Acquired Tastes

Last evening while sharing a few drinks with Suvomoy, I started discussing my inability to appreciate the true beauty in a glass of Whiskey/Scotch. I have always been an ardent fan of the Old Monk and continue to remain so, I never failed to go for that readhead because compared to it the glass of Whiskey/Scotch seemed pale. And that's bad news because I have heard from numerous dipsomaniacs that Whiskey/Scotch is the drink of a man and to become a true connoisseur of the spirit-ual world, one needs to get acquainted with the taste of that damned beverage.

I always though that drinking Whiskey/Scotch is like listening to Rock, you either have the ear for it or you don't. There is no middle path. Your palates can either appreciated the taste of Whiskey/Scotch or they cannot, you simply cannot force yourself into getting high on it. But I guess I was wrong.

Suvomoy was of the opinion that tastes can be acquired, forcefully. And to accept the taste of a great beauty, be it in the spirit-ual world or otherwise, at first its eminent that one would not be able to truly appreciate its great beauty. Probably that's why its a great beauty. And if you force yourself to indulge in it, slowly you start soaking and basking in its glory.

It made me rethink about my own opinion on drinking Whiskey/Scotch. It is somewhat like the music of Pink Floyd. At first I never used to like them, could make any head or tails of what they were trying to convey. But one fine day I bought The Wall, a discography of Floyd. I listened to it for hours, and slowly it started seeping into my soul, getting inside my flesh, giving me goosebumps with every pluck on their strings. Finally my room started reeking in the spirit of Floyd, and I started swaying to their tunes. Since then I have been in love with Pink Floyd, they have been the Gods of Rock.

Hopefully in the coming months I be able to hold a conversation with the spectral beauty of a glass of Whiskey/Scotch. Ofcourse, the teachings of the Old Monk would never be forgotten, but still.

Rashomon Effect - It's Time to Get High on 70mm!

For those who know me personally knows that I am a movie-buff. Most of my weekends goes by watching movies, either on my laptop or in the theaters. So I thought why not write my own movie blog!

So very recently I started writing on my new blog, Rashomon Effect. It's named after the classic movie Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa which happens to be one of my favorite movies of all times.

You would mostly find reviews of latest movies like The Dark Knight Rises and Bhooter Bhabishyat, other than lists of my favorite Director, Actress, movie trivia, collection of quotes from my favorite movies, hot and sizzling trailers of upcoming movie and the likes.

For all the movie-buffs out there, who are a fan of The Chronicles of R, would ask you to head out to Rashomon Effect and Like it's Facebook fan page if you like the blog. Why? Because it's time to get high on 70mm!

Sony Vaio - I Own It

Yes, yes, yes. My first laptop and that too a sleek black Sony Vaio! Damn, this is the most sexiest baby that these hands have ever held! I still can't believe it man!

I know, too many "!" but I simply can't help it guys! It still feels like a dream.

Thanks Ms J for thinking me to be worthy of this.

Best Indian Blogs - And I'm Listed

A few months back The Chronicles of R got listed in the Life section of Alltop, the blog directory maintained by Guy Kawasaki and Neenz. Today when I opened my mailbox, to my surprise I found that I have managed to add another feather to my cap (boy, I can be shameless when it comes to self-praising!). I found out that I have received an email from Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration fame and what he had to tell me was the most surprising part, Rajtilak Bhattacharjee (and The Chronicles of R) have been included in the Best Indian Blogs directory which is maintained by Amit himself!

Now for those are used to living under the rock, you can find about Amit Agarwal and you can also visit Digital Inspiration to check out what India's first and only Pro Blogger has to say about the latest tech trends. Also you can visit the Best Indian Blogs directory and find me listed there under the Personal blogs section.

This calls in for a celebration!

Thanks Amit! And thanks to all those numerous readers and fans who have supported The Chronicles of R and Rajtilak Bhattacharjee for them being what they are today. And above all, thanks to Ms J, without you nothing would have been possible.

Love you all!

Happening Month - July

Okay, so this month's been pretty happening for me. Last week, on Sunday, I went to South City Mall to watch Delhi Belli at Fame. Had some time in hand, so thought about getting a grub at Spencer's at the basement.

Once inside Spencer's I ordered for a Blueberry Muffin, Samosa and Tea. After paying for the food, when I turned while carrying them in my hands (point to be noted: both my hands were blocked), I felt someone brushing past me in a hurry. I knew something was wrong, my Spidey sixth sense was at work! And once I checked my kurta's pocket I found by wallet missing!

