Monday 26 August 2013

Smells from the Past

On Sundays fine, as we all kids played, scents floated in, that oft drew drools,
Good old chicken curry, or biriyani ruled;
So we peeped into kitchens,
We wagged our tongues,
We asked each other, whoever was having a gala lunch?
And all Bengali households in neighborhood,  prepared for an elaborate afternoon brunch!


Old grandma had this oily mane, she prided herself on its sheen,
'Prim & propah' , she was with herself, she said coconut oil kept her head clean,
So she had her trademark smell,
Which ultimately did become pale,
Once she left for greater pastures, in some heavenly abode to dwell!



lip-smacking 'green' affair with
chilli flakes & salt
Scorching summers had their own virtues that no other season could bring,
Our adjoining mango tree was huge, the scent of its fruits soothed the being ;
And post a squall,
We ran to loot,
As on the ground,loads used to fall! 
Oh the joys of feasting on them, quite certainly did enthral!

The Loot





As sessions changed and in school we progressed, 
Time for new books, time for new school dress,
The new lot arrived, the first thing to do;
Was to remove the packs, & put to nose;
The scent of books,
From their inner nooks,
Was inhaled with a lot of pride!



The queer kid in me had time, to wait for the daily mopping of floors,
I sat intently at my study table as the maid came knocking on the door;
I knew not why,
I loved to feel,
I hereby reveal my addiction to this entirely cheesy smell,
I adored the pungently sweet odour of Phenyle, used to mop the floors !!


And my uncle was a Yankee dude, who loved to live life King size;
He had this huge haul of exotic perfumes, a rather costly enterprise;
His visits were special,
For their 'odourific' value,
He kept us intrigued,
With his prolific taste ,
Never did he dress up in haste;
'Coz h
e never repeated a single perfume in a further visit to our residence!

Our home was bang opposite a petrol pump, a rather sordid fact;
We copped the traffic fumes, we nosed the smoke,we might have done our lungs real bad,
When the tankers came,
To refill the hub,
We shut the windows,
It was too tough,
To sit and breathe in the combined rampage of petrol & diesel smells!




We had daily flings with fried street food, our souls craved for the stuff ,
The fast food joint down the lane, made us junk food buffs,
We dont lie,
And very hard we did try,

To keep off it!

Every evening as the seller opened his shop,
We gave in to our cravings, when he made rolls & chops,
Their divine odours were couriered to our homes,
And kachoris, samosas, kebabs , were wiped off bowl after bowl!



Rolls, whose aroma got the better of us



Incense sticks were integral to the dusk affairs of our household,
Small black stuff, called 'agarbatti', had powers to fill a complete floor,
Rose or sandal,
All prevailed,
As Mom lighted some, the ambience was transported to divine shores!



'Dhoop-dhuno' : this smoke is an
integral part of puja
As monsoon made way for autumn, in the air excitement loomed,
we were tipped off of its arrival,by the morning aroma of Shiuli in full bloom!
Maa Durga was a saviour,
All of us had our prayers,
Her face through the "dhoop-dhuno" had just that subtle charm;
We never could quite understand, how the smell of this smoke could calm!




The days passed by I became a doc, and had a role to play,
In midst of human sufferings, I had to show the way;
I smelt blood,
I hated blood,
I ran away from the bloody Ward,
But I dealt with revulsion with an iron fist ,
I realised I must make myself stand the salty smell of blood & gore,
If I had to make my crying patients go back to laughter as before! 

Saturday 24 August 2013

Feigning


' Save my child.' I could hear a faint Scream as AR Rahman's Songs played inside my head ! I was plugged onto the iPod, but rather irritatedly, putting my earphones aside,I got up to investigate the matter and found Mom ashen-faced,running towards my room!
   "Your Brother got angry with me and he has consumed one whole bottle of medicine!", She was on the verge of tears! I was utterly flabbergasted by this info, but before I could beleive what Mom said, I decided to see for myself! 
    Pushing open the door to my brother's room,I saw him lying on the bed, Motionless! But he was peeping through the faintest space between his lids, and was trying to stop his breathing very hard!!
          I approached him, and poked him hard in the tummy and he instantly slithered away, whispering  "OuCh Dada,that hurt" .
me: "you rascal, what's the point of playing such a prank on Mom?"  
bro: "Dada,I'm only trying to intimidate Mom, as she's not letting me go out for the film with my friends this evening!"
Me: "what medicine did you take?"
Bro: "hah....chose it deliberately! That was more of a chocolate sauce to me....that's why finished it off! Was pretty tasty! See, it's lying over there! But funny thing is, I feel quite sleepy!" 

