The Bottola- an evening spent with literature and much more...

Being an independent self-published author, I had always wanted to meet and interact with people with an equal knack for storytelling and literature. They are not the authors you find in the bookstores or online portals; because they are the ones who write for themselves, for the sheer pleasure of writing, to answer their urge for story-telling.

My cousin Ushni Dasgupta reading her story

One such opportunity came in my way when I received an invitation to attend a ‘Bottola’ gathering in Faridabad, last weekend. It was hosted by my aunt, Dr. Mousumi Dasgupta, and my uncle, Mr. Shantanil Dasgupta A Bottola is a gathering of like-minded literature enthusiasts who meet regularly and discuss literature. They read their stories, poetries and anything they’ve written to an audience and experience and appreciate other people’s literature. I was invited as a guest along with my mother. She’d written her periodic short story pertaining to that theme of that gathering - ‘It was your promise, you’d write to me.’ There were people from varied profession from artists to travellers, from retired people to the ones having a 9-5 job, almost everyone who sought refuge in literature.

Bottola Story-telling session running full fledgedly. 

A section of the members present 

Another section of the attendeees

The host of the evening Dr. Mousumi Dasgupta with Ushni and the moderator for the evening-Mr. Dipak Mukhopadhyay

It was my opportunity to express myself about my book- “Laments and Virtues”, also a book giveaway and book signing followed. I received an overwhelming response and blessings from the members, all of whom were much elder and much-experienced people when it came to writing.

Me signing the copies of Laments and Virtues. In the chair- Mr Kishore, a senior Bottola member

This Bottola, is remarkable in more than one ways for it witnesses and sustains Bengali while miles away from Bengal. This shows the attachment of people towards their mother-tongue and the enthusiasm to recreate the same passion in home away from home.

Often, in the modern urban lives, the pursuit of our career (job or studies) makes us leave our home and make living in an alien land far away from our culture. I was born in Howrah (West Bengal), but had my childhood in Chowduar, Cuttack (Orissa), Dehri-on-son (Bihar) and Bardhhaman (West Bengal), Kakinada (Seemandhra) and Haldia (West Bengal) before joining college in Jadavpur University. While my nomadic childhood offered me the various experiences and understanding of different cultures, which wouldn’t have been possible if I were brought up in one place, it also kept me away from my own culture. There was one point where I had difficulty understanding the quirks and sarcasm in my own language.

But these people I met here in Bottola had a similar life. They were away from their home and culture, yet they took time every day from their busy schedule to nurture and relish their language and come together once a month to exchange their views and words.

That evening left me both baffled and inspired. I felt a sudden tinge in myself that I have many stories in me trying to come out. There was an imminent urge to write, feel and enjoy. More than anything I felt at home after a long time.

I take this opportunity to thank every member of Bottola for inviting me and giving me an evening to remember for a long time to come.

The Selection of our new Class Monitor.

Every year at the beginning of each academic year, our class teacher appoints one of us to be the ‘class monitor’. His/her job is to mind the class in absence of any teacher, collect all the notebooks for the teacher and accompany her with the lot to the staffroom. In other words, he was the ‘teacher ka chamcha’. The monitor was who enjoyed a special status in the eyes of his classmates. And his friends enjoyed a special status of never getting punished.

It happens in every school, and in everywhere the procedure is more or less the same. One of the few toppers is selected from the batch of scores of students and given the honourable position of the ‘class monitor’. Every probable leader- everyone from the last year’s top rankers began to ally and tried to be in the good books of the teachers. And the entire class tried to be in their good books.

I still remember the time we were in our fifth standard. That was our first day. We were fresh with enthusiasm and optimism. The smell of new books was still lingering and could be felt every time we opened our bags. Like every time, our new class teacher entered. While many of us had known her previously, a handful of newcomers didn’t. She was known for her anger and strictness. With her commanding voice, she introduced herself. Then she asked us to introduce ourselves. One by one, right from the first bench, each of us stood up and said our names and one line about us. The last benchers though had to repeat their words for their voices were inaudible. The backbenchers had lost their voices on learning about their new class-teacher.

After the introductory session, it was time for declaring the class monitor. Every expectant eye looked at our teacher. The first benchers could well be predicted have their fingers crossed.

Then she called out the name of a student who was never bothered except during attendance call and declared him to be the Class Monitor. At her announce, even her prestige couldn’t prevent the classroom from the imminent commotion that followed. How could a non-topper be given that respect? Hardly were any of the back-benchers or timid non-participants ever noticed, except a few talented ones who were only acknowledged during the annual Sports Day or School Fest. The class was becoming unruly.                         

The teacher banged the duster twice to bring back order in the class. Everyone returned to an uncomfortable silence. However, no one dared question her authority. Our desire to be answered remained unquenched even to this day. The only thing significant on that event was the realisation that there were students beyond the regular good scorers and active participants in the classroom and that they had equal chances and opportunities like the rest of them.