So I lost my tickets to Delhi Belli, my bank cards, my DL and a lot of other useful trash that I cram my wallet with, apart from losing my favorite Manchester United wallet.

And after that life seem to have come to a grinding halt. I understood how much we depend on plastic money. How everything seems to fall apart when you take the plastic out of your life. And...I love it that way. So I got a duplicate card asap, thanks to HSBC, and Soumya Paul at their New Alipore branch, who had helped me to set up things right in no time. HSBC rocks! And so does plastic money, and Delhi Belli.

Moral of the story, the pickpockets in Calcutta have risen their standard and can be seen now frequenting the likes of Spencer's. So, beware!

Best of Me

Many of you might not know that I have another blog called Of Love, Life and Other Unimportant Things. It's an Ad-free blog. It has it's own readership base. I am writing in it for while now, so today I thought about providing the links to some of my popular posts from that blog. Click on these photographs and you would be taken to that page where you have the story related to this photograph. Read them and enjoy the ride!

The Year that Was, The Life that Is

Itni Mohabbat hai
Mere Piya ke ghar mein
Ke kabhi khatam nahi hota
Jab bhi Unse haske
Gale milte hai
Zindagi mein gham ka
Namo nishaan nahi hota

A lot of things was written below these lines, a lot of sentiments portrayed. All wasted!

P.S. The painting is made by yours truly. And so is the Hindi couplet.

5 Things That Disappear When You Just Need Them

Tumpa tagged me on this. At first it seems weird to write about this, but then when I gave it a thought it seemed quite normal in the light of the things that tend to disappear just when I need them. Here are the top 5:

1. Pen : I have a good collection of different kinds of pen, but I don't seem to find one when I need them. Although in most of the cases I need them at very odd hours, like last night I woke up at 2:30am and wanted to jot down a few words lying on my bed and was unable to find a pen for almost 10 minutes! So you see that although it's not entirely the pen's fault that it disappears into thin air just when I need them, but they do.

2. Paper : Do I smell a conspiracy here? I mean usually my wallet is crammed full of papers which contitutes of invoices and train tickets to a gamut of other things, but just when I need something to write on, both the pen and the paper seems to be missing!

3. Matchbox : I am a chain smoker, so I usually do not need a matchbox. I prefer to light my fag from the one that I am smoking at that point of time, but in those rare moments when I do need a matchbox I don't seem to find one even though I remember that my Mom had kept one at so-and-so place just a few minutes back.

4. Bus : I don't usually travel by a bus because I am phobic towards them after I had an accident in 2003 where I almost got killed. But as usual, when I do not need a bus to a certain place there's a flurry of buses that passes by me for that destination, but when I need one I simply have to stand there at the middle of the road looking from one end to the other.

5. Tab on the Taskbar : I am sure many of you have faced this too. I mean just when you need to see that particular Excel sheet or that one Word document, it seems to vanish from the taskbar on your desktop. You would find, yessir you would, dontcha worry bout it, but you would find it only when you wouldn't need that document anymore. Disgusting, isn't it?

Another Blogger's Meet in Calcutta

Time for another Blogger's meet, seems Calcutta is in for Blogger's meet this year.

This time it's WebReps.in, in association with INFOCOM, has arranged for a Blogger's meet. The details for the same are given below. To attend all you need is to have a blog or a passion for blogging (in case you are a micro-blogger). As I was informed, there would be some eminent Bloggers from The City of Joy to join us there. You too can promote, speak or share your ideas.

Venue:
Salt Lake Stadium

Date and Time:
17th-20th February 2011 (time was not mentioned)

To attend this Blogger's meet all you need to do is to click here, it would take you to their Facebook events page. There you need to click on the button "I am attending" and you are all set to go. You can also send invitations for the same even to your friends and fellow Bloggers.

Hope to meet you there. Till then, enjoy!

Blogger Meet at Calcutta (courtsey Indiblogger and Akshaya Patra)

Finally, Calcutta gets it's own Blogger's meet. Thanks to Indiblogger and Akshaya Patra (partners). The details are given below.

Venue:
CII
DC-36, Sector - 1, Salt Lake City
Kolkata - 700 064
Landmark: Behind City Centre

Date and Time:
Sunday February 20, 2011 - 12:00 PM, Kolkata
End Time: 5:00 PM

We already have 44 attendees as of now, hopefully the number would increase soon. Even Renie Revin (from Indiblogger) would be attending the meetup, so you would get a chance to talk to him in person.

The best part is that this meetup is on a Sunday, so I guess many of us would actually be able to turn up, unless we are too busy planning for Valentine's Day.

