Watching the Maharaja ...

Some days back .. Dec 7th to be precise , my brother and some of his friends , during a Safari at the Ranthambore Forest, Rajasthan India , met with the king of the jungle . The Tiger was a mere 8 feets from them !! And this happened after they had spotted Tiger Cubs sometime back .
Watching Tigers in their natural surroundings and outside a cage .... is in itself a thrilling experience. But u need sheer luck .. to spot a tiger during these safaris.

Anyways .. so one of the members in that safari (a very good friend of mine) wrote me this paragraph .. on the experience. I was thrilled ... hope u guys feel the same ...

" ultimate mindblowing experience!!! jokhon dekhlam,odbhut ekta anando hochhilo...feeling-ta undescribable...watching a tiger in its natural surroundings,free from any shackles...odbhut ekta feeling...Valmik Thapar-er moto conservationists-der jonyo respect bhishon bede gechhe...the animal is so beautiful,so majestic je bhabai jaay na keno loke maarte chay...the tiger skin is no doubt beautiful but ota eka jyanto tiger-er opori bhalo laage...
but tiger chharao the national park is very beautiful...aamra duto safari korlaam route 3 and 4 -e,dutor-i terrain ekebaare different...3 -te bodo bodo water bodies,khola khola grassland char dike,ekta silent rough beauty...4-e aabar majorly dense forests,kichhu ta grasslands...ekebaare alada duto...Ranthambore-er puro system bhishon organized laglo...
aar ekta byapar.,tiger dekhar aage tiger chase-ta oshadharon chhilo...we went to some 3-4 places initially after getting the news je ekta tigress and duto cubs dekha gechhe...tarpor ekta forest clearing we stopped for some time with bated breath trying to hear a call (to give ur brother credit,he recognized a pugmark at the beginning of the search and also heard the first call)...as soon as we heard one,the guide said hold tight,jeep ebaar dourobe...she ekta thrilling experience...tarpor we reached another place,okhan theke aabar race korte korte aarekta jaygay gelaam where we waited in silence for some 15 minutes (which felt like 1hour) and finally got to see the two cubs...cubs maane sub-adults,14-15 months old,almost adult...oder chhobi-tobi tolar por khushi hoye jokhon berolaam,1-1 and a half kms egiye giye dekhi ki ekta full grown male rastar dhaare grassland-er opor boshe aachhe!!! unbelievable luck chhilo shedin...tiger usually never come out in the open so i dont know why it was sitting there,maybe it was just waiting for some time before going to hunt as it was already nearing sunset,the time when tigers start to hunt...

ekta jinish realize korlaam,jongole aamra holam at the mercy of the tiger,tiger is not at our mercy...

tui ele aamra aabar jaabo Ranthambore!!! "

NOTE : THE PICTURE ABOVE IS JUST A TRAILER ... MORE PICTURES AVAILABLE IN MY FACEBOOK AND IN MY BROTHER'S ORKUT / FACEBOOK :)

Failures are the stepping stones to success !!! is that true !!!

Recently , something happened to me .. which was an almost exact repeat of a similar incident that occurred about an year back. So instead of typing this fresh incident ... i thought of putting the older one here.
While u read it .. just remember.. the date was different and the "food" was different this time, although my "hunger" for "experimental food" remains the same ...




It all began with a desire... the most inherent desire of mankind. A desire for which we work in the office, for which we educate our selves and for which we create occasions in others lives!! … The desire to eat well!!!

I don’t remember the date (and don’t want to remember either) when the story began. It was one of my regular trips to the local Food Store, when I came across this stuff. Now, before I tell you what followed next, let me explain the psychology that drove me into this….

Recently back from an invigorating trip to Nashville and the Smokey Mountains, I was still loaded with the memories. Beside the natural beauty of the place, another thing that kept coming back, were the delicious preparations which my Scientist Friend Ayan and My Scientist big-sis Sudarshana di (I use “scientist” to mean that they are not Chefs in any Indian restaurant) had prepared at different time points, during the trip. While Ayan had a Keema preparation, Sudarshana di made Mutton Liver.

