Of peacocks and crocodile tears

I don't think nowadays. That I don't really get the time to think is another matter but despite this, I used to carve out a few minutes which turned into hours of reflections.  Love is not a 'bhaste' of time, thought is. And a much greater 'bhaste' than thought is reacting to this thought or speaking out about it or the 'bhastiest' of them all: writing about it. (Ek toh more than half junta doesn't understand what's written in these articles and focus on just a couple of words. Arre yaar, kuch kehna hi he toh pictures se bolo na ya video daal do. And that too kindly do it in Hindi, in points with not more than 5 words.)

Don't think, don't react. Instead do what smart guys like Adani are doing...make hay while the sun shines. Let the country go to hell debating stupid issues like peacock tears and PC's non-PC posture while you quietly keep increasing your bank worth. Don't make any noise, work silently, keep people who make laws happy. Tomorrow oil and coal might be overtaken by solar and other alternative energies but for now, the government is happy collecting taxes despite decreasing world prices, also giving more clearance leeway and you are happy to squeeze out as much as you can, while you can.

The whole nation was busy creating jokes and abusing Vijay Mallya last year. Bloody hell, we went through demonetization for people like him. Did the jokes, articles, social media posts affect him? "I will come and see each match of India", he tweets...he loves his country. Talking of demonetization, again while we divided ourselves into two camps shouting ourselves hoarse on who's right and who's wrong, making funny and sad jokes, and busy downloading and using Paytm, Ambani kept quiet and in May, six months after it all began, Reliance Capital sold its almost 1 per cent stake in the company (bought in 2010 for 10 crore) for Rs 275 crore to China's Alibaba Group. 


Don't be fools, don't be swayed by the waves of patriotism and get entangled in debates with other fools. War is good. Discontent is good. Be selfish...you have just one life. Your heart will last longer, your finances will be larger, basically life won't be a 'bhaste of time'. Oh, and yes, if people raise questions...you know those fools who have no other work, don't worry. There is another lot of fools ready to fight for you and say, 'Where were you when the Congress looted the nation for 60 years?' or better still: 'leftie sala' or launch massive viral whatsapp jokes...If all else fails, there is always our friendly media who will start another issue with a non-issue to entertain and divert the nation.

One Very Important Reason to get a Mammography Done

A lump in the breast is what most women dread. What dreaded me most was a mammography. 

I have lived with a lump in my left breast for a long long time, since school... Had a similar one in my right breast, was operated and the biospy showed it was a fibroadenoma, and when I discovered another one, I took it cool. Since it never bothered me, I never bothered with it. Years went by and I forgot about it.

(What is a fibroadenoma? According to the Mayo Clinic, these are 'solid, noncancerous breast tumors that occur most often in adolescent girls and women under the age of 30.' These are usually painless and move under your touch. Treatment includes monitoring, fine needle biopsy and removal by surgery.)

After the birth of my second son, I gained quite a bit of weight, and at the same time, I also started feeling a bit of discomfort around the lump and armpits. This discomfort had lately increased. At around the same time, we had our biannual medical examination and for the first time, ladies had a physical examination, and the doctor was shocked to find the lump. I was asked to go in for a mammography immediately. I told her the history but she said better be sure, 'My mom had a lump for a long time', said doc, 'since I was in class 4. She passed away recently because of cancer, which was discovered too late.' I understood, nodded my head, and then forgot about it.

It was time for my next biannual exam, and I still hadn't gotten my mammography done. You have to do it immediately, I was again told. I nodded and came back home. Between work, kids and home, it gain got postponed. A few days ago, while chatting on Whatsapp with my kid's school's moms group, a mom spoke of getting her mammography done and going in for a surgery, then another shared her experience of how she had fought cancer and survived. We all spoke of immediately getting check-ups done. I shared my experience and was pushed by all the 49 moms into immediately getting it done. In the meantime, our garden doctor's wife, a happy and very positive person, too had been diagnosed with breast cancer but luckily in the first stage and was undergoing chemotherapy, and had very good results.