I picked up the bottle lying beside him, and it was i indeed the new Chocolate flavoured cough syrup that was brought by Dad the previous evening, and I remembered brother had taken a liking to its taste! In a bid to kill two birds with one stone , he had drained t
he bottle and had scared Mom too!!

My first WOW badge..... he he!! 



Sunday 18 August 2013

The Revert


      At the stroke of midnight,a car screeched to a halt in front of the quaint little home, at the fag end of the small town,and  his heavy boots landed on to the ground with a thud! Backpack in tow, he looked up at this household that he had known for an eternity , before embarking on a grave mission three years back! He felt he had lost all of his identity, due to the rigorous schedules and coded communications, but the nature of his job prevented him from having any contact with his own folks, because it was of national importance that he stayed incognito . He looked at the rear view mirror , once more, to check how his gaunt face appeared, before letting the driver go away. As he trudged up to the porch, a myriad of feelings crossed his mind. Would his Mom take her "Babusona" back in her arms with the same warmth? Would she be angry and not speak to him? Would his aged Dad's eyesight work in this hour? Would the cropped hair & shaved brows shock them , and they might think he's an impostor ? All the blood and gore, the breakneck sprints to save his skin on enemy soil,the feigning of identity, the trysts with death , came flashing back to his mind as he got hold of the door latch. With a whole lot of effort, he knocked thrice....paused.....then knocked three times again. Apprehension ran through his veins , was this the right hour to revert back home after a hiatus of three long years? 
      There wasn't any enquiry from inside, nor was there any anxious face peeping from behind the door as it opened steadily. She was all calm and composed , with not a speck of fear or query on her face as she held the door ajar for him. His Dad stood in the back ground with a twinkle in his eyes. As he weighed his options about what to do, his Mother was the one to break the silence , " Babusona, i know you're a Spy,but doesn't our Government grant you permission to reach home at more earthly hours?" 

Saturday 17 August 2013

0.5 v/s Honesty

72.5+40= a whopping 112.5 out of a possible 120 in the school final exam in English! 
         

I was jubilant on getting the English first paper answer script!  I had already scored 40 in the second paper, so I now knew the combined total! Only one other student had obtained a combined 112.5 in the subject. The rest were far behind! Intuition told me that out of  800-odd students in Class VIII, the two of us had the highest marks, as we were in supposedly the 'best' section of the school! Highest marks in a subject would guarantee an automatic pass to the prestigious Annual Prize Distribution ceremony of our reputed Kolkata institution, one of the very best in Eastern India, which had students fighting tooth and nail to compete for the few academic excellence prizes that were up for grabs... and here was I, already sitting pretty with a great score. ... and I could already envision myself acknowledging the cheers of the crowd, as I received the award for being joint top scorer in English! 

      I opened the answer script once more, before it was time for returning it to the teacher. Around me was a flurry of activity, with my classmates adding up their marks, but their scores were far behind me, so I felt pleased. As I idly looked at my picturesque pages, the Satan suddenly came into being , and whispered his idea , "Get rid of the 'Joint' highest scorer tag, son ... Go on. ..count your score again! You might find out a mistake in the marks addition & that'll take you ahead of the other girl with 112.5! Count it Titas! COUNT!" ....and a wicked smile curled across my lips, while greed shrouded my brain, lured by the prospect of becoming the sole sovereign of English! I started going through the pages once more, but this time, with an intent, counting the small figures at the margin of the page, the eyes roving across every red marking,  for a small mistake that the teacher had made, in her haste to finish a humongous load of answer scripts. 


    As the last answer went by, i felt something was amiss..... Where did the precious 0.5 marks go? "Oh! Might just be a careless mistake on my part", I muttered to myself,thinking, the frivolous brain might have missed out a tiny marking in the excitement of the counting. Once again, I went through the routine of poring over the pages. ... and then again. .... and again. ...!


        The numbing realisation took a while to sink in. Yes, the teacher had indeed made a mistake in adding up the marks, but contrary to what the Satan had speculated, she had awarded me 0.5 marks extra! Even after rechecking the tally innumerable number of times, the 72 didn't quite get elevated to 72.5!


