The Quintessential Bengali...
"All characters drawn parallel to, in the underneath write up are real; it bears clear resemblance to all the real life interpretations that they have and that this is no work of fiction."
On the eve of "Jamai Shoshti" (a day to celebrate the son in law, who besides being fed the costliest and rarest of edibles, are also subjected to supreme care and love), it would be more than apt to talk about the community that perhaps leave their footprints on the entirety of the world population-The Bengalis/The Bongs. Being one, no one perhaps knows more than me or you might vouch to know in case you have had the privilege of knowing any fromthis species, for they leave a trail wherever they go. You are out on a exotic vacation and suddenly you sense a bong around because of some weird addressals that manages to pierce your ear drums, yes, we are loud, not in our mannerisms but by the way we challenge the noise pollution guardians! You are destined to chance upon some Bengalis when you are vacationing in Shimla, Kulu-Manali or any of these beautiful hills that adorn our northern states. And how do you identify them? These people, pride in the fact that it is their honeymoon destination, yes, for Bengali married couples, hill stations in the north is their Mecca! Not to sideline the lesser known beaches like Puri, Digha, Mandarmoni, no you will not spot them on the world map but surely in the map of West Bengal. You can spot a honeymoon couple in any of these locales by identifying a thick boundary of vermillion, a bunch of Shankha-Pola (the customary ivory and coral bangles) paired with a baggy jeans which surely does not belong to the wife but definitely to the husband. And these woman would pride in odd public display of overt emotions, characterized by suffocating squeezes, awkward aimed and missed kisses or the conventionally patterned sharing of coconut water with a single straw.
Besides the lovey-dovey couple, we can't afford to miss the Bengali parents who by their way of caring, which inevitably gets related to the amount of food that is consumed by their children would explain how each of ailments, minor or major, is purely related to gas! You complain of fever, you complain of pain, you complain of the weather today, it all boils down to either gas or acidity!
Bong parents name their children with no rhyme or reason to suit the human rationale-it could range from "Babai" to "Biltoo" or from "Khoka" to "Buro"! And they have the stereotypical nature of calling you aloud amidst the crowd, specially in the vicinity of your friends!
Bong parents calculate the intelligence quotient of the human brain to the amount of fish or fish head their children consume (yes, for the non-vegetarians), for them vegetables are for the weaker lot, in fact they condemn the consumption of the same!
For bong children, winter's come when your Maa says, "monkey cap ta pore ne, nahole thanda lege jabe" (wear the monkey cap else you catch a cold).
A quintessential Bangali Babu is one who religiously visits the green grocer/fish market every Sunday after his satisfactory "Jol-khaabaar" (breakfast) of "Luchi aloor dom", meticulously checking on the vegetables, some "tatka Maach" (fresh fish) or some "Moton" (the bong rendition for mutton), bringing these home, getting it cooked by their respective "bou" (wives) and then they take a long siesta which is broken by a cup of steaming "chaa", that is tea and some "gorom gorom" "tele bhaja" (some vegetable fritters). And the day ends with the repetition of the "moton" and some good night's sleep. Morning sees them discussing politics or football (these two form the key elements of a true blue Bengali) on the "barandah" for veranda before heading to their "awwphish" aka office!
You can take out a Bengali from Bengal but you can never take out Bengal from within the deepest corners of a Bengali's heart, spine or bone morrow. And thus they always take the hardest of efforts to turn everything or everyone around them into either Bengal or a Bengali respectively.
A Bengali prides in the fact that Rabindranath Tagore was from their motherland and so, ideally every bong kid would religiously take out their harmonium in the early hours of morning and do "reyaaj", practice.
Food and Bengalis are like conjoined twins, you try to separate either of them, they lose their existence (pun intended here). The intensity of this made-in-not-sure where relationship is so high that a bong would not hesitate to borrow/mortgage/barter anything in return for some good food! You know you are a bong when at the breakfast table, you decide the menu for the dinner and also the items to be bought and cooked for the next two days!