So, I had a hidden desire in me, to try and prepare these above items so as to satisfy my taste buds, which were still searching for those delicacies. Neways lets come back to the story now. So here I was in a Food Mart, with a burning desire to “eat Better”… and a hidden fantasy for Keema and Mutton Liver!!! Thats when I saw this thing, a cute white box in the “meat” section. I just couldn’t resist myself. It had those words written on it “G R O U N D” (which is basically keema). Little did I realize that it was neither Chicken Keema nor Mutton Liver, rather it was “Ground Chicken Liver”, and that’s not all!!! It had stuffs like Curd and Egg, mixed!!!!!! My confused mind, hidden passions and Scientist mentality (which never works in the lab), forced me to put it in my cart though :(

Back Home with a contended feeling for spotting the stuff that I wanted, I started with great enthusiasm!! Sudarshana Di had said, and ayan had made, the preparations very rich! Therefore with tears dripping, I finished chopping a mountain of onions,chillis etc etc! The cooking began with its usual good smell, when you fry onions with some Masalas (here I must say, I had a heavy dose of masalas put in , in an attempt to make it extra spicy).And finally It was time to open the pack and put the coveted “G R O U N D” stuff into the pan !!!! Like a child opening a box of Ferro Roche, I opened my prized catch!!! BUT… the first look of the stuff inside, made me sad.. it looked bad .. real bad!! I told myself “looks are deceptive”, and went ahead to put it , in my already fried onion and maasala mix !!!

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The Gap signifies the shock, I got when I put it in the pan!!! .. It was like a Biological “smell” Weapon!! I was thrown back with the overwhelming (read nauseating) smell!! I had nothing to do!!! I gathered all my strength, and told myself “cooking make things better”.. little did I realize that I was a dumb fool to believe that !!! Even after sweating it out for 2 hours… there was no change in the atmosphere!! The smell was persistent and self generating!!!

That was it …. 2 hrs of my time, 20 litres of sweat, and almost $20 of Spices, resulted in an “alien” delicacy, which may b extra terrestrials would have liked.

So friends what did I do with my marvelous creation??? ..He he !! .. I am intelligent enough to keep it in -20.. who knows may b the smell will “freeze to death” !!!... someday ... :(

Moral of the Story : Next time when you have good food, get it packed …

The Twin Paradox

Statutory warning: This has nothing to do with Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Over the years I have come across a lot of inquisitive souls. And the most commonly asked question has been about my childhood: how it was to grow up with a photocopy/mirror image of myself or in short "How it feels to grow up with an identical twin?" .. and so I thought of writing this ... just to give them a glimpse ... after all you don't get to see a lot of identical twins around! ......

We came into this world in the August of 1982, weighing four and a half pounds each; with hard little knots of muscle in our arms and legs that our mother said came from fighting in the womb. And I think she was correct, because we were the living embodiment of the cliché about brothers who beat the hell out of each other but team up to defend each other against anyone else.

Most of our early childhood was spent on risking life and limb with daredevil stunts. Like the time we saw that man on TV (later I knew he was Mr. AB) beating hell out of another guy, and went to the bedroom and tried to cut off each others head by using a sliding door of the dressing table! We were pretty good, as well as I can recall; we came really close, but nobody got beheaded that day. In the later years our fights became more competitive, I exactly knew what his next move would be ... and so did he !! Therefore in most cases the result was a bi-lateral damage and mostly needed a third party intervention with force (read mom or dad or both)!!!

Being kids we thought that we have supernatural powers. This idea was further re-inforced by the hindi movies (specially the 70s,80s n mid 90s stuff) where they showed the highest level of wireless communication possible :... yess between twin brothers! We saw twins transferring data, sound, videos (probably more than 1000 GBs!!)etc etc etc ... just by thought!!! Needless to say, after several failed attempts (specially during exams) to replicate the superhuman feats depicted by those human beings on screen, we were convinced that reality sucks. But people around us didn’t seem to believe that! Because they kept asking "Do u feel the pain if someone pinches your bro?"(!!!!@#$%@#$%) . Now I wish I could say "Yes" .. and make a fool out of them!!! .. But, back in those days, I was not that mean ! (am talking about III-IV standard).