      "Just forget it, Boy! This happens", urged the Satan, yet again appearing out of nowhere to pass on his vile remarks, " Just keep mum & submit your copy. Remember, you want to attend that Prize Distribution ceremony! " I nodded to myself, and got up, to return the answer script! I was determined to make it to the podium. Ambitious parents and their nerdy children in our school had taken competition to suffocating standards,  and there was no way I could fool myself into letting go of a gilded opportunity.


    "Auntie! I have something to say! ", and the teacher looked up at me with the look of a seasoned pro, who had encountered numerous instances of fraud by cheat students over the years!  "And what is your problem, Titas? " , she was enquiring, while her prying eyes tried to scour my brain, whether I had done any mischief and come to her with a demand of increasing my marks, that she had been pestered with so many times that day! "Auntie, I feel there has been a mistake. ... you've awarded me 0.5 marks extra, which I cannot add up! "

     The teacher was stunned. My classmates, many of whom were standing nearby,trying to bargain with the teacher to get a few extra marks, were shocked too! I myself, who was , torn by internal strife,  till then, by playing host to a furious wrestling match that raged in my brain between my conscience & the Satan, suddenly felt light! The chance for the prize had gone abegging for a year, but I didn't feel the regret. I could almost see the smiling faces of my Mom & Dad , who I knew, would feel proud that their lessons of Honesty, had indeed rubbed off on their child! 


                         My teacher was delighted at my admission, and many of my classmates came up to laud me on my action! The opportunity was gone, but my priority in upholding my parents' lessons of virtue, had got enough honesty instilled in me , which gave me the self satisfaction, helping me tide over the little pangs of sorrow that I might have had ,on missing out on the coveted prize. 

Thursday 15 August 2013

Freedom to me: an Overview

I specialise in fooling around, because i live in a free country, and I'm entitled to fooling around in a harmless manner, as long as it doesn't cause anyone any inconvenience, while by no means is it interfering with my sense of  #Freedom !!  
******* 

Fooling around with my 'Skull' , isn't it entirely my own rights?

"Block this delivery , mate! This bowler's dangerous!" Urges the skipper.
"To hell with blocking" , I mutter, and  'THWACK' .....and the ball screeches to the boundary ! That's how I celebrate my #Freedom !

  
                                       
                               
                                         *******

" we have been Mohun Bagan enthusiasts all along ", says the family patriarch! "But isn't it MY right to choose whether I'd be supporting East Bengal?" , my indignation pointed specifically to the fact that I was the master of my own #Freedom, as I arm myself with a Red& Yellow flag instead of a green & maroon one, ahead of the Indian derby ! 

                                             ******

Be it Holi or Christmas, we as Indians have the freedom to celebrate
"Come over this evening for our Iftar party !" And off I go to tuck in some Haleem! Of course, the courtesy is reciprocated on Saraswati puja , when'prasad' is distributed by me to my Muslim friend! And both of us have helluva fun , getting embroiled in sumptuous turkey, at our Christian pal's household during Christmas! Pursuing our own faiths , yet salvaging the appeal of Amar, Akbar, and Anthony in our own rights , sprouts from our #Freedom! 
                                 
                                          *******

   "Sit quietly! " urged the fiancée sitting beside me on the balcony of the movie hall ," Behave yourself!you're a doctor!" , she barked! "So what?" I retort,"don't I have the #Freedom to give up on my veiled mask of composure?" and I resume shouting , "MAAR! ....aur MAAR! MUH TOD DE!", joining the ruckus of the hooting youngsters on the ground floor of the theatre, as the hero on the screen pummells 50 baddies single-handedly , in the masala movie!  I have no wish to be politically correct to curb my instincts, I let go of my emotions ! 
                                    
                                           *******

     "We are proud", says the American colleague,"We don't bow to anyone!" "We bow",I respond,"....and proudly touch the feet of our elders to seek their blessings too!" I go on! "We are NOT under compulsion to do it, but unlike your folks, who force weaker countries to submission, we exercise our own #Freedom in the gesture!" He stays mum!

                                          *******

  "Please sign in English!" , snaps the female clerk at the office, "and why should I ?" I enquire, continuing , " is there any rule? Show me in print!" She looks flabbergasted , but can't produce any document ! I sign in our national language Hindi, that's my RIGHT , from my #Freedom! She's  bound to accept it!
                  
