Quotidian Tales

Trying to find the motif in good deeds, I suddenly stumble upon this remarkable lineage that keeps me hooked on the stranger I confront. I n a small town where good deeds are accountable, I obsess about uncovering the hidden motives behind people's seemingly altruistic actions. I had become somewhat of a cynic, always searching for the ulterior motives or the hidden flaws in even the noblest gestures. One day, while waiting for the bus on my daily commute, I noticed a stranger - a woman with an air of mystery about her. She was handing out sandwiches to the homeless people who gathered at the stand, her smile genuine and her demeanor warm. As I watched her interact, I couldn't help but wonder, what was she gaining from this act of kindness? I approached her, my skepticism pricking at the back of my mind. "Excuse me," I said, "I couldn't help but notice you've been here every day, helping out. What's your story?" She turned to me wit...

They say that the 40s is midlife, and it's a crisis! H aving recently stepped into the fussy yet fascinating Forty Club, there is one thing I get to hear from friends and familiars alike. It is called a "Midlife Crisis"! Yes, you read that right. Be it someone not getting her long-deserved promotion and sulking over it or someone becoming quiet in a relationship (I bet the years of togetherness often render one speechless!), it is the midlife crisis that has to shoulder the blame. On the other side, if a so-long introvert suddenly starts churning out recurrent reels on her reinvented self and revamped life, again the clueless crisis is held culpable for it. Even a parent reacting to the tireless tantrums of her teenager (that's me!) is labeled as going through that particular phase of life. Every change physical, mental, financial or social, for the better or the worse (depends on the beholder) is callously yet confidently pushed within this b...

That's me. A gawky girl with a head full of frizzy hair and a heart full of woolly emotions. An adolescent, in essence. I' m waiting for my school bus to arrive. Yes, I'm still left with putting on my socks and shoes but that was just a minute's job. The moment captures the one activity I did every single day before I left for school. Though I'm smiling in the pic, it was a forced one back then. Simply because I was not interested in getting myself clicked. But right now when I look at it, I feel so happy and grateful that my father had clicked us together that day. The white puppy with fiercely intelligent eyes (I know I'm being the bragging mom here!) and a really wet snout was Zen. I called him by that name the day he came into life. Of course, I can boast about the Zen philosophy here and put in some profound thinking that was behind the dog's dubbing. But no, nothing of that sort happened. Rather, a car called Maruti Zen had been...

I read about humanity and wanted to share it with you T oday, walking by the road, I saw a white note in a plastic bag. It was hanging from the lamppost. I went by the lamppost and read the words. It said, "I have lost a 50 dollar bill around somewhere here. If you find it, please can you return it to me." And then below it was an address. I went to that address and found a very old and feeble lady resting on the front porch. Hearing my rustle, she called out, "who is there?" I quickly went forward and told her I came to return her 50-dollar bill that I found by the lamppost. She instantly burst into tears and said that at least twenty other people had come to give her back the money and even so when she hadn't written the note on the lamppost. I insisted that she keep the $50 bill from me. She genuinely thanked me and brought me a glass of water from inside. When I was about to leave, she, in turn, requested that I tear up the note on the lamppo...

I was born and brought up in central Calcutta, schooled in central Calcutta, but then grew up to become the core Bengali who had an American childhood! W e Bengalis know the characteristics etched in someone from central Calcutta. Her strings are pulled from both ends. She owns the traits of the more settled in old North Calcutta while desirous for the contemporary South Kolkata (Eastern Kolkata wasn't so prominent then.) We still lived in our hundred-year-old rented homes with 20-inch deep walls and cut-glass floors. But, we went to the top schools in the city. We religiously fed the street dogs, cats, and cows but reluctantly swapped our indoor plants for lack of water. Though I have been a Central Calcuttan all my childhood, I was never pulled by either of these strings. I held on to an American fiber that tugged me on and off! My mom's best neighborhood pal was an American lady! Well, I know you could expect someone of British descent at that location and era...

