An emotional musing

Reading a newspaper after a long time is probably one of the worst faults of a mass communication student. Here I am supposed to be reading news everyday but I touched a newspaper after quite sometime. Not going into the reasons for it, I would rather talk about how it felt to read todays’ headlines.

“Times of India” read, “Finally, Sun Shines on Sania”. Though I had some knowledge about hers and Mahesh Bhupati’s win, it was quite something to read about on the papers. Further more, being the first Indian women to do so is quite a great achievement. But I wonder, if she will again not be taken over by endorsements and advertisements. Hope she doesn’t, we need more wins by Sania and the like to encourage other sports than cricket in India.

Anyways moving ahead, I leafed through the pages to the sports section. Here Roger Federer was shown in tears after loosing the Australian Open to Rafael Nadal. I can very well say, it was not a photo I’d like to see everyday. I mean a sportsman of his caliber in tears that too in public just doesn’t match. But again it shows some true emotions that cannot be controlled. Somehow the photograph invoked a lot of emotions in me. I would love to salute the person who tries so hard to achieve his goals.

I has always thought that reading a newspaper would only give me information but today it invoked certain feelings in me. I can say I missed reading the newspapers and would surely not stop it anymore.

You can't rely on Reliance

Reliance: Anything on which to rely; dependence; ground of trust. A meaning of the word from an online dictionary.

Dhirubhai Ambani had set up his industry in 1962 with a name that would probably make people buy the company’s products. But today Reliance Industries is a total misnomer. If Dhirubhai had meant to get trust from the name of his company, today both his sons have miserably made fun of it. Here I would specially talk about Reliance Mobile. If anyone has seen the ads of Reliance Mobile, it says, Air, Food, Water, Network.

But any Reliance Mobile user would tell you that the Network part is nowhere to be found. I myself have seen Reliance users around me searching for specific spots under the tree, under a lamp post where “network” comes. If our searching for “network” is not enough, most of the times, “all lines in this channel are busy” or simply “network busy”.

This is simple terms means trying to get through a connection in some 20-30 times, if anyone is left with the patience.

I sadly say that I have been a Reliance user for the past 3 years and even though I have many a times gone through such terrible “network”, even after changing location, I insisted on having Reliance because of their cheap rates. But today, I am so disgusted that I would harm my dear phone in my anger to get through a number and on the other hand, dear Mr. Anil Ambani would be getting richer.

One would say, what am I getting venting out my feelings through this blog. Probably NOTHING. But the fact that today atleast I am venting out my feelings gives me immense peace.

May His Soul Rest In Peace and May his Sons keep getting richer. That’s what I can ultimately say for our own GURUBHAI”

My Coffee House Experience

Starbucks may have revolutionised the coffee house culture in the world but many don’t know that India had its own “Coffee House” way before Starbucks was formed. Ask any Bengali about the song, “Coffee Houser Sei Adda Ta”, and everyone will immediately recognise the famous Manna De number. Such was the importance or rather popularity of “Coffee House” that a whole new song got composed on it.

Whenever I would hear the song, I longed to be there where famous people like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Manna De himself and many others graced the premises of the old building. I would imagine how it would be to sit in one corner and have “adda” sessions with friends in the midst of a crowd that probably housed many upcoming famous people.

This summer my dream came true when I got to visit “Coffee House of College Street” as it is fondly called. Honestly speaking it had nothing of my imagination. I has always thought of coffee houses in their present avatars like a CCD or Barista. But “Coffee House” had the old world look to it, which I assumed they preserved with a motive. It was a huge hall of red coloured cemented floors and walls. Dozens of chairs and tables were arranged in an organised manner around the place. I, along with my companions took a corner table of four while at the same time glancing over the many occupied tables with interest hoping to see a known face. Though I didn’t really experience an adda session there, I could well imagine what it would be like to sit there and chat with friends for hours. How I longed to sit there and experience it. As I sipped my cold coffee, I wondered was it in the environment of the restaurant that such intellectuals were born or was it something else. Well, whatever it was for me it was an experience that I would hold dear for ever.