                                             *******

    "Write this drug ", orders my senior in the ward,and mentions the name of an expensive medication. " But Sir, the patient doesn't look he can afford this," I argue, and slip in the name of a much cheaper alternative!  "Do as I say!" , he commands, but I dont give in, and hold my stance , " sorry Sir, I am a Doctor too, and I have my right to do what is best for the patient !" I say, and ignore his furious demeanour to prescribe a more pocket-friendly medicine! My profession allows me the #Freedom to exercise my brain & serve my patients in the best possible way.

                                          *******

me savouring caandyfloss, meant for kids
I buy a lollipop from the store, peel it off, and go on my way, happily licking it to savour the essence of childhood within me! Wait, I didn't kill a citizen by this, right? so I don't give a damn to those innately naive gossip-cooking neighbours , who bash this petty activity of the 'doctor who loves Lollipops' ! It's a free country , remember ?!! And I revel in the #freedom of enjoying my lollipop !

                                           *******

As a responsible citizen, I vote for the progress for my country. As I
laud the government on path-breaking achievements , similarly I bash them too, on their gaffes! Since I have elected the people's representative by exercising my power of voting, I don't refrain from criticising too! I have my #freedom to express my will, and can't be silenced by force!

      

                                              *******
  .......and in many many more ways, I celebrate the virtues of #Freedom , that I enjoy in a country that is a REPUBLIC, and not ruled by a dictator,or entwined by fascism . Still, I rue the fact, that many women can't enjoy the same essence of #freedom, owing to the perils that are stacked up against them....but I believe our great country has it in her, to liberate them too in the near future!!

    Jai Hind!

I'm dead against being barred by those rules & regulations ,
which are there just for the sake of them


 




Tuesday 13 August 2013

An insider's account from the Signature Premiere partnered The Telegraph Food Guide Awards 2013!!


     "There's no sincerer lover than the lover of food!"       

  ~ George Bernard Shaw.



On that note, the truest 'lovers' of Kolkata rubbed shoulders on a glamourous night at Galaxy, The Park, on 12th August night ! Partnered by SIGNATURE Premiere, THE TELEGRAPH FOOD GUIDE AWARDS 2013 , was another step by the leading daily, to reward those ,who have put their hands up, to take the dining experience in Kolkata to an altogether new level! The Galaxy was truly a conglomerate of stars as the best of Kolkata food connoisseurs who assembled to receive their prizes for excellence in preparing 'feelgood' dishes , mingled with the stars & starlets of Tollywood , fashion designers & Industrialists! A lucky few who managed to grab passes , courtesy a Signature twitter contest, were a starstruck lot, as they got the chance to get up close& personal with the celebrities from the city's  elite circle!

                   The evening started off on a grand scale with the elegant Abir "Byomkesh" Chatterjee & Paoli Dam unveiling The Telegraph Food Guide for 2013 to thunderous applause! The book lists fabulous eateries all around Kolkata , and is destined to make its way into the 'must-have' collection of every foodie in the city! Then started off the hoardes of awards being given away across all genres of food available in and around the city !

Gaurav, Ridhima , & Moinak on-stage to give away an award,
while Sonika Chauhan looks on
 Hosted by the gorgeous Sonika Chauhan, the evening panned out beautifully, with the rocking beats in the background making sure , nobody was left sitting idle on their seats! A packed hall applauded in unison as eateries like Oh! Calcutta , Veda, Mainland China walked away with the best Bengali, Mughlai, and Oriental cuisine awards respectively! For Italian, we had Sphagetti Kitchen, and for continental , Bistro & Cafe 23 were on target! Vegetarian-enthusiasts cheered wildly for Rajdhani ,while Bridge, Zodiac, Aaheli , Astor also made the honours board! Giving away the prizes were eminent personalities like Singer Anupam Roy, Nandon Bagchi, tv starlets Gaurav & Ridhima, columnist Rita Bhimani, director Moinak Bhaumik. Sitting in the audience and clapping from the front rows were Fashion Designers Sharbari Dutta, Abhishek dutta, Kallol Dutta, Kiran Uttam Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul.

the stand-up comedian was right in the mood
 In between , stand up comedians kept the crowd in split with their witty one liners! One of them joked about getting married at the unimaginably tender 'Bengali' age of 24 , and the fate of modern day engineers who are invariably trying their hands in other fields like Music direction, Theatre, Columnist, politics and what not!  


Shaheb Bhattacharya & Abir Chatterjee

 While the revelries went on, those who bagged awards  in the crowd heartily congratulated fellow winners, whilst those who missed out strengthened their resolve to hike their efforts for the next year! 


