ChinmayC Blog

In an unprecedented stampede at a Kolkata Durga Puja pandal last night, the 17 th of October 2026, at least 19 people have lost their lives with many injured being treated in the city hospitals. Good things only have always been said about the incredible Durga Puja festival in the state of West Bengal, particularly in the city of joy Kolkata. And there’s nothing to doubt about in this regard: the display of the idols ( thakur ) and the pandals in an unbelievable richness of themes and creative designs across almost all the streets and lanes of the city; the famous big Pujas installing the idols just a day or two after Mahalaya so as to ensure the unending footfalls hence; and the music stages, the food-selling or the variety-store stalls also installed along with all the other items signifying a mouth-watering fair that continues for at least a week, day and night. So, huge crowds, from all corners of the city, from the state and even from other states of the country descend on the...

You’d likely find the rather interjectory title above preposterous, absurd or even a bit offensive. And you’d probably be very right too; for you might be intensely aware of the joys of kulhad tea in the northern states of the country like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar among others or bharer cha of West Bengal among other eastern states—both of which varieties mean steaming milk tea served in earthen or clay cups. You might also angrily retort by saying ‘come winter and you show me the way without the steaming hot milk tea for company’! I heartily second your opinion and your taste buds, because I too am all for the cups of milk tea—be it on the street corners or at home. However, I still have my concerns and fears that are based on my experience in the last few years. But of course, I don’t have empirical data to justify my fears which ultimately may be termed as totally subjective. Whatever it is, I must elaborate my point.   I’d first concentrate on my home state Assam , though...

Drishyam: The Conclusion co-written, produced and directed by Abhishek Pathak , the third and presumably the final film of the crime-thriller Drishyam Hindi Franchise , released all over on October 2, 2026 and had in the meantime this Ajay Devgn starrer has become a blockbuster superhit, grossing over Rs. 300 crores domestically and nearly Rs. 460 crores globally so far; and also becoming the second highest grossing Hindi movie of the year and the second highest grossing Indian movie of the year. Curiously enough, the first Hindi Drishyam of the Series in 2015 directed by Nishikant Kamat , an adaptation of the original Malayalam Mammootty-starrer all-time blockbuster in Kerala crime-thriller Drishyam in 2013 directed by Jeethu Joseph , was not a blockbuster nor even a proper hit, only a semi-hit per the box-office verdict; however, thanks primarily to word-of-mouth publicity the film emerged as a cult film thus creating an immense interest for the sequels over the years. Both the se...

Someone laments inconsolably, ‘It’s no time to go! He had so many things to do!’ which is quite a natural reaction in matters concerning death, irrespective of the age or the state of health or the circumstances surrounding the person. The pain is always there, only the intensity might vary depending on how close to heart the person is to us, personally or otherwise. No doubt, the personal loss is the most intense one in any tragedy, often leaving the bereaved unable to handle the pain. The screen icons or the celebrities become very close to us over the years even though we never meet him/her at a personal level and thus their passing-away leaves us grieving and in shock. The loss of Nana Patekar is a very intensely shocking pain to me at a personal level, although I never knew or met him personally; his screen images and performances endeared him to me over the decades till I last saw him in Houseful5 movie just months before. Born as Vishwanath Patekar in Maharashtra, Nana Patekar...

Well, it’s about the announcement of the Groups and the full schedule made on October 1, 2026, of the 14-Team ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup-2027 to be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 2 to November 21 next year across 12 venues. However, somewhat swayed by the never-ending hype surrounding the arch-rivals India and Pakistan , the ICC mandarins being no exception to this rule, we too are focusing on the match between them as to its when and where, in healthy disregard of the never-ending geopolitical rivalry between the two that interferes with the game in no healthy way—like embargoing the innocent handshakes or robbing one of its deserving trophies. Yes! Cricket belies everything—the game does inevitably unfold on the field whatever be the hassles over it, and the fans love it even as all other stakeholders bring in the dough! So, the most sought-after mouth-watering group-stage match between India and Pakistan is scheduled on October 10, 2027 in Johannesburg a...

They’ve been worried quite a bit for the last few months, for a doctor of a metro city where they lived regularly before having to move to another city for special work told his wife in no uncertain terms that cataract was developing in both of her eyes and that in the coming three months she had to get the surgeries done. The doctor magnanimously suggested she had a good eye clinic and she would space out the surgeries nicely, apart from giving his wife special discounts on the fees. The husband and the wife discussed the issue in all possible details as they could not avoid moving to the other city: he suggested getting it done in the other city as nowadays cataract surgeries are quite easy and risk-free to which his wife objected saying that as the lady doctor has been very nice and understanding, she’d do it with her only; and finding her determined, if not adamant, he then decided to somehow visit their home city in-between just to get it done and they both agreed playing with th...

  Once upon a time there were two warring giants…nay… There Are two warring giants still at it in the country we the subjects live in! Both are veritable giants in their common yet separate playgrounds, no doubt! But the bigger giant of the two always wants to maintain its superiority and increase the margin further and further into the sky! The other not only wants to keep growing but wants to outgrow its rival as fast and sooner as possible! In a way both the giants are obsessed with their competition of growth to beat each other and as an obvious consequence of that obsession they’re basically very scared of losing ground even at the slightest and at times behave like absolute psychopaths. We wouldn’t really want to highlight or elaborate such possible instances of psychic behaviour patterns as we proceed on this story. The intelligent readers are thus going to have to pinpoint the instances for their own sweet interpretation. They have their own rather technically marked out...