SRK Bong Bang

This is not my post. It is a translation of a brilliant Bengali post by Tanmay Mukherjee, who decided to give Shah Rukh Khan some advice af...

Prince vs King

Today, the Prince of Calcutta takes on his erstwhile kingdom in – what is being called – the most anticipated match in this year’s IPL. Calc...

3 Days in Calcutta

In one of my earlier   food posts , I had talked about iconic restaurants and caused the controversies that inevitably emerge when Bengalis ...

Palace of Memories

I came to Calcutta after a very long time. And after an even longer time, the taxi driver did not take the usual route via the EM Bypass an...

What Makes a Bengali?

Bijoya Dashami, which is happy Dussehra for most parts of the country, is a day of some sadness for the Bengali. After the intense festivity...

The Bong Connection OR why Bengali music is still the best

WARNING : WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF BENGALI ESSENTIAL.  NON-BONGS, PLEASE ACCEPT THE HYPOTHESIS AND WAIT FOR MY NEXT POST ON  HRISHIKESH MUKHERJE...

Wisecracks

The Bengali penchant for repartee is almost like an affliction. If there is a situational joke to be cracked, the true Bong can NOT resist i...

You Must Be A Bong If...

... you are secretly proud of Pranab Mukherjee. ... you feel a mild surge of anger whenever people mention Greg Chappell and John Buchanan. ...

Phenomenon

In a major road of South Calcutta - Rashbehari Avenue - there is a very famous shop for Punjabis. Before any wrong ideas set in, let me hast...

Where Else In the World...

… do they name lodges and eateries after famous novels and poems? (Saw Aranyak Bar & Restaurant and Hotel Ruposhi Bangla on VIP Road) ...

Calcutta 700029

I was born in North Calcutta and the years I spent there are the ones before the formation of coherent memory. But I would still be able to ...

Pathey-Ghatey: Roadside Humour from Calcutta

Seen/heard around Calcutta, during a recent visit: * Large number of billboards for Nola Restaurant (which is a new chain serving "food...

60 Years of a State

When all of India is getting excited about the Golden Jubilee of our existence as a nation, West Bengal - in a naturally parochial manner - ...

Shubho Nabobarsho

How does one celebrate the Bengali New Year's day? Unlike English, a Bengali day 'astronomically' starts with sunrise so there i...

Pilgrim's Progress: Calcutta Book Fair 2007

The second most popular tourism city in France is not Nice, Cannes or Bordeaux. It is Lourdes - where an estimated five million Christians g...

Calcutta: A Love Story

All cities should have their stories chronicled. In some medium or the other. And some of them already have. Bombay, for example. The glamou...

Missing Calcutta

What do I miss about Calcutta? I miss the sarcasm of the traffic snarls. Unlike the silent aggression of Bombay and the obtuse obscenities o...

A Hitch-hiker's Guide to Bengali

A quirky short-list of Bengali words – which are generally heard all over offices, colleges, hostels, visa queues, airport lounges, film stu...