Maybe it was because of them, maybe I was also getting anxious, and I finally stood and said I must get this done. Sent a message to my cousin who was a doctor, and Sanjib called her and she immediately fixed an appointment. I was terrified the night before. I really did not know what a mammography was. Too scared even to google, I decided to just go with the flow. 

What exactly is a mammography? Now that I have been through it, I can tell you. It is nothing invasive..that is, no needle is inserted, no cuts are made. It is basically an x-ray of your breast tissue. But with regard to privacy, if you think you could go into this fully clothed and remain fully clothed throughout, then no, you cannot. Your breasts, one after the other, are put between two plates and then squeezed by the upper plate. There will be discomfort (and this is putting it mildly). And I was terrified when I saw what was about to happen the first time! They will probably do each breast twice from two angles and with the armpits also coming in view. This will probably be done by female nurses who are professionals and after the first few seconds, you will cease to be embarrassed by the experience.

Once my mammography was done, the doctor wanted to do an ultrasound examination.  What was discovered was a calcified fibroadenoma in my left breast, 3.5 x 1.9 cm and another in my right breast which was considerably smaller. The armpit area had breast tissues, which the doctor said was there in quite a few women... and the final diagnosis was not to worry. Benign.

Never felt so relieved before. But, if this was the real deal, then my delay could have really really caused problems. Sent a prayer of gratitude!

On a serious note, here are some facts: It is always better to get your mammography done immediately if you feel a lump, and if you are above 40, it is recommended that you get one done every year. Husbands should also be taking their wives for an annual check-up even if there are no lumps. It really, really does not cost anything to be a bit more cautious as Breast Cancer is the commonest cancer in women worldwide. According to WHO, over 508 000 women died in 2011 due to breast cancer. Almost 50% of breast cancer cases and 58% of deaths occur in less developed countries (GLOBOCAN 2008). survival rates vary from higher than 80% in developed nations like USA and Japan to less than 40% in low-income nations. This is because of late detection in the latter. The lowest incidence rates are found in most African countries.

Women who are more at risk of breast cancer: 

1. Women who smoke, take alcohol or junk food are in the risk group. 

2. Women who have had their first child after 30 years.

3. Childless women or women who have breastfed for a very short interval.

4. Women with mother or siblings who have had breast cancer have a 50% greater risk factor.

Charts courtesy: http://www.breastcancerindia.net/bc/statistics/stati.htm

Road Trip: From Rajmai to Delhi

Planning a road trip from Rajmai tea estate (where we are at the moment) to Delhi. Rajmai is about 20 minutes away from Sibsagar, the Ahom capital in upper Assam. we start on 5th December and our tentative itinerary is:

5th Dec early morning: Rajmai to Tezpur (4 hrs), Tezpur to Cooch Behar (10 hrs)
6th: We stay the day in Cooch Behar
7th Early morning: Cooch Behar to Siliguri (4hrs), Siliguri to Muzaffarpur (10 hrs)
8th: We stay the day in Muzaffarpur
9th early morning: Muzaffarpur - Gorakhpur (6hrs), Gorakhpur - Lucknow (8 hrs)
10th: We stay the day in Lucknow
11th: Lucknow - Delhi (8 hours)

Return trip:
3rd Jan early morning: Delhi - Varanasi (12 hrs)
4th morning: Varanasi - Bodh Gaya (8 hrs)
5th: We stay the day in Bodh Gaya
6th: Bodh Gaya to Dooars (Bhatpara T.E.)
7th: We stay the day in Bhatpara
8th morning: Bhatpara to Guwahati

Will keep posting :)

'Eating out' at midnight...

Sanjib came home around eleven on saturday and for a change, he wanted to go out! Arjun and I, though almost on the verge of falling off to a dreamless sleep, did not give him a chance for second thoughts...