"Borolin" an antiseptic and "Gelusil" the antacid which a bong refers as "Jellosil" holds a primary spot in any Bengali household because it can cure anything from skin burn to heart burn, respectively. We do not mind devouring food in large quantities as much as we do not mind remaining awake to a bloated "Bhoori" that's a term for your tummy, specially used to denote pot bellied uncles and grand fathers.
Bengalis are also divided into East Bengalis, who are the natives of Bangladesh and Pakistan before the partition and the West Bengalis the original inhabitants of the land. Football and Fish divides them. East Bengalis : East Bengal Football Club & "Ilish Maach" that is, hilsa whereas West Bengal : Mohonbagan Football Club & "Chingri Maach" that is, prawns. And this they can battle for years.
Bengal or Bengalis are incomplete without their "parar adda", the tiny gatherings/meet ups at the street corners huddled near these rickety tea-stalls. This is a regular affair that must happen every holiday or a Sunday wherein there is a hierarchy clearly demarcated by the "Kakus/Jethus" the universal uncles, "Dadas" the brothers? and the senior citizens, "Dadus" the grand fathers. The first and the last tier of chatters are either the soon to retire or retired folks who have an air of know it all around them, thus condescending the current generation for reasons as unrelated as the rising inflation to the neighbouring country's attacks on us!
Bengalis with their stereotypical nuances and antics are also the sweetest of folks by virtue of being the proud producers of the best sweet meat, "Roshogolla" and "Mishti Doi" ,but dare not restrict us to this, for the sweets of Bengal can never be kept at par with any other region's, and this gets sworn in by a bong who happily observes, pens down and dishes it out to the ever inquisitive readers as all of you.
And as I end this, my heart which is that of a true blue Bengali, hums a few lines of the famous song sung by Pratul Mukhopadhyay-
"আমি বাংলায় গান গাই
আমি বাংলার গান গাই
আমি, আমার আমিকে চিরদিন এই বাংলায় খুঁজে পাই ।।"
This, pardon me if I do not translate it for you, but only to keep the essence of the original sound track. Do look up for the meaning, we bongs, admire "Eager Beavers" secretly in our hearts as much as we love our food!
On the eve of "Jamai Shoshti" (a day to celebrate the son in law, who besides being fed the costliest and rarest of edibles, are also subjected to supreme care and love), it would be more than apt to talk about the community that perhaps leave their footprints on the entirety of the world population-The Bengalis/The Bongs. Being one, no one perhaps knows more than me or you might vouch to know in case you have had the privilege of knowing any fromthis species, for they leave a trail wherever they go. You are out on a exotic vacation and suddenly you sense a bong around because of some weird addressals that manages to pierce your ear drums, yes, we are loud, not in our mannerisms but by the way we challenge the noise pollution guardians! You are destined to chance upon some Bengalis when you are vacationing in Shimla, Kulu-Manali or any of these beautiful hills that adorn our northern states. And how do you identify them? These people, pride in the fact that it is their honeymoon destination, yes, for Bengali married couples, hill stations in the north is their Mecca! Not to sideline the lesser known beaches like Puri, Digha, Mandarmoni, no you will not spot them on the world map but surely in the map of West Bengal. You can spot a honeymoon couple in any of these locales by identifying a thick boundary of vermillion, a bunch of Shankha-Pola (the customary ivory and coral bangles) paired with a baggy jeans which surely does not belong to the wife but definitely to the husband. And these woman would pride in odd public display of overt emotions, characterized by suffocating squeezes, awkward aimed and missed kisses or the conventionally patterned sharing of coconut water with a single straw.
Besides the lovey-dovey couple, we can't afford to miss the Bengali parents who by their way of caring, which inevitably gets related to the amount of food that is consumed by their children would explain how each of ailments, minor or major, is purely related to gas! You complain of fever, you complain of pain, you complain of the weather today, it all boils down to either gas or acidity!
Bong parents name their children with no rhyme or reason to suit the human rationale-it could range from "Babai" to "Biltoo" or from "Khoka" to "Buro"! And they have the stereotypical nature of calling you aloud amidst the crowd, specially in the vicinity of your friends!