Why sometimes we must let it be with one?

Recently, I have read somewhere about a probable sequel of Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' and somewhere I was left feeling uneasy about it. Unable to comprehend it back then, I decided to work it out myself.


To begin with, it's evident that most, if not all, sequels disappoint. The reason being far too many. Below is the list of reasons I feel sequels disappoint:-

1) The package goes missing:-

The first of any book/movie sets up some universe adds characters and plots that at times serve the dual purpose of entertaining and teaching a life lesson. It serves as an entire package. Sometimes while doing the sequels, this entire package gets lost in the plot. Sometimes characters don't live up to the expectations, sometimes the moral is weakly delivered or sometimes the plot itself dilutes (e.g.  Rock on 2 by Shujaat Saudagar).

2) Easy formulae do not work:-

Most of the plot lines, in case where the story isn't continued in the sequels, work on the same formula, like in case of any Jack Reacher stories, the protagonist always finds himself amidst a plot of some conspiracy that can only be solved by him. Sometimes, these formulae work in the beginning for they promise novelty, but this gets used and overused the readers don't feel monotonous and regressive. As a result, the sequel fails e.g. Inferno by Ron Howard..

3) No one likes to be forced:-

At times, we feel that the purpose isn't strong enough and the plot feels kind of 'Forced' into the sequel to match with its predecessor. The readers or any movie goer, reads or watches for entertainment (primarily) and out of one free will. Now what if one is forced to watch something. Surely one'll end up hating it. For the stories can be as out of the world as they want, for as long as the 'suspension of disbelief' isn't forced, it will always be appreciated. (like- Hangover 2 by Todd Phillips)

Though some exceptions to watch out for:-

When most of the sequels fail to deliver, there are some sequels who outperform their predecessors as enlisted below:-

1) Godfather II by Francis Ford Coppola- The sequel to the classic Gangster family movie is still considered by and large the best sequel ever made.

2) The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan- Christopher Nolan's only story that ever got made into a franchise was his batman trilogy. No one can ever forget Heath Ledger's last on screen performance which left the audience loving the antagonist to the protagonist.

3) The Empire Strikes Back Irvin Kershner- The fans of the Star Wars' franchise would unanimously agree that this is so far the best movie in the series.

4) The two towers (LOTR 2) by Peter Jackson- This adaptation of the Tolkein's novel is said to have bettered its prequel.

5) Home Alone 2 by Chris Colombus- A young boy lost in New York. The makers decision to stick with the previous formula of a left alone boy and yet come up with a different background was appreciated as well as enjoyed by the audience.


The list is really long and exhaustive. I would love if the list is furthered by the readers. Thanks.

So, as it turns out while most of them disapoint, not everyone deserves our frown. So if there is at all any chance of Inception having a sequel let's keep our finger's cross and hope it falls into the latter category.

Laments and Virtues

Hello, everyone! apologies for not being able to update any blogs since long. Not that I didn't feel like blogging during the interim, with so many things going right from the Rio Olympics to the election of Donald Trump to demonetization of the Indian currency with higher denominations to the issue of the Cauvery water distribution. there indeed were many things that needed writing about, but as it turns out, I was pretty preoccupied with the publication of my first book. Yes, my prolonged struggled to get myself published is finally coming true with the publication of "Laments and Virtues" my collection of poetries and short stories.

With the arrival of my book due December, I finally have some time to spare to write update my blog and highlight some points about the book which may not be possible to convey through my facebook page, twitter or Instagram. So here it is:-

LaV is a collection of ten poems and three short stories. The essential theme that binds them together is the plight, dilemma and laments that seem to engulf us during our day to day lives. Sometimes, we feel like breaking free and escaping, sometimes we stay and fight, sometimes we succeed while in other times, we fail. Whatever might our decision be, or whatever be their consequences, we always find them become part and parcel of our lives insomuch as they end up being the defining elements of our lives. We find some virtues in our laments. This is the heart of the book to be realised through every piece of writing.

LaV was not incepted the way it has turned out. My first book was supposed to be a collection of short stories for middle-grade children and the poetries were not to be published anytime soon. But as it turned out, I found that many of my poetries seem to be telling more or less the same thing in ways more than one, yet each having its own way of expressing its meaning. It was then I came up with the idea of getting them published under one title. And the result was the emergence of 'Laments and Virtues'.

So, till the time it comes out and reaches your bookshelves, KEEP READING, KEEP LOVING.

The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Ghosh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An eye opening account of our negligence to the most important and influential factor of our very existence-Climate change.
It urges the writer in us to question the established norms of narration and wants us to encompass collective narration involving greater and richer literature, because what else has the world recorded its history in but literature itself. It's imperative for us to leave a mark and ask questions and write about the prevalent issue of climate for the future generations as witnesses in our justification for our negligence amidst politics war and other issues.


View all my reviews