Soul City
So much has happened over the past two weeks or so...
All started with the last Kukshinden Ryu class of this year a coupl've saturdays back. I was so scared...felt like crying. It was scary cuz...i couldn't fake it.
In life we get pretty good at 'faking it'. Day in and day out. With people, places, situations - and ourselves. You get yourself into a 'situation' out there in the world - it isn't such a big deal to get out of...you might face a few anxious moments - but you can grin and bear it - or smile your way through - you can fake it. But after a point, everybody comes up to facing that 'mirror' that bares all and bares you - to you and the world - for what you are.
That saturday - that's exactly what happened. I learn a 'waza' and find myself training. I do the 'waza' over and over again. And again. It doesn't work. And i'm meant to 'perform'. But that's exactly the point - in life, we're used to 'performing'.
A fight is not a 'performance'. It's fucking real. And if you think it's a performance - you're gonna get fucked.
In that moment - in that one solitary moment - i was bare. For myself to see.
They say that there's god in each and every one of us. There are times i don't pray. Cuz you can only pray with a clean heart...and conscience - and when you do - you have to look within....and be able to face what you see. Which is why some people don't pray or believe in god. It's too confronting.
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Did a bit of travelling in the early part of the week - the third time i've been to Delhi this year. AND - more significantly - the first time i went to Calcutta :)
It truly is - the city of Joy.
The whole city looks...and feels....like it hasn't aged beyond the mid 70's. It almost seems like you're living a 70's Amitabh Bachchan movie!
The city has so much soul. So much character. I was so in awe...and so inspired - by the architecture. These MASSIVE colonial buildings line the main city streets with smaller buildings manning the sidestreets. Dusty and peeling a bit - but yet regal and majestic in their presence. Strong reminders of a bygone era...yet creating fresh enough memories that you'd expect a motorcade or a cavalcade of soldiers to march past in full regalia. I'm truly in love with Calcutta. If i met a woman with as much soul and character as Calcutta - i'd marry her in a heartbeat.
On my first day there, i went into 'Tengra', which is the 'China Town' of Calcutta. Once again, you drive in (in your yellow ambassador, which jumps straight out've the 70's) - and you're greeted by this scene that's eerily similar to a kungfu movie - so much so that when i was in one've the chinese restaurants there - i half expected two kung-fu artists to come crashing through the door and play out a complete fight sequence complete with constipated noises a la Jackie Chan with the bad hairdo.
You walk through the streets of Tengra and you notice how much time people have in Calcutta. I saw people sitting outside their shops, people playing cards, people chatting animatedly...not much work happening really :) If any work - it was the pakoda/chaiwallas getting their stuff ready for later that evening.
There were soo many chinese restaurants there and since we hadn't been there before - i know i hadn't - we just decided to hop into one, sample a bit of the food and then hop into another to carry on with the sampling! Right enough, we went into one restaurant and ordered some fried prawns and 'mustard' fish. After the waiter left, my friend was theorizing might the mustard be 'calcutta mustard' or 'english mustard', at which point i enquired, "Is there much of a difference?" She grinned a very evil grin and said, "If it's Calcutta mustard, you'll remember the difference" Ominous words...almost prophetic.
We had a beer, talked about work, meanwhile the prawns and (ominous) fish arrive. I bite into the prawns and almost burn my tongue - it being quite evident that it's fresh off the frying pan (understandable since we were the only two people there). And THEN - i bit into the mustard fish.
I-kid-you-not- I took ONE bit of that mustard fish and the mustard went through my nose like a bullet - straight into my head, lobotomising me instantly! It was the most insane food experience i've ever had - the mustard shoots through and before you know it, your eyes are watering and your head feels like it's been hit by two 'symbols' on either side - and it all happens in a matter of miliseconds - you BARELY have time to recover...forget recover..you just have to resign yourself to your fate once you bite into that mustard :) Oh - and the fish wasn't bad either. lol
And mush true to the first rule of stupidity - that it's always original - we had one bite of the fish. Fried our brains. Then had another bite. Fried our brains. And continued the cycle till we both knew that both of us wanted the last bite...it was INSANE. Really like a drug. I'd HIGHLY recommend this if you want to come away with a memorable food 'experience'.
After this we went into 'KimLing' - the kungfu food place - where i ate THE MOST divvvvvvvvineeeeeee garlic prawns i've ever eaten. The prawns - not actually or literally - but DID melt in my mouth, and were big enough to get a large mouthfull and yet for it to seem like i had taken a very small bite of the prawns. Yummy!! With this we had 'mixed chow' - which is basically noodles with prawn, chicken and egg - very yummy too.