Once the celebrations inside subsided , the focus shifted to the brilliantly arranged bar, where vodka, white & red wine ruled ! Whilst Parno Mitra and Gargi Roychowdhury gelled , Abir was seen chatting away with Shaheb Bhattacharya! Paoli asked for a glass of red wine ,and Mainak gladly obliged! 
Gargi Roychowdhury & Parno Mitra
Nondon Bagchi obliging a fan

"My Favourite eatery bagged a prize, Did yours??" Moinak seems to be asking Raima

Shutterbugs had their flashes working overtime , as Raima Sen turned up, looking fetching in a lovely sari! Some of the youngsters ventured to request the glitterati for photos, and were delighted to get themselves clicked with the stars!!


The food that followed was an utterly divine experience! Starting with the Soya Haleem with small crispy Rotis, and Biryani with Lotus stems, the entire spread was sumptuous!! If Sushis cried out for attention , so was the divinely prepared Pork & Mushroom dishes! 

   

 Garlic Rice live & fried Parse-Live were a perfect foil to the Gnochhi station ......all these were served , piping hot straight from the pans! And to finish off in style, the delectable Dessert items were a hit , and not surprisingly, flew off the shelves in a hurry!! 
            

Fans taking away some "Signature"-styled memories
 As the party people munched away to glory, revelling in a thoroughly enjoyable atmosphere, the clock struck 10:30pmA few dignitaries like ABP head honcho Mr Aveek Sarkar, director Aniruddha Roychowdhury , and others chatted around ! But for some of us, it was time to head home, after a memorable evening that had promised the moon, but truly delivered the 'Galaxy' !! Signature deserves our vote of thanks for gifting us an experience worth remembering ! 


Your Blogger, at the end of an eventful evening

Sunday 11 August 2013

The "Mute" Railway Station



My hospital is situated right beside the Jadavpur Railway Station in South Kolkata. As an internee, I usually have to spend long duty hours in the Doctors' Quarters adjoining the station.  Incidentally, I happen to find myself never quite disturbed by what should be the annoying announcements over the Public Address Systems that "grace" most of the railway stations across India!  Generally speaking, I have never managed to fathom what info the announcer is trying to inject upon the audience on platforms, in a single attempt listening with rapt attention,but commuters who stood beside me, newspaper in hand & apparently engrossed in the newsprint, have non-chalantly translated into Bengali what the announcements contained, which appeared nothing short of the alien language spoken by Jaadu in Koi Mil Gaya!! 

Coming back to my situation, I was pleasantly surprised by this "Mute" station, which, despite being one of the busiest stations in the southern fringes of the city, didn't quite throw up a lot of sound, except the occasional blaring of the horn by some trains. Intrigued by the 'polite' nature of the station, I decided to find out what was the scenario - since I hadn't heard of a blanket ban on loudspeaker usage in the locality, a fact supported by the weekly celebration of the "ShoniPuja" by the local rickshaw pullers who revel  in the rowdiness of Tolly numbers! 


in the absence of announcements,this is how
 they hope for a glimpse of their arriving train

As I approached the 
platform, i was rather confused about which route to take for a train to Sealdah. The shoddily maintained platforms had directions& train instructions mentioned few and far between, which, for a newcomer like me, was quite a mystery to solve. Here was when I hit upon the reality: The Lack of Public  announcements meant, I had no inkling of what to assume , as my desired train was already 15 minutes behind schedule. I insisted on asking the advice of my Co-passenger, a fruit vendor, who was impatiently waiting beside me, " Bondhu, train kokhon ashbe?" (Friend, when will the train arrive? )
Vendor: "Are ki bolbo dada, kisu i bozha zaye na.....era kuno kisu Mike e boleo na....amra roz late-e gari pai....evabe i cholse" !
(Brother, what to say? They don't announce anything on the Loudspeakers, & we get late trains everyday. This happens all the time).
   

a packed platform in peak hours
 I now realised the gravity of the situation. This has been the regular ordeal of passengers in Jadavpur station for the past few years. Lack of  announcements meant they were in the absolute darkness about the whereabouts of their train. Looking around, I found out many of the passengers looked like they earn their living from their daily wages. To them, every minute is precious, but they are left with no option other than resigning to fate about how their schedules would go. Many of them come from South 24Parganas, work in the city and then return by the same evening.  My quarter hour wait on a single day had made me impatient by the lack of those"Hebrew" announcements over the Microphones , which I could at least have hoped to interpret by the help of others. Looking up, i thought I would at least find relics of some ancient loudspeakers, but the platform ceilings lacked any!!! I understood, what was a BOON for me during my rest hours in my room, was actually a major BANE for thousands of commoners, who long to hear the reverberating echoes of the station microphones to alleviate their misery! !