So find out what drives you and maybe at a crossroad, you too could get lucky like Kamran and meet yourself!… But beware in this inward quest, you will incessantly face the fundamental fact: “ Why am I here? ” and the sway between delirium and deliverance. A t a time when each one of us is seeking for some sort of inspiration to be able to connect with her inner self, ‘Kamran on Bike’ surely drops the penny in the precise spot. Now who is Kamran? Last weekend, casually, my friend had chanced upon him through a Facebook page and, intrigued by his vision, wanted me to dwell upon it. Some minutes into the page and I knew that I was delving into a man who perhaps emphatically embodied the words of Louis XIV. “ There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself. ” And indeed here is a man who literally does everything on his bike, a borrowed one to start with. He travels, unbridled, conquering not only the terrain without but also the territory within, and every...

Undoubtedly, the journey from the vulnerable to the fortified self had not been an undemanding one. Nonetheless, it was possible only because Ashima found friends, almost discovered them, here and there and everywhere by changing, not only her perception but also her perspective towards attachment and association. T he digital clock on her phone screamed nine o’clock! As her thoughts raced to collect all that she had missed in the past couple of hours, Ashima struggled with the obstinate slumber that still slowed her down. Indeed, she was getting reckless by the day. Streaming through series upto the ungodly hours of the night was bound to find someone of her age, fazed and furtive the following day. Living single was liberating after decades of dealing with others but that could barely defend the delinquent demeanor she had displayed lately. Absolving herself too quickly, she put on a feisty mood and went about with her morning ablutions, humming to herself all the while. As ...

There have been so many years of living through it that it doesn't seem newfangled for another year of late worship and festivals to set in! O ver decades immigrants like us have traveled and settled on foreign land and subsequently rested their religion and beliefs. New places of worship sprouted everywhere around the world, and along with that, changed the ways and terms of prayers and reverence. Some people improvised rituals to their convenience and availability when others fumbled through the internet and phone calls for precise arrangements. Another group stuck to excuses of residing on foreign land. Nevertheless, the Hindu religion flourished and spread with newfound beliefs. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world. It is considered a ''way of life" rather than a cohesive, single belief that will guide. There's no one founder and no single set of doctrine or faith. Tweaks over centuries have given rise to numerous groups of people who em...

Ever wondered about the attribute of an Alphabet Book when you instinctively give it to your little one? A conscious observation will reveal that among the first few things that a child, more often than not, engages with is an Alphabet Book. Though languages become a part of her life, the moment she starts picking up sounds, it is only through an ABC book that a child, yes unknowingly, is made to step into the world of literacy and wholesome education. In fact, the book initiates in a tender mind the interesting yet intriguing process of associating visuals with sounds and then attaching a name (a noun) to it, just before it is linked or made to represent an object or a concept in the real world. So somehow an Alphabet Book unlocks a new space for the child, that into which she would very soon belong and make sense of. Apparently, an Alphabet Book introduces a beginner to the letters of the alphabet, its capitals and lower case forms and eventually proceeds to the m...

Looking for a summer camp to keep your kids learning? J oin a special one-week online summer camp with award-winning magician Nathaniel Segal! Learn super fun and easy magic with everyday objects. Register at: virtualcamp.eventbrite.com ONE WEEK ONLY! June 21st - 25th from 2:00 - 4:00 PM (PT) In this special one-week magic camp, you will learn incredible magic with everyday objects! Each class teaches simple and fun tricks that you can actually do! The $125 registration includes the classes and a special mailed package of materials! Register now! The class is limited to just 30 participants. Use code QT10 for an additional $10 off Here are some of the exciting things you will get to experience in each class: Learn incredible magic that can be done easily, and each trick we will go more in-depth and discuss some of the ways that you can make the performances even better with basic theater and magic theory See some of the most inc...