All in all, i walked out of the restaurant - ready to explode. Thankfully i chose to take in the character filled streets of Tengra instead :) About the streets - i must mention that men in calcutta look at a woman as if they have never ever seen a woman before...it's quite strange. Having said that, apparently Calcutta has one of the lower rates of molestation/rape amongst cities in India - so these men stop at staring. But boy do they stare - and if you're a hot blooded man, it really wouldn't take much to start some mob violence.
Walking out of Tengra, i saw a 'rikshaw' - the kind that have men pulling a two seater richshaw - was good fun, though we felt like exhibits in a zoo :) I must say i did feel concern for him...he looked frail and yet was pulling the weight of two grown adults.
Went back to the hotel thinking i'd get some sleep and head out for a bengali (i keep thinking of a room filled with people - their surnames being 'Lee' and someone loudly proclaiming - "Bang a Lee!") meal and some puchka and calcutta pan :), but was soooo tired with all the travelling that i just ended up going to sleep and woke up only at 11pm - little did i know that Calcutta is open pretty late into the night. So i just lounged around in the room, chatted online with some friends and went to sleep.
Woke up next morning with a strong urge to 'breakfast' in town :) ...so took a cabbie to Park Street. Saw a tram on the road and upon enquiring where and how one could get onto a tram - the cabbie replied with a "kaheen se bhi pakadlijiye saab" and then went on to say, "Jis aadmi ke paas bahut saara time hain - sirf vahi is cheez pe chadta hai. Taxi mein aapko Howrah jaana hain to 30 - 40 minute lag jaayenge. Is cheez mein aapko 4 ghanta lagega" Point noted :)
Got down from the cab and found a chap making some delicious chole puri - so decided to have some along with chai in a mud pot (aaaaaahhh). Walked from there, down Park Street...taking in the sights...to 'Flurry's'. Much like 'Koshy's' is an institution in Bangalore - 'Flurry's' is the same to Calcutta - though unfortunately the entire place has been 'Jewel Boxed'! Or Calcutta has been Bangalored in that sense! lol
I reached Flurry's and found myself being told to wait by the security guard since it was apparently 'full' inside. So i waited. Ten minutes later i was ushered inside. Walked in to see that in my section alone - there were 3 empty tables. No worries, i sat and ordered a chicken omlette, baked beans on toast and a chicken quiche - of which only the baked beans were anything to talk about. Sitting at my table, i had a clear view of the entrance - and i could see that it seemed to be a routine. The security guard would open the door, try and catch a waiters attention. The waiter in turn - if he happend to see the entrance, would signal something to the waiter. People were made to wait - JUST - for the snob value of the place. Different strokes for different folks.
Once done with breakfast, i went over to the confectionery section and bought myself some chocolates and pastries to take home (after having eaten them, i'd highly recommend the cookies, chocolate bars and the lemon tart).
Walked out of Flurry's and proceeded around Park Street till my friend arrived. I was then taken to Victoria Memorial - which was the official residence of Queen Victoria in India. The museum there is a little boring...but the building and the lawns are quite a sight. From there we proceeded to drive around that area, driving past some of old calcutta - seeing the GPO, the SBI building (the largest branch in India)...we even went to a 'Floating Hotel' - which basically seems like it used to be a 'ferry' boat of some sort and is now a flating hotel. Saw that, then went to a restaurant in town...'Tangy's' or something like that...ok food. Preferred the previous day's lunch. Later that night, met up with these people again at Aqua (The Park), was quite high before getting there, and it being a wednesday night, there weren't too many people. Was given a quick tour of 'Tantra' and 'Roxy' as well - i must say, i am now an ambassador for the need for people to experience Calcutta hospitality atleast once ;)
My 'host for the evening' hehe then took me along with her friends to 'Shisha' - which was ROCKING!! Dude!! I sooooooooooooooooo want to go to Calcutta for the new year!! hahahaha These guys were calling it an 'early night' at 2:30 in the morning!! If only they had that concept in Bangalore....maybe in a few hundred years...
All in all - Calcutta was by far the most memorable city i've visited this year...and if all goes well, i'll be visiting the city very soon ;)
hehe...aur ye travel ka silsila abhi khatam nahi hone waala...have a friend of mine coming in from London later this month so i'm gonna play the 'travel guide'.
Would only be a fitting end to the year and perhaps a precurso to the one coming ;) wot?