Sunday 4 August 2013

When the KF Beer God Rained his Blessings on Kolkata.......



The excitement had been palpable In the Twitter sky of Kolkata for the past few days. We had put our heart and soul into the project as our only aim was to make Kolkata triumphant.As 2nd August approached ever so slowly,and the wait for the official Announcement became lengthier, tensions began to escalate. What if some other city pitched in with a more Superlative effort in the very last hours and went away with the blessings of the KF Beer God? After all, it was his graciousness that was being sought
pan-India,and Kolkata had prayed enough! Or had she? 
        
  Sayan,Sammya,Shankar ,and yours truly were an elated quartet along with many others in the city of Joy, when the intimation came in the form of a DM at late night & was confirmed the following morning by an official announcement. Our prerogative had been Served : 


Kolkata had indeed prayed the most devotedly to the Beer God, by tweeting the most number of times in support of their city, out of the millions of devout Beer-heads in the country and was about to be
showered with Kingfisher beer on the evening of International Beer Day! The loot was scheduled at The Stadel,in Salt Lake, Kolkata.

The Stadel welcomes the soldiers

   At 7pm, the Twitterrati of Kolkata swarmed down to The Stadel to revel in the extravaganza . The hub was prepared,with a lady DJ at the console belting out chartbusters galore. The team at Kingfisher greeted us cordially,and Kolkata's own warriors, many of whom were unknown to each other, but had all united to take Kolkata's challenge forward in this campaign,came face-to-face for the very first time and embraced each other with warmth. Bro-feeling was in the air ! The good folks at Kingfisher, who had  promised the sky, lived upto our expectations, when they announced that 30 litres of beer were earmarked for us to consume for the night. It was the net amount that we had earned ourselves by the collective efforts of all those who tweeted around India. 

Beer-heads Chugging away to Glory 
There was a raucous cheer that followed the announcement , as people had turned up at the venue with a tummy that craved being quelched with beer! Bottles were being popped left, right,and centre, with many of the Seasoned pros being reluctant to take the help of bottle openers, and resorting to the service of their teeth to uncap the bottles! 


sumptuous starters to complement the beer
Shutterbugs clicked away happily as the tables overflowed with "Good Times" !Sumptuous chilli Chicken and paneers complemented the Lager Beer Bottles!
     


a gratified soul offering prayers to the KF Beer God 
  ''Hey Sayan, what had been your best prayer to the Beer God? please say it for the cameras" , was an earnest request, and a bevy of  cameramen had their lenses focussed on the startled face of Sayan Halder, who had partially immersed himself into beer! But quickly regaining his composure, he managed to blurt out A few words,before once again retreating to the cosy sofa,with a new bottle in
hand. We were made to feel like celebrities, with humongous lenses being trained onto our faces to capture the myriad of facial expressions that we each made, while giving the interviews. While one paid homage to the spirit of the 'Beerleaders' of Kolkata, another made it a point to let it be known that from now on, Kolkata would be hailed as the beer capital of India, wiping away the notion that only 'Rosogollas'& 'Maachh' meant the end of the road for us!
     However, the biggest surprise of the evening was yet to come! 
#DearKFBeerGod on his Altar
We were ecstatic when it was declared that the KF Beer God himself would be making an entry, just to meet his disciples, who had fought tooth & nail to make God come to Kolkata! we waited with bated breath as to how He would look like........finally, the  moment of divine appearance Came, and as we gaped in awe at his spectacular Beer alter, he came & posed imperiously in front of us! People bowed down before him, Some chanted prayers in his name, whilst others reached out to him to touch him.

       
 The party went on and on , with the beerheads letting themselves loose on the dance floor to the rocking party tracks. The revelry went on till 10pm when the crowd started to thin out! Although the mood was "subah hone naa de" (from The DJ's console), it was time to bid adieu to the place that had given us So much fun to enjoy & camaraderie to share ! The Twitterrati left, one by one, but not before vowing to keep Kolkata's flag flying high,in the beer map of the country! There were a few false steps,A few silly laughs,quite a few bamboozled eyes, but that bit could
be excused, Since everyone went home,thoroughly satisfied and in their 'spirits'! 
    Thank you Dear KF Beer God, for such A generous blessing!