by Shourjya Chatterjee
I love to ridicule the notion of being a Bengali, something that people around me find odd since I myself am an Bengali; or atleast am supposed to be.
The classic dhoti, the greasy hair, the owl-like spectacles, the wooden cane and the untidy moustache. How we "eat" everything that can be eaten or drunk(read:Jol Khabo). How we add the syllable of "au/o" at places in sentence when people least expect us to. How we are supposed to the stingiest folks on a demographic line. How our love for the mishti transcends understanding of anything tangible as such. How piscine cuisines are all that live upto our standards of food. How we are the ones to host the Royal Bengal Tiger of Sunderbans. How we think we are the masters of the world, and what not!
Whilst I will tell you that THAT is what "we " do, but alas it is only fair that I tell you that THAT is what "they " do since I am one of the pseudo-bongs of the modern age who are totally detached of this great culture. And while on most days that does not bother me much, somehow today out of pure of chaos and randomness I feel sorry for myself since I have missed out on the mystique of the culture that my family reveres so deeply.
The classic dhoti, the greasy hair, the owl-like spectacles, the wooden cane and the untidy moustache. How we "eat" everything that can be eaten or drunk(read:Jol Khabo). How we add the syllable of "au/o" at places in sentence when people least expect us to. How we are supposed to the stingiest folks on a demographic line. How our love for the mishti transcends understanding of anything tangible as such. How piscine cuisines are all that live upto our standards of food. How we are the ones to host the Royal Bengal Tiger of Sunderbans. How we think we are the masters of the world, and what not!
Whilst I will tell you that THAT is what "we " do, but alas it is only fair that I tell you that THAT is what "they " do since I am one of the pseudo-bongs of the modern age who are totally detached of this great culture. And while on most days that does not bother me much, somehow today out of pure of chaos and randomness I feel sorry for myself since I have missed out on the mystique of the culture that my family reveres so deeply.