All started with the last Kukshinden Ryu class of this year a coupl've saturdays back. I was so scared...felt like crying. It was scary cuz...i couldn't fake it.
In life we get pretty good at 'faking it'. Day in and day out. With people, places, situations - and ourselves. You get yourself into a 'situation' out there in the world - it isn't such a big deal to get out of...you might face a few anxious moments - but you can grin and bear it - or smile your way through - you can fake it. But after a point, everybody comes up to facing that 'mirror' that bares all and bares you - to you and the world - for what you are.
That saturday - that's exactly what happened. I learn a 'waza' and find myself training. I do the 'waza' over and over again. And again. It doesn't work. And i'm meant to 'perform'. But that's exactly the point - in life, we're used to 'performing'.
A fight is not a 'performance'. It's fucking real. And if you think it's a performance - you're gonna get fucked.
In that moment - in that one solitary moment - i was bare. For myself to see.
They say that there's god in each and every one of us. There are times i don't pray. Cuz you can only pray with a clean heart...and conscience - and when you do - you have to look within....and be able to face what you see. Which is why some people don't pray or believe in god. It's too confronting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did a bit of travelling in the early part of the week - the third time i've been to Delhi this year. AND - more significantly - the first time i went to Calcutta :)
It truly is - the city of Joy.
The whole city looks...and feels....like it hasn't aged beyond the mid 70's. It almost seems like you're living a 70's Amitabh Bachchan movie!
The city has so much soul. So much character. I was so in awe...and so inspired - by the architecture. These MASSIVE colonial buildings line the main city streets with smaller buildings manning the sidestreets. Dusty and peeling a bit - but yet regal and majestic in their presence. Strong reminders of a bygone era...yet creating fresh enough memories that you'd expect a motorcade or a cavalcade of soldiers to march past in full regalia. I'm truly in love with Calcutta. If i met a woman with as much soul and character as Calcutta - i'd marry her in a heartbeat.
On my first day there, i went into 'Tengra', which is the 'China Town' of Calcutta. Once again, you drive in (in your yellow ambassador, which jumps straight out've the 70's) - and you're greeted by this scene that's eerily similar to a kungfu movie - so much so that when i was in one've the chinese restaurants there - i half expected two kung-fu artists to come crashing through the door and play out a complete fight sequence complete with constipated noises a la Jackie Chan with the bad hairdo.
You walk through the streets of Tengra and you notice how much time people have in Calcutta. I saw people sitting outside their shops, people playing cards, people chatting animatedly...not much work happening really :) If any work - it was the pakoda/chaiwallas getting their stuff ready for later that evening.
There were soo many chinese restaurants there and since we hadn't been there before - i know i hadn't - we just decided to hop into one, sample a bit of the food and then hop into another to carry on with the sampling! Right enough, we went into one restaurant and ordered some fried prawns and 'mustard' fish. After the waiter left, my friend was theorizing might the mustard be 'calcutta mustard' or 'english mustard', at which point i enquired, "Is there much of a difference?" She grinned a very evil grin and said, "If it's Calcutta mustard, you'll remember the difference" Ominous words...almost prophetic.
We had a beer, talked about work, meanwhile the prawns and (ominous) fish arrive. I bite into the prawns and almost burn my tongue - it being quite evident that it's fresh off the frying pan (understandable since we were the only two people there). And THEN - i bit into the mustard fish.
I-kid-you-not- I took ONE bit of that mustard fish and the mustard went through my nose like a bullet - straight into my head, lobotomising me instantly! It was the most insane food experience i've ever had - the mustard shoots through and before you know it, your eyes are watering and your head feels like it's been hit by two 'symbols' on either side - and it all happens in a matter of miliseconds - you BARELY have time to recover...forget recover..you just have to resign yourself to your fate once you bite into that mustard :) Oh - and the fish wasn't bad either. lol
And mush true to the first rule of stupidity - that it's always original - we had one bite of the fish. Fried our brains. Then had another bite. Fried our brains. And continued the cycle till we both knew that both of us wanted the last bite...it was INSANE. Really like a drug. I'd HIGHLY recommend this if you want to come away with a memorable food 'experience'.
After this we went into 'KimLing' - the kungfu food place - where i ate THE MOST divvvvvvvvineeeeeee garlic prawns i've ever eaten. The prawns - not actually or literally - but DID melt in my mouth, and were big enough to get a large mouthfull and yet for it to seem like i had taken a very small bite of the prawns. Yummy!! With this we had 'mixed chow' - which is basically noodles with prawn, chicken and egg - very yummy too.