Although mother nature didn’t allow us the supernatural powers, but it did give us an added advantage over others, and that is the “confusion” associated with identical twins like us: Teachers, friends, x, y, z ... no one can call you by your name. Everyone seems to be apprehensive - in case they "hurt your sentiments" by calling you by your brother's name!! For most of our childhood, teachers, friends and some relatives tended to address us as if we were one person! BUT to tell you the truth it never mattered to us! On the contrary, this confusion helped me more than once when I was a kid, like when I committed some crime in school.. and my naive brother faced the consequences !!!! Therefore as a kid it was a good cover for both of us .. depending on the situation :)

By now, you must be jealous of all the twins in this world! So, to make you guys feel a little better I will tell you that everything was not that smooth and fun. Being twins has its downside too: First, when you are a kid you are MADE to wear similar dresses.. and hence you become the center of public attention everywhere. Now that’s the norm for all twin kids … people around you seem to enjoy the ‘double trouble’ !!! But ask any twins and am sure you will understand how frustrating it is!! Then as you grow up you gain your "rights" and can now stand up against the "inhuman dressing torture" inflicted by your parents .. so you consciously wear different colors and dresses . But now that you are growing up, you have to pay the price for it. And like all of you, bhowmick twins also had to pay the price:
Firstly, we both got caught more than any of the other trouble-makers did in school, because everybody recognized us. Someone would see a bunch of boys bunking classes or involved in a fight, or whatever the particular offense was, and call the authorities to report: "I saw a bunch of boys doing (whatever). I couldn’t recognize any of them, but I know the Bhowmick twins were there (even if only 1 of us was present)." The Bhowmick twins always got caught, even when we weren’t guilty. If there were any two boys in a group who happened to look alike, the Bhowmick twins got the blame !!!

Secondly, while Bhowmick twins were a strong united force against any enemy, they started having issues as they grew up, which resulted in occasional disputes among them: I must mention here (and you will know why) that all this happened for the last time in college ... and thankfully it has never happened again. But this was an issue that kept us busy from school days till the last day in college (before we got physically separated by distance). The problem was .. our similar genetics always made us admire the same girl !!!! ... Wait !! dont get a shock !! .. I told you it stopped at the end of college!! So STOP your imagination from going wild !!!! Anyways, we soon found a solution to this problem !! - Thankfully there were more than one name.. "almost" EVERY TIME and so we always had an EASY SOLUTION when the number was EVEN .. BUT in case of ODD numbers, it was a diplomatic nightmare! Under such circumstances the deal generally made sure that "you pay a heavy price for attending the 'target' un-interrupted" .. that meant loosing your rights to choose a dress, shoes, watches or even the "equal share of cigarettes and pegs" ... for almost a month! Hence, a detailed scrutiny of the "subject" involved was mandatory before you sign the deal (NB: For women activists: please dont screw me for these words, its a joke after all!!) .... Good old days !!! :(

(I can go on and on and on writing about the exploits of and the experience of being the Bhowmick Twins, but am sure that some of my readers are slowly moving towards that little red cross sign at the top right corner of this page. So ... I will try and wrap it up ..)

Today when I look back I realize how important it is to have a twin brother. Because when you are a kid or a teen (the two most vulnerable stages of life) its your twin who is the only person on earth who can understand you the best. He is the only person with whom you can share anything and everything AND he is the only person who ensures that you always have a "partner in crime" ... and hence that way the "punishment" gets shared!!! (Even if it involves the heinous crime of "re-scoring" the mark sheets.. or bunking the ever boring Brilliant's / NICS exams !!) .
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Ask me, and I will say, those were the wonder years! Although things have changed now e.g we do not fall for the same girl anymore except for gals like ……. (that’s a classified info), we do not look exactly same now, and the Bhowmick Twins are no more the “notorious” bhowmick Twins, BUT as they say , old habits die hard .. still today if I make a mistake …… its always his idea ;)