Anirudh Lohia|Me and My Theories

• People outside Calcutta think you’re a Bengali(even if ur not 1)
• You are an expert at driving
• Your favourite newspaper is The Telegraph( specially the TV listings section)
• You think that you are very fluent in Bengali when u can just speak a few words here and there.
• When all other areas other than ballygunge and alipore( also include camac st, elgin road, park st.) are crap
• You swear by the fact that the best pastries in the world can be had at kookie jar
• You believe that no other place can beat ‘lake’ in the quality of chaat food.
• Your idea of hanging out wid friends is to go and have hukka or watch a movie at inox
• You went to vardaan market/ ac market on every Sunday during the 90’s
• You love bandhs and play cricket on the streets whenever there is one
• You party at sheesha
• Your worst subject at school was Hindi, however you had most fun in that class itself
• You simply love eating at azad hind/ sharmas
• You goto tolly every 24th December
• You think travelling in a taxi is ‘low standard’
• You goto every match at the edens in which India plays
• You must have owned a santro atleast once
• You call your driver as driverjee
• Your idea of going out for dinner is going to park street
• Your idea of going for a drive is to goto vidyasagar setu or to gautams for coffee
• Your north Indian friends make fun of you when you use ‘ hum’ instead of ‘main’
• You walk on the road rather than using the footpath
• You used to make trips to nicco park every month when you were a kid
• You think that your school is the best school in Calcutta
• You think that a person is from Jupiter if he calls puchka as pani puri or golgappa
• You have had drinks like ‘Dudh Pepsi’ and ‘Masala ThumbsUp’
• You have various groups of friends - school friends, college friends, building friends, and some are just random friends
• You bump into the same people everywhere
• You move around in just one layer of clothing even in the months of December and January
• You keep cursing the driving of the buswallas and autowallas
• you keep prayin for rains/ for a bandh just so that it floods and ur exam is postponed
• You dont think twice before ignoring the red light at crossings
• You just show your palm to cars approaching you while crossing the road and expect them to stop immediately
• You have Dominos and Pizza Hut numbers on your fingertips
• You are stuck in endless traffic jams during durga puja as half the road space is taken up by the puja pandals
• You somehow manage to get hold of your stock of chocolate bombs and aloo bombs during diwali even though it is banned
• your evening snack consists of jhal muri/bhel/aloo dum/papri chaat, etc.
• your idea of weekend getaway is a trip to raichak
• you hate greg chappell and think that sourav ganguly should be made the captain of the indian cricket team
• you use the words ‘ek tala’, ‘do tala’ to indicate first floor and second floor..and so on..
• you call the policeman by the words ‘dada’
• you hang out at someplace else every weekend to enjoy the amazing live performances
• you listen to 107.8 fm
• you love watching, playing sports other than cricket as well.
• you must have bet money on mohun bagan or some epl team atleast once
• You think of Flury’s and t3 when you think of breakfast
• You thinkin abt Idly, Dosa — Jyoti Vihar, Homely Raj and Ramakrishna mission cant skip ur mind.
• A Mamata Banerjee rally is just like another daily event which you pay no heed to
• You find it difficult to digest a rosagolla which is not from calcutta
• You have been approached by street children trying to sell chewing gum, they cling on to you or your friends when ignored.
• You have atleast once been amazed by the English speaking street kids in south calcutta and at the airport.
• You goto all extents to argue with your friends about Calcutta being the best amongst all metros in India
• You crave for paw bhajis from Mayaram
• You have a new passion…Kolkata Knight Riders
• Every cool kid in town is deemed a ‘Maru’ or ‘Bong’
• You never go to college street to pick books…even if you read voraciously…because you’d rather pay ten times more at Oxford to browse in ac!!
• You think Habibs is synonymous with quality hair-styling.
• You wait for Durga puja all year
• You used to do ‘addabaazi’ at Landmark but now are spoilt for choice with all the new malls…
• You rememeber sunday mornings at Victoria where there was always some ‘gulab-soda’ or ‘muri’ after cricket.
• You go to ‘chinapada’/Chinatown or Alipore to pick up black-market alcohol…
• you still call it ‘Cal’ even after the name change

This is a mail forward from Rakhi (one of my good friends)

Here’s an inspirational poem from Rabindra Nath Tagore, a poet, musican, activist, writer and a philosopher.

It is taken from one of his most famous poems “Gitanjali”

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Happy Independence Day to all

Thank you for believing in me when I found it difficult to believe in myself… for saying what I’ve needed to hear sometimes, instead of what I’ve wanted to hear…. for siding with me…. and for giving me another side to consider.

Thank you ….for trusting me with your thoughts and disappointments and dreams….for knowing you can depend on me and for asking my help when you’ve needed it.

Thank you for putting so much thought and care and imagination into our friendship…for sharing so many nice times and making so many special memories with me.

Thank you for always being honest with me…being kind to me…being there for me.

Thank you for being a friend to me in so many meaningful ways..

I think of all my friends I have made till now and feel obliged, thrilled and happy. I think of all those mischievous taunts. The smiles. The songs. The frowns. The movies. The walks. The fights. The pats. The hugs…

Some moments come for just the sake of fun. But some touch the heart. Some moments are so special… they bring so much fun at the face of it… yet the heart within is trembling with emotions… and these are the moments spent with those select-few special friends. Even one such friend is a blessing. And group of such friends is a celebration. For me, well… I guess I have been lucky enough…

Here’s a toast to all my friends.

I certainly thought this was enlightening. beyond our sun … It’s a big universe.

This is an email forward from one of my friends.