If you are planning to join this Blogger's meet, you can register yourself here. If you intend to promote this even, you can do so by either posting about this on your blog, tweeting about it with the hashtags #AkshayaPatra and #IndiCal. I am sure we all would have a gala time over here. Now only if Renie and the Team would relieve us from this nail-biting suspense and reveal the agenda for the Blogger's meet.

I would attending this meetup. If you would like to, you can contact me through my email (rajtilak.bhattacharjee@gmail.com), or by adding me on GTalk (rajtilak.bhattacharjee), or by sending me a tweet @rajtilak, or last but not the least, you can leave a comment on this post.

Hope to see all of you there on Sunday!

Gopal Pal, the Self-appointed Manager for Bar-B-Q

Bar-B-Q, one of the oldest and finest restaurants of Calcutta. Located at Park Street, it brings out lot of memories of good old days.

Yesterday, I went to Bar-B-Q for a day out with my family and friends and guess what, I had one of the worst experience so far in any of the restaurants in Calcutta, thanks for the Manager, Gopal Pal.

In case you haven't been to Bar-B-Q, there are separate sections to suit each palletes, Chinese, India et al. And during the evening hours they close down each of these sections at a particular time only to open once again later that night. Yesterday when we arrived at Bar-B-Q, it was pretty later in the afternoon. There was a table for 4 which was empty and so we sat there considering that we had a kid with us who was asleep.

Now the Manager Gopal Pal, pretending as if he owns Bar-B-Q, came to us and told us that it would not be possible for them to accomodate us over there and so we should stand in the Chinese section for a table to get empty, with a sleeping kid in our arms. And when I told him that why can't they accomodate us on the other section since, he informed us, in a very rude tone that just because we ask him to do something, it cannot be arranged. When I asked for the Manager, the real Manager, who happens to be my friend's Dad-in-Law, he refused to give out the name of the Manager and lied to us that he himself is the Manager of Bar-B-Q!

So finally, someone had the guts to prove that the customer is not always right.

So the next time you go to Bar-B-Q, do remember not to ask for the Manager, because you are not allowed to complain in Bar-B-Q, thanks to a Mr. Gopal Pal, the self appointed Manager of Bar-B-Q.

I Own www.rajtilak.com, Finally!

Yes, today I went ahead and bought the rajtilak.com domain. Although you won't find a new blog there, rather it would redirect you to the same rajtilak.net url and thus to this very same blog. But then it means more visibility, and ofcourse I always wanted to own the rajtilak.com domain. So in this new year, its a dream come true!

Thanks to all of you for making The Chronicles of R a success. When I had bought rajtilak.net for the first time, I never really thought that it would be such a big success. 500+ RSS subscribers, 2500+ readers per day, nice figures huh!

21 Quotes for Your Heart

Quotes can be a lot inspiring, isn't it? When you are feeling down, cannot decide what should you do, a few words said can lift up your mood. So here is a collection of 21 quotes that would warm your heart this winter.

"To open your heart to someone means exposing the scars of the past." -Unknown Author

"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." -Oprah Winfrey

"When pure sincerity forms within, it is outwardly realized in other people's hearts." -Lao Tzu

"Tears are words the heart can't express" -Unknown Author

"You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel." -Unknown Author

"There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a new life." -Unknown Author

"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to." -Kahlil Gibran

"A person's world is only as big as their heart" -Tanya A. Moore

"The heart has eyes which the brain knows nothing of." -Charles H. Perkhurst

"Listening to your heart is not simple. Finding out who you are is not simple. It takes a lot of hard work and courage to get to know who you are and what you want." -Sue Bender

"The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers." -Deepak Chopra

"Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." -Charles Dickens

"In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing." -Antonio Porchia

"The way to the heart is through the ears." -Katie Hurley

"The way to the heart is through the ears." -Katie Hurley

"A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love." -Mother Teresa

"Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it." -Braveheart

"Only do what your heart tells you." -Princess Diana

"The mind forgets but the heart always remembers." -Anonymous

"Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart." -Author Unknown

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." -Confucius

Hope you enjoyed these. If you want to have a good laugh, you can also check out the 50+ Funniest Quotes Ever. And don't forget to subscribe to my RSS feed. And wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

For some personal reasons my Christmas won't be so merry this year. Don't know what's in store for me the next year, but whatever it is, I just hope it's something good. Enough of bad spell for a lifetime, don't you think God? Don't you have something good in store for me and J now?

But whatever my Christmas be like, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Enjoy!

P.S. Was just wondering, I get around 2000+ page visits a day. How many of you actually enjoy this site? And do you enjoy it as much as to become a part of it? Do let me know, without spamming.

