In the early nineties, Asansol had just two real book shops. There were a few pretenders who stocked up an occasional comic or two but mainly dealt in stationery. Roy Book Stall,was located in a long passageway beneath a stair case which led up to the Asansol branch of the State Bank of India.Its next door neighbor was a wine shop owned by the Atwal brothers. Located strategically at the point where one usually entered or exited the market, a usually mundane shopping experience was sometimes enlivened, if I could convince my parents to let me spend a few minutes browsing through the stack of books or magazines there. Though the shop measured twenty feet in length and a major portion was occupied by a stair case, the owners made good use of the available space. The show case for the books on display almost touched the ceiling. The shop assistant kept a close watch on the stream of bibliophiles trooping to his shop, less someone was prompted by the immense thirst for knowledge to commit a crime.

The books one would browse for kept changing all the time.The comic book world of He-Man, Phantom, Chacha Chowdhury,Tintin and Tinkle later transformed into a world dominated by Hardy Boys and Sherlock Holmes. Nancy Drew books were a strict no.  Much later Jeffery Archer and Sidney Sheldon dominated the scene. In the pre internet era magazines were something people waited eagerly for,they came out once a week,fortnight or month,and you spend the period turning its pages till it was well dog eared and could serve as the wrapping paper of samosas at  the neighborhood sweet shop. The magazine rack at the shop contained a few copies of Cosmopolitan and the likes, towards which one stole few furtive glances. They had a place beside the old over- priced copies of National Geographic. The top shelves at the shop proudly displayed the colorful volumes of Encyclopedias, which you brought down with the assistance of the shop owner.To leaf through the glossy pages featuring some amazing photographs transferred one to a different world.But the prices of these books were way beyond my “book budget”,and every trip deepened the resolve to set aside enough pocket money to be the proud owner of one .And finally one day with generous contribution of my brother,we became proud owners of the 1993 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records. It was from this very shop,during my kindergarten days,I was gifted a copy of the Lake of Sharks .It was a grand introduction to the world of Tintin and Captain Haddock. The essence of the story though was understood much later.

A view of the Atwal Building

Let’s move on to the other book shop which formed an essential part of a person growing up in Asansol. Student’s Store established in 1932, was nestled between a shop selling lottery ticket and a line of temporary establishments selling flowers. Subhash Cinemas, known for showing movies of the strict “academic” kind was located a few shops away.

As the name of the shop suggests, Student’s Stores ruled the roost as far as text books prescribed by the English medium schools in Asansol were concerned. The dimensions of the shop being extremely narrow,it always amazed me how they managed to store volumes of text books meant for the sizable student population of Asansol. It was the place where you dragged your parent armed with the “book list “, received along with your annual report card. There was a special joy in being among the first people to queue up at the shop to become proud owners of text books to be uses for the next academic year. The sight and smell of new books had perhaps something to do with the haste for the annual ritual. The months of April and May was the time the shop made brisk business selling books like hot cake. They even opened a counter at the rear of the shop, where you reached after going down a  narrow passage way and over a huge well built by Sher Shah, to stand in the queue. Rolls of ordinary or poly coated brown papers , labels with your favorite comic or action hero, a shining new geometry box (after one moved into the 5th standard ) and other such paraphernalia were bought with gusto. New books and exercise copies were neatly covered up and it was time to bid good bye the items used in the previous academic year. It was perhaps the only time of the year when one did not feel burdened in turning the pages of text books out of curiosity rather than the compulsion of acquiring knowledge to score more marks in the never ending line up of examinations. As the years progressed Multisale set up shop in Asansol,so did Reader’s Choice,but they never captured my imagination.

Today the idea or the image of a book shop has changed. While living in Chennai, many a weekend hour passed paying visits to Higginbotham’s,Landmark (Citi Centre & Apex Plaza) and the Crossword in T-Nagar. My trips to Landmark or Om Book Store have been few after moving to Gurgaon.Hours are now spent online, browsing the collection at Flipkart ,Indiaplaza or Landmark.

The size and splendor of these book shops are way better than the ones I frequented in my childhood.

Today I do not need to think twice before buying a book I wanted to own. But those small book shops of Asansol  will always occupy a special place in the heart.

Image Courtesy: http://www.britannica.com

The earliest impressions of Mahalaya takes me back down memory lane.

The night before Mahalaya,I followed the routine of reminding my parents to wake me up at the exact time the Philips Two in One stereo came to life emanating the melodious voice of Birendra Kishore Bhadra as part of the special annual program on Akashvani.What usually followed thext morning was my Mom or Dad gently cajoling me to wake up,but somehow I would manage to lose the battle against sleep.I would wake up with a start,try desperately to rub off the sleep from my eyes and then fall back into the bed.Mahisashuramardini had its special effect on my semi conscious state of mind.

