Happiness Matters

Hello Maa. Hello bol kmn achs? Valo aci. Tomar bazar esce to online theke? Ha esece. Tor baba ki krche? Ei to ekanei ace. Phone speaker ace kotha bolo. Hago tumi keyecho? Ha keyechi. Tumi ekn bazar dorona jeno. Na dorini. Dorjar kache roeche. Ha ekn thak 24 ghonta. Kal nun jole dubie rode sukie tule reko. Achha sei valo. Tumi mone kore tomar osud gulo kheo. Ha khabo. Ei deko Bouma ki bolbe. Ha Bouma bolo. Maa, bolcilm je tomar hater muri ghonto ta ki sundor hoe, tomar chele khabe bolcilo. Lockdown kobe je kulbe. Tumi barite eka atke porle ar amra sobai ekane. Sei to. Amaro ki mon ta kharap lagche Babu. Kobe je toder dekte pabo. Tomake bollm video call ta sikie dicchi phone, tumito bolle parbena. Ami ki osob pari re, sekele manus. Oto bujte parbona. Achha Maa recipie ta patio to muri ghontor. Ha patachhi. Amr diary te lekha ache. Chobi tule patachhi phone ta reke. Ok. Sabdane theko. Dorkar lagle phone koro. Ha re Babu. Torao valo thakis. Keye nis time moton. Phone ta reke ekta sostir ni...

Dear Diary, This is Dec 2019. Just now I saw my anomaly scan report. I not only have completed 20weeks of pregnancy but also have a good news, the anomaly report looks fine. Never have I ever waited so eagerly for the result of my medical reports. Exactly 1 year before I lost my first baby. On Dec 2018 I had miscarriage. The reason - the foetus stopped growing, only the sac inside which the foetus stays was growing. This is what medical report says. But for a mother that was not just a foetus but her child. When doctor showed me my child on the screen while conducting the anomaly scan my eyes became wet. Each time my usg happened and I saw my baby growing inside me tears used to come out- tears of happiness. Now I realise why mothers are so sensitive towards their children and from where do their tears come. A baby is not only the dearest one for a mother but the baby is a part of her body. For the ones who do not know, anomaly scan is done at 20th week of pregnancy to check if there i...

Mumbai city is called "City of Dreams". It's not just the city or the ample of opportunities that make this a dreamland for many, but the people and their attitude towards life make this the "Business Capital of India". People here understand one thing "To work". So if you want to work this city will provide you what you seek for. It is said once someone comes here, the city engulfs that person and it becomes very difficult for that person to leave this city. Well this is true! And what is the secret? No not the vada pav or the pav bhaji, not the Bollywood glamour, not the Marine Drive, not the high end lifestyle but the right attitude of the people who live here. Here you will not only get whatever you seek but you can lead a life without being judged and stay focused on your goal. I came here 3 years ago, but now I just don't stay here, I live here! Mumbai life is incomplete without its weekend hotspots. Weekend destinations are so many. F...

Covid 19 has disrupted our lives. Govt has ordered supply of only the necessary/ basic items i.e grocery and medicines would be there. But the irony is that the idea of basic need is different for different sets of people. Let's look at the following set of grievances: A: "My maid is on leave. Thank God I have my house keeper who works here for 24*7. But how much can she take up the work! I have to help her in pulling curtains sometimes. Struggle phase for me, phewwww!!!" B:  "Parlors are closed. Oh God! Why they had to close the parlors! Are these not essential? Plus now I have to help my Mom in daily chores! I hate Corona!" C: "No maid in the house plus we are working from home. Double work for us. Over and above this since, we are staying at home all the time due to lack of physical activity we do not feel hungry. God knows when this phase will end!" D: "So much pressure now what to post on social media, as I cannot hang out with...

When the biggest doubt is "Will you survive?" then why not make use of the time that you have. Think these 21 days in this way - what is it that one thing you wanted to do provided you had time. If this is the last few days of your life how you want to spend these days without going out of your home. What is it that makes you happy, actual happiness, bring joy to your soul, may be tears in your eyes! Each of us will have different answers. After reading these many of you would think "Where is the time for all these, Boss? We are working from home plus since there is no maid we have to do the household stuffs on our own. Double work for us!" But I am sure amidst the schedule you get sometime in a day to look through the news update on Corona Virus or Covid 19, you surely take out time to browse through Amazon Prime or Netflix, you surely browse for one or two innovative cooking recipes in the internet. So why not think about that one thing which has kept you...

There are two disappointments about Mumbai: 1. The crazy traffic 2. Mumbai flood During office time an half an hour distance will take 1.5hours to cover. Yes, the traffic is that frustrating. No wonder why the Mumbai residents are used to walking. That's because you can easily cover half an hour car distance in 90 minutes by walking. But walking is not easy when there is knee deep water. Why even I am talking about knee deep water? That's because Mumbai floods are famous in the country or should I say infamous. Here, during rainy season it rains very heavily and continuously for days and you would suddenly find this city has turned into Venice- there is knee deep water everywhere resulting into, yes, resulting into definitely more traffic!!! Sometimes the only commuting medium in the rainy season are the local trains, which, of course, have to be stopped for half a day because of water logging. Talking about trains in Mumbai, you simple cannot avoid the trains if you a...

Mumbai is the India's most expensive city to live in. Mercer's  25th Annual Cost of Living Survey (Mercer is American HR Consulting firm) indicates Mumbai is among the top 20th most expensive cities in Asia. Just to give you an idea - here a maid servant earns 25k on an average per month, also these people have their own flats in this city. After knowing this I was wondering why do at West Bengal we have so many engineering colleges. For those who are not able to connect between engineering college and the income level of the Mumbai maids, let me tell you an engineering fresher earns less than 25k in hand per month. I was not only shocked but also in awe after listening to their stories.  The secret to their wealth is: In Mumbai, probably the easiest way to get ownership of a real estate is to live in a chawl. The reason being, a construction developer would evacuate the chawls for the purpose of building flats. Usually the developers come up with two types of f...