The Resurrection

I never really thought I would write again, lest aside in a blog. That too my own blog. But I still don't fail to stun myself at times.

I would never write on this blog again, as I had promised. Its time I let R's soul rest in peace, forever. So this time I would write for myself. And I would write about things that are so stupid that only people like me would tend to care about them.

Do read my new blog Of Love, Life and Other Unimportant Things. Probably you would like it, probably you won't. But this time, I would be true not only to you but also to myself. I would write about the truth, only the truth, the naked truth and nothing else.

P.S. Don't forget to add my new blog on your blogroll, if you like it as much as you had liked The Chronicles of R that is.

In the Loving Memories of Rajtilak Bhattacharjee

Rajtilak Bhattacharjee (18th October, 1982–2010), always used to say that the day he would stop believing in love would be the day he would die. Raj expired last week. He was suffering from a rare ailment related to his heart. Although this might sound very rude, but its good that he died. It had put an end to his prolonged suffering.

He was a nice man, but didn't quite belong to this world. His thoughts, his feelings, his emotions, they were very different. No wonder people called him a psycho freak who should not be let lose.

In his absence there is no one to continue with this blog, so this blog is closed now, permanently. I don't know whether you would miss him, remember him, or you would simply forget him, but I would remember him always. I would remember him like the way he wanted us to remember him. For me he would always be "A Dreamer, a Poet and an Ordinary Human Being".

Rest in Peace Rajtilak Bhattacharjee.

The End

This is it my dear readers. This is the end of The Chronicles of R. I cannot write anymore, I am finished. This would be the last post. Although The Chronicles of R would remain the way it is, I would not shut it down. But as I said, I would not write anymore. So if you want to visit the previous posts, be my guest. If you want to comment, it would still be moderated, but you can comment. So adios my friend. Hope we would meet again, some other time, some other place.

En Fin!

Comrade Jyoti Basu (1914 - 2010) : The End of a Golden Era in Indian Politics

Today a golden era of Indian politics ended with the passing away of Comrade Jyoti Basu.

It was a long time back, I was in school back then. During my summer vacation I went to Darjeeling where I met him for the first time. He was the Chief Minister of West Bengal then, and it was impossible not to be impressed by his mesmerizing personality. Inspite of holding such a powerful position in Indian politics, he came down to the Darjeeling mall for a walk like any other ordinary person, sans any securities/body-guards. And when people crowded around him, he met each and every one of us. And in those few minutes that he remained there, I was awed with his persona.

On that day without even having a fair idea of his political prowess, I touched his feet in respect. I normally hold a very strong stance against Indian politicians, it is my firm belief that almost all the politicians in India are corrupt. But today I am proud to have touched the feet of Jyoti Basu.

As a politician he was incomparable. Even the likes of Indira Gandhi consulted him every now and then on political issues. He rose above the banalities of Indian politics and refused the Prime Minister-ship of India just because his party had asked him to do so! Would you really find any such examples in today's politics?

He always remained the leader of the masses. He was revered equally amongst politicians from his own party and others parties. It was he who helped the CPI(M) to rule over West Bengal for over 24 years. It is a feat in itself that in the largest democracy in the world, a Communist party rules an entire State for more than 2 decades!

The city of Calcutta mourns as he is being taken away on his final journey. But till the time the State of West Bengal would exist, Comrade Jyoti Basu would remain in the hearts and memories of it's people.

Love live Comrade Jyoti Basu. Red Salute to you from millions of your admirers.

[Picture courtsey : Jyoti Basu Memoirs]

A Very Happy New Year

Wish you all a Very Happy New Year, wherever you are on the face of Earth.

7 Simple Techniques for Keeping Your Child Believing in Santa Claus

Many parents love to see the joy and excitement Santa Claus can bring to their child. For many people, their childhood memories of Santa Claus are the best Christmas memories they have. Keeping your child believing in Santa, however, can be a daunting task. Children are smart these days, and some of the old Santa tricks just don’t get by them anymore. Many children are perpetually plagued with the question, "Is there a Santa Claus?"

Every family may have slightly different Christmas traditions with regards to Santa Claus, but there are some very easy things any person can do to keep the belief in Santa at an all time high. The following 7 techniques will keep your child believing in the magic and wonderment of Santa Claus and you don’t have to be familiar with the history of Santa Claus to apply them.

1) Have your child write a Santa Letter. This can be a simple letter that your child can write to Santa Claus. Children absolutely love to write a letter to Santa, but they occasionally need a little parental guidance to pull it off.

