Well Done Monsoon! And...Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

The South West Monsoon has been very generous this year. It has rained nearly 130% of normal rainfall in Mumbai and Maharashtra. That is to say, so far! The Monsoon is most likely to stay for the whole month of September. There is a mood of celebration though in some areas excessive rainfall has threatened to cause damage to selected crops. Mumbai, suffering from 30% water cut since times immemorial, is now free of any cuts. The most enjoyable part of the Monsoon this time is that the rainfall had been spread uniformly. Nature did not finish its quota furiously in just one day or in few days and so Mumbai was free of major breakdowns.

Celebrations, of course! The festival season is just about to begin! The 11 day mega Ganesh Festival starts on Friday night with idols being installed and Ganesh Chaturthi Puja on Saturday morning. Ramzan month is culminating with Id on Friday too. Then comes the nine-day Navratri ushering in the fortnight of goddess worshipping-the shakti cult. Durga Puja follows for four days and then the festival of lights—Diwali or Kali Puja. With a brief breather it’s Christmas times and New Year! So, you are booked for a non-stop celebration this festive season!

You do have the cause and the spirit for celebrations. Of course, you must adhere to the dos and don’ts, in regard to the security concerns, the environmental perspective, causing disturbance to others and all that. It’s always healthy to add ‘share and care’ to all celebrations. Isn’t it?

Happy Festive Times!

Comments

Mitali: The Trauma of Losing a Sibling

Maybe I lied to her when I used to reassure her that she was going to be alright and was going to resume her life in some measure of normalcy in the future years; maybe all my gestures/expressions were false when I used to run my fingers across her forehead or embrace her on occasions when she was able to move around a bit; and maybe all my exhibitions of love care and responsibility were exposed as superficial when I failed to turn up in Delhi where she along with my mother were treated during September-October, 2022 (my mother Urmila Chakravarty was also diagnosed with dental cancer the same month the same year as she was) and when all the members of my parental family and the in-laws converged. Since that fateful day in August, 2022 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer to that disastrous day of March 6, 2025—the day my younger blood sister Mitali (Mainu) Chakravarty Sarma (November 2, 1963—March 6, 2025) passed away in the wee hours in a hospital in Guwahati after giving a bra...

Release of Book 'Randomized: A Dozen Short Stories'!

The fourth collection of stories titled 'Randomized: A Dozen Short Stories' by Chinmay Chakravarty has been released on Amazon KDP just now! This collection, short stories in a lighter vein plus with mild satire like the previous collections, has been published in both the E-book and Paperback formats. The links are given below: International: Click Here ! India: Click Here ! Other collections of short stories by the same author: The Cheerless Chauffeur and Other Tales(2021)--Notion Press. Funny and Fishy Tales(2022)--KDP. The Weirdos(2022)--Ukiyoto Publishing. All books of the author are available on Goodreads, apart from Amazon and other outlets! Have a look!

Kolkata: Cancel the Commerce of the Durga Puja Carnival!

Yes! We ask why shouldn't the pure Commerce show of the Durga Puja Carnival in Kolkata be canceled in view of the worsening medical crisis? For how long this cruel irony of continuing the worship of the Mother Goddess and continuing to torture/kill the Mothers in human forms going to continue? Greed, limitless greed of humans! Dear God! This time Goddess Durga came in a cradle which in itself implies ominous times, and further, the tithis from Mahasaptami onward came mixed in such a way that you get three days of worship, technically. Yet, the greedy and selfie-social-media-crazy crowds of 'devotees' were still not satiated, descending on the Puja pandals in uncontrollable hordes for as long as seven days, and to pander to their greed and to have the maximum of business, most of the Puja organizers disregarded the tithi break-up completely and have been celebrating Bijoya Dashami or the Dussehra well into Ekadashi, the eleventh day! They expect the hordes to descend tonigh...