Distinctiveness - Travel and Lifestyle Blog

  Durga Ma is on her way, and Messi cannot contain his excitement. Sometimes, the wait for an event is almost as enticing as the actual occasion. The hours before a crucial football match. The final days ahead of a long-pending vacation. The morning of an eagerly awaited arrival. Quite similar to the drumroll - rapid beats on a drum, increasing in intensity by the second - before the extravagant ending. This drumroll is supposed to build up to the main event and often gets sidelined in the dazzling lights of the main event. However, I often find this anticipation, this wait, to be an endearing adventure as well.  I have been indulging in such thoughts of late. Perhaps there’s something in the air, or maybe it’s the season itself. Because, folks, it’s that time of the year again. The buildup to the grand occasion that gets Bengalis world over supercharged.  Durga Puja is less than a month away.  While others may indulge in the religious intricacies of the oc...

  What's life without fun and games? “Are you joking?” Messi froze in his tracks and narrowed his eyes. Minute creases of worry formed on his little forehead. I had just told him that I was contemplating making an omelette on his head. It was a warm, humid noon; the sun was glaring down on us with vengeance. I was picking up my six-year-old son from school. As usual, Messi rushed out of the gate, handed me his bag and water bottle, and proceeded to play with his friends.  When the fun time finally ended, I got hold of my exhausted son, who was now sweating from head to toe.  “It’s so hot,” he declared.  “Shouldn’t have run so much,” I pointed out. He simply shrugged. On the way home, I suggested that since his head was so hot, I could crack an egg to get my protein intake for the day. “Are you joking?” My son has a very clear understanding of a proper joke, and the intricate details associated with it, and for that, perhaps, I should take full res...

Growing Old isn't bad when you have the right people for company Does anyone know of a man who forgot his wife’s birthday? No, because he didn’t survive to tell the tale. Birthdays are special, apart from the fact that they arrive every year to remind you that you are growing old. I don’t usually wait a year to enlighten Sumita, my wife, with this sombre news; I point it out to her every day! Especially on her birthday, which falls on the 12 th day of September. But then, there’s a charm in growing old together. There’s a wealth of experience to look back upon. Stories to retell over the dinner table. Subtle moments of déjà vu. Been there. Done that. Among all the things I recall and relive is a memory from exactly a decade ago. The first time Sumita and I celebrated this special day together. We were young, freshly in love, seeing the world in each other’s eyes. Girlfriend and boyfriend, yet to be knit together in social binding. I recall riding with my trusted Intrepid...