Bong parents calculate the intelligence quotient of the human brain to the amount of fish or fish head their children consume (yes, for the non-vegetarians), for them vegetables are for the weaker lot, in fact they condemn the consumption of the same!
For bong children, winter's come when your Maa says, "monkey cap ta pore ne, nahole thanda lege jabe" (wear the monkey cap else you catch a cold).
A quintessential Bangali Babu is one who religiously visits the green grocer/fish market every Sunday after his satisfactory "Jol-khaabaar" (breakfast) of "Luchi aloor dom", meticulously checking on the vegetables, some "tatka Maach" (fresh fish) or some "Moton" (the bong rendition for mutton), bringing these home, getting it cooked by their respective "bou" (wives) and then they take a long siesta which is broken by a cup of steaming "chaa", that is tea and some "gorom gorom" "tele bhaja" (some vegetable fritters). And the day ends with the repetition of the "moton" and some good night's sleep. Morning sees them discussing politics or football (these two form the key elements of a true blue Bengali) on the "barandah" for veranda before heading to their "awwphish" aka office!
You can take out a Bengali from Bengal but you can never take out Bengal from within the deepest corners of a Bengali's heart, spine or bone morrow. And thus they always take the hardest of efforts to turn everything or everyone around them into either Bengal or a Bengali respectively.
A Bengali prides in the fact that Rabindranath Tagore was from their motherland and so, ideally every bong kid would religiously take out their harmonium in the early hours of morning and do "reyaaj", practice.
Food and Bengalis are like conjoined twins, you try to separate either of them, they lose their existence (pun intended here). The intensity of this made-in-not-sure where relationship is so high that a bong would not hesitate to borrow/mortgage/barter anything in return for some good food! You know you are a bong when at the breakfast table, you decide the menu for the dinner and also the items to be bought and cooked for the next two days!
"Borolin" an antiseptic and "Gelusil" the antacid which a bong refers as "Jellosil" holds a primary spot in any Bengali household because it can cure anything from skin burn to heart burn, respectively. We do not mind devouring food in large quantities as much as we do not mind remaining awake to a bloated "Bhoori" that's a term for your tummy, specially used to denote pot bellied uncles and grand fathers.
Bengalis are also divided into East Bengalis, who are the natives of Bangladesh and Pakistan before the partition and the West Bengalis the original inhabitants of the land. Football and Fish divides them. East Bengalis : East Bengal Football Club & "Ilish Maach" that is, hilsa whereas West Bengal : Mohonbagan Football Club & "Chingri Maach" that is, prawns. And this they can battle for years.
Bengal or Bengalis are incomplete without their "parar adda", the tiny gatherings/meet ups at the street corners huddled near these rickety tea-stalls. This is a regular affair that must happen every holiday or a Sunday wherein there is a hierarchy clearly demarcated by the "Kakus/Jethus" the universal uncles, "Dadas" the brothers? and the senior citizens, "Dadus" the grand fathers. The first and the last tier of chatters are either the soon to retire or retired folks who have an air of know it all around them, thus condescending the current generation for reasons as unrelated as the rising inflation to the neighbouring country's attacks on us!
Bengalis with their stereotypical nuances and antics are also the sweetest of folks by virtue of being the proud producers of the best sweet meat, "Roshogolla" and "Mishti Doi" ,but dare not restrict us to this, for the sweets of Bengal can never be kept at par with any other region's, and this gets sworn in by a bong who happily observes, pens down and dishes it out to the ever inquisitive readers as all of you.
And as I end this, my heart which is that of a true blue Bengali, hums a few lines of the famous song sung by Pratul Mukhopadhyay-
"আমি বাংলায় গান গাই
আমি বাংলার গান গাই
আমি, আমার আমিকে চিরদিন এই বাংলায় খুঁজে পাই ।।"
This, pardon me if I do not translate it for you, but only to keep the essence of the original sound track. Do look up for the meaning, we bongs, admire "Eager Beavers" secretly in our hearts as much as we love our food!
Ohh hahhha joy . This is too good.. i keep reading it again and again
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