Banamallika Choudhury

Saturine people, Adim says, are influenced by the planet or the God or the energy of Saturn or Xani in Oxomia. The Saturines tend to be relaxed and non-controlling in life. They are not very ambitious as opposed to sun people who are managerial and control-freaks. Going by the definition, many people I know look like they are heavily influenced by the jewellered planet. There are some seriously relaxed people I know whose blanket slogan in any situation in life is – I-am-ok-with-everything. Sometimes with raised hands. The only thing they have managed in their lives is to have a good time without doing much for it. They have managed to let others manage their lives while they relax and lie low while life passes by. Going by my employment history (once I sat on a boss’s back while he was hunched on the floor looking for some papers that had flown away because I did not clip them properly), I am definitely influenced by the blue God. From the first job onwards, I have managed to do...

A friend and I needed a break in life. We needed time to find meaning and space to get perspective. A well travelled friend suggested Pokhara in Nepal . He promised veritable paradise. We packed at the speed of light and in true spiritual fashion decided to travel by land knowing there is no shortcut to heaven. ‘A train to New Jalpaiguri, a taxi from the train station to the border at Kakarbhitta, an overnight bus from border to Pokhra. Simple.’ – I explained to my friend. The shrug in her shoulder showed she was already in paradise and I should not bother her with worldly logistical issues. Reaching NJP in the morning, we took a taxi to Kakarbhitta immediately. We spent the day at a dingy hotel in this border town and waited for the bus till evening. ‘It will take 14 hours and the bus has push back seats.’ – informed our slime coated travel agent. ‘You must book a hotel from here. It is very difficult to find hotels there. We have deluxe rooms which will cost you only 400 Indian’, ...

At the end of a failed attempt to reach Kunming (in China) from Margherita (in Assam) we were quick to settle for a resort nearby. This is what I enjoy most about travelling with my friends - this ability to happily settle for rabbit piss while you were actually looking for moonshine. When we started from Guwahati 650 kilometres ago, no one knew where we were going. Such is the level of meticulous planning and detailed organisation of the ensemble we were travelling in. The ensemble performs music and is quite popularly known. Thankfully they had a show in Margherita. Or we would not even know where to go from Guwahati. Somewhere through the 650 km journey, from Guwahati to Margherita, that for some inexplicable reason started at 2 am in the morning, we managed to decide that we will go somewhere beyond Margherita and visit unknown frontiers and untouched forests. Making decision you must know is more difficult than driving 650 km straight through a night and more dangerous than the un...

Please sign the Impunity Must End in Manipur petition to end Armed Forces Special Power Act in Manipur. Irom Sharmila (who I wrote about earlier) has been on hunger strike for 10 years demanding removal of this atrocious law that our own (?) country has imposed upon us. Enough is enough. For a free land and a free life, please click on the following link and sign the online petition. http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/manipur/ I know online petitions are a bore. Also I am not really sure about how effective they are. But for this, I will try anything. It's a matter of freedom or death! So friends. Please sign.

I have been feeling a tad bad about dissing Bongs perhaps a bit too much recently. I have been feeling, I am perhaps not being fair (which not many Bengalis are, although that is their favourite shade of skin) since I told my Bengali neighbour to go back to Bangladesh when we had a fight over him not closing the lift door and making me climb 4 floors of stairs. On hind sight it is perhaps even ingratitude on my part as that was the only time I got to use my legs for anything other than pulling up pants in months. However, this piece is to redeem myself of the unfairness and give the Bongs what they are due, for once. My latest visit to Kolkata also gave me time and company to appreciate some of the Bongs I know and material to fill at least one page with good things about them. I will start right away: The best things I like about them is what that guy Arnab writes in his blog http://greatbong.net/ - “Bengalis, even more than macher jhol and Ganguly, love the ideal of the dispossesse...

“ Manipur, literally meaning "jewelled land", nestle deep within a lush green corner of North East India. Surrounded by blue hills with an oval valley at the centre, rich in art and tradition and surcharged with nature's pristine glory…” I look, annoyed, at the chirpy way my colleague has started the paper on Manipur. Almost like the ‘generous’ pieces the travel publications, I write for sometimes, demand out of run-down places that have been turned into tourist destinations by building concrete govt. tourism guest houses and more concrete hotels around them. It also exudes a sense of peace and calm that sometimes I have to write about the same places while being surrounded by loud Bengali tourists. To notice the blue hills, the lush greens, the rich tradition and culture of Manipur in October 2009 requires the same amount of ignorance (and the supposed bliss it brings), an extremely optimistic disposition (may be caused by pressure of pay cheque) and a...