Tossing and turning in bed,what finally made me rise was the continuous rhythm of fire crackers being burst at close proximity to my house.It would remind me of the prized possessions of the cache of arms or rather an assortment of chocolate bombs bought a few days back in anticipation of that very day.That was perhaps the incentive I was looking for.It was a time when noise pollution was yet to affect the government or inhabitants of my state.

As I stepped out of the house ,loaded and armed, accompanied by my brother,a thick layer of smoke would greet us outside.The warning about covering the head so as not to catch a cold from the early morning dew would go unheeded.The autumn dew lay around on the grass,and the ground would have a wet feel to it and the air had the smell of sulphur.

Soon we would be joined by a group of friends from the neighborhood each armed to the hilt.There was always a special place of honor for the chocolate bomb which made the loudest noise.

The day was special in so many other ways,it usually marked the onset of a month long break from school.The day I could start devouring the special edition of the Anandamela.Growing up on a diet of Hardy Boys, Tintin and Feluda stories the annual Puja edition of the Anandamela magazine always had a special place in the heart.Almost each day till the magazine was delivered at our door steps, the “Newspaper Chacha” would get a gentle reminder to deliver the Puja edition on time.

Times have certainly changed since then,the last Mahalaya I celebrated was around four years back,in the college hostel,in the company of friends.This year I tried to get up early,not to burst fire crackers,or turn on to Akashvani but just to have a feel of the Mahalayas of the past.The sounds of Mahisahuramardini from the laptop speakers somehow did not have the same effect of the analog recordings played on the All India Radio channel.Perhaps the day has become just another day when we wish our friends through status updates on Facebook/Orkut/Gtalk.

Image Courtesy :www.anandautsav.com

Imagine being marooned on an isolated island,with two suns shining upon you, but you have found a cool shade .The only means of communication is through a highly noninteractive medium ,often referred to as an idiot box.Yes, you can reach out to people ,there is a device lying around which allows you to communicate but only at a certain cost.Somehow my days begun to fell incomplete.I had not realised the perils of spending time in a world sans the world wide web.I could not open my laptop and just hit the shortcut for Firefox and explore the depths of the web.

Nearly 4 days pass by,you cannot follow the updates on your Google Reader feeds,cannot browse the incidents of extreme importance being broadcasted by your buddies in facebook/ orkut,cannot feel the happiness of emptying the overflowing spam folder in your inbox,the unhappiness at not being able to solve the world’s problems through discussion over email threads .Then the day comes when you are desperate to jump into the depths of web only to find out out it was all around you and its free but you never realized.

We have a habit of taking things for granted.Things like staying connected to a virtual world become a matter of routine like brushing your teeth or having a bath.

PS: My guest house has a wireless Internet access facility,which I learned only today.

Since childhood I have always loved Saturdays,well very few people do not I guess.While in school it was the day that would break the monotony of getting up early,running for the school bus,spending majority part of the day learning some interesting and some not so interesting stuff.In college it was the day I went back home after spending 5 hyperactive days in the hostel with friends.

But since coming to Chennai,the day has a permanent slot marked in the calendar,between say 1 to around 3 in the afternoon.It is the time marked for rejuvenating the taste buds with the food which is closest to my heart.

Hidden in this city is this restaurant called “Annapurna of Kolkata” in Pantheon Road,Egmore which gives respite to hundreds of people from the eastern fringes of the country.With a pan shop,which sells Ananda Bazaar Patrika at the entrance,it reminds you the eateries back home.Believe me, Chennai is totting with quite a large number of restaurants and eateries serving food termed North Indian,but which generally do not serve anything which has slight resemblance with Bengali cuisine.

My first visit to he place could hardly be termed memorable ,I found that almost the entire bengali population in Chennai had decided to descend upon the place to celebrate the Bengali New Year.After waiting for eternity to find a place ,we gave up the idea and moved on to another of those North Indian restaurants.Its been a year and a half since then…..

Annapurna is the place to savour the best “chingri malai curry”,”vetki paturi”,”rui kaliya”,”sorshe ilish”….and the not so common “hans dim kosha” or the “macher dimer bora”.The preparation of these delicacies is sure to satisfy the taste buds of most hardened Bengali gourmets .The only complaint I have about the place is its size,since it becomes increasingly difficult to find a table on saturday or sunday afternoon.

There are several restaurants in Chennai,around the Bengali Youth hostel near Chepauk on Wallajhah Road,which claim to serve Bengali food,but one or two visit to these eataries is enough to establish how tall these claims are.So if you are in Chennai for some reason or the other and yearn for some good quality Bengali food Annapurna is the place to be.

PS:Legend has it ,that when the great Mithun Da was in Chennai for shooting of the film,Guru, he had his lunch delivered from the very place.