so we all finished by around 8 and then they went home in groups. It was a great day in all...left a taste of satisfation mixed with the taste of boondi.<BR><BR>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:37:51 +0530</pubDate><link>http://northstarr.rediffiland.com/blogs/2008/11/28/Diwali-1.html</link></item><item><title></title><description><![CDATA[Hi people,Been out of town for some time, away in the wilderness of jharkhand for the NGO work i do.It involves teaching the tribal children in the school inside the project.The night bus journey there itself is far removed from our sofisticated world with smelly passengers and video blaring loud hindi movies.The ordeal lasts for the whole night and the bus reaches around 4 in the morning.From the bus station one hour drive in private taxi to the project.But as soon as i reach there its bliss.Though there is no electricity or running tap water the greenery soothes the soul.I have,by now,learned not to scream when i see a snake.Yes, snakes,scorpions,wild spiders are part of the place.There everybody wakes up at 4.30 and school starts at 7.30.The sight of the black shining faces smiling in anticipation are a sight for the roughened heart.The children there,unlike our city kids have tremendous eagerness to learn and the worst punishment for them is to be sent back home from school.Volunteers from the world over come to this place and stay over their mandatory one month period gladly,so much is the magic of the place.This time two japanese volunteers and two american volunteers were there happily taking part in all the activities of the project,even cutting vegetables and cleaning dishes.The palash flower was in full bloom and the mahua tree bore the little white flowers in hordes.The sight of the flaming red palash flowers both on the trees and behind the ears of the santhali women, is  breathtaking.My days there start very busy but after school is over there is lot of time to laze around.This time i handed over the class to sebastian,jamie,manami and tatsuya so that they can handle teaching even without knowing hindi.The children though need to be taught in hindi can understand smatterings of english also.And believe me,its a surprise indeed to hear a "may i come in miss" or "u r welcome" from the tribal kids in that wild setting.This shows what good educational exposure can do even in rural india.<BR><BR><br><img src="http://ri.rediffiland.com/homepimages/home8/675/4002330e37f8b77c87fe39ccd9407eb4/homep/images/1213357841">]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:19:50 +0530</pubDate><link>http://northstarr.rediffiland.com/blogs/2008/06/13/Hi-people-Been-out-of-town-for-some.html</link></item><item><title>Bangalore</title><description><![CDATA[Went to bangalore for a fortnight.My son who stays there and is studying computer eng, was trying his hand at cooking and i was directing on phone from Calcutta.He seemed to have boiled the dal for over an hour and yet it wasnt boiled.We were mystified here as to how it could happen.Later on a friend of his found out that it wasn dal he was boiling but mustard! He didnt even know how raw dal looked like as he never had to step in the kitchen before.Thats when i decided that i should visit him and teach him the basics of cooking.Though i am no chef but i do cook a mean pasta or a baked fish or a shepherd's pie.Well in a nutshell the trip was fun. My son and his friend had planned out my days so not a day went by sitting or being bored.We shopped till we dropped and i was thrilled to find such bargain buys and declared shopping is quite cheap in bangalore.Commercial street,M.G Rd and other places became our regular haunts while we shopped and ate and dranks lots of coffee and iced teas.The pastries at Fresco's was to die for and three of us couldnt finish the huge piece of heaven named death by choc or something as fantastic.We used to be out till our feet cldnt take any more and our backs hurt like hell and come back home to some comforting cappuccino and cakes and watched movies till it was time to cook-which was another kind of fun in itself . By the end of the trip my son was inviting his friends to try out his 'creations' as he called them.I also got used to the smooth roads as compared to Calcutta though the traffic was equally bad at times.The trip was double bonus cos i got to see my son and the fun we had was all extra.So on the way back while saying byes i cldnt help moist eyes but my son sent an sms saying "i'll be home soon" which was so reassuring.<BR><BR>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:22:55 +0530</pubDate><link>http://northstarr.rediffiland.com/blogs/2008/04/23/Bangalore.html</link></item><item><title>Oh Calcutta</title><description><![CDATA[Hello People,<br>Since this is my starting blog i had thought of writing something light and funny cos i am basically a fun person.But the recent happenings,of which i am sure most of the calcuttans are very much aware of,on the streets of calcutta-as in road accidents by racing buses-have been a real bothering issue.These accidents seem to keep on happening and still there is no dearth of buses racing against each other the very next day.And no, it just doesnt happen to other people about whom we read in the newspapers...it can happen to you and me as well.The whole thing seems to be in a vicious circle.The drivers seem to have their arguments, the reason for their racing is not put to an end to and since the buses are mostly owned by political bigwigs,there is no crime-only the unfortunate victims fall one by one till the count becomes endless.Beating up drivers,putting the buses on fire etc all methods seems to have failed and we are all helpless watchers to this growing menace.<br><BR><BR>]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:21:32 +0530</pubDate><link>http://northstarr.rediffiland.com/blogs/2008/04/22/Oh-Calcutta.html</link></item></channel></rss>