All in all, i walked out of the restaurant - ready to explode. Thankfully i chose to take in the character filled streets of Tengra instead :) About the streets - i must mention that men in calcutta look at a woman as if they have never ever seen a woman before...it's quite strange. Having said that, apparently Calcutta has one of the lower rates of molestation/rape amongst cities in India - so these men stop at staring. But boy do they stare - and if you're a hot blooded man, it really wouldn't take much to start some mob violence.
Walking out of Tengra, i saw a 'rikshaw' - the kind that have men pulling a two seater richshaw - was good fun, though we felt like exhibits in a zoo :) I must say i did feel concern for him...he looked frail and yet was pulling the weight of two grown adults.
Went back to the hotel thinking i'd get some sleep and head out for a bengali (i keep thinking of a room filled with people - their surnames being 'Lee' and someone loudly proclaiming - "Bang a Lee!") meal and some puchka and calcutta pan :), but was soooo tired with all the travelling that i just ended up going to sleep and woke up only at 11pm - little did i know that Calcutta is open pretty late into the night. So i just lounged around in the room, chatted online with some friends and went to sleep.
Woke up next morning with a strong urge to 'breakfast' in town :) ...so took a cabbie to Park Street. Saw a tram on the road and upon enquiring where and how one could get onto a tram - the cabbie replied with a "kaheen se bhi pakadlijiye saab" and then went on to say, "Jis aadmi ke paas bahut saara time hain - sirf vahi is cheez pe chadta hai. Taxi mein aapko Howrah jaana hain to 30 - 40 minute lag jaayenge. Is cheez mein aapko 4 ghanta lagega" Point noted :)
Got down from the cab and found a chap making some delicious chole puri - so decided to have some along with chai in a mud pot (aaaaaahhh). Walked from there, down Park Street...taking in the sights...to 'Flurry's'. Much like 'Koshy's' is an institution in Bangalore - 'Flurry's' is the same to Calcutta - though unfortunately the entire place has been 'Jewel Boxed'! Or Calcutta has been Bangalored in that sense! lol
I reached Flurry's and found myself being told to wait by the security guard since it was apparently 'full' inside. So i waited. Ten minutes later i was ushered inside. Walked in to see that in my section alone - there were 3 empty tables. No worries, i sat and ordered a chicken omlette, baked beans on toast and a chicken quiche - of which only the baked beans were anything to talk about. Sitting at my table, i had a clear view of the entrance - and i could see that it seemed to be a routine. The security guard would open the door, try and catch a waiters attention. The waiter in turn - if he happend to see the entrance, would signal something to the waiter. People were made to wait - JUST - for the snob value of the place. Different strokes for different folks.
Once done with breakfast, i went over to the confectionery section and bought myself some chocolates and pastries to take home (after having eaten them, i'd highly recommend the cookies, chocolate bars and the lemon tart).
Walked out of Flurry's and proceeded around Park Street till my friend arrived. I was then taken to Victoria Memorial - which was the official residence of Queen Victoria in India. The museum there is a little boring...but the building and the lawns are quite a sight. From there we proceeded to drive around that area, driving past some of old calcutta - seeing the GPO, the SBI building (the largest branch in India)...we even went to a 'Floating Hotel' - which basically seems like it used to be a 'ferry' boat of some sort and is now a flating hotel. Saw that, then went to a restaurant in town...'Tangy's' or something like that...ok food. Preferred the previous day's lunch. Later that night, met up with these people again at Aqua (The Park), was quite high before getting there, and it being a wednesday night, there weren't too many people. Was given a quick tour of 'Tantra' and 'Roxy' as well - i must say, i am now an ambassador for the need for people to experience Calcutta hospitality atleast once ;)
My 'host for the evening' hehe then took me along with her friends to 'Shisha' - which was ROCKING!! Dude!! I sooooooooooooooooo want to go to Calcutta for the new year!! hahahaha These guys were calling it an 'early night' at 2:30 in the morning!! If only they had that concept in Bangalore....maybe in a few hundred years...
All in all - Calcutta was by far the most memorable city i've visited this year...and if all goes well, i'll be visiting the city very soon ;)
hehe...aur ye travel ka silsila abhi khatam nahi hone waala...have a friend of mine coming in from London later this month so i'm gonna play the 'travel guide'.
Would only be a fitting end to the year and perhaps a precurso to the one coming ;) wot?