At this hour, in the place where we stay, it was not likely that we would find anything or anyone on the roads. "Let's take along a couple of hot cases", said Sanjib, "Just in case we find a dhaba open." We went off in the general direction of a old, derelict 'dhaba' that goes by the name of 'Baba Hotel'. turns out it was about to close but more than happy to pack some dal tarka and make some 'Alu subzi' for us to take home.

We reached home around 1 at night and needless to say, both the dal tarka and the 'alu' was finger-lickin' good!

O Calcutta!

We just got back from a short trip to Kolkata and I have a number of tales to tell... Kolkata is a place which has been so oft written about that everything you write is almost bound to be passe. However, at the same time, it is also a place that lends itself to new discoveries everytime you visit it. This time my visit to the city of joy was a bonus... Sanjib was part of one of the company golf teams for the Merchant cup golf in the city and spouses got to go along...what fun! The weather, unlike every other time, was very pleasant.

As soon as we landed and checked into our hotel (that's HHI, or Hotel Hindustan International), Sanjib went off to 'check the course' and Arjun and I went off to check Oxford book store. It is not easy shopping with a 2.5-year-old, especially when you are looking for books. We ended up getting 4 books for him and none for me! I had a couple of other things that i had to do in Cal...one was visit Kalighat, which I did very early one morning. The roads were clear, people were jogging and near the temple, flower sellers were beginning to spread out their ware...It was beautiful. Kalighat is a Shakti pith, where a part of the body of Sati, cut off by Vishnu's disc, fell. The image of the goddess is so powerful that the first time I saw it I almost got a shock!

The second thing on my agenda was to buy some handicrafts. I usually visit Swabhumi for this (Swabhumi is something similar to Dilli Haat in New Delhi, a crafts 'centre' where you find a number of local and traditional craftsmen under one roof along with food), however this time I saw an adevrtisment for a place called 'Sasha' and decided to visit it. It was a nice place in Free School St. but I expected a lot more crafts from Bengal. Instead what i found was crafts from across the country. Unlike Swabhumi where I could pick up a lot of lovely jewellery and terracotta goods for very low prices, here the choice was not much and i also found the prices slightly high.

Now comes the fun part...food! I love eating out whenever we visit some place and usually build up some favourites places to visit everytime. However this time, there was a change int his as well. Apart from breakfast, which was on the house, one meal in a day (either lunch or dinner) was given by the hotel. We thus had beautiful five-star twice a day and had either lunch or dinner outside. Sanjib was in the mood for Bengali food and we discovered two lovely Bengali restaurants. The first is Kewpie's (2, Elgin Lane), opposite Forum. This is a beautiful quaint resturant with a wonderful owner. The second is Prince, in Free School st. The place is exactly like its name, the Bengali equivalent of a Punjabi dhaba, with plates slammed down in front of you and dal spilling from the bowls, but the food...it was absolutely tasty and hot and exactly what you would get in a Bengali home.

There are a couple of things I learnt ont his trip: If you are travelling with a child, and staying at a five star, buy (from outside, of course)and keep the following things handy: A packet of bread, a packet of milk, a jar of cheese spread and some jam. Arjun's been travelling with me ever since he was four months old and I always carry his food with me. This time, since it was a short trip, (I gave it a miss) and somehow Arjun really did not enjoy his food, delicious though it was. A cheese sandwich is something that I always fall back on in times like this and the HHI cheese sandwiches (three slices of bread with two cheese slices between them) cost me Rs 350 each!!! Internet too is very expensive for someone like me who's used to getting it at so much less: it was Rs 95 for half an hour! I also missed all the evening functions at RCGC (the Royal Calcutta Golf Club- pic on the left) because I felt very guilty about spending so much money on baby sitters (Rs 1000 per hour!) ...

Sanjib's birthday was celebrated en route on the plane with the crew making an anouncement and everybody cheering him as he stood up, red in the face.

Calcutta was a fun trip for us!