Tell us the titles and topics that you want to see as future posts in Quotidian Tales. Speculations that we can discuss. Please add them to the comment section. I t's unbelievable how time flies. You never know, and soon you become a year old or more effectively as for the group of Quotidian Tales, a year wiser! It has been a wondrous one year for us! We couldn't thank our enthusiastic readers and their friends and families enough. Barely could we reach out to each one of you who read Quotidian Tales and enjoyed it. So here we take the opportunity to thank you for showing so much love and support throughout the year. Each day, you motivated us to keep writing, which made this first year so much more manageable. We enjoyed and loved your comments and likes that spurred us to keep marching ahead. It was the beginning of 2019 when we procured thoughts of expressing ourselves. Soon our excitement started piling up in google docs. We at least had one new document each...

Fountain pens are traditional, durable, enjoyable and stimulating - An incredible writing instrument that engages you in a therapeutic hobby. R amanuj listened to the morning news. He was ready to head out to work with his cup of fresh coffee and a slice of cake. On his way out, he grabbed his keys and hurriedly picked up his precious possession. Surprisingly, it was one from his prized collection of fountain pens. Being an analyst by profession and having twin teens around kept him busy all day. It was amazing how he would manage time out of it to refill his fountain pen and consciously sit down with his special notebook to ink his daily gratification in distinctive cursive fonts. He named it his ‘inking indolence.’ He never had to practice it. It was his passion. Miraculously, he knew how to set aside his worries and unwind himself in a calm space with his fountain pen and notebook. Entirely focused on his handwriting and his pen and lost amidst a comfortable space, f...

Fancy feeling the fervour of cooking? Then don’t just satiate your taste buds but let the spirit of your kitchen brighten the hearts in your home. Set about with this sumptuous Mango Fish recipe. H ave you ever experienced the ecstasy of being able to cook something delicious, nutritious or even otherwise? If you have, then you are no stranger to the alluring sizzle and warmth of your kitchen. My two kids are always peeking inside the pantry to conceive a dish or meal that mom could cook that day. Once an image pops up, they are ready to deliver it to mom so that I get moving on my part of the project. The most familiar way my kitchen wakes up every morning, and I enjoy it. Sometimes, my food cravings also drive me to the kitchen to prepare something. If I watch a good cooking show or a food tour, I almost always spend an experimental and engaging evening cooking for my family. Being the heart of my home, I love my kitchen to be alive and animated every day. Hundreds of...

His characters might have leaned towards the grey but they sure had the innocence, the goodness and the confidence to obtain love. C ircus ! The boy-next-door! Messy brown hair, the dimple and the eyes! A boy I fell for. A TV actor who was a tad different. Then Deewana happened. I was surprised. He had come to the big screen. Then Raju came and stole my heart. Malaria or loveria whatever you want to name it...the silly acts of romance to woo the girl is all, I, a kid needed. Those were the days when we just had the National Television. Durga Puja was the only time of the year, Baba used to allow us to watch Bollywood movies by renting video cassettes from the local parlour. So my romance grew slowly and drove a steady path through the next few movies. Bam! Baazigar ! Who can think that you can fall for the con guy? A hero, a villain, the protagonist? Who was he? The ambiguity was more alluring than the acute need to put him into a defined box. Then rolled out one movie ...

A photograph is just a moment captured. It is alive in its stillness. Be it a place, a person, an emotion or an event, a photograph is the only way to cling on to it, physically or otherwise. O ur friend who furnishes photographs for our articles is, by profession, a wedding photographer. But as any creative space cannot be constricted within the confines of common understanding, so is hers too. Her shared album of photographs is an alluring array of instants that exhibits existence in its entirety. It was on a leisurely evening as I was going through her album, I perceived, almost impetuously, the potency and the promise of a photograph. What is a photograph? Just a moment captured. A tick thought beautiful and worthy by the photographer and turned into truth. The little while, as a matter of fact, exists only through the photograph. The link to the past and the license to the future. A medium that enables you to travel through time. Take a look at the above photograph...