-
Durga Pujo 2020 – In Pictures
Have you all had a chance to breathe lately? Between sanitizing hands and disinfecting food, the leaves turned yellow. The coronavirus has claimed 2020 as its own. The lucky ones have been confined to our homes since what seems like forever, watching the roaring virus wreak havoc in the lives of our less lucky counterparts. Since when did staying home and doing nothing become heroic? And where did the last seven months go? But thankfully, amidst the pandemic pandemonium and swelling COVID cases, October came in like a breath of fresh air and brought with it the autumnal festival that we, Bengalis live for – Durga pujo! The life of…
-
Birthday Gift Ideas for Your Gooner Friend/Spouse/Sibling/Parent/Child
Who is a Gooner? A Gooner is someone who supports the Arsenal football club. And more. A Gooner is someone who has dedicated his/her being to the club and its principles. So a true Gooner is for life. A Gooner’s loyalty lies more in the club’s defeats than in its wins. It takes an admirable amount of faith to be an Arsenal fan. But a Gooner shows up no matter what. In a match. And in life. I read a line somewhere that sums up a true football club supporter best – You can change your wife but you can never change your football club. It’s not a joke. They…
-
Post-Wedding Depression – My Experiences of Leaving Home & How I’m Coping
It was well after midnight when our wedding ceremony was finally complete. Most of the guests had left by then. The wedding venue was silent and almost empty. That’s when it hit me. I’m never going to have all the people I love in one room like this ever again. I felt heartbroken. I was a bit surprised to be honest because I didn’t expect to feel that way. Especially not on my wedding day. It’s supposed to be all excitement and happiness, right? But there I was, in the middle of two contradictory feelings. Happiness. And heartbreak. I felt it again the next day when I was leaving for…
-
Setting Up a Home Office for Two | Sources + Process + Total Cost
2020 has turned out to be a roller-coaster ride. Without the safety belts. The air brakes. And the safety chain. We’ve been flying off our seats at every news update with no guarantee of a safe landing. Now five months into the lockdown we’re still wondering “How on Earth did we get here?” But life goes on. We’ve shaped our day-to-days around a virus that threatens to kill us every second. We’ve raced to define and adjust to a new normal out of fear and then out of hope. And in this delirium, we did the one thing that we’ve always avoided doing. Bringing work home. Now don’t get me…
-
Lessons Learned in the Time of Pandemic | Collaboration Post
The pandemic has turned the world upside down. It has been more than four months since the day I bade goodbye to my colleagues at work and haven’t left the house since except for emergencies. While I am thankful to have a home where I can live and work out of without disrupting my health, financial status, the food that is put on my table and luckily, some regulated luxuries as well, many cannot say the same. So many people are out of work, uncertain of what the next day will bring. So many people have contracted the virus and have died on the streets without medical care for lack…
-
Online Family Cultural Event – The Exclusive BTS | Lockdown Sanity Booster
I married into a really large family where it feels like a party every time we get together. In all the gatherings I have attended since my wedding, there has always been at least one evening reserved for performances. Song, Dance, Recitation. Impromptu jigs. Everyone eagerly waits for this performance night. Probably a tad more than the occasion. Sometimes the occasion is extended to accommodate this night. Sometimes there is no occasion at all. Only the night. See how important it is? There is an eager scuttle on the morning of the performance night. A soft energy wave. People quietly try to select the songs that will be played, arrange…
-
Two Years of Red Velvet | Highlights & Memories
Time flies. It still feels like yesterday that Red Velvet made its debut. Has it been two years already? So much has happened in this time. It’s hard to believe I’m actually typing this post down. Honestly, when I started Red Velvet, I had very little interest in it. I knew I wanted to write somewhere out of my 9-to-5, but I wasn’t too serious. Truth is, I do not have a techie bone in my body. And I can get notoriously picky with the slightest of things. Plus I’m lazy. Naturally, the idea of putting up a blog and being consistent with it was pretty daunting. Tathagata being the…
-
Sailing Beyond the “Honeymoon Phase” – 5 Intentional Practices We Follow in Our Marriage
When I wrote about the 7 lessons on our first anniversary, I was starting out with marriage. I was learning a lot. Picking up traits. Exploring. Another year into it and I found myself awed at its realness. With each passing day, the fundamentals of marriage were being laid bare in front of me. In the largest of events. In the tiniest of moments. With love. And I couldn’t help but feel amazed. I’ll give it to you upfront. Marriage isn’t a fairy tale. Because that would make it fictitious. Marriage is hard work. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to scare you away from it. Truth is,…
-
Why Fitness is Important to Me | My Exercise Regime + Benefits
When I was in the seventh standard, I remember my parents had picked a nice white dress with pretty embroidery for me to wear in Durga Puja. I was really excited about the dress and could hardly wait to wear it. There was a lot of beadwork on the dress which was coming loose in places. So Maa decided to sit with it one afternoon and mend them. I was in school and Baba in office. A quiet autumn afternoon. Just as Maa had begun to work on it, the doorbell rang. Untimely. Outside the door stood Baba, leaning on his colleagues, looking like a train wreck. He had bruises on…
-
INTERVIEW: Collaboration with a Lifestyle Blogger | Women Empowerment
Erratic Rantings started off with a question, “What will I write about?“. Pat came the answer from TG – “Anything you want“. And the rest is history! Slowly Erratic Rantings grew into a full-fledged lifestyle blog. It became an outlet for my emotions where I could write about anything I wanted. It became my comfort zone. And in the process, it started to gather a handful of readers like you who began to follow it. So what started as a memory bank has now become a responsibility towards you. While I continue to blog for myself today, I also do it for my readers and maybe help those out who are…