Help your child include a special list of gifts they desire for Christmas into the Santa letter. Many children enjoy getting more creative by drawing or cutting out pictures that represent the gifts they want.

Once the child’s Santa letter is finished, simply mail it to the North Pole. Mail it to the following Santa Claus address: Santa Claus, 1 Candy Cane Lane, North Pole 00001. Don’t bother using a return address, you wouldn’t want it to return as ‘undeliverable’ for any reason.

2) Write a Letter from Santa and have your child receive it in the mail. Create a personalized letter from Santa by directly mentioning your child’s name and certain information about your child in the text. This will make for a much more believable Santa letter. Be sure to make these letters from Santa different for each child in the same household. The child will have no doubt that Santa Claus is coming to town after they receive their personalized letter from Santa!

"I can honestly state as a parent that the personalized letter from Santa has single handedly restored my son’s belief! The look of shock and amazement on his face when he got an ‘authentic letter from Santa’ quickly abolished any doubt he previously had about Santa Claus."

Print the Santa letter on authentic looking letterhead, as this will help to reinforce the believability. Many different styles of paper can be found at your local office supply store.

You can add to the fun by getting your letter from Santa postmarked at the North Pole. Simply send your Santa letter inside another sealed, stamped envelope to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999. (It needs to arrive by December 15th)

Many parents add a certificate for being on Santa’s "Nice List" along with the Santa Letter for added effect. Another great item to add with the Santa letter is a Santa Claus coloring sheet. Combining the personalized Santa letter, the nice certificate, and the Santa Claus coloring sheet is a sure fire method for keeping your child believing.

3) Have your child leave milk and cookies out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. This is simple enough to do with your child. It lets your child know YOU still believe, too. Make it a bonding experience for you and your child by baking the cookies together on Christmas Eve. Don’t underestimate how powerful this can be for creating joyful memories of Santa Claus, for both you and your child. Did you know that Santa’s favorite cookie recipe is Chocolate Chip?

Put the fresh cookies on a plate next to a glass of cold milk. You can even put a short letter to Santa Claus next to the cookies and milk. These tasty treats will give Santa the energy he needs to continue traveling to the millions of other households awaiting his arrival.

Don’t forget to leave some crumbs on the table Christmas morning. Your child will feel honored that Santa Claus ate the whole plate of cookies and drank all of the milk before rushing on his way.

4) On Christmas Eve, have your child sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn. Santa Claus gets milk and cookies on Christmas Eve, but what about Rudolph and the rest of the joyful gang? What do they eat? Well, reindeer food, of course!

You can make a batch of environmentally friendly reindeer food with common grocery items such as oats or granola. (Do not use potentially hazardous items, such as glitter in your reindeer food. Although this may make the reindeer food appear to be magical in some way, it can be extremely dangerous if ingested by small children, should they decide to ‘sample’ the reindeer food. It can also be potentially hazardous to the small animals outside such as rabbits, dogs, or cats that may eat the food.)

Once you have the reindeer food mixed up, walk outside with your child on Christmas Eve night and explain the importance of making sure Santa’s sleigh team stays fed. Sprinkle a small amount onto your yard near bushes or trees.

This healthy reindeer snack will give Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer the nourishment they need to continue flying Santa’s heavy sleigh into the night. Your child will be proud for helping Santa Claus on his journey, and is sure to raise the belief in Rudolph and the other reindeer as well.

5) Leave Santa Claus tracks in your house on Christmas Eve. Being sure to not stain your carpet, leave some dirty boot prints by the fireplace (or doorway). Be sure to draw attention to the Santa Claus footprints on Christmas morning. To a child, this is solid evidence that Santa had been to their house.

6) A month or so after Christmas, send your child a postcard from Santa Claus on vacation. This not only keeps your child believing, but reminds your child that Santa is in their hearts all year long. It also answers the common question posed by children after Christmas, "Where is Santa Claus now?"

Be sure to make the postcard from somewhere very warm and sunny. After all, Santa does need a break from all that North Pole snow.

7) Mail your child a birthday greeting from Santa Claus. This technique works in tandem with the personalized Santa Letter you mailed your child previously. Mailing your child a simple birthday card from Santa is an excellent way to keep your child’s belief high throughout the year. Your child will think, "Wow! Santa actually knows my birthday!" The shock on your child’s face will be priceless.

Parents that have extremely intelligent kids or kids that are getting slightly older will genuinely need to utilize all 7 techniques mentioned above to keep their child believing in Santa Claus.

These techniques will assure your child is one of the millions of children that write Santa Letters each and every holiday season. one of the millions of children that believe wholeheartedly in Santa Claus.